This is the first chapter to a Battlestar Galactica/stargate cross over my father and I are working on.
Please leave your comments or suggestions to further our goal, and if you wish to read more, please inform us!
Information: The title of the first chapter does not mean it is the eleventh day since the attack on the colonies, but actually references 9/11, a turning point in history in which we suffered a major attack.
Since a cross over changes a story from its original time line, we thought it would be appropriate to name our first chapter "The Eleventh day" to underline that this story takes different paths from what we've seen from both TV shows.
Also, the Eleventh day corresponds with how many days they have been desperately searching for a habitable planet, to collect food, supplies and water.
The "middle" style writing was chosen to make our story unique, and it actually help me find myself after I've written the first draft. If lots of people dislike this format, we will change it to the standard novel format.
Also, to address the matter of Vipers having missiles or not, yes they do. Here's the Armaments for the viper mark II :
2 forward-firing 30mm mass accelerator cannons mounted in the wing roots, each with an 800-round ammunition capacity and a 20-round-per-second fire rate
1 forward-firing Lightning Javelin missile launcher in the belly, with an 8-round ammunition capacity
1 to 2 missiles (In "The Hub", the Vipers are equipped with nuclear missiles, which they use to destroy the Resurrection Hub. In "The Oath", a conventional missile was fired by Narcho at the President's Raptor in an attempt to destroy it, but the missile missed and hit the Rebel Basestar instead, causing minor damage.)
Sam and Joel
CHAPTER IELEVENTH DAY
Lt. Felix Gaeta ran his right hand over a piece of paper lying flat across his work desk, examining star clusters and planets. The light above his work desk lit up the entire length of the counter, revealing maps to the right and left of his work space, some still rolled up. In his left hand he held a copy of the scriptures, a black hardcover with the corners cut away in the colonial's 45 degree tradition, still open at the book of Pythia. It read "Ion is behind us, a life-bearing planet is found, a signpost will be here for our brothers, but onward we push to the place we call home".
He wasn't quite sure what at this time, but he had read a reference to this scripture previously in the Sacred Scrolls. Without removing his stare, his hand reached for an object in front of him. His mouth opened in anticipation as his coffee cup came to his lips. Taking a single sip, he spit it back into the cup.
"Yuk, cold", he muttered, getting up from his chair as he laid his book on the work desk. Gaeta, a tall young man with dark curly hair, had a brownish tan skin. He walked past a desk containing a computer, some neatly stacked files, and some various-sized books. In the far corner he reached a counter with a sink in which he emptied his cup. As he removed the pot from the coffee maker to rinse it, he reflected on where all this research would take him. Still pensive, he prepared a fresh pot.
Gaeta was hoping, as much as anyone in the fleet, to find earth and the thirteenth tribe that had left Kobol 2000 years ago. In his four years he served on the Galactica alongside its crew, he had gained a wealth of experience that eclipsed his college studies. During his first 3 years onboard, Gaeta acted as tactical officer in the Combat Information Center "C.I.C".
He was on the Galactica when the sad news came: the surprise attack by the cylons on the colonies. He was there when Commander Adama first gave the instructions to make calculations for Galactica's first FTL jump since the end of the cylon war. He could remember how impressed he was, helping his idol and brilliant computer scientist, Gaius Baltar, create the colonist's first cylon detector.
Now working in that same lab, he was wondering how much time it would take to find some answers to this new puzzle. He looked over to the clock on the wall in front of him, noting it was 4:37 a.m. Ten days going on to eleven, his search for another signpost to earth's location was fruitless. Ten days going on to eleven, the raptor teams had found no planet matching the words from the book of Pythia. He repeated those words in his head "… a life-bearing planet is found, a signpost will be here for our brothers, but onward we push to the place we call home". Something eluded him, some prophecy that had to do with this very scripture. Yet this time he couldn't quite find it.
He pours himself a coffee. This time, the hot liquid felt soothing as he swallowed it. Almost zero 500 hours, he thought to himself. Soon another raptor team would return with news of what they had found. Would this be it, the life-bearing planet the scriptures told about? Or would they move into day eleven empty-handed once more like they did in day ten? He leaned his back to the counter, taking in another sip.
