Mercury-class destroyer

"A pity what happened to the CMA, I was starting to like their organisation. Sure, its based off what the UNSC had, but the emphasis on 'experience over bookwork' made it so... enjoyable to work at. I don't know what I'll miss the most - the frontier arrogance of my crew, or flying into deep-space in a support destroyer without knowing what I'll encounter next"

- Retired CMA Captain, who was assigned to the destroyer Indifference

There are many reasons why spacers are anxious to travel through the border colonies - pirates, rouge asteroids and the dangers of slipspacing in uncharted space mean all but the most desperate would venture here. Occasionally, the desperate, ignorant or simply stupid would try to make a run through here, attempting to carve out new trade routes for fame or establish secret colonies on the fringes, almost becoming willing victims for the dangers which lie here. Before and during the war, a single class of ship was usually the only thing which stood between life and death for those souls: the Mercury-class Destroyers.

Originally manufactured by Helios Weapons as a last-ditch effort to save themselves from bankruptcy, the Mercury, then known as the Georgian-class Civilian Courier, was originally designed as modular colony ship, but they soon found it had the potential for a heavy warship. It established itself as a reliable cruiser. Economic pressures forced Helios to sell their assets to buyers, and the Mercury landed itself in SinoViet's hands. Under SinoViet's ownership and marketing strategy, however, the ships surged in popularity - its modular design, reliable technology and its low selling price all contributed to its success. Though they fell out of the UNSC's favour about one and a half decades after they were first produced, the CMA later made extensive use of these ships. It should be noted that, due to the Dormant-sponsored refitting project that occurred every five to ten years, the ships had a legendary service life - some ship were theorised to be over fifty years old by the time manufacturing ceased.

Uniquely, many crews hesitated about signing their forms to be reassigned. Many who served on them had good opinions on the class, though engineers would have fits upon discovering that they were placed aboard one of these. This is because that, thanks to the hundreds of independent refitting programs that were both legal and less so, there was a high chance that the next ship they were transferred two would be radically different to the original blueprints. On the other hand, the well-thought out interior design, right down to the flight console, made stations surprisingly easy to use, making them popular in their crews. That said, it was almost impossible to say for sure which systems would be present on an individual Mercury.

Exterior
While there are a huge number of unique variations, all but the most extensively modified can be identified to a common design plan. The ships have a long, short and thin profile, easily divided into two main sections: the forward command module, and the rear maintenance area. Linking the two sections is a series of hollow pylons - the number and size of the pylons differ from ship-to-ship. The pylons, found on only a few other vessels, are fitted with electro-magnets or docking claws to carry additional cargo and materials on the exterior surface, capable of holding far more than their relatively small cargo bay. The aft section was normally the widest part, and where the heaviest missiles and munitions were fitted. An extended structure on the starboard side is where the bridge lies, though later models lacked this tower completely, incorporating it into the front of the ship. Finally, every one of the the ships are all larger than a - a massive achievement at the time.

Of course, that's where all similarities end. Even the exterior 'design cue' can be surprisingly different from ship-to-ship; in fact, its often possible to guess when a given ship was made. For example, if the ship's exterior is curved and aerodynamic (reminiscent of early twenty-first-century exoatmospheric craft, such as the space shuttle), then it was part of the initial production group in the 60's, while if it has a very boxy and angular design, it was produced in the last era of its production run - the 2500's and the 2510's. Between those dates the ships have a mix of these two aesthetic choices, though some have a few deviations where other styles were popular. Of course, the sheer amount of refits and modifications added often make it harder to see the original armour and guess its construction date. There is almost an unlimited variety of upgrades, ranging from thicker armour to a 'bio-pylon' filled with plants and animals for trade (legal or illegal). Even additional superstructure sections weren't rare, which usually resulted in a low-handing 'beard'. The latter section was often necessary, since its additional weapon hardpoints, power generators and sometimes chemical engines helped bring the ships up to par with modern vessels, though these were only available part of a very expensive refit few could afford.

