The Variis
Proximity Sensor is a package of the most sophisticated
Taiidani sensors mounted on a simple, but reliable,
mini-fusion drive. Variis not only have extensive sensing
ranges, but also have a very small visual and electronic
silhouette themselves, making them difficult to spot and
destroy in combat. Much more advanced than simple probes,
the Variis Drones have expert systems onboard that are so
sophisticated that they can even track anomalies in the
background radiation of space itself. This means that a
Variis can locate Kushan Cloaked Fighters by the
"holes" they leave in space. Software engineers
have upgraded these sensor anomalies to target status, so
that a web of Variis Proximity Sensors can now track
incoming cloaked ships and pass that information to Fleet
Command.
This
ability to see cloaked ships makes the Variis a prime
target, but their relatively low production cost and the
extended range of their sensors means that most commanders
can easily set up overlapping fields of sensors. Enemy
attempts to punch a hole through the sensor web by
destroying all the Variis in a certain sector is an obvious
indication of the vector that an enemy attack will be on.
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