Dire Wolf (Individual Sovetskii Soyuz-class WarShip)
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- This article is about the Sovetskii Soyuz-class WarShip. For the OmniMech, see Dire Wolf (Daishi).
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| Dire Wolf | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Profile | |
| Previous names | Kharkov |
| Type | WarShip |
| Class | Sovetskii Soyuz |
History
The Star League
The SLS Kharkov was a Sovetskii Soyuz-class heavy cruiser and in 2765 was the one of the ships serving within the 14th Line Squadron of the SLDF navy, also known as the High Command squadron, and a part of the First Fleet under the overall command of the fleet flagship, the SLS Enterprise.[1] The Enterprise and the High Command squadron typically spent most of their time above Terra or deployed within the borders of the Terran Hegemony.[2]
During Stefan Amaris' coup on Terra in late December 2766 the Enterprise and its squadron were responsible for destroying the Rim Worlds Republic flagship, the RWS Stefan Amaris, along with numerous other Republican WarShips, as well as covering the evacuation of the surviving SLDF High Command staff from Terra before being destroyed by surface to orbit fire from defences on Terra under the control of the Republican forces. The Karkhov was a part of the group of ships from the High Command squadron designated as escorts for the Enterprise, and would fight alongside the flagship throughout the battle.[1]
By the time the High Command decided to evacuate from the Citadel on Terra, it was already 1910 TST; the evacuation then ran late, with the emergency DropShips not launching from the Citadel until 2000 TST, by which point the Enterprise and her escort group had been reduced to just three vessels - the Black Lion-class battlecruiser SLS Theodor Logan, the Kharkov and the Enterprise itself - while the rest of the 14th Line Squadron fought in higher orbit. Only two DropShips survived to reach the rendevouz with the Kharkov, and as soon as DropShips had docked with the Kharkov all three vessels made for the nearest LaGrange point at top speed.[1]
As soon as the Kharkov had jumped out of the Terran system, the Enterprise and the Theodor Logan returned to the fight, rendevouzing with an ad hoc attack squadron at the Metz Station and then leading this squadron on attack against the main concentration of Rim Worlds Republic vessels, which were located over Eastern Europe at the time. The Republican forces on the ground had also seized three ground based space defense weapons, and as the SLDF engaged in a sixteen hour battle that saw every Republican ship in orbit destroyed, the ground defenses added their fire to that of the Republican navy. The Enterprise was destroyed during this battle, having taken significant damage from the ground-based defenses; the Theodor Logan, last of the Enterprise's group, was one of six SLDF vessels to survive the battle and withdraw back to the Metz for the final day of the struggle for control of Terra.[1]
Carrying away the Director of the JAG Command, General Sergey Araujo, and General Kim Hyong Suk, Director of the Rep-Dep Command, the Kharkov made it's way to one of the many SLDF relay points scattered around the uninhabited systems within the boundaries of the Terran Hegemony. Arriving at what would subsequently be known as Freedom Station towards the end of January, the Kharkov joined what became known as the "Secret Fleet", operating under the auspices of the two High Command officers rescued from Terra as well as other notable officers such as Admiral Vincenzo McTiernan, Deputy Director of the Naval Command, and a handful of Rear Admirals and senior captains.[3]
One of the forty or so Sovetskii Soyuz-class vessels to survive the Hegemony campaign, the SLS Kharkov joined General Aleksandr Kerensky on the Exodus.[4]
The Clans
The Kharkov would be incorporated into the Clan Wolf touman after the rise of the Clans, who took the Kharkov as their flagship and renamed it the Dire Wolf.[4]
The Dire Wolf was the ship that ilKhan Leo Showers was aboard when he was killed by Tyra Miraborg's suicide attack in 3051.[5]
In 3059 the CWS Dire Wolf was still in service with Clan Wolf, although a number of other WarShips from the touman had joined Phelan Ward when he took the Warden contingent of Clan Wolf and led them into the Lyran Alliance as Clan Wolf-in-Exile. The Dire Wolf was assigned to Alpha Galaxy and was one of only two Clan Wolf WarShips to be on active duty in the Inner Sphere at this point in time, a result of the preference for bidding away WarShips during campaigns.[6] The Dire Wolf continued to serve in the Clan Wolf touman throughout the next decade[7] and was one of the Clan Wolf ships known to have survived the Jihad.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 79, "Struggle For The Terran System"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 46, "First Fleet"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 89, "The Secret Fleet"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Technical Readout: 3057, p. 152, "Sovetskii Soyuz (Heavy Cruiser)"
- ↑ Blood of Keresnky Omnibus - Epub", pp. 323-329 "Lethal Heritage Chapter Forty"
- ↑ Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 139, "Naval Assets"
- ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 52, "Naval Assets"
- ↑ Field Report: Clans, p. 21, Fleet Assets"