U.E.A.S. Indefatigable

U.E.A.S. Indefatigable was an Alliance warship that achieved great fame during the Kamian Succession Wars by destroying a Kamian battle cruiser, one of a very precious few kills made by Alliance vessels.

Indefatigable

The Indefatigable was a variant Stinger design, itself a variant of the venerable Bounty-class Stealth Attack Ship. Late in the war, the Alliance was struggling to field as many fighting ships as they could, and had made many concessions. The Stinger variants were often built without a main cannon, relying instead on missiles and torpedoes. Most Stingers in this configuration were being used for mine-laying duty, as they lacked the fire power needed to engage anything larger than a Kamian frigate.

Modifications

Indefatigables captain, L. Mann Perferous, was regarded as a cunning tactician, and well-known for his capacity for unconventional warfare. Before being assigned the Indefatigable, he had achieved some respect for his unexpected destruction of a Kamian destroyer, by positioning his own ship (also a mine-laying Stinger-variant) well-ahead of the enemy vessel, then setting all mines to home in on "anything". He also ejected all sixteen of his torpedoes and forty missiles, having programmed them to lock onto and engage on any target picked up by the mines. While costly in terms of munitions, the tactic was successful, though difficult to repeat.

When transferred to the Indefatigable, Perferous approached his superiors with an even more audacious proposal. In order to maintain parity with the countless similar warships in production, Indefatigable had simply been built with a large hollow space where the gun was supposed to be. This cavity was not even inside the ship's pressure hull, though it was covered on the outside by plating.

Perferous proposed fitting the largest torpedo that could be built into this space. While not approved as a standard variant, the idea was considered promising enough to at least attempt. The torpedo design, being a one-off, was given low-observable stealth characteristics as well as heat-masking engine baffles coppied from the original Bounty design. Instead of attempting to create a large single warhead, the weapon was fitted with thirty-six standard torpedo warheads wired for simultaneous detonation.

The weapon was not a "torpedo" in the conventional sense, as it did not tube-launch. In fact, the weapon was held in a launch cradle by explosive bolts, and cleared the hull with the aid of a small chemical pilot rocket, engaging its own main engines once separated form the ship.

The Attack

Indefatigable was to take part in the Battle of EEP 884, deployed alongside a task force from the Crimson Blade. Like other Alliance ships in the engagement area, Indefatigable was expected to act in a support role, providing covering fire and logistical capability.

Instead, covered by three wings of Alliance-built Reliant Robin fighters, the Indefatigable flew into the main battle. Kamian capitol ships generally ignored smaller vessels as they posed little threat, and Alliance ships in particular were "virtually invisible". This general lack of regard, coupled with Perferous's imecable tactical skill, allowed him to maneuver to within first-radius of a Kamian cruiser, and launch his specially-designed weapon.

While only sixteen of the warheads successfully detonated, the damage was severe. The single impact crippled the enemy ship, and she was finished off with a volley of conventional weapons launched from Indefatigable and her fighter-escorts. The Indefatigable then moved clear of the engagement zone, loosing all but 3 of her fighter escorts in the process.

Destruction

Seventy-two hours after the record-setting kill, Indefatigable was lost with all hands. This was not, however, before Captain Perferous was able to submit a full report of his attack. He was postumously awarded the Alliance's highest honor. Indefatigable and her crew were also issued a major citation, and were known as the smallest ship throughout the war to successfully take out a capitol ship.

Aftermath

While the tactic was successful, the Alliance did not believe it would be repeatable many more times. Success was as much down to the incredible skill of the captain and crew, and the unexpected nature of the assault, than to any real technical or tactical advantage. Still, some effort was done towards creating more such 'stealth drones'. Ultimately, the idea was abandoned because the Alliance simply did not have the technological know-how to create large warheads, and the Foundation did not see Indefatigable's accomplishment as a repeatable tactic.