BSS Constitution (CA-005)

### Nickname(s)

Old Ironsides (2180), New Ironsides (2117) Big C (lifetime), Connie (lifetime, public nickname)

### Fate

Donated to Paris Orbital Fleet yards' Visitor Center collection, joining the UCE Phoenix, BSS Javelin, and BSS Boston, as part of the "History of Spaceflight Museum".

### Note(s)

Longest serving and last ship of her class.

## General Characterstics

### Displacement

48000 metric tonnes (standard)52000 metric tonnes (full load)

### Propulsion

4x Nuclear-Ion Sublight drives, 2x Warp Nacelles, powered by 1x 1.5tw Westinghouse C2AM-W Matter/Antimatter reactor Core, and 4 250MW C10F-W auxiliary fusion reactors

### Speed

.72c (Maximum Sublight speed), 99.7kc (maximum superluminal speed circa 2181)

### Armaments

Primary Armaments: 12x dual mounted Class VI Phased Particle EmittersSecondary Armaments: 24x Class III Phased Particle Emitters

Tertiary Armaments: 8x individually guided Ballistic CIWS VI turrets

Torpedoes and other: 4x (2 fore and 2 aft) flat torpedo tubes, 2x aft mine launchers

### Defenses

Class VII "Second Skin" type shielding, 5 TW capacityClass II central shield, for navigational purposes.

Moderate armor around critical areas

### Auxiliary Craft

10 F/A-24 D Cobra multirole fighters 6 Type III light shuttles

2 Long Range Type IV VIP transport shuttles

100 escape pods each with 100 person capacity

BSS Constitution was the lead ship of the Constitution class of heavy cruisers built for the Federation Navy. For her entire service history she was the fleet flagship of Admiral Thomas 'Dragonborn' Bane. Unique among her class for her many unauthorized modifications, she boasted different weapons, shields, engines and sensors from the other Constitutions. She was named for the United States' 1798 heavy frigate USS Constitution. She, and her sister ships, had long and distinguished service lives. Constitution was the only ship of her class to avoid the mutinies that came with the dissolution of the Blue Star Federation, and was the first ship of it's rebuilt fleet.

Constitution's keel was laid in 2098, and she would serve for a total time of 88 years, 18 of which were served independently (2158-2176) and 5 of which were with the Orion Alliance (2176-2181), during the reign of the Pheonix Empire. Constitution would be retired with all honors and donated to a museum orbiting in Paris Orbital Fleet Yards' visitor center. She would be succeeded by the Armstrong Class heavy exploratory cruiser BSS Constitution (CA-005-A), a design that took heavy inspiration from the fictional Constitution Class Starship of the United Federation of Planets; and was based upon the blueprints from that USS Constitution herself, after a chance reality incident caused the two ships to meet in 2150. (see Hancock Incident)

Constitution was the only of the Constitution Class starships to serve in all three battles for Earth. During the First Solar War, Constitution and her escorting fleet Cruiser Division 2, were refueling and rearming in preparation for defending Earth from the inevitable invasion. After the Republican defeat at Saturn, she helped lead the massive Task Force One, as part of Operation Federal Glory. During the Second Battle of Earth, at the opening of the Second Solar War, Constitution held off the Republic fleet long enough for dignitaries and the rest of the home fleet to escape, before barely escaping themselves. She, and her crew, along with Admiral Aiyakah Novahich would barely escape with their lives after the Pheonix Empire enacted General Order 001 (The Doomsday Order), compromising the entire fleet.

### Construction

In 2095, the Federal Navy was looking for a class of heavy cruiser to improve on their 4 previous failed attempts. Admirals Thomas Bane and Aiyakah Novahich, who were still in charge of the Federation design board, took this opportunity to order a class of 3 ships, although 14 would eventually be built; of a length of about 300 meters and a beam of 100 meters. They would follow current Federation starship design protocol, which called for roughly wedge shaped ships with warp nacelles out on struts and heavy shielding, much in the style of the Federation's first truly successful starship design, the Javelin Class Corvette. relying less on armor than previous Federation cruisers, and more on shields made them faster, more manuverable, and lighter, while not sacrificing offensive or defensive capability.

The result would be the Constitution Class. With a overall length of 305m and a beam of 97m, they were relatively large, but powerful, especially for an early Federation ship design. They would be armed with 4 torpedo tubes (2 fore and 2 aft), many different PPA and Coilgun mounts, and mine racks, making them a terrifying proposition in a head on fight. Shields would be large, capable of extreme damage absorption, but also easily replaced with a different module to fit the mission. Armor was kept light, with a focus, for the first time, on sensors, stealth and speed instead of being a tank.

In 2098, Constitution's keel was laid, in Paris Orbital Fleet yards. Unlike many lead ships, construction proceeded rapidly, and the ship would be completed by 2101, and accepted into service in August of that year. On September 30th 2101, Constitution departed Sol for her first deployment, with Admiral Thomas Bane as her CO.

### Early service life and the Federal-Republican Cold War.

The BSS Constitution was accepted into service during troubled times for the Federation. Widespread paranoia around the recent discovery of the neighboring nation, The United Soolan Republic meant that the people of the Federation lived in near-constant fear.

#### First Deployment

On October 5th, 2101, just 6 days after she left on deployment, Constitution received a distress call emanating from the brand new BSS Europa, who reported being under attack by unidentified forces. After being ordered to render aid, Commodore Bane changed course to intercept, and the ship went to General Quarters at 1100. When she dropped out of warp at BSS Europa's coordinates, she encountered a renegade USRN heavy cruiser, USRNS Deathwatch; which was using the crew of the Europa hostage, and the Europa as bait. Desperate to avoid an interstellar 'incident', Bane avoided attack, until receiving word that the USR would not consider the attack on their ship a threat, as this captain had defied orders and gone off, in an attempt to avoid a war. Surrounded, and without hope, the renegade captain of the USRNS Deathwatch committed suicide, and his crew took the ship home.

After the "Deathwatch incident", as it came to be known, BSS Constitution continued patrolling the outer reaches of the Federation, helping ward off pirates, reinforcing border outposts, and doing reconnaissance. On November 10th, 2101, at 1800, Constitution was actively attacked by pirates. Although they were defeated, the attack highlighted various weaknesses in the ship's design, such as her under powered shield generators and lack of armor around her sublight engines. She returned to Paris Orbital Fleet Yards on December 7th, for refitting and repair.

#### Second Deployment and Experimentation

On February 2nd, 2102, BSS Constitution departed the Sol System for her second deployment. She was deployed with a small fleet this time, making up Cruiser Division 1, which would become the Blue Star Federation's most famous battlegroup. This initially small fleet, which would grow with time, saw a solid role during the Federal-Republican Cold War. This deployment would last for 4 years, and would see the extremely advanced CRUDIV-1, which had a complement of escorting Red Mare Project starships, put through it's paces. Ultimately, lessons learned from this deployment would go on to inform much of the Federation's naval doctrine for the next 20 years.

Almost immediately, CRUDIV-1 would meet it's first major obstacle, in the form of it's various component's varying speeds. Constitution, and her escorting destroyer, BSS Farragut, found that they simply could not keep up with their escorting ships, especially the extremely fast RMP Javelin Class Corvettes, which could exceed 20% over their flagship's speed in a straight line. Although ultimately not a massive problem during normal operations, if not managed correctly in combat, it could lead to disaster.

Throughout the second deployment, different things were tried, with varying degrees of success. The Escorting fleet was swapped out, Constitution's combat readiness and endurance were tested multiple times. Her weapon loadouts were experimented with, and her crew's accomodations were adjusted, or if adjustments couldnt be made in small ports or onboard ship, were taken note of.

