Ok here is the update that I promised you all. It is really nothing big aside from a quick rename of one of the side characters (Little to Harvard) and the change from Ward's old ship from the Indefatigable to the Orion.
Picon Fleet Headquarters, Picon. Two years prior to the Fall
Vice Admiral Danforth Ward's footsteps echoed through the concrete halls of the Picon Fleet Headquarters. Buried under four hundred meters of steel, concrete, and rock, the Fleet HQ seemed more like an impenetrable fortress rather than a place to conduct Fleet operations.
The two MPs that escorted the Admiral hadn't said a word to the man since he had entered the base. Everyone seemed more on edge than the last time he had visited headquarters, but he hadn't been this deep into the base in years. Maybe he had just forgotten.
Ward smirked as he moved past the dozens of offices of the old flag officers he had known over the years. He had turned down multiple promotions in order to stay out of this place. He couldn't be trapped in some bunker planet side, it'd drive him insane. He needed to be in space.
Finally, the man reached the end of the long hall way and stood before a pair of heavy blast doors. Two additional MPs stood guard in front of the doors and forced him through yet another security check. He wanted to laugh as the men searched him and ran him through another ID check, for it was unnecessary to be checked this deep into the base, but as irritating as it was, he wasn't about to disobey protocol.
Eventually, the massive doors slide open and Ward stepped through to find two men talking at the head of a long oak conference table opposite of the doors. One he recognized as Fleet Admiral Peter Corman, the reason he had been called to Fleet HQ, but the other , with his back to Ward, could see wasn't wearing a Colonial uniform, yet the Admiral still spoke to the man with a sense of respect.
The two men turned as he stepped forward into the room. "Ah, Dan you're here." Corman smirked, "You're late."
"Apologies, sir. We took a little longer than expected mopping up on Oasis. The pirates were a little better armed than expected." Ward began walking around the long table to meet the two men.
"Did they give the great Admiral Ward of the Taskforce Saber some trouble?" Corman laughed as the old friends shook hands.
"Of course not, but you know, the bigger the bug you smash, the bigger mess it leaves behind." The second man nodded at the comment and gave a smile to the Admiral that was only one of a politician. Fake and as deadly as a snake.
"Mr. President it's an honor, sir." Ward said as he shook the President's hand. Frakking politicians. He thought but continued to smile. "I didn't expect you here."
"Admiral Ward, it's pleasure to meet you, and neither does the rest of the Twelve Colonies. It's good to know we can still keep some secrets." The President flashed his fake smile, the one that had helped him win the election, and Ward returned the gesture.
"Well lets get down to business." Corman showed the two men to their seats at the massive table.
"Admiral as you know the defense budget is being cut, but I can't do anything about it. The ministries are closing their hold around me more and more each day." The President started, " But we still have several weapon projects that need to be completed" He slid a manila folder in front of Ward and continued to speak. "These are the specs for some of the most deadly weapons that the spooks in the lower levels have ever thought up. We'd like to see these weapons reach operational status, but the ministries won't have it."
Admiral Ward skimmed through the files quickly and saw the destructive force of some of the weapons, one looked to be an oversized nuclear weapon, and from the specs it looked like it could scorch a planet's surface. Of course this was probably an overstatement of the weapons power, but it wouldn't hurt to have a weapon that could do that on your side. "Of course I can see why you'd want some of these weapons. If we ever faced a threat that could push us back on our heels these could turn the tides."
"Exactly our thinking too. As you are quiet aware, the Cylons have been busy little metal bastards." Corman stated as Ward thought back to one of his previous assignments in which he crossed the Red Line to take some photos of suspected Cylon activity. There wasn't much to see, but there were dozens of other missions to cross the line, including the botched mission in which Commander Adama was forced to shoot down one of his own pilots. It pained him to see Bill sent to a dying ship after that mission, but the stakes of the mission were too high. It had to be done.
"Admiral." The President continued, "We think that tensions with the Cylons could ignite sometime soon. And when it happens, we'd like to have the bigger stick." The President sat back in his chair and folded his hands across his lap.
"You're probably wondering where you fit in in all of this, Dan." Admiral Corman stood up from his seat with another portfolio. "Two months ago we found a planet opposite of the Red Line and far away from anywhere that anyone would be looking. It's a cold, desolate place with only a small strip of habitable surface. We set up a small base there, and have moved all of the projects out there. Right now, it's nothing more than a few tents and a landing strip, but in time it will become our largest research facility." Corman slid the folder in front of Ward. Inside were pictures of the small base, and a tactical layout of the entire "green" zone of the planet. Along with these pictures were detailed assessments of the surrounding moons, planets, effects of the solar radiation, and any other data that they could possibly have on the system.
"We need a military officer to lead the project, for security and to test the weapons implemented on each of our classes of warships. We've chosen you for your outstanding service records and Admiral Corman's persistence." The President shot a glare at Corman who only smirked. It was obvious that the President didn't like the choice, but Corman had been too much of a pain in the ass to let it go.
"It's an honor, sirs. When will I be deployed?" Admiral Ward rose from his chair as did the President.
"Three months. There's still things we need to patch up on the base." Corman said as they moved towards the doors.
"Great, the battlegroup will be ready." The trio of men stopped and Corman stepped out in front of him and stopped the Admiral.
"You won't be bringing along Battlegroup Saber. Your flag, the Retribution will be coming, but we'll have a whole new fleet just for this operation. The specs for the fleet will be sent to your ship en route to the rendezvous position."
It felt as if someone had just shot his dog. Saber had been his to command for years against the local pirate uprisings. He felt an attachment to each of the ships under his command. But he was still thankful his flag wouldn't be moved from the Retribution.
"Of course, sir. It's an honor to be serving on this project." Ward said as he tried to move past the Fleet Admiral.
"One last thing, Dan." Corman caught his arm and locked eyes with the man to reinforce his point. "This project is of the utmost secrecy. We'll the only people within the Colonies that know where you actually are. No one is to know where you are being deployed, no one. Understood?"
"Yes, sir. Not a word will slip my mouth. I'm not about to jeopardize my new command so soon, Peter." Ward laughed off the some what tense situation as did Corman. It was still unsettling that the two most powerful men in the Twelve Colonies have sworn him to such secrecy. Ward shrugged it off and finally moved for the door.
"Ward," The President said as he left the door. "Good luck."
Battlestar Retribution, enroute to Helios Base.
Admiral Ward settled into his overly padded chair behind his large oak desk in his personal quarters. He chewed on the end of a cigar, but did not light it. It was a habit he had acquired over the years aboard warships. While in the CIC it was against dozens of Colonial regulations to light up an cigar, no matter the rank. Instead, he would just chew on them while reviewing paperwork at the command table, and he fell into a habit around the rest of the ship.
In front of him lied the specs for his new command, Battlestar Group 86. All together, the Battlegroup consisted of four Mercury-Class Battlestars, the Titan, Pacifica, Loki, and Havoc, five Valkyrie Class Battlestars, Nyx, Athena, Thor, Icarus, and Emerald, and his single Command Mercury-Class Battlestar, the Retribution. Their escort consisted of twelve Gunstars, five Sentinel-Classes, the Andromeda, Requiem, Reliant, Archer, Achilles, and seven Paladin-Classes, Ares, Vulture, Hornet, Prometheus, Predator, Kvasir, and Essex.
Also there was a pair Marine Assault ships, the Nemesis and Dawn's Hammer, tasked with providing ground side security for the scientists, along with one hospital ship, Mercy, and four research vessels, Pandora, Decuma, Pericles, and Queenstown. Each of the ships would not only provide security and escort, but would also serve as test subjects themselves. Each of the weapons was going to be needed to be deployed from a Battlestar or their support, and the brass wanted to see that each of the mainline units could deploy them. It seemed to be an over-kill of ships and firepower, but what the spooks in Picon want, they get.
The most interesting, though, had to be one of the Valkyrie Class, the Nyx. Its hull was dark, making it impossible to see to the naked eye in space, but that was not what made it special. It was also covered in a carbon compound used on the Stealth Star recon fighters, that would deflect DRADIS scans making it nearly impossible to see on DRADIS. It was a perfect stealth ship, for it did not sacrifice its firepower for stealth. So if it was in trouble, it could shoot its way out as a normal Valkyrie Class Battlestar would.
