Rise of a new war

by Ray243

This is a rewrite of my old story, battlestars A new war. This story is set decades after the colonials found earth and managed to rebuilt their society, and the upcoming full scale war with the Cylons

Author notes.

This is a re-write of my original story. The original idea was conceived about four years ago, and set in the oBSG universe. While many elements of the story has been edited and changed, the core setting of the fic remains the same. This war-centric story and I would attempt to write the military as correctly as possible.

A few changes have been made to the cannon of the story. This includes the population of the colonial remnant. Furthermore, the use of terms like yahrens has been dropped in favor of earth base term to make reading easier. Several aspects from nBSG have also been included. And my thanks to martork for helping me edit the story.

Prologue

The first inter-stellar war for earth was totally unexpected and unplanned. On November 19 2007 AD, Earth received a radio transmission from outer space, namely from the Colonials. The colonials broadcast the transmission to all major television and radio network, causing disbelief among earth population. Many had initially thought that it was a hoax, like the fictional accounts of a certain "Martian invasion" back in the 1950s. It was not until NORAD detected a new massive object in orbit and the US government publicly announced the transmission are genuine did mass panic occurred.

The integration of the colonials and their technology into earth society came troublesome and slow. Despite the colonial interest to help earth advance as fast as possible, the fact that the colonial are aliens led to hostility among earth population. While many communities are willing to accept new technology, others feared that the colonials could make use of this chance to subjugate them.

However, the view changes as soon as the cylons attacked. At earth's date January 20, 2011, the Galactica detected two basestar entering the solar system. The humans throw all available fighters into the fight, hoping that earth could be free of any Cylon attack. It didn't. Despite the Galactica being able to intercept the basestar before any bombardment could happen, one full squadron of Cylon raiders managed to penetrate the defense line and began their attack run. By the time all Cylon forces were effectively neutralized, the death toll on earth population was extensive. An estimate of 50 million people was killed in the attack, with billions suffering from serious injury. The technologically advanced countries were hit the hardest, due to their ability to build and integrate colonial weapons platforms. A number of major world government was also crippled in the attack, leaving earth almost leaderless.

Nevertheless, Earth now knew it was no longer alone in the universe. All over the globe the survivors of the attack knew that they could no longer remain ignorant of another space attack. In response, a massive arms proliferation program began, headed by the newly founded Terra alliance. The Terran Alliance charter was signed on July 14, 2011, involving all countries under a unified government. Countries were now reduced to the title of equal states, while being allowed to manage their own internal affairs, external affairs like interstellar diplomacy and home world defense would be strictly under the direct management of the Terran Alliance High Cabinet.

By 2026, the Terran space command has grown so large that it started to unnerve other aliens race living in Terran region of space. Soon the uneasy peace between the Terran and the Zicar aliens turned into the first full scale inter-stellar for the Terran fleet. Despite the Zicarians having full support of nearly all the major regional alien races, the lack of extra-spatial combat knowledge in recent history meant their defeat was inevitable..

Now all the Terran and the Colonials needed was a chance to take revenge on the Cylons. A new war was brewing…

Milky way

Alpha Quadrant

New Colonial system

Commodore 'Boxey' Troy stood at ease onboard his command as he looked quietly onto the scanner display. As a veteran of the Human-Zicar war, he had entered the war onboard his first ship command, the battlestar Hercules. Distinguishing himself throughout the war, he quickly rose in ranks until he gain command of Heavy Battlestar Group 22. The formidable battlegroup consisted of three heavy Titan-class battlestar, one Ares-class fleet battlestar, two cruiser squadrons, three destroyer squadrons and additional support ships

Battlestar Group 22 was in charge of the defense of New Colonial system, at the very edge of the Milky Way. While the system did not boast any major cities, it retained its value as the Colonial forward command post; the first line of defense against any Cylon threat, if the Cylons were still interested in exterminating all mankind.

