The Endless Rainbow

Sifen-class Light Cruiser, Aerofortress

"Completing translation over the Gazer's Strait - all weapon systems are live and prepared to engage." As the Rainbow translated back into realspace, the bridge was able to take in the sight of the intense fighting that was happening below, while the ship's strategic information center was flooded with information from allied vessels, including requests for fire support, damage sustained, and the growing size of the Seraxi incursion that refused to wither even under sustained bombardment. "Understood. Engage in combat operations." The order was curt and short, even as the bridge and the command centers of the vessel darkened - silence reigning as directions were wordlessly forwarded to the engineering crew below deck, and targeting solutions were calculated and the first lethal barrages were let loose at the enemy. Even as the bridge staff and the officers below relayed firing directions to the gunnery crews, Jacob assumed a calm seat on the bridge's throne, while allowing traces of his mana to tickle its way throughout the conduits of the ship, getting an instinctive feel for the battle that was raging around him. Ever dutiful, his executive officer, Jason, offered Jacob some water as the King of Crows immersed himself into the Ethereal, and began to channel traces of his power to steer the course of the battle ahead.

The MES Endless Rainbow is a Sifen-class Light Cruiser that has been extensively modified for Jacob Mitfield's personal use. Originally belonging to the Mithambian Air Force - Aerofortress Division, Battlegroup Altis, the Endless Rainbow was acquired for Jacob's personal use shortly after his ascension to the Throne and assuming the mantle of the Monarch. As a Crown vessel, it doubles as a flagship (despite its Master's soloist nature) and is armed appropriately as such. Originally utilizing a standard systems layout that is common to the Sifen Class, the Endless Rainbow was outfitted with bleeding edge technical and ethereal systems, including the experimental and top secret EMBM Mark I suite, developed by the Mithambian Arcana Society as a versatile system and as a potential solution to resource crises predicted for centuries away.

Layout

History

At the time of her launching, SIF-155 was officially christened the Endless Rainbow by Lady Amelia Dresset-Mitfield. The cruiser made her first voyage from the dockyards in Thethertow, landing at Manhesto Aerial Port and officially commissioned with the Mithambian Air Force, with the callsign MRLXK. Jacob Mitfield was appointed as the vessel's commanding officer.

Mithambian Air Force, Aerofortress Division

Assignment
As a vessel with the Mithambian Air Force, the Endless Rainbow was assigned to Battlegroup Altis, under Manhesto Area Control. With the appointment of Jacob Mitfield as the commanding officer of the retrofitted Rainbow, several aspects of the vessel were now changed, least of which was its mission profile. With a talented archmagus at the helm of such a vessel, packages and suites that were impractical to equip on other Sifen-class vessels became strategic viabilities for the Rainbow. Ethereal conduit retrofits were performed immediately, and the normal prow-mounted artillery was replaced with a Croxwen Corporation CX-2 Ethereal Contact Sweep Beam. As part of a secret project spearheaded by the Arcana Society, the Endless Rainbow was one of the vessels selected that would be outfitted with the EMBN Mark I Manipulator. Lastly, as Commander Mitfield would also have a detachment of Talons at his beck and call, the Rainbow was now afforded ability to act as an immediate reaction force for rapidly developing situations throughout Mithambe and in the territories that surrounded the kingdom. A further detachment of tactical magi cemented the Rainbow as a multi-role light cruiser with organic troop capability, being able to respond to any military development almost immediately.

Deployment over the Vinesian Ocean

In 1884, Battlegroup Altis deployed alongside other Louthian Alliance assets over the Vinesian Ocean as part of Mithambe's military commitment to the Watch. This included protecting the aerial shipping lanes from piracy, culling of the Seraxi hordes in the ocean, the monitoring of notable Seraxi breeds and combat forms for their movements and migration patterns, and the escorting of civilian traffic along the Drashtin Corridor.
Operation Serene Garden
In 1885, the Mithambian aerofortress Sophia Justice was locked in combat with pirate skiffs and hijacked military vessels belonging to the terrorist group Broken Dusk, and was taking damage once her shields were bypassed. Elements of Battlegroup Altis, including the Endless Rainbow, were deployed to assist the Sophia Justice and to apprehend or destroy the pirate vessels. The Endless Rainbow brought its ethereal manipulator to bear for the first time, with Commander Mitfield at the helm as the Rainbow repaired some of the Justice's wounds mid-battle, while enduring powerful hits from Dusk-operated heavy artillery. In the conflict, the Rainbow confirmed kills on the cruiser Skyknife and the destroyer Radiant Feather, both of which were performed with her primary contact sweep beam. The barge Joy of Sakti was boarded by a tactical magi team, and its crew surrendered and captured without incident.
Operation Watchtower
In the latter part of 1885, the Endless Rainbow, alongside the Sifen-class cruiser Infinite Sunrise. the Marb-class battleship Kristen Steadfast, and the aerial crane Hearken Midnight, were assigned to escort a shipment of Sherlandic military hardware from Port Carlton to Thethertow.
The Steel Aegis Disaster
In 1886, The Endless Rainbow, alongside the Infinite Sunrise, Justine Clarity, Sophia Justice, and Hearken Midnight, was deployed into deep Etherspace in response to the Sherlandic aerofortress carrier Steel Aegis's distress call. Upon translation, Battlegroup Altis, alongside elements of the Cleolinian 3rd Battlegroup and the Sherlandic 2nd Aeroservices Fleet, were attacked by an unknown ethereal entity. The Rainbow was able to drive off the entity through the use of its ethereal weaponry, including the manifestation of an Emanation by Master Mitfield. However, the Endless Rainbow sustained serious damage in the hostilities, with half of her crew injured in the fighting, including the Master, Jacob Mitfield, suffering extensive ethereal combat injuries. Four officers, 17 crewmembers, 5 Talons, and 6 tactical magi would succumb to their wounds in the days to come, even after the Endless Rainbow made a safe translation back into Manhesto. The Rainbow was docked for extensive repairs during the recovery of her crew, and the replacement of those who perished in the latest conflict.
The Downing of the Infinite Sunrise
In 1889, one of the Endless Rainbow's sister vessels, the MRAS Infinite Sunrise, was reported to have been experiencing engine troubles, before a distress signal was received by Thethertow Area Control, with the Infinite Sunrise having crashed in the depths of the Dasev Forest. Owing to top secret equipment that was installed on the Sunrise, the Arcana Society collaborated with the Mithambian Air Force and the Royal Court to have a team discreetly enter the cursed forest, locate and secure the crash site, and dematerialize the Infinite Sunrise utilizing another vessel that was outfitted with the EMBN suite. The Endless Rainbow was selected as part of the clandestine mission, with her complement of Talons and Tactical Magi being indispensable in safely securing the crash site.
The Falkland Square Massacre
Notably, the Endless Rainbow was not part of Battlegroup Altis that was present shortly after the attack on Falkland Square in Manhesto, which resulted in the death of most of the Royal Family. As part of the emergency succession that followed, the Endless Rainbow was recalled, and its commander, Jacob Mitfield, called to the Royal Court and appointed as the 9th King of Mithambe. With his recall, the future of the Endless Rainbow's crew was left uncertain, until King Mitfield had the Royal Court gain ownership of the Endless Rainbow, including transferring her non-Talon crew over into the Royal Court's service. With this shift, the Endless Rainbow was released from the Mithambian Air Force's register, and would move into the Mithambian Exploration Service.

