Ryū

(Redirected from Kaga)
This article is about the Kaga-class WarShip. For other uses, see Ryu.
Ryū
Vessel Profile
Previous namesMount Niitaka
TypeWarShip
ClassKaga

History[edit]

The Kaga-class carrier Mount Niitaka was the pride of the WarShip construction program supporting the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery in the 3050s. By late 3058 construction of the Mount Niitaka was well advanced in the shipyards in the Midway system and she was expected to be undergoing field trials in mid-3059.[1]

Considered the poster child for the ill-considered haste and waste of the Great Houses Clan Invasion WarShip programs, a number of critical and incredibly expensive to fix flaws were discovered during the Mount Niitaka 's trials. After years of constant failures, including a disastrous drive system failure that cost the lives of twenty-nine crew members including its Captain, the DCA finally admitted defeat and canceled the design in 3062. Officially the Mount Niitaka was being slowly dismantled by 3064, the resources assigned to the Kaga-class being diverted elsewhere.[2][3]

Unofficially components intended for the ship continued flowing from production facilities such as Stellar Trek of Togura to the orbital yards around Dover, as the hull of the Mount Niitaka was shipped in secret to the Dover system along with the hull of the prototype Yamato-class battleship following the apparent dismantling of the Yamato construction yards above New Samarkand in 3061. The yards were actually shipped secretly in sections to the Dover system, where the yards were reconstructed near the fifth planet in the system; both the Yamato and the Mount Niitaka then underwent an extensive refit which transformed both hulls into massive mobile factories.[3][4]

Following the refit, which was completed with the assistance of Clan Diamond Shark, the Mount Niitaka was renamed the Ryū and became a key part of the Combine's industrial infrastructure in the wake of the Jihad; in contrast to the Yamato the Ryū was capable of repairing DropShips and even performing limited repairs on most JumpShips, a vital strategic resource given the widespread destruction of naval construction yards during the conflict.[4]

Second Combine-Dominion War[edit]

The Ryū was a casualty of the Second Combine-Dominion War. Preparing for an inevitable escalation in the conflict, Khan Aletha Kabrinski responded to an intelligence windfall that identified the location of the Inazuma-class corvette DCS Amber Lotus as well as both the Ryū and the Yamato. Kabrinski launched a preemptive strike against the three WarShips, which were located in the uninhabited Bikini Atoll system; Kabrinski dispatched the Leviathan-class Rasalhague and six Stars of Pocket WarShips and fighter carriers transported by a small flotilla of JumpShips to hunt down and destroy the three Combine WarShips.[5]

Although the location of the Bikini Atoll system was a closely guarded secret, the Combine didn't realize that the system was known to the Ghost Bears from Star League-era records relating to mass driver testing in the system from 2720 onward. The Rasalhague's task force arrived in the system on the 18th of December 3099; the Combine forces split up and attempted to flee, with the Ryū heading in one direction and the Amber Lotus and Yamato in another. The Dominion ships split up and chased down all three WarShips, destroying all three, as well as the three Okinawa-class DropShips attached to the Amber Lotus (the DCS Comforting Silence, DCS Heated Sword, and DCS Iijima's Pride) and their aerospace fighters. The Dominion forces went so far as to destroy all of the escape pods that launched, and the discovery of the wreckage in the system by the Kyushu-class frigate DCS Draconis Rift led to a dramatic escalation in the war. Whilst the wreckage of the Amber Lotus had been left in-system, the Dominion forces had deliberately accelerated the hulks of the Ryū and the Yamato into the corona of the local star, destroying them both utterly.[5]

References[edit]

  1. Field Manual: Draconis Combine, p. 15: "Aerospace Assets"
  2. Technical Readout: 3067, p. 194: "Inner Sphere WarShips"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, p. 103: "Taking Stock - The Yamato Conspiracy"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Field Report: DCMS, pp. 5–6: "Safeguarding the Wounded Heart"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Historical: Wars of the Republic Era, pp. 32–33: "Bikini Atoll"

Bibliography[edit]