==========BS-62 Pegasus==========
Explosions rocked the Mercury-class battlestar, sending everything not bolted or tied down crashing to the decks or into bulkheads. The crew was fighting valiantly to repel dozens of Centurions armed with heavy automatic weaponry, grenades, and high explosives as well as the dozens of Raiders attempting to break through the heavy flak screen and ravage the flagship of the Colonial Fleet remnant.
Deep in the bowels of Pegasus a very different kind of battle was waging. It was machine versus machine as the human-allied terminators fought side-by-side with the crew to repel the deadly Cylon Centurion.
The Terminator, Joanne Soto, cocked her fist back and punched through a Centurion's breastplate, smashing through and grabbing onto its power unit, ripped it out from its chest, shards of metal, plastic, and loose wires following her hand out.
The Centurion sputtered, it optical scanner flickering red and dimming before finally shutting down. The metal soldier crumpled to the deck in a heap of sparks.
She wasn't alone. She had help. The Marines behind her were firing to her sides, taking down two Centurions which had rushed to help their robotic comrade.
The Centurion she had just dispatched did not go down without its own form of mild vengeance. Her neural net detected damage, minor damage, but damage nonetheless. The Centurion's blade was lodged in her metallic thigh. She reached down and pulled it out, synthetic blood and pseudo-muscle tearing loose from her armored plating and splattering onto the walls and decks.
The strike had been lucky. The blade was not sharp enough to piece her armored plating, only the liquid metal stabbing weapons of the T-1000 series terminators were so deadly. But it had lodged between two of her plates, causing minor damage to the carbon filament muscles and servos. Her leg was not as 100% combat capabilities, but self-repair systems, began to mend the damage.
She turned to face the Marines, her eyes shining a deep blue from the fight, "Let's move," she barked to them. None of them hesitated. Their prejudices were left a dozen frames back and two compartments over after she had rescued them from a trio of maurauding Centurions who had pinned them down.
The best way to earn trust was to rescue and save those who didn't trust you.
She leaned down and snatched up one of the larger Centurion rifle and tore off the magazine pouch from around the Centurion's waist and stuffed four extra clips in her fatigue pockets.
Soto and the five Marines behind her moved quickly and methodically down the main corridor, heading aft towards the engine rooms. Bishop was staying up at C-I-C, guarding the Admiral and the command crew. Planck had darted off somewhere on his own. The three terminators had already smashed their ankle locators, concerned the Cylons may use the signal to locate them as well.
The group passed dozens of dead, dying, or injured crew as they worked their way towards the vital engine rooms.
Nearing engineering the normally cool air of a battlestar began to fill with smoke and the acrid smell of chemical and electrical fires. Carbon scorch marks from explosions and dents from grenades were present in half a dozen locations. Brass casing littered the corridors and overturned crates and storage containers, used for cover, were riddled with bullet holes.
The Guardian Model 005 Centurions, the same models which had fought in the first Cylon War, were no appreciable threat to Soto. They did not possess the strength to cause significant damage to her combat chassis nor did they have the firepower, from her tactical assessment, to seriously harm her.
The new Cylons which had replaced the Model 005, the 007 model, John had encountered on Kobol, were more powerful and better armored, but still no threat in small groups. These Centurions, however, were equipped with heavier weaponry than what had been encountered during the Kobol SAR mission. Even with the heavier weaponry the only true weakness were her optical scanners, her eyes. (Cylons did not stay alive long enough for them to fire enough bullets to seriously damage her endoskeleton.) But the statistical probability of being shot in the eyes during battle stood at mere fractions of a percent.
Before Soto had joined this group of five, the Marines guarding her had been killed by steam pipes exploding in the initial boarding actions.
She'd rescued the five Marines who were following her now. They had been pinned down by fire before Soto had been able to flank the squad and Centurions and destroy them. Those Marines had told her that engineering was under assault and that the Marines and crew there were falling back, unable to hold the outer compartments.
"John? Carter?" she called to the other two over their wireless link. No response. System analysis indicated the link was fully functional.
Further analysis determined the inability to establish a link was due to Centurion jamming devices to interrupt ship communications.
