Battlestar Farscape

I do not own Farscape or Battlestar Galactica.Writing this to entertain not for profit.

All power to Wikipedia and the Battlestar Galactica: Technical Manual for a lot of the Technical detail.

Chapter 11

-

-

-

Life Station, Battlecruiser Helios, Unexplored Space

Sharon woke up with a start, gasping. She was confused for a second, then she remembered firing one final barrarge into the downed Centurion, with a …… Laser gun? Something had slammed into her back! Pain then darkness as she slipped down into unconsciousness. Now she was here?

She looked around; she was suspended in a tank full of warm blue tinted water. A mask covered her mouth and nose, with a hose leading off out of sight above her head. And she wasn't freaking out, Sharon felt calm and safe; her body ached, as if she had just been through a tough workout. The young pilot thought she should at least be a little concerned at waking up in this predicament. She was naked for the Gods sake, but she couldn't even work up enough embarrassment to blush.

"Hello, I see you're awake. Don't try to talk yet, we'll get you out of the tank in a second. I am Doctor Sheba Cain." A tall brown haired young woman said, attracting 'Boomers' attention. She was working on a set of controls mounted next to the tank. The room they were in looked like a ships Life Station, but Sharon didn't recognize half the machines and apparatus, the strange tank she was in, included. What ever the women did at the controls it started a commotion in the fluid Sharon floated in, and with a gurgle it began drain out from around her.

"There always seems to be some memory loss after the healing process. So I am going to tell you what little information I have on file from when they brought you in, OK?" Doctor Cain waited for a nod from her patient before continuing.

"You were brought in 3 days ago, with a bullet wound to the lower left side of your back. Your armor protected you from most of the damage; the round had lost most of its momentum when it broke the skin. However there was significant shock damage, with deep bruising all over your back and to your internal organs." The Doctor said.

"You were shot by a Cylon. You, Commander Crichton and two Marines, Private Seran and Private Price, were holding a corridor. You had apparently destroyed five of them and were advancing to secure the area. One of the Centurions moved, some kind of electrical spasm, just a twitch. You finished destroying that machine, while you were distracted a sixth Cylon opened fire. Both you and Private Price were wounded before it could be destroyed." The blue fluid finished draining away and the top of the tube slid open. Looking up Sharon saw the welcome sight of Private Seran's face, peering down at her. At least it was someone she'd met.

"How you doing kid." The Marine asked.

"Glub... I mean good thank you Private, but what is this?" The confused Sharon asked. Taking off the breathing mask. As the liquid had drained away, she could feel the unnatural calm leaving her.

"You're in a Goo-lite Tank. They fix you right up, when you get frakked. Here grab my hand, I'm always a bit wobbly after a soak." The women said, holding out her hand.

'Boomer' had just grasped hold of the offered hand, when the floor of the tube started to rise. She staggered slightly, but with Seran's support managed to keep her balance. The bottom of the tube was a lift platform Sharon realized, and it was taking her up into the room above the Life Station.

Seran kept Sharon steady until the platform completed its rise and was level with the new rooms floor, then started handing her cloths. A tee shirt, a tank top and a pair of green fatigue pants.

As Sharon was getting dressed the Doctor bustled into the new room with a nod to Seran she turned to 'Boomer'.

"Now Lieutenant you will be feeling healthily at the moment. But in fact you are still injured, if you will turn around I see about dressing your wound." The tall women said as she strode over to Sharon.

'Boomer' couldn't feel anything more than a slight tightness from her back where the doctor said she had been shot three days ago, she reached around and tried to explore with her fingers. Her probing hand encountered a line of stitches running down her side as soon as she touched it, the area began to sting.

"Stop that! Don't poke at it. You are healing well, give it a day and I will take the stitches out and in a week you will be fit to return to duty. Maybe in your case even sooner we have very poor baseline information about the healing abilities of…" Doctor Cain broke off and cast a guilty glance at the Marine standing next to Sharon and casually watching as Sheba worked taping the large surgical dressing in place.

"Private could you step outside for a minute, just while I explain to Lieutenant Valerii how to care for her wound." Doctor Cain asked.

"Private Seran, knows I'm a Cylon." Sharon said quietly. She had only just met the Marine, but they had been through a life and death battle together. 'Boomer' was already feeling cast adrift, and didn't want to send the only person she knew off. Seran gave the Lieutenant, a reassuring smile.

