Colonial Thunder
Sequel to 7 Points
By Chaoseternus

Chapter 30: Back Into The Fight Helo's War

Helo grimaced, his eyes firmly placed on the binoculars he held in his hands as he watched another group of survivors slowly, timidly, fearfully enter the out skirts of the City. A city that had been 'purged' by Cylon Warriors at the outbreak of war, not by the usual nuclear annihilation from orbit, he hadn't found out why it had been spared, though truth be told he hadn't exactly gone up to the Cylons and asked them, he wasn't stupid.

He dropped the binoculars to his chest, his face hard. He had learned quite quickly the signs that meant a Cylon Warrior patrol had been through recently, and knew not to go near the City those days.

Today, he had seen the Warriors, a patrol ten strong, stride fearlessly into their city and if he was any judge they would be returning soon, and they would run straight into the survivors.

Normally he would at least make an effort to warn the humans but not this time, his instincts told him the Warriors were very close and he didn't want to get caught. He could also see the state of the survivors, they had obviously gotten too close to one of the nuclear detonations, or maybe to a radioactive objects storage area of some kind that had been breeched.

Either way, they had all the signs of severe radiation poisoning. They would not last long and most likely the relatively quick death the Warriors were dosing out to those they found would be a blessing to many, far better than slow death by radiation poisoning.

Still, Helo thought as he slipped away, screams registering in his ears as the warriors fell upon the humans, he knew he would not sleep this night. Not with the screams of those he was supposed to protect once again ringing in his ears.

Cautiously, but rapidly he made his way back to the rendezvous where he would meet Boomer. She had drawn the short straw, gotten the difficult assignment for today.

The weekly check on her Raptor, the only surviving flyable craft in the area. The local shuttleport had been raided by the Cylons for parts a week ago, practically every craft their dismantled and loaded onto freighter that had no apparent crew, like all the modern Cylon Craft.

He hated that Colonial equipment was now helping the Cylons in their war effort but there was little he could do about it. On the other hand, if they could regain control of the Raptor, then they had a chance at escape or at least, of dying like Colonial Warriors should, fighting to the end.

He stiffened, stopping suddenly in the shadow of a tree. Helo knelt slowly, his hand touching the ground, his eyes roaming all over the floor of the forest around him.

Cylons had been through, he decided with a grimace, his mind rapidly cataloguing the signs in a manner that would have made the instructors at the Mandatory Survivalist course just beg for instruction from him, if they were still alive. An unscheduled patrol, Cylons did those a lot especially these last months.

He rose; they had headed right for the rendezvous.

His eyes grim, Helo double-timed it, he hoped Boomer was safe, but she wasn't as adept at the woodcraft as he was becoming. If the Cylons had set up an ambush near the rendezvous, she could easily miss it and be caught.

Helo dropped the thought that she would just order the Warriors away to a growing file he was keeping running in the back of his mind. He didn't have proof, and he might yet turn out to be wrong.

Boomer hadn't missed the rendezvous and hadn't been captured. Helo found himself momentarily surprised, but ignored it as the thought that she had ordered the Warriors away rose unbidden once more in his mind.

He ignored it, concentrating instead on checking his surroundings before revealing himself, he didn't want to be caught if Boomer was being used as bait.

He smiled tightly, she didn't appear to be. For now, all was okay in his torn and battered world.

Boomer smiled, dashing forward excitedly as he strode into the small clearing that was their rendezvous.

fight... cylons... Raptor!"

Grimacing, Helo tried to decode her message but only managed three words, Somebody was way overexcited about something.

"Okay, take a deep breathe and give it to me a little slower Boomer" he frowned, glancing at the deep burnt cut that had appeared on her forehead "where did you get the shiner?"

Boomer snorted, "Wrong place for a shiner, I was fired on as I escaped"

"Escaped??" Helo darted forward, holding her at arms length as he searched for signs of injury, silently admitting to himself that he was also looking for tracers or taggers of any kind, "How? When?"

"I got too close to the raptor, the guards caught me, tried to hold me prisoner but another group of Cylons arrived, they attacked!"

Boomers arms rose up, and she grabbed the sides of Helo's head, "Cylons attacked Cylons, Helo!"

"Yes, I know, we saw that a week ago with the Raiders remember?"

"I know" Boomer sighed, calming down slightly, "I know, but this was up close, personal. Kind of brought it home you know?"

Boomer stiffened, going ramrod straight, "They destroyed each other, I got this from the crossfire but Helo, they destroyed each other! "

"Yes I know," Helo was puzzled at her emphasis but just shruuged it off as shock, "it appears to be a Cylon Civil War, you know that"

Boomer shook her head, "No, you don't understand me, they destroyed each other, we must get to the Raptor before replacement guards arrive!"

Helo's eyes widened, "Frak me! Are you sure?"

"Yes, come on!"

Shaking his head, Helo followed the racing Boomer, he wondered which Angel had shined on them for this apparent change of fortune.

Whichever one it was, he owed them a favour.

At their reckless paced, it didn't take them long to arrive at the raptor. A quick circuit around the craft with guns drawn was all the check they allowed themselves, they couldn't wait, they could hear the clomping of warriors racing towards their position and they didn't sound like they were that far away either.

One glance at Boomers eyes told Helo all he needed to know, if they were going to leave they had to do it now or die trying. Stumbling over the shattered bodies of several Cylon warriors, Helo dived into the Raptor, Boomer tight on his footsteps.

It didn't take Helo long to spot that the hole formed by missile debris in the attack that stranded him here had been patched properly, not the quick-fix Boomer had put into place all those months ago.

He shrugged it off; maybe Tyrol had found the time before Boomer had returned for him.

Boomer spotted the next anomaly, just as the engines came online with a whine that failed to cover the now very loud sound of Warriors charging at them from both sides, rapidly closing in.

"Helo?"

Helo glanced across at Boomer, the odd note in her voice grabbing his attention.

"They filled the tanks, recently too"

Helo shivered at that, but the sensors had just come online and he knew they were now irretrievably committed.

"We've got thirty Cylons closing fast! 18 on our port, 12 on our starboard, frak the housekeeping we can worry about it later, lets go!"

"Yeah!" Helo caught the shaky tone in her voice and sympathised, but they had no time for it.

Loud bangs echoed through the craft and Helo turned to shout at Boomer again but stopped at her stunned expression, noting that despite her minds distractions, her hands were flowing over the controls and in seconds, the craft would lift.

"They jumped over!"

"What?"

Helo's eyes bugged out as his question was answered, the foot of a Cylon warrior momentarily appeared on the nose of the Raptor , his eyes following it through the front windows as the Cylon literally used the Colonial Scout as a spring board.

Helo waited with baited breathe as Bomers eyes widened, her gaze out the side of the craft where he could not see, "They seem pretty intent on destroying each other"

Her hands took the flight controls firmly, the craft now rising under her firm, if out of practise touch, "let's leave before they decide to make an issue of us"

Helo grinned slightly as his eyes followed every blip on the sensors; he was back where he belonged, in a Raptor, Boomer at the controls and a war to fight.

He could worry about the maintenance that his craft had received, about whether Boomer was a Cylon agent, about how they would catch up with Galactica later.

Helo was back in the war, which was all that mattered.

For now.