Chapter 11
Resurrect This!
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**P4X-650 (Surface)**
*Alpha Site (Control Room)*
"What's the situation?" General Ervin, the Commanding Officer of the Alpha Site, asked as he walked into the Control Room.
"We detected a subspace rupture in orbit of the moon," the CO's Executive Officer, Colonel Fray, replied.
"Hyperspace event?" the General asked.
"As of a few seconds ago, a large craft roughly one-point-one kilometers long, triangular in shape, and broadcasting no IFF dropped out of hyperspace before killing their engines and entering a stable lunar orbit. Their weapons are offline, shields are down, and the hull has minor damage to a few sections… The easiest way to put it would be to say that the ship is running on basic life-support and that's it. The only other system that's still active is the docking controls."
"Sir, I've got movement," another officer said. "There's a small ship leaving the hangar bay."
"Incoming message," the communications officer reported. "Text only."
"Subspace rupture," the first officer called out. "Unknown vessel has jumped into hyperspace."
"Display the message," the General ordered.
A line of incomprehensible symbols appeared on a screen and their resident analyst translated it. "This language matches the sample in the data package we received from the SGC regarding the Impolans. The message reads, 'Consider this a gift from the Mimner. May his kindness not be forgotten in a time of need.' It looks like we might have a new ally."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Ervin cautioned. "They promised us Ba'al's unfinished flagship in exchange for our help when they ask for it. If that thing really is Ba'al's newest ship, then we need to make sure it's not broadcasting any traceable signals or we'll have his entire fleet in orbit in a matter of days. Dial the SGC and update them on the situation. Send them a copy of the sensor readings and ready a boarding party. Get Mister Colson's team and a few Marines loaded into the Tel'tak we got from the Tok'ra and let's hope they left the hangar doors open. I want a flight of 302s on station in orbit with their weapons primed. If they have to force their way into the hangar, try to leave the ship intact. In case this ends up being a trap, I want a nuke loaded into the Tel'tak as insurance."
"What about the rings?" one of the officers asked.
"They're locked out," Fray replied. "The Impolans probably tried to keep Ba'al's forces from boarding by locking out the system if not destroying the crystal tray entirely. Either way, the weapons systems are still intact and that ship is more advanced than anything the Goa'uld have produced so far. We might be looking at the greatest cache of Goa'uld technology in the history of the SGC. This is a great day for Earth."
"Get the team ready," Ervin repeated gruffly before heading to the Gate Room to give his report in person.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**Dead Space (Unknown Cylon Fleet)**
*Battlestar Pegasus (Combat Information Center)*
Sparks flew from one of the consuls in the CIC as the Pegasus took another missile to her armored hull. They were losing this battle, but Admiral Cain was determined to destroy the ship the Cylons were so hell-bent on defending. If it was important to them, than it had to be destroyed, no matter the costs.
"DRADIS contacts!" one her officers shouted above the chaos. "Inbound fighters."
"More Raiders?" Cain's Executive Officer, Colonel Fisk, asked.
"No, ma'am, they're moving too…" the DRADIS officer trailed off as ten signals blew past the Pegasus at speeds that even the Cylons couldn't sustain.
Weapons fire was exchanged between the mystery fighters and the Raiders, but the mystery fighters weren't here for a dogfight. They blew out of the far end of the Raider formation, nearly half of the Raider force breaking off to give chase, and fired missiles at the Baseships guarding the unidentified Cylon vessel. The call of "Radiological alarm!" went out mere moments before a single nuke slipped past the target Baseship's defenses and detonated with enough force to shatter the entire starship despite it being previously undamaged.
"We're being hailed," the comms officer reported.
"Put them on," Cain ordered in an interested tone.
"This is Colonial Raptor three-three-two to Pegasus Actual. I have a set of coordinates and a message from Galactica Actual. If you'll follow us, we'll lead you to safety."
"Coordinates received," the comms officer reported.
"This could be a trap," Fisk began.
"It's not," Cain said confidently. "Figures Adama would be the one to make it out alive. Helm, spool up the coils and make the jump."
"Ma'am, these coordinates are for an area of space roughly three jumps from our current location," the navigational officer informed her.
