Chapter 10
Kara took up her position in front of the console providing all the telemetry information on the raider. The sting had been set: the Horizon freighter was just floating in space, all the crew now safe on the Galactica. The battlestar itself was shielded from immediate attack behind a nearby moon. The rest of the fleet had jumped away. Now all they had to do was wait for the Cylons to show up.
Helo had adapted really well to the raider. He was now waiting in the forward hanger deck, one of their precious last remaining nuclear missiles loaded in the ship. She had felt rather sad when she had walked away from looking at the raider for the last time: in one way or another they had been through a lot together. She was very well aware that if it wasn't for that raider she wouldn't be alive.
The tension was rising amongst the crew as they continued to wait. The fear that they had been very wrong about the Horizon was starting to creep in when a bleeping sound from the dradis console broke the relative quiet in CIC.
"Contact."
"What is it, Dee?"
"Um….Cylon base star, sir. They're launching raiders."
"Set condition one throughout the ship. Launch vipers." Tigh's voice could be heard reverberating round the ship. The commander turned to Kara.
"Starbuck, you're on." She spoke into her head set.
"Time to go, Helo. Gods speed."
"Roger that, Starbuck." Her screen lit up as the raider shot out of the ship.
−
The battle between the Cylon raiders and the vipers was intense. They couldn't bring the Galactica into it because her firing solutions would block Helo's route to the base star. Apollo flew past the Horizon and noted that the raiders hadn't engaged it at all and were actively avoiding firing on it: their suspicions about the device on board must have been right. He was pleased with how his team were doing so far. There may have been more raiders, but human pilots in a fight for survival had a certain edge over the machines in their gritty determination to win.
"Keep it up people. Nuggets, remember not to leave your leader and don't get cocky if you do hit the enemy: they hit back"
He saw Starbuck's raider coming up into the main area of battle. Helo had learnt the basics of the raider but he wasn't the pilot that Starbuck was, nor had he had time to get a real feel for the bird. He was also in a full EVA suit which made movement inside the plane was virtually impossible. Consequently the raider's movements appeared stiff and uncoordinated and its manoeuvrability diminished. Nor was the curtain of raiders in front of them parting for one of its own. Apollo realised that Helo was going to need some help.
"Helo, were going to see if we can clear a path through for you."
"Roger that Apollo."
The vipers flew around the raider taking out the others in its path. He only hoped that the Cylons wouldn't pick up on this strange behaviour of one of their ships. Helo managed to dodge around the last couple of raiders and then there was nothing between him and the base star.
"Setting autopilot now. Missile countdown initiated."
Helo started to back out, ready to make his escape, but when he pressed the button the hatch wouldn't open. He tried a few more times, hitting it harder each time in increasing frustration and panic.
"Damn!"
Back in CIC Kara waited impatiently for him to get out, the countdown clock ticking away rapidly in the background.
"Come on Helo, come on. You're getting too close."
Giving up with the button, Helo kicked the panel as hard as he could with his heavy EVA boots. It finally came away and he fell out of the raider into space, activating his EVA pack. The only problem was that he was now much closer to the base star than expected. The raptor coming to pick him up was going to have to get past the raiders before they could reach him.
"Apollo, Helo needs the cavalry."
"Roger Starbuck. Wicks, Striker, cover the raptor. Stubbs, get him out of their fast before that bomb goes off."
Accompanied by its viper escort the raptor dashed through the battle to where Helo was suspended in space. Just as they were picking him up, a stray shot caught its side, making the ship spin away before Helo could climb in. Stubbs managed to get the raptor righted, thankful to see Helo still clinging to the side. They pulled him in and shot away to safety.
Kara was tracking the raider. Her main concern was that loosing the air lock had thrown it slightly off course. If it didn't readjust it might just impact on the surface of the base star and their precious missile could be wasted. As she watched a huge grin started to spread across her face as the ship was automatically adjusted for a direct course into the heart of the base star: the Cylon transponder must have allowed them to control the ship as well as track it.
"Package delivered, sir!" She shouted. There was a sharp moment of suspended tension around the CIC as the countdown clock ticked down. In the air, Apollo was pulling his planes as far away from the base star as possible to avoid any fall out from the explosion. The clock went to zero and seemingly nothing happened. Then there was a rumbling noise and suddenly the base star was alight with fires and collapsing in on itself. A huge roar went up around the CIC.
