Enduring Conviction

Enduring Conviction
Ship history
	Covenant
Name:	Enduring Conviction
Class:	Syfon-pattern assault carrier
Operator:	Covenant military
Fate:	Defected to the separatists (2552)
Captain(s):	Let 'Volir
Ship history
	Covenant separatists
Name:	Enduring Conviction
Operator:	Fleet of Recalcitrant Ire
Fate:	Defected to the Banished (2553)
Captain(s):	Let 'Volir
Ship history
	Banished
Operator:	Let 'Volir's mercenaries
Commissioned:	c. May 6, 2553
Fate:	Destroyed c. March-April 2559
Captain(s):	Let 'Volir
General characteristics Type: Examiner Assault carrier Length: 5,346 meters (17,541 ft) Mass: 2.7 billion tonnes Power plant: Pinch fusion reactor Maneuver drive: Repulsor engine Slipspace drive: Borer Hull: Nanolaminate hull plating Shielding: Energy shielding Armaments: 1× Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam 2× Urpeon-pattern superheavy plasma lances 8× Luxor-pattern heavy plasma beam emitters 24× Mictix-pattern heavy plasma torpedo silos 700× Ferriel-pattern pulse lasers

'D': "What's the name of the ship? Something pronounceable, I hope."

'S': "'The Enduring Conviction', sir. A CAS-class assault carrier. The Conviction and its Sangheili commander have been known to us for some time; we've lost quite a few ships to it over the last four years. According to our intel it's the largest ship Atriox controls now."

— Office of Naval Intelligence operatives discuss the carrier.

Enduring Conviction was a Syfon-pattern assault carrier that served as part of the Covenant, and later the Banished, fleets. In Covenant service the ship fought in the war against humanity, engaging the UNSC Navy on numerous occasions and racking up multiple kills to its name. At the war's end, it briefly served among the separatist Sangheili during the Great Schism as part of the Fleet of Recalcitrant Ire, though its crew and Shipmaster Let 'Volir ultimately defected to the Banished in early 2553, becoming the largest naval asset available to Atriox.

Enduring Conviction remained in Banished service for the next five years, and in late 2558 was the lead ship chosen to shepherd Atriox and his forces to the Ark outside the galaxy, where they occupied and began to scavenge the installation. However, in March 2559 the ship was challenged by the arrival of a UNSC starship UNSC Spirit of Fire. The two carriers briefly engaged in combat over the Ark, though Enduring Conviction was ultimately destroyed by the installation's sentinel defences.

Overview

Design details

Main article: Syfon-pattern assault carrier

Since being appropriated by the Banished, the Enduring Conviction was modified to reflect the aesthetic characteristic of the faction. Red lighting was implemented throughout the interior and even the exterior of the ship was made to exude glowing red patterns. The energy put out by its aft ventral beam and gravity lift appeared orange but the beams from its pulse laser turrets took on a bright red or blue hue. Before its destruction, the Conviction was the largest ship controlled by the Banished per the Office of Naval Intelligence. It was typically crewed by Jiralhanae, Sangheili, and Unggoy, but also transported various gestalts of Lekgolo. A number of Huragok were also kept aboard the vessel.

Service history

War and Banishment

Let 'Volir and his crew in pledge allegiance to Atriox and his Banished with the Enduring Conviction overshadowing them in the background.

"What if Atriox planned to be captured by the Conviction so he could get close to the commander and get him to defect? It may have even already been planned and this was just a cover."

— 'S' to 'D'.

During the Human-Covenant War, Enduring Conviction was commanded by Shipmaster Let 'Volir as part of a larger Covenant fleet. It was known to the United Nations Space Command for some time. From around 2549 to 2552, it was responsible for the destruction of numerous UNSC warships. It was noted for one particular battle in 2551 during which it demonstrated an impressive evasive maneuver and counterattack.

At the war's conclusion and the onset of the Great Schism, Enduring Conviction aligned with the Sangheili-led separatist movement, finding itself attacked to the Fleet of Recalcitrant Ire under Fleetmaster Arkad Nar 'Kulul. In early 2553, the ship was involved in defending a Citadel armoury on Kostroda from a Banished raid. During the attack, Shipmaster 'Volir and his troops deployed to the ground and were able to capture Atriox, bringing back to Enduring Conviction for detainment. While aboard the ship, Atriox was able to convince 'Volir that he and his crew would be better-served by joining the Banished under Atriox's command, and that the raid had been specifically staged with intelligence of 'Volir's wavering loyalties. Twelve hours later, Enduring Conviction broke formation with the fleet and, after not respinding to any subsequent hails or warnings, was fired upon. The carrier evaded these attacks, returned fire, and then escaped into slipspace. ONI learned of this engagement by May 6, 2553, by which time they still considered it "recent", and concluded that the ship had left its fleet voluntarily, as the evasive manoeuvres used by the ship matched those recorded by the UNSC in combat in 2551.

