Chapter 2
The space around Hisnera, the grey clouded Caprica sized world that orbited the Haracess system was disturbed by the spatial distortions as many ships FTLed into orbit around the planet. Eight Raptors accompanied the two Surveyors, fifteen FTL shuttles and transmitted a distress signal to the fleet of Colonial Firestar Group that was doing training missions in the area.
Colonel Bell had ordered the fleet to jump to the Haracess system after they got accountability of all shuttles and evacuated personnel; he had seen the Firestar Group performing simulated attack runs with training lasers and live bombing runs on asteroids and small planetoids. He ordered Lt. Mathis, another communications officer recently assigned to the Mercury to transmit the distress code, it would take a couple hours for the fleet and the Surveyor Hub to receive it so he just waited there and made sure all medical teams were attending to the wounded.
Allen prayed Apollo that the aliens whom attacked them earlier wouldn't follow them. He knew Commander Keller would fight to the death and would detonate the nuclear stores rather than lose the ship to enemy hands. He saw from initial reports the Mercury's armor stood well against some of the energy weapons except for the lasers and particle beams that struck the engines first. "But why would they attack though?" He had asked himself again; wiping sweat off his forehead. The aliens were obviously technologically advanced, he had feared the worst, the Cylons already knew everything there was about the Colonies, and maybe the aliens got some Cylons and decided to probe the Colonies after beating the Cylons into submission.
He brought himself to his feet and looked out the window of the Raptor. He could see a dark moon pocketed with large craters and mountains; the moon had some resources of interest to Colonial mining corporations such as General Space and StellerMine, however none had yet to get the contracts to start mining operations. There was an asteroid belt around the last gas giant which had notable piles of Tylium ore on them, all contracts were currently in process. It wouldn't be long before major companies turned it into a mining colony.
A long hour later several more flashes of light appeared in the distance. Colonial transponders flickered on the DRADIS screens in the Raptor and he instantly knew it was the fleet. A large dark grey ship loomed closer with a larger and taller alligator head, two pods on the side which were not the standard Colonial flight pods but were larger and angled to provide good firing solutions from her side batteries. They were the Firestar Class Heavy Cruisers, one of the heaviest hitters in the Colonial Fleet. They had a squadron of Vipers in a flight pod hidden in the underbelly of the ship along with Raptors and a couple shuttles. The Colonial Forces designed her as another Battlestar Escort similar to the Berserk Escort but filled the Heavy Cruiser role as part of new Colonial Space Warfare Doctrine dictated by the Admiralty and the Secretary of War for fears of an another Cylon attack since they have not been heard from in so long.
"Colonel Bell this is Mistra Actual, we received your distress signal, we are dispatching shuttles and medical ships to pick up wounded. You are authorized to come aboard." He heard a young male voice say over the wireless. He knew it had to be Commander Rylee, they participated in Operation Burning Star held annually at Ragnor Training and Bombardment range in the Oort Cloud of the system, where one fleet posed as a Colonial Fleet and another posed as a "Cylon" Fleet and did attack runs and trials. He remembered him from being in the "Enemy" fleet and later worked with him on training gun crews in the Bombardment Range.
"Roger that Mistra, preparing to dock." Colonel Bell replied over the wireless. He had the pilots guide the Raptor to a docking port on the large ship; it was only three-quarters the size of a Columbia Class Battlestar but still packed quite a punch. He carried the black box with him which would also contain jump coordinates for the system in question. A docking port stretched out to the Raptors docking doors and he heard the sound of it clamping. Air rushed in to pressurize the airlock and he saw the door open. He walked out with Lt. Mathey, the Raptor pilot who managed to record some of the battle of video before they jumped.
The Colonel walked though the airlock and the other sides opened reveal a corridor into one hallway of the Mistra. It looked similar to a Battlestar corridor, dark grey with lights on top of the walls. Standing near the airlock was a slightly taller man who looked fairly young with dark hair and eyes that showed confidence and authority. The Colonial Commanders pins shined brightly in the lights overhead.
"What the hell happened out there Colonel?" Commander Rylee asked him as he took the black box from Colonel Bell.
