Chapter Six: Swings and Roundabouts
Two and a Half Weeks Later:
Tift Fleet Air Station:
Station Commander's Office:
Colonel Susan Minerva sat behind the desk with the phone receiver to her ear, "If you only knew how badly I want to be there with you and the kids."
"It's good to know you're not having too much fun down there in Tifton," Douglas Minerva said teasingly to his wife.
"We're getting a base that was closed down, up and running again. Believe me, it's not my idea of a good time."
"In that case, what is your idea of a good time?"
Minerva smiled, "I think right now a family trip to the movies in the afternoon followed by a night of dancing with you."
"You do remember that I have two left feet," he said.
"You're just rusty at it; I think I could help in getting the rust off."
"We are still talking about dancing; right?" he asked.
Minerva laughed, "When the kids are nearby you're correct. Where are they?"
"Dalton went with Larry Drake and his family to the movies. I believe they went to see Treasure Hunt on Leonis."
"I heard that one should be good. So since we are talking about dancing, I assume that means our little princess is nearby," Minerva said with a smile.
There was a knock on the door. When Minerva put her husband's call on hold and called for the person to enter, in stepped Chief Stavros Navarino.
"What can I do for you, Chief?" she asked.
"Is this a bad time?"
She held up a finger to signal him to wait a minute and then she put her husband back on the phone.
Once she explained that she needed to call him back later, she hung up the phone and turned her attention to him, "It's not a bad time, what's going on?"
"My people are having trouble with the Vipers they brought us. It seems we were given Viper Mark Vs instead of the newer models like we had on the Libran."
Minerva frowned. "The Vs were worthless if you ask me. Unreliable systems and performance never really improved over the IV. Was there any reason why our birds from the Libran weren't sent down?"
"I'm trying to find out but so far it's been something like throwing yourself against a brick wall hoping to knock it down."
"Yeah, that would be pretty painful. I'll see what I can do, Chief. In the meantime try to fix whatever you can to get those Mark Vs up and running."
Navarino saluted and left the room.
Minerva was going to pick up the phone and call her husband back when there was another knock on the door. She silently cursed in frustration.
"Colonel Minerva, I presume," the young man in the black business suit standing in the doorway said.
"That would be correct, Mister…"
"Major Arthur Wallace, I'm with the Ministry of Intelligence," he said as he walked up to her desk and offered a handshake.
"Pleased to meet you, Major Wallace," she said as she stood up and shook his hand.
"You can call me Arthur. The formality bit has never really been my thing."
"Alright then, Arthur, what brings you to Tift? Are you here to spend some time with your fellow MoI agents?"
"Somewhat, I'm in overall command of the project to bring down the Erebea."
Minerva was stunned, "I thought Major Windsor was the one in charge."
"That pompous ass couldn't lead his way out of a paper bag with a map and a seeing eye dog. You have to understand that Major Windbag and I do not get along."
"You've gone up a notch in my book, Arthur."
"I doubt that's much higher. I've heard you aren't too fond of the MoI; coming from you that would have to be a compliment."
"It goes back a few years. Because of the way things went down with my old CO from the Vanguard after that mission to rescue President Adar's sister and niece. I suppose sometimes you can't help but paint with a broad brush."
"I admit the MoI has a reputation and some of it is deserved. I can promise you that you don't have to worry about me playing any games with you."
"The last time I heard that was from Timothy Edwards when he tried to get my shirt off at the Colonial Day game during my senior year of high school."
"I take it he wasn't quite able to pull that off."
"You would be right; I have good instincts about people. Helps me to know who I can trust and who is simply trying to feed me a line."
"In that case, Colonel, what would you say about me?"
Minerva sized Wallace up.
"You strike me as someone I could trust. I would be cautious around you, but I believe you meant what you said to me. You've come in here and been as subtle as a brick through a glass window and that's usually a trait of someone being upfront with me."
"If you don't mind me asking, where is Commander Tattnall at?"
"He went to his house on Picon. I recall him telling me that he owned some land out in the woods. When he comes back I'll have the chance to go spend time with my family."
