The TCS Lexington (CV-44) one of several of the famed Concordia-class Fleet Carriers that have served with the Terran Confederation since 2634. It appears in the Wing Commander novelizations and in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom.
History[]
The TCS Lexington is the eleventh ship in the Confederation Navy to be named the Lexington. It had a long career on the frontlines during the course of the Kilrathi War. It was nicknamed "Lady Lex".
The Lexington gained infamy during the Battle of Earth when the Kilrathi attempted to destroy Earth. Having only one active engine while in the dockyards and a mere 57 fighters, the Lexington used itself as bait for Kilrathi forces in an attempt to divert their attention from Earth itself. The ship endured a severe beating at the hands of the Kilrathi during the battle, and internal fires almost destroyed the ship by the time the battle ended. After the Kilrathi retreated, Confed salvaged the Lexington, as her hull was still in one piece. The ship was refitted and rebuilt using spare parts, but proved to be a costly project that would have costed less had they just built a new carrier. The carrier was back on the frontlines before the end of 2669, and earned the nickname "The Grey Ghost" for its revival at Earth.
After the Kilrathi War ended during that same year, the Lexington continued her service with Confed. Its next major assignment occurred in 2673, when it was tasked with investigating the piracy occurring near the Union of Border Worlds on Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn's command. At that time, Confed was under the impression that the Border Worlds were harassing their convoys in an attempt to earn independence from Confed. By this time, Captain William Eisen of the famed TCS Victory was in command of this vessel, alongside his fellow pilots Christopher Blair, Todd "Maniac" Marshall, and Winston Chang. The ship was also used to research captured Kilrathi fighters and as a result, its flight crew was made up of a mere 60 pilots due to the extra space needed for labs. The Lexington deployed from the Confed HQ near Mars and then infiltrated Border Worlds territory.
The Lexington investigated Border Worlds activity along the frontier, where alleged Border Worlds insurgents were trespassing on Confed lines. At the Tyr System, the Lexington cooperated in the rescue of Dr. Tuesday Brody, a bio-convergence scientist who had been held hostage in a facility on Tyr VII. During an offensive in the Masa System, the ship was commandeered by Captain Hugh Paulsen, an ambitious officer sent by the Confed High Command. He replaced Eisen as the vessel's commander, secretly under the suspicion that Eisen had Border Worlds sympathies. In reality, Paulsen was a member of the Black Lance Special Forces, an illegally-formed Confed faction that was orchestrating the events on the frontier. Paulsen replaced Eisen to prevent the latter from joining the Union. However, Eisen fled the Lexington on a shuttle to join the Border Worlds forces on the BWS Intrepid. Colonel Blair, Maniac, Vagabond, and rookie pilot Troy Carter all joined him and fled, forcing Paulsen and the Lexington to pursue.
The Lexington caught up with the traitors at the Silenos System to find the Intrepid critically damaged. Eisen took command of the Intrepid and led the surviving crew into battle. Blair and his wingmen leeched the Lexington in a successful attempt to disable the ship, causing only minimal casualties and damage. The Intrepid then fled to friendly airspace, leaving the Lexington stranded. Paulsen was executed for his failure to capture Blair and Eisen, and the Lexington was commandeered by surviving Black Lance forces.
It can be presumed that by the end of the crisis, the Lexington was repaired and recommissioned under the command of loyal Confed forces.
Notable Crew[]
- Captain William Eisen
- Captain Hugh Paulsen
- Colonel Christopher Blair
- Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall
- Lieutenant Winston Chang
- Lieutenant Troy Carter
- Lieutenant Drew Naismith
- Seether