(Writers Note: the end of my chapter ties directly into Expatkiwi's PEGASUS Book 10: Return to the Fray.)
"Rogue Squadron/Shadow." Major Spencer began, "Our orders are to escort the civilians though the escape route. Weapons are free and hot!
Just as the raiders reached the exit of the chute, they were greeted by dozens of missiles launch from the defense satellites recovered with TERTIUS and the flak being sent up buy the colonial warships.
"Sitrep!" barked Jason as he entered the CIC.
"We've engaged the first wave of cylon raider. We're trying to establish a perimeter near the mouth of the chute. PDS One has expended its ordnance. We have four viper squadrons to our port and dorsal side awaiting orders." Hayes informed his commander.
"Second cylon wave incoming!" Hayes reported.
"All ships continuing to fire," Tillman ordered.
"Sir a group of raiders has broken through to starboard! Echo Squadron is pursuing!" yelled Walker.
"Echo squad/Echo leader, raiders closing in on ZEPHYRUS! Watch out for flak! All weapon free! Fire at will!" Major Paul (Sky) Bourne ordered knowing the cylons would reach the ZEPHYRUS before they could engage.
Baseship entering range!" shouted Walker from the dradis console.
"All ships switch forward batteries to salvo fire! Concentrate on the lead baseship!" Tillman ordered hoping to stop the baseship before it exited the chute.
All three capital ships fired on the lead baseship hitting her along her center axis. Fire and explosions erupted as the shells hit their target! The ship started to slow but kept moving forward.
About two-dozen raiders reach ZEPHYRUS and focused their assault on her aft section with two conducting suicide runs.
"Fires in section twenty-one through twenty-eight. Hanger bay is depressurized. Auxiliary system is offline. FTL system is offline." Captain Baker the ship's executive officer shouted across the smoky CIC.
"Notify HYPERION, tell them we will try to dock and evacuate to Naylor!" Timlin replied as another suicidal raider slam into aft section and knocked them off their feet.
As ZEPHYRUS retreated the remaining raiders turned towards TRINITY'S flight pods.
"Raider impact starboard pod launch tubes!" announced Col Marcus
"Fire suppression systems engaged! All starboard launch tubes are down!" yelled Pete Dunbar who was monitoring the damage control board.
"Two baseships are emerging from behind the first. One at three o'clock the other at nine." Hayes reported as watched from the plotting table.
"Have TRINITY, JUNO and Naylor Station focus on the one to port!" ordered Tillman.
"Have PDS four target the other and fire!" Tillman started. "Helm, ninety degrees to starboard and ready missile tubes one though four. Load an EMP warhead in tube five. Fire at will!"
"Sir, All viper squadron are engaged but are being pushed back. Naylor reports they ZEPHYRUS has reached the station and is evacuating to DAEDALUS and the escape vessels." McCall relayed to the commander.
"How many of the ships are still in the area?" Tillman inquired.
"Just the two heavy class transports waiting to evacuate Naylor." McCall reported from her communication station.
"Tell Colonel Edwards to start evacuating the station and set the charges!" Tillman ordered knowing that it would destroy most if not all of the station.
Colonels Edwards, Williams, and some of the staff were still in CIC when watching Colonial Heavy 783 exit the massive hanger. It almost cleared the doors when a cylon missile hit it. The ship lurched to its portside and the momentum from the explosion pushed it into side of the hanger. The transport blew up on impact, rocking the station.
ADELPHIA had moved underneath Naylor in order to protect Colonial Heavy 760, which had just detached from the secondary docking collar as Colonel Williams asked. Williams ordered ADELPHIA to escort the transport out of the combat area and that DAEDALUS could make it out on her own. He knew was a lie and needed to create a diversion.
Over in the DAEDALUS CIC, Major Timlin couldn't believe what she was seeing on dradis, ZEPHYRUS had detached from the station. Rhodes was shocked when Colonel Williams returned his hail. Williams had commandeered the damaged vessel and decided to distract the cylons so DAEDALUS could escape.
