TARGET LOCATOR

   The H-165 FOM or Target Locator is a United Nations Space Command piece of equipment. It is a compact, handheld laser pointer designed for acquiring and designating targets for small-scale orbital bombardment from an orbiting UNSC Starship.  While similar in function to the laser designator, the Target Locator is much smaller and can be held with one hand. The Target Locator also has a scope.

   The Target Locator appears as a weapon in Halo: Reach. When the trigger is held down for several seconds, a green laser beam marks the targets, and a red circle is projected on the ground around the target area. Once the target has been locked, seven missiles strike the designated area from above, doing a large amount of area damage

Model: Misriah Armory H-165 FOM
Type: Laser targeting device
Scale: Character
Skill: Sensors: H-165 FOM or Target Locator
Rate of Fire:
-Target Designation: 1/2, Delayed
-Missile Strikes: 7
Ammo: N/A (relies on other sources for ammo)
Cost: 5,028 cR
Availability: 3, R or X
Range: 10-100/250/500+ (2x zoom, see below)
Range Difficulty: Easy/Moderate/Difficult
Damage: 6D (Starfighter scale missiles/12D Character)

GAME NOTES:

-OPTICS SCOPE (2X): This device has a zoom feature that allows 2x magnification.  This allows the user of the weapon to multiply the given range above at these distances and increase the weapon's effectiveness (potentially up to 1,000 meters).  When aiming with the scope, the user also gets an extra +1D when using the device.  Though in Halo: Reach, this device did not have night vision or other optical features, it may likely have these in a more realistic setting.  Night vision negates penalties for seeing in darkness.  Other features may include thermal vision, light amplification (similar to night vision, but without the green tint to everything) and digital enhancement (like the visual effect from Halo 3: ODST when using the VISR ability on an ODST's helmet, it would outline specific objects within view to be noticeable when they would otherwise be obscured by darkness or other effects).  While the zoom magnification is listed here as 2x, GMs may want to change this if needed.

-TARGET AREA: Remember, the Target Locator is used for designating a specific area for pin-pointing targeting of orbiting weapons....spots on the ground, not moving targets.  The tactics involved mean the operator must target a location where the target is not moving (such as a base, fuel depot, armory, motor pool, etc.), or, if the target IS moving, they must predict where the target will be while in motion.  This could be easily determined by the local terrain, as some locations obviously bottleneck or cause other situations where targets would be easy to hit.  Other times, the terrain could give way to open territory, requiring a more thought out approach.  A Tactics skill roll may be needed, or the players could devise a plan to send the targets into a desired direction towards the designated area.

-RATE OF FIRE (1/2, Delayed): Listed as "1/2, Delayed" above, this means the device does not designate the desired area (or "fire") until at the end of 2 rounds, as it is taking time to process information and relay this to the orbiting starship or weapons array.  "Delayed" always means the weapon does not automatically fire when the operator reaches their Perception/Initiative for the combat round, but later on.  This could be the end of the first round, or, in the case of a 1/2 or longer fire rate, at the end of the second/last round.
   After a target designation has occurred, there is a delay as the missiles are traveling to the targeted area.  This will be 1-3 rounds if fired immediately after target acquisition.  The missiles can be fired later if desired, perhaps as part of a more elaborate plan.

-WEAPON TYPE: While the rules given here are for an orbital missile strike of Starfighter scale, the weapon could be used for other weapon types, such as Capital ship weapons (such as a MAC gun round), various kinds of flying bombers (Longsword aerospace fighters or Shortsword aerial bombers), or from ground-based artillery from vehicles such as those found in Halo Wars.

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TRIVIA
-Destroying two vehicles with a single shot from the Target Locator in the third Campaign mission unlocks the Achievement "Two Corpses in One Grave." This achievement's name is reference to a line spoken by the Gravemind and is similar to the Halo 3 Achievement "Two for One".
-The Target Locator is available only in Firefight and Campaign. It does not appear in Matchmaking or Forge, presumably for balancing reasons.
-In the E3 Firefight demo, the Target Locator was labeled as the "Laser Designator" when a player picked it up. In the final game, it is labeled as the "Target Locator".

OTHER INFO
Production Information:
-Manufacturer: Misriah Armory
-Type: Laser designator
Technical Specifications:
-Size: Single-handed
-Magazine Size: 1
-Maximum Ammunition: 3 (presumably)
-Ammunition Type: Orbitally launched missiles (starfighter scale)
-Rate of Fire: Seven orbitally launched missiles per designation
-Range: Targeting a location has no range limit
Usage:
-Eras: Human-Covenant War (Fall of Reach)
-Affiliations: UNSC