The Last Exodus: Abandoning the Colonies – Part III
Picon
Three hours after beginning of rescue mission
Galactica CIC
The CIC was bustling with activity as the crew sorted through information for what was going on in the fleet and relaying orders as necessary to get the fleet ready and the rescue operation completed without a hitch.
"The rescue operation is going well sir. We just need another couple of hours and the fleet can start jumping out," Lieutenant Gaeta reported optimistically.
"Good. We must all remember to stay vigilant though, the Cylons will likely be coming any time now," Admiral Adama replied.
"Admiral, our basic counter attack plan has been relayed with the necessary ships. We're ready to coordinate as needed. Admiral Thompson and Commander Belzen also added some changes that should help maximize our combat capabilities," Starbuck said approaching from behind the Admiral, followed by Helo.
"Well done. Have the Raptors and Viper squadrons completed preparations as well?" Admiral Adama asked, smiling proudly at Starbuck.
"Yes sir. Raptors have several nukes aboard, and the squadron of vipers with experimental FTL drives is ready to go. All other fighters are prepped for their assigned missions," Starbuck replied.
"Then you should suit up and get ready to take your team out as well," Admiral Adama said.
"Aye sir," Starbuck said grinning widely, turning around to exit CIC.
Several squadrons of vipers and raptors launched and provided support to the CAP across the fleet.
Transport and cargo ships continued loading supplies and survivors. Once they were filled to capacity, the ships would jump out to where the cradle mobile docks awaited. Squadrons of vipers and raptors guarded the evac site, where they would wait until the fleet arrived – with ships planned to jump out to help guard the rescue fleet when damaged during the expected battle with the Cylons.
Suddenly baseships and raiders started jumping in at maximum engagement range from the colonial fleet and defensive platforms. Hundreds of missiles were sent flying at the colonial fleet immediately after the Cylon systems stabilized from their jump.
"Dradis contact!" Lieutenant Gaeta reported loudly, "incoming missiles across the fleet."
"All ships commence defensive firing!" Admiral Adama ordered.
The colonial fleets' point defense systems immediately opened up, unleashing a storm of flak at the incoming missiles. Several missiles impacted on ships in the colonial fleet before point defense systems could respond due to the Cylons' sudden appearance. Numerous missiles were destroyed by point defense, with a handful impacting and dealing light damage on ships across the fleet.
Raiders were quickly launched from the baseships to join others that jumped directly to Picon with the baseships. Over 10,000 raiders headed towards the colonial fleet and defense satellites.
"Vipers are to stay back for now. Let the defense stations and satellites open up on the raiders. We need to draw this fight out as long as possible," Admiral Adama ordered.
"Aye sir," the communciations officer replied, relaying the message throughout the fleet.
The colonial fleet maneuvered to get behind the defense satellites as the raiders approached. The defense satellites opened up in rapid fire, unleashing a large amount of flak fire and interceptor missiles at the oncoming raiders.
Hundreds of raiders started exploding as they raced into flak fire and missiles from the defense satellites. The remaining raiders quickly launched several of their own missiles at the defense satellites before falling back to escape the defense stations' incoming fire.
Thousands of missiles launched towards the defense satellites and the fleet behind them. The defense satellites rapidly destroyed many of the missiles, with vipers and the fleet adding defensive fire against the raiders and oncoming missiles. Many missiles impacted across the defense satellites and several missiles continued on past the satellites to impact on vipers and the colonial fleet ships, dealing light damage with each hit.
The raiders repeated the process as they maneuvered around the defense stations and continued firing missile after missile at the fleet and defense satellites. The raiders used their large numbers to overwhelm the defense satellites. Four defense satellites were destroyed from multiple missile impacts overloading their point defense systems. Three defense satellites ran out of interceptor missiles and flak ammunition, and were momentarily destroyed by oncoming raiders' cannon and missile fire. Several vipers were destroyed by the raiders. Battlestars and Gunstars took several missiles hits across their superstructures, with DC teams rapidly moving to repair the damage as fast as possible.
John Cavil smiled at the damage the raiders continued to bring to the colonial fleet even as their numbers gradually decreased.
2 hours later
Eleven of the twelve large defense platforms and four of the twenty six smaller anti-raider defensive satellites were all that remained of the PDSs after the raiders continued assaults. Several showed heavy damage from cannon fire and missile impacts. Several Gunstars and Battlestars had taken damage from the raiders assaults. Gunstar Albatross had been destroyed by numerous missile impacts hitting her engines and fuel lines, after previous continuous hits had damaged the armor and various defenses on the ship. Several thousand raiders had been destroyed by defensive fire and missile strikes in return from the defense platforms and the colonial fleet.
Galactica CIC
The ship shook as several missiles impacted across the ventral armor.
"Sir, many of the transports and cargo ships have jumped out. The remainder are filling up, and will be out of the system within the hour," Lieutenant Gaeta reported, holding on tightly to the computer consoles in front of him as the ship shook.
"Have the fleet begin combat jumps now! It's time to start attacking the Cylon baseships. Have several squads of vipers stay here to defend the defense grid and attack the raiders, while the rest jump with us and attack the raiders from there," Admiral Adama ordered.
"Aye sir!" the communications officer replied, frantically sending out orders throughout the fleet.
The colonial fleet prepared for a micro FTL jump to hop across the battlefield, past the raiders, and engage the baseships. Several squadrons of vipers boarded the Battlestars as they prepared to jump, with others remaining with the defense platforms and engaging Cylon raiders.
The raiders continued their assault on the defense grids and approaching vipers. Several groups of raiders returned to the baseships to re-arm their weapons packages as they had many times before.
The Cylon baseships were organized into groups of 4 to 5, with the human Cylons aboard leading them preparing to move in on the colonial fleet. 30 standard baseships, 3 heavy baseships, the command baseship, and 8 first war baseships made up the Cylon fleet over Picon.
Battlestars Trinity, Durga, Thanatos, Sleipnir, Glorious, and Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa jumped in around a group of five basestars in the cylon fleet formation. Battlestars Vanguard, Rhodes, Arcadia, Pleiades, and Gunstars Avalanche, Avenger, Howler, Modesto jumped in around a group of five basestars. Battlestars Pegasus, Caprica, Poseidon, Chimera and Gunstars Aggressive, Sol, and Avarice jumped in around a group of five basestars. Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, Titan, and Gunstars Hates, Edenton, Lauder, Caron, Palmer, and Arachnid jumped in around a group of five basestars.
Battlecruisers Proteus, Nereids, Boreas, Heavy cruisers Aether, Thalia, Phobos, Celestra, Cimtar, and Therion, light cruisers Theia, Cleo, Atropos, Hebe, Metis, and escortstars Sandstorm, Tauron, and Echelon jumped in around a group of five basestars.
50 Raptors armed with nukes jumped in around a group of five baseships.
Battlestars Nike, Galactica, Warstar Argona, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped in around the three heavy basestars and command basestar at the heart of the Cylon fleet formation.
Battlestars Independence and Victorious were joined by several squadrons of vipers and raptors making a strafing run around a group of 4 first war Cylon baseships.
Strikestars Trophonius, Crasher, Fury, Megaera, and Orpheus jumped in around one of the first war Cylon baseships in the last group of baseships consisting of four first war basestars.
Hundreds of fresh raiders were launched from the baseships to meet oncoming vipers launching from the colonial fleet jumping in the baseships' vicinity. Several squadrons of vipers turned back towards the raiders attacking the defense satellites, effectively creating a two prong attack to go at the raiders from two directions. The vipers outnumbered the raiders in the vicinity of the baseships, with the viper forces attacking the raiders by the defense stations facing the majority of the raiders but faced 5 to 1 odds compared to over 10 to 1 odds they would've faced against the original raider force hours ago.
Dozens of Heavy raiders launched from the baseships and approached to board multiple Battlestars in the fleet; Durga, Sleipnir, Rhodes, Caprica, Poseidon, Cerberus, and Minerva. Teams of marines met oncoming dozens of centurions from multiple heavy raiders boarding the Battlestars.
Battlestars Trinity, Durga, Thanatos, Sleipnir and Glorious maneuvered to engage one base ship each out of the group of five baseships they faced. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa hung back behind the Battlestars to provide defensive fire support.
Battlestar Trinity closed with a baseship and unleashed a heavy KEW salvo on the baseship. The baseship took moderate damage across its superstructure, with several missile launchers also being destroyed. The baseship returned fire with dozens of anti-ship missiles along with several mixed in nukes. Trinity's point defense activated unleashing flak fire at the oncoming missiles, destroying many of the missiles and nukes. One nuke impacted across Trinity's dorsal armor, dealing massive damage to the ship's armor and causing numerous fires, decompressions, and hull breaches. Several anti-ship missiles also impacted along the flight pods, dealing minor damage and destroying four KEW cannons.
Battlestar Durga unleashed several nukes on a baseship upon jumping to the baseship's vicinity. Three nukes impacted along the baseship dealing heavy damage to the baseship, with the resulting EMP blasts shutting down several systems. The baseship was left drifting with minimal power.
Battlestar Thanatos maneuvered closer to the baseship in its path, firing its portside KEWs across at the baseship while making a high speed pass around the baseship. The baseship returned fire with its own cannons and unleashed dozens of missiles at Thanatos. Both ships received numerous hits across their armor, taking moderate damage in various sections.
Battlestar Sleipnir engaged a baseship it had jumped close to, firing her KEWs with specialized rounds on the baseship. The baseship received numerous hits as its armor began cracking apart from fragmentation shells. Several missiles were launched by the baseship from undamaged missile launchers that survived the damage debilitating the metal cover over the baseship's superstructure. Sleipnir was hit by three nukes, with one on its port flightpod, one at its topside armor, and another hitting its alligator head structure – all causing heavy damage inside the ship with numerous hull breaches and many casualties.
Battlestar Glorious engaged the nearest baseship, firing her cannons on the baseships armor. The baseship took light to moderate damage with several hull breaches from the cannon impacts. Twenty nukes were launched by the baseship at Glorious. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa added defensive firepower to Glorious' point defense in eliminating the nukes, though four nukes still managed to impact across Glorious' superstructure causing massive damage inside the ship.
Battlestars Vanguard, Rhodes, Arcadia, and Pleiades each engaged a baseship in the group of basestars they jumped near. They opened up on the baseships with their KEWs, scoring repeated hits across the baseships' superstructure and armor. The baseships quickly returned fire with their cannons and swarms of missile launches. Several missiles impacted along the Battlestars, scoring light to moderate damage.
Gunstars Avalanche, Avenger, Howler, and Modesto micro jumped to close range around the fifth baseship in the group. The Gunstars immediately opened up with several missiles and their KEWs targeting the baseship. The baseship took numerous hits scoring damage on various sections across its superstructure, with little return fire or oncoming missiles stopped by defensive fire for about a minute after the Gunstars jumped in. Once already taking heavy damage, the baseship began launching scores of missiles at the Gunstars in retaliation. The Gunstars avoided the mass bulk and destroyed several missiles with defensive fire, with other missiles impacting across their armor. Gunstar Howler and Modesto both had a nuke explode along their armor, receiving massive damage from the blasts and DC teams worked frantically to work on the damage while keeping the ships afloat.
