Authors Note: Trying to synchronize the events with episode Pegasus (Extended edition) and adding in a whole new line of characters was surprisingly difficult to do. If some scenes from the episode and the story are off or not in perfect order I apologize for any confusion, but to my knowledge this is as accurate as I can get it without taking it completely AU.
Future chapters will be centered on following episodes, using dialogue spoken in the series will obviously have to occur, but I'll try to add as much original content in between to flesh it out. Another thing that was on my mind, some readers may not know how to pronounce Val's last name, its Bawn-nen, Bonen. On to the story, enjoy. (Re-structured the chapter, following chapters will go through the same treatment.)
Chapter 14: Welcome back to the Colonial Fleet.
Val began another sweep of another system, this routine was becoming a tedious chore, all the systems so far have been devoid of Cylon activity, but this time they left behind evidence of their presence, an empty mining station along with jettisoned waste. "Blackball, the toasters were definitely here, from the looks of the scans, about a week ago." 'Finally, three months now following the enemy and the prize was within grasp' Val thought with excitement.
"About frakking time, they usually don't leave anything smaller then engine emissions." Val nodded, and then narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah... something doesn't feel right..." Suddenly twelve enemy fighters registered on DRADIS, and Val's eyes widened, "Frak we got company Blackball, half a squadron of Cylon Raiders just jumped in near the mining station on the asteroid belt, I'm getting us out of here, and we'll report back to the Ulysses."
"No arguments here sir," And Val spooled up the FTL drive and jumped them back to the Ulysses.
Repairing the damage from the battle with Jagar took longer than anticipated, Rebecca has lost over a quarter of her crew since the war began, and there were no replacements, everything was taking twice as long to do, and people were getting weary. A month passed before the Ulysses could operate at full capacity again. Admiral Cain gave her orders to Rebecca before the Pegasus continued its search for the Cylon fleet, leaving them behind while repairs were conducted. If the Ulysses hadn't received a fully stocked inventory of back up materials the ship would have perished long ago, and even those materials were starting to thin.
Her orders were to continue the search when the ship was battle ready, and she followed them to the letter. Picking up where they left off, she sent out a task force of eight Raptors assigned with finding the fleet, so far nothing significant came back, only clues which led them closer to their prey. Almost half a year now, another two days would put them at six months, six months of hardship and bloodshed, and Rebecca didn't want to think about how much worse it would get. She only spoke to the Admiral now when necessary, she was consumed with finding the Cylons, and nothing else mattered, and Rebecca found herself wondering if her Aunt was the same woman before the attacks, and what she sensed didn't bring her comfort. Even Kendra, she hasn't seen her since they last spoke on the Pegasus, and Rebecca felt strongly to reconcile with her, but that would be impossible until the Cylon fleet is destroyed.
Thinking too hard on these things started to give Rebecca a headache, and she focused on her work instead. "Sit-rep Colonel, have any of our Raptors found their way home yet?"
Ken looked over the DRADIS readout, "Yes sir, Red one has just returned."
Rebecca was about to give an order when Raven's voice filled the speakers, "Ulysses this is Red one, we have made contact with the Cylons, half a squad of Raiders in system Alpha-nine six, from what data we have, I bet twenty cubits they are in one of the next systems within range."
Rebecca felt relief, finally, she picked up her station phone, "Ulysses actual here, well done Red one, report back for debriefings and we'll plan our next move,"
"Aye sir, coming home," Rebecca hung up the phone and Ken had a broad grin on his face.
"Report back?" Rebecca nodded, "I just hope the Admiral found something as well."
Ken looked over to the Major, "Major, set up a secure long range channel to the Pegasus, and let them know what we know,"
Samantha looked up, "Aye sir, it will take twenty minutes sir, from their last reported position,"
Ken nodded, "Very well, get started."
"Aye sir," And she got to work, Ken rested his hands on the command console. Rebecca tapped her bottom lip, "Send out two more Raptors."
Ken raised a brow, "Sir?"
Rebecca crossed her arms, "I think I want to be ahead of the race when the Pegasus returns, let's just see what's in those last two systems before moving onto a new sector."
Ken agreed, then picked up his phone "This is the XO, prep two Raptors for launch, orders will be given en route for additional reconnaissance, thank you," And he hung up the phone, and five minutes later Raptors twelve and thirteen left the hanger decks.
"Raptors away sir, I'll give them their orders," and he transmitted the data to them, and they reported in.
"Ulysses Raptor twelve here, recon squad has received orders, orders understood, see you on the flipside Ulysses, Raptor twelve out."
The Major touched her headset, "Roger Raptor twelve, good hunting out there," And the two craft jumped away. Rebecca hoped they didn't run into any problems, she began to expect the worse more and more as the days passed.
The major called Rebecca's name, but she didn't hear it, she called again, then ken coughed, "Sir, the line to Pegasus is open, Admiral Cain is waiting."
Rebecca blinked, "Right, yes thank you Colonel," She picked up the phone, "Ulysses actual here, we have new mission information to transmit to you sir."
Helena's voice sounded faded, and rough static made it difficult to understand her words, "It better be important Commander, we've found the Cylon fleet, waste no time reporting to these new co-ordinates I'm sending you," Rebecca narrowed her eyes, she sounded so stand-offish now.
"Sir I have Raptors on mission right now, and I can't leave until they return, we suspected the Cylon fleet was near our own position, but since you've found them I-"
The Admiral cut her off again, "Stop wasting time Commander, and get your men in order, I'll see you soon, Pegasus actual out."
Rebecca held the phone to her ear, not used to being dismissed so quickly by her own family, Ken looked at her, "Rebecca, everything alright?" She slowly lowered the phone, and then hung it back up, and looked at Ken.
"Yes, it's just; she sounded so hateful, eager..."
Ken frowned, "Let's just wait for our people, and worry about that later," She nodded, and Ken began to see the line between her and the Admiral start to appear, and he knew a conflict of interest was inevitable, he just hoped it wouldn't happen at a critical moment, 'God's damn these dark thoughts,' and he was about to suggest something when one of the Raptors jumped back, "Sir, Raptor thirteen reporting back."
Ken was surprised, that was fast... a little too fast. "Get them on speakers Major," She complied, and the anxious voice of the pilot filled their ears.
"Ulysses this is Raptor thirteen, there is definitely a large Cylon force in the next system, Gamma-one x-ray, and we visually detected a large fortified base. One Basestar guards the perimeter; we'll give the details to you as soon as possible."
Rebecca crossed her arms again, thinking, and Ken directed the Major to bring them back home, "Well, what do you think?" Ken asked looking his friend over.
"I think we ignore them, and report this back to the Admiral," Alarms went off in Ken's mind, and he lowered his voice.
"Sir, if we tell the Admiral about this, she will no doubt order us to attack," Rebecca narrowed her eyes at Ken.
"What are you trying to say Colonel?" Ken squared his shoulder, taking a breath, and looked directly into Rebecca's deep blue eyes, "What I'm trying to say, sir, is we shouldn't risk anymore of our people over Helena Cain's alter of revenge."
Rebecca closed her eyes, Ken was always brutally truthful with her, and never held back a punch, she wanted to defend her Aunt, and set him straight when talking about an Admiral. But she couldn't, he was right, and she didn't want to throw her ship onto the fire again for her Aunt's personal vengeance. "War may be our business, but there are lines, and there is reckless, and then just stupid. Attacking Jagar was something that had to be done, but attacking that Cylon base would be suicide... I am with you on that, alright? But there are rules, even now, that have to be obeyed, otherwise were just like Cylons. I'll report back to the Admiral, and see how this plays out."
Ken closed his eyes and shook his head, 'Always the good soldier,' he thought, and then waited to see if his assumptions would prove accurate. He watched her now; the whole CIC had their eyes on Rebecca when she brought the phone to her ear again, the Admiral on the other side, "From what our recon has shown, it's a heavily fortified Cylon base, guarded by five patrolling squadrons of Raiders, and a Basestar, likelihood of reinforcements are high, I suggest ignoring the base and continue pursuit of the Cylon fleet."
Rebecca thought the line went dead, but the Admiral replied, "Alright, it's in my interest to destroy the fleet first, before attacking the base, thank you Commander, recover your Raptors and report to me directly, Pegasus actual out."
She hung the phone back up, and paled slightly, 'She would have ordered me to attack that base if not for the fleet,' She shuddered, looking around, "When all the Raptors are recovered were jumping to rendezvous with the Pegasus."
Ken nodded, "Aye sir," Rebecca felt betrayed; did her Aunt think of her as nothing but a tool to throw away now? "I'm going down to the hanger deck, when we jump I'm to report to the Admiral. You have the deck Colonel."
