ACCELERATION: 0.8 sst
MAIN DRIVE: Helix-Chelsea VIII [in-line]
SECONDARY DRIVE: H-C II x 3
INERTIAL DAMPENERS: 0.94 g
DEFENSE GRID: Opti-Nex II [standard]
PAYLOAD: none
FIGHTERS: none
SHUTTLES: Vitus II x 12
Kerenza, Battle of
This article is about the Battle of Kerenza IV. Get the gen on the planet and system here.
INTRO
The Battle of Kerenza IV was the opening salvo in the ongoing and bafflingly unreported Stellarcorp War. Initiated by BeiTech Industries,[1] the assault targeted illegal hermium mining operations owned by the Wallace Ulyanov Consortium.[2] United Terran Authority vessel Alexander[3] answered WUC distress calls, resulting in a three-way throwdown between BeiTech, WUC, and UTA forces.
WUT DA FAQ
Get the gen on the planet and system here. This historical article is currently under Refuted status, because you choobs gobble corp propaganda like it was cheap dust at an all-night chuff party. It requires additional citations for verification purposes. Please assist by joining the Hivemind. Please attribute intelligence sources (your mom does not count). And learn to spell, for the love of [insert appropriate deity name here].
Contents [hide]
1. Background
2. Initial assault
3. UTA response
4. Pursuit
5. Secondary conflict
6. Aftermath
BACKGROUND
Kerenza IV is situated in freespace, approximately 34.5 AU from a waypoint leading to static Jump Station Heimdall. The planet contains unusually high concentrations of hermium on its polar ice shelf. In violation of the Interstellar Exotic Materials Act of 2514,[4] the Wallace Ulyanov Consortium had been conducting illegal mining operations on the planet since approximately 2556, relying on the system’s remoteness to keep its activities undetected. Operations were protected by the dreadnought Defiant and serviced by heavy freighter Copernicus. At the time of the battle, two WUC science vessels [Hypatia and Brahe] were also in orbit around Kerenza IV.
Artist’s impression of the dreadnought Lincoln
INITIAL ASSAULT
At 14:21 [Local Standard] on 01/29/75, four BeiTech dreadnoughts [Churchill, Kenyatta, Zhongzheng, and Lincoln] dropped from an ephemeral wormhole[5] created by Mobile Jump Platform Magellan[6][7][8][9]—a blackbag prototype and, to Unipedia’s knowledge, the first mobile jump tech ever developed outside of a UTA lab.[10][11] The entire fleet then proceeded toward Kerenza IV. WUC defense vessel Defiant was quickly destroyed, though not before it could issue distress calls—due to Kerenza’s relative isolation, the BT fleet presumed these calls would go unanswered.
Sadly for BeiTech, one ship did receive the Defiant’s SOS: the United Terran Authority’s Alexander, a Vortex-class battlecarrier also capable of generating its own jump gates,[12] which was on covert maneuvers near Kerenza VII.[13] The Alexander attempted to send communications to UTA HQ via the Heimdall waypoint, but BeiTech agents aboard the station itself ensured the signal never made it through. Receiving no response, the Alexander jumped to Kerenza IV without support. For more on the occupation of Heimdall Station and the resistance movement, see sub-articles here.
With their hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar by the UTA, the BeiTech fleet made the astounding decision to attack the Alexander in the hope of eliminating the witnesses. Instead, the Alexander critically damaged Mobile Jump Platform Magellan, cutting off BeiTech’s retreat. As the BT fleet engaged Alexander, shuttles ferried civilians from the decimated settlement onto the Hypatia, Brahe, and Copernicus. Reports that an unknown bioweapon was used on the settlement by BeiTech dreadnought Lincoln are unconfirmed.[14][15][16]
During the nuclear exchange that followed, the Zhongzheng was destroyed, and the Churchill and Kenyatta sustained massive damage. The Alexander took several hits—sources report both its jump gate generator and its artificial intelligence matrix were compromised.[17][18] No ships in the Kerenza system were now capable of jump travel, meaning any assistance would be months away. The BeiTech group closed to a range unsafe for the use of nuclear ordnance. The Alexander launched its Cyclone-class fighter craft, with the BeiTech group launching its Warlock fighters in kind. It is believed the BeiTech ship Lincoln destroyed science vessel Brahe at this point. Unconfirmed reports estimate at least 2,000 civilians had been evacuated onto the Brahe from the settlement below.[19][20][21]
To: Kady Grant/KGRANTHYPATIAONBOARD
From: Ezra Mason/EMASONALEXANDERONBOARD
Date: 02/14/75
Timestamp: 14:04
Subject: Hey
Hey Kades,
They told me almost everyone on the Hypatia has been fixed up with an onboard comms account now. I hope you get this.
I’m not sure what you know and what you don’t. Everything is a mess over here. The military don’t really tell us anything. But I wanted you to know I made it out alive. I wanted to say thanks. Without you I don’t think I’d be here.
Delete that. I don’t think, I know.
I’m in the med bay on board Alexander. My shoulder is almost 100%. Still trying to figure out what the hell happened. I heard a rumor that the Alexander’s jump drive is bricked. There’s definitely something up with the water supply but they won’t say what. Someone else said the BeiTech dreadnoughts that attacked the colony are still chasing us. But I also heard we’re just days away from meeting up with a whole UTA fleet. So maybe we’ll be safe soon.
I feel bad about what happened between us. I keep feeling like there’s something I could’ve said to fix it. And then I wonder if I’m an idiot for even thinking that way. I wonder if it was supposed to happen. I mean, if you hadn’t broken it off, if you hadn’t driven to school that day, we’d both be dead, right? If that’s not the universe’s way of telling me it wasn’t meant to be, I don’t know what is.
Anyway, I’m glad you and your mom made it out. I hope you’re okay.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Love E
Grant, Kady—
Psych Profile/Conscript Suitability Assessment
Incept: 02/17/75
—Page 2—
suggests Ms. Grant is considerably more capable than her test results indicate. When contrasted with the early training exercises she undertook in the Hypatia’s makeshift educational facility, her current outcomes are less than impressive. Simply put, she doesn’t want to score the sorts of results that would get her into the neurogramming training program.
TEAMWORK: Ms. Grant does not work well with others. The accounts of her peers indicate she was previously a relatively social girl at school, although she did not have a large number of close friends. It is clear that she now prefers her own company. She is, frankly, demoralizing to others in a group situation.
ATTITUDE: Ms. Grant displays strong anti-establishment sentiments and has an awkward habit of questioning authority figures at all the wrong moments. This, combined with the intelligence she tries so hard to conceal, makes her something of a liability. It doesn’t appear ego is at play, as she is content to be viewed as average. Rather, it appears her queries and (often successful) attempts at destabilization are driven by her personal beliefs.