Chapter 3:
CIC, Battlestar Hyperion, High Helios Beta Orbit.
During the Fall of the Colonies.
As John entered the rather empty Command Information Centre (simply known as the CIC), the eyes of each of the crew in the room where firmly planted on the central monitors that hung from the ceiling over the Command Table. "What's going on?" John asked Emily, who was standing behind her control panel to John's left.
"Crow found an unidentified contact sir," Emily reported.
"Well then, Mr Yo," As John spoke he turned to Hermes Yo, the Hyperion's long-serving Communications Officer. Hermes was dark-skinned man with curly hair that he always kept as short as possible. "Hermes I need to get Crow and Spinner on speakers, I want to know what's going on out there. And someone find Colonel, he needs to be here right frakking now," The crew could sense quite a lot of urgency in the Admiral's voice and so they rushes to their tasks without question. "Do we have any idea what the contact might be?" John asked Emily.
"Unfortunately not sir. It was just a shadow but I thought the CAP should check it out," Emily replied. John nodded and started anxiously tapping the table with his nails. John's uneasy feelings had been ebbing and flowing through his blood-stream for about six months and now it had reached his heart. He could almost hear distress calls and screams like whispers through the wind but even then he wasn't prepared for what came next.
"Admiral!" Hermes shouted. John snapped back into the action and his eyes darted towards the Petty Officer.
"What is it?" John asked, his heart pounding.
"Message from Spinner," Hermes replied as he tapped commands into his console and brought up the live audio feed from Major Sidney 'Spinner' Halway's Viper starfighter.
"Hyperion, Spinner: There's something going on around Virgon," Sidney's familiar voice told the CIC crew, although it wasn't as soothing as usual because John hear a tint of panic line the edges of his words. John reached down to the Command Table and picked up one of the cord-phones and put the microphone end up to his lips.
"Spinner, this is Hyperion Actual: What do see?" John asked.
"Actual... there are really bright flashes coming from all over the planet. Is there a meteor shower expected or something?" Sidney asked the Admiral, unable to comprehend the other possibility.
"Spinner, do either you or Crow have a camera fitted?" Sidney was silent for a moment while – John suspected – he checked the ships' manifests.
"Roger Actual, Crow has a camera," At Sidney's reply, John turned to Hermes.
"Mr Yo, bring up the feed from Crow's Raptor," John ordered. "Thank you Spinner, stay on the line," The Admiral shoved the cord-phone back into its berth and looked up at the monitors above his head which changed from their standard DRADIS displays and switched to the feed from the camera mounted on the nose of Captain Karl 'Crow' Stoneham's Raptor. John readied himself for the images but he could never have prepared for the shot that stood before him.
Bright flashes went off all over the planet and great clouds clogged up the atmosphere. Many of the crew didn't understand, but John did. Those flashes where ones he hardly saw anymore. They were the hallmarks of nuclear warheads.
The crew stared silently in disbelief for more moments than John cared to count until he snapped back into the real world. "Turn to camera to face Leonis," John ordered. Hermes nodded his response and made the camera feed swing around to a small dot in the middle of space. They waited in silence for a few moments while John allowed time for the light to travel between them and the planet before he saw it again.
The dot that was Leonis began to twinkle. At first it twinkled like a star but soon the flashes became so frequent it was as if they were looking at a supernova. "My gods..." John whispered. The CIC was completely silent for a moment while everyone in it began to process. John was just about to speak again when Colonel Virgon burst through the revolving doors to the CIC behind John.
"I heard there's a little situation. We're not getting attacked by the Cylons again are we?" The Colonel joked. John stifled a cough before he spoke.
"Actually Matt... I think we are," John struggled to get the words out but as he did he pointed to the monitors above them. The Colonel gave John an unconvinced look before the Colonel's eyes met with the images coming from outside.
"Holy frak..." The Colonel gasped as he watched the footage of Virgon and Leonis.
"Yeah. I need you to rally the troops, tell them what's going on," John told Colonel Virgon.
"What do I tell them about? The fact that their families and everyone they ever knew were just wiped out in an instant?!" The Colonel's tone began to rise so John put a reassuring hand on his arm.
"Don't you worry about the specifics, I'm sure their families, and ours, will be just fine," John whispered into the Colonel's ear. Colonel Virgon gave a confused look before John whispered: "Ark," At which point the Colonel nodded and walked out of the still silent CIC.
John wandered back to the centre of the room and stood silently considering their options. Do they run? Hide? Stand and fight? John – after much deliberation – decided to do the latter and find out what was left of the once mighty Colonial Fleet. Just as he was about to turn to Hermes however, the Petty Officer called out to him after his console started bleeping.
