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The advance scouts of the Scorpion Exodus arrived at the system of Choex on November 4, 3073.  This depopulated world was chosen by Khan Elam and his advisors as the final rendezvous of the civilian and military components of the massive fleet before beginning the invasion of Circinus Federation and the worlds of the former Illyrian Palantate and Lothian League (now occupied by the Marian Hegemony).  The main body was scheduled for arrival two days later, after the scouts (three Jenna Scott-class Covert Operations & Surveillance Vessels) reported to the Khan.

Here, in this isolated and supposedly abandoned system, the Scorpions would finalize their plans for the invasion and convoys would depart on a tight schedule that would allow for a simultaneous assault on twenty-two separate worlds scheduled for December 24, 3073.  Last minute checks of equipment and supplies would make certain that all was in readiness for combat operations.

However, Choex was not quite as barren as the Scorpions believed.  While the world itself had suffered severe ecological damage and the climate was no longer able to support colonization or human habitation (at least not without significant technological support), the Black Fleet discovered there was a Space Station in planetary orbit . . . and no fewer than four JumpShips (one Scout, two Merchants and one Tramp) sat recharging their drives at a nearby pirate point.

Choex had apparently become a pirate haven sometime since the collapse of the Rim Worlds Republic.

Star Colonel Gregor Arbuthnot (commander of the GSS Jenna Scott as well as the entire advance guard) sent a message back to Khan Elam notifying him of the presence of the pirates.  Arbuthnot was fortunate that the pirates had failed to detect his arrival at a second pirate point (as he arrived with one of Choex's two moons interposed between him and the station) nor the arrival of the other two covert surveillance vessels at the Zenith and Nadir jump-points.

Their presence in-system unknown to the pirates, Arbuthnot sent constant updates on the status of the pirate force back to the main body, using the advanced surveillance systems and Naval-Comm Scanner Suite installed on his vessel for detailed information.  The pirates communications were encrypted, but not heavily so and the Scorpions managed to decipher the comm traffic within a matter of hours.  By the end of the day, Arbuthnot (and the Scorpion Command) had a decent idea of exactly what they faced.

Four JumpShps, seven DropShips (one Union, three Leopards, a Mule, a Fury, and one Intruder), and the Space Station itself (a Snowden-class Mining Station). 

Total opposition strength amounted to just two companies of BattleMechs, a company of light armored combat vehicles, two companies of infantry, and ten Aerospace Fighters . . . provided that the pirate force was at full strength!

On November 5, 3073, elements of the Black Fleet, led by the Einjaher Battle Group escorting the 26th Scorpion Cateran Cluster, jumped into Choex at the pirate point occupied by the bandits.  Surprise was complete.

Faced with the prospect of engaging WarShips, the pirates at first prepared to run . . . but quickly realized that they would never survive (after the Tramp was reduced to a tumbling hulk when she attempted to initiate an emergency jump) and radioed their surrender.

The Elemental Warriors of the Einjaher Battle Group and the Ghost Scorpions took the remaining pirate JumpShips, DropShips, and Station intact, placing the bandits into custody.

But the Scorpions soon discovered that not all of the personnel captured were pirates.  More than 700 slaves (captured by the pirates in raids against the Circinus Federation, Lyran Alliance, Free Worlds League, and Marian Hegemony) were crammed aboard the vessels.  The males had been pressed into service in the Ore Processing Facility aboard the Snowden, while the women (and some of the children!) had been used for "entertainment" by the pirate scum.

Shortly after his arrival aboard the Serket, Khan Elam convened a series of quick Tribunals.  Over the course of two weeks, every single pirate that had committed heinous acts of torture, rape, and molestation were identified, convicted, and executed.   Just eighty-four of the pirates were not so convicted and these bandits were inducted into the Labor Caste of The Clan.

The pirates JumpShips, DropShips, and combat equipment were serviceable, but too obsolete (by Clan standards) for the Clan to find much use for.

Still, the vessels and combat equipment were valuable and Djerassi had them placed into service as part of the civilian Fleet.  The former slaves were told that once the Invasion was successful, the Scorpions would make certain that they were returned to their respective homes.  Khan Elam offered any who wished to remain a place within the Clan for those who had no home to return to (or those whose homes were so much worse than life as a Clan civilian).

The Snowden-class Station, on the other hand, was a potentially valuable prize for the Scorpions, with its extensive mining and Ore Processing Facilities.  One of the original models, it still possessed a KF Boom and was inducted into the Fleet and scheduled to be overhauled to Clan standards after the conclusion of the invasion. 

By 3077, the Snowden-class (Clan Goliath Scorpion variant) Severus Snape had been fully overhauled and refitted for service and began mining operations in the Circinus system.

