Editing Dire Wolf (Individual Sovetskii Soyuz-class WarShip)

{{otheruses|the WarShip|the OmniMech|Dire Wolf (Daishi)}}
{{infoBoxIndividualSpacecraft
| image      = 
| vesselname = Dire Wolf
| prevname   = Kharkov
| type       = [[WarShip]]
| class      = [[Sovetskii Soyuz]]
| prevclass  = 
| servicesince = [[2956]]<ref>''[https://masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/5098/sovetskii-soyuz-heavy-cruiser-dire-wolf MUL online date for the ''{{PAGENAME}}'']''</ref>
| serviceuntil = 
}}

A ''[[Sovetskii Soyuz]]''-class [[WarShip]], the '''''Dire Wolf''''' (formerly the SLS '''''Kharkov''''') is the flagship of [[Clan Wolf]]. The ship was modified at some point prior to [[3050]] to feature a sixth [[docking hardpoint]]s in addition to the usual five.<ref name=WC74>''Wolf Clan Sourcebook'', p. 74: (Alpha Galaxy Support Vessels)</ref>

==History==
===The Star League===
The ''Sovetskii Soyuz''-class heavy cruiser [[SLS]] ''Kharkov'' was one of the ships serving within the [[14th Line Squadron]] of the SLDF navy in [[2765]], also known as the "High Command Squadron", and a part of the [[1st Fleet (Star League)|First Fleet]] under the overall command of the fleet flagship, the [[Enterprise (Individual McKenna-class WarShip)|SLS ''Enterprise'']].<ref name="H:LoTV1p79">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 79: "Struggle For The Terran System"</ref> The ''Enterprise'' and the High Command squadron typically spent most of their time above [[Terra]], deployed within the borders of the [[Terran Hegemony]], or ferrying members of the High Command in their duties.<ref name="H:LoTV1p46">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 46: "First Fleet"</ref><ref name="FM:SLDFp44">''Field Manual: SLDF'', p. 44: "First Fleet"</ref>

During [[Stefan Amaris]]' coup on [[Terra]] in late December [[2766]] the ''Enterprise'' and its squadron were responsible for destroying the [[Rim Worlds Republic]] flagship, the [[Stefan Amaris (Individual Stefan Amaris-class WarShip)|RWS ''Stefan Amaris'']], along with numerous other Republican WarShips, as well as covering the evacuation of the surviving [[SLDF]] High Command staff from Terra before being destroyed by surface to orbit fire from defenses on Terra under the control of the Republican forces. The ''Karkhov'' was a part of the group of ships from the High Command squadron designated as escorts for the ''Enterprise'', and fought alongside the flagship throughout the battle.<ref name="H:LoTV1p79">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 79: "Struggle For The Terran System"</ref>

By the time the High Command decided to evacuate from the Citadel on Terra, it was already 1910 TST; the evacuation then ran late, with the emergency [[DropShip]]s not launching from the Citadel until 2000 TST, by which point the ''Enterprise'' and her escort group had been reduced to just three vessels—the ''[[Black Lion]]''-class battlecruiser [[Theodor Logan|SLS ''Theodor Logan'']], the ''Kharkov'' and the ''Enterprise'' itself—while the rest of the 14th Line Squadron fought in higher orbit. Only two DropShips survived to reach the rendezvous with the ''Kharkov'', and as soon as the DropShips had docked with the ''Kharkov'' all three vessels made for the nearest Lagrange point at top speed.<ref name="H:LoTV1p79"/>

When the ''Kharkov'' had jumped out of the Terran system, the ''Enterprise'' and the ''Theodor Logan'' returned to the fight, rendezvousing with an ad hoc attack squadron at the [[Metz Station]] and then leading this squadron on the attack against the main concentration of [[Rim Worlds Republic]] vessels, which were located over Eastern Europe at the time. Republican forces had also seized three ground-based space defense weapons, and as the SLDF engaged in a sixteen-hour battle that saw every Republican ship in orbit destroyed, the ground defenses added their fire to that of the Republican navy. The ''Enterprise'' was destroyed during this battle, having taken significant damage from the ground-based defenses; the ''Theodor Logan'', the last of the ''Enterprise's'' group, was one of six SLDF vessels to survive the battle and withdraw back to the Metz for the final day of the struggle for control of Terra.<ref name="H:LoTV1p79"/>

Carrying away the Director of the JAG Command, [[General]] [[Sergey Araujo]], and General [[Kim Hyong Suk]], Director of the Rep-Dep Command, the ''Kharkov'' made its way to one of the many SLDF relay points scattered around the uninhabited systems within the boundaries of the Terran Hegemony. Arriving at what would subsequently be known as [[Freedom Station]] towards the end of January, the ''Kharkov'' joined what became known as the "Secret Fleet," operating under the auspices of the two High Command officers rescued from Terra as well as other notable officers such as [[Admiral]] [[Vincenzo McTiernan]], Deputy Director of the Naval Command, and a handful of [[Rear Admiral]]s and senior captains.<ref name="H:LoTV1p89">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 89: "The Secret Fleet"</ref>

One of the forty or so ''Sovetskii Soyuz''-class vessels to survive the Hegemony campaign, the SLS ''Kharkov'' joined [[General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] on the Exodus.<ref name="TRO:3057p152">''Technical Readout: 3057'', p. 152: "Sovetskii Soyuz (Heavy Cruiser)"</ref>

