Chapter Two: On Borrowed Time
Ragnar Anchorage:
"Jump is complete," Lieutenant Colonel Kelvin Chandler announced.
"Helm, take us in closer," Commander Caden Charka said as he looked up at the DRADIS screen above the Command and Control Station.
"I'm curious as to what we're going to find," Commander Audra Ortiz, the former CO of the Ark Royal, said.
"As am I, Ortiz. But first, let's see what the Raptor finds before we make our way there," Charka said.
"Commander, I have received word that Lieutenant Wyatt and Ensign Perez are ready to depart," Lieutenant Dwight Woodward announced.
Lieutenant Ashlee 'Blondie' Wyatt and Ensign Catherine 'Party Girl' Perez were from the heavy cruiser Hadrian and had been selected to accompany the Ark Royal for this mission.
Hangar Deck:
"Specialist Simmons, is our Raptor still in good shape?" Lieutenant Wyatt asked.
"Yes, Lieutenant, the diagnostic showed no problems. It's ready to fly whenever you are," Aviation Specialist Kelli Simmons said as she moved her equipment away from the Raptor.
"Great work, Specialist," Ensign Perez said.
"Thank you," Simmons said and walked away.
The problem the hangar crew had was not that there was a shortage of an air wing. The problem was that there were no pilots certified to fly combat operations, partly because the Ark Royal's air wing of Vipers and Raptors had flown off after the decommissioning ceremony.
"Alright, Cat, ready to see what's over there at Ragnar?" Wyatt asked as she boarded the Raptor and got in the pilot's seat.
"You know it. Ash," Perez said as she got in and took her seat at the ECO station.
Olesia System:
Heavy Cruiser Illumini:
"Commander, I am picking up two groups. One is civilian and other is…Cylon," Lieutenant Allison Knox announced.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Colonel Boone, I would like to have a word with you," Commander Demarcus Huffman said as he moved to a part of the CIC where he and his XO could talk.
"What's on your mind, Commander?" Colonel Virgil Boone asked.
Huffman looked back to the DRADIS, "There's about two hours until that Cylon force should be in range of that group of civilians. I think I can get in close enough to let them jump away with the Hadrian and our ships."
"What about our ship?"
"I'm not great at being noble and all, but we'll provide a diversion and go down swinging."
"With all due respect, Commander, we shouldn't consign every person on this ship to certain death."
Huffman nodded, "I agree with you. That is why we will offload most of the crew and all available supplies over to the Hadrian. When you meet up with the Ark Royal you and the crew can transfer over there to bulk up there crew."
"I get the impression there's no changing your mind," Boone said.
"You are correct, Colonel; now get to work on carrying out my orders. The more time we debate this, the more likely the Cylons may get to those ships before we can."
"I'll make it happen," Boone said and immediately started contacting Chief Ortega to get the deck gang up and moving.
"Ms. Harrington, I want you to get me in touch with Commander Lott right away," Huffman said to Lieutenant Elizabeth Harrington, the on-duty Communications Officer.
"Aye sir, contacting the Hadrian now," she said.
Commander Colton Lott was the CO of the Hadrian, the Illumini's sister ship, and a younger officer than he was.
He had graduated from Abry Military Academy the year after the Cylon War ended and he was a few years away from retirement.
The memories of growing up during the war had stayed with him and a part of him wanted to go out this way instead of waiting for the toasters to hunt him and his ship down and do it.
One hour and Thirty-Nine Minutes Later:
"Commander, the last of the crew and supplies has been transferred over to the Hadrian," Petty Officer Kevin Romero said.
"Excellent," Huffman said before looking up at the DRADIS screen.
The Cylons were closer now to the civilians.
Ortega's deck gang had transferred the supplies to the Hadrian faster than he had expected and the Raptor pilots had worked hard with ferrying the crew over to the cruiser. Now there was just a small group of volunteers on the cruiser.
"Helm, take us in close to the civilian ships," he ordered and immediately the petty officer at the helm complied with the order and began maneuvering the Illumini closer to the ships.
"P.O. Ross, transmit the message and coordinates to the Mjolnir Anchorage."
