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Special Operations 1: Ghorah Khar System – Part 2
Ghorah Khar A
Flight Deck.
Olympus Station, Ghorah Khar System.
Edmond: I’ve programmed the newest tactical data into your Nav computer, sir. The long-range patrols have reported sighting a very small strike fleet approaching directly down the corridor established by the decoy comm pod. I’m supervising communications teams for Olympus Station. We’re already intercepting and decoding their tactical communications.
Maverick: I’m surprised… I’d thought the Kilrathi would commit more forces. Are you sure that communications data is correct, Major?
Edmond: I’m doing the best I can with the available resources, sir.
Maverick: I see. Continue with your work, Major.
Edmond: Thank you. Sir.
Olympus: Colonel Blair, report to the Flight Deck for immediate launch!
Maverick: Assault wing, this is Colonel Blair, do you read?
Landis: Lieutenant Landis checking in, sir. All systems green.
Maverick: Affirmative, Lieutenant. Colonel Ralgha?
Hobbes: Ready to AutoNav on your mark, Maverick.
Maverick: Good. Let’s nail that strike fleet!
Maverick: Olympus, this is Colonel Blair on final landing approach.
Paladin: Maverick, this is Paladin. Land immediately and stay on the Flight Deck, laddie! They’ll refuel and refit you for your next mission, then you’ll launch again.
Maverick: What’s going on here, James? Hobbes and I just destroyed that entire strike force! I took out 4 Kilrathi! And we destroyed both Fralthra!
Paladin: Maverick, that wasn’t the entire attack force– A huge Kilrathi fleet is moving in-system – five carrier groups, Christopher! They destroyed our patrol ships before our boys could radio back to warn us. Fortunately, Major Edmond detected some of their tactical communications and was able to reconstruct their fleet size by their command codes. This system is going to be swarming with kittens in another few hours. Ye’d better get down here fast, lad, so we can ready your ship to launch again.
Maverick: I’m locking into the ALS now. Maverick out.
Officer: Welcome back, sir!
Ghorah Khar B
Flight Deck.
Olympus Station, Ghorah Khar System.
Paladin: I suppose this is good-bye again, laddie. I’m heading out alone to the Sharm system, to track the approach vectors of the enemy fleet.
Maverick: Paladin… if you’re alone, and a Kilrathi squadron moves through your area…
Paladin: Maverick, we don’t have enough ships to cover Olympus Station and me. I’m willing to take my chances. Besides, one little Free Trader, alone in that system… they’ll probably just ignore me!
Hobbes: You should not wager your life on that assumption, Taggart.
Paladin: Take care of yourselves, boys. We’ll hoist a few when I get back, hey?
Maverick: I hope so, James.
Olympus: Colonel Blair, report to the Flight Deck for immediate launch!
Paladin: Maverick, this is Paladin, do you read?
Maverick: James, the Kilrathi are starting their assault on Olympus Station.
Paladin: I know, laddie! These are your new orders: Defend Olympus Station from the first wave of assault. An’ then get o’er here via the jump point as fast as ye can! I’ve been attacked by a small squadron of Kilrathi.
Maverick: James, are you all right?
Paladin: My powerplant and jump capacitor’s been damaged, I can’t jump out of here. But they’re not attacking me right now. Something strange is happening here… Another Imperial Kilrathi wing arrived here two minutes ago, an’ for some reason they’re shooting at the other squadron of kittens, not me. Ye’d better get o’er here fast, laddie.
Maverick: Paladin, there’s an ejected Kilrathi pilot out here! I’m detecting failing life support readings from his spacesuit! Do you want me to pick him up?
Paladin: Maverick, grab that Kilrathi with your tractor beam and then help me o’er here!
Maverick: Paladin, this is Maverick. I’m moving into a parking position.
Paladin: Am I glad to see you, laddie! How did you do against those cats?
Maverick: Not too bad. I only nailed 5 Kilrathi. And I picked up that ejected Kilrathi pilot.
Paladin: Good. I’ll want to have a little talk with that furball. Maverick, the Bonnie Heather’s powerplant was badly damaged in the fight, I won’t be able to jump back to Olympus. It’ll be several hours of slow travelling, I’ll need you to stay close and keep the cats away, lad.
Maverick: Not a problem, Paladin.
Maverick: Hobbes, where’s Paladin?
Hobbes: He is tending to Prince Thrakhath, our prisoner. You have rescued the Heir to Kilrah, Maverick.
Maverick: What? You’re kidding, right?
