Battlestar Hyperion: Defying Destiny

by SamsterHam

Admiral John 'Busman' Jenkins, Admiral of the Colonial Fleet and veteran of the First Cylon War and CO of BSG-53 and the Battlestar Hyperion, has always waited for the return of the Cylons. Lead by a silent ticking of the clock, John will try use his vast experience in the fleet to save himself, his crew and his people from the Cylons, who will stop at nothing to see them dead...

15. The Evacuation

Chapter 15:

Battlestar Hyperion CIC, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 22:51 PFT

For ten minutes they waited. For ten minutes they held their breath. The Cylon scout had disappeared almost as soon as it had disappeared and now there was nothing they could do. John had been considering the idea that maybe the Cylons weren't ready for a fight. That they weren't prepared to take on a force as strong as the one they had been presented with. But, as John knew all too well, they were Cylons, and just because they did something you didn't expect, didn't mean they didn't know what they were doing.

The answer to that thought came two minutes later, as more bleeps rose up from DRADIS consoles all across CIC. "Contacts Admiral, all across the board!" Emily shouted over the klaxons that had been blazing since the scout had first arrived.

"Gods, John. Look…" Commander Virgon gasped from across the central console.

"Looks like eight Basestars sir. Countless fighters with them too. Thirty, maybe fourty squadrons." Emily called again, answering the question that was on the tip of John's tongue.

"Mr Yo, tell our fighters to engage and tell the other ships to set course for enemy fleet. Prepare main batteries and missile bays for firing on my command."

"Aye sir, relaying," Hermes replied, tapping away at his console.

"And bring the Vipers up on speakers. I want to know what's going on."

Hermes nodded and brought up the Viper feed on the main speakers, filling the CIC with radio chatter. "All wings, Hyperion: Clear to engage Cylon fighters, weapons free."

"Tally Hyperion. All wings, Spinner: Fore squadrons stick with Slowshow, aft squadrons with me."

"Spinner, Hera: We're with you."

"Spinner, Slowshow: Good hunting out there."

"Slowshow, Spinner: Gods speed. Red Squadron, break with me and bring up the rear, we're on defensive."

"Wilco Spinner. Polo, Squirt: Right with you mate."

"All wings, Spinner: Battlestars are commencing turn, get clear before they bat us back to the Colonies!"

The DRADIS screens, still covered in green Viper squadrons suddenly began to move as each of the hundreds of Vipers broke off in separate directions; following either Spinner, or Draconis' CAG, Major 'Slowshow' Terzik.

"Battlestars and Gunstars have aligned Admiral," Emily reported from John's left, breaking his attention away from what the Vipers were doing.

"Good. Helm, ahead full. Hermes get the others to do the same. We need to hit them as hard as we can as quickly as we can. Have we had any reports from the Themis or the civilian ships?"

"They're loading their people and equipment and should be good to jump soon. So far, they don't have any Cylons in range to worry about," Hermes reported, not breaking his gaze at his own console.

"Exactly, 'so far'. Let me know if that changes Emily."

"Aye sir," Emily said, also focused on transmitting John's orders around the Fleet. The CIC was silent for a few moments – apart from the klaxons and comm chatter, of course – as they waited for first contact. Above him, John could see that more Raiders had been launched and were now heading in a swarm towards them.

"Sir, radiological alarms!" Came a shout from somewhere behind Emily in Fire Control.

"Set Eos, Theia and Icarus to defensive fire and get Spinner and his birds to intercept!"

Viper 535, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 22:53 PFT

"Rear wings, Hyperion: Nuclear ordinance detected; pursue and intercept. Eos and Theia will have flak rounds ready so stay clear of engagement zones," Hermes' voice cut through the quieter comm chatter and roar of engines that filled every pilot's ears as they shot after their comrades, away from the cluster of Battlestars and Gunstars that were turning down and towards port so that they would be facing the Basestars head on.

