"With victory, we will pay the recompense for our past sins. So shall the first flagship of the Concordat be declared: Triumphant Penance."
-Fleetmaster Yko 'Kragum
Triumphant Penance is a CAS-class Assault Carrier in service to the Concordat and the Universal Council of Races. Once serving as the single flagship of the entire Concordat fleet, the Carrier now commands the largest of the handful of battlegroups in the combined Concordat fleet; it will resume its flagship position should the entire combined fleet be required for an operation. It is commanded by Fleetmaster Yko 'Kragum.
History[]
Ex-Vegan Conflict[]
(wip)
Paradisus[]
(wip)
Osea Conflict[]
(wip)
Current period[]
The Triumphant Penance became the flagship of the Fleet of Valorous Declaration, which in addition to the Assault Carrier includes two CCS-class Battlecruisers, two CPV-class Destroyers, one DSC-class Support ship, four CAR-class Frigates and six ADP-class Escorts, making the fleet composed of sixteen vessels in all.
Specifications[]
Superstructure and Hull[]
The Triumphant Penance, a CAS-class Assault Carrier, has a length of 5,347 meters (17,540 ft) , a beam of 2,118 meters (6,950 ft), and a height of 700 meters (2,300 ft). As one of the few Assault Carriers the Concordat navy currently employs, it belongs to the largest ship class they use. Although the CAS-class carrier's height is inferior to an Infinity-class Supercarrier, its width, length, and volume are each greater than the Infinity-class.
Like other CAS-class Assault Carriers, Triumphant Penance is divided into three large sections for simplicity of identification due to its large size; Fore, Mid, and Aft. Each section is interconnected with the other for storage of personnel and equipment, as well as distribution of defenses such as weapons and generators for the shields.
The class' hull is comprised of Covenant Nanolaminate plating. Its defense is bolstered by powerful energy shields, which are the strongest in the Concordat fleet. Like most Concordat vessels, the command deck of the Triumphant Penance is buried deep within the vessel's deck, allowing it to function even after taking tremendous damage.
Like other CAS-class Assault Carriers, Triumphant Penance is characterized by the bulbous, whale-like front, sleek silhouette and pale white-blue hull. Additionally, it can be characterized by the unique swollen and bulbous "hooked" bow section.
Rather than possessing multiple smaller hangar bays, like smaller cruisers, Triumphant Penance uses a single, gargantuan hangar bay for storage of fighters, dropships, boarding craft and small capital ships, which is 500 meters long, 320 meters wide and 120 meters high. There is a secondary hangar bay, near the stern of the carrier, above the main engines.
The assault carrier is also fitted with Modular Dispersal Technology, giving it the ability to completely detach sections of its outer hull as well as whole corridors. They can also separate into two distinct sections which leaves the rear section (with the main engines) behind and allows the fore-section to move away with previously hidden engines; the fore section, and likely the rear, are still slipspace-capable. The dispersal feature is intended to be used in order to detach sections of the carrier that sustained extensive damage, in order to increase the chances of saving what is left of the ship and its crew for future use.
The "S", or Salvation, in the carrier's three-letter classification code, "CAS", indicates that the CAS-class assault carrier is a dedicated warship capable of destroying its opponents with energy projectors.
Internal Layout[]
Control Center[]
Buried deep within the vessel's heart is the control center, also known as the Bridge and the Combat Information Center (CIC), from where the entire ship's operations are coordinated. Typically occupied by only the highest-ranking officers, the control center is a large room with a centralized bridge platform overlooking the rest of the room. Holographic controls line the outer perimeter of the raised dais. The viewscreens are also holographic projections, visible at the forward end of the room near the ceiling. The viewscreens can either display exterior views of the ship's surroundings or can display tactical data. They can also be synchronized to the onboard security cameras and can display ship schematics. The central raised dais has a large holotable which can display anything from a tactical map for fleet deployments and ground assaults to an entire layout of the ship's network interior. Behind the holotable rests an elevated platform, upon which rests a nacelle for the docking of a command chair for the commander of the ship, which can be replaced with a standard Gravity throne for when a Prophet assumes command of the Triumphant Penance.
