Wing Commander

Many years ago...

the great British explorer

George Mallory...

who was to die

on Mount Everest...

was asked

why did he want to climb it.

He said, "Because it is there".

Well, space is there,

and we're going to climb it.

And the moon

and the planets are there.

And new hopes for knowledge

and peace are there.

And, therefore,

as we set sail...

we ask God's blessing...

on the most hazardous

and dangerous...

and greatest adventure

on which man has ever embarked.

Thank you.

I hereby declare

this new world...

a colony

of the Terran Confederation.

With the charting of

the fourth pulsar this year...

the Pilgrim explorers are

becoming a discussion point.

We are gathered here

to celebrate Dr. Peter Anthony.

His invention of the Navcom A.I.

is possibly the most important

development in space travel...

of the last century.

Finally, we can navigate

almost any jump...

in known space with confidence.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I give you Dr. Peter Anthony.

Coming up on the far side...

Looks like maybe

three orfour kilometers long.

Copy that, Sparrow. Proceed.

It's like nothing

I've ever seen before.

Wait. Something's going on here.

With escalating

tension in the Vega sector...

the whole Confederation

is on a knife edge.

Will these unprovoked attacks

continue?

Will the diplomatic probes

be successful?

We can only hope...

I regret to report...

that all diplomatic avenues

with the Kilrathi...

have been exhausted.

It is now clear

they have no interest...

in coexisting with us

or any other race.

It is my sad duty

to inform you...

that as of Six A.M.

this morning...

we are formally at war

with the Kilrathi.

God help us all.

T.C.S. Vanguard

now clearing outer marker.

Course four-six-niner, logged

for the Charybdis quasar.

Ready to receive Navcom

coordinates for the jump.

Roger that. Transmitting now.

Have a safe trip back to Earth.

Freighter Delta.

Losing elevator-effect thrust.

Request trajectory.

T.C.S. McClellan

requestingflyby.

I got one-nine-zero

bogies inbound.

Vector three-seven-four,

attack formation.

Status!

Forty Kilrathi ships

coming to bear, Admiral.

They're powering weapons.

The lowa's gone!

And the Kobi.

We have a station breach!

Levels seven, eleven,

and thirteen.

They're headed towards

command and control!

Destroy the Navcom A.I. Now.

Self-destruct malfunction.

Command codes

have been overwritten.

Station breach, level six.

Station breach, level two.

Command center breach imminent.

Prepare a drone.

Get me a coded channel.

This is Admiral Wilson...

Pegasus station

commanding officer.

Forty Kilrathi capital ships

are closing.

Station has been breached.

They want the Navcom.

Repeat... they want the Navcom.

The station has been breached.

They want the Navcom.

Repeat... they want the Navcom.

The Pegasus Navcom.

My God, if they have it...

What's the fleet's position?

We're spread out

all over the sector.

The earliest our advanced

elements can reach Sol...

is forty-two hours...

and that is taking risks

with the jumps, sir.

Give me

the Vega and Sol sectors.

Estimated Kilrathi

fleet's position.

Projected time of travel

to Earth, forty hours.

Locating

main Confederation fleet.

Estimated time to Earth space,

forty-two hours.

A mere two hours could decide

the outcome of this war.

Signal all ships

to mark our course...

and make full speedfor Earth.

I need to know what

the Kilrathi are up to, Richard.

Do we have any more ships

left in Vega?

Just one, sir.

The Tiger Claw.

But she's beyond the range

of our communications...

and a drone will take

two days to reach her.

Who's this?

It's a requisitioned

merchantman... the...

Diligent.

The Diligent.

Yes, sir.

Captained by James Taggart...

at present en route

to the Tiger Claw...

with two replacement pilots...

First Lieutenants Todd Marshall

and Christopher Blair.

Open a secure channel

to the Diligent immediately.

I want to speak

with her captain...

and with this

First Lieutenant Blair.

Hey, Captain wants you

on the bridge.

Say's it's top priority.

Sir?

I don't know

who you know, Lieutenant...

but you got a Confed code one...

secure communication

from Admiral Tolwyn.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Transmission nominal.

Long distance... connected.

At ease, Lieutenant.

- Yes, sir, Admiral.

- Good.

You are currently outbound...

to the Vega sector

and the Tiger Claw.

I need you to hand-deliver...

an encrypted communications chip

to her captain.

Why not send it by drone

to the Pegasus, sir?

That'd be quicker.

The Pegasus is gone...

destroyed by a Kilrathi

battle group...

twelve and a half hours ago.

See that Captain Sansky

gets that chip.

Why me?

I fought alongside your father

in the Pilgrim wars.

He was a good man.

Godspeed.

Well, guys...

we have to jump

into the Vega sector...

a little sooner than planned.

Set a course for beacon 147,

one-quarter impulse...

and be subtle.

Setting course

for beacon one-four-seven.

One-quarter impulse.

I'm reading that

as a 100,000-kilometer...

no-fly zone, sir.

Just put in beacon 147.

It's a shortcut.

Aye, Captain.

Yeah?

We're holding steady

on the beacon.

Marshall has the helm.

Those must be antiques.

They were made by the first

explorers in this sector...

just like the cross

you wear under your shirt.

May I see it?

There was a time long ago...

when people looked up

to the Pilgrims.

The stars were their destiny.

Since the Pilgrims

were defeated...

not a single new quasar

has been charted.

Increasing thrust...

Stupid...

Main engine

now at ninety percent.

Out! You get out!

Get out, get out!

Ow. Jeez!

What's your problem?

- What?

- Did you change course?

No, I didn't change course.

I just boosted the power.

Why dog it?

We can be at the beacon

in, like, under an hour.

That beacon

is marking a gravity well.

One cubic inch of it...

exerts more gravitationalforce

than the sun.

Navcom on-line.

If we approach it

too fast...

we'll be sucked in

out of control.

If I don't realign

our entry vector...

we are not going

to make the jump.

- What happens if we miss?

- We die.

Have we reached

the entry vector's PNR yet?

No, no. Not yet.

She's reaching outfor us.

Listen to that.

Velocity holding...

one-four-two-L-S-S...

Well, ladies, meet Scylla...

Warning...

gravitational anomaly detected.

Bane to sailors

and monster of myth.

What's a Scylla?

Ulysses sailed between

the whirlpool Charybdis...

and the island monster, Scylla.

She snatched six of his men

and ate them.

Whoa. What is this thing?

This thing is a distortion

in space-time.

The Pilgrims

were the first to chart it.

If it's charted,

why is it off-limits?

Because it's unstable.

It's unstable?

Whoa. It's unstable,

and we're gonna jump it?!

Navigational computer

just went off-line!

I'm on it!

- Blair!

- Yes, sir?

You take the helm!

I never made a jump before.

Good time to learn!

That's it!

I don't like this guy.

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