                    AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
                                  VALIDATED

Class/Model/Name:  Snowden (Clan Goliath Scorpion) Severus Snape
Tech:              Clan / 3076
Vessel Type:       Space Station
Rules:             Level 2, Custom design
Rules Set:         AeroTech2

Mass:              51,000 tons
Length:            650 meters
Power Plant:       Standard
Safe Thrust:       0
Maximum Thrust:    0
Armor Type:        Ferro-carbide
Armament:         
   12 ER Large Laser
    6 ER PPC
   18 ER Medium Laser
   18 ER Small Laser
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class/Model/Name:  Snowden (Clan Goliath Scorpion) Severus Snape
Mass:              51,000 tons

Equipment:                                                            Mass 
Power Plant, Drive & Control:                                          612.00
Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 0
      Maximum Thrust: 0
Structural Integrity: 1                                                510.00
Total Heat Sinks:    180 Double                                        101.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps:                                                     719.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters:                 51.00
Fire Control Computers:                                                   .00
Food & Water:  (720 days supply)                                     3,240.00
Armor Type:  Ferro-carbide  (140 total armor pts)                      100.00
                           Capital Scale Armor Pts
   Location:                            L / R
   Fore:                                 24
   Fore-Left/Right:                   24/24
   Aft-Left/Right:                    24/24
   Aft:                                  20

Cargo:
   Bay 1:   Industrial Mechs (1+1) (30) with 2 doors                 4,500.00
   Bay 2:  Small Craft (16) with 4 doors                             3,200.00
   Bay 3:  Press Repair Facil. (5,000 T Capy, 1 door)                  375.00
   Bay 4:  UnPress Repair Facil. (15,000 T Capy, 1 door)               375.00
   Bay 5:  Cargo (1) with 2 doors                                   22,523.00
   Bay 6:  Ore Processing Facilities (1) with 1 door                 6,000.00

DropShip Capacity:  1 Docking Hardpoints                             1,000.00
Grav Deck #1:  (250-meter diameter)                                    100.00
Grav Deck #2:  (150-meter diameter)                                    100.00
Escape Pods:  150 (7 tons each)                                      1,050.00

Crew and Passengers:
     11 Officers (10 minimum)                                          110.00
     44 Crew (44 minimum)                                              308.00
      9 Gunners (9 minimum)                                             63.00
     50 Marine Battle Armor Troopers/Elementals                        350.00
    646 Ore Processing Crew                                          4,522.00
    140 Bay Personnel                                                     .00
Weapons and Equipment      Loc        SRV    MRV    LRV    ERV  Heat    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 ER Large Laser           Nose     2(20)  2(20)  2(20)  2(20)   24      8.00
1 ER PPC                   Nose     2(15)  2(15)  2(15)     --   15      6.00
3 ER Medium Laser          Nose     2(21)  2(21)     --     --   15      3.00
3 ER Small Laser           Nose     2(15)     --     --     --    6      1.50

2 ER Large Laser           FL/R     2(20)  2(20)  2(20)  2(20)   48     16.00
1 ER PPC                   FL/R     2(15)  2(15)  2(15)     --   30     12.00
3 ER Medium Laser          FL/R     2(21)  2(21)     --     --   30      6.00
3 ER Small Laser           FL/R     2(15)     --     --     --   12      3.00

2 ER Large Laser           AL/R     2(20)  2(20)  2(20)  2(20)   48     16.00
1 ER PPC                   AL/R     2(15)  2(15)  2(15)     --   30     12.00
3 ER Medium Laser          AL/R     2(21)  2(21)     --     --   30      6.00
3 ER Small Laser           AL/R     2(15)     --     --     --   12      3.00

2 ER Large Laser           Aft      2(20)  2(20)  2(20)  2(20)   24      8.00
1 ER PPC                   Aft      2(15)  2(15)  2(15)     --   15      6.00
3 ER Medium Laser          Aft      2(21)  2(21)     --     --   15      3.00
3 ER Small Laser           Aft      2(15)     --     --     --    6      1.50

140 Bay Personnel Quarters                                             980.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                              Heat: 360      51,000.00
Tons Left:                                                                .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        838,930,580 C-Bills
Battle Value:      6,279
Cost per BV:       133,608.95
Weapon Value:      7,794 (Ratio = 1.24)
Damage Factors:    SRV = 391;  MRV = 243;  LRV = 59;  ERV = 0
Maintenance:       Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 63,456
                   (10,776 Structure, 46,224 Life Support, 6,456 Weapons)
                   Support Points (SP) = 73,939  (117% of MPV)
BattleForce2:      Not applicable