The internal systems were also much different, including the addition of a forward bridge, instead of a CIC, the one flaw Ward saw in the ship. Large view ports such as the one in the forward bridge of the Nyx tended to weak points in the ship's hull, and with the entire command crew so exposed, the ship could very quickly be sent out of action.
Ward was satisfied with his new command. It was almost three times the size of his last, and hopefully would have a better purpose for the Twelve Colonies. Ward closed the file and awaited for the Retribution to reach Helios.
Helios Base, Planet Helios. Four days prior to the Fall.
"It's so frakking cold down here." Lieutenant Scott McKnight said as he walked down the snowy concrete pathways that were hastily constructed almost two years ago. He looked across the parade ground of Helios Base towards the nine large steel buildings that made up the research complex on the base. Behind them was the large hangar that seemed to be upgraded every time he came down from orbit due to its ever expanding needs. The first time he came down to the Helios Base, the hangar was nothing more than a small landing strip with a few tents surrounding it. Now, it was capable of replacing any parts for the Viper MK VIII and it could support over two hundred of the Vipers, not that they had that many pilots groundside, however.
Beyond the hangar, was the "residential" area as they liked to call it. Six months into the project, the brass realized that the civilian personnel couldn't operate as well being cut off from their families and homes for so long. So to keep the civilian sector on track, the military quietly shipped in the families of close to one thousand of the civilians. Quickly, their small project turned from a research base, into a small city and it has been growing ever since. Close to four thousand people now lived in the base.
"Quit complaining, at least there is fresh air and a place to stretch our legs down here." Lieutenant Jessica Keen said coming up to his side.
Scott let out a little chuckle at his friend's comment as they continued down the concrete path. "That's a good point . You always know how to find the silver lining, Jess."
The ECO laughed and rubbed her hands together trying to warm them up. "I have to, it's the ECO's job to be an optimist. You Raptor pilots just find ways that things will go wrong." Scott laughed again as he walked down the path with his ECO. Ever since they had been paired together almost four years ago, they had been closer than any one else at Helios. But now their enlistments were up, and they had both decided to leave the Colonial Fleet.
Admiral Ward had asked them both to report to his office planet side before they left Helios. Probably to try and sway them back into service. The man was crazy about the Fleet. Some say he left his wife for the Fleet, but he always thought that was too far. Ward was a good man, and had always thought so.
After passing through several security checkpoints, the pair was finally heading down into the deep bunkers of Helios base. The MP escorting them had said that the Admiral's office was on the lower levels, almost one hundred meters below the surface of the planet. A bit much for a base that no one aside from the inhabitants and a few select people in the Colonies knew about, Scott thought, but it never hurt to protect your assets.
"Well, this is it. Good luck to you both with the Admiral." The MP saluted the two officers and went on his way.
"That just makes this a whole lot better. MPs wishing us luck." Jessica laughed as she tapped slightly on the door.
"MPs are fools, they don't know the Admiral like we do. It'll be fine. Soon we'll be back on Caprica living the good life." Scott pulled his arm around her shoulder and laughed a bit to lift her sprit.
"Right, I can't wait. When I got shipped out here, I thought that I'd never see the Colonies again. I don't know why, I just did." Jessica replied pulling him in for a hug.
"No, we'll see them again. Our homes, our families, our friends." He pulled back and looked at her with a smile. "We're going home, Jess."
Helios Base, Planet Helios. Four days prior to the Fall.
"But Admiral, nearly ninety five percent of the Colonial Fleet has been upgraded with these new systems." Admiral Ward sat back in his large chair, placing his face in his hands. These civilians that the president had been sending over were getting on his nerves.
"Listen, I don't care that the Fleet has been upgraded. My Battlegroup is staying here until the project is complete. We've only got a few more months until Doctor Allen has completed his work." The man's face flushed with anger, most likely because they had been butting heads with one another since he had arrived three days ago. It didn't bother the Admiral, though. This was his Battlegroup, and he would do what he wanted with it.
"Listen, Admiral, we could just take a few of your ships at a time and upgrade the-." Ward waved his hand in irritation. These defense spooks just didn't take no for an answer.
"Taking even just a handful of my ships would put them in an dry dock for a three month overhaul. That would delay the project for several months. It just isn't probable to delay the project so long." Ward said as a finality. "That's all, you're dismissed." The man nodded and walked out of the room without saying another word.
The Admiral looked around the small office. Concrete walls, almost no decorations aside from one picture of his family hanging on the wall. He hated having to come down to the planet's surface and sit in this office. Actually, he hated being off of his ship period. His wife used to tell him that he spent more time aboard that ship than the house they had on Virgon. It was true, and that is why she left him.
He had climbed the ranks of the Colonial Fleet through extreme dedication to it. During the first Cylon War, he made his name when he single handedly brought down a pair of Baseships with his Battlestar, the Orion in a trap he had laid over Tuaron as just a Major. Then he led the rallying defense of the Aquarion and stone walled the Cylons there. After the war, he led a campaign to destroy pirates that were terrorizing some of the Colonies in Operation Sideswipe, but through all of that, it left little time for his family. His wife left him several years ago and took his three children with her.
Ward stood up from his desk and looked over the picture of his family. Just because he was away so much didn't mean he didn't love them. He loved his family more than anything in the Colonies, but just could never show them enough.
His two sons had tried to follow in his footsteps and join the Colonial Fleet, but his wife wouldn't let them. Instead they moved to Caprica and opened a bar there. From their last letter, which was close to a year ago, they were doing well there and had made a name for themselves.
His youngest daughter, Tania, however, had stayed on Leonis. She always tried her best to stay in touch with him, always sending letters talking whenever she could. Last he had heard, she was working for a prominent doctor as a PA. She always wanted to be a doctor, and he prayed that she would make there one day.
Ward returned to his desk and decided to finish up what paper work he had left so that he could return to his flagship, the Retribution. The reports were picking up since they were nearing the end of the project and the President wanted to know how everything was faring.
Just as Ward was getting comfortable again, there was a knock at his door. "Enter." He said, sliding the papers off of his desk and into the drawer. Two of his officers entered the office and snapped crisp salutes. "Ah, Lieutenants McKnight and Keen. I suppose I was expecting you both." Both Lieutenants stood more rigid and looked very uncomfortable. "I know what you are asking, but I want to hear it from you two in person."
The two looked at each other for a few seconds before Lieutenant Scott McKnight stepped forward. "Sir, both of our enlistments are up. We are looking to leave the Fleet."
The Admiral sighed loudly. "You're both a damn good Raptor team. I'd hate to lose you."
"Yes, sir, but we feel that we've put in six good years for the Fleet, it's just time for us to move on." McKnight said. Ward scratched the stubble of his beard and stood up.
"Well then I can't keep you here. A civilian freighter will be unloading supplies until tomorrow. It will take you back to the Colonies." The two Lieutenants nodded and snapped crisp salutes to the Admiral.
"Thank you, sir. It has been an honor to serve with you." Lieutenant Keen finished her salute and shook the man's hand, as did Lieutenant McKnight.
"Good luck to both of you." With that the Raptor team left the small office and the Admiral sat back just to watch the door for a while. They were good officers, and he hated to let them go, but not everyone could lose their loved ones like he did.
Battlestar Retribution. Two days prior to the Fall.
Lieutenant James Atlas stood in the center of the long hangar deck, staring at the row of Vipers before him. The light gray metal shown dully in the hangar's overhead lights. It had always calmed him to look at their steeds that carried them into the dark unknown. The planes were so graceful, so elegant in space that they reminded him of the horses that had once carried the great warriors into battle long before man traveled the stars.
"James! Hey James!" Joker was broken from his stupor when his friend jogged up to his side. Lieutenant Megan Fel grabbed his arm and tugged him towards her gently. The two had been friends since flight school almost a year and a half ago. "Come on big man. Today is your big day." James dropped his eyes and smiled while giving into Avery's pull. Today was his one thousandth landing, one of the biggest accomplishment a pilot could make aboard a Battlestar.
"Easy, Trix. I'm coming." He laughed as she continued to drag him out of the hangar. "Aww. Did I hurt the big bad Joker?" She joked as they left the hangar deck.
