7375.324/2669.324 Bridge of Battlestar Galactica: After the explosion of the Base-stars, the Galactica had been hit by debris from the Base-stars, as well as the EMP shockwave. The secondary systems were coming back up, and Apollo was worried about the third Base-star. The bridge crew watched as the Base-star was starting to move toward the Galactica and the Pegasus.
"How long before we have maneuvering control Omega?".
"At least another 5 centons Commander.".
Apollo then saw the Victory start to move between them and the Base-star.
"Get all repair crews working on maneuvering Omega, the Victory won't last long against their Mega-Pulsars.".
"Yes Commander.".
The sergeant at scanner station called out to Apollo, "Commander, I'm showing a full phalanx of Capital ships coming up behind the Cylons.".
Apollo and Omega just looked at each other, then at the sergeant. "Did you say a full phalanx sergeant?".
"Yes Commander, and they are opening fire on the Base-star.
The bridge crews of both Battlestars were seeing this attack on their scanners. The Base-star was trying to run, but at least 9 Capital ships were firing upon it, along with 5 full squadrons of fighters. Omega looked at Apollo,
"The Confederation task force sir?".
"I believe it is Col..".
From what they were seeing on their scanners, they knew it wouldn't be long before the Base-star would be defeated. Then they registered a large explosion from the Base-star. Apollo shouted,
"Everyone hold on." as another EMP wave hit the Galactica.
Some of the systems that had come up, were now offline again.
"Omega, I want a full damage report as soon as possible.".
"Yes Commander.".
As the bridge techs were working on getting systems rerouted or rebooted, Starbuck made it to the bridge. He looked at Apollo,
"So is it over now Apollo?".
"I hope so Starbuck, I truly hope so.".
As the Battlestar's systems were brought back up, they finished landing their Vipers.
Col. Omega came up behind them, and Apollo saw the serious look on his face. "What is it Omega?".
"Commander, we're getting the casualty reports along with the damage reports sir.".
"And?".
"Commander, we lost at least 18 viper pilots. 7 from Silver spar squadron, 5 from Red squadron, and 6 from Blue squadron."
Apollo suddenly had a bad feeling. "Go on.".
"The flight crews sent a list of the pilots who didn't return sir." and Omega handed him a printout. As Apollo looked at the printout, his legs suddenly gave out. If Starbuck hadn't grabbed him, he would have fallen.
"What is it Apollo?".
Apollo just handed him the list, halfway down he saw the name Ensign Hera. Starbuck just looked at Apollo, "I'm so sorry Apollo.".
Apollo straightened up, "I've got to tell Sheba. Where is she Omega?".
"I believe she's in landing bay Beta sir.".
"Keep the repair crews working, and get all of our systems back up.".
"Yes sir.".
Apollo and Starbuck left the bridge together.
The two old friends didn't say a word as they walked to the landing bay. Apollo was trying to figure out what he would say to Sheba. When they arrived, he saw her talking to Virgil, and he just walked up to her. Starbuck stayed back, to give them some time. He saw Apollo talking to her, and saw Sheba nearly fall over. Apollo pulled her to him, and Starbuck could see that she was crying into his shoulder. As he was watching this, Dalton and Troy came up behind him.
"What's wrong Starbuck?".
He looked at Troy, "Oh Troy, I'm so sorry.".
"Sorry about what Starbuck?".
"Hera didn't make it.".
Dalton and Troy looked like they were in shock. Dalton finally spoke, "I guess the damage to her Viper was worse than we thought Troy. If she didn't make it to the Victory.".
Starbuck looked at her, "What did you just say?".
Dalton looked at Starbuck, "Well Hera's viper had taken a lot of damage. And when Vagabond scanned it, he suggested that she land on the Victory, because of the type of landing system that they have.".
Starbuck grabbed Dalton in a bear hug, and lifted her off her feet. When he put her down, he looked at them,
"Grab a shuttle, and prep it for launch. And don't let anyone give you any feldergarb
about it. Move.!".
Troy and Dalton ran to the nearest shuttle, and started prepping it.
Starbuck then ran up to Apollo, and Sheba. They could see he was smiling,
"Apollo, I have it on good authority, that the report of Hera's demise is premature.".
They both looked at him, and he could see the tears on their cheeks. Sheba spoke first, "What are you talking about Starbuck?".
"I just talked to Dalton and Troy. Hera's Viper did take a lot of damage, but Hera landed on the Victory.".
Apollo grabbed one of his shoulders, "The Victory?".
"Yeah, the Victory. I've got Troy and Dalton prepping a shuttle right now.".
The three of them ran to the shuttle, and in less than a centon the shuttle was launched.
On the bridge of the TCS Victory, Captain Eison and Col. Blair were coordinating search and rescue ops of the battle area when Lt. Rollins called them.
"Captain, I've got Commander Apollo on the channel, he's requesting to land sir."
