Editors Note: After watching BSG: Blood & Chrome we have learned that the Berzerk Class escorts might be considered as a destroyer type vessel. It also confirms that the Valkyrie type battlestar is older that the Mercury Class. I also asked Doug Drexler (BSG VFX guru) if the Galactica type battlestars could be considered a dreadnought type battlestar. He didn't confirm it but wouldn't dismiss the idea either.
ARGOS (Berzerk Class Destroyer) – SICKBAY (DAY 239 – 0250 HRS)
Tillman watched the older unshackled cylon checking the chart of the cylon patient identified as a Doral model that was strapped down. He guessed that the cylon appeared to look at least twenty years older than the ones pictured on the recon photos taken within a basestar months ago. This one was as bald as the others but had a salt and peppered beard and mustache. Jason also noticed a large scar on the back of the cylons' head located behind his left eat to the middle of his skull. The cylon turned and walked towards the trio but stopped short of reaching them as he looked at the new unfamiliar faces for a moment before addressing Commander Keller.
"He's stable for now Commander. As long as we keep him immobile he shouldn't be able to open up those wounds on his neck. We have enough drugs to keep him under for a few days." The old cylon told them.
"Good. If we keep him alive he won't be able to download. I would like you to stay with him and inform your guards if his condition changes." Keller instructed as they turned to the hatch. Once they exited McKnight was the first to speak.
"What the hell was that?" McKnight asked as he was still in shock.
"That is a very disgruntled cylon. According to him his own kind tried to kill him over twenty-five years ago. He went into hiding on Sagittaron and when the attacks began he made it out on a transport. That ship was later found adrift by POLYCOAN in the Aeolus asteroid belt. He spotted a cylon on her ship and he told Commander Hedison his true nature. He provided us with descriptions of six other models and we were able to capture them and lock them up with the exception of the one Hartley executed on GANYMEDES. After that one uploaded it sent a massive cylon fleet to destroy us. He is always kept separated from the others models. We found out that his type has medical training." Keller relayed as they mad their way to CIC.
"Do the other cylons know about it or him? Tillman asked.
"No. They have no idea about him. He also saved two of my crew members during the last attack on the ARGOS." Keller replied as they just stopped short of CIC entrance.
"Admiral, if I may, what are your intentions with us? So far I've answered all your question and given a sit-rep on our status but you haven't volunteered any information about your whereabouts for the last seven months." Keller asked abruptly.
"Commander, HYPERION is among five military vessels protecting seventeen civilian ships that contain almost nineteen thousand survivors. As a colonial officer it is my responsibility to protect those civilians and lead the men and women under my command to safety." He started before being interrupted by Keller.
"You're feeling me out. Judging whether we're worth the effort." She began, "Admiral, when I put on this uniform I also swore an oath to protect the colonies! I'm doing my best with the resources I have." She retorted.
"What would you do if you were in my position? You've been out here for over seven months." Tillman asked.
"Probably the same thing." Keller responded as she learned back on a console.
"I need to know if you're willing to follow the chain of command. You've been on your own for a while now. Some people would find that hard to surrender." Jason asked bluntly.
"Yes I would. I can't provide for my refugees. I swore to protect those people and I would die to keep that promise. I need help." She answered as she saluted her superior officer."
"Admiral on the deck!" an ensign announced as the CIC stood at attention. To which Tillman acknowledged.
"Comms, patch me through to the commanding officers of the other ships." Keller ordered as she reached for the handset at the plotting table.
"All actuals are on the line commander." The specialist replied.
"This is Commander Keller. As you are aware we have been found by the colonial battlestar HYPERION. Her commanding officer is Admiral Jason Tillman. He is now the ranking officer within this fleet of refugees. I made you a promise that I would keep you safe as long as I could. I believe this is our best chance of survival. I hereby relinquish command to him and will follow any and all orders given by his chain of command. So say we all! I would like you all to acknowledge my transmission. Keller out." She finished as she saluted Tillman in full view of the CIC.
One by one each of the ships' commanding officers acknowledge the change of command with a simple response of "So say we all!"
Tillman moved to the dradis console and picked up the handset. "This is Admiral Jason Tillman of the battlestar HYPERION. I once told my crew that we can only move forward and there is no going back. We must protect those civilians if the human race is to survive. I have made that promise to the fleet that HYPERION has protected and I make that promise to you. I will be sending supplies to each ship in the next few hours. Please stand by for further instructions." Tillman placed the handset back in its cradle.
