Soul Ascension

The Soul Ascension was a Ket-pattern in service to the and later to 's splinter faction. Originally christened the she was heavily damaged during the and salvaged by shipwrights following the . Rechristened the Soul Ascension, the ship was among several warships seized by Shinsu 'Refum and his warriors during their flight from . 'Refum presented these warships to Jul 'Mdama in exchange for a position in his renewed Covenant. The Soul Ascension served as the base of operations for the Kru'desh Legion, a penal detachment of expendable warriors often dispatched on highly dangerous assignments. When Shinsu 'Refum's machinations installed the rogue Simon-G294 as the Kru'desh Legion's commander the Soul Ascension became the first Covenant-aligned warship to serve under a human . The Soul Ascension served as Simon's flagship until Amber-G330 usurped command of the Kru'desh Legion. When the Kru'desh was merged into the Free Domain, warriors under the command of Tuka 'Refum seized the Soul Ascension and fled to the edge of the galactic frontier. The Soul Ascension became the Kru'desh flagship once more during the . The Soul Ascension was erroneously reported sunk multiple times over the course of her operational history, lending her a larger-than-life reputation as an indestructible ship.
After the Warring Colonies period the Soul Ascension "beached" herself on the colony Furthest Point and served as the locus for an independent enclave established by Kru'desh veterans.
==Operational History==
===The Sacred Promise===
The warship that would later achieve infamy as the Soul Ascension came into being as the . Commissioned alongside a line of several hundred CCS-class battlecruisers to bolster Supreme Commander 's , the Sacred Promise was placed under the command of newly-anointed Shipmaster Uren 'Pularee. The cruiser was placed in the vanguard of a renewed offensive against the and took part in several probing attacks on suspected enemy positions. During one such sortie the Sacred Promise and the rest of her task force came under fire from a larger human force. Most of the Covenant ships were sunk during the ambush; the Sacred Promise sustained heavy damage but managed to limp back to friendly space, albeit with the loss of nearly half her assigned crew. Shipmaster 'Pularee's angry superiors relieved him of command and the Sacred Promise returned to harborage for repairs. As such she missed the chance to participate in the less than a month later.
The Sacred Promise was still undergoing repairs when the sundered the Covenant and plunged its empire into civil war. A pack of Jiralhanae warriors under the command of Chieftain Pavus stormed the ship and overwhelmed her skeleton crew. Claiming the Sacred Promise as their own, the Jiralhanae joined an ad hoc raiding fleet that struck out at vulnerable Sangheili colonies across the edge of Covenant space. Despite his lack of naval experience Pavus proved a competent commander and led his pack in dozens of sorties against their Sangheili foes. Unfortunately, the Covenant's decisive defeat in its allowed the Sangheili to regroup and mount a counter-offensive against the Jiralhanae upstarts. Hunted by Sangheili warships, Sacred Promise escaped several encounters before being crippled in an engagement over . In an effort to save his pack, Pavus evacuated and fled with his surviving crew. The abandoned ship was recovered by Sangheili forces and transferred to an assembly forge in the .
The Sacred Promise rested in the assembly forge over as the raged on until she was stolen from her berth once more, this time by warriors under the command of an ambitious renegade named Shinsu 'Refum. Fleeing a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the , Shinsu's warriors seized the Sacred Promise alongside several other warships and fled the system. Shinsu brought his prize to the the Covenant warlord , bartering the much-needed warships for a position within 'Mdama's inner circle. The Sacred Promise underwent a full refit at the hands of Jul 'Mdama's shipwrights. Restored to full combat readiness, the ship was rechristened as the Soul Ascension.
===The Kru'desh Legion===
Given new life as the Soul Ascension, the veteran battlecruiser was placed under the command of Shipmaster Kul 'Vellun. Shipmaster ‘Vellun commanded the Kru'desh Legion, an irregular force of condemned warriors charged with carrying out dangerous recovery labor and high-risk assaults in Jul ‘Mdama’s ongoing war with the UNSC and . 'Vellun was a harsh taskmaster who resented such a demeaning command and used the Soul Ascension as his flagship while sending wave after wave of Kru'desh warriors to their deaths. Morale and discipline within the Kru’desh were predictably poor and the Soul Ascension was soon poorly maintained and barely spaceworthy. 'Vellun was eventually assassinated by one of his officers, Riq 'Ellash. 'Ellash earned pardon from the Didact’s Hand for his treachery by proposing the Kru'desh be repurposed as an irregular raiding force to carry out missions unsuited to the Covenant’s conventional forces. The reorganization efforts were supported by Shinsu ‘Refum, now a member of Jul ‘Mdama’s inner circle and commander of his special operations forces.
