DR: And now we hear the tale from Achilles POV. Plus something else...XD I'm using an element from the novel version of BSG here BTW. Oh, and the Defender is another Todd Boyce ship.


Chapter 4: War Stories

Adama looked up at Achilles entered his quarters the next morning. The younger man looked a little worse for wear, but he clearly was determined to do his duty. "Late night?" He asked gently. Apollo smirked at the look on Achilles face.

Achilles slumped into the seat before Adama's desk. "It is obvious?" He asked, passing a hand over his eyes. Adama just nodded.

"I'm sorry sir. It's just… at last I've managed to get this fleet together. It's been a long yahren…"

"That it has. I don't blame you. You've endured much, and I'm proud that you have stayed true to your belief and our cause. My wife is very impressed with you."

Achilles looked up sharply, eyes wide. Apollo also looked startled. "Really? We did kind of, butt heads a lot…"

Adama smiled. "So did I when I first met her. Did you know that when I first saw her, she was speaking out against the Colonial Military, saying that we wasted money?"

Achilles looked shocked for a second, before chuckling. "No sir, I didn't. I knew she was politically active, but I never thought she had apposed our line of work."

"It wasn't the warriors, just the high command." Adama's mirth passed. "Illa told me about what you did… back on Caprica. As well as everything you've done since then. You're a credit to the uniform."

Achilles's head lowered. "Tell that to the faces of those I had to leave behind…"

"I know what you mean son. I see them too…" Adama could see how the weight of that guilt was slowly crushing the young man. The Scorpia tribe always had a tendency to feel things far more deeply than any other tribe. While to an outsider they could appear cold and self-centred, unwilling to help those in need, this stemmed more from a philosophy of self-reliance. They could be judgemental, but accepted that their opinions were their own, and recognised that other people had their own views.

Achilles suffered worse because he was considered 'strongly Scorpionic'. He showed those traits more than most. He could be stubborn and difficult in his own views, but when he cared he would thrown heaven and earth into helping. Scorpia's tended to be driven by their passions, and Achilles was more driven than most.

"Achilles, you've achieved far more than anyone could have thought possible. I know you had less ships to look after, most of which could take care of themselves, but it was still a mighty feat keeping them together and maintaining a goal. You should be proud of yourself."

Apollo looked between the two, seeing how similar they had turned out, yet also the differences between them. While Adama had never hinted that he was haunted by his decisions back then, it was clear that Achilles was. But on the other hand Achilles was the kind to take such actions, instinctively knowing they were the right ones.

Achilles lifted his head once more. "Thank you sir. That means a lot to me."

Adama smiled. "Well, I hope this shows the depth of my appreciation." He glanced down at the reader before him. "Now that our fleets are combined and we're currently safe from the Cylons, I'm going to reorganise the warriors. It's long past time that I clean house and rebuild the chain of command." He looked apologetically at Apollo. "While it was just my ship, I could get away with a very loose system, but with all these other ships now…"

"You need to define who has jurisdiction where." Achilles finished nodding. "I'll help any way I can sir."

"I know you will, which is why I'm planning on making you second in command of the Fleet." Adama and Apollo watched as Achilles's face dropped in shock. His eyes widened rapidly.

"You… serious?"

"Absolutely."

Achilles opened and closed his jaw for a few microns before more words came out. "Would I have to deal with the civilians?"

Adama did chuckle this time. "No. I'll handle that side. I am president of the Quorum of Twelve now remember."

"Well in that case I'll accept. Thank you sir."

"You deserve it. Though I have to tell you, If Commander Cain and the Pegasus turn up again and stay, you'll be bumped down a notch."

Achilles smiled. "That's fine sir. Less chance of me having to deal with those old fools."

The three of them laughed heartily at his quip at the council. After a few microns Adama stood up before crossing the room. "Would you care for a drink?"

"Do I have a choice?" Achilles quipped. "Something light if you have it. Afraid I hit the Ambrosa hard last night." Adama quickly filled three glasses before returning to his seat.

"So, let's start with your ship Colonel. I had a look at the initial proposal for the Battlecruiser design, but I take it things changed since then. Care to tell me about your ship?"

"Sure sir." Achilles stretched his legs out before continuing. "I won't bore you with the reasons behind the idea, so I'll jump straight into how my ship got mixed in. My squadron was based on her at the time of her last engagement, though I had moved up to Strike Captain by that point. Afterwards, I was pretty much the only officer still standing. The colonel was wounded, missing a leg, and the Major was dead. So technically I was acting captain.

