Chapter Four
The Pegasus and the Okada
Two centons after the engagement began Adama knew they were
destined to lose. The Pegasus was barely holding its own
against these new Cylon H-T's and fighters. The Colonial
Vipers and Cobras were in desperate straits, utilizing
everything they had in an attempt at simple survival.
Augmentation by the heavily armed Adders helped only a
small amount.
"They're all over us!" was the last thing the pilot in
Viper thirty-two had a chance to say before he and his
ship were cut in half by a Cylon raider. Space was being
filled with parts from exploding Colonial warships.
Boxey and Joliet along with four other Cobras and six
Vipers caught two H-T's in a vicious crossfire and blew
them out of space.
"It took five hits! Did you see that?" Vicdon screamed.
This was his first real firefight and the engineer was on
the verge of panic.
"Shut up and keep firing," Joliet yelled at her frightened
port gunner. If he froze the six other crew members
might also. That's the last thing any of them needed.
"But the laser generators..."
"I don't care, " she countered. "Burn them out if you
have to!" She was evading two raiders that were trying
so very hard to kill her ship. If he screwed up on her
now, she promised herself that she'd blow his brains out
the instant before her ship died.
The Colonial primary attack forces found themselves
protecting the Pegasus rather than bringing the fight
to the Basestar. An average of six direct hits from the
new and improved laser weaponry were needed to penetrate
a Cylon fighter's shields, with the H-Ts requiring even
more concentrated fire. What terrified them even more
was that two H-Ts were a match for an Adder-class cruiser.
And so far they'd lost three to H-T fire. The
anti-proton disruptors were tearing them apart. The
Cylons were slowly converging the Galactica now, not
organized but getting there as they destroyed all
resistance before them.
Apollo was looking at his reports of his wife's Battlestar
and didn't like what he saw at all. "Their shields will be
overwhelmed any centon now unless we can back those fighters
off!" Apollo screamed. "Their firepower is incredible! How
did this happen?"
"We're going to have to protect the Pegasus if we're going
to have a chance!" Starbuck screamed over the dim of the
battle. "We need to use our heavy guns if she's going to
survive the next few centons!"
"Do it!" Apollo understood all to clearly, that against
this enemy ship both Battlestars would be needed and even
then it'd be a toss up. He was appalled and more than a
little terrified that the Galactica's heavy guns were
needed just to defend against small attack ships. What would
happen when the Basestar entered the fighting?
The Galactica moved in, adding its immense firepower against
the brutal Cylon onslaught.
***
Onboard the Pegasus, Sheba thanked her gods that Apollo
chose to fight this attack as a unit instead of independently.
Her shields were holding, barely, but they badly needed regenerating.
And that would occur only when those fighters were backed off which
is what the Galactica had achieved. She added her own heavy
weapons into the fray as the enemy gave a little distance.
The bridge was full of the wounded and Sheba had to block
out the sounds of agony. Her ship was being bounced around by
the massive hits it received by the smaller ships. The Vipers
and Adders were desperately trying to help but they were busy
trying to survive themselves. More than once she had been
tempted to turn her ship around but of course, that choice was
no choice at all. All the Pegasus could do was to sweat out the
microns before they could attack the Baseship.
Boomer was wounded. His arm was broken, but he still
bellowed orders as though he hadn't even noticed the
pain. The Cylon Basestar was coming into position for
an attack run and his occupation was riveted towards it.
Quickly he requested status on the missile launchers.
"Sir," the weapons manager yelled over monstrous clatter.
"Missile batteries one through four and ready and locked.
Stations five and through seven are offline. Six through
twenty-four are ready. Missiles are primed and hot.
Final safeties release, on your order."
"Shields are building at eighty percent and rising."
"Good. It's time." They had to finish this now, while
they still could. He had a bad, bad feeling about this.
Sheba gave Boomer the command. "Let's do it," she
ordered.
"You heard the commander," Boomer yelled. "Attack run!"
"One hundred-twenty microns to optimal firing position and
counting."
The massive Battlestar, engines blazing full, began its
arching run towards the enemy ship.
Two Gold leaders waited for the command to be given
and on the bridge of the Cylon Basestar, an IL Series
Lord waited patiently. If it could have smiled it would
have. Four high-energy disruptors were trained on the
Pegasus' bridge. They were prepped to cripple, not
destroy. Humans hated to leave their ships crippled
it realized. They would always come back to help their
comrades. That was a particular failing of humans.
The Galactica was thirty microns behind the Pegasus,
beginning its own attack run also but didn't matter.
"Everything's in place. Ruination begins now," the Lord
said. "Fire on my command."
"By the command." The gold Leader waited patiently to
activate the weapons array.
On board the USS Okada, Roberta was worried. Her ship
was small compared to the monsters she was preparing to
face and that was something she didn't relish at all.