Brigs[]
The Carrier has at least eight brigs for holding prisoners. Each is a rectangular room with eight force field-secured cells on either side, for a total of sixteen per brig. Each cell can accommodate a large number of prisoners, although normally only one is placed in each cell for security purposes against the possibility of an organized escape attempt. The cell barriers use shield door technology that keeps individuals and objects from passing through. Even plasma bolts and ballistic projectiles cannot pass through the fields. The shield barriers can be lowered by a holographic control panel on a raised platform in the center of the brig. The cells are arranged at the periphery of a spacious room, with guards patrolling them. The guards are typically Stealth elites that use their stealth to monitor the prisoners.
Cargo Bays[]
The Carrier has multiple storage bays. These bays are connected to cargo hatches and corridors that allow the transfer of materiel from other bays to either the gravity lift chamber or to the hangar bays. The storage bays are two-level expanses that contain weapons, food, and military equipment crates, in addition to storing both land and air vehicles.
Hangar Bays[]
The Carrier contains two large hangar bays; a one near the lower center of the ship, and a smaller one near the upper rear.
The primary hangar is a massive chamber 500 meters long, 320 meters wide and 120 meters high. It contains eight levels, with a large amount of space between the floors and ceilings of each level. Each bay has four retracting metal doors. The bays feature energy barriers over the openings to allow or deny ships to pass through them while retaining atmosphere and pressure inside the ship in both modes. Each launch area in the bay is capable of housing dropships and Banshee attack craft. Retracting elevators in the decking of each bay are used to ship Covenant ground and air craft into the bays for launching or for gravity connection to a waiting dropship. These elevators lower into holding areas adjacent to cargo bays. Seraph Fighters are docked in a labyrinthine network of nodes in the ceiling of the hangar, which serves to recharge and refuel each fighter when not in use.
The secondary hangar is more like the primary hangars used in other Cruiser types of the Concordat navy. It is three-tiered, with plenty of space between the floors and ceilings of each level. The three-tier bay has two retracting metal doors. The bay also features energy barrier technology in the opening. The secondary hangar is connected to the primary through the use of tunnels large enough to fit a pair of standard fighters through. Each launch area in the bay is capable of housing dropships, banshee attack craft and Seraph fighters. The Retracting elevators in the decking of each bay are used to ship Covenant ground and air craft into the bays for launching or for gravity connection to a waiting dropship. These elevators lower into holding areas adjacent to cargo bays.
Gravity Lift[]
Triumphant Penance is equipped with a single ventrally mounted gravity lift, enabling quick and easy transportation of personnel, vehicles, equipment and supplies to a planet's surface. A large, circular platform can be detached and lowered to the ground to provide a stable surface for disembarking and embarking troops, vehicles, and materiel. The platform has eight interlocking hinges and is carried with the ship; when the Carrier is in position over a planet's surface, the eight interlocks retract and the beam repels the platform at a controlled descent to the surface. Once on the ground the platform acts as an anchor for the ship. The ship can make use of the gravity lift without the platform, but it must remain in position. When attached to the ship, the central gravity platform doubles as the firing port for the energy projector.
The gravity lift bay is similar in design to the hangar bay except that it is only three levels high. The gravity lift's door mechanism is situated in the center of the room, with cargo and personnel hatches located around the circular bay's walls.
Corridors[]
Triumphant Penance features a labyrinthine network of curved corridors, with circuitry concealed behind purple metal casings. At junctions, gaps in the ceiling and floor appear to accommodate Huragok or Yanme'e maintenance personnel, allowing them to float between levels easily and quickly. The doors on the Carrier open by a three-way system. Unlocked doors are outlined in white light, while locked ones have crimson light. They are protected from electronic intrusion by a 128,000-bit modulating encryption key, but this key can be penetrated by a sufficiently advanced "Smart" artificial intelligence within minutes.
Engines and engine room[]
The Engine room of the Carrier holds six levels for maintaining the repulsor engines. The Engine room is huge, able to store a Scarab. Despite the primary composition of Engine personnel being Yanme'e and eventually Huragok, there are several interconnecting walkways and bridges for foot traversal. Even so, movement is typically done through the use of anti-gravity bridges like those on High Charity. The engine room contains fiber-optic cables that run from to the control room. These cables are very delicate and, if severed, can cause the vessel to crash.
