Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 17- Identity

(July 6, 1998)

"Alright," Adams says as he narrows his eyes, looking at the sight before him. He stands there for a few moments, sizing it up, trying to figure out how best to proceed, judging the distance and the variables.

After a moment, he says, "Alright. I'll go with the 5 iron." He turns back to his bag and pulls his 5 iron from it. He steps up to the ball while his two companions, Colonel Hall and Admiral Archie Clemens, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, are watching as Adams steps up for his first stroke.

It's been a little while since the TLM bomber was captured the name of their leader was obtained. Since then, all efforts had been focused on figuring out the true identity of the leader. In the meantime, Adams, along with Hall, had taken some time off and taken Admiral Clemens up on his offer for a round of golf at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

The three are now on Hole 10 on the South Course. Admiral Clemens has the lead by one stroke, but Adams is feeling pretty confident.

Adams takes a practice swing before setting his club behind the ball. Adams takes a deep breath before swinging back, and then forward. With a "clink" sound, the ball is sent flying right towards the green. Adams watches with baited breath. To his relief, the ball soars straight and true, landing on the green and coming to a stop just a yard or two from the hole.

"Yes! Haha!" Adams cheers a bit, hefting his club in triumph.

"Nice shot, Captain," Clemens says with a slight smile. He then gets in his golf cart, and Adams and Hall get in theirs, heading for the green.

As Hall drives up to the green, Adams grins and says, "Ah. Even in the midst of a manhunt, glad we can have a little fun."

"True. But remember. We agreed whoever of the two of us has the better score is buying beers for the squad tonight, and if we beat the admiral in the process, the winner wins 50 bucks," Hall says with a grin, and the two men chuckle.

As they hop out of the cart, the two draw their putters and head onto the green. As they find their balls, they see Admiral Clemens has already found his.

Hall, currently with the furthest ball from the hole, steps up to his ball and readies himself. After a second, Hall makes his putt. The ball rolls across the green, stopping two feet from the hole.

Hall lays down his ball marker and takes the ball up before stepping back. Now, Admiral Clemens steps up to his ball. After a deep breath, he takes his putt. To his disappointment, the ball rolls to a stop just an inch from the ball.

"Oh!" Adams and Hall say simultaneously. Clemens shakes his head before stepping up to the ball and finishes knocking it in, earning a par.

Adams now steps up to his ball. If he gets this putt, he'll be tied with Clemens. Adams breathes deep, then takes his putt. To his relief, the ball rolls into the hole.

"Yes!" Adams cheers. He then looks at Clemens and says, "We're tied up, Admiral!"

"Well done, Captain. Let's see how we do on Hole 11," Clemens says with a smile.

Right then, Adams' commlink starts to buzz. Adams pulls out the commlink and activates it. A second later, a hologram of Lieutenant General Peter Schoomaker, commander of TSOC, comes up.

"General. Any chance this can wait for a bit? Me and Colonel Hall are golfing with Admiral Clemens?" Adams asks.

"Not quite, Captain. We finally got a hit on the name that TLM bomber gave us, and we've identified their leader and his true identity," Schoomaker says.

Adams' head snaps up as he looks at Hall, the two men feeling a jolt of excitement. Then, Schoomaker says, "I have a helicopter headed for Torrey Pines. You can have one more hole, but I need you to come in. We need you to attend an important briefing before we start the next phase of the manhunt." He pauses, then smiles as he says, "So make sure your game is on point." Schoomaker then cuts the call.

Adams looks up and looks at his two companions. "Well, Admiral. Looks like Hole 11 is going to be our last hole. Let's make it a good one," he says, and Admiral Clemens nods.

(US Airspace, 2 miles from Maryland)

In the backseat of an SF-15, Ahsoka grins brightly from behind her oxygen mask. One of the major downsides to flying in Terran fighters is their helmets and oxygen masks you have to wear, which even with specially made helmets is uncomfortable. However, that's more than made up for by flying with her boyfriend.

