Battlestar Galactica Fan Fiction Story

BSG 41

We only had vague references to the Dead Planet. We knew Oswald Terish discovered it. We knew it orbited just outside the system's heliosphere, in a 27ยบ orbital inclination to the ecliptic plane. But that was it. With all the databases on our ships, we had the collective majority knowledge of the twelve worlds, but nothing, at all, had any mention of where the Dead Planet was located in the sky. For awhile we weren't even sure that the Dead Planet was what we should be looking for. Then Marks found something interesting.

He ran the names Finwat and Terish through language filters. The computer spit out a few hundred meanings, but it was the Gemenese translations that caught our eye. Finwat meant hope in the basic language. Terish meant a lot of things, but the 1st dynasty translation of Terish from Ancient Gemenese was: Last; End; Finished; Complete (later translations were depressing meaning: Kill; Slaughter; and Without Life). The Dead Planet was sounding more and more promising when we called it, "the Last Hope Planet."

Where was it though? Both Commanders Sheraton and Adama left messages about it. Was it possible they didn't know where it was either? All I had was time at this point. The only logical assumption I could make (after we considered all the possibilities) was that the Last Hope Planet was some sort of station or bunker that guarded our legacy in case of extinction. If anything, I hoped it had supplies. I wanted to refuel and rearm our ships.

Five days had gone by since the attacks. My arm and chest were healing fine, but they still hurt. I had sent out Raptors to every last munitions depot, moon base, space station, and scientific observatory. They had reported total destruction of each one. Furthermore, only one more ship had been found; The Chronicle. They had over six hundred on board. However, their ship was damaged and unable to join us until they fixed their FTL. I had a flight of Raptors protecting them until they could arrive.

In our makeshift fleet, the civilians began to go crazy. I had meetings with the ship Captains and listened to their concerns. Most of the ships were overcrowded due to those ships picking up survivors from other ships caught between planets during the attack. I reviewed the manifests of the passengers. In the end, I decided to reinstate any passenger with prior service in the Fleet, and I drafted a few hundred volunteers eager to get off those ships and live on a armed battleship. Overall, I managed to smooth over the restlessness in the fleet and replenish our ranks. While it wasn't great, everyone seemed to walk away a little happier (given the circumstances).

Through all this, the Battlestar Galactica and her fleet remained elusive. I had questioned Galactica's Viper Pilots we picked up. They knew nothing about the Galactica's location. There was no sign of them or the Battlestar Pegasus, Battle Cruiser Oceanus and Cronus, and the Destroyer Metanira. I considered it fortunate we were teamed up with the Virgil and the Theban. The Virgil, while one of the largest Battlestars ever built, was also the oldest for its model: Jupiter Class. The Jupiter Class was the replacement for the Original Battlestar Class ten years after the first Cylon War. The first Jupiter Class was the Columbia (she was retired and tore apart eight years ago). The second Jupiter Class Battlestar was the Virgil. She was built twelve years after the first war, and was due for decommissioning and recycling deconstruction in the next year. Her systems were capable of being networked, but I learned from Tinker that they were so unreliable and full of bugs, they just ran everything locally. But that wasn't what saved them during the attack. They were sitting Ready Alert in a Jump Cycle to various positions in the system (this was standard. Battlestars took turns on one month rotations sitting Ready Alert, just in case).

The Theban was older than the famed Galactica. She was old, but reliable. Her hull was just as dense as the Virgils. The other ships ranged from new to ten years old. They were all in good condition. The only problem were the people on board. They had the nerve to request a new government be appointed. It was public knowledge the government went to Case Orange. The Automated Government Emergency Beacon went dead five days ago, so we had no idea who the new President was (if there was one).

What I did know was that in the survivors we had, one of them was a Senator from Aerilon. He was causing a ruckus by trying to anoint himself the Acting President (in the Articles of Colonization, only the Vice President and Cabinet members could assume Presidential Succession. If that did not work, then the Speaker of the Quorum of Twelve assumed the duties until the Senate nominated a candidate [not the Speaker] and only the Quorum could vote on them). While he was not in the line of succession, he was doing a great legal job of getting others to go along with him.

