Wing Commander: End of an Era
Chapter 12

Omega Nebula
Sahrabarik System, Omega
Kilrathi Controlled District

"Were the bags over our heads really necessary?" Shepard complained as her eyes slowly readjusted to the bright lights illuminating the room she and Miranda were currently seated in. The guard who had removed the bags from Shepard and Miranda's heads then exited the room and shut the door behind himself.

Across the table sat only the Kilrathi leader. "Do you know where you are inside this base?"

Shepard ran a hand through her hair to try and straighten it back out, "Well, we took a left and then a right, followed by a pretty long stretch and then another right; after that though I got bored and just zoned out. So no, I don't really know where we are in your base."

"Then the bags worked," the Kilrathi explained. "You are now trapped deep within an enemy base with no hope of escaping should things go wrong. This thought will remain with you throughout the coming proceedings and slowly erode your will."

Seated on Shepard's right, Miranda had also been trying to fix her hair as she then added, "I thought you said no harm would come to us while we were inside the base?"

The Kilrathi grinned, revealing his fangs, "I did say that, but why waste the advantage. I have no such worry's occupying my thoughts. My head is clear and unburdened."

Seeing the Kilrathi's smug expression, Shepard rolled her eyes and started, "When we first entered your base and you placed the bags on our heads we walked through a large open room, most likely the docking bays for when you have ships small enough to dock with Omega. We walked roughly eighty meters through this area before making a left turn.

About sixteen meters later we reached a checkpoint guarded by a single Kilrathi. We traveled through it and took a right. Roughly another sixteen meters we took a right and walked for, I'm guessing now, one-hundred and ten meters before making a left turn, which was immediately followed by another left.

At this point we passed through another checkpoint, again guarded by a single Kilrathi, and walked somewhere around sixty meters before we reached this room. Being lead blindfolded made it difficult to judge just how many other Kilrathi are inside this base but I would say that we passed no more than thirty others; most of those working in the large first room loading supplies onto your ships."

She smiled sweetly back at the Kilrathi, "I'd say I just evened the sides again, don't you think?"

The Kilrathi's eyes narrowed and he growled out, "There are seventy-five Kilrathi soldiers on this station."

Shepard just shrugged back, "And all seventy-five are between here and the exit? The only ones that matter are the ones we passed."

"Only one matters," the Kilrathi shot back. "The one that kills you."

"He can try," Shepard responded, losing her smile and turning serious. "But I like my odds."

Shepard held the Kilrathi's gaze, matching his determination with her own. The tension was thick in the air and after several moments of complete silence, Shepard watched as the Kilrathi's mouth twitched up slightly.

The twitch then turned into a large smile as the Kilrathi laughed out, "You are not as weak as the other humans I have met on this station. I was getting bored sitting around doing nothing; perhaps this will be entertaining after all."

Shepard let out the breath she had been holding and watched as the Kilrathi slowly calmed himself down. She turned her head to look at Miranda and whispered, "Piece of cake." To which the Cerberus operative rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Shepard and Miranda then waited patiently as the Kilrathi seemed to look them over with a new understanding of who he was dealing with, before he then spoke up, "At the entrance you said that you needed to speak to the base's commander. As of right now that is me. I am Kal Shintahr Graldak nar Sutaghi."

Shepard nodded her head respectfully and answered, "My name is Jane Shepard and I am a Spectre working for the Citadel Council. With me is Miranda Lawson, an operative for the organization called Cerberus."

Graldak just nodded back and Shepard took that as her signal to start, "Before I give you the information I have with me I need to ask you a question. I mean no disrespect but your rank is unknown to me and I need to be speaking to someone who will be able to have some pull within the Kilrathi military. Just how high do you rank?"

"High," was all Graldak replied.

Shepard smiled uncomfortably and asked, "That's good to hear but could you give me an understanding of just how high? I'm guessing that Kal Shintahr is your rank, yes?" Shepard waited as Graldak nodded back. "What would that translate to in our language?"

She waited as Graldak let out a low rumbling growl that most likely meant he was annoyed with having to explain himself to her. Luckily though, he left it at that and explained, "I am a strike commander for our fighters and bombers on our carriers. Whichever carrier I may be on, I rank the leader of all flight operations. Kal Shintahr would carry over to Colonel of the Confederation Space Forces. Is this sufficient enough for you?"

Shepard nodded back gratefully, "That is perfect, thank you for indulging me. I had to be sure though because of the importance of what I'm about to tell you."

"Well then, get on with it human," Graldak said back.

She grimaced slightly at his tone but forged on and began to explain, "The mass relays scattered throughout this galaxy were not created by any race alive today. They were also not created by the race of beings that existed 50,000 years ago called the Protheans. The Protheans found them when they created space flight and they assumed the mass relays were created by the race of beings that inhabited the galaxy before them. That is not the case.

"The mass relays we use today were created by a race of advanced artificial intelligences called the Reapers. These living machines created the mass relays to guide the organic races that inhabit this galaxy down a predestined technological path. This then made their job easier of coming to our galaxy every 50,000 years with the sole intent of exterminating all organic life. This cycle of extinction has repeated itself with every organic race that has ever lived in this galaxy for as far back in time as we have been able to discover.

"Two years ago I was able to stop the Reaper's invasion of this galaxy, but I only killed one of their kind. There are countless others waiting in the dark space between galaxies, enough to wipe out all organic life living today. I merely delayed the invasion; eventually the rest of the Reapers will arrive and kill us all."

Shepard paused there and prepared herself for any questions Graldak was most likely going to barrage her with. To her surprise, the Kilrathi remained silent and just stared back into her eyes. Shepard waited a few more moments before glancing over to Miranda, confused at the situation. The Cerberus operative just shrugged and the two women turned back to stare at the Kilrathi leader seated across from them.

A moment later Miranda spoke up, "Shepard is telling you the truth."

Finally, Graldak let out a grunt and said, "Explain how you have come to know these things human."

So Shepard took a deep breath and began explaining her first assignment as a Council Spectre. Starting with the attack on Eden Prime, she then explained what was told to her by Matriarch Benezia on the frozen research planet Noveria. Shepard told Graldak of the brutal fighting on Feros and the ancestral knowledge of the Protheans called the Cipher, and how that knowledge allowed her to better understand the beacon's warnings. After that, she explained all she had learned on the planet Virmire from the next beacon and then Saren himself.

