"Galactica's fleet was neither the least fortunate nor the most fortunate fleet of survivors that fled the colonies. There were some larger and plenty smaller, and this size and the capabilities that it brought meant that they not only survived but when compared to some other fleets of ships thrived."

The Complete History of the Colonial Fleet, its rise, fall, and survival, by James Harvey

Chapter 6: Supplies

The fleet cruised along, several days removed from the constant Cylon attacks. It had now been well over a week since they had fled the colonies, and the shock of the event was starting to wear off.

Communications were being monitored away from the colonies and they weren't looking good. There were sporadic reports of fighting in space but oftentimes they seemed to be civilians alone or in small groups who were now dying to the Cylons with little to protect themselves. There were communications reports of what were undoubtedly colonial ships out there, and from what it appeared they were giving the Cylons hell. But they couldn't save the colonies.

On the ground, communications were silent as anyone communicating that far out who wasn't doing so via tight beam or comm laser would be intercepted by the Cylons. There were probably still survivors, but it was unclear how many were left by now and if organized resistance remained.

"So Commander, it looks like Adama wants to have us write this report," Baker said and looked at Hudson. They were both on Galactica, discussing where they should go to write these reports that they had to do, assigned by Adama.

"The Lansing is free if you want to use it." He said.

"We could also use the Valkyrie, don't let your sense distract from the fact that it simply is a better ship." He chuckled.

"Ok then, you can be my guest. But I do have a larger squadron."

"On paper." She replied with a smile. "With the numbers of ships we are talking about it's not going to be pretty but with Valk, I don't think we would ever do that. Your manly contests aren't going to be much help there."

"This isn't a contest, it's called wargaming." He said with a chuckle. This wasn't the way he thought that this conversation was going to go. "Ok, we can do it on the Valk, I mean you probably have a more impressive set of quarters."

"Oh, why are you interested in my quarters, commander?" She asked with a smirk.

"Let's get to work, otherwise this is going to go in a different direction than Adama's report."

"What direction?" She asked with raised eyebrows. "Care to elaborate?"

He rolled his eyes. He half wanted to play along with her little game as she was having fun but they did have work to do.

They were soon getting to the report about the state of the civilian ships in the fleet. It was going to take them a little while, and they had their regular duties to attend to as well. They looked at it some over the next few days but they didn't have time to get comfortable or talk to one another about the matter. Despite their flirtations at the beginning, they were both quite professional, as they knew that they had a job to do.

"Well Commander, I think that we are almost done," Baker said.

They both looked at the reports from the fleet that they had just organized, as they tried to organize everything most efficiently. Baker was now essentially the second highest ranking officer in the fleet, responsible for her squadron that supported her battlestar just like the one that she had to begin with. Meanwhile, Hudson was also the third highest-ranking officer in the fleet, responsible for a decent number of the escorts, and with the ability to get a word with Adama due to their good relationship.

The military vessels had been fairly well organized into two reinforced Battlestar groups with an independent escort group made up of the 57th Cruiser Squadron that had joined Galactica over Ragnar which protected both the support ships and the civilians, and also served as a mobile reserve for the other main groups. Unless all the strength was needed or they were desperate, only one Battlestar group would be used at a time for offensive missions, if they ever undertook them.

That left the civilian ships, of which there were over 130 of them, that had FTL drives along with several others that were attached to the other ships due to a lack of such drives. He had been tasked by Adama to look at them, their manifests, and see which of them would be fit for colonial fleet auxiliary service and if some should be used as spare parts and stripped.

The fleet that had come with them was quite diverse, with not only the standard assortment of liners and freighters but a large number of specialized designs. There were nearly a dozen mining and refining vessels in the fleet which gave them the capacity to mine just about anything they came across in a very short time. The much more limiting factor was the number of asteroids and other objects to mine, which would mean that at a certain point, they would only be so much more useful. But it was better to have redundancy than to have only a few of them.

Fuel would be a potential issue in the long term depending on how much tylium would be found if a solution was not found. Some of the older or more cheaply designed ships had very inefficient engines and would burn through limited stocks quickly. So far about 25 percent of the fleet's stocks had been used in the many FTL jumps that had taken place as the Cylons had attacked every 33 minutes. More would undoubtedly be needed to fill the colonial demand.

