HRUNTING Mark III [B] Exoskeleton

The HRUNTING Mark III [B] Exoskeleton, commonly known as the Cyclops, is a bipedal powered exoskeleton used by the UNSC Marine Corps. It is a redesigned version of the Mark III exoskeleton, a predecessor to the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor.

Overview

Development history

Unlike the form-fitting armored suits that began with the retroactively named Mark IV, the predecessors of MJOLNIR were bulky powered exoskeletons. In 2511, Dr. Catherine Halsey decided to scrap the earlier iterations due to their size, lack of maneuverability, and power inefficiency. She and the Office of Naval Intelligence's Materials Group abandoned the exoskeletons for Project: MJOLNIR, leaving most of the exoskeletons, (even the comparatively successful Mark IIIs, which had been introduced only a year earlier), in Reach's titanium mines.

In 2513, the Materials Group's research team on Algolis, who were working on a separate project known as HRUNTING, began to refine the Mark III. Working at Weapons Research Facility T12A, the HRUNTING team made their own development breakthroughs until they created a revised "[B]" variant of the Mark III, which they called the Cyclops. Unlike the original Mark I, II, and III exoskeletons, the Mark III [B] was intended to serve non-combat military roles such as construction, matériel transportation, terraforming, and dock work. The Cyclops eventually saw limited deployment as a logistical support unit, though operators were forced into combat on rare occasions; the Cyclops proved very effective as an anti-matériel and anti-fortification platform.

Following the development of the Cyclops, the HRUNTING project was merged with the similarly-oriented YGGDRASIL project, resulting in the creation of several exoskeletons and armor defense systems beginning with the Mark I prototype.

Design

The Cyclops is a very large platform, just over fourteen feet tall and nearly twelve feet wide. The operator is harnessed within a sealed cockpit that features a transparent canopy and a roll cage. The Cyclops' most prominent feature is its two large arms, which feature powerful hand-like torque-amplification gauntlets; these manipulators can effortlessly crush a Sangheili's body and, with the assistance of a wrist-mounted pile driver, can shear large pieces from Wraith tanks and even citadels, the latter of which possess starship-grade armor plating. Like the original Mark III exoskeleton, the Cyclops features an externally mounted fusion reactor as its power supply.

Despite its size, the Cyclops is very agile and can outpace even Spartans. Hydraulic-buffered shocks in the exoskeleton's feet ensure that rough terrain does not hinder the mobility of the Cyclops and allow it to jump short distances.

In keeping with its intended role as a support unit, the Cyclops can use its manipulators and various arm-mounted tools to repair vehicles and structures. Due to the Cyclops' nimble design, these repairs can be completed very quickly, even in the field.

Gameplay

Cyclops unit animation reel

Content

In the campaign, the Cyclops appears only in the level Repairs. In skirmish and multiplayer, the Cyclops is available only if Sergeant John Forge is the player's selected hero unit.

The Cyclops requires 125 resource units, a tech level of one, and one population slot. It has two upgrades.

• "Repair Kit", which allows the Cyclops to repair buildings and mechanized units. The upgrade costs 400 resource units and requires a tech level of two.
• "High-Torque Joint" which improves its movement speed. The upgrade costs 900 resource units and requires a tech level of three.

Trivia

• The Cyclopes are a race of one-eyed giants in Greek mythology. This Cyclops resembles them by its huge stature and visor in the center of its "head" resembling a single eye. Hrunting is a magical sword given to Beowulf in the Anglo-Saxon poem of the same name. It had never failed in battle until Beowulf's fight with a Wyrm, a dragon.
• From a gameplay perspective, the Cyclops exoskeleton is based on the Cyclops unit from Ensemble Studios' game Age of Mythology, which is an actual cyclops. It is similarly a large unit that deals heavy melee damage. Their alternate attacks are also similar; when secondary ability bar has charged, the Cyclops will lift a nearby infantry unit and hurl it at the enemy forces for additional damage. In Halo Wars, the Cyclops' secondary ability allows it to tear a vehicle apart and hurl the chunks at enemy forces in a similar manner.
• The Cyclops and the Gremlin are the only known UNSC vehicles named after mythological creatures instead of UNSC's tradition of naming ground vehicles after real animals.
• The Cyclops' design changed drastically during the game's development: its helmet was once similar to that of the MJOLNIR EVA and SPI armor and its body was bulkier and shorter.
• Though the accepted plural form of cyclops is cyclopes, UNSC personnel generally say "Cyclopses" instead.

Gallery

• Mkiii.JPG

  A Cyclops in combat.

• Cyclops-development.jpg

  A development image of the Cyclops.

• 06 CYCLOPS.jpg

  Cyclops unit info sheet.

• 

  Detail of the Cyclops from the concept sheet.

List of appearances

• Halo: The Flood (First appearance)
• Halo Wars (First identified as Cyclops)
• Halo: The Thursday War (Mentioned only)