The infinite of space was beautiful. Endless stars dotted through the blackness, like pinpricks of light. The sight never got old for Archangel, it was breathtaking. As he sat in the seat of his Viper he felt relaxed. The stresses and strains of life all seemed to wash away. The peace and tranquillity was broken by his dradis console. Eighteen enemy contact appeared all around him. As he looked through the canopy of his Viper he could see the raiders that had appeared from nowhere.

"Atlantia, this is Archangel, I've got eighteen enemy contacts. Please launch the alert vipers for immediate assistance." He said over the COM.

As he turned off the safeties on his weapons he turned his plane towards the nearest of the raiders. As he engaged it, he wondered why he hadn't heard anything back over the COM?

"Battlestar Atlantia this is Archangel I need those alert vipers now." He said in an authoritative tone.

As he flipped his Viper around he destroyed two of the raiders. As the blips disappeared from dradis, two more appeared.

"What the frak?!" He said to himself.

The raiders were beginning to swarm around him, but Archangel remained calm. The more raiders he destroyed, the more appeared on dradis around him.

What the frak was going on? Why hadn't he heard anything? As enemy fire whizzed past him he repeated his request.

"Atlantia why aren't you replying? I really need help out here. There are more raiders than I can handle, I really need that backup." fear was now starting to creep into his voice, something that rarely ever happened.

He flew through the swarming raiders hitting them with cannon fire as he flew. As he looked down and saw them vanish from dradis before his eyes more and more appeared.

An enemy round clipped the wing of his Viper and sent him into a spin he couldn't recover from. He knew the end was coming, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Archangel awoke with a start and sat up suddenly. He rubbed his eyes and saw the rest of the survivors in their camp, he had been dreaming, again.

DAY 43

This was the fourth day in a row that he had had the same dream and it always ended the same, with him dying. As he looked around everyone seemed in good spirits.

"Good morning Captain, having bad dreams again?" Ramok said.

Archangel turned to see the preacher sitting near him.

"That obvious?" Archangel replied as he rubbed his eyes.

"The last few mornings you've woken up as you did today. Is there anything you need to talk about?" Ramok asked.

Archangel rubbed his eye again.

"For the last four nights I've been having the same dream. I'm flying in my Viper, everything is calm and peaceful then a lot of enemy contacts appear. I call in for help and engage the enemy. Every time I destroy one of them, more appear. I call in for help again and no one replies. They keep coming and coming more and more of them, just as they're about to destroy me I wake up." Archangel said.

Ramok nodded his head, "Well that makes a lot of sense my son."

"How?" Archangel replied.

"You have been fighting the Cylons for over a month now, no matter how many you kill more and more keep chasing us. Everyone in this camp looks to you for our survival, there is no one coming to relieve us. That is what your dreams are reflecting."

Archangel looked at the man sitting next to him. He'd never been close to anyone who practised religion, it had never been something for him. He had seen what blind devotion to the gods had done to his home world and wanted nothing to do with it in any way. But he was glad to know Ramok, he held his council, gave him advice and never tried to change his mind about religion.

"That does make sense." Archangel replied. "I've not said this to anyone else, but I'm tired. I don't know how much longer I can keep going like this. My reactions are getting sluggish and it's only a matter of time."

"You will do what you have to do for as long as you are able. The gods will only take you when it's your time." Ramok replied.

"I know my lack of religious belief must frustrate you at times, but I want to thank you for keeping my council." Archangel said.

"As you know I am not a fighter, so any way I can help, I do. I do not condone violence as you know but you are a brave man, a hero to these people. I ask the gods everyday to help you protect us and they always listen."

"Thank you, I hope they continue to listen today." Archangel replied as he stood up. He saw Vannick preparing to head off on a patrol, "Vannick hang on I'm coming with you."

Archangel and Vannick both walked through the trees.

"So how are you these days?" Vannick asked.

"Good, it's nice to have an easily defendable base they haven't found yet." He replied.

"You know what I mean." Vannick replied.

Archangel sighed, "I'm tired. I'm loosing whatever edge I had. It's only a matter of time before the toasters catch me on a bad day."

"It'll take more than an off day for them to get you."

Archangel let out a laugh, "I hope you're right. What about you?"

