Firestorm Part I
Admiral's log
It's been five days since we found the Battlestar Trinity near Destarious depot. They lost almost half of their crew, and she is badly damaged from their fight with the Cylons. From Commander Gerard's logs, I can see that they have fixed a great deal of the ship since the end of the Cylon attack two months before. They managed to destroy two baseships during their first and only contact with Cylons.
The Quorum is still trying to get the upper hand in military decisions. They did not like that we risked two of our Battlestars to save one badly damaged one. They are like many civilian politicians: short sighted. They also protested when I sent the Battlestar Caprica two days ago in search for that Gunstar group and not to mention their reaction to our upcoming mission to save the survivors in the colonies.
Operation Firestorm is essential for us to save as many civilians and military personnel in the POW camps as we can before we have to leave the colonies. We will start by hitting Aerelon and Caprica. Aerelon because of those two Battlestars and support ships that are sitting in orbit of Aerelon's moon, and the large amount of military personnel on Aerelon itself; our latest Intel from the stealth raptors indicated that there are a little less than 200,000 survivors. It would seem that the Cylons are extremely efficient in the extermination of all human survivors on Aerelon. Better word came from Caprica with over 1.25 million survivors and counting so far, plus half a marine division under the direct command of General O'Rilley. General O'Rilley has started a new campaign against the Cylons and seems to be making their stay on Caprica a not so pleasant one. He and his marines have taken a few military bases, including one of the main bases in the Tyr area; allowing him to arm and supply a much larger group of survivors.
We have succeeded in finding a really large amount of ships all around the Cyrannus system. It was strange that the Cylons didn't destroy them all, but it does not mean they won't start destroying whatever remains after they find out what we have done when this operation is over. So far, there have been only minor skirmishes with Cylon raiders on some of the sites.
We have found eighty large civilian transports, each capable of housing over 5,000 people, along with fifty additional ships from ranging from old liners, mining ships, and a few others. We made a lucky find with six Colossus class heavy military transports. Those monsters will really come in handy, since each of them can carry 10,000 passengers and an added plus as they are armed and I'll admit that it's mostly with point defense weapons, but they are capable of landing on a planet which is a bonus at this point. There were eight Argo ships, four smaller and four larger, and they will be a great addition to the food production of the fleet. There were two older Cloud type units; Cloud 1 and 2, which were the first two from the Cloud class of luxury liners.
Civilian ships were not the only ships that we found and rescued to join the new fleet. Twelve Tiger II Destroyers were also found. Those ships are as strong as a Columbia II battlestar; the only drawback is they don't carry fighters, so they will need fighter support. Six of these are in relatively perfect shape, but the other six need some work. I plan to assign them as part of the secondary fleet once they are repaired to guard the civilian fleet once we depart.
A third Hephaestus class mobile dock (constructstar) Starbridge has been located at the Horus Manufacturing Company shipyards; as with her sisters the Hephaestus and Forge already in service, she is an excellent addition. Taking that these ships, usually called Constructstars, are capable of holding Two Mercury class Battlestars or between four to six Gunstars, it will be more than a welcome addition. Fortune favored us as she was not alone. We also found three additional Cradle class mobile docks hiding at Horus as well. They are smaller and are only capable of sustaining only one battlestar at a time, but they are capable of holding anything from a Gunstar to the Nova class Command Battlestar, and it will also boost our repair and production capabilities at a time that we need them the most. We have more than enough civilian volunteers from the civilian ships to help in manning these ships, and they are being transferred to those new dock ships as I write this log.
Admiral Thorn has ordered the extraction of the old Dreadnought Henchantories. She will not be used for military purposes, although I do want to see her returned to full strength again. The Henchantories has many large internal spaces that can be used in the short term to house the thousands of people we are going to rescue. It is well armored and can hold 50,000 people on board for a short period of time, and as such it will be used as large colony ship until we reach Avalon. All her weapons will be repaired, the point defense grid will be modernized, and she will be hastily upgraded. She does not carry any fighters, but does carry a wing of 50 raptors and shuttles.
We found several more military units that I am sure will be a good addition to the protection of our people. With two Hawkeye class Firestars that are in relatively good shape and six Defender class Gunstars, though they are lacking their external armor and heavy weapons. Then there is the hybrid Gunstar, something between a standard defender class and a titan class, called the Minerva. She was one of the prototypes, I think, for the Titan II Gunstars. She is fully armed and in great shape. I ordered her immediate extraction and renamed her the Miranda. She can carry twenty vipers and a crew of only 400; she is perfect for the role of a scout.
There were a few large container ships also found, and we will take them too. Admiral Thorn also wants for us to take the Aureoles station. She is similar to the Hera station we already have, but she is half wrecked and there is no time to repair her, although she could be useful to carry all the ships that are still inactive or damaged. Her repair bays are heavily damaged, but her docking bays and FTL/Power plant is still fully functional and some of her weapon systems can be put back into operation. I still think about taking her too.