"We were towed to the Scorpia shipyards, where the prototype of the new class, Predator was being built. I'm not sure who got the idea, but it came down that they wanted run a second experiment using my ship. It was hoped that it would be easier to turn a Protector into a Predator than to scrap the first and build the second from scratch. Thunderchild was a perfect test craft, after having already been half torn apart by the Cylons.

"Some of the original design specs were changed on the fly. Mostly they were lessons learned on Predator, so they got them right on Thunderchild. For instance, the original design had two heavy beam lasers in the bow, but the power feeds kept burning out. So for Thunderchild they mounted twin fast-charge mediums instead of each heavy. She's got another two medium ad four light beams along her flanks. The missile tubes and racks were removed to make room for more stores. We kept the full array of turbolasers, with a few minor tweaks. But the main difference was added after the Cylons first attacked the Shipyard.

"You see, despite the orders to cease work once the peace offer came through, the personal at the shipyard were not totally convinced. They carried on work, albeit at a slower pace. So when the Cylons attacked, both ships were almost ready.

The two Defenders assigned to the yards did the bulk of the fighting, but we gave them some cover. Even managed to bag ourselves an older Warstar in the bargain. But things didn't go all our way. Predator's engines were damaged, while my six turreted light beam lasers were wrecked. I don't think the Cylon raiders like me carving their homes apart with them." Adama and Apollo smiled with Achilles.

"Besides that, several of my secondary weapons were also wreaked. One Defender was without power, the other had major hull fractures. Half our vipers gone." Apollo winced at that little fact. He knew about heavy pilot losses.

"We knew that it was only a matter of time before the Cylons returned, so we had to act fast. Already a number of ships were gathering around us, mainly freighters and a couple of Guardians – the Striker, Rosetta and the Andrasta - who had been on long patrol. So we had to do something.

"Predator's engines were too badly damaged to easily fix, so the decision was made to bring my ship to full effectiveness first. The engineers worked like the clappers to strip weapons off the Defenders to not only replace my lost weapons, but also finish the Pollex. She had almost been finished herself, just needed her teeth and a crew. Thing is there were no spare light beam laser turrets."

"So what did you use?" Adama asked as Achilles took a sip from his drink.

"Remember how the Tiger's mount mega-pulsars captured from the Cylons?" Adama nodded. "Well, we stripped six twin mega-laser turrets from the wreck of the Warstar, and mounted them on my ship instead of the beam lasers."

Adama leaned back in his seat, eyes wide. Research had been trying to copy the Cylon's mega-lasers for yahrens, but had never managed it. Their range and hitting power made any other heavy turbolaser redundant. Apollo looked startled. Having been on the receiving end of a barrage of those weapons, he knew what they could do. Plus the psychological impact of facing such long-ranged weapons was considerable.

"Those things have been a godsend. Man those Cylons know their weapons. You realise they use less power that our light beams, but have double the range and do more than half as much damage again over time?" Achilles shook his head. "They really helped us out since then."

Adama nodded, chuckling at the thought of turning the Cylons own weapons against them. "What about the other ships?"

"Well, the wreaked Defenders were stripped of anything and everything, and their crews transferred to the Pollex, the Matriarch and my ship to make up the numbers. I took aboard the remaining Vipers and organised them into two squadrons, backed up by my old flight wing. The remaining pilots went to the Matriarch. Predator was left with a skeleton crew. We also shifted personal around to get all the freighters going and took everything from the shipyard that wasn't nailed down, and a few things that were." Achilles chuckled at some memory of that day, and even Adama couldn't keep a straight face as he thought about what could have been taken.

"We had already begun to get people off the Colonies, coordinating with the others ships as they returned from their patrols. We used Illuminati as our comm centre. Just like you, anything that could fly was pressed into service. We had more fighters than we had pilots, mostly the older Scorpions, the old 6th Millennium fighters.

"Then the Cylons returned, and they meant business. They brought a Hades Basestar up, with a squadron of gunships in support. We had already decided on a battle plan, but it was still hard to act on." Achilles looked glum.

Adama already had an idea of the plan. "Predator drew their fire, buying you time to escape." He stated.

Achilles nodded. "Yes... They drove right into the heart of the Cylon force, one squadron of fighters flying cover. We didn't have room for them, even with fighters waiting to land in the Guardians shuttle bays." He paused to take a drink.

"I want it on record that they took out a Hades alone. I'll never forget the image of her, burning from stem to stern, ploughing right into the core of that baseship. She broke it in two before her engines went up, ripping what was left apart. After that it was easy to slip away. They died heroes."

"Indeed." Adama agreed. It had been a noble sacrifice.

