Phoenix Rising
Chapter Four
Murphy's Law
September 7, 2214Aboard EDS Andromeda II
In Earth orbitCaptain Nova Forrester was understandably nervous as she took the command chair for the launch out of Earth orbit. She knew she didn't need to be, because this was a simple shakedown cruise. Commander Wendy Singleton (who had received a promotion to the rank of general from the Senate as part of a arm-wrangling deal that her grandfather engineered) had given her the mission objectives that morning: three warps to an uncharted world that one of the EDS probes had discovered years before during the search for a new home during the Gamilon Wars. As far as the probe had indicated, no life had lived there. But life was possible there, though it would be hard as the habitable zone was relatively small, rainy, and cold.
Nevertheless, it was a definite prospect for a base outside of the home system, and Nova was eager to embark on this voyage of discovery. She knew that, just in case, she had the skills to deal with a combat situation, but she didn't expect to have to worry about that on this mission. Nothing was taken for granted, though, so Andromeda II was armed to the teeth.
She always hated departures, and this one was no different. Miyuki no longer cried (at least in front of her) when she left on a mission, but Nova knew that her daughter missed her deeply whenever she was away. She also missed her husband, Derek, because she knew the pressure that he was under despite no longer being a member of the military officially.
She did know, of course, of the secret project at Phoenix Station. Derek was scheduled to leave there in three days to pay the site a visit along with Wendy. Part of her was uncomfortable bring up the Yamato from its watery resting place on the water world of Aquaria, but she knew that the day may come when the old lady would once again be needed.
Her executive officer, Homer Glitchman, handed her the daily report and she scanned through it, thinking of the night before, when Homer and her were at her place, celebrating a surprising announcement from Homer's wife.
They were at the Wildstar's for a going away dinner. Derek and Homer were going to cook dinner (or attempt to, at least) for Wendy, Nova, and Miyuki. Miyuki was in her room, playing, while Wendy and Nova were out on the balcony talking.
"I always wondered why you bought this house, Nova. After what you went through here…" Wendy said, remembering what had happened to Nova a dozen years ago when the Dark Nebulans had invaded and captured Earth. The Star Force that had been on Earth had managed to escape aboard the president's personal emergency transport, but Nova had barely missed getting on board.
Nova's smile slipped a bit as she said, "It took some convincing. I decided that I didn't want to think of any place on Earth as a house of pain." While she had not been tortured at all during her interrogation at the hands of the enemy, the officer who had her in custody had tempted her, and he would eventually betray his own people for Nova. In all the years since, she'd never come that close to cheating on Derek again. Even though Derek had long since told her that she had done nothing wrong and that there was no need to forgive her, Nova still felt the twinge of guilt whenever that time came up.
She rallied and added, "Derek and I have made plenty of happy memories here to outnumber the good ones." One of those memories came out of her room and asked her mommy to hug her.
Wendy looked down at young Miyuki and smiled. "I hope Homer and I can do so as well. We've decided to start our own family as well when you're all back from this mission."
Nova gasped with delight, saying, "Wendy, that's wonderful! Even with your new career?"
"As usual, Homer wants to follow Derek's example. Did you ever imagine those two as full time fathers?" Wendy laughed.
They had even more reason to laugh when they detected a smell of smoke from the kitchen and the sight of Homer coming out of there saying, "Uh…you ladies mind if we call out for pizza?" Derek called out to Homer from inside the kitchen, "Homer! Get back in here and help me stomp this out!"
Nova smiled at the memory of the night, but was interrupted from her daydreams by her exec addressing headquarters. "EDF Control, this is Andromeda II. We have cleared atmosphere and we're on course for the warp corridor."
"Read you, Homer. How does the crew like their new home?"
"I think 'kid in a candy store' sums it all up." Homer said, then added, "Captain Forrester has a private message for Commander Singleton. Stand by."
Wendy turned on the video communications panel on her desk and Nova's image came up. "Wendy…thank you for lending him to me. I'll bring him back home to you safely."
Wendy smiled and said, "I know you will, Nova. Good luck!"
Little did they know that the evening before would be the last time they would see each other in that tranquil of a setting. Two days later, Wendy was summoned that communication had been lost with the ship. She raced to EDF control, and wasn't surprised in the least to see Derek Wildstar come in minutes later.
"Where's Miyuki?" Wendy asked.
"She's with the neighbors. I didn't tell her what had come up. Any news?"
