Battlestar Galactica
Past, Present, Future
Chapter 31
Second Front
"I want to thank you all for coming here on such short notice." Commander Verga stated as he began the impromptu meeting. "Not long ago, I received word from Colonel Eller, who has been on long range patrol ahead of the fleet. He has informed me of a massive fleet of Cylon… I mean Centurion ships heading directly toward us. Therefore I think we need to start making plans to meet this new threat immediately."
"How many Centurion ships are we talking about Commander?" asked Commander Raylac, who was now fully recovered from the injuries, suffered in their last battle.
"Colonel Eller has not been able to get a full count on the number of ships as yet, but he says it is at least fifteen thousand!"
"Is that number confirmed sir?"
"Not as yet, but I'm sure there are at least that many, if not more." Verga told them. "The Guardian has perhaps the best long range scanners in the fleet, and Colonel Eller said there were too many to count even at maximum range."
The room was abuzz at this.
"Where in Hades Hole did they get so many ships Commander?" Commander Sachs exclaimed. "They didn't have that many before they destroyed the Colonies!"
"Evidentially they have been busy building up their fleet Commander!"
"How long before they get here Commander?"
"Colonel Eller said they are traveling at higher than normal speed, so they know exactly where they are going. At their present speed, they'll be in our scanner range in about eight centars." Verga answered. "Guardian will continue to monitor their progress until they return to the fleet. By then, we should be picking up the lead elements of the Centurion fleet on our own scanners."
"So we have the largest Centurion fleet ever seen bearing down on us, that outnumbers us at least three hundred to one, and our only allies are the race of reptiles that built the Centurions and can't be trusted!' Commander Bannon said softly. "This is going to be a bit of a challenge I'd say Commander."
Verga cast a somewhat amused glance at his old friend, and then turned back to the others.
"That is the understatement of the millennium Commander!"
Just then, the door to the meeting room slide open and Doctor Haley came rushing in.
"Sorry I'm late Commander, I was just finishing the final adjustments on the micro-wavelon emitters aboard the Pentax."
"Micro-wavelon emitters? I'd almost forgotten about your invention Doctor. How is that project going?"
"As of a centar ago, my team and I are finished. We've installed the micro-wavelon generators and emitters in every war ship in the fleet and those support ships you designated. All systems have been tested and are ready for action Commander."
Verga sat back in his seat and stared at the smiling scientist, trying to remember when he had given the order to install the experimental system. This was not the first time recently that he found himself unable to remember things he said or that were said to him.
"That's excellent news Doctor." Verga said, trying to mask is confusion. "Perhaps you can inform everyone as to the nature of your micro-wavelon generators and what they do."
Most of those present already knew about the system the scientist had developed and that it had been ordered installed on all of the Phantom fleets war ships.
"Alright Commander. The micro-wavelon system we've installed can send out concentrated, controlled bursts of energy which render all Centurion electronic systems inoperative. It scrambles the electrical signals within the control units of the Centurions, causing them to react much as a human does when they have a seizure. And not only will it affect the individual Centurions, but it should also have a similar result on their ships, thus rendering them defenseless as well to our attacks."
"What's the range on these micro-wavelons Doctor?" Asked Commander Raylac.
"We've been able to disrupt test subjects out to a range of around four thousand kilometrons on the smaller ships and seven thousand on the Battlestars"
"Impressive." Commander Bannon said to no one inpaticular.
"That it is Commander. With the maximum range of the Centurion weapon systems being around three thousand kilometrons, there is little doubt that our ships should be able to disable the enemy well before they can ploy their weapon against us." Doctor Haley said. "And with the shielding we've placed on our ships systems, the micro-wavelons should have no effect on our own systems."
"What about the Cylons Commander?" asked Bannon. "Did we shield their systems from the micro-wavelons?"
Verga glanced toward his second in command and said, "After the events of our last battle, I am reluctant to share anymore of our technology with them. I'll have a discussion with the Cylon Imperium before we engage this new fleet and have them stay out of the battle zone."
"You know their Imperium won't like that." Colonel Leon said. "He's libel to kick up quite a fuss if we exclude his forces from the party."
"True, he won't like being left out of the main battle, but I'll explain to him that we are trying a new weapon out and that without all the specifications of his fleets ships, we can't provide the proper shielding for his ships."
"So what will you have them do Commander?" Raylac asked.
"I'll have them secure our flanks. That will keep them out of the way of the micro-wavelons and will also keep them far enough away from our ships so there won't be anymore "accidents"!"
