I do not own Battlestar Galactica
Chapter 21 – Resolutions
Racetrack and Skulls doubled timed it back to Galactica where Commander Adama was waiting for them the moment they got off the pad.
"Did you bring back any of the wreckage?" he asked them as they stepped off the pad still in their pressure suits with their helmets on.
"Yes sir the most intact flight recorder we could find, sir this is a good thing isn't it? More Colonial Ships out there" Racetrack said to her superior officer confused at why the Commander was acting like this was some kind of bad omen
"Just get the flight recorder over to Tyrol and have him to try and recover as much as he can, after that grab some rack time dismissed" he told them and the two confused Raptor pilots left to do as they had been ordered. Meanwhile Commander Adama looked over at the wrecked pieces that had once been a Colonial Viper just like the ones in the launch tubes not far from where he was standing. If they were indeed from Pegasus then it could be very well be an omen of troubles to come, if Helena Cain was in the area then it was very possible that she might stumble upon the fleet.
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Amelia Cartwright meanwhile had retreated to her quarters where she'd stripped down and crawled into her bed to be left alone with her thoughts. The knowledge that she had wanted for so long was now finally hers and she almost wished she was still in the dark about her origins. Granted it could have been far worse than it was but still from the sounds of it her mom had been a drunken woman who didn't even have the decency to tell her father that she existed and now Amelia was nearly a grown woman and had missed so much. Her father and her brother were strangers to her. She'd have to demand a DNA test to confirm that they were indeed her family to put any further doubt to rest though.
She looked at the clock and saw that she had a shift on the CIC in ten minutes so she reluctantly got out of bed and pulled on her uniform before heading off to the command centre of the ship.
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Seth Trakiss was in a meeting with Hal Forrest and the two were discussing the situation with the Quorum of the Twelve.
"During the meeting I could tell that Laura Roslin was amenable to our terms" Hal told him "But from what we've learned Baltar and the rest of the representatives on the Quorum will not be so agreeable. Most of them live the high life as much as possible while the rest of the fleet starve"
Seth just nodded his head in sad agreement. Already some of them had gone to fleet journalists in an attempt to stir up ill-feeling towards the Civilian Assembly but it had backfired when their own journalists had unleashed a counter broadcast detailing the corruption in the Quorum and why the Assembly was demanding these changes.
"We'll just have to see what they do. With Roslin in charge I doubt they'll do anything drastic but we should still be on our guard" Seth told him "For the moment I want you and the rest of the assembly members to remain on Telmaya where I can guarantee your safety." Seth told him and Hal nodded
"I'll arrange it, how's Kendra?" Hal asked and Seth smiled
"Glowing but bored out of her mind" Seth said happily. In a couple of months he would be a father and he could hardly wait to see his and Kendra's child. He was petrified about bringing a child into this mess but life didn't wait for the war to end. You had to take happiness were you could find it. Hal was a great source of knowledge regarding parenting; despite having issues with his daughter he had experienced all the hurdles and high points of being a parent.
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Meanwhile an emergency meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve on Cloud Nine had been called by Gaius Baltar. All the delegates had arrived and Laura Roslin sat at the head of the table in her customary place. Tom Zarek was sitting in his seat looking smug about something but she had no idea what. There was a niggling feeling in her gut, a definite feeling that something was wrong but whatever it was she would have to wait till it happened.
All the delegates took their seats around the table and Baltar, Laura noticed was looking far too smug for it to be anything good. Without even letting her open the meeting as was the normal custom, Baltar started talking
"I have here signed by eleven members of the Quorum of the Twelve a declaration of no-confidence in Laura Roslin as President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol citing her lack of action in bring the errant Telmaya fleet into our own and a demand for me as Vice President to assume the office so to begin the merging process with force if required" Baltar said with supreme confidence, revelling in being the centre of attention
Laura was able to stop herself from yelling and stated calmly hoping to regain some control of the situation
"I have been trying to avoid a full Colonial civil war when we are already struggling to survive against the Cylons, they will resist any attempt to intimidate them by force" and Tom Zarek crossed his arms, admiring her composure in the face of adversity.
