HEY EVERYBODY THIS IS ACT I: IT'S STILL A W.I.P. BUT I'M PRETTY HAPPY WITH THIS SO FAR. THIS REPLACES ALL PREVIOUSLY POSTED CHAPTERS. SO IF THEY'VE 'DISAPPEARED' THEN THAT'S WHY.
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ACT 1: CHAPTERS 01-08
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BATTLESTAR GHOSTHIP: THE MOGOLLON MONSTER LMAD-3 BY CORWIN BLACK
ACT I:
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SCENE/CHAPTER 01: EVERY STEP YOU TAKE
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: EVERY STEP YOU TAKE – THE POLICE 1983
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NOTE ABOUT THE RECOMMENDED LISTENING:
STING WAS SURPRISED BY A LOT OF FAN'S REACTION TO THE SONG "EVERY STEP YOU TAKE." I WATCHED AN INTERVIEW WITH STING REVEALING THAT HE WAS SINGING ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP THAT WENT VERY BAD, AND THE IDEA OF I'LL BE WATCHING YOU; WASN'T IN THE GOOD WAY.
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PEOPLE:
CYLON MODEL 17 – 17 ACTUAL
CYLON MODEL 23 – 23 ACTUAL
CYLON CENTURIONS
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LOCATION:
BRIDGE OF BASESTAR (NEW)
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YEAR: 22 YEARS AFTER THE CYLON ATTACK ON THE 12 COLONIES & GALACTICA'S EXODUS.
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Two humanoid model Cylons stood in almost complete darkness. One male, one female. There was no ceiling, floor, walls, windows, doors, or overhead lights. The two Cylons could see each other and were illuminated brightly, even though there were no lights. Nor did they emanate any light.
"Please tell me we're at the correct continuum coordinates?" asked 23 Actual; the male Cylon model. He was annoyed.
"I've watched every step Kilroy has taken and this is where they are going," replied 17 Actual; confidently.
"You said that last time," snipped 23 Actual.
"He would have showed up, last time; if you hadn't sent that text message to your lover," harped 17 back at him.
"He's not my lover," corrected 23 Actual. "Besides it was important."
"I'm sure," smirked 17 Actual.
There in the mist-like smoke that suspended darkness all around the two Cylons; a pair of Centurions walked past in the distance.
"You give Kilroy too much credit," countered 23 Actual.
"You underestimate humans in general," scolded 17 Actual.
"Have the raiders ready. Make sure they're loaded with nukes," commanded 23 to the Centurion.
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"Belay that," countered 17. "I want the Raiders ready to launch, but they are not, under any circumstances, to fire; even if fired upon."
"What are you trying to accomplish exactly; 17?" barked 23 actual.
"I told you; I've watched everything Kilroy has done. We want to take away what he's looking for, not just stop him," explained 17 Actual, for the tenth time.
"You don't really think there's a weapons cache hidden inside the magnetic void?" taunted 23 Actual.
17 glared, "If you knew what was in that void; you would felgercarp your pants," she barked. "Kilroy believes it is worth risking his life for," said 17. Jack Kilroy was no fool; and every cylon on this Basestar knew it. "That bloody human is more intuitive than any Cylon," countered 17 Actual.
23 Shrugged, she was right and he knew it. "If Kilroy's willing to risk going into the void then I must admit; there just might be something there."
They would see soon; so said the two of them.
There was a sensor alert. "See they just showed up," said 17 Actual. "Prepare for a short FTL jump," commanded 17.
"By your command."
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THANX FOR READING GUYS.
PLEASE LEAVE THOUGHT, COMMENTS, ETC… IN THE REVIEW SECTION BELOW.
BATTLESTAR GHOSTHIP: THE MOGOLLON MONSTER LMAD-3 BY CORWIN BLACK
ACT I: SCENE/CHAPTER 02 A FEAR OF THE DARK.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: A LIGHT - IN THE BLACK, OR JUST A FEAR OF THE DARK?-IRON MAIDEN 1992
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LOCATION: THE GREAT MAGNETIC VOID (A.K.A. THE VEIL OF HADES) – SEE (T.O.S. LOST PLANET OF THE GOD'S PART I AND II)
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22 YEARS AFTER THE 2ND CYLON WAR.
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PEOPLE:
ELIZABETH – A MODEL '17' CYLON. SAME MODEL AS 17 ACTUAL (BUT WITH MUCH DIFFERENT COSMETICS – PRESUMABLY PLAYED BY THE SAME ACTRESS)
PROFESSOR JACK KILROY – A GENIUS COLLEGE PROFESSOR WORKING WITH THE HUMAN RESISTANCE. HE BEARS A REMARKABLE SIMILARITY TO GAIUS BALTAR.
SAMANTHA KILROY – A PILOT, WHO IS METHODICAL AND CALM (THINK ICEMAN FROM TOP GUN).
ALEXANDER WOLF – A BATTLESTAR ENGINEER WHO WORKED FOR THE ADMIRALTY BEFORE THE FALL OF THE COLONIES. BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO CHIEF TYROL.
CALVIN QUARTARARO – A GUERILLA COMBAT EXPERT FROM TAURON. RELATED TO CRASHDOWN.
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The Wild Weasel jumped in front of the Celestial Magnetic Void. The Veil of Hades itself. The view of the raptor was minuscule compared to the darkness expanding in front of the tiny craft. Like a black hole without the gravity, but all of the horrors of being sucked in and never allowed to leave. There was a saying about the Celestial Veil of Hades. "You could go in but you can never leave."
"Please tell me this is the right spot?" Asked Sam as she checked the instruments on her flight panel.
Kilroy looked at the Wild Weasel's DRADIS. He then turned off the power to the computers. "This is it," he said.
The five person crew of the Wild Weasel were aware of how dangerous this mission was. "Okay Kilroy; please tell me you can pull this off?" asked Alexander.
"I can, and I will," Kilroy said confidently. The other four on the small craft new that Kilroy was not prone to exaggeration, especially when he sounded like he was exaggerating; it eased their fears.
"You know that the Cylons won't get within parsecs of this place; right?" Alexander stated what was common knowledge.
"We are counting on it," stated Elizabeth. "Any Cylon who enters the Veil of Hades loses contact with the Cylon network, or they just go mad and kill themselves." Elizabeth was a Cylon.
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Elizabeth had cut off her connection to the network. She was an exact copy of 17 Actual. They were even more alike than identical twins, physically speaking; physically anyway. But everything else was different. They made completely different choices, actions, and the things that they loved.
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Entering the Veil of Hades was a favorite place for people to be buried in space, or to commit suicide. Many had tried to navigate in and out of the void safely, and as many had died. At least that was the rumor.
There were urban legends about how 'this person' or 'that person'; managed to enter the Veil of Hades and leave without getting hopelessly lost. Most of these were thought to be as realistic as the Picon Sea Monster, or the Gemenon two headed giant. The Veil of Hades magnetic void; had a reputation worse than the dreaded Bardurian Triangle on Aquaria.
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Jack Kilroy opened a secure case that was about 17 inches wide and 11 inches tall, and 7 inches deep. He pulled out a circular device that looked like a pocket watch. He handed a duplicate item to Sam; the pilot. It was about 3 inches in diameter and one inch thick. He placed it on the computer console and watched intently.
