The Search
Commander Belzen knocked on Admiral Strykers door and after hearing Admiral Stryker call out to enter, he opened the door and went inside.
Admiral Stryker gestured with his arm for Commander Belzen to sit down, and the Commander obeyed. Belzen knew that the reason must be important for calling him in; that it had to be about the mission the Admiral once told him he would lead.
"Commander Belzen, I chose you for a very delicate mission. You will lead a small fleet of five ships in a search for Galactica and Pegasus," Admiral Stryker said.
"If I may ask, what ships will be participating in the search sir?" Commander Belzen asked.
"Battlestars Vanguard, Chimera, and Valkyrie, as well as one supply ship and one tylium tanker full of tylium will take part in this mission. You will be in charge of the entire group. The tanker will keep your small fleet going for about a two years max before you run out of fuel, so you have a set deadline to find Galactica's fleet or turn around," Admiral Stryker said.
"Sir, I understand, but what if we run into the Cylons during the search?" Commander Belzen asked.
"Under no circumstances are you to engage the Cylon forces, except if you are compromised and must defend yourself. Send scouts all around, but do not engage them. Your goal is to find the Galactica and her fleet and if possible the Pegasus. Nothing else. Is that understood Commander?" Admiral Stryker said firmly.
"One more thing sir, why do I need three battlestars? I mean two Mercury class Battlestars will burn through a lot of fuel. I don't know how far we can go with only one supply ship and tylium tanker," Commander Belzen said.
"All three Battlestars have a full tank of fuel, water, and everything that is needed for at least a one year search and a return trip. Remember you have the supply ship filled with spare parts, food, and everything you need. The Tanker, as I said, can drill extra Tylium out of asteroids if needed. But since she is currently full, it won't be necessary for now. Another reason Commander is for insurance in case you find the Pegasus and Cain does not comply with my orders. I am Fleet Admiral so I doubt she will refuse a direct order, however her judgment is in question and she will not take losing her rank or ship lightly. In case the Pegasus tries something you have permission to disable her, not destroy but disable. If the Pegasus continues to resist after being disabled, with some foolish ramming maneuvers, blast her to the heavens," Admiral Stryker said.
"I understand sir, but I hope that it will not be necessary to do that," Commander Belzen replied.
"I hope so as well Commander. Your fleet is to launch in 48 hours, I suggest you take some free time for yourself, good luck Commander," Admiral Stryker said.
"Thank you sir," Commander Belzen said.
2 days later...
Vanguard C.I.C.
"Commander all systems are green. All ships are responding; they are ready to jump to Promar on your command," Colonel Shelly Magene said.
"Good work, inform the fleet that we are jumping in 30 seconds," Commander Belzen replied.
"Sir, incoming message from command, Admiral Stryker says good luck and good hunting," the communications officer said.
"Well we're going to need it, jump on my mark; 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 jump," Commander Belzen said.
Two Mercury class Battlestars, the Valkyrie, and two support ships; the tylium tanker and the supply ship all jump away from the main fleet on its way to Avalon.
Unity – Admiral Stryker's Assigned Quarters
From his new quarters, Admiral Stryker observed as the five ships disappeared and quietly said, "Good luck."
Someone knocked on the door, the Admiral turned and said, "Come in."
Admiral Thorn entered the room and sat down.
"So they are on their way; do you really think they will find Galactica?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"I doubt you came just to say that," Admiral Stryker replied.
"No, actually, I have a few suggestions for you that R&D came out with, and also Delegate Campus wants to see you," Admiral Thorn said.
"How nice of him," Admiral Stryker said sarcastically, "let me hear what it is that you wanted to bring to my attention."
"A new class of Battlestars," Admiral Thorn said shortly.
"I'm afraid I don't follow," Admiral Stryker said, raising an eyebrow.
"I have a proposal for a new class of battlestars, and before you say no, we have more than enough resources to build at least half a dozen Battlestars and fix our other ships in the fleet," Admiral Thorn said.
"I already directed a large amount of resources to repair Atlantis," Admiral Stryker said, worried that Admiral Thorn might want to divert supplies from repairing Atlantis and instead make new Battlestars.
"Yes I know, I am taking personal responsibility for your ship, and I promise it will be the strongest ship in the fleet once my engineers are finished with her," Admiral Thorn said.
"Why do I have a weird feeling about that? OK, I see you already have schematics for the new Battlestars so let's take a look," Admiral Stryker said curiously.
Admiral Thorn gave the schematics of the new ship class to Admiral Stryker.
"Nike class Battlestar?" Admiral Stryker asked in confusion, his eyebrows scrunching up while reading the title at the top of the schematics.
"It looks a lot like the Nova class," Admiral Stryker said looking questioningly at Admiral Thorn.
"That's because many of the parts are from the Nova class. Mainly her head is different, but she packs a punch even more powerful than the Nova class; she also has similar specs to Theseus, but with some improvements to the design to be even better than Theseus. By all calculations she will be 25% more resilient than the Nova class. There is also a chance to test those new improved pulse cannons that will act as her point defensive grid," Admiral Thorn said.
"Impressive. How long would you need to build one?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"One year using the main dock on Unity, and I'd like to build a second one on Eternity as well," Admiral Thorn replied.
"I believe we can fix that and you can go ahead with this. But I want all ships to be in a shape to fight in case we have problems with the Cylons or those probes," Admiral Stryker said.
"Probes? After that short encounter you had, there have been no other contacts," Admiral Thorn said.
"I know, but if you read the report in full you would find that after they moved Sanctuary to Avalon the drones returned at their exact time. As soon as they saw that Sanctuary was no longer there, they brought a mother ship and started searching nearby systems for Sanctuary. Commander Krasner has put all colonial units in orbit of Avalon on standby for combat. I want the number of scouts around the fleet to be doubled so we're prepared for anything," Admiral Stryker said.
"Yes sir, and I will let Delegate Campus in; I believe he doesn't like to wait," Admiral Thorn said.
"Send him in," Admiral Stryker said sighing in anticipation of meeting with Delegate Campus.
As Admiral Thorn left, Delegate Campus entered.
"Admiral, it's good to see that you're ok—," Delegate Campus started to say.
"Cut the pleasantries. Why did you want to speak with me?" Admiral Stryker asked abruptly.
"It's about your mission, a small fleet that just departed," Delegate Campus said.
"May I presume that the quorum is not happy with my decision to search for the Galactica?" Admiral Stryker asked.
"They want her to be found as you do, but they don't want to take unnecessary risk. You just sent two Mercury and one Valkyrie class Battlestars away from this fleet. This weakens our defenses incredibly. The Quorum is already angry about your attack on Picon, and the loss of two battlestars there," Delegate Campus said.
"It is normal to have casualties in war delegate and to be honest I expected that we would lose much more than only two ships, but we were victorious and..." Admiral Stryker started to say before being interrupted.
"This time admiral, this time, but what about next time? Will you see things our way only when we lose another dozen Battlestars?" Delegate Campus asked interrupting.