Under Riq 'Ellash's command the Soul Ascension became both a dedicated warship and legion headquarters for the Kru'desh. Faced with the challenge of proving himself to both Jul 'Mdama and his own followers, 'Ellash had the ship refitted with armaments to match the standards of the old Covenant. Shipmaster 'Ellash reforged the battlecruiser and its legion of misfits into a deadly raiding force adept at seeking out and exploiting weak points in enemy supply lines. With only a small support force to rely on, 'Ellash trained the Ascension's crew to be independent and self-sufficient. The Soul Ascension spent ever-increasing periods of time away from the main Covenant fleet, sustaining itself through raids on enemy supply ships and trading with independent outposts. These raids remained dangerous affairs, often inflicting heavy casualties on the Ascension’s fighter squadrons and assault forces while ‘Ellash enriched himself and a small clique of officers. Harsh discipline was maintained throughout the ship by mercenary overseers while losses were replenished through a steady stream of disgraced warriors and conscripted prisoners procured from Jul ‘Mdama’s regular forces.
The Kru'desh had transformed themselves from a wretched penal gang into a formidable raiding force. But even more change arrived in the form of a legendary Forerunner , presented to 'Ellash by an outcast Sangheili mercenary called Ro'nin. The Forerunner intelligence interfaced with the Soul Ascension’s onboard systems, drastically improving system performance while declaring herself to be a messenger of the gods. 'Ellash was naturally skeptical of such divine providence but found that the Oracle's presence inspired religious obedience in much of the Kru'desh rank and file. With the Ascension’s combat capabilities exponentially increased ‘Ellash was happy to embrace the Oracle as his chief advisor. The Oracle extended herself throughout the Soul Ascension’s systems, nearly doubled the battlecruiser's energy efficiency. Her cyberwarfare capabilities opened entirely new methods of battle tactics and troop coordination, allowing for unprecedented flexibility in how the legion adapted to battlefield conditions. But this supposed “holy messenger” was actually of human origin. The renegade artificial intelligence Diana had assumed the guise of an Oracle as a means of infiltrating the Covenant and bending it to her own agenda. Now unwittingly in service to Diana's ambitions, the Soul Ascension would soon sail under the command of an even stranger master.
===The Human Shipmaster===
In 2557 the Soul Ascension provided auxiliary support for a Covenant assault on the frontier world Fell Justice and witnessed Jul ‘Mdama’s humiliating defeat at the hands of a coalition of mercenaries, smugglers, and pirates. Scavenging the wreckage in the aftermath of the battle, Kru'desh salvage teams followed the guidance of their “Oracle": and discovered a lone survivor: the renegade Spartan Simon-G294, barely alive after being caught in an assault carrier's fiery demise. The Oracle declared this discovery a divine omen and insisted that Shipmaster 'Ellash have the prisoner brought aboard the Soul Ascension. A bemused 'Ellash complied and unwittingly put the next step of Diana's scheme into motion. Simon languished in the Ascension's brig for weeks, tortured and tormented by Diana as she molded his mind to her own purposes. Meanwhile, Ro'nin and other mercenaries Diana had dispersed throughout the legion undermined 'Ellash's authority as shipmaster and laid the groundwork for his downfall. The Spartan prisoner emerged from Diana's ministrations a changed man, losing himself in a ruthless mercenary persona known as "Stray." Stray and Diana secured the support of Ro'nin and other like-minded officers with promises of increased plunder and profits. Despite Diana’s careful planning, a human could never have been installed as the shipmaster of a Covenant vessel without the aid of an unlikely backer: the special operations commander Shinsu ‘Refum. Shinsu had lost faith in Jul ‘Mdama’s wavering cause and saw in the burgeoning mutiny the chance to bring the raiding legion under his own influence.