"What's that?" asked Alexander.
"It's an analogue computer," Kilroy said. "The Cylons have significant trouble hacking them, or even understanding them," he concluded.
"Was it designed and built using colonial inches?" asked Alexander Wolf. Kilroy turned and looked at Alexander like he had just asked a question he already knew the answer to. Jack knew that Alexander was a frak ton smarter then he let on.
"It is, actually," assured Kilroy.
"He's using it to navigate," said Sam (the pilot).
"Okay, so why are the computer's off?" asked Calvin Quartararo.
Elizabeth replied, "It's necessary to find what we are looking for," she said.
"How are you feeling Elizabeth?" asked Kilroy.
"I'm okay. I'm trying to keep my subsystems at idle," she concluded.
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"So Kilroy; why do you actually think someone would hide a weapons cache in the Celestial Veil of Hades?" asked Alexander.
Kilroy ignored the question and kept diligently making calculations with pencil and paper. He then fiddled with the pocket watch device. "Navigation is now calibrated," he said.
Kilroy now answered Alexander's question, "I know for a fact that an arms anchorage depot was hidden just inside the Veil of Hades, about 10 years after the first Cylon war."
"Why the frak would they do that, they'd never recover it?" observed Alexander. He was only playing stupid. In truth Alexander knew more about this than anyone else in the Wild Weasel.
"Are you aware of the Ragnar Anchorage?" asked Kilroy.
"I am actually," said Alexander.
"I've determined that there is an extremely high degree of probably that the Ragnar Anchorage is in fact the exact one they hid inside the Void. It was moved to Ragnar about four years before the Cylons attacked," concluded Kilroy.
"That's what our whole expedition is about," said Elizabeth. "Kilroy believes that the colonials had developed a way to navigate the Veil of Hades. He's spent over a year reverse engineering it."
"The analogue computer," observed Alexander.
As Sam looked out the front window of her raptor she saw Cylons incoming. "We have two base stars coming at us, they're launching raiders!" she exclaimed.
"What the hell?" asked Calvin. "We have to be on to something important to get that much attention."
"What were we just saying about the Cylons not getting close to the Veil of Hades?" asked Alexander sarcastically.
"Okay Kilroy, this is your mission. Where the frak should I be going?" asked Sam.
"Turn off the FTL drive," ordered Kilroy.
"Are you crazy; shouldn't we be jumping out of here!" exclaimed Calvin.
Alexander grabbed Calvin and pulled him back into the seated position, "Kilroy knows what he's doing, now please be quiet," he said with a stern but remarkably calm voice.
"FTL drive offline," said Sam.
Kilroy fiddled with the navigational watch, "Okay we're set; turn into the Veil of Hades."
Kilroy turned to Alexander, "I'm well aware that nobody has ever entered the Veil of Hades and returned to talk about it. You're gonna have to trust me," said Kilroy confidently.
"I do," said Alexander and he smiled so large you could land shuttle through it.
The raptor changed course and accelerated towards the Veil of Hades. The Cylon Raiders were in pursuit; at first closing rapidly and then began to slow and then stop. They knew that entering the Veil of Darkness was pure suicide, with no chance of resurrection. That was a well-established fact; especially among Cylons.
As the complete darkness consumed the raptor's five person crew; the mood began to get rather dreary as one might expect. "So what are we looking for?" asked Calvin.
"A Battlestar, a big one," replied Alexander.
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"Have you noticed that Alex seems to always know the right thing at the right time?" Elizabeth quietly asked Sam.
"We've all noticed," replied Sam.
"You know I can hear you?" said Alexander.
"Okay Smart guy," said Calvin. "What so damn big about this fictional battlestar?"
"Oh it's a real monster," said Alexander.
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The Wild Weasel continued to make it's way like a light in the dark. Would they find what they were looking for? Or would they be forever lost?
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THANX FOR READING GUYS! Share with your friends, it helps a lot. Thanx Corwin.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IN THE review section below.
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER:Send Me an Angel.
ACT I Workbench
SCENE/CHAPTER 03: SEND ME AN ANGEL
RECOMMENDED READING: SEND ME AN ANGEL – SCORPIONS 1990
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SPECIAL NOTE: THE TEXT FOR 'A MODERN MAJOR GENERAL' IS NOW IN PUBLIC DOMAIN.
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NOTE: THE 'ACTUAL' MOGOLLON MONSTER IS THE ARIZONA BIG FOOT.
LOCATION: INSIDE THE GREAT MAGNETIC VOID (T.O.S. LOST PLANET OF THE GOD'S PART I AND II)
THIS TECHNICALLY TAKES PLACE ON THE BATTLESTAR MOGOLLON MONSTER IN THE AIR DUCT SYSTEM.
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PEOPLE: STARBUCK & STEVEN (1ST APPEARANCE).
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YEAR: 22 ACH (AFTER COLONIAL HOLOCAUST)
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Starbuck had lost track of the passage of time. It was as if the clock had stopped running, but she had kept walking. After about, some period of darkness, Starbuck saw a light. She was in an access tunnel; air vent perhaps, she saw colonial markings. That; was at least familiar. The item stamp on some of the sheet metal in the air duct read:
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L.M.A.D. 03 - MOGOLLON MONSTER - B.S.G. 213
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She knew what B.S.G. was; it stood for Battle Star Group. But there was no group 213; Starbuck was certain.
The Mogollon Monster was the bigfoot on Tauron.
What did LMAD mean… … … Leave Me Alone Device maybe.
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Starbuck recalled out loud what she remembered about the Battlestar Mogollon Monster. "It was a top of the line battlestar; a real monster; that almost bankrupt the Colonial budget. It disappeared a couple of years before the Cylons nuked the 12 colonies. Supposedly over six thousand crew disappeared with it and was never found. President Adar had an absolute fit over the whole scandal. It actually helped him get reelected."
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"Who are you talking too Starbuck? Are you an angel Starbuck? Can you fly a viper Starbuck?", asked a boy behind Starbuck. The boy was careful to over enunciate 'Starbuck'.
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Starbuck managed to turn slowly, There was a young boy (about 12) climbing out of the air access tunnel she had just crawled through. She didn't know what to say. "How did I pass you on the way here without seeing you?" asked Starbuck.
The young boy just smiled and changed the subject. "If you can hear me stand on one foot," he said.
Starbuck, who was already charmed by the kid; stood on one foot. He giggled.
"I can't believe I fell for that," declared Starbuck; playing along with this adorable kid. He was much older than Kacy back on New Caprica but he gave Starbuck the same feeling of warmth. "Okay little man. What's your name?" she asked.
Steven cleared his throat as to be ready for a lengthy reply. He expertly crawled out of the air vent; landed on his feet and then proceeded to sing her a song. This kid obviously knew he had a captive audience. Starbuck was charmed at the fact that this kid; who had just met her was going to do something that was obviously a 'big production'.
"Okay", said the boy, "You have to promise to listen, it's actually important."
"I promise," said Starbuck.
Steven, began to sing in a super rapid voice – with incredible articulation and diction.
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I am the very model of a modern Major-Admiral
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral
I know the Lords of Kobol, and I quote the fights historical
From Helios to Mogollon, in order categorical;
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(Steven took a deep breath) It occurred to Starbuck that their might be a very good reason Steven was going through all this trouble. Starbuck also noticed that all of her surroundings were now in much better light; or could she just see better? She continued to listen.