"I'm sure your husband and your two kids will be happy to see you."
"Yes they will be. If you don't mind me asking why are you here on Caprica?" she asked and she quickly held up her hand to keep Wallace from saying anything, "Never mind, you'll probably have to tell me a lie or something."
"Only in the name of operational security of course…truthfully though I need to borrow the MoI team here on the base for a side mission here on Caprica and I'm here to collect them and take them up to Edessa."
"I won't keep you waiting too long then. It was a pleasure meeting you Arthur; you're not what I expected from a MoI officer."
"Thank you Colonel Minerva, I look forward to working with you in the future," Wallace said as he stood and left the room.
Cave Spring, Picon:
Commander Nicholas Tattnall brought the axe down on the piece of wood on the stump, promptly splitting it in two and sending the pieces to the ground. His arms ached on the border of pain but still at the point where a man felt alive in his natural element. It was a good work out.
"A few more of these and I'll be done," he said as his gloved hands picked up the pieces and tossed them onto the pile of firewood.
His house was one he had designed and helped build over the course of the last ten years.
It had all the touches of modern life to it but he also included some aspects to give it that old feel.
One of which was the fireplace in the house's living room that kept the place warm during the cold winter nights. This area of Picon was notorious for its winter temperatures.
"You finish that up and I'll get started on dinner," Christine Collier said after opening the kitchen window that faced the backyard where Tattnall was splitting firewood.
"You said we were having Gemenese tonight?" he asked once he sat his axe down.
"I told you before that you have not lived until you have tried my Gemenese," she said as she stepped back and closed the window.
"My first night on the planet and I run into her," Tattnall said as he readied another block of wood for splitting.
He had known Christine Collier for all of two weeks now.
She was an investigative journalist with the Memphis Press Scimitar.
She had spent most of her life in Memphis, Picon though she had lived on Gemenon enough years to master the cuisine of the colony.
The two had met in Queenstown at Jim Shaw's Restaurant on the waterfront.
After a night of drinks the two had been mostly inseparable, not that he was complaining of course.
Tattnall brought the axe down, promptly splitting the wood into two halves, and was going to set up another piece when he saw a black Scorpia Sedan make its way down the dirt driveway that led from the main highway.
'Gods don't let it be who I think it is,' he thought as he saw the figure of the man he did not want to see sitting behind the wheel.
The passenger door window of the sedan rolled down and Tattnall heard the familiar voice of Major Evan Windsor, "You should really get a phone with better reception out here."
"The reception is fine Windsor, I was simply ignoring you."
"You wound me Tattnall. Are you willing to head back to Caprica early?"
"Not particularly, I have a couple more days until I'm needed at Tift. From the reports I've read Minerva is holding the fort down well enough."
"What could possibly make you want to stay here…" Windsor said and then he saw the other car parked near the house, "Who's your friend?"
"Not that it's any of your business but her name is Christine Collier. Knowing how nosey you MoI types are, come back for dinner in a couple of hours. She's making her version of Gemenese cuisine."
"A woman who is willing to put up with you, that alone will be worth suffering through a night of Gemenese food," Windsor said as he rolled up the window and put the car into gear.
Carthage, Caprica:
Hamid Transport Warehouse:
The large vacant building that was located off of Niobe Avenue once served as the main warehouse and transport hub for the Hamid Merchandise company until nine years ago when the company was bought out by Caprimart.
Since then it had stood empty except to serve as a source for unscrupulous scrap merchants or the occasional homeless person who tried to find shelter in its empty interior.
Arthur Wallace had seen it as the perfect place for him to set up his operations on Caprica.
Instead of dirty floors and damaged walls on the inside there was now an array of the latest in technology and weaponry that the MoI could afford.
On the outside the building still looked abandoned but that was all part of the plan to keep unwanted attention from being directed its way.
Wallace saw the potential in this location and today his vision was proving to have been prophetic.
