Carrier (EXverse)

Practically the space-oriented version of seaborne aircraft carrier, carriers are a type of capital ship in service with UNSC Navy and many Covenant remnant groups, the latter use former Covenant fleet assets.
Carriers are divided into many subtypes, such as escort, heavy and super, among others, which usually defines their role in a fleet.
== Brief history ==
Many former Covenant races used since the beginning carriers as multirole vessels. For example, Sangheili were the first to used heavily armed and armored carriers - such as the Brigantine - and when their doctrine was incorporated by the Covenant Empire, the use of carriers by this way continued.
On the other hand, humanity used since the World War II lightly-armed, yet capable of carrying and supplying large fighter squadrons, aircraft carriers. This went on for many centuries, until the end of the 25th century, when the UNSC Navy required carriers even able to provide support with their armaments. However, UNSC carriers were much less powerful than Covenant counterparts, as shown during the Great War, and need for battleships was greater for humanity than their enemy: as such, Covenant never developed battleships aside from the , while UNSC started to designed them as soon as the war began, boosting their fleet's firepower.
After the war, many former Covenant carriers fell into Covenant remnant groups, often becoming the lead ship due to their strength and power.
== Overview ==
=== Covenant ===
Covenant carriers are typically the size of a cruiser or larger and they are considered multirole vessels, capable of deploying starfighters, ship-to-ship combat, command-and-control, escorting other ships, atmospheric fire support and landing operations. Every Covenant carrier is capable of withstanding to huge amount of damage, thanks to heavy shield and thick armor; however, while generally more heavily armed than UNSC counterparts, not every carrier is armed at the same level, granting in this way different role to each one. Anyway, the space aboard them is maximized in order to host the largest complement available, and they are always the fleet's flagship of any size.
Covenant employ four carrier subtypes:
* the light carrier was the smallest carrier operated by the Covenant fleet ad it was the most rare type of carrier encountered by the UNSC during the war, since it was used as command ships of small fleets during minor operations;
* the heavy carrier, despite its name, lies between lighter carriers and heavier assault carriers. It was often deploy to coordinate starfighters actions in and above a planet, while giving orbital cover; 
* the assault carrier was, instead, the most common type of carrier employed by the Covenant fleet, and it was the Covenant's multirole vessel par excellence, fulfilling nearly all existing roles;
* the supercarrier was the largest, most powerful and most armored type of carrier. Due to their size and resources' needs, it was produced and used in less number than any other type of carrier, but the Covenant fleet had at least two different classes during the war.
Finally, before the end of the war many Sangheili architects theorized a battlecarrier type, however little is known about it, other than it would have had an advanced fleet command-and-control array.
=== UNSC ===
Differently from the Covenant, UNSC Navy changed carrier's doctrine twice. First one when Interplanetary War started: transition from water to space required a different approach to battles, so space carriers were designed since the beginning to carry ground forces instead of sole fighters. Second one when Insurrection rose at the end of the 25th century, when carriers began to be better armed and armored. UNSC carriers are used as flagship less frequent than Covenant counterparts, due to cruisers' competition; differently from Covenant counterparts, human carriers are armed with cruiser-scale weapon systems, which means that they carry more missile pods than coilgun batteries.
Every type of human carrier has its role, which means that every carrier is not designed to fulfill too many roles. In this way:
* light carrier is a type that it can be split in two groups, one smaller, faster but not much suitable for direct fights, while the other is larger and more heavily armed, but fast and small as well. These provide air cover and, at the same time, covering fire, whereas the first group is more carrying-oriented;
* assault carrier is used as logistic support and command ship of whichever campaign, while capable of maintaining the control of a planet's airspace;
* heavy carrier is the heaviest type of carrier in service with the UNSC and it is used as escort of other capital ships. While assault carriers carry usually land-oriented forces, heavy carriers host space-oriented assets;
* supercarrier is considered a subtype. However initially not conceived as a purely ship-to-ship combat, its design and doctrine evolved during the war.
As seen, UNSC assault carriers have a different role compared to Covenant counterparts, while having the same definition; the same happens for supercarriers: human type were conceived in order to sustained prolonged campaigns by carrying large ground and air forces, but they weren't much armed for their size. Similarly, Covenant heavy type are less powerful and armored than assault type, where in the UNSC things are reversed.
== Known models ==
=== Covenant ===
* : the smallest Covenant carrier of the war, it was seen very rarely from the UNSC as it was used in minor battles;
* : a resilient carrier thanks to its heavy shields and thick armor, however it lacks the right firepower for its size;
* : the flagship of many Covenant fleets, it is the most powerful class ever built aside from supercarriers;
* : a large class designed to be employ in the most important operations;
* : the largest class ever built by the Covenant, seen rarely during the war.
=== UNSC ===
* : refitted civilian colony vessel, it provides orbital and logistical support to ground forces;
* : born to fill heavy carrier's duties, it was inadequate under all aspects;
* : a early-mid war carrier built due to the chronic lack of firepower that affected human fleets. As such it was armed with a oversized MAC and a large air wing;
* : while not the smallest carrier ever conceived, it was one of the lightest. Built using recycled superstructures of the Marathon-class, it was poorly armed to fight the Covenant;
* : conceived after the war, it incorporated CODEN VI slispace drive, which avoided the construction of internal cryo chambers;
* : a medium-tonnage vessel capable of supply large fleet and ground assets thanks to its internal factories;
* : a heavy-tonnage escort vessel able to fulfill support roles while taking extreme damages in combat;
* : the largest ship built at the time by humanity, it was the most powerful vessel at the start of the war;
* : initially conceived as the ultimate lifeline in case the war would have been lost, it was repurposed to serve as the UNSC flagship in the troublesome post-war years.
=== Sangheili ===
* : an old Sangheili carrier, it haven't a specific designation, though it is considered an assault carrier by Covenant classification.