The Hercules was an Ares-class battlestar, and the first Terran battlestar design. Stretching over 2 miles in length, the Ares-class battlestar was a giant compared to the original colonial battlestars. Furthermore, the class employed full use of more modern electronics and computer hardware from earth to help in the running of the ship; the ship was geared toward increased automation. Her external design was also unique to the past battlestars like the Galatica. While the Atlantia-class battlestars were likened to an alligator on earth in their design, the Hercules looks more like an American grizzly bear. The head and mid section of the ship in considerably wider and bulkier than the original battlestars, offering more space in the carrying munitions and vipers. While two main thrusters built into the hull provided primary power to this new class of battlestar, it also had four secondary engines surrounding the aft engine cowling to allow increased maneuverability and provide extra speed. Another thing about the newer battlestar was that the command bridge (known officially as the CIC -- Combat Information Center) was no longer built near the outer hull, but deep inside the hull of the head section. This offered protection for the command crew, and ensured that the ship would not lose control in the heat of battle. Seeing many battles in the Human-Zicarian war, this class of ship was already set for retirement, with the Mars class battlestar replacing their role as the mainstay fleet battlestars.

Troy quietly wondered how long would colonial command let him retain control of his ageing ship before his crew interrupted his thought.

'Sir, Commander Altan from the battlestar Gargoyle is requesting to speak with you sir.' Petty Officer Jarol reported.

'Put him through' Troy quietly replied.

'"Commodore, I have two recon probes currently behind schedule to report," Altan said in a flat and serious tone, "I suspect the Zicarians have a hand in this.'

'How long has the recon probe been overdue?' Troy inquired, his tone growing terser as the increasingly bad news poured in.

'4 centares, or 4 standard Earth hours, sir." Altan answered, his tone unchanged, "I have sent two Vipers to check the situation, but they have yet to report back in. I think the best course of action is that you give permission for the Gargoyle to break fleet formation and enter within sensor range.'

Troy quietly thought for a few minutes before announcing his decision. 'Permission granted, Commander. Report back in every ten centons, and raise to threat response level to full tactical alert.' He then turned around to his Communication officer and said, 'Get a fleet wide broadcast, all ships is to raise their alert level to full tactical readiness.'

'Yes sir', the communication officer replied and quickly went onto his work. The Gargoyle began to break from the battlegroup and Hyper-jumped to the last known destination of her support craft.

The lights onboard the Hercules dimmed as the ship's alert level increased. Troy could not help but abhor the lack of direct view to outer space. As much as Troy appreciated the design of CIC having been built deep into the battlestar and away from immediate danger, he hated the idea of not being able to stare deep into space. It gave him the sensation of waging a war with one hand tied behind his back. 'At least this can prevent suicide fighters crashing into my battlestar," Troy quietly thought

'Sir, emergency communiqué on Alpha channel from Commander Alton,' the communication officer reported, distracting Troy from his thoughts.

'This is the Gargoyle. We've made contact with our missing patrol and the recovery vipers. However all regional assets are destroyed, no life signs detected. Doesn't seem like Zicarians handiwork though. It seemed like the enemy was determined to ensure there were zero survivors. The Zicarians never do such a neat job. I'm sending in Vipers to recover and examine the wreckage.' Alton said softly.

'All right, Commander. We will tag confirmed hostiles in system. Have your scanners picked up anything else of interest?' Troy replied back.

'No sir, no contact, I am trying to recover information from the wreckage black box...see if we can see who the bloody Hades is the aggressor.'

'What do you have commander?'

'Sir, apparently our vipers did a scan of the enemy ships, no organic life signs, but rather robotics.' Alton replied, the true nature of the mysterious enemy had yet to dawn on him.

However, Troy did. Cylons, he thought. Urgently he asked Alton, 'Do a data match on the schematics of the enemy ships and robots with known Cylon data, see how damning the evidence is.'

