Seriously guys, this is not a story I work on every day, or even every week: it gets written when I'm in the mood.

When two Tribes go to war... (Part 8)

The Pillars of Hercules moved deeper in system at a relatively sluggish 10-PSL, its damaged engines doing their best to move the badly damaged destroyer towards Admiral Rhade's last known position.

"Sorry Rom-doll, but that's the best I can give you." Harper pulled himself out of the maintenance hatch on the command deck, "This ship was in a bad state to start, and that little scrap you had with the Cylons, ripped everything up good."

"Sitting in a live-fire war zone on a half-crippled ship." Tyr muttered, "Explain to me again why we are doing this?"

"Because there isn't anyone else in a position to look for the Admiral." Rommie replied as she set about fixing the fire-control station, "And we need to find out if the Cylons have more ships hidden deeper in the system."

"Rhade, Admiral, Tarazed Defence Force, 98696637-Alpha." Telemachus mumbled, trying to get his legs back under his body to take the weight off his wrists.

"We can plan the 'Name, Rank and Serial Number' game all night if you want, Admiral." Cain sighed as one of the guards landed a blow to Telemachus' jaw that snapped the Nietzschean's head back, "But there has got to be a point where even a Cylon can't take any more."

"Rhade, Admiral, Tarazed Defence Force, 98696637-Alpha."

"This is going to take all day…"

"So, what can you tell me about the Colonials?" Dylan asked as he stood outside the conference room with Ryan.

"Well, they are human, but there is a marker in their DNA that points to some manipulation in the distant past, thousands of years before Earth was first contacted." The other captain explained, "They have a distrust of AI and advanced technology that borders on xenophobia, despite the fact that their ships use Tesseracts for faster-than-light travel. This makes them, in that area, more advanced then even the old Commonwealth."

"But they only use Tesseracts for space-travel, nothing else. Doesn't that strike you as strange?"

"To an extent: Andromeda was looking into Colonial history before your arrival with her ship-self, and has found references to 'the divine gifts of the Lords of Kobol'. This appears to relate to their jump-drives: it appears that they encountered a space-probe baring the markings of their founders that was equipped with a Tesseract-drive and used it for the bases of their FTL program."

"And the Lords of Kobol are?"

"The evidence points to the Vedran Empire: there is some similarity between an obscure Vedran dialect and the language used by the Lords of Kobol."

"But why would the Vedran Empire got to all the trouble to abduct who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people and transport them beyond the edge of the known worlds, and set them up with a society that treated them like gods?

"Now that, Captain, is a good question…"

"I'm picking up shielded transmissions from the asteroid belt ahead." Rommie looked up from her work, "The belt is unusually thick for a system this size: it was probably crated when two large planetoids collided billions of years ago."

"Will we be able to navigate it?" Tyr asked.

"We should be able to, but I sagest activating the PDL's to deal with anything too big." Rommie nodded, "I just wish we had a full crew. Hold. I'm picking up a week signal. Could be Admiral Rhade's fighter."

"Move us in, slowly." Tyr moved to the command station, "Bring what weapons we have on-line."

"Missile tubes one-through-twenty are operational, as are AP-cannons one and three." Harper attached his data-port to the ships systems, "But we're still flying like a bed in a hurricane."

"Cute." Rommie shot him a glance, "I'm picking up a debris field consistent with a RF-42 Centaur tactical fighter."

"Any sign of the flight recorder or the escape pod?" Try asked, "We need to find out what happened."

"Scanning. I have the flight recorder, but no sign of the escape pod. Judging by the amount of wreckage, I'd say the Admiral ejected and has been captured."

"Launch our sensor-drones: I want to know who or what is out there."

"Commander, our patrol in the asteroid belt has detected an unidentified ship approaching our position." A tech interrupted Cain as she continued to interrogate Telemachus, "They are requesting further orders."

"Looks like your friends have come looking for you, Cylon." The Colonial officer looked at the half-conscious Nietzschean, "Order the fighters to get a silowet then return to base. Have the Alexander and Mjolnir step up their alert level and have our squadrons stand by for immediate launch. Its time we caught up with the Galatica and see what old Husker is up to."

"I'm not a Cylon." Telemachus spat blood on the deck, two of his teeth falling out.

"That's what they all say." Cain lifted a electric-shock stick from a table near the wall, "But we know you're a Cylon: you may be able to pass most tests, but you still have machines in your blood, and that is a dead give away." She pressed a button on the shock-stick's handle, and sparks shot between the two electrodes, "You're not the first Cylon I've interrogated, so I know what I'm doing."

Cain pushed the shock-stick into Telemachus' gut, and he roared with pain.

"I'm picking up two single-seat craft on approach." Rommie looked up as the main screen changed to show the feed from the sensor system, "War-book says Colonial Vipers."

"What are they doing so far from the Galatica?" Tyr asked.

The Hercules shook as the two fighters fired.

"That was not normal!" Rommie looked at the sensor reading, "Vipers carry rapid-fire Gauss cannons, but those are packing high-powered lasers on a par with a Centaur."

"Someone's been lying to us." Tyr snarled, "Taken them down, but don't destroy them: I want the pilots alive!"

"Firing PDL's."

The destroyer's point-defence lasers cut across the void between the warship and Vipers. The pilots were able to dodge the first few shots, but the High Guard ships superior firepower and targeting systems evened the playing field, and the two Vipers were soon disabled.

"Have them brought into the docking bay." Tyr span on his heels, heading for the door, "I'm going to get some answers!"

"Well?" Dylan asked as the delegates left the peace talks.

"They've agreed not to start shooting, as long as the status-quo is maintain." Ambassador Conners reported, "I think it will be a long-time before we have anything even approaching a lasting agreement, but I can hold things together for a little longer, providing nothing changes…"

There was a loud bang as Tyr pressed one of the captured Colonial pilots up against the wall, his Gauss pistol under the terrified mans chin.

"Now I am only going to ask this once." The Nietzschean looked the pilot straight in the eye, "Where is Admiral Rhade?"

"I take no pleasure in doing this, you know?" Cain lamented as Telemachus was strapped into a chair, "But I need information, and this is the only way I have to get it."

"Rhade, Admiral, Tarazed Defence Force, 98696637-Alpha." The Admiral mumbled, on the point of passing out again.

"Yes, well." Cain lifted a long-bladed knife with a razor-sharp edge, "We're see if I can loosen your tough a little…"

To Be Continued…

This, boys and girls, is what happens when I have a good day…