Hopes and Fears
part I: Old Lady's Last Run
Mobile Shipyard – Eternity – in orbit over Caliburn
Day 407 Since the Fall
Admiral's log
We finally arrived at Avalon a week ago. Our journey has ended, but now the hard work starts. With almost three million survivors in our fleet, we need to relocate them to the planet. Unfortunately, even with the best efforts of Commander Krasner there's simply not enough room in cities for everyone. So far 11 cities have been completed in total with another under construction, which can hold approximately 550,000 people right now. Tent housing units were relatively easy and quick to setup though, and there's roughly enough for 1,500,000 people to use and give them a roof over their heads. With some extra volunteers, a few hundred thousand shockingly, the rest of the civilians should be setup in tent housing within a few days. A large portion of the civilians have also volunteered to help with construction on cities to hold everyone, and with the large amount volunteers we could have all the civilians living in their own apartment or house within a year. Thankfully, after spending a year on ships, I think people will not complain about the new accommodations inside tents. I will not lie, my head feels like it's gonna explode: there are so many things to do. Admiral Thorn decided to stay on Olympia so that he could monitor the process of new technologies being developed there. Admiral Sounders will monitor the civilian relocation to the planet and also the construction of habitat buildings. The temporary police force we made in recent months on our journey to Avalon are also being setup on the planet to contain anymore violence and crime as needed. They will get the necessary supplies, headquarters, and stations they need to become a legitimate police force on Avalon. Once the president arrives with Galactica's fleet, we can look into installing the government on Avalon, and the police force will be likely be divided into subdivisions as necessary and legitimatized once the new government is put into place.
The situation in orbit, well I won't say it is critical but it is a mess; so many ships in one place, and of course not all of them follow the rules we set for their safety. We had a few accidents, and unfortunately during one some people died. All because some impatient captains didn't follow orders. We also created a landing zone about twenty km from Avalon's capital city where all ships landed, which will likely become a starport in the future.
Large shipyards like Eternity, Unity, and the Libran shipyard, were ordered to stay in orbit of Avalon's moon Caliburn. The massive mobile shipyards will form a core of new colonial shipyards. Mobile dock Invictus remains at her post in orbit of Avalon, together with Olympia. The support dock recovered from Caprica has been incorporated into Olympia station to increase the repair and construction facilities of the station. Meanwhile, Hera and Aurelos stations are on their way to the nearest asteroid belt with eight tugs moving them into position near one of the bigger asteroids. Lucky for us the belt is motionless and has no rogue asteroids buzzing around, so there is no danger of collisions with the station. The three Hephaestus docks were assigned to Sanctuary to continue repairs Invictus started on her. She was moved closer to Caliburn, so the smaller docks will have support from Eternity and Unity. It will take a very long time to fully repair Sanctuary, and in the meantime she is but a mere shadow of her former self. While some ships will stay in orbit, such as those civilian ships that cannot land, they will stay near the Caliburn moon where the shipyards are going to be created. The civilian mobile docks will join the other mobile docks in conducting repairs on Sanctuary.
All military ships have formed a defensive blockade around Avalon. Although smaller groups will be all around the system, they will all be in range for in system jumps if necessary. Battlestars were moved forward in the defensive blockade and smaller ships were placed all around them to provide an adequate protective screen. There's also the former Caprica and Aerleon planetary defense grids in orbit of Avalon; 12 stations each with the power of a mercury class Battlestar, and 72 smaller anti-missile/raider satellites. With them and the new defense grid under construction, nothing shall pass through Avalon's defenses.
I still have concerns about the harvesters, so I sent the Banshee and two dozen stealth Raptors all around the system and surrounding areas to provide an early warning for their appearance. But within fifteen hours after the patrols started, nothing out of the ordinary was found or reported. Nevertheless, we will continue to operate with caution.
It is clear that the military cannot continue to be in charge, and to stop tensions between some groups that have arisen thanks to former delegate Campus I appointed Avalon's Governor Miral Shkan as temporary president.
