Shroud

The Shroud, classified by the UNSC as the Type-46 Industrial Support Aircraft, is a type of civil industry-turned-stealth aircraft used by the Jiralhanae.

History
The basic design of the Shroud and its derivatives date back to the Jiralhanae's first spacefaring age. They were developed as a more manageable alternative for Jiralhanae spacesuits, as early suits were bulky, difficult to build, and already required a man-amplifier frame for any kind of work. Used for general transportation and duties, these early Shrouds differed from their later incarnations because they only had the two forelegs, with the others not being fitted until well after the First Immolation and arrival of the Gryunjalla.

Although advanced materials needed to slim down the spacesuits were later discovered, the Shroud continued to remain popular as a construction vehicle and also a vessel of war, particularly when the Warlords were so strapped for vessels that they were reduced to boarding and capturing starships from their rivals. The Brutes experimented with using stealth Shrouds to infiltrate starports in the Covenant frontier, to pillage valuable supplies or simply to commit sabotage. After the Jirlhanae-Covenant War, it gradually fell out of mainline use. It was only during the onset of the Great Schism that the Shroud and other Jiralhanae-native vehicles began to make a comeback, and saw action during the very last years of the Human-Covenant War.

Design features
The Shroud is the Jiralhanae's primary civil industry vehicle, optimized for conducting all manner of construction and demolition work. Its basic design consists of a cramped cabin with small thrusters for space travel and appendages controlled by the operator. Most of the hull is ruggedly reinforced to contain Doisac-standard atmospheric pressure, with most of its volume is devoted to the life support, engines, and reactor systems. There is no room allocated for cargo inside the cabin; it must be carried on the Shroud's exterior.

Underneath the Shroud are an assortment of mechanical appendages, with most modern models featuring eight pairs in total. The forelegs are modular and directly controlled by the operator, able to use a wide variety of tools depending on what work needs to be performed. The usual arrangement includes cutting saws, welders, and mechanical claws for manipulating objects. A second, much smaller set of legs are used for delicate tasks. The hindlegs are used for latching the Shroud to a steady surface, be it a mothership or a space platform, or for carrying large completed modules for final installation. As its control system is more comparable to an exoskeleton than a conventional aircraft, Shrouds are difficult for most pilots to fly.

Though Shrouds are capable of atmospheric flight, they are far too slow and cumbersome to make for an effective attack vehicle and are usually reserved for support or peaceful purposes. Their armament is solely used for self-defense, with a computer-aided Spiker only able to shoot down missiles or reply with small-arms fire. Some Shroud pilots have used the forelegs to batter aside infantry and rip apart vehicles.

Since contact had been made with the Covenant, a number of enterprising warlords have experimented with installing active-camouflage emitters to hide them and other vehicles around them.

Super Shroud boarding craft
The Super Shroud, classified by the UNSC as the Type-51 Stealth Intrusion Vehicle, was a larger variation of the Shroud used by the Torchbearers during the Great Schism. Sized up and lengthened to accommodate a troop bay, the Super Shroud is intended for use with the Jiralhanae Stalkers as both a shuttle and boarding craft. It incorporates a much more advanced active-camouflage emitter and jammer suite as standard, and the forelegs are specialized with cutting equipment for breaking through thick starship hulls. Impulse drives replace the crude rockets found on their smaller cousins, making it fast and surprisingly agile thanks to the Shroud's unique control system.