"It will not come to that Ms Roslin" Porter said sneering making it very clear that she was no longer the President "A quick show of force in their meeting and they will disband"
Laura just shook her head; she had hoped something like this wouldn't happen but it seemed her fears of them doing something stupid to retain their hold on power were fully justified. The Assembly met on the same Battlestar which had started their government, Trakiss would not allow any intimidation of the Assembly on his ship and certainly as Laura feared any executions. Baltar started talking again
"Since you and Mr Zarek disagree with our decision both of you will be detained here while the marines I have selected go to the Battlestar Telmaya and encourage the Assembly to submit" he said and Laura looked over to Zarek in surprise who just smiled at her as they were both tied down to their chairs by marines that had been providing security. The leader of the marines came over and Laura saw to her dismay that it was Sergeant Hadrian, the same marine who had turned the inquests about whether Galactica was lax with security in a witch hunt for Cylon agents. The bitch gave her a smug grin before turning to Baltar who told her with a smile
"This is the order that will get you and your men aboard Telmaya, go there and make it clear to the Assembly in any way you wish that they are to disband and have their citizens report to their own representatives on the Quorum of the Twelve"
"With pleasure" Hadrian said and directed her men to leave with her while the rest of the Quorum stayed to watch their captive former President and rogue Quorum member. One of Baltar's own men, returned ten minutes later to tell him that the marines would be landing on Telmaya in a moment when Zarek started laughing. Not just a small chuckle although it started like that till it got very loud. Laura and the rest of them looked at him like he had gone mad and Oswyn asked him in an angry voice
"What the hell is so funny?"
Zarek managed to stop laughing so he could tell them "You have no idea of the problems with your plan do you?
"And what flaws would there be Mr Zarek?" Baltar asked angrily and sarcastically, that this terrorist had the gall to laugh at his plans rankled so much he might have struck him if he had been that sort of man.
"That you could keep this from the rest of the fleet till you had managed to suppress the assembly" Zarek told him and started to laugh again when Baltar noticed something in Zarek's ear, he rushed over and forced the still laughing Zarek to move his head to the side by grasping it with his hands and saw that nestled in Zarek's ear was an ear piece communicator.
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All across the fleet the signal from Zarek was being relayed by the Astral Queen. Everyone close to a wireless set heard the power grab by Baltar and his cronies. On the Telmaya's CIC, Seth turned to Tyber who was standing at his side
"Get some men together and head those assholes off and station some additional men with the Assembly members in case they sneak through" Seth ordered and Tyber nodded "Yes sir" and went to leave before Seth called out
"Tyber, stop them by any means necessary" in a cold and informal tone and Tyber nodded understanding the hidden meaning.
Three squads of marines were sent to protect the Assembly members while Tyber led his own two squads to the landing bay and positioned themselves near the cargo boxes that were stacked up around the bay, containing fresh parts intended for the Galactica fleet ironically. They didn't have long to wait before the hostile raptors landed and a company of marines disembarked. The leader of the enemy marines, a woman in desert combat uniform and sporting the name tag Hadrian came up to Tyber with her rifle on her back and a piece of paper in her hands.
"This is an order by the President of the Twelve Colonies allowing us immediate access to this ship without escort" Hadrian said without even introducing herself, looking down at the little snot of a Sergeant Major who was standing in front of her.
"This vessel is not under the jurisdiction of the Quorum of the Twelve and Baltar's grab for power has been revealed to the fleet. Stand down or we will put you down" Tyber told the arrogant woman in front of him and the marines behind him all clicked the safeties off of their weapons from behind their cover
Hadrian's face instantly lost its smug sneer and she went to grab Tyber by the scruff of his neck but on instinct Tyber blocked her arm and slammed his other fist into her midsection causing her to double over.