With Shinsu’s promises of support, the mutineers struck. Ro’nin’s warriors released Stray from the brig and assisted him in murdering Shipmaster ‘Ellash. The mutiny spread throughout the ship and before long the Soul Ascension and the Kru'desh Legion were under Stray's command. Diana used her influence as Oracle to declare Stray's ascension the will of the gods; any warriors unwilling to swear fealty to a human were quickly disposed of. Stray assumed command of the Soul Ascension and the battlecruiser became the first Covenant warship to sail under a human's command. Shinsu proved true to his word, negotiating with Jul ‘Mdama on Stray’s behalf. Swayed by his supposed ally, Jul ‘Mdama accepted the rogue Spartan as commander of the Kru’desh and his personal agent. The Soul Ascension and the Kru’desh fell under Shinsu ‘Refum’s direct control as the special operations commander instructed Stray in the art of battle command. The next chapter of the Soul Ascension’s storied history had begun.
The Soul Ascension and its outcast crew now sailed under the command of a human warrior. Stray proved his commitment to the Covenant cause by taking the battlecruiser on a string of raids against UNSC targets. Molded by Shinsu ‘Refum’s training, Stray made up for his inexperience in naval command with viciously aggressive strikes against weaker targets. The “Oracle” and Ro’nin’s cabal of mercenaries kept the legion in line and oversaw extensive adjustments to the Soul Ascension’s order of battle. The reborn Kru'desh thrived under Stray's command, harnessing the Ascension’s firepower for both ship-to-ship engagements and ground assaults. Diana and Stray’s knowledge of human naval doctrine fed into new training initiatives and technological developments. The Soul Ascension soon boasted a number of integrated UNSC battle systems stripped from ruined ships or purchased on the black market. The ship's refurbished battle suites enhanced Diana's cyberwarfare potential and improved the close-range accuracy of the weapon systems, which Stray often used for precise strikes in the midst of boarding actions or ground assaults. Stray further augmented the Ascension through the purchase of several rare specimens from a Jiralhanae slave market. Freed from its brutal captors, one of the juvenile Huragok named Yearns to Soar bonded with the cruiser and became one of Stray's most devoted followers. Shinsu 'Refum often used the Ascension to support his special operations missions, always careful to keep the battlecruiser and her controversial shipmaster under his umbrella of operations.
As the Kru'desh grew in notoriety, the Soul Ascension became a much sought-after target by local UNSC commanders. Rather than scale back the legion's raiding activities Stray instead improvised on a common smuggling ploy by having his warriors cobble together decoys from the skeleton hulls of destroyed or scuttled battlecruisers. These so-called "balloons" mimicked the Soul Ascension's identification signature to fool enemy patrols into thinking they were the ship herself. During some particularly ambitious engagements Stray even had gunboat squadrons fire plasma torpedoes from within the "shadow" of the false battlecruisers. In this way the Kru'desh diverted attention from their real targets and masked the true scope of their movements. The decoy skeletons rarely survived deployment and as false victory reports circulated through enemy battle networks the Soul Ascension was reported sunk more times than any other warship in the Covenant fleet.
During a raid on the Kig-Yar prison world Forsaken Solitude, the Soul Ascension rescued another Spartan deserter: Amber-G330. Stray gave his fellow traitor a position within the Kru’desh to the consternation of some Sangheili officers—and the marked interest of Diana. The Soul Ascension continued to sail under Shinsu ‘Refum’s direction, accompanying his embassy to the Imperium of Clarity during the cataclysmic Imperial War. The Ascension distinguished herself during the Imperium conflict and continued to test the limits of the Ket-pattern’s tactical capabilities. During a raid on UNSC logistical vessels the Soul Ascension, Yearns to Soar's naïve sympathy for the captive UNSC AI Althea enabled a boarding attempt by the Spartans of Team Boson. The Kru’desh repelled the boarders, but Stray's refusal to execute Yearns to Soar exposed a growing rift in his years-long partnership with Diana. The Ascension avoided further danger and escaped the Imperium’s collapse with priceless information on valuable Forerunner artifacts. As the Covenant continued to lose ground across settled space and the galactic frontier, Diana and Stray increasingly diverted the Kru’desh to “reclamation operations” in the hopes of seizing powerful Forerunner weapons to bolster their growing ambitions.
