Only one chapter this week. I am making a number of changes in the rest of the chapters to take into account some of the changes I have made in the previous chapters. Some of these changes were made due to suggestions from readers and others that I thought would make the story more interesting. There are only about four to six chapters remaining. I have not written the last chapter yet. I know how this is going to end and I promise it will be a very interesting and surprising ending. There are a few major changes I have to make in the next few chapters and I don't want to write the final one until I am sure I have everything set up just like I want.

DAY 330

CYLON COMMAND BASESTAR

HIGH CAPRICA ORBIT

The Cylon Command Staff was meeting aboard the Cylon Command Basestar currently in high orbit above Caprica. On the main view screens, Caprica was visible below as well as the human fleet that set defiantly at the center of the troublesome Defense Satellites. James Cavil stared with obvious agitation on his face at the others before speaking. "Four attacks on our outer bases in the last eighteen days. Three Support Ships destroyed! Why are the Colonials attacking our bases and why now?"

"This could be the beginning of a new offensive on their part," Mark Conoy replied from where he stood with both hands in the information stream as he studied the data. "From the reports we have received from the heavy raiders that escaped, we have two separate human fleets involved in the attacks."

"Have we identified any of the ships involved?" James demanded irked that the Colonials had chosen this time to attack the bases. Why had Clements survived? He was becoming his nemesis. Nearly half the fleet was gone with John and Darien chasing human survivors across the galaxy. Other ships had been damaged or destroyed in the original attack on the Colonies. Even more ships had been destroyed at the human's secret base, which Darien had attacked before setting off after the survivors of that base. Who knew where they were now. Neither had been heard from for months! Not only that, but John had taken both the Hub and the Colony without consulting him or the other Ones in the Colonies or on Cylon. His fellow human form Cylons at the bases and elsewhere were demanding additional ships to protect them.

"The Battlestars Canopus and Caprica seem to be the flagships of the two fleets," Melissa (8) replied. "The two Warstars Olympia and Athena have both been positively identified as well. The Olympia with the Canopus fleet and the Athena with the Caprica fleet. They are the two Warstars that have been equipped with the MPL weapon that is being used against us. There are also several other unidentified Warstars, possibly two Columbia Two Class Battlestars, and a small number of Gunstars."

"This new MPL weapon is much more powerful then the ones used at the start of the first war with the humans," Simon commented frowning. "Our ship's armor is not thick enough to withstand it."

"These two ships are not being left nearly powerless after firing their MPL like earlier versions of the weapon the Colonials and we deployed in the first war," Lisa (6) commented. "I believe they are testing this new weapon in these attacks upon our bases."

"They are using fleets that are just large enough to take out our bases with minimal losses to themselves, but not large enough to take on one of our major fleets," Simon commented concerned at this new tactic of the Colonials. This was one of the reasons why they had taken such pains in the original attack to eliminate all the commanding Admirals and Generals. As Cylons, they just didn't have the military training the Colonial commanding officers had. "What can their purpose be? We can easily replace what they are destroying."

"Yes but it will take time to rebuild and resupply those bases," LeAnna Biers spoke. "They are also destroying our Support Ships that are guarding these facilities. Need I remind all of you, that after what that mysterious Colonial Battlestar Group did to our shipyards back home, we don't have the shipbuilding capacity that we once did!"

"Not only that we can only build a few more Basestars," Lisa (6) added staring accusingly at James. "Without the Colony, we can't create any more hybrids to operate new Basestars!"

"We have enough!" James flared back in anger his eyes narrowing. "I have already ordered that all new Support Ships are to be more heavily armed. I have ordered heavy KEW batteries and more defensive weapons to be installed."

"Why weren't we consulted about that?" Melissa (8) demanded. "You can't order changes in our ship designs without a consensus!"

"It was necessary," James replied glaring at Melissa (8). "We must have more powerful Support Ships at our disposal until the Colony returns."

"We wouldn't have this problem if John hadn't moved the Colony in the first place," Lisa pointed out her eyes meeting James's. "The Colony should never have been moved in the first place or the Hub!"

"There is nothing we can do about that now," James replied his anger seething staring at Lisa. "We must work with what we have available, and quit crying over the past! We will have to make due until the Colony returns. The new shipyards are coming on line, and they will be building the new and more powerful Support Ships as I ordered!"

"We need to worry about what the Colonials are up to," Simon interrupted changing the subject. "There has to be a reason behind these attacks."

"Can they be trying to draw our remaining fleet out?" Lisa asked staring at James daring him to say something. She was getting very tired of the Ones arrogance. The Ones had urged them into this ill-fated war, much to the dismay of the Sixes and Eights. "They may want us to disperse our forces to protect our bases so they can attack us elsewhere."

"Perhaps," James replied turning away from Lisa and looking over at Simon. "We know that they are aware of our captives on Picon and probably those that are on Celeen 2. This could be an attempt to get us to spread out our forces before they launch an attack against those facilities to try to rescue the captives."

"What is the current estimate of the fleet that the Colonials still have?" Simon asked.