#### 2106 layup and refit

On December 31st 2105, at 2330 GMT, CRUDIV-1 arrived at Paris Orbital Fleet Yards, after a 3 year, 10 month, and 28 day deployment. The ship had proven itself over and over again, and thus she put into dock for refitting and some much needed crew rest. With increasing tensions between the USR and BSF, it was decided that some 20 metric tons of scientific equipment would need to be removed, along with a complete overhaul to the ship's often stuffy living quarters, and improvements to the ship's power systems and weapons.

As the Federation increasingly moved from a watchful, to a defensive stance towards the USR, changes to the refitting plans for BSS Constitution, and her sister ship BSS Magna Carta (CA-006) increased their time in drydock from 4 months to nearly a year. During that time, much of the ship's peacetime appearance was stripped away. The ship that emerged was far more a warship. As much as Thomas Bane disagreed with the Federation's increasingly aggressive stance, he understood the need for a true breed of warships, and as such Constitution was relaunched on November 10th, 2106, the eve of her game changing battle against the pirates, completely changed. No longer did she carry scientific laboratories, nor did she sacrifice weapons or shields or combat readiness for scientific instruments. Now truly changed into her wartime form, she committed to 2 weeks of shakedown, before preparing for her 3rd, and first, true military deployment.

#### Third Deployment

On December 14th, 2107, Constitution departed for her final major peacetime cruise. This deployment would mark her longest to date, at nearly 5 years. She departed Sol with orders to patrol the DMZ between the United Soolan Republic and Blue Star Federation. Traveling with CRUDIV-1, she arrived at Border Outpost 102 on December 25th, and after refueling and inspection of the outpost, proceeded on patrol.

Constitution spent the next 4 months traveling between border outposts without incident. However, on May 1st, 2107, she was called into action regarding a border incursion, and set a course for Border Outpost 69, at full speed. When she arrived, she found a United Soolan Republic Navy carrier which had suffered a navigation computer failure, and jumped to the wrong position. When it discovered that it was near a Federation border outpost, it assumed a defensive posture, and CRUDIV-1 was sent to de-escalate. By the end of the day, the carrier had made her repairs, and was underway back to Republican Space. This was, however, an incident that heightened tensions where they were already high. War was arriving faster by the month.

By July of 2107, tensions were so high that even the usually tightly knit crews of CRUDIV-1 were quarreling, and Admiral Bane ordered shore leave for all ships, to be done on a 1/3rd rotation schedule. On July 10th, the division arrived in the Wolfius system, for shore leave and recreation, while the ships were repaired and modified as necessary. Shore leave lasted for 1 and 1/2 months, and on August 27th, CRUDIV-1 was underway once more. The relaxation time had done wonders for the crewmembers, and infighting was kept at a minimum. This taught the BSFN a powerful lesson, and, once again, this was incorporated into the many lessons learned during the Cold War.

By New Year's Eve 2107, Constitution, and her battlegroup, had seen little action. Celebrations around the end of the year were intense. The crew was granted permission to host parties, 2/3rds at a time, and grand celebration surrounding the end of the turbulent year were grand. However, the next day, Constitution received a distress call from a border outpost, and came to investigate. When it was discovered that the outpost (Border Outpost 98), was on fire, and casualties were mounting, evacuation was ordered, and Constitution began to take on survivors. Unfortunately, she had to return to Federation Core Worlds to take the survivors home, and her battlegroup had to be relieved so that this mission could be carried out. She arrived in Wolf 359 on January 15th, and offloaded the survivors of Outpost 98. An investigation would reveal that celebrations on board the outpost led to a fire breaking out, which rapidly got out of control. As a result of this, Constitution was laid up for 1 week to have her damage control teams retrained and her fire supression systems updated to a better standard.

By January 25th, CRUDIV-1 was back out on the border, relieving the spread thin CRUDIV-3, centered around the BSS John Hancock. For the next 3 years, these two task forces would work side by side, watching the border. Hancock often took the Galactic East end of the border, and Constitution the West. The two task forces shared intel, supplies, and sometimes even people.

By March 2109, it was becoming clear that tensions between the two superpowers would not ease. Thus, ships on both sides of the DMZ were almost always at some state of battle readiness. Constitution conducted more and more intelligence operations as 2109 went on, and altercations with USR intruders were not uncommon. Never leading to all out battle, but clearly a sign of a territorial enemy who knew what it wanted. In one such incident, on April 5th, 2109, Constitution was suddenly attacked while resupplying a transport, by a squadron of Republican fighters. Later they would claim that CRUDIV-1 and 3 violated the terms of the DMZ; however Constitution's navigational data, and that of her escorts, says otherwise. The Federation rapidly deescalated the incident, and it was not a large contributor to increased tensions, but it is an example of these incidents that took place, with different ships, and different aggressors, all across the board. These contributed to the rising tensions up until October of 2113.

#### 2112 Layup and Overhaul

By 2112, Constitution's patrol was coming to an end. On March 21st, 2112, she returned to Paris Orbital Fleet yards for layup, repair, and overhaul. This would be her last layup period until after the First Solar War. It would also be the last time that she was refitted to class specification. She was in the yard for 18 months, during which time she had her warp coils retuned and replaced, some 15000 kilometers of wiring redone, she was repainted, she was upgraded with the latest PPA turrets, her tertiary coilgun mounts were removed, and her torpedo capacity upgraded. Even though she was nigh 12 years old, she had more light years under her keel than most ships twice her age. She came out of this overhaul ready for any action that may befall her.

#### 2113 Assignment to Earth Defense Force, and Breakout of War

On September 11th, 2113, Constitution was assigned to the Earth Defense Force, along with the rest of her division. Her mission was to patrol the Federation's core systems, as well as to have a ceremonial role in escorting the President's craft, StarShipOne, around the Federation, and protecting Earth. This assignment was requested by Admirals Bane and Novahich, as they both felt that after 9 years of being away from home, Constitution, and her crew, deserved to be a little closer for a bit. This assignment was originally to last 3 years, however it would only last around 10 months.

## First Solar War

The Constitution was extremely well decorated for her service during the first solar war, racking up an unprecidented 52 battlestars, plus several Accolades for her service as part Task Force 2, and CRUDIV-1.

#### July 2114 Outbreak of War

By July 2114, CRUDIV-1 and 3 were near Sol, rotating patrol routes. However, on July 14th, 2114, Federation scouts noticed an amassing of troops, starships, and supplies on the Republican side of the DMZ. Immediately all ships were placed on high alert, with many called back to defend the core systems.

The Republican invasion force, Task Force 9, was huge. Commanded by the well respected USRN Admiral, Grand Admiral William Trench, a tactical genius, it was comprised of some 1200 starships. On August 1st, CRUDIV-1 (Constitution), CRUDIV-2 (Magna Carta), and CRUDIV-3 (John Hancock), along with the BSS Enterprise of CARDIV (Carrier Division)-1 and 2 Red Mare Project squadrons, Centered around ADM Novahich's BSS Blackfin and CAPT Maria Elkson of the BSS Harambe were combined together under Admiral Thomas Bane. These three divisions, totalling some 50 starships, made up the Blue Star Federation's Task Force 2, commanded by Thomas Bane and Aiyakah Novahich, would be the largest fleet ever assembled by the Federation. They waited, ready to deploy, in Sol, ready to defend the Federation should the need arise.

