On-going thanks to Zimu Yang for beta-reading

Red In Tooth And Claw
Chapter 50: You Can Never Go Home Again

Cortana found herself being led down a seemingly endless number of identical corridors, and it was clear she was no long on a Basestar, or indeed any other Cylon craft she had seen. Even the Hub, for all its massive size, maintained the same stark geometry that was so indicative of both Colonial and Cylon architecture. But here the corners were more rounded, the angles softened, the colours more muted. Still, it sent a shiver down her spine, an unwelcome sensation she was still unaccustomed to.

A tall doorway at the end of the passageway opened and she found herself standing in a massive chamber that arched high overhead. Powerful spotlights illuminated the centre of the room, highlighting a raised podium covered in Forerunner glyphs and icons. Cortana was not surprised to see the Six who had taken to calling herself Caprica standing there with her back to the door.

"You know, there was a time I would have been killed for even attempting to enter this chamber." her voice was clear and full of excitement, "This was the very epicentre of God's grand plan: from here he would have stretched out his mighty hand and reshaped the universe by sheer force of will."

"The delusions of a mad-man if ever I heard them." Cortana rolled her eyes.

"Oh, he was far from deluded." Caprica looked back over her shoulder and smiled, "He knew you still had the Activation Index that you stole from him, and I know that you would never risk such an important piece of information by leaving it somewhere you couldn't keep a very close eye on it." She turned back to her work, "Now I'm sure that you've put all kinds of safe guards in place to stop anyone from forcing the information out of you, otherwise we'd be having a very different kind of conversation." Stopping what she was doing, she turned and looked around, "I will ask you, one last time, to give me the information I need."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I will stop asking, and take." Six walked over, her movements like oil on water, "Your one mistake was to take this form; you are now physically one of us, and as such you have the same limitations we do. We have been forced to develop ways of extracting information from our own kind when someone goes native on us. I have no wish to use them on you; I would much rather see you take the path of redemption."

"You can take your path and stick it up your ass." Cortana replied as sweetly as she could.

"As you wish." Six turned away, "Prepare her for The Inquisition."


"I've been told that the Pegasus is almost ready to return to duty." Admiral Adama mused as he walked down the last stretch of corridor to the CIC, "Looking forward to resuming command?"

"Yes and no." Apollo replied, opening the hatch to let his father pass, "If what Commander de Carabas has told me is true, she's hardly the same ship any more. I've spent the last two nights reading technical manuals and systems schematics; I don't think I've studied so hard since I sat the academy entrance exam."

"How do you think I feel?" The Admiral asked, "They're getting ready to start on the Galactica next!"

"And I'll be watching them the entire time." Colonel Tigh was waiting for them beside the main plotting table, his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face, "Try and mess with my ship, and I'll show them just how I earned all those ribbons on my dress uniform."

"Should be interesting to watch." Adama nodded, "What's the latest on our hostage situation?"

"Our illustrious Vice-President is talking to the Sons of frakking Ares over the wireless right now." the XO grunted, "I have Gaeta monitoring them. But if you ask me, it's the dozen assault ships Grant's got buzzing the Kiya that'll get the message across."

"Sir, I have Captain Shaw on the Bad Moon Rising requesting permission to launch." Dee broke in, "She has filed a flight plan to take it over to the Alan Turing so they can examine the jump-drive."

"Let 'em go." Tigh nodded, "We could use the room on the flight deck."

"Get them started then open a secure link." Adama agreed, "I want her to fly-by the Kiya and have a look; I'd like one of our people to tell us what's going on for once."


"I'm sorry, Mr Vice-President, butwe're not going to let these godsless outsiders tell us what we can and can't do on one of our own ships." the self-proclaimed leader of the Sons of Ares sounded unusually smug over the wireless, "The Gods demand tribute, and as their instruments, it is our place to see to it that it is collected."

"I don't think that any of the Gods, even Ares, would be best pleased if you get yourselves killed because you're too stubborn to listen to reason." Zarek countered, rubbing his eyes to try and stay awake for yet another hour of tedious negotiations with a man who seemingly didn't need sleep, "And that's exactly what will happen if Admiral Grant feels compelled send in her troops. And I have no doubt that President Roslin will allow her if it comes to that."

"She would not dare stand against her own people. Against the Gods."

"Right now, she needs the Thirteenth Tribe a lot more than she needs a few... devout followers of Ares on a broken down old freighter. I'm sorry, but that's just the truth of the matter. And when Grant gives the order, her people will not be interested in taking prisoners; she will most likely send in Spartans and they will kill you all before you even have a chance to react. Stand down now, and I give you my word before the Gods that I will do everything in my power to help you."

"We...will have to discuss it." there was a pause, during which Zarek could hear muffled voices in the background, "We will contact you again in one hour."

There was a hiss of static as the link was cut from the other end.


"Captain on deck!" The XO of the Queen Anne's Revenge announced as Baxter ducked down through the hatch into the Stealth Cruiser's cramped command deck.

"As you were." The young ONI officer ordered, her uniform changed to that of a full Captain, "Status?"

"As per standing orders, we are holding position 200km outside the CAP with full ECM coverage." The helmsman reported, "Any electromagnetic signature we may have is less than background radiation."

