DAY 23

For the first time in a week the sun was trying to break through the thick nuclear clouds on Sagittaron. Archangel led the small group of survivors through one of the thickest forests on the planet. Their goal a Black Op's air strip nearly 70 miles away from their current location. Archangel had hoped they would have been able to get a few days rest 30 miles ago. He knew of a bunker that had been built to house politicians and high ranking military personnel. But when they had arrived it was clear that the Cylons knew about it as well. Those who had managed to escape there had been slaughtered by a group of Centurions, they had found a dozen bodies and several Cylons who had been destroyed in what had been a fierce firefight. Archangel and Vannick had cleared and burned the bodies and they'd only stayed for a night. None of them could rest there, the ghosts of the people who had been killed there hung in every corner, with every blood stain and bullet casing. They were all keen to leave the next morning when Skeeter of all people suggested they carry on.

"Anybody need to break for five minutes?" Archangel asked.

"That would be good." Skeeter replied sitting down with a sigh before reaching for his water bottle.

They all began to relax for a few minutes. Archangel took his binoculars and began to check the horizon. As soon as he heard the click he knew he had stepped on something he shouldn't have. He didn't even have time to react, the electric current hit him hard and fast and threw him 20ft backwards. Archangel hit the ground unconscious. Grace and Skeeter rushed over to him. She checked for a pulse which she quickly found and felt relief that he was still alive.

"What the frak was that?" Skeeter asked.

"Drop your weapons immediately." Vannick yelled.

Grace and Skeeter turned to see him pointing a sidearm and his rifle at two unidentified men standing metres away from him.

The two men lowered their weapons.

"That was a device to short out Cylons. We didn't know there were any more survivors around here." One of the men said.

Vannick lowered his weapons.

"We have a doctor at our camp, come on quickly." The man replied.

Vannick and Skeeter carried Archangel to the camp. It was huge and at the foot of a mountain. There were people and buildings everywhere watching as the newcomers carried their friend quickly through the camp.

"In here." The man said.

They walked into a small building which had been kitted out as an infirmary. Dr Paul Mantill rushed over to them.

"What's happened?" he said.

"He stepped on one of the charges, he's still alive." The man replied.

"Okay all of you get out of my way." Mantill asked curtly.

"What the frak is this place?" Skeeter demanded.

"It seems to have been some sort of research facility at some point. We found it after the attack and since then we've been hiding out here. Finding more survivors every now and again. You're lucky you found us now, the doctor didn't get here till last week." one of the men answered. He stepped back as the door opened and a tall middle aged man walked in. He walked straight over to Vannick, Skeeter and Grace.

"Is you're friend okay?" he asked.

"We don't know." Grace replied.

"My name is Asher Grennik. Welcome to our haven from the Cylons. I am so sorry we met under these circumstances. As you may have realised we have had to take steps to protect ourselves." He said with a friendly smile.

"I'm Vannick, this is Skeeter and Grace. Good to see we're not the only ones left out here."

"You and your friend are military?" Asher asked.

Vannick nodded in reply.

"Good to have you here. Most of the people here had never picked up a weapon before this. Doctor how is our new friend?" Asher asked.

The doctor continued to work as he spoke.

"He seems to be okay. He stepped on one of the smaller charges, luckily it just gave him a small shock. He appears to have hit his head when he fell, that will have been what knocked him unconscious. He should be fine."

Everyone seemed visually relieved by this news.

"Come, I will take you to where you can bunk, then you can take a look around while we make your friend comfortable." Asher said, gesturing towards the door.

The camp was quite large and housed over 100 survivors. Vannick and Skeeter took the opportunity to walk around the site while Grace sat with Archangel.

"You guys must be the newcomers everyone are talking about."

They turned to see a man sat sharpening a hunting knife.

"I'm Karl Michaels, I just got here last week." He stood up and offered his hand which they both shook.

"I'm Skeeter this is Vannick."

"Pleased to meet you both, nice to see some new faces." Michaels replied.

"So how did you manage to survive?" Vannick asked.

"I was hiding in the mountains with a few other people I had found. I'm a survival expert. How about you?"