"Do they check out?" Cain asked.
"Yes, ma'am," the officer replied.
"Then make the jump," Cain ordered.
*Battlestar Galactica (Combat Information Center)*
"DRADIS contact," Dee reported as the Pegasus appeared on their screen. "Make that two; the Raptor made it back in one piece."
"And the fighters?" Saul asked.
"Give them a minute," Gabi replied. "They're a little slower than the Odyssey since their hyperdrives are smaller."
"We're being hailed," Gaeta reported.
"As expected," Commander Adama said as he picked up the phone.
"DRADIS contact," Dee announced. "Your fighters are back."
"You're good at this," Gaeta observed.
"I've been doing it for a long time," Gabi replied with a shrug.
*USS Odyssey (Observation Room Three)*
The window that looked out unto the stars was currently their only way of seeing the fighters come in for a landing. "Why did you essentially mimic the Death Gliders when you built your fighters?" Jack asked.
"The X-301 was essentially a Death Glider with a USAF sticker slapped on the side and a pair of rockets attached to the wings. The F-302 was the next step and has three separate engine systems to get it into orbit. The squints at Area 51 have been trying to redesign the fighter to get the engines and power systems reduced to a single unit, but they keep running into problems with not having an advanced enough engine to do everything they need it to. I think that a modified version of a Colonial Viper's engine would suffice, but I'm not really an engineer," Oliver replied without looking up from the pad of paper in his lap.
"So you're sticking with a rip-off because you can't do anything on your own?" Jack teased in an effort to get a rise out of the man.
"The SGC built the Prometheus and Daedalus-class ships," Oliver countered, again without looking up.
"Yeah, because those are great milestones," Jack said with a roll of her eyes. "The Prometheus, as I understand it, was an over-glorified and mislabeled 'Battlecrusier' that was really nothing but a fighter carrier. That thing had more anti-fighter guns than it did anti-shipping weaponry and it was supposed to be your answer to the Goa'uld Ha'tak? Now you have the Daedalus and it's supposed to be capable of taking on the Goa'uld, the Lucian Alliance, the Ori, and the Wraith? Its weapons are barely better than the Prometheus'! You may be good at fighting Cylons, but you don't stand a chance at beating anyone else."
"And yet we're doing better than the Jaffa," Oliver countered.
"Really?" Jack asked in a tone of true disbelief. "First, you're doing better because the Free Jaffa Nation is the Ori's primary target. Second, the Jaffa have more firepower than you do and they're still losing because their shields aren't as good. Third, your shields were given to you by the Asgard. Should I keep going, or do you get my point?"
"Our Naquadah Generators are our own," Oliver said as he put his pencil down and looked up at the woman who was pacing in front of the window. "Our railguns are our own. Our nukes are our own…"
"Bullshit!" Jack interrupted. "You got your Naquadah Generators from the Orbanians and Ra was the first person to put naquadah in a nuke, you just copied him."
Oliver was quiet for a moment before nodding his consent. "That's true," he said as he picked up his pencil and went back to work.
"That's it?" Jack asked indignantly.
"What do you want, Jack?" Oliver asked as he looked up at her. "We're not the creators of all the technology in the galaxy, the Ancients are. The Goa'uld stole everything they have from them and we got what we didn't get from the Ancients from the Asgard who were allied with the Ancients. We have better allies so we get better tech. What the Asgard won't give us, we reverse engineer from the Goa'uld who, in turn, reverse engineered it from the Ancients. Why are you being so judgmental of Humans when everyone except the Four Great Races and the Ori stole what they have from their forefathers? Even the Wraith based their entire tech base off of Lantean technology."
Jack fell silent before shrugging. "That's true," she said with a devious smile. "I think Humans are better at reverse engineering things than the Goa'uld are, though."
"And why's that?"
"The Goa'uld reverse engineered their plasma bombs from some piece of Ancient weaponry and it kind of sucks. They can shoot one bomb per emitter every five seconds. The ones Gabi and Six made can fire a barrage of eight before entering a five second recharge and being ready to go again. That's impressive."
"They did do a good job with the SR series as a whole, I'll give them that."
