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Three – Taking Stock

The Massena emerged from the jump into the Aeolus Asteroid belt which was clear of Cylon presence.  Captain Matthew Boyle glanced around “full scan.”

“We’re alone Captain, no Cylon signals in the area.”

“Colonial?”

“None, both known mining complexes have been destroyed all we’re reading is wreckage.”  Victoria Kryvych said

“You’d have thought they would have missed some of it” Boyle said disappointed “it’s fine, disappointing but fine, we need to plan our next move.”

Two hours later Boyle was sat in the ship’s crew mess along with several of the senior representatives in the crew.  “We’re succeeding” he said quietly “we are making a difference, we saved seventy-two people from Kronos, but as time goes on we’re to struggle with food and space.  The Massena can only carry so many people” he said plainly turning to his chief engineer.

“We took a couple of strafing hits from the Cylon fighters” Morena Harold said “but the armour kept it out unfortunately if the Cylons break through with one of their capital missiles it’s going to make a mess.”  She said “we also don’t have enough space to grow food or the seeds needed if we could.”

“My people may be able to help with that” a dark skinned bald man said speaking up he was the senior surviving scientist from Kronos and had a deep but pleasant sounding voice.  “We’ve been made quite comfortable so far Captain, I appreciate your efforts and the efforts of Major Sinclair and his men” he said glancing at the marine commander they’d lost several men fighting the Centurions.  “However, we think that we could be of more use by cutting three of the quarters into one turning it into a research lab with hydroponics facilities.”

“Agreed” Boyle said after a moment glancing at Morena Harold who nodded “work with the engineers, we’ll convert what we can without compromising ship integrity.”

“We’re also going to run into fuel troubles” Harold said adding another part “with Massena, the Vipers, Raptors and AscentPods all being used we’re going to be going through fuel quickly.  Even with Galactica topping off our tanks before she left we’ve got a finite supply.

“Understood, we’re going to work on replenishing the fuel and ammunition.”  Boyle added turning to Lt Isabelle Rhodes “sorry for your loss Lt Rhodes”

“Thank you, sir” she replied by the redness of her eyes he could tell she’d been crying recently “Cooper was a good stick he’ll be missed.  His loss does add to our CAP coverage Captain, even with the Hunter and Raptors as backup more Cylons will get through in open combat.”

“Which is why it’s time for us to try and combat all these problems at once.”  Boyle said “there’s little in the way of a chance of finding more survivors here.” He said looking around the table “instead we’re going to jump in the morning to Helios Alpha.”

“Fleet Headquarters?”  Sinclair demanded in orbit around Picon was the Colonial Fleet’s main headquarters complex a place that had been hit with several dozen nuclear weapons during the opening assaults. “Captain, with respect that place got hit hard by the Cylons, there isn’t going to be survivors there.”

“No” Boyle admitted “likely not but we’ll find fuel, ammunition and possibly further small craft” he said.

“Picking the bones…” Rhodes said he knew he’d find the worse reactions from them two.  “Perhaps we should jump into the deep reach of the system, we’ll avoid the main battle sites.”

“Good idea, maybe near Zeus, slip into the moon complex that should provide us some cover.”  Boyle suggested.

“Same trick you played at Hestia, probably not the best plan Captain the Cylons aren’t stupid.”  Dr Simon Tellar suggested “perhaps instead Persephone” he suggested naming the dwarf planet in the Helios Alpha system.

“Persephone is off the beaten track” Morena Harold noted

“Exactly somewhere the Cylons wouldn’t be looking initially.  Perhaps send a Raptor in then Massena could follow.”  Tellar suggested around the room there were several nods from other people.

Several hours later the Raptor had been deployed from Massena and ordered to jump to the Helios Alpha station the ship soon returned from Persephone with a message for the Boyle.  “Saladin to Massena important message.”  The female Raptor pilot said seeing their mothership.

“Go Saladin” Boyle returned from the bridge

“Sir, we’ve found survivors near Persephone three ships, they’re under attack by Cylon forces.  One of them is an Adamant-class Frigate.”  She said naming an ancient Colonial ship dating back to the first Cylon War.

“Prepare to jump” Boyle commanded immediately a chance to save another fleet ship was too much to let go. “Saladin, complete jump yourself and take up a SAR role when in theatre.”

“Affirmative” Saladin replied

The Massena and the Raptor jumped into the space near Persephone near the battle site and launched its Vipers and the Hunter immediately.  “Massena to Colonial unit’s we’re heading to assist you.”  He said seeing the small Adamant-class Frigate and a group of Vipers defending two civilian ships one was a civilian heavy transport which looked like it was in its passenger configuration with blue-and-white livery and the other was a strange black coloured vessel which appeared to be a long rectangle in shape with a square engine section at the back and a small control section on the top of the hull.  Around them were nearly a dozen Cylon raiders all trying to take down the defending Vipers even as the Massena approached two Vipers were shot down by Cylon units.

“Keep it close and tidy people” Isabelle “Cassiopeia” Rhodes said to her fighters “Hunter you follow us with the first pass and then move into close proximity of the transports, you’re their escort.  Everyone else we keep as many of those pilots alive and keep the Cylons busy.”  She ordered the six craft shot through the gap rapidly moving through the Cylon formation cutting down nearly half of the Cylons.  Behind the pass the Hunter moved into close proximity with the transports assuming an escort role while the fighters continued to dance through the area.

“Cylon Basestar!”  Victoria Kryvych shouted out as the Massena moved into the conflict area “their firing missiles.”

“Use flak munitions” Boyle ordered as the ship slipped into formation with the other three ships “coordinate fire with the Adamant.”

“There distributing jump coordinates” Jon Kamen reported

“Incoming!”  Kryvych reported as a Cylon missile got through the defensive fire striking the port side of the ship’s upper hull blowing away armour plating.  “Hull breach” she said turning to Boyle “we lost two compartments doors holding but we lost people.”

“Accept the coordinates”

“Adamant identifies as the Agosta”

“That’s a frakking museum!”  Boyle said looking at his own screen “what is it with those things?”  He wondered thinking of the Galactica and its own status before the Cylon attacks.

“Yes, sir, somewhere they’ve found a crew and munitions, they’ve got too many Vipers for their bays and are requesting permission to land ships in our bay.”

“Granted” Boyle said as the ship was rocked by another hit or close miss “Boyle to Sinclair”

“Go ahead” Sinclair said from below the ship’s desks.

“We’re going to have more Vipers joining us.  I’d like some of your marines to be present to see what we’ve got and make sure there’s no issues between our pilots and the newcomers.”  He explained the marines were not police units but from one military unit to another they should be able to keep order at least.

“Affirmative Captain, we’ll get the job done” he as Massena took another missile strike to its hull “if there’s a ship left for us!”

“We’re working on it.”

“Coordinates check out” Kryvych called out “Civilian ships jumping away.”  She said as the two civilian craft jumped clear.

“Recall the Hunter, have the Raptors jump to with the civilian ships.  Recall all Vipers, communicate with Agosta as soon as she’s ready to jump we go too” he ordered as the Massena took another missile impact on its hull.  Were the Massena a civilian craft she’d have split in two the ship’s military transport lineage was showing through as it weathered the impacts but she wasn’t built for this.  The Agosta had taken hits as well and that ship’s age was showing as well from Boyle’s monitor he could see the ship was sagging slightly to port as its thrusters struggled to keep it going.  Quite a motley fleet they were forming.

“Vipers aboard, Agosta ready to go.”

“Get us the hell out of here, Jump!”  Boyle ordered the FTL spun up and within a couple of moments the ship jumped clear of the area arriving in another area of space.  “Report where are we?”  Boyle asked his ship was fairly becoming a military craft with him barking orders, he didn’t think he liked it much.

“We’re in dead space.  Agosta, our Raptors and both transports are present.” Kryvych said looking at her readings “We’re close to a rogue asteroid” she said continuing as the DRADIS cleared up.  Rogue asteroids were dangerous purely because they occupied a piece of space where there should be nothing “there’s another ship approaching it’s a Manticore Customs Cutter.”  She said glancing over at Boyle “they came out of that asteroid.”  She said as the small craft arced around them and took up position alongside them before accelerating forwards guiding them back towards the asteroid.

“What is this place?”

Five - The Massena

Survivor Count: 3,848

Secondary explosions continued to rip through the Massena’s hull as the ship’s structure buckled and broke under the damage the explosion had caused.  On the command deck Colonel Matthew Boyle looked around the bridge to see many of the crew nursing bumps and bruises but looking mostly intact.  “What happened?”  He struggled out feeling the ship rock heavily.

“Massive explosive damage to port hull.”  Victoria Kryvych said from his right-hand side she hadn’t taken her eyes off her systems.

“Did we hit something?”  He asked wondering if they’d struck some unexploded munitions.

“Unknown… running analysis” she said she was silent for several moments she stopped doing anything but was staring at the screen.

“Victoria” Boyle said speaking her name to try and get a response.

“Colonel” she said looking over her shoulder “sir, the explosion occurred inside our hull it blew through our port side and engineering section.”  She said Boyle immediately reached for his communication microphone.

“Engineering respond.”  He said “engineering this is bridge someone answer.”

“Captain, this is Engineer’s Mate Toby Onwumere” the Engineer said forgetting his Captain’s increased rank.  “The Chief’s dead, there’s so many dead down here, we’ve got a hull breach down here we need to evacuate.”  He struggled out

“Get out now, Engineer” Boyle ordered “Boyle to Sinclair, Major if you can hear me, I need some of your people down to engineering now they’ve got casualties down there.”

“We’re on our way, Colonel, do you know what happened?”

“Some sort of internal explosion we’re still working on it.”  Boyle responded switching the channel “Captain Rhodes, I need a Raptor to jump back to the asteroid and tell them what’s happened.  We’re going to need support.”  He said turning back to the sensors station “Victoria, anything else?”

“The initial explosion originated in the science quarters… another explosion blew up a couple of seconds later in the sections directly above and below it.”  She said looking back

“Son of a bitch we took them in and they stab us in the back.”  Boyle snarled angrily “Sinclair, this is Boyle, get some troops to the science sector as well.  I want them all arrested and put somewhere secure until we can figure out what is going on.”  He said below decks a single Raptor launched from the vessel’s hanger bay and quickly jumped out of the area.

Within an hour the Colonial Heavy Transport which had previously been recovered jumped into the area with the Raptor escorting.  Onboard the Massena they had completed a head count and one hundred-and-six souls had been lost to the explosions which had blown through the port side of the hull.  Chief Engineer Morena Harold was among those who were dead and more damaging to their cause was that the ship’s FTL engine had been destroyed.

Several hours after the Heavy transport had arrived Matthew Boyle stood in a meeting room with his remaining senior officers.  Boyle looked around “we’ve done some research” he said and reached over to a nearby wall pressing a button it displayed a message in binary “this message was received by Dr Simon Tellar before we jumped to the asteroid.  We believe it is Cylon in origin.”  He said looking at the others who looked shocked “he’s like the head researcher at the facility appears to be a collaborator to the Cylons.”

“It’s unbelievable” Victoria Kryvych said

“Why would they?”  Captain Rhodes wondered

“I have no idea” Boyle admitted “but that is a question that will have to wait instead for now we need to concentrate on the here and now.  Major Sinclair has placed all of the remaining scientists onboard under arrest.  Several were killed by the explosion but there were several in other sections until we know their status we’re keeping them in isolation.”  He said “we’re going to evacuate as many of the injured as we can to the Colonial Transport.  We’re also going to transfer as many of the Vipers as we can to that ship and send it back to the asteroid.”  He saw their shocked looks “we have to face facts people this is probably the final flight of the Massena.”

Several hours passed and the Transport jumped away with nearly eighty casualties and fourteen of the ship’s Vipers leaving six onboard for defence.  Unable to make repairs to the jump drive the ship Boyle carried on with his plan to search the world of Picon for survivors and transports who could help evacuate the asteroid and continue the human race.

“DRADIS contact” Victoria Kryvych called out looking over at him “wreckage, Colonel, Colonial Warships” she said looking over at him “one of them is the Atlantia… what’s left of it.”  She said as the Massena continued towards the wreckage of the Battlestar Atlantia.  The once mighty flagship of the Colonial Fleet was missing the majority of its upper hull and its entire port flight pod.

“Scan it, it’s possible there are air pockets onboard her” Boyle said looking at the screens the vessel slipped past the wrecked vessel.

“We’re not detecting anything…” Kryvych said stopping mid-sentence “wait one, we have movement from the Atlantia four contacts.”

“Identify” Boyle ordered

“Four Vipers and a military shuttle” Kryvych responded after a moment as the four Vipers and shuttle approached.

“Raise them” Boyle commanded Jon Kamen nodded a moment later “this is Colonel Matthew Boyle of the Massena please respond.”

“Massena, this is Lieutenant Jonas Maliki, Colonel we’re all that’s left of the Atlantia’s Battle Group.”  He said “eighty-two souls.  Please say you can help us.”   He said as the four Viper Mk VII fighters and transport continued to rise towards them.

“Affirmative, Lieutenant, come into the bay.”  He ordered the Vipers and shuttle quickly docked with the vessel and Boyle made his way to the hanger meeting with Major Sinclair and a group of his marines.  They entered the hanger bay to find the pilots disembarking from their fighters and the passengers from the shuttle joining them.  Boyle was aware of the of Sinclair’s marines fanning out either side of him as they approached Jonas Maliki was a dark-skinned man with long hair and a well-trimmed beard.  “Welcome onboard”

“Colonel, you’re not Colonial fleet…” he said glancing either side of Boyle “Major, you and your marines are?”

“The Colonel is in charge, Lieutenant, this is his ship and he’s on a mission from the Commander of the Galactica you’ll answer to him if you want to stay onboard.”  Major Sinclair said nodding towards Boyle when he looked at him.

“Understood” Maliki said looking back at Colonel Sinclair “we’ll stay, I can vouch for those onboard we’re just glad to have found someone who can help us.  You can help us?”

“Well we can give you more of a chance than you had before” Boyle answered “unfortunately our FTL is currently in pieces so we won’t be rushing out of here.”  He explained the truth was plain to see on Maliki’s face “fortunately we’re not alone we have allies nearby who will assist us.”  He explained not going into details “for now we need to know how did you avoid the Cylon onslaught?”

“We were training nearby among the asteroids when the Cylons hit the Admiral ordered us to stay low.  We did so until they passed then we returned and began to pick up all of those that we could.”  He explained “where is the Galactica?”

“Leading a fleet of civilians away from the Twelve Colonies.”  Boyle said “we’ll hopefully meet up with them in the future if not we’ll do all we can to keep people safe.”

Hours later the Massena was a distance from the Atlantia’s wreckage still heading for Picon with no Cylon presence detected.  Boyle sat on the bridge waiting for them to find something “why are they not here?”  Boyle wondered to himself more than anything.

“Probably because they destroyed everything that was here.”  Sinclair said entering the rear of the bridge.

“How are our new guests getting on?”

“Shell shocked by what’s happened to them.  We’ve cleared the shuttle and the Vipers of the CNP navigational program and loaded older models onto them” Sinclair explained “most of the shuttle passengers are maintenance staff from the Battlestars in Atlantia’s group.  They survived due to being below decks on their ships Maliki’s people did wonders getting them off those ships onto that shuttle which has no right to still being flying.”

“This ship has no right to still being flying it’s a running trend” Boyle admitted the Massena was having near constant power issues since the explosions that had damaged the vessel when they arrived near Picon.

“How long?”

“Maybe a few more days” Boyle admitted “then we’ll have to call in the freighters and evacuate but before then we’ll get to Picon and we can see what remains of the world.”  He said

“And the shipyards?” Sinclair asked wondering about friends who may have been there with their ships when the Cylons attacked.

“In ruins” Boyle said “most of them have already fallen into Picon’s atmosphere.  The rest will follow them soon and Picon will be uninhabitable.”

“A sorry end” Sinclair said

“Along with the rest of the colonies.”

Two days later the Massena arrived near Picon above the world the shipyards continued to descend into the atmosphere heading for the planet below.  From orbit the Massena began to scan the ground looking for signs of survivors.

“Unbelievable” Will Stonagal at the weapons console said “Colonel, there’s a Heracles-class Gunship on the planet’s surface it appears to be fully intact and we’re receiving a positive reply from its FTL.  The Cylons must have classed it as a non-threat due to its age, they haven’t been in use since the early stages of the first war.”

“Show me an orbital shot” he said looking at the screen as it changed to show the long thin hull of the gunship settled in its ground-based maintenance cradle.  Boyle reached for his microphone “Major Sinclair, are you near a monitor.”

“AscentPod 3, Colonel” the Major replied through the Comm.
 
“What do you see?”

“A tempting target for any survivor, and a trap.”  He said there’s probably Cylon forces hidden all around that area waiting for you.

“But it’s the only thing we’ve seen that would make this trip worth it.”

“I agree Colonel, my people are ready when you are.”

Over the next three hours they came up with a plan and launched their attack.  From the side of the Massena all three of the marine’s AscentPods launched towards the ground followed by the ship’s complement of Vipers, Raptors and the Hunter.  Behind them the Massena descended into the atmosphere intent on landing and offloading all of its remaining passengers onto the Gunship.

From the ground concealed missile batteries opened fire on the incoming Colonial force immediately knocking one of the Vipers from the sky blowing it to pieces.  “Keep your spacing!”  Cassiopeia shouted as a second volley of missiles streaked up this one directed at the Raptor force the large ships electronic suites protecting them.  “Maliki use your speed hit them” she commanded as the AscentPods came in for a landing around the Heracles and marines charged out to attack.  From the undergrowth around the docking facility Cylon Centurions raised firing cutting down many marines immediately but their numbers couldn’t match the number of marines nor the airborne support.

“Apex to Cassiopeia, we’re coming around again” Maliki replied the four Viper Mk VIIs turned around in space blowing up another of the missile points.  From behind the Vipers and Raptors the Hunter and the Massena appeared and opened fire with their combined weapons bombarding the area around the drydock.

“Their heads are down helm put us on the deck” Boyle ordered “weapons keep firing as long as our weapons can hit them then get to your evacuation point.”

“The Marines have breached the Gunship’s hull no traps so far the Cylons were hoping their trap would hold back anyone getting too close.”

“Good news” Boyle said as the Massena touched down on the ground “right people, grab your ready bags and let’s go.  We are not coming back.”  He said looking around.  Outside Vipers and Raptors were keeping the ground forces in check cutting down the Cylons as they formed.  As soon as they were able the Massena’s crew and passengers also began to make their move from the Massena to the other ship.

As the crew ran across the broken concrete ground between the two ships the Vipers continued to strafe Cylon ground positions.  Above even them there were sonic booms as Cylon fighters entered the atmosphere.  “Apex, Cassiopia, support our ground force we’ll taken on those fighters.”  Maliki said turning his fighter with him the other three Viper Mk VII craft turned and rose through the atmosphere intent on opposing the incoming Cylons.  As they closed both sides opened fire three Cylon craft exploded under the Vipers sustained fire.  Both formations passed through each other and the four Vipers spun chasing after the still diving Cylons.  “Their intending on opposing our taking over of the Gunship.”  Apex warned as they chased after the Cylons below them the Hunter suddenly appeared all four of its turrets filling the air with concentrated fire cutting down another four Cylon craft.  “Pull up, pull up!”  Apex shouted a warning to his fighters avoiding the incoming fire “Hunter, check your fire, remember you’re with friendlies now!”  He warned as the four Vipers spun away from the incoming fire put up by the Hunter.

“Sorry Vipers this is a busy environment!”  The reply came back a moment later 

On the ground the Massena’s crew entered the Gunship and began to move through it.  “Everyone without a duty find a seat and get comfortable!”  Boyle shouted standing near one of the airlocks “security teams sweep the ship for Cylons, engineering team get this bird ready to fly, command team follow me” he ordered heading through the ship.  Everyone was armed and ready for threats but there were no threats onboard instead pressure doors opened for them and lights seemed to activate automatically.

Entering the CIC they were greeted by a round room on two levels with a situation table in the centre of the room beside the table there was a gangly thin looking man with short brown hair and stubble.  He wore a white shirt with a utility bodywarmer over the top.  He immediately put his hands up seeing Boyle’s weapon on him. “Wow, wow, wow hold your fire my name is Leoben, I’m an arms dealer and I just wanted to steal this ship!”  He said immediately “I found this thing needed a bit more than me to fly it, I’ve been waiting for you” he saw Boyle’s face twist “I mean you, anyone, who could help me get the hell out of here… please say you can.”

