The Cronus Expeditionary Fleet
I own nothing except the plot and my original characters. I have read Fanfiction for many years; I believe that many fanfiction writers are among the best storytellers in the world. I hope to join them and play in their playground a little. This is my first story, and I hope you enjoy it. This story will use both canon sources and AU features. I will use some ships and stats from the BSG game Deadlock and Cannon. There will likely be some blurring of the timeline because I wanted to use the Mercury Class Block IIs in the story. I could have done this without them, but it was just too much fun to use them. They are a giant hammer that the Colonials could have used much more effectively. Don't even get me started on what Apollo did with the Pegasus.
The premise of this story is that before President Adar took office, the previous administrations and the Quorum of twelve had significantly overfunded the Colonial Fleet, always fearful that the Cylons would return. They wanted a strong defense should the Cylons ever return. However, with the election of President Adar, funding priorities changed. The fleet managed to get some upgrades, but little in the way of new funding as a strong defense was not the highest priority of the new administration. The updates came in the form of the latest computer programs developed by Dr. Gaius Baltar and the model 6 Cylon, which lead to the complete and total destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. However, in the years before President Adar came to power, the Colonial Fleet had more resources and continued to develop and plan for what the Admiralty believed the inevitable new war with the Cylons.
The Cronus Expeditionary Fleet was formed to give humanity a fallback position should the Twelve Colonies position become impossible. Admiral Thomas Adama was charged with assembling a fleet around three Mercury Class Battlestars. These three Battlestars have been refit for extended mission duty; they are the only three block II Battlestars known. The Cronus, Admiral Adama's flagship, and its sister ships, the Oceanus and the Hyperion each carry three-hundred Vipers, fifty Raptors as well as twenty-five Scimitars. The Fleet also includes six refitted Jupiter Class Battlestars. Twelve Minerva Class Battlestars, eight refitted Ranger Class missile cruisers, eight refitted Manticore class high-speed scouts, and finally, twenty refitted Gunstar escort ships. The non-military vessels include three Tylium refining vessels, six cargo ships with food and ammunition stores, and a single mobile shipyard for building new anchorages similar to Ragnar Anchorage.
This story begins just after Commander Adama sends his fleet-wide message, "Am taking control of the fleet. All units are ordered to Ragnar Anchorage to regroup. Acknowledge by same encryption Adama." Quoted from Battlestar Galactica: Miniseries)
Part 1:
It had been a long six years, thought Admiral Adama. The fleet had managed to construct three new anchorages in deep space, each hidden, safe, and ready to received refuges from the Colonies should the need ever arise. The fleet had also created a communication buoy system using the old Dradis Absorbent materials from the first Cylon war. The hope was that the buoys would provide a communication link, slow as it was, and a jump guide to ships should they ever have to flee the colonies. The Cronus fleet had done good work; they had found Kobol, they had mapped and scouted the system and planet. For the past year, the mobile shipyard had been building a repair/command and control station in orbit of Kobol. This station would allow ships to repair, refuel, rearm and prepare to repel the Cylons should they ever enter the system. Through the manufacturing systems available to the Mercury Class, mining ships had been made, and they were stockpiling resources for the fleet.
"Admiral to the bridge, set condition one throughout the ship! I say again, set condition one throughout the ship!" Commander Jenson's voice rang out through the speakers. Admiral Adama was surprised. The updates they received from Colonial Fleet came once a month, and there had been no Dradis contacts in the system. Adama headed to the bridge from his ready room.
"Admiral on deck!" shouted the marine guard. "At ease, report commander," Adama said.
"Sir, we have reports coming in from Colonial Fleet. There appears to be a massive attack happening all across the Colonies. The Cylons have achieved complete surprise, and the new combat system and new vipers we have heard about appear to be vulnerable to some sort of cyber-attack. All of the Colonies are sustaining nuclear bombardment." Commander Jenson reported.
The communication officer, Lt. Halson, called out, "Sir, new a new message is coming in. Message begins, "Am taking control of fleet. All units are ordered to Ragnar Anchorage to regroup. Acknowledge by same encryption Adama."
