Ch 8
"Maintain red alert, minimize output. God help us." Nechayev muttered the last part and headed to sickbay.
"Doc, how is she?" she asked.
"Bullet tore her stomach a bit, but she'll live." Doc Briggs said.
"Get your sickbay ready. Prepare for heavy casualties." Nechayev said.
"Admiral?" Briggs asked.
"You heard me."
Entering the astrometric lab, Nechayev scanned the surrounding space for the Colonial fleet. Finding nothing, she headed to her quarters.
"Christ. How the hell am I going to find the fleet? Did Adama ever have a situation like this?" Nechayev wondered.
With the idea in her mind, she opened the logs and flipped thru them, looking for anything that could help her.
"Any luck, Admiral?" Kara asked.
"I've got something. After Adama was shot, Galactica jumped away with the fleet when a Cylon baseship attacked. And the Galactica was completely separated from the rest of the fleet. Says here, that they linked theFTL computer with the fire control, nave computer, and DC computers to quickly calculate the position of the fleet." Nechayev said.
"I wasn't around, but since the fleet is alive, it must have worked." Kara said.
"Our computers are networked, so we can warp back and do the same trick." Nechayev said.
"You think you can outthink the Cylons at computer software?" Kara asked.
"Yes. All we need, is a strong firewall to keep the Cylons at bay." Nechayev said.
…
"You want to do what?" Price asked.
"We warp back to the original position, and calculate the position of the fleet, based on star drifts. Once we have a fix, we head to the fleet." Nechayev said.
"Hanging around for that amount of time is inviting the Cylons to infect your computers. They're experts at deception." Kara said.
"I agree. We don't know much about the Cylons, and we're the only Federation ship out here." Price said.
"The Cylons attacked with 10 baseships last time. They know about us, and think we're with the fleet. Once they attack again, they'll bring 50 baseships, for example. If we don't do this, we'll never find the fleet again." Nechayev said.
"You're the admiral." Kara said, rolling her eyes.
"One hour to prepare. Break out the arms lockers, seal the bulkheads. Divert all non-essential power to defense systems. They'll start firing nukes like it's going out of style." Nechayev said.
Admiral's log
We're getting ready to head back to the original point and start our plan. Kara warns me that the Cylons are experts at infiltrating computer software. They never encountered a Starfleet software, and here's hoping they can't break thru. But just to be safe, everyone is armed to repel boarders. I've seen what the Cylons are capable of doing. And I'll self-destruct the Graff Spee to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. God, I hope we can pull this off.
"Admiral, we're ready." An ensign said.
Entering the bridge, she looked at the bridge crew dead in the eyes.
"Here's the plan. We warp in, hold off the Cylons, crunch the numbers, and warp back to the fleet. Simple." She said, sitting in her chair.
"Not so simple to do." She muttered.
"All stations report ready." The XO said.
"Warp in 3, 2, 1." Nechayev said.
The ship exited warp at the original position, and the Cylons responded.
"Contact. 7 Cylon baseships. Multiple raiders heading right towards us!" Price exclaimed.
"All phaser banks, start shooting. Initiate flak field." Nechayev said.
The Graff Spee erupted in a hail of phaser and pulse laser fire, picking off Cylon raiders and missiles at will.
"History repeats." Nechayev said.
"Admiral?" Kara asked, sitting next to her.
"In 1943, an American battleship, the USS North Carolina, provided AA fire for the aircraft carrier, Enterprise. The sheer volume of anti-air fire was so high, that officers from the Enterprise had to ask the North Carolina if they were on fire." Nechayev said.
"Damn. And here we are." Kara said, looking at the view screen, as it showed the Graff Spee's phasers in action. It was very similar to what Nechayev just described.
"In space, no-one can hear you scream." Kara said.
"Cylons are attempting to access our mainframe!" Price said.
"How until the calculations are done?" Nechayev asked.
"7 minutes." Price said.
"Radiological alarm!"
"Brace for impact!"
The nuke hit the shields and detonated, unintentionally killing dozens of Cylon raiders.
"They're firing everything at us! Most of them nukes!" Price warned.
"How's that firewall?" Nechayev asked.
"They can't even get past the first wall." Price said.
"Have phasers intercept the nukes. Ignore everything else."
5 nuclear missiles hit the left nacelle and the shields began to drop.
"Shields dropped 5%. We're still doing good."
"Contact! More Cylons jumped in. I'm counting 15 capital ships plus supporting vessels. And they're firing nukes at us."
"Well, fuck!" Nechayev said.
"How's that search going?" Kara asked.
The bridge shook as the nuclear missiles began to pack onto the shields, slowly wearing them down.
"4 minutes. Two Cylon ships on an intercept course! Increasing speed, they're going to ram us!" Price yelled.
"Admiral, mind if I make a request?" Kara asked.
"What is it?" Nechayev asked.
"Would you pray with me?" Kara asked.
One of the baseships collided with the Graff Spee and blew up. The massive explosion and large debris took a toll on the shields of the Federation battleship.
"Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer. Help your sons and daughters from the 13th tribe find the remnants of the 12. Help us to put away our enemies…"
"2nd baseship collided! Shields down to 40%!"
"Weapons?" Nechayev asked, as Kara continued to pray, holding her hands.
"Still going loud. But lost bilge weapons." Price said.
"Calculations?" Nechayev asked, as more nuclear missiles impacted the Graff Spee.
"Got them! We got a location!" Price said.
"All hands, all hands! Get ready for warp speed!" Nechayev said over the PA system.
The Graff Spee warped away, leaving a trail of dead and ruined Cylon ships.
Exiting warp, they resumed red alert, waiting for another Cylon attack.
"Take your time." Nechayev said.
"Contacts across the board. Colonial signatures. We found them!" Price shouted.
The bridge crew erupted in cheers of elation and success.
"You did it, admiral! You did it!" Kara said, and embraced Nechayev in a bear hug, catching her off guard.
"Sorry. It's just uh…" Kara said, blushing.
Nechayev pulled Kara back into the hug.
"We did it. And we hit the Cylons in the gonads real hard." Nechayev said.
"I like the sound of that." Kara said.
"Admiral, we're getting a message from the Galactica."
"Put it through."
"Galctica actual to Graff Spee. What the hell happened?" Adama asked.
"Long story, Admiral. Long story." Nechayev said.