Rescue

Survivor count: 3,797

Patrick Sinclair ached in so many ways he was sat tied to a chair in a room with little features other than a glass roof. "Where is your base Captain Boyle?" The blonde female asked when Sinclair didn't speak the other man punched him. Sinclair had been shocked when he'd seen the man who was identical to the man he knew as Leoben was one of the interrogators. He'd kept enough composure to lie to them about his identity giving the name of Captain Matthew Boyle stating his ship was the Raptor they had come in and he and his men were simply looking for food that hadn't gone well but at least they'd believed him when he said his name was Boyle now each time they said it, it was a small victory for him each time they said the name.

"We don't have a base you blew our civilisation to pieces!" Sinclair snapped back "we're looking for somewhere we'll safe from you machines" he snarled "you took away my family, my entire world, end my frakking life why don't you?"

"We don't want to cause you anymore suffering" the blonde said "but we do need to know more about your people." She said this caused Sinclair to laugh.

"Then you shouldn't have nuked us into oblivion for years we came to the Armistice Station and you didn't show us. They used to broadcast the arrival of our people on the main square's screens yet still no interest from the Cylons." Sinclair snarled "for forty years we waited for you to honour the peace we'd both agreed to. Forty frakking years."

"You continued your military development!" Leoben character said "You continued to probe our territory how were we to know what your intentions were." He said this was something that Sinclair hadn't known but he kept that to himself anything he learned could help him in the future if he got away.

"Can you blame us? You stopped speaking to us right after the war. Everything went silent we couldn't sit and wait for you to return with twice the numbers and wipe us out. We built up a military force out of fear of you machines." He said angrily "and fear we should have because you never gave up on the frakking war, you were among us the whole time and we didn't know it." He said. "Just like the first war all you could think about was wiping us out."

"We wished to control your number curb your ambitions" the blonde began.

"Frak you" Sinclair snapped followed by Leoben punching him as Sinclair's head recoiled above them there were several flashes of light causing him to laugh. "I'll tell you a secret" he said looking at the blonde woman who was looking up as well. "My name isn't Boyle, that frakker just arrived and now you're in trouble."

In space the fleet's Manticore, the Caerphilly, Adamant, the Agosta, and the modified freighter all jumped into the area near Minos. In the Caerphilly's command deck Colonel Matthew Boyle glanced at Captain Raymie Steele "message to Agosta and Dagmar to deploy auxiliary craft. Agosta and Hunter are to cover Dagmar and our Raptors all Vipers on us." He commanded the ship's captain who nodded from the fleet's ships twenty Vipers, six Raptors and the Hunter all launched from the ships the Raptors and Hunter diving towards the colony below.

The Raptors landed all around the facility below deploying nearly two dozen heavily armed marines while the Hunter destroyed the patrolling Cylon Raiders. Inside the facility the marines moved rapidly taking out Centurions wherever they encountered them civilians hid trying to avoid the crossfire between the Colonial Marines and the Cylons.

With all hell breaking loose outside the camp the blonde looked at Leoben who immediately pulled a sidearm "your friends might be here but you won't live to see them." He said aiming it at Sinclair's head Sinclair closed his eyes and made peace with the Gods waiting for the impact.

"No!" The blonde shouted knocking the weapon away sending the bullet into the wall "not now, we need to leave before the scuttling charges go off."

"Why?" Leoben asked angrily "We will be born again. He will be dead with a bullet."

"Not now" she repeated "we need to evacuate" the blonde stated turning towards the door Leoben aimed the weapon at Sinclair obviously thinking of firing but instead stopped himself and the two followed the blonde out leaving Sinclair tied to the chair. Outside the room the sound of weapons fire and movement continued for several minutes before two heavily armoured and armed soldiers charged inside.

"Colonial!" Sinclair shouted alerting them "Major Patrick Sinclair, Colonial Fleet!"

"Good to see you are alive, sir" Lieutenant Julian Leonard said pulling down his mask. "It's time to get you out of here." He said quickly cutting Sinclair loose of the bonds that held him onto the chair

"You're a sight for sore eyes" Sinclair replied "what's our status?"

"Fleet ships in orbit, we're clearing out Cylons, according to sensors there's an increasing power load from the reactors."

"I heard them talk of scuttling charges" Sinclair said "we need to get as many of the people here as we can onto the civilian ships that are docked beside the dome."