"We've been on the move since the attack, we've been looking for a ship to get us off planet." Skeeter replied.

"If you don't mind me asking and go where?"

"Caprica." Vannick replied.

"What makes you think Caprica will be better then here?" Michaels replied.

"It won't, in fact it will probably be worse but it's our best chance of rescue." Vannick said.

"Well let me know when you guys intend to leave, if it's okay I'd rather come with you than stay here."

"Why what's been going on here?" Skeeter asked.

"It's just a feeling that's all. Since I got here everyone else who was here before us are very secretive. There are certain places in this camp they won't let us go. I think there's more going on here than meets the eye." Michaels replied, it was clear he wanted to say more, but didn't know who was listening.

Grace sat with Archangel who was still unconscious. She was relieved to know he was going to be okay. She sat up as he began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and gave out a cough before turning to Grace and smiling.

"Hey." He said quite groggily.

"Hey, I'd ask how you're feeling but that would be a stupid question." She smiled at him.

"I've been worse, what happened?"

"You stepped on a charge that had been left to short out a Cylon. You're lucky if you had stepped on one of the bigger ones you would be dead."

"Where are we?" he asked.

"A survivors camp. There are about 100 people here. They have a doctor who has been looking after you."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, now I know you're okay." she replied.

"Hey it's gonna take more than an electric shock to beat me." He said with a little laugh.

Archangel looked up as Asher walked in.

"Ah good, you're awake." He said, he held out his hand, "I am Asher it is very nice to meet you Captain."

"You too." Archangel replied, shaking his hand.

"Have we met before, you look very familiar?" Asher asked.

"Not that I can remember," Archangel lied, "Although I'm not very good with faces."

"Fair enough, when you feel better you must eat with me, we can trade war stories."

"I'll look forward to it." Archangel replied.

After he had left the room Grace turned to Archangel, "Do you know him?"

Archangel nodded his head, "Oh yes I know him, he's SFM."

9 MONTHS BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel sat in the reception area outside the office of Admiral Corman. He didn't know why he had been summoned but he knew it would be a new mission. Corman's secretary looked up and smiled as she always did when the young Captain sat there. He didn't often get back to Picon Fleet Headquarters but always enjoyed it when he did. The secretaries intercom went off and Archangel heard the voice he was so familiar with.

"Caroline please send in Captain Hunter."

"Yes sir."

Archangel was already getting to his feet as she spoke.

"The Admiral is ready for you now."

"Thank you."

As Archangel walked into the office he was met by Admiral Peter Corman.

"Good to see you Mark, thank you for coming so quickly. Please sit, can I get you a drink?"

"Yes please."

Corman poured two glasses of whiskey and handed one to Archangel.

"How have you been?" Corman asked.

"Well thank you sir. Enjoying life on the Atlantia. How's the family?"

"Good, Jane is getting married."

"That's fantastic news. Give her my best." Archangel said.

"I will, there will be an invitation on the way. Anyway down to business. Are you familiar with Asher Grennik?" Corman asked.

"Yes sir he took over the SFM when Tom Zarek was sent to prison." Archangel replied.

"We've received intel that he and the SFM are massing a nuclear arsenal."

"What? Where the frak would he get nukes from?" Archangel asked.

"There are rumours he is getting them from a Tauron arms dealer. We also have the details of a meeting he is going to attend on Geminon and we want you to go and intercept him." Corman said.

"May I ask how reliable is the intel?" Archangel asked.

"It comes from a source that has never been wrong before."

"How do you want me to proceed?"

"We know where and when he is going to be, we want you to be waiting for him and very publicly put a bullet in his brain. We want to make an example of him, we will not tolerate terrorism in any way." Corman said.

"Won't this provoke the SFM to use their nukes?" Archangel said.

"We do not believe it will. It seems they do not have enough yet for whatever they are planning. We have other operatives tracking them down, we are very close to finding their base."

"When do you want me to leave?"

"You have 5 days. All the information is here. You leave for Geminon in 4 days. Use the rest of the time to familiarise yourself with the details and relax a little." Corman said.