Soto began to move too quick for the human Marines to keep up. She wasn't as concerned about using cover as they were. She could react within milliseconds of spotting Centurions. Her reflexes were many times faster than the humans she was guarding.
"Hey, wait! Wait!" The senior Marine yelled after Soto as she began to move too quickly and with too much disregard for cover. She turned; facial recognition identified the Marine as Sgt. William Jackal. A database search confirmed he was a decorated Marine and seasoned veteran. "If you just fraking run forward like that they're going to get you. That metal skeleton thingy of yours might to bullet-proof to some of these damn Toaster bullets…. but they're carrying some pretty damn heavy weapons," he warned.
He took a deep breath as he calmed down, stopping on the side of the corridor, behind a bulkhead for cover. Soto stood in the center.
"Understood," she said, turning back, "Thank you for your concern." She felt a hand on her left arm. She turned back quickly. Her eyes flashed blue and looked straight into Sgt. Jackal's. He instantly removed his hand.
"Listen!" He hissed through clenched teeth, trying to whisper but speak loud enough for her to hear. An explosion rocked the ship and he shot out his hand, which Soto grabbed, to steady him. His expression showed he was grateful for the help. "We don't want to die. I doubt you do, either! Let's stick together and head towards engineering like our orders say, okay? Six guns are better than one," he pointed out.
"Understood," she responded, nodding. "Follow me," she motioned with head, giving them permission to follow.
Her scanners detected an abnormality. The ship had jumped.
Planck stepped over the bodies littering the corridors of Pegasus. He'd counted fifteen bodies already, all riddled with bullets or burned or torn to bloody shreds by grenades.
He detected motion up ahead and pressed himself against the bulkhead, flattening himself and presenting as little a profile as he could. He tightened the grip on his rifle before stepping out and firing a three round burst straight into the helmet of a Model 005 Centurion. It's head shot back and its own oversized machine pistol fired wildly and still coming forward from its momentum.
He immediately side-stepped, the destroyed Centurion continued moving forward from its momentum and he simultaneously shot a second Centurion in the breast plate. He rushed forward and grabbed the second Centurion which had appeared, spun, and slammed it into the wall. Bringing his fist back behind his head he punched forward into the rear power pack of the Centurion. Quickly withdrawing his fist the powered down Centurion quickly crumbled down onto the blood-stained deck.
He was trying to make his way to the main computer network access room, where he suspected the Centurions were heading. He felt the ship suddenly vibrate with the familiar distortion of an FTL jump. His sensor displays became erratic. System diagnostics confirmed the source and he confirmed that Pegasus had jumped.
The Centurions were loud, their running created distinct metallic clank-clank-clank footsteps down the corridors of Pegasus. They had not detected him and Planck saw only a glimmer of their chrome armor as they turned and made their way down an adjacent corridor towards a different part of the ship. For microseconds he considered following them and destroying them but dismissed the idea. He would have fired, but didn't have a shot. If he followed it would delay him by nearly two minutes and nine seconds from reaching the network access room. From there, the Centurions could gain control of the ship.
Network access was more important.
There were fewer and fewer bodies as he moved deep into the core of the ship. The Mercury class, at nearly seventeen hundred meters long with a crew of only 2,600 could make the ship feel eerily empty at times. Depending on which part of the ship one was in one could pass hundreds of crewmen as they made their way between different work station or one could walk for minutes without seeing or even hearing the sounds of another living creature. Deep in the bowels of the battlestar often the only thing one heard was the slight whir of fans and vents of the life support system, the hum of the artificial gravity generators, or the slight noise made from the vibrations of the colossal engines.
Thousands of corridors and compartments and bays and with the crew of Pegasus reduced to less than 1,900 and it was deathly quiet now, except when the rattle of gunfire would break the silence or a loud grenade explosion would break the calm.
There were few dead Marines and crew in these corridors; both a good and bad sign. Good in that there were far less dead than there technically should be. This part of the ship had significantly more crew. But bad because if they had left their posts to repel the boarding parties on the outer decks and compartments, no one may know the Centurions were down here.
And if jamming and security systems were down CIC would be unable to coordinate Marine fire teams to aid in securing network access.
