Ester-pattern armored frigate

Ester-pattern
Class attributes
Identification:	UNSC Three-letter code: CAR
Operators:	Covenant
In service:	Third Age of Discovery-present
General characteristics Type: Frigate Length: 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) Mass: 34 million tonnes Maneuver drive: 2 repulsor engines Slipspace drive: Borer Hull: Nanolaminate plating Shielding: Energy shielding Armaments: 1 Baen Ka-pattern plasma lance 2 Enteros-pattern plasma beam emitters 30 Sey-pattern plasma cannons 4 Phot Et-pattern pulse lasers

The Ester-pattern armored frigate (UNSC three-letter classification: CAR-class frigate) is a classification of frigate within the now-defunct Covenant fleet.

Overview

Design details

The Ester-pattern is considered relatively unremarkable by the standards of Covenant starships, and averages in at a similar size to the Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette or the slightly smaller A'uzr-pattern sword frigate.

Armaments

The Ester-pattern boasts a fairly average loadout for its weapons complement, with the notable exception of a Baen Ka-pattern plasma lance - a weapon considered unusually high-grade given the ship's rating and reputation. The frigate otherwise hosts two Enteros-pattern plasma beam emitters, thirty Sey-pattern plasma cannons and four Phot Et-pattern pulse lasers. They may, however, employ a number of tertiary weapons systems depending on the specific commanding officer and crew.

Usage

During the Human-Covenant War, the Ester was rarely employed on the front lines, and instead primarily saw use in second-rate roles for internal security and mop-up operations once a fleet had moved on from a given target. These frigates were charged with surveying and recording devasted worlds. Several frigates of this class participated in the Fall of Reach. By the time of the Great Schism, many of the frigates surrounding High Charity had begun to be crewed with Jiralhanae - resulting in them being used against the separatist Sangheili fleets.

The "R", or Reverence, in the frigate's three-letter classification code, "CAR", denotes that the frigate is capable of conducting reconnaissance missions and is capable of excavating Forerunner artifacts.

Ships of the line

• Contrition – Participated in the Fall of Reach.
• Penance – Participated in the Fall of Reach.
• Revenant
• Tenebrous
• Twilight Compunction

Production notes

The CAR-class frigate was first mentioned in Transmissions, a type of promotion for the then-new game Halo: Combat Evolved. The transmissions are directly linked to the Cortana Letters and are considered canon because of their inclusion in the 2009 edition of the Halo Encyclopedia. The ship was later featured in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx as the simply-named "Covenant frigate" - given no particular specific class name or statistics except for the mention of 1-3 plasma turrets on the ship's lateral surfaces, and 4 point-defence weapons. The three frigates featured in the book were later included in the 2009 Halo Encyclopedia and its 2011 reprint with a given length measurement of 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) - a statistic ultimately reused in the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition) (alongside the count of 4 point-defence weapons) and effectively combining the Cortana Letters' CAR-class with the unnamed Ghosts of Onyx frigate type and the new lore written for the ship.

Alongside these stats, the frigate was first visually depicted in the 2022 edition of the encyclopedia. The image used in this book, and at the top of this page, is a 3D model created by artist Jared Harris for the Halo fan mod Sins of the Prophets to represent the CAR-class frigate. The official recognition of this ship as the canon depiction of the Ester-pattern was part of an official collaboration between the Sins of the Prophets team and 343 Industries. with several of Sins of the Prophets' ship models being used in the book.

Gallery

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  Renders for the Sins of the Prophets model of the Ester that was featured in the Halo Encyclopedia.

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  Renders for the Sins of the Prophets model of the Ester that was featured in the Halo Encyclopedia.

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  Renders for the Sins of the Prophets model of the Ester that was featured in the Halo Encyclopedia.

List of appearances

• Transmissions (First; non-canon)
• Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (First appearance)