a jump point and the Heather crippled. All seems lost when another flight of Kilrathi ships jumps in, but they start shooting the first flight. Blair and Hobbes arrive, drive them off, and rescue an ejected Kilrathi pilot to see if they can get some answers. This ejected pilot turns out to be none other than Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka: the second flight, he explains, was an assassination attempt led by Khasra, a cousin of Thrakhath, in a bid for the throne of Kilrah. Though Thrakhath is imprisoned in the brig, a power failure allows him to escape; he grabs Hobbes's Crossbow and sorties out to avenge himself upon Khasra. Blair, attempting to retrieve him, is forced to help out, and the war's two best pilots together make short work of the Kilrathi rebels, while Thrakhath escapes. The remaining Kilrathi fleet attempts to destroy Olympus Station once and for all; Olympus's flight group is already seriously thinned, and their communications have been jammed. Blair, leading the defense, knows his chances are grim, until a group of pilots from the Gettysburg (with Bondarevsky announcing their presence to Blair), sent along by a concerned Admiral Tolwyn, saves the day. With Ghorah Khar securely in Confederation hands, the N'Tanya, K'arakh and Shariha colonies manage to successfully rebel against the Empire. Thrakhath, with tons of military intelligence in his head, takes advantage of the fact that the Enigma Sector fleets are distracted with Ghorah Khar and captures Deneb Sector Command in less than six hours. Special Operations 2 Blair's leave on Akko Base in the Canewdon System is cut short, but he doesn't mind one bit: Zachary "Jazz" Colson, the traitor from Wing Commander 2, has been sentenced to death, and Maverick will be escorting his prison ship. However, a distraction allows the Mandarins, a society of human traitors that Jazz belongs to, to hijack the Bastille and free Jazz. When he returns to the Concordia, Blair discovers that a new squadron has arrived: the Wild Eagles, under command of Todd "Maniac" Marshall, flying the experimental Morningstar heavy fighters. Almost immediately the Morningstars show their problems: their jump drives don't work very well, forcing Blair to jump out and rescue an ejected pilot, Captain Maria "Minx" Grimaldi. She's very thankful for the rescue. Finally, while on patrol, Blair encounters a crippled Kilrathi Dorkathi transport, which surrenders. A Mandarin agent on board reveals that