Ahead of them, through the maw of fighters – both Colonial and Cylon – Spinner could see five white streaks emerging from the Basestars and turn towards the incoming Colonial Fleet. "Squadron Leaders, Spinner: I want one squadron on each of those missiles, we can't let them get through."

"Copy Spinner, Blue Squadron complying."

"Red Squadron, Spinner: We'll go for the one on the far side, you with me?"

"Always sir, on your tail."

Together, Spinner's small swarm of Vipers broke their course and angled themselves towards the missiles that left streaks across the sky as they cut through the haze of Vipers and Raiders, who had just begun to engage with one another. Eyes squinted to block out the flashes and blurs of their fellow fighters – who were well outnumbered by their Cylon counterparts – Spinner pulled his Viper around and lined up behind the missile as it rushed towards the Battlestars headed at full speed for them and the Cylon Fleet.

Spinner took a long breath as he lined his nose up and filled the sky with orange tracer rounds as his fellow squad-mates did the same. Though the missile was a small target, the sheer number of rounds being fired at it meant it was quickly cut to dust, leaving a large fireball for Spinner and Red squadron to dodge. With more than a little luck, they all managed to duck out of the way and out of what was now the top of his Viper's glass canopy, John could see two more go up in flames as a squadron of Viper chased and shot down one more.

The last missile, however, was getting closer and closer to the massive Battlestars as they got ever closer to the battle itself. "Green and Blue squadron, Spinner: Break off and catch up with Slowshow and the others but keep an eye out for more nukes."

"Tally Spinner. Green Squad, Hera: Let's take it to those toasters!"

Gritting his teeth again, Spinner fired up his engine to full and tried to chase after the last nuke and Yellow Squadron, who were still in pursuit. His joystick began to fight against him as he railed off waves of rounds while still at full acceleration, desperate to keep up, but as he could begin to make out the guns on the sides of the Eos and Theia – which were angled sideways compared to Hyperion and the upside-down Draconis. Just as he prepared one final volley, little flashes started appearing from across the alligator heads of the two smaller Battlestars and the small Firestar in the middle of the formation.

"All fighters, Theia: Clear engagement zone, flak engaged."

Spinner cursed and spun his Viper back around and headed as fast as his Viper would let him back towards the battle, flak explosions lighting up his cockpit from behind.

Battlestar Hyperion CIC, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 22:56 PFT

The CIC was abuzz was noise, the roaring of the engines, the rumble of some of the point-defence guns, the blazing klaxons and the chatter of the crew. With one hand on a cord-phone and the other resting against the command console, John watched the DRADIS screens and exterior feeds intently as the fleet of Battlestars blasted ahead-full towards the cluster of Cylon Basestars.

The swarm of fighters in close combat with each other put a haze over the screen and was filling up the DRADIS readings with red and green signals. The radio chatter from the Vipers was still being broadcast over the speakers and John had been listening in as the battle had unfolded.

"Break left Budgie, break left!"

"Copy Hera, I'm tryin'."

"Keeper, Hera: Help me with Budgie!"

"Twinkle-toe, Que: Got Raiders breaking off."

"Que, Squirt: I'm closest. Spinner, request permission to break and pursue."

"Squirt, Spinner: I'll come with you."

"Foamer, you've got two Raiders on you…"

"This is Foamer: I can stay ahead, I can stay ahead… ahh!"

"Spinner, Verse: We've lost Foamer, I repeat, Foamer's gone…"

"Stay focused Verse… Squirt, line 'em up and we've got 'em!"

"Hera, Twinkle-toe: Bring your guys towards us and we can clear you out. You've got, like, three squadrons right on top of you!"

"Tally Twinkle-toe. Green Squad pull back to Blue with me."

"Hera, Budgie: On my way."

"Hera, Ege: I've got too many on me, I repeat…"

The sound of Vipers going up in flames every few seconds was starting to get too much for John, both from a personal stand-point and a tactical one. They were losing too many. Too many men and women, too many birds and too much of their advantage. "Tactical!" Commander Virgon shouted after John gave him a solemn look.

