Mission report by Caldwell Devis
Mission Background:
During the latter stages of “Operation Radiation” I was involved in a mission to hack into a HIVE during an assault on a factory. During this mission I saved a copy of the raw code on my PADD for further analysis. My hope had been that we could hack into HIVE communications or at the very least disrupt them somehow.
HIVE communications between units employs a Polyphasic Entangled Waveform as its base encryption so a direct intervention into their comms is potentially out of our reach with our current resources. However, as opposed to taking total control the theory was that it might be possible to interfere with their basic perception systems, you wouldn’t be invisible, but you won’t be directly observable either. I modified my own PADD to reprogram a unit of Nanite’s to this end, but it would need testing.
Mission Status:
In conjunction with Michael Shannon (who had his own technology that needed testing) I ventured out into the wastelands with other personnel and FEF soldiers. The first HIVE we encountered were aggressively put down by the FEF until we convinced them we needed a ‘live’ subject.
We almost fell over a group of HIVE and unexpectedly I activated the CHAPS program on my PADD and the HIVE drone walked straight by us, like we were not even there. Michael then employed his own ‘patch’ and the HIVE immediately fell over, I’m not sure what the ultimate effect of this was but he seemed happy enough.
Attempting to withdraw we encountered another group of HIVE, although there was a different model there, I once again activated the CHAPS program on my PADD and once again the HIVE could not see me. Michael had been wounded by this stage, so I took the patch and approached the larger HIVE. It did not see my approach but as soon as I applied the patch it turned to look at me and attempted to engage me in direct combat. I was able to evade and escape and with the rest of the FEF, we were able to put down this group of HIVE and vacated the area.
Mission Analysis:
CHAPS (or Cal’s Hive Anti-Perception System) was proved to work and be an effective stealth shield against the HIVE. 5 Minutes is the optimal time that is granted before the algorithm being transmitted by the Nanites becomes unstable and cannot be relied upon.
It’s also important to remember that they can’t see you but any overt action against a HIVE you are trying to evade may cause the effect to collapse faster. It doesn’t matter how many Nanites you use to this effect (or how big a field you can create, there will always be this limitation at this stage).
End mission report filed by
Caldwell Devis