And the reason for these two fine officers' treachery? Apparently Admiral Wilson was a Pilgrim who wanted to see the Terran Confederation and the Kilrathi Empire destroy each other, so that the Pilgrims would be left to reclaim their rightful place in the stars. Captain Sansky was Admiral Wilson's closest friend, and most likely a Pilgrim sympathiser as well, if not a Pilgrim himself.

Operation Thor's Hammer:
A Kilrathi Perspective
The Sivar fleet was in fact commanded by the Kilrathi Emperor's son, Crown Prince Gilkarg. For the destruction of the fleet, and the loss of the Sivar Dreadnought, Prince Gilkarg was summarily executed.

The execution of Crown Prince Gilkarg









The Firekkan Crusade:
A Kilrathi Perspective
Lord Ralgha nar Hhallas was actually part of the Ghorah Khar underground during this time. A fairly new member, he was commanded by one of the leaders to ask the Confederation for help in overthrowing the Empire. Lord Ralgha would become Ghorah Khar's ambassador to the Confederation, and as a gesture of faith, also had to surrender his ship, the KIS Ras'Nik'hra, to Confed. This he did, handing control of his Fralthi to the TCS Tiger's Claw and the TCS Austin. Lord Ralgha also gave his loyal retainer, Kirha hrai Ralgha nar Hhallas, to Captain Ian St. John, making Captain St. John the first human liege-lord of a Kilrathi.

When the Confederation killed the Sivar priestess on Firekka, they actually dealt the Kilrathi a more demoralising blow than they could have hoped. According to information provided by Lord Ralgha, with the ceremony corrupted, the Kilrathi warriors believed themselves to have fallen out of favour with Sivar, and therefore consigned to the Great Dark if they die. Not even the orders of the Emperor could prevent them from returning to Kilrathi space, where there are temples to make amends and purify themselves. Thus the Confederation was easily able to retake the Firekka System, in the wake of the Kilrathi's very hasty retreat.

Terran marines attempting to assassinate the Sivar Priestess

The Firekkan Crusade:
A Firekkan Perspective
During the Kilrathi occupation of Firekka, Prince Thrakhath forced the Firekkans to cooperate by imprisoning their flock leaders. Given their leaders' importance in Firekkan society, the Firekkans had no choice but to obey the harsh rules that the Prince imposed on them; they could only fight covertly in battles of attrition in the hopes of wearing down the Kilrathi. Fortunately for them, the Kilrathi did evacuate a few weeks later; but to spite the Firekkans and Confed, Prince Thrakhath took with him his Firekkan prisoners: he had not been able to capture the planet, but by keeping the Firekkan flock leaders hostage, he would ensure the Firekkans' continued cooperation, and prevent them from making, or keeping, any other alliance. These prisoners he took with him to the Ghorah Khar System, and detained them in the Kilrathi space station above Ghorah Khar. Among them was Rikik, the new leader of flock leaders for the Firekkans. Her mother Kree'Kai, the previous leader, was killed during the Kilrathi occupation.

With the development of this crisis, it fell to K'Kai, the leader of the Firekkan underground resistance, to appeal to Confed for help in rescuing her people's leaders. Despite her desperate pleas, and threats that the Firekkan people would do anything to keep their flock leaders from harm, including breaking their treaty with the Terran Confederation, Confed continued to make only vague promises, citing unavailable resources for a rescue mission as an excuse. Finally, a covert mission was mounted, comprising of K'Kai, her good friend Captain St. John, Major James Taggart, newly of the Special Operations Division, and Lieutenant Gweneviere Larson, Major Taggart's assistant. As Kirha was honour-bound by his oath of fealty to Captain St. John not to betray the humans, in addiiton to possessing firsthand knowledge of the Ghorah Khar station, he was taken along on the mission as well. Thus the five humans and aliens took the Bonnie Heather on her maiden voyage, in what would be the first of many incursions into the Ghorah Khar System. During the rescue mission, Lieutenant Larson was killed on the station. However, all of the Firekkan prisoners were rescued, and the Bonnie Heather managed to return to Confederation Space unharmed.









