Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor/Mark VI

"Well, I guess it was all obsolete anyway. Your new suit's a Mark VI, just came up from Songnam this morning"

- Master Gunns

The MJOLNIR Mark VI was the sixth version of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. It entered service in late October 2552, replacing the older Mark V variant.

Overview
The Mark VI battle armor addressed some of the weaknesses of the earlier models. The energy shielding system recharged significantly faster and was notably stronger. There were a number of lights implemented into the armor plating to help indicate the current status of the energy shield, which also easily reveals the user to the enemy, and his shield strength. The lights would flicker rapidly when the shields were down and would glow brightly for the duration of the recharge time. The armor plating, while less bulky, but as dense, therefore offering as much if not more protection than previous models. The suit was more streamlined than the Mark V, eliminating a number of grapple points that an enemy could use in close-quarters battle. This version of the armor could track the status of two active weapons at the same time. It is included with a visual magnification system, like the previous two models.

It seems that before John-117's activities in the Battle of Earth, an improved reactive metal liquid crystal layer had been developed for this suit, increasing the mobility of the Spartan even further, although this has yet to be confirmed. However, this claim may be reinforced by evidence such as faster melee attacks in Halo 2 Campaign, slightly faster jumping speed, and increased jump height. John-117's physical performance appeared to have improved considerably.

The armor was also capable of healing minor to moderate injuries over a course of time, due to a regenerative on board supply of Biofoam, which was automatically injected into the wearer's body, filling and sealing wounds, but causing extreme pain. This new capability eliminated the need to manually apply a medkit or seek a field medic in order to tend to injuries. The Biofoam effectively treats all but the most critical wounds, and its use was capable of stabilizing the user and allowing him to perform his duties even while injured until such a time as more extensive medical attention was possible. It is also likely that the suit was capable of automatically increasing the pressure level of its hydrostatic gel as the user was falling, explaining the lack of fall damage in Halo 2. The Mark VI also included a "lockdown" mode where the suit retained a rigid form upon sustaining heavy trauma, most likely to avoid further injury. This also explains why a player's dead body gets 'stuck' in one stance when splattered.

The MJOLNIR is an adaptable suit of armor with many variations and modifications available, optimizing it for certain functions, and situations and is backwards compatible with older MJOLNIR variants that have received upgrades for compatibility.

History
Some time before the Battle of Reach, SPARTAN-II Team Black wore "skunkworks prototypes" of the Mark VI, built in Songnam, Korea. While these greatly resembled the Mark VI, it is unknown how many of the functions they shared.

The Mark VI was first tested by Maria-062 in Songnam. There she sparred against a squad of ODSTs, and after that the armor was approved for battle it was sent to John-117 in Cairo Station on October 20, 2552. John-117 is the only confirmed active SPARTAN-II to receive the full Mark VI armor. Fred-104, Linda-058 and Will-043 may have been refitted with Mark VI armor once they returned to Earth after Operation: FIRST STRIKE.

Features
In addition to the strength and speed augmentation of the wearer, the Mark VI was included with a number of features including:


 * Integrated computer system which continuously monitors weapons, biological functions, and motion through intelligent motion-sensing radar.
 * The ability to store and use a smart-AI.
 * A helmet camera that is constantly recording the wearer's actions. The helmet also has the ability to watch recordings, such as the ones found in marine helmets.
 * Energy shielding, powered by a fusion pack on the wearer's back. The shield strength can be adjusted in any parts of the suit. For example, the wearer may wish to reduce or completely remove the shielding around the fingers, as it would be difficult to handle weapons and equipment with it, as the shield has been described as "slippy".
 * The suit allows the wearer to open secure COM signals by merely "thinking" of doing it, and if the person in the suit is talking, the helmet doesn't allow any sound to leave the helmet unless the wearer wishes to, which makes him or her able to communicate via radio without creating any sound.
 * The suit is airtight, hardened against vacuum, and features air-filtration systems as well as a built-in oxygen re-breather system that can last for up to 90 minutes.
 * The helmet is able to enhance and isolate sounds, described as being able to hear a water drop in a sandstorm.
 * Magnetic plates in the upper thigh plates allowing the user to holster a sidearm directly onto the thigh-plate.
 * The visor can be polarized and unpolarized, to reveal the face of the wearer to other personnel.
 * Recoil-compensating actuators.
 * Hydrostatic gel to regulate and monitor temperature and dampen impact force
 * Helmet-integrated binoculars, infrared vision, UV-vision and night vision, as well as a standard issue flashlight with its own separate power supply.
 * Automatic Biofoam injectors. A large amount of biofoam can be stored in the suit, and be automatically dispensed into any part of the body when necessary.
 * Magnetic soles on the suit's boots that allow the wearer to stand on a high moving metal object, such as a ship's hull.
 * The suit is able to automatically pressurize to compensate for the addition or lack of gravity as a life-saving mechanism.
 * According to Frank O'Connor, the suit is able to shift colours automatically, and urine can be reprocessed by the suit to drinkable fluid for the wearer. It is unknown if these features are exclusive to the Mark VI, or if the previous versions included these abilities.

Armor Components

 * Luminous Green Refractive Titanium Alloy (Exterior)
 * Matte Black Alloy (Exterior)
 * Magnetic Weapon Holder Strips
 * Shields
 * Hydrostatic Gel
 * Reactive Metal Liquid Crystal Layer
 * Pressure Seal
 * Automatic Biofoam Injectors
 * Magnetic boots
 * Mark VI BIOS

Variations
Numerous variants and specialized components of the Mark VI exist, each designed for a specific purpose. The Mark VI is also compatible with components of other armor systems, namely the Hayabusa Armor.


 * C Variant, also known as CQB, for close-quarters combat.
 * V Variant, also known as EVA, for Extra-vehicular activity.
 * EOD Variant, for explosive ordnance disposal.
 * S Variant, also known as Scout, for scouting and reconaissance operations.
 * R Variant, also known as Recon, a reconaissance variant with advanced stealth systems.
 * Rogue Helmet, a privately produced type of helmet.

Trivia

 * The Mark VI armor experienced graphical changes between Halo 2 and Halo 3. These changes appear to be purely aesthetic in nature and have no canonical explanation.
 * What appears to be the Mark VI is worn by the members of Team Black in the Marvel Comics' series Halo: Blood Line, which takes place well before the Mark VI was introduced. However, Frank O'Connor confirmed that the armor is actually a "skunkworks prototype" from Songnam, Korea, explaining the visual disparity.
 * When John-117 is found by marines on the level Arrival in Halo 3, the Corpsman stated that John's suit locked-up on impact to minimize damage. When a body 'locks-up' the body's muscles and bone structures tighten up and harden. John's armor supposedly triggered his body's locked-up state. In reality, the tightening of the human body prior to a heavy impact would result in the tightened muscles being torn apart and the bones would completely shatter beyond repair. Plus, the added weight and force of the armor would further increase the damage. In terms of real-world physics, the armor should have loosened up John's body for the impact because the relaxed muscles are capable of dealing with harder impacts than if they were locked up. However, the only possible reason for why John survived the landing would be his body augmentations. A different thought is that the armour only locked up after impact, locking his body in the position it assumed after impact. That way, if he'd sustained serious injury, he could have been transported (e.g. with a VTOL and heavy lift gear, as Johnson orders) without fear of injuring him further, because the armour would have immobilized all the wounds, similar to a modern-day patient being placed on a spine board and packaged for rapid transport.