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What if a smaller Colonial survived the Fall of the Colonies? Follow the Centaur Class Chiron

Chapter 4

Prolmar Sector "Darkspace"

Chiron CIC

"Status report" asked Commander Jasper.

"Sir the Dradis is still down but Juno reports that all civilian ships and Raptors are accounted for" said Captain Anders. "We are also getting reports that other systems are down on the Chiron."

"Anything critical" asked Jasper. The damage taken earlier seemed far too small to knock out any core system and that the crash had happened right after the Cylon Basestar jumped in did not seem like a coincidence.

"Sir it does not appear so" said Anders.

Commander Jasper motioned Anders over to her and Major Marton. The others in the CIC also gave their senior officers as much space as the small bridge would allow.

The Prolmar Sector had a light Colonial presence. Other than the now dead Ofis system, only two other planets had people on them. "We need to warn Alvae and Korifi and the other systems. Alvae should have some Libran SDF presence to defend if possible." Korifi, being a barely established Territory, had no such presence but it's possible they could hide until being rescued. The other systems were all space based which at least gave them the ability to run. "Tell Juno and the other Raptors to come and switch out for long range reconnaissance."

Major Marton looked at his Commander. Switching to long range mode for the Raptors would take away their combat capabilities. Usually, a Raptor would refuel in system but the added tanks would allow them to make a round trip. That Jasper is being this cautious means she thinks there is a good chance there is nothing there to refuel the Raptors. There was nothing special about the Ofis system other than it was a Colonial system, and since the Cylons had attacked New Hadrian with such ferocity, implying that they might treat other Colonial systems the same way. "Yes sir" said Major Marton.

"Next, we need Dradis and the other systems up ASAP. Figure out how to fix or work around whatever the Toasters did to us. Also make sure there isn't some other virus waiting to kill us. Captain, you start here on the bridge, and Major Marton, you have the rest," said Jasper. Captain Anders was a Dradis expert but didn't have the all around ship knowledge that Marton had with his 5 years on the Chiron. Until the Dradis was fixed the Chiron's weapon systems were unusable to any meaningful degree. Later contact Admiralty for further orders.

"Yes sir" said her officers leaving to do their duties. Now time to contact the civies and make sure they are taken care of. "LT Drakos you have the con."

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Rollin's Mining Ship Banshee

"Miss Maxon and Mister Decat, I am asking if you can put your previous differences aside," said Commander Jasper. If not, I will need to find someone who can. I need your ships to be operational and to know your supply status. We do not know how long until we will be able to make contact with the Colonies again."

"Yes Commander" said Thomas Decat. Maxon had a similar response and with that Commander Jasper logged off. "Miss Maxon, I would like to come to your ship and discuss things." Going over to her ship is a good gesture. Plus, it's not like the Banshee has anything as nice as her offices.

"That would be fine, Mister Decat," said Maxon.

Taking a shuttle over Tom took a few minutes in which he thought about the last few hours. The Cylons had jumped in and destroyed the refueling station and the other 9 Rollins Mining ships. The Banshee had luckily been in a different part of the asteroid belt along with the Quincy and Oliver setting up for the new mining zone. When the Cylons started chasing them, he put his ship between the Heavy Raiders (as they apparently are called) and the Quincy, which was the only idea he had. Since no one else had any ideas during the attack the other two captains had been impressed enough to pick him as "boss" or probably they didn't want the damn job such as it was.

Maxon's Respite was a pretty big ship. He had heard of it, of course. The snickers of how MM had been chased off New Hadrian and that the Respite was a glorified whorehouse and daycare always seemed kind of dumb to Decat. Clearly, Maxon's Mining knew what it was doing, or they would have gone out of business by now. RM paid decently (the rumors that MM paid a lot more were always met with disapproval by corporate) but there was a reason he stayed off planet. The corporate propaganda was annoying, plus RM seemed to care more about New Hadrian than the rest of the system anyway. Still from what he had observed some of the complaints or "whining" that MM had done seemed to have a lot of basis behind it. And this Jessi Maxon was now in a much stronger position.

