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Battlestar Wasp
Chapter 4
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The Cylons were created by Man.
They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.
And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.
After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.
The Cylons left for another world to call their own.
A remote space facility was built...
...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.
Every year, the Colonials send an officer.
The Cylons send no one.
No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years...
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Until Now…
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..
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1*1*1*1
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Special Note: All chapters have been reuploaded.
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Day 32 ATF;
Baseship Omega;
Over Caprica;
The Cylon named Cornel stood at the electronic feed, with his left hand in the digital flow. He was going over the reports coming in from the planet below, of the extermination of the humans. Currently eighty-seven percent of the planet had been covered and all that was left was the outlying towns and deep mountain preserves. Thousands of his mechanized Cylons were gathering the bodies of the millions who had been slaughtered and either burying them or dumping their remains far out to sea while others were repairing the cities and military fields for their use.
More Cylons forces and tugs had towed the wreckage of the ships in space to Caprica's moon and left them there to be salvaged later once the manufacturing station was set up to start building new Raiders and Baseships for the Cylon Empire the Cavil's planned on building. On Caprica, Leoben Conoy one of the number twos was setting up his breeding centers with captured females ranging from thirteen to thirty years of age. The plan was to manufacture more Cylons to increase the number of models in the line with using the male versions as donors to increase the population so the Cylons would flourish. Personally, he was against it, but was out voted in the census.
"Cornel, we have a problem," Tasha said as she came into the room.
"Welcome back, now what happened to your ships and what problem?" Cornel asked as he removed his hand from the data stream.
"My fleet was lured into a trap by the Hornet and Sovereign. We detected their energy signatures and transmissions. So I jumped all my Baseships to their location to destroy them. As I said it was a trap. We jumped in on the edge of a massive minefield. Before we could do anything, we were targeted and destroyed. I estimate three to five thousand mines in the field. I wondered where they got the mines and did some digging. The minelayer Gorgon is missing from the destroyed inventory. That is not the worse news. If my count is correct we missed at least twelve Battlestars, four of their giant repair ships, three to seven cradle docks, twenty-two to thirty Gunstars, and many smaller auxiliary warships. Not counting the hundreds of civilian ships that we're still hunting down. Now they have taken the Coral Depot and Calypso Mining facility is missing as well. The Baseship that was sent to destroy her and her merchant fleet was destroyed by a kinetic weapon of massive size…"
"How can that many ships have been missed?" Cornel asked as his blood pressure rose and a vein on his forehead throbbed.
"Well, some are older ships like the Alberio class Gunstars. As to the Sovereign, she was covered by the Hornet which allowed her to repower her systems, and jump away. The Hornet's computer system wasn't compatible to the CNP virus, so she was targeted for direct take out. She was also escorted by those Alberio class Gunstars and jumped away after the Sovereign did. The Thor and Isis are missing as well. Thor has moderate damage but the Isis is reported to have her port bay gutted. Three Baseships are currently chasing her and fourteen civilian ships.
"One battle group we missed was the Allegiance. She and her sister ships were not where we were told she was supposed to be. Seems like she was on a long distance recognizance. I dispatched three Baseships to take care of them. They are not due to come back until late next month, so those ships will be taken care of when our Baseships catch up to them. The thing that worries me most, is that there's a dozen of the wrecked Battlestars that were confirmed wrecked, which have vanished, including the stern section of the Andraste which as you know was the flagship of the fleet…"
"Find them, find them and destroy them. They must not be allowed to repair those ships or even strip them. Send orders to the fleet to gather all the wrecks at Virgon's moon and Caprica's. Also dispatch as many Raiders as we can without harming our air wings to search for any human ships. They are to be destroyed at once. We know that there was four hundred and twenty-nine thousand commercial and private ships in the colonies and about half had FTL drives. Get me a count on how many are missing as well. I know some we will never know because they were destroyed on the ground or docked to stations we destroyed but it will give us an estimate on what could still be out there," Cornel ordered as he looked to the door as a number four walked in, "What are you doing here?"
"My ship was attacked and destroyed by two Battlestars…"
"Fraking Hornet and Sovereign," Cornel snapped in anger.
"Nope, it was the Allegiance, and Mackay," the number four said.
Cornel turned on Tasha and he snarled in anger, "Not due back until next month?"
Tasha stepped back at the anger in Cornel's voice as she went over the information she had just been told, "They must have come back sooner than expected."
