Very Large Communication Arrays, better known as VLCAs, are a faster-than-light communication system developed by Humans. The arrays are large space stations and can transmit and receive over far greater distances than the P-Comm devices, even across the entire Milky Way galaxy.
The development of VLCA allowed Trajan's Human uprising to make use of smaller forces for maximum effect than their enemies using only P-comm system. However, they are quite large and must operate by line of sight to other known relay stations and cannot be fitted onto starships.
History & Disambiguation[]
One of the scientists involved with the P-Comm discovery had scribbled some notes describing a peculiar, almost imperceptible echo that occurred when a P-Comm transmitter was aimed at a P-Comm receiver. Not even the fabled Huldice scientists had realized the importance of this chance observation at the time, yet it would one day help to create the greatest empire the galaxy had ever seen.
Years later, two scientists investigated casual observations left by their long-dead colleague while they were studying possible improvements in the fidelity of the P-Comm system. Using a high-powered P-Comm system attached to a large, flat array on his lab roof, Professor Neil Stomtra of the University of Washington aimed it at a similar device located on Pluto. Waiting on Pluto to monitor the results was Dr. Jessica Sulta, his assistant.
What the scientists expected from the experiment was that an echo would follow the message at a measurable interval. What the experiment actually did yield left them stunned.
When Stomtra transmitted his message at the appointed time, Dr. Jessica Sulta was startled to hear the Professor's voice over her speakers at the same instant he spoke. A few moments later, the same message came across via the P-Comm. After hurriedly verifying the reliability of the local time devices, the two mulled over their discovery. It seemed impossible, but the "echo" they had been pursuing was not the trailing ghost of a message but the instantaneous transmission of information from Terra to far-off Pluto.
Just as Hsieh Ho had speculated about a multitude of dimensions all lying at right angles to one another, Stomtra and his aide theorized that there must be numerous realities using any combination of dimensions. "Normal" reality uses length, width, height, and time. Those also exist in T-space, but with a slight difference in the boundaries of possibility. What the two soon-to-be rich and famous researchers assumed was that their messages had traveled (if such a word applied) through a previously unknown reality, where time was not a factor! The military was especially quick to react to the implications of this device. The government soon undertook an enormous program to build larger, more powerful versions of what came to be known as the Very Large Communications Array (VLCA) in all the star systems, as well as designing communication ships that could be used as portable VLCAs.
The VLCA changed the course of human history by freeing Terran Humanity from its prison of ten planets. With astonishing ease, and to the complete surprise of the enemy, fleets under the command of Alexander Trajan were continually able to outflank their opponents, resulting in the eventual creation of the Terran Government.
This is not to say that the VLCA is without disadvantages. The first of these is the sheer size of the system. In order to communicate effectively with the most distant star an array of ultra-sensitive polarizing transceivers at least a kilometer in area is required. This requires that each installation must draw enormous power from either solar panels or an harmonic crystal generator. Like its predecessor, the P-Comm, the VLCA is also inoperable in T-Space.
The most serious limitation was that the array must be aimed directly at the recipient of the message, which requires sophisticated computers to accomplish.
As a result, VLCAs are usually huge complexes of arrays, solar collectors, and maneuvering engines orbiting a few select worlds. Some of the larger VLCAs are equipped with several arrays to handle several messages simultaneously. Communication ships, usually reserved for navies, are huge affairs bedecked with enormous, yet fragile, panels that can be lowered and stored for flight.
Given the crucial importance of VLCAs, it is no wonder that they have become the focus of so many battles.