Dead Star Dockyards

'What was that?' The Montaug stared without focus at the now blank cockpit screens as Donovan crawled out. 'What the hell was any of that?'

The Montaug, perhaps in violation of the disposition expected of him, prided himself on his meager knowledge of the 'pure' sciences and the history of Holifania. In no way could he grasp any of what had been displayed before him. Setting aside the display projected in the air before Donovan's face for the moment, could he even describe or justify what had happened on the screen? In that so called 'simulation'? Taking in mind for the moment his extremely limited understanding of aerial dogfights, which appeared to be the most relevant to the skills and performance displayed here, the only matter he could handle was the guns. An entire engagement between two factions, viewed from a first person perspective, and he could only grasp what counted as a secondary weapon for both sides? In fact, he felt the need to break things down piecemeal inside of his head.

Movement, propulsion, whatever it might be called, the Montaug knew propellers did not work in the void. He also understood that Donovan had not fought in an environment with Split, meaning that everything displayed here had to be the work of some 'pure' science - a natural phenomenon unimpeded by the presence of Split. How could he move with such freedom? The lack of air also made it difficult to turn as far as he knew, and yet he did so faster than airplanes in an atmosphere. 

Next was sight. How did he 'see' his opponents? The Montaug possessed some knowledge of radar, particularly the ability to detect and locate objects beyond sight range, but his understanding of it was that it required a large structure that provided relatively low fidelity returns that were hard to read even with proper equipment. The radar Donovan used appeared to provide a precise direction and distance to his targets, and display it in an easy to detect manner on screen. That, of course, assumed it to be radar in the first place. Donovan called it radar, but the intricacies of Split translation could mean that whatever system it was merely resembled radar and was close enough for him to get a general understanding of function or purpose. 

What about those 'missiles'? The flames that deployed from below whatever ship Donovan was in and chased the enemy? How did they function? How did they kill? Did they just explode? Or was there something special like a shaped charge on their nose? What about their tracking? Did they do it themselves? Were they controlled manually? How was either of those things done, if they were at all possible?

And then there was this simulation. The theater displayed a greater degree of fidelity than the ones he had been fortunate enough to attend, however it appeared to be within the realm of 'reality' as he knew it. This went far beyond that. Donovan was interacting with the pictures shown on screen, as if there was a separate universe connected to them. 

"So cool!" Cayzi did share his concern, though a quick analysis of his contemporaries' expression revealed the child was unique in this aspect. "How fast were you going?"

"Fast . . . is relative." Donovan ruffled Cayzi's hair as he caught his breath. "You could be going the speed of light, but if another object is travelling the same speed in the same direction then the two of you may as well not be moving. It is much easier to consider yourself stationary and track the velocity of everything else when at longer ranges and the opposite when things are close and maneuvers are required."

"What does that mean?"

"You remember the beginning of the simulation, right? When the enemies first popped in?"

"Yeah. There was a beep whenever something popped up on the screen."

"Mhm. Well, there is very little I can do at that range with regards to maneuvers that would provide me an advantage. Slight adjustments left, right, up or down won't matter, so I need to close the distance. Because each of them are capable of independent acceleration, and I am also accelerating, it is easier to keep track of them all mentally if I just add my acceleration vector to theirs."

"Hmm. That's confusing, but I'll trust you. What about those bright things that came out from below?"

"Missiles. Fighter caliber autocannons are too unreliable and inaccurate at any range longer than a knife fight, so we use missiles. You remember our conversation about radar earlier, right?"

"I do."

"Well two of those missiles, the Fox 1 and Fox 3 varieties, utilize radar to track and target the enemy. Fox 1's will track an enemy I target with my radar, while the Fox 3 has its own radar. Fox 2's the first one I fired, can 'see' heat."

"Infrared light, right?"

"Correct, mostly."

"I'm sorry, what is this about 'seeing' heat?" Hlapven interjected just before the Montaug could.

"Hot things glow red. Things that aren't quite that hot still glow, just not in a color that we can see, which we call infrared. The methods through which we maneuver in space and generate the energy to operate these craft tend to make a lot of heat, so we have a weapon that can see and track that heat to take advantage of that. If I remember correctly, there were some animals that could see this color on Earth, and I'm certain that some animals here can as well."

"But, um, what?"

"You've seen a rainbow before, right?"

"Of course."

"One end is red, the other is a bluish purple?"

"Naturally."

"Shades of orange, yellow, green and blue between the two?"

"What are you getting at?"

"More colors exist beyond the red and purple, colors our eyes can't see. Ultraviolet exists on the other side of purple, while infrared exists beyond red. I won't get into the specifics, but there is some function of matter that makes them generate light of certain colors at certain intensities based on their temperature. Let's use the hot metal as an example. Most materials will begin to glow red at like a thousand degrees Kelvin, which is a decently hot fire, and move up the spectrum of the rainbow through orange and yellow before the combined light merges into white. If something gets really, really, unbelievably hot, it might have enough of a difference between the blues and reds that it turns a light blue, but that is irrelevant to the question you asked.