Admiral Adama considers what this means for just a moment. Admiral Nagala must be dead, Thomas knows his cousin Bill holds the rank of Commander, which means all of the Colonial Admiralty must be gone. Taking up his handset and keying it to fleet-wide Admiral Adama says, "Attention all hands, the Colonies are under sustained heavy attack by what appears to be overwhelming Cylon forces. This Fleet was built for this very purpose to provide a way forward for our people. All ships stand by for jump coordinates, Cronus Fleet will rendezvous with Galactica and save as many people as we can. All hands stand down to condition two and prepare for multiple jumps."
"Lt. Halson, send this message to Commander Adama, priority channel 1. Message begins, Commander, gather all the survivors you can at Ragnar, stand-by to receive reinforcements. Cronus Fleet will rendezvous at Ragnar in four days."
With the Galactica:
Aboard the Galactic a few hours later. "Commander! We are receiving a communication transmitted from the Battlestar Cronus. All codes are authentic. Message reads, Commander, gather all the survivors you can at Ragnar and stand by to receive reinforcements. Cronus Fleet will arrive at Ragnar in four days. Sends Admiral Thomas Adama."
Commander Adama looks at his 2nd in command and says, "Good news at last."
Back at the Cronus:
"Admiral jump calculations complete. We have a series of 67 jumps to arrive at Ragnar. All ships report ready to jump. As ordered, the mobile shipyard and mining ships will remain at Kobol to prepare to receive refugees. We have taken on all the food, medical supplies, water, and ammunition that can be stored on all combat ships. We are ready to jump in all respects." Lt. Halson reports.
"Jump" Admiral Adama orders. Over the next four days, Cronus Fleet completes 66 jumps. Arriving about 20 light-years out from Ragnar Anchorage.
"Jump complete. Calculating position. Admiral, we have arrived 20 light-years from Ragnar. All unarmed ships are moving into formation to await jump orders. All combat ships report condition 1 set throughout the fleet. We are ready, sir." Commander Jenson reports.
"Give me Fleet wide." Adama orders.
"All ships, we do not know what we will be jumping into, however, if I were the Cylons, I would have followed Galactica and the civilians Commander Adama reports are part of his fleet. When we arrive on station, we will eliminate all Cylons outside of Ragnar. All hands man your battle stations Cronus Fleet is going to war. Jump!" Adama orders.
In a massive flash of light, 56 Colonial military vessels jump into the mouth of the Nebula that holds Ragnar Anchorage. "Dradis Contact!" Shouts Lt. Halson. "Multiple Contacts, Cylon Basestars, and raiders."
Taking his handset, Admiral Adama orders, "Launch all Vipers! Gunstars begin long-range dispersion fire on all Cylon targets. Minerva's and Rangers prepare a full strike on all Cylon Basestars. The Cronus, Oceanus, and Hyperion will hold the mouth of Nebula. All flak batteries to maintain firing solutions for overlapping fields of fire to cover the fleet. All other Battlestars assume fleet support positions and hold the line people. We have nearly 50,000 civilians counting on us, making sure they can live another day."
Cronus fleet moved as one. Gunstars moved into support positions behind and beside the massive Mercury Class Battlestars, firing on any Cylon raiders that came into range. This massive flak envelope provided cover for the less well-armored ships.
Under this cover, the eight Ranger class missile ships maneuvered into firing position and awaited orders to deliver their massive payload of missiles. Unlike the original Ranger class ships, these ships were nuclear-capable and were more than ready to blow the Cylon Basestars out of space. The Minervas also maneuvered into position between and just behind the Mercuries and the Gunstars. They would deliver their powerful anti-capital ship batteries for a time on target attack, that would arrive just as the Rangers missiles arrived. If all worked as planned, it would be a devastating strike on all Cylon Basestars that would prove to impossible to block completely.
Lt. Halson said, "Admiral, defensive fire solution established. Fleet Vipers are deployed and clear of the defensive cordon. Multiple radiological alarms. Cylon Basestars and raiders are firing nuclear weapons."
