Battlestar Reborn…
It was seven hours since they had docked with the Virtutem and things were going slower than they had expected. It seemed the Battlestar had been stripped before it was sent to the reserve yard and so they had had to bypass a number of things to get the batteries working.
"We've got minimal life support working and lights switched on in all the main corridors. We managed to divert some power to the Sickbay for the injured – Doc's medic has brought over his tools and supplies because he can do better there" an engineering crewman said to McCoy as he examined a data pad he had been handed.
"Have you been able to check out her sublights and FTL drives?" he asked.
"That was next on our list. If the sublights look alright, we might fire up one of the reactors and get partial mains back online – that would give us power for the DARDIS and landing bays"
"Get the landing bays sorted out first" McCoy said. "Have you heard anything from Smith or Monroe?"
"They took a tool kit and headed up to CIC to check out the computers there"
"Alright, keep me notified of the situation" McCoy handed the pad back and left the Virtutem's massive engineering areas for the port hanger deck where transfers of items were being made. With no power to the lifts to the flight deck, they were having to manually shift items over with the aid of the Monster's cargo lifter and a rope system. He went down to the port hanger bays and felt a little uncomfortable in the emptiness – he'd never been on a hanger bay that was so eerily quiet and ghost like.
"Captain, we've found some stuff over on the control station for the yard – we're going to need to take the Monster over there and haul them back over" a crewman McCoy couldn't place said as she pushed back her blonde ponytail and sighed.
"Leave the shuttle here – we need that for DRADIS and wireless traffic"
"By your command" the woman said and turned away. McCoy shuddered at the saying and felt damned uneasy about something.
"Captain, can we cease monitoring?" a voice came over his pocket radio.
"No – why do you ask?"
"Because the Battlestar just sent a encoded message from the CIC"
"Are you sure?"
"The signal packet shows it came from the comm station there"
"See what you can do to jam anything else like that. Captain to Monroe… Captain to Smith…" an icy feeling came over McCoy as he wondered if the pair had been ambushed. "You, you and you – come with me" he pointed at three crewmembers who dropped their tasks and grabbed tool kits and heavy spanners. "You" he pointed at the blonde he had just spoken to, "I want you to run down to engineering and tell the crews there to arm themselves with whatever they can grab and seal off the hatches until I say otherwise"
"Sir" the woman nodded and sprinted away.
"Monster, seal off your hatches, disconnect from the Virtutem and then power down"
"Three bags full, Sir"
"Sir!" a call came from the shuttle.
"Go ahead"
"Captain, we're under attack from the Cylons…" the signal went dead.
"It must have been that signal" put in the sole remaining crew member from the Monster.
"If they've taken out the shuttle, it won't be long before they find us… Engineering, can you power up the FTL drive?" McCoy asked quickly.
"Aye, but only for a single jump… We'd only have a few hours of life support if we're lucky"
"Get working on it – use who and what you need. McCoy out. You, come with me" and he and the crewmen stormed off towards the Bridge.
#
"The message and location has been sent – a pair of Raiders took out the shuttle" said Smith.
"Do we shoot ourselves so we can download to the nearest ship or wait and try to take out the ship too?"
"I suggest killing ourselves"
"Agreed" and the pair raised their guns to each others hearts and fired a long burst – dead before they hit the ground.
#
"What in the name of hell was that…?" McCoy asked as he heard the gunfire. He raced into CIC and found Smith and Monroe lying dead and holding guns. Sat on the console where the Communications officer would have sat, a box was perched with a single beeping tone and steady red light. As he looked back and forth between the bodies and the box, his memory reached back and recalled an encounter with a Warrior at the end of the war after requesting a pick up from a planet's surface. The Viper pilot had been shaken up badly but spoke about Cylons trying to make human forms of themselves. "Quickly, disconnect that thing – but don't destroy it" he ordered.
"Captain, we've got the FTL super boosted by taking power cells from the Monster, but we've only got about thirty seconds before we lose the ability"
"Jump it now" and, a few seconds later, the Battlestar jumped to an unknown location.
#
"Okay, people, this is what we know is happening" McCoy had gathered his crew in the Monster's dining room. "The Cylons have wiped out most of the Colonial Fleet in the air and on the ground… Survivors are being found and then taken out by roving bands of Cylon fighters. We're not picking up anything from the fleet, but this is because they'll be using the military channels. We've taken some losses ourselves, so we're down to just twenty people now. If anybody has any plans at all, please tell me now"
"Well, Captain, I say that we find ourselves some fuel before anything else" a tall black man said. A veteran of the company, Rio Williams had served McCoy's company since its opening day and he could not ask for a better 1st Mate. "We've got enough fuel left on the Monster to launch and get us a position report. If it's not too far, we could maybe refuel the Monster and the Virtutem at the same time" and a couple of the others nodded in agreement.
