Author's Note: If you are reading this I first what to thank you for continuing on with the story. Having a number of people favorite and follow this story makes me glad I decided to write this. Now on to business. With the help of several reviewers (and hindsight being twenty-twenty) it has dawned on me that many people may not know what wing commander even is. First, shame on those of you who haven't played this amazing game ;-). Second, in order to clear up any confusion with the first chapter, I'm going to give a quick rundown on the main plot and primary races.

If you have played wing commander feel free to skip this and head to the story.

Kilrathi: Physically they are bipedal (walk on two legs like humans) creatures that strongly resemble big cats. Specifically lions as the Kilrathi also have manes but their fur can be a variety of golds, browns and blacks. On average they stand over 2.5 meters tall and they still have their very sharp fangs and their feet and paws still have their large claws. Their culture is very warlike and split along family clans. There are 8 ruling clans and whichever clan leader has taken the title of Emperor, they and their clan will become the leader of the empire. Their history is covered in civil wars where the clans fight for dominance and this hasn't changed since they began to explore space. However once they discovered other space faring species they focused totally on the destruction of their new found foes. These defeated races are taken into slavery or sacrificed to the Kilrathi god of war, Sivar. To date the Kilrathi have waged war on seven different species in space. Completely destroying or enslaving five, with one conflicts resolution still a mystery, only the humans of the Terran Confederation have ever lasted this long against their Empire.

Jump Points: A Jump Point is a point in space that touches another point in space in 4 dimensional space-time, even though they appear to be billions of miles apart in 3-dimensional space. This proximity gives the points unique properties which allows a suitably equipped ship to open a space-time rift and pass from the first point to the other with no noticeable passage of time. Of equal importance is the fact that the space-time fabric at a Jump Point is weaker than normal space. This property allows a Jump Drive Engine to open a space-time rift using a realistic amount of energy. Since no other form of faster-than-light travel exists jump points are absolutely fundamental to interstellar travel for all known space-faring races. Jump Points are, on the whole, natural phenomena, and very unusual ones at that. At the most basic level a Jump Point is the result of gravitational forces between any two objects in space that can exert a significant amount of force around themselves. This is why Jump Points seem to form around stars and black holes and not planets or moons.

Current Naval Doctrine: Most space faring species seem to understand that bigger means better for combat between two opposing forces in space. Both the Kilrathi Empire and the Terran Confederation agree with this statement, the only difference is in how the war between these two forces changed that. Before the war both sides believed opposing forces should have their massive ships trade large barrages of fire until one side is victorious in destroying their opponent or forcing retreat. This requires the large ships of both sides to cross the vast distance of open space to reach their opponent who can easily see them coming and prepare. For the Kilrathi to launch the large surprise attack needed to crush the Confederation forces, the Kilrathi adapted an idea the Confederation had ignored. Develop a shield penetrating missile with an ordnance large enough to destroy a vastly larger ship and have it attached to a small fighter. Thus, the torpedo was re-made to be the most effective way to destroy enemy vessels in space. Torpedo runs from massed bombers overwhelmed Confederation defenses in the first battle of the war proving their effectiveness at penetrating the enemies shields. These weapons, despite being powerful, are not perfect. A bomber must maintain a lock on their target for the torpedo's on board computer to "hack" the enemies shield. This can take up to 30 seconds, leaving a bomber easy prey. A second shortcoming is that capital ships must lower their own shields power to allow a torpedo passage through without prematurely detonating behind the friendly capital ships shields. Despite these flaws, both the Confederation and Kilrathi have decided to abandon the "gun-boat diplomacy" of the past and focus on building large carriers that launch the constantly improving fighters and bombers to primarily engage their foes.

Whew, those were long descriptions. Anyways, I hope this clears up the basics for anyone that was confused after reading the first chapter. Now back to the story.


Wing Commander: End of an Era
Chapter 2

Task Force 54
TCS Jutland
Enigma Sector
2669.193

Since the Kilrathi had over a week long head start Confed HQ was adamant that the fleet meant to follow them through the "jump gate", as the strange devices were to be nicknamed, must be under way within twenty-four hours and no later than twenty-four hours. This meant the moment Colonel Blair's feet had hit the hangar deck of the TCS Jutland he was in non-stop motion.

His new orders stated that he was once again to be placed into the position of wing commander for flight operations, this time aboard the TCS Jutland, the flagship of the fleet assigned to track down the Kilrathi. The TCS Jutland and TCS Enigma were the first two Jutland-class carriers built by the Confederation and these ships were going to be leading the new task force into the unknown. It's because they were heading into the unknown that Colonel Blair's job was that much more stressful.

As wing commander he was responsible for all flight operations that occurred on his hanger deck and in order for that job to run smoothly a person needed all the information they could get their hands on. Since he had no clue what was going to happen after the fleet was under way Blair needed his hanger packed with extra supplies, extra weapons, extra fuel, extra ships and extra this with a little extra bit of that. So, he had spent the first part of his day struggling to bring order to the chaos that was a fleet carrier being prepared for everything and anything. If he wasn't yelling over the noise of the controlled chaos in the hanger for the crew to offload supplies and make way for incoming shuttles, he was yelling over a radio trying to get fleet quartermasters to give clearance for the shuttles carrying the supplies he still needed. Couple that with the general chaos of an entire fleet attempting to do the exact same thing and you had the recipe for a really long day.

Finally after sixteen straight hours of work the fleet, now officially named Task Force 54, was underway and had just made the first jump out of Sol Sector with the intent of making best speed to Enigma. Colonel Blair could certainly feel all sixteen of those hours begin to weigh him down but he still had a number of things to finalize before he could return to his cabin. He was currently in the Flight Control Center going over the carriers strike craft complement with his Executive Officer. Ninety craft, broken up into nine squadrons of ten craft each. Blair was impressed with the list.

Three squadrons of F-27L Arrow light fighters would be perfect for reconnaissance, fighter interception, and fleet defense. With its speed and maneuverability an Arrow in the right hands was nearly impossible to track and engage in any dogfight.

Two squadrons of F-86C Hellcat medium fighters would be perfect for any offensive or defensive action required by the fleet. A balance of offense, defense, speed and maneuverability into an efficient, economical package made the Hellcat capable enough to hold its own in a one-on-one dogfight while being well-armored and armed enough to tackle multiple foes and even smaller capital ships.

