Disclaimers: Battlestar Galactica is not owned by me and infringement is intended. This story is only for the enjoyment of the readers.

Crystal

By

AJ Marks

Jason raced back to his ship aware of what was going on around him. If they caught Apollo then they might try and capture him as well. He would need help in rescuing his captain. He knew in order to do that he would have to get back to the Agamemnon where help would be.

He quickly powered up his engines and blasted off. He could only hope that Apollo could hold out until he arrived with help. The only thing he still could not figure out was why the people had captured Apollo. He could remember the crowd talking about a dead emperor but what that had to do with the captain Jason did not know.

With these thoughts in his mind he quickly plotted his course back to the fleet. He hit his turbos and could only hope that he arrived back in time.

Tigh stood on the other side of the bridge going over reports of what the fuel condition was of the fleet. His ship, the Agamemnon, still held a full load of fuel and armament. He tried to figure out when they would need more fuel for their flight to Earth. That was something that he hoped he would see one day.

"Commander," the flight officer said bringing Tigh's head around to see what the man wanted.

"What is it," Tigh asked hoping that it was not bad news.

"I've got an incoming viper from the patrol," the officer replied.

"Only one," Tigh asked clarifying the situation and watched as the officer nodded his head. Tigh mentally shook his head at what was going on. Either Apollo or Jason had gotten in trouble while on patrol. He was more inclined to believe that it was Apollo who got in trouble than Jason.

"What are your orders sir," Zikku asked.

"Bring up yellow alert just in case and have the pilot brought to my office along with Starbuck and Boomer," Tigh said to Colonel Zikku.

The man replied with a 'yes sir' and walked out to carry out Tigh's orders. Tigh wondered what the patrol could have encountered that made only one person come back. A myriad of scenarios rained through his mind some were good others were not.

Tigh walked out and into his office. It was still quite a bit bare as he had not finished decorating it to his liking. A few pictures of his family were displayed on his desk. Both the family he had before the Cylon massacre and the one that he had adopted on the flight. Now he could only wait and see what had happened on the patrol and then figure out what to do.

The door chimed and in walked Starbuck and Boomer. They looked a bit concerned about being summoned to the commander's office. Tigh figured that he could not blame them. Usually when they were summoned it meant some sort of trouble for all of them.

"Commander, what's wrong," Starbuck asked knowing that something was wrong just by the way that Tigh was acting.

"I'll know more when the patrol gets back. Only one viper is coming back from Apollo and Jason's patrol," Tight said to the two men.

"That could mean anything," Starbuck said but his tone did not convince anyone in the room.

"And I'm engaged," Boomer said looking right at Starbuck. "But you might be right."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Tigh said receiving word that the viper had landed and the pilot was on his way to Tigh's office. "The pilot is on his way up here right now."

Starbuck and Boomer knew that probably meant that Apollo was not the one who came back. There was the chance that the crewmen did not recognize him as there were new people in the landing bays. It was a long shot and they both knew it. They only hoped that it was good news that he could tell them.

The door chimed indicating that he was there and Tigh replied to come on in. Jason walked into the room confirming everyone's fear but they would remain silent until Jason had a chance to speak and they would find out what had happened.

"Have a seat everyone," Tigh said to the group as they sat down. "Now, it appears that something has happened while you were out on patrol Jason. Last I heard you and Apollo were going to inspect a planet, what happened?"

"Well commander, Captain Apollo ordered me to check out the deposit of charcoal close to where we landed. He went to check out a nearby town for the prospect of trade," Jason began. "He didn't give me a time as to when he was going to return so when I got back to our ships I waited a bit for him."

"I take it he didn't return," Starbuck said. "Did you follow him?"

"Yeah, I headed towards the town where there was a mob in the center of the town. It took me a few seconds to find Captain Apollo. He was trying to make his way to the ships without being seen. The mob saw him and captured him," Jason said relaying what had happened in the town.

"You left him there," Starbuck said knowing that he would have never done that.

"He told me to. The crowd was saying something about him having returned from the dead," Jason said a bit confused.

"Returned from the dead," Boomer replied. "Somehow I don't like the sound of this."

"Well, we're going to rescue him," Starbuck said with a glance at Boomer who agreed with him. "With the commander's permission of course," he added as an afterthought.

"Who am I to tell you no. After all if I do you'll still go. At least this way I still have some control," Tigh said knowing it for the truth. He and Adama had tried to stop the group from doing other missions only to find they had tricked them later on.

