Church Expedition
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The Church Expedition was the most desperate and better known of the expeditions sent to the Periphery in search of the Exodus Fleet by the Federated Suns.
History[edit]
The Expedition was sent in 2789, commanded by Commodore Michael Church under orders from First Prince John Davion. Their mission was to find the Exodus Fleet and implore General Aleksandr Kerensky to come aid the Suns in their darkest hour, when they were being invaded by the Draconis Combine. Church's orders included a number of incentives, promised by the Prince itself in exchange for the SLDF's support. What exactly these incentives were is unknown.[1]
The task force departed from Pitkin, a Suns world bordering the Outworlds Alliance, in September 2789, and quietly crossed Alliance space before picking up the Exodus fleet in an unnamed star near the Antallos system. The track, mainly debris left by the fleet's ships, led the commodore to the distant Gutara system. On the fifth planet of the system, the expedition landed and found a sparse population of ex-Rim Worlds Republic's refugees. They confirmed not only did the Exodus fleet pass through the system, but that they also landed on the planet for unknown reasons. However, they ignored all about the fleet's course and destination.[2]
Church continued his search but barely three jumps from Gutara, the track became confusing and went cold. After spending three more months combing the systems near their last sighting, the expedition was low on supplies and Church finally admitted defeat and ordered the return to Federated space. Two more expeditions were launched from the Suns over the next century, but none with more success than Church's. All indicators showed that the Exodus fleet had changed course roughly 130 light-years from Gutara. Unknown to all, Kerensky, expecting some House Lords to try to follow them, had ordered his fleet to leave false clues to confuse their track, and their efforts were highly successful. The Succession Wars caused so many JumpShip losses that no more expeditions were launched.[3]
Units of the expedition[edit]
- Monolith-Class JumpShip Amber Rose
- five more JumpShips
- Several supply DropShips
- fighter transports for defense
- long-range shuttles for surveillance