Signal Boost

Signal Boost is the simplest and most widely used offensive protocol in the Terran arsenal — a targeted transmission that temporarily overclocks a unit's weapons systems by feeding them enhanced targeting data through the relay network. The entire process takes less than a second: the commander identifies the target unit, authorizes the boost, and the network delivers a compressed data packet containing optimized firing solutions, energy management parameters, and predictive targeting algorithms.

The effect is immediate and dramatic. A unit receiving a Signal Boost experiences a brief surge of combat clarity — targets appear brighter, firing solutions sharpen, and weapon systems operate at peak efficiency. The overclocked state lasts approximately eight seconds before the enhanced targeting data degrades and the unit returns to baseline performance. In that window, the boosted unit's offensive output roughly doubles.

The protocol's brevity is both its strength and its limitation. Signal Boost is cheap to transmit — it requires minimal bandwidth and can be deployed multiple times per engagement without straining the relay network. But the fleeting duration means it must be timed precisely to be effective. A boost wasted on a unit that can't reach its target in the eight-second window is bandwidth spent for nothing.

Experienced Terran commanders develop an instinctive sense for Signal Boost timing, deploying the protocol at the exact moment a unit is positioned for maximum impact. The best commanders can chain multiple boosts across different units in rapid succession, creating a rolling wave of enhanced firepower that sweeps across the engagement zone. This technique, known colloquially as a "signal cascade," is taught at the Terran War College as an example of how simple tools, applied with precision, can achieve results disproportionate to their cost.