M6/Z magnum
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| M6/Z Magnum | |
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Close-quarters[1] |
- "Machine pistols are sloppy, but when I need to fight Flood Infection forms, sloppy's the best thing on the menu."
- — Private Lewis Allen[2]
The M6/Z Magnum is a fully-automatic machine pistol variant of the veritable M6 series of sidearms produced by Misriah Armory.[1]
Overview[edit]
Design details[edit]
The M6/Z is a modified Magnum pistol, designed to support the use of fully-automatic fire - albeit with extremely low accuracy.[1] The weapon features a top-mounted sight and a vertical foregrip.[3]
Usage[edit]
The M6/Z was designed for high-risk, close-quarters boarding actions within space warfare. Ultimately, the weapon has not seen much use, due to its low accuracy offsetting any potential rate-of-fire benefits.[1]
Operational history[edit]
Misriah first introduced the M6/Z some time before late 2552. It did not see widespread use, but it did find utility against Flood during the UNSC's brief encounter with the parasite towards the end of the Human-Covenant War,[1] particularly against infection forms like pod infectors.[2] The weapon was also present in TACSIM training simulations hosted by Roland aboard the UNSC Infinity, at some point after December 5, 2557.[4][5][Note 1] These simulated a Forerunner location called X-40, and populated it with Flood forms, in order to train Spartans to fight the parasite, should the UNSC ever encounter it again.[6][4]
When questioned on the autopistol c.2558, the Forerunner ancilla Catalog was in the midst of researching the pistol's specifications.[7]
Gameplay[edit]
- Main article: Machine Pistol
The machine pistol, to-date, has only appeared in Halo: Spartan Assault. It is a useable weapon exclusive to the game's co-operative Flood missions.
Production notes[edit]
Due to only being available in one mode, in a relatively obscure Halo title, the Machine Pistols that would become the M6/Z went largely unnoticed by the majority of the community, and by 343 Industries themselves. The weapon was not acknowledged in any media outside of Spartan Assault, nor was it mentioned in a Halo Community Update or Canon Fodder around the time of the release of the co-op mode. On one occasion in 2018, when asked, 343 Industries writer Kenneth Peters confessed to having forgotten they existed.[8] Consequently, the weapon became a meme among the Halopedia community, due to the absence of any substantial information on the subject.
Following the release of Canon Fodder issue 128 in mid-2022, Halopedia admin Dab1001 joked on the Halopedia Discord server that Halopedia should collectively band together and all ask questions about the Machine Pistols in the next Canon Fodder Q&A. Canon Fodder writer Alex Wakeford jokingly encouraged this,[9] and so when the next call for Q&A questions was made, Halopedia users made several posts asking various questions about the weapon over both Reddit,[10] and Twitter.[11] Users who submitted questions were awarded the "Machine Pistol Legion" role on the Discord server. Eventually, the Machine Pistols were expanded upon in Canon Fodder issue 133, in October 2022, initially with a humorous fakeout description involving Precursor neural physics, intended to make the reader think the question would not be answered seriously, before progressing to a brief segment establishing the Machine Pistol as the M6/Z magnum, manufactured by Misriah Armory.[1]
- "Augmented with fledgling knowledge of the esoteric Precursor science-magics of neural physics, the machine p--"
- — Humorous, non-canonical description of the Machine Pistols.[1]
Gallery[edit]
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Browse more images in this article's gallery page. |
HUD icons[edit]
The weapon's icon, as seen in the game files of Halo: Spartan Strike.
The weapon's icon when it is empty, as seen in the game files of Halo: Spartan Strike.
The Machine Pistols' icon when it is pressed in the armoury, extracted from the files of Spartan Strike.
An icon for the Machine Pistols when hovered over in the armoury, from Spartan Strike's files.
Menu images[edit]
The Machine Pistol in the loadout menu.
The upgrades screen for the Machine Pistol.
The Machine Pistol with the maximum upgrades.
Gameplay[edit]
Two players wielding Machine Pistols.
Machine Pistols in use against pod infectors.
A red player holds a pair of Machine Pistols.
The HUD when holding an empty pair of Machine Pistols.
Two players holding out against the Flood with the weapon.
A red player firing the weapon at an infection form.
A pair of players wielding Machine Pistols.
Several Machine Pistols; both in players' hands and discarded on the ground.
A player (right) firing a pair of Machine Pistols.
The weapon in use against a horde of Flood.
Several infection forms and a combat form being fired upon with the weapon.
Two Machine Pistols in a weapon locker.
Two players combine fire with the Machine Pistols.
A pair of players attack Flood who are assailing a barricade.
A red player firing the Machine Pistols, while the blue player holds a pair on their back.
Two red combat forms with Machine Pistols. Note the different, SMG-like appearance.
List of appearances[edit]
- Halo: Spartan Assault (First appearance)
Notes[edit]
- ^ The artificial intelligence Roland appears during the introduction cutscene for the co-op Flood missions, and serves as its narrator. As he was put into service on December 5, 2557, this indicates that the TACSIM training session depicted in the cutscene took place some time after that date.
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Food for Thought (Retrieved on Oct 7, 2022) [archive]
- ^ a b Halo: Spartan Assault, pre-mission quotes
- ^ Halo: Spartan Assault, Machine Pistol in-game weapon
- ^ a b Halo: Spartan Assault, co-op intro cutscene
- ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 19: Roland
- ^ Halo: Spartan Assault, co-op missions
- ^ Halo Waypoint Forums, Catalog Interaction (Retrieved on Apr 13, 2016) [local archive] [external archive]
- ^ Discord, Sins of the Prophets, Q&A with Kenneth Peters: "Ah had totally forgotten about the machine pistols" - Kenneth Peters
- ^ Discord, Halopedia, conversation with Alex "Haruspis" Wakeford: "dew it" - Alex Wakeford
- ^ Reddit, r/HaloStory, Canon Fodder Q&A - September edition (Retrieved on Oct 7, 2022) [archive]
- ^ Twitter, Alex Wakeford (@haruspis) (Retrieved on Oct 7, 2022) [archive]
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