Martial Legacy

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Martial Legacy
Vessel Profile
TypeWarShip
ClassEssex

History

As at 3061 the Essex-class Destroyer Martial Legacy was a WarShip within the Clan Steel Viper touman and was serving as the CSV Martial Legacy.[1]

When the Steel Vipers launched an aggressive campaign against the last Clan Jade Falcon enclave outside Strana Mechty, the Martial Legacy was in the forefront of the action. The Jade Falcons had been beaten back into just a single small holding on Lum by February 3070, protected by the damaged WarShips of the Emerald Talon Star. The Martial Legacy successfully bid for the right to lead the Steel Viper fleet into battle, with the resulting naval engagement lasting for an hour before three Jade Falcon WarShips had been destroyed and the fourth retreated. The Steel Viper forces led by the Martial Legacy were responsible for destroying the Black Lion-class battlecruiser CJF Blue Aerie, the Liberator-class cruiser CJF Gauntlet and the Carrack-class transport CJF Ironhold Provider; the only ship to escape was the sister vessel of the Blue Aerie, the CJF White Aerie.[2]

When the Steel Vipers moved against the last Clan Snow Raven convoy to try and leave the Homeworlds, the Martial Legacy was again directly involved. The Snow Raven convoy consisted of the Hellgate Battle Star and no less than one hundred and nine JumpShips all travelling slowly away from Hellgate. Anticipating that the Snow Ravens would move via the Snow Raven guidepost at Ghent, the Steel Vipers arranged to work with Clan Star Adder to seize or destroy the convoy.[3]

On the 29th of July 3072 the Steel Viper force, consisting of the the Leviathan Prime-class battleship CSV Perigard Zalman escorted by the Martial Legacy as well as the Potemkin-class cruiser CSA Serpentes jumped into the system, arriving in the middle of the vast Snow Raven convoy, and announced their Trial of Possession for the entire fleet, declaring all of the forces at the disposal of Star Commodore Terrence Moffat as their bid.[3]

Star Admiral Anta McKenna accepted the Viper bid as-was and declared all of her forces in defence. What Admiral McKenna hadn't realised was that Clan Star Adder had assigned a naval Star of their own to the command of Commodore Moffat, a naval Star consisting of the Black Lion-class CSA Admiral William S. Preston, the Fredasa-class corvette CSA Arcadian Asp, the York-class destroyer CSA Exodus Crusader and the Lola III-class destroyers CSA Hagar and CSA Warlock. Moffat neglected to inform McKenna of the additional forces, communicating their presence less than a minute before the Steel Viper vessels began firing on the Ravens.[3]

Moffat didn't limit his targets to the four Raven WarShips defending the convoy and their attached escorts; instead, he had the Perigard Zalman open fire on whatever targets were in range, with the first Raven ships destroyed being fifteen JumpShips before the Ravens could close. The Martial Legacy proceeded to work in tandem with the Serpentes against the Ravens, first targeting and destroying the Lola III-class CSR Sagitta, which had still been carrying the damage inflicted on it from the Trial of Possession in which the Ravens had acquired the Hellgate Battle Star from Clan Goliath Scorpion. The Potemkin-class CSR Enceladus managed to inflict some damage on the Serpentes before the Perigard Zalman blocked both the Serpentes and the Martial Legacy from fire from the heavier Raven ships.[3]

Despite the best efforts of the Ravens, the battle was effectively a foregone conclusion once the Star Adder forces jumped in. The Ravens still managed to cripple the Serpentes and destroy the Admiral William S. Preston, and none of the Raven AeroSpace or combat DropShip forces answered Moffat's single call to surrender, instead fighting until they had all been destroyed.[3]

Moffat's actions secured the Steel Vipers and the Star Adders a total of fifty Raven JumpShips and almost eighty full DropShips of cargo as isorla; at least sixteen Raven JumpShips managed to escape, although only thirteen were eventually reclaimed by the Ravens. The Serpentes was scuttled, although the Vipers claimed the Congress-class frigate CSR Garlon as salvage; the Star Adders tagged the various other Raven hulks and marked their courses with a view to later stripping the hulks for materiel. The Star Adders and Steel Vipers then spaced any Raven civilians considered unnecessary before moving their booty back to their holdings.[3]

In November 3073 the Martial Legacy joined a task force being assembled by ilKhan Brett Andrews to deal with the Society and Bandit Caste problems affecting numerous Steel Viper holdings during the widespread HPG blackout across the Clan Homeworlds. Joining the Perigard Zalman as well as the Lola III-class CSV Anaconda and the Sovetskii Soyuz-class heavy cruiser CSV Sanra Mercer, the Martial Legacy and the other vessels provided transport and support for an assembled ground force consisting of the entire of Alpha, Beta and Delta Galxies.[2]

The task force was responsible for relieving the beseiged Steel Viper enclave at Station Zebra on Grant's Station; the other enclaves on the world had been conquered by Bandit forces in a campaign launched by the bandits in January 3072. The Martial Legacy and the other vessels in the task force provided support during the ground campaign and subsequent investigation, only to then find themselves having to support internal Reavings when a mysterious plague swept through the population on the planet, including some of the warriors who had fought or been stationed on Grant's Station.[2]

References

  1. Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 138-139, "Naval Assets"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wars of Reaving, p. 46-47, "Exodus Requiem" Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "WORp46+" defined multiple times with different content
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Wars of Reaving, p. 102-104, "Raven's Dirge"

Bibliography