UNSC Dash

"Hey, we can clear this sky in ten seconds flat."

- Dash crewman, boasting about the Dash's remarkable acceleration performance, due to a comparatively large reactor output to its fusion drives in comparison to other vessels of its size.

The UNSC Dash (DCC-2247) ("Dashie") was a United Nations Space Command Navy Drake-Class corvette constructed and entering service in the final year of the Human-Covenant war. She distinguished herself in combat, surviving the war to serve in the Remnant War. The vessel became notable within the UNSC Navy for being the swiftest combat warship in the UNSC Fleet until 2567, due to frequent upgrades to its powerplant to support its various duties; namely its role as a support vessel for Naval Special Warfare and Office of Naval Investigation special operation deployments. In later service, the Dash was made clearly distinguishable by the ship's logo painted on both port and starboard lateral faces of the engine nacelle armour, which consisted of a cloud with a tri-coloured lightning bolt shooting forth.

Human-Covenant War
"Dash primus inter pares"

- Latin for "Dash before dishonour." Ship motto for the UNSC Dash (DCC-2247).

Construction and trials
DCC-2247 was the 842nd ship of an order of 850 Drake-class corvettes accepted by Misriah Armament's spacecraft subsidiary, Mars Spacecraft Assembly, Incorporated, and subcontracted out to Solaris Shipworks. Keel laid on 13 November, 2551 in Mars orbit, the warship was well along the road to completion when she was given the name Dash by the UNSC Naval Naming Board in January, 2552. The Dash had the misfortune of being constructed in a climate of very sharp material shortages by Solaris Shipworks, who made the executive cost- and material-saving decision to save costs and material by shortening the vessel by six meters, not installing internal titanium support beams deemed to be superfluous, and outfitting the warship with armour two centimetres thinner than specifications called for. This potentially would have been an issue has the Dash been a rated ship of the line: however, the Dash was seen as an auxiliary warship: with a lighter gun and less versatile in roles than the Paris-, Charon- and Remembrance- class frigates, the Drake-class was produced primarily for more cost effective patrolling of UNSC space that was unlikely to come under attack, and to courier VIPs and Special Operations troops. The only significant disadvantage this gave the Dash was the loss of storage space, leading to the cramming of material needing storage in unconventional space.

The Dash completed construction and outfitting on the 16th of February, 2552, and assigned a crew in the next two weeks for testing of the vessel, attaining Lieutenant Commander Karen McGrath as the commanding officer, fresh from her Executive Officer billet aboard the frigate UNSC Franklin. Her executive officer was Lieutenant Terryn Cormack, an officer fresh from Command School. Departing under her own power for her first time on the 25th of February, the Dash began six days of ship-trials, pushing the ship to its limits, drilling the crew in effective operations of the vessel and testing newly installed equipment; including the newly installed AI, Victor, who had taken the persona of a Communist Commissar. During these trials, it was discovered that the Dash had a markedly greater thrust to weight ratio than other vessels of its class. This was inadvertently caused by the decreased mass from construction cost-saving, ultimately giving the warship a considerable improvement in terms of its acceleration and manoeuvrability. Upon the Dashs return and minor repairs of defective/ incorrectly installed components discovered during the shakedown, the Dash was then commissioned on the 4th of March in a short ceremony as the newest corvette in the United Nations Space Command Navy.

The Dash's first operational deployment was initiated on 15 March, where she was issued orders from to courier personnel and light material from Mars to Reach. Making best economic speed, she arrived at Reach six days later, and offloaded its passenger and material. The Dash then received orders attaching her to Battlegroup Avon, a forty-two ship strong rapid reaction force for planetary defence. The next two and a half weeks was spent in joint fleet exercises, the crew better familiarizing themselves with their new vessel's capabilities and their own responsibilities. A pending deployment became obvious when the embarked personnel aboard the Dash were forced to sign a Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement (CINA) by Intelligence officers, and further reinforced by the embarkment of, an amalgamated Army/Joint operations unit.

