Helden van der Geest
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Helden van der Geest | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Federated Suns |
| Profile | |
| Profession | Admiral |
Helden van der Geest was an Admiral in the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns navy during the Reunification War.[1]
History[edit]
Admiral Helden van der Geest was in command of an AFFS naval task force in late 2587, operating in the Taurian Concordat as part of the Star League war to conquer the Concordat, dubbed Operation BULL RUN. In early October Admiral van der Geest's task force encountered a substantial Star League Defense Force naval flotilla commanded by Admiral Yukiko Pequeno, the Commanding Officer of the Fourth Fleet. Word had reached Admiral Pequeno of the departure of the Taurian Defense Force navy from the Hyades Cluster, and had set off in pursuit from New Ganymede with two-thirds of the Fourth Fleet, gathering additional squadrons en route. Pequeno was keen to bring the Taurian forces to heel, and van der Geest needed no encouragement to deploy her forces alongside Pequeno's.[1]
Under the overall command of Marshal David Santos, the commander of the Taurian navy and the architect of several notable victories, the Taurian navy was attempting to secure some much-needed victories for Protector Mitchell Calderon. Santos had gathered together his forces and the newly-formed Eighth Provisional Corps with the intention of striking at Montour and then a string of worlds occupied by the AFFS, in the hope of inflicting heavy casualties on the garrisons and encouraging popular revolts among the occupied population. The Taurian forces arrived at Montour in October, easily blowing through the small AFFS naval pickets located in the system, and proceeded to blockade the main world. As Santos was preparing to dispatch the Eighth Provisional Corps to capture the world, Pequeno appeared at a pirate point with her forces. Shortly after Pequeno's forces jumped in-system, van der Geest's task force arrived at the system zenith jump point and moved in concert with the SLDF ships to intercept Santos' forces. Santos knew his forces were outclassed, and attempted to evade the SLDF and AFFS forces within the system while his ships recharged, in the hope that he could lead his forces out of the system. Despite Santos' best efforts, the SLDF and AFFS WarShips intercepted the retreating Taurians, and between the 11th and 16th of October there was a flurry of battles around the fifth and seventh planets in the system, as well as around numerous moons, a rogue planetoid and a number of asteroids. Santos tried repeatedly to break contact with his pursuers, but was unable to fend off the attackers for more than brief periods of time. Santos died along with his crew when the TCS Samantha Calderon, the Taurian flagship, was destroyed in battle; the Taurian naval forces were defeated comprehensively by their opponents, and the Eight Provisional Corps died in space without ever making planetfall.[1]