Majors Nix and Spencer had called a meeting of the rest of the fleets CAG's. They were to discuss the current staffing issues of each ship in the fleet. One problem was that Major Nix was running four squadrons alone on HYPERION and Major Lisa "Angel" Jackson was running two on TRINITY as was Major Todd "Woody" Clark on JUNO. Major Paul "Sky" Bourne didn't have that issue on DAEDALUS. One thing Admiral Tillman didn't want to do was to disband the Silverhawk squadron due to it history. The group came up with the idea of splitting the larger squadrons into 20 man teams and they would be color-coded. Omega squadron would have Red and Blue team, Silverhawk would consist of Green and Yellow and Blackjack would have Grey and White team. Deputy CAG's will command each team and answer to the CAGS.
Another issue was that Major Spencer was recently cleared to return to flight duty and TERTIUS didn't have a squadron of its own. They decided that ROGUE Squadron, which had finished their training, would be reassigned to TERTIUS.
PICONThey all knew that smell. It was the scent of death. The odor was barely present but it was there. There was no power. The only illumination came from their helmets.
"Everyone spread out. Two man groups lets see what we can find! Sit-rep in twenty minutes!" Braylen ordered.
Sprang had found an emergency fire escape chart on wall next to the elevator. She volunteered to find the mechanical room and see if the could get some power on.
A few minutes into the search Braylen had found the director's office. He rummaged through it until he found a key to the brief case next to the desk. Sprang and Mennen had conducted the search of the rest of the level and found nothing of significance just offices.
"It looks like it was only manned by a skeleton staff." Mennen said.
"According to a memo I found everyone was ordered to the regular assignments. Admiral Nagala was going to conduct surprise inspections the week of the attack. This site was ordered locked down." Tillman told the others until he was interrupted by the wireless.
"Mustang this is Glider, Do you copy?" the voice said.
"Glider this is Mustang. Sit-rep!" Braylen asked.
"We found a something. I think you should get down to level three. ASAP!"
It took Braylen and the others a few minutes to find Lieutenant Powers and Halsey. They were just as surprised at what they found. It was a heavy cargo transport sitting on an underground runway. Braylen saw Glider exit the transport and asked for a sit-rep.
"Sir, the cargo hold is loaded with six ships and armaments. I think the ships are prototypes. We found four modified raptors and two stealth-star class vessels. " Glider reported.
"Where's Halsey?" Braylen inquired.
"He went down to see where the runway exits." Glider answered as he point down the runway.
Tillman motioned to Sprang and she headed to find Halsey. He then asked if the ship could still fly.
"She's out of fuel and the batteries are drained. According to the maintenance logs she was being prepped for takeoff right around the second wave of attacks. The runway door must of seal before they could launch. If we could get them recharged I think her engines would turn over. I have a spare battery and a small emergency generator on the raptor! One hour each way. It will take six to eight hours to charge the rest of the batteries." Glider announced.
"Sir, The runway exits under a waterfall." Spang reported as she returned with Halsey.
"Go! Be back in two hours." Braylen began. "Lt. Mennen and Pvt. Halsey, I want the rest of this place checked out. There could be other things as useful here."
Both men acknowledged the order and continued the search.
"Let's inspect those ship in the hold." Braylen ordered as they headed for the ship.
CAPRICAN GRILL - AULUSCmdr John Roberts was eating dinner with his family. The Caprican Grill had been closed since the escape but reopened with a limited menu. They were there to celebrate Amy's mother and his late wife's birthday. It was something of a tradition that they have done every year since her death. This year was especially tough with Michael not with them.
"Grandpa, tell me another story!" asked his six-year-old granddaughter Beth.
"Well, one time your Uncle Michael had played a joke on your grandmother, he opened a box of pepper and spread it out on the table, then he placed a fan behind it and when your grandma entered the room, he turned it on." John relayed with a chuckle.
"She was sneezing for almost one hour." Amy added.
