Chapter 2: Head to Head
Setting: Earth's orbit and the surrounding space
The Human fleet fighters began the assault on the Cylons raiders. Explosions began to rock both sides right before the fighters met head on. All the Raiders, Vipers, Puddle Jumpers, and F-302s began a mass of fighters as they all met in the middle of the two fleets. Ancient drones, bullets, and energy weapons hit anything and everything.
An F-302 broke formation as it was being chased by three Cylon Raiders. The pilot of the fighter, Colonel Mitchell, flew back and forth to avoid being hit by the Raider's weapons. "This is Mitchell. Is there anyone who can take these Raider's out? I cannot get them off my tail!" One of the Raiders fired and it went above the left wing, about 2 inches from hitting it. "Damnit! Someone, anyone?" An explosion rocked the space behind him and he flew up and behind the explosion. The three Raiders have been hit unexpectedly. One was hit and exploded instantly. Another was hit on the wing and crashed into the third. Mitchell looked to see Apollo whizzing by.
"Gotcha covered, Mitchell. Let's go kick some ass!" Mitchell and Apollo flew side by side for a couple hundred feet before breaking off and going after the Cylons.
On the other side of the fight, Starbuck and Helo were being pursued by about almost half a dozen Raiders. "Starbuck/Helo. How the hell are we going to get out of this one? We have six Raiders on our tail and we can't get them off us!" He turned sharply, avoiding being hit in the back of his Viper. Starbuck turned the opposite direction only to almost be hit on the wing. Both prayed heavily to the gods for some kind of miracle – and they got it. Hot Dog came out of nowhere and flew between the two Vipers, causing four of the Vipers to go after him. With those off their tails, Helo and Starbuck were able to take out the two behind them. As they turned to go after the four following Hot Dog, they saw as one of the Raiders shot at his Viper. The glass broke and he took the shot to the face. A second Raider got his engine and the fighter exploded.
In the middle of the firefight, Teal'c and Sheppard were in a similar situation. Both had multiple Raiders on their backs with no way to get rid of them or take them out. Every other pilot was occupied with their own Raiders – the Cylons did outnumber the Humans 3 to 1. Out of nowhere, two of the Raiders went up in flames. Sheppard turned to see Markham in a Puddle Jumper trying to throw off the Raiders. They turned their attention to Markham and went after him, giving Sheppard a chance to take out the remaining Raiders. Out of nowhere, a Raider snuck up on Sheppard and hit his F-302, taking out his weapons and life-support system. He only had moments before the engine cut and he'd be dead in space.
"Sheppard, this is Teal'c. Retreat to the surface of the moon and I will give your location to The Daedalus. I've got your six. Now go!" Sheppard took off to the moon, landing just as his life support and engines shut down. A flash of light enveloped him as he closed his eyes and he opened them to find himself on the bridge of The Daedalus.