Editing Simon Davion (Individual Avalon-class WarShip)

{{otheruses|the WarShip|the eponymous character|Simon Davion}}
{{infoBoxIndividualSpacecraft
| image      = 
| vesselname = Simon Davion
| prevname   = 
| type       = [[WarShip]]
| class      = [[Avalon]]
| prevclass  = 
| servicesince = 
| serviceuntil = 
}}
==History==
The ''[[Avalon]]''-class cruiser FCS '''''Simon Davion''''' was introduced to service with the [[Federated Commonwealth]] in the early 3060s following the successful deployment of the lead ship of the class, the [[Melissa Davion (Individual Avalon-class WarShip)|FCS ''Melissa Davion'']], during the [[Capellan-St. Ives War]],<ref name="FM:FSp163">''Field Manual: Federated Suns'', p. 163: "''Avalon''-Class Cruiser"</ref> and was one of four ''Avalons'' to be in service by late [[3062]].<ref name="FM:FSp25">''Field Manual: Federated Suns'', p. 25: "AFFC WarShip Fleet"</ref> The ''Simon Davion'' had been rushed into service along with a sister ship, the [[Lucien Davion (Individual Avalon-class WarShip)|FCS ''Lucien Davion'']], due to the [[Capellan-St. Ives War]], and as a consequence both cruisers suffered a number of minor system malfunctions while active on their assigned patrol routes, malfunctions that technicians from the major companies involved in construction each cruiser would spend time on board each ship attempting to rectify.<ref name="FM:FSp163"/>

During the [[FedCom Civil War]] the ''Simon Davion'' initially fought in support of [[Archon]] [[Katherine Steiner-Davion]] and the Loyalist cause. In June [[3064]], the ''Simon Davion'' was part of the defensive force assigned to the key [[Lyran Alliance]] world of [[Hesperus II]] under the command of [[Leutnant-Kommodore]] [[Dieter Bern]]; stationed on Hesperus II itself were the [[15th Lyran Guards|Fifteenth]] and [[36th Lyran Guards|Thirty-sixth Lyran Guards]], the former an elite unit and veterans of the [[Hesperus II#Fourteenth Battle|Fourteenth battle for Hesperus II]], while the Thirty-sixth were a larger, less experienced unit that had avoided committing to support either Katherine Steiner-Davion or [[Victor Steiner-Davion]] prior to the Civil War but who had chosen to support Katherine Steiner-Davion after the Civil War erupted. The Lyran High Command had also deployed the [[Gray Death Legion]] to Hesperus II to bolster the Lyran Guards and the [[Defiance Self-Protection Force]].<ref name="FCCWp147">''FedCom Civil War'', p. 147: "Wave 5"</ref>

When the [[Third Skye Rebellion]] broke out, the [[Free Skye]] forces targeted Hesperus II as an essential world to the survival of their breakaway state. Free Skye began their campaign on the 15th of June by inserting the [[22nd Skye Rangers|Twenty-second Skye Rangers]] onto the world of Hesperus II, from where they planned to launch a rapid assault on the main spaceport for Hesperus II, located at Maria's Elegy. Despite having to quickly destroy local militia fighters who stumbled across their position on Hesperus III, the Twenty-second were confident of success, but amended their plan to instead use a secondary drop zone, an agricultural area known as Melrose valley; the Twenty-second successfully breached the [[aerospace fighter]] screen maintained over the area by the Gray Death Legion and landed in Melrose Valley on the 28th of June, the same day that their reinforcements - the [[Fourth Skye Rangers]] - arrived,<ref name="FCCWp147"/> transported by the [[JumpShip]] ''[[Sharuq]]''<ref name="TDTp191">''The Dying Time'', p. 191: "Chapter 25"</ref> and escorted by a pair of ''[[Fox (WarShip class)|Fox]]''-class corvettes, the [[Indefatigable|FCS ''Indefatigable'']] and the [[Illustrious|LAS ''Illustrious'']].<ref name="FCCWp147"/>

The ''Simon Davion'' moved to intercept the Fourth Skye Rangers and their escort; the three WarShips clashed, with the ''Illustrious'' the first WarShip to succumb to the torrents of fire being thrown out,<ref name="FCCWp147"/> the crew forced to abandon ship after a brutal exchange of close range broadsides with the ''Simon Davion''.<ref name="TDTp82">''The Dying Time'', pp. 82–90: "Chapter 11"</ref> The ''Indefatigable'' had taken damage by the time the ''Illustrious'' was destroyed, but was able to close on the ''Simon Davion'' and launch boarding parties; the marines launched by the ''Indefatigable'' successfully captured the ''Simon Davion'',<ref name="TDTp82"/> which went on to fight in support of the Free Skye movement as they attempted to seize Hesperus II.<ref name="FCCWp147"/>

