Editing Plasma torpedo

{{Era|HCW|Post}}
{{Disambig header|the starship weapon|other uses of the term "plasma turret"|Plasma cannon}}
{{Weapon Infobox
|image=[[File:FoR TAS - Unrelenting fires.png|300px]]<br>''[[Unrelenting]]'' firing plasma torpedoes
|manufacturer=
|series=
|type=Starship [[plasma weapon]]
|cost=
|variant=
|service=*[[Human-Covenant War]]
*[[Post-Covenant War conflicts]]
|affiliation=[[Covenant]]
|weight=
|height=
|width=
|length=
|ammotype=Magnetically-contained superheated plasma
|feed=
|operation=Plasma bolt guided by shaped magnetic fields
|rate=
|velocity=
|range=Several thousand kilometers
}}
{{Quote|Just another item in the Covenant's bottomless arsenal. Not a plasma torpedo, or we'd already be free-floating molecules.|[[Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]]<ref name="tf molecules">'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 11'' (2003)</ref>}}
'''Plasma torpedoes''' are magnetically guided bolts of [[plasma]] used as weapons by most [[Covenant]] [[capital ship]]s. Fired by dedicated turrets along a ship's hull, plasma torpedoes can strike at exceedingly long ranges.<ref name="FS">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 78''</ref> Along with the [[pulse laser turret]], [[Plasma cannon (starship)|plasma cannon]] and [[energy projector]], they are one of the Covenant's primary [[Space warfare|ship-to-ship]] weapons. Upon contact, a plasma torpedo causes severe damage to the target, boiling armor or overloading [[Energy shielding|shields]]. The weapon can be used in conjunction with pulse laser turrets and energy projectors to destroy entire [[UNSC fleet]]s.

==Design details==
The plasma turret used to fire plasma torpedoes is antenna-like in appearance and is installed on universal joints often located along the lateral sides of the ship.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 36-37''</ref> The torpedo is red or purple and short with a ball-like head and a trail. The turrets, from afar, usually appear as short spikes on the sides, the upper sides, and the bow of the vessel. On larger ships, the plasma is collected into visible lines located along the surface of the exterior hull before firing.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''pages 193, 197, 227, 284''</ref>

===Operation===
{{Quote|The Covenant cruiser came about to face them. Its plasma turrets glowed like angry red eyes.|Description<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 228''</ref>}}
[[File:ArabiaVostok.png|thumb|250px|left|The [[UNSC frigate|frigate]]s [[CMA Arabia|''Arabia'']] and [[CMA Vostok|''Vostok'']] being severed instantly by plasma torpedoes.]]
Plasma is heated in a pinched magnetic field by energy supplied from the ship's [[pinch fusion reactor]]s. The atoms that are on an appropriate trajectory between the Covenant starship and its target are then herded towards the mouth of the turret through a series of plasma conduits by magnetic pulses.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''pages 228, 229''</ref> Magnetic coils shape and guide the plasma, acting as a sophisticated focusing lens. When the weapon charges, a line of superheated plasma forms alongside the exterior plasma conduit adjoining the turret.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''pages 193, 198''</ref> Once fully charged, the plasma fires outward at its target. The torpedo is guided towards its target by a long-reaching magnetic field projected by the emitter.<ref name="fs266">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 266''</ref> Upon impact, the torpedo penetrates most unshielded starships, burning through internal decks and structures, thus causing heavy damage on the target.

They are extraordinarily accurate; one of the only ways for UNSC ships to even temporarily avoid them is to use [[emergency thruster]]s to "dodge" incoming plasma torpedoes at the last moment. Particularly strong magnetospheres, such as those of gas giants, will disrupt the magnetic field holding the torpedo together, dissipating the plasma and rendering the torpedo harmless.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''page 480, 481''</ref> The dust and vapor from missiles detonated close enough to the ship may also absorb the energy from a torpedo, rendering it harmless.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 42''</ref> When the damaged ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' entered the atmosphere of [[Threshold]], the massive wake of superheated gases trailing the ship scattered the plasma torpedoes fired by pursuing Covenant vessels.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 79''</ref>

The attacking ship must lower a section of its shield in order to fire the torpedo, otherwise it would detonate inside the protective barrier. [[John-117]] used this weakness to temporarily blind a Covenant cruiser with a Longsword and to penetrate the shields of the ''Ascendant Justice''.

