As some lore fanatics out there may know, in Halo Reach there are multiple radios that describe the battle of reach from the perspective of some marines. A collection of these radios describe how Beta Red “Supposedly” came to an end as, the UNSC Majestic fired a barrage onto three covenant cruisers above Beta Red’s position. This has really puzzled me because I am confused at what rounds the Majestic fired in order to take out 3 cruisers in the 30 seconds of trigger time that they had. The radio operator confirmed six high explosive rounds, we know that the Majestic was a destroyer so lets assume that it is a Halberd Class with 2 MAC guns. That still does not explain how they fired six rounds in 30 seconds.
Is there anyone with a large knowledge in ships that can explain this or is this simply a plot hole?
We can ignore the orbital strike from campaign since they are obviously not MAC rounds because of gameplay reasons.
Maybe the Majestic was equipped with the rapid firing MAC that the Pillar of Autumn received during its upgrades. If I recall correctly, that could fire three smaller MAC rounds in the time it would take a standard MAC to fire one.
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> Maybe the Majestic was equipped with the rapid firing MAC that the Pillar of Autumn received during its upgrades. If I recall correctly, that could fire three smaller MAC rounds in the time it would take a standard MAC to fire one.
That would make sense, but with the reduced damage will they still be able to destroy three cruisers in six shots?
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> > 2535435902217648;2:
> > Maybe the Majestic was equipped with the rapid firing MAC that the Pillar of Autumn received during its upgrades. If I recall correctly, that could fire three smaller MAC rounds in the time it would take a standard MAC to fire one.
>
> That would make sense, but with the reduced damage will they still be able to destroy three cruisers in six shots?
You must remember, these are MAC rounds IN atmosphere, the extra heat and kinetic energy generated more than makes up for any under-charged shot.
First hit takes/almost takes out the shields, second hit cripples the engines, planetary gravity does the rest.
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> > 2533274883523668;3:
> > > 2535435902217648;2:
> > > Maybe the Majestic was equipped with the rapid firing MAC that the Pillar of Autumn received during its upgrades. If I recall correctly, that could fire three smaller MAC rounds in the time it would take a standard MAC to fire one.
> >
> > That would make sense, but with the reduced damage will they still be able to destroy three cruisers in six shots?
>
> You must remember, these are MAC rounds IN atmosphere, the extra heat and kinetic energy generated more than makes up for any under-charged shot.
> First hit takes/almost takes out the shields, second hit cripples the engines, planetary gravity does the rest.
Pretty much what I was going to say. Just to add something extra: even without the atmospheric and gravitic benefits of being near a planet, two smaller MAC rounds per cruiser is likely more than enough. That’s not even including the likely use of Archer missiles and other point defense weaponry to chip away at the shields.
> 2535435902217648;5:
> > 2533274849782428;4:
> > > 2533274883523668;3:
> > > > 2535435902217648;2:
> > > > Maybe the Majestic was equipped with the rapid firing MAC that the Pillar of Autumn received during its upgrades. If I recall correctly, that could fire three smaller MAC rounds in the time it would take a standard MAC to fire one.
> > >
> > > That would make sense, but with the reduced damage will they still be able to destroy three cruisers in six shots?
> >
> > You must remember, these are MAC rounds IN atmosphere, the extra heat and kinetic energy generated more than makes up for any under-charged shot.
> > First hit takes/almost takes out the shields, second hit cripples the engines, planetary gravity does the rest.
>
> Pretty much what I was going to say. Just to add something extra: even without the atmospheric and gravitic benefits of being near a planet, two smaller MAC rounds per cruiser is likely more than enough. That’s not even including the likely use of Archer missiles and other point defense weaponry to chip away at the shields.
Judging from the radio transcript it doesn’t look like any other weaponry was used, but given the explanation about the less powerful MAC rounds it starts to make sense. Thank you both for the input.