Chapter Three: Dangerous Road
Mjolnir Anchorage:
The Battlestar Ark Royal and the Escort Battlestar Vasa jumped into the orbit of the gas giant Mjolnir. In the upper portion of the star's atmosphere was the anchorage built after the end of the Cylon War.
"Commander, I'm receiving a report from the cruiser Hadrian. It and the civilian ships have arrived and set up positions around the anchorage," Lieutenant Dwight Woodward announced.
"Excellent; send word to Chief Lancaster to have his deck gang ready to board the anchorage and begin loading supplies and munitions," Commander Caden Charka ordered and was pleased to see Woodward immediately do as he had been ordered.
"What do you plan on doing while that's going on?" Commander Audra Ortiz asked.
"I'm going to have a meeting with the Vasa's CO and find out how they managed to survive."
"In that case who do you plan to leave in command?"
"Commander Ortiz, if I leave you in command, will I have to worry about getting my ship back when I return?" Charka asked, though it came out as a poorly attempted joke.
"That depends on how long you're gone, though it would be nice to have my ship back again."
"The funny part is that this stopped being your ship the moment I came onboard to relieve you of command. You just might want to remember that."
"Duly noted, in that case I'll be content to hold the fort down while you're away," Ortiz said as she turned to head back to Command and Control.
"Commander, Chief Lancaster says that he will have a team ready to board the anchorage as soon as possible," Woodward said.
"Excellent, inform Commander Solheim that I will need a Raptor sent over so that I can have a meeting with her on her ship."
Forty-Two Minutes Later:
Escort Battlestar Vasa, Hangar Deck:
The Raptor was moved to its location in the port hangar bay and the pilot promptly powered down the craft. Charka stepped onto the hangar deck and for a moment had to remind himself that he was on a Cylon War era ship. The Vasa looked every bit like a modern battlestar built to a smaller scale.
"Takes some getting used to," an officer said as he walked up to where Charka stood.
"Yes, it does."
When the officer came close enough, he came to attention and snapped a salute. "Captain Mark Hunter."
Charka returned the salute, "Commander Caden Charka. I see you've earned your Viper wings, what's your call sign?"
Hunter relaxed, "They call me Archangel."
"Pleased to meet you, Archangel; did Commander Solheim send you to meet me?"
"Yes sir, she asked me to escort you to her office," Hunter said as he motioned towards a nearby hatch.
"Your patch says you're a part of the Atlantia's crew, how did you end up here?"
"Major Andre Graystone, my squadron commander, recommended me for a test the Vasa was assigned to take part in. There's a new model Viper that's been developed and I was one of the test pilots selected to take part in it."
"Sounds like a job most would enjoy. I knew one of the test pilots who was stationed on Sagittaron at the Cian Testing Range."
Hunter's interest was piqued. "Who would that be?"
"Major James Brannigan. He was a Captain when I knew him, but he was one of the more highly-regarded pilots there at the testing range."
"There was a part of me that wouldn't have minded a posting there. Sagittaron has always held a special place in my heart."
"Brannigan said he didn't mind it too much there. The problems came when the locals found out he was from Caprica City. He told me that one woman once said the problems with the Capricans were that 'They're overpaid, over-sexed, and over here!'"
Hunter laughed, "I've gotten that impression from the times I've been there."
"Makes me glad I'm not a Caprican. I have to admit that Sagittaron does have a certain charm to it that sets it apart from the other eleven colonies."
"Commander Charka, I'm glad you could make it here so promptly," Commander Elina Solheim said as she greeted the two officers, "I'm moving our meeting to my office, no need for us to take up the wardroom."
Vasa, Commanding Officer's Office:
"I admit I was wondering if we were going to find any other survivors out there," Solheim said as she took a drink of water from her glass. She was tall and looked to be in her mid forties with her blonde hair showing few signs of graying.
"We found a few but it looks as though the Cylons were thorough," Charka said and he observed Hunter nodding in agreement.
"If you don't me asking, how did you and the Ark Royal manage to escape?"
"I tell you my story and you can tell me yours," Charka said immediately. He was curious how the Vasa had managed to escape destruction.
Solheim nodded her head. "Fair enough."