Alton quickly ordered his electronic warfare (EW) officer to perform a quick check, and the result was frigtening. 'Sir, we have an 84 percent confirmation of modus operandi. The only striking difference is that these seem more advanced than the older Cylons we've dealt with.'

'All right, we should inform the Colonial high Command and Terran Space Command about a possible Cylon incursion. Even if they are not Cylons, whomever they are, they attacked us first.' Troy advised Alton.

A moment's hesitation passed, and then the next report came: "Something is wrong, sir. We can't seem to send long-range communications. It's as if we are being jammed.' The Hercules communication officer reported.

'Frack! The bloody toasters are in-system! Alert all Colonial units: we have to jump back to head quarters and inform them.' Troy replied. 'All ships RTB...I say again, Return to Base! We have to get the hell out of this region before the Cylons attack.'

'Sir! Sensors show twenty capital ships have jumped near the Gargoyle, and have opened fire! Request support!' Alton yelled over the communications as the newly arrived Cylon basestars began firing their Pulsar-lasers at the Battlestars. He then turn towards his crew and spoke, 'All turbo-laser batteries is to commence firing! Target the nearest basestar and begin firing the bow Pulsar guns and load the main rail gun turrets and prepare for salvo fire!'

'Yes sir! Gamma and Delta turrets firing…Basestars shields seem to be holding.' Two plasma shots fired from the bow cannon of the Gargoyle, felling directly on the shield of the Cylon basestars, and being absorbed by it.

' Damn it! Damage control!'

'Shields are down to 74 percent, hull integrity is still holding…casualty reported near enjeering section! Our FTL drive is down!' Colonel Triton reported.

' Sir, all rail guns turrets are fully loaded and ready for fire!' The weapon officer reported.

' Fire bow Rail guns Alpha and Beta! Let's see if those Terran scientist are right about the weapons!' Alton commanded.

The Gargoyle shook with damage and began firing her two forward cannons. Instead of being plasma based weapons, the main cannons were heavy railguns. Terran scientists had noticed a weakness of Colonial and Cylon shielding systems. While the shielding allowed energy and warhead blasts to be spread across the hull, ablating incoming enemy energy fire, it failed to absorbed kinetic damage. Although the hulls of both battlestars and basestars are strong enough to withstand hits from small asteroids and primitive rail guns. They were still too slow to tear through the hull. However, Colonial science in sufficient power generation, and sustainable high-speed accelerations allowed objects to have sufficient velocity to break though the hull. Just that Colonial scientist has never thought of it. Hence, the railguns were utilized as the primary weapon systems onboard all warships, in addition to the old plasma cannons.

The Cylons on the other hand, were slow to learn this fact. When one basestar would be ripped apart by the numerous salvos of the railguns, thus shocking the Cylons momentarily, it allowed the Viper squadrons to form up quickly and begin their counter attack on the Cylon fighters.

'We got one confirmed hit sir! Basestar 1 is braking apart! Scanners reporting of numerous internal explosion under the hull!' The scanner officer reported.

'Good. Captain Nova, how's our viper squadrons holding?'

'Bad sir, we are being massacred out here! There's simply too many Cylons fighters!' While Vipers were generally able to hold off massive amount cylon fighters, the odds were simply against them. The total complement of Cylon fighters numbered at a staggering 800, outnumbering the Gargoyle vipers over 4 times. Heavy battlestars like the Gargoyle were not designed to carry a large number of fighters. Instead, the Titan class battlestars carried a massive number of anti-ship weaponry, and often requiring the support from the Fleet battlestars.

Onboard the CIC of the Hercules, the crew watched at the tactical display noticing the gargoyle was not retreating.

'Sir, the Gargoyle is still engaging the enemy. She is being out-flanked and out-maneuvered. I doubt her hull is going to hold on for long. Her port side landing bay has been disabled, and her stern hull is staring to break apart.'