The network access room was important to the ship, if the networks were connected. Admiral Cain had ordered them to be put back up after the Terminators had successfully increased the security of the system. The network could be disabled from CIC but if the Centurions acted quickly, a lot of damage could be done.
Moving slowly John Planck realized why it was so quiet so close to a compartment which should have been defended. Five Marines lay in on the floor or slumped on bulkheads, bullet holes riddling their bodies. A quick scan indicated none were alive.
Planck grabbed a second rifle. Quickly analyzing its weight he determined the clip possessed twenty-three rounds. The spatial interference was still causing glitches in his scanners except for his optical sensors, but his hearing was still operating at peak efficiency. He heard the metallic footsteps and took cover behind a bend in the corridor. Large storage crates provided additional cover in case he had to fire.
The Centurions came out from the right side of a '+' junction. But they were not Model 005 Centurions. They were… different. They were clearly robotic, but their movements had a much more fluid flow. Their movements were not jerky or sudden like Model 005's or the new Model 007 Cylons.
The new Centurions were armored in black with much more sleek angles and curves, giving their robotic bodies a similar look to a T-900 back on Earth, or an armored space suit. Their armor was arranged to give them a pseudo-muscular appearance. The optical scanner was not designed with the slight "v" shape of the new models. The eye plates looked similar to the infinity symbol, with the sides wider and coming in to a narrow center and the lone red optical scanner moved slowly from one side to the other.
The body itself, more angled, was designed to look like it possessed metallic muscles. The arms ended in armored hands, slightly larger than a human's, but not the exaggerated claws of the new model Cylons. They had no in built weaponry, instead relying on large automatic rifles.
As he attempted further analysis one of the four stopped and turned. Planck ducked his head back, confident the Cylon had not detected him.
The four Centurions moved towards the network access compartments with John following to see what mission these new Centurions were carrying out.
Two of the Marines behind Soto had to be left behind. One had been shot in the leg and was bleeding out, the second to provide medical triage before rejoining the group with Soto.
The female Terminator variant had slowed her pace and was utilizing more conventional cover and move tactics the Marines following her were familiar with. She did not inform them that the FTL jump had temporarily blinded her in-built scanners. The motion and tracking scanners gave her a decisive edge in battle, from close quarters in Pegasus or the tunnels of LA, so without them she had to move more cautiously.
The Terminator did know as they approached engineering more Centurions would be present. She loaded a grenade into the under slung launcher. For a human it would be suicide to use a grenade launcher in a ship. But she would be able to utilize her impeccable aim and fire it into the group of Centurions she was confident was waiting. She could also take the blast and pressure waves without flinching. The armored bodies of the Centurions would absorb the shockwave and limit structural damage to the corridors and bulkheads and deck to a minimum.
She signaled for the three Marines to move as soon as she fired. She stepped into the corridor and the Centurions fired at her. Bullets ricocheting off her coltan hyper allow combat chassis. Instant analysis indicated that 34% of her organic synthetic skin had now been removed by weapons fire. Devoting a mere fraction of her computational capability to the fight she fired the grenade. Her reflexes and processing capabilities were so fast she could see the grenade move in slow motion. She tracked it, keeping herself a target so the Centurions would focus on her, and at the right second had flattened herself against the bulkhead.
Instead of throwing the grenade into the deck she fired at the bulkhead. The explosion was directed sideways then forward and back through the corridor. While only one Centurion of six was destroyed, the force unbalanced the rest. Two were blasted to the floor from the concussive shock wave which allowed her to fire bursts into the standing Centurions, while the Marines came beside her and fired.
One Marine was hit by return fire. The bullets shattered his optical visor and his head violently flicked back, breaking his cervical vertebrate as the back of his skull exploded. Blood and brain matter spewed onto his comrades and blood drained quickly from the holes in his skull, staining the deck a crimson red.
The carnage and death around the Marines didn't distract them. A testament to their training, the Marines kept calm and professional, firing their weapons, burst after burst of bullets, straight into the lines of the Centurions. Their grim determination and combat skills kept them alive as they and Soto dispatched Centurion after Centurion. Luck, skill, or maybe the Gods were watching, but no more of the Marines died in that fire fight.
