Battlestar Galactica: Wolfpack

by Phoenix4416

Part of the New Beginnings and Lions of Leonis. The Battlestar Pegasus and her small fleet of Battlestars, having escaped destruction at the hands of the Cylons during the Fall, must find a way not only to survive but to fight back. This isn't just about survival, it's about revenge. Also a crossover with the BSG Ghosts comics and Blood and Chrome. Next chapter up by 08/07/15.

1. Chapter 1

Battlestar Galactica: Wolfpack

Chapter One: Sacrificing the Fleet

13 Lightyears outside of Helios Alpha

Battlestar Pegasus

CIC

Appearing in a bright flash of white light the Mercury Class Battlestar Pegasus coasted along through interstellar space with her fellow battlestars Therion and Arion. The struggles of war seemed to be carved into the once mighty hull of the Therion, evidence of its fateful stand at Leonis with the rest of the colonial fleet. Armour plating was melted and scorched in dozens of places while in others it was bent into shapes never meant to grace a Battlestar or wasn't even present on the ship at all as was the case with more than a dozen hull breaches, many of her guns had been torn apart and others were little more than craters, but it was testament to the true strength of a Mercury Class Battlestars design that she was still able to not only fly but fight as well if her back was pressed up against a wall.

The Therion's sister ship the Battlestar Pegasus was in a much better shape overall and from a quick glance it would take a keen eye to pick out any significant damage to her from the hell that was the Cylon attack on the Scorpia Fleet Shipyards where Pegasus had been docked when war came, yet she too had suffered. Her hull was scorched in a handful of places and, she too had hull breaches and was down a few guns. Also along the portside flightpod many of the airlocks and the outer landing pads had been torn apart by the debris that was once the Scorpia Fleet Shipyards as well as those dozens of ships which had been berthed there. But like her commander the Pegasus was a fighter and to such a ship this damage was merely character, albeit character which had come at the cost to hundreds of her crew.

The Battlestar Arion on the other hand was an entirely different beast. A prototype Battlestar still undergoing long range trials when the attack on the colonies had come she escaped her fate of being ambushed when fate or at least the obscene chaos of the universe had thrown an outpouring of energy from a gamma ray burster across her path when she was on the precipice of a jump causing Arion to veer off course jump-wise and appear lightyears from where she was meant to. This pulse of energy had had another significant effect on the Arion's fate as the networks which regulated the Arion's systems were overloaded causing their forced removal thereby saving Arion from an outside viral attack.

These three warships, now as one fleet, stood as one, each one reliant on the other for their own survival and each one bearing survivors of the now endangered species known as humans.

Leonis Orbit

Cylon Command Basestar

18 minute since the withdrawal of the Battlestar Pegasus fleet

"What can we do about Cain and her bleeding Battlestars? We sent the majority of our fleet with John and those ships we do have here aren't yet up to scratch" Three asked the room at large. The seven Cylon models were seated around a steel conference table under the bright lights which seemed to permeate the entire ship.

Louise, the leading Six of this meeting replied "We need every ship we can get to support the invasion efforts…"

"We can afford to lose a few" William Doral answered.

"You're wrong. Every ship we can muster is vital. Every single reserve ship is now in the field. We have to use different methods to take out this second fleet and need I remind you that there are also Colonial Warships we have yet to encounter" Louise replied.

It took One to say "You've read Cain's psych profile; she isn't one to run and is most likely to stay in Colonial space fighting us every step of the way, so…why not offer her a tempting target".

"And what would that tempting target be?" Doral asked.

"Something significant that can easily grab attention. A comm relay for example. The energy output would spike any Battlestars sensors, all we would need to do is station a few dozen raiders around it just to make it seem like it's important and draw the Colonials in and once they've launched their squadrons, that's when we close the trap and strike at them with everything we have from all sides".

"It could work, but we would likely lose the relay" Four thought.

With a shake of the hand as he got up, Cavil answered "We are machines, we'll make new ones but I can't see the Colonials making new Battlestars anytime soon"

Battlestar Therion

Corporal Seth Hudson could hardly believe that the Arion had survived. The Battlestar Arion was more than just his father's ship; it was the location of most of his family. You see as head of Fleet R&D Admiral Hudson had his pick of fleet personnel and while it was looked down upon having family members working on the same Command it wasn't against regulation. As it was the twins, and his aunt also worked on the Arion leaving only him and his sister Jena whom was working on the Battlestar Galactica as the only family members not on Arion. It wasn't that he hated his father like Jena did, but he wanted to make his own way in the fleet, make his own choices and not go down the path that had been laid down to him while living on fleet bases. It was for this very reason alone that he had become a marine instead of a pilot and although he didn't realise it his father seemed to unknowingly respect him for his decision even if he did feel like he was throwing his education away with the grunts.

Sat on the cold, stained decking of one of the Therion's labyrinth of corridors built in the standard Mercury class style, Seth didn't really take a notice of the lack of adequate lighting, the ship had suffered crippling damage during the battle of Leonis which destroyed every single one of her generators. While they had managed to cannibalise parts and get two up and running and were currently working on getting the rest up and running there was still not enough power to operate even half of the ships systems. The DC crews had attempted a workaround by using emergency batteries to power the life support systems in each section while closing off the outer sections so as to lessen the strain on the Generator.

A pair of booted feet stopped in front of Seth jarring him from his memories of the destruction of the fleet, looking up he struggled to make out the silhouetted face but from the uniform he could tell that it was a pilot "Corporal Hudson" the Pilot asked.

Struggling up, Seth answered "Yes, sir".

"Captain Chen, I'm the Commander of Ghost Squadron. I understand you joined some of my pilots in the search and rescue operations".

"Yes, Sir. It was the least I could do".

"You have experience fighting the Centurions on the Battlestar Atlantia" Chen asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that".

Chen replied "I lost a lot of good men and women during the battle, we all did I guess but right now my main concern is to get Ghost Squadron back up and running which means I need experienced pilots and marines".

"Marines" Seth asked.

"Ghost Squadron is an RRF (Rapid reactionary force) with our main jobs being those that the government cannot condone as well as boarding operations and recon. You have experience fighting the Cylons and I need experienced people. Of course this will only be for an evaluation period, if you pass then you're in, if not…well you get the drift. So are you in or not".

"Yeah, yeah I'm in".

Displaying no emotion over Seth's answer, Chen asked "Your father's commander of the Battlestar Arion?"

"Yes, sir".

"Okay, if you come with me to the CIC you can speak to him. He doesn't yet know that you're alive since our database is down", Chen turned to leave for the CIC with Seth quickly following a step behind.

Entering the CIC, Seth was momentarily blinded by the white hot flame of a cutting torch melting through a secondary structural beam which had fractured and speared through the CIC. Despite being in the centre of the ship and one of the most protected areas from assault this section was just as damaged as pretty much every other section of the mighty warship. Ducking under a three inch thick cable trailing from one side of the CIC to the other, Chen held it up for Seth to pass through. Sparks were momentarily scattering from another knuckledragger welding a new console into place while in another area a lieutenant was feeding an armful of fibre-optic cables down to another knuckledragger whom was carefully placing each one in the right receptacle in the console he was working on. A tarry black substance was coating most of everything and in a corner of the room a corpsman was tending to a handful of CIC crew. Chen led them both to the manned wireless console where Commander Burkett was stood with a headset clamped tightly to his head.

Burkett turned as they approached saying into the headset "One moment, Admiral" before he covered up the mouthpiece and asked Captain Chen "Is this him?"

Nodding, Chen answered "Yes, sir" while he picked up another headset from a drawer behind the console and handed it to Seth.

Once the headset was in place, Commander Burke started speaking into the microphone again saying "As you know Admiral, while we were trying to restore our systems over Leonis, my pilots were busy conducting search and rescue and salvaging operations. They found something that may interest you".

"Cylon tech?"Rear-Admiral Hudson asked.

"No, although we do have plenty of that. What we found was a Raptor that managed to escape the destruction of the Battlestar Atlantia and on this Raptor we found a number of survivors including a Corporal Seth Hudson, your son I believe. He's right here if you wish to speak to him".

The comm line seemed to crackle for a moment as a suddenly overcome Admiral Hudson beseeched "Please, put him on".

"I'll give you both some time. I have Admiral Cain on the other line" Burkett replied before he patted Seth on the shoulder and had Ferguson switch the comm line for him and moved off.

Seth was at a loss for what to say and ended up saying "Dad, its…it's good that you're alive".

"Seth, I'm so sorry, I should have been there. As soon as I found out I wanted to be there to he…"

Seth was starting to lose what little control he had over himself as he choked out "No, if you had been there, seen what we have seen then that is the last thing you would want. It was no battle, it was a bloody two sided massacre, it was a fracking organised chaos. The Cylons were among us, they were crewmembers, friends, fracking confidants. They tore us apart from the inside. There was no mercy, they hated us and they made us all suffer". As he recalled the battle, Seth seemed to fall into an abyss as he continued "I saw a centurion rip Colby's head off, actually rip it off with its fracking claws. You want to know exactly what you could have done. Frak all. So no, the last thing you could ever want is to have been there". Through all of this, Seth's father had attempted to interrupt Seth but Seth had just bullied on through as the images replayed through his mind. All he really knew about the battle was what happened inside the Battlestar Atlantia and those very last moments when he was inside the damaged Raptor and forced to watch the end of the space battle, but this was enough to give a perverted view of how the battle went and did nothing to show just how close the Colonials had come to victory. He couldn't know that the Cylons only victory was a pyric victory.

Finally able to speak, and fearful for what his son had to see as well as his state of mind, Hudson replied "I'm sorry that…there's nothing I can say is there?"

"I don't know" Seth answered as truthfully as he could.

He knew he had went over the line as he spoke to his father and he just wanted this conversation to end but he was unable to stop his father from saying, "I'm just glad that you survived and it seems like Jena may have survived on board the Galactica even if it is Adama's ship. I need to go but I will have you transferred over here as soon as I can".