Meanwhile, I gave Colonels Matt Tinker and Megan Daugherty promotions to Commander. In return, they appointed me Fleet Commander (which was not a real rank, just a way to distinguish my seniority [more like my blind luck]). They called me Fleet Commander due to the lack of any remaining Flag Officers. We had an assumption Admiral Helena Cain was alive on the Pegasus, but we couldn't find them. If Adama were here, he would be in charge. With Gudmundson and Sheraton dead, that left myself. I was actually starting to get used to all this responsibility. I was starting to like it. Another night went by.

-

My dad stood at the lighted map table with Dead Sheraton and Old Adama. Sheraton and Adama were both pointing at something I assumed was the Last Hope Planet. I couldn't see where it was. My dad was pointing at a different spot on the map. While Adama and Sheraton bickered about Finwat Terish Bason and Find Water Bay, my dad pointed so forcefully at the map, his finger began to bleed orange blood. His outburst caught the others attention. He looked at the other two and said, "Case Orange."

-

That next morning, I joined Commanders Daugherty and Tinker on the Virgil for breakfast. I couldn't help but get a warm feeling when the deck gang called the hanger to attention when I stepped off the Raptor to meet Matt and Megan. It happened again when the ships Public Address System advised the crew, "Attention Virgil, attention Virgil, we would like to welcome on board Fleet Commander Ryan Cody."

When we arrived in Tinkers quarters, breakfast was waiting. We let Megan in on what we were looking for. During the meal, Matt informed me the Chronicle had arrived safely while my Raptor was landing and he had searched their database for any mention on the Dead Planet. He found none. "It would seem the Last Hope Planet is lost to us," added Daugherty.

We talked about the subject for a bit before switching to the subject of the fleet. "That Senator from Aerilon is causing a lot of problems," noted Tinker.

"He wants to be the President of the civilian government," said Daugherty.

"That'll be the day. He isn't even in the Presidential Succession line," said Tinker.

"Well," I added. They both looked at me. "I saw what he is purposing and it is logical. If only we knew the outcome of Case Orange, it might shut him up."

Megan looked at me, "We picked up the Case Orange response." This caused Tinker and I to look at one another. "It was in my report." I hadn't read the report fully, I had only skimmed it. "After Case Orange, the Secretary of Education responded with her identification code. At the time, she was the only response. Case Orange activated her as the only successor to the Presidency. . ."

"Well, that settles it then," interrupted Tinker.

I cut off Megan too, "Where was he?"

Megan answered, "She was on a transport coming back from Galactica's decommissioning ceremony."

"She?" asked Matt.

"Laura Roslin," answered Megan.

I was still a bit startled, "The Secretary of Education is the President?"

"No," responded Megan.

"But you just said. . ." began Matt.

"You interrupted me Commander," said Megan. "After Case Orange activated her Presidency, the Secretary of Interior responded with his identification code. He is 18th in line. Case Orange deactivated Roslin, and activated him."

"What does Case Orange consist of?" I asked Megan. She seemed to know a lot about it.

"Case Orange is a dooms day system designed in case the President, Vice President, and the majority of the Cabinet members and federal government are wiped out. It activates a beacon that does what it can to keep the civilian government functioning by emergency Presidential Succession." Megan got up and walked around to the computer terminal at Tinkers desk. She pulled up the official Case Orange Report, printed it out and handed it to me.

-

CASE ORANGE EMERGENCY SYSTEM

OPEN AT 1553202249

//--\\

D-456-345-A // RECEIVED // ACTIVATED // SEC EDU .43 (1553202300)

D-456-345-A // DEACTIVATED // SEC EDU .43 (1553220819)

R-675-235-A // RECEIVED // ACTIVATED // SEC INT .18 (1553220820)

JGO 112 STATION ONLINE (1553220825)

+1.1 STATION ONLINE (1553220910)

FTB STATION ONLINE (NOT CONFIRMED // NO RECEIPT)

\\--//

LAST TRANSMISSION

CLOSED AT 1553220911

-

When I saw the report, I couldn't help but laugh. Tinker got up and walked over to me. He looked at the report over my shoulder. "Anything strike you?" I asked him. I heard him laugh also. I could see Megan was lost.