"Me, I'm the same as always. I do my job everyday, I've been used to being the muscle for a long time."

"You keep these people alive, and you do your job well." Archangel replied.

"I tell you what though, what I wouldn't give for a cold six pack and steak on a barbecue." Vannick replied with a chuckle.

"Now that does sound good. Maybe the Cylons will give us a ceasefire while we go find some." Archangel replied with a smile.

Both men laughed.

"I can't remember the last time I had a nice fat steak." Archangel said.

"I can." Vannick replied, "My grandmothers 80th birthday party last year. I had some leave so I went back for a family party. All the family was there. I've always been lucky all my family got on. My Uncle Sam was a butcher in Caprica City, he had his own shop. He brought this steak that was worth 50 cubits each, man it just fell apart in your mouth."

"That sounds good."

"It was. When I got busted from sergeant my gran was the only one who didn't make me feel bad about it. My cousin made a crack about it at the party and she tore him a new one. Told everyone there that they shouldn't make me feel bad for standing up for myself. She told them if the Admiral of the fleet had stood up for me, then they had no right to say anything. Man I loved that woman so much." Vannick replied with sadness in his voice.

"That's nice." Archangel said.

"The day she died was the worst day of my life. No matter what has happened since, the attack, everything, the day she died I felt like my soul had died with her. I would have gladly taken any number of bullets for that woman." Vannick said.

"I barely knew my grand parents. My folks didn't really get on with them so we didn't get to see them very often. But I loved my folks a lot, they were good people, took a lot of crap off me when I was younger." Archangel replied.

"All parents do." Vannick said chuckling.

"That's true." Archangel added.

"You know, I had a daughter." Vannick said in a matter of fact tone.

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah the only time I saw her was the day she was born. My girlfriend and I were careless when we were kids, her folks made her give the baby up. I never even got to hold her." There was sadness in Vannick's voice that Archangel had never heard before. "They wouldn't even let me take a picture of her. They told me I wasn't good enough to be a father, I've tried to forget about that day but no matter how I try, it's as fresh as it was the day it happened."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Archangel replied.

"Don't be." Vannick replied, "At that point they were right. She had a life that I couldn't give her and who knows maybe she and her family survived."

Archangel patted him on the shoulder, "I hope so."

"What about you? Any pre-war regrets?"

"Oh yeah, focusing everything on a career that's gone up in smoke! Not spending more time with my parents and brother. Not seeing Skeeter and the guys as often as I should have." Archangel replied.

"I totally get that."

"You know when I came to Caprica my best friend was a girl named Kara. She and I used to get into all kinds of trouble. Her mom was hard on her all the time. We decided to join Vipers together. She was the most naturally gifted pilot I've seen. Me I had to work hard on learning how to fly, everything I can do now was down to hours and hours in the cockpit then once it clicked it was like second nature, for her, the first time she sat in a cock pit it just clicked. She is one of the best friends I ever had and I haven't seen her in years." Archangel said.

"Where was she stationed when the attack happened?"

"The Galactica. Her CO there was the only person who she couldn't piss off, he took her under his wing. I'm telling you if anyone survived, she did, she's too stubborn to kill." Archangel replied.

"Did you hear that?" Vannick asked.

Both men stopped. Archangel closed his eyes for a moment and listened, yes he heard it too. They opened fire on the centurions just before they appeared out of the bushes in front of them, the first two fell under a hail of bullets. Both men automatically went into retreat mode. They both took it in turns to cover as the other ran.

"How many?" Vannick shouted.

"At least four more." Archangel shouted back as he reloaded his rifle.

As Vannick turned to fire Archangel made a run for it. Once the last one had been taken down both men ran full pelt back to the camp. As they ran up between the rocks that led to the cave Bria and Skeeter saw them and stood up.

"Everything okay?" Bria asked.

"Cylons, we've taken them out but there could be more. Everyone get your gear together, we have to leave." Archangel said.

"Guys I've got eight green blips heading this way." Mike said pointing to the entry point to the cave.

"Vannick you and me take the left, Skeeter and Bria take the right. They could still be skin jobs."

All four of them took up positions while the others got all the gear together and waited. Mike quickly ran up to Archangel and gave him the tracker.

