78th Squadron [78SQN] - Organizations - Roberts Space Industries

History

The 78th Squadron is a United Empire of Earth military regiment with a history stretching back to the mid 20th Century during times when Earth suffered from internal civil wars. The history books recall this as World War 2. Over many centuries, the unit has established itself as one of the foremost fighting forces in the universe, enduring political and social turmoil to continue doing what they do best.

20th Century History

Established in 1943, the 78th Squadron was created during Earth’s turmoil years in the mid 20th Century known as World War 2 in Australia, an island located on Earth.
Formed as a fighter squadron and initially supplied with the (outdated for the time) P-40 Kittyhawk, an aircraft they came to admire and venerate. During June 1944 they were involved in the last major combat by the RAAF in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA).

During this combat, they recorded the highest number of aircraft shot down by a RAAF Squadron in the SWPA, as well as the highest number of aircraft shot down by an individual pilot, Gordon White. A week later they were involved in shooting down the last Japanese aircraft of the New Guinea campaign for the RAAF.

After the war, the squadron converted to P-51 Mustangs. Many of the pilots who passed through during that time, went onto distinguished careers in Korea. An example was James ‘Jim’ Flemming, who served in 78th until four months before it was disbanded. He served with distinction in Korea and had a rewarding career after that conflict in the RAAF, retiring with the rank of Air Vice Marshall. At the end of March 1948, 78th Squadron was disbanded, relegated to the back of the minds of the young men who served faithfully in her during that short period. When disbanded they were flying the Australian license-built Mustang fighter from Williamtown, NSW, just a few hundred kilometers north from where they were formed.

To the men, and families of the men…For all who served …This is their memorial …..Lest we forget

27th Century History

Fast forward a few hundred years and the 78th Squadron was reestablished and reimagined in 2604 on Terra to fight in the Second Tevarin War. Trained in a now-defunct facility at Ankorum on Terra, the group became known under the unusual name of the “Thundering Thorshu”. Situated far from any sort of action, personnel at the base were often weary of a life far from the adventure they had expected when enlisting — to ingratiate the 78th with these staffers, the unit’s CO Captain Jaso Iger hatched a plan to supply them with luxury goods, having his pilots fly them in from settlements in the more developed southern regions of the planet. This practice came to a sudden end when one such run ended in a flameout upon landing; the pilot in question was told to jettison his cargo, and the site of two tons of fresh Thorshu crab legs being dropped prompted the 78th’s nickname.

The 78th Squadron served extensively in the Second Tevarin War, but missions were harder to come by in the years that would follow the conflict. While anti-piracy campaigns kept the unit busy for some time, before too long they were called upon to help the Messer administration’s fight against political dissidents. In 2791, the 78th were called into action to perform a bombing run on a supposed insurrectionist training facility located on a moon in the Ferron system. Upon reaching their destination CO Lisa Cahillier suspected that things were not as they seemed, and contacted the base directly. Their communications stated it was not an insurrectionist hideout, simply a home for ex-patriots looking for a haven. Cahillier defied orders to attack and returned home, knowing that her actions would lead to the court martial and likely execution of everyone on the mission.

The 78th were indeed arrested, but their execution never came about. After 18 months imprisonment, the unit was freed as heroes by the new government. Since then, the squadron has gone on the be an indispensable help in the continued fight against the Vanduul.

Manifesto

While 78th Squadron recent victories have captured the public’s imagination, the unit has a long and storied past that reaches back to Sol in the mid 20th Century. Reestablished in 2604, 78th was reactivated as part of the Empire’s response to the initial battles of what would come to be known as the Second Tevarin War. Strike squadrons were seen by many as the ultimate symbol of Messer’s power. Afterward, while many squadrons were being retired or restructured, 78th Squadron managed to survive intact due to their distinguished actions in the post-war years. The result has been a bomber squadron still flying the modern version of the hardware they were assigned over three centuries ago, still active despite living through a series of complex political transitions that even at one point lead to the entire unit being arrested.

An Unusual Name

The unit was first assigned to a now-defunct space forces training facility at Ankorum on Terra’s northern hemisphere. It was here that the unit’s crews and ground personnel underwent six months of Retaliator-A familiarity and transition training before deployment against the Tevarin, and it was here that they acquired their unusual moniker, the “Thundering Thorshu.”