"Steve, what the frak are you doing!" hollered Rhodes.
"Providing DAEDALUS with an escape route! HYPERION and the others are busy with those baseships! Blow the docking collar and get out! Williams replied before cutting off the signal. Rhodes gave the order and the DAEDALUS was the last ship to leave Naylor.
Williams set a course for the nearest baseship and ordered the engineering team that tried to save ZEPHYRUS to abandon ship in the only lifeboat. Once deployed, a search and rescue raptor could clamp on to it and hopefully tow to safety. As ZEPHYRUS headed towards the closest baseship she was continuously pounded by missiles and a few moments later was burning in space.
"Sitrep!" barked Jason as he staggered forward from the blast to HYPERION midsection.
"Minor damage to section forty-six. DC crew on route." Hayes began. "ZEPHYRUS has been destroyed and DAEDALUS has escaped the combat zone. It's just TRINITY, JUNO, and us left.
"TRINITY is reporting damage to their lower heat exchanger!" McCall announced from her station. Tillman knew TRINITY couldn't hang in the battle for much longer and after watching as the fourth and fifth baseship emerged from behind the motionless first on dradis, he made the call.
"It's time to leave. Recall all Vipers! Tell them to combat land on the closest ship." Jason announced to CIC. "Bring PDS two online. Target the closest baseship."
Just as Jason gave the last order two massive detonations ripped through Naylor Station sending debris everywhere. The colonials had placed explosive charges in the key areas of the station. The charges located near the tylium storage tanks were the only ones not to detonate.
"All wings come home! Combat landings authorized" Hayes ordered.
TRINITY, JUNO, and HYPERION quickly headed for the escape route as multiple vipers entered the landing decks. PDS two launched its missiles and HYPERION kept firing her aft batteries providing cover for the battlecruisers as they headed out of the asteroid field.
"Captain Dyson reports all birds are home!" McCall announced.
"Signal all ships to jump!" Tillman ordered as the ship shuddered from another impact.
VARDEN SECTOR – ONE HOUR LATER"How many ships didn't make it?" Cmdr Roberts asked over a secured commline.
"BOREAS, ZEPHYRUS, AND HEAVY 783." Jason began. "Timlin and her crew were able to get off the ship. We're trying to get a number on causalities but that won't happen until we get people back where they belong."
"The tylium tanks never went up. That's a lot of fuel for the cylons." Roberts said angrily.
"I know. I just sent Raptor 5401(Stealth raptor) and Nighthawk one (Stealth-star) back to recon what the cylons are doing. I'm giving Addison activation codes for PDS three incase he has an opportunity."
"What are you going to do about DAEDALUS?" Roberts asked knowing that Colonel McKnight was going to get the ship eventually.
"I've sent for Timlin and McKnight. I'm going to do it now." Tillman responded.
It had been an hour since Jason sent for McKnight and Timlin. They both arrived and were escorted to the situation room.
"Colonel McKnight, I was going to do this a bit later when DAEDALUS became fully operational but it needs to be done at this time, I'm giving you command of DAEDALUS and promoting you to the field rank of commander and Major Timlin you will take command of PROTEUS.
"What about my command staff? I would like to take Major Canton and my communications officer Haggerty with me." McKnight asked as he and Admiral Tillman's hand and thanked him.
"You can take who you need and get her fully operational as soon as possible." Jason replied.
Jason had dismissed them both but Timlin remained behind.
"Sir, what about the review board? Regulations state that when the C.O. losses their command they must stand in front of a review board pending a court-martial." Timlin asked.
"Major, you followed my orders and hung in for as long as possible against three basestars and hundreds of raiders. Your ship was critically damaged and you were still able save your crew." Jason replied whom, by this time, walked in front of Timlin.
"Sir, it should have been me that used ZEPHYRUS as a decoy not Colonel Williams." Timlin responded as she blamed herself for Williams sacrifice.
"Major, do not blame yourself. Williams was a sick man who didn't have much time left." Jason said sharply. "If I had any question about your command capabilities I would not give you PROTEUS. Dismissed"
Timlin saluted her superior and exited as Colonel Hayes entered.
