Disclaimer: I do not own Battlestar Galactica, nor do I own any part of the Starfire universe, on which some of the Terran technology is based.
AN: All dates in this story are in Terran Standard Reckoning (TSR). This takes place approximately 10 years after the Cylon attacks on the twelve colonies, President Rosalin has died of her cancer, and the President in this story is an OC. I would also like to point out that updates (for anyone who cares) will not usually be this quick, but at the moment I have nothing else that I have to do.
In the eye of the storm.
Chapter one
M324-02
1650hrs
24 June 2467 TSR
The fleet had tracked the colonials to this system, and had finally been in a position to bring significant force to bear, for the whole of the follow up force dispatched from the Core had been within jump range, unlike previous contacts, when only light recon forces had been available.
Thirty basestars crept through the outer reaches of this previously unknown brown dwarf system, heading towards the electro-neutrino spoor that betrayed the location of their foe. And the colonials knew nothing of their presence. The last remnants of the colonies would soon be destroyed, and this battle would provide a useful arena to test the latest systems. The new missiles and beam weapons would make the fight significantly easier if they worked as projected.
Silesia System
1655hrs
24 June 2467 TSR
Rear Admiral Louise Archer sat on the bridge of the Dane class survey cruiser Columbus studying the small group of green dots displayed in her repeaters. There were twelve in all- four of them Dane survey cruisers, lightly armed, but carrying the most sophisticated instrumentation yet devised by the RTN. Two were Shikoku class light carriers, and four Excalibur A class heavy cruisers. The remaining two were Borzoi class command ships.
Louise scowled at those extra icons. It irked her that the officer in charge of those warships was her second in command. True, commodore Arthur Harrison was a competent tactician. More than competent, if she were to be truthful. However, this was a survey mission, not a strike against an Ascellian PDC, and it required specialists, not gung-ho warriors, who solved every problem with a salvo of thermonuclear missiles. She would much rather one of the captains of the other survey cruisers take up the role of 2IC, but Harrison's seniority had made that impossible.
'And if they did run into trouble' a corner of her mind thought, 'then we'll have a Battlefleet officer to get us out of it'. That thought was quickly silenced. There was a greater chance of getting killed in a groundcar accident dirtside than there was of encountering hostile aliens on a first transit.
"So, is the orchestra ready to perform?" she asked the young lieutenant seated at the comm officer's station.
"If the conductor is, sir." He replied with a grin. "All ships report ready for transit, Admiral."
"Excellent. Captain Masters, you will move us to our jump coordinates. Lieutenant Alba, inform the rest of the flotilla that we are initiating jump procedures, and tell them to stand by for drone update."
Lieutenant Alba, the young comm officer acknowledged her command and began punching instructions into his console, as Robert Masters, her Flag captain (not that she really had flag staff on a survey flotilla this small), ordered the necessary maneuvers.
"Helm, move us into position, bearing three-three-two by one-five-eight, one quarter drive."
"Three-three-two by one-five-eight, quarter drive aye." Repeated the dark haired yeoman, Gonzales, Archer believed his name was. On her plot, Columbus drew ahead of the rest of the flotilla, creeping towards the amber line on her display that represented Silesia's Matsushimi horizon. A counter had appeared in the top right corner of the display, counting down the seconds until Columbus reached the invisible line in space past which the Matsushimi drive could propel her across the gulf between stars. Evidently, Captain Masters had been observing his own repeater, for as the counter hit 90, he began issuing a series of rapid orders.
"Chief Johanson, prepare the ship for Matsushimi jump."
"Aye sir." Replied the blonde haired woman seated directly in front of the command station. The varied bridge crew slammed their shock frames closed as the Chief of the Boat thumbed her console, beginning a shipwide broadcast. "Now hear this, now here this. Mitsushimi jump in ninety seconds. Secure the ship at jump stations, repeat, secure the ship at jump stations. That is all."
As she was giving her command, Masters continued.
"Lieutenant Alba, activate the Requiem drone, and set it for continuous download and auto launch. Yeoman Gonzales, charge Matsushimi Drive on my mark." The counter continued to tick down towards zero. When it reached twenty, Masters gave the command "Mark"
The background, almost subliminal hum created by the inertia-less drive rose to a high pitched squeal as power bled into the giant capacitors in the heart of the Columbus creating a slight, almost unnoticeable vibration in the decks and bulkheads of the ship. Charging the capacitors needed for the Mitsushimi Drive to function before the Matsushimi limit of a star increased the wear on them enormously, but SOP insisted that they be fully charged before said limit was reached. The closer to any star's Matsushimi limit a jump was initiated, the smoother that jump would be. The reason for this was not very well understood, but it was agreed that it was due somehow to the gravitational force exerted by the star. Merchant ships usually waited until they were past the limit to charge their capacitors, as the reduced wear and tear meant lower maintenance costs for the operators. Navy crews, on the other hand, had to put up with that god awful howl for twenty seconds before any jump.