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I'm very well acquainted too with matters mathematical
I understand equations, both the simple and quadraticall
about directions or instructions I'm teeming with a lot of news-
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
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(another deep breath) Starbuck noted that Steven had never broken eye contact with her. Her gut told her to just to smile and enjoy it. There was something to this though. Starbuck could tell that the music was helping get more 'attuned' to where ever she was.
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With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypote-pote-nuse
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(another really big breath) Steven was having noticeably more fun, now that Starbuck was smiling.
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I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
I know the scientific names of comets astrological;
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral
I am the very model of a modern Major-Admiral
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Steven and Starbuck were now smiling together. Starbuck realized that's what Steven was trying to accomplish with his song. He knew things she didn't.
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I know our mythic history, from Kobol to the colonies
I answer hard equations, with intelligence and paradox
I know the seven virtues and their vices paradoxalous
I never twist my tongue unless I'm doing it on purpolos
I can spot with ease an original or counterfeit
I know the croaking chorus from the Frogs to Those with doctorates
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Then sum up all the who ha ha with diction & articulate
I am the very model of a modern major admiral
But you can call me Steven because I am adorable
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Starbuck was still stunned for a few seconds after Steven finished. Starbuck was old enough to know that what had just happened is what girls and women typically call 'a moment'. She was amazed by this incredible production and that he launched into; after just meeting her. Something else magical happened. Starbuck now unconditionally loved Steven. He had melted her heart and made her feel better since the last time she had seen her Fiancé Zack.
Starbuck could process a lot of information very quickly in situations like this. She realized that Steven could also do this just as fast; and he was better at it. This young man was as intuitive as Gaius Baltar was brilliant. Starbuck quickly concluded that Steven had to be either a figment of her imagination or a ghost. She refused to follow either possibility; Starbuck spoke to Steven instead. "Wow. That was amazing," She said honestly. "Okay, so your name is Steven?"
"Yep, I'm Steven. Would you like to know – Why I sang that song?" asked Steven.
"Yes," was all Starbuck could manage to say.
"Entities like yourself tend to not notice my existence; even if I'm standing right there. I'm not even kidding. Oh yeah, and when they do see or hear (they usually hear before they see) they tend to run away. I think they're just not used to unusual anomalies or astrological phenomenon and just pass it off as a minor psychosis," concluded Steven.
"Entities; like myself?" asked Starbuck.
Steven smiled. He wasn't going to say more on what 'entity' meant; at least for now.
Starbuck was impressed. "Steven, you're smarter than Gaius Baltar," she said off the cuff.
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Steven's eyes got as big as a pyramid ball, "You know Gaius Baltar," said Steven. It was not a question.
"I do," said Starbuck; realizing that she and Steven had just become best friends.
"So why do you think I'm an Angel?" asked Starbuck. Since this kid was obviously even smarter than he appeared…
"I can sense a lot of people, and things. Sometimes special people," said Steven. His response made her start thinking that it was all a dream; and perhaps that Steven wasn't real. 'Maybe; I'm; not real,' Starbuck thought to herself.
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Steven could see that Starbuck was thinking deeply and not sure what was happening. "Are you okay Starbuck? Why don't we talk about you a little?" declared Steven.
"Okay, my name is Kara Thrace. I'm a viper pilot-"
"What's your call sign?" asked Steven with a great deal of enthusiasm.
"Starbuck," she replied.
"Wow, that's cool," said Steven.
"Thank you," she replied; honestly. Starbuck just then realized that Steven called her by her callsign. "Okay Steven how did you know my call sign?" interrogated Starbuck.
Steven clamped his face with his hand. He had a smile a parsec wide on his mouth. He pointed at the name-tag on Starbuck's uniform.
She quickly looked at her uniform. It read:
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GALACTICA BSG-75
CAPT. KARA THRACE
A.K.A. STARBUCK
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It was on her uniform, "Okay," said Thrace. "I'm officially more blond than Ellen Tigh; or Caprica 6."
Steven smiled. Starbuck did also. "Are we on a battlestar right now?" asked Starbuck.
"Yip. It's called the Mogollon Monster. It's big," said Steven. "It's named after the bigfoot on Tauron."
"Where is the Mogollon Monster now?" Starbuck asked.
"Supposedly the cryptid known as the Mogollon Monster lives in the remote areas of Tauron, and rumored also to be on Aquaria. It is said to be shy and elusive and wants to be left alone. It is also rumored to be extremely dangerous if provoked," Steven smiled r-e-a-l-l-y big.
Starbuck pulled a face.
"We're in the great magnetic void," said Steven.
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This kid was really smart; and what he just told her made sense. "Okay. Steven do you have a few minutes to talk to me?" she asked.
He silently sat down with an eager look on his face; Starbuck had his full attention.
"Are there any soldiers on The Mogollon Monster?" asked Starbuck.
"Just you; I think," replied Steven. Kara thought deeply but talked out loud so Steven could know what she was thinking, "Civilians on a battlestar but no warriors? I gotta let that sink in."
"Would you like to know how we got here?" asked Steven.
"Of course," replied Starbuck.
"My family found the Mogollon Monster drifting here in the Great Magnetic Void. Oh, I forgot, that was after the Toaster attack on the Colonies. We were, well not me yet, Mom and Dad hadn't," Steven winked. "We were running from the Cylons and Dad knew they wouldn't follow us into the void."
"So where are you from, Steven?," said Starbuck. She continued, "I'm from Caprica, and I was on the Galactica," said Starbuck.
"Wow, that's really cool," said Steven. "My Mom and Dad are from Gemenon, I'm from Mom & dad," said Steven smugly.
"How many people are there?" asked Starbuck.
"One hundred and twenty seven with three on the way," said Steven quickly.
"Okay, there's enough space on a battlestar to house that many civilians, there were almost eight hundred on Galactica doing various tasks," said Starbuck out loud.
"Oh, the Mogollon Monster has interdimensional pockets. Four of them contain housing for civilians. Oh, I forgot, they can hold 250,000 people; each of them I mean," concluded Steven.
Starbuck was just hit with too much information. "What's supposed to carry a million civilians?" asked Starbuck.
"The Battlestar, Mogollon Monster," stated Steven.
"A million civilians?" Starbuck was stunned. "The Galactica had less than 50,000 people and very few actually lived on the Galactica; they lived on other ships. The Mogollon Monster has to be the size of Ragnar station, at least," Starbuck said out loud. "Could the Colonials have built something this big?"
"Obviously, yes," said Steven with a smirk. "The Mogollon Monster is 8111 feet long, 3001 ft wide and 1117 ft high, it weighs 4 billion short tons empty and over 10 billion Colonial Imperial tons fully loaded; not including the interdimensional d-pocket." Steven could rattle off even more specifications at light speed had Starbuck not stopped him. "Oh, I forgot, the d-pocket is what grown-ups call the interdimensional pocket."
Starbuck was familiar with the concept; bigger on the inside than on the outside. She continued to her next question.
"Why in feet?" asked Starbuck.
Steven got a very 'kid' look on his face. "Okay you have to promise not to get mad, or I won't tell you," Steven was serious.
