Antimatter charge

"The Covenant must have brought something with them. A bomb."

The antimatter charge from Halo 2.

The antimatter charge is a Covenant weapon utilizing antimatter as an explosive. Sizes and uses varied, with some being a counterpart to the UNSC's tactical nuclear weapons.^[1]

Description

Little is known of the smaller variant used by Covenant troops to breach UNSC vessels, though the larger variant has been seen close-up. The charge's appearance is that of a long bulbous shape with many spikes protruding from it. It has a central control hub located at the top of the bomb. It utilizes the annihilation of matter and antimatter to create an explosive. Nearly one hundred percent of the energy in the matter is released in a massive explosion, in contrast to the mere seven percent released by a UNSC nuclear fusion warhead.

Operational history

The bombs were used by the Covenant during an operation that was being conducted by the SPARTAN-IIs. One of the Spartans, Solomon-069, was lured onto a Covenant Battlecruiser and subsequently killed when an anti-matter charge aboard was detonated.^[2]

In another event, Cortana believed Covenant boarding parties used such a weapon to disable the UNSC Pillar of Autumn's MAC during the opening of the Battle of Installation 04.^[1]

These weapons were used during the Battle of Earth to assault Earth's Orbital Defense Platforms. The boarding parties delivered the ordnance and destroyed Athens Station and Malta Station. The bomb that was on Cairo Station was secured by John-117 and Cortana; John-117 later performed a micro-gravity maneuver to deliver the device to a Covenant CAS-class assault carrier with shields down and a fresh 'hole' created by a pair of Longswords. The Chief entered the hole and detonated the bomb in the core resulting in the destruction of the Carrier.^[3]

Trivia

Jason Jones of Bungie referred to the bomb as the "Giant Covenant Space Pickle".^[4]
The bomb was not originally going to be included in Halo 2. Instead there would be a level called Covenant Ship, where the Master Chief would board the Covenant Assault Carrier and destroy it from within, but due to deadlines, the level was cut and Bungie decided to add the bomb.^[4]
It is not likely that the entire bomb was filled with antimatter as the explosion would be inconceivably large. It is more likely that the bomb is so bulky because the antimatter must be kept in a vacuum and kept from touching the walls via force field. Even with the Covenant's superior force field technology, it is understandable that they would add as many fail safes as possible due to antimatter's extremely volatile nature when it contacts real matter.
The Covenant bomb's basic profile resembles that of a Photon Torpedo from the Star Trek franchise.

Gallery

John-117 removing a bomb from Cairo Station.
John-117 delivering a bomb to a CAS-class assault carrier's fusion reactor.
Master Chief John-117 arming the Covenant antimatter charge.
H2 covbomb destroyathens.jpg

Athens Station is destroyed by a bomb during the opening stages of the Battle of Earth.
Solomon-069 in front of an Antimatter Charge in The Package.
The arming screen of an Antimatter Charge in "The Package".
The antimatter charge's arming screen, just prior to detonating.
The antimatter charge's arming screen, detonating.
Master Chief dragging the antimatter charge, as it appears in Halo 2 Anniversary.