This was becoming my own personal Kobayashi Maru, she
thought There was a nasty choice here and she was going
to have to make it. People rarely listened during the
heat of war and here she was trying to make everybody
play nice and right now her chance of success seemed
embarrassingly low.
"Mr. Patterson, are you ready yet?"
"Yes sir," he said quickly. "We can begin transmitting
at your command."
"Good. Take us back to yellow alert," she said,
assuming red alert might provoke further hostilities
and that was the last thing she wanted at this point.
And she was far enough away if either side wanted to
start hostilities with her. "Hailing frequencies
open." She took a breath. "This is the USS Okada,
Captain..."
"Captain! Weapons spike targeting the lead battle ship!
The double saucer just locked on and is charging its
weapons." Patterson yelled. "Anti-proton signature,
piggy backed on a sub-space carrier. The energy output
indicates it's going to burn right through their shields.
They won't have a chance!"
The massive lead human warship was apparently aware of
the danger and was desperately swing to port. Its
shields were powering up quickly in preparation to
ward off the imminent attack.
"Warn them both off!" she screamed.
"Too late. They're firing."
Onboard the Pegasus, it came as a rude surprise as the
Cylon warship was preparing to fire almost eighty
microns before they themselves would even get into
range to return fire.
"We couldn't even get close enough to strike. How'd
they develop such weaponry, not to mention sheer power,
without us detecting at least something?" The Commander
didn't know who said that. Right now, it didn't matter.
"Worry about that later if there is one! Shields on full!
Throw everything in except minimal life support!" The
Commander's look of absolute horror was evident all over
her face, even as she ordered the safeties re-established
on the missiles. "Emergency evasive!"
"Oh, Frack! They've fired on us!"
"Sirs", the scanning tech screamed. "We can't evade this
weapon. Scans indicate some type of anti-proton particle
beam. We have sixty microns...forty...!"
Colonel Boomer was screaming as well. "Order all support
craft to break away now! Secure fuel stores, emergency
lockdown! Close blast shields and prepare for impact!
Everyone, hold on...!"
The Pegasus' energy shield glowed bright green as she
desperately attempted to defend herself. The massive
Battlestar was turning to port when the disrupter hit
amidships. The entire star field glowed white as a new
sun blazed in the sky.
The crew of the Okada stood transfixed, as the devastating
weapon struck the five-mile-long battleship. The force of
the beam striking the shields caused the ship to perform a
complete three hundred sixty degree roll. Shields were
now non-existent, and there were energy discharges along
the entire length of the ship. Several pieces of its
landing bays along the port side were broken off the
ship, the remains blackened and charred. Her massive
engines winked out, causing her to tilt starboard at
a twenty-six degree angle.
"Are there any survivors?" Roberta asked her science
officer. She was appalled by what she saw, but that
was quickly turning to anger. This was such a waste!
"Casualties estimated at sixty-three percent, Captain." He
responded. "Life support is minimal and falling. They
have about twenty minutes left before they lose it
completely."
"Get me that saucer now," she snarled. "In fact, get me
both sides." With one small ship there was little she
could do at the moment but this slaughter had to stop
and she intended to try.
In her most commanding voice she began her bluff.
"This is Captain Roberta Ikata of the Federation Starship
Okada. You are trespassing in Federation space. You
will cease weapons use, immediately. If you so desire
we can act as negotiators in this dispute, but continued
hostilities on either side will not be tolerated.
Respond, now."
The smaller ships were still going at it but the larger
warships seemed to be at a lull, for the moment.
"Both sides responding," Patterson announced.
"Good. Split screen. I want to see 'em both."
On the left appeared a disheveled male in his mid to
late forties, with along with a much older, but
distinguished, white haired male. They were both looking
at her as thought they'd never seen a woman before.
"Our translators are having a really hard time with their
language," Patterson said. "I'm tying in the main
computer banks but until they speak more, we won't be
able to fully translate. It doesn't tie in with any
Earth-based or Federation-based language, I know. In
fact, it doesn't quite match anything I've ever heard."
If the beings on the left side were humanoid, what
appeared on the right side of the screen was something
else entirely. The head of this creature was oblong but
completely jet-black except for the blood red eyes, which
constantly moved within its sockets. Small energy
spikes could be seen near its crown, where processors
constantly analyzed its surroundings. Next to it was
a silver-plated, seven foot, mechanical cyclopean
effortlessly holding two Romulan prisoners, one male, one
female, some fifteen centimeters off the floor. Whether
they were alive or dead, she couldn't quite tell. But
what amazed her was her own response to seeing these
creatures. It was an almost visceral response in her
hatred of it. It was very unbecoming of a Starfleet
officer, she thought harshly.
