HRUNTING Mark III (B) Cyclops

The HRUNTING Mark III [B] Exoskeleton, commonly known as the Cyclops, is a bipedal 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.

Development history
Unlike the more familiar iterations that began with the 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 III suits - 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 moderately widespread 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.

A second-generation version of the Cyclops exoskeleton was developed some time afterward. As opposed to continuing the existing designation system used in the pre-MJOLNIR powered exoskeletons, the new model was designated as the Cyclops Mark II. The redefined designation may have served to fully establish the Cyclops as its own, separate series, instead of being part of the MJOLNIR line.

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 "visor" 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, which seem to feature 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
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.
 * 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 atmospheric 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.
 * Graeme Devine, the lead writer of Halo Wars, posted background information for the Cyclops on his personal website, though this information contains several continuity errors. For example, it states that the Marine Corps designed the Cyclops as a shock infantry platform, which competed with the "fledgling" Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, to combat the Insurrectionists; canonically, the Cyclops was specifically designed as a support platform, and the ODST had been in service for decades. Furthermore, it states that the Cyclops was removed from service after the SPARTAN-III Program was initiated; the SPARTAN-III program was top-secret and served an entirely different goal from that of the Cyclops, so the activation of the SPARTAN-IIIs would conceivably have no bearing on the Cyclops' deployment. However, Devine states on the website that his background stories are "essentially fan fiction" and should not be regarded as canon.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars
 * Halo: The Flood