Chapter 10: Death and Politics
Long story short there was no great colonial civil war between an insane Admiral Cain and Roslin's loyalists. I wasn't privy to the exact words of the conversation but I received an encrypted wireless call from the President.
"Commander," she said, "I don't know what you did, but thank you."
I, being in the CIC, said nonchalantly and respectfully, "You're welcome, Madam President."
That was more or less the whole of it. For a day it was quiet and things went about without anything exploding or anyone getting shot. Then I was summoned to the flagship by Admiral Cain.
For the second time within forty-eight hours I walked into the belly of the beast. This time I was less certain I was going to be shot or thrown in the brig but the day was still young and Cain's disposition was still unknown, and this time I didn't have Adama with me.
As I stepped off the raptor I consoled myself with the fact that a fireteam of marines with handcuffs weren't waiting for me as soon as I arrived. As I walked through the corridors of the Pegasus I wondered what my crew would do if I was arrested or executed. I didn't really know the vast major majority of them and I knew the command crew on a last name basis. If I made it out of here alive I should probably see about fixing that.
When I arrived in the admiral's quarters she was sitting for once going over what looked like battle plans. Cain did not stand up or look at me when I stepped inside.
"Commander Wolfkill," I said with a salute. "Reporting as ordered."
"At ease," Cain said. "Take a seat."
I took a seat opposite her. For a woman who didn't believe in sitting her upholstery was quite comfortable. Despite that I didn't sit steady in my chair and fought to keep my leg from shaking. I waited to be addressed. Time passed slowly and I figured I was supposed to be stewing in fear. I was well past fear by this point. My mom had been the scariest person in the world when she was angry. Between that and standing up to a Cylon nuclear bombardment tended to either break you or temper you into something stronger.
Kendra shaw came and went delivering a report. I noticed she had captain's pips on her lapels and I wondered what she had done to earn those, since the Sylla Massacre hadn't happened. She pretended I didn't exist and judging from the way her eyes did their best to not even twitch in my direction I wondered what words Cain thought to use to describe me.
"Mr. Wolfkill," Cain finally said once Shaw left in the faux-conversational tone that said I was in trouble. "It seems you've left quite an impression with the President."
I said nothing at first. Did she have a spy on board Valkyrie? Was she listening in on my calls? I had nothing to hide and had no ambitions of my own other than the survival of mankind and said, "I don't know about that, ma'am. We've spoken a few times but other than that I don't think we have anything special."
"That's not what I've heard," the admiral said. "From what I've heard this isn't the first time you've sided with her against military needs."
"Shouldn't military needs be the same as civilian needs?" I asked.
"Not necessarily," Cain replied. "A military needs a clear focus and a driving initiative towards victory. Civilian needs come secondary in wartime."
Oh boy. That didn't sound good. I wondered if she was going to go through with a plan to take over the Rag-Tag Fleet.
"Are we at war, Admiral?" I asked. "Last I checked the war was over, and we lost."
Cain finally looked at me, and it was not a good look. She glared daggers at me without lifting her head and her eyes said it all.
Not while I have something to say about it.
"I already… discussed this with the President. We will be going through with Operation Anubis. We need to shake off our Cylon tail before we start looking for the Odin Vaults. Once the battle is done I want Valkyrie to jump back to Kobol and start looking for them again."
I resisted the urge to blink in surprise. What exactly had gone down in that conversation?
"Yes ma'am," I replied simply. "We'll get it done."
"See that you do. Dismissed."
The attack went underway as planned. I stood in the CIC of the Valkyrie as events unfolded. I checked my wrist watch. Seventeen minutes until the attack. The plan was a simple one. The location of the Resurrection Ship, called Objective Anubis, was located in deep space with her escort fleet. All three battlestars, the missile cruiser Valiant, and our three Defender escorts would jump in and engage the Cylon escort fleet. The Resurrection Ship, designated Objective Anubis, would move away from the battle and engage her jump drives to escape. However the Phantasm would be waiting for her and plant a nuke up her engine exhaust port. After that the plan was to recover our vipers and raptors, then jump away. Assuming we couldn't destroy their escort fleet that is.
