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Halcyon-class light cruiser

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Template:Ship Class Infobox

"A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser. Given those odds, I'm content with three... make that four kills."
— Cortana

The Halcyon-class light cruiser,[1] known as Human Attack Ship class C-II by the Covenant,[2] was a United Nations Space Command cruiser starship classification designed by Dr. Robert McLees in 2510, with a hull classification symbol of C. Their service lives were short due to a unique hull design that was costly both to construct and to maintain, lack of speed and poor armament, and concerns about their tactical viability. They were subsequently replaced by the Marathon-class cruiser. Despite the inherent disadvantages of the design, if upgraded appropriately and handled well, they could be among the most effective, and likely the most expensive, ships in the UNSC Navy.

History

At just over 1.17 kilometers in length and one-third the tonnage of the succeeding Marathon class, the Halcyons were the smallest of vessels to be designated and structured as cruisers. Compared to later ships, the original Halcyons were sorely underpowered and under gunned: their Mark II fusion engines provided but a tenth of the output of modern reactors and their armament consisted of a mere six Archer missile pods and a single MAC gun. According to Cortana, they were somewhat of a joke within the fleet.[3]

When the Human-Covenant War erupted in 2525 a number of Halcyon cruisers were reactivated from storage and refitted. With the right upgrades, a Halcyon-class cruiser could be be a formidable foe. During the Fall of Reach, the upgraded Template:UNSCship was able to put up a tremendous fight, taking on everything from Covenant frigates to a DDS-class carrier and even the Covenant supercruiser and winning all the fights. The supercruiser was a ship no one had tried to take on and even the Super MACs couldn't hit due to the extreme distance, but the Pillar of Autumn was able to destroy it by using all of her armaments while withstanding heavy damage.

Design

Layout

Halcyon-class cruisers are composed of five hexagonal and octagonal sections mounted onto each other. The bridge is slung underneath one of the forward sections and eight docking bays are distributed throughout the ship. There are also slots for eighteen lifepods on the ships' hull. Because of the low number, these were likely used only as a last resort if Pelicans or other modes of transportation were not available. Lastly, the MAC cannon is visible as a bump on the bow.

The most noteworthy design feature was a series of internal cross bracings and honeycombs that made the ships surprisingly resistant to battle damage; ships of the class were able to remain operational despite sustaining breaches to all compartments and losing 90% of their armor.[3] The durability of the design was demonstrated by the UNSC Pillar of Autumn when she survived a crash-landing on Alpha Halo after taking a tremendous beating at Reach and over the ring. However, while the cruiser was intact, it was damaged beyond repair and could never fly again, although some systems were still online such as the fusion core, the engines, and the self-destruct.[4] Another example of the ship's durability was during the Fall of Reach when the ship took on the Covenant supercruiser and took two hits from the ship's main weapon (one of which severely damaged the reactors) and kept going, eventually destroying the supercruiser when just one shot from that ship was able to take out newer and more powerful warships such as a UNSC carrier.

Corridors on the Halcyon-class were segmented by several retractable containment bulkheads. In the event of an emergency, these bulkheads could be closed and affected sections sealed from the remainder of the ship. A potential application of this was during a hostile boarding action, whereas the atmosphere in the sealed sections could be vented via commands from the bridge, asphyxiating enemy troops.

Armories were located throughout the ship, holding a selection of small arms and their requisite ammunition. Eight docking bays allowed a number of Pelican dropships, Longsword Interceptors, Warthogs and Scorpion Tanks to be carried.[5]

A number of service corridors ran the length of the ship. Workers go in and out of the corridors, as seen in Halo: Combat Evolved. Although normally restricted to personnel, they could be accessed by lifts in main engineering or connecting passageways from the docking bays. If necessary, these expansive corridors could permit passage to Warthogs and some sections were large enough to accept Pelicans. The corridors served a secondary purpose of lessening the ship's considerable mass, thereby increasing acceleration.