===The Clans===
[[File:TyraMiraborgSacrifice.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Tyra Miraborg's ''kamikaze'' run into the ''Dire Wolf'']]
The ''Kharkov'' was rumored to be mothballed in the asteroid belt WarShip cache in the [[Arcadia_(Clan_System)|Arcadia]] system.<ref name="BS31">''BattleSpace'' rulebook, p. 31 (Scenario "Hide and Seek")</ref> In 2956, it would be incorporated into the [[Clan Wolf]] [[Clan Wolf Touman|''touman'']], made their flagship, and renamed as the ''Dire Wolf''.<ref name="TRO:3057p152"/> Listed among their [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Alpha Galaxy]]'s Trinary Clan Command,<ref name=WC76>''Wolf Clan Sourcebook'', p. 76</ref><ref name=WC74/> it was one of only two Clan Wolf WarShips to be on active duty in the [[Inner Sphere]] during the initial [[Clan Invasion]], a result of the preference for bidding away WarShips during campaigns.<ref name="FM:CCp139">''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 139, "Naval Assets"</ref> During this time, the Command ''[[Overlord]]'' DropShip ''[[Lair]]'' was permanently attached to the ''Dire Wolf'', and the Clan ''Overlord''s ''[[Snap]]'', ''[[Snarl]]'' and ''[[Howl]]'' were also listed as part of the same support group.<ref name=WC74/><ref name=WC76/><ref name="BS34+">''BattleSpace'' sourcebook, pp. 34-35 (Scenario "Radstadt")</ref>

[[ilKhan]] [[Leo Showers]] was aboard the ''Dire Wolf'' when he was killed by [[Tyra Miraborg]]'s suicide attack in the [[Battle of Radstadt]] on 31 October [[3050]].<ref name=BoKO-323>''Blood of Kerensky Omnibus - Epub'', pp. 323–329: "Lethal Heritage Chapter Forty"</ref> The ''Dire Wolf'', especially her bridge,<ref name=BS34+/> was damaged in the attack. Control was able to be restored and she was presumably able to be repaired in the Homeworlds during the [[Year of Peace]] as she had ferried the Clan Wolf leadership to [[Strana Mechty]] by the beginning of February 3051.<ref name=BLc5>''Blood Legacy'', ch. 5</ref>

After the [[Refusal War]], the ''Dire Wolf'' was not among the [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile]] forces. Instead, it was assigned to the Clan command keshik of the short-lived [[Clan Jade Wolf]]<ref>''The Falcon and the Wolf'', p. 44</ref> which re-formed as Clan Wolf.

The CWS ''Dire Wolf'' was still in service with Clan Wolf in [[3059]] and throughout the next decade<ref name="FM:Up52">''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 52: "Naval Assets"</ref> and was one of the Clan Wolf ships known to have survived the [[Jihad]].<ref name="FR:Cp21">''Field Report: Clans'', p. 21: Fleet Assets"</ref>

During the [[Dark Age]] the ''Dire Wolf'' remained an active part of the Wolf ''touman'', although maintaining their diminished WarShip fleet remained a continual problem for the Wolves due to their lack of shipyards; fortunately, the Wolves were able to contract with [[Clan Sea Fox]] to have some work done at the Sea Fox shipyards. By [[3145]], the ''Dire Wolf'' was one of five active WarShips in the Clan Wolf Naval Star, serving alongside a pair of ''[[Liberator (WarShip class)|Liberator]]''-class heavy cruisers, the [[Jerome Winson (Individual Liberator-class WarShip)|CWS ''Jerome Winson'']] and [[Victoria Ward (Individual Liberator-class WarShip)|CWS ''Victoria Ward'']], the ''[[Cameron (WarShip class)|Cameron]]''-class heavy cruiser [[Bloody Fang (Individual Cameron-class WarShip)|CWS ''Bloody Fang'']] and the Wolf flagship, the ''[[Congress]]''-class frigate [[Rogue (Individual Congress-class WarShip)|CWS ''Rogue'']].<ref name="FM:3145p161">''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 161: "Clan Wolf Fleet"</ref>

When Clan Wolf abandoned its Occupation Zone and relocated, conquering a swath of worlds on the border between the [[Free Worlds League]] and the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] to form the new [[Wolf Empire]], the ''Dire Wolf'' and the other WarShips of the Clan Wolf Naval Star were largely conspicuous by their absence; while the newly-established Wolf Empire contained nothing more by way of shipyards than their former Occupation Zone did, the ''Dire Wolf'' was no worse off for support and maintenance facilities than she had been before - save that the Sea Fox shipyards were further away than they had been.<ref name="FM:3145p161"/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* ''[[BattleSpace]]''
* ''[[Blood Legacy]]'' (novel)
* ''[[The Falcon and the Wolf]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: SLDF]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Field Report: Clans]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1]]''
* ''[[Lethal Heritage]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3057]]''
* ''[[Wolf Clan Sourcebook]]''
{{div col end}}

[[Category: Individual WarShips]]
[[Category: Individual Heavy Cruisers]]
[[Category: Individual Sovetskii Soyuz-class WarShips]]