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Marathon-class heavy cruiser

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Template:Ratings Template:Ship Class Infobox The Marathon-class heavy cruiser is a cruiser classification used by the UNSC Navy.[1] At 1,190 meters,[2] they are some of the largest and most powerful warships ever utilized by humanity, built as a replacement for their aging Halcyon-class cruisers. Their numbers are limited, and they are usually commanded by the highest ranking officers.

Description

File:Marathon Cruiser Outline.JPG
Silhouette of a Marathon cruiser.

At 1,190 meters, Marathon-class cruisers are approximately three times the length of a UNSC frigate. They are equipped with thick layers of Titanium-A armor, and are able to sustain far greater damage than any UNSC frigate or destroyer. Due to their size, durability and firepower (2 MACs as well as dozens of oversized Archer missile pods), these massive vessels are commanded by UNSC Admirals and primarily serve as flagships for UNSC fleets.[2]

Use

Due to their diminishing numbers, and the onslaught of the genocidal Covenant, further numbers of these great cruisers were reassigned to the defense of the Inner Colonies in the latter years of the Human-Covenant War.[3] They were considered extremely valuable in terms of firepower and armor, and it was seen to by the UNSC admiralty that they were only used in the most dire and occasional of circumstances. Marathons were present at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV and the Fall of Reach. Twelve saw action at the Battle of Earth under Fleet Admiral Harper and another was part of Battle Group Stalingrad during the Battle of Onyx.

Ships of the line

Trivia

  • In Halo: The Fall of Reach, the Marathon classification is erroneously labeled as a carrier.[7]
  • The name Marathon could possibly be a reference to the Battle of Marathon, fought in 490 BC where heavily outnumbered Athenians and Plataeans defeated an army of Persians who were trying to conquer Greece. This battle was also simulated by Wellsley, Antonio Silva's AI, while he was unoccupied in Halo: The Flood. This battle also gave its name to Bungie's previous Marathon game series, and the name of this classification of ships may be a reference to the said series.
  • In Halo: The Fall of Reach, it is mentioned that the Leviathan was one of twenty UNSC cruisers left in the Fleet, which were being slowly pulled back to protect the Inner Colonies.[3] However, on the Halo 2 mission Cairo Station, a player can look out a window and see Marathons continually passing by, therefore there are a lot more than twenty cruisers left, as dozens continually pass by. Eight of them were present in the UNSC Home Fleet in October 2552.[8]

Gallery

List of appearances

Sources

  1. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 42
  2. ^ a b Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ENC
  3. ^ a b Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 162
  4. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach
  5. ^ Halo 3: ODST
  6. ^ Halo: First Strike
  7. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 212
  8. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Cairo Station

Template:UNSC Ships