"We were doing high altitude training when the Cylons attacked, which allowed us to survive the attack. We've been raiding military bases and warehouses to get weapons, and anti-radiation meds from hospitals and some of the storehouses that keep those."
Samuel AndersChapter 25: Resistance
Now reunited and out of danger, the fleet was finally back together. The past few days had been hectic, but it was clear that they had successfully survived whatever the Cylons had thrown at them, and also the internal struggles of what happened with Starbucks leaving.
"So I assume the Galactica is going to need extensive repairs." Commander Sandy Fenderson looked around at several of his fellow officers. "How much damage did she take?"
"The port flight pod will need some fairly extensive repairs as there are significant hull breaches there. Some of the internal space in there is going to need to be rebuilt as well. Since you can produce heavy armor I don't see it as being a major issue. The alligator head is going to take some re-armoring and there are going to be some minor fixes to the decks in that area. Several of the guns are going to be replaced, and a few new turrets built. And that thruster bank is going to need some major repairs. Otherwise, our acceleration is going to be a little worse for wear." Tigh said. "Can you do it, commander?"
"It's not a matter of if I can or cannot do this, as it's certainly within the capabilities of my ship and the other support assets in the fleet, both military and civilian. The question is one of prioritizing and figuring out what to do with the limited resources that we have. Currently, I have the second mobile drydock under construction which doesn't require the one mobile drydock that we have, but does require a fair bit of Optimus's industrial capacity. That one drydock, which under other circumstances would be used for Galactica immediately has the first of the new Adamant frigates that we are building. It can be transferred over to one of the civilian salvage and repair ships where it can be kept until we have free space for it. Additionally, if you give it another week, it will have its FTL drive installed which will allow it to jump independently. It's going to be a bit awkward to have one of the salvage and repair ships carry it around."
"Ok, you have a week to get that Adamant out of the drydock," Garrett said. "However I need you to do what you can to Galactica before she is put in there."
Tigh didn't seem happy with the decision. "Isn't Galactica far more important than some frigate?" He asked. It was a valid question.
"Colonel, that's the case but adding the FTL drive to the frigate is going to be far more efficient for her completion with minimal delay to the Galactica. From what I understand, she had plenty of repairs that didn't need any time in the drydock to fix, and I think that we all agree that they can be done effectively. Galactica's repairs might be slightly slowed down, but far less than this new Adamant." She said, ending the conversation and turning to Apollo.
"Captain Adama, you indicated before that the air wings of the fleet would need some reorganization. What needs to be done in your opinion?"
"Well, Commander, Galactica's air wing has taken noticeable casualties during the past few battles, as Vipers have played a major role in combat operations to defend Galactica. 37 Vipers have been destroyed or damaged, with six able to be returned to operation and the remaining eight damaged beyond repair and needing to be stripped for parts. Several others have minor damage. Fortunately, only 14 pilots were lost, but we are going to need to reinforce the air wing. From what I can see there are also additional casualties across the other ships in the fleet, though not as large as others."
"Very well, you'll get the Vipers needed to get back to full strength," Garrett said.
"There is another important question," Hudson said. "What do we do when Adama gets up? He's probably not going to react very well to the President being around and still in office, but he still is the senior most officer in the fleet. What do we do if he does not react well?"
"Well if we're being technical he could always be tried with treason for trying to overthrow the government," Rendino said. "We could always say that we could do that, if he doesn't accept the fact that Roslin still going to be in power we can play that card. Something tells me that he will back down. What do you think, Captain Adama?"
"He may not like it, but he will back down. We just need to put this moment past us. If Starbuck comes back I don't want to have her face punishment, however." Lee said.
"I'll make sure that not taking disciplinary action against her will be part of the agreement between us." She said.
"Good," Lee replied, though he silently sighed as everything continued. In truth, he was getting a bit concerned about Starbuck. He had had a growing attraction to her for quite some time, and it had pained him to have her go on this mission without telling him. But he understood the circumstances as telling him meant that she may not have been able to carry out the mission.
"I hope that this fleet can move forward without tearing itself apart," Baker said to Hudson as all of the officers began to return to their raptors.
When no one was looking he squeezed her hand. "I hope so as well."
Meanwhile, back on Caprica, a standoff was rapidly developing.
"We're not Cylons."
Right, how are we supposed to believe you?"
"How the hell are you not dead, and what the frak is your name?"
"Anders."
"So Samuel T Anders?"
I also got Johman, Riley, Suchon, Morris, Phink."
"So the king of Pyramid survived?" Starbuck said. "Well, that's a surprise."