Grace walked through the complex, conscious that she was being watched as she walked. This is one thing the Cylons had never thought of, SFM survivors. She had no idea if the rest of her people knew they were here. She had broken off contact after she had killed Danny. She saw Vannick up ahead jogging towards her.

"Hey you okay?" he asked.

"Yes but we need to talk."

Vannick, like Grace was aware that some people were keeping an eye on them.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Archangel is conscious."

"Thank the Gods for that."

"He recognised Asher."

"Where from?"

"The SFM." Grace replied.

Vannick tried not to look shocked at this news but he knew his face had betrayed him.

"What the frak, is he sure?" he asked calmly.

Grace nodded her head, "Yes he had been sent to kill him a while ago, but had been betrayed by someone and never got the chance. He thinks this whole place is an SFM camp."

"That explains a lot. We're going to have to get the frak out of here."

"We're going to have to wait. That shock has taken a lot out of him. Have you spoken to many people so far?" Grace asked.

"I spoke to a guy called Michaels. He's only been here a week, he was found with a few other survivors."

"Talk to him, make sure he's legit. Mark said he wants to try and find out if there is anyone here who isn't SFM so we can take them with us when we leave." Grace said.

"Something makes me think leaving here isn't going to be as easy as we may have thought."

"Don't worry about that, Mark is already coming up with a plan."

Asher watched from his quarters as Grace and Vannick went their separate ways. He turned as the huge looming frame of his right hand man walked through the door. He looked as mean as he was large. At 6ft7" he towered above Asher and was pure muscle. Philip Raymon walked up to his friend.

"You called for me?" Philip asked.

"Have you met our new guests yet?" Asher asked.

"Not all of them, but I am aware of them."

"We may have a problem. Do you remember last year, the assassin who was sent after we fed false information to the admiralty?" Asher asked.

"Yes he slaughtered 15 of our men as he made his escape."

"I think he is in our infirmary."

"What?" Philip said, totally taken by surprise, "Do you want me to go deal with him?"

"No not yet," Asher replied, "Keep an eye on him and his friends. He definitely recognised me, but he is currently in not in any condition to do anything about it. For now we will play nice, for now."

"Of course." Philip replied.

"There is one other thing I would like you to do, ask Jen to prepare a meal for everyone tonight, I want to honour our new guests."

Philips gave him a surprised look.

"Like I said, nice." Asher said with a smile.

Archangel sat himself up on the side of the bed. He took a deep breath and stood up. Momentarily he felt a sharp twinge of pain but it died off quickly, his whole body felt stiff. He walked over to the window and looked outside. People going about their business but looking out of the corner of their eyes at the newcomers. Making sure they weren't seen doing anything they shouldn't have been.

"How the hell are you out of bed, let alone standing?" Dr Mantill asked clearly surprised.

Archangel turned and smiled.

"Yeah I've seen that look before," he said, "All I need to do is walk it off, I'll be fine."

"Walk it off?" Mantill muttered to himself, "Never the less you need to be careful, you took one hell of a shock to the system. You still need to take things easy. I found some of these painkillers while I was checking their inventory, I want you to take them up to three times a day if you're in pain." Mantill said.

He handed them to Archangel.

"Thank you," he took the pills from the doctor, "So you haven't been here long then?"

"No I arrived last week with Michaels and the others. We'd been surviving in the mountains. One day when we came down for supplies and saw these guys doing the same."

"Safety in numbers then?" Archangel asked.

"Something like that."

That evening they were all sat in a mess hall around a large table talking and eating. Archangel was sitting a little too close to Asher for his liking.

"It's good to see you up on your feet Captain, a lot earlier than expected." Asher said smiling at Archangel.

"I'm just full of surprises." Archangel replied.

He grabbed his knife tightly in his hand and in one swift move plunged it straight into Asher's throat before ripping it out, blood spraying everywhere. Taking everyone by surprise. Phillips dived towards Archangel, who turned the same knife onto him without any warning. Phillips hit the ground on both knees gargling from the blood spurting out of his throat before falling onto his face. Everything seemed to go into slow motion. Archangel drew both his pistols and began to fire each bullet hitting a target and putting it down. This felt like a natural, easy thing to do. Archangel only stopped firing because he had run out of bullets. He looked down at both hands, barrels slid back into the empty position with smoke billowing out. As he looked up he saw the extent of what he had done. He began to scream.