"Do you miss them?" the little girl asked innocently.
"Everyday." Roberts replied.
Wanting to change the subject John heard through the grapevine that Amy was looking for some type of work in the fleet and questioned her about it know that if she found something she would more than likely move off the ship.
"Well, Beth will be old enough to start school and I understand they need more teachers with all the children that AULUS brought." She began. "Besides, I'm bored."
"I'm sure we can find something on TRINITY." Roberts replied.
"Dad, I need this. I want to start rebuilding my life." She told her father.
John understood all too well what his daughter was talking about.
CAP (Combat Air Patrol) – NAYLOR STATIONCol. Walter Hayes was accompanying Owynns and Sanders on their patrol route in order to meet the minimum requirements to regain flight status under military guidelines. They were patrolling the asteroid field on the post side of the station.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking? How long has it been since you flew?" Lt. Neal "Candles" Owynns asked.
"Almost two years." Hayes began as he banked his viper. "Ever since becoming second in command its been getting harder and harder. I miss being out here like this."
"My brother used to tell me the same thing." Ltjg Thomas "Blister" Sanders added.
"Wasn't he on the old PEGASUS?" asked Hayes.
"Yes, sir. Cmdr Cain recruited him off the SOLARIA." Sanders told them.
"Alright were nearing the edge of the patrol. Time to turn around." Owynns informed the others.
DAY ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN - PICONBraylen had spent the last few hours going over the spec sheets of the modified stealth vessels. Mennen and Halsey had found the infirmary and found the bodies of six others that died from radiation poisoning.
"Colonel, the transport checklist is complete. She's powered up and ready for flight." Lt. Powers informed Braylen who was looking over the test a flight report on the modified stealth-star.
"Mennen, Halsey, Sprang are on their way back to the raptor with what they can carry. We launch in one hour.
"Good idea about taking the food. Lieutenant." Braylen told him, as it was Gliders' idea to also load the transport with the contents of the facilities' substantial food supply.
"Thank you. I just can't believe that all that meat was still frozen. It was ingenious to use a hydro generator as a backup system." Powers began. "Almost as ingenious to coat the stealth-stars and these raptors with a liquid carbon composite. It'll make these practically invisible to dradis."
"It looks like these raptors were constructed for covert missions as well. Weapon systems, larger passenger, greater fuel capacity, and a streamline dradis package." Braylen asserted.
"Its only about six feet longer than a normal raptor." Powers added.
"Are the charges set?" asked Braylen.
"Yes, sir!" confirmed Glider. "The first one will take out the runway's blast door and one minute later the second will collapse the entire station."
When it was time, the first charge shattered the blast door. The transport exits the tunnel and ascended as quickly as possible. Raptor 594 piloted by Lt. Hanson swiftly joined the lead ship. A moment later a massive explosion collapsed the ground below.
"Two cylon raiders incoming from the west!" Hanson reported over the wireless.
"Time!" inquired Braylen
"Less than a minute." He replied.
"Emergency FTL jump now!" ordered Braylen.
In an instant both ships disappeared from the sky.
ADELPHIA –BATWAH DEBRIS FIELD"Colonel Walsh, dradis has picked up two contacts on the other end of the debris field." Petty Officer Lee Stoddard reported.
"Power down all systems! Rig for silent running!" Walsh ordered as she darted for the dradis console.
In an instant the Guardian class cruiser powered down all of her systems with the exception of dradis. Walsh and Ashley stood over the dradis console and watching the two ship move closer.
"Ships coming in to range! Receiving Colonial recognition codes! One is raptor 594 the other is a Traveler class freighter transmitting Colonel Tillman's personal codes." Stoddard told her superiors
Walsh did not like surprises. She was ready to read Braylen the riot act until he requested to speak with her on a secure line. After speaking with Braylen she understood his reasoning considering its special cargo. Once Kirby returned from his mission ADELPHIA headed back to the station