9 DAYS BEFORE THE FALL

Colonel Vanessa Garrett stood and looked at herself in the mirror in her locker. She looked at her Colonel pips for the first time. She couldn't help but smile. She had enjoyed her time as LSO on the Battlestar Pegasus, but couldn't wait to start her term as Executive Officer on the newly completed, Battlestar Orion. She took a deep breath and closed the locker, all her things were packed and ready. As she turned to pick them up she saw Colonel Belzen walk in and smile at her.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes sir." She replied.

"You don't have to call me sir any more, now we're the same rank, it's Jurgen." he replied with a kind smile.

"Well thank you, Jurgen." She said, it felt strange calling him by his first name. He had been her superior officer for three years now.

"I'm so nervous." She said.

"That's to be expected, so was I when I came here. Johannsen is a great man, he'll teach you everything you need to know." he replied.

"I just hope he doesn't realise he's made a huge mistake." Vanessa said with a nervous smile.

He walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, "Listen to me, you were the perfect choice. You're an excellent officer, you deserve this. Don't tell anyone but even the Admiral is proud of you."

"Cain?" she said in sheer shock.

"Yes. Even though she isn't coming to see you off." Jurgen said.

"Well I couldn't expect her to be proud and come see me off now could I?" Vanessa answered with a nervous laugh.

"Listen, she's only ever been hard on you because she thinks you're worth the effort."

Vanessa didn't believe a word he was saying, but she didn't let it show. Cain had been on her back ever since she joined Pegasus and now she couldn't wait to never see the Admiral again.

"Anyway I need to go, I have to be on Orion in less than an hour." she said checking her watch.

"Well good luck. You ever need any advice or anything else, you let me know." he said.

"Thank you." They saluted each other before Garrett picked up her things and headed for her new home.

Captain Jimmy "Bojay" Johnson ran at full pelt through Scorpia Fleet shipyards. The shuttle that would take him across the station was about to leave any minute now and he had to be on it.

"MAKE A HOLE!" He yelled as he ran through the crowds of people. People of all ranks darted out of the way and gave the young pilot some dirty looks as he passed them. He could see the shuttle in front of him. He dived through the doors as they began to close and clattered into the back wall face first and crashed into the ground. Everyone had turned to look at him.

"Hey, don't worry I'm fine." He said with a smile as he got back to his feet. He saw an empty seat and sat in it. The young Colonel sat next to him gave him a funny look.

"Hey there. Captain Jimmy Johnson." He said holding out his hand.

"Colonel Vanessa Garrett." she replied shaking his hand.

They sat silently for a few moments. Bojay tapped his hands on the bag containing his flight helmet.

"So where are you heading?" he asked.

Garrett already couldn't wait to get away from the pilot.

"Battlestar Orion, I'm the new XO." She said not even looking at him.

"Really? No way, that's where I'm heading!" He said a huge smile beaming across his face.

"You?" She said, she hadn't expected that at all.

"Yes ma'am I'm your new lead Raptor Pilot." Bojay replied, still smiling.

Great, she thought, she was going to have to put up with this joker on a day-to-day basis.

"So can I ask, are you any relation to Admiral Lionel Garrett?"

"Yes, he's my father."

"Wow, that's cool. I've heard he's an interesting man." Bojay replied.

"That's one way of putting it." Vanessa replied.

"You don't get on?" Bojay asked.

"Captain, we've only just met I'm not telling you about my relationship or lack of one with my father." Vanessa replied sternly.

"Sure sure. Sorry, I'm just nervous, I tend to ramble. Oh and call me Bojay." he said.

He had to be kidding, "You're Bojay?" Garrett replied with shock in her voice and on her face.

"I know, most people tend to think I'll be older." he replied with a laugh.

"You're Bojay? You're the man who saved eight of his squadron by risking your own life jumping your Raptor near that black hole?!" she asked, completely surprised.

He looked like a nodding dog with a huge smile.

"Well don't take this the wrong way, but you're not what I expected." Vanessa said.

"Hey, nothings taken the wrong way Colonel, I know I'm far better looking than anyone ever imagined I would be." He said still with a huge smile on his face.

Garrett couldn't help but laugh.

"Wow." Bojay said.

"What?" Garrett replied.

Bojay pointed past her to the window. Garrett turned around.

"Wow." she said.

For the first time they saw the Battlestar Orion through the window. It was massive, at least twice the size of the Mercury class Battlestar it was docked next to.

"How many people are going onto that?" Bojay asked not able to take his eyes off it.

"5,000. 600 Vipers, 60 Raptors and that's just to start with, that number will be doubled by the time we're up and running, among other things." Vanessa said, not taking her eyes off Orion.

"I so took the right job." Bojay said.

"Me too." Garrett replied.

"So can I ask where have you come from?" Bojay asked.

"Pegasus," she replied, "I was the LSO."

"Did you fly before that?" Bojay asked.

She nodded her head, "Raptor pilot. You're from the Solaria?"

"Sure am, been there since I graduated, but couldn't say no when I was offered this job." Bojay said.

"Johannsen just offered you it?" Garrett asked.

Bojay nodded his head, "Yeah, trust me no one was as shocked and surprised as I was. Have you met the old man yet?"

"Yes, once." Vanessa replied.

"That's one more than me. I spoke to him and was told about Orion, what she was capable of. When he offered me lead Raptor jock and a promotion to Captain, I had to take it." Bojay said.

When the shuttle arrived both officers were getting on well. Garrett realised that Bojay wasn't as bad as she had first feared, every squadron had a joker, it would appear he would be Orion's.

As they walked to the airlock lots of other crewmembers were arriving at the same time. As they reached the security checkpoint they were met by two marines who were checking everyone onboard.

"Colonel Vanessa Garrett." She said holding out her Colonial ID.

"Welcome aboard sir. Commander Johannsen has asked us to take you to him when you arrive. Private West will take your belongings to your quarters. Private Jones will show to the Commander."

"Thank you Corporal," she turned to Bojay, "Nice to meet you, I'll see you later on."

"You too." He grinned at the Corporal from ear to ear as he held out his ID, "Captain Jimmy Johnson reporting for duty."

"Welcome aboard sir."

Garrett tried to take everything in as she was led through the maze that was Orion. She had no idea how many billions of cubits had been spent building the ship, but it seemed as though no part of it had been skimped on. It looked so futuristic, like something from a science fiction film, lots of computer screens all over showing different ships systems. As they walked onto the CIC she was amazed at the size of it. Most of the new Battlestars had smaller CIC's, with Orion it seemed they had gone back to the older larger design. Commander Heinrick Johannsen stood signing some paperwork at the dradis console. He was an imposing figure. Despite his soft tone when he spoke and his ageing years, he had a fierce reputation in battle. He had survived the first Cylon war and been in the service ever since. Garrett had wondered why he had never made Admiral when she first met him, only to be told later he had turned down the promotion four times, fearing it would lead to a desk job or something else that would no longer allow him to command a Battlestar. He looked up and smiled when he saw his new XO walk in.

Garrett stood to attention and saluted her new Commander.

"Colonel Garrett reporting for duty sir." Vanessa said.

"At ease Colonel. It's very good to see you again." He said holding out his hand.

"Likewise. May I just say, thank you again for picking me out of all the candidates." Vanessa said.

"Not at all. May I call you Vanessa?" Heinrich asked.

"Yes sir, of course sir." she replied with a smile.

"You showed me the most potential out of everyone I met. I mind ripe for moulding. I foresee great things in your future." he said with a kind smile.

"Thank you sir." she replied.

"Have you met anyone else yet?" the Commander asked.

"Bojay sir, sorry, I mean Captain Johnson."

"Wonderful pilot and leader of men that man, I don't know if you noticed but he has an excellent sense of humour. I have only spoken to him so far, I am very much looking forward to meeting him." Heinrich replied.

"Yes sir. He's certainly a character." Vanessa replied.

"There is one thing I must ask of you Vanessa."

"Yes sir, anything sir." she said.

"Relax, I am not Admiral Cain. I would rather my crew did not fear the every word that came out of my mouth." he said to her.

"Yes sir." she replied with a smile.

"Come, let me show you the ship, maybe we'll find Bojay along the way."

Bojay had already changed into his flight uniform. The four-man bunk he had been assigned to was larger than the eight-man bunk he had called home on the Solaria. As he finished unpacking the last of his bags a young female pilot walked in. Bojay was immediately taken by the young Lieutenant's good looks, short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Hi, I'm Bojay." He said holding out his hand.

The young Lieutenant shook it and smiled back at him, "Lieutenant Jenna Riley or Hawkeye, sir."

"Please call me Bojay or Jimmy, either or, it's up to you." He replied with a wink.

"Well, Bojay, I'm your new ECO." she said.

Immediately any thoughts Bojay may have had regarding the young woman changed to being totally professional and he inwardly sighed to himself.

"Well my new ECO, it's good to meet you. Been on Orion long?" he asked.

"Two days." She replied. "Wanna see our new state of the art, straight of the production line Raptor? I've been desperate to take her out for a spin."