"Delegate didn't they teach you in school that it is very rude to interrupt somebody in the middle of a sentence? Yes we got lucky this time and we had casualties. However, we showed the Cylons that we can strike them anywhere, and we reclaimed a large number of people and resources. As for the ships searching for Galactica, don't worry Delegate Campus; we have more than enough defenses to protect the entire fleet," Admiral Stryker said.
"I hope you're right. After what happened to Caprica; the quorum is not ready take any unnecessary risks, and the Cylons could do the same thing to Picon, where you left people behind there, as they did to Caprica," Delegate Campus said.
"Hmmm, I believe that was a mistake they made unintentionally, something they didn't want to happen. I doubt they will risk destroying another planet," Admiral Stryker said.
"Nevertheless the quorum..." Delegate Campus said.
"Now I will be the one to interrupt you Delegate. There is no need for the quorum to mess with military decisions; so far this fleet survives thanks to our work and there is no need for a change in that now. And if I were in your shoes, I would be careful of where I went and with who I talked with about questionable matters. Oh, I see you are surprised, but there has been more than one time that we caught you with your supporters talking negatively about the military. Don't do stupid things Delegate," Admiral Stryker said interrupting.
After a few seconds of shock, Delegate Campus responded, "Are you threatening me Admiral?"
"No Delegate, I am only giving you a small friendly warning; we are at war, do not try to mutiny against the military. As I said: once we arrive at Avalon the civilian government will have power again, and until then the military is the one making decisions. Whether the Quorum likes it or not, it is what it is," Admiral Stryker said.
"Fine, I don't have anything to say for now," Delegate Campus said.
"Good, thank you for visit," Admiral Stryker said.
Angry, Delegate Campus left the room, thus leaving Fleet Admiral Stryker to examine some of the reports of the new tech that Olympia R&D created.
Invictus C.I.C. Avalon system
"Report," Commander Krasner said while entering the C.I.C.
"A Stealthstar just jumped in; Lieutenant Hobert reported a large amount of drones in the system Sanctuary was originally found in and in all systems around it. Lieutenant Hobert is not sure exactly what those drones are doing, though we can assume they're probably trying to figure how the hell such a large ship disappeared and where it went," Colonel Brenton said.
"I want all colonial units on tactical alert, and order the Sword and her escorts to return from the other side of the planet. Once they arrive, all units are to go onto grey mode. If these things can track FTL gods know what else they can track as well. I want minimal power used on all ships. Invictus will be on blue mode; if some of our patrol raptors on the edges of this system see drones then Invictus is to go to black mode," Commander Krasner said.
Grey mode was usually used for stealth or for an emergency. All ships would operate under limited power with enough for gravity, life support, and only passive scanners. All non essential areas of the ship were shut down, weapons and propulsion's are also down, and only the thrusters remained working so that ships close to a planet didn't get too close and burn up in the atmosphere.
Blue mode is when the military ships shut down all weapons but leave the propulsion at 50% and all basic systems on, with an emergency FTL jump charged in case it was needed.
Black mode is the total shut down of the ship, leaving only gravity and life support in parts of the ship where the crew are. All hands were to remain at their posts since all non essential parts of the ships would be without gravity and life support. Passive scanners working only. On black mode even the thrusters were to be shut down. However, since Invictus is in a stationary position, this does not matter much as she acts as the orbiting satellite of the planet.
"Right away sir and one more thing; Dr. Aren and Chief Williams need to see you in Dr. Aren's lab," Colonel Brenton said.
Invictus research department - Dr. Aren's laboratory
"Ah, Commander, good to see you," Dr. Aren said.
Chief Williams was also present.
"So gentlemen, you had something for me?" Commander Krasner asked.
"Yes sir, there are a few things we found out about the drones. After the fight between them and the Gunstar Onyx; we salvaged one drone during our flight back to the Gunstar," Dr. Aren started, "It was badly damaged by the Onyx's guns."
"Yes doc, I know that," Commander Krasner said impatiently.
"But we didn't make progress in understanding about the drone in the past, and now we have. First the Armor and propulsion sir. The propulsion is based on anti-matter technology and I must say it's far more advanced than anything the Colonial navy has ever created, which includes the Sanctuary. Drones are barely 12 meters long, but they are deadly in every way. High maneuverability, speed, and they are designed without the need for a pilot. It's no wonder our pilots have problems shooting them down: they are much faster and in every way better. They are even more dangerous than the Cylon raiders because they aren't alive. As we've learned from the Cylons; raiders have a biological system similar to an animal, they have a need to keep themselves alive as long as possible even with their ability to resurrect, they are unwilling to commit suicide because they've been raised to think it's a sin, and they act like a pet. Drones on the other hand are completely devoid of life and willing to do anything to destroy their target, including commit suicide runs into their target. Their armor is a story all on its own; it took us a month just to cut through it," Dr. Aren said.
"The armor is that strong?" Commander Krasner asked surprised.
"Yes, it appears it was created to stop energy weapons sir. Whoever designed it didn't take into account primitive projectile weaponry. However, the drone's armor can take lots of hits from Viper fire before being disabled and destroyed. If we succeed in duplicating this armor, we can add it onto our own fighters. Next, the drones' weapons, which there seem to be two different versions; one with dual energy cannons that I would call pulse cannons, and on the second version is a stronger single cannon. Each weapon has its own battery; a form of fusion, though I've never seen this kind of design. In short; these batteries completely charge the drone guns, there's no need for taking power from the engines, and they are barely one meter in size. There is no life support as I said, because they are automated, and from what I've seen each has its own AI that guides them; however they have some kind of transmitter controlling them. They all have some kind of signal they use to call for help using a transmitter, and this signal is probably being sent from the mother ships to them and back and forth for the drones to request and receive orders," Dr. Aren said.
"What's your opinion on this chief?" Commander Krasner asked.
"Sir, I've been an engineer for 25 years and I've never seen anything like this. If we, as Dr. Aren said, have a little luck and we can duplicate this technology: we might want, and be able, to upgrade all our units with it. There are many of things we don't understand about the technology though and unfortunately who ever built these drones did not leave a manual about the technology involved," Chief Williams said.
"Take your time chief; examine each part of the drone, work with our scientists and engineers, and try to see what you can do. Now what more do you have to tell me Doc?" Commander Krasner asked.
"Well we can be certain of two things. First, these markings; I've never seen any like them in my life or in artifacts found back home. Second, from the story or log, I think we might have a problem sir," Dr. Aren said.
"I don't think I understand," Commander Krasner said.
"The people that lived on that colony had a legend; in ancient times the gods created machines to fight a race of pure evil who fought the titans (the race of beings above the gods the people of the colony worshipped) and the gods. In short, the gods, as people called them, were a highly advanced race that guided the citizens of the colony. The titans were an even older race that helped the gods to evolve and guided them similar as to how the gods guided these people. The evil race was locked away by the machines of the gods, but shortly after they were infected with a virus and turned against the titans and the gods. The titans were destroyed by the Harvesters, as they were called by the gods after they turned on them, and the Harvesters attacked the gods. The gods defeated the harvesters in a massive battle destroying many on both sides, but survivors of the Harvesters escaped. Shortly after the people of this colony arrived here the Harvesters returned and attacked them, destroying their colonies and almost wiping them all out, except for a few survivors who managed to escape. From the descriptions and pictures we have, I am afraid the drones we've fought were the Harvesters," Dr. Aren said.