Arrayed near the loading docks were two black prison transport trucks usually used by Caprica Police Department, only all identifying markers had been taken off of them, and they looked almost sinister in appearance. Second hand examples of these vehicles were common amongst crime syndicates who liked their hardened exteriors and powerful engines.
Inside of the loading dock were the Ministry of Intelligence personnel associated with the Gemenon Project.
"I see you brought some firepower for this," Wallace said as he inspected the two groups Captain Curtis Bond brought for the upcoming operation.
"If we're going to convince Cinta that this is legitimate then we might as well bring out the big guns for this," Bond said.
"True enough," Wallace replied as he looked at the members of The Gladiators, his personal army on the decommissioned battlestar Gemenon.
"I think we're going to put on quite a show for her today," Whitney Thompson said as she surveyed the weaponry arrayed on a large table in the empty warehouse where they had set up as a temporary headquarters.
Victoria Bryant, Darya Ravenscroft, Shaylyn Rexana, Clarissa Shaw, Sonya Rollins, Dana Adasi, and Rachel Haley would make up the 'rescue team' that would attack the transport that would be on its way to take 'William Savedge' to the Raptor that would deliver him to Fort Milledge.
The 'officers' transporting him were also members of the Gladiators. Dallas Garza, Luther Royal, Oren Raphael, Roger Bradshaw, Yavuz Selim, Jacob Lane, Michael Lott, Damien Kingston, Solomon Wren, and John Ashe would be the team that would be 'eliminated' by Bond and his team.
Captain John Ashe had been an officer in the Colonial Army before he had been drummed out after an incident on Libran where he had stopped a drunken man from trying to force a young woman from going home with him.
Ashe's military training had kicked in and the man ended up in the hospital.
It had been Arthur Wallace who had not only pulled the necessary strings among the Ministry of Intelligence directors to have him selected him lead the Gladiators.
Wallace knew he could trust the members of his team but he never had to wonder if he had Ashe's loyalty.
"Lieutenant Rexana has refined her part of the plan to the point where there is little doubt that it will perform flawlessly," Ashe said.
Wallace walked up to where Rexana was standing, "Is that true?"
"I've spent hours going over the plan for this operation; it would take an act of the gods to keep it from performing as expected."
"In that case I have nothing to worry about," Wallace said as he walked away and headed back to where he had previously stood.
"Give us an hour and we will be ready to proceed," Ashe said with an air of confidence.
"Very well then, fall out and prepare for Operation Bowery," Wallace said as he turned and headed towards his private quarters with Whitney Thompson in tow.
"You heard Major Wallace; Gladiators fall out and prepare to carry out our mission!" Ashe called out in a voice that would have impressed the best of the drill instructors.
Wallace's Private Quarters:
"You survived the time in the forest with my family just fine," Thompson said as she put her arms around Wallace's next.
Wallace kissed her on the lips, "Thankfully the Robinsons were there keep me from being too outnumbered."
"Not to talk about business but I thought they were supposed to be here for this operation."
"They're busy over in Icaria right now. If the operation goes south then they can be there quickly to provide us with extra fire support."
"A pity when you think about it, I get engaged and my fiancé goes and gets shipped off to Fort Milledge. What would my parents thinks?"
"I think they'd be devastated that their daughter would go and fall for a bad boy, it's just so stereotypical."
"Well your parents did a good enough job of keeping us apart, I think it's time we made up for lost time," Wallace said as he leaned in to kiss her.
When their lips parted Thompson walked over to the door and engaged the security locks, "I thought we would never get around to it."
'I love being back on the job,' Wallace thought as he flipped switch to engage the privacy shutters.
Communications Room:
"I take it your people are preparing for the rescue," Cinta Melati, the leader of the Erebea, asked.
"We're going through final prep work as we speak. When I give the word we will deploy our forces and secure Savedge," Curtis Bond said.
"You have my full support Mr. Ridgely," Cinta Melati said from her office in her headquarters. This was an operation she had been anticipating every since it had come to her attention.
"I cannot tell you how reassuring that is to me."
