Aken Bosch

Admiral Aken Bosch

Admiral Aken H. Bosch is most famously known for orchestrating the Neo-Terran Front rebellion sometime during 2366. He served as one of the main antagonists of FreeSpace 2. He is known to be an expert tactician and strategist, as well as a charismatic political leader. His main ambition was to make a new future for humanity, which manifested in his vision of Neo-Terra.

The name Aken H. Bosch is likely to have come from the Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch (born Jeroen Anthoniszoon van Aken). Hieronymus Bosch was known for conveying moral and religious concepts through the use of fantastical and vivid imagery.

Biography

The Great War

Long before he instigated the Neo-Terran Front rebellion, Bosch is known to have fought against the rogue Galactic Terran Intelligence on the side of the Galactic Terran Alliance during the ill-fated Hades Rebellion. The fact that he played a role in the stopping of the coup d'état from succeeding has led to popular speculation that he may have been the pilot that the player assumed the role of during Silent Threat.

It is very likely that during his service with the GTA as a young pilot, he uncovered information on the GTI's secret research projects into the Shivans. Of these projects, one is likely to be the forerunner to what would become his ETAK project. These discoveries would play a large part in shaping his future actions.

Reconstruction

After the dissolution of the Galactic Terran Alliance and Parliamentary Vasudan Navy, and the formation of the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance, Bosch ascended through the ranks. He continued to advance in position, eventually reaching the rank of admiral and becoming the commander of the GTVA 6th Fleet. As commander, it is likely that he possessed a great deal of influence which helped him in staging the Neo-Terran Front rebellion.

During this period, as the commander of the GTVA 6th Fleet, he may have designed (or commissioned the design of) a new class of Terran ship, the NTF Iceni frigate, at the Freedom Shipyards in Polaris. Though it is not confirmed that the Iceni was created during this period, Reconstruction is the most reasonable candidate, given the amount of time needed to design and construct the vessel. It is likely that the Iceni was built with the primary purpose of ETAK research, though the GTVA probably knew nothing of its purpose at this point in time. The Iceni would become Bosch's personal vessel for the duration of the rebellion.

The Neo-Terran Front

In 2366 (eighteen months before the start of FreeSpace 2), Admiral Bosch famously instigated a violent military coup, known as the Neo-Terran Front. Masses of civilian and military personnel rallied to his cause, inspired by the expressly anti-Vasudan sentiment of the movement. He spoke of a new future for the human race - Neo-Terra - The promise that Bosch would be able to supply the Terran race with a new homeworld equal in splendor to the lost homeplanet of Earth. Based in Polaris, the Neo-Terran Front grew in power until it had a fleet of at least 10 destroyers and massive influence in Polaris, Sirius and Regulus, and was able to militarily oppose the authority of the GTVA in Deneb, Alpha Centauri and Epsilon Pegasi.

During his anti-Vasudan campaign, he was able to adequately secure Vasudan systems to study Ancient ruins and technology and uncover more information about the Shivans. Among his discoveries was information about the Ancient Knossos portal in Gamma Draconis, and the nebula system to which it led. Using the information he acquired, he sent the NTC Trinity to the system in order to activate the Knossos device and establish contact with the Shivans. The Neo-Terran Front and its anti-Vasudan rhetoric was actually simply a smoke-screen behind which Bosch shrouded his true motives - An alliance with the Shivans that would create a new future for the Terran race.

Though he successfully activated the Knossos device, he had lost the battle in Deneb, and the new Terran-Vasudan vessel, the GTVA Colossus, had destroyed his fleet in Epsilon Pegasi. Polaris and the heart of Neo-Terra was now under threat. A subsequent Vasudan attack was able to oust the entrenched rebel positions in Sirius, forcing Bosch to retreat to the last safe system, Regulus (but not without being attacked by ships led by rogue Admiral Ahmose). Soon after Bosch's retreat to Regulus, Polaris fell to the Colossus' assault.

Into The Valley of the Kings

Knowing that he had no future with the GTVA, he launched a final last-ditch effort to reach the nebula system. He formulated a reckless strategy in which every remaining rebel ship would form a massive attack force and fight all the way to Gamma Draconis. Although Bosch was able to reach the nebula, almost all of the rebel ships who set off from Regulus were lost on the perilous journey through GTVA-controlled space.

Bosch wandered the nebula system in search of the Shivans for an undetermined length of time before being able to communicate with a Shivan task force (through means of the ETAK device) which met with him in the nebula. Optimistically foreseeing a bright future for himself and the Terran race, he authorized the scuttling of his command ship, the Iceni, and for his crew to board the Shivan Azrael transports which had been deployed for this reason. For reasons unknown, after boarding the ship, the Shivans killed all the humans on board the Iceni except for Bosch and his closest lieutenants.

The Shivans then took Bosch to a second Knossos portal in the nebula. Though the Vasudans were able to locate Bosch, they were unable to intercept him before Shivan reinforcements arrived, among them a second Sathanas juggernaut. Under Shivan cover, the Azrael transport which housed Bosch was able to escape into the binary system beyond the second Knossos portal. Past this point, no canonical information is given as to Bosch's eventual fate or the future of Neo-Terra, though it has been the subject of massive speculation.