"They might even get a few licks in on any Centurions that try to make a run for it?" Bannon said. "
"Perhaps they shall Commander." Verga said with a smile. "So, let's get a plan formulated for our friends and get ready for what could be the most important battle in human history."
And so, Commander Verga and his staff made their plans for the upcoming battle. The plan seemed simple enough, they would send in their destroyers first with their micro-wavelon weapons clearing the way. Once they were sure these were working properly, they would send in their Viper and Scorpion squadrons to attack the disabled Centurions. If all went according to plan, they should be able to destroy the massive fleet with minimal casualties.
If things went according to plan!
Five centars later, Colonel Eller and the Guardian rendezvoused with the rest of the Phantom Fleet well ahead of the on rushing Centurion fleet. He had been able to ascertain the true size of the Centurion fleet at just shy of nineteen thousand vessels, of which some eight thousand or so were actual war ships of various type. The rest he reported were support ships, mostly fuel tankers. The Phantom Fleet consisted of fifty one war ships and about four thousand Vipers, Pit Vipers, and Scorpion fighter craft.
"Seems like pretty even odds to me, ah Commander?" Colonel Leon joked.
Verga gave his XO a sideways smile.
There were also a little over twenty six thousand Cylon ships in the fleet, but with the lack of trust in their loyalty, Verga had not wanted them to engage the Cylons with his fleet, instead he convinced their leader to cover the Phantom Fleets flanks to prevent the Centurions from encircling them or from escaping.
The largest battle between humans and Centurions was about to begin.
"Range to Centurion fleet?" Verga asked as the two formations closed on one another.
"One hundred eighty kilometrons and closing fast." Replied Captain Dawn.
Verga nodded to the Captain and then said to the communications officer, "Have all destroyers move out in front of the formation and stand by to activate micro-wavelon generators."
"Yes sir."
When the range had closed to five thousand kilometrons, Verga gave the order to activate the micro-wavelon generators and begin sending their energy waves out toward the unsuspecting foe.
"Have all ships stand by to launch there squadrons on my order."
"Yes sir."
The Centurion fleet continued on course, not slowing in the slightest. If the micro-wavelons didn't work, it would be the end of the Phantom Fleet and the human race!
Verga stood still as a statue, watching the scanner screen at the bridge officer's station. The mass of the Centurion fleet was so great; it could not fully be seen. There were just far too many ships to show at once.
"Range?"
"Four thousand five hundred kilometrons and closing fast!"
"Four thousand two hundred Kilometrons!"
"Four Thousand Kilometrons Commander!"
Verga only nodded.
For several moments there seemed to be no effect. The forward elements of the Centurion fleet kept on coming, closing the distance with each passing micro. Verga was starting to wonder if it had been a mistake to rely so completely on the untried weapon. Then, just as the thought had formed, his faith was validated.
The forward units of the Centurion fleet suddenly began to shudder and fly in an erratic fashion. At first they just seemed to waver in their formation, but then all of a sudden, the formation turned into a scene of total chaos! Ships began to veer out of control, smashing into each other, destroying each other as more and more of them were affected by the micro-wavelons. Dozens of ships, then hundreds fell under the power of this awesome new weapon. Baseships, Battle Cruisers, Destroyers, Fighters …. All were sent spinning out of control, crashing into each other.
Aboard the Command Baseship, the Command Centurion, Mortis, watched as the lead elements of its fleet were being destroyed by some unknown power. The gold Centurion was baffled by what its scanners were showing it. The humans were not firing on the Centurion ships, yet they were being destroyed.
"Are you detecting what type of weapon are the humans using?" Mortis asked its scanner operator.
"We are detecting no known form of weapons fire coming from the human fleet."
"Order all units to hold positions" Mortis ordered.
The order was relayed to the rest of the fleet. Mortis was at a loss as to why his fleet suddenly began to fly so erratically and began destroying each other.
There was no logic in this situation. How it wondered could the humans be doing this?
This is not the strategy the OTHER humans were using.
Mortis knew that if it continued to have its ships attack the humans, they would all be destroyed, so Mortis gave the order for all ships to retreat at top speed back to the old human colonies, where Mortis could get further instructions from the IL series fleet Commander, Daemon.
"Order all units to retreat back to the Cyrannus System immediately, maximum speed!" Mortis ordered.
"By your command!"
Within a few micros, the entire Centurion fleet came about and reversed course at top speed.
