Sector 2 Skirmish

Overview
The Sector 2 Skirmish occurred on January 7, 3021 along the Aladex Trading Line, between the Klendathu System & the Hsinking System in Joseon's Greater Manchu Quadrant. Two Empire of Manchu gunships, Po'hang-7 and Po'hang 8, engaged and destroyed a United Federation patrol vessel, AJS Francis Dade, in what would become a great point of contention between Federal Hegemon Alex Jones and the newly-crowned Emperor Puyi XV. The event would be used by Jones to propel his effort in declaring war on Manchukuo just a few short months later.

Background
The Truth & Justice Concordat was signed following the end of the Second Battle of Saturn between Manchu Emperor Puyi XIV & Federal Hegemon Alex Jones on October 31, 3011. The document, among other things, guaranteed the United Federation have near-complete control of all major Manchu trade networks. At the same time, Manchu traders would be forced to trade their goods to Federal-appointed traders (primarily associates of Du Yuesheng's nefarious Green Gang) usually suffering net losses in the end. This outraged the Manchu populace, most of whom made their livelihoods off of trade; some of the highest population concentrations in Joseon were centered in and around major interplanetary trading hubs. For ten years the Manchu economy suffered from lack of trade profits, with several major depressions leaving billions throughout the galaxy without work. The Manchu Mark, Joseon's universal currency, was reduced to 1/100 of its pre-3011 value.

Puyi XIV grew increasingly unpopular in the years after Second Saturn, and by the time of his death he had a severely low approval rating, even within his own cabinet. Despite the emperor eagerly wishing to go with his gut and stop the Federation from draining his empire's coffers, he grudgingly agreed to their demands under threat of invasion or total economic collapse.

When the emperor's son, Kang, was crowned Puyi XV in 3020, one of his first official public mandates was to restore Manchu trading rights in Joseon. Though his father's cabinet was reluctant to support him, most eventually came around when the new emperor brought forward his plans for Trade Decree Alpha-17 on January 10, 3021. This new contract ensured that Manchu traders would once again fully benefit from Joseon's many rich trade routes. Furthermore, armed gunships would be provided to escort traders around the galaxy. Though beneficial for the crippled empire, it directly violated the Truth & Justice Concordat, sending Alex Jones into a hostile spiral when he caught wind of it.

Jones immediately pushed for war, seeing Puyi XV's new decree as an overt act of war against the wishes of the United Federation. One week after Trade Decree Alpha-17 went into effect, there was a deadly engagement in Trading Sector Nova-Epsilon 2, or just Sector 2. On January 17, 3021, a Manchu trading vessel carrying ores and other precious minerals from the Klendathu System to Aetherius - a long and arduous journey - was being escorted by two small warships, Po'hang-7 and Po'hang-8, when it was detected and confronted by a smaller United Federation patrol warship from a nearby outpost, AJS Francis Dade.

The Skirmish
Little is known of the actual action from the Manchu perspective since both captains wiped their logs and communication records after-the-fact, leaving just firsthand accounts to tell the story. The AJS Francis Dade was completely destroyed so none of its records survived; the event recalled by its few survivors vary. It is known that the AJS Francis Dade attempted to radio the two warships upon sighting them on long-range radar. This, however, proved fruitless as the two opposing vessels immediately struck against the Federal ship. Petty Officer Zhang, a mechanic on Po'hang-8. recalled in a 3024 interview that, "There was no warning to speak of...in an instant, [we] were launched into combat...I had never seen real fighting in my life, but the realization struck me and fear quickly washed over me..."

The AJS Francis Dade lacked heavy weaponry, being equipped with only a single D7x rotating ion cannon meant for disabling, not outputting damage. Obversely, the Manchu ships possessed a pair of duel Jiefeng-2cV beam cannons - standard issue secondary weaponry on larger imperial warships. The actual engagement lasted only 20 minutes, according to most accounts, with active combat being limited to just the first three to four. Po'hang-8 dealt the brunt of the damage, disabling the Federal ship and causing its airlocks to fail. Surviving visual reports posit that the AJS Francis Dade did not have the chance to fire its weapon.

Several minutes after the ship was crippled, the Po'hang-7 launched an ion torpedo at the AJS Francis Dade, striking it near the bridge, causing a chain of explosions and fires which consumed the vessel.

The Federal sailors immediately attempted to flee after the opening salvos, but found their escape pods unusable due to widespread power failures. As such, eight of the nine survivors from the ship escaped in two pods before the order to evacuate was given; the last, Salreda Elizabet, a nurse from the ship's B-deck, was able to temporarily reboot a local power conductor and escape on an aft pod. Since the initial eight men ditched the ship before it was left dead in the water, accounts from Elizabet describe the horror and desperation on board, including many of the ship's airlock systems failing and sailors fighting for spots on unusable escape pods.

"We were trapped in a coffin unable to escape except towards the vacuum." Elizabet wrote in 3021. "I... had to leave my patients, all of whom had only just been seated in our office. I am haunted by their looks and pleas... Nevertheless, I had enough time to adorn a flightsuit left in an opened maintenance closet and, pushing past the mass of sailors trying to group into just a few escape vessels, I managed to find one uncontested. My father was a mechanic on the AJS Andrew Jackson at Second Saturn. What he taught me in my younger days no doubt saved my life, as I was able to reactivate power for just long enough. By the time I flipped the switch to seal the vessel, the screaming died down outside...the airlocks had failed...the ship soon exploded."