After getting the usual landing instructions, he landed aboard the Respite. The shuttle bay was pretty big, which made sense considering it was a refitted prejump passenger ship.

"Mister Decat, I am Justin Agios and here to escort you to Miss Maxon's office," said the apparently Justin Agios. That Jessi Maxon had sent a security officer to escort him seemed unnecessarily heavy handed but still best to try to smooth things over.

When he entered Jessi Maxon's office, it was her and a younger man in his early 30s. "Mister Decat I am Jessi Maxon and this is the head of the mining division and also my son Carl" said Jessi Maxon.

Carl seemed neutral, but Jessi seemed almost hostile. Or maybe glad to be in the stronger position. Not sure but she would be unfortunately the harder to convince of the two. It's too bad she is the main one he needs to convince. "Miss Maxon, please call me Tom. First I would like to deal with the daggit in the room. I know you have complaints about Rollins Mining. I have to say I was not part of those choices and that the people who were are either dead or on Virgon."

"I see. Please call me Jessi. If we do make contact with the Colonies again what will you do with regards to Rollins Inc" asked Jessi. She was actually sort of impressed with the RM captain. He seemed earnest and more interested in helping out his people.

"In short frak em. I am now the "senior" person on the spot. I am sure to be fired but if we set up a government of some sort they will be unable to do anything else" said Decat. "The more important issue is working together and making sure that we avoid Commander Jasper from replacing us with a lackey as she threatened or just plain old martial law."

"What type of government were you considering" asked Carl. "And what about the Atlis? It's not an MM or RM ship."

"I have been in contact with Captain Bernard. He is willing to follow our lead. RTI (Rollins Transportation Inc) is a subsidiary of RM anyway" said Decat. "Why don't we use the old "age of space" method of picking a few candidates for the voyage and having the ships vote. The person who wins the most ships wins and is in charge for the journey as "fleet leader" or a period of a few months? If we can return back to the System then it ends. If we can't we will have time to develop a better system."

"And the two candidates" asked Jessi Maxon.

"I will put my name in there and I would suggest one of the two of you" said Decat. Which one it would be was obvious but best to be polite about such things.

Jessi Maxon thought it over. She had 18 ships and Decat had 3 or 4. She would clearly win any such vote, and the answer was decent enough. The captains kept control of their ships under Colonial Transit Law, but the Chiron would have one point of contact with which to deal.

"I agree. After the election I would think a group to discuss things is a good idea. I would like to have you on it if I win or be on your board if you win" said Jessi Maxon. "We can do the election tomorrow unless something else comes up."

"That sounds workable" said Decat.

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Prolmar Sector

Alvae System

LT Shayla Tonis (Juno) ECO Ensign Albert Walter (Big Top)

Alvae was a planet with one large island and a few minor islands. A bit cold but still a lot of land and home to over 400,000 people. It was the main Territory of Libran and had 12 Viper squadrons and a few Escortstars kept in orbit. That the Cylons had used over 100 nuclear weapons seemed extreme overkill. The debris in space looks like the Escortstars were caught unaware (no obvious Cylon debris) and were likely all destroyed.

LT Tonis "Juno" was now looking at the rest of the system. The Alvae System lacked an asteroid belt but there was some space based industry in the rings of the two gas giants. Much like the Ofis A system it looks like the Cylons had destroyed those and then left. With no missiles and external fuel tanks (and more to the point poorly armored fuel tanks) any combat with the Cylons would be a short one sided affair. They should be able to look for over an hour before they would be below safety fuel levels to return back to the Chiron.

The next 30 minutes were spent scanning the various small islands. All the inhabited islands had already been attacked officially but it's possible somebody was on them. If they were they were hiding which while not impossible it would make finding them in the short time they had available very unlikely.

"We just had a Colonial ship jump in" said Ensign Albert Walter "Big Top".

"Colonial Ship this is Colonial Raptor. Please report status" said "Juno".

"Colonial Raptor, this is the Colonial Postal Ship Herse. The Cylons have attacked the Cyrannus System. We were ordered to inform the Territory but it looks like we are too late" said the Herse's Captain.