On August 19th, they got their chance. At 0430 GMT on the 19th, Task Force 9 made a rapid movement across the border, and rapidly began taking star systems. Task Force 2 was called to engage, and they met the enemy on August 27th, in a large engagement in TRAPPIST-1 system. Outnumbered and outmanuvered, Task Force 2 was forced to retreat, allowing the strategically important TRAPPIST-1 system to fall into enemy hands. Task Force 2 ended up joining with more fighting divisions, RMP squadrons, and Task Forces, slowly becoming larger, and with the advent of the First Solar War, was recieving replacement starships regularly. Of the ships that suffered the worst damage, none were worse off than the old, underpowered, and undergunned Gettysburg Class Frigate, which was rapidly phased out and replaced by Liberty Class Frigates, fresh out of drydock. Constitution never suffered damage that was crippling, but she regularly took the brunt of the fight, and as such was constantly in need of fresh hull plating and equipment. BSS Enterprise, and her sister ship BSS Akagi provided close fighter support for the rest of the fleet, which was constantly covering retreating armies and evacuating civilians from the USR's warpath.

#### Battle of Wolfius, and the Loss of the BSS Akagi and BSS Bill of Rights(CA-007)

By the beginning of 2115, it was not looking good for the Federation. 20 colonies had fallen, along with 15 major systems and all of the Federation's outer territories. Military systems were major targets, especially systems like Wolfius, which in April of 2115 experienced one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

On April 10th, 2115, Task Force 2, now encompasing CARDIV-2, and CRUDIV-4 (BSS Bill of Rights), was pushed back to the Wolfius system. They were given orders to hold the system unless on the verge of defeat. The Federation was risking everything by having 2 of it's fleet carriers in the same place, along with 4 heavy cruisers, thus the orders to retreat if nearly defeated. At 1200, a large detachment of USRN starships from Task Force 9, including their flagship USRN Dread Hunter, with William Trench at the helm. The Federation Fleet engaged the Republican fleet at 1230, and the fight lasted for 2 days. Initially, Trench attempted a flanking manuver that could have obliterated Task Force 2, but was a failure due to several of Trench's subordinate captains being too conservative and not committing to an attack. The two forces sparred back and forth for 36 hours, and just as the Federation began to get Task Force 9 into retreat, BSS Akagi's shields went down, and the USR were able to hit her reactor core, destroying her and her escorting cruiser BSS Bill of Rights instantly, with a loss of all but 10. It would be the single greatest loss of Federation lives in a space battle until the Second Solar War, 37 years later. 8000 lives were lost in an instant, and the Federation lost 2 capital or subcapital starships, not to mention the other casualties of the battle itself. These were not losses that the Federation could sustain, however, under the circumstances, the Federation could only roll with the punches.

With 2 capital or subcapital starships destroyed, and 30 damaged from either the explosion or the battle itself, Admirals Bane and Novahich ordered a retreat, and the United Soolan Republican Navy, Army and Marines took over the Wolfius system by 2359 on April 12th.

#### May 2115 Recall to Sol and layup

BSS Constitution's battle damage was so great, and her fleet so depleted, that she was laid up for nearly 2 months in Sol, while waiting for her repairs. She was missing sublight engines, entire PPA mounts, an entire deck was vented to space, and her fleet wasn't in much better shape. In fact, the only starship that escaped major damage was BSS Farragut, which was delayed by engine trouble, and made it to the battle just as it was ending.

While the fleet was getting repairs, leave was granted for the crews, although the commanders of Task Force 2 felt it necessary to oversee the repairs of the fleet themselves. By late July, Task Force 2 was back underway, now traveling to protect the Federation's flanks from Republican attacks, as the brass suspected that the USR's frontal attack would begin to morph into a flanking attack to destroy the Federation before it could react.

#### August 2115 Return to Action-Beginning of 2116

On August 29th, 2115, Constitution arrived in her patrol sector, with an assignment to defend the civilian star system New Columbia from flanking attack. Fortunately none ever came, and the system would be mostly left alone, even after the Federation left and the USR occupied it. Meanwhile, Task Force 9 continued it's rampage through Federation Space, destroying pretty much anything in it's path, and for that reason Task Force 2 was recalled to reinforce Bernard's Star sector in February 2116, which encompassed the industrial powerhouse of Barnard's Star, Wolf 359, and Sirius, along with other important systems. Constitution defended Barnard's sector, later renamed Sector 003, until July 9th, 2117, where the Federation began to get word of an invasion of Teegarden's Star.

#### Battle of Kalopis and Teegarden's Star

On July 9th 2117, Task Force 2, and Constitution, were refueling and rearming at Barnard's Star's shipyard, Barnard Fleet Yards, when Rear Admiral Bane recieved orders to go to Teegarden's Star immediately and reinforce the system, as intelligence had been recieved that indicated an invasion was imminent. Constitution arrived early on July 10th, and Bane immediately took command of the so far rushed and disorganized civilian evacuation, while also organizing the fleet and making sure that the ground armies on Thios in particular, (the economic hub of the system) were ready for any attack that may come. It is estimated that the disorganized evacuation effort contributed to the large number of civilian casualties after the USRN took the system.

At 1630 on July 11th, the Republican fleet arrived in orbit around Thios. Although under heavy fire, Admiral Bane ordered his ships to defend civilian evacuation at all costs, in an attempt to get as many people out of the system as possible. While the smaller ships covered civilian evacuation, the larger ships and 50 percent of their escorts engaged the USRN. Although they were small in number, they had a large advantage on their side, in the form of the brand new BSS Kirov (CB-001). The first in the Federation's Kirov class of battlecruisers, she would be a huge advantage in the fight, also serving as a reserve carrier. Also there were BSS Enterprise, BSS Hornet, and BSS Wasp. Combined, this force, commanded by RADMs Bane and Novahich from the bridges of Constitution and Blackfin, was still not quite a match for the USRN fleet, which was 300 strong.

10 days into the battle, and the Republic had mostly taken Thios by ground, and Kalopis was entirely under their control. However, Constitution and her battlegroup continued to supply air support, as well as defending the planet from USRN starships. However, on July 23rd, the Federation managed a major victory. After BSS Kirov went head to head with the USRNS Dread Hunter, disabling the Republic ships' drive systems and life support, a Teegardian Special Forces strike team boarded the ship. They arrived on the bridge, and assassinated Admiral Trench, after which they set the self destruct, and committed suicide to evade capture. Although the death of William Trench was a major blow to the USRN, he was quickly replaced by Shakira Pevochik, who was seen as a war criminal by many in BSFN high command.

When Adm. Shakira Pevochik took command of Task Force 9, she immediately ordered that 30 captured civilians would be executed each day until the Teegardian National Defense forces, and by extension the BSF, surrendered Teegard's Star, and all of its territories. This brutal tactic worked, and on July 28th, the Federation withdrew it's forces.

After the surrender, Pevochik immediately ordered the glassing of Thios, while immediately ordering a 500 ship detachment from Task Force 9 to invade Sol, in a brutal frontal attack. On August 14th, she got her wish, and the turning point in the First Solar War began.

#### Invasion of Sol and Formation of Task Force 1 under Operation Federal Glory

August 13th 2117 began with Task Force 2 at high alert. The day before, in a rare case of tactical thinking for the USRN commanding officer, she lead a feint attack on Alpha Centuari, with a fair portion of Task Force 9. Federation high command dispached several fleets to deal with this, including Task Force 4 under Magna Carta, and Carrier Division 1, under Enterprise. Bane, Constitution, and Task Force 1 were refueling and rearming at Earth, leaving Sol virtually undefended.

At 0500 GMT, a large USRN fleet was detected on Earth's long range scanners, moving at extremely high speeds. Immediately, Constitution sent for reinforcements, and went to General Quarters, as did the rest of her fleet. The only other defenders of Sol that morning were a large number of small patrol ships, ill equipped to deal with the incoming threat. At 0530, Task Force 9 starships were out of warp near the Kuiper belt, and making a beeline for Earth at flank speed. Task Force 2 rose to meet them, but 75 ships against 500 could only do so much. For 2 hours, Task Force 1 slowed and harried the USRN ships, and forced them to slow from .75c to .25c.