Seth couldn't let his siblings see him like this, he just couldn't "Don't, I've got a job to do here".

His father seemed to understand as he heartbrokenly answered "All right, but call me if you need to talk or just need anything. I'll tell the twins and your aunt that you're alive".

Seth could feel the tears brewing and he was starting to struggle to breathe as he answered "Tell them I…tell them I love them". He cut the line as soon as he finished speaking and placed the headset back on the console before he quickly strode out of the CIC and around the corner into the head and slammed a toilet cubicle door closed behind himself before he finally slumped to the deck and fully broke down. His mind a tortured, crumbling, defaced fragment of the cocky marine he had once been. So was the life of a marine to witness his friends butchered in an unwinnable fight, so was the life of a survivor when so many others didn't have the chance, so was the life of a man whom had attempted to commit suicide only to be brought back by the light of a Viper. He was a shadow; he could never be the same.

Battlestar Arion

Upper Port Flightpod Hanger Deck

"Just what the frak did you think you were playing at" the harsh voice of Chief Martinez broke through the discordant banging of the vast hanger as he rounded on the pilot whom had chosen to make his life a living hell.

"There is no way that's my fault" the fearless victim of Chief Martinez sour tongue replied. Burn inspected the focus of Martinez ire in the form of a head shaped hole in the starboard engine.

"Isn't there…Crash get your fracking head out of your ass and inspect the damn engine. Do you see how the hull is bent outwards…well do ya?"

Crash had to admit that she did while Martinez continued ahead "And do you see an entry point for whatever did this" Crash knew she was in deep shit now, the Chief was right there wasn't an entry point for the possible round which had created the outward facing wound in the hull. "Do you want to know why you don't see any…because you did this. So what was it this time, wanted an extra boost or maybe you wanted to increase fuel consumption…"

"I needed more speed, the thing drove like a schoolbus".

Despite the mood he was in this statement caused Martinez to chuckle as he replied "It's a bloody Mark 9 for crying out loud. It's the fastest Viper design there is. Tell me just how you increased the output".

"I released the safeties and increased the energy input".

"You bloody idiot. How many times over the past three weeks have you heard me complain about substandard parts in these Vipers. We were already pushing them as far as we deemed safe and you…you just pushed this over the edge. Look at this…" Martinez plunged his hand into the fist sized hole and pulled out a twisted torn apart fragment saying "I don't know what this is without looking at its serial number because your little stunt overheated the entire engine before superheating the tylium lines before they detonated. You're damn lucky to have survived but do you want to know why I have a problem. I can't repair this fracking Viper now because your idea melted through a handful of essential supports". Throwing the melted part hard against the Viper, the deck chief turned and held his head as he considered just how fracked they were while totally ignoring protests that she could fix it.

Turning back towards her, the deck chief shook his head saying "It's too late, I've already filed a report to the Admiral along with my recommendation that you be removed from active duty, you'll be lucky if you'll be flying a Raptor" the admission hung in the air, in the past she could have been expected to get away with a heavy fine, long report and either kitchen or cleaning duties but now that every part of every plane mattered the punishments could be expected to be a lot harsher, she could even be grounded permanently due to them having more pilots than planes. She knew she had fracked up big this time.

Battlestar Therion

Two hours and two jumps later (still in Cylon occupied Colonial space)

Rear Admiral Cain, leading Admiral of this group of three Battlestars was taking a big risk in stepping away from her CIC and onto another ship but she had taken the time over the past few hours to read the reports on Commander Burkett and Rear Admiral Hudson and had realised that Hudson couldn't have gotten to his position as head of the R&D fleet (Just over 1 BSG in size) without being an effective, tactically minded commander and should be effective to take temporary command while she was inspecting the Battlestar Therion.

While the Battlestar Pegasus had received damage at the Scorpia Fleet Shipyard before she had managed to jump, the Battlestar Therion which was of the same class as Pegasus, had taken a far greater degree of damage during the Battle of Leonis as well as the hit and run effort it had been involved in prior to Leonis over Aquaria. As she walked through the Therion's corridors she realised that the route they were walking to the CIC was far longer and more circuitous than it should have been. Burkett looked at her saying "I apologise for the route, we have had to close off a few corridors throughout the ship and in others we've got the wounded and dying".

Looking at a hanging collection of cables looping down from a non-existent ceiling panel, Cain replied "You don't need to apologise, I'm just surprised that you didn't take far more damage than you seem to have done. I'll see that we take on our fair share of the wounded".

As they entered the CIC, Burkett led her to the plot table in the corner where a stack of files lay lit by a portable spotlight in the corner of the room. As she stood there looking down on the stack of reports, Cain looked up at Hudson and asked "I need to know if your ship can be repaired without access to a dry-dock".

Burkett nodded, he'd been expecting this question and picking up the first report handed it to Cain saying "Yes, although we have no way of fully replacing our outer armour belt we can at least repair the rest of the ship to battle ready conditions and replace the armour in most need of replacing. While we are down three thrusters, I'm afraid we can only repair one of them. However the repairs will take time, we are actually having to run most of our systems off batteries right now until we can get the rest of our generators up and running. But if you want Therion fully repaired as fast as possible then we need to requisition a number of parts and system spares from Pegasus and Arion as well as whatever DC crews and engineers you can spare".

Admiral Cain leafed through the various reports which were reading like a shopping list of what the Therion needed before she answered "The Pegasus is currently undermanned, a lot of my crew were going on shore leave when the Toasters attacked…" looking up at Burkett without smiling Cain continued "…But we did take on a number of staff working on the shipyards, engineers and civilian contractors mainly. I'll speak to my XO and have as many as I can sent over. But I need a timeframe. How long until you're back in shape?"

Burkett looked down at the reports saying "My new Chief says that he can get all our generators up and running within the next three days. Our point defences are only running at roughly 40% capacity right now. Another ten percent can be brought back online within two days once we have replaced the power conduits and with our replacements and the batteries we salvaged from the wreckage we can bring the rest of the defences online over the next three weeks. I know it's slow but it's the best we can do with the personnel we currently have and the damage we have taken. The thrusters are our main concern, we salvaged what we could from the wrecks but ideally we need to totally replace our third and fourth main thrusters, until we do so we can only get up to eighty odd percent thrust at most and if that wasn't bad enough our first tylium reserve was ruptured during the battle, the resulting fire pretty much completely gutted two sections before we could open the airlocks, it shouldn't take long to repair the tank but without the tylium to replace that lost, well we're up shit creek without a paddle. For the full ship…four to eight weeks if you can get us the extra hands and I'm talking say 1000 extra workers".

Cain had to admit to herself that she wasn't surprised by those figures as she simply said "Get it done and I will get you what personnel and parts I can. Now what can you tell me about the battle" Cain hadn't had time yet to go over the data sent by Field Marshall Montgomery but she needed to know what happened and any weaknesses the Cylons possessed.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose before opening up another file which contained a brief point by point report, Burkett said "Leonis was only made possible because of one thing or should I say one group…the Graystones".

Cain was at a loss for what he meant and she showed this by asking "What do you mean. A Cylon splinter group or an off the books section of the fleet"

"I'm not sure since I didn't see them in person but whoever they were sent out a message just prior to the Cylon attacks informing us that we were about to come under attack and gave us a roughly accurate assessment of the Cylons strength…"

"How did they know?" Cain asked.

Picking up a report from one of the portfolios, Burkett answered "Their report indicates that the Ribbon went offline and contact had been lost with Armistice Station but they're light hours out so the attack was underway long before we realised. Either way their warning gave us just over a minutes warning, just long enough for a call to condition one. The Cylons hit the major military hubs at Picon, Scorpia and Tauron first. Despite the warning that the Cylons were coming the virus the Cylons employed knocked out the majority of our ships…it was a massacre but a massacre that bought us enough time to attempt to remove as much of our networks as possible with whatever we could, I'm talking about just severing the connections with axes here".

"A dangerous choice" Cain admitted but seeing the necessity of the action.

"And doing a blind jump isn't?" Burkett questioned before carrying on "Once Picon had fallen and Admiral Corman was presumed missing in action, Admiral Nagala took command of the fleet. Caprica came next and it seems that the Graystone group was a group of hackers since a jamming signal was illegally sent out from Caprica which disrupted the Cylons virus enough that a third of the fleet was able to at least combat the Cylons. BSG-16 also jumped into Caprican space in a position that allowed them to destroy most of the Cylons reserves before the group jumped out to the boneyards I believe".

"The Boneyards? Why?"

"It didn't make sense to me until Leonis when they launched mark twos and threes. Seems like they figured that they couldn't fully rid the mark sevens of the network or they needed replacement Vipers as soon as possible. Anyway Caprica was a bust as soon as the Cylons started nuking it from orbit. Adar had attempted to surrender but it seems that the Cylons were having none of it. After Caprica the Cylons consolidated their forces and it took the Cylons just over an hour to hit each colony one at a time while Nagala launched hit and run attacks on their fleet in order to whittle away as many Basestars as they could while he prepared the rest of the fleet and constructed a worst case scenario civilian fleet. Eventually the Cylons reached Leonis and if you thought the Graystones were only at Caprica then you can think again. The virus they sent out here was a true game changer. Raiders were overwhelmed by it, many of them exploding, the Basestars were struggling to get into bombardment position and the virus the Graystones were employing was only getting more powerful.

"Our scouts reported back straight away and Nagala committed the entire fleet to the defence of Leonis. I guess the way he saw it was that if we stood a chance anywhere it was at Leonis. We jumped in front of the picket fleet and while outside of gun range of the Cylon fleet, Nagala had the guns set for contact detonation and had us open fire from range while focusing on the outer edges of the Cylon formation in order to bunch them up and it worked spectacularly. Then the Graystones yet again when their virus took control of four Basestars which attacked the rest of the Cylon ships. Nagala saw an opening and took it. He split the fleet into four, the picket fleet protecting the rear, two enforced groups which flanked the Cylon fleet and the main fleet which he led charging into the Cylon formation. He had us perform perfect formation changes and I mean perfect, I've never seen anything like it, we were more precise than we had ever been in battle drills.

