Chapter 14:

Battlestar Hyperion Pilot Briefing Room, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 32, 18:21 PFT

It had been too long since they'd had a fight. A proper fight, that is. Spinner's pilots had intercepted the odd pair of Raiders every few days, but no battles like the ones they had fought back in the Colonies.

Back then, everyone on the ship – indeed the entire fleet – was too shell-shocked from the Cylon attack to worry about anything like revenge or really any other than their own immediate survival. However, now it had been over a month since the Colonies fell, and the crew was hungry for some serious payback, namely something bigger than a few Raiders. Much bigger.

When Spinner had been himself briefed on the defensive plans of the three thousand civilians mining as fast as they could below them, he knew that a battle like the one they were in the middle of preparing for was one that would be more than enough to satisfy the vengeful appetites of his vengeful pilots.

It was into a briefing room full of these pilots – each more itching for a fight than the last – that Spinner was heading. With his folder under his arm, he ducked out of the way of the last few pilots who were running to get into the briefing room in time; each giving Spinner a small salute as they past. Checking over his shoulder for anymore stray pilots, Spinner entered the briefing room and pulled the bulkhead shut behind him.

The briefing room on Hyperion was larger than the ones on the Fleet's older ships like the Juptiers and the Odins, with rows of seats going far enough back in each direction that made it hard for Spinner to see everyone at the front. Despite the amount of seating that was already in the room, it was way over capacity; thanks in part to both the additional pilots they had picked up from fallen Battlestars in the Fleet, the CAGs of the other ships in the Fleet who had come to relay the plan to their own pilots, and the simple fact that the briefing room was only built to hold a few squadron's worth of pilots in at one time – even though Spinner was going to have to repeat himself to another, slightly smaller group of anxious pilots.

"Good morning everyone," Spinner said, clearing his throat. "Or afternoon… or evening, I suppose."

"It would be morning in Caprica City!" Someone shouted from near the front of the sea of pilots before Spinner, some of which were in their blue duty uniform, some in their flight-suits and others just in greens.

"Yes, thank you for your contribution Pocket," A chuckle went around the room as Spinner addressed the pilot who had called out, who was indeed one of the squadron leaders on Hyperion. From behind Spinner, there came a knocking at the bulkhead door. "Will someone get that? Hera, would you mind?"

Hera gave Spinner a fake smile and jumped up from her front-row seat to open the door. Through it came Anastasia Bell, who attempted to silently mix in with a couple of pilots standing in a line next to the door, despite the fact that everyone in the room was staring at her.

"Thank you for joining us, Lieutenant Bell. It's good to see the Admiral trusts me so much to give a briefing to you all that he thought he'd send a babysitter!" Another chuckle went around the room at Spinner's remark. "Anyway – as I was trying to say – the much of the civilian Fleet is currently engaged in mining operations to refuel the Fleet to get us to Kobol. However, as we are in the middle of Cylon space, it is unlikely that we will be able to do so, without any kind of interruption. Because of this, the Admiral has asked me to prepare you lot for a defensive operation against any Cylon visitors. That may be a bit of an ask, but it will certainly be a fight worthy of the wait and I believe the entire Cylon Fleet wouldn't stand a chance against us. However, the Admiral – Admiral Jenkins, that is – believes it is best if we do not attempt to take them on head first, but rather cover a retreat of our civilian ships and follow them soon after. In the mean time though, we will be allowed to really give those toasters a piece of our minds!"

A cheer went up from a few of the pilots at the back and a number of others laughed along with them. "Exactly," Spinner said, returning to the briefing. "So, the plan will be for Hyperion and Draconis to be the vanguard of our defence, right up front to meet any Base-ships that come out of FTL. While all of our combat ships except the Battlerstar Sirius and the Gunstar Zeus will be present for this engagement, they will not all be together. The Gunstars Limpet and Horatio will be with the Battlestars Themis and Persephone as the defenders of the escaping civilian ships while the rest will be 50 klicks away from the mines with Hyperion and Draconis. Sirius and Zeus, your boys and girls will be with the rest of the civilian ships that will leave after being fuelled in the next few hours and head for the rendezvous coordinates that will be transmitted by Mr Yo upstairs in a little while. Back here, Hyperion and Draconis will take up a stacked formation with Draconis being positioned upside-down and underneath the Hyperion so neither ship has their underside exposed. Eos and Theia will be similarly presented, expect they be positioned on either side of Hyperion and Draconis with their undersides pointed inwards towards us. The last two Gunstars will sit in the middle of this cluster to begin with and our Bolitho Firestar Icarus will be out front."

