With the most recent series of Red Vs. Blue almost halfway done or so (despite at least one confirmation from Rooster Teeth that 13 was the final season), I figured it was time to address something that seems to have come up quite a lot in discussion about the series; that being, what the heck the Reds and Blues ACTUALLY HAVE in terms of equipment, since RT has never explicitly noted what they have.
I, myself, am a lore fan. I can recite the official designations, ammunition size, magazine capacity, and rate of fire of most UNSC and Covenant weapons backwards in my sleep and rattle off the entire production run of MJLONIR suits in the following sentence. However…I know most people can’t do that. Especially, it seems, those who are fans of RvB. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with it of course. I probably should devote more of my time to real life things. But; that lack of knowledge can lead to some understandable confusion. Something I hope to address post-haste here.
(A small note; I will be using Halo lore to explain what we see in RvB due to the fact that it is clearly stated to be in a similar, if not identical, universe to the canon Halo story line and the various correlating mentions in it).
First and foremost; whatever people might say, whatever the in-show visuals would have you believe, the simulation troopers and Freelancers of the series are NOT WEARING ANY SORT OF POWERED ASSAULT ARMOR.
Certainly not MJLONIR, despite the appearances (limits of the medium only). A normal augmented human cannot wear MJLONIR simply due to the force-multiplying circits within it. In effect, these enhance every single motion made. As Halopedia notes; “a slight motion can be translated into a potentially harmful one if not conducted correctly. For this reason it is only possible for Spartans to use this armor, as their strengthened bodies are able to withstand the increased power and speed of movement, which, in un-augmented human bodies, results in broken bones or death, due to spasms caused by the pain of broken bones.”
Last I checked, none of the main characters in the show died instantly the moment they tried to move. So; whatever they’re wearing, its not MJLONIR.
(Freelancer armor also lacks the noted durability and energy shielding of MJLONIR, as we saw by Maine nearly getting his head blown off in close quarters by a sidearm, or the other times in the series Freelancers have fallen. MLJONIR is, in canon, near impenetrable to anything but armor-piercing ammunition and Covenant plasma.)
“But what about the Freelancers awesome fight scenes?!” I hear someone crying. Well, I never said they weren’t wearing powered armor did I. Or, at least…FULLY POWERED.
And there in lies my theory of what this stuff actually is (for the Freelancers at least; I’ll get to the sim troopers in a moment)
Those of you familiar with the Spartan-IIIs and the books Ghosts of Onyx, Glasslands, and Last Light will know of the existence of Semi-Powered Infiltration armor. Far cheaper to make but far weaker than MLJONIR, this stuff was made in the THOUSANDS by the Materials Department to supply the 300+ members of the Spartan-III companies. It features very little of the physical enhancement abilities of MLJONIR, instead relying more on stealth for protection, and therefor lacks the reactive circuits. Meaning, that, theoretically (or possibly confirmed, depending on if the female we see on the revealed cover of Halo: Retribution is in fact Veta Lopiz or not) a non-augmented human could wear it.
Ex; the Freelancers. In effect; Project Freelancer was given sub-standard variations of SPI in the hope that they could produce something that could be used in alagory to the Prototype Hrrunting/Yddrissal suit from Algolis; turn a normal unaugmented soldier into something like a Spartan.
It DOES provide some bonuses though, and its highly possible that a secret, obviously well funded group like Freelancer could provide additional experimental enhancements for it. Any of the equipment the Freelancers have, basically. That might even be the reason that Freelancer existed and the Office of Naval Intelligence didn’t crush it flat for causing issues with Charon. That, or it was a scapegoat project for the S-IIIs to explain where all the money and personnel were going.
Moving on to the sim troopers themselves…considering they literally existed to get beat around by the Freelancers, and also cover up Church’s MASSIVE breach of UNSC AI protocol, the Moral Dictata, and quite a few other things, it would make no sense to give them anything other than trash armor. And thats exactly what they got.
Considering most of them seem to be sub-par in the intelligence category (and several never saw actual combat) its unlikely they would have noticed that they were trading in their MB2552 or equivalent armor suits for lightweight metal (aluminum possibly) and a padded undersuit. Hence why there is real danger of them getting hurt by bullets, and why Tex is able to pound the crap out of them without issue. Its kind of hard to feel a punch through actual powered armor, let alone SPI. Why it looks like MJLONIR, I have no idea. Perhaps to trick them into thinking they were actually doing something for the UNSC? Ask Admiral Osman about it.
Now for the weapons. This parts a little bit easier, since for the most part Freelancers and sim troopers both seem to be using standard UNSC firearms and equipment; MA5 series rifles, M6 series handguns, various vehicles of all types. Bar, of course, Sarge’s “EMP Hog” that somehow resembles an M12G Light Anti Armor Vehicle, but I digress.
One thing I will note about their kit, however, is something I saw in the most recent episode, where one of the soldiers apperently readied his BR85 by punching the stock. Perhaps the sim troopers are used to test new UNSC equipment as well, or Misrah Armories alternative production models? Who really knows.
Anyway, that about wraps it up. Hope you guys got some clarification out of this!
