Wireless power transfer (WPT) technology is used almost ubiquitously among Austral armed forces, both in the Unity’s Telemachy forces and by deniable/external groups like the Auravelus. It has completely eclipsed the archaic power supply line (PSL) system of keeping high-power devices charged and operational at the front lines with power-over-fiber tech or the physical transportation of capacitors, batteries or fuel cells. Some redundancy with PSL backups is maintained in modern times, and is being revisited as counters to WPT appear.  

Weapons like plasma guns and laser tools have a finite charge that can be problematic even with the most advanced capacitors; a WPT station will be able to deploy lasers beams in the infrared-to-microwave range to the antennae of friendly weapons that are logged in to the WPT system, remotely charging the devices from a centralized power source. These stations may be based in buildings, larger vehicles or even satellites – Austral electronic and photonic systems are advanced enough to provide sub-millimeter accuracy with these beams across dozens to hundreds of kilometers. A single weapon is likely to be serviceable by multiple WPT stations, which generally overlap in range, as having a hole in WPT coverage can be very problematic. It is actually possible for WPT stations to charge each other, though such high-output stations are rather rare.

There are some important limitations. WPT is compromised deep underground and underwater, or when transferring horizontally in mountainous terrain, and even in ideal atmospheric conditions with good line-of-sight WPT centers have a range that needs to be respected. On most Scapes full satellite-coverage is not established, making imperfect ground-based stations with compromised line-of-sight necessary. Efficiency of the transfer will be reduced by distance and can be dimmed further by ash, dust or water vapor in the atmosphere, or deliberate pollutants as exploited by the Inrisus Glitzkrieg engine.  WPT can also be deliberately blocked by specialized screens of metamaterials that might be incorporated into fortifications as subtle traps. The transfer rate is limited so as not to damage antennae, generally requiring several minutes to fully load a drained handheld weapon (even a thousand shots from most weapons would amount to ~1 second total firing time, and careless ‘laser-hosing’ could drain any weapon in seconds). Somewhat mitigating this limitation, practically all modern equipment is still useable during recharging.

Beyond these physical limitations, there are also important security risks. These transfer beams can be detected, allowing for both the station and the serviced weapon to be located. An enemy might also trick a station into transferring power to their own equipment. While efforts are made to ensure that the WPT stations are generally tamper-proof it is possible to command the station to exceed power limits and damage the antennae of devices in its range, potentially making them unserviceable without repair. This risk is actually greater than the risk of having insufficient power, since WPT stations are generally well-chosen to have surplus energy reserves in enlarged capacitors with energy harvesting networks attached – and in general, each adjustment to improve a station’s reserves, harvesting ability and transfer range will also make it more detectable. The transfer beams themselves are generally harmless to human bodies, passing through them along with most obstructions, though with sufficient intensity or adjustment to the wavelength they can burn or kill unprotected personnel.