BSG: BUMP IN THE NIGHT
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. This is me playing in the dark. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: I realize at this point that I'm probably whistling in the dark. I wanted to finish this in a timely manner TWO YEARS AGO, but life didn't work out that way. So to the people in the past who enjoyed it, thanks for the reviews and the reads. For the people reading now (if you're there), drop a review. It would make me feel less alone in a very creepy universe. And if you don't, fine. I'm finishing this for me anyway.
A/N: 4/12/16
Yes, I've edited this again. I wanted to put it up because, like the last one, I'm afraid I've lost my audience and because I want to finish. I cleaned up a few places and redid a little of the language to make it flow better, both here and into the next chapter. It shouldn't require a re-read, unless you wan to find out how Starbuck ended up carrying Athena's baby (j/k).
Hmmmm... Sorry, nevermind.
Seriously, I hope you enjoy it.
One other thing: BOSSFIGHT BEGINS NOW!
Cue the big music. - ( watch?v=WtUxDbWcVTc)
Chapter 4
'This feels weird,' Starbuck thought as she tried to snug the new helmet a little better. 'I sure hope Doctor Wilker knows what he's doing.'
Activating the pulse generators was almost a reflexive motion. Their whine was a soothing, familiar song. As soon as he brought up the Viper's basic systems, he started hearing the chatter.
"...Atlantia?" a female voice said.
"She made it through," Zak replied. "President Adar relinquished mission command to Admiral Scutatti as soon as they heard what was coming in. Commander Amri had to fall back because the Council was aboard..."
"And the Solaria?" another voice interrupted.
"Survived the battle, but not the aftermath," another warrior replied. "She was beaten up pretty badly before she got to Caprica. Lost her bridge, secondary energizers, most of the main battery heat sinks and the main pulsar batteries too before it was all over. They ended up salvaging her. I've heard that her name is on the short list for new battlestars."
"Does anyone know wh-"
The lights in the launch tube died along with the radios. Starbuck knew instantly that they'd passed the terminator and were back in the bad place. His hands licked across the consoles, pressing this and flipping that. It only took seconds to get the whine back. He could barely see the distant triangle of green space.
"This is Starbuck, launching now."
Turbos kicked him back into his seat hard. And he shot out of the black tube like a nightflit out of Dis. The freedom he usually felt when he burst from the launch tube was swallowed as a huge smothering shadow dropped on him. Starbuck looked up. He was right under the ravaged hull of Laurentia.
"Holy frak!" Starbuck looked around hurriedly. "All Vipers stay low. I say again all Vipers stay low. We've got an enemy baseship right over our heads."
"Understood."
"Roger."
"Thanks, Starbuck."
Half a dozen blue/white flares lit his flanks as his wingmen cut angle to form up. Far off to his right, at the front of the bay, other flames were burning into action.
"Looks like we're going from CAP to intercept," Starbuck's signature sarcastic grin tugged the right side of his face. "Eyes open for bandits. Let's light this candle."
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Someone had managed to get a decent sized chair up onto the command dais and Commander Adama slumped angrily upon it. Around him men and women were working frantically to get their warship back on line.
"Commander, you were right." Tigh said. "If we'd gone through the center of the void, we would have rammed the Laurentia."
"Sir," Omega broke in, "Lieutenant Zak reports that the wreck is beginning to maneuver. It's coming down on top of us."
"Are the inertial locators reset?" Adama asked.
"Yes, sir." Omega replied even as he verified.
"When will we be able to maneuver?"
"It will take at least five more centons to activate maneuvering systems." He looked back. "Sir, we still have our yard thrusters. There's been no need to use them since..."
Adama cut the man off. "Use them now. Take us straight down. Zero-zero-zero, mark two-seven-zero. Try to keep as much space between us as you can." He looked around the wide chamber. "Athena. Athena."
"Yes, sir?"
"Have we got communications?"
"Emergency transmitters are online now. We can use epsilon channel."
"Open the channel, broadcast at maximum power." The old man forced himself upright. When his daughter gave him a nod, he spoke in his finest command voice.
"This is Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica. We are responding to a request for aid. Are you receiving, Elysium?" A few microns ticked by and he repeated himself. "This is Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica. We are responding to a request for aid. Are you receiving, Elysium?"
"This ** Admiral Agat*on of Wa**tar Ely*ium," the trumpeting bass was kissed here and there with the hiss and pop of the stars. "Welc*me back, Comma*der. The Colonie* hav* missed you." There was a harsh noise and a whitewash of static. "** *** ******* engaged. **r senso** *how you're near Laur**tia. Reduce it to sla*, and we can rid *urselves of some of the*e fighters."
"Understood Elysium. We will rendezvous with you when we're finished here."
"Galactica control, Corpsefly One is active. I have incoming, sensors show roughly one hundred incoming small craft," Sheba reported. "Griffon and Green Squadrons will intercept and aid with CAP."
"Affirmative Major." He nodded to Athena to kill transmission. "Omega, what state are our weapons?"
"Sir, all turrets report manned and ready."
