 MACHETE
"Who do you think I am? ?Danny Treo?"
-Anonymous UNSC marine fan of 20th century B-movies by Robert Rodriguez.
?? The Machete is considered a tool by most individuals for use in heavily foliage areas such as forests and jungles. ?Used by UNSC soldiers for aiding in marches through dense terrain, more than one marine has had their life saved by using the machete as a bladed weapon. ?Comparing it's size to most knives, it's more appropriate as an improv shortsword.
Model: UNSC N5 Terrain Passing-Clearing Tool/Defensive Weapon (N5 TPC/DW)?
Type: Cutting tool/Bladed weapon
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Combat: Machete
Rate of Fire: 1
Ammo: 1
Cost:
-Standard Issue: 50 cR
-Spartan Machete: 5,000 cR
Availability: 1 (Standard); 4 (Spartan)
Difficulty: Moderate
Damage: Str+2D+2
GAME NOTES:
-SPARTAN MACHETE: Unlike the regular issued tool/weapon, this variant has been recast from Covenant alloys on a molecular level and retooled for use by Spartan commandos in the field. ?It can be used to parry Covenant/Sangheili energy swords and other energy-based Melee weapons!
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DESIGN DETAILS
?? The history of the machete tool goes back far into huMan history. ?The original concept is thought to have been human soldiers and merchants using their swords and knives in the ancient past to cut a clear route through overgrown terrain, either attempting to travel through new territory, trying to outmaneuver enemy militaries, or simply trying to make a shortcut to the market and get ahead of their competition.
?? Eventually, the machete was designed for this specific purpose. ?A bladed utility instrument, where the blade is somewhat weighted to put more force behind every blow. ?Combined with a firm grip and proper sharpening, the machete was perfect for cutting through dense plantlife such as tall grass, vines, and even thick tree branches.
?? Many militaries and explorers have utilized the machete in some form or another over the centuries, as it is handy to have when moving through forested or jungle terrain, and is much more quiet when stealth is preferred over the attention that other methods would bring.
?? While never intended as a dedicated weapon, the machete never the less makes a good improvised instrument to combat animal wildlife and enemy soldiers. ?It's heavy blade, while not very good at accuracy such as more refined bladed weaponry, still delivers a hefty amount of damage to a body when used in forceful strikes. ?One well-placed blow can leave deep gouges in a torso from a slash, possibly impale with a strong thrust, chop (or crush) into a human skull, lip off a head at the neck, and even dismember a limb at the joint. ?Many individuals have had their lives saved by improvising a machete as a close combat weapon.
SPARTAN MACHETE
?? After the SPARTAN-II Program produced their supersoldiers and started to gain fruitful results, several other side projects were instigated to produce support material for these outstanding troops. ?One such result is the well known Grindell/Galilean Spartan Laser, which would later see use not just by Spartans, but regular rank-and-file marines and army soldiers in the field, as well as different types of vehicles such as the Sparrowhawk.
?? Another program was implemented to develope various kinds of close combat weaponry for Spartan use. ?The Covenant, already quite devastating at range with their highly advanced energy-based weaponry, also had various means to dispatch UNSC troops in close-quarter-combat, some of which were far more grisly than others.?
?? Sangheili Elites had their well known energy swords, which not only cut through objects and people but literally burned like a hot knife through butter. ?Jarilhanae Brutes had their gravity hammers, even more devastating than the energy sword. ?The Kig-Yar Jackals had their energy cutlases, which were far more wicked. ?The Hunters could flatten even a Spartan with a single blow from their shield arm. ?And to top it all off, several of species in the Covenant had shear strength that could rip a man in half with very little effort. ?Even their basic troops, the Unggoy Grunts, were deceptively stringer than normal humans, able to heft heavy light armor weaponry in a single hand, and said to be able to rip a man open with little effort on their part (see novel Contact Harvest).
?? After squiring many pieces of Covenant technologies (including the Jackal arm shields that would eventually be reverse-engineered as the energy shields of the Mk V and VI MJOLNIR powered armors), some of these materials were eventually leased out to a few of these side projects, originally to give them an idea of what they were up against. ?After much hurried examination and study, an alloy was discovered used by the Covenant to shield sensitive equipment from the high output of their more powerful equipment that used plasma cores. ?It took several years, but they were eventually able to use what material was available (after a successful raid by Spartan Blue Team on a Covenant facility to aquire some as a side objective to the facility's destruction) to fashion new equipment for Spartan use in the field.
?? One such item that saw heavy use in CQC/CQB situations was the N5X TPC/DW Special Application, a.k.a. Spartan Machete. ?Able to withstand the superheated temperatures of an Elite's energy sword, it can be used to parry and fence against the Covenant's best swordsmen. ?Surprisingly, with the Spartan's enhanced strength and reflexes, the unbalanced weight of the Spartan Machete does not register enough to be a hindrance in any way to them. ?Still, their enhanced senses allows them to notice this, even while wearing their MJOLNIR armor.
?? Even then, several have been thankful to have the blade when caught in a hot spot. ?Frederic-105 of Spartan Blue Team, arguably the best knife fighter among the Spartan-IIs, has used the Spartan Machete on many occasions when it was available, and has made several remarks on itsuse in the field.
DELETED MATERIAL
???The Machete was a melee weapon that was originally planned to be included in Halo: Combat Evolved. It was deleted before the final game was released; the final product has no melee-specific weaponry, the player can perform a 'pistol whip' or 'butt slam' attack with any weapon.
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