Halcyon-class cruisers are constructed in space and are not rated for atmospheric deployment;[6] however, atmospheric rocket pods allow them limited atmospheric operation capabilities, as demonstrated by the Pillar of Autumn which was capable of achieving liftoff from Aszod, supported by a series of rocket pods.[7]

Armament

Known elements of the Halcyon-classes' original armament consisted of the following;

With the outbreak of the Human-Covenant War, Halcyon-class ships were put through extensive refits. At least one ship, the Pillar of Autumn, had the following armament:

  • One upgraded Magnetic Accelerator Cannon capable of firing 3 rounds in quick succession.
  • 300 Archer missile pods which were arranged in thirty columns and ten rows. Each pod contained 26 individual devices, equaling 7800 missiles.[8]
  • Four Shiva nuclear warheads. One of these missiles was disguised as a Longsword fighter, which could be remote controlled.
  • Forty 50mm MLA autocannons with overlapping fields of fire for point defense against single ships.

Power plant

Main article: Fusion drive

Sublight thrust is provided by nuclear fusion reactions which are channeled to two primary and twelve secondary adjacent exhausts at the ship's exterior stern.[9] There are six exhausts visible, two large and four small. These engines are powered by reactions between hydrogen isotopes, including deuterium.[10] The main engine core consists of a three underpowered Mark II Hanley-Messer reactors which provided 10% of modern engine output as of 2552.[3]

On the refit ships, specifically the Pillar of Autumn, the reactor system was one of the aspects which was heavily retrofitted. The Autumn was installed with an experimental reactor architecture which used a set of primary and secondary reactors to greatly boost its power generation capabilities.[11]

The class was also equipped with a standard Slipspace drive for translight speeds.

Ships of the line

Gallery

  • Halcyon-class Cruiser.png

    Profile view of the Halcyon-class light cruiser.

  • A vertical cross-section of a Halcyon-class ship, showing the honeycombed internal layout.

    A vertical cross-section of a Halcyon-class ship, showing the honeycombed internal layout.

  • POA-MAC Schematic.jpg

    An overlay of the Pillar of Autumn and its MAC.

  • A docking bay.

    A docking bay.

  • A typical internal corridor.

    A typical internal corridor.

  • An armory.

    An armory.

  • A Halcyon-class using its 50mm PDG against Covenant boarding craft.

    A Halcyon-class using its 50mm PDG against Covenant boarding craft.

  • Halcyon cruisers sitting in a decommissioning yard on Reach.

    Halcyon cruisers sitting in a decommissioning yard on Reach.

  • Holdout.jpg

    A Halcyon Class cruiser on the surface of Reach.

  • Reach 3889544 Full.jpg

    Another view of a Halcyon class cruiser on Reach.

Trivia

  • Halcyon is derived from the Greek word Alcyone, which means golden or marked by peace and prosperity.
  • Scrapped hulls and frames of several Halcyon-class cruisers can be seen on the Halo: Reach multiplayer map, Boneyard.

List of appearances

Sources

  1. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 42
  2. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 4
  3. ^ a b c Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 238
  4. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Maw
  5. ^ It is unknown how many auxiliary craft and vehicles a Halcyon can embark. The Pillar of Autumn, depending on the in-game cut scenes, missions, and novels, was shown to carry at least: twelve Longswords, seven Pelicans, four Scorpions, and perhaps in excess of forty Warthogs. The Warthog count is partially based on the text of Halo: The Flood, pages 136-138. The docking bays shown in the cut scenes each revealed berths for sixteen Pelicans as well.
  6. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 40
  7. ^ Halo: Reach, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn
  8. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, pages 274-275 (Captain Keyes mentions performing a fly-by inspection of the starboard shuttle bay and counting Archer missile pods thirty across and ten down, making for 300 Archer missile pods. The next sentence then reads "Each pod held dozens of missiles.)
  9. ^ Halo: Reach, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn
  10. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 275
  11. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 174

Template:UNSC Ships

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