Chris and the Captain looked at each other.
"You better meet them on the flight deck Chris, I'll handle things here.",
"Yes sir." and Col. Blair was headed for the lift at a run.
"Give them clearance Lt..".
"Aye aye sir.".
The shuttle was just touching down when Chris arrived on the flight deck. As the door of the shuttle opened, Apollo could see the viper, and it was covered with a thick green foam. He then saw Col. Blair coming up to them.
"What happened Col.?".
Chris looked at the five warriors,
"Hera was able to land alright, but she collapsed shortly after getting out of her Viper.".
"And the foam Col.?".
"Well Commander, the techs found that the ship was leaking radioactive material, and hosed it down with an anti-radiation foam."
Apollo and Sheba looked at Col. Blair, and he saw the concern in their eyes.
"Ensign Hera was taken to sickbay, and Dr. Iverson is treating her as we speak.".
"If you'll follow me, I'll take you there.".
The older colonial warriors had all seen people who had been exposed to radiation, and were preparing for the worst. When they arrived at sickbay, they saw Dr. Iverson sitting at his desk, writing on a compupad. Dr. Iverson looked up as they walked in,
"Hello again Commander Apollo.".
"Hello doctor, where's Hera?".
"I have her in isolation right now.".
Starbuck looked at him, "Why isolation doctor?".
"Well, when Hera passed out on the flight deck, Vagabond scooped her up and ran with her all the way to sickbay. I immediately ran a standard exam on her and saw the radiation poisoning."
Apollo looked at Dr. Iverson, "How bad was she exposed doctor?".
"She took a high dose Commander, I've got her on high levels of anti-radiation therapy.".
Sheba looked at him now, "How long does she have doctor?".
Doctor Iverson looked at her, "How long Major?".
"Yes doctor, how long will she live?".
"Well that's hard to say, maybe 150 or 160 years.".
The colonial warriors all just looked at him.
"We got real good at treating radiation poisoning during the Kilrathi war. I guess that our treatments are a little better than yours.".
Sheba just hugged Dr. Iverson, "Thank you doctor, thank you." she said through her tears.
"If you want to follow me, I'll get you some sterile suits so you can see your daughter.".
Apollo and Sheba followed the doctor into an adjoining room. 10 minutes later, they were entering the isolation room, and they saw Vagabond sitting on a chair next to Hera's bed, he was just holding her hand. She had intravenous lines attached to her forearms, which had a green fluid flowing into them. When they entered, Vagabond looked up at them.
"Hera, someone's here to see you." he whispered.
Hera opened her eyes and looked at her parents and weakly smiled at them. Sheba came over and brushed Hera's hair back.
"You gave us quite a scare young lady, but Dr. Iverson says you going to be just fine.".
Hera looked at her father, "Did we win?" she asked quietly.
Apollo took her hand, "Yeah we did. The task force arrived just in time.".
Hera smiled, and then faded back to sleep.
Apollo looked at Vagabond and motioned for him to follow him. When they stepped out of the room, Apollo turned and looked at Vagabond.
"Lt., I want to thank you for saving Hera. If you hadn't brought her here, she probably would have died.".
Vagabond looked at him, "Commander, I have to admit, that my motivation was a little selfish.".
"I know Lt., I know all about it.".
Vagabond was starting to feel a little nervous now. "You know sir?".
Apollo smiled at Vagabond, "Despite what Sheba says, I'm not completely blind. I've seen the way Hera lights up around you Lt..".
Apollo could see that Vagabond was looking even more nervous than before.
"She used to smile like that when she was a little girl. And I guess that in my mind, she'll always be my little girl. But she's growing up, and I have to face that fact."
Vagabond felt a little relieved now.
"Besides Lt., from what I've seen, the feeling appears to be mutual.".
Apollo extended his hand, and Vagabond shook it.
"Now why don't you get back in there Lt." Apollo said smiling.
Apollo came back out to the waiting area, and talked to Dr. Iverson.
"So how long will she be here doctor?".
"Well Commander, Ensign Hera is young and in excellent shape, I think that she should be up and around in about 3 or 4 days.".
"Thank you doctor. If we need to, can we send other crewman over here.".
Doctor Iverson smiled, "As long as Cassiopeia doesn't get upset, I don't see why not.".
Apollo now saw Col Blair and Captain Eison. "Thank you William, thank you for everything.".
"Well Apollo, it was our pleasure. And you'll be glad to know that we were able to find and rescue 7 colonial pilots, and they are being taken to the Bostonia. We'll send you a list of their names as soon as we get it.".
Apollo looked at Starbuck, Troy and Dalton now, they were all smiling.
Captain Eison spoke to them now, "When your up to it Commander, Admiral Wilford would like to meet with you and the Quorum about finding your people a permanent homeworld.".
The Battlestars were able to get underway in just over two centars, all of the ships set a course for the Colonial fleet.