"If the reactors are going up, we need to get the hell out of here!"

"Negative, we're going to get people onto those ships. Get a team down to the reactors I want a timeframe on what's going on!" Sinclair snapped "give me a wireless."

Onboard the Caerphilly Boyle listened to Sinclair's voice and while worried about the reactors he knew what the man planned. "Understood we'll keep guard as long as we can Caerphilly Actual out." He said turning to Captain Steele "pass to our fighters when the two freighters lift off the ground, they're on our side. Sinclair is trying to save a world."

Several minutes past and the two ships were soon detected rising from the ground just as a Baseship jumped into the area and began to launch small craft. "Baseship detected incoming raiders and missiles!" One of the crew called out from behind the Caerphilly the Agosta and the Hunter began to fire into space creating a small flak field but almost immediately one of the missiles flew through the barrage and struck the Agosta's upper hull leaving a crater in its hull.

"She can't take many of those" Boyle said watching the small carrier's course change slightly under the hit. "Have them continue to fire until the Raptors and those freighters are ready to jump. Take us at that Baseship." He commanded the Captain looked shocked at his idea.

"Sir, we can't go toe to toe with them" Steele warned him.

"No, but we've a better chance than anyone else, flank speed Captain, forward gunners to target as we go the Vipers are to strike at the enemy raiders." Boyle ordered within moments the Corvette shot forwards with the Vipers surrounding it they'd be outgunned and the fighters outnumbered but there was nothing else they could do. From the Baseship dozens of Raiders charged towards the Colonial Warship along with several capital missiles two of which slammed into the Caerphilly slamming into the vessel's upper armour blowing open a hull section sending two crewmen to their deaths in space. On the front of the Corvette the ship's forward guns opened up sending weapons fire directly at the Baseship causing damage to one of its upper "arms." As the small ship approached the Baseship raiders flew down either side of the craft striking it with their fighter weapons cutting into either side of the ship despite the efforts of the Vipers which were outnumbered three to one.

The ship rocked heavily under another missile strike which blew a hole in the port side of the ship knocking Boyle off his feet scrambling back to his feet he looked at the screen. "Captain, send them a volley of topedoes!" He commanded

"Sir, we only have a volley!" Steele said

"Better now than never, send them now before we can't!" Boyle snapped as the Caerphilly rocked heavily under another hit from the front of the Corvette under the ship's hull ten high explosive torpedoes launched from the ship firing in a spiral pattern towards the Baseship. Unguided the torpedoes struck out rapidly towards the enemy craft as Cylon Raiders chased after them trying to shoot them down only six made it to their target ripping into the Baseship and tearing through the armour of the ship obliterating it, the Baseship's lack of point defence cost the ship.

"The fleet reports they are ready to jump!"

"Order the remaining Vipers to withdraw to their carriers and have the Hunter dock!" Boyle commanded as Cylon raiders continued to attack the corvette their bullets penetrating several sections cutting through bulkheads and crewmen.

"We lose our screen we're dead!" Steele warned him knowing that his ship could only take so much damage already the Raiders were identifying weak points.

"The fleet needs those fighters" he said in response "send them home, turn us towards the Agosta their weapons can help defend us."

"Agosta is taking hits as well" Steele noted seeing the Adamant was taking as many Raider strafing runs as the Caerphilly although the Cylons lacked the capital armament to finish the Colonials off quickly they still had plenty of weapons in the area. Suddenly out of nowhere the Massena II flashed into the space beside the Caerphilly the massive Gunship dwarfing the Corvette and turning the tables on the Cylons immediately as it unleashed a flak barrage that eliminated the majority of the raiders. The Heracles' guns continued to fire taking out more craft as the ship rapidly flipped end over end and accelerated quickly rolling in space past the Agosta and freighters again unleashing more flak fire that tore into the remaining raiders. "That's some piloting" Steele remarked Colonel Boyle looked over at him and smiled in response.

"Yes, it is, Captain, take us home to the asteroid." He said before realising what he had said it was an uninhabitable rock in space but it was all they had and they had to make the most of it while they could. With the Massena II covering their retreat the Caerphilly, Agosta, the Modified Freighter and the two newly acquired craft from Minos were all able to make orderly retreats before the Gunship also followed them escaping before more Cylon capital craft arrived.