Virgon

Raptor 2 crewed by Lieutenant Renzo 'Sparky' Giles and Flight Sergeant Frasco 'Wildcat' Ortega came out of jump in the home system. Their position was closer to Virgon, homeworld of many of the Columbia's crew and site of her construction. Ortega did not think it was by accident that they came here instead of, say Caprica, but did not put words to his thoughts.

Giles' initial scan was inconclusive. Like the other colonies, it was subject to a nuclear attack. "Head for Spica City." Giles ordered.

"Exactly what are we doing?" Complained Ortega who was piloting. "I was under the impression that we were to take a peek and get the hell out of here. I would thing your scans would be enough to convince you there's enough toasters out here to toast us."

"Just take her in, Sergeant."

Ortega sighed as he brought the Raptor in for an atmospheric entry. As the clouds disperse, they could see the devastation below. "Frak." He gritted his teeth, unable to control the temper that promised to overwhelm him. He had come from a small farming community and couldn't wait to enlist just to get away.

"Over there, is the Supradome. I used to play pro-Pyramid with the Spica City Knights. We never did make it to the Colonial Games…" The sports arena, like the rest of the city, suffered structural damage and the building nearby had at some point been consumed by flames and was nothing more than a blackened shell. Giles had assumed the city had been laid wasted by the nuke but much of it was still standing, albeit, in very poor shape. City hall and the museum, built with a classical look, survived though debris was piled up everywhere as if a cyclone had swept through. One thing was obvious, not one of its 3 million residents was visible.

"It looks deserted."

"Any one lucky to have survived would have headed for the Alpen Mountains." Ortega pointed to the majestic peaks to the east. "But radiation levels are high. Without meds, they wouldn't survive a day."

Giles saw the statue of his father, first Cylon War hero Admiral Giles still standing in Central Square. When he was young, he hated all the attention having such a famous parent. "We do a sweep for life signs."

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Basestar 2490 was still following the Edict of Extermination as so ordered. Centurions had come across resistance from some human cells throughout the system but their numbers and resources were not adequate to prevent a total Cylon victory. For the most part, these resisters were civilians who lacked military tactics. Many failed.

Lucifer was keeping track of all this as data came through at nanosecond intervals; streams of it that no human could possibly have been able to take in all at once. Lucifer could. Beside him was one of the Humano-Cylons, 'Shelly Godfrey', more commonly known as Number Six.

"This is a failure. 59,000 humans have fled with the Galactica and the Columbia has not yet been found. This must be dealt with." Six said, dressed as provocatively as others of her model series did.

Lucifer may have been an older model but it still had seniority. "The situation is being dealt with." It answered rather sternly. It was distracted as another datastream in binary code appeared. "A colonial raptor has been observed entering Virgon's atmosphere. Order the raiders to intercept and destroy-."

Six interrupted him. "Do not be hasty Lucifer. We already know of humans from Galactica being sighted on Caprica. This may be more of the same or from another battlestar."

Lucifer stared at her with its glowing red eyes. Six could almost see its 'brain' activity through the transparent dome that made up its head. "What do you suggest?"

"I'll deal with them myself."

Lucifer would have preferred a simple approach such as blasting the raptor into subatomic particles but then he was not programmed to be a spy provocateur. "Proceed."

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The raptor landed near the Giles statue. Both Giles and Ortega took their anti-rad meds before disembarking. Ortega thought the LT was acting fraking strange but then he was just a noncom. If anything happened, it would be Giles' fault.

Giles took out a pair of binoculars and scoped the area out. The raptor's sensors didn't pick up any electrical pulses - indicative of machines, like Cylons, in the vicinity.

"Have you noticed that we haven't seen one body?"

The flight sergeant sighed. "And what of it? The city took a nuclear strike maybe the bodies simply disintegrated in the blast."

"If so, why are the buildings still standing?"

Ortega passed the lieutenant a SMG. Best play safe and the noncom was wishing this little sightseeing tour would come to a halt right here and now but Giles started moving out, crossing the debris field of Central Square. "There's not going to be any survivors."

Giles didn't listen and kept moving across the square.

'Wildcat' Ortega put his hand through his blond hair as he uttered a few well chosen curses. After taking a quick check of the Raptor and locking the hatch, he proceeded to follow his much shorter superior.

When he entered city hall, he stopped just inside. Giles was in a bad way in one of the seats in the lobby. Like outside, debris was scattered about and a thick coat of dust covered every surface as if they were at an archeological dig instead of a city that was once striving with life less than 24 hours ago.

Wildcat didn't say anything as he leaned against a tourist poster that portrayed Spica City as a nice place to raise a family. After a few minutes, Giles spoke though he sounded depressed. "My sister worked here; in the mayor's office…I couldn't find her body, not a fraking body anywhere."

Ortega had joined the Service to get away from his family, that they probably perished didn't phase him. "She's in a better place." He also wasn't much for religion but figured mentioning the Afterlife was often encouraging to those who believed.

"We should check the Alpen Mountains, do a bio sweep…" Giles was ramblings, thinking out options in his head.