Dead silence rang in Dr. Aren's lab as Dr. Aren stop talking.
"So let me see if I understand this correctly; we have ancient machines crawling all around this sector that defeated the humans of that dead world we found," Commander Krasner said.
"Arcadians sir, they were called Arcadians," Dr. Aren said.
"OK, Arcadians. So these Arcadians got their ass kicked by these machines. What kind of trouble are we in?" Commander Krasner asked.
"Big trouble sir, if they can track FTL they can pick up any raptor or stealth fighter. We don't know enough about these drones to know their limits of technology and all we've seen so far points to them being very technologically advanced. Being able to track FTL might only be the tip of the iceberg for their technology advances that we don't have, and we won't know for sure if they can until they're jumping in on top of us. I recommend that we stop all recon missions for now and that we report this to Admiral Stryker. Sir, they are coming with hundreds of ships and large shipyards. If these drones can track FTL, imagine what will happen when our fleet arrives in this sector. No doubt they could track it from a few light years away from their position given the high amount of communication and energy emissions such a large fleet makes," Dr. Aren said.
"But the fleet has many defensive ships and units; they would need a massive force to take on all those ships that are coming," Chief Williams said in disbelief.
"I don't think you understand. They are like Rahnas*, first one arrived, fought and tagged the enemy then an entire swarm jumped in and engaged Sanctuary. We don't know how many mother ships they have, but I would bet thousands. Because if I am correct, and I hope am mistaken, this sector was the place where some of their ancient battles took place," Dr. Aren said.
"So we picked exactly the wrong sector for making a new home, great," Commander Krasner said.
"We didn't know; there were no scrolls detailing about this except the legendary stories from Picon, about gods fighting the titans and locking them on the deserts of Mostffar. These were the only stories and legends telling anything similar to what the Arcadians log says," Dr. Aren said.
"So if these scrolls are actually based on truth, those evil things, or however you want to call them, are somewhere in this galaxy locked away but their minions or the harvesters are still out there?" Commander Krasner asked.
"Probably, but I can't tell. There's no evidence and for all we know the two ancient races fought each other, one created harvesters as we created the Cylons, eventually the harvesters killed their masters and attacked the enemy of their masters as well. We can't know what really happened though," Dr. Aren said.
"We can debate about this forever Dr. Aren, but how do we beat these things, these drones?" Commander Krasner asked.
"From what I've seen of the level of their technology, we can't beat them. Look what they did to Sanctuary; ok the ship was already badly damaged, but this ship itself is a Titan, and was brought down by a few hundred drones and their motherships..." Dr. Aren started to say but was interrupted.
"However, we can try to duplicate their technology and that way if we are attacked we have a much better chance of stopping them," Chief Williams interrupted.
"Good, you both will do everything you can to duplicate and apply this technology to our own. In the meantime I have a report to make for the Admiral," Commander Krasner said.
"Sir, there is one more thing from what we found on that planet. I didn't have a chance to start digging through the files that we found until two weeks ago; these Arcadians, this was one of their colonies. They might still be alive and hidden somewhere, and they also had a legend that I think you will find very interesting," Dr. Aren said.
"How so?" Commander Krasner asked.
"The legend says that thousands of years ago, several of the Gods brought them to this part of galaxy, from a planet where 13 other tribes waged war," Dr. Aren said.
"Thirteen tribes? As in Kobol?" Chief Williams asked watching Dr. Aren.
"Yes, the Arcadians are the 14th tribe," Dr. Aren said.
"How can that be possible? I mean there are scrolls almost as old as the 12 colonies of Kobol, from the first colonists that arrived in the Cyrannus system. The 13th tribe is barely mentioned and considered a myth by most people, so the idea of a 14th…." Commander Krasner said trailing off.
"That's because scrolls that may have confirmed their existence were lost, and similiarly Earth remains a myth, doesn't it? The 13th tribe was said to have left for Earth from Kobol some 2000 years before the remaining 12 tribes left Kobol. And of course there are a few artifacts that said this is true, but I must agree that there is not anything that can connect to the 14th tribe. They must have left Kobol much earlier and that's why there is nothing about them or their departure," Dr. Aren said.
"I will inform the Admiral about the newest findings you've made Doctor. Chief, since we have so many people working on new buildings and houses for survivors we don't have the resources to fully repair Sanctuary. How many people are working on her now?" Commander Krasner asked.
"At least 400 sir," Chief Williams said.
"Cut it to 150, yes I know she is important, but we need to make place for nearly 3 million people. I want at least half of that number in their own houses in cities and the rest in tents and lodges to have somewhere to live when they arrive," Commander Krasner said.
"Sir I can't guarantee that Sanctuary will be functional with only 150 people working on her. Right now she has life support and gravity on only half of the ship, and there are still many hull breaches not yet sealed. The engines are dead, some of the weapons are operational but the majority were destroyed or damaged and even those that work; we don't have power for," Chief Williams said.
"I understand. Concentrate repairs on the sections that are most important and needed right now. It appears that more about a million people will live in tents for their first few years here," Commander Krasner said.
"Well who could've known that Avalon would become a new home for humanity instead of just a colony?" Dr. Aren said rhetorically.
Promar sector - System X112-7, 1 month after Vanguard's fleet launch
Five ships jumped instantly. It was jump 60 so far for the Vanguard battle group. In the commander's quarters, Commander Belzen was just starting to write inside his log.
Commander's log - Battlestar Vanguard
It's been 1 month since we left the fleet in search for the Galactica and her fleet. There's been no sign so far. Although we are following the route that was given to us by the Cylons who defected, we are still unable to find Adama. However we found lots of raider and viper wrecks, as well as one basestar wreck at Ragnar, but no Battlestar meaning Galactica rearmed itself and destroyed that baseship.
We also found a destroyed ship a few days later. After a short analysis, it was discovered that it was a passenger liner named the Olympic Carrier. Metallurgical analysis is still underway to see what destroyed the ship, but we believe the Cylons did it. The ship must have failed to FTL jump and was destroyed by pursuing cylon forces.
Galactica and her fleet needed around 2 months to get to the system we're currently at, since they travelled as fast as the slowest ship could go. There was a surprise when we found the remains of another cylon baseship in orbit of the fourth planet in this system we're currently at. We detected metals and some debris on the surface so I sent teams down to investigate. They found a crashed raptor near what appears to be a colonial exploration camp. No doubt Galactica destroyed the baseship and sent teams down. Dr. Mutello, our scientist on board, was in shock when he discovered the name of the planet inside of a large temple. The planet is Kobol. Crews from all the ships were shocked and amazed. Galactica found the home of our ancestors; the planet from which the 12 tribes started their journey with their technology that lasted for years, and we needed only one month to come back to it.
