Kiyohime

[Levenna]

IKN Kiyohime

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CO: Cpt. Matsuda Ichika

XO: Lt. Suzuki Botan

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Class: 'Takeda '-class Destroyer
Crew: 175
Motto:「夜明けまで」- "Onward until dawn"

Armament:

4x EMP-4a Cruiser Pulse Cannons
6x YDT-3a "Starflare" Destroyer Turret
2x RNWP-12C Cruiser Shard Cannon
1x HGF-78 Cruiser Storm Cannon

Other Equipment:

1x CD98Rc Reinforced Cruise Disruptor w/ storage for 70 shots
1x Cruiser Positron Shield w/ Harmonic Reinforcement
1x <<redacted>>

Service History:

The latest of the 'Takeda' destroyer line to roll out of Kure shipyard, Kiyohime was commissioned in mid-829 A.S. and serves as a replacement to Cpt. Matsuda's previous command, the destroyer IKN Kagoshima. Kiyohime herself has yet to see much action. Besides her captain she is primarily crewed by newer recruits tutored by a few jaded veterans, full of zeal and eagerness yet lacking the temper of experience. It is for this reason that Kiyohime currently remains within Kusari home space, on a mission to curtail Blood Dragon and Golden Chrysanthemum activities. Such low risk endeavours should break in her crew, preparing them for frontline service should it be necessary down the line.

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Personnel File: Matsuda Ichika

Rank: Captain

Date of Birth: 6th August 793 A.S, Planet Kyushu

Height/weight: 168cm, 65kg

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Grey

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Personal Profile:

Matsuda Ichika was born on Planet Kyushu to two mid-level executives in food manufacturers local to Kyushu. Despite both of her parents being mostly of Kusari origin, Matsuda somewhat took after her sole Bretonian grandmother in terms of her looks, with striking blue eyes and not quite capturing the prototypical look one would expect of a Kusari woman. Nonetheless, she grew up relatively well catered for, though not pampered. As she grew up, she found herself somewhat ostracised, not only for being female as one would expect to a minor degree in a Kusari educational institution, but for carrying the look of a foreigner. It was this ostracization that lead her towards the Naval forces; she wished to prove herself as much of a Kusari citizen as any other born within the nation's borders. Her parents were known to be supportive of her career choice, and took pride in signing the waiver allowing her to join the academy a year earlier than she would otherwise be allowed to at the age of seventeen.

Matsuda did not graduate the academy top of her class, her youth compared to her classmates perhaps proving something of a hinderance, but nonetheless she was deemed to have performed well enough to be worthy of a chance in a moderately important post. She was assigned to the battlecruiser IKN Sapporo as a sub-lieutenant, in charge of one of the battlecruiser's two mortars. Matsuda's command style was noted as being somewhat hot headed, but simultaneously seldom unfair to those she commanded. Likewise, she was noted for taking exceptional pride in her work, seemingly proud of proving herself day in, day out, being a valuable asset to the KNF and subsequently the Emperor. In addition, around this time, her grandparents on her mother's side, including her Bretonian grandmother, moved to Leeds, unaware of what would happen a few short years later.

As the Bretonian conflict broke out, Ichika's command skills would be put to the test in a live combat situation. Throughout 813 A.S, her mortar battery scored a hit ratio of 81.3% against capital-class vessels, distinguishing Matsuda and her gunnery crew as talented marksmen. Such performance would continue until November of 815 A.S, when the Sapporo was struck, somewhat ironically, by a heavy mortar while it attempted to retreat from a battle. The blast hit the starboard side, just fifty meters or so aft of Matsuda's gunnery crew. Two were killed outright, while Matsuda was found unconscious and bleeding. She was dragged to an escape pod and rescued by a Naval Forces gunboat, spending the next three months in a hospital on her homeworld of Kyushu.

After her recovery, Matsuda found a promotion waiting for her. Despite her hot-headedness, Naval Forces command had been impressed by the efficacy of her command style and saw fit to groom her to be something more than just another gunnery lieutenant. To this end, she was assigned to the staff of a high-ranking officer aboard the battleship IKN Osaka. She was noted to take little pleasure out of the "paper pushing" nature of staff work, but was nonetheless equally noted to continue with her work ethic and to equally pick up and assimilate any tutelage she was given with impressive rapidity, to such an extent that just after a single year, it was recommended that Matsuda be promoted to Lieutenant Commander and be given a more significant command at just the age of twenty-four. This caused something of a stir within Naval Forces command, but Ichika had yet to give them a reason to doubt her, and they acquiesced.

