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Battlestar Argo

By

AJ Marks

Deceptions

Ares glanced around the bridge glad to be back on the Argo. After a couple of weeks of sitting down in a room full of former government officials was enough to make him begin to go crazy. Now he was finally back where he felt he belonged. The last part of the meeting dealt with who would have the power and how that power would be handled. A Republic had been formed as it was thought to be the best way to do anything.

Ares had fought with the politicians about who would be in charge of the military. Several wanted it to be their military officials. Ares had effectively ended the debate on that one. He would be in charge of it. He was the one with the experience in space combat and tactics. He had argued that putting a person with no experience or abilities in space combat would effectively damage the fighting abilities of the small fleet. That and he was already up to date as to the abilities and capabilities of the current forces.

There had been a reluctant agreement among the officials. Many were not pleased by what Ares had said. Several also wanted to know what his real name was. Ares did not want to get into the fact that he was not from Earth just yet so he sidestepped the issue.

"What is the report Reliy," Ares asked as he took his seat.

"Repairs are done to the landing bays and we are now fully operational again. Replacement vipers have been received by the Hermes from Centari One," Reliy reported.

"Good, any news about the mysterious ship," Ares asked.

"Nothing yet," Reliy said.

"All right," Ares said. "Any word from the Tiger?"

"It scheduled to return from patrol in a couple of hours," Reliy said. "Also there is a report of the Cheetah and how it is coming along."

"Good, send it up here," Ares said.

He read the report and noticed that the ship was coming along quite well. It was time to be thinking about a crew for the ship. The destroyer would take a compliment of one hundred and fifty men and woman to man. He now had to get a group of people up to the Hermes and over to Centari One to begin training.

"Get me Centari One," Ares said. He did not have to wait long until the commander of the base appeared on the screen. "Commander, how are the facilities on the base?"

"Its not that crowded right now as the ships are not in orbit," Jason said as he thought about it.

"Good, I might be sending you some new recruits for the Cheetah," Ares said.

"Understood," Jason said. "I'll begin to make preparations for their arrival."

"Thanks," Ares said as the link went dead only to be replaced with Pratt's face. "Pratt, everything all right?"

"Just reporting in commander," Pratt said. "Haven't seen anything lately since that patrol ship."

"Well keep you're scanners manned. I have a feeling that its only a matter of time until we encounter a new group of Arbus ships," Ares said.

"I will," Pratt said. They both knew that the Arbus were not though with Earth. The only problem was what was going to be the next move and by whom.

Troy walked down the corridor to his quarters on the Argo. He wondered if Bri was already there. There was a lot that was still going on but a lot had been resolved. He had been back and forth between Earth and Centari One ever since the battle to free Earth had occurred. There was a lot of new information that was going on. He had wanted to stay aboard the Argo if he could as Green leader. Bri had also expressed interest in staying as had Nall. Jax had accepted the position as Red squad leader which would the other squad of the Argo. Gold squad would be the Tiger squad.

Opening the door to the quarters he noticed that Bri was already in there. She was getting ready for bed as she had been on duty while he was gone this time.

"You're back, good," Bri said giving Troy a hug.

"Of course I'm back," Troy said.

"So how are things going," Bri asked.

"Well, the first group for the Cheetah is being trained," Troy replied. Fifty people had gone over with him back to Centari One to begin the training for the ship.

"When will the ship be complete," Bri asked wondering when new ships would be introduced to help defend Earth.

"Estimates say that it should be done by the end of the week then its going for its shakedown cruise," Troy said. "They say in about two and a half weeks it should be ready."

"I'll be ready for it as well," Bri said.

"Yeah, it will certainly help with scouting around instead of using the Tiger," Troy said.

"Any idea as to who will be commanding it," Bri asked.

"Nope, probably someone from Earth, maybe Ben or Reliy," Troy said.

"Get them some experience," Bri said. "Come on, let's get to be, I'm tired today."

"All right," Troy said.

"You're doing what," Troy and Bri heard Nall's voice say as they approached the cafeteria of the Argo. They both looked at each other then the door. With a shrug they walked though door to see what was going on. They could see Nall and Rebecca both standing there glaring at each other.

"Hey guys," Bri said with a smile hoping that it might break the spell they were under. Neither of them really acknowledged her which Troy thought was a bit odd.

"So what's going on in here," Troy asked them hoping to get to the bottom of this quickly.

"I want to join the military but mustache head here says that I shouldn't do that," Rebecca said not looking at anyone but Nall.

"Its too dangerous," Nall said not looking away from Rebecca.

Bri looked at Nall then at Rebecca for a couple of seconds. She could understand what Rebecca was feeling and why.