Only a few habitable places were on the planet, along with many ruins of cities that nature has been covering over time. We mapped Kobol and its coordinates in the ships computer, and hopefully one day we can send an expedition to explore Kobol in more detail. After a few days, we continued our search for Galactica.
We continued with our course, so far no Cylon presence has been detected. A few of what we believed to be abandoned and destroyed mobile tylium refineries on asteroids made by Cylons were found, but nothing more. Log out
Unity - Main drydock - observation deck
Admiral Stryker watched the large dock in front of him where the flagship still lay in ruins. Hundreds of repair bots and engineers were crawling on Atlantis, removing destroyed parts and replacing them with new ones. The ship was looking better but still it would take a lot of work to have her back to 100% again. Other damaged ships were spread out over the various shipyards, being repaired and upgraded.
Only the Battlestar Polaris was on dock 4; the ship survived with moderate damage but more than half of her electrical systems were fried.
"Ah, I thought I'd find you here," Admiral Thorn said smiling, "don't worry, your ship will survive. I was wrong at first. She was damaged but the structural integrity's more or less intact; let's say she had luck this time."
"Well I hope she's lucky next time too," Admiral Stryker said.
"If the Cylons created a 250Mt nuke, do you think they will not make one even larger than that? I mean conventional missiles do damage but nukes are the ones that actually kill a ship," Admiral Thorn said.
"And we need new kinds of defenses; Thorn, your R&D department makes wonders and I don't want to rush them, but they need to find something to stop the Cylon's nuclear attacks. The main Cylon weapons are their raiders and their launching of missiles in swarm. We need to somehow eliminate this advantage of theirs," Admiral Stryker said.
"Well, with standard PD grids we will not get much better results; they overheat, especially if a battle lasts more than 15 minutes. But those new pulse cannons can do the trick or small anti-missile launchers that can launch dozens of missiles in one volley. Don't worry, after we finish repairing Atlantis we will put as many of these new systems on board," Admiral Thorn said.
"I don't like experimental technology," Admiral Stryker said.
"We don't have any other options. Theseus already has pulse cannon defenses against missiles and raiders. If it worked for her, then it will work with Atlantis, and we can eventually add this on every ship in the fleet to increase their defensive capability ten times over. And next time we can bring gunstars to the fight, it's their job to keep missiles and raiders off of the Battlestars in a battle," Admiral Thorn said.
"Probably, you're right, but the fleet is large, and we don't have enough ships to defend every spot of it. We need those gunstars and any other smaller ship to stay with the fleet," Admiral Stryker said.
"Oh, I almost forgot that we received communication from Commander Krasner on Invictus. I think you'll want to see it: it's encrypted so only you can see it," Admiral Thorn said.
A few minutes later, Admiral Stryker returned to his quarters and turned the computer monitor on. For security reasons; they didn't have direct transmission with Avalon. Recorded messages were sent from both sides. He entered his password and started watching the video. After watching the entire video; how they found out about the Arcadians, drones that the Arcadians called harvesters he thought: So all that Athena said was true. And he can't tell anyone about it, at least not yet.
A half hour later, Admirals Thorn and Sounders entered Admiral Stryker's quarters.
"Sit down please," Admiral Stryker said gesturing with his hand for them to sit.
"The last transmission was encoded and sent to me, personally, so you don't know anything about its content. The dead world that we encountered during our first journey to the Terminus sector once belonged to the 14th tribe of Kobol, and these people called themselves Arcadians..." Admiral Stryker started to say before being interrupted.
"Did you just say 14th tribe?" Admiral Sounders interrupted, shocked, and then continued, "We always believed that the 13th tribe was the last of the tribes and that it was merely a myth."
"Apparently not," Admiral Thorn said.
"I know that my next words will be hard to explain and understand but I want you to not interrupt me and to listen until the end please," Admiral Stryker said.
Both admirals nodded; seeing that this was very important.
"2 weeks after the battle of Picon I still had insomnia every night; I hardly slept, and when I finally got some sleep, I had a vision. I know this is hard to explain; but in this vision I encountered a woman, probably in her late 20s. She identified herself as Athena. She explained that her kind is known to us as Gods; they are a highly advanced and evolved race. They brought humans from a distant planet on the other side of the galaxy to the planet we called Kobol," Admiral Stryker said.
"I apologize for interruption sir, but is it possible that this is vision, is simply the result of stress and injuries?" Admiral Thorn asked with concern for Admiral Stryker's health.
"No, I must disagree. It was communication through a dream. She said that her people were also guided, as we were guided by her people, by an ancient race that was defeated by their enemies called the Purifiers; and those Purifiers were pure evil. Machines the Gods created to fight the Purifiers turned on them and escaped into the darkness of space after a large battle for their survival. Humans on Kobol slowly evolved under the guidance of Athena's people. But as humans slowly started to organize into factions or tribes, wars started. She said that the first tribe to leave Kobol was a tribe of scientists and engineers; the most brilliant of all 13 tribes that made up the 14th tribe. They called themselves Arcadians. They left long before the others. The planet with destroyed cities on it that we found was only a colony, destroyed by the harvesters.
Several millennia later, the 13th tribe left the planet. The 13th tribe was formed from the first Cylons created by Athena's people trying to improve upon humans, and later joined by convicts and outcasts from the other tribes. They departed in time when several of the largest tribes started a great war on Kobol. They settled the planet that they called Earth. They lived and prospered in peace for almost a full milennia and then one day they disappeared, with no more contact. They created their own Cylon centurions that annihilated them. Only five survived and started a long journey back to Kobol. A few decades later the main exodus started and the 12 remaining tribes all journeyed to the Cyrannus system. Those that survived from Earth finally arrived after back to Kobol, only to find it deserted, and the planet in ruins. They followed the trail of the 12 tribes and found the tribes engaged in their own war with their Centurions a decade into the first Cylon war, after 2000 years of the five travelling to find the colonies," Admiral Stryker said.
"Excuse me admiral, how did they live so long if they had to make a journey over 2000 years?" Admiral Sounders asked skeptically.
"Ah yes, a good question. You see, they created resurrection technology; the very same technology that the Cylons are using today. Each time their body started growing old and decayed; they simply downloaded their mind into a new, fresh, and young body. The Cylons stopped the war when the survivors from Earth offered them this technology and the chance to make them human bodies," Admiral Stryker said.
"Amazing, I still believe that you dreamed this admiral; it's too hard to believe," Admiral Thorn said.
"I know; I still don't believe it, but this is the truth. Those drones that we encountered; Dr. Aren said that he found scripts from the dead Arcadian colony showing that those are the harvesters," Admiral Stryker said.
"By the lords of Kobol, so we are actually entering a wasp's nest?" Admiral Sounders said rhetorically, afraid for the people of Avalon.
"I'm afraid we are. Once we get closer to Terminus, or to that part of the sector; all ships will go to blue mode, meaning minimal energy output from all ships," Admiral Stryker said.
"Sir, blue mode will slow us down by 50%," Admiral Thorn said anxiously.