Battlestars Pegasus, Caprica, Poseidon, and Chimera each maneuvered towards a baseship in the baseships' group of five from the Cylon fleet formation before them. Gunstars Aggressive, Sol, and Avarice jumped in around the remaining baseship. The Battlestars and Gunstars immediately opened fire with their KEWs on their targets, and unleashing several missile strikes as they closed with the baseships. The baseships quickly launched missiles and cannon fire at the incoming Battlestars. The fifth baseship launched several nukes at Gunstar Aggressive upon the Gunstar's arrival, with immediate impacts across the ship – few nukes were stopped as Aggressive's systems re-initialized after jumping. Gunstar Aggressive exploded as four fifty megaton nukes impacted along the ship's topside armor, detonating in one localized spot with a high powered blast blowing right through the Gunstar and quickly igniting the ship's fuel lines.
Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan each jumped in around a baseship in the group of five baseships, with Gunstars Hates, Edenton, and Lauder jumping around the fourth baseship, and Gunstars Caron, Palmer, and Arachnid arriving to engage the fifth baseship in the Cylon fleet formation. The Battlestars and Gunstars quickly began shelling the baseships upon their arrival, and unleashing subsequent missile strikes to score further damage on areas their KEWs hit. Multiple nukes and missiles were launched by the baseships in retaliation.
Battlecruisers Proteus, Nereids, and Boreas jumped in around one of the baseships in the group of five they faced. Heavy cruisers Aether, Thalia, and Phobos jumped in around one of the portside baseships, while Heavy cruisers Celestra, Cimtar, and Therion jumped in around another nearby baseship. Light cruisers Theia, Cleo, Atropos, Hebe, and Metis jumped in around a baseship on the edge of the Cylon formation. Escortstars Sandstorm, Tauron, and Echelon jumped in around the remaining basestar.
The various cruisers and escortstars quickly fired their KEWs and missiles at the baseships upon their arrival. Several missiles and cannon hits made contact before the baseships began returning fire with their cannons and missiles.
10 Raptors armed with nukes jumped in around each of the five baseships in the group of baseships they jumped to. The raptors took a moment to reinitialize from their jump and started maneuvering evasively to dodge the baseships and launching raiders' oncoming weapons fire. 18 of the total 50 raptors were destroyed as missiles collided with them, with a raider ramming one of the raptors to destroy it. The remaining 32 raptors at their various positions quickly fired off their nuke and missile packages on the baseships, while firing rounds of flak at oncoming raiders – destroying several and pushing others out of their line of fire. Over 150 nukes and anti-ship missiles launched at the baseships, which after launching the raptors began jumping out. Several more raptors were destroyed by oncoming raiders before they could escape. Half the nukes and missiles were intercepted by defensive fire, with several raiders launching themselves directly at the missiles to contain the explosions. A dozen nukes impacted along each of the five baseships, with several nukes impacting on one area to heavily damage the baseships armor while incoming nukes impacted seconds later inside the created holes in the baseships' armor. Three of the baseships exploded as nukes detonated inside their superstructure. The remaining two baseships received heavy damage from multiple nuclear impacts across their armor, with various systems shutting down throughout the ships.
Battlestars Nike, Galactica, Warstar Argona, and Combatcruiser Audacious jumped in to engage the three heavy basestars and command basestar at the heart of the Cylon fleet formation. Combatcruiser Audacious approached the command baseship while staying alongside Warstar Argona as a shield from return weapons fire. Battlestars Nike, Galactica and Warstar Argona each maneuvered to take on one of the heavy basestars on their own. Nike and Galactica fired their laser cannons at the baseships, in conjunction with their heavy KEWs. Argona began a barrage of KEW fire from its numerous cannon emplacements at the heavy baseship it faced, while also maneuvering to provide cover for Audacious. Combatcruiser Audacious began launching swarms of missiles at the command baseship, mixing in fusion missiles burrowing into the ship before exploding while others exploded on impact over the baseships armor. The heavy baseships and command baseship had much heavier and more powerful armor than other basestars, with upgrades made over previous months to prepare for a fight such as this with combat data analyzing the colonial ships – therefore the baseships could shrug off numerous hits from the colonial fleet's missile and cannon impacts. The baseships began launching numerous missiles, nukes and cannon fire of their own.
Several squadrons of vipers and raptors made a strafing run around one of the two groups of 4 first war Cylon baseships. Several vipers met oncoming raiders with raptors launching interceptor missiles to quickly decimate the raiders launching from the baseships. The remaining vipers made a strafing run across the baseships, impacting their armor using the vipers' cannons and several missiles from the vipers impacted along the baseships – scoring minor damage that began accumulating across the baseships. Other raptors added their own cannon fire and anti-ship missiles impacting the baseships. Twelve raptors landed on three of the baseships after their weapons fire impacted across the baseships, and teams of colonial marines began boarding the baseships – aiming to take nukes deep inside the baseships. Centurions began moving to intercept the marines after their arrival.
Raiders attacking the defense platforms met vipers attacking them from both sides in combat, with multiple raiders and vipers destroyed. Several hundred raiders pushed past the vipers and began maneuvering towards the vipers and ships attacking the basestars – many of which jumped over to the fleets' positions to defend their fleet at all costs as per their programmed directive.
Battlestars Independence and Victorious began firing their KEWs and missiles at the four first war baseships once in close range following their jump, accompanied by viper squadrons making strafing runs with their cannons and missile launches scoring hits along the baseships before moving along. The vipers attacking the four baseships were redirected into dogfights with arriving raiders after scoring several damaging hits across the baseships, using their maneuverability and speed to get in quick repeated hits. The four first war baseships had taken moderate to heavy damage from accumulated weapons impacts, with three baseships being boarded by marines. The fourth un-boarded baseship jumped over to the first colonial battlegroup of Battlestars Vanguard, Rhodes, Arcadia, and Pleiades – quickly maneuvering to engage Arcadia with the other opposing standard baseship Arcadia was fighting.
Strikestars Trophonius, Fury, Crasher, Megaera, and Orpheus jumped in around one of the first war Cylon baseships in the last group of baseships consisting of four first war basestars. The strikestars quickly began launching cannon fire and a missile strike across the baseship, as they maneuvered closer to the baseship.
Six heavy raiders containing colonial marines jumped in around the remaining three first Cylon war baseships in the last group of baseships. They quickly began boarding the baseships, with marines moving to take the baseships' control room – two of which had nukes to drop on the baseships, while one group of marines was solely attacking the centurions to take over the baseship. It took several minutes before the centurions on the baseships began responding to the sudden appearance of marines aboard, with about 300 first war 005 generation centurions racing to take out the dozens of boarding marines on each of the baseships.
The first war baseship facing oncoming strikestars began taking heavy damage from continuing cannon and missile impacts across the ship. Dozens of missiles launched at the strikestars impacted along the strikestars' light armor, with half the missiles evaded or destroyed by defensive fire. Three nukes impacting along Strikestars Megaera and Trophonius led to the ships exploding. The other strikestars received moderate to heavy damage as weapons fire impacted along their weak armor. Strikestar Crasher took multiple missile impacts across its armor, with the hull and internal systems being compromised. Seeing no alternative, the ship's commander ordered Strikestar Crasher to ram head on into the heavily damage first cylon war baseship. Crasher began to light up with numerous fires raging inside and fire blazing outside the ship seen by all as more and more weapons fire hit the strikestar. Strikestar Crasher then maneuevered directly into the bottom saucer of the baseship, running along its armor until it reached the baseship's central axis. A nuke detonated within Strikestar Crasher as the ship exploded outward, and took the baseship with it as the fuel lines inside ignited until the baseship crumbled into an expanding flaming base of debris. The remaining strikestars quickly jumped out while they were still able and to avoid incoming debris.
A nuke impacted on Battlestar Trinity's starboard flight pod, destroying the topside landing bay and causing numerous hull breaches and fires in nearby sections. The rest of the ship had taken multiple cannon and missile impacts, with moderate damage showing across the ship's armor and inside the ship DC teams ran about fixing decompressions and holes in the hull and armor plating. Trinity unleashed five nukes at the heavily damaged baseship it faced, with two nukes destroyed by nearby raiders fire. The remaining three impacted along the baseships' heavily damaged armor and hull, causing secondary explosions on the inside throughout the ship until the baseship exploded. Half of one of the baseship's extending arms was launched in Trinity's direction – piercing right through the ships port flightpod and causing massive damage inside the ship.
Battlestar Durga quickly finished off the disabled baseship it faced using its KEW cannons, firing until the baseship succumbed to its heavy damage and was destroyed. Durga then moved to help Glorious which was having some trouble.
Battlestar Thanatos finished its high speed pass going around the baseship, delivering several punishing blows to the baseship with its entire portside cannons firing across at the baseship – with two of the baseships' extending arms being blown apart from the baseship. 39 anti-ship missiles impacted across Thanatos' armor from the baseship's large swarm of missiles in retaliation. Two nukes detonated just outside of Thanatos, dealing heavy kinetic damage and shutting down several of the ships systems from the resulting EMP blast wave.
Battlestar Sleipnir fired several nukes at the baseship it faced to finish it off. The baseship's armor had begun crumbling in on itself under continuous KEW and missile fire after the fragmentation shells caused layers of armor to rip apart, weakening the sections underneath until they were extremely vulnerable. Four nearby raiders managed to lock on and destroy five of the nukes aimed at the baseship, with the remaining nuke passing through to hit the baseship. The nuke impacted on the baseship's ventral armor, with the ensuing explosion reaching throughout the entire ship which had been made vulnerable with various layers of armor peeling off to expose the ships innards – leading to the baseship exploding in a massive fireball of destruction.
Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa were joined by Battlestar Durga in defending Battlestar Glorious from the oncoming baseship. Glorious had continued to receive missile and cannon fire hits until one of the ships engines was destroyed as the ship took massive damage, with various systems losing power on the ship. Glorious continued taking hits after systems aboard shut down, leaving it partially disabled even as the Gunstars moved around the ship and shelled the baseship with defensive fire. Durga rushed forward, the ship's bow batteries targeted the baseship's central axis for a salvo fire. Major damage was inflicted on the baseship, and the baseship began turning away to show its less damaged side towards the colonial ships.
Battlestar Vanguard C.I.C.
The ship shook as several anti-ship missiles found their mark across the ventral armor.
"We're at an adequate distance moved away from the baseship moving on the left helm sir," Colonel Magene reported.
"Have the designated launch tubes begin firing," Commander Belzen replied, grabbing hold of the CIC plot table with both hands to hold as the ship shook from weapons impacts.
"Aye sir," the weapons control operator said as he began passing off orders on his headset.
Six nukes and thirty-eight anti-ship missiles launched from Vanguard off Vanguard's portside, masked by Vanguards quarter turn away from the baseship. The missiles cut off power after arriving at targeted locations, coming to a dead stop momentarily.
"All ahead full, past the targeted areas," Commander Belzen ordered.
"Aye sir," the helmsman replied, ramming the lever forward to push the ship forward at a distance farther from the base ship. Vanguard pitched forward and then did an about turn to show the oncoming baseship its portside.
The baseship eagerly gave chase to catch up with Vanguard, believing their missile strike to have done significant damage requiring a withdrawal.
"Baseship closing sir. Right on top of the target!" Colonel Magene reported, staring intently at dradis readouts.
"Now Colonel, and prep for a high speed pass around the baseship after detonations are confirmed!" Commander Belzen ordered loudly.
