A/N: This has been in my head for a while now. The crossover won't happen for a few chapters, and I'm making some changes to the Battlestar Galactica Universe. The whole thing starts when Roslin is having Boomer collect all the civilians into a convoy and Bill Adama has taken command of the fleet. The crossover won't happen until much later. Battlestar Galactica and Mass Effect belong to their owners, I take no credit for either's creation.
"This is the modified asteroid mining vessel Deadalus requesting permission join the president's fleet," the radio had been silent for a bit over half an hour after Sharon had brought the last of the civilians to Roslin's rendevous point. So to hear from anyone else over the set came as a bit of a surprise.
"Message recieved Deadalus, this is Cpt. Lee Adama of the Colonial fleet, what do you mean by modified?" Lee had never heard of a "modified" ship class before and was both curious and suspiscious of the new ship.
"Well sir, we're um..., how to put this? Sir we are pirates," that was all that was heard before Lee started to deny their request to join the Civilian fleet.
Just as Adama was about to signal the pirates to go frak themselves, Laura Roslin, who had been listening in on the conversation the whole time said,
"Let them come."
"Madam president, you can't be serious, they're pirates, for all we know they could try to just loot us and run leaving us for the Cylons," Lee spoke with doubt in his voice.
"Well, seeing as they could have done so already and that instead they requested to join and told us outright they were pirates, instead of lying, I'd say they know what sort of situation the Colonies are in. So, in light of this, I am giving permission for the Deadalus to join the convoy. If that still does not persuade you, consider this an order from the President of the 12 Colonies," She spoke with a tone that brokered no argument.
Defeated, Lee gave the pirates permission to join the fleet. As the pirates came out of FTL and launched old vipers, Lee was racing to jump into his Viper and fight them tooth and nail. So what happenned next surprised him.
"This is the Deadalus, we're launching fighters to form a patrol around the fleet, please do not be alarmed."
Not satisfied with their reasoning, Lee responded with venom in his voice, "A likely story, Deadalus, now whats the real reason you launched those fighters?"
"Your suspicion is well deserved Cptn., but since you don't have a fighter screen at the moment, and the Cylons could appear at any point, we thought it prudent to lend our Vipers to to protect the remnants of humanity," Lee had to admit the captain of the Deadalus' logic was sound, but he was still suspicious.
"Boomer?" Lee called for the pilot of the only advanced sensor craft of the fleet.
"Yes sir?" She sounded almost as uncertain as Lee felt at the moment.
"Form up with those Vipers, keep an eye on them and your eyes open for any Cylons," He wasn't just going to trust those men outright, and having boomer keep an eye on them would allow him to focus on other problems at the moment, like the transfer of civilians to FTL capable ships.
15 minutes later:
"Should we keep the ship or not? With it we could grow our own food, but it needs repairs to it's FTL drive,and the water requirements are rather high," the ship that was currently the topic at the moment, Garden of Eden, a botony cruiser, was a heated debate.
Those discussing it were the President, Cptn. Lee, Gaius Baltar, and the captain of the Deadalus whose name was Cev Heeton. The captain was there as the representative for the only defence the fleet had at the moment. Just then the captain of Colonial 1 came in with an urgent communicae from the remnants of the Colonial Fleet.
"Message reads; To all ships, am taking control of fleet. Regroup at Ragnorok Anchorage for rearm and counterattack. Cmndr. Bill Adama Battlestar Galactica," everyone though about the implications of the message for a moment before Roslin broke the silence.
"Well, now we know our destination, does anyone else have any ideas?" Only Heeton looked like he was going to say something.
"Ma'am if we strip the Deadalus' FTL drive we could repair the Garden of Eden's drive," nobody had expected that the pirates would be so selfless so that comment raised quite a few eyebrows.
"Any reason you want to strip our only defence captain?" Baltar was extremely afraid of a Cylon attack and having the only ship with guns be dismantled seemed silly to him.
"Mr. Baltar, my ship was meant for hit and runs on frieghters, if the convoy met up with the remnants of the Colonial Fleet, then they would have an actual protection as opposed to one pirate corvette. That and a place to grow food is more important than a few extra guns," Heeton again surprised everyone present with his cold logic.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the captain," Lee could feel the vomit coming up after that sentence. Agreeing with the logic was easy, but agreeing with the person made him feel sick to his stomach.
"What about those fighters you brought with you captain, where could we store them and their pilots?" President roslin asked.
"I beleive you have enough room for them in the hold on this ship, correct?" Heeton had obviously thought the whole thing through, because he responded almost immediately.
"Well then with that taken care of, what do we do about the men on the Deadalus?" Now it was Lee's turn to ask. He didn't feel comfortable with just letting the pirates loose among the civilians, crime rates would become untennable.
"With your permissions', Sirs, Madam President, the Deadalus' crew and I would like to remain here and provide a distraction to the Cylons," if the earlier comment about the Deadalus being stripped for parts had raised eyebrows, Heetons request left all of their jaws on the floor.
"And why do you want to sacrifice yourselves for us?" now Lee thought that the pirates had struck a deal with the Cylons to let them go free if they supplied information on the colonials.