Hadrian's marines took this as an attack and opened fire, Tyber and Hadrian both dived out of the way as the bullets flew. Tyber managed to get behind a case of adaptors and the deckhands all took cover. Telmaya's marines returned fire and Baltar's marines made to use the raptors they had arrived in as for cover but didn't stand a chance as without even thinking the Telmaya marines did as they were trained to do, shot to kill. Tyber himself nailed Hadrian as the female marine went to shot a deckhand who had taken cover behind a parked Viper.
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On Cloud Nine Baltar was panicking. The fleet was loyal to Roslin for the most part and he had intended to announce that the Telmaya fleet was being integrated into theirs bringing fresh supplies to their fleet. That should have at least put off any resistance to him for the meanwhile till he had consolidated his position. But if the Assembly had received prior warning then they could have escaped to another ship and his troops would have been intercepted.
He ignored the other members of the Quorum who were now panicking like him and focused on Zarek who had stopped laughing and was looking at them with a self-satisfied smile that inflamed Baltar and he yelled at him
"Why did you do this? You stood to gain just like we did?"
Zarek shook his head before answering "If that's what you think then you don't get me at all, I want to make the old government a thing of the past with its corruption and to make the situation for the whole of the people better rather than just the select few. Granted I'm not above fulfilling my own self-interests but at least I will try to do so when it coincides with the greater good of the people" Zarek told them. Roslin who was sitting not far away thought to herself that he was just blowing smoke
Baltar didn't have time to reply, because at that precise moment the doors to the room were blown out throwing both him and his colleagues to the floor, through the dust marines from Galactica came rushing in yelling out "Nobody move" before forcing the recovering delegates down to the floor face first and binding their hands behind their backs. Roslin and Zarek shut their eyes to avoid the dust but Roslin opened hers when she heard her name being called and saw Corporal Venner staring down at her with concern in his eyes
"Madam President. Are you alright?" he asked and she gave the Corporal a smile
"Better now you here Corporal" she told him and he smiled as he and one of his men undid the bindings on both her and Zarek
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Gaius Baltar was taken by the marines straight to the Astral Queen where he was stripped of his suit and forced to put on a set of red prison scrubs, his fellow delegates were all suffering the same treatment and as he protested "I'm a Colonial citizen I have a right a trial"
But the marines ignored him and shoved hard into one of the vacant cells on the Astral Queen and the door slammed shut behind him. He ran over to the bars and shouted to the marines who were leaving
"I' AM GAIUS BALTAR! I'M THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE TWELVE COLONIES OF KOBOL" but the marines ignored him. He rested his head against the door for a moment before the voice that had brought him comfort sometimes since the destruction of the Colonies spoke to him
"Well it seems you have really got yourself into trouble now haven't Gaius" he turned around to see Six sitting there on the bunk in the same red dress she had worn the first time she had appeared to him
"You've got to help me, I need to get out of here" he pleaded with her but she just smiled a smug smile before saying
"I don't think that there's much I can do Gaius. But at least you did prove useful to us in the end" and he looked at her confused "Your little grab for power has left the old government broken and the Assembly will take charge unifying the Colonials under one banner. But now we don't need you anymore" she added with a finality in her voice that made the horror of his situation dawn on him
"But" he stammered and she gave him an insincere looking expression of pity
"No Gaius your little part in this saga is done. You are going to remain locked up in this cell for the rest of your wretched life until one day no-one will even remember the name Gaius Baltar" she said before saying with something akin to regret in her voice "Goodbye Gaius" and vanished into thin air
Then overcome with everything that had happened, Gaius's mind finally snapped and with tears streaming down his face he yelled out "SIX COME BACK"
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A few hours later on Galactica the commanding officers of all the military ships in the fleet gathered with Colonel Tigh, Hal Forrest and Laura Roslin in one of the big meeting rooms to discuss what to do next. Laura had come to a decision about what she was going to suggest, and to be fair she preferred it
"I suggest that we integrate our fleet with yours Hal. It would take too long to rebuild our old government and as was just proved it was too susceptible to corruption" and everyone nodded much to her relief, she was still devoted to the fleet's survival but had never wanted the job herself and was confident that the fleet was safe in the Assembly's hands, Hal smiled and told her
"I'll send out some people to get the integration process started but I believe Commander Adama had something he wanted to say" and everyone turned to the oldest of the military officers in the room who put his glass of water down to stand up and report
"This morning a raptor on long range scouting operations discovered wreckage of several Mark 7 Vipers. They recovered the flight recorder and brought it back to Galactica where my crew chief managed to get some recordings off of it" he said pausing for a moment before telling them "It confirmed that the Battlestar Pegasus was in this general area less than three days ago"
The reaction in the room was immediate, they all lost any smiles they had and grimaced. Trakiss had ensured that all of the military commanders and the executive officers had seen the disturbing evidence that Telmaya had collected regarding the piracy-like actions of the Pegasus. His visit to Colonel Colchester had been to gather her support should Pegasus arrive. The horrible images from the stripped ships they had discovered filled with bodies that had either been shot with colonial guns that had been made to protect or suffocated by the build-up of CO2 after Pegasus had removed the ship's air scrubbers. Some people had still been alive on-board and spend weeks in the sick bays before finally recovering or not as was unfortunate in many cases.