Hobbes: I would not joke about something like this. His suit’s heat regulator was broken, so he was slowly freezing to death. Another few minutes, and he would not have survived. Colonel Taggart took Prince Thrakhath to the brig, you will probably want to join them there.
Ghorah Khar C
Thrakhath: Damn you, Humans! And you, renegade Kilrathi… You have no honour, Ralgha nar Hhallas, to hold me prisoner in this way!
Hobbes: I do not accept your definition of honour, Prince Thrakhath.
Paladin: Would ye rather that we’d left ye floating out there for your littermates? Seems to me that you wouldn’t be alive right now without us, Prince.
Thrakhath: My cousin Khasra tried to assassinate me, so he would be the next Heir. I killed eight of his squadron, but Khasra managed to destroy my fighter. Mangy little cur. I should have killed him years ago. So, Humans, what will you do with me? Will you finish Khasra’s work?
Paladin: No. We’ll take you to Confed High Command, and they’ll decide what to do with you. In the meantime, you’ll be our guest here aboard the Bonnie Heather.
Paladin: Maverick, this is Paladin. Ye’d better come to the Comm Room right now, and bring Prince Thrakhath with you!
Maverick: What’s going on, James?
Paladin: Watch the screen and you’ll see, laddie.
Khasra: Humans, I know that Prince Thrakhath is aboard your ship.
Thrakhath: Khasra! I will kill you, cousin!
Khasra: Give us Thrakhath, and I may let you live. Otherwise, we will destroy you.
Paladin: Blast, the furball has a full squadron of kittens out there– We canna fight against these odds!
Thrakhath: I will go to the airlock. Maverick, you will assist me in leaving this ship.
Maverick: What are you talking about, Thrakhath?
Thrakhath: This is a matter of honour. I will not die aboard an enemy ship.
Maverick: Not a chance! Thrak, I hate you and everything Kilrah stands for, but I’m not going to let that bastard kill you in cold blood!
Thrakhath: Then I will fight with you!
Maverick: You’re staying in the brig, furball!
Five minutes later…
Maverick: Paladin, I’ve undocked and am heading to intercept Khasra’s squadron. Paladin, do you read? Hobbes, this is Maverick. I’m not getting any response from the Bonnie Heather.
Thrakhath: That is because the freighter has had another power failure, Colonel.
Maverick: Thrakhath!
Thrakhath: They lost power to the brig, just as Ralgha locked me in. I did not hit him too hard. Killing someone from behind is dishonourable… and Ralgha is one of my few relatives who has not tried to kill me. Now I am borrowing Ralgha’s ship. I hope you do not mind.
Maverick: You’re going to dock immediately or I’ll blow you out of space!
Thrakhath: Fortunately, I am already out of range of your missiles. Now I will deal with my treacherous cousin and his Kilra’hra pilots.
Maverick: Thrakhath, you don’t stand a chance alone against that squadron!
Thrakhath: This is a matter of honour between Khasra and myself. Even if there is no chance of my survival, I am going to kill Khasra.
Maverick: Paladin, I don’t know if you can hear this– Thrakhath is heading to the jump point. I’m going after him!
Maverick: Paladin, this is Maverick, do you read?
Paladin: What happened out there, Maverick?
Maverick: I took out 6 of those bastards, and shot down Khasra, but Prince Thrakhath escaped in the Crossbow.
Paladin: Blast! That kitten would’ve been a prize to take back to Confed High Command. You’d better dock and refuel, laddie. We have to get back to Olympus before the rest of that strike fleet arrives!
Ghorah Khar D
Olympus Station, Ghorah Khar System.
Maverick: Olympus Station, this is Colonel Blair. Do you read?
Olympus: Colonel! We thought you’d been killed, sir! Three of those five Kilrathi carrier groups attacked yesterday, we lost fourteen pilots in the first wave. And the next assault wave is fifteen minutes away on a final approach! We’ve been trying for hours to call for reinforcements, but the cats are jamming our frequencies–
Maverick: Hobbes and I will fly defensive for you, Olympus. How many fighterships are ready on the deck?
Olympus: Two Sabres and a Ferret. We can refit your Crossbows when you land…
Maverick: No time for that, Olympus. We’ll fly the Sabres. Hobbes, are you up for this?
Hobbes: Two Sabres against the Fralthra and their fighters? This should be entertaining, Colonel.
Maverick: Right. Let’s just try to get back alive from this one, okay? I promised Jeannette that I wouldn’t get myself killed.
Hobbes: Of course, Colonel.
