User:Sev40/Split-class amphibious supercarrier

"How long have these been laying here?"

- Lord Terrance Hood, upon discovering the North American Supercarrier Storage Facility

The Split-class, full model name GH-012/c Split-classification heavy duty fleet carrier, originally saw service in 2159, just a few years before the dreaded Interplanetary War. Its manufacturer, the German corporation Allgemeine Gestaltungs Technologies, was well-known for high-performing warships with long service lives, even in a world of rapidly-evolving technology. For their customers such as the UN and later their successors the UNSC, this was merely an added bonus for a much-needed warship.

Description
The apex of aerial technology during its time, the Split-class Supercarrier took its basis from the seaworthy carriers which still served Earth's nations. For such an ancient design, its a wonder why no other ships took on its role after it was declared obsolete. Though expensive to produce and maintain, the utter necessity of the supercarrier allowed it to stay in service long after even its original builders.

The external layout of the ship, though resembling designs that were in use for centuries, had a few differences essential for use in a gravity-absent environment. The top and bottom sloped down by a curve, though not to the extent of seaworthy carriers; if you compared the two side-by-side you'd see it was much flatter. Unlike these ancient designs, the bottom was curved all the way through, with large pressured armored doors installed in the sides so ground forces could exit without using large amounts of dropships. To slightly assist in reducing drag in air, small 'wings' were installed on the lower section as well. The top of the ship was dominated by a 2-level launchpad, which was designed asymmetrically to accommodate the central command tower and the jump-ramp for conventional jets. This double-level design allowed increased amount of aircraft to be launched at once.

Role
Fulfilling a role similar to its seaworthy cousins, the main role of the supercarrier was to transport nothing short than a Company across the Solar System, as well as to operate as a deployment/retrievement craft, hence the addition of turbines and propellers. It was also seen coordinating its escort fleet in battle, as the computer systems, which were a necessity for coordinating its strike craft in combat, could easily be retasked with naval operations.

Their massive size, cost and lack of defensive ship-to-ship armament, however, meant that there were never more than 2 working together in the same fleet, though large planetary assaults are an exception where these ships are in high numbers.

Bridge
The bridge is the nerve-centre of every ship, and the one on the supercarrier is no exception. The bridge is divided into 2 levels, with only the top floor being responsible for the command, piloting and tactical information for the ship. A number of stations, divided into groups of 4, surround a central platform. At the very-left room is the stairway, which is the only way up or down.

The bottom floor is dominated by the Internal & Flight Control section, which coordinates the strikecraft squadrons and organises the internal teams so they can all launch and engage at any moment. Unlike the command floor above, the flight tower has wide but thick windows surrounding the room. Behind this is the HIGHCOMM Dignitary chamber, where the ship's highest officers plan the next mission. Its the most heavily armoured room on the ship, with walls up to 1.5 meters thick, so in spite of the tower's size, there's not a lot of space here. The only noticeable thing here is the table in the centre, and a TV located at the back of the room for system-wide transmittions

Navigation
One of the most important stations on the bridge, the Navigation stations occupy the front 2 stations, with a backup at the back. Unlike much later vessels, the complex flight system requires these stations to be manned at all times. Besides general piloting, the navigation's only other role is to plot interstellar jumps in the Sol System, which is slower than the much, much later FTL drive.

When the vessels were rediscovered in 2552, only one ship was refitted with an FTL drive - the UNSC Australia. This is because the refit program happened after the Battle of Earth, and the UNSC Australia was the last surviving member of its class.

Communications
Though mainly handled by Flight Control, a station is installed in the main bridge to keep the command personnel informed. The main role is to inform, relay and sometimes filter messages across the fleet. These stations are divided into Internal and External divisions, with the former handling data management as well as organising internal forces. Though the ship's captain and first lieutenant utilise the Internal communications, the fleet's admiral often stays near the external department to quickly respond and organise other ships in the battlegroup.

Command
The smallest section in the entire Bridge, the Command department is also the most important. Here, the ship's highest ranking officers coordinate the ship in combat operations. While some cruisers at the time had hologram tables at the time, the technology was wonky and glitchy for military purposes, so instead several touchscreen panels were installed. These aren't all connected so the captain can move about the bridge quickly and unobstructed. The panels in the centre displayed the most important information, such as the status of the ship (though not in as much detail as in Fire Control).