I ordered the scrapping of the frigates we got from the Hera junkyard, as we surely can use the materials and parts to get all of our active ship back to 100 percent. We needed more Gunstars, but most of the Gunstars that were retired at the ready reserve yards were destroyed or in so bad a shape that repairing them was not an option at this time.
At the Lauriental depot, we found two perfectly intact Assaultstars or as the marines call them Marinestars, but both names suite them equally well. Both of them are Forseti class Assaultstars; the Forseti itself, and the Dillinger. The Forseti class ships were actually designed from two Minerva class Battlestars; early during their construction, both ships were cancelled. But instead of scrapping them, they were finished and modified to serve as Marine Assaultstars. They are as large as a Mercury class Battlestar, and are capable of entering a planet's atmosphere and landing on a planet, but a majority of their attacks are from the air or in orbit. Such as launching wave after wave of assault raptors filled with marines. Currently, both of these ships are docked on the lower piers of Olympia station where they are being made ready for the upcoming rescue attempts in the colonies.
Last, but not the least, we have found another Columbia II Battlestar, the Phoebe. She was retired 8 years ago, but was still in good shape; though only two of her engines and a few of her weapons are undamaged. She's already in one of the docks undergoing repairs.
Maybe the biggest surprise came when we found those Assaultstars; we also found something else. On one of the wrecks, we found a raptor. A working raptor, but it was not the raptor we found that was of real interest to us; we found a living person. An even bigger surprise was when we got him to the Olympia station sickbay to find out that he was Colonel Belzen, the First officer from the Battlestar Pegasus. He was in very bad shape when he was found, and he's still in relatively bad shape. He told us the short story about how Pegasus escaped the Scorpia shipyards. He said that about a week later after the attack, a scout found what would be seen as a Cylon staging ground; with over fifteen squadrons of raiders. Cain ordered an attack. Belzen disagreed with the order in front of the entire C.I.C. crew. Admiral Cain then asked for his sidearm, when she got it, she pointed it at Belzen's head, for a moment it looked like she would kill the colonel, but instead she ordered marines to lock him in the brig.
A day later, she ordered for him to be deported from the ship and marooned. Thus a raptor with a broken FTL, minimal engines, and with no food or water was sent out as his last prison. A slow death in an abyss of space. Luckily one of the guards was a good friend of the colonel and smuggled food and water onboard; it saved the colonel when he was left behind in the raptor. Unable to jump, he then searched for the nearest colonial outpost and it was Lauriental. It had been abandoned when he arrived there, but he found some of the ships that still had functioning life support and he stayed there. He rummaged through supplies on the ships to survive until we found him.
After I told him what Cain had done to the Scylla fleet, he didn't want to believe it, but he knew what she was capable of after her attack on the staging ground and marooning him to die. As I'm short on experienced commanders, I'm going to promote him and give him a command.
The Cylon model known as Kathy gave us more information on the Cylon forces in colonial space. She said that there are fifteen baseships in orbit of Picon, seven in orbit of Aerelon and Caprica, and around 27 more in the entire Cyrannus system which gives them at least three at each of the other colonies. She believes that there are around 40 or so chasing Galactica and her fleet, and 15 so far in the hunt for the Battlestar Prometheus and her battle group. Almost all the rest of their ships are guarding their mobile factories or are being repaired. As soon as all our ships are ready, I will form two fleets. The main fleet full of all the nonessential civilians will set course for Avalon, together with all shipyards and stations, leaving only the three Cradle docks behind for military use. The second fleet mostly formed by Battlestars and some Gunstars will stay behind to wreak as much havoc as possible before finally departing for Avalon. During this time, we will rescue the civilians and any military personnel that we can. I delayed operation "Firestorm" for a week or so, until we were fully ready. For sure Trinity and Phoebe will not participate in it, so I'm going to send them with the stations in the hope that they will be ready when they make it to Avalon. We are still waiting for the Battlestar Caprica to return.
May the Lords of Kobol bless us. End Log.
Olympia Conference Room
Commanders from the various ships were assembled in the conference room. Admirals Stryker and Thorn entered and sat in front of them.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you all know; we are planning to get as many survivors as possible from the colonies. We will be starting first with those on Aerelon and Caprica," Admiral Stryker said, "We chose those two colonies first because of a few facts; first Caprica has over one million civilian survivors, and almost 10,000 marines under General O'Rilley. Second, there is an unfinished Battlestar in one of the support docks that remains relatively intact, and I want to grab that ship as well. Aerelon has over 200,000 survivors that survived so far and has a very active guerilla movement going; there were more survivors, but they have already been killed by the Cylon centurions. There is a POW camp there, with an unknown number of military personnel. We believe that some came from the wrecked ships, and a majority from those two Mercury class ships in orbit, the Vanguard and the Chimera. There are also those several support ships, and from what our scouts say they are all in perfect condition, though we will have to reboot them without the CNP installed to move them."