Two squadrons of F-66B Thunderbolt heavy fighters gave serious striking power. Mounting a heavy array of forward energy weapons and a torpedo mount, these craft have a remarkable success rate against light capital ships and medium to heavy fighters. With its heavier shields and armor a Thunderbolt isn't as fast or maneuverable as the Arrow or Hellcat making it vulnerable against massed formations of light fighters, but anything that does stray into its line of fire is a guaranteed kill.

Finishing off the list, two squadrons of F/A-76A Longbow bombers. These large craft were designed around an ability to launch torpedo strikes on enemy capital ships multiple times over. This meant they had the heaviest armor and shields of any Confederation fighter and they even came with an automated rear turret to ensure they survive the time needed for the necessary lock-on period of torpedo strikes. While they may lack speed and maneuverability, the sheer firepower of one Longbow makes it capable of destroying an enemy's carrier several times over and still having a little something left for the next craft in its sights. The TCS Jutland didn't carry just one Longbow, it carried twenty.

It was an impressive list but while Confed HQ may have provided his fighters and their accompanying pilots, they did not assign the pilots to squadrons and individual craft. That was a duty given to the wing commander. So, here was Colonel Blair, going over flight rosters and personal files with his second-in-command Lieutenant Colonel Emily Marks. The two of them trying to sort out the mess before Task Force 54 came into contact with the enemy.

Blair openly sighed leaning back in his chair and ran his hands along his face. While he thought it was great being a wing commander, he constantly found himself flying a desk just as much time, if not more, than he would normally be flying his fighter.

"Okay…that's the end of green squadron and the longbows, along with the thunderbolts of zeta squadron, which leaves us with…the thunderbolts of gold squadron and where ever we decide to place ourselves" said the voice of a clearly happy to be almost finished Colonel Marks.

Blair sat back upright in his chair while looking back over to his Exec.

Lieutenant Colonel Emily Marks was a slender, slightly built woman only a few years younger than him. She had her blonde, straight hair cut to her shoulders as most female pilots did and she carried herself in a way that was both casual and welcoming towards others. Blair had never served with her before but he knew of her from her call sign "Joan". It was short for Joan of Arc, the famous French heroine during the Hundred Years' War between France and England. During the very first deployment of her career, the light carrier group she was stationed on was ordered to attack a Kilrathi re-fueling depot located in an asteroid field. The carrier and its three destroyer escorts jumped in and proceeded to strike the depot. After the carrier had launched its fighters and the attack was under way the Kilrathi sprung their trap. Having knowledge of the coming attack the Kilrathi used the depot as bait and had relocated their fighters and bombers into the asteroid field along with a hidden fleet of two cruisers and four destroyers. The Confederation carrier was quickly destroyed along with its destroyer escort. Seeing that the situation was hopeless a then Second Lieutenant Emily Marks, ignoring rank, took command of the remaining Confederation fighters (which at this point only numbered just over a dozen remaining) and had them scatter and power down in the asteroid field.

After several hours of searching the area the Kilrathi fleet left their one damaged destroyer behind at the depot and then promptly left the system. It was at this moment that Lieutenant Marks had ordered the remaining Confed fighters to re-activate and forcibly land their ships en masse into the depots hanger. From that point on she basically led a suicidal charge across the depot with the intent of boarding and commandeering the damaged destroyer and using it to jump back to Confederation space. Not only did she succeed in capturing the destroyer and returning safely to Confed space, not a single pilot with her died in the action. Once back she was hailed a hero by her fellow pilots and the Confederation and during an interview she joked she got her idea from "divine inspiration". Immediately after the media called this brilliant young woman a modern day Joan of Arc and the name has stuck with her through her service ever since. Ignoring the irony that the real Joan of Arc had died young, it was a name she had lived up to with her impressive service record.

"Do we have anyone left of sufficient command rank to command gold squadron?" asked Blair.

Colonel Marks looked over the files scattered across the table and finally reached over and picked one up and began to describe the pilot. "The only remaining officer of rank is a Major Todd Marshall. He has a very impressive kill count, nearly as high as your own sir…and except for a few disciplinary actions in his file he seems competent enough."

"Major Todd Marshall. Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall?" Blair was immediately wide awake and paying close attention to his Exec after she had read out the file.

"Yep, that's his call sign. Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall. I take it you know the guy. You want to give him the squadron?" Marks asked.

"There is no way I'm going to be the one who gives the Major a squadron. Stick him in a Thunderbolt on gold, but I'll be taking command of that particular group." said a disgusted looking Blair.

"Are you sure? His file says he's reckless but he can't be so bad if he made it to the rank of Major."

"Trust me. You don't know him the way I do. The guy loses track of mission objectives every engagement he's in and never backs up his wingman when he's needed. He may be good in a general dogfight but he is not command material."

Marks gave Blair a questioning look. "Ooookay, it's obvious the two of you have a history."

"Our history is just that, history. Stick him in gold but like I said, I'm in command of that group." He replied giving Marks a serious glare.

She held up her hands in surrender and replied "No problem, you're the boss. But just so you know his rank makes him your second in that squadron. You had better clear the air before the two of you get into an argument in front of the other pilots."

Colonel Blair knew she was right but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it. That was one meeting he knew wasn't going to end well.

"Fine I'll schedule a meeting with him as soon as possible, but when you hear of a fight breaking out in my office later understand you are partially responsible." wearily replied Blair with a hint of humor.

"Understood, Sir." chuckled Marks.

The rest of the meeting finished with Blair and Marks deciding that with him leading gold squadron and the Thunderbolts it would be best to have her leading the Arrows of red squadron. The Arrows had the dual responsibility of leading the reconnaissance flights ahead of the fleet and having one squadron in the hanger on standby alert ready to launch immediately if a threat arose to challenge the fleet. With Colonel Marks either leading patrols or ready to launch she would be in space before Blair and could get a read on the developing situation. Then once Blair and the heavier craft had launched off the carrier, Marks could give him her report quickly allowing Blair to formulate a retaliatory strike based off of her information.

