16 Days since Scopestar Medlia disappeared

Sulaco SAR Group 1

Six raptors flashed into a system from an FTL jump. As they appeared they looked like an arrow head streaking across the blackness of space.

"Okay guys let's see what we can see before we head home," Captain Anthony "Buck" Wilkins said, "Lantern and Tailspin check around the outer planets. Havoc and Cannon start at the sun and work out, Hulk you're with me, I want to check that nebula beyond the outer planet."

All the Raptors turned and went to their assigned areas.

"What do you expect to find out there in a nebula?" Ensign Elena "Beta" Danvers asked from the ECO position behind him.

"No idea. But three other SAR missions over the last few days have reported seeing a purple and green nebula. Either there are lots of purple and green nebula's out there or that thing is massive. I'd like to see what it's made of, see if we can go through it or not."

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Because if it's one massive nebula and we can't get through it, then we're going to have a problem when the fleet makes it this way, this is the direction we're going after all."

Minutes later they were near to the nebula.

"Okay Hulk can you and see how far you can get, see if you can find the end of this thing before we jump home?" Buck asked over the COM.

"Sure thing boss." Malia "Hulk" Hale replied.

Buck watched as his wingman moved away.

"Starting the scans of the nebula now." Beta said.

Buck cut the engines and used the manoeuvring thrusters to move the raptor so all that could be seen through the cockpit canopy was the impressive nebula.

"Wow." Beta said, "It's so beautiful."

"One of the better things about being so deep in space, we've been seeing things we couldn't have imagined before." Buck said.

"Since old man Garrett has been out of the picture and we've actually got some freedom, even in the last few weeks we've seen some amazing things."

"Still of all the things I've seen, I'd give it all up just to be back home." Buck said with sadness in his voice.

"And the results are in," Beta said, "Wow that's the most toxic thing I've ever seen. The radiation levels are so high if we went in there we'd be dead within five minutes. I don't even think Orion could make it through there. If we do end up this way, then we're going to have to find a way round this thing."

"Buck, this is Havoc, do you hear me?" Lieutenant Peter "Havoc" Wilson asked over the COM.

"Havoc, this is Buck. Everything okay?" he asked.

"We've found wreckage, a lot of it."

"Medlia wreckage?" Buck asked, almost not wanting to know.

"No all Cylon. I've counted parts from at least three Base Ships and we're picking up a lot of nuclear radiation. Whatever happened here a lot of nukes went off, they didn't stand a chance."

"Okay, let's finish checking the system and then head home." Buck replied.

Battlestar Orion

Fleet Admiral Vanessa Garrett sat in her quarters with Commander's Allen Knox and Clara Hicks.

"So your plan is to find and destroy all the remaining Cylons before you colonise?" Knox asked.

"It has to be that way," Vanessa replied, "We've seen what happens when you try to colonise. We found the remains of the colonisation the Battlestar Galactica's fleet tried, it wasn't pretty. I can't say how many of the Cylons are left, but it's not many. Now you're with us, we can do it even quicker."

"So say we all." Clara replied with a laugh.

"There are a couple of things I'd like to talk about regarding the Gunstars," Vanessa said, "Four of our SAR teams have come back with photographs of this giant nebula, which you know about already. What has been worrying me is the locations it was spotted, it indicates this thing is massive. I'd like to send two of the Gunstars out to try and find the end of this thing before the fleet arrives there. Send one one way and the other the other, give them seven days to keep going and hope they find the end of it in that time."

"And if they don't?" Knox asked.

"We cross that bridge when we come to it," Vanessa replied, "I would also like to promote Captain Reynolds who commands the Cryxus, to commander and put him in charge of the Gunstars. I've got his file for you both to look at, if you think either the Sirius or Noble Captains are more experienced then please, let me know."

"I knew Mal from before. We were at flight school together. I know the kind of man he is and how good a commander he is. He gets the thumbs up from me." Clara replied.

"I have a question." Knox said, "What's the protocol if something happens to you or you're away from the fleet? Who would be in command?"

Clara gave a quiet sigh.

"Honestly I haven't given it a thought. I'm sure you'd be more than capable of commanding together."

"Seriously?" Knox replied. "I've been a commanding officer longer than both of you put together, it should be me."

"I'll take that under advisement," Vanessa said, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to end it there as I have a very busy day ahead of me. I'll send out two of the Gunstars and speak to Captain Reynolds. If you need me, you know where I am."

Knox stood up and walked straight out of the room without looking back.

"Is everything okay with him?" Vanessa asked.

"Depends on the day," Clara replied, "He has many and varied chips on his shoulder. He's a good officer, but just not as good as he thinks he is. He has a very good XO. Don't worry about him, at least you're giving him time and listening to what he has to say, old man Garrett," she paused a moment realising what she had said, "Sorry, Admiral Garrett, he used to completely ignore him."

"Good to know. Clara when it comes to my father, call him anything you want, he was an evil son of a bitch."

"Yes he was." Clara replied.

Carrie wiped her mouth after she finished vomiting. She reached up and tore some toilet paper from the roll and wiped her mouth. She looked up as Wedge knocked on the bathroom door before walking in.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he helped her to her feet.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. It must have been something I've eaten." Carrie replied before washing her face and taking a few mouthfuls of water.

"You should go and see Doc Green in sickbay." Wedge said.

"I'll be okay." she replied.

"You have a busy stressful week ahead of you and you can't do your job if you're not well, he'll be able to help you. Please go see him, for me."