"I wish people would stop saying that, you are not a Cylon!" Sheba snapped.

"What!" Sharon shrieked barely able to stop herself from blurting, Yes I Am.

"Lieutenant, from what evidence we have gathered you are a clone, you have a network of biomechanical computers spread throughout your system. But take my word for it, as a Doctor. You are one hundred percent human. DNA does not lie." Doctor Cain told the stunned pilot.

Sharon's mind reeled; she had no idea what she was surposed to think. She'd only just started to admit to herself that she was a Cylon. Now this Doctor was telling her … What?

"It's those biomechanical computers that I wanted to talk to you about." Sheba continued not giving Sharon time to think.

"Is something wrong." Seran asked, the Sebacean women giving Sharon a concerned look.

"I seriously doubt it. We have never seen Bacta cause harm, its affects have been universally positive." Doctor Cain answered giving both women a reassuring smile.

"Bacta?" Sharon asked.

"The Healing liquid that aided your recovery, in the tank." Doctor Cain explained.

'Boomer' looked at her Marine escort with a raised eyebrow.

"A lot of the eggheads." The Marine waived at the tall Doctor. "Objected to calling the stuff Goo-lite, so the Commander told them they could call it "Bacta" instead." Seran told her.

"It's a Alien word. The Commander won't explain where it comes from; he just grins whenever one of us asks. But at least it has some dignity, unlike Goo-lite." Sheba finished the explanation.

"Why Goo-lite, why not just Goo?" Sharon asked getting caught up in the strange conversation. Anything to divert herself from the bombshell the doctor had just dropped. She expected a reply from the Doctor, it seemed more her field, but it was the Marine who answered.

"Because that's what this stuff is. It's the lite version, Goo for the peewee leagues. You were in for nearly three days, to stabilize and begin healing, after they sewed you back together. The wounds and bruises are still there, they just got helped past the shock and are well advanced into the healing. If that had been real Goo, with those injury's you wouldn't have a mark on you, one day maybe two, in the stuff and you would've been completely healed." Seran declared.

'Boomer' expected the Doctor to laugh off Seran's ridiculous claims but to her surprise Sheba was nodding.

"If I could have kept you in the tube another few days you wouldn't even have a scar. Bacta is amazing stuff, if we can keep you alive long enough, get you stable and in a Bacta tank then the patient's chances of survival, well its almost one hundred percent. But we don't have the resources to heal everybody all the way and it takes a lot of Bacta to heal a complicated wound like yours." Sheba Cain explained.

"I wanted to talk to you about the biomechanical structures in your system. Before you went in the tank, yours like every other Cylon produced clone I have seen, the structures have been all but invisible. But now they show up quite clearly, on a simple x-ray. We are running tests but all I can tell at the moment is that the Bacta seems to have coated them or changed them somehow. Now that your awake there are several more procedures we can implement to explore your strength and reflexes." Doctor Cain explained, becoming more animated as she spoke.

"Sorry doc. Now that 'Boomers' up and about, I'm to escort her to Commander Crichton." Private Seran told the exited scientist.

Sharon barely had a chance to nod at the Doctor. As the Marine all but dragged her from the Lifestation.

"Sorry kid but once she gets her claws in, the good Doctor will have you doing tests until we send in the troops to pry you loose." Seran told the flustered Raptor pilot once they were safely outside in the hallways.

Sharon stared at the female Marine. Completely nonplused by her friendly tone.

"No matter what Doctor Cain says, I am a Cylon, not human. Why are you being so nice to me." Lieutenant Valerii demanded trying to put a note of command into her voice. The older women just grinned as if she had said something funny, not intimidated at all.

"Come on Lieutenant you don't want to keep the Commander waiting. We have the whole trip ahead of us to swap story's." With that Private Seran strode off down the hallway.

"What trip?" Sharon shouted as she took of after the longer legged women her dignity not helped by having to dodge between crewmembers as she tried to catch up to her guild.

'Boomer' was struck again at how bright and clean the Battlecruiser was, on the Galactica they were always fighting a losing battle against grime. But the Helios was spotless; three days after the ship had been boarded by the Cylons. It was just one more thing to put the Raptor pilot slightly off, making the last week seem surreal.

