Editing Fortress-class vessel

{{Title|''Fortress''-class vessel}}
{{Status|Canon}}
{{disambig header|a starship class|other articles named "Fortress"|Fortress}}
{{Ship class infobox
|name= ''Fortress''-class vessel
|image=[[File:Enc22 FortressClass.png|300px]]
|manufacturer= Forerunner ecumene
|class=
|role=[[Carrier]]
|length=Varies
|width=Varies
|height=
|engine=
|slipspace drive= Equipped
|hull=
|armament=
*[[Heavy ion weapon system]] {{C|On larger examples}}{{Ref/Reuse|Ion}}
*Tail-mounted [[directed-energy weapon]]ry{{Ref/Reuse|HC20}}
|complement=*[[Harrier-class vessel|Attack harriers]]{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Chapter=String 25, Fragment 1}}
*Phalanxes of [[weapon-ship]]s{{Ref/Reuse|HC20}}
*Hundreds of thousands of [[Warrior-Servants|warriors]]{{Ref/Reuse|HC20}}
|era= *[[Human-Forerunner War]]
*[[Forerunner-Flood War]]
|affiliation=*[[Forerunner]] [[Ecumene]]
*[[Created]]{{Ref/Novel|Id=Out23|Out|Chapter=23}}
}}
'''''Fortress''-class vessels''', more commonly known as '''fortresses''' or '''fortress ships''', were massive warships used by the [[Forerunner]] military. The ''Fortress''{{'}} name is in reference to the ship's size and power.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=360}}

==Overview==
===Design details===
''Fortress''-class vessels were some of the largest and most powerful vessels in the [[Forerunner fleet|Forerunner navy]]. From bow to stern the ships were approximately 50 kilometers long and 10 kilometers across at the widest point. The hull is divided into three sections. The foremost section of the ship is a massive hemispherical structure 10 kilometers in diameter. The dome's hollow core serves as living space for hundreds of thousands of Forerunner [[Warrior-Servant]]s. Below the dome is a mid-section composed of layered platforms supporting landing bays and weapon mounts. The aft section of the ship is a long "tail" covered in gun emplacements and other forms of energy weaponry.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HC20|Cry|Chapter=20}}

Despite this prior description, ''Fortress'' ships were not all of a single unified design; ships used toward the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]] measured up to 100&nbsp;km in length with far more destructive capabilities.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HC27|Cry|Chapter=27}} Extremely large examples of ''Fortress''es (presumably such as the aforementioned hundred-kilometre example) may be fitted with [[heavy ion weapon system]]s as their primary superweapons.{{Ref/Book|Id=Ion|Enc22|Page=377}} ''Fortress''-class ships may also incorporate [[Minoris Assembler Vats]] into their structure to allow for the mass on-site fabrication of lower-tier constructs such as [[Sentinel]]s.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=325}}

===Complement===
Due to their behemoth structure, a single fortress ship is capable of carrying and deploying enormous amounts of [[Harrier-class vessel|harriers]] and [[weapon-ship]]s. During battle, fortresses would first deploy thousands of swift attack craft in outward-fanning formations.{{Ref/Reuse|HC20}} They also had automated screens of weapon-ships, up to a million of which could be commanded by individual Warriors.{{Ref/Reuse|HC20}}

==Ships of the line==
*''[[Deep Reverence]]''
*''[[Long Reverence]]''

==Operational history==
===Forerunner-Flood War===
During the [[Battle of the Capital]], a battle group of fortresses and [[Forerunner cruiser|cruisers]] attacked the original [[Halo Array|Halo installations]] under [[Mendicant Bias]]'s control.{{Ref/Reuse|HC27}} Later, in one of the final battles of the war, the [[Falchion]]'s interstellar defensive clench comprised twelve fortresses—only partially mobile due to [[reconciliation|space-time debt]]—for a fleet of 700,000 [[Harrier-class vessel|harriers]].{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Chapter=String 25, Fragment 5}}

===Covenant===
[[File:HWF_HighCharity_CrossSection.jpg|thumb|250px|A cross-section of High Charity, showcasing the Forerunner metal hemispherical dome of the Tuluk'katho Fortress ship buried deep within the station's vast layers.]]
During the early years of the [[Covenant]] empire, prior to around [[648 BCE|648]]-[[791 BCE]], a derelict ''Fortress''-class vessel was discovered in orbit around [[Tuluk'katho]]. The ship's nigh-unbreakable superstructure was used as the basis for the [[Spine of the Gods]], the large "tail" extending through the bottom of the Covenant's capital-station [[High Charity]]. The site of this discovery became the site of High Charity's construction.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=226}}

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Halo: Outcasts]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Forerunner|ships}}

[[Category:Carrier classes]]
[[Category:Forerunner ship classes]]