What does a stock cyborg come with?

 
From: "cosmufet" <cosmufet@u.washington.edu> 
To: <halo@bungie.org> 
Subject: A theory: The mark IV comes equipped with the following features... 
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 17:41:56 -0800 
MIME-Version: 1.0 
X-Priority: 3

I was staring at the trailer again today and started pondering (dangerous, I
know). What does the vanilla 'unequipped' marine have at his disposal? From the
days of marathon, you usually started with your pistol, and nav comp, and of
course--your plot device.

Well, based on several interesting portions of the video, you may have access to
more 'abilities' or tools in Halo.

first bit: On the left shoulder of every marine is a small device of some kind.
The front has five holes in it (three top, two bottom) which resemble the tubes
of a missile launcher. As you move around to the back of the marine in the enemy
base at the beginning of the trailer, you see that this device stems from some
sort of bulge on the back of the marine--and it seems to be mounted on a gimble
as well (28 sec after intro or so is a good spot to look). What could it be?

Well my first thought (being a predator fan) is a plasma ejector which is weak,
and can be used as a hands off weapon when unarmed, or carrying heavy ordinance.
This would seem initially powerful, however, if the Marines don't have access to
a powerplant to 'charge it up' or whatever, they may have no ability to fire it
until they(in a typical guerilla fashion) capture some sort of powerplant.
Perhaps this could apply to other systems as well... Now what evidence is there
that such a thing could exist?

In the same sequence, we have the brilliant marine alerting two alien guards who
do not shoot at him, instead chasing him with what appear to be energy swords or
sabres. Where does an alien get enough power to generate a sword out of his
hand/battle armor? possibly the same place the marines charge up their shoulder
cannons....

These would be basic last resort weapons for both sides--but there appears to be
a possibility of more items.... I don't think the energy sword is a device
because if you compare the hands of the aliens in the building to the hands of
the two scooter pilots, you'll see that the scooter pilots actually are carrying
weapons--the ones in the building have a halo around their hands (ooh...what a
connection :P).

After the scooters take off and start shooting at the jeep, you see very clearly
around 1:20 that the marine riding shotgun is not holding on to anything but his
gun, and he's standing up. We've heard alot of things about the realistic motion
and physics of the Halo world, and it would seem unlikely that he would stay in
place so firmly on such a tight turn--could their be a magnetic feature to the
boots the marines use? Could this feature require energy as above to operate?
Which brings up another point--can you be thrown from a vehicle if it takes a
particularly nasty turn and you're not securely on board?

later, as the marines assault the alien flyer, we see marine A (the idiot they
talked into attracting the attention of the hangar guards earlier) jump well
over 20 feet in the air, and probably 40 feet horizontally, landing firmly and
healthily on the ground...

Bionics that become more effective with energy?

It seems to me that the Aliens have these laser weapons that don't require
bullets--they require energy...And the stated mission of the humans is to
capture enemy arms and armor for their own use. It would seem logical that even
the energy packs of the aliens could have a benefit to the marine
armor/cybernetics...Imagine raiding an enemy arms dump--picking up a few energy
packs, and then using boosted speed to outrun their scooters! I know I'd like
it...

After checking several dozen screenshots, there is no marine I canfind who does
not have the missile box on his left shoulder (except the well-known mini-gun
pic,but I think the angle obscures it--it's even with his backpack...), and
several pictures of wildly swerving jeeps with passengers who're standing up...

No other spectacular feets of speed or jump I can see--though there are pictures
of marines on foot next to tanks which are firing--either meaning the marine is
fast, a passenger, or the tank is slow...

Thanks 
-------- 
two roads diverged in a wood and I, I decided to turn around, because let's face it, 
there are muggers and all kinds of crazy psychos out there...

Intellectual © halo.bungie.org, 1999