The two pilots entered the normally quiet pilot's quarters to find the all of the Warhawk Squadron Viper pilots waiting to surprise them. "Hey he finally crashed down onto the deck one thousand times!" Lieutenant Jacob Falls yelled when they entered the room. James braced himself, but Falls still overtook him wrapped him up, embracing him. When Jacob finally dropped him to his feet, two more pilots were on top of him in an instant. Both were grinning wildly as they smeared paint onto his forehead in large block numbers "1000".
"To Joker and his one thousandth landing!" Their CAG, Major Dayton Hawke, stepped atop the table that was centered in the middle of the cramped quarters holding a small tin glass. Another pilot handed James a glass as well. Each of the pilots called back to him, "To the thousandth!" They all drank together and the warm liquid burned as it ran down Joker's throat. The second he brought the glass down, it was filled again. The pilot's ritual continued for several minutes, toasting to one another and their great Battlestar Retribution.
"Attention on deck!" The shout echoed throughout the pilot's quarters. The entire deck fell silent as Admiral Ward stepped into the room followed closely behind by Commander Allyson Shard. The two officers stood silently in front of the pilots who stood at rigid attention. James felt the normal butterflies flutter in his stomach that came when the Admiral was near. Despite being stationed on the Retribution for close to two years, he couldn't feel comfortable around the man.
Finally, the Admiral cracked a smile and said, "As you were pilots. Lieutenant Atlas, where are you?" Grinning widely, Joker stepped forward and snapped a salute to the Admiral. Still smiling, the Admiral returned his salute and held out his hand to the him. "Congratulations, Joker." The pilot grabbed his hand and shook it furiously.
"Thank you, sir." Megan was leaning against her bunk on the other side of the room, trying to suppress her laughs. He had to look like a fool in front of the Admiral.
"This is a grand thing, Lieutenant. You make us all proud." Commander Shard picked up one of the drinks and raised it to make a toast. "This day belongs to you, Lieutenant. Make the most of it." The pilots cheered and each of them drank again.
The Admiral stood atop the table and raised his full glass high. "To the pilots of the Battlestar Retribution, and the Colonial Fleet. Let you always be our shield for humanity, and our sword against the enemy!"
In a much more serious tone, the pilots acknowledged the Admiral's toast and drank again. The sword and shield, that's what they were, James thought, and nothing would slip through them.
Battlestar Gladiator. One day prior to the Fall.
"Gods damn it!" Commander Andrew Weaver slammed his hand on the command table.
"Sir, the systems are new. We're working out problems with the new Command Navigation Programs, but that isn't the problem." Lieutenant Marcel answered with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Then what is the problem, lieutenant?" Weaver asked as he dropped his face into his hands. This shakedown cruise was going to drive him insane.
"Sir, when the CNP was put aboard our ship the were forced to network all of the computers…"
Weaver looked up at the young lieutenant before speaking, "Yes, I'm well aware that our frakking computers are networked, lieutenant. Get to the Gods damn point." Weaver was beyond furious that the systems had crashed for the fourth time on their so called easy shakedown run.
"Yes, sir. Our systems are older and they can't handle the amount of networking that they brass is throwing into the Gladiator. The old computers try and keep up, but they can't and crash."
"Then what do we do about it, lieutenant?" Weaver stood to face the man.
"Uh, well sir, I'm not in a position to make the decision, but the ship's computers need to be unnetworked until we make it back to the Scoripan Shipyards. The systems will just continue to crash if they aren't. The crew is used to having unnetworked computers so it shouldn't be too much of a problem." Marcel took a step back from the towering Commander and added one last bit, "But that is just what I would do, sir."
"The frakking brass sent me out here to fix the damn ship and I have to pull out all the wires again. I can't frakking do that, lieutenant."
The lights in the CIC, as well as the computer screens all flickered for a few moments and went out. Ten long seconds passed before all of the systems came back online. The entire crew stood silently looking at their Commander.
"Don't just frakking stand there!" He yelled and slammed his fist against the command table again. "Unnetwork the damn computers!" He shot a glare towards his tactical officer. "You'd better be right about this, Marcel."
"Yes, sir. It'll work." Marcel turned quickly and moved to his station to begin work on the computer systems.
Colonel Zachary Spears strutted through the hatch of the CIC with a smirk on his face as moved his way over to the command table. The XO was the only one that could calm the Commander's temper on the ship, and everyone knew to stay out of the COs way before the XO got to him.
"I see you've taken a liking to our new Tactical Officer." The Colonel shot a glance over his shoulder to look at the officer working hard at his station. "You making friends, Commander?'
The Commander let out a grunt of what could have either been humor, or disagreement, even he didn't know. "If he's wrong I'll have his ass like the last one. What frak was that kid's name?" Weaver scratched his head for a few seconds before Spears answered.
"Portman. You'd know if you didn't throw him off the ship after just two weeks." Spears said with a hint of accusation in his voice.
"The kid was slow and needed to be gone. Just like this kid's probably going to find himself out of here too." Weaver said looking down to his reports.
"Sir, all systems have been unnetworked. Should we plot a jump now?" Lieutenant Marcel called from his station.
"The kid's got balls you know." Zach started, "He's telling you what to do now."
Weaver glared at his XO who was grinning like a fool at the Commander. "This is the moment of truth. He fraks this up he's gone."
Spears said nothing, but waved his hand as if allowing the Commander to proceed with his trial.
"Do it, lieutenant." Weaver held his breath as the lieutenant plotted a series of numbers into his console . He double checked and then triple checked the numbers before plugging them into the system.
"Attention all hands, prepare for jump. Systems have been unnetworked, all crews should compensate for this now." Marcel spoke through the PA system and simultaneously plugged the jump key into the system. "All hands prepare to jump in, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now."
Weaver felt the usual discomfort of the ship jumping turn his stomach inside out and then back in again as they reentered normal space. The crew fell silent for a few long seconds, waiting for the systems to fail as they had with each previous jump. Nothing. All systems stayed online. The crew cheered as a sign of relief that their ship could once again, get from point A to point B.
"Well looks like the boy gets to stay." Spears laughed and looked over at the ecstatic tactical officer. "Good work, lieutenant."
Again, Weaver let out an inaudible grunt and looked down at his paper work. "The boy can stay for now."
Spears let out a short laugh and slapped his hand on the commander's shoulder. "Getting a little soft on us are you?"
Weaver couldn't help but laugh a little himself. "Don't count on it, Colonel."
Battlestar Retribution Combat War Games in orbit over Helios. One hour prior to the Fall.
Come on you son of a bitch. Lieutenant James Atlas pushed on the throttle to try and keep up with the new Viper MK VIII he was pursuing. The MK VII he was in was a damn good interceptor, but these new MK VIIIs they had developed over the last two years were a whole new level.
"This is Joker, I'm taking the shot." Atlas squeezed the trigger on his Viper at the enemy he was engaging. In the last second, the MK VIII pulled a gut wrenching maneuver and whisked out of his fire. "Frak!" He yelled as the enemy slipped from his grasp.
"Gods damnit, Joker!" His wing man yelled to him as he pulled farther onto his wing. "Check your three o'clock we've got incoming." Another pair of MK VIIIs pushed closer towards them.
"I got it, you take this little bastard." Joker replied as he pulled his Viper around his wing man to engage the new targets.
The enemy Vipers were still too far out, he'd have to wait until they were in maximum firing range for his guns. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he didn't really know, that wasn't more than a few seconds. His enemy closed the gap between them in a blur of motion, even the DRADIS was having a bit of trouble keeping up. "In my sights, firing." Again, Joker squeezed the trigger, but this time he watched as the dummy tracer rounds shut down his opponent's Viper.
There was no time to celebrate his small victory. The other pilot flipped his Viper about and began to engage Joker. The two fighters were now heading straight for one another, guns firing the whole way. Closer, closer the Vipers drew to one another. When they were a mere meter away, Joker jerked back on his flight stick and rolled his Viper away from the enemy he was playing chicken with. It set him in prime position to turn the fighter about since he was already half way through his maneuver. In a matter of seconds, this little fight would be over. I've got you now you little bastard. He thought as he tried to pull his Viper end over end to get on his enemies six.
"What?" It didn't even occur to him that he had spoken. The hostile Viper had already spun about and was heading for him. "Frak!" He yelled again as he succumbed to being the pursued once again and jammed his throttle forward.