As Spinner explained, he had behind him a slideshow of rudimentary 3D models used to help visualise manoeuvres and battle plans. "Why are they positioned like that?" A voice called out from somewhere near the middle; a voice Spinner knew all too well.

"Well Twinkle-toe," Spinner started. All the other pilots craned round to look at Twinkle-toe and Crow (who was sitting next to him). Twinkle-toe quickly stood up, as to make sure everyone knew it was him who spoke. "That's a good question. As we're on the edge of an asteroid field, we don't know which way the Cylons will come from, except that it won't be down. With us being position like this, we will be prepared no matter which way they come at us. Does that answer your question, Captain Cook?"

"It does…" Twinkle-toe began to sit down, but after catching the look on Spinner's face as he did, he stood back up. "Thank you, Major Halway."

"A 'sir' would have been fine, but you're welcome Twinkle-toe; that question brings me onto my next point actually. You may be wondering what the frak Battlestar manoeuvres have to do with us, pilots. Well, once we make contact with the Cylon ships, Hyperion and Draconis will target the closest Basestars with their main batteries at their bows and use try take the Basestar out before it has a chance to engage. They try and do this to as many Base-ships as they can but they will have to turn to broadside once the Cylon missiles get in range and are fired. During their manoeuvres, Hyperion pilots will be up front clearing out any bogeys while the rest of the front get in shape. We are expecting a large fleet so this won't be an easy fight and we are expecting it to be difficult to stick to our plan, but it is our intention to keep both Mercury Battlestars and both Odin Battlestars stacked against each other for as much of the battle as we can, as it means we don't have to keep the enemy away from their bellies and can worry about blasting them out of the sky. That said, ventral side defence is our priority, be it from Raiders or incoming ordinance and of course on the civilian ships, should our friends with them require assistance. At least one Raptor squadron from each ship is currently being outfitted for combat as well, and you will be expected to engage enemy capital ships and any heavy bogeys as your priority. Any questions?"

Muttering and discussion filled the room briefly before a few hands were raised. Spinner pointed at one towards the front. "What's the squadron launch order for Hyperion?" One of the pilots asked.

"None. We hope to have everyone out on CAP in formation ready for Cylon contact. Squadrons will have to be rotated back aboard for refuelling if we are waiting long enough but we are hoping to all be in the air when the toasters arrive. Next?"

The hands shot up again and Spinner chose one from the back. "What's the enemy's strength?" Another pilot asked, although she could barely be heard due to her distance from Spinner at the front.

"We have no idea. If they send a scout we can track, Admiral Moore will kindly send one of Draconis' two Stealthstars to jump after it and attempt to ascertain the strength of the Cylon force, but we are not expecting to be able to do that. One more?" Spinner pointed to Hera, who had her hand up from the front row.

"You said we won't be staying, so when will we be bugging out?"

"After we can be sure all the civvies that can jump have, and perhaps after any damaged ships can be picked up by us, Draconis or Themis and landed in a flight pod. After then we will be recalled and execute combat landings before jumping away; unless of course there are only one or two enemy ships left, in which case Admiral Jenkins – or should something happen, Admiral Moore or whoever is the highest-ranking officer left alive – may order a pursue and destroy against the remaining Cylon forces, although that is unlikely. Thank you very much everyone, you should all be in the air within two hours. Gods speed and good hunting. Dismissed."

Battlestar Hyperion CIC, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 22:38 PFT

Emily watched the Admiral as he tapped his fingers on the central console. He was nervous, so was everyone. Never in most of the crew's lifetimes had they been ready and waiting for a Cylon attack. It was both thrilling and the most terrifying thing imaginable. Since the Fall of the Colonies they had been on the run, with Cylon Fleets arrive to attack them only when they least expected it. For days they had heard nothing, seen nothing from the Cylons. But now they were ready; or were at least pretending they were. Emily's own hands were sweaty, and she couldn't dry them for more than a couple of seconds at a time, no matter how hard she tried.

They had been staring at the DRADIS screens in anticipation of red signals lighting it up at any moment, yet no such signals had appeared. Not in the roughly 12 hours since they had arrived in the system. They had been in anticipation of a Cylon attack since then, but only now had the Admiral put his defensive strategy into action.