"Our operation will start simultaneously on both colonies. The first attack fleet will be led by the Warstar Argona and her escorting Battlestars Pleiades, Minerva, and Rycon. They will engage the main force of four Cylon baseships. The Battlestar Atlantis and two Gunstars Modesto and Brusser will jump in and engage the baseship in orbit of Aerelon. A stealth raptor will jump right in front of the baseship guarding those ships in orbit of the Aerelon moon and blast it to hell with nukes. Then the extraction fleet will jump in and start the rescue mission. I predict between 30 to 60 minutes will be needed to collect all survivors once the ships land on the planets. We will of course jam the entire surrounding space so that the Cylons can't communicate. The second fleet will be divided in two groups; first group lead by the Battlestar Concordia and her escorts Polaris and Victorious, and the second group lead by the Warstar Daedalus and her escorting Battlestars Athena, Titan, Cerberus, and Hades. Simultaneously as the second fleet clears space of any Cylons, the mobile dock Cradle 1 will jump in with escorts formed by four Gunstars, and take the half-finished Sleipnir from the dock she is in. The group that descends to Caprica will be much bigger, with 70 transports and other civilian ships, 4 Colossus military transports, and both Assaultstars temporarily manned by crews from 2 defender class Gunstars. Raptors and vipers will also be launched to ensure total dominance in space and on the planets, and to bomb every cylon to hell," Admiral Stryker said.
One of the commanders stood up and asked, "What about the main fleet here?"
"What about them?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"Who will defend them while we are attacking the Cylons?" Commander Clark asked.
"Admiral Thorn will command the Battlestars Theseus, Independence, Freedom and all other military ships not involved in the rescue to protect the fleet. The Battlestar Poseidon will take guard near the entrance with two Titan II Gunstars, and one Striker class Gunstar. The Battlestar Valkyrie will be cruising around scouting and scanning for contacts, along with our ELINT ships," Admiral Stryker said.
"Is the quorum supporting this action?" Commander Wellington asked.
"Of course not, they are against it; they protested it to me and their protests failed," Admiral Stryker said.
"Sir is the quorum not in charge now?" Commander Clark asked.
"In short, NO! We are under Martial law as set by President Adar when the Cylon attacks started, and only the president or a duly elected president can rescind the order. This is too important a mission for us to cater to the fears of the Quorum and their political ass protecting. As we are still under martial law, it's my decision to continue with the mission and there are lots of people still on the colonies that need to be rescued. I for one will do my duty to help the people we can, and if necessary I will take every military or civilian asset to help save them. I expect each and every one of you to do your duty and to save as many we can. This is not only about hurting the Cylons; it is about preserving our race and we cannot do that without those people. Please do not get me wrong, I'm not going to send anyone on a suicide mission and this mission has risks for each of us. But look at the risks the people are facing on the colonies," Admiral Stryker said, "it's difficult, but once the main civilian fleet departs, they will not return here."
"Sir, if the main civilian fleet and their escorts leave for Avalon, what about the rest of us?" Commander Gerard asked.
"A good question, we will stay behind and give the Cylons hell. We are going to stage raids on the home worlds to rescue as many as we can, and then we are going to go after and disable or destroy their resurrection assets. Then we will go back to Avalon as well. Once there, we will mount a search for the Galactica and Prometheus groups. Now gentlemen, we have seven full days to prepare for the mission. So if there are no more questions you are dismissed," Admiral Stryker said.
Command Baseship 02 In Orbit Of Picon
"Hmm, this makes no sense. Why would the colonials be dashing in and out and collecting all of those old ships if they do not have the personnel to man them?" one of two Doral models on the baseship bridge asked.
"That does not matter, we need to find them and destroy them all," Jeremy Simon said.
"Yes brother in time, patience," Jack Cavil said.
"Hmm, so why are you suddenly so calm?" Jeremy Simon asked in confusion.
"Because, I have a plan that will actually work; why bother with catching every human ship when they will lead us to their colony Simon? If they have a secret hiding place here, it is not permanent and it is only a staging area. Now they will make their first move against us and I bet I know where, the only question is when," Jack Cavil said.
"Wait a second, you are allowing them to grow in numbers? Are you mad? If John finds out about this you will be in real trouble," one of the Dorals said.
"No, because with all those assets they probably have and they're collecting, only proves my thesis that they do not have a mobile dock ship or station," Jack Cavil said.
"But they must have when they are taking so many ships; they even took the derelict Dreadnought Henchantories. They need every ship they can get to move their people from the Cyrannus system," Doral said.
"Well, you will find out what I think about that!" Jack Cavil said.