Within seconds the firefight was over. Six Centurions had been destroyed. Soto analyzed her functions. A large caliber round had struck her right hand which began to twitch. An additional seven percent of the synthetic flesh on her body was destroyed by the Centurion rifle fire.
The TOK 715's internal sensor package reactivated now that the spatial distortions were over from the FTL jump. Again she tried to contact Bishop and Planck to coordinate their actions but there was still no response. 'Mental static' was all she heard with the proximity of the Centurions jamming communications.
Soto concentrated on the engine room, but the shielding of the FTL drive and the machinery made sensor readings all but impossible.
She looked back, her eyes still blue from combat. Looking the Marines in the face she saw their grim and dedicated looks of determination. Still, she could handle the Centurions and having humans to worry about would reduce her combat effectiveness. Humans took chances which put them in danger, forcing her and other machines to defend them.
"You should stay here," she told the Marines, directing the suggestion to Sgt. Jackal. While they had proven themselves well fighting the Centurions, she was unsure if they should follow.
"Come on, Soto," Jackal responded. "We make a good… uh, team," he joked, struggling to find the right word. "Anyway, we're coming in. This is our ship," he emphasized.
"But you should stay here," she recommended a second time. Sgt. Jackal didn't respond. Instead he ejected his now empty ammunition clip and slapped a fresh one in. He took the three remaining clips from the Marine with no head, giving two to the lone Marine still with him and Soto.
Sgt. Jackal and the private formed up behind Soto and the three moved quickly and purposefully towards the hatch leading into engineering. Soto and Jackal peered around the frame, no Centurions were in sight.
Soto moved in, but was hit by Cylon rifle fire. Two Centurions had been waiting behind large storage containers. She returned fire but missed as the two quickly ducked back it. Not wanting to cause extreme damage to any sensitive components she dismissed the idea of grenades. She fired a burst on the edge of the crates, a few bullets ricocheting off and destroying a large computer control console.
The Centurions and crates were positioned in front of one of the hatches to the FTL control computers. Computers in C-I-C were the primary method is plotting and executing a jump, but the engineering computers were required to dissipate the energies correctly and disengage the safeties allowing FTL jumps possible. Most likely if the Cylons were attempting to sabotage the auxiliary computer it was to either prevent Pegasus from jumping (confirming Soto's suspicion that the jump a few minutes ago was due to the Centurions) or attempt to initiate an FTL jump without proper safety procedures, which could lead to the spatial distortions tearing the ship to pieces.
She motioned for the Marines to move up. They did and provided her with covering fire as she moved positions. She was quick and the Marines provided perfect covering fire, forcing the two Model 005 Centurions to remain concealed. The Pegasus Marines stopped firing and one Centurion came out of hiding, its head instantly exploding
Planck moved quickly towards the network access compartment. The automatic hatch had been twisted from the force of impact of the Centurions forcing it open. He leveled the rifle, ready for an ambush.
Moving quickly through the outer bay he entered the second, inner compartment. The Centurions were in the back room, partially obstructed by the computer servers. Hundreds of multi-colored fiber optics wires, power cords, and cooling lines were jutting every which way from the server farms, obstructing Planck's view of the black armored, human-shaped Centurions.
He brought his rifle up, preparing to fire. An explosion rocked the ship to the side, his finger have already begun to squeeze jerked, the bullets went wide as the gun barrel was knocked off center before Planck could compensate. None of the bullets hit.
Immediately the Centurions reacted.
These new Centurions were quick. Their armor was as black as the darkness of space, completely covering their hydraulics and sensitive machine components. Their armored faces appeared to have some strange vocalizer on the front, shaped like an old oxygen mask. Their movements were quick and fluid and their optical sensors stopped their horizontal back and forth and instead centered on Planck.
Planck was able to fire on one before they were on him. They were much faster than the Model 005 and the model he had fought on Kobol. The speed surprised him, allowing the second one behind the first he had shot to jump him, forcing him to the ground.
He kicked quickly with his right leg, sending the Centurion back. He accessed the damaged the kick had done to his enemy. It was minimal. Quickly back on his feet he brought his hand back and punched the third Centurion. It staggered before grabbing his fatigue jacket, throwing him hard into the bulkhead which bowed in with a monstrous dent from the force.