"Aye sir!" Colonel Magene replied, sending out the signal rebooting the guidance systems on the launched missiles and activating their delayed timers.
Five seconds later the six nukes and thirty-eight anti-ship missiles launched towards the nearby baseship, and detonating on the surface across the baseship. The missiles had all began moving forward at the baseship at point blank range and the Cylons had no time to respond. The darkness of space around the baseship was lit up as numerous explosions racked the baseship, with the missiles burrowing deep holes inside the ship and causing numerous fires as well as hull breaches throughout the ship. Somehow the baseship didn't outright explode from numerous nuke impacts, though heavy damage was evident across the ship.
"Portside KEW batteries are to salvo fire on the baseship as we come around in a high speed pass going past the baseship," Commander Belzen ordered.
"Aye sir," the helms and weapons operators replied, frantically working at their stations to carry out their orders.
Vanguard passed around the heavily damaged baseship still reeling from ordinance detonations across the ship, then salvo fired multiple KEW rounds at the baseship as it was passing the baseship. The baseship exploded as KEW rounds impacted inside the ship's hull, igniting the ship's tylium bunkers. Vanguard swerved past the debris of the baseship.
Incoming squadrons of raider were blasted back as Battlestar Rhodes unleashed several salvos of flak fire among the raiders, with dozens of raiders exploding. Vipers met raiders arriving from the defense stations position, starting numerous dogfights.
Rhodes continued firing on the baseship across from it, scoring more cannon hits across the ship's armor. Several missiles impacted along Rhodes' starboard launch bay, dealing heavy damage that forced the bay to be shut down. Teams of marines met boarding centurions in the port hangar deck as they exited their heavy raiders. 87 deckhands and marines were shot by the centurions as they continued moving in the Battlestar, with several centurions keeling over after taking explosive rounds to the head fired by marines behind the fast moving centurions.
Battlestar Arcadia was hit on both sides by the standard baseship and the first war baseship. Several missiles and cannon impacts along the ship compacted damage across the ship, with many fires and hull breaches breaking out in sections inside the ship. Eight KEW rounds impacted on the damaged port flight pod, ripping through armor plating and couplings holding the flight pod to the Battlestar – with all of Arcadia's damage on that area in previous fights coming to roost. Fracturing and wide cracks formed along the armor and couplings keeping the pod attached to the ship. Power lines blew causing a chain of explosions throughout the ship. The hangar pod completely tore off its fractured frame, with all those inside plummeting away from Arcadia. DC alarms wailed throughout the ship as chaos ruled while the crew fought to survive.
Battlestar Pleiades launched forward at the baseship it faced, firing her main batteries at the baseship's central axis. Several rounds impacted on the targeted area, causing heavy damage to the baseship. Several missiles impacted on Pleiades armor, which Pleiades simply shrugged off and continued its assault. Passing the baseship in its forward motion, Pleiades launched seven nukes at the baseship. Five nukes were destroyed by the ship's defensive fire and nearby raiders. One nuke detonated off course when a raider collided with the missile, with kinetic damage reaching the outside hull of the baseship. The remaining nuke passed through to collide with the baseships damaged central axis, detonating on impact and causing the baseship to explode in nuclear flame. Pleiades evaded debris and maneuvered to aid Arcadia against the two baseships attacking her.
Gunstars Howler and Modesto exploded as three more nukes impacted across the ships' hulls, with the tylium lines compromised and causing nuclear fire to rage in the ships' innards until they blew up. Gunstars Avalanche and Avenger closed with the heavily damaged baseship, targeting their KEWs on the ship's central axis. Several missiles impacted upon Avenger from the baseship, scoring moderate damage to the Gunstar's armor as the ship closed distance with the baseship. Several KEW rounds created holes in the hull and armor plating over the baseship's central axis, and secondary salvos entered inside the baseship – igniting the ship's tylium lines and destroying the ship in a large explosion.
Battlestar Pegasus CIC
"Steady as she goes, all ahead full. Prep FTL, and get those calculations down as precisely as possible," Commander Lee Adama ordered.
"Aye sir," the helm and FTL officers replied, busy calculating to complete their job.
Pegasus moved forward past extreme engagement range away from the baseship she faced, avoiding continued missile launches. The baseship started moving to close with and re-engage Pegasus, facing her stern as Pegasus accelerated away.
As Pegasus got further away and the baseship gave chase Commander Adama looked intently at dradis readouts. Waiting until….
"Now! Jump!" Commander Lee Adama ordered tensely.
Battlestar Pegasus vanished in an FTL jump as the baseship continued moving forward to try and catch the ship. Pegasus reappeared from its FTL jump in a bright burst of light, appearing behind the baseship. Pegasus continued in its forward motion of inertia after its jump, closing to point blank range with the baseship.
"Main batteries, fire!" Commander Lee Adama said.
Pegasus' bow KEW batteries began salvo firing on the baseship at an extreme close distance, while the ship continued moving forward at high speed - beginning to turn hard to port after two bouts of salvo fire launched. The baseship took heavy damage as multiple HE rounds found their mark along the central axis at extreme close range. Pegasus' starboard batteries then opened fire on the baseship, with more rounds compounding heavy damage to the baseship. Several rounds impacted inside the baseship, causing a significant explosion leading to a chain reaction throughout the ship until the baseship was destroyed.
Battlestar Caprica continued firing its KEWs on the baseship it faced, with her doubled armament in cannons quickly compounding damage across the baseship. The baseship had three of its extending arms blown off, and several hull breaches open along its moderately damaged armor. Caprica took a nuke to its topside armor, inflicting moderate damage inside the ship and destroying a couple weapons emplacements. Caprica closed with the baseship and opened its missile launch tubes to launch six nukes at the baseship. Four nukes were destroyed by point defense fire as they neared the baseship. The other two nukes impacted along the baseship, destroying the baseship after internal detonations raging inside coalesced into a large explosion of the whole ship.
Battlestar Poseidon reeled from two nukes impacting on the ship's starboard launch bay, causing heavy damage to the starboard flight pod. Poseidon's increased armament continued unleashing impacts along the baseship from KEW rounds and anti-ship missiles, giving the baseship moderate to heavy damage in several sections. One of the engines blew up on impact aboard the baseship.
Battlestar Chimera shrugged off several more anti-ship missile impacts along the ship's heavy armor. Chimera continued closing with the baseship, tilting on its axis to bring to bear its numerous cannons along the ship's surface. The numerous cannons began firing, quickly scoring heavy damage across the baseship.
Gunstars Sol and Avarice continued firing their heavy KEWs at the damaged sections in the baseship's armor, along several hull breaches caused by previous weapons fire. A half dozen raiders veering towards the Gunstars made suicide runs at Gunstar Avarice, with three making it through to impact across the Gunstar and cause large explosions with their weapon ordinance adding a larger bang – Gunstar Avarice succumbed to an explosion from the overwhelming damage. Four tactical nukes were launched by Gunstar Sol as the ship maneuvered past Avarice's debris and passed away from the baseship, the missiles passed through the hull breaches into the ship and detonated inside the baseship – destroying the baseship within moments as bright flashes of nuclear fire lit up the baseship.
Battlestar Cerberus took two nukes to her topisde armor, opening hull breaches and destroying several KEW emplacements. The baseship Cerberus was attacking had received three nukes once Cerberus had jumped in, dealing major damage – ripping apart two of the extending arms, starting fires, and opening hull breaches. Cerberus continued firing her KEWs on the baseship, scoring several heavy hits over areas damaged by the nuke strike.
Battlestar Minerva shrugged off return fire from the baseship she faced, taking light hits from missiles getting past her flak barrier. Minerva fired 12 nukes at the baseship, scattering to hit separated parts of the baseship for maximum damage. Raiders and the baseship's point defense quickly moved to intercept the missiles. Seven missiles were destroyed by weapons fire from the raiders and baseship. Three nukes exploded in close proximity of the baseship before just before they could be intercepted, inflicting damage to the outside armor on the baseship and shutting down several sections on the ship from the resulting EMP. The remaining two nukes impacted along the baseship's extending arms, the resulting explosion ripping off two of the baseship's extending arms as the center mass crunched downward – greatly reducing the baseship's offensive capabilities.
Battlestar Titan took advantage of her doubled offensive and defensive capabilities in added KEWs and point defense guns, as the ship maneuvered within point blank range while continuing to fire on the baseship. The baseship started taking heavy damage as the KEW rounds began piercing the ship's armor throughout the entire superstructure. Three nukes got past the flak barrier and impacted along Titan as the baseship returned fire with as many missiles as she could still put in the air. Titan's launch bay, CIC, and several ship sections took moderate damage with numerous casualties from the blast shockwaves.
Gunstars Hates, Edenton, and Lauder circled around the fourth baseship in the group, continuing to fire her KEWs and several missiles as well as tactical nukes at the baseship. Several missiles and nukes impacted along the baseship before the baseship could respond given the Gunstars close proximity. KEW cannon fire then added even more damage, impacting on several sections hit by missiles – steadily burrowing deeper into the baseship. Several missiles from the baseship impacted along the Gunstars once the Baseship could lock onto the ships.
Gunstars Caron, Palmer, and Arachnid continued firing their KEWs and nukes at the fifth baseship in their target group. The baseship rocked from heavy explosions from the nuke strike, and received heavy damage. Several missiles launched from the baseship, hoping to destroy the offending ships quickly. Gunstar Arachnid was hit by a fifty megaton nuke impacting across the ship's armor, dealing heavy damage. Looking to protect the remaining fleet and seeing imminent destruction anyway, the ship's commander set Arachnid in for a suicide run on the baseship. Several anti-ship missiles continued impacting along Arachnid as she rushed forward in a mad charge of death, before exploding in a head on collision with the baseship – taking the baseship with her as the explosion ripped through the basestar, igniting one of the tylium bunkers and leaving a pile of debris from what little remained of the two ships.
Battlecruiser Nereids exploded as seven nukes went through the ship's overloaded point defense grid, creating a large explosion encompassing the ship in fiery destruction. Heavy cruisers Aether and Celestra soon joined Nereids in destruction as multiple nukes impacted along heavily damaged sections of the ships from previous missile and cannon fire hits. Two of the five baseships the cruisers and escortstars faced were destroyed as multiple nukes impacted along their superstructure, compounding damage received from KEW hits. The remaining three baseships received moderate damage from the colonial support ships unleashing missiles and KEWs in rapid succession on them.
Light cruisers Theia and Hebe were destroyed after heavy damage accumulated and nukes obliterated the ships on impact. Light cruiser Atropos lost maneuvering control from damage across the ship as cannon fire and missiles continued impacting along the ship, and Atropos was forced to continue in its forward motion towards the baseship in what was before just an attack run. Atropos received more missiles impacts as it closed distance with the baseship, until Atropos collided head on with the baseship leading to a large explosion – destroying what remained of Atropos and heavily damaging the baseship.
Oncoming raiders launched from the baseships began firing missiles at the colonial cruisers and escortstars. The cruisers began launching flak fire at the oncoming raiders as they began surrounding the support ships, momentarily derailing the ships from firing on the basestars. Several raiders were destroyed as cannon fire collided with them. Three raiders continued on through flak fire and collided head-on with escortstar Echelon, with their onboard warheads detonating on impact – causing Echelon to be destroyed in an outward expanding array of flaming debris.
