Ruma-pattern light carrier

Ruma-pattern
Class attributes
Identification:	UNSC Three-letter code: DDS
Operators:	Covenant
In service:	Eighteenth Age of Doubt - present
General characteristics Type: Light carrier Length: 3,000 meters (9,843 ft) Width: 1,186 meters (3,891 ft) Mass: 272 million tonnes Power plant: Pinch fusion reactor Maneuver drive: Repulsor engines Slipspace drive: Borer Hull: Nanolaminate plating Shielding: Energy shielding-equipped Armaments: 2 Ignis-pattern plasma lances 7 Morfen-pattern plasma cannons 8 Argament-pattern plasma torpedo silos 75 Pol-pattern pulse laser turrets Air wing: At least six Seraph starfighters At least one Spirit dropship Air facilities: One launch bay located on the ventral surface

The Ruma-pattern light carrier (UNSC three-letter classification: DDS-class carrier), is a heavy warship within the now-defunct Covenant fleet. During the empire's heyday, the Ruma served as a second-line vessel for reserve fleets - rarely encountered far from harborages and naval depots. Although formally classed as light carriers, Ruma-pattern ships may sometimes colloquially be referred to as "supercarriers"; this is an informal term that can be applied to Rumas alongside larger assault carriers and supercarriers to distinguish three types of gargantuan carrier warship from their much smaller cousins.

Overview

Design details

Unlike the larger and more powerful assault carriers and supercarriers, the Ruma is not intended for service on the front lines of a conflict. It measures 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in length - just over double that of the smaller, unidentified light carriers and just over half that of an assault carrier. The shieldless nanolaminate hull of a Ruma-pattern carrier is capable of withstanding heat of up to 300^oC, with no actual damage done to the carrier's structure. Only at extreme temperatures of over 1,700^oC does minor hull tearing and conduit melting occur.

The ship has a single strikecraft launch bay located on the ship's belly, capable of storing at least six Seraph starfighters - and wide enough to accomodate a C709 Longsword. The hangar's interior layout is broadly similar to that of other Covenant ships such as the Ket-pattern battlecruiser, with excessively high vaulted ceilings, low and indirect lighting, and purple walls stenciled with faintly luminescent geometric patterns. The back of the hangar contains a single, broadly hexagonal, door, which itself leads to the main corridor linking the hangar to the ship's bridge. The ship is also fitted with numerous engineering corridors for Huragok use - too small for a Sangheili to fit through. The engineering corridors share a vent that connects to a small corridor fitted with escape pods, which in turn serves as an alternate (albeit unintended) means of accessing the bridge. Under normal operating conditions, the escape pod bay is classed as an emergency system.

The bridge is circular in nature, and roughly 20 metres (66 ft) in diameter. The centre of the room has a raised platform ringed with holographic control surfaces, hovering over a pit in the floor. The walls of the bridge are coated in floor-to-ceiling displays showing the ship's status for the crew. Twenty decks below the bridge is the engineering deck containing the ship's pinch fusion reactor, which is linked by a series of intervening corridors and an elevator shaft. The reactor is ten metres high, and the centrepiece of the cavernous engineering bay.

The ship's borer is considered fairly slow for ships of its mass - something which reinforces its reserve status.

Complement and crew

The Ruma carrier Ascendant Justice had an official crew count of 3,000; consisting of a hundred Sangheili, a light company of Unggoy, and majority of the crew being Huragok. It is unclear whether this represents a standard crew for other ships of the class. In more standard operation, Rumas serve as troop carriers, strikecraft tenders, and a posting for pilots. Their pilots are rarely stationed on a Ruma for long, as fresh pilots are frequently rotated to other ships and replaced by battle-weary units coming back from the front for rest and recuperation.

The shipmaster of a Ruma is generally a junior officer, placed into such a role to gain experience and have their skills, devotion, and patience tested in a non-critical role. If successful, they are promoted to more prestigous commands.

The ship's ventral hangar is capable of hosting and launching at least six Seraph fighters.

Armaments

The Ruma is relatively lightly armed, given its size, and boasts fairly substandard offensive power for a ship of its mass - lacking any of the heavy or superheavy-grade weaponry that characterises other capital-grade warships in the Covenant inventory such as the Kerel-pattern assault carrier and Varric-pattern heavy cruiser. The carrier's primary weapons system are two Ignis-pattern plasma lances, the same model as that equipped on the Ket-pattern battlecruiser. These are augmented by seven Morfen-pattern plasma cannons similar to those employed on the older Maugen-pattern armored cruiser, eight Argament-pattern plasma torpedo silos also shared with the Maugen, and an extensive point-defence network consisting of 75 Pol-pattern pulse laser turrets.

To guide the plasma, the ship is fitted with a magnetic field multiplier; a piece of Covenant technology that acts as a focusing lens of sorts to shape and guide the plasma projectiles fired from their naval weaponry. While aboard Ascendant Justice, Cortana used this system to refine the ship's plasma cannons into firing plasma lance-like beams capable of overpowering other Covenant warships in combat.

Usage

The Ruma-pattern carrier's main functions are occupation and force deployment; where an assault carrier can serve as a potent space warfare combatant and command ship in its own right, the Ruma is more specialised into the role of troop and fighter transport. They are generally stationed as flagships for second-line and reserve fleets, meaning that they are rarely encountered far from a friendly port capable of servicing them.

In the three-letter classification system used by the Office of Naval Intelligence for classifying Covenant spacecraft, the "S", or Salvation, in the carrier's three-letter classification code, "DDS", indicates that the DDS-class carrier is a dedicated warship.

Ships of the line

• Ascendant Justice – Participated in the Battle of Installation 04, captured by UNSC, and was destroyed during Operation: FIRST STRIKE.

Service history

At least one, Ascendant Justice, was assigned to the Fleet of Particular Justice and pursued UNSC Pillar of Autumn to Installation 04 after the battle. During the battle, it was the seat of the Minor Prophet of Stewardship until irreconcilable differences between him and Particular Justice Fleetmaster Thel 'Vadamee forced 'Vadamee to board Ascendant Justice and confront the prophet. Stewardship fled to Installation 04 in this time, coming to use the battlecruiser Truth and Reconciliation as his base for the remainder of the campaign. Following the Battle of Installation 04, Ascendant Justice was captured by UNSC forces and captained by Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb until its destruction during Operation: FIRST STRIKE.

List of appearances

• Halo: The Flood
  • Adjunct (Mentioned only)
• Halo: First Strike (First appearance)