The Kongo began immediate preparations to move a large portion of the crew to the Olympus. With the shuttles working together, it was going to take them about 1 ½ weeks to move everyone over. Engineer Smith had suggested that they try to move the Olympus closer but nobody had a high level of confidence that they could steer or, more importantly, stop her. The first priority was to offload crew and evacuate non-essential sections of the Kongo. The were to leave a skeleton crew onboard to man the bridge and engineering sections. The energy crisis was still very real but the captain did not want to completely abandon her until absolutely necessary.
The first shuttle runs were almost exclusively crew but cargo began to follow. While the Olympus appeared to have all necessities they would need, there was some Starfleet equipment they wanted to assist in evaluating the ship and for day to day operations. As the crew left, they were able to shut down more and more of ship's life support and stand up the emergency field life support systems on the Bridge and in Engineer. Emergency airlocks were installed; to get from one to the other would require the use of environmental suits. Once the crew transfer was complete, they would leave a shuttle behind in case the Kongo finally had no more to give. Commander Hasan stayed behind to mind the Kongo. The captain originally thought to stay onboard himself but realized that if his crew was on the Olympus, that was his place as well.
On the Olympus, the crew was adjusting to some large differences in accommodations. The crew complement actually appeared to be about the same but some quarters were small and required more sharing than the Kongo crew was used to. Officer's quarters were actually larger. Captain Berg was originally reluctant to take the more luxurious room until it was pointed out to him that it was also the room closest to the bridge.
Captain Berg walked into the control room and looked around. It has been about a week and the crew transfer was about 75% done. As they had combed the ship, they found clothes and other personnel effects left behind that further confounded captain Berg. The Battlestar was doing its part so they were now warm, breathing clean air and well fed. The kitchen had proved interesting. There did not seem to be any food processors in the same the Kongo had. Perishable food was kept in a deep freeze and processed goods available as well. While everything was safe to eat, it was a bit if a guessing game as to how to prepare it and the crew was a bit inexperienced in more traditional cooking methods. Meal times were proving interesting as the crew gradually improved in preparations.
"Report," he called out. Lieutenant Kiko was acting as first officer for now. Lieutenant Scogaska and Lieutenant Commands DeSoto were expected within the next day. Engineer Smith had actually returned to the Kongo to, as the chief engineer put it, "clean up his mess." The crew was planning on a rotation through Kongo if it became necessary.
"Sir, we have arranged for shifts on the bridge and engineering sections. Ensign Gravelson has been working hard to get translations up and posted. The crew is starting to learn how to read Colonial. Since we don't have any verbal communication, the universal translators aren't too much help."
"Do you think Ben Clarkson can help? I believe this falls a bit into his area of study?" asked the Captain, "This is, after all, his ship." The captain tried to be cavalier about the situation but he was still bothered by how much they had skirted the rules. It was not his trademark, and he always felt he should be able to follow Federation ideals regardless of the situation.
"Not sure sir. I'll ask," answered Kiko. "Just to update you, sir. We have identified helm control down here in front. Navigation appears to be all the way back which is a little surprising. There are navigations charts which in some ways make sense but in other ways do not. There are references to multipliers which we don't understand and we have not pinpointed our location yet. Additionally, there is a weapons station and another described as 'viper control'. We're not quite sure what the means but is it looks like it is intended to manage the launch tubes we found."
"What about mobility?" Asked the captain, "I think we would like to go somewhere eventually."
"Well, the helm controls are pretty straight forward. The bigger concern has been engine maneuverability. The Engineering crew believes the engines are actually ready to fire. The power source is unknown but records show that it is called 'Solarium'. We have noted that there appears to be a tremendous amount of fire suppression gear onboard so we should be careful about how we proceed." The Lieutenant paused to give her captain a chance to respond.
"Okay, let's see what we can…" the captain stopped abruptly as he thought he felt something.
"What was that?" he asked.
The crew in the still unfamiliar control room looked at instrumental panels and tried to make sense of them. They heard a couple of more thuds. They seemed to becoming more frequently and possible getting stronger.
"Captain, I think we are under attack!" The exclamation came from Bill Newman who had been watching fire control.
"Explain," said the Captain who bolted towards the station with his acting second in command in tow.
"Sir, this is their scanning system. It is fairly rudimentary but you can see three small blips here. Also, this computer does not like them. There is a ship recognition program here and it shows them as 'Cylon Raiders: Alert Status set'. Watching them, they appear to be on strafing runs."
"Are we sure of the translation?" The captain pulled out a communicator. Internal communications were still being worked out. "Ensign Gravelson to the Control Room immediately."
More thumps followed and then a larger jolt that actually caused a small shutter across the control room.
"Feels like the hit something important," said Kiko.
Captain Berg pulled out his communicator, "all hands, this is the captain. We appear to be under attack from an unknown assailant. Go to Red Alert as best we understand in on this ship. The Olympus is on loan from Mr. Clarkson. I do not want to have to pay him back for it."
"Kiko, do we have any type of ship to ship communication capabilities?"
"I think so sir. We haven't figured out how to communicate to the Kongo yet but if they know these attackers, maybe?" Kiko hoped.
"What about the Universal Translator?" asked the captain?
"Sir the have something the call a languatron. I know, probably bad translation but we can tie it in. Frequency open." Reported Kiko.
"Attacking ship. This is Captain Gerhardt Berg from the USS Kongo. We represent the United Federation of Planets. We are onboard and in control of the Battlestar Olympus and do not wish a conflict. Our Situation is complicated and we would to discuss to avoid a confrontation." Captain Berg knew that stating they were "in control" of the Olympus was a stretch but he needed to reassure them. The last thing he wanted to do was start an interstellar war because of a misunderstanding.