CIC, Battlestar Pegasus, Tern System

Rear Admiral Helena Cain knew it was over, as soon as the Dradis display stabilized. Her Raptors had scouted this system 19 hours ago and found a Cylon resupply depot, guarded by a suspected three squadrons of Scimitar class Raiders and 10 frigate sized patrol ships. A tough fight for the undermanned Pegasus, but one she was confident her Battlestar would win with light casualties and minimal damage if her plan worked and the Colonials had the smallest taste of luck.

But as the screen began to light up with icon after icon, all glowing malignant red Helena understood that there would be no luck today. Her half strength Viper squadrons completed their emergency launch and formed up around the Pegasus, a small swarm of blue confronting the Cylon forces. Dradis operators started calling out the results from the warbook, but the Rear Admiral hardly listened as they listed the 22 Frigate sized ships 8 squadrons of Scimitars and 4 large unknowns', oversized destroyers or perhaps small cruiser analogs. It didn't matter, her forces were committed this was their last chance, if the Pegasus didn't capture the Depot the Battlestar was finished as a warship and was within weeks of failing as a spaceship.

The Battlestar Pegasus had been in dry dock on the eve of the Holocaust. With half her computers ripped out and in pieces, the Cylon virus had had nothing to infect. So Helena had been able to manually implement a blind jump, saving her ship and crew, when the Scorpian Fleet Shipyards had come under attack. But the Pegasus electronics had taken massive damage from the unbalanced jump, using only one of her three FTL drives had been the only option with one having been pulled by the dock workers to be replaced and the second in pieces for maintenance. Those of her crew who had been onboard, nearly 800 people short of the 2690 compliment, had managed to cobble together a computer to run her ship and rebuild the FTL drives, but they were falling apart. With most of the needed parts beyond the capabilities of even the Mercury class Battlestar's impressive construction facilities.

Helena felt the gaze of her first Officer, Colonel Masters was waiting for her to order the recall, this was not the fight they had planned. With a glance at the forces arrayed against her ship, the Admiral knew she could still win this battle but the chances of getting off lightly were almost non-existent and the chances off capturing the depot intact were nearly as bad. There was no choice through, yes Pegasus could hold long enough for her Vipers to land and retreat with minimal damage and casualties, but it was still the death kell for the last Colonial Battlestar, without the parts in that depot the Pegasus would be useless in a fortnight.

"Bring us around on course for Target Alpha 3. Ahead Flank speed, all guns to fire as they bare." Admiral Cain snapped out, as she turned to face Colonel Masters. Alpha three was the Cylon contact in the center of the formation, of what the warbook had decided were Light Cruisers.

Colonel Masters stared back at the tall women infront of him; he had not served with Rear Admiral Cain long and had 20 years on her. He had been the XO of the Pegasus since the Battlestar had entered service, nearly two-year's ago and had expected to get command when the last commander, Admiral Hastings had retired. It had been a huge blow when instead, Helena Cain the daughter of one of the general staff had been promoted into the position, a position Masters felt he had earned.

"Admiral, the Pegasus is in no state to take on these odds, we have no choice but to withdraw." Hans Masters kept his voice low. But it was a wasted effort; the CIC had gone quite when he hadn't passed on the Admiral's orders.

Helena surpressed a wince, keeping her face as cold and expressionless as possible. This situation had been a nightmare of hers, since she had been placed in command of the Pegasus. She knew Masters followed her commands only out of duty to the service. He did not respect her, and fully believed himself better suited to command the Battlestar. She had seen him gather himself a hundred times to argue with one of her orders, only in the end to back down. Helena remembered dreading the day when the man finally grew a backbone. That was before the Holocaust, when she learned what real dread and real nightmares were all about.

"Bring us around on course for Target Alpha 3. Ahead Flank speed, all guns to fire as they bare." Helena repeated looking straight into Colonel Masters eyes, she could have explained her reasoning. But they had talked this though before they had ever jumped into this system, there was no second chance; they had to win this fight.

"Sir we must retreat! We're too outnumbered." Hans Masters stood to attention and locked gazes with the Admiral; he was not going to let a political appointee get them all killed.

"I have given you your orders Colonel Masters." Helena could feel a coldness spread from deep in her stomach, she had played this out in her mind. If it came down to it, would the crew follow her, their Commander who gossip painted as someone who had made her way on her father's reputation and pull. Or the Colonel who had been with them since the Pegasus first cleared dock for her maiden voyage?

"Sir this is a foolhardy endeavor, which we can not offord. I refuse you order Ma'am!" Colonel Hans Masters knew she would back down and was cursing himself for not doing this as soon as they cleared jump after the Holocaust, they needed a real soldier in command.