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Starbuck decided to trust Steven. "I can tell that this is pretty important. I promise to listen very carefully," she said with a great deal of seriousness. She had established a great deal of comradery with the kid and, honestly, loved him almost to death. She wasn't going to frak that up.
"Everything on the Mogollon Monster is measured in Colonial units like feet and inches. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is calculated on this ship with colonial pounds, foot-pounds of force, you get the idea," said Steven. "It has something to do with irrational numbers, Cylons have trouble with them."
Right there; Starbuck had an epiphany. "The actual conversion of inches to centimeter's isn't 2.54; despite what the text books say. It was a non-repeating decimal like Pi. Computers and machines couldn't calculate any of the irrational numbers.
"Mark II vipers had all been designed using inches; they also out performed all expectations," conceded Starbuck. This made sense actually; range and size estimation were key parts of combat. The Cylons always did have trouble locking onto the Mark 2's. There was real science behind this after all.
"You get it; don't you." said Steven. It was not a question.
"I do," said Starbuck. She explained about the Mark 2 Vipers.
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"Can I tell you a secret?" asked Steven.
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"So why does the ship have interdimensional pockets?" asked Starbuck.
"They're called d-pockets," corrected Steven.
"Okay d-pockets," adjusted Starbuck.
"The Mogollon Monster has a special type of FTL drive that opened up an interdimensional space – that doesn't exist in normal space. People can move back and forth using special doors; one side of the door is in one place, and the other side opens up to another place," concluded Steven.
"Just like an FTL drive works," agreed Starbuck.
"Except this one stays open," Steven finished.
Starbuck had heard Gaius Baltar talk about that possibility. She recalled that Baltar never got it to work.
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Steven was an encyclopedia of information.
Starbuck recalled that the Mogollon Monster had disappeared before the Cylon attack; three or four years. "It disappeared while testing an FTL drive," Starbuck told Steven. "It was quite the scandal."
There was a silence between Starbuck and Steven. He came up and gave Starbuck a hug. He could touch her; angel or not. The hug felt wonderful. Starbuck had to get to the C-I-C; she just wanted to spend some more time with Steven. He was the coolest kid she'd ever met.
Starbuck recorded these things in her journal and read it over a couple of times to help her process all the revelations she had heard just now.
It was time for her to get to the C-I-C and find some answers.
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THANX FOR READING GUYS! SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS, IT HELPS A LOT. CORWIN.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IN THE REVIEW SECTION BELOW.
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER – YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING.
BATTLESTAR GHOSTHIP: THE MOGOLLON MONSTER LMAD-3 BY CORWIN BLACK
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BATTLESTAR GHOSTHIP: THE MOGOLLON MONSTER LMAD-3 BY CORWIN BLACK
ACT I: SCENE/CHAPTER 04
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING – JUDAS PRIEST 1982
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LOCATION: BASESTAR, C.I.N. Darkness (Cylon Imperial Navy)
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PEOPLE:
17 ACTUAL
23 ACTUAL
DR88X, AND UNKNOWN CYLON MODEL
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"Are you fraking kidding me?" said 17 as she watched the Wild Weasel.
"They actually flew into the Veil of Hades," exclaimed 23 Actual. "They have a human model Cylon with them. She'll meet the true death in the Veil."
"No you idiot," scolded the 17 Model. "Kilroy is much too smart to do such a thing. I don't believe he will sacrifice his Cylon defector/ally. He's obviously figured out a way to navigate in the Veil, and probably protect the Model 17 defector from the Veil as well."
"We don't know that," replied 23. "The humans have been trying to figure out how to navigate a Veil of Hades for decades. They're too stubborn to realize it's impossible."
"Did you know that the Ragnar Anchorage was once hidden in the Veil of Hades?" asked 17 Actual.
"Don't confuse analytic absolutes with imagined observations," barked the Model 23. He didn't believe her.
"Analytical as ever, you moron," replied 17. "Kilroy isn't a Cylon. Unlike us; he thinks intuitively. While we have to look for patterns; he can see them just by looking in the right direction," explained 17 Actual for the hundredth time.
"Relax 17, you worry too much," replied 23. "Kilroy's just flew into the void and he is now lost to the human rebellion forever at this point. Along with his sister, lover, friend, and that Alex frak-toy," 17 was particularly annoyed with 23 by now,
"have you ever known Kilroy to make a mistake of that magnitude?" asked the 17 model.
"Yes, just now," replied the 23 model smugly.
"You have assumed many times before that Kilroy has made a fatal error. I believe the last time cost us more than a few raiders," the 17 corrected.
"He was lucky," admitted 23 Actual. He was a little confused by his own answer. Cylons were not supposed to even be capable of believing in luck.
"Then you see my point, 23? Kilroy hasn't made a mistake. He knows something we don't," said 17.
"Like what?" asked 23.
"Like what I just pointed out! You don't see it; do you?" asked 17.
23 looked at her with confusion and disdain, "See what?".
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17 Actual Paused. Convincing 23 of anything that required intuition instead of hard data was like trying to ask a fish to ride a bicycle. "The reason why the humans will always defeat us eventually. They can think creatively, we can't," said 17.
"I don't even know what that means," said 23.
"I know."
17 Actual paused to consider her options, "The Basestar will stay in position. I'll take my heavy raider into the veil. Unless you see my transponder I want you to nuke everything that comes out of the Void," said 17.
"We'll lose everything we send in there," said 23 in disbelief.
"Oh, you think so," said 17 Actual. "You know I already have a copy of the analogue computer Kilroy built?"
23 knew he had underestimated 17. "In that case I am coming with you," he said.
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THANX FOR READING GUYS! SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS, IT HELPS A LOT. CORWIN.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IN THE REVIEW SECTION BELOW.
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER – WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE
BATTLESTAR GHOSTHIP: The Mogollon Monster LMAD-3 by Corwin Black
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ACT I: SCENE/CHAPTER 05
Recommended Listening: Whole Lotta Rosie – AC/DC 1977
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LOCATION:
The Magnetic Void
The Wild Weasel
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PEOPLE:
Jack Kilroy
Samantha Kilroy
Alexander
Calvin Quartararo
Elizabeth
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Kilroy was frantically writing (with an actual pencil and paper). Alexander was trying very hard to contain his excitement. Calvin simply watched calmly. Alex made note of that and relaxed; slightly.
Elizabeth, the human model Cylon; had closed her eyes and was doing her best to keep her mind at idle. The Veil of Hades typically drove Cylons into insanity. But she wasn't connected to the network; and that offered her some protection. She was quietly meditating. "Alexander Wolf; battlestar engineer. What exactly do you know about this supposed battlestar we're looking for?" asked Elizabeth.
"It won't matter if we don't find it," snapped Alexander. He was both excited and afraid of what they might find.
Sam was simply holding the raptor steady. She had no idea if she was about to hit something. She was remarkably calm considering.
"This one was never officially on the books," replied Alexander. "Unfortunately it became somewhat infamous. This particular Battlestar was built as a black box project in-between the first and second Cylon wars. It disappeared while testing a new FTL drive," explained Alexander.
"How the hell are we going to find it in here?" asked Calvin.