Battlestar Galactica CIC
The ship shook as several missiles and oncoming cannon fire collided with the massive Battlestar. A nuke heavily damaged the landing bay.
"Sir, the eight remaining large stations from Picon's defense grid have been jumped away to the fleet with the remaining ships from the rescue fleet. Squadrons of vipers left in high orbit of Picon near the defense grids position are continuing to take on the mass of raiders. Many of those raiders are now turning around and heading towards the fleet," the communications officer reported.
A nuke impacted along Galactica's topside armor, destroying several KEW emplacements, with most of the blast contained outside along Galactica's heavy armor.
"Have the Pegasi viper squadron launched to help take out the raiders immediately!" Admiral Adama ordered.
"Aye sir," the communications officer replied. Vipers in the Pegasi squadron quickly began launching and used their experimental FTL drives to jump near raiders in around the fleet.
Galactica's laser cannons and KEWs continued firing on the heavy basestar the ship faced in the Cylon formation. Several hull breaches and fires began accumulating on the baseship as the lasers began melting through the ships heavy armor, with high explosive KEW rounds cracking through several areas of armor.
Combatcruiser Audacious continued pounding the command baseship with swarms of missiles, over half of which were intercepted by point defense and raiders. The command baseship fired off several nukes and anti-ship missiles at Audacious in retaliation. The smaller cruiser used its eighty point defense pulse cannons to rapidly destroy many of the oncoming missiles and nukes, with several anti-ship missiles impacting along Warstar Argona as the ship maneuvered to help cover Audacious. A nuke exploded over Audacious' energy armor, with the energy armor dispersing the blast damage and nothing went past the heavy armor layer under the energy armor.
Warstar Argona shook as several anti-ship missiles intended for Audacious impacted across the Warstar's heavily reinforced armor. A nuke launched from the heavy basestar Argona faced impacted along Argona's dorsal armor, causing several fires in affected sections. Argona closed with the heavy basestar, leaving Audacious behind after seeing its impressive defenses working. The numerous KEWs on Argona all fired on the heavy basestar, quickly tearing through sections of the baseship's heavy armor.
Battlestar Nike continued firing her lasers on the heavy basestar she faced, melting through several layers of the heavy armor across the baseship. Several nukes impacted across Nike, doing little damage through her heavy layered armor – though multiple fires were started in affected sections with atmosphere venting. The heavy basestar began spinning on its axis, showing its undamaged heavily armored sections to the attacking Battlestar.
Teams of marines continued running through the three first war baseships, shooting at centurions coming from the front and behind the groups of marines. Several marines and centurions went down as weapons fire impacted across their bodies. A team of marines reached the center control room in two of the first war baseships, as centurions from the CIC and from hallways fired on the marines from each direction – blocking any possible exit. Seeing no chance of escape and little room for survival, team leaders on the two baseships activated the detonators on backpacks nukes with the teams of marines. One of the first war baseships was then destroyed as the nuclear explosion reverberated throughout the innards of the baseship, igniting tylium lines and culminating in a large explosion, while the other baseship received heavy damage inside but was isolated given the nukes location distant from critical systems having blown too early. The third first war baseship then jumped out, escaping oncoming debris, and trapping the team of marines aboard the baseship. The marines were initially knocked off their feet at the unexpected jump, then attacked from multiple directions as centurions continued running to fire at them. The nuclear detonator the team leader had was jammed, and apparently inoperable to use to destroy the baseship. The team of marines then started back towards their Raptors seeing no chance of using nukes on the baseship as originally planned, and the team was cutoff in their escape as more centurions appeared in the corridors. With no chance of escape, the marines continued fighting the centurions as they kept coming – with fresh centurions replacing those hit by explosive rounds to the head. Hours later, the marines would all be wiped out with heavy losses to attacking centurions. The raptors used to transport the marines also later exploded from booby traps wired on the doors as centurions attempted to board them – dealing heavy damage inside the baseship.
The heavily damaged first war baseship used its remaining maneuvering thrust and broke all normal regulations on speed to flow towards Battlestar Independence like a bullet, several thrusters exploding from the intense output maxing them out to attain as great a speed as possible. With surprise on their side, the Cylon baseship dove right into Battlestar Independence, simultaneously blowing up the ships nuclear weapons complement. With Battlestar Independence's hull and armor breached, the subsequent explosions from the impact with the baseship and nukes quickly created a chain reaction inside, and within moments Battlestar Independence followed the baseship in death as it exploded, with all hands aboard lost.
800 vipers continued fighting the 3700 raiders near where the defense grid had been, with several ferocious dogfights being engaged. The vipers had initially destroyed several hundred raiders as the viper squadrons came from behind the raider forces, launched from their Battlestars near the Cylon baseships. For every viper destroyed three raiders went down as well as the vipers continued fighting in teams of two, using their experience to weave through and destroy multiple raiders. Over 1000 raiders began jumping back towards the baseship fleets to protect them, with several hundred more joining them once the defense grid jumped out of the system. The remaining raiders continued attacking the vipers, with heavy casualties continuing to accumulate on both sides.
The Pegasi squadron of vipers with FTL drives jumped in around groups of raiders engaged with vipers, destroying several dozen in moments after their jump, as the raiders were caught unprepared by the vipers sudden appearance. The vipers with FTL drives then FTL hopped away to around another group of raiders as raiders near their first jump point had begun launching towards them, then going through empty space where the vipers had left. Several more raiders were destroyed quickly by the vipers as they continued attacking and using their FTL drives to hop around the battlefield. The remaining 357 vipers were benefiting from the Pegasi squadrons continued help in destroying more of the remaining 1200 raiders.
60 marines on the two first war baseships carried backpack nukes and moved inside the baseships, towards the center control room on each baseship. 17 marines had been shot dead by approaching centurions along the way to the ship's CIC once the teams of marines had been spotted aboard the baseships, with several minutes having gone by after the marines had already been moving deep into the ships before being noticed. Multiple centurions were shot in the head with explosive rounds as the teams continued moving forward, finally reaching the core of the baseships forty minutes later. On the portside baseship, the team of marines placed their nukes in the central control room after destroying nearby centurions inside and raced back to their Heavy raider transports. On the starboard baseship, the team of marines reached the center control and destroyed the centurions inside as more centurions approached from the outside corridors. Several marines were killed or wounded, and the team of marines quickly barricaded the doors to the control room to prepare the nukes. The marines carrying the nukes were among those shot, and after looking over their bodies to gather and place the nukes the team leader for the marines learned that the backpack nukes had all maintained damage to the point of being useless. The team leader then ordered his remaining 16 marines the harrowing task of capturing the first war baseship – requiring the marines to destroy enough of the remaining centurions to maintain control over the ships FTL drives and control center to jump out and have reinforcements arrive on the other side of the jump. The marines then removed the barricades and began attacking the centurions grouped around the hall in earnest, firing off rockets at the grouped of centurions – destroying them in mass before the marines continued advancing to fire on the rest. The portside baseship blew up in a large explosion as the nukes went off in the control room after the team of marines had escaped in the Heavy raiders.
On the center first war baseship, Athena led the team of 30 marines towards the center control room. Marines carrying RPGs let loose several rockets in the groups of oncoming 005 centurions, slaughtering dozens quickly enough; with more falling to the other marines' gun fire. The marines continued moving through the hallways to the CIC, destroying more centurions on their way – with seven marines killed by return fire. Several grenades were tossed inside the CIC after the marines threw open the doors, with the team getting back behind the outside corridor as the grenades went off –destroying several centurions at the baseship's controls. The marines then began firing on the centurions inside and quickly captured CIC. Athena went over the controls and began preparing an FTL jump – four marines stayed behind guarding the CIC while Athena worked. The rest of the team of marines fanned out and went around the baseship to destroy the remaining centurions aboard.
Modern centurions rushed through Battlestars Durga, Sleipnir, Rhodes, Caprica, Poseidon, Cerberus, and Minerva from the boarding parties exiting heavy raiders. Teams of marines overpowered the centurions aboard Durga, Sleipnir, Caprica, Poseidon, and Minerva – with dozens of marines and crewman wounded or killed before the centurions went down. Centurions continued moving and evading marines on Battlestars Rhodes and Cerberus – several centurions and marines were put down along the way as the centurions headed for Aft Damage Control, Auxiliary Fire Control, and CIC.
Cylon Command Baseship
The baseship shuddered as more missiles launched by Audacious exploded across the ship's heavy armor, with several missiles burrowing deep inside before exploding.
John Cavil held onto the controls table before him as impacts damaging the baseship forced the CIC crew to hold on tight. John smiled as more and more colonial ships were destroyed, grimacing when more baseships continued to be destroyed as well.
"Have the more damaged baseships jump out. Send word to the reserve fleet to begin jumping in with the heavy raiders as planned!" John ordered loudly.
An explosion near the CIC sent shrapnel throughout the room, impaling one of the sixes and injuring several other Cylons.
"I want that advanced Cruiser destroyed! Fire off as many nukes toward her as possible to get through her defense grid; detonate a 250mt nuke near her if necessary," John yelled out. The other Cylons quickly agreed and complied with his order.
The two baseships disabled and damaged by raptors jumped out of the system, with several other baseships across the fleet jumping out as well.
Twenty-five nukes launched from the damaged baseship towards Battlestar Glorious. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa provided defensive for in front of Glorious as her weapons systems were mostly shut down. Nearby vipers also helped defend against the oncoming missiles, with their combined efforts destroying twenty nukes. The remaining five nukes passed through and impacted across heavily damaged areas of Battlestar Glorious, their conjoined detonations creating a large fiery mushroom cloud of explosions and a blinding white light. What remained of Battlestar Glorious shocked nearby on looking colonials to their very core, seeing the burned out pieces of scrap metal, with the knowledge that all hands had been lost aboard the valiant Battlestar.
Battlestar Durga continued its approach directly at the baseship, unleashing a volley of HE KEW rounds at the baseship's already damaged central axis. The impacting rounds exploded, burrowing deep inside the central axis until continued rounds fired went straight through the baseship – out the other side of the central axis. The baseship was ripped in half, and momentarily exploded.
Battlestar Trinity managed a jump to out of the system in its heavily damaged state, with a complete system failure upon arriving near the rescue fleet.
Battlestar Thanatos was temporarily disabled as several systems were shut down across the ship from the nearby EMP blasts. The damaged baseship maneuvered closer to Thanatos and began firing her remaining cannons and working missile launchers on the momentarily powerless Thanatos. DC teams and crewmen rapidly worked to restore power to the ship, managing to restore lights ship wide and get the point defense system working to ward off the oncoming weapons fire.
Battlestars Sleipnir and Durga began moving towards the remaining damaged baseship just as four fresh modern baseships jumped in between them and the damaged baseship, two baseships facing each Battlestar. The baseships started firing their cannons and numerous missiles at the battle hardened Battlestars, scoring a few hits before return fire was launched. Gunstars Triton, Stargazer, and Medusa maneuvered between the ships, providing defensive fire and firing their KEWs at the baseships.
