Probing

Probing is Centauri's term for espionage. Once you research Planetary Networks and the requisite probe team gear, you can send probe teams against enemy factions.

Operations
Probe teams are used against enemy units and bases by coming into direct combat with them. Land and sea chassis types can carry gear and use it with the exact same efficiency. During an operation, probe teams can either make a clean getaway or try to blame another faction leader (with various rates of success).

Against units, probe teams can try to bypass security interlocks and seize control of it.

Against bases, the catalog of options is far greater and includes:


 * Stealing credits.
 * Destroying base facilities (with a specific or random target).
 * Stealing technologies.
 * Assassinating researchers (wiping out research progress towards the next milestone).
 * Wiping out the population with genetic warfare (atrocity).
 * Mind-control the base at a significant energy cost.

Defense
Defending against enemy probing attacks can be either passive or active. Active defense is physically seeking out enemy probe teams and wiping them out in direct combat. Since probe teams carry no flags, they can be attacked with impunity.

Passive include garrisoning probe teams in vulnerable frontier bases (they act as garrisoned troops and engage enemies in combat), increasing your PROBE rating in social engineering (reducing enemy success rate), or investing in the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm secret project that makes you invulnerable to probing.

Repeated probing attacks in the same turn against the same target are ill-advised, as they carry a major probing penalty.