“We can” Boyle said his weapon not leaving him.  “Sorry, but we’ve been burned a couple of times so far so you’re not staying in here while we prepare.”  He said turning to a pair of marines who were with the command team.  “Marines escort Mr Leoben below decks we’ll deal with him later.”  He said turning back to Leoben “go with these men they’ll find you somewhere to stay until we find you quarters.”  The arms dealer looked at the marines then put down his hands and nodded his agreement leaving the command deck “lets lock it down.”  He commanded behind them the pressure doors of the CIC closed behind them.  “CIC to engineering, seal up for take-off, activate engines when you’re ready.  Rask, get us in the air.  Jon let the fighters know we’re moving we’ll still need cover since weapons aren’t manned yet.”

A few moments later the Heracles lifted off the ground and began to lift into the sky.  The ship lacked aerodynamic surfaces to lift it up through the atmosphere but the massive engine block behind the ship and thrusters below the craft were more than enough to lift it.  Around the ship the Vipers and other small craft continued to hold the Cylons at bay as they left Picon behind.

“Ok what do we have?”  Boyle asked still standing beside the situation table in the centre of the room.

“It’s one of the last models of the Heracles-class Gunship.”  Will Stonagel said looking over from the weapons control console “Thirteen heavy anti-ship cannons facing forwards and into the broadsides a further three lighter cannons covering the rear sides.  Multiple smaller weapons we’re a lot smaller but we could probably put out a flak field as thick as most Battlestars.”  He said “they’ve also added a hanger to the rear of the ship, these things weren’t built with them originally, it won’t hold all our fighters but it’s a start.”

Boyle nodded and reached for the ship’s personal announce system “This is Boyle, Chara and other hanger specialists prepare to receive our small craft at the rear of the ship.”  He said as the Gunship rose into space.  “Boyle to fighters, we’re going to open the rear hanger bay which will house some of your craft, other fighters will need to mag-clamp onto the hull and their pilots space walk into the ship via airlocks.”  He explained to the fighter craft which had formed a formation around them now that the Cylons had abandoned their pursuit for now.

Over the next hour the Hunter, the two non-jumpable Raptors and the military shuttle had docked in the hanger while the remaining seven Vipers had docked on the outside of the hull, three craft had been lost in the skies around Picon while twenty-seven more people had been lost getting to the ship.  “Jump us to the asteroid” Boyle ordered and in an instant the ship was gone appearing near their base.

“DRADIS contact, we’re being challenged it’s the Agosta and Caerphilly, they’re in for a surprise.” Jon Kamen said smirking as he looked back at his CO who was reaching for the microphone.

“Massena to Agosta, we’re friendly.”  Boyle said

“You’ve changed” came the response from the CO of the Agosta who recognised Boyle’s voice.

“Call us the Massena II, we’ll be alright for now.”

Seven - Rescue

Survivor count: 3,797

Patrick Sinclair ached in so many ways he was sat tied to a chair in a room with little features other than a glass roof.  “Where is your base Captain Boyle?”  The blonde female asked when Sinclair didn’t speak the other man punched him.  Sinclair had been shocked when he’d seen the man who was identical to the man he knew as Leoben was one of the interrogators.  He’d kept enough composure to lie to them about his identity giving the name of Captain Matthew Boyle stating his ship was the Raptor they had come in and he and his men were simply looking for food that hadn’t gone well but at least they’d believed him when he said his name was Boyle now each time they said it, it was a small victory for him each time they said the name.

“We don’t have a base you blew our civilisation to pieces!”  Sinclair snapped back “we’re looking for somewhere we’ll safe from you machines” he snarled “you took away my family, my entire world, end my frakking life why don’t you?”

“We don’t want to cause you anymore suffering” the blonde said “but we do need to know more about your people.”  She said this caused Sinclair to laugh.

“Then you shouldn’t have nuked us into oblivion for years we came to the Armistice Station and you didn’t show us.  They used to broadcast the arrival of our people on the main square’s screens yet still no interest from the Cylons.”  Sinclair snarled “for forty years we waited for you to honour the peace we’d both agreed to.  Forty frakking years.”

“You continued your military development!”  Leoben character said “You continued to probe our territory how were we to know what your intentions were.”  He said this was something that Sinclair hadn’t known but he kept that to himself anything he learned could help him in the future if he got away.

“Can you blame us?  You stopped speaking to us right after the war.  Everything went silent we couldn’t sit and wait for you to return with twice the numbers and wipe us out.  We built up a military force out of fear of you machines.”  He said angrily “and fear we should have because you never gave up on the frakking war, you were among us the whole time and we didn’t know it.”  He said.  “Just like the first war all you could think about was wiping us out.”

“We wished to control your number curb your ambitions” the blonde began.

“Frak you” Sinclair snapped followed by Leoben punching him as Sinclair’s head recoiled above them there were several flashes of light causing him to laugh.  “I’ll tell you a secret” he said looking at the blonde woman who was looking up as well. “My name isn’t Boyle, that frakker just arrived and now you’re in trouble.”

In space the fleet’s Manticore, the Caerphilly, Adamant, the Agosta, and the modified freighter all jumped into the area near Minos.  In the Caerphilly’s command deck Colonel Matthew Boyle glanced at Captain Raymie Steele “message to Agosta and Dagmar to deploy auxiliary craft.  Agosta and Hunter are to cover Dagmar and our Raptors all Vipers on us.”  He commanded the ship’s captain who nodded from the fleet’s ships twenty Vipers, six Raptors and the Hunter all launched from the ships the Raptors and Hunter diving towards the colony below.

The Raptors landed all around the facility below deploying nearly two dozen heavily armed marines while the Hunter destroyed the patrolling Cylon Raiders.  Inside the facility the marines moved rapidly taking out Centurions wherever they encountered them civilians hid trying to avoid the crossfire between the Colonial Marines and the Cylons.

With all hell breaking loose outside the camp the blonde looked at Leoben who immediately pulled a sidearm “your friends might be here but you won’t live to see them.”  He said aiming it at Sinclair’s head Sinclair closed his eyes and made peace with the Gods waiting for the impact.

“No!”  The blonde shouted knocking the weapon away sending the bullet into the wall “not now, we need to leave before the scuttling charges go off.”

“Why?” Leoben asked angrily “We will be born again.  He will be dead with a bullet.”

“Not now” she repeated “we need to evacuate” the blonde stated turning towards the door Leoben aimed the weapon at Sinclair obviously thinking of firing but instead stopped himself and the two followed the blonde out leaving Sinclair tied to the chair.  Outside the room the sound of weapons fire and movement continued for several minutes before two heavily armoured and armed soldiers charged inside.

“Colonial!”  Sinclair shouted alerting them “Major Patrick Sinclair, Colonial Fleet!”

“Good to see you are alive, sir” Lieutenant Julian Leonard said pulling down his mask.  “It’s time to get you out of here.”  He said quickly cutting Sinclair loose of the bonds that held him onto the chair

“You’re a sight for sore eyes” Sinclair replied “what’s our status?”

“Fleet ships in orbit, we’re clearing out Cylons, according to sensors there’s an increasing power load from the reactors.”

“I heard them talk of scuttling charges” Sinclair said “we need to get as many of the people here as we can onto the civilian ships that are docked beside the dome.”

“If the reactors are going up, we need to get the hell out of here!”

“Negative, we’re going to get people onto those ships.  Get a team down to the reactors I want a timeframe on what’s going on!”  Sinclair snapped “give me a wireless.”

Onboard the Caerphilly Boyle listened to Sinclair’s voice and while worried about the reactors he knew what the man planned.  “Understood we’ll keep guard as long as we can Caerphilly Actual out.”  He said turning to Captain Steele “pass to our fighters when the two freighters lift off the ground, they’re on our side.  Sinclair is trying to save a world.”

Several minutes past and the two ships were soon detected rising from the ground just as a Baseship jumped into the area and began to launch small craft.  “Baseship detected incoming raiders and missiles!”  One of the crew called out from behind the Caerphilly the Agosta and the Hunter began to fire into space creating a small flak field but almost immediately one of the missiles flew through the barrage and struck the Agosta’s upper hull leaving a crater in its hull.

“She can’t take many of those” Boyle said watching the small carrier’s course change slightly under the hit.  “Have them continue to fire until the Raptors and those freighters are ready to jump.  Take us at that Baseship.”  He commanded the Captain looked shocked at his idea.

“Sir, we can’t go toe to toe with them” Steele warned him.

“No, but we’ve a better chance than anyone else, flank speed Captain, forward gunners to target as we go the Vipers are to strike at the enemy raiders.”  Boyle ordered within moments the Corvette shot forwards with the Vipers surrounding it they’d be outgunned and the fighters outnumbered but there was nothing else they could do.  From the Baseship dozens of Raiders charged towards the Colonial Warship along with several capital missiles two of which slammed into the Caerphilly slamming into the vessel’s upper armour blowing open a hull section sending two crewmen to their deaths in space.  On the front of the Corvette the ship’s forward guns opened up sending weapons fire directly at the Baseship causing damage to one of its upper “arms.”  As the small ship approached the Baseship raiders flew down either side of the craft striking it with their fighter weapons cutting into either side of the ship despite the efforts of the Vipers which were outnumbered three to one.

The ship rocked heavily under another missile strike which blew a hole in the port side of the ship knocking Boyle off his feet scrambling back to his feet he looked at the screen.  “Captain, send them a volley of topedoes!”  He commanded

“Sir, we only have a volley!”  Steele said

“Better now than never, send them now before we can’t!”  Boyle snapped as the Caerphilly rocked heavily under another hit from the front of the Corvette under the ship’s hull ten high explosive torpedoes launched from the ship firing in a spiral pattern towards the Baseship.  Unguided the torpedoes struck out rapidly towards the enemy craft as Cylon Raiders chased after them trying to shoot them down only six made it to their target ripping into the Baseship and tearing through the armour of the ship obliterating it, the Baseship’s lack of point defence cost the ship.

“The fleet reports they are ready to jump!”

“Order the remaining Vipers to withdraw to their carriers and have the Hunter dock!”  Boyle commanded as Cylon raiders continued to attack the corvette their bullets penetrating several sections cutting through bulkheads and crewmen.

“We lose our screen we’re dead!”  Steele warned him knowing that his ship could only take so much damage already the Raiders were identifying weak points.

“The fleet needs those fighters” he said in response “send them home, turn us towards the Agosta their weapons can help defend us.”

“Agosta is taking hits as well” Steele noted seeing the Adamant was taking as many Raider strafing runs as the Caerphilly although the Cylons lacked the capital armament to finish the Colonials off quickly they still had plenty of weapons in the area.  Suddenly out of nowhere the Massena II flashed into the space beside the Caerphilly the massive Gunship dwarfing the Corvette and turning the tables on the Cylons immediately as it unleashed a flak barrage that eliminated the majority of the raiders.  The Heracles’ guns continued to fire taking out more craft as the ship rapidly flipped end over end and accelerated quickly rolling in space past the Agosta and freighters again unleashing more flak fire that tore into the remaining raiders.  “That’s some piloting” Steele remarked Colonel Boyle looked over at him and smiled in response.

“Yes, it is, Captain, take us home to the asteroid.”  He said before realising what he had said it was an uninhabitable rock in space but it was all they had and they had to make the most of it while they could.  With the Massena II covering their retreat the Caerphilly, Agosta, the Modified Freighter and the two newly acquired craft from Minos were all able to make orderly retreats before the Gunship also followed them escaping before more Cylon capital craft arrived.

Nine - Lucky 9

Survivor Count: 950

The Janus class Postal Cruiser had been on the run since the beginning and end of the Second Cylon War after being sent to rendezvous with the Battlestar Galactica to deliver more supplies for the museum that the ship would be central to following the vessel’s decommissioning.  Originally built before the First Cylon War the ship had been modified into a Special Delivery Transport intended to serve the Colonial Government’s Delivery Service under the designation Postal Cruiser 9 it was now known to the crew as the Lucky 9.  Far from it’s sleek pointed hull had been modified with four large cargo bays placed between the forward hull and the large aft engine section providing the vessel with a large capacity cargo hold.  Over its many years of service various commanders had refurbished the ships weapons turrets giving the ship some defensive firepower capable of dealing with pirates or opportunists.

The Galactica was not at the rendezvous point instead they found destroyed Viper Mk II craft and destroyed Cylon fighters without any idea where the Galactica had gone.  While there the ship had been attacked by a pair of Cylon Raiders that the Lucky 9 assumed was looking for the Galactica after surviving some strafing attacks and missile strikes the crew chose to run.  The Lucky 9 fled through Helios Alpha system and was now near one of the planetoids that resided between Helios Alpha and Gamma the ship was waiting for its FTL to charge hoping to remain hidden from the Cylons.

On the vessel’s command deck Captain Amelie Brand looked at the jump clock praying to the Gods it would go faster.  “Captain, that’s the missiles, torpedoes and drones loaded into launchers One through Three it won’t be enough to hold off a concentrated Cylon attack but it’ll give us something.  Bad news is that the long-range communications suite is completely destroyed.”  Lieutenant Levison Wood her executive officer reported as he approached the main command deck standing in the rear beside Brand the Janus command area was similar to that of the smaller Manticore compact and more like an enlarged transport aircraft’s cockpit than a military command deck.

“Understood Lieutenant, how far can we communicate?”

“Inter system and local area only.” 

“Great now we just need a little luck and for the jump clock to tick faster.”  She said glancing at it again the clock red sixteen minutes and counting.

“The Cylons can’t be everywhere.”  Wood suggested their first attacks had been overwhelming for the Colonies taking them by surprise with numbers and a first strike now with Colonial elements fighting back they had to be feeling the strain of the occupation Colonial fleet was a massive force.