"Have you been able to discover how Savedge was captured?"
Bond shook his head, "My people are tracking down some possible leads but so far nothing has turned up. However some rumors point to it being someone inside of the Erebea."
"What?" asked Melati in a voice that did little to conceal the mixture of shock and worry that she was feeling.
"There are only rumors at this point but the people we deal with will not divulge information out of the goodness of their hearts. It requires a certain incentive."
"Just what incentives do you use?"
"I prefer the financial approach first and when that doesn't work I go to the methods that appeal to other instincts."
Melati smiled, "I've found that allowing a loved one to live or allowing a person to keep a part of their body provides a lot of motivation."
"I can see where you're coming from with that, it keeps a person focused on what matters," Bond said before turning his attention to the sound of the warehouse's doors sliding open, "My people have received their last supply of weapons for the operation. When we hear again I promise you will have Savedge back."
"I look forward to that," Melati said before she pressed the button to end the conversation. She was worried about whether Savedge's people would find who it was that betrayed him. When they did then he or she would probably receive a bullet to the head for what had happened. The worst part of it was that if it was someone in the Erebea then that person had the potential to bring the pirate organization to its knees. Melati shuddered as she started to wonder who she could trust or not.
Loading Dock:
The doors to the loading dock opened and Bond saw Ministry of Intelligence Director Troy Reno get out of his black MoI vehicle. His driver sat there watching the assembled team with a quiet indifference.
"Captain Bond, I'm sorry for the impromptu visit," Reno said as he shook Bond's hand.
"Not a problem Director Reno, we're going over our final prep work before we proceed."
"I never thought you would need to pull off Operation Bowery, the other directors were caught off guard when we put the resources together for this. Shea is hoping all of this will be worth it."
"It will be, Arthur and I both agree that this will gurantee us the trust of Cinta Melati and will go a long way to helping us reach our goal of destroying the Erebea."
"You and Arthur go back a ways if I'm not mistaken."
Bond nodded his head, "We both went through training at The Ranch, since then if he's been on an op then I've been there in some form."
"Does that include Canceron?"
"I was there as part of the overall force but I was assigned to the group that help set up Barron's work in Romanus."
"If you're a Captain then why is Wallace a Major?"
"As part of his proposal for the Erebea operation he requested a promotion to Major so that he would not have to answer to Major Windsor."
"To say those two hate each other is an understatement," Reno said before deciding to change the subject, "Where is Major Wallace?"
"He's currently in his quarters debriefing Lieutenant Thompson."
"Did he say how long it would take?"
"Knowing him he's probably going to give her a very detailed debriefing."
"I have to be back in Caprica City for a meeting so wish Major Wallace good luck for me."
"I will Director, it was good seeing you," Bond said as he shook hands with Reno and promptly went to speak with Ashe. After Reno's car left Bond picked up his pace, the sooner this was over with the sooner he could give Cinta the 'good' news about the mission's success.
Cave Spring, Picon:
"I am a man who can admit when he was wrong and I tell you now that I was wrong," Evan Windsor said as he took another bite of the Gemenese food on his plate.
"I know I'm supposed to be polite but you two men deserve an 'I told you so'," Christine Collier teased both Windsor and Nicholas Tattnall.
"Fair enough, I think we both deserve one of those," Tattnall said after taking a sip of his Thornstowe Estates wine.
"So Evan," Collier said after a silence began to form at the table, "What exactly is it that you do?"
"He's an insurance salesman," Tattnall quickly offered.
"Is that right, what insurance do you sell?" she asked in a way that made it clear she doubted it.
"You have a hard time believing that?" Windsor asked.
"I have a friend who is in that field and he does not carry himself the way you do. It's hard to describe but you do not strike me as some salesman."
"Tell you what Evan you go ahead and fill her in on everything."
"What?" Windsor asked in a voice that could not have sounded more shocked.
"Christine is a journalist and I'm sure she can keep things confidential."
"Sure, that's something us journalists have drilled into us."