Ken rubbed his brow, "Yes sir... did she-"
Rebecca cut him off. "We'll talk about that later in private, for now I have my orders."
Ken blinked then saluted, "Yes sir," and watched her leave combat. 'If the Admiral has her way, were all going to die sooner than later,' he grimly thought, and made sure the CIC ran smoothly.
Rebecca piloted the Raptor herself, and she finally got to see how the Ulysses looked now, the ship looked like a used car, miscoloured hull plating from repairs and rust which in the Ulysses case looked like scorch marks, then Pegasus, not an apparent scratch on her, made her betrayal more convincing, she was just being used. "Raptor one to Pegasus, requesting permission to land," a second later there was a reply.
"Roger Raptor one, clearance granted, call the ball," Rebecca watched her speed, then switched to an auto-landing, "Raptor one Pegasus I have the ball," and soon found herself standing in the Pegasus hanger deck, a small officers greeting welcomed her, and she saluted them, "Permission to come aboard,"
Jack Fisk grunted, "Granted, the Admiral is waiting for you," Rebecca followed him to the CO's quarters, Jack nodded then saluted, "Sir," Rebecca nodded back, "Dismissed Colonel,"
"Falling back in good order sir," Then turned and walked back down the corridor. Rebecca sighed, and then knocked on the door.
"Enter!" she pressed the door and it opened, and the Admiral stood over her elbow level desk.
"Please, come in Commander," Rebecca walked into the room, and looked briefly at her weapons collection.
"Sir reporting as ordered," She stood from across the desk and saluted.
"At ease Commander, now, you are probably wondering why I called you here; it's to talk about how your experience in deep space was while Pegasus was away on mission." Helena said looking her over.
Rebecca didn't look down, but furrowed her brows, "It's hard to open up so easily sir, it was hard of course," the Admiral nodded.
"I see, well, onto other things, I want to tell you my decisions are not based on vengeance." Rebecca blinked, and then clasped her hands behind her back.
"Auntie, I have to ask you something, and it's about what you just said," The admiral raised her brows and peered at her.
"Well, ask your question Rebecca," she said.
Rebecca wetted her lips before continuing, "I feel inclined to ask you Admiral, but would you have ordered me to attack that base if not for the Cylon fleet?" Helena pulled out her pocket knife, spinning it in her fingers, hesitating for a moment.
"In war sometimes sacrificing oneself for victory is the only way to ensure that victory," Rebecca was stunned, her Aunt would kill her for victory.
"But no, I plan to attack that base with you; whatever misconceptions you think of me now will be washed away when you hear it from my mouth. Your all I have left Rebecca, I wouldn't risk you foolishly, do you understand? But there may come a time, when you have to make a choice, and I hope you choose the right one."
Rebecca tilted her head, "I understand, thank you for hearing me out,"
Helena managed a weak smile, "I... care, what happens to you, don't disappoint me." Rebecca nodded curtly. "I won't sir," Helena picked up one of the dossiers from the desk and handed it to her.
"Let's go over tomorrow's mission shall we?" And the two spent an hour going over the plans, and Rebecca left her quarters, she lost herself in the traffic of personal. When she got back to the hanger deck, she saw two knuckle draggers laughing hysterically, "And Thorne was like, "Go on, take a turn, she's not even human!" the other one sneered, "Yeah but she was all like, "Duh do uhhh..."" and he laughed again, Rebecca looked disgusted, her Aunt was allowing rape? Machine or not that didn't sound right to Rebecca.
"You two, shut your frakking mouths!" Rebecca bellowed marching up into the two men getting in their faces as they stood crisply at attention. "What are your names?" Rebecca snapped.
"Vareem, sir!"
Rebecca looked sharply to the other man, "Gage, sir!"
Rebecca got closer, "If you two ever, talk about raping prisoners again, I'll have you both court marshalled, and imprisoned in the brig permanently, do you get me?"
The two looked ahead nervously, and nodded, "Sir yes sir!"
Rebecca scowled, "Get the frak out of my sight," And they shuffled down the hanger deck, then the chief approached the frustrated woman. "Uh sir, thanks for setting those idiots straight, I'm uh, Laird, Pegasus deck chief," He extended his hand and Rebecca looked at him like an idiot, "Uh sorry sir," Then he saluted.
Rebecca didn't bother, "You allowed them to freely spew that garbage among the crew?"
Laird hesitated, "Look things are do or die here, alright? So be careful what you say,"
Rebecca blinked, "You have a pair of balls on you chief, you don't even sound military, that is what must be the lack of discipline, when addressing a Commander you show respect, how did you end up on the Pegasus?,"
He frowned then threw a rag back over his shoulder, "I was part of a small civilian fleet that were found by Pegasus, I was on the Scylla, and, things happen,"
Rebecca crossed her arms, and furrowed her eyebrows, "Can you be more specific? What thing's exactly?"
He looked nervously around for a moment, "Look I shouldn't tell you this but... ten people were executed for not wanting to let their loved ones go, my..." He looked down, "Look, I could get in serious trouble for telling you this Commander," He glanced around again, hoping no one overheard.
Rebecca was startled, "Admiral Cain, ordered the shootings?"
He nodded, "Yeah... but were at war right, Military needs have to be first, or whatever the word was," He closed his eyes, a pained look on his face, "I need to get back to work sir," He saluted sloppily, then dragged his feet back towards a Viper. Rebecca stared hard at the floor, this was quite disturbing to her, and the woman she knew was no more, replaced with someone else. She walked back to her Raptor, and prepared to head back to the Ulysses.
When Rebecca returned she ordered the senior staff to gather for planning tomorrow's op. The reconnaissance images were passed around, and the Admiral had some posted notes, Ken picked up the picture with the large Cylon ship, he squinted at it, "Looks like a command and control ship to me alright, there must be thousands of Cylons inside."
Val simply watched them talk, waiting until he felt he could add something, "So we're going to jump in guns blazing?" Asked ken, and Rebecca sighed, passing a photo of the two Basestars to Major Vash,"
"If we do this, let's just get it over with," Ken snapped his head around to look at her.
"What? If we do this were-" Rebecca slammed her hands onto the table.
"Were going in, and taking out these bastards, and you are relieved for the night Colonel," Everyone look surprised, and Ken managed to stiffen and salute.
"I stand relieved, sir." And walked out of operations, the others exchanged glances.
"Operation begins at twelve hundred hours, dismissed." And the officers retreated back through the door.
Now resting comfortably, she thought about those two men on Pegasus, the only way they would be allowed to talk about rape as if it were a joke is if it was approved by the Admiral, and obviously Lieutenant Thorne has something to do with it, it disgusted her. 'So my Aunt has ascended to war criminal now, shooting officers for disobeying orders instead of simply relieving them, and now approving rape and encouraging the crew to talk about it, which only created more hatred.'
Indeed, Rebecca was well aware of her aunt's trepidations when she was alone, stranding thousands of civilians to die, taking all their food and resources, FTL drives, it took a special kind of evil to do that, and then use the excuse "Military needs must take priority," 'more like we'll take what we want because we can, and you can't do a damn thing about it,' Rebecca laughed without humour, that was the excuse of tyrants, and she was feeling wary of the Admiral, and soon she thought, she will have to take a stand if the Admiral continues down this path. And what was worse about learning these terrible secrets, Kendra was somehow involved, and maybe even participated. She wanted to sit down and talk to her so badly, but knew it would not be happening any time soon; she closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep.
Operation Demon tail, suspected Cylon fleet location.
Rebecca looked at the DRADIS monitor, "Report!"
The Major narrowed her eyes at her readout. "Sir I'm picking up dozens of new contacts, single baseship present,"
Rebecca blinked, "what the frak?" Ken walked over to Major Vash's station and looked at her readout, and then the last thing they thought possible occurred.
"Sir, I'm reading Colonial signatures, checking transponders... sir their signals are friendly." Ken's mouth dropped open, and Rebecca was about to pick up the station phone when a miracle occurred.
"Attention unknown vessels, this is the Battlestar Galactica, identify yourselves or we will fire upon you." Rebecca couldn't believe this possible, it can't be real, she rubbed her temples, and Ken spoke his mind, "We should contact them sir," Rebecca nodded, "This is Battlestar Ulysses actual to Galactica, we will transmit our recognition codes for you to verify, this is a blessing from the God's."
BattlestarGalactica, CIC.
