Authors Note: Sorry all for the extremely long delay, the story is back on track and chapters will be coming ASAP, enjoy.

Chapter Nine: Whiplash.

Captain Val Bonen gripped the stick tightly, his index finger an inch from the trigger. Not two minutes ago a duo of Cylon Raiders jumped into weapons range and jumped away seconds after. All he heard now was the reverberating hum of his Viper Mark VVI's engine and the steady breathing escaping his mouth. He sensed another ambush; after all, that's what the Cylons were good at.

"Ulysses to CAG, we're picking up an enemy squadron at carom five 44.7, you are ordered to seek and destroy." The Majors voice was gargled, this area of space threw up allot of wireless interference.

Val cleared his throat, and then looked out his cockpit to the surrounding formation of Vipers. "Copy that Ulysses, will-co. Alright kids, show time, stick to your wingman and watch your tails. When one of those bastards is set in your kill slots do not hesitate to pull the trigger, weapons free."

Twenty four Vipers soared through the emptiness of space, the background was dotted with nebula and cosmic dust; sun light radiated from the stars gleamed off the white hulls giving them the appearance of hungry sharks after the scent of prey.

"Blackball, take red squadron, flank them on the left, the rest of you keep them off the Ulysses when the toasters bring their friends. You hear that Tally? No heroics, just keep your squad to the flanks and take down any raiders who want to stab us in the back."

Tally was one of the well known Raptor Pilots, his ECO Jukebox flew with him since the original mission was ordained, and they were two of the more eccentric types of the squadrons. "Yeah copy that, we'll watch your backs." He replied. Blue eyes settled upon his ECO Jukebox, he was monitoring his station.

"Activate missile pods, open up the hatches, and keep the tubes hot." He said looking directly at him.

"Opening missile pods. Batteries ready and standing by..." He said squinting at the readout his screen presented him.

"Copy that to the raptor squadron." Tally said turning his head to look back out the canopy. The sides of the raptors cruising next to him were equipped with ship to ship missile racks.

CIC – Battlestar Ulysses.

"The attack squadron is ready sir, and all weapon grids are at full power." Reported Major Vash as she swivelled in her chair to face the Commander, she glanced at her with only a slight nod, and Kenneth leaned palms down onto the command console.

"I really don't like this... the EMI interference is starting to screw with the DRADIS. Weapons control may have a hard time auto-targeting. Seems the entire quadrant is full of interference. " He mused.

"The network would compensate but thanks to the Major, we don't have that luxury any more. Just hope it doesn't get any worse." She replied, which was more of a half-hearted whisper as she burned a hole into the DRADIS monitor with her eyes. She grunted and held her left rib cage with her right hand. Kenneth frowned slightly as he noticed her clutch her side, but quickly flicked his eyes back to the monitor.

"CAG reports they have engaged the Cylon raiders sir, no sign of a Basestar, we are now nearing weapons range of the staging area, already reading a dozen support craft." Announced the Major.

Commander Cain offered a nod to her XO, he did not hesitate. "Helm control, set speed to full and take us directly to that jump line. Have all batteries set to auto cycle D." Colonel Reid announced followed by an echoed yes sir.

Attack squadron engagement zone.

The squadron was doing well at keeping the Raiders occupied, the deadly dance filled the void of space, tracers flew back and forth as the Vipers wheeled and chased after the enemy. Raven fired a burst that flew right into the path of a Raider tearing it to shreds with a satisfying explosion followed by metallic debris clinking against his hull. He targeted another Raider that was on the tail of a Viper and hit the afterburners making his body real under the g-force as he chased after his quarry at a sickening speed.

"Keep your pitch steady and keep rolling, I got him in my sights now, break left now!" The CAG shouted into his wireless headset, the pilot in the endangered Viper complied and cranked his craft at a breakneck turn setting the Raider directly into Ravens x-ray.

