HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark X Armor Defense System Funnelweb

The HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark X Armor Defense System, colloquially known as the Funnelweb, is a / used by the , , and the . The Funnelweb is derived from earlier iterations of the HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL project, but is most closely related to the . 
=== Design Details ===
The Funnelweb is similar in height to the Mantis, standing at twenty feet tall, though it weighs considerably more than its older sibling at twelve metric tons. While it shares its predecessors’ bipedal, vaguely humanoid form, the Funnelweb deviates from the Mantis’ design by having a drastically enlarged crew compartment, allowing its pilot to sit comfortably inside an up-armored lined shell. Similarly to the Mantis and other UNSC exoskeleton armor systems, the Funnelweb includes a and . Unlike the Mantis, the Funnelweb’s primary weapons are not integrated into its hull. Apart from a single shoulder mounted , the Funnelweb uses specially designed manipulator operated munitions systems, allowing for pilots to swap weapons with little issue. Standard issue weapons for Funnelwebs typically include 40mm autocannons and 20mm chainguns. 
Funnelwebs are also equipped with a port, enabling to support pilots in battle. engineers had initially intended to allow the onboard AI full control of the Funnelweb in the event of pilot incapacitation, but this concept was quickly rejected due to fears of rampancy.  
=== Operational History ===
Aiming to capitalize on the success of the Mark IX ADS platform, Materials Group had intended for the Mark X to be a companion to the Mantis, rather than a replacement. While the Mantis’ speed and agility were considerable, it had proven somewhat thin skinned, especially when under focused fire. Materials Group had intended to rectify this in the Mark X, adding additional sheets of battleplate and ablative materials to critical points. This however, had resulted in a slower platform. Another flaw in the Mantis the Funnelweb intended to rectify was it’s lack of hardpoints. Using an advanced system, the Funnelweb is able to nearly perfectly replicate human arm movements, including the operation of weapon systems. Materials Group had produced and adapted a number of weapon systems compatible with the Funnelweb, work on which is continuing even after the Funnelweb’s rollout. 
Field-tests and live fire simulations revealed that while the Funnelweb wasn’t as quick as the Mantis in point-to-point traversal, the heavier armor and weapons had served it well. While the inclusion of arms over hardpoints was a source of great consternation among the engineers of Materials Group, they proved to be a boon to the Funnelweb, allowing pilots to open fire on enemies from defilade as an infantry soldier would. While the Mantis was able to outmaneuver the Funnelweb, sustained fire from any of the Funnelweb’s held or integrated weapons was able to penetrate the Mantis’ armor. Materials Group had advocated for ‘fireteams’ of Mantises and Funnelwebs to cover each other’s weaknesses. 
The first actual combat situation the Funnelweb had engaged in was in 2556 on the recently resettled world of . Second Battalion of the 19th Marine Regiment was deployed to protect the burgeoning world, with them were ten Funnelwebs. Draco III was targeted by Covenant remnant splinters who expected an easy target to raid.The new colony town of New Jaipur on Draco III possessed few things of value, the raiders had aimed to seize their supplies and capture civilians to ransom back to the UNSC. The heavily forested region the town settled, had made deployment of the battalion’s vehicles difficult at best. The raiders had used this to their advantage, utilizing the foliage to conceal their approaches to the town and harass the defending forces. It wouldn’t be until August of 2556 that the raiders launched their attack on New Jaipur in earnest. and skirmishers had made excellent use of the forest to cover their advance, confident in the inability of the UNSC’s vehicles to effectively respond. However, the first kai’d of this assault were intercepted by the Funnelweb unit in the forest, shadowing the Covenant troops while on lower power settings. Using the thick trees and boulders to protect themselves from return fire, the Funnelwebs had inflicted heavy casualties on the Covenant forces, destroying nearly all of the lances of this first wave. 
Emboldened by the smashing success of the Funnelwebs, the Marines had mounted a counterattack on the raider’s landing site. Preliminary reconnaissance had revealed that most of the raiders were held in reserve, including the raider’s contingent of armored vehicles, consisting of several and . The Funnelwebs of Second Battalion were to locate and destroy the enemy light armor and then regroup with the infantry unit to support them in the assault. Spotting a bluff overlooking the enemy landing site, the Funnelwebs had managed to navigate the rocky and heavily forested terrain to take up positions against the Covenant landing site, raining missile and cannon fire onto the Covenant armor. While they had been surprised by an attack from an unexpected angle, the Covenant forces had responded effectively, opening fire with plasma mortars onto the Funnelweb’s positions, destroying two of them and rendering one inoperable. With most of the Covenant vehicles knocked out by the ambush, the remaining Funnelwebs lead the assault on the landing site, providing covering fire as the Marines had pushed further into the Covenant site, leading to the destruction of another Funnelweb. After nearly an hour of fierce fighting, the entirety of the Covenant raiding force had either been killed or escaped back into orbit.
