Disclaimer: I don't own Battlestar, or any of it's characters, though I wish I had that Blackbird.
Journal of Tadare, Johnson; Viper Pilot 2nd class, Attached: Colonial Battlestar Galactica:
Lt. Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace, most of us knew her, if not well, at least as a commanding officer. Not to say she commanded much, except in a bad mood, but she was sort of a mother figure for some of us. Of course she'd kill me for saying so. Anyway, most of us knew her, and so it shouldn't have been a surprise. Even to Commander Adama, and Admiral Cain. After all, both had to have read her file, and Commander Adama knew her personally. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she did it, even if she wasn't supposed to even be there. It's not that she wasn't supposed to be there actually, just not in the Blackbird, and not like that. After all, it was 'supposed' to be a stealthship. Of course, a stealth pilot might have helped. Truly, only Kara Thrace could have managed this though.
It was looking to be the bloodiest single battle in Colonial history, even counting the old Cylon wars. Two battlestars had deployed full compliments of Vipers, and with a couple of theirs away, we had the Pegasus out numbered. Adama started to speak. "Release..." That was all the farther he got. Starbuck dropped back into the middle of the formation.
"Cylons incoming!" She screamed, and accelerated through the middle of the formation.
"Weapons Free!" Was the simultaneous order from Commander Adama and Admiral Cain, as several hundred Cylon interceptors exploded into normal space, FTL flashpoints lighting up space. Weapons fire exploded all around us, as the Cylons realised where they were. For a short time, the original conflict was forgotten, even between ships, as both fleets of Vipers whipped around struggling for their lives. Fire from the Galactica and Pegasus swept into space, and tore apart any Raider that was unlucky enough to get close.
Then it happened.
Galactica CIC.
"Dradis contacts, bearing 173, carom 945. Sir, those are Basestars." Gaeta announced. Adama whipped around.
"All fleet, emergency jump. Confirm co-ordinates." He ordered. Gaeta nodded, and Dualla 'Dee' gave the orders.
"Falcon to Galactica." The voice over the intercom was instantly recognizable.
"Go ahead Falcon." Adama ordered, not taking his eyes off the Dradis displays.
"We are in position to strike at the Basestars before leaving." Came the reply. "We are armed with ship to ship missiles."
"That brings up several questions, that I don't think I want an answer to. Fire your missiles, and then get out of here." Adama replied.
"Missiles away. Jumping." The ship fired eight missiles, and vanished from Dradis. Adama, Tigh, and the entire bridge held it's breath. They impacted, and then.
"The battlestars, they're..." The huge ships began to crinkle in space, as if some giant hand was wadding them up, like spent paper. Two huge spheres replaced them shortly afterwards.
"What the Frak kind of missiles were those?" Tigh barked.
"Magnetic warheads." Adama answered.
Pegasus CIC.
"He armed civilian ships with Magnetic warheads? Seems I missed something in his logs." Admiral Cain grunted. "Are the prisoners secure?"
"One moment." Her XO replied, and touched a button. A monitor flared to life, of an empty cell. "No, they aren't. Shipwide."
"Prisoner transfer, respond." Admiral Cain called.
"Prisoner transfer, we're under attack by Marines from Galactica." Came the reply, with gunfire echoing over the comlink. "We're pinned down just outside the main hangar deck."
"Reinforcements are en-route." Cain replied, the XO already moving to carry out the command.
"No time..." The voice cut off. Cain swore.
"Shut the hangar doors. I don't want them to escape this ship." She ordered.
"Doors sealing." Came the answer from Flight Control (FC) Starboard. "Frakkin' insane... Admiral, they cleared the doors just as they were closing. I couldn't stop them."
"Open the doors and launch raptors. Blow them out of the sky if you have to." Cain roared into the microphone.
Journal of Ardain, John; Sergeant Marine Strike Team Leader, Attached: Battlestar Galactica:
Fighting Cylons is one thing. Shooting other people is something completely different. Cylon's just die, they fall over, and explode, and it's done. You don't see faces, because they don't have faces. Well, they do, but that's usually what explodes when you shoot them. People look at you, even after they're dead. Just staring into open space really, but after you see them, they seem to be looking straight into your soul, seeing everything you did that you want to forget, and most of all, killing them. I'm a soldier. I kill people as part of my job. I hate having to do it, but I know that if I don't, someone else does. So I do my job, even when it requires fighting other men, to save lives. I killed three people today, people that like me, are only trying to do their jobs, and live another day. Three people will never do either. And I caused it. Some might say the blame should fall on Commander Adama. I don't believe it. I think it rests squarely on my shoulders. Some would say it was only fair, they killed two of mine, and they were trying to kill the rest of us. To be honest, all I can say, is that unless you were there, there's no way you can judge any of us. Someone will. They always do.
Rockets swept past the Raptor as the three pursuing ships dodged laser fire both from the two Vipers off Galactica ordered to defend it's own Raptor, and from the laser blasts of the Cylons who saw the four relatively unarmed ships as easy targets. The pilot suddenly rolled the Galactica Raptor down hard to the right, as a Cylon Raider bulleted past, having been aiming for them in a suicide run, that would have destroyed all four raptors, and the two vipers. As it was, it only smashed into the center raptor in pursuit, and both exploded in a ball of flame. The two outside Raptors had peeled away, and the two Vipers had followed. Galactica's Raptor rolled clean through a massive ship to ship entanglement, knocking a pair of Cylon missiles off-course and into a pair of raiders. As the pursuers, and the protecting Raptors came back around behind the fleeing ship, two things of interest happened.
On the far side of the battle field, well clear of the intricate weaving pattern, Captain 'Apollo' Adama's Raptor jumped back to the fleet, and was followed by it's Pegasus escorts. Between them and the two Battlestars, lay the wreckage of the two Base stars. Apollo grunted as he wrenched on the Raptors controls to peel off the magnetic fields of the two huge ships, which were slowly at least in real-time terms, drifting together. The two Viper pilots couldn't react in time, and had to eject to escape as their ships were crushed. Apollo rolled his Raptor around, and picked the pair up, before their oxygen ran out, and brought them aboard. The Raptor climbed upwards to escape the magnetic storms now forming around the two huge wrecks, and swung over towards the two Battlestars, and the raging battle.
At the same instant, as Galactica's Raptor dove for safety, Starbuck rejoined the fighting. The Blackbird 'Laura', was safely tucked away inside Galactica. Instead she'd grabbed the first available Viper, and rode out looking for a fight. She found one almost instantly, as she raced in behind the Raptor. The guns on her viper blasted away, and she whipped around firing in the general direction of the Raider. Normally she'd have hit it, but another pilot beat her to the punch. Slamming on the accelerator, she bulleted away from a still position, which was among the most vulnerable to be in. Finding another target wasn't hard, there were hundreds still, even with the Basestars destroyed. Firing as fast she dared, so as to not hit the diving and dodging Vipers, she scored three kills in rapid succession. It occured to her to wonder, just where all the fighters were coming from, as it appeared.
"Frak." Was the only word that came not only to her mind, but also to the minds of Commander Adama, and Admiral Cain.