"All stations report secure for jump, sir." Declared Chief Johansen, as the time ticked down to five, setting off a beeping alarm on her console. In response, she patched into the shipwide address system, announcing "All hands, prepare for jump in four, three, two one..."
There was a moment in which it felt like the whole of the ship twitched, where gravity realigned itself, causing bulkheads to become floors and floors to become bulkheads leaving the inner ear unable to cope with the changes, where, for the briefest of instants, the Columbus ceased to exist, before it plunged back into reality in a place sixteen light years away. Archer resisted the temptation to shake her head to clear it of the lingering disorientation of transit as the nausea created by her protesting inner ear quickly receded. She could see one or two of the less experienced crew on the bridge doing so, but most of the older spacers were as blasé about it a she. Stupid as the reaction was- anyone who said the he didn't suffer from jump stress was someone she wouldn't ever loan money to- the more experienced crew saw it as necessary that they not display the discomfort that Matsushimi jumps put them through.
"Primary's a Type five sir."
"No artificial emissions detected."
"All departments report successful jump."
"Three planets detected..."
The reports were standard after a successful first transit to a system, and mostly of no importance to Archer. Only indications of intelligent life in the system would affect SOP, and as there were no such indications, there was only one path to proceed along.
"Lieutenant Alba, update the alpha drone and send it back to Silesia. Call the rest of the flotilla forward under condition baker. Helm, put us in a standard spiral, tactical, you will set condition baker."
Archer largely ignored the acknowledgments, and went back to contemplating her display. A type five was a brown dwarf, which meant that habitable planets were unlikely, but that didn't mean that the system was unimportant. The Kronos system, for instance, was a major supplier of the deuterium used in fleet fusion reactors, containing as it did a gas giant that was so massive it was almost a star in it's own right, but not a single habitable planet. The lack of artificial emissions also meant that she could call forward the rest of the flotilla. Only the survey cruisers had the ability to cloak, which meant that the battlefleet escorts would be visible to any watching sensors, but condition baker mandated strict EMCON, as well as cloak for those ships that could do so. That made them marginally less obvious, and besides, the chances of some hostile force waiting out there in cloak, being in a position to detect the escorts, and also being strong enough to take them on, was less than remote in a system that was obviously uncolonized and seemed to be of little importance.
A drone spat from the Columbus, streaking back towards the Matsushimi limit that she was already several thousand kilometers away from, and vanished in a flicker of visible and non visible radiation.
Silesia System
1710hrs
24 June 2467 TSR
"Drone transit detected, sir."
Commodore Arthur Harrison looked over at the sensor yeoman who made the report.
"Is it from Admiral Archer?"
"Yes sir. Downloading content... sir, it's an order to move the flotilla forward under condition baker. Authenticated victor-charlie-charlie-alpha-one."
"Very well. Howard." He said, turning to his comm operator. "Flotilla orders: set condition baker, come to heading three-three-two by one-five-eight, one quarter drive. Prepare to make transit."
"Aye sir. Message sent: condition baker, heading three-three-two by one-five-eight, one quarter drive. Prepare for transit." Harrison listened carefully to the lieutenant's repeat of his message, checking that there were no mistakes, which was the whole point of a ritual that was seen by many civilians to be useless military formality. Satisfied that the correct orders had been sent, he lent back in his command chair and watched the icons on his plot speed towards their jump coordinates.
M324-02
1725hrs
24 June 2467 TSR
Cybernetic intelligences 'blinked' in surprise as a cluster of emissions signatures appeared where they had no right to be. They were unfamiliar, not listed in any database, and showed no inclination to move. From the lack of transmissions detected, the unknown intruders were practicing strict EMCON, but it was not enough to prevent them from detection. They would be in range of the site where the final conflict with the colonials would take place, and could decide to get involved. That could pose a problem. Their abilities were unknown, but by the strength of their sensor footprints, they had immense power output. That suggested highly advanced technology. They would have to be persuaded not to involve themselves, but if the worst came to the worst, there were only eight of them. The thirty basestars should be able to handle that easily, and if not, another ninety six were only three hours behind this fleet. The colonial remnant would not escape this time, whether the aliens intervened or not.