"Three hundred metres." Archangel said to the others.

The next few minutes seemed to drag like hours. Then Archangel saw the black uniform of a colonial marine, followed by seven more.

"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES? OR WE WILL KILL YOU!" Archangel ordered.

"Sergeant Lucas Jennings Battlestar Orion." Came the reply.

Orion? That was they last name Archangel had expected to hear, he didn't even realise it had been finished.

"Captain Mark Hunter, Battlestar Atlantia." He replied.

As the eight marines came into the camp they exchanged greetings.

"How did you get here?" Archangel asked.

"We've been running rescue missions." Lucas replied.

"Orion is still in the fight?" Bria asked with a smile on her face.

"Yes ma'am." He replied when he saw her flight uniform. "Now I don't mean to be rude, but we have to get you guys out of here. We have Raptors three clicks from here and we saw a large group of centurions heading this way."

Everyone had smiles on their faces, the rescue Archangel had promised was finally here.

"Everyone we have to move and we have to move fast. I want everyone to have their weapons drawn and safeties off." Archangel said.

Vannick, Skeeter and Bria all made sure all their weapons were fully loaded.

"Sergeant if you and three of your men take the rear with me and Vannick then Bria, Skeeter and the others can take the front with the others in the middle." Archangel said.

"Yes sir. Conner take the lead, let's move and keep a good pace." Lucas said.

"Let's do this." Archangel smiled.

Before long the group was out in the open and keeping a swift pace. Archangel kept an eye out as they moved.

Lucas spoke into his radio, "Raptor One this is Jennings, we are en-route with nine survivors. There are a large group of centurions in the area we will need to leave as soon as possible."

"Jennings this is Hawkeye, all the other teams are back and we will be ready to move as soon as you are aboard." A female voice replied over the radio.

"TARGET." Jennings shouted as he spotted centurions to their rear and opened fire. Archangel turned to see seven centurions and a number 1 opening fire on the group. As the rest of the group kept moving, the rear guard opened fire. Vannick was the first to hit one of the Cylons taking it down with a barrage of fire. Archangel aimed at the skin job and clipped him in the shoulder causing him to fall backwards. Once the front guard had progressed far enough they took over the cover, as Archangel and the others began to move to their position. Bullets whizzed by from front and behind. This was the fiercest firefight they had had since this all started. As the rear guard met the front they took up position again and opened fire. The amount of Cylons had doubled. Archangel took out two centurions before hearing the click of an empty magazine.

"FRAK." He shouted as he reloaded his weapon.

He saw Lucas along side him, he seemed to be enjoying himself as he fired round after round. He hadn't taken his finger off the trigger since Archangel had reloaded, destroying three centurions before he had to reload himself.

"Enjoying yourself there?" Archangel asked with a smile.

"Oh yes sir." he replied, "Payback's a bitch." he began to open fire again.

Vannick signalled to move as the rear guard once again took over.

Michaels was the first to reach the Raptors. He was met by some more marines.

"The others are on their way, we were caught by Cylons there are a lot of them." Michaels said as he helped Sarah and Ramok into one of the ships.

"We'll go back and help." One of the marines said.

"I'll come with you." Michaels replied.

As they all turned to go back and help. They saw Skeeter, Bria and the others running towards them.

"Do the others need help?" Michaels asked.

Bria signalled towards where the others were still firing on the now five centurions and skin job. She and the others opened fire so the rear guard could move.

"Tell your pilots to get ready for take off." Bria said to one of the marines who ran back to the raptors.

Archangel ran with the others, he could see the safety of the waiting raptors up ahead, he then felt the sting of a bullet catch him in the left leg. His momentum carried him forward but he couldn't stop himself from falling. He fell to the ground and skidded to a stop. He took cover from behind a rock formation and quickly checked to see how bad the wound was. He looked up to see the others had made it back. He turned and began to fire taking down one of the remaining Cylons. He could hear the others calling to him, but until these Cylons were down he couldn't go anywhere. After shooting down two more of them down he once again heard the click of an empty magazine. He reached for his belt but there were none left. Frak he thought to himself, the rest were in his bag, but now wasn't the time to go looking for them. As he reached for his side arms he could see by Skeeter's face something was wrong. Archangel turned to see one of the centurions was nearly on top of him. He started firing at the advancing centurion, emptying both clips into it. Vannick had managed to destroy the remaining one. The skin job was gone, he must have realised he couldn't win. Archangel let out a deep breath and got to his feet before staggering towards the raptors.