Colonel Tigh stood like a hawk staring at the DRADIS readout, his stomach was burning and he thought of how sweet that ambrosia was last night, he looked around the CIC, making sure to crack anyone's head who wasn't working, suddenly, the DRADIS monitor bleeped, and Colonel Tigh looked to Dualla.
"Sir reading two hostile vessels on CBDR," and the Colonel barked his orders.
"Set condition one throughout the fleet, and put me through to the Commanders quarters." Adama walked over to the nearest phone in his quarters, the President leaned on the table where moments before, Kara Thrace was trying to convince them of going back to Caprica to rescue survivors.
"This is the Commander sit-rep,"
Colonel Tigh immediately replied "Two bogeys just jumped into DRADIS range CBDR, from the size of them their probably Cylon baseships, CAP'S on its way to intercept."
"Alert the fleet to emergency jump, I'm on my way with the president." Colonel Tigh heard the click of the line going dead, and he hung it up.
"Alright people, no mistakes." He waited until the Commander entered, but not before Apollo made his report.
"Galactica Apollo, I'm outbound on course to the Basestar, Kat alongside me."
And Saul looked to his right seeing the Commander followed by the president come rushing in, Commander Adama looked at Saul "Sit-rep!" and came to stand at the command consoles side.
"Alert Vipers have launched,"
Lieutenant Gaeta turned and looked at the Commander, "New DRADIS contacts their launching Raiders."
The president crossed her arms, looking at the DRADIS monitor, "How long until we jump?"
Saul replied, "Another two minutes..."
Lieutenant Gaeta couldn't believe what he was seeing on DRADIS now, "Sir... sir I'm getting Colonial transponders..."
President Roslin looked at the Commander, "Colonial?"
Saul didn't buy it, "Hell now their using our own signals against us."
Commander Adama took another step towards the console, "Maybe, weapons hold, hold the jump too."
Laura rested her hand on her hip, and tilted her head looking at the Commander cautiously, "Something up your sleeve I take it?"
Dualla repeated the orders, and Commander Adama looked across to D, "Ship to ship, Colonial priority one channel, send hostile challenge and ID, and push the reply back up on the speakers."
She touched her headset, "Attention unknown vessels, this is the battlestar Galactica, identify yourselves or we will fire upon you."
Gaeta turned again, "Range now seventeen hundred sir," Static garbled on the speakers.
"This is the Battlestar Pegasus to the ship claiming to be the Galactica, please respond."
Colonel Tigh was shocked, "Pegasus? How could that be the entire fleet was destroyed?"
Adama was about to ask for a line when he heard a female voice, "This is Ulysses actual to Galactica, we will transmit our recognition codes for you to verify, this is a blessing from the God's."
Adama decided to address the Pegasus now that Ulysses began transmitting the unique codes, "Pegasus this is Galactica actual, authenticate identity with recognition codes immediately."
Dualla watched the codes match up, and light green, "Sir, I'm receiving colonial recognition codes from both Battlestars, their authentic," Then a woman thought dead spoke clearly.
"Galactica this is Pegasus actual, Adama, is that you?" The Commander didn't know what to say.
"Admiral Cain, what a pleasure it is to hear your voice," he said, relieved.
BattlestarPegasus, CIC.
The Admiral was shaken with joy, an entire fleet of civilian ships and another battlestar, the tide could be turned now, she looked at Colonel Fisk, "Disengage," He pressed a com button then spoke into his headset.
"Red team disengage, red team disengage."
Admiral Cain was pleased, "Commander, I don't know what to say, this is a miracle."
He replied, "You took the words right out of my mouth, stand down condition one throughout the fleet."
Suddenly Apollo spoke with excitement, "Galactica Apollo, you are not going to believe what I'm looking at out here," The two battlestars stood proud side by side, "It's like a dream," and chuckled lightly.
The Commander lowered the phone, and looked up at the DRADIS at the two warships, "It is a dream, let's welcome them aboard."
BattlestarUlysses, CIC.
The word of finding a Colonial fleet spread faster than wildfire, and the crew was teaming with excitement and new found hope, survivors, an entire fleet of them, perhaps the human race was going to make it after all, and Rebecca contacted the flagship, "Sir may I join you coming aboard the Galactica?"
The Admiral replied, "Yes Commander, bring your XO as well along with the CAG and lead pilot,"
Rebecca complied, "Aye sir."
"Also, when we arrive I'll have my men find out what the Galacticaneeds in terms of supplies, you may want to consider shipping over foodstuffs, ignore any civilian requests, that's an order," the line went dead, and Rebecca's fears were confirmed, 'so she plans to do to this fleet what she did to the other, I can't let this happen. For now, I have to go along with this.'
"Major you have the deck, page Captain Raven to meet us in the starboard flight pod, Colonel your with me, we're going over to Galactica."
Ken could hardly refuse, "Gladly," and the two walked out of combat and down towards to the flight deck. Rebecca pulled Ken aside to his surprise in one of the halls, "The Admiral plans on breaking down the fleet for supplies and leaving them all to die, just like before."
Ken blinked, not sure he heard right, did Rebecca just admit the truth on her own? "About damn time you got your head out of the sand, she's been using us from the start, we just didn't really know until this moment," Rebecca rubbed her eyes, "We have to warn Adama, but if we do there will be a confrontation, frak what a mess."
Ken glanced at some passing crewmen in the hall, then ran a hand over his hairless scalp, "Ok listen, I'll find out whatever I can about those incidents when were on Galactica, the crew's will let their guards down, and I'll see if they really are true, because what do we really know? Only second hand rumours, and no evidence to support it no matter how guilty the Admiral looks, we will need proof, a confession from an officer or something."
Rebecca crossed her arms, then narrowed her eyes at Ken, "Go through Fisk, if anyone will spill the beans its him."
Ken nodded, "Alright, I'll see what I can learn, for now let's go meet Bill Adama," Rebecca pushed off the hallway wall, "Let's," and made their way to the hanger deck.
Val couldn't believe the rumours at first, but then it became clear they were true, he immediately thought of finding his daughter, wildly hoping she may still be alive somewhere in the newfound fleet, 'impossible' he thought, but he had to try. He heard his name paged over the ship speakers to report to the starboard flight pod, which he was already in, and warmed up the systems in his Raptor, he exited the craft again and assigned three marines to come with them for security.
When the Commander and Colonel were aboard he watched a knuckle dragger guide the Raptor on a hitch onto a landing pad, and detached it, and the pad rose onto the deck above. Val spoke into his headset, "Ulysses Raven, requesting clearance for departure." A moment passed, "Roger Raven, you are clear, Ulysses out."
Two Vipers escorted Val's Raptor with its precious cargo, and they approached Galactica's only functioning flight pod. "Galactica Raptor one one nine, requesting permission to land,"
"Clearance granted, hands on approach, checkers red, call the ball," Val was surprised, they did hands on approaches?
"Roger that Galactica, hands on approach, speed three six five, I have the ball." Val followed the Admiral's Raptor, and set down on the pad behind them, and began to power down as they were lowered onto the flight deck. Rebecca was overwhelmed now, she was having trouble focusing, and Ken was already joking. The Raptor came to a stop, and Rebecca watched the hatch open, and she looked at all the faces of the people gathered standing at attention, all eyes on her and the Admirals Raptor. First the marines stepped out, then Raven and Blackball along with the ECO officer, followed by Colonel Reid, then Rebecca, who stood silently at attention in front of who she knew as the legendary Commander Adama, a giant of a man, and saluted crisply, he saluted back with a nod, and Rebecca stepped aside as the Admiral stepped off her Raptor after seeing Commander Adama salute his equal.
She walked forward and looked him straight in the eye, and he saluted sharply, she returned it, and Commander Adama addressed her formally as well as Rebecca, "Admiral Cain and Commander Cain, welcome aboard the Galactica."
Admiral Cain began to smile, and extended her hand and shook his firmly, impressed with meeting a tried and proven war hero. "Commander Adama, it's an honor." She looked at Colonel Tigh, "Colonel, put your men at ease."
Saul complied, "At ease," and everyone clasped their hands behind their backs.
Commander Adama continued, "Allow me to present to you, the president of the Colonies, Laura Roslin," Rebecca blinked, and looked surprised, having met Laura Roslin a couple of times in the past, she became President? Ken wasn't too sure he heard that correctly either and furrowed his brows, but the President conceded to their doubts, the Admiral didn't look convinced at all with the expression she wore, she smiled, "It's a long story, welcome."
Admiral Cain shook her hand, "Madam President, a pleasure." She then looked further to the left, and there was Gaius Baltar, she blinked surprised, "Doctor Baltar?"