"We don't have to, it's gonna find, us;" replied Kilroy. Kilroy reached into his equipment box. He pulled out a circuit board that had on it, of all things, vacuum tubes.
"What is that?" asked Calvin.
"An analogue transmitter," said Kilroy; almost like he had just unwrapped the plans to a planet killing space station.
"Where did you get this?" asked Alex.
"I built it using schematics that the Cylons ordered me to archive and then destroy," said Kilroy.
Everyone else was used to Kilroy's technobabble, so they knew better than to ask how the device worked. Alex on the other hand knew, exactly how it worked.
Kilroy started transmitting a distress signal through the seriously outdated device. This went on for a few minutes. There was no response. As the tubes began to glow there was a faint hissing sound of a 60 cycle electronic hum. It was very annoying.
"Kilroy I think several of the tubes are not biased," observed Alex.
"Kilroy knows what he's doing," said Sam.
Elizabeth replied, "But Alex is a Battlestar Engineer. There's a reason we brought him along."
With that Alex took out a potentiometer and a laser thermometer and began tweaking with the device. "Okay, well you don't have any EL34s mixed in with the 6L6s – that's good. Although if you had used all EL34s instead of 6L6s; that would send a more resonate signal. The pre-amp has silicon diodes instead of valve; which is less than ideal, but not a deal breaker." After a while the high pitched humming seemed to resonate with the hull of the Wild Weasel itself. Like the device had somehow started using the entire space craft as a transmitter. "Try it now;" said Alex.
Kilroy started sending an S-O-S through the device.
"You know that you can't send radio signals through a void; right?" said Calvin.
"Only in theory," said Alex. "You can't hear the signal but you can hear the clipping through the void," said Alex.
"Clipping; is where the signal's power going into the vacuum tube exceeds the maximum power output, this creates distortion," said Kilroy.
"Just like the same kind of distortion you get in that loud music the kids all used to like," added Alex. He remembered that music, and he missed it.
Alex kept tapping the key to send out the S-O-S and Kilroy was listening in for a response.
After about five minutes the crew of the Wild Weasel began to figet less, and worry more.
There was a beeping response, "... - ... / .-. . -.-. . .. ...- . -.. .-.-.- / .-. .-.. . .- ... . / ... . -. -.. / .. ..-. ..-. .-.-.- S-O-S RECEIVED. PLEASE SEND I-F-F." An identify friend or foe code.
Alex handed the device quickly but carefully to Calvin. He began frantically checking all the compartments on the raptor. He eventually found a small circuit breaker and then connected it to the tube powered transponder. "I was wondering why you guys insisted on having THIS; specific, raptor," said Alex.
"Why?" asked Calvin.
"Because this old bird has its original Colonial transponder, and it still works," replied Alex. Then he pulled out a small flashlight and started looking for the transponder's serial number.
Another message was received, ".-. . .-. . .- - .-.-.- / ... . -. -.. / .. ..-. ..-. / - .-. / -.- - ..- / .- .. .-.. .-.. / -... . / ..-. .. .-. . -.. / ..- .-. - -. .-.-.. REPEAT SEND I-F-F OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON" said the message.
"Alex I need that serial number," said Kilroy with more than a hint of urgency in his voice.
"Okay, I got it. TWO, UNIFORM, YELLOW, ZEPHYR, UNIFORM, WHISKEY, ALPHA, SIX," read Alex.
Calvin transmitted, "- .- - / ..- -. .. ..-. - .-. - / -.- . .-.. .-.. - .- / -.. . .-. ... -.- .-. / ..- -. .. ..-. - .-. - / .- ... .. ... -.- . -.- / .- .-.. .-. ... .- / ... .. -..- TWO UNIFORM YELLOW ZEPHYR UNIFORM WHISKEY ALPHA SIX."
There was an uncomfortable pause. ".. ..-. ..-. / .-. . -.-. . .. ...- . -.. .-.-.- / .-. . .-. - .. ... ... .. - -. / - - / .- .-. .-. .-. - .- -.-. ... / -. .-. .- -. - . -.. I-F-F RECEIVED. PERMISSION TO APPROACH GRANTED."
There was a collective sigh of relief.
With that, the Wild Weasel turned on its forward lights. Not more than a thousand yards in front of it was the unmistakable alligator shaped prow of a battlestar, a big one. On the face of the battlestar was a large black insignia of a foot print that had clawed toes.
"Holy frak; it's a mercury class," said Sam.
"Bigger, it's a lot bigger." said Alex.
As Sam began to slowly navigate her way around the battlestar; Kilroy began to recite what he had learned about this magnificent man of war, "According to the recovered information I was ordered to destroy… This battlestar was built about twenty years after the end of the first Cylon war. The 12 colonies had been undergoing a massive reconstruction effort and their industrial capacity was so high that the admiralty thought it could build this thing and keep it a secret."
"NO way, you couldn't hide something this big," said Calvin. "Every reasonable person would believe that unless they were staring right at it like we are now."
Sam, who had excellent distance estimation and depth perception took in the overall shape and size of the battlestar. The colossal ship's running lights began to come on; showing off her magnificent beauty of armor and guns. The Wild Weasel flew past the Battlestar's hull number. LMAD-03 MOGOLLON MONSTER. "Well our Mogollon Monster is just over 8000 feet long, 3000 feet wide, and I'm guessing 1000 feet tall.
"Holy frak." said Calvin. "That's a whole lotta Rosie."
"What do you mean Rosie?" asked Elizabeth.
"A girl I used to know," said Calvin. "Big lady, with huge tracks of land. If you know what I mean. Holy frak was she a lot of fun."
"We were given permission to land, so let's go say hello," said Kilroy.
"Wait a minute. Kilroy how long has this thing been here?" asked Elizabeth.
"Your just now asking?" replied Kilroy.
"I didn't think we were actually going to find anything," Elizabeth confessed.
"It disappeared four years before the Cylon attack. So, not quite 30 years ago." replied Kilroy.
"So aren't you a little concerned that this ghost ship just happens to be here?" asked Elizabeth. "Besides, what's a Mogollon Monster?"
Calvin spoke up, "It's a bigfoot, specifically one that's rumored to be on Tauron. It's supposed to be friendly if you leave it alone and a real problem if you mess with it."
"We'll we're gonna have to ask around once we get on board," said Alex. He, and everyone else, was simply too excited about finding this beautiful machine of death; weighing over 40 million tons, to care about anything except the idea of smashing the Cylons into very small sub-atomic particles with really big fraking guns; and a lot of them.
"What could possibly go wrong?"
.
.
THANX FOR READING GUYS! Share with your friends, it helps a lot. Corwin.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IN THE review section below.
Stay tuned for the next chapter: Who are you?
BATTLESTAR GHOSTHIP: THE MOGOLLON MONSTER LMAD-3 BY CORWIN BLACK
ACT I: SCENE/CHAPTER 06
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: WHO ARE YOU? – 1978 THE WHO
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LOCATION: INTERIOR OF THE MOGOLLON MONSTER
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PEOPLE:
JACK KILROY
SAMANTHA KILROY
ALEXANDER WOLF
CALVIN QUARTARARO
ELIZABETH
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The Wild Weasel found its way to the starboard dorsal flight pod. On the side of the pod there was a small landing platform where it could land. There was a three toe hominid footprint designating where to set the raptor down. As it touched down; the air lock opened for the Wild Weasel. "Okay, that's a creepy invitation if I ever saw one," said Elizabeth.