What you should take from that brief and incredibly oversimplified explanation of blackbody radiation is that this generation of light starts at red as far as we can see. Now, that only covers what we can see, and remember how I explained that there are colors that we can't see. Even if something isn't hot enough to emit red light, it is usually going to be hot enough to emit an appreciable amount of infrared light, which means it is visible. In the backdrop of space, where the intensity of color across every spectrum is relatively minimal, even relatively cold objects can stick out like a sore thumb to something that can see infrared light."

"That, um."

"Still not getting it?"

"I'm afraid not."

"I believe I have a better explanation." The Montaug got the feeling that Donovan didn't know where to start with his explanation. Fortunately, though he did not have a grasp on the 'how' of these Fox 2's, the Montaug felt he knew the 'why'. "I'm sure you've heard some older folks complain about how they can't hear high pitched sounds before, right?"

"My grandmother frequently complains abut that, yes."

"You can think of this infrared light like a particularly high pitched sound. We can't hear it, but certain animals with more sensitive ears might be able to. Now imagine that hot things make a this high pitched sound, like boiling water. Replace 'sound' with 'color', and I imagine you have a pretty close approximation to what is happening here. Would that be correct?"

"It's close enough to get the general idea." Donovan nodded. "Are you familiar with the concept?"

"I know about the spectrum of light and have a vague understanding of thermal radiation, but how exactly you manage to 'see' it in a meaningful manner is beyond me.

"I don't know that part either. Diana?"

"Why would you assume I know anything about cameras?"

"Fair." Donovan moved to one of the terminals on the side. "Looks like Morizo is here."

The terminal displayed a picture of the outside, one in real time. He had a feeling they might have the ability to do this given the fact the cockpit was on the inside of the ship and lacked windows, but to see the fidelity and smoothness of it in practice threatened to blow his mind.

"He's got quite a caravan." Diana commented on the number of carriages being drawn down the road. "I suppose he must have been shopping."

"Is that the outside?"

"It is indeed. Not a window mind you, just a captured image from a separate device copied to this screen."

"You . . . captured light?" Prince Merndil furrowed his eyebrows. "Is this anything like the method you used to make the engraved portrait of myself?"

"Hm? No. Not at all. That's a different type of light and is generated in a much different manner."

"Pardon, what is this engraving you speak of?" The Montaug had no clue what the crown prince referred to.

"At the end of the arms expo we had Arc, the entity in charge of constructing this ship, carve a portrait of Merndil as a symbol of friendship." Diana filled in the gaps for the Montaug. "Um, this is the same entity that created the board games, coins, dice, and artwork for the party we threw."

"And you said you cut metal? With light?"

"Yes. Don't ask. I don't want to explain." Donovan shut off the screen and began to shoo everyone out of the room. "Long story short, light is a very useful tool. Actually, it might be more accurate to say it is a very useful toolkit. Different types of light can let you see different objects, do different things, and act as a method of transferring data or energy. It can be a cloak, a weapon, a pair of eyes, a construction implement, a destruction implement, a method of communication, or even a medium of entertainment."

"A cloak?"

"A weapon?"

"A method of communication?"

- - - - -

"Should we be concerned about this?" Bishop Kayes whispered his question to the Montaug whilst Diana provided a rather detailed explanation of the kitchen's function. "If we consider how far ahead we initially believed them to be-"

"Think nothing of it, Kayes. Until we have our scholars take a look at this stuff, we won't know just how far ahead they are."

"I understand that, but don't you have a fundamental education in the-"

"Education does not mean mastery. What I know is mere theory, hardly enough to know that their methods are something we cannot replicate." Kayes seemed a little irritated that he was being interrupted, but this wasn't the time or place to be having such a conversation. "Diana heavily implied she didn't think we would be able to figure out what we would see, and I am inclined to believe her. It is my solemn recommendation that you cease your attempts to compare their methods and technology to our own, and instead focus on committing their actions and effects to memory."

". . . I understand." Kayes backed off a bit before bending down to Cayzi's level.

"I'm thinking 'Masters of Light'."

", , , pardon me?" Gawan, who flanked the Montaug on the other side, spoke something devoid of context that might make sense of it.

"A nickname, something to improve their prestige." Gawan side eyed the princes and their retainer. "They seem to have a pretty high level of control and understanding about it, and light is generally seen as a good and virtuous thing to be associated with on the whole. Should we get a few collaborators to help us spread rumors throughout the academy about a mysterious yet charismatic couple capable of bending light itself to their will . . ."

The Montaug did not need help understanding the implications. A title, even not one officially sanctioned by the Arboreal Maiden, could still create an image of an individual without ever having to meet them in person. As a matter of fact, starting rumors about a person using an appropriate but catchy nickname was a tried and true tactic of increasing the prestige of individuals they held an interest in. Much the same, negative rumors could be used to harm those they saw as a threat.

"The Holifanian Theocracy does not officially endorse the spread of gossip in such a manner." A statement of denial that gave Gawan all the permission he needed to go ahead with his plot. So long as those from the Theocracy weren't involved in the creation of such rumors, he could look the other direction. "The wishes of the people in question must be considered, after all."

"Naturally. It would be a shame if such rumors interfered with their own plans to establish a reputation." The Montaug nodded in silent agreement. Gawan had simply confirmed his intent to consult Diana on the matter.