"All ships brace for contact!" the Admiral ordered. "All Rangers and Minervas you are cleared to fire, I want those Basestars out of my sky!" (AN: Sorry for the quote from "Space Above and Beyond! I just love that line."
With that order, all of the Ranger class cruisers unleased a storm of missiles at the Cylon Basestars. The weapons consisted of conventional and nuclear munitions. The goal was not to allow the Cylons to pick off just atomic weapons. Simultaneous to this launch, the 12 Minerva class ships brought their heavy artillery batteries to bear on the Cylons and fired 10 seconds after the Rangers. The results were exciting. While some missiles and projectiles were intercepted by defensive fire and even a few Raiders, all three Basestars took massive damage under the barrage. Each Basestar was targeted by no less than four Minervas and two or three Rangers. The two unlucky Basestars targeted by three rangers and four Minervas shuttered and came to a complete halt in space. Their sublight and FTL systems entirely offline. Making them easy targets for the second barrage of fire.
The fighter battle was just as vicious as the capital ship battle; however, most of the Vipers were kept close in to protect the weaker armored ships. The flak cordon was enough to hold most of the Raiders off the fleet; however, those that tried to skirt the envelope soon found themselves swarmed with angry Viper pilots. Those raiders did not last long. A few managed to get close enough to launch their nukes at the fleet from outside of the firing solutions of the Mercuries and Gunstars.
It was here with twenty-plus nukes bearing down on the aft of the fleet that the Jupiter class ships to spring their trap. As soon as the nuclear payloads where detected, the Jupiters maneuvered to unmask their primary flak batteries. Each carrying 514 dual point-defense batteries meant that over 6100 flak batteries were firing into the missiles path. As the Jupiters maneuvered, the Vipers cleared the field so as not to be caught in the trap. No missiles struck the fleet.
The battle seems to have just begun when the Cronus started to maneuver again. With the defensive cordon well established, it was time to finish this fight. At Admiral Adama's order, the primary batteries of the each of the Mercuries were unmasked. "We have a firing solution on the Basestars." Reported the weapons officer.
"Fire at will." The Admiral ordered grimly.
Within moments all three Basestars ceased to exist. The few remaining raiders jumped away, meaning this fight was over for now, but all of the crews knew they would be back.
"Have the Raptors begin SAR, and set condition two throughout the fleet." Admiral Adama ordered. Adama knew this was just round one.
"Commander, take a Raptor into the Nebula and rendezvous with Galactica.
Give my compliments to Commander Adama and the President. We cannot afford to stay here for more than a few hours, find out how much time the fleet needs to get underway, and report back to me here." Adama Ordered.
"I, sir!" Commander Jenson responded and left the CIC.
"Sir, SAR complete, we lost 15 Vipers and nine pilots." Lt. Halson reported.
It was never easy to lose men and women under your command, but during the war, it was part of the cost. The only thing you could do is try to mitigate those losses. And they had done just that. The battle plan had saved many lives. The concentration of defensive fire and the offensive fire had left the Cylons with little in the way to respond. They would learn through, and the next battle would be all the more difficult because of it.
"I understand, thank you, Lt."
The members of this fleet were different from the mainline fleet; most of the men and women within this fleet were retirement age or better. They had been chosen because they were veterans of the first war; they understood the cost of battle. They understood what it means to sacrifice and die to save humanity.
"Have all ships report status and maintain jump readiness. Have the Vipers return to their ships to rearm and refuel. I doubt this fight is over." Adama orders.
Shifting to the Raptor 205 and Galactica:
"This is Raptor 205 to Galactica. Requesting permission to land." Commander Jenson said.
"Galactica Actual to Raptor 205, Permission granted. Welcome aboard Commander. The President and I are standing by, what is the condition of Cronus Fleet?" Commander Adama said.
"Sir, we have the mouth of the Nebula, all Cylon forces have been routed and have a path forward for humanity. Admiral Adama sends his compliments and requests a fleet status report and a time frame for moving. He warns we cannot remain here long." Commander Jenson reported.
"Commander this is President Laura Roslin, I just want to say thank you! Thank you for answering our call for help!"