"Stealth Recon… Frigates, right?"
"Yeah."
"And that's, what? A heavy bomber class?"
"No, the modern definition of Frigate has more to do with a fast moving vessels used for escort duty and armed with guided missiles. They're typically used for shoreline bombardment if not just purely an escort, but we had to redefine it again when we started building up the space navy. The newest rendition of the meaning of the title has to do with a fast moving ship that's heavily armed, lightly armored, and maneuverable enough to avoid enemy fire."
"I guess that fits your ships then," Jack said with a sigh as she got bored of the conversation that refused to become an argument.
"That's kind of the whole point of a class designation system," Oliver countered before going back to his drawing.
"What are you doing, anyway?" Jack asked.
"There is no end to your questions, is there?" Oliver asked as he showed her the picture he was working on.
"Wow!" Jack exclaimed breathlessly as she took in the expertly captured image of the tower on Samsara engulfed in the flames of her soul. "How do you do that with just a pencil? There's no color and it still looks… wow!"
"I had a good teacher," Oliver replied before returning to his work.
"Is that for the little man?" Jack asked.
Oliver nodded in reply.
"What's his name again?"
"Luka."
"And he's your son?"
"Yes."
"And his mother?"
"Not in the picture."
"Why not?"
"She died."
"How?"
"Can we not have that conversation right now?"
"Is she the one with the bomb in her head?"
"Jack," Oliver said in a warning tone.
"Fine," Jack relented as she went back to staring out of the window. "So, out of curiosity…"
"That's it!" Oliver said in a defeated tone before grabbing the bag at his feet and walking away.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**P4X-650 (Orbit)**
*Devastator (Engineering Deck) [six hours later]*
Colson placed the last of the crystals into its slot and a soft light filled the tray. He slid it back into position then stood over the console the tray was connected to. "That should do it," he said to the room at large.
"Devastator to Alpha Site, do you read us?" one of his researchers said into the radio.
"Alpha Site to Devastator, we read you. What's your status?" General Ervin's voice replied.
"Basic communications are back up without any bugs in the system or recording devices. We're still working on the holo-comms, but there are more spy-bugs in that system than you'd believe. Life-support is back up to nominal, the engines are online, weapons check out, shields are good, the rings are unlocked… all in all, she's starting to look like a warship again, but we still need to repair the damage the Impolans caused to the hull and reactor when they took her. We'll need to get raw materials, but there's a series of subsystems specifically designed to turn this flying hunk of metal into a mobile mining and refinement station. With your permission, we'll take her out to the neighboring system and start harvesting that trinium deposit we picked up on earlier in the year," Colson replied.
"That's a negative. The SGC is sending us more manpower to study the ship. Your orders are to wait for the next batch of scientists before going anywhere. What's the status of the scans?"
"Roughly six percent complete and going slow. The hull is made of an alloy that's absorbing a large portion of our hand-held scanners. We'll need a capital ship's subspace grid to get any real readings, but we have managed to decrypt and compress just under twenty percent of the ship's data logs. I have a data package that I need forwarded to the Beta Site and the SGC."
"Why the Beta Site?"
"That's where they're developing our first-gen plasma cannons and the first thing we focused on was the weapons systems. To say that Felger's going to want to see this is an understatement. We might be looking at the missing piece to our plasma cannon designs."
"I'll forward it right away."
"Excellent. We'll keep working on the rest of the systems. If we can, we might want to send a copy of this stuff to the Asgard. I think that Ba'al tried to put an Asgard shield generator onto this thing. Sounds like something they'd want to know."
"With any luck, the Asgard will be in the galaxy in a few days to find the Odyssey. We'll just tell them then since we still don't have a way of reaching the Asgard while they're in Ida."
"Copy that. We'll keep working," Colson replied before moving to the next system that had been damaged.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**Dead Space (Colonial Fleet)**
*Battlestar Pegasus (Combat Information Center)*
"Admiral Cain, this is Laura Roslin, the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol," Commander Adama said as the woman walked into the CIC with a look of awe on her face.
"Madam President," Cain said as she shook the woman's hand.
"It's good to find another ship this far out from the Colonies," Roslin replied with a smile.