"Commander, what's the condition of the Theta Class mining ship?" Tillman asked.
"TORO is the one with the melted electrical buss. She's running on minimal power with a skeleton crew. We don't have the parts to fix her." She responded.
"Within our fleet we rescued a Theta Class refinery ship capable of docking with TORO. Once docked CARPUS can augment TORO's power needs until she's repaired." McKnight answered.
"Commander, I need a status updated on rest of the ships." Tillman requested.
"We have three civilian star liners (MORING STAR, ENCHANTRESS, and CELESTIAL QUEEN) that are fully operational. Two heavy hauler transports (DORUS and TELEMON) The BELINDA is a sewage processing ship. The HELIA is a botanical cruiser. Only two of her twelve domes are functional. One civilian freighter and several traveler class ships. As I said before, we have almost sixteen thousand survivors including military personnel. " She replied.
"Commander, for the last ten days HYPERION and several other ships have been engaged in salvage operations at the site of the cylon attack on the 56th and 43rd fleet." Tillman began. "We have recovered well over one hundred vipers and over forty raptors. The rest of the civilian ships we are protecting are located in a sector not too far from that site and currently they are protected by the battlecruiser JUNO and two Guardian class ships." Tillman told her as he asked the status of GALLIOTT.
"There's less than a skeleton crew onboard her. She's manned by mostly nuggets and my tactical officer who's less than three years out of the academy. Keller told the Admiral and after a pause she added that the GALLOITT munitions stores were empty.
"How long have they been empty?" McKnight asked.
"Hartley had the stores transferred about two weeks before we ran. She's defenseless." Keller replied.
"Commander I would like to put an experienced crew on her. Do you have any objections?" Tillman asked.
"No, sir." Keller replied knowing that her ship would benefit from getting her crew back.
"Colonel McKnight, get back to HYPERION and reassemble your senior staff and crew that are still onboard and take any additional people from delta shift. I'm sending you to GALLIOTT. You will be in command until further notice." Tillman said as he turned to the specialist manning the communication station and requested a line to HYPERION.
"Shaker, this is Dodger. Send a raptor back a retrieve CARPUS and MF 139. Tell Captain Pyne we have a surprise for him. Colonel McKnight is also on his way back he will fill you in the rest. Tillman out."
"MF 139?" Keller asked.
"Military Freighter 139 is currently housing surplus ordnance recovered from the salvage operation. It doesn't make sense to add two destroyer class ships without any bullets to shoot." Tillman replied knowing the he knew about the secret Keller was hiding.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"I sneaked a peek at the weapons status display on the auxiliary dradis console." Tillman replied as he continued to read through the ARGOS logbook.
TERTIUS (Defender Class escort) – HANGERBAY (DAY 239 – 2150 HRS)
Braylen has spent most of the day working along side his crew in the hanger bay inspecting recovered vipers for any cylon devices. His team was finishing up when Lieutenant Carter, his acting XO approached.
"What's the word?" Braylen asked.
"Since we took over recovery operations we processed and cleared eighteen vipers plus the ten you see here. We have fifteen more along with two raptors waiting on the flight deck with nine more vipers in transport. We can't keep up and were running out of space." Carter replied.
"I know with the additional teams HYPERION left we are getting buried. Pull two recovery teams and put them on the line. Have Major Spencer move the cleared vipers in the launch tubes so we can transfer them to JUNO once she arrives." Braylen told him as he signed off on the paperwork for the viper.
"Freighter 157 jumped in thirty minutes ago. They're sending two shuttles to OPHION. The scavenger teams were able to access the quartermaster and medical stores. They have sixteen pallets and thirty-six crates ready to go. I've also diverted traffic from ANDANIA was well." Carter said as he walked with Braylen to the next viper.
"What about ordnance recovery?" Braylen asked.
"They reached two magazines on OPHION and will start offloading shortly. No word on ANDANIA." Carter replied as he watch Tillman climb under the next viper.
"I want all that's recovered sent here until JUNO arrives or my brother returns. Move it into the cargo bay two." Braylen told his XO as he unbolted an access panel on the underbelly of the viper.
JUNO (Protector Class Battlecruiser) – CIC (DAY 240 – 0600 HRS)
"All ships with the exception of HAVEN (Pan Galactic 0993) have jumped to rendezvous coordinates near the recovery site." Lt. Barnes relayed from the tactical station.
"Haven reports that her FLT computers shorted out again. They'll need at least six to eight hours to repair." Brice reported.
