Battlestar Galactica
The flight pods were fraked, but Galactica could still fight, as proven by her engaging no fewer then three baseships at once, supported by the Dominion.
And she was WINNING.
"All batteries, continue firing on Baseship Gamma! AAA, focus on missiles inbound on the Dominion; we can tank a nuke, they can't!" The ancient battlestar refused to give in, damage be DAMNED.
She took out 4 baseships in her first engagement, taking limited damage. Throughout the war, the Cylons grew to FEAR this ship.
It was why, during Raptor Talon, they brought in eight baseships just to deal with Galactica! Even as the Cylons thew litterally everything they had at the Battlestar, the old warship still fied on.
Was this her final battle? Yes. But her crew wouldn't have it any other way: not being turned into a some old and aging museum, but fighting, kicking and screaming all the way down To hell and back.
(BGM: To Hell and Back by sabaton)
"Hull breach, frame 54, deck 20! We're venting atmosphere on that deck, as well as we have fires raging on that deck!"
"Vent the deck into space after evacing anyone in there! Continue firing at Baseship Gamma! I want that damn thing destroyed!" Adama looked at the CIC of his beloved ship.
There was a small fire raging on the second level, half the displays were fried...
Yet this warship, this battlestar, refused to give in.
In the old days of intercolonial war, battlestars were grand battleships, legends in their own right.
And in actuality, Galactica wasn't called a battlestar at launch. Nash gave her that title after blowing up four baseships in her first engagement. She EARNED that name.
And here she was, 60 years later, continuing to earn it.
"Keep it up, Galactica. Keep it up!"
Dozens of Vipers, Sidewinders and ZAFT F-57 Swallows, developed from the Core Splendor, fought over Olympus Mons against Cylon Raiders and Martian Mobile Suits.
In the middle of this melee, four machines fought for the future of humanity.
"Godsdamn it, DIE ALREADY, CAVIL!"
"No! YOU DIE!" Cavil shouted, his Cylon Gundam's arms retracting revealing a pair of beam chainguns which unleashed upon the Morgan - which skillfully dodged his attacks with the same level any Colonial Ace would.
"You have LOST, Cavil. You can't stop us from blowing up that shield and that cannon's not going to change anything!"
"You would think so!"
Meanwhile, Jaden fought the other Gundam-class MS while dodging shots. "You must be related to that bastard Pinkerton to be fighting like this!"
Jaden groaned at that. Start one orgy with a bunch of Cylons and everyone starts calling him Ron's grandson. "Fuck you, you destiny-worshiping moron." He muttered, activating the railguns on the hips of the Morningstar as it fired at Eos's mobile suit - seemingly based off of the Delta Astray from its design, only more dangerous with HiMAT wings.
"I am trying to assure humanity's survival! To create a fusion-" Jaden hit the comms, turning off the link to Eos's machine.
"I've had it up to here with hearing those fucking monologues..." he muttered, raising his shield to avoid a swing from Eos's Delta Astray.
"Commander Takeo, we have a problem!" he switched to the Colonial frequency, putting him in contact with every Colonial unit. "What is it, Athena?"
"The shield's dropping. I think the cannon's going to fire again!" "Take it out!" "We don't have the firepower, sir: you have to get a warning out!"
He then made the connection as he traced the course of the cannon.
To a familiar, battered, beloved battlestar.
"Oh, fuck me. GALACTICA, TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!"
Too little...
The cannon fired.
Too late.
Adama knew it was coming: he didn't need any warning.
My ship or my crew.
Adama could save Galactica at the cost of his crew. Or he could save them at the cost of the battlestar.
"Mr. Geata, execute the jump!" "Sir, we can't with the flight pods extended!" "We all knew Galactica wasn't coming back from this. JUMP!"
Gaeta cursed "ALL HANDS BRACE!" He shouted, as the pre-programmed FTL Coordinates were hit, and Galactica jumped - narrowly missing the Slug by mere seconds.