Unsurprisingly, Battlegroup Avon received deployment orders on the 18th of April to respond to a significant Covenant assault on the industrial colony of Fumirole. The slipspace transit at flank speed took the battlegroup two days, arriving on April 20 at 0417 local hours, three hundred fifty million kilometers off of Fumirole. Immediately upon arrival, Covenant fleet elements were detected in high orbit around the colony: a total of twenty seven vessels, including a CAS-class assault carrier and a pair of CCS-class battlecrusiers. The Avon attempted to ping any remaining UNSC warships in system to muster support; but unbeknownst to the arriving Battlegroup, the small UNSC Navy detachment defending the colony, led by Commodore Philip Watkins aboard the light cruiser UNSC Yokohama, had been decimated three hours prior. Radio chatter of UNSC troops, augmented by militia, in heavy combat with Covenant units planetside prompted the mass deployment of troop-laden Pelican dropships, with a sizable number of Longsword escorts and Shortsword close support aircraft. The Dash contributed her two Pelicans, with NOBLE deploying with the embarked Marine detachment.

The Covenant fleet was already committed to an orbit around Fumirole before it would be able to manoeuvre to engage the UNSC battlegroup. Rear Admiral Kenneth Puchinia ordered his battlegroup to flank speed, with the intention to meet the Covenant fleet head-on to present the smallest possible target on what was essentially a collision course when it completed its fifteen minute orbit around the far side of the planet. The forty-two vessels charged their MACs, closing ranks. The Covenant vessels reappeared from the far side of Fumirole, directly on the course anticipated by the the Avon's AI, allowing for coordinated fire control. The sides of the rapidly approaching Covenant vessels glowed a brilliant blue as plasma torpedoes were shot at the closing human warships. Battlegroup Avon finally returned fire, first salvoing off thousands of Archer missiles and following up shortly thereafter with a half dozen Shiva nuclear missiles. The human battlegroup waited another few seconds before staggered streaks of fire slashing through the dark and slamming into the oncoming warships. The Dash herself gutted a destroyer whose shields had been bought down with her light MAC slug, bringing the bridge crew to a cheer. Following Shiva and Archer missile impacts, eight Covenant vessels lay crippled destroyed, leaving nineteen ships operational, with seven bloodied but operational.

A dozen of Covenant plasma torpedoes lost coherence and dissipated out of existence, but dozens more streaked towards the UNSC fleet. Acting on their own initiative, seven frigates broke formation, toggled off their magazines of Archer missiles and Shiva missiles, and accelerated towards the oncoming plasma to protect the heavier warships in the fleet for a follow-up MAC volley. Six of the seven were rendered smoking wrecks, with the lone surviving frigate maneuvering back into formation. Roughly fifteen torpedoes managed to impact the fleet, crippling two vessels and destroying another four; with the carrier Avon alone taking five hits to her flanks. However, thirty vessels of the human fleet managed to survive the Covenant torpedo volley to fire off a second MAC volley, reducing the number of Covenant warships to thirteen.

Devoid of electrical charge required for another salvo and quickly closing with the Covenant fleet, the human warships spread themselves out for close combat with Covenant forces. Plasma torpedoes were already arching towards the lead elements of the battlegroup, which as a whole was committed to executing a slingshot orbit around Fumirole due to orbital mechanics. Reduced by seven ships, Rear Admiral Puchinia's command intercepted the Covenant units at 0441 hours, with UNSC vessels executing erratic emergency thruster manoeuvring to dodge Covenant vessels. Three human vessels, crippled by plasma torpedoes on the run in, were unable to make the necessary course corrections required to manoeuvre free of collision with Covenant vessels, with a Destroyer colliding with a CCS-class cruiser and exploding. Point defense fire perforated the hulls of both forces, with the Dash herself suffering minor hull damage; miraculously escaping serious damage despite being close abeam to the Avon when she suffered extensive damage from exploding Archer missile pods.

Bursting through the tattered Covenant formation at almost twenty-five thousand meters a second, Rear Admiral Puchinia's twenty remaining operational human warships had sufficient velocity to be outside of the effective engagement envelope for plasma torpedoes, and disappeared around the far side of the planet. The fleet used the precious minutes their orbit bought them to recharge MACs, make corrective burns to adjust course for a successive engagement. However, upon completing their orbit, the battlegroup was surprised to find the Covenant ships reentering Fumirole's atmosphere at high velocity, presumably making the assumption that UNSC kinetic weaponry would be unable to effectively engage their vessels from orbit. Successive volleys of MAC slugs from the orbiting UNSC vessels quickly largely disproved this notion.