"The Ark Royal had been officially decommissioned, but not inactivated yet. The air wing had already flown off to Atherstone Fleet Air Station on Leonis to await reassignment. Once the ship had docked at Lampetia it became my job was to oversee the Ark's inactivation and prep her for storage. That was when the Cylons attacked. I alerted the people by our airlock that we were about to disconnect from the shipyard and to board immediately. When that was done, we tried to get as far from the Cylons as we could. With no air wing and little ammunition, we were a big sitting target."
"So you jumped away before the Cylons could attack?"
"They were concerned with the other battlestars there at the shipyard. While they were occupied with them, there were two escort battlestars on a training cruise and the commanders of those two ships had their cadets launch their Vipers and Raptors with orders to land on the Ark. They put their ships between us and the Cylons and essentially sacrificed themselves so we could escape."
Hunter spoke up. "This means you have an air wing of nothing but cadets?"
"The seven pilots who were near the airlock at Lampetia managed to get onboard. They're going to have to train those pilots so we can have an air wing that won't be destroyed the moment it engages the Cylons."
"Commander Solheim, I'd like to volunteer to transfer to the Ark Royal," Hunter volunteered.
"Normally I'd decline that but in this case…what do you think, Commander Charka?"
"He was apparently a good enough pilot to be posted to the Atlantia and earn the respect of his squadron commander. In all honesty, I believe we could use a CAG on the Ark."
"In that case, Captain Hunter, you are hereby transferred to the Ark Royal," Solheim said before adding, "My last act as your Commanding Officer will be to promote you to the rank of Major."
"Commander Solheim, thank you," Hunter said with the shock at the promotion evident in his voice.
"She's right; you need a rank that will establish you as the most senior pilot onboard. Grab your gear and head to the Raptor that's taking us back to the Ark. Good to have you onboard, Major," Charka said.
"Thank you," Hunter said before leaving the room.
"With that out of the way, how do you propose we handle overall command?" Solheim asked.
"I have the Ark and probably more seniority," Charka said.
"I have an actual air wing at my disposal," Solheim countered.
"How long have you been a Commander?" he asked.
"I was promoted four years ago, and you?"
"I've been a Commander for seven years now. I was recommended for flag rank but another officer was promoted instead."
Solheim was intrigued. "How long ago was what, who was promoted instead?"
"It was four years ago, and Commander Scott Tolan was promoted instead of me. It appears the man has political clout that I could only dream of."
Solheim nodded, "I know of Admiral Tolan by reputation. It seems having been born into Canceron's crime syndicate has not done much to help his image."
"Not to mention that he married into the Graystone family," Charka added.
"There is that fact as well," she said before continuing, "I take it that your ship doesn't have much of an air wing."
"That's an understatement. All we have are some of the older Viper Mark II's that the cadets were using for training purposes. We rounded up some civilian ships, and the former Colonial Fleet personnel are going to be trained along with the cadets to become Viper pilots. The problem is that I don't know how long it's going to take to get them fully trained and I have no idea how much life those old Vipers have."
"We still have our air wing along with an experimental prototype of Viper; we have two pilots onboard testing it out. Major Hunter was one of those pilots, but if you need to search for supplies or other survivors I can have my air wing land on the Ark Royal while you're out there."
"If you could loan us a squadron that would help; besides Major Hunter and the small group of pilots onboard there aren't many who are able to fly in combat against the Cylons."
"I'll select the pilots and have them join you on your ship."
Charka stood up. "Thank you for that. I'll head over to the Ark and get preparations underway for us to leave."
Solheim shook hands with him, "You're welcome Commander, good hunting out there."
Twenty-Six Minutes Later:
Ark Royal, Viper Squadron Room One:
Since the Raptor and Vipers sent over to the Vasa had returned, there had been whisperings that one of the pilots from the escort battlestar had been assigned to the Ark Royal to serve as its CAG. This was of interest to the pilots, most importantly to Captain Alisa Stark, and they were waiting in the Ready Room for the officer in question to enter.
"What does the scuttlebutt say?" Lieutenant Donovan Stanley asked.
"That he's one of the two test pilots over on the Vasa and that he's from Sagitarron. That's about all we know so far," Lieutenant Ashlee 'Blondie' Wyatt, the Raptor pilot from the cruiser Hadrian, said.