Medical care would be provided by two hospital ships, the Hope and Asclepius. Hope was a Comfort medical class ship as large as a Jupiter class Battlestar, and currently had over a hundred civilian raptors onboard for medical evacuation. Asclepius is one of the old Bolster class medical ships and is half the size of the Comfort class.

There were six botanical ships in the fleet, half of which were dedicated food-producing ones and the others were either of a scientific or recreational manner. They would all be converted to produce more food for a fleet that would need it. The colonials could recycle nutrients to create a food supply, but if this could be extended to include "real food" the fleet would be in a much better place morale and nutrition-wise. Food was being carried on a fair number of ships as well, from cold storage freighters carrying frozen meat and vegetables to markets in Helios Alpha to one of the unique Candyland class of mobile candy producers. Since most of the ingredients for that candy were artificial and the few that weren't would be able to be substituted for artificial ones the colonials would still have candy even in their darkest days. They also could produce alcohol which would probably be heavily consumed in short order if it were to be unregulated.

The fleet's production and repair assets extended beyond what the military had available to it, including seven different repair ships along with four large factory ships. In efforts to increase mobility of their factories, and evade taxes, several companies built ships designed to produce stuff or converted existing ships to produce stuff as well. This would mean that the fleet's production abilities would be greater than expected, and ships should be able to be repaired in short order.

Not all of the ships were large craft carrying massive amounts of people. No, some were small luxury yachts carrying just a few people, though in some cases they could carry many more. While these yachts might be some of the most prestigious ships in the fleet they also had some of the least prestigious; sewage ships that collected large amounts of human waste and recycled it into water or protein matter that was used in food. While smelly and disgusting they played a critical role in the fleet.

There were several water tankers in the fleet, which would provide vital water supplies to the survivors of humanity and give them a reserve though the recycling of the fleet should give a minimum supply for a while.

Most of the fleet was made up of passenger liners and freighters, carrying all sorts of people and cargo through the fleet. There were several notable vessels in these two groups, including the Cloud Nine liner and resort and the old Zephyr, a liner that dated back over a century before the first war albeit heavily modernized. There were three of the Superhauler 9000 super freighters which would be able to carry truly massive amounts of cargo as they were the size of Battlestars. Practically every type of ship in the colonies was represented, and now all of it would need to be coordinated for the crisis humanity found itself in.

There were a few outliers as well. The prison ship Astrel Queen was carrying hundreds of prisoners that were going to stand for parole for their crimes, including the infamous terrorist (or freedom fighter depending upon how you look at it) Tom Zarrak. That would potentially create some issues down the road, and figuring out what to do with the prisoners would have to be addressed soon. Zarrak would cause trouble if he was released but also if he was in captivity.

Some vessels belonged to the colonial government but not the Colonial Fleet, several research vessels from the Ministry of Science and Technology alongside some of the other civilian ones; a few miscellaneous transports; and these prisoner transport as well.

Some of these ships were also armed. Two destroyers, four frigates, and two high endurance cutters from the patrol and law enforcement agency of the Colonial Guard were present. The high endurance cutters were essentially a combination of offshore patrol vessels and corvettes, which didn't have much in the way of armament fitted to it but could be up-gunned significantly if the need arose. Considering that the fleet could produce those armaments the ships would almost certainly get refitted to better defend the fleet.

Owning weapons on a civilian ship wasn't illegal by any means in the colonies; in a time when pirates roamed and the Cylons loomed, it had even been somewhat encouraged by the colonial government. Arming ships required permits and strict background checks to ensure that weapons didn't fall into the wrong hands and they were subject to inspection to ensure that they were safe and legal.

The mining company that had first taken refuge in Ragnar had an old Defender Class support ship that had retained its armaments along with a squadron of old MK II vipers.