Matsuda reported to the destroyer IKN Kagoshima in September of 817 A.S, as Executive Officer, little under two years after she had been a simple gunnery officer on a battlecruiser. Upon her discovery that she was assigned to a mere destroyer, she immediately requested a transfer back to a larger, in her mind more prestigious, vessel. Such a request was however denied and she was told to be grateful for the opportunity. Despite her misgivings, her command style she had shown up until this point produced much the same result as it had on the Sapporo. She served as an excellent foil to the Kagoshima's commanding officer, who was known to be something of a soft touch compared to Ichika's hard edge. As it would turn out, his touch would be somewhat too soft, as just nine months after Matsuda had joined the crew, the captain ordered a retreat from Tau-31 out of cowardice as the rest of the Kusari Navy fought it out with the Gallics. While the battle would go on to be lost, the captain was seen to have betrayed his brethren and was shortly thereafter executed for treason for his gross misconduct. This left Kusari Naval Command in an awkward spot. The war had cost the Navy many of its talented command staff, and a new captain could not be spared for the Kagoshima. As a result, the young now-twenty-five year old Lieutenant Commander Matsuda Ichika found herself in command of the Takeda-class destroyer Kagoshima, an almost unprecedented feat, despite a fairly exceptional amount of luck being involved.

The Kagoshima would be assigned to home defence duty, largely focused on quelling the occasional insurgent uprising by the Blood Dragons or Golden Chrysanthemums, even fighting off the occasional Outcast raid when they overstepped their boundaries. This was in part to give low-risk experience to the vessel's inexperienced captain, but equally to keep a close eye on her, as she was known to be loyal to the old Imperial style of governance, a style which had been overthrown in the Emperor's absence. This would indeed hold true as Matsuda was noted to chafe against government-appointed superiors at times, never to a degree that would harm her career but certainly enough to ensure she was watched.

Despite their issues with her, few could argue with her results. The Kagoshima crew had one of the highest retention rates of any in the Kusari Naval Forces; very few were transferred in or out of the ship. It functioned much like a well oiled machine and Naval Command saw no reason to interrupt what was already working, save injecting the occasional batch of new recruits to learn from the veteran destroyer crew, usually when older members of the crew began to look at their retirement from military service. Under Matsuda, the Kagoshima saw an impressive success rate in her operations, marred only by the occasional mistake which glaringly stemmed from Matsuda's inexperience. It was such mistakes that kept her career from progressing but, to Matsuda that didn't seem to matter a great deal. She seemed at home on the Destroyer, somewhat ironically given her original complaints about serving aboard her. Over the next two years from 818 to 820 A.S, the Kagoshima served quietly but effectively at home until one particular patrol in Kyushu.

Matsuda and her crew were holding steady near the jumpgate when an armored transport came through. Its manifest originally showed just wealthy refugees who had paid for transport from a shattered Bretonia to Kusari, however the transport was equally a known smuggler, and upon further scans the cargo hold appeared to be full of artifacts, supposedly belonging to some low-ranking noble that was aboard. More concerning to Matsuda was that on the passenger manifest were her two grandparents that had moved to Bretonia just a few short years before war broke out. As the transport began to realise it had been caught on to, it charged its cruise engines and attempted to run. Orders came down directly to Matsuda to fire upon the transport before it escaped, however she could not bring herself to carry them out. She explained to high command that she could not justify gunning down innocent civilians for the sake of destroying a few artifacts, an excuse which saved both her career and quite possibly her life, however the result ended the same as she found out later that same day that the transport had been intercepted by a trio of State Police fighters who had gunned it down as a risk to Kusari.