Carrie looked up at her husband and smiled, "Okay." she replied.

"Good." he replied before kissing her on the forehead.

"Anyway you'd better go, you're late for work." she replied.

"They can manage without me, your brother owes me one anyway."

"You have responsibilities, you need to go to work. I promise you that when I've been to see the doctor I'll let you know how it went."

"Are you sure?"

Carrie nodded, "I'll be fine."

Orion's flight deck was busier than Major Mark "Archangel" Hunter had seen in months. Since the start of the week the Chief had been checking and servicing all the vipers and they were nowhere near finished.

"Major." he heard a voice shout.

He stopped and to face one of the deck gang, "Yes Specialist, what can I do for you."

"Sir there's someone here looking for you. A pilot from the Trinity. She's waiting by your Viper."

"Did she tell you her name?"

"No sir."

"Thank you." he replied before walking away.

As he reached his Viper he couldn't see anyone waiting for him. He looked around for a moment but there wasn't anyone who didn't belong.

"Hunter!" he heard from behind him.

He smiled as he realised who the voice belonged to.

Captain Penny "Tripswitch" Cooper stood smiling at him. She was just as beautiful as he remembered from all those years ago. Emotions he long thought had passed started to bubble back to the surface.

"What no hug for your ex-wife?" she asked. Several people in ear shot turned and looked.

He walked to her and gave her a hug, "It's so good to see you."

"Alisa told me you were here, I was hoping you would have come to see my by now." she said.

"The life of a CAG and all that."

"It's good to see you." he could tell by the look on her face she was feeling the same way. Their history was nothing less than complicated.

"You too. After the incident I asked Greenway what had happened to you, where you'd gone, but he wouldn't tell me, he wouldn't let me see you guys."

"I asked him the same. I said some horrific things to him, things looking back that I regret. Did you ever consider saying frak it and going to Sagittaron like we planned?" she asked.

Archangel shook his head, "No, the shore leave was the first time I'd been back. I couldn't face the thought of being there without you."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I ruined everything."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It just wasn't meant to be."

They looked at each other in silence for a moment.

"I'm just glad you weren't on the Colonies when the toasters attacked."

"Right back at you. I heard you tried to take out Garrett and failed spectacularly, doesn't sound like the Archangel I used to know."

He let out a laugh, "I was blinded by rage if I'm honest. I got sloppy."

She looked at him for a few moments and smiled.

"What?" he asked.

"It's just really good to see you. Are you free for a drink tonight?"

"Sure I'm about to start my three days off. Where do you want to meet?" he asked.

"Pick me up at seven and we'll take it from there."

She hugged him again before walking away.

Lt. Jasper "Party Boy" Vents tried to make himself look busy at his Viper while he watched Penny walk away.

"Who are you staring at?" Jawbreaker asked as he walked up to him.

"The hot blonde walking away over there. She's from Trinity. I heard her say she was Archangel's ex-wife." Jasper replied smiling.

Jawbreaker shook his head, "You know if you're bored I can find you lots to do."

"What?! You don't find that somewhat surprising or interesting?"

"It's none of our business. I'll tell you this though, whoever she is, she's got a great ass." he said with a chuckle before walking away.

As Admiral Garrett walked into the CIC she saw Bojay standing at the Dradis console watching it smiling.

"What are you looking at so happily?" Vanessa asked as she joined him

Bojay snapped back to reality.

"I beg your pardon?" he replied.

"What are you so happy about?" she replied.

He pointed up at the Dradis monitor, "Seeing more Battlestars on dradis, it's a sight for sore eyes."

"I agree," she replied, "Anything to report?"

"Four more SAR squadrons have returned reporting not only Cylon wreckage, but that gods damn nebula."

"I've got a bad feeling about that thing." she replied.

"Any ideas what the frak we're going to do if we can't get past it?" Bojay asked.

Vanessa just looked back at him.

"It's that bad huh?" he said.

She nodded, "If we can't get round it, all I can think of is we're going to head back to one of the Icarus planets. What do you think of all this wreckage?"

"If it's the Medlia, why aren't they coming back and telling us?" Bojay asked.

"That's the question isn't it? Maybe the AI has taken over and won't let them?" she asked.

"I didn't think it was able to do that? Short Stack said it has to follow orders?"

"Hopefully we can find them so they can tell us." she replied.

"Fingers crossed." Bojay replied.

"Admiral, the Aries has just gone radio silent," Lt Phillips said, "Something's wrong, they seem to be drifting out of position."

"Who's on CAP?" Bojay asked.

"Wedge." Phillips replied.

"Get him on the horn." Garrett said as she and Bojay picked up their hand sets.

"Wedge, this is Orion Actual, can you see what's happening with the Aries?" Garrett asked.

"Orion Actual, this is Wedge, we're 30 seconds out, bare with me." Wedge replied.

He moved out of the CAP formation and turned into the fleet flying past all the civilian vessels. Moments later he saw the Gunstar, apparently powerless, drifting away.

"Orion Actual, this is Wedge. Gunstar Aries seems to be powerless, she's drifting out of formation. We need to clear the ships around it before we have an accident." Wedge said as he flew nearer.

"Send two repair teams out right away, I want to know what the hell's going on." Garrett said.

Bojay nodded.

"Wedge, Orion Actual, we're sending out repair teams, can you hang with them as our eyes until we know what's going on?"