Despite the casualties sustained by the Funnelwebs, UNSC was impressed by the performance of the armor defense system, and had ordered a full production run started as soon as possible. Standard practice for deployment of Funnelwebs has them supporting a squad of eight in a similar manner to infantry fighting vehicles. Many of these vehicles were thus deployed with handholds for soldiers to ride desant style upon them. 
==== Battle of Duurak ====
The second major battle the Funnelweb had participated in was against groups operating in the Bloody Raiment Cluster, a collection of frontier colonies far from the reach of the UNSC or the . The remnants of the Bloody Raiment were led by a warlord known as Antipater, commanding a faction of remnants called the Alighted Souls. Using connections with smugglers, the Souls had slowly but steadily acquired a substantial amount of military equipment and armored vehicles, using the rising tensions elsewhere in the galaxy to remain under the notice of human and Covenant authorities. It is uncertain when and where the Alighted Souls intended to strike, as in 2563, the Swords of Sanghelios were made aware of their existence following the interception and internment of a crew of Kig-Yar privateers. Aiming to snuff out the Alighted Souls before they could act, the Swords marshalled a fleet to destroy the Remnant group. In an effort to improve relationships between the two nations, the 17th was dispatched to support the campaign throughout the Bloody Raiment Cluster. With it were two hundred Funnelwebs spread throughout out the Expeditionary Force. The first combat the 17th MEF had encountered was in the world of Red Spirit, the primary manufacturing base of the Alighted Souls. 
The primary target on Red Spirit was the city of Duurak, where nearly all of the Alighted Souls’ . As a result, Duurak was heavily defended, with anti-orbital and anti-air guns preventing any ships from dropping troops into or bombarding the city from orbit. The 201st Battalion and 771st Battalion along with from the S’vintos were tasked with destroying these guns and capturing the town. Landing out of range of the Souls’ formidable anti-air network, the joint force rapidly made their approach towards the town. and had traded fire with each other over the relatively open savannah, as infantry made their advance into the town. It was during this armored clash that the Funnelweb had struggled, being out-ranged by the Wraiths. While several were destroyed during the approach to Duurak, several had managed to enter Duurak. The Funnelwebs had fared much better in the urban environment, being able to use the durable Covenant construction to shield themselves from incoming fire. The Alighted Souls had placed heavy barricades and tank traps to prevent the armored elements of the allied force from entering the city, but these obstacles had done nothing to prevent the Funnelwebs from pushing into the city. It was in Duurak that the Funnelweb met a similar Covenant vehicle in combat, the . While larger and more heavily armed and armored than the Goblin, the speed and agility of the Goblin had caused a great deal of headache for Funnelweb pilots, especially when the smaller combat suits ambushed or isolated individual Funnelwebs and many Mark-Xs were lost in attacks of this nature. However the armament of the Funnelwebs made short work of Goblins when brought to bear against them. 
The Funnelwebs had proven to be critical in the operation in Duurak, and within hours of their entrance in the Remnant held city, the anti-aerospace weapons were destroyed, allowing for Swords of Sanghelios forces to confiscate their assembly forges.
==== Evacuation of Sargasso ====
While the Funnelweb had cut its teeth on brushfire wars and anti-piracy actions, it had not yet participated in a full-fledged conflict like many of its companions in the UNSC motor pool. The sudden advent of the would change that, testing the Funnelweb on battlefields all across UNSC space as the constructs of artificial intelligences burned through human space and beyond. Many Funnelwebs were destroyed in their gantries by runaway maintenance drones or rogue civilian drones. The advanced armor and heavier bulk of the Promethean Knight had provided more protection from the Funnelweb’s anti-infantry weaponry and in sufficient numbers could pose a threat to the machines. As the UNSC was pushed back on all fronts by this new enemy, Funnelwebs had taken serious casualties as they screened slower UNSC armor, such as the Scorpion or the . 
The Funnelweb had one advantage against the than many of the other armored vehicles in the UNSC or Covenant arsenal did not: a . A favored strategy of the Created was to sow chaos and confusion among organic ranks through extensive electronic attacks and cyberwarfare, crippling military and civilian infrastructure prior to attacks. The dumb AI in Funnelwebs were capable of repelling these attacks and ensuring that their machines remained operational and the linkages between Funnelweb units remained clear and uninterrupted. As a result, many counter attacks against the Created were preceded by Funnelwebs locating and destroying enemy jammers and other electronic infrastructure. Quickly realizing the importance of a robust defense against these types of attacks, the Office of Naval Intelligence had rushed their Stealth Funnelwebs out to support UNSC detachments. 
There have been several reports of Smart AI taking control of unoccupied Funnelwebs via their data infrastructure, but these suborned machines were quickly neutralized by base security. There have been no further attempts at this tactic in recent months. 