"We should be heading back to the Columbia. Our mission was to see the situation and we've done that. The Toasters have reduced us to an endangered species and the colonies have more radiation than a microwave. Anyone who could even survive a nuclear attack would succumb to radiation poisoning without adequate supply of anti-rad meds. You know this, Sparky. We're not going to find anybody; all we're doing is allowing the fraking Toasters to zero in on our position. If you remember, we got a Raptor not some fancy Viper out there."

"You're from here for Kobol's sake. Aren't you a bit concerned about your family, friends…Anybody but yourself?" Giles stood up, dusting himself off.

"I'm alive and I'd like to keep it that way."

"You're a real piece of work, Ortega. Aphrodite must have forgotten to give you a heart."

The sergeant sighed then stepped back out through the gaping hole that once were doors. He lit up a cigarette as he waited, his eyes panning the area for the glint of reflected metal indicative of possible centurions. What he saw made him drop his cigarette from his mouth. If his eyes were not playing tricks, he saw a blonde woman on the other side of the Square. He took out his binoculars for a closer look but lost sight of her because of the rubble.

"Sparky! We might have a fraking survivor!" He paused. "I don't fraking believe it."

Giles ran out. "Survivor? Where?"

Ortega pointed across the Square. "Over there." He found himself following Giles again as the LT ran as best he could over the obstacle course that separated them from the woman.

Once on the other side, the mystery woman was nowhere to be seen. "Are you sure you saw someone?" Asked Giles, starting to think Ortega was playing a rather morbid joke on him.

"It was just for a split micron but I swear on my life that's what I saw." Ortega was beginning to get creep out. Could he have thought he saw someone after just talking about survivors moments before?

Both men swept the area with their SMG, ready to unleash a barrage if warranted for tension, always a soldier's companion, was growing.

Then came a blonde head poking over the ruins. She was covered in dust but overall looked reasonably well, considering what had taken place.

"By the Gods." She said as she rushed toward them. Giles had already let his guard down at the sight of such a beautiful woman. Ortega was surprised but lowered his gun gradually as if expecting the second boot to drop.

"You're safe." Giles slung his SMG over his shoulder and put out his hand to help her climb over the rough ground. "I'm Lieutenant Renzo Giles; this is Flight Sergeant Frasco Ortega. Is there anyone else with you?"

Ortega peaked over the rubble hoping another blonde or perhaps a redhead was coming.

"No, I haven't seen anybody for centars." She answered as she towered over the diminutive Sparky, who feeling subconscious by the height disadvantage stepped on a piece of granite. Noticing their ship patches, she added. "You're from the Columbia? Thank goodness, is your ship in orbit?"

Ortega was going to give a vague response but Giles beat him to it. "No, the Columbia is in the safety of the Void. Trust me; the Toasters are going to regret what they did to us."

Six caressed Giles' chest. "Looks like I'm in capable hands."

Wildcat sighed. "What's your name Ma'am?"

"Shelly Godfrey. I was luckily outside the city when the Cylons came." Responded Six who could already see that Giles was putty in her hands, not unlike her predecessor's manipulation of Gaius Baltar before the invasion. Her form was pleasing and she knew how to use it.

"Don't you worry, Shelly." Giles said then turned to Ortega. "Sergeant, see that Miss Godfrey gets some rations and water." He then turned back to Six. "We'll take you out of here."

"Excellent." She purred. It would only be a matter of time before the Columbia joined the long list of destroyed battlestars and they could concentrate in full on the Galactica fleet.

Ortega grumbled but motioned for Six to follow him back to the Raptor. They didn't get a foot away when gunfire struck near her.

"She's a fraking Cylon!" Came the voice of a woman wearing a viper flight suit, taking aim yet again.

Six grabbed Giles by the throat and forcibly tossed him aside taking his SMG in the process. Ortega tried to bring his own into action when she struck him, sending him tumbling down over the debris. She unleashed her own barrage against the woman pilot who took cover. Bullets seem to be flying everywhere. Giles was gasping for air as he unholstered his sidearm. She turned, smiling as she did when the woman pilot's slug ripped into her.

She still stood as Giles emptied his clip into her as well. "Die you motherfraker, die" His throat to sore to speak above a whisper. He felt like shit to be so taken by a beautiful face and the very idea that Cylons had androids in their arsenal was a frightening concept to him.

Six fell to the ground, a dozen or so bullets had perforated her body. The first thing Giles had noticed was blood, not oil or some other mechanical lubricant. This made him think he had killed the wrong target and he tore his SMG out of Six's death grip, as the woman pilot was less than ten feet away.

"Stay where you are!" Giles ordered, training his weapon on the stranger.

"Relax!" She shouted, raising her hands up thus pointing her own weapon away from him. "I'm Lieutenant Deitra Gedrin, from the Atlantia. I lost power in my viper and crashed if you can believe that." Not seeing a positive response continued. "I don't have time for this shit! I need to report in to Admiral Nagala. If you got a ride I'd appreciate getting back to my ship." She had Oriental features with spiked red hair which certainly didn't look like regulation style. She did sport the Atlantia's patch on her sleeve of a uniform that was torn and scorched. It wouldn't surprise him if she had moved a certain way, that it simply crumble from her body.