Centurions arrived in Battlestar Rhodes' CIC, killing several crewmen and opposing marines. Rhodes' commanding officer was shot several times in the chest along with the XO. Marines rushing inside CIC from other hallways fired on the centurions, destroying the remaining six centurions. The centurions attacking Auxiliary Fire Control were all destroyed, with several marine and crewmen losses taken beforehand. The last team of centurions approaching Aft Damage Control was ambushed by over a dozen marines from two hallways. Twelve of the sixteen centurions were destroyed, with the opposing marines all shot in the head or chest, killing or incapacitating them. The four remaining centurions quickly blasted open the door to Aft Damage Control, then began activating the inside console computers to control the ships life support systems; venting the atmosphere in several ship sections to begin suffocating the crew, and opening bulkheads and airlocks to eject crewmen in various sections into space. With the Commander and XO killed in action, as well as numerous CIC crewmen, Rhodes' crew was unprepared for Aft Damage Control beginning to vent the ship's atmosphere and eject several sections of crewmen into space. Hundreds died as they were ejected into space, while others suffocated from lack of oxygen. Other crewmen quickly put on EVA suits, giving them some breathable air for when the ship would shortly be empty of O2. Chaos ruled the ship as the remaining crew tried to regain control over the ship, many of them just fighting to survive by getting enough air or staying out of the centurions' way if they lacked ammunition/weapons.
Rhodes continued to take missile impacts from the opposing baseship, which now seized on the opportunity of the chaos aboard the ship – maneuvering closer. Battlestar Vanguard quickly maneuvered towards the baseship attacking Rhodes, firing her KEWs along the baseship. Several missiles launched from each ship at the opposing enemy capital ship. Vanguard received several impacts across her topside armor, with a nuke causing several fires and hull breaches. The baseship took more impacts across its armor, with several sections opening in hull breaches where Rhodes had already fired upon the ship.
Gunstars Avalanche and Avenger closed distance with the first war baseship attacking Battlestar Arcadia, firing their KEWs and tactical nukes at the baseship. Numerous hull breaches opened along the baseship, weapon impacts burrowing deep into the baseship.
Arcadia continued taking impacts from missiles and cannon fire as the crew moved around the ship to regain control. The Battlestar tilted downward on its axis, the loss of its portside hangar pod forcing the ship to work diligently to overcompensate in maneuvering thrusters. The standard baseship and first war baseship continued firing their missiles and cannons at Arcadia in spite of her inability to fight back. Several crewmen still at their working weapons consoles began firing their weapons back at the offending forces as best as they were able, activating a handful of point defense cannons to protect the ship and seven KEW cannons firing on the baseships in response – the tilted axis causing many fired rounds to miss.
Battlestar Pleiades continued firing her KEWs on the standard baseship attacking Arcadia, scoring several hits across the baseship's damaged armor. A nuke impacted along Pleiades' starboard flight pod, dealing heavy damage – shutting down the landing and launch bays for an extended time. Several groups of raiders swarmed Pleiades, forcing her point defense grid to widen and throw a growing amount of flak at raiders. Six raiders impacted along Pleiades, dealing damage across her armor from suicide tactics.
Three fresh first war baseships jumped in around Pleiades, immediately firing their cannons and launching missiles at the Battlestar – scoring several hits unhindered. Pleiades reeled from the attack, backing off her targeted baseship, and maneuvering farther from the three baseships; making it harder for them to combine their firepower on Pleiades.
Battlestar Chimera joined Battlestar Poseidon in attacking the damaged baseship she faced after the heavily damaged baseship Chimera had been attacking jumped out of the battlefield. The two Battlestars combined their numerous KEW fire on the damaged baseship, quickly destroying the baseship as the baseship's remaining engines exploded. A mass of fire came outward from inside the baseship as it was destroyed, pooling in a mass of debris. Several small fragments of debris hit the two Battlestars like large amounts of shrapnel dealing damage across the two ships as they avoided more debris.
As Gunstar Sol joined Battlestars Pegasus, Caprica, Poseidon, and Chimera as they met to prepare to assist other areas of the fleet, seven fresh baseships jumped in around the group. Missiles and cannon fire launched at the colonial fleet, with the first salvo scoring several hits before the battle group began returning fire.
Battlestar Cerberus quickly finished off the heavily damaged baseship she faced, firing her KEWs into the baseship until internal explosions destroyed the baseship.
Centurions kept moving throughout Cerberus, killing several marines and crewmen in their path. The teams of centurions at Aft Damage Control and attacking the CIC were all destroyed by marines. Several more crewmen and marines were shot in the fighting. The team of centurions attacking Auxiliary Fire Control managed to take out the team of marines in their way, with three centurions surviving to gain control of the controlling consoles for the gun batteries and missile launchers across the ship. Cerberus began firing her KEWs at Battlestar Minerva, scoring several hits as the Battlestar maneuvered to evade. Several pre-loaded nukes and anti-ship missiles launched from Cerberus at Gunstar Lauder, impacting along Lauder unhindered as a surprise attack. Momentarily, Lauder blew up from multiple nuclear explosions resonating inside the ship. Cerberus' crew frantically worked to regain control of the ship in CIC, with teams of marines rushing to Auxiliary Fire Control.
Battlestar Minerva took moderate damage across her superstructure as Cerberus fired on her fellow Battlestar. While evading more incoming fire, Minerva launched toward the baseship she faced, firing her KEWs at the heavily damaged enemy ship. Within a minute, the baseship exploded from weapons firing colliding with the ship's tylium bunkers.
The baseship Battlestar Titan was attacking exploded as numerous KEW rounds pierced through armor over the tylium lines, CIC, and the central axis – the damage culminating in a large explosion. Titan quickly maneuvered out of the way of oncoming debris, with some damage taken from impacting debris.
The heavily damaged baseship being attacked by Gunstars Hates and Edenton jumped out of the battlefield. Gunstars Caron and Palmer regrouped with Hates and Edenton, firing on the surrounding raiders – systematically destroying dozens in range.
Four fresh first war baseships jumped in around Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan. Missiles and cannon fire erupted from the ships in both fleets. The crew on Cerberus regained control of the ship's weapons as marines stormed the centurions in Auxiliary Fire Control, taking several casualties in the process.
One of the baseships with heavy damage facing the colonial support ships of various cruisers and escortstars jumped out of the battlefield. Battlecruiser Boreas exploded as multiple nukes impacted across the ship. Heavy cruisers Phobos, and Therion were destroyed as their hulls were compromised with nukes reaching inside breaches other weapons fire made. Heavy cruiser Thalia jumped out of the battlefield as heavy damage compounded aboard the ship.
Cruisers Proteus, Cimtar, Metis, and Cleo continued firing on the moderately damaged baseships, steadily firing deeper into the ships. Light cruiser Cleo exploded simultaneously with one of the baseships as cannon fire reached deep inside the ships. Escortstars Sandstorm and Tauron were swarmed by raiders and exploded after several raiders rammed them. The remaining baseship salvo fired on Metis, launching several nukes towards the damaged sections on the cruiser. The combined fire from the cruisers finally destroyed the baseship, just as five nukes detonated along Metis and Proteus, with the internal explosions destroying the Cimtar jumped out towards the evacuation fleet, sustaining heavy damage and facing imminent destruction from numerous oncoming raiders. The remaining raiders in the area launched towards other groups in the colonial fleet, engaging in dogfights with defending vipers.
Onboard the boarded starboard first war baseship, the marines fought their way through the first war centurions. Six marines stayed in the CIC, maintaining control of the ship's control center and beginning preparations for a jump with the help of Athena on the other boarded baseship over communications. The remaining ten marines and their leader shot their way through centurions on the way to the engines and alternate control centers. Dozens of centurions were mowed down in a merciless slaughter by gun fire, particularly high caliber heavy machine guns, and multiple rockets. Five of the marines were killed on the way, with three others wounded until they were incapable of adequately firing their weapons – handing over their ammo to the others. Many minutes later, the marines maintained control over the FTL and main power systems and the captured baseship jumped out to where the rescue fleet assembled. More marines from the fleet's assaultstars and warships quickly made their way to the baseship to fight off the centurions still aboard the ship. Over a dozen raiders launched on the other side of the jump and were put down by nearby vipers and raptors. It took over an hour, but eventually the reinforced marine contingent overpowered the centurions and completely captured the first war baseship, with several dozen casualties along the way.
Before the marines could get complete control of the starboard first war baseship, the centurions aboard plotted a jump. Seconds later, the baseship appeared right next to Battlestar Victorious, the two ships receiving heavy damage from colliding with each other. The centurions then brutally remote detonated the ship's full complement of nukes, the ensuing explosion obliterating Victorious and the baseship – with all hands including the valiant marines lost.
Battlestar Galactica CIC
The ship shook as several nukes detonated outside the ship, two more impacting across the topside armor.
"Order Audacious to jump out. She won't be able to handle it if just one of those 250Mt nukes hits her head on," Admiral Adama said, noticing as Combatcruiser Audacious continued evading and using its powerful point defense against the onslaught of dozens of nukes fired from the command baseship.
Fives nukes detonated in range of Audacious, all in the 250Mt range, the massive explosions dealing kinetic and EMP damage across the ship. Several other missiles impacted along Audacious dealing damage across the ship. Audacious spooled up and jumped out after receiving the order to leave the battle, avoiding a larger batch of nukes that went through the space the cruiser had previously occupied.
The command baseship began firing its nukes at Galactica and Warstar Argona. Several missiles impacted along Galactica and Argona's heavy armor as the two ships continued attacking and defending against the two heavy basestars in addition to the command baseship now firing on them. Nike began launching nukes at the heavy baseship she faced as her laser cannons and several KEWs began to overheat from constant firing. The heavy baseship exploded as one of the nukes impacted inside the ship's heavily damaged hull where previous weapons fire had breached deep into the ship.
Not long after fresh baseships jumped into the system, hundreds of heavy raiders began jumping in around the colonial fleet ships. Vipers disengaged from raiders and fired on the heavy raiders as quickly as they could while the heavy raiders' systems re-booted after their jump and before they could launch missiles. The Gunstars and Battlestars added their defensive fire as best they could to destroy the heavy raiders. The colonials however had a mostly uncoordinated defense planned due to their distance from friendly ships in taking on the Cyon ships in fractured groups and the vipers were mostly busy fending off swarms of regular raiders, factors which the Cylons took into account and took to their full advantage. Dozens and even hundreds of the heavy raiders were rapidly destroyed by oncoming fire, even as more jumped into the system.
After reinitializing their systems, the remaining heavy raiders quickly launched their missiles at the colonial fleet. More raiders were destroyed by vipers and the warships, with several heavy raiders only firing off a missile or two before being destroyed. 732 nuclear missiles and 258 anti-ship missiles launched inbound towards the colonial ships. The colonial ships frantically fired on the oncoming missiles, rapidly destroying hundreds of missiles.
Dozens of vipers and patrolling raptors were destroyed along with raiders in the nuclear blasts. The Battlestars all took varying amounts of moderate to heavy damage as missiles impacted across their superstructure. Five nukes and several anti-ship missiles impacted along Battlestar Durga. Six nukes impacted along Battlestar Thanatos as numerous missiles bypassed the ship's partially working point defense. Four nukes impacted across Battlestar Sleipnir. Five nukes impacted on Battlestar Vanguard, and then another three nukes detonated in proximity of Vanguard as the ship moved to take hits intended for Arcadia. Eight nukes exploded across and proximity of Battlestar Rhodes as the few surviving crew had few point defense weapons firing – the extreme damage leaving the ship dead in space. Two nukes detonated across Battlestar Arcadia just as Vanguard helped to provide defensive fire where Arcadia couldn't and physically blocked several nukes. Four nukes impacted on Battlestar Pleiades. Four nukes hit Pegasus. Three nukes hit Caprica. Ten nukes altogether exploded across and in proximity of Battlestars Poseidon and Chimera as the two combined defense fire, and received much of the same damage from their proximity. Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan each had four nukes impact across their armored superstructures. Battlestars Nike, Galactica, and Warstar Argona intensified their flak fire and fired their main cannons towards the oncoming missiles – with several nukes impacting across their heavily armored hulls. Gunstars Hates, Caron, Palmer, Edenton, Stargazer, Triton, and Medusa exploded as over a dozen nukes exploded on impact across each of the ships. Gunstars Avenger and Sol jumped out just as numerous nukes passed through their location. Gunstar Avalanche received several missile impacts across its hull before the ship jumped out, escaping more incoming missiles.