Interior
Though often described as a 'piece of junk' by onlookers mocking its appearance, once those came aboard all but the most ignorant would be immediately surprised and shocked at the sudden change of care in the interior. Indeed, if there was one thing that made crewmen pause at their decision to change ships, it was the wonderful interior. A mixture of environmentally-sustainable materials and a minimalist arrangement was combined to give the general art style in the hallways. Unlike the heavily-greebled and disjointed design leaf later warships would adapt into their interiors, the smooth walls would only occasionally be broken by a control panel or bulkhead which would maintain a view that was neither busy nor boring to those who cared to look. When coupled with the cool colours and curved shapes carved into the walls, the interior emitted an airy feeling which also gave a sense of calmness to everyone onboard. In highly-populated places such as the mess halls, statues of either stone or wood could be seen.

The reason why the interior was well-received by most was not because of the materials it used, the expensive nature of said materials (which was false), but because of the skill of the interior designer, Augustus Partchi. Partchi's initial concepts were so incredible he was immediately promoted to interior lead designer - something which made the interior team jealous of him. Their hostility and his inexperience at such a position meant that he limited his actions at invading their privacy, only dropping suggestions to improve the quality of work being produced while he worked on his assigned projects. He designed the layout of some of the ship controls himself - an arrangement which, while appearing cramped and without order to those with ship navigation training, was actually natural, simple and surprisingly easy to use for their pilots.

One area which was not so well received was the maintenance corridors for engineering personnel. A side effect of the minimalism artistic incorporation meant that thin plating too often covered a vital component which happened to be malfunctioning, a trade-off for visual appreciation. The ramps getting into the complex machinery was ill-considered and barely organised, with cramped spaces being obstructed by pipes making it harder to find what you're looking for and easier to get lost. Even worse, as time went on the core systems of many ships became much different than the blueprints suggested, making searching for the components all the more harder. It was here the veteran's saying 'An engineer's paradise is never found, only made more frustrating as they change ships' originated, due to the arrangement becoming infamous among mechanics and striking fear upon learning they were being assigned to them.

Role
In its primary role, the Mercury-class Destroyers were designed to function as cheap and efficient flagships of battlegroups, winning engagements by intimidating hostile rebels pirates into surrendering. Arguably, their size was an advantage for this, as they were second only to dedicate colony ships. When a pirate captain glanced upon it and compared their ship to it, it was believed that they would be convinced that their ship couldn't compete with it. As Mercury's rarely fired a shot during their early deployment period, this made it hard for them to learn of its actual armament. Even if it was forced into a pitched fight, its dual-bridge design and reliable communications arrays allowed it to coordinate battlegroups with ease.

As the Insurrection picked up, Mercury's found themselves competing with the larger refitted as the flagship of CMA battlegroups; they were eventually relegated to escort cruisers when operating with a Phoenix. This was because these lumbering titans were far better armoured and structurally supported than any of their smaller competitors, featuring more effective internal bracing and even an exterior composed almost exclusively of. Moreover, they were designed to oversee ground operations, giving they a powerful and adaptable communications systems which was easy to convert over to fleet management. In comparison, the Mercury boasted more powerful and responsive engines, superior sensor systems and at times boasted slightly better firepower - strengths which were put to better use as a reconnaissance cruiser. Thus, many Mercury's were finally retired as battlegroup leaders to fulfill these new roles, though a small handful still functioned in their previous capacity in areas with high levels of damaging debris.

Thanks to their adaptable hull design, Mercury's had found success in other areas. Some of the most powerful individuals, for example, could operate as heavy-hitters when other ships lacked the same punch or were too far away to help. They could also be used in less violent roles; when they had modular crates around their midsection, they could be used as a relief vessel, carrying food and supplies to highly-contested systems. Finally, when modified with stability cranes, extendable personnel transfer hallways and equipped with a variety of materials and power tools, these ships could operate as mobile repair platforms, arriving at the stricken vessel and given them enough system repairs to get them to the nearest planet.

