Escaping Hades
by Wes Imlay
Fifty-Two Years before the fall:
Hades, Canceron:
Government District:
"How much longer do we have until the General Assembly meets?" Ian Donnelly asked his assistant as he walked down Lyndhurst Boulevard on their way to the Hades Assembly Hall.
"We have an hour and twelve minutes until the entire Assembly meets, that should give us time to get past the various security checkpoints," Allison Harrower said as she checked her handheld organizer. Harrower had worked with Ian for five years now as his personal assistant. She was meticulous in her job and the handheld organizer seldom left her hand. For many who saw her it was always a surprise if she were ever without it.
"That's plenty of time then, but why in the name of the Gods did Governor Bishop call a joint session of both houses?" Donnelly asked. The governing body of the Sovereign Colony of Canceron, the General Assembly, was made up of two houses. The lower house was called the Curia while the upper house was known as the Senate.
"There are times when I don't think Nancy Bishop really has much of an idea what she's doing," Harrower said.
"That could be because you belong to the opposing party," Curia member Helen Chalmers said as she caught up to Donnelly and Harrower.
"Here I am walking to the Assembly with the enemy," Donnelly teased Chalmers knowing it would only get a laugh from the woman. Harrower eyed the arrival with suspicion as she always did when she was around Donnelly.
"This is an address to both members of the General Assembly, doesn't matter whether we belong to the Progressive Party or the National Union Party," Chalmers retorted with a grin. Like Governor Bishop, she was a member of the Progressive Party.
"For what it's worth I think we'd rather just be leery of the opposition," Harrower responded with a look that dared Chalmers to start an argument on the issue.
"Right, well I will leave the two of you to stew in your hostilities while our governor graces us with her presence," Chalmers said as she walked away from them to a group of lawmakers she recognized.
"The people of Mangala must really be stupid to elect her," Harrower said.
"She's not so bad once you get to know her," Donnelly said diplomatically.
"There's a difference between us, I work for you and with that comes my loyalty to the National Unity Party. I could care less about getting to know the opposition; my concern is making sure you stay elected."
"That's what I like about you Allison, you do both me and the people of Iopolis a great service," Donnelly said as he gave his assistant a fatherly pat on the back.
"Someone has to work behind the scenes, might as well be me," she said as they rounded a corner and made their way to the entrance for the members of the General Assembly.
Hades, Canceron:
Town of Waverly Hall:
The town of Waverly Hall was a suburb of Hades with a population of only 847. In the early morning hour, Cora Gilroy was getting her eight-year old son John ready for school.
"Hurry up John, we're going to be late," she called from the kitchen as she grabbed her car keys for the morning commute. Her husband Jacob had already left that morning for his job at the Winder Iron Works in Hades and as she stood at the bottom of the stairs she uttered to herself, "Just one morning I would like to leave on time. Just once! Is that too much? Come on, John!"
"I'm almost done mom!" John Gilroy called out from his upstairs bedroom.
"Great, now get down here so we can leave!" Cora knew that traffic on the Commonwealth Expressway was going to be picking up considerably as people made their way into Hades and away from the capital to the smaller cities in the area.
"Ready to go Mom!" John yelled as he bounded the stairs full of youthful energy, he was indeed a very active eight-year old boy.
"We're burning daylight, let's get out of here," Cora said as she grabbed her purse, keys, and mobile phone. If she was lucky they would not run into the morning rush hour traffic that the Commonwealth Expressway was notorious for.
Hades, Canceron:
Forty-First Precinct Police Station:
"Alright Crawford, what neighborhood are we being sent to today?" Officer Elizabeth Brookes asked.
"Today we are being sent to patrol East Mayfield, so it should be a fun-filled day for us," Officer David Crawford said as he downed the rest of his black coffee and adjusted his uniform. He was the senior officer assigned to help the rookie officer adjust to life at the Forty-First. Brookes was a young twenty-two while Crawford was thirty-five and had seen most of what could happen in a city such as Hades.
"Why East Mayfield, they couldn't have assigned us a nicer area like Oakhurst?" Brookes asked.
"Because tensions in East Mayfield have been high since the Warenreich Incident last week," Crawford explained.
"I know that, the news won't let us forget about the damn thing," Brookes said with disgust at the non-stop news cycle that seemed to only serve to fan the flames of the already high tensions in the area.
East Mayfield was a melting pot where you have Cancerons, Gemonese, Sagittarrons, and other people from the Colonies who lived together but really did not get along. Mayfield used to be a separate city until the eastern half was annexed by Hades; West Mayfield was still its own city though it had become another suburb of Canceron's capital. East Mayfield was now home to the different groups who had either immigrated to Canceron or were here on other types of business. Last week a Gemenese girl named Sara Warenreich claimed a group of Cancerons tried to assault her and tensions had been high between the ethnic minority and the indigenous people there ever since. The Hades Police Department had ordered extra officers to patrol the city to make sure no rioting occurred and none of the side effects of rioting would take place.
The two officers started down the hallway that would take them to the elevator they would need to use to get to the squad car parking garage.
"How'd it go last night?" Crawford asked.