By 1000 GMT, the first reinforcements had arrived. Specifically, they were an RMP fleet headed by BSS Triton, an Europa Class cruiser, commanded by Commodore Alexander Mitchell, with 6 destroyers, 8 frigates, and 10 Javelin Class corvettes in tow. These Corvettes, BSS Woodstock, BSS Plant City, BSS Greenwich, BSS Constellation, BSS Reliant, BSS Cook, BSS Phobos, BSS Daimos, BSS Lindwyrm and BSS Rutland, were all highly modified, and updated with the latest tech. Although not a huge fleet, they were large enough to become a serious threat to the USRN forces, and they were stalled in Martian orbit, boxed in.

At 1235 GMT, ADM Aiyakah Novahich arrived, on board BSS Blackfin. His fleet included 15 more corvettes, which now that they had large numbers, were swarming the Republican starships, and just making life difficult for them. At 1241, RADM Edmund Maxwell arrived commanding Constitution's sister ship, BSS Magna Carta, with a large and varied fleet of 6 Farraguts, 10 Liberty Class Frigates, and 15 Javelin Class Corvettes escorting, as well as 2 older Halsey class destroyers. Finally, the battered and small Federation fleet could have a rest. They began pushing back the now bruised Task Force 9, and by 0900 the next day, August 14th, the USRN fleet was trapped in the rings of Saturn.

At 0900 on August 14th, the Federation's stand had begun to pay off; and fate made their day easier. The path of battle coincided with the orbital position of Saturn, and at 0900 both fleets were battling among the planet's rings. By this point, the USRN was suffering massive losses, and it certainly didnt help when, after nearly routing Task Force 9, the Federation unleashed its newest weapon: Warp Disruption Mines. These mines used immense power to make extremely deep, localized gravity waves, which had the capacity to pop any warp bubble that was not tuned to their extremely specific frequency. This new technology allowed the Federal fleet to trap the USRN in the rings, while fighters and torpedo bombers from Enterprise, Franklin, Yorktown, and Lexington pounded the trapped ships while the rest of the BSF fleet stayed out of range.

The end of August 14th would see 90 percent of the ships sent to Sol (500) destroyed, captured, or damaged beyond repair. By this point, Task Force 9 broke and ran. Seeing the battle won, and with the end of the uprising on Oberon and the other smaller battles, the USRN fleet was disorganized and nearly shattered. Task Force 9's Commanding Officer, Shakira Pevochik, had lead the assault on Sol, and would be captured, tried, and executed for her crimes, especially during the Massacre of Oberon. Her Flagship was destroyed during the battle of Sol, and she escaped the wreck on a lifeboat, which was nearly immediately captured by BSS Rutland.

In the aftermath of the battle, while Navy High Command ordered the beginning of their victory plan, Operation Federal Glory, a small fleet led by Constitution and comprised of about 100 ships stayed on the Republican fleet's tail, disrupting supply lines and chasing them towards the border. Meanwhile, planning began on Operation Federal Glory. This giant task force, colloquially known as Task Force 1, would take 80 percent of the operational BSF fleet, and combine them into a giant battle fleet nearly 8000 strong. On September 1st, Admiral Bane left Admiral Novahich in charge of the Constitution, while he traveled to Earth on Blackfin to deliver a commencement speech for the armada, and oversee it's departure.

On September 1st, Operation Federal Glory was officially begun, and during the next 2 years, Task Force 1 hammered the USR forces back into their own territory. But first, was the huge job of liberating Federation star systems long held under USR occupation. First was Teegarden's Star, on October 1st, after a 2 hour fight where the Federation suffered only 2 casualties. Next was Wolf 359, the site of the Oberon Massacre. This system was harder to liberate, but still, was completely under Federation control in under 2 days. Task Force 1 simply rolled through these systems, pushing out the nearly defeated USR forces from those systems quickly and efficiently, with minimal collateral damage. In some systems, the USRA and USRN forces simply laid down their arms and gave up, surrendering everything to the bloodthirsty and highly organized Task Force One.

By Mid 2118, Task Force One had pushed back to the Federation/Republic border, and was beginning to take the Republic's own systems. Now in the USR's heartland, the BSF was encountering more resistance, but not enough to break their momentum. And even here, the fear stemming from the mere sight of Task Force One ships, many sporting custom livery that was highly identifiable, caused the enemy to break and run, especially in harder to access systems or those that were poorly reinforced, as the USRN rushed to defend their military and core systems. By the end of the year, Task Force One was within 20 LY of Farah, the USR capital, although their momentum had slowed that it would take until December of 2119 to arrive and begin to fight for Farah.

#### Siege and the Battle of Farah

On December 7th, 2119, at 2100 GMT, Task Force One arrived in the Soola System, to encounter a large, although badly damaged and poorly supplied USRN fleet. What would ensue would be one of the most tedious and long winded phases of the war. For the next 2 years, the Federation left Farah under siege. Although not much happened officially, many commanders did not punish their troops for crimes committed against USR forces, as many saw it as fitting revenge for the Massacre at Oberon, and the other crimes committed by USR forces and Shakira Pevochik. Even Admiral Bane, usually pushing his sailors for honor above all else, often turned a blind eye to these incidents. War, after all, is War.

The stalled battle lines began to push closer to Farah in July of 2121, and by September 9th, 2121, the two navies were just outside of Geosynchonous orbit, and at 1200 that day, the Battle of Farah began with the USR's desperate last stand. Pushed into a tiny area between the Federation's lines, and Farah, the USRN began with an attack on a seemingly thin area of the Federation's lines, made up of smaller ships. Unbeknownst to the Republic, these ships were top of the line Block III Javelin Class Corvettes, as part of the Red Mare Project fleet, and lead by BSS Blackfin, the holy grail of light combat ship. Highly modified, these ships simply shredded any attackers, and as soon as that had happened, the Federation fleet moved in, and began picking apart the USRN ships. Slowly, the large, but badly damaged, USRN fleet was but a few scraps.

However the battle was not yet done. As over 10 days Task Force 1 picked the Republicans apart at their leisure, they began to get cocky, and were entirely caught unawares at the sudden arrival of the super dreadnought USRNS Destiny on September 19th. Immediately, the 3 Kirov Class battlecruisers, Kirov (CB-01), Deutschland (CB-02, and the brand new Oberon (CB-03), plus every carrier in the system, save for Enterprise, focused their attacks on the giant ship. Unlike its contemporary USRN starships, Destiny was equipped with powerful shields, and carried early USRN Energy weapons. It took the entire fleet's contingent of capital and subcapital class warships 12 hours to subdue her. However, at 0030 on September 20th, BSS Deutschland pulled alongside Destiny's aft starboard docking ring, and boarded the ship with Deutschland's contingent of BSF marines. Although they had little trouble capturing the ship, a damaged scuttling charge without the proper safeties blew out the engines, and she began to fall towards the planet.

Unable to evacuate the crew of the destiny and get away due to the damage to Destiny's systems and lack of escape pods, and the shearing of the docking ring, Deutschland was unable to pull away, and although some of the crew managed to board escape pods, most chose to stay with the ship. When she entered the atmosphere with Destiny, she slowly broke apart due to the shearing forces and the weight of Destiny. Official casualty numbers vary, with some estimating total deaths from both ship's crews numbering in the tens of thousands, while others estimate that most losses stemmed from the 15000 man crew of Destiny. Unfortunately, Deutschland's manifest was improperly filed, and the names and number of it's crew is mostly unknown, with estimates on crew size ranging from 5000-8000 at the time of her destruction.

