Marathon-class heavy cruiser

The Marathon-class heavy cruiser (hull classification symbol: CA) is a classification of cruiser in service with the UNSC Navy. Built as a replacement for the Halcyon-class light cruiser, the Marathon-class is most often deployed in attack and defense roles, serving as the backbone of UNSC fleets. The class is also popular among high-ranking UNSC officers, commonly seeing use as command ships.
== Design details ==
=== Superstructure and hull ===
At 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) long, 353 meters (1158.14 feet) in width and 415 meters (1361.55 feet) in height, with a dry mass of 18,000,000 metric tons, Marathon-class heavy cruiser retains a similar profile to the Halcyon-class light cruiser. The Marathon retains the underslung Omega-pattern bridge module of its predecessor and has a 300-centimetre thick hull of titanium battleplate supplemented with electromagnetic reactive armor, enabling it to withstand substantial amounts of fire even from directed energy weaponry.
At its core, the Marathon-class is an overall refinement of the Halcyon-class design template into a versatile, mulitrole warship. The class retains a great deal of it's predecessor's durability through an improved internal superstructure and noticeably thicker hull plating. The Marathon also improves substantially on many of the Halcyon's weaknesses, featuring high-efficiency C7W naval fusion reactors and much more powerful and energy-efficient RT-10 impulse drives, greatly improving its thrust-to-mass ratio.
=== Armament ===
Marathon-class heavy cruisers are mounted with two Mark III, heavy-coil 67B3E5 Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, forty anti-ship missile pods, fifteen Mark 260 14-inch/45 caliber railgun batteries, and one-hundred-twenty M910 Rampart 30mm autocannons. The ship also carries multiple nuclear missiles.
== Operational history ==
The Marathon-class heavy cruiser was commissioned in 2499 as a replacement for the Halcyon-class light cruiser. Most ships of the Halcyon-class were decommissioned during the early 2510s as the class began to show its age and various other shortcomings, which led to the Marathon-class rising to prominence. By 2525, the Marathon-class was the most popular line of cruiser in service with the Navy. Several Marathon-class heavy cruisers served in Battle Group X-Ray under Vice Admiral Preston Cole during the Battle of Harvest. Throughout the early years of the Great War, Marathons continued to serve in Cole's Third Fleet. Several Marathons from the fleet, including UNSC Prophecy, participated in the Harvest campaign. At least one Marathon-class heavy cruiser, UNSC Dresden, participated in the Battle of Biko.
Numerous Marathon-class heavy cruisers participated in the Fall of Reach, many of which were destroyed, including the Leviathan, Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth's flagship 
At least eight Marathon-class cruisers were present at the onset of the Battle for Earth. Led by Fleet Admiral Joseph Harper aboard the Canberra and supported by numerous destroyers, frigates and singleships, these ships formed a defensive perimeter around the orbital defense platform cluster over the Mediterranean to prevent any hostile forces from reaching Earth's surface. Admiral Carl Patterson's Battle Group Omicron, drawn from the Home Fleet, contained one Marathon-class heavy cruiser that participated in the Onyx Conflict, where she was destroyed with the rest of her battle group. Several Marathon-class cruisers of the Home Fleet were presumably destroyed over the course of the Battle for Earth, particularly after the final wave of enemy reinforcements arrived.
== Ships of the line ==
UNSC Marathon - Class leader, destroyed during the Battle of Elysium.
UNSC Leviathan - Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth's flagship. Severely damaged during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV in July 2552 and destroyed during the Fall of Reach.
UNSC Agatha King
UNSC Donnager
UNSC Texas - Participated in the Battle of Arcadia, severely damaged.
UNSC Destiny
UNSC Janus
UNSC Vociferous (CA-1192)
UNSC Indianapolis (CA-35)
UNSC Portland (CA-33)
UNSC Prophecy (CA-988)
Category:Daisy-023
Category:Spacecraft
Category:Parallels