"Sending the message and coordinates now," Petty Officer Daphne Ross said.
"Commander, the Cylon baseship is closing in on the civilian ships," Ensign Marcus Berg said from Tactical.
"Sir, the ships are almost ready to jump. They need more time to spool up their FTL drives," Ross reported and waited for the reply to send to the ships.
"Tell them that we'll buy them whatever time they need," Huffman said before turning his attention to Berg, "Mr. Berg, target that baseship with our main and secondary guns."
"Firing guns now," Berg said and within seconds, the sound of the main guns firing reverberated throughout the ship.
"Helm, get us between the Cylons and those ships."
"Getting us into position," Romero responded.
The CIC shook as missiles from the baseship found their marks on the hull.
The Edenton class heavy cruiser shuddered but persisted in firing its main and secondary weapons at the baseship.
"Most of the ships are jumping away and the baseship is launching Raiders," Berg reported.
"Let's get our flak guns firing," Huffman ordered.
The ship began to shake violently as the Raiders launched their missiles.
Combined with the baseship's arsenal it was starting to wear the ship down.
"Sir, the last ship has jumped away," Berg announced.
Huffman was going to say something but a large explosion near the CIC threw everyone to the deck.
He lay there wanting to get up but found that his legs were no longer working as they should.
There was no going back for him and the Illumini.
He lay there and made peace with the gods knowing that soon he would be in the afterlife with his family.
He was reciting a prayer when an explosion caused a fireball to rip through the CIC, killing everyone in it.
Moments later the back of the Illumini was broken and the ship destroyed by the Cylons.
Its death had not been for naught, as it had allowed the other ships to escape to safety.
Ragnar Anchorage:
"All right, Party Girl, you know what to do," Wyatt said as their Raptor came within range of Ragnar.
"Working my magic now, Blondie," Perez said as she started scanning the area with her DRADIS to see what was out there.
"Ark Royal can you hear me?" Wyatt said through the wireless receiver in her helmet.
"This is Actual. Have you picked anything up on your DRADIS?"
"We're scanning now," she said.
"Let us know what you find," Charka said and he waited as patiently as he could for the results.
This time Perez joined the conversation, "Commander, we have three Cylon baseships guarding the entrance to the anchorage."
"Come back to us. Good work out there."
CIC:
"What are you thinking?" Ortiz asked.
"We should get out of here; we're not in a position to take on three baseships. There's no telling if there's any more out there," Charka said.
"We still have our heavy weaponry; we might be able to damage a couple of them."
"What is the point of risking this ship when it's nowhere close to being able to fight?"
"I'd rather give the Cylons a bloody nose instead of running away," Ortiz said.
"That's the advantage of this situation; you don't have to make that kind of decision. When we get the pilots ready to fight then we can do something against the Cylons. Right now though it's best that we lay low and pray the toasters don't come across us."
As much as she wanted to argue the point but she knew it was going to be pointless. She had, in fact, been relieved of command; the Ark was no longer her ship, "Very well then, Commander."
Charka decided not to give the response that jumped to his mind.
The only problem was that Ortiz made the term 'Commander' sound as though it was a substitute for a less-than-flattering term.
Berthing Compartment Three-Eight-Six:
Cadets Julius Raven, Johan Monssen, Charles Bigelow, and Ansgar Meyer were sitting at the table in their berthing quarters playing a game of Triad with a deck of cards that had been left behind by a member of the Ark Royal's last air wing.
"I'm still wrapping my head around everything that's happened," Meyer said as he dealt out another hand.
"We're on the Amari thinking it's going to be a boring training cruise, and then the Cylons have to come in and make things interesting," Raven said.
"For what it's worth, at least we got ourselves an upgrade," Bigelow said.
"Going from an Orianos to an Illustrious is one hell of an upgrade, it's like we got moved from coach to first class," Meyer commented as he looked over his cards.
Monssen added, "After all that time on the Amari it takes some adjustments to being on a frontline battlestar."
"It was only until we finished our training; we can't all be like Jennings and have our father get us a posting on the Victorious," Raven said.
