UNSC Las Vegas

UNSC Las Vegas (CLG-07)

"We were against impossible odds in the Battle of Earth. We did what we could...the little we could. Most of our kills were from the nukes. I thought we were dead. I still think we should have died during that battle, the odds were just so against us... But the 'Vegas  pulled through. Somehow. The old city's luck must be with us. God bless the 'Vegas and the Skipper."

- An UNSC Fire-Controlman

The UNSC Las Vegas (CLG-07) was a Gulf-class Light Crusier in the UNSC Navy that fought in the Human-Covenant War, and after it.

Its largest contribution was during the First and Second battles of Earth, where the Las Vegas fought for the entire battle, destroying 12 Covenant ships and damaging a dozen more, although most of the 'Vegas 's kills were from SHIVA Nuclear missiles, followed up with MAC projectiles. However, the reason the ship only gained 12 kills, compared with more from other Cruisers, was the ships contributions of saving the trapped and marooned crews of crippled UNSC ships.

Beginnings
The UNSC Las Vegas (CLG-07) was conceived a possible replacement to the aging Light Cruisers of the Fleet, which were essentially less armored Halcyon-class Cruisers. The idea of a Light Cruiser, dashing close to Covenant lines, unleashing two or three SHIVA Nuclear Missiles, firing 3 Magnetic Accelerator Slugs, and then retreating at a very high speed, was enough to gain approval of the design with the UNSC Navy Admiralty, even though the tactic had failed with the smaller Destroyer and Frigates, testing the concept in earlier conflicts.

But the Admiralty ignored this, and funding for three models was approved in late 2549, but due to low funds at the end of the 2549 fiscal year, funding was not sent to Vladivostok Orbital Shipyards, in orbit over Vladivostok, Earth, until January 2550. The 'CLG-07' finally drifted free of the shipyards in May 2552, after a few delays, involving weak bulkheads and structural deficiencies which were eventually fixed. The Las Vegas was then taken to the refitting station UNSC Alabama to be outfitted with armament, additional armor, and other systems.

Commissioning and Ship Trials
The 'CLG-07' was then given a crew, and a commander, Captain George McClusky, and commissioned into the UNSC Navy as the UNSC Las Vegas. The ship was also outfitted with an onboard detachment of Marines, consisting of the 197th Marine Company, part of the 28th Marine Battalion (consisting of 150 Marines, 4 Scorpion Tanks, 12 Warthog LRVs) and the 74th ODST Company (consisting of 125 Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), part of the 105th Orbital Drop Shock Troop Battalion. The Las Vegas was also given its own Squadron, the 128th Naval Air Squadron, containing 8 Longsword-Class Interceptors and 10 Pelican Dropships.

The ship then began trials in late June 2551. The ship performed well during the trials for a ship its size, and boasted a very heavy armament, but was deemed a unsuitable replacement for the current Light Cruisers. Furthermore, following trials, the Las Vegas was deemed ' combat ineffective against capital ships or heavier ', of which it was designed to tangle with. Essentially, the relatively-light amount of armor, which made the Las Vegas' acceleration and maneuverability so great, made any chance of taking on and surviving a fight with anything the size of a Covenant Heavy Cruiser or larger, of which the aging Marathon-class Cruisers were barely capable of killing.

Overhaul
A mere 22 days before the First Battle of Earth began, the Las Vegas 's turn came have its engines overhauled, and also had Mini-MAC turrets installed, a new innovation on UNSC warships. The Captain, Captain George McClusky, guided the Las Vegas into its berth at the UNSC Refit Station Balikapan and completed its overhaul 2 days before the 1st Battle of Earth began.

1st Battle of Earth
The UNSC Las Vegas was attached to the 13th UNSC Defense Fleet when the when the Prophet of Regret's small fleet dropped out of 'Slipspace'. Captain George McClusky was ordered not to engage, as Fleet Admiral Harper's fleet was engaging Regret's Fleet.