"How did what go last night?" Brookes said as she tried to act like she had no idea what he was talking about.
"You're going to act like you weren't on that date last night?" Crawford asked.
"It went fine, we had a nice dinner at Loreto's followed by a walk around Lake Bryn before we called it a night," Brookes said as the two maneuvered through a crowd of their fellow officers.
"Glad to hear it, so you are you and what's-his-name going to have another date?" Crawford asked.
"His name is David Conner, and there may be a second date. Why are you so curious?" Brookes asked.
"We've been partners here for the past three years; it's just nice to see you finally have something akin to a love life. Everybody needs someone Liz," Crawford said as he held up his left hand to emphasize his wedding ring.
"I know that, not everyone here can have a nice marriage like you and Jane have. It's only been one date, we'll see how it goes," Brookes said in hopes that it would end the conversation.
They made it to the elevator and Crawford pressed the button to summon the vertical means of transportation.
"You know we could always just use the stairs," Brookes said.
"Modern conveniences, much like the Cylons, are here to make our lives easier so we should do all we can to take advantage of them."
Hades, Canceron:
Fort Neyland:
"Do you have anything new to report Lieutenant?" Commander Lambert Wickes asked the officer standing in front of his desk.
"Yes sir, my squadron has completed their training for the festivities tomorrow," Lieutenant Isaiah Robinson responded. He commanded Squadron Three consisting of twelve Foxtrot-class Vipers stationed at Fort Neyland, and they had been selected to represent the fort at the Hades Day celebration that would take place the next day to commemorate the founding of the capital city of Canceron.
"That's reassuring," Wickes said as he began to steeple his fingers, "I would like for you and your pilots to practice the Wildcat Formation for the upcoming festivities. Do you think your pilots can handle that?"
Robinson knew that he would have to work hard on that particular formation. He really had no choice but to say that they could, it would be unwise for him as a squadron leader to disparage his pilots. At least that was how he felt on the issue.
"We can make it happen sir, my pilots won't let you down," he said throwing on his best card face.
Wickes smiled, "That's what I was hoping to hear, go get your squadron ready for tomorrow. You're dismissed."
Robinson left the room and realized his pilots were not going to be very happy with the news that the day of rest he had promised them was going to have to be cancelled because the base commander wanted to see a decidedly more dangerous flying maneuver than the safer Sunburst that they had been practicing.
General Assembly:
"This Assembly of the Sovereign Colony of Canceron is now in session," Lieutenant Governor Seth Harding announced, "All rise for the Governor of the Colony, the right honorable Nancy Bishop."
The delegation stood as a door to the right of the back wall of the Assembly opened and in walked Governor Nancy Bishop. She was in her mid-fifties and some said that her election to the governorship of the colony was the result of the ineffective leadership of the previous governor, John H. Dent.
For security purposes she was always flanked by no less than six Cylon Centurion escorts, it had been deemed more cost-effective to have these mechanical guardians in place as opposed to using humans for personal protection. Each one had been specially decorated for their role with their bodies painted Royal Blue and the emblem of the Colony on their arms just below the shoulder. Many viewed these mechanical escorts as the government portraying the wrong sort of image to the people.
Commonwealth Expressway:
Her worst fears were confirmed, traffic on the Commonwealth Expressway was at a standstill due to the large amount of traffic stopped due to a ten car pileup resulting from a semi truck that had taken a turn too sharply and rolled over. All Cora Gilroy could do was look out at the sea of traffic and wonder just how late John would be for school. Her son seemed oblivious to it all, contentedly sitting in the passenger seat reading a book called 'A Window to the Past' and humming along to the music that was playing on the radio.
She knew from previous traffic accidents that the Department of Transportation's Cylon cleanup crews were working on clearing the expressway of the wrecked vehicles, it was just a matter of waiting for it to happen.
Cora decided that the song playing was just going to irritate her further so she switched the station to one of the various all-news stations.
"In other news this morning, reports have been coming in from the Northern Territories about Cylon malfunctions," the voice of the news reporter said as she was going down the list of the morning briefs.
"It's a good thing those machines don't mind the extreme cold," Cora said though John was too busy reading his book to realize his mom had spoken.
The Northern Territories was a large frozen mass of land that had been incorporated as its own political entity when the colony came under a single government. There were only four cities up there that could even be considered slightly 'habitable' for humans; Milner, Pavo, Embree, and Clarendon. Out of these four cities it was Pavo that served as the official capital of the Northern Territories.
"The cause of the malfunctions is yet to be made clear and no official word has been made by either government officials or the manufacturer, but from the reports we have received it would appear the Cylons are not responding to the orders given to them. As a result industrial production has been temporarily suspended until the problem can be found and sorted out."
Cora just shook her head, it sounded like whatever was going on in the Northern Territories was an inconvenience that could get worse if something was not done about it.
General Assembly:
Bishop stood at the podium where the Speaker of the Curia would normally stand to direct the official business of the governing body. She looked to the left side of the Assembly and then to the right, finally after what seemed like an eternity lost in thought she directed her gaze to those seated in the center portion of the large chamber.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the General Assembly, as your governor it is both an honor and a privilege to address you here today," Bishop said as she began the speech she had prepared since she had received the news earlier this morning from her Defense Minister.
