Mediator-class heavy carrier (EXverse)

The Mediator-class heavy carrier is a medium-weight warship in service with the UNSC Navy. Born to be the successor of the , its development ran into multiple issues that caused its manufacturer to deliver it underarmed, underpowered and underarmored.
The Mediator was longer than the Epoch, however it was also narrower, which led its displacement to be far inferior to its predecessor's one. Besides, its design forced architects to fit few weapon systems and an insufficient power system: all these issue led the class to be a joke second only to the , and it was teased by everyone in the Navy.
Put in reserve by the end of the 2520, Naval Command decided to use all Mediators as training ships or as target practice for cadets by 2525, however, as for every other ship, the Covenant invasion change their fate; all sixty ships were refitted from the ground-up, in fact they were classified as a new block, instead of a simple refit. Despite a complicated design, the new block proved to be effective in escorting ships with both its air wing and its MAC gun, acting also sporadically as flagship - as happen with the UNSC Stalingrad. Moreover, the second block inspired its battle-oriented variant, the first true battleship in UNSC's history.
No Mediator survived the war, with the last one, the UNSC Fireball, being destroyed in 2533.