"Yes, I know. But with ships as large as Unity and Eternity, plus Olympia and Hera's stations, huge amounts of energy are being emitted for the drones to pinpoint our location with. If what Commander Krasner said is true and these harvesters can track FTL, as well as energy outputs, then they can find and attack us. The Cylons will then be the least of our problems," Admiral Stryker said.
"Even if they find us; they can't have enough firepower to attack a fleet of this size," Admiral Thorn said shocked.
"I believe they do. Don't forget that more than half of the fleet is civilian ships with limited or no armor and armaments. We had luck the first time when we arrived. But now after we managed to jump Sanctuary back to Avalon; we must be on alert," Admiral Stryker said worriedly.
"If I may ask, what does Sanctuary have to do with the drones?" Admiral Sounders asked.
"When Warstar Sanctuary disappeared during her maiden voyage; she ended up in the Terminus sector. She was almost destroyed by multiple explosions of the engine. Luckily the anti-matter reactor didn't blow up or it would have vaporized the entire ship. However they lost lots of people and the ship was wrecked. And that's not all: they appeared in the wrong system. After they sent scouts around, the scouts were intercepted by these harvesters. They followed them back to Sanctuary, and after they got reinforcements they attacked the ship. Already damaged and battered, Sanctuary had no choice but to fire at this new menace. But she was eventually disabled and almost destroyed as more and more drone ships came to fight Sanctuary. After scanning and seeing that the ship was venting atmosphere and it was dead in space, the drones simply left. Once the drones noticed that Sancturay was no longer in her original space; they started scouting around to find her. They've been looking for some time now, and we have to be wary of the possibility of them finding Avalon if they keep looking. Eventually they might come across Avalon in the search for Santuary and since Sanctuary was overcome by the drones…" Admiral Stryker said, drifting off to leave an obvious conclusion.
"So in short; we now have two enemies, with the Cylons at our backs and the harvesters in front of us. And those purifiers wherever they are," Admiral Thorn stated.
"Yes. We found the wrong place to make a colony as the last free place where humanity can start over. But we have no choice but to continue as we have and we will be ready for what comes. Your improvements; Admiral Thorn, I want you to refit all our ships with them. Even the larger civilian ones; Unity and Eternity also need to get those new weapons. If we have a deadly enemy in front of us, then by the gods of Kobol we will be ready for them," Admiral Stryker said.
"And the fleet will be ready sir, I promise that," Admiral Thorn said.
"One more thing; Dr. Aren believes that they can copy some of the technology used by the harvesters. They salvaged one of the badly damaged drones. If they succeed, we may get ourselves some very powerful technology. That is all for now," Admiral Stryker said.
Outside of the Cyrannus system - Cylon Mobile Shipyard
Jack Cavil stood and watched the new Adonis class Baseship; half constructed, it was only one of five Adonis Baseships in construction. All other Cylons in the command room of the secondary command Baseship looked at the same thing.
"Now that is the class that will beat the Colonials," Jack Cavil said.
"Are you sure?" one of the number two's asked, "It is well armed but it's slightly smaller than a standard Baseship."
"Size doesn't matter; the weapons and defenses she carries will be more than enough to take on the colonials," Jack said confidently.
"I admit it looks perfect, but it is nothing compared to the dreadstar," Gary Doral said.
"You and your precious dreadstar; which is such an incredible piece of technology that it breaks after each and every jump it makes," Jack said sarcastically, sneering at Gary.
"For a ship of that size, it's normal to expect some bugs and problems," Gary said, protesting Jack's condemnation of the dreadstar.
"Yes, but that ship has so many of them. Every day some new bug appears. But no one can say there's a problem with it launching systems," Jack said, looking at Gary angrily and thinking about the destruction of Caprica; which he still hadn't forgiven Gary for. Then he continued with an even more angry tone in his voice, "Your ship was broken at the time of the attack on Picon; we lost our foothold there. Luckily there are still ten colonies and lots of moons. And then we have Janice and her failures. Her entire battlegroup was destroyed by Prometheus and her escorts. When I think about it: she lost more than half of her ships in suicidal raptor attacks and tricks. I should simply box her forever."
"And yet you gave her another chance after her failure with Prometheus," one of the number sixes said.
"Well what else could I do? We are lacking good commanders and she may be a pain in the ass that seems to love losing ships, but still she is one of our rare commanders we have that has been good at fighting the colonials, at least in some ways. And this is her last chance," Jack said.
"Tell me brother, if you want to find Prometheus and her escorts after what they did to her battlegroup, do you plan to send more ships?" Gary Doral asked.
"Yes and guess who is going to go after them? You," Jack Cavil said.
"What! No way, my place is here protecting the shipyards," Gary protested.
"I cannot send Janice again, and risk her to losing more ships. You may be an idiot, but you are a much better choice for the mission. You will take the damn Dreadstar and two dozen baseships and get your ass over there. Find and destroy Prometheus," Jack said.
"And what if I fail to find it? If we can't track them, then what?" Gary asked.
"I will give you one year to do this. Search every nebula, and asteroid belt. If you don't find them then you will come back. No, now that I think about it; don't even return if you don't find them. Do yourself a favor and crash yourself and your damned ship into something. But please try to at least find and destroy that ship. If you can't deal with the entire Prometheus fleet then just destroy the Prometheus itself if you can," Jack said.
"Ok brother, I will do it, if only to show you why I ordered construction of the dreadstar and what it can do. I will find and destroy Prometheus; I will even bring you a part of her hull as evidence," Gray Doral said.
"Good," Jack Cavil said.
Gary Doral left the room in a fury. He hated that he had to bring his precious ship on such a dangerous mission. But in the end, the Nova class Battlestar is a dangerous enemy and to make things worse, there were two of them. If he destroyed them, then his arrogant brother would have to start appreciating him more.
"Do you think he will succeed in this mission?" one of the present Cylons in the room asked.
"Admiral Turner has had luck so far, but if the dreadstar is worth anything except for destroying planets, then his forces will be crushed fast and swiftly. And if we are particularly lucky, Gary and his ship will be blown to pieces," Jack Cavil said, thinking about never seeing Gary Doral again. This made him smile widely.
"You don't want him to succeed?" the only number eight in the room asked.
"Oh, I want him to succeed and destroy Prometheus, but I also want to get rid of him for some time or if possible, indefinitely. Now I want all work on the Adonis class Baseships to be sped up. And set construction for another five on all remaining free docks," Jack Cavil said.
"But in addition to those ships we have 12 additional standard basestars to build with new specifications, and there are only two free docks for buildup, plus we're slowly lacking on materials," one of the number sixes said, protesting Jacks plan to build only the new Basestars; even if it meant removing other ships from the shipyards to do it.
"I don't want excuses, get the refineries and mining belts and start to mine more tylium and other materials that we need. And what are our current straight in ships?" Jack asked, ignoring the six and all other looks of protest from the other Cylons.
One of the number fours came closer and started reading off a report of the Cylon fleet's current strength.
"The current strength of our fleet is as follows; 55 standard basestars, 25 Patrolstars, 17 support ships, 3 heavy baseships, 1 resurrection ship, 1 Command basestar and one dreadstar. Units in construction on our shipyard include; 5 new Adonis class basestars and 12 standard baseships," the number four said.