Wendy shrugged and said, "All we know is that they had warped in close to the planet we had detected, and had found unknown ships nearby. Before they could investigate, another ship jumped in behind them and hit them with missiles. Last message we received was that they were going down."
Derek went through a ton of emotions in millisecond: rage, fear, worry, anger, and so on. The probe had determined that the planet was lifeless and was safe to explore. But the probe had gone out years ago and had descended onto the planet to self-destruct, so they had not had any new information for some time.
"What do we do now?" Derek asked.
Wendy thought for a moment, then asked, "Is the old lady ready for another mission?"
Derek replied, "Sandor said that they were almost ready for a shakedown cruise. If we can get the others to come along with us, we can find out what really happened."
New Caprica Settlement(under Cylon occupation)
"What the frak is this?" said Chief Galen Tyrol as he kneeled down beside a ditch in the forest where the resistance fighters had fled when they made their breakaway from the main settlement.
Kara "Starbuck" Thrace crouched down beside him and studied what the ditch contained. "Looks like something crashed here. Whatever it was, it hit hard, but there's quite a lot of it still intact. Think you could salvage something from it, Chief?"
Tyrol looked it over carefully, lost in thought for a moment. He then jumped down into the pit and looked it over up close. "I'm not sure. Maybe we could get some sort of electronic gear from this. Components…" He then looked over at one of the panels that had survived and his breath caught inside him. "Holy frak!"
"What is it?" Starbuck said as she jumped in with him. Tyrol pointed to the panel and Starbuck read the writing on it. "Earth Defense Force Probe XP-1791? Earth? It can't be!"
"Could it be a trick?" said a voice from above. Tyrol and Starbuck both looked up to see Colonel Saul Tigh standing above them. "I wouldn't put it past the Cylons to do set up something like this to trick us!"
Starbuck shook her head and replied, "I don't think so, sir! I'm not sure when this probe crashed here, but my guess is that it's been here for quite a while, long before the Cylons attacked the Colonies."
Tigh, despite his years, managed to come down into the crater as well, and looked for himself. "Why is the writing in the Colonial language, though? This seems a little too convenient to me!"
"That could be, but look at the weathering on this thing." Starbuck said. "The Cylons are capable of many things, but even they didn't know of this planet until they detected that nuke that destroyed Cloud Nine a few months back."
Just then, Tom Zarek, who was still technically the vice president of the Colonies, came by and said, "Something's going on in the skies, Starbuck. A ship's descending, and it looks like it's been shot up pretty bad!"
"Galactica!" both Tigh and Starbuck said simultaneously. Zarek shook his head and replied, "No, this definitely doesn't look like a Colonial ship, nor anything from the Cylons. Come on! You need to see this!"
They raced through the forest towards an opening near the shore of a massive bay. Starbuck searched the skies and quickly found the ship as it headed towards the coastline. "That's definitely not Colonial! She looks like her stern's been shot up pretty bad!"
Tigh managed to see the Cylon raiders a heartbeat before Starbuck did. "Duck!" he commanded, and the threesome hit the dirt as the raiders swung near their position and headed for the stricken ship. But they were quickly dispatched by what looked like beam weapons of some sort, which had all three of them puzzled.
"Could they be from Earth?" Starbuck asked aloud.
"Doubtful. Maybe it's an alien race…" Zarek said.
"Maybe they are from Earth." Tigh said. "We found a probe from Earth in that ditch where you found us. Looks like it's been there for a few years, so I doubt it's a Cylon trick."
Zarek shot Tigh a puzzled expression, asking, "How do you know?"
It was Starbuck who was the one who answered. "We read an inscription on it that said so. When we go back, we'll show it to you. Right now, get everyone up here, Tom. They need to see this!" Zarek nodded and went back to where the rest of the resistance group was hidden, while Starbuck and Tigh watched on as the gigantic ship made its way towards the bay.
Back in the settlement, Graham Walter was teaching the high school class with his wife Cassie when the commotion drew his attention. "What the hell is going on out there?" he said aloud, then he had a thought and addressed the class, "Stay in your seats!" The class moaned as he went outside with his wife to check out what was going on.
As Graham opened the tent flap and went outside, he spotted his old friend, Laura Roslin, whose entire class was standing outside the adjacent classroom. He walked up to the former president and asked, "What the hell is going on, Laura?"
Laura pointed to the sky and said, "A ship is descending, according to what I've heard. It's not Colonial, and it's not Cylon. But it's been shot up, probably by the Cylons."
Walter shook his head and said, "What the hell is next? Earthers coming down to beat back the Cylons?"
Cassie added, "Never know, hun. Those could be people from the thirteenth colony."
He turned to say something to his tall, red headed wife, but Walter spotted his class near the door of the tent that served as their school. "Bah! I can't blame them for wanting to look!" He turned to them and said, "Don't come out any further, people! They may have to order us off the streets, so be ready to get back in quickly if they do."
Inside Colonial One, four Cylons and President Baltar watched as the ship continued to descend towards the mountains in the distance. The most recent arrival, who looked a lot like former Fleet News Service reporter D'anna Biers, said, "Whatever it is, we need to destroy it soon, or else those escapees might make some sort of alliance with the survivors."
The Aaron Doral copy, who was known as "Five", said, "Three, we've tried to attack it after the basestar jumped in from behind and launched missiles at its stern, but the ship is bristled with what looks like beam weaponry. None of our raiders can get close enough to finish it off."
Three turned back and said rather brusquely, "Well, when it lands, we need to bomb it, because the last thing we need is for the Colonial resistance to get their hands on some advanced weaponry."
The Sharon model, known as an "Eight", added, "We should be prepared for an attack. For all we know, Galactica has contacted the entity to which that ship belongs and has made some sort of an alliance."
Three replied, "And so we shall, but we should also prepare to make sure that the settlement isn't taken by whatever beings are in that ship."
Baltar chose that moment to interject. "You said that if we didn't attack you, you wouldn't harm us. What happens if whomever is on that ship figures out that you attacked it and decides to come after you?"
Three walked over to him, stared at him with a look that bordered on revulsion, and said, "What you had better worry about is if those escapees decide to join them, because, if they do…well, the consequences for your people will be grave."
On board Andromeda II
Captain Nova Forrester wasn't worried about whether or not she was going to survive or not. All she was concerned about was making sure that they could get the ship down in one piece. The thrusters on the bottom side of the hull were being tricky, and Ashley "Ace" Diamond was leading his engineering team to try and fix the problem. Their heat shield had managed to work fine, but now that they were in the gravitational pull and the atmosphere of a planet again, that brought about a whole new set of problems.
Homer called out in excitement, "Captain! We have the wings operational!"
Nova simply nodded and ordered, "Deploy them!", too busy to say much else as she was locked in concentration on her data screens, giving her information from all over the ship. So far, twelve people had been killed and thirty-four injured when whatever ship that had jumped behind them slammed missiles into their stern, catching them by almost complete surprise. Nova's instincts had told her that the enemy hadn't expected her to be there, and they were not able to fully put paid to them. They had thrown some fighters at them, but the pulse lasers had taken them out.
Helmsman Jordan "Jordie" Venture was guiding the ship towards a splashdown in the bay that was rapidly approaching them. Nova had decided to try and sail the ship to shore and make a stand there, getting near a heavily forested area just in case they had to ditch the ship and activate the self-destruct systems. But the spotty altitude controls were making his job very difficult indeed, and Venture was having a hard time maintaining a safe approach vector to the water.
Thankfully, Diamond's team had managed to give Venture enough thrusters to allow him to ease the ship as best he could into the water. "All hands, stand by for disembarking procedures!" Nova said over the ship's intercom. Her objective was to get some of her crew out into the woods and prepare for any possible ground assault by the enemy.
Her plans were abruptly changed when a missile slammed into the ocean a quarter of a mile behind the ship, and the explosion lifted the massive ship out of the water. "Captain! That missile came from space!" Wallace "Whizzer" Makunochi called out from his radar station.
Nova didn't hesitate, as she feared that the enemy might fire down upon them from space. "Attention all hands. Change of plans! As soon as we run aground, abandon ship! Repeat, abandon ship!" She then turned to her combat chief, Namio Sakamaki, and ordered him to use the pulse cannons to take out as many of the incoming missiles as he could until she gave the order for the last of the bridge crew to leave.
The crew may not have been on the ship for very long, but they were a well-oiled machine from their time on the Avatar, and they carried out Nova's evacuation order to perfection as the ship grounded itself on the shore. She had launched fighters before splashdown, giving them enough cover as they made their way towards shore. The gangplank was let down and the crew began to storm the beach with equipment for long-term survival on the planet. The EDF Marines hustled to bring down armaments as quickly as they could, while the medical team brought down the wounded along with as much of the medical supplies and equipment as they could carry.