Georgian-class Civilian Courier
A civilian transport that had a very similar silhouette to the Mercury's it spawned, Georgian-class couriers were unarmed, lightly-armoured civilian transports designed to ferry cargo across human space. It was designed by Helios Weapons, who wanted to break into the shipbuilding industry. Featuring large electromagnets to hold onto cargo in slipspace and a slightly more beefy design to better accommodate civilians, it had experienced minor popularity due to its size. To make the design profitable, Helios designed a newer model with a far more thicker central pylon which can hold even more civilians and cargo, and marketed it as a colonisation vessel in 2451 and a rival to the better-established. However, the larger Phoenix's were already used across human space, and their more expansive interior space made it hard for the Georgian's to compete. By 2500, almost all members of the Georgian-class were destroyed or dismantled, having fallen out of favour for more traditional ships.

Mercury-II-class Heavy Destroyer
"I never understood why the CMA never brought the design on board. It could outgun anything smaller than a Halcyon and give a Marathon a good scar. Hey, the UNSC Volkswagen even gutted a Covvie frigate - a ship half its size, mind you, but in terms of size proportion, no other ship could, no, can perform a feat like that."

- Naval Officer Dephyer, on the Mercury-II's capabilities.

In 2490, when it appeared as if the Mercury line began to die out, SinoViet profit analysts determined that it would be healthier and cheaper to design a brand new starship to replace it, rather than continue to hire out drydocks to update the existing ships. Within six months of this decision, SinoViet released the Mercury-II Light Cruiser. At 730 metres it was over half the size of its predecessor but sported an improved armament and defensive systems. It still had the slender fore section and large and wide aft section, but there all similarities ended. The fore section was a massive, boxy weapons platform dominated by a Mark-II Heavy MAC and the then-new Archer missile pods. The structure extended out at the bottom, where a number of point-defence turrets defended the built-in hangar. The wide aft, meanwhile, was stripped-down to the bare necessaries to fit the engine and power equipment, but little else. They were protected by metres of Titanium-A armour plating, mounted on shield-like shields on an arching design. To further support the design, a primitive system of parallel-crossing internal braces gave it superior protection at the time.

Though it was effective enough to be used in light numbers by the UNSC Navy, the CMA purchase only a handful of the Mercury-IIs after they tested the batch sent to them. Though the Mercury-II could outgun and out-fight the Mercury Destroyer, it suffered from three main design flaws that gave its predecessor a distinct advantage. Firstly, though it far better combat applications and more countermeasures, the bulky design of the Mercury-II was littered with weak points that were lacking armour, including its life support systems and the power distributors just below the main sensor array. Secondly, the interior was badly coordinated and designed, making it harder to carry extra cargo or even trying to root out boarding parties. In fact, it could only carry 43% of the cargo capacity. Lastly, it was slower, had worse-off sensors and communication package and not as much space for consumables, making it not as well suited to investigating remote colonies or participating in reconnaissance missions deep in the frontier. For all this failure, the Mercury-II's ceased production in 2493, though some stored models were reactivated in 2526 to help with the fight against the Covenant. By then, their single-sided combat abilities which allowed them to win against a Covenant ship half their size meant that they were sort-after enough to use as escorts for fleet flagships, but not enough to press them back into production.

Mercury-III-class Cruiser
Beginning production in 2514, the Mercury-III was SinoViet's first serious attempt at replacing their aging fleet of Mercury Destroyers. Developed over the span of three years, a team of analysts researched their predecessors-to-be to inform the design team, incorporating almost every single advantage into its design, which were slightly smaller than the Mercury. Again displaying an original build-plan, it had a flatter dagger-shaped fore section, a hollowed mid section regularly dotted with armoured doors and a massive, heavily-armoured aft section, along with the additional shield-like armour plating characteristic of current SinoViet ships. Two pylons, one on each side, had only one side connected to the aft section. Finally, a mounted bridge structure which could double as an oversized escape pod. It had a similar internal bracing system to its direct predecessor, but on a more limited level to decrease costs.

