M808B Scorpion
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| M808B Scorpion | |
|---|---|
| |
| Production information | |
|
Product line: |
|
|
Model: |
M808B |
| Technical specifications | |
|
Length: |
|
|
Width: |
7.8 meters (26 ft)[1] |
|
Mass: |
66 tons |
|
Hull: |
|
|
Armament: |
|
|
Crew: |
or
|
|
Complement: |
Up to four passengers |
| Usage | |
|
In service: |
|
|
Role(s): |
|
|
Affiliation: |
|
- "This here is 66 tons of straight-up, HE-spewin', dee-vine intervention!"
- — Avery Johnson during the Battle of Mombasa.[7]
The M808B Scorpion, formally the M808B Main Battle Tank,[3][4] is a variant of the M808 Scorpion. The tank features a coaxial-mounted M231 machine gun and lacks a gunner compartment.[6]
Design details[edit]
The M808B features a coaxially mounted M231 Medium Machine Gun. The machine gun is mounted beside the primary weapon and thus points in the same general direction as the main armament, relying in the turret's ability to traverse in order to change arc. The tank can also be outfitted with a 105mm gun for greater offensive power.[8]
Operational history[edit]
Early service[edit]
An older variant of the Scorpion, the M808B saw use throughout the Insurrection and later the Human-Covenant War, and has been in service for almost two centuries.[6] It served alongside the M808C Scorpion as well as the M850 Grizzly.
Human-Covenant war[edit]
UNSC Spirit of Fire[edit]
In February 2531 the crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire utilized multiple M808B Scorpions during the end of the Harvest Campaign. Shortly after a UNSC force led by Sergeant Forge retook the besieged Alpha Base from the Covenant, M808B Scorpions were deployed alongside other forces in an assault against the Covenant-held relic. The UNSC force was successful in stopping the Covenant, wiping out a Covenant base before stopping them from destroying the Relic with demolition charges.
After the UNSC Spirit of Fire arrived at the planet of Arcadia, which was under attack by the Covenant Fleet of Glorious Interdiction, M808B Scorpions were among the forces deployed into Pirth City to assist the Arcadian Patrol in evacuating civilians aboard several cargo ships. After saving hundreds of civilians from the Covenant onslaught, the UNSC forces left the city through its traffic tunnels. At least one M808B made it to the outskirts of the city, where it was forced to retreat along with other UNSC survivors to a nearby impact crater, where they would proceed to establish a firebase and hold out against waves of attacking Covenant forces until Spartan Team Omega could arrive. Over the course of the battle, Pelican Bravo 029 continued to deliver UNSC forces until Team Omega arrived. Now reinforced with the Spartan-II team, the UNSC launched an assault on a heavily-defended Covenant base, with M808B Scorpion tanks taking part in the assault. Later, M808Bs were used to help defend a number of Rhino tanks as they attacked a large Covenant energy shield dome protecting a series of ancient Forerunner structures. After breaching the dome, M808Bs were among the UNSC ground forces that were deployed into the ruins to destroy a Covenant R'awuw-pattern Scarab protecting the main facility.[9]
Upon their arrival at Trove, the UNSC Spirit of Fire immediately began to deploy ground forces, with many of these being M808B Scorpion tanks. After Spartan Red Team became separated from the main UNSC force, Sergeant Forge assembled a team to reinforce them, as well as to destroy a Flood Proto-Gravemind that was blocking a transmission from Professor Ellen Anders, who had been abducted by the Covenant on Arcadia. M808B Scorpions, along with various other ground and air assets from the Spirit of Fire, were able to punch through heavy Flood resistance, destroying several colonies and the Proto-Gravemind. When the Spirit of Fire found itself being pulled into the shield world, Captain Cutter ordered all ground forces to return to the ship. Three platoons were stranded on the surface and a rescue force was dispatched to retrieve them, including a number of M808B tanks. Sergeant Forge later lead an assault on four fortified Covenant bases in the interior of the shield world, in order to establish an effective resistance to allow them to springboard their assault on the Apex Site. The UNSC soon attacked the Apex Site, deploying M808B Scorpions alongside other ground forces to clear out Covenant and Flood resistance on the vast ramps leading up to the site itself. In the final engagement of the battle on the shield world, Scorpions, along with other UNSC ground forces were deployed with the objective of opening six interlocks that would open the portal to be used by the Spirit of Fire in order to escape from the planet before Sergeant Forge activated the ships