"You found one ship," Cain replied. "Imagine how I feel right now."
There was a bright flash of light in the hall outside of the CIC before five men walked into the room, four of them armed to the teeth and obviously protecting the fifth. "Colonel Ian Davidson reporting as requested," the man in the middle said as the two lead guards parted to give him room to speak.
"You must be the commander of the Odyssey," Cain said matter-of-factly while trying to wrap her head around the need for a flash grenade.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person," Commander Adama said as he shook Davidson's hand.
"Likewise, Commander," Davidson said. "I apologize for not having the time before now, but, with the Odyssey's systems damaged, I'm inclined to stay where I'm needed most."
"Understandably," Adama said with a nod. "This is Rear Admiral Helena Cain of the Colonial Space Navy. She's in charge now."
"I suspected as much," Davidson said as he sized the woman up without offering her any greeting. "My techs tell me that the Pegasus is damaged and that they might be able to fix a few of your problems for you. If you're interested, I'll loan you a few good men."
"I'll keep that in mind," Cain replied as she, in turn, sized up the man before her.
"So tell us, Admiral, what is the Pegasus doing this far from the Colonies all on her own?" Roslin asked in an effort to diffuse the cold war between the two officers.
"Chasing the Cylons," Cain replied without looking away from Davidson. She couldn't say why, but something about this man was… off. The way he talked, the way walked, his rank, the flash of light, the guards… something wasn't adding up.
"The subspace ship," Davidson said matter-of-factly.
"The what?" Roslin asked.
"Our sensors detected the Cylon Baseship that escaped our last engagement retreating to a small group of ships that was hanging back from the battle. After the battle we ignored them because they didn't have the forces to take on the combined strength of the Galactica and the Odyssey and the Cylons know that, but we've been keeping an eye on them ever since. They're still following us," Davidson replied.
"How is that even possible?" Roslin asked. "I thought the whole reason that we jumped the fleet as far as we did and pushed the engines to their limits was so that we could leave Samsara Prime behind and let the Cylons run into your Lucian Alliance. How are they still following us even after jumping that far past the redline?"
"Because that ship is equipped with a form of subspace technology, but we're not sure what type yet. You told me that the Colonials used a subspace beacon as a navigational marker, correct?" Davidson asked.
"Everyone knows that," Cain replied in a tone of slight confusion.
"The Cylons have a similar device small enough to fit on a ship. They're tracking something in this fleet that's broadcasting a signal to the ship the Admiral is so hell-bent on destroying. It's the only explanation my people can come up with."
"The organic toasters," Cain said in a tone of disgust.
"The what?" Davidson asked.
"The Cylons that look like Humans," Adama replied.
"You never told them?" Roslin asked in a tone of disbelief. "The Odyssey was boarded by the Cylons and you didn't tell them that there might be a Cylon on their ship that looks like a Human?"
"It's not that," Davidson assured her. "I've just never heard it called an 'organic toaster.' Doctor Baltar informed us of the existence of seven Human-form Cylons. We searched the Odyssey thoroughly and found only the crew that was supposed to be onboard." Though he couldn't exactly pin the source of it, something about Admiral Cain made Davidson uneasy. She wasn't like Commander Adama. She was… dark.
"As part of my duty as Admiral, I need to know what this fleet is capable of. I'm aware that the Galactica is damaged and almost entirely outdated, but I also know that you've worked miracles with her. I want a full report on her ammunition stocks, state of repair, and a crew list. I want a similar report on any of the ships in the civilian fleet with weapons including the Astral Queen. I want a full passenger list from that ship. I don't care if you have to beat the truth out of them, I want their names and why they're on that ship in the first place," Cain ordered.
"Why would you order people beaten just to learn their names?" Davidson asked.
"Because the Astral Queen is a prisoner transfer ship that was moving some of the Colonies worst criminals from one planet to another when the Cylons attacked," Roslin replied.
"Prisoners or not, you can't just have people beaten. They have rights," Davidson argued.
"They forfeited their rights when they broke the law. I have no godsdamned idea why the Lords would spare them over more innocent lives, but they'll either prove their worth or be vented to space," Cain countered. "I'll also be personally inspecting both the Galactica and the Odyssey."
