Battleground Colonies 20

by atlantiaCAG

The continuing story of a group of survivors from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Fighting for survival against both Humans and Cylons. This is an edit of a story I've previously published. There was a lot in the early chapters I wasn't happy with, so I went back and fixed them. Tidied spelling & grammar and adding some story, most of which is in the later chapters.

24. Hope

"People of the fleet, my name is Galen Hunter. As I'm sure you all know by now, we are not with the rest of the fleet. We, the NCO have delivered on our promise to find you a new home. I know that not all of you were part of our cause before, but I want to assure you that you have no need to worry. In three days time we will arrive at our new home. A planet much like Caprica, where we will be able to settle and plan for the future instead of running in fear. The days ahead will be hard while we strive to forge a life for ourselves, but I promise you all, it will be worth the hard work. There have been terrible stories that I know you have heard about the NCO. They are lies. Lies from a military and government who knew their time was coming to an end. These lies have been told to you in an attempt to keep you in line. We will never lie to you, we will make good on all the promises we have made, starting with our new home. We are the New Colonial Order and this is your salvation."

"Action stations, action stations set condition one throughout the ship. Launch Viper and Raptor attack squadrons." Ensign Phillips ordered.

"Suppression barrage is in place." One of the Specialists shouted.

"Let's hit the Baseships with EMPs." Bojay ordered, "What's the ETA on Aries?"

"Captain Archer has informed us they will be ready to jump in eight minutes." Phillips replied.

"Inform her that we need constant updates." Bojay said.

"Aye sir." Phillips replied as the whole of the ship shook violently.

Bojay looked up at the dradis console and saw two of the Baseships were starting to flank either side of them, "Order the bow and stern top cannons to switch to salvo fire and aim for the centre access. Where the frak are the EMPs?"

"Missile crews are having problems activating them." Phillips said.

Archangel ran onto the flight deck, which was in chaos. As he started up the ladder to his viper one of the deck gang handed him his helmet. Other vipers were launching ahead of him. He could hear the chatter from the pilots who had already launched. As he put his helmet on, the canopy closed and he was loaded into one of the tubes. As it closed behind him he turned to see the launch tube controller. They quickly went through the flight checks and moments later Archangel was launching down the tube. As soon as his viper came out into space he saw the four base ships ahead and the raiders bearing down on them. He saw blue squadron, his squadron not far away engaging a large group of raiders.

"Archangel this is Hammer I've got your wing." Lieutenant Mia Thorpe said as she came along side him.

"Copy that Hammer lets go junk some toasters." Archangel replied.

The two fighters quickly flew and joined the others. Archangel targeted a raider and opened fire cutting it in two.

"Flanking Baseships are holding position," Phillips yelled.

"Radiological alarm." A specialist shouted.

Bojay waited but the flak barrier took out the missiles. Bojay clicked on his headset.

"Hydra this is Bojay take raptors 20 through 30 and make a missile picket across our top side." Bojay said.

"Bojay this is Hydra not a problem." She replied over the COM.

The pilot chatter was chaotic.

"EMPs are ready." Phillips said.

"Tell them to fire them and get another barrage prepared." Bojay ordered.

"Colonel, Aries reports they're on track and will be ready to jump in the time frame they gave us earlier."

"Orion this is Wedge, a group of raiders have broken off and are heading straight at the Aries. I'm taking Red squadron to intercept."

"Understood." Phillips said.

"Red squadron follow my lead, we need to give Aries some cover." Wedge ordered as he turned his viper.

As the vipers of red squadron engaged the raiders, the gunstars weapons opened fire, helping to take out the raiders intent on their destruction.

Wedge watched as a raider turned and started to bare down on him. As calmly as if he was playing a hand of triad, Wedge aimed his fighter at the enemy, which was already firing its cannons at him even though it was still out of range. As the kill shot came into his sights, Wedge pressed the trigger and cut the ship in half. He turned his viper to give chase on the next raider in range and did the same again.

"Emps didn't hit their target," Phillips said, "Cylons intercepted them before they could hit."

"Frak we took too long firing them." Bojay said.

"Colonel two of the base ships are heading straight for us. They must have figured out what we're doing."

"Intensify fire on the incoming ships. We're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

Orion's main battery turned the majority of its fire on the two giant ships heading straight towards them. Despite taking hit after hit they kept coming. Orion's heavy rounds tore through arms of the Baseships as they edged closer and closer to the Battlestar.

"This is Jawbreaker, my wingman has been taken out and I've got a raider on my six that I can't shake." He said over the COM.

He felt a round graze the wing of his fighter but managed to keep it under control. Bullets whizzed past his fighter as the raider continued to fire at him. He knew that if he couldn't shake this toaster he wouldn't last much longer.

"Jawbreaker this is Party Boy I'm heading straight for you." Jasper Vents replied to his squadron leader.

"Party Boy I can see that you're heading straight for me!" Jawbreaker exclaimed.

"Jawbreaker on the count of three pull up."

For the first time in a long time Jawbreaker felt nervous.

"Party Boy don't frak this up."

"1… 2…3." Jasper shouted.

As Jawbreakers viper went vertical Jasper opened fire hitting the raider completely unaware.

"Good shooting Party Boy, thanks for the save." Jawbreaker said.

As Archangel destroyed his tenth raider of the battle he saw four raiders turn and head straight at him. As he cut his engines he used the momentum he already had and his thrusters to pull a 180-degree spin with his finger on the trigger. One by one the four raiders exploded. Archangel turned to see the two base ships still bearing down on Orion. While Orion's cannons tore through the Baseships, the ship was taking heavy damage from it's own weapons, the closeness of the two Baseships was also causing a bigger problem. Orion's weapons were designed to be powerful and the close quarters combat, was beginning to cause damage to the Battlestar from the recoil at close range and the debris from the Baseships, which had nowhere to go, but straight at them.

"Colonel we can't take much more of this," Phillips said, "The Port flight pods are taking heavy damage and we're causing a lot of it ourselves."

"How long till Aries is ready to jump?" Bojay asked.

"Two minutes." Phillips replied.

"Frak me this is going to be close."

As Archangel watched Orion taking damage, he made what he knew to be a stupid decision, one that could be the last he ever made.

"Hammer head for the barn for reload." Archangel said.

"Yes sir, what about you?" she replied.

"Just go that's an order. I'll be right behind you!"

Archangel fire walled his engines and left the young Lieutenant behind. He switched his weapons control from cannons to missiles as he whizzed through the middle of countless dogfights.

"Orion this is Archangel I'm going to try and give you a hand."

"Archangel this is Bojay what the frak are you doing?"

"Hopefully not killing myself."

As he finished speaking he turned his viper so his engines were facing Orion and his nose to the base ship. As he fought with the controls to keep momentum and speed, bullets and missiles tore past him, missing him by millimetres. One by one as he passed between the two giant ships, he fired his complement of eight missiles, each of them hitting one of the base ships missile launchers. Somehow seconds later he flew out the other side still alive. He let out a sigh of relief before turning his fighter back into the fight. The missile hits had caused small amounts of damage to the baseship but they had hit their targets and the Cylons were unable to fire as many missiles at Orion.

"Wedge, this is Nightwing, you've got a raider baring down on you from the stern." Wedge heard over the COM.

As he turned his viper around the nose was hit by the raiders rounds. He fought against his plane to keep it steady, taking all his skill. He opened fire with his cannons. The rounds fired wildly as Wedge fought for control. The seconds that followed seemed like hours. As the raider baring down on him exploded, he realised he had been holding his breath.

"Red squadron this is Wedge I'm heading back to the barn. I've lost partial thruster control, Hammer take over till I get back out."

As Wedge fought to turn his Viper towards the landing deck he could see all his fellow pilots attacking the swarming raiders and felt guilty for heading back in.

"Colonel, one of the Baseships seems to have lost flight control and they're on a collision course with us." Phillips yelled.

"ETA?" Bojay replied.

"1 minute." He shouted back.

"Start jump prep tell Captain Archer if they're not ready to go when we are, scuttle the Aries and abandon ship." Bojay ordered.

The whole ship rocked as they were hit again by enemy fire.

"Colonel the Aries FTL is back online they're ready to jump." Phillips said.

"Tell them to get the frak out of here and recall all vipers. Helm as soon as the Aries is gone, back us off those baseship. Order gun captains to let rip with everything they have." Bojay ordered.

"All squadrons this is Archangel everyone head for the starboard flight pod you are clear for combat landings." he ordered.

As the Vipers and Raptors turned to the flight pod, the raiders turned after them. The flight pod's cannons turned to the raiders to give the fighters covering fire. Archangel and Jawbreaker turned as they reached the flight deck and both opened fire to add more cover.

"Jawbreaker, you okay over there?" the CAG asked.

"Frak yeah, call me sick, but this is fun." Jawbreaker replied.

As Aries jumped away, the last of the fighters landed.

"Jump prep complete, Aries is away and all fighters are aboard." Phillips shouted.

"Jump us." Bojay ordered.

As the out of control baseship almost hit Orion, the ship jumped.

"Jump complete." Phillips said on the other side followed by loud creaking and the whole ship shuddering as explosions hit the port flightpod.

"Report." Bojay yelled.

"Too early to report," Phillips replied, "Damage control teams are away."

Bojay sighed and looked around the CIC. The crew had done an amazing job, he was proud of them all. The first hard job was done, they had saved the Aries, now all they had to do was find the rest of the fleet. Bojay had to stop himself from laughing, "all they had to do" he thought to himself, like it was going to be easy.

"First reports are in Colonel. The flight pod has taken heavy damage but the explosions have stopped. We got lucky but we've taken a hell of a beating."

"Let me know when the damage and casualty reports are in."

As the fighters started to come onto the flight deck, Carrie and Skeeter stood at the side waiting.

"It doesn't get any easier does it?" Skeeter said.