The design brief was for an warship which combined the strengths of both the Mercury and the Mercury-II, and a focus on crew minimisation. As a result, this ship sported no less than two, though it was more often paired with a single. It was better-armed than even its last predecessor, with one Mark-II Heavy MAC, one frigate MAC, forty-eight Archer Missile pods and fifteen M910 point-defence guns, and was covered with a respectable three metres of Titanium-A armour. However, from the mid-section onwards was the key to its success. Its engines could only just match the E-45s on the previous models, and it could carry just as much if not more storage. The strange pylons were also an advantage; they were actually docking systems designed to hold onto a smaller ship while the crew could commence improvised battlefield repairs. Lasting, while they weren't as easy to modify, they did already have some hardpoints rated for superstructure extensions. With all these benefits, the only thing the Mercury-III lacked was an affordable price tag, as it was proven to be twice the price of a Mercury-II. Despite this, CMA were satisfied enough to order a sizable amount of them.

Production ceased in 2525 when the CMA was effectively stripped of their budget and military force due to the arrival of the Covenant. Though they continued to be used by the UNSC, they would fail to be moved back into production. By 2552, just about all Mercury-IIIs were destroyed, as many of the colony worlds they were stationed at were attacked. A small number were constructed at the end to act as massive scouts and long-range repair barges, but they were quickly replaced by newer warship designs.

Propulsion
The engine systems installed on the Mercury were very impressive for its time. Though dating years before the warship's conception, they were capable of outperforming systems on other ships, such as the, an attempted replacement, and the Mercury-II, a failed successor. The E-45 Mark II-model Primary Engine Array was a condensed refinement of the old Mark I. While cheap enough to be used as the default engines, the Mark Is emitted heavy amounts of Gamma radiation from its fusion centre, which utilised a limited amount of nuclear fusion in its engine array to generate thrust. Additional drawbacks to that system was that it was notorious for its fuel inefficiency - the fusion occurred very fast and dispersed the fused Helium nuclei even quicker back out to space, pulling with it deuterium ions as well. The E-45 Mark II was developed to solve these problems, and featured thicker anti-radiation armour to avoid killing their customers. A slight redesign in the Deuterium storage greatly increased fuel efficiency at the expense of a slight reduction in thrust power and Deuterium storage. Unfortunately, though it was possible to harvest power from these systems alone, many attempts to do so often resulted in a spectacular explosion within a handful of hours after the work is done.

While the seven E-45s gave the class its speed, the compact ME780 Propulsion Pods mounted on the sides gave the ships its limited maneuverability. The ME780 is a tap-like system which builds up pressure in its gas chamber before being released. This was highly fuel-efficient, and reduced the amount of fuel the ME780's needed to turn the vessel. They were often mocked for their reduced pushing power, however, and in extreme situations such as a collision course, captains often vented the internal atmosphere to supplement the propulsion pods - a horrible but necessary compromise.

Armament
Almost no ships of the class have the exact same weapons loadout. While most systems, such as the communications and engines are often kept on far longer than previously guessed thanks to their incredible reliability, the many refitting options means that its rare for the ship to keep the same weaponry throughout its life. Whenever its replacing its LOKI EMP Missile Pods with the and finally to, or the removal of its XMX-97 Heavy Deck Guns, there is no limitation of what weapons can be fitted on. Some private owners, usually Insurrectionists and pirates, go some way to add even more lethal and questionable weaponry, such as railguns and, in the case of the Heaven and Hell, even bioweapon warheads to inflict extensive and expensive damage against their enemies.

With all this said, armaments require more than the barrel and ammunition in order to operate. The Mercury's unmodified power systems, for example, only produce enough power to just keep the ship's standard systems running. Not only that, but additional cargo areas to hold the extra ammunition and even extra cryosleep compartments must be added to crew and man the new weapons. These matters came to a head after Dormant worked with SinoViet to release a refitting program adding new MAC Coilgun infrastructure into the ship. This was the purpose of the underhanging pylons snapped onto the superstructure, mockingly called the 'Old Man's Beard' by servicemen. Among other things, the pylon provided extra cooling and power systems to power not only the exposed MAC sitting at the bottom, but also any other weapon array that the owner desires in the future.