"No problem." Wedge replied.

Garrett put down the handset and gave a sigh.

"Now what the frak is going on? Talk about crappy timing." Garrett said.

"I know they've been having issues with their jump drive and computer, but this is new." Bojay replied.

"I'm worried about what's going on with that ship. It seems to fail before and after ever jump." Garrett said.

"I was talking to Mal, he said the problem with the Aries and Onyx is how old they are."

"I thought they were all older Gunstars?" Garrett asked.

"They are, they're all from just after the first war. Cryxus and Serenity have had more system upgrades. He was saying the problem was they were with the Galactica, apparently Adama was a technophobe. Before we got them they should have gone for an overhaul, but things happen." Bojay said.

"Does he have any ideas?" Garrett said.

"He was hoping it could be fixed, but now, who knows." Bojay replied.

"Honestly I'm surprised more of our ships haven't been falling apart, other than Orion none of them were built for this type of punishment. Once we know what's wrong with Aries, I want a full report on what is failing aboard the Onyx so we can look into fixing her, the last thing we need is to lose two Gunstars, especially now."

Orion's raptor pilots sat in the pilot's briefing room. As Hydra took the podium the chatter in the room stopped.

"Good morning," Hydra said, "So it's our turn again to head back out. Our main focus again is finding the Medlia. If we find any wreckage, Cylon or otherwise, the CAG wants us to inspect it. We're also trying to find the end of this nebula or a way through it. You're going to be out there for two days, you've all got your packets, so you know where you're going and not to go too far, the last thing I need is everyone else looking for lost raptors as well as the Medlia. Does anyone have any questions?"

Nobody replied.

"Skids up in 45, see you all when you get back." Hydra said.

As her ECO Hardcore walked up to her, Archangel walked up to them.

"Change of plan guys, you're not going out, I need you here." Archangel said.

"What's up boss?" Hardcore asked.

"Aries has lost power and is drifting out of control. No idea what's going on yet but they're not stopping and we can't get through to them. I've asked if before the repair teams go in if we can try the Masker Manoeuvre." Archangel said putting on a big smile and giving her two thumbs up.

"Are you serious?!" Hydra exclaimed.

"We need to bring the Aries under control. If we can't get them powered up they're going to keep drifting, we need to get on top of this now, before they get too far out." he replied.

"Have you ever seen the Masker work?"Hydra asked.

"I spoke to Dagger, she's bringing along some of her raptors to give you a hand." Archangel replied.

"You didn't answer the question." Hydra said.

Archangel looked at her for a few moments, "We have to at least try. Just think, if you pull this off, you'll be the first since it was last done twenty six years ago."

"Okay, this should be fun." Hydra replied.

Thirty minutes later, forty raptors combined from all three Battlestars made their way to the Aries.

"Okay raptors you all know your positions. As soon as you're in place call in." Hydra said as they approached the floating Gunstar.

She looked to her right and saw Archangel flying along side her in his viper. She gave him a nervous smile.

"Hydra, Archangel. You're going to do fine. I know you can do this, that's why I put you in charge of this. In case you need extra eyes, Wedge and I will both be with you. But you can do this." Archangel said over a private com.

Hydra nodded and smiled properly, "Archangel, thank you." she simply replied.

As they reached the Aries all the raptors cut their engines, one by one they attached themselves to the hull of the Gunstar. Hydra was the last to dock her bird.

"You okay up there?" Ensign Tommy "Hardcore" Turner, her ECO asked.

"Never been better." she replied.

With all the raptors called in, Hydra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She then looked left and saw Archangel's viper, then to her right and saw Wedge which helped to keep her calm.

"Okay raptors, on my mark synch you propulsion and engines with me," Hardcore said, "In, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, mark."

One by one all the other thirty nine raptors gave control of their birds to Hydra and sat back and waited.

Hydra took and deep breath and steadied herself for a moment.

"Okay, here we go." She said.

As she fired her raptors thrusters against the spin of the Gunstar, the thrusters of all forty raptors fired. Hydra continued to fire them in long bursts.

"Archangel, Hydra, I don't think it's working. We're still spinning." Hydra said with a touch of panic in her voice.

"Keep trying, the Aries is a big ship, it'll take a little while to get it under control." he replied.

On the Orion CIC Vanessa and Bojay stood watching the live footage through Archangel and Wedge's gun cameras.

"Are we wasting our time here?" Vanessa asked.

"We need to at least try. It has worked before, we just need to give it time." Bojay replied.

"What are the figures, less than 2% of the time it works?" she said.

"I'll take two over none." he replied.

"Admiral." Lt Phillips said from the COM station.

"Yes Lieutenant." she replied taking her attention away from the screen.

"I've just had the repair platform Goliath on the horn, Lieutenant Jacobson says they're ready for us if they're needed."

"Thank you Lieutenant, tell him we'll keep him informed." she replied with a smile.

"It's working." Bojay said tapping her on the shoulder.

Hydra began to smile as the spinning began to slowly stop.

"Holy frak it's gonna work!" Hardcore exclaimed.

Hydra concentrated more than she had in a very long time. Five minutes later the Gunstar had come to a complete stop.

"Orion, Hydra, I'm ready to start moving Aries towards Goliath."

"Hydra, Orion, Goliath will move towards you now." Lt Phillips replied over the COM.

Under the combined power of the forty raptors the Aries slowly started to move back towards the fleet. Using their thrusters Archangel and Wedge kept up with them.

