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UNSC Infinity

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This article is about the UNSC vessel. For articles of the same name, see Infinity.

Template:Individual Ship Infobox Template:Article Quote The UNSC Infinity (INF-101) is the experimental flagship of the UNSC Navy commissioned following the end of the Human-Covenant War. Built in secret using technology recovered from Forerunner and Covenant sources during the war, the Infinity is the UNSC's largest and most advanced warship to date.[1] Infinity serves under the direction of Fleet Command and is captained by Thomas Lasky.

The first ship of her class, Infinity was secretly deployed in combat in March 2553. On February 28, 2557,[2] the vessel was officially recommissioned after being refitted with technology that would add scientific and diplomatic endeavors to her capabilities.[3][4] By February 2558, Infinity had a crew of 17,151 sailors, Marines, ONI operatives, and civilian personnel, as well as numerous adjunct members of the other UNSCDF branches and a number of Huragok specialists.[5][2] The Infinity is escorted by a formation of twenty to forty vessels, consisting of Paris-class heavy frigates,[3][6][7] Autumn-class heavy cruisers,[8] and ten internally docked Strident-class heavy frigates.[2][9][10] The primary shipboard AI is Roland.[9][11]

History

 
The Infinity during its commissioning ceremony.

Construction

The ship was constructed in the Oort cloud surrounding the Sol system,[1] with construction beginning circa 2537.[12] Secrecy was ensured by having workers permanently stationed there over several years with a total communications blackout in effect. The ship's massive building expenditures, however, prevented ONI from keeping the Infinity a complete secret. Many senior members of the Admiralty, such as Rear Admiral Saeed Shafiq of UNSC Procurement, were fully aware of the ship's existence at the time of its construction.[13] This later developed into the Fleet, rather than Naval Intelligence, taking control of the vessel. Andrew Del Rio took command of the Infinity and her pre-commission crew years prior to the end of major hostilities in the war,[1] though CINCONI Margaret Parangosky expected Commander Thomas Lasky to eventually supplant Del Rio.[14]

As of March 2553, technology discovered on Trevelyan, a shield world located in the Zeta Doradus system, was planned to be incorporated into the ship.[13] Huragok assistance in refining the ship's slipspace navigation capabilities, in particular, were expected to push the final construction milestones far ahead of schedule.[15] Unlike older warships which had only areas such as a gym or hangar space for Marines and Spartans to train in, the Infinity is the first known vessel to include a state-of-the-art virtual reality combat deck capable of replicating environments from across the galaxy,[16] real or hypothetical, using holography and pneumatic riser fields.[17]

Insurrectionist attack

A small number of SPARTAN-IVs from the new program's first successful class were assigned to the Infinity in January 2553. Shortly afterward, Insurrectionists led by the former SPARTAN-IV Isla Zane attempted a hostile takeover of the Infinity, entering the ship disguised as a construction crew.[18] The attack was repelled, largely due to the efforts of Spartans Sarah Palmer and Edward Davis. This incident exposed Admiral Mattius Drake as the leader of the New Colonial Alliance, and the SPARTAN-IVs' actions contributed to the establishment of the Spartans as their own branch.[19] Additional Spartans were included in the ship's contingent as time progressed,[1][16] and Palmer would later become the commanding officer of the ship's Spartan complement.[20]

Sanghelios

"Think of it as a work-up exercise. A Thursday War."
— Admiral Margaret Parangosky[21]

With a number of further upgrades to the ship, the first space trials of the Infinity were undertaken in March 2553 with Del Rio at the helm.[22] In March, the Infinity underwent inspection by Admirals Terrence Hood and Margaret Parangosky. By this time many crew changes had been enacted on the ship. Dr. Catherine Halsey was at work installing the ship's Forerunner slipspace engines, under the supervision of Henry Glassman, the chief engineer. Many Huragok from Trevelyan had been assigned to the ship, led by Requires Adjustment. Aine was assigned to the ship as a temporary AI.[23] Parangosky met with Del Rio and Lasky, who discussed the current refit shape of the Infinity.[24] While aboard the ship, Parangosky and Hood received intel on the ongoing Sangheili civil war, learning that the Vadam Keep, the headquarters of Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, was about to be breached by the Servants of the Abiding Truth. Hood contacted Vadam, who reluctantly agreed to accept Hood's help. After Glassman cleared the ship for combat, it departed for Sanghelios.[25]

