Stand Into Danger
"Captain?"
"Yes, Ensign?"
"I am picking up faint contacts on the extreme edge of range" the officer, a survivor from the Tusk said. When going round for crews for his small fleet, the Tusk's surviving Ship's Company elected to follow Turndike with his plan as well as others that wanted either to liberate the Colonies or go down fighting.
"Pass the word on to the other ships, Ensign – and keep watching that contact group" Turndike walked over to the central plotting table in the CIC and looked as the contacts appeared as a barely noticed dot. If the two groups kept the same course and speed they would meet twenty minutes before getting to Caprica.
"Sir, picking up some encrypted comms from the contacts ahead of us – confirmed Cylon vessels" a communications officer spoke.
"Can you read any of it?"
"Negative"
"Oh well…" Turndike said. "Order the fleet to come to full ahead for exactly fourteen minutes then come to a complete stop. Have all Vipers land for immediate refuelling to be done as quickly as possible. Helm, prepare to execute Point Firewall"
"Aye"
"This is Turndike to all ships. We have contacts ahead of us that are believed to be Cylon vessels, and it is my intention to attack. All ships will follow the plan and then assume Point Firewall and fill those bastards full of lead. Attention all ships. As senior officer, the release is hereby allowed of nuclear missiles. All ships to spin up their missiles, but do not open the missile tubes – open all others, but not theirs. Turndike out"
# # # # #
"The Colonials approach us" said a Cylon known as a Number One.
"I read numerous Vipers and several capital sized vessels, two frigates and an armed transport" said a Number Two.
"You know" said a Three, "They fight bravely. They cannot harm our ships but they continue to try.
"Whether they fight or not they know the will die anyway, so really is this bravery or simple desperation?" retorted the One.
"It is magnificent valour" said a Six.
"Always sentimental about these humans" the One said. "Order each Basestar to hold a squadron of Raiders in reserve and to knock out the missiles they'll be sending at us"
"By Your Command" said an Eight.
"This is odd" said a Four. "The Colonials have stopped their advanced and turned side on towards our fleet"
"Fracking can't even keep a fleet facing the right way" said the One. "That Battlestar is turning away and making a run for it" and the datastream showed the Exeter making a complete turn around and facing away.
"Her FTL drive is spinning up" said a Five. "She has jumped away" and then held the console as entire ship shook heavily.
"DRADIS contact… She jumped behind us" Three said. "Clever… very clever…"
# # # # #
"Reload" Turndike ordered. "All gun captains, you may choose your own targets – independent fire. All Vipers – launch"
"Launching all Vipers, Sir"
"Fire a full missile spread. Helm, once the missiles have been fired, I want you to bring us about. Navigation, standby for FTL jump back to our position" Turndike felt the hits from the Cylons as they turned their guns on the Exeter – then felt his deck plates shudder as the old Battlestar opened up with a reply of her own.
"All Vipers clear"
"Jump"
"Jump in three… two… one… JUMP!" and the Battlestar blinked out of sight and reappeared back in its assigned position. However, this was the cue for two ships to jump to where the Battlestar had just returned from – making the Cylons split their forces just as Turndike wanted.
"Launch Raptor" Turndike ordered. "Turndike to Megan… Shove that missile up the arse end of that Command Vessel"
"Aye, Sir"
"Weapons, target the central axis of the leading vessel. Standby to open fire"
"Weapons locked on target"
"Fire" and the main weapons of the Exeter fired their huge shells deep into the heart of the leading Cylon vessel – smashing in at a high rate of speed and causing massive damage before exploding deep in the heart of the vessel – detonating fuel stores. It lost power and started drifting away from the line of battle, only to explode in a gigantic fireball and sending debris all over – badly damaging sister ships in the process.