His thrusters ignited as he tore through empty space and away from his attacker. The tracers flew all around the canopy of his Viper, but none of them connected. Every maneuver, every trick, everything he knew he was doing to keep this enemy from tearing him apart.
"Zip! I need you help out here. I've got one on my six and I can't shake this bastard." He waited a few seconds and jerked his Viper yet again to avoid a burst from his pursuer. "Zip respond! Zip!" Again there was no reply, and he was running out of tricks to keep the hostile at bay.
Joker glanced down at his DRADIS as he put the Viper into a high Gee turn to stay alive. All forty three Viper MK VIIs had faded from the DRADIS screen. Just my Gods damn luck. Everyone else gets to get killed while I'm frakking stuck with twenty six frakking MK VIIIs. The red markers began swarming the DRADIS around him. This won't end well. Might as well try and take a few of the bastards with me while I can. But he couldn't with this one bugger right on his ass. Time to stop running I guess.
He pulled his Viper around and squeezed the trigger the whole way spraying rounds as he went. His enemy continued its blind charge, but Joker had something else in mind. He pushed his Viper vertical to move out of the fire and hit his throttle putting them into another chicken fight. Let's hope this asshole will move. At the very last second, he pulled his Viper around and let the momentum carry his Viper straight towards his enemy. If his target broke and moved out of the way, then he'd fall straight into his firing solution, if he didn't, they'd both be gone.
Joker closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable crash between the two Vipers. He looked up to see the MK VIII graze the top of his canopy and spiral out of control right into his sights. Gotcha. He fired and the dummy round connected with the hostile, putting him out of action.
"Take that you frakking piece of shit!" He yelled over an open wireless channel. The victory was, yet again, shot lived. The alarm blared in his cockpit and all of his controls went dead. "Gods damnit." He muttered to himself. Seconds later another MK VIII blew past his canopy.
"Always check your six, Joker." The ever present voice of his Squadron commander filled his cockpit. He'd never hear the end of it from him.
"Attention all pilots, the simulation is over. I repeat, simulation is over. Restoring power to all flight systems now." The Retribution's communications officer rang in his ear.
"How'd we do, Katie?" Joker laughed as he asked the Communications Officer.
His comment was received with a laugh of her own. "Fourteen kills. Better than last time, but still shit, just like you, Joker."
"Fourteen out of thirty two, not bad. I can take that." He joked back to the officer.
"Yeah right, Joker. We got our asses handed to us." Dante Ambrose pulled onto his wing.
"No, no my little friend. You got your ass handed to you. I out scored you all, so you know what that means." James laughed through the open wireless channel.
"Joker, stow it. You may have gotten the most kills, but your squadron was still torn to pieces out there. This isn't a time for celebration." Captain Forsell pulled onto his wing. Joker shut off the wireless and sighed to himself. The woman never got off his ass, ever. "I want your ass on the deck, now."
Lieutenant Atlas pulled his Viper to the front of the formation. "Retribution, Joker. Requesting permission to land."
"Permission, granted, Joker. Call the ball." The Landing Signals Officer called off.
"Roger, Retribution I have the ball." Joker went through the landing checks and touched his Viper down on the deck of the Retribution. The deck gang pushed the ladder up to his Viper and handed him the check list. He signed off and handed the checklist back to the specialist.
Before he could even reach the deck, Captain Forsell was on top of him. His Squadron Commander grabbed his arm and led him to the side of the deck away from the knuckle draggers. "Joker, what the frak was that out there?"
"Well, sir that was a combat war game." Atlas replied smirking.
"Don't get cute with me, Joker. You left your wingman to go chasing enemies and he was killed." She pushed the pilot back onto the bulkhead. "You don't frakking leave friends out there to fend for themselves." Forsell stepped back and let the Lieutenant go. "You're a hot shot, Atlas, and you're good, really frakking good, but it's going to your head."
Joker stepped back and from the Captain. She'd never been on him like this before for the last few weeks he'd been pushing his pilots to be better and better.
"There's a frakking storm coming, Joker. You'd better be up to the task." He just barely caught the Captain quietly say this as she walked away.
Joker stood almost motionless as he thought about what the Captain had said. He didn't move until Lieutenant Ambrose grabbed him on the shoulder. "You good, Joker?" The man broke from his blank stare and looked at his friend.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good." He took one last glance at the Captain before following his friend out of the hangar deck. "It's just something the Captain said."
"What was it?" Dante asked pulling the hatch open.
He moved through the door and shook his head. "Hopefully, nothing important. Come on let's get some rest." With that, Joker closed the hatch and moved on.
Battlestar Retribution. Thirty-five minutes after the opening attacks.
Admiral Ward lied back into his bunk, sighing a little in relief.
It felt as if he had just fallen asleep when there was a frantic tapping on his hatch. Ward groaned and rolled off of his bunk stumbling with sleep still in his eyes towards the hatch. A Petty Officer stood in the door with a slip of paper in his cold sweaty hands.
"A priority message from Fleet Headquarters on Picon." His voice was shaky, but Ward disregared his odd behavior because he was too tired.
"At ease, Petty Officer." The man nervously shook his head and stood in the door way.
Again, Ward rubbed his eyes so that he could focus on the slip of paper he was just handed. The message was simple, but he couldn't, or didn't want to understand them.
ATTENTION ALL COLONIAL UNITS. CYLON ATTACK OF THE COLONIES IS UNDERWAY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Ward dropped the slip and reached for his duty jacket. Still pulling it on as he walked out of the door way he turned to the Petty Officer. "Get to your station, sailor. We're at war."
The boy nodded, saluted and ran the opposite way of the CIC. Ward moved as fast as he possibly could to the CIC. War again?
The Admiral almost ran into the sliding doors of the CIC because they didn't open quickly enough for how fast he was moving.
"Orders, sir?" Allyson stood at the command table, cool as ever. The first person on board that was.
"Bring the Fleet up to Condition One and get me a priority one channel to Picon Fleet Headquarters." Allyson nodded and picked up the PA system on the command table.
"Action stations, actions stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship. This is not a drill." The XO repeated the string of orders several times before placing the phone back in its place.
Lieutenant Katie Martel swiveled in her seat to face t Admiral. "Channel open, sir."
Ward nodded and picked the handset up. Hopefully, Fleet HQ will have sorted out most of the intel on the size of the attacks. Ward wasn't anxious to get into another fight, but if there was one, he'd have to be in it. The gruffly voice of Fleet Admiral Corman cracked through the wireless a few seconds later.
"Peter, what the frak is happening out there?" Corman didn't respond for a few seconds, but he heard him talking to someone else with him. A slight rattle was heard on the other side of the line as if a bomb had hit the solid defenses of the Headquarters.
"Ward, the Cylons have blown through our defenses here. The entire fleet over Picon is gone." Ward nearly dropped the handset right there. Last he knew there was close to three dozen Battlestars stationed over Picon. Corman continued through the sounds of bombs hitting the bunkers, "They're nuking the planet, Dan. Queenstown, Necropolis, all of the major cities have been hit with nukes. We don't know how long we'll last here."
Corman seemed frantic, as would anyone being fed the reports they were receiving. "Where do you need me, sir. We're ready to go here."
The Fleet Admiral was yelling again at someone else in the room with him. The rattles over the wireless were getting louder now. "Dan, dig your head in there and don't enter the fight." Ward thought he didn't hear Admiral right.
"Peter we can't just sit out here.." Ward was abruptly cut off by Corman.
"That's a frakking order, Admiral Ward. Those weapons could give us a fighting chance later. Hold out and wait for further orders." Another rattle came through the wireless followed by a loud crash. Corman didn't respond for a long time.
"Admiral Corman…" Nothing over the line, "Corman… Peter!" The wireless stayed dead despite his repeated attempts to hail Picon. Ward spun around to the communications officer.
"Line went dead, sir." She stopped for a few seconds and checked over the screens again. "I can't seem to reach them again. All communications coming out of Picon are dead, Admiral."
Ward's heart sank. There was billions of people on Picon, and now it was likely they are gone. Almost immediately, his mind shot to his family. If they were nuking Picon they could very well be hitting the other Colonies as well.
"Sir, ship commanders are requesting jump vectors. They're all ready to fight." Lieutenant Yvonne Sives tapped her ear-piece ready to transmit the orders.