The mentioned asteroid belt in the system is rich with tylium and other needed resources, so I assigned all thirty-five of our mining ships and all twelve refinery ships to immediately start mining the asteroids for tylium and metals. The extra resources will be needed for repair work on Sanctuary, construction on Avalon, and for creating new ships. All twenty of our tanker ships will be completely loaded with as much fuel as possible to keep our supplies going for years, which is especially important now given how empty a lot of the tankers already are given the long travel to Avalon.
I also plan to create a small exploration group, one maybe two gunstars, with the task of exploring nearby star systems and the planets inside them. I want a good look at our neighborhood surrounding Avalon. No matter that the Battlestar Sword already did a smaller exploration on its own, when it engaged a Harvester destroyer. But we cannot live in a box, we need to know what is around us.
It will take a week or so before everything settles down, and it will take much longer to accommodate all our survivors.
Still no word from the Vanguard and the rest of its group, so I can only hope they find Galactica. No matter that she's a pile of junk now; she can be retrofitted and put back into service. A battlestar is still a battlestar, even if it's forty years old. She still has power inside her to offer us protection.
I am also happy to add that during our exodus from Cyrannus, there were a few thousand births. From those, one was born yesterday and one today. Although it may not be important with everything else that's going on it is a boost to moral for everyone. New life born in our freedom and on a new world.
Unfortunately, not counting our losses, there were also twenty one deaths. Mostly older people, from natural causes, but four were killed from theft and gangs on board civilian ships. We cannot tolerate any kind of crime anymore. That's why all who committed serious crimes have been executed, and this will continue in the future.
Now the question: what now? Can we create a new civilization here, not making the same mistakes as we've done before? For sure there won't be AI intelligence anymore, but it is not over yet since the Cylons are still out there and as a cherry on top the harvesters lurk from the darkness of space or at least among the dark corners of this sector.
End Log
Admiral Stryker finished writing his log, smiling at the last sentence. "Harvesters lurk from the darkness of space, damn I could be a poet," Admiral Stryker said quietly to himself.
Admiral Stryker took a step over to the window to look outside. He liked this office; unlike Battlestars, the mobile shipyards of the Eternity class had windows for high officers. The recreation center also had a large dome shaped roof. He watched Avalon in the distance. The moon was relatively close, so he had a beautiful view of the planet.
Avalon reminded him of Caprica and Tauron. There were four continents on the planet; three were very large, the fourth was small, and there were several large islands, with the rest of the planet being open spaces of water. There were of course thousands of smaller islands not capable of being seen in space from the shipyard's distance to Avalon. In his thoughts, Admiral Stryker could only hope that this planet would one day become the new center of the new twelve colonies of kobol, with all twelve colonies all on the same planet like before the exodus from Kobol. Who knows, maybe they would even be able to return to Cyrannus, but returning there would probably not be a good idea, since that place was so full of pain, death, and tragedy. A new start on a new world was preferable and had quite a lot of power among the people. There had even been fanatics demanding that the military destroy all ships and equipment, so that humans could start over from the beginning. Thankfully, that was never considered, since without ships and technology humans would probably not survive long, and there were lots of predators on this planet in the rural areas.
Admiral Stryker continued to watch as many smaller ships buzzed around the large shipyards. From twenty two billion people in Cyrannus, a little under three million survived, at least in his fleet. There was an unknown number in Galactica's fleet, assuming she was still in one piece and the Cylons hadn't already destroyed her. Commander Belzen may even have entered an ambush or could have been intercepted by the Cylons by now, who could possibly know without any communication received from his battle group. Rumors around the fleet were that Admiral Turner was still alive and kicking, though Admiral Stryker knew for certain given Admiral Nagala's message to him before his fleet's destruction over Virgon. Admiral Stryker smiled at the thought; knowing Turner, he would make the Cylons lives miserable and with two Novas under his command he could do lots of damage - assuming he was also still alive.
