A Dagger Through the Heart image - Ages of the Federation mod for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

2242: USS Xenophon carries out her final attack run during the Batle of Axanar. With new weapons and equipment distributed across the fleet, Starfleet launched a massive counterattack in late 2242. Starfleet units kept waiting in reserve were unleashed, finally able to stand to-to-toe with the Klingon fleet. Within sight of victory, however, the Klingons launched a push of their own, sending a powerful fleet to capture the non-aligned planet of Axanar, located in the very heart of Federation space. Garth and the Xenophon led the fleet sent to repel the Klingons - Axanar's position meant that it was absolutely vital that the Klingons not take hold of the system.

The battle was hard fought - each fleet counteracting the tactics of the other. Garth, knowing that every moment the battle rage came at the cost of more Starfleet lives, decided on a bold and extremely risky plan - cut off the snake's head. By taking the Xenophon directly into the planet's atmosphere, Garth was able to circumvent the Klingon lines. At full impulse the Xenophon's outer hull glowed and burned as the ship streaked across the Axanar sky, before pulling up and charging directly at the Klingon flagship. The Xenophon came under heavy fire, taking considerable damage before unleashing a full volley of torpedoes into the flagship's underside at close range, ripping it apart. As the Xenophon crashed through the burning wreckage before drifting off, dead in space, the Klingon fleet's chain of command was thrown into chaos. Without coordination, the Klingons' positions soon began to crumble, and the Imperial Fleet was pushed into full retreat. The Battle of Axanar would be remembered as the most important Federation victory of the war.

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