Task Force Lantern

Task Force Lantern was the original name for a group of ships tasked with reclaiming the Yugumo Cluster from the forces that had occupied it after the Second Mishhuvurthyar War. However, after joining the former United Outer Colony units stationed with Acting Taisho Mitsuya Ember, the two forces combined to create the Tenth Standard Fleet and the Task Force Lantern became the first squadron within that fleet.

As a Task Force they are still referenced by that name, but as their purpose was superseded by the purpose of the Star Army Tenth, their mission has changed.

The Task Force in its present incarnation is structured around the needs of a few; called the 'Ryuusei Special Task Group', or sometimes just 'Lantern' or 'Ryuusei', the task force consists of a standing force of one Super-Eikan Heavy Cruiser, two Urufu class light cruisers, and two scouts of any class. The purpose of this unit is in the spirit of the Lantern's original orders; to eliminate threats to the region, to monitor and gather intelligence on any invaders of the Tenth's astral territory, and to suppress rebellions with focused strikes on key political and military targets.

Commanding the Lantern was Shosho Fujiwara Miu, using the Task Force as her personal battlegroup.

Task Force Lantern was a play-by-post (SP) plot GM'd primarily by Bilgecrank.

The Lantern Task Group is commissioned and gathered at Pisces station during the Intergalactic Relations Conference. They are introduced to Morioka Naoko, the Shosho placed in charge of their task force, and informed of their mission and the expectations of the Shosho. Mystic Three Four, a member of the Intergalactic Worlds League, is caught spying upon the Motome and is executed, but brought back and pressganged into service with the Ryuusei.

En route to Jiyuu, using information taken from Mystic's soul savior data, the Task Group discovers the three stolen Yuuko-class gunboats, and ambushes them under Morioka's direction. The YSS Yuki is lost, but the Ryuusei succeed in boarding and capturing two out of the three stolen gunboats, and the Task Force forces the third into an emergency landing on Asura III. Before they can pursue, they are interrupted by a Lorath Matriarchy patrol – just before shots are fired and an intergalactic incident occurs, the two fleet admirals come to an unknown agreement, and the Lorath withdraw from Asura III.

The Task Force goes to Leo station, and joins with the troops stationed there, founding the Tenth Standard Fleet. But even in this momentary lapse, they know that they have left a ship on the surface of Asura – and it will have to be retrieved for their victory to be complete. The prisoners in their hold are a constant reminder of the IWL, and a dangerous hint of the future. While staying on the station, a member of the Ryuusei discovers a child Smuggling and pit fighting ring, run by a gang called the 'Waking Dogs'. The Ryuusei, using shroud suits, infiltrate and destroy - with extreme prejudice - the gang, freeing the children and several other victims.

On drawdown from their last assassination-turned-killspree, the Ryuusei are given leave to roam the station again, while the shadow forces of the station are left reeling from the strike. Given little time to rest, the Ryuusei are spurred forth into action once more, this time to seek the wreckage of a downed scout. However, this leaves them to battle the Lorath in a heated engagement undewater, and overwater in a vicious Hurricane that threatened to consume both sides in a familiar story of the wrath of Mother Nature.

A strange ship lands on Asura III, and fighting breaks out in the Kitsuhoro Corporate Territories on the edge of Hopetown. Taisho Ketsurui Yui calls for Operation QUIET RAGE, war rears its head on the horizon, and the whole galaxy holds its breath. The Ryuusei find themselves, once again, at the center of the storm.