"Find them and destroy them. Now get out of my sight. Both of you," Cornel ordered as he turned to the data stream and stuck his hand back inside.
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1*1*1*1
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Crispin Nebula;
Commanding officers quarters, Battlestar Wasp;
Admiral Joshua Anderson was sitting at his desk going over reports from the ships of the fleet as well as the Calypso Mining Facility. The reports were grim by comparison of what could have been.
Turning on his voice printer, he started talking.
"Status Report and Fleet Log: thirty-one days after the attack. The count is in. Of fifty billion people in the twelve colonies, there are just under two hundred and fifty thousand civilians and one hundred and eight thousand military personnel on the ships and the Calypso Station under my command. Raptors are bringing in less and less everyday from the outer colonies and the ones we're sending to the main colonies it was getting harder to slip any in at all. Analyses of the flight recorder recovered from Ragnar station suggest Commander Adama of the Galactica has about fifty to seventy civilian ships with him. I don't know how many survivors he has in his fleet but I do know that the Galactica needs major help but I haven't figured out who to send out after him. On a bitterer note, I have signed a warrant for Rear Admiral Helen Cain for kidnapping, murder, theft, piracy and abandonment of civilian ships in a time of war. Reports given to me by the captains of the fifteen civilian ships she stripped leave a picture that leaves bile in my stomach. The survivors of ships have made due and I have promised them, I'll catch her if I can and recover their loved ones. Repairs to their ships have been quickly resolved.
"For ships, there are one hundred and thirteen civilian ships in the fleet that are FTL capable and fifty-eight more that we've slated to be converted or have their FTL drives fixed. We have found and recovered one hundred and sixty damaged civilian ships. These ships have been jumped or towed into the nebula to be stripped or repaired. The gristly part was removing the dead from those ships. Their bodies had been wrapped and sent into the nebula for burial because we just don't have a way to bury the thousands of dead on them.
"We've had a lot of civilian volunteers for the military and the repair ships but the biggest boost in personal was the twenty-nine thousand repair men and woman on the Kiel, Hephasetus and the Heron as well as the nine thousand that served onboard the cradle docks. I had the six captains of those ships ask for volunteers to transfer to the stripped Leviathan which was now under repairs by one of the Cradle Docks.
"The Cradle docks are a blessing, built on the decommissioned Indria class Battlestars that were decommissioned before Adar's administration. When Adar took power, he quickly cut the Horus class Mobile Ship Yard from the inventory so the Colonial fleet, hurting for repair ships converted the Indria's into portable Dock Ships while the Horus class Mobile Ship Yards were sent for scrap or sale to private corporations because of Adar. How I wished the three Cradle docks were a Horus class because each ship had a large crew complement as well as an enclosed dock like the Leviathans. The six ships were working overtime trying to get the warships repaired. I know two of the Horus's were sold to scrapping corporations and I am trying to locate where they last were but their headquarters were located on Caprica in Delphi. I am thinking of sending a strike team there to scout out the companies offices and see if we can recover their hard drives from the main computers.
"Our biggest find in civilian ships were four of the Ebba Maersk class super freighters that had been shut down by the CNP virus. Each ship was recovered by one of the Cradle docks, and jumped back to the nebula. There, the cargos manifest was gone over. It was found that each ship was a bonanza in supplies and a blessing from the gods. One had been loaded down with canned and frozen foods, enough to supply Scorpio shipyards for a month. The second was packed with household goods like toilet paper, and other items; but the last two had most of their containers full of ingots of metals for the foundries on Scorpio, as well as computers from Virgon for Scorpio for the fleet. That metal is now being turned into items for the damaged ships, while the computer parts are being used as replacements.
"Of our military ships, there are six active Battlestars, with three of them damaged. The Mercury class Hornet and Royal Sovereign and Wasp had from mid to heavy damage while the undamaged ones are of the Jupiter class. They are currently the backbone of the undamaged fleet. I sent the Allegiance, Mackay, and the Milos out on a sweep attacking single Baseships and have them scouting the area where battle groups had been patrolling. They had the six undamaged Alberio class Gunstars from the Caprican National Space Guard that had jumped with us when I ordered the Kiel to jump. Sixteen lightly damaged Gunstars and seven undamaged modified police Patrolstars consist of the rest of the military strike force. Most of the Gunstars will be repaired in about fifteen days thanks to the two Hephasetus class repair ships that can repair two ships the size of a Gunstar at once. The Patrolstars come from the outlying areas and jumped away with three to seven civilian ships. Another blessing is the twelve military versions of the Mule class freighters and two fleet replenishment ships sent with the Allegiance on her exploration. I know both ships are low on supplies, but with what we recovered from the Coral Depot, they can be all refilled to maximum capacity," said as he shut the recorder off and took a drink of water.