"We were frakking attacked. We detected an energy spike unlike anything we ever seen, it was no damn FTL signature, and it didn't match anything in Colonial records. Ships came out; we tried to make peaceful contact they fired on the Mercury disabling her FTL drive. The Surveyors jumped out of there quickly as possible. We don't know whos ships they were and they definitely weren't Cylons." Colonel Bell said, still in a partial state of disbelief over what happened
"You mean they were attack by something of neither Colonial nor Cylon origin? You mean to tell me you guys were attacked by frakking aliens?"
"I don't know what attacked us Commander, one of the last Raptors to leave managed to pick up the transmission that they were being boarded and they used some strange energy weapons. Some kind of particle beam hit the engines and disabled our FTL drives. Commander Keller ordered me to evacuate the ship and all non-essential personnel; I got over 800 people off the ship. He wouldn't let them take the ship so he decided blow it up instead of letting them have it." Colonel Bell told him knowing the Commander and most other Commanders would never let their ship be taken by an unknown enemy force, ever.
"We will check it out Colonel." He said before entering the CIC. Colonel Bell looked around the CIC, it was slightly more furbished than a Mercury Class, more computer monitors were up and there was a clear entrance into the weapons control room. On a large table monitors showed DRADIS readings, weapons stats, and other general ship information. A shipwide telephone intercom was also visible. "I would have probably done the same thing Colonel; you've done the right thing." Commander Rylee said softly believing Colonel Bell would probably be considered a hero back at home. "Mister Kenson, use the data from the Mercury's last known position to input new FTL coordinates. Tell the Delphis, Amarius and the other Bezerks to escort the other shuttles and Raptors back to the Surveyor Hub. Prepare the other Raptors to pick up further survivors and wounded once we jump to the site. Set Condition One throughout the fleet." The Commander said as alarms blared throughout the ship and Mr. Kenson repeated the shipwide message to the rest of the fleet. "Mr. Kenson, get ready to jump on my mark….. Jump!"
With that, ten ships in all disappeared in a bright flash of light…
…and appeared almost exactly a hundred thousand kilometers from the battle. Both Colonel Bell and Commander Rylee looked at the DRADIS screens on the table and noticed several blips, with a message stating they were mere debris of varying sizes.
"Commander I am picking up multiple debris, some is matching Colonial hulls, marked with radiation consistent with nuclear destruction. I'm also picking up traces of very unusual radiation patterns too. There is nothing like it on Colonial records, some of the hulls from initial photographic analysis also don't match anything on record or even resemble anything close to Colonial or Cylon hull design." The older Tactical Officer said
"So they're aliens?" He asked himself. "Mister Kenson, send a ship to alert the nearest Fleet Base. Have them inform the Admiralty of the situation as well, we will need ships to pick up the debris that way Fleet scientists can find out what's going on. Whatever Battlestar Group is there send them here. We're gonna need it."
"Sir, I am also picking up faint Colonial transponders. At least several pilots are still out there, I am dispatching Raptors to pick them up." Kenson told him reading off of his monitors and their locations. "I have dispatched a Raptor over to the nearest base. Hopefully we can get a Battlestar Group here shortly in case anyone decides to come back."
"Good, is there any signs of life in the Mercury's remains?"
"Negative Sir, all life would have been fried by the radiation. The pilots are all that's left. I pick up at least seven different Colonial Transponder signals. According to them all pilots are still alive but some have vital signs lowered. We're taking them to the medical ships."
"How about signs of life on the other remains, those of the ships we can't identify?"
"Our Raptors will be better able to pick those up. They have all the pilots. Some are starting to examine the alien debris already and are collecting small pieces and bodies they found floating near the debris."
"Keep me notified on anything else happening; have all the black boxes on the Vipers brought onboard too." He told Mister Kenson. He acknowledged his request and continued collecting the information and passing orders on to the various Raptor crews.
Tense minutes passed as the crew felt that a battle was soon upon them. Viper Patrols continued scouting the area doing DRADIS sweeps in case anything else decided to show up. The pilots reported back views of strange looking smaller ships floating around partially destroyed that were sleek and looked like darts in a manner with wings and engines attached. Bony looking spikes protruded on the hulls giving it the appearance and feel of a predator. They all knew this would not go well in the Colonies to know a threat existed that were worse than Cylons.
