Ruwaa-pattern Shadow

For the flight-capable craft resembling the Shadow in Halo: Escalation, see Covenant cargo tug.

The Ruwaa-pattern light transport, known to humanity as the Type-29 Troop/Vehicle Transport (T-29 T/VT), or more commonly the Shadow, is a Covenant ground transport vehicle.

Design details
The Shadow is a Covenant light troop transport vehicle analogous to human armored personnel carriers such as the M650 Mastodon. The vehicle is broadly arch-shaped, with the driver cabin located at the vehicle's front and protected by heavy frontal armor, with a turret located on the top. The centre of the arch boasts powerful gravitic fields capable of hosting a single Ghost, equipment or a small bench seating eight passengers. Unlike the front, the sides of the vehicle have virtually no armor, and are completely exposed to enemy fire.

Armament
The Shadow is equipped with a Type-29 Shade turret, mounted on the aft of the vehicle. Aside from this, any passengers riding on the vehicle are able to contribute their own firepower to the vehicle's defense.

Usage
Due to the vehicle's minimal armor coverage, the Shadow is typically deployed by the Covenant as a rear-echelon light equipment and personnel transport. This makes the Shadow a vital component in Covenant occupation efforts, and the vehicle's extremely fast top speed in open terrain allow it to serve as a rapid deployment vehicle for such tasks. During extended travel, the crew may take turns defending the Shadow from atop the arch, or from their seated positions below.

Operation
Shadows are the Covenant's main method of moving large numbers of troops around ground based battlefields. They have one driver, a gunner and up to eight occupants, depending on the species of the passengers.

The Shadow also doubles as a small vehicle transport, and can carry one Ghost in its troop bay. However, their main purpose is to deploy infantry, such as Elites, Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals. For point defense, they are equipped with a single heavy plasma cannon.

Operational history
T-29 Shadows were used by the Covenant during the Battle of Earth in 2552 as a troop and prisoner transport. They continued service in the post-war era, with the Banished making extensive use of them during the conflict on Reach in 2559.

Production notes
The Shadow's design dates back to the original 2000-era builds of Halo: Combat Evolved, when the game was still intended to be a third-person shooter. At this time, the vehicle was simply known as, and had a noticeably blockier appearance. The vehicle was ultimately one of many vehicles cut from Combat Evolved, later making its in-game debut in Halo 2's Outskirts level.

Interestingly, during the original Combat Evolved era, another vehicle was intended for inclusion under the name of the Shadow. This vehicle was also similarly-cut, and ultimately also revived in Halo 2 - ultimately renamed as the Spectre.

Trivia

 * In the level Outskirts, a total of 7 Shadows can be found.
 * Halo 2's files show the Shadow as being hijackable and drivable, but this is not possible to do in the base game. Using mods, these mechanics can be accessed. Additionally there are two versions of the Shadow, one which transports Ghosts (seen in-game) and another which transports infantry.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo Graphic Novel
 * Second Sunrise over New Mombasa
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Uprising
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo: Shadows of Reach