Melissa placed her hands in the information stream scanning for the data. "From what we have been able to determine from the attacks on Caprica, Ragnar Anchorage, the Colonial Fleet currently above Caprica, and the assaults on our bases. We estimate that the surviving Colonial Fleet consists of 3 Mercury Class Battlestars, 1 Jupiter Class Battlestar, 8 Columbia Two Class Battlestars, 1 Valkyrie Class Battlestar, Four Warstars, 10 Gunstars, 2 Assaultstars, an unknown number of Marine Assault Ships, and an unknown number of Escortstars."

"That many!" Simon said surprised his eyes widening. "How did that many ships escape our initial attack?"

"The majority of those ships came from the Boneyards," Kelvin Doral stated looking over at James. "Evidently Admiral Clements reached the Boneyards immediately after our attack and probably stripped it of every useable ship he could take that was FTL capable."

"So we don't know for sure just how large a fleet he really has?" LeAnna Biers asked with concern and worry in her voice. "He could have more ships that we haven't seen yet."

"He can't have too many more ships or he would have used them at Caprica," James replied with an angry frown. "In the attacks upon Caprica and Ragnar Anchorage he had to have used the majority of the ships at his disposal. He probably left a small fleet back at his base, which we still have not been able to locate."

"So we are facing approximately 20 capital ships plus escorts," Mark Conoy muttered unhappily.

"We still have nearly 100 capital ships still at our disposal and a huge advantage in raiders and heavy raiders," James replied angrily wishing his fellow Cylons had more faith in the Plan. "If we can force Clement's fleet into an engagement we can destroy it! We will overwhelm his ships with our raiders just like we did Admiral Nagala at Virgon."

"But how do we do that?" Lisa asked she was beginning to distrust nearly everything that James or the other Ones said. "They can attack us anywhere. If we attack them with a force capable of defeating them, they will just jump away and flee back to their hidden base."

"The humans are keeping a fleet here at Caprica at all times," James replied with a savage smile gesturing toward the view screen, which showed the Colonial ships. "We are going to mine the human enclaves on Picon and Celeen 2 with nuclear charges."

"With nuclear charges," Melissa stammered shocked. "How can you do such a thing?"

"Because it will pin down the rest of Admiral Clement's ships!" James replied. "We will keep a fleet of 20 Basestars and at least 20 Support Ships just outside of detection range of the Picon system. That will still give us enough ships to cover the other Colonies as well as Caprica from a surprise attack. When the humans attempt a rescue of our human captives, and they will, we will wait until they have landed marines and committed themselves to the operation. Once that has occurred, we will set off the nuclear charges eliminating the captives and the majority of the marines that have landed. We will jump into the system with our fleet and hit them while they are trying to extricate their surviving marine forces from their failed landing operations. They will be forced to commit their precious fleet to cover the extrication of those ground forces."

Pausing for a moment, he continued. "The attacks on our support bases, while not a major set back are still a problem. Order extra raider squadrons to be assigned to all of our bases. Double the number of Support Ships at all major bases to ensure they are adequately protected. Put extra raider squadrons out on patrol. With the extra raiders and Support Ships, that should limit the human attacks. I don't want any Basestars committed to this; they are to be held back for the main operation at Picon."

"I don't know if I like the idea of using nuclear charges on the Picon enclave," Lisa objected with concern on her face, then warningly. "If we fail to destroy the human fleet and are responsible for ruthlessly wiping out so many of their remaining young people, their anger will be unrelenting."

"I agree," Melissa added looking at James challengingly. "As long as those young humans are alive, we have a bargaining chip we can use if we ever need it."

"Frak the humans," Cavil exploded angrily, what was wrong with the Sixes and Eights, why were they always questioning his decisions. "Do you think they will ever forgive us for wiping out nearly fifty billion of their people! What does a few hundred thousand more mean? No, this is an opportunity to destroy their fleet or at the very least destroy enough of their remaining fleet so that they will never again be a threat to us!"

The other Cylons in the room agreed and Lisa and Melissa withdrew their objection. In Cylon culture, the majority always ruled and once a decision was made, the others would obey.

Two hours later Lisa slipped into Melissa's quarters aboard the Basestar.

"We can't allow James to set off those nuclear charges," she began her blue eyes shifting nervously. "We must stop him! If we allow all these young humans to be wiped out, we lose our most important bargaining chip with Admiral Clements."

"What do you propose we do, after all James's plan may actually work," Melissa replied feeling ill at ease with this conversation. She knew the other Eights would not like what James was planning. "I agree that it would be a good back up to have those humans as a bargaining chip if things go terribly wrong for us, but I just don't see how we can stop him. The others have agreed to his plan."

"We both know that in the beginning the Sixes and the Eights were opposed to this war. Even a number of the Twos questioned the wisdom of attacking the humans. There were even rumors that the Cylon Mainframe back on Cylon was against it," Lisa replied.

"But no one but the Ones have access to the Cylon Mainframe anymore," Melissa replied remembering the initial discussion on the attack on the humans. The Sixes and Eights had only gone along because the others had ruled against them. They had agreed to support the majority decision. "What can we do?"