"Got you now mother-frakker." He squeezed the trigger and the barrels of his Viper Mk. VII blazed death and the bullets met the Raider causing it to break apart with an explosion that he felt in his chest, he grinned but then immediately narrowed his eyes in disbelief as he saw blood escape into space from the hull of the Raider.

"What the frak?" He asked no one in particular, but he heard several pilots ask in curiosity.

"There's... blood coming out of these things, something is flying them." He said flatly with a tinge of dread at the thought.

A loud and obnoxious reply followed. "Frak that! You're seeing things Captain, we've nailed several of these things with stingers and I haven't seen any blood ooze out." It was none other than Tally; he needs a punch in the mouth thought Val grimly.

"Keep your heads in the game damnit! And Tally shut the hell up and stay focused!" Val snapped stopping the flow of pilot chatter and mutterings as the battle continued.

The battle lasted only several more minutes until the raiders were destroyed, but the Viper losses were minimal, three birds lost along with their pilots.

"Alright, recover and reform, Ulysses is closing in on the target, keep the flanks clear." The order was heard loud and clear and the pilots turned their craft back into a spearhead formation.

"This is Blackball, will-co, I have the left flank as ordered."

"Heads up team, two Raider squadrons has jumped two clicks starboard, they are holding back for now." Tally announced.

"Roger that, do not engage, keep on the Ulysses boys and girls, keep this tight." Raven replied eyeing his own DRADIS monitor. He flipped some auxiliary switches and adjusted his power output on engines, the switches clicked into place respectfully.

Raven watched the Battlestar close on the targets, the rail guns opened up showering them with kinetic explosives, the Cylon transports erupted in flame and debris. He smiled to himself with satisfaction, ten more transports jumped into the same area ignorant of their immanent destruction; these were quite large transports as well. The Ulysses wasted no time and fired, ship to ship missiles collided with the transport hulls and they exploded into shards of twisted metal, some transports must have yielded ordinance because the size of the explosions were massive, and only gained more radius.

"Frak! All Vipers pull back! Those freighters are loaded with ordinance!" He shouted desperately into the wireless. The Vipers reeled under the shockwaves; seven of them buckled and broke apart in flames before the rest got to safety.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Wailed Blackball as he narrowly escaped the same fate, the Ulysses felt the brunt of it but sustained no structural damage as far as Raven could see; the people on the inside would have been thrown to the deck however.

Sweat beaded on Ravens brows, and he hailed the Ulysses.

"Ulysses this is Raven! Do you copy! Those transports are carrying high yield explosives, possible nuclear ordinance, I recommend mission abort, I've lost nine planes already and they're two raider squadrons on our rear. But from I can see up here, no sign of structural damage, and no fire." He waited for a reply which came back garbled and unintelligible.

"Viper 1 copy that, Well do--make immediatecomba- lan----- Say again, make immediate combat landings, objective achieved."The rest of the transmission was cut off.

"Attention attack squadron, make immediate combat landings! I say again, make immediate combat landings!" Raven tried his best to send the message, all the while the Cylon squadrons started after the Vipers and Raptors, but the brunt of his message was understood, and he could see Vipers and Raptors heading back to the hanger pods.

"Sir this is Tally, I heard nothing of the sort, the EMI is giving off garbled com traffic at best, we should continue on the original m------, -- ----ot –ort th- mis---- si-."

Val was convinced; Tally was going to receive a beating when he returned to the Ulysses, and the electromagnetic interference was not going to deter him. He turned around his craft and headed back. He approached the starboard flight pod and made a combat landing on the upside down flight deck, the landing struts scraped the metal flooring and his Viper came to a halt, he looked to his left and right and could see the faces of his fellow pilots illuminated in their helmet lights. The confusion was palpable, but before he could fit together exactly what happened he felt the uncomfortable sensation of faster than light travel.