"We were doing high altitude training when the Cylons attacked, which allowed us to survive the attack. We've been raiding military bases and warehouses to get weapons, and anti-radiation meds from hospitals and some of the storehouses that keep those." Anders said.
"How many breaks did you get in the playoffs against Airelon?"
"4." He replied.
"Wrong, it was three."
"No, four, because they were called back on instant replay by the ref."
"He's right," Helo said. "I lost a lot of money on that bet. If we know that much about pyramids why would we be Cylons?" He asked. "If you were a Cylon you'd be fracking dead by now."
"Well you could be stalling so that the Cylons get your position," Ander said.
Thrace grabbed her known copy of Cylon models that had been printed out back on Galactica. "These are the gods damn Cylon models." She said,
"OK then." He said. "We all put our guns down on three."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Everyone lowered their guns, and all had a collective sigh of relief. They weren't going to kill each other before the Cylons did.
"So it looks like none of us are Cylons," Kara said. "Where are you based?"
"North Delphi High School," Anders replied. "It's a great spot that for some reason the Cylons have not searched yet. said Where are you three headed?"
They explained to him about the series of secret bases across Caprica and that Galactica and her fleet were on the run from the Cylons, along with the fact that there were probably more survivors outside of this group. Anders also explained briefly what had happened to them since the Cylons attacked. It had been fairly uneventful, as they had been raiding military bases and warehouses to get weapons, ammo, and other military equipment and anti-radiation meds from hospitals and some of the storehouses that keep those.
Not every one that they had was a part of the Caprica Buccaneers the majority weren't. There were more than a few people who lived up in these mountains, people who wanted to generally be left alone and were self-sufficient. The obesity rate was one of the lowest in entire colonies, the crime rate was low because everyone was armed and generally wanted to be left alone by their government. Many were preppers at least somewhat, and had networks and communities that they could rely on if shit hit the fan.
Just like it did when the Cylons attacked. When this happened, the area was not immediately a Cylon target. It gave these people time to prepare themselves, with many retreating to positions that they knew were both out of sight and also defensible. Anders had been up here, and he became an unofficial leader of the group. Despite this, his authority was somewhat challenged by the fact that several military units had escaped the Cylons and now hiding up there. There was a loose network of small bases, the largest and most important being at Delphi High School.
They had also engaged the Cylons more than a few times.
"You can come with us," Starbuck said. "We have more supplies than I think that you probably have, and it's a lot safer."
Anders glanced at the people he was with. "We'd like to stay for now, 'cause we've been hitting the Cylons pretty hard. If we cause trouble for them your people can stay alive as the Cylons will be distracted and focus on us instead of you." He said. "But if things ever go south we'd like to be in contact with you as it sounds like you could help us if we get stuck a little."
"How the hell have some pyramid players caused the Cylons so much trouble?" Grinham remarked.
"Well sir, we're pretty fit. And if you aren't fit, you're gonna die." There were a couple of chuckles from everyone.
"I won't argue with that," Grinham said.
"Being a Pyramid player also means that you have other skills that make the transition to a soldier easy, good hand-eye coordination, reaction time, teamwork, and sense of strategy." He said. "You could say that we are prepared."
"Well you've survived this long, so I won't doubt what you said." The old commander said.
Starbuck produced a HAM radio that had been taken from one of the military vehicles that had been destroyed by the Cylons. It would have access to colonial radio frequencies that couldn't be detected by the Cylons, at least according to their knowledge. This would allow them to communicate as time went on and coordinate operations. She briefly explained how it operated, and also told them where the destroyed convoy was. They hadn't been able to take nearly all of the salvageable supplies from there as not much could fit in the utility vehicle. They had raided several similar convoys as well and so believed it would be a fine addition to their collection.
"I guess we'll be on our way, however." Kara and Karl nodded as well. "I wish you and your people luck surviving this."
"The same to you," Anders replied. "It seems like you have a journey ahead of you."
"A bit, but only a couple of days," Starbuck said. Hopefully, the Cylons don't notice us."
"They only occasionally come up here. There isn't a lot up there for them, and I think that they've been pretty busy holding onto the major cities and other locations. It's a pretty important job."
Author's note: Sam and Kara aren't going to be getting together, I never liked the love triangle there was between Lee, Anders, and Kara. Lee and Kara are simply a superior couple and I won't have it any other way. We also won't be seeing a lot of Anders and his group for a little while, and they won't be staying with them. I just don't think that that adds a lot to the story, and I'd rather cover other topics. They will re-emerge though, not in this story but in an eventual sequel. I also don't think their story is particularly unique. In canon, they were the only group that survived the fall of the colonies for an extended period of time but in this case, there are far more groups of survivors.