VIII
They Cylons were finally closing in on Earth and the two Battlestars defending her. Cavil had wanted to move but also remained cautious because, as Doral had mentioned, there was no telling what new surprises this new ship might have in store for them.
But he was confident. He finally had Galactica and now this new ship tethered to a landmass where he could dictate the direction and the course of battle. He didn't take Admiral Adama lightly. He had a healthy respect for the man's military capabilities even as he hated and despised him. And he had no doubt that either that Cylon traitor Saul Tigh or Adama's own son Lee, was in charge of the new ship. The fact that any Cylon would swear allegiance to humanity did rankle his ass to no end. And it was simply another reason he wanted to destroy them all.
He and the lead Sharon, Simon and Doral were in the Central Command Center, there hands firmly in the data stream that connected them with the ship and the Hybrid. It was finally time to do battle.
"Galactica is on the far side of the planet from us. Baseship Three will be the closest to her, with us the furthest. Two and Four will be closest to the new Battlestar" Sharon concentrated on the information she was receiving.
"Launch all Raiders", Cavil ordered, "Send a screening attack against the two ships and concentrate as much as we can on the planet. Let's make them commit."
"Raiders are launching", confirmed Doral. "Baseship Two and Four arming their nukes for a surface strike. Targets have been identified."
"Pegasus Actual, Galactica Actual." Lee came through on the speakers loud and clear. "As expected, sir, they're throwing up a screen against us and concentrating on the planet."
"Lee launch your fighters to counter the incoming. Earth will have to deal with the attack without us for this round. We have to make them dance to our tune."
"Acknowledged, Galactica Actual. Helo just launched our birds. When will you launch the special mission, Admiral?"
"Not until the Raiders attacking us begin their homeward run. When they RTB, I will launch."
"Aye, Admiral. Pegasus Actual, out."
There was more than one Six aboard Galactica. A few had survived the battle with The Colony and were still with the fleet. This one sat alone in the modified Raider that Lieutenant Danny Novacek, Call Sign "Bulldog" had used to get back to Galactica in his staged "escape". It had been modified so a human-looking occupant could more easily operate the machine. With help from Bulldog they had made this marginally comfortable.
Gaius and his team had modified the program in the ship. The single red eye was operational and he had devised a program whereas the brain of the ship was still operating and would be able to receive commands from a Baseship, but the program had been altered so it wouldn't actually attack either Battlestars. The plan was that when the Raiders received their call home after the first encounter, she would join the return to base, And, then, hopefully, the fun would begin.
This Six volunteered for the mission because, well...she was expendable. Caprica Six, now Lieutenant Caprica Baltar, was too valuable to risk on the upcoming mission. This six, named Rebecca would have one mission-get to the Hybrid on board the nearest Baseship.
She didn't hold any jealousy or envy for Caprica. Rebecca had volunteered for this mission, which, she knew would most likely be one-way.
"We've launched twenty nukes at the planet", Simon processed the information that they were being fed. "Per the Op Plan, we won't launch all our nukes."
'We need to see how this battle unfolds. I don't expect Galactica and her shiny new sister to roll over and play dead. But you'll see them commit to us." Cavil said, without his usual sardonic twist in phrase.
"So far", Doral added, "the Battlestars aren't taking the bait. They're still laying back while we hit the surface."
"Eventually they'll be forced to commit to the planet. That pathetic human vice called devotion will kick in sooner or later.", Cavil spit the words out as if they were poison.
"Our Raiders have identified a new variant of the Vipers that we've never seen before, and they've identified a number of ships from the planet of a design we've never encountered. Perhaps they're military jets from the occupants of the planet?" Sharon, being the only one whose line had actually piloted a Colonial vessel, was the expert on that subject.
"So", Cavil arched his eyebrows. "They do have some tricks up their sleeves. Will wonders never cease."
"I don't think it's cause for concern", rejoined Simon. "Our Raiders can handle both attacks from the ships and the surface. And I think they'll find some of our upgrades a little perplexing".
"Oh, you are so right, Simon", Cavil said with a twisted grin.
"XO, launch spread of six nukes at the nearest Baseship on my mark...mark!" Lee was hoping they wouldn't have to wait forVictory to enter the fray. Perhaps they could take down a Baseship or two, and make them jump away or commit themselves.