The flight crew did what they could to hastily assemble a makeshift runway for the fighters, and Nova was thankful that the fighters didn't need much of one to land, as they could land vertically like the ancient Harrier jump jets from the twentieth century. She had them assembled a good distance away from the ship, just to try and give them as much of a buffer zone when she set off the self-destruct sequence.
Within the space of half an hour, all that was left on board was the bridge crew. She set the subspace distress beacon and let it transmit for as long as it could before she had to destroy her new ship. Initially, she had decided to just get her people clear and then set it off, but a report from one of the fighter pilots gave her a new idea.
Once they were all on shore, they got into the forest as quickly as they could. Nova, Homer, and the rest of the bridge crew, though, were ducked behind a quickly thrown up blind set on a little hill just inside the forest, waiting for what looked like robot soldiers to come to the ship. Her plan was simple: get as many of them inside the ship or close enough to it, then set it off. Science Officer Henji Bando had a portable computer plugged into the video surveillance system inside the ship, and he was tracking the enemy soldiers as they entered the ship. They had managed to seal off the more vital parts of the ship, which, while it didn't completely prevent them from getting into those areas, it would make them work for it.
Nova watched the monitor and had her finger poised over the button to set off the self-destruct sequence. When she was ready, she told her crew to get down, then she pressed the button, and the Andromeda II went up in a massive explosion within mere seconds, taking all of the robot soldiers who had gotten inside or near the ship. "Well, we're on our own, for now. Get the emergency communication system up and running as soon as possible. We need to establish a base camp near the fighters, then set up a defensive perimeter."
"Captain!" called out the familiar voice of EDF Marine master sergeant Winona Fowler. She was a stocky, tall, athletic woman who looked like the very definition of an Amazon. "We've encountered some humans here!"
"Humans? This planet isn't supposed to be colonized!" Nova said in a surprised voice. "Bring them forward, Sgt. Fowler."
Starbuck, Zarek, Tyrol, and Tigh were escorted to where Nova had set up the command and control tent. They ducked inside and stared at each other for a moment. Finally, Starbuck broke the silence and asked, "Are you from Earth?"
Nova looked at them and said, "Yes, we are. Aren't you?"
Starbuck sighed and said, "Not exactly. It's a long story, Captain…"
"Forrester. Captain Nova Forrester. And you are?"
"Kara Thrace, formerly Captain in the Colonial Fleet. Call sign 'Starbuck'." She turned to introduce Tigh and Zarek. "This is Colonel Saul Tigh, formerly assigned to the Colonial battlestar Galactica, and this is Tom Zarek, the vice president of the Colonies."
Homer asked, "Where's your president?"
Tigh answered a bit sharply, "He's back at the settlement, which is occupied by our enemy, a race of robots called the Cylons. They were the ones who shot your ship down. The president's a collaborator, as far as I can tell. Like Starbuck said, it's a long story."
Nova nodded and said, "Well, there's a saying on my world. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' I believe we can help each other out, if you're up for it."
Starbuck walked up to Nova, stunned that such a beautiful woman was a commander of a starship, and extended her hand. "You've got a deal!" Nova smiled and shook it, placing her hand on top of it.
Back at the settlement, they had seen and felt the Andromeda II go up. "Damn!" said Graham to his wife as they walked back to their modest tent, which was next to Samuel Anders' place.
Samuel Anders was Kara's husband, but he had to stay behind because of his pneumonia. He had good days and bad, and this one looked to be one of his better ones. Cassie had been with Samuel and the rest of the Caprica Buccaneers pyramid team when the Cylons nuked Caprica, and had managed to survive long enough for Starbuck to pick them up over a year ago as part of a massive rescue mission.
"Any idea if Kara was near that explosion?" Sam asked with concern in his soft voice.
"No. No idea." Graham replied in a whisper. Not many people were around, but it was best that they kept their voices down. "Hopefully she wasn't near it when it went up."
Cassie added, "Hopefully they took some of those shiny toasters with them!"
"I know, but it's best to not call them that, hun. Gods know that if they found out what we are up to…" Graham replied.
Samuel asked, "When's the next meeting?"
"Soon. Roslin will want it to discreet because of what happened, but we need to meet up again soon. Maybe have a few discreet meetings with the players involved." Graham added.
