Chapter 10

Adonai walked into the CIC and asked, "How many ships have FTL?"

"Only seventeen and that includes the Concert Orbiter," Viera said, "All those ships have been given the coordinates."

"When they have their FTLs spooled up, tell them to jump," Adonai said.

Viera went to speak but hesitated for a moment. He finally said, "Admiral, we are going to leave a lot of people down there. Millions of survivors are going to die."

"There's nothing we can. Saving a few thousand is better than not saving any," Adonai told Viera.

"I know, but it doesn't seem right," said Viera.

"Nothing that has happened in the last hour has been right. Billions were killed in a senseless act of violence by the Cylons who broke the Armistice, but that is only here. We don't know the state of the other Colonies, but we have to assume the same," Adonai said.

"Sir," a specialist called, "We have a message coming in."

"From who?" asked Adonai.

"Admiral Nagala. The Battlestar Atlantia is now the flagship of the fleet. Fleet headquarters have been destroyed. We have been ordered to join the surviving battlestars over Virgon for a regroup and counterattack. Should we go?"

"No," Adonai said. He stared blankly at the DRADIS. He added, "Something's not right about that. I have a bad feeling about going to Virgon. Get on the horn and tell the Byzantium to continue on my orders. I'll deal with Nagala if he survives."

"Sir," said the specialist.

"Now you disobeying orders from the fleet admiralty," said Viera.

Adonai looked at Viera and said, "I'm part of the admiralty. Don't forget that."

"Yes, Sir," said Viera.

"Byzantium agrees with you," said the specialist, "They are going to stay and help here."

Adonai looked around and asked, "Are the ships ready?"

"All ships reporting they are ready," said Viera.

"Tell Byzantium to jump first and then the civilians," said Adonai, "We'll jump last."

Viera nodded and got on the horn, "Byzantium you are cleared to jump to Icharus Station."

The Byzantium jumped away from the fleet. A few minutes later, the civilian fleet jumped away. Right after that, twelve basestars jumped in orbit. They launched hundreds of raider and even more missiles at the Centarus. The Centarus jumped away as the missiles flew by the battlestar.

Icharus Station

All nineteen ships made it to Icharus Station. The station was one of the largest in the Colonial fleet. It was built to reload, refuel or repair battlestars in a time of war. It was far away from the Colonies and only the senior commanders of the fleet knew of its location. It was capable of docking multiple battlestars at once.

In the Centarus CIC, Adonai ordered, "Both the Byzantium and Centarus will reload and stock up on as much fuel as possible before the Cylons get here. The faster we are able to do that, the better for the whole fleet."

"While we're docked, the civilian ships will be defenseless," said Viera.

"Launch all off our bird and tell Byzantium to do the same. They'll defend the fleet if the Cylons arrive. Other than that, it's a risk we have to take. We have no choice."

"Sir," said Viera. He picked up his phone and was broadcast over the two battlestars only, "We will reload and refuel at the same time. Launch all vipers to defend the civilian fleet as the Centarus and Byzantium are docked. The faster we do this, the better for the rest of us. Centarus out."

"Let's get docked," said Adonai.

The two battlestars lined up to the station and both of them maneuvered into place. After several minutes both warships had hard seals with the Icharus Station. At the Centarus hard seal, Lt. Viera was leading the operation. He ordered the people in the operation, "Okay, people, we don't have that long. Get as much as we possibly can, but for gods sakes be careful and not drop anything that has the ability to explode, which is practically everything in this place."

Centarus

Persephone woke up in the infirmary and her head was throbbing as if someone smacked a frying pan over her head. Danielle was still there by Persephone's side. Danielle told her, "Be careful. Your head took a good beating."

"What happened?" asked Persephone.

"I'm not sure, but from what I've been hearing is that you were knocked out by a nuke that hit the ship's head," Danielle told her, "Right now we are at Icharus Station. We jumped from Canceron a couple hours ago."

"What happened to Canceron?" asked Persephone.

"Best Adonai tell you," Danielle said, her voice heavy.

"What happened?" asked Persephone, pushing through the pain.

"It's not good," said Danielle. Danielle stood up and said, "I'm going to get the doctor."

Persephone nodded.

Danielle stood up and walked to Gabrielle and said, "Persephone's up. Can you get Adonai down here? She wants to know what happened and I don't it's my place to tell her."

Gabrielle looked over at Persephone who was sitting up in her bed. The doctor nodded and said, "Okay, I'll get him."

"Thank you," said Danielle, "Get her parents as well."

Gabrielle said she would and she went to the phone and called the CIC, "She's awake."

Danielle walked back over to Persephone and said, "The admiral is on his way."

Persephone winced and said, "How long was I out?"

"Several hours," said Danielle, "You took a good hit to the head."

Persephone touched her head and felt a few stitches, "You're telling me."

After several minutes, Adonai walked into the infirmary. He walked over to Persephone's bed and said, "You're up."

Danielle said, "I'll leave you two alone." She left the two of them alone.

"Adonai, what happened?" asked Persephone.