"It's better than nothing I suppose. While I'm thinking about it, are you and your ECO going back over to the Hadrian?" Lieutenant Marisa Patterson asked.
"I asked Commander Charka about that and he told me that for all intents and purposes this is my new assignment."
"Not too bad when you think about it. We go from being on a heavy cruiser to being on a battlestar, I think most people would consider that a promotion," said Ensign Catherine 'Party Girl' Perez, Wyatt's Raptor ECO, as she stretched in her chair and let out a contented sigh.
"She never was too fond of being on the Hadrian," Wyatt said.
"It was too cramped on there for my liking, it was as though the Raptors and their facilities were some kind of afterthought," Perez offered.
"The crazy thing is that a battlestar this size without an air group just feels wrong," Lieutenant Shawn Porter said before adding, "This whole section of the ship just feels so empty without any pilots around."
"Believe me; I know what you mean," Captain Aaron Rice said before adding, "The other ready rooms are as empty as this one and the only difference between this one and those is that we've started using this one since we got onboard."
"That was a rush," Captain Keith Lloyd said as he reflected on their escape from Lampetia Shipyard, "We weren't even supposed to be on this ship and ours were destroyed during the attack."
"I try not to think about that one too much," Lieutenant Olivia Fox admitted, "Had the Cylons waited just a bit longer we'd have made it back to our ships and then we'd have bought it along with everyone else."
"That's why when I get out there against the toasters I'm going to make them pay for it," Lieutenant Cheryl Clayton said.
"It's not that I don't think we'll get the chance, but I'd rather have an actual squadron fighting along side me when we do take on the toasters," Lieutenant Walter Kidd said.
"Well, Kidd, you at least have the right idea," Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Thomas said as he walked into the room, his gold-plated cane making an audible sound whenever it hit the deck.
"Colonel Thomas," Stark said as she and the other pilots stood up at the sight of the pilot known as the 'Black Devil' during the Cylon War.
"I heard the new CAG was on his way here and I wanted to be here when he arrived," Thomas said as he walked over and eased into one of the chairs.
"He's not here just yet; we're just discussing the little we heard from scuttlebutt. There's just not much to go on right now," Donovan said.
"If you don't mind me asking, sir, how are the trainees coming along?" Clayton asked.
Thomas shrugged, "They're still green and it's going to take some work but eventually I'll make pilots out of those nuggets. For now they're going to get more simulator time than they thought they'd ever get before I let them near their Vipers."
"I hope they're fast learners," a man's voice said from the hatch.
The pilots turned and faced the new arrival. Thomas eventually stood up and turned to face the person.
"I'm assuming you're either the new CAG or some officer who got lost and think he's a pilot," Thomas said.
"I'm the new CAG," the man said as he walked to where the pilots had been sitting, "Major Mark Hunter, my call sign is Archangel."
"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Thomas and I'm one of the officers tasked with training our new pilots."
Hunter came to attention and saluted Thomas, "It's an honor to meet you, Colonel Thomas. We've all heard stories of your exploits in the Cylon War."
Thomas returned the salute, "Thank you, Major."
"Well, I know we'll have to get the introductions out the way…" Hunter began saying and then he saw a familiar face, "Alisa, I didn't know you were here."
"Hello, Mark, it's been a while," Stark said, "When it was mentioned the CAG was from Sagitarron I didn't think it would be you…you should have been on the Atlantia."
"I was one of two pilots assigned to the Vasa to test an experimental Viper design. I heard about the Atlantia though."
"Yeah, we did too; lots of good pilots lost their lives. We'd have been among them if you hadn't have been assigned to the Vasa and I hadn't have been reassigned to the Invincible."
"I know. Later on we can catch up on old times," he said.
"We can do that," she said and then took a seat.
"I knew of Colonel Thomas by reputation and I knew Captain Stark from the Atlantia, who are the rest of you and where were you stationed before the attack?" Hunter asked.
Kidd was the first one to speak, "Lieutenant Walter Kidd, call sign 'Thor', and I was stationed on the Swiftsure."
"Lieutenant Olivia Fox, call sign 'Foxy', and I was stationed on the Royal Oak."
"Thank you, Lieutenants," Hunter said to Kidd and Fox, "Who's next?"