The comment drew a round of laughter from the four cadets.
Senior Cadet Jessica Jennings, daughter of Rear Admiral John Jennings, was the valedictorian of the senior class at the Colonial Fleet Academy.
Her father had secured for her a temporary posting on the Victorious that would become permanent once the battlestar came back from its deployment.
There was also a rumor she was in a relationship with a Major in the Ministry of Intelligence but no one could ever prove it. If it were true it would help her career.
"You can't say Jess didn't earn it," Bigelow said.
He was a Picon native like Jennings and the two had become friends during their four years at the Academy.
"I wonder how the cadets from Abry and Aquaria are doing," Meyer said.
"I don't know, I suppose we'll find out whenever we begin our flight qualifications," Monssen said.
"Oh yeah, I think we're going to be put on the fast track for becoming pilots. There is a war going on right now," Raven said, which managed to cause a more somber mood to come over the room.
"Yeah, we still don't know how many those frakking toasters killed," Bigelow said in disgust as he threw his cards down.
"What the hell Bigs," Raven exclaimed.
"Sorry, Rave, I lost my desire to play Triad. I'm going to get some rack time; I think tomorrow we're going to need it," Bigelow said as he left the table to go to the showers.
"Looks like the game's over. I'm going to call it a night," Meyer said as he went to lie down in his rack.
"Well Mon it's down to me and you," Raven said as he looked at the hand he was holding.
"We'll finish this game another time, it's hard to play a game like this when you're reminded that the Cylons wiped out everyone you knew," Monssen said as he left the table.
"In that case, I will have to go to the Mess and get some food before I call it a night," Raven said as he tossed his cards on the table.
He had hoped that a friendly Triad game would be enough to keep his mind away from what had happened and how close he came to dying.
Right now, it looked as if that would not happen any time soon.
Seventeen Minutes Later, Junior Officer's Mess:
The closest mess hall to his berthing compartment was the Junior Officer's Mess; it seemed the rules were somewhat relaxed these days.
The cadets were practically junior officers by this point.
Raven got his food and sat down at a table that was unoccupied.
He was hoping that he could be left alone with his thoughts and his food.
There were other people sitting down, some of whom he figured were probably fellow cadets.
"You're one of the Fleet Academy cadets aren't you?" a man asked as he strode over from his table and took a seat across from Raven.
"Who are you?" he asked the stranger who had intruded upon his table.
"Trent Donovan, I'm with the Aquaria cadets seated over there," Donovan said as he motioned with his thumb towards a table where a group of five cadets were seated.
"You're all Vols?" Raven asked. The Aquaria Military Academy Volunteers had a fierce rivalry with the Fleet Academy Midshipmen and the Abry Military Academy Black Knights.
"Damn right we're Vols," Donovan said before he motioned for one of them to come over to the table, "Let me introduce you to my classmate. Allow me to introduce you to Joshua Tanner."
"Glad to meet you, now I would like to enjoy my food in peace," Raven said hoping it would get the two Aquaria cadets to go back to their table.
"Hey, Raven, who are your friends?" Academy cadet Antwan Ward asked. Fellow cadets Alvaro Montoya, Lester Haywood, Luther Williams, Nathan Pierce, and Octavio Howard followed him into the room.
"So much for enjoying that food in peace, eh Raven?" Donovan asked.
Raven looked at Donovan, "I'm not interested in continuing this whole academy rivalry thing we have going on."
"Is that right? Well I think I should let you in on a little secret," Donovan said as he moved closer to where Raven sat.
"What exactly would that be?"
"I think a little rivalry is something we need," Donovan said as he sent Raven flying backwards with a solid right-hand punch.
The punch had the desired effect as the Aquarian cadets and the Academy cadets began to exchange punches.
It was not long before the Abry cadets, who had tried to stay out of it, found themselves part of the meleé.
It was a brawl that one would have seen in a movie with chairs, punches, and occasionally people being thrown.
Commanding Officer's Quarters:
"Commander Charka, I think you made a mistake today," Ortiz protested.
She and Charka were the only two in the room and the air between them had an icy chill to it.
