Admiral Aken Bosch

Admiral Aken Bosch is the commander of the Neo-Terran Front, a reactionary splinter group from the GTVA.  Bosch controls the NTF from his command corvette, the NTF Iceni (A ship of apparently unique class). Driven by a fear that an alliance with the Vasudans may result in the end of humanity, Bosch seeks out the mysterious Shivans (who had destroyed Vasuda Prime in the Great War, as depicted in the first game). He does this by activating the Knossos gate in Gamma Draconis and ordering the NTC Trinity to come into contact with the Shivans. The player defends the Trinity from the Shivans in one of the games early missions.

As the introduction of the GTVA Colossus turns the tide of the war against the NTF Bosch orders all rebel ships to fight their way to the Knossos gate and attempt to enter the Nebula. The Iceni is the only ship that succeeds and through use of the ETAK device Bosch is able to contact a Shivan fleet. When they arrive at an arranged rendezvous, the Shivans massacre the entire crew of the Iceni, apart from Bosch and his closest lieutenants. Bosch and his men are flown to the binary system beyond the second Knossos portal and are never heard from again.

During the optional covert missions the player is inserted into the NTF and charged with protecting the Iceni and hence Bosch from asteroids and attacks by anti-human Vasudan rebels.

Bosch is also the main driving force of the narrative in Freespace 2. The majority of cutscenes are Bosch monologues where he outlays his fear of the destruction of humanity, his desire to contact the Shivans and eventually his realization that the Shivans are harbingers of death. The name Aken Bosch is derived from the real name of apocalyptic artist Hieronymus Bosch. This is a nod to the apocalyptic and biblical theme of the games story.