The loss of her grandparents to "her own" government was a great blow to Matsuda, and the aforementioned chafing against the Republic of Kusari command had grown further still over the next year, to the point that her superiors began to look for any excuse they could to replace her. Matsuda would not give them the satisfaction however, holding her duty above all else, and executing her job as effectively as ever. Most notably, Kagoshima was returning from patrol on Hokkaido when she stumbled across a Blood Dragon cruiser, seemingly on the hunt for an easy target, perhaps tipped off at the lone destroyer operating without escort. A close range duel ensued where Matsuda and her crew managed to hold the Takeda on the port side of the Kagutsuchi through careful use of the cruisers RCS thrusters and afterburner, disabling the Dragon with some significant damage to the distinct 'hatchet' at the front of the ship, but no significant damage to the ship's systems. This engagement caused the government to change strategies, and instead offered Matsuda a promotion to Commander in recognition of her service just a few short months later in January of 822.

Matsuda saw this as a blatant attempt to keep her on-side however, and word soon reached her through the grapevine that the Emperor and the Imperial fleet was soon planning to restore the old government. Many of the Kagoshima's crew had served on the vessel ever since the original captain's retreat from Tau-31, and many still felt they owed the Imperial fleet a debt for abandoning them in such a manner. A vote was held, and most of the crew, especially the longer serving ones, voted to attempt to rendezvous with the exiled Imperials. Those who did not wish to follow were loaded in to the ship's escape pods and left in the Kyushu system with a message: The Kagoshima belonged to the Imperial Kusari Navy.

The ship was well received by Imperial forces, who were desperate for any advantage they could get in the uphill battle to come. The Kagoshima would distinguish herself through the next three years of civil war, taking part in everything from the great battles between the battlegroups of Nagasaki and Nagumo to simple patrol duty and consolidation of territory. The ship miraculously managed to avoid any major damage despite being such a small vessel, something which could only be attributed to luck more than any skill by the captain or her crew. She would, however, miss out on the final push of New Tokyo as the venerable Takeda's engines would finally fail and require replacement just days before the operation was planned.

After the war, Matsuda and her crew were reintegrated in to the command structure of the reformed government. Matsuda was not entirely satisfied; she would much rather have seen the old government return in full and have Kishiro's democracy fall, but if it was good enough for the Emperor it was good enough for her. She had retained her rank of Commander throughout the war, and in recognition of her service was gifted one of the 'Tora' heavy fighters that was now being phased out in favour of the new, updated Chimaera. In addition her rank persisted in to the new combined force of the Imperial Kusari Navy and the navy that served the old Republic. Kagoshima was assigned primarily to the less stable northern provinces of Kusari, where the Blood Dragons had been seizing Kusari's weakness to consolidate their power and make territorial claims and gains, and as a result she would not take part in the war against Rheinland in the Sigmas that persisted throughout 825 A.S. and instead closed out the year reasonably quietly.

The next few years would see Kusari's stability gradually increase as it grew ever colder once more with Gallia. For Matsuda and the Kagoshima, however, it would prove adventurous with quite the rollercoaster of action followed by weeks on end with nothing occurring at all. Matsuda remained loyal, however, and determined as ever, a fact that would be recognised in 828 A.S. with a promotion to the prestigious rank of Captain, a rarity for a simple destroyer commander. Nonetheless, Matsuda was honoured. It was, after all, everything she had set out to do. Devote herself to the service of the Emperor so that she may be recognised as an equal, or even an exceptional asset, to Kusari society. With her promotion came a prestigious offer to command a Tokugawa, something that only a few naval officers would ever hope to achieve and a dream for almost anyone. Matsuda, however, explained that she felt she worked best with destroyers, a fact that was reluctantly accepted by Kusari command, and perhaps a fact that Matsuda would come to regret shortly thereafter.

In October of 828 A.S, Kagoshima was dispatched with a sizeable escort of Naval Forces fighters on a relatively routine patrol. A spy satellite in the north of the Tottori system had stopped reporting, and Kagoshima and her escort were to recover or repair it, and chase off any expected contingent of most likely Blood Dragon fighters that had caused the issue in the first place. What the task force was not expecting, however, were two fully armed Stortas to ambush them. Both were armed with zapper turrets, tearing through the unprepared Kusari fighter wings that remained to engage, while several rookie pilots retreated outright at the sight of the warships. This practically left Kagoshima in a two-on-one against the outcasts. Even though she was more suitable to anti-capital operations than either of the two Stortas individually, the combined firepower of the destroyers crippled Kagoshima in a matter of minutes, ripping and tearing through the hull of the historic Takeda which had withstood well over a decade of constant use and service.

