Halcyon-class light cruiser

The UNSC Halcyon-class cruisers were designed by Dr. Robert McLees in 2510. According to Covenant computers, the Halcyon-class cruiser is listed as a Human attack ship type C-II. They served only a short while because their unique hull design was considered too costly and risky to use, as well as being too slow. They were subsequently replaced by the Marathon-Class cruisers.

Features
They were the smallest vessel to recieve the cruiser designation. At 1.17 kilometers long, they are only one third the tonnage of the Marathon class cruisers currently in service. Their Mark II fusion engines supply a tenth of the power of modern reactors. The original armament of Halcyon-class cruisers was a mere six Archer Missile pods, and a single MAC gun. Their only noteworthy design feature was a series of cross bracings and honeycombs that made the ships virtually indestructible. They can be operational after sustaining breaches to all compartments and losing 90% of their armor.

Some, however, were later pulled from long term storage after the Human-Covenant War broke out in 2525. They were heavily rearmed with additional Titanium-A armor, and dozens more archer missile pods. At least one refitted Halcyon-class cruiser, the Pillar of Autumn, could fire over 1000 missiles at once.

Interior
The Interior of Halcyon-class ships have a number of distict features. First, the corridors are punctuated by several emergency containment doors. In case of an emergency in a particular section, the containment doors can be automatically shut to prevent dangers from spreading all over the ship. This can be a weapon; attacking enemies can be sealed off from the rest of the ship and suffocated using controls on the bridge.

The Halcyon-class ships also feature a number of armories located throughout the ship. These armories house Shotguns, Assault Rifles, and Rocket Launchers as well as ample ammunition for them all. The ship design also contains at least eight docking bays where Pelican dropships, Longsword Interceptors, Warthogs and Scorpion Tanks are stored.

Service corridors run the length of the ship. These corridors are expansive and usually restricted to personnel. However, they can be accessed via lifts in main engineering or enterances in the docking bays. Note that these are large enough for Pelican dropships to fit in, as well as for Warthogs to drive through. The corridors serve the secondary purpose of lessening the ships considerable mass, thereby increasing acceleration.

Compliment
The actual crew compliment of a Halcyon-class cruiser has not been stated, but they usually carry a compliment of regular Marines and sometimes a batallion of ODSTs. It has been speculated that there are around 1200 crew on one of these ships, of which 400 are naval personnel and 800 are soldiers.

Known Ships

 * UNSC Pillar of Autumn
 * UNSC Dawn Under Heaven