With the destruction of Destiny, the navy's role in neutralizing the fleet was over, and as such, many ships in Task Force One were sent home. The rest of the fleet would cover the invasion until the end of the war on October 5th, 2121. The end of the war was the result of a coup that began in the late hours of October 4th, and succeeded in taking over from President Winter by midday on October 5th, resulting in the end of the war.

#### Surrender, and Return Home

After their successful coup, the revolutionaries immediately surrendered to Admirals Bane and Novahich, and the surrender was accepted by Admiral Bane in Constitution's primary hangar, with 2/3rds of the crew present. As with a tradition started in Tokyo Bay in 1945, the small remaining fleet kept their guns trained on Farah until the surrender document was signed.

After the surrender, Task Force One waited until their relief arrived to take over the occupation, and then headed for Wolf 359 and Oberon, with the new leaders of the United Soolan Republic. There, a restrictive treaty, unlike any seen since the Treaty of Versailles, was waiting to be signed by both the leaders of the BSF and USRN. This too, was signed on Constitution, although not in her hangar this time, but in Observation Lounge 3, where 4 years earlier Bane had watched as war came to Sol for the first time.

After the Treaty of Oberon was signed, Constitution made the short hop home to Earth, where a long rest period awaited the crew, and a complete overhaul for the ship.

## Peacetime, and the Relief Campaign

The crew of the Constitution, who had been in near constant war for the last 7 years, did not have an easy transition to peacetime. Although there was little fighting, the 4 years of being in the same space, not knowing what the next day would bring, not knowing if they would see home again, was brutal on the crew. As such the next several years would see the Navy adjusting to a more peaceful role in the galaxy, especially with ships like BSS Constitution.

#### 2121-2122 Refit and Layup

On November 21st, 2121, at 1348 GMT, BSS Constitution tied up at berth 11 at Paris Orbital Fleet Yards, in preparation for her overhaul. Nearly 7 straight years of war had taken it’s toll on the ship, and she was in need of both major maintenance and upgrade.

Meanwhile, the ship’s company was in terrible need of leave, and as such Admiral Bane ordered the crew’s 6 month leave, and that those staying on base should not stay on board ship if possible. As such, all crewmembers went on leave while the ship’s systems were rebuilt, her structure was overhauled, and battle wounds mended.

First in the long list of upgrades to Constitution was the replacement of her secondary coilgun battery with PPA emitters. These powerful Class IV emitters would bear the brunt of anti fighter fire, allowing indefinite fire in most directions. As PPA technology had gotten better, it was less and less affected by engine plumes, and as such was slowly taking over from coilguns.

The removal of the coilguns, and thus the freeing up of their individual magazines and support machinery, freed up much-needed space within the ship. This allowed for the addition of more berthing compartments, cargo space, as well as the change from a central “bubble type” shield emitter to smaller emitters spread about the ship, making the shielding into a “second skin” type, that followed the contours of the hull.

The change to “Second Skin” type shields allowed the original shield generator to have a reduced workload as navigational shielding, and as such it was downgraded, and it’s compartment split into two spaces. On one side of a bulkhead was the navigational shielding compartment, and on the other side was a new torpedo magazine, increasing the ship’s total torpedo and probe count significantly.

Simultaneously to the work being done to upgrade Constitution to 2120s standards was structural work. During her 7 years of defending the Federation, she received a lot of major damage. Due to the Federation’s need for more ships in the fight constantly, oftentimes her repairs were incomplete, under done, or ignored in the face of more important ones. Due to this, she needed a major structural overhaul. When touring the ship during this phase of the refit, Admiral Bane was overheard asking how much of his original ship would be left. This was simply due to the constant replacing of frames, struts, and other structural members, often making it seem that the hull was simply being replaced piece by piece.

However, these structural repairs take time, and it would be 8 months before the ship was space worthy again. During her 11 month, 30 day, and 5 hour refit period, some 70 percent of ship’s systems were replaced, 42 percent of her major structural members were replaced or repaired, and her crew was given 6 months of leave to return to their families and relax after years away from home. Upgrades included, but were not limited to; replacement of “bubble type” shields with “second skin” type, decentralizing the ship’s passive defenses; replacement of the secondary coilgun mounts with Class IV Phased Particle Accelerators; replacement of the central ship’s computer and targeting computers with the latest technology; and an upgrade to the warp drive allowing the ship to achieve Warp 6.1. Many other smaller, less significant upgrades occurred as well, from improving berthing spaces for junior officers and enlisted men to changing evacuation routes.

#### Relief Efforts to Outer Colonies

On November 20th 2122, BSS Constitution departed Paris Orbital Fleet Yards for a post refit shakedown. All of the ship’s refitted systems were tested, and she returned to dock without issue. After 5 days of crew turnover, fueling and arms loading, she departed Sol for her new mission.

Acting as a screen for relief convoys to outer Federation territories was a good job for Constitution to reacquaint herself and crew with active duty. Leading convoys while protecting them from pirates, mines, and other threats allowed the ship, and her new crew, a chance to get their feet under them.

During the time immediately after the ending of the war, the shattered territories and depleted military of the Blue Star Federation were not enough to police outer systems from pirates, although this threat returned to normal levels within 2 years, as the Federation began to get it’s feet under it. By the onset of the joint program Project Stardust, Piracy was mostly dealt with, and smaller ships took on the load of protecting convoys.

Thus, Constitution carried out these duties for 4 years, with regular trips between the Federation’s industrial centers, newly set up refugee camps, and various other locations in the core territories. Little action was seen by the ship, and her guns spent almost 18 months without firing in anything other than exercises.

Although it may seem excessive for the Federation Navy to send a Heavy Cruiser to do convoy runs, there really wasn’t much else for the ship to do. Convoy duty was shared by all of the freshly refitted Constitution Class starships, and so if not guarding convoys against pirates and terrorists, Constitution went and patrolled outer territories, or explored.

By July of 2126, the Federation decided that large ships like the Constitution class would be better off exploring, and on July 25th, 2126, Project Stardust began, which freed up BSS Constitution and her sister ships to do what they were originally designed to do, which was explore.

#### Exploration in the Mid to Late 2120s

After the beginning of Project Stardust, Constitution Class cruisers were no longer needed for convoy protection, as smaller ships from both the BSFN and Navy of the Republic were in plentiful supply, and Piracy was at an all time low. Thus, after a short time at Sol, BSS Constitution departed for parts unknown, to further humanity’s knowledge about the cosmos.

Exploration suited the crew, and they would spend years “out in the black”, as Bane called it, cataloguing stars, planets, making contact with civilizations, and otherwise. Every month, they would transmit their data back to the Federation, and they would receive information from home. Despite being cut off from wider civilization, especially wider human civilization, the crew’s morale was at an all time high.

The Constitution spent 14 years, on 2.5-3 year exploration tours, outside of Federation space, charting, doing diplomacy and First Contact, and learning the secrets of the universe. Rarely did she see another human starship. However, the data sent back to the Federation was invaluable. It allowed them to understand what was beyond known space, and allowed them to set a basis for where they would expand next.

#### Voyage to Betelgeuse

In 2134, her third mission in the Black, Adm. Bane made course for the Red Supergiant star Betelguese, the most massive star in the sky. If they made the 800 ly trip, they would be the farthest out any ship had ever ventured from Sol. They made it to Betelguese in 6 months. After spending 3 months traveling through the various local systems and charting them, Admiral Bane requested, and received permission for a one year mission extension, allowing them to take the ship even farther.