The Goliath was one of two repair platforms that had originally been part of the Battle Group reassigned to Orion from Galactica. It was massive. Only the Orion and Starburst were bigger. It was so big, the Mercury class Battlestar Sulaco would be able to fit on it with room to spare. They had always reminded Hydra of old ocean aircraft carriers. It moved out of it's position in the fleet and angled itself in such a way that all Hydra would have to do would be to bring the Gunstar to a stop and dock it. Of course Hydra knew it might not be quite as simple as that.

"Hydra, Archangel. You need to start hitting the breaks." the CAG said.

"Archangel, Hydra, way ahead of you boss. For the record, I knew this was going to work all along!" she said with a chuckle.

Archangel laughed, "Of course you did." he said chuckling.

As the nose of the Aries reached the Goliath, Hydra hit the reverse thrusters hard.

"Hydra, Dagger, you're at a perfect height for us to get out down here." Captain Alisa "Dagger" Stark said from her raptor which was now looking down directly on the Goliath

"Orion Raptor 1, this is Goliath, as soon as you're in position and the raptors from under the Aries are clear, we will activate MAGLOCK on your order." a voice said from over the COM.

"Goliath, Orion Raptor 1, thank you. Standby." Hydra replied.

The next minute seemed to tick down quickly as Hydra tried to get the Aries into position. As they came to a complete stop, Hydra, who had been holding her breath, let it out in relief.

"All Raptors we are in final position," she said, "Raptors 21-40 start uncouple sequence in order. Do not jump the gun and go before it's your turn, there is very little room down there. Orion raptors, remember you are bigger than the others, don't get cocky."

Over the next few minutes the twenty raptors on the bottom of the Aries, one by one detached and in very tight surroundings moved themselves clear of both the Aries and Goliath, Dagger and Tripswitch were the last to detach.

"Hydra we are away. You are clear to begin final docking." Dagger said as she flew away.

"Goliath, this is Orion Raptor 1, we are ready to begin docking." Hydra said.

"Orion Raptor 1, begin docking, when you are 100 metres from the deck we will activate MAGLOCK." the same voice replied.

As Hydra fired her thrusters, the thrusters of all the remaining raptors fired, after a minute, the Gunstar began to move slowly to the deck of the Goliath

"Remaining Raptors be aware, as soon as MAGLOCK is activated you're going to feel one hell of a judder." Hardcore said over the COM.

Moments later, as Hardcore said, the Aries shook violently as the Goliath's MAGLOCK activated.

"Gods damn it!" Hydra exclaimed as they shook and she fought to keep control of her raptor and in turn nineteen others.

"Orion Raptor 1, cut all thrusters immediately." .

Moments after she had there was another massive shake as the Aries touched down with the Goliath

"MAGLOCK secure," said the voice, "Well done Hydra, the Aries is down."

Vanessa and Bojay both smiled as they watched the Aries dock.

"Lt. Phillips please have the repair crews liaise with the Lt. Jacobson and find out what is going on," Vanessa said, "I want an update on the Aries ASAP."

"Yes ma'am." Phillips replied.

"I need to go speak with the President, I'll be in my quarters." she said.

"No problem," Bojay replied, "Oh before you go, have you heard the scuttlebutt that Archangel has an ex-wife on Trinity?"

Vanessa stopped dead in her tracks and turned to her XO. She looked at him for a moment before stepping towards him.

"I'm sorry, a what?" she replied.

"An ex-wife." Bojay replied.

"No, no I hadn't. Who told you?" she asked.

"Jawbreaker said that Party Boy overheard it on the flight deck. He says Archangel was talking to some blonde and she called herself his ex-wife." Bojay said.

Vanessa didn't know what to say, "Did you know he's been married?"

Bojay shook his head, "It's news to me. But I'll tell you who might know."

"Skeeter." they both said together.

"If you hear any more, let me know." Vanessa said.

"Ditto." Bojay replied.

Skeeter whistled to himself as he walked towards Orion's sickbay. He'd been in a good mood recently, which for him was a big change. Life was finally calming down, no Cylon attacks for weeks and with the new additions to the fleet, even the President seemed more at ease with things. As he entered sickbay he smiled as one of the nurses met him.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm here too pick up the President's meds." he replied cheerily.

"I'll get them sorted for you if you want to wait through there." she replied pointing to the waiting room.

Skeeter smiled and walked into the side room. He walked past a few crew members he hadn't met before and sat next to Carrie who looked nervous on her own.

"You okay?" Skeeter asked as he sat down next to her.

Carrie nodded her head, "Yeah I'm fine, just waiting for some test results." she replied, "You?"

"Just here to pick up some new meds the President has been taking."

"Is he okay? He hasn't said anything about any new medication." she replied.

"He said he's fine," Skeeter replied, "He's been in a great mood the last few days, so he can't be that bad."

"Fair enough." she simply replied.

"You heading back over when you finish here?"

She nodded her head again.

"You want me to wait with you then we can go back together?"

She nodded again.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Before she could reply a nurse walked over to them, "Madame Vice President, would you like to come through?"

Carrie managed to smile, "Yes, thank you."

Before Skeeter could even open his mouth to say he'd wait for her, Carrie grabbed his hand as she stood up. She didn't speak, but he could tell she wanted him to follow, so he did.

They followed the nurse through to one of the side offices in sickbay. As they both sat down the nurse closed the door behind them.

"Isn't Dr Green coming in?" Carrie asked.

