Marathon-class heavy cruiser

The Marathon-class heavy cruiser is a cruiser classification used by the UNSC Navy with a hull classification symbol of CA. Built as a replacement for the aging, the Marathon class is nearly 1.2 kilometers in length, making it one of the largest warships used by the UNSC. Due to their limited numbers, Marathon-class cruisers are typically commanded by officers of the Rear Admiral rate or higher and are commonly used as flagships. The class is named for the historical Battle of Marathon.

Design
At 1192 meters long, Marathon-class heavy cruisers are approximately three times the length of a typical frigate. Marathons have 191cm-thick layers of Titanium-A armor, allowing them to sustain far greater damage than any frigate or destroyer. Marathon-class cruisers sport two Magnetic Accelerator Cannons and an unknown number of point defense guns. In addition to their integrated armament, the cruisers have dozens of oversized M58 Archer missile pods containing dozens of missiles each, as well as five fusion rockets.

Marathon-class vessels have a similar profile to their predecessors, the Halcyons, though their ventral surfaces are concave rather than flat. A large deployment bay containing Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles, known by Orbital Drop Shock Troopers as "Hell's waiting room", is located amidships. Marathons can carry two dozen GA-TL1 Longswords in addition to numerous D77-TC Pelicans and other ground and air vehicles. Vessels of the class can also carry large Marine complements, likely of battalion strength.

Service history
Several Marathon-class heavy cruisers served in Battle Group X-Ray under Vice Admiral Preston Cole during the Second Battle of Harvest. Throughout the early years of the Human-Covenant War, Cole continued to command Marathons as part of his Third Fleet. Several Marathons from the fleet, including the, participated in the Harvest campaign. At least one Marathon,, participated in the Battle of Biko, where it was destroyed by the Covenant.

As their numbers were diminished by the onslaught of the Covenant, many Marathons were reassigned to the defense of the Inner Colonies during the later years of the Human-Covenant War. Marathons were present at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV in July 2552, including Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth's flagship Leviathan, which was severely damaged during the battle. Numerous Marathon-class cruisers participated in the Fall of Reach.

At least eight Marathon-class cruisers assigned to the Fifth Fleet, a part of the UNSC Home Fleet, were present at the onset of the Battle of Earth. Led by Fleet Admiral J. Harper and supported by sixty-seven frigates, these ships formed a defensive perimeter around the orbital defense platform cluster over the Mediterranean. Admiral Carl Patterson's battle group, drawn from the Home Fleet, was led by the during the Battle of Onyx. Several Marathon-class cruisers of the Home Fleet were supposedly destroyed over the course of the battle for Earth, particularly after the final wave of Covenant reinforcements arrived.

Most remaining Marathon-class cruisers were decommissioned after the was introduced, with only a handful staying in service.

Ships of the line

 * – Fleet Admiral J. Harper's flagship; led the Fifth Fleet against the Covenant during the Battle of Earth on October 20, 2552.
 * – Destroyed over Biko in 2525 or 2526. Carried a saddle box drive.
 * – Destroyed during the Harvest campaign in February 2531.
 * – Vice Admiral H. M. Stanforth's flagship. Severely damaged during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV in July 2552.
 * – Destroyed during the Fall of Reach on August 30, 2552.
 * – The lead ship of the class.
 * – Deployed ODSTs to board Solemn Penance during the Battle of Mombasa on October 20, 2552.

Trivia

 * Though in-universe the class is named for the Battle of Marathon, in reality its name is a reference to Bungie's Marathon trilogy and its eponymous ship, the UESC Marathon.
 * The Marathon class is featured in Halo: Fleet Battles; although the was originally intended to appear instead, it was decided that the latter's appearance would not be canonically possible. The design for the Marathon class in the game was noted to have been difficult to sculpt, although the models created by Blur Studio for Halo 2 Anniversary aided in the process.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Tug o' War
 * Halo 2
 * Halo Graphic Novel
 * Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Landfall
 * Arms Race
 * Halo Wars: Genesis


 * Halo Wars
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Boot Camp
 * Covenant
 * Invasion
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo 2 Anniversary
 * Halo: Fleet Battles