From there, Shepard quickly described what happened on Ilos and what the Prothean VI named Vigil had told them and subsequently provided to them in order to halt the coming invasion. Her story finally came to an end after she had told them of the battle with Sovereign at the Citadel, followed then by how the Collectors targeted her ship in order to end her life and eliminate the enemy of the Reapers and how Cerberus brought her back to continue the fight.

"I will tell you the exact same thing I told the Confederation," Shepard said evenly. "I need your war to end so I can get you to prepare for the big one that's coming. No one race has ever been able to oppose the Reapers. I am going to need the entire galaxy's cooperation if there is going to be any chance of saving all our lives."

Once again Shepard and Miranda had to wait patiently as Graldak just seemed to stare back at the both of them with his unreadable gaze. And again, after a few silent moments, he spoke addressing Shepard, "Two years ago you were killed."

Shepard fought the urge to bang her head on the table, "Yes I was."

Graldak then looked to Miranda, "You and your organization brought her back to life."

Miranda nodded back, "That is correct. It took two years but we accomplished our goal."

Graldak glanced back to Shepard and looked her over before focusing on Miranda again, "Why her?"

"Shepard is the only one who has directly fought the Reapers," Miranda explained. "You heard what she just told you. Everything she went through to defeat Saren and save our galaxy. No one else could have done what she did. She is a true hero."

Surprised by her words, Shepard glanced over to Miranda but the operative kept her eyes forward facing Graldak.

Miranda then continued, "And we don't know if the Reapers can actually feel emotions, but Shepard killed one of them. That was enough for the Reapers to get the Collectors to kill her. Bringing Shepard back also brought back their fear of her."

Graldak let out a rumbling, "hmmmm," but otherwise remained quiet. He then brought a paw to his face and scratched his golden-brown mane and said, "These Collectors are known to us. We have encountered them on our way through the Terminus systems. They are an enemy of the Kilrathi and responsible for the disappearance of several pilots."

"The same thing has happened to the Confederation," Shepard spoke up. "They have also lost several ships to the Collectors. The most likely explanation is that they are now in the process of gathering information on the only two races in the galaxy that pose a direct threat to the Reaper's plans."

"Whatever their reasons, they will die like the rest," Graldak responded. "We know their ships and we know their tactics. What I don't know are these Reapers. What does one of their ships look like?"

As Miranda activated her omni-tool to bring up a picture, Shepard explained, "Actually what you are about to see is a Reaper itself. There is no crew. A Reaper is the artificial intelligence for the entire two-kilometer long ship."

Miranda found the picture and displayed it for Graldak to see, "Here, this is Sovereign. The Reaper that attacked the Citadel and indoctrinated Saren."

Shepard watched as Graldak sat very still and looked over the three-dimensional hologram Miranda was displaying for him. After a few seconds of studying the image, Graldak faced Shepard and asked, "This process of brain-washing you described called indoctrination. It is a signal generated by the ship to ensnare its victims and turn them into its slaves?"

"That's correct," she replied. "It affects people within a certain proximity to the ship."

Shepard watched as his eyes darted back to the ship before coming back to her again, as he asked, "The Turian Spectre named Saren was turned into one of the Reapers slaves. He was indoctrinated fully, without any will of his own?"

"Yes, Saren was indoctrinated," she replied back again. "It took time and we don't know when Saren first met Sovereign, but he was fully under the Reapers control when I met him. As for how completely Saren's mind was gone…in the end I was able to convince him to take his own life and stop aiding the Reaper's plans."

The Kilrathi looked back to hologram muttering, "So it takes time…that is good…"

As Graldak was studying the ship, Shepard continued to watch him closely. After years spent in the Alliance military as a sniper who had nothing to do but stare at people through the scope of her rifle, Shepard had learned quickly how to read peoples movements and understand how they would react to danger. Add that alongside her training as an N7 and Shepard was proud to say that she could read most people's emotions and intentions.

Graldak was doing an amazing job hiding it but Shepard could sense something was wrong in his behavior. As she began to actually study him more, small details became visible. The first clue came from his eyes. Shepard realized that since seeing the Reaper ship, he had yet to blink even once. Over the few encounters with his kind Shepard had experienced, she had discovered that they don't blink as often as humans or other aliens, but Graldak hadn't blinked once in the last few minutes.

The second clue was the position of his ears. Like the cats from Earth, Shepard had noticed that the Kilrathi keep theirs pointed up and at alert to hear everything around them. When startled or threatened, a cat from Earth would lower their ears and flatten them. She was assuming that the Kilrathi were like domestic cats, but looking at Graldak's ears now, she found them flat.

The final clue was the paw he had resting on the table. Graldak had placed his right paw there after scratching his mane earlier. Shepard had recognized while studying other Kilrathi that their claws were always sheathed. It would take a conscious effort on the Kilrathi's part to bring them out. Or, more importantly, an unconscious reaction to encountering something dangerous. Looking at Graldak's paw, Shepard could see at least an inch of his deadly claws revealing themselves.

Graldak was doing an amazing job of hiding it but Shepard now knew from the signs that he was feeling threatened. What didn't make sense was why. Why was seeing the picture of the Reaper unsettling him so much? As far as she could tell, the Kilrathi had little to fear from a two-kilometer long Reaper. Not when the cats can respond with their massive twenty-two kilometer long flagships. So why did Graldak feel threatened?

Finally, it dawned on her. "Son of a bitch," she whispered, and then spoke up, "You've seen one of these ships haven't you? And not only that, you've actually been aboard one."

Graldak sat up quickly in his chair and stopped staring at the Reaper hologram to look at Shepard surprised. Miranda also gave Shepard her full attention and shut off the picture, quickly looking to her, "You said he's what!? He has seen a Reaper and walked aboard one?"

Shepard nodded to her and then looked back to Graldak, "That's why you were so concerned with indoctrination and how long until it becomes total. You've seen a Reaper and been close enough to one for you to become worried at what we are telling you." Graldak said nothing and Shepard asked, "Am I wrong, or have you been aboard a Reaper?"

Graldak starred back before finally answering, "I have."

"Son of a bitch…" Miranda whispered but then quickly recomposed herself. "When did you see one? Where was the ship you found? Was it fully operational or a wreck? Did you destroy it?"

Graldak seemed to hesitate for a moment before he relented and said, "Two of eight days ago, somewhere in the Terminus systems, I can't remember exactly. Our fleet discovered the wreck of a Reaper ship on a barren and lifeless world. We sent down troops to investigate and I was the leader of the group. The ship was mostly intact. We took samples and then departed, but not before devastating the site with an anti-matter bombardment from orbit."