"After that, it was mainly a case of avoiding the Cylons while we picked up as many as we could before heading out ourselves. At first we weren't sure which way to go, but Illuminati was outfitted with extended range surveillance, tracking and scanning systems. Seems her last op had been long range monitoring of Cylon supply lines. She was able to pick out your ion trail.

"After you left Carillon, we decided to shadow you, watching your back as it were. Gave us a scare when you entered that void, but Illuminati's sensors came through again. Since then we've stayed close, but not too close. I had my fleet split apart and take multiple vectors, each element crossing your path every now and again. They would also link up and exchange supplies, people, news and ships before heading off again. The idea was to so totally confuse the Cylons that they wouldn't know which way you had gone. The rest… well you know already."

Adama sat in thought for a centon, contemplating Achilles story. It matched the logs he had been reading last night and this morning, and sounded like something he would do himself, had he not been charged with the defence of the two-hundred odd civilian ships.

"Sounds like you've fairly busy." Apollo commented. Achilles regarded him with a serious gaze.

"You have no idea…"

"So…" Adama sat forwards again, pulling up a squadron rooster on his reader. "Fighters. Apollo, what's our current situation?"

Apollo leaned forward a little. "I've got Red, Blue, Silver and Bronze Spar squadrons up to thirty fighters. I still need to fill the last flight for each. I've got enough pilots to form a couple more squadrons after that, but I'm coming up short on fighters."

"Silver Spar and Bronze Spar?" Achilles queried. "Weren't those the Pegasus's squadrons?"

"They were. Cain transferred them to us when he... left." Achilles nodded, accepting that answer for now. He could get the details later.

Adama turned to him now. "What about you? You said before that you had more fighters than pilots…"

"Yes, that's still true." Achilles shrugged. "I've managed to keep my two squadrons, Black Knight and White Knight, at full strength. And so far we haven't lost one of my babies." All three men grinned at his name for the twelve Viper mark II-B's. They had been the experimental squadron he commanded on the Galatica. Vipers with much heavier armour and weapons than normal, they were much better at killing warships than a normal viper, but tended to struggle against Raiders. True they could take much more punishment, but they didn't like to have to.

"I've also got two flights of six Vipers in the Tigers, one each. Also Matriarch has a full squadron of Scorpions ready to go, manned by older pilots who remember how to fly them." Achilles looked down at his reader to check his memory. "There's also another three squadrons worth of Scorpions tucked away in crates as spares within her bowels, and a couple of squadrons worth of Viper spares. We don't have the parts or the tools, yet, to build full Vipers, but we can stock you up on any spares you need."

"Good, that's something we're getting really low on father, Viper spares. I know the Foundry ships have been working to make new parts, but they not as good as proper ones."

"I know son, it's a sign of the times." Adama faced Achilles. "What about warship parts?" Achilles referred to his reader once more.

"Well, we've gone through the bulk of our lighter turbolaser weapons, but there's still a modest amount left. And Matriarch still has one bay filled with warship grade armour that we haven't touched yet."

"Excellent. Galactica may carry her own supplies, but we're running low. I had began to worry as to how we could patch her up again after the next fight. But if you've still got…" The buzz of the comm system interrupted him. "Yes?" Adama barked into the mike.

"I'm sorry father, but the Illuminati is on the comm. The captain wishes to speak with you." Athena's worried voice came over.

"Patch him through." Adama's voice softened as all three men turned to face the wall next to the hatch. The screen lit up and displayed the face of the Illuminati's captain, a captain Ricen. Thin and hawk faced, he matched the common idea of an intelligence officer.

"Yes captain, what is it?" Adama asked.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Commander, but we've picked a contact on the edge of our scanners. It's following almost the same course as the Galactica's, and whatever it is, it's big."

"How far out is it?" Achilles asked his voice calm.

"Twenty-five centares out." Apollo's eyebrows rose at the captain's reply.

"Very well." Adama told him. "Keep an eye on it and alert me when you get any idea of what it is." Captain Ricen nodded before the screen blanked.

"Twenty-five centares out…" Apollo breathed. "Now I see how you managed to stay ahead of the Cylons. Galactica can only see twelve centares."

Achilles smirked. "I did say that Illuminati had extended range sensors. We reckon a BaseStar has a range of about thirteen centares, so we've managed to tip-toe around them."

"In any case, we need to know what it is before doing anything. How close did you have to get before you knew what you were dealing with?"

Achilles frowned. "Generally about ten centares out for a detailed look, fifteen for a reasonable one enough to ID them. Except for a Basestar or a Cylon Tartarus, where we could ID them at twenty and eighteen respectfully. Something about their drives makes them quite distinctive."

Adama relaxed. "Well then, we should have plenty of warning if the Cylons try to catch us again."

