Energy shield test station

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Description

File:Screen007.jpg

John-117 in a Shield Tester on the Pillar of Autumn.

The Shield Tester is a small piece of machinery used by UNSC engineers to bring online inactive MJOLNIR armor shields, usually after a long time of inactivity. It appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, respectively in the Pillar of Autumn and The Armory. Both times, it is used to bring online the MJOLNIR energy shields, although it seems more a mere tester in Halo 2.

Function

First mentioned in the Halo: The Fall of Reach novel, during the MJOLNIR Mark Vs very first mission, this device gave charge to the armor's shield before they were actually activated by John-117, like a battery. However, it seems that in both games, they are only dormant, and are only brought back online. It is believed by most that the reasoning behind this is that in Fall of Reach the armor had been removed from storage and assembled, requiring the shield to be off completely and the power system to be un-charged to prevent an accident. In Halo: Combat Evolved, the armor is already in place, simply dormant. In Halo: Combat Evolved, the tester makes the same noise as a Plasma Pistol overcharge impact, possibly hinting that they were made using scavenged Covenant technology, which makes sence, considering this is how the shields were made in the first place.

Since the MJOLNIR Mark V has an attached fusion pack on the back, it is unknown why the games require you to charge shields. Cryostasis may be a logical explanation to Halo CE, but no truly plausible explanation has been put forth for Halo 2. The most popular one is that, like Fall of Reach, the shield system was turned off and powered down to prevent accidents as the armor was assembled.

Trivia

• The real reason of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn's tester having the same noise as a Plasma Pistol, could in fact be Bungie's lack of sound effects during the period of the making of the game Halo: Combat Evolved where the tester is present.
• It is possible to be standing out of the sheild tester area in Halo: Combat Evolved and in Halo 2 however you wont be able to move while the sheild tester is active.