Sh'wada-pattern supercarrier

Sh'wada-pattern
Class attributes
Identification:	UNSC Three-letter code: CSO
Operators:	Covenant
In service:	Fourth Age of Conversion - present
General characteristics Type: Covenant supercarrier Length: 28,960 meters (95013 ft 1 in) Width: 11,447 meters (37555 ft 9 in) Mass: 152 billion tonnes Maneuver drive: 3 repulsor engines Slipspace drive: Borer Crew: Sangheili Hull: Nanolaminate plating Shielding: Energy shielding Armaments: 1 Lux-pattern superheavy excavation beam array 12 Urpeon-pattern superheavy plasma lances 20 Ukk'Wa-pattern heavy plasma beam arrays 80 Luxor-pattern heavy plasma beam emitters 32 Mictix-pattern heavy plasma torpedo silos 800 R'Aka-pattern rapid-fire pulse lasers 490 Ferriel-pattern pulse lasers

The Sh'wada-pattern supercarrier (UNSC three-letter classification: CSO-class supercarrier), is a powerful supermassive capital ship and one of the largest vessel classes formerly used by the Covenant, primarily designed for command and control duties for fleets, as well as support for occupation forces. Such vessels are typically deployed only during invasions of worlds with high strategic value.

Overview

Design details

The supercarrier is an extremely large and well-equipped ornate capital ship, easily dwarfing most other Covenant starship classes. The vessel looks nearly identical to the Kerel-pattern assault carrier, sharing the smaller ship's design of several bulbous sections and a hook-like prow, albeit painted darker. Despite this, it is not the only, or even the largest of the Covenant's supercarrier classes. The size of the vessel makes it more akin to a militarised city-fortress, and a vessel capable of supplying entire subordinate fleets or governing provinces of the empire when required.

Armaments

According to their size, the Sh'wada is equipped with a massive and diverse array of heavy weaponry. These include 12 Urpeon-pattern superheavy plasma lances - a lance loadout only rivalled in number by the Forerunner-derived relic lances of the Rasus-pattern interdictor. A total of 100 plasma beam emitters are equipped on the ship, including 20 Ukk'Wa-pattern heavy arrays and 80 Luxor-pattern heavy emitters - the latter of which are a fairly common fitting on the more powerful capital warships of the Covenant fleet. These heavy anti-ship weapons are supplemented with 32 Mictix-pattern heavy plasma torpedo silos, a design shared with the Kerel-pattern and Syfon-pattern assault carriers of the fleet.

For point-defence, the supercarrier employs a gargantuan array of pulse laser turrets. This includes 800 R'Aka-pattern rapid-fire pulse lasers and 490 Ferriel-pattern pulse lasers.

The supercarrier is additionally equipped with a single Lux-pattern superheavy excavation beam array for glassing and artefact-retrieval purposes.

Classification

The "S", or Salvation, in the supercarrier's three-letter classification code, "CSO" indicates that the carrier is a dedicated warship. The "O", or Ordained, indicates that the CSO-class supercarrier is not a mission type and has been improved upon with Forerunner technology. The ship has a very broad overlap with the Covenant's ship classification of exarchs.

Along with the Covenant's assault carriers, the Sh'wada-pattern supercarrier was designated a Class-Five flagship carrier by the United Nations Space Command due to their use as a flagship of Covenant fleets.

Ships of the line

• Long Night of Solace - Flagship of the Fleet of Valiant Prudence. Destroyed during Operation: UPPER CUT.

Operational history

The Sh'wada-pattern of supercarrier was introduced during the Fourth Age of Conversion.

During the Fall of Reach, the supercarrier Long Night of Solace spearheaded the Covenant invasion of Reach as the flagship of the Fleet of Valiant Prudence, deploying numerous ground assets to the surface of Reach via teleportation spires and destroying the UNSC Grafton.

During Operation: UPPER CUT and LEFT JAB, Spartan Jorge-052 transported an improvised