Bojay smiled and nodded, "Lead the way."

The Hanger was lined with brand new Vipers and Raptors, some of which were still having their pilot's names and call signs painted on them. Hawkeye took Bojay straight to their Raptor. It was larger than the Raptors he was used to flying. He noticed the addition of the two chain cannons underneath each wing. He patted his name which was written on the side with a huge smile on his face. Hawkeye opened the side hatch and stepped aside. It was kitted out with state of the art, brand new avionics gear and dradis consoles.

"This is so cool." He said as he stepped inside and sat down in the right hand pilot's chair. It was so much more comfortable than the seat in his old ship. A lot of the controls looked slightly different than what he was used to, but he knew they all did the same things as the old ones, "We have to take her out for that spin."

"And there's the man you'll need to clear it with." Hawkeye said, pointing through the canopy to the Commander.

He looked out and saw his new CO for the first time as he walked with Colonel Garrett.

"That's my cue!" Bojay said darting back out of the Raptor.

The first the Commander saw of his new lead Raptor pilot, was as he almost fell face first out of his Raptor.

"You must be Bojay?" The Commander said holding out his hand.

"Yes sir, sorry about the entrance, it's good to finally meet you." he said shaking the Commander's hand.

"Likewise. Colonel Garrett said she's already met you." Johannsen replied.

"Yes sir, the Colonel and I are already old friends." He replied patting her on the shoulder.

"You'll be looking forward to meeting your new CAG this afternoon?" Johannsen asked.

"Yes sir I am. I hear she's a hell of a pilot. I just wanted to ask you a question if that's okay sir?" Bojay asked with a huge smile across his face.

"Ask away Captain." Johannsen replied.

"Would it at all be possible if Hawkeye and I took our new Raptor out to see what she's capable of?" The huge smile still across his face as he asked.

The Commander looked at his new XO and then turned back with a smile on his face.

"I don't see why not." he answered.

"Thank you sir." He replied with a salute before winking at Colonel Garrett, "Hawkeye, come on we need to get our helmets."

Johannsen let out a laugh as Bojay dragged Hawkeye away.

"Hard to believe he's the same man who saved all those people." Garrett said.

"Not really. I was talking to his previous CO, despite the clumsy, funny man routine he is an excellent officer who knows how to get the best out of the men and women who serve with him." the Commander replied as they began to walk again.

"Now that I am very much looking forward to seeing." Vanessa replied.

The last stop on the tour was the mess hall. Johannsen and Garrett both sat talking while they ate.

"I have to be honest with you I'm very nervous about this position, I have very little command experience. I know I sound like a broken record." Vanessa said as she took a sip from her drink.

"Everyone has to learn somewhere. Admiral Cain may not have let you have many OOD hours, but you seem to be forgetting your time as a squadron leader. You have more than you think." the Commander replied.

"I hadn't considered my Raptor time. As for OOD time, I must have stood watch a dozen times in three years on Pegasus. Colonel Belzen was the one who used to let me do it, usually when Cain was off the ship. He wanted me to learn." she replied.

"And that's why I chose you. First of all we have a week of war games starting in a few days. I'm going to leave you in command for quite a lot of it." he said before taking a bite out of his sandwich.

Garrett felt a little nervous at the thought of that, she knew she had a lot to prove. She noticed more and more of the new crew coming in to get their food and yet no one was sitting around them. On Pegasus, Cain and Belzen had never eaten in the mess so she wasn't at all used to this.

"Have you noticed no one is sitting near us?" She said.

Johannsen nodded as he ate, "It's always the same at first on Battlestars. The new crew seem to be worried about getting to close to the commanding officers or that we don't want to eat with them. Don't worry about it. I'm sure Bojay will sit with you while you eat." He gave a little chuckle as he finished speaking.

"Gee thanks." Garrett replied letting out a little laugh of her own.

"Orion this is Bojay we are clearing the Starboard landing bay, see you shortly." He said.

"Raptor 1 you are clear to go on your way, have fun out there." Major Rae, the ships LSO replied to him.

"Will do ma'am." He replied.

The Raptor sped away into space. Bojay could feel all the improvements to his new ship. Its reaction time was much quicker. He was also not used to having permanent weapons, he hoped he would have no need to use them any time soon.

"Okay where do you want to go?" Hawkeye asked from the back.

"No idea, surprise me." Bojay replied.

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Please don't get in the habit of calling me sir, Jimmy or Bojay will do fine." he said.

"Anyway, preparing to jump in 5…4…3…2…1." Hawkeye said.

Both pilots braced themselves for the jump. In the flash of an eye they popped into space. In front of them was a massive asteroid field. They ranged in sizes from the size of a moon to the size of a pebble.

"Wow, where are we?" Bojay asked.

"Zeus' belt, near the red line. Not much in the way of traffic gets out here." Hawkeye replied.

"Wow this is amazing. How did you find out about this place?" Bojay asked.

"My Dad is an astronomer, he works at the observatory in Delphi. It was the first photograph I remember him showing me. It stuck with me, I always wanted to see it. I have to take some photos to show my Dad, he'll be so jealous I've been here." she said with a laugh.

"Fancy a closer look?"

"That depends." Hawkeye replied.

"On what?" Bojay asked.

"Whether or not you're going to get us killed on our first time out together?"

"Trust me." He replied as he took the Raptor into the asteroid belt. The proximity warning alarms began to blaze in the cockpit, Bojay reached out and turned them all off.

"That's the last thing we need. I know how close we are." He said with a little laugh.

Hawkeye behind him looked terrified. She held on tightly to her station.

With great ease Bojay flew them through the asteroids. Occasionally they could hear some of the smaller ones pinging off the side of the ship.

"You know the Chief will go mad if we damage our Raptor." Hawkeye said.

"A few scratches give a bird character." Bojay replied smiling from ear to ear as they went further into the asteroids, "If you're gonna fly with me Hawkeye you're going to have to learn to appreciate the little things."

"I bet you say that to all the girls. I think I might ask for a transfer." She said to herself, but loudly enough to be heard.

7 DAYS BEFORE THE FALL

The media and a crowd of colonial officers watched as Orion moved away from the space dock. The sheer size of it dwarfed everything it passed. It was an impressive sight to behold.

"We've cleared the space dock sir." One of the pilots said.

"Prepare the ship for jump." Johannsen replied.

As people went about their jobs on the CIC Johannsen smiled across at his young XO who stood across from him looking nervous.

"Are you with us Colonel?" he asked.

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Ship is ready for jump commander." Lieutenant Georgia Taylor said.

"Thank you Lieutenant. Colonel, if you would do the honour of giving the order?" Johannsen asked.

Garrett looked as shocked as she felt, "Yes sir." She picked up her hand set from in front of her and took a deep breath, "All hands this is the XO, prepare to jump." She placed the handset back down, "Lieutenant Taylor, jump the ship."

"Aye Colonel." She replied from her station. She opened a channel through her headset, "Ship jumping in 5…4…3…2…1."

Seconds later the massive ship jumped away.

The pilots briefing room was packed. The room had had to be large to contend with the ships current complement of pilots. 600 Viper pilots, 60 Raptor pilots and 60 ECO's. Despite the noise they all stood to attention as their CAG, Major Gloria "Sideswipe" Meadows took her position.

"At ease people." She said. Meadows was in her mid thirties, her dirty blonde hair tied back from her face. While she was an attractive woman she had a hard look to her. The large scar on the right hand side of her face didn't help to detract from this.

"We will be conducting war games for the next week. Our battlegroup will be joining us later today. You will be split into teams, some of you will be Colonials, and others will be Cylons. The aim of this will be to gain unit cohesion and build moral. For a lot of you I know you will think these exercises are redundant as you have been in the fleet for a long time. However you will give them 100% effort or you will find yourself on my bad side and just so you all know that is NOT somewhere any of you want to be, especially at this early stage. For some of you this is your first assignment and I expect the same level of effort from you as well. I'm new to the job is not an excuse I will ever entertain. Captain Shaw the squadron XO and Captain Johnson our senior Raptor pilot, have a list of which side you will be on, make sure you talk to them to find out where you are. There are a lot of people watching us. This ship is the future of our fleet. It is a great honour to be assigned here. Prove to the Commander and to myself that you are worthy of being here, anyone who cannot cut it will be re-assigned somewhere else. Finally if any of you have any questions I am here for you, I will help you in anyway that I can, as will Shaw and Johnson. Good hunting in the war games. The first one will begin in six hours." She saluted her men who saluted back before walking out of the room.

"Whoa she could do with a personality transplant." Bojay said to Hawkeye who smiled back at him.

He took the podium with Captain Monica "Blindside" Shaw the squadrons XO.

"Captain." She said shaking his hand.

"Please call me Bojay." He replied.

"Blindside." She replied.

"Do you want me to do the honours?" he asked.

"Be my guest." She replied.