The remaining Covenant warships were quickly dispatched; all bar a single CCS-class battlecruiser, which had taken position above the capital of New Cavershum. Unable to engage due the high probability of friendly fire occurring with a weapon of mass destruction, the orbiting human fleet licked their wounds and began making repairs, taking up geosynchronous firing positions in orbit; while the deployed troops began to deal with the marauding battlecruiser. Within hours, a massed assault began, led by NOBLE team and utilizing mechanized and aerial support provided by orbiting vessels. This effort resulted in the destruction of the CCS-class battlecruiser; however, significant personnel losses were incurred on the assault, especially from NOBLE team; losing aboard the battlecruiser, with  attaining significant injury. NOBLE remained in the field despite its losses, greatly aiding in offensive operations while the wounded personnel of the deployed contingent began medical evacuation to the carrier Avon.

The rare victory was well received by the ranks, especially aboard the Dash: post battle analysis by Naval Intelligence awarded the small warship a destroyer kill and an assist on crippling a destroyer, earning the Dash a mention in dispatches. The rare human victory in orbit was somewhat tempered by the attrition of UNSC forces: twenty ships remained of a deployed force of forty-two. Of that number, fourteen remained undamaged and fully combat effective; only one frigate among that number. 6,322 UNSC Naval and Marine personnel perished in the orbital melee.

With only one other atmosphere rated vessel, the Frigate Polonya, the Dash was assigned to enter the atmosphere of Fumarole and support the follow up period of "mop up" operations, acting in a fire support role with Marine and Army elements in combat against Covenant troops still on the ground from the 21st through to the 29th of April. Maintaining an altitude of 1250 metres, the crew gained great prestige among deployed ground units for the effectiveness and thoroughness of their 50mm railgun fire support assistance, saving many lives and making the task of thoroughly clenching the colony of Covenant forces.

Upon successful completion of surface operations, the Dash returned to orbit alongside the remaining fleet, where they held a protective vigil over the planet until it was relieved by Battlegroup Nagoya on April 30, and issued orders to return to Reach for refit and repair.

Operation: MINOTAUR
The Dash was given instruction upon arrival at Reach to report to an orbital refitting facility. Upon arrival at the designated shipyard, the crew was surprised to learn that their vessel to undergo week-long retrofitting of stealth ablative coatings and supporting subsystems for an impending deployment. The had taken interest in the Dashs superior speed and agility, which when coupled with the vessel's ability to provide fire support, made her uniquely suited for special operations. The vessel was not willingly given up by, who ultimately conceded that the vessel was available to ONI purely only when not otherwise in usage by the Navy in normal operations, strategic reconnaissance and deployment of NAVSPECWAR assets.

The resultant modifications rendered the Dashs RADAR cross-section significantly reduced to appear fighter-sized, with the surface of the hull being coated with matte black stealth-ablative paint. Under this was a 2 centimetre layer of angled re-entrant triangle-style baffles, which were constructed of RADAR-absorbent material in order to trap and deflect RADAR/RADAR-like beams. Additionally, subsystems were installed to cool the surface of the hull to near absolute zero in order to shield the vessel from detection in the infrared spectrum, although this was able to be manipulated to allow the Dash the match the atmospheric temperature to hide the vessel in atmosphere. The total mass added by the overhaul ended up being just over four and a half tons; negligible to performance. Additionally, one of the two Pelicans was temporarily disembarked from the vessel to be replaced with a slightly smaller and a handful of Office of Naval Intelligence personnel, including.