"Minus 1 dreadstar and the 2 dozen baseships Gary will take in his search for Prometheus, plus the last resurrection ship that he will take with him, what do we have to replace their numbers in terms of older ships?" Jack Cavil asked.
"Old ships?" the number four asked in confusion.
"Hades class baseships?" Jack asked impatiently.
"There are 32 inactive Hades Mk I and 10 Mk II class Basestars," Number Four reported.
"Good; I want those ships reactivated, manned, and upgraded with modern weaponry. Since an upgrade of their armor would cost us too much time we will skip it, but don't forget to upgrade the FTL engines as well," Jack said.
"But Jack, without new armor those ships would not stand a chance against the modern colonial Battlestars," a Number Six said worriedly.
"What battlestars? The majority were destroyed, Stryker's forces are on the run back to their little colony, Galactica is moving away in the Promar sector as is Pegasus, and the Prometheus will soon have company so I doubt there is any danger for now. What about Picon, do we have any forces there?" Jack Cavil asked.
"There are a few small garrisons on the planet, but they are being destroyed one by one by the colonial defenders. Two Patrolstars and a baseship that tried to attack were quickly destroyed by the defense grid, and our raiders were destroyed by the smaller anti-fighter defense platforms combined with their Viper squadrons," reported one of the twos.
"I didn't know they had any fighters there?" Jack Cavil said angrily, his eyes narrowing.
"They do, with 6,000 marines along with the remaining defenders to guard and protect the civilians," a number two said.
"Our first task then is to retake Picon if possible, but this time we will not rush things along," Jack Cavil said thoughtfully.
"As you command," the number two said.
"And one last thing, what about our spy in Stryker's fleet?" Jack asked.
"Our patrolstar is still following the fleet, at a safe distance, and they are receiving coded transmission every day. As the fleets so large and since there is a lot of chatting going on between the ships, they will never be able to pick our signal," a number six said confidently.
"Good," Jack Cavil said.
"Why send only one small patrolstar instead of the fleet?" the number 8, the only one of her model in the room, asked.
"I would love to send everything there and annihilate them, but it would be a risky mission. No, we will give them some alone time for now while they lead us to their colony. We will rebuild our forces and then with one strike; they will be destroyed," Jack Cavil said confidently, and also a little smugly.
"But we are only giving them more time to recover and strengthen their defenses around that colony. They have excellent capabilities for the production of ships and other resources they need. It might be much harder to attack them if we wait," one of the number fours said.
"Maybe not, I have plans for them and we will not rush as John and I did in the past. We will work slowly this time to ensure that we destroy the humans once and for all," Jack Cavil said.
Day 159 since the Fall of the Colonies
Battlestar Galactica, Commander Adama's quarters
"Our computers have been infected by a Cylon virus, corrupting systems throughout the entire ship. I've just been notified that this is a prelude to an all-out attack by the Cylons," Commander Adama said.
"I assume you've tried to disable it," President Roslin said.
"Mr. Gaeta and the Vice President are handling that right now. I'm not hopeful," Commander Adama said.
"Commander, I'm not sure what I can offer you here besides my moral support," President Roslin said.
"Actually, Madam President, I could use your advice. I've just come from seeing our Cylon prisoner. She's offering a possible solution to the problem," Commander Adama said.
"And you're wondering if you can trust her," President Roslin said.
"It took everything I had not to put my hands around her throat. I can't believe I'm contemplating this," Commander Adama said.
"We both know the Cylons are experts at manipulation. They will do anything to confuse you," President Roslin said.
"This is not the one who shot me," Commander Adama said.
"Can they really be that different from one another? Commander, if you're asking me if it's possible that your judgment's been clouded by your history with this particular Cylon model, well, I'd have to say yes. But... we created them. There's always a chance we might find common ground," President Roslin said.
Less than an hour later…
Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.
Sharon/Eight was led chained into the CIC under heavy guard.
"We need to work quickly. We're on borrowed time," Sharon said.
"Let her go," Commander Adama said, and Sharon's shackles were unlocked and released from the marine guard who backed away, freeing her to move around.
"Dee, do you still carry your father's pocket knife?" Sharon asked.
Dee/Dualla looked incredulously at Commander Adama.
"Give it to her," Commander Adama said, and Dualla unhappily handed her pocket knife to Sharon
"Mr. Gaeta, can you set me up with a fiber-optic com link? I need broadcast to all frequencies and direct link to the mainframe," Sharon said.
"Do it," Commander Adama said.
"Sir. Right here, Sharon," Lieutenant Gaeta said, handing Sharon the cable she needed.
"Thanks," Sharon said.
Several hundred raiders and heavy raiders jumped near the Galactica.
"Dradis. Here they come, multiple targets. Bearing 371, carom 552. Cylon raiders," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
"Bastards tracked us, all right," Colonel Tigh said.
"Launch vipers," Commander Adama said.
All of Galactica's vipers were quickly launched and faced the raiders, which had stopped in their tracks as if waiting for something.
"Apollo, the raiders are holding position," Lieutenant Brendan Hotdog Costanza said.
"Galactica, Apollo. Raiders are holding formation. Repeat, raiders are holding formation," Captain Lee Apollo Adama said.
The raiders formed a tight fence like formation and held their position.
Galactica CIC
"What the hell," Colonel Tigh said.
"Okay, this is how it's going to work. The raiders are going to send a signal to activate the virus. It could take a few seconds. On my mark, initiate the computer wipe. Miss the window…" Sharon said trailing off.
"The virus takes over every system in the ship," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
"Yeah. Sometimes you gotta roll the hard six. Right, commander?" Sharon asked looking over at Commander Adama.
Sharon cut her hand with Dee's knife and inserted the fiber optic cable deep into the wound and up her arm.
"What the hell is she doing?" Colonel Tigh asked incredulously.
"They've made contact, sir," Dualla said.
"It's moving too fast; I can't follow it," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
"We gotta stop this," Colonel Tigh said, facing Commander Adama.
"Stand by to execute computer wipe on my command," Commander Adama said.
"Systems ready, sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
"Wipe the hard drives now," Sharon said.
"Do it," Commander Adama said.
The lights in CIC flickered and power went offline to all computer systems for a few moments.
"Weapons are still offline. No dradis. Systems down. We're looking at a gods damned bloodbath. We're defenseless," Colonel Tigh said angrily.
"Apollo, Hotdog. Here they come!" Hotdog said.
"All right, copy, Hotdog," Apollo said.
"Gods, there must be hundreds of them," Lieutenant Tucker Duck Clellan said.
"Cylons are still moving in. She set us up!" Colonel Tigh yelled angrily a few moments after the computer wipe, all weapons systems were still down.
"Give me your sidearm," Commander Adama said.
"Sir," one of the marines said, taking out his sidearm handgun and handing it to Commander Adama.
"If they're coming for you, they're going to be very disappointed," Commander Adama said.
Commander Adama held up the gun to Sharon's head.