The Enigma Campaign:
A Kilrathi Perspective
Little did the Terran Confederation know that the Empire of Kilrah was suffering from a not insignificant crisis during the Firekkan Crusade. Information provided by Lord Ralgha nar Hhallas following his defection revealed that the Kilrathi colony of Ghorah Khar was growing dissatisfied with Imperial rule and wanted independence. As a result a resistance movement had formed, led primarily by a number of the colony's Sivar Priestesses, and in exchange for Lord Ralgha's cooperation, Confed provided support to the Ghorah Khar resistance. The rebellion was successful, and the Imperial government was overthrown shortly after the destruction of the TCS Tiger's Claw.

A strange incident that occurred during the final days of the rebellion was the destruction of several shipyards on Ghorah Khar by Imperial forces. Unbeknownst to the Terran Confederation, Prince Thrakhath planned to use his new fleet of Strakha fighters as the launch point for a final and decisive campaign against the Terran Confederation and Earth. The Ghorah Khar rebellion forced Prince Thrakhath to destroy the shipyatds in order to keep the newly-invented stealth technology out of enemy hands. As a result, his proposed campaign against the Confederation was significantly affected, a loss of Kilrathi resources that possibly saved the Confederation and enabled Confed to hold on to the Enigma Sector for so long.

After the success of the Ghorah Khar rebellion, Olympus Station was built in orbit above the planet in 2659, to maintain a permanent Confed presence at the colony.









The Ghorah Khar Rebellion:
A Kilrathi Perspective
Prince Thrakhath had another reason for attacking the Ghorah Khar colony. While the Empire had hoped to retake Ghorah Khar and make an example out of it to the other rebellious colonies, Prince Thrakhath's ferocious attack on the planet was actually a diversionary tactic: he wanted Confed to divert its forces, especially the Concordia, to Ghorah Khar, and in so doing reduce its defences in the surrounding systems. In this way, Prince Thrakhath was able to virtually obliterate the Confederation Sixth Battle Fleet, and wrest control of the Deneb Sector. And knowing that Confed would surely try to retake Deneb, Prince Thrakhath planned to lie in wait with his forces, and take out the Confederation forces as they arrived, thus guaranteeing his control of the Deneb Sector.









Operation Back Lash
A Kilrathi Perspective
Prince Thrakhath was commander of the three carriers that returned to defend Kilrah; his cousin and political rival Baron Jukaga nar Ki'ra was placed in command of the strike force at Vukar Tag, together with Kalralahr of Fleets Rusmak and Kalralahr of Legions Gar. Not only did Operation Backlash significantly reduce the Empire's offensive capabilities, bringing the war to a stalemate, but the political repercussions for the Empire were also quite resonant. Although the Emperor was able to remain in power, the royal families were nevertheless adamant that blame be assigned, and it was almost inevitable that Prince Thrakhath would place the reponsibility on Baron Jukaga. It's quite ironic that Baron Jukaga warned Prince Thrakhath that Vukar Tag was a diversion, and advised him not to split the fleet to retake the planet. But the Kiranka clan needed to save face. Thus Baron Jukaga was exiled for his failure in the Vukar Tag fiasco.









The Battle Of Earth:
A Kilrathi Perspective
Throughout the Kilrathi's spacefaring history, the Ki'ra and the ruling Kiranka clans were always political rivals: the Ki'ra clan felt that they should be the rightful ones on the throne as they were more noble. The exile of Baron Jukaga nar Ki'ra after the Vukar Tag debacle was an effort to get the only viable political opposition to the Emperor and Prince Thrakhath out of the way.

After spending more than a Kilrathi Sun Year in exile, the other ruling clans had requested the return of Baron Jukaga nar Ki'ra, to advise them as to a strategy to defeat the Terran Confederation. All acknowledged that he knew the humans best, and with the recent setbacks, his input was sorely needed. It was Baron Jukaga who had come up with the plan to propose the armistice, and despite vociferous objections from the other barons, the Emperor had realised the plan's potential enough to authorise its implementation.

The Confederation did not realise that agreeing to the armistice was an act of weakness and shame in the eyes of the Kilrathi. In doing so, the Confederation had lost face, and the respect that the Kilrathi had grudgingly given humans for sustaining the war for so long. Thus when the Kilrathi struck, it would be a contemptuous slaughter of prey beasts.