"NOOOO!"

As he looked around the room, everyone was dead, Grace, Vannick, Skeeter, Michaels, Asher and all the other SFM. He had lost control and everyone was dead. He closed his eyes and clenched the weapons in his hand. When he opened them again he was clutching his knife and fork and everyone around the table was looking at him.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked looking concerned.

It was all a day dream. Thank the gods he thought, it had felt so real.

"I'm not feeling so good, I'm going to get some air. Please excuse me." Archangel said standing up.

"Need me to come with you?" Skeeter asked quietly.

"No, stay and finish your food." Archangel replied, forcing a smile.

Archangel walked out of the door into the cool night air. He took a few deep breaths and began to walk. What had gotten into him? Why would he dream he had killed all his friends?

"Are you okay?"

9 MONTHS BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel turned around and saw a young woman talking to him.

"Are you okay? You look a little lost." She asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Never been to Geminon City that's all." he replied awkwardly.

"I'm guessing you're here on vacation?" she said pointing to the back pack on his back.

"Something like that. Just taking a look around, seeing all the sights." He said pointing to the Geminon College buildings.

"Fair enough. Well if you want a guided tour, I'm free tonight, for example. Give me a call, I can show you the cities night life." She said with a smile.

She handed Archangel her card. Anna Picall a junior journalist for the Geminon Chronicle. She smiled and then turned and began to walk away.

Archangel smiled back before turning into the opposite direction.

"Sorry about that." Archangel said.

"No problem, handsome man like you, not surprising really." Major Kaleen Turner said on the other end of his radio.

"Okay I'm at the building. How are those satellite readouts looking?" he asked as he walked inside.

"Looking good, no sign of anyone in your building."

Archangel began to walk up the abandoned stairwell.

"It's a shame they let these old buildings get like this." Archangel said.

"That bad?" Kaleen asked.

"Garbage and graffiti everywhere and nothing says welcome like the smell of stale piss."

"Ohhh nice." She replied with a chuckle.

"Okay I'm at the right floor."

Archangel walked through the old double doors and straight into the room facing them. It was completely empty, no one had lived there in a long time. Archangel walked over the window and took the bag of his back.

"Okay I've got a clear line of sight I'm gonna set up."

Archangel opened the bag and took out parts of a sniper rifle, which he quickly put together.

He took out a small glass cutter and cut a small circle into the window and got himself into a position, ready for his target.

"Okay I'm in position." Archangel said.

"Very good Captain, you have ten minutes before he arrives."

Archangel turned to see Grace behind him.

"Yeah I'm fine, go finish your food, it's all fine." he said forcing another smile.

She walked over to him and took his hand.

"That was far from fine and everyone noticed it." Grace replied, concern in her voice.

"I stood on a knockout shock today I'm just not feeling myself."

He turned and began to walk away, Grace followed.

"You know you're not a very good liar." Grace said.

"I am, just not with you I suppose." He sighed to himself, "My mind just drifted a little and I saw myself killing him that was all. I just need to rest."

"And seeing that shook you up so badly?" Grace asked, knowing he was hiding something.

"I had killed you all." He said bluntly

Grace was shocked, that, she hadn't expected. She knew he was capable of great destruction and murder but it never crossed her mind what would happen should he ever loose control, how far he was capable of going?

"We need to get as far away from here as possible." She said.

"We need to get all the people we know aren't SFM before we go." Archangel said.

"Then what?"

"Then when you guys are as far away from here as possible, I'm going to light this place up like the bay on Colonial day." Archangel said, this time with a real smile on his face.

DAY 24

Vannick and Michaels jogged along the edge of the camp, only occasionally seeing anyone else. They both spoke quietly as they jogged.

"So what's the plan exactly?" Michaels asked.

"Once we're all ready Skeeter and I are going to lead you all out of here during the night. I've already picked a route where we shouldn't come up against anyone."

"And if we do?" Michaels replied.