When the Infinity arrived over Sanghelios, Kilo-Five's prowler UNSC Port Stanley docked with the ship, and Parangosky gave Captain Serin Osman two Huragok, Requires Adjustment and Leaks Repaired, who made several refits to Kilo-Five's Pelican Tart-Cart.[26] Soon, the Sangheili opposition ship Defender of Faith began to assault Vadam, and Del Rio easily destroyed it.[27] The remaining Sangheili insurgent forces were all but destroyed when the Infinity fired her fore MAC gun on their positions, creating a massive crater on the Vadam coastline. Due to Infinity's help in the battle, Vadam was saved and the battle trial was considered successful. Kilo-Five later rejoined the ship's crew.[28]

First tour on Requiem

Main article: First Battle of Requiem
 
John-117 watches as the Infinity is pulled into Requiem.

The UNSC officially commissioned Infinity into service, publicly refocusing her mission on peace and exploration, on February 28, 2557.[2] Infinity was tasked with finding the rest of the Halo Array, and the UNSC forces managed to set up bases on Installation 03 as well as Installation 05 for studying and dismantling the ringworlds.[29] Furthermore, the Infinity was used to transport a massive Forerunner artifact known as the Composer to Ivanoff Station, a research station in orbit of Installation 03. After an ONI team at Ivanoff Station vanished while researching the Composer, the ship's crew learned the location of the shield world Requiem.[29] During the approach to Requiem, Infinity picked up a distress call from the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn and her two surviving crew, Spartan MCPO John-117 and his smart AI companion Cortana. During the attempted rescue, the ship's control systems were hacked by the Didact, the leader of the Forerunners' Promethean Warrior-Servants, and promptly crash-landed on the shield world's surface.[3] The Master Chief rallied scattered reconnaissance personnel and was soon reunited with Commander Lasky, whom he had met decades prior during the Battle of Circinius IV.[29]

Promethean and Covenant remnant forces boarded Infinity while the Didact scoured the ship's mainframe; though the ship's crew did not know at the time, he was searching for the location of the Composer. The Master Chief quickly brought Infinity's point defenses back online, enabling her to destroy two CRS-class light cruisers and to drive off the Didact's Cryptum. Shortly thereafter, Captain Del Rio ordered that Gypsy Company neutralize a network of particle cannons that were suppressing UNSC aircraft in the area; this would allow an approach to the gravity well generator that was keeping Infinity inside the shield world, which in turn would allow the ship to return to Earth to report their findings.[30]

After their return to the ship, John-117 and Cortana told Del Rio that they had encountered an imprint of the Librarian; John insisted that the ship pursue the Didact before he could leave Requiem. Dismissing their claims as the result of rampancy and age, Del Rio ordered that Cortana be removed from service after she temporarily disabled some of the ship's systems. The Master Chief refused and the bridge crew defied the captain's order to arrest the Spartan. Lasky then provided John a Pelican gunship under the guise that it would be used to apprehend the Spartan. Just before the Didact's Cryptum could be rendered vulnerable to Infinity, a fit of rampancy caused Cortana to release the orb from its impromptu containment structure. This allowed the Cryptum to interface with the Didact's ship, Mantle's Approach, after which the Didact set course for Installation 03. Del Rio gave the order for Infinity to travel back to Earth, while John and Cortana pursued the Didact aboard a Covenant Lich.[31]

Stopping the Didact

Main article: Battle of Earth (2557)
 
The Infinity facing down the Forerunner flagship Mantle's Approach.