During the past year, Baron Jukaga had begun to gain more and more support from the other clan leaders, and was becoming more dangerous to the Emperor and Prince Thrakhath as a political rival. His plan for the armistice was in fact also a plot to gain the throne for himself and his clan. Though the armistice had allowed the Empire time to build the Hari fleet, it was nevertheless a sign of weakness by the Kiranka clan. Baron Jukaga planned to assassinate the Emperor and Prince Thrakhath. With no clear line of descension for the throne in the Kiranka clan, Jukaga would win the war against the Confederation, be hailed as a hero, and placed on the throne. However, the Emperor was able to discover the plot in time and avert his own death. To avoid any more "accidents", the Emperor pushed forward the invasion plan, sending Prince Thrakhath and Baron Jukaga with the fleet. It was because of this that the Terran Confederation's Third Fleet faced only five Hakaga carriers instead of six had things dragged on for another forty days.

Ironically enough, through his exposure with human culture, Baron Jukaga had begun to respect the humans, and was horrified by the wonton extermination of them by Prince Thrakhath, with his irradiation of Warsaw, Gilead, and Sirius Prime. As a final act of spite, Prince Thrakhath assigned him to the lead cruiser at the battle above Earth, so that he would be in command when Earth was irradiated. It was Baron Jukaga who had prevented the cruiser from firing the Strontium-clad thermonuclear warheads, by shooting the commander and three other bridge officers. In doing so, he bought the Landreich forces the few precious minutes it needed to destroy his cruiser, and thus became Humanity's unlikely saviour.









The Mission To Kilrah:
A Kilrathi Perspective
Evidence that turned up after the Terran-Kilrathi War revealed something rather interesting:
At the time that Confed was launching the Mission To Kilrah, the Kilrathi Empire was also launching its own Mission To Terra. Outfitted with a similar carrier, able to survive an extended voyage, with mining and facility-building capabilities, this covert operation was apparently commanded by Commander Azruk'ha nar Caxki. As with Confed's own carrier, all communications with the Kilrathi carrier were lost some time ago, and the Kilrathi have also designated their ship Missing In Action.









The Victory Campaign:
A Kilrathi Perspective
It is interesting to note that while the Kilrathi had been winning the war up to this point, they too were running out of resources, and would not have been able to sustain the fighting longer than another year. In addition, the Emperor had also received news that a previous enemy, a powerful alien race called the Mantu, was once more heading towards Kilrathi space. The Kilrathi needed to end the war with the Confederation soon, so that they could prepare to face this foe. This was why the Emperor ordered Prince Thrakhath to make use of the biological weapons they had developed, in the hopes of bringing the war to a quick end in their favour. In addition to being a blow to morale, the bioweapons strike was also a ploy to force Confed to utilise the Behemoth before it was fully complete, so that Prince Thrakhath could destroy it. After that, there would be nothing to threaten Kilrah, and nothing to stop the Empire from storming all the way to Earth.

Colonel Ralgha nar Hhallas, as Confed knew him, did not really know of his true identity as a Kilrathi sleeper agent. It was only by sending a transmission to the Victory, which included the phrase "The Heart Of The Tiger", that Prince Thrakhath was able to activate Colonel nar Hhallas' subconscious programming, and allow his alternate personality to take control. When that happened, the original personality was completely destroyed, to be replaced by the true Ralgha nar Hhallas, a loyal subject of the Empire of Kilrah.

There has been some speculation that the Nephilim could in fact be the Mantu. However there is little evidence to support or refute this theory. Thus the true nature of both the Nephilim and the Mantu continue to remain a mystery.









The Baka Kar Insurrection:
A Kilrathi Perspective
Ukar dai Ragark lak Haka had been all set to take the Imperial throne for himself, carefully garnering the support of various other leaders and expanding his sphere of influence. At this point his province covered 64 systems, with the capital in Brajakh Kar, on Baka Kar in the Baka Kar System. In orbit above the planet of Baka Kar was the orbital space dock Asharazhal, where the KIS Vorghath was docked. The captain of the Vorghath was Kal Shintahr Dawx Jhorrad.