"Nall, can I speak with you alone please," Bri said in a sweet voice. Troy heard the tone and almost winced knowing that his wife was up to something now.

"In a moment," Nall said only to have his ear caught and tugged away from Rebecca. "Hey Bri now isn’t the time, let go, ouch!"

"Come along Nall," Bri said still in that sweet voice leaving Troy and Rebecca standing there.

Troy grabbed a seat then motioned for Rebecca to sit down as well. He had a feeling that he knew what his wife was going to say.

"She really does control him pretty well," Rebecca said.

"Yep, and I think she's on your side as well," Troy said. "I can understand both sides."

Rebecca looked at Troy for a second. "You can," she asked.

"Of course, it’s the same thing I would do if Bri wasn't in the military right now. Don’t' take it personally that you can't do the job, he just wants you to be safe," Troy said. "That's a sign that he really loves you."

"I know," Rebecca sighed looking at where Bri and Nall were.

"All right Bri what do you want," Nall said taking a glance over to where Rebecca was.

"Nall, I'm in the military as well," Bri said.

"I know," Nall said. "That's different."

"Different, how," Bri asked.

"You can take care of yourself," Nall said.

"So can Rebecca," Bri said. "Give her credit Nall. She wants to help as well."

"But, we could be separated," Nall said.

"I think we can pull the strings to get her assigned to the Argo," Bri said. "And as for separation I have to live with that every time we will go into combat."

"You don't fight fair, anyone ever tell you that," Nall said.

"Nope," Bri said with a smile. "Now come on."

The two of them made their way back to where Troy and Rebecca were sitting down.

"It looks like you got everything settled," Rebecca said.

"Becca, I just want to say you can do what ever you want, I just worry for you that's all," Nall said.

"I know, but I also want to help. That I don't really want to be a pilot either," Rebecca said. "I was thinking more along the lines of flight controller."

"That might work," Nall said as he thought about it. She would be safer on board the ship then in a viper.

Bri's stomach growled making them all look at her. "I guess its time to feed you," Troy said. They got up and headed over to the line.

Ares sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. There was something wrong with what he was reading yet he could not find it. He was going over the reports of what had happened during the entire attack on Earth and the resulting attack by the Argo and Tiger. He threw the papers down on his desk as the door chimed.

"Come," Ares said as the door opened to reveal Colonel Reliy. The man had been in the military on Earth for the Chinese Navy before retiring a few years ago.

"Something wrong," Reliy asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know what it is," Ares replied.

"Perhaps you should try looking at it upside down or something," Reliy said.

"Interesting, but I doubt it would work," Ares said as he glanced at the mess he had made. He was about to pick it up when he noticed something that he had not before.

"You found something," Reliy asked.

"No, just thought of something, let me ask you, why did you leave the military? It sounded like you had a good job," Ares asked.

"I felt like I was being pushed out, like I didn't fit," Reliy said after a few moments of silence. "Does that make sense?"

"Actually it does," Ares said as the wheels in his head turned.

Reliy could almost see the man thinking about something.

"What are you thinking," Reliy asked.

"The Arbus must of infiltrated the military and political systems on Earth. How I don't know but it does explain why the leadership failed at such a critical time," Ares said. "And if that's the case then they might still be there, watching, waiting and reporting."

"That doesn't sound good," Reliy said.

"Nope, but I have an idea," Ares said as he got up to look at the map. His idea just might work all he had to do was get it going. "Find Captain Troy and Lieutenants Nall and Bri, Commander Pratt and Captain Gunther as well as Doctor Weaver and have them come to my meeting room."

"All right," Reliy replied not sure what was going on. He was sure that he would find out later.

Commander Pratt walked into the meeting room on board the Argo shortly after the Tiger had returned from its patrol. He noticed that many other officers from the Argo were also there. One thing that did disturb him a bit was the lack of Earth personal in the meeting. There was not one person from Earth here.

"Ares, what's going on," Pratt asked as he took a seat.

"I was looking at the reports of the attack on the Earth by the Arbus and then our attack later on. There is a connection beside the leaders. The Arbus planted spies all over the planet," Ares said.

"But everyone in the leadership tested to be a true human," Nall said.

"True, but what about their aides, the ones who influenced them, who shaped their policies," Ares said. "There is a small army behind each person doing a large load of work. One of them could have influenced enough people to render the governments and military ineffective. Those they could not control they forced out."

"Interesting," Troy replied as he thought about that. "The transport of humans that was destroyed, it could have been a transport of conditioned humans?"

