All that tech still didn't help them when it came to finding Kohl's ship, however. He was either sitting powerless, or was blending in with the normal traffic down in the system. The latter seemed unlikely if Kohl had brought his entire force. He was probably hiding out along the perimeter just like they were.

"Missiles launched! Defense fleet has fired three salvos at incoming bogies." Falcone reported. "From the closure velocity and offset angle, it's unlikely any will hit home."

"New RDS signatures on the board!" Hori called out. "Twenty ships breaking from a holding orbit railing behind the fourth planet."

"CIC puts them on an intercept for the Xinjian defenders, Captain," Falcone said. "Drive output is consistent with the ESA's Class 3 RDS."

"That's him," Barrett said. "Has to be."

"It's part of his force, but I doubt his ship is in there." Jackson rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Put me through on TF1."

"Go, sir," the coms officer said.

"Heads up, everybody. Vadim Kohl's forces are making their move, and it's time we made our presence felt. I'm holding the Nemesis back to wait for Kohl to pop his head up, but I want the rest of the taskforce to move into the system. I'll be in overall command over the Link, Captain Ellsworth will be on-site second. I want the five Super Valkyries to warp hop in just outside the orbit of the fourth planet. I don't want you engaging the twenty ships coming in, I want to you to create further confusion. Watch for those Tritons. They're faster than they should be, and I have a feeling they're packing something nasty."

"A suggestion, sir?" Captain Risher said over the channel.

"Go, Captain."

"We can re-broadcast a message from one of our ships from you to make Kohl think you're aboard the Saber still. It might encourage him to expose himself."

"Excellent idea, Captain. Saber, the Nemesis's com officer will interface with you to set this up."

"Standing by, Admiral," Ellsworth said.

"Very good," Jackson said, taking a deep breath. "Execute move. Wolfe out."

"Let's hope the bastard goes for it, and we can put the old girl right on his six," Barrett said.

"Let's hope," Jackson agreed.

One by one, the five original ships of Taskforce Wolfpack winked out of existence, reappearing deeper into the system several minutes later. Once they'd all repositioned, they fired up their high-power radar arrays and ident beacons, announcing their presence to the entire system. The data from their active sensors was put on the Link and the main display on the Nemesis shifted as the computers updated positions to the real-time data they were being fed from the other ships.

"We're ready, Admiral," the coms officer said. "Just start speaking, and it will get relayed through the Saber."

"This is Admiral Wolfe aboard the United Terran Federation warship Saber," Jackson said. "We are here to take the war criminal, Vadim Kohl, into custody. His ships, including the stolen 1^st Fleet destroyers your ships are engaged with, will immediately stand down or be destroyed. We are not here to attack Xinjia, we're just here for the criminal. Let us take him, and this will go easier for everybody involved. Protect him, and it will go badly. Do not test me. You have one hour to comply. Wolfe out."