With the controlling base star gone the remaining raiders became so disoriented that Galactica's vipers could just pick them off easily.
"Help yourselves people," said Apollo joyfully, but as he spun away his vision was filled by the last thing he wanted to see right now. "Oh holy frak!" Another base star had just jumped in close to the moon behind which the Galactica lay.
Apollo had a sudden crazy idea. He decided to take a leaf out of Kara's book and not think about it too much, just act on it.
"Galactica, Apollo, do you see what I'm seeing?" It was his father who answered.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"I've got an idea. I'm coming back in to pick up a nuke. Make sure the deck is clear 'cos I'm coming in real hot!"
Oh Gods, thought Kara, Captain Dipstick was going all instinctual on them again. She wanted to be annoyed with him, but knew that if it was her out there she would be suggesting the same thing.
"Negative, Apollo. Get everyone back here now; we're jumping."
"We've got to take it out sir; it'll be on the Galactica before we can jump. Besides if we don't we'll never get away from them." Kara moved over to the commander's side.
"He's right, sir." He looked at her briefly then issued the order.
"Make ready a nuclear missile for launch from a viper. Bring the ship around to engage base star."
−
Apollo brought his viper to a skidding halt on the deck. Almost immediately the deck hands were manoeuvring the missile into position and then he was off again.
The base star was bearing down on the Galactica, disgorging more raiders into the sky as it came. The Galactica pulled away from the moon. The commander waited until the first raiders had reached the Horizon and then ordered it destroyed. The missile took out the freighter and the raiders around it. The Galactica's portside guns set up a perimeter, keeping the raiders at bay. The few remaining vipers engaged the enemy as best they could, but they couldn't protect their ship entirely.
"Galactica, you've got incoming!"
Fortunately they weren't nukes but the old ship was still rocked. The lights in CIC went out briefly and there was the sound of equipment crashing down and breaking glass. They had just recovered from the first hit when a second missile followed.
−
Apollo's viper shot from away the Galactica. He dodged her guns and headed for the base star.
"Wicks, Hotdog. Make sure you keep my tail clean. We going in and we're going in as hot as possible." He hit his thrusters and slammed his throttle hard to the floor as the two other vipers came up slightly behind him. They sped towards the base star, taking out raider after raider in front of them with a grim determination. Suddenly there was screaming over the radio. It was Wicks. Apollo glanced away as his viper exploded.
"I'm hit!"
"Get away Hotdog, you can't help me any more."
Apollo carried on his frantic dash towards the base star, a raider closing in on his tail. He headed straight for the central portion of the great ship, knowing that this was the weakest point. A direct hit on the column joining the two stars together was his best chance of destroying the ship with a single missile. He got missile lock and fired. The missile was a direct hit, setting off a huge explosion. Apollo kept his throttle to the floor to keep in front of the flaming debris heading towards him. The raider closing on his tail was caught and exploded.
"Waaaa hoo," he screamed as he shot away.
Again, the raiders lost their purpose with the base star gone, but Galactica had taken a heavy battering. The commander called back his pilots and they jumped away to safety as soon as everyone was back on board.
−
The jump safely initiated, the commander looked around at his CIC. What a mess! Saul was getting gingerly to his feet having been thrown to the ground when a missile hit; he had blood streaming from a cut on his head.
"You need to get that looked at colonel."
"Aye, sir. Doubt it's done much damage; always had a pretty hard head!"
The commander smiled at his old friend and they shook hands in victory. People were getting up, shaking themselves down and picking up fallen equipment. One side of the room had faired particularly badly, a large gantry having collapsed to the ground. They would need the heavy lifting gear to fix that, he thought, knowing that some of their functions would be down for some time. He looked for Kara, but she was no where to be seen: probably heading straight for the landing bay to meet the returning pilots, which was exactly where he wanted to go. Gods, but he was proud of his son!
"Sir, I think you should look at this." Someone pulled him over to the damaged area.
"There are at least two people trapped sir."
He looked down and saw a hand sticking out from beneath the mass of twisted metal. A hand with a distinctive silver ring on the thumb.
