Database and Lore

The Fu Yi Class Marine Military Transport “This ship might be old, but it has many surprises. Don’t let it fool you into thinking that its days are numbered.” Travis, Petty Officer that served on the UHN Minglee. What started as the first major UHN warship for the marine corps would ultimately be one of little result. However, the Fu Yi would serve a daunting role and help pave the way for the future marine warships to come. Its capabilities were limited, but it would still serve a crucial importance as the UHN spans into the 2350s. Design Before the advent of the Fu Yi class, the marine corps of the UHN was considered a joke. Military historians of the early 24^th century commented that the UHN marines were equipped with substandard gear. In the 2290s, the marines had vehicles that would break down on hard terrain and high gravity worlds. Soldiers would stumble and fall to the ground as they weren’t used to the new terrain. Weapons were not readily available. For the marines, they had transports that were converted into poor assault transports. These ships were under-armed, lightly armored, and prone to possible breakdowns. The UHN was fully aware of the major strife that the marines had to go through and sought to remedy this problem as soon as possible. Among one these solutions were to introduce a new purpose-built assault transport. Unlike the previously converted cargo haulers, the Fu Yi was designed to utilize an armored center box. This would allow the ships to deploy vehicles while providing a better field of fire. A light forward side- mounted railgun would further provide additional support. Improvements in armor would also help reduce basic groundfire. It was the goal of the UHN to throw out the old cargo haulers, and many saw the Fu Yi as a viable platform. Despite all the good intentions, there was some slight criticism of the design. The Fu Yi was a purpose-built military transport. However, it still used old parts. Much like the Helix Class Battleships, the Fu Yi seemed like a flashy design, but it suffered greatly from its internal structure. Even with a large central box, the number of vehicles, troops, and equipment that could be carried was limited. However, there were still numerous advantages that won out in the end. Incorporating a carried centripetal ring module would help out in lasting years in space. Marines and UHN crews that were housed inside could maintain better adaptation to the rigors of heavy gravity on the planet’s surface. A military vessel also housed numerous internal defenses against an attack. Redundant equipment also served as a viable defense in case of breakdowns. Unlike the older cargo haulers, the Fu Yi had three bridges available. Finally, its atmospheric flight capabilities were actually considered the best, if not better, than most other vessels that the marines use to this day. History Despite all the innovations, the Fu Yi class started off slowly in construction. It would take about five years before full-scale production was mounted. The marines were happy to receive the ship but quickly noted that its assault capabilities were still limited. For most intent purposes, the marines stated that the ship was a “light assault vessel, but it’s the only true ship that we have.” They quickly phased out the converted civilian transports as the marines finally had a ship that could serve as an adequate landing vessel. By the time it hit 2310, the Fu Yi was established as the lead assault ship. Even with all of the changes, the Fu Yi class’s limitations were still apparent. The marines complained of having inadequate living conditions. The rotational ring habitat was too small to house its soldiers, being fitter to house the crew itself instead. If large and long-going scale campaigns were made, the ring simply wasn’t good enough. The armament, while improved, was still relatively weak. A single railgun was capable of sniping enemy ground vehicles and helping provide fire support but was still limited in usage. The Fu Yi was not a bomber and was only meant for quick strikes. Thankfully, the Fu Yi’s introduction and usage were limited through much of the early years. It served as a “flashy design” to impress the public while still being cheap and affordable. Marines still had positive comments that the transports were more than adequate in their jobs. They were incredibly versatile. Even if they couldn’t carry large vehicles such as the Kujang rail gun destroyers, they still could house the early new marine vehicles with ease. IFVs such as the M1s, M10s, and even the M30s, could be carried in the large box. The cargo containers can be picked up and housed in the center horseshoe frame. An extra layer of armor further protected its inhabitants. The survivability of these ships was considered to be far greater than even most UHN warships of the time. In an isolated incident of a warhead of the UHN Minglee, the crews could quickly contain the damage, and few casualties were reported. Much of the history of the Fu Yi’s were muddled during the 2310s. By then, much discussion was being made by the UHN to introduce better transports. In 2320, the marines would conduct one of the most extensive training operations, “Operation Flugelhorn,” which almost used the entire transport fleet. While there was much promise in how everything operated, the end result was that the marine corps wanted more. This would result in the eventual introduction of the Phalanx class Assault Carrier in 2323. However, the marine corps staff made it clear that even with the Phalanx’s introduction, they wanted to keep the Fu Yi for as long as possible. The vessel was still looked at as an excellent supplementary