A young female ECO appeared out of one of the Raptors.

"LETS GO!" Hawkeye yelled.

Skeeter hugged his friend, "You fraking did it." He said.

Archangel smiled, "Get onboard, we're not out of this yet." He followed his friend and Bria onto one of the waiting Raptors, "We're ready to go." He said as he got onboard.

He turned and smiled at Bria. A gun shot echoed from outside. Bria's face was splattered with blood as a bullet hit a console next to her. Archangel looked at her then looked down at his chest. Blood started to pool out of a bullet wound in the left side of his chest.

"Frak." He said as he fell to his knees.

The 1 stood with a smoking gun in his hand and a smile on his face. Bria fired the last round blindly from her gun as the Raptor door closed and hit 1 in the head.

Skeeter was frantic as he held his hand over his friends wound.

"We have to get the doc off the other raptor. We can't go yet." He yelled.

One of the marines moved over to him.

"Let me take a look, I'm a medic." The marine said.

"WE HAVE TO GET THE DOC." Skeeter screamed in his face.

"Skeeter, let go of him and calm down, let the medic help him." Bria said as she dragged him off Archangel.

The five Raptors took off to the sky and were quickly intercepted by raiders.

"We'll be ready to jump in 5." Hawkeye said.

The medic looked at his wound.

"It's okay, I don't think the bullet has hit anything. As far as I can tell it's just under his shoulder blade." The medic said.

For the first time since Bria had known Skeeter, he looked terrified. She put her hand on the side of his face and said calmly, "He's okay."

The five raptors jumped. Moments later they appeared in space near a huge red nebula. It was massive and went as far as the eye could see.

"Orion, this is Hawkeye we're going to need medics in the hanger bay we have wounded."

"What's your name?" the marine looking after Archangel asked.

"Captain Mark Hunter." He replied trying to block out the burning pain in his chest.

"As in Archangel? THE Archangel?!" Hawkeye asked turning around, her face lighting up.

Bria nodded her head, "Yes, THE Archangel."

"Well frak me." Hawkeye replied turning back to her station.

Vannick sat in the front of the Raptor looking out of the Raptor's canopy. The sight before him was breathtaking.

"This truly is amazing." Ramok said from behind him.

"Where are we?" Vannick asked.

"The Rendear system." The pilot replied.

They all looked out with awe in their eyes and on their faces. The five Raptors moved into the nebula. Minutes passed before they saw the first of a fleet of ships.

"That's a civilian ship." Vannick said.

"Yeah we've found 134 civilian ships since the attack." The pilot replied, "There's the Orion and our battle group."

There were ships everywhere then for the first time they saw the Battlestar Orion, it was massive. Other than the luxury liner, Starburst, it dwarfed every other ship by a long way.

"I've never seen a Battlestar like that before." Vannick said.

"She's the only one, the first of what was going to be a new class. We'd been out of dry dock a week before the attack."

Captain Jimmy "Bojay" Johnson was the pilot of Raptor 1. As the Orion's lead Raptor Pilot he led them towards the hanger bay.

"Orion this is Bojay requesting permission to land." He said over the COM.

"Bojay this is Orion, the starboard flight pod has been cleared for you to land. We have medics standing by." The LSO, Major Mae Rae said back to him.

"Thanks Orion we're on our way in." he replied, "Hawkeye, tell the group to form up on us."

"Yes sir." She replied.

Archangel tried to sit up.

"I need to see." He said.

"I need you to stay put sir."

"Please, I need this." He said.

"Private it's okay." Bria said.

The medic and Skeeter both helped Archangel to his feet and he limped to the front of the Raptor.

"Pleased to meet you Archangel, I'm Bojay." The young pilot said.

"Good to meet you Bojay." He too saw Orion for the first time. It took his breath away. He finally saw the sight he thought he wouldn't live to see. Orion was the most impressive Battlestar he had ever seen.

"Help me back." Archangel said.