"Sir?" Emily replied, looking up from her console.

"When will our main batteries be in range?"

"T-25 seconds Commander. We can still fire from here, but it'll be harder to hit."

"What's our velocity to them?" John asked, shouting through the radio chatter as it got louder again.

"Green Squad, Twinkle-toe: Break now and we'll get 'em."

"Copy. Green Squad, Hera: Do as he says, break now!"

"300 metres per second and growing, sir!" Emily reported, bringing John's attention back to the CIC. John drummed his fingers against his console as he watched the distance to the Basestars tick down on the DRADIS screen. "T-15, sir."

"Coordinate main battery targeting with the Draconis now, be ready to shoot when we can get a good lock," John ordered.

"Aye sir," Hermes shouted back. "Draconis, Hyperion: begin targeting at Basestar at bearing 030 carom 009."

"More missiles, incoming sir!"

"Leave that to the others, we need to stay on the defensive."

"5 seconds sir!"

"Shoot as soon as we can Miss Jartell."

"Draconis reports guns ready!"

"Missiles broken through flak range, Admiral!" John snapped his attention to the Ensign who called to him from Fire Control, then glanced up at the exterior feed, then over to his XO.

"All hands, brace for impact!" Commander Virgon's voice rang out over the loudspeakers as Emily tried to shout over the top of him.

"In targeting range, sir."

"Lock and fire at will!" The Admiral barked as a pair of missile explosions rocked the ship. Looking back up at the DRADIS screen however, John saw the cloud of green ahead of them and reached for a cord-phone. "All birds, this is Hyperion Actual: Clear engagement zone, main batteries are preparing to fire. I repeat, get clear right frakking now!"

Viper 535, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 22:58 PFT

"All birds, this is Hyperion Actual: Clear engagement zone, main batteries are preparing to fire. I repeat, get clear right frakking now!" The Admiral's voice rang through the buzz of radio chatter. Spinner broke his focus away from a Raider that had shot up past his cockpit and craned his neck to see over his shoulder. The formerly distant cluster of Battlestars was now no more than a couple of kilometres away, and now the cannons mounted just below the tips of the Hyperion's and Draconis' bows lit up as their main batteries went off.

Without a second moment to think, Spinner pulled his Viper at as sharp an angle as he could and blasted the engines to max, his head slamming against the headrest behind it as he went. With the blood quickly draining from his face, Spinner finally let off the throttle and spun back around as he saw the rear ends of the Battlestars disappear out of the corner of his eye. Once he had spun back around, however, he got back on the power – albeit to a lesser extent – and cut his way back through the other Vipers that had dived his way, as well as the Raiders that had followed them.

As he was now parallel to the sides of the Battlestar fleet, Spinner could a glimpse – from over Hyperion's 'shoulder', if you will – of the main batteries rounds as they sped towards the nearest Basestar and cut through it like it was nothing but smoke; with fiery explosions left it their wake. The great ships did not stop there and, as Spinner flew back past them, he saw the steel beasts begin to turn and align themselves with the next Basestar on their list.

The chaos of hundreds of Vipers suddenly breaking away from their combat zone was now unfolding throughout the fighter lines as the Raiders either caught up to the Vipers or had broken away all together and headed for the Battlestars that were now well within their engagement range and – despite Spinner's hopes – only a handful of Raiders seemed to have been caught out by the main batteries or hit by the bow of a speeding Battlestar.

"Alright boys and girls listen up," Spinner started. "I count five to ten squadron's inbound on Hyperion and the others. Unless you've got one on your tail break with me and take 'em out, doesn't look like they've got much flak to stop any missiles."

"Copy Spinner, we're with you," Hera's voice told him. To his right, Spinner saw most the grey dots surrounding him break left and head after the Raiders who were straying towards the Battlestars that seemed to only be protected by the flak-field of the Bolitho Firestar Icarus, which was now trailing along behind the main group.

"Theia, this is Spinner: Cylon Raiders have broken off and are closing in towards you. May I suggest defensive fire or else they'll get through?"