=== Mutinies ===
War continued to rage unchecked across the frontier, allowing Stray and the Kru'desh ample opportunities to expand their scope of operations. As Jul 'Mdama's cause deteriorated the Covenant fleet became increasingly fragmented, freeing the Soul Ascension to pursue her shipmaster's personal agendas. Diana's links to the enigmatic Assembly's broader networks warned her of an and she intensified her own machinations in order to meet the coming threat. The chaos of impending defeat proved an ample opportunity for Stray to expand his power base; the Ascension's crew swelled as shiploads of dissident warriors and would-be deserters were sentenced to the penal legion. Using data acquired during the Imperium Conflict the Kru'desh located and excavated a powerful Forerunner enforcement warship. A gleeful Diana seized the Guardian for herself while an increasingly ambitious Stray used the Soul Ascension to bully independent colonies into submission. Cooperation with mercenary groups such as the allowed the Kru'desh to further augment their flagship with superior armor and weapons. Under orders from Shinsu 'Refum the Soul Ascension continued to wreak havoc on UNSC supply lines, craftily eluding countless naval task forces sent to hunt her down. On one such raid the Ascension used intelligence from Diana's Assembly connections to venture deep within UEG space. A subsequent raid on an ONI research outpost resulted in the capture and subjugation of Diana's "sister" intelligence, the experimental smart AI Juno.
Despite these successes, as the Kru'desh amassed power Diana grew increasingly dissatisfied with Stray's resolve and began laying the groundwork to supplant him with Amber-G330. In late 2559 Stray foolishly departed the Soul Ascension with a small raiding team to secure a Forerunner site on . Amber used her newfound clout with Ro'nin and the Soul Ascension officer corps to stage a bloody assault on a frontier colony. The Ascension's enhanced weaponry obliterated the colony's defenses and gave the Kru'desh a taste of the unfettered bloodletting many warriors had craved. In the wake of the assault news of Jul 'Mdama's reached the Ascension. Stray limped back from a humiliating defeat on Talitsa to find the Covenant in its death throes and himself at the center of another mutiny — this time as its victim. Diana betrayed her longtime partner and Amber handily defeated Stray in single combat. Thought most of the Kru'desh swiftly pledged allegiance to the victorious Spartan, a large contingent of the legion's rank and file remained loyal to the shipmaster who had saved so many of them from certain death as Jul 'Mdama's plasma fodder. As fighting spread throughout the ship's decks and hangar bays Juno seized the opportunity to free herself from Diana's shackles. She fled the ship with a broken Stray in tow as Amber solidified her bloody grip on power. As 's rocked the galaxy to its core with a fleet of Guardians, Amber and Diana declared independence from the Mantle of Responsibility and reforged the Kru'desh Legion into a brutal raiding force known as the Free Domain.
The Free Domain was the culmination of Diana's years of scheming and meddling in galactic affairs. Her commandeered Guardian became the flagship of a growing armada of pirates and mercenaries unwilling to disarm before Cortana's universal regime. Amber transferred her command to the Guardian, reducing the undercrewed Soul Ascension to simply one more vessel in her flotilla. This arrogant mistake did not go unpunished: remnants of the Kru'desh led by Stray's friend and ally Tuka 'Refum seized control of the ship and fled the Free Domain. Diana and Amber briefly gave chase but soon turned aside, setting the Ascension and its rebellious crew out of mind as they turned to other conquests beyond the galactic periphery.
===Fleet of Cleansing Fire===
Though the Kru'desh rebels had escaped pursuit they swiftly learned that the Soul Ascension was not self-sufficient enough to operate independently. Yearns to Soar and its fellow Huragok dutifully kept the ship functioning but her decks and systems quickly descended into disrepair. Undercrewed and undersupplied, the Soul Ascension could not sustain herself without the infrastructure of naval support. Tuka was determined to find Stray and return command of the legion to his friend. Many of his fellow officers did not share his devotion to the disgraced Spartan and instead urged Tuka to utilize his noble pedigree and avail himself of his brother's substantial resources. With the Ascension in critical need of reinforcements, repairs, and supplies. Tuka had little choice but to throw himself on his brother's mercy and place the ship and its legion at the disposal of the Fleet of Cleansing Fire, an armada devoted to opposing the Created and advancing Shinsu's vision for the Sangheili people.
Tuka's choice in setting aside his pride proved fortuitous. Now sailing under the auspices of the Cleansing Blade, the refueled and resupplied Soul Ascension joined the Fleet of Cleansing Fire in an assault on Created-occupied Talitsa. There the fleet rescued a UNSC force from certain destruction at the hands of a Created armada. Tuka led a landing force to the surface and retrieved Stray alongside a contingent of human Insurrectionists. The dethroned shipmaster's reinvention of himself as "Simon Venter," heir to the famous rebel commander Redmond Venter, proved a turning point in the Ascension's storied history. The newly anointed Venter resumed command of his vessel and pledged himself to Shinsu 'Refum's command once more while the Kru'desh reluctantly accepted more humans into their ranks. Juno had remained faithfully with Stray since Diana's betrayal and collaborated with Yearns to Soar to interface with the ship's systems, augmenting the Ascension with invaluable battle coordination and tactical support.
