The night on the alien planet was still long. Polaris had gotten drunk early and gone upstairs to rest. Arkham Knight and Miles had not stayed long either, choosing to turn in early to prepare for tomorrow's busy schedule. But Peter remained, because he had already figured out the electromagnetic interference device.
"I noticed earlier that this thing has two modes. One is broad-spectrum interference, and the other is focused interference. The latter is extremely powerful—you could think of it as an electromagnetic sniper cannon. It can have a tremendous effect on most energy-based constructs."
"Energy-based constructs?"
"Exactly. From what I've studied, this device has little effect on material constructs. Or rather, if they really wanted to make an electromagnetic cannon capable of smashing through solid defenses, they wouldn't use this method. They'd use something more efficient. After all, their starship main guns are already technologically advanced enough. There's no need for this thing."
"And this device has two advantages. First, it's extremely portable and easy to conceal. It doesn't require a complicated setup procedure or massive amounts of energy to activate, and it can switch between the two modes at any time. The other—and most important—advantage is that it sacrifices its effect on material constructs in order to focus on energy-based constructs. It must perform quite well in that regard."
Schiller nodded, continuing to wipe a glass. Then he said, "What do you think it's targeting?"
"Portals."
"What?"
Peter adjusted his chair and said, "I suspect this thing may be designed to target human portals."
Schiller looked somewhat hesitant. Peter continued, "The Three Great Empires have known humans possess portals for more than a day. They couldn't possibly lack backup plans. Given their research speed, it was about time they produced some results."
"You think this is their result?"