Editing Perigard Zalman (Individual Leviathan-class WarShip)

{{otheruses|the WarShip|the eponymous character|Perigard Zalman}}
{{InfoBoxIndividualSpacecraft
| image        = 
| vesselname   = Perigard Zalman
| prevname     = 
| type         = [[WarShip]]
| class        = [[Leviathan Prime]]
| prevclass    = 
| servicesince = [[3070]]
| serviceuntil = [[3074]]
}}

==History==
Constructed in secret by [[Clan Steel Viper]], the ''[[Leviathan Prime]]''-class battleship '''''Perigard Zalman''''' became the new flagship of the [[Clan Steel Viper Touman|Steel Viper ''touman'']] when it was launched in September [[3070]].<ref name="WORp51"/> The ''Perigard Zalman'' had been constructed in a large slip that the Steel Vipers had constructed at the edge of the [[New Kent]] system in secret, using a combination of resources obtained in payment from [[Clan Wolf]] and [[Clan Coyote]] from [[3061]] onwards—the payments being made in exchange for both Clans gaining access to the existing, expanded New Kent shipyards to upgrade their [[WarShip]]s—and matériel obtained from the Steel Viper assault on the [[Clan Snow Raven]] world of [[Lum]] in [[3065]]. This new slip, named the [[Masters Shipyard]], was located near a little used Lagrange point, and was serviced by a small, carefully selected group of Steel Viper vessels to keep its existence secret.<ref name="WoRp22">''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 22: "Crashing Home"</ref>

At the time the ''Perigard Zalman'' launched the Steel Vipers had been engaged in a grueling series of battles with [[Clan Diamond Shark]], who were resisting efforts by the Steel Vipers to absorb or destroy their holdings in the [[Clan Homeworlds]]. Working against the Steel Vipers was the Diamond Shark refusal to grant ''[[safcon]]'' in any trial, and the skilled Diamond Shark naval contingent who took full advantage of the opportunity to strike at forces on approach to Diamond Shark worlds and enclaves. The Steel Vipers decided to deal with the Diamond Shark threat by revealing the existence of the CSV ''Perigard Zalman'' for the first time.<ref name="WORp51">''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 51: "Closing the Net"</ref>

===3070===
====Strana Mechty====
In orbit above [[Strana Mechty]] was the Diamond Shark [[Black Diamond Naval Star (Clan Diamond Shark)|Black Diamond Naval Star]] when the ''Perigard Zalman'' made its appearance. The Steel Vipers immediately attacked the Diamond Sharks, with the ''Perigard Zalman'' quickly destroying the ''[[Carrack]]''-class transport [[Bloodletter|CDS ''Bloodletter'']] and the ''[[Lola III]]''-class destroyer [[Predator (Lola III)|CDS ''Predator'']] in the first pass alone. As the Diamond Shark civilian vessels frantically jumped out of the Strana Mechty system the ''Perigard Zalman'' continued its attack, destroying two more Diamond Shark WarShips before the ''[[Fredasa (WarShip class)|Fredasa]]''-class corvette [[Swift Strike (Individual Fredasa-class WarShip)|CDS ''Swift Strike'']] managed to jump out of the system, taking word of the ''Perigard Zalman's'' existence to the other Clans.<ref name="WORp51"/>

====Lum====
The Steel Vipers gathered together the remainder of their Naval Reserve and struck at [[Lum]] within days of their assault on the Diamond Sharks, eager to test the abilities of the new flagship against the elite naval forces of Clan Snow Raven. Warned by the Diamond Sharks about the existence of the ''Perigard Zalman'', the Snow Ravens gathered the bulk of their remaining Homeworld naval assets at Lum, where they were gathering a huge convoy of vessels together, destined for the Snow Raven holdings in the [[Outworlds Alliance]]. The Snow Ravens had gathered together the remains of both the [[Brim Naval Assault Star (Clan Snow Raven)|Brim Naval Assault Star]] and the [[Circe Battle Star (Clan Snow Raven)|Circe Battle Star]], stripping the convoy of its escort vessels to assemble an impromptu naval flotilla.<ref name="WORp52+">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 52–53: "Closing the Net"</ref>

When [[saKhan]] Hoskins of the Steel Vipers declared his ''[[batchall]]'' for the entire system, the Ravens declared all they had to defend. The resulting battle pitched three naval stars on each side against each other, making the naval engagement far larger than that at Lum in [[3069]]. While the Snow Raven fleet was by far the more experienced, their level of skill was counterbalanced by the sheer firepower brought to the battle by the ''Perigard Zalman'' and her escorts. The battle lasted for seven hours before the last four surviving Snow Raven WarShips—the ''Fredasa''-class [[Black Beard|CSR ''Black Beard'']], the ''[[Aegis]]''-class heavy cruisers [[Black Justice|CSR ''Black Justice'']] and [[Lord Death|CSR ''Lord Death'']], and the ''Carrack''-class [[Venture Star|CSR ''Venture Star'']]—forfeited the Trial by jumping out of the system, leaving Lum a Steel Viper holding.<ref name="WORp52+"/>

