I tilted my head and stared at the DRADIS screens above the rectangular information management table. We had to wait a moment as DRADIS swept the region. After a breath of anticipation, the DRADIS display came alive with multiple blips scattered around a central large red dot. After another moment, the large red dot flickered to blue as the Galactica's IFF was read. There were three other large blips on the display that stayed red. The computer registered them as 'CYLON BASESTAR OR EQUIVALENT.' Everything on the DRADIS display worried me.
My brain racked and stacked the information being provided to me. I needed to act. This was the one scenario I didn't consider. I was counting on two Basestars, not three. I was counting on the Galactica to either be gone or in the gas giant. Right then I realized that my fear was coming true: my battle experience and management abilities would get everyone killed. I heard Stevens, "Computer has acquired our new positions relative to Basestar 1 and 2 and has begun first computational calculation for jump one. Time to maneuver: 16 seconds."
"What do we do Commander? Mission planning was for two base ships, not three," informed Marks. I knew he was right. I refused to get us killed. My brain had to think. My first instinct was to call Galactica. "7 seconds till jump."
"Hold count," I ordered. Stevens, who sat across from his station at the C3 interface, pressed a few commands and I noticed the countdown was held. On one of the displays above the table, the countdown flashed and stayed at 00:07:64. "James, open a channel to the Galactica."
James was busy holding his headset with one hand and attempting to call the Galactica on the other. "Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar Galactica, this is the Colonial Battle Cruiser Craton, come in please."
Just as he transmitted, we all heard the tone of a blip disappearing from the DRADIS screen. I looked up and saw the Galactica was gone. "Report!" I yelled.
Marks was at the tactical station with Stevens (who was running back and forth from the C³ station). "They jumped," reported Marks. "What do you want to do Commander?" I hesitated."Cylon Raiders have acquired us and are moving to intercept," informed Stevens. "Base ships are moving to weapon's range."
"Commander, what do you want us to do?" asked Marks again. "Commander?" I stared at the screens. All I knew how to do was retreat. "RYAN!"
"Ryan!" yelled Thrace. "What do you want to do?" We were well into our fifth month of Pilot Training. Kara and I got the last two Viper slots. We were assigned to the 9th Viper Training Squadron. We all wore 9VTS patches on our shoulders. We knew everything about the Mark VII, thanks to my study habits. And we were the new hotshots in battle training thanks to Kara's out of the box thinking. At the time, we were in a battle simulation with our instructors. They were flying Vipers painted white. I learned later why they used various paint schemes during training. Our first battle simulation was with white enemy Vipers to help us distinguish them from the background of space. As the weeks went on, they would change to gray and then all black. We had passed our battle training class, and Viper battle maneuver tests, and now we were finally in Battle Simulation One; flying through an asteroid field created by a failed planet at the outer edge of the system. When I thought about it, that was the farthest I had ever been from home.
I was scared. I had flown the mark seven in atmospheres and finished battle maneuvers in orbit of Picon, but now I was in a small place, with a helmet around my head, rocks the size of houses zooming by me, and no safe heaven insight. It took Kara yelling at me to get my attention. "What do you want to do? If you want to call it quits let me know now!"
I knew this was important to her. All I wanted was to go back to the Triton and get back in my rack. But winning our first Battle Sim was important to her. She needed to win the exercise to maintain her hotshot status. She was a showoff, I wasn't. I asked myself 'what would my father do?' I knew the answer. He would sacrifice himself for the greater good because it was expected of him. "I'm good Kara." I breathed deep. "Let's press on." I began to think logically. It helped me get over my fear. "I studied every Battle Sim One debrief."
"I thought those were confidential until you were done with the sim?" interrupted Thrace. She maneuvered alongside me in her Viper so we could see one another. I figured she knew if I saw her face, I would calm down.
We both dodged an asteroid. "I took a page from your book and hacked in. I've always had a knack for computers."
I heard her chuckle, "Good to see I'm making an impression."
"The debriefs showed every engagement ending pretty much the same way. One instructor would hide in the thick of the field, while the other one would get our attention. They would lure the students deep into the field until the hidden instructor would get the jump on them. The lesson for the mission was always: Don't fall for the trap."
