Operation: Return

Operation: Return was the plan enacted by the CSS (Colonist Survivors) to reclaim their old colony base and gain an advantage in their war with the DRF (Drone Reactionary Force). The largest ship in the Colonists' growing fleet, the heli-carrier CSS Ironhand, was deployed to secure the territory, but it sustained heavy damage over several days of constant attacks by DRF ships wielding Spinal Lasers. It was eventually flown over to the DRF Hive and scuttled in a failed attempt to suicide-ram it into the DRF core base.

Prelude
Following the Battle of New Dawn Base, which resulted in the DRF losing The Caravan airship, a key warship in their armada, Captain Jack Roberts of the Colonists ordered his team to finish the Ironhand's construction quickly in order to give them the upper hand in their ongoing war. The Ironhand was primarily designed and built by team member iValz, and Finn became its chief engineer. Jack also ordered his second-in-command, Dr. Craz, to build a CNL Gunboat to act as a fast-response vessel, as well as several Raptor-class Fighters to complement the carrier's flight deck.

The DRF nearly ruined all their construction efforts shortly before the operation began by launching a cruise missile at the base. However, it was intercepted at the last second by the heli-carrier's weapons. The DRF had also sent a few drone units to inspect the old colony base sometime prior to the operation.

Reconstruction
Captain Jack divided up his eight-man team, sending iValz, Finn, himself, and two other crew members, Horza and Eike Sky, to the heli-carrier and its fighters. Jack left his two executive officers, Craz and Venom, as well as Ler, at their headquarters, New Dawn Base, to protect it, build additional small utility ships, and finish designing the Colonists' flagship, the Dawnbreaker. The Ironhand set out, along with four Raptor-class Fighters, two Triton-class Miners, and the Colonists' Wyvern-class Gunship.

They soon arrived at the old colony base, only to spot a small DRF scout ship on the sensors. Jack, Finn, Horza, and Eike took off in the four Raptors, chasing the ship away from the area. After they cleared out all traces of DRF presence in the base, iValz landed the carrier nearby and the team began repairing the base's facilities. Jack also began setting up a defense grid with massive 900mm Autocannons facing the direction of the DRF Hive. However, the DRF launched a cruise missile at the carrier, which iValz slightly moved just in time to cause the missile to miss the bridge and impact on the flight deck instead, obliterating one of the miners. A few large thrusters were destroyed, but the damage overall was minimal.

Kicking the Hive
The following day and night, the crew continued repairing the carrier's damage and improving the base's defenses. Craz periodically flew back and forth between bases with any extra supplies needed with his now-finished CNL Gunboat. The next night, Jack modified one of the Raptors with a camera and flew over to the DRF Hive to spy on the drones' activities. He saw that, somehow, the drones had obtained the spinal laser technology and had outfitted a long-range laser cannon on one of their ships. However, he got too close and was shot down by the Hive's defense grid.

This prompted the drones to send an attack force to the old colony base. The DRF Cloud Kicker, equipped with a spinal laser as well, bombarded the carrier from afar, causing it to crash-land on the nearby ice lake. Horza and Eike took off in fighters to intercept it, but were both shot down. Jack managed to take the Wyvern off from the rear landing pad before the Ironhand went down and Craz quickly flew his gunboat over for more defense. The Cloud Kicker fell back to the Hive afterwards with minor damage. The team conducted emergency repairs on the carrier in the aftermath. The crew soon returned to New Dawn Base, leaving iValz to repair alone while they went to retrieve the base's fleet of welding ships and more supplies.

Hours later, Jack and Venom returned to the old colony base in search of a spinal laser prototype, which the Colonists had researched several months prior. They used an explosive to break into an underground storage bay, where they found a laser cannon and took it back to New Dawn Base, where they installed it into the bow of Craz's gunboat.

The Battle Continues
The next day, the full team returned to the Ironhand's crash site with welders, Craz's gunboat, and the last Raptor fighter. iValz's plan was to convert most of the Ironhand's thrusters into lifting thrust, to fly it helicopter-style back to safety. The crew worked on the ship through the entire day and into the night. However, to their surprise, the drones launched another assault on the heli-carrier. This time, the Cloud Kicker was accompanied by the small laser ship Jack had spotted on his scouting mission. The two ships blasted at the Ironhand from afar once again, and the Ironhand took even more damage. A glitch in its makeshift landing gear prevented it from taking off and getting to safety. Jack's fighter was shot down along with a few welders. Craz's gunboat engaged the Cloud Kicker as it came closer, and both ships traded fire before downing each other. The laser ship was also destroyed by the defense grid. Eike and iValz managed to cut off the landing gear and roughly pilot the Ironhand behind the defense wall, which also suffered major damage.