The DRADIS screens themselves were almost fully lit by the hundreds of Vipers that were collectively mustered and launched by the four Battlestars now in tight formation with each other, as well as a smaller amount from each of the three Gunstars at the centre of the huddle.

The Admiral now began to pace up and down the room between Emily and Hermes on either end of the Command Console as they waited and waited. The other Commanders had called in occasionally to ask what was going on and were each met with a simple response from the Admiral, to stay patient. They had all been so convinced at the meeting before that the Cylons would be right on their tails that they seemed to be struggling to understand that maybe they hadn't been in as much danger as they thought. Maybe the Cylons weren't anywhere even close nearby. Maybe they were distracted by something else.

"Lieutenant Colonel," The Admiral said, stopping his pacing and standing in front of Emily.

"Admiral, sir," Emily replied automatically. They both stood in silence for a few seconds before Emily spoke up again. "How long should we wait before we decide they aren't coming?"

"Oh, they're coming Emily, believe me. I just don't think they're looking for us."

"Then what are they looking for, sir?"

"Who can say?" John looked down at his lapel and adjusted one of his medals that he – as a Full Admiral of the Colonial Fleet – was required to wear at all times. "But if they knew where we were or had been following us they would be here now."

Emily was silent for a few moments, trying to add up what the Cylons were in fact looking for.

"Are you scared Emily? Nervous?" The Admiral's question caught Emily off-guard and she tried to mumble a response as her mind tried to give him a suitable answer; that is, one that didn't just use expletives to describe her feelings.

"Sir… I…"

"Of course you are. There's nothing wrong with that. This is your first majority offensive, is it not?"

"Well sir, it isn't really an offensive, is it?" The Admiral let out a snort and a chuckle at Emily's retort.

"It certainly isn't, I suppose. But you understand my sentiment?"

"Of course, Admiral."

"Back in the War I couldn't sleep before an Op. Still can't. What you're seeing here is pure caffeinated alertness!" John joked, which allowed Emily to laugh and relieve some of the tension that had built through her nerves. The two stood in silence for a few more moments before they're contemplation was interrupted by DRADIS bleeps.

"We have contact John," Commander Virgon called from the centre of the room. The Admiral nodded and gave Emily a quick wink as he headed back to his post, his back towards the rotating glass doors and his eyes fixed on the single red blip on the screen.

"Set Condition One across the board but remind all craft not to engage, let them report back."

"Right away Admiral!" Emily, Hermes and Commander Virgon all said in unison.

Viper 535, Murcia Asteroid Belt, Terra System

Day 33, 22:40 PFT

Spinner sat amongst the cloud of Vipers that huddled between the four metallic hulks. They had barely enough room to manoeuvre without colliding, but so far, no such collisions had happened, thanks to the fact that they were all just hanging in space and were trying their hardest not to move at all.

Though Spinner stopped keeping track of how long they had floated there after about half an hour, he did know that about twelve Viper squadrons had been rotated out back to their home ships to refuel and relaunch. Radio chatter had for a while now been full of nonsense and bantering between basically all of the pilots, none having the attention span to focus on the mission as they waited hours for it.

Then, finally, amidst the fighting talk and silly games the pilots were filling the comms with, came Hermes' familiar voice from back on the Hyperion. "All craft, Hyperion: Cylon craft detected at bearing 187 carom 201, looks like a single Raider. All ships set Condition One and prepare for arrival of Cylon Fleet. Fighters prepare for engage but hold back until you are given orders."

"You hear that boys and girls?" Spinner said, suddenly feeling the adrenaline pump through him again for the first time since they were thrown out of the launch tubes and told to form up. "We'll have ourselves a fight in a minute. Hyperion birds tighten formation. Red Squadron on me, we'll try and shoot out the bottom of this clusterfrak when the toasters arrive."

"Tally Spinner, on you," Squirt called out as the cloud of dots around seemed to move like liquid as formations were fixed and pilots jockeyed for position. Looking down, Spinner saw the red dot on his DRADIS screen and tried to spot the Raider in space in front of them. The sheer amount of Vipers in his field of vision made that difficult, as he was right at the back of the cluster, but he did clearly make out the flash of an FTL jump and the bleep associated with a signal disappearing.

"All ships, Hyperion: Cylon scout has jumped away. Main fleet will be inbound. Prepare for contact and good hunting."