Windsor put his fork down, "Very well then…I'm with the Ministry of Intelligence. Commander Tattnall and I have been tasked with hunting down and eliminating the Erebea."
A quiet fell over the table as the two men waited to see what she would say.
"As far as telling a lie goes that was pretty weak. I'll let you slide on this one Evan but one day you will tell me what it is you actually do for a living. I'll take the plates and get dessert," she said as she stood up and took the men's plates into the kitchen.
Windsor looked to Tattnall but only glared as the Colonial Fleet officer tried to contain his laughter.
"You knew that was going to happen," he finally said to Tattnall.
"I kind of did, I think she'd only believe it were true if she had hacked into the MoI database and extracted the information herself."
"I don't know who is worse to deal with…you or Arthur Wallace…but right now you two are tied in my book."
"Who's Arthur Wallace?"
"He's the other Major assigned to this mission of ours. He's working another angle that's not tied into what we're doing. He's an annoying little frak who thinks he's doing this job better than I could. You can call me paranoid if you want but I don't trust him."
"Why is that?"
"I just think he is up to something and more than likely it is not Ministry-related business. I wish I could tell you but when you have a mutual dislike with another person it makes it hard to share secrets. Then there is the fact that he is also…well I think the best term to use would b e to refer to him as Stryker's-bitch!"
"How dare you speak badly of Admiral Stryker? I don't think you can appreciate what all that man did for the Colonies during the Cylon War," replied Tattnall, about to lose his temperature.
"I'm not speaking badly of Stryker; I honestly respect the man for his service during the war. The fact remains that Arthur had to have gotten to where he is because of Stryker's coat tails."
"Well if Stryker picked him them he must be all right," replied Tattnall, a little jealous of Arthur.
"It's an interesting thing Tattnall, I'm starting to believe that I like you less now than I did before."
"Christine's coming, we'll talk more when we're back on the Libran," Tattnall whispered and watched as Collier came back into the room carrying a chocolate cake she had baked earlier in the day.
Five Hours, Forty-Nine Minutes Later:
Highway 87, Caprica:
Their side of Caprica was now shrouded in darkness, here in the early morning hours there would be few if any people on the roads. This was the ideal opportunity to put Operation Bowery into action.
Ministry of Intelligence transport van CLI-0729 was making its way along the rural roads that snaked through the Caprican landscape between Carthage and Tavium.
"Are you sending out a last message to Whitney?" Bond asked Wallace.
Wallace smiled, "Just making notes for when the mission is over and I talk to Cinta."
"This will go well, just enjoy the ride and put on a good show for your Tauron woman."
"Speaking of which, do you have everything ready to give to Cinta?" Wallace asked knowing that Bond would know exactly what he was talking about.
"Everything is in place for that, once this operation is over I can give her convincing proof that James Thorn is the one who betrayed you to the MoI and has been plotting to remove her from power so he can take over the Erebea. I don't think the poor bastard has any idea that we're setting him up."
"I hope not, but it serves him right for being suspicious of me," Wallace said as he closed his eyes for a power nap before him and his team put on their show to prove to Cinta Melati that he had been freed from the clutches of the Ministry of Intelligence.
Wallace simply nodded. He had of course lied to Bond but that was something he would never admit to him. The two of them had been through their share of adventures with the Ministry of Intelligence but if Bond knew the real reason why he was with the MoI he would not hesitate to turn on him.
He had promised Fleet Admiral Jonas Stryker that he would carry out the personal mission the Colonial Fleet officer had given him. That mission took precedence over any relationships he had on the personal and professional level.
Silvanus Jungle:
General Evander Sarpedon of the New Green Army stood outside of his command tent and took in a deep breath of the jungle air. The sounds of the Silvanus Jungle were like a symphony of nature and it was oddly soothing to him. Navid Ismail, his top lieutenant, came up to where he was standing.
"We have received a message from our friend. We're decrypting it now and should be able to strike as soon as we get the chance to review the data."
Sarpedon turned to Ismail, "Excellent, have the troops mustered so I can address them before the operation begins."
