Battlestar Galactica Fan Fiction Story
BSG 41
"Battlestar Virgil, this is Craton Viper zero one. . ." I was cut off. A Raider had destroyed my vertical stabilizer. Master Warning and Caution lights lit up my dash, followed by aural cues (WHOOP WHOOP DESTRUCTION NUMBER ONE ENGINE). My RCS went crazy and began spinning me end over end. I had to jump or risked being destroyed. All I could make out through my canopy was the Virgil struggling to take on the three other Basestars. She had successfully destroyed one base ship, but that was out of surprise. The other base ships were mounting a strong defense. They had surrounded the Virgil and were beating the frak out of her with missile after missile.
I couldn't do anything but watch.
-
"All rise," said the clerk in the courtroom. We all stood up. The judges walked in. I was ten.
The middle judge spoke, "David Cody." My brother and his lawyer stood. "We, the Fifth Circuit Supreme Court of the Colonial Justice Branch, find you, the defendant, Guilty on all charges. Due to the severity of these charges, your punishment will be swift."
"Your Honor?" asked my brothers lawyer.
"What Mr. Lampkin?" responded the judge irritably.
"Sir, we must ask for Re-Convenience on the Deliberation. I don't believe you took into account the amount of negative. . ." Lampkin stopped to the judges hand raised.
"Mr. Lampkin, you are a court appointed attorney and this being your first case, we understand you may not understand how this works. We consider all options. The evidence is clear, your client is guilty. He does not deny his affiliation with the Soldiers of One! This can not be disputed. Now sit there and be quiet or be held in contempt." Romo Lampkin sat down. He was young looking. I didn't know this was his first case. I didn't understand much. All I knew was that they were being unfair to my brother. "Now, Mr. Cody. The punishment for these crimes is death by firing squad to be carried out at 12:01 am tomorrow local time."
"NO!" I yelled. My father hushed me. The camera's in the back of the room began to flash as they took pictures. Everyone was interested in this case. The Judge banged the gavel. Everyone stood and then the Judges walked out. My father just sat there, holding me next to him while I was trying to run to my brother. I had tears running down my eyes. I had to do something. The court officers shackled my brother and left with him out the back of the room, while the reporters yelled questions at him. My dad wouldn't move. He was embarrassed. I found out the day earlier that he had lost his job because of my brother. "Dad, do something!" I cried.
-
My father took me to my brothers execution that night. I had been crying all day. Death sentences were carried out in view of the public, so everyone was there to watch. The media had been hounding us since we left the court house earlier that day. They continued to hound us as we stood behind the plate glass of the execution range. Not but twenty yards away was my brother. He was blindfolded and shackled to the concrete floor. Adjacent to him were rows of booths with men in them with hoods on. I think their were ten men with rifles. I heard the announcer explain they would all fire a bullet, but nine bullets were blank, and only one was real. None of them would know who killed David.
My dad stood and watched, emotionless. He held my hand as I cried. "Dad! Do something!" He wouldn't move. Every time I said something, camera's flashed and people took my picture. The clock struck midnight.
"Ready!" yelled someone behind the glass. The riflemen loaded and cocked their guns. The clock began to tick. My father wouldn't do anything so I had to. I struggled free of his hand and ran out the room. The cameras went crazy as I did. My father came after me, but I was small enough to push under everyone in the crowd. "Aim!" I heard in the other room. I had to be quick. I ran down the hallway looking for something, anything. I had only seconds. I saw a maintenance closet. I turned the knob and the door swung open. In there I saw blinking LED lights and switches. I flipped and pressed everything. The power went out.
-
I looked down at my DRADIS screen. It was a blur of blue and red contacts. The Viper squadrons were weaving around the Virgil protecting it from the four Raider Wings. They were outnumbered and out gunned. I didn't know why they weren't jumping out. All I knew was they were going to be destroyed if I didn't do something.
While looking at DRADIS, it struck me! I looked around the cockpit and found the panel I was looking for. I flipped the red guarded switch, pressed the red button, and turned the knob to maximum. The result was immediate. Jamming the DRADIS scared the Cylons. The Raiders began to jump out, and the base ships were retreating. I was still spinning end over end, but I had one engine still working, and I maxed it out toward the Virgil. I had to stay in range of the Basestars or the jig would be up. During the whole flight back from the Anchorage, I forgot I had a CMS.
It didn't take but a minute for the base ships to jump out (I figured that's how long they needed to spool their FTL's). Once they had, my DRADIS showed the Vipers swarming like angry bees around a nest. I realized they were flying solely by sight. I kicked off the CMS and tried to contact the Virgil again. "Battlestar Virgil, this is Craton Viper zero one, come in please." Right then, all the Vipers turned directly towards me and locked on. I was about to shit my pants. "Virgil Vipers, I am friendly!" I yelled.