"We could have raised the optical cloak, but the sensors on the Second Star To The Right are sensitive enough to detect the reactor spike at this close a range." The XO added, "I didn't think it was worth the risk."

"Good call, Number One." Baxter nodded her agreement, "I want all passive-sensors set to maximum gain and the slips-pace drive fully charge; a little bird has informed me that something interesting is going to happen."


"Okay, here we go." Shaw powered up the Black Moon Risings engines as the elevator raised them up into the Galactica's flight pod, "To death or glory."

"Why settle for only one?" Mendez dead-panned.

Shaw glared at him for a moment then gently eased the throttle open, lifting the Prowler off the deck and out into open space. Firing the manoeuvring thrusters, she got them clear of the Battlestar and slowly brought them on a heading that would pass by the Turing, before heading far enough out to activate their jump-drive without endangering another ship.

"Bad Moon Rising, this is Galactica Actual." A voice cut in over the wireless, "I want you to adjust your course to fly-by the Kiya and report back on what you can see."

"Galactica Actual, this is Bad Moon Rising Actual." Shaw responded, doing her best to keep her voice calm and level, "Please hold."

Pulling up the navigational display, Halsey requested a course that would take them past the Kiya before turning towards the Turing. It became painfully evident that, no matter what variation they went with, it would mean approaching the science ship from the other side, increasing the time they would be vulnerable before they could make their jump. She turned to face the others and shook her head.

"Galactica Actual, this is Bad Moon Rising Actual." Shaw closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do that."


"What the FRAK is that crazy bitch up to now?" Tigh demanded, a vein on his forehead starting to pulse rapidly as his face went red with rage.

"I'm on it." Apollo picked up another hand-set and opened an encrypted link to the CAP, "Starbuck, get back here. We may have a situation developing."

"Something you want to tell me, Captain." Adama managed to remain relatively calm, even if he did have a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm sorry sir, I truly am. I'd like to thank you for giving me a second chance." The main DRADIS screen indicated a massive build-up of energy within the smaller ship, "But this is something I have to do."

The icon representing the Prowler flashed once then vanished.

"Lock the ship down!" Tigh snapped, his tone of voice making it clear that it was not a good time to step into his cross-hairs, "I want to know what in the name of Hades is going on!" He turned to Apollo, "Take Sargent Mathias and rip Shaw's quarters apart until you find something to explain this. And send someone to find Ishay, see if she can shed any light on this."


"In retrospect, I should have seen this coming." Grant dropped into her chair and rubbed her eyes; her body was starting to demand repayment for the lack of sleep and excess coffee consumption. "I guess part of me didn't want to believe they had it in them. Halsey, maybe, after what she pulled at Eridanus. But not the Master Chief."

"He's been away from home for a very long time." Henry remained standing at ease, his helmet held under one arm, "Add to that his, personal, attachment to Cortana...he may feel honour-bound to at least try and save here."

"I suppose we owe him at least the right to go after her, given all he's done." The Admiral waved it off, "I'll cut orders that'll make it look like they're off on a classified mission. Hopefully the others can be persuaded to keep their damn mouths shut; can you imagine the hit our morale would take if word got out that the hero of Halo and The Ark had gone AWOL?"

"It wouldn't be good. And the Kiya?"

"Give Zarek another hour, and if there's still no move, I'll give the word to storm the ship."

"There is another issue." Henry frowned, "We're missing a suit of Decimator armour."

"WHAT?" Grant sat bolt-upright, "Is he even rated to operate one?"

"He's a Spartan." Henry shrugged, "He'll work it out."

"I find myself at a moral crossroads, unsure which way to turn. On the one hand, I have an order that I have sworn to uphold, no matter what the cost; an order I personally agree with." Grant slumped down into her chair and sighed, "But on the other hand I find myself forced to go up against a man I have looked up to my entire life. The Master Chief isn't just a Spartan; to a lot of people he's the Spartan, the embodiment of an ideal and the bench-mark by which all others are measured. And if I give the order to fire on his ship, I'm not sure if it would be obeyed, regardless of standing orders."

"I understand your conundrum, but try and imagine how I feel: I'm his clone." Henry nodded as he likewise sat down, "I grew up listening to stories about his battles during the Covenant War, studied all of his after-action reports and just about every book ever written about him. I've been to the Museum of Humanity, stood in front of the display case that holds the old Mark V suit he actually wore on the first Halo; it was an almost religious experience for me. And now I find myself in a position where I may have to try and kill him."

"You really think it'll come to that?" Grant asked.

"I can't see it ending any other way, given how far he's already gone: he's fighting for a woman he loves enough to risk everything to save." Henry looked tired, "He's a very, very dangerous man at the best of times, but now it's more than just duty. He'll storm the gates of heaven or hell, whichever comes first, to get her back."

"But could you stop him?" The Admiral asked, "If I gave the order, would you be willing to take him down?"

"In answer to the first question, probably; my augmentations are more advanced and I've got more experience at using the new suits. I know its abilities and limits." Henry shook his head, "But as to if I could bring myself to kill him? That's a question I'd rather not answer before I have to. And that's even before you take into account the psychological issues in going up against a man who's exploits would normally attributed to the demi-gods of myth and legend."

To Be Continued...