"Spinner, Theia: Thank you Major, we've got it. Any help would be appreciated."

"Of course, Theia. Hear that everyone? Focus fire on Raiders inbound to the Battlestar Theia, they should be able to handle any missiles."

"Spinner, Squirt: Right with you."

"This Mojo, with you too."

Spinner's heart began to race even faster than before as they closed back in on the Battlestars – that were now beginning to cut their engines and slow their velocity against the Cylon Basestars. A second volley burst out from the Hyperion and the Draconis as they closed in on the Basestars, though this time half the volley was fired too early and half the rounds flew straight past the next closest Basestar and the rest were only able to knock off a couple of its 'arms'.

Radio chatter fired back up again as some of the straggling Raiders were caught up by the first Vipers and up ahead a few of the Raiders began to fire their missiles at the Theia. Flak fire quickly filled the sky next to the Theia, but three missiles manage to make it through before the others and the first Raiders were engulfed by the flames. Two of the missiles impacted the central section of the Odin-class Battlestar in an area where their armour is strong, however the last hit one of the engine pods in a blinding explosion that could only have been a nuke. The light of the engine flickered out in that pod and, although it may have been Spinner's imagination, the flak field seemed to have been decreased by the missiles that must have taken out an array of defensive CIWs.

Spinner began to make his approach from over the top of the flak field to meet the oncoming Raiders when something rocked his ships from the rear. "What the frak?" He gasped as he was thrown around in his seat. "Squirt, Spinner: What's going on?"

"Spinner, Squirt: You're being shot at mate!"

In a panic, Spinner rolled to the right and completed an aileron roll as a wave of orange rounds skimmed past him. Orange rounds? Spinner pondered that image in his head and quickly fired off a few rounds from his guns to test his hypothesis. To his horror, orange rounds were exactly what came out of his guns, just like every other Viper in the Fleet; tracer rounds designed to be distinguishable from the purple-blue rounds from Raiders. That could mean only one thing.

"Whichever one of you rookies is back there, stop frakking firing! We're on the same side!" Spinner cursed as another wave of rounds skimmed past. "Squirt, you back there?"

"I am sir, but I've got a Raider coming up!"

"Dammit!" Spinner cursed again, shoving his foot to the floor, hoping to outrun the Viper behind him. "Hyperion, Spinner: We've got a turncoat. All Vipers: Can anyone get this guy off my arse?"

"Spinner, Twinkle-toe: I see you. On my way."

Spinner gritted his teeth and tried to pull his Viper into a right-hand dive but one of his thrusters must have been hit as it was having more trouble turning than it did in atmosphere. "Oh, frak me!"

"Spinner stay on course… I've got a shot." Twinkle-toe's voice inspired relief in Spinner as he tore on. Moments later he saw more flurries of orange tracers – this time from in front of him – as Twinkle-toe fired back at the errant Viper. "Break Sid, break!"

"Wilco!" Spinner replied, throwing his Viper to the left and blasting down towards the Theia that was still moving below him. Checking back over his shoulder again, Spinner watched as the unknown Viper fired off one of its dumb-fire missiles and broke off after him. Checking over his other shoulder, Spinner watched helplessly as the missile careered towards the rapidly incoming Twinkle-toe who could only jink to the side enough to make the missile hit and rip off his port wing, then send him into a mad spin.

A wave of vengeance running over him, Spinner pulled his ship around and headed back over the Theia, towards the flak field it was filling the sky with. "May day may day. Twinkle-toe's hit and down, repeat: Twinkle-toe's hit and down."

"Spinner, Hyperion: SAR birds will en route shortly."

As his friend continued to spin and burn up behind him, Spinner blasted towards the flak field and gritted his teeth once again. With his ship this wounded he wasn't going to be able to spin around fast enough to hit this guy, but what he could do was lead them to their death in the flak field. "All wings, Spinner: I'm coming through the flak from Theia's side with this guy on my tail. If they break or make it through someone take a shot!"