Several beeps sounded on Kenson's computer and quickly showed the IFF signal of Colonial Transponders. He knew it was the Battlestar Castella. He relayed the communication of the Castella over to Commander Rylee
"Put her through." He ordered the Tactical Officer. He was finally thankful to have some more assistance here.
"This is Commander Reylia to Firestar Mistra, we received your distress and are beginning operations of searching for other survivors in some of the debris as well as pilots. What the hell happened here?" The strong authorative female voice had asked over the wireless.
"The Mercury was attacked by unknown forces; I have Colonel Bell here and have looked at a black box copy of all events that transpired. You and your XO should come onboard; you might want to see this. Contrary to what you may think, the attacking forces were NOT Cylon." Commander Rylee had said back to her.
There was a long period of tense silence as Commander Alisha Reylia listened to those words. Alisha's mother served in the First Cylon War and the Helios War that preceded it. Her Tactical Officer, Lt. Lisa Garenay told her some of the debris did not match anything on either Colonial or Cylon hull records, salvage ships were on their way to haul back some of the debris after being searched for survivors.
"Has a ship been dispatched to alert the Admiralty?" She asked him.
"Yes Sir, the Hyae just left moments ago. They should be on their way to Virginis Station and will prepare transport of the pilots and some of the debris there. Salvage ships will probably take the rest to Helios for study."
"Great, let me know when Colonial survivors have been brought onboard. Have Colonel Bell report to me soon as possible with all the data he has. The Admiralty will be having an uproar over this I know for sure.
Caprica City, Caprica A few hours later
President Richard Adar sat at his desk in a private office across from Laura Roslin; she drank a glass of water before continuing their conversation about educational affairs and the Teacher's Strike happening in areas across Caprica. Two months ago the new Teachers United Union of Caprica (TUUC) elected George Zarek as the union president and everything soon went to hell in a handbasket. He was like his nephew Tom Zarek, too liberal and dangerous for any business especially a teacher's union. Before when other union leaders had control, the teachers were generally cooperative and reasoned will with change. Now, George Zarek demanded more pay for the teachers and allegedly manipulated minor incidents into major ones to infuriate teachers and other faculty alike.
As he was about to read another report to her, a man in a dark suit entered the room. He was accompanied by another man in a Colonial Fleet Admiral's uniform. The suited man had slightly grey hair with a wrinkled neck which told her he was pretty well aged. She quickly recognized him as Samuel Hardson, Secretary of War. The Admiral was Fleet Admiral Peter Corman, Admiral of the Fleet. Samuel approached the President put a hand over his ear and whispered something to him Laura couldn't make out. Adar's face soon looked strained as he got off his chair.
"Laura I will have to do this meeting another time, I'll see you tomorrow." The look on his face was now of total shock. She knew something bad has to have happened if the Secretary of War and the Admiral of the Fleet pulled him out of a meeting. He walked quickly with them to the exit and went out the door. Adar knew Laura would be at the Chancellor Hotel in her Luxury Suite waiting on him tomorrow. They walked out of the Presidential Building and into a Limo. Adar felt absolutely stunned by what his Secretary had told him, the Mercury; the first warship of a great class of Battlestars was destroyed.
"Mr. President, Admiral Haseling is at Virganis Station is compiling reports from the Mistra and Battlestar Castella, according to them and the Black Box recordings the Mercury was escorting two Colonial Surveyors until they encountered a strange phenomenon and ships that didn't match anything in our records, and they certainly weren't Cylon or anything we have ever seen before." Samuel said to him once they were inside the Limo. Adar went silent upon hearing those words. When he first learned of the Mercury's destruction the Cylons were the first to come to mind. They have been silent for the past thirty-eight years, so it would make sense for them to be building up forces for an attack. He always had the Colonial Forces prepared for such an attack at anytime, even contingencies in case of Cylon infiltration since past administrations have known of Adama's and a few others witnessing the Cylons performing experiments on humans, trying to become human themselves. A captured Cylon Basestar toward the end of the war showed a couple disgusting machine-human interfaces and abominations as the result of those experiments. He would never forget that report.