"I am afraid that James is seriously underestimating Admiral Clements capabilities," Lisa continued worriedly. "Admiral Clements was fourth in command of the entire Colonial fleet. He is a very capable and intelligent commander."

"A very dangerous Admiral," Melissa replied recalling what she knew of Clements.

"This entire episode with Admiral Clements seems to have been too well thought out," Lisa continued thoughtfully. "It's as if the Colonial High Command secretly planned on what might happen if we attacked and destroyed their Colonies. Admiral Clements is the spearhead of that plan, and I fear we might be greatly underestimating his capabilities."

"James seems so sure though," Melissa spoke weighing Lisa's words carefully in her mind. If they went against the consensus, they might face some serious ramification later.

"Who knows what assets the Colonials put back for this plan. With Admiral's Stockwell and Reynolds, he has a very competent set of Admirals for his fleet. We know this just from the attacks on Caprica and Ragnar. They were brilliantly executed! Just look what they have done to our bases with little or no loss to themselves. Who knows just how large an industrial base this Sidon mining colony has? We know they have the Nexus Shipyard at their disposal plus other assets! What if they have another secret base like the one Darien attacked."

"What can we do?" Melissa asked, a lot of what Lisa was saying made sense.

"We give the humans the disarming codes for the nuclear charges," Lisa replied with fire in her eyes. "That will put the humans in our debt and give us a bargaining chip if we ever need it."

"Give them the codes!" Melissa stammered shocked her eyes opening wide. "If James finds out he will have us both executed. He will throw us out the nearest airlock. We will die; there is no more resurrection until the Hub returns!"

"We just have to make sure he never finds out," Lisa replied softly. "Now here is what I need for you to do."

For several hours the two Cylon met discussing their plans. The role they were about to play could be very dangerous, but it might also be the only thing that could some day save the Cylon race if James's plans went awry.

DAY 340

Lieutenant Jantz felt very vulnerable standing out in the open completely unarmed. He knew that Sergeant Rush had several hand picked sharp shooters with heavy assault rifles covering his back. The Sergeant had wanted to handle this meeting, but Lieutenant Jantz felt that this was his responsibility. He wasn't going to risk someone else's life doing his job!

A few hours back, Deep Shelter Base had received a tight beam message stating that one of the Cylon High Command needed to meet with the commanding officer of the base urgently. The message stated very clearly that no reply to this message was to be sent, other then an officer to the designated meeting coordinates at the stipulated time. After a heated discussion General Ashton had agreed to the meeting with Major Rice vehemently opposed. Major Rice felt that it could be a Cylon attempt to infiltrate the base and that the Human Cylon should be executed as soon as he or she made an appearance.

General Ashton had contacted the Solaria, which was currently in orbit and requested that Colonel Adams fly down immediately for an important conference. Colonel Adams had arrived within the hour in his raptor and had concurred with General Ashton that they at least needed to find out what the Cylon wanted. Proper defensive measures would be taken to ensure that the Cylon could not harm the base or see anything that might be of sensitive military value.

Lieutenant Jantz's sense of worry went up exponentially as a blonde Cylon female escorted by two Centurions stepped out of the trees. The blonde looked around carefully, her eyes finally focusing on Lieutenant Jantz. Walking over to him, she stopped a few feet away and looked at the Lieutenant as if measuring him. A towering Centurion stood protectively on each side of her.

"I am Lisa," she said in a normal sounding human voice looking into the Lieutenant's eyes. "I have important information for your Commander."

"We will see about that," Lieutenant Jantz replied in a slightly hostile voice. "I have been instructed to take you to our base. Your Centurions however must stay here!"

"Very well," Lisa replied. She hadn't really expected to be able to take the Centurions, she just felt safer and more secure in their presence. The two were programmed to protect her at any cost, and they were totally obedient. Turning she instructed the two Centurions to return to the tree line and wait for her there.

An hour later Lisa was seated in the conference room of Deep Shelter Base. She had been blindfolded as a precaution and had been escorted by a squad of heavily armed marines. She was led down to the conference room where the meeting would take place.

General Ashton and Colonel Adams were seated across from her with four heavily armed marines in the room. Two of them had their heavy assault rifles pointed directly at the Cylon woman with the safeties off.

Lisa blinked her eyes as the blindfold was removed and looked across at the two men seated across from her. She recognized General Aston immediately from an information packet she had studied on Caprica's defenses nearly two years earlier. No wonder this base has been such a pain in the Cylon's ass, she realized. Just how many commanding officers did we miss in the initial attack she wondered? It seemed like more kept popping up all the time."

"I am General Ashton," the General began studying the blonde Cylon across the table from him carefully. "This is Colonel Adams who is a representative of the Fleet Commander."

"Admiral Clements," Lisa replied with a nod, there was a Major Adams that was listed as Clement's Exec at the Caprica Shipyards. Lisa knew this was probably the same man. "We know that he survived."

General Ashton hesitated for a moment as he digested this tidbit of information. So the Cylons had figured out that Admiral Clements had survived and was leading the war effort against them. That was information that they would need to get to the Admiral. Not that it changed anything, but it could mean that the Cylons were more aware of their capabilities then they had originally thought.

