Corsair System (Part 1)

Shotglass: Hi, Colonel. I just heard ’bout those Kilrathi defectors. Hard to believe, that some of those cats would actually want to be on our side. They brought that Captain Ralgha and his officers through here, a couple hours ago. An’ I kept thinkin’… this is the same kind of guy that ordered the attack on Goddard. He commanded a Fralthi… who knows how many of our people he’s killed? He could’ve murdered thousands of our soldiers, taken out dozens of our ships. An’ here he is, askin’ us to protect him from the Kilrathi Empire. We’ve already got what we need from him. We could just toss him out the airlock, an’ no one would know any differently, right? They’re sending all those furballs to Confed HQ for debriefing. Good riddance, if you ask me.

Jazz: So you’re Colonel Blair? I hear you’re a real hot-shot pilot, the best on the Tiger’s Claw.

Iceman: Maverick, this is Lieutenant Zach Colson.

Jazz: Call me Jazz. I’m a combat pilot on the TCS Austin, and a jazz pianist on the side. But what I’d really like is to be transferred to a ship like the Tiger’s Claw. I’m already imagining what I could do if I was stationed here. It’d be great. You folks definitely need a piano in your Rec Room, though. Just like we have on the Austin. I usually play there several nights a week. You should come over and listen sometime.

Maverick: Thanks, Jazz. I think I’ll do that.

Iceman: Hello, Maverick. Sit down and join us.

Jazz: We were just talking about your last campaign, the Goddard mission.

Maverick: Operation Thor’s Hammer. That was a really tough assignment.

Iceman: I was certain that we wouldn’t survive it. But we succeeded in our secret mission, against all odds.

Jazz: It’s a pity you couldn’t do anything for those people on Goddard, though.

Iceman: We arrived too late to help them. But we avenged them. None of those Kilrathi scum who destroyed Goddard survived. So there was true justice in the end.

Mission Briefing, 06:00 hours, 2655.278. Corsair System, Antares Sector.

Halcyon: First, I’d like to welcome the two TCS Austin pilots who’ll be flying with us… Jazz and Doomsday. Other news… Hunter stole one of our captured Dralthi and went on a joy-ride to the TCS Austin. He arrived just in time to save the Austin from a wing of Hhriss. I was going to begin immediate court-martial proceedings, but HQ thinks he’s a hero. And Hunter’s little adventure has given the Bridge officers something to think about. We need to take most of those captured Dralthi back to Confed HQ… but we can use some of them in combat. So as of this mission, some of you will be flying Kilrathi ships on special assignments.

Iceman: You’re expecting us to go into combat in one of the Flying Pancakes, sir?

Halcyon: Individual wing assignments. Maverick, you’re Beta Wing. Jazz, you’ll be his wingman.

Jazz: No problem, Colonel.

Halcyon: All right. We have a little time before those other Kilrathi battle fleets arrive, and we’ll make good use of it. We still don’t have any clue why the Kilrathi are swarming towards this system. We need more data. And that’s your assignment… to infiltrate behind enemy lines and get that information. We’ve equipped these fighters with communications computers that will simulate a real Kilrathi pilot. When you touch base at your Nav points, the computer simulation will begin transmitting and will contact any capital ships to request certain information. Once the computer’s acquired the data, get out of there fast. We don’t know how long these computers can deceive the Kilrathi. We think there are several capital ships manoeuvring through your Nav 1. You’ll fly to that Nav point, transmit to the capital ships, and then get out of there. The idea is to get in and out again, and return with that information.

The Colonel continues with the other wing assignments.

Halcyon: The techs have refitted these Kilrathi ships with some Human control mechanisms, and added our own targeting systems. But we still don’t know how they’ll fly in combat, so watch your six. And remember… the techs began installing ejection seats in the Dralthi, but ran into unsolvable technical difficulties. You won’t be able to eject from a Dralthi. That’s all, pilots. Dismissed.

Mission Debriefing – 15:00 hours, 2655.278.

Maverick: I was able to move in close and target two Snakeir carriers at Nav 1, sir.

Halcyon: Excellent, Maverick! We’ll get that data to Tactical right away.

Maverick: And I succeeded in destroying both carriers.

Halcyon: That wasn’t your mission, Maverick… but it’ll deal a very demoralising blow to the enemy. Good work.

Maverick: Flying the Kilrathi fighter didn’t work very well for us. We were ambushed by several enemy ships. It was a tough fight, sir.

Halcyon: Maverick, your flight recorder says that you killed 10. Jazz took out 10 Kilrathi. All right. We transmitted a message indicating that you ran into some rocks in that asteroid field. With any luck, the Kilrathi will believe that you were destroyed. Get some rest, Blair. Dismissed.

Hangar Deck. 18:00 hours, 2655.278.

Halcyon: For excellence in combat with the Kilrathi enemy on or about 2655.278, the Terran Confederation presents the Silver Star to Lieutenant Colonel Blair. Your courage is an example to the Confederation’s finest defenders. Well done, Maverick. Congratulations.

Maverick: Thank you, sir.

Corsair 2

Shotglass: Hello, Maverick. What can I get for you?

Maverick: Just one of my usual, Sam.

Shotglass: No problem. Maverick… I’ve been feeling really uneasy ’bout something. We’ve been hiding in this Corsair system from all of those Kilrathi fleets, an’ we’ve been lucky – those cats seem to believe we left the area… but what if our luck changes? Five battle fleets against the Claw? That’s unfriendly odds, Colonel.