Shepard quickly digested the information and immediately asked, "Why did you destroy the ship? Didn't you plan on returning and studying the wreck more in depth?"

Graldak shook his head, "No, we would never have returned. That ship was dangerous. I now know why thanks to you. The process of indoctrination. It affects our kind greatly."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Miranda.

"Upon entering the atmosphere of the planet and nearing the ship, many of us began to feel a pain in our heads," Graldak explained with an uncomfortable look on his face. "We attributed it too simple nervousness, but too many of us felt it at the same time. When our group finally entered the ship and began to walk its corridors, the pain became greater. But while the pain was great, it was not enough to impede our actions or slow us down in our search of the vessel.

"After several minutes of searching, I gave the order to take what we could carry for further study. Most of it was just wreckage and broken pieces of the ship. I then gave the order to withdraw. Upon exiting the ship, I and my soldiers felt a wave of relief. The pain lessened considerably, but would not dissipate until we were back in our shuttles orbiting the planet.

"I gave my report to our commander and then proceeded to show him the pieces we recovered. Useless junk to tell the truth, nothing of value, but even these small pieces of the ship were enough for a dull ache to return in our heads. We decided then to keep the pieces for study but the remaining wreckage of the ship had to be destroyed to protect our kind into the future."

Shepard was stunned and left momentarily speechless. This was huge and more than she could have hoped for. Not only had the Kilrathi seen a Reaper but they were actually taking steps to better understand the enemy and its capabilities. It was disappointing that they had destroyed the wrecked ship and Shepard wouldn't be able to use it to convince the Council but still, what she could gain today far outweighed that fact.

"Do you have any of the samples you took from the Reaper here on Omega with you?" Miranda asked after she recovered from her own shock.

Unfortunately, Graldak shook his head, "No. All pieces of the ship were declared a highly dangerous material and sent back to an undisclosed research station deep within our territory."

"You're going to have to warn them of the dangers in studying those samples," Miranda quickly warned Graldak. "You don't want the researchers to become indoctrinated."

Graldak fervently agreed, "I will send word as soon as we are finished."

Shepard looked to Miranda and the two of them shared a hopeful look, with Shepard's quickly turning into a smile and then nervous laugh as the pressure of convincing the Kilrathi of the Reapers began to melt away.

She then looked to Graldak, smile still across her face, and said, "This is great, better than great, to be honest. I don't want to jinx anything but I just really need to hear you say it. You believe me about the Reapers and the threat they pose to all of us, right?"

Graldak looked slightly perplexed by her emotions but he nodded, "One thing that our technicians were certain about before offloading the samples we took from the wreck, was the age of the Reaper ship. It registered as being over 600 million years old. We assumed then that this ship belonged to race long extinct, but here you are with evidence of an attack by a Reaper only two years ago. This, alongside what you have just told me, will lead to only one outcome; the Kilrathi Empire will prepare for the Reapers return."

At that point Shepard couldn't fight her rising excitement anymore and she slammed her hand on the table causing Miranda to jump and Graldak to twitch slightly, and shouted, "That's what I'm talking about!" She then looked to the Kilrathi across from her saying, "Graldak nar Sutaghi, you are my favorite Kilrathi in the galaxy! I could kiss you right now!"

"I have killed over lesser insults to my person," he growled out.

"And I believe you," Shepard quickly back tracked but she never lost the smile on her face. "I'm just very happy there is at least one intelligent race left in the galaxy that believes what I'm trying to warn them against."

"You will find the Kilrathi a very decisive people when we need to be," Graldak proudly stated. He then sat up straight and said, "Now then, if we are finished there are a number of matters I must attend to."

"Wait!" Shepard quickly exclaimed. "We need you to help end the wars your race is currently involved in and then we need to work out some plan on supplying the Citadel races the means to adequately defend themselves against Reaper attack."

Graldak sat still for a moment, a look of confusion on his face, "Why would our conquest of this space end?"

Shepard could only stare in shock as her earlier excitement quickly vanished. Miranda seemed just as dumbfounded as she asked, "I thought you said you were willing to prepare for the Reapers arrival?"

"Yes I did," Graldak stated slowly. "Once I alert my commanders the Kilrathi Empire will begin to prepare for the coming war. In the meantime though, don't you think it prudent that we should conquer as much territory and resources as possible in order to become better prepared?"

"But you don't need to keep fighting," Miranda continued to argue. "We need to end these wars now so the galaxy can come together in an alliance to fight off the Reapers together."

Graldak stiffened, "The Kilrathi have never needed alliances before to win our wars, we have always been the strongest. Ending the war and then supplying our former enemies with weapons and technologies that could one day pose a threat to us is just foolish. The Confederation, the Turians, the Asari, their fallen societies will provide our Empire with a great boon of new technologies and resources we will use to defeat the Reapers."

"How can you believe that?" Shepard nearly shouted. "It doesn't matter how strong someone is, having an ally can only make you stronger."

The Kilrathi snarled saying quietly, "I did not say it was my belief." Speaking louder he then began, "We are servants of our Emperor and we are servants to our clans. We fight to keep the Kilrathi race strong and secure and most importantly safe. You have brought another enemy to our attention and for that, I thank you personally, but our war continues."

Miranda sighed and shook her head in defeat while Shepard fought down the urge to scream in frustration. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. She was so close, so fucking close to actually accomplishing something significant in her struggle against the Reapers.

Opening her eyes, all she could do was glare at the cat in front of her, "I honestly can't understand how your society has lasted this long. You said it yourself; the Reaper ship you found was at least 600 million years old. If the Reapers arrive every 50,000 years that means they have completely conquered and exterminated all organic races in this galaxy…" She was so mad she couldn't even do the math and glanced at her hands before Miranda leaned toward her and whispered the answer.

"12,000 times! Thank you, Miranda." Shepard was about to continue when the enormity of what she just said hit her fully. The Reapers had successfully conquered the entire galaxy at least 12,000 times already. It was one thing to say the Reapers constantly returned, it was quite another to actually give it a number and realize just how desperate the situation was.

The thought was almost enough to completely overwhelm her but Shepard's anger toward the Kilrathi helped her through it.

"12,000 times, Graldak," Shepard spoke in disgust. "That's how many times the Reapers have invaded and killed everything. How arrogant are you that you believe you can withstand the assault alone?"

Graldak looked back to Shepard in anger, "Arrogant, am I? You sit there and accuse me of being naïve to the ways of battle and war? Look at yourself human, you are the only arrogant one here. You sit there completely unarmed, with no armor to protect yourself in the slightest. The female seated beside you just as vulnerable, despite the biotic power she wields.