Skeeter and the medic helped him back. As he sat down the pain in the leg and his arm was too much and he passed out.

"Mark?!" Skeeter said shaking his friend.

The medic checked his pulse, "He's okay, out cold."

The flight deck of Orion was bustling with life. Dozens of Vipers ran down one side as well as Raptors. Deckhands and pilots went about their business. A small crowd had begun to gather around the five Raptors that had just landed.

Skeeter and the medic were the first ones out of the Raptor carrying the unconscious Archangel to the waiting medics. Doctor Christine Hammond, the ships senior medical officer waited with them.

"What's happened?" she asked.

"Gunshot wounds to the chest and leg, he's passed out through the pain." The medic replied.

"What's his name?" Christine asked.

"Captain Mark Hunter, Archangel." Bria said.

"Okay let's get him out of here." Hammond replied.

Vannick and Michaels came over.

"What happened?" Michaels asked.

"The skin job shot him in the chest." Skeeter replied.

"The medics say he'll be okay." Bria added.

They were silent for a few moments, suddenly where they were hit them.

"We did it." Skeeter said. They all smiled at each other and began to laugh.

Bria and Vannick noticed the addition of two more people walking towards them and both stood to attention. Commander Heinrick Johannsen the ships commanding officer had a commanding presence. A veteran of the first Cylon war and a highly decorated commanding officer. He was in his mid sixties and had very short balding silver hair. His first officer Colonel Vanessa Garrett was very young by comparison. Her jet black hair tied back showed off her stunning good looks. Bria and Vannick both saluted the officers who in turn saluted back.

"I am Lieutenant Bria Thirren." Bria said, "and this is Corporal Darius Vannick."

"At ease. My name is Commander Heinrick Johannsen and this is my XO Colonel Vanessa Garrett. We welcome you all to the Battlestar Orion." He said as he shook their hands.

Skeeter sat alone besides Archangel as he lay in the sick bay. He had been asleep after surgery on his shoulder. As he started to come round Dr Hammond came over to him.

"Hey." Archangel said groggily.

"Hello Captain Hunter you gave us quite a scare. I'm Dr Hammond the ships senior medical officer. Everything is fine, the gunshot in the leg was just a graze. The other went in and out just under your shoulder collar bone, it missed anything major, you're going to be fine."

"Thank you." He replied.

"I'll be back in a minute with some pain killers for you." she said with a smile.

"Thank you."

"I'd ask you how you're feeling but that would be a dumb question?" Skeeter said with a smile.

"Well I can imagine I look as bad as I feel." Archangel replied smiling.

"At least you waited till we got rescued to get shot."

"Well there is that." Archangel replied chuckling, wincing with pain as he did.

"Thank you." Skeeter said.

"What the frak for? Waiting to get shot?" Archangel asked with a laugh.

"Saving my worthless life." Skeeter replied seriously.

"You're welcome and it's not worthless, never has been." He replied.

"Never the less, you saved us all." Skeeter said.

"Not all." He said.

"Well I don't know about you but I intend to get stinking drunk tonight. I've been invited to the pilots mess with Bria and Vannick." Skeeter replied changing the subject.

"Have a few for me." Archangel replied.

Commander Johannsen walked into the sickbay and saw Archangel talking to his friend.

"Doctor how is he?" the Commander asked.

"He'll be okay. Other than the two gunshot wounds, his body is just exhausted. Judging by what I've heard they all went through I'm not surprised." Hammond replied.

"Sounds like they've had it a lot worse than we did." Johannsen replied.

"I want him to have at least two weeks rest before you have him doing anything."

"Of course doctor." Johannsen agreed.

The commander walked over to the two survivors.

"Skeeter is it?" the Commander asked.

"Yes sir, it is." he replied.

"Would it be alright if I spoke to the captain?"

"Sure." Skeeter replied standing up, "I'll come see you later."

Archangel nodded. The commander took Skeeter's chair.

"My name is Commander Johannsen." he said holding out his hand for Archangel to shake.

"Very pleased to meet you sir." he replied.

The doctor came and administered painkillers as they spoke.

"Thank you doctor." Archangel said.

"Lieutenant Thirren has told me what you've been through, it's quite a tale."