"I thought about that already. It means that we could have a security leak already then," Ares said. "They might know about our base on Centari One. That's why I have a plan. I want them to think that the new base, Alpha One is the main base."

"Alpha One, we don't have a base with that name yet," Bri said.

"Not yet, but we can with Weaver's help," Ares said. "I need for you to construct a large hologram of the base on Centari One, along with the orbiting dockyard and double it."

"A hologram base," Troy asked.

"A bit, I do want to begin construction on a new base anyways," Ares said.

"And by touting it as a main base it would attack attention," Nall said.

"Right," Ares said looking at Weaver.

"It very possible, I will need a power source though," Weaver said.

"The Tylium mining operations have started so fuel should not be a problem," Ares said.

"Let me get to work on it then," Weaver said.

"All right everyone, keep your eye and ears open for anything that might be suspicious," Ares told the group before dismissing the meeting.

Weaver walked up to the bridge where Commander Ares was. He had just come back aboard the Argo after spending a lot of time at his lab on Centari One. They had worked around the clock but had managed to reproduce the image of the base and the space station. It was going to require some power to do but nothing major like he had first calculated.

Ares noticed Weaver walking onto the bridge and walked over to where the man was. Ares noted that it looked like the man had not slept at all since the meeting.

"Commander, we've finished with the holograms," Weaver said.

"Good, would the Tiger be able to power the hologram," Ares asked.

Weaver thought about it for a few seconds before replying. "I believe so," he finally said.

"Good, I'm putting Captain Gunther in charge of the Cheetah for right now," Ares said. "Next I need for you to develop a hologram of the Argo, Tiger, and Cheetah. That way I can give the illusion of a larger fleet if needed. It just might be enough to swing an advantage in our favor."

"All right," Weaver said wondering when he would be able to get back to the mysterious ship he was working on.

"First though get some sleep, you look exhausted," Ares said.

"I will," Weaver said. He was already going to be heading to his quarters to sleep for a while.

"Oh, good job doctor," Ares said as Weaver walked off the bridge.

Gunther walked onto the bridge of the Cheetah. The destroyer had been undergoing a shakedown cruise to make sure that everything was working just fine. There was nothing wrong with any of the systems so far which happened to be a good thing. That meant that there would be no delays in getting the ship into action.

"Colonel Gunther, glad that you could make it aboard so quickly," a man off to his right said.

"Thank you," Gunther said. "Captain Rand, right."

"Yep," Rand replied. "I hear that we're going on a mission," he said with some excitement in his voice.

"Well I would be too excited, but yeah we already have a mission. We're heading to Alpha One Base to provide base defense until they finish their destroyer," Gunther said.

"Alpha One," Rand asked not having heard that base designation before.

"Of course, the main base where everything will be coordinated from in terms of the war effort," Gunther said. "Centari One was never designed to be such a base, just a beginning."

"I see," Rand said. "You guys sure planned ahead for all of this."

"Nah, just luckily that all," Gunther replied.

He felt bad lying a bit to the man but he knew that it had to be done. If the commander's plan was to be successful then everyone had to believe it. The Tiger would already be set up to begin the plan and have the holograms set up to make it look like a base was there. It was a bit of a risk in case the Arbus did not find out about it but it might also take heat off the fact that they were going to attack Earth again.

It also meant that if the Arbus attacked they would be expecting one destroyer defending the base. The Tiger would be in the space dock hologram for a surprise. The other thing that Ares was hoping for was such a tactic would make the Arbus think twice before attacking Centari One before it was ready to defend itself. Of course all this was dependent on the fact that there were spies in their midst.

That was something else, the communication officers were all from the Argo to monitor any transmissions coming from either ship. If one happened then they would know that someone aboard the ship was a spy for the Arbus.

Troy walked into his and Bri's temporary quarters on board the Tiger. They were part of an expanded fighter compliment on board the Tiger.

"Troy, why are we here," Bri asked.

"The fewer people from Earth on board the Tiger for this mission the better. Commander Ares wants to make sure that the hologram technology remains a secret for now. And the people he can fully trust are those who came from the Colonies," Troy said.

"Lucky me," Bri replied dryly.

"It’s just like back home," Troy said. "People switch ships all the time depending on the mission."

"Really," Bri asked. The Argo had been her first ship. After her training she was to head to the Atlantia but then had been approached for a top secret mission.

"Yeah, I served aboard the Pegasus, Galactica and Pacifica. I just got lucky in knowing the Commander on the Pacifica for this mission," Troy said.

"Oh, well I still like the Argo better," Bri said.

"Well we could get a place on Earth for when we are there to relax and maybe retire on," Troy said.

"What about the Colonies," she asked.