Dash completed overhaul on 8 May, and received orders to began preparations for an immediate deployment, departing at 0141 hours. Once en route, the officers aboard were called to the wardroom to be briefed on the deployment by the ONI personnel. Operation: MINOTAUR was a Naval Special Warfare Command counterinsurgency operation to the colony of, a manufacturing center for the UEG, with the Dashs role in the operation being providing transport and support. Mamore lay in the, which was historically a hotspot for Insurrectionist activities. Between and the reality that the UNSC was the only thing between the Covenant and Humanity's destruction, organized rebel activity in general had plummeted drastically to the point of near-nonexistence. However, Mamore was a statistical outlier: a rebellion had already been quelled once in 2537 by and another preemptively squelched through precision assassinations in 2544 by. The core of the Rebel insurgency on Mamore had lain dormant as it rebuilt strength after losing its leadership, and had only just began active operations against UNSC personnel and material, as well as indiscriminate terrorism on the civilian population. Local ONI assets had managed to ascertain the base of operations of rebel forces with the help of city infrastructure AI, based on shuttle traffic, as coming from one of the abandoned CMA mining installations on Beni, one of its half dozen moons.

To this end, deployment orders stated the Dash was to deploy, make contact with ONI intelligence units for additional intelligence, and then support 's ingress aboard his YSS-1000 Sabre. As senior officer in grade, Lieutenant Commander McGrath held operational command of the mission.

Arriving on the 10th of May approximately 600 million kilometres off of Mamore, the Dash made best standard speed burn for orbit; with SPARTAN-B312's Sabre flying alongside as an escort. Entering high orbit, the Dash made encrypted contact with the local ONI office in Madeira, who were only able to give little more than a threat estimate on the rebel installation on Beni from a deployed Charon-class drone in geosynchronous orbit: 50mm point defense cannon were anticipated, as were a number of single ships, as well as a number of shuttles with cleverly-concealed missile systems. The Dash concluded the transmission, recovered the Sabre, and began a full power burn in order to intercept Beni.

Upon circularizing orbit, an immediate burn was executed to put the Dash close to the surface near the installation. SPARTAN-B312's Sabre was scrambled to begin an ingress, with the sole remaining Pelican being armed and loaded with the Dashs complement of Marines. The Dash quickly descended to an altitude of 7 kilometres, holding altitude and position to the north of the sprawling former mining site; and enabling its powerful electronic countermeasure (ECM) suite under the highly competent control of the AI Victor to wage electronic warfare, with the aim of both disrupting rebel communications and spoofing of radar of both navigation and fire control bands. Rebel-controlled concealed 50mm point defense guns began to fire began immediately after the Dash began her jamming efforts, with rebel crews resorting to guessing ranges whilst being spoofed by jamming. The Dash, with its superior fire control, quickly retaliated against identified threats with its 50mm PDWS and targets out of range with pinpoint Archer missile strikes. The Sabre was able to quickly and efficiently able to incapacitate the remainder of the anti-aircraft defenses in short order.

However, rebel resistance did not cease. A ragtag rebel squadron, comprised of obsolete and presumably pilfered pre-war, and a number of armed transportation shuttles were detected scrambling from a camouflaged hanger, built out of an old mining shaft. In possession of aged but not yet obsolete sensors reading the electronic countermeasures and radar spoofing, the rebel-controlled pelicans and shuttles were able to immediately begin to launch missiles set to home in on the Dash. Point defense fire destroyed a majority of the incoming missiles; however, several still impacted on the hull of the warship, puncturing several compartments and wounding four sailors. Fortunately, no further damage was caused, due to a well-oiled damage control team. Archer missile fire and redirected point defense guns quickly did a number on the rebel single ships, who were maneuvering for a second volley. Timely intervention of SPARTAN-B312's Sabre provided welcome support for the Dash, the agile state-of-the-art craft tearing into the vulnerable rebel craft and reducing the attacking vessels into debris.

With no further resistance encountered by the UNSC force, SPARTAN-B312 announced intentions to make way into the Rebel stronghold. The Dash stood by with weapons poised to provide support fire as the lone fighter made way to the hanger, and disappeared from RADAR scopes. The Dashs sole pelican orbited the corvette, the 32 personnel of the marine detachment embarked for the possible contingency of rendering rapid aid to the lone SPARTAN.

