Thrakhath nar Kiranka

"I am Thrakhath nar Kiranka, Prince of Kilrah, the fang of Sivar, destroyer of worlds"

― Thrakhath, The Last one Left

Thrakhath nar Kiranka
Race	Kilrathi
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Kilrathi Empire
Rank	Crown Prince of the Kilrathi Empire/Chosen Claw of the Emperor
First	Wing Commander I (Off-screen)/Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi

Thrakhath nar Kiranka was the grandson of the ruling Kiranka Emperor and third in line of succession the Kilrathi during the Kilrathi War.

Personal Biography

Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka (2624-2669) was the youngest son of Prince Gilkarg nar Kiranka. Showing his ruthlessness from a young age, he insisted that Lord Vakka should be executed for being skeptical about the new campaign against the Terran Confederation.

He rose to prominence as heir to the Empire following the death of his brother at the Battle of McAullife in 2634.

Wing Commander Academy

In the 2650s Prince Thrakhath was the leader of a military fleet and with his flagship Agon Ra Sivar he led several campaigns against the Terran Confederation. At this time he was the Emperor's "Chosen Claw" (to be his next in line bypassing any other possible heirs including his own blood father).

In Academy Thrakhath's role is perhaps problematic. In one episode Thrakhath refers to The Emperor as his "father" instead of "grandfather", thus justifying his title and military position as leader of the Kilrathi. In the games however, Thrakhath is The Emperor's grandson, and his father Gilkarg should normally be the Crown Prince; Thrakhath would take this position much later, only after his father was executed at the end of Operation: Thor's Hammer.
Note that the series was originally envisioned to take place in a later time of the Kilrathi War, which would make Thrakhath's role as main antagonist reasonable, before it was decided to move the series back in time (but would cause some other big issues with the main cast notably with Blair and Marshall being in Academy even later in the history, already a strange issue with the series).

There is no indication in official sources that there are 'two' Thrakhaths (to suggest one is the older brother of Gilkarg), that one is a separate character, in any of the sources, or that Thrakhath 'adopted' his grandson to make him as a 'son' to be the next crown prince (unless 'adoption' is part of the 'Chosen Claw').

Though there are other problematic issues with the character and identity of the Emperor during that period, introduced by Pilgrim Truth, which might suggest that Emperor might have been replaced with a new Emperor in mid 2654.

During 2653, Thrakhath was expecting documents with information that would render Confed starfighters useless. A Terran spy would deliver them from the TCSNA on Hilthros to a Kilrathi blockade runner. Before the transaction, its captain informed the prince about the arrival of two Terran fighters (none other than Maverick and Maniac) but the Prince told him not to worry, as they will make use of the plans. The captain however was too late, as when he begun transmitting the docments, the Confed fighters opened fire against its stabilizers, and caused the ship to fall against an asteroid.

Around 2654.131 Prince tolerated the presence of border pirates, but a time came when he abandoned his policies and set up a trap to the pirates of Base Tortuga, which a fleet of Sarthas destroyed in a massive show of force. He descended to the ruins of the base with his retinue, who brought to him a sole survivor who was held prisoner by the pirates; he was none other than Maverick. Thrakhath offered him his life, with the purpose to narrate what happens when someone attacks the Kilrathi.

Around 2654.162 near the end of the Pilgrim Crisis, while Ivar Chu McDaniel and his Pilgrims were holding the Empire and Terran Confederation hostage, at a stalemate, the Kilrathi had annexed the planet Dioscuri II and the native Dioscurans revered Thrakhath. A massive statue of him was built in a temple.

Garahl nar Hhallas warned the Prince that the TCS Tiger's Claw was located near a swampy planet.

Thrakhath was situated in his flagship when two Terran scouts (Maverick and Payback) jumped and scouted their location. He contacted Garahl and ordered him to pursue the humans. Garahl and the captain of KIS Ras Nik'hra visited him in his throne room during his lunch, and reported that they destroyed one Terran ship before driving them out. Because of the captain's failure to capture the humans, he named Garahl the new captain.

After the two scouts left the system, Thrakhath arrived there with his flagship only with its escorts. Confed Admiral Rhea Bergstrom had staged an ambush for the Kilrathi force, using the Claw as a bait. Garahl reported to Thrakhath that the Claw had "retreated" leading them to an ambush near Seti Beta 1. But the Prince had prepared a hidden fleet in the system that would crush all the Terrans trapped between. Indeed Bergstrom's task force fell under attack. Agon Ra Sivar participated in the ambush and when the Claw came to their rescue, Thrakhath ordered to block the jump point and opened fire. The Claw however approached steadily under the gunfire towards the node. Thrakhath acknowledged the Terrans' bravery and finally ordered hard to port to evade the collision with the Claw. As it withdrew the Claw reached the node and jumped away.

Operation: Thor's Hammer

His father was executed after the Terrans destroyed the graviton weapon prototype. Following this, Thrakhath came again to prominence. He gradually assumed more responsibilities as his grandfather the Emperor grew infirm.