"How's that?" Jeremy Simon asked.
"Several dozen of our brothers and sisters have not reported in, nor have they resurrected yet. That means that the colonials may or may not have found out about them yet. But with the traitors Kathy and Leoben, it is for sure the colonials already know about us. It will not take long before we find their current position. When we do, we will attack them from time to time to get them to move on, but each attack will be more deadly than the last. We have no intention of killing them all, we will let them lead us to their secret colony outside colonial space and then we will destroy them all," Jack Cavil said with a devilish smile.
Cylon Occupied Caprica
Caprican mountains... Temporary Marine HQ
"What's the latest news?" General O'Rilley asked.
"So far, the news is that Major Steele pushed the Cylons back and has taken Tyr base. We sent two raptors and four Phoenix VTOL craft to start getting supplies from there. The Major also reports that they came into possession of twelve new Scorpion tanks. Each tank has a 152mm main gun and two 20mm machine guns, as well as heavy armor. He is using those vehicles on the nearest Cylon positions. No casualties on our side, but the Cylons have suffered heavy losses," Major Brims reported.
"Good, what about our other check points, are they holding?" General O'Rilley asked.
"So far, they are. The Cylons tried a push near check point 12A, we lost seventeen marines that were killed, and forty four were wounded, but they repelled the attack. All other checkpoints are quiet for now," Major Brims said.
"What about Admiral Stryker? The last message was that they would attack soon," General O'Rilley said angrily.
"Still no word sir, last message received said that in eight days they would attack, since we got it a day ago, there's still seven days until they attack," Major Brims said.
"Hmm, we need to keep the Cylons busy down here. Tell Major Steele and Major Dasher to start mobilizing their troops, we will attack Caprica city," General O'Rilley said.
"But sir that's suicide, even with those tanks, it's too well protected," Major Brims said, going pale.
"Yes, but we will not be engaging the city directly. We will attack the nearby towns and villages as a distraction to draw the attention of the cylons. Once Admiral Stryker decides to move his ass to help us, we will attack at the same time as when they attack in space," General O'Rilley said.
"And what will be our purpose?" Major Brims asked.
"Distraction Major, beside, when the Admiral attacks from above, the Cylons will be too busy to fight us. I know that he will want to get those civilians first. We need to give them time for that. Set up a large perimeter where the ships can land and load up the civilians. I don't want any of those ships to be shot down. Luckily, a majority of the survivors are here in the Caprican mountains. Extraction will be fast and easy. We just need to hold those areas where the Cylons have a lot of their forces, and distract them long enough for the civilians to be saved," General O'Rilley said.
"What about us?" Major Brims asked.
"There are two Assaultstars that the Admiral will send down for us," General O'Rilley said.
Battlestar Atlantis Flag Suite
"Come in!" Admiral Stryker said after hearing a knock on the door.
A young woman in her twenties entered the room, clearly a fighter pilot by her uniform. It was Nina Stryker, the younger sister of Admiral Stryker.
"Reporting as ordered sir?" Nina Stryker said, then saw Admiral Stryker and was shocked to see her older brother sitting behind the desk and smiling at her.
"Brother? I mean Admiral, I mean..." Nina Stryker said in confusion.
"Relax sis, it's me," Admiral Stryker said smiling and he walked up to her and hugged her.
"Sit Nina, you don't need to be formal with me," Admiral Stryker said.
"Sorry, I didn't know it was you. I heard some Admiral named Stryker was leading the fleet, but I didn't know it was you. You were a commander the last time I saw you," Nina said.
"Yes, I was commanding the Triton the last time we met. Before I was posted here on the Atlantis, but it's a long story. How are you sister? Did any of our family survive the attack?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"No," Nina said sadly, and it was clear she didn't want to talk about it.
"Our brother died during the battle of Virgon," Nina said.
Steve Stryker was a brother of Mark and Nina, and he was posted on the Battlestar Zeus as a weapons officer. He was killed when his ship exploded during the battle.
"Our mother was shopping in downtown Caprica City when the nukes hit, so I'd say that there were no survivors. The rest of the family I don't know about, probably dead too," Nina said.
"Well at least you're alive, and that's what is important. I see you are the CAG onboard the Battlestar Poseidon. Very nice, Commander Gideon said that you are a damn fine pilot. I might have a use for you here on the Atlantis if you'd like to transfer?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"Thank you brother, but no. I just started getting used to the Poseidon. I don't want to spend a month again, to learn where everything is on this giant ship," Nina said.
"Ok, I am glad that you are ok. When Admiral Thorn said that you survived, I didn't believe it. I am sorry that I didn't see you before this, but leading all these ships takes all the energy and time that I have," Admiral Stryker said tiredly.
"No problem big brother, I just hope we survive all this and get to that new colony of yours. I don't wish to stay here any longer than we need to," Nina said.