"Okay shut the frak up and give me your eyes," Bojay said. The room quietened down again as they all looked at the two officers, "There are a lot of you here so it may take a little while. We'll call out your names and tell you which side you're batting for. I want no complaints if it turns out you're a toaster." The pilots all gave a laugh, "Just do your jobs and we'll all stay on the Major's good side."

Orion joined its battle fleet. Four Gunstars, a Medstar, a marine troop carrier and two recovery platforms which also doubled up as platform for fixing damaged ships. Unlink Orion, the Battlegroup were old, they had until days before belonged to BSG 75 and now Galactica was being decommissioned they had been re-assigned. After the war games they were all due for extensive systems overhauls. Johannsen had requested them early for the war games.

Colonel Garrett stood at the dradis console, she had managed to compose herself and was trying to show confidence. Opposite her stood Major Mae Rae the ships LSO and 2nd Officer who, for the sake of the war game was her XO. Rae, a woman in her mid forties had a reputation for not taking any amount of crap from any of her subordinates. Unlike the two officers above her in the ranks, she was a no nonsense officer. Garrett had found it slightly amusing the day before when Bojay had cracked a joke in what would have been an ill-advised attempt to make the hardened officer laugh. Garrett wouldn't have been surprised if they had heard her screaming at him, all the way from the landing bay to the CIC.

"All ships report ready." Rae said.

"Thank you Major." Garrett replied.

Sitting in the gods above the dradis console was Commander Johannsen. She knew that he wouldn't interfere or say anything till the end. He had instructed Rae and the other officers not to suggest any course of action unless they were asked directly by the XO.

"Okay let's do this." She said.

After a few moments of silence Lieutenant Taylor was the one to break it.

"Commander we have four enemy contacts. They're Cylon base ships and they are launching raiders." She said.

"Set condition one throughout the fleet. Launch the alert fighters and instruct gun captains to set up a flak barrier. Instruct the main batteries to begin firing at the nearest base ship." Vanessa ordered.

Bojay and Sideswipe sat in their ships off to the side of where the game was beginning. They had created a section for fighters when they had been "killed". They watched in silence as Orion's Vipers launched to engaged the "enemy".

"This should be interesting." Bojay said.

"Cut the chatter, Bojay I don't want to hear your mouth." Sideswipe snapped back.

"Yes Sir." He replied.

"And I won't tell you again, it's ma'am." She yelled back.

"Yes ma'am." He said back turning to Hawkeye who just grinned back at him.

They watched as they vipers engaged each other.

Garrett stood on the CIC as things began to unfold.

"Incoming nuclear ordinance." Taylor yelled.

"All hands brace for contact." Garrett said, "Launch a barrage of ship to ship missiles at the nearest base ship."

"Aye ma'am." Rae replied.

"Commander we have structural damage on the top side as well as down the starboard landing bay." Taylor yelled.

"Bring us about. Instruct the main battery to switch to salvo fire and continue firing at all four targets."

"We've lost 33 vipers." Rae said.

"Frak." Garrett said.

"We've lost FTL." Taylor said.

"Nearest base ship has been destroyed." Rae said.

Bojay watched as more and more vipers from both sides came over to join them. Gunstar Aries jumped away as it had been "destroyed" and then reappeared next to them. The Raptor shook as the huge ship reappeared.

"Tell Captain Archer she jumped in way too close." Bojay said. This was the first time Hawkeye had heard him sounding annoyed.

"Gunstar Aries please be informed you jumped in far too close to us." Hawkeye said from behind him.

Bojay watched as Orion moved around as it attacked his enemy. Bojay couldn't help but cringe slightly as he saw Garrett take the ship into its most vulnerable position yet.

"Incoming ordinance, they're aiming for the engines." Rae said.

"Frak, tell the gun cannons to intercept." Garrett replied.

"They're not going to make it in time." Rae replied.

As she finished speaking condition one ended on the ship and the lights on the CIC grew bright again. The ships systems had ended the game after the engines had been hit.

"Frak." Garrett whispered under her breath and hit the console in front of her.

"Bad luck Colonel." Johannsen said as he walked down to the floor.

"Sorry sir, I just got overwhelmed." She replied.

"Don't worry you will improve. Major Rae please re-call all the birds please."

"Aye Commander." Rae said as she picked up the hand set in front of her.

"Come, walk with me." Johannsen said, "Major if you would be so kind as to take the con,"

"Yes sir." She replied.

Garrett let out an huge audible sigh as she followed the commander out.

"I'm so sorry sir." She said.

"Colonel there is nothing to be sorry about. This was your first time in command of a Battlestar. If we're still having this conversation at the end of the week then I will be more concerned. But for now don't beat yourself up so hard." he said patting her on the shoulder.

"It's hard sir. I want to be worthy of all the trust and responsibility you've given me, I need to prove myself to you." Vanessa replied.

They both stopped walking, "And you will Vanessa. I'll take command this evening and we'll see how things go from there. If I can say one thing to you. Don't be afraid to ask your fellow officers for advice and help. And relax, you're wound so tight you outwardly appear as though you could snap. Get over your little experience with command and things will begin to come easier."

"Yes sir." she replied.

THE DAY OF THE FALL

Colonel Garrett walked the halls of Orion with much more confidence than she had one week before. The war games had continued all week and she had progressed quickly. For the last three days, under her command the Orion hadn't lost once. As she walked onto the CIC she was met by Major Rae.

"Good morning Colonel." She said with a smile.

"Good morning Major, anything to report?" over the last week the two officers had begun to forge a friendship.

"Not much, Colonial HQ are asking for an update of all FTL capable ships, apparently there has been no word from the Armistice station. We sent them our status and they have ordered us to stand by. At the moment they do not believe a recon mission is worthy of Orion's time." Rae replied before trying to stifle a yawn.

"Fair enough. You may as well head off to bed, I'll take over."

"Yes ma'am." Rae said saluting the XO.

Garrett saluted back. She was ready for another day of war games, her head was full of strategies and battle manoeuvrers.

As Bojay finished shaving, he noticed the CAG walk in.

"Good morning Major, ready for another day of sitting on the sidelines?" He asked as he put toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

"That's what I want to talk to you about. I want you to lead the squadron today. I think the other Squadron leaders could do with some tips from a pro." Sideswipe said.

Bojay coughed and nearly choked on his toothbrush, he had never expected that kind of compliment from his CAG.

"Yes ma'am of course." he said.

"Good. I just wanted to say as long as you keep the goofing around to a minimum and during your off hours, we're going to continue to get along fine." She said with an attempt at a smile.

"Yes ma'am." He replied with a mouth full of toothpaste.

As Commander Johannsen walked onto the CIC he could tell something was wrong. Garrett stood reading something with a look of utter shock across her face.

"Colonel what's wrong?" he asked.

Garrett couldn't speak, she handed the commander the piece of paper. As he read about the nuclear attack on the colonies he knew why his XO was in shock. He knew he had to hold himself together as the crew would be looking to him for guidance. He took a deep breath.

"Has this been confirmed?"

Vanessa nodded her head, "Yes." she said quietly.

"Lieutenant Taylor please open a channel to the entire battle fleet." he said as he put down the paper in front of him.

"Aye sir." she replied.

"All hands this is the Commander. We have just received word that the Cylons have attacked the colonies. So far there have been massive nuclear bombardments across half of the colonies. Picon fleet headquarters and a third of the fleet were destroyed in the opening attacks. We are to prepare the ship to join the rest of the fleet for a counter attack at Virgon. This is a new ship and we are all still learning our positions and are finding our feet. but if there is one thing I have seen over the last week is that you are capable of what is to come. If we all stand together and do our jobs I know we can come through this victorious. Take the pain and the anger you are all feeling now and use it, together we will be victorious." Johannsen put the hand set down, "I want system checks across the ships, all weapons fully loaded and checked. Set condition one throughout the battle group."

The pilots briefing room was quiet. Everyone was in a state of shock. No one noticed the CAG walk in.

"Attention on deck." She bellowed.

All the pilots stood to attention. She looked at them all, now was not the time to go soft on any of them.

"At ease ladies and gentlemen." They all sat back down, "We will be joining the fleet as you all know for the counter attack. We will join the Viper squadrons of the fleet. Our jobs will be to stop any and all raiders that come our way. Over the past week I have seen you all progress to be a coherent unit that I believe is capable of this task. Stick together, watch your wingman. As soon as you run out of ammunition head back to the ship for reload. The deck gang will have you in and out in a matter of minutes. I want all of you to head to the hanger deck and check your ships over, make sure everything is in full working order. Before we jump we will load the Vipers into the tubes so we are ready to launch as soon as we hit the other side. We will make these metal bastards pay for destroying our homes and killing our people. Good hunting people." Meadows said.

Bojay sat silently for a moment trying to compose himself. He stood up and took the podium, "Raptors please wait behind."

As all the rest of the pilots left, raptor pilots and ECO's remained in their seats.

