Disclaimer: And I still do not own any part of Battlestar Galactica or these fabulous characters. Gods I do love them, though :)
Dark Days
Chapter Four
Kara's whole body ached, both from the cold and from trying to sleep on that hard ground. She had given her bed to Tigh and Ellen the night before, as they had not had a chance to set up their own tent in all of the confusion. Anders was still MIA, and the knot in her stomach had not gone away. Stepping out of the tent into the frigid morning air, Kara looked immediately to the sky. Until yesterday this had been her morning ritual, and she had been comforted by it. She always rose early, before most of the city, took a run around the settlement, and then grabbed her rod and headed to the river to try and catch breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This morning would be no different...the toaster had told them to go about life like nothing had changed. But something had, the security of the routine was gone. The city, normally dead quite at this time of the morning buzzed with activity. Toasters didn't sleep, and neither had most of the settlement, what with the events of the day before. Kara looked up again as a single Heavy Raider soared down towards the city.
"Yeah, because that is exactly what they need...more toasters. Like they didn't have enough already to maintain their frakkin order." she muttered to herself, breaking into her run. "Lords, if you are listening, its me again. I know I was becoming a pest before, but I've done my best to leave you alone lately. I hope that counts for something, because I'm back and I could sure use some help right now..." she paused for a moment, "No? OK, well... I'll just check back in with you later then. I ought to warn you though, I can be a real pain in the ass when I want to be, and I have that on very good authority."
Kara continued along her normal route, heading back towards the Colonial (and now Cylon) ships via the promenade in the center of the city, then swinging back around and running towards the river mouth along the outskirts of the settlement. She would make several laps this morning, as she tried to outrun the tension in her body. She passed just inside several of the new metal boundaries as she ran, and eyed the metallics on patrol.
They seemed not even to notice her as she passed them by.
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Apollo let himself relax a little as he and Sharon passed over New Caprica City. The jump had gone well, landing them in orbit around the planet, and the Cylon fleet had ignored them. Sharon had warned him that they might be challenged, and to be prepared to jump away if this happened. So far though, the Cylons seemed completely uninterested in the raider.
"We should put down close to the city but away from the other ships," he hollered this to Sharon, over the sound of the engines. "There, by the delta. It is close enough to the tents to make a run for it if we have to."
"If we land the ship away from the other raiders, we'll be drawing attention to ourselves." she hollered back to him.
"I thought that was what I had you for, to deflect any unwanted attention." Lee frowned, as he looked out over the city. "Ok, we'll put it down back there, by that cluster of raiders, but as close to those tents as possible. We need the shortest distance between us and the cover of the city."
Sharon steered the raider away from the water and back towards the other raiders. While Lee knew enough about the Heavy Raider to make the flight himself, having Sharon at the controls had been another tactical decision. The raider's controls had been torn apart and reconstructed numerous times since it had come into their possession; the brain had been removed for Starbuck's rescue mission to Caprica. After that, Chief Tyrol and the crew had attacked the ship like a giant puzzle, reworking it, making it a viable flying machine for the fleet. Lee had been out it in himself on more than one occasion, but never on a mission. Even with the adjustments that had been made, Sharon seemed to have an innate understanding of the machine. And having her in control of the ship as they entered Cylon occupied territory also added weight to their cover, with the hopes that a Cylon piloting a Cylon vessel would not seem so out of place.
Sharon was looking out over the city as well, puzzled, "You know if I couldn't see the Cylons myself, I'd almost say nothing had happened here. No evidence of a fight, and there are people, humans, walking around freely. At least you know they aren't all dead." She glanced over at Lee.
"Thank the Gods for that!" Lee looked out as well as Sharon positioned the raider for landing. Back on Galactica they had gone over several possible scenarios of what they might encounter when they reached the planet. Even in their best case scenarios, however, all had agreed that they should expect heavy damage and casualties in the city. He was afraid to let himself think too much about what what this might mean for his friends out there, afraid to let himself hope for the best. There had already been too much disappointment in his life. He focused instead on what their next step would be, now that they were on the ground.
The longer they were on the planet the higher the risk of being detected by the Cylons. Even Sharon, Cylon herself, had voiced concern about being discovered. She had betrayed her people to help his more than once, and she did not want to come under close scrutiny by any of them while on the planet. Her face was their ticket onto the planet and off of the ship, but now that they were here, Lee knew they had to keep a low profile. As much as he hated putting so much trust in Sharon, he knew that they had to split up.
Sharon would do the recon, gathering tactical information on the placement of ships, patrols, etc. She had been given all of the specs available regarding the planet and the city before they had left. Sharon had not been to the planet before, having spent the long months in orbit on Galactica, and most of that time had been spent in her cell.
Lee's role had been far less defined, and had hinged on their initial survey of the city. The fact that there were still humans, that there was still a city even, meant that he would get the opportunity to search for his people. He needed to find military personnel, needed to find out what measures were being taken here in the city. Any subsequent rescue mission would now depend on how well he could co-ordinate with the people here on the city. He calculated how many people they could get onto the raider on this trip, beside Sharon and himself, it was a handful at best, but it was still more than had let himself anticipate back on Galactica.
"I'm ready when you are," Sharon stated, removing her helmet and bulky flight suit. They had both worn civilian clothes under the suits, and had brought civilian jackets with them, not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves. Lee followed her lead in this.
"Ok, walk me to the third tent," he pointed down the closest alley. "That should be far enough to get me in, then we'll split up. We've got at most 24 hours down here if we want to have any chance of meeting Galactica and Pegasus at the rendezvous. We'll meet tonight at that same tent at 1830 hours, take stock of what we have gathered by then and we should still have enough time to fill in any gaps that we find."
"And if you aren't there at 1830? If either one of us is caught before we can meet back up, what then?"
Lee turned his head towards her, as they stood by the hatch, about to step out into the city. A few moments of silence ticked by as he locked eyes with her. When he finally spoke his voice was quiet, controlled, "Don't get caught. That is an order."
Her eyes narrowed, "I don't plan to. But if you aren't there at 1830 hours what do you want me to do, Sir?" Sharon all but spat that last word out.
"Find Starbuck."
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"You were right. They are earlier than anticipated but she has brought him back," he said, as they watched the two forms emerging from the Heavy Raider. As Sharon and Lee slipped between the rows of tents, the man turned to the figure beside him. "I must admit that I am surprised. I underestimated Sharon's desire for revenge. It is fascinating."
"It isn't fascinating, it's pathetic. She is filled with rage and can't cope, it is clouding her decisions, and she is going to make a mistake. If she jeopardizes this for us…"
He smiled, looking over at her, the smile not quite reaching his eyes, which remained cold and penetrating, "You give her too much credit. She doesn't have that kind of influence, not anymore. What we are going to do here is more powerful than anything that has ever been done before. It is the Will of God, and he will not let one lost sheep stand in His way."
Her eyes flashed, her face becoming momentarily hard, "Maybe you aren't giving her enough credit, don't underestimate the power of an all consuming emotion. Rage, fear, hate...:
"You're forgetting Love." Came a soft voice from behind them. Doral and the number eight that was Boomer turned at this and greeted Caprica, who smiled happily at Boomer. "Love is everything."
They all looked back out over the city. Boomer's gaze was drawn to the runner who was approaching from the perimeter of the city. Her eyes softened for a moment as she saw the runner's face, recognizing it instantly. Kara. "Yes," she replied, "but that is a lesson that most of them still need to learn."
Doral's smile widened, "They will."