"Thanks colonel, I mean commander," Starbuck said. "Ah, sorry commander."

"Don't worry about it Starbuck. I know what you mean," Tigh said. He had been a colonel so long that even he still responded to colonel. "Get your team and equipment together. The quicker you go the more time you'll have."

"Boomer, Jason you up for a mission," Starbuck asked. Both men responded that they were and the group got up and walked out towards the launching bays for a shuttle after a quick stop at the armament room.

Apollo was beginning to wonder about his captors. They were calling 'emperor' for some strange reason. They also seemed to fear him but he was sure that he had never been there before. His treatment so far had not been kind. He had been half dragged half carried to the cell he was currently in.

So far all of his attempts to explain what was going on had fallen on deaf ears. They were not listening to anything he was saying. He wondered who this 'emperor' was and if he even wanted to be associated with him. He had been able to hear a few whispers from outside the cell from the guards that he was going to be killed in the morning in front of everyone.

Apollo could only hope that Jason had gotten out before they saw him and that he went for help. He didn't want anyone to get hurt while he was here, but he also knew that if it came down to him or them he would fight to get back to the fleet. He knew that his fighter was a short distance away and he only had to get out to get to it.

The person who had placed him in the jail had taken away his weapon and communicator that he would need. He only hoped that Jason had been able to get away and bring help. He would have to stall them long enough for a rescue.

Hearing voices he could only wait to see what was going on. A medium sized man with a bald head came walking into the room. He glanced at Apollo with cold eyes that Apollo was sure if the man could he would kill him.

"I think there's been a mistake," Apollo began hoping that he could convince the man that a mistake had been made.

"I don't think so, emperor," the man said sneering the last word. "I recognize you," he said getting right up in Apollo's face.

"Listen, I've never met you before in my life," Apollo said hoping that he could reason with one of the people here.

"You would say that," the man said walking over to sit down in one of the chairs. "Now that the power is reversed you are under my mercy, how does it feel," he said leaning his chin on her hands and glared at Apollo.

"My name is Apollo, I'm from the Battlestar Galactica," Apollo said still hoping to reason with the man.

"That's a good one, but it doesn't matter. We'll have a trail for you," the man said with a smile that Apollo was sure was not meant in a friendly way.

"What will it take to convince you that I'm not this emperor," Apollo said hoping that something would help him.

"Nothing, say your peace to the gods emperor," the man said as he got up and walked out of the room.

That went well, Apollo thought to himself. He could only hope that Jason would hurry and bring back help.

The door opened again this time a bit slower. A small blonde haired woman came into the room. Apollo wondered about this woman. Her green eyes looked right into his own for a long time before she finally spoke.

"Who are you," she finally asked.

"Captain Apollo of the Battlestar Galactica," he replied.

She approached him closer and continued to stare at him. It was beginning to make him a bit uncomfortable. She walked right up to the bars that separated his part of the room from hers. She tilted her head to the side for a moment as she studied him.

"What is a battlestar galactica," she asked stumbling around the unfamiliar words.

"A spaceship," Apollo replied.

"A spaceship," the woman replied not really sure about that. "What's a spaceship?"

"Ah," Apollo replied now beginning to wonder about how far along these people were. He had not seen too much in terms of technology. "It’s a large sailing ship that flies beyond the clouds."

"Sounds romantic," she said as her eyes glazed over for a second trying to image what that would be like. She stayed like that for a second before coming to her senses again. "You don't belong here Captain Apollo. They don't believe me too much but I'll try to help you."

With that the woman walked out of the room and Apollo wondered what had happened to this planet. The only person that even seemed nice to him was this strange woman.

"This is the planet," Jason said as he piloted the shuttle down to the planet's surface. He was homing in on the locater on Apollo's viper so he could land as close as possible. It would allow him a reference point so they could head to the town.

"Doesn't look like much," Boomer said from where he was sitting.

"Maybe that's good news," Cassiopeia said from where she was sitting. She had persuaded Starbuck to allow her to come along for their medtech.

The shuttle landed near the viper without much incident. The door opened and Starbuck and Boomer cautiously walked out of the shuttle. They could only hope that they did not encounter any trouble right here. Finally all of them were out of the shuttle and looking around.

"Which way," Boomer asked Jason as they were all a bit eager to begin this mission and they had to do some scouting first.

"This way," Jason said as he led the small group towards the town.

The four of them quickly made their way towards the small town where there appeared to be little activity at the moment. There were a few people walking about but not many.

"Wait," Jason said as the group was about to start walking into town. "They attacked Apollo for some reason. We could also be attack in these uniforms."

"Then we need a plan and quickly," Boomer said glancing around. He did not have to glance at Starbuck to know what he was thinking. His way was always to blast into the town and rescue his friend. Boomer had the idea that this might not be the time to do such a thing.

"Do we have any clothing that would work," Cassiopeia asked them. Their attention was diverted by the sound of yelling. They all looked and saw a small blonde haired woman yelling at another taller man who was balding.

"I know that isn't him," she yelled at him.

"And I say he is," the man yelled back as they continued to walk closer to where they were hiding.

"That man isn't from around here, and you and I both know that I would recognize him," the woman said again.

"Listen," the man said as he roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her to the side. "Who cares if he is or isn't, we want revenge," he told her.

"If you do this your no better than you think he was," she said as he let her go and stormed off.

Starbuck looked at Boomer who faintly nodded his head. Together they quietly waited until the woman passed nearby and they quickly grabbed her. She struggled quite a bit for her small size and Boomer was having a hard time keeping her quiet.

"Shh, we're not here to hurt you," Starbuck whispered. "We just need some information," he told her coming around to where she could see his face.

Starbuck could see her eyes had gone a bit wild but after a few seconds she seemed calm down as she took in the uniform that Starbuck was wearing. A few more moments had passed and Boomer was able to release her completely.

"Are you from this battle-star galac ticka as well," she said stumbling along the unfamiliar words to her.

"You've talked with our friend," Starbuck asked hopefully. She might know something about what was going on and where he was being held.

"Captain Apollo, yes," she said looking around.

"We're friends of his," Cassiopeia said.

"We need to talk, follow me," she said and led them to a small cottage at the edge of town. They walked inside and Starbuck noticed that there was not much inside the small house except a bed and a stove that appeared to be broken down.

"You know where our friend is," Starbuck asked as she invited them to sit down.

"I know where Captain is," she said making the others look a bit confused.

"Captain," Boomer asked not really understanding what she was saying.

"Captain isn't her first name," Cassiopeia said gently. "His name is Apollo."

"Then why call him 'captain'," the woman asked a bit confused about everything.

"Captain is his rank on board the Galactica," Starbuck said. "We all have them to an extent. It’s a way to maintain order."

"Oh," she said as a look of sadness came over her.

"Are you all right," Cassiopeia asked seeing the look of the woman.

"Sorry, it’s just, well someone I loved said that same thing all the time," she replied.

"Sounds like you loved him," Boomer said.

"He looked like your friend. Everyone else tried to kill him and they eventually succeeded in that," she said saying the last part in a whisper.

"Can you help us out," Starbuck asked hoping that he was not pushing her too much just yet.

"For a price, yes," she said as her green eyes met his. He could see a strength in them that he had rarely seen in anyone.

"And what is this price," Starbuck finally asked wondering what it could be as he looked at the others in the room. None of them really knew what she might be talking about or want from them.

"I'll tell you after we rescue him," she said. "So what are your names?"

"I'm Starbuck, this is my fiancée Cassiopeia, he's Boomer and this guy here is Jason," Starbuck said introducing all of them.

"Nice to meet you," she said. "We should probably hurry."

She stood up leaving them in the dark about her name but before any of them could ask she was ushering them out the door and back into town. She began talking as they were walking trying to bring them up to speed about what had happened to their friend.

Starbuck could gather that Apollo was know by the local officials that he was not this man everyone called the emperor. Almost everyone hated the emperor who had been a previous ruler and was now overthrown. The local officials were using Apollo in a mock trial then he was going to be executed to avenge the 'people' the emperor had oppressed. Starbuck was wondering what type of man this emperor was when they reached the edge of town.

A large crowd had already begun to gather and they could see a raised platform that had several men already on it. They could make out Apollo standing on the platform with his hands bound but other than that there appeared to be no other injuries to him.

"Boomer, Jason, set for stun only," Starbuck said not liking the way the crowd was acting towards Apollo. He did not want to hurt anyone in this encounter if he could avoid it.

"Ryan," the woman said speaking up over the crowd so she could be heard. She had to repeat it a few time before people began to notice her. The crowd got quiet as the balding man on top of the platform who appeared to be in charge finally responded to her.