"No he asked me to give you the results of your tests." the nurse replied.

Skeeter could tell that for some reason, Carrie was terrified and it was beginning to worry him.

"Okay, we did find out why you're not feeling right," the nurse said, "Congratulations, you're pregnant." she said smiling.

Carrie let out a huge sigh of relief and began to cry.

"Oh thank gods." Carrie replied.

"Madame Vice President, can I ask, did you think there was something very wrong with you?"

Carrie nodded as she wiped away the tears, "My mother, she died a couple of years before the attack. When she first started to get ill, it was how I've been feeling."

"So what you thought was the start of an illness, was morning sickness beginning?" Skeeter asked.

She nodded her head.

"I can honestly say, I don't think I've ever met someone so relieved to be pregnant." the nurse said with a smile, "We're going to transfer your care over to the Medstar if that's okay with you. It'll be better for you in the long run and they have people who specialise in the care you'll need."

Carrie smiled, "Of course."

"I'll leave you to take it all in and again, congratulations." she said smiling before she left the room.

Carrie turned to face Skeeter who was smiling from ear to ear.

"Is it okay if you keep this to yourself until I've told Anthony and my brother?" Carrie asked.

"Of course. You know, regarding what you were worrying about, I'm always here if you need someone to talk to who isn't Anthony or Mark." Skeeter said.

"I may just take you up on that sometime." she said before giving Skeeter a hug, "I really appreciate you being here with me."

"I love you like a sister, I'm always here or you." he replied.

Five minutes later as they left sickbay they were met by Admiral Garrett.

"Can I ask you guys something quietly?" Vanessa asked.

"Sure." Carrie replied.

Vanessa made sure there was no one else around before she spoke, "Did either of you know Archangel has an ex-wife aboard the Trinity?"

Carrie and Skeeter looked more surprised than they were upon finding out she was pregnant.

"Are you sure? I've known him virtually his entire life, I'm pretty sure I'd know if he'd been married." Skeeter replied in utter shock.

"Earlier Party Boy saw him talking to a blonde on the flight deck who said she was his ex-wife."

"A blonde? Did you get a description?" Skeeter asked.

"Why, what do you know?" Vanessa asked.

"There was Penny. A couple of years back he turned up out of the blue for two months shore leave and he was with Penny, she was a raptor ECO. They were pretty serious at the time. They'd just done some op together, they never said what happened, but they were both injured. I suppose it could be her. He's never mentioned her since, but it was clear how they felt about each other."

"But why wouldn't he tell us?" Carrie asked.

"He buries the things that hurt him," Vanessa said, "Maybe it ended badly?"

"I can't believe all this time he might have once been married and none of us knew." Carrie said.

"I'm going to ask him directly, I really need to know." Vanessa replied.

"Admiral, when you find out." Skeeter said.

"You'll be the first to know." she replied as she walked off.

Bojay looked at the Aries as he flew a Raptor over it. In places the hull was dinted and battered from over forty years worth of war wounds.

"Goliath this is Colonel Johnson, requesting permission to dock." he said as he made his way towards the platforms hanger.

Moments later the COM crackled to life, "Colonel Johnson, you are clear to dock. Lieutenant Jacobson will be waiting for you."

"Goliath, I'm coming in now." Bojay replied.

As Bojay flew the Raptor towards the hanger, the large door slid open to reveal a small flight deck. As he approached the deck he powered down the engines and went inside on thrusters. He would never admit it to anyone, but he very much missed being a pilot. Once the Raptor was secure the large door closed itself. As it did, Bojay watched as the flight deck pressurised. He moved to the back of the Raptor and opened the side hatch. As Bojay stepped off the Raptor he looked around the small hanger which other than a battered old shuttle had no other craft at all. With all the pipes on the walls, it reminded Bojay of a fuel refinery instead of starship. A door to the right of him opened and out walked the Goliath's commanding officer, Lieutenant Holland Jacobson. He wore tatty overalls with a tool belt slung around him. He looked like a normal mechanic. Bojay was a tall man, Jacobson was much taller and much larger, he thought the man would probably even make Jawbreaker look small. His bearded face was covered in grease of some kind, with such a large fleet, the platforms were always busy.

"Jimmy," he boomed, "Welcome aboard." offering Bojay his hand. Everyone knew that when it came to the crews of the two repair platforms, they did not stand on ceremony for anyone. A handshake was as close as you were ever going to come to a salute. People found it odd at first but soon got used to it.

"Good to see you again Holland," he replied shaking the man's hand, "Sorry to get right to business but how bad is it?"

"Follow me and I'll show you. We're not completely sure yet, but if I'm honest I think it's done, she hasn't said as much but I get the feeling Archer thinks so as well."

"Not what we needed to hear." Bojay replied.

"I know Jimmy, but small mercies, there are a lot of very usable spare parts." Holland replied.

"Very small."

Both men turned and began to walk through the tight corridors. The men and women who made up the crew were all hard at work. A few of them who knew Bojay said hello as they passed. It reminded him of a science fiction film he'd once seen, dark and dingy, but thankfully void of killer aliens. As they reached the Aries it was bustling with life, portable lights had been placed all corridors in the otherwise pitch black void. It took ten minutes for the men to get to the small CIC. Bojay had tripped over twice on the way.

Captain Karen Archer stood at the dradis console with her XO Lieutenant Max Wheeler.

