Ascendancy

The *Ascendancy* was a battleship constructed on Bat Island at the time of the Roleplay, as part of the Bat Fleet (later designated the First Fleet by the Bats). It was named by the Bat second-in-command Balthazar after he was transferred by Bliston to a Grand Admiral position, and he made it his flagship. The *Ascendancy* was later captained by Badrar after Balthazar's death, and used for the colonization of New Bat Island. Surviving both the Chima Alliance—Crawler Empire War and the Crawler—Ice Hunter War (in addition to being the primary ship that destroyed the first Manta Ray Empire scout vessel to ever get near the eastern continent of Chima), the *Ascendancy* quickly became a cultural and historical icon to the Bats. Though it is no longer in use, it continues to be preserved in the Balthazar City Museum on New Bat Island.

## History

The *Ascendancy* was one of the first ships constructed by the Bats after they colonized and named Bat Island, during the Chima Civil War and shortly before the start of the Bat—Raven War. It was one of twenty-six battleships in the massive Bat Fleet, constructed with the plentiful metals from both Bat Island and the Outland Mountains, while Chima's inland tribes were preoccupied fighting each other. When King Bliston returned after his brief dissappearance and transferred Balthazar to the Bat Naval Command Center on Bat Island, the newly appointed Grand Admiral named the *Ascendancy* and made it his flagship, in addition to having it painted with a unique all-black color scheme.

### Chima Alliance—Crawler Empire War

During the Crawler Empire's war with the Chima Alliance, Balthazar was instructed by Bliston to take the *Ascendancy* and the rest of the Bat Fleet to the shores of Eagle Territory, to form the western portion of a blockade; not to lock the Eagles in, but to keep the other inland tribes from intruding as the Crawlers both annexed the territory and worked out an alliance with the Eagles. After all of this was carried out, delegates from the Gorilla Tribe (who the Crawlers had made peace with) came by helicopter to the *Ascendancy*, and they were let onboard to speak with Balthazar. After their meeting, Balthazar realized, too late, that the Gorillas' intent was to turn on and capture Bliston, though a newly arrived Scorponok crawled aboard the docked *Ascendancy* to hold his own meeting with the Grand Admiral, after which Balthazar discreetly sent the scorpion to rescue Bliston.

#### The Expedition West

As Scorponok worked to rescue Bliston and the Crawlers (now including the Eagles) on the mainland hunted for the fugitive Barney, Balthazar left the *Ascendancy*, going to Black Fang Mountain to arrest Barney's accomplice, Bratta, and to lead the Bat Tribe in Bliston's stead. Later, he moved the *Ascendancy* and the rest of the fleet from Eagle shores, since the blockade was no longer in effect, embarking on an expedition to chart the far reaches of The West Sea, and possibly to colonize more islands. Though they did find a large island with its own chi spring, the Bat Fleet also encountered a strange foreign ship called the *Outbound Flight*. Balthazar had a radio conversation with the commander of the vessel, who refused to reveal his name and species (though in reality it was a manta ray), but unwittingly revealed the existence of an empire on the West Sea. The captain of the scout ship expressed an eagerness to conquer the eastern continent of Chima, so Balthazar promptly ordered the Bat Fleet to fire on *Outbound Flight*, destroying the scout ship before the captain could radio his superiors. The *Ascendancy* then returned with the rest of the fleet to Bat Island.

### Crawler—Ice Hunter War

After the Ice Hunters attacked the south and froze Bliston, Scorpix, and most of the Crawler Empire's buildings, land and soldiers, Balthazar took command of the remaining Bats, integrating them into the Bat Navy; though the *Ascendancy*'s crew remained the same, comprised of the most experienced naval Bats who'd been part of the Navy from the beginning. Like the other ships in the fleet, Balthazar had the *Ascendancy*'s bow affixed with one of the massive, spiky black rocks native to Bat Island before each forthcoming battle, to combat the Ice Hunters' freezing powers (though this practice only lasted through the three battles that became known as the Balthazar Campaign, while the Bats still had control of Bat Island).