Finally done, Blair and Marks posted the roster and had gone their separate ways after leaving the Flight Control Center with Blair making his way back to the wing commander's office. Now was a good a time as any to have that meeting with Maniac. Upon reaching his new office he took a moment to familiarize himself with his work space. It was small, tucked between the Flight Control Center and one of the wing's four ready rooms. Aside from a desk with built-in computer links and a set of monitors, it was sparsely furnished. The only noteworthy touch was the wall behind the desk; a large viewport gave him a nice view into the main hanger were he could observe ongoing flight operations.

Once he was settled in and got the computers the way he liked them he hit his comm and requested the Major come see him in his office. Several long minutes later, which Blair decided the Major was taking his time making him wait on purpose, Major Todd Marshall finally knocked and entered Blair's office.

The man had changed little over the years, only slightly heavier than Blair remembered, and he now had a touch of gray in his dark hair. Despite that, he still had the same air of brooding intensity and fire in his eyes.

"Maniac Marshall," Blair said slowly. "I see you've managed to stay alive somehow. Who'd have thought that was possible?"

"Colonel Blair." Marshall looked anything but happy to see him again, and the feeling was mutual. The two men's history began all the way back at the academy. They had been rivals in everything from flight competitions in basic, to gaining the attention of a particular young lady their final year. Marshall had earned his call sign "Maniac" for his slapdash, hell-for-leather flying style back at the Academy. He was always volatile and eager for glory. Blair on the other hand had earned his title "Maverick" ironically for his by-the-book approaches to combat situations. Marshall had barely squeaked through graduation whereas Blair had earned honors.

They even served together during their first posting aboard the fleet carrier TCS Tiger's Claw. Marshall proved to be an unpopular wingman that was considered unreliable and dangerous by his fellow pilots. He blamed Blair from the start for always coming ahead in kills, awards, and promotions. Blair had been delighted to learn they had received different postings after their tour on the Tiger's Claw. Now Marshall was a major and Blair was a colonel and Confed HQ or some vengeful god of fate had brought them together again.

"It's been quite a while hasn't it Major." Blair didn't bother to stand and greet the man, instead just pointing to one of the chairs in front of his desk. Marshall came forward and took the seat opposite of the one Blair had pointed to.

Marshall was silent for a moment as the two men stared at each other. Finally he spoke up "So I take it I have you to thank for me not receiving a squadron on this bucket" he bluntly accused the Colonel.

"Wow you must have been glued to a monitor since coming aboard, I just finished posting the roster." Blair chuckled back. Marshall remained silent and Blair used that to keep talking, "Squadron CO's need to be people who are dependable and capable of keeping their head in a fight. That means someone who won't simply break formation like you did to me back at Gimle. As wing commander I need to know I can trust my squadron commanders to obey orders given and rein in their fighters if one decides to go hunting for glory, then yell for help when they get in to deep." Blair shrugged. The two men had gone over this talk before and Blair doubted Marshall would change now. "For now I'm in command of Gold squadron and you will be my Exec. When it comes right down to it, Major, I can choose whoever I want to lead a flight wing. That's one of the privileges of rank, you know."

"Yeah those gold tracers on your collar look real sharp," Marshall's tone was hollow and bitter. "I bet you have to stay up pretty late at night to keep them polished so pretty."

"No, I don't," Blair replied coldly. "I assign majors to do that for me."

"The difference in our rank, sir, is just a formality," Marshall said. "We both know who the better man in the cockpit is."

"That's right. We both do." Blair said back smiling.

Marshall's look was one of pure hatred. "Anything else…..sir? Or may I be dismissed?"

"That's all." Blair said as he then watched the Major storm out of his office. Well that certainly cleared the air like I had hoped. Blair cursed himself for letting Maniac get under his skin. The man always seemed to bring out the worst in him. He then turned back to his computer and brought up Marshall's file to see what had occurred over the last few years. What he saw surprised him. Apparently the Major was closer to a promotion than he had first thought. Marshall's last two CO's had recommended him for a squadron command posting provided that he would be warned what responsibility that posting would bring. With this brand new fleet and the recommendations by previous CO's, Marshall was practically guaranteed a squadron command. That was until Colonel Blair had arrived and became his new wing commander.

Great, I'm the straw that broke the camel's back. Blair sighed and tried to decide whether or not to change his mind on Maniacs post. Marshall certainly had the seniority, even if Blair doubted he had the temperament for command. Maniac's flying style was best suited for the heavy dogfighting and capital ship runs that Thunderbolts normally found themselves in. For now the Major would stay where he was until Blair could determine if age and experience have truly changed the man.

::Colonel Blair, report to the bridge. Colonel Blair, report to the bridge.:: Blair glanced up at the ship comm and was silently glad for the distraction. At least now he would get to see more of the ship, and meet his commander for the mission.

It was on his way to the bridge that Blair began to really notice the fact he was on a brand new carrier. Earlier on the flight deck he hadn't had the chance to really take in his surroundings but now it was clearly evident he was aboard a shiny new vessel. Normally the first thing you noticed on an older fleet carrier was the smell. Air purifiers always seemed to be the first things that broke when a carrier took battle damage and Blair had noticed over his career that every carrier he had served on had always smelled of engine exhaust, or fuel along with burning electronics. Blair would swear walking down the halls he could still smell a slight aroma of lemons just as if a cleaning crew had come through the corridor earlier. Coupling that with the fact every corridor was still spot less and the ship was running perfectly smooth without the normal engine rumblings of older carriers; it made him feel slightly unsettled. Don't get him wrong, he was happy to be serving on this carrier but he just felt like things were running a little too smoothly. Even the elevator he had just come out of brought him quickly and smoothly to the floor he requested, stopping perfectly even with the floor. Not a centimeter off. For Blair, that just wasn't normal.

As he stepped onto the bridge he was forced to abandon his train of thought while he walked over to the commanding officer who was standing at a large holographic table like the one he had seen back over Earth. While the table he had seen over Earth was coated with polished wood to blend in seamlessly with the conference room, this table made no illusions about where it was and what its purpose was for. A simple box raised out of the ground made out of silver durasteel that was welded to the floor. Yup, definitely a military vessel. Currently being displayed were the ships of Task Force 54 and their route through the coming jump points.