"Captain, Lieutenant. Holland here tells me it's not good news." Bojay said as the two men joined them.

"Good afternoon Colonel and no it's not good news," Karen replied, "We've completely lost power and no matter what we do, the engines and the power systems will not come back on."

"We've been trying to kick start everything," Holland said, "We've tried everything we can think of, everything we would normally do, nothing is working. Fact of the matter is this ship is old and she's just died."

All four of them stood in silence for a few moments.

"This is not how this ship deserved to go out." Wheeler spat in anger.

"I hate to be blunt and unfeeling," Holland said, "But we need to start taking the ship apart as soon as we can. So many ships can be helped by the Aries."

Wheeler looked like he wanted to say something he'd no doubt regret, but he managed to keep his mouth in check.

"We've been suffering massive systems failures for weeks now and before then it was ongoing random failures, let's be honest, it's not like we haven't seen this coming." Archer said.

Bojay looked at each of them in turn before he spoke, "Okay, here's the question, is there anything at all that you haven't tried that could get this boat back up and running?"

"We've tried everything we can think of." Archer said.

Bojay turned to look at Holland.

He scratched his beard and thought for a moment, "Honestly if I could think of something else I'd say. We need this ship, it saves lives, but since that incident with the NCO and then the Cylon attack while we were fixing her up, this ship has been one giant pain in my ass. We can't be sentimental about this, facts are facts, this ship can do one last thing to save lives and you can let me and my guys do what we do."

"Okay then," Bojay said, "I'm going to advise Admiral Garrett that we start reassigning the crew and strip the Aries for anything that could be of use."

"Come on Colonel, we can fix her." Wheeler said.

"Lieutenant, Holland and Bojay are right. You need to use your head and not your heart here," Archer said to her XO, "Enough is enough."

Wheeler sighed and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, "I know," he said defeated, "Aries has been our home for so long."

"I know Max." Archer replied.

Archangel stood in his quarters getting his flight gear together before heading over to the Trinity. As he reached for his helmet there was a knock on the door. He turned and opened the door.

"An ex-wife?" Vanessa said with a smile.

"Excuse me?" Archangel replied as Vanessa walked in.

"Scuttlebutt is you have an ex-wife on the Trinity." Vanessa said.

"Give me one minute and I'll answer that question." he replied pointing for her to sit down.

He picked up the handset and called up to the CIC.

"CIC." Lt Phillips said from the other end.

"Hey it's Archangel, can you put me through to the Trinity?"

"Of course Major, give me one moment." Phillips replied.

A few moments later another voice spoke.

"Trinity CIC."

"This is Major Hunter, could I be put through to Captain Cooper please?"

"One moment." came the reply.

"Hunter you better not be standing me up." he heard moments later.

Archangel chuckled as he spoke, "I just need an extra hour. Something's come up. That okay?"

"I never could say no to you." she replied.

"I'll see you soon." he replied before hanging up.

"Was that her?" Vanessa asked.

"It was, but it's not what you think. Whiskey?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded, "Sure I'm done for the day."

He poured them both a drink before sitting down opposite her.

"Her name is Captain Penny Cooper, or Tripswitch. Along with the CAG on Trinity, Captain Stark, we were all black ops. About two years before the Icarus fleet was put together, there was a new terrorist group coming out of Canceron. We'd found out there was a cell in a suburban town, they were pretending to be families and trying to integrate into the community. Penny and I went undercover, we were posing as newly weds. For about three months for all intents and purposes we were married. Ever since then she refers to herself as my ex-wife."

Suddenly it all made sense, "Ah I see," Vanessa replied, "So did it work at least?"

Archangel laughed, "Indeed it did, we stopped them before they even started."

"Good. But I'm guessing by the look on you face there's more?" Vanessa replied before taking a sip of her drink.

Archangel sighed before finishing his drink in one, "Doing, what we do, it's hard to find someone you can be 100% yourself with. Relationships don't tend to last due to all the secrets we have to keep. When Penny and I started our training we both had been carrying a lot of rage. We just understood each other, we clicked straight away. One thing led to another, as they do and we became very close. Every so often we'd be paired together for a mission and we'd pick up where we left off. We knew each others darkest secrets, things that not even you and Skeeter know, things I can never tell you and we accepted each other. We didn't have to hide who we were, pretend we were someone else, the other people everyone else knew us as. We clung to that, it was a chance to have something meaningful that neither of us ever expected to have. Do you remember the uprising four years before the Cylons returned? When those ships went missing and those people attempted to overthrow the government?"

"Yes, but we were never told any more than that." Vanessa replied.

"A number of deep space research stations went dark at the same time. One of them held every virus and toxin known to the Colonies. They tested weapons, everything nasty you can possible think of. We were sent there, all the Shadows nastiest bastards on one ship. When we got there it was as we feared, we were sent onto the station knowing chances were, we could die horribly. But we managed to secure it, but in doing so we found out we'd been betrayed by one of our oldest friends, someone we trusted. Cooper and Stark saved my life that day, Penny fought for me harder than anyone ever had and won. We found their base before we came back to the Colonies for the fight and Penny and I had to infiltrate it first before we could attack, we had to lower their defences, it was brutal. She was shot during the fighting and I thought I was going to lose her. I fought off dozens of people as battle raged around us," Archangel looked haunted as he spoke, "I usually let my rage guide me. But it's different when it's someone I love, it's terror, terror that I'm going to lose that person if I don't win, turns out it's quite a powerful motivator. During the battle of Picon, my viper was hit by shrapnel, that's what the huge scar on my stomach is from. Admiral Greenway gave us both some time to recover, when we got out of hospital we went to Sagittaron. The time together only made us closer, that was the first time I asked her to marry me. Just before she was shipped off to the Icarus fleet I had asked her again and she'd said yes. Then fate stepped in and we didn't see each other again till now."