"Just why have you requested this meeting?" General Aston asked looking sharply at the Cylon. "What do you want?"

Lisa paused a moment as she gazed at the two human men. She was uncomfortably aware of the rifles the marines had pointed at her. She wondered if she had made a critical mistake and wouldn't be getting out of here alive. "We are aware that you know about the prisoners on the moon Celeen 2 and the planet Picon," she spoke watching the two to see how her words affected them.

General Ashton looked back at the Cylon woman, wondering just what her game was. They had discussed the possibility of Celeen 2 and Picon being a trap. Particularly since a lot of Cylon communication recently had been about the prisoners. It was as if the Cylons wanted to ensure that the Colonials knew about the captives.

"We suspected that," he replied noncommittally. "Your communications the last few months have not been very secretive, we have suspected it may be a trap. Now please tell us why you are here and why I shouldn't have you taken outside and executed for crimes against our race. Particularly the destruction of our Colonies!"

"Because of the information I have," Lisa replied turning slightly pale. She had known there was a chance she might not leave here alive, but it was a risk she had been willing to take. "We know that you are preparing a rescue operation."

"How does that affect anything?" General Ashton replied glancing at Colonel Adams. "You had to know that once we knew about the captives, we would attempt a rescue at some point in time."

"We will eliminate the captives if you attempt a rescue," Lisa replied nervously looking over at one of the marines who had his rifle aimed at her head. "Even as I speak nuclear charges are being emplaced in all the camps on Celeen 2 and Picon. When your fleet shows up and your marines begin to land, they will be set off. These nukes are powerful enough to kill all the captives and inflict heavy casualties on your marine force."

"Nuclear charges?" Colonel Adams spoke in surprise a frown covering his face. "Why are you telling us this, answer, your life hangs in the balance!"

Lisa paused as she contemplated what she was about to say. She was not going to mention the Cylon fleet that would be waiting in ambush. If Cavil's plan somehow succeeded, the human fleet would be destroyed. If it didn't, the information she was about to give to the humans could some day be used as a powerful bargaining chip. She was playing a dangerous balancing act that could easily get her killed if anything went awry.

"If you know about the rescue operation then why are you here?" General Ashton interjected with a questioning look. "It seems to me like you are giving us valuable information that could affect our rescue plan. I warn you, if you are trying to mislead us, we won't hesitate to have you executed!"

"I am doing neither," Lisa replied raising her eyebrow. "You need to know that not all Cylons agreed with the attack on your Colonies. The Six's and Eight's both voted against the attack. We believed that a peaceful coexistence could be worked out between us. But the other models led by John Cavil, a One, disagreed and we were out voted."

"But your two models still assisted in the attack!" General Ashton barked with anger. "Nearly fifty billion people wiped out, the Colonies in ruin. If you disagreed with the attack how could you participate in such insane blood shed!"

"We follow the concept of majority rule," Lisa replied simply her gaze unwavering. "We agreed long ago to obey the majority decision in our society."

"Then why are you here now?" Isn't your very presence here flouting of that idealism?" Colonel Adams demanded with cold look in his eyes as he glared at the Cylon. He wondered what she really wanted.

Lisa paused a moment before continuing. This was a lot more difficult then she had imagined. For an instant, she wondered if she had made a mistake in coming here. "No, some of us now believe that the Cavil line is flawed and is recklessly endangering the Cylon race. The Ones were the primary movers in promoting he attack upon your Colonies. We believe that their hatred for humans is affecting their decision-making. I am willing to give you the disarming code for the nukes that are being placed in the human compounds." She hesitated looking at the two men. They both had a surprised and stunned look upon their faces at the mention of the disarming codes.

"The disarming codes," General Ashton replied wondering what this Cylon wanted. She had to want something in exchange for the codes. "Why would you do that?"

"There may come a time when I ask you to trust me, to listen to a proposal that some of us have talked about in secret from the other models," Lisa replied in a more calm voice. "If that time comes, all I ask is that you listen and remember that I gave you these codes. We also want you to understand that not all Cylons are quite as evil as you want to believe."

"That's all, just a promise that I will listen to you?" General Ashton said looking into Lisa's deep blue eyes in disbelief.

"That's all General," she replied with a slight nod of her head. "I can't tell you when or what that discussion will be about, other then that it might occur some time in the future, and it might be very important to the survival of both of our races."

"Very well," General Ashton replied with a deep breath. "I can't guarantee anything other then that I will listen. If these codes work, then I will stand by our bargain. I will give Admiral Clements my decision, and I am sure that he will stand by it. Now what are the disarming codes?"

Two hours later Lisa was back with her Centurions. She had given General Ashton the disarming codes for Cavil's nukes. She just hoped she had not made a colossal mistake!

DAY 350

Admiral Clements sat at the conference table aboard the Aurora, as the General Staff met to finalize the strikes on Celeen 2 and Picon.

"The two new colonies have been completed and we are moving the last of the civilians into their new homes," Mayor Mike Patterson reported. It had taken a lot of work, but the colonies were ready.

