Jade Tornado

Jade Tornado
Vessel Profile
Previous namesSwift Bait
TypeWarShip
ClassFredasa

History[edit]

Clan Invasion Era[edit]

As of 3059 the Fredasa-class corvette Swift Bait was a WarShip within the Clan Ice Hellion touman. Also serving in the Ice Hellion touman at the time were two sister ships to the Swift Bait, the CIH Hellion's Pride and the CIH Whelp.[1]

Operation ICE STORM[edit]

When the Ice Hellions launched their invasion of the Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone in the Inner Sphere in mid-3071 the Swift Bait was one of the WarShips deployed. One of the first actions conducted by all thirteen Ice Hellion WarShips including the Swift Bait was to secure the Dark Nebula, destroying the small Jade Falcon naval force there and securing the largely-abandoned facility.[2]

In September 3071 the Swift Bait and the other vessels of the Delta Naval Star were deployed in support of Delta Galaxy in the attempt to capture the world of Steelton. Delta Galaxy had been led to believe that Steelton was a Jade Falcon holding, but when the Ice Hellion forces arrived in-system they discovered that the planet had actually been occupied by Clan Hell's Horses.[2]

Despite knowing that attacking Steelton would break the truce between the two Clans, Galaxy Commander Damon Hawkins declared a batchall anyway; his reasoning was that capturing a world rich in resources would outweigh any loss of honor he suffered for breaking the truce. The Delta Naval Star met stiff resistance on their approach from Clan Hell's Horses aerospace fighters and DropShips, and as the Ice Hellion WarShips were battling their way through the Hell's Horses defenses the Lola III-class destroyer CHH Black Knight surprised the Hellions by emerging from a nearby pirate point.[2]

The various Delta Galaxy DropShips managed to make landfall on Steelton before the Black Horse could reach firing range, but the Black Horse quickly engaged the Delta Naval Star, inflicting heavy damage on the Swift Bait as the Hellion WarShips tried to break orbit. It took the Hellions two weeks to secure Steelton on the ground, and the Swift Bait was still in the system when forces from the Jade Falcons arrived in October, intent on reclaiming the planet for themselves. The Swift Bait attempted to engage the Falcons, but only just managed to launch two broadsides before having to concede defeat.[2] Some sources reported that the Swift Bait was captured by the Jade Falcons in September, rather than October.[3]

The Dark Age[edit]

The Swift Bait remained in service with the Jade Falcons after the Jihad; at some point, the Falcons renamed her as the Jade Tornado.[4]

In the mid-thirty-second century a Jade Falcon force consisting of the Jade Tornado and an escorting Carrier-class DropShip clashed with forces from the Rasalhague Dominion in the Symington system. The Rasalhague Dominion force consisted of the Sif Star, which amongst other vessels included a pair of Nagasawa-class DropShips. The two forces contained a comparable number of aerospace fighters which promptly began engaging each other to try and win aerospace superiority, while the two Nagasawas immediately moved to engage the Jade Tornado. The Jade Tornado found itself forced to concentrate on the two Nagasawas because of the heavy fire they were each dealing out, which allowed the other Dominion heavy DropShips to fire on the corvette with little risk of receiving return fire. Even a direct hit on one of the Nagasawas from the Jade Tornado didn't disable the DropShip, which continued to attack the larger WarShip; after ten minutes of combat the Jade Tornado fled the battle, leaving its fighters with no choice other than to try and rendezvous with the Ninth Falcon Velites on the surface of Symington.[5]

Notes[edit]

  • The renaming of the Swift Bait to the Jade Tornado was confirmed by BattleTech Developer Øystein Tvedten, via the Catalyst Game Labs Ask The Writers Forum:
The Jade Tornado is the renamed Swift Bait.

With regards,
Øystein

  — Øystein Tvedten, 31 July 2013

References[edit]

  1. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 81, "Naval Assets"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Wars of Reaving, p. 69-71, "The Hellion Strikes"
  3. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 29, "September 3071" - Swift Bait is claimed as isorla by Jade Falcon in 3071 during Operation Ice Storm.
  4. BattleTech Developer confirms that the Jade Tornado is the renamed Swift Bait
  5. Technical Readout: 3145 Mercenaries, p. 52, "Nagasawa-class DropShip"

Bibliography[edit]