"Then the Cylons had some kind of infiltration models which were among our fleets crews sabotage our ships while a type of transport which we classified as a heavy raider landed in our flightpods and deployed a new type of Centurion. The marines were struggling to combat them and had to resort to using explosives in order to slow them down. By then Battlestar Group 16 under command of Rear Admiral Adama on board the Battlestar Galactica appeared at the rear of the Cylon formation which took quite a bit of heat off the main fleet and do you want to know something, despite being vastly outnumbered we were actually winning, the Cylons were losing ships far faster than we were. The Cylons attempted to flank the main fleet but Nagala had the picket ships take care of this threat.

"You want to know how to hurt them, the most effective and hardest way is to hit the very tip of one of the spires in a way that will allow the shot to run right down the spire, if you ask me they have some kind of fuel line running down the centre of each spire. An easier but longer way is to repeatedly hit the central column of the Basestars just like with the first war variant, this should create secondary explosions which should tear the ship apart. Mind to be honest, this new type of Basestar is far weaker than a first war Basestar, they don't have any point defences to speak of, rely heavily on Raiders and are more like missilestars than anything else, the hull is also weaker but their manoeuvrability is something else.

"Anyway, towards the end of the battle when we were winning, the Cylons had 50 Basestars jump out, something that Nagala felt we could handle no matter where they went. At this time he also had the main fleet enter into a protective ring which the two flanking groups joined, in this formation we took out Basestars faster than we took fire. Adama during this time had dove into the rear of the Cylon formation which while deadly for many pilots was far deadlier to the Cylon Basestars". Picking up a highlighted sheet which had the wireless logs on it, Burkett handed it to Admiral Cain saying "I thought you might want to see this".

Reading through the logs - which while scrambled due to the distance between the main group and Adama's, the logs were far clearer than one would expect since they had been compiled by the wireless operator over the past few days from multiple sources – Cain saw one name stand out and muttered "My son took command of his squadron".

"Yeah, anyway Adama brought BSG16 through the Cylon formation so that they came out over the top and that's about when everything went to hell in a hand basket. The Cylons had pulled back their ships to bracket our main formation so that it was like we were in the eye of a hurricane and realising that we were in a trap, Nagala ordered the fleet to break formation but it was too late, the Cylons had already launched their trap. An enormous crustacean-like Battlestation unlike any we had ever seen before and flanked by fifty Basestars jumped in above the eye and launched an attack on us with plasma based weaponry and nuclear missiles. They tore through our ships like nothing else and the attacks overloaded Therion's reactors making us dead in the water. The rest is pieced from black boxes we salvaged and our pilots.

"Seeing that we had lost, Nagala ordered Admiral Adama to follow out his standing orders while he also ordered any other ship still capable of jumping to regroup with Adama. You should know your son was still alive at this point according to the wireless transmissions we've been able to reconstruct. Adama had the rest of BSG16 jump away to his emergency coordinates while he had Galactica jump into the maelstrom in order to provide a landing ground for the fleets vipers and raptors. During this time, Nagala and those ships unable to jump evacuated what personnel they could while they protected the three ships able to jump before Adama had to jump away. Nagala then ordered the rest of the fleet into a kamikaze run on the Cylon Battlestation, however the ships were being torn apart before they could reach it but somehow Atlantia got her jumpdrive back up and running and jumped to within a hundred feet of the Battlestation before ramming it and detonating their remaining nukes. However the ramming attempt failed to destroy the construct. The Cylons then launched their attack on Leonis and that's when Montgomery spoke about how the Leonis military had prepared for all-out war…this is the speech" he said handing a printed document to Admiral Cain.

As she read it Burkett said "The last thing we should do is underestimate the Cylons but in my opinion they don't have many ships left if they're using the first war variety but I urge you not to forget that our ships are all damaged and Adama's fleet won't be much better".

Looking through the documents, Cain replied "I don't intend to but from now on we have to choose our battles, we need to show the Cylons that we aren't out of this fight yet" she said with such an ironclad belief that Burkett was swept up in her words, realising that maybe she was right.

Looking up at her, Burkett asked "Do you want to see just what we are facing?"

"What do you mean?"

Burkett picked up a folder saying "Follow me" before he led her out of the CIC and towards one of the most secure areas of the ship.

Reaching it the Commander held out his identification to the Marine Sergeant in charge of the ten man team guarding the cell. The marine looked up at the Commander and the Admiral before handing back the ID and opening the door. Burkett and Cain stepped forward into the well lit room beyond which had a hardened clear plastic partition running down the centre of it. Stopping in front of this "glass" wall the two senior officers glared into the cell beyond and its sole occupant. The bunk beds which should have been within the cell had been removed and in their place was a roll out mattress less than an inch thick and so hard on your back that you would gladly lay on a bed of nails just for the relief. The occupant of the cell had instead chosen to sit with his back to the rear wall than consider sitting a second longer on the mattress and right now his eyes were fixed in an empty sort of way on the two ranking officers. In a rapid shuffle, the occupant sprung to his feet and attempted to give a salute before he was stopped by his manacles forcing him to instead give a fist on chest salute instead as a mark of the old ways.

Seeing the salute, Cain in an eagle eyed sort of way searched the man's presence before letting out "Unbelievable…It's an amazing level of detail don't you think, Commander".

Nodding, Burkett replied "He had me fooled for over a year. This one was adamant that he was a colonial officer…a human like you and me. At least that was until my XO showed him images of others just like him and even now he swears he didn't know".

"It not him…IT" Cain said into the silence "Has it revealed anything interesting?"

Shaking his head, Burkett replied "No, but we haven't had the chance to even start interrogating hi…it properly. But it makes me think…imagine the damage he could have done to squadron cohesion if he had wilfully attacked fellow pilots, we would have had pilots constantly looking over their shoulders to see if a fellow Colonial was gunning for them…it would have led to a massive breakdown in the fleets chances".

Thinking while taking a measured step towards the glass-like partition, Cain spoke "Depending on how they're constructed and whatever software they have installed then it could be something along the lines of a sleeper agent".

Catching onto her thread of thought, Burkett asked "The only question is why wasn't he activated if h…it is a sleeper"

Carefully studying the pilot, Cain answered with a question "What if it was, how would we be able to tell? Cylons are cold, calculating and ruthless…we may need to be the same in order to beat them". Seeing all she cared to see, Cain turned on her heel and left the heavily guarded cell with Burkett fast on her heels. "As soon as I am able I will have it transferred to Pegasus but until then you are to feed it the bare minimum a human needs to survive, there will be at least five interrogations a day using whatever methods are deemed necessary. Remember, the Cylons never signed the Libran Convention (equivalent to Geneva Convention) and are to be considered less than machines. I want whatever is inside that things head".

Battlestar Pegasus

CIC

Returning to the CIC of her own ship, Admiral Helena Cain was pleased at the quiet professional temperance of her crew and that the majority of the CIC was undamaged and the few parts that were damaged were being quickly repaired. Approaching the Information table, Cain had a channel opened up to Admiral Hudson "Admiral, I've just returned from Therion" she began.

"How bad is it" Hudson asked with a tinge of concern in his voice since just like Cain he knew that they needed every Battlestar they could get their hands on.

Carefully composing her words while she glanced over the first of many reports stacked in front of her awaiting her approval, Cain replied "Almost as bad as it gets, however we can at least get them up to 80% efficiency across the board but it's going to need almost all of our spares and deployment of nearly every one of our DC teams".

It was a moment before Hudson replied "I think I may have a solution. I told you earlier we have a number of spares originally sanctioned for use on Arion, these could be considered as upgrades for a Mercury class vessel. We have to carefully consider that the Therion is the most likely vessel to fall to the Cylons which is why in my professional opinion I believe we should install these upgrades on Pegasus not Therion and the parts that have been replaced we can install on Therion, there should be a good seven years service left in those parts replaced".

Cain understood what the Admiral was getting at, what was the point in installing limited upgrades on a seriously damaged Mercury class Battlestar when those parts could instead go to better use on another less damaged Mercury which stood a better chance of survival. "I appreciate your opinion, Admiral and I'm inclined to agree".

"There's something else, Admiral. I would also suggest that we check out every anchorage, I know of a few that were off the grid that may still be accessible. I would also urge against recovery of ships from the boneyards…"

"Why, from what I understand, Battlestar Group Sixteen was able to engage in recovery operations and managed to salvage a number of Mark twos".

"It's been too long and the Toasters will be expecting it. They'll have Raiders in place ready to bring in their big guns. I think we could send out Ghost squadron to the anchorages that were off the books".

"Not Ghost Squadron or at least not all of them. When I spoke to Commander Burkett he mentioned that Ghost Squadron have been without rest since the attacks started, right now they are dead on their feet. We'll use Basilisk Squadron instead in a powered down state. Speaking of Squadrons, I understand you have 6 members of Argos Squadron on board"

"Yes sir. My sister is senior among them" Hudson knew where this line of questioning was going and he knew that his sister, sassy as she is wouldn't like it.

Cain went ahead, "I know just how useful they are, my late Senior CAG was part of them and I have another two on board. If we are to go forward and survive the Cylons then we need to be coordinated which is why in my role as senior ranking officer I am promoting Colonel Hudson to Fleet Air Marshal. I'm also issuing a transfer order for immediate transfer of Major Dunham to Pegasus. I'll be honest with you, I was planning to transfer your Sister over here, I don't like it when families serve on the same ship, I feel that it blurs the lines but I am willing to let it continue for now but if I feel that the performance of this fleet is at risk because of the placement of your family members I will be issuing new transfer orders".

"You have my word that won't happen, Admiral. I treat my family the same as any other member of my crew, so much so that I have placed my daughter on a charge".

"Why?" Cain questioned.

