Fortress-class vessel: Difference between revisions

|image=[[File:Enc22 FortressClass.png|300px]]

''Fortress''-class vessels were some of the largest and most powerful vessels in the [[Forerunner fleet|Forerunner navy]]. From bow to stern the ships were approximately 50 kilometers long and 10 kilometers across at the widest point. The hull is divided into three sections. The foremost section of the ship is a massive hemispherical structure 10 kilometers in diameter. The dome's hollow core serves as living space for hundreds of thousands of Forerunner [[Warrior-Servant]]s. Below the dome is a mid-section composed of layered platforms supporting landing bays and weapon mounts. The aft section of the ship is a long "tail" covered in gun emplacements and other forms of energy weaponry.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HC20|Cry|Chapter=20}}

Despite this prior description, ''Fortress'' ships were not all of a single unified design; ships used toward the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]] measured up to 100 km in length with far more destructive capabilities.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HC27|Cry|Chapter=27}} Extremely large examples of ''Fortress''es (presumably such as the aforementioned hundred-kilometre example) may be fitted with [[heavy ion weapon system]]s as their primary superweapons.{{Ref/Book|Id=Ion|Enc22|Page=377}} ''Fortress''-class ships may also incorporate [[Minoris Assembler Vats]] into their structure to allow for the mass on-site fabrication of lower-tier constructs such as [[Sentinel]]s.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=325}}

Due to their behemoth structure, a single fortress ship is capable of carrying and deploying enormous amounts of [[Harrier-class vessel|harriers]] and [[weapon-ship]]s. During battle, fortresses would first deploy thousands of swift attack craft in outward-fanning formations.{{Ref/Reuse|HC20}} They also had automated screens of weapon-ships, up to a million of which could be commanded by individual Warriors.{{Ref/Reuse|HC20}}