"We'll launch after the Vipers." He cleared his throat, "We'll stick closer to Orion than the Vipers. Raptors 10 through 15 you'll be on SAR duty. As the CAG said check everything. I just wanted to say I know we're all feeling the same at the moment, not knowing if our families and friends are alive. All you want to do is contact them to make sure they're okay. But now that has to wait. As soon as this is over and we've kicked their asses back to wherever they came from, that's when we mourn or rejoice. Either way we have a job to do, hold it together and we'll all make it home."

The ship was bustling with more activity than it had in the week previously. The crew making sure Orion was ready for the coming battle. Colonel Garrett walked onto the CIC and took up her position at the dradis console.

"The Medstar, platforms and the marine ship are all under instruction to hold back when we get there." She said.

"Good." Johannsen replied.

"Commander the final areas have checked in, Vipers are in the tubes and we're ready to jump." Lieutenant Taylor said from her station.

"Count us down please Lieutenant." The commander replied.

"All hands preparing to jump in 10…9…8…7."

"Dradis contact." A voice said from behind them.

"Hold the count." Johannsen ordered, "Identify."

There was silence for a few moment, "Enemy contacts, eight in total." Taylor said.

"Prepare to launch Vipers." As Johannsen finished speaking everything went black. All the ships systems went off line.

"What the Frak?!" Garrett said.

"Report?" Johannsen ordered.

"All ships systems have gone off line. I don't know how, but nothing is responding. We're dead in the water." Taylor replied.

Garrett immediately thought it was the end.

"Lieutenant get us up and running immediately." Johannsen barked.

"Aye sir." Taylor replied.

"Why aren't they on top of us by now?" Garrett asked.

"That is the question!" As he finished speaking emergency power kicked in.

The hanger bay was in chaos. The tubes were locked out with the Vipers trapped inside. Everyone else was starting to panic.

"What the frak?" Bojay said as he got out of his Raptor. People were rushing past him.

"SHUT THE FRAK UP!" Bojay yelled but no one took any notice. He took out his sidearm and fired a round into the air. That seemed to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone shut the frak up and calm the frak down, NOW." No one had seen this side of Bojay before, he knew he had to take charge of the situation, "Chief contact the CIC."

Chief of the Deck Arthur James, a short balding middle-aged man stepped forward, "I've been trying sir, nothing seems to be responding."

"Hawkeye get to CIC, tell them I've taken command down here and try to find out what the frak is going on." He ordered.

"Yes sir." She replied before running off.

"I want your people to carry on with their jobs and try to get some of these tubes open, start with the CAG." Bojay said.

"Aye sir." the Chief replied.

All the pilots not stuck in the tubes had started to gather around, "Right I want you to help the deck crew to get things running down here, help them with anything they want, do as you are instructed. If you cannot find anyone to help report to the Chief and follow his orders to the letter." Bojay said to them.

He ran over to the Chief who was trying to open the tube where Sideswipe was stuck.

"It's no good sir we can't get it to open." The Chief said.

"Okay get the tube control room open." Bojay replied.

Moments later the door was being cut open then they were inside. He saw Sideswipe sitting in her Viper. Not even the com unit was working. Bojay pointed to his hand held radio and Sideswipe picked up hers.

"What's going on Captain?" she asked.

"I've not idea. The ship seems to have lost all power. Nothing is working except for emergency generators, everything has shut down. I've got everyone doing what they can to get systems online and get you guys out of the tubes." he replied.

"Has there been any contact with the CIC?" she asked.

"No, I sent Hawkeye to see what was going on and what we can do to help."

"Good Captain. Leave getting the Vipers out of the tubes, we have plenty of oxygen and there are more important things to be fixing." Meadows ordered.

"Yes ma'am." he replied.

"Bojay."

"Yes." he said.

"Good work holding it together." she said with a genuine smile.

One of the pilots came bursting in.

"Sir someone is trying to come in through one of the airlocks."

"Frak." Bojay said as he darted out of the control room, "Chief do as the Major ordered, forget the tubes for now. He grabbed several pilots and marines and headed to the airlock.

There were two marines already there with weapons drawn.

"Sir someone is cutting through the airlock." One of the marines said.

"Okay people weapons drawn but do not fire until I give the order." Bojay said.

The five pilots and four marines all stood waiting, with weapons drawn. The next two minutes seemed to last an eternity. As the door fell off it's hinges they all gave a sigh of relief as they saw marines come in.

"Sergeant it's fraking good to see you. What happened out there?" Bojay asked.

"We saw Orion loose power. The Gunstars took up a defensive formation around her and destroyed the raiders. It seems the Cylons have used a virus to cripple Orion, for some reason it didn't work on the rest of the battle group." the sergeant replied.

"Thank the Gods for old machinery." Bojay said, "Come with me to the CIC, the rest of you stay here and help out in any way you can."

As Hawkeye walked onto the CIC everyone was working trying to get the ship up and running again. Hawkeye walked over to the commander who was busy rewiring some circuitry.

"Commander." Hawkeye said.

"Yes Lieutenant." He replied as he carried on.

"Bojay has taken command of the hanger deck. There are vipers stuck in the tubes. He has everyone doing what they can to get things up and running again." she said.

"Very good." Johannsen replied.

"Sir please forgive me but what happened?" she asked.

"We're not sure yet." He replied.

"Then maybe we can shed some light on the situation." Bojay said as he walked up to them with the marine sergeant, "Commander this is Sergeant Milner from the troop carrier."

The commander looked up from his work.

"What happened out there Sergeant?" the Commander asked.

"Well as you know eight raiders jumped in. It would appear they broadcast some kind of virus. When Orion went dead in the water the Gunstars took up a defensive position and destroyed the raiders. It would appear that none of the other ships were effected. Maybe it's because the ships are old? Maybe it's because our computers are not linked? The Gunstar captains are keeping a defensive formation." Milner answered.

"Did they try to contact the fleet?" Johannsen asked.

"No sir, with Orion defenceless the other Captains didn't want any messages intercepted."

After six hours there had been no more enemy contact. A virus had indeed crippled the ship. Once it had been located the entire ships systems had been purged and reloaded. The CIC stood with baited breath waiting to see if all their hard work had been successful.

"Bring the ships systems back online please." Johannsen said.

"Aye sir." Lieutenant Taylor said.

"Here goes nothing." Garrett said.

They all waited in silence and then moments later all the main lights and ships systems came back online.

"How long before we can get underway?" Johannsen asked.

Major Rae who had been on CIC helping replied, "It's going to take my teams at least an hour to make the Vipers and Raptors safe. The crews are already working on them now sir."

"Excellent Major, keep me informed." Johannsen said.

"Sir I'm receiving a message from Gunstar Cryxus. Captain Reynolds says it's nice to see us back online and there has been no word whatsoever from the fleet." Taylor said.

"Inform the Captains of our status and that we will be back underway as soon as possible." Johannsen replied.

"So what now sir?" Garrett asked.

"We wait until everyone is ready and then go join the fight." He replied.

"Sir if there has been no word it cannot be good." She replied.

"I will not give in to conjecture Colonel. Until we know for sure we stick with the plan." he said.

Bojay and Hawkeye were in their Raptor making the systems safe.

"I can't believe this." Bojay said, "We get this brand new toy to play with and we have to disconnect half the gods damn systems."

"Better to be safe than sorry though." Hawkeye replied.

Major Rae poked her head into the Raptor.

"How is the progress?" she asked.

"Coming along well. We should be up and running shortly." Bojay replied.

Lieutenant Taylor tried to compose herself as she read the message that came through in front of her. She tore off the print out and took it down to the commander.

"Sir this has just come through. It was originally sent over an hour ago." She said as she passed the printout to her CO. As he read it, it felt as though the ground had gone from underneath him.

"Commander what is it?" Garrett asked.

"The fleet, it's gone." He replied handing her the piece of paper.

She held her hand to her mouth in total shock as she read the message.

"The whole fleet, Negala, they're all dead." Garrett said in utter shock, "What do we do now?".

Johannsen once again picked up his handset.

"All hands this is the commander. We have just received word that the fleet is gone. Admiral Negala, the Atlantia, all of them were destroyed in the fight. I know what you are all thinking, what do we do now? How do we survive? Here is something you do not know, this ship was built because of the ever present threat of the Cylons. She was built for this day. She was built to destroy and that is what we will do. We will go to Virgon and see if we can find any survivors. While we are there, should we come face to face with our enemy we will crush them with every weapon at our disposal. We will make the Cylons fear this ship and this crew so much, the very Gods will take notice of us. We will make the Cylons pay for every life they have taken today. I know that every single one of you is capable. We will be victorious." He put the phone down and let out a sigh. "I want every weapon ready for the jump to the other side. The second we see a Cylon ship, I want gun captains ready to fire."

"Sir the battle group reports ready." Garrett said.

"Tell Gunstar Onyx to stay behind with the Medstar and other ships, we will only be taking the other three Gunstars."

"Aye sir." She replied.

The next hour came and went. Despite all the emotion the whole crew was feeling, they were all ready to fight, confident that the work they had been doing was enough to protect them. Sideswipe picked up a handset on the hanger deck.