"Admiral! A message from Admiral Nagala," Hermes called out. John rushed over to Hermes, anxious to find out if this was a lone occurrence to Virgon and Leonis or whether all of the Colonies met the same fate. Hermes handed John the message as it rolled out of the console.
With quivering hands John pulled out his reading spectacles and quickly read the message in his head. He walked solemnly back to the centre of the room and picked up one of the cord-phones. Pressing a button on the table, John activated the intercom and addressed his crew.
"This is the Admiral, may I have your attention please?" John said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Moments ago I received word from Admiral Nagala that the Cylons have returned and have destroyed our homes. Caprica City is gone. Fleet Headquarters on and over Picon are gone. The training schools on Leonis are gone. Our shipyards over Scorpia are gone. Our justice and agricultural systems on Libran and Aerilon are gone too. Even our own Fleet's base on Virgon is gone.
"However, we are not. We still remain and, due to the content of this message, at least some of our brothers and sisters in the Fleet are alive as well. Admiral Nagala has taken command of the Fleet aboard the Battlestar Atlantia and we are going to join him in a counter-attack against the Cylon Fleet over our home of Virgon. We are going to work together to take the fight back to those frakking Cylons and make them pay for what they did today.
"We set sail now to avenge our homes and everything we swore to protect! We are not going quietly into the night and we are not heading for the halls of Valhalla today! If you are with me, get this ship combat ready and prepare to jump and those who aren't, get your Cylon asses down to the airlock and kindly throw yourselves out!" John slammed the cord-phone back into the desk and turned to his crew, who were all now standing up.
"So say we all!" Hermes shouted.
"So say we all!" Came the crew's reply. They fell silent and looked to John.
"So say we all," John said, mimicking his crew. They were all silent for a minute before John moved them on. "Right then... Set Condition One throughout the ship and begin jump prep. Mr Yo I want our Vipers in the tubes immediately and as many Raptors as possible outfitted for combat,"
CIC, Battlestar Hyperion, Virgon Orbit.
During the Fall of the Colonies.
Only a few minutes after they had received Admiral Nagala's message, the Hyperion completed her jump into Virgon. Already there was one of the biggest fleet's John had seen assembled and at its core, the gigantic Nova-class Battlestar, Atlantia. Its long hull surrounded the ship in a similar fashion to the Mercury, however its elongated alligator head that curved from the join on the body until it met the bottom of the hull meant it had greater missile-deflection than competing ships.
Alongside the Hyperion were her sister ships in BSG-53. Two compact Battlestars of the Odin-class flanked a large Jupiter-class (one of the last of her kind now that the Galactica was being retired). The Odin's – by the names of Eos and Theia – had long, semi-cylindrical bodies with small yet spacious flight pods attached to either side and were of the same design as the Battlestars Valkyrie and Yashuman who were the first victims of the Cylon attack.
This was all information John was reading off of the DRADIS screen in front of him, on which he could see more and more contacts bleeping into view. A wave of confidence surged through John as he saw that over half the Admiralty were here with him. As the bleeping stopped, John counted about 40 Battlestars around them; a third of the Fleet. With this, John knew there was no way the Cylons could completely destroy them, though – knowing the tricks the Cylons pulled during the last war – there wouldn't be nearly as many by the war's end.
As well as the Battlestars, a whole plethora of support craft – such as Gunstars and Defender-class scouts – filled out the already well-rounded Fleet.
"Admiral!" Hermes called, breaking John's focus on the DRADIS screen. "Incoming transmission for you from the Battlestar Atlantia,"
"Right, yes. Put Rob through," John told Hermes. The Petty Officer nodded and John reached down to the cord-phones in anticipation.
"He's on sir," Hermes said, prompting John to pull the phone up to his ear.
"John," John heard the familiar voice of Admiral Nagala say from down the line.
"Rob, how's it going?" John asked.
"Oh, y'know normal stuff really. The destruction of the Colonies, war with the Cylons... standard day in the office," Admiral Nagala joked. John let out a little chuckle before replying.
"It's quite a Fleet you've got here; what's your plan?" John asked the other Admiral.
"To be honest John, I'm not so sure. I think find an easy target and take it out together to send a message then prepare for a major counter-op," Nagala told John.
"Sounds like a good idea... if we can separate into different Fleet's we can fight the Cylons on as many fronts as we can," John concurred. While he was speaking to Admiral Nagala, John's eyes were still firmly planted on the DRADIS screen above him that – luckily for them – showed only green, Colonial contacts.
