Editing R'sisho-pattern Tick

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{{Ship Class Infobox
|image=[[File:Halo2-CovenantBoardingCraft.png|300px]]
|name=Covenant boarding craft
|manufacturer= Covenant
|line=
|model=
|class=Boarding Craft
|length={{Convert|62.2|m|ft|sigfig=3}}
|width={{Convert|35.4|m|ft|sigfig=3}}
|height={{Convert|28.1|m|ft|sigfig=3}}
|mass=
|max accel=
|max speed space=
|max speed air=
|engine=
|slipspace drive=None
|slipspace speed=N/A
|poweroutput=
|power=
|shield gen=
|hull= Unknown Covenant material 
|sensor=
|target=
|navigation=
|avionics=
|countermeasures=
|armament=[[Shade|Plasma turret]] (1){{fact}}
|complement=Up to 75 infantry{{fact}}
|crew=Two Pilots{{fact}}
|skeleton=Two Pilots{{fact}}
|passengers=Up to 75 infantry soldiers{{fact}}
|capacity=
|consumables=
|othersystems=
|firstuse=
|role=Boarding craft
|era=[[Human-Covenant War]] 
|affiliation=[[Covenant Empire|Covenant]]
}}
The '''Covenant boarding craft''' is a [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] ship specifically designed for [[boarding]] an enemy vessel.<ref name="cairo">'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Cairo Station]]''</ref>

==Overview==
The Covenant, although their ships are fully capable of reducing most UNSC vessels to heaps of molten slag in a matter of minutes, have also shown a desire to board and hopefully capture a [[human]] vessel, in hopes of capturing valuable information from their computers. Thus far, they have done so by using boarding craft. This has only been done a couple of times, at [[23 Librae]] and on the ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn]]''. Infantry are deployed into the heart of a vessel for purposes the UNSC can only speculate. Suggestions and evidence collated so far for motivations have been:

*To collect information/specifications of UNSC military equipment, vehicles, weapons, etc.
*To capture key members of the vessels crew and thus unlock classified UNSC intelligence including the location of [[Earth]].
*To destroy or capture a shipboard [[Artificial intelligence|AI]].
*To destroy the vessel from within (such as the ''[[Athens Station]]'' and ''[[Malta Station]]'' [[Orbital defense platform|Orbital Defense Platforms]] during the [[Battle of Earth]]).

==Operation==
When a UNSC ship is being attacked by Covenant forces, if the Covenant determine that the ship holds valuable navigational data, AIs, or other materials, the Covenant may attempt a boarding operation. In such a situation, the boarding craft is used. So far, the Covenant have proved highly intelligent in their entry points, having burnt holes through hangar bay windows or used the empty [[Class-3 Enclosed Heavy Lifeboat|UNSC escape pod]] docking rings to board a vessel.<ref name="pillar">'''Halo: Combat Evolved''', campaign level ''[[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|The Pillar of Autumn]]''</ref>

The boarding craft is a reusable vessel and are able to leave the UNSC ship and return to a nearby cruiser should the need to retreat occur. When the craft boards via windows it seems to use the outer edge of the boarding tube to superheat the glass, thus the glass does not shatter.<ref name="cairo"/>

==Types of boarding craft==
Boarding craft are first encountered in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', used by the Covenant to board the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}. These craft were only viewed partially and internally with only the boarding tube being accessible and the cockpit being off-limits behind a locked door. These vessels usually carried a compliment of up to 8-10 Covenant warriors, usually [[Unggoy]] and [[Sangheili]].

Boarding craft were also responsible for the destruction of the [[Orbital defense platform|ODPs]] ''[[Athens Station|Athens]]'' and ''[[Malta Station|Malta]]'' stations. Unlike in ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', these boarding craft could be clearly seen through the station's windows. The craft used a long boarding tube to penetrate the windows of the station. The entrance/exit to the boarding tube was covered with an impenetrable [[energy shielding|energy shield]] that only allowed their considerable complement of Covenant soldiers out. The boarding tube seemed to function on a similar basis to the [[gravity conveyor]]s found in the Covenant holy city ''[[High Charity]]''. The tube, once deployed, had a superheated rim to melt glass instead of shattering it, therefore cooling down so air cannot escape.<ref name="cairo"/>

==Trivia==
*In ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', they contained two [[Overshield]] power ups in the far corners of the pods, probably put there for the use of any Sangheili in need of assistance that were on board.
*Even when the shields for the entrance of the boarding craft are turned off, players cannot enter.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:HCE-CovenantBoardingCraftInterior.jpg|The interior of a Covenant boarding craft in ''Halo: Combat Evolved''.
File:Covenant_Boarding_Party.png|A group of Covenant soldiers prepare to board the ''Pillar of Autumn'' in ''Halo: Combat Evolved''.
File:H2-BCraft-doj6.jpg|The interior of a Covenant boarding craft in ''Halo 2''.
File:Boardingcraft.jpg|The bridge connecting to the Covenant boarding craft on Cairo Station in ''Halo 2''.
File:H2-CovenantBoardingCraftSide.png|An in-game profile view of the Covenant boarding craft with docking tube extended in ''Halo 2''.
File:H2-CovenantBoardingCraft.png|Another in-game preview of the Covenant boarding craft with docking tube retracted in ''Halo 2''.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''
*''[[Halo 2]]''
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian]]''

==Sources==
<references/>

{{CovenantShips}}