"Yeah, super cool," replied Sam. "I wonder how much of the crew is still on board the Mogollon Monster?"
"This ship has been missing for thirty years," said Elizabeth with great concern in her voice. "This isn't just a battlestar adrift like a ghost ship. This is a battlestar with actual ghosts on it."
"Did you guys look at the landing pad?" asked Alex.
Everybody gave Alex a look. "Yeah, the bigfoot was an interesting moniker," said Sam.
"Creepy if you ask me," said Elizabeth.
"Fraking awesome," said Kilroy
Calvin smiled really big.
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"Not the the big foot. There's not a single skid or scuff mark on any of them." replied Alex like it was something incredibly important and obvious. Alex realized that the others didn't understand the significance. "Regardless of how long the Mogollon Monster has been here, or when it disappeared; it's like brand new. There's not a mark on it. There's also no discoloration between the armor plates either. If I didn't know any better I'd say this ship completed assembly less than eighteen months ago.
"I'm just saying we should be cautious," said Elizabeth. "I know I'm the most superstitious of the group but you have to admit this whole thing has a superstitious feel."
"There's no such thing as ghosts," assured Kilroy. This was bullfrak of course. Kilroy absolutely did believe in ghosts and his friends knew that. "I'm sure there's a scientific explanation on why and how the Battlestar Mogollon Monster has someone on the Morse code transmitter. Whom also is probably opening and closing the airlocks for us…" Kilroy said stupidly.
"The name Mogollon Monster is appropriate," remarked Calvin.
"Why do you say that?" asked Sam as she landed the Wild Weasel in the hangar.
"This battlestar could indeed be a blessing, curse, or anything in between," said Calvin
"Well the Cylons didn't leave us alone; did they?" asked several of the friends.
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"Okay," asked Calvin, "where should we go first?"
"The bridge," said Alex without hesitation. Nobody argued, Alex by far knew the most about battlestars. "Everybody make sure they are armed," insisted Alex; who was checking his revolver to make sure it was loaded.
"Alex, why am I feeling so uneasy?" asked Elizabeth. She was still new to being able to express all of her human like feelings. She was also not familiar with why she felt many of them.
Kilroy answered for Alex, "There's no one in the air lock to greet us. Under normal circumstances; there should be," said Kilroy. "It's natural for you to feel uneasy about this. You'll be okay."
Elizabeth felt better, she had come to rely on her human friends, especially Kilroy and Calvin. They had the best intuition among the group.
Alex spoke up, "Calvin you're the best at recon. Let's follow your lead," no one objected.
Calvin was in his early twenties. He was barely born when the Cylons dropped nuclear death on the 12 colonies of Kobol. He had grown up in remote areas of Tauron where the resistance was always active and alive. Even though he had at best a seventh grade education, he was the best foot soldier the others had ever seen.
"Okay everybody, I need Sam to stay on the Wild Weasel. Elizabeth; I need you to come with us in case we run into Cylons. Alex; you're gonna be necessary to navigate the battlestar. Kilroy; I need you to stay on the Wild Weasel's computers and monitor our progress remotely," ordered Calvin.
There were no objections and everyone knew their role.
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Alex, Calvin, and Elizabeth began to walk their way through the corridors of the massive ship. Alex checked with the maps on all of the bulkheads, but he couldn't hide the fact that he knew exactly where he was going and how to get there.
"Alex, have you ever been on this ship before?" asked Kilroy through the radio.
"Yes," he replied. "I was part of the design team that built it," Alexander confessed. Everybody just stopped and stared at Alex. It was like he just told everybody that he was actually a Cylon.
"How the frak did you manage to keep that a secret?" asked Elizabeth.
"Nobody would believe me," he said. "Okay lets imagine that when we met a couple of years ago I said, "Hi my name is Alexander, and I know where a massive battlestar is that just happened to survive the Cylon attack and how to find it," said Alexander.
"What parts of the Mogollon Monster did you design?" asked Kilroy, over the radio.
"Large scale ordinance, and delivery systems," replied Alexander.
"You mean nukes?" said… … well everybody.
"Yeah, nukes," confirmed Alex. "Okay, this thing was designed to be an apocalypse machine. The Idea was that it would go deep into Cylon space and turn everything it came across into glass," said Alexander. "Massive assault and destruction."
They all continued on.
.
After about ten minutes, Kilroy's voice came through the radio, "Guys, I haven't seen a single body, or person through the cameras. Have you guys seen anyone?"
Elizabeth looked guilty. She spoke up, "Well, my eyes have a wider range of visual spectrum than humans –"
Sam cut her off, "-what did you see?"
"I think I saw a ghost," said Elizabeth. Much to Elizabeth's surprise none of her companions laughed or scoffed. Several moments of uneasy silence passed. None of the five companions dared say anything; or even move for that matter.
Finally Calvin took the lead on the current situation, "Someone's here. We know that because somebody sent us the demand for the I-F-F. Someone opened the airlock for the Wild Weasel. Also, my intuition says that someone is watching us," concluded Calvin.
"I'll go next," said Alex. "Kilroy you already know that the ship was lost while testing its FTL drive. We don't know a lot about what actually happens when an FTL screws up. It could explain why there's no crew, so far?"
"Oh it could indeed," said Kilroy.
"How many crew did the Mogollon Monster have when it disappeared?" asked Elizabeth.
"Six thousand five hundred and sixty nine," stated Alex. Everyone noticed that Alexander knew the exact number of the crew that went MIA, presumed dead.
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Elizabeth, who by far was the most superstitious of the group spoke up, "Okay, there could be thousands of ghosts on this ship; watching us from the corners. Watching the five of us."
Kilroy recognized that Elizabeth was starting to suffer emotional overload. Something hmodel (human model) Cylons were prone to; after they disconnected from the Cylon Network. "Elizabeth I want you to think analytically," said Kilroy. "This ship has a lot of guns and missiles. If the ghosts wanted to hurt you they would have done so by now. The only analytical reason you've been able to get this far into the superstructure is because someone friendly wants to meet you," concluded Kilroy.
The comment was meant to comfort Elizabeth. She let out a quiet sigh of relief. Everyone else on the other hand let out a loud and noticeable sigh of relief.
"Okay everybody," said Calvin. "Let's get our butts to C-I-C."
Alex checked the map on the wall. "We're almost there."
.
.
THANX FOR READING GUYS! Share with your friends, it helps a lot. Corwin.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IN THE review section below.
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER: I Used To Love Her
BATTLESTAR GHOSTHIP: THE MOGOLLON MONSTER LMAD-3 BY CORWIN BLACK
ACT I: SCENE/CHAPTER 07
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: I USED TO LOVE HER - BUT I HAD TO KILL HER (GUNS AND ROSES)
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LOCATION: THE MAGNETIC VOID; exterior of The Mogollon Monster Battlestar
PEOPLE:
17 ACTUAL
23 ACTUAL
14 ACTUAL
FOUR CENTURIONS
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A Cylon heavy raider approached the port flight pod of the Battlestar. There were three human model Cylons and four centurions. "Continue to transmit," 17 said sternly.
