Storm Cat

Storm Cat
Vessel Profile
Previous names	Fred T. Berry
Type	WarShip
Class	Lola III

History

Star League

The WarShip was originally named Fred T. Berry. Named after a captain of one of the first military airships, who died with the loss of his craft, the destroyer was laid down on 2694 and was a lone wolf in the Periphery for decades until the beginning of the Amaris Civil War. It then rejoined Aleksandr Kerensky's SLDF forces and saw action freeing Terra from Amaris' occupation. After intense fighting around Mars, it joined Operation EXODUS.

The Golden Century

The Lola III-class destroyer Storm Cat was a WarShip active as the CSJ Storm Cat in the Clan Smoke Jaguar touman. The Storm Cat played a decisive part in the Smoke Jaguar Absorption of Clan Mongoose in the second half of the twenty-ninth century; the Storm Cat was involved in the naval clash between Smoke Jaguar and Mongoose fleets above Circe that marked the largest naval engagement in Clan history up to that point in time. With almost thirty WarShips involved in the battle, the Smoke Jaguar flagship, the McKenna-class CSJ Obsidian, was crippled by the Quicksilver Mongoose; the Mongoose flagship literally shattered the Obsidian's spine, and that victory seemed likely to turn the battle in favor of the Mongoose forces. The momentum the Mongoose forces had built up was quickly stymied when the Storm Cat engaged and subsequently crippled the Quicksilver Mongoose, leaving the battleship venting atmosphere and unable to maneuver. The Smoke Jaguars still lost half their fleet but carried the day, with the last four surviving Mongoose WarShips forced to surrender.

Clan Invasion Era

When a multinational task force from the Second Star League arrived to attack Luzerne in late June 3059 as a part of Operation BULLDOG the Storm Cat and a sister Smoke Jaguar WarShip, the Congress-class destroyer CSJ Snow Leopard were in the system acting in support of the recently arrived Kappa Galaxy. The Star League forces called for safcon to the surface of Luzerne, but the Smoke Jaguars refused the call, leading the Com Guard Sovetskii Soyuz-class heavy cruiser CSV Harmonious Thought and supporting combat DropShips to try and push through the defending Smoke Jaguar forces.

The Harmonious Thought and an accompanying Titan-class DropShip, the CSV Terra's Shield, deployed a grand total of six Level IIs of aerospace fighters—Vigilant Wings II-Pi, Blake's Redoubt II-Pi and Steadfast Will II-Pi from the Harmonious Thought and Wisdom Through Devotion II-Pi, Swift Justice II-Pi and Faith's Messengers II-Pi from the Terra's Shield—and moved alongside the Claymore-class DropShip FCS Claymore and the Avenger-class DropShip FCS Alacrity to intercept the Smoke Jaguar WarShips.

The Smoke Jaguars' defense hinged around the Smoke Leopard and the Storm Cat, each accompanied by a Star of Clan OmniFighters, as well as four assorted DropShips: an Overlord-C, a Sassanid, a Lion, and a Carrier which added another Star of OmniFighters to the mix. The Smoke Jaguars deliberately targeted the various transport DropShips carrying the Star League forces and managed to destroy half of them despite the efforts of the Harmonious Thought and the other escort vessels. The Harmonious Thought was also destroyed after an admirable fight that saw the Storm Cat destroyed and the Snow Leopard crippled, with the remainder of the transport flotilla getting enough time to complete their combat drops.

Despite this, the Luzerne action was considered a disaster for the BULLDOG forces; the Star League forces were scattered across the planet and soon discovered that they were facing not just the anticipated garrison forces but also front line forces from Epsilon Galaxy.

Fighter Complement

Pouncer Star - regular

• 4x Turk OmniFighters
• 4x Visigoth OmniFighters
• 2x Batu OmniFighters

Bibliography

• The Dragon Roars
• Era Digest: Golden Century
• Historical Turning Points: Luzerne
• Shrapnel, issue #12