Biography[]
James Taggart was born on Mimas Colony in 2605.[1] His parents were Pilgrims. His parents were thought to be lost on Mimas in 2613 after a Mimist attack and he was legally adopted by Mikal and Anhel Taggart. Little is known about James life growing up as that information was destroyed by a later attack in 2624[1]
Commission[]
Taggart's OCS record
He later attended the University of Cairo and 4 years later he was involved with Danielle Kura but she died of medical complications by the TBM33 virus shortly before his graduation. He earned a degree in Physical Science, graduating 23rd out of 1055. He was admitted into the Space Force OCS that same year and graduated with honors. Subsequently attended Flight School and Counterintelligence School.
His first assignment was on the Patrol Carrier Horus in 2629. Upon the beginning of the Pilgrim War, he was promoted to captain and transferred to Intelligence Services; during which he was attached to CIS and his record was classified.[1] He was given his own ship Ebenezer, and went undercover as civilian Pilgrim sympathizer and merchant spying for the Confederation. During his mission he had to attend prayer meetings and con/crit sessions (although he enjoyed the transcendence dances).[2] He apparently visited his parents in 2632, and may have killed his own father, after his father killed his mother (though this memory was manipulated by Kilrathi, and unreliable).
He returned to flight duty in 2635, with rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Iason and capture by the Kilrathi[]
After the war, he requested transfer to Exploratory Services, and was promoted to Commander simultaneously upon assignment to the CS Iason in 2637. He, Farrah Izmuti and other two pilots served to the shuttles, ferrying the ship's scientists to their assignments.[1]
He was on free-time, practicing in the flight sim, practicing reverse thrust turning maneuvers or Shelton slides when the ship encountered the alien ships. At first Taggart thought that the alarm was part of the sim before realizing it was a real one and ran to his battle-station, the flight deck, soon joined by the other 3 pilots. Every 15 minutes they got an info-byte from the captain about what was happening.[1]
After about an hour, he and Izmuti were ordered out with the modified Ferrets. Taggart was sent out to scan the area with medium-and long-range flash beaming the info back to the Iason, starting off with the ships themselves, and then turning the scan outwards. Taggart was trying to determine anything that resembled an alien ship from the unusual scans reading completely different patterns. When he started pulling the scanners in for another round of medium-range scans, Aria was suddenly shot from the aliens and she was ordered to pilot her damaged ship back in the Iason, while Taggart continued his job. An hour had passed when he detected a weird pulse from the alien ships, as they commenced their attack on the Iason. Taggart considered making a pass on the aliens, but hoped that they would retreat, and he'd be able to catch the gate's fingerprint. However the Iason was destroyed, and a piece of the debris hit his ship draining its shields and damaging the repair array.[1]
Taggart attempted to self-destruct, but all systems were down. He was tractored into a ship and the Kilrathi took him out moments before asphynxiating. He was tended with a green fog which made him feel good before passing out. He woke up in a filtered room, while some Kilrathi were fighting over him, as a "trophy", dropping and getting him like a doll. He found himself on the floor, blood around him, and while he tried to crawl away, a Kilrathi feel on him. When he woke up, his arm was broken and ribs cracked.[1]
He then remained in a small dark room with a machine that probably filtered the air. He was sick and in bad pain. His "owner" came with a smaller alien, wearing helmets, and that was when he first observed the Kilrathi. The smaller one attempted to fix his bone. Later, his "owner" scatched his name into his neck with his claw. While his arm was healing he was fed once a day with meat and leafy vegetables. He also picked some of their language which he found unpronouncable, and managed to understand their insignia just to keep his mind occupied. After what he thought was weeks, he and themachine were removed from the room.[1]
He found himself in a different ship, in an enormous room filled with rows of glass cells with barred openings and dim light. The Kilrathi tried endurance tests on him, such as temperature, and in many of them he ended up passing out, waking up with an abrasion. The the war had started and human prisoners were coming by the thousands. He could talk with a few people who spoke Standard and got updates. Once they had a surplus, they weren't careful with them, killing everyone once the cells were restocked with a new colony, and they didn't bother with him any more.[1]
He was held for two years and he was presumed dead in the Confederation. Eventually he was taken again, strapped a filter device to his back and a mask and taken to a launch bay where he was boarded into a fighter/shuttle. Taggart guessed that they were going to return him to his "owner". After 3 jumps, they landed next to a big cruiser while it was trying to laser a fast little cargo-scout. Meanwhile Taggart worked at the the straps and got clear, and broke the pilot's skull with the filter device. He then managed to aim the ship towards what he supposed was the bridge (actually perhaps an external shield generator as he unexpectedly slammed directly into the hull). The shuttle was destroyed and found himself in space, but soon was collected by the cargo-scout.[1]
It was a small band of out-of-luck pilots who had bought a cast-off ship, fixed with grapples and tractors and scavenged debris for valuable scrap, especially Klrathi artifacts for which the Confed had put a bounty. After giving him a meal, the pilots dropped him off at Tartarus Port as they didn't want contact with the authorities. Taggart contacted the Confederation from a public communications booth located in the Commercial Customs section of the station. He was examined and found with vitamin deficiencies and some minor parasitic infections. He was debriefed and awarded accrued pay and 3 month's R&R leave before returning to duty.[1]
He became a Commodore of Terran Confederation Naval Intelligence under Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn. Working undercover as a civilian, Tolwyn gave him an ancient heirloom, a ring kept by his family for 16 generations, which Taggart should show to claim authority in urgent situations. For eight months he posed as the pilot of the Errant-class merchantman Diligent. Because of his Pilgrim heritage Taggart had a great knowledge of spatial phenomena and navigation, including ancient relics such as maps. [3] While piloting the Diligent to the Vega sector, he was tasked by Tolwyn with several objectives, such as discovering the various hardware that the Kilrathi may have managed to stash around Vega, and notifying the proper agencies, and ferreting out those humans who may be engaged with the Kilrathi, either spies or black market outlets to the Empire of Kilrah. Finally, he had to keep his eyes open about any Pilgrim subversion. Taggart in turn warned Tolwyn that his own officers might have become Pilgrim sympathizers; Taggart did not rule out that the Pilgrim remnants would take advantage of the Kilrathi crisis, even allying with the Kilrathi against the Confed.[4]
Pilgrim Uprising[]
He was tasked to carry pilots Christopher Blair and Todd Marshall to the CS Tiger Claw in the Vega Sector. He had also noticed that Blair carried a Pilgrim Cross.