"You call me arrogant, when you walked up to this base and made demands of those who could have ended your life with the pull of a trigger. You call me arrogant, when you so easily lost your nerve and had to play a cheap parlor trick of counting steps and listening to those around you. You call me arrogant, when you walk willfully into an enemy stronghold, solely on the word of that base's commander that he would not harm you. I am not the arrogant one here, human."

Shepard watched as Graldak then spoke a word in his native Kilrathi language. A second after, four Kilrathi guards de-cloaked, one in each corner of the room, and pointed their laser rifles at herself and Miranda.

"Look around yourself human," Graldak smirked. "You had no idea they were there. The cloaking technology your primitive races have developed was easily obtained and improved for our forces. Modified to work with our own cloaking technology and we can now remain completely undetected on any battlefield."

He leaned forwards over the table and continued, "Our species has been waging war since the dawn of our creation. A true Kilrathi warrior is never arrogant nor ignorant of his own, or his enemy's, abilities. I came to this meeting prepared for any eventuality. Your omni-tool can render you invisible, but here it is useless. I can smell you human; hear your breathing. You surprised my guards outside. I am fully prepared for your tricks."

Shepard looked around the room greatly alarmed at how fast things were deteriorating. In her mind she began to run through all the programs installed on her omni-tool, but no matter how many scenarios she played in her head, she and Miranda were screwed. There were simply too many Kilrathi and all it would take was one shot from their rifles to bring her or Miranda down.

"Shepard…" Miranda muttered under her breath, equally as concerned.

She then watched as Graldak stood from his chair and walked slowly around her side of the table while he drew his dagger from its sheath on his belt. Her eyes widened as she looked at the, easily eighteen inch, serrated blade in the Kilrathi's paw. Graldak came to a stop before her and then kneeled down so he was eye level.

"Shepard…" Miranda muttered again, this time much more urgently.

"So what do you do now, human," Graldak said in a dangerous tone. "I was prepared for all outcomes of this meeting. How about yourself? What was your plan if I raised my dagger and placed it against your throat?" His actions mirrored his words and Shepard soon found the edge of the large blade pressed firmly against her neck.

She glanced down at his paw and the blade as she swallowed heavily. Shepard then looked straight into Graldak's eyes and despite her bodies shaking, managed to hold his gaze.

The Kilrathi stared back at her, with his dagger at her throat, and said softly, "You think it brave to sit there and stare death in the face? A warrior should never look at death this way; they should fight against it with every fiber of their being for as long as they draw breath. There is no glory in death, no honorable way to die; it is a complete and utter failure, nothing more.

"You are nothing but a child playing war. Your arrogance will be your own undoing and the undoing of all those who follow your lead. Learn from this or you will never be able to stand against a Kilrathi, let alone a Reaper."

Graldak continued to kneel until Shepard gave a very slow nod. After seeing that he rose, sheathing his dagger, and walked toward the room's door saying, "My guards will now see you out of this base. Jane Shepard, Miranda Lawson, this was indeed a worthwhile distraction from my daily routine. Good bye."

"Wait, that's it?" Miranda asked with a shaky voice. "You're just letting us go?"

Graldak paused at the doorway and turned around to face her, "Did you not tell me earlier that I would need allies to defeat the Reapers?"

Miranda nodded, staring up at him in bewilderment.

"Then consider yourselves the first to Kal Shintahr Graldak nar Sutaghi." After that he simply walked out the door and left them.

A few minutes later, Shepard and Miranda were both sitting silently in their taxi as it took them back to the previous landing pad. Shepard had a hand to her throat right where Graldak's blade had earlier rested. Even after putting all this distance between them and the Kilrathi, she could still feel where the cool metal had touched her skin.

Once the taxi landed back near Afterlife, and both women had exited the air car, Shepard hurried over to Miranda and quickly embraced the operative in a hug. Miranda stood there completely taken off guard as Shepard clung to her tightly. After a moment, she then felt Miranda's arms tentatively wrap around her body and her hands rest on her back.

"I'm sorry," Shepard said quietly, still holding onto Miranda. "A lot of emotions coming up at once."

"Okay," Miranda said back, unsettled at Shepard's reaction. "Just, ummm…just take some time then."

The two women stood in silence for several minutes before Shepard spoke again. "Thank you for coming with me. Having someone next to me made all of it easier to handle."

"Oh. Well it was no trouble," Miranda said trying to pass it off as nothing. "Just doing my job really."

Shepard tightened her grip on the operative and replied, "I mean it, Miranda. I haven't been that close to completely breaking down and losing it since I lost my entire family on Mindoir. Being surrounded in that room, with his blade at my throat and then listening to all the things he said…" She stopped and took an unsteady breath before saying, "It wasn't as easy talking to them as I thought it was going to be and I'm glad you were there."

Shepard then let go of her hold on Miranda and stepped back out of the women's arms. She quickly turned away from Miranda as she then ran her hands over her face and then straightened out her dress one more time out of simple nervousness.

Satisfied that she had a control over her emotions once more, Shepard turned back to face Miranda and said, "Well now that we got that very personal and uncomfortable moment out of the way, why don't you tell me why you were on Omega to see me in the first place."

Miranda looked at her with a concerned face, "About that Shepard…Are you sure you're ready to just jump back into things. We can always-"

Shepard held a hand up and stopped her midsentence, "Miranda, I'm alright now and I already know you have bad news for me. I have quickly learned over my life that is simply the way the galaxy works. So whatever you have to tell me, just tell me, or it will bug me for the rest of the day until you do."

Miranda still stared at her, looking uncomfortable with the whole situation, but relented. "You've been out on the edge of the Terminus for a long time so you haven't heard the news yet. Nine days ago the Kilrathi's invasion into Citadel space started. Over a third of the planet Illium is now a war zone. The Kilrathi have landed troops and their ships periodically bomb from orbit."

Shepard's gut immediately tightened from worry, "You're telling me this because Illium is important to me, because I have a friend on that planet. What happened?"

"Cerberus provided intell to Liara T'Soni that could ultimately direct her to the Shadow Broker's main base of operations," Miranda began explaining. "But since then we've lost contact with her. What we don't know is if the Shadow Broker has her or if the Kilrathi have her or if she's been killed in the fighting. We know the Broker is in league with the Collectors and that makes him a threat to you. We need to find Liara and her intell and then get her off the planet. Only the Normandy can pull that off, especially since Illium orbit is now a battlefield."