Popping his neck, he stretched and then turned the recorder back on, "Damaged and out of commission warships consisted of eight recovered Battlestars and one Warstar for heavy ships. I ordered the least damaged, the Mars into the Kiel when the Wasp was released. Her back is broken from six nuclear hits on her top ridge, but the ship is in one piece. Commander Walters reports that the ship can be easily fixed due to the modular building of the Valkyrie class Battlestars she hopes to have four to five of the eight ships repaired in a month. That's if they can pull all the compartments from four of the damaged ones to rebuild them.
"The Andraste I don't know what we're going to do with. She lost everything from her number five turret forward in the attack… or, her entire 'alligator head', as their called. I'll let Isis deal with it because she's the head of repairs.
"As to the Berzerk I class support ships we recovered, I recommended modernizing them when we have time but right now I assigned them to Captain Blaine of the Patrolstar Isis to use as part of the civilian police force since they have large brigs in each and can be modified for more.
"Our smallest military units are the small Ranger class cutters from several of the guard forces around the colonies. Several have damages but in all the fourteen ships of the class will help the fleet as well as the four Escortstars of the Anala class that Calypso Mining Station gave us. I also ordered the four Marinestars turned into schools for the children and the cadets will continue training on the Vengeance," stopping for a second, took a sip of his water and then turned to the next report.
"Pilots of our small craft. We have twenty-three hundred and seventeen active Viper pilots. Fourteen hundred and twelve pilots for shuttles, Raptors and Heavy lifters as well as flight crews to fill out those berths. With what we recovered at Coral Depot, various battle sights and destroyed ships we have in the fleet at this moment fifty-eight hundred Vipers ranging from Mark IVs to Mark VIIs. Raptors we have twenty-one hundred and twelve birds. These are a mixed bag as well. Mark IIs and IIIs make up most but we do have about two hundred Mark IVs and of them, sixty-seven are stealth Raptors. There are ninety-eight shuttles. They range from the sixteen passengers to the twenty-six passenger versions and of the shuttles thirty-eight are set up as medical shuttles for transporting the wounded to the medical ships. Heavy lifters we have one hundred and ninety-one of them. There are also thirty-two port tugs and sixteen Canis class cutters that had been found in the Coral Depot along with six captured Heavy Raiders which his intelligence department was going over," Joshua said as he stopped the recorder and stood up and walked around his quarters for a few minutes to stretch his legs.
Stopping at the armored window of his office, he looked out at the gaseous clouds that enfolded his fleet and the remains of the human race. He could just make out the Kiel in the distance but closer ships were more easily seen. The bright lights from the Cloud Five passenger liner that was parked next to a flattop repair ship was the most striking of the civilian ships. He could see repair crews working on the bow of the ship, repairing a hole where a standard ship killing missile had punctured the bright red and green ship. Hearing the door open behind him he smiled at his daughter as she came in with a tray of food.
"Brought you some food, Dad," Samantha said as she walked to the small table by his chair and set the tray down.
"Thanks, Sam," Joshua replied as he walked over to his daughter and gave her a hug, "How goes the training, Mrs. Cadet Commander."
Samantha blushed and replied, "Going good. How's the paperwork going?"
Joshua just groaned at her question as he sat down and started eating his soup.
"That bad huh," Samantha stated as she sat across from her father and snagged one of his rolls.
"Let me tell you this, Sam. Never let them promote you to flag rank," he said as he took a sip of the soup. "This is good."
"It's canned, sorry. I couldn't make it fresh. You know how scarce fresh food is," Sam said.
"Well it should get better, soon. We have ten Botanical Cruisers in the fleet now, along with domes on a half dozen more ships. Soon as the crops start coming in, it will help. Plus, the Calypso has twenty-four underground domes as well," Joshua said as he buttered a roll and dunked it into the soup.
"Well all that canned goods we captured on Coral Depot and from those four giant freighters help. Speaking of those freighters, I have an idea how to use them. Once we empty out those containers, why not convert them into housing for now," Sam suggested as she finished her roll.