"You and probably everyone else in the fleet," Admiral Stryker said chuckling.
"One more thing Mark, why didn't you add Poseidon into this mission of liberation of yours?" Nina asked.
"Because I need some Battlestars to stay and protect the civilians. And I think we already have more than enough ships to take the Cylons in orbit of Aerelon and Caprica," Admiral Stryker said.
"Well I must get back to my ship," Nina said, and started walking to the doors. And before she left she turned and said, "Glad to see you again older brother."
"Oh, please don't call me that," Admiral Stryker said with a smile.
Avalon Orbit – Invictus Observation Deck
"Is everything ready?" Commander Krasner asked.
"It is, but I think Sanctuary will have only one chance, Commander," Colonel Coven saided.
"Why's that?" Commander Krasner asked.
"Because sir, Sanctuary has a lot of damage to her hull; we repaired some of it, but an FTL jump will be a really large amount of stress on her and not to mention there is a very good chance that the primary energizer will explode when we bring the FLT on line. The system is damaged and it would be much easier if we got Caduceus and Sword to link with her and jump," Colonel Coven said.
"I doubt those two ships would have the strength for that, she is too massive," Commander Krasner said.
"True, so what about Invictus? She definitely has the mass and strength for it," Colonel Coven said.
"I can't move her from Avalon. We have already installed those modular docks on her, and removing them would take 2 weeks. We will proceed with the current plan. Pray that it works Colonel," Commander Krasner said.
"Yes, sir. I just hope you are right, if not, there will probably be an accident. Again," Colonel Coven said.
"How many people are on board?" Commander Krasner asked.
"A little over two hundred and thirty," Colonel Coven said.
"Evacuate them; keep only 20 of them on Sanctuary to man the ship. I think that they will be enough to get her here. But just in case I'm wrong, have two raptors and a refueling raptor on board in case they need to evacuate," Commander Krasner said.
"Right sir; by the way, she is scheduled for jumping in thirty minutes sir," Commander Krasner said.
...
30 minutes later...
Heavy Warstar Sanctuary C.I.C.
The C.I.C. was partially repaired and now a small number of people manned some of the consoles. Under normal circumstances, it would take almost 70 people to man C.I.C., now there were only 15.
"Major Rockwell, I think we are ready to jump," Lieutenant Jamison said.
"You think? What does the chief say?" Major Rockwell asked.
"Well, he did not like the idea of jumping her, but since Commander Krasner insisted on it, he said she is as ready as she can be at this time," Lieutenant Jamison said.
"Alright then, set the counter for 10 seconds to jump, tell engineering to stand by," Major Rockwell said.
Engineering is the only other place on the ship where people are; five of them are eager to see if the work they and the others who participated in fixing Sanctuary would be a success or failure.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, jump!" the navigation officer said.
The navigation officer put the jump key into place and turned it. The ship shook and disappeared. Moments later, it reappeared in orbit of Avalon; several small explosions rocked the ship near the engineering section before the ship calmed down,"
"Report!" Major Rockwell shouted.
"Several conduits exploded sir, the chief reports no casualties and the ship is stable," Lieutenant Jamison said.
A loud cheer of happiness spread in C.I.C. They did it. They moved this big monster, and they stayed in one piece.
Commander Krasner watched from the observation deck on board the Invictus. It worked he thought, well now to the hard part. Admiral Stryker wanted this ship returned to full combat condition, but that will not be easy. The best he could do would be to fix about 80% of it until the main shipyards arrived from the colonies, and even that will be hard to achieve. Especially when so many personnel were on the surface working on those camps for the survivors. He also had teams working on the new Titan II Gunstar.
Red Horse Nebula – 3 days before Operation Firestorm begins...
Olympia Station – Combat Operations Room
Admiral Stryker looked at the map of colonial space, looking for suitable positions where ships with survivors may have jumped to, and also where colonial fleet units could be hidden.
"This is a good spot," Admiral Stryker said.
"The asteroid belt. That is one of the relatively more violent sections of the entire belt in the system," Admiral Thorn replied in confusion.
"Yes, and that's why I would choose it. I doubt the Cylons will have any patrols near here. After all, it is not even close to their main shipping lines, or to any of the colonies. Move Cradle 2 and 3 to this position and they will be guarded by the light cruisers Persia, Ares and Argos until we return," Admiral Stryker said.
"Do you think that those ships will be enough?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"The docks will have their FTL engines prepared for emergency jump if needed. Just in case the Cylons show up, they will jump. But I want them there; once we finish the evacuation, we will jump directly to their position so that we can search all of the ships before we can move back to Red Horse Nebula," Admiral Stryker said.