"The Mark Nine viper which is the primary class of Viper that this ship is equipped with has flaws in the parts used. Limits were put in place by my senior deck chief which, while limiting the effectiveness of the Vipers, kept them in a safe zone. My daughter as skilled a mechanic as she is felt that she could modify her Viper past those restrictions. Needless to say her modifications did work for a time, however her Viper lost an engine and was almost destroyed because of those modifications. My deck chief is unsure if he can get the Viper flying again so I had to place her on a charge for destruction of Colonial Fleet property", there was a tinge of guilt in Hudson's voice since he had been the one to sign off on the modifications without fully knowing the extent of the modifications or how far they would push the Viper.

"Well, at least you have your priorities in order, mind it reminds me of my own son" Cain knew from numerous reports that her son had continued to maintain his skills as a former Deck Chief by modifying his own Vipers so that they would be able to fly without networks while still being able to accomplish what a networked ship could do, this memory got Cain thinking that she should check the database that Pegasus carried in order to find out just how her son was able to do this since so far her own Vipers now that they were without networks were a shadow of their former selves. Brushing this thought aside for now Cain asked "What flaws do the Mark Nines possess?"

"The problem isn't with the design like it was with the Mark Eight, the design is in fact a near perfect balance between the Marks Two and Seven. The flaws we are facing is in the manufacturer of the parts all but cutting corners and giving us parts that are just inside the bottom end of what we need. Ideally we need to reforge the parts but with what we have right now it's going to take over 4 months to do so. As it is we can keep the Nines flying at just under the ability of the Sevens without compromising them".

"Alright, I'm setting the clock for forty five minute intervals, we need to keep on the move while we are in Colo…Cylon occupied Colonial space…" Cain continued.

Signing off, Admiral Cain took a step back from the reports she was looking over before looking up to Colonel Belsen, she said "Colonel, you have the con, I'll be down in the portside hangar".

"Aye, sir".

Battlestar Pegasus

Portside Hangar

Frame 12

Walking through the ranks of her crew and the refugee crewmembers arriving from the Battlestar Therion, Cain gave some a pat on the arm or a softly spoken word. It was important to her to let her crew know that she honestly cared for them and knew that they were struggling with the loss of their families back in the Colonies, it was what made her such an effective commander. A good commander can lead their crew even if they keep them at a distance, a brilliant commander can inspire them and bring them into a fold like a family, you just had to be seen to care, and despite the fact that most of the time Cain kept her barriers up, she truly cared for the safety of those around her.

Passing past a section that was currently being repaired, Cain walked towards Frame 12 and its larger airlocks. Two servicemen saluted her as she passed them and, after steadying herself took her first steps into the airlock that they had just left. Arrayed around her were rank upon rank of flag draped bodies, each flag representing the Colony from which they came from.

Helena seemed to be rooted to the spot for minutes as she looked down on these shrouded bodies knowing in her heart that her son could just as easily have been one of them, or indeed could be one of them on the Colonial ships which had escaped with the Galactica. Despite the transmissions Commander Burkett had shown her, there was still no guarantee that he had survived.

Heading to the body furthest from her, Helena crouched down and with a shaking hand, delicately lifted the flag draping the crewman's face. Looking down upon this unlucky soul, a pilot whom had died from radiation poisoning, tears started to well up in Helena's eyes before slipping down her cheeks. She didn't know this man but she knew that he had died fighting for what he believed in, whether it be the Colonies, honour or as she suspected a person or persons he loved back home. She couldn't know what it was, but as she lifted his tags and read his name, she knew that she would know his name, before with a kindness, she draped the flag back over his face and turned to do the same to the next flag draped body.

Battlestar Arion

Admiral Hudson's office/quarters

At almost twice the size of Admiral Cain's own quarters/office on the Pegasus, Admiral Hudson's accommodation was richly appointed. Rosewood panelling stood in place of metal and plastic walls, the light in the room didn't cause much flare and the glass shelves and tables were ornately engraved with the seal of the colonies and images of colonial history. The seating was a sumptuously comforting leather two piece suite and the Admiral's desk was a blend of ornately carved oak and black finished glass with a touch screen interface which cost him an arm and a leg since it was more than 50 years old (Colonial pre-war tech [Caprica TV show era]). Along the wall were pictures of his family and friends and on the shelves were scale models of the ships that he had served on in the R&D fleet. His bedroom and head was opposite the desk behind a partitioned door on the other side of the room.

"Can't say I'm surprised" Colonel Lucy Hudson said to her brother as he informed her she was being made into a Fleet Air Marshal by order of Admiral Cain, "But you do realise it's bullshit, We don't have the right Vipers on board to facilitate the increased wireless usage Argos squadron is going to need. We can't do it".

Resting back on his recliner, Admiral Hudson let this wash over him saying "We can make do and you know it, it won't take long to fix up the Vipers we do have to the level you need".

"And then what, we go out there, the Cylons spot that we're coordinating the rest of the fleet's Vipers and they come after us…"

"You were trained for this and you can't exactly say no to Admiral Cain".

Giving a shit eating grin, Lucy answered "Watch me…"

"No, you're going to do this and you are going to make it work, if you say no to Cain I can't protect you. She will have every right to march you right down to an airlock and but one in your head for dereliction of duty as well as insubordination. We don't have it easy anymore".

Turning on her heel and walking the room, Lucy uttered "Frak, so I have no choice then…" standing in the one spot looking upon the picture of a family holiday back on Virgon, Lucy said "I could make it work, I've checked the fleet and we do have nine Argonauts and the rest of Ghost squadron. How the hell I can get them to work together though".

"You'll find a way".

"Yeah, I guess". Turning back to her brother and commanding officer, Lucy asked "How's Seth?"

Shaking his head and deflating at the thought, Hudson replied "I don't know, not for sure anyway. He, he sounded different and he's seen things nobody should have to see. I'm afraid for him Lou, I want to be with us, to be with his family where we can look after him but…Gods, he's pushing us away".

Sitting down opposite her brother and reaching out to grasp his hands, Lucy reassured "He'll work it out, he's much stronger than you think, he did after all have the balls to go against your wishes and become a marine".

Grinning, Hudson nodded saying "He did at that. I thought I'd lost him when I found out about the attacks, I thought I'd lost the both of them like I did their brother" it still killed him to say the name of the son he'd lost in an accident back at the academy. "I don't know what I would have done if I…"

"Shhh they're alive, Seth's here and he's safe in the fleet and Jena is alive on the Galactica".

Looking Lucy in the eye, Hudson answered "You can't know that, I don't trust Adama not after…"

"Don't blame Adama for his son's mistake. Admiral Adama is a good man and a good commander who looks out for his crew and he has the rest of the fleet survivors with him. Be thankful that Jena is safe with him".

Shaking his head, Hudson uttered "I'll only trust that she is safe when she's standing in front of me and not a moment before".

Standing up and turning to leave, Lucy answered "Then we'd better hurry up and find them. Look, don't let the twins see you like this. I'll look in on Seth the next time I'm on Therion".

"Thank you, I mean it, thank you".

Battlestar Pegasus

CIC

Returning to the CIC, Cain stood for a moment at the information management table looking around at the tortured faces of her crew. This had to change, her crew and her fleet needed something to believe in, something to help them carry on, or they would all fall. Action seized her as, picking up her corded phone in a way that it was held like a microphone, she depressed the buttons on the board to allow what she had to say to be sent not only shipwide, but fleetwide. Steeling herself.

"This is your Admiral", she gave her crew some time to put down what they were doing and listen. "I know there have been some rumours going around…about the destruction that has been visited on our homeworlds by the Cylons. You've probably spoken to someone who serves on the Battlestar Therion or served on a Fleet ship lost during the defence. I would like to tell you that what they say is exaggerated, but in fact…it doesn't even come close to the horror that has been visited upon us.

"The facts are…that our colonies have been all but destroyed, our cities have been nuked, and our Fleet is gone too. It's true that Leonis still has a standing military, but they are looking at a long term war of attrition against the Cylons. And it is also true that an evacuation fleet was assembled in those chaotic hours when the Colonies were hit but it is unknown if they still survive.

"I imagine you're all asking yourselves the same question I am. What do we do now? Do we run? Do we hide?

"I think those are the easy choices. A philosopher once said, 'When faced with untenable alternatives, you should consider your imperative'.

"Look around you…our imperative is right here…In our bulkheads, in our planes, in our guns…and in ourselves.

"War is our imperative. For those on Leonis and for those in the evacuation fleet.

"And if right now victory seems like an impossibility, then there is something else to reach for…

"Revenge!

"Payback!

"So, we are going to fight. Because in the end it is the only alternative our enemies have left us.

"I say let's make there murdering things understand that as long as these crews and these ships survive that this war that they started will never be over. We will strike them in ways unthinkable, and we will fight a war of a thousand cuts until eventually we stand victorious as one fleet and as one people.

"Thank you".

It started as a murmur in the Pegasus portside hangar, in Arion's medbay and in the engineering of the Therion. Just four simple words. "So say we all". With every heartbeat and every breath these four simple words were repeated, louder, stronger and with the strength of each crewman behind them. "So say we all. So say we all. So say we all…" It was a ripple, a ripple which became a rising tide, a rising tide which became a tidal wave, a tidal wave which finally became a war cry which rang to Admiral Helena Cain's ears from the entire fleet. "SO SAY WE ALL! SO SAY WE ALL! SO SAY WE ALL!"

The fleet now had the confidence to face the Cylons.

The fleet now had the will to crush the Cylons.

Battlestar Pegasus

Admiral Cain's office

To say that things were bad would be an understatement of the most epic proportions. As Cain looked at the data spread out on her desk it was clear that each ship needed time in dry-dock in order to be repaired and brought back to battle readiness, but for the life of her she couldn't see how it was possible to find even one dry-dock. When the Cylons had attacked the colonies they didn't just attack the colonial fleet but had also hit their planets, the mining outposts, the shipyards, the anchorages and everything in between. There was no longer anywhere safe in the colonial space and what few facilities had been outside of colonial space left over from both before and during the first war would in all probability have been hit too. So whatever repairs that the fleet needed would have to be done with whatever materials they had on hand, which in the case of the Pegasus and Therion was so little that they would have to break into Arion's stockpile.