And then the harvesters came to mind, given the history that Athena showed to him. If those things were here in this sector, spreading out and exploration would not be possible, but they cannot stay locked in one system and pray that the harvesters wouldn't notice them eventually. No, no more running. He would order most of their resources to be used in building a massive defense around Avalon and then slowly explore Avalon's surroundings. Every man, woman, and child on board his fleet, all survivors, were only getting stronger. They would not allow the human race to go silently into the night, and they would fight to the death. Against the Cylons or Harvesters. Humans would never give up the fight. The Cylons hit the colonies by surprise, cowardly. They knew that in a direct fight their ships were no match to colonial battlestars, so using cowardly tactics to achieve their goal of wiping out humanity was the only way. But why, all the deaths, all the destruction, why? For forty years, humans respected the treaty that was made at the end of the first cylon war, so why did the Cylons attack? Was it because of that mission the Valkyrie did a year before the attack? No. They planned this attack for much longer, and that incident only sped up their plan: there was no other way for them to have infiltrated Colonial society and have such a prepared assault on colonial defenses so quickly to almost completely wipe out all of Colonial civilization.
The Cylon prisoners said that it was the number one and one or two other models who created the plan. They believed it to be the will of the gods to exterminate the entire human race. Hardly. There was something much more to it than that.
Admiral Stryker turned and grabbed a glass of ambrosia from the table, then went back to looking at Avalon from outside his window. He still hadn't completely recovered, the pain in his leg continued to remind him of the battle when the larger part of the ceiling collapsed and fell on him. He tried to escape, but the piece hit him with a great deal of force. He still had to use a walking stick when he needed to walk for a long period of time. There was still a lot of pressure on his leg.
But he didn't care much about his wounds. Two ships were lost and lots of fighters, his beloved ship was badly damaged and against all odds survived. But he gave more time for the civilian fleet to flee to safety. Everything he did was for the civilians, and people like Campus did not have the right to judge him.
One part of the mission given to him by Admiral Nagala was finished. Now the second part remained; try to locate remaining colonial ships that may have survived, like admiral Turner's fleet, and those that remained in Cyrannus, and bring them all here. As well as deal with the Cylon threat once and for all, by finding and eliminating that dreadstar and the rest of their fleet. If they survived for one hundred or two hundred years, they would eventually attack again if they ever found Avalon. He had to stop them, and the cycle had to be broken. The cycle... he had never really understood that part of what Athena told him.
Battlestar Galactica C.I.C.
Commander Tigh was examining the newest recon data when Admiral Adama and Commander Belzen entered the C.I.C. He turned to meet them, giving the report to the Admiral. After being promoted, Tigh realized how much work a Commander actually had. But this never bothered him, since there had been a lot to do for his job as a Colonel too.
"All recons show no Cylon presence, nor any other contacts. They found two asteroid belts, and from scans one showed to be rich with resources, as well as one planet that could barely support any kind of life," Commander Tigh said.
"Thank you Commander. Commander Belzen calculates that we need at least a week to arrive at Avalon. This area is dangerous and we need to be on constant alert," Admiral Adama said.
"Well, we put all we could out around the fleet to scout and find anything that could be dangerous to us. So far, nothing. All battlestars are in a defensive position, and if something jumps in they won't get past our CAP. The fleet is safe," Commander Tigh said.
"You don't understand commander," Commander Belzen said, "no matter how good our defense is, it will never be perfect and you don't know this new enemy."
"And you do?" Commander Tigh said skeptically.
"No, but I know what I read from the reports and it's enough that I will never underestimate the enemy. Admiral Stryker warned me about possible contact with the harvesters on our way back to Avalon. We may not detect any presence of the enemy on our way, but that does not mean they are not out there. They could be deactivated, so only their sensors are running while we can't detect them, and after detecting, us they could power up and attack. Also, they could be almost anywhere; from those asteroid belts, and that planet. We don't really know the Harvesters enough to guess where they'll be, or their exact capabilities. Admiral, I am urging that we do not stray from our path. From the last supply report, we have more than enough supplies to continue without stopping along the way. My battlegroup has more than enough if any other ship in fleet needs food, water, or fuel," Commander Belzen said worriedly, beseeching Admiral Adama to listen to him.
"But some ships are in not very good shape Commander," Commander Tigh said, "they need repairs."
"All ships that need to can dock with the Battlestars for repairs, and they can even dock externally if need be. I apologize Commander, but after all it is up to the Admiral to decide if we continue or stop," Commander Belzen said.