"No it doesn't." She replied.

"Congratulations by the way." Skeeter said.

"What?" Carrie replied.

Skeeter smiled and pointed to the ring on her finger.

"Thank you." She replied with a smile.

As Wedge's viper was put into its bay, Carrie saw the bullet holes down the ships nose and the smoke pouring out of it.

"Oh my gods." Carrie said.

"I'm sure it looks much worse that it is." Skeeter said.

Wedge smiled down at Carrie as he took his helmet off.

"You letting them use you for target practice now?" Carrie asked as he walked down the ladder onto the deck.

"Thought I'd give them a chance." He replied with a rye smile. He kissed and hugged her, "Anyway the Cylons wouldn't dare stopping me from coming home to you."

Skeeter moved aside as medics ran onto the deck and headed to a raptor. He felt bad that he felt relived when he saw the name on the side of the raptor wasn't Bria's.

Everyone turned and looked on in silence as a bloodied and burned Deadeye was taken screaming in agony out of the damaged Raptor.

Galen Hunter couldn't help but smile to himself as he looked out as his fleet. He sat in what had been the Quorum of Twelve's large meeting room aboard the Caprican Sunrise. He took a sip from a glass of whiskey, it tasted good, he wondered if it was because it had been the Presidents till not long ago. Early reports from across the fleet were there had been no sign of physical uprising from any of the people who had not been with the NCO before this all happened. He turned in his chair as he heard the door open and John walked in.

Galen smiled, "Can I get you a drink John?" Galen asked.

"No thank you," John replied, "I just wanted to let you know that the ships captain's will all be coming over this afternoon per your request."

"Good and what of our two prisoners?"

"They've been moved to where no one will find them. Commander Garrett hasn't said a word but the former president is demanding to speak with you."

"Well the former president can wait a while, I think a day or so before I let him speak." Galen replied with a wicked smile across his face.

"Very well." John replied.

Galen could tell that his trusted right hand had more to say but was keeping whatever it was to himself.

"Speak your mind John." Galen said before taking another sip from his drink.

Cavil sighed before he spoke, "I don't think it's a very good idea having those two aboard. If the people find out we have them it could destroy everything we've been working for."

"I understand your concerns but they're too valuable to just kill. Should Orion find us we'll need them to bargain with. Only a handful of our men know we have them onboard and that's how we will keep it. They know not to tell anyone and if they do, they know what will happen to them. We use the same men to guard them and we will be fine."

"You're the boss, I just wanted to let you know my feelings on this."

"And thank you for telling me, you've been a good friend through all this, I couldn't have done this without you." Galen said patting his friend on the back. He was a man who knew, how to get what he wanted, whenever he wanted it.

Orion and what was left of her fleet had taken refuge in a large planetary system. Damage reports had been coming in over the last hour and things didn't look as bad as first feared, but still didn't look good. Bojay, Archangel and Wedge all stood around the dradis console on the CIC.

"How bad is it?" Wedge asked.

"Bad enough that until we have the damage to the port flight pod fixed we can't go toe to toe with any more Baseships." Bojay replied.

"How long are we looking at?" Archangel asked.

"Ideally the damage report teams tell me three months." Bojay replied.

"Frak." Archangel and Wedge both said in unison.

"There is a small silver lining," Bojay said, "This system that normally we wouldn't have even stopped at, has a small habitable planet that we can use to restock."

"That's all well and good but what about the Commander?" Archangel replied.

"That's why I've called them here." Bojay said pointing to the four Gunstar Captain's as they walked onto the CIC.

Everyone saluted each other.

"Follow me please." Bojay said leading them to one of the CICs larger side rooms.

When they all were in the room Bojay closed the door behind them.

"How bad is the damage to Orion?" Captain Archer of the Gunstar Aries asked.

"Not as bad as it could have been, but bad enough so we don't want to face off against any Cylons for a while. I've called you all here to discuss what we're going to do next. We need to get Orion fixed and the best estimates are it's going to take about three months." Bojay said.

"That's not good we need to get out there and looking for them now." Captain Reynolds of the Cryxus replied.

"This system is perfect for us for now, what with the habitable planet we can stock up and fix Orion. I want to send out the Gunstars and use this system as a base. We load them up with some vipers, raptors, supplies and any extra crew and see what you can find." Bojay said.

"That's going to be a hard slog." Archer said.

"Maybe so but we have to do everything we can." Wedge said.

"Agreed and it's all that we can do until we can recover the information deleted from our computers." Bojay said.

"Can we actually do that?" Captain Wally West of the Gunstar Serenity asked.

"We have one of our best people on it. It could take a long time but if anyone can do it he can." Bojay replied.

"I've spoken to the Chief and he thinks that we should be able to fit twelve vipers and three raptors on each of the Gunstars." Archangel said.

"I need you guys to let us know what supplies you need and how much room you have for extra marines and deck crew for the hanger bay." Bojay said.

The captains all nodded.

"We'll speak again before you all head off. Can Captain Reynolds and Major Hunter hang back a moment please?" Bojay said.

After everyone else had left Bojay spoke again, "Mal I'm right in thinking you're the most experienced Gunstar captain we have?"

"Yes Colonel. I've been in command of the Cryxus for six years now." Captain Reynolds replied.

"I've been thinking and I could use someone with your experience as my second." Bojay replied.

"Sorry what?" Reynolds replied surprised.

"Will you be my second in command until we find the commander? I really could use the council of someone who knows what they're doing." Bojay replied.

"Yes of course. I'll head back to Cryxus and get my things and inform Lieutenant Walker to take over." Reynolds replied.

"That's the other thing I wanted to say, if you have no objections I'll put Archangel in commend of Cryxus." Bojay replied.

"Of course." Reynolds replied.

Archangel looked surprised at the conversation he was hearing.

"Archangel I want you to assign pilots and CAGs to all of the Gunstars before you get your kit and head over to Cryxus."

Archangel nodded his head, "Erm yeah sure."

"You okay?" Bojay asked.

"Yeah I'm good, just wasn't expecting any of this, I've never actually commanded a battleship before." Archangel replied.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Major." Reynolds said.

Vanessa Garrett sat by herself in a small dark room. Her head was swimming from both the situation and the remaining pain from the butt of the gun they had used to knock her out. She had stopped wondering what they had in store for her, whatever it was she was sure she would find out soon enough. Garrett staggered to her feet and managed to walk the four steps to the cot that masqueraded as her bed and laid down. She felt herself start to doze off and decided to let herself go to sleep. Just as she fell asleep a spotlight appeared from above her making her cover her eyes with her hands. The door opened and John Cavill walked in with a smile on his face and sat down in front of her.

"Don't worry Commander there is no need to get up." Cavill said.

"Frak you." Garrett said quietly.

Cavill chuckled to himself, "Vanessa, may I call you Vanessa?"

"Do what you want you will anyway you Cylon scum." Garrett replied.

"Vanessa no one is going to believe you when you call me a Cylon. I've helped Galen so much he's never going to believe anything you say."

"More fool him." Garrett replied.

"Like father like son." he smirked.

"What so there's another Hunter out there getting fraked by a Cylon?"

Cavill laughed, "Just not in quite the same way."

"So what's the plan?" Garrett asked.

"Galen is taking everyone to a planet he intends on letting his people live on. He may be drunk with power but his intentions are good I suppose."

"So how long will it take for your people to find us?" Garrett asked.

"Truthfully I've no idea but it's just a matter of time. Do you think Orion might turn up in the meantime?" Cavill asked.

"Who knows but I can tell you this, my people are looking for me, yours aren't. Archangel and Bojay won't stop until they find us."

"Of that I have no doubt. You know Orion was a surprise to us, we knew it had been built but we were too over confident in our attack plan. If I'm honest in my opinion Orion isn't the problem it's been you and your crew. We underestimated you humans, that started with Major Hunter, then Orion and Galactica, our overconfidence is our weakness."

Garrett let out a laugh, "Is this what you came here for? A heart to heart and to blow smoke up my ass?"

"I suppose I did come here for a heart to heart. It's been so long since I could talk to anyone freely."

"So when we triggered that virus to knock out all the Cylons what happened to you?" Garrett asked.

"Luckily I was by myself in my quarters. By the time anyone came to me I had regained consciousness and no one was any the wiser. After my brothers and sisters had been so careful not to allow any other copies of me into the fleet while we were here it would have been unfortunate."

"I'm sure it would." Garrett replied.

"I can't guarantee what Galen has in store for you, but I will promise that I will make sure he doesn't kill you."

"And why the frak would you do that?" Garrett asked.

"Honestly because I like you Vanessa, you impress me. What you have accomplished with such little command experience. I've been amongst humans for a long time and believe it or not I'm starting to find a fondness for you, I want to see how far you can get before we stop you."

"So can you explain to me why you made these decisions without talking to me first Colonel?" Vice President Natasha Cobb asked.

"With all due respect Madame Vice President we don't have the time to talk about every decision that needs to be made." Bojay replied with a sigh.

"And who gave you the authority to make all these choices on your own?" Natasha replied.

"Is this really how you want to start things off between us?" Bojay asked, "We are in crisis and I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation and I don't have time to waste on your ego. So do me a favour go and tell the people of the fleet that we'll be staying here while it's safe and they can make the most of that planet as they want. I will continue to get this ship ready to fight and to find Commander Garrett and President Vents and remember don't push me."

"Is that a threat?" Natasha asked.

"Madame Vice President I have no intention of stepping on your toes, you go run the civilians and I will continue to run this ship and always remember I have two words that I will use if you keep pushing me."

"Oh and what might they be?"

"Martial law." Bojay replied with a smile.

Natasha was stunned into silence, she didn't know what to say at all. She had thought this pilot would be a push over.

"I'll give you regular updates on the repairs and any updates from the search and when we're ready to move on. Now if you'll excuse me I have a lot to do."