"As I stated earlier, the last thing I want to do is risk this ship and its crew," Charka said evenly.
"I don't think we should die in a blaze of glory, but this crew needs a boost to its morale, and getting in a few punches against the Cylons would have served the purpose nicely, in my opinion."
"Ortiz, you need to see things from my point of view. If you cannot, then you should be reminded that you are the one in charge of turning those cadets and enlisted crew into officers who know how to pilot a Viper or a Raptor. Then we can get some of those hits in against the Cylons you seem so hell bent on delivering."
The hatch to the room opened and in walked Privates Marla Galloway and Preston Brooks.
"Marines, I hope the two of you have a good reason for barging in here?" Ortiz asked, and immediately regretted it because she knew it might cause Charka to look bad.
"I have to agree with Commander Ortiz on this one; why are you here?" Charka asked.
"There's been a fight in the Junior Officers Mess," Galloway said.
"So a couple of officers get into a fight and that's a reason to barge into here like this?" Charka asked.
"No, sir, but when a group of cadets from each of the military academies get into a fight…
Ten Minutes Later:
Junior Officers Mess:
"What the frak is going on?" Charka asked once he and Ortiz reached the entrance to the Junior Officers Mess.
"It's a madhouse in there," Colonel Patrick Killian said once he could speak to his Commanding Officer above the noise of the fight.
"You could say that again," Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Thomas said as he came to the door.
"What are you doing here?" Colonel Yesinia Hawkins asked as she came up from the opposite side of the corridor.
"I heard there was a fight among our three groups of cadets. I had to see it to believe it," Thomas said.
Charka turned his attention to the two Marines, "I want you to get as many Marines here as possible. Take the cadets to the Secondary Storage Bay; we'll have a little chat with them then."
It was then that some of the fight's participants spilled out into the corridor. One of the cadets swung and connected with Charka's jaw, sending the Ark Royal's CO back against the bulkhead behind him.
Another of the cadets swung at Thomas but he deftly dodged the blow and brought his gold-plated cane down on the young man's head.
"Don't even think about it," Ortiz said as she connected a left hook against the jaw of a cadet who made eye contact with her and seemed ready to pull her into the fray.
Before things got further out of hand, the Marines showed up and began to break up the fight.
One by one, the cadets were led out of the mess and toward the Secondary Storage Bay.
"If it weren't for the fact that the Cylons are trying to slaughter us I'd throw them out the nearest airlock," Charka said as he massaged his jaw where he had been punched.
"Under normal circumstances I'd do the same thing but right now we need them," Ortiz said as she surveyed the damage that had been done to the Junior Officers Mess.
"Action Stations, Action Stations, Set Condition One throughout the ship," Chandler's voice announced, followed by the claxons coming to life to alert the crew that it was now time for the Ark Royal to go to Action Stations.
"Frak me, that can't be good," Ortiz said.
"I'd prefer to get some good news for a change today," Charka said before turning his attention to Thomas and the Marines, "Get this group to Secondary Storage. Colonel Thomas, I want you to put the fear of the gods into them."
Thomas simply nodded his understanding and motioned for the Marines to begin leading the group from the Junior Officers Mess towards Secondary Storage.
"I'm coming with you," Ortiz said as she caught up to Charka down the corridor.
"I had a feeling you were going to do that," he said without a trace of irritation.
"Listen, I know this is hard for you but it's not exactly a day at Caprica Beach for me either."
"I understand that but I don't need you to step on my toes and try to act as though you're still the CO of this ship."
"I'll try not to but I've been in command of the Ark long enough that old habits are proving hard to get rid of."
Charka nodded, "You can come with me to the CIC but keep in mind what I said."
"Fair enough," Ortiz said as she two made their way up to the deck above.
Thomas turned to where Galloway was standing, "I want you to get the Master-At-Arms to round up every cadet we have and bring them to Secondary Storage. I'm going to make sure something like this only happens in a boxing ring."
Galloway nodded and ran off to get Sergeant Trinidad.
Thomas would not go to Secondary Storage right away. He had an idea and to make it work he would need the aid of the ship's media department.