When the 13th UNSC Defense Fleet was finally given permission to engage Covenant reinforcement ships, the Las Vegas fought valiantly, destroying 5 Covenant Ships, and damaging another dozen. However, it was not all one sided for the Las Vegas, as she lost a large portion of her armor in areas, and was breached twice from Plasma Torpedo hits, resulting in the loss of 52 personnel. The Las Vegas also expended all its nukes and MAC ammo in the foray, and was forced to retrieve intact ordnance with crippled UNSC vessels to remain in the battle, as well as to search for surviving crew onboard the ships. The Las Vegas managed to retrieve 379 survivors from 17 damaged and/or crippled UNSC vessels.

The Covenant onslaught paused in the Las Vegas sector for a couple of hours, giving the surviving Fleet Tenders a chance to resupply the battle-weary UNSC ships. It also gave badly-damaged UNSC ships time to make emergency repairs. It also gave the Las Vegas a chance to get their newly-acquired crewmen situated with their duties. When the Prophet of Truth's massive task force arrived, the entire UNSC Navy engaged. The Las Vegas did what it could, holding out against the inevitable loss, destroying another 7 Covenant ships and servery damaging another dozen.

Once most of the Orbital Defense Platforms were damaged or destroyed, along with much of the fleet, the Covenant vessels descended to the surface of Africa. At some point during the battle, a Forerunner Dreadnought with SPARTAN-117 aboard, dropped out of 'Slipspace' and headed planet-side. The Las Vegas, along with most surviving UNSC ships pulled back to a rally point, where the UNSC was attempting to reorganize their fleets for a final push. Lord Hood immediately ordered a low-level strike on Covenant ship around the Ark and the Las Vegas, now commanded by Rear Admiral George McClusky, along its new escorts, began engaging the remainder of Truth's ships in orbit over the Portal. Eventually, the UNSC ships beat through the Covenant ships in Orbit, clearing the way for the low level strike.

The Covenant Loyalist forces then went trough the portal, giving the UNSC forces a chance to secure the area around the Portal. Then, a message was received from FLEETCOM, stating that all 'Elite' ships were now allied, which confused the UNSC Fleets. Eventually, a system was figured out and Identification-Friend or Foe (IFF) systems were installed on the new, allied Sangheili ships, but not before a few friendly-fire accidents occurred. Most of the Covenant Loyalist vessels had gone through the Portal or were occupied with other battles with the Sangheili Fleets, and the Las Vegas and its few remaining escorts were tasked to liberate the little part of the Middle East the Covenant managed to land in.

This was accomplished at a relatively low cost of 478 Marines killed in action and another 239 Marines wounded. The Covenant Forces were ill-supplied and unprepared for the temperatures of the Middle East. Eventually, the Battle of Earth was over, and the damaged Las Vegas was one of a couple dozen UNSC ships still battle-worthy following the Battle of Earth, and was given priority for repairs, in which the Las Vegas had its armor replaced. The Las Vegas was then assigned to the new 3rd UNSCDF Fleet.

Immediately following the Human-Covenant War
Following the Human-Covenant war, the UNSC focused on rebuilding its planets and repopulating. The UNSC was melting down big, crippled ships and using the metal to rebuild its cities. The Navy, which was down to a couple dozen ships, all at Earth, was given the task to protect Earth until more ships were made to replace the current ships. This happened from 2553 until 2556, when enough new ships were produced to bring the Las Vegas and most other ships off the active defense fleet.

Post Human-Covenant War Refit
In late 2556, the Las Vegas was finally sent in for a much-needed major overhaul, this time for a new reactor, engines, and improved armor, among other miscellaneous repairs and improvements. Most importantly, the Las Vegas was finally given additional Mini-MAC turrets for added offensive and defensive fire. This was because of reports of the weakness of the Las Vegas'  flanks and the fact the Las Vegas simply did not have the broadside armament to discourage attacks, and so it was finally decided to add additional Mini-Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, which were found to be extremely effective in large numbers during the Battle of Earth, on her sides to discourage this tactic.

Rear Admiral George McClusky, whose flagship was still the Las Vegas, finally retired, along with much of the crew. The ship was then placed in the command of Captain Taylor Anderson, who also served on a Frigate during the Battle of Earth. After the Las Vegas finished her overhaul, the ship was then transferred to UNSC 18th Fleet, to patrol UNSC space.