"Yes sir" said Juno. "I am sending you rendezvous coordinates to our ship. Please jump there for further orders."

"What about the Ofis System" said the Herse's Captain.

"Unfortunately we just came from the Ofis System. The Cylons hit that planet too," said Juno.

"Acknowledged Colonial Raptor we will jump to the coordinates given" said the Herse's Captain.

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Prolmar Sector

Korifi System

LT Scott Demal (Matchbox) ECO LT Tami Dinar (Wombat)

The planet Korifi had certainly earned its name of "Peak" in old Kobol. It was certainly unique in known space. The planet itself was uninhabitable due to its dense, toxic atmosphere. The tallest mountain of the planet (and possibly the tallest mountain on any known livable planet) had a plateau at the top that could support human life. The Territorial Bureau had been working on making this planet desirable, but for now, less than 200 people were on the planet—or had been.

While the air was breathable it wasn't great. Everyone had been living in a single dome and were all in one place. Flying a Raider by and saying "surrender or else" would have been child's play. Even if you needed to kill them why drop a 50 kiloton nuke on such a small place?

"Sir I don't think there is anything else in this system" said Wombat. The Korifi sector was on the outskirts of Colonial Space and didn't have any space industry. There had been plans when they expansion into the Bacrita Sector started but those had been years in the future.

"Let's go back to the Chiron and let the Commander know what we found" said LT Demal.

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Prolmar Sector

Nereus System

LT JG Bailey Sanders (Scooter) ECO LT. Evan Krevitz (Rebound)

The Nereus System didn't have any planets. What it did have was a large rich asteroid belt that was unfortunately low on Tyleum. Iris Mining Inc. was about the same size as Rollins Mining had been. The Cylons had destroyed the refueling base and an uncertain amount of Colonial Mining ships.

"Rebound, keep scanning. There might be some ships here that we can rescue," said "Scooter."

"Yes sir" said "Rebound". This would be a good place to hide from Cylons. It would also be a good place for Cylons to hide to attack any Colonial ships like a certain unarmed Raptor that has my ass sitting in it, thought Evan Krevitz.

The next hour was tense and boring at the same time. "Sir I think I picked up a jump flash" said LT. Krevitz. "It appears to be a Raptor."

"Colonial Raptor this is Lieutenant Cassel from the Kestrel. We are requesting immediate aid" said the new Raptor.

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Battlestar Kestral on standard patrol in the Bacrita Sector

Battlestar Kestrel Starboard Launch Pod

Petty Officer Alex Glover had a headache. The issue with the #3 launch tube still had not been fixed. At least the LSO was dealing with the CAG and XO, but still, Captain Limaki was pissed.

"Gods Damn it, Chief. I can only launch 2 Vipers at a time, and our CAP is in 35 minutes. And my pilots want that frakking thing fixed right. Stringer almost died when that launch tube misfired. Just get it fixed" said Captain Limaki.

Also, those damn paste eaters were doing something stupid with their shuttle. Scuttlebutt was they had been caught with contraband and their Sergeant was making them clean their shuttle with toothbrushes. If only they would shut the frak up. "Yes Sir, we will be done by then," replied Glover.

Captain Limaki decided that this poor crew chief had been yelled at enough. It was going to be a long day, and there were only five minutes before the daily briefing. Also, his nuggets were supposed to get some extra flight time, which means he would have twice the pilots fly today. I'm not sure what the Marines were up to, but they must have frakked up judging by the pleasant tones coming from their Sergeant. It's time to head to the briefing room and give everyone their orders for the day.

ALL HANDS BATTLESTATIONS BRACE FOR IMPACT said the PA.

What the frak thought Limaki as he started to turn towards the Starboard pilots ready room. Then the Kestrel shook with several large impacts and he fell over. There was a lot of damage and injured crew. Limaki stood up and then felt the ship jump. What was going on?

"Everyone let's get our shit together" Limaki yelled seeing that he was the senior officer. "Move any wounded over here by the shuttles, and let's prepare for damage control." He also motioned Glover over.

