Sho'riru-pattern Shade

The Sho'riru-pattern Gun Pod is an anti-infantry stationary turret part of the Shade line of stationary guns fielded by the Covenant and its remnants.

Design details
The Sho'riru is the newest design pattern in the Covenant's long line of Shade turrets, having been designed by Achoem Weapons in response to the Fall of High Charity and the loss of the city-station's vast Assembly Forges. The design quickly rose to prominence in the post-war era as one of the most aggressive Shade designs in service, boasting a high rate of fire and an extraordinarily stable power drive. The cannon and the anti-gravity turret mechanism are both powered by a ruggedized fusion coil embedded in the base of the Shade. Its single rapid-fire medium plasma cannon features an advanced energy channel design that appears to be an inventive miniaturization of the plasma compression systems that were previously seen only on the weapon batteries of capital ships in the Covenant fleet.

The Sho'riru's design is similar to that of the, also manufactured by Achoem Weapons. Like the Mamua'uda, the Sho'riru is mounted on a tripod with the operator seated on top. The operator can rotate the turret a full 360 degrees, but is left highly exposed to enemy fire. The tripodal legs of the Shade contain terrain grips in their feet, while the aft of the gunner seat contains a rear-locked counterweight to keep the mechanism stable.

Usage
The Sho'riru-pattern Shade is designed to quickly cut down enemy infantry, as well as provide anti-air and anti-armor support as its secondary function. The Shade is capable of firing an effectively unlimited barrage of superheated plasma bolts at targets, which then provides direct and suppressive fire. Although the Sho'riru-pattern Shade's fusion coil cannot indefinitely power the turret, the coil does actuate the Shade's systems far longer than the span of most engagements. The Shade has a long range of fire, its accuracy depreciates at greater ranges. The turrets are often operated by Unggoy.

The design was most prominently fielded by the Covenant faction led by the warlord Jul 'Mdama; this organisation placed a high reliance on Shade defensive positions due to its officers seeing little value in the concept of strategic withdrawal.

Operational history
Jul 'Mdama's Covenant made extensive use of the Sho'riru-pattern Shade and fielded the weapon during the Battle of Requiem, and later during the Requiem Campaign in 2557 and 2558, respectively. Analysts from the United Nations Space Command believe that the Shade turrets employed by the faction are maintained or produced by skilled weapons technicians among their ranks, since Shade turrets captured on Requiem do not have the manufacturing sigils used by Achoem workshops.

List of appearances

 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops