Responses to Earlier Comments:

Thank you, War Sage! Years ago, in another Fic, under another name, I had someone tell me I wrote like I'm painting by numbers (If you've ever seen those art kits with the provided paint and numbered guide for what colors are used where) It wasn't flattering, but it was a good reminder for the build-up, and the occasional cliff-hanger (but not oo many...).

Thanks, Chronos1326! Resistance and guerilla warfare always have someone outside the conflict providing weapons and explosives. That couldn't happen on New Caprica so something needed to be done before the Cylons, I think. I remember Anders disbelieving that the fleet was still out there, which killed any gun-running or smuggling people out adventures. I suppose the writers did that on purpose so they didn't just grab Roslin one night.

***All comments are welcome. I'll do my best to respond***

Disclaimer: Please note: I own no part or share in the Battlestar Galactica realm, commercial or otherwise. This story is submitted for entertainment purposes only. Oh, and any similarities to people present or past are purely coincidental.

Chapter 40 - Battle over Billing's Aerodrome

"I fear I have lost something dear to me. Time will tell."

~Evvie's journal

Day 660

Stiletto

Cylons have returned

"Colonel Bricker, I have Galactica Actual on the Comm."

Galactica, Pegasus, forty or so non-combat fleet ships, and the Stiletto looked up, star-side, upon the Cyclon ambush as it unfolded above them. Four base stars with thousands of light, medium, and heavy raiders had immediate supremacy and full control of the engagement. It was not a battle. It was a rout.

"This is Bricker," said the Colonel into the handset. "Admiral?"

"Colonel Bricker," said Adama with a grave voice, " I need you to do something for me. I need you to take up a position above the Billings Aerodrome."

Bricker's eyes met Cru's and held steady. Their unspoken exchange was not missed by those around them. Cru could read a room - and he was good at reading Bricker. He didn't like the thought that crossed into his mind. That call between Adama and Bricker, and her look back at him, could only mean one thing: it was Hero Time, and Hero Time sucked.

Bricker covered the handset mic. "Richard… take us down to Billings."

Bricker never called Cru "Richard" in front of the crew - that intimacy was universally reserved for moments when protocol seemed without meaning. Spoken aloud now, his first name held the weight of finality, like a step toward death. She gestured to the planet below. "Full burn. Prep us for battle."

The Stiletto's bridge buzzed with frantic energy. The full crew had rushed to their stations followed by the blast doors throughout the ship slamming shut and ratcheting into place. The small warship stood on the brink, primed and ready. Targets filled the scopes - too many to count.

"Yes, Ma'am," said Cru. He turned to the others jumping to their posts and began calling the Stiletto to war.

~~~~~~/~~~~~~

Minutes Later

Escape Coordinates Delta

The Bree's Twin creaked and groaned as it dropped out of the FTL jump. The ship was old. Her steel skeletal frame wasn't as rigid as it had once been.

"Stand down from the jump," called Evvie to John and Devina. "Prep for the next jump. I'll run new numbers while we wait."

"Standing down from the jump," repeated Devina.

"Prepping for the next jump," called John.

The Cylons had brought a massive force to New Caprica. There was no resisting it. Galactica called for an immediate jump for any vessel that could do so. There was no other choice.

"Where's the Stiletto?" asked Evvie. She craned to see out the window where they last saw the warship.

"They are not here," said Devina.

"It'll be here," said John. "I promise." It was a hollow statement. Cru was aboard the Stiletto, maybe in a life-and-death battle with the Cylons. John could not know if he lived or not.

Evvie started calculating new jump coordinates. Galactica controlled the master jump lists for the fleet, but she always had another set ready, just in case something grievous happened.

"Edina, Argo Navis, Carina…?" said Evvie as she punched away at the keys.

"They're here," replied Devina. "So is the Coba. We're missing the Virgon Express-"

"The Virgon Express is down on the planet," said Evvie.

"Okay," said Devina. "Okay. We're also missing the Hexare and the Thera Sita, but the Faru Sadin and the Monarch are here."

"Where was the Hexare?" said Evvie. She finished the first set of numbers at speed. Nine more to go.

"They were low orbit, way below us."

"And the Thera Sita?"

"I'm sorry Ma'am. I do not remember. Aft I think. They took on water earlier in the day. I don't think they were back in place."

"That's okay, Devina," said Evvie after a moment. "Please keep an eye out for them".

"Yes, Ma'am."

Evvie nodded as she churned out more of the jump coordinates.

The ships formed the small group known as "The Coalition". It was larger than in the past, with several captains having joined. They were trade partners and fellow crop-growers and were populated by many who opposed the Baltar Government and Zarek's hired thugs.

Four minutes passed. It was an eternity. Without warning, other ships arrived.

The Hexare and the Thera Sita arrived. The Virgon Express did not.

More than a dozen other ships arrived, including the Gemenon Traveler, Zephyr, and the Chrion.

The Pegasus arrived.

The Galactica arrived.

The Stiletto did not.

"John, get on the comm with Galactica," said Evvie quietly with a sense of contained panic. "Find out where the Stiletto is."

"Will do," said John.

"Devina, send a note out to the others - ask about the Virgon Express and the Stiletto. What did they see?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Evvie drummed her fingers on the console.

"The Virgon Express knew we stayed warm, always, even landed," said Evvie with a note of pained frustration. She spoke out to everyone present but she was facing Devina. "That was the deal. They were in the atmosphere, I get it, but they should have tried the jump anyway. They should have been here."

"Yes Ma'am," said Devina.

Evvie shook her head. "I'm sorry, Devina. I'm not…, I didn't…"

"It's all good, Ma'am," Devina replied. She reached up and rubbed Evvie's shoulder. "Cru will show. He's a man. A fair many of them aren't known for their punctuality when us women want them around."

"That can be true," said Evvie, "but this one is."

"Yeah…"

~~~~~/~~~~~

Stiletto

War

The Stiletto had been ordered to cover any ships attempting to lift off from the surface. Cru ran a full burn all the way down, through the atmo like a fireball. They arrived above the New Caprica settlement, just minutes ahead of the Cylons.

Some four hundred feet below them, eighteen ships sat in three lines of six. Billing's Aerodrome was a huge flat expanse where colonial ships landed, served as housing, or fell into disuse. Now, several were warming up and coming to life with swarms of people scrambling over from the tent neighborhoods. Other ships showed no signs of activity, and might never again.

The Cylons came in a horde but they did not attack - not right away. They surrounded and circled the Stiletto, the Aerodrome, and the New Caprica settlement. They flew overhead and landed centurion troops around the perimeters, but always at a cautious distance. That was, until the Kimba Huta, which was the cold storage supply ship, rose from its mooring, cleared the other ships, and jumped away. Then - then they swarmed the Stiletto and the ships below it.

"Bring us about and set up on firing vector 4-Tango-Bravo," said Bricker. "Stay fluid. It'll come fast when we engage."

Colonel Bricker stood tall against a heavily one-sided onslaught.

"Give me eight-by-eight on Trel-neck, all sides, load for suppression fire. Be ready with missiles."

Her voice was resolute. Her orders were indisputable.

"Make ready for cover fire as the civilian vessels depart - nothing gets through to them. Understood?"

"Understood," said Cru.

The Stiletto lit up the sky like a brilliant umbrella of tracer rounds, smoke, and flames. Beneath the warship, the Rising Star, Striker, and Cybel all cleared their berths and were jumping away.

"Helm, cut it closer," called Bricker. "Cru, get us lower so they can't get under us. Engage with eight through fourteen.

Bricker commanded a heaving bridge. She and the Stiletto had defied the Cylons. The punishment for her insolence was swift, grievous, and crippling in effect. It was impossible to stop all the incoming attacks. The Stiletto was struck again and again. Stabilizers were out. Compensators were cherry-red from their effort and burning in their insulators. The Stiletto took a brutal pounding. It bucked and pitched and little else but the pluck of Helm-Master Lieutenant Peter Fremont kept her upright and flying.

"Yes, Ma'am," called Cru. "Fremont, drop us down to two hundred feet, switch to Defense Position Papa-Foxtrot." He turned in place. "Comm, give me firing solution vector 6-Lima-Bravo. Keep T-T-8 clear for the bird's coming up."

The Demetrius was lifting off in a cloud of dust. It was the fifth of only five ships to do so.

"Make it double full spread, quick-like," added Bricker as she scanned the approaches on the full-spectrum DRADIS, "six-by, with whatever is left. Target the heavy raiders with priority. And, dammit, someone clear this smoke from my bridge."

Five ships - that was it. Only five would clear the staging flat where they had been parked for more than a year. Only five would re-join the fleet as it fled, yet again, from the Cylon wrath.

Most of the landed ships were still cold with no engine preps running, with their hatches wide open, and with people running about. Desperate cries for rescue filled the comm.

Bricker called on the Galactica and the Pegasus. She needed help. She needed more time. Instead, she was ordered to jump away with whatever she could.

Moments later, the Stiletto was the only warship left against the Cylons. The Galactica, the Pegasus, and all the ships in orbit were forced to abandon New Caprica or face destruction.

The Cylons sought to capture the remaining colonials, but the Stiletto was in their way. It was targeted again and again by Cylon ship-to-ship ordnance. Too many missiles to fend off. Too many struck home. The Stiletto was wounded, a gaping hole, low on the port side, exposed critical inner systems.

Boom!

The Stiletto took a heavy hit - it was a ship-killer missile - the first one to get through. The missile delivered the kind of impact that blows things into thousands of little pieces. It was another wounding, but the small Sloop-of-war was armored for heavyweight trading of punches. The ship rocked and swung back to its angled position of defense, keeping the gaping hole in its flank down and away from further damage.

"Can't let 'em through people," said Bricker. "Tighten it up."

"Ma'am, gun batteries C and D are out of ammo and B is disabled," called Spec Sargeant Dobbs. He was watching shipwide statuses. "We've got forty seconds of cover fire from A., that's all."

Bricker took a moment in thought before responding.

"Orders, Ma'am?" said Cru.

Bricker frowned as she scanned the enemy-filled DRADIS. There were more and more Cylons filling into the sector, dozens of missiles were inbound, and no other civilian ships, below them, showed signs of getting underway.

"Rig for starburst concealment and make ready to run, " called Bricker. "The end of the end has arrived - again. We can do no more here."

"Yes ma'am."

Cru's response was a mere moment out of his mouth when the ship was struck again. Hard.

Boom!

The Stiletto lurched again and settled to a heavy list, unable to right itself. Catastrophic failures cascaded throughout the ship.

"FTL is down," called Dobbs. He was the first to know just how frakked they were.

"That's why we have two of them," called Cru. "Bring secondary online - make it hot, people."

"I'm losing Number Two engine," called Fremont. "I cannot keep it online."

"Compensate," called Bricker. "Triangulate thrust and use maneuvering to balance. Keep us flying for a little longer, Mr. Fremont."

Boom! Another hit.

The Stiletto dropped from the sky, sputtering, and belching flames.

End of Chapter 40

Author notes:

A coin toss decided the next chapter.

I started framing out a boxing match between Cru and a big Construction Battalion (CB) serviceman, but it wasn't working out. The narrative was still on Evvie, and the Cylons were coming. It seemed clunky to try pushing it in.