"All ships stand down FTL. We're not going anywhere." The Lieutenant took a double take at the Admiral. Lieutenant Shawn shifted uneasily at his panel. None of them wanted to stay here. "Admiral Corman gave me orders to stay here and defend the base on Helios. That's what I intend to do. Continue to monitor all channels and if anything comes through, I want to know. Have a Raptor prepped to launch when I reach the Hangar Deck." Ward started for the doors of the CIC. "Allyson walk with me. Lieutenant Sives, you have the conn."
Ward moved swiftly down the halls of the Battlestar. Crewmen stepped aside and saluted the flag officer in their hastiness to prepare the ship for war. Commander Shard quickened her pace to come aside the Admiral. "Can I ask where you are headed?"
"To the Nyx. I've got to see what is happening out there." Ward turned a corner sharply and stopped the Commander. "When I spoke to Corman the line was cut off. The Headquarters is hardened against EMPS so that they won't lose contact with the rest of the Fleet. You'd have to destroy the entire bunker to cut it off." Allyson stood motionless for a few seconds. "This could be the end game for us, Allyson. For humanity."
Allyson nodded and took a deep breath, trying to take in everything that was happening. "What are my orders, Admiral?"
"Keep the Fleet on high alert and if the Cylons jump in, defend the base as long as you can. If we don't report back, inform Commander Harvard aboard the Pacifica that he is in command." Allyson nodded. She was a good officer and he was glad to have her with him. Ward started to turn towards the hangar deck, but Allyson stopped him.
"Good luck out there, Dan. Find out who is still out there." Ward nodded and began heading towards the hangar.
ONE HOUR LATER, Battlestar Nyx
Raptor 438 touched down softly onto the deck of the Battlestar Nyx. Ward hadn't even seen the Nyx until just a few seconds before they touched down on her flight pod. After the Raptor was taxied down to the hangar area and the door lifted open, Ward stepped out onto Battlestar's deck for the second time since the Battlestar came under his command. The first was just days after he had arrived at Helios and was fascinated with the stealth ship. This time, however, he would be seeing the stealth systems in action.
The hangar bay was unusually empty, void of the bustling commotion that the Retribution's had each time the ship was at condition one. Instead of dozens of Vipers being armed and fueled, four stealthstar fighters sat just in front of the tubes, ready to fly.
He must have noticed Ward looking at the stealthstars because when Captain Jose Burnett met the Admiral on the deck he said, "We're a stealth ship, sir. No need for a full contingent of Vipers. We've just got these four stealthstars and a squadron of Vipers in the starboard landing bay." Ward looked the man over once after returning his salute. The man spoke in a calm and to the point kind of way. His eyes shifted to everything, analyzing everything. The patches on his flight suit bore that of the 413th "Shadows" Stealth Squadron.
"Understandable, I hope we won't need to use you for this sortie." Burnett nodded, but was obviously surprised that they were heading out. He hadn't informed the crew of the Nyx that he planned on going to the Colonies.
"Right this way, sir. I'll take you to the CIC." Ward nodded and followed the Captain down the corridors of the Battlestar. On the Retribution, it took a good fifteen minutes to reach the CIC from one of the flight pods, but the Nyx was much smaller so it only took a few minutes.
When the Admiral entered the Nyx's CIC, he had to take a second glance at it. The whole area was different from any other Battlestar in the Fleet. The command chair and the forward view port were the strangest of all to him, and he figured he would never get used to it.
Commander Espino snapped a crisp salute to the Admiral when he entered. Olivia was a rare find in the Colonial Fleet. She was one of the best intelligence officers, but she also had a grasp of fleet tactics, which many spooks failed to understand. And, like him, most fleet officers failed to understand fully the art of espionage beyond the point of reading what the spooks brought in.
"Commander, we're heading into the Colonies. Plot a jump to Caprica." Olivia smiled and nodded to the Admiral. He could see she wanted to get back to the Colonies to asses the situation just like him. The officers snapped to work and began to plot the jump and prepare the ship to jump.
"Any word from Fleet HQ?" Espino settled into her command chair and Ward gripped the side of the chair to await the jump. They both knew that normally Ward would be in command of the Nyx, but the stealth ship was a rare case. The intelligence officer knew more of the ship's systems than he could ever hope to know in a lifetime.
The Admiral tried to speak in a low tone so not to attract attention to their conversation. "Picon is gone."
"Gone? You mean we've already retreated off world?"
Ward scratched the side of his face trying to put the words easily. "No…" The Commander turned to look at the Admiral. "Picon has been destroyed. What we've heard is that the Cylons are nuking the worlds. I have to see for myself."
Espino let her mouth fall open slightly as her gaze slowly fell to the floor. It was hard news for anyone to take, but for a native of that world, it couldn't be easy. She was only broken from her thoughts when the navigation officer called off that the ship was prepared to jump.
Nodding, the Commander gave the signal to jump the ship. The countdown was followed by the gut turning feeling of a faster than light jump. The ship reappeared in normal space over the colony of Caprica. Immediately, collision alarms began blaring while Ward watched through the forward view port as a Battlestar's flight pod drifted towards them.
"Evasive maneuvers! Full reverse thrusters!" Espino shouted as the debris flew towards them. The Battlestar shifted violently backwards and arced downward sharply out of the way of the debris. "Status!" The officers fumbled with their consoles trying to get a report to their Commander.
"Ma'am, we're picking up a large amount of debris over Caprica. Nearly all of the hulls are that of Colonial Battlestars." One of the officers called out. Caprica had one of the larger defense forces in orbit, at anytime they would have two to three Battlestar Groups in orbit. If they were taken out so easily then there would be no hope for the rest of the Colonies.
"DRADIS." Ward called out wanting to see the tactical situation. One of the view screens flicked on with the DRADIS layout. Dozens of dots representing Cylon Basestars surrounded the planet. A trio Battlestars moved in to engage the Cylon forces. The Nyx shifted so that her viewports got a glimpse of the skirmish. The DRADIS showed the names of the ships as the Acheron, Sovereign, and Cerberus all Mercury Classes.
The Battlestars prepared to engage a single Basestar that was bearing down on them. However, just before the Battlestars fired their opening shots, they seemed to just lose power and begin drifting. The Cylons began moving closer to the Colonial forces. Vipers drifted harmlessly towards their Raider adversaries.
"What the frak are they doing?" Commander Espino sat forward to get a better glimpse of the battle.
The single Basestar fired a full salvo of missiles towards the Battlestars. Ward was waiting for the AAA systems to flare up and destroy the missiles in a massive cloud of flak, but it never came. Hundreds of missiles struck across the bows of the Battlestars. What was just minutes ago a formidable Battlegroup, was gone without even putting up a fight.
"Lieutenant scan the area and see if the Cylons are launching some sort of weapon to disarm our ships." The Admiral moved forward to the front of the CIC and looked out of the view port. Hundreds of flashes went up across the surface Caprica. All he could think of was his two sons in Caprica City. He stared out into the vast opening watching everything he knew go up into a ball of flames.
"Admiral, no weapons were deployed that we know of, but we did pick up a signal being sent off just before the Cylons engaged."
"Isolate that signal and see if it is shutting down our systems or something like that." If the Cylons had a signal that could shut down everything the Colonial Fleet had, then that would explain how they were able to destroy Picon and Caprica so quickly.
"Aye, sir." The lieutenant hadn't looked away from his panel since they had jumped in system. They were all scared, even him. There might not be a way out of this one.
"Sirs, message coming in from Admiral Nagala's Battlegroup over Virgon." Both officers were anxious to hear of Nagala's counter attack. Ward snatched the message from the communications officer before the man could read it.
ENTIRE BATTLEGROUP DESTROYED… ALL SURVIVORS ARE TO SCATTER AND USE GUERRILLA TACTICS… CASUALTIES ARE AS FOLLOWS…
BATTLESTAR ATLAINTIA- DESTROYED
BATTLESTAR NIGHT FLIGHT- DESTROYED
BATTLESTAR SOLARIA- DESTROYED...
The list continued on, but Ward didn't bother reading the message. He began to truly believe that they were alone now. For all he knew, they were the last ones left in the Twelve Worlds. He handed the paper off to Commander Espino and watched as her tan skin flushed white.