“We only need them to be here.”  She said after a few moments “are the Sweepers prepared?”

“Prepared and crewed by some of the bravest men and women we have.”  He confirmed as part of their cargo the Lucky 9 had been carrying four Mark V Sweeper small craft which were going into the Galactica’s museum.  Late war models of the craft they were armed with air-to-air missiles, chaff and aft kinetic energy weapons they would had been rearmed and fuelled from the Lucky 9’s cargo bay and would be able to give the ship some sort of screen.

“Hopefully we won’t need them” Brand said the ship also had almost two Vipers onboard but they had no way to launch them and no pilots if they did.

“DRAIDIS contact!”  One of the crewmen called out “three… five… nine signatures” the young woman said looking over at Amelie Brand “eight Cylon Raiders and one bigger one designating Heavy Raider.”

“Understood” the Captain said “launch Sweepers bring our nose around to face them and slightly up I want out ventral turrets to all be able to fire at once on target.”  She said the majority of the Lucky 9’s firepower was in five ventral turrets slung under the hull with two above even in the ship’s prime the majority of its firepower was below the hull.  “Hold fire, until I give the word.”

The Janus turned in space facing the incoming Cylon threat its nose pulling up slightly further as the four Sweepers launched from the shuttle bay amidships.  The Janus was not designed to carry small craft instead relying on its speed and launched weapons as firepower.

“Shame they weren’t putting nukes into that museum this would be a short fight.  Should we use missiles?”  Wood asked

“Negative, we’re keeping those for a tougher fight.”  Brand said watching the Cylons close on her ship and watching the clock tick down.  “Open fire!”  She barked the command the ship’s weapons firing nearly as one sending a concentrated burst of fire into the Cylon formation.  The weapons fire cut down four of the Raiders and crippled the Heavy Raider sending it into a death spiral which was taking it towards the Lucky 9.  As it approached the ship two Sweepers arced around the Cruiser’s hull and a pair of air-to-air missiles finished off the ship behind the two craft two of the remaining Cylon Raiders dived after them their rear weapons engaging.

Brand watched the fight unfold from the command deck as rapidly the remaining four Raiders were cut down by the Lucky 9’s gunners and the Sweepers.  “Well done people, recover small craft” she said looking at the screens “helm, once the Sweepers are onboard jump us to Nodra if there’s no Cylon presence I want you to find us a hole we can hide in.”  Brand caught Wood’s glance “we need somewhere to catch our bearings Nodra’s out of the way enough that I’m hoping it won’t be high on the Cylon’s hit list.”

“You think Wilkes is still down there?”  Wood asked naming a smuggler that was known to the crew and known personally by the Captain.

“We’re not that lucky.”  She said as the Lucky 9 recovered its last Sweeper and jumped out of the system.

In the Helios Gamma system, they had emerged close to the moon of Nodra near Ophion.  Nodra was less than 10km wide at its largest point.  “Bring us down into that crater and prepare to go to our low power level.”  Brand ordered the Lucky 9 dropped quickly towards the tiny moon which still dwarfed the Postal Cruiser.  “Lieutenant, I want a damage control assessment of the ship and a full report from the cargo bays on their status.”  She said turning to her XO “things might have moved about in our manoeuvring I want them stowed away we don’t need to cause ourselves more damage if we have to move at speed again.”  Levison Wood nodded and quickly left the CIC.

“Weapons, I want you to prepare a drone and put it into orbit.”  She said turning to another crewmen “once it’s there I want you to try and contact Justin Wilkes he should still be residing somewhere on Nodra.”  She said looking at the DRADIS screen as the Lucky 9 lowered into one of the largest craters on Nodra.

“Firing grapples” one of the crewmen called out as the ship got closer to the surface grapples on the lower part of the hull fired burrowing into the surface, they were designed to bring the ship into close docking with large Colonial stations but the grapples worked just as well on rocky surface.  Before the ship got too close to the surface a drone fired from the underside of the ship and rocketed into orbit around the rock.

“Good orbit on drone”

“Thanks Brooke” Amelia Brand responded looking at the crewmen at weapons she has short dark hair and still wore her Colonial Postal Service Navy Overalls like many other crewmen, they’d all need to figure out who they were with their former lives gone.  Now that the ship was attached to Nodra she’d have to watch her crew’s reactions to the aftermath of the attack.  “Give me wireless contact with the drone.”

“You’re on, Captain, it might be a bit choppy because of our damaged transceiver.”

“Wilkes, you old frakker, you still hiding on this rock.”  Brand said immediately bringing shocked looks from the other crewmen around the command deck Brand smiled.

“Amy Brand is that you?”  Came a response shortly afterwards.

“Can the drone track him down?”  Brand asked her crew before replying she received a nod from the crew before she continued to speak.  “Afternoon, you old pirate.”

“I’m a smuggler, not a pirate, you know that.  How did you escape the Toasters?”

“Luck and a bit of skill” Brand said glancing around the CIC seeing a crewmen with an answer “Chaim, you got something?”

“He’s about eight kilometres away from us and several hundred feet below us.”  Allan Chaim answered from his station.

“I assume your little bunker kept you safe?”  She asked letting him know they’d tracked him down.

“The Cylons have given us a wide berth so far.”  Wilkes replied “and I’ve a few surprises waiting for them if they do decide to show up.”

“Surprises come in many forms; I think we should meet in person Wilkes.”

“Agreed, I’ll send you landing coordinates, that Cruiser won’t fit though.”  He said letting her know that he knew what she had.

“I’ll take something smaller seen you soon, Justin.”  She said ending the communications.  Allan pipe his coordinates down to the launch bay I’ll take one of the Sweepers over to see them and see what they have.”  She said turning to the exit door as Allan Chaim rose from his station catching her attention.

“Do you think you can trust these people Boss?”

“Not much choice unfortunately” Brand relied “but if it makes you feel any better, I know that old frakker better than I know some of my own family.”  She said for a moment forgetting what the Cylons had done before remembering she quickly suppressed her emotions and gave Chaim and the others a weak smile “we can trust him, he’s a crook but he’s an honest one.  When Lieutenant Wood returns inform him of my whereabouts” she said “until then you’re in charge Chaim, try not to leave without me.”  She asked him before leaving the command deck.

Soon afterwards one of the Sweepers rose from the crater that the Lucky 9 had landed in keeping low to the surface of the moon the Sweeper flew around the craters and boulders that littered Nodra’s surface.  Unlike the squat Raptors modern military vessels used the Sweepers were longer more like an atmosphere-based aircraft in the cabin Amelie Brand and the two-armed postal workers who had accompanied her as an escort sat comfortably while the four crewmen of the Sweeper did their work.  The ship had been designed almost like a system monitor vessel capable of operating for days on end without support.  While the ships assigned to the Lucky 9 didn’t have the supplies for such a duty it was nice to know they had that capability should she need them to do it.  The Sweeper skimmed the surface until reaching a deep crevasse turning its nose to face the opposite direction the crew expertly cut the ship’s speed before slowly beginning to lower the craft into the cavern.  Rising from her chair Amelie Brand was more than a little shocked to see two small freighters parked inside the moon and what appeared to be an old mining station which looked like it had been built directly into the surface of the moon.

