| “ | That Tripod left a husk, I think an engineer can capture it. - GDI Soldier witnessing an Annihilator Tripod Husk(src) |
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Husks were ruined units encountered during the Third and Fourth Tiberium War.
Background
"Husk" was a term used to describe the wreckage of certain heavily armored units, most notably heavy walkers of the Third Tiberium War, who had been destroyed. GDI, Nod, and even the alien Scrin had designed their walkers such that their core systems were well-protected from a variety of attacks, even those that could destroy the rest of the unit. As a result, even after being put out out of battle, most of the equipment on these vehicles were still usable. Trained personnel were capable of repairing and reactivating this remaining equipment, which effectively gave the walker a second lease on life. However, the systems' ability to "revive" themselves was a double-edged sword: their inability to distinguish ally from foe also meant that enemies could capture these powerful walkers for use against their former masters, and some commanders chose to scuttle husks such that could not be recovered in order to deny their enemy their usage. This task was not very difficult, as what remained of the walker had sustained so much damage that it was unable to withstand much more. These already-fragile husks were relatively unstable, and were also liable to fall apart by themselves if left untouched for too long, though this process required a considerable amount of time.
Not all walkers of the Third Tiberium War recieved this honor; the smaller walkers deployed by the Steel Talons and Scrin, such as the redesigned Steel Talons Titan Mk. II and the Scrin Gun Walker were to be deployed as common, mainline battle units, and as such their core components were not fitted with such protection to keep costs down.
After the Third Tiberium War, both GDI and Nod assessed the performance of these backup systems, and deemed that they had been well worth the money sunk into them and their development. Indeed, on many occasions they had allowed for repairs where replacements were typically needed, which greatly saved both sides much money in the long run. With these benefits in mind, both human factions began applying them to a more diverse range of their next generation of combat units, who would eventually see conflict in the last showdown between Nod and GDI - the Fourth Tiberium War.
In addition to advances and the more widespread usage of this preservation of critical systems, GDI, Nod, and the Nod Separatists saw the vulnerability in the potential of their enemies capturing an increasing catalogue of important units' husks (much like in the previous war), and implemented advanced Backup Systems, derived from the Second Tiberium War's Mammoth Mk. II walker's self-repair systems, which could slowly restore the ruined vehicle to full functionality. However, it was still possible to capture husks before this repair process completed itself, much to the ire of their commanders.
With the defeat of both the Nod Separatists and the GDI rebels and Kane's Ascension following the conclusion of the Fourth Tiberium War, global conflict dropped to an all-time low. After four worldwide, all-consuming conflicts, Global Defense Initiative was the only faction left on Earth, and the only husks that would be seen for a long time were those who had been consumed by the previous wars.
List of Units that Leave Husks
Tiberium Wars / Kane's Wrath (Third Tiberium War)
- Juggernaut, GDI artillery walker
- Behemoth, Steel Talons specialization
- Avatar, Nod combat walker
- Purifier, Black Hand specialization
- Annihilator Tripod, Scrin combat walker
- Reaper Tripod, Reaper-17 specialization
Tiberian Twilight (Incursion War & Fourth Tiberium War)
An achievement can be gained if the player captures several husks. Additionally, the following are all also subject to the Offense class Backup Systems upgrade.
- Mammoth Tank (Offense), GDI superheavy tank
- Mastodon (Offense), GDI superheavy walker
- Rhino (Defense), GDI artillery vehicle
- Avatar (Offense), Nod superheavy walker
- Widow (Offense), Nod psuedo-carrier support vehicle
- Aftershock (Defense), Nod area denial support vehicle
Trivia
- When a husk of the Marked of Kane Avatar in Kane's Wrath is captured, it is turned into a standard Nod Avatar. This was fixed in the unofficial 1.02+ patch.
- In Tiberium Wars, if the husk is on a heavily damaged bridge piece, there is a chance that the husk can't be captured.
- In Tiberium Wars, a husk will retain its owner's team color even after that player has been defeated.
- Being units, husks can be mind-controlled by the Prodigy's area-of-effect mind control ability, though its inert nature means that this is usually of little tactical usefulness.
- In Tiberium Wars a walker could, hypothetically, remain in "circulation" indefinitely, as revived walkers that are once again destroyed will still leave behind a husk.
- In Tiberium Wars husks can be crushed by heavy and Epic units, much like normal units.