For a few moments the two Admirals were silent until John spoke up once more. "How badly hit is Helios Alpha?" John enquired, interested to know the damage on the main system of the Colonies; the one that contained both their capital, Caprica, and the Fleet's base, Picon.
"Real bad John. Nukes hit Caprica City and wiped it out in a heartbeat. I have no idea how many Base-ships are out there but they cut straight through the Valkyrie and the Yashuman," Nagala said sombrely.
"Gods..." John whispered under his breath. "What about Picon?"
"The same... BSG-12 never even stood a-" Nagala was interrupted by both Emily and his Tactical Officer.
"Admiral!" Emily shouted. John snapped his attention to her and then back to the DRADIS screen. "We've got unidentified contacts!"
"Do you see that Rob?" John asked Admiral Nagala down the phone.
"Affirmative, it's the toasters alright. Set Action stations John; we've found our first catch of the day!" Nagala said, cutting the line. John switched his phone back to the intercom line and began his orders.
"Action Stations! Actions Stations! Set Condition One throughout the ship. Launch all Vipers and prepare guns for enemy contact," John ordered. He slammed the phone back into its berth and felt a twitch of excitement, a feeling not shared by the clearly terrified CIC crew.
John's fingers tapped lightly on the command table as the deep klaxons sounded around the ship and crewmembers ran to their duties. "Sir," Emily called to him, drawing John's attention back to the moment. "We have registered four Cylon Basestars and they appear to be launching bogeys,"
"Alright. Hang back and get all of our Vipers launch, I don't want to go in at half strength. Besides, Admiral Nagala's got more than enough back-up from the others," John ordered.
"Yes sir," Emily replied. Despite the fact that his entire civilisation was falling apart around him, John felt more alive than he had. The only way to top this – he thought to himself – would be if he was out there in a Viper himself.
"Can I have a live feed from the bow, Lieutenant?" John asked Emily.
"Of course sir. On screen," Emily tapped quickly at her control panel and brought up live footage from the front of the ship which meant John could see the rest of the fleet, which was now heading at full speed towards the four star-shaped ships before them.
It was at this moment that John remembered something, something he now realised was something he swore after the last war. "Emily," He called, slight panic creeping into his voice. "Get me Admiral Nagala,"
"Atlantia's still on the line sir," Emily replied. John nodded his thanks and pulled one of the cord-phone up to his ear.
"Rob?" John said. He waited for a moment while Admiral Nagala picked up the phone.
"John? What is it?" Nagala asked.
"How many of our ships have the new Networks on them?"
"All of them apart from yours. What's the matter John?"
"You need to disconnect them. I just remembered that that system does not have the correct amount of firewalls. Sir, it's like we've left the house with the front door wide open for them!" John stopped for Admiral Nagala's reply but suddenly he heard a loud wave of static fill his ear. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked quickly between Emily and Hermes. "I just lost Atlantia,"
"Sir..." Emily gasped as she glanced up at the feed on the screens above John's head. She slowly pointed to it and John spun around to have a look.
What he saw then – he later said – stayed with him for the rest of his life. In one instant a third of the fleet – the Colonies' last hope – suddenly stopped. All the power seemed to drain out of them and their massive hulls began to drift. As the Hyperion's CIC crew drew a collective gasp, the small bogeys sent from the Basestars and the Basestars themselves fired waves upon waves of what obviously must have been nuclear missiles. Only seconds later, the missiles impacted on their first targets and created a blinding explosion, and at the same time more and more missiles were fired onto the defenceless Colonial Battleships.
Suddenly however, the most terrifying event in Colonial history was interrupted by the sounds of Emily's voice and every set of DRADIS alarm. "Sir, missiles are locking onto us!"
"Make sure everything is disconnected and hit those missiles with everything we've got," John ordered, without his eyes leaving the feed from outside, where more and more blinding flashes filled the screen. The ship rumbled as every single CIW (Close-in-Weapon) and flak-loaded Railgun fired a flaming wave towards the incoming ordinance. As everyone held their breath, John only heard the sounds of exploded missile and flak casing impact the formerly pristine hull of the Hyperion.
As John and the crew let out a sigh of relief once the missile bombardment ended, they turned their sights back on the events outside; the only problem being however, the screen was filled only with light. "Status report?" John asked tentatively.
"Not sure sir, there's too much EM interference," Emily replied solemnly.
"Comms are dead too sir," Hermes added. John nodded slowly and watched as the fire slowly subsided.