"We should have everyone settled into the New Haven Colony in two more days. So far everything is going very smoothly," Governor Anderlen added looking over at Mike who nodded in agreement. "From what Mike and I have worked out, we will have 700,000 people living in the Sidon Colony, another 125,000 in Agro 1, and the remainder totaling about 833,000 will be living in the New Haven colony. That is slightly below what all three colonies are capable of handling and should work out very well for all concerned."

"What about the shielding and weapons for the two colonies, how long will that take?" Admiral Clements asked. He would feel a lot better when both of the new colonies were as heavily armed as the Sidon.

General Collins looked through several sheets of paper on the conference table before him. "We are still working on installing the reactive shielding on both of the new colonies. Once that is completed, the weapon emplacements will be added. That alone is going to take us at least another year. Our current estimates are 312 days before the New Haven colony is fully shielded and armed and nearly 420 day before Agro 1 is completely shielded and armed."

"That long," Admiral Clements commented knowing he was trying to rush things. "Is there any way we can speed up that time line, I will feel a lot more comfortable when those two colonies are capable of defending themselves."

"I don't see how," General Collins replied shaking his head. "Mayor Patterson and Governor Anderlen have been working with me on installing the reactive shielding, and we just don't see any practical way to speed up the process. We will be using most of our available resources as it is."

"Very well," Admiral Clements responded accepting that it was going to take awhile. "What about the next colony, when can we expect it to be completed?"

"The next colony will be Caprica Prime and it is already under construction," General Collins replied. "We have completed the cylinder shape and have begun hollowing out the interior. We estimate the colony will be completed and ready for habitation in another 220 days. We are using too many of our resources on the shielding and weapons for the other two colonies to be able to complete it any sooner."

"What about the Gunstar construction bays on the New Haven Colony? What is the current status on them?" Clements asked curious when new ship construction could be started. He had suspected that the third new colony would take longer then the first two. They only had so many resources available and they were starting to spread them a little thin with all the projects they were working on.

"The construction bays are nearly complete and we should start ship construction in another 30 to 40 days," Admiral Anders commented. He was responsible for setting up the construction bays in the New Haven Colony. "As you know, we had a number of high tech military people at the Boneyards and they have gone through the plans for the original Titan Class Gunstar and made a number of modifications. I have placed a list of the changes and modifications we have made in the folder before you."

"Solium Plasma shells," Admiral Reynolds said surprised his eyes widening looking at the list of changes. "How the frak can we control something like that? Isn't Solium too dangerous an explosive to be used in a shell?"

"It's a specially modified rail gun," Admiral Anders replied. "Professor Ravashol has been working with the engineers on this. He assures me it will be safe. The Solium will be super heated into plasma and injected into the magnetic field of the railgun, then fired at high velocity toward its target. We estimate it will hit with the force of a tactical nuke."

"What if the magnetic field fails, I wouldn't want super heated Solium in the form of plasma loose on my ship!" Admiral Reynolds continued in a worried voice. Solium had always been a dangerous substance and had caused more then one massive explosion on warships in the past.

"No danger," Admiral Anders continued. He had expected some concern over this shell. He had the same concerns when it was first mentioned to him. "There is an emergency system that will super cool the Solium and neutralize it if necessary. To continue, the new Titan Class Gunstar will also be equipped with 220 point defense turrets, 12 missile tubes, 2 medium mega pulse laser cannons, 4 twin heavy laser turrets, and 12 twin defensive laser turrets, as well as the two Solium plasma railguns. She will also be capable of handing a squadron of 18 vipers and 4 raptors."

"That's one fraking lot of firepower," Admiral Reynolds commented amazed at the weapons that were being put on the Gunstar. "Is power generation going to be a problem?"

"No," Admiral Anders replied looking at Admiral Reynolds. "The ship will be equipped with two Primary Energizers. The Titan will also be equipped with a new reactive armor that is reinforced with a dissipating force field that will spread the impact energy over a larger portion of the hull reducing damage from an attack. Once again, we have Professor Ravashol to thank for this breakthrough. We estimate that this Gunstar will have a defensive and offensive strength nearly three times of what our current Assault Gunstars have."

The room was quiet as everyone digested this surprising information. Admiral Clements had known that the military techs had been going over the plans, but he had not expected anything like this. He knew that they were very fortunate that Professor Ravashol had been at the Boneyards. The brilliant scientist had been extremely useful.

"Why haven't we built ships like this before?" Admiral Stockwell asked. "Surely this isn't all new technology?"

"No sir, not all of it," Colonel Peterson replied. "We have had some of the technology to build more powerful ships like this for quite some time, but the cost factor has always prevented it. If we were still facing colonial budget restrictions and cost factors, Gunstars like these would cost nearly four times what our normal Gunstars cost. That's why nothing like this was ever built or even seriously discussed."

"When will the first ones be completed?" Admiral Clements asked. It sounded like these new Titan Class Gunstars would be very deadly to a Cylon Basestar.

"The construction bays are designed to build four Titan Class Gunstars at the same time. While most of the construction will be done robotically, some of it will still have to be done by trained technicians," Admiral Anders replied looking around the group. "We estimate that the first four will be ready 240 days after we begin construction."

