Immortal Spirit

Immortal Spirit
Vessel Profile
Previous names E. Presley
Type WarShip
Class Aegis

History[edit]

The Terran Hegemony[edit]

Launched from the Greenock shipyards above Terra in 2382, the Aegis-class heavy cruiser E. Presley joined the black water navy of the Terran Hegemony military, the Hegemony Armed Forces, and would continue to serve the HAF as the THS E. Presley until she was mothballed in 2531.[1]

The Star League[edit]

The Star League Defense Force reactivated the E. Presley in 2582, partway through the Reunification War, and restored her to service as the SLS E. Presley. Serving with distinction, the E. Presley remained an active part of the SLDF until the opening stages of the Amaris Civil War.[1]

When Stefan Amaris launched his coup the E. Presley was under the command of Vice Admiral Mitchell Justin and serving as a part of the 568th Armed Transport Flotilla under the overall command of Admiral Amanda Braso. Serving alongside a sister ship of the same class, the SLS Huston, the E. Presley was one of eight WarShips within the flotilla. The lead ship of the flotilla was Admiral Braso's Black Lion-class battlecruiser, reinforced by the E. Presley, the Huston, four Lola III-class destroyers and a Potemkin-class carrier, along with twenty assorted transport vessels and an undisclosed number of support craft. When the bulk of the SLDF learned of the coup, one division - the Thirty-Fourth Royal BattleMech Division - was strongly associated with the world of Epsilon Indi, and was determined to launch an unsanctioned attack to reclaim the Hegemony world. The 568th acted to support the forces of the Thirty-Fourth.[2]

The 568th divided their forces into two groups, one led by Admiral Braso and one by Vice Admiral Justin, and arrived at the zenith and nadir jump points of the Epsilon Indi system at 0900 hrs on the 1st of July 2767. The two groups began the transit to the planet, and were challenged by the first Caspar drone from the local SDS network a day away from the planet. The drone refused to acknowledge the SLDF codes, and the best efforts of the crews of the various SLDF WarShips had no success in attempting to gain control of the drone ship's systems. Soon, all fifty-six Caspars assigned to Epsilon Indi were in formation, waiting for the SLDF WarShips to approach; Admiral Braso ordered Vice Admiral Julian to take his ships to the other side of the planet while her group engaged the bulk of the drone forces, in the hope that Julian's group would be able to deploy their contingent of the Thirty-Fourth unopposed.[2]

The Caspars coordinated their efforts precisely, inflicting heavy damage on the Star League WarShips and splitting into two groups as the SLDF troop transports made for the planet, one group attacking the deploying troops as the others engaged the WarShips and defending vessels. When the SLS Rex, a Lola III, attempted to break and run, several Caspar drones worked together to quickly destroy the isolated vessel; even as Admiral Braso's Black Lion managed to disable some of the drones through accurate gunnery, another Caspar rammed the Huston, destroying the heavy cruiser outright. The remaining ships of the 568th were destroyed shortly after, with only a fraction of the Thirty-Fourth making it to the planet through the gauntlet of Caspar drones and ground-based SDS weapons.[2]

The Word of Blake[edit]

Unlike the other ships of the 568th, the E. Presley had only been disabled by the defenses at Epsilon Indi, not destroyed; locked into a long elliptical orbit, the E. Presley was recovered by the Word of Blake in secret at some point in 3059. The Blakists transported the E. Presley to the Terran solar system and had her extensively repaired at the Titan Yards, changing her name in the process to the WBS Immortal Spirit and refitting her with a Lithium-Fusion Battery. The news service INN reported that the Immortal Spirit was due to launch in 3064, but may have actually entered active service in 3063, only to vanish as a result of what was suspected to be a catastrophe related to her being rushed into service early.[3][1]

In truth the Word of Blake would use the Immortal Spirit on a strange yet seemingly important mission during the early stages of the FedCom Civil War. Making cryptic remarks about the "misuse of the name of the one foretold", the Word took great affront to the renaming of the Fox-class LAS Angela Franks as the LAS Arthur Steiner-Davion by the Lyran Alliance. When the LAAF sent the Arthur Steiner-Davion to Coventry as a "welcoming present" for the arrival of Victor Steiner-Davion's forces in October 3063, the Word of Blake responded by sending the Immortal Spirit, utilizing a Super-Jump to traverse the distance between Terra and Coventry in an instant, but burning out its KF drive in the process.[3][4]

Catching the Fox-class ship by surprise and easily defeating her, the stranded Immortal Spirit would hide in the outer asteroid belt of the Coventry system as the Word considered the highly complex task of replacing her Jump Core outside of a drydock. Despite the common assumption of the Immortal Spirit's destruction, sightings of the vessel began to be reported from numerous systems ranging from Hazeldean to Memphis, though all sightings would prove inconclusive and the ship would remain stuck at Coventry for the early years of the Jihad.[1][3][4]

As that conflict began to turn against the Word of Blake, in 3073 it was decided to finally repair the Immortal Spirit, the Word sending the Newgrange-class WoBS Blake's Mercy to overhaul the ship and her crippled KF Drive. Before this could be completed however, Devlin Stone's coalition forces arrived to liberate Coventry from Blakist hands in 3074. All but destroyed by Coalition forces during the Blakist's failed defense of the planet, a team of Rabid Foxes would secure the ship's bridge after the fighting, her logs still intact and filling in many blanks as to what happened after its supposed disappearance in 3063.[4][5] [6][7] The Blakists credited the Aegis-class CJF Red Talon, a Clan Jade Falcon WarShip, with the destruction of the Immortal Spirit.[8]

Notes[edit]

The name E. Presley is most likely a pop culture reference to the noted rock and roll performer Elvis Presley.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Blake Ascending, p. 125, "Immortal Spirit Sighting"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Star League, p. 86, "Admiral Braso's Last Transmission"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Field Manual: Updates, p. 89 "The Word of Blake - Terra"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 38 "Around the Sphere - The Lyran Alliance - Coventry Liberation Aftermath"
  5. Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, pp. 121-123 "Rules Annex - New WarShip - Newgrange-class yardship"
  6. Technical Readout: 3085 Supplemental, p. 40 "Newgrange III yardship
  7. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 128, "Original Word Of Blake Fleet"
  8. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 24-25, "Coventry"

Bibliography[edit]
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Immortal_Spirit
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