"Sir?" Emily called to John. John turned around to pay her his full attention. "Do you want the good news, the not-so bad news or the worst news?"
"Nothing can be worse than the loss of our Colonies. Hit me with the worst," John told her.
"The Admiral Nagala's fleet is all gone sir. We don't have a single trace of them other than rubble," Emily said, reading it off her control panel.
"What's better than that?" John mumbled.
"Well sir, the Cylon Basestars are still here but they can't see us; they're recalling their Raiders. And sir," Emily looked up at John. "Our Battlestar Group survived sir," John's eyes widened in shock and his head spun around to look at the DRADIS panel which, as it began to clear, showed the same amount of green contacts in the same formation he had recognised for the last 10 years. The Eos, Theia, Themis and all of their support craft hung angelically – in John's eyes – in formation behind them.
"Colonel Virgon, give the word," John said. "We need to show those Cylons what-for before they jump away," Colonel Virgon, who had pretty much been silent since he entered before the attack, enthusiastically picked up his cord-phone and set it to intercom.
"Action Stations! Set Condition One throughout the ship. Gun crews man your posts and pilots prep your planes," The Colonel's booming, amplified voice ordered his crew. Suddenly, the mood of the ship changed from hopelessness to anger to an immediate desire for vengeance. As John's blood was pumped around his body and the adrenaline turbo-charged his brain, he was suddenly ready to go on the long haul and really take this war to the Cylons, even if they were the only ones that could.
Such hopeful dreams could not be achieved yet, however, as the currently retreating – or rather, moving on – Cylon Basestars were already prepping to jump.
On the exterior feed, John could faintly see the Basestars gradually pulling out whilst still recalling their Raiders, telling John that they were still concealed. "Miss Jartell," John said. "What is our current missile payload?"
"6 Nuclear and 18 Conventional, sir," Emily told the Admiral in response. "9 Conventional and 3 Nuclear are loaded at the moment,"
"Perfect. Target all of our batteries at the closest Basestar and order the Themis to do the same. Then fire 3 Conventional missiles and 1 Nuclear at each of the other three and get the Themis to do the same again and I need everyone else on defensive duty. That means flak in the barrels and birds in the air," John ordered. The crew got straight to work and the CIC lit up with voices and commands once again.
On the screen in front of him, John could see the partially armoured hull of the Themis drift in front of the camera with a twin-engine-pod driven Gunstar providing support behind it. On the Hyperion weapons and ammunition clanged around the corridors and hangars as the crew tried everything ready as quickly as possible. "Missiles ready to fire sir!" The Ensign at the Fire Control desk called to them.
"Synchronise with the Themis then fire at will," John told the Ensign and – albeit indirectly – Emily. Moments later, John saw the doors of the missile launch tubes open right in front of the camera that fed them the feed from outside. John held his breathe as the missile were slowly raised into the firing position and then were pumped out at almost what-would-be sonic speed inside of atmosphere.
This attack caught the Cylons completely by surprise. The barrage of conventional missiles cut a hole into the Cylon hulls for their nuclear compatriot to destroy them from the inside-out; a strategy repeated on three of the four Cylon ships. As three of the Basestars exploded in the same firing agony as the Battlestars, the final Basestar turned towards the four Battlestars behind them and fired one lone missile before being struck to pieces by the second Colonial barrage, this time consisting of solely Railgun ammunition.
A great cheer went up around the CIC – which ended up spreading across the ship – as the final Cylon ship went down. Although this was only their first victory against the seemingly infinite Cylon fleet, it was defiantly the sweetest.
As the cheering began to die down, Emily called over the hubbub to John. "Your orders sir?" John raised a finger to Emily to tell to wait a minute as he stepped through the excited crowds inside the CIC.
"Can you set up a safe jump? We can't stay here for long or they'll send a battle-fleet to find what happened to the ships we just blew up," John said, trying to ignore the loud celebrations which he sadly knew couldn't last.
"How far away sir?" Emily asked. John gave a quick shrug.
"I don't know, but close enough so we can send a hyper-light transmission to anyone still alive. That is if the relays are still online," John said, referring to the hyper-light relays which allowed instant – or almost instant – communication between the far-apart Colonies.
"Copy that sir. I believe I have the coordinates for the Ouranos Asteroid Belt," Emily told him.
"Good, get us there Lieutenant. I'll draft a message in my office," John patted Emily comfortingly on the shoulder and walked through the CIC's revolving doors back to his quarters, where he could prepare a message that he hoped could change the course of the war.