CRS-class light cruiser (Earth-5875)

The CRS-class light cruiser is a class of cruiser within the dissolved Covenant and its splinter groups. During the First Contact War, they were mostly relegated to jiralhanae by their sangheili superiors duo to their small size and inferrior technology.

Operational history
An ancient Covenant design, CRS light cruisers were commanded by sangheili Shipmasters, most of which were Ultras in the battlefield. Upon the incorporation of the jiralhanae into the Covenant in 2492, the ships were relegated to the few jiralhanae Shipmasters by the sangheili and the san'shyuum, as they did not possess the high technology they feared the jiralhanae would use to rebel. These jiralhanae led other low caste species, such as the unggoy, the kig-yar, the yanme'e and huragok.

The crew of these ships are held in low regard by the Covenant, and Fleetmasters would not bother sacrificing these ships in order to destroy their human enemies during the First Contact War. The few jiralhane Shipmasters that managed to survive battles were slowly promoted. The Rapid Conversion, led by Chieftain Maccabeus, was one such vessel, and was the first Covenant vessel to make contact with humanity, leading to the First Battle of Shanxi that started the war. CRS light cruisers were also used during the Battle of Psi Serpentis and the Fall of Reach. As the war neared its end, the CRSs started to show signs of inefficiency. Instead of decomissioning them, the Covenant High Council repurposed them to guard fringe areas of the Covenant sphere of influence.

After the end of the war, many Covenant splinter factions, such as the Enclave and the Banished, have acquired these ships, using them for mainline space warfare, where they mostly did not fare well against modern vessels.

Specifications
Resembling a luminous manta ray, the CRS is essentially a smaller, weaker version of the CCS-class battlecruiser. CRS-class ships use a fabrication pattern similar to much larger Ket and Elefen-pattern battlecruisers, including some with atavistic mutations, such as the Zanar pattern, that make them appear friendly to forerunner sensors. One notable difference is that the CRS class bears green lights, as opposed to the white-blue lighting on the CCS class. The control coils of CRS-class light cruisers require careful fine-tuning to prevent disorientation and hallucination when operating at full power.

The four Pok-pattern pulse laser turrets coordinate fire using two dedicated auger arrays to coordinate fire and rapidly target dozens of targets in quick succession, a useful feature during suppression operations on Covenant worlds. Their Sintra-pattern plasma torpedoes are extremely fast, but their high velocity made them more difficult to guide to the target than other types of plasma torpedo, making them better employed as airborne artillery.

The "R", for Reverence, in the cruiser's three-letter classification code indicates that the cruiser is capable of conducting reconnaissance missions and is capable of excavating forerunner artifacts. The "S", for Salvation, denotes that the CRS-class light cruiser is a dedicated warship equipped with a ventral energy projector.

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