===Guidance===
Plasma torpedoes can be manually guided from a weapons control station on the [[bridge]], by using holographic "steering spheres" superimposed over a holographic display of the space surrounding the ship. The plasma torpedoes and steering solutions of an enemy ship are similarly shown on the display.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 224-225''</ref> The Covenant have also developed "counter guiding signals", a form of [[electronic countermeasures|electronic countermeasure]] that disrupts the guidance control of an enemy ship's plasma torpedoes.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 193''</ref>

If the firing ship is destroyed, all plasma torpedoes guided by its magnetic fields are detonated prematurely or fly about aimlessly.<ref name="fs266"/> However, it appears that torpedoes are sometimes able to hold together for a small amount of time, as demonstrated during the [[Fall of Reach]], when fired torpedoes destroyed UNSC [[orbital defense platform]]s even after their firers had been destroyed.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 299''</ref>

===Tactics===
Volleys of plasma torpedoes are frequently the first attacks launched by [[Covenant fleet]]s when engaging enemy forces at long range. They often decimate enemy ranks upon impact. They emit visible radiation, giving them an amber color but volleys are visually akin to solar flares due to the sheer number of torpedoes launched. It has been said a single volley can destroy a ship from bow to stern.

Occasionally, plasma torpedoes can miss their target and fail to reacquire them if the target is moving towards the launcher at an oblique angle and high speed, such as the offensive maneuver conducted by John-117 to evade the fire of the Covenant ships at Alpha Halo during the [[Skirmish over Threshold]], or also if the movement of the craft is erratic such as the way Keyes evaded the torpedoes during the [[Keyes Loop]] by detonating the ship's [[emergency thruster]]s seconds before impact. Even though they are considered very accurate against capital ships and space stations, they can frequently be evaded by smaller craft, such as [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican dropships]] and [[GA-TL1 Longsword|Longswords]].

===Enhancement and atypical uses===
As with virtually all of their technology, the Covenant themselves only understand a fraction of the underlying science involved with the operation of the plasma turret. As a result, despite their overwhelming power against human ships, the Covenant's methods of using their weapons systems are highly inefficient, relying on crude brute-force calculations and causing wasteful energy expenditure due to their slow operation; this is also why the turrets glow before firing. When in control of the Covenant ship ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'', UNSC [[smart AI|AI]] [[Cortana]] was able to use the vessel's plasma turrets to their full potential; she created an entirely new system to control the plasma, using [[electromagnetic pulse]]s to direct the plasma atoms into precision beams within a microsecond. This enabled her to use the weapons with far greater power and precision than the Covenant themselves, cutting through Covenant vessels like a scalpel, not unlike an [[energy projector]]. According to Cortana, she could have improved the plasma turrets even further had the Covenant ship possessed better electromagnetic systems.<ref name="fs171">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 171-172''</ref>

The magnetic coils used in a [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon|MAC gun]] can be used to shape and guide the plasma fired by a plasma turret; this was seen before the [[Massacre at Eridanus Secundus]], when the {{UNSCShip|Gettysburg}}'s magnetic coils were used to guide plasma generated by the ''Ascendant Justice'''s plasma turrets.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 264-266''</ref>

==Production notes==
''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]'' erroneously refers to the plasma torpedoes of the battlecruiser ''[[Pious Inquisitor]]'' as if they were physical objects stored aboard the vessel in a dedicated "torpedo bay".<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 439, 443, 445, 446''</ref> However, there is no tangible component to the munitions, as the plasma cannon generates the "torpedo" from an amorphous supply of plasma upon firing.<ref name="fs171"/>