With their ageless compatibility and limitless options to improve their hardware, in times of crisis such as the Insurrection, it can be correctly assumed that these ships were fitted with every type of weapon created up to that point, though in far smaller numbers when compared to other more modern warships. A list of known weapons fitted are listed below:

Turrets

 * PD-M877 Anti-Missile Turret - The original turrets installed on the original Mercury production group, these turrets were undersized PDG systems which, as their name suggested, were only used for countermeasures against missiles. Though not as efficient as missile jamming countermeasures, the M877's used less power to operate and were far cheaper to mass produce.
 * XMX-97 Heavy Deck Gun - XMX-97's manufacturers, Gryson & Sons Heavy Weapons, were the leaders of ship-to-ship weapons for more than twenty years. Easy to repair and upgrade, the XMX-series HDGs stayed in service right up until just before the Human-Covenant War, when the M910 took over their role.
 * M870 Point-Defense Gun - The original anti-fighter weapon-of-choice in 2484 and beyond, the M870-series of rotary turrets were known for their unmatched reliability and perfection of human-controlled turrets. While newer versions came out improved on their weakened punch, the M900 was always considered the best in terms of adaptability and all-round performance, until future versions that were computer controlled came to prominence.
 * M907 Point-Defense Gun - The direct public predecessor to the M910 PDG, the M907 was the first attempt at a computer-controlled anti-aircraft system. Equipped with a triple-barrel configuration, the M907 offered improved power but was wrecked with glitches and reduced turning speed, making it largely unpopular.
 * M910 Point-Defense Gun - The M910 PDG and its targeting system, introduced in 2516, were revolutionary of its time. The turret itself was the first of its kind, incorporating a heavier slug which made it also well-suited to ship-to-ship warfare, so they performed as not only as an anti-missile anti-fighter system but also doubling as a light Ship-to-Ship weapon. Cheaper to run on a continuing basis, the M910 could also surpass the performance of many human-controlled systems of its day. The targeting system was revolutionary because fighters no longer needed an IFF tag to identify themselves as friendly, making those systems obsolete.

Missiles

 * R31 LOKI EMP Missile Pods - As humanity's territory spread and overstretched the relatively-small UNSC and CMA navy, they sort every attempt to ensure that they would not be outmatched and condemned for their actions. This doctrine led to ship designers favoring the LOKI EMP missile pods as their main ship-to-ship weapons. While only carrying three missiles per pod, only a single pod was enough for even the largest rebel warship to lose power and be ready for a boarding operation. These operations, however, led to increased loss of life as the pre-Insurrection 'bushfire wars' increased in frequency, eventually being phased out for more traditional high-explosive missiles.
 * ARES Missile - The massive ARES missiles are the closest missiles can get to Nuclear devastation in a high-explosive package. Though not a nuclear weapon, ARES missiles have such destructive capacity that only a tiny handful are ever fitted onto a warship.
 *  - An aging design dating all the way from 2473, nuclear warheads weren't seen outside of UNSC hands due to the lack of trust they have with even their fellow organisation, the CMA. One of the more powerful nukes of its day, FENRIS warheads were used where heavier ordnance was required. Packing a powerful punch and a sizable EMP radius, FENRIS were also used in cases of nuclear bombardments such as the bombing of Far Isle. By that time, however, more powerful warheads had come into production and the FENRIS was slated for decommissioning.
 * M58 ARCHER Missile Delivery System - The replacement of the ARES Missile came from the smaller and more economical ARCHER Missile Pods. Though ARES were undoubtedly powerful, they lacked the capacity to be carried in larger numbers which were useful in orbital engagements. In enough numbers, ARCHERs can cause as much devastation against a foe, and because of their large magazine size, they could dish out considerable firepower for a far more extended period. They became the standard UNSC and CMA missile in 2503.