"Alright then, no time to waste," Shepard replied as she quickly walked back toward the Normandy's docking bay. "I assume you want to come along, correct?"

Walking alongside her, Miranda nodded, "If it won't cause any problems for you allowing a Cerberus operative back on your ship."

"The only one who would really mind would be Jack," Shepard answered back. "She was practically skipping through the halls after you all were forced off. But I'll handle her if things get out of line."

As the two women finally reached the docking bay and the Normandy was in sight, Shepard quickly made her way toward the air lock when she noticed Miranda had stopped to gaze at the frigate berthed just ahead of them.

She had to fight down a smile, knowing exactly what Miranda was about to say.

"What did you do to the SR2!?"

Chuckling, Shepard replied, "Whatever to you mean, Miranda?" She then opened the airlock door and stepped inside forcing Miranda to jog ahead quickly and join her.

Miranda stood next to her and glared back, "It's completely black. You painted the entire ship black. Why would you do that?"

Before entering the ship, Shepard paused to explain, "The Normandy is a stealth frigate Miranda. In other words, it's supposed to be hard to detect. Why Cerberus decided to paint it white against the black expanse of space is beyond my understanding. Not only that, but when we upgraded our hull with Silaris armor, the ship then had a yellow reflective sheen. If anyone happened to look out a viewport, we would have been practically shouting our presence to them. Painted black we now blend in with our surroundings."

"But you don't even have the ships name visible anymore," Miranda argued. "The law requires you to have a ships designation visible alongside any logos for affiliation. You just can't have a completely black ship."

Shepard rolled her eyes, and replied in a singing voice, "Spectre~."

Once the door had opened and they both boarded the ship, Shepard called out to her pilot, "Joker, I need a course laid in to Illium. We need to be at that planet a.s.a.p. got it?"

"Roger that, Shepard," he quickly answered. "We are secure and away. I'll open her up and see if I can't break some sort of space speed record." Busy steering the ship he didn't turn around but he still did ask the obvious question, "So, Shepard…we're carrying another passenger, huh." He waved a hand from his chair, "Welcome aboard, Miranda."

"Call everyone to the conference room, Joker," Shepard ordered as she and Miranda began walking further into the ship. "I need to inform you all of a few things."

"Rodger that, Shepard," Joker repeated.

Walking through the CIC, Miranda spoke up, "Rather empty in here isn't it?"

"EDI handles everything the crew would have been doing," Shepard answered neutrally. "It really doesn't take much to keep a frigate running so we haven't run into any issues."

As Shepard then opened the door leading through the armory, she noticed as Miranda hesitated slightly before continuing to follow behind her. She remained respectful and didn't mention anything as they then both quickly exited through the second door and entered the conference room. Inside, Mordin Solus was already waiting.

He smiled widely, "Ah, Operative Lawson. Good to see you again."

"Likewise, Professor Solus," Miranda replied back.

Shepard took her customary spot at the head of the table while Miranda decided to stand at her right, Mordin then standing next to her. If Shepard had to guess, this wasn't by accident and Miranda had unconsciously placed herself closer to Shepard and separated herself from the rest of the squad with Mordin in between herself and them.

Less than a minute later the rest of the crew began to appear with most of them just offering a nod or a hello in Miranda's direction. Samara entered swiftly and surprising Shepard, offered both of them a warm welcome back. If the Justicar was feeling any anger toward her, Shepard couldn't see it.

True to Shepard's earlier prediction, Jack proved to be the one exception in the entire group.

As the biotic entered the room, she quickly spotted Miranda and moved to the opposite side of the table, saying in anger, "What the hell is the Cerberus cheerleader doing back on our ship, Shepard?"

Everyone in the room looked to her, waiting for the answer, so Shepard took a deep breath and began. "After I had my meeting with the Kilrathi on Omega, Miranda gave me some intell we need to act on fast. While we have been out deep in the Terminus systems, The Kilrathi have invaded Citadel space. The Asari world of Illium was their first target and the planet is now a war zone."

Shepard paused to glance over to Garrus and she could see her friend had already worked out what was coming next. Most of her other squad mates took the news in stride with only mild looks of surprise on their faces.

Mordin crossed his arms and brought a hand to his chin saying, "Bold move. Illium a highly populated and vital world for the Asari. One of their main centers of economy and trade. They will not let it fall easily."

Shepard nodded and began speaking again, "From what Miranda has told me, the Kilrathi have landed troops on the surface and they use their ships to periodically bomb from orbit. Over a third of the planet is now under their control.

"We are headed to Illium to extract an Asari named Liara T'Soni, one of my former teammates. Several days ago Cerberus provided Liara with data to help her locate the Shadow Broker's main base of operations. Since that time, they have lost contact with her. We are going to find her.

"We don't know why Liara has disappeared; it could be any number of reasons. It could be that the Shadow Broker has her or the Kilrathi have her, in the end I don't really care. I was too late to save Tali, I'll be damned if I lose Liara to. When we go in, we go in hard, and anyone in our way is going to regret it."

"HA-HA!" Grunt called out, slamming his fists together. "That's my kind of plan. It would be my honor to accompany you on this mission, Battlemaster."

Shepard smiled at his enthusiasm, but quickly said, "I know in the past I normally bring all of you with me on a mission, but this time is going to be different. We aren't dropping in on a small compound of mercenaries; we are going to be moving through an actual war zone. Just like Mordin said earlier, Illium is important and I'm sure the Asari and Turians have a huge military presence of their own fighting to push the Kilrathi back off the planet. Accompanying myself and Miranda I want-"

"Hold on, Shepard," interrupted Jack. She was leaning the table, her hands balled into fists, "How do you know you can even trust what the cheerleader is telling you? For all we know this is just a Cerberus trick."

The room became uncharacteristically quiet as the rest waited to hear Shepard's reasoning. She looked into each of their faces and then focused her gaze back to Jack, "I know that when I recruited you all I told you my plan of taking this ship. I explained what Cerberus truly was and I used my own experiences dealing with them to convince you to join my side. I still stand by what I said…but this is separate from that. Miranda has alerted us to a friend in need and a way to eliminate one of Collector's supporters in the process. I expect you all to put your personal feelings aside just as I am. I trust Miranda, this mission is too important for anything less than that."

At the end of her speech Jack just huffed and shook her head, prompting Shepard to add, "I'm not asking you to become best friends and hold a slumber party together. But I am telling you to work alongside one another effectively. Liara's life may depend on it. Are we clear, Jack?"

"Fine, Shepard. I'll play nice," Jack finally agreed, albeit reluctantly.