The touchscreen tables made of clear glass, displaying information due to refraction. Because of this, the entire room can be observed in the centre if all panels were deactivated. Depending on the configuration, the outer panels could also immediately bring up the basic information of most stations. Despite this, however, some captains preferred to walk up to a given station and ask the operator about the information.

Flight Control
Although a subset of the command branch, the ship's classification and role meant that this section was larger than necessary. Occupying almost half the 2nd level, the flight control was responsible for handling more of the micromanaging that would be almost for the captain to fulfill. Unlike the level above, Flight Control's terminals are larger but fewer, and doesn't have a command panel in the centre, but rather just an information terminal.

Because communications are so vital to the functioning of this department, most of the communications computers are located here. Flight control uses these terminals to organise squadron launch and deployments, maintenance teams and general squadron coordination.

Damage & Engineering Control
The 3 fire control stations were located on the starboard side of the bridge. Here, the user had information regarding the safety precautions in place, as well as the status of the ship. The 3 terminals all showed information from a different precautions in place, though each terminal only showed a different part of the ship. Because its role is very broad, the computer is more advanced than that of other stations, though the operator needs more training to use it. Other information presented is hazard control (e.g. Fire spread), System Status and Repair Coordination, which can reduce the effect of breaches.

Though many ships have a distinct section for Engineering, the close similarities between the 2 roles led to the 2 being combined. A majority of the engineering department, however, is housed at the back of the ship - the command and organisation is handled in the bridge.

Weapons Control
Though the Split lacks many effective weapons, the stations of Fire Control is still installed to handle ICBM strikes on ground-based targets. Installed on the port side, the general arguement to install it is that it'll reduce the cost of weaponising the carrier due to existing infrastructure. As a result of these 2 factors, the computers are superior to those used on destroyers, but the full potential of these are rarely met. Nevertheless, this is still usually seated, with the operator sometimes taking control of the turrets for assistance in targeting (much to the frustration of the gunners).

Engineering & Maintenance
Housed in the very back of the ship, Engineering is an essential job that takes up a majority of the crewmembers working on the ship. Technically, the jobs of maintenance is limited to the onboard vehicles and aircraft, but due to the similarity, its not uncommon to see maintenance personnel assisting the dedicated engineering personnel. Once divided into the two groups, they are further subdivided into specialties, with reactor, vehicle and turbine maintenance taking up the more harder and important jobs.

The Engineering section is also equipped with backup systems in case the mains are sabotaged or destroyed in combat. Some of these backup systems include two reactor racks dedicated to keeping the turbines and main engines online, a secondary Combat Information Centre (CIC), additional cooling components and finally a set of rear-mounted escape pods.

Hangars
Much like most carriers, the Hangars are the largest rooms, easily taking up about 3/4 of the space on the ship. There are 3 levels, which are divided into sections depending on what they are going to carry, with sealed-off roads cleared so containers and vehicles can quickly reach their storage section. Large pylons, walls and other superstructure supports are mixed between the sections, carefully placed so they don't interfere with the movement of munitions and supplies. At the back of the hangar is the large elevator.

Propulsion
The ship has 3 means of propulsion, depending on the medium it is in. The most utilized is the 4 Gresham-King L-44 Enclosed Turbines, which are specifically designed for heavy lifting. However, they are not without flaws; they require a constant layer of lubricant to be applied before use, leading to the vessels pausing briefly before entering atmosphere, and they are highly vulnerable to water due to the lubricant being washed away and creating friction.

The powerful thrusters at the back are still very similar to those used in early human rockets, which the exception of being more fuel-efficient. As such, the Liquid Oxygen fuel had an entire compartment assigned to it. Despite this, the pilots still need to be mindful of the fuel, so they are more often used at turning or than accelerating. These were, of course, opposed by humanity's mastery of seaworthy operations, so the retractable triple propellers were extremely fuel efficient, relying on only a very small fraction of the nuclear reactor's total out.

