UNSC Artemis (Sev40)

The UNSC Artemis (: CB-132) was the lead ship of her class that served in the later years of the . Commissioned over Mars in , the Artemis underwent her trials in the same year under the command of then-Captain Romeo Piazza. The most technologically-sophisticated ship built at that point by humanity, the Artemis distinguished itself from other ships with its reliance on power generation, dual heavy and stealth. At the head of the 122nd reconnaissance squadron, the Artemis led a distinctive military career, participating in the Fall of Kingston, Siege of Paris IV and . It would meet its end during the , where after taking heavy fire would be smashed apart by cruisers.
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== Operational History ==
=== Trials ===
CB-132's kneel would be laid above Mars in February , with construction being overseen by Chief Engineer Chad Farris. The ship itself was an anomaly for Reyes-McLees, as more than 60% of all its internal and external components were outsourced from third parties. As such, it was a test to see if it was viable to acquire the majority of the components from independent companies. However, the ship would go through its fair share of issues. Suffering from supply shortages while the suppliers optimised their factories for the upcoming giants, an issue with its superstructure led to Farris approving for it a number of structural changes - changes which did not affect CB-132's launch schedule.
Unfortunately, in all ships of the battlecruiser's configuration had to pause production after the disastrous , where the lead ship of the Lepantos-class battleship was destroyed. The cause of its destruction was found to be due to an explosion in its missile pods, which resulted in an uncontrolled explosion that weakened and finally engulfed it. As a result, the UNSC cancelled further production of the class. As the battlecruisers were designed specifically with supporting these powerful ships in battle, it became evident that they might launch before RMC can launch the revised battleships. Because such an endeavour would be long, expensive, and would deny the ability of some of their shipyards to keep making vessels for the war-effort, RMC decided to rebuild the upcoming battlecruisers from scratch. As a result, CB-132's launch schedule was delayed by almost a year, as its superstructure was reinforced to cope with the stresses that were sure to be inflicted by the installation of two even-more-powerful MACs, replacing the three that were added at that point. The reactor was upsized slightly to cope with the power demands. All this prevented CB-132 from launching until July 12th, , where it officially begun its space trials. All major systems currently integrated were stressed beyond their limits, although a number of components could not be tested after integration in an effort to attempt to meet several turn-over dates to the UNSC Navy. Originally slated for October 21st, the unprecedented sophistication of the battlecruiser which required thorough inspection saw them missing this date. Once again missing a revised date of New Year's Eve 2536 due to faulty sensor systems, it was finally delivered to the UNSC on March 31st. They would officially commission it four days later on April 4th, christened the UNSC Artemis, and immediately left for the field under the command of Captain Romeo Piazza.
=== Counter-Insurgent Deployments ===
== Embarked Complement ==
As a warship completely dedicated to the role of ship-to-ship combat, the Artemis was never known for the state of its complement, and for a long while it was protected by basic infantry forces and rarely-tested aircraft. With the exception of its squadron, which varied according to what aircraft they were assigned, and the prowler it lacked, the Artemis had the same complement count as any other ship of its class. However, as it kills rose and the ship became renowned as one of the deadliest vessels in service of the UNSC, its crew pressured HIGHCOM to permanently station a number of elite units for enhanced survivability. This inclusion would only heighten the morale of any system it was stationed within as well as increase the success of its missions. Eventually, they would even get access to experimental assets as well, although their addition also made its loss all the more regrettable for the UNSC.
Rarely given the recognition they deserve, the Artemis was stationed with an entire team of engineers and software experts from the Gamma-Twelve Division, with a team of six coming from the itself. Little-known for being responsible for partially maintaining the ships within the , these men and women are the only people onboard who are familiar with the technical aspects of the battlecruiser's most experimental equipment, including its ORACLE-class sensor suite and Mark-37F Alpha Series-FTL-226 SFTE. They are also responsible for decoding even badly-corrupted Covenant transmissions, and in this regard alone they saved the Artemis from being destroyed in numerous traps laid for it. Also folded within it is a dedicated combat command team led by the leader of all of the permanently-stationed ONI personnel, Lieutenant Commander Andris Solberg and later Commander Hyeon Kang, who coordinated deployed Marine teams and efficiently ensured the ship's drone complement could provide maximum sensor and communication coverage.
Even when it was originally deployed, the Artemis' Marines were sourced from the 232nd Shipboard Brigade. Officially called Company I or Company India, these Marines are the only permanent unit that remained attached to the battlecruiser. Despite being aggressively-trained for boarding enemy ships and stations, Company India was expected to also participate in extensive ground combat without support for long expanses of time, oftentimes to break the initial deployment out of any trouble they have stirred up. They remained largely inexperienced and never achieved any recognition, which left them bitter and isolated from the rest of the Artemis' crew. Their most reliable unit used to be Fireteam Einstein, whose five members were able to complete nine full-fledged operations before they were all killed during a Covenant ambush.
== Notable Crew ==
Category:Battlecruisers
Category:Human-Covenant War
Category:Individual UNSC Ships