"Well, right now, I think the Calypso is planning more living spaces in the lower part of their asteroid but not sure. I am hoping we can kick the Cylons out of the system and take back our worlds," Joshua said as he finished his soup.
"Dad, hate to tell you this, but I don't see that happening. We have six active Battlestars, some slightly damaged and some heavily damaged. Nine more need extensive repairs and significant more crewmembers. The reports I have gone over put the Cylon forces at seventy of their newer Baseships. There's a hundred and twenty of their older models in the Cyrannus system, and taht's not counting their support craft and those three triangle ships our Raptors spotted over Picon. Any battle is going to cost us, because when we die, we're dead, while they just download into a new body or ship," Sam stated.
Joshua looked at his daughter and asked, "What should we do?"
"Run! Run like the Galactica did. Don't send anyone out to find them and bring them back, like you planned. Instead, follow their example to a new world. Find a place where we can rebuild, and then maybe come back. Strip the outer colonies of what we can, because getting anything from the main worlds will be difficult. Then, when we have the supplies we need, we leave and don't look back. Repair what ships we can especially the Battlestars. Pick a date, say two months from now. Then take whatever Battlestars that are not repaired and load them up in the Cradle docks and other repair ships. Leave one of the Leviathans empty as we jump away," Sam suggested as she picked up her father's glass of water and took a drink.
Joshua leaned back in his chair and looked at his daughter of just seventeen years. Her idea had merit. They were limited to the personnel they had. Even if they drafted every able person, it would still be less than three hundred thousand men and women. With a large civilian population, they could rebuild … especially if each family had three to four children once they found a place.
"Alright, I agree. Draw up a plan, and I'll look at it. Have each Heavy lifter mated to an empty shipping container. We will send them out in groups of five with five Raptors per group armed to the teeth. Use some of the stealth Raptors to drop marines to scour the small towns and cities of the sub colonies. We will start with the closer ones and work out from the twelve colonies. While the lifters are doing that, I'll take the best Battlestars out with Gunstar support again and strike hard and fast. The remaining stealth Raptors are to scour space around the colonies for damaged ships we can salvage. We're going to have to work hard and fast so let the repair captains know what is going on. We have five flattop repair ships that can work on civilian ships and if I remember right there are eight more we recovered. Have them gone over by the Hephasetus, and the Heron since they can dock to their top repair docks. See if we can get volunteers for each ship. If I remember right, they only have a crew of a thousand…"
"I know, Father, but that's eight thousand more people we'll have to come up with. However, I think I can do it, if you'll allow me to recruit from all the civilian ships and Calypso Mining facility," Samantha replied.
"Do what you need to, Sam. In fact, as of this day, I am commissioning you into the Colonial Fleet as a Lieutenant, and assigning you to my staff. Your first duty is to manage our workforce, the distribution of supplies, and preparing reports for me about fleet and civilian repairs. You can have five ensigns or cadets as your staff, just get the work done," Joshua told his daughter as he stood up.
Samantha sat there shocked at her father's words. Then she jumped to her feet. Her hand snapped to her forehead in a salute as she replied, "Thank you, Sir. I'll not let you down."
"You won't be thanking me, later. Now get out of here, you scamp. You're out of uniform," Joshua replied with a smile as his daughter snapped another salute, rushed out of the room, and then came back in and hugged him.
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1*1*1*1
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Day 45 ATF;
Raptor 8383;
Caprica;
Captain Mickey 'Boxer' Hastings settled his Raptor in the clearing next to the edge of the woods he had found in the mountain range north of Caprica City the week before. As the marines bailed out of the ship to check on the perimeter, he and his ECO, Ensign Maria 'Cookie' Tension shut the stealth Raptor down and then pulled out the camouflage netting that would hide the ship from visible sight. Two of the eight marines had started breaking small limbs and uprooting small trees to help hide the ship while their partners spread out around the ship in two person teams. Across from them, Raptor 2212 was being covered as well. The third ship was a Heavy lifter sitting atop a thirty-four foot storage container that was already camouflaged. The storage container was set up as a passenger container with four rows of twenty-two seats on two decks. Scattered across the twelve main colonies of man, were dozens more like this. Each was designed to evacuate civilians back to the Calypso station once they were full. Once the two pilots had the Raptor hidden, they headed over to the tent that housed the small command post where they found the other pilots talking to the C.O. of the rescue mission.
"Sir, Hastings and Tension reporting," Boxer said as he saluted his boss.