"Are you telling me that aliens attacked the Mercury?" Adar asked, his heart beating slower at the thought. Colonial scientists figured intelligent life existed elsewhere, just nowhere near Colonial space, many alien plants and animals were catalogued from other worlds within the Cluster but none were intelligent. Many in the military didn't even consider much in the way of alien contact and not even the barest contingency plan was in place for that. CFMC and Fleet Admirals had more in the way of preparing for Cylon invasions than aliens. Alien invasions were more of the choice for movies and books than actual military plans.
"It looks that way sir; salvage ships are taking the debris to Ragnor Research and Development labs for examination. Five pilots have been rescued and their black boxes are confirming the Mercury's, the Admiralty has called an emergency meeting, Gauis Baltar is heading to Ragnor as well to examine the debris. There is something else sir; take a look at this." Samuel handed him a file with a photo attached. It read out an initial report by a Colonial Fleet Scientist on the Battlestar Castella, he stared at the photo studying its characteristics. It was an object next to a small rocky moon pocketed with craters and visible ice patches. The object looked like an old exploration era communications satellite. It had grey metallic coating with two towers extending from opposite ends from a cylinder shaped object in the middle. Solar panels extended from the ends and the middle as well but one of the middle ones looked heavily damaged as well as the cylinder itself. Another photo showed a close up with strangely familiar writing on it. He knew in the back of his mind what it was; old Kobolian script.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sameul Hardson asked upon seeing the photo and noticing the script. He saw similar script during the classes on Ancient History, he did believe that Kobol was a real place somewhere everyone that got the funding to find it disappeared or were destroyed in other systems by scavengers, crime syndicates, or other rouge elements of Colonial Society. The Fleet and Colonial Police & Guard Forces usually patrolled and kept watch over those groups so they really didn't even pose a threat to society at large.
"Send that to Doctor Baltar's lab. Have his scientists examine each and every single inch of that artifact. If it's in any way connected to those aliens, I want to know firsthand. Does the news media know of the Mercury's destruction?" Adar had asked. He knew the media would be all over any reports over the destruction of a Colonial Warship; especially a Battlestar.
"Not yet sir, we're keeping everything under wraps until we can get the survivors back and some of the debris salvaged. After we have everything under control we can notify the families of those deceased." Admiral Corman replied to him. It had been standard protocol to notify families when it is known the people killed in action, accident or though other cause were actually investigated enough to let them know. Since all reports were being compiled, he knew the families would be notified soon as well as the cuase.
"That's a better idea; send out a Fleetwide notice for any media inquiries to be answered accordingly as we get more information. We don't need our homeworlds and outlaying colonies going into a panic over a 'possible' Cylon invasion when the reality of an alien invasion could be even worse. I'm putting all Colonial Forces on FORCON 2. Tell the media that all forces are on alert due to possible attack that may or may not be Cylon. No more, no less. I do not need people panicking over anything else right now." Adar ordered. He knew this could be something that may not do well for a re-election campaign a couple years from now. He wanted to do his job and to lead Colonial society forward in case this was something big and could lead to a war.
"Yes Sir, Scoutstars have looked at ten systems outside the Cryannus Cluster and so far nothing yet. They will be looking at more systems to go before they are to report back to the Castella." Admiral Corman said. Corman right now had read some of the initial reports and reviewed them with other Admirals. This was the first time in thirty-eight years a Colonial Warship was destroyed in enemy action, it would not go over well with the rest of the Fleet.
"Any reports from our outlaying outposts"
"None at all Sir, all is quiet there. Nothing on the Cylon border as usual; the Mercury was far away from the Cylon Armistice Line and even in that area no Cylon vessels have been spotted. They have been completely silent." Admiral Corman said to the President. He listened to those words carefully and considered them. "Are the Cylons trying to draw forces out by using a fake alien invasion?" He thought in his head but the idea sounded too ridiculous to him. They were a race of robots; they could build more of their own and have automated ship factories as seen during the First Cylon War. It would not take much to out-produce the Colonies if your whole race is nothing but machines.
"Now where are we going?" He had asked, he had done this before to avoid assassination attempts by terrorists and once by a member of the teachers union looking to blow a transport liner up to make a point, but nothing like this. Everything was serious now.