"Prepare to jump back to Helios. I've got to address the Fleet." Ward took one final glance out the view port. Caprica, Picon, Virgon. All of them were confirmed destroyed. It wouldn't be long before the rest were.
Passenger Ship Aurora. Two hours after the opening attacks.
Scott flipped through a copy of the Colonial Times that he picked up from one of the stewardess that had passed by. He'd already read the issue once before, but there wasn't much else to do aboard the Aurora. He was reading an article about one of the various singers that had been arrested for possession of drugs. It was laughable that these people were always getting arrested, yet people still throw thousands of cubits at them, but if a Colonial officer were to caught then they would be torn apart by the media.
Scott stretched his neck and looked out of the window next to him. These trips always took forever to get to their destinations without FTLs. Civilian passenger ships tried not to use their FTLs if they didn't have to. The passenger liners got too many complaints from people because of the discomfort of FTL, and not to mention there was always a risk of losing a ship mid-jump.
Out the window he saw the fading blue dot that was Virgon. So far their trip had taken them from Helios to Oasis to decrease the chances of someone asking questions about where the ship was coming from. From there, they loaded the passengers aboard and then started out for Virgon .Their route showed that they were to stop at almost every Colony on their way to Caprica, and of course Caprica had to be the end destination. In total, the trip was to take close to twenty-nine hours.
Jessica groaned as she sat up from her seat. She had been sleeping like a baby for the last three hours curled up in her seat. "Have we reached Caprica yet?" She rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Scott laughed and turned away from the window. "No, we haven't even reached Gemenon yet."
"Fantastic. These passenger ships take too long get anywhere." She sat forward and pulled off her jacket and tossed it onto the seat across from her. She stood up from her seat and stretched her back. "I'm tired of being here, Scott."
"You know I'd love to do something about that, but I'm not the pilot anymore." She grabbed him by the hand and stood him up.
"Are we going somewhere?" She grabbed her jacket and tossed it over her shoulder as she started to lead him down the aisles of the Aurora towards the rear of the ship.
"I just want to look around a little." She said looking back at him for a second and smiling.
Looking around, they both were out of place. When they left they hadn't had any civilian clothing so they were in their duty blues now.
They hadn't gotten far when the PA screeched above them. "Attention passengers. I apologize for this, but there seems to be a Colony wide crisis and the president has called a stop to all civilian traffic. Again, I apologize for delays." The passengers all groaned loudly and several passengers began expressing their complaints out loud.
"The president wouldn't put a hold on traffic unless something big was going down." Jessica turned around to face Scott. Her voice was full of worry, and her face showed the same thing. She always seemed to see things before he did, so when she was worried he was worried.
"No kidding. Terrorist attack?" If the terrorists had hit something big then that might have been enough to hold the traffic, whatever it was, it big.
Jessica pulled her jacket back on and started to button it back up. "I hope not, I don't want to see on the vids that a thousand people were killed by the Soldiers of the One or something like that."
The hold on traffic hadn't been called for fifteen minutes before another announcement had been made. "Attention passengers…" There was a break in the captains voice as if he was choked up. "Attention passengers, there has been an update. The Colonial Military issued this to the general public ten minutes ago." Both Scott and Jessica both looked at one another. The Military never made statements unless the head of the government was incapacitated. "There is a Cylon attack underway against all Colonies. All civilian traffic is to hold and await instructions from the Military. That is all."
The PA broke and the two officers stared wide eyed at one another. A group of people sitting across from them stood up and came over to them. "You're with the military is it true?"
Scott stood up and made his way around the woman. "I'm not sure, but I'll find out, ma'am." Jessica stood up as well and followed him down the halls.
"Scott, what are you doing?" The pair tried to fight their way through the panicking civilians that were flooding the isles trying to find out what happened.
"I'm going to talk to the Captain." Scott pushed a man aside as he came to the cockpit which, to his dismay, had a small crowd of people trying to get into the cockpit. A lone stewardess was trying to hold them back. Scott pushed aside everyone, and once they saw his uniform they moved aside and started to ask him questions. When he reached the stewardess she sigh a breath of relief.
"Thank the Gods you're here. The Captain will want to talk to you." She slid open the doors and the pair entered the cockpit.
The co-pilot turned around and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. "Rob, Colonial Officers."
The pilot looked up quickly and stood up to meet them. "Thank the frakking Gods you two are here. We're getting reports that Cylons are bombing some of our worlds." The man paused as if trying to formulate something to say, finally he sighed and looked at the officers. "I don't have a clue what to do."
"Scott walked up to the man and placed his hand on his shoulder as he moved past him. "You've done good, Captain." Scott quickly looked over the controls of the ship. He'd never even attempted to fly something of this size, but the controls didn't seem too different from a Raptor. "Jess, get on the wireless and try to figure out the magnitude of this attack."
She was already on the wireless sorting through the constant chatter across the open wireless.
Several minutes passed in total silence as the reports came over the speakers. "This is Raptor 287 to the passenger ship Aurora. Please respond." Jess looked up to Scott who nodded and tapped the wireless.
"This is Lieutenant Scott McKnight aboard the Aurora. It's great to hear your voice 287."
A small laugh came over the wireless and the woman's voice followed. "It's good to hear you too, Aurora. Lieutenant Sharon Valerii, I'll escort you back to the President's Fleet."
Scott looked at the others in the cockpit, they had figured the government had been completely destroyed. "I wasn't aware President Adar made it out."
There was a short break as the FTL coordinates were sent to their ship. "Adar didn't, Laura Rosiin is in charge now."
Scott wasn't familiar with the name, but the co-pilot blurted out, "The Secretary of Education?" He shook his head and walked to the back of the cabin. "We're so frakked…" He muttered.
"Yeah, a frakking joke right?" Valerii said, "We're jumping in two minutes."
Scott flicked his head and the captain began preparing to jump the ship, "Wilco, 287 we'll be ready. And again, thanks for the rescue."
Battlestar Gladiator. Two hours after the opening attacks.
"Sir, message from the Atlantia. Admiral Nagala has taken control of the Colonial Fleet and is preparing for a counter attack over Virgon." Colonel Spears held the note in his hand for a few more seconds and dropped it down on to the command table. "There is no denying it now then, Fleet HQ is gone."
Weaver smashed his hand down onto the command table. "Colonel, respond to Admiral Nagala and tell him we're frakking bringing this boat to the fight. I'm eager for some payback."
"What?" Spears asked surprised at the Commander's orders. "I'd love to get into the fight too, but that's not going to happen without some more bullets."
Weaver grunted and tossed the message onto the command table. Fleet HQ had sent them on the shakedown run with just enough ordnance to handle a pirate frigate or a handful of captured fighters, not a full on fleet to fleet engagement.
"Frak," Weaver pushed himself away from the Command Table and began to walk towards the rear of the CIC. "I know, but I can't just frakking sit here."
"Commander, message coming through from the Atlantia." Marcel turned around from his position to the center of the CIC.
"Patch it through here." Weaver took the handset from the side of the command table. "This is Gladiator Actual go ahead Atlantia." Nagala went through the standard authorization procedures to make sure there was a clear line to the Gladiator.
"Commander, Fleet HQ is gone, along with a large portion of the Twelve Colonies." Weaver's heart sank with the painful news. "There is something I need you to get for me, Commander."
He hoped for the Admiral to need the Gladiator in the fight not to go on some errand, but whatever he could do was better than this. "One of our Anchorages is holding very sensitive information, information that can't fall into enemy hands."
"Information, Admiral?" Weaver wanted to yell at the flag officer out of rage. He was worried about some information when their homes were being nuked.
"Yes, I need you to head to Fimbul Anchorage." Fimbul was the largest Fleet communications outpost in the Twelve Colonies, nestled in a loose asteroid field appropriately named the Fimbul Asteroid Belt. He had been there once for an emergency stop during his early years. There was a small storage of munitions there. A perfect opportunity to get resupplied and back into the fight.
"Of course, sir. Can I ask what we're looking for once we get there?" Weaver asked still trying to hold back his irritation.
"The fleet officers there will upload the information from there. You need to protect this information until after our successful counter attack over Virgon." Nagala was confident that the force he was gathering over Virgon would be enough to stave off their attacks.