You see two important factors that Cain had to keep reminding herself were that the Battlestar Therion had sustained highly significant damage including damage from both fires and explosions to a number of cargo bays meaning many of her spare parts had either been destroyed or damaged. The Pegasus was a different factor altogether. When the Attack on the Colonies had come, the Pegasus hadn't only just docked at Scorpia Fleet Shipyards ready to undergo a refit but had been at anchor there for seven days as systems were shutdown, paperwork was filed, crew were given leave and most significantly cargo bays had been cleared of many replacements which would have been outdated when the refit was complete. Granted all three ships had on board facilities to manufacture replacements, but this required resources, time and energy and the replacements produced weren't of outstanding quality. So the first factor was a lack of replacement parts.

The second and most significant factor for all three ships was Tylium, or the lack thereof. Arion had already used up more than half of her main reservoir during her long distance trials however her reserves were still full. Therion had lost one of her reserves and due to significant manoeuvres during the fight for the colonies was down to one third of her main. The Pegasus however was now only flying on her reserves. You see with her about to undergo a refit her main Tylium reservoir had been emptied since that reservoir was going to undergo integrity checks. All told if these three ships shared their Tylium and cut back on their cap then they could last two months of jumping once every day before hitting empty.

Shaking her head as she considered the numbers, Admiral Cain started to consider that maybe their only way of survival, of getting the tylium and raw materials that they so desperately needed was to do the unthinkable and launch a series of deadly attacks on the numerous Cylon positions throughout colonial space. The theory being that if they could destroy or disable a Basestar then they could maybe then siphon off the Tylium they needed. The chances of successfully achieving this though were almost as good as the Leonis Cubs beating The Caprica Buccaneers in the Pyramid Worlds Series, which weren't good at all.

Moving onto the other reports Cain was roused by a knock on her door. "Enter" she called out while smartening herself up and returning to her rigid command pose just as Colonel Belsen entered the room.

His gaze seemed to drift over the cabinet of antique weapons and the handful of photos that Cain kept of her son and parents before centring on Cain's. Saluting her, he handed over a tan manila folder saying "I've just got the report from the CMO. It's bad…we lost another 42 in the past hour"

Taking the folder and briefly glancing at the figures a dark look passed over Cain's face "We can't afford to lose any more people, we need all the everyone we can get". Glancing up at Belsen as he picked up the notes that Helena had made on their situation, she saw the contemplative look come over his face as he took in the true seriousness of their situation as outlined by Helena's notes. Curious about what was on his mind, Cain asked "What is it?"

Looking up, Belsen struggling to work his ideas into a proper plan finally announced "I might have a way to extend our Tylium stocks…" not waiting for a go ahead, Belsen continued "A lot of our energy goes towards life support or more specifically heating the ship, so one way is to simply lower the temperature to about ten degrees say, its uncomfortable but if the crew wraps it will be survivable…"

Nodding, Cain put in "a problem would be that the lower the temperature the more likely that accidents are".

"True, but this way we should be able to extend our reserves by at least twenty days, maybe double that if we make some alterations to the ships".

Curious about the alterations Belsen had in mind she nodded to him to proceed with his explanation "The showers require a decent amount of power just to heat the water but we could just divert part of the output water from cooling the engines which is by then hot to the showers. That water is clean after all".

"How much work do you think it would require?" Cain asked.

"I shouldn't see it being more than a day or two, we could probably use hose pipes in the recesses. Should I inquire with the Chief?"

"Do it and have the department heads try and work out amongst the crew ways to save more power. And Colonel…" Cain called as Belsen turned to leave "Starting the day after tomorrow the fleet is on half rations".

"Why not starting now, sir".

"It would be too much too soon. Dismissed".

Cylon Occupied Colonial Space

Sector 34 Helios Alpha

Raptor 305-Pegasus under command of Captain Harry "Dash" Tremaine

Appearing in a rapid flash of white light, the boxy brown Raptor tore away from its entry point as a new set of emergency jump coordinates were input and the DRADIS started its search of the area. The idea was that if the DRADIS revealed any Cylon contacts in the immediate vicinity then the Raptor would be able to jump out within ten seconds, however if this were anywhere other than Colonial mapped space then this would not be possible in such a short timespan but thanks to extensive mapping having been conducted throughout Colonial space it was deemed safe to plot multiple consecutive jumps and have a safe chance of survival. Three years earlier a Colonial Fleet Captain had broken the record with 12 jumps within 3 minutes on board a modified Raptor-R (runner) with every one of those jumps being preprogramed from the starting position.

Double checking the DRADIS feeds, Ensign Julian Walsh spoke up "We've got multiple contacts at extreme range on heading 304 karom 160. IFFs confirm as 15 colonial civilian ships of varying classes ranging from transports and a tanker to passenger flights. Do you want to move in for a closer visual inspection".

Dash didn't need a moment to consider this course of action as he replied "Negative, our orders were clear, we are to withdraw if we come across any active contacts and report back to command. Ready a jump back to the fleet from our next jump point. Jumping in ten seconds".

Pegasus Fleet

Battlestar Pegasus

"You're sure they're colonial" Cain asked Captain Harry Tremaine as he stood before her relaying his Raptors logs.

Shaking his head, Harry replied "No sir, I can't be sure. This fleet was near the edge of our DRADIS range and as per your orders we jumped out before we could get a visual inspection since they registered as being under power. IFFs stated that they were of Colonial origin but we don't have confirmation of that". Harry stood there feeling like he had made a mistake and was now in line for a verbal beating but that was never to come.

"You didn't do anything wrong Captain. You followed the orders to the letter, stayed alive and got this data back here. Head back to your Raptor, Captain, we'll be jumping within ten minutes" the Captain left as soon as he was dismissed allowing Cain to dispatch orders to her crew and those under her command in the fleet.

10 Minutes later

Sector 34 Helios Alpha

Battlestar Pegasus Fleet

The three powerful Battlestars prowled forward towards the 15 Civilian ships. Weapons were armed and Vipers and assault Raptors were being launched while the Battlestars Arion and Pegasus continued to provide cover to the wounded Therion, Cain wasn't taking any chances, after all the fleet had taken a chance on the CNP software and look how that turned out. But as she stood there in her CIC watching the incoming DRADIS data which had a significantly increased range thanks to the upgraded software provided by Hudson, Cain couldn't help but think of all the supplies and spare parts those ships represented. There, she saw, was a Pollus class Heavy Transport called the Scylla, the thrusters on her were, to be honest woefully lost on her. Those thrusters were a prototype which had been considered for the Mercury class Battlestars and were of roughly the same dimensions and power when you removed the outer hull. It was possible she thought, to remove those thrusters and over time install them on the Therion or at the very least salvage the parts most needed. But the passengers and the crew?

"Colonel Belsen, Have two Squadrons separate from the fleet and circle the Civilian ships. Jack, are we in communications range yet"

Colonel Fisk shook his large head, saying "another 1 minute 10 for us sir. However we could relay the wireless through one of our advance Raptors right now, there will be a 1.6 second lag".

"Do it" Cain answered with steel in her voice, "I want verification codes and full ship manifests and order them under threat of being fired upon that they are to disable long range communication".

"Aye sir", Fisk replied as he relayed the orders to the wireless operator. Almost 30 seconds passed before he said "Codes are verified, they're Colonial, sir" a cheer went round the room before Fisk continued "the manifests are being transmitted now and I have received word that 3 of the fifteen ships are without ftl capabilities. The ships captains are following your orders to disable long range comms".

While it seemed to the room at large that due to the increased numbers they now stood a far better chance at survival and that it was their duty to protect them, Cain saw it another way, a way that few would respect. Taking those civilian vessels in her mind could only serve to slow down her three Battlestars and at worse endanger them all. After all how could they wilfully take them when tylium, food and water was limited. Military ships were built to work on as little Tylium as possible and held vast supplies of the liquid gold but a civilian ship…it was an entirely different matter. As with cars, the manufacturers of many civilian ships were likely to build with speed, the mass of the ship or looks in mind rather than survivability over long term voyages, after all they never travelled outside of Colonial space. Cain could not and would not allow those civilian ships to endanger the lives of her crew, she would be a fool if she did.

"XO, have those Raptors not on patrol ready for boarding operations and transmit those same orders to Arion and Therion. And bring us to within 10 clicks off their portside bows", Cain got to work on the crew and passenger manifests looking for people who would be needed via census records stored in Pegasus databanks.

"Admiral, Rear Admiral Hudson is requesting permission to come over for a private meeting with yourself regarding a high priority matter" Hoshi announced from his console.

Looking up and wondering just what was so high priority right now Cain nodded saying "He has permission, I expect him aboard within ten minutes".

Battlestar Pegasus

Admiral Cain's office

Arriving at Admiral Cain's office, Admiral Hudson and his marine escort were met by the marine sentry at the door and the heavy set profile of Colonel Fisk as he was leaving with a stack of reports under his arm. Looking up Fisk said "Just go on in, sir. Hell of a day aint it".

Leaving his marine escort at the entrance, Hudson entered the stylish Spartan office before turning to see Cain stood looking down over the reports on her desk, most likely the supply and passenger manifests of the fleet. Saluting when she looked up, Hudson approached the desk.

"You had something you wished to discuss Admiral?" Cain asked as she looked up at the man.

"Yes sir. Its regarding the civilian fleet. I thought it best to discuss it in person rather than risk what I have to say being overheard on the wireless and possibly misinterpreted".

Understanding, and wanting his opinion Helena nodded to him to continue.

