Chapter One:

Contact

Through the dark vastness of space, the ship drifted. Distant starlight gleamed on the scarred metal of its hull, making it seem—for an instant—like a living thing, a scaled pike perhaps, an hunter in its element. Though the Commander could not have seen this, he was nevertheless aware, on some primal level, of a thrill of predatory energy as he stood upon the bridge, eyes fixed on the humming monitors.

"Sir, we have contact on DRADIS," confirmed Lieutenant Nayak.

"How many?"

"Two Basestars and a full compliment of raiders, Commander."

"It seems Cavil's realized what we're up to," opined Colonel Beaumont. "He's instituted a buddy system."

"We'll see how far that gets him," grunted the commander. "Tell Viper squads one and two to get their birds in the air. Are the bugs prepped?"

"Standing by, Commander."

"Then I want them to engage as soon as they see our first boy's nose poke out the hangar. Heavy bugs are to launch with the Raptors, as per usual."

"Commander Adama, we have incoming," Nayak almost barked, "They've spotted us."

"Very well," snarled Zak. "Let's remind them why they fear the Battlestar Hyacinth."

Daniel gunned the engine of his Viper and shot out of the Hyacinth's hangar like arrow, the rest of his squadron flowing in his wake. Part of him was exultant inwardly. As Hyacinth's CAG he rarely had the chance to fly actual mission any more, but fight two Basetars meant that they needed every bird pilot they could lay hands on. The mental choice of words, made Daniel's pale skin tingle, not unpleasantly. After he got back from this, he and Commander could…

"Septimus, this Juno. We're ready to launch boarding parties your mark. Over."

Daniel, call sing Septimus, cursed himself for losing focus. If he didn't keep his mind of the battle before him, there would be no afterwards. "Copy that, Juno. Give us a minute to punch a hole. Over."

The Vipers spread out in formation, swooping towards the Cylon Basestars like a shoal of sharks. Their way was blocked however, by an oncoming wave of raiders, their red eyes glowing. Both sides opened fire, filling the blackness of the void with streaks of light. For an instant it seemed like the sheer numbers of the numbers would overwhelm them. Daniel swung his bird around hard to the left, narrowly avoiding a spray of enemy fire. A wheeled back trying to lock on to his attacker, but was forced to evade again as two more raiders bore down on him. Then, to Daniel's relief, a hail of fire from somewhere behind him, scythed into his assailants' hulls. A second wave of raiders had arrived on the scene, this time coming from the direction of the Hyacinth.

These were the Hyacinth's secondary fighter corps, known informal as 'bugs', and marked with white paint to distinguish them for the benefit of their human allies. They fastened magnetically to the underside of the Battlestar, like so many roosting bats, only to peel away and vicious attack anything that seemed likely to threaten their adopted home. Together, raiders and Vipers pounded the enemy, scattering their ranks and routing them. Daniel knew that the emotional range of Cavil's raiders had been severely curtailed by his brutal "repairs", but he still had to wonder whether they were demoralized on some level to being doing battle with their own kind.

He remembered the first raider they had freed, during the hellish months they'd spent back on Tauron. For a moment, he relived that day again…

Zak Adama crept along the streets of Minos, keeping close to the wall of the alley, his head low and sidearm out. Daniel followed along behind, frequently glancing back over his shoulder to make sure they were not being pursued. On their backs they carried laden packs, filled with the spoils of the riskiest of foraging ventures: canned foods, bottled water, toothpaste, and most-importantly-radiation medicine.

"We're almost out," Zak assured him, his voice a husky whisper. He was athletic man, with a square jaw and blue grey eyes. The months on the run had leaned out the roundness of his cheeks and grown his dark hair into an untidy mop. "The bridge is on the next street and then it less than a hundred yards to the gorge."

"All right," Daniel replied. "Let's do it."

The two broke into a loping run. There was no cover to be had on the broad thoroughfare that lead out of the city and with every step he took Daniel could imagine red Cylon eyes boring into the back of his neck. They made it to the bridge without incident, an uninspiring concrete platform that spanned a greenish creek, but when they were perhaps two thirds of the way across its length they heard above them the mechanical roar of raider.

