UNSC Pillar of Autumn: Difference between revisions

'''UNSC ''Pillar of Autumn''''', ([[hull classification symbol]] '''C-709'''),<ref name="HCESGuide">'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets]]''', ''page 60''</ref><ref name="BN">[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BWU_012910 '''Bungie.net''': ''Bungie Weekly Update 01.29.10'']</ref> was a {{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}} in the [[UNSC Navy]]. It was informally referred to as the ''Autumn'', and, in some cases, the ''Pillar''.<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 13''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Reach''', campaign level ''[[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Reach level)|The Pillar of Autumn]]'' (objective description)</ref><ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 103''</ref> It was the sister ship of {{UNSCShip|Dawn Under Heaven}}<ref name="interview">[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=6 '''Bungie.net''': ''Jason Jones Interviewed By You'' (12/18/2001)]</ref> and {{UNSCShip|Toulouse}}.<ref name="canon fodder">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/rockin-railin '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Halo Community Update - Rockin' & Railin<nowiki>'</nowiki>'']</ref> The ship's motto is ''Ad Arcendam Hostium'' (''To Repel the Enemy'').<ref name="Mythos95">'''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo|Halo Mythos]]''', ''pages 94-95''</ref>

The cruiser was guided to the [[Soell system]] by the [[smart AI]] [[Cortana]]. There it was engaged by a [[Fleet of Particular Justice|Covenant fleet]] guarding [[Installation 04]]. Keyes crash-landed the ship on the installation where the surviving crew continued the battle against the Covenant, and later, the [[Flood]]. The ship's sole remaining combat-effective SPARTAN-II, [[John-117]], was forced to destabilize the ''Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s fusion reactor, destroying both the ship and the ringworld, to prevent the Installation from being fired.  

During the [[Battle for Arcadia]] in [[2531|February 2531]], ''Pillar of Autumn'' engaged two {{class|CCS|battlecruiser}}s alongside the {{UNSCShip|Belfast}}, {{UNSCShip|Texas}} and {{UNSCShip|Armstrong}}. Along with the other three ships, ''Pillar of Autumn'' destroyed the battlecruiser designated ''[[CCS-U321]]'' after catching it with its shields down, but the battlecruiser designated ''[[CCS-U624]]'' was able to make it to the surface of [[Arcadia]]. In the battle between the UNSC and Covenant forces, ''Pillar of Autumn'' was badly damaged along with ''Armstrong'' while ''Texas'' and ''Belfast'' were destroyed. Upon the arrival of the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}, the [[smart AI]] [[Serina]] reported on these events to Captain [[James Cutter]].{{Ref/Reuse|first sighted}} Later in the battle, at the request of ''Spirit of Fire'', ''Pillar of Autumn'' contributed several [[M145D Rhino]]s to the ground battle, enabling ''Spirit of Fire's'' forces to take down a Covenant energy shield.<ref name="H:W_DomeOfLight">'''Halo Wars''', level ''[[Dome of Light]]''</ref>

The cruiser was decommissioned with the remaining {{class|Halcyon|light cruiser}}s, but was reactivated as the war worsened. ''Pillar of Autumn'' was pulled from long-term storage and was refitted in [[2550]] to serve as an emergency support ship in a conflict near [[Zeta Doradus]].{{Ref/Reuse|HCESGuide}}<ref name="for238">'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', page 238</ref>

[[File:AutumnMawCEA.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The ''Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s final resting place, shortly before its destruction.]]  

[[File:H2A-AlphaHaloDestruction.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Installation 04 breaks apart as a result of the ''Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s detonation.]]

Fusion reactors generate extreme heat which must be removed in order for them to remain active without overheating. The Autumn's overhauled reactors were an especially severe case of this. Usually, the excess heat was conducted to a chemical agent which would then vent into space. However, the ''Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s upgraded specifications also included an upgraded cooling system, which featured a "laser-induced optical slurry of ions chilled to near-absolute zero", which was far more efficient than the typical method and removed the reliance on expendable chemical temperature-control substances. In essence, the amount of excess heat removed by the new system increased as the reactors' output did. This self-regulating and self-cooling power plant was critical in combat since it virtually eliminated a commander's concerns about overheating and slagging a ship's engines.{{Ref/Reuse|for274}}

''Pillar of Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s engine room was a large, three-deck high chamber allowing access to the fusion engine core. Side passages allowed for movement from the bottom deck all the way up to the catwalks on the third. The manifolds into the cores were suspended above the second deck. Controls on the third retracted these manifolds, exposing a vent that led directly into the core. It was using this method to expose the core via the vents that the John-117 ultimately destroyed the ship and Installation 04. This room is the largest room in ''Pillar of Autumn'' with the exception of the hangar bay and the "leap of faith" room.

*''Pillar of Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s was approximately 1.17&nbsp;km long, a reference to John-117.<ref>[http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/sloftus_poaconundrum '''halo.bungie.org''': ''The Pillar of Autumn Conundrum'']</ref> The ship's length is exaggerated in the final level of ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' to a length of three kilometers, likely to add urgency and suspense to the escape sequence.

File:POA-Full-Int-Ext.jpg|The outline of ''Halo Combat Evolved''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[The Maw]] level.   

File:HaloCE-Maw-PoA-Critical.png|''Pillar of Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s fusion reactors go critical.   

File:PoA logo.png|''Pillar of Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[ship emblem]] as seen in ''Halo: Combat Evolved''. In ''Halo: Reach'', the emblem was replaced by the Seventh Column logo.

File:Reach 3893592 Full.jpg|Hull-classification information on the ''Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s outer hull. The Seventh Column symbol is also visible.  

File:2817468-gallery.jpg|''Pillar of Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s bridge, as seen in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''.