We all left the room and went to Virgil's CIC. The ship was massive. She was nearly a fifth larger than the new Mercury Class and about four times larger than my ship, the Craton. Her Combat Information Center was very low tech compared to the Craton. It reminded me of the Galactica's CIC (the largest CIC in the Fleet) but a little smaller and more streamlined. The Center DRADIS console descended above the information management table, and multiple communication stations lined the Core on the second level. You could see where the multiple refits contrasted against the original design of the room. When I entered, the XO called out, "Fleet Commander on Deck!" To which everyone stood at attention. Tinker and Daugherty kept walking behind me as I ordered everyone to carry on.

We stood around the lighted Navigation Table at the Tactical Station. Tinker excused his Tactical Officer and the three of us began looking pulling up maps on the digital table. "What are we looking for?" asked Megan. Tinker filled her in on Oswald Terish and his discoveries. "FTB, thats the planet?"

"That right," I responded. "But someone made sure to delete its whereabouts from every published directory. However, JGO 112 Station and 1.1 Station, we know where they are."

Tinker pulled up the correct map, "Got it. Jaygo's comet is entering the Termination Shock."

"And I got the coordinates for the Twin Moons," I said.

"Raptor Recon?" asked Megan.

"You betcha," I answered. "Matt, pick out two Pilots and ECO's that you trust and send them to Jaygo and the Moons. Tell them they are looking for a station, satellite, a short range beacon, something. Once they get confirmation of something, they are to report back immediately." I sighed hard.

"What?" asked Matt.

"We are not the only ones who received the Case Orange transmission. The Last Hope Planet may be secret, but everyone knows about Jaygo's Comet and most have heard of the Twin Moons. I am worried about the Cylons. Too much has been lost already and this is the only thing we have going for us." I looked up at both of them. "I fear we will pay dearly to find our Last Hope."

-

A few hours went by until the Raptor teams reported back. I had just made it back to the Craton when the comet team was the first to come back. They reported mission success. Once they arrived, they immediately picked up a beacon. Then they downloaded the program the beacon was transmitting. The station then self destructed so they jumped back. The program was heavily encrypted. It took Slaton and I a few hours to hack it (even with the Craton's Encryption Computer). The program was six numbers and six dashes with a countdown timer: 1_23._5_6.5___ *4 HRS 7 MIN 21.67 SEC.

The other Raptor team reported back the Cylons were at the Twin Moons tearing apart the station, and they were not packing light. The Raptor picked up four Basestars around the station with 200+ Raiders. I gave up on the Twin Moons and went to my quarters. I didn't finally put the puzzle together until that night when I laid down in my bed.

With only 3 hours to go on the timer, I pieced everything together and my heart sank. We had to get to the Twin Moons, and we had to do it right fraking NOW! I got up and dressed in a hurry. Before I left my cabin, I phoned the CIC and ordered Commanders Tinker and Daugherty over here, along with their respective XO's. Further, I had Commander Tinker bring his CAG and Tactical Officer. Captian Cramer and Colonel Marks joined all of us. It took twenty minutes for all of us to assemble in the War Room.

I saw sleepy eyes and tired faces. On the interactive wall display, I had the countdown timer and the six digits: 1_23._5_6.5___*2 HRS 32 MIN 54.93 SEC. "Okay everyone. There is a last hope out there we are dubbing the Last Hope Planet," I began. "It took us these past couple of days but we nailed down what we think it is. Over the decades, someone went to great troubles to try and hide it. They have done so very effectively." I kept walking around the room as everyone listened. "The Last Hope Planet, or Dead Planet, or known officially as FTB Station, is a satellite object orbiting the sun just inside the outer reaches of our system. The planet is nothing more than a very small moon; so small you might consider it an asteroid or comet. Its orbital inclination takes it well outside of the suns ecliptic plane. More importantly, the Colonial station set up there is automatically jumping the planet to various points in its orbital path." Everyone looked at me then to the countdown timer. Only half of them put it together. "Case Orange activated two beacons at opposite sides of the solar system and turned on the faster than light drive at FTB Station. The beacons are a split message designed to locate the planet. As you can see, we have half the jump coordinates, we need the other half. Also, as you can see, we have to get the other half before the timer reaches zero and the planet begins jumping."

I changed the wall display to show the DRADIS sweeps of the Twin Moons. "We need to come up with a battle plan that will allow us to engage four Cylon Basestars, four full Raider Wings, protect the remaining fleet, and achieve the ultimate goal of downloading the other half of the message." Everyone sighed. "And," I looked at my watch, "we have two and a half hours to carry it out."