This was something she knew had been building and as much as she hated to do it, she knew what she was about to tell these lawmakers could have disastrous implications.
"As many of you know, we have had a series of trade disagreements with the Colony of Tauron. We have attempted to use diplomacy to solve these problems, and in truth it seemed as though we were making headway. That is until early this morning when the Tauron military seized control of the Gholson Steel Foundry located in Tauron City. The government of Tauron then arrested brothers Benjamin and Samuel Gholson, two men who came to Tauron in the spirit of friendship to use their entrepreneurial gifts to benefit not only their fellow citizens of Canceron but also those of the Taurons," Bishop said as she waited for her words to take effect.
"I have spoken with Governor Jack Maginnis of Tauron and he informed me that the Gholson brothers were running a forced labor camp that enslaved the people he was elected to represent. I asked for elaboration on his words but above all proof and received neither. It was still hoped that we could still use diplomacy to solve the problem until I received reports this morning that the Gholson brothers were being brought before a military tribunal in the next couple of days to stand trial on the charges that Governor Maginnis felt compelled to pursue against them. As the leader of the Soverign Colony of Canceron I cannot let this stand, which is why I am asking you today to approve a military blockade of Tauron until they are willing to listen to reason and sit down with our diplomats to negotiate. With this blockade, most if not all of our fleet will be needed for this endeavor. In order to keep the other colonies from taking advantage of this, I am asking you to also approve funding to enlarge our military. We need more cruisers built in order to keep the Sovereign Colony of Canceron safe from those who wish it harm," Bishop was looking at the faces of the people hoping to gauge what was being said. She knew that this was tricky, especially with the Hades Day celebration coming up tomorrow, but time was of the essence and the military of Canceron needed to be readied for a possible military conflict with Tauron.
There were divided murmurs from the assembled politicians as they heard the speech. Ian Donnelly sat in his seat mesmerized by what he was hearing, he had always pegged Nancy Bishop as being a pacifist on practically every issue that involved a conflict but yet here she was calling for an arms buildup to dissuade Tauron from taking a course of action that could lead to further escalation.
He felt a tapping on his shoulder and looked to see that Allison Harrower had come up to where he was seating.
"What is it?" he whispered to her.
"Important call for you, you had better come with me to answer it," Harrower said as she motioned for Donnelly to follow her.
He discreetly made his way up the aisle and out of the Assembly Chamber. When he was out of earshot of the Governor's speech he looked at his assistant, "Alright Allison, what the hell is so important for you to drag me out of this speech?"
"There's a call that came in for you from Iopolis, something about the Cylons," Harrower said as she handed him her mobile phone.
"This better be good," Donnelly whispered harshly before he took the phone from her, "This is Donnelly," he said and wondered what he was going to hear.
"Ian, it's Monty," the voice belonged to Montgomery 'Monty' Sicard.
"Monty, what can I do for you?" Donnelly asked his friend from Iopolis, Donnelly having known 'Monty' since their high school days at Townsend Academy in Iopolis.
"I told Allison this and now I'm telling you, it seems the trouble we've had with the Cylons in the Northern Territories has spread here as well. The Cylons are not responding to any commands given to them, they seem to be walking around in some way that only they appear to understand."
"Listen Monty, I'll get with the Minister of Technology and see what can be sorted out, the Governor is giving an important speech and I really need to be there to listen to it," Donnelly said as he clicked the phone off and handed it back to Harrower without saying a word.
He walked to the door he had just come out of was preparing to walk in, but in that instant he saw something that horrified him. The six Cylons that had been assigned to guard Governor Bishop took their sidearms out of their holsters and in one quick motion put several bullets into her body. One of them went right through her head and she hit the floor in a pool of blood and tissue.
There was a loud burst of screaming from the assembly members as the Cylons began to turn their weapons to the leaders of the Senate and Curia, as well as the Lieutenant Governor and dispatched them quickly before anyone had time to react.
Donnelly ran from the door and grabbed Harrower by the elbow, "We have to get out of here now!"
"Were those gunshots I heard?" she asked.
"Yes, the Cylons just gunned down the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the leaders of the Curia and Senate," Donnelly said as he ran with Harrower towards the fire exit. He heard the sound of heavy metallic footsteps and knew the Cylons were beginning to mass near the doors they had just left from. The staccato of automatic fire and the screams of those shot began to resound off the walls of the Assembly Chamber. The Cylons were assassinating the combined government of Canceron.
Commonwealth Expressway:
Cora Gilroy heard the explosion coming from up ahead in traffic, and then she saw the flames shooting up as several cars leaped up into the air on fire. She heard a whoosh as she realized that rockets were being fired into the cars jammed onto the Commonwealth Expressway. Her maternal instinct kicked in, and seemed to be directing her body because her mind was not yet comprehending what was taking place.
"Undo your seatbelt, we have to get out here!" she screamed as she undid her seat belt and bolted to the other side of the car to let John out.
"Mom, what's going on?" John asked the fear in his voice palpable.
"I don't know honey, but we're getting far away from here," she said as she took him by the hand and led him to the nearby barrier that separated a housing community from the Expressway.