The thumping continued and there were a couple of stronger jolts. "Damage Report," he yelled to no one in particular. Kiko looked around the control room and say some red lights starting to light up. Some things appeared to be universal, she thought to herself. "Not sure sir. Looks like they are starting to take a toll."
Onboard the front Cylon Raider the flight leader was the equivalent of being perplexed. They had been separated from their baseships and did not have enough fuel to get home. Upon seeing the Battlestar, they followed their programming to inflict as much damage as possible. Colonial Vipers were much more effective in combat but harder to replace so any loss was considered a victory for the empire. The Cylon had expected that they would be met with a squadron of vipers and turret fire, but that had not happened. Strangely there was also an attempt to communicate with them which had not happened for almost all of the 1000 Yahrens war. None of that mattered. They had their programming: Kill the Humans.
Captain Berg looked helplessly around the control room. "Any thoughts," he asked?
"Sir, I may have something," it was Samantha Gravelson who had just entered the control room. "There is a switch here that says 'screen positive'."
"Hit it. Maybe it will give us some time." Ordered the captain.
Gravelson pushed the button. Everybody waited. They only saw a metal plate raise to cover the front viewing port. They continued wait. There seemed to be no difference in the now incessant weapons fire.
"Anything?" asked Berg.
"No sir," answered Kiko. "We don't see anything that would be a force screen or other protective counter-measures."
"Well that was disappointing, "Berg muttered.
"Sir, we may have some tactical capabilities," the report came from Bill Newman again. "This ship has 38 turrets which appear to be run from here. They are actually heavily computerized. I think I can get them activated and locked on with some help from Gravelson."
"Go," he said to the young Ensign. "Do not fire unless I order it. Kiko any response to our hails?"
"No sir, but we are getting a report from the Mat tuba. They believe they have not been seen but have been scanning the attackers. There are no signs of life," reported the Lieutenant.
"What are they drones? Confirm the readings and have them scan for anything else out there. "
Captain Berg waited as the attacks seemed to intensify. He didn't know enough about the layout of the Olympus to determine when they were going to be in trouble, but these Cylon Raiders did not seem inclined to stop. If they were just drones, there was no reason for them to stop until they did some real damage.
"Readings confirmed sir," said Kiko.
"Your orders captain," asked Newman.
"Dammit," Berg muttered. "Fire."
The Cylon Flight Leader continued to monitor the response from the Battlestar. No Vipers. No return fire. It did not matter other than the programmed response that would help to protect that Raiders were not activated. They Cylon had no way of knowing if there were crewman onboard and did not care. The Cylon did not even question how there could be a Battlestar here when all but the Galactica were destroyed. The programming was clear. Destroy all Colonial ships and Kill all Humans.
"Continue to attack the Battlestar." The Cylon Leader ordered. It was a bit of an oddity and a holdover from the original Reptilian Cylon race that vocal commands continued to be used between Centurions while computer integration would work much effective; however, the Imperious Leader and the Cylon elite had never seen a reason to change this means of communication.
"By your command," was the response from the helmsman. The three Cylon Raiders lined up for another strafing run. They saw that while most of their attacks were ineffective, there were some areas where they had obviously caused some disruption. They lined up once again and attempted to inflict damage on these areas. Suddenly, they noted movement from the laser turrets closest to them. Four of them turned and fired. The first volley missed all three. This struck the Cylon Leader as odd since he knew the Colonial marksmanship to be much better than this. They continue their attack with ancient programming kicking into to provide some evasive maneuvers to help protect them. Another volley occurred and the Cylon Leader noted that one of the Raiders was destroyed. The Leader's Raider was now in range and opened fire. More damage, this time apparently more significant, was wrought. The turrets fired again and the other Raider was destroyed. The loss did not register any grief or concern for the Cylon Flight Leader. The Raider once again began to circle for another attack when the ship jolted violently. Apparently, they had been hit as well but not destroyed.
"Report," requested the Cylon Flight Leader but received no response. The two other Centurions had been severely damaged in the attack as well. The ship was now open to space which did not matter to the flight leader but he now had no means to fight any more. Having evaluated his situation, the flight leader simply sat waiting for a chance to fight, for the internal power source to run out or for the baseships to find and retrieve the damaged raider.
On board the Olympus, there was celebration as they saw the blips on the Colonial scanners disappear. One remained and did not move.
"You need to work on your aim," chided the Captain. "Report on the remaining vessel" he asked.
"Reports from the Mattuba now. It appears to be badly damaged with minimal power remaining. Should we eliminate it?" Asked Lieutenant Rodriguez.
"No," answered Captain Berg "I want to know what we are dealing with. Let's get the damaged ship in here for investigation. Please advise the Mattuba to begin salvage operations as soon as they in range. Please notify the Chief Engineer and Science Officer that I want them to assist in the investigation as soon as they are onboard."
"Sir," said Security Specialist Newman, "I recommend posting a guard around it."
"Agreed. The risk seems low at this point but take all precautions."
Onboard the damaged Raider, the Cylon Flight Commander noted the approach of an unknown type of ship. There were still no weapons so there was no opportunity to attack. The Shuttle attached what appeared to be a towing beam of some sort and began to pull it into the landing bay of the Battlestar. It continued to wait for stimuli that would trigger its programming. It computed that Kill the Humans would be the most likely to apply.