"Target destroyed. Massive damage to remaining Cylon Basestars. They are attempting a retreat back towards Caprica – Raiders are screening"
"Like hell" Turndike crossed to the weapons platform and entered commands into the computer. All at once, nuclear weapons in the two ships that had taken Exeter's place suddenly became live as their ships executed pre-planned commands and turned to run full speed at the incoming Cylons. Realising what might be happening, the Cylons put everything into destroying the pair but it was too little too late. They rammed into the Baseships at full speed before their nuclear weapons activated and tore the crippled vessels to pieces – causing a massive EMP blast that the Colonials could not cope with. Alarms sounded off as systems overloaded and sparked – sending the crews rushing to secure them before they lead to other trouble.
"DRADIS is InOp" called the Tactical Officer. "Too much debris and interference for it to work. Estimate three minutes for a clear reading to come through"
"Contact our fighters and ask them for a visual report" Turndike said.
"Aye"
"Secure to Condition Two" Turndike ordered. "Get a damage report and a full butcher's bill as soon as possible. Have the seriously wounded and the dead transported to Norland and Samantha and order them to return to the station and get treatment from Hope. Land our birds and get them sorted as quickly as possible"
"Visual reports indicate three vessels destroyed and all Raiders either destroyed or bugged out" came a report.
"Very well…" said Turndike. "Get Manning and Morris over here as soon as they can grab a ship"
#
The meeting did not take place for another hour, but Manning and Morris sat with Turndike in his quarters. All three men began to discuss the aftermath of the battle and what they should do next with regards to the attack on Caprica.
"I lost six members of the crew" said Manning.
"Twelve" Morris put in. "And all of my forward interceptors are damaged, I've got significant hull damage and I can't launch any of my Vipers"
"I've got the same sort of damage" said Manning. "The trouble is that the Cylons know where we are and most likely what state of repair we're all in"
"We can't go back for repairs because that will take too long, but neither can we simply sit here and wait for us to fix what is substantial damage" Turndike agreed. "Its clear that we'll have to effect repairs on the way to Caprica, but we're going to need more ships to help fight our way through the defensive lines and then to secure orbital superiority when we land on the surface"
"A lot of those ships we took from the yards were going to be used by you anyway, so why not simply send for them?" asked Morris. "We fill them with as much ammo as we can in half an hour, set their systems to automatic and use them as decoys for the Cylons to shoot at"
"Still going to have to have people man those ships" said Turndike.
"I think" said Manning "That I know where we can get those crews"
"Where?"
"When the attacks first happened, we were carrying a number of prisoners due to be sent to maximum security prisons on the moon of Titan – all of them sentenced to hard labour and, in some cases, life. Whatever they have done, it is nothing to what the Cylons have done… I propose that we talk to them and, if they agree to man the ships during the battle, we wipe the slate clean for most of them"
"Normally" said Morris, "I would disagree. However, Captain, we're short on trained people. It doesn't take too long to train somebody to load a gun and fire it, some of the prisoners are pilots so they can fly the ships… Otherwise its game over"
"And that's the deal?"
"That's the deal" replied Morris and Manning.
"Can you do it in two hours?" asked Turndike.
"By hook or by crook, Captain" said Manning.
"Odd choice of words" Turndike said. "Well" he blew out a held in breath, "What do we have to lose except our lives and our dignity. Take the Furlong, Samantha and the rest of the non combatant ships back to the station and do what you can. We'll take all of your Vipers in case the Cylons show up"
"Sir"
"Sir"
"Drop that, would you…?" Turndike shook his head at the saluting pair of police officers.
"Captain?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you going to do?"
"The Exeter will continue to hold and advance from her position – engaging the Cylons wherever they might be" Turndike replied.
"One damaged ship against the entire Cylon fleet? Captain, with respect… Are you insane?" asked Morris.
"Not entirely. I want to try and catch up with that damaged bird before it gets in touch with the rest of them at Caprica. When close enough, I'm going to punch holes in all decks and sections so that all of the air will be vented into space"
"Killing the human form Cylons" said Manning. "But we all know that they can come back within hours"
"I'm hoping that if we kill enough of them their system will get 'clogged up'. If they design their ships like ours in some ways, we'll knock out gravity which will make it hard for their centurions to operate" Turndike grinned as he headed for the hatch.