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Blue, Green and Griffon Squadrons charged from beneath the ruined hulk of Laurentia. Instantly the dark sky lit up like a Yule celebration. Violet and orange lightenings flicked out, criss-crossing with inbound lime. Behind the colonial fire sizzled the first Viper launched missiles Starbuck had ever seen. Across the gulf explosions began to bloom.
"They're so thick we can hardly miss," Stringbean announced.
"Frak! Hit, hit, hit," a panicked voice cried out. "I've got a plasma fire! It's eating the fuselage! Punching out!"
A cloying fear filled Starbuck's cockpit. A brief vision of some half burnt corpse clawing through space flashed. A drifting pilot had no chance to get away. He just had to float and wait for something to get him. His ship rattled again with a near miss.
"Button up, you guys," he commanded. "They've got guns too. Watch out for the bandits as they close, they might try to ram."
"That just means they're closer to the sharp end," another pilot retorted.
The ships scissored past each other. Somewhere in the green gloom, someone's voice shouted out and dissolved into static. Starbuck worked the controls, snapping his bird around. Everywhere else other pilots did the same. He looked out just in time to see one of the Adders score a pair of kills with its tailguns.
"They're not staying to dance," Jolly announced. "They're trying to rush Galactica."
The first bolts slipped from the shadows beneath Laurentia.
'Lords, let those guys get it right,' Starbuck thought. He tightened his turn. Athena had told him that Galactica's guns hadn't been run on manual for at least sixty yarens...
A wraith was shattered by converging blasts from the defense guns just as he got under the broken battlestar.
"At least they practice," the young warrior murmured.
"Say again all last, skipper?" Jolly asked.
"Nothing." He fired off a volley, shattering one of the eroded raiders to flaming dust. His Viper shot through the blast and hot shrapnel rattled against his canopy. "Watch it, watch the pass through."
Starbuck looked up and paled. "Attention all ships," he announced. "Pull the fight out from between the battlestars. Laurentia's coming down. Did you copy, Galactica? Laurentia is coming down on top of you."
"Galactica command is aware," returned an annoyingly calm voice.
"Galactica's moving away but too slow," another pilot observed.
"Attention Griffons," Sheba's voice broke in. "Boomer, can you put torpedoes into the voids on Laurentia's port side?"
"Where the support arms used to be?" A wraith exploding shook his heavy bird. "That's affirmative, Corpsefly. We can be in launch position in about two centons."
"Ogre, ogre, ogre," she announced. "I say again, ogre, ogre, ogre. Adders crack that ship."
"Confirm ogre," Captain Boomer returned.
"Roger, I hear you," Zak returned. "You got this, Starbuck?"
Starbuck rolled his fighter into an oblique firing position, but couldn't cut the angle quite right. His wingman lit up his target with a ribbon of lurid hate. The blonde looked out towards his slowly moving home. Staccato streams of light were reaching up and out. He saw one of the ribbons clip touch a fleeting wraith, turning it into a brief bloom of light. The streamers rose sensuously, spattering uselessly against the underside of the descending battlestar. There were a lot fewer enemy fighters now.
"Affirmative. We have the local sky," he replied. "Chew 'em up."
"Will do."
"Okay, Blue Squadron, let's take them to church."
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The voices on the bridge were beginning to sound more strained, more urgent. It was as if everyone could feel the vast, crushing weight descending onto their heads. Adama's fierce eye wandered the scene. He gave a short nod of approval. Yes, they were afraid, but no one was panicking. They were still hard at their jobs. Hopefully, their efforts would culminate with their survival.
"Sir, the last Vipers have cleared the launch bay," Omega said. "Asps are positioning now. Impact with Laurentia in one centon, forty microns."
Another voice spoke out. "Engineering reports main thrust units one, three, five and seven are online. Secondary thrusters coming live within the centon. We can begin maneuvering."
"As soon as possible, I want to angle our bow to two hundred and seventy degrees," Adama said. "I want to keep that hulk between us and anyone else's main batteries as long as possible."
"Sir," a young woman with braided hair called. "We're getting reports from Blue Squadron that we're..." she turned, confusion on her face, "Sir, they say we're being boarded. It looks like people are pushing off of Laurentia's hull and landing on ours."
"They shouldn't be much of an issue," Tigh said. "At battle condition one all bulkheads are sealed and all of our exterior hatches require a six digit code to enter. If they blast, our reaction forces will find and deal with them."
"Sir," Athena stood and looked to the raised platform, "Doctor Salek says that the infected corpses are beginning to move. They're banging around inside the refrigeration unit in the medbay."
"Hm, forgot about those didn't we?" Adama looked down at his daughter. "Athena, go below and take two or three others from one of the nearby DCUs and clear the refrigerators. Be careful..."
"Yes, sir." She left the chamber at a run.
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"Galactica's gaining speed," one of the warriors announced. "She's angling down, away from Laurentia."
"Getting fighting room," Starbuck guessed.
"This is Griffon Leader," the other Boomer broke in, "clear the area around the beast. We're commencing our torpedo run and when they hit, they'll blow big."
"Understood, Griffon Leader," Starbuck confirmed. "You heard the man, let's stay close to Galactica. She's still got bandits on her."