"If we find a motherload of things, we're going to have to play it carefully" McCoy said. "Rio, you will stay here with most of the crew and keep going with repairs and such. I will take the Monster and two volunteers with me to get the fuel from any wrecks we come across as well as boxes of emergency rations. They might not taste much, people, but they will keep us alive for the time being"
"Bridge to Captain"
"Captain" McCoy flicked the panel on the table.
"Sir, I'm picking up a weak transmission from a Viper pilot from the Hades"
"It'll be old by now – like all the others we've heard"
"Yes, Sir, but this one is giving the current time" and McCoy's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Can you get a bearing on that?" he asked. "And what does it say?" the man added.
"I've got a rough bearing of 213 carom 12… Must be fairly close even if its weak. Anyway… this guy says he is stuck inside his Viper in the launch tubes of the Hades with a couple of others. He adds he has about four hours of air left before the message repeats"
"We've got to save them" somebody said.
"Could be a trap, Skipper" Williams said.
"True – but I have to weigh that against the thought of getting protection" McCoy blew air through his mouth in frustration and rubbed his tired face. "They might be able to get us locations of fuel and other supplies such as ammunition"
"Do you want more to go with you…?" asked Williams.
"No – we'll stay with what we're doing anyway. Orders are to get sublights, DRADIS and the FTLs working, If you can, see what you can do about getting one of the barriers raised on one of the flight pod hanger bays – even if we can't fully re-pressurise the whole thing, we can at least do an airlock system" and McCoy looked around. "Does anybody here have knowledge of how to work a Viper?" and one cargo handler raised her hand.
"I worked with them when I did my service agreement" she said. "I wanted to go to university but couldn't afford it coming from Geminon – so I signed up to the Fleet and they put me through it in exchange for five years. Been out of it for ten years, but a Viper is a Viper any way you look at it"
"Okay, you come with me. I need an engineer"
"I'll do it" a woman with olive like skin raised her hand.
"Right – we'll lift off in ten minutes. Anyone not coming with me had better get off" McCoy smiled at the chuckling that came around the room and watched as most of his crew started walking off the ship.
"Captain, what happens if we really find Viper pilots alive?" asked the female engineer.
"Well, depending on their situation, we'll get them out their launch tubes and get them onboard here. If what we know is true, then others might be alive who we can rescue and use to help us get into the fight"
"Or run"
"Or run" McCoy agreed that was the more likely option. "Do you two have knowledge of working thruster suits?"
"Basic training" said the cargo handler.
"Once in company training" the engineer said.
"That'll do. The thought occurs to me that we might need to jet up the launch tubes to get Vipers out"
"Sir, there might be a problem… When I was serving on the Orpheus, we had a power failure which meant the Vipers were stuck to the catapults. In the end, we had to use an electric charge to demagnetise them before they could be safely launched"
"Do we have the stuff aboard?" asked McCoy.
"I think so – certainly be the stuff on the Hades"
"Alright… Get yourselves into suits now while I work out the course and speed calculations. By the way, remind me of your names"
"Natalie West"
"Sharon Valerii"
#
"Jump complete" West spoke up as she handled the piloting.
"I've got a contact at the edge of range" McCoy said. "Strike that – lots of contacts… Head towards the largest contact"
"Aye" and, over the next few minutes, nothing was said as the Monster sailed towards what they could see was the site of a battle.
"Raise them on the wireless" McCoy said.
"Colonial Vipers, Colonial Vipers… This is the freighter Monster responding to your distress calls" West tapped the helm controls and brought them bow on to what remained of Hades. The Battlestar had been torn into two halves with both pods remaining on the larger aft section. The forward section floated nearby but was full of huge holes and crumpled like a tin can.
"Krpyter Krypter Krypter – this is Viper 34801. Need urgent help"
"This is Captain McCoy, Master of the Monster. How can we help?"
"The Cylons used something to shut down the ship before destroying her. My squadron only survived by being in the tubes when we got shut down"
"We've heard the same story from a lot of messages" McCoy said. "Are you able to launch?"
"The doors are down but the catapults are still energised" the Viper pilot replied.
"Not to worry – we've got something that will get you unstuck. Can I ask you identity?"