The surviving heavy raiders jumped out of the system. Raiders and vipers re-engaged in their dogfights, with a significant decrease in numbers on both sides.
The colonial fleet reeled from the damage the Cylons surprise attack had caused. The Cylon baseships took the opportunity provided while the Battlestars were regrouping after the attack and began attacking in earnest.
Battlestar Durga exploded after several more missiles and cannon fire from the two baseships compounded upon the previous damage the ship received inside and across its superstructure. A massive fireball of debris was pushed outward from the ship's remains, the two nearby baseships quickly moving to evade as best as possible.
Battlestar Sleipnir maintained heavy damage from the nuke strike and continued weapons fire from the two baseships moments later. Sleipnir began withdrawing on sublights away from the baseships, seeking aid from other remaining Battlestars. Less missiles impacted across Sleipnir as the distance increased, even as the two baseships attacking her were joined by the other two nearby baseships. The baseships would quickly overtake Sleipnir within two minutes as they increased speed.
Battlestar Thanatos fired off nine nukes at the damaged baseship assaulting her. Four missiles found their mark around the damaged central axis of the baseship, quickly burrowing deep inside the ship and detonating on the baseships nerve center. Various engines exploded at once, carrying secondary explosions throughout the ship until the baseship was engulfed in flame; a blinding flash of light were all those on the outside could see for a minute, after which the destroyed rubble of the baseship remained. Thanatos used her remaining working thrusters to go to Sleipnir's aid, coming around from behind on the four baseships and firing her KEWs at the nearest two. DC workers continued working throughout the ship to maintain the damage inflicted in various sections as fires and hull breaches hampered the ship's functionality.
Chaos reigned inside of Battlestar Rhodes as the few crewmen with EVA suits and breathable air at all made their way to the flight decks to board raptors and abandon ship. Many more crew men died in the explosions from the nukes hitting the ship, as well as the follow up assault of missiles and cannon fire from the baseship. Fires rampaged throughout the ship unchecked. Bodies of those affected by the ship's loss of air were piled up around the ship, forcing the last crewmen alive to walk over their fallen comrades. 38 crewmen in total managed to get off Rhodes on raptors, leaving behind a dead drifting hulk of a once mighty warship. Oblivious to the state of the ship or the crew inside the Battlestar, the Cylon baseship continued pouring weapons fire on Rhodes until the defenseless Battlestar exploded minutes later.
Battlestar Vanguard reeled from the damaged sustained across the ship. DC teams were overwhelmed handling damage control in various sections throughout the entire ship. Many were killed in the initial blasts, more in the ensuing fires, and even more crewmen were lost as several ship sections required venting – blasting out everyone inside to a sure death in the cold oxygen less space. In desperation, Vanguard launched six nukes at the nearby baseship finishing off Battlestar Rhodes. One of the missiles detonated deep inside the baseship through hull breaches and destroyed the baseship as flame consumed the ship's guts, aided by secondary explosions as the tylium lines were compromised.
Battlestar Arcadia shook and seemed to scream in protest and agony as heavy damage was inflicted ship wide from nuke impacts, with more missiles and cannon fire coming from the two nearby baseships and adding even more damage. Seeing the ship's vulnerability and with the FTL drives taken out, Arcadia's commander ordered the crew to abandon ship. The surviving crew quickly moved to board raptors in the starboard flightpod, with more raptors called from around the fleet to aid the crew in getting to safety. A few KEWs went on automated fire as they aimed at the first war baseship closing with Arcadia.
Battlestar Pleiades suffered moderate damage in several sections from the nuke strike, with DC teams rushing about throughout the ship to contain fires and hull breaches. Pleiades focused her KEW fire on a single first war baseship of the three coming at her. All three baseships continued firing missiles at Pleiades as they closed distance, encircling around the Battlestar.
Battlestar Pegasus received moderate damage in multiple sections across the ship, the starboard landing and launch bays were shut down for an extended period, and DC teams moved throughout the ship with marines helping them to repair various damages and put out fires. Two baseships maneuvered closer to Pegasus and fired missiles at the ship, point defense activated taking out several missiles while others impacted across the ship's armor. Pegasus' KEWs began firing on the nearest baseship, focusing on the central axis as the ship grew closer.
Battlestar Caprica took heavy damage from the nukes to her dorsal armor with fires and hull breaches reported in affected sections. Caprica maneuvered to meet one of the oncoming baseships head on, receiving several missile impacts as the baseship continued launching wave after wave of missiles.
Battlestars Poseidon and Chimera received much of the same damage from their proximity, various hull breaches and fires were reported shipwide as hull integrity partially collapsed in several sections. Several weapons emplacements exploded or were disabled. Four baseships maneuvered to encircle around the two Battlestars, launching multiple and continuous salvoes of missiles at the colonial ships. Much to the surprise of the human Cylons aboard the baseships, the two Battlestars did not divide to take two baseships each. Chimera maneuvered hard to starboard around Poseidon and the two Battlestars combined their KEW fire on the nearest baseship's central axis. Multiple high explosive KEW rounds found their mark on the same spot of armor over the central axis, causing multiple explosions reaching deep into the baseship. As the two Battlestars continued their vicious assault with continuous KEW fire on the same spot over the central axis, the baseship began to break apart – multiple KEW rounds ripping through and out the other side of the baseship's central axis. The baseship then exploded as secondary detonations ran throughout the baseship, the tylium bunkers were compromised and caused a fiery cloud to cover debris extending outward in the explosion.
Battlestars Cerberus, Minerva, and Titan reeled from moderate damage in multiple sections from the nuke strike, various fires and hull breaches forcing DC teams to work frantically across the ship, even as multiple casualties were taken from impact and secondary explosions. Two baseships maneuvered around Cerberus while the other two baseships focused on Titan and Minerva separately. Continuous salvoes of missiles and cannon fire launched from the baseships at the three Battlestars. Heavy damage compounded on Cerberus across previously damaged sections, with heavy casualties in affected areas.
Battlestar Galactica CIC
The ship shook as several anti-ship missiles impacted across the topside armor, destroying a KEW emplacement and causing light damage on several sections of the armor. A missile impacting near the CIC caused several members of the CIC to be thrown about the room.
"Status report!" Admiral Adama ordered loudly as he got up from the ground, clutching the plot table tightly for support, after the end of latest shockwave affecting the CIC lifted him off his feet.
Lieutenant Gaeta gathered himself together and looked at the latest reports on his station, holding his hand to staunch bleeding from his forehead.
"Several more impacts across the topside armor, compounding upon some damage received from the heavy raider nuke strike. Four more KEWs as well as other weapons emplacements have been taken offline," Lieutenant Gaeta reported.
"Admiral, we need to take out the command baseship now. We can't afford to get hit by the nukes she's putting out. Also, Battlestars Sleipnir and Thanatos are about to be in trouble given damages sustained and the four fresh baseships closing on their position," Commander Tigh said, gritting his teeth angrily at the situation.
Admiral Adama looked at the dradis console, verifying what Tigh had said. His blood went cold as he contemplated the situation, also taking note of the dire situations plaguing Arcadia, Pleiades, and Cerberus.
At that moment, Battlestar Nike fired her recharged laser cannons at the heavy baseship heavily damaged by Galactica's weapon fire. The heavy armor covering the baseship started melting on impact, the lasers burning right through the remaining layers of armor and the damaged hull. Moments later, a chain reaction of explosions ran throughout the heavy baseship until the ship collapsed under its damage – an explosion of the baseship's main body sending debris fragments outward. Several nearby vipers and raiders were consumed in the explosion, with fragments of debris hitting the nearby baseships and raining shrapnel across Galactica and Argona.
After Galactica settled down, recovering from the shrapnel raining across the armor, Admiral Adama took stock of the situation.
"Send word to Nike. They are to jump to Battlestar Sleipnir's positon to provide aid. Also, get a message to Admiral Thompson on Argona: form up on Galactica and combine our defensive screen," Admiral Adama ordered.
"Aye sir," the communcations officer replied, getting word out to the fleet.
Battlestar Nike jumped across the distance of the Cylon and colonial fleet, appearing alongside Sleipnir as she met the oncoming baseships. Warstar Argona maneuvered closer alongside Galactica, the two ships throwing up a larger combined flak barrier against oncoming missiles from the command and heavy baseships.
Battlestar Sleipnir continued taking damage as the four baseships closed distance and collectively unleashed missiles and cannon fire at the wounded Battlestar. Several systems on Sleipnir were taken offline, with fires and hull breaches causing more damage inside the ship that DC teams frantically worked on. Battlestar Nike jumped in alongside Sleipnir, receiving seven anti-ship missile impacts across the ship's armor as several more missiles meant for Sleipnir were taken out by Nike's point defense. Nike moved in front of Sleipnir as the damaged Battlestar limped on; the pristine heavily armed Battlestar maneuvered to take on all four baseships so Sleipnir could escape.
Battlestar Thanatos fired her heavy KEWs at the nearest baseship, coming up behind the four baseships attacking Nike and Sleipnir, exacting heavy damage across the baseship's extending arms. The four baseships ignored Thanatos in favor of bracketing around Nike and firing their collective ammunitions in a swarm at Nike. Nike activated her point defense, throwing up an impressive flak field that easily equaled the firepower of two Battlestars. Several missiles managed to get through the point defense, impacting across Nike's heavily armored hull – doing little more than scratching her paint job at first, even as another wave of missiles was quickly launched from the baseships. Nike returned fire with her bow laser cannons; impacting along the entire front side of the baseship which Thanatos was attacking on the opposite side – effectively inflicting heavy damage to the entire ship in a two front battle. The baseship exploded moments later as heavy KEW rounds from both Battlestars impacted inside the baseship's hull, igniting the fuel lines. Both sides of the engagement maneuvered away from oncoming debris before resetting their offensive lines.
Battlestar Vanguard finished taking on survivors from Arcadia to help in the ship's evacuation, taking on several hundred crewmen to allow the transports to retrieve survivors and go back for more quickly, the remainder aboard Arcadia continued evacuating on Raptors bound for the rescue fleet. Vanguard quickly maneuvered toward the three baseships attacking Pleiades, firing missiles and her KEWs at the nearest baseship from behind the Cylon formation. Several rounds and missiles impacted along the baseship, dealing moderate damage across the armor and destroying multiple weapon emplacements across the baseship's extending arms.
