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| {{Status|Canon}} | | {{Era|Forerunner}} |
| [[File:Ships fr.png|thumb|300px|[[Forerunner dreadnought]]s in alignment, using a combined energy weapon system.]] | | {{references}} |
| The [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]] operated a vast '''fleet''' of military starships responsible for [[space warfare]]. Most Forerunner fleets were historically operated by the [[Warrior-Servant]]s, until their diminishing by the [[Builder]]s, which saw many of their fleets transferred under [[Builder Security]]. The ecumene's collective naval force was led by [[Forerunner Fleet Command]].<ref name="Terminals">'''Halo 3''', ''[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals]]''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 197''</ref> | | [[File:Ships fr.png|thumb|right|300px|Forerunner ships combining their firepower .]] |
| | The '''Forerunner Navy''' was a branch of the [[Forerunner]] [[Warrior-Servant Corps]]. It was led by [[Forerunner Fleet Command]] and was in charge of all space combat and naval operations. They held the responsibility of protecting Forerunner planets from space from external threats, such as the [[Prehistoric human civilization|humans]] in the [[Human-Forerunner wars]] and from the [[The Flood|Flood]] in the [[Forerunner-Flood War]].<ref name="Terminals">''[[Terminal]]s''</ref> |
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| ==History== | | == History == |
| [[File:HW16.png|thumb|250px|Forerunner dreadnoughts held at [[Trove]].]] | | [[File:Highcharity1600.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] powering ''High Charity''.]] |
| Throughout Forerunner history, from their ancient civil wars to the [[human-Forerunner wars]] and later the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], a great number of deciding battles were fought between naval fleets. It is evident that the total Forerunner fleet consisted of millions of ships, given the numbers of the losses suffered during the war and the fact that [[Mendicant Bias|a single AI]] would take personal command of a core fleet alone of one thousand ships, combined with the three million worlds that the Forerunners controlled. However, this number was severely whittled down over three centuries of war. During the course of the war, Forerunner fleets attempted to prevent the Flood from landing on the surface of various planets, and when the Flood invariably did, the fleets' main concern was to evacuate as many civilians as possible.{{Ref/Reuse|Terminals}} At a certain point during the war, the Forerunners drew their final defensive line at the protected boundary of the [[Orion complex]] — the [[Maginot Sphere]] — leaving all systems beyond the line to fend for themselves. However, this was not a permanent solution, as the Sphere and its [[Line installation]]s had failed in the past.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 104-105''</ref>
| | {{Main|Forerunner-Flood War}} |
| | It is unknown exactly how many ships that the Forerunners had in their fleet, but given that [[05-032 Mendicant Bias|a single AI]] would take personal command of a core fleet alone of one thousand ships, combined with the three million worlds that the Forerunners controlled: it is fair to assume that the Forerunner fleet consisted of many millions of ships, though this number was severely whittled down over three centuries of war. During the course of the war, the Forerunner fleet attempted to prevent the Flood from landing on the surface of various planets, and when the Flood invariably did, the Forerunner Navy's main concern was to evacuate as many civilians as possible. |
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| The Forerunners had created a master AI, [[Mendicant Bias]], to coordinate all of their strategic movements against the Flood. However, Mendicant Bias defected to the Flood after direct contact with the [[Gravemind]], and began to actively work towards its creators' destruction. More setbacks followed with the Flood growing in numbers and power, forming compound intelligences of enormous power called [[Key Mind]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 186-187''</ref> By this point, the Forerunners had resorted to more extreme means to control and contain the Flood, burning entire star systems by initiating premature supernovas.{{Ref/Reuse|Terminals}} Although formidable, the Forerunners' fleets proved virtually helpless against the new tactics adopted by the Flood in the later years of their conflict: through the [[logic plague]], the parasite was able to rapidly corrupt the ancillas on which the Forerunners were heavily reliant. In addition, Forerunner weapons and countermeasures provided little defense against the powerful suppression fields generated by [[Precursor]] [[star road]]s and other [[neural physics]] artifacts, which could disable the Forerunner ships' weapons and shields as well as prevent them from accessing slipspace, making them easy prey to the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 214-215''</ref>