Dakota's Starfleet squadron was taking part in an air combat exercise today. They are simulating an Imperial attack on Earth, with the US Air Force defending the coast against Dakota's squadron and a few other squadrons. They are supposed to simulate what little is known of Imperial tactics and capabilities of Imperial fighters. Ahsoka had asked to fly as Dakota's backseater. Given her status as a Jedi who had flight training under Anakin Skywalker, and that she had spent time in the backseat of an SF-15, Ahsoka was allowed to do so.

Ahsoka watches out of the canopy as Dakota turns tightly, turning after an F-16 from the DC Air National Guard. Dakota has his laser cannon sight on, with the crosshairs just behind the F-16. As Ahsoka watches, the fighter inches closer and closer. Finally, Dakota gets his crosshairs on the F-16. He keeps the crosshairs on the F-16 for about two seconds before he calls the F-16 dead. The F-16 levels off and heads back towards base.

"Good work, honey," Ahsoka says.

Dakota continues descending, turning slightly to scan the sky for more Air Force fighters. In the distance, they can see several F-15s from the 1st Fighter Wing mixing it up with a few Su-36s from another squadron.

"Tally on any bandits, honey?" Dakota asks.

Ahsoka scans the sky as well, seeing nothing. "Nothing, hun," she says.

As the two are scanning the skies for targets, Ahsoka suddenly spots something. A shape darting from one cloud to another. "Dakota, tally something, 10 o clock, low."

Dakota looks down right as the shape darts from another cloud to a third. "What is that?" he wonders aloud, as it doesn't look like any of the fighters he's expecting to face.

Ahsoka is confused, then glances down at the radar screen. "It's not showing up on the radar," she says.

Dakota is confused before something occurs to him. "Wait, they didn't…" he starts to say before, to his and Ahsoka's shock, an F-22 Raptor suddenly streaks out of the cloud heading right for them.

"What the?" Dakota says with shock before he hears the lock tone, signalling that the F-22 is trying to get a missile lock. Dakota dives steeply to meet the F-22 while barrel rolling, trying to keep the F-22 from getting a lock.

The two fighters streak past each other before Dakota snaps into a tight turn. Ahsoka swivels her head around and sees the F-22 turning to get behind them. To her shock, the F-22 is turning tighter than anything she's ever seen, and is getting alarmingly close.

Ahsoka had heard of the F-22's agility in reports on the program. With the danger of the Empire, the F-22 program had been accelerated, with the first serial production F-22 taking it's first flight in January. Currently, there's just three F-22s rolled off the assembly line. Given they were brand new and still in testing, the squadrons had never expected to see an F-22 here.

"Honey, he's almost on our tail. Get away from him!" Ahsoka says.

Dakota cuts power, deploys the speed brake, and pulls the stick as tightly as he possibly can into his gut. However, even as the Space Eagle turns tighter and tighter, the F-22 stays right on their tail. Sure enough, in a moment, they hear the lock tone in their headsets and the "dead" call.

Dakota sighs as he levels the SF-15 and starts a calm turn towards the regen box up at 80,000 feet a few miles away. As they go, they see another of Dakota's squadronmates trying to chase the F-22. However, they watch in amazement as the F-22 seems to stall and turn around in midair to aim at the SF-15 on his tail. The SF-15 pulls up a second later after they hear another "dead" call.

"Damn. That thing's manueverability is even better than I ever thought," Dakota says.

Suddenly, they hear a radio call, "Kestrel 5, make your way to Langley immediately. Your backseater has someone she needs to talk to."

"Copy that, Starbase," Dakota says over the radio. He then turns his SF-15 south towards Langley. He then muses aloud to ask, "Wonder what could be important enough for them to call us down to the ground?"

"Not sure" Ahsoka responds.

Dakota chuckles a bit after a moment. "Figures the Air Force would throw their F-22s against us as a surprise," he says.

It doesn't take too long before Dakota reaches the air base. Dakota follows directions from the tower and sets his SF-15 down on a section of the tarmac. Before they've even touched down, they see a vehicle waiting for them.