"We've been very lucky." Archangel answered.

"All the other survivors are calling you a hero." Johannsen said.

"I don't know about that sir, I just did what anyone else would have done." Archangel said.

"Never the less the things you have done are remarkable."

"If you don't mind me asking sir, how did you survive?" Archangel asked.

"As you said we were very lucky. Orion had only been out of dry dock for a week when the attack happened. We were conducting battle manoeuvrers so the crew could get used to the ship. We received the message for the counter attack at Virgon, as we prepared to join the rest of the fleet eight Cylon raiders found us. Before we could launch a single Viper or even get off a single shot, they triggered a virus that crippled us. The ship was dead in the water. Thankfully our battle group is old. Before being assigned to us they were with the Galactica. The commander of their battlegroup had refused to let them be networked and by that point they still hadn't been upgraded, so the virus had no effect on them. The four gunstars took up a defensive formation around us and destroyed the raiders. By the time Orion was back online and we figured out what had happened and we purged the virus it was too late. We jumped to Virgon and the battle was over. There was wreckage everywhere. We managed to find a few Vipers and Raptors that hadn't been affected either and when they saw us they came out of hiding. Since then we've been searching the systems for survivors and running rescue and supply missions to the colonies. You're lucky this was the last SAR mission before we leave the system for good. Judging by where you have been we've only just missed finding you on a number of occasions."

"You said leaving the system for good, where are we going?" Archangel asked.

"To find somewhere we can live." Johannsen replied.

"Can I ask, did any other Battlestars survive?" Archangel asked.

"We know that at least one survived the initial attack but we don't know where they are now."

"Which one?" Archangel asked, hoping beyond hope his new commanding officer would say, Atlantia.

Johannsen gave a sigh, "Pegasus."

"How do you know they survived?" he asked.

"Not long after the attack we came across a small fleet of civilians. Their ships had been stripped of anything useful and they had been left to die. We managed to evacuate them all before the Cylons found them." the Commander replied.

"Seriously? They did that?!" Archangel asked surprised.

"Yes. By all accounts they took people as well, anyone they thought might be useful. They also executed the families of anyone who refused to leave with them."

"Mother frakers!" Archangel exclaimed.

"Needless to say we are on the lookout for Pegasus." Johannsen replied.

"Have you found many of the humanoid Cylons among the survivors?" Archangel asked.

Johannsen looked shocked, "Sorry what? Humanoid Cylons?!"

"Oh my gods you don't know? There are human Cylons, we've come across at least three of them." Archangel said.

"Are you, are you sure?" the Commander asked.

"Yes, three different men but lots of the same person." Archangel replied.

"I don't really know what to say. This could prove a problem."

"You should speak to one of the survivors Mike. He was going to begin trying to figure out how to tell the difference. He did say that he would need to look at a corpse for his work." Archangel said.

"Mike, the teenager Mike?" Johannsen said sounding surprised.

"Yes sir, he may be young and have no people skills whatsoever but he is a genius."

"I'll speak with him later."

"There is something else you need to know. As you are the most senior officer still alive I need to inform you, that as far as I am aware I am the only surviving member of the colonial black ops unit the shadows." Archangel said quietly.

The Commander looked at him for a moment, clearly trying to process this, "What was your role?" Johannsen asked. He had never known for sure that the military had black op's, but it didn't surprise him, especially in more recent years.

"Wetwork. I'm an assassin." Archangel replied.

"Thank you for telling me. Hopefully we'll only need your experience as a pilot in the days to come. Speaking of which we need to talk about that. Today our CAG and squadron XO were killed during a SAR mission."

"I'm very sorry to hear that sir."

"I need to find someone to take that job as soon as possible. I need someone with experience and I know you were the CAG of Atlantia." Johannsen said.

"Yes sir I was."

"I need you to take the job." Johannsen replied in a matter of fact way.

"I don't want to step on anyone's toes if there is someone else already here who could already do the job?" Archangel said.

"In peace time I would have lots of options, but right now I need someone with experience who knows how to properly command a large airwing. and that person is you." the Commander replied.

"Well then I accept the job." Archangel replied with a smile.

"Thank you. I, like every other person on this ship, know of your reputation and I know you will perform the job admirably and with the same dedication you did aboard, Atlantia. The position of CAG on this ship comes with the rank of Major so congratulations."