"Good." She let out a sigh and then continued on from before, "As I was saying, I and Miranda will be going down to the planet. Zaeed, Grunt, and Garrus will accompany us. Once the Normandy reaches Illium orbit, we will assess the situation on the ground and react accordingly. Hopefully this will be nothing more than a simple snatch and grab op but knowing our luck I doubt it, so I want everyone else to be prepared and ready to go in case we call for more help."

Shepard glanced up at the ceiling and called out, "Joker, how long until we reach Illium?"

::One hour until we hit the relay. Depending on the situation in system, just a few minutes after that.::

She clapped and rubbed her hands together, "Okay then. You heard the man. You all have one hour, do what you need to do to get ready. You're dismissed." As the group began to depart, Shepard quickly added, "Samara, could you stay behind please."

Once everyone else had departed and it was just the two of them, Shepard walked around the table to stand next to Samara. She stood there uncomfortably under the Justicar's calm gaze, and began awkwardly, "Joker filled you in on how the mission with Morinth went like I asked him to?"

"He did," Samara replied. "The mission was a success. Morinth is dead."

Shepard remained nervous, "I hope you're not offended by the way I handled the situation. I would have stuck with our original plan but I…well to be honest I was never really going to stick with that plan." She met Samara's gaze and quickly said, "Not that it was a bad plan! I just thought that it might have been a little…stressful for you. You know, killing your own daughter and all that. I mean you have been chasing her for over four-hundred years or so and with everything else you've endured-"

"It is quite alright," Samara spoke up; causing Shepard's rambling to end. "I hold no anger toward you. You helped me end the life of a dangerous murderer and you allowed me to escape the horror of taking the life of one of my daughters. For that, you have my thanks." Samara finished by giving a small bow of her head.

Shepard took in a deep breath and relaxed at hearing Samara's words. "Thank you for saying that. I was a little worried that I may have over stepped my bounds and the last thing I would want to do is upset an incredibly powerful Asari Justicar with nearly a thousand years of combat experience."

Samara looked back to her with a small amount of confusion and concern in her voice, "Your fears were unwarranted. I am sworn to your service until we have dealt with the Collectors and I will honor my oath." Shepard stood before Samara and waited as the Asari just stared at her in silence before asking, "Are you well, Shepard?"

The question took her by surprise and Shepard then realized how she looked standing before Samara. She was practically cowering under the other woman's gaze and she had one arm wrapped around her middle while her other hand was up covering her throat.

Shepard quickly dropped her arms and stood up as straight as she could, "I-I'm fine. Nothing's w-wrong. Morinth, Miranda, the Kilrathi, it just added up to a really eventful day."

Samara actually frowned back at her, "Forgive me Shepard but I have come to see many faces over my lifetime. Faces reflecting every emotion a being can feel. Only a moment ago yours was one of pure terror and you were acting as if you expected me to strike out at you."

Shepard stared back in shock opening and closing her mouth a few times before she was able to reply, "Well that's just ridiculous. Like I said before, I'm fine."

Completely unsatisfied with her answer Samara nevertheless relented, "Very well. I will not inquire further. Once again I thank you for aiding me in stopping Morinth. If you need to talk, I will be back in the starboard observation lounge." She then gave another slight bow and exited the room leaving Shepard alone.

Not wanting to remain in the empty room any longer, Shepard quickly made her way to the ship's elevator and then after the short ride entered her cabin. Pausing only to feed the fish in her aquarium, she descended the steps to stand next to her bed. Shepard gratefully stepped out of her heels and then shed her dress. Now wearing only her underwear she laid the dress gently down on the bed's edge and then lost all desire to do anything else, choosing to just drop down in the center of her bed and finally relax.

Closing her eyes, she laid there silently for several minutes before her hand once again made its way to her throat. Even after all this time, the feeling of Graldak's blade against her skin remained.

"EDI," she called out still laying on her bed. "You have access to every one of my mission files correct? Those I did for the Alliance, the Council and Cerberus?"

"Yes, Shepard," EDI promptly replied. "Do you have a specific inquiry?"

"I want you to compare all my missions and then be completely honest with me," Shepard asked the AI. "You wouldn't classify any of my actions as being arrogant would you?"

EDI remained silent for a moment before responding, "I would, but if it helps, only for a specific subcategory of your entire career."

"The subcategory being…" she asked hesitantly.

"This state of mind only appears in your actions after your death and subsequent revival by Cerberus," EDI answered with a slight tone of sympathy.

Shepard opened her eyes and stared out of the viewport above her bed. Watching the stars pass by she whispered, "That's what I was afraid of…"


Terran Confederation Space

Vega Sector
Vega System
Sector HQ Battle Station

Terran News Channel (TNC) breaking report…

"This is Barbara Miles reporting to you live with breaking news on the latest reports from the Terran-Kilrathi War.

"Yesterday the Confederation's Seventh Fleet suffered near annihilation at the hands of the Kilrathi's powerful Third Fleet of the Claw in orbit of, what was, Loki VI. Over three dozen capital ships, including the two Jutland carriers forming the fleet's center, were lost in a frantic defense of the Confederation's latest, and most recently declassified, dreadnought class of warship.

"The TCS Behemoth, a vessel of unprecedented size and power, used its main gun to target the Kilrathi military base on the surface of Loki VI. The end result was the destruction of the entire planet. After the successful test fire the Seventh Fleet, under the command of Admiral Tolwyn, was forced to hold position in the Loki system to properly analyze firing data from the prototype dreadnought. It was then that the Third Fleet of the Claw entered the system via the Nifelheim jump point and the two forces engaged in battle.

"Despite overwhelming odds, Admiral Tolwyn was able to initiate a fighting withdrawal of the Loki system all the way back to Sector HQ in Vega. During this retreat the Seventh Fleet successfully defended the Behemoth allowing the new warship the chance to target and destroy one of the Kilrathi's Hvar'kann-class of dreadnoughts. As many of you know, these mammoth sized flagships have proved to be the bane of the Confederation Navy since their introduction in the war over ten years ago. It is with great pride that we can finally say humanity finally has something capable of destroying these so called 'titans of war'.

"Unfortunately, in spite of the Behemoth's power, the Seventh Fleet was still overwhelmingly outgunned and the battles only outcome would have been utter defeat if it wasn't for a second Confederation black project present during the fighting. In an unprecedented move, ConFleet HQ has not only allowed the Behemoth project to become public but has also revealed the existence of the newest battle cruiser-class of warship.