As the Fleet of Cleansing Fire continued its campaign against Created-aligned worlds the Soul Ascension bolstered Shinsu's forces with stolen ships and supplies. When "Lord Venter" used his newfound patrimony to destabilize the at Gilgamesh, the Soul Ascension provided heavy firepower to back up his amateur politicking. The ship's crew swelled with former Insurrectionists, deepening the human presence within the Kru'desh ranks. Druing the subsequent siege of a Created arcology on Le Havre, Juno honed the Ascension's plasma formulas to such an extent that they proved capable of penetrating even hardened Forerunner defenses. The reformed Kru'desh swiftly proved themselves a force to be reckoned with under Venter's command. The battlecruiser briefly rendezvoused with the Fleet of Cleansing Fire before attaching itself to a task force charged with the conquest of a Created loyalist stronghold on Archangel's Rest.
===Archangel's Rest ===
The Soul Ascension accompanied a task force commanded by Shipmaster Umbra 'Vesic of the heavy cruiser Subtle Knife to assault Archangel's Rest and seize the stronghold of House Baran, key supporters of Cortana's Mantle of Responsibility. The Cleansing Blade arrived in-system only to ambushed by the supercarrier , now crewed by forces loyal to the Created. Nearly every ship in the task force was sunk within the first five minutes of combat. Venter ordered the Ascension into a reckless slingshot maneuver around Archangel's Rest's moon. The ensuing close-quarters assault heavily damaged the Eternity but left the Ascension crippled and trapped in the planet's gravitational pull. As the Subtle Knife continued a protracted duel with the Eternity the Ascension tumbled to the surface of a hostile world. Her crash-landing left the Kru'desh trapped in the upper hemisphere of Archangel's Rest during the planet's legendarily brutal winter season. With conventional fliers grounded by heavy blizzard conditions, Yearns to Soar and its fellow Huragok worked desperately to repair the stranded ship.
After regrouping with landing forces from the Subtle Knife, Venter rallied the Kru'desh and led them on a brutal "long march" through the seasonal blizzards to attack the Baran Keep directly. Tuka 'Refum remained behind with Juno and a small detachment to continue the repair efforts. While the Kru'desh waged a desperate war across the frozen plains, Tuka's warriors labored around the clock to raise the Soul Ascension. After over a week of tireless work within the ice-encased hull Tuka received a desperate plea for reinforcements from Venter, now trapped in a grueling siege with enemy forces around the Baran Keep. Tuka and Juno gambled on a shift in the blizzard conditions and launched the Ascensions full fighter complement along with dropship-borne reinforcements. Yearns to Soar's dedication proved to be the final stroke of the legion's salvation: with her hull sealed and power restored, the Soul Ascension broke free from her icy prison and regained the skies.
The gambit succeeded as the Soul Ascension's intervention secured full air superiority, breaking the Created armies arrayed against the Kru'desh. The victory came with a heavy price. Tuka himself perished during the final hours of battle. The revelation of Juno's hidden agenda within the Baran Keep's Silent Garden node―the true object of the costly campaign―prompted a furious Venter to depose and imprison the AI, depriving the Ascension of her critical tactical support. Disaster followed disaster: the Subtle Knife returned victorious from its battle with the Eternity only to report that the Fleet of Cleansing Fire had been utterly annihilated by Created Guardians in a protracted campaign around the shield world known as the Gilboan Citadel. The Ascension and her crew were once again bereft of fleet support. Fighting despair and defeat from all sides, Venter nonetheless took command once more and rallied his surviving warriors. The Soul Ascension would accompany the Subtle Knife to the Gilboan Citadel in a desperate bid to rescue any surivors from Shinsu's fleet.
During the retreat from Archangel's Rest, many Cleansing Blade warriors opted to stake their fortunes with the Soul Ascension rather than Shinsu's broken cause. Among the new recruits was an ambitious veteran named Urei 'Caszal. A seasoned officer, 'Caszal took command of many operations aboard the Ascension and oversaw further repair efforts during the Slipspace voyage to the Gilboan Citadel.
