Kagemusha-Class Prowler

undefined Although classed as a Prowler, the IX-991 originally started as a series of light patrol corvettes intended for colonial defence. As the Covenant began its campaign against the Inner Colonies, the series was altered into a new variant or Prowler, serving as a testbed for new technologies.

History
Sierra Star Systems were contracted in 2530 to construct a replacement to the Mako-class corvette, which had already been withdrawn from service in all but the furthest backwater colonies. Submitting two entries, both were selected for construction, and prototypes were developed at the Reach Naval Shipyards.

The first prototype was designated the IX-990, and was intended to be a heavily armed combat corvette, easy to operate and mass-produce. The reasoning behind it was that Colonial Militia were woefully under-equipped, especially for space combat. THe IX-990 would be provided to colonies, allowing them to defend themselves, and freeing UNSC Navy warships for frontline duties.

The second prototype was designated the IX-991, and was designed as a scouting variant. equipped with advanced Hall Effect Thrusters, and an improved slipspace drive, the early prototype demonstrated early on in its development that it was capable of shorter slipstream transitions. Advanced sensor equipment was installed, as well as a rudimentary active camouflage system, though it still matched none of the Prowlers then ibn service.

The fall of the last Outer Colonies in 2531 changed the fate of the IX-991. The IX-990 was scrapped altogether, with FLEETCOM believing that resources should be spent on the UNSC Navy warships that already existed, rather than spending it on an ineffective and undertrained militia. The IX-991 almost shared this fate, requisitioned at the last moment by ONI Section Three as a testbed for improvements being developed for the rest of the Navy.

Over the next three years, the seven IX-991 hulls would recieve a number of modifications. Rotating sections were replaced with conventional decks fitted with artificial gravity generators, and a superior fusion reactor and an improved Hall Effect Thruster were installed. The ships made the transition into fully-fledged Prowlers with the installation of a prototype metamaterial with a negative refractive index, a feature that improved stealth features significantly. By 2540, the seven prototypes underwent field testing, performing far in excess of projected performance.

Given the security level that surrounds most ONI projects, at almost a paranoid level, little is known about the first engagements, between 2541 and 2550. The entire line was requisitioned by the UNSC 30th Fleet for Operation: HOT GATES, where they assisted in the orbital defence of the planet, laying HORNET nuclear mines at choke points, ferrying captured Covenant prisoners back to Reach for interrogation, and providing orbital image and thermal intelligence to ground forces. The Hunter's Arrow in particular played a key part in the defence of the Sierra Grande Space Elevator. After most of its crew were dosed to near-lethal levels of radiation, most were forced to be admitted to the Hospital Ship Herald, leaving the XO, Commander Keith Landers, in command.

As with the rest of 30th Fleet, the Prowlers returned to Earth prior to its invasion by the Covenant. The Hunter's Arrow, along with the Herald-class Orbital Support Ship Aeneas, were drawn through slipspace in the wake of a Covenant Assault Carrier, their coordinates unknown. A joint Sangheili-UNSC taskforce was dispatched after the Battle of Installation 00 to ascertain their status.

Design
The IX-991 has a radically improved series of stealth features, with innovations in the development, manufacture, and installation of Radar- and MASER-resistant materials. However, the most important innovation is the use of metamaterials with a negative refractive index, allowing the Prowler superior optical camouflage over its predecessors. These materials do not require power input from the ships reactors, and are not compromised by physical contact with debris, like the photoreactive panels standard on other Prowlers, and maximise power efficiency as well is magnifying its stealth capacity. Rather than just turning opaque, the craft is rendered truly invisible. Structurally, the ship follows a conventional layout, with the bridge at the bow of the ship, and the engineering section at the stern, and crew quarters and storage midship. Externally, the hull is an angular shape, designed to maximise the reflection of enemy Radar. LIDAR is rendered useless by the metamaterials, and sensor bouys are capable of jamming MASER sensors.

Other innovations include the realspace and slipspace propulsion drives. The ships fusion reactor powers an efficient Hall Effect Thruster, using accelerated ionised gases to provide thrust through space, with conventional chemical rockets used to control pitch, yaw and roll. These thrusters and rockets are shrouded in the same metamaterial, preventing enemy sensors from tracking the ion trail. The slipspace drive also used the 2549 revised slipstream revised calculations for the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, allowing a 0.535 lightyear-per-day increase in speed for interstellar jumps.

As with all Prowlers, the IX-991 does not carry standard combat armaments, relying on its stealth features being uncompromised to maintain its invisibility. For limited engagements, such as point-defence and the destruction of enemy drones or satellites, the ships are equipped with three dueterium-fluoride chemical lasers, the new DEW-99 Pulse Laser Turrets. They also carry a single Archer missile pod, though they lack any form of CIWS turret or MAC. Their missions mean that use of any weapon systems compromise their stealth temporarily, but they are also able to launch strikes from extremely close to an enemy fleet, sometimes within its midst. IX-991 Prowlers normally carry twenty four HORNET nuclear mines, capable of laying these without compromising their stealth, setting traps for enemy ships.

Ships of The Line

 * UNSC Hunter's Arrow
 * UNSC Huginn
 * UNSC Muninn
 * UNSC One-Eyed Wanderer
 * UNSC Raven
 * UNSC Orion
 * UNSC Nighthawk

Quotes

 * "I served aboard the Orion at Delta Pavonis. We hid under the noses of the Covenant for fifteen hours, within kilometers of their main formation, and the only hint thehy had we were there was when we detonated our HORNET mines. By that time, though, it was far too late."
 * "Rather than rely on crude photoreactive panels, the IX-991 stealth uses metamaterials with a negative refractive index - they're not just transparent, they're truely invisible!"
 * "As far as I know, there's only seven of them in service. There's rumours of an eighth, sent into Covenant territory with a NOVA, but they're probably just rumours."
 * "I know a guy, who has a brother, who'se girlfriend dated someone who served aboard the Hunter's Arrow. How's that for Prowler Corps security?"
 * "The Hunter's Arrow was at Minorca. It and the One-Eyed Wanderer laid the HORNET minefield in orbital formation before the Juno Corridor. That single-handedly took out half the Covenant ships during the second wave!"