Ester-pattern armored frigate
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
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Identification: |
UNSC Three-letter code: CAR[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
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In service: |
Third Age of Discovery-present[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Ester-pattern armored frigate[2] (UNSC three-letter classification: CAR-class frigate)[1] is a classification of frigate within the now-defunct Covenant fleet.
Overview[edit]
Design details[edit]
The Ester-pattern is considered relatively unremarkable by the standards of Covenant starships, and averages in at a similar size to the Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette or the slightly smaller A'uzr-pattern sword frigate.[2]
Armaments[edit]
The Ester-pattern boasts a fairly average loadout for its weapons complement, with the notable exception of a Baen Ka-pattern plasma lance - a weapon considered unusually high-grade given the ship's rating and reputation. The frigate otherwise hosts two Enteros-pattern plasma beam emitters, thirty Sey-pattern plasma cannons and four Phot Et-pattern pulse lasers.[2] They may, however, employ a number of tertiary weapons systems depending on the specific commanding officer and crew.[3][4]
Usage[edit]
During the Human-Covenant War, the Ester was rarely employed on the front lines, and instead primarily saw use in second-rate roles for internal security and mop-up operations once a fleet had moved on from a given target. These frigates were charged with surveying and recording devastated worlds.[2] Several frigates of this class participated in the Fall of Reach.[5][6] By the time of the Great Schism, many of the frigates surrounding High Charity had begun to be crewed with Jiralhanae - resulting in them being used against the separatist Sangheili fleets.[3][4]
The "R", or Reverence, in the frigate's three-letter classification code, "CAR", denotes that the frigate is capable of conducting reconnaissance missions and is capable of excavating Forerunner artifacts.[7]
Ships of the line[edit]
- Contrition – Participated in the Fall of Reach.[5][6]
- Penance – Participated in the Fall of Reach.[5][6]
- Revenant[3][4][1]
- Tenebrous[3][4][1]
- Twilight Compunction[3][4][1]
- While unconfirmed, the description provided for the appearance of the frigate Steadfast Strike may indicate it to be an Ester.
Production notes[edit]
The CAR-class frigate was first mentioned in Transmissions, a type of promotion for the then-new game Halo: Combat Evolved. The transmissions are directly linked to the Cortana Letters and are considered canon because of their inclusion in the 2009 edition of the Halo Encyclopedia.[5] The ship was later featured in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx as the simply-named "Covenant frigate" - given no particular specific class name or statistics except for the mention of 1-3 plasma turrets on