When the Pegasus jumped into the space surrounding Caprica they found a fight. The Vipers launched and began tearing into the Cylon raiders that were as thick as glue around the planet. Explosions lit the blackness of the area as ship after ship was shot down. Orders flew non stop over the comm but despite the chaos of it all they managed to actually work as a team. When the order came for the pilots to return to the ship the sigh of relief was almost audible.

Lauren's Viper had been hit by so much debris that she could barely see out the bubble so when she landed it was rough. She popped the canopy as soon as she could and started looking around to see who was left. She was surprised at how few faces she recognized. Once she'd climbed down from the cockpit she noticed several group of people celebrating their kills and bragging about how many of the Cylon's they'd shot down. Lauren was just lucky to still be alive.

Cole noticed her and headed for where she was standing. He came up to stand beside her as Thumper was loping over. "Glad to see you back in one piece," Taylor said to her.

"Did you get a load of little missy's flying here Cap?"

Taylor shook his head no and Thumper continued to gush. "She flew like a demon sir! Must have taken out 20 Raiders without breaking a sweat. In fact, that's a damn good call sign for ya Baker. How bout we call you Demon from now on?"

"Uh…can we think of something a little less…testosterone laden?"

Taylor grinned at Thumper, "Nah, I think it fits."

Lauren rolled her eyes at them as they made their way back to the ready room. The comm system crackled to life and Admiral Cain's voice filtered down from the ceiling. "This is the Admiral speaking. I want to thank you all for your effort. We have determined the extent of the damages from the Cylon attack. The…the destruction of the colonies is nearly total." The Admiral's voice broke as she spoke, showing them all how horrible the devastation actually was. "We seem to be the only ship left at this point. We are currently in orbit around Tauron's moon but it's not safe to stay here so we will be heading for the munitions dump to re-supply ourselves. After that we will make a decision on where we go from there. That is all."

The reality of their situation settled into the people on the flight deck and several of them could be heard sobbing loudly. Taylor looked at Lauren who stood stunned at the news. "Are you all right?" he asked, laying his hand on her shoulder.

"I…Oh Gods!" She couldn't take it anymore and she bolted for the hatch. She ran through the hallways blindly until she ended up in a crumpled heap by a hatch tears streaming down her face. The implication of the attack had finally hit her and she wondered if any of her friends or family were still alive. She sat there silently praying to any of the Gods that would listen to protect her family.

Taylor found her there still in tears and he slid down the wall to sit beside her. "I'm sorry Lauren. I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Thanks Cole, I just…it all kinda hit me at once. It's so hard to believe. My family, my little sister…Gods, Lee."

Cole looked at her questioningly. "I take it he was close to you?"

Lauren nodded, fresh tears coming to her eyes. She needed someone to comfort her and Cole saw that need so he pulled her into a hug and let her pull strength from him. They sat there for a long time, simply comforting each other. When Lauren had cried herself out she wiped her face and smiled at him.

"Thanks Cole. Seriously, I needed that. I'm okay now."

"Are you sure? I'm here if you want to talk about it."

"Actually, what I need right now is a hot shower and something to eat. Not that I think I can eat but I should try."

"Well let me show you the way my friend," he joked as she rose from the floor and held his hand out to help her up.

The next morning they reached the munitions base and docked to begin to pull various weapons from the stores. They were about halfway done when the Dradis indicated incoming ships. The alert was sounded and the pilots all ran for the flight deck. Suddenly the alarms stopped and the comm system announced that the contacts were Colonial. A loud cheer rang through the ship as the meaning of that announcement settled in. If there were Colonial ships around then there were possibly other survivors too and there may be hope for everyone's loved ones.

The three ships were identified as a freight hauler, a passenger carrier and a merchant vessel. All three docked with the munitions station and the captains rushed to meet with the Admiral and her staff. The were mainly unarmed ships so any Fleet presence would be an asset to them and necessary for their surviival.

At some point the decision was made to leave the system and search for more survivors headed out of the system to safety. Lauren and Cole were on the flight deck when a message came down from the Admiral for them to report to a conference room up by CIC. Lauren looked questioningly at Cole who shrugged and led the way.

When they reached the conference they learned that the civilians had been trying to find any kind of protection they could. The merchant captain had suggested looking at the munitions dumps and the rest had followed. Along the way they picked up a small four person shuttle that had been stranded during the battle. The shuttle crew reported that they had received a message over the wireless from the Battlestar Galactica and from the acting President advising them to come to the Ragnar Anchorage station. The Admiral was still set on finding out if more survivors were about and she thanked the three captains and dismissed them.

"All right people, this is what I see. We've got armaments enough for three Battlestars now and the Cylons are still hanging around out there. We can either run or fight and my vote is for fight. Does anyone disagree?" She looked around the table at the crew she'd assembled. Some of them were paler than others but no one questioned the Admiral's decision. "Good, then this is the plan."