Directly in front of him, beside the doorway entrance hanging on the wall, was one of Galactica's hardwired phones. Most communications equipment on the new battlestars was networked, but Galactica was built for a different age. In a time when the enemy could use their superior computer knowledge to hack into colonial computers, the best defense was low tech. Local computers controlled each system in the ship, hardwired phones for communications between decks. The bulky military-grade phone rang. Gaeta ran over to it, cup still in hand.
"Lt. Gaeta?" A military voice inquired at the other end of the line.
"Yes?" he replied, not concealing the anticipation in his voice.
"Raptor 3 is back, Lt", explained the com officer "they found a habitable planet".
His eyes widened. Finally good news! A smile opened up on his face as he opened his mouth to answer.
''Thank you sir'' he said with a trembling voice.
Finally they would be able to, not only resupply the Fleet with water and food but they would also be able to explore the planet for any signs of the 13th colony. He hung up the phone in a clicking sound as the receiver drop on its wall mounted base.
Taking a few steps back, he fell deep in thought. Suddenly he remembered a paragraph in the Scriptures. Dropping his mug he ran towards his quarters knocking down people as he turned the corners of the large ship. Opening the large steel hatch to access the resting quarters, he ran towards his bunk. Rushing his hand towards the
Book; sitting on a small ledge, he grabbed it. Flipping many pages he finally came
to the text he was looking for. '
''And our brothers, when they find the planet, death shall hit them like a
Plague. They shall suffer but not all will be lost.''
He read further down breathing deeply as he had just run across the ship.
''And the time will come when we will help them but not yet.''
''It's not going to be pretty'' he mumbled to himself.
He pondered on the search for artifacts or clues that would lead them to Earth. He knew that 13th tribe would have left something the colonials could easily recognize. A temple maybe, or another beacon, a large statue depicting one of the gods with ancient writings, he thought to himself.
A wailing sound resonated throughout the battlestar. The atmosphere was a heavy one. Soldiers yelling as they prepped for combat and geared up, Viper and raptor pilots suiting up for battle, and civilians running to safety.
Geata was fast asleep in his bunk when the alarms went off. It could only mean one thing, Cylons. With his eye half open, he crawled out of his bed to an upright posture. Still half asleep he ran across the deck toward the hatch, grabbing his jacket on the way by. Holding the steel door with both hands he pushed to open it. Taking a step in the busy hallway he was pushed back in the resting quarters by a marine who ran past yelling orders.
He finally made it out into the hallway. Chaos had taken over the Galactica. The floors shook under the impact of enemy rounds, the lights flickered, and the wailing sound of the alarms irritated the ears. Gaeta's heart raced faster and faster, adrenaline pumping trough his veins.
Racing through corridors and around corners, he finally could see the all too familiar lettering above the hatch in front of him.
"Finally" He whispered trying to catch his breath.
.
stumbled across the hallway, making it to the Combat Information Center hatch.
Opening it halfway, before falling through the gap, he managed to get back on his feet's.
Integrating his post he checked several computers and slipped on his communications unit onto his head.
A beeping sound alerted him.
''Dradis contact!'' He yelled in the intercom as he entered a series of commands in the panel in front of him.
Two Cylon base stars appeared in the sensors alerting him with flashing lights and wailing alarms.
He turned around to look at commander Adama.
''Bearing 2.56.76!'' he shouted over the explosions overhead.
Officers and soldiers raced into the C.I.C, taking place at various consoles, giving out orders, and receiving them.
''They are launching raider! ''Yelled an officer at the back of the room.
''Launch all Vipers! ''Ordered the commander as he leaned in, placing his hand on the tactical desk in front of him.
Silence is all you heard in space. The viper pilot had been waiting in his ship for takeoff. Something was wrong. He had been given the no go.
His engines were hot. Eager to get into the fight, he looked to his right. An officer was waving at him shut down his engines trough the heavy glass window of the launch tube.
"Is there a problem sir?" He questioned trough the intercom.
"We have a problem with your launch pad. We are resetting the system. Standby".
The officer looked up at him and back down at his monitor a few times before giving him the green light.
This was the moment he was waiting for; the moment adrenaline filled his body. That moment everything seemed surreal.
His viper, a mark II, carrying two 30mm Thraxon forward-firing kinetic energy weapons on each wing and two lightning javelin missiles, lurked forward in a singular move.
Traveling at enormous speed through the launch tube, his body pressed into his ejectable seat. His breathing got heavy, and his vision grew dark due to the G force of the push.
In one instance it was all over. Launched into space, he was now in command of his ship. Taking a feel for it, making it sway left and right, he finally turned his ship toward the ongoing battle.
The sight was impressive! Space stretched over miles in front of him. The Galactica's sight never got old. He imagined stretching out his hand out of his cot pit and touching the outer shell of the beautiful ship.
He turned his eyes to gaze onto the base stars and the raiders flying formation toward the fleet. He breathed in and back out, and concentrated on the battle ahead.
The raiders swarmed in over the fleet, taken down several Vipers as they moved forward.
Commander Adama looked at the coms officer.
"Alert the fleet to execute an emergency jump! Now!" he said with a commanding voice.
The coms officer nodded slightly and turned back to his monitor, talking into his ear set.
The battle kept raging on as the fleet jump. Ship after ship, they left in a flash of light, until, only the Galactica remained against all odds.
The Galactica flak turrets were doing their best to keep missiles and enemy fire from striking the massive ship.
Enemy fire still managed to get through even though the colonials were doing all their possible to keep the enemy at bay.
The viper pilots heard the call on their coms inside their helmets.
"All vipers, prepare for emergency landing" a voice crackled through the speakers.
"Jump on my mark!" The commander ordered.
"Dradis contact! Geata yelled over the sound of explosions and pilots yelling their position over the intercoms of the ship.
"Two base star's in approach!" Another officer shouted.
The Galactica was surrounded, missiles coming in from all directions.
"Sir, all vipers are docked! One raptor not accounted for!"
"FRAK!" shouted the commander as he banged his fist against the desk.
"Radiological alarm!" D yelled as she got up from her seat.
"JUMP!" Adama yelled!
The galactica, in a moment of distress, disappeared into space, nuclear missiles barely missing the ship.
Silence regained the decks of the Battlestar. They had narrowly escaped extermination, but maybe luck wouldn't be on their side next time.
The commander was on the phone talking urgently, probably planning their next step, a rescue team for the raptor or something.
He turned toward Geata. " The president is on the line, she wants to talk to you. " he said as he handed him the hard wire phone.
-''Lt. Geata?''
-''Yes Madame president what can I do for you?'' he asked taking in a deep breath
-''Yes, have you done the research I asked for?''She asked
-''Yes in fact, I'm working on it right now. I'm trying to find more clues, but no luck yet'' he answered as he passed is hand in is hair, looking around the room.
-''I've received your initial report and me and the commander have agreed to send a team to the planets surface.'' she replied.
-'' thats great. Excuse me but I have to go I've got routine checks to make, and my help is needed, I'm sorry.'' he apologized.
The president was actually the Secretary of Education. Her first actions included organizing all FTL-capable ships together and convincing Commander to abandon a retaliatory attack on the Cylons.
He hung up the phone.
Lt. Geata went back to his desk. The deck was now clear of the injured and repairs were on the way. Taking his check board in his hands he ran some simulations on the computers. Some of witch would take up several hours because the computers weren't networked. His computer lite up as he touched one of the several buttons with his index. The computer was directly intergrated into his work desk, so he had to remove papers that were lying on the screen. After several hours of frustrating work, he finally got up and left the C.I.C to go get coffee. On his way he had thought about how much rack time would be good. But he had to monitor the D.R.A.T.I.S and repair computer software and since he was mostly the only one had knowledge in that domain he was assigned to that job. It wasn't a job he really liked but he had to do it to protect the fleet and the Galactica. Since the attack on Caprica he had worked his head off to keep the computerized system working. Yet, he had no ideas of what laid ahead.