SPACEBRAKE

The SPACEBRAKE line of armor was a specialized variant of armor used by the U.N.S.C. It was used by the Special Marines, a very elite unit of Marines activated in 2551 to fight alongside SPARTANs. In spirit, it functioned similarly to the Semi-Powered Infiltration armor used by SPARTAN-IIIs, except made to be for regular soldiers.

The first prototypes of SPACEBRAKE were activated around 2549, and the first full version in 2551. The Generation-I SPACEBRAKE armor provided advanced protection and little more. SPACEBRAKE-II was introduced in 2553; SPACEBRAKE-III in 2557, allowing for A.I interfacing, and the latest model, SPACEBRAKE-IV, featuring Energy Shielding and Armor Lock, in 2559.

The SPACEBRAKE armor was described by U.N.S.C Admiral Peter Rodders as "The MJOLNIR and SPI's slightly off cousin". Several SPACEBRAKE-IIIs were stolen in 2556 for The R.I.O.T Program.

Background
The SPARTAN-IIs utilized advanced MJOLNIR Powered Assault armor. The main problems with this armor, for normal use, was that it was made purely out of Titanium, and as such, weighed such an incredible amount no ordinary human could wear it. Also, it required a large amount of money simply to manufacture. This made it incredibly difficult to mass-produce, and the U.N.S.C barely covered the cost for the Thirty-Three produced for the original SPARTAN-IIs. While these costs recovered by at least 2535, it was still too much to mass-produce; the alternative was the Semi-Powered Infiltration (S.P.I.) armor used en masse for the SPARTAN-IIIs. While it put an emphasis on stealth, aided by invisibility panels, over the advanced strengths of the MJOLNIR, it was still more powerful than standard Marine or ODST armor. Even then, the not necessarily small amount of 500+ SPARTAN-IIIs was still a small fraction of the Millions of U.N.S.C personnel that made even the S.P.I armor impossible to be used across standard soldiers. This lead to Andriah South to recommend the idea of a limbo state between ODST and SPI armors. Initially called PROJECT : ORBITAL, it was cleared in 2534 but, due to immense losses from the Battle of Jericho VII, was abandoned.

The project, however, was picked up again in 2549, renamed as SPACEBRAKE, as a potential armor for the new "Special Marines". The first prototypes were manufactured around this time and tested on Ushuaia's facilities on Ceres.

2549
2549, the first year of the SPACEBRAKE project, lead to the development of the SPACEBRAKE-PTT armor. Engineered from May to July, it was first produced in August. Edward Buck early-tested a suit of it and ended up breaking the system. Two others, a man named Scott Abernathy and a girl known as Maria, ended up completing training exercises and the project was deemed to be working well.

The PTT variant featured a simple 3 Centimeter Kevlar layer and a fireproof layer of synthetic under that. It featured advanced bulletproof vests and a "TacBacPac" storage system worn on the back. It's helmet featured little more than a heart monitor and communications hub, however.

The next week, SPACEBRAKE-PTT (2) was being developed; Featuring a cooling and heating system, along with more HUD features much like a SPARTAN's, which easily broke. These errors were fixed in SPACEBRAKE-PTT (3) in December of 2549.

Many minor tweaks were made in the next few weeks known as models 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.8, and 3.10 before being fully developed in 2550. It was tested and used by the Special Marines in the battle of Concord as SPACEBRAKE-I. At the time, roughly 35 suits were manufactured as the S.M Corps were rather small. However, by the end of the year, the growing prominence of the Special Marines lead to about 200 being produced at only a fifth of the S.P.I's cost.

Early Days
The early battles of SPACEBRAKE included the Battle of Concord, Battle of Meridian, Battle of Beta Eridani, and the Battle of Fumirole. By then, the Special Marines were simply about 45 elites in Class One. The SPACEBRAKE proved effective in combat and remained highly classified by the U.N.S.C.

However, during the Battle of New Jerusalem, many of the S.Ms died and the remaining were killed in the Fall of Reach. A new class of them began to get trained, and a new generation of SPACEBRAKE was going to be developed.

SPACEBRAKE-II
SPACEBRAKE-II was the alternative being developed for Class Two in 2552. It was developed in the same areas as the original model, but featured air systems and E.V.A capabilities. It also had an even more advanced H.U.D some say was even better than a SPARTANs. However, the Class didn't graduate til' 2553, because of the Battle of Coral and The Battle of Installation 04.

The SPACEBRAKE-II armor saw little use because of the war's end, and because the SPARTAN-IVs were first beginning, the MJOLNIR [GEN-2] began to replace the SPACEBRAKE armor. However, some select individuals, including Scott Abernathy.

SPACEBRAKE-III Prototypes
The SPACEBRAKE armors, while being overshadowed by GEN-2 MJOLNIR and S.P.I GEN-2 armor, was still the go-to for S.M Corps and even specialized ODST Units. However, at OPERATION : FAR STORM, an ODST team needed special armor. This launched the development of a third SPACEBRAKE model. Originally titled "SPACEBRAKE Set" (named after the phonetic pronunciation of the number Three in Korean, and because it was supposed to complete a "Set" of SPACEBRAKE armor), it first gained prototype models in 2556. Featuring, most significantly, A.I interfacing and advanced IDs, they were finished in 2557 and used by Special Marines and, a new detachment of them, Special Drop Shock Troopers (SDSTs). During their development, several SPACEBRAKE suits were taken by Erfen Zen for the R.I.O.T program. Models of Prototype IIIs included SPACEBRAKE-PTT (1.1.1), SPACEBRAKE-PTT (1.1.2), and SPACEBRAKE-PTT (1.3.4). While initially little produced, they were mass-produced after the Venegance Regime formed. The SPACEBRAKE-III Sp. variant (for Special), built for SDSTs, was released sometime in 2558.

Later Models
The main designer of the SPACEBRAKE-II and SPACEBRAKE-III projects, Lena South (the daughter of Andriah South) was approached by U.N.S.C designers for a fourth generation of SPACEBRAKE. Titled "Millenium Type One" armor, it would be even more like MJOLNIR armor. Featuring energy shielding and capabilities for Armor Abilities, it was going to be used for the SPARTAN-V program. It was developed, tho highly classified, in 2558 and released in 2559. Used by S.M and SDST members, it was officially used by the SPARTAN-V program in 2562. In 2565, the ARCHER variant of armor even added wings that allowed the wearer to fly for short times.

Personnel
List of Personnel who used SPACEBRAKE armors. Additionally, the entire SPARTAN-V program used it.

SPACEBRAKE-PTT
The first variant of known SPACEBRAKE variants. Prototype. Subtypes include :