===Asphodel Meadows===
The Soul Ascension and Subtle Knife arrived at the Gilboan Citadel to find the aftermath of an immense fleet battle. The Created Guardians had withdrawn inside the shield world itself while extensive mop-up operations were coordinated by the massive space station Asphodel Meadows. The Ascension immediately launched a diversionary attack on Asphodel Meadows while the Subtle Knife searched the battlespace for Cleansing Blade survivors. The Ascension braved heavy fire to penetrate Asphodel Meadows's point defense network. Venter led an assault force in a boarding action while Urei 'Caszal coordinated the Ascension and her fighter complement in diversionary bombardments. Though Asphodel Meadows suffered severe internal damage amidst the fighting, the battle swiftly turned against the Kru'desh. The arrival of two Guardians would have sealed the Ascension's fate had Yearns to Soar not released a penitent Juno. The AI infiltrated the Domain network linking the Guardians and Asphodel Meadows, buying the Kru'desh enough time to retreat with a handful of freed prisoners. Juno sacrificed herself to destroy Asphodel Meadows and the Guardians while the Soul Ascension escaped back into Slipspace.
After months of fighting, Venter and his legion were forced to accept that the Created could not be defeated through conventional warfare. The Soul Ascension charted a course to the edge of known space while her crew licked their wounds and effected repairs. The storied warship and her battle-hardened legion would need to radically transform themselves if they were to survive the conflicts to come.
==Legacy==
Like her notorious shipmaster, the Soul Ascension and her fraught history remains a point of fierce contention among scholars. Close review of the Ascension's engagements led many specialists to conclude that she owed her fearsome reputation as much to spacer tall tales and revolutionary agitprop as to tangible battlefield achievements. Historians of all ideological persuasions generally concur that many of her victories were exaggerations or outright fabrications; by his own admission, Simon Venter was a skilled propagandist who understood the value of legendary mythmaking as psychological warfare. Still more of the warship's exploits—particularly her performance at Archangel's Rest—could just as easily be attributed to blind luck as to genuine tactical prowess. Assessments of the storied warship's ultimate historical significance often broke down along ideological lines, particularly given the Kru'desh Legion's controversial impact on the colonial independence movement. 
Historian and biographer Jonathan Yieh wrote:
"The Soul Ascension was a weapon, and like any weapon she was at the mercy of those who wielded her. Her shipmaster was likewise a weapon, a ruthless and ambitious mercenary who placed himself at the disposal of many masters in pursuit of goals that were a far cry from the noble struggle depicted in later Insurrectionist hagiographies. The Soul Ascension sailed under many flags. Her weapons wrought death and destruction across fleets and armies—fleets and armies composed of mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. The cruel reality of such indiscriminate warfare must not be obfuscated by propagandists, fabulists, or thoughtless war enthusiasts. However, sectarian grievances cannot dispel the impact the Ascension ultimately wielded as a symbol of interspecies self-determination against the forces of genocide, empire, and thought control that dominated the twenty-sixth century. Like her commander she rose—intentionally or otherwise—above baser inclinations and became a light to those rejected and marginalized by the meticulously arranged forces of militarized order thought by many to be the driving powers behind history. Her final resting place at the heart of the Kru'desh Enclave speaks to the enduring legacy of such a symbol, even one drenched in the contested loyalties and blood-soaked ambiguities that so characterized the time she sailed in and ultimately helped to shape."
The Soul Ascension was "beached" on a fertile plain on the independent colony Furthest Point and served as the fulcrum for an enclave of Kru'desh veterans and independent refugees. Plasma generators that once fueled weapon systems now powered homes and hospitals. Hangars and assembly halls now housed arboretums, markets, and machine shops. Though warrior training grounds and vigilant sentries outside the Ascension's overgrown hull spoke to her violent history, the "unsinkable ship" had finally found some measure of peace.
==Design Details==
The Soul Ascension underwent extensive refits and modifications across her long operational history. When she launched as the Sacred Promise she sported heavy plasma armaments characteristic of any Ket-pattern battlecruiser. After Shinsu 'Refum presented her to Jul 'Mdama, Covenant shipwrights stripped many of the rechristened Soul Ascension’s weapons to bolster frontline vessels across their embattled fleet. As headquarters of the Kru'desh legion, the battlecruiser became a glorified troop carrier, her hangar decks expanded to accommodate waves of expendable warriors ferried to battlefronts across the galaxy. Riq 'Ellash's mutiny reversed these changes; the new shipmaster restored the neutered warship's firepower through a combination of bribes and battlefield salvage. Stray and Diana's regime intensified these renovations as the Soul Ascension was increasingly used for direct combat support.