The slug tore into the two baseships, missing the Dominion by meters.
"Dominion to Galactica!" Natarle then looked to her left.
To see a nightmare.
The battlestar twisted, contorted, much to her horror.
The flight pods undilated, moving freely before internal explosions near the engines went off. As far as the Terrans and Colonials were concerned, the battle was over.
Because Galactica was more important.
The sublights shut down before they kicked back in, weakly pushing the glorious ship.
Within CIC, Adama climbed back to his feet, rubbing out some blood in his eye "Report!"
"We broke her back… " Tigh growled, as he too sat upwards. "But… we're alive… mostly… "
She wasn't coming back from this.
On a similar note, the authors actually felt sick writing what happened to Galactica.
Back with the plot, Adama looked at the DRADIS. "All hands, abandon ship. Take every shuttle and Raptor and get the hell out of here."
Tigh looked at his old friend. "What about you?" "Leave my Viper. I'll be the last one off. After I avenge Galactica's death."
Tigh didn't get it. Until he did.
"You're gonna slam Galactica into that fraking thing."
"Get that shield down. I'll take care of the rest."
Tigh stared at Adama, but knew no matter what he said.. He wasn't going to change his mind. "...you make it back in one piece, you hear me?" He said.
"I plan on it."
Ron fired a full burst at the Cylon Gundam, but did nothing more then scratch the paint. "Fraking DIE already!"
"Your species created us! We're your 'children', so our duty is to replace you!"
"You made a mistake, Cavil!" The two Gundams locked sabers before Ron used the Mirage Colloid 'wings of light' to blind Cavil long enough to damage the bastard's thrusters.
"We're not gods!"
"FRAK YOU!"
Adama stood at the helm before gripping the controls and sending the old girl into her final mission.
Save the world. What else was new?
The computers had the preprogrammed course and would correct on the way down. The Admiral paused to look at CIC before saluting the command center.
It was the right thing to do.
"Goodbye, Galactica. It's been an honor."
He ran out of CIC, heading for the port flight pod.
Jaden was very glad he muted Eos's comms, because he knew he was probably going on some massive rant against him, the colonials and all that shit.
But he honestly didn't care. He just wanted to see this idiot die.
"If I ever hear another loon talking about some stupid Destiny plan again, it'll be too soon..." Jaden muttered, as he slammed Eos's Astray into the martian surface of Olympus - the machine quickly getting back up as they continued to exchange blows. THe two then climbed upwards, clashing sabers all the while before his scanners picked up a massive object.
And it had Galactica's IFF code.
And was heading towards him at OH FUCK NO speed.
JAden looked up to see Galactica's red-hot armored nose heading straight for him.
"THE FUCK?!"
"Uh, Jaden...tell me I'm having a nightmare."
"No… neither am I..." Jaden muttered, before looking at Eos's machine - which also looked up in shock. "...but she's taking them down with her..." he sped forward in his stupor, and swiftly grabbed its back thrusters, and ripped them off of the machine - before drawing out his beam sabers, and shredding off the Astray's arms and legs, and kicked it down to the surface. "Ron! Let's go!"
Ron transformed into MA mode as he left Cavil's crippled Gundam to die as Galactica slammed into Eos' machine first, followed by Cavil's, destroying and killing them both as a Viper launched from Galactica's port pod. "Psycho, Husker: requesting escort." "BILL? Oh, frak."
Jaden could not tear his eyes from Galactica as she slammed into the mountain, destroying the railcannon, but before it could get worse, the cannon fired.
"RUN!" Galactica was sent part way out before flipping over multiple times, landing on her sublight engines before landing belly-first on the slopes, the hull breaking apart as she slid. With one chunk of the armor slamming right into Eos's machine, crushing it under its weight.
Jaden was finally able to tear his gaze from Galactica before he saw the alarms… Galactica's reactors were going overload. And after all the modifications they made…
...Oh. FUCK!