Matsuda ordered the crew to their escape pods as the last of their point defences went offline, joining her crew as she herself evacuated. Just two minutes later, over 90% of the crew had evacuated as the Kagoshima suffered a complete core meltdown, going out in a golden blaze that was visible for hundreds of kilometers. Even though most of the crew had evacuated, many of her own escape pods were caught in Kagoshima's death throes, evaporating almost instantaneously, causing mass casualties. Those that remained, including Matsuda herself, were captured by the outcast Stortas.

What happened during their captivity remains unknown. For the crew, most reported that they simply rotted for two weeks in the brig before the KNF caught up with the destroyers in the Tau-53 system. Matsuda would report in her psych evaluation that she remembered little of her captivity. This was somewhat concerning to the KNF, however it was largely put down to a trauma response due to the loss of the Kagoshima, as brainwashing or more dubious things of that nature would take a great deal longer than two weeks to accomplish, nor did Matsuda show any signs of such mental manipulation. Physically, only basic checks were done to ensure she was still fit and healthy. Curiously, none of the crew had suffered a great deal of harm and Matsuda was no exception to this. It was theorised that the outcasts were waiting until they were home safe before doing anything to their prisoners, though nobody could say for sure.

Matsuda was, however, devastated by the loss of the destroyer. It had, after all, been her home for the better part of twelve years, with a loyal crew and an impressive service record. Friends had been lost on the Kagoshima, and many of the surviving crew resigned their posts after returning home, be it from the sense of loss to simply not wishing to risk their lives any further. Ichika would take two months of leave to recover mentally, spending much of it with her family on Kyushu, attempting to make up for lost time over the civil war, and endless patrols throughout the outlying provinces of Kusari. She would, eventually however, return to active service, notably.. different, somehow. Nobody could place a finger on it but likewise nobody paid it much mind as it would take time to heal. To that end, Matsuda was assigned to the old battleship Osaka, this time as temporary Executive Officer to readjust her to a command environment and, more pressingly, to keep her in an environment she could be monitored.

As the next few months passed, she began to slip further in to her former hard edge and slightly hot-headed command style. This transition calmed many in the KNF who had began to doubt her, though certainly not all. It did however garner enough trust to return Matsuda back to destroyer command where she had always shined. In June of 829, Matsuda received notice that she would be taking command of the IKN Kiyohime, a Takeda class destroyer fitted somewhat closely to what the Kagoshima used to carry. Matsuda reportedly simply smiled and nodded at the proposition, however was noticeably more lighthearted throughout the rest of the day after receiving the news.

Kiyohime's crew would consist of what remained of the Kagoshima survivors, a mere thirty or so crewmen including Matsuda herself. They would tutor an almost entirely junior crew. The hope for the Naval Forces is that if they kept the Kagoshima veterans together, they may be able to form a similar dynamic to the old destroyer's crew, tutoring and helping the new crewmen grow in their mold. Not all was quite so hopeful however, as some caution was exercised in the selection of Kiyohime's executive officer. Some in Naval Forces command still did not trust Matsuda's psychological state, and her XO would in fact be from the Kusari Intelligence services, masquerading as a Navy Lieutenant, as a precaution, just in case Matsuda was under the sway of some so far unforeseen external influence. If all would prove well, however, the "lieutenant" could simply be rotated off the ship after a few months.

Nonetheless, early patrols in the Kiyohime's assignment to the core of Kusari have proven promising so far, taking action against various insurgent forces when necessary. It is the hope of the Naval Forces that Matsuda in her crew continue to operate in this fashion far in to the future, however for the time being, they will ever remain cautious and watchful for even the slightest sign that things may not be as they seem.

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Service History:

810 A.S. - Inducted in to the KNF Officer Candidate's School

811 A.S. - Graduates to active service. Assigned as gunnery sub-lieutenant to battlecruiser IKN Sapporo

813 A.S. - IKN Sapporo, with Matsuda aboard, takes part in the initial stages of the Kusari/Bretonia conflict

815 A.S. - IKN Sapporo is hit by a heavy mortar from a Bretonian Dunkirk, landing close to Matsuda's gunnery position. The ship is scuttled. Matsuda spends three months hospitalised.

