Difference between revisions of "Arcadian Asp"
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==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | As at [[3059]] the ''[[Fredasa]]''-class corvette '''''Arcadian Asp''''' was serving as the CSA ''Arcadian Asp'' within the [[Clan Star Adder]] [[Clan Star Adder Touman|''touman'']]. One of two ''Fredasa''-class ships to be in service with the Star Adders at this time - the other being the [[Vicious Fang|CSA ''Vicious Fang'']] - the ''Arcadian Asp'' was one of the five ships that made up a ready reserve star.<ref name="FM:CCp119">''Field Manual: | + | As at [[3059]] the ''[[Fredasa]]''-class corvette '''''Arcadian Asp''''' was serving as the CSA ''Arcadian Asp'' within the [[Clan Star Adder]] [[Clan Star Adder Touman|''touman'']]. One of two ''Fredasa''-class ships to be in service with the Star Adders at this time - the other being the [[Vicious Fang|CSA ''Vicious Fang'']] - the ''Arcadian Asp'' was one of the five ships that made up a ready reserve star.<ref name="FM:CCp119">''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 119, "Naval Assets"</ref> Following the absorption of former [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]] holdings the ''Arcadian Asp'' had been returned to full service by [[3067]] under the orders of the Star Adder Naval Adjutant, [[Star Admiral]] [[Tobias McKenna]].<ref name="FM:Up50">''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 50, "Naval Assets"</ref> |
===Wars of Reaving=== | ===Wars of Reaving=== | ||
Revision as of 12:20, 26 March 2013
| Arcadian Asp | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Profile | |
| Type | WarShip |
| Class | Fredasa |
History
As at 3059 the Fredasa-class corvette Arcadian Asp was serving as the CSA Arcadian Asp within the Clan Star Adder touman. One of two Fredasa-class ships to be in service with the Star Adders at this time - the other being the CSA Vicious Fang - the Arcadian Asp was one of the five ships that made up a ready reserve star.[1] Following the absorption of former Clan Smoke Jaguar holdings the Arcadian Asp had been returned to full service by 3067 under the orders of the Star Adder Naval Adjutant, Star Admiral Tobias McKenna.[2]
Wars of Reaving
When the Khans of Clan Steel Viper and the Star Adders resolved to make an opportunistic strike against the last Clan Snow Raven convoy to try and leave the Homeworlds during the Wars of Reaving, the Exodus Crusader was one of the Star Adder WarShips directly involved. The Star Adders assigned a Star of naval vessels to the strike; the lead ship was the Black Lion-class battlecruiser CSA Admiral William S. Preston, accompanied by the York-class destroyer CSA Exodus Crusader, the Lola III-class destroyers CSA Hagar and CSA Warlock and the Arcadian Asp. Overall command of the Star Adder and Steel Viper forces was given to Star Commodore Terrence Moffat, who brought three Steel Viper WarShips with him; the Steel Viper flagship, the Leviathan Prime-class battleship CSV Perigard Zalman, and two escort vessels, the Essex-class destroyer CSV Martial Legacy and the Potemkin-class cruiser CSV Serpentes.[3]
The Snow Raven convoy consisted of the Hellgate Battle Star - a Star of four WarShips captured from Clan Goliath Scorpion by the Snow Ravens, the Potemkin-class CSR Enceladus and CSR Prometheus, the Lola III-class CSR Sagitta and the Congress-class frigate CRS Garlon - 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 seize or destroy the convoy there.[3]
On the 29th of July 3072 the Steel Viper force jumped into the Ghent system, arriving in the middle of the vast Snow Raven convoy, and Commodore Moffat issued his Trial of Possession bid to Star Admiral Anta McKenna, claiming all of the ships at his disposal as his bid. Admiral McKenna accepted the Viper bid as-was and declared all of her forces in defence. What Admiral McKenna hadn't realised was that Star Adder Star of vessels was waiting to join the Steel Vipers; skirting the boundaries of honor, Moffat neglected to inform McKenna of the additional forces and only communicated 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. The Martial Legacy proceeded to work in tandem with the Serpentes against the Ravens, first targeting and destroying the 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 the Scorpions. In response, the 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 when the Garlon intercepted the Serpentes as it attempted to close on a group of JumpShips. The Prometheus was destroyed quickly by the Star Adders, the Warlock and the William S. Preston destroying the Prometheus on their first pass; her sister vessel Enceladus then worked with several Raven DropShips to gut the Admiral William S. Preston before being destroyed in turn by the Arcadian Asp, and the Perigard Zalman accounted for the Garlon. 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 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]
Jaguar
Perhaps the most significant figure from the Dark Caste to escape the purging of the Society and their allies during the Wars of Reaving was the figure known as Jaguar. An extensive Star Adder Watch operation spent several years tracking down elements of the Dark Caste to have survived the Wars, and after the capture of a number of bandits from Jaguar's group looting a former Smoke Jaguar cache on Huntress the Watch was able to trace Jaguar down to the Deep Periphery system known as Ghent. The Watch successfully captured Jaguar's WarShip, the battered Black Lion-class battlecruiser CSJ Streaking Mist, and moved it away from the Ghent system, trapping Jaguar there; several weeks later, Kappa Galaxy arrived, escorted by the Arcadian Asp and the Vicious Fang, determined to kill Jaguar.[4]
Elements of Kappa Galaxy tracked Jaguar down and killed him in an underground complex on a volcanic island on the largely uninhabited world; retrieving the body of the infamous bandit as proof of his death, Kappa Galaxy ensured that any other Dark Caste resources hidden at the Jaguar's last hideout were unsalvageable by having both the Arcadian Asp and the Vicious Fang bombard the entire island from orbit.[4]
The Arcadian Asp was still in service as of 3085, and the Arcadian Asp and her sister ship Vicious Fang were two of only thirteen warShips still active in the Star Adder touman at the time.[5]