When two Tribes go to war... (Part 17)

"We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Tennyson, Ulysses

Beka felt her ship lurch as a round from one of the Pegasus' few remaining turrets hit its port wing, destroying the laser. Electricity stated to dance across the controls as the power plant began to overload. Reacting on instinct, Beka smashed the Perspex cover protecting the controls to jettison the core before it reached overload.

Glowing brightly, the reactor fell away from the stricken fighter before exploding in a blinding flash of light. Debris hit the fighter, sending it spinning out of control, forcing Beka to eject before it crashed into the Pegasus.

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Cain felt her command shudder violently as the remains of Beka's slipfighter impacted against the outer hull. The lights flickered on and off a few times, before finally dieing completely.

"Report!" She barked.

"Main power is offline." Her operations officer reported, "Emergency power is coming on-line now."

The low level back-up lights flickered on, illuminating the smoke filled CIC. Sparks continued to fly from the ships computers as the attacking fighters fired remorselessly at the now defenceless Battlestar.

"Bring us round to face the Galactica." Cain looked round, all reason and sense having fled, "Give me ramming speed!"

"Ma'am?" The operations officer asked; a worried look on her face.

"I need you with me on this, Athena. I know Bill; he'll blink first!"

"Yes...I mean, Aye-Aye, Admiral: ramming speed."

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"The Pegasus is moving!" Lt. Gaeta looked worried, "Sir; I think she's going to try and ram us!"

"The hell she is!" Adama looked round to the main monitor, "Re-direct all our weapons fire at the Pegasus; aim for her engines only. Leave the destroyers to our fighters."

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While it is true that heavy Battlestars like the Galactica and Pegasus were mainly carriers, built to transport large numbers of fighters to and from a battle, they still needed to be able to stand toe-to-toe with other capital ships without being instantly overwhelmed. Ablative armour plating, meters thick, covered the entire hull, thickest where it covered important systems.

But the Pegasus had already taken damage, massive rents crossing its broad back in a crisscross pattern. Weapons fire from the Galactica slammed into it in a near constant stream, breaking off large chunks of armour. Weapons fire started to break through the armour, hitting the more delicate internal structure.

The engineers who had designed and built the Pegasus had known what they were doing, and had heavily reinforced the ships internal structure, allowing it to bear the force of fire hitting the thick around. But without the protection of the outer hull plating, the internal structure was unable to withstand the onslaught, and supports started to buckle.

Power relays began to overload as the engines were pushed beyond their operational parameters. This, added to the damage dealt by the Galactica, knocked the out of alignment. The safety systems cut in, stopping the reactors form overloading as main power died throughout the once mighty Battlestar.

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"NO!" Cain bellowed as she slammed her fists down on the map table as her command lost power, dieing around her, "NO!"

"Admiral," The operations officer stood, "we must stand down."

"NO!" Cain span round, her eyes wide with rage, "I will not be defeated by that bastard!"

"This ends, now," There was the sound of a gun being cocked, and the bridge crew looked round to see a stranger standing in the doorway, "By order of the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, you will stand down!"

"You!" Cain moved her hand towards her side arm.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that, Admiral." Rommie's eyes narrowed, "I can think of a dozen places I can shoot you that won't kill you, but will cause enough pain to incapacitate you. I can hit four of them without adjusting my aim. Your ship is disabled in a system filled with Cylons. All you have to do to save your crew is stand down."

"Burn in hell, you Cylon bitch!" Cain started to move her hand towards her side arm again, but stopped when she felt the pressure of a gun pressed against the back of her head.

"Admiral, I am relieving you of your command." Athena swallowed, "I'm sorry..."

"Et tu, Athena?" All the emotion seemed to flow out of Cain's voice and face, "Et tu?"

"My first loyalty has to be to our people." Athena looked round the room, "Master-at-Arms: you will escort the Admiral to her quarters and see that she does not leave without my express order."

"Ma'am?" The startled guard seemed to ask Cain, Rommie and Athena for clarification.

"It's ok." Cain lowered her head, "I'll go peacefully."

"Well, I'm glad that's sorted." Rommie lowered her commandeered side arm as the guard led the Admiral away, "Lieutenant Commander Andromeda Ascendant, of the Systems Commonwealth High Guard." She saluted.

"Lieutenant Athena Cain, Colonial Armed Forces." Athena returned the salute, "We should inform the Galactica that the Admiral has been relieved of command..."

"Already done: the Alexander and Mjolnir have also stood down, and the Galactica is recalling all her fighters. What will it take to get main power back?"

"In truth? Divine intervention."

"Would an amazingly talented engineer do?"

"If you have one." Athena lowered her eyes, "I'd like to thank you for..."

"Don't thank me just yet." Rommie cut her off, "This crew tortured a senior member of a government allied to the Systems Commonwealth, fired upon a High Guard warship without provocation, and who knows what else. There will be a reckoning for what happened here today."

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"The Pegasus, Alexander and Mjolnir are all standing down." Lt. Gaeta smiled for what felt like the first time in days, "Admiral Cain has been relived off her command."

"Cease firing; recall all fighters." Adama looked at Tigh, "I'm getting too old for this..."

"You and me both, old friend; you and me both." Tigh leaned in closer, "Athena's a tough kid, I'm sure she's..."

"She'll be fine, I know she will, but Sheba and I didn't part on good terms the last time we saw each other; I'm not sure what she may have told Athena."

"Sheba Cain may be a lot of things, but she's too much like her old man to lie about the character of a fellow officer. I know the two of you have history, but I shouldn't have to remind you that we have more pressing matters to attend to? Like what the hell's happening to the fleet we were supposed to be guarding?"

To Be Continued...
(At some point. Stop bugging me)