"While the ships exact specifications and abilities are still highly classified, we can tell you that these ships are second in power to only the Behemoth itself. From what we've been told, the construction of these new warships was only possible thanks to the technological advancements given to humanity by the Varni refugees that joined our Confederation after their peaceful republic was invaded and their people enslaved by the Kilrathi over a century ago. I think I speak for all of humanity and the Confederation when I thank the Varni for all the help they have provided us since joining the Confederation, and I reaffirm the promise that one day the rest of the Varni people will be free from Kilrathi oppression.

"With this new battle cruiser aiding the Seventh Fleet, Admiral Tolwyn was able to save the TCS Behemoth from destruction and the dreadnought now rests safely behind Confederation lines to one day return and strike fear into the hearts of the Kilrathi. Over the remainder of the week, the TNC will continue to list a casualty report for all those in the Confederation Seventh Fleet who gave their lives in the defense of humanity. If you have a friend or loved one stationed in the fleet, call our help line and we will coordinate with the military to aid you in your search.

"Alongside the reveal of the Behemoth and new battle cruiser, President Quinson has delivered a speech raising morale across all of Confederation space and has been declared as nothing short of miraculous. It was with great pride that he informed all citizens of the Confederation that we are no longer alone in our war against the Kilrathi. Several weeks ago a Confed task force travelled through unmapped space and encountered many new alien governments whose societies spanned across much of the galaxy thanks to a series of faster-than-light capable linked stations called mass relays. These aliens had formed a cooperative alliance with one another with their center of government based on an ancient and massive space station called the Citadel.

"Upon making first contact with the Citadel and the alien leaders who reside there, Admiral Richards and Rear Admiral Eisen were able to convince the strongest two races to declare war on the Empire of Kilrah. The two races calling themselves the Turians and Asari were more than happy to join the fight especially since the Kilrathi had already invaded their territories and killed their people.

"The Turians and Asari share a combined responsibility to govern over 'Citadel Space' as they call it, alongside two other races. One calls themselves the Salarians and the other, perhaps most strangely of all, a race of humans calling their society the Systems Alliance. This revelation of a second species of humans existing in the galaxy has been met with as much awe as criticism, with many calling President Quinson a liar and claiming he has simply invented the idea of the Systems Alliance to try and raise morale. President Quinson is quoted responding 'I couldn't have made this shit up if I wanted to. The fact of the matter is that there are two human societies living in this galaxy. Simply accept this or your brain will explode from trying to reason out the why.'

"When TNC spokespeople contacted President Quinson to learn the reason why only the Turians and Asari were willing to join in the fight against the Kilrathi he responded, 'The Confed task force that arrived at the Citadel learned that there are over fourteen other races living in this galaxy. Most are a part of the Citadel Alliance and follow the lead of the four primary races. Namely being the Asari, Turians, Salarians and the Alliance. Some of the others don't acknowledge these races leadership. There are two things I urge everyone to remember after this day.

" 'The first being that the Terran Confederation, despite colonizing a smaller portion of this galaxy, is actually more technologically advanced in certain areas of research. Primarily being military technologies and starship design. From what I've been told, the Citadel ships can barely even stand up against the most basic of laser weaponry. Because of this while I'm sure the rest of the Citadel races, including the race of humans, want to help us in this war only the two strongest actually have the means to join the fight.

" 'The second thing I urge all citizens of the Confederation to remember is that our knowledge of the known galaxy has just grown by leaps and bounds. Before our ships have been limited to traveling star by star; now we can travel from one edge of the galaxy to the other in just a matter of days. While we stand to gain much in our new friendship with the Citadel races, we must also remain wary. Stray too far and too fast and we may learn that the Kilrathi are not the only monsters in the dark.'

"Wise words indeed, especially since TNC reporters have learned that just in the last two years the Citadel societies have faced numerous political and military hardships. President Quinson has accepted these facts but is still willing to pursue a growing relationship between the Confederation and the Citadel Alliance claiming that what can be gained far outweighs the risk. It of course helps though that the Confederation Navy has now been revealed to be the second most powerful military force in the known galaxy, second in strength to only the Kilrathi Armada. But if recent events tell us anything, it is that the Confederations continued perseverance in the face of hardship will ultimately lead to us winning the war and continue to grow strong alongside our newest allies, and hopefully, friends."

Sitting back in his office at Sector HQ in the Vega system, Admiral Tolwyn shut off the TNC broadcast and leaned back in his chair saying, "Well, looks like President Quinson is getting another term. No man who leads the Confederation into first contact with alien allies willing to fight the Kilrathi could lose the election."

Across from him sat Captain Jason Bondarvesky. "At least she ended her report on a high note," he said sounding depressed. "Considering what it cost us to save the Behemoth."

And he was right to be feeling depressed. Technically speaking the Seventh Fleet didn't even exist anymore. Its losses were so severe that the surviving ships were being reassigned to other fleets. Jason had personally lost all four escort carriers under his command. His ships had successfully fought off the first wave of Kilrathi bombers but the second did them in. Jason had been forced to abandon ship and was lucky enough to be picked up by the rescue shuttles brave enough to fly through the ongoing engagement to save the stranded officers.

Admiral Tolwyn himself had nearly died in the fighting when his Jutland carrier was struck by four torpedoes. The fact the carrier hadn't simply exploded then and there after the strike was a testament to the Confederation engineers who built the ship. Tolwyn, along with the rest of the carrier crew, had been forced to jump ship and the Admiral had transferred his flag to the nearest Tallahassee cruiser. It was from there he lead the withdrawal that ultimately cost the Confederation four more systems in Vega sector. Four more systems the Navy was forced to abandon in order to reinforce Vega Sector HQ and finally halt the Kilrathi advance.

"It was a hard fight, but we proved to the Kilrathi that we have a weapon capable of destroying not only their strongest ships but the planets they live on," Admiral Tolwyn said in an upbeat tone of voice that greatly irritated Jason. The man had just lost an entire fleet and several thousand people under his command and didn't seem fazed in the slightest. All he cared about was his dreadnought. "Speaking of the report, she mentioned the new battle cruisers just deployed into the war. And by battle cruisers I mean the only two ships we have operational today. The amount of resources just to build those things is enough to construct an entire fleet. We've been funneling off supplies for the past six years to ensure those ships construction remained a secret. The next one isn't scheduled to come online for another eight months."

Jason straightened up in his chair and listened intently to the Admiral. He wanted to hear about those ships, especially since he could claim the only reason he was alive today was because of the one hidden away in the Admiral's forces before the battle had even begun.