"Copy Spinner," Replied a number of voices Spinner couldn't identify.

As the fire of the flak got closer Spinner held his breath. Rule #1 of Viper combat was 'don't fly into flak' and for the first time, he was going to break that and – though he knew it made absolutely no difference – he held his trigger and shot his way into the flak field. Blocking the sound of the radio and the sound of flak casing clipping hi ship from his mind, Spinner focused only on his DRADIS console as he flew straight and level ahead.

Just as they got into the flak field proper – with explosions and debris everywhere you looked – Spinner finally saw the DRADIS contact behind him back off and change course. Recognising his cue, Spinner did the same and pulled up and booted it out of the flak zone as a pair of Draconis Vipers shot by his nose and fired waves of their own rounds at the Viper, which went up in flames moments later.

Battlestar Hyperion CIC, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 23:07 PFT

Another missile hit rocked the CIC and Emily had to grip onto her console, so she wouldn't fall over. "Sir, Cylon fighters are converging on our port side!"

"I see it Miss Jartell, thank you," The Admiral replied, his stern expression had remained unchanged since the beginning of the battle but the tone of his voice had not. The first two Cylon Basestars hadn't proven too much of a challenge for the Hyperion and Draconis' guns and the other ships' protection, but as they got into the middle of the Cylon ships their formation and fallen apart. The Draconis' Gunstars had got separated from the main formation early by a swarm of Raiders and picked off by them and the nearest Basestar. Though that Basestar had then been crippled by a Raptor missile run, it managed to land a nuclear hit on the Battlestar Eos' starboard flight pod, blocking the entrance and venting most of the air, equipment and crew in its hangar.

The Eos' luck hadn't continued. It too was separated from the main group and was taking hits from a different pair of Basestars and their Raiders when the Hyperion and Draconis launched a nuke each at one of the Basestars and sent missile barrages at the other. After the Eos took so many hits, the Admiral had ordered its retreat because it was too heavily damaged and it lost an engine pod as it limped back.

The CIC was beginning to calm as the last three Basestars sat around the Hyperion; two between it, Draconis and the Theia, and one on its own, heavily damaged... The sound of the railguns going off on both side of the ship had created a rumbling undertone that Emily had now become oblivious to.

"Launch a pair of missiles at the Basestar to port. I want Blue and Black squadron back on port too," The Admiral shouted, cutting through Emily's train of thought.

"Aye sir," She replied, her eyes only glancing it him for a moment before more DRADIS alarms went off. "Admiral, we have a problem." The ship shook again.

"What now?"

"We've got DRADIS contacts. Lots."

"Where?"

Emily was silent for a moment as she stared at the screen. "Behind us sir. Four Basestars and countless Raiders. They're swarming the Themis."

"The Themis? Back with the civilians?" The Admiral asked, his full attention on Emily.

"Yes sir, although I'm not reading any civilian ships. The Gunstar Horatio and Gunstar Limpet aren't there either."

"What do you mean they aren't there Emily?"

"I don't know sir."

The Admiral bent over the table, took a deep breath and let out a grumble that sounded almost like a roar. "Mr Yo get me Themis actual."

"Right away sir," Hermes replied, professional as ever. Emily noticed that her hands were shaking as the Viper chatter spiked again. The Admiral raised a cord-phone to his ear and Emily quietly connected to the line through her ear-piece.

"This is Themis Acutal," An unfamiliar voice said; unfamiliar to Emily at least.

"Lieutenant Sharp?"The Admiral asked, a slight tremor in his usually stoic voice. "I need to speak to Commander McGill."

The noise of an explosion made the Admiral, Emily and Hermes pull their respective ear-pieces away from their faces. "I'm sorry Admiral, but that won't be possible."

The Admiral winced and asked a question that didn't really need asking. "What's happened Lieutenant?"