'Get me a channel to the Gargoyle.' Troy said.

'Yes sir', the communication officer replied.

'Jumped out of the system damn it! Pull back!' Troy yelled over the channel to commander Alton.

'We can't sir! The Hyper-jump system is damaged! We cannot get it running in time!' Commander replied.

'Fracking Hades! All remaining ships are to leave the area, someone has to informed Colonial high Command. The Hercules is going in, this is a direct order, no arguments! Jump!' Troy ordered his fleet as the Hercules jumped directly in the battle. The vipers were quickly launched in dozens, and quickly flying to the heavily damaged Gargoyle and provide support.

'All viper squadrons and the reserve squadron has launched sir. They are moving in to help the Gargoyle.'

' Arm the starboard Turrets and provide suppressing fire on the Cylon fleet. See if we can take the load off the Gargoyle.' The four starboard rail cannons began to fire continually and rapidly at the Cylon fleet, distracting their focus on the damaged battlestars and destroying one of their basestar.

However, the Cylon were quick in their response, and the Cylon fighters began forming up on the Hercules. 'Sir, Cylon fighters are in bound! Our Vipers are held up in defending Gargoyle. Should we ask green squadron to redeploys for support?'

'No, the Gargoyle is going to need all the help available, ready the anti-fighter guns for Salvo fire!' Unlike the Galactica, the Hercules had a much larger magazine capacity for their anti-fighter guns, designed to ensure no sizeable amount of enemy fighters were able to get in range. In the fight against the Zicari, wolf-pack formations had taught the Colonials to use rapid and random fire, and the development of a faster rate of fire for the turbo-laser. This ensured that ship defense could easily obliterate huge chunks of enemy fighters, if they remained in close formation. The Cylon raiders were doing precisely what the close-in weapons systems were designed to defend against, and the CIWS were working admirably.

The turbo-lasers quickly fired at the Cylon squadrons, and provided an almost impassable wall. Raider after raider was destroyed in rapid succession, ensuring none of them could reach the battlestar. The Gargoyle on the other hand, wasn't handling the onslaught as well as the Hercules had. Sustaining numerous shot from the Pulsar laser, several sections of the hull had already been blown off. The hull of the remaining areas glowed molten hot, as if the ship is going to melt any second.

'Move the Hercules into enemy line of fire; we'll take the weight off the Gargoyle. Troy quietly said as the Hercules moved forward, and began to feel the full attacks from the Cylons. 'Alton! Could you get the FTL back online?'

'We are trying sir! I doubt we can last long enough! I'm ordering our vipers to land on the Hercules sir! There's nothing you can do for us anymore!' Alton replied, knowing that his ship would be breaking apart soon. He then quickly shut off Alpha channel before Troy could say anything.

'This is Commander Alton to the crew of the Gargoyle. I want you to know I have never served with a finer crew in my career as a Colonial warrior! It has been my honor to fight and die with this crew. To be blunt, we may not make out of this alive, but we can strive to take more of those Cylon basestars down. It will be our revenge for the colonies! Set a direct course for the nearest basestar!' Alton shouted and the crew of the Gargoyle replied in numerous 'aye'.

Like an avenging angel, the red hot and burning Gargoyle began to head towards the nearest basestars. Even as part of the battlestar broke apart, nothing was able to stop the ship whose crew was intent on taking on one more enemy ship. The battlestar quickly tore through one basestar like a battering ram smashing through a wall, creating a shockwave as both ships blows. The crew on the Hercules could only stared in horror at the scanner display screen, indicating both ship has collided head on.

'Frack it!' Troy said quietly before talking to his communication officer. 'Call back all Fighters! They did their job well, an inspiration in our new war against the Cylons. Ready the FTL! We are regrouping with the rest of the fleet!'

The FTL engine of the Hercules thundered to life as the ship quickly jump out of the battlefield, leaving the remaining basestars and the wreckage of the battle.