Colonel Blair walked over towards the table and the broad-shouldered black man with graying hair standing beside it. The man had the four stripes of a Navy Captain displayed on his sleeve.

"Ah, Colonel Blair?" the man said smiling. "I'm Rear Admiral William Eisen. Glad to have you aboard the Jutland."

Blair snapped off a quick salute which Eisen returned. Theoretically they were of equal rank, a Colonel in the Confederation Space Force and a Captain of the Navy, but aboard any ship in space the commanding officer of that ship was always the senior officer regardless of rank.

Blair paused a moment before he spoke. Wait a minute. Did he say Rear Admiral?

"Thank you, sir. Uh…you did say Rear Admiral didn't you?"

Eisen simply smiled again at Blair's confusion. "I did say that. You can ignore the uniform. I got the promotion earlier today but haven't had a moments rest to try and change out my ranks. Just been one of those days."

Blair nodded in understanding while Eisen motioned for the both of them to return to the table.

"Now then," Eisen began returning their focus to the holographic map "I take it our own carrier's strike craft and hanger deck is in order by now?"

"Yes sir." Blair responded. "All equipment and craft is on board, and Lieutenant Colonel Marks and I have just finished the placement of all our pilots. The Jutland is now capable of launching an offensive strike at any time."

"Glad to hear it. Current fleet speed puts us a half a day out of Enigma. From there we receive the jump coordinates gathered by the Firekka stealth ship. Then, it should only take us just over two days to reach the newly discovered jump gate." Eisen explained to Blair.

"These new carriers are something else, crossing two sectors in little over three days." Blair responded truly impressed. "I know we have the TCS Jutland and the TCS Enigma as the center for the fleet but what about the other ships composing the task force?"

Eisen looked slightly troubled as he responded "Accompanying the two carriers we have ten Tallahassee-class heavy cruisers and ten Southampton-class destroyers. It was decided by Confed HQ that a large complement of heavy cruisers would be perfect for supporting the firepower of our two carriers. The ten destroyers would then primarily be used to protect our flanks and to make torpedo runs on any targets of opportunity."

"That's an impressive amount of firepower and a generally sound strategy," Blair responded slowly. "So I assume your discomfort is from something else…"

Admiral Eisen casually looked up and scanned the area around them ensuring no one was within earshot before he responded. "Just before we left Sol Sector I received a communication from Admiral Richards. Apparently there is strong evidence to believe the cats sent out more ships to reinforce their first fleet. When I asked if our orders were to change or if we would be sent more ships of our own he responded that he was sorry but the Confederation is simply stretched too thin to spare anymore ships and that we will have to just do our best with what we have."

Eisen sighed and then looked back to Blair. "For now let's keep that between the two of us. We don't need rumors spreading around fear and doubt before we even reach the enemy."

Blair simply nodded. "Understood, Sir." It wasn't a completely bad situation. The Terran Confederation had always held a slight technological edge in warship and fighter design. Which was lucky because throughout the entire war, Confed forces seemed too be outnumbered by their Kilrathi counterparts by no less than a three to one margin at the best of times.

"Now that we got that depressing bit of information out of the way we can get back to why I called you up here." Eisen continued looking back over the map. "As I said we are a little over three days out from the jump gate. You will give a fully detailed briefing to your flight wing when we depart Confederation Space. I want all our people ready for the unknown as soon as possible so I will be informing the fleet of our mission soon after the Wings are informed. When we do finally reach the jump gate, the fleet will precede as if we were jumping into a hostile system. I want all fighters prepped for a full magnum launch and ready to fly once we pass through the gate. Because we don't know what's on the other side and if we can easily get back, I want all of our ships to form up and pass through together."

Blair was nodding his head in agreement with everything Eisen had said up until the point of bunching the fleet together and jumping as one. Standard fleet doctrine was that any carrier jumping into hostile space was to have all its fighters lined up on the deck with their pilots ready to fly in case enemy forces were present around the exit point. This allowed for a quick response and a hard strike against the enemy, but that was only after a screening force of other ships had already passed through the jump point. Normally this was a job given to two destroyers. Both would jump through and secure the surrounding space. If no enemies were present the rest of the fleet would continue on through. If an enemy fleet was present it was the first destroyers job to decide to either allow the fleet to continue or give the order for the second destroyer to flee back through the jump point and warn the fleet with the first remaining behind to provide cover. With Eisen massing the fleet as one they would be stuck with whatever situation arose on the other side.

Seeing his discomfort Eisen explained his reasoning. "I know it's risky but we don't know how those jump gates actually work. If we send a destroyer through, could it return and warn us of danger? And if there is an enemy fleet waiting for us I can't afford to send the fleet one ship at a time through the gate. We would be picked off one by one. According to the footage gathered by the Firekka these jump gates appear to be able to send several vessels through at one time so our best bet is to go through fast and hard to eliminate any opposition."

Realizing this was the best option in a bad situation Blair simply nodded again and repeated himself "Understood, Sir."

"Don't worry Colonel," Eisen reassured "these new carriers were designed for this type of action. If there is anything behind that gate we will put our new guns to good use."


Three days later…

Seventh Fleet of the Claw
KIS Karu, Flagship, Bhantkara-class fleet carrier
Unknown Sector of Space
2669.196

Vak nar Ragitagha, leader of the noble clan Ragitagha, sat in his command chair that raised him above the others working around the bridge of the Karu. He was currently trying to collect his thoughts on how his fleet should react to the newest batch of information given to him by the Baron of the Fleet, who was awaiting his orders at the steps of his miniature throne.

At the beginning of the expedition, ever since his fleet had first passed through the strange glowing construct, he had ordered the majority of his ships to be hidden in the upper atmosphere of a nearby gas giant. From there he had ordered the launch of several flights of Strakha stealth fighters to explore the surrounding space and travel through any other active constructs they may come across. What the fighters discovered made him eager to begin his hunt.

His Strakha's limited range ensured they couldn't explore too far away from the fleet but a great amount of exploration wasn't necessary. His fighters quickly discovered other craft traveling through the constructs. Some were armed, some were not. Some were traveling in small fleets, others alone. But most importantly, all of his fighters reported seeing several clearly separate silhouettes. Proof that more than one species used these strange devices for traveling through the stars.

