Destruction of the Donnager
The deliberate loss of Mars's flagship after enemy boarders force its defenders into a final self-destruct choice.
Story so far
Unknown black-armored boarders penetrate the MCRN Donnager after its battle with six pursuing ships. Lieutenant Kelly and the marines escort James Holden's surviving crew toward the ready bomber Tachi, while other marines remain behind to delay the attackers. Kelly has already warned that Martian doctrine treats the loss of command, engineering, or the bridge as grounds to destroy a capital ship rather than surrender its intelligence.
The Tachi escapes under Alex Kamal's control; roughly half an hour later he reports that the Donnager has exploded behind them. The attackers have vanished from sensors as well. Holden understands that Captain Theresa Yao was the kind of commander who would choose self-destruction over a successful boarding, but the sacrifice still leaves the survivors carrying the loss of Kelly, Gomez, and the Martian crew who died to get them out.
Appearance
The event is marked from the fleeing bomber by the sudden disappearance of a massive flat-black flagship, a distant catastrophic detonation in open space.
Role
The Donnager's destruction removes the survivors' Martian refuge and turns their escape in the Tachi into an unsanctioned survival problem.
Relationships
Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter
- The deliberate loss of Mars's flagship after enemy boarders force its defenders into a final self-destruct choice.