"It's bad, Persephone. It's really bad," Adonai said. His voice was filled with sorrow as he went on, "Right after you were taken to the infirmary, a fifty megaton nuclear warhead was detonated over Hades and the whole city was obliterated. That was only the beginning. The entire planet was nuked from space. Only seventeen civilian ships and two battlestars made it out of that hellhole. The carnage doesn't end there. Fleet headquarters has been destroyed, we haven't got any message from the presidency."

"My gods," Persephone replied, "My home."

"Admiral Nagala has taken command of the fleet and has ordered all remaining battlestars to jump to Virgon for a regroup and counterattack," said Adonai.

"But we're not at Virgon," stated Persephone. She was at the breaking point.

"I didn't have a good feeling about going to Virgon," said Adonai, "I ordered the Byzantium and Centarus to dock at the Icharus Station to reload and refuel. Maybe then we'll jump to Virgon, but I doubt it."
Persephone nodded and stared blankly at her feet. Her eyes watered up and tears flowed down her cheeks. She didn't move but asked, "Do you know how many people we on Canceron?"

"No," said Adonai.

"Sixteen billion people," said Persephone, "Over a billion in the Hades metropolitan area. Sixteen billion people are dead."

Adonai didn't respond. He sat on Persephone's bed and told her, "I know it's not much, but from the registry and maximum capacities of the ships that made it puts the survivors at around 19,000 and if you count the crew and personnel of both battlestars it brings the survivor count to about 24,000."

Persephone didn't respond and Adonai put his arm around her shoulders and knew there was nothing to tell her to make her feel any better. Her home had been nuked and as far as he knew, his home was nuked also. Persephone leaned into Adonai and started crying.

Icharus Station

"Let's move it people," said Viera, "We haven't got all day. Those mechanical monsters can show up at any time and I personally do not want to be caught defenseless. I'm sure none of you do either. So let's move."

One of the specialists walked up to Viera and said, "We have loaded up all the fuel that was available. Unfortunately, it's not as much as we would like. As for the weaponry, it's better than expected. We could be able to store a lot of it if we aren't attacked by the Cylons."

"That's good, Specialist Johns," said Viera.

Specialist Johns turned around and walked away from Viera to continue his job.

Centarus

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Adonai.

"I'm sure," said Persephone, "My headaches going away. Besides I don't want to be stuck her in the infirmary. I want to get back to my post."

"Be careful though," said Adonai.

"I'll be fine," said Persephone.

"I'm going back to the CIC," said Adonai, "I need an update on the progress."

"How long have we been docked?" asked Persephone.

"Several hours," said Adonai.

Persephone nodded and Adonai walked out of the infirmary. He made his way to the CIC and when he entered, he asked, "What's the progress?"

"We have all the fuel we could get from our portion of the station. It's not much. It could last us a couple dozen jumps. The weapons, however, are better. We're loading as much as we can until the station is dry or we can't store anymore, whichever one comes first," said the communications officer, "We are ahead of schedule actually."

"That's good news," said Adonai.

"Admiral," said the officer, "We have been getting requests from the Concert Orbiter. They want you aboard their ship."

"Why? I'm a little busy," said Adonai.

"I told them that, but they said they have vital information about the Cylons."

"What information?" asked Adonai.

"They wouldn't tell me. They only want to speak to you and Commander Johanson."

"Okay, I'll get her and go there," said Adonai, "There's nothing else to do."

Adonai was about to walk out of the CIC until the communications officer got a message that made his blood run cold. "Sir!"

Adonai stopped and turned around, "Yes?"

The officer got up and handed the paper to Adonai. Adonai's face fell as Persephone walked in. She asked him, "What's going on?"

"Admiral Nagala is dead. The Battlestar Atlantia's destroyed along with the Uned, Atlantica, Triton, Olympus, Colombia, Night Flight, Athena, Hera and the list goes on and on and on and on."

"Who the highest flag officer left?" asked Persephone.

Adonai didn't answer and looked at the communications officer. He told them, "I am taking command of fleet. All surviving ships jump to the Icharus Station. Coordinates will be given at end of message. The ships will take orders from the Battlestar Centarus until we can properly regroup. Admiral Struchen Adonai."

The officer nodded and went back to send the message. He sent the message and then got another one. "We have another message. It's distorted, but it says something about jumping to the Ragnar Anchorage."

"When we're done here, we'll jump there," said Adonai, "There might be more battlestars out there. You have the deck until we get back."

"Yes, Sir."

"Persephone, you're with me," said Adonai.

"Where are we going?" asked Persephone.

"To visit one of your friends onboard the Concert Orbiter," said Adonai, "Allison Santorini."

"She's alive?" asked Persephone.

"The Orbiter somehow survived the battle," said Adonai, "Let's go."

Adonai and Persephone walked out of the CIC and down towards the port flight deck. Persephone thought about both of them going and asked, "Should we both be going?"

"Probably not," Adonai, "But they requested you, but they said they had information on the Cylons so I'm going to. Besides I've got several marines going with us."

"I guess that's okay," said Persephone.

As they walked onto the deck, they were joined by four marines. The deck chief saw them coming and said, "Admiral. Commander."