Upon Infinity's return to Earth, Del Rio was relieved of command due to his abandonment of the Master Chief on Requiem. Lasky took over as commanding officer, just as Admiral Parangosky had planned.[32] In the meantime, the Didact acquired the Composer from Ivanoff Station near Installation 03 and integrated it into Mantle's Approach.[33] When the ship arrived in Earth's orbit, Infinity stood ready as the flagship of Battlegroup Dakota, a detachment of the UNSC Home Fleet. SPARTAN-117 informed now-Captain Lasky that he intended to detonate a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon inside Mantle's Approach, preventing the Composer from being fired against Earth. Once the ship's point-defense guns were neutralized, Infinity used two of her primary MACs to blast holes in the opposing vessel's hull. The Master Chief used one of these openings to enter the ship and eventually defeated the Didact, though not before the Composer digitized the residents of New Phoenix, Arizona, URNA. The ship was successfully destroyed, at the cost of Cortana's life.[32] A Pelican was dispatched to retrieve the Spartan, who then spoke with Captain Lasky before having his armor removed on S Deck for the first time in almost five years.[34]

Second tour on Requiem

Main article: Second Battle of Requiem
 
The Infinity being escorted by two of her sub-vessels above Requiem.

On February 3, 2558, Infinity returned to Requiem to clear territory for UNSC research bases. The ship and her sub-vessels quickly dispatched a small Covenant task force stationed at the entrance portal and deployed numerous dropships through the opening. A massive joint effort comprising the Navy, Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Spartans began securing areas on the surface from Covenant garrison forces.[9] After a short span of time, Spartan Fireteam Crimson secured a Forerunner artifact from an area known as "the Cauldron" and brought it aboard the ship.[9] When the artifact began disrupting Infinity's power, artificial gravity, and propulsion, Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer shut it off with a kick. Palmer, Captain Lasky, and Chief Engineer Dr. Glassman then inspected the artifact. Palmer saved Lasky's life, though Glassman was translocated to Requiem by the artifact.[35] Sometime later, Dr. Halsey was brought in to examine the artifact, much to Palmer's chagrin. Due to the artifact continuously causing problems for the ship, it then was navigated by Roland, who could accomplish little without human help.[36]

Some time after Gabriel Thorne's disappearance through the translocation artifact, The Infinity was boarded by large numbers of Promethean Knights, followed by Covenant forces. The Covenant created havoc on board the ship, forcing the Infinity to recall all forces on Requiem to defend the ship. Fireteam Crimson was responsible for protecting the engine and server rooms, bringing the weapons systems back online, and even deactivated multiple nuclear warheads cloaked with active camouflage stowed away on the ship, that had been earlier discovered as stolen.[37] It was later discovered that the primary goal of the boarding action was to kidnap Dr. Halsey for Jul 'Mdama. Despite eliminating all boarders, the Infinity remained locked above Requiem due to a slipspace anchor originating from the planet.[38]

Dr. Glassman deduced that the slipspace anchor was being generated by the Forerunner artifact aboard the ship and a pair of similar artifacts on Requiem. If the artifacts on the shield world were deactivated, Infinity would be free. At the same time, Jul 'Mdama set Requiem to collide with its sun, with the anchor pulling the Infinity along with it. Fireteams Majestic and Crimson were quickly dispatched to deactivate the artifacts, in which they succeeded. Once the two fireteams were aboard the ship, Lieutenant James flew the ship away from Requiem on Captain Lasky's order. Infinity made an emergency jump into slipspace as the shield world was consumed by the sun, immediately sending the star into a premature supernova state. The ship emerged intact from the jump, with a number of reported injuries but no major casualties.[39]

Escorting Thel 'Vadam

After the events at Requiem, the UNSC Infinity was assigned to escort Thel 'Vadam in a diplomatic mission between 'Vadam and the Jiralhanae.[40]

Specifications

Hull and propulsion

 
The Infinity hovering amidst the spires of Requiem.