"Tell me Commander Belzen, what do you think should be done with the damaged ships?" Admiral Adama asked.
"Move all the people from them and scuttle the ships. Or dock them with the battlestars to either repair or tug them along on our journey. Admiral Stryker's orders were specific, no wandering around, and to get to Avalan as soon as possible," Commander Belzen said.
"Then we proceed," Admiral Adama said, "no stopping no matter the cost, the people of this fleet have suffered enough, and I won't make them suffer anymore."
"As you wish, but Bill this will be a serious stress to our ships. Constant jumping may not affect the military ships, but it certainly will affect the civilians. Remember when the cylons forced us to jump every thirty minutes after we escaped from Cyrannus, till we found that one of our ships..." Commander Tigh said.
Admiral Adama interrupted him, "yes I remember, although I think the situation was different then. We will continue. I am not comfortable with the idea of scuttling any ship, not after they carried survivors for so long, so if there is hope for repairs they will be repaired and they will stay with the fleet, if not, well then we will destroy them. Comander Tigh C.I.C. is yours, Commander Belzen please follow me," Admiral Adama said exiting the C.I.C.
Belzen nodded and followed the Admiral out of C.I.C. leaving Commander Tigh with some recon papers which he took to examine.
The Admiral and Commander passed through to the nearest corridor which led to the hangar, then after leaving the C.I.C area Adama stopped.
"Do not get me wrong Commander, I understand Admiral Stryker wanting us there as soon as possible and we even executed his plan to the letter, by following radio silence even though we could send data bursts to his location. But isn't this caution of his a little out of control?" Admiral Adama asked.
"I told you everything the first time my group arrived here. From the initial skirmish between our gunstar, the discovery of Sanctuary, and her records. We found that these Harvesters were even more deadly and dangerous than the Cylons. We have no idea how large their fleet is, nor their command structure, or even their combat tactics. What we do know is that they have far more advanced technology than our own, or even that of the Cylons. The Cylons succeeded in destroying our homes only because they managed to infiltrate and disable our defenses through the backdoor in the CNP. No doubt once we arrive there, and when Admiral Stryker hears about us having Baltar, he will probably have him executed," Commander Belzen said.
"Baltar did make a mistake yes, and I cursed myself many times over for letting him live, but in the end he was fooled. If he knew what his actions would bring, he would probably have reacted differently than he did. He has been useful since the attack; after all he found a way to recognize Cylons from humans. He even created a DNA scanning device which helps even more," Admiral Adama said.
"I do not want to disagree, but his life is in Admiral Stryker's hands once we arrive, as well as ex-Admiral Cain. You understand now that even with these problems, we have even bigger ones; from one side we still have the Cylons, and from another one we have those Harvesters, and gods know what more is lurking out there," Commander Belzen said.
"Commander, after we left the colonies, we went out to find Earth. Many in the fleet believed it was a myth, but all we could hope for was that the thirteenth colony existed. We chose to follow you back after finding out there were a lot more survivors than we initially believed. That there are more ships that can protect what remains of humanity back at Avalon. I chose to go to Avalon on behalf of the others in this fleet, even after you told us about this new threat. Hell, I would never have even dared to engage the Cylons in open combat, especially when they had that big colony of theirs, but now they are crippled and even though they still pose a danger it's not the same danger as before. And from what you told me, Admiral Stryker won many battles back home against them," Admiral Adama said.
"Luck Admiral Adama, and good planning, that's all. Admiral Stryker is a strategic genius. He may be young, but he is a well experienced officer. I am sure that my plans for the destruction of the Colony he may not have allowed, since of course it was too risky, and yet it worked. We lost seven good soldiers, good people, but we made a fatal blow to the Cylons. However, don't fool yourself Admiral. They are even more dangerous now than before. The only reason I urge jumps almost every few hours is to cut our trip down by as much time as possible and to arrive to safety as quickly as we can," Commander Belzen said.
"And what about Cain? She did what she did, but she is one of the best command officers we have left," Admiral Adama said.