"Tell them we're sending a team over to help. Send a raptor to TERTIUS and inform them of our situation." Jones ordered.
ARGOS – HANGERBAY (DAY 240 – 0850 HRS)
Jason had just arrived after taking a three-hour rest in the executive officer's quarters. He had been up for close to twenty-eight hours and realized he was running on fumes and had to rest. In the hanger was the last shuttle returning the final members of Keller's crew. He watched Keller interact with her crew for a moment before approaching.
"I see the last of your crew has returned." Jason said looking at the two of them.
"Admiral, Let me introduce you to my executive officer. Major Adian Roth." She said at the young man saluted.
"Were you able to get some sack time?" Jason asked the younger man.
"Yes sir, Colonel McKnight ordered us to sack out for at least six hours before releasing us. It was the longest sleep I can remember in a long time." Roth replied with a half grin. "I caught a glimpse of HYPERION an our final approach. Looks like you been in a few scrapes before finding us."
"We've been in a few battles and were able to hold our own." The Admiral said.
"Commander, I would like to debris you onboard HYPERION and for you to meet my senior staff." Jason ordered.
Keller acknowledged the order, as she knew it would be coming soon anyway. She ordered Roth to CIC, tasked him with updating the duty roster, and finish the ordnance transfer from the freighter. Both of them made their way to the LSO station above the flight deck.
"Sir, we should have a shuttle ready in twenty minutes." The officer said.
"Don't worry I have my own ride." Tillman responded as he grabbed a headset. "
LSO, switch to TAC frequency seven and key in decryption code alpha-three-six-delta-epsilon."
"Raptor 5401/Dodger! Do you copy?" Tillman said.
"Dodger/Tico, awaiting your orders." The voice said over the wireless.
"Sit-rep!" Tillman asked
"We've been on station for the last two hours. We are currently ten thousand meters aft of ARGOS." Addison replied as Keller and the LSO looked at the empty dradis monitor with doubt.
"Tico, approach and enter the landing deck, the ball is green!" the admiral ordered watching the aft flight deck through the window.
Within a minute the stealth raptor appeared from below the aft entrance of the flight deck and entered without setting off the dradis. Keller wondered why she never heard of one before. Jason explained to her that they were recovered from a black ops depot on Picon after the attacks. Keller and Tillman proceeded to the raptor after it landed and was moved to an airlock on the port side by a deck crew.
Raptor 5401 (DAY 240 – 0940 HRS)
Lieutenant Addison raptor was heading back to HYPERION with Admiral Tillman and Commander Keller when he asked the Admiral if he wanted to inspect the battlestar's new armament. Tillman who was sitting in the copilot's seat jumped at the idea and told him to change course. Tico acknowledged the order, veered the raptor toward the ship's bow, and plotted an ascending course right down the middle of the ship.
"I've only seen ship her class configured like this the history books." Keller she moved between the pilot's seats.
"HYPERION was the less than eighty percent complete when the first war ended. Most, if not all of her internal structure was completed when she was left in the construction dock to sit for two years before they decided to finish her. We are the only capital ship within our fleet. When the resources came available we mounted the salvaged turrets." Tillman commented as he watched the newly installed turrets rotate in unison.
"Major Roth was right. It looks like you seen your fair share of action." She said noting the scarring on the aft dorsal section.
"What do you know of other survivors? Tillman asked her.
"None. You're the first we seen since it all started." Keller said as the raptor passed the aft section of the battlestar.
"We know that there were at least two refugee fleets in addition to mine. One led by a Colonel Hawke onboard an old mono hull battlecruiser that disappeared right after the onset of the attacks and another led by Commander William Adama onboard GALACTICA with over sixty civilian ships." Jason began. "We also can confirm the survival of two other battlestars. Both are named PEGASUS."
"I met Commander Cain nearly two years ago during a conference. Is the other Admiral Cain's new battlestar? Where are they?" Keller asked.
"We found Commander Cain a few months ago and joined up for a few weeks. We conducted a raid on a major cylon listening post and uncovered information that the cylons were tailing GALACTICA's refugee fleet way past the promar sector. He wanted to see if he could find Adama." Jason told her and not choosing to reveal what they knew about what Admiral Cain and her crew had done.
"Raptor 5401/HYPERION LSO, You are cleared to land on the port flight pod, Checker is yellow!"
