UNSC Arlington

The UNSC Arlington (CA-87) is a Marathon-class heavy cruiser in service with the UNSC Navy. The vessel is the 33rd ship of its class and is named after Arlington County, Virginia. 
The UNSC Arlington is one of the few Marathon-class cruisers to survive through to the end of the Human-Covenant war, and was heavily modified afterward to continue its operations in the post-conflict years. As of 2553, the ship is under the command of Captain Weller Tamou and her shipboard AI is Cheshire. 
== Operational history ==
=== Construction, commissioning, and shakedown ===
CA-87 began construction on 11 April 2515 at Reyes-McLees Shipyard's Construction Platform 14 in orbit around . Over 95% of the cruiser's construction was completed through an automated process overseen by the facility's dedicated artificial intelligence, Benten; this allowed the ship and multiple others to be built simultaneously and without interruption. 
The Arlington was one of twelve completed heavy cruisers christened on 9 September 2515 in a ceremony held at Arandas Station. On 13 September 2515, the Pre-Commissioning Unit crew moved aboard the ship and the Arlington left Construction Platform 14 for the first time and proceeded to Naval Station Rubicon in orbit of Deimos.
The cruiser was ultimately commissioned 3 October 2515 at Naval Station Rubicon and commenced her shakedown cruise of the Sol system not long afterward, providing an opportunity to test systems, components and compartments for the first time. She was officially delivered to the UNSC Navy on 30 October 2515. 
=== First deployment ===
The UNSC Arlington was assigned to Battle Group Kilo-7 to serve as flagship of the formation during her first deployment on 7 November 2515. Commanded by Rear Admiral Saul Q. Ford, the Arlington and the five other ships of her battlegroup were mobilized to FLEETCOM Sector Nine, a region along the 'border' between the Inner and Outer Colonies.
Between November and December 2515, the group conducted field training exercises in the Alpha Lupi system with local militia forces in orbit around Freehold and in the colony's Athabasca region. She then transited to the Delta Cadmi system and anchored at Naval Station Arrow over Isthmus, where she and her battlegroup would stage security operations and serve as a deterrent against insurrectionist activity for the duration of her deployment. 
On 17 March 2516, Arlington was relieved by the and returned to Naval Station Rubicon after several weeks of sustained support missions for Battle Group Palau. Over the course of the next several years, she undertook routine patrol and counter-insurgency operations with various battlegroups.
=== Human-Covenant war deployments ===
==== Early operations ====
In early-March 2526, Arlington received an emergency deployment order and was immediately dispatched to the Outer Colonies to join major defensive operations against the new and prominent extraterrestrial threat known as the Covenant. 
Initially she was organized into a squadron with thirty other ships called Battle Group 42 and coordinated interdiction actions with battlegroups 31 and 24 in FLEETCOM Sector Sixteen. On 8 May 2526, Arlington's battlegroup engaged four Covenant warships in the Delta Charybda system. While the UNSC was victorious in the battle it was just barely so, with fifteen of Battle Group 42's thirty-one ships being destroyed.
Later that year on 21 October 2526, Arlington and Battle Group 42 rallied with a force of 117 ships under the direct operational command of Admiral Preston Cole and participated in the Battle of Alpha Aurigae. She later transited to Naval Station Rodrigues for a brief period of scheduled maintenance then was transferred into Third Fleet's Battle Group 618, relieving UNSC Last Ride as flagship of the group and conducting operations in the embattled FLEETCOM Sector Nine. 
On 3 September 2534, Rear Admiral Saul Ford was relieved as commanding officer of Arlington due to failing health and was replaced by Rear Admiral Riya Das, recently-promoted from command of the UNSC Zanzibar. Other additions were made to the ship's crew also, with the 105th Shock Troops Division's 13th Battalion joining her contingent of troops on 8 September 2534 and elements of Strike Fighter Squadron 103 transferring to the crew on 23 September 2534.
On 19 January 2536, Arlington was chosen by FLEETCOM to participate in Operation: VERTIGO, a classified military raid in the Oberon system. Team Omega and two Pelican troop transports modified for covert action were temporarily transferred to the ship for the operation and were inserted into Oberon's local asteroid belt via Rapid Deployment Fly-by maneuver. Following this, she took position near the gas giant Oberon V and provided Team Omega with tactical support.
At the mission's conclusion, Arlington was originally intended to transit to the Castra system for debriefing and relief purposes; instead, the ship was redirected by FLEETCOM to the Virgil system where she would reinforce the UNSC's defensive efforts during the Battle of Juncture.
==== Refit and hunt for CSF-51 ====
On 16 March 2536, less than a week after the Juncture conflict's end, Arlington began a two-month overhaul at Rubicon Naval Shipyard over Deimos that saw her receive an assortment of updates intended to bring her to modern specifications. The cruiser's AAA Helix guns were replaced with more powerful M910 turrets, while her magnetic accelerator cannons were upgraded for a more efficient recharge. Two of her hangar bays were also sacrificed for additional Archer missile pod placement along the hull.
==== Continued operations ====
==== Battle for Earth ====
=== Post-Covenant war deployments ===
=== Created conflict ===
== Specifications ==
== Notable crew ==
Category:Cruisers
Category:Individual UNSC Ships