"Do you still love her?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes, but I'm not in love with her any more. She will always be important to me, but I struggled for a long time to let her go. I never thought I'd see her again, especially after the attack."

"That's why you've never mentioned her?"

"Same reason I never talk about Danny, or my mother and brother. It takes me to a dark place, all the people I couldn't save."

"You can talk to me about anything, including your past."

"Thank you, but I can't. You think it wouldn't change how you see me, but it would. I've done some horrifying things. You know sometimes I hate that you know this me." he said looking at his drink.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa replied.

He signed before he spoke, "I wish you didn't know the things you do know I've done and what I'm capable of," he knocked back the whiskey before he carried on, "I remember what we said, when we thought I was dying."

Vanessa was stunned by this, "When, when did you remember?"

Archangel looked up at her, "About a week ago. I was doing some work on my Viper and I cracked my head really hard. When I was asleep that night, I was having weird dreams. It wasn't till I was having something to eat in the mess the next morning and I remembered what I'd been dreaming, then I realised it was what had actuallys happened."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Vanessa asked, almost not wanting an answer.

"I didn't want to put you in an awkward situation I suppose. It was a long time ago, I have no idea what you feel any more, I still feel the same way."

Vanessa smiled, "So do I." she said quietly.

"I wish you'd do that more often, smile I mean, I don't see that enough."

"It's not exactly as though there's been much to smile about recently."

Archangel nodded, "Yeah, it's hardly a great time for the human race."

They both laughed. For a moment they sat quietly looking at each other.

"I remember the first time I saw you smile." Archangel said.

She thought for a moment, "When I came to visit you in sickbay?"

Archangel shook his head, "No before that, when I was being taken into sickbay. I'd just been shot and the doc and all those nurses were moving around me, doing what they were doing. In my life I'd never given much thought to what comes next, even if anything at all," he smiled, "This is going to sound corny as hell, but I saw you through this mass of people and you made eye contact with me and you smiled at me and I thought that was it, I thought you must have been an angel coming to take me to hell. I thought, if that is my fate then that's okay because you were going to take me there and I wanted to see that smile again."

He poured himself another drink and took a large mouthful. Vanessa looked at him, all she could do was smile.

"I don't want to be this man any more. I don't want to be the kind of man who can do all the horrible things I do. I'm tired of being like this, I want to be the kind of man who is worthy of you." he couldn't bring himself to look up and look at her, his gaze firmly on his hands.

Vanessa wiped tears from her face before she spoke, "I remember when we said in another life. When all this is over, if we're still alive, we can have that other life." She moved over to him and sat down next to him, taking his hand as she did, "We've been in this together from the start and no matter how it ends, that's how it's going to be, together. You say you don't want to be the man you are, you want to be a man who's worthy of me, can I tell you what I see when I look at you? I see the strongest man I've ever known, I see a man who sacrificed his own life to protect the lives of everyone else. It doesn't matter if it's in the cockpit or on your feet, you put the lives of everyone else around you first. You're not only the strongest man I've ever known, you're the bravest. I understand everything you've ever had to do, I get it, I get you. I'm going to make you a promise, those things I've asked you to do before, those things you've taken it upon yourself to do before, I'm never going to put you in that position again. Mark, you don't have to become anyone else to be with me, you just have to be yourself, just be you."

Archangel looked at her and smiled.

"I love you Vanessa Garrett." he said.

"I love you Mark Hunter." she said before she kissed him.

President Milo Vents sat in his office looking at the pills Skeeter had picked up for him from Orion. He opened the lid and took two out before taking them. He sighed to himself before composing himself again as his Vice President walked in with a smile on her face. He knew this time he had to tell her what was wrong with him.

"Good afternoon." Carrie said still smiling.

"You seem happy." Milo replied.

"That's because I am. I have something I need to tell you."

"Likewise, but ladies first." Milo said with a smile, but in all honesty he was pleased to put it off.

"I'm pregnant." he said smiling.

Milo smiled, "That's wonderful news, I'm so very pleased for you. You both must be so happy."

"It was certainly a shock for both of us, but compared to what I thought was wrong." Carrie stopped talking.

"Did you think you were ill?" Milo asked surprised.

Carrie nodded, "I didn't tell Anthony, but yes. When my mother was first ill, it started with her being sick all the time and having no energy. I know that's how the flu or a stomach bug can start, but I still feared the worst. She was dead a couple of months after she first became ill. It took the end of the world for me to finally get the family I've always dreamed of, my brother and Anthony. You've been more of a father to me than anyone in my life before. I just wasn't ready for any of it to end just yet."

Milo smiled, touched by what she'd said to him.

"Thank you, that means a lot." Milo replied.

Carrie smiled at him, "So what did you have to tell me?" she asked.

"You know it was so unimportant I've forgotten what it was. I'll tell you what, why don't we try one of these fancy restaurants, see if they're still serving, celebratory dinner on me." he said.

Penny and Archangel sat in the pilot's mess aboard the Trinity.

"So does anyone onboard know about you and Stark?"

