Excavation beam

"If I were Fleet, I'd be asking them to add a ventral beam or three to Infinity."

- Evan Phillips

Excavation beams, sometimes referred to as cleansing beams, are a sub-classification of energy projector developed and employed by the Covenant aboard the empire's starships. Excavation beams are often referred to colloquially as ventral beams due to their placement aboard spacecraft; their primary function is that of glassing and excavation work, meaning that they are fitted on the ships' ventral surfaces to point downward at a planetary target on the ground.

Excavation beams are broadly similar to plasma lances (and their smaller counterpart plasma beam emitters) in operation, though are very different in use. Where the latter examples are used as anti-warship weapons for use in space warfare, excavation beams serve more as a utility tool for unearthing hidden Forerunner artefacts buried below the ground or for performing orbital bombardment on hostile positions.

Overview
Excavation beams consist of massive plasma generators combined with focusing arrays that are capable of channelling the entire output of a ship's pinch fusion reactor into a single fount of energy.

The operators of excavation beams treat their work as an art, carefully manipulating the magnetic fields and plasma output to their needs. This can allow the beams to be used to delicately unearth buried Forerunner artefacts, burn sigils into a planet's crust, or completely sterilise the ground by bombarding the surface with such heat and intensity that the ground is melted into glass. This process is termed "glassing", and was one of the foremost symbols of Covenant destruction during the Human-Covenant War. Despite appearing to be an act of senseless destruction, the Covenant treat this as a statement of religious conviction and of military expediency.

Usage
Excavation beams are predominantly fitted aboard the Covenant's capital ships, with all but the absolute-largest supercarriers equipping only one such weapon due to their size and scope. They are a standard fitting on Covenant cruisers, Covenant carriers and Covenant destroyers, with the destroyers serving in effect as dedicated platforms to host excavation beams and initiate the Covenant's scorched earth policy against consecrated worlds. Despite being much smaller, they mount excavation beam models identical to the larger assault carriers, with the front third of the Sinaris-pattern dominated by the excavation beam and the enormous reactor needed to support it. Due to their near-sole focus on destructive energy (both with their excavation beams and their other regular anti-ship weapons), destroyers are classed as part of the executioner category of vessels - considered a dishonourable assignment and kept at arm's length by High Charity.

Superheavy excavation beams

 * Elseon-pattern superheavy excavation beam
 * - 1x Elseon-pattern superheavy excavation beam


 * Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam
 * - 1x Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam
 * - 1x Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam
 * - 1x Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam
 * - 1x Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam


 * Lux-pattern superheavy excavation beam
 * - 1x Lux-pattern superheavy excavation beam array

Excavation beams

 * Excellen-pattern excavation beam
 * - 1x Excellen-pattern excavation beam


 * Phar-pattern excavation beam
 * - 1x Excellen-pattern excavation beam


 * Pherex-pattern excavation beam
 * - 1x Excellen-pattern excavation beam


 * Profero-pattern excavation beam
 * - 1x Profero-pattern excavation beam