Vrathek-Class Cruiser

The first post-Schism warship series produced by the Covenant, the Vrathek-class is a significant backwards step by its builders, relying upon Jiralhanae designs and technological concepts, incorporating few pre-Schism Covenant technologies beyond its thrusters and shields. Constructed at the Thratakrathak Shipyards above Unmoving Virtue, it quickly became the most common Jiralhanae warship fielded against Sangheili and UNSC forces.

History
The replacement of the Sangheili with the Jiralhanae was instrumented by the Prophet of Truth, and while it only reached its fruition at the end of 2552, its beginnings were considerably earlier. Jiralhanae scientists, such as they are, had already begun planning stages for the transition of power, and part of this included implementing their own technology among the new armed forces. The most visible evidence if this were the Spikers, Brute Shots and Maulers among infantry, as well as the Prowler and Chopper vehicles that replaced the Sangheili-used Ghosts and Spectres. However, the ultimate symbol of this was the Vrathek-class Cruiser, an entirely unique design built from the ground up using Jiralhanae designs and technologies, built using Jiralhanae combat doctrine in mind.

The first of the Vratheks was operational in 2552, and saw action of the Battle of Installation 05. It had arrived using an upcoming military wargame as cover, the premise being that it was to take part in these games to represent Jiralhanae determination. As conflict between Loyalist and Separatist forces erupted, the Vrathek found itself on the wrong side of the battle, among the Sangheili-held portion of the Fleet of Homogenous Clarity. Feigning a shift in loyalties, the Vrathek fired upon a smaller Jiralhanae-held corvette, pretending that its crew had been subdued by a Sangheili strike team – in fact, the survivors from the corvette were covertly taken aboard and incorporated into the Vrathek’s crew. When a suitable moment offered itself, the Vrathek broke from the Sangheili lines, fleeing into slipspace.

Dealing such a humiliating blow to the Sangheili’s morale, the Vrathek was deemed an unqualified success, and put into mainline production immediately. Given the devastating losses, and relative scarcity of Huragok workers, the Jiralhanae were forced to use slave labour, mostly in the form of Unggoy, though they also pressed captured and subjugated Sangheili into service, forcing them to act as labourers. By 2553, seventeen more Vrathek-class ships, taking their name from the original, had been produced. The invasion of Unmoving Virtue by a joint UNSC/Sangheili strike force forced these ships into service sooner than their builders had intended, many with skeleton crews. Sabotage by Sangheili slaves crippled three before they could even leave the atmosphere, and another seven were destroyed by the joint fleet before Jiralhanae reinforcements arrived. The surviving ships would form the basis of the new Covenant Navy, gradually replacing older, more advanced and more expensive ships. The Vrathek itself, the lead ship of its class, was destroyed in battle with the Sangheili Assault Carrier Bringer of Holy Light.

Operations
The first ship of the line to see action was the Vrathek, namesake of the rest of the series. Newly incorporated into the Fleet of Homogenous Clarity as a political assignment by the Prophets, the Vrathek was supposed to be a representative of the Jiralhanae’s increasing political and military status, and as such was already unpopular among Sangheili shipmasters. The fact that it was extremely distinct, bearing little resemblance to the sleek insectile ships preferred by the Sangheili, made it stand out even further. When conflict erupted, the Shipmaster of the Vrathek, Chieftain Caelus, fully expected to be utterly destroyed by the Sangheili – in a move that even the Sangheili have grudgingly admitted to be brilliant, he feigned a mutiny by its partial Sangheili crewmembers, pretending to have joined the Separatist forces. Testing the Shipmaster’s loyalty, Caelus was ordered to destroy a crippled Jiralhanae corvette – the Vrathek fired its laser turrets, utterly destroying it, satisfying Sangheili questions as to his loyalty. As the rest of the fleet engaged Flood-controlled dropships, destroying the few ships the parasite managed to infect, the Vrathek covertly recovered the lifepods that had already been launched – initially outraged by the seeming duplicity, the survivors realised the ruse and joined the Vrathek willingly, joining Caelus’ pack. As the Reverence-class Cruiser Incorruptible jumped away from the battle, taking with it the Sangheili-held ships, the vrathek broke formation, taking them by surprise, and fleeing to slipspace.

The legend of a Jiralhanae ship hiding amongst the Sangheili fleet quickly spread, and such a damaging blow to the Sangheili morale was deemed an unqualified success of the class, and another seventeen were built – and were hastily put into action as a Sangheili and UNSC strike force invaded Unmoving Virtue. During the initial hours, the only member of the class, the Vrathek itself, was forced to hold its own against Sangheili Seraphs and UNSC Longswords. Of the twenty three ships under construction, only seventeen were ready for deployment, and then only with skeleton crews - and of them, sabotage by Sangheili insurgents crippled three, resulting in matter-antimatter explosions in the shipyards. Fourteen managed to escape the blast, and joined the battle, relieving the now badly damaged Vrathek. This blast was a signal for a massive uprising (see below), which denied the rest of the ships in the shipyards from deploying. Though the surviving fourteen Vrathek-class cruisers managed to survive the destruction, joining the Vrathek in battle, seven were lost to the invading forces early on, their shields failing within seconds. In an increasingly desperate situation, the surviving ships jumped on the orders of the Prophet of Assurance, regional governor of the local region, abandoning the system to its fate. Its slipspace drive crippled, the Vrathek fought on, bringing down two UNSC frigates and a Sangheili cruiser before succumbing to its wounds.