"Where are we going?" John asked, still sounding like a frightened boy. "What about the car, mommy? Mommy?"
"We're going to climb the fence and go someplace safe," Cora said as they reached the fence.
"But what about the car?" pleaded the little boy who didn't understand the danger.
Another loud explosion filled the air ahead of them. More cars were being ripped apart by rocket and heavy gunfire and the sounds of people screaming followed the explosive thunder.
"Oh frak! Come on John! Quickly"
She helped to lift her son high enough to climb over and then she did a running jump and climbed over as well. She looked into the distance and saw that the cars, including hers, were now on fire as whatever was being fired at them had set them ablaze. People were running between the cars screaming in terror some of which were covered in blood; some of their own and some belonged to other commuters.
"Come on honey, let's go get help," she said as calmly as could as she led her son away from the carnage as quickly as his young legs would allow. In the distance she heard the screams of the dying and realized that it could have easily been both of them. Several times John tried to look back to see what was going on but wanting to shield her son from the horror Cora quickly tugged on his arm and told him to keep looking forwards. The uneven ground made the escape difficult but Cora was determined to get away as her maternal instincts took priority over her own life.
She had to save her son.
Fort Neyland:
"All pilots report to your ready rooms. I repeat all pilots report to your ready rooms. This is not a drill, not a drill!" the voice of the communications officer blared over the loudspeaker all over Fort Neyland.
"What the frak is going on?" Lt. Clark Gorseinon asked Lieutenant Isaiah Robinson, the officer in charge of the Viper squadron he was assigned to. "Is it the Taurons? Have they killed those brothers?"
"I'll fill you and the rest of the squad in on what's going on," Robinson said as the two men bounded into the ready room for Squadron Three.
"Good morning, today we were supposed to be engaged in more practice for the Hades Day celebrations tomorrow. However that will no longer be the case," Robinson began as he looked and saw that his right hand was shaking slightly. It was something he had not been aware of and he tried to steady his hand before he began, "The Cylons have...revolted for lack of better words. Half an hour ago they assassinated Governor Nancy Bishop and as best we can tell all members of the General Assembly."
There was a stream of comments and questions from the twelve pilots there in the room. Robinson realized that the situation was going to get out of hand, "Shut up and listen!"
The room went silent at this rare outburst of anger from their squadron leader. Robinson took advantage of it to continue with the important items from the briefing he had been given, "The Cylons have also killed the Prefects of the administrative regions. The colony is on the verge of descending into anarchy. The few surviving government offcials who are left have declared a state of emergency and have already begun putting in place measures that are in-effect, Martial Law."
"What are we supposed to do?" Ensign Dale Edmonds asked.
"Pray to the Gods they run of oil," Ensign Anna Gach said which drew some nervous laughter.
"We're going to fly out there and cover the troops who are engaging the Cylons as we speak. Worst case scenario is that we head north to Iopolis to Fort Teuton and from there fly to McDermott Air Base in Pavo," Robinson said and took note of the looks of surprise on his pilots' faces.
"The Northern Territories?" Lieutenant Lucy Marston half-stated and half-asked.
"McDermott is well-defended and it should give us a safe haven for the time being until we can regroup and get some form of leadership, civilian or military," Robinson said and looked around at the pilots sitting there almost numb from the news that had been passed along to them.
"The Cylons are revolting, what are we going to do?" Ensign Emma Steele asked, probably voicing what the squadron was thinking.
"We're going to do our jobs," Robinson said in his best command voice, "We're going to fly out there and provide cover for the troops or whatever job we are asked to do and we're going to do it well because we are Squadron Three of Fort Neyland!"
The pilots got up and began to get suited up for the task that lay ahead for them, Robinson looked around and murmured a silent prayer that they would come out of this unscathed and be able to save the lives of at least a few of the civilians they were sworn to protect.
McCarron Street:
"Dave look out!" Elizabeth Brookes screamed as the couple darted out in front of them.
Crawford hit the brakes and sent their patrol car to a sudden halt, the cars behind them swerving and barely managing to avoid a collision. He got out of the car and saw that the couple they had hit was a forty-something looking man and a woman who looked to be in her late twenties.
"What the frak were the two of you thinking?" Crawford yelled at the couple who looked to be too shell-shocked to say anything.
"Dave, I think there's something wrong with them," Brookes said as she got out of the car and walked towards them.
""The Cylons…" the woman said.
Crawford approached the hysterical couple holding has arms out reassuringly, trying to calm them down. "Ma'am what's your name?" he asked.
"They killed everyone," she said just looking ahead blankly.
"If you could tell me your name, we can get you help," Crawford said as he inched closer. He looked behind him and saw that Brookes had turned the lights on the roof of their patrol car on.
"Allison Harrower, she's my personal assistant," the man said as he seemed to come out of the shock that had kept him quiet all this time.
"Thank you sir, and your name is?" Crawford asked as Brookes got back into the car to type Harrower's name into the car's small computer.
"Ian Donnelly, I'm a member of the Curia. I'm the representative if Iopolis, we were at the General Assembly when the Cylons opened fire and killed everyone there."