"Welcome back, any problem getting those kids back to base?" Major Richard Johnson asked as he returned the salute.
"No, Sir, and as we left they were operating on the two injured ones. I also brought in another squad for you. I have some orders for you from the Admiral," Boxer replied as he opened a pocket and pulled out a folded paper and quickly handed it to him.
Richard unsealed the envelope and looked at the orders and grimaced, "Damn! That's twenty-nine clicks away," he said.
None of the pilots asked as he reached to the digital atlas and opened it up and typed in the name that was written on the paper. The screen changed and showed the location and where they were located.
"Get Sergeant Blaine in here," Richard ordered as he started examining the map.
One of the marines stationed by the door ducked out as Richard looked up at Hastings, "Boxer, we're going to have a little mission for you and your ship. If it goes as planned you will jump out and head back to base. Our three squads of marines are in the process of returning to the camp with over two hundred young woman we rescued from a camp fourteen kilometers from here. If they arrive here intact, we will load them up and jump everyone out. Problem is the rescue container is going to be maxed out since I refuse to leave anyone behind. The other Raptor will be carrying three extra people and the Heavy lifter will have the rest of the marines inside her hull. As you know they have the ability to carry twelve passengers but will be carrying sixteen. I want you to take two extra marines with you as well as two storage containers that will be attached to the ship for what the marines will be gathering…" he said as the door opened and a marine entered wearing camouflage fatigues and his face and hands painted.
Draped over his body was a gillie suit, and in his hand was the largest sniper rifle in the marine arsenal: the .75 caliber Delphi Avenger. It was built by the Avenger Corporation and was meant to destroy light vehicles and Cylon toasters.
"You called for me, Sir?" Sergeant Blaine asked as he placed the butt of the rifle on the floor.
"Yes, I have a mission for you and your squad. You are to proceed to Huntsville on the Gyros Ridge. At the top of the ridge you will find a house owned by Damien Black. The Admiral wants you to get in, find any hard drives and physical records for the company dealing with their salvage and merchant fleets. The records are vital, and must be recovered. Two pods will be attached to Boxer's Raptor for the information and your weapons. If you find anyone, use your own discretion on getting them out. You will be taking two marines with you…"
"Sir, I'd rather just take my three men with me. The smaller our group is, the better we can get in and out without being seen," Thomas suggested.
"Are you sure?" Richard asked.
"Sir, Yes, Sir," Thomas replied.
"Very well, gather your men. Boxer," he said as Thomas left the tent, "get with the rest of the flight crew, and get those containers attached to your ship. The rest of the men will start breaking down the camp. We're pulling out of here in four hours."
"Right away, Sir," Boxer replied and the three flight crews left the tent as Richard grabbed his pack and started stuffing it with the chart tablets.
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1*1*1*1
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Day 45 ATF;
Twelve miles from base camp;
Caprica;
Lieutenant Betty Hades lifted her rifle and aimed down the road as a truck carrying ten Cylon warriors and two 'skin jobs', turned the corner. Behind her in the bushes, her four by four vehicle sat running while just down the road, the rest of the squads were transferring the women from one of the broken down busses and shoving them into the other vehicles. Taking aim, she settled the rifle scope onto the blond driving the vehicle. Beside her the Asian woman was looking at something in her lap. With a gentle pull, the rifle bucked and the forty cal bullet flew out the barrel of her small sniper rifle and within second, the glass of the truck shattered as the bullet hit the woman driving. The truck had failed to make the turn to keep it on the road and the vehicle went through the guard rail and over the cliff. She watched as the metal toasters were flung from the truck as the Asian screamed in her scopes view. The truck exploded on impact one hundred meters below and flames spread out from the truck as the toasters bounced and rolled to the bottom of the cliff. She watched to make sure none survived and she saw none of the silver bodied bastards get up.
"Fraking toasters," she snarled as she stood up and ran for her four by four. Jumping in she shouted out, "GO!"
The green vehicle liberated from one of the police stations whipped out of the bushes and three minutes later they passed by the disabled bus and were soon gaining on the convoy of five remaining busses and four more trucks carrying her command.
The heavy tree canopy from the forest covered the trucks as they sped along the mountain roads. Only twice did they see any sign of airborne pursuit and by the time the Cylons had dropped down to get a closer look, the busses and trucks were gone. Checking her watch, Betty saw they had just under four hours to get these civilians back to camp and loaded up if they were going to lift off at dusk and use the new radiation belt circling the planet to get them off.
