Bull Run
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| Bull Run | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Profile | |
| Type | DropShip |
| Class | Overlord |
The Bull Run was an Overlord-class DropShip operated by Stirling's Fusiliers of the Northwind Highlanders.
Operational History[edit]
When the Northwind Highlanders fought against the 3rd Royal Guards RCT in the city of Tara on Northwind, as part of the Battle of Northwind (3057), on 20 October, the approaching Stirling's Fusiliers were warned that the starport had been mined. The Bull Run subsequently combat-dropped its BattleMechs into the city in support of MacLeod's Regiment,[1] which turned the tide and ultimately resulted in the destruction of the 3rd Royal Guards and the 1st NAIS Cadet Cadre as well as the House Davion-aligned Consul Guards (a reinforced 'Mech company).[2]
The Bull Run later participated in the Highlanders' mission against Clan Smoke Jaguar on Wayside V. The Battle of Wayside (3058) almost became a disaster when the Highlanders found Tau Galaxy (Clan Smoke Jaguar). Jaguar aerospace fighters attacked all the Highlanders' DropShips. The Bull Run was hurt, but able to fly.[3] When Lieutenant Colonel Loren Jaffray proposed to create a force of fake Clan Smoke Jaguar raiders to draw Clan Nova Cat forces to Wayside, the Bull Run became the best choice, being loaded with a full Binary of Jaguar 'Mechs. After facing the Jaguars' WarShip Dark Claw, they attacked it with escape pods loaded with explosives, crippling the WarShip, which allowed them to escape.[4]
Later, the Bull Run led Jaffray's force to attack three nearby systems, where this company saw heavy combat, but the DropShip wasn't damaged. Later it returned to Wayside V, and even rescued Jaffray when he was wounded in the last battle, landing in the middle of the battlefield. It was the only DropPShips of the Fusiliers to survive the campaign.[5]
Notes[edit]
- In the vessel's very first appearance in fiction in Highlander Gambit, it combat-dropped its 'Mechs into the city of Tara on Northwind. This is told from the point-of-view of the character Loren Jaffray as he reads its name on the hull as "The Bull Run". This is the sole instance in the novel where the ship's name is mentioned, though it is expressly mentioned to be Overlord-class.
The later novel by the same author, Impetus of War, is set shortly afterwards in the timeline. It prominently features the Overlord-class vessel Bull Run with the same unit, clearly intending to be the same vessel. Jaffray might simply have misread or misinterpreted the name on the hull (he was involved in active combat at the time). - In the "About the Author" section at the end of the novel Impetus of War, author Blaine Pardoe mentions that he lives in Manassas, Virginia, just outside the Bull Run battlefields which thus seem to have inspired the ship's name in the novels.
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Impetus of War (novel)
- Highlander Gambit (novel)