"Alright Mr. Donnelly, how were you and Miss Harrower able to escape?" Crawford asked as professionally as he could while unsure if he believed them or not. One thing he had learned on the job was that junkies come in all shapes and sizes and saw all kinds of things in their hallucinatory state.
"I had received a phone and call and stepped out. When we heard the shooting we bolted for a nearby fire exit and managed to get out in time," Donnelly said as he seemed to get more a hold of himself and act more like an elected representative.
Listening to their story, Crawford had remembered a report that the two of them had received from an automated emergency broadcasting system. If this was true, then they had found at least one person from the General Assembly who had survived, "Brookes turn the siren on, we have to get moving," he called out to his partner before turning his attention to Donnelly and Harrower, "We need to get the two of you to a secure location. Get in our car and we'll take you to Fort Neyland."
A-1452
Road adjoining the townships of Marrion and Causea
85 miles east of Fort Neyland
It was a frightening sight to behold. The burned out wrecks of the cars. The carcasses of what were once people, the heavy weapons fire having made little work of tearing through their delicate Human flesh. And through it all the distinctive humming sound of an artificial lifeform. The Cylon platoon marched through wreckage scanning the bodies for any sign of life. Any that was discovered were quickly subdued. The Cylons didn't have any room in their programming for dealing with survivors. Eight of the twenty or so Cylons were painted bright yellow with black stripes. These had been highway maintenance Cylons used for clearing away car accidents and working on the roads. Now they bore arms like their Centurion brethren and marched towards their goal of victory over their human oppressors.
There was a sudden high pitched shriek followed quickly by another. The Cylons looked skywards as two Foxtrot-class Vipers darted out of the sun. With white hot vortices streaming from their sweeping wings as they cut through the air they drew long lines in the sky as they swooped down. Suddenly the air came alive as gunfire streamed from the fighters cutting down the lead Cylons and causing the others to scatter as they opened up on the two Vipers that were now turning their noses high to avoid getting too low to the ground where they would be vulnerable to small arms fire.
Staying high the Vipers came around again for a second pass. By now the Cylons had organised and were dispersed so that no one strafing pass could take out more than a single Centurion. Each Viper picked their target and fired a short burst taking out another pair of Cylons but as they pulled upwards once more a long white stream of smoke darted upwards and began pursuing one of the Vipers.
Lt. Mira Zeyer saw the white smoke trail arching around towards her Viper.
"Frak!" she screamed as she threw her fighter into a hard 7G turn to the right. The SAM appeared as little more than a dot as its second stage slow burner motor kicked in making it all the more difficult to see. Knowing that she now had to pile on the speed on she turned her nose downwards trading altitude for speed. Down she went all the while trying to find the small missile with her human eyes. Suddenly her Viper began to rattle as small arms fire from the Cylons strick her Viper. Surpised, she jinked from left to right without actually changing the direction of the Viper which meant it was effectively flying in a straight line. It was easy prey for the missile which exploded on her rear fuselage. She didn't even have chance to scream.
Rodgers Avenue:
Cora and John Gilroy had managed to stay ahead of the crowd from the Commonwealth Expressway and had made it to Rodgers Avenue. The streets were jammed with soldiers, police, and emergency response vehicles. Cora held her son's hand tightly as they tried to maneuver through the sea of humanity that lay before them.
"Excuse me!" she constantly said as she pushed through the crowd. "Excuse me please!" She had no idea where she was going, her mind was focused on getting her son to safety and as far as she was concerned it was as far away from the Cylons as possible.
"Civilians heading to Fort Neyland please line up here," a uniformed soldier in full combat gear announced as a group of soldiers formed a perimeter around the tailgate of a recently offloaded troop transport.
'Why not, it's got to be safer than the streets,' Cora thought as she turned and half pulled John to where the soldiers were at.
"You two get in there," the solider said as he pointed at them.
"Thank you," Cora said which got a slight nod from the soldier; they took the seats furthest away from the exit and waited as more people got onboard the transport. When it had been filled to capacity the tailgate was raised and the engine of the transport rumbled to life as they left Rodgers Avenue on their way to Fort Neyland.
Fort Neyland:
Two Hours Later:
Commander Lambert Wickes was having a bad day, actually that would have been an understatement. His subordinates had left the conference room adjacent to his office, now he stood there alone with his thoughts and the many reports that had come in that morning since the Cylons had made their move against their human masters. The last report had confirmed what he had suspected the loud booms and thuds were; the Cylons were advancing on Fort Neyland. His command was not far from being under siege.
The door swung open and in came six people, two police officers, two of the base security officers, and two people in civilian suits.
"You'd best have a reason for barging in here like this," Wilkes asked the two security officers who nodded and stepped aside for one of the civilians.
"Ian Donnelly, I'm a member of the Curia."
"Commander Lambert Wilkes," he said as he offered a handshake to the man, "I hate to tell you this, but you're the only member of the civilian government who's confirmed as having survived."
"That's what I was afraid of; thanks to these officers here Miss Harrower and I were able to get here safely."
Wilkes shook his head, "I wish I could tell you that you're safe but the Cylons are advancing on us. First things first, we need to get our chaplain here with a copy of the Sacred Scrolls."
