Samantha Calderon (Individual WarShip)

This article is about the WarShip. For the founder of the Taurian Concordat, see Samantha Calderon.

Samantha Calderon
Vessel Profile
Type	WarShip

History

The TCS Samantha Calderon was the flagship of the Taurian Concordat navy during the Reunification War. Commanded by Marshal David Santos, the Samantha Calderon was destroyed in battle between 11 and 16 October 2587. Marshal Santos had led the remaining elements of the Taurian Navy and the Eighth Provisional Corps in a daring gambit against the world of Montour, attempting to meet Protector Mitchell Calderon's need for a miracle to stall the Star League campaign against the Concordat.

Marshal Santos had hoped that Montour would be the first in a series of occupied worlds in the region of the Concordat occupied by forces from the Federated Suns that could be liberated or encouraged to begin resisting once more, but was unaware that the departure of his fleet from the Hyades Cluster had been tracked by SLDF observation vessels. Those vessels reported the departure of Santos' fleet to Admiral Yukiko Pequeno of the Fourth Fleet, who led the Fourth Fleet in pursuit of the Taurians. Fortunately for the SLDF, Admiral Pequeno reported her progress through the communications available to the political offices of the various occupied worlds, rather than through the military chain of command, which meant that none of her updates were encrypted via military channels—encryption the Taurians had cracked earlier in the war. This left Santos unaware of his pursuers. The TCS Samantha Calderon and her fleet easily dispatched the defending forces in the Montour system and began the planetary invasion, but were taken by surprise when Admiral Pequeno's forces arrived, with the Fourth Fleet having acquired a Federated Suns task force under the command of AFFS Admiral Helden van der Geest during the chase.

Santos immediately led the TCS Samantha Calderon and the rest of the navy away from Montour and tried to hide in the outer reaches of the system until the Taurian fleet could jump out, but the combined Federated Suns and SLDF forces caught up with the Taurians; that began a series of battles between the 11th and 16th of October in and around the fifth and seventh planets within the system, as well as around the asteroids, scores of moons and even a rogue planetoid in the area as Santos fought to try and break contact with his pursuers. Ultimately, Santos' efforts were futile, and the Taurian navy was destroyed; the TCS Samantha Calderon and all aboard died in a firestorm.

Notes

• The class of ship to which the Samantha Calderon belonged is not specified in Historical: Reunification War. However, as Marshal David Santos commanded the Concordat black water navy throughout the Reunification War, it is reasonable to assume that when he led elements of the Taurian Concordat fleet into the battle subsequently known as the Case AMBER, he did so from aboard the Samantha Calderon. A listing of WarShips by class that took part in Case AMBER is available, and includes the following classes:

• Concordat-class frigates
• Dart-class cruisers
• Pinto-class corvettes
• Wagon Wheel-class frigates
• Winchester-class cruisers

• Of the ship classes that fought during Case AMBER, it is noted that the last Concordat in service had been destroyed in 2581, an earlier date than the noted destruction of the Samantha Calderon. The Dart and Pinto were both designs originated by other nations—the Terran Alliance and the Rim Worlds Republic respectively—and the Dart was a very old design, having entered service in 2305. The origin of both classes would make each seem unlikely to be chosen as the flagship of the staunchly independent Taurian Concordat. This in turn makes it seem likely—but not certain—that the Samantha Calderon was either a Wagon Wheel or Winchester-class WarShip.

Bibliography

• Historical: Reunification War