The Terminator launched himself forward, shoving that Centurion back into the fourth. He used the opportunity to grab a computer and swung it into the Centurion he had kicked. The computer fractured into thousands of pieces, shooting and flying everywhere, but little damage was done to the targeted Centurion
That Centurion then grabbed John, who brought his elbow up and smashed down on the Centurion's arm, forcing it to release his jacket. He gave a powerful uppercut then a second, the Centurion still not swayed. His robotic enemy punched John again in the face. Planck shoved the Centurion back into the third and fourth.
He quickly grabbed a rifle lying on the floor but analysis showed the Centurions would be on top of him before he could fire center mass. He fired into the left leg of the Centurion he had shoved. Hitting vital hydraulics and servos the Centurion crashed sideways into a computer console, shattering it, as its leg was thrown out from under it. The other two quickly climbed over him and the lead brought his hand down, demolishing the rifle and bending and splitting the plastic components.
The Terminator redirected his power output from his arms to both legs and Planck kicked into the Centurion. The force put his left foot straight into the chest plate resulting in the Centurion powering down, flaying from power spikes, then shutting down permanently.
He quickly rebalanced the power output through his endoskeleton combat chassis. He brought part of the smashed rifle and swung it like a club into the last remaining fully combat capable Guardian. The force unbalanced the black armored Centurion, sending it crashing into Planck's left shoulder.
He quickly dislodged his foot from the destroyed Centurion foe and on one knee began to pummel the last Centurion. He then went over and quickly destroyed the Centurion's head from the one he'd shot in the leg.
A quick system analysis indicated his endoskeleton combat chassis was operating at 93.4% combat effectiveness. The synthetic flesh on his hands and forearms and face had been completely torn away. His left pant leg has been torn by the sharp metal armor when he'd put his leg through the Centurion, massive tears in his leg's synthetic flesh were also evident.
As he quickly jumped to his feet he saw his last and final enemy inside the compartment. He saw a man inside.
Soto fired again, attempting to hit the last Centurion and determine if the FTL computers had been tampered with. The last Marine with Sgt. Jackal had been shot in the shoulder, and the sergeant had had to move him to cover. He rejoined Soto quickly and laid down additional covering fire.
There was the distinctive pop-pop-pop of Colonial rifles as Jackal quickly took position and fired, allowing Soto to quickly leap and move towards the Centurion.
Timing her move perfectly, Soto jumped, moving to a closer piece of cover, closer to the Centurion she had targeted for termination. She fired one handed as she moved, her powerful robotic arm keeping the bullets in a tight, precise spread on her target.
Soto had been the one planning to take down the Centurion and merely use the Marines as a distraction for the robotic nemesis. However, she successfully distracted the Centurion, allowing Jackal to move around and take it out with three well placed pop-pop-pop rifles bursts from the side.
The two moved closer to the control computer. Soto pried her fingers into the double hatch, forcing the doors open. She could see from the ballistic plastik pane at eye level that the room was cleared before going in.
Soto quickly examined the console for any tampering, Jackal immediately behind her. He came from behind her and stood on her left side. "Hey, good job out there," he said, resting his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and he saw her eyes powering down from the blue glow.
Bullets had torn the flesh off her face, prominently displaying her metal endoskeleton. On seeing the metal, Jackal slowly removed his hand and breathed in. He didn't want to offend or piss off his robotic comrade. He took a step back to survey the room. The Centurions had done something to it, they were guarding it. Unfortunately he was not an engineering technician and didn't know what they had done.
Soto stepped forward when she saw the objects on the computer. It was gray and black, a small circular box with red wires coming out. They had been inserted into half a dozen computer ports. Jutting out of the box was a CPU chip which was impossible for the Cylons to have.
While not an engineering tech, Jackal did have enough common sense to know when something didn't belong or when his gut was telling him something was wrong. "What the frak is that?" Sgt. Jackal asked her.
The bio-Cylon's eyes glowed red.
John's scanner reactivated. "You're not a Cylon," Planck stated. The cool, monotone voice of the Terminator didn't waver as thousands of possibilities and scenarios of what was happening began running through his neural nets.
"Incorrect. But you're not a Colonial," it responded.
Planck cocked his head. "Lies. What do you want?" He questioned.