| | As the Forerunners realized that they had no chance of militarily winning the war, and as the Flood closed in on the [[Maginot Line|Maginot Sphere]], they created a master AI, Mendicant Bias, to coordinate all of their strategic movements and grapple with the [[Gravemind]] itself. Mendicant Bias was given a personal fleet of a thousand core capital ships. However, direct contact with the Gravemind caused Mendicant Bias to turn [[Rampancy|rampant]], and it quickly turned on its creators. |
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| As the Forerunners realized that they had no chance of militarily winning the war, they eventually resorted to the firing of the [[Halo Array]], their ultimate last resort which would cleanse the galaxy of all sentient life. The Flood and Mendicant Bias realized this, and led their fleet of over five million ships to the Maginot Sphere to access the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]] directly and stop the firing of the Halos. However, the [[IsoDidact]], overall commander of the remaining Forerunner military, had dispatched [[Offensive Bias]], a loyal AI commanding the remains of the Forerunner fleets, to meet Mendicant's fleet at the Maginot Sphere. During [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere|the ensuing battle]], the IsoDidact fired the Halo Array, which neutralized Mendicant Bias's giant Flood-controlled fleet, which had until this point, vastly outnumbered Offensive Bias. With the odds much more even, Offensive Bias managed to defeat the rampant AI's remaining core ships and delivered Mendicant Bias to the [[Installation 00|Ark]] for study.{{Ref/Reuse|Terminals}}
| | Mendicant Bias led its fleet through the Maginot Sphere, where it encountered three entire fleets of Forerunner warships led by [[Offensive Bias]]. The following encounter was quite possibly the largest battle ever seen by the galaxy ensued between the two opposing sides. At this point, [[The Didact|Didact]], overall commander of the remaining Forerunner Navy, fired the Halo Array. Although it killed all the surviving Forerunners, it also neutralized Mendicant Bias's giant Flood-controlled fleet, which had until this point, vastly outnumbered Offensive Bias. With the odds much more even, Offensive Bias managed to defeat the rampant AI's remaining core ships and attempted to deliver Mendicant Bias to the [[Installation 00|Ark]] for study.<ref name="Terminals"/> |
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| Without any Forerunners to guide them, some Forerunner ships crashed onto various objects and were later found by the races of the [[Covenant]], some utilizing the ships' advanced technology. For example, the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] was used to power the [[Covenant]] capital of [[High Charity]].<ref name="CH">'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'''</ref>
| | What happened to the few surviving Forerunner ships after this is unknown, but without any Forerunners to guide them, some of them may have crashed onto various objects and were later found by the races of the Covenant, some utilizing the ships' advanced technology. For example, the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] was used to power the [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] capital of [[High Charity]].<ref name="CH">'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'''</ref> |
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| ==Technology and capabilities== | | ==Appearances and capabilities== |
| [[File:H2A Terminals - High Charity interior.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Forerunner Dreadnought]], a single Forerunner [[keyship]], was used to provide power for all of ''[[High Charity]]'' for over two millennia.]]
| | Based on what was seen of them, Forerunner vessels were massive and extremely well protected and powered. |
| Forerunner vessels were extremely powerful and well protected. Like the ships of most navies, Forerunner vessels ran the gamut from small and maneuverable to enormous, although the scale of the latter was far beyond anything that came since: ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'', the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s 371-kilometer-long personal command ship, was noted as not being the largest of its kind.<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 193''</ref> However, even ships this large could be equipped with cloaking measures.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 273''</ref> The numbers of vessels utilized in battle were also overwhelming, with capital warships, such as [[Fortress-class vessel]]s, supported by potentially millions of automated support craft,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 174''</ref> along with dedicated fleets of [[sentinel]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 261-262''</ref> As with the rest of Forerunner society, [[artificial intelligence]] constructs—[[ancilla]]s—performed a range of roles in naval fleets, supplementing their biological masters. [[Metarch-class ancilla|metarch-class]] ancillas could, in an emergency, replace Forerunner commanders,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 256''</ref> and the most powerful class of metarch, [[Contender-class artificial intelligence|Contender]], could control millions of ships at once.{{Ref/Reuse|Terminals}} Cyberwarfare also had an important role in fleet engagements; enemy vessels could be targeted with [[AI suppressor]]s capable of disabling their control [[ancilla]]s and, in certain cases, even the crew.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 204''</ref> | |