Archangel caught up with his sister as she walked to CIC.

"Do you have a couple of minutes?" Archangel asked.

"Of course I do, is everything okay?" she replied.

"I'm taking command of the Cryxus and we're going to search for the Commander and the President."

"You're going away?" she replied.

"Yeah, Orion needs to stay here and this is a good place to make repairs and stock up on supplies so that means we need to go out and start searching."

"How long will you be gone for?" Carrie asked.

"Really, as long as it takes." Archangel replied.

"I'm going to miss you." Carrie said hugging her brother.

"I'm leaving Wedge in command of the air wing."

"He asked me to marry him." She said showing him her ring.

"That is wonderful news, what's needed right now. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything." She replied.

"Don't get married till I get back." he said with a smile.

Carrie smiled, "Of course. Just come back in one piece."

Archangel smiled back, "No problem."

After her brother started to walk away she carried onto the CIC. When she reached the door she saw Bojay standing at the dradis console.

"Colonel can I speak with you?" she asked.

"Did the vice president send you?" he replied.

"No I'm here under my own volition."

"Then speak." He replied with a smile and a wink.

"Since President Vents isn't currently here and Vice President Cobb has told me that she doesn't need my help, I am here to offer my services as your assistant."

"Do you think I need one?"

"With all due respect yeah I do. I can tell already that Cobb and the government are starting to piss you off, I know how they work and I can deal with them for you. Unless you want to deal with Orion and the government by yourself?"

"You're hired. If you can keep Miss Cobb off my back as much as possible, then you're going to be my new best friend."

The pilots briefing room was full, every pilot, viper and raptor all squeezed into the room. As Archangel took the podium silence fell on the room.

"By now I'm sure you all know what's going on. The NCO have taken a large number of our ships and gone on the run. Orion is too damaged to go searching for them, so Colonel Johnson has decided we're going to send out the Gunstars to try and find them. We're going to be putting twelve vipers and three raptors aboard each Gunstar. Captain Reynolds has been given the position of Bojay's temporary XO and has put me in command of Cryxus. While I'm gone Wedge will be standing in as Orion's CAG, Jawbreaker, you'll be his squadron XO. Streaker I'm giving you the position of CAG aboard Aries, Bria you'll be with me on Cryxus, Hydra you'll be CAG on Serenity and Dogstar you'll be on Onyx. I have no idea how long we're going to be out on our own. Orion needs three months to get back into proper fighting shape before they can join in the search. The locations we ideally need are the habitable planets Olympus found when she was with Icarus, but that information has been deleted from all the ships that had it. Someone is trying to recover that information, but it's going to take some time, that's if it can be done at all. So until then we're flying blind. I want to wish you all good hunting and hand you over to your acting CAG."

As Wedge started to speak Archangel walked out of the room and started walking towards his quarters. He had had enough of all the talking he just wanted to get on with it now.

"Hey." Grace said as she came along side him.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

Grace nodded her head, "Are you on your way to get packed?"

"Yeah." Archangel replied.

"Me too." She replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm coming with you. Dr Green has everything under control here and additional medical staff are being sent to each Gunstar so I volunteered for Cryxus."

"It'll be nice to have you along."

Natasha Cobb and the members of the Quorum left in the fleet sat aboard the Blazar, their temporary home until the Caprican Sunrise was found.

"I had invited Colonel Johnson along to this meeting but honestly I don't expect him to turn up. He already has a search and rescue mission, which is being prepped to leave by the end of the day. We all know that since that information has been deleted from our ships systems finding the NCO is going to be like searching for a grain of sugar in a pile of salt. I think we need to start coming up with a plan for what we are going to do if these SAR missions fail." Natasha said.

"We need to start thinking about the future of this fleet more than we have been doing before," Darren James the Quorum member for Aquaria said, "For all this time President Vents has just been blindly led around by the nose by Commander Garrett while she just leads us from one crisis to another. We have a planet here that we can start to build a life on. Yes I know the Cylons could find us and I know what happened on New Caprica but we cannot continue to live like this."

"I agree," Natasha said, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, "We need to start looking into that planet and thinking of it as our new home." She said pointing out of the window to the small world.

"Personally I think our priority should be assisting Orion with whatever they need to find the missing ships of our fleet, helping to get supplies onboard all our remaining ships and explaining to the people, that the stop at this planet is only temporary." Wallace Gray said.

"How many more times are we going to do that though?" Natasha said, "I put it to you that we start making a plan of colonisation for the sake of the tens of thousands of people that we have under our care. Majority vote."

Out of the ten people in the room seven were for and three against.

"And what do you intend to tell Colonel Johnson?" Wallace asked.

"Nothing," Natasha replied, "At least not yet. We let him get on with what he has to do and we do what we need to do. Then we tell him."

"I for one do not feel comfortable with this. Colonel Johnson needs to be in possession of all the facts," Wallace said, "The reason this fleet works is because President Vents and Commander Garrett work together, make ALL the big decisions, together. It was the same with Galactica's fleet with Adama and Roslin. This is a recipe for disaster!".

"We're not plotting against the military Wallace we're securing our future. Johnson is too focused on what he wants to do right now to even think straight."

Everyone stopped talking for a moment as the door to the room opened and Carrie walked in.

"Miss Spence may I ask what you are doing here? I thought I made it clear that I didn't need your assistance as an aide." Natasha said.

"Oh you made that perfectly clear Madame Vice President, but it seems Colonel Johnson does need my help." She said as she sat down at the foot of the table.

"Excuse me?" Natasha said. The two locked eyes. Everyone in the room looking between one of the women and then the other.

"Colonel Johnson is a busy man. He is new to this position and I offered to help him with this side of his responsibilities. So he sends his apologies for not coming to this meeting but for the foreseeable future I will be here on his behalf." Carrie smiled as she finished speaking.

"You wasted no time in changing your position of power." Natasha said.

"It's not about a position of power, it's about using the skills I have to help the people who need them. I have no interest in positions of authority, I'm just here to help." She said with a smile.

"Well I for one welcome you Miss Spence." Wallace said in an attempt to cut the tension.

As Bojay walked onto the CIC he realised how tired he was for the first time. He hadn't stopped or even sat down for as long as he could remember, never mind having a drink or something to eat. Captain Reynolds stood by the console.

"Colonel." Reynolds said.

"Captain anything to report?" Bojay asked stifling a yawn.

"Repair crews have closed off the port flight pod and repairs have already begun. Raptors have been placed on patrol at the edges of the system, should anything jump in out of our range they'll find them and let us know. The Gunstars are all nearly ready to head off, the last of the vipers are being loaded aboard now and the additional crews are heading over. Sir once the Gunstars are underway I must insist you go get some rack time. I can hold the fort."

"You know what, I'm not even going to argue with you," Bojay said, "I haven't slept in what feels like days now and I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday."

"It's going to be about another hour before the Gunstars head off, why don't you go get yourself something to eat, I'll call for you if anything happens." Mal said.

"Okay." Bojay said turning to walk off. He stopped and turned to his new XO, "Mal, I just wanted to say thanks."

"You're welcome, now go before I have marines escort you to the mess." He replied with a smile.

As Archangel walked through Cryxus he couldn't remember the last time he had been aboard a Marduk class Gunstar, despite the fact they had four of them in their fleet. He wore his blue officers uniform, which was something he was going to have to get used to. It was nowhere near as comfortable as a flight suit. As he walked onto the CIC everyone stood to attention.

"MAJOR ON DECK." A voice cried.

"Please everyone at ease, you don't need to do that every time I walk into the room." Archangel replied.

"Major Hunter all the supplies and additional crew members are aboard, we are just waiting for the three raptors." Lieutenant Nicky Walker said to him.

"Thanks," he replied. The small CIC reminded him a lot of a mercury class CIC, "Captain Reynolds speaks very highly of you."

"As do I of him." She replied.

"I just want you to know that I don't want to rock the boat here. This was Colonel Johnson's idea, he wanted Captain Reynolds experience at his side." Archangel said.

"I completely understand." she said forcing a smile.

"I want the ship to keep running as it always does, if it ain't broke don't fix it."

"I hear that sir." Nicky replied with a genuine smile.

Archangel looked over with surprise as Skeeter walked onto the CIC.

"What are you doing here?" Archangel asked.

"I'm a marine." Skeeter replied with a smile.

"Since when?" Archangel asked.

"Since I have no current job and the woman I love was sequestered here. I asked if I could temporarily help out and they said yes."

Archangel felt a little better about the whole situation having both Grace and Skeeter here with him.

"Lieutenant Nicky Walker this is my best friend and now apparently a marine Mike Kent."

"Pleased to meet you Mr Kent." She said shaking his hand.

"Please call me Skeeter." He replied, "And pleased to meet you too."

"Hanger reports the raptors are aboard." A specialist shouted.

"Please inform Orion that we are ready to depart as soon as the other Gunstars are." Archangel ordered.

Galen Hunter sat with his fleets captains. So far things were going well and the mood was light.

"I can't stress enough that I don't think Garrett will waste time coming after us. All we've done is go our separate way." Galen said.

"When we reach the planet what happens if the Cylons do find us?" Marcus Jones asked.

"I have had people working on weapons systems to protect us. Some of our ships are already being armed and more weapons are being put together to make them more formidable. When we get to the planet we have a planetary defence system that we will put into place. Anyone who isn't transmitting the right codes, will be fired upon by automatic weaponry with heavy cannons. I made a promise to make sure the people who came with us were well protected and that is a promise I intend to keep."

"My XO has been talking to the people aboard who before this were not part of our cause." Captain Samantha Earl said.

"And?" Galen asked.

"Once it had been explained where we were going and why we were leaving, they understood. She told them the things they had heard about the NCO were all lies spread by the military and the government." Samantha replied.