"Chief Moriarty," said Adonai, "We need a raptor to go to the Concert Orbiter."

"Why?" asked Moriarty.

"That's on a need to know basis," said Adonai.

"I get it," said Moriarty. He was stressed out as it was and now his bosses didn't tell him why he needed to prepare a raptor for him.

"Jason, it's okay," said Persephone, "We'll tell you when we get back."

Moriarty conceded and said, "It'll be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you, Chief," said Adonai.

When the raptor was prepared, Adonai and Persephone went onboard and the two were one their way towards the Concert Orbiter. During transit, several civilian ships jumped to the Icharus Station and took position within the fleet.

"We'll be reaching the Orbiter in a couple minutes," said the pilot, Lt. Julia "Jewels" Khan.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Persephone.

"We're getting a message from Centarus," said Jewels, "The reload's done on the Centarus side."

"Great. Tell Centarus to break hard seal and take up position to defend the fleet in case the Cylons show their heads," said Adonai, "If they do show, give the fleet the coordinates to the Ragnar Anchorage."

"Yes, Sir," said Jewels.

The raptor flew into the Orbiter's docking bay. Adonai and Persephone walked out the raptor, followed by their marines. The six of were greeted by the captain of the Concert Orbiter. He said, "The reason we called you is in the auditorium. It's been locked off and the two in their will only speak to you."

"Let's go then," said Adonai.

The captain led them towards the auditorium and knocked on the door. Adonai pushed the intercom button and said, "This is Admiral Struchen Adonai of the Battlestar Centarus. You said you had information about the Cylons."

The door unlocked and Nathan opened the door. He saw the admiral and commander standing in front of him with four marines. Nathan backed off and let them in. He shut the door before the Orbiter's captain could get in.

Allison saw Persephone walk in and she ran over to her and hugged her, "Persephone, what's going on out there?"

"We're still trying to put things together," said Persephone. Persephone saw Hanars lifeless body laying on the floor behind Allison. She asked, "What happened?"

"He was a Cylon," said Nathan.

Adonai and Persephone looked at Nathan. Adonai asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The Cylons look human now," said Nathan, "Straight down to the blood."

Persephone was listening and saw wall of pictures on one of the walls back stage. She walked over to the wall as Nathan and Adonai talked.

Adonai asked, "How do you know that?"

"Before I saw anything, you promise not to kill me," said Nathan, "You can throw me in the brig, but don't kill me."

"What are you talking about?" asked Adonai.

"I'm a Cylon," said Nathan.

"Really? Why would do you think we would believe that?"

"Because it's true. And for Allison, she had no idea until today that I was a Cylon. I am telling you this because I made my choice before the attack. I chose to defect and I killed that agent lying there on the ground."
Persephone saw the picture that got her attention and she said, "Adonai!"

"What?" asked Adonai.

Persephone tore the photo off the wall and ran over to the Admiral. He handed him the photo and said, "Look at the guitarist."

Adonai looked at the photo and said, "What about him?"

"He's part of out deck crew. That's Specialist Hanar Johns," said Persephone.

"Oh my gods, you're right," Adonai finally recognized him.

Allison chimed in by saying, "That was my guitarist's name, Hanar."

"See what I mean?" asked Nathan.

Adonai turned to Allison and asked, "You knew nothing about this?"

"Not until he killed him," Allison said as she pointed to Hanar.

Adonai looked at her and said, "I don't know you, but for some reason I believe you."

"Thank you," said Allison.

"As for you," said Adonai as he turned to Nathan, "You are coming with us. Marines, arrest this thing."

Nathan didn't put up any resistance as the marines handcuffed him and led him out of the room. Adonai followed and so did Persephone. Allison ran up to her and said, "I'm coming with you."

"Ally, I don't think now's the best time," said Persephone.

"I know, but I'd rather be on a ship that can withstand as attack," said Allison.

Persephone conceded and said, "Come on, but stay out of the way on the ship."

"I will," said Allison.

Centarus

The marines led Nathan into the brig and Adonai said, "I have no reason to keep you alive. I should kill you right here, right now, but that would lower me to your level. When this is over, I'll be back."

"It won't be over anytime soon," said Nathan, "You're going to have to jump beyond the Red Line. Right now, this system is a hornet's nest of Cylons."

"I'll take that into consideration," said Adonai.

He walked out of the brig and walked back towards the CIC. As he took his post, a marine came up to him and said, "We have Specialist Johns in custody. What do you want my men to do with him?"

"Lock him is an isolated cell in the brig. Don't let our prisoners see each other," said Adonai.

"Yes, Sir," said the marine. He got on his radio and gave the commands to his men.

Persephone walked over to Adonai and said quietly, "I can't believe they look like us now."

Adonai looked around and said, "Not here. My quarters."

Persephone nodded and asked, "Is there anyone here who could make a test to determine human from them?"

"I have an idea," said Adonai, "I'll get him. You get Allison, the marines that know and yourself into my quarters. I'll get the person I'm going after."

"Yes, Sir," said Persephone.