Destruction of Watchtower Station

The Destruction of Watchtower Station was a devastating battle for the Colonist Survivors led by Captain Jack Roberts. The mysterious, yet mighty Green Drone Armada (GDA), which had been striking various groups around P3-X2 for the weeks leading up to the battle, sent three of their Superlaser-wielding destroyers to drive the CSS out of their territory for good. Though the majority of the Colonists and their fleet managed to escape unscathed, their base, Watchtower Station, was damaged and overrun by the GDA. With nothing left to do and nowhere left it go, the Colonists engaged in their final battle with the DRF, before the Green Drones intervened again and wiped them both out.

Prelude
A few days before the attack, the Colonists fought with the DRF for the control of an asteroid cluster above P3-X2, which held a derelict ship belonging to the GDA. Former RWI (Red Wood Industries) captain Jack Roberts commanded the CSS flagship Vengeance, Dr. Craz’s modified CNL (Crazy North Logistics) Cruiser, and former RCSP (Royal Coalition of Spatial Protection) officer Venom’s two Avalon-class Corvettes, the Odin and the Avalon, to investigate the signal. The DRF (Drone Reactionary Force) also sent some of their ships to locate the signal at the same time.

The two fleets emerged at the coordinates at the same time, opening fire on one another. After a long and costly firefight, the Colonists secured the site, but due to damage that their ships sustained, they decided to withdraw and investigate the area further at a different time. The crew members returned to Watchtower and used its dry dock facilities to repair and rearm their fleet.

Some time later, RWI survivors from a battle with the GDA came to Watchtower and joined the Colonists’ crew, helping to repair the ships. Unbeknownst to them, several GDA ships were observing the base from afar.

The Battle
Soon, three GDA Destroyers moved in and began blasting the base with their Atlas Superlasers. The lead ship fired one beam straight through the Colonists’ landing and exploration ship, the Pioneer. The two other ships fired at the Colonists’ large mining ship and one of the station’s defense installations on another asteroid. Jack, Craz, and Venom witnessed the destruction from the Watchtower’s command center. Jack wanted to launch the Vengeance and stage a counterattack, but Venom stated that they couldn’t hold out long against the GDA’s superior firepower. Craz didn’t want them to abandon the station, but Jack knew they had to, and ordered the evacuation code to the crew.

The Evacuation
The Odin, the Farragut, and salvaged RWI frigate, the Defender (though still partially unfinished), fled first, jumping to an emergency set of coordinates to await the rest of the fleet. Jack and Craz remained on the station to oversee the evacuation while Venom left to pilot the Avalon to safety. Craz’s Cruiser and the Avalon quickly led their repair yards and jumped away. Jack gave Finn temporary command of the Vengeance, and the latter let loose a barrage from the dreadnought’s main X-3 Heavy Cannon. The shots blasted the bow and Superlaser of the lead destroyer, which self-destructed shortly after. The Vengeance then jumped away, and the two other destroyers moved around the station, encircling it.

Sacrifice
At this, Jack and Craz departed the command center and met up with Mr. Castle and Eike Sky in the hallways of the base. They talked briefly and Jack informed them that the space refit of the Dawnbreaker was complete and that it could now jump to hyperspace. Before they could make their way to the cavern in which it had been constructed, GDA foot soldiers infiltrated the base. Jack, Craz, Castle, and Eike were soon suppressed by their heavy fire, but Eike told them to go while he covered them. He and Jack both knew that Eike would be killed if he stayed, but nevertheless, the two friends said their goodbyes and Jack ran down the corridor behind Castle and Craz. Eike continued to cover them as an Atlas Laser blast obliterated the hallway in a ball of flame, engulfing Eike in it.

The Escape
Jack, Craz, and Castle boarded the Dawnbreaker, primed its weapons, and released its moorings. Craz opened the Waffle Iron 2.0, which he had built to protect the cavern entrance a few days earlier, and swatted aside several A-Bot drones. This cleared the way for the Dawnbreaker and it flew from the cave. Its newer, heavier cannons blasted salvo after salvo at the two GDA destroyers that tried to trap it, but the Dawnbreaker broke free from their trap and escaped into hyperspace.

Aftermath
The Colonists joined up many kilometers away from Watchtower. After a short briefing and repair period, the Colonists agreed to find the DRF fleet and engage them in a last-ditch battle. Unfortunately, the Green Drones also attacked them after the battle died down, destroying the remaining forces from both factions. The DRF were completely eliminated and all the Colonists’ ships but the Vengeance were destroyed. Jack, Finn, Castle, Craz, and a few others were aboard the doomed warship when it jumped into the middle of a war between the GDA and the rest of the galaxy.

The GDA, unknown to Jack, also turned Watchtower Station into an orbital defense post, with many destroyers stationed there and ready to defend the planet, which became their stronghold world, at any time. During the Green Drone War, Jack and his newfound crew, now part of RWI and serving aboard the RWI Eclipse, returned to Watchtower to deactivate its defenses for the impending invasion fleet. The GDA had built an information center in Finn’s unfinished CIC and added an Atlas Laser cannon on the underside of the main station, but the Waffle Iron 2.0 remained there, though unused.