Tico acknowledged the order and proceeded to land on the yellow elevator. As Tillman and Keller disembarked the raptor in the hanger bay Commander Roberts greeted them. Tillman proceeded too introduce them and started toward CIC. Keller was surprised by the activity and the configuration of the port bay.
"Unreal. I've only seen film of how these bays were configured. Is the other bay configured the same? She asked
"No. We only had the materials for one. The rack system had been kept in storage. Once we started the salvage operation we reassembled it." Jason said as they boarded the tramcar.
"It looks like you have at five squadrons." said Keller.
"Six active on HYPERION, Nine throughout our fleet." Jason responded.
"Some were survivors picked up by a refugee fleet near LEONIS. They found us outside of the Hatari Nebula. Commander Cain recovered most of PACIFICA's vipers. He transferred them to us to help protect our civilians." Roberts answered.
"Commander Roberts, what happened to TRINITY?" She asked as the tram raced towards the bow.
"She was lost a few months ago in a skirmish." Roberts began. "Commander Keller, you've said that POLYCOAN was damaged in her last battle. What was her condition?"
"From what my CAP could tell, the aft starboard bays were heavily damaged and three of her eight sublight engine were out. She had taken a beating!" Keller replied as they stepped off.
"Do you have any idea where they could be?" Roberts asked.
"Possibly. But, we haven't gone looking either? I couldn't risk him finding us. Hartley became paranoid and blamed Hedison for his bad decisions." Keller retorted.
"Where could they be if they returned to the asteroid field?" Roberts asked.
"They could be at the far end of the asteroid field. We detected high deposits of tylium ore. Mercury Class battlestars have the basic resources to mine and refine tylium by themselves." She responded as they entered HYPERION's situation room.
"I'm sending three raptors to look for them." We need those battlestars to help protect the civilian fleet." Tillman relayed as they made their way around the map table that was displaying HYPERION's dorsal frame.
"The new turrets along the spine are operational. We've schedule firing drills within the hour. The new bow turrets should be online within a few days. We had to reinstall the forward loading system. These turrets do have limitations." Rhodes began, "The front row can only rotate sixty degrees from center each way and the back row can rotate ninety degrees each way from center. It's the way they were designed.
"Good job Captain!" Tillman said.
"GALIOTT reports security sweeps are complete and clear, computer security software is upgraded, munitions stores are full, weapon systems are online. They report that they have portside launch bays online and starboard should be up in four hours. ARGOS reports they just docked with the freighter and has begun offloading supplies. Also Raptor 601 and the shuttle has cleared their hanger with the special cargo." Captain Dyson reported from his console.
"Special cargo?" Keller commented.
"I'm separating the cylons. I think it too dangerous to leave them together." Tillman informed a surprised Keller.
"Which ones?" she asked.
"Almost all of them. The Cavil and Doral are staying on ARGOS. The five women and other male are coming here. As well as the older one."
"Sir, He's been helpful." She retorted.
"I understand and I keep that in mind. It is also the reason he's on the raptor and separated from the others. I want to know everything he knows. Tillman responded.
"What's the latest from TERTIUS?" The Admiral asked as he nodded to Roberts.
As Ensign McCall relayed the status of the recovery operation, Commander Roberts pulled Keller aside and relayed the details of Braylen Tillman and his ship, which lasted for fifteen minutes. In the end she had no issues accepting that information especially after dealing with Hartley.
"What did we miss?" Roberts asked after returning to the table.
"Most of the civilian fleet has rendezvous at the salvage site with the exception of HAVEN. She's having FLT computer issues again. JUNO is covering her. Recovery efforts are still ongoing. Braylen and his teams are still going through the battlestars and the their support vessels. They've filled two additional freighters.
"I still don't understand why the cylons didn't lay waste to the battlefield after the initial attack?" Keller mumbled.
"Arrogance. They came in and hit hard. They wanted to lay fear into the pilots who were trapped in those vipers. Cylons knew they would die of asphyxia." Roberts said with an angry tone.
"What about vipers and raptors?" Keller asked.
"Including what we recovered? Last check had it at over one and ten hundred vipers, thirty plus raptors and two tanker birds processed." Dyson reported.
"Problem is we have more vipers than pilots. We just graduated one squadron that had prior flight experience. Now we need to get volunteers from the civilian fleet and see what they can do." Roberts continued.
"ARGOS has over eight qualified pilots and I know POLYCOAN could have at least a dozen more. If we could find them…" Keller added.
"Have the raptor dock at the portside ventral airlock and escort the cargo to my quarters. It's time we question that cylon." Tillman ordered