Book I: Return to New Caprica
Chapter One: Back to School March 1st, 2263 CE (Earth Standard Reckoning)
The Centauri Vorchan exploded in front of the battlestar Traitor's Bane. The Cylon basestar advanced through the hole in its enemy's defenses. The battlestar stood its ground firmly against the oncoming behemoth. Cylon lasers began to strike the battlestar, but did no apparent damage. The centurions onboard the vessel attempted to analyze why this was so. The armor on the battlestar looked a little thicker than the norm, but some damage should still have been visible. The lasers may have malfunctioned, but this was doubtful with the recent destruction of the Centauri vessel. Traitor's Bane returned fire on the basestar. The result was very much evident. The upgraded lasers of the battlestar tore through the armor of the vessel at an unprecedented level.
Meanwhile fighters swirled around the capital ships. Vipers, Sentris, Nials, and Starfuries combated Cylon raiders. Even with the short duration of the battle, the Cylon fighters had learned to fear the Minbari fighters. They were fast, tough, and well armed. They also had exceptional stealth capabilities. Many Cylon fighters were destroyed before realizing they had a Minbari on their tail. The Sentris were lightly armored, but so fast that few Cylon fighters had an opportunity to take advantage of the weakness.
Overall, the Cylon basestar found itself overmatched. Once this realization became clear, the vessel attempted to contact the rest of the fleet. The basestar then discovered that it was being jammed. The jamming was also stronger than had been encountered previously. The Cylon basestar then did the only thing it could: it ran. The remaining fighters launched suicide runs at the battlestars and other capital ships of the Colonial fleet. The basestar maneuvered away from the fleet and powered up its jump engines.
The basestar never got the chance though. Four jump points opened around the vessel and three White Stars, two Vorchans, and a Warlock class destroyer exited hyperspace and engaged the basestar. The Cylon commander of the vessel recognized the ingenuity of the Colonial plan even as its vessel was destroyed. The basestar had been separated from its fighters and, as a result, its defensive capabilities had been dramatically reduced. The EAS Titans fired first; its particle cannons slashed into the basestar and missiles from the destroyer smashed laser mounts. The White Stars continued to declaw the beast. The Vorchans closed and helped the Warlock finish off the Cylon capital ship.
"Captain Susan Ivanova to Traitor's Bane. Enemy capital ship eliminated."
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Lieutenant Jack Tyver's Thunderbolt followed the Cylon fighter as it flew towards the battlestar Caprican Avenger. Her upgraded lasers had inexplicably failed during the battle. He dodged around a Cylon fighter that was trying to ram an Earth Force destroyer. Tyver's target opened fire on the battlestar with its lasers, trying to soften the hull before impact. Tyver finally got a lock, though, and he launched his last missile at the fighter. The Cylon didn't even attempt to dodge; it exploded in a brilliant flash. Debris raked the battlestar, but its Centauri-designed shield system deflected part of it and the thick armor was undamaged by the remainder. The Centauri had designed a shield system similar to that of their Primus battlecruisers for the battlestars. The battlestars were much more survivable than the Primus, though, because they possessed armor much thicker than the Centauri battlecruisers.
Tyver spun his fighter around. He made sure that no hostiles were left and returned to his destroyer. The Omega class destroyer Apollo was stationed near Traitor's Bane defending its landing bays from enemy fighters and capital ships. Tyver had served on the Apollo during the Battle of Mars, but due to the telepaths Sheridan had smuggled onto the destroyers of the fleet his fighter was never launched. He was grateful for that. Sheridan had always tried to disable rather than destroy Clark's capital ships, but it was nearly impossible to purposefully disable a fighter, so, many of the Starfuries and Thunderbolts that went up against Sheridan's forces didn't return.
"Tyver to Apollo, I'm ready to land."
"Roger Lieutenant, you are cleared for landing" was the reply from the destroyer's executive officer.
"Thanks Commander." Tyver entered the small bay, relative to that of the nearby battlestar, of the destroyer. He quickly counted the number of fighters that were present. He was thrilled to see all 36 fighters of the destroyer had survived. The destroyer Hermes hadn't been so lucky; almost two dozen of her fighters had been lost in the battle.
"Hey Jack!" He turned around and saw Sam Early, another pilot in Tyver's Alpha Squadron.
"How'd it go out there? I just got in now."
Sam's jolly mood faded with that comment. "We lost a pair of Centauri Vorchans and about 40 fighters."
"That bad? We outnumbered them by quite a bit."
"Yeah." The conversation stalled for a second. "We've got debriefing with the Commander in half an hour so stow your stuff and get going."