He smiled enjoying the recognition, "Yes," and shook her hand with a smile, "It's good to see you." She replied. She then raised her voice, and looked around as she spoke, "On behalf of the officers and crew of the Pegasus and Ulysses, it's a pleasure to see all of you, welcome back to the Colonial fleet."
The deck erupted into thunderous cheers and applause, and Rebecca approached the President, who shook her hand and embraced her in friendship, "It's wonderful to meet you again Commander," Rebecca nodded with a smile, "Ma'am, the pleasure is all mine,"
Rebecca then shook Commander Adama's hand next in turn, "Good to see you again Rebecca," he said with a smile then he looked to the Admiral, "Sorry for all this..." and smiled
She smiled back, "No it's so good to see you," Rebecca couldn't believe it, she felt her fears and doubts being chased away from handshakes and pats on the back as the crew mingled. For the first time in months, she felt human again, but those enjoyable sensations faded quickly knowing what the Admiral had in store for these people. She only hoped Ken would find something damning before Admiral Cain acted.
Val wasted no time and met every person he could, smiling and laughing, then he shook the hand of an attractive blonde officer, "Captain Val Bonen, CAG, Ulysses," She shook his hand, looking him over appraisingly, "Kara Thrace, tell me your story sometime," and she walked off leaving him smirking, he waved to Narcho who was talking to three female officers, he chuckled looking around the deck, and noticed the big wigs were nowhere to be seen, he shrugged then continued to mingle with the pilots, he finally met the CAG of the Galactica.
"Captain Lee Adama, call sign Apollo," Val blinked shaking his hand, "The Commanders son?"
He nodded, "That's right, something wrong?"
Val shrugged, "No it's funny, just, Admiral Cain and Commander Cain, heh, you know what, forget it"
Lee smirked, "Fair enough"
Val crossed his arms, "Hey Apollo, I have a question for you."
Lee raised his eyebrows then shrugged, "Sure, shoot."
Val rubbed his chin, "If I wanted to find out if someone was still alive in the fleet, how would I go about doing that?"
Lee rested his left hand on his hip then furrowed his brows, collecting that particular information, "Well you can, submit the persons profile and picture to the civil defence office, which would be on Colonial one, then the information is transmitted through the fleet to every ship's Captain," He saw the look Val's eyes and sighed slightly, "Tell you what, give the information to me, you're a CAG so the priority will be higher than others, I can run this by to the Colonial one on my next trip there, being the military advisor to the President has its benefits."
Val was relieved, and smiled broadly slapping Apollo's bicep, "You're full of surprises Adama, I owe you one."
Lee smiled slightly and shrugged, "Don't think I won't hold you to it."
Val chuckled, "Wouldn't have it any other way, and guess what, I came prepared," Val pulled out all the information about his daughter, social security number, age, six years, Colony, Tauron, her full name, Cassandra Val Bonen, Val's own full name was Mathew Val Bonen, but he never liked his first name, and so never used it, and it slowly faded away over time.
Apollo wasn't expecting him to have the information on hand, he looked over it, "Yeah, I'll look into it Val, I don't have any kid's myself but, I can imagine," He looked at the photo of Samantha, only six years old, red mahogany hair with piercing green eyes courtesy of Val, "Beautiful girl you have there."
Val nodded, "She's all I have left, and I have this mad hope she's still alive."
Apollo nodded, "Don't worry I'll look into it ok?"
Val nodded, "Thanks, let's go check out what Narcho is up to."
Lee looked over, "Uh, sure." And they walked over.
The four of them sat around Commander Adama's table in his quarters, and Rebecca rose to admire his art, "You have good taste in art Commander, Monclair originals are exceptionally rare and difficult to obtain. I didn't know you were a collector."
He nodded, "A gift from my wife before the attacks, I heard you were quite an art collector yourself," he then lifted the glass stopper from the bottle of alcohol sitting in the middle of the table, and poured them all a drink.
Rebecca sat back down and they lifted their glasses, "To the twelve Colonies," The Admiral said with a grin, clinking her glass to everyone else's in turn, then they took a drink, the fiery liquid felt strange and burned warmly in Rebecca's chest, a feeling she had forgotten during their six month struggle of survival.
Admiral Cain let out a small grunt; she tipped the glass, "Good stuff."
And Rebecca agreed, "It's been months since we've had any alcohol."
Commander Adama smirked, "One of my last bottles."
The President couldn't contain her curiosity any longer, "Admiral, Commander, I'm fairly burning with questions I hope you don't mind if I just dive in."
The Admiral nodded, "Please."
Rebecca tilted her head slightly, "Of course."
She looked at the Admiral "How did you find us?"
She fingered her glass, then answered, "Well we were tracking a Cylon fleet, we were trying to predict their movements which seemed rather random, initially, until we realized they were jumping, to systems with natural resources so, we began to scout those systems ourselves, hoping to carry out hit and run attacks on their fleet, but instead of finding the Cylons, we found you,"
Commander Adama looked at the Admiral, "So you've been attacking their fleet?"
The Admiral nodded then smirked, "Well you know what they say about the best defence," And the Commander nodded, "Hum."
The President asked her next question, "How did you avoid the initial Cylon attack on the Colonies?" The Admiral looked at Rebecca, and then back to the President, having already told Rebecca her story when they first reunited.
"I'll have another if you don't mind," And Commander Adama pulled out the stopper, and poured her another drink.
Down below on the flight deck in the utility room the three Colonels' were drinking the stilled alcohol at the encouragement of Saul Tigh, he said the best stop of the tour was nearby, Ken couldn't believe they allowed a still aboard ship, and Colonel Tigh and Fisk didn't seem to mind at all.
'He must be an alcoholic,' he thought bluntly, but he liked Saul, he would make an amusing drinking companion he was sure. He handed Ken another full glass, and he tried to refuse, Saul raised his eyebrows, "You could use another one of these believe me, Galactica's finest."
He looked at the waiting face of Saul, holding out the metal cup, 'what the hell' Ken took it, raising it to his lips.
"There you go, cheers," And the three threw back the cheaply made liquid, 'Galactica's finest huh, not too bad,' and Ken enjoyed the company.
Fisk thanked Saul, "This beats the hell out of the nickel tour thank you," Saul sat down next to Ken and leaned an elbow on the table before taking a sip, Fisk guffawed, "I can't believe the Cylons didn't kick your ass up one side and down the other in this bucket."
Ken glanced at Jack, a smirk forming on his face as Saul took offense, and stood up, Fisk realized his mistake, "Sorry... sorry no one gets to insult your ship but you."
Saul looked at him gravely, "Your God's damned right," and he walked closer to the still tap, Ken looked between them, and Saul pointed a finger at Fisk, "And just for that, you have to skip this round," All three men burst out in laughter, and clanked their cups together.
The Admiral began to recite her story to Commander Adama and the President, Rebecca took another sip, listening, "We were docking at Scorpion fleet ship yards, we were getting ready to go in for a three month overhaul, most of the crew was getting ready for extended shore leave, and family reunions, XO had the deck. I was down in my quarters wrapping up some paperwork and getting ready to pack up and go home to Tauron."
She looked at the President, "and that's when the Cylons attacked. They hit the shipyard with three, maybe four nukes, five ships, two of them battlestars, they were destroyed right there," she shook her head and Commander Adama looked down, Rebecca closed her eyes and exhaled softly, " luckily, very luckily, uh, the blast blinded, the Cylon DRADIS, so they were unable to determine that we were still intact, but there were, explosions and fires in the launch bays, fuel and ordinance igniting, people screaming," she raised the glass to her lips taking another sip, Commander Adama seemed to share her pain, and he listened, Rebecca was glad she felt the alcohol start to take effect.
"And by the time I got to CIC, I discovered I had lost over seven hundred men," The President looked at her with compassion, "My God's."
The Admiral continued, "We were completely defenceless so I ordered a jump."
The President leaned forward slightly, "to where?", and Rebecca looked between them, Adama looked at Rebecca, the Admiral answered.
"Wherever, nowhere, just jump," she said softly.
"Hmm, a blind jump, you could have ended up anywhere, gutsy call," Adama remarked.
The Admiral shook her head, "No, desperate move, didn't see any other choice."
The President asked another question, "How did you avoid the Cylons infiltrating your computer system?"
The Admiral smiled bitter sweetly with a dark chuckle, "Well, the networks were offline in preparation for the overhaul."
The President looked shocked, and she nodded raising her glass to her mouth, "Yes, Pegasus has always been a rather lucky ship."
Adama raised his glass, "Three lucky ships," and Rebecca drank with them.