"You have got to be kidding," Admiral Reynolds said surprised. "You can build four Titan Class Gunstars with all these modifications that quickly?"

"You have to understand Admiral," Colonel Peterson replied smiling. "These construction bays we built are the most modern ever constructed. We didn't have to worry about costs or making do with cheaper equipment. Everything in the new bays is state of the art."

"How did you manage that," Admiral Stockwell asked in amazement. "I thought you were using parts from the Boneyards to build the bays?"

"Some parts," Admiral Anders replied. "Everything is being rebuilt and modified as it is being installed. We also built a lot of special equipment in the machine shops on the Sidon for the bays."

"Very well," Admiral Clements said satisfied with the report. It was time to discuss the planned attacks. "Admiral Reynolds is your attack plan for Celeen 2 completed."

Yes sir," Admiral Reynolds replied. "BSG 15 will enter Celeen 2s orbit with the Tauri, one Jupiter Class Battlestar, Two Columbia Two Class Battlestars, the Warstar Olympia, and 4 Gunstars, Two Assault Stars, and four Marine Assault Ships. General Abramson will command the marines. Current raptor fly bys indicate that the Cylons have one Basestar and two Support Ships currently in orbit around the moon. My fleet will engage the Cylon fleet while General Abramson launches his attack upon the moon."

"As soon as my Assaultstars start to descend, we will send the disarming codes to the nukes on the surface," General Abramson continued. This was the part of the mission that Abramson felt uneasy about. He wondered if they could actually trust the source of the disarming codes. "We will continue to send the codes until marines on the surface confirm that the weapons have been disarmed."

"I just hope the codes are good," Admiral Reynolds commented with a worried look. "If they're not, this whole operation will become a disaster if those nukes go off!"

"It's a chance we have to take," Admiral Clements replied. He had worried about that possibility to. However, he didn't see what other choice they had.

"If the Cylons are expecting the nukes to wipe out our marines, they will probably move the majority of their Centurions out of the blast radius of the weapons as soon as our ships are detected," General Abramson continued. "It's only after we have begun our landings and the Cylons realize that the nukes didn't go off, that we expect major resistance. The Cylon Centurions will rush back to the compounds. The Assaultstars should be able to take out the majority of these with planetary bombardment strikes as well as Archangel Bomber strikes."

"Once we have eliminated the Cylon warships in orbit we will take up a defensive position and cover the ground operation," Admiral Reynolds added. "With our warships and vipers we should be able to cover the entire moon."

Admiral Clements nodded, "Admiral Stockwell what about your assault on Picon?"

"Our fleet will consist of Two Mercury Class Battlestars, four Columbia Two Class Battlestars, the Warstar Athena, and four Gunstars," Admiral Stockwell replied. "General Collins will command the two Assaultstars and four Marine Assault Ships. Our current reports indicate that the Cylons have two Basestars and two Support Ships in orbit. Once we have destroyed the Cylon warships we will take up a defensive position above Picon while the ground operation is being conducted."

"Hopefully we will be able to secure the civilian compound with little loss of life to the civilians," General Collins continued. "Once the nuke disarming codes are transmitted, we will land 4,000 marines to form a perimeter around the compound. We believe that the majority of the Centurions will be outside of this perimeter expecting the nukes to eliminate our landing force. There are still a large number of what we believe to be automatic defensive weapons sites on top of some of the buildings in the compound. These may have to be taken out with Archangel Bomber strikes. The rest of the marines will land in the compound itself and secure it."

Admiral Clements nodded knowing that these two plans were the best they could come up with. He had read the finer details of each of the two rescue operations, and discussed the two attacks in detail with the two Admirals and the two Generals previously.

"As everyone knows the disarming codes were given to us by a human Cylon," Admiral Clements remarked. "I am not at liberty to say what model this Cylon was other then that they asked for a return favor sometime in the future. What this favor may be we have no idea. However, what we may be seeing is a rift in the Cylon command structure that we may be able to take advantage of in the future."

"We know from our Cylon intercepts," General Collins added looking at his notes. "That the Cylon fleet is the weakest it has ever been. Nearly half of it is off in pursuit of the Galactica, and an unknown group of Colonial ships that are suspected to be heading for the Delta Quadrant. What is surprising is that neither of these two Cylon fleets has reported back. What this means we don't know. We also know that a number of Cylon Shipyards were destroyed by an unknown Battlestar Group immediately after the attack on the Colonies. This has seriously hampered the Cylons ability to produce new ships."

"We all know that this is a trap set up by the Cylons to destroy our fleet," Admiral Clements continued as he looked around the group. "We have had to delay this attack in order to complete the upgrades to all the ships we took from the Boneyards. It was necessary to ensure we had a sufficient force to engage the remaining Cylon fleet in a major battle."

"It was necessary," Admiral Reynolds commented. "We all hated the fact we couldn't launch this rescue operation sooner. Particularly with those kids held on Picon. There can be no doubt that his is a trap, the Cylon fleets at Celeen 2 and Picon are just too weak. They are trying to lure us in."