"All right Sam, I'll be there."
The fighter pilot began to remove his gear and grab a quick vibe shower before the debriefing. It was at times like these that he would have killed for some water.
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Group Commander Starbuck stood silently in the bridge of the battlestar Traitor's Bane. Group Commander Rigel, who also doubled as the battlestar's commander, finished consulting with the vessel's damage control officer and walked over to her superior officer.
"How bad is the damage?"
"Not bad sir. The Centauri shielding deflected some of the energy from the blast and the armor stood up to what remained. I have EVA teams repairing the damage now, they expect to finish in two hours."
"Do you think the stealth system worked Rigel?"
"Yes sir I do." The Colonial had used data the Centauri provided on Minbari stealth technology along with their own cloaking capabilities to disguise damage to their capital ship. If everything worked properly, the Cylons would think that the Colonial vessels hadn't sustained any damage.
"Excellent. Of course that leaves the bad news of the fleet's performance in the battle."
Rigel was amazed at the change that the Group Commander, he was no longer 'Starbuck' in her eyes, since the Battle of Centauri Prime. He was more comfortable with commanding a battlegroup and the old carefree, but quick to anger, attitude was gone. Despite his mellow tone, Rigel knew he was furious.
"Yes sir, there is that to deal with. Losses were very heavy considering the advantage in numbers we possessed."
"It wasn't just that. They're not working together." He led Rigel over to a plot and replayed images of the battle. "Look, here, here, and here. The coordination is too slow between the Earth Force ships and the Centauri. The Minbari war cruisers on the left flank were too aggressive and outpaced the Centauri vessels supporting them. The White Stars on the right weren't aggressive enough. Our ships were fighting too conservatively. Ivanova's squadron performed admirably though; good coordination and excellent targeting."
"I agree sir, but there just wasn't enough time to train the battlegroup together. It took a couple of months for Londo to calm down the republic and free up a large part of his fleet for duty. The White Stars were constantly being called away. Our ships were being repaired for most of the time. We had to move sir, there wasn't enough time to train the ships together." Rigel paused and prepared to offer her solution to the problem but her commander cut her off.
"Then we're going to have to rectify this problem, aren't we? Signal to fleet, we will jump into hyperspace in two hours, beacon.31G549. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going back to school."
Chapter One: Back to School March 1st, 2263 CE (Earth Standard Reckoning)
The Centauri Vorchan exploded in front of the battlestar Traitor's Bane. The Cylon basestar advanced through the hole in its enemy's defenses. The battlestar stood its ground firmly against the oncoming behemoth. Cylon lasers began to strike the battlestar, but did no apparent damage. The centurions onboard the vessel attempted to analyze why this was so. The armor on the battlestar looked a little thicker than the norm, but some damage should still have been visible. The lasers may have malfunctioned, but this was doubtful with the recent destruction of the Centauri vessel. Traitor's Bane returned fire on the basestar. The result was very much evident. The upgraded lasers of the battlestar tore through the armor of the vessel at an unprecedented level.
Meanwhile fighters swirled around the capital ships. Vipers, Sentris, Nials, and Starfuries combated Cylon raiders. Even with the short duration of the battle, the Cylon fighters had learned to fear the Minbari fighters. They were fast, tough, and well armed. They also had exceptional stealth capabilities. Many Cylon fighters were destroyed before realizing they had a Minbari on their tail. The Sentris were lightly armored, but so fast that few Cylon fighters had an opportunity to take advantage of the weakness.
Overall, the Cylon basestar found itself overmatched. Once this realization became clear, the vessel attempted to contact the rest of the fleet. The basestar then discovered that it was being jammed. The jamming was also stronger than had been encountered previously. The Cylon basestar then did the only thing it could: it ran. The remaining fighters launched suicide runs at the battlestars and other capital ships of the Colonial fleet. The basestar maneuvered away from the fleet and powered up its jump engines.
The basestar never got the chance though. Four jump points opened around the vessel and three White Stars, two Vorchans, and a Warlock class destroyer exited hyperspace and engaged the basestar. The Cylon commander of the vessel recognized the ingenuity of the Colonial plan even as its vessel was destroyed. The basestar had been separated from its fighters and, as a result, its defensive capabilities had been dramatically reduced. The EAS Titans fired first; its particle cannons slashed into the basestar and missiles from the destroyer smashed laser mounts. The White Stars continued to declaw the beast. The Vorchans closed and helped the Warlock finish off the Cylon capital ship.