The President turned to Rebecca now, "I imagine your own story is just as horrific Commander, and the two of you are related correct?"
Rebecca raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded, "Yes ma'am, Admiral Cain is my aunt, and she was sister to Seraph Cain, my father, who was killed by a pirate."
The president nodded, "I'm sorry for your loss," She didn't feel any pain over his death, she barely knew the man, but she accepted her condolences.
"Thank you madam President," She rested her elbows on the table, the Admiral took another sip of the alcohol, and then set down her glass, looking slightly affected from the fiery substance.
"I'm sure you have uh, have quite a story to tell as well, but I won't make you go through it right this very minute," she stood, and Rebecca and Adama stood, "you can send over your logs, when you get the chance."
Adama complied, "Yes sir." The president looked surprised, and the Admiral noticed her expression.
She looked at her, "Something wrong?"
Laura looked at the Admiral, "No, I sometimes forget the rules of military protocol," Rebecca looked between them, she knew where this was headed, her Aunt wanted control as soon as possible.
Adama answered her, his words sounding forced, "Admiral Cain is, my superior officer, she will take complete command, of the entire fleet."
The Admiral replied, looking at the Commander, "I was wondering how to broach that topic, trust me when I say while the chain of command is strict it is not heartless, and neither am I. This is your ship, and I have no desire, to interfere with Galactica'sinternal affairs."
Commander Adama was hard to read, his face looked passive, and he replied, "I appreciate it Admiral," the President then looked crestfallen.
The Admiral looked at her again, "Madam President you look like I just shot your dog."
She shook her head, "No I just, the Commander and I have been through a lot," and shook her head disarmingly.
A knock was heard at the door, and the presidents aide, Billy Keikeya walked inside, "Excuse me, Madam President."
Laura sat up from the chair, "If you'll all excuse me, Admiral, Commander, I can't tell you enough how much it means to have you here, thank you for finding us," And shook the Admiral's hand, then Rebecca's, and nodded to Commander Adama.
"Madam President," They left and Helena turned to look at Adama, Rebecca was standing near the door.
"The secretary of education?" she asked, still not sure about the apparent lawful succession.
Bill defended her, "She's come a long way," Rebecca was wondering the same thing, but she respected the President's position, and decided she was the one she would go to with the evidence against the Admiral, who tilted her head giving him a small nod, "I'm sure," then took a couple of steps towards the door.
The three officers were plastered, Ken told them some experiences they've been through, and Saul related some of their own experiences, and then looked at Colonel Fisk, "So tell us about, Admiral Cain."
Fisk looked at them both in turn and pointed an index finger at Saul, "officer's discretion."
Ken smirked, and then Saul nodded tilting his cup, "course."
"We were going after what we thought was a little, Cylon com relay, easy target right?" he gestured with his hands, "turns out it wasn't a com relay at all it was a staging area full of fifteen squadrons of Raiders," Ken narrowed his eyes listening as Saul sat up, Fisk having his full attention, "Admiral Cain ordered our XO to, attack, now those two were real close he served with her for years," He leaned in closer, "But here's the thing, he refused the order,"
He said looking right into Saul's eyes, and Ken was stunned, "No frakking way..." Saul said softly, Fisk nodded.
The Admiral made to leave, but Commander Adama had more to say, "There is one other matter, we have a Cylon prisoner aboard this ship."
The Admiral kept a passive face, "Really, we have one on our as well."
Adama continued, "Ours has proven to be an excellent source of intelligence; she's been very co-operative, Vice President, Doctor Baltar, has been working with her."
Helena narrowed her eyes slightly nodding, "Your very lucky, to have him on board," Adama agreed, "Very lucky."
Utility Room.
"What did she do?" Saul asked.
Fisk widened his eyes into a serious expression, "She asked for his gun, shot him in head with it in front of the whole crew." Ken was stunned, so Admiral Cain did shoot Jurgen in the head for disobeying an order. He had to tell Rebecca about this as soon as possible, Saul's own shock was apparent. "And then she turned to me."
Saul nodded to him, "What did you do?"
Fisk tilted his head slightly from side to side, "Well I ordered the frakkin' attack what do you think I did?" Saul shrugged then suddenly he burst out laughing, pointing at Ken then Saul, who in turn stared at him, 'What the frak?' Ken thought and exchanged glances with Saul, "Nah nah I'm just joking, I'm just, I'm just kidding you know?" and laughed more as Saul joined him, and began to fill another cup, Fisk snapped at him, "Hey! Set us up again will ya?"
Ken shook his head as Saul took his glass filling it up, chuckling. Ken knew Fisk "spilt the beans" as Rebecca put it, and tried to cover it up with that sad attempt, and Ken set aside his own cup, suddenly loosing the mood to celebrate. He excused himself, and walked back out onto the hanger deck.
CO's Quarters.
"We haven't been able to get too much from our Cylon, I'd like to set up an appointment with Doctor Baltar as soon as possible."
Adama nodded, "Yes sir."
The Admiral developed a slight smirk as she taunted Adama, and Rebecca didn't like it, "It gives me no pleasure to have to take command Bill, I want you to know that,"
"Don't give it a moment's thought Admiral," she nodded curtly, then looked at Rebecca, "Commander, I'll see you later."
Rebecca saluted standing out of the way, "Sir," and the Admiral left, leaving the two officers alone. Adama took a deep breath, staring hard ahead, and then turned to look at Rebecca, "stay a while, take a seat." Even though they were the same rank, Rebecca felt inclined, and decided to see where the conversation would lead, the only thing's she knew about Adama were just common knowledge, she never actually had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him, something she always wanted, and she sat down.
"Tell me about yourself Rebecca, how did you manage to wind up here with the Admiral?" Where to start, she didn't know, and decided to tell him everything, her real orders from fleet headquarters, and Adama seemed to understand, as if he had been through something similar. "Admiral Corman was always a little too interested in what the Cylon's were up to." He sighed, taking a sip from his glass, "we have to live with our decisions, be constantly reminded of them, every minute of every day, and try to do better the next time. Personally, I tend to go with what you know, until something better turns up."
Rebecca grinned, and took another sip, she felt something strange now sitting with Adama, and she reminded him of a man once who acted like a father before corruption changed him, Rebecca wasn't sure what to think about that, she doesn't even know William Adama, but she felt a strong connection to him. "When we received your message, I thought if you survived we could stand a chance to defend the Colonies, but we arrived too late... if we did-"
Adama interrupted her, "Trying to look back and guess what could have been won't get us anywhere, you did what you had to for your crew, and you did a good job from the sound of it. I know I never faced the things you had too, and considering my own situation, you've done a hell of a job."
Rebecca smiled, and Adama grinned back, "Now that the fleet is back in order, or will be, I'm sure we'll be working together a lot more." He looked her over again, "I remember watching your speech, and you can walk the walk, otherwise, I would've just laughed at ya."
Rebecca smirked letting a soft scoff, then took another sip, "Well, thanks Bill, that's what I've been striving for my whole life."
He nodded, "I can respect that," he looked down again, and Rebecca decided to get personal, "It hurt you when she assumed command didn't it?"
Adama looked at Rebecca, sighing, then answered, "She outranks me, and it's as simple as that," Rebecca looked down, realizing she may have stepped out of line.
"Of course, my mistake, forget I mentioned it, thank you for the drink Bill, I'll have to return the favour one day," He nodded, she saluted to him and opened the door, but there stepped in Colonel Tigh, he looked at Rebecca, then Adama, and saluted.
"Sirs, excuse me for interrupting but, there's something I need to talk to Commander Adama about, in private."
Adama looked at Rebecca, "I was just leaving, excuse me," and she walked out into the hall and made her way down to the hanger deck.
Val chatted with Starbuck, Apollo, Racetrack, Helo, and Narcho, who was flirting with Racetrack. Starbuck was squinting at the painted Raiders on the side of Noel's ship, Val was talking to Helo about how they took down a pirate base.
Starbuck turned pointing her thumb, "Is this a scorecard?" Everyone turned to look at her, "you guy's put scorecards on the side of your ships?"
Racetrack smiled, "Like you don't keep score." Val grinned, looking at Narcho.
"You don't see me painting them on the side like I'm bragging to the whole frakkin' universe," Kara retorted.
Narcho blinked then waved his hand at his ship which was flown by a different pilot to Galactica, "That's forty eight kills right there."
Starbuck wasn't impressed, "Special, you guys have caps and t-shirts too?" The others began to snicker,
Val walked forward backing up Starbuck, "and sixty four for me, sorry I don't have my ship with me to show it off, but, since you're clearly not impressed with Pegasus' top gun I can't wait to hear your rebuke detailing my own apparent inadequacy to fit what, probably in your mind, is a soldier worth giving your respect to."