"Then we do what we have to do."

"Where will Captain Hunter be during all this?"

"He has some business to finish off. Something he was supposed to do a while ago." Vannick replied.

"Sounds ominous."

Vannick laughed, "Something like that. Just get the people you came here with ready and we'll get you all out of here."

Asher and Phillip were both walking through a large corridor by themselves.

"Can I ask what are we going to do here? Are we going to use them?" Phillip asked.

Asher didn't reply straight away, both men carried on walking.

"If we do use them we have to be dam sure we're ready to go once we have. The Cylons catch one whiff of this and they'll be on us quicker than a fly on shit." Asher said.

"And what about our newcomers?"

"Still undecided, but if we were to do this, the Cylons would have to find them when they arrived." Asher answered.

The corridor opened out into a large bunker with dozens of missiles.

"How are things down here?" Asher asked.

The man sat guarding the room stood up.

"Everything is fine, radiation levels are still within safe limits. All is good sir."

"That's what I like to hear. Be ready, we're getting closer to nuking some toasters."

Michaels walked into the infirmary and saw Dr Mantill sitting behind his desk.

"Hey how are you today?" Mantill asked.

"Good, I need to talk to you, can we go get a coffee or something?" Michaels replied.

"Sure. Everything okay?"

Michaels replied as he they both walked outside.

"Yeah. Listen we have to get out of here." Asher said.

"What? Why?" Mantill replied.

"You said it yourself to me the other day, something's not right here. Everything just seems a little off. Places we can and can't go, armed guards in certain places. Vannick, the marine who just got here says that they're going to be leaving as soon as possible and want to take everyone with them who arrived here with us." Michaels said.

"And go where? Yeah it's a little odd here but why would we want to leave?" Mantill replied.

"Firstly, please keep your voice down. They're going to Caprica as it's our best chance of being rescued."

Mantill let out a laugh, "Rescued by who?"

"Colonial military. The guy you worked on yesterday, he's an officer in the military and he was told to get there for rescue. Secondly because he also says that this place is an SFM base."

Mantill stopped dead in his tracks.

"What? Are you fraking serious?" Mantill said.

"Yes. And please keep your voice down." Michaels grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to one side out of anyone's way.

"Why does he think that?" Mantill asked in a loud whisper.

"All I know is he knows Asher and apparently it was Asher who took over from Tom Zarek when he was sent to jail."

"My father and uncle died in that fraking explosion that son of a bitch planted." Mantill snarled.

"Right now I just need to know if you're going to come with us?"

Mantill shook his head in reply.

"Good, now I need you to get as many medical supplies together as you can. Enough that you can carry with you." Michaels said.

Mantill nodded his head again.

"And keep this to yourself. Talk to no one except me about this do you hear me?"

Mantill didn't respond.

"I said did you hear me?" Michaels said in a firm yet hushed tone.

"Yes." He replied.

"Good now go back to the infirmary and get some things together, when we move it will be fast and there won't be much warning."

"I'll be ready." Mantill replied.

Archangel, Vannick, Skeeter and Grace were all sat in the quarters they had been given. They had checked the room for any listening devices and found nothing.

"How is it all going?" Archangel asked.

"Good, I spoke to Michaels earlier and he's talking to his people." Skeeter replied.

"Does he believe us?" Grace asked.

"Yeah he does. He said he's been noticing weird stuff since he got here anyway. I also scoped the route out and it should be quite clear. If we come up against anyone it should be one or two people at the most." Skeeter answered.

"Good, that's very good. We need to get the word to Michaels, if they're ready we're going to go tonight." Archangel said.

"You know I'd feel a lot happier if you were coming with us." Grace said.

"Me too buddy, this plan of yours could be suicide." Skeeter replied.

"Trust me, it will all be fine. I've laid certain plans that will ensure we get away without any bother." Archangel replied.

"So why do you need to go and see Asher face to face?" Skeeter asked.

"Because he's a monster and I'm following my orders."

"Orders you were given a long time ago." Grace said.

"If you all knew half of the things this man has done in the name of freedom for Sagittaron you would do this yourself. The atrocities he has committed took a lot to hide from the general public but trust me, this has to be done." Archangel said.