Coilguns

 * Mark II Heavy MAC - A cruiser-type weapon only fitted onto ships the size of cruisers and larger, this weapon ran almost the length of the destroyer. Fitted with an internal magazine that is difficult to refill in combat, the Mark II can dish out heavy firepower at the cost of its slow firerate. While some cruisers such as the were fitted with two of these, the Mercury didn't have the infrastructure or power requires to fit more. Their price means that few Mercury Destroyers sport these weapons.
 * Mark III MAC - A condensed version used on frigates, the Mark-III MAC was a common addition to most ships. Sporting a slightly quicker firerate, they were frequently mounted on the superstructure pylons at the front, complete with more than enough infrastructure to use them effectively.

Crew
Despite the skeletal size of the ship and the emphasis on automation, the crew complement was quite large when compared to far later vessels; on average 7,350 were needed to get the best performance from one of the ships. Although the advancements over its production run meant that number got slowly smaller over the decades, even by the 2510's it still needed 2,864 to run it - no small number by any measure. Most of those who were cut to decrease costs were gunners and the teams who maintained the weapon systems. To fit as many as humanly possible comfortably, a single Mercury-class had no more than eight massive Cryostorage chambers, each which ran lengthwise for more than a hundred metres.

Superstructure and Armour
One of the biggest aspects where costs were saved was the armour. While Titanium-A Battleplate began to rise into promise during its early reign, the Mercury relied exclusively on low-grade Ceramic-Steel alloy, which was far cheaper as it utilised only a handful of Titanium in the armour, and was mixed with overwhelming amounts of Iron and ceramic-type materials to decrease costs. While thick and substantially strong for its time, towards the end of its production run it proved to be useless against MAC strikes, which has been proven capable of punching right through the entire length of the ship and still carrying enough energy to cause significant damage to a trailing warship. Such a stunt, however, is extremely hard to replicate and thus is rarely pursued. Recent refitting programs, activated at the urging of the UNSC, disregarded replacing the armour altogether, instead overlaying over the top of the original armour. On occasion, some parts are overlaid with standard Titanium-A to protect vital components. Overall, however, very, very few ships of this class had any upgrades to their armour. To maximise it's survival, the crews had to rely on its speed, rather than armour, to defeat opponents.

Likewise, the internal supports were reduced to save costs. Made from even weaker and cheaper supports, they were laid down only when the interior components would fall apart in atmosphere. Because of this, despite its inferior super-structural supports, the destroyer was indeed rated for atmosphere. For these operations it required clamped-on maneuvering pods to get it safely to and from ground, as its engines were too weak to support its weight in an atmospheric environment.

Reactor
One of the most often upgraded components of the Mercury line was its reactors. In its original form, the power was generated from five hydro stations, two fore and three aft, which used a percentage of the electricity generated to run itself. Unfortunately, these stations are both huge - one third of the fore section had to be dedicated to the installment of only two of them (not including the water storage space) - and inefficient, as their output was dwarfed when compared to the older nuclear reactors and newer fusion reactors. If there was one benefit these systems had over those more standard types, it was that they were cheap to refuel and maintain because they used pretty standard components. Though the company claimed the hydro systems were much more reliable, professional studies never came to the same conclusion, as the maintenance work was required to be performed even more often compared to the newer nuclear systems.

If one of the stations went offline, the crew had to deactivate at least one system to give even a few hours before the reactors failed due to overconsumption of energy. When this happened, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine was deactivated, and the lights were turned over to the four N52 pocket reserve generator racks. Once two or more systems failed, typically all systems save the engines and life support had to be deactivated or turned over to the over-stretched reserve generators - something which was regularly exploited by saboteurs.

Countermeasures
Per standard, even on refits, one of the things which was rarely fitted was countermeasures - systems which could allow the ship to gain an advantage in combat. For those which has any, it is normally a missile pod which carries missiles with an unconventional payload, such as RADAR jammers and decoys to distract enemy weapons from heavier ordnance such as nukes. Any additional systems are rarely installed, as their power consumption overdoes what the generators are capable of producing, resulting in catastrophic software crashes as computing processors lose electricity.

