Project HAYABUSA



The Hayabusa Armour is a type of United Nations Space Command powered armor, developed independent to the MJOLNIR Project, compatible with Spartan super soldiers.

Introduction
The Hayabusa is a powered battle armour system, similar to the standard Mark VI MJOLNIR, except stemming from Project HAYABUSA as opposed to Project MJOLNIR. It was developed by RKD, an Earth-based "think tank" in the year 2536, 16 years before the Mark V entered production. It was presented to the UNSC Ordnance Committee as an answer to the self-contained powered armour problem. Advanced materials are used in the production of the Hayabusa armour reducing the weight of the current generation armour by nearly a third (at that time). It is an armor permutation in Halo 3, and like all permutations, it has no effect on gameplay. The armour is commonly used on Halo 3 due to the fact that many people have obtained all 13 skulls needed to gain the whole set (excluding the copy Blind skull). The Katana, however, can only be unlocked by getting 1000 gamerscore on Halo 3. It also has been referred as the Ninja Armour, Power Ranger Armour, Haya Armour, or Samurai Armour. It may be based on Ryu Hayabusa from the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series.

Helmet Characteristics
The helmet features 7 (again the 7 reference) angular spikes, or spokes, one to each side and the face plate is fused into a single piece and contour. The top rear guard of the helmet is pointed, revealing the protruding spike. The bottom rear, around the neck forms a sort of neck guard, like that of a samurai helmet. It has been noted for its uncanny resemblance to the Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden. The 7 spikes are always silverwhite regardless of armour colour.

Shoulder Characteristics
Its shoulders are replaced by three metal plates arranged in an overlapping fashion similar to the armour of a Japanese samurai, also known as the "sode".

Chest Characteristics
The Chest armour features a thick, round "collar" piece protecting the neck, as well as an angular strip of armor that appears to be "strapped" down over the chest, featuring a small delta in the center. The hayabusa chest piece is great for hiding the neck so it will not appear abnormaly long.

Katana
As mentioned, the Katana is for aesthetic purposes only, and is only unlocked after any Achievements adding up to (1000 G) You must unlock all of the Hayabusa armor before you can unlock the Katana. Some people say that it increases the chance of getting hit, because when you're shot your shield shimmers around it; this theory has been proven wrong.

Now, as of Title Update 2, the player needs at least 1000G in Halo 3 in order to unlock the Katana. However, the armor piece may relock itself. The only assured way to keep it from relocking is to gather the original 49 achievements.

How To Unlock

 * Head: Obtain all 13 Halo 3 Skulls.


 * Shoulders: Obtain 9 Halo 3 Skulls.


 * Chest: Obtain 5 Halo 3 Skulls.


 * Katana: Unlock 49 of 79 Halo 3 Achievements. Or obtain 1000 gamerscore in Halo 3.

Trivia

 * The Hayabusa armour bears a resemblance to feudal era samurai.
 * The armour is named after Ryu Hayabusa, protagonist of the Ninja Gaiden series and DOA Combatant. The helmet is almost an exact copy of the "ninja of the future" costume in Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. Bungie may have put Hayabusa armour as a way of thanks to Team Ninja for putting Nicole-458 into Dead or Alive 4. Team Ninja, the developers of the Ninja Gaiden series and Dead or Alive series are also mentioned in the credits for Halo 3.
 * "Hayabusa" is Japanese for Peregrine Falcon.
 * There are rumors that a player can be damaged "through" the Katana, due to it extending from the player's back. The rumours were proven to be incorrect as Bungie's First Update fixed this so players could not be damaged through their katana.
 * Hayabusa armour is the most popular armour over Xbox Live and is even more popular when used in conjunction with the Katana.
 * McFarlane produced a Hayabusa Spartan Soldier with different colours and with interchangeable armour pieces, as well as a katana that can be wielded in the soldier's hands, unlike in the game.