PDRMNECOM
This system of emergency transmission is used only in the most dire of circumstances, but is incredibly resistant to any attack and very hard to fake.
The primary part of this system is the km long broadcast antenna installed on all battleships, dreadnoughts and primary bases. These must be massive due to the VLF used in the transmission. Each of these stations is given a unique 6 byte code, which along with a 8 byte message and a 2 byte OTP identifier, make up the transmission. Even then, these can take a couple seconds, mostly because the transmission is re-encoded to over 2x the length for error correction
The high requirements, relative lack of use, and overall security of the system prevent any fraudulent usage. All ships have an identical one time pad with ~65000 quantum keys. A short identifier at the beginning of a message tells which key to use. These are updated every week with quantum entangled distribution, but keep the old ones due to light lag concerns. The message and identifier must then be decoded with that key, then with the senders public key, after which the identifier and message can be read (Every public key for every possible sender is tested, there are only 32 possible senders). Directional detection is essentially impossible due to the long wavelength, but typically a more standard UHF signal will be sent simultaneously, and anyway, the position of all ships is known.
The obviously incredibly brief nature of the messages means that it is all based off of a code table. There are messages for most "common" things that would require a burst to every single ship in the system, and the structure of most messages is approximately:
AA:LL:LL:LL CC:CC:CC:CC
A: Nature of incident
L: Rough location of incident, based on an labeled model of the solar system.
First byte: 0 is mars, 1-7 are the other planets, 8-31 are major other bodies, 32-63 are zones of the asteroid belt, 64-95 are various martian installations, 96-127 are zones in the Kuiper belt, and 128+ is other regions, special locations or areas.
Second and third bytes specify locations within as per a code book.
C Specifics about the incident, defined according to A. If A is a threat, typically it will contain a values denoting rough strength of both sides, a call to action, and often will have the reg number of the ship that is coordinating.
All As:
00: Imminent Invasion of Mars. Location is from where. C is typical of threat
01: Hostile Fleet Spotted, Location where, C is typical
02: Hostilities with Gas Giants, Location is where originating from, C is info about details
03: Hostilities with Earth, Location is where originating from, C is info about details
04: Hostilities with Asteroid Entity, Location is where, C is exact identifier followed by a rough threat assessment of them
05: Hostilities with a rouge entity, L is where, C is threat
0F: Further signals from this source should be disregarded. Location is location of ship, C is reason for disregard.
10: All clear, Previous message dealt with. Location is location of ship, C is the OTP id and A code from the message in question.
11: Additional Data, adds data to previous transmission, rarely used, but there is another code book for this.
12: Test signal, Disregard. L and C are garbage
13: Signal after this one from this source is a training exercise. L is area of exercise, C the A and OTP code for the next signal.
21: Technical Hazard in progress, Location is where, C is exact nature of hazard and what threat it is
: Invasion of a Base imminent, Location is which base, C is typical of threat
22: Hacking attempts detected, shut off all comms except this one. Location is guessed origin, C is a id for the Unlock message
23: Hacking attempts dissuaded, turn on comms. Location is same guessed origin, C is id from the 7
24: RKV detected, begin ASTAT 1 random-walk. Location is where the RKV was spotted, C is some data about the RKV
25: Nuclear detonations detected, L is where, C is # of nukes followed by threat assesment
31: Rouge Martian Element, Location is location of element, C is reg code of the ship in question
32: Rouge Neutral Element, Location is location of origin, C is reg code from that origin.
40: Developing situation in Rho Labs. L is a code detailing which lab, C is a more specific code about nature of problem.
A0: ASTAT control reverted to commander
A1: Set ASTAT to 1, L is location where the order takes effect (FF for all) and C is an auth code
A2: Set ASTAT to 2, Same
A3: Set ASTAT to 3, Same
A4: Set ASTAT to 4, Same
A5: Set ASTAT to 5, Same
A6: Set ASTAT to 6, Same
A7: Set ASTAT to 7, Same
A8: Increase ASTAT, Same
A9: Decrease ASTAT, Same
AA: Increase ASTAT by 2 points, Same
AB: Decrease ASTAT by 2 points, Same
B0: Unknown occurrence in Location, L is location, C is brief summary of the strange nature of the occurrence.
B1: Unknown Ship in Location, L is location, C is a brief summary of Engine Power, apparent mass, and some other stuff
C0-DF are reserved as Fleet specific codes
E0-F are reserved for training codes
F0: Continuity of government has gone into effect, L is the # in line of the current highest known person, C is a code detailing the events and a meetup location. This one will be broadcast by multiple ships until they find the highest in line, but also by a couple designated ships with phony codes.
FD: Make best possible speed to Location, L is that location, C is a reason
FE: Make best possible speed to Omega Locations, L is area of threat, C is nature
FF: Make best possible speed out of the system, L is area of threat, C is nature.