"Captain Roberta Ikata of the Federation starship Okada?"
It had spoken in perfect Federation standard. Its voice
sounded oily, like something you stepped in and couldn't
get off your shoes, she decided. "I am unaware of such an
organization," it said as Patterson subtly motioned for
her attention.
Liar, she surmised instantly as she cut audio. "Spit it
out."
"The Khe Sahn had a change of orders and is on its way
here, ETA, fourteen minutes. There's also a Fed battle
group coming here, ETA three hours."
"We're beginning to translate the human speech patterns,"
he continued. "Evidently they've been on the run from
these other creatures for over twenty of their years
after their civilization was butchered. More in a
moment."
"Good. Restore audio."
"Who are you and why are you attacking this fleet?"
Her voice was curt, bordering on frigid. She knew in
her heart that this was the face of a new and deadly
enemy.
"Captain Roberta Ikata of the Federation starship Okada,"
the mechanical being said smoothly. Its voice had all the
warmth of a murderer. "Your people have a penchant for
names, Captain Roberta Ikata of the Federation starship
Okada. We too have an understanding of the importance of
names. I am called Lord Specter of the Poison Mist,
member of the great Cylon Imperial allegiance."
"The beings we are chasing," it continued slowly as if talking
to a child, "are the remains of rebels who have perpetrated
foul and cruel actions against my people. For these actions,
our people have demanded justice. An edict calling for the
extermination of the life form known as Man, has been issued.
All members of this species are to be captured, interrogated
processed and destroyed, with their remains returned to our
home world for eternal display as a reminder of the price of
defiance against our glorious race."
She was completely appalled.
Her second-in-command had ordered everyone into full
combat mode. Particle beam resistant vests, helmets
and heavy type two phasers were being issued to the
crew. Just in case. The recent war was still fresh in
his memory.
The Captain didn't complain, in fact approved.
"You have members of the Romulan Empire being held
illegally on your ship..."
"You mean these organics who dared to defy us?" Turning
slightly the order was given and their necks and spines
were snapped. Serenely, Spectre turned to face Ikata.
"What organics? There are no 'Romulans' on my ship.
Not alive anyway," it added dryly, moving closer to the
screen. "You look like the species called Man. Are you
Man"? it asked innocently, far too casually to be
anything but a threat.
Captain Ikata had had enough. "Cut communications with
that thing, now!" The captain snarled. " Red alert!
They're coming after us. I can feel it! We need
room. Call the Khe Sahn and tell em' we need them
here yesterday. T'Proa prepare for warp maneuvering.
Weapons, shields, online now!"
"Aye sir."
Her instincts proved correct as several H-T's broke from
their previous engagements with the Colonial fighters
and warped towards the Okada.
"They're coming in. Four of them. More are following."
"Phasers, lock on," she snarled again. "Let's do it!"
The Cobra in which Boxey commanded had taken several
major hits but by some miracle it still functioned well
enough to defend against several Cylon raiders
attempting to use them for target practice. Five Cobras
together, along with the faster Vipers were still a
formidable force. But until the opportunity arose,
they didn't dare approach the Pegasus for search and
rescue. The Basestar was still in the area and with that
ungodly range of his weapons; it would be suicide to
even try. Despair gripped the fleet and them as well.
The Colonial war ships were converging two H-Ts when they
simply accelerated away, vectoring towards the alien ship.
Boxey stared, stunned at the ease that the Cylon ships
moved.
They were playing with us, he realized. "Joliet, this is
Boxey. They're breaking off."
"Confirmed. They're attacking the alien ship. Did you
see how easily they jump into FTL?" Her voice sounded
spooked.
"Yes," he answered. "We've lost a third of our fighters,
possibly the Pegasus too. Then he added more soberly,
"also, the Mining ship, the Tip barge, and the Tauranian
cruiser have been destroyed," he sighed. "The Galactica's
is moving towards the Cylon Basestar. We're going with
it, too."
"And then what? What's the plan"? She asked
accelerating with the fast forming battle group.
"We die with 'em," he whispered. There was nothing else
to say.
The comms were silent.
Four Cylon Hunter-Killers converged on the Federation
ship, spraying disrupter fire, trying to burn through
the ships shields. But the Okada was moving fast
herself, burning through the shields of one H-T with its
phasers, obliterating it and damaging another. The
third and forth H-Ts coordinated their attacks, damaging
the Okada's primary hull.
"They're using some type of shield ripper," Esdo yelled
as a computer console blew from behind. "Evidently they
want to keep us intact!"
"Too bad," Captain Ikata growled. "We have two bogies
coming in at two seventy mark thirty-one. Take them out."
"Phasers firing...hit. Their shields held. Firing
again...got them." The raiders were easy. The H-T
ships were something entirely. Two additional H-T's
appeared seemingly out of nowhere, blasting at the
Okada, severely damaging their shields.
