2671.238 One jump from the Terra system. For most of the day, the crews on all of the ships made preparations for the following days work. All of the systems on every ship were checked and rechecked. All of the weapon systems were gone over, and gone over again. As the day progressed, everyone in the fleet was doing all that they could to help insure victory in the coming battles. Even the marines were helping out, by assisting the crews wherever or whenever they could. By the end of the day, all ships reported to the Galactica, that they were at situation one.

As the day progressed toward evening, many of the crew began to go off to be alone. Some by themselves, others were in pairs. As he walked down the corridors of the Galactica, General Blair could hear the sounds of various couples behind the closed doors. He even saw a few couples in darkened recesses of the ship's passageways, but he said nothing. He knew what these people would be facing in the morning. And to deny them one last chance for pleasure would be more wrong than what they were doing. He made his way to the pilot's den, and found both Karl and William there.

"So general, I see you decided to join us flyboys in a drink."

Dekker looked at him, "I figured this would probably be the only place where people weren't sucking face with each other."

All three of them chuckled, and Karl handed Chris a drink. The three men drank their drinks, and enjoyed the taste of the Ambrosia.

Then Chris pulled a flask from his pocket and grabbed three shot glasses. He poured the amber liquid into the glasses and handed one to each of the men.

He raised his glass, "To operation Terra." the other two said the same and they each drained their glass.

General Dekker was surprised at how strong the shot was. As he sat there feeling the drink warm its way down to his stomach, he looked at Blair.

"Whoa. What was that"

Chris looked at him with a slight smile. "A little gift from my father in law. Locondan Bourbon."

After one more drink, General Dekker got up, "If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I've got some marines to check on." and he left the pilot's den and headed for the marines quarters.

As Blair had, he also saw the people in the hallways, but he also said nothing. As he neared the Marines area, he could hear a large party going on. He walked in quietly and as soon as someone saw him, he heard "ATTENTION." and the party fell silent.

As he looked around the area, he saw his marines, and some of the Galactica crewmembers all at attention. Some were standing better than others. He walked silently around the room, looking at everyone there. He didn't say a word. Finally he stopped in front of a kilrathi Lt. and looked him in the eyes.

"Who authorized this party?"

The Lt looked right back at him, "Sir, it was Col Tucker sir."

"And just what were Col Tuckers orders?"

"Sir, her orders were that we relax and enjoy ourselves until 2200 hours. Sir."

Dekker took a step back and again circled around the room. He stopped in front of a young marine and took the drink from his hand. He then swallowed down the drink and smiled.

"Then I suggest that you obey those orders people." and he walked out of the room.

Everyone in the room was silent for a minute, then a sergeant looked at them, "Well you heard the General." and the party started up again.

As he walked down the corridor, General Dekker saw that the door to Col Tucker's office/quarters was open and he looked inside. He saw the Col sitting at her desk, and she looked up at him.

"Hello Karl."

He came in the room and sat down on the chair in front of her desk. "Good idea Alicia, letting them blow off steam like this."

"Considering what we'll be facing tomorrow, I figured that they deserved one last blowout."

"Are you going to check on them?"

Col Tucker smiled at him, "That's what sergeant-majors are for." both of them laughed a little at that.

"Besides, nobody wants the old lady checking on them all the time."

General Dekker looked at her, and smiled. "Well I guess I'll let you get back to what you were doing then Col." and he stood up.

"See you at 0400 sir." she said with a smile, and then she turned back to her monitor and continued what she had been doing. General Dekker made his way to his quarters and set his alarm, and then hit his own rack.

Apollo lie on his bed, he was just staring up at the ceiling. He kept running all of the scenarios in his head, and he wondered what else he could do to better their odds in the morning. As he lie there, he listened to Sheba in the sonic shower, and he thought of all the things he wanted to tell her. In a burst of youthful energy, Apollo got up and went to the shower. He opened the door, and Sheba looked at him, and saw the look in his eyes.

"My, my commander, this is so sudden." then she put her arms around his neck. Apollo then stepped in the shower and closed the door.

Troy and Dalton looked at each other as they lie in bed together.

"A cubit for your thoughts Dalton."

"I'm scared Troy, for the first time in my life, I'm really scared."

Troy pulled her closer, "Don't be, it's all going to be alright."

She smiled at him, and found herself getting lost in his eyes. She allowed herself to be swept up by this man of hers, and soon the universe no longer existed. It was just she and Troy; there was no coming fight, no tomorrow, just him and her right now. Soon it felt as if they were one being, and she could feel his heart, his desires, no not his, theirs. As the waves of joy overtook her, she allowed them to carry her off and soon they were sleeping in each other's arms.

At 0400, the marines of the assault group were gathered on the flight deck. Some of them looked a little green around the gills, but they were all standing tall. General Dekker came on the flight deck, and the marines all came to attention.

"At ease people. I could stand here and give you a speech about how your all doing the right thing today. I could tell you that you all will be the best marines ever. But I don't have to, because you already know all of that. No, what I'm here to say is simple. Along time ago, on earth, a wise General once said, It doesn't matter what type of gear a nation has. It doesn't matter if they have the best machines. Because what it takes to win a war is the soldier. It's the soldier who has the courage to crawl across the battlefield and take the ground from the SOB on the other side. And when it comes to courage, I know that no other unit in history has ever had more than you people do. So I want you to go down to that planet and teach those machines that they will never be able to win, because they don't have courage."

General Dekker then came to attention and saluted. The marines all snapped to attention and saluted back. The general held his salute until the marines dropped theirs, and then he dropped his. He then looked at them,

"Ok your GroPo's, what are you waiting for, go and kick some ass." The marines all shouted in unison "HOORAH" and boarded the awaiting shuttles.