Knight: Listen, Maverick… I was just talking to Dr Khalsa about those Kilrathi renegades. They debriefed Captain Ralgha with neo-scopolamine, and they learned some interesting stuff. He couldn’t say what, of course, just that it would help us against the enemy. I’m a little worried, though. I mean, this guy could be a Kilrathi agent trained for trank-chem interrogations. What if he was lying? If we go into a battle with bad tactical data, it’s all over for us. Even if we have good data, we’re in trouble. All those battle fleets against the Tiger’s Claw? The mission at Goddard was against one battle fleet, and that was nearly impossible. Like Shotglass says, those aren’t friendly odds. We should be safe here in the Corsair system. But if we go back to Firekka… what then?

Spirit: Maverick. I just saw Colonel Halcyon in the corridor, a few minutes ago. He was speaking with Ralgha, the Kilrathi captain. Do you know, I had never seen a Kilrathi before? I thought I would hate him, because of what his people have done to us. But I did not feel anything at all. Not hatred, or anything else. Only empty. Completely empty. Sometimes I feel like we’ve been fighting for ever, that this war will never be over.

Maverick: The Kilrathi started this war, Spirit. But I know we’ll end it, someday.

Spirit: I hope so, my friend. I truly hope so.

Mission Briefing, 06:00 hours, 2655.292. Corsair System, Antares Sector.

Halcyon: Pilots, we’ve been lucky so far, and avoided any major confrontations with the Kilrathi, because the cats have been busy with this ‘Lord Sivar’ business. And now we know what that is, and just why this ‘Way of Lord Sivar’ is so important. Captain Ralgha and his officers have provided us with a detailed description of the Kilrathi military-religious ceremony known as the Way of Sivar. The Kilrathi believe that they have to sing the praises of their war god once every year, on a planet chosen by the Sivar priestesses. If they fail to do so, then the war god will not favour the Warriors of Kilrah in battle and their enemies are destined to destroy them. Firekka is the planet they’ve chosen for this year’s ceremony. And that’s why every available ship in the Kilrathi fleets will be arriving here soon. There’s more to this, unfortunately. The Kilrathi believe that the ceremony can’t be tainted by the presence of unbelievers. Unless we do something to save them, the Firekka will be forcibly converted to the Sivar cult. And the Kilrathi will murder any Firekka who refuse. A planet of several million intelligent beings… we can’t allow that to happen. Based on Ralgha’s information, Confed HQ has formulated a plan that may save the Firekka and deal a very demoralising blow to the Kilrathi at the same time.

Hunter: Are you certain we can trust this renegade’s information, sir?

Halcyon: Ralgha volunteered for a trank-chem Debriefing, Hunter. We know he isn’t lying. Our plan is to disrupt the Sivar ceremony. Two battalions of marines will be arriving soon to help us. The Tiger’s Claw pilots will escort them in, and then the marines will land on the planet. With the native Firekka warriors, they’ll launch an assault against the Sivar warrior-priestesses. If we can succeed in this one mission, pilots, it may have major repercussions throughout the Kilrathi war machine. But first, we need more information. I’m sending some of you out in the captured Kilrathi ships back to the Firekka system, where you’ll intercept Kilrathi military communications. From that data, we’ll calculate the safest place and time for the marines to land on the planet. Mu Wing will be Maverick and Jazz. Here’s your assignment. Stay alert when you’re flying this course – you’ll probably run into Kilrathi patrols. If they realise you’re Confed and attack, then you should defend yourself. Otherwise, don’t blow your cover. Go to Nav 1, and your comm computer will automatically begin to intercept the comm data. Then return via Nav 2.

The Colonel quickly reads the other wing assignments.

Halcyon: Be careful, everyone – we don’t know whether or not they believe that all the captured fighters were destroyed. Dismissed, pilots.

Mission Debriefing – 15:00 hours, 2655.292.

Halcyon: Welcome back, Maverick. Did you and Jazz run into anything tough?

Maverick: Nothing we couldn’t handle, Colonel.

Halcyon: I’d like to hear your report, Colonel Blair.

Maverick: We managed to reach Nav 1 without too much difficulty, sir. But Kilrathi-piloted Rapiers and some Dralthi were waiting for us. Those Rapiers were probably the last surviving wing from the Johann… it was very tough, sir. I just hope that communication interceptor didn’t break when I was flying that high-speed Immelmann. There was another enemy wing waiting for us at Nav 2. And I don’t think we should use these captured fighters again, sir – the enemy are using some kind of recognition code and they obviously recognised us as Terran pilots.

Halcyon: I’ll tell that to Tactical… maybe we can intercept and use those recognition codes. You had 6 recorded kills, Maverick. Jazz bagged 6 Kilrathi. All right. Take it easy for a while, both of you. And I want to see you in my office later, Maverick. Dismissed.

Colonel Halcyon’s Office. 17:00 hours, 2655.292.

Halcyon: Blair. Come in. I need to speak with you.

Maverick: Yes, sir?

Halcyon: We’re having to change some pilot assignments. Effective immediately, you’ll be reassigned. You’ll be flying Hornets with the Killer Bees again.

Maverick: I’m curious, sir… why?

Halcyon: Each of our ships is designed for a specific kind of combat mission. That’s the main factor in assigning pilots to fighterships for different missions.

Maverick: I understand, sir. I’ll do the best I can, no matter what ship I’m assigned to.

Halcyon: I’m glad to hear it, pilot. That’s all, Colonel. Dismissed.

Firekkan Crusade: Corsair System – Part 1

Corsair 1

Corsair 2