The science officer froze for a second as he saw then
realized what had just occurred. "Captain! Shields
faltered for a moment and we detected transporters
from the enemy ships. We deflected most of them but..."
Her first officer was on it. "Intruder alert! All hands
prepare to repel invaders."
Two of eight Cylon Silver warriors that attempted to
materialized inside the Starship succeeded. With weapons
built into their arms activated, the two immediately
separated as one headed for engineering and the other
the bridge. Their weapon of choice was the pulsed
neutron disruptor, not especially destructive, but
designed to be completely toxic to organic tissue.
The first three personnel they encountered were
immediately dispatched. Security barrier shields
proved no obstacle as the first Cylon approached
engineering. Six armed security personnel armed with
type-two phasers, were waiting for them With phasers set
on heavy stun, they attacked.
Two members of security died instantly from direct hits,
their personal armor unable to protect them from the
multiple neutron energy pulses they received.
"This is not working!" the security chief screamed. He'd
barely missed being hit in the first attack and there was
precious little cover in the hallways. "Full phasers,
now!"
The four survivors hit the robot simultaneously with
full phasers. The centurion staggered back two steps and
returned fire, one arm and leg damaged but regenerating
quickly. It returned fire. Three guards screamed as
they were incinerated and the survivor bounce along
the floor as his legs disappeared from beneath him.
"This is Johnson!" He was wounded and dying and the
Cylon ignored him as it rushed passed him. 'Armor's
refractive...hand phasers useless," he whispered,
slumping over.
The Cylon slammed into engineering, its disruptors
butchering every living being in its path. Engineering
was in an absolute panic as the Cylon warrior attacked
hitting everyone it aimed for. Three engineers
attempting to escape were cut down, the neutron
disruptions frying nervous tissue and breaking down
connective tissue. Purposely, it damaged the warp core
starting the beginnings of a warp core breech. Consistent
with its programming, it moved methodically towards the
primary computer array. It then proceeded towards the
computer banks, physically connected to it and began
downloading and processing, instantly sending data by
way of its sub-space transceivers to the mothership.
Two survivors, now armed with compression phaser type-three
rifles, hit the robot simultaneously, with full power. The
refractive armor held for three seconds before giving way,
exposing delicate circuitry. The sustained blasts phased
the robot out of existence. Unfortunately, the entire
engineering room was in shambles. The warp core had been
breeched and the two survivors desperately began the
process of ejecting it before it blew.
Fortunately they had four whole minutes to complete
their job.
Meanwhile, the second Cylon warrior burned past what
little opposition there was and proceeded towards the
transport tube and then to the bridge. However, before
it could step into tube, some type of mobile rock-like
substance came shambling towards it. The Cylon shot it
several times to absolutely no effect. A second, larger
rock came charging around the corridor directly at
it. Impossibly, it leaped onto the struggling Cylon
and began dissolving refractive armor. Desperately
the robot tried to pry the Horta from itself, but the
silicon-based creature hung on finishing its job. Only a
small touch of vapor remained. The Hortas then rushed
towards engineering to help in their own unique ways...
On the bridge most of the computer consoles were in
shambles. Somehow, the massive Basestar was suddenly in
front of them, pounding away at their shields like
some madden animal. The Okada was returning fire with
everything it had at point blank range but the enemies
shielding was holding, albeit just barely.
With a final volley from the Poison Mist, the Okada's
shields went out like a light. Seconds later a tractor
beam locked onto them, beginning to pull them in.
Captain Pat Duvalier and the crew onboard the USS Khe
Sahn were livid. They were five minutes away traveling
at warp nine point nine seven five, and they were still
too far away.
"Captain, they have a warp core breech in progress. Our
ETA, four minutes," Commander David Thompson hissed as
he confirmed his analysis on tactical. "Oh no," he
yelled, startled by what just occurred. "That large
enemy ship just performed the 'Picard' Maneuver. They're
right on top of the Okada, attempting to tractor them in!"
"Warn them off!" Pat was horrified by the beating the
Okada was now receiving by the space station sized ship.
Their shields were almost gone.
"No good, Captain. They'll pull them in estimated two
minutes time!"
"Arm quantum torpedoes," Duvalier said quietly. She
stood up and looked at the screen showing the Cylon
Basestar. "Arm everything. Lock on to their bridge.
Put every sensor, every torpedo, and every phaser,
everything we have on that ship. I want them to know
that we're coming in hot and nasty. I want their
attention squarely on us. I want them prepared to fight
for their lives, if they have any."
"Shields," she said. "Time to go war." But she knew
that they were going to be too late.
She grimaced even more.
"Open a channel," she said, violently slamming her fist
on her command chair. "Time to make my point..."