"We're taking a special Military flight to Virgon, where pieces of debris, bodies, and one of the survivors are being taken. They should arrive there shortly before we get there." Samuel Hardson told him. In some cases he knew it would be a better idea to take a military escorted flight rather than Colonial One, that way the FTL drives could quickly engage and go to other coordinates. He sent a text message to Laura saying he probably won't be back on Caprica for a while and to check out of the hotel for him. He would tell her the business later on.
The Limo had pulled into an 'Official Business' only area of Caprica City Air and Space Port. A large oval shapes ship was waiting that had two smaller Strikestars on large landing pads. Strikestars were the largest ships that could land and take off, they were designed primarily as escorts for convoys and supply ships as well as military officials going from colony to colony. All the ships would take off and make an FTL jump higher up in the atmosphere. Such occurrences were common as many ships had FTL capability. President Adar got out of the limo as a security detail walked with him toward the waiting craft. Colonial Office Security stood and patrolled positions around the perimeter ensuring no one would attempt to harm the President or his staff. The last presidential assassination occurred over thirty years ago when a member of the Ha'la'Tha assassinated President Gerry Thomias after he was known to be supported by a rival mob, the Vasaltha, named after a Virgon drug dealer who really became big and formed his own drug ring and mafia. That assassination caused a major crackdown on the Ha'la'tha and their activities thus dropped off. They were still out there but mostly in hiding staying on the low.
He walked up the stairs and into the craft. It was wide, featuring seats with computer terminals and television. He went to a table in the middle and sat at one of the chairs while other security, Samuel and Peter Corman sat beside him. Two men wearing pilot's uniforms went to the cockpit, saluting as they walked by the President. He returned the salute knowing they had to get to work quickly. He felt the ship vibrate as the engines started burning and the ship lifted off the ground.
"Is there anything else you guys have yet to tell me, even if it's just speculation?"
"There is nothing sir, we do know one of the pilots that is at Virginis Station is recovering well. He is shocked but his black box revealed some data. We haven't looked at it yet but we will once we get there." Peter Corman had finally said.
"Well, I guess we just have to wait and see. Let's hope to the Gods things fall in our favor in the end." Adar told them as the ship exited the atmosphere.
Colonial Forces Flight Training School
:: COLONIAL FORCES AT FORCON 2: A line her most Colonial Forces SECURMAIL came from. She know from regulations that if the Force Conditions escalate, some of the flight instructors would have to be re-assigned to their ships as pilots for the time being. "Absolutely fraking amazing" She thought to herself. Adama would be calling her any minute to have her report to the Galactica under Major Spencer, the ship's CAG. She moved her eyes over the other report, that of trainee Zak Adama. He had failed three critical maneuvers in his last test of the course and knew he could not pass another one. She looked at the wooden door to the officer while she could hear the jet engines of Vipers and Raptors nearby.
She picked up a phone and asked the Flight Barracks Commander to have Zak Adama report to the Flight Instructor's Office. After that she heard a male voice paging over the school-wide intercom for Zak to report to the office. Kara Thrace gathered all of his reports and evaluations and tried to keep the stress of the week off her mind though the event of what is causing the FORCON level to decrease is still bothering her.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the wooden door being opened. A tall guy with slightly dark skin and hair entered, wearing the PF Uniform of the Colonial Forces. "Flight Trainee Zak Adama reporting as ordered Sir." He said softly and smiling, as they both were romantically engaged.
"Close the door and have a seat." She told him, grabbing some of the reports and final evaluations. She handed him the final evaluations first. "Take a look at these." She said, watching his smile degrade slowly into disappointment. "You know what that is already there isn't any need to question it." She said to him with a stern attitude. "You also know that I cannot pass you now, I cannot issue retakes and I certainly will not alter the scores to make it look like you passed. I have to report back to the Galactica, if you read your SECURMAIL today all Colonial Forces are at Force Condition Two which means my ass is going back to Galactica." She told him, trying to push romantic feelings aside. So far the stress of knowing she was going back on that ship was doing that to her but she prepared for it anyway.
"So…. Am I going to be dismissed from the Academy?"
