Kerensky's Blues

Kerensky's Blues
Vessel Profile
TypeWarShip
ClassFredasa

History[edit]

The Kerensky's Blues was a Fredasa-class Clan WarShip which was operated by Clan Jade Falcon until the Falcons lost the ship in 3055. The Blue Star Irregulars and the Hell's Black Aces captured the Kerensky's Blues in combat against the Jade Falcons in 3055,[1] as part of an assault on the occupied world of Quarell. The Blue Star Irregulars were determined to make up for an earlier defeat to the Falcons on Fort Loudon at some point after the Truce of Tukayyid. The Blue Sky Irregulars ignored the Falcon calls for a batchall, which led to battles on both the surface of the planet and in space. Hell's Black Aces emerged from hidden positions to secure space superiority over the planet, something which the Falcon Fredasa ignored, concentrating instead on a badly-damaged Irregulars JumpShip. Left with no other choice, the JumpShip captain rammed the Fredasa, and the resulting damage inflicted on the WarShip included the destruction of the command center. The Hell's Black Aces promptly claimed both the Fredasa and an escort DropShip in the name of the Irregulars.[2]

The Irregulars were able to keep the Fredasa and leave the Quarell system after the Irregulars' commanding officer, Colonel Alexander Duff-Gordon of the 1894th Light Horse won a challenge against Star Colonel Padrick Shi-Lu, killing Shi-lu in the process. The terms of the challenge had pitted the Fredasa and a captured Falcon supply depot against any captured warriors from the Irregulars, any captured Blue Star medals, and safe conduct back to Federated Commonwealth space.[1]

The Irregulars had Wolf's Dragoons repair and partially refit the renamed Kerensky's Blues, returning the WarShip to active use by 3059, although with only approximately half of the original Clan-level weaponry still in place.[3] Although the ability to maintain the Kerensky's Blues was consistently too much for the Blue Star Irregulars to afford, they refused to give the WarShip up, operating the Kerensky's Blues until at least 3067.[1]

The Blue Star Irregulars fought in support of Duke Morgan Kell and Peter Steiner-Davion during the FedCom Civil War and the Kerensky's Blues took heavy damage in the battle over Tharkad during the conflict. Even after the end of the war the Kerensky's Blues continued to suffer from poor maintenance, but the presence of the former Clan corvette within the Blue Star Irregulars made them the only mercenary unit other than Wolf's Dragoons to operate their own WarShip.[1]

Destruction[edit]

In January of 3069 the Kerensky's Blues was destroyed in the Black Earth system by forces from Clan Jade Falcon. The Jade Falcons had attacked the planet in strength, shattering both regiments of the Blue Star Irregulars; the surviving Irregulars and fleeing civilian refugees in a flotilla of ships were being escorted from the planet to the jump point to join with escaping JumpShips when the Clan forces struck. The Falcons attacked with a Congress-class frigate and a Vincent-class corvette[4][5] - subsequently identified as the CJF Lightning Strike[5] - destroying JumpShips and DropShips as the Kerensky's Blues attempted to place itself between the Falcon WarShips and the refugees. The Kerensky's Blues managed to deal with the CJF Lightning Strike,[5] but was unable to prevent the Congress-class ship from butchering almost all of the fleeing Irregulars' forces before destroying the Blues as well. The battle was reported in the media via an INN journalist aboard the Loyal Son, a fleeing Overlord-class DropShip and one of the vessels escaping from Black Earth.[4][5]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Field Manual: Mercenaries Revised, p. 46, "Blue Star Irregulars: Support"
  2. Field Manual: Mercenaries, p. 40, "Blue Star Irregulars: The Return of Kerensky"
  3. Field Manual: Mercenaries, p. 41, "Blue Star Irregulars: Technical and Transportation Support"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Blake Ascending, p. 210, p. 211, "Falling Stars"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Mercenaries Supplemental Update, p. 11, "Blue Star Irregulars"

Bibliography[edit]