"Lieutenant Taylor please inform the Commander that all birds are ready down here. We are about to reload them into the tubes." She said.

"Commander all the birds are ready." She said, "The CAG is having them reloaded into the tubes."

"Tell the Gunstars to prepare for the jump." Johanssen said.

"Aye sir." She replied.

"Are you ready Colonel?" Johannsen asked.

"Yes sir I am." Garrett replied. Watching him over the past few hours hold the ship and the crew together had given her strength, she felt ready for anything that was about to come her way.

"Gunstars and Vipers report ready sir." Taylor said from her station.

"Star the jump." Johannsen ordered.

"All hands prepare to jump in 5…4…3…2…1." Taylor said.

As Orion jumped into Virgon space there was wreckage everywhere which could be seen on dradis.

"Lieutenant send out a recall message across all colonial broadcast signals." Johannsen ordered.

"Dradis contact sir." There was a pause of silence for a few seconds, "Six signals, they're colonial, four Raptors and two Vipers."

"Give them priority clearance to land." Garrett said.

"Dradis contact. It's the Cylons sir. Four base ships on an intercept course. They're launching raiders." Lt. Taylor said.

"Launch Vipers. Begin flak suppression barrage. Lock on to the centre axis of the nearest base ship full barrage." the Commander ordered.

The 600 strong Viper squadrons began to launch from Orion.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen keep out of Orion's firing solution and do not stray too far. Open racks and engage." Sideswipe ordered.

"Direct hit on the nearest base ship, they are attempting to pull back." Garrett said.

"Instruct batteries 14 through 20 to switch to salvo fire and destroy it." Johannsen replied, "Target the other three base ships, three volleys at full spread."

As Bojay and Hawkeye launched, the first thing they saw was the nearest base ship to them explode.

"Now that's what I like to see." He said to himself.

The other Raptors took up their positions and fired their own missile barrage into the oncoming raiders, taking out at least a dozen and making the others turn back. Bojay could see the base ships firing missiles at Orion, everyone hitting the flak barrier, nothing able to get through. The Raptors fired another volley of missiles at the next wave of oncoming raiders, this time a few managed to get through.

"Raptors begin to scatter we have incoming." Bojay ordered.

Bojay banked the raptor upwards and fired the raptors chain cannons, tearing apart one of the raiders.

"Bojay we have a new contact that's just appeared, it's colonial." Hawkeye said.

"Get on the horn to Orion." Bojay ordered back.

On Orion CIC there was constant chatter as people relayed information from their posts.

"Commander a colonial transport has just jumped into the fight." Taylor said.

"Tell one of the raptors to intercept and take them to the rest of the battle group. Have the nearest Gunstar give them cover." Johannsen said.

"Commander another base ship has been destroyed the other two are backing off out of weapons range and recalling their fighters." Garrett said.

"Tell the vipers and raptors fall back." Johannsen replied.

"Aye sir." Garrett replied with a smile.

"Okay boys and girls you heard the XO lets fallback." Bojay said.

He took their Raptor back and watched as the others formed up along side them, the vipers were doing the same.

"How many did we lose?" Bojay asked.

Hawkeye checked her dradis console, "No raptors. It looks like we've lost seven vipers though."

"Frak. Sideswipe this is Bojay."

"Bojay you okay over there?" she replied.

"Yes ma'am I was calling in to ask the same?" Bojay said.

"All fine over here. Your raptors did good." the CAG replied.

"Thank you." Bojay said.

The pilots watched through the wreckage as the two base ships jumped away from the fight.

"All fighters return to the barn, repeat all vipers return to the barn." Taylor said over the COM.

"Okay guys let's head back in." Sideswipe said.

"What now sir?" Garrett asked

"We head back to the others and formulate our plan of action." Johannsen replied.

Garrett was impressed with him. She was now seeing the things she could learn from him in the battles that were to come. He kept completely calm throughout, took the whole thing in his stride as if he did this kind of thing every day.

"Have one of the pilots we rescued meet me in my quarters." The Commander said.

"Yes sir." Taylor replied.

"Vanessa, as soon as everyone is onboard jump back and come see me." The Commander replied with a smile, "Lieutenant Taylor, please take the deck and jump us all back to the fleet."

Johannsen was met in his quarters by Lieutenant Barry "Sober" Marshall and Colonel Garrett.

"Please Lieutenant sit." Johannsen said.

The young lieutenant looked to be in a state of shock.

"What happened?" Johannsen asked.

Marshall ran his shaking hands through his hair, "It was the most fraked up thing I've ever seen in my life. The fleet, the vipers, the raptors all of them, just as they were about to engage the enemy lost all power. They couldn't even defend themselves. The raiders and base ship launched missiles and just kept firing till everyone was dead." Marshall said staring ahead into space as he spoke.

"How did you survive?" Garrett asked.

"I'm not sure. My Viper is one of the first Mk VIIs they made. Maybe because it's old? I just don't know. We just hid in the wreckage. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come and found us. I just sat there watching as the nukes exploded over Virgon. My gods all those people, they're just being slaughtered. Sir we have to do something." the young Lieutenant said turning his attention to the Commander.

"Don't worry Lieutenant we will. You've had quite an ordeal, I want you to go an get some rest." Johannsen said.

"With all due respect sir, I want to fight. If you're taking Orion back I want to be involved." he said with anger in his voice.

"Right now Lieutenant we're still looking at our options, so I want to get some rest. I promise that as soon as we get back into the fight you'll know." the Commander replied with a kind smile.

"Yes sir." Marshall replied before standing up. As the young Lieutenant left the room they both sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So what are we going to do?" Garrett asked.

"There must be people left out there, we have to find them and take them somewhere safe. We need to make supply runs, once we've done all this we leave the system." the Commander replied.

"Leave?" Garrett asked.

"Yes we leave. We've lost. Have Sideswipe, Blindside and Bojay come to my quarters." he replied.

"Of course." she said.

As Garrett made the call Johannsen poured them both a drink of whiskey and drank his down in one. He picked up a photograph on his desk and looked at it. Both of his daughters were living in Caprica City with their husbands and his grandchildren. He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, but he feared the worst.

Bojay was the last to make it to the commander's quarters, he quickly apologised for his delay and sat down with the others.

"Thank you all for coming." Johannsen said, "I want to divide the Raptor squadrons up into groups of two and head out looking for survivors. I intend to have Orion and three of the Gunstars do the same."

"Sir where are we going to take any survivors we might find?" Blindside asked.

"I am open to any suggestions you may have." Johannsen replied.

"I have an idea sir," Bojay said holding up his hand for a moment, "When Hawkeye and I took our Raptor out the day I got here, she took us out to Zeus belt."

"An asteroid belt?" Garrett asked sounding surprised.

"Yes ma'am there is nothing in the way of traffic out there and even if the Cylons were to come out there they would never find us on dradis." Bojay replied.

"And wouldn't that be the same for us?" Sideswipe replied.

"No, we post Raptors at certain points on the outside of the belt powered down. They can be close enough to the edge not to be seen but far enough out to be able to use dradis." Bojay said.

"That's not a bad idea." Johannsen said.

"Some of the asteroids out there are the size of planets and some of them are hallow enough to be able to park ships." Bojay said.

"What about getting a ship the size of Orion in there?" Garrett asked.

"There are clear paths at certain points that we could get in there. Or we don't put Orion in there at all, take the Gunstars in and leave Orion near to the outside with some cover." Bojay said.

"Bojay, I want you to take your Raptor out there and scout the area. See what you can see and then report back. If you see any enemy contacts you jump back immediately." Johannsen said.

"Yes sir." Bojay replied.

"No heroics." the Commander said sternly.

"Don't worry sir my taste for heroics vanished the first time I engaged a raider. I'll get back to you as soon as we can." Bojay said.

Bojay and Hawkeye walked through the hanger deck towards their Raptor, they were met by the Chief.

"Sir, your Raptor has been refuelled, armed and is ready to go." He said as they walked.

"Very good." Bojay replied.

Both pilots got into their bird.

"You okay?" Bojay asked.

"Yeah, can't stop thinking about my brother." She replied.

"Where is he?"

"Picon at university." she said with sadness in her voice.

"What about your folks?" he asked.

"They died ten years ago, its been me and Nathan ever since." she answered.

"I hope he's okay." Bojay said.

"Thanks. What about your family?" Hawkeye asked.

"No idea." He replied, "Haven't spoken to them in years, every since my dad said I was the biggest loser he'd ever met."

"He said that to you?" Hawkeye said.

"Yeah the day I graduated top of my class." Bojay replied as if it was nothing.

Hawkeye didn't know what to say.

"Orion this is Raptor 1, we are on accent to the flight deck, requesting permission to launch." Bojay said.

"Bojay this is Orion you are clear for take off. Be careful out there and good hunting." Major Rae said from the other end of the COM.

"Will do Major, we'll be back in no time." Bojay replied.

As the Raptor reached the flight deck, Bojay powered up the engines and took off. Moments later they were out into space.