As the truck cleared a small ridge she could see the remains of Caprica City thirty miles away. Smoke was still drifting up from the nuked city and out to see, she could see a massive storm front moving in. The storm she knew would be filled with radioactive fallout and when it hit, more living things would die… except for the fraking cockroaches.
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1*1*1*1
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Day 45 ATF;
Raptor 8383;
Caprica;
Boxer brought the Raptor up the Gyros River and towards the thirteen kilometer Gyros Ridge. Named for Brigadier General Martin Gyros forty years before when he and his one thousand marines held off forty-seven hundred Cylon toasters for fourteen days and allowed the evacuation of the valley below it and saved hundreds of lives who would have been lost when the Cylons did a surprise invasion. The remains of one of their Baseship brought down by fourteen twenty-five hundred pound Akita surface to air missiles still rested where it crashed as a monument to the resistance. The remaining toasters had boiled out of their shot down Baseship and started slaughtering anything and everything as they headed for the towns that dotted the river.
Flying past the destroyed town of Huntsville, he could tell that not a single building or tree had been left standing after a ten kiloton warhead had landed in the center of the small town of fifty thousand people. The destruction ranged out for miles in all directions and they knew the Cylons hadn't bothered with the town because they had already swept the area for civilians and not a single person was found alive.
With a glance at his map, he turned the Raptor up a side stream and dropped closer to the water. They were four kilometers from the ridge and she could see that some of the houses had been flattened that were near the town. Thirty-eight survivors had been found just on the other side of the ridge but they were heading to the extreme end where all the land had been owned by Damien Black.
"I think we should follow the road now," Cookie suggested.
"I agree. Keep an eye on that Dradis screen," Boxer ordered as he pulled the Raptor from the water and headed towards the road that climbed up the ridge.
As they flew, they could see the expensive stalled vehicles from the nuclear blast and where some had gone over the cliffs and exploded when their Tylium had gone up. One thing they noticed was the shredded bodies and they were unsure if they had been taken out by toasters or Raiders.
Spotting the school he was looking for, Boxer set the craft down behind one of the destroyed buildings as Cookie popped the hatch. The four marines quickly bailed out and the hatch was slammed shut. Turning the craft he headed towards the nearby forest and found a small clearing that he checked out before landing. Now all they had to do was wait for the signal.
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1*1*1*1
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Day 45 ATF;
Twelve miles from base camp;
Caprica;
Lieutenant Hades' vehicle followed the busses and trucks into the tunnel that passed under one of the ridges and they slammed their brakes on. As her men and women scrambled from the busses, she crossed to an access door and tapped a code into the access panel.
The door opened and she smiled as she looked at her Sergeant standing there.
"Anything?"
"We're clear, but we have Raiders hovering over the road like crazy," Sergeant Julia Heart reported.
"Couldn't be helped. We had to take out a squad of toasters that were chasing us. Did you get all the lights strung?" Betty asked.
"Yes, Ma'am. We're ready for you," Julia reported.
"Ok," Betty said and then turned to the crowd forming behind them.
Betty's heart was breaking as she looked at the teenage children who had been raped.
"Listen up people, I know you're tired, hungry and thirsty. Food and water will be supplied. I swore I'd get you all out of here and I will. Now behind me is an access door. I want you to follow Julia here into the door. The passageway is wide enough for four but the door is only wide enough for two. So two at a time I want you to step through the door and follow the string of lights. Don't run, but walk fast and save some of your strength for the climb. Every twenty people I'll send one of my marines with you. I will be bringing up the rear with two of my men. I know you're tired but we still have a two kilometer hike to our base camp. Once we get there, you will see a heavy lifter with a passenger container. I need you people to enter the container and find a seat. It's two decks, so there will be plenty of room. Just follow the orders of the crew. The wounded will go first," Betty said as she stepped out of the way and four stretchers carried by the strongest woman headed into the access tunnel.
Betty watched as the four worst cases went through followed by sixteen more women. She pointed at one of her marines he quickly followed the group of woman. The process took time and when they were almost finished, her guards stationed at the front of the tunnel four kilometers way came flying back on their motorcycles they had commandeered.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Betty asked.
"Toasters, about two hundred. Coming up the road in a staggered formation. They're checking every vehicle on the road," one of the marines said.
"How long?" Betty asked.