"Do it. What are you waiting for?" Colonel Tigh said.
"This," Sharon said.
All of the Galactica's systems came back online. The raiders all went offline and start drifting out of control, some hitting other raiders and receiving and dealing heavy damage.
"What the hell?" Colonel Tigh said.
"We just transmitted a signal," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
"Uh, Galactica? They-they seem to have lost power. They're drifting out of control!" Apollo said.
"What the hell?" Colonel Tigh said.
"The Cylons sent us a computer virus, we just sent one back," Commander Adama said.
"Apollo, this is Galactica. Kill the bastards," Colonel Tigh said.
"Yeah! Come on, baby," Duck said.
"Roger that. Vipers, weapons free. Engage. This-this is payback," Apollo said.
They started blowing the Cylons to hell, fish in a barrel style.
"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" Duck said .
"Whoo!" Hotdog said.
"Yeah! How do you like that? You seeing this? Got this toaster padlocked. Come on! I got another where that one came from!" Duck said laughing.
"Guys, clean 'em up! Come on; let's go," Starbuck said.
"Officers," Commander Adama said addressing the marines guarding Sharon.
"Yes sir," a marine said.
"Take her back to her cell," Commander Adama said looking at Sharon gratefully, a small smile on his face.
2 and a half months since Vanguard and her fleet left the main fleet, Day 175 since the original Cylon attack.
Unknown system - Promar sector
Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.
Battlestar Galactica and her fleet were slowly cruising through space, passing a small asteroid belt.
"Action stations, action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship, this is not a drill. Repeat. Action stations, action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship, this is not a drill," Lieutenant Gaeta said over the comms system shipwide.
"This is the Commander, sitrep," Commander Adama said into the comm link in his quarters.
"Sir, a bogie just showed up on dradis, CBDR. From the size of it, it's probably a Cylon baseship, CAPs on its way to intercept," Colonel Tigh said.
"Alert the fleet for emergency jump, I'm on my way with the President," Commander Adama said.
"Galactica Apollo, I'm outbound on approach to the basestar, Kat alongside me, I estimate one minute till intercept," Apollo said.
"Roger that Apollo. Be advised alert fighters have launched and will take station on your six in three minutes," Dualla said.
"Sitrep," Commander Adama said as he and the president entered CIC.
"We've launched alert fighters," Colonel Tigh said.
"New dradis contacts. They're launching raiders," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
"How long till we jump?" Preseidnt Roslin asked.
"Another two minutes," Colonel Tigh said worriedly.
"Sir. Sir, I'm getting colonial transponders," Lieutenant Gaeta said uncertainly.
"Colonial?" President Roslin said.
"Well, now they're using our own signals against us," Colonel Tigh said.
"Maybe. Weapons hold, hold the jump too," Command Adama said, as Colonel Tigh looked at him incredulously.
"Something up your sleeve I take it?" President Roslin asked.
"All ships Galactica, hold jump. I say again, hold jump," Dualla said.
"Ship to ship, Colonial priority one channel. Send hostile challenge and ID. Push the reply up to speakers," Commander Adama said looking at Dualla.
"Attention unknown vessel, this is the Battlestar Galactica. Identify yourself or we will fire upon you," Dualla said.
"Range now 1700 sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
Static was heard over the speakers as a response came through, "This is the Battlestar Pegasus to the ship claiming to be the Galactica, please respond."
"Pegasus? How can that be, the entire fleet was destroyed," Colonel Tigh said in disbelief.
"Get me direct contact," Commander Adama said to Dualla and picked up the comm link from the CIC main desk.
"Pegasus, this is Galactica Actual. Authenticate identity with recognition codes immediately," Commander Adama said.
"Sir, I'm receiving colonial recognition codes. They're authentic," Dualla said.
"Galactica, this is Pegasus Actual. Adama is that you?" Admiral Cain asked.
"Admiral Cain. It's a pleasure to hear your voice," Commander Adama said.
"Commander, I don't know what to say. This is a miracle," Admiral Cain said.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Commander Adama said, then turned to Dualla and said "step down to condition two throughout the fleet."
A cheer of joy spread all around C.I.C.; another colonial ship had survived the Cylon attack.
"Galactica Apollo, you are not going to believe what I'm looking at. It's like a dream," Apollo said laughing.
"Who would of thought," Colonel Tigh said, "of all ships that the Pegasus could have survived."
"Well even with Cain, now we have a second Battlestar with the fleet. Prepare the flight deck for Admiral Cain's arrival onboard the ship," Commander Adama said.
Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C 38 hours later
"Sir one of our stealthstars found this," Colonel Magene said, turning pictures that the stealthstar had taken over to the Commander, "we have positive identifications on two baseships and one resurrection ship."
"And they're in front of our path to the fleet's likely location?" Commander Belzen asked.
"Yes sir, it appears they're following something from their jump path, and I'd bet they're following Galactica," Colonel Magene said.
"Hmmm, but where is the colony and the rest of the fleet? This can't be their entire fleet chasing Galactica," Commander Belzen said.
"They're probably lurking somewhere off the road if I may say so. It's possible they've divided into various smaller fleets to try and locate Galactica's exact position," Colonel Magene said, "waiting until the times right to attack Galactica again."
"So these ships are following Galactica; and let's say they are following her, then that would mean that she really can't be too far from here," Commander Belzen said excitedly.
"I can't say with a 100% chance that they are, but I believe they are following and closing in on Galactica's fleet. Shall I send the stealthstar forward to try and track their position down?" Colonel Magene asked.
"Yes, do so. And we will do something as well; set all ships to condition one," Commander Belzen said grinning widely in anticipation.
"If I may ask, what do you plan on us doing?" Colonel Magene asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at the Commander's sudden shift in mood.
"Colonel, we're about to attack those Cylon ships," Commander Belzen replied simply, smiling widely.
"But sir, the Admiral gave us a direct order to avoid contact with the Cylons as long as possible," Colonel Magene said, protesting the Commander's plan.
"Well we don't have a choice; they are right in front of us, blocking the path to Galactica," Commander Belzen said smiling wider, "and after all, I think the Admiral will be glad that we kicked some toasters ass on the way."
"Aye sir," Colonel Magene said, and then sighed in defeat.
Colonial One - Presidential Office
"Let's start by admitting an ugly truth. What happened out there is a result of a failure in leadership of everyone in this room. We are the leaders of this fleet. As such we need to set an example. We cannot continue to let the conflicts between us…" President Roslin said before being interrupted, looking down at Admiral Cain and Commander Adama sitting in the plush chairs before her desk.
"Ok, let's just cut through the hand holding shall we? Two of his men murdered one of my officers while protecting a Cylon. They're guilty, they admitted it. And under regulations, I have complete authority to try, convict, and sentence them. And you and I both know that the penalty for that crime is death," Admiral Cain interrupted angrily.
"Admiral, surely the spirit of the law requires something more here than summary executions," President Roslin said.
"Is this what the two of you have been doing for the past six months? Debating the finer points of colonial law? Well guess what, we're at war. And we don't have the luxury of academic debate over these issues," Admiral Cain said angrily and incredulous at Roslin's response.