"Okay take us to Zeus belt." Bojay said.

"Jumping in 5…4…3…2…1." Hawkeye said.

The Raptor jumped away and appeared right where they had the week before.

"Jump complete, as far as I can see dradis is clear." Hawkeye said.

"Okay, let's see what we can see." Bojay said moving into the belt. They both sat in silence as they moved further into the belt, both watching carefully for any sign of any Cylons. So far everything was looking good.

"I'm going to take us in closer to one of the big ones, make sure there's nothing hiding in wait." Bojay said.

"No problem. FTL is ready as soon as we need it." Hawkeye replied.

The Raptor weaved in and out of the asteroids as it approached one of the largest ones.

"It looks like this thing may be hallow. My gods look at it, it's almost the size of a planet." He said, "Holy shit!"

"What?" Hawkeye asked.

"Ships, colonial ships." Bojay said.

Hawkeye came to the front and saw the hidden ships, "There must be fifty of them." She said.

The COM began to crackle and a voice came through.

"This is Captain Jonas of the Starburst can you hear me?" a male voice said.

"Loud and clear Starburst, this is Captain Johnson from the Battlestar Orion. You guys okay out here?"

"We are now." Jonas replied, "Have many other people survived?"

"I'm afraid to say you're the first people we've found. It's been a slaughter out there. We have to head back to our Battlestar to let them know we found you." Bojay replied.

"I'll inform the others to get ready to move out." Jonas said, relief in his voice.

"No stay put, you're far safer here." Bojay said.

"Surely we're far safer with a Battlestar?" Jonas replied.

"We're looking for somewhere to hide. You have my word that someone will be back with you very shortly." Bojay said.

"Okay. What should we do if the Cylons find us before you come back?" the frightened Captain asked.

"Jump to the Regis system. There is a nebula there you will be able to hide in till we find you." Bojay replied.

"Will do." Jonas said.

Bojay turned the Raptor back towards open space.

"Dradis contact." Taylor said, "It's Raptor 1."

"Here's hoping they've had some luck." Garrett said.

"Commander, Bojay is asking to speak to you." Taylor said.

"Put him on speakers." Johannsen replied.

"Orion Actual this is Bojay. Zeus' belt is clear and we've found nearly fifty civilian ships." Bojay said.

"Well done captain. Relay the co-ordinates to the CIC and get back onboard." Johannsen replied.

"Yes sir."

"Please inform the Cryxus to take the rest of the battle group to Zeus' belt. I want the SAR missions to be ready within the hour." Johannsen said.

"Yes sir." Garrett replied.

Orion, the three remaining Gunstars and most of the Raptors were ready to begin the SAR missions. All the ships began to jump away. Orion jumped and appeared in one of the busiest shipping lanes near Caprica. Once again dradis was littered with wreckage.

"Jump complete." Taylor said.

"Begin broadcasting the message." The commander said.

"Aye sir." She replied.

"So how long do we wait?" Garrett asked.

"As long as we can." Johannsen replied.

"Sir the remaining Raptors have launched and are preparing to begin their jumps." Taylor said.

"Very good Lieutenant. So I've been thinking we're going to have to make supply and rescue runs to the colonies." Johannsen said.

"That's going to be dangerous." Garrett replied.

"If indeed we are the only remaining Battlestar, we have to rescue as many people as we can or risk our race being wiped out. We could be the only ones left able to defend them." the Commander replied.

"Don't get me wrong sir I totally agree, we're just going to have to plan this very well." Vanessa said.

"I was thinking we could disguise them as hit and run attacks. Jump Orion in above the colonies and distract the Cylons while our Raptors jump to the surface. Then when they're done they can jump back out from the atmosphere." Johannsen said.

"That takes a lot of skill for any pilot." Garrett said.

"Then it's fortunate that we have good pilots." The commander replied.

"How long do we keep these missions going for? One trip to each planet?" Vanessa asked.

"However many as it takes." He replied.

Five hours later twelve more civilian ships had taken up formation around Orion. The final Raptor jumped in with four more civilian ships.

"Commander, Raptor 31 reports no more signs of civilian ships." Taylor said.

"Inform the Raptors to come back aboard and send the jump coordinates." Johannsen ordered.

"Yes sir." Vanessa replied.

"This will have to do for now." Johannsen said.

When everyone was ready Orion and the sixteen ships jumped to Zeus' belt. When they arrived the rest of the battle group was back as well. In total 122 ships had been found.

"Lieutenant Taylor please ask all the ships captains to come over to Orion. Colonel Garrett you have the deck." Johannsen said.

"Aye sir." Vanessa said.

The commander walked away.

"Just think any of us could have friends or even family out there." Taylor said.

"I wouldn't get too excited Lieutenant, that way hopefully you wont be as disappointed." Garrett replied.

The civilian ships captains all sat in the pilots briefing room. The commander walked in and took his position at the podium.

"First of all I would like to thank you all for coming. I will cut straight to the point, all the rumours you have heard are true. The Cylons jumped into the orbits of all twelve of the colonies earlier today and launched immediate nuclear strikes. Our fleet as far as we know has been completely destroyed by the Cylons." Johannsen said.

"Oh my gods, what the frak are we going to do?" one of the captains asked.

"Well first things first we are not going to panic. I intend to keep running search and rescue missions to find as many survivors as I can. Then after that we intend to launch rescue and supply missions from each of the colonies."

"Then what?" another captain shouted, "We just wait here for the Cylons to find us?"

"I have my crew looking for as many places to hide as possible. We will regularly jump to different places. Once I am satisfied that we have everyone and everything we can find we will jump away and try to find somewhere else to live." Johannsen replied.

"And who put you in charge?" the first captain said again.

"No one. Any of you are free to go and do whatever you want but be aware without the protection of this ship you do not stand much of a chance should the Cylons find you. You are all welcome to stay here with us, I strongly urge you to do that. We could be the last of our species and we need to stick together. Now I want a show of hands right now from everyone who wants to stay." the Commander said bluntly.

There was silence as one after the other the captains began to raise their hands. After a few minutes everyone's hands were raised.

"Excellent. Now what I need you all to do is to go back to your ships and make lists of everyone you have onboard, so that anyone searching for friends or family members have a better chance of finding them. We also need to stock check all our supplies, food, medical, water and fuel. That way we know what we are looking for when we run supply missions. Does anyone have any questions?" Johannsen asked. Silence once again fell on the room, "Orion is here to answer any questions you have. I noticed that as well as the repair platforms we already have in the battle group there are also a few amongst the civilian ships. Any repair problems you have must be noted and fixed as soon as possible. For now go back to your ships, tell your crews and your passengers what we are intending to do. Try to quash any fears that people have, try to give them hope, because without that we are all doomed. Sorry to bring you over here for just five minutes of your time but thank you all for coming. We will hold regular meetings like this so that any questions or grievances can be heard. Good evening all of you."

2 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

Bojay stood in the pilots briefing room with Raptor pilots sat waiting for him to speak. It had been a tough couple of days. There had been no time for him to even think of looking for any of his family in the fleet, if he was honest he wasn't sure that he even wanted to. He had a job to do and so far it was going well. Vipers had so far had six losses in skirmishes with the Cylons, Raptors hadn't, as yet lost any.

"Okay boys and girls you've heard the rumours now here are the facts. We are running a supply mission to Caprica. It's only going to be the twelve of us this time as we are the most experienced pilots. Orion is going to jump into Caprica's orbit and pick a fight with the Cylons. Then while the shit is hitting the fan we are going to jump into Caprica's upper atmosphere and hopefully Orion's attack will have them all looking the other way. I'll be leading Raptor's 2-6 and a shuttle here. We know this is a depot that should be full of all kinds of food. We load up with as much as we can and jump back home. Raptor's 10-15 will jump here and the marines with you will do a sweep of the area to see if they can find any survivors. Both areas are far enough away from any cities so hopefully there should be little to no Cylon activity." Bojay said.

"Hopefully?" one of the pilots said.

"Unfortunately yeah, hopefully is the best I can offer you. Should any of us come into contact with any Cylons were are to get the frak out of dodge as fast as we can."

"And if we're successful?" one of the other pilots said.

"If we are then this will be the first of many. And we think we'll only be able to use Orion as cover for a certain amount of these missions before the toasters realise what we're up to. There are talks if we manage this and they continue to be a success then we will try and hit all twelve colonies at once."

"At once?" Hawkeye exclaimed.

"Guys I know these missions are a lot to ask, but we have to do this. We have to find as many people and as many supplies as we can before we leave this system for good. Listen I know this is a big ask but I know you guys are more than capable. You're marines and deck crew who have been assigned to you will be the ones going into the buildings and the hot zones. We have to stay with the birds. They've been instructed to not wander too far but if it comes to it we have to buy them enough time to get back to us." Bojay said.

"You mean with a fire fight?" a pilot asked.

"If that's what it takes. One marine will stay behind with each Raptor and we'll each be armed with rifles and grenade launchers. We can do this, skids up in 20 minutes, good hunting guys." Bojay said.