The primary part of this system is the km long broadcast antenna installed on all battleships, dreadnoughts and primary bases. These must be massive due to the VLF used in the transmission. Each of these stations is given a unique 6 byte code, which along with a 8 byte message and a 2 byte OTP identifier, make up the transmission. Even then, these can take a couple seconds, mostly because the transmission is re-encoded to over 2x the length for error correction
The high requirements, relative lack of use, and overall security of the system prevent any fraudulent usage. All ships have an identical one time pad with ~65000 quantum keys. A short identifier at the beginning of a message tells which key to use. These are updated every week with quantum entangled distribution, but keep the old ones due to light lag concerns. The message and identifier must then be decoded with that key, then with the senders public key, after which the identifier and message can be read (Every public key for every possible sender is tested, there are only 32 possible senders). Directional detection is essentially impossible due to the long wavelength, but typically a more standard UHF signal will be sent simultaneously, and anyway, the position of all ships is known.
The obviously incredibly brief nature of the messages means that it is all based off of a code table. There are messages for most "common" things that would require a burst to every single ship in the system, and the structure of most messages is approximately:
AA:LL:LL:LL CC:CC:CC:CC
A: Nature of incident
L: Rough location of incident, based on an labeled model of the solar system.
First byte: 0 is mars, 1-7 are the other planets, 8-31 are major other bodies, 32-63 are zones of the asteroid belt, 64-95 are various martian installations, 96-127 are zones in the Kuiper belt, and 128+ is other regions, special locations or areas.
Second and third bytes specify locations within as per a code book.
C Specifics about the incident, defined according to A. If A is a threat, typically it will contain a values denoting rough strength of both sides, a call to action, and often will have the reg number of the ship that is coordinating.
All As:
00: Imminent Invasion of Mars. Location is from where. C is typical of threat
01: Hostile Fleet Spotted, Location where, C is typical
02: Hostilities with Gas Giants, Location is where originating from, C is info about details
03: Hostilities with Earth, Location is where originating from, C is info about details
04: Hostilities with Asteroid Entity, Location is where, C is exact identifier followed by a rough threat assessment of them
05: Hostilities with a rouge entity, L is where, C is threat
0F: Further signals from this source should be disregarded. Location is location of ship, C is reason for disregard.
10: All clear, Previous message dealt with. Location is location of ship, C is the OTP id and A code from the message in question.
11: Additional Data, adds data to previous transmission, rarely used, but there is another code book for this.
12: Test signal, Disregard. L and C are garbage
13: Signal after this one from this source is a training exercise. L is area of exercise, C the A and OTP code for the next signal.
21: Technical Hazard in progress, Location is where, C is exact nature of hazard and what threat it is
: Invasion of a Base imminent, Location is which base, C is typical of threat
22: Hacking attempts detected, shut off all comms except this one. Location is guessed origin, C is a id for the Unlock message
23: Hacking attempts dissuaded, turn on comms. Location is same guessed origin, C is id from the 7
24: RKV detected, begin ASTAT 1 random-walk. Location is where the RKV was spotted, C is some data about the RKV
25: Nuclear detonations detected, L is where, C is # of nukes followed by threat assesment
31: Rouge Martian Element, Location is location of element, C is reg code of the ship in question
32: Rouge Neutral Element, Location is location of origin, C is reg code from that origin.
40: Developing situation in Rho Labs. L is a code detailing which lab, C is a more specific code about nature of problem.
A0: ASTAT control reverted to commander
A1: Set ASTAT to 1, L is location where the order takes effect (FF for all) and C is an auth code
A2: Set ASTAT to 2, Same
A3: Set ASTAT to 3, Same
A4: Set ASTAT to 4, Same
A5: Set ASTAT to 5, Same
A6: Set ASTAT to 6, Same
A7: Set ASTAT to 7, Same
A8: Increase ASTAT, Same
A9: Decrease ASTAT, Same
AA: Increase ASTAT by 2 points, Same
AB: Decrease ASTAT by 2 points, Same
B0: Unknown occurrence in Location, L is location, C is brief summary of the strange nature of the occurrence.
B1: Unknown Ship in Location, L is location, C is a brief summary of Engine Power, apparent mass, and some other stuff
C0-DF are reserved as Fleet specific codes
E0-F are reserved for training codes
F0: Continuity of government has gone into effect, L is the # in line of the current highest known person, C is a code detailing the events and a meetup location. This one will be broadcast by multiple ships until they find the highest in line, but also by a couple designated ships with phony codes.
FD: Make best possible speed to Location, L is that location, C is a reason
FE: Make best possible speed to Omega Locations, L is area of threat, C is nature
FF: Make best possible speed out of the system, L is area of threat, C is nature.
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