"What do you plan to do then? Take their weapon stores?"
"No, Lieutenant, I intend to go aboard and lay claim to it as salvage. Fix the engines and weapons and use it as a flying cannon on auto pilot"
#
"We've managed to get the forward weapons grid back to half strength" said Spanswick. "Some of the missiles that hit us did a lot of damage in the bow sections, we've also got hull breaches in places that are hard to reach and engines Three and Five are off the grid. Two, Four and Eight are completely ruined – maybe get half speed out of the remaining engines if we don't strain them too much". Hours after the battle, Turndike and his senior and most trusted crew were discussing the amount of damage. He had kept it hidden from the two police officers, but the damage to the elderly Battlestar was worse then what anybody had thought of. Everybody from the CIC and Bridge crews right down to the galley staff were working on repairs to get the ship back into the fight.
"What is our power situation like?" asked Turndike.
"Essential systems are okay, but I can't power much else at all" Spanswick replied, checking her lists. "Because some of the damage spread to the reactors and the power plants, I am giving the essential systems priority. When it comes to engaging the Cylons, it will be either the flight pods or the defence systems – not both"
"Can you switch to the other once the Vipers and Raptors are launched?" asked Megan.
"Not with the amount of crew left over" said Turndike. "We never expected to take her into combat like this. Even with my people and the Fleet that have joined us…" he shook his head.
"What if we sent a message back for a mobile dock to turn up and give us a hand?"
"Because the repairs would take weeks even with double shifts…" Spanswick said.
"Hang on…" Megan came up with an idea. "The engines that are damaged or destroyed… Are their power units still working?" she asked.
"Three's motors are working – why do you ask?" enquired Turndike.
"Tie them into the main grid to provide as much power as possible" Megan illustrated her thought. "All we need is about ten minutes or so for the launchers and then you can shut them down and divert power to the weapons systems for the entire ship. Once all the Vipers are launched, they simply land on the flight deck and wait for the order to go into battle. It saves us a lot of power that would otherwise go to waste in the launchers when there is no need"
"Georgey?"
"Maybe" she shrugged. "We need to pull some people off the repairs to build some connectors, we'd have to scrounge for heavy duty wires…"
"Good thing we're scavengers" Turndike said. "In order to save power, we'll get up to half speed and then shut the engines down – no need to burn up fuel when there is very little gravity out here to affect us. That should give us extra power in case the toasters decide to bounce us" and he remembered something else he wanted to ask. "Spanners, I looked at some of the footage from the Vipers as they came in for landing. I noticed that the pennants are still up – why?"
"Well, Dave, I made the decision to leave them flying tonight and to shoot the first Cylon bastard that tries to shoot it down"
"That's the spirit" said Turndike. Alarms suddenly sounded but where cut off within seconds as a voice filtered through the intercom.
"CIC to Captain"
"Turndike" the salvage Captain spoke as he toggled a switched on the intercom panel on his desk.
"Two Battlestars just jumped into range – ten thousand yards off the stern. ID codes exchanged and verified as belonging to Battlestars Hermes and Invincible"
"Falkland class" said Spanswick. "One of the first classes of ship after the Cylon War… Had a lot of work done to the design based on the experienced gained from the engagements. I didn't think they could be made ready so quickly after we got to them"
"Clearly they have been able to" said Megan.
"Have them patched into comms as soon as you can… I want to speak to them. Order them both to submit full status reports and route the files to my quarters"
"Aye"
"If this keeps going, I'll be believing in the Gods next" Turndike laughed. "Sorry" he apologised to his newest officer when he saw her shift a little. "I know you take the Gods seriously"
"Forget about it" Megan said. "I'll get in touch with the other Battlestars and see what they have in the way of fighters and other ships"
"CIC to Captain"
"Captain"
"Another three ships just jumped into range. IDs read as the Battlestar Dorsetshire and the Light Cruisers Ajax and Cumberland… And another ship has jumped in – it's the Restormal"
"Oh gods…" Spanswick said, "That is more or less the entire fleet here"
"Every single bit of our firepower in one location… This is either going to be a victory or a bloodbath" said Turndike.