Twenty minutes later everyone was in position and ready. Nerves were high. None of them really knew if they were about to try would work or not.

The Raptors watched as Orion jumped away.

"Okay boys and girls we jump in one minute, give the Orion chance to kick some ass." Bojay said.

"You okay?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, you?"

"Very very nervous." She replied.

"We've got to try and think positive about this and stay on our game." Bojay said.

"Easier said than done." Hawkeye replied with a nervous laugh.

"Trust me." Bojay said with his usual cocky smile, which actually seemed to help her a little.

"Cryxus, this is Bojay we're about to launch."

"Bojay, Cryxus Actual, good hunting and we'll see you soon." Captain Malcolm Reynolds replied.

"Okay guys stand by to jump in 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..jump." Hawkeye said.

When the Raptors came out of the jump they were hurtling through the atmosphere. Bojay managed to keep a firm grip on the controls as they shook violently in his hand. Somehow, he managed to keep the Raptor steady.

"Jump complete, all Raptors and the shuttle are accounted for. Dradis is clear. All Raptors break and head to your landing zones." Hawkeye said.

Bojay lead his team of Raptors quickly through the sky. He was trying not to pay attention to the devastation his home planet had seen over the last two days and kept his mind on the job.

"All Raptors target in sight, let's get this over with." Bojay said.

From the sky, the area looked clear, he just prayed it was inside any buildings too. They all landed their birds as close to the factory as they could. Moments later they were all heading outside.

"Remember guys as quick as you can, we'll hold the fort." Hawkeye said.

The factory was in quite a secluded area. The six marines who stayed behind took up position. Bojay took out his sidearm and hoped he wouldn't have any need for it.

"You okay?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah, you know if you don't look up at the sky it doesn't look that bad." He replied.

"I didn't expect the sky to look so grey." Hawkeye replied.

"It looks like it's going to start raining soon." Bojay said.

"We should make the most of being here, I don't think there will be many more chances to see home." Hawkeye said sadly.

"I just hope Orion is doing okay." Bojay replied.

"Third base ship destroyed." Garrett said, "The other three are starting to back off."

"They're afraid of us." The commander said, "They don't like it when we fight back. Order batteries 5 through 9 to switch to salvo fire, aim all off them towards the nearest base ship."

"Aye sir." Garrett replied picking up her handset.

"Commander, Sideswipe reports Vipers are running low on ammo." Taylor said.

"Give the recall order and prepare the ship to jump." Johannsen replied.

"Yes sir." Taylor replied.

Johannsen looked up to see the Cylons were indeed backing off Orion. The warship was certainly living up to its purpose. They had taken on multiple targets and come away with minimal damage. The Cylons certainly had good reason to fear Orion.

"Fourth base ship destroyed." Garrett said.

"All vipers are back aboard commander." Taylor said.

"I hope we've bought them enough time." Johannsen said to himself, "Jump the ship."

"All hands prepare to jump in 5..4..3..2..1…jump."

The deck crews had begun to bring pallets of supplies to the Raptors and shuttle.

"Everything okay in there?" Bojay asked.

"Yes sir, there is no sign anyone has been here." A marine replied, "There are a lot of supplies here, more than we can take today."

"We'll have to think about coming back here with a bigger ship or more shuttles." Bojay replied as the ships started to get loaded.

As the deck crew and marines headed back inside the others heard movement from behind them. They all raised their weapons and took up a defensive position. Collectively they all breathed a sigh of relief when a young woman stumbled towards them.

"Thank the gods." She said.

Bojay holstered his weapon and ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked helping her back towards the ship.

"I saw your ships, I've been living in the woods. Where did you come from?" she asked.

"The Battlestar Orion," He replied, "We came here for supplies. I'm Captain Johnson, call me Bojay." he said with a smile.

"I'm Kate, can I please come with you?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"Of course. Do you need any antiradiation meds?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "I took some the day of the attack. There was a pilot in a uniform like yours, he called himself Helo, I found him and he gave me some."

Hawkeye went into the ship for some meds.

"What happened to him?" Bojay asked.

"I don't know. Some Cylons found us the next day, he ended up in a gunfight with them and we were separated, I haven't seen him since. I haven't had any of this since then, will I be okay?" she asked as Hawkeye handed her a needle.

"I don't know how it works, I'm sure you'll be fine but we'll have our doctor take a look at you when we get back." Hawkeye replied.

"Thank you, do you have anything to drink?" the frightened woman asked.

"Sure I'll help you inside and I'll get you something." Bojay replied with a kind smile.

Bojay helped the young woman into the co-pilots seat on his Raptor and handed her a bottle of water.

"Have you seen any Cylons in this area at all?" he asked.

"No I haven't seen anyone since I lost track of the other pilot. I stayed in the woods, I figured staying away from populated areas would be better." she replied after taking a long gulp of water.

"That's good. I have to go back outside but stay here, we'll be underway soon." Bojay said, "You're safe now."

"Okay." she replied wiping tears from her face.

Bojay walked back to the others.

"She okay?" Hawkeye asked.

"I think so, we'll have to get the doc to take a look at her when we get back." Bojay replied.

It took a further twenty minutes before the Raptors were full. All the crews were back onboard.

"Okay boys and girls, make sure you've got the co-ordinates for home, we're ready for the off." Hawkeye said.

Moments later all six Raptors were starting to take off. Bojay led the squadron towards the heavens.

"Okay everybody ready to jump in, 5..4..3..2..1 jump." Hawkeye ordered.

All six birds blinked away and were thrown back out of the jump at the other side.

"You okay?" Bojay asked as he steadied the Raptor.

Kate nodded her head, "Wow this is beautiful, I've never been in space before."

"It is beautiful out here." Bojay replied.

"Orion this is Hawkeye."

"Colonel the first of the Raptors are back." Taylor said.

Garrett was the officer on deck.

"I have Hawkeye on the horn."

"Put her through." Vanessa replied.

"Orion this is Hawkeye mission was a success we have Raptors full of supplies."

"Hawkeye, this is Orion XO, very well done Lieutenant. Did you come across any enemy contact?" Garrett replied.

"No ma'am is was clear sailing. We have a survivor as well, she'll need to see the doc though."

"Is she okay?" Vanessa asked.

"She hasn't had any antirad meds for the last day or so." Hawkeye replied.

"Okay I'll inform sickbay to expect her." Vanessa said.

"Are the others back yet?" Hawkeye asked.

"Not yet." the XO answered.

An hour later Bojay walked into sickbay and saw Kate lying in a bed with one of the nurses standing with her. He smiled and waved as he walked over to Dr Hammond.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Dehydrated. As for anything else it's too early to say. I'm going to transfer her over to the Medstar later on today, so they can keep an eye on her." Dr Hammond replied.

"Okay, can I talk to her?" Bojay asked.

"Sure." she replied.

Bojay walked over to the young woman and sat himself down.

"How you feeling?" he asked.

"Like a human pincushion." She laughed, "But on the whole much better thank you."

"Good. Doc tells me they're transferring you over to the Medstar later on to keep an eye on you." Bojay said.

"She tells me it's too early to tell if I have radiation sickness." Kate replied.

"And even if you do, we found you so early I'm sure there will be something they can do for you." Bojay said smiling at her.

"Even if I do and they can't I'm just so thankful to be here. I don't mind dying as long as I'm not on my own." She said.

"You'll be fine, trust me." He said.

She laughed, "Will you come over and see me? You're the only person I know."

"Of course I will, just try and stop me." Bojay answered.

"Thank you, for everything." She said.

"It's no problem, I'm just glad that you saw us." he replied.

"Captain Johnson to the hanger bay." A voice said over the ships COM, "Captain Johnson to the hanger bay."

"That's me." Bojay said, "I'll try and come by to see you before you go."

"Whenever you get the chance and, Jimmy, thank you."

As Bojay walked onto the hanger deck he saw the other Raptors had returned and they had found survivors. The commander was already there.

"Commander." Bojay said walking up to him.

"Bojay, looks like another successful mission." Johannsen said.

"It certainly does." He replied.

"Put together the schedule we spoke of earlier." the Commander said.

"Yes sir." Bojay replied.

"We have to keep this up as often as we can."

7 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

The last seven days had been very eventful. Not only had they found a few more civilian ships they had been running at least two successful missions to the Colonies every day.

Commander Johannsen sat in his quarters drinking his morning coffee and checking over some paper work. He enjoyed this part of his day, the calm before the oncoming storm. He had signed off on the mission to go to all twelve colonies at the same time. It worried him, the possibility he was sending the young men and women to their possible deaths, but it needed to be done. As he finished the last sip of his coffee the phone in his quarters began to buzz. He picked it up and spoke.

"Good morning." He said.

"Good morning sir. We need you to come to the CIC, we've found something." Lieutenant Taylor replied.

"I'm on my way." He said.

Major Rae stood as the officer on deck. She met the commander as he walked in.

"What have we found Major?" he asked.