"I see, you think there may be something on board the ships?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"Maybe I do, isn't it a little strange that the Cylons destroyed almost the entire fleet, but they spared these two Battlestars and several support ships? Why? If there is something on those ships, I want it found and if need be - destroyed. Since we don't have time to build new ships, especially not more ships the size of a Battlestar, we need every ship we can get. Once we arrive at Avalon, we can start thinking about the fleet build up, but for now we need everything we can get. By the way, how are the upgrades going on the Battlestars Phoebe and Trinity?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"Well from the reports, both ships will be ready in a month or so. Trinity will receive the same armament, armor, and sensor upgrades that the Atlantis has. Phoebe will get the new armor and weapons as the Battlestar Titan has," Admiral Thorn said.
"I don't understand why the fleet would upgrade the Titan? And then after those costly upgrades they retired it," Admiral Stryker said confused.
"Good question, only Adar and those idiots in the government know for sure. The Titan was like the Galactica, Rycon, and Athena; one of the original twelve Battlestars. On all accounts, all of them should already be scrapped. But instead of that, the Titan received a full refit, and was retired like the others, except the Galactica. Only the Ourboros was left in service from the newer Columbia's. Shame, she was one of the best in the class," Admiral Thorn said.
"Not anymore, we have five of them and if the gods give us a little luck they will serve for another 40 or 50 years," Admiral Stryker said.
"If they survive that long that is," Admiral Thorn said.
Battlestar Caprica C.I.C
Location, Somewhere Near Cylon Space
"Still nothing sir, raptor 318 returned with no news," Colonel Maw reported.
"Damn, they couldn't have just disappeared. Tell the raptors to keep looking," Commander Ericsson said.
"Right away," Colonel Maw said.
"Sir, raptor 321 just jumped in; they report that they found several wrecks near the Hedin system - right on the border with Cylon space. From what they reported, there were three colonial Gunstar wrecks; it belonged to two defender, and one striker class Gunstar (Vanquisher, Stark, Elidan), and there was also one wreck that belonged to a Cylon baseship," the communications officer reported.
"Hmm, so they were attacked by the Cylons. Lost three ships, but they managed to destroy the baseship. We must find them, if any of them survived that is," Commander Ericsson said.
Red Horse Nebula – 1 day before Operation Firestorm begins...
"One more day sir and everything will be ready," Commander Haller said, "I just got a report from Colonel Corgon and all ships are at 100%, and they are standing ready to do their duty."
"Good, inform the Captains of those evacuation ships that we will extract our people from the surface. They need to get as many people as possible in the short amount of time that we will have. I would not be surprised if the Cylons showed earlier than we expect after we start jamming them. We don't know how much time is needed for those that die on those baseships to resurrect again. So this has to be as fast as possible," Admiral Stryker said.
"Well, with a number of targets; the optimal time to get the survivors would be between 2 to 3 hours. Caprica has the most survivors. It would also speed things up a little, if once we are done on Aerelon, we jump to Caprica. With two full battle groups; I doubt the Cylons would be so stupid as to attack us while we have that many ready ships," Commander Haller said.
"Commander, are you forgetting something? We are still outnumbered, not outgunned, but outnumbered. They can easily sneak raiders and heavy raiders into our lines. But you have a point. Defending from two sides will be impossible if they counterattack us, so once we finish with Aerelon we will pull back to Caprica. Except for those ships we saved from Aerelon which will go to the special coordinates for a complete checkup. If that's all for now, Admiral Thorn invited me to check some new toys that R&D created," Admiral Stryker said.
"That is all," Commander Haller said.
Olympia Station Research & Development Section
Admiral Stryker was walking into one of the station's corridors, when he finally found the R&D Section.
"Damn people can get lost down here," Admiral Stryker said quietly to himself, "Finally!"
He entered into the large hall; filled with experimental technologies, monitors, scientists, and engineers. Near the middle of it all, Admiral Thorn and two others stood talking when Admiral Thorn saw Stryker enter and said, "I see you finally found your way here?"
"Did you know how easily you could get lost on this station?" Admiral Stryker replied with a smile.
"This is Dr. Falkernberg and this is Chief Talbot," Admiral Thorn said, pointing to the two men that stood near him, "they are the leaders of the R&D departments."
"Welcome Admiral," Dr. Falkernberg said.
"Welcome," Chief Talbot also said, nodding.
"So what was so important for me to see one day before the mission?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"Well these gentlemen here developed a new way to increase the strength of our ships. You remember Sanctuary and her accident?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"Yes," Admiral Stryker said.
"Well after she disappeared, we conducted a full investigation into what may have happened. We got nowhere, since it was brand new technology. We may never have all the answers, but I designed the engines," Chief Talbot said.
"I don't see how this can be important?" Admiral Stryker said.