"Coming fast. They should enter the tunnel in three to five minutes," the marine replied.
"Move the busses up to the other door and open the door. Set the charges and a trip wire if they open the doors to the busses. Come on people, let's go," she ordered and then said, get those bikes through the door in case we come back.
Betty watched as her marines jumped to their assigned jobs. The remaining women were gently guided into the tunnel while the busses were driven two hundred feet down the tunnel and set to explode. As the last of the woman went through the door, the second squad came running back, and they slipped through the open door as well. Taking one more look around, Betty stepped through and nodded to one of the marines who pulled the door closed.
"Get going, I'll bring up the lag," Betty ordered as she hung her rifle onto her shoulder by its strap, and pulled out her sixteen inch flashlight.
As the Marines vanished up the tunnel, Betty smashed the light in the room with the butt of her flashlight, and followed. With a light every twenty feet, she would shatter it as she went. At the tenth light, the sound of an explosion reached her, and she hurried up, making sure the next twenty bulbs were broken.
One thing Betty was glad about, was that the tunnel wasn't a straight line. It curved in several spots so even if the Cylons looked in the door they wouldn't see the string of lights that were still in front of her. Around the third bend, she came to a stop seeing two of her marines waiting for her. They had set up anti-personnel mines to detonate down the passageway. The mines had two thousand steel balls propelled by G-4 plastic explosives and could destroy the toasters if they came down this way.
"All set?" Betty asked as she stepped over the wire.
"Yes, Ma'am. Three mines set to go. One up near the roof, one on each side of the passageway," one of the marines said as they heard a scrapping sound as the door was yanked open.
"Good lets go, smash the lights as we move," Betty ordered.
The three marines headed down the passageway, smashing the bulbs on the wall as they went by them. Twenty minutes later they reached the end of the passageway and steeped into an electrical room that handled power for the tunnel. The women were exiting the far door with the marines who had been escorting them scattered around them.
"Listen up, follow me and stay quiet. We have a slight jog of about a kilometer to go. Squad one, keep an eye on the building. Don't let them get out. Give us about ten minutes, and then follow us," Betty ordered as she moved to the front of the group.
Betty led the rescued women into the forest. Scouts were ahead and to the flanks of the long column of survivors as they had to get them back to the ships. It took fifteen minutes for them to get to the two ships and at the ten minute mark they heard a loud explosion behind them, and then gunfire.
Stumbling into the clearing, Betty directed the rescued women into the passenger container and had them strapping their seatbelts as the marines pulled the camouflage off the two ships. The whining of the Heavy Lifter's engines had everyone nervous because they didn't want to be left behind. Finally, the last woman was loaded into the container, though even the passageways on the two tiered container had people sitting in them. Marines flooded into the clearing, and Betty was the last to climb the ladder up into the Heavy Lifter, sealing the door behind them as they lifted off.
…
1*1*1*1
…
Day 45 ATF;
Raptor 8383;
Caprica;
Boxer walked around the Raptor doing a quick check. It had been twenty minutes since they had dropped off the marines, and he wondered how they were doing. Opening the two storage containers, he checked and then sealed only one of the ten clamps on each. He then went back to the Raptor and checked on Cookie.
"Anything, Cookie?" he asked.
"Sergeant Blaine reports the building in sight and it's still standing. He says the shuttle pad has a car parked on it, and as soon as they can move it he will contact us…" she stopped talking as she pressed her hand against her ear, "Car removed building secure… they found four survivors in the house."
"Let's get going. Power up the ship. Make sure those jump coordinates are in," Boxer said as he slid into the pilots' seat and his fingers flew over the panels.
"They are and FTL is powered up as well," Cookie replied as she glanced at the FTL station.
Boxer grunted a reply as he pulled back on the stick and fifteen seconds later the ship was flying between the buildings and came in sight of the huge mansion that rested upon the cliff. Flaring the engines, he landed by the house. Cookie bailed out of the ship and had the containers open for the retrieval as one of the marines rushed out with a woman in her early twenties and a pair of twin girls around eleven years of age.
"I thought you said there were four?" Boxer shouted out.
"There is, Sir. Mrs. Black is helping Sarge get the items the admiral wanted," one of the marines replied as the other two ran back into the house and came back with two duffle bags each. The four bags were stuffed into the containers and they ran back and returned with four more which were loaded in the back of the Raptor.
"What the fuck is that crap?" Boxer asked.