Taking a breath, unsure of what Cain's own opinion may be, Hudson announced "We can't take on the fleet". It was a heavy admission that seemed to hang in the air but what Hudson couldn't know was the fact that Cain had long ago come to that conclusion, nevertheless Hudson continued "there are no mining ships nor are there any tylium tankers in this fleet and we have to consider the fact that these are civilian ships which don't have the range of a Battlestar. If we take them on we will be out of tylium within less than fifty jumps. However we can't just leave the civilians to die when we could take on fresh recruits and we can't pass up the opportunity to take on fresh supplies and replenish our own tylium reserves". Hudson was thinking that he may have went too far, and was only too thankful that this was a private meeting.

Flicking her knife in her right hand while giving Hudson an unflinching stare, Cain was reassured that another commanding officer than her had come to the same conclusions that she had. "I know, I've been looking over the ship manifests. You have any options you would like to bring to the table?"

Deflating a bit as he realised that he wasn't going to get a verbal beat down from his commanding officer, Hudson approached closer to the desk before saying "We are looking at 12000 civilians in this fleet with various skills and as much as I hate to admit it there is no way to know if Adama's fleet has survived. If there are enough supplies in the civilian fleet I would like to suggest that we evacuate the civilians to our Battlestars, it will of course require hot bunking and turning certain areas of our ships over to civilian use and it might get crowded especially until we can fully repair the Therion. But, we can install a larger lifesupport system pretty rapidly and this way will mean that we can totally siphon off the Tylium from those ships and take on all the supplies we need as well as stripping them of parts that we could use to repair the Therion…" Hudson's plan, Cain noted was slightly different to her own and had it just been the Pegasus that had encountered the Civilian fleet there was no question in her mind as to what she would have done, but with relief Cain realised that she now had a way out.

Continuing, Hudson said "…Of course it isn't safe to do all of that here and we don't have reserves big enough to take on all the tylium and cargo from those ships so I would suggest that for now at least we take along say four or five ships and strip them in stages. I would also like to direct your attention to a Pollus class heavy transport called the Scylla…"

Understanding, Cain interrupted "You mean to strip the Scylla's thrusters and install them on Therion".

Smiling, Hudson nodded saying "You saw that, eh. It's a lot of hard work outside of dry dock but it can be done and should take no more than a week if we stayed in one place, which is why if you go with my suggestions I would suggest if we were to install them we either do it in deep space or within the shadow of a gas giants Trojans".

Rubbing the back of her neck as she considered everything that Hudson had said, Cain asked "How long will the supplies last if we take on the civilians".

Taking the ship manifests and jotting down some calculations on a separate sheet, it took Hudson a minute before he announced "At half rations…we're looking at a minimum of five months before we're back on our own rations and a further three months with ours".

It meant that Cain now had to make a hard choice "If we can't find Adama's fleet within four months at the most or a habitable planet then we return to the colonies and find somewhere to leave the civilians or find somewhere to get more supplies…or…something else", she left it unspoken but in her mind she was imagining how she would kill off so many civilians, as dreadful a thought as that was.

Looking up at Cain, Hudson asked "Then you're going with my suggestion of taking on the civilians".

"Yes. I want you to distribute new jump coordinates to the entire fleet, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, we jump in twenty minutes. At our new position you are to formulate some plan of evacuating the civilian ships and stripping them of parts and supplies with a priority on the supplies just in case the Cylons jump in. I'm also entrusting you due to your experience with working out which ships will be of the most use to us, I don't want to take more ships than we need. In the meantime I'll have my crew work out where we can put so many civilians. First off there are currently 3 civilian ships without jump drives, due to the configuration of the Battlestar Arion I want two of them evacuated onto your ship before we jump and I'll have the Pegasus evacuate the last one. Make sure you strip them of everything we can before we jump".

"Yes, sir".

"And Admiral, thank you for bringing this to my attention in a private setting".

"Sir".

Two hours and 3 jumps later

Sector 85-39-Epsilon-63

19 Lightyears from Helios Alpha

Rhodes Desire

Out here in the middle of nowhere there was little chance of the Cylons stumbling across the small fleet which now surrounded the three colonial battlestars. Over many decades of interstellar space travel the safest option had always been for fleets to take shelter inside the boundaries of a stars reach where its field wards off the dangers of true interstellar space. But now, now it was far safer to be out here in the deepest darkest depths than to be back in any star system known to the colonials.

Slowing down to less than three metres per second the Battlestar Arion manoeuvred so that its lower starboard flightpod came alongside the Colonial Heavy Transport Scylla which was remaining stationary. Thrusters along the bow of the Arion fired in fits as it slowed down even more and beacons were directed along the hull of the Rhodes Desire before the Arion eventually came to a full stop, her thrusters running cold. Red laser light started firing along the hull of the Scylla before rapidly painting a grid along the hull with the cross focused on the main airlock. Reaction jets along Arion's portside fired along with barely susceptible jolts from her dorsal and then ventral hull bringing her into perfect alignment with the airlock until, with 20 metres to spare, a hairsbreadth in other words a final jolt of thrust came from the starboard side bringing the mighty Battlestar to a full stop. Well not quite a full stop as there would be constant tuning of their positioning due to the incredible mass of Arion.

Along the lower starboard flightpod a slab of hull armour was pushed out on hydraulics and then slowly levered upwards before a metal and bullet resistant rubber tube came snaking out of the recess. Green lasers mounted on the edges of this tube now started following the red laser grid as the tube closed on the Rhodes Desire airlock before perfectly closing onto the X at which point they disappeared as the tube now blocked the hatch from view before locking onto the edges of the hatch with a powerful electro-magnetic ring. A breathable atmosphere was fed into the tube without any noticeable leaks before a hard seal was confirmed and the go ahead was given to board the Scylla. Further along the ships another tube was extended and after help from a knuckle dragger going EVA connected to the Rhodes Desire's main tylium tank. All the while, the Battlestars Pegasus and Therion were playing constant overwatch of their now vulnerable companion.

Battlestar Arion

L.S. Airlock 10-C

"We've got pressure, opening the airlock" Colonel Armstrong called out to the marines behind him.

This was one of the widest and tallest corridors on the Arion, being twice the size of the average and was one of the few that stretched in a straight line from the lower starboard flightpod to the lower port flightpod. The reasoning was that this was a corridor meant for the transport of large cargo and the transferal of Vipers and Raptors from one flightpod to another. In the centre of the ship there were 6 Cargo elevators and in the flightpods there were 2 Cargo elevators which allowed the transported goods to be delivered to the cargo holds. This did however come at a price as this corridor was a prime target for a Cylon beachhead which was why every 20 metres there were 1 foot thick blast doors which descended from the ceiling and the entire deck was reinforced steel which could be propped up into barricades (or salvaged to repair the inner hull or vipers and raptors) and were able to hold up to anything short of a 50 calibre round. Furthermore there was a marine checkpoint normally manned by 15 marines just 50 metres from the airlock. This corridor wasn't anything new for a Battlestar, the design was born with the old Columbia class Battlestars, although those corridors did extend when the flightpods were deployed.

Pushing through the more than 250 knuckledraggers, engineers and DC teams and 50 marines, lieutenant Lodbruk finally reached Colonel Armstrong as the airlock was sliding open. "Sir, this is the priority list. The Admiral has given us 30 minutes".

Taking a brief glance at the list and seeing thirty two high priority names and a sizeable list of cargo and parts to be salvaged, the Colonel leafed through the various copies before handing all but one to the Marine Sergeant and leading the men and women through. The tube they were passing through was still incredibly cold, just below freezing temperature and a fine white mist was rising from the metal deck whose artificial gravity had just been powered up, it would be another two minutes before the tube was at an equal temperature to the corridor and this came at a price with heat seeping out of this primarily rubber shell faster than through the hull of a ship. The Rhodes Desire's airlock opened up before them and it was just as they were almost about to step into the ship that a momentary tremor was passed into the tube. This tremor was came from the opposite side of Arion as a docking umbilical there connected to the Cargo ship Tremian 7, the Arion was now sandwiched between the two ships and a near enough equal number of personnel would now be ready to enter Tremian.

Stepping into The Rhodes, Armstrong was met by the civilian Captain Stahl and almost the totality of the passengers and crew of this vessel. The marines started to spread out into a firing line with their weapons at the ready but pointed at the ground while the orange and yellow flightsuit garbed DC crew and engineers and the handful of uniformed specialists forced their way through the crowd in order to get to their assigned tasks. Already there was jostling among the crowd and a fair amount of agitation was building up as the civilians were unsure as to what was to happen to them. Moving to stand on a crate, Armstrong called out "If you will all listen to me. You will all be evacuated to The Battlestar Arion in the next few minutes, as of right now this ship has been seized by the colonial fleet in order to fund the war effort…"

"Where's the rest of the fleet?" a man called out while a woman shouted out "Which colony will you be leaving us at?"

These calls were echoed by many in the cavernous room until Armstrong bellowed "QUIET!" All at once the room seemed to dim which allowed Armstrong to answer those questions "First of all, the majority of the fleet has been lost and so far as we know the only two significant fleets are this one and an evac fleet commanded by Admiral Adama aboard the Battlestar Galactica. We have as yet no plans to leave you on any colony, so for the foreseeable future you will be staying with us. The reason you are leaving this vessel is because we need the resources this ship represents. Now you each may bring no more than eight kilos of personal possessions and I need these 32 people to step aside as you have just been conscripted…" Armstrong started calling out the names of the 32 people to the general dismay of those called out.

Once that was done the civilians were given just ten minutes to get their carryon luggage together before they were rushed onto the Arion and led towards the bow of the ship and the sizeable cargo corridors there where they were left under guard for the time being. Those 32 newly conscripted civilians were led towards a general holding area where they would remain for the time being. There were many tears as this meant that families were broken up but the plus side was that this need only be a temporary measure.

