Disclaimer: 'Battlestar Galactica' and all of its characters belong to Universal City Studios, USA.
Earth at Last
by
AJ Marks
Part 5
The commander paced back and forth on the bridge impatiently waiting for the test results.
"Be patient my friend." The man called 'Lord' told the commander.
"I know my lord." The commander said sitting down on a chair. " It's just I don't think we can afford to be wrong about this."
His companion studied the commander's face for a few seconds before saying anything. "I know, we can't fail our masters again. There is too much at stake."
An aide walked into the room with a report and handed it to the leader.
"Well, what does it say?" The commander asked wishing for good news.
"It appears that the 'Cylons' are going to be mounting a full scale attack on our visitors." The 'lord' said. "However they do not appear to have noticed us yet."
"That would give us the advantage." The commander replied nodding his head. "But it will also complicate things."
Another aide entered the room and handed the test results to the leader.
"Well, this is what we've been waiting for." He said handing the results to the commander.
"Do you believe what they've said?" The commander asked.
"Well, they're human." He replied. "But, I've been reading the early history texts and there is no mention of an advanced tribe or race."
"Hmm! I've got an idea, let's go talk to our visitors again." The commander said walking toward the door. The 'lord' just raised his eyebrows and followed the commander.
Commander Adama slowly walked down the now almost empty corridors towards his quarters. He could feel the almost overwhelming feelings of despair all over the ship. There was no reason to try and cover the feelings, everyone knew that they would soon die in battle. He reached his office and sat down behind his desk. He finally let the tears come. A knock on his door brought him out of his daze.
"Come!" The door opened and Starbuck walked in, his eyes still red and puffy from crying.
"I hope I'm not intruding commander?
"No, of course not." Adama said. "I was just thinking, have I led us to our deaths?"
"I don't believe that commander. We both know that if we had stayed near the colonies we would have been dead already." Starbuck said sitting down in a nearby chair. "And there's still a chance that some of us will survive in the escaping ships."
"I hope you're right Starbuck." Adama replied. "So what brings you here Starbuck?"
"Well, this is going to sound silly, but I just don't want to be in my quarters." Starbuck said shifting in his seat.
"I understand completely Starbuck." Adama said quietly.
Apollo sat in the cell as two more pilots entered. Both gave a similar account of their interrogation that the others went through.
"Does anyone know who they are?" One asked.
"If I was to guess, probably the winners of the war from the planet." Apollo said.
"What about the Cylons?" Another one asked. "Are they involved?"
"No, I don't think so. They didn't seem to know who they were." Apollo answered.
A couple of minutes later the commander and a shorter man walked into their cell.
Omega watched from the bridge as the fleet they had protected for so long began to split up. A few ships had started to leave knowing that time was essential for escape. He did not know how long it would be before the Cylons attacked in more raiders, only that it could be any minute now.
"Sir, long range scans have located several Cylon basestars approaching our position." The operator told him.
"About time. Contact the fleet and let them know where the basestars are." He told her. "Are they within fighter range yet?"
"No sir, but they will be in thirty minutes." She replied.
"Prepare to go to red alert."
"Yes sir."
Omega looked at her and realized just how pretty the operator was, he should have asked her out when he had a chance. He knew now there was no chance, sighing he told her, "I'm going to tell Commander Adama of our situation."
He did not see the eyes follow him off the bridge.
"You are human, that much is for sure." The shorter man said. "The question of how remains to be answered."
"I don't know how to prove that to you." Apollo started to say before being interrupted.
"It is irrelevant at the moment captain." The man said. "We must move quickly to save humanity. I do have one question for you. Have you ever heard of Atlantis?"
"There was a battlestar named Atlantica, but I haven't heard of Atlantis." Apollo answered.
"Actually, captain the battlestar's name was derived from a legend..."One of the pilots said his voice trailing off as a realization hit him. "According to legend the thirteenth tribe called themselves Atlantians."
"Well I guess we should introduce ourselves to you, I am Lord Arkis, and he is Commander Derkik." He said. "Now, tell us more about these Cylons, now that they are invading our space."
"Come in." Commander Adama said as the chime went off. Omega walked into the quarters.
"Commander Adama, long range scans have picked up five Cylon basestars." Omega said.
Both Commander Adama and Starbuck jumped right out of their chairs. Both men had a small look of surprise.
"By the lords of Kobal, call red alert." Adama told Omega. "Tell the fleet to split up and start moving immediately. Then we'll take the Galactica and move toward the basestars. Maybe if we meet them it will allow more time for our fleet."
