Discovery Gaming Community

The Kyokotsu was one of the older Destroyers in the Kusari Empire's Naval Forces, having already served nearly a hundred and a half years before its unfortunate disappearance. The Destroyer was in queue for modernization, with the intent to upgrade its dated computer systems and overhaul its defensive armament to put it in line with the modern performance of Takeda-class cruiser vessels. October 21, 801 A.S. was the intended date to bring it into Yokohama Shipyard for receiving system overhauls and upgrades. Kyokotsu was staffed with 38 crew members, a standard for Takeda-class destroyers at the time. The ship was tasked to act as quick-response support to border patrol emergencies, often stationed in the Hiryo Cloud in Honshu to discourage the often-seen Corsair raids from happening near the trade lanes leading to outside of the Empire's sphere of influence.

In early 801 A.S. the Kyokotsu, along with its gunboat and fighter escort, was called into Sigma-13 after multiple Naval Forces ship patrols suddenly lost contact. Having traversed to the area where the last patrol had disappeared, Kyokotsu encountered a Rheinland fleet marching towards Kusari. The news was quickly relayed through KNF channels, and the Kusarian Empire declared a state of war. The small patrol fleet was noticed by the alien-manipulated Rheinlanders shortly after. Escaping was no longer an option. What ensued was a fight for survival with the hope that the fighting would delay the fleet enough to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. The Kusarian patrol had no chance to stand against against the mighty Rheinland fleet, quickly demolishing the gunboats and incapacitating the destroyer before moving on to Honshu, then New Tokyo, where they defeated the main Kusarian fleet.

The devastation caused by the Nomad War and Rheinland's unexpected invasion made the recovery efforts of far-away ships the least of their worries, and Kyokotsu remained floating in the depths of the Sigma-13 Crow Nebula for a very long time. By the time the House had recovered from its losses to be able to extend outwards, it was discovered that the location where the destroyed was deemed missing was empty. The Naval Forces commenced brief search efforts, but only ended up in finding broken-off pieces of the vessel, such as the frontal "blade" part of the hatchet or parts of the engine core, amongst the wrecks of fighters and gunboats. The structural hull of the Kyokotsu and one of its gunboat escorts weren't found. It was assumed that the ships' reactor core explosions caused the main hull to disintegrate, or the wreck was taken apart by opportunistic scavengers and Junkers.

In reality, the Kyokotsu was still relatively intact. It was missing major parts, with gaping battleship razor impacts and exposed decks, but it still had its general shape and the main components were mostly intact. The ship's demise was caused by the reactor failing from enemy fire, fluctuating in output to the point of short-circuiting the weapons system and the engine. This, in turn, failed the support systems and caused explosions in both the frontal blade area of the ship that housed the weapons deck, and the engine deck. The Kyokotsu was rendered completely defenceless. The crew, or what was left of it, were sitting ducks for the Rheinland fleet. The crew's last hope crushed, they flocked to the escape pods, thinking what remains of the ship will be next on the Rheinlander's target list. The fate of the Kusarian crew is uncertain even to this day.

The ship, along with the relatively intact gunboat escort, drifted further away from the battleground and its original resting place as the years went by. This made the ship harder to notice for the scavengers of Yanagi Depot, ensuring that the ship's treasures remain hidden for just a while longer. However, there was a group who knew the location of the remains of the Kyokotsu, and given their state, they certainly didn't want it to go to waste...