"With all due respect, Admiral, you have no right to inspect my ship," Davidson immediately countered.
"And why is it that you think that?" Cain demanded, her tone sharp as a razor. "I'm the ranking officer here and you will follow my orders."
"You may be the highest ranking Colonial officer, but I'm not Colonial," Davidson calmly replied.
"'Not Colonial'?" Cain asked in a tone of utter disbelief. "What the frak are you if you're not Colonial?"
"He's Tau'ri," Roslin interjected in a school teacher's tone.
"What the frak is a 'Tau'ri'?" Cain asked.
"The people of Terra," Commander Adama replied. "We found them a few dozen jumps after we left Ragnar. They saved us from the Cylons then agreed to help us hold them off in exchange for help repairing their ship."
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**P4X-650 (Orbit)**
*Devastator (Engineering Deck) [four hours later]*
"I wish Doctor McKay was here," one of the females working in the Engineering Deck said with a sigh of desire. "He'd know what he was looking at."
"Wow," one of the men said with an exasperated roll of his eyes. "That's the absolute dumbest thing I've ever heard. The man might, and I did say might, be the leading expert on Ancient technology, but this thing is full of a cross between Goa'uld and Asgard tech with just a pinch of random shit thrown in for good measure. If we could have anyone we wanted just by wishing, I'd wish Colonel Carter was here. She's actually the world's undisputed leading expert on Goa'uld technology and I'd take her over him every day."
"Not to mention, if she was here, the Odyssey wouldn't be missing," one of the newly transferred personnel from the SGC added.
"How is the search for the Odyssey going?" the male asked.
"Bad," the transfer replied. "They haven't managed to get in touch with us, the Asgard ship got delayed during their launch to this galaxy by a last minute switch up, and the Daedalus is still stranded in Pegasus making repairs to its hull."
"I do hope you're actually getting work done while you're talking," Colson said as he walked in.
"Of course we are, Mister Colson," the transfer replied from his place kneeling by a crystal tray. "I'm almost done with the sensors array so we'll be able to plot our hyperspace jump soon. Speaking of which…"
"We're not using the Devastator to go looking for the Odyssey," Colson cut the other man off. "I've already asked the General to relay that request to the SGC and General Landry promptly shot it down. He said that an untested ship freshly stolen from Ba'al being flown around Alliance territory was quite possibly the dumbest move we could possibly make."
"What about the Impolans and the Mimner? Can't they help us find the Odyssey?" the man asked.
"They stole this ship from Ba'al and gave it to us. We owe them not the other way around. If we ask them to help us find the Odyssey, the cost of their cooperation might be the Devastator and this ship is worth more than the Odyssey," Colson replied.
"How can you say that?!" the woman asked in outrage. "This is a science project! The Odyssey is crewed by people with families!"
"This 'science project' just gave us what we need to get operational plasma cannons, improve our shield strength by some measurable degree, bypass Ba'al's shields with an IFF that'll keep our fighters from crashing into the barrier, and even has a power core that's taught us more about Ba'al's level of Naquadah Generator technology than the past three years of studying Ha'tak. I am perfectly aware of the fact that the Odyssey's crew has families, but they all signed up for their post knowing full well that they might not come back.
"I'm not saying that I'm happy about it, but I do know that studying this ship might give us what we need to get the Daedalus and the Apollo capable of taking on the Wraith and the Ori on an even footing. This ship represents the future of our star-fleet's weapons technology. Studying it could save Earth from attack. I'm sure that the Odyssey's crew would understand that it's more than a fair trade to keep this and save the planet versus giving it up and losing Earth. Those are the odds we play with every day. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen," Colson countered in a solemn tone.
"You already asked them to make the switch," the transfer more said than asked.
