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This fanfiction article, UNSC Kilimanjaro, was written by Sev40. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission. |
| UNSC Kilimanjaro | |
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| Career | |
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Career: |
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Builder: |
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Launched: |
May 26, 2494 |
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Commissioned: |
January 19, 2495 |
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Decommissioned: |
September 13, 2495 |
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Status: |
Active |
| General characteristics | |
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Class and type: |
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Length: |
1,518 metres (4,980 ft) |
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Beam: |
373 meters (1,220 ft) |
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Height: |
496 metres (1,627 ft) |
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Propulsion: |
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Slipspace drive: |
K8ME Beagle SFTE |
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Slipspace speed: |
1.9 lightyears/day |
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Complement: |
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Armament: |
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Armor: |
254 centimetres of Titanium-A1 battleplate |
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Spacecraft/aircraft carried: |
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| [Source] | |
- "Victoria pertinet ad aptissimum."
- ―Ship's motto (Latin: Victory belongs to the fittest.)
The UNSC Kilimanjaro (hull classification code: CB/CBC-6), affectionately known by its crew as the Killer, was a Valiant-class large cruiser that served with the UNSC Navy during the Human-Covenant War. Introduced during the Insurrection as one of the most advanced ships ever commissioned by the UNSC, the Kilimanjaro served for only a few years before plaguing issues from her advanced Magnetic Accelerator Cannon and her next-generation fusion drives limited her service. Placed in a reserve fleet above Mars, the Admiralty would debate for years about what to do with the Kilimanjaro and her sisters until finally in 2522 she was relaunched as a command ship for the entire FLEETCOM Sector Seven fleet. Despite her position being seen as ceremonial, she was both the most well-armed and most durable warship in the sector when the Covenant fleet arrived. It would become best known for being the flagship of Vice Admiral Jean Mawikizi, who would be forced to cede more than half a dozen colonies to the Covenant. It would serve him faithfully until the Fall of Alluvion, when it was destroyed by Thel 'Vadamee's Fleet of Particular Justice.
Operational History[]
Construction and Initial Decommissioning[]
- "It is due to the findings of this board that the Halifax Shipbuilding Corporation has engaged in corruption and money-loitering to force the UNSC to accept warships that were simply not tested whenever they were ready for combat... As advised by the UEG Secretary of Defence, all ships built to the specifications of the UNSC Valiant, as well as any other ships whose commissioning was premature, must be stripped of their name, deactivated and scrapped."
- ―UEG Corruption Commission, on the fate of the Valiant-class.
The ship that would be christened the UNSC Kilimanjaro would be first laid down in Halifax Spacewerx's Capital Construction Yard Three near Mars on May 24, 2490, originally under the authority of Chief Engineer Daniel Malcoms. She would only spend a year and a half above Mars, as the integration and delivery of Boglin Fields' state-of-the-art fusion drives were delaying the launch of earlier vessels. As a result, she and six other vessels[1] would be moved to their secondary engineering facilities above Luna to continue fabrication. This stump in production would actually work in favour of these ships, as the delay would give time for new insights to be revealed on how to streamline the Valiant-class as a whole as well as rectifying previously difficult issues. New improvements were made, the most significant being a full 3% reduction of the alloys needed for construction while lightening it by about 380,000 tons, along with slightly more efficient placement of weapons and column supports. A steady of shipment of resources from the Offworld Shipping Company would further speed up production, to the point where it would be launched four years and two days after first being laid down. Despite pressure from Halifax executives, no other Valiant-class cruiser would beat this record, with the next closest being four years and five months.
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| The UNSC Kilimanjaro being built above Luna. |
In spite of its size, the new cruiser's space trials would be conducted extremely quickly. This was not because of the incredible quality of the vessel, but because Halifax actively bribed the UNSC naval assessors to skip a number of criteria checks to bring them into service as quickly as possible. As a result, the ship would be commissioned on January 19, 2495, less than a year after she was launched. Following the same naming scheme as her sister-ships built over Luna, the new cruiser would be named after one of Earth's mountains. In this case, her namesake was Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the African continent.
The newly-minted UNSC Kilimanjaro would be assigned as the acting flagship of the UNSC's Seventh Fleet, placed under the command of one Captain Oscar Jørgensen. In a particularly-famous incident, the UNSC Kilimanjaro would be recalled back to Earth almost as soon as she entered Sgòthein's orbit when a UEG-sanctioned investigation revealed that all Valiant-class cruisers were illegally rushed through their trials. She would be stripped of her commission and scheduled for scrapping thanks to a lack of confidence in her capabilities and reliability. The entire fleet of super-heavy cruisers would be moved to the Aszod Shipbreaking Yards on Reach. While the actual breakdown of the Kilimanjaro was not scheduled until 2499, salvagers already worked to safely remove fragile and loose equipment that could be sold to interested buyers at a discount. Thankfully, they would be convinced to merely put the class into storage, and the Kilimanjaro would be locked up in the colony's expansive mothball yards until the Admiralty could decide whenever its firepower would ever be necessary.
Reactivation[]
- "Dust off the missile pods, lieutenant."
Human-Covenant War[]
Siege of Chi Rho[]
Fall of Alluvion[]
Assigned as the flagship of the forty ship-strong Strike Group Kilimanjaro, Mawikizi and the Kilamanjaro was one of more than a hundred ships secretly recalled to the Inner Colony world of Alluvion. Having detected a small number of Covenant scout ships in the past few months, HIGHCOM knew that Alluvion has been compromised. Rather than abandon the world, the UNSC would seek an easy victory by deploying overwhelming force. Three other battlegroups were in the system, although only one, Strike Group Romeo led from the Pegasus-class cruiser-carrier UNSC Karkadann, would be guarding Alluvion itself. Mawikizi's armada, not only the largest but also the most modern, would lie in wait behind the planet's moon.
Crew Manifest[]
- CPTN Ashok Raymond - Captain after 2535.
- VADM Jean Mawikizi - Commanding officer after 2535.
List of Appearances[]
- RP:Light of the Abyss (First appearance)
Notes[]
- ↑ These ships would be the UNSC Everest, UNSC Kosciuszko, UNSC Elbrus, UNSC Denali and the UNSC Aconcagua. The last, the UNSC Vinson Massif, would be scrapped before entering service.