"Did it end any other way?"
"The students who didn't fall for the trap didn't win the sim, it just got marked as a: PASS." I looked over and saw her smile. "Let me guess, you want to win?"
She laughed. "You bet."
"How?"
"We spring the trap, but keep our options open." She smiled and began playing with her Viper. We looked for the white enemy ship. DRADIS was useless. Our mission clock only had an hour left.
I walked over to the C3 interface computer and brought up the mission program. "We have the advantage. We engage as planned, minus a slight modification." I typed quickly adding to the mission program. "Mr. James, inform Sierra they have a new target. And tell them CMS will be down until they jump to the rendezvous." He did as ordered. I finished the program and walked back to Command and Control. I looked up at the clock, and couldn't help but notice the red Cylon blips heading towards us. "Steven's resume count."
"Sierra acknowledges change in orders," informed Petty Officer James.
"Count resumed," informed Stevens. The clock jumped from 7 seconds to 4 and counted down.
"Why will the CMS be down?" asked Marks.
Stevens spoke out loud. "Jump in four, three, two, one." My stomach lurched. We disappeared and reappeared. DRADIS swept the region again. A moment of pause passed. The Craton, Deacon, and Sierra, were all adjacent to Basestar's 1, 2, and 3 (respectively). No one had time to react. The jump clock had reset to 21 and was counting down. Simultaneously, we heard and felt the batteries firing. Every time the Main Forward Battery would fire, the ship would momentarily stutter. "We are well away from the Raiders, next to the Basestar. The Point Defense Guns are still standing by for the Cylon's to acquire us."
"I think we just outsmarted a machine," stated Marks looking up at the DRADIS and jump clock.
"Deacon and Sierra report missile package Alpha has fired and all missiles have hit the Basestars," informed James with a smile.
"Cylons Raiders will be on us in fifteen seconds," informed Stevens. That made since because Basestar 1 was closest to all three Raider Wings. Hopefully the Raptors would be okay. I looked over at the Weapon's station and saw the Point Defense Guns had kicked on and were taking out the Raiders and their missiles. "Basestar's have reacquired the Craton, Deacon and Sierra. Jump in five, four, three, two, base ships launching missiles!"
I watched the clock hit zero, and felt my stomach turn upside down. When it stopped, I knew the next jump would bring up my breakfast. I looked up at the clock. My first concern were the Raptors. They were sitting ducks during the operation, and were at the mercy of their FTL's spooling. The Cylon's were surprised by our first jump, but I didn't doubt they would be a little quicker responding to the second jump. The jump clock had a countdown of thirty six seconds. Next I looked at DRADIS. I saw we were on the far side of the base ships. I heard the batteries doing their jobs and saw the guns were beginning to track new Raider targets. I looked over to James.
"Deacon and Sierra report package Bravo is away," reported James. I looked back up at DRADIS and watched the Basestar blips. I held my breath, as did my XO.
"Base ships have reacquired the Craton and Sierra, they are still tracking on Deacon," informed Stevens.
I looked at the weapons display and saw the guns were firing. I looked back at DRADIS and saw the DRADIS sweep had scattered all the blips. I knew it was radiological interference. We all held our breaths again until the radiation dissipated and we could see. The nukes blinded our DRADIS. The jump clock paused at fifteen seconds. That made since because the C³ needed the DRADIS to calculate the Raptor's positions. After a few moments, the sweep acquired all contacts. All three Basestars were still there. Frak!
"Sir, Deacon 1 is reporting the nukes hit the Basestars spires. The base ships are crippled, but not destroyed," informed James.
"Tell Deacon and Sierra to move out of the Cylon's weapon's range. Fly into the eye of the storm if they have too," I ordered. The ship rocked, and sparks flew as an overhead light bulb exploded. I looked at Damage Control and noticed the Chief giving me a thumb up. I could only guess at the time that a missile must have gotten through. I looked up at the clock: 00:08:21.
"Cylon virus detected!" I heard Steven's yell. I looked over to the C³ station and saw the green network status start flashing red. I knew the Cylons were attempting to get past the first firewall. From the look of the status screen they were doing it fast. Too fast! "First firewall cracked, they are working on the second."