Donnelly nodded his head solemnly, "Yes, I had a feeling that was going to need to happen."
Wilkes nodded, "We need someone to lead the people, and you are a legally recognized member of the civilian government. The people would respond better to you instead of a member of the military taking command."
A few minutes later the chaplain came in with his copy of the Sacred Scrolls, "Mr. Donnelly if you'd please place your hand on the Scrolls." Donnelly did so and repeated each of the Chaplin's words although he couldn't believe it was happening. "I Ian Charles Donnelly, son of Joseph Donnelly, do hear now solemnly swear that I shall assume the post of Governor of the Sovereign Colony of Canceron. That I will serve the people and the will of the people with morality and honor. That I will uphold the Constitution of Canceron and defend the freedoms our people enjoy with every fiber of my being for as long as I am required to serve."
He was now Governor Ian Donnelly of Canceron.
"May I be the first to congratulate you Mr. Governor," Wilkes said as he came to attention and saluted the man who was now his Commander-in-Chief.
"Commander Wilkes, we need to evacuate this base and relocate to a more secure facility," Donnelly said, still finding it hard to believe that he was now in charge of Canceron.
"Aye aye sir, I'll get the troop transport out on the tarmac and begin loading personnel. Where's our destination?" Wilkes asked.
"We're heading up to Pavo, that's where the Governor's emergency bunker is located at. It's a place known only to the Governor, Lt. Governor, and the General Assembly. When we get to McDermott Air Base I can direct you there, that is if the Cylons haven't taken the city and base yet," Donnelly felt just a bit helpless but could do little about it, he had to look and act the part of a Governor and in this case he had to take a risk.
"Squadron Three just returned from a strafing run on the Cylons, I'll have them refuel and prepare to escort us up to Pavo. Give us half an hour to forty-five minutes and we'll be ready to leave," Wilkes said.
"Commander Wilkes," Donnelly called out.
"Yes Mr. Governor, what is it?" Wilkes asked.
"When we get to Pavo I'm appointing you Lt. Governor, no staying behind and taking one for the team, understood?" Donnelly knew the military types and some of them were willing to sacrifice themselves if they felt the need to. Right now he needed a strong leader to serve as Lieutenant Governor, and he liked what he saw in Lambert Wilkes.
Army Transport Plane DD-680:
The large transport plane had been loaded with both people and supplies to the point where it seemed that was no more room left to even fit a small box onboard.
Captain Warner Ryerson and his co-pilot, Lieutenant Xiang Nuan, went through their pre-flight checks to make sure that everything was in working order before they took off. This was going to be perhaps their most nerve-wracking of flights. Not only were they carrying refugees from Hades, the city itself was falling to the Cylons as troops and police officers were overwhelmed, they were carrying with them Governor Ian Donnelly and the soon-to-be Lieutenant Governor Lambert Wilkes.
"Transport DD-680 you are cleared for takeoff, good luck out there," the air traffic controller said.
"Correction on that, this is Canceron Alpha," Ryerson corrected which drew a satisfied smile from Nuan as she put away her clipboard and readied herself for flight.
"Canceron Alpha, this is Lt. Isaiah "Thumper" Robinson, my pilots and I will be your escorts all the way to Pavo," Robinson said as he and his pilots readied themselves to take off along with the plane carrying the civilian government of Canceron and some of the refugees who had managed to escape Hades. He thought of the eight Vipers left in his squadron, and felt a pang of guilt for the four they had lost over Hades. Lieutenants Mira Zeya and Dmitri Kaman along with Ensigns Murray Jones and Jesse Clyborn had been shot down during their engagements and could either be dead or trapped behind what could now be considered enemy lines.
The large transport plane and its eight escorts took off and left behind Fort Neyland, it was only a matter of time before the Cylons overran it like they were the rest of Hades. For the people onboard the day had started out so normally but had become a day they would never forget.
Elsewhere on the transport, Officers David Crawford and Elizabeth Brookes were keeping a wary eye on the civilians huddled on the transport plane. Crawford had been appointed the Head of Security for both Governor Donnelly and Lt. Governor Wilkes, they were coordinating with the troops onboard to make sure nobody unauthorized got near either man.
"Seems that military training is coming in handy," Brookes commented.
"Eight years in the Canceron Army, old habits are hard to break," Crawford said.
"I'm glad you're here, I wonder if we should even be alive after all this," Brookes said as she looked out a nearby window at the blue sky.
"We made it out and that's what matters, if we start second-guessing and wondering things like that it'll be downhill for us. We're alive, and we have an important job to do. Until we reach Pavo and get to the Governor's Bunker we cannot let up in doing our job on here, there's no telling who is on here with us and if they are sympathetic to the Cylons. I know it sounds paranoid but it's what we have to do in order to stay alive."
Brookes wanted to say something, but instead was content to simply nod in agreement.
There was a knock on the small office door and in walked Allison Harrower.
"How's the Chief of Security and his deputy doing?" she asked, in the events since they had first run into her and Ian Donnelly she had come out of her shock and was seemingly back to her old self.
"We're doing just fine, how's the Chief of Staff doing?" Brookes asked before Crawford could speak.