By the time the surviving Snow Raven vessels jumped out of the system, the ''[[Potemkin]]''-class cruisers [[Rook (Individual Potemkin-class WarShip)|CSR ''Rook'']] and [[Snowflake|CSR ''Snowflake'']] and the ''[[Lola III]]''-class [[Vision of Terra|CSR ''Vision of Terra'']] had effectively been destroyed, although a covert Watch team from the Diamond Sharks would salvage the ''Snowflake'' several years later with assistance from the Snow Ravens. The Steel Vipers immediately landed ground forces on Lum, but faced little organized resistance and discovered that the Snow Ravens had been in the midst of a mass evacuation of their holdings, with large quantities of supplies and matériel partially loaded onto [[DropShip]]s at the two main DropPorts. The Steel Vipers gleefully seized the former Snow Raven resources, preparing to absorb the lower castes left behind as the Steel Viper WarShips began repairs in orbit.<ref name="WORp52+"/>

The Snow Ravens were not done with Lum or the ''Perigard Zalman'', however. Five days after the naval battle in the system, all four Snow Raven ships that had fled the battle returned to the system, launching a ferocious attack against the ''Perigard Zalman'' without bothering with a ''batchall''; the Snow Raven vessels simply closed into range and opened up on the Steel Viper WarShips, with Steel Viper technical and laborer personnel continuing to work on repairs to the ''Perigard Zalman'' up until seconds before the first Raven blows hit the ''Leviathan Prime''.<ref name="WORp52+"/>

For all of the ferocity displayed by the Ravens, they were unable to destroy the ''Perigard Zalman''. The four-ship squadron managed a number of successes—the ''[[Vincent (WarShip class)|Vincent]]''-class corvette [[Coiled Serpent|CSV ''Coiled Serpent'']] was destroyed, along with three quarters of the Steel Viper [[aerospace fighter]]s in the system and almost all the Steel Viper DropShips. However, three of the four Snow Raven WarShips were destroyed; the ''Perigard Zalman'' destroyed the ''Black Beard'' and the ''Venture Star'', while the ''Black Justice'' broke apart against the atmosphere of Lum after a failed ramming attack on the Steel Viper flagship. Only the ''Lord Death'' survived to escape the system, and did so with a heavily damaged main drive and while leaking atmosphere. The Snow Ravens had exacted a heavy price on the Steel Vipers, and while the last of the Snow Raven forces to escape the Homeworlds did so rapidly after the defeat at Lum, the lack of response from the usually-bellicose Steel Vipers indicated as to the amount of repairs needed following the last battle in the system.<ref name="WORp52+"/>

===3071===
After the battles in the Lum system, the ''Perigard Zalman'' was next in action during the beginning of the [[Wars of Reaving]]; in the wake of the call to Reave all of the [[Bloodname]]s associated with the Invader clans issued by the newly-elected [[ilKhan]] [[Brett Andrews]] in December [[3071]], the site of various [[Blood Chapel]]s on [[Strana Mechty]] - including the Kerensky Blood Chapel - became the site of a sprawling fratricidal conflict between all of the [[Clan]]s. The fighting in and around the Blood Chapels ranged into the city of Katyusha as various Clans fought each other, with the conflict escalating steadily after the destruction of the Kerensky and Winson Blood Chapels. The peak of the conflict came when forces from [[Clan Fire Mandrill]] fared badly when attempting to seize the McKenna and Clearwater Blood Chapels, resulting in [[Star Colonel]] [[Abraxas Mick]] of the Fire Mandrills ordering the ''Potemkin''-class [[Jungle Heat|CFM ''Jungle Heat'']] to destroy the Chapels by orbital bombardment.<ref name="WoRp81+">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 80–82: "The Wolf At The Door"</ref>

The resulting orbital bombardment razed both Blood Chapels as well as the Ben-Shimon Blood Chapel, and as a side effect destroyed a [[Binary]] of [[Clan Star Adder]] forces and set several fires  burning in Katyusha. The Star Adders and [[Clan Goliath Scorpion]] were outraged by the Fire Mandrill's actions, but it was the ''[[Sovetskii Soyuz (WarShip class)|Sovetskii Soyuz]]''-class heavy cruiser [[Sanra Mercer (Individual Sovetskii Soyuz-class WarShip)|CSV ''Sanra Mercer'']] and the ''Carrack''-class [[Solar Blaze|CCS ''Solar Blaze'']] that Reaved the ''Jungle Heat'', destroying it completely.<ref name="WoRp81+"/>