Penny shook her head, "No. They kicked us out, so what was the point? I'm guessing the cat's out the bag on Orion?"

"To a certain extent. More than I would like know. Well they know the basics, I don't think even Skeeter, my sister or Vanessa could actually handle the real truth. They accept the idea of it and I've told them enough for them to think they know it all. Having you and Stark here now," he smiled as he spoke, "I can be me again."

"Vanessa huh, first name basis with the admiral?" Penny asked.

Archangel took a sip from his drink, "It's complicated."

"Isn't it always? It certainly was with us at times. People go through this phase of asking what you miss about home every now and again, I've always said nothing. People never seem to question that, but the truth, Freedom. I think those two months we spent there, they were the closest to at peace I've ever felt in my life. I was very much looking forward to going back there."

"The day before the attack I took some shore leave, that was the first time I'd been there since you disappeared. Even though Skeeter and Danny were there, I just couldn't go back. It took a long time to get over you."

"I know what you mean. I wonder where we would have been now if we'd mustered out when we planned on it?"

"Right here. I guess it would have gone down pretty much the same way, just with you here all this time."

Penny laughed, "You're right. Kinda sucks." she finished her drink, "I've never even seen one of the Cylons yet. What are they like in the field?"

"Relentless. If you're not on your game, you're done. But it is fun." he said with a smile.

"So can Vanessa lead us to the promised land? How does she stack up?"

"Considering where she started, she's more than up to the challenge. You'll like her. Tell me about Knox."

Penny laughed, "What's to tell, competent for peace time, thank the gods he's not leading any fleet in war time. He's harmless enough, he tries I suppose. I give him a hard time to try and keep him on his toes, he just always falls flat."

"Yikes, never heard you so, kind."

"They did always used to say you were a calming influence on me."

The next morning Vanessa woke up with a stretch, she hadn't slept as well as she had last night in months. It was then she remembered she wasn't in her own quarters, she was in Archangel's. She had waited for him when he'd gone to the Battlestar Trinity. She'd been reading a book when tiredness took over. Next thing she'd known, Archangel was back.

"Good morning." Archangel said as he walked out of his bathroom drying himself from a shower.

"Morning, what time is it?" Vanessa replied.

"06.00, you've got plenty of time before you start work."

"I really want to call in sick and stay in bed all day." she said with a laugh.

"So call in sick, perks of being the boss." he replied.

"You could call in sick with me."

"I can honestly say there is nothing I would like better than to stay in bed with you all day, but my sister said she needs to meet me for breakfast. You can come if you'd like?"

"I'd love to, but I suppose I'd better be going to work. I've got to sort out so much with Aries." she sighed.

"How about I come get you when you finish your shift and we head over to the Starburst for some food and we can finally finish that dance we started all those years ago?" he asked with a smile.

Vanessa thought about it for a moment. Before now she would have been so worried that someone was going to catch them, now she didn't care.

"Sounds like a great idea to me." Vanessa replied. "I'm so glad we talked yesterday."

"So am I." he replied, the huge smile still on his face.

Bojay stood with a mug of tea in one hand and a list of ships and the parts they needed in order to be fully fixed. He had no idea that so many of their ships needed so much work doing to them. He felt as though he was doing something wrong and that he should have known. He looked up and smiled as he saw Vanessa walk onto the CIC, she looked happier than she had in a long time.

"Good morning." he said before taking a sip from his tea.

"Good morning to you too. Any news on the Medlia front?"

Bojay shook his head, "Nothing at all. I hope they're okay."

"As do I." she replied.

"Holland has sent over a list of all the ships and the parts they need," he said handing her a clipboard with a four page list, "All he needs is your signature and he'll start stripping the Aries this afternoon."

"Is the crew ready to leave already?" Vanessa asked.

"Most of them. Holland can work around the ones who aren't ready yet. We have enough space for the whole crew for now until we can reassign them all." Bojay replied.

Vanessa picked up a pen and signed the bottom of the last page.

"I'll get that over to Holland." Bojay said.

"I'll take it over," Vanessa replied, "I should go see them before they start to strip it down."

To some people, the science ship Columbus was the most important ship in the fleet. Because of them the fleet was fed, because of them everyone had the various medications they needed and they made sure the military had weapons in order to fight the Cylons.

Mike Campbell had a spring in his step, he had a meeting with Admiral Garrett later on where he would be unveiling all the new toys he had made for her.

His lab assistant Donna Hughes was waiting for him as she was each morning. He never admitted it to her, but he found her invaluable, which considering how much he didn't want her to begin with, was a lot to admit, even to himself.

"Morning." Donna said with a huge smile across her face.

"Good morning. I trust you slept well?"

"So so, I've been a littler nervous, this is the first time you're taking me to meet the Admiral." she replied.

"Oh don't worry about her, she's nothing special." he said sitting down at his work station.

It was a good job that Donna, like the Admiral and others knew not to be offended by anything he said, as he really didn't mean it horribly.

He looked at all the new weapons and toys he had in front of him ready to show the admiral. He picked up the new grenade he had made for her soldiers, it was the thing he was most proud of. It was five times more powerful than the most powerful grenades they already had. He picked it up and smiled.

"I really hope this works as well as it should," Mike said, "It really could help against those scary metal monsters."

As it started to make a strange noise he looked at it puzzled.

"Well that's not right. Oh shi..."

Before he could finish speaking the grenade exploded, the blast could be seen clear across the fleet.