"You first"
"Freighter Monster of the Delphi Deliveries line. Registry code is 07101988"
"Thank the Gods… Sorry about that, but we heard faint Comm traffic about the Cylons coming in close with fake messages. I'm Major Malcolm Powers, CAG of the Hades. From what I know, its only us surviving here – we've never heard a peep from the port pod or survivors either on the Hades or other ships in the fleet"
"More or less the same here, Captain. Look, the Hades is gone, Son, but I can offer you a new home on a Battlestar we found intact at the reserve yard. Most of my crew is there trying to get her up and running again" McCoy smiled for the first time in what seemed like years. "I'd be pleased for you to join us" he added.
"Follow you to hell and back"
"And stop at the gift shop for t-shirts" McCoy finished the old saying. "We're coming alongside to help you out. Monster, out"
#
In the end, the protective doors were raised before the hanger doors were lowered to allow McCoy and his two crewmembers to get the Viper pilots out of their cockpits.
"Major Malcolm Powers, callsign Ghost" a tall and red haired man with a Caprican accent shook McCoy's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you, sir"
"All mine, I assure you" Powers replied as he looked around the devastated hanger bay. The bodies of the dead lay where they had fallen and McCoy had had to break the news that they'd found no other survivors on the wreck of the Hades. "Captain McCoy, may I ask what your intentions are?"
"Salvage what we can and scuttle the remains. What are your intentions?"
"Well I would have said to get back into the fight, but if what you say is true then there is no point. Captain, if you don't mind a punch of military pilots tagging along, we'd like to sign on with you" and there was a mass of agreement from the other pilots.
"Glad to have you. I know this is technically grave robbing, but would you mind helping us to get everything possible? The shuttles are all still here as well as most of the Raptors – makes things a hell of a lot easier and faster" and Powers nodded.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to get some stuff from here first, get the Vipers over to the TEST and then come back here to help. Do you have missile capability?"
"No – just the capability to breathe"
"Well if you can torch open the tube doors, there should be about twelve nuclear missiles ready to be used" Powers said. "I don't have codes to launch them, but we should be able to rig a bypass"
"Sounds good to me… What else do you think we can have?"
"Whatever you can fit on the shuttles and your vessel – not like anybody is going to need it. Look, take what you want for now and we'll sort out the dead and get the shuttles up and running"
"You might want to upload this to your computers" McCoy handed Powers a silver and gold disk.
"That's the old CNP program"
"Yeah, we think the upgrade to the Fleet was the cause of all of it… My 1st Mate thinks we just upload the old version and Bob's your Uncle"
"Actually" Powers said dryly, "he was my husband"
#
"Hades Squadron approaching portside hanger bay – manual approach"
"Hades Squadron, copy that – be advised you will have to wait for your turn on the lifts – got a number of shuttles being lowered"
"Copy that… The Squadron can land and I'll perform a CAP on the off chance anything happens" Powers said. McCoy idly heard the chatter in the CIC of the Virtutem and finished his work on the Helm console"
"We've got the screens up and running" said Williams. "Skipper, we've got the Hades's FTL drives aboard and being installed now. Everything mechanical that can be moved is being done so now – just the food and potable water supplies"
"We're fuelled?"
"Did it whilst you were taking a rest"
"DRADIS contact… Raptor 123 just jumped in"
"Put it on speakers" McCoy hauled himself up off the floor and wiped the dirt off himself in vein.
"Virtutem we've found a broken flight pod" called the pilot. "Its from the Atlantia and there are four pilots, five Vipers and a load of ammo – request crew be ready to help them get out"
"Roger that, Raptor… We're short of lifts at the moment – can you dock at the emergency hatch forward?"
"Affirm"
"Go there – I'll send you two people" McCoy turned to Williams. "Have West and Valerii report to the forward emergency hatch ready to go back with the Raptor and get those pilots and planes back. Use the Atlantia shuttle to bring back as much fuel as possible" and whatever McCoy would have added was cut off by the fact that the deck suddenly rumbled loudly before dying down to a gentle hum.
"Engineering to Captain"
"Go ahead"
"Sir, we've got four of the sublights working and we've got partial main power"
"We got FTL operational?"
"Not quite… We're using sublights 5 and 6 to power it until full power is back up"
"Copy that – take a break and grab a cold one"
"Truly the Gods have smiled on us"
"Shut up" he told Williams. "Once the Viper pilots are aboard, make sure their shuttles and Raptors are ready to launch back to the Hades wreck to get the last of the ammo stores and solids"
"What are we going to do about the guns? The missiles can be aimed and launched from the CIC, but the guns need gun crews to work them"
"I know" McCoy rubbed his grimy hands over his face – leaving streaks of dirt on both cheeks. "The main thing is that we have, somehow, managed to get Virtutem powered up and refitted at sea in under two days. I want to reward the crew in some way, but I'm not really sure how"
Beep Beep
Beep Beep
Beep Beep
McCoy and Williams turned to look at the unattended communications console and, together, crossed to see what had been detected. For the most part, it screened Colonial Fleet coded messages, but a few things such as destruction of major cities were sent in the clear.
