Chapter 9
We had trudged through five miles of wilderness without seeing any sign of life. Not even a wild animal.
"It's so quiet," Cally commented.
"It's too quiet," I muttered as we emerged from the tree line.
We were up on a hill. Down below in the valley was a dirt road. Our map said that it led to an old minimum security prison.
"We should stay off the roads," Apollo said. "We have no idea if what the Cylon ground forces are like in these parts. The last thing we want to do is walk into an ambush."
"Definitely," I agreed.
"I want you to stay in the middle, warn us in case you sense anything," Apollo said. "I'll take point."
"Yes sir," I affirmed.
I dropped back to the middle of the line with Cally and Socinus. Cally was trying to avoid looking at me and was clearly unwilling to talk. I decided to take the initiative and try and force her to talk.
"Why?" I asked her.
She turned around and looked at me. "Why what?"
"Why can't you?" I clarified. "Why was it a mistake?"
"Because you're a pilot and I'm just a mechanic," Cally replied. "It just wouldn't be right."
"Is that all?" I asked. "Because I don't think that's all. I want to know what the real reason is."
"It's complicated." Cally stated simply.
"Yeah well a lot of things in life are complicated." I said frustratedly. "Now give me the explanation."
"I can't let myself get attached to you," Cally said. "Too many people keep dying, and you might be next. I can't let myself suffer loss like that again."
I felt any anger or frustration I had wash away immediately. She was young, but she had already lost a lot of loved ones. I didn't know that I this was too soon.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "But you don't have to worry about me. I don't plan on dying for a long time."
"Everyone says that, but how many of them actually follow it through?" Cally asked.
"I know I can," I said.
Suddenly my head started to pound. It hurt a bit worse than before, but it must have just been the pain combining with the whiplash I guessed. I dropped to my knees as I felt my balance starting to give out on me.
"Are you alright?" Cally asked kneeling down beside me.
"Get down!" I yelled as the pain quickly subsided.
I grabbed Cally and dragged her flat to the ground. Bullets began whizzing by overhead.
"Anybody see any metal?" Apollo asked.
There were negatives all the way around.
"They're human!" I shouted over the gun fire. "Hold your fire."
"They could be Cylons," Apollo replied.
"They're not," I said.
The gunfire from both sides suddenly stopped.
"How do you know?" Cally asked.
"I can hear them," I replied in a whispered.
"I can't hear anything," Cally whispered back.
"That's not what I mean," I corrected her. "I can hear their thoughts. They're coming around to our rear."
"We know who you are," Apollo called out. "We're here to help. Come out into the open and we can talk."
"Put down your weapons, and stand up with your hands above your head" a male voice called out from somewhere. "Or we'll open fire."
"Do it," I whispered to Apollo. "He means it."
We all tossed down our weapons and stood up, hands above our heads. A large group of human then emerged from the trees bearing rifles. I looked at the guy leading them and I recognized him almost immediately. He was a lot scruffier than the last time I'd seen him, he was definitely him.
"You're Samuel T. Anders," I stated, "Of the Caprica Buccaneers."
He stared at me, "That's right." He said. "How do you know?"
"I was big fan," I replied.
"Who are you?" Anders asked.
"We're from Galactica," I replied.
"So where's Starbuck?" Anders inquired.
"Starbuck isn't with us," Apollo answered. "Command felt that her personal feelings might jeopardize the mission."
"So what is your mission?" Anders questioned.
"We're here to try and discover information on the Cylon breeding program and to possibly evacuate any survivors." Apollo responded.
"Well isn't that just great," Anders commented. "At least we're thought of."
"Our intel said that you guys were using a high school as your base of operations," I said. "So what are you doing out here?"
"Well we tracked some of those Cylons working on that breeding program to the old prison near here," Anders replied.
"Good," Apollo said. "Then we can work together to take it out. How many men do you have with you?"
"I've got fifteen including myself, you?" Anders answered.
"We've got sixteen," Apollo replied. "Two pilots, two mechanics and twelve marines."
"You're a pilot?" Anders asked me as he looked me up and down.
I felt somewhat insulted, "You're damn right I'm a pilot," I responded. "And fraking good one at that."
"Alright, alright," Anders said trying to show that he meant no offence. "So what's your name?"
"Name's Marcus," I replied offering my hand. "But everyone calls me by my call sign 'Beanpole'."
"Well then, let's get this over with Beanpole," Anders said.
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We were able to sneak up on the prison fairly easily. However it was going to be difficult to get inside. The only gate was the front gate which was guarded by a pair of centurions. Inside the compound was a Cylon Heavy Raider, a Colonial Raptor that looked as though it were still serviceable, and a single Cylon Raider. Four more centurions patrolled about inside the compound.
"Without a doubt there's at least four of the human variety of Cylons inside," Anders said. "They're the ones that run the experiments."
"Okay we should count on them not joining the battle immediately though," Apollo said. "So here's the plan. My men are going to sneak around towards the back. We'll disable the heavy raider. You take out the two centurions guarding the gate. Beanpole, you're the most accurate shot. We can't afford to risk damaging that Raptor, so we can't take out the Raider until it takes off. I want you to shoot it out of the air. You're also in charge of keeping Cally and Socinus safe."
"No problem, sir." I said.
"Do you guys have explosive rounds?" Apollo asked Anders.
"We're starting to run a little low on them but we've got enough," Anders replied.
"Good because we're going to need 'em. Try and make every shot count." Apollo said. "Let's lock and load boys."
I stayed hidden in the trees while Apollo led the marines along the wall and Anders took his men closer to the gate. As I watched the marines made a human ladder to jump the wall and the two marines that got over first quickly took out a pair of Centurions. The two Centurions near the gate turned too go help exposing their backsides to Anders and his men. They opened fire destroying those toasters. I pumped my fist in celebrations and then turned towards my own target. The Cylon raider was powering up. It slowly lifted off the ground.
There were two more explosions as the final two Centurions were destroyed. The raider then prepared to make a strafing run at Apollo's marines. I closed my eyes and let my instincts tell me where to aim the rocket launcher.
"Shouldn't you open your eyes to fire that?" Socinus asked worried.
"Nope," I replied simply with a slightly cocky grin.
I heard the Cylon raider begin its strafing run. I waited, adjusted slight and then squeezed the trigger. I opened my eyes to watch the missile fly. The raider began to open fire just as the missile hit it square in the broadside. The ship spun wildly out of control and exploded on the far side of the prison.
"Nothing to it," I said as I tossed the rocket launcher aside.
I then grabbed my rifle and looked through the scope. Bullets had begun firing from various windows in the complex. Apollo and the marines had taken cover in the heavy raider while Anders and his men remained just outside the gates behind the protection of the wall. I watched for muzzle flashes and spotted one. I couldn't clearly see what I was shooting but I could see a torso. I compensated for bullet drop and fired. The bullet hit true to the target and the fire from that location stopped. I looked around at the other locations but I couldn't see a clear shot at any of them.
"Come on," I said to Cally and Socinus. "We've got to go join Anders."
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Cut to commercial. Buy Pepsi. Buy Honda. Buy Budweiser. The story shall continue in the next chapter. Expect a lot of action.