"That's just what I got from General Landry's response. He said that the Devastator has more war potential than the Odyssey and that duplicating that potential needs to be our main focus. The Asgard will find the Odyssey. That's their job. Ours is to better Earth's defenses by breaking this ship down and figuring out how it works. I know that some of you have friends aboard the Odyssey and I know that there are at least three of the people on this ship who have family in the crew. I'm sorry, but there's nothing that we can do. If we get the Devastator fully repaired and operational before the Asgard find the Odyssey, then, and only then, will we be authorized to join the search party. Before any of that can be possible, however, we have to switch out the Goa'uld interplanetary hyperdrive in favor of the Asgards' intergalactic model. Get started on that once you're done with the sensors."
"Yes, sir," the trio replied in downed tones.
***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***
**Dead Space (Unknown Cylon Fleet)**
*Unknown Cylon Vessel (Halls) [three days after the discovery of Pegasus]*
"Don't look back. Just keep running!" Oliver shouted as he pressed the hard drive into her hand and gave her a shove down the hall.
Kimi did as she was told and focused on keeping her balance as bullets flew over her shoulder and curved away from her back mere centimeters before impacting her armor. She glanced down at her wrist and noted the display there. She had three seconds left on the clock before the magnetic repulsion field would collapse. Her legs were already screaming in protest at the abuse, her lungs aflame from a lack of air, but she forced herself to move faster. She rounded the corner at the end of the hall at a breakneck pace and slammed her trinium alloy blade into the roving red eye of a Cylon standing in her way.
There was a grunt of pain and the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground… a body that wasn't made of metal. Despite orders to the contrary, Kimi skidded to a halt and looked back to see Oliver collapsed on the ground, blood pooling around him from what had to be a dozen bullets that had pierced his armor.
"Dammit, Lieutenant, I said run!" Oliver shouted through a grimace. Kimi nodded grimly then turned on her heel and disappeared with a pulse of energy.
"She won't make it off of this ship alive," an aging man said victoriously as the robot hoard approached from behind the Colonel.
The Colonel, still lying face down in the growing pool of crimson, laughed at the robot's words as he forced his body to move. He rolled over onto his back and looked up at the Skin Job. "I was like you once," Oliver said in a light tone as if they were merely talking and the man before him hadn't already taken an arrow through his head only to live again. "I thought she was weak, useless even, but she's not." The Centurions moved past him, still running, and followed Kimi down the hall. "She took everything I thought about her and threw it all back in my face the first chance she got. She's proven her combat efficacy more times than you've been, what do you call it, resurrected? Don't underestimate her. It'll be the last thing you do."
"You've overestimated her," the old man replied cruelly, "and it has proven to be the death of you," he said as he raised a pistol to the Colonel's head. There was a flash of light and a sonic boom before a supersonic metal slug tore through the old man's head. His body, for the second time that day, fell to the floor in a limp heap. This time, however, the force of the round passing through his body had taken the upper half of his torso with it. God explosive rounds were fun to play with!
"I assume you have an exit strategy?" Kimi asked as she deactivated her cloaking device and stood over him.
"We don't have time to find the jammer," Oliver grunted as he pulled a small sack from its placed tied to his belt. "Take this," he said as he handed the sack to the woman.
Kimi took one look inside of the bag and her eyes went wide with horror. "You want to use a breaching charge on a glass ship?!"
"On the glass of the glass ship, yes," Oliver replied as he struggled to pull his helmet over his head. "The Raptor will catch us and we'll be able to get the hell out of here before I bleed to death."
With a deep sigh, Kimi said, "This is why I hate going on missions with you. It always ends with something getting blown up. Something that usually involves me."
"Noticed that did you?" Oliver asked with a devilish smirk as Kimi helped him to his feet and helped him get his helmet on. The thick, trinium-alloy would seal hermetically with his armor and supply him with air. Granted the holes in his torso would cause a minor leak, but it would last long enough. Through the two eye holes, he could see just fine. The third 'eye' on his forehead was a zoom-able camera that recorded what he saw and made him look like a three eyed alien. He wasn't, of course.
*Battlestar Galactica (Combat Information Center)*
"So what you're telling me is that they're refusing my orders," Cain stated simply.
"They don't see why their pasts matter," Adama replied.
"They're prisoners. They don't have a say in whether or not it matters. Tactical, give me a firing solution on the Astral Queen," Cain ordered, her voice carrying over the still-open line.
"You can't be serious!" Roslin shouted at the woman's voice.