"Speaking of government that's something I wish to discuss." Captain Edmund Pike said, "What are we going to do with leadership, who is going to be in charge?"

This took Galen by surprise. He had never thought anyone would expect someone other than him to be in charge. The surprise then turned to irritation.

"We already have leadership," Marcus said, "He's sitting right there." He said pointing to Galen.

"Surely the people should decide that?" Edmund asked.

"He deserves to be given the chance to lead." Marcus snapped.

"Gentlemen please this is not the time to argue. This is our new beginning let's not start it with arguments. I'm thrilled some of you want me to lead our people, but this is a discussion for tomorrow. I'll let you all get back to your ships, we all have a lot of work to do. Captain Pike would you wait behind so we can speak?"

"Of course." Edmund replied.

Once all the other captains had left the room only Galen, Edmund and Cavill remained.

"I understand you were lucky enough to be with your wife and twin daughters when all this began?" Galen said.

Edmund smiled and nodded, "Yes I was one of the fortunate ones."

"Yes you were. I need you to listen to me and I need you to hear what I have to say."

"Of course." Edmund replied.

"I have worked very hard to be sat here with you right now. To have this fleet following me. A lot of people have died, some of who were very close friends of mine. I've pissed off my son to the point where if he sees me again he'll likely put a bullet in my brain. What I'm trying to say is, I've sacrificed far too much to have my authority brought into question by you."

Edmund sat with a shocked expression on his face.

"I am in charge of this fleet and that is how it will remain. If you bring up this subject again, if you even so much as think of suggesting we find someone else to lead, if you tell anyone about this conversation, you will watch your family float out of an airlock before I beat you to death."

Edmund didn't know how to take what was being said to him. He began to smile a little thinking it must be a joke. As Galen saw the smile he lunged out of his chair and grabbed Edmund by the back of the head pulling it right back.

"Do not smile, I am not joking with you. I will kill your family if you bring this up again. Do you understand me?" Galen bellowed as he looked down at the man, utter loathing in his eyes.

"Yes." Edmund replied terrified.

Galen let the man go and sat back down. He nodded to Cavill who walked over to the door and opened it to reveal a giant of a man. If his sheer size wasn't intimidating enough, the mess of scars covering the left hand side of his face would have done the job.

"Edmund this is Jacob, he will be escorting you back to the Aurora where he will keep an eye on you, to make sure nothing ever happens to that beautiful wife and those adorable girls of yours. Do you understand me?"

Edmund nodded his head frantically.

"Good. Now frak off."

Edmund scrambled to his feet almost running out of the room followed by Jacob. Cavill closed the door behind them.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Cavill asked.

"Yes John it was. We won't have to worry about him again. Is there anything else?"

"Dr Henderson reports that the first ten weapons platforms will be complete by the end of the day."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get some sleep."

As Bojay left the galley he was starting to feel a little better. His stomach was full and he had a cup of hot steaming tea in his hand. Once he had seen the Gunstars off he would get some rack time before it all started again tomorrow.

"Colonel." Bojay turned to see Carrie walking up to him, "Do you have five minutes?"

"I most certainly do. I'm heading to the CIC to see the Gunstars off, so you're welcome to walk with me. How was the meeting?"

"The Vice President was not happy to see me and even less happy when she found out why I was there."

"What did you find out?" Bojay asked.

"Not much, as the invite was intentionally sent at the last minute. From what I could glean she wants to make plans for colonisation of that planet. Not for immediate use but for in case they're needed."

"Okay I suppose it can't hurt to have them." He replied.

"There's no doubt in my mind that she has the best interests of the people at heart. She does appear to be throwing herself into the job with everything she has, but I fear that as far as President Vents goes it may be a case of out of sight out of mind."

"Then we'll have to keep reminding her of him."

"You are going to have to show your face at some of these meetings I'm afraid, but I will prep you before hand on the protocol and who everyone is. Wallace Gray will be your strongest ally in there."

"Good to know."

As they walked onto CIC Captain Reynolds met them.

"All the gunstars have reported ready for the off sir." Reynolds said.

"Mr Phillips put me through please." Bojay said.

"Channel open sir." He replied.

Bojay put down his tea and picked up the handset, "All gunstars you are clear for departure. I just want you all to know we are all grateful for what you are about to do. Be safe and good hunting."

As he put the handset down Phillips spoke, "Colonel I have Major Hunter on the horn."

"Put him through." Bojay said signalling to Carrie to pick up a handset.

"You okay Archangel?" Bojay asked.

"Yeah," he replied, "Just wanted to say good luck while we're gone. Is my sister there?"

"I'm here." Carrie said.

"I'll see you soon okay?"

"Just don't do anything stupid." She said.

"When do I ever do anything stupid?" Archangel replied with a laugh.

"I'm serious please come back in one piece." Carrie said quietly.

"Don't worry I will. See you all soon."

The line went dead.

"Colonel the gunstars have jumped away."

"Now we wait." Bojay said.

The Cryxus jumped to its first co-ordinates in a bright flash.

"Jump complete."

"Dradis is clear." Walker said.

Archangel looked up at the blank dradis monitor. They were alone.

"Okay begin long range sensor sweeps let's see what we can find." He said.

"Aye sir." Walker replied.

Archangel looked around the small CIC at all the people doing their jobs. Most of them he had never met before and now he was responsible for them all. He already knew the first sign of any Cylons and they would be gone, he wasn't going to risk their lives. He had to find the Commander that was all he could think of, that was all that was important. He tried to keep out thoughts of his father, they just made him angry. When he found him, that's when he would let the anger build so he could do what he needed to do. He couldn't believe it was the same man who had raised him, the man who had been so influential as to the person he would become, that man was dead, he had died on Caprica. This man was something else, a monster who wore his father's face. He thought of his mother and brother who had died alone somewhere at home. He had held out some hope for a while, that because they weren't at their home they could still be alive, but that hope had faded long ago.

Vanessa woke suddenly. Before her eyes could adjust she felt herself being dragged off the small bed before she hit the ground with a thud. She looked up and saw a man she didn't recognise stand aside as Galen Hunter walked into the room and sat on the bed.

"Sleep well Commander?" Galen asked with a smile.

"What do you want?" Garrett replied.

"To talk."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"That's where you're wrong we have a lot to talk about. Do you love my son?"

Garrett didn't reply. Galen nodded to the other man who reached down and grabbed the commander by the hair before punching her hard in the face. She saw stars for a few moments. She put her hand to her cheek, which hurt like hell. Looking at her hand she saw blood.

"I'll ask you again, do you love my son?"

Garrett looked at him with hate in her eyes, "Yes." She said quietly.

"So why did you terminate my grandchild without even telling him?" there was a tone of loathing that came with the question Vanessa hadn't heard from him before.

Vanessa looked at him, hate in her eyes, "We're in no position to raise a baby on that ship, not the way things are."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Because he wouldn't have been able to think clearly and he would have tried to stop me."

"I believe that. You know I always thought I would make a good grandfather. Believe it or not I was a great Dad, I love all three of my kids."

Garrett laughed at this.

"Something funny Vanessa?"

"Just what you just said. Does it weigh heavy on your conscious the fact that you left you wife and Illum to die on Caprica? Just think if they weren't killed outright by the Cylons the slow death they would have had at the hands of radiation poisoning. Horrible way to die."

"Shut you fraking mouth or I'll break your jaw." Galen yelled.

"Do you really think Orion won't find you?" Garrett asked.

"We purged all the information from your systems as to where we could be going. They will never find us."

"I wouldn't be so sure. We have a scientist who has been all the way through Orion's computer systems and here's the kicker, he has a perfect eidetic memory. By the time he realises what's missing from Orion's computers all he'll have to do is tell them the co-ordinates and they will be on you faster than flies on shit."

"We'll take our chances," Galen said, "I'm confident we'll be safe where we are."

"I just hope I get to see the look on your face when they find you. Do you have any idea what your son will do to you?"

"I know my son better than you could imagine. I am perfectly aware of what he is capable of, I've known for a long time. You talk of monsters, he's the biggest one you've ever meet. The only reason you don't see it, is because he's your monster who does all your dirty work for you," Galen stood up, "Get comfortable in this room, you'll be here the rest of your life." He took a duffel bag from the other man and threw it on the bed, "That's all the kindness you'll get off me. You should be grateful that my aide John is a kinder man than I." He turned and walked out of the room followed by the other man.

Garrett crawled back onto the bed, her head swimming in pain. She reached for the bag and pulled it onto her lap and opened it. Inside she found a change of clothes, a few packs of emergency rations and two bottles of water. There were also a few candles with a book of matches, a small towel and a couple of tatty well read books at the bottom. Vanessa quietly began to cry.

TWO DAYS LATER

Orion sat in orbit above the small habitable planet they had found in the star system. Some other ships of the fleet were in a similar orbit as they started to run supply missions to the surface. The rest were close by.

Bojay walked onto the damaged flight pod for the first time. The hanger deck was busy with repair crews fixing the visible damage, while more crewmembers were starting to fix the outside.

"Colonel, sorry we didn't know you were coming down." Chief Samantha Evans said when she saw the XO.

"Don't worry about it Chief, I just came down to see the extent of the damage. I didn't realise it was so bad." Bojay replied.

"It's taken us longer than we would have liked to get started as we had to get all the vipers and raptors to the other flight pod. We also had to make sure all the fuel and munitions were moved."

"You're doing a great job."

"Thank you sir. I know they've only been gone a couple of days but has there been any news yet sir?"

Bojay shook his head, "No nothing yet. It's going to take a while to find them unless we're very very lucky. But in recent days when have we been lucky?"

"We have our days." The Chief replied with a smile.

"If you need any help or anything at all you let me know. This is our priority at the moment."

"We should be okay sir but I'll let you know."

"Please do." Bojay replied before walking away.