"Well if Pegasus is sending out long patrols like we do then they'll probably find the fleet eventually, the large Cylon fleet following us is enough of a giveaway" the dark haired and recently promoted Colonel Abby Brant of the cruiser Ulysses pointed out and Colonel Paula Yates of the Dreadnaught Achilles asked
"Well what are we going to do?" and Seth told her
"Not allow her control of this fleet that's what"
"But how, she's a Rear-Admiral, we're just a collection of Commanders and Colonels" Colonel Russell O'Donnell of the Battlestar Vulcan said "The more duty bound members of our crews would probably obey her, if we had a Vice or Fleet Admiral we'd be alright" he added resigned but the Colonel Ishii of the Battlestar Rycon clicked her fingers and said surprising everyone
"That's it" and Laura Roslin looked over at her and asked
"What's it?" and Ishii explained
"As the Head of the government, Chairman Forrest has the power with the agreement of the Assembly to appoint an officer in the Colonial Military to the rank of Fleet Admiral during a state of emergency. With a full fleet admiral in charge Cain won't have any option but to follow if she wants the protection that the uniform provides and to remain in command of Pegasus"
They all took a moment to think about her proposal before Seth smiled and told her
"That's brilliant Beatrix" loosing formality and calling her by her first name for once and she smiled back while he spoke "There's really only one choice for the position, Commander William Adama" and the older man looked at Seth surprised as did many of the others in the room before Seth explained his reasoning
"Commander Adama is an experienced officer who has a reputation for excellence, Cain would have more respect for him than any of us and I feel that he has the necessary chops to stop Cain if she pushes" and the old man looked at his young counterpart who smiled back at him and said
"I'm glad to see that you have so much faith in me but I think Chairman Forrest has something to add" and they all turned to Hal who frowned. Hal would rather have had Seth as Fleet Admiral but as Seth had just pointed out, Adama had a much better chance of controlling Cain than he did.
"I'll get it approved with the Assembly but I can guarantee you that they will have two concessions" he said and Adama braced himself for whatever supply demand they would have only to hear Hal say "That Commander Trakiss is second in command and that we have a representative for the civilian government aboard Galactica at all times"
"Done, do you have any one in mind?" Adama said without hesitation
"I think Laura Roslin would make a good representative don't you?" Hal said and Laura smiled as did Adama who said
"Absolutely"
Seth smiled before saying "Right we need to do this properly so there can be no doubt in anyone's minds. A full naming ceremony for Commander Adama, rank pins and a new uniform" he said
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Amelia had just gotten off her shift in the CIC and arrived in her quarters when she noticed the picture of her mother Carolanne that she had been given by Captain Adama was sitting on her sideboard just where she'd left it. She walked over and picked it up and stared, trying to image the sort of woman she was but didn't know enough
'But if I contacted Commander Adama and Captain Adama they could tell me' she thought to herself and decided to at least hear them out. She'd arrange a meeting tomorrow
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