Kestrel (freighter)

Were you looking for the Kestrel, a deleted UNSC aircraft?

The Kestrel was an independent freighter used by Rubble councilmember Peter Bonifacio It had smuggled Sweet William Cigars from the UNSC colony world Charybdis IX, and smuggled altered Covenant weapons to Insurrectionists on Charybdis IX.

Eventually, the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence discovered the Covenant weapons smuggling, which was a huge breach of the Cole Protocol. In response, an operation tasked with discovering the source of the Covenant weapons and halting the riots on Charybdis IX was authorized. A number of undercover ONI agents were sent in to spy on the rioters, and the UNSC Light Frigate arrived shortly after. The ONI spies had discovered that the leader of the rioters, Jason Kincaide, had gotten the Covenant weapons from the Kestrel. After the riots were broken up, the Covenant arrived, following the smuggled weapons, and attacked Charybdis IX.

During the battle, the Kestrel fled through slipspace. After leaving, the Kestrel made several more jumps, but the Midsummer Night had followed it from Charybdis IX and, in secret, continued to. When the Kestrel arrived at the Rubble, it inadvertantly revealed the presence of the Rubble to the Midsummer Night. Shortly after its arrival, the Kestrel docked in the Rubble. It was presumably destroyed with the rest of the Rubble (save for Habitat Exodus) during the Battle of the Rubble.