Rear Admiral Helena Cain watched her XO the man was terrified, for a second she wanted to look around, to look into the eyes of her crew to see what they were thinking. There was no time, they had already been in system nearly a minute if they couldn't get organized soon they would have no choice but to retreat.

"Colonel Masters your side arm." Face expressionless, her eyes cold. Helena Cain held out her hand.

"What!" Hans squawked completely thrown off guard.

"Your side arm Colonel, give it to me now!" Cain barked.

Without truly thinking about what he was doing, the confused man pulled the service automatic from the holster at his side. Hans was just realizing that Admiral Cain was not going to back down, was in fact striping him of his duties, his career was ruined and without his position on Pegasus what would he, could he do how would he survive? His thoughts turning in on themselves, he handed the gun to her.

Keeping her eyes locked with the Colonel's. Helena went through the familiar routine. Seat the pistol firmly into her right hand; flip the small recessed lever from safe to armed with her thumb. Left hand settles along the top slide, gripping there and there, to avoid the action and clear the ejection port, incase there's already a bullet chambered. With a smooth quick jerk, pulling back and releasing the slide mechanism.

Without a second thought Helena brought the pistol up. Hans Masters didn't have time to blink before the shot rang out. The Colonels body had barely hit the floor, Rear Admiral Cain turned to Major Fisk the Flight operations officer and Pegasus's third in Command.

"Bring us around on course for Target Alpha 3. Ahead Flank speed, all guns to fire as they bare." Cold and emotionless barely began to describe the tone of voice.

"Yes Sir." Major Fisk stepped away from his post and into the center of the CIC passing out orders to the crew, as Colonel Masters blood started to spread across the deck.

The Mercury class Battlestar had been in the Cylon held system for one minute twenty three seconds.

Destroyer Griffin CIC. Matock Redline System

Jody Yates stood at her command podium. Trying desperately to keep a grin off of her face, it was totally inappropriate and wouldn't be terribly professional. She and her people were going into battle against an enemy of unknown strength; it was time for grim determination not almost childlike glee. But the chance to actually do something, to strike back the feeling was magnificant. Then there were the changes wrought upon The Griffin and her other Destroyers after a week with the Medusa and its mechanic/technicians, machine shops and spare parts.

With half the crew that was once crammed in re-deployed the CIC had a lot more room. The networking had been reinstalled and updated to Moyan standard. With stores from the Battlestar three more of her Destroyers the Badger, Tyrant and the Lord Ramage (1) all had a full load of ordinance.

"Ma'am the Lord Ramage is in position, she was the last, all ships signal ready." Major Tony Breech reported to his captain. The Major's voice was nearly smug with his satisfaction at the Destroyer squadron's new situation.

"Excellent Major. Coms, put me through to the Medusa!" Captain Yates looked to the new screen that now covered the forward bulkhead of the CIC. It flickered once and the Griffins coat of arms was replaced with the image of the Battlestar Medusa's bridge, Commander Aeryn Sun just turning to face the Griffins Captain.

"Commander Sun. All Destroyers are battle ready and formed up on the Medusa. The squadron awaits your command." Jody stated.

"Thank you Captain Yates. The civilians are as well set as we can manage. We are as ready as we will ever be. Jump will be in one minute, Medusa out." Commander Sun gave the older women a firm nod and the view screen switched back first to a snake headed women then to the stylized winged lion holding a sword and shield.

Jody thought about the last week as she watched her crew go about their duties. When the Medusa emerged from FTL the small refugee fleet had been reborn. They had been on their last legs with only the dim hope of getting the Heavy Cruiser Trident operational keeping her people going.

The CDF Griffin a Skylla class Destroyer was a state of the art, frontline warship. But her squadron had been without proper maintenance and her people on short rations and water restrictions for months. It wasn't until she had stepped aboard the Medusa that Jody realized how grubby her ship had gotten, despite the best efforts of her crew. Who themselves had looked thin and haggard compared to their compatriots on the Battlestar.

Now her ship and her people had been put to rights. The decks had been scrubbed the uniforms washed and everyone had eaten three good meals a day since they had met up with the Medusa. But more than the physical the mental or spiritual health of her crews had skyrocketed. It wasn't very nice, but nothing made Destroyer jocks happier than the chance to blow something up.