816 A.S. - Matsuda returns to active duty, is promoted to full lieutenant, and is reassigned to Tokugawa-class battleship IKN Osaka as a staff officer.

817 A.S. - Following recommendation of Osaka's captain, Matsuda is promoted unusually quickly to Lieutenant Commander and is made executive officer of destroyer IKN Kagoshima. Matsuda lodges an official transfer request back to a larger warship, however is denied.

818 A.S. The captain of IKN Kagoshima retreats as the Kusari Naval Forces engage the Gallic fleet in Tau 31. He is subsequently executed for treason. Matsuda takes command of the destroyer and is reassigned to home defence. Numerous complaints are lodged by Matsuda wishing to return to the front.

Matsuda is later placed under surveillance due to potential Bretonian loyalties from her family connections, as well as sympathy to the government in exile. She is noted to have a dislike of the Gallics as well as the opportunistic new government.

820 A.S. - Matsuda is reprimanded for failing to fire upon a transport carrying contraband, however also Bretonian refugees from Leeds. On board were her maternal grandparents. The transport was later destroyed by Kusari State Police fighters. Due to the circumstances, no further action was taken against Matsuda, however she was warned any further transgression would be the end of her Naval career and potentially life.

821 A.S. - KNF Kagoshima engages with a Blood Dragon cruiser, forced in to a one-on-one situation. Kagoshima comes out victorious with only moderate hull damage, retreating as reinforcements from both sides clash. Matsuda is commended for this action.

Matsuda's surveillance recommends attempting to buy her loyalty with a promotion as to not lose a valuable asset.

822 A.S. - Matsuda is promoted to Commander, citing her long service history, evident leadership qualities, and recent actions curtailing Blood Dragon operations. Later that year, Matsuda and the once-again-IKN Kagoshima would journey through the Taus to rendezvous with the Imperial fleet, headed by the Emperor and the battleship Nagasaki.

823 A.S. - IKN Kagoshima supports the initial Imperial push in to the Kyushu system. After the gate is secure, Matsuda and her crew primarily play backstop, ensuring Imperial forces do not get flanked and policing the territory the Imperial fleet had already reclaimed. Kagoshima would join the battleship Nagasaki in her successful strike against the Nagumo battlegroup, serving as a picket ship close to the primary capital fleet, gunning down bombers as they approached.

824 A.S. - Matsuda and the Kagoshima would support the second battle of Kyushu, this time taking a more active role on the flanks, harassing stray fighters and providing fire against Imperial battleships where possible. Matsuda herself would earn commendations for this action and recognition by the Imperial fleet.

825 A.S. - IKN Kagoshima remains out of the action for the final battle of New Tokyo due to problematic engines. After the reunification of the government, Matsuda and the Kagoshima are reassigned to patrolling the northern territories of Kusari and subsequently stayed out of the war against Rheinland.

828 A.S. - In recognition of her loyal service to the Emperor, Matsuda is promoted to the rank of Captain in February of 828. Later that year, IKN Kagoshima and a task force of Naval Forces snubcraft would be tasked with investigating a spy satellite that had recently stopped reporting. The task force would be ambushed in the northern edge of the Tottori system by a probing pair of Outcast Stortas, unknown in intent. The Kagoshima suffered the bulk of the fire as some of the junior pilots in her escort fled the scene, and suffered a complete core meltdown, losing approximately 60% of the crew who failed to evacuate. The remaining 40%, including Matsuda, remained in Outcast captivity for approximately two weeks before the two Stortas could be tracked down in the Nagano system. Matsuda herself has not indicated any harm suffered from her captivity, which seems to line up with the rest of the crew. Cursory medical examinations did not reveal any scarring or physical harm of any kind. It is still unknown what the outcasts intended for their prisoners had they held on to them.

829 A.S. - After two months' leave, Matsuda returned to active service, once again serving on the now-venerable battleship Osaka as a temporary Executive Officer to acclimatise her once more to a command environment. In June of 829, Matsuda received command of the IKN Kiyohime, a fresh destroyer off the production line of Kure shipyard, and has once again been assigned with home defence duties, tasked with quelling rising Blood Dragon and Golden Chrysanthemum activities. The Kiyohime has been crewed with a mix of survivors of the Kagoshima, as well as fresh recruits, with more in the latter category as many of the Kagoshima survivors resigned their service after returning home.