KUSANAGI (Material)

KUSANAGI was a 'brilliant' material developed under the auspices of Project:VULCAN and quickly integrated into UNSC technology.

History
KUSANAGI was a forerunner developed material, developed near the end of the Forerunner-Flood war, shortly before the activation of the Arrays, and soon enough salvaged by the Necros. The Necros didn't fully understand exactly the significance of the technology they had salvaged and used it to develop SCYTHE magneto-plasmic rounds used in nearly all their ordnance. However, the truth of the technology was much, much more deadly.

As soon as the UNSC encountered the Necros, they recovered hundreds, if not thousands of examples of Necros firearms. ONI immediately founded a new 'think tank cell', DEAD ORCHID, to dismantle the technology, understand it and develop countermeasures. A sub cell, DEAD ROSE, was formed to research the munition. In researching the munition, DEAD ROSE discovered that SCYTHE slugs were specifically designed to create a powerful magnet field around themselves, which harboured a pocket of highly compressed plasma, though not under enough pressure to develop a liquid state. The munitions coating violently exploded when the magnetic field was interrupted by a solid object, giving the SCYTHE slug powerful incendiary after effects. However, as DEAD ROSE continued to research it, developing their own SCYTHE like material, dubbed 'KUSANAGI' to replicate results, they discovered that the ordnance, when properly calibrated, could develop a 'holy grail' of military researchers since 2525. The supposed 'Phasic Round'.

'Phasic Rounds' were a concept initially laid down by the ONI research cell, CARDINAL. Phased with chemically propelled kinetic rounds against energy shields, the prospect of 'phasic rounds', which could bypass shielding, was a exciting one, however, research was halted after 5 years of no results, leaving the project dead.

KUSANAGI however, during initial testing, had the capability to punch through shielding, with some success. DEAD ROSE received expanded funding when it was transferred to VULCAN and was tasked with developing KUSANAGI for use with average infantry men. A KUSANAGI 'paint' was available for application on current munition stockpiles, with a slightly reduced effectiveness, while almost every munition produced in the UNSC since was designed with a KUSANAGI layer to support it. KUSANAGI specs were quickly deployed to the UNSC's allies, allowing the other factions to developing phasic munitions. The Necros couldn't design a effective countermeasure against it for another 3 years, when they developed their own independently developed cyclic shield system.

Design
KUSANAGI projects a powerful magnetic field, which when in contact with shielding interrupts the magnetic field emitted by the shielding emitters, the powerful magnetic field quite literally punching a hole in the defensive magnetic field and opening a hole for the munition to travel uninterrupted. More powerful magnetic fields can usually defeat small munitions, meaning simple infantry firearms are incapable of harming bypassing shields used on Necros 'titans', but the standard 7.62 round is capable of penetrating a Necros General's shields, which are usually several times the power of a Sangheili field master or MJOLNIR VII shield. When a round is insufficient to bypass a shield, it usually deals a significant drain, which relates more to the drain caused by ordnance with several times more kinetic or thermal energy.

KUSANAGI generates a magnetic shield through the synthetic nano-matrix it is formed from, which is several times more complicated than conventional or electric magnets, which generates a much stronger magnetic field than conventional materials, without outwardly applied magnetic forces. The matrices can be specifically designed in preproduction to generate a magnetic field of specific shape, which allowed the Necros to develop their SCYTHE rounds. The magnetic field produced interrupts all known forms of shielding, including Human, Sangheili, Necros and Forerunner. It also proves to be highly effective against Bubble Shields, Point Defence Gauntlets and stationary shields.