"You should pack your bags; you will be dismissed by the end of next week. I have seen your performance during the months you were here. You told me you had a passion for flying but I don't see it. Other instructors told me the same exact thing, you fly like you have no passion, no real feel for it, and I know you don't. I suggest you look for something different before my ass gets grilled for falsifying official documents which just because I like you a lot, means I am not going to break the rules to push you ahead and get someone or yourself hurt. Is that understood?" She said with even more ferocity as he got out of seat and stood at attention.
"What should I do now? My father and brother had both believed I would pass with flying colors."
"Well, go back to our apartment and think about it this weekend. I know for a fact your smart, and you sure as hell got a lot of skills. They will get you somewhere. This school won't; simple as that. I cannot change it sorry. I'll tell you what though; you are a hell of a better shot on the range than I am, and you're skilled in Haladeo, that will get you a lot more than here." She said as the phone on the wall began to beep. She knew it was Commander Adama. "I need to take this call. You're dismissed." She told him she returned his salute and he quickly walked out the door.
Zak moved quickly toward his quarters reflecting on those words. Anger came to him as he come to terms with reality of what his father wanted him to do. In his mind he knew flying would be a mistake, he wanted to do something with the Colonial Forces and serve with the honor and distinction of being like his father, a soldier but not a pilot.
He came to his quarters finally and looked at the inside. His bunk was freshly made while his desk and drawers were cleared of items. Cadets' rooms do not get inspected as thoroughly as BMT Soldiers. He sat down on his bunk and threw the report away in the trash can. He turned on the TV sifting through some of the news stations and the Colonial Military Network which just went to commercial. Pretty soon, a brown skinned man in a dark suit appeared in front of a large silver-grey skyscraper on Croneas, Gemenon, he knew the place as he visited there before and toured some of the historical landmarks with his uncle.
"Do you feel destined for something greater, are you a complex person, always being able to find out the answer, or solve a problem quickly? Do you have skills you feel are up to really good use but have not found the right employers to use those skills? Well, now you have. Further Colonial Intelligence interests and protect Colonial Security at home and beyond. Join the Colonial Intelligence Division. Effectcus Quis Vox, Doing what's right." He said as the scene cut to the large seal of the Colonial Intelligence Division, a large warbird style symbol with arrows and a shield in its talons, with the Effectus Quis Vox statement on the bottom of the seal.
He had an interest in intelligence, but his father's influence told him to become a pilot. His grandfather was a lawyer and his great uncle was an assassin, but taught his skills to his older cousin. He looked through the secure Colonial Forces intranet and found out more information. He decided to look into it further.
Battlestar Galactica- Two hours later
Lt. Kara (Starbuck) Thrace walked down one of the larger corridors of the Galactica, walking quickly toward Commander Adama's quarters. She had met him during an awards ceremony and he subsequently got her stationed on the Galactica where she trained nuggets. A squad of Marines jogged by her in their PFT uniforms with the Colonial Marine Corps emblem on the front. She already knew where her bunk was in the Pilots Rooms, and it remained untouched. She threw her bags in the locker before moving onto the Commander's Quarters. She finally saw the hatch for his quarters and it was closed. She pushed a button to alert Adama that she was there.
"Come in." He said over the speaker. She opened the hatch and came in. His personal quarters were decent, a collection of paintings of old Caprican and Tauron sailing vessels hung on one wall while a glass cabinent help old handguns from the old Desert Wars days of ancient Caprican nations fighting on Alpheus. She presented herself and saluted as part of military courtesy.
"At ease, have a seat and a drink. He said to her in a slightly raspy voice, he was one of the oldest Commanders in the Colonial Forces having served through the First Cylon War and several campaigns against rouge groups later on. He was in his dress uniform undershirt, taking off his dress blues to relax in his office away from the CIC duties which Colonel Tigh was currently handling. He poured her a bottle of Ambrosia special and began to pick up some papers.
"I noticed you failed Zak out of flight school." Adama said smiling a little. "As upset I would be I applaud your decision; he wasn't flying material. I saw it the first time he let the cockpit door slam on his hand." Adama then chuckled.