"Look at this!" Williams hit a switch and a print out came out the console wall. "The comm array picked up a Krypter from a ship calling itself Colonial Fleet Transport 232. She was transporting crew from Valkyrie to Picon for shore leave when the attacks happened. I'm guessing they did a blind jump and then ended up losing most of their power. Their message attaches jump co-ordinates"
Bleep Boop Bleep Boop
"Okay… That's a new one" McCoy chuckled and looked up at the DRADIS screen which had been showing nothing but friendly targets – now indicating an unknown target in a thick red outline which quickly gave birth to little tiny red outlines. "Bugger me senseless and call me Susan" he dived for the communications station. "Powers, you there?"
"Copy"
"Whatever the hell you call an emergency landing, get your birds on the deck right fracking now"
"Why?"
"DARDIS isn't saying what, but I think we just got new neighbours. McCoy to salvage team – abort your activities and get back on the Monster. Rio, give them all the coordinates for the broken flight pod. Captain to Engineering"
"Go ahead"
"Spool up the FTL drives as quickly as possible – we've been bounced" and Vipers slammed into the deck – avoiding shuttles as they did the same thing. The FTL drives were quickly spun up and they jumped away.
#
"Captain" McCoy looked up to see Valerii coming towards him in the Battlestar's lounge which had been co-opted into a makeshift storage area.
"Hey, Sharon, what can I do for you?"
"I need to talk to you, but you need to get that Major up here" the woman appeared nervous.
"I don't fancy a threesome" McCoy said as he picked up the nearest phone and called for Powers. After a few minutes, the pilot walked in and closed the door at Sharon's insistence.
"Captain… Sir…There is something that you both should know – I'm like Smith and Monroe"
"What?"
"Those two are a type of human form Cylon – there are twelve models and I am number Eight. I was assigned to the ship by the rest of the Cylon to destroy it should the primary method of entrapment fail. But…" she flinched as Powers drew his sidearm and aimed it at Sharon's forehead. "But I realised I could never go through with it. I might be a Cylon by birth, if you want to call it that, but I serve the Twelve Colonies"
"Why?" asked McCoy.
"What I want to know too" Powers growled.
"Because I have grown to like humanity…I was originally a sleeper agent, but I had a knock to the head which seems to have got rid of that. I've made friendships with humans and amongst this crew especially." Sharon sighed. "If you want to airlock me, lets go. If you want to throw me around the members of the crew before shooting me, I guess that's fine… Whatever you do, at least I know I will have died without harming you lot"
"Captain, this is technically a military matter, but I can see where she'd be thought of as a civilian… Your decision" Powers said – keeping his gaze dead on Sharon.
"Did you bring anything that could harm this ship?" McCoy stood from where he had been seated and moved towards Sharon.
"Only a communications panel and a datapad containing a virus to corrupt your FTL after it became operational. Both of them are in my left breast pocket" and McCoy reached forward and pulled them out.
"The law is quite clear on this, Sharon, and I really should execute you. However, you saved a great number of lives and risked your life in order to surrender. I must ask you formally: are you wanting to defect?"
"Aye, Sir" Valerii offered.
"Major?"
"I owe her my life… and that of my squadron's" Powers jerked his gun up and away – resetting the safety catch and holstering it. "I say we get that Marine we found to keep her confined to her cabin until we decide what to do with her. But first… Are you able to tell us if any of the other people on this ship are Cylons?" and Sharon nodded.
"I can and will. Captain, your 1st Mate is a Cylon known as a Four. Normally, that kind are assigned to infiltrate as Doctors, but some examples of models have other jobs to do" Sharon said. McCoy looked at Powers who frowned in thought before nodding. The Captain reached over and picked up the nearest handset and punched in a button.
"CIC – West here"
"West, this is the Captain. Is Rio there?"
"No, Sir… He said he was going down to the forward ammunition magazines to check up on the sensors there. There was supposed to be a fault there, but I never saw it"
"Call that Marine to the Officer's Lounge and arrange for some of Major Powers's pilots to meet us at the forward magazine" McCoy ordered and replaced the handset. Less than a minute later, the Marine arrived and both McCoy and Powers ordered him to keep the defector where she was, but not to harm her in any way. The pair then raced down to the forward magazine area and explained the situation with Williams to the pilots. Drawing weapons, they left one pilot guarding the entrance whilst the rest and McCoy entered and searched for the Cylon spy. It took a while, but they found the Four working with tools in the missile storage section.