Immediately, he sent out the order for his fighters to begin destroying the unknown vessels traveling through the constructs. This was a means to test the combat responsiveness of the new aliens military and to discover just what he may be facing in the near future. The outcome was better than he could have hoped for. After several days of raiding his fighters had clearly engaged several military craft but nothing near a significant threat. In fact, after several engagements his pilots began reporting that the shields the aliens had equipped only stopped physical projectiles. His fighters' missiles would seem to have an effect at weakening the alien's shields but when they engaged using their laser cannons and meson guns the shield had no affect what so ever. These primitives couldn't even protect themselves from energy weapons.

Now, Vak nar Ragitagha found his claws twitching in anticipation. His Baron, Hurrig nar Ragitagha, had just informed him that one of his recon flights had discovered an alien world.

"Tell me of the planets defenses." Vak spoke in a hoarse voice just above a whisper, unable to speak louder due to the fact that the surgeons had experienced some difficulty in putting his mouth back together after a particularly brutal challenge duel. It had been sometime since that eventful day but Vak liked the way he spoke now. His new voice never betrayed his emotions and he soon discovered other Kilrathi found it unnerving. An advantage any clan leader would be foolish to give up.

"It appears to have a small fleet for defense along with two stations at points L4 and L5. No large scale weaponry detected on either platform. The aliens that inhabit the planet are prey, foolish to leave themselves so vulnerable." replied Baron Hurrig.

"Indeed." Vak responded, but he didn't understand why that was the case. We encountered several military vessels…that couldn't be all the ships they possessed. A planet of this population means a colony but a well-established colony several eights of years in age. Other alien vessels traveling the same trade routes mean constant contact, which would mean knowledge of not being alone in the galaxy. Surely this race sees the need for greater defenses…No matter, our mission is set. We will accomplish our goals. He had come to his decision.

Vak stood from his seat to convey his orders, the authority he possessed clear even in the hoarse tone he spoke in. "Recall all fighters. Prepare the fleet to assault this world. By the end of the day the planet shall be in ruins and the Kilrathi Empire will have gained a great bounty of new technologies and valuable resources."

Baron Hurrig bowed and left to carry out his lords orders.

This will be a day remembered in the long history of our Empire…and my name will become a roar of triumph for our clan's eventual ascendance to the throne of Emperor. As Vak sat back down in his seat he smiled and let a growl of anticipation escape him.


Earlier that same day…

Task Force 54
TCS Jutland
10,000 meters from Jump Gate and closing

Rear Admiral William Eisen wasn't afraid to admit to himself he was nervous. That was a feeling he had come to terms with long ago. Being nervous kept soldiers on their toes and saved them when their instincts took over in the heat of battle. No he wasn't afraid to admit he was nervous, the real problem was not allowing anyone on the bridge of the Jutland see he was nervous.

After he had briefed the entire fleet on what their true mission was, he was glad to see that all the personal were taking it in stride. It was true all the ranking officers had already been told beforehand but the average crewman was in the dark until he told them. When he had finished his little speech informing the fleet of their mission, he had checked in with the other captains to try and get a feel for how the personal were responding. Nearly all the captains replied their staff was looking forward to breaking the same old pattern of see Kilrathi, attack Kilrathi, flee from the larger Kilrathi force avenging their fallen warriors. Apparently the prospect of encountering a new race, hostile or not, was something the fleet was looking forward to.

So with that out of the way he had spent the rest of his time trying to prepare his fleet for the inevitable moment when they did use the jump gate and travel into unknown space. A task, he found out, that had no perfect answer. There was no way anyone could prepare for every contingency. And that is why he was standing on his bridge, staring out the viewport at the rapidly approaching jump gate, trying to appear as calm on the outside as he wished he was on the inside.

Eisen walked over to one of the radios and contacted Colonel Blair who was sitting in his Thunderbolt on the hanger deck of the carrier, waiting for the Admiral to order him to either launch all his fighters or stand down.

"Colonel Blair, we are 8,000 meters and counting. Everything set on your end?"

Sitting in his cockpit, Blair reached over and flipped the switch that activated his helmet mike, and set it to respond back to the bridge.

::All fighters prepped and loaded, Sir. Give the signal and you'll have a full launch ready to strike any opposition::

Eisen thanked the man and then switched his radio to a fleet wide broadcast.

"Task Force 54, prepare to make history for the Confederation. Buckle up folks, I bet it's a hell of a ride!"

He deactivated the radio to cheers of excitement across the bridge, and walked back over to his original spot before the viewport listening to his navigation officer countdown the fleet's distance to the gate.

"2,000 meters…1,000 meters…500…250…100…jump gate activating, here we go!"

Eisen was forced to squint as a bright blue light obscured his view and with little more than a slight shudder his entire task force of twenty-two ships was launched through space in less time than it takes to blink…

Right in front of another fleet of warships that was clearly lining up to do the exact same thing on their end. The two fleets separated by a rapidly decreasing amount of space.

Eisen wasted no time, "FLEET EVASIVE ACTION! NAV, DROP US FORTY DEGREES STARBOARD! CARRIERS, SEAL HANGER BULKHEADS!"

His helm officer acknowledged the command and the carrier began to drop down to avoid the vessels coming directly at them, while at the same time the hanger doors were immediately slammed shut to prevent a ship from crashing through the hanger should their shields fail. Eisen was forced to grab onto the nearby console as the entire task force was desperately trying to move their ships out of the way. The main problem was that the alien ships (numbering twenty-five in total) were attempting to avoid collisions just as the Confed ships were. Every ship inhabiting the ludicrously small space was dodging as fast as their mammoth vessels could dodge. It wasn't nearly enough.

Shields collided, igniting in flashes of multi-colored light as they tried to repel several tens of thousands of tons of metal; and the ships of the two fleets got far to close to one another culminating in a brilliant flash of light signaling Eisen to look to his left. He witnessed the shields of an alien vessel fail as a Confed heavy cruiser was forced to travel right on through the middle of the doomed ship, detonating the alien vessel.

Enraged at the loss of their comrade, every vessel of the opposing fleet opened fire with powerful broadsides at point blank range.

The TCS Jutland shuddered heavily as a large quantity of enemy fire slammed directly into its shields over and over again.