"Captain Susan Ivanova to Traitor's Bane. Enemy capital ship eliminated."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Lieutenant Jack Tyver's Thunderbolt followed the Cylon fighter as it flew towards the battlestar Caprican Avenger. Her upgraded lasers had inexplicably failed during the battle. He dodged around a Cylon fighter that was trying to ram an Earth Force destroyer. Tyver's target opened fire on the battlestar with its lasers, trying to soften the hull before impact. Tyver finally got a lock, though, and he launched his last missile at the fighter. The Cylon didn't even attempt to dodge; it exploded in a brilliant flash. Debris raked the battlestar, but its Centauri-designed shield system deflected part of it and the thick armor was undamaged by the remainder. The Centauri had designed a shield system similar to that of their Primus battlecruisers for the battlestars. The battlestars were much more survivable than the Primus, though, because they possessed armor much thicker than the Centauri battlecruisers.
Tyver spun his fighter around. He made sure that no hostiles were left and returned to his destroyer. The Omega class destroyer Apollo was stationed near Traitor's Bane defending its landing bays from enemy fighters and capital ships. Tyver had served on the Apollo during the Battle of Mars, but due to the telepaths Sheridan had smuggled onto the destroyers of the fleet his fighter was never launched. He was grateful for that. Sheridan had always tried to disable rather than destroy Clark's capital ships, but it was nearly impossible to purposefully disable a fighter, so, many of the Starfuries and Thunderbolts that went up against Sheridan's forces didn't return.
"Tyver to Apollo, I'm ready to land."
"Roger Lieutenant, you are cleared for landing" was the reply from the destroyer's executive officer.
"Thanks Commander." Tyver entered the small bay, relative to that of the nearby battlestar, of the destroyer. He quickly counted the number of fighters that were present. He was thrilled to see all 36 fighters of the destroyer had survived. The destroyer Hermes hadn't been so lucky; almost two dozen of her fighters had been lost in the battle.
"Hey Jack!" He turned around and saw Sam Early, another pilot in Tyver's Alpha Squadron.
"How'd it go out there? I just got in now."
Sam's jolly mood faded with that comment. "We lost a pair of Centauri Vorchans and about 40 fighters."
"That bad? We outnumbered them by quite a bit."
"Yeah." The conversation stalled for a second. "We've got debriefing with the Commander in half an hour so stow your stuff and get going."
"All right Sam, I'll be there."
The fighter pilot began to remove his gear and grab a quick vibe shower before the debriefing. It was at times like these that he would have killed for some water.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Group Commander Starbuck stood silently in the bridge of the battlestar Traitor's Bane. Group Commander Rigel, who also doubled as the battlestar's commander, finished consulting with the vessel's damage control officer and walked over to her superior officer.
"How bad is the damage?"
"Not bad sir. The Centauri shielding deflected some of the energy from the blast and the armor stood up to what remained. I have EVA teams repairing the damage now, they expect to finish in two hours."
"Do you think the stealth system worked Rigel?"
"Yes sir I do." The Colonial had used data the Centauri provided on Minbari stealth technology along with their own cloaking capabilities to disguise damage to their capital ship. If everything worked properly, the Cylons would think that the Colonial vessels hadn't sustained any damage.
"Excellent. Of course that leaves the bad news of the fleet's performance in the battle."
Rigel was amazed at the change that the Group Commander, he was no longer 'Starbuck' in her eyes, since the Battle of Centauri Prime. He was more comfortable with commanding a battlegroup and the old carefree, but quick to anger, attitude was gone. Despite his mellow tone, Rigel knew he was furious.
"Yes sir, there is that to deal with. Losses were very heavy considering the advantage in numbers we possessed."
"It wasn't just that. They're not working together." He led Rigel over to a plot and replayed images of the battle. "Look, here, here, and here. The coordination is too slow between the Earth Force ships and the Centauri. The Minbari war cruisers on the left flank were too aggressive and outpaced the Centauri vessels supporting them. The White Stars on the right weren't aggressive enough. Our ships were fighting too conservatively. Ivanova's squadron performed admirably though; good coordination and excellent targeting."
"I agree sir, but there just wasn't enough time to train the battlegroup together. It took a couple of months for Londo to calm down the republic and free up a large part of his fleet for duty. The White Stars were constantly being called away. Our ships were being repaired for most of the time. We had to move sir, there wasn't enough time to train the ships together." Rigel paused and prepared to offer her solution to the problem but her commander cut her off.
"Then we're going to have to rectify this problem, aren't we? Signal to fleet, we will jump into hyperspace in two hours, beacon.31G549. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going back to school."