Starbuck tried to find the words for a quick comeback, but found nothing and pursed her lips glaring at Val, who only smiled at her, and then the others noticed Starbuck being bested, which embarrassed her. They laughed. She shook her head looking away, "Not bad."
Captain Taylor walked up, "Where's the Galactica's CAG?"
Apollo's smile faded slowly under the stern glare of Stinger, "Right here."
Stinger looked at Val, then Apollo, "Let's get the rundown on this squadron of yours Captain," And Lee composed himself as Stinger walked down the deck.
"What crawled up his ass?" Starbuck asked, and Narcho glared at her for a moment.
Apollo clenched his jaw, trying not to laugh, "I'll go see."
Val shook his head, "he's sold on revenge. A lot of us are."
He looked at Starbuck, and she widened her eyes quickly, "So Captain, buy you a drink?"
Val smirked, "you'd be honored, as long as Narcho can come along,"
Starbuck looked at Noel who shrugged, "Be my guest, this way," and he began to follow her.
The Pegasus and Ulysses arrangedbeforehandtosend over spare parts and whatever supplies the Galactica needed, the orders only stated, "For use of Military personal only," Lieutenant Pirelli gave Gaeta new navigational updates and files needed to restore their computer drives. Admiral Cain wanted the Galactica fully resupplied; she had plans already in motion, and it didn't involve helping civilians. She was meeting with Doctor Baltar, making her way back to the flight deck to return to Pegasus, and she sensed the Doctor was not all there. Rebecca found herself walking slowly back to the flight deck, then ran into Adama and the President.
"I've got ships on half rations, and others experiencing mechanical difficulty, and so far, Galacticais the only vessel having its needs met."
The Admiral tried to find common ground, "Pegasus has been, resupplying Galactica from its own reserve for Military operations."
The President pressed her point, "Which I completely support but when will some of these supplies start getting out to the fleet?" She looked away worried, Rebecca wanted to tell them here, but she couldn't find the words.
Adama tried to smooth it over, "Well, Admiral Cain has assured me that those supplies are their way."
The President replied spitefully, "Well, at least she's taking your phone calls I can't get her to answer mine." They came to the ladder leading up to the hanger deck causeway.
"I'll bring it to her attention," Bill said.
The President took a hold of the steps, looking at him with concern, "How you are doing with all this?"
He repeated what he told Rebecca, "She outranks me; it's as simple as that."
Laura smiled slightly, "You know if President Adar stepped off that Raptor, I'd be elated, grateful to have someone take over yet I..."
Adama smirked looking down, then looked back into her eyes, "I don't want to go to the end yet, part, and I've been taking orders my entire career, this no different,"
"Well then Commander thank you, we would appreciate all the help you can give us," She walked up the steps.
Bill softly gave his assurance, "you shall receive it." Then he looked at Rebecca with distrust in his eyes, "excuse me Commander, Admiral Cain wants to see me on Pegasus, to discuss the Cylon fleet. I have a flight to catch." She stood aside then at attention, then sighed, having to follow behind the Admiral to only functioning flight pod.
Val was about to follow Starbuck further down the deck when Commander Cain stepped down the latter, and walked towards the group of pilots, they stood at attention, "Officer on deck!"
Rebecca saluted, "At ease," She looked across the deck to Val, "Captain, let's find our people and head back to the Ulysses."
Val nodded, "Aye sir, they shouldn't have gotten far," He walked over to a station phone, "Paging Lieutenant O'Connor, Colonel Reid, and any other remaining Ulysses Raptor personal, please report to the hanger deck for departure, thank you,"
He hung the phone up then walked back over to Rebecca, Starbuck made an obscene gesture to Val and walked off and then Colonel Reid came up to Val, "Captain, let's go right now."
Val saw his expression and saluted, "Yes sir..." And he saw Blackball climb into the co-pilot chair, and the ECO officer sat in the back. Val strapped in and warmed up the engines; they were guided by a knuckle dragger onto the lift pad, and were raised into the pressure room, finally stopping overlooking the landing deck.
Val spoke into his headset, "Raptor one one nine Galactica, requesting clearance on return flight to Ulysses"
"Roger Raptor one one nine, clearance granted, safe flight."
"Copy Galactica, Raptor one one nine out," Val said, ending the chatter.
Ken couldn't keep it to himself anymore, "Fisk admitted he saw the Admiral shoot Jurgen!" He said trying to keep his voice lowered, but the whole Raptor crew heard it, Rebecca decided it was time to put trust in her men.
"We'll bring this to the President as soon as were able, we just need to make sure the Ulysses is secure." Ken nodded, and the Raptor passed several civilian ships on its way home.
Now back in the safety of her own ship, Rebecca wasted no time getting to CIC, the Major was standing watch, and upon seeing Rebecca she saluted and stepped aside, "Sir, welcome back."
Rebecca nodded, "I want to be put through to the President right away."
The Major nodded, "Aye sir, I'll open a secure priority channel."
Colonial One.
Laura was very worried with where the situation with Admiral Cain was heading, she still wouldn't answer any calls, and was refusing any kind of meeting. She sat in one of the comfortable row seats, looking out the passenger window at the battlestars, 'this is going to be ugly, may the Lord's of Kobol give me strength.'
Her thoughts were disturbed when Billy coughed softly, "Madam President, Commander Cain is asking to speak with you, she says it's urgent."
Laura blinked surprised, then got up and moved to her desk, taking a seat, she reached for her phone and picked it up, "Go ahead sir."
Laura cleared her throat, "Hello Commander, I wasn't expecting this, is everything alright?" She placed her left arm on the chairs armrest, and looked to Billy.
"Madam President, thank you for taking my call. I have no choice but to inform you, I have evidence concerning Admiral Cain in her involvement with the murder of former Pegasus XO Jurgen Belzan, and for stripping essential equipment and supplies from a defenceless civilian fleet."
The President was shocked, but then realized it was just like her, her cold nature was something she detected early on, "These are serious claims Commander. I'd like to speak with you as soon as possible."
Rebecca continued, "There's more Madam President, I have strong reason to believe she will try the same with this fleet."
Laura closed her eyes and nodded, 'so, she will try to strip the fleet,' "Thank you for bringing this to my attention Commander, you telling me this has proven your loyalty to the twelve Colonies."
Rebecca replied, not sounding defensive, "I've always been loyal Madam President, and I have to draw a line, even if she is family, I cannot serve under someone who murders innocent men and woman, even if she thought the end justified the means."
'This woman is an idealist,' Laura thought, 'she would rather die than compromise her beliefs, and turn against her own family to uphold them, I think she can be trusted,' "I understand Commander, you should talk with Commander Adama right away, he won't let the Admiral try such a thing if that is her plan as you say."
Rebecca recalled Bill telling her he was on his way to Pegasus, "He's on the flagship at the moment. I'll have to wait."
The President paused, "Then when he returns we'll discuss these charges, and plan a course of action, which hopefully won't lead to a civil war."
Rebecca replied, "Don't worry Madam President, I'll make sure it won't come to that,"
"I'll speak to you again shortly Commander, again you have my sincerest gratitude," Rebecca replied appreciatively, "It's my honor Madam President," And hung up the phone.
Laura looked at Billy, "The Admiral's niece won't tolerate the Admirals machinations any more, she gave her up and has risked everything doing so."
Billy rubbed his chin, "But she's her Aunt, she says these things now but if the Galactica challenges the Pegasus whose side will she take?"
Laura folded her hands onto her lap, "I think she is like Commander Adama, and would never betray her oaths and sworn duties, she knows where her loyalties really lie, unlike her Aunt, who seems more interested in fighting then surviving."
Billy shook his head, "I don't know if I could turn on my brother, or my father, over a belief."
The President sighed slightly, "We'll have to wait and see, and trust her judgement," Billy didn't look so confident, and then began handed her new ship reports to review.
BattlestarUlysses, CIC.
Rebecca had to force herself to say the things she did, but it was who she was, and the crew inclined to agree with their Commanders frame of mind, "Keep trying to contact Commander Adama on the Galactica every fifteen minutes."
The Major did as ordered, and an hour passed, "Signal from the flagship sir, Admiral Cain on the line. "
Rebecca steadied herself, "Ulysses actual here, go ahead."
Helena's voice was hard, she spoke quickly, "Lieutenant Thorne has been murdered by two Galactica crewmen, and I'm going to execute them. If Adama tries anything, you know what to do," and she slammed the phone down loudly.