"The Cambrian and the Achilles just jumped in" the woman was still on the line. "Current total of ships in theatre is at ten ships"
"Ten?"
"Norland just jumped in and is launching shuttles and heavy supply vessels"
"You know, we might just actually win this one. CIC, find out who the hell is in charge and get everybody together on here ASAP"
"Aye, Captain" and the connection was cut.
"We have five Battlestars, two Light Cruisers, two Frigates and an armed merchantman" said Spanswick. "If this is not enough to take out the Cylons, at least we'll go down fighting" she swilled the Ambrosia in her glass before downing it in one and standing. "If you'll excuse me, Captain, I have to see to my Engine Room" and, with that, she left.
"Captain…" Megan looked at Turndike after thinking of something. "If we can refit some of our damage here and now, then it might make sense to…"
#
"… deploy our ships like this" Turndike arranged little wooden models on the plotting table in the Exeter's War Room. "Despite frantic efforts, we're not fully operational so the Cambrian and Achilles will stay with the Exeter to give Anti Missile and Anti Aircraft defence" he put the model of his ship flanked by the two Frigates in the centre of the table. It was discovered that Major Dial had given his permission for the crews of the various military vessels to come and aid the Exeter and her small fleet – leaving behind the rest of the damaged ships behind for defence of the civilian people on the station. They had all agreed to follow Turndike's orders until they either won or died. They had all had enough of hiding and running from the Cylons – now it was time for payback. "Hermes and Invincible will take point with Ajax and Cumberland in support. As a reserve force and holding the rear until we get to Caprica will be Dorsetshire and Restormal with Norland acting as a Fast Carrier. As far as we know, from our few recon flights, the Cylons are sitting a short distance from the orbit of the planet itself. Therefore, we're going to jump in around five light minutes out and then cruise towards them. Once we have made the jump, we'll be turning transponders and all homing beacons off and communicating via Laser Link only so the Toasters can't hear any of our final plans – so let your people know the plans. Once we're engaged with the enemy, we're going to split our missile fire so that each Battlestar is reloading whilst the other is firing. According to the best advice and information we have, its suspected that will keep the Cylons on their toes. Whilst the Raiders are being taken care of by the Vipers, Raptors will launch with all the Marines we have to board the Cylon Command and Control ship and either take it over or destroy it. If it is able to be taken, then they will direct the Cylons to fire on each other… Should cause confusion that we can use"
"ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! SET CONDITION ONE THROUGHOUT THE SHIP!" a voice screamed over the intercom.
"Turndike. Whats going on?"
"Five Cylon Baseships – closing rather fast. I estimate seven minutes until they enter firing range. Another contact just jumped in behind them – extreme range of DRADIS"
"Launch all Vipers" Turndike ordered. "Turn the ship around and prepare to engage the enemy"
"Must have had a scout watching us" said Manning.
"Or somebody sending them a message" Morris replied darkly.
"The fact is that we need to get to our ships" said Dial, and he led the way out of the War Room and ran to the Hanger Deck – closely followed by most of the others.
"Megan!" Turndike called out and the woman looked back at the hatch.
"Sir?"
"You come ba… You come back alive, you hear me?" and there was a moment of understanding passing between the pair. Then, and unexpectedly, Megan came rushing up to Turndike before kissing him fully on the lips.
"Aye, Aye, Captain" and then left.
# # # # #
"Sit Rep" Turndike ordered as he darted into the CIC.
"Five Cylon Baseships, Captain. They have launched 3960 Raiders in a defensive and screening posture" a Lieutenant spoke from Tactical.