Omega left the room leaving Adama and Starbuck standing alone. Both men knew and understood what was about to happen. They were the sacrifice to help save all of mankind and there could be no failure.
Starbuck started for the door, then stopped in front of Adama. "It was an honor to serve under you sir." Starbuck said extending his hand.
"Thank you Starbuck, you're one of the greatest pilots I've ever known." Adama sincerely said to him shaking Starbuck's hand.
"I'll see you on the other side." Starbuck said turning back towards the door and walking out as the ship went to red alert leaving Adama to stare at the retreating form. He knew that Starbuck was right, but he could not help but feel tremendous sorrow about the coming attack. Adama paused at his desk, and picked up the burned picture of his wife and family. It was the same picture that he had rescued from his home. The familiar red alert sounded throughout the ship. He turned around looking at what had been his home for the last several yaharns with sadness in his eyes. As he left for the final time, he could not help but think of what he had thought after the destruction of the colonies, he was never there when it mattered. "May the Lord have mercy on my soul, I tried the best I could." He said into the empty room, then turned and walked towards the bridge with a confident stride.
Boomer and Jolly stood next to each other not saying a word, they did not have to. They were fighting for time, time to allow the others to escape. Neither man figured to return from this battle, but they were calm and understanding.
Starbuck came down the lift to see two of his friends waiting for him.
"Well, looks like this is it!" Boomer stated neutrally, belying his true feelings. "Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." Starbuck replied clapping his hand upon Boomer's shoulder. "Let's make the Cylons regret the day they ever tangled with us."
"I bet I take out more raiders then either of you." Jolly said challenging both of them.
"You're on!" They both replied momentarily forgetting their desperate situation. The three of them walked over to their fighters and climbed up. They had to hold onto their helmets climbing into the cockpit, as the techs that did that job were no longer on the Galactica.
Starbuck sat down in the cockpit and put on his helmet. He only partly listened to the reports that were being told to the pilots, he knew his job, and that he would not see this landing bay again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a recent picture of his wife and daughter. Normally pilots were not allowed to put pictures or anything else on the control panels, but he figured that no one would care. He went through the start up sequence and waited for the launch order.
Adama stood silently on the bridge watching his crew work, treating the upcoming battle as if it were any other and Adama felt both proud and guilty. He knew that they could not win the battle, they had to be told what his feelings were. He walked over to the internal communications control and picked up the mike.
"May I have everyone's attention please?" He said and watched as heads on the bridge looked up to hear what he had to say. "I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell all of you how proud I am of you. We have fought hard, but our toughest fight lies just ahead. We fight now for our very survival, and in time, those who escape will look back on this day, when we sacrificed ourselves to ensure our survival. Make us all proud." His small speech ended in silence as each crew member contemplated what had been said.
"Cylons are now launching raiders Commander." Omega reported. "Do we give the launch order now?"
"Has the fleet started to dispersed yet?"
"The ships have just started to leave." Omega replied.
"Launch all fighters, tell them to engage the cylons as far away from the fleet as possible." Adama said. "Flank speed for the nearest basestar and ready missile launchers."
"Nearest basestar is targeted, increasing speed." Came the reply. "Missile launchers are standing by for your orders." "All vipers launch!"
Starbuck took a breath and released it before bringing down his thumb on the thruster button. He felt the normal acceleration g's pushing him into his seat as the viper sped out of the launch tube. Other vipers were leaving the launch tubes in order to prevent a collision between launching vipers. As the squadrons formed up they remained on course toward the nearest raiders.
It took only a few minutes before both sides were close enough for the battle to start. Space became a death zone as both sides engaged each other. Lasers lanced through space as fighting from both sides started to explode.
Starbuck watched his targeting monitor as he lined up another raider. A quick press of his thumb and the cylon raider exploded, and he continued on to his next target. Raiders were blown from space at an alarming pace, however the viper pilots were also taking loses. The difference between the two sides was that the cylons had wave after wave approaching the Galactica.
Starbuck watched as the Galactica went straight for the nearest basestar. The two warships engaged each other, but he could no longer focus his attention on it as several more raiders converged on him. He made a quick evasive turn and engaged another raider. Starbuck found himself to be surprisingly calm despite the odds of the battle. His scanners indicated that another wave of raiders were approaching.
On board the Galactica, Commander Adama watched as the ship passed by the fighters heading toward the nearest basestar. He noticed that it appeared to be a more advanced design. 'I hope we can at least destroy this basestar!' He thought to himself. "Have all weapons open fire when we are in range." 'Hopefully an aggressive tactic will give us an edge.'