"Better, getting out of Hades helped a lot. I keep thinking about Governor Bishop and all the other officials who didn't make it. This morning I was merely a personal assistant and now well I just don't know how to feel," Harrower said in a way that showed that she still was not yet over the events that had transpired.
"I know how you feel, Dave and I were just a couple of patrol officers going to a crap assignment when we found you and Governor Donnelly. We can just hope for the best for our friends at the Forty-First Precinct," Brookes said as she forced a smile to her face.
"I suppose that's all we can do when you get down to it, we just have to hope that more people were able to make it out. You have Cylons revolting in Hades, Amarna, Romanos, Iopolis, Mangala, and other major cities, it's like the world has turned upside down. What'll happen if Pavo's been overrun by the Cylons?" Harrower asked, wondering just what lay ahead for them.
"Apparently there's a small settlement to the north of Pavo called Nesbitt. It doesn't look like much, but it's built right on top of the bunker and once we land at the airstrip there we can go into hiding practically right away," Crawford said.
"How'd you know that?" Harrower asked.
"Wilkes was able to get this information from Governor Donnelly, it seems the General Assembly members knew of these but they weren't kept in the database where some information hacker could access them. It would appear the government was a bit paranoid about people finding out what would happen in case of a colony-wide emergency," Crawford said as he mentally checked all the information he had been given.
In the passenger section of the transport, where the civilians were being kept at were a mother and son who were as much in shock at the events of the day as most everyone could claim to be.
"Where are we going Mom?" John Gilroy asked his mom.
"Someplace safe, just close your eyes and get some sleep," Cora Gilroy said as she stroked her son's hair. They had been hustled onto the plane and had no idea where they were being sent to, she had realized that there was some sort of VIP onboard due to the presence of the eight Vipers and the heavily armed soldiers escorting some of the people who had come onboard.
"Where's Dad?" John asked as he began to fall asleep.
"Somewhere safe, we'll see him again when this is all over," Cora said as she fought back tears. They had escaped Hades, but were now heading somewhere unknown.
In the small cabin just aft of the cockpit Ian Donnelly looked over a printout that had been produced for him to read over, it was the names of the pilots who were escorting the Army transport plane now known as 'Canceron Alpha'.
"Anna Gach, Clark Gorseinon, Dale Edmonds, Peter Birchall, Hannah Baird, James Elder, and Arthur Fisher are the pilots under the command of Lieutenant Robinson. From what I've read they performed admirably in keeping the Cylons from taking Fort Neyland sooner than they ended up doing," Donnelly said to Allison Harrower, in a span of less than a day the young woman who had graduated from Truxtun University who just happened to have been hired as his personal assistant to the Chief of Staff for the Governor of Canceron.
"From the reports I received from the pilots there will be a fuel tanker scrambled from either Fort Teuton in Iopolis or Lawrence Air Base in Noa. The reports of Cylons revolting have increased considerably. It seems that what happened in Hades was a signal to the others to begin their assault, I hate to say it but there's no guarantee we'll be able to keep anyone safe at the moment. The best thing we could do is get people to stay off the streets," Harrower was feeling a sense of helplessness begin to take over.
"Allison, the last thing we need to do is give up hope. Yes the Cylons caught us off guard, but humanity will fight back. The moment we get back on our feet and shake off this blow we'll show that we are more than able to return the punch we took. Don't give up on me, right now I need you here like I needed you there with me in the Curia," Donnelly reached out and gave Harrower's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Thank you…Governor," she said smiling at knowing she could use that title with him, "The military brass feel that until they're able to contain the Cylons then we need to stay airborne until we can reach either Pavo or Nesbitt it would be best to simply refuel the vipers in mid-air."
"Fuel is one thing, but I'm worried about their stamina. Will they be able to keep flying the five hours until we reach the Northern Territories?" Donnelly asked.
"The pilots were given stimulants before taking off and they have a bottle with additional ones just in case, though I'm afraid that once they land it would be best that they be allowed to crash for however long. Let's just hope they don't do that in the reverse order," Harrower joked as she looked at the list Donnelly was holding with the name of the eight pilots from Squadron Three. For better or worse they were their angels sent to guide them to a place of security where it was hoped the Cylons would be unable to hurt them.
"Mind if I sit by you?" a woman asked.
Cora looked at her and gauged whether she could trust the woman or not. She was wearing a skirt and blouse and looked as though she was a businesswoman of some sort.
"Sorry to disturb you, but my seat was taken when I got up to stretch my legs and I saw you had an empty space here beside you. I don't want to be caught standing if we encounter turbulence, that happened once when I was on a flight from Amarna to Broadwater and it was none too pleasant," the woman said.
"Alright, before I let you sit at least tell me who you are," Cora said.
"Gods I can't believe I haven't done that yet," the woman extended a hand towards her, "Aleksandra Kucharczuk, I don't know if you've heard of me or not."
Cora thought she had looked familiar but now she realized why she knew her, "You're the CEO of Kucharczuk Enterprises!"
Kucharczuk smiled, "Yes that would be me, and my family was in the news lately."