"The Atlantia is gone and it looks like most of the fleet as well." He hadn't lowered his SMG, still unsure of her.

"Frak! You can't be fraking serious!"

"Look around, does it look like we have the upper hand? I haven't been able to survey the system but at least Picon, Virgon and Caprica have been hit by multiple strikes. With the Cylon strength, I wouldn't be surprised if all the colonies look like this."

"I'm not a Cylon so stop pointing your gun at me." She was only a few feet away. "Dammit, look…" She lowered her weapon slowly until the barrel was level with Six's head. She fired three shots at close range and it ripped the corpse's head apart. Inside was the most sophisticated artificial brain he had ever seen. "Looks like they've been busy over the yahrens perfecting their toys. She's not the only model. I've seen at least two more."

Ortega had came back over to them, rubbing his aching shoulder from his recent fall "That's not like any Toaster I've seen before."

"Flight Sergeant Ortega, meet Lieutenant Gedrin from the Atlantia."

"A redhead." Ortega smirked. "You're a little off your beaten path."

"So are you. Listen, unless you want tumors infesting your body, we got to get off this rock now."

"What about survivors?" Giles hoped that his sister had somehow made it.

"I didn't see anyone."

Machine gunfire erupted near them and Giles took one. The whizzing bullets didn't lighten up as rubble was chewed up, spitting out bits of granite. Deitra pulled open his flight jacket. The bullet had gone through and through but he was losing blood. "We need to get her back to the ship. Okay. Give me your gun I'll see if I can't give you cover fire."

Ortega saw the wound and came out with the same conclusions though was slow to react.

"I'd carry him but it wouldn't be pretty." She added which seemed to spark Wildcat into action.

Ortega picked up Giles as Deitra opened up with the pair of SMGs. Sure enough at least three centurions were visible firing off their built in machine guns and they were laying down enough slugs to rival a single heavy caliber weapon. "Frak. Move your ass Sergeant, no time for the scenic route!" She shouted, firing a burst from both guns. The centurions didn't look or act like the slow-moving robots she read about in the history books. She tried to slow them down and finally mangled one of the centurion's head that it collapsed. She did a quick glance over her shoulder to see that Ortega was nearly to the Raptor. With a deep breath, another burst from the SMGs, she ran toward the other pilot.

The Raptor exploded in front of them, sending debris high in the air. Only heavy ordinance could have achieved such a startling effect and it wasn't long before it was evident. A Cylon Tigris, a heavy tank, accompanied by a platoon of centurions, including a gold first centurion immerged. With them was another Six, dressed in combat fatigues for the occasion.

The Tigris, like the raider, was a smart weapon, fully computerized and operated without a crew. The Cylons perfected this killing machine over the half century because even with a Scorpion Mark IV, a modern Colonial tank built by Scorpian Armaments, it would be inadequate for the task at hand.

Ortega wished he was lucky to have a Scorpion right now in any event as flames licked the remains of his Raptor. Another shell exploded so close the blast knocked them to the ground.

Deitra noticed a damaged but drivable police car. "Go!" She ordered then returned fire. The Cylons backed by the menacing Tigris were making easy progress, even over the rough terrain. She was getting in when she heard a Cylon, grabbed the shotgun strapped inside, swung around and fired. The pellets blasted its head off just before it was to fire off its own guns. Noticing that Toaster was from a squad that was attempting to cut them off, she put the car in gear and floored the accelerator. Ortega had seat belted himself in just in time as a centurion went over the hood, crashed against the windshield and off the side.

The car was peppered by slugs as she tried to avoid a predictable pattern that the machines around would not easily plan for. A near miss by the tank threw up a cloud of dust that helped them escape the noose.

"There's a hospital at the corner of 3rd and 14th." Wildcat suggested.

Deitra drove like a demon, narrowly avoiding derelict cars all over the place, creating an obstacle course they could have lived without. "How is he?"

"I'm no doc but if he doesn't get some help real soon…We got to stop the bleeding."

Looking through the rearview mirror, she saw a pair of drones in pursuit. They were jet propelled weapon platforms.

"Here." She tossed the shotgun over. "We got company."

Ortega pointed the shotgun out the window and fired, hitting one of the drones which spewed black smoke before crashing to the ground. His second shot went wide because the other drone reacted to the threat. It fired off a missile and they only avoided it when Deitra veered the car into a tight right turn. The missile impact against the building, which having become unstable after already being buffeted by a nuke strike, crumbled.

"Fadercrap!" Ortega bellowed as he tried to steady his aim. He almost lost the shotgun after they sideswiped a car and when ahead there was no room to avoid a road jam, she did what every desperate driver did while being pursued by a drone; she made her own exit. She drove the car through the windows of the luxury hotel's lobby, coming out onto the other side of the corner, narrowly striking a bus. She slammed on the brakes and did a 360 degree turn.

"Shoot the motherfraker!" Deitra shouted as the drone finally came into view. Ortega did not have to be told twice and fired. Like the first, this one was reduced to spare parts.

All this time, neither of them witnessed signs of life.