Operation: Crusade

Thrakhath became aware of a rebellion on Ghorah Khar and ordered some priestesses of Sivar arrested for interrogation, causing some enmity against him among the priesthood. Jahkai, the chief of Imperial Intelligence, accused Ralgha nar Hallas for treason. Thrakhath sensed his personal animosity among his suspicions, but he was arrested on Ghorah Khar and Thrakhath was the arbiter of the last interrogation. After 5 hours, Jahkai failed to show any evidence for Ralgha's guilt, and Thrakhath declared him innocent and scolded Jahkai for the grudge. He returned to K'Tithrak Mang.

In preparation for the Sivar-Eshrad ceremony, Kilrathi fleets gathered in Firekka. Obviously it was after Ralgha openly defected to the Confederation when the Prince hastened his plans and his fleets arrived in force and sooner than Ralgha expected. Thrakhath sent a vidlink warning all "unbelievers" to leave within one planetary rotation.

The actions of the Confederation disrupted the ceremony. This was considered a bad omen for the warriors who would now fear that they'd die in combat and Thrakhath did not dare to order a general attack. Although he knew the exact position of the TCS Tiger's Claw, he sent a single-pulse vid message giving them an ultimatum to leave the sector within one quarter of a planetary rotation, and that he'd keep the Marines as prisoners.

Sivar's displeasure fell the hardest upon him, as he was the one who led the expedition and chose the site. Owing to the feud between them, the priestesses no doubt would encourage displeasure with him, preaching that his interference with them was the cause of Sivar's rejection. The Prince also would face his grandfather's displeasure, which would fall also on the Prince's favorites along the chain of command. In view of this, his only means of saving his prestige was the total subjugation of Firekka; he ordered his warriors to take hostages (not something usual among the Kilrathi) among the Firekkan nobility.

Fearing for their prisoners, the Firekkans were almost totally subjugated and obeyed in all Prince's orders, including pinioning the first two secondaries on each wing to make them ground-bound regardless of their survival; although this was not enough to cripple them, the Firekkans feigned loss of flight to mislead the Kilrathi; as gus irders grew progressively cruders, the Firekkans resorted to a covert war.

Vengeance of the Kilrathi

Thrakhath had once succeeded in ruining Blair's career by framing him for the loss of the TCS Tiger's Claw.

When Ghorah Khar seceded from the Empire in 2656, Khasra Redclaw personally informed Thrakhath onboard the Hha'ifra. Thrakhath ordered him to destroy the shipyards in order to prevent the rebels from gaining his Strakha technology, despite that it would slow down their war progress dramatically.

The attempts to retake Ghorah Khar continued for the following decade, the last attept hindered by the actions of the TCS Concordia. This deeply troubled Thrakhath and before leaving to the Imperial Palace, he gave Khasra and his squadron a new order: to destroy Concordia. Khasra didn't miss to point out that Thrakhath did not lead them to battle any more. Indeed, when Thrakhath returned in the Hhallas system, he asked to see his grandfather and expresses his shame for not sharing his cousins's glory. The Emperor allowed him to go to war. He expected Khasra to fail while facing the Concordia, but warned Thrakhath not to.

Blair eventually exacted revenge in combat. By 2667 and the Battle of Vukar Tag the tide was turning against the Kilrathi, with Thrakhath continually snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Stories of his incompetence spread, and the Prince who once drove the Confederation from "Enigma Sector" became known as an inept buffoon. Assassination attempts, both on him and the Emperor, became commonplace, one of which was organized by his one-time advisor Baron Jukaga.

By mid-2669 the Kilrathi had recovered from their losses of the previous year. With his rebuilt battle fleet, and facing a Confederation greatly weakened by the Battle of Earth, Thrakhath seemed on the verge of victory. In one stroke he would redeem his clan's honor and wipe out his hated enemy. But it was not to be. Thrakhath was downed in combat on 2669.267 by Colonel Christopher Blair, and his home planet, the seat of Imperial power, was destroyed shortly thereafter.

Character

The Prince had red-brown fur and wre red cloak. Bright old rings glistened in his ears. As he often dallied with females, his fur had a spicy musk.

The prince proved to be a tenacious, ruthless commander who often demanded zu'kara (ritual suicide) from those who failed to live up to his high standards. He shunned desk jobs, preferring to lead his war armada from the front; in the early part of the war, and even as late as 2666, he regularly took to space in his custom-built Bloodfang fighter. He never truly respected his foes, regarding humanity as food-prey unworthy of the honor of battle.

Though his bullheaded leadership style led to early successes against the Confederation, it faltered as Thrakhath came up against Rear Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn, who easily proved Thrakhath's match, in both obstinance and strategy. He developed an intense rivalry with legendary human pilot Christopher Blair, who managed to personally defeat the Prince on numerous occasions.

Appearances

Thrakhath appears in the Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi and Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger games, the End Run and Fleet Action novels as well as in the animated series Wing Commander Academy. While not featured on-screen in Wing Commander I, he delivered two messages to the humans in two speech cameos.

• Thrakhath nar Kiranka (games)

• Thrakhath nar Kiranka (Academy series)