"Captain Aaron Rice, call sign 'Big Red', and I was stationed on the Valhalla."
"Lieutenant Cheryl Clayton, call sign 'Blaze', and I was in the same squadron as Lieutenant Kidd on the Swiftsure."
"Captain Keith Lloyd, call sign 'Game Show' and I was stationed on the Asteria."
"Lieutenant Shawn Porter, call sign 'Cavalier', and I was stationed on the Orion."
"Lieutenant Marisa Patterson, call sign 'Vapor', and I was also stationed on the Royal Oak."
"Thank you all for the introductions; starting tomorrow we'll sit down for a more formal meeting. I'm not one for speeches so you're all dismissed until 08:00 tomorrow morning," Hunter said and he watched as he pilots and Colonel Thomas leave the ready room.
Hunter took in his new surroundings and began to understand the enormity of what lay ahead for him on the Ark Royal. The ship needed an air wing and if the cadets could not be turned into capable pilots quickly enough then they were as good as dead.
Now that he had met his fellow pilots, it was time to go to the CIC and let Commander Charka know that he was onboard.
Ark Royal, CIC:
"I know you sent Colonel Killian to the anchorage to supervise the loading of supplies onto the ship. When that's done we'll begin preparations to jump, am I right?" Ortiz asked.
"That's right, I want to make sure we have all the weapons and supplies brought onboard before we take off, that will give about two hours for the Vipers from the Vasa to land and get settled."
Ortiz nodded. "Colonel Hawkins told me that the other pilots were not too thrilled with Major Hunter's arrival."
Charka shrugged his shoulders, "It was a judgment call on my part, and it seemed he was the most qualified one for the job. The other pilots are good, don't get me wrong; but I am going to go with my instincts on this one."
"I'll go with that," she said before asking, "Where are you planning on jumping to first?"
"I want to go check out Armistice Station first and see what we find. I recall a message being sent for any FTL capable ships to jump in and check on his status so perhaps a ship jumped out there," Charka said and then he saw the skeptical look on her face, "I'm not saying it's not a shot in the dark but it's a start."
"If the Cylons were as thorough as they seem to have been when they attacked, then all we have going for us now are shots in the dark."
"Don't get too pessimistic on me," he said half jokingly.
"Not being pessimistic just looking at the situation as a realist."
"That's fine but don't let the crew become too realistic about our situation. The last thing I need is for their mindset to get to the point where they view things as being hopeless."
"Understood," Ortiz said before adding, "Since we have some downtime before we're ready to jump I'm going to the mess to get some coffee and a quick bite to eat."
Charka nodded his head, "Not a bad idea; once I leave here there's really no telling how long we'll be gone for."
The CIC doors slid open allowing for Ortiz to leave and for Hunter to step in to the room.
"Commander, I wanted to come and see you before I went to my office to get settled in," Hunter said once he had reached the Command and Control Station.
"Good to have you onboard, Major," Charka said before continuing with, "I know it's not much but with enough time you'll have an actual air group to be the CAG of."
"I understand that's going to take some time but I think the pilots we do have will make great squadron commanders when the time comes."
Charka nodded, "I like to think so, it was a miracle they were even able to get onboard when the Cylons hit us. Not that I'm complaining, I'd rather have a small group of trained Viper pilots than none at all."
"I have to agree with you on that; at least we're starting at Square One and a Half instead of Square One."
"Good way to look at that. Go get settled in and tomorrow you can get to the business of being CAG. You should be able to look at the service records of your pilots and get a better feel for them."
Hunter saluted and left the CIC to head to the CAG's Office.
Twelve Minutes Later:
Ark Royal, CAG's Office:
Hunter looked at the walls of the office and could not help but feel as though he was in an office designed by a person who felt that decorations should be 'less is more'. There were some photos of Virgon's popular sights and pictures of past ships that bore the name Ark Royal but there was little else in the way of decoration.
A knock on the hatch served to bring him out of his thoughts. When he called for whoever was the hatch to enter and he was somewhat surprised to see Stark enter the room.
"Alisa, I didn't expect you to come by," Hunter said.
"I thought we needed to talk," she said as she took a nearby seat, "I know things with us haven't always been particularly pleasant, especially when I got reassigned from Atlantia."
