Chapter 26: Looks like you broke your ship, Apollo
Lee Adama had been startled to see Cylon fighters exploding with no visible reason, but when the first basestar exploded it nearly got him killed. He was still trying to shake the spots out of his eyes when a Cylon fighter nearly destroyed his engines.
Kara managed a textbook manoeuvre to turn and destroy his attacker, but that didn't help him as he began to spin wildly.
"Looks like you broke your ship, Apollo," She called out.
"I've had worse," he repeated the old joke. "But thanks."
"Where the hell did they come from?" Someone asked. An entire wing – not a squadron, no, far more than that – of Federation interceptors whipped into sight, destroying the Cylons as they went. As Adama watched, a barrage of missiles slammed straight into one of the huge interceptors, only to disappear in a burst of light more than a hundred metres out from the hull. The interceptor was undamaged.
Adama managed to get some control back, but his ship wouldn't stop going forwards towards the Cylons.
"Galactica to all Vipers, break off and come on home. Repeat, break off and come on home."
"There's still Cylons out here," he called.
"That's alright, lads," a new voice drawled in a strange accent. "We'll clean them up. Colonel Boru Tamahara at your service, people. Oh, and Dodson, six of those stubbies are damaged. Scoop them up and get them out of here, will you please?"
"Sure thing, sir," The disappointed Dodson replied over the squadron frequency. "Where would you like us to drop you off?" What Lee Adama could only describe as a tiny thin wire with a glob of glue on the end attached itself to his fighter as the interceptor slowed to hang overhead, and he found himself being towed along whether he wanted to or not.
"Don't move or turn too suddenly," Adama said as his Viper tried to go forward following the laws of physics and was held back by this thread.
"Why not?"
"You're nearly pulling my fighter to pieces as it is, there's too much strain on the hull plating."
"Oh, yes. Good thinking. Sorry, we build ours a bit sturdier than all that. Right. This better?"
"Yes. Vipers, head count." They ran through the squadron, getting reports. Adama found they were right – six Vipers damaged or disabled, including him. By that time, all six of them were being towed along like dogs on leashes.
"I've still got spots in front of my eyes," Tiana complained.
"Can you drop us off by the Galactica?" Lee asked.
"Hang on, Captain – wait, wait…" There was a moment of silence. "Commodore says we're jumping out of here as soon as possible. Might as well sling you guys onto our ship as yours."
"Some of the ships in the fleet aren't ready to jump."
"We'll improvise. If they're in hull contact with our ships, we can sort of tow them. Won't be pleasant for anyone involved, but it'll get them out of here. Now, let's get us out of here. I don't care to take chances on those Cylons having completely buggered off."
Tamahara's voice broke in again. "Listen up – Vipers, I think it is, and interceptors both. We're jumping to Gurconda Prime the moment we get the chance, so everybody return to your ships. Your six damaged fighters and the two pilots who safely ejected will be making the trip on the Jutland, but your entire fleet's going to be docked at the Orbit Ring Battlestations anyway, so don't worry."
"Apollo to Galactica," Lee called. "Did you get that?"
"I did," Reece said. "I'll explain it to everyone else who doesn't get it. See you at Gurconda."
"Who's this?" Tamahara asked.
"Captain Tamsin Reece."
"What, the old Iron-Bum Reece from the Academy? I'd have thought you'd have kicked it long ago! You still flying interceptors or did you chicken out and give up the game?"
"Yes, it's me, I'm still qualified but I don't fly, and I most definitely remember you, Boru Tamahara. The incident with the squids was particularly memorable even by Academy standards."
"Squids?" Someone said. "I've got to hear this one."
"Reminisce later, get back to your ships now," she said firmly. "We're heading out in about six minutes."