"We are getting to that. You see, one of our scientist engineers, Calah Lorene, redesigned the engine and it Sanctuary was sent out using a different design. The Chief advisor to President Adar, Admiral Corman, agreed that it was a cheaper and better solution than the original engines I created. However, in reality the engines design was completely wrong, and the wrong calculations lead to the disaster. From reports that the X.O. of Sanctuary sent to you, a majority of the scientist and engineering staff died including Lorene. But this leads us to the very things we wanted to talk to you about; we created a prototype engine that works," Chief Talbot said.
"What do you mean it works? An Antimatter engine?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"Yes," Dr. Falkernberg said, "the design that Chief Talbot created and my antimatter chamber can be made to work. We created engines that will work sir. Not only will these new engines work, but they will allow ten times more energy for the jump engines at a distance that's simply not possible with the current engines. It will also allow us to implement the new energy armor that we are developing here, as well as the improving laser and pulse laser technology."
"Doc, can you explain this a little more?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"Yes sir, currently our ships use ion-fusion drives as jump engines, and fusion energizers to power the ships systems. Half of the energizers power goes to the jump engines, but with the new antimatter engines this works differently. The antimatter reactor is inside of the engine block and gives enough energy for constant jumps. Of course the hull will also need to be retrofitted to hold the constant pressure. All the current energizers can be replaced with a new generation of fusion energizers that will be for all the other systems; like weapons, life support, and more importantly that new energy armor we mentioned before," Dr. Falkernberg said.
"On what principal does that armor work?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"It is different because it uses energy to strengthen it. Each kinetic or energy hit on it, fills it with energy and makes it stronger. Of course numerous hit on one area will eventually overload it and break it down, but it will keep the ship safe and without casualties even if it were hit by a 50 kiloton nuke and maybe even a 100 kiloton nuke, but I would not like to bet the farm on it. The main blast will be redirected outward, and only about 5 to 10 kilotons would actually hit the ship," Dr. Falkernberg said.
"Dr. Falkernberg, are you talking about energy shields?" Admiral Stryker asked incredulously.
"It is similar to energy shield technology, but since we still have only blueprints and we are decades away from deploying it, we can only guess the way it will work. Energy shields are believed to work on the principal that an invincible force field would be created by shield generators on board the ship. They are elliptical around the ship and they can stop any kinds of attacks in theory; from missiles, gun batteries, and even energy based weapons. Energy armor we can say to be a predecessor to this technology. On standard ship armor, we add a new layer of this armor powered by a layer of energy, and it protects the ship. Once breached, the standard armor continues until is breached as well," Dr. Falkernberg said.
"Hmm, and how long do you need to create this technology?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"That depends, sir. We can finish and install antimatter engines on say the Theseus, since she was mostly a test-bed ship. If everything goes right, we can continue work on the armor itself," Dr. Falkernberg said.
"Alright then, if Admiral Thorn approves, you are clear to do it. Keep me informed on your progress," Admiral Stryker said.
Later on the way to shuttle bay...
"So what do you think?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"Well, if I said that all that is more or less science fiction, you would say spaceships are science fiction too, and here we are in space," Admiral Stryker replied.
"Yes it's weird, but with this kind of technology we can strengthen our ships to double no, triple their current defensive strength and with that we can beat the Cylons," Admiral Thorn said confidently.
"If you allow them to install them on your ship fine, and if it works they are free to continue. But if they fail, the project is closed, for now. You see I do not have the resources or the time to work on science fiction, only science fact," Admiral Stryker said sternly.
"You really don't have science blood in you Mark?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"I was never interested in that, but like any good warmonger I like a new toy if it works," Admiral Stryker said smiling.
A day later
Outskirts of Aerelon space
A lone raptor sat in the dark of space, observing the comings and goings of the Cylons in the system. There were four baseships on the southern quadrant of the planet. Another was near the captured colonial ships behind the moon, and one was closer to the planet - right on top of the POW camps where the military personnel were being held, as well as the civilian POW camps in the vicinity. Moments later; Warstar Argona, and her escorting Battlestars Minerva, Pleiades, and Rycon, jumped in front of those baseships and started shelling them. A single stealth raptor jumped in range of the Cylon baseship near the moon and launched four 20Mt nukes at it, and then jumped away. Since it was short range and the Cylons were taken by surprise, they didn't have a chance. The baseship was hit and blown apart before it could even react.
The Warstar Argona was the first capital ship to start jamming of the Cylons as soon as she jumped in and all the other ships followed suit. At the same time, the Battlestar Atlantis and her two Defender class Gunstars Brusser and Modesto jumped in and started attacking the baseship in orbit. The baseship immediately reacted and launched dozens and dozens of missiles at Atlantis. But the worst part of it was that they also launched numerous missiles at the surface. Directly at the POW camps!
Atlantis C.I.C
"My gods, sir they're launching nuclear missiles at the planet!" Commander Haller said in panic.
