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#REDIRECT ] |
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'''This article is being considered for deletion''' in accordance with Misplaced Pages's ]]<br /> |
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Please share your thoughts on the matter at ''']''' on the ] page.<br /> |
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You are welcome to edit this article, but please do not blank this article or remove this notice while the discussion is in progress. For more information, particularly on merging or moving the article during the discussion, read the ].<br/> |
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{{Redirect category shell| |
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The '''Battle of Earth''' or '''Battle of Terra''' is a fictional ] in ]'s ] ]s. |
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{{R from ambiguous term}} |
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{{R from alternative name}} |
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The Battle of Earth was not released in a Wing Commander game; instead, it was depicted in the novel ''Fleet Action'' by ]. It takes place about six months before ''Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger''. A fan project, , is bringing the novel into gameplay using ''Wing Commander Prophecy''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> "Vision" engine. |
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{{R with history}} |
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}} |
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==Background== |
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In ], the ] found themselves in a logistical emergency. Though their military outnumbered the ]n Confederation's on a two-to-one basis, the humans' percentage of ''trained'' personnel (100%) far outstripped that of the Cats', and their hardware was worn and obsolete. This was attributable directly to two factors: 1) a successful raid on the Kilrathi home planet by the ], which destroyed a number of ]s and the nearly-finished ] within them; and 2) a sudden shortage of transports, forcing the carriers to return to base for supplies and putting further miles on spaceframes that were already overworked. Between the two, the Kilrathi Empire was on the verge of defeat. |
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Crown Prince ], and his grandfather the Kilrathi ], revealed to the leaders of the eight Kilrathi clans the reason behind the transport shortage: a sizable percentage of the transport fleet, several sixty-fours, had been assigned to transporting raw materials to the far side of the Kilrathi Empire, where a new breed of carrier, the ''Hakaga''-class heavy carrier, was under construction. Eight-and-four were being constructed. Encased in incredibly thick armor, with six redundant launch-and-recovery bays and space and armaments for almost three hundred fighters, these ships would win the war when they came online within the year. ...Assuming material attrition didn't lose it first. With this in mind, Baron Jukaga ''nar'' Ki'ra suggested an anathematic solution to the warrior Kilrathi: sue for peace. |
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==Discovery== |
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On Earth, the situation was just as dire, and the human Confederation accepted peace terms. Both fleets were demobilized and many assets secured for cold storage. Some, however, were suspicious of the Kilrathi motives, remembering that surrender is unspeakably shameful to Kilrathi society. One, Admiral ], arranged to be dishonorably discharged, so that he and a number of hand-picked personnel, such as Col. ], Capt. ], his nephew Lt. ], Admiral ] of Confed Intelligence, and Captain ], could take a small number of ''Wake''-class escort carriers (including the ''Tarawa'') to the ], where vigilance had not lessened. From there a reconnaisance mission was launched into the depths of Kilrathi territory, using humanity's best detection equipment, a stolen Kilrathi ], and some sheer luck in ]. |
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Tolwyn, on Earth, had a phony signal broadcast, announcing that a key missile plant on ] had been destroyed in an accident; soon, Kilrathi transmissions began to fly that an installation on their next target, ''nak'tara'', was no more. This, combined with ''Tarawa''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> sensor data of the new Kilrathi ''Hakaga'' fleet—very much active, very much not secured for cold storage, and very much ready to attack—was enough to send humanity into a panic. Human carriers and fleets were hastily mobilized, but to get most of them up to full speed would take over a month, and to get their crews back would take twice that. The Kilrathi fleet was due in less than twenty days. |
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==Sirius== |
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Prince Thrakhath came on with five new carriers and a dozen old ones, plus over seventy support ships (]s, ]s, etc) and over three thousand fighters. Against this, Geoff Tolwyn's Third Fleet consisted of four "old" carriers and less than two dozen support craft, and perhaps three hundred fighters. Human technology had always favored maneuverability and increased defensive technology—a decision which worked, as far more Terran pilots than Kilrathi ones survived their first engagement, and experience often played a pivotal role in battle—but numbers would undoubtedly tip the balance today. Even worse, Tolwyn was forced to play defensively; with such a tiny fleet, he could hardly afford to absorb losses, and retreated from a number of smaller colony worlds. At this point, the Kilrathi deployed their trump card: ] missiles loaded with ], set for airborne explosion. The resulting radiation would sterilize not just all human occupation, but the entire planet, rendering it uninhabitable to ''all'' life—even the Kilrathi, who (theoretically at least) hoped to take humanity's planets for themselves. |
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At ] Prime, the first of the Confederation's inner colony worlds, Tolwyn made his stand. He lost. One ''Hakaga'' carrier was cripped by four ] strikes (enough to kill a conventional carrier twice), and another significantly damaged, but none were destroyed; in turn, Tolwyn lost most of his ] and ], two of his carriers, and almost his flagship, the ]. Worse, he could not save Sirius; both inhabited planets in the system were sterilized, a loss of almost two billion lives. The Kilrathi lost an old-style carrier and an appalling number of fighters (nearly 600), but that would probably not make a difference. The Third Fleet retreated to Earth, ready to save it... Or die trying. |
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==The Battle of Earth== |
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Thrakhath, always a warrior, did not bother to consolidate his holdings before plunging straight in on Terra. The humans had managed to get three more carriers online—or, at least, to push them out of the docks and let them float in towards the Kilrathi—and had arranged a number of other distractions as well. Thousands of civilian pilots, flying unarmed and often unshielded craft from single-seat trainers to enormous spacegoing liners, volunteered to go up as chaff. Trainee pilots, some not yet out of flight academy, were rushed into combat wings to do whatever they could. Hidden behind this insanity were over two hundred ] landing craft, packed with men, demolition equipment and Brigadier General "Big" Duke Grecko, who would lead the attack on the Kilrathi head-on: by boarding them. |
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While Geoff's navy fought and died, the Marines did their thing; none of the Kilrathi pilots, and in fact none of the Kilrathi at ''all'' except for Crown Prince Thrakhath, realized their intent. Those that infiltrated the new ''Hakaga'' carriers discovered, much to their delight, that the redundant armor was designed only to resist exterior attacks; explosions from the ''inside'' would be much, much worse. All but one ''Hakaga'' was destroyed in the resulting chaos, as well as a large number of smaller ships, and Thrakhath was forced to retreat. A single wing of Kilrathi cruisers was able to break through to Earth itself, wrecking a number of heavy Earth factories and cities (a fitting revenge for the raid on Kilrah), but were not able to launch their thermonuclear warheads before being destroyed. Humanity, against all odds, had won through. |
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After the battle, the utter depletion of materiel and hardware combined with new revolutions in material sciences to usher in a new generation of fighters; all previous designs were retired and new ones (the ''WC3''-era ships) entered service. |
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