Taggart in his quarters.
Because Blair had orders to carry the message of the recent destruction of the Pegasus Station to the Claw, Taggart decided to jump the Scylla anomaly directly to the Vega Sector. Minutes before the jump, the NAVCOM went offline, and Taggart left the cockpit to make repairs. He managed to get it back on-line while Blair's Pilgrim talents awoke and he instinctively punched calculations to the helm. The Diligent successfully made the jump and met with the Claw in the Enyo system.
Blair delivered to Captain Jason Sansky a message from Tolwyn with the orders to proceed to the Charybdis and gather intelligence on the Kilrathi fleet. However Commander Paul Gerald was skeptical on the circumstances the orders arrived and asked a proof that the message was authentic and not a trick to divert the Claw away from its position. Taggart showed Tolwyn's heirloom to Sansky, who immediately recognised it, and proceeded to comply to Tolwyn's orders. However as Charybdis was too far away, Taggart mentioned a class-2 pulsar in the sector which not even the NavCom knew. Gerald mentioned that only Pilgrims jumped pulsars years ago and Sansky admitted that there was no other choice.
On their way to the pulsar, Taggart was visited by Blair inquiring about the Pilgrims and Taggart mentioned about their traits which led to the Pilgrim War where Blair's parents were killed. As the Claw approached the pulsar, Taggart brought Blair to the bridge, and instructed Sansky how to navigate the ship, overriding the computer's warnings, as it was not calibrated. Gerald as always is skeptical and asks the Captain to reconsider, but Sansky held his belief in Taggart. Taggart successfully made the jump and arrived to the Ulysses Corridor.
Flying with the Baker Wing
When Kilrathi presence was discovered, Taggart disagreed with Sansky to attack the Thrakhra-class ConCom, warning that it would only make the Claw vulnerable to an attack. Sansky insisted that doing so will slow the Kilrathi and ordered Jeanette Deveraux to lead a strike force, accompanied by Taggart. He flew a CF-131 Broadsword as 7 of the Baker Wing. Deveraux ordered them to concentrate against a target but Taggart warned her it was a Dorkir-class supply ship left by the Kilrathi task force that would soon attack the Claw. He had to reveal his true identity and position.
Paladin destroys the Kilrathi battleship.
Indeed, the Baker Wing changed course and found that the Claw was under attack. After the fighters cleared the Dralthis for the bombers, Taggart and Knight approached. Taggart suggested to wait until they lowered their shield to launch a torpedo, but Knight was shot down. When the battleship was ready to fire again and finish the Claw, Taggart launched 4 torpedoes which totally destroyed the Sivar-class, and the remaining Ralari-class destroyer next to it.
Boarding the Kilrathi ship.
While the Claw was hidden, it was approached by the ConCom and Taggart suggested to use it to their advantage. He participated in a boarding operation led by Paul Gerald (who insisted he had no confidence in a mission led by a rogue and a half-breed). The Diligent docked the ship with grapples and the marines boarded the ConCom to steal fuel cells; Blair, following Taggart's guidance, recovered the NavCom stolen from the Pegasus Station.
The drones were heavily damaged and could not be programmed to send a message to Tolwyn in the Sol Sector with the intelligence gathered, so Taggart suggested that Blair should be the carrier. To give him courage, he revealed his heritage as a Pilgrim.
Angel is saved
During the mission Taggart gave orders to successfully defeat a Fralthi-class Cruiser that attacked the Claw. However Deveraux was hit while protecting the Claw from a Skipper Missile and her Rapier was stranded. Taggart boarded the Dilligent to look for her, a difficult task as she had turned off the homing signal. He found her by pure change and brought her to the hangar of the Claw.[5]
When Ivar Chu McDaniel returned to the galaxy to take Pilgrims to their new homeworld, he offered Taggart the chance to return with him to world. Taggart found the offer tempting and deep down he had the draw to explore the universe, but his loyalty was with the Confederation and he chose to remain behind.
Character[]
Taggart is considered to be honest and dependable as an officer, and an extremely competent pilot.[1]
In his personal life he was somewhat insular and never amassed many close friends, but is well respected by his wingmen and fellow officers.[1]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedtaggart - ↑ Chris McCubbin, Official Authorized Wing Commander Confederation Handbook, Correspondence: Taggart to Tolwyn
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedfilm - ↑ Chris McCubbin, Official Authorized Wing Commander Confederation Handbook, Correspondence: Taggart to Tolwyn
- ↑ Wing Commander film