"Something big must be going on," Dakota mutters as he shuts down the SF-15. Ahsoka unbuckles herself and removes her helmet and oxygen mask. As soon as Dakota raises the canopy, she climbs out of the seat and leaps down from the cockpit. Immediately, a man in a suit walks up to Ahsoka.

"Ms. Tano. We need you to come with us. You are required to attend an important briefing over video conference," the man says, flashing a badge that shows he's from the FBI.

"Alright agent. Let's go," Ahsoka says. She waves goodbye to Dakota, who returns the wave before refocusing on shutting down the SF-15. Ahsoka then climbs into the SUV, which hurriedly drives away from the flightline.

The SUV drives off the flightline and down the streets of the base before eventually pulling up to one of the buildings used by the 480th ISR Wing. Ahsoka climbs out and follows the agent inside. As they reach a main conference room, Ahsoka sees that video screens are already on, showing a number of individuals. This includes the Jedi Council members currently at the Temple, Kit Fisto in San Francisco, Adams and the three other ASAT members involved in the manhunt in San Diego, President Clinton in the White House, the heads of the FBI and CIA at their respective HQs, and General Hugh Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, at the Pentagon.

"Welcome, Ahsoka," Adams says.

"Well, now that we have everyone here, let's begin with this briefing," President Clinton says. Everyone quiets down, waiting for the briefing to begin.

The briefing begins as Louis Freeh, Director of the FBI, begins speaking. "As all of you know, we received the last name of the TLM's leader about a week and a half ago. Since then, we have been surveying every person with that last name in the United States. Earlier today, we finally were able to find definitive proof as to the true identity of the TLM's leader."

A second later, an image of a man in his late 40s with a medium beard appears on screen. "His name is Carl Altmark. He's a native of Ohio, but ever since 1993, we don't have a registered address for him. He's a real piece of work. Records show he was kicked out of college, has had serious anger issues and been ordered to undergo court mandated therapy once. He also has ties to hate groups going back to his early 20s, including the Klan and Neo-Nazis."

"Altmark enlisted in the army after getting kicked out of college, but records show he was tossed out within a year for insubordination. However, he does have combat training and military background."

"Altmark came to prominence in the anti-alien movement shortly after our entry into the Clone Wars when he led protest groups protesting our involvement in the war. His point was that we should leave the Republic to fend for itself and focus on fortifying our own planet. However, in 1993, Altmark suddenly dropped off the radar and seemed to disappear."

"However, his presence online hasn't gone away, nor has his personal information. We've been able to identify various bank accounts created using his Social Security number and various purchases made with said bank accounts. We've also managed to track his phones he has used, and been able to intercept several phone calls made recently that have conclusively identified him as a key figure in the TLM, as well as messages on dark web message boards. All of this information has led us to conclude that he is the TLM's so called General."

Everyone is quiet for only a moment before Adams asks, "Alright. We got his name. Where can we find this bastard?"

"That's difficult. What we've gathered from TLM communications over the past few years, but especially in the last few weeks once we started looking more specifically, he's been very cautious. He's stayed away from civilization whenever he can, only coming into major cities when he has to. He also moves regularly. He is cautious with his own safety," Freeh responds.

President Clinton now speaks up, saying, "We need to put all our efforts out to locate this man. I want his photo and information distributed to every police department in the nation and every other agency that can help locate him. I want banks across the country to have his photo and social security number. But I want to use this as an opportunity too. Whenever his photo and name are distributed, I want eyes out for any reactions from people that could hint at them being TLM members."

Mace now speaks up. "Non human inhabitants of this world have been scared of this organization for long enough. It's time to bring Altmark and his cronies to justice," he says firmly. Everyone nods, ready to finally bring an end to the TLM.

And, I'll end the chapter there.

For those wondering based on the timing, yes, in this universe, the F-22 program didn't take so long, and the first operational F-22 was completed and delivered months ahead of when it happened in real life.

Next chapter will be coverage of the manhunt for Altmark. I won't get around to his capture until Chapter 19 or 20.

Until next chapter is up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!