View source for Hunt for the SJ Sathanas

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The '''Hunt for the ''SJ Sathanas''''' was a series of missions which resulted in a direct confrontation between the ''[[GTVA Colossus]]'' and the Shivan juggernaut.

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==Antecedences==

The [[Neo-Terran Front]] was defeated. Admiral Aken Bosch escaped to the [[Nebula System|nebula]] and disappeared. The [[GTVA]] put more effort into combatting the [[Shivan menace.

==Encounter with the juggernaut==

The [[GVD Psamtik]] was leading an assault against [[SSG Rahu|Shivan gas miners]] and [[SSG Belial|sentry guns]]. The craft which assisted was the ''GVCv Thebes'', a Sobek-class corvette. The fighters of the [[203rd Scorpions]] carried out the task and destroyed the primary targets. Shivan bombers then attacked the ''Thebes''. The Scorpions were fast enough to successfully protect the ''Thebes''. Then the tragic came in the persona of the ''[[SJ Sathanas]]''. The emerging superdestroyer dismantled the ''Thebes'' in a single shot of beam cannon.

In order to determine the threat the GTVA was facing, [[Alpha 1]] was sent to scan subsystems. The new [[GVF Ptah]] was invisible to Shivan sensors, making the mission of the pilot easier than it would be without the success of the stealth technology.

==Luring the Sathanas==

Only the ''[[GTVA Colossus]]'' could compete with the firepower the ''Sathanas'' possessed. Command knew this and prepared the bulk of the 3rd Fleet and the ''Colossus'' at the jump node of [[Gamma Draconis]]-[[Vega]]. Inside the nebula, the 3rd Fleet launched attacks against cruisers in the hope that the Shivans would divert the ''Sathanas'' to help. Instead, news surfaced that the ''Sathanas'', instead of moving to defend the cruisers under assault, set course for the [[Gamma Draconis]] system.

==Destruction of the Knossos device==

Command were worried about the threat of the ''Sathanas''. Even though the ''Colossus'' competed with the ''Sathanas'', it had to be thought into what would happen should the ''Sathanas'' neutralize the ''Colossus''. To prevent this possible outcome, a bold plan was inaugurated to stop the ''Sathanas'' from proceeding into Terran space: to destroy the [[Knossos]] device while the ''Sathanas'' is still in the jumping sequence.

Three [[Meson bomb]]s were set ready and sent into the grinder of enemy fire. The plan was to detonate the bombs in the middle of the device to destroy it. This did not proceed as had been planned. The explosion aura of the bomb was too short which only did a minor amount of damage at the device. To ensure success for the second time, the remaining two Meson bombs were sent in, carried by [[GTFR Triton|Triton-class freighters]]. The bombs were now set near the diameter of the device and detonated. The device was destroyed and it seemed Terran-Vasudan space was in safe. This fallacy became false when the ''Sathanas'' actually entered the system.

==The Ultimate duel==

Terran and Vasudan forces co-operated against the ''Sathanas'' even further. Bomber pilots from the ''[[GVD Psamtik]]'' received orders to use the newly developed [[Helios]] bombs to neutralize the forward beam weapons on the ''Sathanas'', which were the only anti-capital ship weapons the ''Sathanas'' was armed with. The mission partially succeeded. The ''Sathanas'' made the jump to the location of the ''Colossus'' to confront her. The aides of the ''Sathanas'', including a Demon-class destroyer were successfully destroyed.

At the [[Gamma Draconis]] jump node in [[Vega]], the two titans confronted. Despite of the success of the preceding mission, the ''Colossus'' did not gain the upper hand during the engagement. What eventually led the [[GTVA]] to victory in the battle was two tactical steps: Launching bombers to finish off the remaining beam cannons on the ''Sathanas'' and the sudden and elusive manoeuvre the Colossus did. Either of these would have been sufficient to win the battle.

The ''Sathanas'' was destroyed and it seemed the Shivans would be defeated for the second time in Galactic History.

[[Category:History]]