"That is not for me to decide, but I don't think that she will have a good future. Rather a short one," Commander Belzen said.
The Admiral and Commander continued on their way, until separating when the Admiral arrived at his quarters, and the Commander returned to the hangar and then to his ship.
Outside of Cyrannus, Cylon Mobile Shipyard
Jack Cavil stood in the C.I.C. of one of the new Adonis baseships, or as he called them - battleships. The C.I.C. was similar to standard Cylon basehips, but not quite the same given there were alot more consoles. The ship also lacked a hybrid, and had to be crewed by a crew taking care of everything on the ship – just like on a Battlestar. Centurions did most of the work, but some of the more delicate jobs were for human Cylons.
He watched the work being done in C.I.C. with a smile, not only would this ship be a complete surprise - it would be the tool of complete destruction. The Adonis baseship was slightly better armored than normal baseships. The Cylons had learned their lesson and added more defensive guns on it. The number of missile launchers remained more or less the same as that on baseships, however Adonis also possessed several heavy KEW cannnons, which were its main guns. Fighter numbers were cut down almost sixty percent due to the focus on heavy cannons and a much alrge point defense system. Nevertheless, even with only seventy-eighty Raiders per ship, their fighter force would still be enough. But the real power was its speed; much faster and maneuverable than a baseship. It would be more than capable to rush towards the enemy; attacking and destroying colonial gunships with ease and then rushing and swarming the battlestars.
Jack looked toward one of the monitors in the center of C.I.C. which showed the massive dreadstar, slightly beaten but still very alive. Gary returned with half of his ships; apparently Turner had used his two Nova battlestars and guerilla tactics to destroy another ten baseships, while the colonials didn't lose any capital ships and only some Vipers and Raptors. Jack was furious enough to shoot Gary on sight in the head when he reported his failure. A half hour later, Gary reappeared again only to be shot again by Jack. After that Gary avoided Jack as much as possible, not wanting to die and resurrect again. Eventually, Jack ordered two centurions to bring Gary to him.
The doors opened behind Jack, and two centurions entered each holding one side of Gary.
"Ah, welcome brother," Jack Cavil said smiling.
"If you brought me here just to shoot me again, go ahead," Gary said defiantly.
"No, I won't shoot you again. I'll give you one last mission, and a chance to redeem yourself," Jack said.
"Redeem? For what? I am not guilty for our losses; neither I, nor any other of our brothers and sisters could predict Turner's attacks," Gary said, sputtering angrily.
"I am not interested in your inability to do one simple task. However, as I said I'll give you another mission. This time you will prove you are capable of doing something right. I would like to kill you once for all, but we are little short on manpower," Jack said impatiently.
"And what do you want me to do?" Gary asked.
Jack didn't hesitate, he went straight to business right away.
"You will take six of these Adonis battleships, including this one as your command ship, and you will go eliminate Turner and his colony. And do not come back until you finish this mission. Actually; do not return if you fail to eliminate him, his ships, and the colonial survivors," Jack said.
Before Gary could respond, Jack left the C.I.C. leaving Gary confused and to his own thoughts.
Six days later...
Avalon system outskirts
Warstar Argona, Battlestars Titan and Victorious, plus four of the gunstars were on patrol around the outer area of the Avalon system. Admiral Stryker deployed them as the outer defense force for the Avalon system, and also as the first welcome committee for Galactica and other ships. Massive Argona and her sister the destroyed Andraste were well armed and protected, capable of holding her own in battle against the Cylons, and Stryker never left her without escorts. She was, after all, one of the ships from the original expedition to Avalon, and had participated in numerous battles. Commander Thompson was a well experienced officer, following Stryker from the start, and never questioned his orders. Although Stryker was the youngest admiral, he was an excellent strategist, and none of his plans had failed.
As Admiral Stryker ordered, Argona and the rest of her battlegroup operated on low power, not wanting to unintentionally alert any possible Harvester ship in the area.
Commander Thompson watched the latest reports from the dradis buoys that were deployed all over the Avalon system, and something was unusual, at buoy one seven six. Buoys had the capabilities to scan anything that passed near them, undetected by the passing ships, and transfer the data into one single beam directly to the nearest colonial ship that was on patrol - in this case Argona and her group recieved the data.