"I definitely remember the time he tried to land a training Viper on the runway, he dug the landing gear too deep and he ripped them off. He freak out and ejected. Major Ferland saw it and he ripped my ass for an hour, I never seen the guy so mad in my life." She smiled remembering the incident vividly.
"Zak called me up today and told me he's thinking about joining Colonial Intelligence."
"That's a tough agency to work for. Think he can make it?"
"Probably; he has always had a knack for finding shit out he shouldn't be able to find out. He did better on his tests than I back in the day.
"He's a damn good shot too, that's why they had kept him for so long they wanted to see if he could do something else but he stuck with pilot until now."
"He will find something. You know, that's something I tried to get him into before he wanted to fly Vipers. He wanted to try to outperform Lee. They always had this little competition of who could do better." Adama said looking at some files. Kara figured they were orders or something similar. Galactica has only been stuck in the Capricorn system for the past couple decades only for show with civilians and training with new nuggets. She heard a couple of officers at the mutter something about the current Force Condition. "Major Spencer is having a pilots briefing, you should report there, Saul is going to be here in a bit, and I'll let you know the rest of the situation in a few hours. On another note, glad to see you back." He smiled, shaking her hand. She saluted and left closing the hatch behind her.
He took another drink of the Ambrosia and waited. He knew Zak was a bit upset about failing flight school and he was way more upset about it than Adama was. He didn't think Zak could do it, and in his heart he felt it wasn't right to keep him there because of his feelings for Kara. He gathered his papers and organized them to go over them with Saul Tigh.
Soon enough Adama heard a buzz at the door and he told the person to come in. The old visage of Colonel Saul Tigh came in with his blue duty uniform and sat down. "Damn Bill you should see the Commanders at that place; they are going nuts over there when the words got out we're at frakking FORCON 2. I hope you know what's going on."
"I know a lot of whats going on; here take a look at this." Adama said handing a folder that had the word 'CONFIDENTIAL" stamped in red across it. Saul opened it and started to read it. His eyes got wide when he saw the first couple paragraph. "My Gods the Galactica's getting reactivated?"
"Yep, we start tomorrow at the Aphrodite Lunar Fleet Shipyards. The techs will be onboard inspecting all of our systems including FTL so we can make a jump to Virgo system next week. Keep reading it."
"My Gods the Mercury?" He gasped. "Commander Keller? Was it the Cylons?"
"From what I have heard it wasn't Cylon attack, and no terrorist is fraking stupid enough to attack a Battlestar. I talked to Admiral Cain not too long ago; she was a good friend of Commander Keller, he used to serve under her a few years back as XO before she recommended him for promotion and he got it. His first assignment was the Mercury and has been there ever since. He was one of the very few Commanders to get Command of a Mercury Class. He didn't survive but Colonel Bell did, saved over 800 of the crew by evacuating the ship and jumping out of there. The rumor of what has happened is not really being considered a joke, even Admiral Fessler told me it wasn't.
"What's the rumor?"
"They're saying the Mercury was attacked by alien forces outside the Cryannus Cluster. It would make perfect sense for the Admiralty to be up in arms over a new unknown threat. Major Cottle is heading to Virginis Station now where they're taking the bodies and some of the debris. The rest is going over to Helios System now. We won't hear officially for a week or so but Admiral Fessler wants this Battlestar and the rest of her group up and running next week. He's already processing orders for the rest of the ships to be transferred to our command."
"Alien forces; you have to be kidding me Bill. If its Cylons they should be sending people over the Line for Gods sakes."
"The Admiralty wont press that issue. Some outposts on the Line are sending transmissions into Cylon Space but they are not likely to be heard. No responses were given; nothing. Did Admiral Cain say anything else to you?"
"No, she had to leave for an Admiral's meeting in Virgon. Three Battlestar Groups are going to the outer reaches of the Cluster including hers. They're going to reinforce the outpost areas while Scoutstars search some of the systems. First surveys from the Scoutstars found nothing. We're waiting on the rest. The media knows nothing at this point but the news commentators are already starting to speculate. It won't be long before the rumors get out to the public that a top-of-the-line Colonial Warship was destroyed. We need to be in the CIC soon anyway, the techs are about to arrive." Adama said as Tigh finally took another drink before walking out with Adama.