Twelve Minutes Later, CIC:
Charka and Ortiz came into the CIC and immediately made their way over to Command and Control.
"Sitrep," Charka said.
"We have an unknown DRADIS contact that is closing in on us," Colonel Yesinia Hawkins said as she pointed to the object on the DRADIS screen above them.
"Where's Colonel Hawkins?" Ortiz asked.
"He may have gotten turned around. How long have you been here Hawkins?" Charka asked.
"I was heading to the print shop when I heard the call for Action Stations, I got here and thought I could fill in until either you or Colonel Killian arrived," she said.
"Thank you for that," Charka said as he kept his attention on the DRADIS object.
The doors to the CIC opened and in walked Killian.
"Glad you could make it, Colonel," Charka said.
"It took some time to get out of the Junior Officers Mess. What do we have going on?" he asked.
"Unknown DRADIS contact, they seem to be keeping their distance from us," Charka said as he began to wonder what the object was that they had come across.
"May I suggest we launch alert Vipers," Ortiz said before she realized that Ark Royal was still without an air wing.
"Mister Woodward, I want you to get in touch with our Viper pilots in Ready Room One. I need volunteers for a recon mission," Charka said to his Communications Officer, Lieutenant Dwight Woodward.
"Aye aye, Commander," he said as he began the task given to him.
Viper Squadron One Ready Room:
"I volunteer," Lieutenant Walter 'Thor' Kidd said when the word had been passed that Commander Charka needed volunteers for the recon mission.
"That's one, in that case suit up and meet me on the hangar deck. I'm going to fly with you," Captain Alisa 'Dagger' Stark said.
She was the one who had answered the call from the CIC and had taken on the role of de facto CAG of the Ark Royal.
"I think we should all go out there; what if it's the Cylons?" Lieutenant Shawn Porter asked.
"All the more reason for only two of them to go out there," Captain Aaron Rice said.
"He's right. If the Cylons are out there then there's no reason to risk all of our lives when we're going to need to train these incoming nuggets and turn them into real pilots. We'll go out there and check it out. In the meantime I'm leaving Lloyd in charge until I return," Stark said as she made her way over to the equipment locker.
"Do you think we'll find a flight suit that's going to fit?" Kidd asked.
"We may not find an exact fit but hopefully there's one that's close enough," Stark said.
"Sounds like a plan to me, didn't think I'd be flying in a situation like this," Kidd said as he found a flight suit that seemed to be close to his size.
"Going by the flight suit your last name is 'Raguet' and mine is 'Hilliard," Stark said once she and Kidd were in their flight suits.
"Poor bastards, it's ironic that they flew off following the decommissioning and were killed by the Cylons and we just happened to be near the Ark Royal's berth when the attack happened," Kidd said as he began to ponder the fate of the pilots whose flight suits he and Stark were using.
"Luck of the draw, I guess," Stark said.
From the time the pilots had spent getting to know each other she had learned that Kidd had been a pilot on the Swiftsure while she had been a pilot on the Invincible.
"I suppose, but it does make you feel fortunate," Kidd said as he finished zipping up his flight suit.
"Let's not dwell on that right now, let's get to the hangar and get this recon mission underway," Stark said as she headed for the hatch.
Hangar Deck, Port Side:
"We've taken two of the Viper Mark VIs the cadets flew onboard during the attack and have both of them prepped for you to use," Chief Reginald Lancaster said when he saw Stark and Kidd step onto the hangar deck.
"Glad to hear it, Chief," Stark said.
"Were they damaged by the Raiders during the attack?" Kidd asked.
"No, sir, they were able to land without any serious damage. My people have been scouring them for problems and I can assure you that there's nothing wrong with them," Lancaster said as he directed them to the two Vipers that had been maneuvered to the entrances of two of the launch tubes.
"Let's get in these birds and see what's out there," Stark said to Kidd.
He simply nodded and started climbing the stairs that had been placed in front of the Viper he would be flying.
Moments later the two Vipers were maneuvered into their launch tubes and sent out to investigate the DRADIS contact.
Secondary Storage:
There was a video display set up. The machine was designed to project the image or video on the computer that had been placed near where Thomas was standing.