The dradis officer yelled out, after inspecting the data that just came in, "Sir, numerous contacts outside the system, they are heading this way."
"Numbers?" Commander Thompson asked.
"Not sure sir, about fifty or sixty ships," the dradis officer said.
"Alert all ships, send a message to command," Commander Thompson said.
"Aye sir," the communications officer said, starting on sending a message to Avalon.
"Could it be?" Colonel Tigyon asked.
"I don't know, but I won't risk it. All fighters are to be launched now, and deploy them in front of us, along with every heavy raptor we have. If this isn't Galactica then it could be Cylons, or even those Harvesters," Commander Thompson said.
"Yes sir," Colonel Tigyon said and went to give orders to others, while Commander Thompson watched the reports coming on from the buoys, "it has to be her," he muttered to himself hopefully.
Galactica and the rest of the fleet finally arrived at the last jump point, and the next jump would lead them directly to the outskirts of the Avalon system. Everyone onboard was excited. President Roslin was onboard the Galactica, in C.I.C together with Admiral Adama, and Commander Adama. The fleet was positioned into a staggered battle formation. While Galactica and Valkyrie stayed with the fleet, Pegasus in the rear, the remaining two battlestars were in front of the fleet. Admiral Adama could clearly see that the Vanguard and Chimera were in position, if something went wrong, and if they somehow jumped to the wrong coordinates then those two ships would be the first and last line of defense, before the rest of the battlestars could scramble to engage and help them.
"Did I miss something?" Starbuck asked while entering the C.I.C.
"You're late," Lee said.
"A lady needs to clear herself for such big event," Starbuck said smiling.
"Really, and since when do you call yourself a lady Starbuck?" Lee replied grinning widely.
"Enough of that you two," Admiral Adama said, not seeing a smile coming from President Roslin.
"Admiral, we're ready to jump," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
Nodding to Commander Tigh, Admiral Adama replied simply, "send a message to all ships and start the countdown."
Tigh nodded and relayed the orders; countdown ten seconds, now, and begin. For the crew in C.I.C those ten seconds passed like ten thousand years. Galactica and all other ships disappeared in flashes of light.
Warstar Argona C.I.C.
Commander Thompson watched in disbelief when ships started appearing from nowhere.
He didn't need IFF to recognize the ships that just jumped in were colonial; nevertheless as part of colonial safety protocols, he ordered the communications officer to send a hostile ID challenge to confirm the arriving ships IFF.
In Galactica C.I.C. the helm officer reported that the jump was completed, and Lieutenant Gaeta confirmed that all ships were present but they were also not alone.
"Turn the monitors on," Admiral Adama said, and the rest of C.I.C. went silent when they saw the massive ship in front of them. They could see the Vanguard and the Chimera, but they could also see a massive ship in front of the fleet, two additional ships which were definitely battlestars, and four ships that appeared to be Titan II gunstars.
"Dear lords of kobol," Admiral Adama said watching the massive Warstar Argona that was now magnified on screen. President Roslin held her hand to her mouth, and no doubt she was crying.
"Sir," the communications officer said, "ships in front of us are sending an IFF challenge and they are definitely colonial."
"Send our IFFs right away," Admiral Adama said.
"Yes sir, sending now." Moments, passed, and soon it become minute, then a second minute, when the communications officer yelled out again, "we are being hailed."
"Put it through to speaker, I want the whole C.I.C to hear it," Admiral Adama replied.
Then they heard the strong voice over the speaker, "this is Commander Thompson of the colonial Warstar Argona to Galactica. Welcome to the Avalon system Admiral Adama."
A cheer of joy surged through the C.I.C. everyone hugged, and shook each others hands. The Admiral allowed the crew to enjoy themselves for a few minutes before saying, "thank you Commander, it is good to finally be here."
"I would like to come aboard with your permission sir," Commander Thompson said, "in the meantime please order your ships to follow the Argona, and the rest of my ships will position themselves around your fleet."
"Permission granted Commander," was the short reply from Admiral Adama, "Commander Tigh, send a message to commander Belzen; tell him to get over here now."