A notable battle of the Created conflict the Funnelweb participated in was the Evacuation of . Following the defection of the colony’s civil management intelligence, Hellas had seized control of drone networks all across the world. Unmanned aerial vehicles crashed themselves into buildings while cargo drones had blocked off roads with their bulk. This was preceded by a total disruption of any wireless signals, making communication impossible both within Sargasso’s system and beyond it. The Marine garrison was quickly mobilized to restore order and remove Hellas from the metropolitan AI interface. Their task was relatively easy in the early days of the battle for Sargasso, as Hellas had control over little more than unarmed civilian drones, and intended to overwhelm the Marines with sheer numbers. Every drone from massive construction machines to thousands upon thousands of humanoid assistance drones were thrown at the Marines, meeting with markedly little success. Handfuls of injuries were sustained among the Marines as they made their way through to the city, but their progress was stopped just before they reached the primary AI facility as drones of all varieties had thrown themselves at the marines in an attempt to prevent access to Hellas’ hardware. At an unknown point during this altercation, a Promethean transport had entered Sargasso’s upper atmosphere and begun translating Promethean warriors to the surface. Taken entirely by surprise, the UNSC was quickly pushed back to their base by the Prometheans, now under the command of Hellas. 
=== Variants and Alternative Designs ===
After production on the Funnelweb commenced, Materials Group had begun work on developing variants and improvements on the initial Mark X platform. While the 20mm and 40mm cannons had proven effective, the UNSC had requested heavier handheld weapons. Among these heavier weapons included a patched directly into the Funnelweb’s reactor, when combined with an advanced coolant system and robust heat absorption shrouds enable it a greater rate of fire. Similarly, the has been adapted for use by the Funnelweb. Experiments in replacing the shoulder mounted missile launcher with directed energy weapons are proceeding favorably.
The Mark X is currently being adapted for a variety of additional combat roles and environments:
* The Mark X-ORB, also known as the Void Funnelweb is a variant requested by , combat spacewalkers, and ship security troops. Somewhat less armored than the stock Funnelweb in order to be able to fit into drop pods and to accommodate a number of vectoring thrusters seeded throughout it’s hull. This system of thrusters provides a great deal of maneuverability in microgravity, and allows for short lived ‘hops’ in gravity wells. To compensate for the lack of armor plating, additional sheets of ablative materials were added to the Funneleweb’s structural weak points, intended to give it a somewhat greater degree of protection against plasma munitions, but also shielding it from cosmic background radiation. Void Funnelwebs are also equipped with a very robust life support system, with redundant oxygen scrubbers and water recyclers. 
* A highly experimental variant of the Funnelweb, the Mark X-SEW, also known as the Stealth Funnelweb was requested by Office of Naval Intelligence agents in need of armored support during direct action operations. Stealth Funnelwebs also often form the basis of ground based electronic attack units. The Stealth Funnelweb’s physical systems architecture is intended to support and bolster a Smart AI’s electronic warfare capabilities, through inbuilt microserver banks and transmission antennas. This variant of the vehicle strips much of the armor from its frame to provide it with a greater degree of agility and speed. The Stealth Funnelweb is equipped with a number of advanced sensor baffles, able to render the vehicle exceptionally difficult to detect using electromagnetic spectrum sensor systems. Chaff pods and decoy launchers replace the shoulder mounted missile pod of the stock Funnelweb. 
* Robustly armored and heavily armed, the Mark-X-AST, nicknamed the Assault Funnelweb is meant for high-intensity, sustained engagements against the enemy as requested by the UNSC Marine Corp. Boasting heavier armor and a more robust shield generator, the Assault Funnelweb has proven notoriously difficult to take down even while under fire from anti-vehicle munitions. Additional integrated weapons hardpoints have also been included on this variant’s frame, and it is typically deployed with an arm mounted and an additional shoulder mounted missile pod. Reinforced joint actuators help to reduce the risk of dismemberment during intense combat, a noted vulnerability of the initial Funnelweb design. The additional weapons and armor load reduces the Funnelweb’s already mediocre top speed. A manipulator operated version of the is being designed for the Assault Funnelweb.
* Derived from the Stealth Funnelweb, but with many of the advanced electronic warfare systems stripped out and replaced with advanced targeting systems. Slimmer and sleeker than the initial Funnelweb design, the Mark X-SCT Scout Funnelweb was designed as a ‘marksman’ variant of the vehicle. Several improvements have been made to the Funnelweb’s joint system in the Scout Funnelweb, enabling it a far greater range of motion than its predecessor. Test trials of the Scout Funnelweb have shown it being able to scale rock walls and navigate through uneven ground. A number of grappling piton launchers are also mounted on key points of the Scout Funnelweb’s hull, allowing it to quickly and safely move to higher elevations. A secondary reactor is also included on the Scout Funnelweb, dedicated to powering the that makes up its primary armament.