The model 14 was tapping on the crude button, and blinking the heavy raider's running lights. "- .- - / ..- -. .. ..-. - .-. - / -.- . .-.. .-.. - .- / -.. . .-. ... -.- .-. / ..- -. .. ..-. - .-. - / .- ... .. ... -.- . -.- / .- .-.. .-. ... .- / ... .. -..- TWO UNIFORM YELLOW ZEPHYR UNIFORM WHISKEY ALPHA SIX," the 14 was visibly shaking. Despite this he managed to keep tapping the I-F-F code they had intercepted.
The 23 model looked at the battlestar in awe, "Look at the size of that thing," he observed. "It must weigh over forty five million metric tons," said 23, impressed.
"The schematics actually said it was just shy of four hundred million metric tons.
"That's impossible," stated 23. "Even if the entire thing was made out of the densest materials known to exist it doesn't have enough volume to be that massive."
"You're not scared; are you 23?" asked 17, smugly.
"We should be," said 23 bluntly. He changed the subject "I count five twin turrets of massive rail guns on the prow of that monster. 10 guns. The shells it fires must weigh a 100 metric tons each," said 23 out loud. He continued his account of the battlestar's weapons, "There are vertical launch tubes on the dorsal side. They're bigger than anything we've ever seen from the Colonials. There is 48 of them. There is 336 ISBM size ones also. If they're armed with nukes; that could be enough to level a planet," said 23.
"Now you're being the one who's worrying too much," snipped 17. "If the humans had that many nukes they would have used them," snipped 17 Actual. The heavy raider continued to approach the battlestar. It hadn't been fired on yet. "The anti-aircraft battery hasn't even moved a millimeter." said 17 calmly.
"I want you to take a good look around the exterior of that monster," said 23.
"I'm in command, land the heavy raider," disputed 17.
"We can learn more about its capabilities by getting a good external look. If there are marines or booby traps on board we might not get a chance to transfer that knowledge to the network before we resurrect," said 23 smugly.
"I'm sad to admit that you're right 23," admitted 17, "for once."
"Centurion; take a close flyby of the battlestar," said 17.
"By your command," said the centurion pilots.
The heavy raider found the battlestar's hull number and name on the flight pod of the ship. It read:
.
LMAD-03; MOGOLLON MONSTER
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It also had the black bigfoot insignia on it.
"What's LMAD stand for?" asked fourteen.
"According to the schematics I discovered it means: Lifeboat or Massive Assault and Destruction. However, I found a few whimsical references to humans saying it stood for (Leave Me Alone Device)," said 17 Actual.
There was another enormous image on the prow of the Mogollon Monster. If this Battlestar was coming towards you this is what you would see. "The Mogollon Monster," said 17 Actual. "The mythical bigfoot on Tauron."
"This can't be real," said 14 actual.
"You're looking at it!" yelled 17.
"The Colonials couldn't have built anything this big," continued 14.
"YOU ARE LOOKING AT IT," said 17. However, 14 actual simply couldn't process the revelation and implications of what was before her very eyes.
"Obviously they did," corrected 23.
"What does the 03 mean?" asked 14 Actual.
Everyone knew the answer. There were at least three of these things. Maybe.
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The heavy raider's lights illuminating small parts of the massive ship's outer hull. "Get close to the main guns," instructed 23.
"By your command."
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"Oh look; they're big," said 17 in sarcasm.
23 was too fascinated to be afraid. He admired his enemy when the humans did something impressive. This gun was impressive. "The humans did a lot of damage to our ships with good old fashioned boom sticks," said 23. He was correct. There was a sharp pain in 23's head.
"What's wrong?" asked 17. She was genuinely curious. 23 was not one who suffered small pains easily; or big ones for that matter.
"Nothing I'm fine," lied 23.
"That gun barrel is 21.082 millimeters in diameter," said 23 with his sharp pain returning.
"You mean 3.73 meters in diameter," corrected 17 actual.
23 suffered his way through the pounding in his head to say, "It is … … 3.73380000…" 23 stopped talking.
"I can't," said 23 Actual.
17 Actual grabbed 23 by the back of the neck and pressed several pressure points that only hmodel Cylons had, or knew about. This reset whatever calculation he was attempting. "I don't remember the calculation," said 23.
"I did a short reset," said 17.
"Thank you, I needed that," said 23.
"I know," said 17 Actual. "This gun was designed in Colonial inches; it is 143" in diameter."
"What's that in millimeters?" said 23 Actual. The sharp pain returned and he looked away from the gun. "What's happening?
"Close your eyes and do the conversion while not looking at the actual gun," instructed 17.
"Okay three thousand three hundred and thirty three point eight millimeters," said 23 Actual.
17 did not answer him. However, she was certain that 23's estimation was wrong. Instead of answering his question 17 asked him this, "What's the conversion from inches to centimeter,?" asked 17.
"It's 24.5 cm per inch; exactly," said 23.
"It is not exact," corrected 17.
"WRONG. The conversion is an irrational number," said 17 Actual.
"That's not what the text books say," replied 23 smugly. He was correct that is what the text book said.
"The text books are wrong," revealed 17 Actual.
23 didn't see the significance of what was going on here; but 17 did. The actual conversion from inches to centimeters was an irrational number (a non-repeating infinitely long decimal, like pi). When 23 was trying to estimate the gun diameter he was looking at something built using inches, and he got a repeating error. This battlestar was more dangerous than just it's guns and missiles. It's very schematics were designed to confuse and disorient the Cylons.
Just like Starbuck had previously, 23 recalled reading reports on how the mark 2 vipers outperformed their expectation.
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17 took command while 23 was disoriented, "Land the raider on the port flight pod," she instructed. The heavy raider managed to fly peacefully into the flight pod and land. 17 made a note that the fuel lines on the deck were exposed. One good blast from their guns and they could blow up the entire battlestar.
"We should set explosives on those fuel lines and leave," stated 14 Actual and 23 Actual agreed.
"No," said 17. Clearly she was used to having her commands followed without explanation. The others did just that. 14 would never object and 23 was still disoriented. This battlestar disappeared 30 years ago. It's safe to assume that the crew is dead. We can take the whole ship and learn its secrets.
"Proceed to aft damage control and release the decompression safeties. From there we can vent the air from the whole ship and capture it." Doing this was standard boarding procedure during the first and second Cylon war. It never occurred to any of the Cylons that if the crew was indeed dead, then why would they need to vent the air from the ship.
The three of the four centurions, 23, and 17 exited the heavy raider and proceeded into the interior of the enormous battlestar. "How do you know where to go?" asked 23.
"I have the deck plans, obviously," replied 17. She didn't know it, but they were not the complete deck plans. She had found the plans that had been submitted to a committee. Not the one they actually built.
It still hadn't occurred to 17 or any of the other Cylons that if the crew died 30 years ago when the Mogollon Monster disappeared then why where they venting the ship. The were still following procedure.
23 and 17 were wearing pressure suits.
The further they got into the battlestar the more 17 seemed to lose her sense of direction.
.
.
THANX FOR READING GUYS! Share with your friends, it helps a lot. Corwin.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IN THE review section below.
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER: Estranged.