"You wanna cut through it, fine. You have Pegasus, he has Galactica. Two heavily armed and powerful warships. Now, I am sure that Pegasus would prevail in any fight," President Roslin said.
"I wouldn't count on that," Commander Adama interrupted.
President Roslin exhaled in exasperation before continuing, "But, certainly there would be heavy damage and you would take significant casualties. So you can go out there and fight it out with Galactica, or you can compromise. And those are the only two options on the table. Period."
"How the two of you survived this long, I will never know," Admiral Cain said in exasperation glaring at Adama, "alright. Lieutenant Thrace has sent me detailed recon information on the Cylon fleet. I want that fleet, and I need Galactica to get it. So, I am willing to go this far. I will suspend the executions until after the attack."
"I want them back on Galactica," Commander Adama said.
"I don't give a damn what you want. You are fracking lucky you're not staring at your own warrant," Admiral Cain said.
"The destruction of the Cylon fleet will take priority over all other considerations. After that, we will meet back here and we will resolve this issue. Thank you," President Roslin said and Admiral Cain quickly left.
President Roslin sat down in a plush chair next to Adama, "I'm afraid this can only end one way. You gotta kill her."
Commander Adama looked at President Roslin incredulously, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Like she said, let's cut through it. The two of you, were willing to go to war today. Do you think she's going to step down from that? She's going to bide her time, and hit you the first time she gets. That's a given. I hate to lay this on you Bill, but she's dangerous. The only thing you can do is to hit her before she hits you," President Roslin said.
"I'm not an assassin," Commander Adama said.
"No. You are a colonial officer, who has taken an oath to protect this fleet. What do you think she is going to do with the civilian fleet once she has eliminated you? You know I'm right, you just don't want to face it," President Roslin said.
"Has the whole world gone mad?" Commander Adama said rhetorically as he quietly got up and left Colonial One.
Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.
"All set sir; fighters are ready, Stealthstar 02 and 03 ready, and they will jump a few seconds before us to attack and disable the resurrection ship," Colonel Magene reported.
"Good, tell the stealthstars good hunting," Commander Belzen said.
After a few moments, two stealthstars moved away from the fleet and jumped to the location of the Cylon ships.
"Birds away, 40 seconds until our jump," Colonel Magene said.
"Well that's it then. To all ships: Vanguard and Chimera will attack the baseships, Valkyrie is to concentrate on the Resurrection ship. Squadrons Alpha and Gamma will stay with the tylium tanker and support ship," Commander Belzen said.
"10 seconds and counting; 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, jump," Colonel Magene said.
All three Battlestars disappeared in a bright flash of light.
Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.
"Jump completed sir," Colonel Magene reported.
"Good, tell Chimera to concentrate on Baseship Alpha, we will take Baseship Beta. Valkyrie is to take on the Resurrection ship, she's dead in the water," Commander Belzen said looking at the readouts form the Cylon fleet that confirmed that the stealthstars had successfully taken out the engines on the resurrection ship.
"Thank the gods, the stealthstars succeeded," Colonel Magene said.
"Yes, now let's bring the fight to the Cylons shall we?" Commander Belzen said rhetorically.
The two Mercury class Battlestars started hurling towards the escorting Baseships while firing their cannons at them. The Valkyrie passed near them and started rushing toward the Resurrection ship. It was not long before an intensive exchange of fire started between the ships, with the colonial ships having the edge.
A few long minutes after the fight started, Vanguard crippled its target and with several final shots finally destroyed the baseship. Chimera was in the same position and quickly finished off the damaged baseship she was fighting. Valkyrie arrived in range of her target; firing her main cannons on the Resurrection ship and firing a large amount of anti-ship missiles at the Cylons. It didn't take long before the Resurrection ship exploded along with many surrounding raiders.
Starbuck returned to the Cylon fleet's location in the blackbird stealthstar in a second recon mission, saw the colonial fleet attacking the Cylons and then quickly jumped back to Galactica to report on what was going on.
Vanguard C.I.C.
"Sir, all targets destroyed; several surviving raiders and two heavy raiders escaped," Colonel Magene reported.
"Our status?" Commander Belzen asked.
"27 vipers lost, only 5 survivors found. Several more vipers were crippled and we're towing those in now. Minor damage to sections 23, 25, and 27, and one nuke hit section 40 with a low yield causing moderate damage. Chimera reports minimal damage. Valkyrie survived without a scratch," Colonel Magene reported proudly.
"Excellent," Commander Belzen said.
"Sir, a few moments ago; we detected a small FTL jump 25km off our left starboard section, it appeared to be a small ship," the dradis officer reported.
"Cylon?" Commander Belzen asked.
"Don't think so, sir, I think it was some kind of stealthstar," the dradis officer replied.
"So the Galactica sent a stealthstar to spy on the Cylons," Colonel Magene said.
"Probably, can you triangulate the position where the stealthstar jumped?" Commander Belzen asked.
"I believe I can sir," the dradis officer said.
"Good, Colonel; send a raptor to our support ships and tell the fighters to attach themselves to the ships and then jump here," Commander Belzen ordered.
"Aye sir," Colonel Magene replied.
Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.
"Sir, a ship just jumped in, it's Starbuck," Specialist Dualla said.
"Already, she can't have finished the mission so fast," Colonel Tigh said in disbelief.
"Patch her through and be sure the Pegasus hears us as well," Commander Adama said to specialist Dualla.
"Aye sir, patching in now," Specialist Dualla said.
"Starbuck are you there?" Commander Adama asked.
"Yes sir," Starbuck replied.
"Did you finish the mission?" Commander Adama asked.
"Sir, you won't believe me when I say this, but the Cylon fleet just got its ass kicked by three Colonial Battlestars," Starbuck said.
"What?" Commander Adama said shocked, "Starbuck explain?"
Both Admiral Cain and Commander Adama were shocked. The C.I.C of both ships were silent as they waited for the next words coming from Starbuck.
"I jumped directly to the enemy fleet's coordinates, but before I even started my mission I was in the middle of a fight. My stealth systems were engaged and nobody detected me, I think. But I saw two Mercury class Battlestars and one Valkyrie fighting with the Cylons. The mercuries concentrated on the Baseships while the Valkyrie engaged the Resurrection ship," Starbuck said quickly.
"Did you identify the ships?" Admiral Cain asked.
"Sorry Admiral, I didn't, I was in shock and I didn't want to compromise my safety," Starbuck replied.
"More colonial ships survived," Commander Adama said, "How is that possible?"
"I don't know commander, but I know what I saw; Colonial ships just kicked the Cylons' asses hard," Starbuck said.
Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.
"Sir, the support ships just jumped in," Colonel Magene said.
"Good; prepare all ships to jump to coordinates .3.11.4. Let's hope this is where Galactica is," Commander Belzen said.
"All ships ready sir," Colonel Magene said, "Jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now."
All five ships disappeared in a big white flash.
To be continued...
Note:
Rahnas* - Colonial Version of Earth Piranhas.