design. Its quick-strike capability and excellent flying abilities were more than adequate in large-scale operations. Even by the late 2330s, the Fu Yi were looked at as the smaller sisters of the Phalanx class. It helped continue to boost and provide viability for the marines in having better and better equipment for security and ground assaults. Despite the high praise, the Fu Yi was limited by one crucial factor. The use of old parts and substandard equipment in its construction was serving as a slow death for the vessels. Priority had been placed on the newer assault carriers, resulting in fewer and fewer replacements to fix them. By the time it hit the early 2340s, the marines had announced that the military transports were going to be phased out. Any broken-down operational vessels would be stripped of parts to keep the last of the vessels still functional. By then, the newer Qing class Military Transports were to be slated for production in the early 2350s. In 2349 of the Itrean conflict, only a couple of the Fu Yi class were still in full operation. Much like the Helix class Battleship, the legacy of the famed transports was soon to be forgotten as the UHN needed better vessels to fight in ground campaigns. *Spoilers if you haven’t read Gabatrix: The Shira Maneuver* Despite the almost end of the transports’ career, the Fu Yi class would still see action in the Human-Itrean conflict. Efforts were made to reactivate or maintain the vessels for as long as possible. Every ship was needed in the war effort. The UHN Jian Seng was used on a typical transport operation to ship a series of experimental magnets to the outposts of the Paloran asteroid belt. It was easily argued that the transport was viable for the task as the threat of piracy in the belt would make the vessel more than adequate in fighting them. However, the mission quickly fell into disarray when the Jian Seng was ambushed and attacked by a Shal’rein scout ship. The Jian Seng supposedly had no proper means of being able to fight back against a Shal’rein warship. However, it was saved by various actions. This would include the fact that a former defected Shal’rein clan leader, by the name of Shira, took command of the Jian Seng. Her intuition, proper decisions, the crew’s abilities, and the vessel’s design layout would save the Jian Seng from certain destruction. The transport took horrific damage from the onslaught, including asteroid impacts, railgun shell strikes, and decompressed compartments. However, the vessel still held out in the ensuing fight before further UHN reinforcements would save the Jian Seng from certain destruction. Many commend the old transport, but its days had ended. The Jian Seng had taken too much damage and was slated to be scrapped. Instead, its remaining parts were sent to the other surviving vessels of its class.  *Spoilers if you haven’t read Gabatrix: The Cipra Campaign* It would be another Fu Yi class that would gain some notoriety during the events of the retaking of Cipra. During Operation Desert Shrike, the marine corps would ready over 17 different assault craft, not including their shuttles. Most of these ships were of the Phalanx class assault carriers. However, the UHN Rio De Janeiro was one of the last of the Fu Yi classes to still be in full operation. It was called from the Titan Reserve Base and had been readied for the landing operation on Cipra. During the assault, the marine task force would face heavy losses. Almost all of the carriers were lost or took damage while trying to reach the planet. However, the Rio De Janeiro only suffered minor damage. An investigation was made into the events of the Cipran assault. It had concluded that the Rio De Janeiro was a “minor target” when compared to the Phalanxes that were prioritized from Aksren counterfire. Therefore, the Aksren were safely assuming that the vessel wouldn’t inflict that much damage or put as many troops or equipment on the ground as compared to the other UHN craft. They were partially correct. Regardless, the single vessel of the class was one of three vessels (not including the single shuttle) that made it to Cipra’s surface. The Rio De Janeiro had managed to safely put its four M30s IFV vehicles, marines, and staff onto the ground that would join up with the main assault force that moved to retake New Hong Kong. During the attack, the vessel would remain with the other damaged assault carriers to stay out of the way of any possible Aksren clan defense batteries that had already taken their toll on the marine task force. However, it was argued that the Rio De Janeiro had been put on standby and ready to fly in if the marines had managed to take out the defense batteries. Although, it wasn’t needed when T’rintar and UHN forces had broken through the Aksren clan fleet line and provided support fire from orbit. In the ensuing few days after the retaking of Cipra, the Rio De Janeiro would serve as a ferrying vessel for any surviving civilians. It aided a crucial role in saving lives and rescuing any other people that had escaped Cipra’s siege in 2349. The final act of defiance of the vessel was the fact that it played an essential role to the people and the military as a whole. The crew has been exonerated as heroes by the survivors. Within a month of the rebuilding process of Cipra, there was a request to give the Rio De Janeiro a final resting place. It was concluded that the vessel couldn’t remain in further operational status and would be scrapped to make way for the new Qing class transports. However, the Ciprans requested to purchase the vessel and turn it into a museum piece in the rebuilding of New Hong Kong. As of December 2350, the ship hasn’t left the planet.