CIC Battlestar Pegasus Tern System

The deck shook under Helena's feet as the Pegasus took another blow on her thick outer armor. Rear Admiral Cain refused to acknowledge it, she kept her hands locked on the steel bar running around edge of the tactical table and her eyes on the Dradis display above her head.

"FTL event." Shouted one of the crewmen monitoring the long-range sensors.

Helena Cain felt the shout as a blow but didn't pause for a second.

"Recall all Vipers, The Pegasus will jump as soon as they are on board." Already the Rear Admiral was contemplating what she would have to do; there was only one other option to resupply her Battlestar now, even if it would cost Helena her soul. She watched on the Dradis as her Vipers started making emergency landings. Strangely they weren't taking casualties and the overall battle seemed to be slacking off. The attacking Cylon ships were still there still blazing away at her ship with everything they had. But they weren't pressing forward and those Cylon forces that hadn't yet been caught up in the battle were shiftingposition redeploying ... as if?

"Tactical what do you have on the new contacts." Helena Cain suddenly barked. Her eyes lighting up.

"I am sorry Admiral, I can't pin it down. The warbook keeps locking in on false results." The Dradis operator replied working feverishly at his console.

"What results!" Cain ordered.

"Ma'am there's to much interference and we are still finding bugs in the sensor programming." Major Fisk jumped in trying to smooth things out.

"What results" It wasn't a bellow this time, the Rear Admirals voice was calm and collected. The suddenly terrified Petty Officer scrambled to collect the information he had previously disregarded.

"Ma'am according to what we are seeing here, a Columbia class Battlestar and four Skylla class Destroyers just jumped into the system." The Dradis operator reported.

"Ma'am we're receiving a transmission. It's coming in on the Fleet Priority One channel. It's a tactical update." The Junior Lieutenant spoke slowly and clearly from the communications pit. Barely believing what he was saying.

There was silence throughout the Pegasus's CIC, even the sounds of battle seemed muted.

"Put it on the board." Admiral Cain finally ordered.

Rear Admiral Cain watched as the tactical board came to life, her eyes passed over her own ship and the Cylons focusing on the new comers. There! Almost exactly opposite where the Pegasus had entered the system, on the other side of the Cylon depot glowed a group of blue icons. In the center the largest marked CDF BS Medusa BSG 102 AH 003. To the left CDF DD Griffin BSG 37 AH 003 and CDF DD Badger BSG 37 AH 003. To the right CDF DD Tyrant BSG 37 AH 003 and CDF DD Lord Ramage BSG 37 AH 003. Admiral Cain scanned the info tags, the survivors of two groups the 102nd. and 37th. Forming an Ad Hoc unit Battlestar Group 003. The icon for the Battlestar in the middle of the group, The Medusa was decorated with a gold circle indicating it was the Groups flagship.

"Broadcast identify friend or foe." Helena ordered as she studied the Dradis. The new group was charging forward. The Destroyer's looked like they were on a intercept course with Pegasus while the Battlestar dove toward the Cylon outpost.

"We are receiving IFF back from the new contacts. They are in the correct format and register as CDF units, the warbook has no listing for BSG Ad Hoc 003 but since we have been out of touch with command for over a month excepts them as genuine provisional." Major Fisk reported reading the screen over the shoulder of a crewman.

"Major Fisk set course to rendezvous with the destroyers. Set priority for the main guns as keeping the Cylons off that Battlestar until they have secured the depot. I want all Vipers ready to launch when we form up with the destroyers." Maybe today was a lucky day after all; it certainly was starting to look that way.

"Yes Sir!"

The Cylon forces protecting the Tern system depot were in complete disarray. The attack by a single Battlestar had come at a fortuitous time; the station picket had been re-enforced by a convoy on route to set up a base along the expected course of the Galactica. The human form Cylons had calculated a good chance of destroying or at least badly damaging and driving away the Mercury class Battlestar. Now a new group of Colonial battleships had attacked and the frigates and light cruisers had already been badly ravaged by the Pegasus. Of the four light cruisers one had been destroyed and the others had taken a beating, the frigates had lost nearly half there number having no hope of standing up to a Battlestar's main cannon. Now with enemy forces closing on them from the rear what little tactical plan they had left, fell apart.

