Battlestar Olympia

Episode 1-A New War

"The history of the Twelve Colonies following the Armistice is a bright one. Huge advances were made in space technology, former backwater worlds such as Aerelon and Tauron were transformed into economic juggernauts, and the Government began reform programs that abolished poverty and ensured a bright future. The last things on anyone's mind were the Cylons."

-A History of the Twelve Colonies, Chapter 6, Page 18

"The Battlestar Olympia served honorably in the last war, but its time has come to a end"

-President Adar

As the Battlestar Olympia sat at the ceremonial landing pad in front of the massive Fleet HQ on Picon, the ship looked as if it was brand new. But as the crew would tell you, it was extremely outdated. Its sister ship, the Galactica, was to be turned into a museum in space. The Olympia was to become a land museum. Commander James Hermes, the last captain of the Olympia stood in front of the ship. He was the last crew member left, the rest of the crew had left for their new assignments yesterday. He was getting his last look at the ship, in about 2 hours, it was going to be swarmed with construction workers turning it into the Olympia Fleet Museum. "Just my luck," Hermes muttered to himself. "I serve the fleet for 35 years and all I get is news that my ship is being decommissioned and I'm getting a desk job. He turned around and walked away, towards the city, and a bar. He needed to get a drink.

Fire. Burning. That's the first thing Hermes saw as he ran out of the bar. He looked to the right and saw a mushroom cloud. "Oh Lords of Kobol…." Hermes said breathlessly. He knew he wasn't hallucinating; he'd only had one beer. He heard footsteps. He looked to the right, and saw a blonde woman running towards him. She ran up to him, but oddly she was not out of breath. "Are you alive?", the woman asked him. Hermes thought that was a very odd question to ask, but considering Picon was getting nuked by someone, he didn't blame her. "Yes, I'm alive!", he said. "What's going on!" The woman turned and looked at the mushroom clouds in the distance. "The Cylons have returned." Whatever nerve Commander Hermes had, he lost it right then and there. "Oh Lords of Kobol…", he muttered. He was a Colonial Commander. He needed to get back to Fleet HQ. He turned to run back to the gigantic headquarters. The blonde woman grabbed him. "Don't leave me!", she yelled. Hermes thought for a second, then grabbed her and ran towards HQ. No use letting the woman die.

Hermes stood with the woman in the cavernous Combat Information Center of HQ. Several hundred people were gathered there, listening to what was happening to the Colonies…Caprica and Aerelon had been completely destroyed…Tauron had fell under the gun…Hermes' homeworld of Sagittaron was also being nuked…his thoughts were interrupted by alarms going off. "Radiological alert! It's an inbound missile! Six minutes to impact!", a officer behind a monitor yelled. "We need to get out of here, now!" A idea struck Hermes. What if they used the Olympia to get to a safer planet? Hermes walked over to the officer. "Who is the commanding officer here?", he asked. "I am. Captain John Argus., sir." Hermes grinned. "Actually, I am. Commander Argus. I want you to get these people together and get them to the Olympia." Captain Argus balked. "Sir, I don't think it will fly! The work crews might have deactivated the engines, sir!" "I don't care. Better die trying to get out than to die sitting here. Get these people to the Olympia immediately!"

They had managed to get most of the people out when the missile struck. The ground shook as if there was a earthquake, and searing heat spread thorough the building. Hermes sprinted towards the Olympia, but was knocked down by the shockwave. He got up and sprinted to the entry ramp. He got in and was instantly lifted into the ship. He hurtled past refugees and soldiers into the CIC. Apparently the work crews hadn't done much work at all, as the CIC was still operational. The CIC was fully staffed, and Captain Argus stood in front of the Dradis console, awaiting Hermes. Hermes stopped and took the salute from Argus. "Good news Argus, I'm giving you a field promotion. You're the Ex.O now. Now get us off of the planet." Argus looked stunned. "I thought you couldn't do those, sir!" Hermes shook his head angrily. "Screw protocol. I'm the commanding officer on this ship and Im giving orders. Now go! And get pilots together in the launch bay. I believe we still have our Vipers…."

The Olympia was in space. Surprisingly, the ship was still operational, and it was now racing away from the burning planet of Picon at top speed. They had managed to stay undetected by the Cylons, but Commander Hermes doubted that would last for long. As he sat in his quarters, he finally was impacted by the day's events. He laid down on his bed and punched it, overcome with anger. For the umpteenth time however, he was interrupted by a PA announcement: "Commander Hermes, please come to the CIC". As the Commander got there, he was greeted by a harassed looking Captain Argus. "Sir, we just received reports of a Cylon Basestar slipping out of a jump in front of us. And that's not all. They've spotted us and are launching Raiders." Commander Hermes shook his head. "Lords of Kobol….."

TO BE CONTINUED