"Hail Them!" Eisen shouted to the comm officer.

"Signal sent, they're not acknowledging!" the panic stricken officer yelled back.

"All ships return fire! Return fire!" Eisen shouted the order over the fleet comm.

A second after the Admiral had given the order, all the Confederation warships composing Task Force 54 had aligned their own weapon batteries against their nearest hostile ship and proceeded to return fire, giving the aliens their first ever up-close and personal demonstration of Confederation capital ship weaponry.

The rapid firing dual-mounted laser batteries of the ten destroyers passed right through the enemies shields and began to tear away large chunks of armor, quickly exposing the inner workings of the vessels to the vacuum of space before the enemy ships finally succumbed in balls of light to the withering amount of fire being brought to bear upon them. This however, paled in comparison to the anti-matter cannon bombardment coming from the ten heavy cruisers and two fleet carriers.

Without the proper shielding, nothing stopped the powerful bursts of anti-matter fired from the Confed ships' cannons from directly impacting the alien warships hull. Each impact of anit-matter meeting the normal matter of the alien ships resulted in massive explosions of energy that lead to the annihilation of huge chunks of the alien warships. A single volley form either the TCS Jutland or TCS Enigma was destroying the smaller enemy vessels instantly and the larger warships fared little better.

After what seemed like to the crews of the Confederation ships only a few heartbeats later, the guns of their warships fell silent with the lack of targets. The task force silently drifting forward, leaving only pieces of debris and the few unrecognizable hulls of their foes trailing behind them.

The bridge of the TCS Jutland was completely silent, no one daring to speak in case they broke the new calm that had fallen upon the fleet. Finally Eisen shook himself out of this daze and began to issue orders to his task force.

"All ships begin damage control procedures, and sound off in fleet order, did we lose anyone?"

Amazingly, apart from the damage on the heavy cruiser, TCS Ajax, when it had earlier flown straight thru an enemy vessel and the resulting explosion, not a single vessel of Task Force 54 was destroyed or seriously damaged.

"All vessels full stop. Ajax, all ships, get a full listing of all your damaged systems to me when you're able." Eisen sighed in relief, then noticed the blinking light of the radio signaling him to a call from Colonel Blair who was still in his fighter down in the hanger. Flipping the channel of his comm over back to Blair he was immediately assaulted by the man's very loud and agitated shouting.

::ADMIRAL! EISEN! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SHUT THE HANGER DOORS FOR! HELLO? HELLO?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE!::

"Calm down Colonel. You and all your pilots can stand down. I want you up on the bridge." Eisen replied back to the officer.

::What the hell just happened Admiral?!::

Admiral Eisen shook his head and noticed the mission chronometer that had been activated once they passed through the jump gate. Only four minutes had passed.

He merely shook his head in quiet shock as he replied, "The shortest fleet engagement this galaxy has ever seen."

Two hours later with the repairs to the TCS Ajax and other Confed ships complete, Task Force 54 was once again forced to a full stop. This time the reason was because on the other side of the system, two jump gates were present. Admiral Eisen and Colonel Blair were in the bridge ready room debating over the comm with the other captains about which route to take. It was an important decision not to be taken lightly especially because they had just engaged a hostile enemy fleet. A fleet that somehow, according to sensor logs, had sent two smaller ships immediately into a faster-than-light retreat after initial hostilities began. The fact they had reached speeds so fast without the use of the jump gate was deeply disturbing to everyone.

They had almost reached a decision when the comm officer came bursting through the door.

"Admiral, Sir, you're going to want to see this. Our sensors picked up more during the battle than we thought."

Eisen and Blair excused themselves from the meeting and were guided by the comm officer over to the holographic table on the bridge. Hunched over the table was a sensor ensign and the sensor section lieutenant. The two came to attention when the Admiral reached the table.

"Alright what have you got?" asked Eisen.

"Now that the fleet is stationary and we had time to go over the sensor logs for the battle, we came across this blip at extreme sensor range." The section lieutenant began explaining, pointing to the area of space on the holographic map. "Unfortunately, we are the only ones who caught it. Enigma missed it and the rest of the fleet doesn't have the sensor range of our carrier."

"What we have though is adequate data that clearly logs a ship of some kind, appearing out of nowhere, and traveling through this jump gate off our starboard." the young sensor ensign excitedly explained over his superior.

Eisen and Blair looked back to the lieutenant to see if he agreed with his subordinate's opinion.

The older officer glanced back at the ensign but agreed "It is the only lead we have to go on, and I know it's not much, but those readings off that blip strongly resemble a particular ship the Kilrathi possess. A ship that can disappear and reappear at will."

Blair's eyes lit up with understanding, "You're talking about the Strakha stealth fighters" he finished for the lieutenant.

"Yes Sir. The readings are sketchy, but like we said, only a Strakha emerging from stealth looks like this on a read out. And it went through the jump gate off to starboard."

"It would make sense then that we only picked up the ship for a moment before it traveled through the gate," Blair explained to Eisen. "Strakha are completely undetectable until an energy surge of some kind is placed on the ship. Normally, this would be weapons fire, but a ship passing through the gates must be charged by some form of energy that sapped its stealth capability before it could travel completely through, allowing us the small sensor blip."

Eisen was silent a moment looking over the map as he thought the idea over and then turned to his sensor officers. "It's better than the coin flip we had going so far. Good Work." Turning to his comm officer he continued "Alert the fleet of our find and inform them we head out immediately. Starboard jump gate it is."

All the officers hurried back to their respective stations on the bridge to carry out the Admiral's orders.

"Even if they are right, that fighter has a two hour lead on us. I don't see how we can continue on if this situation of multiple jump gates continues into the next few systems." Eisen said to Colonel Blair who was still standing beside him.

Blair was nodding in agreement until and old fighter briefing popped back into his head. He turned back to the Admiral quickly explaining his plan.

"Your right. The fleet won't be able to catch the fighter, but we don't have to. Strakha's may be stealthy but they're nothing to brag about in the speed department. We need to send out a flight of Arrows to proceed ahead of us at full afterburn. The Arrows high speed and low radar profile will allow them to get within extreme sensor range of the coming jump gates were they then wait for the sensor blip we need to track without giving themselves away to the enemy."