"We took four or five nukes in succession sir. Themis is too old to take that kind of punishment, she's falling apart from the inside." That news didn't come as to much of surprise to Emily. The Themis was – like her sister ships Galactica, Rycon and Triton – to be retired within three months and would otherwise never have been put in a position where she would be in combat, let alone outnumbered against a Cylon ambush.

"What happened to the Commander? To Colonel Wex?" The Admiral was now speaking through gritted teeth as Commander Virgon ran away from the command console and over to Anastasia, so as to not interrupt the Admiral.

"The Commander… The Commander's gone sir, the ceiling supports fell down and hit him. The Colonel too, but he's alive and on his way to sickbay."

"Who's in command, Lieutenant?"

There was a pause before the Themis' Tactical Officer responded. "I am sir." He said, his voice clearly shaking too.

"That's good Lieutenant," The Admiral responded, a sense of calm returning to his voice once again. "We'll get to you as quickly as we can."The Admiral turned back to Hermes and Emily, covering his mouthpiece. "Fire two nukes at the nearest Basestar, tell Draconis to do the same."

"We'll only have a couple left if we do that sir," Emily said.

"Then fire another! Helm, get us to Themis now!" The Admiral put the phone back to his lips. "Keep her afloat Lieutenant and get ready to jump. We'll cover your retreat as soon as we can."

"Sir, we can't keep firing nukes like this," Emily spoke up as the Admiral slammed his cord-phone back into the command console.

"We have no choice Lieutenant Colonel, how else can get over to the Themis before she blows?"

"But we're wasting them. Their missile jamming means its almost impossible to hit and we only have a couple left." The Admiral gave Emily a curious look, he seemed to be somewhere between angry at being questioned in front of the crew and panicked about the fact that though she was right, he knew nothing else he could do.

"Are you refusing my order Miss Jartell?" He asked. A number of CIC crew stopped what they were doing and stared at the exchange between Emily and the Admiral. After a few seconds of staring at each other, daring one another to break, Emily realised there was an option and stepped down from the confrontation.

"No sir, sending order to fire." Emily said reluctantly, feeling a something she never had before: an excitement at taking charge, wishing for the first time that she be the one in command. That feeling passed quickly though, as another explosion forced her mind back to the battle.

Battlestar Hyperion Hangar Bay, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 23:08 PFT

"What's the frak's going on Chief?" Spinner shouted as he twisted his helmet off and pulled back his Viper's canopy.

"Sorry Major, we've got to check you over. Reports of manoeuvring issues," Chief Walker replied as a group of five or six mechanics ran around the Viper and started checking it from all angles.

"She's fine Chief, nothing I can't handle!" Spinner unclipped his seat belt and tossed his helmet to the deckhand standing with the Chief. "Cheers Six," Spinner said as he stepped out of the cockpit and leaned back, one hand gripping the edge of the cockpit, and surveyed the ship.

"I don't if I'd call that fine Spinner," The Chief told him gruffly, waving hand towards the scarred and pock-marked steel hull of the Viper.

"It's just cosmetic," Spinner said as he took a look up and down the starboard side of the nose and the sleeked back wings behind it.

"We've got a leek Chief!" A Specialist called out from the other side of the Viper. Spinner winced as he stepped across his cockpit and hung in the same way off the other side.

"Oh, for frak's sake…" Spinner cursed under his breath as he saw the port side was missing most of its armour, leaving the main spaceframe exposed and behind him, what he had thought had just been a little extra 'exhaust' gas coming from the port engine was actually a leak of some kind, presumable oil.

"Less than cosmetic there, Spinner," The Chief told him as he stepped around the back of the ship, Specialist Sally Six in tow; still with Spinner's helmet in her hands.

"Surely some tape will do? I've got pilots dying out there!"

"Sorry Major, we've got to reload that before you go anywhere." Spinner kicked the side of the ship in frustration and a small bit of armour plating dropped off the end of the nose. He looked back up to his cockpit and saw the radio light flickering. "Is there nothing you can do Chief? I need to get out there."

"I don't think so Spin."

