SENSORS

The Tribes of Man use pulse and motion sensors to detect enemy presence. Critical to tactical planning in any situation, sensors are nevertheless severely limited. Tribal armors and vehicles all include standard ECM packages, such that average sensor effectiveness drops dramatically within several hundred meters. Outside of line-of-sight (LOS), even concentrated pulse sensors can be rendered virtually useless. On the other hand, once within a sensor's effective range, escaping detection is virtually impossible without powerful jamming equipment. The honor-based culture of the wilderzone has prevented adoption of outright cloaking technology (deeming it dishonorable), though that capability has existed since the Cybrid Wars. Interestingly, one of my contacts in the Blood Eagle, an aspiring duelist who recently left Fury's service, has hinted that the exiles have quietly begun to incorporate cloaking gear into their inventories. If this is true, we should expect tribal warfare to grow considerably bloodier.

Motion sensors are simple, short-range detection devices using an optical interface and sensitive air pressure triggers. When any object within its detection radius moves, a motion sensor "sees" and tracks that object as long as it remains within range. Many varieties of motion sensors also screen for intruder sound profiles. Some tribes use IR or laser "tripwires" to add an additional layer of protection. Such low-tech strategies are scoffed at by those familiar with the Imperial military, but tribals simply smile in the knowledge that their less-advanced equipment nonetheless continues to serve well.

Pulse sensors blanket almost the entire EM spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays, in a manner similar to ancient radar. They can be jammed by a technology that utilizes a multi-phased cloaking field to make the shielded object or person invisible to pulse sequences. However, such broad jamming fields require enormous power and can only be maintained for long periods where supported by a dedicated energy source.

All information collected by the sensors in a tribe's holdfasting is downloaded to a master tactical computer, which in turn relays the data to each warrior's command circuit, or "Bleed."

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