Chiroptera-class stealth vessel

The Chiroptera-class stealth vessel was a classification of small starship used by the Office of Naval Intelligence of the UNSC in service in the early 2500s. 
==Background==
These ships were roughly 50 meters long with oddly-angled black stealth surfaces and carried advanced counter-intrusion software. Notably, the class used the smallest operational Slipspace engines ever produced by the UNSC until the Post-war era. They are referred to as having prominent wings that create a decidedly bat-like appearance.
However, without a standard central controlling AI, the sensitive components tended to become unreliable. The resulting breakdowns resulted in the entire class being decommissioned in 2512. Vital components were supposedly removed, and the Slipspace drive was locked down.
At least one vessel of this class, one belonging to Governor Jiles, was in the hands of the Eridanus rebels.Halo: First Strike, page 275 This ship, the Beatrice, would later be stolen by Dr. Halsey and used to transport herself and Kelly-087 via Slipspace jump to Onyx, where it was shot down by the Onyx Sentinels.
The Chiroptera classification was probably the antecedent to the modern UNSC prowler, though it probably served more as a multirole vessel, being much smaller than a Prowler.
==Ships of the Line==
*Beatrice
==Trivia==
*In biology, Chiroptera is the name of the taxonomic order that bats belong to. This refers to how vessels of the Chiroptera-class look like bats.
==Appearances==
*Halo: First Strike 
*Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
==Sources==
Category:Human Spacecraft Classifications