Combat Actions with the 18th Fleet
The Las Vegas then participated in various skirmishes with scattered Covenant Loyalist and Rebel forces over the 3 years the Las Vegas patrolled with the 18th Fleet. In March 2566, the 18th Fleet was participating in a counter-insurgency operation in interstellar space (34 LY from the closest UNSC outpost, 249 LY to Earth), searching for reported Rebel activity, when the Las Vegas was damaged by a large rebel nuclear device, off her port bow.

The blast damaged much of the electronics on the ship and caused mild radiation poisoning to the crew in the outermost port-side compartments, despite the multiple layers of Lead foil. The blast also knocked out the port-side Auxiliary reactor, making the Port-side Mini-MACs useless unless in Local control (with no AI or computer aiming options) and requiring physical effort to aim the guns. Furthermore, shards of metal passed trough the hull and turrets, causing more casualties and system-damage, not to mention puncturing holes in the Warship. 27 men were killed in the attack, and another 8 died when a bulkhead failed and the compartment was vented to space.

Immediately following the attack, a single ship 'jumped' outsystem, with a few UNSC frigates detached to pursue it.

The damage was severe enough on the Las Vegas, that it was unable to effectively continue fleet operations, and, following a brief repair of electronics on board the ship, and salvageable items, the Las Vegas was detached from the Fleet, along with lightly damaged Frigate escort ship, and the two of them jumped back to Earth for repairs.

Unplanned Stop
Almost two weeks into the trip, 28.6 Lightyears out from where the UNSC Las Vegas left the Fleet, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine suffered a catastrophic failure and the ships AI preformed an emergency 'Slipspace' exit to save the ship and crew. A brief attempt was made to repair it, but the engine was beyond repair. The ship was then ordered to best sustainable speed and set on a Sublight course to the nearest inhabited Human colony, Uraguay II, 26 Light Years distant.

The entire crew was put into Cryogenic Suspension, with the exception of a 21-man (6 Officers, including the Captain, and 15 Enlisted) skeleton crew, along with a dozen others who did not want to be put in Cryogenic Suspension, who worked the ship in 1-month shifts. The ship relayed a distress signal constantly, to no avail.

Long Ride Back
The ship cruised through space for 6 years, controlled by the Ships A.I. In late of 2572, the ship came across the crippled UNSC Newfoundland, a Frigate badly damaged during the Harvest Campaign and jumped back to Earth - but never made it, due to a 'Slipspace' drive failure, much like the Las Vegas. The Newfoundland was placed under tow, and a team found 537 crew in Cryogenic Suspension. The crew was taken back on board the Las Vegas and kept frozen.

The Las Vegas continued towards the nearest human colony of Uraguay II from 2572 through November 2597, where, 5 Lightyears short of Uraguay II, the Las Vegas was intercepted by a Frigate Flotilla, commanded by Commander Neville Meyers. The Flotilla had received the distress signal from the Las Vegas and had immediately diverted to attempt to find the missing ship. The Las Vegas had been found after 31 years adrift.

The Las Vegas was docked to Meyers's Frigate, while the Newfoundland to another Frigate, and the Flotilla jumped back to Earth, which arrived at Earth in January 2598.

Debriefing and move to UNSC Naval Reserve
The Las Vegas 's crew was taken out of Cryogenic Suspension, along with the recovered crew from the Newfoundland. 15 of the crew died during resuscitation, from complications. The rest of the Vegas' crew were debriefed and recovered 31 years of pay; the amount of time the Las Vegas had been drifting in Space, and the entire crew was honorably discharged.

The UNSC Las Vegas was then slated for decommissioning, but intervention from veterans of the UNSC Navy vessels during the Human-Covenant resulted in the Las Vegas 's restoration to a Combat-capable Museum ship in early 2599, and was placed in the UNSC Naval Reserve in late 2600. The UNSC Las Vegas was then docked to the antiqued-Orbital Defence Platform Cairo (the last surviving ODP from the Human-Covenant War, in orbit around Earth, where it remained a monument, symbolizing Humanities despite stand for survival.

Trivia

 * The namesake of the Ship is obviously Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, where the Author lives, much to his displeasure.