Storage
Lining both the port and starboard sides of the ship are large vaults carrying everything the ship needs, from ammunition for small-arms to the emergency rations should the standard supplies run out during the vessel's voyages. For more important documents and cargo, two high-security vaults were installed. These required a number of security systems, including biometric, voice recognition and a dual-card access. Most of these systems were available to the captain or admiral, though some systems required another individual, sometimes the First Lieutenant.

Armament
While designed for military transport and fleet command, early models featured no weapons whatsoever, relying completely on their aircraft complement for attack or defense. With the advent of the Interplanetary War, the newly-formed UNSC prompted the manufacturers to arm them with long-range ballistic missile launchers and Ship-to-Ship Deck Turrets for defense. Those that are involved with more aggressive naval maneuvers are modified with more heavy deck turrets and a handful of missile tubes, though these upgrades reduce the internal capacity.

Operational History
The blueprints of these massive cruisers were submitted to the UN Security Council for a ship that could garrison the UN forces for colonisation of asteroids and moons. However, the large cost and, critically, the lack of any need for warships led to only 2 ships being constructed, the USS Split and its sister ship the UN Earth. However, just 3 months into its service, the UN Earth was reportedly 'lost with all hands' after it was sent to Castillo to resolve the tensions there generated between the local government and the colonists.

Jovian Moons Siege
"Commander, why have you stopped? I repeat, come in."

- Rear-Admiral King

"The commander's dead! W- We're being torn apart by a Super Carrier!"

- Sargent Smith

About a month later in March 14th 2160, the UN Colonial Advisers stationed on the moon Io were attacked by members of Frieden after a military operation to capture smuggled weapons went horribly wrong. The UN sent a taskforce to control the situation on Io, but the appearance of the former UN carrier UN Earth, now renamed the Führer des Friedens, changed all that. Armed with new weapons technology donated by some German Republic companies (though extensively modified), the Führer inflicted immense casualties on the taskforce, thus extending the battle for another 2 months.

When the UN forces were certain that they couldn't control the rebellion with what was deployed there, the UN requested and was granted the USS Split, along a sizable amount of US troops already stationed aboard. The Split was upgraded to feature heavier weapons, such as ICBM missile silos and additional heavy deck guns for additional defense. The Split was then sent to deal with the Friedens at the Jovian Moons. The carrier, after bombing away a high-industrial site on Io to test the orbital ICBMs, then dispatched the huge numbers of internal personnel, all given the order to only shoot targets and in self-defense. It should be noted that, without the Splits intervention, senior officers predicted the battle might have extended for another 2 months, with casualties rising to over 15,000 military personnel, and civilian casualties and infrastructure damage being even higher.

After the conflict ended, with the evacuation of the Frieden survivors on the Führer, the UN was impressed by the combat and invasion effectiveness of the supercarriers, and had requested the Split to made their flagship. Commissions for the supercarriers increased rapidly, with any country with a decently-sized navy placing an order for these massive ships. In other areas of the planet, the UN began to crack down on interplanetary corporations - the arms taken from Castillo, though modified, were standarized enough to pin-point their location to Earth or Mars. However, Mars had limited relations with the UN, and the crackdowns were less harsh than that one Earth.

Rainforest Wars
"The first missile barrage exploded, and the Split held her ground, seemingly invincible. We cheered, it reminded us of our eventually victory, no matter the odds. When a turbine burst into flames and she rapidly lost altitude, our hearts sank just as fast."

- An Excerpt from A Soldier's Tale: Rainforest Wars

When the Rainforest Wars flared up in South America in 2162, the Split and 2 newly-built carriers were being stationed for a refit on a famed naval base. Unlike the Jovian Moons Conflict, in which was rather short-lived and quickly ended, the Rainforest Wars was a period of extreme violence and bloodshed that took 10 months to control. The UN forces were unexpectantly attacked by a large Koslovic force on Humanity's homeworld, and eventually Frieden reinforcements joined the battle, who rose up after the years of the 'martyrs' in orbit of Jupiter.