"Put it down, Four" Powers ordered sharply.
"So… You know my number" Williams, Four they all tried to think of him as now, put down the screwdriver he was using and turned towards them. "What are you going to do? Shoot me? If you do, I simply become reborn in a new body and give your location to other ships in our fleet"
"Why? Why do this to us?" asked one of the pilots.
"Because Humanity are a flawed creation and it is God's will that we eliminate you to better the universe" Four replied.
"We'll discuss this later – drop to your knees, put your hands on your head and cross your ankles" Powers ordered.
"Ah, my dear Major… If you shoot me now or airlock me later – I will still give away your position and intentions"
"Hell with this" McCoy said. "Powers, left"
"I have right" and, together, they fired a shot into the knee caps of the Four which dropped to the deck with a lot of screaming. One of the pilots rushed forwards and knocked it out with an injection. "Get a Raptor ready and load this thing into it – when you launch, jump as far as you possibly can before executing the prisoner. Make sure he is awake first" Powers ordered. They nodded before dragging the prisoner away to the flight bays. "Captain, I suggest we get the hell out of here"
"Lets give it as much time as we can – I don't want to lose what we can not replace. The rescue of the pilots, Vipers and other things from the pod from Atlantia will be over in a few minutes" McCoy said. "The next thing we have to decide is what we do after we've recovered the shuttles"
"I've been mulling that over" Powers admitted. "The Cylons nuked everything that was a civilian or military target, but even they will have missed a few things. I suggest hiding out in orbit around the sun – the heat it produces will hide us from everything but visuals… Once there, we then launch some recon Raptors to see what the disposition of the enemy forces is before landing on the surface"
"Saving anybody would be a miracle"
"Yes, but I thought of something nobody else has – we have food and rations for now but what about later? I don't want this to sound silly or stupid, but there is the option of trying to save animals and stuff" Powers looked at McCoy and shrugged. "I'm thinking that the Cylons, if there are human formed in most cases, will need food and drink like us – why destroy ships that can help provide that?"
"You think they'd leave cattle ships?" McCoy rubbed his chin with one hand in thought. "Getting the ships and animals would be easy – its finding people that know what to do about looking after them and so on"
"Might find farmers up in the mountain areas… My pilots can do that job" Powers followed McCoy along corridors and back up to where Sharon was waiting. "We're used to searching for missing people after all". The Marine on the door saluted Powers and opened the door to allow them passage.
"Captain, Major" Sharon nodded to them as the door closed.
"We managed to get to the Four and disable him. We're going to execute him far from the ship" Powers said.
"Now we come back to you" McCoy added.
"Are you going to execute me now?" the Cylon asked.
"No, because you have given us no cause to do so" McCoy replied softly. "However, the Major and I think that it is best that you are confined to quarters for the time being"
"We're too busy to question you right now" the Colonial officer continued as he poured himself a drink. "You can have comforts, because we'll treat you as a prisoner of war, but no electronics of any sort capable of transmission"
"Would that include my music player?" Sharon respectfully asked.
"I'll get one of the crew to look it over. Marine!" and the Marine came in and was given orders to take Sharon back to her cabin and keep her there. Powers waited a few moments before continuing. "Do you think she wants to help us?"
"Maybe, but I don't want to take that chance right now. Alright, lets get some pilots sorted with Raptors and have them briefed. I'll get back up to CIC and oversee the last of the repairs and salvage" and Powers nodded, drained his glass and left for the port flight pod which had been taken over by his pilots. McCoy listened to his footsteps fading away and wondered just what the hell he was going to do next. He made his mind up a few minutes later when he picked up the handset on the wall and called the CIC. "Have somebody get up there and begin plotting a jump point near to the sun – then use that destination point to calculate a long range jump away from the Colonies. Inform Engineering that they will have just eleven hours to do whatever they want to the FTL drives before we leave this place for good" and replaced the phone before a reply could be made. He quickly picked it back up again and called the portside hanger bay. "Chief, I need you to service the Monster as quickly as possible" McCoy spoke to one of the Fleet members rescued by the Virtutem and whom had been made Deck Chief by Powers.
"Aye, Sir… Just fuel?"
"No – rig the cargo bays and shuttle bay for maximum capacity of people. I'm going to be flying this myself. McCoy out" and McCoy poured himself a glass of water, drank it before setting the glass down and going to the hanger bay to get ready for his task – one that nobody else knew about…
A/N:
Alright, seeing as how you asked nicely… Here is chapter 2 which you will have to be satisfied with for now until I close out a few of my other stories to reduce my workload.
Reviews in the normal manner, please
Regards,
Pixel