On board the basestar one of the black centurions was making a report to his leader about the battle.
"Speak centurion!"
"The Galactica has ignored our raiders and appears to be heading right for us, their tactics are quite illogical!"
"And what of our raiders, have they destroyed their vipers yet?"
"Our raiders are encountering heavy resistance, and our loses are high, however raiders from the other basestars are approaching the battle."
"Then it is only a matter of time until the race known as mankind forever vanishes from space forever!" The commander said. "Have two other basestars brought to make sure the Galactica is destroyed and have the rest destroy what remains of the human fleet."
"By your command!" The centurion said then turned and left to carry out its task.
Apollo walked down the corridor beside Lord Arkis and commander Derkik. Apollo glanced around at the smooth construction of his surroundings. He could tell that however the two races were connected, they were highly advanced. He wondered if they would be able to help in the battle against the Cylons, and perhaps the combined might of them both could finally defeat the Cylons.
"I...holy...by Kobal!" Apollo heard one of his men say. He looked up and saw that they were looking out a window, he looked out the same window and just stared out it.
They had a view of a huge lighted cavern, it was probably a hollowed out large asteroid. Scattered throughout the cavern they saw several large ships, most looked to be larger than the Galactica.
"What is this place?" Apollo asked Derkik.
"You're in our largest space station." He replied. "It was carved out of an asteroid. This allows us great deal of privacy."
"How many ships are out there?" Apollo asked, curiosity tainting his voice.
"We currently house about forty-five ships in this base." Arkis replied. "Other ships are scattered about in other hidden bases."
'Forty-five ships!' Apollo thought, 'that's more than we ever had against the Cylons.' "What are you going to do?"
"Help you, of course!" Arkis replied leaving Apollo to ponder what he meant.
His thoughts were interrupted by their arrival at what looked to be a high tech meeting room.
"Welcome to our CIC Captain." Derkik said raising his hand to indicate the room. "From here we can watch everything that's happening."
Apollo looked around and spotted what had to be the scanner readout. He was quite surprised as a halo image sprung up from the table. The image showed the surrounding area of space and the battle that had just started. It appeared that the Galactica had started to move toward the Cylon basestars.
"What's he doing?" Derkik said as he watched the Galactica head right towards a Cylon base ship.
"Scanners indicate heavy damage to both warships commander." One controller reported.
"The fleet's splitting up!" Apollo exclaimed in a bit of shock. "They're trying to give the fleet time to escape!"
Indeed they could see the strategy that Adama was trying to do. The scanners showed the fleeing ships, but it also showed their pursers closing in.
"They won't make it!" Apollo said sadly observing the screens.
"And our ships here are to far away to be able to help in time." Derkik said in a calm voice.
Are you just going to stand here, or are you going to help?" Apollo said, anger starting to creep into his voice. "If you don't leave now we can't help them!"
"The battle is still young captain, besides I said from here." Derkik replied to the now angry captain and watched understanding light his eyes.
"My Lord, section Gamma is ready to execute." An aide said before Apollo could respond.
"Tell the second fleet to engage, and prepare first fleet to move out." Arkis ordered.
Adama was almost thrown off his feet as the Galactica was hit again. The rest of the bridge crew quickly regained their composure and returned to their duties. Even though nobody thought that the Galactica would survive small repair crews worked on putting out fires and repairing critical equipment and weapons.
"Commander, scanners indicate five basestars closing in on our position, the rest are closing in on the fleet." Omega said. "It looks like most will be caught in the asteroid belt. Some might be able to hide in there and survive."
The situation was becoming hopeless, Adama did not think any ship would survive. Another shout from Omaga caused Adama even more concern, wondering what else could go wrong.
"Scanners indicate unknown ships moving in the belt."
'A trap!' Adama thought, 'I should have seen it coming.'
"Report centurion!" The imperious Leader commanded.
"The Colonial warriors are giving our forces some heavy loses, however we will soon overwhelm them." The centurion reported.
"And what of the Galactica?"
"She is currently engaged with one of our base ships. We have four more base ships closing in on her."
"And the rest of the fleet?"
"Our forces should intercept most before they can reach the asteroid belt. "
"Excellent!"
Slowly creeping out of their asteroid bases, warships the like neither the Cylons nor the humans they were fighting had ever seen started to head into battle.
End Part 5
Comments: AJMarks01@aol.com