Once his Viper was brought back into the hanger deck, he was eager to find Tally, but was stopped when he heard some cheers and clapping, some crew saying congratulations to him even. What the hell is everyone so happy about anyway? He was handed a clipboard for regular shut down protocol. He muttered in annoyance and checked off the shut down list sloppily, then flung it into the chest of the knuckle dragger. He walked a few paces before placing his hand on a large red toolbox for support; he was angry, and frustrated. He felt the loss of his pilots, people he knew, and came back to see people smiling and clapping at the pilots, who in turn only gave them a grim flash of their eyes and kept their heads low.

"Captain?" It was the familiar voice of Chief Orelon.

Val turned to look at him, his dark slanted eyes narrowed slightly in question at seeing the Captain seemingly bereft of composure. His Asian features were distinct, he was slender but muscular, and had unblemished skin, his hands however were wrapped with white bandage; he must have suffered burns during the fires.

"Chris... chief, excuse me. What's up?" Val asked furrowing his brows looking at him.

Chris Orelon raised his own brows in question, and then smirked sardonically but without any humour. He seemed agitated, and Val decided not to push in that direction. He let that almost insulting smirk go.

"Nothing." He shut his eyes and sighed walking away, he pointed and shouted at a knuckle dragger to get back to work angrily. And Val walked over to Blackballs bird, he was just climbing out of the cockpit now helmet in hand, a look of scorn on his face.

"What the frak happened out there Captain?! Why didn't the Commander warn us earlier?!" His accent was Aerilonian, the Colony where he was born and raised.

"A feint... to draw more of the Cylon's closer to the blasts." That was the only explanation, the Commander just wanted to use us as bait, the feeling felt sickening.

Lieutenant Tucker "Blackball" O'Connor was not happy, he didn't have a short fuse but some of those Pilots who died today were close friends.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" He slammed his fist into the side of his ship's hull causing the skin on his knuckles to scrap away allowing blood to pour freely. He looked at his hand stormed off down the centre of the hanger deck.

They couldn't keep enduring these losses, Val miscounted the number of pilots the Ulysses actually had, an error he realized only hours after the briefing with the Commander in the Wardroom. He wished there were over a hundred and forty pilots at his disposal, but the actual figure was more along the lines of eighty three. He miscounted the numbers because of the rotation schedules, he counted them half-asleep and exhausted beyond measure, some of the pilots he never actually met face to face yet, that was originally Captain Chambers's responsibility, and Val never had to memorize how many pilots were actually on board the ship, he himself thought it was a hundred.

"I should have told her before the op." He cursed, realizing the Commander acted on his own word, thinking she could sacrifice his pilots for a greater outcome of the battle, and it seems to have paid off.

Val watched the flurry of movement in the hanger, his pilots settling down after the attack, some had smiles on their faces and hugged each other, but others sat down and could only stare at the floor. He walked by some of them, placing a reassuring hand on their shoulders, and saying small confinements. He finally spotted Tally sitting on the edge of his Raptor wing looking over a clipboard. His eyes flashed at Val for a second then set down on the clipboard again.

"Shame isn't it, knowing you're being used." He said as if stating a fact, his ECO Jukebox was beneath the undercarriage, the clinking of tools could be heard.

"You'd be surprised, what secrets can be uncovered, things that can turn the tide of loyalty." He was now peering into Val's eyes so calm and collected, as if the words he chose were calculated. Val twitched his head to the left and pursed his lips staring at him hard, wanting to choke the life out of him.

"You better keep your frakking mouth shut from now on Tally, everything that comes out of it is poison, and it's causing some of my pilots to become sick with this line of thinking. You think I haven't noticed the way you're sowing discontent and unrest into the people around you? This is, and the last warning I'm giving you, you're lucky I need every pilot on the line or your ass would be rotting in the brig right frakking now!" Tally smiled then and raised his brows.

"Yes sir, I apologize." He chuckled with an added mock salute.

Val was fuming, and turned to leave before he lost control, and Tally called after him but Val ignored it.

