Ester-pattern armored frigate

The Ester-pattern armored frigate, classified by humanity as the CAR-class frigate, is a classification of frigate within the now-defunct Covenant fleet. Several frigates of this class participated in the Fall of Reach.

Design details
The Ester-pattern is considered relatively unremarkable by the standards of Covenant starships, and averages in at a similar size to the.

Armaments
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.

Usage
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 devasted worlds.

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.

Ships of the line

 * Contrition – Participated in the Fall of Reach.
 * Penance – Participated in the Fall of Reach.

Production notes
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.The CAR-class frigate was first visually depicted in the 2022 edition of the encyclopedia. The image used in this book, and at the top of this page, is a 3D model created by artist Jared Harris for the Halo fan mod Sins of the Prophets. The official recognition of this ship as the canon depiction of the CAR-class was part of an official collaboration between the Sins of the Prophets team and 343 Industries. with several of Sins of the Prophets' ship models being used in the book.