"Yes, sir. We'll have it done. Gladiator Actual out." Weaver put the old handset back into the command table waited for a few seconds. "Colonel, set course for Fimbul Anchorage." The Colonel nodded and began plotting a jump on the command table. Weaver's body craved for revenge. Back when he was a child on Tuaron his uncles used to tell him a Ha'La'Tha saying, "Blood for blood" They had given plenty of blood to this fight, now it was time for the Cylons to bleed.
Fimbul Anchorage, a massive station with small clusters of communications arrays evenly spaced across its hull. Possibly one of the ugliest ships the Colonial Fleet ever thought of conceiving, but despite its unappealing look it has saved a lot of innocent lives during the First Cylon War. The intel officers there were the first to crack the Cylon codes to anticipate their moves.
"Attention Fimbul Anchorage this is the Battlestar Gladiator requesting permission to dock." The communications officer was in the procedures of sending the docking coordinates to the Anchorage. Minutes later, the Gladiator shook as it attached to the station.
Commander Weaver straightened his uniform and started to head for the sliding doors of the CIC. "Colonel Spears you have the ship." Spears nodded as the Commander left the CIC.
Two marines flanked the Commander and escorted him the whole way. Their marine commander had insisted on having two of his marines protect him, quiet adamantly. "We can't afford to lose our CO at a time like this." The man had argued. Weaver didn't feel like arguing so he decided to just let them tag along.
Weaver was met as soon as he entered the Anchorage by the commander of the station, Commodore Jonathan Boward. The man looked just a few years younger than Weaver, probably somewhere in his late forties, but also moved with youthfulness.
"Commander, welcome to Fimbul. I'm afraid to tell you that your orders have changed from what Admiral Nagala originally had planned." Boward began walking into the station, motioning for Weaver to follow him.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I was told I would be receiving information here." Weaver didn't mind not being the errand boy for Nagala, but he did want an explanation for this.
"Not anymore. We're dumping all of our systems now and clearing the drives. We even have a couple of knuckle draggers pounding away at the drives with sledge hammers." Boward led Weaver through a series of corridors and into the central information center of the anchorage. The room itself was massive. Hundreds of computer screens and consoles filled the room, but only a few screens were actually on. The rest were stripped of their hard drives and absent of an officer manning them.
"Commodore, who gave the order to scrap the station? Nagala told us to come here, gather the information and jump to Virgon when the battle was won." Boward stopped and looked Weaver over for a few seconds.
"You haven't heard?" Weaver shook his head. "Nagala was killed along with the rest of the fleet at Virgon. Once we heard we decided the Cylons would be cleaning house." Boward moved over to what looked to be his personal console. "Information is useless now, Commander. All of the Colonies have been nuked, the entire Fleet destroyed. For all we know, Commander we're all that's left." Boward shut off console and turned back to Weaver.
Weaver gritted his teeth as he stepped back to allow Boward to pass. The Commodore continued to speak as they walked back towards the hangar area, "What is the status of your ship? It's a Jupiter correct?"
Weaver nodded before relaying the information. "Yes, sir. She's old but she was in the process of a shakedown run for her new systems. We're unnetworked right now due to problems with the computers, but we should be able to have it online soon to put us back up to an effective fighting force. We need munitions, though, we can't fight without bullets."
Boward slowed to a stop as did Weaver. "Your ship isn't networked?" The man asked.
"No, sir the computers were too old to handle the systems." Weaver responded.
"Good. Every report from any ship in our Fleet came through here and we got dozens of reports of entire Battlestars shutting down just before contact. We've pieced together that the Cylons were able to send a virus out that effects all of our systems, namely Doctor Baltar's Command Navigation Program."
"Is that how Nagala's force was destroyed over Virgon?"
"We believe so, Commander. I'll send some technicians aboard to make sure they can't hack your systems." Several offices had been following them the entire time and Boward motioned for them to go to the Gladiator. "The munitions on this station are being sent to your ship too."
"That's much appreciated, sir." Weaver gave the man an appreciative nod.
"The training Battlestar Halo jumped here when the attacks started. I'll be transferring my flag to there so I won't effect your command." Weaver nodded again as they began walking down the long halls. "We're going to take the fight to the Cylons, Commander. I plan on destroying as many of the bastards as I can before they kill me."
Weaver widely at the man, "That's the first good thing I've heard in days, Commodore. Just cut the Gladiator loose and we'll give them hell."
SIX HOURS LATER BATTLESTAR GLADIATOR CIC
"Commander, single contact just jumped in." The DRADIS beeped with the sound of a new contact.
Weaver looked up at the DRADIS and watched as the contact disappeared from the DRADIS. "It had to be a scout."
"Message coming through from the Halo, sir." Weaver turned around to look at the communications officer. "He wants us to go to Condition One and launch Vipers."
Weaver nodded and turned back around to the command table, taking the PA up. "Action station, action stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship." He paused for a few seconds as the klaxons began blaring throughout the ship. "This is what we've been waiting to do for the last thirty-six hours. Now is our chance to get back at these Cylon bastards and show them that humanity will not go quietly into the night."
Just then the DRADIS beeped again with the sound of additional contacts. Colonel Spears watched the DRADIS as the two contacts began spitting out dozens of smaller contacts. "Just as we thought Cylon Basestars."
Weaver grunted in approval and turned to Marcel, who had already anticipated the orders that were to follow. "Have the gun captains pick their targets and open fire. Have the triple A open fire when the Raiders are in range, but let the Viper have their share. They've got to be eager for blood."
The guns on both Battlestar flared to life, spitting deadly 150mm shells at their targets. The first took the combined hail of fire from both of the Battlestars almost instantly blowing off one of the arms of the ship. In response to the fire, the Basestars launched hails of missiles towards the Halo. The Halo quickly, and effectively shifted her field of flak to defend against the oncoming missiles. Missiles detonated thousands of meters before reaching the vessel and drifted harmlessly in fragments into space.
"Incoming Raiders, sir!" The DRADIS officer cried as several Raiders slipped through the anti-air defenses and the Viper lines. Four ships headed for the bow of the Battlestar on a collision course. The suicidal ships slammed into the warship, tearing away armor and deep into the decks of the ship.
"Damage report!" The DC panel light up with bright amber lights showing hull breaches across the port side bow.
"Several decks have been breached, commander. We're sealing them now." The damage control officer touched his ear and began barking orders to the DC crews to seal off the sections of the ship.
Weaver turned his attention back to the DRADIS. The Raider formations were in disarray, and were already falling back to the Basestars quickly. The first Basestar they had engaged went up in a bright white flash just seconds after Weaver looked back to the DRADIS. The lone Basestar was caught in its sister ship's explosion, damaging the ship quiet badly.
"Target the damaged areas of that ship, bring him down now!" Weaver barked to the officers in the CIC, and seconds later the massive ship shuttered as the guns found their new targets. The Halo fired her guns at the damaged sections as well, literally tearing the second ship in half.
The CIC erupted in a massive cheer as the ship exploded, and Weaver himself couldn't help but let out a cheer himself. "Both Basestars down, sir, and the Raiders are jumping away!" Marcel yelled over the commotion in the CIC. A bright smile formed across the man's face as Weaver gave him an approving nod.
The communications officer yelled to Weaver that Boward was on the line. Retrieving the handset, he heard Bowards scruffy voice over the wireless, "Weaver, we did it."
"Yes, sir. We showed those bastards we aren't going down without a fight." Weaver heard a soft chuckle on Bowards end.
"We sure as hell did. Now it's time for us to put the Cylons on the run." The Commodore said in a definite tone.
Weaver looked about the CIC at his cheering crew, and it made him smile even more. "Yes, sir. We're looking forward to it here."
Passenger Ship Aurora, six hours after the opening attacks
"Frak." Scott and the Captain worked over the FTL consoles trying to get maximum power out of the systems.
"Apollo's maneuver saved us, but the damn pulse blew out our FTL drives. We aren't going to be able to jump anytime soon." The Captain stepped back from the console and placed his hands on his head, conceding defeat.
Scott shook his head and looked up at the Captain, "No, we can jump, just not as far as they'd like us to."
"Oh Gods." Jessica pressed the headset closer to her ear, "Cylons just jumped in!"
"No more tricks, we got to jump now." Scott said.
The Captain nodded in agreement, "How far can we get?"
"Fleet is jumping!" The Co-Pilot was panicking now. "Cylons are launching nukes! We're going to die!"