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| The Forerunners' extensive understanding of [[Slipstream space]] and related technologies pertaining to the utilization of its extended range of dimensions were also evident in their space warfare doctrine. Unlike the younger civilizations, which are almost invariably constrained to the framework of conventional spacetime, the Forerunners waged battles across hyperdimensional complexes—branes—accounting for vectors of eleven-dimensional slipspace transit while using constantly adjusting scalars in an effort to measure potential outcomes as a given battle progressed.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 211''</ref> This was partly made possible by the Warrior-Servants' powerful mental capabilities, which also allowed them to experience a battle in multiple variable time streams, while sharing sensory input with other Warriors.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 162, 316''</ref> A singular Forerunner fleet engagement could potentially occur in coordination across multiple star systems and involve hundreds of thousands of warships.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 212''</ref> The Forerunners were also able to weaponize [[reconciliation]]—the adjustment of space-time to mend causal infractions caused by superluminal travel—hampering with and in some cases entirely denying their enemies' the ability to travel in slipspace.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 240''</ref>
| | A single Keyship could power a structure the size of an entire moon<ref>'''[[Halo 2]]''', campaign level ''[[High Charity (level)|High Charity]]''</ref> by using less than a tenth of its total power output.<ref name="CH"/> In a UNSC naval assault against the Covenant in the [[Battle of Voi]], three [[UNSC frigate]]s fired their [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]]s at the Forerunner Dreadnought but it remained intact.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level ''[[The Storm]]''</ref> This makes it even more powerful than a [[Covenant supercruiser]], which could only barely take the impact of three special light MAC rounds and five hundred [[Archer missile]]s. However, it has never been seen to use its actual weapons. [[Unidentified Forerunner starship|One class of dreadnoughts]] can combine their fire into a large singular beam capable of slicing a ship in two, before causing a massive explosion.<ref name="LE">'''[[Halo Legends]]''', ''[[Origins]]''</ref> |
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| While the Forerunners could effectively commence direct [[orbital bombardment|planetary bombardment]] via their energy weapons, a peculiar Forerunner weapon used during planetary assaults would cut off and lift up an enormous portion of the planet's crust, overturn it, and drop it back down.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 197''</ref> Single-occupant attack vehicles—some of them classified as forms of [[Combat skin|battle armor]], like [[war sphinx]]es or [[Seeker (vehicle)|seekers]]—could be deployed in swarms across continents and had the ability to destroy entire cities.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 95''</ref> As a more extreme measure, the Forerunners were also capable of artificially inducing premature stellar collapses in the event the Flood overran a star system.{{Ref/Reuse|Terminals}} To combat the Flood, the Forerunners equipped their starships with a mechanism known as [[Modular Dispersal Technology]], a means to efficiently scuttle sections lost to the Flood while maintaining the integrity of the rest of the ship. This technology was later appropriated for use by the Covenant.<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/theuniverse/tech/gallery/modular-dispersal-technology/e10ac7c3-932c-4b3a-91e5-3bf79c179b68?page=2 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Modular Dispersal Technology'']</ref>
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| As with the rest of their technology, Forerunner ships were superior to those of the modern civilizations in most respects. A [[Forerunner Dreadnought|single]] [[Keyship]] could power ''[[High Charity]]'', a structure the size of an entire moon,<ref>'''[[Halo 2]]''', campaign level ''[[High Charity (level)|High Charity]]''</ref> by using less than a tenth of its total power output.{{Ref/Reuse|CH}} In a [[UNSC Navy|UNSC naval]] assault against the Covenant in the [[Battle of Voi]], three [[UNSC frigate]]s fired their [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]]s at the Forerunner Dreadnought, in addition to a massive salvo of missiles by numerous [[GA-TL1 Longsword|Longswords]], but it remained completely intact, sustaining no visible damage.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level ''[[The Storm]]''</ref> This makes it even more powerful than a [[Kewu-pattern battleship|some of the most powerful]] Covenant ships, which could only barely take the impact of three special light MAC rounds and five hundred [[Archer missile]]s.