At the time, the bomber field at Ankorum was as close to the middle of nowhere as was possible in civilized space, an unpopular assignment for a generation of military personnel eager to save the galaxy by battling aliens on the front line. 78th Squadron commanding officer, Captain Jaso Iger, realized that he could use the brand new spacecraft he had been entrusted with to ingratiate his team to the weary base personnel. For the first three months of training, he would commission one of his pilots to covertly fly luxury foodstuffs and other items from the planet’s southern regions back to the base. Hailed by all for providing these creature comforts, the phrase “having a 78” briefly came to use amongst navy starmen as an expression for having a lavish meal. This all came to a halt when the Retaliator transporting contraband suffered a flame-out during a landing approach. The tower quickly ordered the crew to dump their fuel and dummy munitions in preparation for a crash landing. The order was followed, sending the illicit goods stored in the bomb bay falling around the airbase: two tons of fresh Thorshu crab legs. With that, the squadron’s name was established and a three hundred year legacy of seafood-oriented intra-service jokes was born.

Wrapped in Glory

As would be expected, 78th Squadron first combat came in the Second Tevarin War, where they earned multiple combat awards while racking up capital ship and space-to-space kills during the lengthy conflict. In the years following, the squadron continued to see service in a range of capacities, including heavy anti-piracy interdiction and as part of the Messers’ political intimidation machine.

78th Squadron assured their survival during a seemingly insignificant mission in early 2791. As Messer XI’s hold on the population began to falter, bomber squadrons found themselves tasked with increasingly dubious missions. Units that had spent their careers flying against pirate bases and external threats found themselves reassigned to core worlds and assigned the eliminating political dissidents or subduing rioting populations. In one such instance, the Thundering Thorshu were ordered to equip double-loads of antimatter torpedoes and destroy an inhabited moon in the Ferron System believed to be the hiding place of a cadre of radicalized rebels.

As a matter of official record, the squadron was tasked with a kill-order strike on a suspected insurrectionist training facility. After a four-hour run from the jump point, 48 the Retaliators entered scan range of Ferron’s moon. What they discovered was hardly the haven of cutthroats and anarchists that had been presented in their briefing, but rather an agro center on a small moon that had no weapons and no ships, but plenty of inhabitants.

Commanding officer Lisa Cahillier was contacted by her superiors who requested a progress report. None of her pilots could find any evidence to mark the base as a threat. Cahillier defied mission protocol and contacted the base directly and ordered them to surrender their weapons. They responded with pleas; the base was settled as a home for ex-patriots hoping to escape the ongoing chaos, not as a base for militant revolutionaries. They numbered in the tens of thousands, all marked for death.

Cahillier commed back to report her findings and recommend a mission abort citing a lack of a legitimate target. Her superiors were incensed and repeated their order for the 78th to open fire on the target. The squadron held their ground, refusing to fire without a clear or confirmed tactical or military target.

The commander of the battle group, Admiral Lorna Gestala, intervened on the comms, giving a final declaration for the 78th to annihilate the target.

Cahillier ordered her group to fire, but targeted an asteroid beyond the agro center. The moon’s inhabitants watched the torpedoes sail harmlessly overhead and obliterate the distant target.

The bombers made the long, silent flight home to face certain court martial and inevitable execution. On landing, officers were taken away in restraints and enlisted men were confined to quarters on base. All indications are that Messer XI intended to make an example of this group of traitors when doing so would be politically expedient. Luckily, this never came: the squadron spent roughly 18 months in the stockade and then were freed as heroes by the incoming government. 78th Squadron was re-established, presented as a symbol of enduring humanity in the face of the most tyrannical orders from the fallen Imperator.

Behind the Scenes

78th Squadron is best known to the public today for their part in Operation Unilateral Force, a 2940 effort aimed at inciting Vanduul infighting by targeting a single clan’s line of battle. Through these surgical strikes, the hope was that the weakened clan would then become a target for other Vanduul; diverting attention and resources from UEE space while inflicting further ongoing losses on the various clans involved. While the operation failed to generate the internecine conflict that xenopsychological operations predicted, the 78th took part in a major strike that resulted in the crippling of an enemy Kingship.

An embedded reporter, Felix Terwyn, followed the squadron during their training operations at MacArthur and then through the three-week deployment at forward operating base Cernan that ended in the epic final attack. Felix saw to it that the squadron’s torpedoes were all equipped with cameras that provided a unique perspective, not only into the nature of war, but a seldom seen up-close view of the Vanduul threat itself. The resulting news stories made brief celebrities of the pilots involved, identifying them as the cream of the crop of the UEE’s bomber corps.

Charter

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78th Squadron / 78SQN