Static flickered over my radio, "Craton Viper zero one, identify with challenge response." A series of alphanumeric symbols flashed across one of my screens in the cockpit. I searched my knee board for the correct response and typed it in and hit send. "Hostile challenge verified. Break. Break. Virgil Viper Wing, this is a priority one recall. All Vipers land immediately. Combat landings authorized. Break. Break. Craton Viper zero one, you can come aboard or be left behind."
"Virgil, this if Craton Viper, request actual," I said.
It took a moment. "Go ahead actual," I heard the familiar voice over the radio.
"Virgil, this is Commander Ryan Cody. I have suffered structural damage and am unable to land."
"Commander Ryan Cody?" I heard the man ask. "Sir, this is Colonel Matt Tinker. What the hell are you doing out here Roller?"
"It's a long story Slasher," I called him by his call sign. "Where is your Commander?"
"Commander Gudmundson is being operated on. He was shot. Come aboard so we can jump out of here."
"No. I need you to come with me. I am transmitting the coordinates of my ship. They won't be there much longer so we need to go now!"
"What about you?" asked Slasher.
"I have an FTL, we need to go Colonel."
"Understood Roller. Meet you there. Virgil out."
I looked down at my panel and hit execute on the FTL panel. I could feel and hear the drive spin. I disappeared into oblivion instantly as I reappeared at the rendezvous.
-
The Craton immediately targeted me. It didn't take long for our IFF's to be read. The Virgil appeared right behind me. My DRADIS showed something interesting. I read all the IFF's out loud to myself. I think I did it to realize that during the end of the world, people do survive. "Battle Cruiser Craton, Battlestar Virgil, Colonial Freighter Theban, Colonial Transport 32, Colonial Transport 676, Colonial Transport 213, Colonial Transport 954, Executive Flight 711, Nebula 909." I began to tear up. It might have been the pain killers wearing off.
My radio clicked. I heard Marks. "Roller, this is Craton Actual. Get your ass on board so we can jump."
I smiled, but it faded fast. "Negative Craton. Hold the jump."
A Raptor towed me into Landing Bay One. Each bay had five airlocks for each of the five Raptors per bay. The airlocks were able to hold two Raptors each, so my Viper and the Raptor towing me easily fit. Once we pressurized and the crews took over towing us in, I saw something surprising. The other four Vipers were in the bay, armed and ready to go. I smiled when I saw some of the pilots had already claimed the Vipers and had their names on the side of them. Lindsey was standing outside her Viper as the maintenance teams took over (she must of just landed). More than that, I saw more Raptors in this bay than five. I looked at shoulder patches on flight suits walking around the bay. They were all from different ships.
The deck gang had parked my viper and I opened the canopy. They helped me take off my helmet and out of the cockpit. The doctor was there and waiting on me. My arm needed surgery (I knew it without him telling me). As soon as I set foot on the deck, I heard the Deck Chief, "Commander on deck!"
I forgot he was talking about me for a second as everyone snapped to attention. "Carry on." The doctor walked over to me and tried to tow me off to sickbay. I objected and made him give me something for the pain. He objected, but patched me up as best he could. My flight suit sleeve had to be cut off because my arm was so swollen it wouldn't come out. "Captain," I looked to Lindsey. She walked over to me through the busy landing bay. "Did you tell anyone yet?" She nodded no. "Lets go then." We left the bay and began to walk to the CIC.
On the way there I stopped at a terminal and picked up the corded phone connected to it. "This is the Commander, get me the CIC." A moment passed. "Colonel, who's in the CIC?" Lindsey watched me as I waited and listened to the list of people. "No reason, I'll be up there in a minute." I hung up the phone than picked it back up. "Commander Cody for Sergeant Russ." A moment passed. "I want your team armed and ready in five minutes. Meet me outside the CIC." I set the phone down. I placed my good hand on my sidearm, when I realized I didn't have one, it was still on the Anchorage. I sighed. I was tired. "Let's go." We made our way to the Combat Information Center.
-
My arm was in a temporary cast and strapped to my chest. It hurt, bad! But I knew I had to do this first. We made it to the CIC. The ten Marines, armed and dressed in black, were receiving funny looks from the personnel transversing the corridor outside the room. They snapped to attention as I approached. "Listen up," I said. "The Cylons have the ability to mimic human form. They look like us now." They all turned to look at one another. "Their are many copies of the same human models. One of the senior officers are one of them. Once we go into the CIC, follow my lead and act fast. These things are smart and quicker than anything you have ever seen." The young Marines had stunned faces. "Sergeant Russ," I said to the lead Marine. "Your sidearm please." I held out my hand. He drew his pistol and gave it to me. I cocked it on the wall with one hand and turned to enter the CIC. The Marines followed.
The glass doors slid open as we entered. The entire room drew silent as they saw me being followed by a squad of Marines. Colonel Marks was talking on the corded phone at Command and Control. He quickly set it down when he saw us enter. I raised the gun and pointed it at Mark's head. Lindsey and the Marines did the same. "What?" asked Marks scared to death. He had his hands up and he was frightened.
I looked right in his eyes and yelled, "GET DOWN!" Marks dropped, and I shot past him at the Cylon standing behind him.