Admiral Tolwyn continued, "Those ships were designed with one thing in mind. Finding and killing the enemy and doing so separate from the Confederation Fleet. These battle cruisers are the only stealth capital ships in the war. Not even the Kilrathi have been able to hide anything larger than a fighter and we can only do it thanks to the help from our Varni friends. These ships will slip deep behind Kilrathi lines and then destroy anything they find with near perfect impunity."

He focused on Jason and his gaze softened slightly, "I am sorry for your losses in the battle Jason. I know how hard it is to lose a ship, especially when you're the commanding officer. The rage and despair you're feeling will not pass easily but I need you to push those feelings aside. The war is still far from over."

"I'm not a stranger to loss sir," Jason replied evenly. "I've experienced my fair share of it before."

Tolwyn nodded sadly, "I know you have but it's because of that experience that I need you now. You are a brilliant captain and you have firsthand experience raiding the Kilrathi behind the front lines. It's because of this experience that you are perfect for the job of captaining the TCS Remembrance, the battle cruiser that helped defend the Behemoth and the first of its kind off the assembly lines."

Jason was shocked, "Your giving me command of that warship?!"

Tolwyn smiled back, "Correct. Your mission will be to stealthily infiltrate Kilrathi space and destroy any targets of opportunity. Your warship will be able to handle anything the Kilrathi could throw at you and even stand toe to toe with their Hvar'kann dreadnoughts, just remember not to push your luck. I want you focusing on all the systems from here straight to Kilrah itself. With the damage and mayhem you are going to cause, it will make my job of escorting the Behemoth into Kilrathi space that much easier."

Upon hearing that, Jason's earlier excitement began to fade, "So our ultimate goal is still to bring the Behemoth into Kilrah orbit and destroy the planet? Sir, with all due respect, look at what we just lost trying to defend that ship. An entire fleet eradicated and four systems surrendered without a fight. The Kilrathi will never let that thing near their home world. Not only that, we still haven't discovered how the Kilrathi were able to react so quickly to the destruction of Loki VI. We didn't let a single ship leave the system and we jammed the planet's transmissions so they couldn't call for help. How did the cats know where we were and what we were guarding?"

Admiral Tolwyn frowned at the thought, "True, we don't yet know what happened, but we will." His face then hardened and his voice carried authority, "The Confederation is still losing the war, Jason. The Behemoth is our final hope of victory. I will get the dreadnought to Kilrah even if I must marshal the entirety of the Confederation Navy to do so."


Author's Note: Next chapter we learn how bad the situation on Illium really is and just how ruthless the Kilrathi actually are in conquering their enemies. Hopefully the Asari, Turians, and Confederation can stop the Kilrathi's advance into Citadel space.

In this chapter we learned a little more about how a Kilrathi views war. You met Graldak nar Sutaghi when he was part of the initial Kilrathi exploration into Citadel space and now we see him leading the Kilrathi forces on Omega. He is a Kilrathi fighter ace with the skills to match Colonel Blair's. He is a very dangerous opponent and we will meet him again.

Now to cover the big issue. The Confederation's newest battle cruiser, aka the mystery ship that helped end the Kilrathi attack against the Citadel. Only two exist today. One under the control of Admiral Richards and ConFleet Intell, the other now being captained by Jason Bondarvesky and soon to engage the Kilrathi in behind the front lines fighting.

These ships do not technically exist in the wing commander universe. In the wing commander book "Fleet Action" there is mentioning of a Confederation black budget program called Project Omega. The ship is described as (this is straight from the book) "...a stealth, heavily armored battlewagon with upgraded shielding that was proof against medium-yield antimatter warheads. There were rumors as well of a super weapon to be carried on the new ship, but that was an even darker secret. They were still a dream, however, and would have no impact on this war, hidden like the Kilrathi construction yard, as far as possible from the battle front."

After that one reference the idea of Project Omega died and it was never mentioned in any book or game afterwards. Everything that follows about this ship is just my take on things so relax and know I am attempting to keep things as close to realistic as possible for a science-fiction story.

For the shape I needed a ship that remained within the Confederation styling but still had the touch of being reverse engineered from alien technology. In other words the Varni. So I have decided to borrow the design of the Excalibur from the Babylon 5 series. I feel that this ship matches the right balance and all I'm doing for my story is increasing its size.

The ship will be capable of cloaked flight, it will have a hanger to hold some fighters and bombers, but it will mostly be a ship designed to take and deliver enormous amounts of weapons fire. It will also have its super weapon that I will describe now.

The Varni were centuries ahead in technology to both the Kilrathi and Confederation before their fall. The reason they lost the war against the Kilrathi was because they were a peaceful people who had only a handful of military ships active. The most powerful being their destroyers, so named because they destroy anything in their path. A Varni destroyer would use an incredibly powerful and advanced form of mass driver weaponry to destroy its target.

In Babylon 5, the Excalibur's three arms gather energy and join that energy to the nose of the ship to fire a powerful laser beam at its target. For the wing commander version of this ship, the three arms are not gathering energy but condensing atoms at the nose of the ship to create, what in the end result, would be a miniature black hole. The atoms would be condensed so tightly together that they would have the same gravitational force that a black hole would exert. This artificial black hole would then be shot at the target and in essence basically tear the ship apart due to the exceptionally strong gravitational forces being brought against it.

This weapon is basically the ultimate and final evolution of a mass driver cannon used by the Citadel races and Reapers.

I wonder how they will both react when word of this advancement leaks out?

Codex:

Terran:

Remembrance class Battle Cruiser (AKA: Mystery Ship): Named the Remembrance in honor of the fallen Varni Republic. This ship was developed in utter secrecy for the past twenty years. The Confederation scientists working tirelessly alongside their Varni counterparts to reverse engineer the superior Varni technology. It is capable of cloaked flight allowing it to remain completely unnoticed until it decides to engage its enemies. It has a relatively light amount of armor for its size but that is negated in favor of an improved shield array allowing the ship to stop torpedoes from penetrating its shields, and allowing the shield to survive multiple hits from the larger anti-matter torpedoes fired off by opposing Kilrathi capital ships. Most importantly of all its main gun is a mass driver capable of firing a miniature black hole at its target. This weapon has proven capable of destroying a fully shielded Kilrathi Fralthi ll cruiser in one shot and Confed HQ is eager to test the weapon against the rest of the Kilrathi Armada.
Length: 3 kilometers
Fighter Capacity: 20 fighters
Weapons: 1 'black hole' class mass driver, 12 anti-matter cannons, 16 dual mounted laser turrets, 2 missile tubes