The two had eased down, standing with hands at their sides, staring each other down.
"Information," the 'Cylon' stated.
Planck continued his ice cold stare. The other continued to do the same.
"You attacked and killed these men. You cannot be allowed to leave," he declared.
The two lunged at each other. They began trading punches and throwing each other into the computer server towers. This was not a bio-Cylon.
One missed punched destroyed an entire block of server. Untold damage was being done to the electronics and control systems of Pegasus as the two machines battled.
Planck was punched in the face with a force not even the black armored Centurions had been able to muster. The Terminator ripped at the enemy's face, tearing away skin. He quickly pushed the enemy off. He used all his strength and power and threw the enemy off. He registered its weight as 480 kilograms. By ripping the skin he was able to brush momentarily against the endoskeleton. The substance was similar to hyperalloy but 18% registered as 'unknown alloy.'
He had his proof this was not a bio-Cylon. It was not a Cylon, he was sure of it.
The enemy machine felt its face and realized the skin was gone. It got up and tucked its chin into its chest and ran towards Planck. It contacted Planck with its right shoulder and the forced brought them crashing back into the outer compartment, over computer consoles and tables and into the corridor. The two began exchanging punch after punch and kick after kick.
Planck was able to grab the Cylon machine at the shoulder and he gave it three right knees to where its power source should have been before the enemy pushed him off.
He stalked forward and picked Planck up by the scruff of his jacket, upper cutting him in the jaw. Planck took the punch, but brought up his elbow in an elbow-upper strike to impact the Cylon, or whatever it was, in the chin, ripping off more flesh.
The enemy intruder grew even more angry. It redirected power to its legs before John Planck could knock its hands off from his torso and lifted him up. Then redirecting power again it threw Planck back into the network access outer compartment.
He quickly got up, but the enemy machine had somehow closed the compartment door. Planck ran forward, punching the door three, four, five times until it was knocked off its hinges. With a strong shove he sent it flying into the corridor.
The Cylon machine was gone. He had an erratic signal from his motion sensors and began to chase the Cylon. Assuming it was enacting self-preservation protocols Planck assumed it was attempting to flee the ship. He began to accelerate his speed, running to the nearest location the Cylon could escape.
As he ran he bent down and grabbed a rifle, an AR-12 from one of the dead Marines strewn about the corridor. He made his way to the outer compartments. Two frames back he heard local airlock activation alarms. He turned the corner and ran for the nearest airlock but was too late. He debated his options, but quickly dismissed the idea of forcing the door open, knowing that could kill dozens or hundreds of personnel if the internal hatches were offline and couldn't seal.
He saw the Cylon machine stare back at him. The red eyes glowing before they formed a streak as the machine was blown out the airlock, tumbling into space. He watched for what seemed like an eternity before the Pegasus made an FTL jump.
Planck fixed his gaze on the airlock porthole, starring off into space. The spatial anomaly resulting from the FTL jump interfered with the Terminator's detection systems. And with all the alarms and noises he could not pick up on the quiet footsteps of the woman behind him.
Kendra Shaw, rifle in hand and aiming at Planck's metal skull had seen the machine in the airlock. She had seen how similar it was to him. How it had to be another machine. She squeezed on the trigger but paused. She turned and quietly made her way to CIC. She had to inform Cain.
If Captain Shaw had stayed she would have recognized something was happening to Planck. It took mere seconds, but when Planck began to turn from the air lock he froze. His torso twisted left, his right foot about to step off from the deck.
His HUD began to fill with static. The color optical displays, diagnostics and sensor screens began to shut down.
Hidden deep within the memory cores and his neural network programs began to activate. The resistance and free machine leadership had developed a method to insure that chip and memory hacking would not identify secret missions. Broad subliminal signaling was needed to access the mission protocols and objectives. The process took three seconds before his HUD reinitialized and the displays and sensor readout returned. The new information flooded Planck's neural networks as 'New Mission Priority' flashed across the HUD.
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A/N:
And you all might want to check out the Black Armored Cylons which are the ones DeSanto sketched for his pitch to re-imagine Galactica. They'll make an appearance later on in the story, but not for a long while. A quick Google image search can find the Centurions, and they are also on io9's archive, too.
