The Quantum Telegraph

Space doesn't count and the words don't matter...

The operator read the message, and then read it again.

"-Enemy in systpm-
-Preptre 4 attsck-"

Puzzled, he looked up from the screen, raised his hand and shouted, "Admiral Thrace."
Miranda turned and her face hardened as she walked to the operator's side. She bent over to read the message, then straightened up, reaching for a microphone to broadcast across the ship. The moment she spoke, the entire room fell silent, "Alert. We've received a message. Enemy in the system. Prepare for attack."

The operator looked up, his eyes wide, as Miranda placed the mic down. "Admiral, it could be a false flag."
Miranda pointed to the comms technician on the other side of the room. "I want every ship ready to go, now." She turned her attention back to the operator, " I don't think it is. We could end the war right here. These next few hours will be critical. Notify Unity."

One of humanity's few advantages, The Quantum Telegraph, is a form of faster-than-light communication. It laughs in the face of our understanding of science, bypassing physics with soft measured particles. It's not the best method, but it's saved humanity from complete destruction several times over. It's given us a reputation, if our allies are to be believed.
The quantum telegraph is remarkably simple. It takes no more than two quantum chips, each entangled with the other. These chips are designed with communication in mind. Each chip serves as an address for the recipient of a message. Every computer must have a matching chip to send and receive messages. This necessitates constant updates. New chips must be provided for every quantum address when created, which is where the downsides start to add up.
When a message needs to be sent, the computer takes soft measurements of the necessary particles, using clockwise and counterclockwise spin as a stand-in for binary code, one meaning 1 and another meaning 0. These measurements repeat until the desired measurements are found. They are then "locked in" a process involving internal mechanisms of the computer that prevents the superposition from changing the measurements. The recipient takes soft measurements of their corresponding chips every two minutes, and interprets the results. If words are interpreted, a message is flagged and shown to the user.

Pros and cons

There are some serious benefits to this technology, but also some serious drawbacks.

Pros

• Instant communication: Regardless of time or distance, one can send a message that will instantly be received when the particles are measured.

• Reliable, to a degree: Large sums of data can be transferred so long as it can be created in the span of two minutes. This data is fairly easy to interpret even if some of the words are incorrect or missing.

Cons

• Limited Length:Message length should be as short as possible. The longer it is, the longer it takes to construct the message. And it's possible that even the shortest message won't send due to probability surrounding quantum states.

• Time Sensitive: If the two-minute interval passes before the message is properly constructed, the message must be rebuilt from the beginning, as it won't be sent in its entirety. While this isn't always a problem, crucial parts of a message may be missing when received.

• Resources: The chips are hard to produce and every computer will need chips of their own, along with transmission and reception chips for every other quantum address. This makes upkeep a tedious game of record keeping to know which computers can communicate with others, and move to rectify when possible.

• Prone to Error: Flagged messages occur when a measurement COULD contain a message. The nature of probability makes it where words can easily be found and sometimes messages can be interpreted that don't actually say anything. There's also a small chance a message will say something, but have incorrect spelling, swapped letters, and sometimes saying something that is not meant to be said at all.

• Superposition Collapse: Sometimes, superpositions in quantum particles will collapse regardless of the soft measurements. This ruins their entangled state and makes them impossible to use. The computers can detect this, but it means the chips require upkeep and routine repairs.

Limits

You can't send voice or video recordings, nor can you send complex layouts of data. The only form a message can take is text. Furthermore, these messages depend on the language of the sender, and their ability to spell correctly. It's crucial for every operator and computer to speak the same language, or messages will not be flagged. Even if flagged, the operator needs to be able to read it.

There are currently 48 quantum computers capable of communicating with each other. This means there are 2304 chips needed to keep the network operating properly. With every new addition, the number grows exponentially, and it can take significant amounts of time to outfit every computer.
Most of these computers are on Persephone class frigates, ships operated by Wayfarers used to explore the outer reaches of the galaxy. This problem is helped by creating these chips beforehand. Outfitting new ships with chips others were preemptively equipped with prevents having to recall the wayfarers for upgrades.

Miranda gripped her mug so hard her knuckles went white. In the hours that passed, the entire fleet mobilized. Now they waited, hoping to counter the element of surprise with a surprise of their own. The plan was simple, but easy to mess up. They had less than ten minutes before the enemy would be upon them. The Sillue fleet used warp tech, and if it was anything like what Miranda saw before, their shields would be down when they reached firing distance. She only needed to fire the missiles before the fleet arrived.
Miranda gave the word, "launch all missiles."
She heard the silos open, echoing off the metal hull. She heard the missiles fire, and watched the screen as they flew along predetermined paths. Minutes went by. The missiles flew for miles. The entire crew waited, everyone on edge as they watched for confirmation.
Miranda's eyes narrowed as a massive fleet, dozens of ships, appeared on the radar. She then smiled as they disappeared, one by one.