Dedication-class Cruiser

Dedication-class Cruiser

The Dedication-class Cruiser was an oudated cruiser design in the Covenant Navy. Initially made in 2462 (human calendar), or the 38th Age of Conflict (Covenant calendar), it was intended as a rapid response and combat support ship, a way to counter the ongoing Council Rebellion, where numerous Sangheili and San 'Shyuum councilors rebelled against the Hierarchs. The by-the-time incredible speed of the Dedication-class was vital in putting down the rebellion, in that the Covenant were able to rapidly assault the defecting territories before they could mount proper defenses.

The class continued to be in service during the following 22nd Age of Doubt and the 39th Age of Conflict, during the latter used against the Unggoy Rebellion. However, by the time of the 23rd Age of Doubt, the class was hopelessly outdated and continually replaced with more advanced ship-classes, until they were finally decomissioned from the Covenant fleets in 2511.

However, as it was still useful for various purposes, numerous ships of this class were taken in by the various Covenant ministries to serve their purposes. Due to the ships' outdated status, the ships were also made available to Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar Shipmasters, although the Sangheili later imposed numerous bans or limitations on technology the races could use, causing many of the ships to be stripped of their plasma cannons and gravity lifts, while a great deal of the available space was sabotaged to limit available complement. In addition, Huragok were banned on the vessels and replaced with Yanme'e, who, while eager, were extremly limited compared to Huragok.

With the start of the Human-Covenant War, many of the vessels (mostly those captained by Jiralhanae) were refitted with the newest technologies available and many of the bans/limitations imposed by the Sangheili were lifted "to aid the war effort", as the Hierarchs would call it, although it was in reality a small step in the Prophet of Truth's elaborate plan to replace the Sangheili with the Jiralhanae. This was made evident further a decade later, when the Hierarchs imposed the law that Sangheili Shipmasters not meeting up with the set expectations for the ongoing conflict would be transferred to Dedication-class Cruisers previously under Jiralhanae command, while the Jiralhanae Shipmaster and his crew would take the Sangheili's ship.

As part of the Changing of the Guard, a much greater amount of Sangheili Shipmasters were demoted to command simpler and outdated warships such as the Dedication-class while Jiralhanae Shipmasters were introduced to the modern warships and the larger fleets. During the subsequent chaos of the Great Schism, the extremist splinter faction and cult known as the Acolytes of Devotion took control of a considerable amount of Dedication-class Cruisers for their improvised fleets, as part of their planned search for the Labyrinth Array.

Known Ships

 * Rapid Conversion
 * Tranquil Doctrine