"Blast them to hell, they were waiting for us; order the Gunstar Brusser and the ready interceptor raptors to jump into a lower orbit, and try to stop those damn missiles, and launch my vipers now!" Admiral Stryker shouted, praying that the Gunstar Brusser would be able to stop the nuke missiles. Or everything that they were doing would be for nothing.
Gunstar Brusser C.I.C.
"Colonel, the flagship wants us to jump into a lower orbit to stop those missiles," the communications officer said.
"Frak, initiate combat jump now," Colonel Fincher replied.
Moments later, the Gunstar Brusser and interceptor raptors jumped away and reappeared in a low orbit of Aerelon. Atlantis got in several good shots on the baseship, tearing her central axis apart, and in a matter of seconds the baseship ceased to exist. But not before it launched a new wave of missiles at Atlantis, all of them nuclear.
"Sir, the baseship is destroyed, but we have incoming nuclear missiles!" Commander Haller reported.
"How many?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"Fifteen Sir, all nuclear from the radiation signature," Commander Haller said.
"Frak, move Modesto closer and restart point defense grid and fire at will. Tell Major Morales to do her best to help us get the missiles as well," Admiral Stryker said.
...
"Alright people, the boss wants those missiles gone, so let go get them, fire at will," Major Kathy 'Queen Hammer' Morales said while pointing her fighter directly into the path of the missiles.
A few short seconds later, between the vipers and Atlantis' and Modesto's defense grids, all the missiles expect for one was destroyed, but then that one was destroyed personally by the Major herself, barely fifty meters short of Atlantis.
Gunstar Brusser C.I.C.
"Sir, all fighters are launched and are intercepting the missiles, but half a dozen are still moving toward the military POW camps," Lieutenant Ross reported.
"Put us into the missiles' path, and concentrate all available fire on those missiles!" Colonel Fincher said.
The Gunstar Brusser moved into a new position; it was relatively hard to keep this position because of the atmospheric winds, but the defense grid destroyed all but two of the nukes that passed through.
"Frak two are getting through! Sir they will hit us!" Lieutenant Ross said frantically.
"All hands brace for impact, all Viper and Raptors get clear of the blast," Colonel Fincher said.
Both missiles hit Gunstar Brusser with their full force. The Old Gunstar did her best, but she did not have a chance. She broke into three large sections before she exploded into a thousand pieces, but she did stop the nukes from hitting their targets on the surface thus saving tens of thousands of lives.
Atlantis C.I.C.
In Atlantis C.I.C everyone was silent; watching the monitors as the explosions of the old Gunstar was a hard hit for them. Especially for Admiral Stryker, who had lost a few people under his command, but never a whole ship before!
"Gods!" was the only word that came out of Commander Haller's mouth.
It took several seconds before the Admiral broke the silence. Still shocked, he ordered, "Launch the recovery and marine boarding raptors to those ships, and signal the extraction fleet to get a move on as we have a rescue mission. Major Morales and her squadrons will clear the skies for the transports. Now People Move!"
Everyone returned to life again in Atlantis' C.I.C, and in a few minutes the extraction ships jumped in and started descending to the planet. While a group of raptors exited the Atlantis' bays and jumped to the nearby Battlestars in orbit of the Aerelon moon.
"Tell the surviving fighters from the Gunstar Brusser to land on our decks once their mission is over," Admiral Stryker said looking at Commander Haller.
Argona and her fleet destroyed the Cylon baseships in their area, and since it was a surprise attack the Cylons barely launched any raiders. But they did launch missiles, two of them nukes that hit Minerva, but she shrugged them off and continued her mission.
At the same time, a short battle over Caprica was over; with no casualties to the ships. The Cylon baseships were destroyed, and as planned all military ships stood in defensive positions in case the Cylons counterattacked while the extraction fleet descended to the planet, led by two Assaultstars and four Colossus heavy transports.
Cylon Occupied Caprica
General O'Rilley put his plan into motion the moment the attack started in orbit, and started attacking Cylon strongholds on the edge of Caprica city. Blowing up the Cylon strongholds one by one into little pieces, as he no longer had to conserve his ammo and weapons any longer. He turned his marines loose on the Cylons and it was payback time.
Caprica City Cylon HQ
"Blast it, colonial ships just jumped in and they took out our baseship, and they are jamming the entire area: so we cannot call for help. Also, we cannot send a heavy raider for help either as they destroyed our airbases at the same time they destroyed the baseships," one of the Dorals said.
"General O'Rilley has started attacking us as well," one of the sixes added.
"It will take hours before those killed will resurrect and we get some reinforcements. We must hold till then," one of the number four models said.
Near Caprica
Four Gunstars and a Cradle dock materialized near the intact support dock. The Gunstars started moving into a defensive position and launched their vipers, while the dock moved into position and prepared to transfer the Battlestar Sleipnir into its dock.
To be continued...