Rebecca's hand shook as she hung her own phone back into place, "Keep formation, but move us onto the Pegasus' left flank."
The Major nodded to the new helmsman, Ensign Dallas, "Aye sir, speed six five one, heading, carom nine five point three one two, steady as she goes."
Ken wasn't sure what Rebecca had in mind, but he kept his opinion to himself, for now, "Sir, we are on the left flank of Pegasus at steady cruising speeds, setting to autopilot," reported Ensign Dallas.
Rebecca crossed her arms, and then the Major turned around, looking at Rebecca, "Sir, Galactica is launching Vipers and a Raptor, they are en route to the Pegasus."
This was it, the time to make her choice, where did her loyalty really lie, and she made her decision, and as Bill told her, you have to live with the choices you make. "Warm up all weapon systems, and target the main battery for Pegasus, launch Alert Vipers." Rebecca looked down, and whispered, "Forgive me..."
Ken repeated the orders, making sure the crew got to the task at hand, "Sir, our fighters are closing on Pegasus alert Vipers, they are requesting instruction," Rebecca couldn't give the order, and Ken stepped in for her, "Do not fire unless fired upon," The Major relayed the orders.
Val flew directly into their formation, playing chicken with many enemy craft, daring them to open fire first, but it frustrated Val, these were supposed to be their allies. He came up behind Narcho, and he flipped over to face Val, he shook his head, and Val broke away, chasing down a different target.
"Raven to Ulysses, it's a mess out here, Vipers are everywhere, it's going to get out of control any second," Val got no answer, and cursed loudly, suddenly, an enemy contact appeared on DRADIS.
"All Ulysses Vipers there's a Cylon Raider coming straight at you, your orders are to engage and destroy." 'What the frak, a Cylon Raider? "Full power; break left form up on me!"
"Roger that Raven." Dozens of Vipers formed up and flew toward the target; suddenly a frantic female voice filled the wireless, "Starbuck to all Vipers to do not fire! Repeat, do not fire! I'm a friendly, ok? Were all friendly's, so let's just, be friendly!"
Val couldn't believe it, 'Starbuck, where the hell did you come from?' "Raven to alert Vipers, stand down, she's with us."
BattlestarUlysses, CIC.
Rebecca was certain it was an enemy fighter, but it turned out to be a saviour in disguise, "That pilot just averted disaster," Ken couldn't argue, and he leaned on the console shaking his head.
The Major turned to face the Commander, "Sir, the President has requested your presence on Colonial One, the Admiral and Commander Adama are meeting," Rebecca couldn't believe the Admiral stood down, she was convinced she would fight to the death, the pilot from the stealth ship must have had something to do with it.
"Prep a Raptor for me; I'm going to Colonial One."
Ken nodded, "Be careful, we got your back."
She nodded with a small grin, "Hey, it's me," He smirked, then watched her leave combat.
Colonial One neutral ground.
The president stood overlooking the seated officers before her, her arms crossed, and spoke with a set voice as she tried to open their eyes, "Let's start by admitting an ugly truth, what happened out there today was the result of failure in leadership of everyone in this room, we are the leaders of this fleet, as such we need to set an example, we cannot continue to let the conflicts between us-"
The Admiral loudly cut her off and flared her hands looking up at her. Rebecca turned her head to listen, "Let's just cut through the handholding shall we, two of his men murdered one of my officers while protecting a Cylon, their guilty, they admitted it. Under regulations I have complete authority to try convict and sentence them, and you and I both know, that the penalty for that crime, is death."
Rebecca shook her head, and the President tried to advise the warrior, "Admiral surely, the spirit of the law requires something more here than summary executions."
She tilted her head while resting her elbows on her knees, and snapped loudly at them, "Is this what the two of you have been doing for the past six months? Debating the finer points of Colonial law? Well guess what were at war! Rebecca and I have been fighting the Cylons for months, and we don't have the luxury of academic debate over these issues!"
The President looked at Rebecca, "The Commander is not involved in this affair."
The Admiral spun her head quickly to face Rebecca who sat two seats aside from her, "Like hell she isn't involved, she will be tried for treason after this."
The President was shocked; she would kill her only surviving family member? Rebecca faltered under her cruel glare, and the president continued. "You want to cut through it fine, you have Pegasus, he has Galactica, and Commander Cain has Ulysses, three heavily armed and powerful warships, now I'm sure Pegasus would prevail in any fight."
Adama grunted his objection, "I wouldn't count on that," the President gave him a please grow up look, and then set her eyes back on the Admiral, then Rebecca.
"But certainly, there would be heavy damage, and you'd take significant casualties, so you can go out there and fight it out or you can compromise, and those are the only two options on the table, period."
The Admiral rose in frustration, then turned to look down at Rebecca, "How the three of you have survived for this long I will never know," Rebecca felt a familiar crushing pressure in her chest, she didn't give a damn about her now. "Alright, Lieutenant Thrace has sent me detailed recon information on the Cylon fleet, I want that fleet, and I need the Ulysses and Galactica to get it, so I'm willing to go this far, I'll suspend the executions until after the attack."
Adama muttered his discontent, "I want them back on Galactica."
The Admiral snapped her gaze on him, "I don't give a damn what you want! You're frakking lucky you're not staring at your own warrant!"
Adama glared at her dangerously, and she looked at Rebecca now, "And you, how could you side with a school teacher?"
Rebecca stood, and then looked directly into Helena's eyes, "It was an easy choice, Admiral, I know where my loyalties lie, and I won't stand by and let you use Lieutenant Thorne's death and these two men as an excuse to convince me destroy Galactica and strip this fleet, leaving the last of mankind to die while we fight a futile battle. We can't hope to prevail against a Cylon armada, your plans will guarantee one thing, and it isn't victory."
Helena's left eye twitched, and she narrowed them at Rebecca, "So be it," She stiffly turned, clearly stung from her nieces defiance, and the President looked between the two woman before standing, and speaking coolly.
"The destruction of the Cylon fleet will take priority over all other considerations, after that we will meet back here and we will resolve this issue, thank you," Helena developed a venomous glare, and turned staring down Adama as she walked by, then stopped, and looked back at Rebecca, she looked down, then kept walking leaving the compartment. Rebecca realized the Admiral was having a last look of her, and she felt weak in the knee's fell back into her seat.
The president stood in front of her desk, looking at the two officers who were miles away in thought, and clasped her hands behind her back. She sat down next to Rebecca, across from Adama, and she decided she had to trust Rebecca now after seeing first hand her unwillingness to betray the articles.
"I'm afraid this can only end one way, you've got to kill her," She whispered, Rebecca blinked, then folded he arms across her chest, 'what?' and Adama looked across to her, and asked the exact same thing Rebecca was thinking.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
The president waved her hand, "Like she said, let's cut through it, the three of you, were willing to go to war today, do you really think she is going to step down from that? She's going to buy her time, and hit you the first chance she gets that's a given."
She looked from Rebecca to Adama, "I hate to lay this on you both, but she's dangerous, and the only thing you can do is hit her before she hits you." Rebecca couldn't believe it; the President was telling them to assassinate the Admiral? Suddenly Rebecca felt scared, they were talking about killing her aunt.
"Madam President I-"
Laura stood and looked at Rebecca, "You of all people Commander, should understand why this has to be done."
Rebecca sat forward, then rubbed her eyes, "there has to be a better way."
Laura didn't reply, but Adama did, "Were not assassins."
The President looked at them both in turn with a slight scoff and stood from her seat, "No, you're right, neither of you are assassins, you are Colonial officers, who have taken an oath to protect this fleet," Rebecca didn't recall taking any such oaths, but the President tilted her head to look at her, "You took the oath when you took a stand, and for that I am grateful Commander, you are the key to this crisis, once she has eliminated the Galactica there would have been no one else to stop her, and you already know what she would do to the civilian fleet once that's been accomplished." She lowered her voice to a hushed tone, "You know I'm right, neither of you want to face it," deciding he has had enough; Bill stood, and then looked at the President who expected him to admit it.
Instead he sighed, and then started to walk towards the exit, "Has the whole world gone mad?" he mumbled and walked through the doors to the next compartment, leaving the two women alone.
Laura sat down in Williams's seat, "Maybe he is right, but he knows it has to be done, I also know she is your aunt, and there is nothing harder than having to fight a loved one over your beliefs, for that you have my deepest sympathy. But trust me Commander when I say that this is bigger than the Admiral, this is about the long term survival of the human race, and that is what we've been fighting for every day since the attack, we have to look beyond ourselves and see the whole picture."