The New Green Army, known to most as the NGA, was the successor to the Green Army from several years ago. The original Green Army was an eco-terrorist group on Scorpia opposed to the vast deforestation of the planet's jungles by off-world companies. The group first appeared almost twenty years ago and at the time none imagined it turning into any kind of armed resistance group. Off-world companies were plundering the natural resources of Scorpia's vast jungles and locals were opposed to this. The group began life as an organized protest but this quickly grew into acts of civil disobedience.
The protests and acts of disobedience turned violent on several occasions. During one protest in the Demeter Jungle five members of the Green Army were killed by security personnel protecting the workers. These five members became known as the Green Five and were heralded as martyrs. The Green Army now turned to open violence as they quickly gained popular support on their homeworld following the killing of the Green Five.
It took the Colonial military five years to finally put an end to the Green Army's activities. A combination of Army and Marine forces with the air support of the planetary Colonial Fleet and Air Force units put an end to the violence. The ultimate irony was that although the Green Army was defeated it was ultimately successful in achieving its aims. The bulk of off-world forestry companies decided to leave the colony and those that remained were forced to employ locals thus improving Scorpia's economy.
There were branches of the New Green Army on each of the twelve colonies. They were usually located in some area of natural resources with an axe to grind against off-world companies plundering the colony's natural resources. In the case of Caprica it was this and the fact that there were those who felt the off-world colonies took cubits that rightfully belonged to all Capricans.
For Sarpedon this was a belief he had held dear even after he had finished his service in the Colonial Army. He had seen shortcomings in the people from the other eleven colonies; none in his opinion had the worth of a Caprican. If things worked out as he had hoped then perhaps Caprica could have more wealth than it already did, helping it to shine as the crown jewel of the Twelve Colonies.
It would not have even been possible if their mysterious benefactor had not come to him with a proposition he could have refused. William Savedge was a weapons dealer, a smuggler, and probably a thief of some sort…and he was willing to invest heavily in the NGA. He was a man who claimed to have sources in the Ministry of Intelligence and an alliance of some sort with the Erebea. If the message that they had just received from him turned out to be accurate then Tift Fleet Air Station was ripe for an attack of some sort. Not a full-scale battle but a skirmish to serve as the opening round of this new conflict.
One Hour and Twelve Minutes Later:
Tift Fleet Air Station:
Minerva might not have been on duty but she felt a sense of unease for some reason. They had an official mission but there really should not have been one. For all the crew of the Libran knew they were there simply to help perpetuate the image of a Colonial Fleet air station that was there to fight a threat that the people of the Twelve Colonies had been told existed here on the southern continent of Ilion.
The night air was cool; the breeze would have her shiver if it had not been for the fact that she was wearing her uniform jacket. Ahead of her was the building that served as the home for the Marines. The two floor structure served as the headquarters for the base's marines and it was here that she was heading to.
She saw a Marine officer walking out of the front of the building.
"Lieutenant Casey," Minerva called out.
"Colonel Minerva," Lieutenant Kaitlin Casey said once she was within earshot of Minerva.
"Are either Major Smith or Staff Sergeant Strean inside?" Minerva asked. Major Daniel Smith and Staff Sergeant Bernard Strean were perhaps the most recognizable members of the Libran's Marine Detachment due to their involvement in the rescue of President Adar's sister and niece a few years ago. They had requested assignment to the Libran for its mission against the Erebea as a way to help finish the group off once and for all.
"Yes ma'am, they're going over reports from the patrol that my people and I are heading out to relieve."
Minerva was going to say something to hear but her words did not get out of her mouth as a barrage of gunfire was heard from the other side of the base followed by loud explosions.
"What the frak?" Minerva spat out and listened as Casey's radio crackled to life.
"This is Shaw, my people are taking heavy fire near the southwestern gate," Lieutenant Merlin Shaw called out.
"This is Vinson; we're taking fire down here at the southeastern gate. Send reinforcements!" Lieutenant Justin Vinson said in between bursts of gunfire.
