| The Headhunter was one of the first combat variants of the Hunter, appearing in TN 1687, the second cycle of the Merchant War between the United Mercantile Federation and the Allied Southern Territories. Designed to lead teams of Hunters on the field, the new machine was fitted for this purpose with a boosted communications array. The original Headhunter, based on the Desert Hunter frame, featured a full armored antenna on to the large head turret of the Gear. When the Hunter was updated and its successor, the Hunter Mk II, was introduced in TN 1852, the Headhunter was among the first of many varants to be refitted with the new systems and to be redesigned. The new Headhunter featured an enlarged canopy fitted with two whip antennae on the top rear of its head and multiple sensor cameras. The square armored helmet protecting the electronics of the Headhunter would ultimately inspire the recent remolding of the head modules of the Hunter, Cheetah, and Jaguar according to new specifications. The adoption of a head module based on the Headhunter design is hardly surprising, since the Headhunter has long served as the testing ground for many of the modifications eventaully introduced into the Hunter itself. Many veterans, however, still like to ride traditional Headhunters because of their holder, more "experienced" neural nets. Rookies also find that they are more "docile" models compared to the regular Hunter trainers, something that still baffles Gear Support at Northco.
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