"Penance, sir. The crew and I realized long ago that we would be going to hell for those we killed. While saving protecting the civilians may not seem like much to you, the Deadalus would like a chance to redeem itself. What better way to do so than to strike at the motherfrakkers that nuked our homes? We may be outlaws but we were born on the colonies, and we want to see them burn," the vehemance of the captain was startling to the three other people in the room.
It took a moment for Lee, Baltar, and Roslin to wrap their heads around the fact that the pirates were willing to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of humanity. Finally, it was the president who broke the silence.
"Well then, with that settled, let's get to work," Roslin was obviously anxious to get to the protection the Colonial Fleet offered, as was everyone else in the room sans Cev.
"I'll be heading back to my ship then," Heeton said while turning towards the airlock, where a shuttle would take him to the Deadalus. "Good luck and gods speed."
"You as well captain," Replied Lee with a salute.
30 minutes later:
"Sir, the Eden reports they'll be ready in five minutes," the comm. "officer" aboard the Deadalus reported.
"Good when they're done, and the civilians have left, start broadcasting a colonial signal requesti-"
"DRADIS contact!"
"Shoot it down, NOW!" this was not good, if the cylons had found them then it was only a matter of time until they decided to destroy them.
"Contact has left the area."
"Tell the fleet to jump," 'Damnnit we need more time,' Cev hoped that the Eden would finish before the Cylons showed up.
"All ships away, sans the Garden of Eden and Boomer," now that was a surprise.
"Get me a line to both vessels," Cev was not in the mood for heroics from a damn colonial.
"Line secured to both ships."
"Eden, you may want to hurry up. Boomer what the hell are you still here for?"
"Deadalus,Boomer, thought could provide some jamming, maybe slow the toasters down a little."
'Cheeky little bugger, ain't ya' "Understood Boomer, just bug out when I tell you and you won't get an earful from us, and thank you," Heeton was pleasently surprised to find a little help coming from those Colonials.
3 minutes later:
"DRADIS contact! It's a big one, looks like they sent a basestar after us," the operators fear was reflected in the crews faces.
None of the men on the Deadalus wanted to die, but they knew that providing a distraction here would save lives in the refugee fleet, where ever they were. The crew never thought they would lay down their lives for the betterment of humanity, the were pirates after all! But they were ready, still scared shitless, but ready nonetheless.
"Understood, start firing a screen. And for Gods' sake keep us between the Eden and the toasters," Heeton bellowed
"Enemy is launching raiders and missiles."
"Sir the Eden reports they are ready to make the jump," the comm. officer was delighted to announce.
In the deep balck of space a lone ship fled from a last stand of a desparate crew, all of them grateful to those poor souls for their willingness to sacrifice themselves. The raptor, callsign "Boomer" however, did not jump right away.
"Boomer, what the hell are you doing?" Cev found it ironic that a pirate was telling a Fleet pilot to run, normally the pirates would be the one fleeing.
"Just making sure you survive the missile barrage, didn't want your drazmatic last stand to be cut short now did you?"
"Understood and thanks but once tha-"
Boomer had been jamming the entire time, but even so, one raptor versus the guidance system of hundreds of missiles was a loosing battle from the begining. It was at this point that the Deadalus was thrashed by no less than five missiles. The ships only saving grace was that it was designed to operate in asteroid fields, where being crushed by monumental forces was a real possibility.
That didn't mean the ship could survive the fight though. A modified civilian ship, an old one at that, versus an advanced cylon baseship would never end well for the smaller vessel.
"Deadalus! Shit, someone respond!" Boomer's voice came in over the radio in the Deadalus' bridge.
"Run, don't look back, just get out of here now," that was all that Cev could get out before the radio died.
Groaning the living crew members resumed their posts, all eyes and ears glued to the captains words. As he sat there, losing blood from multiple gashes, and wheezing even one of his lungs collapsed, Cev Heeton decided that his ship and crew deserved one last order.
"Well this wasn't how it was supposed to end, now was it? We were all supposed to retire as rich and filthy men," a few smiles was all that escaped the crew but they still listened to the captain, "We may have been forgotten by the Colonies, but those cylons, those bastards right over there, I say we give them something to remember us. Helm ram the bastards, all gun battaries, focus fire to the fore, and to everyone else, may the gods watch over you."
When Boomer got the order to retreat, she started to spin up her drive. Just as she was about to jump, she saw something that would stay with her for the rest of her life. Later, back on the Galactica as she looked at her gun cams she would see the same thing be replayed in extreme clarity. Eventually, the small reel, only about three minutes long, would make the rounds among the civilian fleet, and it would become an iconic clip that would bring out tears for the fallen heroes portrayed in it. The clip gave everyone a reason to keep fighting, to honor those that had already died, and make sure the cylons never won.
From the debris cloud, emerging as if it was a demon, came a ship. Trailing debris, fire and running full tilt towards the massive Cylon baseship, the small ship took no less than fifteen hits, and it still kept going. the raiders, seeing a threat to their home converged on the small ship, and it still kept going. Finally, after what seemed an eternity the tiny ship collided with the massive basestar right where the two halves were connected at the stem. When the ships reactor went critical the basestar was utterly destroyed, it was also at this point that Boomer left the combat zone. Throughout the whole clip, highlighted by the fires raging around the large letters, the ships name could clearly be seen on the port side; the Deadalus.