As the sun began to set behind the nuclear clouds, plans went into action. Doctor Mantill had managed to get quite a lot of kit together that he would be able to carry. The rage inside him was at boiling point. All he wanted to do was walk up to Asher and kill him with his bare hands but he knew that if he did that would prove disastrous for everyone. He looked up when he heard someone walk into the infirmary. Asher and Phillip stood in front of him.

"Doctor how are you? I haven't seen much of you today." Asher asked.

"I've been doing a stock take on all our supplies." He replied.

"How do things look?" he asked, "Do I need to send people out to raid some hospitals?"

"No everything is fine. Unless we have some kind of disaster we should be set for months."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Everyone under my protection is important to me. Do not hesitate to come to me, for anything at all." Asher said.

Mantill forced a smile and nodded his head.

Asher and Phillip turned and walked away.

"Something is going on my friend. All the newcomers from the last week are acting, well strange." Asher said.

"Do you want me to pay them all a visit?"

"No not yet, something is coming, I can feel it, let's see how this plays out." Asher replied.

Archangel put both of his holsters on and checked both guns were loaded.

"I need you guys to take my bag and rifle." Archangel said.

"Are you serious?" Skeeter exclaimed, "Why are you not taking your rifle?"

"Because when all hell breaks loose I need to be able to move quickly and it will weigh me down."

"Are you sure about this?" Vannick said.

"Yes, you guys should go now. Wait for me where we agreed, I won't be long and no matter what you hear or see keep moving. This entire base is going to be swarming with Cylons very quickly." Archangel said.

Vannick and Skeeter both shook his hand without saying anything. Grace kissed him.

"Make sure you get out of here in time, please." She said.

He smiled a smile that she knew wasn't put on for her, he actually seemed excited about what was about to happen.

"Don't worry I'll be fine, this is going to be a lot of fun." He replied.

He kissed her back and the moments later they all left the room.

Outside it was pitch black, only certain areas of the base were lit and luckily they hadn't deemed it worthy enough to light the quarters of the people who stayed there. Vannick lead the way, ready for anything. As they reached the end of the building he checked each direction and once it was clear they moved out towards the trees. When they got there Michaels was waiting with the others. Mantill, a young man called Mike, a middle aged preacher called Ramok and a young woman called Sarah sat with him.

"We were beginning to think you weren't coming." Michaels said with a smile.

"We were just trying to convince Archangel to come with us now." Vannick replied.

"Will he be able to do what he is planning?" Mantill asked.

"There's one thing you're gonna learn about Mark, there is nothing it would seem he can't do." Grace replied.

"Come on we've got a lot of ground to cover." Vannick said.

Archangel looked at his watch, they had had ten minutes, now it was his turn. He took a deep breath took out his knife and in complete silence left the quarters. As he walked through the shadows he placed a couple more explosives. The amount he had placed during the day would devastate this base, there was no way the Cylons would be able to miss it. He stopped dead in his tracks when he found himself standing behind two armed guards who were chatting away and smoking. In complete silence Archangel moved to his right and crawled under the building next to him. It was a tight fit but he quickly made his way to the other side. When he looked up he saw Asher's cabin in front of him with one guard standing outside. Through the dimly lit window he could see the outline of Asher and the hulking frame of his goon Phillip with him. He moved out from under the building and back into the shadows.

Vannick and the others had made quite a bit of ground away from the camp. As he held up his hand everyone behind him stopped. An armed guard was blocking their way. Vannick turned and signalled to Skeeter there was one man in front. He handed Skeeter his rifle and took out his knife. He quickly moved up to him, grabbed the guards head pulled it back and slit his throat. There was a collective gasp as Vannick killed the man, but no one spoke. Vannick didn't let himself feel anything, he took his rifle back from his friend and calmly led the way again.

