Robert Davion (Individual Avalon-class WarShip)

Robert Davion
Vessel Profile
Type	WarShip
Class	Avalon

History

The Avalon-class cruiser FCS Robert Davion was under construction in 3062 and was due to enter service in 3063 and thereby become the fifth Avalon to enter service.

The Robert Davion was being constructed in the McKenna Shipyards above Kathil on the 28th of November 3062 under the command of Admiral Paulsen when Admiral Jonathan Kerr seized control of the cruiser by deception in the name of Archon Katherine Steiner. Kerr had been due to take up the post of Executive Officer in mid-December, making it easy for him to smuggle armed troops aboard; Kerr announced as he seized the ship that he was doing so under the authority of Duke Petyr VanLees and General Mitchell Weintraub.

Kerr took the FCS Robert Davion out of the McKenna Shipyards on the 29th of November, crippling the FCS Guardian - a modified Excalibur-class DropShip - when the Captain of that DropShip attempted to prevent the departure.

Combat erupted on the surface of Kathil between forces loyal to Archon Steiner and forces loyal to Victor Steiner-Davion, with the Robert Davion jamming transmissions offworld from her position in orbit; this led to forces opposing Archon Steiner attempting to capture the Yare Industries facility to enable them to direct the powerful microwave transmissions broadcast from the plant at the Robert Davion, as Duke Morgan Hasek-Davion had done when fending off an attack by Capellan Confederation forces during the Fourth Succession War.

Admiral Kerr was focussed on destroying the First Capellan Dragoons. On the 7th of December 3062 combat erupted above Kathil as fighters from the forces loyal to Steiner-Davion tangled with Loyalist planetary militia fighters and DropShips around the Robert Davion. The combat area was a hotbed of internecine warfare, with the Robert Davion initially trying to protect ships that had declared themselves loyal to Archon Steiner, only to withdraw from the combat completely when apparently-Loyalist DropShips began firing on each other over various slights. Many of those embroiled in the combat were simply trying to restore order to the region and protect their own ships.

The Loyalist ground forces holding the Yare facilities attempted to assist the Robert Davion in attacking the DropShips transporting the First Capellan Dragoons later on the 7th, but were stymied by the lack of accurate targeting information to extrapolate friend or foe identities from. Admiral Kerr engaged the Capellan Dragoons, forcing at least one Dragoon DropShip to land early, and observed that the FCS Guardian had evidently been recovered by an Octopus-class tug and restored to at least partial working order.

The Capellan Dragoons responded to the presence of the Robert Davion by splitting their six remaining DropShips up, each taking a different vector down to the planet, limiting the Robert Davion to only being able to engage one or perhaps two of the Dragoon ships. Kerr had already ordered the Robert Davion in close to the atmosphere of Kathil in an effort to block the Dragoon's flight path, and he continued to push the cruiser into lower orbits as he attempted to engage the Dragoons, beginning with an Overlord-class DropShip.

As the Robert Davion attempted to fire on the Overlord the Guardian - subsequently determined to be unmanned - was released by the Octopus, firing her engines and launched herself on a collision course with the Robert Davion. Despite scoring multiple hits on the Guardian the Robert Davion was unable to cause the large DropShip to break up, and the remains of the ship slammed into the Robert Davion. The Guardian tore through the spine of the Robert Davion, gutting the cruiser, which broke up in the planetary atmosphere before the remains crashed into the ocean far southeast of the continent of Thespia.

Bibliography

• FedCom Civil War
• Field Manual: Federated Suns
• Flashpoint