Cruiser (EXverse)

Cruiser is a type of capital ship operated by the UNSC Navy and many Covenant remnant groups, and formerly by the Covenant fleet.
Generally a warship capable of independent operations, it is a heavily armed medium-size vessel and it is often used as escort of carriers or as fire support for lighter ships such as frigates or destroyer. Many cruiser's subtypes exist, each one having more or less different roles.
== Brief history ==
Covenant empire used since the beginning cruisers as escort for carriers; while the latter were the centerpiece of a Covenant fleet, cruisers were considered their guardian alongside the smaller, and lighter armed, destroyers. Generally armed with many plasma torpedoes and plasma lances, Covenant cruisers outmatched UNSC's counterparts due to superior technology.
Human cruisers, instead, had a different backstory. While during World War I and II they were the primary escort for aircraft carriers, after them its golden age ended, giving way to the smaller destroyer as the primary surface combatant. However, their replacement grew considerably after the start of the 21st century such that many modern destroyers were more powerful and heavier than World War II's cruisers.
With the creation of the UNSC and the Interplanetary Wars, new starships were designed, and the cruiser type became fashionable once again. Deployed during that conflict, it became the primary capital ship, able to fulfill a wide range of roles. After the rise of Insurrection in late-25th century, cruisers were in service as the most powerful ship available for both CMA Navy and UNSC one, but the advent of the Covenant demonstrated the inadequacy of human technology, despite cruiser-grade MACs were the sole capable of destroy most Covenant ships in less than three shots. As such, after the war many improvements were implemented aboard human ships, and cruisers became far more effective in combat Covenant ships.
== Overview ==
Covenant cruisers were typically used as escort for carriers, despite capable of carrying large quantities of both ground and air assets; however, they weren't fitted for command-and-control duties, since Covenant doctrine relied on carriers to command even the smallest fleet. Anyway cruisers are fitted with medium-to-heavy shields but a thinner armor, which proved troublesome against general-purpose missiles, such as Archers, but they are generally able to reaching high speeds. Four subtypes are foresaw by Covenant doctrine: the armored cruiser, an uncommon type which was used often during the early Covenant era; the battlecruiser, which, differently from human definition, it is a well-rounded type capable to fulfill virtually any role in a fleet; the heavy cruiser, a powerful version of the smaller battlecruiser.
The light cruiser never existed in Covenant naval doctrine, despite UNSC defined the CRS-class in such way; however should be noted that CRS was in reality a cutter, giving also its role.
On the other hand, UNSC cruisers are the backbone of a fleet and they are the carrier's protectors, although they can act as command ship of fleets of any size. However they are smaller and slower than Covenant counterparts, and the lack of energy shields made them too much vulnerable to directed-energy weapons, despite the introduction of newer armors. Being theoretically the smallest capital ships, cruisers are armed with lighter-tie weapon systems, which means that they carry far more missile pods instead of coilgun batteries.
Anyway, UNSC naval doctrine divides cruiser in three subtypes: light cruiser, capable of high speeds while having a modest armor and a medium armament; heavy cruiser, a general-purpose vessel capable of keeping pace with carriers but slower than their lighter cousins; battlecruiser, which differently from the Covenant since it has high speeds and a cruiser-scale armor but a battleship-grade weapon system.
The super-heavy cruiser is an uncommon type, first developed during the troublesome years leading to Insurrection, which was essentially a hybrid cruiser-battleship vessel; someone defined it a battlecruiser, but it wasn't as armed nor it was as fast, while others considered it an upscaled variant of the heavy cruiser.
== Known models ==
=== Covenant ===
* : while defined by UNSC a light cruiser, it is a cutter;
* : the primary cruiser's class employed by the Covenant fleet, it is a well-rounded class for any role;
* : during the early Covenant era the most common class utilized by the Covenant fleets, it ended to patrol Covenant space after the introduction of the CCS-class;
* : the most powerful cruiser before the advent of the OSV-class, its prestigious role meant that its use needed to be approved by Hierarchs.
=== UNSC ===
* : the lightest cruiser during the war, it was marked by a virtually indestructible superstructure which made it the most resilient UNSC ship of the war;
* : a mainstay during early-mid Insurrection, it lacked a fleet command-and-control suite;
* : the backbone of UNSC fleets during late-Insurrection and the entirety of Human-Covenant War, it was marked by a pair of powerful MACs and it could fulfilled virtually any role;
* : the successor of Marathon-class, it took advantage of some Covenant technologies and many internal cross-bracings, partially inspired by Halcyon-class' first block superstructure, to improve its resiliency against plasma fire;
* : half a cruiser and half a battleship, it was one of the most powerful UNSC vessel during the war, and it had an advanced command-and-control array;
* : a variant of the Marathon-class, it was equal to the main class except for a pair of super-heavy MACs, which boosted UNSC fleets' firepower.
=== Sangheili ===
* : and old Sangheili merchant vessel, it is used both as cruiser and carrier thanks to its sizeable weapons complement and cargo carrying capacity.