M35 Mako

The M35 Mako Infantry Fighting Vehicle was a Systems Alliance ground vehicle designed to deploy from the cargo bays of the Alliance's frigates onto virtually any world. Small enough to be carried aboard ship yet rugged enough to survive punishing drops and terrain, it served as Commander Shepard's primary groundside transport aboard the SSV Normandy SR-1 during the pursuit of Saren Arterius.

Design and purpose#

The M35 Mako was designed to fulfill a rapid-deployment role that its predecessor, the M29 Grizzly, had fallen short of accomplishing. Though its interior was cramped, the vehicle was small enough to be carried in a frigate's cargo bay and deployed on nearly any world. Its main armament was a turreted 155mm mass accelerator cannon paired with a coaxial-mounted machine gun, giving a fireteam both heavy weapon support and mobility. Because Alliance marines might be called to fight in any planetary environment, the Mako was environmentally sealed and powered by a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell. Its armor was tough enough to withstand high drops, extreme heat and cold, and rough terrain, while its suspension and independently reversible wheels let it adapt to difficult ground and change direction quickly.

For deployment on low-gravity planetoids the Mako was fitted with micro-thrusters and a small element zero core. The core could increase the vehicle's mass to provide greater traction, or reduce it enough to permit a safe air-drop, a maneuver that would otherwise require a long stretch of open terrain. This let frigates put a shore party on the ground while limiting the ship's exposure to defensive anti-aircraft fire, and the thrusters could also help the Mako extricate itself from bad terrain. Laser detection arrays warned the crew of incoming guided ordnance, and ground-penetrating radar flagged buried mines and other anomalies through the vehicle's onboard computer. The base could carry roughly eight occupants, two in front and the rest in a passenger hold. Several support variants were built on the same chassis for Alliance surface garrisons, among them a recon drone controller, a mobile air-defense platform, and the M38 military ambulance nicknamed "Moby" for the white paint it wore during peacekeeping operations, but shipboard marines used only the heavily armed base model.

Service with the Normandy#

The SSV Normandy carried a Mako for groundside operations, and Shepard used it to explore most of the worlds where the squad set down during the hunt for Saren. Its most celebrated moment came on Ilos, where the squad drove the Mako through the Conduit, a device that flung the vehicle across thousands of light-years directly to the Presidium of the Citadel. The Mako smashed through a pair of geth troopers before coming to rest on its side, too badly damaged to continue, forcing the team to abandon it and press on by foot.

The Normandy's Mako was repaired or replaced sometime after the Battle of the Citadel. When the frigate was destroyed in a surprise attack over Alchera, the vehicle came down with the wreckage and was later found at the crash site, partly encased in ice and rock but otherwise nearly intact, a demonstration of its legendary resilience. Following the construction of the Normandy's larger successor, the Normandy SR-2, a drop shuttle supplanted the Mako as Shepard's primary transport to and from combat zones.

The Reaper War#

By the time of the Reaper invasion of 2186, the Mako remained a mainstay of Alliance ground forces. Numerous vehicles were deployed during the final battle for Earth, where they formed the bulk of the Alliance mobile armor committed to the assault. During the push toward the London Conduit several Makos tried to outrun the attacks of the Reaper Harbinger and were destroyed in the attempt, with one tumbling across the path of Shepard's squad and forcing the Commander to advance alone.