From stem to stern, the Infinity has a length of 5,694.2 meters (18,681.6 feet), a beam of 833.3 meters (2,733.9 feet), and a height of 1,041.2 meters (3,415.9 feet). This makes her the largest warship the UNSC Navy has ever commissioned. Aside from various Forerunner vessels, her length is surpassed only by the Covenant's gargantuan 29-kilometer CSO-class supercarrier.[41] Infinity is considerably larger than the previous UNSC record holders such as the supercarriers and Phoenix-class colony ships.[16][42] For transportation throughout the enormous vessel, the Infinity is equipped with a high-speed tram system.[36]

Her hull is comprised of 4.9 meters of titanium-A3 armor. The ship also possesses energy shields, making her the first UNSC ship known to be fitted with shielding systems. The combination of armor and shields is strong enough to withstand direct impact with a Covenant RCS-class armored cruiser, while sustaining negligible damage.[9] The ship's sublight power plant is a XR2 Boglin Fields: S81/X deuterium fusion reactor. Translight power is provided by a Mark X Macedon/Z-PROTOTYPE #78720HDS mounted on a remote carriage.[43] The latter is of Forerunner design and origin, capable of dropping out of slipspace with pinpoint accuracy.[36]

Crew and complement

As of February 2558, Infinity had an official complement of 17,151. This included 8,954 Navy personnel, 6,021 Marines, 1,699 Naval Intelligence agents, and 477 civilians.[2] She also houses hundreds of SPARTAN-IVs, as well as an unknown number of Army and Air Force personnel, who are not listed as part of the ship's complement.[9][note 1]

Mass deployment is realized through a large number of bays located throughout the vessel. Infinity has 275 Cat-1 primary bays, 140 Cat-2 secondary bays, 108 Cat-3 matériel deployment bays, and ten Cat-8 sub-vessel deployment bays: the last of these each carries a frigate. Single deployment is afforded by 329 R1295 Launching System/M9407 SOEIVs and 124 B854 Jettison Bays/M8823 HEVs. Emergency escape vehicles include 8,900 SKT-29 Class-8 Enclosed Heavy Lifeboats/Controlled and 12,750 RLT-85 Emergency Shuttlepods.[2]

Infinity is also equipped with sizable recreational areas, including a large atrium-like memorial park. Located under an enormous transparent dome,[44] the park has a self-contained biosphere complete with plants and animal life and has been said to surpass many natural parks on Earth in size.[45]

Armament

The Infinity's primary armament is four CR-03, Series-8 magnetic accelerator cannons. Infinity boasts a significant missile network that can be implemented for ship-to-ship combat, and anti-air defense, orbital gunfire support for Marine forces, among other uses. Emplaced throughout the ship are 1,100 missile pods of three types: Archer, Rapier, and Howler. The M42 Archer missile provides secondary armament for Infinity with 350 pods that can launch 24 missiles simultaneously. Additional missiles include the M75 Rapier (250x30 missiles) and the M96 Howler (500x20 missiles). Close-in defense against enemy missiles, fighters, and boarding craft is the primary mission of the M965 Fortress point defense network, a series of 830 70mm automatic cannons.[43] Infinity is also equipped with a network of Mark 2551 MACs[46], a network of M85 "Scythe" AA turrets[47], and a network of M97 "Lance" missile pods[48], mounted on the dorsal hull.[29] Infinity also carries a sizable complement of Variant-V HAVOK nuclear warheads.[49]

Crew

Infinity Command

Officers

Crewmen

Spartans

Marines

  • Master Sergeant Marcus P. Stacker
  • Sergeant Virgil Bernardin
  • Sergeant Jaime Valesco
  • Corporal Steven McCord
  • Private First Class Forrest
  • Private Ted Brown
  • Private Gordon Cooper
  • Private Gordon Smith
  • Private Fred Gordon
  • Private Antoine Lum
  • Private Aasif Olsen
  • Private Tucker Corleone
  • Private Rick Spaulding