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Athena rushed into the medbay ahead of her men. Her eyes panned left and right quickly, stopping only when she saw Doctor Salek, Cassiopeia and another nurse in the glass walled isolation chamber. Cass pointed to a wall of large steel drawers. There was a faint pounding coming from them.
"Come on," Athena looked back at the damage control men. "Let's get this done and get back to our stations." She strode to the first drawer. "You," she pointed to one of the men, "come here. You pull the drawer open, I'll shoot."
"Are you sure about this, lieutenant?" the man asked in a fear-tight voice.
"Do it. The rest of you watch." She stood a little back and nodded to the DC tech.
The man did as he was told. A moment after he squeezed the handle and drew the drawer out, DCO Deeko Celes sat up like a half controlled marionette. His bloody head lifted and turned, growling for warm meat. Then his head exploded, spattering the face of the steel drawer ahead. The body collapsed and the tech slammed the drawer closed again.
"That's how it works," Athena holstered her blaster and turned. "That fast. Don't think about it, just do it. Hit them in the head. Don't miss."
She looked back to the pair in the isolation room. Doctor Salek nodded sagely while Cassiopeia gave her an unhappy thumbs up.
"You two start down there," Athena pointed to the other end of the cabinet. "Check every drawer. Let's get this done and go back to work." She looked back at the man helping her. He hacked a quick nod. "Let's do this..."
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"Sir, Laurentia is pitching up, spinning faster than we can currently pull away." Omega announced. "At present rate, her aft section will impact ours in thirty microns."
"Abandon our cover," Tigh suggested.
Adama nodded. "Engines ahead, maximum thrust. Order all hands to prepare for impact."
The message echoed out on the tannoy as a heavy vibration began in the decksole. The old man on the bridge quirked a faint smile. He hadn't noticed that particular sensation in a long, long time. He'd felt it for so long that he only noticed when it had stopped and returned. It was power, power to his engines, power to his guns. Power to save his people.
"Beginning forward motion, sir," Omega checked his boards "It's offsetting time to impact. If we maintain this rate, we'll still be hit, but it will be in forty-five microns."
"Alter our course fort-five degrees by zero-zero-zero," Adama instructed. "Instruct damage control units that we'll be taking an impact on our extreme port rear. Evacuate personnel from that section and prepare to close off all power and fuel lines feeding thrust units five, six, seven and eight."
The old man patiently waited for his orders to be carried out. He let his eyes travel across the bridge with a cool aloofness that had served him well over the years. It had been his experience that no one was particularly eager to be the first one to panic when the Commander was watching.
"Twenty-five microns," Omega said.
"When there are ten microns left, give a countdown over the ship's speakers. Brace at five," Adama commanded.
"Yes, sir."
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"Target is the opening where the aft support arm used to be. I want two to torpedoes there, impact fused, fired by Griffon One and Three," Captain Boomer could hear the faint beeps of his rear-seater's console as he began setting up the shot. "Griffons Five and Seven will then put two just aft of the forward section, at the angle of the hull. I want those torps set for fifty metrons penetration. Copy all?"
Various versions of 'affirmative' sounded in his helmet. Then Zak spoke. "I like the way you think Boomer, The first two might even cut her in half..."
"Heads up," Starbuck broke in. "Laurentia's pitching up pretty fast." The sound of a near miss coughed through his mic. When he spoke again his voice sounded almost fearful. "Oh frak, her engine section's going to clip Galactica. If you can pop her, do it now. I say again, do it now."
"Affirmative, Blue One," Boomer returned. "Target is acquired. Five microns to release... Three, two, one. Release." The heavy framed adder shook as their single torpedo left the rails. He glanced over in time to see another missile trailing drivelight towards the target. "Torp away, flying straight, true and normal." He pulled back on his stick in time to see one of the Green Squadron pilots destroy an intercepting wraith.
Captain Boomer didn't see the flash of detonation; he was too busy slewing his beast around. Without the heavy torpedo his Adder was a different animal altogether. A quarter of her mass had just been shed and now, while she would never be as agile as a Viper, his bird had changed from an ungainly, loggy thing into a predator.
"Yeehaa," someone shouted. "Creel just got spanked like a bad daggit."
"Could you give me a better report please," the captain fought to suppress a grin.
"Two high order explosions amidships," another voice said. "Substantial structural damage. Hull is peeled back to her centerline on the port side. Damage goes as far forward as the first support arm and back to the bell of the engine pod." The woman grunted under some sort of momentary strain. "I didn't see the second pair go."
"She's still pitching," someone called out.
"Second pair is on target. I saw one explosion..."
Boomer was just lining up his guns on a fleeting wraith when the good news dawned. His thumb rose and was about to stab down on the red button when the enemy ship in his sights tumbled apart.
"I think we got him," Boomer announced. "I think Creel's done."
Howls all but shattered his earphones as the others reacted. Several voices tried talking over each other; all saying the same thing, Creel's wraiths were falling apart.
A/N: Once again, yep, still working on the last two chapters. I've rewritten the next one five times to make it work. I'm on the sixth now. I swear I'm about to take a hammer to it.