Chapter 19 - The Fall Part 2

Battlestar Atlantia - Orbit Of Virgon- 4 Hours Into Attack

Newly promoted Fleet Admiral Nagala was in the CIC of the Atlantia in orbit of Virgon watching as the stragglers of the colonial fleet who have survived so far gathered in orbit ready for battle to decide the fate of the colonies.

Nagala was looking at the dradis screen and cursed the politicians as the once great colonial fleet was reduced to less than 100 ships and even these had various degrees of damage as they fled the ambushes designed to destroy them. Out of those 100 ships only 42 were battlestars; the other 53 varied between larger Gunstars and smaller firestars.

"Sir, we have confirmed reports from our raptors that Caprica city government quarter is gone and that case orange has been enacted. According to responses received, the new president of the colonies is the secretary of education Laura Roslin." The XO of the ship reported for Nagala's and the ship's commanders' benefit.

Nagala just remained silent but he did here the commander mutter. "So we are at war for our very survival and we are to answer to a school teacher that's just great."

Nagala should have reprimanded him but he totally agreed with him that a school teacher is not the right person to lead if they survive the initial assault, so instead he took the commander to the side and spoke quietly so only they could hear. "Command that will be enough of that, we have an image to uphold and now is not the time to make petty comments or statements no matter how true they are."

The commander nodded and went back to doing his job while Nagala watched on as the influx of ships fell from a trickle to the odd ship now and then. Nagala watched on for 30 min and after the last ship jumped in 20 min ago he was ready to acknowledge that no more ships were going to make it and if there were any more out there they were probably laying low because they don't know or can't make it here.

Nagala was just contemplating on how to draw the enemy to his forces when unknown contacts started to appear by the dozen until it stopped at 130 capital class contacts and 50 smaller escort class ships finished transitioning into the system.

As soon as the last ship appeared smaller contacts were launched from the enemy contacts in the thousands and created a screen in front of the capital ships and their escorts.

"Commander get me fleet wide." Nagala picked up the handset and prepared for the last address he was likely to make. "Men and Women of the fleet we stand here now on the precipice of defeat. We could leave and regroup with any other elements out there but that would leave our homes and families at their mercy and would leave a stain on our souls that we could never wash away. So i stand here not as your admiral but as a brother in arms that will fight till my last breath to take as many of the enemy with me into oblivion in the hope that in the years to come that the survivors of this unprovoked attack can take advantage of the damage we cause to send the toasters to the scrap heap where they belong."

Nagala took a breath before continuing. "So stand tall knowing the sacrifice we make today is for the good of the colonies and its continued survival. Fight with all the bravery and strength that i know is in each and every one of you and show the enemy what being able to feel anger at there ruthlessness and hate at there targeting our families with cowardly attacks. We will fight to take as many of them with us as we can and if we run out of bullets and missiles we will use our bodies to exact such a toll on them that they will have finally know what emotions are and that will be fear at what we are capable of when driven to the brink. SO WHAT SAY YOU MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WILL YOU FOLLOW ME IN THIS GREAT CHARGE AND MAKE OUR ENEMIES PAY A PRICE THAT WILL MAKE THEM REGRET EVER COMING BACK."

As Nagala finished, every officer and enlisted stood and shouted. "SO SAY WE ALL" and then it repeated over and over for a few minutes before Nagala announced "Set condition one throughout the fleet, Launch all vipers hold nothing back. All raptors to be fitted with anti-ship missiles, Nuclear ordinance is authorized." He then looked at his commander and said. "I want all battlestars to form up around the Flag ship and the escorts to protect the flanks from any attempts by the raiders to swing around behind us."

He then turned to his tactical officer. "What's the status of the satellites"

The tactical officer replied. "So we managed to get crews on board but they were having difficulty switching them to manual as they all went into lockdown when the mainframe was destroyed and without the security codes they have to bypass a lot of the firewalls and it's going to take time we don't have."

As Nagala took that information, the commander reported. "Sir all vipers launched and formed up. Raptors have finished launching and are ready to jump into the enemy fleet at a moment's notice to launch everything they got."

Nagala nodded and said. "Very good, then i think it's time we take the fight to the enemy as i think we have defended enough and now it's time to show them what we are made of." Nagala walked over to the display table and ordered. "Signal all ships to advance on the enemy and as soon as we reach max range they are to fire all Heavy KEW's and to keep firing as they bear. Alert the vipers to hold back while we thin the enemies numbers. I want all ships to launch 2 nukes a piece and detonate them amongst the enemy fighters as we advance."