The Admiral didn't hesitate "Do it. Send out the squadron of Arrows but they are not to engage anything they find out there. Primary objective is to discover the flight path of that fighter. We need it to locate the Kilrathi fleet."

Blair rushed over to the ship comm "Colonel Marks, I need you and Red squadron in the air now! Don't wait for a briefing you'll get it when you're underway."

Several hours later, their plan had worked perfectly. The Arrows were fast enough to just catch the sensor blip and were even able to report back that it wasn't just one fighter but a flight of four Strakha's the task force was chasing. The Kilrathi fighters seemed to make no indication they were being chased by the Arrow flight, and eventually the Confed forces were able to trail them all the way through three more systems before they were forced to stop. Sitting in her small fighter, Lieutenant Colonel Emily Marks was now not just trailing four lightly armed Strakha with her flight of ten Arrows consisting red squadron, they were now observing an entire Kilrathi Fleet at extreme sensor range. A fleet consisting of three Bhantkara-class carriers and their accompanying three-hundred fighter craft. A sight any recon pilot loves to see, even more so on a deep patrol far from the safety of a friendly fleet.

Once the other pilots of red squadron had confirmed their own sensor data with Mark's, she began giving out her orders.

"All fighters cut main engine power, we fly by thrusters and inertia only. Stay at extreme sensor range and cut communications, we don't want to wake the hornets' nest. Red 9, 10, I need you to fly back to the fleet and inform them of what we have here. The rest of us will try and maintain sensor lock and find out where the Kilrathi are off to."

Arrows 9 and 10 immediately acknowledged pulling back and rolling over at full power to return to the TCS Jutland as quickly as possible.

After only several minutes it was clear to Marks of the path the Kilrathi were taking. Only one jump gate existed in this system and the Kilrathi were heading straight for it. The remaining fighters of red squadron silently drifted forward watching as all Kilrathi ships began to make their passage through the gate.

Now that we're chasing a fleet that complicates matters. Marks was thinking to herself as her fighters made their own way slowly toward the jump gate. The sensors on those carriers may not have seen us but they will certainly see another fleet following them thru the gate. We need to follow them but how can we without giving ourselves away? Marks switched her comm back on and began to inform the others of her plan.

"Okay, here's how we are going to do this. Red 2 and I are going to fly through the gate after giving the Kilrathi a fifteen minute head start. The rest of you are to remain here and await the fleet's arrival. Hopefully the Kilrathi will be far enough away that they don't see our fighters following behind them through the gate. If they do see us, you will know that is the case when I come back from the other side yelling bloody murder." Her other pilots acknowledged her orders and began to fall behind as Marks and her wingman, "Badger", continued on toward the jump gate.

"You sure about this plan Colonel?" Badger asked her over the comm. "This is pushing our orders of no contact with the enemy to edge."

"I know it is, but we can't lose sight of that fleet." She wasn't happy either but this was the best of a bad situation. "Besides, I clearly remember Colonel Blair stating we weren't to engage the enemy. If we pop thru to the other side and fly into the middle of the Kilrathi Fleet, I don't know about you, but I won't be staying around long enough to engage three-hundred angry Kilrathi fighters."

Badger chuckled over his end "Bet you twenty credits we jump thru and come face to face with another angry alien fleet."

Marks was laughing back on her end. She had flown with Badger on a previous posting and had always liked his attitude. "I'll take that bet, and I say we come across two alien fleets instead of your one."

The two Arrows had finally come up to the enormous jump gate and began to glow a bright blue before they were both shot across space to another system. Quickly the two pilots began a sensor sweep and a visual scan of their surroundings. What they saw left them speechless until Badger called back over to her.

"I am never betting against you ever again Colonel."

Marks found her own voice, "We need to get back to the fleet and tell them to move their asses and fast. Come on Badger, full afterburners until we get back on the Jutland."

After passing back thru the jump gate both pilots pushed their engines as fast as they could, which for a fighter designed for speed was capable, was extremely fast. Less than ten minutes later they, and the remaining fighters of red squadron who were still waiting for them on the other side, had reached radio communication distance with the Confed task force. Colonel Marks slapped on her comm and called the Admiral.

"Home One, Home One, this is Phantom Flight. I have information you need to hear now, Admiral."

After a second of static she got her reply from Eisen.

::What's the situation Colonel?::

"Sir you need to push fleet speed into the red, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity that won't last long. The Kilrathi Fleet is currently on course to engage an alien world. The aliens have a small fleet presence that won't last long against Kilrathi numbers. If we save that planet, we might make ourselves any ally out here."

Back on the bridge Admiral Eisen now realized the reason why Marks was talking so excitedly. If they could save the planet it might make up for their disastrous beginning to the mission. He turned to his comm and nav officers.

"Alert the fleet to prepare for battle stations and bring the reactor to one-hundred and ten percent. Push us as fast as we can go without damaging the engines." He then switched back over to Colonel Marks.

::Colonel Marks, send over all sensor data you collected on both the Kilrathi and the unknown alien fleet. I then want your flight to land and refuel for the coming battle.::

"Rodger that sir, transmission being sent now. We are currently on approach, ETA two minutes." Sitting back in her cockpit Colonel Marks took the time to also examine the alien ships. These are a lot more streamlined than the previous vessels we encountered… I hope design matters as much as firepower to these guys. It seems the small fleet is centered around that larger vessel there…why does it have that gaping hole in its center? It doesn't appear to be a carrier…


Author's Note #2: As the action heats up I realized I needed the coming battle to have its very own chapter. So no worries folks, chapter 3 picks up right where this one left off.

What I have listed below are the various fighters and capital ships of both the Kilrathi and Confederation that will be seen in the next chapter.

Kilrathi:Because they have been slow to beat Terran superiority in capital ship and fighter design, the Kilrathi have decided to simply build more capital ships and fighters with heavy firepower to overwhelm their foes. This has lead to higher fleet loses but the Kilrathi simply outnumber the Terrans by such a wide margin it has made little difference.

