UNSC Infinity

The UNSC Infinity is an experimental warship of the UNSC Navy commissioned following the end of the Human-Covenant War. Built in secret using technology recovered from Forerunner and Covenant sources during the war, the Infinity is the UNSC's largest and most advanced warship to date. Infinity serves under the command of the Office of Naval Intelligence and is captained by Andrew Del Rio, a seasoned naval officer.

She was commissioned in 2557 after being refitted with technology that would add scientific and diplomatic endeavors to her capabilities. By summer 2557, Infinity had a crew of over 17,000 sailors, Marines, Spartans and science personnel, as well as a number of Huragok, with two escort formations of either seven upgraded Halcyon-class light cruisers or at least two Paris-class heavy frigates.

Construction
The ship was constructed in the Oort cloud approximately one lightyear beyond the Sol system, with construction beginning circa 2537. Secrecy was ensured by having workers permanently stationed there over several years with a total communications blackout in effect. The ship's massive building expenditures, however, prevented ONI from keeping the Infinity a complete secret. Many senior members of the Admiralty, such as Rear Admiral Saeed Shafiq of UNSC Procurement, are fully aware of the ship's existence. Andrew Del Rio took command of the Infinity and her pre-commission crew years prior to the end of major hostilities in the war.

As of March 2553, technology discovered on The Sharpened Shield, a shield world located in the Zeta Doradus system, was planned to be incorporated into the ship. Huragok assistance in refining the ship's slipspace navigation capabilities, in particular, were expected to push the final construction milestones ahead of schedule. Unlike older warships that had only areas such as a gym or hangar space for Marines and Spartans to train in, the Infinity is the first known vessel to include a state-of-the-art virtual reality combat deck capable of replicating environments from across the galaxy using holography and pneumatic riser fields.

From stem to stern, the Infinity is approximately 5.6 kilometers in length, making her the longest warship the UNSC Navy has commissioned. Her length is only surpassed by the gargantuan 29-kilometer CSO-class supercarriers of the former Covenant Empire. However, given the state of disarray of the Covenant fleets following the Great Schism and the presumed constant targeting of these vessels, the Infinity may hold the title of the longest warship in the known galaxy. Infinity tremendously surpasses the previous UNSC record holders such as the supercarriers and other vessels such as the retrofitted s.

Trials
With the additional upgrades from Trevelyan, the first space trials of the Infinity were undertaken in mid-2553 with Del Rio at the helm. A number of SPARTAN-IVs, the newest generation of the highly famed supersoldier program, were assigned to the Infinity before her maiden voyage; additional Spartans were included in the ship's contingent as time progressed.

Requiem
In summer 2557, Infinity picked up the distress call of the and her two surviving crew, John-117 and his smart AI companion Cortana, now surviving on the Forerunner shield world Requiem. During the attempted rescue, the ship's control systems were hacked by an unknown entity, presumed to be the Didact, and promptly crash-landed on the conservation sphere's surface. Eventually, she was repaired and her complement of Marines and Spartans would later assist the Master Chief in combating the "ancient evil" that inhabits the complex artificial environment.

Senior staff

 * Captain Andrew Del Rio — Commanding officer
 * Commander Thomas Lasky — Executive officer
 * Commander Sara Palmer — Commander, Spartan contingent
 * Armstrong — Executive Petty Officer
 * Glassman — Chief engineer

Junior officers

 * Lieutenant Cameron
 * Lieutenant Junior Grade Campbell

Science personnel

 * Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey

Other

 * Wolfkill

Production notes
This advanced ship plays a major role in Halo 4, serving as the fictional backdrop for War Games and Spartan Ops, the competitive multiplayer and episodic cooperative campaign modes in the appropriately named Infinity section. War Games, in which players take control of SPARTAN-IV supersoldiers serving aboard the warship, train against one another in the ship's environment-replicating combat deck. Spartan Ops puts up to four players in the role of Majestic Squad in a series of weekly episodic campaign missions following the ongoing story of the Infinity and her crew.

The upcoming feature-length film Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn will chronicle the early military career of Thomas Lasky; Lasky will play a prominent role in Halo 4, having become a commander aboard the Infinity. On April 17th, 2012 episode of the TBS late night comedy show Conan, hosts Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter announced that they will be voicing Navy deckhands, with whom the player will be able to interact while they lift crates in the Infinity hangar bay. They can be encountered towards the end of the game.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * The Commissioning
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo 4