"We have received Cylon message intercepts the last few weeks indicating they are preparing to execute the hostages," Admiral Clements continued shaking his head slightly. "We believe they are trying to get us to attack Picon and Celeen 2."

"I just hope the messages are fakes," General Collins replied with a worried look on his face. "I wouldn't put it past these human Cylons to execute those captives."

"Our latest raptor flybys indicate the hostages are still alive," Admiral Reynolds commented his eyes looking around the table. "This is all an attempt by them to get us to commit our fleet so they can destroy it!"

"What the Cylon's don't know is that we have turned the tables and intend to destroy a major portion of their fleet instead," Admiral Clements continued in a clear determined voice. "Almost every ship we have will be committed to this operation. We can expect major casualties and ship losses. The only ships that will remain behind will be some of the Escortstars and several Gunstars."

Admiral Clements paused taking a deep breath. "We believe that as soon as the Cylons realize that their nukes didn't go off, and discover we have committed ourselves to the landings, their fleet will jump into the area between Picon and Celeen 2. What the size of this fleet will be we have no accurate way of knowing. With the raids we have been committing recently, some of their ships have been reassigned to defend their major bases. However, we could be facing between 50 to 60 Cylon warships."

"We confirmed this with raptor flybys of the Colonies," Admiral Reynolds added. "The Cylons have pulled back some of their Support Ships due to our attacks. But their Basestars remain."

"They still have a very powerful fleet," Admiral Stockwell commented with concern. "We could be facing over 100 Cylon ships if they call in everything they have."

"We don't believe they will leave the Colonies completely unguarded, particularly Caprica," Admiral Reynolds commented.

"Admirals Reynolds and Stockwell you will have to hold your positions until I can arrive with our main fleet," Admiral Clements continued glancing at the two Admirals. "Once the main fleet has arrived additional units will be detached to reinforce your fleets. You will have to continue to cover the ground operations while the main fleet engages the Cylons." Admiral Clements looked slowly around the group. "Make no mistake people, we are going to take some losses so be prepared. Some of us in this room may not be coming back!"

For almost a full minute there was silence in the room as everyone thought about the mission they were about to embark upon.

"It's time to kick some Cylon ass!" Admiral Reynolds spoke with conviction.

"Definitely," Admiral Stockwell added. "It's about time they find out what it means to fight a real Colonial fleet in a major battle.

"So say we all," General Collins spoke and his words were echoed around the room.

"We will launch our attack in six days, have all ships ready and prepared," Admiral Clements ordered. "There is one other item I need to share with you. We sent several raptors on flybys of all the planets in the Picon system. As all of you know, Virgon was the scene of the biggest fleet battle during the attack upon our Colonies. If you will look at the screen behind me, you will see what one of our raptors found."

On the screen an undamaged shipyard appeared. However, what stunned everyone was what the shipyard contained. Two nearly completed Nova Class Battlestars!

"I don't believe it," Admiral Reynolds said standing up and looking closely at the screen in disbelief. "We were there; the Cylons were targeting all the orbiting installations. Admiral Nagala himself reported that the defensive satellites and the main shipyards had been destroyed."

"The main shipyards are gone, just orbiting debris is all that remains," Admiral Clements replied. "But the Nova Class Shipyards are untouched. We sent a second reconnasaince raptor in to confirm and we can see no Cylon activity in or around the shipyards. There is a Cylon Basestar and Support Ship in orbit, but they are on the other side of the planet."

"It's a trap sir," General Collins commented looking at the screen and shaking his head. "Those two ships were to be the new Fleet Command Ships, slightly larger then a Mercury Class but no where near as large as the Aurora. I will guarantee you that those landing bays are crammed full of Cylon raiders and Centurions. They obviously hope we will attempt to jump the shipyard back to our home base where they can launch an attack. I will almost bet that a closer scan will show nukes on both of those ships."

"You are quite correct," Admiral Clements replied with a nod. "We sent a heavily shielded raptor close to the shipyard and ran some scans. We detected the presence of over 70 nukes in the landing bays. They were heavily shielded but we had some special detection equipment that revealed their presence."

"If we were to jump that shipyard back here, those nukes could cause some serious damage to the new colonies," Mayor Patterson stated worriedly. "I don't think they could harm the Sidon too severely but the other colonies don't have their armor in place yet."

"I know," Admiral Clements replied somberly. "Does anyone have any suggestions on just how we can take that shipyard without a lot of casualties?"

"I recommend we skip it for now," General Abramson replied shaking his head. "We know it's a trap. Leave it alone. I know we would all like to get those two Nova Class ships, but the cost would be too high."

"I agree," Admiral Clements responded with a deep sigh. "As tempting as the shipyard is, the cost at this time would be too heavy."

"Perhaps once this operation is completed, we can come up with a plan for the shipyard," Admiral Stockwell spoke gazing wistfully at the screen. "But I agree, with that many nukes nothing good could come from an attack on that shipyard at this time."

They talked for another hour finalizing plans and contingency plans, an operation of this scale took a massive amount of careful thought and preparation. Eventually the meeting broke up with everyone going back to their respective commands.

