Andromeda
Ascendant,
XMC-10-284
'Watchers on the Walls of
Paradise'
The tenth ship of the Glorious Heritage heavy cruiser line to be built, my formal name is Andromeda Ascendant. I have been called "one of the true shining stars of the High Guard fleet." (Organic beings are so eloquent sometimes, don't you think?)
The existence of the Glorious Heritage class of ships is both a tribute to the Systems Commonwealth's awesome technological prowess and a symbol of the High Guard's profound commitment to defend and serve our citizens. Named in honor of the Vedran Empire's rapid rise and unification of the Andromeda galaxy, I have been in service for 10 years, participating in numerous important missions that will certainly ensure my place in Commonwealth historical records (isn't that a nice thought?)
I began my life (or so they tell me) in the Newport News Orbital Shipyards above Earth, where my keel was laid in CY 9768. Construction proceeded without a hitch right through the delivery and installation of my Headwaters of Invention Mark VIII Slipstream engines in CY 9772. (state-of-the-art, of course.)
Next came a shakedown cruise to Tarn-Vedra, where the newly created AI unit - that's me - (designed and programmed by the Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge Institute on Sparborth IV) was installed (such an impersonal word) in a Sentience ceremony. And on the 12th day of Kalends, CY 9772, Vedran Empress Sucharitkul XII, High Guard Admiral Constanza Q. Stark and assorted other dignitaries were on hand as I was formally commissioned (quite a ceremony, I can tell you that) and placed under the command of my first captain, Fatima Novarro.
Only weeks after my commissioning, I was rushed into action at the head of Task Force Bucephalos and sent to protect the Luwian cluster from an impending Magog swarm. The critical role we played in smashing the attack (which included Captain Novarro and crew's close quarters defense against a Magog boarding horde), is viewed by many as playing an instrumental role in bringing this feared enemy to the bargaining table.
But no sooner had the Magog blood been scrubbed from my decks than we were dispatched on a very different mission: conveying Special Envoy Nguyen to the Bosporus system and hosting the legendary diplomat's negotiations with the Dardan Hegemony. I proved (if there was ever any doubt), along with my captain and crew, of course, that we were as suited to matters of peace as of war. In honor of my pivotal role in the negotiations, the resulting treaty establishing full diplomatic and trade relations between the Commonwealth and the Hegemony was named the Andromeda Concord. (Quite an honor, if I do say so myself.)