A large mouth like opening began to open in front of them allowing the Sweeper to enter as it did the small ship flew over eight pristine looking Viper Mk VII, 2 Assault Raptors, several regular Raptors, several non-FTL shuttles and a larger craft three times the size of a Colonial Raptor it had a thin main fuselage with two bulbous turrets either side of the forward hull and another at the rear between the twin engine nacelles.  “Quite a fleet” Amelia Brand noted looking down at the ships seeing a landing zone as behind them the doors closed and the bay began to re-pressurize. From an airlock a small detachment entered the airlock Amelia Brand turned away from the cockpit and stepped towards the hatch to exit the Sweeper opening the door which opened towards the roof allowing her to leave.

Stepping out of the craft she stepped down onto the landing pad with the armed guards following her.  “Wilkes good to see you” she said walking up to the older man “quite a fleet you’ve built for yourself.”  She said embracing him in a hug.

“It’s been a while; how did you end up in charge of a Post ship?  And how did you avoid the Cylons?”  He asked as she pulled away.

“I had to find a normal life” she said shrugging slightly seeing Wilkes face “you know one that was more legal.”  She said raising her eyebrows to emphasize her point “we’ve fought the Cylons a couple of times.”

“How did they not infect your systems?”  Wilkes asked he saw Brand’s confusion “when the Cylons attacked they didn’t just attack with overwhelming force they also invaded the Colonial Fleet’s computer systems shutting down the majority of the modern Colonial fleet destroying them.”  He said seeing her shock “the only ships that have not been destroyed this way are those that are really old.”

“The Lucky is old, probably one of the oldest commissioned ships” Brand admitted “what has the Colonial Government’s response been?”  She asked Wilkes laughed “what’s funny about this?”

“The Government’s gone.  Galactica’s commander took command of the fleet and broadcast on all channels the Battlestar and the civilians with them escaped a Cylon trap at Ragnar.  We don’t know where they are.”  Wilkes explained Brand rocked on her heels the Lucky 9 had missed so much while their communication’s suite had been destroyed in the initial Cylon encounter.

“What’s the response been… what are we doing about it?”

“No-one’s doing anything there is no coordinated response or government and no fleet, we’re all doing all we can to survive. I’ve got two hundred people crammed into this rock, normally there’s ninety people here but we couldn’t leave people down there on those nuked colonies.”

“Justin Wilkes humanitarian who’d have thought?” Amelia Brand said staring into space.

“Amy Brand Post-Girl who’d have thought?”  Wilkes pushed back snapping Amelia out of her trance for a moment.

“I see you’ve still got the Hunter?”  She said indicating to the heavily armed small craft nearby distracting herself for a moment looking at the ship thinking about their present situation.

“That thing?” He said looking at it smirking “the product of our previous life Amy... there cannot be many of them still flying.”  He said wistfully remembering their past “The bane of Colonial fleet.”  He said “we made them pay didn’t we…”

“Yes, we did… not as much as some.”  Brand replied coming back into reality “It’s all in the past a nice memento” she said turning back towards him “assuming you don’t plan to turn us away, what do we do next?”

“We be the bane of the Cylon Fleet and we make them pay for what they’ve done.”  Wilkes replied looking over at Brand “it’s time we got our revenge.”

TL;DR (for now) I will read this in detail when I have more time.

Two years later

Following the disaster, the Rising Tide of Change had all but scattered with all but a handful of crewmen on the Freighter and crew for the two remaining Hunters remaining.  Amy Brand’s Hunter which had been badly damaged during the battle had been stripped for parts further reducing their resources.  With reduced firepower and options, they had abandoned Helios Gamma completely and moved to a more legitimate trade of protecting freighters in the Helios Beta system near the gas giant of Hera and its twenty-nine moons.

During this time, they had modified their Hunters and Mother to fit more in with the local traffic and tried to avoid major confrontations with Colonial Fleet instead playing the part of legitimate traders.  They’d painted the name Descubierta on Mother’s side and falsified registration papers on Virgon for the ship.  They’d taken regular freight jobs, courier jobs and even transported a cargo of livestock from one moon to another.  When they did need to deploy the Hunters more often than not Matthew Boyle found himself paired with Amy Brand in one of the remaining Hunters with had given them plenty of time to get to know each other.  One thing had led to another, and another, and they’d started a physical fling giving each of them a release from the pressures and sometimes from the boredom.

Lying in bed onboard their Freighter Boyle felt Brand move her head on his arm “morning” he said looking at her “how you doing?”

“I could do with a few hours more sleep.”  She admitted “what do you think of Wilkes plan?”  She asked Wilkes had briefed them the night before that their current line of jobs was barely covering the freighter’s running costs and that the only option, he saw was to go back to pirating making the most of the traffic around Hera while they could.  He’d never been a huge fan of their freight running practices and had always wanted to take on edgier deals but the crew had more often than not argued otherwise.

“It’s not a great one.”  She admitted she’d gotten used to helping people and she liked the lack of trouble they’d been in since arriving at Hera even if it didn’t bring in much cash.

“What do you want to do about it?”  He asked continuing to push as she shifted on his arm trying to go back to sleep.

“There’s not much we can do the freighter is jump capable the Hunters are not.”  She said while it was possible to travel between planets without an FTL it was a lot less efficient and time consuming.  The Hunter probably had the range but with a full crew it would be uncomfortable going too far.

“I had an idea.”  He admitted he’d been up most of the night coming up with the plan but it would take her help to pull it off.  “Victoria, Chara and Holden are with us.  We take a Hunter and we go let Wilkes cause trouble for himself, we go and make our own lives.”  He suggested essentially breaking up the group.

“You get your freighter?”  She asked smirking he knew that wasn’t the life she wanted but he knew it had to be better than working for Wilkes and becoming a pirate again, be his own boss.

“We’ll see” he said “we’re going to have to cause a little hassle for Wilkes to give us a head start, destroy the FTL leave him stranded here.”  He proposed he’d figured out where they’d need to hit the ship to make a difference.

“We’ll be going at sub-light he could easily follow us.”  She pointed out, at sub-FTL speeds there wouldn’t be much between them.

“Not if junction box 42 encounters an accident before we launch.”  He said she shot him a look Box 42 was one of the main switches on the entire ship everything including life support was patched in through that section.  “It won’t leave them stranded, or dead unless they decide not to fix it, but it will give us the time to get the frak out of here.”  He said hitting the box would cripple the ship but not immediately kill anyone it was an option.