"One of the Raptors we sent out has found the remains of a civilian fleet. It appears these ships have been striped for parts by Pegasus and the people onboard have been left to die." She said.

"Are you sure?" Johannsen asked.

"As sure as I can be sir." Rae replied.

"Have the Raptors and shuttles prepare to get those people off the ships. Tell the Gunstars to come with us." the Commander ordered.

"Yes sir." the Major replied before picking up a handset. "All Raptor and shuttle crews report to the hanger deck for immediate transport of stranded civilians." Rae said over the COM.

"Gunstars are ready sir." Taylor said.

"Jump the ship immediately." Johannsen said.

"All hands prepare for jump in 5..4..3..2..1 jump." Taylor said into her headset.

Orion and the Gunstars jumped and reappeared near the stranded fleet.

"Lieutenant Taylor make sure all the pilots and crews try to quash and civilian worries, we are here to help." Vanessa said.

All of Orion's Raptors and shuttles began to launch and head towards the stranded ships.

"Launch the alert Vipers we don't want to get caught with our pants down if the Cylons appear." Johannsen ordered.

Bojay and Hawkeye flew along with four other Raptors and two shuttles to the Scylla. They docked in the hanger bay.

"Keep the engines running." Bojay said as he got off the Raptor. He and a few other personnel were met by a number of civilians.

"We have nothing left for you to take." One of the civilians screamed as they walked in.

"We're here to rescue you. My name is Captain Johnson I'm from the Battlestar Orion." he said pointing to the patch on his arm

"Why should we trust you? The military has been here before, they took everything and murdered some of us."

"You have my word we are only here to help. Now we can't take all of you at once but we will keep coming back till every single one of you is safe. Please can you start to come in an orderly fashion and we will make this as quick as we possibly can. The way I see it, you all have two options, you either come with us to safety or you wait here until the Cylons find you and then you're all dead. Live or die, you decide?" Bojay said.

The civilians began to follow them and they loaded up on the ships.

Half an hour later and most of the civilians had been offloaded to the Orion and the Gunstars.

"Commander, Bojay reports he has one more trip to make back to the Scylla." Taylor said.

"What is the status of the other ships?" the commander asked.

"Nearly all done, everyone is down to their last trip." She replied.

As she finished speaking dradis began to beep.

"Dradis contact. Sir, the Cylons have found us." Taylor said.

"Set condition one. Is Bojay on his way back yet?" the commander asked.

"No sir he's just about to set off." Taylor replied.

"That's a long way to go for a few people." Garrett said.

The commander stood silently for a moment thinking things through.

"Bojay is on his way back sir to the Scylla." Taylor said, "Raiders are inbound."

"Tell the vipers to engage, move Orion and the Gunstars between the Cylons and the Scylla." the Commander ordered.

"Yes sir." Vanessa replied.

Bojay flew back for his last trip.

"Holy frak have you seen what's going on out there?" Hawkeye said.

"Hawkeye keep your eyes on the prize. Tell me if any raiders get anywhere near us, I'm arming weapons just in case." Bojay replied.

The civilian transport still seemed a long way away.

"Commander a group of raiders have broken off and are heading towards Bojay." Garrett said.

"Have gold squadron intercept and give him cover." Johannsen said.

"Bojay we have eight raiders on an intercept course." Hawkeye said.

"Ignore them." Bojay replied.

"Surely we should head back?!" Hawkeye exclaimed.

"IGNORE THEM." Bojay ordered.

As the raiders moved ever closer, twenty vipers shot past the Raptor and engaged the enemy.

Minutes later Bojay was docking for the last time. He darted out of the Raptor and onto the Scylla.

"Ladies and gentlemen we have to move as quickly as we can, the Cylons have found us." he said.

The seven men and women followed him quickly to the waiting ship.

"Okay one of you in the front with me, the rest find a space in the back. This is going to be a very bumpy ride." Bojay said.

As the back of the Raptor closed, Bojay began to move them away. As he moved out into space they could see just how close the battle had got. Before he could relay to Orion he was on his way back, a raider appeared from nowhere in front of him. He instinctively pressed the trigger and the small ships chain cannons came to life, tearing the enemy ship in two.

"Orion, this is Bojay we are on our way back now. The last civilian transport is clear."

"Order the Gunstars to jump back and the vipers to cover Bojay." Johannsen said.

"Sir, one of the base ships is trying to flank us to get to the civilians." Garrett said.

"Launch a barrage of missile at their centre access." The commander ordered.

Near by misses rocked the Raptor as it flew at full speed back to Orion, flanked either side by vipers. Bojay fought against the controls as one of the vipers flying their escort was hit by a raider and exploded next to them.

"Frak me that was too close." Bojay said.

"Are we even going to make it?" the man next to him asked.

"I always make it, this is a cake walk." Bojay replied. He didn't want to let on just how nervous he was beginning to get.

"Bojay this is the LSO the landing bay is clear for you and the vipers." Rae said over the COM.

"Be there as soon as we can Major." He replied.

He could see Orion begin to turn to give them more cover. Behind them two of the civilian transports exploded from enemy fire. Moments later they were flying into the landing bay with the vipers behind them.

42 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

Things had been getting quieter amongst Orion's fleet. A new kind of every day living was beginning to take shape. While the missions to the surface of the colonies were still an everyday occurrence, supplies were getting harder to find, as were survivors. The Commander was preparing for a meeting with a man who had been the Mayor of Caprica City before the fall. He had no idea what the meeting was going to be about but he knew the man. Milo Vents was a war hero. He had been a viper pilot during the first Cylon war and had more kills than any other pilot during the entire fight. There was a knock on the door to his quarters. Johannsen opened it and saw Vents standing waiting.

"Commander, good to see you again, it's been a very long time." Milo said.

"Please come in and call me Heinrick please. Sit down, may I pour you a drink?" the commander asked.

"Yes thank you." Milo replied as he sat down.

"So how are you finding life in the fleet?" the commander asked as he poured two generous glasses of whiskey.

"Slowly coming to grips with it. I'm luckier than most, my son was travelling with me when the attack happened."

"How is Matthew?"

"He's going by his middle name, Jasper, apparently his girlfriend prefers it," he replied rolling his eyes, "But he's getting to grips with things a lot quicker than his old man. Have you heard if your daughters are in the fleet?" Milo replied.

"The ships registers are still being checked, I came to grips with them being dead weeks ago. I didn't want to hold out hope and then have it dashed, it would have been harder." The Commander handed Milo a glass and sat down on the large sofa next to him.

"So Milo what can I do for you?" Johannsen asked.

"I'm sure this won't come as a surprise, but the people in the fleet have been asking me about putting together a civilian government. There are a lot of former politicians and there is talk about holding an election." Milo replied.

"I expected this would happen." The commander said.

"Don't get me wrong, this is nothing negative towards you, the work you and your men and women do every day to keep us alive is amazing and greatly appreciated, but we don't think you should have to run all the day to day running of the fleet." Milo said.

"What about military decisions?" the Commander asked.

"As far as I'm concerned they will remain with you." Milo replied.

"If I'm honest the thought of endless meetings about food distribution and housing wasn't very appealing." Johannsen said with a chuckle.

"So you'll back the elections?" Milo asked.

"Of course." he replied smiling.

"Excellent, thank you old friend." Milo said smiling back.

"I take it you'll be running, is there anyone else who has mentioned running?" Johannsen asked before taking a sip of his drink.

"The only other person who has mentioned running for it is the former secretary of defence Edgar Vance." Milo replied.

"Now there's a name I was hoping never to have to hear again."

"I know he does have a rather fearsome reputation." Milo said.

"It's not his reputation that would worry me, it's his attitude towards the military." Johannsen said.

"Anyway things are at a very early stage at the moment, but now that we have your backing we can start to progress quickly." Milo answered.

"Anything I can do to help?" the Commander asked.

"I understand we're leaving this system after the SAR missions you have running this morning?" Milo asked.

"Yes it's about time we move on. We have all the supplies we're going to get, I'm sending the men to have one last look for survivors." Johannsen said.

"Well give your men my best." Milo replied.

Bojay walked into the pilots briefing room. He had been in charge of all the missions to the colonies. This time even the CAG and squadron XO were going to be piloting Raptors. Sideswipe had left him in charge.

"Good morning boys and girls. As you all know this is the last of our SAR missions. This is our last chance to find any survivors so we have to make it count. You all already know where you're going. The CAG and Blindside have stepped in to replace Bounty and Redneck as they've been under the weather so they'll be leading the mission to Picon. Guys all we need to do is pull it out of the bag once more and we don't have to do this again. By this time tomorrow we'll be in some new uncharted area of space. Watch your backs and keep and eye on each other, I want to see all of your sorry faces again this afternoon. Keep your wits about you and good hunting." Bojay said.

Bojay smiled at the pilots as they left and had the sick feeling that he wouldn't see them some of them again. Hawkeye came over to him.

"You okay boss?" she said.

He put his arm around her and smiled.

"Sure am, let's go save some people." Bojay replied with his usual charming smile.