The Vice President sat looking at the details from the initial surveys done by Orion and the rest of the fleet.

"It's small," her aide Jonathan Fisher said, "But we could definitely live here. There is everything we need to make a good go of it."

"This is good news." Natasha replied.

"When are we going to tell the fleet about this? People are already wanting to go down and stretch their legs."

"Not now," Natasha said, "There are too many things we have to sort out first. If we push Colonel Johnson to far too early then things could back fire. This is still a plan in its early stages. You never know one of the gunstars could find the rest of the fleet and then we'll have got people's hopes up for nothing."

"Can I ask, do you want them to find the President?" Jonathan asked.

"What sort of question is that?" Natasha asked.

"I know it's your place to take over if the President isn't able too, but surely we should be following his initial plans for the fleet?"

Natasha sighed, "We are, these plans are for down the road, for if we need them."

"Of course." He replied. He didn't believe a word of it.

Mike Campbell found himself back on Orion, it's always where he seemed to be these days. He had joked the other day that they may as well put his name on the door of the small room next to the CIC he always seemed to be working in. Bojay hadn't laughed. He had never been good at jokes or being funny, he would stick to computers, they were far easier to deal with. No one had told him what had been deleted from the system, he hadn't asked as he assumed it was something he didn't need to know or was top secret. If he had the time he could trawl through all of Orion's computer systems and find out for himself. He had done so much work on the ships systems recently that he would probably be able to remember what was missing. No one had told him so he didn't ask and that was how he was going to keep it. So far it had taken him all this time to write a program that would be able to reconstruct all the deleted information, now he had started it running. Thankfully all his computers were still hooked up from the last job he had done, that had saved him a lot of time. Mike looked up as the door opened and Captain Reynolds walked in.

"Good morning Mr Campbell." Reynolds said.

"Mike." He replied.

"Excuse me?" Reynolds said.

"Call me Mike, it saves time."

Reynolds chuckled to himself, Mike smiled, maybe he was better at making people laugh than he thought.

"I know these are early days but how is it going?"

"I've just launched the program, it's going to take a long time. It has to try and identify what was here before and then it has to try and reconstruct it, it won't be quick."

"Well Colonel Johnson says you're the best man for the job." Reynolds replied.

"I'll do the best I can." Mike said.

"That's all we can ask."

"I have been looking into the program that did this. Dr Hammond was very good at using computers, she knew how to get into Orion's most protected systems and drop the virus right behind the firewall."

"You almost sound impressed." Reynolds said.

"I am. This kind of computer hacking is impressive. Not triggering any of the security protocols, not alerting anyone to the fact it was there. Amazing doesn't quite cover it. I've known some of the best hackers in the colonies, but even they couldn't do what she did."

"Has she left any other surprises?"

"I've run a virus scan with every program I have and unless she's better than me, which she wasn't, there's nothing there. It's all good."

"That's something at least. I'll let you get back to your work."

"Of course. I'll be in and out of here though, as all I can do now is wait."

President Vents hadn't seen any sign of anyone in days. There was already a bag of emergency rations and water in the room when he had arrived. He hoped that Commander Garrett was alright, he feared for her safety. He had thought of his son a lot, he hoped he would be okay as well. At least he had his new job to keep him busy. He looked up as the door opened and in walked Galen Hunter with one of his men.

"Mr Vents it's nice to properly meet you." Galen said holding out his hand.

Milo looked at Galen's hand and then back at the man holding it out, "I demand to see Commander Garrett."

Galen sighed and pulled his hand back, "That's not going to happen, take my word that she is alright."

"Your word? You'll have to excuse me if I laugh." Milo replied.

"Regardless I thought you might like to know that the people of the fleet are happy with their current situation and are excited to see their new home."

"Forgive me if I don't share their optimism." Milo replied.

"You know I hoped that maybe one day we could stand together in front of the people and we could shake hands to our future."

Milo laughed, "I don't think I share your optimism either."

"This is the way it's going to be, I am going to take these people and we are going to live our lives free from you and the military and very soon they will be calling me Mr President."

"I knew that was what this is about, you and power." Milo said.

"That's what it's always about. Everyone wants the chance to have some power, others don't want to let go of it once they have it. This wasn't a new plan Milo. I'd been planning it for years, I just had to change it from taking over the colonies to taking over the fleet."

Milo was shocked, he hoped his face hadn't let it show though, "Enjoy it while it lasts." he replied.

1 DAY LATER

The NCO made its final jump to its final destination. Galen stood on the bridge of the Caprican Sunrise. He stood by the giant window at the front of the bridge, which looked out at their new home. He smiled to himself, finally after all these months of planning, they were here.

"Put me through to the entire fleet." Galen said.

"Channel open." The captain replied passing a handset.

"People of the fleet this is Galen Hunter. After all the months of hardship I am pleased to finally tell you that we have arrived at our new home. Later on today we will be heading down to the planet to start looking for an area for us to build our new homes. It's not going to be easy, but working together we will be able to build our new home quickly. I want to thank you for the faith you have put in me, for the trust you have shown. I will not let you down. I am Galen Hunter and we are now home."

Vanessa couldn't stop herself from crying as she heard the words coming over the speakers. The only thing she could think of was Orion would be coming soon, they would save her.

TWO MONTHS LATER

The main wardroom aboard Orion was full of ships captains, the quorum and the vice president. Bojay and Carrie both stood outside having a last minute chat.

"Is there anything else I need to know before I walk into the lions den?" Bojay asked.

"Everything I know you know," Carrie replied, "There probably will be more. You know better than anyone else how much the Vice President has been shutting me out."

"That needs to change," Bojay said, "They need to be made aware that we're following the President's orders."

"Remember I'm with you in there, you're not on your own." Carrie replied.

Bojay took a deep breath to compose himself and winked at Carrie. The room fell silent as both he and Carrie walked in.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for keeping you waiting. As I'm sure you're aware running a Battlestar is a busy job." Bojay said.

"You have nothing to apologise for Colonel." Natasha replied.

Bojay and Carrie both sat down in front of everyone else, every eye in the room baring down on them.

"How go the repairs?" Captain Jonas of the Starburst asked.

"Slowly. There was more structural damage than we first thought," Bojay said, "The Baseships came in so close our weapons were doing damage to us as well as them."

"I know we've asked this a thousand times before Colonel, but is there anything we can do to help speed things up?" Natasha asked.

"No, thank you. Our repair crews are going as fast as they can, anyone else down there would just be getting in their way."

"Very well." She replied. There was a pause for a few seconds before she continued to speak, "We need to talk about our long term plan."

"I thought we already had Madame Vice President. We fix this ship and we find the rest of our fleet." Bojay replied.

"We've been here two months now and that planet has become a gods send to us. We have people down there constantly now getting supplies. The Quorum, the captains and I all agree that we should start to look into colonising that planet."

This was becoming to sound like a broken record to Bojay.

"That's not the plan." Bojay replied.

"With all due respect Colonel what exactly is our long term plan? Even if or when we find the rest of our fleet? We keep running into space? How many habitable planets are we going to keep running past? I know you don't want to hear it, but this is even a conversation I've had with the President, Miss Spence can verify that."

Bojay looked at Carrie who gave a little nod in reply.

"I appreciate the threat of the Cylons finding us is constant but we've been here two months now and nothing yet."

"The Battlestar Galactica's fleet were on New Caprica for over a year before the Cylons showed up and we all know what happened then. None of you saw that planet and what happened there, I did. The horrors those people faced everyday will be with those survivors we found for the rest of their lives, just ask Wallace Gray. Do you really want to put out people through that?"

"The flip side to that is do we really want to keep putting our people through the horrors of prolonged space travel?" Natasha asked.

Bojay sighed, he knew that everyone in that room with the exception of Carrie were against him.

"And what of the orders President Vents and Commander Garrett left us with? I want it on record that I do not want to go against them." Bojay said.

"Colonel we understand that," Parker Jones the Aquaria Quorum member replied, "We understand your loyalty to your commanding officer, it is commendable and we respect it but we have to look at the bigger picture, President Vents and Commander Garrett would both understand that."

"I'm just trying to put our people first." Bojay said.

"Colonel so are we." Natasha said, "We're not trying to fight you because we can. We're not seizing power and making our own decisions over those we already have because we can. We ARE trying to do what's best for our people."

"And what about the President and the Commander?" Carrie asked.

"We keep doing what we're doing. We're not saying call off the search we would never say that." Natasha said.

"Has there been any word from any of the Gunstars?" Parker asked.

Bojay shook his head, "No."

There was silence for a moment, "We the quorum and the captains of the fleet have made a decision. The Vice Presidents title will be changed to Acting Interim President and we are promoting you to acting Commander." Parker said.

"No." Bojay said.

"Excuse me?" Parker replied.

"You can call the Vice President whatever you want but I refuse the title of Commander."

"Maybe Captain Reynolds or Captain Manning would be better placed as acting Commander then?" Parker replied.

"What?" Bojay snapped with a look of anger on his face. Carrie put her hand on his arm and he stayed in his seat.

"I can tell you for a fact Mr Jones that no officer aboard this ship would take that position." Carrie said.

"Mr Jones please refrain from saying anything like that again. Colonel Johnson will remain in command of this ship under whatever rank he wishes." Natasha replied trying to defuse the situation.

"My apologies." Parker said.

"And how long before you change from being "acting" President to actual President?" Bojay asked.

"Colonel that's not something we've even discussed and have no plans too." Natasha replied trying to defuse the situation further.

Bojay stood up, "Call yourselves whatever you want I really don't care. Colonise that planet, don't colonise that planet I really don't care either. I will continue to get this ship ready for battle and for the search and no matter what, the Gunstars will stay on the search for our missing people for as long as it takes to find them. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go, Miss Spence is now free to make any decisions on my behalf in these meetings. She knows my thoughts on all matters and I trust her completely. If there is anything she is ever unsure of I'm only a phone call away. She speaks for the Battlestar Orion. Good afternoon."