About a dozen other ships were armed, usually freighters or liners with a few point defense guns or missiles. Their armament had often been the reason why they had survived the Cylon attack, as they had been able to defeat or delay the Cylons who had tried to attack them. A few of them also had at least some armor which was rare for civilian ships as it added extra weight and mass. But it gave them at least some protection if they were attacked, enough to resist light autocannon fire and shrapnel from both missiles and shells. At least in the short term, they wouldn't be used for military service however, they would probably be put in more dangerous parts of the formation as they could take a hit, unlike other ships.

He was soon ready to make his report to Adama and Roslin. He had drawn up a plan on how to use the assets most effectively even though it wasn't his specialty, he would do whatever it took.

Efforts were also being made to call up reservists along with other people who had previous military experience. There were about 4000 reservists 3000 of which were a part of the PMC with the rest of them being scattered throughout the fleet.

Conscription hadn't been introduced yet in the fleet though, to be honest, it would need to be done in Hudson's opinion. The Galactica was at about 40 percent personnel strength as many of its people had left before its decommissioning so replacements would need to be found. Its peacetime air wing should be 120 Vipers but it currently had only about 80 operational and manned, though what it needed was pilots as there were several hundred MK IIs that had been kept in Ragnar.

The report that he had made was delivered to Adama and Roslin on Colonial One, and he gave a brief verbal synopsis.

"We have about 4,000 people with previous military experience. About 60 percent of the civilian fleet had had concrete census data taken of it and while it didn't look like the total number of people in the fleet would change there was now a lot more usable information on them. Their age, occupation, height, weight, and other information would be useful for conscripting them if necessary. Of course, some people would be unfit for service but standards were going to have to be a lot less stringent than in the pre-war time. They simply didn't have the luxury of a large manpower pool unlike before the colonies were nuked.

The door opened and Commander Sandy Fenderson was led in. The commanding officer of the heavy support ship Optimus, he had now been in charge of all of the colonial fleet support assets. An engineer by trade, he would be invaluable in helping create whatever was needed for the fleet and keeping the ships maintained. Bakerson also came as well, as there were quite a lot of matters that she had had to attend to on her ship before coming to. They both saluted and were given a rundown of the situation.

"Commander Fenderson, what capacity do you have to ensure that the fleet survives in the long term and how will we maintain all of our ships?"

"On paper, we've got good production assets, between the heavy support ship, that mobile dry dock, and the civilian factory and repair ships. We arguably have even better mining assets. The issue is that to produce stuff in the long term, we require resources for doing so. We've got stuff to start and the ships in the fleet haven't been damaged enough to warrant the kind of services we offer but it's essentially up to luck what we find out here. This is going to be an issue in the long term, though I'm hopeful due to the fact we're in uncharted territory. However, I still think that mining tylium is going to be the priority. I did all the math to calculate out how the ships would last fuel wise and for the entire fleet we have about 2 months of this level of travel before we run out." There was worry on Roslin's face, as she knew that the food and water situation was generally not nearly as bad.

"I'll make sure that we get the tylium. In other terms, what can you produce?" She asked.

"I can fabricate just about anything from bricks and metal plates to entire starships if given enough time. In terms of Vipers for example I can produce up to 10 a day at maximum capacity, though so far on my initiative I've only ordered about 2 a day. As I've heard the problem is pilots, not small craft but if I get those old MK IIs I can get you a Mk VII in no time."

"What about raptors?" Bakerson asked.

"At maximum output, I can get about 2 a day with current production considerations it would be 3 a week. Making the FTL drive for it is going to be the biggest bottleneck, however, as those take time to produce.

"Go for the recommended output," Adama said. "I want to have supplies to repair or build whatever happens in the future."

While the senior officers in the fleet were discussing how the fleet would be run a combat air patrol was underway around the fleet. Starbuck and Apollo flew around the fleet along with Chris and Gunslinger and the fleet along with a few other pilots.

Starbuck seemed to have morally recovered from blowing up the Olympic Carrier and was making all sorts of small talk with Apollo. The CAG was taking the incident fairly well but wasn't talking as much as she was. Starbuck had pretty much always been talkative and Lee had been used to this but she had always had Zack to bounce off of air when he had been alive.

"Alright Apollo, how fracked do you think we are right now."

"Nor that much…"

"I mean the fleet as a whole." She replied. "Probably more like how fracked humanity is."