In addition to traditional plasma weaponry the Kru'desh grafted scavenged UNSC systems into the ship's mainframe, increasing tactical flexibility and enhancing Diana's ability to manipulate functions throughout the ship. The result was an overlapping series of highly redundant systems that performed well in combat but were notoriously difficult to service and maintain. The Ascension's crew required extensive cross training, a problem that intensified as more humans integrated into the legion. The Soul Ascension gradually grew to resemble the mongrel legion who crewed her: entire sections of the ship were remodeled and renovated in the wake of combat damage until they no longer resembled the original Ket-pattern design. The ship hosted an intricate network of service tunnels fully understood only by Yearns to Soar and its Huragok brethren, while the ship's natural hues grew mottled after the Kru'desh substituted scavenged nano-laminate plates into damaged sections of her hull.
The Ascension's role legion headquarters and frequent deployment for close ground support necessitated that space be set aside for more workshops, expanded armories, and troop training arenas than typically hosted by similar ships of the line. At the height of the Kru'desh Legion's power she carried a mixed complement of fighter craft and assault dropships as well as an extensive fleet of ground vehicles. As the Ascension took on refugees displaced by the Created uprising and Banished conquests, more sections of the ship needed to be set aside for living quarters and sustainment facilities. The ship's many roles strained her crewing and spatial resources until more ships were added to the Kru'desh flotilla. The intricate array of modifications and expansions were ultimately unsustainable, forcing her crew to grant her new life as the "beached" centerpiece of the enclave on Furthest Point.
==Crew==
===Current (as of February, 2560)===
*Shipmaster: Simon Venter
*Second: Urei 'Caszal
*Tactical Coordinator: Mohsin Shah
*Chief Disciplinary Officer: Argo 'Varvin
*Chief Engineer: Yearns to Soar
*Additional Crew:
**Andra Kearsarge (liaison officer)
**Karina Larina (scribe)
**Ragna Aasen (mobile warfare operator)
**Thomas Koepke (medic)
**Zoey Hunsinger (technician/mobile warfare operator)
*Known Occupants:
**Althea
**Callum-B042
**Cassandra-G006
**Merlin-D032
===Former===
*Commander
**Shipmaster Uren 'Pularee (status unknown)
**Chieftain Pavus (status unknown)
**Shipmaster Kul 'Vellun (deceased)
**Shipmaster Riq 'Ellash (deceased)
*Second: Tuka 'Refum (deceased)
*Second: Amber-G330 (mutinied in 2559)
*Artificial Intelligence/Electronic Warfare Coordinator: Diana (mutinied in 2559)
*Artificial Intelligence/Electronic Warfare Coordinator: Juno (deceased)
*Additional crew:
**Eliud Okafo (deceased)
**Ier 'Barun (deceased)
Category:Covenant ships
Category:Battlecruisers
==Trivia==
*The Soul Ascension derived its name from the Psalm of Penance, one of the 's holy scriptures:"Give the gods glory, ye sinners!/Repent thy wickedness, ye blasphemers!/For the holy will bends all of existence to its will./The tarnished soul ascends to righteousness even as the sins of the mind weigh it down./Even the foulest of evildoers cannot resist the will of the gods." The Psalm was popular among the deacons who ministered to those convicted of non-religious offenses and well known to those who had endured incarceration within the Covenant Empire's vast prison system.
*After assuming command of the Soul Ascension, Simon-G294 attempted to reinvent himself as a cultural connoisseur and installed a library in the ship's aft section. Kru'desh warriors recovered physical copies of human and Sangheili literature from the legion's raids, filling the library's empty shelves with valuable books and manuscripts. This vanity project came to a harsh end after the Free Domain mutiny, but the library and its books survived the upheaval. Captain Mohsin Shah later took charge of the library and ensured that the Kru'desh worked to expand the collection. After vast stores of digital information were destroyed or corrupted during the Created Uprising, the Soul Ascension's library inadvertently became a valuable trove of cultural knowledge outside of the UEG's pervasive information control systems.
==Literary Appearances==
*Imperium
*Halo: Heaven and Earth
*Halo: Kill House