Stealth Strike
Fearing a joint attack on both of the Colonists' bases, Jack sent Horza, iValz, and Finn back to New Dawn. It wasn't long before they spotted a contact somewhere nearby. It turned out to be a small mining ship that had covertly traveled to the base and had begun digging a secret tunnel towards the base. Finn and iValz managed to find the tunnel entrance and found that it forked in two directions. Finn took the smaller tunnel, which ended up being a dead-end, and iValz soon discovered and disabled the miner and its operator, who fled out the tunnel entrance and back to the Hive. Meanwhile, back at the old colony base, Craz and Jack began salvaging parts from the gunboat and Cloud Kicker. A shadowy image of a ship appeared suddenly on the other side of the ice lake, but as Craz looked at it more closely, it was revealed to just be a holographic projection of the drones' old Caravan airship being projected from a smaller ship, with an antenna beacon reading 'Fear The Caravan'. The Colonists continued proceeding as normal, trying to get the Ironhand into a flyable state.

Last Voyage of the Ironhand
Though repairs continued, it became more and more evident that the Ironhand was too far gone to be fully repaired, or perhaps even too far gone to be taken to a safe location. Jack soon decided to strip out all internal systems of the heli-carrier and turn it into a giant flying battering ram. iValz initially protested, but then agreed, under the condition that he would be allowed to fly his ship into the Hive. Agreeing with iValz's request, Jack ordered all non-essential personnel to leave the carrier and continue working on upgrading the old colony base. Jack, iValz, Craz, Venom, and Finn boarded the Ironhand and set off towards the DRF Hive.

As the Ironhand rounded the mountains near the Hive, Venom spotted a ship below them, which was the Orbulus, a spherical vessel with a battery of dozens of Little David heavy cannons facing forward. As the Orbulus swung around to pursue the Ironhand, Jack ordered iValz to pick up the pace, and they soon came into sight range of the Hive. The Orbulus was faster, and soon let loose volleys of heavy fire that sheared off chunks of armor plating and large thrusters from the heli-carrier. The Ironhand began to descend rapidly as more DRF ships approached. Though Finn and Venom, who were manning the few remaining turrets on the carrier's wings, managed to damage another DRF ships that came within range, the Orbulus, along with the Harambarry mobile base and the newly-constructed prototype Spitfire-class Frigate designed by Papple, moved in closer and peppered the Ironhand with fire.

At this point, iValz lost control, prompting Craz to quickly take control as the Orbulus made another attack run, though it was shot down afterward and crashed in a valley nearby. The other crewmembers were soon forced to flee the ship, leaving only Craz. Craz desperately tried to angle the Ironhand back towards the Hive, but its damaged thrusters caused it to glide through the air awkwardly and out of control. Craz set the warhead countdown, nicknamed '1313', to one minute, and tried to make the final charge. Unfortunately, the Spitfire swooped overhead and bombarded the heli-carrier, destroying the deck with Craz's control seat. Craz abandoned ship as the Ironhand fell from the sky for the last time and crashed against the side of a mountain. Jack and the others watched from afar, saluting as the Ironhand fell. About a minute later, the warheads detonated, splitting the heli-carrier in half. Its remains tumbled down the mountainside as the Spitfire continued to blast it with gunfire, destroying anything that remained.

Aftermath
Though the largest ship in the Colonists' fleet was lost, Operation: Return was still a partial success. The Colonists' goal of reclaiming the old colony base had been achieved, albeit at a heavy cost. The newly constructed defense walls of 900mm cannons would serve the Colonists well in their upcoming major battle with the DRF fleet. After the last stand of the Ironhand, the crew returned home to build a welding pit for CNL gunboats to be easily produced. The Dawnbreaker, the other capital ship of the CSS, also underwent significant upgrades.

Behind the Scenes
It should be noted that when iValz "lost control" of the heli-carrier in its final moments, iValz's game crashed in real life. Likewise, when Jack and the team "watched from afar", they (at least, jack and Venom) were watching via Space Engineers' spectator camera mode. There is no good way to explain these events in lore, unfortunately.

The events of Operation: Return took place over the course of Colony Wars episodes 24-27.

Due to an issue with the Spinal Laser Mod during the recording of Colony Wars, all of the lasers shot in the episodes are invisible. Nevertheless, they are there.