"Thank you sir." Archangel replied.

"Anyway I've taken up too much of your time for now. I need you to get some rest. I have a meeting with the former mayor of Caprica city. The civilians want to be led by a government and I'll be in meetings about it for the next few hours."

"Well have fun there sir." Archangel said chuckling.

"I'll see you tomorrow Major."

"Yes sir."

Archangel slept well that night. He had dreams of Grace all night long. Dreams so vivid when he awoke the following morning he had to remind himself, she hadn't made it.

The sick bay was quiet. He sat himself up and moved his legs off the side of the bed. He managed to stand up without much in the way of pain. The meds Dr Hammond had given him were still helping him. Standing up, something so simple, despite being shot, it actually felt good. He began walking to the door.

"And exactly where do you think you are going Major?" Dr Hammond said from her office.

"I feel much better, I wanted to go for a walk around." He replied.

"Please go back to bed, we'll see how you are later." Hammond said, pointing him towards his bed.

"Doctor I hate to be in bed for so long, I'm fine honestly." he protested.

"I'm not going to argue with you Major. Stay in bed till lunchtime and I'll consider letting you go out for a walk."

"Yes ma'am." He said sarcastically, "May I ask what time it is?"

"7.23am. I'll get you some breakfast shortly." she replied.

"Thank you."

Hammond walked over to him and handed him a sports magazine.

"It's not new, but it will keep you entertained for a while." she said handing him the magazine.

It was all new to Archangel, he couldn't remember the last time he had read Pyramid. The cover was plastered with the Bucks Captain, Sam Anders. As he began to read his "latest" interview it felt strange to be relaxing.

Later that afternoon Archangel noticed Colonel Garrett walk in and go talk to the doctor. He hoped she had come to rescue him. A few moments later she walked over to him with a smile.

"Well Major the doc tells me you want to go for a walk?" Vanessa asked.

"Gods yes." He replied.

"Come on, I'll show you round the ship." She added.

As he got off the bed Hammond came over to him. She handed him a bottle of painkillers.

"I'm going to let you go on the condition you come see me twice a day. Take these as and when you need them."

"Yes ma'am." He replied with a smile.

"Pilots!" she said to herself as he walked out with the XO.

"Is this your first position as XO?" Archangel asked as the two walked around the ship.

"Is it that obvious?" she replied.

"No not at all, I was just wondering." Archangel said.

"Yes it is. I'd been an XO for a week when they attacked, it's been quite the baptism of fire. The commander has been an excellent teacher though." she replied.

"Where were you before Orion?" he asked.

Garrett paused for a moment as if she didn't want to say, "I was the LSO on Pegasus."

"Pegasus!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah talk about dodging a bullet with that one." she replied awkwardly.

"I've had a couple of dealings with Admiral Cain. She wanted me to join her air group when I graduated. After our second meeting earlier this year I don't think she likes me very much." Archangel remembered.

"You met her earlier this year?" she asked.

Archangel nodded, "Yeah while Pegasus was docked at Virgon."

"That's why we never met, I was on shore leave then." Vanessa said.

"As you know, she has a reputation for being hard. The admiralty had a list of complaints as long as my arm against her from crewmembers and other members of the fleet. Admirals Corman and Negala sent me there to evaluate her." he told her.

"Wow I can't imagine she liked that." she said.

"Well at the time she didn't know. They told her I was there to evaluate the ship to see if any upgrades were needed on the hanger decks etc. After, when I handed in my report on her and she found out what I put, well she wasn't pleased." Archangel said with a chuckle.

"Can I ask what you said?" Garrett asked.

"I said that I thought she should be removed from command and stationed on one of the colonies, so someone could keep an eye on her. I recommended that Colonel Belzen be given the command. I liked him and the crew seemed to be a lot more relaxed around him."

"That's an understatement. What did the Admiralty say?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't know that's the last I heard about it." Archangel replied.

"When I found out about what she had done if I'm honest I wasn't surprised."

"It wasn't much of a shock to me if I'm honest, the more I thought about it, the more I could believe it. So tell me about Commander Johanssen." Archangel said.