Achilles smiled. "That's why I made her stay at the back sir, to give us maximum warning."

"Good thinking Colonel. Now, as for squadron commands… Achilles?"

"Both Black and White Knight have a captain in command, plus the usual scattering of flight-sergeants. Currently Black has three flight-sergeants, each leading a flight, while White has a Lieutenant and four sergeants backing up her captain. He's a little green behind the ears, but so far has shaped up nicely. Though I think that's partly because his Lieutenant has been handling most of the paperwork for him. She's good at the details."

"She?" Apollo looked at Achilles sharply.

"I couldn't afford to turn away any gifted pilots." Achilles stated calmly. "I know convection frowns on women combat pilots, and to be frank I don't really see the problem most of the time, as long as their good enough to handle it." He paused for a micron. "I will admit though that I'm not entirely comfortable doing so."

"To be fair Achilles, you're right. I too am reluctant to place women in vipers, but we don't really have a choice right now. It's a shame that only times like these do we learn what is truly important in life. Which rules and regulations are worth keeping and which are not. Remember what happened to the rules against crew members having relationships with each other?"

Achilles smiled. "Oh, I remember those. I had to do a piece on them back in the academy. Did they really think that saying 'You can't do that!' would stop people having feelings for each other? I mean, I understood the concerns about divided loyalties and clouded judgement, but honestly, if they wanted unfeeling drones they should have recruited Cylons!"

Adama chuckled with Achilles while Apollo looked horrified at the mere joke.

"Well, back to business. I'm afraid I've let thing slide for too long here on Galactica. I've only got one captain, Apollo here. There are four promising Lieutenants and a dozen able flight-sergeants, but all four squadrons have of sort of blurred together."

Achilles smiled. "Don't worry about it Commander. I'll let you off. Though there is one other thing…"

"Yes?"

"The Rosetta." He stated his smile dropping. "Her current brevet-captain is still too green for a command role. I think she'll make an excellent first officer, but someone needs to fill the command slot."

"Hmm, I have to agree after looking over her record. The last report by her captain states that 'She's a hard-working and steady officer, but lacks flare and creativity.'" Adama looked at his reader, deep in thought.

The comm system chimed again. "Father, the Illuminati's on the line again."

"Patch him in." Once more Captain Ricen's image came up on screen.

"Sirs, we've managed to get some partial readings. The scans are refusing to lock down, but we've got some basic data." He looked off screen, clearly checking a reader.

"She's about the same size as a Battlestar, with a mass estimate of at least eighty percent of one. She's moving at just over point two light speed, heading unchanged. She'll pass within five centares at closest approach. Currently nineteen centares out."

"Thank you captain. Stay on the line for the moment." Adama turned to regard Apollo and Achilles. "What do you think gentlemen?"

Achilles sat back, rubbing his chin. "Hmm, I'm not sure, but doesn't sound like any Cylon ship I know of. Anything new would use those new drives, and Illuminati would pick those out clearly at that range with that size. Captain, what's the warbook's closest approximation?"

Captain Ricen looked away for a long moment. "Warbook refuses to lock in sir, but I don't think its Cylon. Power signature is all wrong."

"Maybe we should send out a patrol?" Apollo suggested.

Adama sat quietly for a centon, weighing things up. If it was Cylon, then sending out a patrol would lead the Cylon Empire after them. If it was not, then it could be a potential first contact situation, and that was a whole new can of worms.

At last he made his mind. "We'll launch a patrol out, but we'll make it a reinforced one. Apollo, take the whole of blue squadron. Achilles, send out half of your 'specials'. They'll look like just one squadron until they get close, at which point if they are hostile, then it'll be too late." He turned back to Captain Ricen. "Captain, keep trying to ID that ship. Send your sensor data to Galatica."

"Understood sir, we'll keep at it." Ricen signed off.

Adama punched a direct line with the bridge. "Omega, you should be getting a data feed from the Illuminati. Coordinate with Rigel to work out a best intercept point for a mixed flight of Vipers and Viper-B's. Launch in one half centar."

"Aye Sir." Omega responded crisply. Achilles stood up with Apollo.

"Well sir, I'd best get back to my ship. Need to get my pilots woken up."

Adama smiled. "Once again, thank you. You've made us far stronger than we ever hoped to be."

"Just doing my part for the Colonies sir, even if they are gone."

Adama could only smile after both men had left. Looking down at the list of posts and names on his reader, he considered the juggling act he had to achieve. Fitting the right people into the right slot was going to be a challenge. He already had several figured out, but the Rosetta could be a big problem. Who could he assign there?

Unbidden a thought entered his mind, causing Adama to smirk…


DR: Now what could that be... find out next time!