"Commander Jenson, we will meet you in Galactica's landing bay. We have rearmed and are taking on food, parts, and medicine now. We likely need a few hours yet. Galactica out." Adama said.
After landing and docking with Galactica, Commander Jenson steps off the Raptor and surveys the people waiting on him. He recognizes Commander Adama, Colonel Saul Tigh, and a woman who must be President Roslin. Coming to attention, he says, "Permission to come aboard, Commander?"
"Permission granted, Commander! Welcome aboard." Adama Responds. "This is the President of the Twelve Colonies, Laura Roslin, and I am sure you know my second in command, Col. Tigh."
"Ma'am," Commander Jenson braces again.
"Let's go to my ready room." Commander Adama suggests. Once they arrive, drinks are offered and served. This seems the first moments of normality for Adama and President Roslin since this nightmare began.
"Commander," Roslin says, "Where did Cronus Fleet come from?"
"Ma'am, now that is a story!" Commander Jenson responds and begins to tell the story.
Eight years ago, the Admiralty gave orders to prepare a fallback position for humanity should the Cylons ever attack. They believed that the Cylons would eventually return and attack. With that premise in mind, the Admiralty gave orders to refit a significant number of mothballed ships. They gathered those ships around a core of three Mercury Class Battlestars and formed Cronus Fleet. The orders given to Admiral Adama were to map a path of escape for humanity to setup anchorages just like Ragnar and repair stations to support a mobile fleet and give humanity a chance to rebuild. We have completed several anchorages with enough supplies and parts to refit all of the ships in this fleet. We also have a repair station almost completed in orbit of Kobol. The planet will provide all the fresh food and water the fleet needs before we decide where we go from there. I do not believe Kobol would be safe for us to resettle on; however, it will give a chance to rest and recover.
We know that the Cylons have secreted programs onto many of the new ships and Vipers, I have with me the older versions of the software that we can remove the problem programing from the Viper Mark 4s. Galactica does not have the modern system, so that will not be a problem for her. Any additions made to Galactica in the past few months and years need to be reviewed with an eye towards removal if they prove to be dangerous to the fleet. The fleet was likely tracked here and is probably still being followed. We need to find out how they are monitoring these ships before we move to Kobol or any of the anchorages. We don't want to expose the work we have done.
"Commander, how long do you still need on the resupply?" Commander Jenson asks.
"We will be done within the hour. However, finding how the Cylons are tracking these ships could take days." Commander Adama replies.
"We have fleet tenders and supply ships one jump out. However, again, we cannot risk exposing those unarmed ships and our supplies to any spies on board."
Adama ponders that and then shares the news about humanoid Cylons. Specifically, the one they had found at Ragnar. This news startles Commander Jenson and requests permission to return to the Cronus to advise Admiral Adama of this critical information. They will need to find a way to screen the people on all of the ships; it is not just a matter of tracking the ships themselves but also the Cylons on board.
Roslin grants the Commander permission to return to the Cronus and suggests she accompany the Commander to meet Admiral Adama.
"Of course, Madam President. We would be honored to have you aboard. Commander Adama, after you finish taking on supplies, we need to move this fleet. As soon as you can, please move them to the mouth of the Nebula and prepare to receive jump instructions. With your permission, I will return to the Cronus and inform the Admiral.
"Granted safe flight Commander. We will join you as soon as possible. Plan on us arriving within three hours." Commander Adama says.
Back with Cronus Fleet:
"Sir, Commander Jenson and the President of the Twelve Colonies are arriving on Raptor 205. Commander Jenson reports he has important news for your ears only. They will be aboard in 10 minutes out." Lt. Halson reports.
"Thank you, Lt, tell Commander Jenson I will meet them in the landing bay. Lt. Commander Reynolds has the command while I am away. Inform Commander Jax of the Oceanus he has fleet command until I return. His orders are to maintain cover and prepare to organize the fleet for a jump." Admiral Adama orders.
"Admiral on deck, the deck chief called out."
"As you were. Where is the Raptor chief?"
"Sir, she is in the airlock now." The deck chief replied.