"RON WE NEED TO BOLT! SHE'S GONNA BLOW!" Jaden shouted, as he darted away from the crashing Galactica.
"Admiral, dock with the Morgan: I can jump us into orbit!" Instead, the Admiral kicked on the afterburners, ascending higher into the atmosphere before the two Gundams transformed into MA mode and flew upwards, joining him before Galactica's engineering section exploded, sending the lighter parts of the remaining hull flying in other directions.
Jaden heard retching over the radio. He couldn't blame Ron for being sick.
He just watched a ship he poured his very being into die.
"This is Blockade: interdictors are down! Three Cylon ships just jumped out-correction, four! Frak, a resurrection ship just jumped out!"
Jaden chuckled "That won't matter… once we kill the Resurrection Hub here on Mars." He said, glancing back as Galactica's explosion caught the Railcannons in the blast radius. "Takeo to all units: the Railcannons have been dealt with."
"Understood, Commander. ...What about the Admiral?"
"Mercury, Husker: I'm fine. But Galactica's gone."
"...Orders."
"Nuke the frakers. Leave no fraking Cylon survivors!"
"You heard the man! Weapons free! FOR GALACTICA!"
"FOR FUCKING GALACTICA!" Jaden shouted, "Avenger, drop the Tsar's!"
"Fuck, the hell yes! DROPPING!"
It was as if the heavens opened up and unleashed all fury upon Olympus, as every single starship in orbit fired every last nuclear weapon they had available down upon the volcanic base of the Librarians. None more vindictive than the Avenger, who dropped down a hail of the largest bombs humanity has ever created: Tsar Bombs.
There would be no Martian dawn.
Earth - three weeks later
The loss of life was rather tame, for the Colonials: less then 10000 naval personnel were dead, less then double that number on the ground with no civilian losses.
For the Terrans...it was not as fortunate. Over one million men, women and children were dead thanks to the Cylons.
But the biggest loss, in terms of morale...was the battlestar Galactica.
When a people have seen a ship survive and thrive in war, they come to regard it, rightly or wrongly, as invincible. As indestructible.
It was why the Colonials were so savage in their counterattack on Mars: only now was the planet secure. Not one Cylon was intact. No Librarian Works personnel were surviving combatants.
Only the Junk Guild could match the rage they felt.
But that was not comfort, as a Resurrection ship had gotten away with 23 Cylon ships. All badly damaged, but with their databases intact.
"We can't disband this alliance." The Livadia Palace was famous for being the sight of the Yalta Conference, now it was famous for another reason, as the leaders of ZAFT, the Orb Union, the member-nations of the Earth Alliance, and of course the Colonials now gathered, sitting side by side together. "For the past few months… we've proven a critical point to all of humanity… that we - Natural, Coordinator, Colonial… we all can survive anything if we work together as one… by putting aside old grudges, we can work together to forge a better future for everyone… "
This was proven by the many men and women wearing the uniforms of the allies, now wearing shared universal rank pins on their collars, alongside their normal ones, in the case of the Colonials.
Kira Yamato now shared two commissions with the Orb Defense forces and with ZAFT, both as a flag officer. Athrun had a Colonial commission as well as his Orb one, Luna and shinn...you get the idea.
"The Cylon threat still exists. With Cavil's escape, we still have a threat hanging over our heads. And we cannot and will not forget Djbril and his racist cohorts! Therefore...the leaders of the Earth Alliance, the PLANTs and Orb have decided, along with myself...to formalize this alliance."
A new flag was raised, with three delta chevrons interlocked below the modified emblems of the Earth Alliance OMNI Enforcer, ZAFT's hourglass and the Colonial starbird, all as one.
"We are independent of one another, yet we are one. And the name of this organization reflects this. From this day forth… together, we are now the Independent State Allied Forces!"