After escaping Kostroda, Atriox instructed that the ship should head to Ansket IV, the site of an ex-Covenant hydro-processing center that could fuel the ship indefinitely and also the site of a UNSC operating base. For loyal service, Enduring Conviction would be indefinitely supplied by the Banished, and Atriox also noted that the presence of a human contingent on the ground could allow the ship's crew to keep their combat instincts in practice. Some time after this, Let 'Volir and his crew swore fealty to the Banished on neutral territory—an orbital installation. The ONI operatives analyzing the ship's shift of allegiance surmised that Atriox would lay low for a while after securing such a prize, as he would have painted a giant target on himself in doing so.

For the next five years, Enduring Conviction served as a flagship in the Banished fleet and remained the largest single asset in Banished inventory, outmassing the Banished-developed dreadnoughts that made up the bulk of the fleet's capital power. During this time, the ship was involved in an invasion of the ex-Covenant world Karava. While at the planet, the carrier found itself in confrontation with a rival clan of Jiralhanae led by Chieftain Jovus, in which Jovus sought to challenge Atriox's legend. Jovus ordered his battlecruiser to Karava where they were met by Enduring Conviction. Shipmaster 'Volir hailed the battlecruiser under the assumption that they wished to pledge themselves to the Banished cause, though once Jovus' intentions were made clear, his forces went to ground and were subsequently defeated by Atriox.

The Ark

Atriox and others on the Enduring Conviction's bridge.

"That ship brought these monsters; killed everyone I was supposed to protect. Now it wants to do the same to you."

— Isabel to Captain James Cutter and professor Ellen Anders.

On November 25, 2558, a fleet of warships led by the Enduring Conviction arrived in force at Installation 00, carrying with it a massive amount of infantry, vehicles, and aircraft. Instead of launching any orbital bombardments from the ship, Atriox ordered ground forces to be deployed to the Ark's surface. These made short work of the UNSC researchers at the Henry Lamb Research Outpost. Forthwith, the ship remained stationed above the installation for months while the Banished began to extract power and resources from the Forerunner creation. Anything valuable discovered or taken was commonly ferried to the ship overhead.

Around four months after the Banished first took control of the Ark, the UNSC Spirit of Fire also exited slipstream space above it on March 28, 2559. After the presence of the Banished was revealed to the crew, a protracted conflict began between those serving Atriox and those following the lead of Captain James Cutter. During this time, the Conviction's pulse laser turrets were used offensively to melt UNSC forces on the ground. In the first instance the ship was used like this, it was during a defense of a salvage operation being overseen by Decimus. From the ground, Decimus not only had the carrier make a show of damaging the Spirit of Fire's recently-built firebase, but also repeatedly ordered the shipmaster to target his own location briefly and with precision, as he was protected from the lasers by a powerful energy shield that his mechanized power armor could encapsulate him in for short periods. When it became clear that he would not be able to fend off the attack, Decimus retreated but the Enduring Conviction continued to bombard the area, killing UNSC and Banished troops alike, ostensibly to keep the humans from learning anything from the operation. The same tactic was repeated when Decimus entered the fight once more on March 30. Decimus was killed at that moment, however, and the Enduring Conviction finally began to attack the Spirit of Fire more directly by launching vacuum-rated 'Ahtulai Workshop Banshee fighters to harass it while it moved to hover over the location where it had been deploying troops and supplies to the Ark's surface via a gravity lift.

Destruction

Atriox: "How many of your men survived?!"

Let 'Volir: "Enough to honor our contract."

— Atriox, angered by the loss of his flagship, assesses the situation.

As the Spirit of Fire attempted to fend off the swarm of Banshees, Captain Cutter expressed frustration at his inability to beat the Enduring Conviction, should it turn its full attention to the modified Phoenix-class colony ship. The smart AI, Isabel, proposed a plan for dealing with the ship. She put forward that the only way they would have a chance at destroying the CAS-class assault carrier was if they could get the Ark's Sentinels to do it for them. From there, the plan became to infiltrate the ship and take control of one of its energy projectors, which could be used to glass the Ark's surface and provoke a response from the constructs. From there, the plan was simple enough. Ground forces were split into two portions to assist with the operation. One contingent assaulted the Banished around a large Forerunner particle cannon, which was taken over and aimed at the Enduring Conviction.