"That's a lot… Have all our Vipers go after the Raiders. Under no circumstance are they to go after the Basestars – strictly forbidden" Turndike picked up the intership comms handset. "This is the Exeter to all ships – plough your way through the line of Raiders and take on the capital ships. Do not, and I repeat: do not, go for that sixth contact far behind them. We don't know what it is, so best to leave it alone until it makes a hostile move. Hermes and Invincible – launch a full spread of missiles and thin out their forces. The rest of us will simply use kinetic rounds and pray we win the day. Exeter out. Comms, dispatch a message to the fleet at the station – We have engaged the enemy"
"Cylons closing to missile range for lead ships – fighters closing. Hermes and Invincible are launching missiles" and little tags appeared on DRADIS. The missiles from the pair managed a large number of hits, but some of them were either shot down by the Cylons or were taken out by the Raiders ramming straight into them.
"Moderate damage to Cylon launchers on all Basestars" said one of Turndike's crew. "Their fighter systems are down – they can't recover their Raiders. One quarter of all weaponry has been eliminated - Hermes and Invincible are continuing to attack"
"Very well" said the salvage Captain. "Helm, all stop! Left standard rudder. Bring us about to port and tilt the ship twenty five degrees to starboard. All weapons prepare to fire on incoming targets…"
"Aye, Sir"
"Tactical… What is the location of Viper 189?"
"Closing in for the kill on a group of Raiders"
"Keep an eye on that Viper – divert weaponry to defend it if it needs help"
"Sir?"
"Just do it"
"Aye, Aye" a confused officer said. A shudder was felt as rounds hit the Exeter and a couple of alarms were silenced as crew went into action. The Battlestar replied by opening up with her own firepower and taking on the killing machines. The fleet traded blow for blow over the course of and they lost many good pilots, but they managed to whittle down the Raiders to just a few hundred. Of the Colonial ships, they had all taken damage but continued to pound the Cylon vessels. A long and torturous moan was heard from Exeter's very being as a nuclear blast hit her topside armour.
"Report!" cried Turndike – holding a rag to his bleeding forehead.
"We took a nuke to the topside – radiation within norms… Turrets 3 through 12 on the topside have been destroyed. Got a hull breach… Bulkheads not responding and we've got multiple hull breaches in all sections of the ship. Lateral frame is intact for now, but I don't know how much longer – all stress sensors at maximum" somebody replied – tossing a dead body away from a console.
"Seal off the following sections either side" Turndike said. "Helm, right standard rudder – all ahead flank. Guns, prepare to fire main batteries on leading Cylon. Comms, tell Cambrian and Achilles to fall back. Have Restormal and Dorsetshire fall in with us for an attack run" he looked at the confused DRADIS scope. "Where is Viper 189?" he asked.
"Last report from 189 indicated a landing on Norland for rearming" somebody shouted back.
"Nothing since"
"That's why I said last report"
"Invincible is reporting their main engines are down"
"Order Ajax and Cumberland to move in to assist her defence. All other ships are to hold their position or follow us. Get a medic to the CIC" Turndike felt light headed.
"Contact! I have a DRADIS contact on the very edge of range. CBDR – unknown vessel. Estimate four minutes until I get a better reading"
"Spanswick to Turndike"
"Go, Georgey"
"We've lost the main power lines for the Hanger Deck lifts… We can't recover our birds"
"Can you repair?"
"Not outside a dockyard and I'm too busy trying to keep the ship intact, Dave"
"Right… Just keep doing your best. Out" the salvage captain looked over at the DRADIS operator. "Where is that first contact?" he asked.
"Still hanging back, but I am getting some odd signals from it"
"In what way?"
"Communications, data uplinks, downlinks… everything"
"It's her… It's the bloody ComCon" Turndike breathed. "Comms, send the new orders to the entire fleet – target anything not Colonial and push your way through the Cylon lines. The use of nuclear ordinance is hereby allowed. Missile control, spin up remaining nuclear assets. Punch in code X-Ray Mike 6 0 7"
"Confirm release?"
"Superfuse"
"Missiles armed and set for maximum yield – awaiting target"
"Cylon Basestar" Turndike smirked. "Prepare to fire every missile we have to try and hide it. Get our escorts to do the same"
"Aye, Captain" the Fleet officer nodded.