SPARTAN-B312 was remained out of contact for a total of 47 minutes, apart from a periodic communications check; after which the SPARTAN dutifully reported the mission as complete. Upon return to the Dash, SPARTAN-B312 was subjected to a closed-door debriefing with ONI personnel. This led to the ONI detachment recalling and commandeering the Pelican to examine the now-empty rebel facility for intelligence, along with a FURY tactical nuclear device. The Pelican returned empty, and the Dash was flashed movement orders back to Reach.

The crew of the Dash were not learn of the results of MINOTAUR, but the impression given by embarked ONI analysts during debriefing confirmed that it had been a spectacularly effective mission. In actuality, the operation was heralded throughout the Black Operations community as a masterfully conducted mission, earning SPARTAN-B312 a well-deserved "hyper-lethal" rating. This also painted the Dash in a very favorable light, and began the trend of the Dash being made available for special operations deployments.

Armament
"The Dash's combat modus operandi is to "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee:" our sole advantage in a fight with Covenant warships is our speed and nimbleness to take a shot when it will have the most effect, and then get the hell out of the way. A lot of other heavier-tonnage ships in the fleet don't have any advantage over Covenant warships."

- Lieutenant Commander Karen McGrath, United Nations Space Command Navy. Commanding Officer of corvette UNSC Dash, July, 2552

The UNSC Dash was constructed with a standard armament for a very late-war Drake-class corvette. Armed with a Mark VII Light Magnetic Accelerator Cannon as its main armament that fit barely within the warships short frame, the warship was capable of shooting a 300 ton tungsten slug at 11,991.7 km/s - or roughly 0.03c, with the kinetic force of 3.59751 terranewtons. The Mark 7 MAC/L proved its worth throughout the Human-Covenant war to be an extremely effective on unshielded Covenant targets, and moderately effective on the shield of a Covenant Frigate. However, several follow up shots would be required to lower the shield, and by then, the Covenant warship would have cycled its shields. As such, the weapon was most effective when fired immediately following a fleet-wide volley of MAC fire on a Covenant vessel with no other damage from the volley other than lowered shields.

The Dashs MAC magazine was typically comprised fully of the 300,000 kilogram Mark IV Kinetic Projectile, Fragmentation. was comprised of a small dense depleted uranium kinetic energy penetrator that was designed to punch through the entirety of a target to inflict catastrophic damage. Shrouding the "bullet" was a magnetically-conductive layer of ferric-tungsten that allowed the projectile to be fired from a UNSC Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, and was designed to immediately begin to fragment into millions of shrapnel shards upon impact in order to perforate the maximum number of decks, crew and subsystems. Given the mass and size of the MAC projectiles, only 18 projectiles were carried aboard, stored within a magazine located just forward of the bridge.

The Mark 7 MAC/L required two minutes and fifty seconds of charge from a 'cold' uncharged state to become fully armed for combat. In part due to power recycling systems around the MAC barrel baffles, charging times for successive shots were decreased by 22% for a total time of two minutes 12.6 seconds of charge. However, a less effective underpowered MAC shot was possible at any point in time.

Complimenting the Mark 7 MAC/L, the Dash was outfitted with 26 RSGM-16 Archer pods. Each pod contained 28 Archer missiles, with a total of 672 missiles. With an effective range of 50 million kilometres, the RSGM-16 Archer Missile was an Insurrection-war era high explosive ship-to-ship missile that was utilized extensively throughout the Human-Covenant War against Covenant warships, air and ground forces. The usage of Archer missiles on Covenant warships was largely regarded as ineffective by the UNSC Navy due to the effectiveness of Covenant energy shielding technology, used effectively in conjunction with point defence LASER. However, deployment immediately after a MAC salvo was a highly effective tactic against unshielded and damaged Covenant warships, as their crews were less effective in their point defense fire.