"You know I had nothing to do with you getting reassigned. My father pulled whatever strings he had in the Colonial Fleet to make that happen."
"I know that, but by the time I found out, I had already built up this resentment toward you and it was something I couldn't shake."
The two had been friends since their time at the Fleet Academy and even when they originally had different assignments they had stayed close. It was when they were both assigned to the Atlantia that things had become complicated. It all happened one night while on leave on Caprica the two had gone out for a visit to Club Tavares in Caprica City. When the night had ended, they had gone to the upscale Lansdowne Hotel where she fell asleep on the sofa in the suite Hunter had was staying in. There was no sex between the two of them. In truth, it was nothing that would have caused any trouble if it had not been for the fact that one of their fellow squad mates had seen her and Hunter leaving the hotel together the next morning. Their squadron leader, Major Graystone, had frowned upon the fact that two of his pilots being rumored to be on such intimate terms and before either of them knew it she had been reassigned to the battlestar Eagle for one deployment before her assignment to the battlestar Invincible.
"I tried to contact you on the Invincible and even left messages with your parents on Gemenon."
"I got them, but I really did not want to talk to you. All I could think about was how unfair it was that I was the one who was reassigned and you were allowed to stay on the Atlantia. You understood how much it meant to me to be a pilot on the Fleet's flagship."
"I know but did you think about what it would mean if you hadn't have been transferred to the Invincible? You'd have probably died at Virgon with the rest of the squadron," Hunter said and he saw her hazel eyes show a mix of sadness and anger.
"Well, Mark it's not like we're in less danger now. I was in your shoes until not too long ago and it is scary knowing that you are the CAG of a small group of pilots and if the Cylons attack you can't even put up a token fighting force. It's like we're facing certain death and are only delaying the inevitable."
"It'd be different if I were some kind of superhero who could swipe the Cylons away with a sweep of my arm but the truth is that we have a chance for survival. As bad as it may seem we are still in this fight and when the time is right we'll get some payback for our friends and loved ones we lost."
Stark tried to stifle a laugh and failed. "Trying to picture you doing some sort of superhero act is actually kind of funny."
"I suppose it is. In all seriousness, we're going to be fine and I would like to think that we could put the past on the Atlantia behind us. It's not going to help us survive the Cylons."
There was a pause but finally Stark nodded, "I suppose I can do that, it may take some time but I promise I'll try."
"Great! Now if you don't mind helping me," Hunter said as he picked up the personnel folders of the other pilots, "I could use some help with feedback on the rest of our air group."
Ark Royal, CIC:
Charka picked up the receiver, "This is Actual."
"Commander, we're preparing to start loading supplies onto the ship," Colonel Patrick Killian said.
"Glad to hear it. I'm hoping there's enough to fully arm the ship again."
"You won't be disappointed. There's weaponry for the ship's guns, the Vipers, and the Marines that we can load up. I also discovered that there was a stash of MREs that we can use if our food situation ever becomes desperate."
Charka laughed, "As long as they didn't expire decades ago we should be in good shape."
"I think we'll be fine. It should take us two hours to load all of this onto the ship. Distributing it to where it needs to go may be a different story."
"At least once they're onboard we can jump away. We'll worry about distributing it later on, I'm eager to see what we find at Armistice Station."
"I'll have Chief Lancaster's deck gang proceed with the loading as soon as we're done talking."
"In that case I'll see you in the CIC once the supplies are loaded."
Two Hours, Seventeen Minutes Later:
Ark Royal, CIC:
"All supplies are now sitting on the starboard hangar deck," Killian said once he had entered the CIC.
"Excellent work, XO," Charka said as he picked up the receiver, "Mister Woodward, I want you to connect me to the CAG's office."
"This is the CAG," Hunter's voice said over the receiver.
"We're about to jump to the Armistice Station, can you and another pilot launch when we get there?"
"Yes sir, Captain Stark is here with me now and we can suit up and be ready to launch in little to no time."
"Excellent," Charka said before he put the receiver back into its cradle.
"I take it we're about to jump," Ortiz commented.
"The supplies are onboard so I think it's time we jump from here and see what we can find."
"Let's see what's out there," Ortiz said.
Five Minutes Later:
Armistice Station, Colonial Side of the Armistice Line:
The Ark Royal jumped into the area that had once been home to Armistice Station.