Another Specialist, who was lying on their back underneath the Viper, slid back out and called up to Spinner and the Chief. "She's a few ruptures in the undercarriage Chief but with some spare plates a bit bit of luck we can plug the leaks and sure up the port wing a bit and get the Major back out there."

"Get on it then!" Spinner blurted, drawing a hard look from the Chief who then nodded his approval to the Specialist.

"Thanks Chief. Six, go get the spare plates we ripped off that Raptor and someone find a power drill!" The Specialist slid back underneath the Viper and Spinner jumped down from the Viper to take a look.

"Anything I can do?" Spinner asked taking a look at the undercarriage that was covered with shards of shrapnel and bullet holes.

"Get a drill and seal the holes. Can't refill the oil till it's done!" Spinner nodded to the Specialist and got up. He ran to the nearest work bench and grabbed a couple of metal sheet chunks that had been pulled from the hull of a Raptor (something that Spinner could tell due to the bronze hue of the metal) and took them and a power drill back to the Viper.

With a bit of direction from the Engineers, Spinner began drilling and screwing the plates back into place and within minutes the leaks seemed to be plugged and the casing of some key areas were covered. Spinner stepped back and admired his work, noting that the ship now looked like more like some sort of resurrected monster that it did a highly advanced Colonial fighter. "Not bad Major," Specialist Six told him, her usually beach-blonde hair stained with spots of oil.

"Better not take it into atmo though, eh Six?" Spinner joked, nodding at the very un-aerodynamically efficient bodywork they had just shoved on.

Viper 535, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 23:13 PFT

Within two minutes, Spinner was back in his Viper and was being pushed into the nearest launch tube and loaded up. Rushing through the pre-flight checks, Spinner checked every box on the list and gave a thumbs-up to the launch control officer. Though it felt more like an hour, Spinner was thrown out of the ship moments later and was out in an unfamiliar sky.

"Hera, Spinner: I'm back out, what's been going on?" Spinner asked, trying to scan the sky to figure out what had changed. A lot, from what he could see. When he landed they had been engaging three Basestars at close range. Now there was only one and they were leaving it and the debris of its fellow ships behind. All semblance of fleet formation had fallen apart long ago and the other two surviving Battlestars were both in tow of Hyperion, a few kilometres over Spinners head. The three ships cutting through the wreckage of fallen Cylon and Colonial ships was an impressive sight, though Spinner didn't have much time to think about that before the radio lit up again.

"Spinner, Hera: Themis and Persephone have been ambushed and we need to get to them and retreat."

Retreat? That wasn't what Spinner was expecting to hear. This was supposed to be the Admiral's big victory, a vengeful strike back to show the Cylons their might. It seemed now as though that had completely fallen apart, although Spinner had thought that might be the case since they lost the two Gunstars early on.

"All players, Hyperion: Double time it to the Themis, ignore any strikes at us and get over there. We can handle the Cylons that are left, they can't."

"Copy Hyperion. Boys and girls keep up with me. Let's throw Themis a rope before they sink." Spinner was somewhere between grinning and wincing as he floored it past Hyperion, the cloud of Vipers following him as he went. He had been worried about any potential Raider strike on Hyperion and the others, though it seemed now that all the Raiders were in front of him, heading for the same target he was.

Viper 535, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 23:21 PFT

It was not a pretty sight. Though Themis was a mighty beast, she was getting pummelled better than she might ever have been before. Three Basestars were encircled around her, with another going toe-to-toe with the Battlestar Persephone a short way off. Persephone – like the Eos and Theia – was smaller than Themis and as such was struggling to fight the lone Basestar it was up against; however, it did seem to be fairing much better. As Spinner got close, he could see Persephone had some dents and dings in her armour and smoke was dissipating from a couple of points in her hull, but overall, she was intact. Themis, on the other hand, was struggling. The three Basestars had been consistently punching out missile after missile and the Themis was fighting purely defensively, with a missive flak field surrounding her aged hull.