Later that evening Admiral Clements sat in the Caprica Cloud restaurant in Sidon City with Mayor Patterson and Governor Anderlen. This was the type of restaurant his wife would have enjoyed, Admiral Clements thought looking around the restaurant. He felt extremely sad realizing that they would never share a meal again. His wife, his son, every member of his family was gone. These were thoughts he tried not to think about, they were to heart wrenching. It was easier to concentrate on his work; it kept these thoughts at bay.

"I see a lot of fleet people in here," Governor Anderlen commented looking around the restaurant.

"On leave before we leave in six days," Admiral Clements replied with a slight nod. "I have arranged for everyone to get 24 hours leave between now and when we depart." He knew that for some of these people they might not be coming back.

"Will you have time to inspect our two new colonies before the mission?" Mike asked picking up his glass and taking a sip of tea.

"Tomorrow afternoon if you two can free up some time from your busy schedules" Admiral Clements replied. He was interested in seeing the two new colonies now that they were completed.

"No problem," Governor Anderlen said standing up. "Speaking of the colonies, I need to get back, thank you for inviting me to dinner Admiral. I will see both of you tomorrow."

After the Governor had gone, Admiral Clements looked over at Mike Patterson and handed him a data disk.

"What's this?" Mike asked surprised turning the disk over in his hand.

"This mission has a lot of dangers," Admiral Clements replied pursing his lips. "If the disarming codes the Cylon gave us don't work, this whole attack could become unraveled. The Cylon fleet could be overwhelming and wipe us out; if they do then the next attack will be at Caprica. If they take out our fleet, then they will probably take Caprica as well."

"Surely that won't happen," Mike replied with concern in his voice, he could tell that the Admiral was worried.

"We are putting a lot of eggs into this basket Mike," Admiral Clements continued leaning back and closing his eyes briefly in thought. "We are pretty sure we can take the Cylon fleet, but you can never predict how things may go, that's why I want you to prepare for the worst. We are taking everything except ten Escortstars and four Gunstars. The two new Jupiter Class Battlestars Hyperion and Prometheus will be completed in another four to five months and then the new Gunstars will be ready shortly after that. That will give you a reasonably powerful fleet if none of us makes it back. I am promoting Colonel Steel to the rank of Admiral and giving him overall command of all the remaining military forces here at our new colonies. The man is brilliant and will make an excellent commanding officer."

"Admiral I hope none of this will be necessary," Mike replied in a quiet voice. He didn't like thinking that Admiral Clements and the other Admirals might not be coming back.

"Hopefully it won't be," Admiral Clements replied with a deep breath. "But if it is, I want to make sure that our people are safe. Mike stay inside this nebula, don't come out looking for us! Stay inside and grow your strength and someday when you have the ships, you can come out. But not until all the colonies are armed and you have sufficient ships to hold off the Cylons, then and only then are you to come out of the nebula."

"Yes sir, you can count on me," Mike replied quietly hoping that Clements returned safely.

Clements leaned back and tried to relax, he had done everything he could think of to ensure the survival of the human race. He knew that Admiral Steele, Mayor Patterson, and Governor Anderlen would keep his people safe. Now it was up to him and the fleet to do their part.

I may put up a second chapter early next week. Its revision is almost complete and it covers the attack on Celeen 2 and Picon. Lots of action!

I have had several e-mails about the number of ships under Admiral Clements command. Listed below are the ships. Remember most of these came from the Boneyards.

Nova Class Commandstar

Aurora Admiral Clements

Commander Ted Cain

Mercury Class Battlestars

Picon Admiral Stockwell BSG 9

Canopus Commander Tyler

Tauri Admiral Reynolds BSG 15

Jupiter Class Battlestars

Magellan Commander Bidwell

Odyssey Commander Blake

Solaria Commander Livingston

Cimitar

Columbia 2 Class Battlestars

Altair Commander Davidson

Spica

Pandora Commander Masterson

Chimera

Marathon

Miranda

Archimedes

Medusa

Valkyrie Class Battlestar

Caprica Commander Talon

Assaultstars

Gideon

Chiron

Demetrius

Delphi

Firestars

Eternal

Morrigan

Paladin

Daedalus

Hermes

Javelin

Minotaur

Reliant

Repulse

Dionysus

Achilles

Gorgon

Osiris

Olympus

Basilisk

Starflare

Nathalia

Ceres

Hibernia

Valiant

Cerebrus

Madrigal

Warstars

Olympia Commander David Wells

Argo

Acropolis

Chimera

Athena Commander Daniel Stokes

Chronos

Erasmus

Mercury

Therion

Ulysses

Rigel Commander Daryl Hannah

Chirona

Gunstars

Zeus Assault

Mars Assault

Hera Assault

Hesphaestus Assault

Artemis Assault

Hestia Assault

Dionysus Defender

Oracle Defender

Therms Defender

Cygnus Defender

Scorpius Defender

Antlia Defender

Triffid Defender Commander Major Lewis

Marine Assault Ships

Vengeance General Scott Abramson

Medusa

Celestra

Galatea

Atlas

Apollo

Striker

Renault

Repulse

Concordia

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