Infinity Science

Former

  • Captain Andrew Del Rio — Commanding officer; relieved of duties following first deployment to Requiem (2552 — July 2557)
  • Aine - original shipboard AI (254X - 2553)
  • Spartan Cara Costabile - Former head of Fireteam Switchback; Killed in Action during Second Battle of Requiem
  • Dr. Catherine Halsey — Kidnapped by the Promethean-Covenant remnant forces - February 2558
  • Fireteam Castle - Killed in Action during Second Battle of Requiem
  • Mountain Squad - Killed in Action during Second Battle of Requiem
  • Paolo J. Jiminez — Killed in Action on Requiem - July 2557
  • CPO Peters - Killed in Action on Requiem - July 2557

Production notes

This advanced ship plays a major role in Halo 4, serving as the fictional backdrop for the appropriately named Infinity multiplayer component, encompassing War Games and Spartan Ops, the competitive multiplayer and episodic cooperative campaign modes. War Games, in which players take control of SPARTAN-IV supersoldiers serving aboard the warship, train against one another in the ship's environment-replicating combat deck. Spartan Ops puts up to four players in the role of Fireteam Crimson in a series of weekly episodic campaign missions and cinematics following the ongoing story of the Infinity and her crew.[16]

The webseries Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn chronicles the early military career of Thomas Lasky; Lasky plays a prominent role in Halo 4, having become a commander aboard the Infinity.[53] TBS late night comedy show Conan hosts Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter voice Navy deckhands who are encountered by the player in the beginning of the level Shutdown in the Infinity's hangar bay.[54]

Gallery

  Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

Profile

  • Size comparison between the Infinity and Forward Unto Dawn.

  • Forward view of the Infinity.

  • Ventral view of the Infinity.

  • Overview of the UNSC Infinity.

  • Detailed frontal view of the UNSC Infinity's MAC guns. Note that there appears to be at least five MAC barrels, rather than four.

  • Detailed rear view of the UNSC Infinity's engines when ignited.

  • The Infinity being escorted by a squadron of Autumn-class heavy cruisers.

  • The Infinity's nameplate.

  • The Infinity, emerging through Requiem's clouds.

  • A Covenant aerial squadron converges on the Infinity's crash site, as the Didact's Cryptum silently hovers above.

  • The Infinity transitioning to slipspace.

  • The Infinity, moments before ramming a massive Covenant remnant vessel.

  • The Infinity and her escort group heading to the Master Chief's location.

  • The Infinity firing her main guns.

  • The Infinity's engine.

  • The Infinity fleeing the flare emitted immediately after Requiem's collision with the star.

Interior

  • The bridge of the UNSC Infinity.

  • The Infinity's bridge, as seen in Spartan Ops.

  • The bridge, after the crash inside Requiem.

  • Del Rio and a subordinate viewing a holographic schematic on the bridge.

  • Thomas Lasky, John-117, Cortana and Captain Del Rio on the bridge of the Infinity.

  • John-117 conversing with Captain Del Rio on Infinity's bridge.

  • The Infinity's SPARTAN-IV garrison bay.

  • The Infinity's engine room.

  • A maintenance causeway running through the ship's hull.

  • A corridor filled with passing crew and science personnel within Infinity.

  • Warthogs and two Mammoths slide along the storage bay during evasive maneuvers.

  • Some of the Infinity's SPARTAN-IVs and Marines salute the Master Chief upon his return to Earth.

  • Captain Quaters - UNSC Infinity.png

    The Captain's ready room within the Infinity.

  • One of the Infinity's hangar bays.

  • Another of the Infinity's hangar bays.

Commissioning ceremony

  • A government official addresses the men and women of the Infinity.

  • The presiding official and senior naval officers before their subordinates.

  • The Infinity being pulled through Requiem's entrance portal.

Concepts

  • Early concept art of the Infinity.

  • Various conceptual explorations of the profile of the Infinity.

  • Near-final profile concepts of the ship.

  • Near final concepts of the Infinity's engines.

  • UNSC Infinity.jpg

    The Infinity and a number of other vessels above Earth.

  • The Infinity during its commissioning ceremony.