"Why can't we see the station on our DRADIS?" Charka asked.
"It's odd, I can confirm the location of Armistice Station but it's not showing up. It may not even be there," Lieutenant Colonel Kelvin Chandler said from the Tactical station.
"Send word to Chief Lancaster, I want Major Hunter and Captain Stark's Vipers launched."
"Sending the message now sir," Lieutenant Dwight Woodward said.
Charka looked up at the DRADIS screen and moments later two blips showed on the screen marking the two Vipers that had launched. He put the radio chatter through the loudspeakers so that the people in the CIC could hear what the two pilots were saying.
"Dagger, do you see what I see?" Hunter asked.
"I'm afraid so, Archangel; someone blew this place to pieces," Stark responded.
"I guess that answers one of our questions," Ortiz said.
"I don't get it," Killian said before adding, "Why go through the trouble of destroying Armistice Station?"
"Probably trying to help us out by getting rid of something that wasn't needed anymore," Charka deadpanned.
"We at least put it to use, not our fault those soulless frakkers didn't think so highly of it," Killian said.
"Something tells me the Cylons never had an interest in keeping the peace," Ortiz said.
"We have a DRADIS contact, appears to be something off in the distance," Hunter said over the radio.
"I see it on my screen, let's go investigate," Stark said.
"You read my mind," Hunter said and the radio chatter went quiet.
"What do you think they found?" Ortiz asked.
"Whatever it is, I'm just hoping that it's friendly," Charka said and he saw Killian nod in agreement.
"We're close enough to the contact and…it's a battlestar!" Hunter exclaimed.
"Gods, it's nice to finally catch a break," Ortiz said quietly.
"How come they haven't tried hailing us yet?" Killian asked.
Charka picked up the receiver, "This is Actual, is the battlestar operational?"
"That's a negative sir, the ship appears to have no power," Hunter said.
"Can you identify what ship it is?" Charka asked.
"We're attempting that now; we may need a Raptor here with its search light," Stark said.
"I want the two of you to stay there, we'll have a Raptor coming your way soon," Charka said before turning his attention to Woodward, "I want our Raptor pilot awake and flying as soon as possible."
Berthing Compartment 02-B:
The hatch to the berthing compartment opened and in stepped Colonel Yesinia Hawkins. She saw that most of the racks were empty except for four that had the privacy curtains pulled closed. She pulled each one apart until she found the two people she was looking for.
"Wyatt and Perez, your Raptor is needed," she said as she woke the pilot and ECO up.
"I was just dreaming I was on Caprica Beach," Wyatt said as she tried to wake herself up.
"Speak for yourself, I was alone on an island with a handsome guy from the Ministry of Intelligence," Perez said.
"Forget about your dreams, we found a battlestar out there and we need your Raptor's searchlight to identify which one it is."
"We could go for some coffee, or at least I could," Wyatt said.
Hawkins pulled out a bottle of stimulant pills, "You'll have to take these, but Commander Charka has promised that you will get all the rack time you could ask for whenever this is over with."
Begrudgingly the two took the stims so that they could fly their Raptor without being a danger to themselves and the two Viper pilots flying around the hulk of the battlestar.
"Chief Lancaster is prepping your Raptor for launch as we speak so good luck out there and we'll see the two of you when you return," Hawkins said before opening the hatch to leave the compartment.
"I think when we return we should strongly recommend to Commander Charka that he get a few more Raptor pilots from either the Vasa or the Hadrian. I swear this going to wear us out even more than we already are," Wyatt said as she changed into her flight suit. She was starting to feel the effects of the stimulants on her body; the fatigue she was feeling was starting to lift now. She was feeling more awake and alert than she had when Hawkins had awakened her. The only problem would come later when the stims wore off, it would be one hell of a crash.
"You won't hear any complaints from me," Perez said as she finished getting into her flight suit. In a matter of minutes, the pair would be on their way to the hangar deck where their Raptor awaited them.
Thirteen Minutes Later:
Armistice Station Coordinates:
"Archangel, this is Blondie," Wyatt said as the Raptor came in closer to where the hulk was showing up on the DRADIS.
"Blondie, this is Archangel. We are holding our position above the hulk," Hunter's voice said over the wireless.