Battlestar Arcadia was quickly emptied of her crew as they evacuated, with over 700 survivors encompassing roughly half the ship's total compliment escaping on transports to Vanguard or the rescue fleet. The first war baseship continued taking KEW hits as several of Arcadia's cannons continued firing on auto mode - missing half the time given the ship's stability problems. Despite the low amount of fire hitting the baseship, a few rounds impacted inside and damaged several sensitive systems – scrambling one of the reactors aboard the baseship. An explosion imminent, the first war baseship quickly maneuvered forward to collide with Battlestar Arcadia. Unable to move out of the way, Arcadia took the collision head on. Detonations were set off inside both ships from the collision; Arcadia's own tylium lines were compromised as various fires broke out inside the ship, and the reactors aboard the baseship momentarily detonated. The two ships went up in a massive explosion, creating a huge fireball encompassing the ships. All remaining crew aboard Arcadia lost their lives in the explosion before they could evacuate. The nearby damaged standard baseship had time to jump out to avoid debris after having received warning from centurions in the first war baseship moments before their charge to collide with Arcadia.
Battlestar Pleiades took heavy damage across her armor and in several sections inside the ship as the three baseships continued firing missiles at her. Several hundred casualties were reported from weapon impacts and ensuing fires. The baseship Pleiades targeted with KEWs began to break up as HE rounds ripped through the central axis, tearing the ship in two. Pleiades then began combining fire with Vanguard on the next baseship in the Cylon line.
Battlestar Pegasus continued receiving impacts of weapons from the baseships; causing structural buckling, fires, and hull breaches across the ship. A few hundred casualties were reported across the ship as more crew continued to be lost in the battle. KEW rounds from Pegasus impacted across the baseship's central axis, forcing the basestar to pull back to escape the heavily damaging weapons fire. A minute later the baseship jumped out for self-preservation as KEW rounds continued launching in her direction. Pegasus had little to celebrate as the other fresh baseship continued pouring missile swarms at the damaged Battlestar. With a heavy heart, Commander Lee Adama ordered Pegasus to jump out as heavy damage was reported and an engine taken offline aboard Pegasus. Pegasus jumped out, missiles continuing on through the previous location, and was temporarily dead in the water as several systems shut down all at once on the other side of the jump.
Battlestar Caprica and the baseship closed distance to point blank range as they continued firing their cannons and missiles at each other. Both ships received impacts on various sections, moderate damage overall. Two of the baseship's extending arms separated from the main body of the baseship. Missiles impacted across Caprica's main hull and stern; two of the ships engines were damaged and shutdown, severely hampering the ship's weapons systems as power fluctuated throughout the ship. More and more missiles impacted on Caprica as the point defense system put out less than half its previous flak field. Several nukes impacted on Caprica, getting past the ship's weakened defenses, the blastwave shredded Battlestar Caprica and pushed chunks of flying debris outward.
Battlestar Poseidon maneuvered behind Chimera as the three remaining baseships launched swarms of missiles at the two Battlestars, forcing Chimera to take the brunt of impacting missiles with the mercury class' heavier armor more capable of taking the hits. Poseidon took several missiles as well, with damage piling up on several sections of the ship damaged by the nukes and previous combat. Casualties grew on both Battlestars, growing in excess of several hundred in addition to hundreds already lost – reaching over 1500 total lost between the two ships. Chimera and Poseidon closed with the baseship to starboard in the Cylon formation, focusing their combined KEWs and multitudes of missiles on the baseship's central axis. Missiles and rounds exploded across multiple points of the baseship, sending flames in every direction – with a focus across the ship's center along the central axis. The baseships returned fire with several nukes; most were stopped by point defense, and one nuke impacted on each Battlestar. The pressure from the blast waves bombarded the Battlestars with heat and radiation, causing significant damage inside both ships. More wounded and casualties were reported, exceeding over a hundred on both ships. A spread of missiles launched from both ships at close range towards the damaged baseship. Explosions shook the baseship violently, breaking apart huge chunks of the superstructure. Salvoes of KEW fire quickly finished off the baseship as a large amount of ordinance was thrown inside the heavily damaged hull of the baseship until flame and explosions consumed the ship from the inside out.
Cerberus continued to take missile and cannon fire impacts from the oncoming two baseships. Return fire dealt light damage across the baseships, with several of Cerberus' weapon emplacements being destroyed by weapons impacts. Eighteen nukes launched from the baseships towards Cerberus. Given her weakened point defense Ceberus couldn't adequately defend against the attack; only seven nukes were taken out by flak fire, along with another five by nearby vipers. Six nukes impacted across Cerberus, with several detonating where the heavy raider strike had already heavily damaged. Flames reached outward from the center of Cerberus, consuming and devouring the ship. Intense heat and bright light surrounded Cerberus, creating a short term effect similar to that of a miniature sun. The mighty Battlestar continued its internal explosions and disintegration, breaking apart into pieces. Several pieces of debris shot out and impacted along the two baseships – inflicting heavy damage on both as they swerved to maneuver.
Battlestars Minerva and Titan fired their KEWs at each of the two baseships facing them. A nuke strike launched at the baseships compounded heavy damage across both baseships. One baseship jumped out with severe damage. The other baseship exploded as four nukes detonated close together atop the baseship's central axis, the blast wave disintegrated much of the ship right there and internal explosions quickly took care of the rest. With a high degree of damage to themselves, Titan and Minerva jumped out to the rescue fleet before the other two baseships could approach them.
Cylon Command Baseship
Explosion after explosion from combined KEW and missile fire from Argona and Galactica threw the human Cylons to the floor in a screaming heap. Heavy damage quickly compounded across the baseship with little return fire anymore as the weapon emplacements lining the baseship's extending arms were consecutively destroyed.
John Cavil looked on in rage as his world came crashing down around him. He had been pleased to see several Battlestars finally destroyed even as more baseships followed them in death. Now the command baseship was set for destruction and it seemed likely the colonials would soon escape unless drastic intervention took place. John only had time to yell in fury as the command baseship exploded around him, Galactica's lasers putting the finishing blow on the Cylon command ship. Debris extended outward after a bright flash of light signaling the baseships destruction. The remaining heavy basestar, damaged as it already was, jumped out of the battlefield before it could be re-engaged.
Galactica CIC
Admiral Adama looked on as the command ship to the Cylon fleet was finally destroyed. Several other baseships remained, along with a large number of raiders.
"Send out the following; vipers are to begin combat landings and once able all remaining ships are to jump out," Admiral Adama ordered.
"Aye sir," the communications officer replied, quickly sending out the message to the remaining fleet over Picon.
Vipers began disengaging from raiders and began landing aboard the Battlestars. A large group of vipers would take a few minutes to reach the fleet from the former location of the defense grid, so Galactica jumped over there to allow them to land much faster. Raiders continued attacking, destroying several retreating vipers and scoring minor damage to the Battlestars.
Battlestar Sleipnir jumped out after repairing the FTL drives, escaping before more damage could be inflicted and possibly cost the ship.
Battlestar Nike received multiple missile impacts across her heavily armored hull; whittling down the strength of the armor little by little until blasts penetrated inside the ship, creating several hull breaches and fires around the ship. The remaining three baseships quickly jumped out after taking several damaging hits from Thanatos and Nike's KEWs, as well as the lasers aboard Nike. A move made for preservation of assets to prevent the baseships' destruction from following soon enough from more weapons impacts. A few minutes later, after taking on nearby vipers, Thanatos and Nike jumped out to arrive at the rescue fleet.
Battlestars Vanguard and Pleiades finished off another baseship with their combined KEWs impacting across the basestar, explosions across the central axis caused a chain reaction inside until the baseship collapsed. Vanguard and Pleiades took more damage from continued missile salvoes by the other baseship and nearby raiders; fires requiring venting also added over a hundred additional casualties. The remaining baseship jumped out as the two Battlestars maneuvered to take on the ship. Vanguard and Pleiades jumped to the rescue fleet after recovering their surviving vipers.
The remaining baseships in the Cylon fleet jumped out as Galactica and Argona maneuevered to reinforce Poseidon and Chimera. Not wanting to face their combined firepower, the human Cylons quickly agreed to escape to preserve their forces to fight another day. The remaining raiders in the system jumped out along with the baseships after receiving orders from the commanding human Cylons.
The few vipers not already landed aboard the fleet quickly made their way to the Battlestars, and momentarily the remaining colonial fleet jumped out to the location of the rescue fleet.
A few hours later
Rescue Fleet jump zone, Deep inside the Acheron Asteroid Belt
Galactica CIC
"Current total is over 56,000 casualties sir, with more accurate reports still coming in. Crewmen have been shuffled around on different ships throughout the fleet to maintain losses aboard the Battlestars, namely the survivors of Arcadia," Lieutenant Gaeta reported grimly.
Admiral Adama took the news with a heavy heart; thinking of the lives lost and wondered what could have been done differently to have prevented their loss.
"How many vipers and raptors did we lose?" Admiral Adama asked warily, knowing the pilots lost had been included in the total casualties.
"Approximately 75% of the vipers and 50% of the fleet's raptors. The proximity to nuclear explosions and overwhelming raider force more or less decimated our fighter force sir," Lieutenant Gaeta said solemnly.
"Where are we on getting the fleet underway?" Admiral Adama asked.
"Athena has the captured baseship ready to go and able to keep up with the fleet. Battlestar Trinity has been towed to the cradle dock, and Sleipnir was able to maneuver into another cradle dock under her own power. Several of the most heavily damaged support ships are aboard the remaining cradle dock to start their repairs, while the rest are docking aboard the Battlestars. Most of the Battlestars have maintained heavy damage, and those that need it can dock alongside other ships or have a tug carry them through the jump. The rest of the rescue fleet is ready to go. Also, the Chief said that the fleet should take a week off from jumping once we're a safe distance from the colonies, in order to make necessary repairs to complete the entire trip to Avalon safely," Lieutenant Gaeta said, looking down at reports compiled among the fleet.
"Very well. Tell the Chief we will stay in a safe position for a week or two as needed to make repairs, once we are a few jumps away from the colonies," Admiral Adama said.
"Yes sir," Lieutenant Gaeta replied, taking his reports over to the communications officer to begin transmitting information and orders throughout the fleet.
An hour later all colonial ships jumped away towards a safe system at an adequate distance from the colonies and the Cylons in order to prepare for the trip to the Terminus sector. For the last time the colonial fleet left the colonies, leaving behind whatever survivors remained hiding deep underground from the Cylons on the nuked colonies. It would be a long time before the colonies were returned to by the colonial fleet.
Cylon Ressurection Hub
John Cavil awoke and raised his head above the fluids in the resurrection tank his body was currently in, taking fast and short breathes as he tried to calm down from the stress of resurrecting.
"I see you've finally awoken," Jack Cavil said looking down on John, his expression unreadable.
"Fracking Adama!" John Cavil yelled, snarling in rage.
"Yes, I suppose the Admiral had a large role in screwing over the operation," Jack Cavil said stoically.
"We were not expecting so many ships to be added to the fleet. Even so, if it weren't for the advanced capabilities on their newest ships we likely would've been able to destroy their entire fleet!" John Cavil raved.
"Possibly so," Jack Cavil agreed, then grinned evilly as he continued, "unfortunately, the blame for the huge loss to the Cylon fleet and numerous lost Cylons who failed to download has been laid upon your feet."
"What?!" John Cavil asked angrily, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.