At R-7012-5093, according to a Sangheili method of keeping time, the cannon immobilized the ship and caused its energy shielding to begin draining. The Huragok aboard assured the crew that the cannon was no danger to the hull, but that the loss of the shield could open Conviction up to more attacks. This prompted a swift and heavy response from the Banished on the surface, and the carrier also diverted air units to attack the UNSC on the ground. As all local troops pushed to retake the particle cannon, dual units led by Jerome-092 and Alice-130 flew in Pelicans toward the depleted base around the ship's gravity lift. Despite both craft being shot down, eventually Jerome, with Isabel in tow, managed to make it to the gravity lift with the assistance of mainly Alice, snipers, and Kodiaks. At R-7013-5093 all shielding was depleted and every Huragok was assigned to repair duty. All remaining UNSC personnel near the grav lift were extracted as Jerome and Isabel ascended towards the carrier.

The Enduring Conviction is bisected.

Upon arriving inside the ship, Jerome dispatched a group of Sangheili Rangers at R-7016-5093 and inserted Isabel's data crystal chip into the nearest holotank. With this done, Isabel was quickly able to access a plethora of systems throughout the ship. She located the weapons and wasted no time in firing its main energy projector upon a Banished encampment below. As planned, the beam penetrated the Ark's outer crust and alerted vast numbers of Aggressor Sentinels. Millions of the drones erupted from Installation 00's interior and flew en masse toward the ship that dared to deal out damage to what they were charged with protecting. The Sentinels coordinated so that a constant stream of Forerunner robots threw themselves against the Enduring Conviction's outer hull along a straight line that bisected its hooked bow from the remainder of the ship.

Let 'Volir and Atriox survey the Enduring Conviction's wreckage.

Right after the combination of the assault from the Sentinels and Isabel's meddling caused part of the ship to lose power, a group of Jiralhanae charged Jerome, who was guarding Isabel's chip. He fought them off as Sentinel after Sentinel careened into the ship until finally, the structure was torn in two along the line of attack. As the carrier lost all structural integrity and began to fall from its position above the Ark, the remaining Sentinels returned to where they came from. Having finally lost power all throughout, not even Modular Dispersal Technology could be relied upon to save part of the ship. No longer being able to rely on the ship's gravity lift, Jerome was forced to leap from the ship after collecting Isabel. The two sections of the Enduring Conviction crashed into the Ark, but Let 'Volir and a large number of his Sangheili still managed to survive. The loss of the Enduring Conviction put 'Volir in a tenuous position wherein he needed to find some way to prove his allegiance to still be worth paying for.

Crew

• Shipmaster Let 'Volir
• Val 'Telram
• Orda Val 'Saham - Sangheili guard and Scarab commander

Trivia

Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

• Atriox often teased Let 'Volir about the name of the carrier, as he believed that it was particularly ill-suited for a mercenary shipmaster.

Gallery

Illustrations

• 

  Concept art of fighting in the carrier's wreckage for Know Your Enemy.

• 

  Fleetmaster Arkad Nar 'Kulul watches Enduring Conviction break formation from its fleet.

• 

  The Fleet of Recalcitrant Ire firing upon the now-traitor Conviction.

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  Enduring Conviction preparing to jump away from the fleet.

• 

  Enduring Conviction facing down Chieftain Jovus' battlecruiser over Karava.

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  Artwork of Enduring Conviction's escape from the fleet for Phoenix Log: Rise of Atriox III, which incorrectly depicts a Ket-pattern battlecruiser instead of a carrier.

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  Val 'Telram watching the destruction of the Enduring Conviction via hologram.

Screenshots

• 

  Fighting amidst the wreckage of the carrier in the Know Your Enemy trailer.

• 

  Enduring Conviction in space over the Ark.

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  A render of the ship's excavation beam.

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  Sangheili in the ship's interior.

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  Isabel illustrates her plan for eliminating the Enduring Conviction.

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  Enduring Conviction's energy projector impacting the Ark's surface.

• 

  Sentinels mounting their assault on the carrier.

• 

  Jerome looks out from where the ship has been severed.

• 

  Debris from the carrier rains down upon the Banished.

List of appearances

• Know Your Enemy (First appearance)
• Halo Wars 2
• Halo: Rise of Atriox
• Halo: Shadows of Reach (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Divine Wind (Mentioned only)
• Halo Infinite (Indirect mention)
• Halo: Fireside (Mentioned only)