"Copy that, we are getting in position to sweep the hulk with our searchlight," Wyatt said and with a motion to Perez the Raptor's searchlight came to life and bathed the hulk in its brilliant light.
Hunter got in position and began using the combat camera of his Viper to get video image of the hulk's hull as the searchlight ran over its surface.
"We're on the port side of the hull," he said to Wyatt, "Let's spend more time on ship's name once we get to it, I want to make sure I bring back clear footage to the Ark Royal."
"Understood," Wyatt said as she took in the sight of the hull that her Raptor was passing. It looked surprisingly undamaged; she wondered how the battlestar could be so lifeless and yet show no signs of battle. If it lost power then did that mean that the crew could still be inside, and if they were then were they still alive? She quickly tried to banish the thoughts out of her mind. The last thing she needed was something that would remind her of the horror movies she grew up watching. It was one thing when it was something on a television screen but the idea of something more real did not appeal to her.
"The ship's nameplate should be coming up soon," Hunter said.
"I'm slowing down," Wyatt said as she began to slow down the Raptor's acceleration. In the periphery of her sight, she saw a large letter begin to appear. It was the letter 'S', and at the sight of it she took the Raptor's speed down quite a bit more so that it was moving at a crawl.
"Are you getting this on film?" Perez asked Hunter.
"Yes I am, keep your light steady and we should be fine," he said as he saw the next letter come into view, it was the letter 'O'.
The next letter began to come into focus; it was an I.
"It's an 'ios'," Perez joked.
"Let's see what's next," Wyatt said and then she saw the next letter, K.
"That's the last letter," Hunter said before adding, "It's the Kios."
"I think that ship was commissioned not too long ago," Stoke said.
"I have the information here," Perez said as she read her computer screen, "It's a sister ship of the Ark Royal and had recently finished its trials."
"Mark these coordinates and we'll see what Commander Charka wants to do," Hunter said as he turned his Viper back toward the Ark Royal. They had managed to find the Ark's sister ship. The outside, or at least the part they had seen, looked as good as new, but there was no telling about shape of the interior.
Ark Royal, CIC:
"An entire battlestar, that could be useful," Ortiz commented.
"We won't know more until we get a chance to do a full inspection of both the hull and the interior. They only saw a small fragment of the ship," Charka said.
"I think we can land a group of Marines and knuckle draggers to do a proper inspection," Killian suggested.
"We can stand by and let them do that, I don't see it being too much of a problem," Ortiz said.
"I have an idea that I believe will work. Once our pilots are back onboard, we'll jump back to Mjolnir. I want to get our supplies put away before we proceed any further, I doubt the battlestar is going anywhere," Charka said.
"What about the search for survivors?" Killian asked.
"I'm going to have the Hadrian take that over, if we're going to deploy any of the Ark's personnel to the Kios I don't want to be too far away if things go south."
"We could probably have the Vasa take over at the Kios if there's a reason to be concerned," Ortiz said.
Charka shook his head, "I want the Vasa at Mjolnir keeping the civilians safe."
"Sir, the Vipers and Raptor have landed and have been brought down to the hangar deck," Chandler announced.
"Excellent, I want a countdown begun to our next FTL jump."
A minute later, the Ark Royal vanished from Armistice Station.
Mjolnir Anchorage:
Ark Royal, Commanding Officer's Conference Room:
Apart from Commander Charka, there were two other men in the room with him, one military and one civilian.
"I want to thank you both for being so prompt in coming over for this meeting," Charka said as he pressed a button that presented still images of the Kios' flight pod on the nearby video screen.
"When the commander of a Colonial Fleet battlestar requests my presence I am hardly in a position to say 'No'," said Captain Leif Dawson of the heavy cargo ship Hermitage.
"Between us and the Vasa I'd say you're well-protected," Commander Colton Lott of the Hadrian said.
"I do have a plan that I need help with, but first I am going to need the Hadrian to search for any ships that may still be hiding from the Cylons. I am going to need the storage space of the Hermitage for the other part of my plan."
"When we left Aerilon we were fully loaded, I can't exactly put my cargo anywhere," Dawson protested.