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| Forerunners could also create [[upgrade seed]]s to upgrade vessels of other species into seamless hybrids of their original technology and Forerunner technology. This was done in cases where Forerunners encountered other races with more rudimentary ship technology, but resources would not support using a [[design seed]] to create a vessel of Forerunner design. The inclusion of a Forerunner [[slipspace flake]] would give the vessel a Forerunner slipspace drive. Other known upgrades include stealth capability, upgraded weapons, comm and navigational systems kept within the framework of the ship's original operating functional capability.<ref>''[[Halo: Renegades]]'', pg. ??</ref>
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| ==Known ship types== | | ==Known ship types== |
| The Forerunners categorized warships by a series of "orders". Ships would be assigned in these categories based on their role, size, or both. In a derelict Forerunner war fleet found by the ''[[Audacity]]'' in [[Path Kethona]], capital ships approximately five kilometers in length were classified as first-order ships; accompanying four-hundred-meter-long vessels—speculated by the [[Librarian]] to be interdictors or logistical support craft—were classified as sixth- or seventh-order ships.<ref>''Halo: Silentium'', pg. 120</ref> | | *The [[unidentified Forerunner starship]] was a combat vessel commonly used during the Forerunner-Flood War.<ref>'''[[Halo Wars]]'''</ref><ref name="LE"/> |
| | | *[[Keyship]]s such as the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] were used to open gateways to the Ark and to transport lifeforms away from the Array's effect, as well as back to their homeworlds. They also possessed powerful shielding and weaponry.<ref name="Terminals"/><ref name="CH"/> |
| {{Forerunner|ships|category=no}}
| | *[[Forerunner cruiser]] |
| | *[[Fortress-class vessel]] |
| | *[[Planet-breaker]] |
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| ==Known commanders== | | ==Known commanders== |
| *[[IsoDidact]] | | *[[05-032 Mendicant Bias|Mendicant Bias]] |
| *[[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]]
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| *[[Examiner]]
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| *[[Faber]]
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| *[[Falchion]]
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| *[[Tactician]]
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| *[[Mendicant Bias]]
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| *[[Offensive Bias]] | | *[[Offensive Bias]] |
| | *[[The Didact]] |
| | *[[Confirmer]] |
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| ==Known units== | | ==Known units== |
| | *[[Primary Pioneer Group]] |
| | **[[Advance Survey Team-Alpha|Advance Survey Team Alpha]] |
| *[[Suppression Fleet]] | | *[[Suppression Fleet]] |
| *[[Security Fleet]] | | *[[Security Fleet]] |
| *[[Emergency Circumstance Fleet]] | | *[[Emergency Circumstance Fleet]] - The last known actions of the Suppression, Security, and Emergency Circumstance Fleets were in an engagement against the Flood-controlled fleets in a last stand during the [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere]].{{citation needed}} |
| *[[Primary Pioneer Group]]
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| **[[Advance Survey Team-Alpha|Advance Survey Team Alpha]]
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| ==Gallery== | | ==Gallery== |
| <gallery> | | <gallery> |
| | File:HW16.png|Forerunner ships held at a shield world. |
| File:Keysip.png|Keyships serving out their mission to reseed life throughout the galaxy. | | File:Keysip.png|Keyships serving out their mission to reseed life throughout the galaxy. |
| File:Ships flood.png|Flood-infected Forerunner ships. | | File:Ships flood.png|Flood-infected Forerunner ships. |
| File:Dreadnought inflight.png|The [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] in flight. | | File:Dreadnought inflight.png|The [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] in flight. |
| File:H4 - Terminal - Forerunner Fleet - Requiem.png|Forerunner warships in Requiem's orbit.
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| File:H4 - Terminal - Forerunner Fleet - Charum Hakkor.png|Forerunner warships in Charum Hakkor's orbit.
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| </gallery> | | </gallery> |
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| *''[[Halo 2]]'' {{1st}} | | *''[[Halo 2]]'' {{1st}} |
| *''[[Halo 3]]'' | | *''[[Halo 3]]'' |
| *''[[Halo 4]]''
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| **''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''
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| *''[[Halo Wars]]'' | | *''[[Halo Wars]]'' |
| *''[[Halo Legends]]'' | | *''[[Halo Legends]]'' |
| **''[[Origins]]'' | | **''[[Origins]]'' |
| *''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' | | *''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'' |
| *''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
| | **''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' |
| *''[[Halo: Silentium]]'' | |
| *''[[Halo: Escalation]]'' | |
| *''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''
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| **''[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminals]]''
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| *''[[Halo Mythos]]''
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| *''[[Halo: Fractures]]''
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| **''[[Promises to Keep]]''
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| **''[[Untitled story (Halo: Fractures)|Untitled story]]'' {{Mo}}
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| *''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''
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| ==Sources== | | ==Sources== |
| {{Ref/Sources}}
| | <references/> |
| | | [[Category:The Forerunner]] |
| {{Forerunner-Flood War}}
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| [[Category:Fleets]]
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| [[Category:Forerunner military units| ]] | |