"Pretty fracked." He muttered. "But we haven't bought the farm yet so I'm holding out hope for something better.

"Why the frack is everyone buying the farm, aren't they raising prices? Hell, I'd love to be in the farm selling business." Gunslinger replied.

"Shut the frak up Gunslinger, as you can tell we're laughing so hard right now," Chris said, sarcasm oozing in his voice.

"Ok, commander fracker." He replied.

"Wait, what's this about?" Starbuck asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing." Replied Kinsingser.

"Something that you want to know," Gunslingers replied.

"Then tell us," Starbuck said.

"That information is worth a pretty heavy price." He replied. "I'm sure as hell not giving it out for free."

"How about you two settle this with a race," Apollo said. "From the front of the Jefferies to the rear of the Stalwart." He said, referring to two of the fleet's light cruisers in the front and back of the fleet respectively. The race would be nearly 10 kilometers, and they would have to dodge the various ships of the fleet.

"Isn't that a bad idea with all the ships that are in the fleet in the way?" Chris said.

"We need to test the engines of these vipers," Apollo replied. "I never said that they needed to go through the fleet.

The two began racing soon, powered by a desire to win. They dogsled and mushy-fed maneuvered around the various ships in the fleet, as people watched in awe as they rushed through the fleet.

"Galactica to Apollo, what is Starbuck doing?" Dualla said through the comms.

"She and Gunslinger are testing the engines of the Vipers." She then explained to Tigh, who was glaring at the DRADIS array.

"Testing engines my ass! They're going to get someone killed." He muttered. "This better be against regulation!"

"I believe that fleet regulations state that the Vipers must stay a safe distance away from other ships but there is no specificity as to what a safe distance is," Gaeta said.

On Colonial One Adama looked out as the two Vipers zoomed past. He knew that Starbuck was up on CAP so he suspected that was her.

"You're pilots seem to be having a fun time," Bakerson stated matter-of-factly as the Vipers trailed off.

"I think one of them was yours." He replied as Gunslinger raced past, slightly trailing Starbuck.

"Won't that be a waste of fuel?"

"They race about 10 kilometers each. If you do the math I think it's going to be clear that this use of fuel is insignificant." Fenderson said with a chuckle.

"What would get those two pilots to race?" Roslin asked.

"That's a good question for Starbuck, to say she's a wild card would be an understatement," Adama said.

"Gunslinger is at least somewhat more professional."

When both of the pilots finished their race both returned to their ships as their shift of combat air patrol was finished.

Chief Tyrol and the deckhands congratulated Starbuck on her flying as she and Lee walked down towards the bridge. Adama was back and both of them were mentally preparing themselves for the dressing down.

"What the hell have you done!" Tigh exclaimed. "The entire fleet is complaining about your stunts out there, I've heard reports that a few women wet themselves."

"At least I'm able to get people wet unlike you Colonel," Starbuck replied. There were several guffaws and muted laughter across the bridge. Tigh now has an aneurism and looked like he was about to charge Kara when Adama stepped between them.

"That's enough." He exclaimed, glancing at Kara and Lee. "Meet in my office, we'll discuss this in there." He then looked at Tigh. "Resume your duties, colonel."

Lee and Starbuck didn't say a word as they walked into Adama's office.

"So what was this about?" Adama asked. "You didn't do anything against the regs, so I'm more curious than not."

Lee explained that this was a bet to determine some information and that Kara had won it.

"What was this information?" Adama asked.

"Gunslinger called Chris a Commander Fracker. I think that both of us are curious to see what was going on there." Kara said. "I think you might be able to see where that is going."

"Commander Bakerson is a very accomplished officer so any relationship she has with him doesn't seem like it affects her professionalism. But I somewhat doubt that is the case." Adama said. "Probably nothing, it could just be an inside joke from them." He replied. "Even if it was the case I wouldn't care. It would be interesting to see where that ended up coming from though."

Author's Note: Apologies for the delay in uploads, I'll be going to college in just a couple of weeks and therefore I'm quite busy.

the whole commander fracker idea was originally going to be something else entirely but something I decided to cut from the story. It may make an appearance later with some new characters.