Kerel-pattern assault carrier: Difference between revisions

The '''CAS-class assault carrier'''<ref name="visual"/> is a large [[capital ship]] used by the [[Covenant]]. The ''CAS'' is designed for ship-to-ship combat, command and control of [[Covenant fleet|fleet]] operations, and support for ground occupation forces. Such vessels are typically deployed during invasions of worlds with high strategic value.<ref name="DD4">[http://halo.xbox.com/Content/assets/en-us/ONI/489872090930784032/93893-PRELIM.pdf '''Halo Waypoint''', ''Data Drop Four'']</ref>

The CAS-class has a length of 5,347 meters (17,540 ft) , a beam of 2,118 meters (6,950 ft), and a height of 700 meters (2,300 ft). This makes it the second largest ship of the line the Covenant navy employed throughout the Human-Covenant War. Although the CAS-class carrier's keel length is inferior, its width and volume are in the realm of twice as large as even the UNSC's prototype flagship {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, the largest vessel in human history.

The class' hull is comprised of an unknown Covenant alloy; however, its greatest assets are its [[energy shielding|energy shields]], which are amongst the strongest in the [[Covenant fleet]]. During opening hours of the Battle of Earth, the Prophet of Regret's flagship ''[[Solemn Penance]]'' was able to penetrate Earth's orbital defense grid in spite of [[Cairo Station]] focusing fire on it.<ref name="Cairo"/> Furthermore, [[Rtas 'Vadum]] employed the tactic of ramming [[CCS-class battlecruiser]]s during the [[Battle of Installation 05]] with no visible damage being inflicted upon [[Shadow of Intent|his flagship]].<ref name="Ark">'''Halo 3'''</ref> A further testament to this vessel's survivability is that it was selected by the Covenant alongside the much larger [[CSO-class supercarrier]] to serve as the [[Hierarchs]]' personal flagships when they were not aboard the also heavily shielded [[High Charity]].<ref name="DD4"/> Like most Covenant vessels, the command deck of the CAS is buried deep within the vessel's deck, allowing it to function even with the vessel taking tremendous damage.

Assault carriers, like the majority of Covenant ships, are characterized by their bulbous, whale-like front, sleek silhouette and pale white-blue hull. However, they also tend to be characterized by their unique swollen and bulbous "hooked" bow section that is frequently characterized to be similar to the head of a whale and would (theoretically) be a massive weakness as the ship could be blown in half comparatively easily, given its shields were down. Rather than possessing multiple smaller hangar bays, like smaller cruisers, assault carriers use a single, gargantuan hangar bay for storage of fighters, dropships, boarding craft and small capital ships, at least 500 meters long, 320 meters wide and 120 meters high. In ''Halo 3'', however, there is a second hangar bay visible, near the stern of the cruiser, above the main engines.

The assault carrier is also fitted with [[Modular Dispersal Technology]], giving it the ability to completely detach sections of its outer hull as well as whole corridors, as seen during [[Operation: WARM BLANKET]]. They can also separate into two distinct sections which leaves the rear section (with the main engines) behind and allows the fore-section to move away with previously hidden engines, the fore section, and likely the rear, are still Slipspace-capable. Unlike its unorthodox means of use by [[Luro 'Taralumee|the Fleet Master]] in an attempt to disperse the advancing SPARTAN forces, the dispersal feature is actually intended to be used in order to detach sections of the carrier that sustained extensive damage in order to increase the chances of saving what is left of the ship and its crew for future use.

The CAS-class' exact crew size and complement are unknown, however its size and combat records suggest a crew of thousands. A single CAS-class assault carrier is capable of deploying a military force sizeable enough to secure an entire 26th century city.<ref name="Metropolis"/> The class' cavernous main hangar has the capacity of carrying hundreds of [[Type-31 Seraph|Seraph multirole fighters]], [[Type-26 Banshee|Banshee attack craft]], [[Type-52 Phantom]] and [[Type-25 Spirit]] dropships, and [[Covenant boarding craft|boarding craft]].

Given the similar design and purpose of the CAS to the CSO-class supercarrier it is possible that light cruisers may even be capable of using the CAS as a refueling depot in the absence of repair and resupply stations like [[Unyielding Hierophant]]. Like many vessels in the Covenant fleet the vessel was capable of rapidly deploying Covenant soldiers to the front with the use of [[Covenant drop pod|orbital insertion pods]]. Like most Covenant ships, they also possess [[gravity lift]]s, used for ferrying supplies, personnel, and vehicles from the ship and to a planet's surface.<ref name="Metropolis">'''Halo 2''', campaign level, ''[[Metropolis]]''</ref><ref>'''Halo 3: ODST''', campaign level, ''[[Uplift Reserve (level)|Uplift Reserve]]''</ref>

As some of the largest ships in the Covenant fleet, the CAS-class are favored as flagships by both Sangheili commanders and Prophet Hierarchs. As well as their exemplary shielding the vessel is also presumably amongst the most heavily armed in the Covenant. Assault carriers possess multiple [[energy projector]]s which are powerful enough to cut through UNSC capital ships on its ventral and dorsal surfaces.<ref name="Cairo"/> They also possess multiple [[pulse laser turret]]s, which are used for intercepting enemy missiles and fighters, and [[plasma turret|plasma torpedoes]] for engaging in ship-to-ship combat and assaulting planetary defenses.<ref name="Ark"/>

Throughout the war the CAS proved to be superior to human vessels in both durability and firepower, with the vessel being capable of easily getting vaunted {{Class|Marathon|heavy cruiser}} with a single blast of its dorsal energy projector. This changed at the close of the first Human-Covenant War; although they are similar in size compared to the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, the CAS is no match for the human vessel because it is ironically outmatched in arsenal.<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]'''</ref>

The [[Battle of Bliss]] saw the first known deployment of the CAS-class assault carrier during the [[Human-Covenant War]]. Five of these vessels alongside the smaller but more numerous {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}}s and {{Class|CPV|heavy destroyer}}s attacked and [[glassing|glassed]] the world resulting in the deaths of all five hundred million citizens of [[Bliss]].<ref>'''[[Halo: Reach]]''', ''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''</ref> Over the next two decades of conflict the assault carrier would grow to be known as one of the most fearful inspiring vessels in the Covenant armada. 

 

After the destruction of the [[CSO-class supercarrier]] ''[[Long Night of Solace]]'' at least three such vessels led the Covenant reinforcement fleet to assault the planet [[Reach]]. During the ensuing [[Battle of Reach]] these vessels alongside hundreds of others would lead to the destruction of humanity's largest and most well defended colony.