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Given enough power and instrumentality, it is possible to mechanically amplify an ordinary Loroi individual's telepathic transmission so that it may be readable at interstellar distances, but this is not usually done. Keep in mind that during the pre-starflight Loroi period of internecine warfare, amplified telepathic transmissions were used by the Loroi for the purpose of attacking the minds of their fellow Loroi, and the telepathic amplifiers worn by Mizol and Teidar are for the purpose of attack, not communication. If you imagine trying to amplify an audio signal generated from Chicago so that it could be heard in New York, and consider what that might do to the hearing of people in the surrounding areas, you get an idea of why this is potentially dangerous to unintended recipients. A telepathic signal can be focused in terms of "frequency" to attempt to limit the contact to an individual Loroi, but there are limits to how effective this focusing can be. Using telepathy at interstellar FTL communication is possible, but limited to unusual situations in which the target is a known amplified Farseer who can detect a transmission at a specific "frequency" and low enough power that it will not potentially lobotomize nearby ordinary Loroi, or where transmitter and receiver are in a "safe" location free of nearby vulnerable listeners, or else in such a desperate situation that the sender is willing to accept such a risk to telepathic bystanders. Warning an outpost of an incoming Umiak strike may not be worthwhile if you destroy the minds of the majority of the people you are trying to warn.

Ship-to-ship telepathy would have to be amplified; you'd either have to have Farseer-level telepaths on both ships (who could send messages directly to each other), or the message would have to be broadcast loud enough for everyone on the target ship to hear, which would be disruptive (especially to those on the sending ship).

Farseers are not living FTL radios. A Farseer's ability (and her available instrumentality) is centered around reception, not transmission. Broadcasting an amplified telepathic transmission that could be received (even by a Farseer) at interstellar distance is dangerous to nearby Loroi, and so (except in an extreme emergency) can only be attempted from specially prepared, safe locations. This means that FTL messages can be sent from HQ to Farseers in the field, but generally not the other way around.

The development of powerful telepathic amplifiers allowed Farseers on Deinar to detect their counterparts on Perrein, about whom they had been completely unaware. The question of Loroi origins had always been a matter of great debate, so it became a matter of prime importance to make contact with these lost relatives.

icekatze wrote:There are some other limitations on the capabilities of Farseers to communicate as well, including how quickly they wear out. A breakthrough at a strategically vital position might warrant farseer communication in certain circumstances, but it is not a given. Furthermore, the Umiak seem to have some understanding of farseers, and the Umiak commander said that their divisions would have bypassed the Azimol citadel. If that is a place that has strategic sending capabilities, the Umiak may have left it alone and gone around.

That, along with the fact that -unless we're in for a surprise- there is no farseer on Alex's shuttle, I think there is still plenty of reason for Beryl to think that her curiosity will go unsatiated.

dragoongfa wrote:I think that the battle of Naam was the 'field test' of the telepathic masking ability. Whenever a new kind of weapon is introduced the following two phases always happen:

1st: Familiarization of the equipment by the personnel who will use it and testing if the equipment is properly integrated into the existing systems.
2nd: Once familiarization and integration are at acceptable levels, field testing of a large scale is carried out.

If the field test is successful then the gloves are off.

DevilDalek wrote:

dragoongfa wrote:I think that the battle of Naam was the 'field test' of the telepathic masking ability. Whenever a new kind of weapon is introduced the following two phases always happen:

1st: Familiarization of the equipment by the personnel who will use it and testing if the equipment is properly integrated into the existing systems.
2nd: Once familiarization and integration are at acceptable levels, field testing of a large scale is carried out.

If the field test is successful then the gloves are off.

So are we looking at a possible stealth attack on the shuttle?
Perhaps forcing a crash landing in an uninhabited area and forcing a reliance on human survival techniques to keep the group alive? there by forging a more equal relationship and respect?

dragoongfa wrote:...unless the attackers are Loroi themselves.

Yiuel wrote:If their behavior bears any similarity to insects... It may be possible that most Umiak know nothing about what most Umiak are doing. That would be a rather interesting twist.

Sweforce wrote:

Yiuel wrote:If their behavior bears any similarity to insects... It may be possible that most Umiak know nothing about what most Umiak are doing. That would be a rather interesting twist.

This is a common problem in military operations. If everyone knows the plan, things goes more smoothly but there is an increased risk of the enemy catching wind of the plan. With a "needs to know" approach, things can get awry if the people knowing the plan ends up dead. Soldiers that knows what needs to be done can keep going even if all their commanders are dead. I guess that some kind of mix between the approaches are most common.