Ultimately, Constitution traveled 1600ly away from Earth, in a system that the crew named Trench’s Star, after the Republican Admiral who fought so doggedly against them. The journey out took 2 years, and the trip back took 16 months. The shorter trip back was due to Constitution’s straightline course back to Earth, with minimal stops for charting.

In January 2137, BSS Constitution re-entered Federation territory, ending what would be one of Humanity’s greatest treks. During that trip, she put almost 4000 LY under her keel, logged some 30 Exabytes of chart data, Diplomatic transcripts, and scientific research. This fresh knowledge about the wider galaxy would further Humanity’s cosmic knowledge exponentially. The only starship to log more data would be BSS Constitution-A, Constitution’s successor, which was a far more advanced ship.

#### Continued Exploration to Above and Below the Galactic Plane

After her marathon voyage to Trench’s Star, and a short yard period in which damage the ship suffered was fully repaired, and minor upgrades were performed, the crew had a new goal. To travel into near intergalactic space, both above and below the Cosmic Plane. Although nowhere near the distance of the previous voyage, Stars would be fewer and farther between, making fuel more scarce, due to the lack of both interstellar and stellar gas that would be experienced once the ship left the Galactic Plane

It only took 2 months to get to a point 500ly above the Galaxy. When the ship dropped out of Warp at its destination, the whole crew rushed to any window that was facing towards what Bane would call in his memoir “the most beautiful, and humbling sight any had beheld”. Stretching out “below” them, was literally hundreds of billions of stars, stretching over a distance of one hundred thousand lightyears, each with its own unique situation. Soon, the  combined observation lounge and conference room aft of the bridge, with it’s giant windows, was the most popular location on the ship.

Bane’s log for the day read as this:

20th March, 2137, 1600z

> “To think that just a year and a half ago we were the farthest humans from home, so high and mighty with the feeling that we had explored a large chunk of our galaxy. Now, I sit up here and look down, on the giant disk of stars beneath me, and think of how insignificant it all is. How little our wars and our battles and all of our achievements actually impact the universe. All those hundreds of stars that we visited on our previous expedition? That's nothing to how many there really are. Most estimate that there are around 400 billion stars in the galaxy. If I visited 400 stars, I would have explored 1 billionth of the whole galaxy. A tiny fraction of a percent. Now, I think it that much more important to maintain the peace at all costs. Oh what humanity could achieve, if only they’d stop fighting and just look up. On a second note, the crew were granted a 2/3rd leave schedule, so that they could do their favorite thing right now, which is to go to one of the 4 conference rooms, which all have massive windows, and stare down at the Galaxy. Right now there's probably 100 people in each of the lounges, and they’re all looking at one thing. Truly amazing that this is one of several hundred billion galaxies also in this universe. To think that there is that much stuff out there, that many civilizations, just like ours, that also look to the stars and think “Oh if I could be up there, to see it all” End Log”
>
>

After 3 weeks spent at the top of the Galaxy, it was time to head back to Earth. Although sad to see the most beautiful sight in the universe go, the ship had other matters to attend to. Her next destination would be the bottom of the Galactic Plane, as the captain wanted to see both sides. This time, however, they would be aiming at a single star, about 600ly beyond the bottom of the Galaxy, to discover the effects on that system of being so far from the rest of the Galaxy.

The trip went well, and after 6 months, the Constitution had reached it’s destination. There, not only would numerous amounts of data on the differences of being so far from the Galaxy be recorded, but First Contact would be made with an alien race known as the Hyponrites.

The Hyponrites are a peaceful race of moderately advanced aliens. As Bipeds, and Mammals, they are not dissimilar to humans, save for their telepathic hivemind and communal society. First Contact was made on October 29th, 2137, and it went extremely well. Despite their advancement, the Hyponrites had encountered only one other interstellar species before humans. This is mostly due to how far they exist from the rest of the Galaxy, and how remote their home system is. Thus, diplomacy went well, and since Admiral Bane had the power to sign preliminary treaty due to his current function in the fleet, signed a treaty promising a trade agreement, ambassadorship, and “knowledge exchange program”.

On return to Earth, the Human-Hyponrite treaty was officially ratified by the Federation, and other starships began working to open trade routes with the Hyponrite’s home sistem, Dulas. Meanwhile, Constitution was out exploring, and charting new systems for the Federation. Her final explorative voyage would be short, but would still rack up impressive amounts of information and knowledge for humanity.

#### Final Exploration Voyage and Base Scouting

This voyage would, although be less significant than the previous two, would still be important. This time, she was among a tandem fleet. The other ship was the BSS Blackfin, which was under the command of Vice Admiral Aiyakah Novahich. Although it may seem that sending the chief of the Red Mare Project on an exploration mission would be odd, in reality it was perfectly logical. At the time, the Federation was looking for a base for their Reality Warp Gate, which allowed exploration of other realities by Federation starships. And so, sending the chief of the organization that monitors reality changes and anomalies was in fact perfectly logical.

2 years were spent looking for the proper location, and charting more unexplored regions of space. Blackfin’s crew greatly appreciated the break away from being a flagship, and the two ships were able to work together well to get the job done faster.

After 25 months, and 8 days, BSS Constitution and BSS Blackfin returned to Earth. Much had changed in their absence. The Federation had already begun construction on the Reality Warp Gate (RWG), due to the Constitution and Blackfin being unable to find an appropriate location for the device.

#### Exploration of Beta Reality (2141-2149)

When the RWG was finally opened in 2141, a massive rush was made to explore the whole new area it set out. Beta Reality was quite different from Omega Reality. Everything was suddenly turned on it’s head. And at the forefront of the fleet, at the forefront of the exploration and data gathering was Fleet Admiral Thomas Bane, and Admiral Aiyakah Novahich, who had both been promoted for their nearly 80 years of service to the Blue Star Federation. They would lead small, stripped down fleets of ships, charting the new frontier. However, everything changed again in September of 2145

#### First Contact with the Dreamers

On September 12th, 2145, FADM Bane’s fleet picked up several blips on their extreme long range scanners. So far, Humanity had not encountered any other race in Beta Reality. At this point, it was thought that they would not. Unable to pick up any transponder signal from the unknown blips, and seeing that they were moving oddly (exceeding the speed of light without the use of any form of warp bubble), Bane ordered the ship to General Quarters, and made an intercept course. Unknowing of who he had contact, he took it carefully, as Constitution, nor any of the Europa Class Cruisers making up his fleet were heavily armed.

As they got closer, they began to get better scans of the fleet that they had encountered. Made up of mostly small ships, they were using a drive system that nobody on the Federation ships could understand. At 1300z, an attempt to make contact with the unknown craft was made. Attempting communication through all known subspace frequencies proved fruitless. The unknown vessels were not armed as far as the Federation ships could tell, and so Bane ordered the fleet to a non aggressive posture, and ordered them to form up alongside the unknown ships.

Attempting to make contact using various methods were tried. Finally, old fashioned light flashing did the trick. Both fleets slowed to sunlight speed, and entered formation together. Only now, would the two races meet face to face.

The unknown people who the Constitution had intercepted called themselves the Dreamers. Although a peaceful people, they had latent abilities akin to what those on Earth many centuries before would call magic. They had a unique interface with the natural world, and their ships were grown, not built. A reptilian people made up of those who could commit acts of true, unexplainable magic. Although contact was rough at first, the Federation’s new Universal Translator allowed the two races to communicate better and better as time went on. Eventually, the two peoples parted ways. They would meet again however.

After 4 more years traveling in and out of Beta Reality, Constitution was due for a refit. Unfortunately, dark times lay ahead, although no-one knew it. After a year in the yard, she, for the first time since 2126, stayed within Federation territory. All went smoothly, and there were few events to write home about, until the mutiny of the company and crew of the BSS John Hancock on Monday, July 13th, 2150.