Before him, below the platform area that led to the airlock, were the pilots who had landed on Ark Royal during the Cylon attack.
They were cadets from the three major military academies in the Twelve Colonies; Abry Military Academy on Caprica, the Colonial Fleet Academy on Picon, and Aquaria Military Academy on Aquaria. The rivalry between the three schools had always been strong, some even saying that the some of the officers in the Fleet had to work hard to put those differences aside.
"What the frak are we doing here?" Abry cadet Virgil Kramer asked the person next to him.
"I heard there was some brawl today between some of the cadets, whoever that guy standing up there ordered everyone here, regardless if they were in the fight or not," fellow Abry cadet Raquel Douglas said.
"Do they even know who threw the first punch?" Fleet Academy cadet Clarissa Lane asked.
"From what I heard, it was one of us. If that's true then your schools are off the hook," Aquaria cadet Cynthia Torres
"With all that chaos there I don't think there's going to be a way to prove who threw the first punch," Aquaria cadet Julie Beck said.
On the other side of the room were the cadets who were involved in the fight, they had not been allowed to mingle with their fellow cadets.
The Marines who had come to break up the fight were standing near in case they would be needed again. The looks on their faces did not betray the anger they had for the brawlers.
"You know, in hindsight I should have probably not slugged you," Trent Donovan said to Julius Raven when he was in earshot.
"I think it's a bit late for that now; those Marines look like they want to tear us a new one."
Donovan was going to say something but there was a loud pounding sound on the deck as Lloyd Thomas pounded his cane to get everyone's attention.
"Now that I have you here and have your complete attention," he began as he surveyed the room, "There was a disturbance today in the Junior Officers Mess, so I decided to bring you here for little chat."
"Who are you?" one of the cadets called out.
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Thomas, during the Cylon War I was known as 'The Black Devil' and you've probably heard of me. If you haven't then you can just think of me as a pilot on par with that Caprican jackass Gary Ware, only better and more humble."
Since that seemed to discourage more talk from the cadets he continued, "I was stationed on the Battlestar Gemenon near the end of the war. My ship was part of the two-ship Libran class and there was a healthy rivalry between our two ships. When we had the chance, we competed against one another to see which one was better. The point is that when it came time to fight the Cylons we put our differences aside and put the energy that we used to fight each other into fighting the Cylons."
"What does that have to do with anything?" another cadet asked.
"Before I go further with this talk, I want to show you some videos I discovered when I visited the ship's media center," Thomas said as he hit a switch that dimmed the lights.
He fished a remote out of his pocket and turned on the video projector. It came to life and shone a white light onto the large screen that was erected behind Thomas.
"For you Abry cadets, I would like for you to see how your campus looked the last time someone pointed a camera in its direction," Thomas said as he hit the 'Play' button on the remote.
Immediately the students were looking at video footage showing not a pristine campus but a group of burned out ruins that once made up some of the buildings of Abry Military Academy.
"From the vague reports that we received before the news services went silent it appears that Abry was specifically targeted for destruction. The Cylons made sure a nuclear weapon hit the campus and it was one with such power that it leveled almost everything at your school," Thomas said as he scanned the group and saw that the Abry cadets were clearly emotional at seeing their school in such a state, many were failing to hold back the tears.
"Now, I want to take you to Picon and to the Colonial Fleet Academy," Thomas said as he hit the 'Next' button on the remote.
The screen changed and there was a destruction shown that matched what had been visited upon Abry Military Academy.
"Because it was situated right across from Fleet Headquarters, it was only natural that the Fleet Academy would take a direct hit from the Cylons. I've watched the footage already and it is a nightmarish landscape down there on Picon."
He looked and saw many of the Fleet Academy cadets were having a reaction similar to what he saw from the Abry cadets.
"Now it's time for the grand finale. I am going to take you to Aquaria and you can see what happened to Aquaria Military Academy," Thomas said as he once again pressed the 'Next' button on the remote.
