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Template:Ship Class Infobox The Covenant boarding craft is a Covenant ship specifically designed for boarding an enemy vessel.^[1]

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 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 AI.
To destroy the vessel from within (such as the Athens Station and Malta Station 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 hanger bay windows or used the empty UNSC escape pod docking rings to board a vessel.^[2]

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.^[1]

Types of boarding craft

Boarding craft are first encountered in Halo: Combat Evolved, used by the Covenant to board the UNSC 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 ODPs Athens and 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 shield that only allowed their considerable complement of Covenant soldiers out. The boarding tube seemed to function on a similar basis to the gravity conveyors 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.^[1]

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

The interior of a Covenant boarding craft in Halo: Combat Evolved.
A group of Covenant soldiers prepare to board the Pillar of Autumn in Halo: Combat Evolved.
The interior of a Covenant boarding craft in Halo 2.
The bridge connecting to the Covenant boarding craft on Cairo Station in Halo 2.
An in-game profile view of the Covenant boarding craft in Halo 2.

List of appearances

Sources

^ ^a ^b ^c Halo 2, campaign level Cairo Station
^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn

Template:CovenantShips

[cairo-1] Halo 2, campaign level Cairo Station

[pillar-2] Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 ==Overview==
-Although most Covenant ships are capable of reducing UNSC vessels to heaps of molten slag in a matter of minutes, the Covenant have shown a desire to board [[human]] vessels using specialized boarding craft. Reasons for boarding are believed to include:
+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 vessel's crew and thus unlock classified UNSC intelligence including the location of [[Earth]].
+*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 and circumvent its defenses (such as the ''[[Athens Station]]'' and ''[[Malta Station]]'' [[Orbital defense platform|Orbital Defense Platforms]] during the [[Battle of Earth]]).
+*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]]).
-So far, the Covenant have proven highly intelligent in their entry points, melting holes through hanger bay windows or using 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>
+==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 hanger 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 is able to leave the target ship and return to its home vessel should the need to retreat occur. When the craft boards via windows, it uses the outer edge of the boarding tube to superheat the glass, penetrating into the vessel while preventing the window from shattering.<ref name="cairo"/>
+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==
@@ Line 60: / Line 61: @@
 ==Trivia==
-*In ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', they contained two [[Overshield]] power ups in the far corners of the pods, probably for the use of any Sangheili in need of assistance that were on board.
+*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.