When the conflict threatened to escalate across the planet, the UN imposed strict trading pacts that caused a massive destabilisation in trade and food distribution across the planet, especially in South America. The Split carriers and their fleets were ordered to impose the embargo across the Southern Continent, and stop any hostile forces from retreating or joining the battle. However, at least one of those supercarriers were attacked and destroyed by a surprise naval fleet who broke the blockade, and even the Split was attacked directly by Frieden forces, who sort vengeance against the ship that mocked their attempts of independence months earlier. Their unmodified bombers, nicknamed 'Tigers', destroyed the vulnerable turbines, crashing off the coast of Argentina, where a small naval fleet boarded the flaming wreck. Despite the extensive battle raging around and on the Split, the brave marines and crewmembers managed to fight-off the assassins. The best efforts were of Cpl. J. Bonjocavich, who manned one of the last defensive turrets, and Sgt. H. Smith, who disarmed the Ballistic Missiles, giving the ship enough time for the reinforcements to arrive.

After this conflict ended, the UN, after analyzing the equipment and weapons of the Friedens, located the direct origin of the hastened, unmodified arms was from United German Republic corporations, and dissolved the companies for treason to the UN. However, remnants still existed across the Sol System, particularly on Mars, which had since gone dark before the Rainforest Wars ended. As Allegmeine was caught supplying the Friedens, their designs were confiscated by the UN, though the the same ships were produced by North American Suppliers.

After the horror of the Rainforest Wars, the United Nations Security Council was reorganised into the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), all military vessels dropped their previous ownership prefix and gained the UNSC prefix.

The Mars Campaign
Driven by the vengeance of such a close attack to home, the UNSC began OPERATION: RABBIT PUNCH, a campaign aimed at skillfully manipulating the rebel leaders until they were marooned at Mars. After the UNSC's Invasion of Ceres, the Destruction of Julius Station and the retreat of Führer during the Siege of George's Asteroid, the UNSC managed to force the Koslovic leader to be captured by the Friedens at Mars, and then planning began for the First Battle of Mars.

During the initial strike, the newly-repaired UNSC Split was sent as part of a large battlegroup to eliminate the enemy fleet in orbit. The entire fleet was destroyed after they severely underestimated their foe's size, but not before destroying the rouge Führer des Friedens and around two thirds of the enemy fleet. A second battlegroup, led by the UNSC Government, destroyed the orbital remnants, clearing the way for the planetary assault.

The Government, Australia and the newly-constructed flagship the Constitution all attacked in the planetary assault. The assault was built around theoretical tactics and technology - the RD-1 orbital drop jets were the earliest predecessors to SOEIV Pods. The initial planetary assault was horrific - of the 231 drop jets launched, only 61 reached the surface and deployed their troops. Next, the Australia and Constitution deployed at key locations and unloaded huge amounts of marines, cars and tanks. This tactic was very successful; the Mars campaign lasted only a mere 21 days, the shortest major conflict of the war. The major factories of Mars, including a Supercarrier Drydock, were successfully destroyed and disabled.

The captured leaders of the rebel armies were taken aboard the UNSC Constitution back to the Jovian Moons, the birthplace of the entire conflict, and were forced to sign the Castillo Treaty, effectively ending the war.

Post-Interplanetary War
With the end of the war, the Split-class Carriers had stopped production since they were originally produced by a supporter of the Friedens, and their drydock construction yards near Split, Croatia and in Northern Germany were deactivated. The last ship of this class to be constructed was the UNSC Pacific.

However, the Carriers saw extensive use though the rest of the 22nd Century, destroying the rest of the revolutionary remnants throughout the system. When a long, 10 year period of peace was established, most of the ships were placed in storage chambers, mostly on Earth and Mars, and even one, the UNSC Constitution, was stored on Castillo (though under heavy guard). The storage facilities were usually retrofitted drydocks to make possible refitting quicker and cheaper. To properly protect them from thieves, the facilities were very heavily-armored, requiring a lot more than mere missile bombardments to crack them. In the case of infiltration, there were primitive automatic machine gun turrets on the sidewalks and walls.