"Split your cargo between the other ships in the fleet and the anchorage. If the Kios is too badly damaged to be put back into service then we will take everything of value we can so that we can keep the Ark Royal and the Vasa operational."
"Do you think the Vasa will be able to keep the civilian ships safe?" Lott asked.
"I did some research on the Vasa and it appears the ship carries more firepower than other ships of her class. It seems the Colonial Fleet put a lot of time, money, and resources in extensively modernizing the Vasa. It can probably hold its own against the Cylons so that the civilians can escape. That's the best we can hope for."
"I can have the Hadrian ready to leave as soon as I'm back onboard," Lott said.
"Good, now how long will you need to get the Hermitage ready to depart?" he asked Dawson.
"I can get in touch with other captains and see what I can offload onto their ships. We can dock with the anchorage and unload the rest, it may take a few hours but it can be done."
"That should be fine. Good hunting out there, Lott," Charka said as he shook hands with the Hadrian's commanding officer.
"Thank you. Gods willing, we'll bring some friends back with us," Lott said as he turned to leave the room.
"Captain Dawson, thank you for coming with us on this mission. Believe me when I say that I wouldn't have asked for your help if it wasn't important."
"We have to work together if we're going to survive, and I'm glad you asked for my help instead of sending some Marines over to board us and take over the ship."
"For some reason I don't think that would have ended well for either of us. While I don't want to rush you, I would prefer that you get your cargo spaces emptied sooner rather than later."
Dawson nodded his understanding, "My crew and I won't keep you waiting longer than we have to."
"Excellent, in that case let me know when you're ready to depart."
Dawson stood and left the room.
Eight Minutes Later:
Ark Royal, CIC:
The watch had changed over and there were new officers at Communications and Tactical. Commander Ortiz had also left and Colonel Killian was currently Officer of the Deck.
"Ensign Ariadne, get me in touch with Commander Solheim on the Vasa," Charka said to Ensign Phaedra Ariadne at the Communications Station.
"Yes, sir."
"I take it the meeting went well," Killian said when Charka was close enough for him to talk without being overheard.
"It went better than I thought it would; let's be thankful for those small miracles," Charka said.
"Won't hear any argument from me; all that's left to do is to see if we can get Commander Solheim to part with a few of her Raptors."
"I doubt that will be a problem," Charka said; when he heard Ariadne say that she had Solheim on the line he picked up the phone, "Commander Solheim, I need your assistance with a project I am about to undertake.
"What project would that be?" she asked.
"I'm about to jump to Armistice Station to either salvage a battlestar or take whatever useable parts I can from it."
"I see, and where does the Vasa fit into this project of yours?"
"I'm going to take one of the civilian ships, the Hermitage, and leave your ship to protect the leftover civilian ships until I return. The Hadrian won't be able to help with that since it has been tasked with the search for survivors, and I am going to need you to part with a handful of Raptors."
"I can probably part with five Raptors if that will be sufficient for what you have in mind. That's a quarter of my Raptor squadron so keep that in mind," she said.
A part of him wanted to push for more but he felt he could get the job done with five."That will be more than enough for what I have in mind. I'll let you decide who comes over."
"That's generous of you Commander Charka. I'll notify the pilots and they should be over there within the hour."
"Perfect; thank you for this Commander Solheim and this is something that has the potential to benefit both of us."
"I'll take your word on that, Vasa Actual signing off," Solheim said before severing the connection.
"Do you think she really wanted to part with five Raptors?" Killian asked.
"Probably not, it's not like either one of us can get new pilots brought onboard to replace the ones that are lost. I don't blame her for being hesitant about it; the important thing though is that she did agree to give up the five Raptors. We're going to need them to transport the Marines and knuckle draggers to the Kios whenever we jump back to Armistice Station."
"Commander, the Hadrian has broken away from the fleet and is moving away from the anchorage," Lieutenant Manuel Encalada announced from Tactical.
"Excellent, hopefully Commander Lott can find some more survivors to bring to us," Charka said as he watched the Hadrian disappear off the DRADIS screen. In a few more hours, it would the Ark Royal's turn to move away from the small fleet of survivors and head to Armistice Station.
Author's Note: The character of Mark 'Archangel' Hunter is the main character from the story 'Battleground Colonies' by atlantiaCAG and is being included in this story with his permission.