AN: So, I decided that I liked Exodus Part 2 so much, I wanted to incorporate some of the events into my story...enjoy!
Kara did her best to keep her voice from shaking as she talked to Kacey, distracting her, while Sharon and Cottle slit the little girl's arm and ran a thin cable up it. She'd winced as blood started to run down her arm, but hadn't ever looked away from her mother.
"I'm ready," Sharon said once she'd repeated the procedure on herself. "Hey, Kace, look at me, okay? Just focus on me…" She closed her eyes, and reached out to the organic computer that was the little girl's brain.
Kara watched, biting her lip, as Sharon worked. She wondered if Leoben would actually risk killing Kacey in order to keep her. Would she download and wind up back on New Caprica? Or would she simply die? The idea of an identical, empty little child's body waiting for her on that planet gave her chills.
Lords, don't let her die, but if she does, don't let them have her…
The ship's overhead began blaring again, calling for action stations. This time, however, pilots were supposed to be reporting to their fighters. "What's wrong?" Sam asked Kara.
"I don't know…somebody must be having trouble with their FTL; we can't jump away yet." She was absolutely torn in that moment. Her squadrons needed her, but so did her daughter. How the frak was she supposed to decide between the two?
"Go," Sam quietly said. "This is why you're here, isn't it? To be a pilot? I'll stay with Kacey. Go."
At the end of one of Galactica's starboard launch tubes, hell awaited. Three of the civilian ships hadn't been able to get their FTL engines online, so Galactica stayed behind to protect them. Pegasus had already jumped ahead to protect the other ships at the rendezvous point. Kara watched as the ship that had been launched beside hers got nailed by a raider before the pilot could even hit the turbo.
Two basestars were showering Galactica with all the artillery they had – neither of them was paying a bit of attention to the civilian ships. They weren't after anyone else, Kara realized as she picked off two Raiders. They just wanted Galactica.
Kara whipped her Viper around as a Heavy Raider soared past her, heading straight down toward Galactica. She unleashed her guns on it, turning the enemy fighter into a fireball only seconds before it would have impacted the ship. Looking up to make sure no one was tailing her, she realized that the raider hadn't been alone – several ships were attempting kamikaze attacks on the Battlestar.
"Starbuck to all pilots," she yelled over the wireless. "Watch Galactica's back! They're using their frakking ships as weapons." It took every bit of skill that the squadron possessed to stop the Raiders, but Galactica was still in trouble.
Kara noticed the flashes of light that indicated that the other civilian ships had finally been able to get the hell out of dodge, but the call for the Vipers to return home never came. "Starbuck, Galactica; we're getting torn up out here." Another exploding Viper proved her point. "Request permission for immediate combat landings."
There was a pause, which she didn't like the sound of. "Request denied," a voice that sounded an awful lot like Helo told her. "Power to Galactica's FTL has been cut. All fighters are directed to continue their attack while repairs are attempted." Kara looked down at the ship, currently surrounded by a frighteningly impressive fireworks display. Things had been bad during the attack at Ragnar Anchorage, and they hadn't looked too good, either, during the fight to take out the Resurrection Ship, but she'd never seen Galactica that close to actually being overrun.
Sharon tried to keep herself upright as the ship pitched beneath her feet, bucking and rolling as the Cylon assault continued. Keeping her mind focused on Kacey was no easy task, but she had to. If they somehow managed to escape this fight, they wouldn't survive another battle so soon after. The little tracking beacon in the middle of the fleet had to be turned off.
Working at the speed of thought, she quickly tried to figure out whether Leoben was still lurking in Kacey's mind and how much of a hold he had. She was almost unprepared when the little girl's link to the Cylon data network turned on full flow and she was nearly swept away in a tide of information. Leoben knew what she was doing – they all knew what she was doing. At some point, the knowledge filtered into her mind that if she died, she wouldn't ever wake up again. With this final act of treason, the Cylons had turned their backs on her.
Standing in Pegasus' CIC, Lee noticed when dradis registered that their three missing civilian ships had finally rejoined the rest of the fleet. However, the seconds continued to tick by and Galactica didn't follow suit.
"The captain of the Pan Galactic Liner wishes to speak with you," his communications officer, Hoshi, spoke up. "He says…" the man put the phone back to his ear and listened for a moment. "He says he believes the Galactica is in trouble."
TBC...