"Down!" screamed Zak and threw himself sideways, rolling as he hit the ground. Daniel didn't need telling twice; he dropped and rolled himself to the right. A round from the raider's rail gun smashed into the asphalt where he had stood and spattered his stolen clothes with black, pebbly gunk. Zak was back on his feet as the raider swooped off away from the city, preparatory for wheeling about for a second pass. He took up a shooters stance and fired. The sidearm's short barrel was never meant to hit a target at such a range, but Zak—though a lousy pilot—was a crack shot. The explosive round, capable of punching through an armored car or splattering the braincase of Cylon centurion, connected with the raider's left wing with a deafening blast. The flying machine wobbled in the air and then dropped like a stone to land in the gorge just outside the city.

"The whole city will have heard that," Daniel warned.

Zak nodded. "Let's get out of here."

The two dashed towards the gorge as fast as they could and plunged over the lip, out of sight. To their dismay, they found that what had been a steep and sandy-but passable-slope on their approach, had been peppered by shrapnel from the downed raider, reducing it a morass of shifting scree. Zak seized a weedy tree to steady himself and grabbed for Daniel's hand, dropping his gun in the process, but it was too late. Daniel lost his footing and slithered down the side of the gorge to land heavily, exactly within the steely semicircle of the fallen raider's wings. Horribly, the creature's long red eye still glowed with life and it swept now to orient on Daniel. He froze, like a hare suddenly faced with a prowling fox. One shot from the thing's weapon systems and he would be nothing but a streak of gore and soot.

"Daniel!" Zak screamed, fear making his voice crack, but he was still knee deep in sliding sand, unable to come to his lover's aid. The raider's gaze bored into Daniel, who returned it levelly, unblinking, though he could feel not just his heart but his guts seizing with an animal terror.

Then raider shuddered and let out a low sound, halfway between the noise of cooling metal and a cat's purr. Its eye did not change color or cease to focus, but something—malice maybe, or anger—seemed to have gone out of it. Slowly, Daniel stood up and, limping slightly, approached the raider. Very slowly, he reached out and rested one hand on the steel ledge of the thing's brow. It made the curious thrumming noise again.

"Hey Zak," said Daniel, hardly trusting his voice, "I think it likes me."

Back in the here and now, Daniel pushed such thought aside and pressed a button on his Viper's radio transceiver and relayed, "You're cleared to go, Juno. Good hunting. Over."

"Copy that, Septimus," Lieutenant Hoff, call sign Juno, replied. "Over."

Now a second wave of ships poured forth from the hangars of the Hyacinth: two teams of three Raptors, flying in tight formation, with a heavy raider bringing up the rear. All held a mix of veteran marines and liberated Cylon centurions. Back on the bridge, Lieutenant Nayak turned to the Zak.

"Sir, the enemy raiders are broken and our boarding parties are away."

"Excellent. Then, I want four of our anti-ship missiles launched immediately. Target the rear and aft weapon systems of each Basestar. I don't want our boys filled full of flak before they can get aboard."

"Right away, commander."

Daniel saw the blooms of fire as the missiles connected with the ships. I jabbed at his radio. "This is squad leader Septimus. I want every bird with out a raider on your actual tail to move up and fly wide escort around the raiding parties. Over."

Vipers and raiders scrambled to obey. Stray raiders and the odd shot from the light guns still functioning on the Basestars whizzed towards them and the ships they defended, forcing Daniel to remain alert, but not seriously threatening the operation. Soon the Raptors and heavy raiders had attached to their assigned Basestars and were off-loading their cargoes of soldiery. Daniel allowed himself to relax slightly. The strikes teams knew the drill. With most of the centurions lost to the revolt, the interior would be lightly defended at best. The troops would punch through to the hybrid, fast and vicious, and then introduce it to the specialized computer virus that he and Lt. Nayak had created. Then it would be all over but the kicking. Unfortunately, they had found that Daniel could not liberate Cavil's lobotomized raiders, but at least it would mean fewer enemies for them to fight another day.

Then Daniel's radio buzzed. "Septimus, this is Hyacinth actual. Something's happened. Can you return the Battlestar? Over."

"Probably, Zak. What's going on? Over."

"One of the long range scouts, the one's we had fitted with Cylon jump tech, just hopped back. They've found the fleet. We've found my father. Over."