"Some clothes for them plus some of the items the boss wanted," the marine replied.
"Well no more. I don't want to be overloaded," Boxer ordered.
"Just two more of papers and stuff. Sarge has emptied the office safe and has four tablets and laptops with him along with four external hard drives. Not sure if they survived the EMP but we can let the electronics division… Here's the sarge," the marine shouted over the engines.
Boxer looked out and saw a blond in her mid forties carrying a rifle and a pistol at her belt. The sarge was right beside her and both had large backpacks on their backs. Flanking them were the two marines with a bag each.
The bags were shoved into the Raptor and the containers locked down. As they started climbing back in, Sergeant Blaine turned, brought up his rifle and fired. Two hundred yards away a toaster flew back as the massive shell hit it in the chest, flinging it backwards.
"Get in the ship!" Thomas shouted as he backed towards the Raptor's hatch and fired again as another Cylon came into view.
This time it was a headshot and the toaster dropped like a rock.
Cookie helped the woman in beside the kids as the Marines piled in behind her; she slid into her seat as Blaine fired again.
"Get out of here!" came Thomas' voice as two of the marines reached out and grabbed him by the pack and yanked him half way into the ship as it lifted off.
As the ship started to climb, the wind tore into the cabin through the open hatch and the two marines hauled their boss in as the door sealed behind him. Behind them, four Raiders dove through the sooty clouds aiming to destroy the human ship. They never saw the other two lift off from their position and vanish into FTL.
.
.
.
.
Ships so far mentioned.
Survived:
Battlestars:
Mercury class
Hornet and Royal Sovereign and Wasp x4 crippled
Jupiter Class
Allegiance, Mackay, Milos
Valkyrie class
Mars x8 crippled
Warstars:
Andraste (crippled)
Repair Ships:
Leviathan class;
Kiel, Leviathan being repaired
Hephasetus class repair ship;
Hephasetus, Heron
Cradle Docks x3
.
Alberio class Gunstars Bishop, Rook, Knightstar, Fireball, Blitzer and Warrington
.
Other Gunstars:
Hercules, Hades, Strike, Aurora, Astral, Aspen, Wilkerson, Granger, Hudson, Alpine, Murdock, Zephyrs, Hype, Homes, Galina, Tips
.
Two older Berzerk I support ships
.
Six Patrolstars, including the Isis
.
Marinestar Vengeance
.
Three Jester class Marinestars
.
Ranger cutters, 14 ships, 6 damaged
.
Four Escortstars of the Anala class
.
Twelve Mule class military support ships
.
Albatross class 8 medical ship, Gullwing
.
Fleet replenishment freighters Griffin and Sortie,
Plus two more replenishment ships
.
Calypso Station and Refinery number two *see below*.
.
Decommissioned Columbia Battlestar Picon turned into a refinery/foundry ship, with both her hangers converted to refineries/foundry and storage, with a crew of twelve hundred.
.
Four Ebba Maersk class super freighters
.
Two Mule class freighters the Osiris and Zeus x9 more
.
Ten Argo class ships
.
17 liners
.
Cloud Five class passenger liner
.
Ten cargo ships
.
Prison ship 3200 prisoners
.
Seven refinery ships
.
Five electronic repair ships
.
Two civilian hospital ships Prime 400 versions
.
The water ship Aquila, full, had jumped from Picon just as the attack happened
.
The fabrication ship Miles
.
The tankers Lipson and Hyperion full of Tylium
Twelve old Crisper class tankers six fuel and six water
Two tankers (1 fuel 1 water)
.
Twelve Calypso cargo ships
.
Ten Calypso Tugs
.
Five flattop repair ships x5 and eight more damaged ones
.
Twenty-four FTL barges, large, carrying cargo
MIA Ships:
Pandarus class Light Strike Star's Rowan, Oak, Saber and Swift
Three missing Titan Gunstars
Battlestar Galactica with large civilian fleet
Battlestar Pegasus
Battlestar Thor and Isis and 14 civilian ships.
…
..
.
First Edited By
Final Edit By
Battlestar Galactica™ is a registered trademark and copyright (©) Glen Larson & the SciFi Channel. Thank you to the Battlestar Wiki and The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game, Battlestar Prometheus have proven invaluable for the information they contain. All material found in this story is for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement should be inferred or is intended. Battlestar Wasp and all its original characters and story lines presented here are the copyright (©) of their creator (©) 2010.