I do not own Battlestar Galactica
Sorry about the confusion earlier. I had to do some editing on an earlier chapter. But I just finished this the actual chapter 25 so sorry for the mix up
Chapter 25 – Operation Return Part 1
Starbuck with her new wingman Ensign Tommy Brown 'Decker' cruised through the asteroid belt in their Mark VII Vipers looking for signs of Cylon activity which since the attack on the Resurrection Ship had been almost nil. It seemed that without their safety net the Cylons were unwilling to risk their own necks in fighting the Colonials, many of whom jeered at the apparent cowardice of the Cylons but this period of calm had proved absolutely vital as they had stumbled across this asteroid belt which was loaded with mineral wealth. So the fleet's leaders had decided to stop here for now so that they could use their mining ships to collect as much raw materials as possible while their factory ships worked around the clock to replenish their equipment and supplies and build a surplus in case they didn't get this opportunity again. Fresh Vipers and Raptors were being assembled aboard Pegasus, Telmaya and Artemis to restore the combat squadrons of their military ships while a growing pile of spare parts was being utilised to carry out huge maintenance overhaul program across the fleet to shore up all their ships before they continued on their exodus and they had also started upgrading their fleet's FTL drives with Cylon technology to increase range and durability.
Starbuck was quiet, unusual for her but she was focused on her planned proposal which she was bringing before the Assembly later today. She had made a promise to go back to the Colonies and rescue the Caprica Resistance so she hoped by getting the Assembly's support she might finally get the go ahead to mount some kind of operation. She was still uncomfortable being on Artemis rather than Galactica but Kat was settling in as Galactica's new CAG and had just managed to kill the Cylon Raider known to the Viper pilots with dread as Scar. She wished she could have had the honour of killing the Raider that had preyed on rookie pilots for so long now but she was glad to see her former nugget assuming the responsibilities of leading.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Admiral Adama and Commodore Trakiss were on-board Telmaya as the saw the freshly made Mark III Vipers roll off the production line. This batch was destined for Galactica, they had decided it was best to use the missile armed Mark III so they could give the Cylons a harder fight when next they met.
"I remember flying these things during the first Cylon war" Adama remarked to his second in command as the older man traced the lines of the Viper with his hand which still had that factory fresh smell. Seth smiled at his CO's actions before telling him as he read the report sent to him by Chief Tyrol
"We've managed to reactivate Galactica's Starboard flight pod and we've completed the upgrades to her FTL" Seth said "Achilles has had her main batteries refurbished back into full working order and Pegasus and Artemis are requesting more recruits for training to replenish their air wings"
The admiral nodded "We'll put out a call for fresh recruits immediately and have them report to the Mercury's for flight training" and nodded when the service phone rang near them. The admiral answered it "This is the Admiral"
"Admiral I have a message for Commodore Trakiss" the voice of the Admiral new daughter Amelia said, careful not to be too familiar while on duty "His wife has just gone into labour in the infirmary sir"
"I'll tell him" the Admiral told her before hanging up and turning to the younger man in question "Your wife has gone into labour"
The reaction from Seth Trakiss was immediate, he tensed up and his eyes darted for the door before thinking twice and asked "Admiral if I could be excused?"
"Go" the Admiral said with a smile as Seth took off at a run to see his wife
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kendra was already in the delivery room when Seth arrived, panting furiously as she struggled with the pain. When she saw him come in she yelled at him
"WHERE IN HADES HAVE YOU BEEN?" but Seth ignored her shouting and rushed to her side taking her hand in his and wiped the sweat from her brow
"I'm here now my sweet, I'm here now" he reassured her but then her next contraction hit and she started screaming in pain, grasping his hand like a vice but he suppressed a groan till it was over, Tally looked to speak to Kendra
"Okay you're doing great; I need you to give the biggest push you can on the next contraction. It's nearly over"
"Promise?" Kendra asked with tears in her eyes from all the effort
"Promise" Tally said and then the contraction hit and her screams continued as she pushed with energy that she never knew she had.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Over on the Civilian liner Jewel of Kobol, Starbuck was meeting with the civilian assembly who were listening to her proposal. When she had finished outlining her plan of attack, Hal Forrest and the other members of the congress looked thoughtful before asking her
"Do you know of any other resistance movements on Caprica or the other Colonies?" Hal asked her and Starbuck bit her lip
"Not that I know of Mr Chairman, but at least six of the Colonies had mountain ranges that could have shielded people from the nuclear bombardment" she said hoping to keep her case alive
"Give us an hour to discuss it Captain" Hal told the young woman who walked out concerned that her plan was about to be thrown out. She sat outside, her hands nervously folding and refolding themselves in her lap. When she was called back in she had been ready to fight tooth and nail against the rejection she expected only for Hal to surprise her
"The mission is approved Captain, the Battlestar Telmaya with its Cylon enhanced jump drive will carry yourself and Captain Agathon back to the Colonies with the Cylon defector Selena calculating the jump. Once there you will search all the colonies to find any survivors that remain and any other items of interest. We will provide a list to you; Commodore Trakiss will have control of this mission"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The man who would command this operation however was not in the least bit interested in the Cylons at this exact moment. His main focus was the two new born infants that were in his wife's arms almost six hours after he had arrived in the infirmary
"Any names?" Tally asked as she wrote up the birth certificate, Kendra looked at the baby girl and said
"Marta Trakiss" naming the girl after her mother, the late foreign delegate to the Quorum of the Twelve. Kendra looked at her husband who focused his eyes on the baby boy