Scott pushed the man away from the console and cycled through the preset coordinates. "We can get as far as Leonis, but that's cutting it close."
Scott didn't wait for the others to approve, but rather punched in the coordinates and in a flash of light, the ship disappeared.
Seconds later, the Aurora reappeared just above Leonis. An explosion ripped through the Aurora as her engines overloaded.
"Frak! We've lost the sublight engines!" The Co-pilot yelled, "We're being pulled into a low orbit!"
"Oh, Gods…" Jess was staring out the front of the cockpit. Everyone stopped and watched as several Basestars bombarded the planet's surface with nuclear weapons.
"Captain, get on the PA and tell everyone to buckle up. We're going in hard." Scott slipped into one of the seats and strapped his harness.
Scott's stomach dropped as the massive ship began falling into Leonis' upper atmosphere. Speakers cracked to life as the Captain sent the order to brace for impact. The others were shouting orders, but Scott didn't hear them. His entire focus was fixed on the altitude meter and its rapid decent.
"Four hundred meters!" Even as he said the words the numbers fell below three hundred and continued to fall. The man tightened the belt across his waist, knowing it wouldn't do much when the ship smashed into the ground. "Under one hundred meters!" The seconds felt like hours as the ship neared the mountains.
The massive ship smashed into the ground, tearing the ship apart as it went. Seconds after it hit, the ship slammed into massive rock wall, bring it to a complete stop.
A sharp pain shot through Scott's left temple as he tried to open his eyes. A warm liquid covered his left eye, and as he rolled onto his side, the pooled blood rolled off onto the floor of the bridge. He couldn't see straight, never mind concentrate on one thing. There was a throbbing pain coursing through his head.
As the dizziness faded, the bright lights that could only be of fires filled the room. The straps that were supposed to have held him in his seat were torn as soon as the ship smashed into the ground
"Jess!" He cried trying to gain his bearing in the room. Looking at the lights made his head throb more, so he shifted his eyes from place to place. "Jess!" He tried again, but no one answered yet again.
"Scott!" A body crashed into his side making him fall to the ground again. "Gods, Scott! You're alive." It was the frantic voice of Jessica Keen.
"Thank Gods you're alive, Jess, were is the Captain?" He sat up and saw the woman for the first time. A trail of blood trickled down the middle of her forehead and her duty jacket was torn open with blood stains covering parts of the torso.
"Dead, along with the co-pilot. We've got to get out of here."
He could finally see the whole cabin without the blur he had minutes before. The Captain's body lied in a crumpled ball with limbs turned in unnatural ways. The co-pilot was not far away, impaled by a cross beam. Several other corpses of the attendants and unfortunate passengers were strewn about the floor and some on the starboard walls, the ship had to be on her side.
"We need to get moving. We can't stay here." Scott turned to see a young man, reaching for his arm to help him up. He took his hand and stood to his feat, but again lost all sense of direction and almost fell, the man caught him.
"Are we all that made it?" Scott asked as they moved for the crumpled and warped doors. Scott pushed the man away and began moving on his own. The boy kicked away a slab of metal from the exit and went through first, Scott behind him, and then Jess.
"Yes, there might be others in throughout the ship, though." Jess said as she ducked through the small opening.
Scott nodded and followed the young man down the now twisted halls of the Aurora. A scream echoed from the opposite hallway making the trio turn to look. "Go check it out and continue to move aft. We'll move towards the bow of the ship. If there is survivors gather them up and clear the wreckage. This boat might come down on top of us."
The boy nodded and turned back towards the way they had just come, "I'll find as many as I can and meet up with you outside." Scott nodded watched the boy go back.
"Come on, Jess." The two moved through the broken ship, picking up several survivors on the way out of the ship. Finally, they reached the very bow of the ship, now broken open from the impact.
"Let's go everyone! Clear the wreckage!" Scott yelled and the two dozen survivors began pouring off of the ship. Scott surveyed the survivors, most were in bad shape. Some couldn't even walk on their own. They were limping, and carrying almost a dozen of the people.
"Over here!" The same boy that had been in the bridge with them jogged up to their group. "We're over there in the tree line."
Scott nodded and took the boy's shoulder, "How many did you find?"
The boy thought for a second, "Thirty maybe." He looked back towards the group of people that were gathered near the trees.
"Good job. Now lets get these people deeper in the mountains." Just then, there was a high pitched wine as ships flew over their heads.
"Rescue?" The young man asked.
Scott began to trot towards the group of survivors and turned back to the man, "No, Cylons." He looked towards the survivors, "Run! Get into the trees! Go!"
The pair of heavy Raider came around and swooped low firing their guns at the helpless survivors. The bullets tore through the people and stopped them dead in their tracks. When they passed, more than half of the people were lying lifeless just outside the trees.
They Raiders again banked around and went for another pass. A searing pain shot through Scott's leg as a round passed directly through his left quad. He fell to the ground and watched the Raiders make a third pass on the survivors. He passed out from the pain and blood loss long before Raiders left in search of new prey.
Battlestar Retribution Three days after the attacks
Ward sat back in his chair looking over the reports from the attacks, if they could even call them that anymore. It was a complete genocide that had come dangerously close to bringing their race to extinction. Sighing, he looked to his XO and friend, Allyson Shard, and dropped the final fleet reports onto his desk.
"Honestly, we got lucky."
Allyson laughed, she obviously didn't share his thoughts, "I wouldn't call our position luck, Dan."
The Admiral sighed and leaned back into his chair, lighting his pipe and began to take slow steady hits from it. It was funny how something so simple could comfort him in the midst of all his. "Well, we're lucky that Corman and Adar were wise enough not to tell anyone where we were, and give us enough fire power to launch a small guerilla campaign against the Cylons."
"What they weren't smart enough to do was give us a way to resupply ourselves. We've got plenty of food and water, but what are we going to do about tylium and ammunition? We can build Vipers, but have no way to mine for metals that we desperately need." Ward hated to admit it, but she was right. They were an effective fighting force without a means to supply themselves. She continued, "And what if our ships are damaged? What then? We have no space dock to repair them at. Ward, we can only last so long on limited resources."
He nodded in agreement, "For now, we'll just have to settle for salvaging what is left of the Colonies. We aren't giving up on our homes just yet. We're staying and fighting. All this talk about leaving and finding a more suitable planet is out of the question. We took an oath to defend our homes and that is what I intend to do."
Commander Shard let out a short laugh, "Wouldn't have it any other way, sir."
"Good," The Admiral was happy she shared his views on their current situation.
Since the bombs began falling, the more influential civilian personel on the base began beating down his door with suggestions on what to do. First it was Allen's idea to leave in search of a new home, then it was trying to negotiate with the Cylons to end the bloodshed. The latter had drawn more supporters than his or Allen's idea, but he wasn't going to give in.
Ward looked at the clock on the wall. "It's about time we addressed the fleet."
Shard nodded, "There's a lot of confused people out there. It's time we filled everyone in."
The two made their way out of his quarters and five minutes later they were in the CIC. Ward moved to the command table and picked the handset up, turning to Lieutenant Sives. "Give me fleet wide." She nodded and a few seconds later he was broadcasting to the entire fleet.
"Attention all hands, this is the Admiral speaking. Seventy-eight hours ago we received word from Picon Fleet HQ that a Cylon attack was underway. Since then, reports from the front lines and first hand recon shows that the Cylons managed to find a back door into our defense network. The damage they were able to cause us was catastrophic. As you've probably already heard, the Fleet is gone, and as of moments ago we confirmed that the Cylons have bombed our worlds. Make no mistake, this was a genocide of our people. For all we know we are the last of our race, but this will not stop us from standing against the Cylons. I plan to fight back using every available resource at my command.
You're sad right now, I understand. You're angry, good. Use these to fuel our war machine, and soon we'll have the Cylons turning tail and running from us! The time for a diplomatic solution ended with the billions dead back on our homeworlds. Now is the time for action! Now is the time for vengeance against the Cylons! Our war begins now! I ask you now, put your trust into the men and women beside you now, stand to your duties, and we will win this war. So say we all!"
Several moments passed before the response came, first from the CIC, but then it grew louder and louder. Soon the speakers erupted as the entire fleet began yelling "So say we all! So say we all!"
Ward smiled, they would fight and they would win. Their war began now.