Additionally, the Dash was equipped with a pair of RSM-19 Shiva nuclear missiles, deployed through a single centered launch tube on the bow. Roughly four times wider than an Archer missile and equipped with a multiple fissure-fusion type variable-yield warhead, the RSM-19 Shiva was the most effective weapon system in the UNSC Naval arsenal for destroying or disabling Covenant vessels. Designed to have an effective engagement range of 160 million kilometres A close detonation of a RSM-19 Shiva nuclear missile on a large Covenant warship would incapacitate it, and lower its shields for MAC fire; on a moderate to light tonnage vessel, it would destroy it. However, due to the shortage of nuclear munitions towards the end of the Human-Covenant War, usage of nuclear weapons was sparing and intentionally done after a volley of Archer missiles were already deployed at a target in order to maximize the chances of the missile surviving point defense fire to reach the most effective detonation point, just short of the Covenant warship's shields.

For point defense against hostile lightly armoured vessels, single ships and missile, the Dash was equipped with sixteen networked M502 recessed 50mm point-defense railguns, mounted in eight twin-gun turrets. Computer controlled and integrated with direct feed to the Dash's RADAR and LIDAR data for increased combat effectiveness, the M502 Point Defense was a close-in weapon system responsible for tracking, engaging and destroying extremely fast-moving enemy targets that pose a threat to the ship or station. Each mount was capable of traversing at 210 degrees per second, elevating at 135 degrees per second and firing approximately 10,000 rounds per minutes, with a muzzle velocity of approximately twenty thousand metres per second (20km/s). This allowed the weapon system to quickly shred the shields of Covenant single ships and perforate unshielded enemy vessels at an effective range of approximately two hundred kilometres, and a maximum effective range of eight hundred kilometres. Control of a ship's network of M502s was accomplished by a shipboard AI, either 'smart' or 'dumb', under the command of weapons officers on the bridge, although given the extremely rapid nature of emergent threats in zero-gee combat situations, the automated systems aboard the Dash had the authority to commence fire on targets deemed to be an clear and present threat to the Dash without the authorization of the command crew or weapons officer. Additionally, individual M502 mounts possessed their own emergency power supply and search/fire control radar, allowing them to lock onto and track their own individual targets in the event of failure of the augmented and much more powerful central search and fire control radar systems, which additionally possessed greater range and resistance to electronic countermeasures.

Additionally, the Dash was capable of being outfitted with additional subsystems depending on mission, including HORNET nuclear mine dispensers for tactical deployment of nuclear minefields.

Complement
"Alis volat propriis."

- Latin for "She flies by her own wings." Motto of 4th Detachment, 29th Strike Fighter Squadron.

The Dash was designed as a small warship, and hence was only capable of supporting a compact crew and an even smaller embarked complement of marines and flight crew. The Dash typically had a crew complement of 96 crew, consisting of 13 officers and 83 enlisted rates.

The Dashs complement of marines was from the 13th Detachment of the 47th Marine Regiment, and was comprised of a platoon of marines. Typically consisting of four officers and 32 enlisted troops, the marines had access to a pair of M12G1 Light Anti-Armor Vehicles (equipped with potent and a pair of M274 Ultra-Light All-Terrain Vehicles.

The air wing aboard the Dash was quite small in comparison with other UNSC vessels: its air wing consisted of a total of two D77H-TCI multirole Pelicans, staffed by six flight crew and another seven maintenance personnel. When both were in use, they were able to move the entirety of the Dashs marine contingent, as well as both M12G1 Warthogs as well as both M274 Mongoose.

Propulsion
"You could call Dash overpowered, but when she needs to, she can really cover ground fast. This makes her useful in many roles, and she handles like a rum-runner."

- Lieutenant Clancy Solomon, United Nations Space Command Navy. Engineering Officer of corvette UNSC Dash, July, 2552

Like all vessels of the Drake-class, the Dash's engineering spaces were designed around a slightly cut-down version V3/L Deuterium Fusion Reactor, feeding the vessels two primary fusion drive engines. The V3/L DFR usually used to power Charon-, Paris-, Stalwart- and Strident-class Frigates. The reactor was modified prior to installation to have a smaller enclosure than its cousins on larger warships, due to space restraints. The V3/L DFR was also supplemented with two smaller Mark 14 Mod2 Deuterium Fusion Reactors, in separate compartments to either side of the main reactor, both of which fed the secondary fusion drive engines. The Dash also had a single auxiliary helium gas-cooled R2/XS fast-neutron fission reactor, coupled to a closed-cycle gas turbine that was rated to operation in microgravity.