Before anyone could respond Bojay was out of the door.

"Well that could have gone better." Natasha said.

"It was going better until Mr Jones mentioned removing him from command. I need you all to hear me when I say that ship and its crew are loyal to Colonel Johnson no matter what. If you don't know how it works there or the people onboard, then none of you could possibly understand. I can't recommend enough that you do not push him too far. As far as he is concerned, President Vents and Commander Garrett left him with orders that he will follow until his dying day and no one can convince him otherwise of that. He's a good man and I can't stress that enough." Carrie said.

"Thank you Miss Spence." Natasha said, "Now onto the business of colonisation."

Bojay didn't know where he was walking. He had tried to remain civil. All he wanted to do was punch Parker Jones very hard in the face but he had managed to stay calm. He stopped when he realised he was out side one of the gyms. He walked inside and took off his jacket as he walked up to one of the punch bags and started to take out all his frustrations on it.

"You okay there Bojay?" Jawbreaker asked as he lifted weights.

"Mother fraking quorum." Bojay replied as he continued to punch.

"You should really put some gloves on there." Jawbreaker replied.

"Threaten to remove me from command the mother fraker."

"They did what?" Jawbreaker exclaimed, "You know we're behind you 100%."

Bojay did one last punch as hard as he could and heard a crack as he did.

"Mother fraker." He shouted as he realised he had broken something in his hand. He turned and realised everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing and were looking right at him.

"You broken your hand?" Jawbreaker asked.

Bojay nodded in reply.

"Were they serious when they said about removing you from command?" he asked.

Bojay shook his head, "No it was just an hollow threat, I think. The Vice President calmed it down straight away. Get this, they want to promote me to Commander and her to President."

"Tell me they're not trying to call off the search?" Jawbreaker asked.

"No and it would have to be over my dead body if they did. I'm telling you if they ever pull that trick we're out of here and we'll search by ourselves." Bojay said.

"I hear that," Jawbreaker said, "Now can I recommend you go to sickbay?" he said pointing at Bojay's already swollen and bruised hand.

"I think that might be a good idea." Bojay replied.

Two months and nothing, not even any Cylons. Archangel thought as he walked through the corridors of the Cryxus. Despite his need to find the commander he was starting to feel at home on the Gunstar. He got on well with his XO and the crew, they had even got to the stage where they were all comfortable enough to have a laugh and a joke while they were on duty. As he walked onto the CIC his XO Lieutenant Walker met him.

"Anything to report?" Archangel asked.

"Raptors reported back they haven't found anything. I cleared them in for a rest as they've been out for twelve hours." Walker replied.

"No problem." Archangel replied.

"We've also had a couple of strange dradis blips."

"Define strange?" Archangel replied.

"It's almost as though for less than a second we're getting a ship on dradis and then suddenly it's gone."

"Has anyone run a diagnostic on the dradis console?"

"Yes and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it."

"Is our FTL spooled?" Archangel asked.

"Same as always." Walker replied.

"Good, just in case it's someone we don't want to come into contact with."

Bria was exhausted. She'd had barely any sleep in four days, not only was she looking forward to her bed she was looking forward to a day off. As she walked into her quarters she threw her flight helmet onto the sofa and unzipped her flight suit. Skeeter smiled as he walked over to her and gave her a kiss.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey," she replied, "Busy day?"

"Not in the slightest, the marines are giving me a grand total of nothing to do. I found myself making some repairs on the hanger bay earlier. What about you?"

"I'm exhausted," she replied, "All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep for a long time."

"No problem I'll go and try and get a game of pyramid." Skeeter replied.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to drive you away." Bria said.

"You're not driving me away, you need your sleep, you have an important job. Let me know when you're awake we can get something to eat."

"Okay," she replied kissing him, "Thank you."

As Skeeter left the room Bria crawled into her bed and was asleep within minutes. As Skeeter began to walk, Grace met him.

"Mind if I walk with you?" Grace asked.

"Not at all. How are you today?" Skeeter asked.

"I'm good, you?" Grace replied.

"Bored but other than that I can't complain."

"I have to admit that not much has been happening in sick bay. There are only so many times I can check through all the supplies."

Skeeter let out a laugh, "I've taken to doing whatever mechanical repairs I can find. How's Archangel, I've not seen much of him."

"He's fine. Hell bent on finding the Commander."

"That sounds about right."

"Honestly I thought by this stage he would have gone off the deep end, but he's holding it together well."

"I saw him the other day with all the star charts in the mess, I was going to go talk to him but he seemed to be very engrossed."

"He's been like that every day. Checking over where we've already been and everywhere we need to go. I think he has the next ten jumps planned out already."

Skeeter laughed.

"He's not been the easiest to talk to at times." Grace said.

Skeeter could tell by her tone that something was on her mind.

"You know you can talk to me if you need too." Skeeter said.

Grace started to say something but stopped herself. Skeeter stopped walking.

"What is it? You can tell me."

"Something is different." Grace replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Something has happened out there. I think someone has destroyed our ability to resurrect."

"Seriously?"

Grace nodded, "I'm not wired into the others but I feel different. This may sound crazy but I feel trapped, I feel mortal."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Not as far as the other Cylons are concerned. That means when we die, we die. For me though it's something else. For all this time all I've wanted was to feel human instead of Cylon and whoever did this has given me that." She smiled as she said the last part.

Skeeter hugged her, "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"Only the last couple of weeks, whatever has happened it happened recently."

"It must have been Galactica?" Skeeter said.

"Or one of the others." Grace replied.

Galen Hunter stood looking out at the settlement beginning to take shape on the planet they had come to know as Haven. He was pleased with how things were progressing, there had been no fighting or bad feelings from the people who hadn't been NCO and found themselves here. He turned and smiled as his right hand man John walked up to him.

"The council they were talking about starting, it's happening." 1 said.

"Are you really sure that's such a good idea?" Galen replied.

1 nodded, "Yes. They need to feel they have some kind of control over what goes on. They have asked if you would come to the first official meeting this evening. I think they want to put you in charge."

Galen smiled again, "Excellent."

"Have you spoken to Vents about having him speak to the people and give you his support?" 1 asked.

"I've spoken to him but as of now, he is still being as stubborn as always."

"Have you thought about making him talk?" 1 asked.

"You mean torture?" Galen asked sounding surprised.

"No I do not believe that would work at all. But we could threaten to torture someone he cares about?"

"Ah you mean the commander." Galen realised.

"Yes I do. We threaten her with either torture or death and I'm sure he will come round to our way of thinking."

"You know that's not a bad idea. I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before."

They stopped talking as a young woman walked up to them.

"Sorry for interrupting." She said smiling at the two men.

"Not at all. How may I help you?" Galen replied with a fake smile on his face.

"I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for finding us a home, thank you for delivering on your promises. I wasn't part of your movement before, but I am so glad I was fortunate enough to be on one of the ships who had been."

"That means a lot." Galen replied shaking her hand.

Bojay walked onto the CIC with his hand in a fresh cast supporting his broken hand.

"So it's true." Reynolds said.

"Yeah it's true. I got too angry and needed to vent." Bojay replied feeling stupid.

"You got it out of your system?"

Bojay nodded.

"Good." Reynolds replied with a smile, "Want to tell me what happened?"

"Just the quorum. You know I've never had any interest in being anywhere near politics and now that I am, my gods I miss just being a Raptor jock."

Reynolds laughed.

"I don't know how the commander does it." Bojay replied.

"Well usually she has to deal with President Vents and he is much easier."

"You know I think if we'd had a man like him before the attack we wouldn't have had half the problems we did."

"The benefits of a man who served in the military." Reynolds said, "The sooner we find the rest of the fleet the better." Reynolds added.

"So say we all." Bojay replied.

"There," Walker exclaimed, "Did you see that?"

"I did." Archangel replied looking at the dradis monitor.

"That's the third time in the same place."

"Who do we have out on CAP?" Archangel asked.

"Poet and Sober." Walker replied.

"Put me through to Poet." Archangel replied.

Lieutenant Claire "Poet" Thompson sat in her viper leading the CAP.

"Poet this is Cryxus actual do you hear me?" Archangel asked.

"Actual this is Poet what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Did you see the dradis blip?" Archangel asked.

"Yes sir, that's the second one since we've been out here." She replied.

"I want you and Sober to fly ahead and check it out."

"But there's nothing there Major." Poet replied.

"Call it a hunch. We're coming with you so we've got your back."

"Yes sir." Poet replied, "You with me Sober?"

Lieutenant Barry "Sober" Marshall sat in the viper flying at her wing, "I'm on your six."

"Let's go check out the blip." Poet replied.

"What are you thinking?" Walker asked.

"Not sure, it's probably nothing but if it happens again, I just want to know that it is nothing. How long has it been between blips?"

"A couple of hours." Walker replied.

"Okay I want to sit here for a little while." Archangel replied, "It can't hurt."

"Famous last words." Walker replied nervously.

Wedge piloted a raptor out of Orion, Carrie sat in the seat next to him.

"Where are we going?" Carrie asked.

"You'll see." Wedge replied.

"Should I be worried?" Carrie asked with a smile.

"Not at all. I want to show you something on the planet."

"How did you manage to persuade Bojay to give me the evening off?" Carrie asked.

"Bojay's a good friend plus he owes me from a game of triad that he lost. He loves to think he's great at cards but he really really isn't. It's almost like taking advantage of him." Wedge said with a chuckle.

Carrie laughed, "Well whatever it is, it'll be nice to spend the evening together."