"We're starting to get some numbers back," Hayes began as he learned on the table.
"How bad?" asked Jason knowing the number would be considerable.
"Close to six hundred when we lost BOREAS and HEAVY 783." Hayes began as he shuffled though the reports. "We lost a lot of support staff on 783. We lost a dozen vipers. All from TRINITY, JUNO and us. Matt Jones said he would transfer a few of his men to us to augment our losses. He's volunteered to accommodate Echo Squadron until they can return to DAEDALUS. It's either him or us."
"That's fine." Jason said as he interlocked his fingers behind his head and asked on the status of TRINITY.
"Marcus said that they were in good shape other that the heat exchanger and launch tubes repairs. Roberts ordered them to cover MYSTIC and deployed a rear CAP. TERTIUS has deployed a forward CAP." Hayes replied
"Have Lt. Walker coordinate a deployment rotation for all squadrons in the fleet. Plan a moment of silence fleet-wide for the casualties
"We'll need to start assembling those Mark II we recovered. Assign two deckcrews to Viper Assembly. Is there anything else?" Jason asked.
"Where should we assign Colonel Edwards?" asked Hayes.
"Assign him to HYPERION for now with a shift in CIC." Jason began. "You'll need the help. We'll be the focal point of the fleet operations. We can shift Pete some of those duties."
"Yes, sir." Hayes acknowledged before heading for the door and turned back and asked, " Where do we go?
"That's a good question." Jason responded.
DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN – NAYLOR STATIONMajor James "Thumper" Nix was piloting one of the new stealth-stars and Lt. Tom "Tico" Addison was in raptor 5401 when they were ordered back to Naylor. The deckcrews had unofficially dubbed the stealth-star Nighthawk One and the prototype raptors were given the series desgnation 5400. Admiral Tillman was interested in recovering the tylium left behind in the storage tanks. Both ships jumped outside the asteroid field and proceeded through the field instead of down one of the two entryways. After working there way through the two ships stopped short of exiting the field.
"Tico/Thumper, Full sweep of the station and surrounding area." Nix ordered as he wondered where the cylons disappeared too after only twelve hours.
"Thumper/Tico, How long should we wait?" asked Addison over the scrambled wireless.
"We'll wait a while. Keep off the wireless silence." Thumper ordered as they sat and watched.
The two birds sat in the same position for over an hour, until something caught Timmons eye on dradis. "Dradis is showing a single contact exiting the chute!" She whispered.
Addison broke silence and contacted Major Nix.
"Sir, dradis has cross referenced the contact. The computer identifies it as a Columbia-class battlestar!" Timmons announced.
"Columbia-Class? The stupid thing must be broke! The only one was in a museum and that was destroyed by the cylons." Addison uttered.
"Tico/Thumper," Nix called on the wireless, "Hold position! I'm going to take a look! Confirm!"
"Message confirmed!" Addison replied.
Nix engaged the Nighthawks' engines and headed for the contact. When he came within visual range he confirmed what the computer reported and them headed back.
"Tico/Thumper, Mark One Eyeball contact as Columbia class battlestar CEREBRUS. Copy?" Nix said with amazement in his voice.
Addison was known on HYPERION as somewhat fleet historian. He knew about the ships history. "CEREBRUS was a first generation battlestar built almost seventy-five years ago! She was presumed destroyed shortly after the cylon revolt over fifty years ago. What's she doing now?"
"She's launching Mark II vipers and fueling tankers. Wait! Dradis is also detecting the launch of a Peregrine gun ship?" Timmons whispered.
"Peregrine gun ship? What the frak is that?" Addison asked.
"Hold on the computer is bringing it up now." Timmons responded. "It's an offensive type ship designed and currently being tested by Militech Corporation. Five proto types were developed. She quoted off the display.
Nix theorized that Black Ops had spies in Militech and gave them information on the Peregrine and must have downloaded the information in the database.
"Tico, keep your station! Lets watch this for awhile." Nix ordered.