User:XW3 AR3 L3GION/Cloaking Device

"There he is! Wait..where has he gone? FIND HIM! FIND H-AAaaaarrgghhhh!"

- Jiralhanae soldier being stabbed by a stealthed Sangheili with a Energy Sword.

A Cloaking Device, also known as Active Camouflage, is a formed of advanced stealth technology that uses specific bending of light to render an person, object, vehicle or an area completely invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum and various sensors. A cloaking device is most used on Special Operations soldiers which use camouflage to conduct their mission and operations in complete secrecy but is sometimes used to disguise a build-up of troop formations in land-based warfare.

The cloaking device had several flaws, the most major was that the device generates an considerable amount of thermal energy which can easily be seen by anyone wearing or using thermal optics. The second most major flaw is that if close enough an non-cloaked individual can easily see a cloaked individual due to the shimmer-like effect. Also the cloaking device loses efficiency if the user fires a weapon or is hit by projectiles, directed energy or lasers. If the cloaking device is used when the enviroment causes the active camouflage to overload. Earlier versions required the cloaked individual to move slower or to stand still in order for the camouflage to work, but later versions allowed for the user of the cloaking device to run or move rapidly without a loss of efficiency.

Objects are perfect users of the cloaking device, Stealth Spires are an brilliant example. They can project blanket electromagnetic camouflage fields across large areas allowing them to hide huge numbers of military forces or even a small city from sensors and probes. However, these electromagnetic fields cannot stop a simple organic being from entering and revealing all the Spires secrets. Cloaking devices do not always work well with vehicles. They are wasted upon small, light vehicles but are put to excellent use on dropships as they can quitely infiltrate enemy territory to deploy soldiers to attack key infrastructure, recon certain areas and assassinating high-level individuals.

Despite the cloaking device's advanced nature, they cannot be used by space-faring vessels except under specific conditions such as using electromagnetic stealth spires to disguise the ships power signature. It wasn't until 2834 with the advent of specially-made internal heat sinks which allowed a light-tonnage ship to generate a cloaking field big enough and powerful enough to hide its thermal and power signatures. However, the cloaked vessel are unable to fire any weapons due to the power requirements and are forced to un-cloak to engage any enemy which allows hidden ships to ambush enemy vessels.