CHASING THE GALACTICA

By Matt "p1nkfl0yd" Plenert

Chapter 1- A Failed Search

"Bear, this is Solaria Actual. Do you read?"

"I copy Solaria Actual. Go ahead."

"Your tanker request has been denied, Bear. RTB immediately."

"Solaria Actual, you do realize that if I were to do that, our pilots will be bingo O2?"

"Solaria Actual has considered this, Bear. This system is a tactical nightmare, and we cannot risk staying any longer without Viper support. You are to RTB immediately, Bear. Solaria Actual, out."

Lt. Theodore Roebuck let his head sink back into his seat in distress. Lt. Roebuck had been a Raptor pilot for the past 8 years, and not a single time had he ever lost a single pilot under his command. Now, as it would seem, he lost five. He wasn't sure who to blame. He could blame his ECO, for frakking up the coordinates and putting half of the squadron into a hillside. He could blame himself for not considering the weather and geographical conditions planetside. And it could be Solaria's fault for not permitting further SNR missions. What risk could they be talking about? The human race had not seen battle in over forty years; as if the Cylons or some other race would come out of frakkin' nowhere and start a war? Roebuck, however, could do no more himself. Beta wing was bingo fuel, and Solaria refused to send a tanker. It was that simple. Bear sent a message to his wing.

"Beta wing this is flight lead. Call in, over."

"This is Beta 2, I read you, over."

"Beta 3 copies, over."

"Beta 4 is here, over."

"Bad news, ladies and gentlemen. Solaria has refused to send a tanker. We're going to have to head back to the battlestar."

Bravo 3 piped up.

"Well what the frak does Solaria figure we should do with the pilots? They could still be alive down there."

"Clearly, Solaria thinks these pilots are expendable. There's nothing we can do. I'll take this up with command, but for now you all need to head to the exosphere, spin up your FTLs and head back to base."

Bear's ECO, Lt. JG. Francine "8-Ball" Rusmussen, was clearly distraught as well.

"We frakked up, boss. How the hell are we gonna get past this one?"

"For once, 8-Ball, I have no frakkin' idea. Just plot our course for home."

Once the Raptor breached the atmosphere, Bear could hear the empty sound of the FTL drives spinning up. Moments later, the ship entered subspace, leaving behind the friends he had known for so long.