Enterprise (Individual Kitty Hawk-class WarShip)

This article is about the Federated Suns carrier. For other uses, see Enterprise.


Enterprise
Vessel Profile
TypeWarShip
ClassKitty Hawk

The Kitty Hawk-class Enterprise was one of only two carrier WarShips that remained to the Federated Suns as of 2600.[1]

History[edit]

In anticipation of a Draconis Combine attack force that might use the demilitarized and jointly controlled New Mendham system as concentration area, the Enterprise was sent to New Mendham's zenith jump point where it took up station some time prior to 31 December 2601, claiming it had suffered a misjump and needed some time to repair its Kearny-Fuchida Drive.

The Star League maintained a military presence in the system, and the Baron-class destroyer Lancaster was already close to the Enterprise when on 31 December 2601, the Draconis Combine reacted by sending their flagship, the modified Farragut-class Ryu, to New Mendham, also claiming to have misjumped. The Enterprise immediately launched fighters to inspect the Ryu who declared they would regard it as an act of war if a fighter closed to within 100 km. As the fighters closed to below twenty-five kilometers and ignored warning shots, the Ryu opened fire on them in earnest and destroyed at least one, sparking a full-blown space battle. The Lancaster and its sister ship Templeton moved to a position between the combatants but could not prevent the situation from escalating further. SLDF Commodore Brubaker aboard the space station Prosperity called in reinforcements in the form of two Aegis-class cruisers, the Patrick Henry and the Michael Collins. The two cruisers jumped right into the battle zone and immediately moved towards the Enterprise and the Ryu, respectively, launching boarding craft while Commodore Brubaker (from aboard Prosperity station) once again ordered the combatants to stand down.[2]

In response to this, the Ryu revealed that it was upgraded with a Lithium-Fusion Battery, powering up its Kearny-Fuchida Drive and jumping out of the system. The Patrick Henry opened fire on the Ryu with its autocannons but could not prevent the jump and subsequent destruction of several boarding craft near the Ryu.

(At this point the novel ended, with a "To be continued" note. It is unclear if the Enterprise was actually boarded following these events.)

Canonicity[edit]

The Enterprise only appears in the German-only novel En Passant. As a foreign-language product, this novel is not currently counted among the canonical BattleTech sources. It is an official BattleTech product though, and as such should be regarded as apocryphal.

By extension, information from this source—in this case, the Enterprise and its exploits—must be considered apocryphal as well.

The Kitty Hawk class of WarShip is also apocryphal at this time, having not been detailed in any canon product or mentioned in any source other than the novel En Passant.

References[edit]

  1. En Passant, p. 147
  2. En Passant, pp. 292–304

Bibliography[edit]