BATTLESTAR GHOSTSHIP by Corwin Black
Chapter 8: Estranged – Guns and Roses-1991
PLACE: Command Information Center (C-I-C) of the Battlestar Mogollon Monster.
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PEOPLE:
Alexander
Elizabeth
Calvin
Samantha and
Jack Kilroy
Starbuck
Steven
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Alexander, Elizabeth and Calvin were walking closer and closer towards the command information center (C-I-C). A.K.A. the ship's bridge. Jack and Samantha Kilroy were still in the Wild Weasel; with Sam at the controls and Jack monitoring everyone's progress remotely.
"Has anyone noticed that all of the security doors and airlocks seem to be easy to open; or are already unlocked for us?" asked Alex. Calvin pretended to not hear the question. It was obvious that he did, but just didn't know what to say.
Elizabeth on the other hand finally spoke up, "Everybody, I need to tell you something. There are ghosts on this ship. I can see them and they are the ones clearing the path in front of us, and locking the doors behind us."
"Not this again," said Kilroy.
Alex and Calvin stopped dead in their tracks, "What do you mean locking the doors behind us?" said Alex.
"I thought you noticed," Elizabeth responded.
"Oh, frak," said Calvin. He immediately went to the last airlock they went through, only about forty feet behind them. It was indeed closed and locked.
Alex watched this in disbelief, "I can't believe I didn't notice this." Alex was now, for the first time since they stepped foot on this battlestar, greatly concerned. "The doors aren't designed to do this, someone else is on board this Battlestar," said Alex with just a hint of concern.
"Guys," said Kilroy who was still observing remotely from the Wild Weasel, "I'm still receiving your signal from your cameras and microphones. You've been through enough armored bulkheads to block that signal. Somebody's allowing it to be routed to me. That can't happen on accident," Kilroy let that sink in. "I think that Elizabeth might be right. There may indeed be ghosts on the Mogollon Monster."
"Kilroy's right; but they may not be blocking them so they can listen in," added Alex.
Elizabeth was a little perturbed by Kilroy's statement, "I thought you didn't believe in ghosts," she objected. It was not a question.
"I'm working on a scientific explanation," confessed Kilroy. "But the evidence at hand is enough to prove that something is going on here that the presence of ghosts would explain."
Sam spoke up, "My brother means that he thinks you're actually right, Elizabeth."
"I knew it," said Elizabeth smugly. She then looked directly into Calvin's camera, smiled waved, and then proceeded through the next set of corridors to the C-I-C.
Alex, Calvin, and Elizabeth walked into the command center of this magnificent instrument of war. "You can't help but to be taken back by how much destructive power is controlled from this room," said Elizabeth.
"That's no frak," was all Calvin could muster to say. However, Calvin was systematically noting the layout of the bridge and mentally make note of how many stations there were here. "We're gonna need a lot more people just to fill the seats in this room," observed Calvin.
Alex found a station that had a layout of the Mogollon Monster on it. All of the bulkheads and major places were marked on it. The multi-screen displays were all routed through what looked like analogue vacuum tube powered circuit boards. But none of this seemed to surprise him. It was more like he was checking to see if everything was in order. "These computers are networked to a lot of different systems but all of the access nodes are wired through these analogue signal amplifiers," said Alex.
.
.
"Can you translate what you just said for those of us who have IQ's under 350," radioed Sam sarcastically.
"Do you see all of the glowing vacuum tubes on the circuit boards?" he asked.
"Yes," radioed Sam.
"Of course," agreed Elizabeth.
"Bingo," said the blond-ghost-lady that nobody had noticed yet; except Elizabeth who didn't say anything. Elizabeth looked directly at Starbuck.
Starbuck spoke to Elizabeth, "Wave if you can hear me."
Elizabeth did so.
Kilroy, who was looking directly through Elizabeth's camera asked, "Who are you waving to?"
Elizabeth side stepped the question and spoke to Starbuck instead, "I can see and hear you. My friend Jack is looking through my camera but cannot," she explained.
"That's normal; there's a process you have to go through before you can fully interact with people like me," explained Starbuck to Elizabeth who was; at the moment, the only one who could perceive her. "My friend Steven taught me how to do it."
At that moment Steven could be seen by Elizabeth. 'Has he been standing there the whole time?' Elizabeth asked quietly.
"Can you hear me Elizabeth?" asked Steven.
"Yes, Steven I can hear you," Elizabeth replied. Elizabeth was suddenly filled with overwhelming hope. All of her trepidation about ghosts, angels and the like suddenly went away like thin vapor in a dry heat.
Steven stepped out where everyone could see him and waved at Alexander and Calvin. The two of them waved back. "Okay is everybody listening?" asked Steven. His tone of voice was exactly what you would expect when a kid knew something you didn't but wasn't sure you were going to believe him.
"I'm listening," said Alex, Elizabeth, and Calvin; Sam and Kilroy also said it.
"Elizabeth, put me on the overhead speaker," said Kilroy.
"I got it," said Alexander who knew where the overhead for the entire C-I-C was.
"Okay Steven, my name is Professor Jack Kilroy," I can see and hear you. "My sister Sam is sitting next to me and she can also."
"I can talk for myself you know," said Sam in an uppity voice. Kilroy rolled his eyes. "Okay hello everybody, I'm Samantha; call me Sam. I fly the ship and The Professor is my big brother," concluded Sam with a girlish smile on her face. She showed that smile to her brother.
Kilroy was recording the whole thing so he could go back through it if anyone had to. 'I wonder how or if the ghost or angel will show up on the recording?' Kilroy thought to himself.
.
Sam turned her head back to her monitor and for the first time saw Starbuck. "Wow, who's the girl?" asked Sam.
"What Girl?" asked Alexander.
"What Girl?" asked Kilroy.
"What Girl?" asked Calvin.
Now they all could also see Starbuck.
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"She's my friend; Starbuck," explained Steven. He was about to explain more but Alexander cut him off-
"Wait. You mean Starbuck, the viper pilot. The one who got kicked off of the demonstration team?"
"Oh, you remember; how nice," said Starbuck to Alex.
Alexander looked towards the voice and could see Starbuck now. "Oh wow, it is true."
"What's true?" asked Starbuck.
"All of Gaius Baltar's theories on interdimensional existence, artificial gravity, and FTL travel," said Alexander cryptically.
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.
Steven and Starbuck both intuitively realized that Kilroy was having a crisis of faith of some sort. Steven spoke up, "Okay Elizabeth, Alexander, Kilroy, Sam, and Calvin are all human," he explained. "They can see and hear me without any connection, because I am also human." Everyone was listening to every word Steven said. Steven continued, "Who cannot perceive Starbuck yet?" nobody raised their hands.
"Why did I not see you at first?" asked Elizabeth.
Starbuck replied, "Because the little rascal can hide like mother-fraker." Steven smiled, big.
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Starbuck got very serious, "Okay, everybody Steven knows more than the rest of us about what's going on The Mogollon Monster. We all need to listen to him," everyone agreed.
Starbuck decided to 'make a funny', "Okay everybody since Steven's a kid; it's important that you don't fraking cuss," she declared.
Starbuck and Steven 'high-fived'.
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THANX FOR READING GUYS! Share with your friends, it helps a lot. Corwin.
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STAY TUNED FOR ACT 2: Dead Man's Party