Propulsion[]
For propulsion, Triumphant Penance relies on large deuterium-tritium pinch fusion reactors, housed in cavernous chambers, which power the ship's vital systems, as well as the three aft-mounted repulsor engines that propel the ship, capable of operating in a vacuum or in an atmospheric environment. The Carrier also employs non-reactive gravity drives for standard maneuvering and hovering above the surface of a planet, resisting its gravity.
The vessel is propelled by three massive engine units, and like all Concordat vessels, possesses the ability to make pinpoint slipspace jumps in atmosphere. However, such slipspace jumps would cause massive discharges of EMP, rivaling those set off by nuclear devices, so this tactic is not relied upon unless in the absolute last resort.
Armament[]
Currently the most powerful starship in the combined Concordat fleet, the Triumphant Penance possesses multiple energy weapons which make it a significant threat for any enemy facing the Carrier, despite the current familiarity with older Covenant technology.
The Triumphant Penance's primary armament is a powerful projector mounted on the Fore section of the ship; it can choose between a long-range Plasma Lance for single ships, or a shorter-range Plasma Beam that can destroy multiple vessels in one activation. The Fore section also has Plasma Torpedo launchers, which can only be used in conjunction with the Plasma Lance due to energy constraints while using the Plasma Beam. The Mid section has Plasma Cannon arrays and Plasma Torpedo launchers for port and starboard targets, while the aft section also possesses Plasma Cannon Arrays and Plasma Torpedo Launchers for rear targets. Each section possesses several dozen sets of Pulse Laser turrets for intercepting missiles and taking out whole flights of fighters and bombers, as well as boarding parties that get too close. The most terrifying weapons, however, are certainly the Energy Projectors outfitted on the Carrier.
Despite improvements to ship technologies used by other primary factions, the Triumphant Penance could still pose a considerable threat, being superior to older human vessels in both durability and firepower, with the ship still being capable of destroying several types of powerful warships used by dedicated navies.
However, it is very important to note that the Carrier's current ability to devastate whole battlegroups is not at full strength; the ship is still being refit and repaired from damages acquired when it was in the Covenant war. Additionally, restrictions are still in place by the UCR to prevent any chance of such a powerful warship from being used in terrible attacks that could wipe out tens of thousands of lives in a short time. A sophisticated intelligence system is currently installed on board the ship to prevent the current commander from ever lifting the restrictions on the weapons without executive orders from the UCR.
Crew and Compliment[]
The Triumphant Penance's colossal size requires it to be crewed by several thousand personnel at any given time. The ship's living quarters, which consist of habitat domes, hunting grounds, and places of repose for the ship's permanent crew, is located in the lower bow section behind the energy projector. The Assault Carrier is capable of deploying a military force sizable enough to secure an entire city alone. The cavernous main hangar has the capacity of carrying hundreds of Seraph multirole fighters, Banshee attack craft, Type-52 Phantom and Type-25 Spirit dropships, and boarding craft.
The Carrier is currently commanded by Fleetmaster Yko 'Kragum. It can be commanded by a number of other personnel when he is not present or pending other circumstances; a Prophet, a UCR military commander, or 'Kragum's second in command.
Supplementing their considerable infantry detachments, the Carrier holds large fleets of Ghosts and Wraiths, along with a number of Scarabs. The primary hangar is large enough to accommodate its full complement along with storing a UNSC frigate or destroyer. The Carrier is also fitted with Covenant escape pods.
The Triumphant Penance was once the single flagship of the Concordat navy, and will resume the role for the combined fleet should the entire force be required. Though designed for planetary combat, the ship also excels at ship-to-ship combat, possessing multiple pulse laser batteries, plasma turrets, and at least one energy projector. Along with the larger CSO-class supercarrier, the Triumphant Penance is designated a "Class-Five flagship carrier" by the UNSC due to its use at the center of a fleet.
Due to the absence of a dedicated mobile refit station for the Concordat besides whatever the UCR can provide, the Triumphant Penance can use an auxiliary purpose of the CAS-class and act as a mobile refit, repair, servicing and refueling station. Like many vessels in the Concordat fleet, the vessel was capable of rapidly deploying soldiers to the front with the use of orbital insertion pods. Like most Concordat ships, they also possess gravity lifts, used for ferrying supplies, personnel, and vehicles from the ship and to a planet's surface.
The Triumphant Penance also contains a sizeable nature reserve on board.