"Captain! Getting an automatic distress beacon from Viper 189"
"Oh my… Order a flight of Vipers and a Raptor to that location. I want that pilot standing on my flight deck"
"Sir"
"Norland is taking heavy damage – she can't take much more fire"
"Order her to jump back to the station" Turndike said. "Helm, whats up with the engines?" but there was no reply. "Helm?" but they reply never came as he saw a piece of ceiling was embedded through the young man and into the console. "Get somebody with a radio down to Emergency Steering" he said to nobody in particular.
"Sir, the second unknown contact is readying her FTL engines for a jump" the DRADIS officer said.
"We're about to get fraked up the arse"
"Want me to order some lube?" came the jokey reply.
"I need a Sit Rep on our forces" Turndike said.
"We've lost at least 50% of our Vipers, Ajax has taken heavy damage and is abandoning ship, Restormal has a major hull breach but is continuing to engage and all other ships have moderate to major damage in some areas" Captain Sarah Newman who seemed to be in charge of the Fleet personnel, spoke. She was a slightly plumpish woman, but one who could hold her own.
"Captain? I'm reading that second contact as breaking up…It is now four separate contacts"
"Has she been attacked?" Turndike did not remember any warnings of it coming under fire from either side, but the confusion of battle and his own injuries might have allowed it to get past his awareness.
"No…" and after a moment "They've jumped directly behind the Cylon line and are firing all weapons at them"
"Well lets join the party. Exeter to all ships – open fire on the Cylons. Pick your own targets" and the remaining Battlestars, Cruisers and the pair of Frigates fired at the Cylon Basestars who were now caught in between two sets of attackers.
"Sir, one of the ships is breaking formation and opening missile ports"
"Very well – all Vipers clear Cylon airspace. Missile control, target the same shi–" he was cut off as the five Basestars suddenly exploded and adding their own explosion to a huge and powerful wave of energy. As fire and debris spread out, a gigantic shockwave headed towards the battered fleet. "ALL ENGINES FULL REVERSE!" but it was too late – the wave picked up the Exeter and her fleet and swatted them backwards. Alarms sounded as systems and consoles overloaded and the hull finally gave way in parts and opened to space.
"Are you alright, Sir?" asked Captain Newman.
"Ask me in the morning" Turndike stumbled to his feet with help from Newman. "Sit Rep! Damage Report"
"Checking all systems now, Captain" came the reply from the Engine Room. "The lateral beams have been compromised and we're not sure whats going on"
"Got a visual of the Cylon debris"
"Put it up" and the working screen switched from DRADIS to visual scanners. It showed the fireball in space and debris tumbling in all directions. They thought that nothing could survive the holocaust, but as the crew watched, ignoring the intercom chatter and the alarms, the fireball that still burnt was broken in parts by the bows of four powerful Battlestars as they came through the devastation they and Exeter's fleet of happy go lucky people had caused.
"Sir, I am getting a message from one of the ships" said the comms officer.
"On… On speakers" Turndike could not believe his eyes or any part of his mind.
"This is the Battlestars Riopel, Ark Royal, Victorious and Dauntless reporting for duty. Request permission to join the formation and the fleet. Gods Save The Colonies"
A/N:
Okay, first of all a list of ships back in Colonial Space
Battlestars: Exeter, Dorsetshire, Hermes, Invincible, Restormal, Riopel, Ark Royal, Victorious and Dauntless
Light Cruisers: Ajax and Cumberland
Frigates: Cambrian and Achilles
The Riopel is named after a very good friend of mine who I have known for more years then I care to remember. Ark Royal and Victorious are the names of two ships that appear in another one of my friends stories called Wes Imlay. A great writer and I advise you all to read his works. For those that have read my other BSG fics, the Dauntless is indeed the one and only Dauntless from my story "Counter Attack".
In the mext chapter, we'll find out whats happened to Megan/Katooni, where these new arrivals have been hiding and the battle for the survival of humanity takes place
Regards
Pixel and Stephanie