UNSC Spirit of Fire

''This article describes the warship. Alternatively, you may be looking for the musical piece of the same name.''

"If they want war, we'll give 'em war."

- Spartan Group Omega.

The UNSC Spirit of Fire (CFV-88) is a modified UNSC built in 2473. The Spirit of Fire ' s commanding officer is Captain James Gregory Cutter.

History


More than fifty years after being constructed, it was recommissioned and refitted for military service prior to the period of history known as the Human-Covenant War. The AI on board the Spirit of Fire was known as Serina.

The Spirit of Fire was originally a colony ship, transporting equipment and colonists in the UNSC's expansion efforts. In 2520 the ship was refit with a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon and other armaments to serve as a warship. Huge storage bays that used to house machine parts now carry everything from M12 Warthogs and M808B Scorpions to construction supplies for fire bases involved in front line engagements or in rearguard actions. In 2530 the Spirit of Fire's thrust assemblies were replaced from the Destroyer UNSC Calcutta, increasing output by 37%.

The Spirit of Fire took part in the Third Battle of Harvest, providing ground forces with supplies, reinforcements, vehicle support, orbital MAC strikes, air support and more, giving it a major role in the battle.

After the events on Harvest, the Spirit of Fire arrived at the planet Arcadia, where it assisted in the evacuation of civilians, and the eradication of the Covenant from the planet's surface. When Professor Anders was captured by the Arbiter, the Spirit of Fire quickly gave chase, following the Arbiter's flagship to a Flood-controlled planet in an unknown system. This planet eventually turned out to be a Forerunner Shield World, containing a multitude of Forerunner warships. To ensure that the Covenant would not be able to use these warships against humanity, the Spirit of Fire's Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine was detonated inside the Shield World's artificial sun. The ship managed to escape the exploding Forerunner installation, but without an FTL drive, the journey home would take many years, if not decades. Most of the crew entered cryonic sleep at this point, with only a skeleton crew remaining active to run the ship.

In 2534, the Spirit of Fire, previously designated as "missing", was declared "lost with all hands" by the UNSC. The reason for this change was kept top secret. A memorial service was held for the people aboard the vessel, but many of the crew's family members chose not to attend, holding out hope that their loved ones are still alive.

Support Abilities
In Halo Wars, the Spirit of Fire can provide various support abilities for the UNSC, some which are universal for the UNSC and specific leader powers, which are often devastating.

Universal Abilities
These abilities are available to a UNSC faction in skirmish and multiplayer, regardless of which leader you have selected. Compared to leader-specific abilities, these ones are quite passive, and are less effective and costly.

The Heal and Repair ability slowly restores hit points to all units and buildings within a small radius for a short period of time. The ability costs 350 resources to use, and has a rather medium "recharge" time.

The Disruption Bomb ability calls in a Shortsword which drops in an unusually large bomb which creates a pulsating, field of blue energy. Within this small energy field leader powers are disabled until the bomb explodes (no collateral damage) after one minute. The target area must be within your line of sight for the bomb to be dropped. The cost for deploying a single disruption bomb is 450 resources.

The Pelican Transport ability calls in a small group of Pelican dropships to quickly transport a group of units to a specific location. Both the pick-up zone and the LZ must be visible within your line of sight for the transport to initiate. It costs only a mere 200 resources, and can be used frequently due to a brief "recharge" time.

Leader-Specific Abilities
As their labeling may indicate, these abilities are only available if a certain leader is selected. Compared to universal abilities, these abilities are extremely effective, and anything but passive. Due to a greater cost (each one costs 600 resources), and much longer recharge time these abilities are not used as frequently.

The MAC Blast can be called in if Captain Cutter is the selected leader. This ability fires a number of up to four MAC rounds with amazing accuracy and power to the surface. At first, you can only fire one MAC round per blast, but technologies can be researched at the Field Armory to increase the capacity of MAC rounds up until four MAC rounds per blast. A single shell delivers heavy damage to units within a rather large radius. Like all leader abilities this ability has a very long "recharge" time.

The Cryo Bomb can be called in if Ellen Anders is the selected leader. It freezes units temporarily, causing air units to drop and shatter, and make larger units, such as the Scarab, weaker to attacks. The Cryo Bomb is brought by a Shortsword bomber on request.

The Carpet Bomb can be called in if John Forge is the selected leader. It releases a double line of bombs along the axis selected by the player, it is capable of destroying several vehicles or squads if used cleverly. The Carpet Bomb is brought by a Shortsword bomber on request.

Trivia

 * Its Ship Emblem reads "Exitus Acta Probat", Latin for "The result justifies the deed" or "The ends justify the means."


 * The campaign of Halo Wars follows the Spirit of Fire and its crew as they deal with their first deadly encounters with the Covenant.


 * The Spirit of Fire's former status as a colony ship might be a vague reference to the UESC Marathon.


 * Early concept art of Halo Wars suggests that a cat lived onboard the ship, possibly a pet to Captain Cutter. This is a possible reference to Jonesy, a cat that was lost aboard the Pillar of Autumn.


 * A single round from the Spirit of Fire's Magnetic Accelerator Cannon is unable to penetrate the shields that often protect Covenant Citadels. This might be because the ship possesses an earlier, weaker version of the MAC, because the Spirit of Fire's MAC is made for low-yield orbital bombardment, or because the shields are simply very powerful. It should be noted however that the Spirit of Fire's MAC is capable of firing multiple rounds-therefore it is likely that in order to do this each round would have a much reduced velocity so that the the charge could be kept for the following shots. According to the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach the Pillar of Autumn was out fitted with a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon that was capable of firing three shots before needing to recharge and that this MAC used lighter projectiles.


 * The Spirit of Fire once carried Hydroponics and schools for colonies.


 * Before Halo Wars it was previously thought that no human had encountered the Flood until the incident on Installation 04, however since the Spirit of Fire's crew used their FTL drive as a bomb to destroy an unidentified Shield World they have been left stranded in space with no ability to contact anyone about their discoveries, meaning that the Spirit's crew was the first to meet them on hostile ground, not the Pillar of Autumn's as was once believed.