"He's a great leader of men. He knows how to command and everyone on this ship respects him. He doesn't take any unnecessary risks, but every now and again when we go toe to toe with the Cylons he has them running with their tails between their legs. You're going to like serving under him." she said.

"Good I'm glad." He replied.

The tour of the ship took longer than it normally would have due to the gunshot wound in his leg. The ship however was very impressive. Archangel had heard about Orion from Admiral Negala, she was the Admiralties answer to the Cylon threat they always new was coming. She was a battleship plain and simple, designed to be able to take out multiple large targets at once. Had they managed to make the full amount the fleet would have been far more formidable than it already had been. The tour ended with Garrett taking him to his quarters. As the door opened Archangel was surprised.

"Is this right?" he asked.

"Yes, one of the perks of the job, you get your own quarters." She replied.

He walked inside and saw his gear was already there. There was a bed with two lockers next to it. On the other side of the room a sofa and table and a bathroom off at the back.

"I didn't expect this." he said, utterly surprised.

"Well enjoy it, you deserve some privacy after what you've been through." she said.

"Can you take me to the pilots mess?" Archangel asked.

"Sure it's not far from here." she said.

The pilots mess on Orion was the largest he had seen on a Battlestar. Tables with chairs all over and a few sofas as well. Some of the walls were decorated in the squadron insignias as well as old photographs of crewmembers. Archangel saw Skeeter and Bria sat at a table with Bojay and a couple of other pilots.

"CAG on deck." One of the pilots said. Everyone stood to attention.

Archangel smiled as they all stood up.

"At ease guys. I just wanted to say to you all that I'm looking forward to being your CAG. I hope that I can do justice to the memory of Major Meadows who you lost yesterday. Bare with me with names, I'll get to know you all as soon as I can. We all have an important job to do, protecting the people of this fleet. There are going to be times when they aren't going to appreciate what we do for them, but we have to continue to do it anyway. As far as we know these are the last humans in the universe. There is one tradition I want to start today and then I'll leave you all in peace. I noticed you guys already have a memorial corridor with pictures of the people you've lost. That wall." He said pointing to an empty wall behind the pilots, "From now on whenever we loose someone I want their names carving on that wall so we never forget them. I want you guys to get started on it, put on the names of everyone you've lost so far. Then we'll all meet here and have a drink to their memories. I just want you to know that you can count on me, I won't let you guys down." Archangel said.

The pilots clapped as he turned and walked over to his friends. Bojay pulled him out a chair.

"Nice to see you up and around Major." Bria said.

Archangel smiled, "Well I'm still very sore, but I'm okay."

"So what do you think of our ship?" Bojay asked.

"Very impressive. She's a beauty." Archangel replied.

"Wait till you see her in battle, the Cylons are terrified of us. We've taken out eight Baseships already, four of them in one fight." Bojay bragged.

"Impressive." Archangel replied, "Anyway I'm not staying I just wanted to come here and see everyone. I'll catch you all later."

Archangel lay on his bed looking through the photo albums he had brought with him. He had taken out a picture of his squadron on Atlantia as well as one of his parents and brother, as he looked at them there was a knock on his door.

"Come in." he said.

Michaels smiled as he walked in.

"Hey everything okay?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah. I'm about to head off to the Starburst. They have domes with different climate zones. I've been offered a position in the arctic dome teaching survival skills to people for if we ever find a new planet." Michaels said.

"That's fantastic." Archangel

"I just wanted to give you something before I left. Whenever I went on one of my trips I took a camera with me and there is a photograph that I want you to have." Michaels handed him the photo.

Archangel looked down and saw Grace smiling at him.

"Than you." Archangel said standing up and giving his friend a hug. "While you're there if there is ever anything you need you call me."

"I will. I have a cabin at the bottom of the mountain range they have there, you promise to come see me when you get the time?"

"I will." Archangel said.

Both men shook hands and Michaels walked out of the room. Archangel picked up the other two photos and walked to the memorial corridor. There were other people there taking time to remember their lost loved ones. Archangel found a clear spot and put up his three pictures together. The Alphas from the Atlantia. A photo of his parents and brother and finally the one of Grace. He stood looking at them.

"We did it." He said to himself, "We're still alive."