"Sir, I can't reach anything outside the flight pod and the blast doors have slammed down cutting us off from the ship" said Glover. "Whatever happened is serious. I am trying to get information but the system seems to be corrupted. I am trying a reboot."

Limaki grabbed the PA and hit the all ship button. "Attention all crew. Report to Starboard launch pod. If any information contact immediately. Make sure to check for wounded."

"Suggestions Chief," asked Limaki.

"Sir we could launch a Raptor. The Viper tubes are down but the launch bay is working. We could check damage outside the ship and see where we are. Hopefully we can find someone to help us."

Limaki looked over the people nearby. "Slider you and Timbers get out there and see what's going on."

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LT Debbie Brown "Slider" and her ECO had been prepping their Raptor for their upcoming CAP when the alarms went off. The multiple explosions and emergency jump were scary enough. But looking at the Kestrel was terrifying. "Sir the Port Flight Pod has been completely blown off and the bow of the ship has several holes in it. There also appears to be a fire heading towards the central fuel storage. I think the rest of the ship is out of power sir" she reported to Captain Limaki in the flight pod.

"Sir from what I can tell she is right" said Petty Officer Glover looking at his readings. "The fire suppression system is not working and there are multiple fires on the ship. We have maybe 5 minutes before the ship blows up."

Limaki knew that without the fire suppression systems there was no way they could stop the fire before it reached the fuel depot in the middle of the ship and that when over one million liters of tyleum blew up the Kestrel was doomed. He hit the PA again "All hands abandon ship. Repeat all hands abandon ship." He then turned towards the people nearby. "All pilots get to anything that will fly. Priority is Raptors, shuttles, and Vipers. Everyone else head towards nearest shuttle or Raptor. We have 4 minutes, people. Move your ass!"

There was a scramble to see what Raptors and shuttles were available. 2 shuttles were ready and four Raptors. "Viper pilots launch when you can." Limaki headed towards the closest Raptor. When the shuttles and first two Raptors were filled he sent them out. No one had shown up in over a minute. "Silk get out of here. I will be next," he said, hoping that more people could be rescued. The readings were showing that the tyleum fuel storage was reaching critical. "Marbles, it's time to go," he said. They launched, and then 30 seconds later, the Kestrel exploded.

1 hour later

Limaki looked over what he had. There were 5 Raptors, 2 shuttles, and 9 Vipers. They reported 78 people total on board. There were also a few disaster pods beeping that they were working on getting that reported another 15 survivors of the Kestrel, only 93 people out of a crew of over 1600.

"Sir, it looks like when we jumped that, we jumped about .07 LYs," reported LT. Taylor Howard "Marbles". Great a light month from an empty worthless system. The shuttles and Vipers couldn't make it anywhere and one of the Raptor's jumpdrive was down. Even assuming they found a place to go, moving people around would take too long. Also, what had happened? The only thing that makes sense was the Cylons but that's a guess. Being this far out there are only a few inhabited systems that his Raptors could reach.

"Here is what we are going to do. Drain the fuel from the Vipers and make sure that Silk and Slider's Raptors have full fuel. Get the Viper pilots to the shuttles. And keep Jackal picking up any rescue pods. I want Silk to jump to New Hadrian and then Nereus. Have Slider jump to the Soham system and tell them to watch for Cylons." This would be their only shot. With the limited fuel they had only those systems were within reach and if no one could rescue them they would die.

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LT. Gary Cassel "Silk" ECO Ensign Laura Wysohi (Turtle)

LT. Gary "Silk" Cassel was giving up hope. When he jumped to New Hadrian, there was a frakking Cylon Baseship there and the planet had been nuked out. They were able to jump out before the Cylons noticed them.

Thank the gods he thought. "Colonial Raptors this Lieutenant Cassel from the Battlestar Kestrel. We are requesting immediate aid."

5 Minutes later Chiron CIC

"Major prepare the Chiron for jump to the coordinates" said Commander Jasper.

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Thank you everyone for reading. Any questions or comments are appreciated.