I looked up at the count. The seconds seemed like hours. Three. I looked at Damage Control and saw the chief dispatching the repair teams to Sublight Engine Pod Six. Two. I looked at DRADIS and saw the remaining base ships coming towards the Craton. One. I saw two of our Raptors disappear next to several Cylon Raiders. Zero.
"Raptors are away!" informed Marks. "We lost Deacon 3 and 4."
"Stevens, activate CMS. Weapons!" I yelled over the alarm and conversations in the room. "Order all batteries to switch to salvo fire. Target Basestar 1's center axis." I looked over at the network status. The Cylon's were still hacking at the firewall. The Craton jolted as all the batteries fired at once in the same direction. The result surprised me. Basestar 1 disappeared from DRADIS.
"CMS is broadcasting and Basestar 1 has been destroyed." informed Stevens.
Marks noticed the difference before I did. He was staring at DRADIS when he said, "The Raiders, they're confused. Why did you wait to activate it?" I looked at him as he spoke, then back to DRADIS. I saw what he meant. All the Raiders hesitated.
Then I remembered he asked me a question twice. "For the CMS to work, it has to jam all targets, or an enemy can just rely on relay information from the unaffected DRADIS. The third Basestar was too far out to jam. I didn't want to show that card yet." This was when I wished I had been able to program another jump. Instead I said, "helm, turn our bow towards Basestar 2's center axis and move us in at best possible speed. Weapons, readjust automation for new target and fire. Once Main Forwards are locked on, switch all batteries to Salvo." I looked over at the weapons display, the Point Defense Guns were doing a perfect job taking out Raiders and missiles, but they were running hot. I looked back to the network status and saw the Cylons past the second Firewall and working on the third.
"Commander!" I heard Stevens yell as he smiled. "Basestar 3 is pulling out. They are using the second base ship as cover for their retreat."
"Forwards have a firing solution and are engaging," reported Dyson.
We all felt the ship jolt as the batteries fired again in unison. "Lt. Dyson, nuclear launch order. Target the 3rd base ship." I saw Marks head jerk my direction. I looked back at him from across the lighted table. "Trust me Mike." I saw the hesitation in his face.
"Computer has the 3rd Basestar targeted," informed Dyson.
I looked up to the DRADIS display at the sound of a contact disappearing. "Second base ship has been destroyed," informed Stevens. "Cylon Raiders are bugging out with the final Basestar."
I looked at Dyson. "Open launch tube doors! Helm, full steam to the final Basestar. Keep our bow batteries on its center axis." I saw on the weapons display launch tube door one was open and the nuke was extended and ready to fire. I looked at the network status. The third firewall was down and the final firewall was still being hacked. I walked over to the C³ station. I typed in a command then flipped open a panel on the terminal. Inside it was a lighted hashed black and red button titled: I/O.
When I turned back to the DRADIS display, I noticed the Raiders disappearing. "Raiders are jumping out," reported Stevens.
"What about the base ship?" asked Marks.
"They are limping away from Ragnar," informed Stevens.
"They're not jumping?" I asked Stevens.
"No sir."
"We winged them," said Marks as he looked at the DRADIS.
I looked back down to the network status. The Cylon's were still trying to get in. I depressed the I/O and all the lights and computer terminals flashed off momentarily. Once they came back on, I said, "All systems are now under local control." I walked back to Command and Control and began commanding the ship. "Weapon's how long until we are with in battery range?" I waited for an answer. I looked over at Dyson after three seconds went by. He was calculating it. I waited another three seconds. "Lieutenant?"
"Twenty seconds," informed Dyson.
"I don't want to waist a nuke," I said low to Marks.
"I understand, but once they get in weapons range, we will be in their weapons range," said Marks. "Commander," he said low across the table. "Even a wounded animal still has teeth."
We waited for twenty seconds to go by until we could fire. The second we entered weapon's range, the Cylons fired every nuke and missile they had before jumping out. They set a trap for us. I should of listened to Marks. I should have learned from Battle Simulation One.