Officer: Glad you made it to Olympus Station alive, sir!
Maverick: Major Edmond, I never had the chance to congratulate you on your fine work in detecting the enemy fleet’s approach.
Edmond: Just doing my job. Sir.
Maverick: But doing it very well. Without you, Olympus would’ve had no warning of the attack.
Edmond: Sir. That’s a huge fleet coming in-system. The odds of your surviving–
Maverick: Breaking the odds is what I do best, Major. Though I’d appreciate it if you can find a way to get a message through the communications jamming, and call in for a few reinforcements. Blast. They’ve sighted the enemy fleet.
Edmond: Good luck, sir.
Maverick: Thank you, Major.
Bear: Hey, Colonel Blair, you need any help?
Maverick: Bear!
Bear: The Admiral sent us ahead, after we lost communications with Olympus. There’s one heck of a big strike fleet coming in right behind us, sir!
Maverick: Form on my wing, Bear! We’ll take care of these cats!
Bear: Affirmative, Colonel!
Sparks: You saved Ghorah Khar, sir!
Sparks: The Admiral wants to see you immediately, sir!
The Bridge, TCS Concordia.
Maverick: We couldn’t take out the enemy strike force, Admiral.
Tolwyn: Blast. There’s no time to form another defensive line for Olympus – we’ll have to retreat immediately, and try to protect the planet of Ghorah Khar. I know you did your best, Blair… but this is a very bad situation now. Get some rest, Colonel. We’ll need you to fly again in another couple of hours. Dismissed.
Ghorah Khar (Losing Track)
Observation Deck, TCS Concordia.
Stingray: Hey, does anyone know much longer until we’re in strike range of the enemy fleet?
Maverick: At least another two hours. I hate waiting.
Angel: And the Kilrathi forces are already bombing the ground installations on the planet. Two hours is a very long time for an orbital bombardment.
Edmond: I heard that they’re moving their forces away from Ghorah Khar so that they’ll be in assault formation when we arrive.
Stingray: That’s just terrific. So they’ll be ready and waiting for us. I should’ve taken that transfer to the Agincourt. Too late now, I suppose.
The Bridge, TCS Concordia.
Tolwyn: At ease, Colonel. I have a difficult assignment for you– We believe the Imperial Kilrathi forces have broken off their orbital bombardment in an attempt to ambush and destroy the Concordia. I’m sending you after one of the Fralthra in the enemy fleet. If you can break that ship away from its fighters, and destroy it, it’ll prevent the Kilrathi from encircling the Concordia. There is no margin for error on this mission, Maverick.
Maverick: I’ll do my best, sir.
Tolwyn: I know you will, Colonel. Dismissed.
Sparks: Welcome back, sir!
Flight Deck, TCS Concordia.
Tolwyn: I suppose I should’ve expected this, Maverick. Once again, you’ve single-handedly turned defeat into victory!
Maverick: Just doing my best, sir.
Tolwyn: And we’ve just received the reports from N’Tanya, K’arakh, and Shariha. The Imperial Kilrathi are retreating on all fronts! We’ve struck a major blow against the Empire today, Maverick!
As the Confederation fleet routs the Imperial forces from Olympus Station and Ghorah Khar–
–the Human and rebel defenders share in this moment of triumph.
Meanwhile…
Kilrathi Battle Command.
Hhallas System, M’shrak Sector.
Emperor: What news of the war, grandson?
Thrakhath: We successfully deceived the Terrans, my Emperor. They diverted their Enigma sector fleet to prevent the destruction of Ghorah Khar. While they were defending that worthless planet, my forces moved quickly into the Deneb sector! We captured Deneb Sector Command in less than six hours. And soon the entire Deneb sector will be under our control!
Emperor: This is much more impressive than your accomplishments at K’Tithrak Mang.
Thrakhath: I did not anticipate that attack on the starbase. But I will not fail you again.
Emperor: It would be very… unfortunate… if you did, cubling.
Thrakhath: And I have other news to report, Sire. My noble cousin Khasra was killed in combat by the Terran pilot, Colonel Blair.
Emperor: That is very sad, grandson. But at least he died an honourable death in combat. Which is more than I expected of him. What are your plans now, cubling? Will you try to conquer the Enigma sector?
Thrakhath: No. The Humans will surely attempt to recapture the Deneb Sector Command. When they do, we will be ready and waiting for them.
Emperor: And you will show them no mercy!
Cinematic scenes filmed entirely in…
And now back to our regularly scheduled program…
Special Operations 2:
Canewdon System (Part 1)