This caught Verga and the rest of the Phantom Fleet commanders by surprise. They had all become so engrossed with the utter destruction of the Centurion vessels as they fell under the power of the micro-wavelons, that they had not realized the Centurions has stopped. Before any could act, the Centurions were already moving away from them and well out of range of the micro-wavelon generators and picking up speed.
Even the Cylons were caught off guard. They too were in awe of the destruction of the Centurion forces. They were out of position to stop the Centurion retreat and thus, only able to attack and destroy a few of those ships that were fighting off the effects of the micro-wavelons.
In all, the micro-wavelon weapon system had been proven extremely effective, having caused the destruction of over six hundred Centurion warships, including a confirmed, forty four baseships! And even more impressive was the fact that not one ship of the Phantom Fleet needed to fire a single shot. They didn't even need to launch their fighters. All the destruction was caused by the micro-wavelon disruption of the Centurion electronic systems.
"Major Barb, contact all senior staff members and have them report to the Genesis war room. I'd like to do a debriefing immediately!"
"Yes sir."
"Those micro-wavelon thingy's worked better than we'd hoped I'd say Commander." Colonel Leon said.
"That they did Colonel. That they did." Verga said nodding his head slowly. "I hope that they work equally as well the next time we face the Centurions, because I believe the next time we face them, it's going to be in our home system."
Less than a centar later, the senior staff was assembled in the Genesis war room. Commanders Sachs, Raylac, Andrea, Goff and Hawley were there as well as Colonels Gellis, Cada, and Doctors Haley and Grego.
Commander Verga entered the room a few moments later with Commander Bannon and Colonels Leon and Eller following. When they had taken their seats, Verga began to speak.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly. I wanted to do this as soon as we could because it seems events are starting to move much more quickly than anticipated. I wanted to get your thoughts on this last engagement while the events are still fresh in your minds. That being said, what was your impression of the Centurion fleet?"
"Lots of firepower, but no leadership." Raylac said quickly. "They had us outnumbered more than a hundred to one on capital ships and they did nothing but charge right at us."
"Raylac is right Commander, they had no true coordination to their attack. No visible strategy. They simple came head on." Commander Andrea added. "It was like they expected to simply crush us with their pure numbers."
Verga nodded slowly.
"They probably were expecting to do just that, until they came up against our micro-wavelon weapons." Doctor Haley said proudly. "They never expected anything like that."
"Very true doctor" Verga said.
"The question I have is ….. why did they retreat so quickly?" Bannon said. "Their entire attack lasted less than two centons. Granted, they lost over six hundred ships in that time, but it seemed to me they were just feeling us out. Looking to see what we were going to do. It was like they were expecting something to happen and it didn't."
"Do you think they spotted the Cylon fleet?" Gellis asked. "Maybe they picked them up on their scanners and didn't want to get surrounded?"
"That's possible Colonel, but from what we could tell, the Cylons stayed true to the plan and were well out of the Centurion scanner range until they started to retreat." Verga said. "No, I'm convinced they were expecting some sort of trap."
"Why would they be expecting us to set a trap for them?" Sachs asked.
"I'm not sure Commander." Verga said thoughtfully. "Did you all notice that they sent a portion of their fleet, those that were for the most part destroyed, out ahead of the main body?"
Several members of the staff nodded.
"Perhaps they were looking for the Cylons to jump in like they did in the last battle?" Leon said. "They did have a rather shocking effect on their old playtoys."
"That could be Colonel, but they didn't know the Cylons were even there. Remember, they were still out of scanner range. I have a feeling they expected something and when it didn't happen, whoever was in command of their fleet had no instructions on how to handle it, so they retreated." Verga said.
Everyone seemed to agree with that. The Centurions did seem to be expecting something other then what they found. And since Centurion commanders are limited in their ability to make independent decisions, it was logical to assume that the fleet commander simply had no option but to pull out and return to where they came.
"We're going to assume that the Centurions were surprised by our new weapons system and decided to withdraw until they can figure out how to counter it." Verga said. "So I believe it is in our best interest to push forward as fast as we can and keep them off balance. Not give them the time to figure out a way to counter our micro-wavelons."
Everyone seemed to agree with this.
"It would seem my friends, the time has come to push forward and take the fight directly to the Centurions. And that means that the next time we face them ….. it's going to be in our old star system. In the Colonies."
Everyone nodded as they realized what that meant.
"Return to your ships and make preparations to engage your star drives commanders, because we are going to pursue the Centurions and take the fight to them. No more waiting to cross paths my friends. Our next battlefield will be the Colonies themselves, and we are going to retake those worlds that were stolen from us! The battle for the Colonies begins now!"