Minerva bolted to the Marine headquarters. When she arrived she immediately went to the communications room. The Marine there was going to say something but was cut off when she started giving orders.
"Get Chief Navarino to scramble the Vipers for takeoff, alert Major Mason that he needs to get his squadron airborne right away, and let me know when they take off," Minerva ordered before wheeling around to head to go find Major Smith.
The gunfire was staring to intensify now, it seemed that a group of whatever hostiles were attacking the base were now closing in on their location. Several Marines ran by her towards the entrance doors with their weapons drawn. She had a feeling that Smith was probably heading towards the communications room and she would run into him.
She never got the chance to talk to him. A mortar round landed not far from the wall she was walking by. The force from the blast hurtled her against the opposite wall of the room. She would probably felt the pain she was in if she had not lost consciousness right away.
When Minerva came to she was in a bed at the base's infirmary. As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings she went to sit up and felt a sharp pain in her chest as though her ribs had taken a hard punch.
"You may not want to do that Colonel," one of the doctors said as she walked over to Minerva's bed.
"Who are you?" she asked, the doctor was one of the doctors from the Libran's staff but she could not remember her name.
"Doctor Rebecca Lawson, Doctor Hibbert is away at the moment so I'm filling in for him on this shift, if you don't mind me saying you're a fortunate woman."
"How's that?"
"You had no broken bones but your body took a bruising from hitting the wall as hard as you did. For what it's worth you've been unconscious for two days. We've tended to the wounded and the few casualties and Commander Tattnall came from here from Picon as soon as he heard about the attack. So lay down and relax, everything is fine."
Minerva did feel relieved that and knowing that Tattnall was there did help. She laid back down and closed her eyes to rest, it would at least help take her mind off of how sore her body was felt.
Five Months Later:
Lampetia Shipyard:
"I guess this is going to all we see of each other for now," Christine Collier said as she moved a strand of her black hair back into place.
"If we were at war I'd have insisted on having you come on the Libran as a war correspondent," Commander Nicholas Tattnall said as took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. It had been almost six months since they had first met and it seemed like they were on the way to having the start of a serious relationship.
"I may not be one you'd want to have onboard. Instead of staying in the guest quarters I'd just end up sneaking into the commander's quarters for the night."
"When you put it like that I would love to have you onboard," he teased before he turned his eyes away from her and to the view of the Libran outside of the viewport.
"I know how strongly you feel about your ship Nick, just be glad I'm not the jealous type."
He turned his attention back to her, "I'm glad for that, I've had friends who lost relationships because the person they were with couldn't handle something like that."
"I know you need to get onboard and visit with your people, but I promise to stay in touch and when you get back from your deployment we'll more than make up for lost time," she said as she kissed him before walking away.
There was another member of the Libran's senior staff nearby who was saying goodbye to loved ones. Colonel Susan Minerva hugged her children not wanting to let go of them just yet.
"I'm going to miss you," Dalton, her eight year old son, said after his mom had released her hold of him.
"Do you have to go?" Isabelle, her five year old daughter, said as she tried to keep from tearing up.
"Mommy has to go, but I promise that I'll be home before you know it. Be good for your dad and when I get back we'll have more fun than you can imagine," Minerva said as she kissed her children on the cheek, "I want you to over to where your grandma is, I need to say bye to your father."
Reluctantly the two of them walked over to where there her mother stood.
"I guess having you stationed on the planet spoiled me," Douglas Minerva said as he took her hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze.
"You weren't the only one who was spoiled by that."
"Is this going to be another standard deployment for you?"
"I won't have any idea until I talk to Commander Tattnall."
"I'll look forward to hearing from you while you're deployed," he said as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips, "I love you Susan."
"I love you too Doug," she said as she turned to walk away. As she headed for the airlock she looked back to see her family was waving at her. She smiled and turned to blow them a kiss and wave at them. Turning back to walk to the airlock she felt her eyes tear up slightly. This was perhaps the hardest part of leaving for deployment. In all the years she had been in the Colonial Fleet it had never really become easier.