Aquaria Military Academy was untouched, the Aquaria cadets looked both a little surprised and relieved. It was then that Thomas pressed the 'Next' button again and this time the cadets were shown an image of just a flash as he said, "The camera didn't move. It is the same camera over Aquaria Military. We don't have an image of the Aquaria campus after the nukes hit it but by judging by the size of that flash, it was completely flattened. I am guessing that the Cylons hit it several times to make sure it had been obliterated. If anything was left standing then it is scorched and would be virtually unrecognizable."
Thomas paused to let his word sink in before continuing, "My point in showing this to you is simple. It is to remind you who the real enemies are. You should remember that it is the Cylons you should be fighting and not each other. The academies you were so loyal to, no longer exist; the rivalries are, for the time being, swept away into the dustbin of history. If this ship and its crew are to survive then all of you will have to learn to play nice together and become the pilots we all hope you can become.
Viper 2593 (Captain Alisa Stark):
"Captain Stark, this is Raptor 586, Commander Charka sent us to follow you to the DRADIS contact."
"Glad to have you with us Raptor 586, who are you?" Stark asked.
"Lieutenant Ashlee Wyatt, call sign 'Blondie', my ECO and I came over from the Hadrian."
"Glad to have you with us," Stark said before focusing on the DRADIS contact that was looming closer on the screen in her cockpit.
"Dagger, this is Actual, I need you to visually confirm that the target is an Orianos class escort battlestar," Commander Charka's voice said over the wireless in Stark's helmet.
"We should be coming up on the target shortly and can verify," Stark said as she saw the profile of what looked to be an Orianos class vessel.
"This is the Escort Battlestar Vasa, identify yourselves or be shot," a man's voice said over the wireless.
"This is Captain Alisa Stark from the Battlestar Ark Royal, transmitting IFF to you for verification."
Moments later she heard a woman's voice, "Captain Stark, this is Commander Elina Solheim, you can either return to your ship or stop and give me a ride over to the Ark Royal."
Stark thought for a moment before she said, "Kidd and Wyatt, I'm informing Commander Charka that we'll be landing on the Vasa and will return with Commander Solheim."
"Copy that," Kidd said.
"Understood," Wyatt replied.
"Vasa Actual, this is Captain Stark, my people and I am ready for landing," she said to Solheim.
"You are cleared to land on the port landing pod. I look forward to meeting you. Actual out," Solheim said as she ended the connection.
"Ark Royal, this is Dagger," she said once she set her wireless to the frequency that the Ark would be using.
"Dagger, this is Actual. Did you confirm the identity of the ship?" Charka asked.
"Affirmative, it is the Vasa and Commander Solheim wishes to speak with you in person. We're going to be landing and then Commander Wyatt will bring her over with us."
"Very well, I'll see you when you are back on board," Charka said and then the line went dead.
"Vasa, this is Viper 2593 preparing to land on your port flight pod," she said to the LSO stationed in the port side Air Traffic Control center.
In a few minutes, she would know for sure what awaited her on the escort battlestar.
Eleven Minutes Later:
Vasa, Hangar Deck:
Stark's Viper was maneuvered into a spot on the hangar deck not far from where Kidd's Viper and Wyatt's Raptor had been parked.
She had seen the hangar of an Orianos class escort battlestar before but the Vasa looked as though it had the modern touches she had come to expect on either of the Mercury or Illustrious class.
"Kidd, I'm over here!" Stark called out when Kidd exited his Viper.
"This is not what I expected," Wyatt said when she joined the two Viper pilots.
"The Vasa is a unique ship, but that's a topic for later," a man in a Colonel uniform said when he walked up to the three pilots, "Colonel Morten Varberg, I'm the Vasa's XO. Commander Solheim is waiting for you in the CIC. If you'd follow me," he said as he turned and started towards a hatch that led away from the hangar deck.
"You'll have to forgive me for bringing this up again, but this is not how an Orianos class ship normally looks. There's more of an older Cylon War feel to the ships that are still in service," Wyatt said as the group caught up to Varberg.
"I take it you served on one before?" he asked.
"I did a tour on the Lysander as an Ensign," she said.
