Complete speculation here, but this is my guess: Once accelerated to/past light speed it is possible to "make the jump to hyperspace" which is like going throug

Complete speculation here, but this is my guess: Once accelerated to/past light speed it is possible to "make the jump to hyperspace" which is like going through some sort of wormhole. This allows a ship to travel from point to point without traversing the space between. Maybe something like taking a straight line instead of following the curvature of space time (yes I know, a bunch of dead physicists just rolled over). This is how, if you don't think too hard, it makes sense that Han says he "made the Kessel run in 12 (13) parsecs," using a measure of distance, rather than speed/time to make his claim. Presumably all long distance space travel is done at roughly the speed of light, so what makes a difference is not how fast you go, but how much of a short cut you manage to make through hyperspace. Feel free to rip this to shreds:)