I wasn't too sure about our odds of destroying the Cylon escort fleet. Cylon ships were glass cannons, yes, but they were still deadly and they had the numbers advantage. Plus there was the chance they'd call in reinforcements.
In the final minutes till FTL jump I took a moment to myself and prayed.
Thor, Odin, Zeus, Apollo. Whoever is out there and put me in this situation, I damned well help you're listening. I could really use a break right now. A clean win or sign that I've made the right choice. It's the least you assholes owe me for all the bullshit you're putting me through.
Nobody answered my prayer and no soaking wet Boomer angel appeared over my shoulder to give me some sage advice. Guess I was going solo on this.
The minutes counted down till jump. Everything was set and prepared. Vipers waited in launch tubes or on the flight deck alongside raptor gunships. The military fleet was separated from the civilian fleet as we came into battle formation. For the second time since the Second Cylon War began, we were ready for a fight.
"Three, two, one!" Lt. Burton called out. "Jump!"
The inside-out feeling of an FTL jump twisted our guts as we jumped into position. The DRADIS reset and beeped as new contacts were detected and displayed. The Cylon escort fleet was dead ahead and waiting for us.
"Cylons have spotted us! They're launching raiders!" Burton reported as scores of new dots representing enemy squadrons appeared on DRADIS.
"Message from the flagship," Corinth said. "Operation Anubis is a go. Targets designated as follows: Baseships are Castle One through Three, Cruisers are Tower One through Four, escort frigates are Sword One through Seven."
"Launch vipers!" I commanded. I got a little kick out of that. It never got old. "Bring us up to attack speed and lock targets on Sword One and Two."
The computer systems beeped as the Cylons attempted to hack our non-existent network. All they succeeded in doing was infecting a few isolated, non-vital computer systems that were shut down and marked for later purging. The range closed and battle was joined. Viper squadrons mixed with raiders as a massive furball erupted between our two fleets. The Valiant began pumping out missiles as fast as she could, scoring a heavy cruiser kill and disabling a Cylon frigate.
The Cylons fired off their incredible missile silos as well. Valkyrie shook under the impact of missile strikes along her ventral hull and vibrated as the CIWS fired up. A few armor sections went from green to yellow but we escaped from it relatively unscathed. The real targets were the Galactica and Pegasus it seemed. The two battle-steel armored leviathans weathered the storm and came out the other side guns blazing.
Pegasus fired first with her semi-spinal railguns, blasting apart another heavy cruiser and scoring damage on one of the three basestars. Galactica opened fire on the same basestar and brought it down in flames.
As the titans dueled the peons danced. Valkyrie's smaller railguns pivoted and opened fire on the escort frigates as they came in range alongside the Defender destroyers. The Cylon frigates were well armed and even had adequate armor, but they lacked point defenses and were swarmed by the Raptor gunships. Anti-shipping missiles blasted chunks of hull plating and bulkheads off the main structure as Valkyrie, Snarler, Adriatic, and Concordia waded into their midsts and blasted them to pieces.
The cylon cruisers made their presence known as they targeted Valkyrie, blasting at her without care for the lesser destroyers that surrounded her. That proved their downfall as the Defenders fired their close-in torpedo weapons and mulched through thin armor and deep into hull plating, making them easy to sweep up for Valkyrie's guns.
Galactica and Pegasus assumed a combat orbit as we fought, dividing and conquering the remaining two basestars. Wearing them down under whither barrages of railgun artillery. The basestars floundered and failed to counter, signing their death warrants.
Of course this was all secondary to the main objective. None of us were close enough to hit the Anubis, which was boosting out of the combat zone with incredible speed. I worried that the Phantasm might not be able to catch it in time.
A radiological alarm sounded. A contact briefly appeared on the DRADIS and then it went fuzzy. When the radiation cleared the Anubis was rendered a twisted hulk of radioactive scrap.
"Phantasm reports mission successful!" Corinth called out. The whole of the command crew cheered and I let a smile come over my face. This battle was won, but that little voice in the back of my head reminded me that the war wasn't over by far and that there were still actions and consequences waiting to show their ugly heads.
Too bad, I thought. I'm going to enjoy this victory while it lasts.