Aboard the Rhodes Desire things were progressing rather rapidly, it seemed that no matter where you turned, engineers and maintenance workers were pulling down walls to get at the components they would need, were rushing down corridors with their newly acquired items or were using welders to cut out systems like the life support system which were then carted all the way back to the Arion where, as was planned within the next day or two it would be integrated into the Arion's own life support system. The components being harvested weren't just the big things but might have been amongst the most mundane in the cabling which was literally being yanked and torn from the walls and the handheld fire extinguishers. For a fleet with few resources and without access to many of the manufacturing systems that they took advantage of back home, high capacity cables and fibre optic cabling were now worth their weight in gold.

There was a general press of cargo being led onto Arion and the Arion's cargo corridor was becoming packed as the cargo was led towards the elevators and from there to the various cargo holds. The majority of the cargo was however headed straight to the lower starboard flightpod where an entire section had been cut off from the rest of the hanger so as to serve as a holding area for much of the cargo and salvaged parts until they could figure out what to do with them.

Within ten minutes of the first boot onto The Rhodes Desire the power systems switched to backup generators as the engineers finally got a full shutdown of the main generators and completely cut off all but lights, heat generation, artificial gravity and the power to a small handful of systems they would still need access to. That was when the engineers really got to work at tearing apart the engines and generators like a flock of vultures. There was much banging, swearing and sweating as they fought to get at the components they would most need before boxing them in collapsible crates which were immediately led off.

Twenty-two minutes in and the last of the cargo was removed as were the emergency rations, medical supplies and the general food and just over two minutes after that the ships Tylium supplies were fully siphoned off. Towards the end was even more chaotic even when you consider that by this point only 30 remained aboard as it was at this point that everything was shutdown as the engineers got to work tearing out the backup generators and those few systems they had needed up until this point all in a darkness only lit by their torches in a free floating zero-gee environment.

At Twenty-eight minutes it was all over, the ship had been completely stripped of everything that they could use which they couldn't make without a lot of effort and once those last personnel over had been checked in, the airlocks were closed, the atmosphere vacated from the tube and the tubes retracted. That was when two of Arion's shuttles which had already positioned along the Rhodes Desire's Starboard flank with their bows pointing outwards were given the go ahead order to fire their electromagnet harpoons at mooring points on the Rhodes Desire and start a very slow acceleration which after a minute grew to a metre per second steadily dragging the now gutted cargo ship away from the Arion until at two metres per second the harpoons were retracted and the gutted ship left to drift free.

Battlestar Pegasus

Admirals Mess

In such a bleak aftermath to the war it might seem a bit strange for the meal that was about to take place but Admiral Cain felt that it was best for her to get her house in order, honour the fallen and discuss their strategy for the coming days in a more intimate manner where rank and its boundaries were broken down. Seated around the table were Admiral Hudson, his sister and current Fleet Air Marshall Colonel Lucy Hudson, Commander Burkett, Pegasus XO Colonel Jurgen Belsen, Lieutenant Jack Fisk, Chief Engineer Barry Garner, Lieutenant Kendra Shaw, Civilian contractor and senior network administrator Gina Inviere and the host Admiral Helena Cain.

A number of quiet conversations had broken out in the room as the guests came together without the usual pre dinner drinks, but Cain finally decided to bring things to a head as she nodded to the steward to start serving the wine, once the drinks were served (red for Cain) she broke the conversations by saying "I'd like to thank you all for coming, I understand that you are all busy but I like to get together with my senior officers every now and then in order to hear out any grievances or suggestions they have".

Fisk, ever the joker replied "I wouldn't miss this, it's the only chance any of us have to get a seat around here".

"True. The fact is though that tonight will be the last chance we have to experience anything like the abundance of food and drink we have available for quite a while due to rationing starting tomorrow and…" with a nod to Fisk as she raised her glass "…we might as well be comfortable as we do it". This was met with a few hear hears before Cain continued "Truthfully we, the colonial people have never been so close to defeat as we were just two days ago. In just one day we lost more ships than served in the first war and to make things worse at the same time we lost our homes and any safe harbour we might have had. You all heard my speech earlier. I admit it was said in the heat of the moment but it needed to be said, the crew…the crews needed something to rally behind but…but that doesn't mean that I am blind to our situation. Believe me when I say that I will not throw us into an action that we cannot ultimately win, we will take every victory we can grab hold of and we will cherish them because at the end of the day that's all that we have left. Let me be clear and say that my ultimate goal is the defeat and the complete destruction of the Cylons and our return to the colonies. I don't yet know how we will accomplish this, and I don't know when but I do know that I will not bend the knee to a toaster".

"So say we all" Admiral Hudson spoke with a gleam in his eye starting a chorus of the same until at last Jack Fisk called out "Well are we gonna eat or what?"

To the right of Cain, Gina felt sick to her stomach at the audacity of this bitch. All she could think was that soon and in one fell swoop this fleet would be no more and then she could move on with her lives and forget about Cain and her vendetta. But the time was not yet right, Gina knew that a coordinated attack was the only way to destroy this new fleet. Oh, she could easily kill the Admiral and everyone in this room but then who would be in command of the fleet? With Cain, Hudson and Burkett being in command at least the Cylons had the psych profiles and service record from which they could extrapolate potential scenarios this fleet may undertake but without them being in command the Cylons would face an unknown and it was the unknown that was seen as the hardest to contain because you can never plot the path of an unknown until you get to know it. And so, Gina held her tongue, kept her hate in check and put on her game face as she reached out with her left hand and stroked Cain's own, put on a smile and raised a glass to the woman who loved her. Love made you blind to all, especially those closest to you.

Chewing down on a juicy bite of steak marinated in a red wine and pepper sauce, Cain swallowed and asked "So, tell me Marcus, what do you need to get your ship back in shape?" Cain directed to Commander Burkett.

Swallowing his own bite of potato, Burkett answered "Well our main problem is the main thrusters. Two of them are completely scrapped, we also had to shut down a third one yesterday while we conduct repairs but if you can get me the thrusters off the…Scylla I believe, then we can start replacing the two destroyed ones".

"I've already spoken to Hudson about this matter and you will be getting those thrusters, what else?"

Thinking, Burkett replied "I'll have my men starting stripping the armour belt around those thrusters and start severing them from the mountings which should take a day. If you can give me every engineer and knuckle dragger you can spare including all the shipyard workers and so long as we remain in one location for about 24 to 30 hours then I can get the Scylla's thrusters mounted".

"I was given to believe that it would take days" Cain questioned.

Taking a sip of wine and butting in, Garner said "Oh, it will before they're operational Admiral. But, mounting them doesn't take all that long. It is however annoying in the fact that we're going to need about twenty raptors working in synch in order to get them properly angled and then have a few dozen welder already in place ready to mount the thrusters. Done wrong, people will die, most likely from being crushed which is why we need to be stationary at the time. This procedure…it's never been done outside of a shipyard, but there are procedures for such an event. After they're mounted it's going to take another two days to get the armour belt back in place due to the armour having to be recut in order to accommodate the different thrusters design, and then another three days in order to fully integrate them. We will need to spend some time calibrating them and the thrusters already on the Therion so that they can work in synch and the engineers will need to be brought up to speed on the maintenance procedure for this new set but it shouldn't be too much trouble".

"What about the rest of your ship, Marcus?"

Weapons are our main concern. As it is we're down about 60%. It's going to be weeks before we're back to a 100% and we're going to need some extra spares from both of your ships in order tom accommodate this. The Dorsal armour belt is fracked in at least 10 different spots and is going to need replacement otherwise the Cylons could take advantage of this and due to this weakening our portside water reservoir is currently irradiated and undrinkable. We also need help removing certain structural joints which have broken free and replacing them and we need even more help getting the outer sections up and running which is going to mean the replacement of a number of systems including life support as well as the patching of a number of holes. Something that I'm not all that concerned with right now but may give me cause for concern in due course is the potential weakening of the Therion's frame, we took a hell of a pounding back at Leonis and the frame could have weaknesses that we just haven't seen just yet".

Mulling this over, Cain replied "Alright, concentrate on the engines, then weapons and go from there and once the hardest work is out of the way I want teams sent right along the Therion's skeleton running scans. What about your crew, how are they holding up?"

Taking a gulp of wine, Burkett replied "I'm concerned to be honest in how few of them are showing signs of PTSD. It could be nothing and I hope it is…"

"But?" Admiral Hudson asked.

"But, it could be bubbling just beneath the surface. I'm afraid that they could crack when it most matters. If you ask me the sooner that we can accommodate our share of the civilians the better, the sight of something normal should ease their minds and help them come to terms with what has happened. But you are right Admiral, we need a victory and we need it soon because, if I'm right, then we're going to start losing my crew without harsh measures being taken".

"Corporal punishment. Give me time and I'll give this fleet a victory to be proud of".

After raising his glass to this, Colonel Belsen asked "How are our radiation victims doing?"

Shaking his head and refilling his glass, Hudson said "We're losing them by the dozen but the number of deaths has already peaked and is steadily falling. Out of the three and a half thousand survivors picked up by the Therion I can only see just over fifteen hundred surviving. I do have a concern in that we are going to have more pilots than planes at the end of this. If the estimates from the docs holds true then we will have three pilots to a plane and even with all the resources we have from the civilian fleet we don't have enough to start manufacturing enough squadrons".

"We'll have to reassign some of them then. Colonel Hudson, it's your job to weed out the very best pilots that we'll keep flying. I'm curious as to what your plans are as Air Marshal".

Giving a toothy grin and placing down her knife using the now free arm as a rest on the table, Lucy answered "I'm still working that out Admiral, but I'm moving the nine other Argonauts we have into the other squadrons in order to better coordinate them. I'm also looking closely at getting Ghost Squadron back up and running. Thankfully just over a third of Ghost Squadron were lost but they're probably our best bet at getting even with the Cylons even if their Vipers stealth systems didn't seem to work as planned against the Toasters. I'm not sure how Chen is going to take getting orders from me but I'll soon have him ironed out".

"Explain".