#### “Hancock Incident”, and Interaction with Reality Omega-1, and its Starship USS Constitution

At 0300z on July 15th, 2150, BSS Constitution received a distress call from merchant ships. The captain, awakened by the news, ordered the ship alter course to intercept at maximum speed. Upon arrival at 0340z, the only sign of the merchant ships was a large debris field. No survivors were recorded. After surveying the scene, the ship returned to regular patrol. At 0700z on the 30th, another merchant fleet sent a distress call, again stating that they were under attack. This time they were much closer, and BSS Constitution dropped into the battle zone just in time to see her sister ship, BSS John Hancock (CA-007) go to warp, leaving a large debris field in her wake.

Upon calling the incidents into High Command at 0900z, Constitution received orders to join up with a Red Mare Project squad, lead by Admiral Aiyakah Novahich, and consisting of the Europa Class Light Cruiser BSS Enceladus (CL-083) and the Corvette BSS Blackfin (CR-105). The ships rendezvoused at 1900z that day. Their mission was simple. Track down BSS Hancock, and stop her from wreaking havoc upon merchant fleets. Capture of the ship and crew were preferable, but if not possible, permission was given to destroy the ship.

To achieve this goal, a trap was set. When Hancock dropped out of warp at 0722z on August 2nd, she found not only a merchant vessel, but also 3 Federation warships, and was also surrounded by Warp Disruptor mines. Despite being hemmed in, Hancock had many tricks up her sleeves, and despite multiple hits from BSS Enceladus’s and BSS Blackfin’s ventral railguns and the other devastating weapons of Constitution and Enceladus, she managed to turn the tide. Modified with an overcharged energy weapon in her bow, she took aim at BSS Enceladus and fired, disabling the smaller ship’s shield systems and forcing her to withdraw from the fight at 0850z. Multiple hits on Constitution’s hull with this weapon were also noted, although her shields absorbed many of them. However, none could have expected what would happen next.

At precisely 0932z, on August 2nd, a large disturbance in spacetime opened, revealing a space and time spanning wormhole. Just as Hancock was about to hit Constitution with her unknown weapon, a fourth ship burst out of the wormhole and placed herself between the two ships. This ship’s shields withstood the hit, and she also entered the fight, against the BSS Hancock, while hailing BSS Constitution.

The fourth ship was the USS Constitution, which would be launched in 2287 under the command of the (then thought fictional) United Federation of Planets’ Starfleet. After 80-plus years with that fleet, she was set to be retired when an anomaly with her warp drive sent her back to the year 1995. Unable to recreate the anomaly, and without electronics capable of calculating a time travel slingshot around a star, she stayed there and was hidden for 22 years until found by a group of teenagers who happened to be looking for a starship.

USS Constitution had also been dealing with merchant raiding and straight up attacks on various members of another fleet in her own reality, Omega-1, and when investigating discovered the wormhole that took her here. It turned out that BSS Hancock had not been using Warp Drive to get around, but Cavoda Event sized wormholes that punctured the subspace between realities.

Upon USS Constitution’s arrival, the tide of the fight quickly turned against Hancock, and her weapon systems were completely destroyed by 0800. However when a joint boarding party from the ships went aboard, they found the crew had all committed suicide near simultaneously. In her engineering section a device was discovered that seemed to be what allowed her to reality travel so readily.

At the center of the device was a crystal that was heavily damaged, but in shape enough to determine that it was a Time Crystal, which could be found on the moon of Et’Bor. The two Constitutions departed for that moon, with Blackfin assigned to assisting BSS France with repairs and then securing BSS Hancock for tow back to a port. Retrieving the crystal, the two ships returned to the location of the attack, where they discovered a fleet of USRN ships waiting. Upon seeing the ship from an alternate reality, they opened fire, and BSS Constitution held them off while bidding USS Constitution a good journey home.

#### Aftermath of the Incident, and Bane and Novahich v. United Soolan Republic

When submitting his report about the incident, Bane made sure to take note of the former company and crew of BSS John Hancock’s group suicide, and the mysterious device, which had been meticulously studied before being installed on USS Constitution for her journey home. The Hancock Mutiny, as the incident would later be known, unfortunately foreshadowed the tragic Doomsday Order, when 99% of the Blue Star Federation and United Soolan Republic armed forces turned on their country and helped install a new regime, the Phoenix Empire. Although the bodies were carefully studied, no cause was found for their sudden betrayal of the fleet. BSS John Hancock was repaired, and returned to service, just in time to be destroyed in the Second Solar War, at the Battle of Earth L2.

Aiyakah Novahich and Thomas Bane were sued by the United Soolan Republic for their violation of the ERA treaty, and for their fight against the United Soolan Republic Navy. After a court-martial, Bane was reduced in rank from Fleet Admiral to Admiral, and Novahich was reduced from Admiral to Vice Admrial for violation of ERA, but commended for his handling of the mutiny. The civil case was dropped in Bane and Novahich’s favor after it was discovered that the USRN fleet opened fire first.

After the incident, Admiral Bane became increasingly paranoid about a conspiracy throughout the ranks of the Federal Navy and Army, especially after reports of smaller scale incidents began to creep in too. Using the considerable wealth at his disposal, he purchased a small, failing shipyard out of the way, and began stockpiling parts for Constitution. He also did a thorough crew review, removing anyone who had a Cybertech implant chip, which he noticed that that was the one thing that the mutineers had in common on Hancock. Although advising VADM Novahich on this as well, Novahich said that Bane was being paranoid, and that none of this would come to pass.

#### Second Solar War

After a botched assassination attempt on United Soolan Republic President John Lastname, which was carried out on May 29th, 2152, by another group of random mutineers, the USR declared war on the Blue Star Federation, rapidly attacking. Although the initial blow was on sol, the system was essentially left under siege. Although much fighting took place outside of Sol, and indeed in the system, it was not a slow moving war like the First Solar War. However, this all changed on June 23rd.

In June of 2153, June 22nd to be exact, the USRN met the gathered Blue Star Federation Fleet in battle at the #2 Lagrange Point around Earth and the Moon, where a massive pitched battle took place. As the battle began to work it’s way closer to Earth, the Federal Navy began rallying, not around BSS Constitution, but around BSS Kirov, and began to outflank the Republican navy, just as it had 35 years before. However, just as victory was secured for the Federation, the fleets suddenly ceased fighting each other. Aboard BSS Blackfin, Admiral Sasha Petracov came aboard with the outside intention of seeing Admiral Novahich out to battle, when suddenly he pushed a button in a fob in his hand, which became active as they reached the bridge, and the Blackfin’s crew mutinied against their longtime captain.

All across both fleets, this occurred, as well as in the Governments of the two nations. Mutineers turned on their superiors. BSS Kirov (CB-01) was scuttled under Admiral Bane’s orders, as her captain was still capable of setting off the district sequence. Along with her sister ships, BSS Kiev (CB-04), BSS Washington (CB-05), and BSS Moscow (CB-06), Kirov and her captain would go down in history as heroes, as to prevent the Kirov and her sisterships from falling into enemy hands, RADM Edwards, the commanding officer, had to fight his way to Engineering to set off the scuttle sequence, and then sacrificed himself to make sure it went off. BSS Constitution, upon learning of the reality that they were in, through Aiyakah, overcharged her warp engines, reaching Warp 7 to get to Sol in under 15 minutes from Alpha Centauri. With her entire crew dead or with the mutineers, Admiral Aiyakah fought down to engineering, attempting to kill Petracov the entire way, and set off Blackfin’s scuttle sequence. However, after locking out the system, he attempted to make it to an escape pod, but was waylaid by Sasha Petracov, and they engaged in a drawn out fistfight. With 5 minutes to spare on Blackfin’s scuttle sequence, Constitution dropped on Blackfin’s position, and realizing that he would either probably die if he stayed with the ship, Sasha Petracov made for an escape pod, while Constitution performed the most dangerous docking of its career. Getting Aiya aboard with 10 seconds to spare, Constitution broke off the docking tube, and made full sublight out of the area, while being rocked by the explosion from Blackfin’s drive core exploding.