"Alexander Trakiss" he said and Kendra nodded in agreement. Seth went to sit at Kendra's side and held her in his arms as she held the babies the scene was magical and neither wanted it to end but it was given a cold awakening when an orderly came up to him
"Commodore, I'm sorry to interrupt but Chairman Forrest has requested you meet him in your office as soon as possible"
Seth gave the man a glare that made him back off before giving Kendra and the babies a kiss on the forehead each and told them "I'll be back soon" and he quickly made his way to his office where he found Hal waiting for him
"Well?" he asked with a smile and Seth realised that on a ship, gossip must spread faster than the speed of light
"A boy and a girl, Alexander and Marta" Seth told him with a still dazed smile as he pictured his two children in his mind
Hal gave him a friendly slap on the arm "Congratulations, I'll have to drop in on my way to the hanger deck. But I'm afraid the Assembly has a mission for you" he said sobering up and handing Seth a mission profile
Seth took the file but still stayed smiling till he read the contents and his grin quickly faded and he said "You have got to joking"
"I know it's a dangerous mission but the Assembly wants it done and they would only trust you with it" Hal told him
Seth retorted "Dangerous, it's a frakking suicide mission and you know it! You want my ship to go back there, we'll be surrounded by Cylons and if we lose Selena it could take months to catch up to the fleet" he said raising his voice slightly
"I know the risks are terrible Seth but this mission has been signed off by the majority of the congress and the Fleet admiral. You have to do it" Hal told him reluctantly and Seth checked and indeed found Adama's signature on the bottom of the orders. Resigned he turned to Hal and told him
"Fine"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The crew had the same misgivings as their commander did but as good Colonial military personnel they followed orders and the mission prep went ahead. An extra two raptor squadrons equipped for search and rescue were loaded onto Telmaya for the mission as was the Blackbird scout ship, Kendra had refused to leave the ship so she and the babies were going to join them despite any arguments that had been said. As they were about to depart, Seth checked in with Selena who was in the navigation suite hooked into the FTL systems
"You ready?" Seth asked encouragingly and she gave him one of her dazzling smiles
"Stop worrying it's going to be fine" and he gave her a worried smile, the danger of this mission was seriously concerning him. Going back the Cylon infested colonies in hope of rescuing some resistance fighters who might not even be alive.
Meanwhile on the hanger deck of the Artemis, Starbuck was about to board the raptor that would take her to Telmaya so she could join the mission and fulfil her promise to Sam Anders to come back for the Caprica Resistance fighters. She was carrying her small bag to the waiting ship where she could see her old friend Helo waiting with a smile on his face. There was no indication of anything wrong, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
But she didn't see the young deckhand that was working on a downed Viper to her right. He was a new crewmember that had some training but no practical experience. He was only supposed to assist his training supervisor in fitting the new engine unit on the viper while the old one was dismantled. But being eager to please he decided to fit the engine himself as his supervisor had been called away and prove his skill. As he began securing the engine unit in place he neglected several safety procedures that had not been listed in his training manuals and accidentally engaged the afterburner. Fortunately for him by the time it ignited he had turned away for some tools and only caught the edge of it receiving light burns. Everyone turned to look when they heard the afterburner ignite but then Kara's eyes caught sight of the tanks of fuel that were behind the viper and directly in the path of the afterburners flames. She didn't even have a chance to call out before the tank detonated from the heat of the viper's afterburner.
An explosion rocked the deck, sending people to the floor, the clutter of the deck thanks to the maintenance program that was going on gave everyone plenty of cover except for Kara who was right out in the open but far enough away to not be caught in the explosion but Kara screamed as a fragment of shrapnel impaled itself in her left leg. Helo without any thought for himself ran over and pulled her out of harm's way while the deck crew quickly started dousing the fire that had started.
Kara gritted her teeth, the pain was unbearable. She caught a look and saw an 8 cm piece of metal lodged in her upper thigh. She saw some blood but the metal was stopping any major bleeding at least on the outside. Helo began applying pressure around the area that was bleeding but through her gritted teeth
"Helo go" she told him and Helo turned to look at her
"Go, no. What the hell is the matter with you? I've got to stop this bleeding" he said turning back to his task but Kara grabbed his arm making him look back up
"Look I'll be fine, you just get on that mission and make sure Trakiss does it right! That's an order" she told him and some stretcher bearers arrived and started to as gently as they could move Kara onto the stretcher. As she was taken down the corridor to the infirmary she smiled at Helo as he looked at her worried, he wanted to follow but he remembered her words and reluctantly went back to the Raptor, untouched by the explosion and climbed aboard telling the pilot to take off.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Seth waited with Sheba on the CIC waiting for Captain Thrace and Lieutenant Agathon to join them so they could get underway. The raptor that had brought the two here was nearly an hour late and they were getting restless just waiting. They wanted to get this mission over with as soon as possible.
Then after ten minutes, an out of breath Lieutenant Agathon finally arrived on the CIC. They all turned to face the very late junior officer who Seth gave a withering stare.
"I don't know how they run things on Galactica but on my ship we generally report for duty on time lieutenant" Seth told Helo who looked like he was about to snap back restrained himself into saying a more polite
"Sorry sir, but there was an accident on the Artemis, Captain Thrace was injured" and Seth gave a nod
"Then your lateness is understandable. Now let's get underway, helm take us out of the asteroid field and spin up the FTL drive, navigation plot jump" he ordered he turned to his tactical officer "Bring us to condition two, when we arrive I want to be ready" his officers began their tasks
All the fleet saw was the massive bulk of the Telmaya flash before vanishing
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX