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This fanfiction article, Citadel-class Siege Cruiser, was written by Ajax 013. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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- "A terrible thing, a sword of judgement held over the heads of the unfaithful, the sceptics. That sword has now been turned upon its Covenant masters."
- ―Fleet Master Ferum 'Vulkar
A tool of San Shyuum design, the original SVR-class Siege Cruiser was a tool of oppression and compliance. As one of the first mainline cruisers of the Covenant, it was used to occupy colonies resistant to the Writ of Union, and when crewed by the faithful, it became a powerful occupation ship, breaching rebel blockades and deploying ground forces. In this respect, the vessel is a direct precursor to vessels such as the CCS-class Battle Cruiser and the CAS-class Assault Carrier. Using heavy armour and weapons, it penetrated orbital defences, then turned its guns to bombarding the planet below. It could deploy a sizeable force, and quickly seize settlements and war zones. Such vessels were rendered out of date by it's more flexible successors, and became a common sight in tithe fleets, and second line fleets, conducting police actions and holding planetary garrisons. While the continued use of such vessels is distasteful to the Swords of Sanghelios, such vessels are needed to fill gaps in wounded fleets, and to garrison worlds sworn to the Covenant, and other factions. Refitted with modern systems, the Citadel-class Siege Cruiser is often seen in the second wave of attacking forces, delivering troops to the ground. It's original fit included plasma mortars and a energy projector, as well as the precursor to the Pok-class Pulse Laser on the CRS-class Light Cruiser, allowing it to rapidly engage precision targets, or level whole settlements. As part of it's original role, the Siege Cruiser is armed with the Gaethet-class Siege Array, which uses a directed pulse emitter to target ground-based targets. It could alter it's fire power, to simply emit a targeted electro-magnetic pulse that could strip all defences, or a fire a directed neutron radiation beam that will kill any unprotected organic targets in a small area, but leave structures intact, and with a half-life of 15 hours the area becomes safe after a short period. Such weapons are locked under activation keys linked to the Fleet Master of the sector, blocking them from ever rising above EMP range.