"Nukes away, impact in fourteen seconds!", Helo was following the trajectory of the missiles toward their target.
The missiles all exploded shortly afterward. But...
"Sir", Helo turned to his Admiral, a pale look of consternation on his face. "None of them impacted on the ship."
"What?" Lee couldn't believe it.
"Sir they exploded, but..." Just as he was going to continue, the Falcon CAG Reaper blasted through on the intercom.
"Reaper, Pegasus Actual!" He said in his heavily-accented English. "Missiles detonated but no damage to the Baseship. From the look of it, they impacted on some sort of deflection grid of some kind!"
"Gods, Lee", Helo said, foregoing the formalities of command for a moment, "they've got shields! We're fracked if we can't get through those!"
"You win the prize of the Cavil Action Figure, Karl. Get me Galactica Actual immediately!" The call was already being made.
"Galactica Actual, Pegasus Actual. Admiral, I assume you got the info already on what our nukes ran into?"
"I did Lee. We had to expect they had learned something new in the interval. For now, we just have to hang tough." Adama knew those were shallow words, but at the moment he didn't have much else. "I suspect they'll be firing a few nukes at us pretty quickly."
"Concur, they've already hit the planet with about twenty to twenty-five nukes. Reports are Washington, Chicago, Shanghai, Moscow and Mexico City among the casualties. I'm surprised they didn't launch more."
"Maybe they don't have more, Admiral. Or maybe they are conserving what they have. It could be they haven't been able to replenish since our last encounter." Cavil was correct: Bill Adama was as shrewd as they came. It was like he knew what the Cylon force was thinking.
"Aye, Admiral. Pegasus Actual out."
Adama couldn't let on to his son, nor his own crew, that he was worried about this new wrinkle that the Baseships had devised. But he had to press forward.
"How do you like that, Adama?" Cavil chortled. "We killed two birds with one stone. We made them waste ten precious nukes, and we no doubt sent a blow to their morale. Let's fire a volley at this new ship, shall we brothers and sisters? A spread of five on her Port broadside."
"Nukes away. twenty seconds to impact."
"Our intel says that the new ship is called Pegasus, and that, as you suspected, Lee Adama is commanding her." Doral smiled at the childishness of the human renaming this new ship after the one that destroyed itself at New Caprica.
"All the better that we take another bite out of their ego". Cavil was indeed enjoying himself.
"Inbound nukes, spread of five, course 186 mark 227, heading to port fore and aft! All fighters, engage missiles!" The nearest Falcons and Raptors were now honing on those five missiles.
A few seconds later, Pegasus received her baptism of fire, as two nukes exploded near the middle of the ship, above the flight pods. There would be damage, Lee knew, but he hoped the new armor would beat back the assault. His prayers were answered.
"Nukes did not penetrate the armor! Reports of damage amidship, but no vital systems damaged." Reaper came on speaker right on Helo's tail.
"Three nukes destroyed before impact! Pegasus any damage?"
"Reaper, Pegasus Actual, some damage reported amidship, but no primary systems compromised. Both landing pods still available."
"Pegasus Actual, I copy. Will continue pressing the attack."
Lee took a quick breath, "Maybe that will make them back off and get out of here for a while."
"Well, it seems we've both come up with some nice new tricks", Cavil said, disappointed but not overly surprised. "Sharon, recall the Raiders. Once they're aboard we'll jump and see what we've learned."
"Galactica Actual, Bulldog One, Cylon Raiders starting to withdraw. Launch immediately, and Good Luck." Adama was really hoping the Baltar's had come through for them.
"Bulldog One, Galactica Actual, launching now, now, now!" Rebecca firewalled the stick. Her onboard Dradis told her exactly where the other Cylon Raiders would be. She quickly joined the formation. Adama's instincts about the Raiders proved to be correct.
"Galactica Actual, Bulldog One, confirm Raiders returning to base, am in formation."
Galactica would not respond this time. The quick transmission was scrambled, but to make sure the Cylons wouldn't pick up anything, Adama would not acknowledge it.
Adama took a breath, as the first round ended. "Let's hope this mission gets some results", he said, almost to himself.