Before the guard outside of Asher's cabin had any time whatsoever to react Archangel had snapped his neck. He took out one of his sidearms and moved up the steps to the cabin door and stepped inside. Asher sat smiling at him as Philip lunged at the man they had been waiting for. He caught Archangel off guard and knocked him across the room, his gun flying out of his hand. As he got to his feet Philip was on him with his giant hands clamped around Archangel's throat. Archangel took out his knife and with all his strength lunged it into the giant man's head. For a second Philip didn't register what had happened, but seconds after that he looked at Archangel with a confused look on his face before falling to his knees. Archangel had his other weapon raised at Asher who had quite successfully had the smile wiped off his face.

"You are him aren't you?" Asher asked.

"You'll have to be more specific than that." Archangel replied.

"The assassin the military sent after me."

"One and the same, only this time you won't get away." Archangel said.

9 MONTHS BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel was beginning to get a little concerned. His target was 5 minutes late.

"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this." Kaleen said from the other end of his earpiece.

"Well that's just great, you're supposed to be the one reassuring me." He replied with a laugh.

There was a pause, Archangel knew that was bad.

"Put away your weapon and get out of there now." Kaleen said.

Archangel immediately started to put away his weapon, "What's going on?"

"I've just picked up eight heat signatures heading into the building, we've been set up." She replied.

"Are there any other ways out of this building?" Archangel asked.

"Yes if you can get to the 6th floor there will be a fire escape that will take you directly to the back ally way. I'll direct you once you get there."

Moments later the weapon was back in the bag and back on Archangels back. He took out a handgun with a silencer on the end.

"Okay so where are they?" Archangel asked.

"Seven more have just appeared above you and are heading down. They're all on the stair well, run to level six as fast as you can."

Archangel darted out of the room and jumped down the first flight of stairs. Gun fire erupted from above him. Archangel looked up and saw a man above him, he fired one shot killing the man instantly.

"One down." Archangel replied as he jumped four stairs at a time.

Moments later he was crashing through the door marked 6.

"Take a left and go through the third door on your left."

Archangel ran. As he reached the door three more men appeared behind him with their guns firing. Archangel took two of them down as he dived through the door. He ran to the window.

"Frak." He said.

"What is it?" Kaleen replied.

"That fire escape, well it's gone, it's laying on the ground in about a thousand pieces. Is there any other way out?"

"No," she said, pausing for a second, "Only the way you came."

"Great." He said as the third man crashed into the room. Archangel put around between his eyes before he could fire off a shot.

"Okay there are only eleven of them, I can do this." He said.

"I'm going to call the police to the location." Kaleen said.

"Are you fraking kidding me? That will turn into an even bigger blood bath. I can deal with this, trust me." He replied. "I'll perform a 99% and keep one of them alive for questioning."

He took the attackers rifle and extra magazines and moved back into the hallway. There was no sign of them.

"Okay where the frak are they?" he whispered.

"There are five of them waiting for you at the doorway to the stairs, the rest have taken up positions on the stairwell. They're waiting for you to come to them. What the frak are you going to do?"

"Kill them all." He replied.

He reached into his bag and took out a grenade, from the cover of an open door way he pulled out the pin and rolled it towards the door before ducking into the doorway and covering his ears. Seconds later there was a huge explosion followed by screams.

"Okay you've taken out another five of them." Kaleen replied.

Archangel ran towards what was left of the two glass double doors firing the machine gun as he passed it.

"That's another two." He said as the four remaining men opened fire with everything they had, hitting nothing but wall. As soon as Archangel heard the click of four empty guns he moved out and took out three of the four before they could reload. The fourth man didn't have time to react to the but of Archangel's rifle smashing him across the face, blood, teeth and his machine gun fell about the place. With one swift move Archangel broke both the man's legs and had him on the ground with his handgun pressed into his forehead.

"Who the frak sent you?" the man didn't immediately reply. Archangel shot him in the elbow.

"I will not repeat myself, the next time you do not reply I will cut out one of your eyeballs."

"Asher sent me. The information you received was false."

"Are you SFM?"

"Yes."

"Is Asher trying to buy nuclear weapons?"

"I'm not sure, I'm just a low level thug, but there are rumours that he already has them." The man replied.

Before Archangel could ask another question there was a gun shot which killed the man. Archangel looked up to see Anna. the girl he bumped into outside with a gun raised. She smiled as she opened fire at Archangel who dived out of the way just in time.

