Mamua'uda-pattern Shade

The Mamua'uda-pattern Gun Pod is a Covenant anti-infantry gun turret. It falls under the category of weapons emplacements commonly identified as Shades. One of the oldest models of the Shade, with its history dating back hundreds of years, they are preferred by pious shipmasters for their antiquity.

Design details
The Mamua'uda design pattern is distinctive due to its sturdy tripod, with the seat situated in a hovering pod lifted via the use of anti-gravity technology above the legs. The pod is capable of rotating to provide 360 degrees of line of fire for the operator, with the primary plasma cannon situated at the front of the weapon. The Mamua'uda is unique for its tri-prong-based firing channel which serves to guide the plasma fired, offering a long range and low rate of energy disappation that allows the weapon to even serve in a limited anti-aircraft role when needed.

When firing, the Shade fires three rounds of slow, purple plasma bolts at once, and has very limited precision and a medium rate of fire. Unlike the other known Shade variants, it can be moved, but usually by a large force. Its high mobility is used as compensation for its low protection. Overall, the Mamua'uda-pattern is considered empirically inferior to nearly all other Shade models in terms of firepower and accuracy.

The tripodal base of the Mamua'uda design was later carried into the successor and s.

Variants
The heavy plasma cannon on the was bespoke-designed by Achoem Weapons as payment for a now-undocumented favour. It is commonly believed to either be an ancestor, or a descendant, of the Mamua'uda design.

The Murien-pattern heavy plasma cannon is a more complex and remote-operated version of the Mamua'uda's main weapon, primarily employed on some variants of the dropship.

Usage
Achoem Weapons claims the Mamua'uda as the longest and most storied Shade design used throughout the Covenant, with a service life measured in centuries and several dozen conflicts. Despite the design's universally-agreed upon inferiority to other models, it is nonetheless highly-valued by particularly pious fleetmasters due its antiquity. Thel 'Vadamee, Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, was one such commander; Mamua'uda-pattern Shades were widely used by his forces during the Battle of Installation 04.

Production notes
During the production of Halo: Combat Evolved, early revisions of the Shade were able to walk using the three legs on the base. While this ability was ultimately cut from the game, the rough animations for the turret's walk remain in the game files and can be easily restored via the Halo Editing Kit. In 2022, a step-by-step guide to do such a thing was posted on the Halo Waypoint forums by Kenneth Peters; broadly related to his ongoing work in the Digsite cut content restoration effort.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo: Spartan Assault
 * Halo: Spartan Strike