"I assure you, Madam President, I am very serious."
"If you do this, it will be unforgiveable," a new voice said as Colonel Davidson forced his way into the conversation.
"How is he even reaching us from that far away?" Saul asked Gaeta.
"I don't know," the Lieutenant replied as he looked over the DRADIS screen. As far as they could tell, the Odyssey was still away on the mission to investigate the unknown Cylon vessel.
"Using military weapons of war to attack an unarmed civilian ship will only cause the masses to panic. You're supposed to be an Admiral, not a tyrant," Davidson challenged.
"They're prisoners," Cain countered.
"They're still Human."
"They're the worst humanity has to offer," Cain said in a tone of finality. "Fire when ready."
The Pegasus, lined up with the Astral Queen, fired a round from its main axial cannon. The round flew through space with an obvious target; the Astral Queen's engine coupling. The round, which would've destroyed the ship had it impacted the intended target, disappeared in a flash long before it could reach the ship. In its place, a shimmer ran through empty space until a new ship was revealed. The Odyssey, now back on their DRADIS screens, stood between the Astral Queen and the Pegasus.
"No, Admiral, that title is reserved exclusively for you," Davidson said in a tone of utter outrage. Then there was a flash of orange and a chunk of the Pegasus' starboard Viper bay blew apart as a hyperaccelerated round from the Odyssey's own main gun tore through the armor with an unsettling ease.
*Unknown Cylon Vessel (Halls)*
With a boom that wasn't audible, the breaching charge detonated. As it was, the explosive decompression sucked the fire, noise, and two Humans out of the ship to where a Raptor was waiting to catch them. The force of their being blown out of the ship was enough to propel them right into the waiting shuttle's open door. With all of its passengers onboard, the Raptor spoiled up its FTL coils and prepared to leave.
A quick jump with the Colonial FTL system and the Raptor was back with the fleet… where the Odyssey was being swarmed by Vipers. They arrived just as the fleet-wide broadcast went out.
"By order of the President and a unanimous vote from the Quorum of Twelve, Admiral Cain you are hereby relieved of your command. For crimes against humanity you are to surrender yourself to the rightful authorities. Failure to comply will result in your execution," President Roslin said in a tone that was very clearly unhappy with their current situation. She sounded like, if given the opportunity, she would put the bullet through Cain's head herself.
"Some serious shit went down while we were away," the DRADIS officer in the Raptor noted.
When no reply was forthcoming and the Vipers continued their assault against the Odyssey, Roslin made a very displeased sound before addressing the fleet again. "Commander Adama, as the ranking officer in the fleet, you have the com."
"Stand down or you'll be trialed for treason," Adama's gruff voice demanded. Again there was no response and now it was Adama's turn to make a noise of disappointment. "Colonel Davidson, you have my permission to act as you see fit."
In response to this order, the Odyssey's 302 compliment thundered out of the hangar bays before looping around and taking up a defensive position around one of the ships in the civilian fleet. Once they were in position, the Odyssey herself pushed forward with her sublight engines and approached the Pegasus, an ominous angel of death that the larger ship simply couldn't touch. No matter how many rounds the Pegasus put into the Odyssey, it just kept coming.
Once the Odyssey was hovering over the Pegasus, the Battlestar's dorsal guns unloading into the ventral surface of the smaller Battlecrusier, Cain finally spoke. "Viper wing, stand down," she ordered in a tone of defeat mixed with pain and confusion.
"What the hell?" Starbuck asked no one in particular from her place in the pilot's chair.
"Remember when we moved months-worth of food from the surface loading pad into the ships waiting in orbit and we did it all in a matter of seconds despite the drastic size of the load?" Kimi asked while doing her best to stop Oliver from bleeding out to which Starbuck nodded. "The system was originally designed as a troop deployment system. We call it 'Beaming'."
"So you… Beamed straight from the Odyssey to the Pegasus?"
"Straight to the CIC would be more accurate," Oliver said with a grimace. "Can I go see a doctor now? All Kimi's doing is hurting me!"
"Sorry for trying to help!" Kimi said in an annoyed tone punctuated by a role of her eyes.