"Yes I remember reading about that, your family was on their way to Caprica to see about establishing a Caprican branch of the company," Cora remembered that being on the Canceron World News network one day when she was alone at the house and found nothing worth watching was on the other channels.
Kucharczuk nodded, "My husband, Stefan, went with our two children to Caprica City. I think of him and our children, Jakob and Eudokia, and wonder what is going on right now. I hope the Cylons are only doing this on our world, I'd hate to imagine if it was going on with the other eleven colonies…"
"I'm only concerned about our own world at the moment, the others haven't really cared about us before," Cora said as she gave John a gentle squeeze and was glad that he was sleeping through what was perhaps the worst part of their journey.
"You're right; do you know where your husband is?" Kucharczuk asked.
"He was at work when the attacks happened, but I'm not sure where he is. Right now I'm trying to keep myself believing that he made it out safely and is busy looking for us or a place to hide until he can look for us," Cora said as she tried to imagine such a thing happening. It was better than the alternative of thinking the man she had swore to love for the rest of her life was now one of the many casualties of the Cylon attack.
Five Hours Later:
Pavo, Northern Territories:
"McDermott Air Base, what's your status?" Warner Ryerson asked as Canceron Alpha began to make its approach to the city of Pavo.
"Canceron Alpha; be advised that the Cylons have tried to storm the base but have been held off for the time being. I recommend that if you're going to land you'd best do it soon before they're alerted to your presence," the air traffic controller said.
"Sounds like we're going to be in for a hell of a landing," Xiang Nuan, Ryerson's co-pilot, said as she glanced at the various gauges to make sure the cold had not had the chance to damage any of the major systems.
"Xiang, get on the intercom and tell our passengers to prepare for landing. Tell them not to move until we've come to a complete stop and have given the ok to deplane," Ryerson ordered as he began to make his approach to the landing strip. The snow was flying around the plane and he had to focus his eyes to not let the storm get in the way. This was far too important of a landing for him to let the elements cause him to screw things up by crashing and killing the two men who had been tasked with leading the people of Canceron.
McDermott Air Base, Control Tower
Major Hildegard Ehrlich watched as the large dark green Army transport plane made its final approach towards the base's lone airstrip.
"Come on, get her down while you can," she said aloud before taking a drink of the black coffee that had been brought to her by one of her subordinates.
Along with the other personnel in the tower, she watched as the plane managed to make it through the heavy snow and land on the airstrip, its wheels screeching as they made contact with the tarmac before smoothly coming to a complete stop near one of the hangars on the far side of the base. A collective shout of joy emanated from the people who had just watched a difficult landing take place.
"I'm needed down there, Lawler you're in charge of making sure those Viper pilots get down safely," Ehrlich said as she turned command over to Captain Jessie Lawler.
Hangar 3-A:
Ryerson eased the transport into the hangar and stopped the engines. The loud whistling sound from the underwing nacelles slowly died down until it was just a whisper.
"Warner, you are the man if you don't mind me saying," Nuan said as she took a deep breath and looked over at the pilot who was in charge of making sure this plane made it here from Hades.
"Xiang you know I couldn't have done it without you," Ryerson said as he tried to make sure his co-pilot knew how valuable she had been to them making it this far.
"Thanks, I never thought I'd be happy to be up here in the Northern Territories," Nuan admitted.
"There's still a large underground bunker that we have to hide in for the time being, the Cylons are pushing towards the base," Ryerson reminded her.
"People onboard, you are now free to exit the plane. Do so in an orderly manner and the soldiers will direct you to the elevator that will take you to your destination," a woman's voice said over the hangar's loudspeaker.
Twelve minutes later the plane had been emptied for the most part, and the Vipers had landed and their pilots sent down to the hangar along with the civilians. Now all that was left was to do was get the Governor and his people off the plane and shuttled off to the safety of the classified bunker. Ryerson and Nuan stepped onto the floor of the hangar and waited as the new leader of Canceron stepped off as well.
"So this is Pavo," Donnelly commented as he was seized by a sudden chill from the cold outside.
"Won't last long sir," the woman said as she walked up to them and came to attention, "Major Hildegard Ehrlich, my people and I were tasked with keeping this base operational until you could arrive."
"Thank you Major, what's going to happen now?" Donnelly asked.
"We're going to get you on an express elevator to the Governor's Suite in the bunker and then my people will use the explosive devices to destroy the station and join you underground. The Cylons might even believe we've been killed and not bother with Pavo," Ehrlich said.
"Thank you for all you've done Major, I will make sure it's get noted one day," Donnelly said.
"Thank you for that Mr. Governor but for now I'm just going to be happy knowing I kept you safe from the Cylons. If you don't mind sir, we don't have much time," Ehrlich said as she directed the group to an express elevator that had opened up on the far side of the hangar, it was hidden by a fake wall that had been seamlessly added to the structure.
"You'll hear no arguments from me, let's get underground and do what we can to defeat the Cylons before they have a chance to wipe us out," Donnelly said as he began to wonder about the struggle that lay ahead for them. He had no idea that eleven other worlds were waging a similar battle for survival and the leaders of those worlds were themselves grappling with the staggering odds that they were up against.