Apostle's Song-class contrite bellator

The Apostle's Song-class contrite bellator, classified by the UNSC as the -class battlecruiser, is a Third-Rate Bellator, and one of the most successful lineages of warships to serve in the Covenant.

Role
The Apostle's Song-class bellator's primary role is that of a generalist warship that can satisfy nearly every niche required by a given Covenant fleet. It is intended as a multifunctional tool that can be used in both fleet engagements and planetary assault, where it finely balances firepower, durability, speed, and troop-carrying capabilities. In a fleet, they are expected to combine the function of a destroyer with the screening capabilities of a small frigate. They can easily routing almost any smaller ship alone, save the Covenant's destroyers, as their weapons have the firerate, tracking, and accuracy to hit them repeatedly. They also carry the punch to damage a larger capital ship, but in a one-on-one action, the bellators will lose this engagement. However, their best use is being substituted in for other, more specialized vessels. They have the minimal facilities needed to conduct excavations of Forerunner reliquaries and survey operations. They can also stand in for flagships if needed, where they are usually at the head of small flotillas.

When conducting planetary assault, the Apostle's Song carries a detachable gravity lift to allow it to quickly deploy large numbers of ground troops onto the surface. Once this is done, they take act as a command center for local ground campaigns, and provide support with naval artillery, fighters, and detailed sensor data to achieve a decisive advantage over their enemies. It is the lightest ship that is equipped with an excavation beam that can be used for widespread glassing of enemy worlds.

Apostle's Songs also have uses in non-military applications. Usually they are tasked with ferrying VIP cargo throughout Covenant space, such as tributes confiscated from rebelling worlds. A handful of demilitarized cruisers have been used in the fabrication of megastructures such as worldships.

Protection
Apostle's Songs use an extensive series of protective spaces within its hull, which are referred to as the ship's citadel. This immense structural element resembles a long spar that runs from the cruiser's midsection down to the aft section, and is responsible for protecting the cruiser's delicate primary systems from harm, such as its combat information center, its two powerplants, and the engines. It also encompasses the vital communications lines and power conduits needed for the ship's operation. To achieve this, it is reinforced with additional bracing and an internal armor belt, and this strengthening also offers the benefit of mitigating a potential weak point that could cause the cruiser to snap under damage. The citadel style found on these vessels was first innovated on the preceding Honesty's Guardsmen-class bellators. While it uses more modern materials and construction techniques for extra strength without the same weight, the introduction of energy shields means that it is proportionally smaller than on the older ships. As a result, far, far fewer systems are covered by the citadel.