The ''Perigard Zalman'' was directly involved in the efforts by the Steel Vipers to remove the [[Clan Jade Falcon]] presence from Strana Mechty completely in the wake of [[Loremaster]] [[Kael Pershaw|Kael Pershaw's]] actions in disclosing the results of the call for [[Trial of Annihilation|Trials of Annihilation]] against the Clans with an [[Inner Sphere]] presence. The Steel Vipers directed the ''Perigard Zalman'' to bombard the Jade Falcon positions from orbit, but the crews lacked the experience or training to deliver pinpoint accuracy, and as a result a number of the shots fired fell outside the intended target area. These set more fires burning in and around Katyusha, and these fires resulted in the planetary [[HPG]] complex being razed because the local civilian population were unable to douse the fires due to the drain on the firefighting systems in place around the city caused by the intense conflict between various Clans.<ref name="WoRp81+"/>

===3072===
When the Steel Vipers made an opportunistic move against the last Snow Raven convoy to try and leave the Homeworlds, the ''Perigard Zalman'' was one of the Steel Viper WarShips directly involved. The Snow Raven convoy consisted of the [[Hellgate Battle Star (Clan Snow Raven)|Hellgate Battle Star]] and no less than one hundred and nine [[JumpShips]] all traveling slowly away from [[Hellgate]]. Anticipating that the Snow Ravens would move via the Snow Raven guidepost at [[Ghent]], the Steel Vipers arranged to work with [[Clan Star Adder]] to seize or destroy the convoy.<ref name="WORp102+">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 102–104: "Raven's Dirge"</ref>

On 29 July [[3072]], the Steel Viper force, consisting of the ''Perigard Zalman'' escorted by the ''[[Essex]]''-class destroyer [[Martial Legacy|CSV ''Martial Legacy'']] and the ''Potemkin''-class [[Serpentes|CSV ''Serpentes'']] jumped into the system, arriving in the middle of the vast Snow Raven convoy, and announced their [[Trial of Possession]] for the entire fleet, declaring all of the forces at the disposal of [[Star Commodore]] [[Terrence Moffat]] as their bid.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

[[Star Admiral]] [[Anta McKenna]] accepted the Viper bid as-was and declared all of her forces in defense. What Admiral McKenna hadn't realized was that [[Clan Star Adder]] had assigned a naval Star of their own to the command of Commodore Moffat, a naval Star consisting of the ''[[Black Lion]]''-class battlecruiser [[Admiral William S. Preston|CSA ''Admiral William S. Preston'']], the ''Fredasa''-class [[Arcadian Asp|CSA ''Arcadian Asp'']], the [[York (WarShip class)|''York'']]-class destroyer [[Exodus Crusader|CSA ''Exodus Crusader'']] and the ''Lola III''-class [[Hagar|CSA ''Hagar'']] and [[Warlock (Individual Lola III-class WarShip)|CSA ''Warlock'']]. Moffat neglected to inform McKenna of the additional forces, communicating their presence less than a minute before the Steel Viper vessels began firing on the Ravens.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Moffat didn't limit his targets to the four Raven WarShips defending the convoy and their attached escorts; instead, he had the ''Perigard Zalman'' open fire on whatever targets were in range, with the first Raven ships destroyed being fifteen JumpShips before the Ravens could close. The ''Martial Legacy'' proceeded to work in tandem with the ''Serpentes'' against the Ravens, first targeting and destroying the ''Lola III''-class [[Sagitta|CSR ''Sagitta'']], which had still been carrying the damage inflicted on it from the Trial of Possession in which the Ravens had acquired the Hellgate Battle Star from the Goliath Scorpions. In response, the ''Potemkin''-class [[Enceladus|CSR ''Enceladus'']] managed to inflict some damage on the ''Serpentes'' before the ''Perigard Zalman'' blocked both the ''Serpentes'' and the ''Martial Legacy'' from fire from the heavier Raven ships.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Despite the best efforts of the Ravens, the battle was effectively a foregone conclusion once the Star Adder forces jumped in. The Ravens still managed to cripple the ''Serpentes'' when the ''[[Congress]]''-class frigate [[Garlon|CRS ''Garlon'']] intercepted the ''Serpentes'' as it attempted to close on a group of JumpShips. The ''Potemkin''-class [[Prometheus (Individual Potemkin-class WarShip)|CSR ''Prometheus'']] was destroyed quickly by the Star Adders, although her sister vessel the ''Enceladus'' worked with several Raven DropShips to gut the ''Admiral William S. Preston'' before being destroyed in turn by the ''Asp'', and the ''Perigard Zalman'' accounted for the ''Garlon''. None of the Raven AeroSpace or combat DropShip forces answered Moffat's single call to surrender, instead fighting until they had all been destroyed.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

