Jade Aerie

Jade Aerie
Vessel Profile
TypeWarShip
ClassBlack Lion

History[edit]

As of 3052, the Black Lion-class battlecruiser Jade Aerie was assigned to Gamma Galaxy as part of its Naval Support.[1]

As of 3059, the Jade Aerie was a WarShip in the Clan Jade Falcon touman. The Jade Aerie was one of three ships of the Black Lion-class to be serving with the Falcons at this point, operating alongside her sister ships CJF Blue Aerie and CJF White Aerie.[2] The Jade Aerie would continue to be an active part of the touman throughout the next decade[3] and into the beginnings of the Wars of Reaving.

The Jade Aerie was involved in at least one battle against forces from Clan Ice Hellion during Operation ICE STORM, the Ice Hellion invasion of the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone in the Inner Sphere in late 3071 and early 3072. While the initial invasion was successful, the Jade Falcons soon began to push back against the Ice Hellions; after relations between the Ice Hellions and Clan Hell's Horses soured and the truce between the two was broken, the Ice Hellions also came under attack from their former allies, with the Jade Falcons and Hell's Horses cooperating in several theaters. One such battle occurred at Vantaa, after the Ice Hellion forces had been driven back to three primary locations - the Dark Nebula, Evciler and Vantaa.[4]

The Jade Falcons struck at Vantaa with a force that consisted of Alpha and Gamma Galaxies and two Jade Falcon WarShips, the Jade Aerie and the Sovetskii Soyuz-class heavy cruiser CJF Hawker; assisting the Falcons were the Hell's Horses Iota Galaxy and the CHH Mount Olympus, a Volga-class transport.[4]

Defending the Vantaa system was the Ice Hellion Alpha Naval Star, consisting of the Ice Hellion flagship, the McKenna-class battleship CIH Cage's Pride, the York-class destroyer CIH Pack Leader and the Aegis-class heavy cruiser CIH Chaos Sailor. The Chaos Sailor and the Pack Leader squared off against the Hawker, Jade Aerie and Mount Olympus while the Cage's Pride attempted to intercept the Hell's Horses and Jade Falcon ground forces as they dropped onto the planet via DropShips. The Cage's Pride was largely unsuccessful, and during the naval battle the Mount Olympus took irreparable damage but managed to disable the Pack Leader.[4]

After a campaign on the surface of Vantaa a second naval battle was fought in the Vantaa system after the Cage's Pride attempted to influence the surface battles through orbital bombardment. The Hawker and the Jade Aerie battled the Cage's Pride and the Chaos Sailor, with the Chaos Sailor being boarded and captured by Jade Falcon marines while the Cage's Pride wilted under the heavy fire from the two Jade Falcon WarShips.[4]

While the Mount Olympus was lost, following the battle at Vantaa the Pack Leader was claimed as isorla by the Hell's Horses,[5] who renamed the ship the CHH Stampede;[6] the Jade Falcons also claimed a WarShip from the battle as isorla, claiming the Chaos Sailor.[7]

The Jade Aerie subsequently served as a part of the Jade Falcon contribution to Operation SCOUR, the allied coalition campaign to liberate the Word of Blake Protectorate. During the assault on Terra the Jade Aerie served as a part of Task Force CRONUS, the predominantly-Clan WarShip flotilla tasked with securing the Titan Yards in 3078.[8]

Between these two dates, an IE expedition led by Director Niles O'Leary and his Rim Project crew encountered the battered Jade Aerie near Erewhon. Both IE JumpShips and all five DropShips were destroyed after O'Leary offered to provide communications assistance to the distressed vessel.[9]

Surviving the Jihad, the Jade Aerie would continue to serve in the Jade Falcon touman,[7] although the Jade Aerie evidently required repairs as it was one of the vessels to be undergoing work in 3085 in the repair facilities maintained by Clan Diamond Shark in the Chainelane Isles.[10]

The Jade Aerie was still in service in 3145.[11] In late November, 3150 the Jade Aerie was part of the assault on Thorin, providing orbital artillery support that buried the entrance to Fortress Laiacona under a massive rockslide. This forced the defenders to abandon the Castle Brian structure, and scatter across Thorin's continents.[12]

References[edit]

  1. Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 56
  2. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 95: "Naval Assets"
  3. Field Manual: Updates, p. 49: "Naval Assets"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Wars of Reaving, pp. 84–85: "Icy Fire"
  5. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 30: "Operation Ice Storm"
  6. The Wars of Reaving, p. 175: "Clan Hell's Horses"
  7. 7.0 7.1 Field Report: Clans, p. 15: "Fleet Assets"
  8. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 95: "Classified: Eyes Only - Top Secret"
  9. Interstellar Expeditions: Interstellar Players 3, p. 31: "Kerensky's Secret"
  10. The Wars of Reaving, p. 172: "Clan Diamond Shark"
  11. Field Manual: 3145, p. 157
  12. Shattered Fortress, p. 92

Bibliography[edit]