As a Deuterium Fusion Reactor (DFR), plasma is generated by the fusion of deuterium atoms. The generated plasma is channeled into a series of exhaust manifolds, which in turn, redirect it into the ship's fusion drive. The fusion drive exhaust serves as reaction mass, which provides propulsive Δv for the ship. Operating at full military power, the Dash could produce 30.116 gigawatts of heat per second at peak output, which could extract 18.07 gigawatts per second of electricity from generated plasma; and give the vessel an acceleration of 1853 metres per second squared. Minor manoeuvring and attitude control was conducted through usage of a triamino hydrazine reaction control thruster (RCS) system.

Controlled access to and egress from the slipstream space was provided by a standard UNSC military specification Series IV 'CODEN' Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine, with the fusion drives providing propulsion in slipspace. The Dash was unique in having additional capacitors that were charged before deployment to a system, drastically reducing the amount of time required before initializing another jump if necessary. This subsystem saved the Dash twice on special duty assignments with the Office of Naval Intelligence, both times allowing the vessel to escape within twenty seconds of arrival, after being detected transitioning from slipspace in a hostile system.

Hull
"The Dash is a corvette, so our hull has to be quite sturdy. Our armour plate, however, is pretty thin, but we've sacrificed that for acceleration and maneuverability. That could save us a hell of a lot better than another thirty centimeters of Titanium-A."

- Lieutenant Trevor P. Myles, United Nations Space Command Navy. Quartermaster/Damage Control Officer of the UNSC Dash, June 2553.

The specifications for the Drake-class corvette called for 12 centimetres of Titanium-A battleplate for exterior hull armour. The Dash was delivered with only ten centimeters of armour, due to cost- and material- saving decisions. This armour was considered acceptable for the duties the Dash was expected to partake in, affording the vessel protection from small arms fire and light plasma weaponry. The light armour on the Dash also contributed to her lower mass, consequently leading to her superior performance. Coating her titanium hull was a two centimeter-thck layer of angled re-entrant triangle-style baffles, which were constructed of RADAR-absorbent material in order to trap and deflect RADAR/RADAR-like beams; with a top coating of UNSC Grey stealth-ablative paint. Underlying pipes were able to pump coolant under the skin to raise or lower the temperature of the hull to be rendered thermally invisible in a multitude of scenarios.

Under her hull lay a number of layers of lead foil to provide EMP and radiation shielding to the crew, with an underlay of composite insulation to prevent the extreme temperatures of space radiate into the internal spaces of the Dash. Additionally, the hull and lead foil layers prevent the Dashs internal wireless network being detected/illicitly accessed by external sources and protected from disruption from sources of electronic warfare.

Situated beneath the lead foil and composite layers laid an air-tight belt of foam, contained within a thin titanium enclosure. Stored at pressure, this self-sealing foam was designed to automatically expand to fill a hull perforation of up to four inches in diameter and solidify rapidly in exposure to air, rendering the compartment temporarily airtight until the damage was able to be repaired. Each of the vessel's bulkheads had a separate belt of self-sealing foam on its top, bottom and sides; each of which was capable of sealing multiple punctured compartments. Under the flooring of the bottom-most deck of each section of the vessel lay an antigravity system, converting energy into gravitons which are then focused into directional beam to attain a standard one gee gravity across the whole of the vessel.

Notable Commanding Officers
Lieutenant Commander Karen McGrath
 * Commanding Officer, UNSC Dash (2552-2555)
 * Lieutenant Commander McGrath was a level-headed officer, recognized for her effective and creative interpretation of orders by receiving the Dash as her first command. Formerly serving as the Executive Officer aboard the frigate Franklin, McGrath understood the fragility of small warships exceedingly well, and avoided falling into the common trap of trying to fight technologically advanced Covenant warships head on. Utilizing stealth ablative coatings that the vessel had been outfitted with to execute missions for the Office of Naval Intelligence, McGrath helped innovate tactical asymmetric warfare with small warships, usually with only light Magnetic Accelerator Cannons and well-placed nuclear missiles.