With every hit that made it through, parts all over the ship seemed to shake; far more than they should do. The cloud of fighters around her seemed to be fairing alright, but were struggling to be useful against either the Cylon missiles or Colonial flak, which seemed in a completely different battle to the fighters around them.

Though he knew they needed to help out their fellow pilots, Spinner could only send the Draconis Vipers to sort out the Raiders, as the missiles were what was slowing down Themis' escape the most. They had been in a messy dogfight for about five minutes when Hyperion, Draconis and Theia finally arrived, main batteries and missiles flying towards the outermost Basestar. Like the initial barrage of the battle, that Basestar didn't stand much of a chance, but the others began to pull back a bit; staying on the move to make themselves a harder target. Theia,from her vantage point, began to send missiles downrange at the Base-ships, but Cylons were good at manipulating anything controlled remotely, meaning only one missile hit its mark. It was a good hit, Spinner had to dive to the side to avoid the debris from it, but it only wounded the Cylon ship.

For a few minutes more, the sky was full of nothing but flak, missile streaks and metal, as Spinner and the Vipers tried to take out as many Raiders as they could, now they were all in one big melee. Though his radio was going constantly, Spinner had almost completely tuned it out, until a shouting communications officer from the Themis broke his concentration.

"All Themis Vipers, this is the Themis. Flight pods are about to be retracted, we will jump in thirty seconds. Make it back as quick as you can, combat landings authorised. If you can't, head to Hyperion or Draconis, they should have space for you."

A streak of blue tracers skimmed past Spinner's cockpit as his mind returned to the battle. He was close to the Themis now, just over her top, above a dent in her ribbed armour left by a Cylon nuke. Spinner pulled left (his Viper still unable to turn right quick enough) and flipped upside down to meet the Raider flying towards him. As he took aim, however, he immediately had to blast down towards Themis to avoid collision with a much larger than what he was expecting, Heavy Cylon Raider.

"Themis, Spinner: Heavies inbound, they'll be trying to board," Spinner said as he again flipped round and fired a wave of rounds at the Heavy Raider as it passed. Luckily for Spinner, unlike the regular Raiders, Heavies were much easier to spot; and therefore, hit through the flak that filled Spinner's vision.

"Spinner, Budgie: I'm behind, I'll come help."

Spinner would have felt relieved at the sound of help coming, if it wasn't for the fact that the Heavy Raider was lining itself for an approach on the smoking port flight pod. Though he was covering it in gunfire, Spinner wasn't able to make a mark until a small missile and a wave of orange tracers flew down and hit the Raider from above, sending it into a quick dive.

"Nice one Budgie!" Spinner said as the Raider righted itself and pulled back up towards the entrance of the flight pod. The hit the Raider took allowed Spinner a few brief seconds to align himself better to pepper the top of the Heavy as it headed back for the flight pod and with his teeth clenched as hard as he could manage, Spinner eventually saw its engines cut out and it drifted lifelessly into the bottom of the flight pod, crumpling the ship and leaving a small explosion.

Spinner whizzed past the wreckage as the flight pod above his began to retract back into the main hull of the blistered Battlestar. A few panicked radio messages for Viper pilots went out as it closed.

"All wings, Hyperion: Get back to either Hyperion or Draconis right now, doesn't matter which. Bugging out in 30."

With the sound of Hermes voice finally allowing the pilots to run for safety, Spinner turned away from Themis and blasted towards home as the older Battlestar jumped away. His heart pounding in his ears, Spinner sped for the Draconis – the nearest ship to him – and lined himself up as it began to turn away from the fight. Just like they had practiced numerous times, Spinner went to hit the reverse thrusters and come to a halt. However, due to the damage he had sustained at the start of the fight, he had to do what he did when he landed on Hyperion for repairs and flipped his Viper around and used his main engines to slow him to a stop.

With seconds left, Spinner used his reaction thrusters to push him down to the surface of the flight pod and mag-locked himself to hit. He let out a series of short, stressed breaths until the world outside flashed and flak fire was replaced with a star-field once again.