Tally was watching him walk away, and he glared around the hanger bay with venom in his gaze, he coughed then stretched his neck, and looked back down at his clipboard.

CIC

Rebecca rubbed the bridge of her nose as her eyes closed, then placed her hands on her hips watching the DRADIS feed on the monitor, then looked down at the battle report, it was if it was mocking her, she read it silently as the CIC went about its business.

The reports began to flow into CIC for Command finalization, and Rebecca was not pleased with the results, she read the report aloud. "The final count is nine Vipers and one badly damaged Raptor." She looked over the report again, muttering. She signed the report and handed it to Major Vash. She noticed Kens stare, but he looked away, she sighed, and then picked up the phone close to her left hand connected to the command station. The ships speakers carried her voice.

"This is the Commander, the mission has been accomplished, and we'll jump momentarily to standby co-ordinates, thank you." She set the phone back into the receiver.

"Begin jump prep, and take us to the safe zone." Rebecca ordered.

The safe zone acted as their staging area, prep, and co-ordinated planning of attack. It was located between two dense star clusters which threw tremendous radiation that nulled any kind of DRADIS sweep, and only a small narrow avenue saved them this deadly disadvantage. It was a risky and a volatile position, but it gave them the time they needed to stay hidden. The ships jump drives engaged, and the Ulysses found itself in the familiar territory.

Commander Cain looked over to her officer of the watch. "Report Major."

The Major replied scanning her monitor. "Jump point clear no sign of enemy contact sir, were safe and sound."

"Alright, let's prepare for the next attack, XO, you have the deck. Page Captain Bonen, I want him to report to me in my quarters."

"Aye sir." Ken returned Rebecca's salute, and a marine opened the CIC door allowing the Commander to make her way to her private quarters.

Commanders Quarters.

"I understand your concerns, but this is hardly the time. We're facing an enemy, only interested in killing every human alive. So I don't want to hear losses, we've lost, billions, of our fellow humans." Rebecca tried to remain stoic, but her sorrowful gaze gave away her disposition on the subject, Val did not fail to notice it, but kept his face passive while he stood in front of her, hands clasped behind his back.

"Raven, you should have known better then to give that, well frankly, absurd number of airway personal at the briefing last week. I forgot to correct you, and assumed you would simply realize the error and fix it. It had no impact on the mission I'm sure, but in the future please double check all statistics on my ship before accounting them to the senior staff." She said looking directly into Val's eyes. He nodded in reply with an added yes sir, but couldn't help feel embarrassed, the fact she was sure it had no impact on the mission astounded him at the same time. She didn't want to face the loss?

"Now, the exact numbers of pilots we have now are seventy four, quite large still considering our situation. Admiral Corman was insistent upon doubling the crew of the ship before we left on this mission. The reasons for this are for my knowledge only." She looked down, and then wetted her lips.

Rebecca reached over to her glass table bringing forth a folder stamped with the seal of the Battlestar Ulyssesa common folder aboard any Battlestar showing its seal and battle group number. "Debrief in twenty minutes Captain, report to the ready room." She offered the folder to him, no doubt containing the debriefings.

"Aye sir..." He took it gingerly tucking it under his arm and saluting with the other, she returned the gesture automatically and watched him exit her quarters. She walked over to the door and locked it with her security card. She tapped her lip thoughtfully, and then walked over to her bedroom, lifting up the mirror hanging on her wall adjacent to the bed. The digital vault was still in place, but something wasn't right. She blinked in disbelief more than shock, and opened it frantically, the inside was empty. She reached in regardless feeling around the vault, nothing but the sensation of cold metal greeted her fingertips, and she cursed silently shutting her eyes tightly. She closed the vault, and began placing the mirror back onto the wall when a piece of paper fell to the floor; she narrowed her eyes, setting the mirror back before reaching down for it. She unfolded it, and read it carefully, before a shiver ran up her spine.

"You cannot hide from the things you have done."