Canon

Karve

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

Karve
An illustration of a Karve.
Class attributes

Operators:

Banished[1]

General characteristics

Type:

Siege and invasion warship[1]

Slipspace drive:

Equipped

Armaments:

 

"The Banished travel in packs. Where there is a drekar, there are karves."
Thel 'Vadam[4]

The karve is a classification of capital warship designed and employed by the Jiralhanae, primarily the Banished.[1][5]

Overview[edit]

Design details[edit]

The karve is a craft of Jiralhanae origin designed for siege and planetary invasion operations. As of Operation: WOLFE, the UNSC was unaware of whether the vessels had superluminal communications capability.[1] They are quick to construct and easy to maintain, making them extremely popular throughout Jiralhanae space as patrol craft and cargo ferries, or by the Banished as escorts to dreadnoughts. They are much smaller than the dreadnoughts, though share a similar design including the signature armoured prow, which can be used as an offensive weapon when necessary.[5]

As part of their use in planetary invasions, a pair of karves can carry and deploy hundreds of drop pods.[6]

Armaments[edit]

The specific armaments of Banished karves are unknown, though they have been observed in effect in the sky battle over Suban. In this engagement, the karves of the Banished fleet employed two weapons of note; the first a primary directed-energy weapon of some kind, which appears to involve a lengthy charging time and a laser designator before firing a large energy bolt at a ship. This weapon is capable of singlehandedly destroying the Zanar-pattern light cruisers and Hekar Taa-pattern blockade runners of the Swords of Sanghelios.[2]

The second weapon observed in use by the Banished karves over Suban is a secondary weapon, which appears to fire four projectiles in rapid succession. It is unclear whether this is a single repeating cannon, or a battery of individual guns coordinating their fire; or whether it is an energy weapon or projectile weapon.[2]

Usage[edit]

Prior to the First Immolation, the Jiralhanae employed karves as patrol ships and cargo freighters. Following the Immolation, the Banished leveraged Kig-Yar shipbuilding methods to construct karves to augment their existing fleets and serve as dreadnought escorts.[5][7]

Operational history[edit]

During Operation: WOLFE in October 2559, a karve was deployed by the Banished to capture the city of New Mohács on Reach.[1] In November 2559, seven karves accompanied Atriox's Hammer of Fate to Netherop to find Keely Iyuska, a human that had taken Banished funds to study and find a weapon capable of destroying Guardian Custodes. The Banished sent three of the karves on a slingshot maneuver around the planet to draw off any Created presence patrolling the planet. The trio was pursued by two Acolyte-class harriers, and served as decoys on the outer reaches of the Ephyra system. The remaining four vessels, along with the Hammer of Fate, were concealed by a cloaking generator on the one of the moons.[3] Atriox later deduced that two of the three decoy karves were destroyed, because the harriers have returned to the orbit of Netherop.[8]

Circa 2560, a Banished fleet consisting of dozens of karves and a Banished dreadnought battled a Swords of Sanghelios fleet in the skies of Suban, one of the moons of the Sangheili homeworld Sanghelios. During the battle, the Banished collected Subanese crystals from their mines on the moon's surface using Barukaza Workshop siege-haulers.[2][9]

Trivia[edit]

Like their fellow drekars, karves are named after a type of longship employed by Norse raiders during the Viking Age.

Gallery[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Halo: Shadows of Reach, chapter 13
  2. ^ a b c d e Halo Infinite, multiplayer map Prism
  3. ^ a b Halo: Outcasts, chapter 6
  4. ^ Halo: Outcasts, chapter 20
  5. ^ a b c Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 460
  6. ^ Halo: Outcasts, chapter 24
  7. ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Encyclopedia Extravaganza (Retrieved on Jun 1, 2022) [archive]
  8. ^ Halo: Outcasts, chapter 15
  9. ^ Halo Waypoint, Maps Overview - Season 5 (Retrieved on Oct 12, 2023) [archive]