Wedge flew the raptor through the atmosphere. Through the clouds they could see the continent below and it looked breathtaking. On the surface, people were gathering supplies as well as the small mines, that had been dug in order to get at metal ore under the surface. Wedge flew the raptor right over them and kept going. Carrie watched the ground change below them from fields of lush green grass to a large lake, this was where Wedge began to slow and eventually put the ship down. As the back hatch opened Carrie looked in amazement at the beautiful view of fields and mountains that surrounded them.

"Oh my gods this is beautiful." Carrie said.

"You've not seen the best bit yet." Wedge replied taking her hand and leading her out.

They both walked down to a small patch of sand that over looked the lake. Carrie looked in amazement as she saw what Wedge had done. There was a fire pit that he had dug and was filled with wood as well as a blanket on the ground, with a chiller full of food and drink and cushions for them to sit on. There was also a large tent that Wedge had put up.

"I thought we could use some time to ourselves. I've checked the scans and we're going to have a beautiful warm clear night. We've got a fire and I've pulled in a lot of favours and got all your favourite foods."

Carrie kissed Wedge, "Thank you." She said with a smile.

"I know how you've been feeling down and I know how much you miss your brother and with the amount of work you have to do. I thought it would be nice to just have an evening where we pretend nothing else is going on at all."

"This is perfect." Carrie said before kissing the man she loved again.

It had been an hour and everyone aboard the Cryxus CIC was quietly watching the dradis monitors.

"Dradis contact." A voice called out.

An unknown blip appeared before their eyes. Moments later a colonial transponder kicked in.

"Report." Archangel said.

"Colonial transponders, it says Scopestar Medlia." Walker replied.

"What? Challenge hostile ID." Archangel replied.

"This is the Gunstar Cryxus to the ship claiming to be the Scopestar Medlia verify your colonial ID or we will fire on you." Lieutenant Walker ordered over the COM.

The next few moments seemed to last an eternity while they waited. Then all the information flashed up in front of them.

"It's them." Walker said, "We have their actual on the line."

Archangel picked up his headset and spoke, "This is Major Mark Hunter of the Gunstar Cryxus who am I speaking with?"

"Major Hunter, this is Major Adam Lewthwaite of the Scopestar Medlia, it's good to hear your voice, we thought we were the only ones left." Came the reply.

"Good to hear your voice too Major, it's my pleasure to inform you that you are not alone, we have a fleet. Would you like to come aboard to we can talk face to face?"

"I'll be there shortly." Came the reply before the line went dead.

"I've never even heard of a Scopestar." Walker said.

"I only heard rumours a couple of years ago, it wasn't going to be government approved, so they were kept quiet." Archangel replied, "Want to come meet their CO?"

"I'd love too."

The Cryxus already packed hanger deck was bustling with crewmembers waiting to catch a glimpse of the Medlia's commanding officer. They all watched as a raptor was brought up to the hanger deck. Moments later as it came to a halt the side hatch opened and out there stood a very tall very young looking officer.

"Permission to come aboard?" Major Lewthwaite asked.

"Permission granted." Archangel replied.

He walked down the side stopped in front of the Cryxus crew and saluted. After saluting back Archangel shook his hand.

"Welcome aboard." Archangel said with a smile.

"Good to be here. You're the first people we've seen in a very long time. We thought we were the only ones left."

"I take it your ship is the reason we've been getting dradis blips all day?" Lieutenant Walker asked.

"Yes we were making sure you were colonial and there were no toasters laying in wait before we revealed ourselves."

"Come on let's go get a drink." Archangel said, "We have a lot to talk about."

Archangel, Walker and Major Lewthwaite also known as "Short Stack" sat in the Cryxus' wardroom drinking a glass of whiskey and talking.

"Sounds like you've been on one hell of a journey." Short stack said.

"It's had its moments." Archangel replied, "So tell us about what happened with you guys."

"I was assigned to the Medlia for her test flights. The ship is state of the art, we were going out for a couple of months to make sure everything worked perfectly before we revealed the ship to Adar. She's an impressive piece of kit. Her FTL can jump the ship three times further than the fastest Battlestar. The dradis package is incredible. The ship was designed so that it could jump into an enemy fleet or enemy system take all the readings it needed and then jump back out before they even knew what was going on. An AI runs the ship and that was the initial problem and reason why it was kept so quiet. With the ban on that sort of tech, it broke every rule in the book. But it was so advanced it was believed it would be able to out think or outsmart any Cylons it came up against." Short Stack said.

"And can it?" Archangel asked.

"After we first got back we found that by accident we had jumped into the middle of a Cylon armada. While they didn't get the chance to get a shot off before we jumped back out, they did try and infect us with a virus. Our AI identified it and not only did it block it, it came up with its own defences against it in case it came into contact with it again."

"That's impressive." Walker said.

"What about weaponry and armour?" Archangel asked.

"Well that's the thing we could hold off a few raiders or maybe even a few missiles but the ship wasn't designed to fight."

"So was she going to be yours after the test flights?" Walker asked.

"No I was solely there for the test run. None of the crew were supposed to be. Aside from me and my team, the only other military crewmembers are the handful of pilots we have. Everyone else are civilian engineers or technicians. We came across a civilian science station that the Cylons hadn't bothered with about a month or so after the initial attack. We were able to refill our supplies and take the thirty scientists and fifteen students that were onboard and integrate them into our crew. For people who were never supposed to be a permanent crew, my guys have done really well, they have really risen to the challenge. We have a total of 350 raptors and 30 vipers a lot of which have never been off the hanger deck because we don't have the people to crew them."

"You've done really well managing to stay alive for so long with what you have." Archangel said.

"We've avoided everyone we've found like the plague till we found you." Short Stack replied.

"You've found others?" Walker asked.

"Initially it was just Cylons and we knew we couldn't fight them. About eighteen months ago we found a fleet of pirates who had managed to survive."

"Eastern Alliance?" Archangel asked.

Short Stack nodded, "We were with them for less than a day before we decided to go it alone."

"That probably saved your lives." Archangel said.

"I honestly thought that with it being the end of the world and with what had happened to the human race it made have made them friendlier to people but they were still the same."

"Have you found any other military?" Walker asked.

"We found signs. We've found wreckage from battles, you guys and the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus. We jumped into one system just as another battle fleet jumped out. We were able to identify the Battlestar Icarus before they were gone, they will have had no idea we were even there."

The Icarus was a name Archangel had been dreading for a long time now. They really didn't want to come face to face with Admiral Lionel Garrett after what they had done to the Olympus and the things the Admiral had personally done to his daughter down the years. Archangel had even made plans in case they ever did come up against them. Plans that currently if they found them he would not be able to implement without certain people aboard Orion.

"So I think the question is where do you want us to start searching for your missing fleet?" Short Stack asked.

"I don't." Archangel replied.

"But the Medlia is the perfect ship for that!" Short Stack replied.

"Oh I agree, but I want you to go and rendezvous with Orion and the rest of our fleet. Colonel Johnson needs to know about you and he'll be able to help you crew your ship to maximum." Archangel said.

"Am I going to lose my command?" Short Stack asked.

"I think that would be counterproductive, you know it better than anyone else. You just need to bolster your crew so it can function properly. I'll write you a note for the Colonel if that is okay, we haven't been in contact for two months."

"Of course." Short Stack replied.

"Well?" Galen Hunter asked.

Milo looked at the man as though he wanted to choke the life from him.

"You have some time to think about it. By this time tomorrow I want to stand along side you, in front of our people and I want you to tell them that you support what I am doing here."

"And what about when they ask how I got here?" Milo replied.

"You tell them you've been here all along but you've needed to see the proof of what we've done. Milo I am going to be addressing the people tomorrow regardless. As soon as I begin to speak my people are going to start to torture Vanessa and whether you're with me or not you'll have an earpiece so you can hear every second of it. Until you take the stage with me and tell the people what I've said they will continue to torture her. So at the end of the day you have two things to consider. Is your hatred of me stronger than you friendship and love of the Commander?" Galen smiled as he said it, "I'm going to be frank with you Milo, if you don't do as I ask then poor Vanessa will be begging for death by the time my guys finish with her."

"So you leave me no choice." Milo said.

"Now that is good to hear Milo, you're making the right choice. And just so you know you will still have an ear piece so if you back out, if you say what you really think to the people, then you will hear her die in the most slow and painful way my men can think of at that time. Do you understand me?"

Milo nodded.

Galen smiled and stood up to leave.

"Are you happy now you have what you want?" Milo asked.

"Ecstatic," Galen replied, "Everything has happened exactly as we planned, well not exactly because never in my wildest dreams did I expect for you and Vanessa to be here, that was just a bonus. For everything I did for the people before the attacks and all the things I continue to do I deserve this."

"I hope when all the dust settles and this is over, you remember what you just said, because as your son stands over you with a smoking gun in his hand, you will most certainly deserve it."

Galen laughed, "We'll see." He said as he left the room.

"Well?" 1 asked as he met them outside.

"It worked, he's going to say everything we tell him in order to save Garrett." Galen replied.

1 despite himself was a little relieved to hear this, he did not want the commander to die, "I expected it would. He's a predictable man."

"How has Captain Pike been behaving himself?" Galen asked.

"I spoke to Jacob this morning, he continues to keep his head down. He's too fraking scared to do anything else." 1 said.

"John my friend this is all working perfectly." Galen said with a smile.

1 smiled back, "It most certainly is."

A few hours later Galen sat with the new council as the meeting began. Ten men and women of varying ages who had been key in helping set up the settlement so far. Winston Dallas a seventy three year old former miner and mayor of a small town on Picon stood up. He has been chosen as the speaker and the voice of the council.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. First of all we would like to thank Mr Hunter for coming to our meeting this evening, after all it is because of him that we are here. We have plenty of things to discuss this evening. Firstly I am pleased to say that the sanitation and sewage station is finally online and our food production plant is well on the way to being the same way. Mr Hunter it is the people who chose us and asked us to sit on this council and represent them. We represent the common humble man and woman of the survivors. There have been many discussions in private and in public about a leadership for the people. Someone to take charge and lead us with the dignity, strength and compassion that so many of our leaders always seem to lack. We have asked you here because the people want you to be that leader. Whether it be in the name of President or whichever other title we and you find appropriate."