Cally came out of the tent and hugged Graham and Cassie, then got the gist of what was going on. The story was that Starbuck and Tyrol had had an affair and had run off together. No one in the inner circle thought it completely fooled the Cylons, but it did allow for the pregnant Cally to watch over Sam. She was almost ready to have her child, and Cassie would soon have to stay at home and help watch the both of them.
Tory Foster, Laura Roslin's former assistant when she was president, walked up to them and whispered into Graham's ear. "Laura needs to see you quickly!" Graham excused himself and followed Tory back to Laura's place.
Laura's tent was very much like everyone else's, for the most part. Quite a comedown for someone who used to be president of the Colonies, but it helped her to regain the popularity she had lost during the election campaign that Gaius Baltar had managed to win. Graham entered and saw Laura sitting down on the cot, with Dr. Cottle standing over her. "Graham! Good to see you again!" Laura said as she rose off the cot and embraced her friend.
"Likewise, Laura. So what's up?" he replied.
"I just talked to Felix Gaeta, the president's aide. It seems that the Cylons are not happy about that ship crashing. Apparently they think that there were survivors and that they may meet up with Starbuck's team." Laura said, worry in her voice.
"What does that have to do with us?" Graham asked.
Laura struggled to get it out, but managed, "I don't know how much we can trust Gaeta, but, according to him, if the resistance attempts to attack the Cylons, then they will round up prisoners and shoot them."
"How many?" Graham asked.
"I don't know, Graham, but I got the impression that it would be a lot. They may choose me, they may choose you or your wife…or they could choose some of the children." Laura replied.
"So they want to force the issue, eh? Who's supposed to inform the resistance of this?"
"They want me to go, but I recommended you to go. I can handle the high school kids, along with Tory, as best I can. You can only go by yourself, though."
Graham looked at his old friend hard for a moment, then asked, "You're holding something back, aren't you?"
Laura nodded and said, "I believe that was a military ship that landed, and I believe that they are survivors. I also believe that there's a good chance that they could be from Earth. If that is the case, then they need to know what happened to us.
"There also might be the chance that they may be sending a rescue fleet to pick the survivors up. If they are from Earth, and they do send a fleet, then they need someone to help coordinate the possible liberation of the settlement. Since you were once in the military, you seemed to be the best choice for the job."
Graham nodded and said, "It's been a while, but I imagine I've not forgotten much about being a soldier. I'll head out as soon as they want me too."
Laura hugged him again, then revealed why Dr. Cottle was there. "There is another reason why I'm not going." She bit her lip, but managed to say it. "The doctor suspects that my cancer may be back. If that is the case, then there's almost no chance of recovery, given the circumstances. If…if the worst comes to pass, I want you to take my place and lead our people to Earth."
Graham didn't know what to think, so he said, "I will, Laura.", and, after saying a somewhat painful goodbye, went back to his place, where he informed his wife.
Cassie sat at their modest table, stunned. "I was afraid something like this might happen, given how she was cured in the first place, but why now, for the sake of the Gods?"
"Gods only know, Cass. Anyhow, I need to get some rest. I don't know when I'll be heading out."
"Be safe, Graham!" Cassie said as she embraced her husband. "I lost you once, and managed to find you again. Gods only know how I'd go on if I lose you again!"
He ran his hands through her red hair, gently kissed her lips, and said, "I'll do my best, hun!" They made love that night, then fell asleep.
The day after next, he was summoned to Colonial One and told that if the resistance struck the Cylons, 500 people would be rounded up and summarily executed. They would be chosen at random, so it could be anyone who went before the execution squad. He was to communicate that message to the resistance, get them to surrender, and get those survivors of the crash to either surrender as well or to leave the planet.
Graham took his orders in stride, as best he could. The next day, he was led by a couple of the human Cylons to the edge of the forest, where they believed that Starbuck and the others had fled. Graham knew of where they might be, having secretly helped Starbuck prepare for her team to flee into the woods. He shouldered his backpack and entered the forest, in search of his friend, as well as those who may have survived the crash.
Writer's note: some of the Starblazers storyline has been from the great series of web comics produced for Voyager Entertainment by Tim Eldred. You can view the seven current episodes of the comic (of which, the second and third chapters of the comic comprise a good bit of this story up until Andromeda II crashes on New Caprica) at and the eight episode of this web comic epic will debut in August 2006.