Moffat's actions secured the Steel Vipers and the Star Adders a total of fifty Raven JumpShips and almost eighty full DropShips of cargo as ''[[isorla]]''; at least sixteen Raven JumpShips managed to escape, although only thirteen were eventually reclaimed by the Ravens. The ''Serpentes'' was scuttled, although the Vipers claimed the ''Garlon'' as salvage; the Star Adders tagged the various other Raven hulks and marked their courses with a view to later stripping the hulks for matériel. The Star Adders and Steel Vipers then spaced any Raven civilians considered unnecessary before moving their booty back to their holdings.<ref name="WORp102+"/>

===3073===
In November [[3073]], the ''Perigard Zalman'' joined a task force being assembled by [[ilKhan]] [[Brett Andrews]] to deal with the [[Society]] and [[Bandit Caste]] problems affecting numerous Steel Viper holdings during the widespread HPG blackout across the [[Clan Homeworlds]]. Joining the ''Perigard Zalman'' as the core of the task force was the ''Lola III''-class [[Anaconda|CSV ''Anaconda'']], the ''Sanra Mercer'' and the ''Martial Legacy''. These WarShips provided transport and support for an assembled ground force consisting of the entire of [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Alpha]], [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Beta]], and [[Delta Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Delta Galaxies]].<ref name="WORp116+">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 116–117: "Infestation"</ref>

The task force was responsible for relieving the besieged Steel Viper enclave at Station Zebra on [[Grant's Station]]; the other enclaves on the world had been conquered by Bandit forces in a campaign launched by the bandits in January [[3072]]. The ''Martial Legacy'' and the other vessels in the task force provided support during the ground campaign and subsequent investigation, only to then find themselves having to support internal Reavings when a mysterious plague swept through the population on the planet, including some of the warriors who had fought or been stationed on Grant's Station.<ref name="WORp116+"/>

===3074===
The last battle for the ''Perigard Zalman'' came a scant four years after the mighty battleship had first launched. With [[Clan Coyote]] linked to the Society and the two years of chaos that had engulfed the Homeworlds as a result of their actions, the Coyotes were singled out as the next targets by the Steel Vipers, flush from their victories over various other Clans. The Coyote stronghold of Tamaron was selected as the primary target, and the Steel Viper force attacking Tamaron consisted of most of the Steel Viper ''touman'', spearheaded by the ''Perigard Zalman''. The Steel Viper flotilla in the Tamaron system on 7 December [[3074]] and immediately began to fight its way towards the planet in what became the largest naval battle in the Pentagon Worlds since [[Operation KLONDIKE]].<ref name="WoRp142+">''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 142–143: "Viper's Venom"</ref>

With the ''Perigard Zalman'' leaving a slew of broken and destroyed Coyote WarShips in its wake, the ''[[Texas]]''-class battleship [[Ancestral Home|CCS ''Ancestral Home'']] launched a counterattack against the larger Steel Viper ship even as Viper DropShips were descending to the surface of Tamaron.<ref name="WoRp142+"/> The ''Ancestral Home'' had been modified substantially over the years, after a K-F Drive accident had left the battleship unable to jump; with Clan Coyote modifying the ''Ancestral Home'' to become a system defense vessel and training ship, substantial quantities of additional armor and weapons had been added to the vessel.<ref name="FM:WCp48">''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 48: "Naval Assets"</ref>

Cutting across the front of the ''Perigard Zalman'', the ''Ancestral Home'' launched a strike against the Steel Viper battleship and then shrugged off the return fire from the Steel Viper flagship. Whatever modifications had been performed to the ''Ancestral Home'' to allow it to fight so effectively drew the attention of the ''Perigard Zalman'', which turned to focus on the Coyote battleship. Both ships launched devastating broadsides at each other, with the ''Ancestral Home'' taking more damage than it inflicted; despite the punishment, the ''Ancestral Home'' continued to stay at close quarters to the bigger WarShip.<ref name="WoRp142+"/>

Within seconds of the Steel Viper personnel aboard the ''Perigard Zalman'' recording a massive power spike emanating from the ''Ancestral Home'', the ''Ancestral Home'' opened up a hyperspace bubble that engulfed half of the Steel Viper vessel. The failed jump caused massive feedback, and that feedback caused the ''Ancestral Home'' to implode, collapsing in on itself. As catastrophic as the damage was to the Coyote battleship, the damage was worse for the ''Perigard Zalman''; half of the ''Leviathan Prime'' was ripped free from the rest of the ship and then flattened as the hyperwave collapsed in on itself. With no way of recovering from this mortal wound, the remains of the ''Perigard Zalman'' began a tumble towards Tamaron and finally settled into a high, slowly-decaying orbit.<ref name="WoRp142+"/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''

[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
[[Category: Individual Battleships]]
[[Category: Individual Leviathan-class WarShips]]