Codex Transportica

Desperate times call for desperate measures… and no times were more desperate than when the Allies seemed to be losing the technology race. Stealth attacks were rife, and even the seemingly modern technology of RADAR had been confounded by improved aircraft design to reduce RADAR signature.

However, it has never yet been possible to produce a fixed-wing attack craft that can be propelled without significant noise; and it was to many people’s surprise (none more so than the axis themselves) that a relatively simple listening device, when researched and (for want of a better word) “tuned” to perfection, was able to help stem and possibly even turn the tide.

The Early Acoustic Relay was the brain-child of Professor Seane Landesmanne, an early defector to the allies due to his shock and abhorrence at the blood-thirsty annexing of his home country. As can be seen from the design, the most striking feature of the apparatus was the array of ten Lightweight Ordnance Background Enhancers. Each LOBE was tuned to a different, and very specific, frequency – based on the knowledge of the various propulsion systems utilised by the enemy forces.

Sound waves were digitised on the fly by the “Pinna” class Semi-Autonomous QUIDNAC Sound Processor, then filtered, enhanced and compared to its internal tables of known sound signatures. This is turn was run through a Digital-to-Analog conversion circuit and finally to the operator for override or confirmation of the signal. Both the original signal and the enhanced signal were mixed in order to achieve improved resolution.

Naturally such a large and ungainly piece of equipment was easy to sabotage, and at first a number of operators were permanently invalided from their role by the simple expedient of a small, but very loud, explosive detonated near the detector. Deafness, at best, was inevitable due to the level of amplification produced by the system and in fact several unfortunate monitoring staff were killed by intense compression of the brain as the sound waves burst through their eardrums.

Later models included real-time volume damping and suppression and of course a level of sound detection hitherto unimagined, and opened up a fascinating new war of subterfuge. Remote listening and corresponding vocal obfuscation became a new science in the art of espionage.

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