MJOLNIR (B)



The MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V[B] is a variant of the Mark V MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor.

Background
Along with the Mark V[M] and Mark VI[A] variants, the Mark V[B] is designed and manufactured by private organizations hired by the UNSC rather than developed by the UNSC specifically, due to numerous problems with funding. The Mark V[B]'s prototype entered service in 2526 along with the standard Mark IV armor set. In 2551 the final Mark V variant would be given exclusively to members of SPECWAR Group Three, where the Mark V[B] served as the default helmet for Spartans. The Mark V[B] helmet has a built in night vision device.

Notable users of the Mark V[B] helmet include Frederic-104, Thom-293, and SPARTAN-B312.

Characteristics
The helmet is the only component of the Mark V[B] that has been named and identified in the armory. The rest of the default suit of armor is the first generation of the Mark V with the second and final generation of the Mark V seen in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Helmet
Price: N/A, Default option

The Mark V[B] helmet is similar to the standard Mark V MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, with a few key differences. The helmet has a sleeker design, resembling both the standard Mark V helmet and the ODST helmet, and seems to be somewhat of a combination of the two. Whilst the rear of the helmet is similar to the Mark V, the front strongly resembles the ODST helmet's triangular jaw guard and rounded top, with a flatter visor shape.

This helmet is the starting helmet for all players, and is purchased and equipped by default. Currently, there are two upgrades available for the Mark V[B] helmet; the UA (up-armored) upgrade for 750 cR (This is a combination of both of the Beta upgrades); and the UA/HUL, for 1500 cR, which adds an External Hardened Uplink to the right side of the helmet, redesigned from the Beta.

Trivia

 * In the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta, there were two upgrades available for the Mark V[B] helmet. An External Command Network Module or "CNM", standard issue to Special Force unit commanders (1000 cR), and an External Hardened Uplink or "HUL", required for sensitive operations (5000 cR).
 * While both the Mark V[B] and FJ/PARA shoulder pauldrons were present in the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta, the Mark V[B] shoulders were changed to the FJ/PARA variant in the final game. Currently, the Mark V[B] has no shoulder pauldron permutations.
 * The CNM and HUL attachments as seen in the Beta were merged into a single attachment, the UA upgrade, for the final game. The HUL is now an additional camera/sensor-like attachment on the side of the helmet, rather than being located on the top.
 * In the Beta, both the helmet's attachments were implied to be intelligence gathering/communications devices; however, in the final game, it appears that the first of these upgrades is just extra armor added to the helmet for increased protection.
 * The UA attachment from the beta strongly resembles the classic MJOLNIR sun visor, seen on both the Mark V and Mark VI helmets.
 * In the marketing campaign for Halo: Reach, an exclusive armor piece would be given to players who pre-ordered the game. During this time the armor piece was known as the "UA/Multi-Threat Mark V[B]." Any relation of this armor piece to the Mark V [B] is absent in the game.
 * In Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Fred-104's helmet closely resembles the Mark V[B], despite the show being set in 2526 when MJOLNIR Mark IV was the only generation available to Spartan-II's. It is possible that the Mark V[B]'s external design was carried over from this presumed Mark IV variant; similarly, the original Mark IV helmet was later modified for the Mark V, while a variant helmet served as the basis of the Mark VI. The external design of any MJOLNIR component is irrelevant to its internal design. Or perhaps, the appearance in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is simply a prototype of the Mark V[B], similar to how Carter-A259's Commando armor in Birth of a Spartan is based on the Mark V prototype.

List of appearances

 * Deliver Hope
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn