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UNSC Gorgon was a heavy destroyer that served in the UNSC Navy during the early years of the Insurrection and later the Human-Covenant War. It was the first heavy destroyer to be armed with a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon.[1]
Operational history
Insurrection
The Gorgon was active by around 2499, at which time it was granted to the now-Captain Preston Cole. This custodianship followed Cole's five years of commanding a corvette in counterinsurgency engagements, following his promotion as a result of the Callisto Incident in 2494. The Gorgon was the first heavy destroyer to be outfitted with a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, while Cole used to great effect in the first few years of the 26th century against Insurrectionist forces. During this time, the Gorgon crossed paths with, and engaged, the Insurrectionist vessel Bellicose twice, with the stolen frigate managing to escape the Gorgon's killing blow twice.[1]
Between May 31-June 2, 2501, the Gorgon was involved in patrol duties in the Theta Ursae Majoris system, during which time it had engaged in two battles against rebel forces resulting in severely depleted munitions and a battle-weary crew - with the vessel's MAC munitions payload of three reduced to just one final round. At 0626 hours on June 2, the Gorgon came across the Bellicose once again and proceeded to engage the frigate - battling for thirty-four minutes trading Archer missiles. At 0700, the Gorgon was able to use a gravity assist to come around a planetoid and line up a killing shot with the Gorgon's MAC against the Bellicose. However, the frigate was able to, to the confusion of Gorgon's crew, evade the MAC round - leaving the Bellicose depleted of Archer missiles and the Gorgon depleted in all silos except silo eight. The Gorgon proceeded to prepare its Helix point-defence guns in anticipation of counterattack by Bellicose, alongside preparing its seven Pelican dropships, though the two vessels ultimately opened communications - with Captain Cole and the then-unknown captain of Bellicose exchanging a few brief words, before Bellicose moved to escape the system.[1]
Over the next four months between June and September 4, Gorgon would be involved in searching five star systems for the Bellicose, working to lay numerous ambushes and in the process eliminating two insurrectionist corvettes and a merchant privateer. However, the inability to find Bellicose, alongside the frigate's taunting of Gorgon did begin to take its toll on the crew of Gorgon. As such, Cole elected to put the ship into dock on the colony world of Roost, in the Alpha Aurigae system, to give the crew some desperately-needed shore leave. Around May 28, 2502, the Gorgon partook in the Skirmish at Capella, resulting in the ship being given the green-light for a month of shore leave for the crew while it underwent repairs.[1]
The Gorgon continued to be captained by Preston Cole into mid-2503, during which time Cole was married to Lyrenne Castilla, who was in turn expecting a child. As such, on June 13 of that year, Cole was confined to quarters on the Gorgon due to the discovery that Castilla was a high-ranking member of the insurrection, who had been mining Cole for information for years. The Gorgon proceeded to meet up with the prowler UNSC Edge of Umbra, which then transported Cole back to Reach for debriefing and reassignment.[1]
Human-Covenant War
UNSC Gorgon continued to serve in the navy for the next three decades following Cole's reassignment. The ship was a part of Battle Group X-Ray during 2525.[3] By the early 2530s, the ship was a part of the fleet headed by now-Vice Admiral Cole in the campaign for the Outer Colonies against the Covenant. Following Cole's successful victory in the Harvest campaign in 2531, William Lovell was assigned to the Gorgon as a First Lieutenant before being demoted down to Second Lieutenant and eventually Ensign for continued insubordination and gross incompetence. Eventually, around c.2535, Lovell was assigned away from the Gorgon to the remote scanning outpost, Archimedes. During his four year tenure aboard Gorgon, Lovell had seen "dozens" of worlds glassed and billions of deaths at the hands of the alien threat, with the Gorgon having spent that time chasing - and being chased by - the Covenant.[2]
Crew
- c.2490s-early 2500s
- Captain Preston Cole[1]
- Lieutenant Maliki[1]
- Lieutenant Betters[1]
- Watchmaker (Artificial intelligence)[1]
- c.2531-2535
- First Lieutenant William Lovell (later demoted to Second Lieutenant, then Ensign)[2]
Production notes
The Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition), page 270, erroneously identifies the Gorgon as a frigate.[3]
Trivia
The vessel was named for the Gorgons of Greek mythology.
List of appearances
- Halo: The Fall of Reach (First mentioned) (Definitive Edition)
- Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
- The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole (First appearance)
Notes
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach (2010 edition), chapter 15, mentions that William Lovell joined up in the UNSC Navy shortly following the Harvest campaign in 2531, before proceeding to serve aboard the Gorgon for four years.