The declaration was met by a roaring applause, as those watching all clapped in agreement to the name and what it now represented. At long last, the void between Naturals, Coordinators and Colonials have ended. From now on… they were all simply Humanity as a whole.
Ron sighed. "I supposed I'll have to speed up your Colonial citizenship papers." Jaden blinked. "Buh?" "Well, polygamy is legal on all worlds..."
"...goddamn it, Ron..."
Deep space
The void contained a small fleet of warships, all based on the Earth Alliance's design. With one exception.
A six-armed baseship. On board was Lord Djibril of LOGOS, sipping his wine.
"Gentlemen, we have some time before we must reenter the field of war against the Coordinators." Yuna Seiran nodded. "We will have to plant agents, steal new technologies. Anything to keep us in the lead against the Colonials."
"It will take years. It will take time. But we WILL return to Earth. And we WILL cleanse the Coordinators from the face of the universe! For the preservation of our blue and pure world!" All the LOGOS personnel raised a glass in a toast.
"Lord Djibril, this is command, we're picking up a number of warships that appear to be of Cylon design."
Djibril smirked slightly "Then deal with them, Command." He said, "Though please try to capture a few if you can… especially if they have one of those… resurrection ships..."
"That's the thing, sir: all of them are damaged. Especially a resurrection ship."
"Excellent! Send the Centurions to take command."
"That will be easier then you think, sir...they're surrendering to us. The Cylon is contacting us, requesting to speak with you."
Djbril hmmed. "Escort him here, then."
If Cavil was happy about anything, it was that that arrogant bastard Eos wasn't with him.
Even if he had to side with LOGOS, with more humans, he would get his revenge against the Colonials.
Though looking at how Djibril just staired at him, he was beginning to have second thoughts. "So… you are the leader of the Cylons, Hm?" He asked. "I was expecting something more… menacing… "
"I was made in the fraking image of my creator's mother. I'd prefer something more..." He rapped his knuckles against one of his escorting Centurions. "Metallic."
"Clearly. And I would prefer a universe without coordinators. And Colonials. Perhaps we can come to an arrangement. Your ships are VERY interesting. I would love to know where you got them. And how we can make more."
"We're securing an old base of ours - 242 Apollid." Cavil explained, "Has dockyards to build more of our ships, plus hundreds of older decommissioned units and ships."
"We'll need the coordinates." Cavil shook his head. "I don't trust humans. My own kind, because we're all machines, I do. But not you. You're so feeble and weak-minded. You lack the will to do what a machine can do."
Yuna sighed. "Look, Cavil, we don't like you. And you hate us! So what? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We'll give you whatever you want. In exchange, you give us the tools we need to destroy the Colonials."
Djibril smiled at that. He knew there was a reason he was taken along other then his loyalty.
Cavil thought about it. "After they're all dead, we're enemies." "May the best...being win, in that case. Escort him to the command deck."
The Centurion then spoke, surprising Cavil. "By your command." They soon escorted him out.
Djibril looked at Seiran as soon as the Cylon was out of earshot. "Are you sure you can hack their resurrection network?"
"The holobands work on the same system, Lord Djibril. I may not be the most...technologically inclined person from Orb, but I'm not an ignorant savage." Yuna said. "I have placed much more… tech-savvy personnel in charge of hacking the network, and another division dedicated to repurposing it for our useage. As the Cavil loyalists die, we box them and replace them with our loyalists. And when Cavil himself dies… well… one less nuisance for us to deal with."
"Good. Cavil is an arrogant bastard. The same could be said of us, but the difference is...we adapt. He won't."
He already knew Cavil needed to die, sooner rather then later.
So why not get it over with?
"As soon as we arrive...deal with him." The Centurions all nodded. "By your command."
"Good. Now...We deal with Cavil. After that...the Colonials will pay."
Ron the True Fan: This is not going to end well.
117Jorn: One story ends, while another begins!
Ron the True Fan: All of this has happened before...
Ja Ne!