One of the first actions the Free Skye forces commanding the ''Simon Davion'' took was to have her fire on a JumpShip owned by [[Defiance Industries]], the ''[[Carolyn]]''. The ''Carolyn'' was abandoned with her engines out and station-keeping drives offline; as forces on the ground scrambled to react, the ''[[Invader]]''-class JumpShip ''[[Invidious (Individual Invader-class JumpShip)|Invidious]]'', a ship belonging to the Gray Death Legion, was destroyed by the ''Simon Davion'', causing the mercenaries to order their remaining JumpShips to surrender rather than be destroyed.<ref name="TDTp102">''The Dying Time'', p. 102: "Chapter 13"</ref> The ''Simon Davion'' then escorted the Fourth Skye Rangers to Hesperus II, while the ''Indefatigable'' moved to hold the zenith jump point.<ref name="TDTp114">''The Dying Time'', p. 114: "Chapter 15"</ref>

On 1 July 3065, [[General]] [[William von Frisch]] of Free Skye ordered the new commander of the ''Simon Davion'', [[Kaptain]] [[Elena Cerlenko]], to stop the Gray Death Legion from transmitting a message off Hesperus II by bombarding the [[HPG]] complex from orbit. Kaptain Cerlenko initially protested the order, but then proceeded to bombard the HPG compound; despite resolving not to fire if there was a significant chance of hitting a civilian area of Maria's Elegy, the ''Simon Davion'' then also bombarded the city spaceport, which was also the main planetary spaceport.<ref name="TDTp186">''The Dying Time'', pp. 186–189: "Chapter 24"</ref> The resulting bombardment savaged the Fifteenth Lyran Guards, who were operating out of the spaceport at the time. In addition to the two thousand assorted infantry and armor personnel killed, seven hundred civilian workers at the spaceport were also killed.<ref name="FCCWp147"/>

General von Frisch responded by dispatching the DropShip ''[[Nomad]]'' to rendezvous with the ''Simon Davion'' with a message to be hand-couriered to Kaptain Cerlenko by the captain of the ''Nomad''; his orders were for the ''Simon Davion'' to take up position in orbit above Hesperus III and destroy any military JumpShip that entered the system via a pirate point, and to disable and seize any civilian JumpShips. Any DropShips deploying from either military or civilian JumpShips were also to be destroyed immediately.<ref name="TDTp190">''The Dying Time'', pp. 190–192: "Chapter 24"</ref> The ''Simon Davion'' and the ''Indefatigable'' were subsequently withdrawn to [[Skye]] early in [[3066]].<ref name="FCCWp178">''FedCom Civil War'', p. 178: "Hesperus"</ref>

After the Civil War ended the ''Simon Davion'' was incorporated into the [[Federated Suns]] black water navy as the FSS ''Simon Davion'', one of just three ''Avalons'' left in service.<ref name="FM:Up105">''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 124: "WarShips of the AFFS"</ref> The ''Simon Davion'' was at the shipyards above [[Kathil]] on 15 May [[3070]] when Kathil was struck by forces from the [[Capellan Confederation]]. The [[CCAF]] units involved—the [[Death Commandos]] and [[Warrior House Dai Da Chi]]—used nuclear weapons in their attack, inflicting massive damage on the shipyards and the ground microwave facilities; the Dai Da Chi ships specifically targeted and destroyed the ''Simon Davion''.<ref name="BAp203">''Blake Ascending'', p. 203: "Kathil Attacked!"</ref>

==Notes==
The Free Skye captain who commanded the ''Simon Davion'' after its capture, Elena Cerlenko, wanted to rename the WarShip to the ''Bartlett'' if given the choice, in honor of [[Private]] [[Roy Bartlett]], the first Free Skye-affiliated Marine to die during the capture of the ''Simon Davion''.<ref name="TDTp187">''The Dying Time'', p. 187: "Chapter 24"</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Blake Ascending]]''
* ''[[The Dying Time]]''
* ''[[FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)|FedCom Civil War]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Federated Suns]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''

[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
[[Category: Individual Cruisers]]
[[Category: Individual Avalon-class WarShips]]