Forerunner dreadnought

This article is about the class of warship. For the Covenant's Keyship, see Forerunner Dreadnought.

The dreadnought was a type of capital warship used by the Forerunner navy. Despite their designation, they should not be confused with the Keyship commonly referred to by the Covenant as the Forerunner Dreadnought.

Overview
Ships of one prominent class of Forerunner dreadnought were docked in Shield World 0459's Apex Site. These ships are capable of arranging themselves into a octagonal formation, from which they can combine their weapons into a single blade-like beam. This beam can split other vessels in half. The planetside docking towers for these ships can detach from the ground and act as components of the ships themselves when hovering above the surface of a planet.

History
Dreadnoughts were a mainstay capital ship in the Forerunners' fleets during the Forerunner-Flood war. A number were part of IsoDidact's fleet during his retake of Installation 07 from Mendicant Bias. At least 11 were used in the defense of the greater Ark in the final days of the war, and several were commanded by Offensive Bias during its final battle against Mendicant. Among numerous docking facilities around Forerunner-controlled space, some of these ships were docked at the Apex Site on Shield World 0459.

During the Human-Covenant War in 2531, the High Prophet of Regret and Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee went to the Apex to gather a massive and powerful invasion fleet for the Covenant. However, a Reclaimer was required to release the locking mechanisms holding the ships in place. Thus, they abducted Professor Ellen Anders to activate it for them. The ships were destroyed when the artificial star inside the shield world went supernova after the crew of the used their ship's Slipspace drive as an improvised bomb.

Trivia

 * Parts of these ships were strewn about the outer surface of the Shield World. These derelicts are probably from a battle between the Forerunners and the Flood that resulted in the installation's infestation.
 * These ships bear a resemblance to a type of horizontal Forerunner structure found on Installation 00.

List of appearances

 * Halo 3
 * Terminals
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo Legends
 * Origins
 * Halo: Silentium