"Yes Sir." The officers in the CIC went about their duty as they started to advance on the enemy.

Alteran Stealth Scout Ship - Observation Distance from Virgon - 4.75 Hours Into Attack

John Thrace watched on as the colonial fleet advanced on the Cylon position and started the battle by launching and detonating nukes in the middle of the waiting raiders. He watched on as thousands of raiders were destroyed but there seemed like there just was no end to them. The raiders were just recovering from the nukes when the Heavy KEW rounds hit the first of the Base ships and caused secondary explosions where some lucky shots hit ammunition storage or tylium bunkers.

He watched on as the Vipers bolted forward and engaged the numerically advantaged raiders in a dog fight for the history books. While they fought the Battlestars and their escorts charged forward at full power when Heavy raiders started jumping in among them and launching nukes at the colonials to devastating effect as several ships went up in nuclear explosions.

But the same could be said for the Cylons as the raptors did the same but with less effect as raiders that were held back intercepted the missiles or the raptors themselves before they could fire their payloads.

It was a few minutes later that the ship to ship fight broke out in mass as ships started launching missiles against each other but where the Cylons lacked defensive flak they made up for with pure numbers as hundreds if not thousands of missiles were launched within the first minute.

John was recording the whole battle for future reference as this data will help them if they ever have to fight a battle like this in the future. The battle started off slow but sped up as more and more of the ships engaged each other and by all accounts for every colonial ship that was destroyed the cylons lost 2 if not more ships and no matter which way you look at it this battle was costly to the cylons.

It was 15 min later when the numbers were finally whittled down to no more than a dozen battlestars and escorts facing off against 35 base ships and 8 of their smaller escorts. The viper forces had been decimated with only a few still fighting a losing battle as they were further outnumbered by the thousands of still active raiders.

The whole battle was a testament to the resilience and courage of the colonial fleet that when ships were so battered that they didn't have a weapon to fire they turned their very ships into weapons and rammed any enemy ship in their flight path until they met an explosive end.

It was another 5 minutes before the last 3 battlestars, all three being mercury's advanced on the biggest of the base stars and fired every weapon that still fired in a 360 degree angle as the base ships closed in on them to finish them off with numbers.

Finally 2 of the battlestars broke apart under the bombardment as they took another 5 base ships with them and damaged a dozen more. The last Colonial ship was the flagship Atlantia and John watched as they pushed everything they had into one last charge and rammed the large base ship and both went up in an explosion that looked like a new sun had been born in the middle of the system.

John had waited until the explosion died down and sent a prayer to the gods to guide the brave souls who died to give the colonials a fighting chance to survive this holocaust. He then left for the rendezvous with the Alteran Navy task force at the edge of Colonial space to report in and share all the data he had collected. He had orders to give each colony a once over before leaving so that they could use those scans to get an estimate on how many survivors there were.

Battlestar Galactica CIC - 6 Hours Into Attack

Aboard the Galactica on its way to Ragnar station the CIC was quiet as the report of the destruction of the fleet over Virgon was transmitted by the civilian ships still stuck in the system.

Adama was silent as he sent a prayer to the gods to watch over the souls of the departed before ordering Lt Dualla to send out a message. "Send a message to all the Colonial military units. Use Priority Channel 1. Message begins: Am taking command of fleet. All ships are ordered to rendezvous at Ragnar anchorage for counter attack. Message Ends"

Adama then turns to Lt Gaeta. "Mr Gaeta plot a faster than light jump to Ragnar to just outside the entrance." He then turns back to his XO Saul Tigh and says. "Let's get the old girl armed and back in the fight." He then turns back to the Display table as the CIC got busy preparing for a Jump.

Waypoint Station Alpha - CIC - 6 Hours Into Attack

Louise sat in the command center going through the reports from across the colonies and she knew she couldn't do anything to stop what was happening but still mourned the loss of so many lives.

"Ma'am we have the final report from Virgon with the destruction of the colonial forces the Cylons have moved in to position to bombard the planet and squadrons of raiders have left in groups and are hunting down civilian vessels as they try to flee the systems." Lt Jenkins reported from the comm station.

Louise knew that the main fight was over and she could now start to enact the plan they had come up with to save anyone they could without committing themselves to a drawn out conflict within the colonial systems. "Very well Let Admiral Adama know he has permission to attack the Cylon infrastructure but he is not to get bogged down fighting the defensive base stars if he can't destroy them in the initial attack."

