Cloak

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## Active camouflage(Halo)

Active camouflage (often shortened to active camo) is a form of technological camouflage designed to conceal an object from visual detection by rapidly adapting to its surroundings. Both the UNSC and the Covenant use various forms of active camouflage technology, though the term is most prominently applied to Covenant-developed cloaking equipment.

Technically, active camouflage is not quite invisibility, though it is very similar. Rather, the term encompasses a broad range of technologies that allows a wearer or object to blend in with its terrain by mimicking the environment around it. There are a variety of ways to do this, though the UNSC uses photoreactive panels on its Semi-Powered Infiltration armor and prowler stealth ships for optical camouflage, adapting to the object's background to account for movement. Meanwhile, Covenant active camouflage actually bends light around the camouflaged object, a task well within the Covenant's tier two technology level. The technology can be utilized on human armor systems, such as the MJOLNIR armor, but the UNSC has only developed rough equivalents.

### Covenant active camouflage

Covenant active camouflage technology uses a field of energy to bend light around the user, thus making them effectively invisible. The armor used by Spec-Ops and Stealth Sangheili, as well as that of Arbiters, Jiralhanae Stalkers and even certain Sangheili Zealots, include built-in active camouflage generators. These built-in generators have a severe drawback in that they divert power from shielding equipment. Troops equipped with permanent active camouflage generators tend to have weaker shielding than those not equipped with an active camouflage generator.

Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee was equipped with an active camouflage generator capable of generating a near-perfect cloaking field indefinitely. Arbiter Thel 'Vadam was also equipped with an active camouflage generator, but the device was capable only of providing a cloak for a few seconds, and although 'Vadam was equipped with personal shielding, his shields were relatively weak for an individual of such high rank, equivalent to those of a Sangheili Minor.

Aircraft or ships can also be equipped with active camouflage systems, including the Ru'swum-pattern Phantom that has its own active camouflage generators on board for various stealth missions, and the Klavbrig Workshop Shroud used by the Banished to cloak the advance of their armies Larger vessels such as supercarriers, or entire armies, can be effectively hidden from both plain sight and sensors by using external stealth systems such as stealth pylons and Cloaking Generators.

For personnel not equipped with built-in active camouflage, it can be provided by a variety of devices. Typically, the energy used to provide the effect is suspended inside a small, transparent pyramidal container, or a larger spherical force-field. Personnel can use the light-bending energy by coming into physical contact with the container or force-field, which will cause it to break and release its contents. Upon release, the energy envelops the wearer and bends light around their skin; armor or energy shielding, conforming to their form and rendering them almost invisible. After a short period of time, the energy will gradually dissipate and wear off, slowly revealing its user. The active camouflage provided by these devices lasts for ten seconds, and only prevents visual detection; those using active camouflage can be observed by other means, including motion tracking, noise, and environmental disturbances such as footprints on soft terrain.

### Function

Covenant active camouflage will easily cloak its user, but its effect does not completely extend to items in the user's possession; human weapons are easily cloaked by active camouflage, but Covenant weapons are visible even with active camo, as the light-bending energy cannot mask the glow of the weapons' plasma. In Halo: Combat Evolved, however, plasma glow is hidden quite well by the cloaking equipment.

Though active camouflage is quite effective from a distance, it can faintly be seen if an observer is close enough to the wearer. However, it is difficult to spot a camouflaged opponent from a distance using a scoped weapon—actual physical proximity is required to reliably spot a person using active camo. It should be noted, though, that active camouflage does not mask environmental effects such as footprints, meaning that it is not as effective on soft terrain such as snow.

The shielding provided by Covenant active camo can be disrupted if projectiles pass through it; such a disruption weakens the invisibility effect and temporarily reveals the wearer. The power-up can be disrupted if the wearer fires shots or if the wearer is hit. It also progressively worsens: the longer the wearer fires (or is hit), the more visible they become. Once the disruptions end, however, the wearer quickly regains their invisibility.

Talcum powder and other atmospheric particles can disrupt the systems, causing the technology to overload and fail. The device also generates a considerable amount of heat, causing its user to be clearly visible on human thermal goggles and some variations of the SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle. The humans of Alpha Base on Installation 04 used this advantage when their base was infiltrated by stealth Elites, equipping their fireteams with infrared goggles allowing them to easily see the attackers. In addition, SPARTAN-IIs William-043 and Kelly-087 employed talcum powder in order to overload the camouflage on Reach in order to find them. Atriox was able to detect the use of active camouflage through smell. However, it is possible he was just smelling the users themselves rather than the cloaking field, and was calling them out for its use.

During the Requiem Campaign, active camouflage was used to shield the seven HAVOK tactical nuclear weapons smuggled aboard the UNSC Infinity from detection by the ship's AI Roland. After Fireteam Crimson took out a Sangheili holding a cloaking remote, Roland realized this tactic. By tracking the energy signature from the cloaking generator, Roland was able to locate the warheads in the Engine Room and direct Crimson where to go to disarm them before they could be used to destroy the Infinity. Unlike conventional active camouflage, this type shielded the warheads from sensors but they could be physically seen by nearby persons without any issue.[12] Later, in the Warrens, the Covenant hooked up active camouflage to their shield generators to prevent the human forces from finding and destroying them. Spartan Jared Miller was eventually able to identify the Sangheili who controlled the active camouflage and after Crimson took him out, the active camouflage dropped, revealing the generators.

After the death of Gek 'Lhar, his corpse was looted by Fireteam Majestic. Spartan Gabriel Thorne took Gek's active camouflage module[14] which he subsequently used during the attempted rescue of Dr. Catherine Halsey.