Despite the devastating loss of the largest Jiralhanae shipyards, the Covenant nevertheless managed to salvage some things from the event – the few ships that worked did so splendidly, proving their effectiveness in battle. Furthermore, several of the ships continued to operate despite the sabotage of Sangheili and Huragok workers, proving that it was robust enough for the purposes of the Jiralhanae. More Vrathek-class ships would be built at the Qu’thra Shipyards on Unwavering Purity, and would prove effective in the war against the Sangheili.

Design
While the Sangheili placed a heavy emphasis on manoeuvrability and cooperation between battlegroups, the Jiralhanae opt for a more simplistic approach. Each Cruisers is designed to take a tremendous beating, with robust shielding and armour – and it is also designed to dish it out, mounting two energy projectors and six plasma torpedo launchers. However, the thick hull and sheer number of weapons makes the ships unwieldy and slow to accelerate and decelerate, and they mount few pulse laser defence turrets for protection against Seraphs and Longswords. To compensate for this, Jiralhanae fleetmasters usually assign them to battlegroups of smaller but more agile ships that can provide point-defence, allowing the Vratheks to dish out heavy damage.

Structurally, the Vratheks bear a small resemblance to Assault Carriers, especially aft. Further forward, the similarity is more akin to UNSC frigates, with a dual-tiered bisected hull – the upper hull possesses the majority of the ships more powerful weapons – the projectors, plasma torpedoes, and a healthy number of laser turrets. The lower hull as a passenger combartment, where the ship stores additional troops, supplies and equipment. The lower hull is designed to detach in an emergency, operating on its own for a limited time, and fitted with a slipspace drive – essentially, it is a massive lifepod. The crew themselves have little in the way of escape options – designers of the ship never believed that any would be brought down, and saw little need for any. Instead, this feature is to protect any Prophets or holy relics that may be aboard.

Ships of The Line

 * Vrathek
 * K’rakt
 * Mertakra
 * Ontrava
 * Ilbad
 * Elbara’qa
 * Ultakra
 * Pelnath
 * Pe’lenore
 * Utsaqze
 * Vortakra
 * Mentarkun
 * Ulbretha
 * K’varkt
 * Irpana
 * Olranus
 * Prethargas
 * Gorgonipsos
 * Kushdal

K’varkt Uprising
Of particular note is the K’varkt Uprising. After the Schism, a large number of Sangheili and Jiralhanae were left stranded in pockets that would be conquered by the other. Of the Jiralhanae, the Sangheili left no prisoners, executing them all swiftly. The Jiralhanae were not as merciful – rather than kill them, Sangheili prisoners were disarmed, herded into internment camps, and brutally subjugated and used as slave labour. Most of these were transported to Unmoving Virtue, where they were used to construct the Vrathek-class Cruisers and other ships. While the slave overseers were careful not to allow their work teams too close to vital areas of the ship, such as the engineering section, weapons emplacements, thrusters, gravity lift, etc, incidents began occurring nonetheless – occasionally, a section would collapse, and though no culprit would be found, there was no question that it was Sangheili sabotage. The thought that it was the Huragok themselves never occurred to the Jiralhanae – at least, not until it was too late.

While the Huragok of Unmoving Virtue had tried to remain neutral, regarding both the Sangheili and Jiralhanae as employers rather than overlords, the Jiralhanae had no such compunctions, and though careful not to damage them, regarded the Huragok more like a valuable commodity. Though offended, the Huragok continued with the meticulous care and patience endemic to their species – until construction of the framework began, and they witnessed the slavery that they were partaking in. violence against the Huragok was deemed a heresy by the planet’s local Prophet administrator, but had still been rising steadily after the Schism – seeing the Sangheili, and the possible fate that awaited them, was the last straw. Though construction had been nearly completed, a team of Huragok managed to make minor adjustments that would prove devastating for the Jiralhanae. When three ships, the Gorgonipsos, Kushdal and Pe’Lenore attempted to take off, their reactors overloaded, detonating and devastating the shipyards – and serving as a signal for a massive uprising of Sangheili and Unggoy, with the Huragok allying themselves with the former slaves. Though unarmed and initially poorly organised, reinforcements from the orbiting fleet allowed the uprising to devastate the Jiralhanae ground positions, and destroy the other shipyards above the planet, destroying hundreds of ships in various stages of construction, denying the enemy an entire fleet. With the Jiralhanae distracted by the insurrection, and the Sangheili and human fleet wreaking havoc among their fleet,

Quotes

 * “With these ships, we shall crush the Sangheili! Let the heretics hurl their best warriors at us – we can take them, and more besides!”
 * “A single Vrathek-class ship took down four of our own cruisers and a carrier, and still managed to limp off the battlefield. Yet the humans have more success with their smaller, nimbler ships – quite the reversal, isn’t it?”
 * “Big, brutish, and ignorant of the advantages that speed and cunning can give – a perfect fit for the Jiralhanae’s barbarism.”
 * “These things are huge. And when I say huge, I mean they make our own cruisers look like playthings. Toys. Bugs. But they’re slow, and their commanders aren’t too bright.”
 * “hiding in the middle of the Elite fleet for six hours and then making off with brute lifeboats? I hate to say it, but that’s gotta take some serious guts.”