Flame-bore

The flame-bore powering itself up.

A flame-bore is a large mining laser used by the Banished.^[1]

Overview and design

The flame-bore fires four powerful mining lasers at its target simultaneously. It requires two external power regulators to prevent overheating. Each power regulator is itself regulated by a pair of cooling pylons. These pylons are normally concealed underground to protect them from attack, but can be raised using nearby manual controls. Banished troops operate and monitor the flame-bore from behind an energy barrier.^[2]

History

Main article: Battle for Zeta Halo

During the Battle for Zeta Halo, the Banished erected a flame-bore on top of the central structure at Site Novem for the purposes of cutting into the Ring and breaching the Conservatory from underground. When the Harbinger inspected the dig site, she modified the flame-bore so that it could pierce the Ring's Forerunner alloy.^[3]^[2] By May 15, 2560, the Banished had used their modified flame-bore to successfully breach the Conservatory.^[4]

On May 28, 2560, when John-117 investigated the dig site, the Banished tried to stop him from entering the Conservatory by reactivating the flame-bore and firing it into the tunnel. The Master Chief stormed the central structure, eliminated the flame-bore's crew, and uploaded the Weapon to the controls. However, the Weapon couldn't shut down the flame-bore, so the Chief decided to destroy it instead. The Weapon advised him to take out the flame-bore's power regulators so that she could trigger an overload. The Chief exposed and destroyed all four cooling pylons, which in turn caused the regulators to overheat and explode. He then returned to the flame-bore's control room, where he fought and defeated the Jiralhanae Chieftain Bassus. He then uploaded the Weapon into the flame-bore's controls once again. The Weapon hacked into the flame-bore and triggered the overload, causing it to explode. With the flame-bore destroyed, the Chief entered the Conservatory.^[2]