User:Sev40/Split-class amphibious supercarrier

The Split-class is a space-capable amphibious ship used during the Interplanetary War.

Description
Built by the UN-certified Allgemeine Gestaltungs Technologies, the Split-class Amphibious Support Carrier was originally designed as a huge yet unarmed (though later variants had long-range missiles for orbital bombardment) vessel designed to transport large military forces and munitions across the solar system.

Taking the basis of its design from its seaworthy ships, the Split-class was based on the 21st century military programs for Helicarriers, lead primarily by the US, China and Russia. As history shows, however, the projects had all ended up being abandoned due to the ships high-cost, instability and vulnerability and, importantly, required a huge amount of power to keep it in the air for any amount of time. As a result, the Split-class were only possible when technology allowed.

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 while not requiring an alternate reactor for power. 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, requiring them to be folded up when travelling in water.

The powerful thrusters require oxygen for fuel, so the oxygen is stored in very cold temperatures for easy storage. These use up fuel at a notorious rate, so they are only used when accelerating or turning in space. These are opposed by the retractable propellers for movement in water, which are very energy-efficient.

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 Turrets for defense.

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 by the local government.

Jovian Moons Siege
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 on the 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 to make it seem it was made by someone else), the Führer inflicted immense casualties on the taskforce, thus extending the battle for another 2 months.

It was only when the Split was upgraded with ship-to-ship turrets and ballistic missiles did the tide begin to turn. Bombing the critical high-value industrial areas on Io and Castillo, the battle turned into a siege as the rebels began to run desperately low on food and supplies before they agreed to surrender. The Führer, however, retreated before it could be retrieved.

After the conflict, the UN had the Split re-purposed as their flagship. Their concerns with the Frieden's 'sponsors' led to them cracking down on Earth's corporations, including Allgemeine Gestaltungs Technologies. However, Allegmeine was allowed to still produce military warships and technologies provided the UN inspected them to ensure these carriers weren't being used to supply the rebels.

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 not that many lives were taken, the Rainforest Wars was a period of extreme violence and bloodshed that took 10 months to control. The UN forces were expectantly attacked by the Koslovic forces, and eventually Frieden reinforcements who rose up after the years of the 'martyrs' on Io.

When the conflict threatened to escalate across the planet, the UN imposed strict trading orders that caused a massive famine across the planet, especially in South America. The Split carriers and their fleets were ordered to stop anyone from entering or leaving South America. However, at least one of those carriers were attacked and destroyed by a surprise naval fleet who broke the blockade, and the Split was attacked directly by Frieden forces who sort to kill the UN's high admirals. The bombers destroyed the vulnerable turbines, crashing outside 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 origin of the weapons isn't from North-American, but from the United German Republic corporations, and dissolved the companies for treason to the UN. However, remnants still existed across the Sol System, particularly on Mars. 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.

It was at this time that all UN warships, including the Split-class carriers, dropped their 'UN' prefix in favor of 'UNSC', as the UN was restructured to handle a much more efficient larger military command.

The Mars Campaign
The only known use of these carriers was during the initial planetary assault. As intelligence located the Führer, who had evaded the UN forces up until that point. With the rest of Koslovic and Frieden supporters living there, the UNSC saw an opportunity to end the rebellion. They sent the newly-repaired UNSC Split to demolish the hostile fleet, though the Split was destroyed in the process (along with around 2/3 of her tenant fleet).

The carriers were then sent in to test a new breed of troopers, predecessors to the ODSTs, and were deployed using brand new RD-1 Drop Jets. Though the operation proved the vulnerability of the Jets, their strategy - using huge numbers of UNSC Marines to overwhelm their enemies - was a crushing success. The leaders of the Koslovic and Frieden forces (as well as their high-ranking supporters) were taken to Castillo onboard the UNSC Constitution to sign the Castillo Treaty.

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 German 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, mostly on Earth and Mars, and even one, the UNSC Constitution, was stored on Castillo (though under heavy guard). Some, like the UNSC Pacific, were deconstructed to build a military base on the Jovian moons. By the early 23rd century, no further records of this ship were mentioned.

Human-Covenant War
After Reach fell and the rest of the Inner Colony worlds, such as Earth, were threatened by a 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. When investigating the military storage facilities throughout Europe, the UNSC military leaders rediscovered the remaining Split-class carriers, in almost-perfect condition, ready to defend Earth once again. However, they only refitted with additional M910 50mm Point-Defence Guns, lost their Ballistic Missiles, and had their complements replaced with Wombat Drones and Longsword Interceptors.

2 of these ships fought during the Battle of Mombasa, launching their fighters to fight off Regret's fleet. However, they took heavy damage and casualties, before finally being destroyed by the Prophet of Truth's fleet. The rest of the class also met a similar fate across the planet, mostly because the current UNSC pilots failed to take advantage of most of the ship's capabilities.