Bhantkara Fleet Carrier: Standard fleet carrier for the Kilrathi Armada. Carries a full complement of fighters. The Kilrathi have built more Bhantkara's than any other type of carrier and they outnumber their Terran counterparts by a large amount. Despite its size it is lightly armed, normally it has multiple escorts to provide protection.
Length: 920 meters
Fighter Capacity: 100 fighters
Weapons: 8 dual mounted Laser Turrets

Fralthi ll Heavy Cruiser: Featuring heavy shields and armor the Fralthi ll is a warship second in power only to Kilrathi battleships and dreadnoughts. Its primary roles include system patrol, capital ship interception, and planetary assaults.
Length: 550 meters
Weapons: 15 anti-matter cannons, 4 missile tubes, 4 torpedo tubes

Ralaxath Heavy Destroyer: The Kilrathi's newest and most advanced destroyer, the Ralaxath-class closes the gap created by technologically superior Terran capital ships. These ships have been seen acting as flagships for destroyer patrols consisting of older Kilrathi models.
Length: 530 meters
Weapons: 15 dual mounted Laser Turrets, 3 Tachyon Guns, 2 torpedo tubes

Darket Light Fighter: Lightly armored and shielded, but a fast turn rate and speed makes it difficult to hit.
Length:24 meters
Weapons: 2 meson guns
Missile Load: 2 missiles
Torpedoes: None
Jump Capable: No

Dralthi lV Medium Fighter: A design constantly revised from the start of the war, it is slightly faster and maneuverable than most medium fighters but has mediocre shielding and armor.
Length: 31 meters
Weapons: 2 meson guns, 1 particle cannon
Missile Load: 4 missiles
Torpedoes: None
Jump Capable: No

Vaktoth Heavy Fighter: A heavy fighter that has a slightly better performance than the Terran Thunderbolt. With its jump capability it is used as an escort and scouting vessel, provided it doesn't tangle with capital ships.
Length: 36 meters
Weapons: 1 tachyon gun, 2 plasma guns, 2 ion cannons
Missile Load: 8 missiles
Torpedoes: None
Jump Capable: Yes

Strakha Stealth Fighter: The only stealth fighter in mass production. It is lightly armored but is completely undetectable until it fires or is hit by enemy fire. Once engaged if the odds turn against it Kilrathi pilots simply cloak again and maneuver to a better position before continuing the fight.
Length: 30 meters
Weapons: 2 meson guns, 2 laser guns
Missile Load: 5 missiles
Torpedoes: None
Jump Capable: No

Paktahn Bomber: A bomber similar to the Terran Longbow in that its main job is the torpedo runs it makes on capital ships. With low speed and maneuverability it always fly's with escorting ships, but it has a tail gunner for added self defense along with heavy shields and armor.
Length: 37 meters
Weapons: 4 plasma guns, 2 ion cannons, 1 mass driver tail gun
Missile Load: 14 missiles
Torpedoes: 6 torpedoes
Jump Capable: No

Terran:The Terran Confederation holds a slight technological edge when it comes to capital ship and fighter design. It is the Confederations belief that if they build warships of superior durability with adequate weapons, they will outlast their enemy on any battlefield. This has achieved mixed results. Terran capital ships have proved to be able to handle two to one odds, with fighters surviving three to one odds against enemy fighters of equal class, and come out the victor. Unfortunately the Kilrathi have begun to field more and more ships pushing that advantage to its limits.

Jutland Attack Carrier: Designed to basically follow its fighters into the fight. Heavy shields and armor, coupled with large barrages of firepower and fast engines allows the carrier to quickly engage at close range and then pull out if the situation gets to dangerous.
Length: 775 meters
Fighter Capacity: 90 fighters
Weapons: 15 anti-matter cannons, 2 missile tubes, 4 torpedo tubes

Tallahassee Heavy Cruiser: Heavily armed, and heavily shielded warships capable of taking and returning large amounts of fire. This heavy cruiser's primary roles include fleet escort, orbital bombardment, and enemy interception. Tallahassee cruisers serve as the backbone of the Confederation fleet and they have proved themselves capable of handling almost any threat.
Length: 530 meters
Weapons: 12 anti-matter cannons, 6 missile tubes, 2 torpedo tubes

Southampton Destroyer: A small, heavily armed warship, that is capable of running down any Kilrathi capital ship trying to flee. Very maneuverable for its size this destroyer is a versatile and multi-purpose vessel that can be found as part of carrier battle groups or in destroyer squadrons or even alone. The Southampton class destroyer has served in every theater of the war.
Length: 490 meters
Weapons: 9 dual mounted laser turrets, 4 missile tubes, 5 torpedo tubes

Arrow Light Fighter: A fast an agile fighter, it is best suited to engage medium and heavy fighters, who simply can't keep up. The Arrow has the lightest shielding and armor of all Confederation fighters but it is still more durable than its Kilrathi counterpart.
Length: 20 meters
Weapons: 2 laser guns, 2 ion cannons
Missile Load: 8 missiles
Torpedoes: None
Jump Capable: No

Hellcat V Medium Fighter: The baseline Terran fighter, the Hellcat is a solid vehicle in any combat situation. Fast and maneuverable, but sporting a solid defense rating, the Hellcat is capable of attacking fighters or light capital ships.
Length: 27 meters
Weapons: 2 laser guns, 2 ion cannons
Missile Load: 6 missiles
Torpedoes: None
Jump Capable: No

Thunderbolt Vll Heavy Fighter: Carrying a formidable set of energy weapons and missiles, the Thunderbolt has been highly successful against capital ships and medium to heavy fighters. It is less maneuverable than the Arrow and Hellcat, and with its heavy shields and armor, it is to slow to effectively engage light fighters.
Length: 34 meters
Weapons: 2 plasma guns, 2 photon guns, 2 meson guns
Missile Load: 6 missiles
Torpedoes: 1 torpedo
Jump Capable: No

Longbow Bomber: The Terran's premiere torpedo delivery system, the Longbow has an impressive record against any type of Kilrathi capital ship. Longbows have the heaviest shields and armor of any Confederation fighter to date but this leaves them slow and less maneuverable than any other fighter. Because of this they come equipped with a rear turret for added defense.
Length: 38 meters
Weapons: 2 laser guns, 2 neutron guns, 1 dual rear particle gun
Missile Load: 16 missiles
Torpedoes: 4 Torpedoes
Jump Capable: Yes