User:07 Contrite Witness/UNSC Warspite

The UNSC Warspite was a distinguished which served with the UNSC Navy during the Human-Covenant War, and was the eighth ship to carry the name. Commissioned in 2528, the Warspite only served for a short time in the UNSC's 28th Support Fleet before it participated in Operation: EMERALD CITY, a mission to destroy an incomplete Covenant battlestation. While it succeeded in its goal, the cruiser was stranded hundreds, if not thousands of lightyears from the Human Sphere in the process. Believed lost with all hands, it spent the next nine years traveling through hostile territory, where it gathered a wealth of intelligence on the Covenant and evolved into one of the most unique ships yet seen in the UNSC Navy.

Construction
Laid down in Drydock NS-17 on August 18, 2525, the hull then known only as CA-113 was the last of twelve heavy cruisers that were being built by Tethys Shipyards of Neos Atlantis before contact was officially established with the Covenant. Its fabrication was supervised by Senior Engineer Wit Wójcik. Like all cruisers produced by Tethys, Warspite was planned to diverge from its more common Marathon-class sisters. These would have focused on augmenting its effectiveness against small attack craft, as well as further increasing its speed and reducing its vulnerability to surprise missile attacks.

The sudden arrival of the Covenant and the appearance of their incredibly-advanced weaponry prompted Hannaford to suspend construction of all capital ships they were building in January 2526, as they knew that their vessels would be ineffective against the new alien threat. Their shipwrights investigated the possibility of upgrading some vessels with thicker armor, a number of heavy naval coilguns, and other enhancements to increase survivability. While most of its sister-ships were too far along to receive anything except the armor upgrade, the Warspite 's later start meant that such modifications can be added quickly and cheaply. Work resumed on May 18, but the changes to its plans meant that it would not be launched until December 2527. It was formally commissioned on April 8, 2528, and entered service under the command of Captain Firmin Gilbert.

CPTN Misaki Hasegawa
Driven and professional, the Yamato Habitat-native Misaki Hasegawa was a living embodiment that not all officers who served in the CMA were insurrectionist sympathizers. A mechanic by trade, she served as an aviation repairman for her first four years, but her exceptional skill at leadership saw her later recommended by one of her superiors to the Kingston Officer Candidate School. Since then, her ability to recognize when it was time for talk and time for action has served her well, and she was on track to becoming a flag officer when the organization was absorbed into the UNSC when the Covenant was discovered. She was kept at the rank of Captain afterwards, not just because the UNSC preferred to give their own people admiral positions. No, she had a number of traits that they believed made her unsuitable for the role, including a noted temper, a strong moral code that made her reluctant to expose her people to harm, and a firm allegiance to the colonies rather than the UNSC proper.

Misaki had only recently transferred from her previous command, the battlecruiser Chivalrous Fate, before the Warspite was deployed on Operation: EMERALD CITY. Despite this, she adapted to the crew remarkably quickly and maintained order in the face of difficult odds. However, she found it difficult to transition from the confrontational combat in which she was trained to the careful balancing of maneuvering, sabotage, and even covert manipulation of the Covenant, though in the end she did it. Although she put up a very strong public face, in private she was tormented by self-doubt, which manifested itself as an addiction to various hallucinogenic substances.

Upon her return, Hasegawa was awarded the Legion of Honor and the position as a Rear Admiral, which she declined. Instead, she transitioned to the UNSC Navy Reserve, and was killed during the Siege of Sol.

LCDR Danton Irwin
Eccentric but brilliant, the Warspite 's chief medical officer has issues that make people nervous around him in the medical bay. While a very capable physician who uses several procedures he developed himself, Irwin's past in the Insurgent/pirate cell on Campbell's Landing made him initially untrustworthy by most. The fact that he was recruited from jail after being charged for smuggling is reflected by the crew's joke that he would steal a leg if he can get away with it. The other issue is that Irwin often butted heads with authority and was a mild believer of the Other Homeworld Theory, giving him a dislike of Earth's culture.

Irwin was still serving as a lieutenant when his predecessor was killed during an ambush from the then-unknown Yonhet. His experience in numerous (partially due to his insurgent roots) made him an invaluable advisor and allowed him to upgrade the cruiser's medical equipment throughout its voyage. While generally a private man who faked a lack of empathy, those that got to know him were surprised to learn that he was deeply disturbed by what he has done in the past to survive, and will do anything to ensure that he and his fellow crewmates will survive.

Years later, despite being given the option to retire, Irwin continued to serve on. Eventually, he was appointed the UNSC Navy's Surgeon General after the war, introducing a number of reorganizational changes that modernized the department for the future.