"Colonel Minerva, good to see you again," Tattnall said as he spotted her approaching the airlock.
"You as well Commander…it's good to see the old girl again," Minerva said as she looked out the large viewport at the impressive sight of the Libran. The battlestar did not show any of the scars from her conflict over five months ago that had necessitated the repair work to it and the damaged faststars.
"The workers put in some quality work to get her looking like this. Ready to go get settled in? Tomorrow the rest of the crew will report and we want to be ready for them," Tattnall said as he showed his ID to the Marines guarding the airlock.
The Next Day:
Battlestar Libran, Commanding Officer's Conference Room:
Commander Tattnall's office held a luster to it as though the wood paneling had been freshly polished. The walls held a collection of photos from both the Libran's past as well as some from the collection of its commanding officer. Pictures of the battlestar mingled with images of its former Commanding Officers as well as other crew members. Other pictures were related to its namesake colony. Panoramic shots of various cities of Libran decorated the walls as well as pictures of the natural wonders of the colony. It gave the conference room the feeling of a home without making the walls appear to be too cluttered. There was a circular table located in the middle of the room, its dark mahogany tone matching well with the color of the walls. Seated at the table were the personnel that of the senior staff that had come onboard the battlestar; Chief Stavros Navarino, Lieutenant James Ward, Lieutenant Lancelot Freyburg, Evan Windsor, and Minerva were engaged in small talk about the events that had occurred since the Libran had been put into the repair yard in order to have its battle damage taken care of.
The door to the conference room opened and Tattnall walked into the room, causing all talk to cease as the group at the table stood. With a nod from Tattnall the group took a seat with the commanding officer soon following suit.
"I take it the crew is settling in nicely," Tattnall said before proceeding with the first news item he had received when he came onboard the battlestar, "Major Mason has informed me that there has been a change in the pilots assigned to the Libran's squadrons. Also we have our new personnel coming onboard today to replace our casualties from the encounter with the Erebea and from the skirmishes with the New Green Army."
"Did Tift's new commander give you any updates?" Freyburg asked.
"Commander Laronei has told me that they've dealt with various small attacks from the NGA, pretty much it's the same thing we've dealt with over the past few months with us there. The Marine brass is concerned that those NGA bastards have built a system of underground tunnels to make them harder to find. This new army may have learned lessons from its predecessor's conflict," Tattnall said grimly. He had dealt with them in much the way the Colonial forces had dealt with the original Green Army back on Scorpia and as much as he hated to admit it…his results would hardly qualify as a success.
"There is a chance that the NGA may have formed an alliance with other groups on the different worlds and perhaps even groups such as the Erebea or the Eastern Alliance. They seem to be better funded and better armed than the original Green Army," Windsor said as he mentally checked the report that had been submitted to the MoI's directors.
Minerva tried to move the subject away from their encounter with the New Green Army, "Where will be heading after we leave dock tomorrow?"
"I've talked to Colonel Baines and her faststar group will be providing a defensive ring for us when we hit our next target," Tattnall said as he pressed a button that brought up a map on the large display screen, "Colonel Mandeville will take his faststar group and attack a small Erebea outpost in the Agano System. While he does that we are going to move to the Damocles System and wait for the Erebea to attack a large cargo shipment that is going to be passing through the system."
Freyburg spoke up, "How do you know the Erebea will attack this convoy?"
"Because we've leaked the manifest of the ships and made sure the list will entice the Erebea," Windsor said before continuing, "The Erebea is desperate for supplies and I have no doubt that they will move to take the ships and the cargo for themselves. With that outpost in the Agano System we know they have a presence there and we can use that to our advantage."
Tattnall nodded, "Windsor is right, we can lie in wait and strike the Erebea before they have a chance to engage either us or the convoy."
The meeting was adjourned and the officers left to oversee final preparations for the Libran's departure. In another day or two they would be out in the Damocles System waiting to pounce on their enemy and get some payback for being knocked out of action for little over half a year.