HRUNTING Mark III (B) Exoskeleton

Cyclops

"One of the new units that was revealed in the recent GamePro feature on Halo Wars was the UNSC Cyclops who seem to have the EVA helmet. People who’ve played our games may remember Age of Mythology, which allowed players to use the mythological Cyclops unit. The unit name is a nod to that game, and the fun we had with that unit. The GamePro article described the Cyclops in Halo Wars as a “gigantic bipedal mech”, which is something of a hyperbole. This naturally brought on nightmare-ish imagery to some Halo fans of a MechWarrior style machine of war with missile and guns on it. That’s really not the case. The idea of the Cyclops is simply a re-purposed piece of equipment. It’s not a giant fighting machine, it’s not actually not much larger than your average Spartan, and certainly smaller than something like a Scorpion. These mechanical suits house a man who operates it, and they would normally be put to work moving around supplies, ammunition, or doing the heavy lifting on construction projects. When the Covenant come knocking though, you’ve got to fend them off with whatever you have at your disposal, including these awkward looking things. We don’t feel that a guy in a mechanical suit (Spartan anyone? Mark I?) is a big stretch for the UNSC."

- Thunder, from halowars.com

The Cyclops is a bipedal exoskeleton used by the UNSC Marine Corps during at least the early years of the Human-Covenant War. It is used for logistical purposes such as carrying ammunition and supplies, as well as helping with construction, but can be re-purposed for combat. From available information, the Cyclops seems to be a heavy melee infantry unit, using its powerful mechanical arms to deal destructive blows to enemy units and buildings alike. It seems to possess realistic hands. If the theory that the Cyclops is a precursor exoskeleton to the MJOLNIR armor is true, that would designate the Cyclops as one of the Mark III units as it's missing the power cord indicative of the previous exoskeletons. Instead of a cord, the Mark III Mjolnir armor is noted to have a power receiving unit which utilizes power sent via nearby generators. This could be plausible due to the fact that there will always be a UNSC base in the vicinity of the Cyclops units due to gameplay mechanics in Halo Wars. The power receiving device seems to be visible on the rear of the unit, further strengthening the claim. The Cyclops is a faction-specific unit, that is, a unique unit only available when choosing a certain leader.

Trivia

 * It was based on the Cyclops unit from another Ensemble game, Age of Mythology, an actual Cyclops. Both are based upon the creatures from Greek mythology of the same name.
 * To date, the Cyclops is the only UNSC ground vehicle, named after a mythical animal, unlike other vehicles which are named after actual animals.
 * The function and ad hoc battle use of the cyclops resembles the Power Loader used by the character Ripley, in the finale of the science fiction movie Aliens.
 * The Cyclops helmet is similar to that of the MJOLNIR EVA and SPI armor helmets.
 * This may have been an earlier version of the MJOLNIR armor.
 * It is possible that they are the UNSC versions of Hunters.(Gameplay Wise)