"Well, well, well," the man said as he took in the woman and her new friends. They were dressed as the captured man was. "I see it’s the whore come to save her piece of trash."

"He isn't the emperor," the woman said again to the man called Ryan.

"Sure he is," Ryan replied. "We all have seen him and we all agree that this is the emperor."

"If you do this then you're worse then you thought the emperor ever was," the woman said.

"Well spoken from the whore," Ryan said. "He is guilty of killing our children, our sons, fathers, brothers and taking our possessions without a care to anyone but himself."

"And killing an innocent man is different just because he looks like him," the woman said to Ryan hoping to find reason.

"It doesn't matter, we have found him guilty, and he is to be killed, now," Ryan said.

"I don't think so," Starbuck said drawing his weapon. So far the conversation between the woman and the man called Ryan had not done anything. Boomer and Jason followed Starbuck's lead and three blasters had now been drawn.

"I see you've brought a few of your friends to help out. Did you sell you body to have them help you out with this as well," Ryan said.

"I don't want to have to use force to free my friend," Starbuck said not liking what was going on. His finger rested on the trigger as adrenaline pumped through his body.

"What force, there is only five of you, of which two of you are women and you don't even have a weapon," Ryan said with a sneer making it know what this civilization thought of woman.

"You just haven't seen what these could do," Starbuck said.

"Starbuck, don't. There are innocents here," Apollo yelled out having remained silent until now.

"Its on stun buddy," Starbuck replied.

"It’s not like their giving us much choice in the matter," Boomer said chipping in his thoughts.

"It doesn't matter," Ryan said. "Seize them for later."

Several large men came forward and Starbuck could tell that they were soldiers for Ryan and the local leaders. There would be no negations between them anymore.

"Frack," Starbuck whispered knowing what was about to happen. He pulled the trigger and one of the guards fell.

Boomer and Jason followed Starbuck's bead and soon several of the charging guards were lying on the ground. Screams then erupted from the stunned crowd as everyone began to run as mass panic broke out. Starbuck and Boomer rushed towards the platform where Apollo made his way to edge of the platform.

Apollo realized that with the panic he would be able to get away and began to run toward where his friends were standing. Reaching the edge of the platform he looked back at the man called Ryan. He was standing there with hate filling his eyes as he looked at Apollo.

"You've made an enemy this day, Captain Apollo of the Battlestar Galactica," Ryan said to him.

"There are worse enemies then the emperor, I just hope you never meet them," Apollo said then jumped off the platform about the time Starbuck and Boomer reached him. "Let's get out of here before they regroup."

"Good idea," Boomer said as he fired into the air to keep people moving away from them. They then ran towards the rest of their group and they ran out of town.

"What are you waiting for, get them," Ryan screamed from where he was standing at the group of guards who were moved into action by Ryan's voice. The group ran after the six people into the forest drawing their swords as they ran.

The six people ran quickly to where they had their waiting ships. Starbuck quickly yelled out that he would fly Apollo's viper back the Galactica. It did not take long for them to reach the clearing.

"Sorry I'm not going to be able to keep our promise, but we have to go," Starbuck said to the woman.

"You never heard what I wanted," she said. "I want to come with you."

That stunned the group. It was not what they were expecting to hear her say. Apollo was the first one to regain his senses.

"We're not coming back here, and life out there is not easy." he told her.

"And if I stay here I'm dead," she said. "Please take me with you," she pleaded.

Apollo glanced around to Starbuck to see what he thought. He just shrugged his shoulders not sure what to do.

"We normally don't take hitch hikers," Apollo said.

"If I stay here you'll have condemned be to a death worse than what's out there," she said pushing her case.

"What ever you are going to decide you better do it quickly," Jason said as he ran over pointing back to the direction of the town. "We're going to have company soon."

"I know I'm going to regret this, but come on," Apollo said. "Let's get out of here."

The group with one addition climbed aboard the ships and blasted off just as the guards came into the clearing. They quickly backed away in fear of what they saw. It was like nothing they had ever seen before and they would report this back to Ryan for sure. He would know what to do.

On board the shuttle Apollo's hands were untied as they left the planet's atmosphere. He kept a close eye on their new passenger as she stared out of the window. He was sure she had never seen anything like this and it would be a learning experience for her with everything she encountered.

"So, what's your name," Cassiopeia asked from where she was sitting as she eyed the small blonde who had not taken her eyes off of the window.

"Crystal," she replied.

End of Crystal

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