Galen managed to act surprised and touched by what he had just heard, "Ladies and gentlemen of the council, I am so very truly touched and moved beyond words by your kind gesture. I want you all to know that I didn't take this action to bring you all here for personal gain or for myself. I know you all know of the horrific crimes myself and the other members of the NCO were accused of and I am humbled to be in the presence of people of such calibre who know false and slanderous stories when they hear them. I humbly accept your offer, as I want to help you build a world and society that our people deserve. I hope that my years of running my own tylium company will help me in the ways of leading people. Thank you so very very much."

The rest of the council began to clap as Galen sat down in smug self-satisfaction.

Bojay and Captain Reynolds stood on Orion's CIC with Major Lewthwaite. To say it had been a shock when the Medlia had appeared, would be the understatement of the century.

"We can have your ship resupplied and crewed by the morning and then you can go join the search." Bojay said.

"Thank you sir." Short Stack replied.

"I can't believe the luck of you guys turning up now when we need a ship like this the most." Reynolds added.

"I know it's like the fates aligned." Short Stack replied.

"So Major do you think all your current crew will want to stay in their positions?" Bojay asked.

"Honestly I don't know. Until now I don't think they've even thought about a life that wasn't on that ship, now an entire civilian fleet has opened up their options. I'm sure at least some of the students who were on a field trip at the science station when the attack happened will want to go into the fleet. Hell with a ship like the Columbus they might even look to move over there."

"Well we have extra crew as we found the Olympus a while back and then had to accommodate their crew so there should be no staffing issues." Bojay said.

"Colonel if it's okay with you I'd just like to take a wander around Orion before I head back to the Medlia. It's been so long since I was on a Battlestar that it's nice being back on one, there may even be people here that I know."

"Of course feel free." Bojay replied.

"Major may I ask what Battlestar were you last stationed too?" Reynolds asked.

"The Victorious." He replied.

"Good Battlestar, good CO." Bojay replied.

"Yes sir Admiral Tolan is or was one hell of a man." Short Stack replied.

As the sun set Wedge and Carrie sat looking up at the stars with a fire roaring in front of them.

"You know I always wanted to live in a house next to a lake." Carrie said.

"When we do find somewhere to live I'll build you one." Wedge replied.

Carrie smiled, "I'll hold you to that. You know being here now, kind of makes you wish we had a planet we could live on."

"I know what you mean," Wedge replied, "Scuttlebutt is the Vice President wants it to be this one."

"Scuttlebutt is correct," Carrie replied, "Bojay has given up on that. He told them to make whatever plans they want. I still think he's holding out on one of the gunstars finding the rest of the fleet."

"That's what we all hope." Wedge replied.

"Do you think anyone on Orion would want to stay here?" Carrie asked.

"No." Wedge replied.

"Really? As cut and dry as that?"

"You didn't see New Caprica. They built themselves a life, a new civilisation and then the Cylons came. What they did to those people was horrific."

"So you agree we shouldn't find a home until the Cylons are gone?"

"I do." Wedge replied.

"That could take an awful long time." Carrie said.

"I'm sure it will, but in the meantime, we need to live for moments like these." Wedge replied.

"We've come a long way since our first date." Carrie said with a little laugh.

Wedge smiled, "We most certainly have. You know I thought your brother was going to kill me for that."

Carrie laughed, "I put him straight on that one. Anyway you're his friend and he knew that it wasn't your fault."

"Hey if nothing else you got to junk your first toaster." Wedge said laughing.

"So here's something I've never asked. How many kills have you made?"

"Eighty seven." Wedge replied.

"That's a lot."

"There are people who have taken out a lot more than me."

"My brother?"

"For one. He's taken out countless toasters on the ground as well as one hundred and forty three raiders."

"Wow that is a lot."

"If I could fly like your brother mine would be a lot higher as well." Wedge replied laughing.

"Is he really that good?"

"I've seen a lot of good pilots, I don't mean to blow my own trumpet but I'm pretty good myself but your brother, the things I've seen him do sitting in that cockpit I never thought were possible. His reputation is well earned."

"When I first heard that I thought someone was joking."

"Hell no every pilot in the fleet knew who he was by reputation. The best of the best. You ask him about it and he won't answer. The man has no ego that I've seen. You should be very proud of your brother."

"I am, I'm very proud of both of you. He thinks very highly of you."

"That's nice to know. Really it is. You know he'll be back."

"I know. I just miss him a lot."

THE NEXT DAY

Milo Vents walked into what until recently had been his office. He had cleaned up and looked presentable for the first time in months. He hated the thought of what he was about to do but knew that he had to, in order to save the Commander. He sat down in front of a video camera, there was another empty chair next to him. The door opened and Galen Hunter walked in followed by his aide John and some of his security.

"Good afternoon Milo, I trust you are feeling well?" Galen asked with a smile.

"I thought this would be in front of people, I'm glad it's not. Let's just get this over with." Milo replied.

"Fair enough, I trust you're good with autocue?" Galen asked.

"I've used it before."

"Good good, because I've taken the liberty of scripting what I want you to say. Oh and just so it's not a big surprise for you, the people have asked me to be their leader or president or whatever you want to call it." He smiled as he spoke.

Milo ignored everything Galen said, "So you'll keep your word and you won't hurt Vanessa?"

"Milo that was not the deal. The deal was that if you said what we told you to, then we would stop torturing her." Galen replied taking an earpiece from his pocket and throwing it to Milo, "Go ahead take a listen."

Milo took the earpiece and put it into his ear. Immediately he could hear Vanessa's screams of pain and agony

"You son of a bitch." Milo said.

"Shall we get started?" Galen replied.

Milo went to take the earpiece out.

"No Milo keep it in, I want you to hear every scream, and hopefully it will help you find the motivation to be a one hit wonder."

Milo wanted to kill the man smiling at him. It took every ounce of will power he had not to choke the man to death.

Galen sat next to him, "Let's get this show on the road."

Milo tried to ignore the screams of pain coming from his friend.

"We're rolling." A voice said quietly.

"My friends firstly I want to say how happy I am that you all love your new home. It makes me realise all the hard work in getting you here was so worthwhile. I met with your council last night, some of whom I was meeting for the first time, led by Mr Winston Dallas, they truly are a group of inspiring people. They informed me that you the people have told them you wish for me to continue leading you. This is a great honour, one that I have accepted and one that I do not take lightly. I will continue to strive to make this world everything you deserve. Now there is a truth that I must tell you, one that until recently I decided that I must keep from you, for that I apologise. Your former president, Mr Milo Vents is in the fleet with us. Before we left the rest of the fleet, I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with him, we spoke at length about a great many things and it turns out that he wanted to join us. All of the accusations that were hurled at me and the people of the NCO had come from the Battlestar Orion. While Mr Vents was the president it was only in name, Commander Garrett was the one calling the shots. With the threat of Orion either destroying or leaving the fleet, Mr Vents had no choice but to go along with the power hungry woman at the top. Mr Vents is here with me now and he has something that he would like to say to you." Galen said.

The camera zoomed out to show Milo sitting there, as he began to speak, he could still hear the tears and screams of Vanessa in his ear.

"People of the new fleet and the planet Haven, I sit here before you today as one of you, the New Colonial Order. I apologise for taking so long to come out of the shadows. I felt ashamed for my part in what had happened before but now I sit here to condemn our former military dictator and her power hungry motives. I am pleased that you are free and I only wish the rest of the civilian fleet could have seen the light and joined you. It is my hope that one day they will be able to flee their oppressors and find their way to us, so we can be the survivors of humanity together. I am pleased that you have chosen a man as worthy as Galen Hunter to be your leader and look after you in the days to come. I pledge my services and experience to him in the hope that I can help him with what he needs to do. I am Milo Vents and I, like you, am NCO."

As he finished speaking the camera stopped recording.

"You see now that wasn't so hard was it?" Galen asked.

"Now your end of the bargain." Milo replied.

Galen nodded over to 1 who spoke into a radio. Moments later the screams stopped but Milo could still hear Vanessa's cries.

"As I promised, see I am a man of my word. You may not believe me but I really do want these people to have a nice home, somewhere they can thrive." Galen said

"Just as long as you're the boss?" Milo said.

"Exactly Milo, exactly."

"So when are you going to broadcast that video?" Milo asked.

"I'm not." Galen replied.

"What?" Milo said in surprise. Everyone in the room showed they were as surprised by this as he was.

"I wanted to see how far I could push you before you'd do what I wanted. I don't need your words of support, the people already love me." Galen smiled, "One day I'll let you take a look down there at what we have achieved. In two months they are already further ahead that I ever expected."

"You son of a bitch." Milo said.

"Now there's no need to be like that." Galen replied.

"You're insane."

Galen backhanded Milo across the face knocking him off his chair.

"I am not crazy." Galen snarled, "Get this piece of shit out of my sight."

Two of Galen's security team picked him up and dragged him out of the office.

"Was that really necessary?" 1 asked.

"Don't you turn on me as well. I've been fighting the urge to punch him for a very long time." Galen snapped back.

"I'm not talking about punching Milo Vents, I couldn't care less what happens to him, Commander Garrett didn't deserve what those men have done to her." 1 replied. He truly meant the words he was saying.

"You're getting soft in your old age my friend. She's tough, she'll be fine." Galen replied with a smile.

For the first time 1 saw what Milo had said, Galen was starting to slip or maybe he had always been like this and had been better at hiding it. 1 could see a man capable of anything at any moment and it worried him.