  • H4-Concept-Infinity-Bridge-Early.jpg

    Early concept art of the Infinity's bridge.

  • Finalized concept art of the bridge.

  • The bridge during the ship's descent into Requiem.

  • A hallway inside the Infinity during the ship's descent into Requiem.

  • The MJOLNIR GEN2 assembling bay on S Deck.

  • One of the ship's aircraft launch bays.

  • A rapid-deployment hangar.

  • A ground vehicle bay in zero-gravity conditions.

  • One of the ship's maintenance causeways.

  • Concept art of the ship's engine room.

  • The Infinity's crew quarters.

  • The Infinity bridge's holotable.

  • The computer screens on the Infinity.

  • One of the Infinity's M97 missile batteries.

Renders

  • CGI render of the bridge, as shown in the Spartan Ops cinematics.

  • Another CGI render of the Infinity's bridge.

  • A render of one of the Infinity's launch bays.

  • A render of the bay from the reverse angle.

Note

  1. ^ The UNSC Infinity briefing packet does not include the Spartans Army, or Air Force as part of the ship's registers. They are presumably considered adjuncts or independent components. This is particularly strange in the Spartans' case as they are a permanent fixture of the ship, with S-Deck dedicated to their use.

List of appearances

Sources

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Glasslands 422
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named packet
  3. ^ a b c d e f The Commissioning
  4. ^ Halo 4 Interactive Guide: Captain Andrew Del Rio biography
  5. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 48
  6. ^ Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn - Part V
  7. ^ Halo 4, Infinity mode introductory cinematic
  8. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide
  9. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Departure
  10. ^ Making Halo 4: A Hero Awakens
  11. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 192
  12. ^ YouTube: Halo 4 Infinity Multiplayer
  13. ^ a b Halo: Glasslands, page 390
  14. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page ???
  15. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 50
  16. ^ a b c d Game Informer (May 2012), pg 46-47
  17. ^ Halo 4 Official Site: Game Modes
  18. ^ a b Halo: Initiation - Issue 2
  19. ^ Halo: Initiation - Issue 3
  20. ^ Xbox.com: Commander Sarah Palmer Armor Avatar outfit
  21. ^ Halo: The Thursday War page 69
  22. ^ Halo: The Thursday War
  23. ^ Halo: The Thursday War page 45-53
  24. ^ Halo: The Thursday War page 65
  25. ^ Halo: The Thursday War page 235
  26. ^ Halo: The Thursday War page 265
  27. ^ Halo: The Thursday War page 303
  28. ^ Halo: The Thursday War page 361
  29. ^ a b c d Halo 4, campaign level Infinity
  30. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Reclaimer
  31. ^ a b Halo 4, campaign level Shutdown
  32. ^ a b Halo 4, campaign level Midnight
  33. ^ Halo 4, campaign level The Composer
  34. ^ Halo 4, Epilogue
  35. ^ Spartan Ops, S1E2 Artifact
  36. ^ a b c Spartan Ops, S1E3 Catherine
  37. ^ Spartan Ops, S1E7 Invasion
  38. ^ a b Spartan Ops, S1E8 Expendable
  39. ^ Spartan Ops, S1E8 Exodus
  40. ^ Dark Horse: Dark Horse Announces All-New Halo Ongoing Series: Escalation!
  41. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 28
  42. ^ Game Informer: The World Of Halo 4
  43. ^ a b Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named bulletin101012
  44. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, pages 68-69
  45. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Infinity (Marine: " "Infinity's memorial park is something else, man. You seen it before? I heard it's larger than a lot of natural parks on Earth. Has its own biosphere with all sorts of animals and plants. Crazy what they stick on those warships nowadays.")
  46. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 75
  47. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 76
  48. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 77
  49. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HAVOK
  50. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 301
  51. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 229
  52. ^ Spartan Ops, Episode 6 "Scattered"
  53. ^ Variety.com: Halo Web series to bow before next game
  54. ^ Conan: Episode 245 - April 17th, 2012

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