"I imagine that we'll go back someday. Right now we have a mess on our hands," Troy replied.

"This was war with the Arbus," Bri said. "Any idea as to why they might be attacking Earth and everything else that they are doing?"

"No, I've received nothing else," Troy said. He had not had a real important vision in a while. There was always the minor ones of flashes of friends in certain places but nothing that was very important.

"Oh well, we'll figure it out eventually," Bri said. "Come on, I'm a bit tired right now."

Pratt sat down on the bridge of the Tiger. Looking around he really was amazed at how much like the Argo it was. There were a bit fewer consoles for fighter operations but that was to be expected. More instruments were geared for the main weapons of the ship.

"Sir we've arrived at the planet," Ben said.

"Good, put us in orbit around the planet," Pratt said. "Activate the generators."

He glanced outside the window as a structure appeared on the planet's surface then as a hologram enveloped the Tiger as well. The structure on the planet's surface would be the base and the Tiger was inside the hologram of the dockyard.

Pratt hoped that the hologram worked as well as Ares was hoping. Just one battle like this would make the Arbus think twice before attacking a base of theirs. It also might make the Arbus hesitate to look around for anything else making Centari One a perfect place for the major operations.

"Sir, new signal reported by the computers," Ben said looking down.

Pratt looked at her first with concern. Then he realized that the latest news from the colonies had arrived.

"That's just some local news for us from the Argo," Pratt said as he pulled up the report. There was nothing in it that required any immediate attention. The war was still going on and there was nothing major going on.

"Is there anything that we should know," Ben asked.

"No, pretty boring," Pratt said. "Let's keep an eye out on the scanners for anything unusual in the area. We don't want to be surprised by anything."

The Tiger's scanner kept a continuous look out of the surrounding area for what ever might appear. There was nothing at the moment that would require anything. Pratt did not think that there would be until the Cheetah entered the area for patrol sake.

Gunther sat down on the commander's chair of the Cheetah as it approached the new Alpha One base. Most of his crew was made up of new recruits. There were several from the Argo but Ares had wanted more recruits from Earth. That and there was the fact that there might be a spy on board his ship. That was something that he was sure he did not like.

Part of him hoped that they would be able to spring the trap and another part of him did not. It was something that was a bit nerve wracking about it. That and the commander had 'leaked' information about the Alpha One base to others with the knowledge to keep it secret.

Gunther figured that if that did not earn something of a retaliation from the Arbus then they would really have to wait. Part of him hoped that this provoked a response from the Arbus which they could battle one on one.

"All right everyone, listen up. I know that many of you are new on board and I know that you all will do your best. I want us all to remain alert while the base finishes work on the destroyer. We are going to be the bases main defense while the Argo provides defense for Earth," Gunther said to the group.

He wondered if the Arbus would even attack this fake base. Ares was trying his hardest to make sure that if the enemy attacked then it would be at his choosing and not the enemies. It was a sound tactic to employ Gunther thought to himself. If you could control where the enemy attacked then you would have an advantage over the enemy. Now they would just have to sit and wait to see if the Arbus fell for it.

A single figure made its way down the street towards a small shack that seemed to be unimportant. Walking up to the door the figure looked around to see if anyone had followed him. Then he knocked on the door in a special sequence. The door opened and the man walked into the shack.

"What news," another figure said.

"Whoever helped attack the Arbus have several bases. Their main one is one called Alpha One," the man said.

"Alpha One, do you know where it is located," the figure asked.

"Yeah, they were not being too secretive about that with us," the man said. "Here's the information," he said handing him a data crystal.

"Excellent," the figure said. "Head back."

"Right," the man said then walked out and back to where he had come from.

The figure held the data crystal in its hand for a few seconds as it pondered the information given to him. This group of Earthlings had more than just one base. That was something that they knew but now they had a location for an attack. His people would be grateful for this.

He hoped that the data on the crystal had what type of defenses the base had at the moment. If the defenses were still being built up then an attack would be very easy for them. The base they called Alpha One would be destroyed. He decided that he would let his strategist decide what to do with the information and if an attack was wise at the moment. He walked over pulled a switch to reveal a secret elevator which he used to descend to a base they had.

On board the Argo not much later the operator saw that a message was being sent out from Earth in the direction of where the Arbus ships had come from.

Ares sat in his chair knowing that the plan was probably working. The scanner operator was working to narrow down where the signal came from. If they could find and neutralize any remaining ways for them to get communications out then it would be harder for the Arbus later on.

Ares sent a signal to Pratt to remain on alert. An Arbus attack could be headed their way any day now.

End of Deceptions

Go on to The Trap is Sprung

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