Battleship (EXverse)

Battleship is an uncommon type of ship used by the UNSC Navy and, formerly, by the Covenant fleet.
Distinguished by heavy armor and much firepower, battleship-type was used with much less extent due to the preference for carriers. However, while Covenant didn't find much targets to use its battleships against, UNSC needed such ships after the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, so leading to their official introduction.
== Brief history ==
As Covenant military derived their doctrine from Sangheili one, the Navy preferred to used dual-purpose ships, capable of delivery immense firepower to the target but, also, capable of deploying starfighters and landing forces on a planet's surface. For this reason ships such as hadn't not only a vast armament, but also a cavernous interior comprised of large hangars able to host air and land assets as well.
The introduction of the in 2501 happened amidst of thousand of debates among fleetmasters and ministers, as many were hesitant about a powerful ship but able to host a handful of dropships and nothing more. Anyway Rasus was produced and was considered an experimental ship by doctrine, because it incorporated technologies already employed by the fleet. Subsequently the Second Battle of Harvest, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the Rasus-pattern, another battleship would be designed and produced, however resources shortages prevent the first ship to be fielded until the 2552.
On the other hand, UNSC needn't for long the power of a battleship. While these ships were the most important asset in a fleet from late-19th century until the start of the Second World War, the introduction of long-range guided missiles rendered battleships' large-caliber guns useless, due to missiles' cheap cost, easy of manufacturing and great accuracy. These factors didn't change even during the Interplanetary War two centuries later, and they went on for other three hundred years and something more.
During Insurrection ideas for a battleship came out, but if it wasn't for the Covenant, the first UNSC battleship in history wouldn't be produced. The capacity of this battleship to confront medium-heavy Covenant capital ships strengthened the battleship doctrine among naval officers, and it led to the introduction of a heavier, more powerful battleship and a super battleship prototype.
After the war, when many former Covenant ships had fallen into the hands of various remnant groups, the UNSC introduced a new generation of battleships, known as Vindication-class, thanks to which it could defeat even the heaviest Covenant ship. The rise of the Banished worsened the situation, especially when it took control of some former Covenant shipyards and it started to produce newer ships.
== Overview ==
Traditionally, battleships in both UNSC Navy and Covenant fleet are medium-size ship, if compared to carriers; but while in Covenant fleet their size matches, more or less, the cruisers' one, in UNSC there are some differences: light battleships are considered cruiser-size ship, while heavier ones are normally carrier-size; anyway, battleships have a larger arsenal of weapons than carriers, and only a handful of these can matched their firepower.
The Covenant's Rasus-class was heavily shielded, as demonstrated above Harvest in 2525, and it had 12 plasma lances, among the largest number ever fitted. Nonetheless, this huge firepower had some drawbacks, because firing all projectors at the same time was possibile but at the cost of being immobile. Despite this, they weren't used much: the Sangheili doctrine, whose inspired the Covenant doctrine, is carrier-oriented, preferring - in human speaking - carrier strike groups and their flexibility.
The Kewu-pattern, instead, was conceived as a long-range ship-killer vessel. Armed with a powerful flensing lance, capable to destroy nearly every UNSC ship from the longest point ever seen, its delayed introduction meant that the first battle the pattern had seen was also one of the last ones, a.k.a the Fall of Reach.
UNSC battleships are similar, in some ways, to that fielded by the Covenant. But humans divided them into light and heavy: first ones are intended to be ship-killer vessels, in fact many see them as the past fast battleships - themselves were basically battlecruisers with battleship-grade armor; nonetheless they are slower and they have have a few secondary and tertiary armament, but they are agile and sleek enough to enjoy a high turn rate.
Second ones are heavier, more powerful and they can fulfill flagship roles. But the main difference is the number of weapon systems fitted: heavy battleships can engage multiple targets at once thanks to a diverse secondary armament, made up of various anti-ship coilgun batteries. Missiles are sported in lower numbers and are generally used in orbital bombardment roles or against low-profile targets.
The super battleship type was a concept introduced to counter the heaviest Covenant ships with vast firepower and thick armor, but in the post-war, when technological assets such as energy shields were fitted among all ships, this type was already useless.
UNSC doctrine is also centered about flexibility, but every type of ship has its role. As such, generally cruisers and carriers sport a more missile-oriented armament, whereas battleships have much more coilgun batteries onto the hull.
== Known classes ==
=== Covenant ===
* : the first battleship ever built by the Covenant. A few ships were constructed, and those survived to the war were acquired by some remnant groups;
* : a ship-killer class, only two would be produced before the end of the war. One was destroyed by the UNSC Pillar of Autumn above Reach, the other one is somewhere, but no one has find her till now.
=== UNSC ===
* : the first true battleship to be built, it was dubbed light despite being larger than what the doctrine told and even slower. However it was sleek and agile, which made it capable of a high turn rate, and it was powerful enough to cripple every Covenant cruiser. Its effectiveness strengthened the battleship's doctrine in the UNSC Navy;
* : slower than its predecessor, it is designed to destroy even the heaviest Covenant warship;
* : built as a response to heaviest Covenant ships, it is marked by one of the most powerful armament ever fitted onto a human ship and thick armor;
* : built in only three prototypes, its designers conceived it as a direct counterpart of the . While effective in doing so, its huge demand of resources and the contemporary start of Project: OUROBOROS meant that the twelve more ships wouldn't be constructed;
* : not properly a battleship, it was conceived instead as a hybrid cruiser-battleship class, and due to this it sports more coilgun batteries than missiles.
=== Banished ===
* Banished dreadnought: a heavily modified Covenant ship hull capable to unleash an impressive firepower combined with a high troops carrying capacity.