"Are you okay?" Kaleen asked.

Archangel opened fire again but by the time he had got back up she was gone. In the distance police sirens could be heard.

"Are you able to get out of there?" Kaleen asked.

"Yes. Did you hear all that, they set us the Frak up."

Moments later he was out in the alley way and home free.

"Okay head to the safe house and stay there till the Admiral arrives."

"We have to get that sun of a bitch Asher." Archangel said.

PRESENT DAY

"I was never there to begin with, you know that anyway. You were set up from the start. We wanted to make a statement to the government." Asher said.

"I think buying nuclear weapons did that."

"What are you going to do Captain? When you fire that weapon my people will hear the shot and then you and all your friends are dead." Asher said smugly.

"My friends are already long gone and your people will be way too distracted to hear one little gun shot."

Asher's smug grin dropped off his face. "Hasn't there been enough death already?" Asher asked, "Billions of people are dead, have some compassion."

"Compassion? You don't know the meaning of the word."

Archangel pulled the trigger putting a bullet right between Asher's eyes. He bent down to pick up his other gun and turned to leave the cabin. As he opened the door and stepped outside there were five people waiting with their weapons raised.

"Hands in the air." One of them yelled.

Archangel raised his hands with a small detonator in one of them.

"Where's Asher?"

"He and what are left of his brains are slumped on the floor inside." Archangel said with a smile. As he finished speaking he pressed the button starting a massive chain reaction of explosions that tore through the base. By the time the five people turned back for Archangel, he was already gone.

As Vannick and the others reached the meeting point they saw the explosions in the distance as they tore through the hillside.

"My gods he really wasn't joking about it looking like fireworks on Colonial day." Skeeter stated.

As they looked in awe at the sheer magnitude of the destruction, Ramok began to pray. Moments later raiders appears in the sky and they saw heavy raiders begin to land.

"I hope he makes it." Michaels said.

The explosions kept on happening around him, the sound of gunfire had erupted too as well as the all too familiar sounds of Cylon centurions in the distance getting closer. As Archangel ran into two more SFM he put them down with one bullet each before they realised he wasn't one of them. Archangel dived behind a large stack of crates just seconds before three centurions appeared and ran past him, killing anything and everything in their way. He could see where he needed to be and how far into the open he now had to go. He took a quick deep breath and moved out from behind cover. Screaming could now be heard among the explosions and the gunfire. Archangel let nothing distract him as he darted around anything that blocked his path. He stopped dead in his tracks as he nearly ran into a centurion with his back to him. He raised his weapon and shot the giant robot in the head before it even knew he was there. As gunfire hit near his feet he began to run again, as fast as he could, as hard as he could.

Vannick and the others sat on the cliff side watching the explosions and the battle going on in the distance.

"So how long are we supposed to be waiting here?" Mantill asked.

"As long as it takes." Grace replied.

Skeeter handed her a cigarette and they both lit up, the nerves in them both were already quite extreme.

"Impressive isn't it?" a voice said from behind them.

They all turned to see Archangel standing behind them, a smile on his face. Grace dropped her cigarette and ran to him throwing her arms round him and kissing him. She had a huge smile across her face.

"Yes it is." She replied.

"Did you do it?" Vannick asked.

"Yeah, the SFM are officially out of business." Archangel replied.

DAY 25

Fires were still burning five hours after the battle had died. A number 1, 2 and 3 walked through the wreckage of the base.

"I wonder what happened here?" 2 asked.

"Centurions have found bodies killed by someone other than us." 3 replied.

"Could it have been him?" 2 asked.

"He is more than capable of this. Has there been any word at all recently from 6?" 1 asked.

"Nothing, we've heard nothing from her at all since she killed their friend." 3 said.

"We need to find them and bring her back to us. It's too dangerous for her to be with them when they reach Caprica, there are already too many 6's there." 1 said.

"Agreed it will put too much added pressure on this little game of yours." 3 replied.

"I am beginning to tire of this experiment. I am wondering if we should stop it all together, we came here to eradicate the human vermin, not keep them as pets." 1 said.