UNSC's Service
The Georgian-class Cruiser, a militarised variant of original Georgian-class Civilian Courier, was unofficially put into production 16th October 2463. The first ship built was the Interceptor, a privateer ship used by the Private Military Contractor (PMC) company Unbreakable Security. As Helios originally wished to make it available to PMC companies, they kept its existence a secret by falsifying documents as a standard civilian courier. For the first three years of production, they had seven interested clients and orders placed for twenty-three ships. After the production of those ships, however, Helios made the stupid mistake of increasing prices by more than 20% in order to increase their profits. Almost no-one was interested. In 2466, SinoViet's agents were able to finally trace the sudden traffic of armed warships to Helios Weapons. In an act of a blackmail, SinoViet signed a contract with Helios to produce their remaining ships. In exchange, the incident would never be heard of again, and Helios can sell the SinoViet-manufactured ships.

It was never going to end well for Helios. Helios' ships never arrived until right at the end, at which SinoViet was able to sue them for illegal black-market trade. With no cash to spare, Helios couldn't oppose them. Forced to get rid of ships the economic way - by sending them on randomised slipspace vectors - Helios gave up all the rest of their company secrets to SinoViet. With an eye on making a good impression on the public eye, SinoViet made a vow to increase warship production to 'protect' citizens from 'rogue' warships. Several weeks of testing of the class was all that was required, and with some slight changes in the appearance to make it unrecognisable to the Georgian-class, renamed it as the Mercury-class Cruiser in an official military contract.

While fully knowing it would never compete as a role of mainline cruiser, SinoViet gave it to the UNSC as an economical way to field cruisers while not having the price and upkeep of one. They immediately became the preferred battlegroup leader, securing spacelanes and spaceports from suspected criminal gangs. In most cases, however, the Mercury-class never engaged in actual combat. They got close during the Raid of SO-2368, but even in that operation it really just boarded the asteroid and coordinated the blockade. Thus, soldiers of the UNSC came to see them as status symbols and nothing else.

Legitimate Service
In 2475, more powerful and modern ships were designed, enough that it was becoming a hazard to their crews to keep them in service. They were sold on, with the vast majority being bought up by yet another large government military group - the Colonial Military Administration, or CMA. On par to the UNSC at the time, the CMA sourced most of their manufacturers and troops from the Mid- and Outer Colonies, only occasionally purchasing obsolete ships used by the UNSC. Even rarer was when they purchased an entire class of ships into their service.

It was here that the Mercury Cruisers, now reclassified to Heavy Destroyers, proved their worth. While their weak weapons and armor meant the UNSC admiralty used them only for support purposes, their speed and powerful communications/sensor package made them perfect for colonial patrol. While they were happy with the ships, they weren't happy with purchasing them from an Inner Colony supplier. To SinoViet's dismay, the CMA contracted construction and refitting to the Dormant Corporation, a company which was heavily established in the Outer Colonies. For decades, the ships served the CMA well, capable of outmatching any pirate ship and in groups even some UNSC vessels. While they served in numerous campaigns, mostly assisting colonial groups, their most famous moment wasn't about their success, but about their failure. The CMA, escorted by two other smaller ships, was called in to recapture the. As history shows, the battlegroup was badly damaged by the end of the engagement, and the Buenos Aires was destroyed by a direct hit from a nuclear weapon.

Ships of the Line

 * UNSC Mercury - First vessel of the entire class, destroyed prior to the bombardment of
 * UNSC Interceptor - First completed refit
 * UNSC Jupiter
 * UNSC Canberra
 * UNSC Luna
 * UNSC Washington
 * CMA Indifference
 * WNS Loathsome Tonight - Flagship of the Wealthian Navy
 * Horseshoe Mounts - Dedicated colonial escort, decommissioned at Mars in 2517
 * What's in the Box? - Civilian trading vessel, given to Insurrectionists of Kingston, recaptured in Operation: TREBUCHET.