Once the Raptor was released from the airlock, it was moved into its assigned space. The Marine honor guard and the members of the deck crew gathered to receive the President.
"Attention on deck!" Shouted the Admiral.
"Permission to come aboard, Admiral?" asked the President.
"Granted Madam President. Welcome to the Cronus; we are grateful to have you aboard. Would you join me in my ready room? I believe both my Commander and you have much to tell me."
"Gladly Admiral," Laura replied.
After a quick walk to the Admiral's ready room, President Roslin again thanked the Admiral for responding to their situation and giving him an overview of the status of the fleet.
"Commander, report," Adama ordered.
Commander Jenson reported on the Galactica, here crew and fighter compliment, as well as the information on the ship's stores that Commander Adama had provided. Finally, telling the Admiral about the humanoid Cylons and the likely tracking of the civilian fleet by both device and humanoid Cylon presence. For over an hour, the Admiral and the President discussed options and plans for going forwards. Admiral Adama had no issues with taking orders from the President concerning policy and planning. He did ask for and received permission to handle fleet security. This would protect the almost 50,000 civilians, and the fleets only hope of recreating a human race somewhere else in the galaxy. It was decided that the prisoners on the Astral Queen represented great a threat to the security of the fleet, and they would be terminated. Also, standing policy for all humanoid Cylons would be immediate execution for war crimes and genocide.
(AN: Admiral Adama had been intimately involved in the development of the plan for Cronus Fleet. He is a gifted strategist and forward-thinking office. It may well be that he was an oracle in his own right.)
It was decided that the fleet would move out to the staging ground where the unarmed ships were holding station. This would allow for faster repairs and restocking the ships with medicine and food. Additionally, this would give the marines of the fleet time to screen both people on the ships and the ships themselves. They would not rush back to Kobol or the first Anchorage until they were sure the vessels were not being actively tracked. Additionally, the Mercury Class ships would be scanning for any extraneous communications leaving the fleet with the Cronus flying lead. The Oceanus would provide rear cover, and the Hyperion mid-fleet, hopefully, they would be able to catch any non-colonial transmissions.
Just as Galactica and the Civilian ships arrived, a single Cylon Raider jumped in and out on a fly-by.
"That is it; it is time to go. Give me fleet-wide." Commanded Admiral Adama.
"All ships, you have received the jump coordinates. All civilian ships are ordered to jump now. Galactica and all other Jupiter Class Battlestars with provide close in security to the civilian fleet. You are cleared to jump." The Admiral Ordered.
"Once the civilians are away, all colonial military vessels will jump," Adama ordered.
The last ship, the Cronus, made it jump just before three more Basestars and their raiders jumped into the area outside the Nebula. (AN: With this jump began episode 33, where the fleet had to jump every 33 minutes to stay ahead of the Cylons.)
After a full day of jumping every 33 minutes to a random point in space, the Marines dispatched by Cronus fleet had finally tracked down the beacons that were transmitting the fleets coordinated to the Cylons. All of the extraneous singles from the fleet had been eliminated over the past 24 hours. The question was, had they gotten them all and what would they do about the Cylons already on board. Admiral Adama ordered all supply drops to be made by Marines. No civilians would be allowed onto any of the Cronus fleet ships. The Galactica likely already had Cylons on board, but until they had a reliable way to detect and capture them, they could only limit their access to the majority of the fleet.
"33 minutes plus 5 Admiral." Commander Jenson reported.
"Maintain jump readiness for an additional 10 minutes then stand down the fleet for maintenance and supply distribution. Cap status?" the Admiral asked?
"Sir, Oceanus has the cap currently, all Vipers and Raptors report no Dradis contacts." Lt. Halson reported.
"Very well. Carry out my orders."
The Admiral and Commander Jenson began looking at jump possibilities that would take the fleet in a roundabout way to the first Anchorage while masking their actual destination.
AN: This is the end of part 1. Thoughts? It feels like it moves a little fast. I know I need more faces and more character development. But as I said, in the beginning, this is my first Fanfiction. I hope you like it. All constructive criticism is welcome.
Nox