"Yes, all the models gathered to discuss recent occurrences and the majority place the responsibility upon your shoulders for the losses suffered at Picon. Furthermore, they blame you for the colonial fleet surviving the attack at all. Your inefficient planning did not account for survivors, and the majority is ready to blame you. The time of you leading the fleet is over," Jack Cavil said, grinning wider in satisfaction at the look of shock on John's face.
"The other models will also blame you for all that has happened since we first attacked the humans," John Cavil said, narrowing his eyes in anger.
"I'm sure they will. However; I will be sympathetic to them, listen to what they have to say, and join them in blaming you. They will look past mistakes of my leadership once they consider that I was just following your orders. You will be the scapegoat to hold accountable for the colonial's victories, just as you had planned the same for me. Once the others know I gave you the ultimate punishment, they will be open to my leadership," Jack Cavil said coldly, drawing a gun and aiming it at John.
John looked on in shock, completely unprepared for this situation and unable to do anything given his body's weakness from just downloading. Jack Cavil shot John Cavil in the head. Jack then initiated the protocols in the resurrection hub's systems to destroy any trace of John, to prevent any future downloads.
"Good bye John," Jack Cavil said quietly, a look of perfect contentment on his face.
This is a list of all the Fleet's assets after The Last Exodus from the Colonies (bold and underline means its destroyed or scrapped):
Military Section
BATTLESTARS (37 total, 25 surviving/active)
Nike Class: Nike (2600), Galactica (2800)
Upgraded Nova class: Theseus (2150)
Mercury class: Atlantis (1700), Polaris (2100), Trinity (900), Vanguard (1800), Chimera (1800), Pegasus (2000), Rhodes (2200), Atlas (1450), Ithaca (1500), Pacifica (2200), Neptune (1900)
Jupiter class: Glorious (2200), Arcadia (2100), Sciron (2300), Thanatos (1400)
Minerva class: Minerva (2300), Pleiades (2000), Hades (2250), Calypso (1900), Saturn (2600)
Valkyrie class: Valkyrie (1520), Poseidon (1210), Caprica (1480), Orion (1500)
Skinfaxi class: Concordia (2200), Sleipnir (1600)
Durga class: Durga (2200), Victorious (2300)
Heracles class: Titan (1800) Columbia II subtype
Columbia II class: Athena (2320), Cerberus (2200), Rycon (2400), Phoebe (2200)
Geneva class: Freedom (2000), Independence (2000)
Atlas class: Sword (1750)
Decommissioned: Galactica
WARSTARS (2)
Andraste class: Argona (3600)
Daedalus class: Daedalus (3000)
Heavy Warstar Sanctuary (6000)
COMBATCRUISER
Audacious (1000)
BATTLECRUISERS (25 total, 16 surviving)
Hoplite class: Hoplite (1200), Venitrix (1200), Janus (1200), Ceres (1200), Silvanus (1200), Maia (1200), Nereids (1200), Endymion (1200), Boreas (1200), Adrastea (1200), Cassandra (1200), Dardanels (1200), Nadia (1200).
Indomitable class: Greer (800), Hood (800), Indomitable (800), Pluto (800), Vulcan (800), Lares (800), Aeolus (800), Proteus (800), Calliope (800), Ajax (800), Diomedes (800), Ariadne (800).
HEAVY CRUISERS (23 total, 12 surviving)
Cataphract class: Cataphract (850), Javelin (850), Asther (850), Adder (850), Bacchus (850), Diana (850), Vesta (850), Aether (850), Electra (800), Pandora (800), Celestra (850), Cimtar (600), Chrysaor (850), Nemesis (850), Thalia (700), Thrace (850), Therion (700), Phobos (850), Faith (850), Goliath (850).
Mars class: Echo (1100), Eros (1050), Amor (980)
GUNSTARS (90 total, 53 surviving)
Titan II class: Avalanche (920), Stiletto (800), Thaddeus (800), Calamity (744), Sturgeon (800), Stargazer (800), Redeemer (820), Albatross (800), Resurgence (800), Avenger (710), Aggressive (805), Nox (700), Terra (900), Themis (800), Psyche (800), Black Widow (800), Damia (800), Medea (800), Diomedes (800), Eleusis (800), Ixion (800), Cygnus (800), Onyx (800), Stormbringer (800), Neleus (800), Argo (800), Thera (800), Medusa (800), Aegaeus (800).
Vigilant class: Sournier (450), Hale (450), Eos (450), Sol (450), Asteria (450), Perses (450), Pallas (450).
Striker class: Striker (900), Avarice (900), Starfury (900), Adamant (890), Neptune (900), Helios (900), Gaia (900), Artemis (900), Thebes (900), Achilles (900) Hero (800), Terpsichore (850).
Cygnus class: Illiad (800), Novalis (700), Fortune (700), Styx (700), Hates (700), Hellion (700), Fortuna (700), Oceanus (700), Thetis (700), Ophion (700), Castor (700), Pollux (700), Tartarus (700), Lemnos (700), Zephyrus (700), Polyxena (600), Phosphor (650).
Miranda class: Miranda (450)
Defender class: Tigris (550), Claw (550), Storm (550), Altair (459), Modesto (551), Hook (500), Taurus (550), Harpy (550), Raven (520), Tower (450), Brusser (500), Fury (500), Conflict (500), Peacekeeper (500), Tiber (500), Arachnid (500), Lauder (500), Lake (500), Palmer (480), Caron (500), Edenton (400), Howler (440), Brooks (500), Romulus (500), Remus (500).
LIGHT CRUISERS (25 total, 19 surviving)
Byzantine class: Byzantine (500), Persia (500), Agamemnon (500), Ares (500), Argos (500), Cleo (500), Perses (500), Selene (500), Theia (500), Atropos (500), Themis (500), Metis (500), Hebe (400).
Patroclus class: Patroclus (500), Pylos (500), Dante (500), Chaos (500), Unicorn (500), Nemean (500), Laelaps (500), Boar (500), Aura (500), Eurybia (500), Lelantos (500), Charites (500).
STEALTHSTAR (1)
Banshee class: Banshee (800)
STRIKESTARS (22 total, 17 surviving)
Harrier class: Harrier (800), Crasher (820), Megaera (800), Hecate (800), Orpheus (800), Lethe (800), Mania (800), Kratos (800), Soteria (800), Lycos (800), Tethys (800)
Fury class: Aventine (400), Melinoe (400), Trophonius (400), Delphi (400), Europa (400), Bellona (400), Aura (400), Aeon (400), Lyssa (400), Angelos (400), Fury (400)
ASSAULTSTARS (9) (1 ½ Divisions of Marines)
Forseti class: Forseti (1000 + 5000), Dillinger (1000 + 5000)
Iocaste class: Iocaste (2500 + 10000)
Lancer class: Grievance (700 + 1250), Vengeance (700 + 1250), Deimos (700)
Hector class: Minotaur (2500 + 8000), Hermes (2500 + 8000), Centaurus (2500)
DESTROYERS (26)
Phalanx class: Phalanx (400) Gauntlet (400), Gearing (400), Anubis (400), Archer (400), Styxx (400), Griffin (400), Sphinx (400), Xanthus (400), Gigantes (400), Geryon (400).
Tiger II class: Panther (1000), Jaguar (1000), Hyena (1000), Puma (1000), Wildcat (1000), Leopard (1000), Nike (1000), Bia (1000), Zelos (1000), Spes (1000), Roma (1000), Saturn (1000), Hydra (1000), Adrastos (1000), Arion (1000).
FIRESTARS (28)
Hawkeye class: Hawking (700), Star Rider (700), Danton (690), Strident (690), Buzzard (690), Tavern (700), Crete (700), Cilix (700), Phoenix (700), Ulysses (700), Penelope (700), Charbydis (700), Dauntless (700), Lydia (700), Justinian (700), Lucina (700), Flora (700), Victoria (700), Veritas (700), Venti (700), Tibertus (700), Terra (700), Tempest (700), Pomona (700), Pax (600), Necessitas (700), Iris (700), Decima (700)
ESCORTSTARS and PARTOLSTARS (25 total, 20 surviving)
Berzerk class: Sandstorm (850), Tauron (900), Echelon (900), Guardian (910), Glacier (1000), Tigon (1000), Polybotes (900), Typhon (1000), Python (900), Ladon (900), Drakon (1000)
Vanguard class: Arakiel (600)
Dagger class: Dagger (350), Hunter (350), Crossbow (350), Percy (350) Gimble (350), Artemis (350),
Avenger (350), Baldr (350), Ceros (350), Talos (350), Juno (350), Vesta (350), Luna (350)
MOBILE DOCKS AND SHIPYARDS
Hesphaestus class: Hesphaestus (3000), Forge (3015), Starbridge (3400)
Cradle class: Cradle 1 (2500), Cradle 2 (2500), Cradle 3 (2500)
Unity class: Unity (25000), Eternity (25000)
Olympia class: Olympia (7000)
Hera class: Hera (3000)
Invictus (2500)
Libran shipyard (50000)
Aureolos station (3000)
ELINT SHIPS (5)
Searcher class: Everest (600), Star Chaser (600), Wisdom (700), Night Shadow (640), Vision (900)
Civilian Section (strike through for scrapped)
35 Mining ships: Calcutta (450), Tartans (500), Echo (400), Stride (400), Wind Fury ( 450), Black Elk (500), Mining Dreamer (490), Collar (400), Erbil (440), Tauron Miner 4 (500), Tauron Miner 7 (400), Carol (440), Dark Miner (440), Falk (400), Caprican Miner (540), Miner 7 (400), Miner 8 (400), Miner 15 (450), Miner 18 (400), Miner 20 (400), Howard (450), Blacken (340), Cotani (300), Sandler (350), Erin (330), Valiant (360), Miner Heaven (300), Monarch (350), Chiron (400), Scorpion Mining 478 (400), Scorpion Mining 982 (350), Tauron Mining 981 (380), Euryale (500), Gorgon (450), Scylla (400)
15 Refinery ships: Taren (600), Tylium Maker (509), Tylium Maker 8 (450), Batista (550), Saladin (800), Aventis (600), Fusilier (550)...
1 Medstar: Caduceus
8 Medical Transports: Miracle (980), Hiding Star (850), Wallace (900), Mercurial (850), Demonical (800), Vali (800), Rue (800), Side (800)
5 Medical Ships: Mercy (900), Forgiveness (890), Brightstar(990), Florencia (900), Iasion (900)
1 Henchantories colony ship: 60,000
6 Colossus heavy military transport ships: 60,000
7 Mobile shipyards: 60,000
35 Cold Storage ships: 12,000
35 Colonial Heavies transports (Different versions)
260 Freighters - few remains
160 Luxury Liners
55 Standard Passenger Lines
56 Colonial Mover transports
85 Civilian transports
58 Cloud type luxury liners
10 Prison Ships: 20,000 (3,500 prisoners)
50 Agricultural Ships: 100,000
30 Research Ships: 60,000
10 Recycling ships: 1,000
100 Heavy Cargo ships: 5000
15 Supply ships: 30,000
4 former training ships: 40,000
15 Flattops: 30,000
80 large civilian transports: 400,000
22 Tanker ships: 7,000
In total there are over 5,000,000 survivors.
Note: Special thanks to Dragontaylor u/3724847/, for writing the chapters for 3x05-07. As well as for editing all previous Operation Exodus chapters, adding a lot of content to several of them. Dragon is the current editor/co-writer for all previous and future chapters of Operation Exodus, in addition to editing Battlestar Kali.