After setting a course for his shipyard that he had bought, Admiral Aiyakah Novahich formally requested to Bane that he be relieved from duty, and discharged. A discussion ensued, where Admiral Novahich stated that he could not continue to serve a country that no longer exists, and Bane stated that the Fleet is still here, as this ship. Still requesting that he be relieved of command and duty, Novahich was relieved at 1100 hours on June 23rd, 2153. Admiral Bane offered him a light fighter so as to get around in and defend himself. Constitution’s plan was to drop out of warp in dead space, and let Aiyakah Novahich on his way. At 1300 hours on the 23rd, Constitution dropped out of warp, and the two men walked down to the hangar bay side by side, for the last time for a while.

When they entered the Hangar’s annex corridor, a boatswain called ATTENTION ON DECK, and the crew, who had caught wind of Aiya’s planned departure, lined the corridor and hangar and saluted, as the once proud commander of the Red Mare Project left the ship for what was thought to be the final time.

#### 2153-2168. The Spark to the Fire of Rebellion.

As Admiral Bane’s ship was the only remaining loyal member of the Blue Star Federation Armed Forces, and as he was the highest ranking officer, he was determined to be Commander in Chief by the Federation’s system of Presidential succession. Forming a rebel cell, Admiral Bane enjoyed great success attacking Phoenix Empire supply lines and lone ships. BSS Constitution received a new paint job during her post war refit, one prominent item of which was a large “Starfleet Delta”, which replaced her Federation Navy and Blue Star Federation markings. This was an attempt to keep the citizenry from immediately calling the Imperial Navy upon sighting her. Although it didn't work very well, it was also a morale booster for the crew.

Over the next 15 years, the Constitution waged a low profile war of resistance on her nation’s oppressors. During that time, she gathered around her a small rebel cell, made up mostly of old Federation starships that had been left to rot in scrapyards but which had not been scrapped due to sympathetic yard owners, or simply to nostalgia. Mostly functional, these Europa Class Cruisers, Farragut Class destroyers, and Javelin Class Corvettes served as the background of a tiny rebel cell. Although there were other rebel groups, they were disorganized, and distrusted Admiral Bane.

#### 2176-2181. The Fires of Rebellion

After 4 years of attempting to track down his old friend Aiya, Bane finally caught up with him on July 25th, 2168, coincidentally Aiyakah’s 173th birthday, in a backwoods bar in Wolf 359. Drunk, disoriented, and confused, Aiya picked a fight with his old friend, before coming around. Bane told him that this was not who he was, what he should be doing, and also called Admiral Novahich back into commission, as when relieved of his command 15 years before, he had been technically put into reserve. The two set out to unite the different rebel cells, and after showing a united front, and showing the ease of access that BSS Constitution and her cell had to parts, shipyards, and ships, the other cells united under Bane and Novahich’s leadership, forming the Orion Alliance.

For 8 years, the Orion Alliance waged all out war against their oppressors, and became immensely powerful and large. By December of 2175, the Alliance had nearly brought the PE fleet to its knees. And then, on February 28th, 2176, it all fell apart, when a OA fleet led by BSS Constitution was nearly routed by a large Phoenix Empire fleet lead by Conciliator Sasha Petracov, who had been hunting Aiya for all those years. Heavily damaged, and on the run, the BSS Constitution had hull breaches everywhere, and was in the process of being boarded. Attempting to make repairs to a port side shield generator, Admiral Aiyakah Novahich was blown out into space by a hull breach. With his co leader dead, fleet nearly destroyed, Admiral Bane ordered a full retreat. Returning to their secret shipyards, they first watched on Imperial Media the display of Novahich’s body, and then its sudden disappearance. This gave Bane some hope that maybe his friend was somehow still alive.

After the defeat at the Battle of Hells Gate, as it came to be known colloquially by the Alliance, the Orion Alliance fought on. However, the heavily damaged BSS Constitution would be out for repairs for 2 years, as parts were sourced from her once proud sisterships, especially BSS Magna Carta.

Everything changed in 2180, however. When, on October 21st 2180, a Phoenix Empire listening post was attacked by an unknown being, and the footage was recorded and sent directly to the BSS Constitution before the listening post’s destruction. The footage, although partially corrupted, and of very poor quality, appeared to show a being matching Aiyakah Novahich’s description attacking the base. Included in the transmission were instructions on how to make contact, and a set of Imperial codes that could be used to falsify orders to the enemy fleet.

10 days later, the two admirals met again for the first time in 4 years. Plans were immediately made for a final order, a plan that would rout the Phoenix Empire’s fleet and begin the restoration of the Blue Star Federation and USR.

The plan called for hundreds of ships and many coordinated attacks on Imperial shipyards, Naval Bases, and Weapons Platforms. The idea was that the coordinated attacks would bring the PE navy to a heel, and force the Empire to meet the Orion Alliance’s terms for unconditional surrender.

Operation Orion Hope, as the operation was called, began on October 31st 2181, and would throw the Phoenix Empire’s fleet into disarray. After that, coordinated attacks were made on the various regional capitals, and by Christmas Day, 2181, the Phoenix Empire collapsed; and agreed to unconditional surrender to the Orion Alliance. The Blue Star Federation and USR were slowly rebuilt, with the Orion Alliance’s top political leaders taking command of either the Federation or Republic, depending on which nation they were citizen of. Bane was greatful to no longer have to carry the role of Commander in Chief of the Blue Star Federation, as he could return to being just an admiral.

#### Reconstrution of the Blue Star Federation, and Retirement.

As one of the only remaining ships of Federation origin that retained her commission, BSS Constitution served as fleet flagship from January 1st 2181 to December 25th 2186, the 5th anniversary of the Empire’s unconditional surrender. After the leadership AI of the Empire was discovered, it was rapidly executed for warcrimes and rights abuses, especially against anthros. Sasha Petracov was captured, tried, and convicted of high treason, and set to be executed. Admirals Aiyakah Novahich and Thomas Bane carried out the role of a firing squad, as Bane put a .45 caliber bullet in Petracov's skull with his service pistol.

After the Federation Fleet was deemed sufficiently rebuilt with new construction, BSS Constitution was decommissioned and retired with full honors on December 25th 2186, after serving 88 years for the Blue Star Federation, to be replaced by an Armstrong Class cruiser, BSS Constitution (CA-005-A)

#### Post Service Life

Constitution was donated to Paris Orbital Yard Museum for use as a museum ship. She is still a museum ship in this capacity. Even as a museum, Admiral Bane ordered that her systems be kept operational, and that the ship be capable of running, as he believed that a ship without her engines is a mere shell of its former shelf. Once a year, on the anniversary of the Alliance’s defeat over the Empire, he commands a cruise around the Sol System and its neighboring systems to not only test the ship, but to give people a feeling of what it was like to be aboard her when she was under way.

Still seen as the pride of the Federation navy, her story inspires millions, and she became known also by the name of her predecessor, the 1798 Gun Frigate of the US Navy, USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides”, for her unending ability to soak up fire when it is thought that she cant take anymore. No other ship had the career that she has, and no other may ever match her.