"Right away," Commander Tigh replied.
Admiral Adama observed as Vipers and Raptors from the Argona changed course and returned to their ships. Ten minutes later, Commander Belzen was aboard as well as Commander Thompson, and after a brief introduction in the Galactica's C.I.C. Thompson started explaining the safety rules.
"So an in system jump is forbidden?" Commander Adama asked.
"I wouldn't say forbidden, but in case of dangerous situations it is better to have all jump engines ready rather than waiting for them to recharge. My battlegroup is part of the outer defense. We are patrolling around the edge of the system in silent mode. The trip to Avalon from here won't take more than a few hours tops at top speed," Commander Thompson said.
"Admiral Stryker really cares for security," President Roslin said.
"Yes ma'am, he is very serious about security. And I do not blame him. After our encounter with those Harvesters we don't want to risk anything happening. Especially after our last skirmish with them," Commander Thompson replied.
"Last skirmish?" Admiral Adama asked.
"Yes Admiral, the Battlestar Sword was on patrol near the Avalon system when it was engaged by an enemy ship, and it appears to have been a Harvester ship. The Sword managed to destroy it, but was damaged in the process. Admiral Stryker already formulated plans for exploration and expanding into nearby systems, but all in good time," Commander Thompson said.
"Do you know Admiral Stryker very well Commander?" President Roslin asked.
"Yes madam president, my ship was a part of the original expedition here. And also one of three ships that returned to the colonies once we received word of the attack," Commander Thompson replied.
"Did you lose any ships on the way here?" President Roslin asked.
"Only two, during our battle over Picon; we lost two battlestars. However, we managed to destroy the Cylon forces there, regain several colonial assets, and secure Picon. We left enough shuttles and troop ships so that they could send them to other planets and search for survivors. The entire Picon defense grid was intact giving our forces there complete ground and space control. There's enough power in the defense grid to annihilate an entire fleet of Cylon baseships. Admiral Stryker also ordered six viper squadrons to stay on the ground and guard the planet together with several thousand marines," Commander Thompson said.
"Did he plan to rescue those people?" President Roslin asked.
"Yes, though when I do not know. Admirals Stryker, Thorn, and Sounders form a military council together with a fourth representative, Governor Shkan, and he was chosen to be a temporary president in your absence ma'am," Commander Thompson said.
After a few hours of talking while the fleet moved closer to Avalon, the fleet arrived at the last checkpoint before entering the inner section of the system. The dradis officer was the first to observe two ships that showed on dradis.
"Two contacts on dradis," Lieutenant Gaeta said.
"Ah, those are the Battlestar Trinity and Battlecruiser Hoplite," Commander Thompson said.
"Hoplite, isn't that ship from the Virgon guard?" Commander Adama asked curiously.
"It is from the Aerelon guard actually, it was in Virgon's orbit with several other ships for training with the Virgon guard when the Cylons attacked. She and her sister ship the Venitrix survived," Commander Thompson said.
On the main monitor the well-known shape of a Mercury class battlestar was shown, the Trinity and on her right side was the battlecruiser Hoplite. Suddenly the Trinity fired her main cannons in front of the fleet, but it was an even bigger surprise when those shots exploded in rainbowed fireworks. Colonial officers knew what it meant, but President Roslin was taken by surprise.
"What's happening, why is that Battlestar firing?" President Roslin asked in confusion.
"It is an old naval tradition, madam president," Admiral Adama said, "they are saluting us. It is a custom that when a ship returns after a long voyage its saluted. Especially if it survived something terrible. So the Trinity is saluting us for our adversity before getting here."
She nodded, as the rest of C.I.C remained silent watching the fireworks in front of the fleet. And then as soon as it started the fireworks stopped. The fleet passed near the Trinity and her escorts and continued towards Avalon.
"There it is, there is Avalon," Commander Thompson said pointing at what appeared to be a star in the distance, but was in fact a planet.
Admiral Adama looked in the pointed direction, wondering if this was the old lady's last run. Although it was a new home, it was home, and she had brought them to safety.
To be Continued...