===Terminology===
While the term "plasma torpedo" is used throughout the novels, the weapons used to fire the torpedoes are only identified as "plasma turrets" in ''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', which also describes their operational mechanisms in detail. [[Halo Waypoint]]'s article for the ''[[Song of Retribution]]'' introduces a distinction between the assault carrier's "Anterior Plasma Cannons" and "Plasma Torpedo Silo Network", listing these weapon systems as the ship's secondary and tertiary armament, respectively.<ref name="hwp sor">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/vehicles/song-of-retribution '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Song of Retribution'']</ref> This is a change from the [[Halo novels|novels]], which only describe the Covenant using three layers of starship weaponry: [[energy projector]]s, plasma torpedoes and [[pulse laser turret|pulse lasers]]. However, the term "plasma cannon" is also used in reference to Covenant warships' secondary armament throughout ''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]'',<ref name="evg cannon">'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''pages 13, 28, 41''</ref> and in ''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', a "heavy plasma cannon" (most often referred to only as a "plasma cannon") is listed as the ''[[Rapid Conversion]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s main weapon system.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 226''</ref> In the ''[[Halo Legends]]'' episode ''[[The Package]]'', what appear to be plasma torpedoes (although smaller and more numerous than typically described in the novels) are referred to as "plasma rounds".

It should be acknowledged that the terms "cannon" and "turret" are rather general and are likely used descriptively rather than being restricted to specific weapon systems. From the context in ''Contact Harvest'', for example, it is apparent that the ''Rapid Conversion'''s "plasma cannon" is in fact referring to the ship's [[energy projector]]. Therefore it can be assumed there is a substantial amount of overlap between the terms.

''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', ''[[Halo 3]]'' and ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' depict Covenant starships firing blue or blue-purple bolts of plasma which are seemingly unguided. Meanwhile, the novels consistently describe plasma torpedoes as being red as well as highly maneuverable. Given these differences, it is likely that the plasma weapons depicted in the games are in fact representative of the "plasma cannons" listed in the ''Song of Retribution''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s arsenal rather than plasma torpedoes. ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' depicts the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} being struck by numerous blue plasma bolts. In ''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', [[Jacob Keyes|Captain Keyes]] remarks that the Covenant cannot be targeting the ''Autumn'' with plasma torpedoes, or else the ship would have been reduced into ''"free-floating molecules"'';<ref name="tf molecules"/> thus, the plasma weapons in question must be some other form of starship plasma weapon. Halo Waypoint's article for Covenant corvettes corroborates this distinction, listing "plasma cannons" as the corvettes' sole weapon system.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-gb/universe/vehicles/covenant-corvette '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Covenant Corvette'']</ref> The distinction between "plasma cannons" and "plasma torpedoes" is carried over to ''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''.

In light of these deductions, and for the purposes of categorization, this wiki assumes that the blue, unguided bolts of plasma are plasma cannon projectiles, while the red or purple and guided plasma bolts are plasma torpedoes.

==Gallery==
<!--As explained above, this article assumes that only the red/purple and guided plasma bolts are plasma torpedoes. Images of the blue, unguided plasma projectiles are listed in the "Plasma cannon" article instead.-->
<gallery>
File:Super-destroyer.jpg|A [[Covenant super-destroyer]] firing plasma torpedoes in ''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]''.
File:CCS Legends.jpg|A {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}} firing "plasma rounds" and [[pulse laser turret|pulse lasers]] in ''[[Halo Legends]]'': ''[[The Package]]''.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]''
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]''
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''
*''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]''
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant|Covenant]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion|Invasion]]''
*''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]''
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''
*''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''
*''[[Halo: Shadow of Intent]]''

==Sources==
<references/>

{{Covenant Weapons}}
[[Category:Covenant naval weapons]]
[[Category:Plasma weapons]]
[[Category:Starship weapons]]