As the flagship of the Bat Fleet, the *Ascendancy* saw much action during the Balthazar Campaign, contributing to three underdog victories against the attacking Icebear Fleet (see the Balthazar page). However, Gibbs and his pirates' betrayal of the Bats caused a chain reaction of events that led to the Grand Admiral's assassination at the hands of his fox bodyguard, Klark, onboard the *Ascendancy* (where Klark was promptly gunned down by the ship's crew). Following Balthazar's death, his unofficial second-in-command Badrar flew to and captained the *Ascendancy*, ordering a retreat as the remaining Icebear ships took the opportunity to charge, freezing and sinking much of the disoriented Bat Fleet.

#### Final Battle and Migration

The *Ascendancy* was one of only eight ships that escaped the freezing of the Bat Fleet and Bat Island, sailing west to get to the larger island Balthazar had discovered. After a storm separated a troop transport from the rest of the group, Badrar anchored the *Ascendancy*, refusing to continue the journey until the lost Bats or their bodies were found. Those Bats soon flew to the deck of the flagship, however, explaining that they'd found the Phoenix Islands and earned the use of fire chi from the Phoenix. The Bear Fleet intercepted the Bats' small group at the same time, and Badrar met with their leaders onboard the *Ascendancy*. The remnants of the Icebear Fleet then arrived, seeking revenge, and the Bats and Bears agreed to a truce, the former giving the latter fire chi to fight their common enemy (the Bears having earned fire chi in 195 BR).

After emerging victorious and destroying what was left of the Icebear Fleet, the Bats and Bears went their separate ways, with the *Ascendancy* finally anchoring at New Bat Island. The Bats colonized the island on the now freed Bliston's orders; when construction of Balthazar City was completed and the rest of the Bat population arrived at the island (the only known exceptions being Bachell and Badrian Shepard), it wasn't long after that they built their Second Fleet.

### Retirement

During and after the construction of the Second Fleet, Bliston oversaw the treatment of the *Ascendancy* and its fellow surviving ships from the First Fleet. Of the seven remaining ships, two of them, which were heavily damaged, were deconstructed for parts and materials. The *Ascendancy*, meanwhile, was carefully brought into the Balthazar City Museum, as part of the "Bat Fleet of Old" exhibit. The remaining aircraft carrier, destroyer, and patrol boat were also put into the exhibit. Lastly, the other remaining battleship, which was in the best condition out of the remaining ships of the old fleet, was named the *Ascendancy II*, and made the flagship of the Second Fleet, temporarily captained by Commodore Brethil in lack of a Grand Admiral. The *Ascendancy*, while being out of use, is preserved and kept in good condition in the Balthazar City Museum, where future generations of Bats can read up on the renowned battleship's history. It is considered one of the most historically and culturally important vessels the Bats created, along with the Bat Javelin.

## Crew

* Balthazar— Grand Admiral, the first to captain the *Ascendancy* (Deceased; stabbed by Klark while having the Bat Fleet fire on the *Sea Slicer*)
* Klark— Balthazar's hired fox bodyguard; usually stationed aboard the *Ascendancy* (Deceased; shot by a member of the bridge crew after killing Balthazar)
* Badrar— Unofficial second-in-command of the Imperial Remnant; the second to captain the *Ascendancy*, after Balthazar's death (Formerly; now the Bat Supreme Commander/Field Marshal)

## Trivia

* Like other ships introduced by roleplayers in 2017, the *Ascendancy*'s appearance is based almost entirely on a real-world, modern battleship; minus the smokestacks, since it's powered by chi, and with the addition of chi laser cannons on its deck. The *Ascendancy* in particular has a striking black color scheme, making it stand out from the rest of the ships in Chima. The *Ascendancy* wasn't plugged with fire chi during the Bats' and Bears' final battle with the Icebear Fleet, in order to preserve the flagship's iconic original appearance; its crew instead plugged fire chi into their individual harnesses, and flew to the Icebears' ships to fight them.
* There was an accidental discrepancy when it came to the number of battleships, such as the *Ascendancy*, in the original Bat Fleet compared to other tribes' fleets: the FAC had enforced a fifteen-battleship limit to fleets, but JGREAD hadn't known about the limit, mistakenly thinking that the limits to all ship classes numbered in the twenties. This led to the Bats' First Fleet having twenty-six battleships, so JGREAD later brought the Second Fleet down to the proper amount of fifteen battleships after being informed of the limit by Egorsmirnov.

## References

1. ↑ Rupture: A Chima Roleplay Prequel Story