By mid-2235, despite the sealed nature of the ship's storage facilities, the ships were in such derelict state that it became cheaper to deconstruct them and build new ships with the parts. Coupled with the obsolete status of the carriers, the UNSC had little reason to hold onto them, and scheduled the entire class to be decommissioned six months later or, in the case of the Pacific, turned into stationary military bases. Luckily for the warships, the entire Sol System suffered severe damage from the extensive cyber attacks, ranging from simple blueprint deletions, to more severe fleet mainframe degradation. As a result, the co-ordinates for the supercarriers' subterranean storage facilities were lost for hundreds of years.

Human-Covenant War
After Reach fell and the rest of the Inner Colony worlds, such as Earth, were threatened by an imminent Covenant Invasion, various options were explored to prepare themselves for the imminent attack. In the case of Earth, the military bases throughout the Sol System were reactivated and refitted, and extensive cataloging operations conducted across the system to find and take advantage of the natural terrain. When investigating the military storage facilities throughout Europe, the UNSC military leaders rediscovered the ancient Split carriers when a nuclear anomaly was detected. While centuries of rust and decay meant that the vessels required huge refit operations to bring them up to current operational standards, their onboard munitions such as their ballistic missiles were almost untouched. They were refitted with seven M910 PDGs, thirty-four oversized archer missile pods carrying 41 missiles and, in the case of severe armor degradation, 60cm Varandium Steel plating. Their aircraft complement was replaced, and now housed Wombat drones, Shortsword Bombers, Pelican and Albatross dropships.

When Regret arrived to contest New Mombasa, the Government and the Washington were already online and active, and were tasked with munition dispersal, airspace control and, to a lesser extent, anti-aircraft defense. During Regret's carrier initial passover of the city, the Washington took severe damage and was later destroyed by banshee fighters. The Government was still online by the time Regret left, however, but was destroyed before Truth's fleet arrived due to a combination of boarding parties, bombing and the simple fact that the current UNSC captains failed to take advantage of the ship's capabilities. The Australia was stationed elsewhere and operating as a dedicated carrier and, later, as a relief vessel. Because of its use behind the front lines, it survived the Battle of Earth, albeit heavily damaged.

The Australia was later sold to a trading company in late-2554, when the Sol System's relief operations stopped. With no desire to keep the warship, the UNSC admiralty disarmed it and sold it to a trading company, where it served that role for several decades, its sheer size out-performing other modern transports. It then served as the corporate base-of-operations, continuously refitted to show off the company's wealth and influence. Unfortunately for the company, they lost their beloved vessel when they were caught supporting and transporting rebels and other criminals. It was impounded for decades, only saved yet again when the newly-opened Museum of Humanity bought the vessel home and turned it into a well-maintained war exhibit.

UNSC Remarks
"Yeah, I was on Castillo. I was holed up at the Armstrong Space Centre, and after a week of rationing, we began to starve and run low on ammo. But you know why I'm still here? I'll tell you: A ballistic missile from the UN's finest ship"

- Anonymous UN Soldier

"I won't lie, the Split is fast for her size. Might explain why the Führer lasted so long even with an entire battlegroup hunting her down"

- Anonymous Marine

"Damn man, have you seen the size of her hold? Its practically large enough to carry a large town inside it!"

- Anonymous Marine

"I gotta admit, this is impressive for an obsolete vessel. But how could our ancestors live without an AI, or even an S-F Drive again?"

- Anonymous Naval Personnel

Ships of the Line

 * UN Split - Flagship of the class, Last Flagship of the UN Forces, Destroyed while leading an attack on Revolutionary-held Mars
 * UN Earth - Renamed to Führer des Friedens, Destroyed at Revolutionary-held Mars
 * UNSC Constitution - First Flagship of the UNSC Navy, Decommissioned at Castillo
 * UNSC Australia - Last surviving ship, demilitarised and sold to a Merchant Group
 * UNSC Pacific - Deconstructed to build a military base on Castillo
 * UNSC Government - Destroyed during the Battle of Earth
 * UNSC Washington - Destroyed during the First Battle of New Mombasa

Trivia

 * The inspiration and pictures of this article come from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarriers seen throughout the Marvel games, comics and movies. The 'official' ship design is actually one of the concept designs.