"It goes back to when President Adar first took office," Varberg began, "He wanted to decrease the number of battlestars in the fleet; he saw them as an unnecessary luxury. His Secretary of the Fleet had the idea that the surviving Orianos class ships would be ideal as a smaller battlestar that could keep the Admiralty happy," Varberg said as he turned a corner and headed down another corridor.
"What happened to that plan?" Kidd asked.
"Well Vasa had been sitting in the Active Reserve since the Cylon War ended and it was decided to use her for the experiment Adar had in mind. She was taken out of Active Reserve and towed to Lampetia Shipyard where she was renovated as part of a program to determine the effort needed to reactivate and modernize the mothballed Orianos battlestars. By Junius of the following year, after over 8.5 million cubits had been spent to modernize her and bring her up to operational condition again, the project was cancelled once the work had been completed."
"That's impressive," Stark said.
Varberg nodded, "She came out a brand-new ship for all intents and purposes, and she's stayed in service because President Adar was determined to get his cubit's worth out of her. We were assigned to the Fifteenth Fleet until recently; the Vasa even took part in the bombardment of that Sagittaron Liberation Army base six years ago."
Vasa, CIC:
The group entered the CIC to find the crew busy at work carrying out their various duties; it had the feel of a ship that was at war. The room was gave the appearance of a slightly smaller Mercury class CIC.
"Glad you could make it," Solheim said from where she was standing at Command and Control with one of the officers.
"We got here as quickly as we could," Stark said as she followed Saballe to where Solheim was standing.
"For a moment there we thought your battlestar might have been a Cylon baseship," Solheim admitted to Stark.
"We thought likewise," Stark said though she was not sure if that was really the case or not.
"It's nice to find a friendly face though. Did you see if Adama was still at Ragnar?" Varberg asked.
"Commander Charka sent my ECO and me to Ragnar Anchorage to investigate, and there was no sign of the Galactica but plenty of signs of the Cylons," Wyatt said.
"Commander, the Ark Royal's commander wishes to speak with you," the Communications officer announced.
"Thank you, Mister Morello," Solheim said as she picked up the receiver, "This is Vasa Actual."
"This is Ark Royal Actual. Good to hear a friendly voice. I wasn't sure if it was really you or a Cylon ruse."
"I have to admit that I was skeptical at first, seeing as how your ship had been decommissioned just a few days ago," she said and wondered what Charka's reaction would be.
"Right now, the Cylons may be moving this way so may I suggest we jump to another location. We can meet up and swap survival stories."
Solheim thought about it for a moment and realized it was a good idea, "Send the jump coordinates to us and we'll meet you at the location."
"Sending them to you now; see you there, Commander Solheim," Charka said before ending the call.
"I have received the jump coordinates from the Ark Royal. I am plotting the jump now," the Tactical officer said.
"Very well then, jump the ship as soon as possible," Solheim said as she began to wonder what shape the Ark Royal was in. She noticed that the flight suits Stark and Kidd wore did not match their names. Wyatt's flight suit did match up with her name but her patch was for the heavy cruiser Hadrian.
'Does Charka even have an air wing?' she wondered.
Ark Royal, CIC:
"Mister Chandler, is the jump plotted?" Charka asked.
"Yes, sir, I can start the countdown on your order," Chandler said.
"You may begin the countdown," Charka said as he looked over the information that had been brought up on the Vasa.
"Still thinking it's too good to be true?" Ortiz asked.
"There's a part of me that can't help but be skeptical about it, but at this point I will not look a well-armed horse in the mouth."
"I understand that. Let's hope that Solheim is willing to stay with us and not strike out on her own," Ortiz said as she brought up the profile on Vasa's CO.
"I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be. I'll just convince her that we're more likely to survive by working together than we would be going our separate ways."
"Not to mention that there's a chance her air wing can provide us with protection until we get our own pilots trained," Ortiz said as she looked up at the DRADIS and saw the Vasa disappear off the screen.
"That's what I'm hoping for, it'll be something we'll need if we're going to survive," Charka said.
"Indeed we will; here's to hoping it all goes according to plan," Ortiz said as she began to wonder if they even had a plan to survive against the Cylons.