She waited for confirmation that the message was sent before continuing. "Also send out the Stealth vessels into colonial space to the battle sites all over the colonies and rescue as many people as they can without risking themselves or their ships. Also have the Empty Liners ready to make way to any outlying bases and stations that haven't been destroyed and evacuate the people immediately."

Lt Jenkins replied in the affirmative as the activity in the command room started to increase as orders were given and ships dispatched. He then stopped what he was doing and reported. "Ma'am we have just picked up Adama's message taking command of the fleet and making his way to Ragnar. We have also reported that Roslin's refugee fleet is making its way there as well."

Louise nods and then asks. "Do We have any word from the special force teams deployed to recovery missions."

This time it was Major Williamson who replied as he was in charge of the Alteran special forces branch. "Teams 1, 4, 6 and 7 have reported success. We have lost all contact with team 2 and suspect either they were caught in one of the nuke attacks or have gone to ground. Lastly Teams 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 have reported that they are on the way to extraction sites as we speak."

Louise frowned in thought then asked Major Williamson. "Major, do we have any teams on Picon that could make their way to where fleet HQ was and find out if the bunker made it or not."

He replied after thinking for a while. "We have 3 teams on Picon with 1 on the same continent so it is possible but would have to wait till they evacuate their VIP before I would ask them to take on another mission."

Louise nodded and asked the Major that should they make it to the evac site without any problems and they are willing she would be grateful if they would take on the mission as it could double up as a data retrieval mission as well as if the bunker survived there would be a lot of valuable data on there servers that we and the colonial colony could use."

The Major agreed before he left the room to make some plans and to see if what she asked is doable. Louise then went back to monitoring what was happening in the command room as new data was delivered and assessed.

Marine Expeditionary Force - Deep Space between Helios Alpha and Gamma - 6 Hours Into Attack

Major General Ferguson was standing in the CIC of the Marine assault carrier looking over the reports coming in about the attack on the colonies. He was looking at the reports and assessing where they should go that would make better use of their skills.

The Generals forces included 4 Marine assault ships holding 5 thousands marines in each along with their equipment and supplies. They also had an escort of 4 Gunstars and half a dozen Firestars as well as 2 Tylium tanker ships for refueling. The General was just contemplating what to do when Corporal Henderson reported that they had received updated messages from the colonies as the Cylons had reduced their Jamming of fleet communications.

General Ferguson was going through the reports when he finally got to the last few that confirmed the destruction of over 90% of the colonial fleet and commander Adama's assuming command. He also looked over the reports of the attacks on the colonies and the systematic destruction of each major city on every colony.

He processed what he had learned and decided that the best course of action would be to meet up with Adama and organize operations to save as many as they can from the colonies and to hit back when they can without risking taking any more substantial losses.

The General Walked to the display table to look over some charts before issuing orders. "Comms i want a message sent to Gunstar Trinity asking them to launch Raptors to scout ahead of us on our way to Ragnar anchorage with all due haste. They are to remain undetected and are to avoid confrontation at all costs." He then turned to the helmsman. "When the all clear comes from the scout raptors i want a FTL jump planned and ready to execute without delay."

The General then started issuing orders to ready his men for what they are likely to face going forward and to organize a officers briefing to fill them in on what has happened to their homes.

Battlestar Rycon - Ragnar Station - 6 Hours Into Attack

Leo was currently in the command center of Ragnar station as with the updates and improvements Leo's techs had done to it leading up to the attack it could no longer be called an anchorage as it is so much more now with the improved jump drives and the only Fission generator Leo has allowed the colonies to have.

Lt Chandler stepped into the room and approached Leo and said. "Sir the required people you requested are currently gathered in the conference room as ordered sir."

Leo nodded and was about to leave when the raptor stationed at the entrance tunnel reported in. "Sir we have comms relay from the raptor two-two. They have forwarded messages from the last 4 hours including confirmation that the colonies have been attacked with nukes." The comms officer stopped all of a sudden and then exclaimed. "MY GOD, The fleet is gone sir, Admiral Corman has been radio silent since Picon HQ was nuked and Admiral Nagala gathered what he could above Virgon. The report stated he had upwards of 40 Battlestars and a number of other ships and was facing an enemy force with more than twice as many ships but was destroyed after inflicting severe losses on the Cylon fleet."

Leo processed this as he wasn't shocked as he knew this had to happen but he was still upset at how many people had to die and he mourned the loss of Admiral Nagala as both a friend and distant relation. "Anything else on the status of any remaining forces."