“I’m in”

Chapter 13 - Revelations

In space the Hunter hovered in space between the Agosta and Lucky 9 Matthew Boyle stunned at the voices he’d heard over the wireless.  He’d known that Justin Wilkes and Amelia Brand were both still around before the Cylon attacks that Amy had gone straight and joined the Colonial Post Service while Wilkes ran a collection point for smugglers but had stopped the raids against Colonial military units but he hadn’t heard they were together nor that they’d survived the Holocaust had struck the Colonial people.

He reached for the weapons control but before he could do anything two civilian freighters arrived taking up flanking positions to the Postal Cruiser one of them was clearly armed with anti-ship missiles together with the postal ship Boyle was sure they’d outgun the Lucky 9.  “Boyle, surrender we’ve got you outgunned come on board we need to speak face-to-face.”

“Negative, I haven’t got time for your games Wilkes” he snapped back “Listen to me, I’ve taken responsibility for survivors over four thousand of them I won’t waste time while their defence is here.”

On board the Lucky 9 Brand glanced angrily at Wilkes “you don’t run this ship, I let you onboard with the agreement that this was my ship.”

“And now my ships have arrived too” he pointed out, “my guns could take them out as well.”

“Boyle claims to have other ships out there” Brand said looking over at the DRADIS screen readings “DRADIS seems to indicate other ships jumped out.  We are looking to save our species Wilkes maybe we should listen to him.”

“You trust him?”  Wilkes asked “after all these years a lot has changed.”

“I trusted him when we decided to betray you and make our own paths” she said honestly looking at him “Boyle was the one who wanted to minimise casualties and end what we were doing.”

“He kept the Hunter and by the looks of it stole a museum piece.”  Wilkes said noting the Hunter, a craft he had helped design and that Brand and Boyle had stolen was still armed and that the Adamant was also armed.

“And I restored the guns on the Lucky 9 far from Colonial Fleet assets it was hardly the peaceful paradise the Quorum claimed it was.”  Brand reminded him as the wireless activated again.

“You know the Cylons know we’re here, they’ll probably send more units to check on the ones we took out, we need to get out of here and get back to defend our people.  I’m docking the Hunter on the Agosta shoot if you want, but we’re getting the frak out of here while we can.”  He said Brand and Wilkes watched the screen as the Hunter’s signal began to move until it merged with the larger craft.

“Make a decision” Brand said to Wilkes.

“It’s your ship” Wilkes said continuing to watch the DRADIS.

“Make ready for a jump, pass to both freighters they are coming with us.”  Brand said “give me direct contact with Boyle.”  She ordered “Lucky 9 Actual to Boyle transmit your jump coordinates we’re willing to accompany you for the good of our race.”

“Understood, transmitting jump coordinates, be warned there are multiple civilian vessels at this location do not open fire unless we confirm Cylon targets are present.”  Boyle ordered

“We will be careful” Brand replied over the wireless, “all weapons to safe mode, confirm Adironack’s missiles are also in safe mode” she commanded Wilkes who nodded raising his own wireless to speak to the armed freighter he nodded to Brand that they were ready.  “Standing by” Brand said contacting Boyle.

“Jump in three, two, one” Boyle counted down and then the Adamant and attached Hunter jumped clear, a moment later the Lucky 9, Adironack and the other freighter all jumped to the survivor fleet.

Survivor Fleet
Survivor Count: 5,900

As they emerged from the jump the DRADIS onboard Lucky 9 suddenly detected ten additional capital sized contacts over the Lucky 9, her two freighters and the Adamant and multiple small craft.  The largest among them was a Heracles-class Gunship which had its weapons aimed at the Lucky 9.  “Massena Actual to Lucky 9, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stand-down now.”  Boyle said as the Hunter detached from the Adamant and began to head towards the Heracles-class vessel Brand and Wilkes looked at each other their mouths slightly apart in surprise.  “Amelia, Justin I want to see you both onboard the Massena II as soon as possible.”

Soon afterwards Brand and Wilkes arrived onboard the Heracles to be met by several armed marines.  From there they were taken to an interrogation suite where they were asked to sit and wait until Boyle arrived.  “Welcome to the fleet” he said looking at them sat at the single metal table in the room.

“Thank you, Commander?”  Brand said looking up at Boyle he was older a little grey showing in his jet-black hair unlike the rank he currently wore he wore a standard dark green jumpsuit which you’d see on a civilian ship.

“A long story” he admitted with a smirk “to say the least the Massena’s crew have found plenty of other survivors and their ships.”

“This is the Massena?”  Wilkes asked astonished “not the freighter I’d heard you were running around in.”

“This is the Massena II” Boyle explained “my original ship was lost in battle with the Cylons.  Now to you two how did we get here?”

“We’re trying to survive, strength in numbers” Brand explained “we’ve been on the run…” she began to explain.  Outside the Massena II’s CIC was directing the Lucky 9 and her accompanying freighters to their positions within the fleet.  As the three ships began to move into the fleet Centurions activated from the hulls of the ships and began burning towards the ships of the fleet.

In the CIC Massena XO Will Stonagal jumped to action on detecting the Centurions “Set Battle Stations, have the Vipers that are out there target the Centurions that are in flight and launch alert fiighters!”  He commanded rapidly issuing orders grabbing one of the microphones attached to the CIC’s central table keying “CIC to Boyle, Contact CIC immediately!”  He snapped as the Centurions continued on their paths to the civilian ships and towards the Massena II.

In interrogation Boyle heard the call from Stonagal and grabbed the phone on the wall listening to his XO’s explanation to what was going on.  “Have the Vipers and our point defence guns target the Cylons even at the expense of ourselves, pass to the crew break out arms we’ll need to defend ourselves.”  He said listening to Stonagal a bit further “no, I want to talk to their CO’s first.”  He placed the phone back on the wall and turned towards the two Captains “what the hell have you two done!?”  He shouted angrily slamming his hands down on the table seeing their faces change to shock “there are Cylon Centurions on their way towards my ships, they came from your ships towards mine start giving me answers NOW!”  He snapped

“We know nothing of them” Brand said immediately but Boyle didn’t stop instead he grabbed Wilkes by the collars and pulled him up onto his feet Amelia Brand raised to her feet beside them “Matt, please we know nothing about this we’ve both been on the run since the fall of the colonies.”

“He was safe on his little rock” Boyle snapped seeing Wilkes surprise. “Yes, I knew where you were just like you kept tabs on us, I kept tab on you.”  He said admitting to it “now answers!”

“I know nothing about these Centurions” Wilkes answered panicked as alarms sounded indicating an intruder was onboard the Massena II.

“We travelled through a colonial ship graveyard” Brand said “we were searching for survivors, perhaps they boarded us during our flight through the remains of the ships.”  Amelia suggested Matt continued to hold Wilkes as he looked at her “we know nothing about them.”

“Well you’re going to” Boyle said releasing Wilkes’ clothing “follow me” he said stepping out of the room with the two of them behind him he opened a cabinet and drew out three sidearms one was his own the other two for Wilkes and Boyle.  “Help me defend this damned ship.”