The four charging Colonial Destroyers opened up with a torrent of ordinance as soon as they came into range. Each had chosen a target for their single Mass Driver Kinetic Rifles, the main ship killing weapon, that the Skylla class Destroyers were all but built around. The opening salvo from the Badger, Tyrant and Lord Ramage each shattered a franticly turning Cylon frigate, reducing the black diamond shaped ships to a collection of floating debris. While the speeding piece of steel and lead flung by the Griffin speared into the stern of a Cylon light cruiser, that had been maneuvering to fire on the Pegasus.

The Cylon Light Cruiser, a single large diamond nearly 400 meters long supporting two smaller arms arcing forward from the main hull, heeled over as one of its engine pods exploded, secondary explosions ravaged the crippled ship. The Cylon line seemed stagger as the Scimitars and Frigates tried to redeploy, trying to bring their weapons to bare on the new threat at their rear. Before they could complete the turn and engage their new enemy a wave of missiles from the Destroyers and the Medusa ripped into the loose formation. Two more Frigates fell out of line burning. Over a hundred and fifty Scimitars with no ECM protection and showing their drives to the targeting systems hunting them, were swatted from space barely having time to see the attacks that killed them.

Hard after the two devastating blows the tight formation of Destroyers plowed into the Cylon forces. One of the two still functioning Light Cruisers had the misfortune to lay directly in the path of the four Colonial warships. Its own weapons focused on the Pegasus it had little but its point defense light rail-guns to try and defend itself against the racking broadside of the Destroyers as they sped past at fall flank speed. Each Skylla class Destroyer mounted eight 12inch cannon's per broadside and as the Destroyers passed, one on each compass point they poured fire into the doomed ship. The armor piecing explosive shells smashed into the Cylon ship barely slowed by the armor. Like it had flown through a shredder, the scattered remains of what had once been a Cylon warship tumbled away in the Destroyers wake.

The Pegasus had not been idle while its new allies charged forward. Once all of its Vipers had been recovered the Mercury class Battlestar leapt to meet them. Admiral Cain had tasked the 14, 22inch Turrets with covering the Medusa's assault on the Cylon depot. But they were far from the mighty ships only weapons as she barreled forward the Pegasus swatted Scimitars from space around her and rained destruction down on any of the franticly dodging frigates that dared to challange her. Only six of the massive gun emplacements along the underside of the ship could target the depot and the defensive batteries defending it. Even the Light Cruisers were too nimble to be hit by the huge 22inch shells. But the depot could not dodge and no matter how good the ECM the Cylon base could produce, it did them no good. The Pegasus's gunners already knew the exact co-ordinates they were aiming for, from the scouting Raptors that had preceded them to this system.

As the Medusa plunged toward the Cylons depot the barren rocky plain surrounding the Cylon installation erupted. The missile batteries and gun emplacements the Cylons had built were armored and dug in, but they were never designed to resist an assault from a Battlestar's main guns. Even with only six guns being bought to bare, the rate of fire the state of the art Battlestar's autoloaders could produce was enough to bombard all twenty defensive works before the Medusa came into range. Only one missile battery survived long enough to fire on the smaller Battlestar the dozen anti-fighter missiles were casually brushed aside by the Columbia class's point defense. Then its own turreted cannon answered and the depots last defense was blotted from the small asteroid's surface. The Medusa maneuvered into position above the depot all the time its own missile batteries were firing at the mass of Scimitars engaged with the other Colonial ships.

Up above the battle was winding down. With there anti-capital ship missiles depleted the Scimitars could not penetrate the tough armor protecting the warships they battled against. All they could do was get in close and try for the vulnerable engines; with the five Colonial ships in formation with their point defense over lapping it became a suicide run. With their overwhelming numbers cut down by continual attacks by Colonial missiles and their base under attack the Scimitars doubled back. Making a last desperate bid to defend the depot. Leaving the single Light Cruiser and five surviving Frigates without any fighter support and exposing themselves to continued harassment by the Colonial missiles locked on their exposed drives. The five squadron of Vipers that launched from the Medusa and three from the Pegasus had the surviving Scimitars outnumbered two to one.

Major Hal Dies rode the second of The Medusa's Marine packed Raptors down to the depot to oversee securing the facilities and to start counting the loot.

-

-

-

A/N

(1) Lord Nicholas Ramage, is the fictional character at the center of a series of sea adventure novels written by Dudley Pope.

(2) The Rolling Stones are the inspiration to the Stone Clan and their rebuilt fleets tender only a cameo at this time.