Rebecca ran a hand through her soft hair, and closed her eyes, "I was away on mission when the attacks began, and there was nothing I could do to help, we nearly died ourselves, many times over the months. I owe my life to my aunt. So yes, saying this will be hard is an understatement."
Laura nodded, "There is one good thing that has come out of this."
Rebecca sniffed softly, "What's that?"
Laura raised her eyebrows slightly, then replied, "Knowing a person's worth can make the difference between life and death, and in this case, you proving yourself to us, you have earned my respect Commander."
Despite the nightmare at hand, Rebecca felt a burst of pride, hearing those things from the President was a great honor, "You flatter me Madam President, you can count on me."
She nodded, "I know I can Rebecca, you and Commander Adama are more alike then you know, thank you for coming today, I'm sure you have a lot of work ahead of you to organize this attack," 'Not only do I have to be forced to watch my aunt be assassinated, and do nothing about it, but help plan a massive op. Funny, she is saying these thing's to try and keep me placated so I won't have any second thoughts about their plan, she is one clever woman I'll give her that.'
Rebecca rose, and saluted, "Madam President."
She nodded; "Commander, take care, until our next meeting," Rebecca let the corners of her mouth smile, and turned walking out of the compartment and down to the flight deck.
Val looked at the nervous faces of the pilots in front of him, everyone knew how close they came to a civil war. "Alright guys, keep it cool, the Commander went to meet with the Admiral and Commander Adama to talk with the President, we'll sit tight for now, but in the meantime the Colonel wants a strong CAP present at all times until the situation is defused, also I made some pilot rotation changes to the schedule, so you'll want to check it out." He looked around the ready room, Blackball was taking notes, "Look, I know your all thinking the same thing, but the Commander knows what she's doing, we'll all come out of this looking like rock stars, we've done it before, and we sure as hell can do it again, that's all for now, look lively." Everyone stood at attention, and Val quickly gathered his metal binder, "Dismissed," the room emptied in good order, and Val walked over to one of the unoccupied pilot seats, and used a space on the desk to work.
He opened up the binder, looking over normal day to day paper work. "Paging Captain Bonen, Captain Bonen please report to CIC," Val sighed, hearing his name called over the ship speakers, then left his work and made his way to combat.
Rebecca and Ken were standing close together, talking quietly. Val kept a respectful distance standing at attention, "Captain Bonen reporting as ordered sir."
The two officers looked at Val, "Captain Thrace, the new CAG of Pegasus is working on the op, and I want you to help her," things were getting stranger by the minute, Starbuck was promoted? 'What the hell?'
Val only crossed his arms, "Understood sir, I'll call up a flight to Pegasus right away."
Ken glanced at him, "The recon Raptor's we sent out a couple of hours ago have reported back, and it seems the fleet's size has doubled. There are four baseships now, and at least twice the amount of fighter escort not counting the baseships own Raider forces."
'Four basestars? This is going to be nasty,' Val thought, then saluted. "Aye sir, we'll figure out a plan," Rebecca nodded; Val then walked out of combat down to the hanger deck.
Rebecca told Ken about the "plan" beforehand, and he could still not believe it, the President? "God's, this is going to be a nightmare," He remembered saying, now standing next to his friend and comrade. "What is going to happen after the attack?"
Rebecca sighed, "A man said to me, go with what you know, until something better turns up."
Ken looked down shaking his head, "I get it."
Rebecca gave her orders, "Make sure our squadron commanders get their men ready, and we'll give them the briefings when Captain Thrace and her team come up with a plan," Ken nodded, then they tried to keep themselves busy.
It felt like the same ship, but the corridors were a different shape and size, but Val found his way to the pilot ready room, guessing Starbuck was in there trying to plan the attack, and he was right on the money, he walked in and stopped, "You've come a long way Captain, I hear your working on a plan."
Starbuck smirked, "Ah, look who has walked into my ready room, Mr. Fantastic, sorry for not rolling out the red carpet, I don't like to kiss ass."
Val wasn't prepared for that, "I'll just take that as, I could use some help."
Kara snorted, and then planted a foot on the desk; Val smirked dryly, and then set down his duffel onto the desk, "What have you got so far?"
Val sat one seat away from her, Kara sniffed then looked down, "There's too many angles for failure, the escort fighters are the ones we need to get rid of to pull this off, from the simulations the Resurrection ship just jumps away."
Val tried going over different scenarios with her but they were getting nowhere, Val slumped into a chair, and Kara tapped a pen against her lips. "The CAG's work is never done."
Kara looked up, "Hi, how you doin'?" Val looked over, and then watched the exchange.
Lee walked over with his arms crossed and stood on the other side leaning against a desk, "Oh you mean apart from being demoted, finding myself working for one of my pilots," He shrugged and chuckled dryly, "Great, never better."
Kara looked at him, "You know I had nothing to do with that right?"
He replied, "Never thought you did."
Val could see the tension between those two, and he rubbed his eyes, and Apollo spoke up remembering something, "I uh, just checked up on Helo and Tyrol, their hanging tight for now."
Kara nodded, "Good." She sighed, rubbing her temple, "Help us plan this op, I've been staring at this roster..."
Lee furrowed his brows, "You just want to carry on, like nothing's happened?" She looked at him, "Lee she's in Command, what do you want to do? There's nothing we can do."
Val sat up, "Apollo," Lee nodded to him; "well, let's get to work guys." And the three huddled and began to form their attack plan.
Rebecca got the call when the plan was formulated, and she left Ulysses with Colonel Reid to Galactica, the officers of the fleet gathered, and listened to Starbucks plan, but Rebecca couldn't keep her eyes off Kendra. "Our primary objective is a vessel named Resurrection by the Cylons who have been following us through this sector." Val was pushing the models in unison as they spoke, "We will wait in this system here and appear to be conducting mining operations, when the Cylons launch their Raiders Galacticaand most of the civilians will jump away, a small group of civilians will be left behind."
Lee added, "To the Cylons they will appear to be having difficulties with their FTL drives, and attempting to escape at sub-light speed."
"The Cylon Raiders pursue the civilian decoys pulling the Raiders farther away from the Cylon basestars as they can," Kara said
Lee continued, "Once the Raiders have been drawn off by the decoys, Galactica, Pegasus and Ulysses, will jump in and attack the basestars, while I jump in, in the Blackbird stealth fighter, to take out the FTL drives on the Resurrection ship preventing it from jumping away."
Colonel Tigh interrupted, "Why not have the stealth ship carry nukes and destroy it right from the start?"'
Val answered, "During simulations the Cylons detected the nukes and destroyed the Blackbird before entering weapons range, when the FTL drives are gone, the battlestars will take on the basestars, and our attack squadrons will go take care of the Resurrection ship."
Colonel Tigh looked at Val, "How many Squadrons?"
Val replied, "We'll need every plane on the line."
The Admiral turned her gaze upon Adama, and he settled his own cold stare onto her, and the two glared at each other hatefully, "Is there a problem Commander?" Helena asked.
Bill looked down, "I need time to study the operational details"
Helena didn't care, "Suit yourself, I've gone over the details and I'm satisfied."
She began to walk towards the exit hatch, but Adama raised his voice, "I want your CAG to stay and help me, answer some of my questions,"
The Admiral looked at Kara, "One hour Thrace."
She nodded, "Yes sir."
Rebecca watched her leave, and then looked over the operations table, "The plan looks solid. I'm satisfied with it. Captain, you're returning back to Ulysses with us to brief the pilots."
Val saluted, "Aye, sir."
Rebecca approached Commander Adama, Colonel Tigh wore his mistrust of her on his sleeve. "Commander, I just wanted to say, good luck."
Bill nodded, "Rebecca," Kendra was on her way out, and Rebecca tried to talk to her, she caught up to her in the hall.
"Captain, how are you?" Kendra looked at her as they walked side by side, not answering right away,
"Busy sir, please excuse me," And Rebecca slapped herself mentally, Captain Bonen walked up beside Rebecca following Ken.
"Make sure everything is ready for the attack tomorrow," The Colonel and Captain voiced their agreement, and they made their way down to the hanger deck to fly home.
Rebecca lay restless in her comfortable bed aboard Ulysses, how tomorrow would end she didn't know, and Kendra still seemed to despise her, but maybe it was just the wrong time. Not being able to sleep, she decided to open her heavily outdated log book, and she stayed up recording all her thoughts and experiences she went through over the months, until the time came for her to get ready, she prayed for guidance. Reaching into her secret black box, which was a small wooden container, in it contained small statues of Aurora, Goddess of the dawn, and Ares, God of war; she pressed them to her lips and asked for direction, but no one answered back.