"The Academy made sure that there was a lot of rivalry between Ghost and Argos Squadron when we were both formed towards the end of the first war in an effort to see which training regime produced the best pilots. Well, the results were in Argos Squadrons favour which was why Argos Squadron was expanded so that it became squadrons plural and why we received priority and were allowed to take on the position of Fleet Air Marshal at the fleet admiral's discretion. We got first choice when it came to nuggets and we were always highest priority when it came to training, assignments and equipment even if we liked to use the standard equipment. Ghost squadron however, didn't get a public face, they stayed a very much black ops squadron, to be honest they were shit on by command and they came to resent Argos for it. In trials they proved aggressive, they were even deadlier with their stealth vipers and were Argos Squadrons hardest opponents".

"I'm starting to like them. In these trials which Squadron proved better".

Chuckling, Lucy answered "That would be Argos Squadron. See Argos Squadron is trained so that we fly as one and fight as one. We are placed with those that will fly best with us, able to cover and anticipate our actions and while communication is key to squadron cohesion, when our comms were scrambled we had the training to still act as one in order to outfight Ghost squadron 80% of the time. If I can get over some of that training to the Ghosts then I can bring them up to the same standard as Argos Squadron". Taking a forkful of string beans, Lucy mentioned "You might be interested to know that I've met your son a few times and was part of the committee that chose him for Argos training. He's a hell of a pilot, unpredictable, smart, deadly, the hallmarks of an Argonaut. He was actually offered a place in first squadron before he chose to go his own way on the Defiant I believe. You should be proud of him".

Smiling, Cain answered "I am, I never told him but then he wasn't the type of person to want praise. But I am proud".

Battlestar Pegasus

CIC

The fourth watch always seemed to be the longest and as Lieutenant Kendra Shaw oversaw the CIC she was beginning to regret being picked for this duty by the Admiral but, she supposed that this was the Admiral showing that she thought highly of her, after all how many newly minted officers were given temporary command over a Battlestar. It still did nothing to cure the boredom though.

The glass partitioned doors shushed open as a marine admitted entry to a pilot and turning towards the man and seeing the patch on his shoulder marked him out as being from the Battlestar Juno, Kendra asked "Are you lost there, Captain". Had Kendra not been in charge of the fourth watch, such a manner of speaking would allow for her to be reprimanded by the pilot but as it was with her being in temporary Battlestar command she was seen as the senior officer.

Giving a brief salute, the pilot said "Captain Drakmer, sir. I…I think you have a Cylon agent on board".

Her eyebrow rising, Kendra in a pointed manner asked "How sure are you?"

Shaking his head, the pilot answered "To be honest sir, I'm not a hundred percent. She looks different to the person I knew and it could just be that she looks similar…I saw her from a distance of about twenty metres about an hour ago".

"Stop with the bullshit Captain and tell me who it is".

"I don't know what she's called here but the woman she looks like is Lieutenant Danika Bayer, we served on the Battlestar Juno together".

Moving over to the main intelligence console, Kendra brought up the fleet personnel registry and ran a search for the Lieutenant, it took a few seconds before the file came up and the image on file was of a strikingly beautiful woman with cropped bleached blonde hair. It was a woman that Kendra had been getting to know over the past couple of days and yet it wasn't.

Rushing to the Marine Sergeant on guard duty, Kendra ordered "Get me a marine fireteam with full loadout right now. We have a Cylon infiltrator on board".

The Marine, shocked as he was, started passing on the orders through his wireless before asking "Shouldn't we inform the Admiral?"

Thinking, Kendra replied "Not this time, there is a chance that any move to warn her could kill her. I'll get an image of the infiltrator. We take it alive if at all possible".

Battlestar Pegasus

Admiral Cain's quarters

Rolling onto her side before sitting up and looking over her shoulder, Helena saw the steadily breathing form of Gina as she rested in an easy sleep. Sighing and pulling a black silk robe over her naked skin, Helena tied the sash and then proceeded over to her desk, grabbing a glass of water on the way.

Rubbing the knot at the base of her spine, Cain looked down upon the pile of reports before selecting those dealing with the recon of the colonies. She didn't yet know what it was but something was compelling her to run through these files. Opening the first one which was of the recon of Scorpia, Cain skipped over the XO's, tactical, pilot and ECO's reports before spreading out the images on her desk. Casting her eye over them while taking a drink of the cold water, Cain wondered what she was looking for. She just seemed to stand there for a minute, her naked feet warming the deck beneath them before she happened to cast her eye over a partially hidden map of Colonial space that lay beneath an image of the wreckage that was the Scorpia Fleet Shipyards. It was a moment of inspiration unlike any before her as she snatched out the two images, placing them side by side before grabbing a pen and blank sheet of paper jotting down the first thoughts that came to her mind.

It was obvious to her at least what they needed to do. If it worked then she could lessen the cost on the Leonosians and Virgonese, while at the same time buying a victory for her fleet and make the Cylons suffer. But if it failed it would cost them everything. It was a gamble worse than a game of Tauron Roulette (Russian roulette) where four of the chambers are loaded and only two are empty, but as she thought more and more about it, the more she realised just how much it would be worth it.

The plan was three part, the first two parts being that she would have to send the Raptors fishing twice and only then could the attack begin. A smile lit her face as her eye came to rest on the maps representation of the Armistice line and Cylon space beyond it before a harsh banging started on her door followed by her marine guards call for her immediate attention.

Double checking that she was covered and her sash was tight, Cain went over to the hatch and pressed the button opening it while Gina, now awake and with the sheets pulled to the top of her breasts and wrapped around her body stood in the doorway to the bedroom with a questioning look on her face. Cain was met by the Marine Sergeant on guard as well as a marine fireteam stood in full combat rigs out of view of Gina and a very concerned Lieutenant Kendra Shaw holding a file in front of her.

"Lieutenant this had better be important, I don't take kindly to being woken" Cain lied to Shaw.

Seeing the form of Gina out of the corner of her eye, Shaw pushed Cain out of the way and shouted "Marines, move, move, move!" as she herself started pulling her own sidearm while holding down her commanding officer.

Immediately the fully armed marines stormed into the room rushing to surround the shocked and unarmed Gina Inviere while shouting "Down on the ground! Get down on the ground now!"

"What are you doing?" both Admiral Cain and Gina seemed to shout at the same time before an EC Round (electric charge round, non-lethal similar to effects of a Taser) was fired at Gina whom struck, spasmed to the ground where two marines rushed to her and tied her arms behind her back.

Cain by this time had worked her way into a position where she was able to wrap her left elbow around Kendra's neck before locking it into place with her right and wrapping her legs around Kendra's body asking through clenched teeth, "Just what the hell do you think you are doing Lieutenant?"

Struggling to breathe while this new situation was being assessed by the marines, Kendra managed to croak "She's a Cylon. We have evidence in that folder, sir".

Grabbing for Kendra's gun with her right hand and then releasing from her left, Cain ordered "Show me" while standing then pointing the gun at Kendra before casting her eye over the sprawled now naked form of Gina. Seeing this bare skin, Cain checked herself before covering herself up while Kendra came back with the now open folder.

"A pilot saw that thing about an hour ago and came straight to CIC. I was on duty and he told me that he flew with a woman called Lieutenant Danika Bayer who looked a hell of a lot like Gina. I did a search for Bayer before assembling the fireteam. This is the personnel file for Bayer".

Holding the file out for Cain, Cain's eyes fell onto the face of Lieutenant Danika Bayer, a beautiful woman with cropped blond hair. A twin of the woman now struggling with the restraints and the marines arrayed against her as they lifted her of the floor. Looking at that…thing, Cain felt the bile rise in the back of her throat before leaving Kendra and prowling towards it. Such hate as she had never felt before flooded through Cain's veins as she looked upon the stony face of Gina. Cain's hate and anger seemed to block out Gina's cries of it being a mistake. Cain was blind to it all in a way that love had made her blind for the past month. It was because of this thing and the machines it represented that she had lost the fleet, lost the colonies, lost her father, lost her sister, lost the daughter she only briefly knew and her children's vanished father and most important to her, lost her son.

She was now awake in ways she never had been before and with a wealth of hate fuelled by the love that she had held and in a sick way still held for Gina spat "How could I love a machine" before cracking Kendra's sidearm against Gina's temple.

Well I hope you liked this chapter. I will be concentrating on this story which will be about twelve to sixteen chapters long and will be updating it once a week to once every two weeks depending on the size of the chapters.

I am trying not to change Cain too much from the character beautifully portrayed in BSG and Razor. This one will still face the hard choices only this time the situation is slightly different in the fact that Admiral Cain now has two other Battlestars and commanders she can rely on and the war so far has meant that actions the Cylons may have taken either can't be taken or will be delayed due to lack of resources. For example in this chapter Cain was shown by Admiral Hudson that there was another option instead of abandoning the civilians when in Razor Cain either wouldn't have had the resources or space aboard her own ship to take on so many civilians and still stand a chance of survival. This time she had the space due to the presence of two other battlestars and she had someone capable of seeing another option.

In my opinion and in Adama's to a certain extent, Cain isn't evil, cold yes but not evil. She cared about her crew but was possibly suffering from a form of PTSD and betrayal. She made the hard choices and stood by them even when it cost lives because maybe the way she saw it was that it was the only way to survive. If you watch Razor you can see that she did care when she walks through the dead, she just had no moral compass, and the only one she did have (before she blew his brains out) refused a direct order in front of the crew inviting the crew to do the same if they didn't like the orders they received thereby inviting mutiny, she did the right thing IMHO.

Things won't be easy for this fleet, unlike the evacuation fleet which galactica is leading in new beginnings, this fleet has limited resources, has one ship which is seriously damaged and another which isn't a 100%, has more pilots than planes and most of the vipers (Arions Mk 9s) have substandard parts and most importantly doesn't have the right resources or a mobile drydock.

Wrote with advice from reviewerdwj

What this fleet does have is the will to go on fighting no matter the cost.

The next chapter will be called Fishing and will see Cain presenting her plan and this fleet undergoing a few key changes as well as a return to where it all started and a proper introduction for Captain Chen and Ghost Squadron.

Reviews are appreciated.