Fundamentals of Scanning in Three-Dimensional Space

Rondo: K-SAF. KSV “Rainy Evening”. NS (Network Specialist) Rondo.

Rondo: I suppose, I could call communication and scanning the most important thing for a MID-type. But fate must not be tempted! Otherwise, an authorized representative of fate will take the form of valiant NS Raven and will hit my unarmored head with an armored fist. So, let's consider communication is second to navigation.

Rondo: Without radars, locators, and scanners, the vessel is more than useless. It is dead. One might think that big beautiful panoramic windows would solve the problem. But windows are literal holes in the hull. And what you will do with them? The operational distance of MID-types is more than an augmented eye can take. It's madness to look at the darkness of the space with just eyes. Yeah. And what can you see in the endless nothing? Aliens? Heh.

Rondo: All engagements are conducted at vast distances beyond eyes' capabilities. I can't come up with some trick to spot an infinitely black, polished vessel in the infinite black darkness. Yes, some LRG-types and stations have illumination, because, well, why wouldn't they? It's pointless to hide lights when you can't hide the heat. And right now you can't hide the heat from LRG-type or a station.

Rondo: Well, in theory, the silhouette of a combat vehicle will hide the light of the stars. But who in their right mind would go outside to survey surroundings?

Rondo: So, we are looking at the world with scanners and radars. We are listening to the music of the cosmic spheres with locators. We see our friends and distinguish them from our enemies only with help of imperfect technology and crappy software.

Rondo: The network specialist must provide the pilot, navigator, and gunner with a sensible view of the surroundings and bearable enough communications. Sounds simple, but in reality, it's an infuriating abyss full of pain. Oh, so much pain.

Rondo: First surprise. All outside communications are conducted in text. No video, no pictures, no sounds. Well, except for the sound of the commodore's voice saying the message to type and send.

Rondo: Second surprise. “Sphere control” command means to look for something nearby. Such as looking for enemies, civilians, enemy shells, and traces of other vessels. And, well, you surveil by looking at your display. With eyes and hands. Again and again, you will scan small areas, switching from a large grid to a small one, trying to find and identify something.

Rondo: The MID-type can handle a location sphere with a radius of 1,000 to 3,500 units. Not astronomical units. That, of course, would be awesome, but not in the current day and age.

Rondo: Ok. So, we have a location sphere with us at the center. Now to the main and everlasting problem: the farther away from the vessel, the less reliable the information in the location sphere. Systems can and will miscalculate an object's size, acceleration, temperature, shape, and other stats.

Rondo: Inside the sphere, we have “glitches” or “glitch zones” - areas that could not be scanned for some reason. It can be interferences, anomalies, black holes, or some magick. Fun, right?

Rondo: And sometimes you can see some impossible and weirdest shit ever, like areas overlapping over each other, extending and wrapping time and space in an enclosed area. The pinhole looks exactly like that for the scanners.

Rondo: Communications systems are as fine and reliable as location systems. There are three types. Point-to-point - when you know where the other vessel is and you are sending packets somewhere to there. Point-to-all - when you are sending packets everywhere around you in the hope, that someone will catch them. Both are extremely reliable. It was sarcasm. They are crap and there is no guarantee of delivery, ordering, or duplicate protection. And the last method of communication is net-to-net. It is a sort of combination of the first two. When the commodore orders a net establishing, I usually go through a series of panic attacks and begin silently crying. With net-to-net, all vessels in a group must be joined in a single informational network. Everything must be synchronized and shared, all data must be available to all vessels, and everything must be sent, checked, and re-checked. It is terrifying, tiring, and not good for my mental health.

Rondo: And the final surprise. Network specialists can automate almost nothing. Every time I write some fine script to help me out, and every time nothing works. An incompatible star, too many pinholes in the sphere, a diamond the size of a planetoid - just some little thing breaks everything apart. My beautiful and reliable scripts do a "yuck" and crash. So, more often than not, I just stare into an unfiltered stream of pure flow information. And one day I will lose my mind and become one with the flow.

Rondo: Any questions?