The Mithambian Exploration Service

Royal Repurposing
Shortly after the ascension of Jacob Mitfield to the Throne of Mithambe in 1890, the Endless Rainbow was brought into Manhesto's aerial docks for a retrofit worthy of a king. The older-era Kirie-series autocannons were swapped out for the modern Armier Armanents equivalents, and the CX-3 Ethereal Beam replaced the older CX-2 Contact Sweep Beam. In addition, Croxwen Corporation engineers and arcane specialists re-routed the vessel's ethereal systems, in order to augment the vessel's overall power situation and to allow Jacob to feed his mana into the vessel to bolster its ethereal systems.

Modern Deployment

Up to the modern day, the Endless Rainbow regularly performs sweeps of the Eastern Watch, including the territorial and coastal waters of Mithambe, and the international waters up to Heartbreak Hole - aiding to cull and thin Seraxi populations and to keep incursions at bay. Additionally, the Endless Rainbow is utilized as Jacob's personal vessel whenever he makes diplomatic journeys to the other nations, forgoing the usual luxury yachts that are frequented by nobles and those of royal status.

Awards and Honors

The Endless Rainbow has the following honors ascribed to it:

Mithambian Armed Forces Recognition of Valorous Service
Mithambian Armed Forces Commendable Action Ribbon x2
Kingdom of Mithambe Outstanding Defense of the Realm Ribbon x3

MES Endless Rainbow by Auburn Wilcox

General Characteristics

Name
Endless Rainbow
Ordered
1875
Builder
Joust Shipyards
Laid Down
1877
Launched
1878
Sponsored by
Queen Amelia Dresset-Mitfield Commissioned
1884
Identification
Callsign: MRLXK
Hull Number: SIF-155
Designation
MRAS (former)
MES (current)
Nicknames
The Chariot, Trinkets, Kingstick
Motto
"The Way Forward is My Own"
Badge

by Azgaar

Mission Stars

Confirmed Vessel Kills

Technical Specifications

Class
Sifen-class, Aerofortress
Displacement
110 metric tonnes
Length
128 meters
Width
62 meters
Height
13 meters
Power Generation
2x Rizea RFM-500 Ethereal Concentrators
Propulsion
3x Rizea RES-750 DSS Ethereal Engines
2x Rizea RSS-270 DVPB Ethereal Engines
5x Rizea RLP-430 SHP Ethereal Engines
Speed
220 kilometers/hour
Rate of Climb
120 meters/minute
Complement
14 officers, 72 crew
Troop Complement
20 Talons

Feather Squad Icy Magma

40 Tactical Magi
Sensors and Systems
RG Radio RTACS short-range tactical sweep radar
RG Radio RLAGS long-range acquisition and tracking radar
AQC Systems ASP-7 passive sonar
AQC Systems AWO-6 overall weather radar suite
Croxwen Corporation CST-6 ethereal entity detection system
AQC Systems ACS-65 long-range radio communications suite
AQC Systems ATSC-15 secure strategic communications suite
Croxwen Corporation CEC-31 ethereal band communications suite
Armaments
Croxwen Corporation CX-3 Omnidirectional Ethereal Beam Assembly
2x Vissie Systems "Six-Pack" missile launchers
2x Armier Armament AB-32 twin barrel heavy cannons
10x Armier Armament AB-22 twin barrel light guns
Defensive Systems
Croxwen Corporation CS-4 "Palisade" heavy ethereal shield generator
Croxwen Corporation CSL-6 "Shimmer" invisibility suite AQC Systems ARX-75 "Whisker" radio countermeasures suite
Croxwen Corporation CM-6 "Warden" ethereal stabilizer
Additional Systems
Croxwen Corporation CT-6 Etherspace Translation Suite
Mithambian Arcana Society Ethereal-Matter Bridge Manipulator (EMBM), Mark I