Lt Chandler continued reporting. "Yes, Sir. I have reports of several ships that did not make the battle above Virgon and are looking for places to lay low. Several have sent out distress calls due to being disabled and badly damaged. Lastly Commander Adama has sent a message out that he is taking command of the fleet in absence of any other commanding admiral and is making his way here to re-arm and re-group. Also Civilian comms are rather chaotic but we did receive a delayed case Orange and then a confirmation of the Secretary of Education being sworn in as president of the colonies and are attempting to gather as many civilian ships as possible."

Once Lt Chandler had finished, those around the command center were silent with both worry at what the future holds and relief that their immediate families have survived thanks to their Admiral's generosity of inviting their families to celebrate Armistice day with them while deployed.

"Lt, Let me know the moment the Galactica arrives and keep track of any more friendly contacts in the immediate area. Also tell the Rycon to send a raptor to where the new president's signal originated and have them guide the ships back here and tell them that they are to pack the jump capable ships like sardines if necessary to get as many of the survivors here as possible." Leo ordered the Lt as he left the command center to meet with the higher ranking officers of his fleet's ships.

Conference Room - Ragnar Station

Leo walked into the conference room and all the chatter stopped as the colonial officers present stood at attention and saluted. Leo saluted back and then said. "Ok people we have a lot to go through and not a lot of time to do so, so we will do away with the formalities so please sit and give me your undivided attention while i fill you in on where we stand."

The gathered men and women walked up to and sat around the large conference table and waited for Leo to start. "First off the enemy we are fighting are Cylons and by assessing what reports that have been received we have concluded that they have been planning this attack for years, maybe even decades." He waited for the room to quieten down after the reactions from learning who the enemy was. "Now we have confirmed that the Cylons have infiltrated the highest levels of the government and have used a back door in the CNP program to disable or sabotage the fleets ships so the moment you return to your ships i want all copies of the CNP purge from every computer on your ships and to return to the previous navigation program."

Again the room was awash with loud curses and exclamations as people couldn't believe that they had been so thoroughly infiltrated and played by an enemy they thought gone. "Sir, how did they infiltrate us as there is no way we wouldn't have noticed a robot or android and I don't think anyone would be willing to collaborate to the possible end of humanity?"

Leo thanked this officer in his thoughts as it was exactly the question he hoped someone would ask. "Well that is the question so effective immediately we will be setting up a database where every survivor encountered will be quarantined until they have had their DNA and picture compared with a database of collected information we will be establishing in the next few days." Leo paused as let the gathered people process that. "Also all ships will have to be checked by mark one eye balls for any out of place devices and all data on latest upgrades/maintenance done by outside contractors will be double and triple checked immediately."

One of the civilian representatives decided to air his concerns. "Admiral I don't believe that is possible as some people will object purely on principle and some of the more suspect people we have in the civilian ships won't want their data collected."

Leo just smiled at him like a predator seeing its prey. "Well that's the thing i forgot to tell you, As the highest ranking Military authority currently known to have survived im declaring martial law as due to the unprovoked attack by the Cylon forces the armistice treaty has been broken and we are at War." The civilians in the room didn't like that announcement but knew they couldn't win any argument as not only were most of the ships present military but most of the civilians were those military members' families so he knew he would get no support in arguing against this decision. So he nodded and sat back down with a frown on his face and smiles from the military officers present.

Leo then went over his mental checklist to see where he had got to and then continued. "OK let's get back on track, We have just finished going over reports that have now started to come through as the Cylon jamming has reduced and allowed some signals to get through. Here's what we know, All the colonies have been nuked and by early reports all major cities have been reduced to husks of what they once were, The fleet had been reduced to what ships we have here and a couple dozen others spread out all over colonial space trying to survive Cylon attempts to hunt them down."

There was utter despair radiating in the room after that information was revealed and Leo decided they needed a bit of hope so he continued. "There is a little good news though the Battlestar Galactica has survived and is on its way here at this very moment, also with the nuking of Caprica City case orange was declared and the only response received was from the Secretary of Education so as of 2 hours ago she was sworn in as the new president of the colonies and we are making all attempts at getting in contact with her and getting her and the civilian fleet she has gathered to this location as soon as possible."

So Leo spent the better part of two hours going over all the less important details such as resources and plans for the immediate future. Apart from the orders he gave at the start of the briefing he added that he wanted all ships topped off with the supplies from the station and for the civilians to remain on their ships until the database has been established and everyone checked for possible infiltrators.

Leo left the meeting with things a little more hectic but organized but it would still mean staying here for another day or two and that gave Leo the chance to find and rescue any of the other surviving ships.