Disclaimers: 'Battlestar Galactica', Adama, Tigh, Starbuck. Apollo, Cassiopeia and the others are owned by Universal City Studios, USA. Jason, Bri, Aaron and Cronus are mine.
Movement of the Giants
by
AJ Marks
The newly appointed Commander Tigh looked over the bridge of the Agamemnon and watched as his crew worked at getting the new battlestar operational. Even though the ship was completely ready there was the process of moving the crew into the quarters of the giant ship. Preparations were under way to get the battlestar moving, the first of the refueling tankers would be at the base shortly and they needed to move the Agamemnon out of the way. They had learned that the doors to the chamber could be controlled from the bridge of the Agamemnon.
Tigh could see out of the bridge view port the battlestar Theseus, which was almost complete. Her golden armor gave a strange contrast to the gray armor of the Galactica or even the white armor of the Agamemnon. He was extremely fortunate to gain a command situation, he had figured that he would only gain the command level when Adama had either died or retired. Tigh was not sure he was looking forward to that day, whenever it came.
"Commander, the first tanker will be here shortly, should we start to move out?" Tigh's second in command, Solon said.
"Yes." Tigh replied. "Begin start up sequence for the main engines and bring them up to full power."
Tigh watched as men and women scrambled around their consoles to bring the battlestar Agamemnon up to full power. The low rumbling of the engines started to creep into their hearing as the massive engines started to warm up. The electrical power plants that fed the battlestar with electrical power had been started up when the scouting group led by Apollo had come on board.
"Commander, the engines are now fully functional." Tigh's second in command told him. Tigh could hear the rumbling of the engines himself. He was glad to be able to get underway, the sooner he got the Agamemnon to the fleet the quicker the Galactica could begin its refit.
"Open the bay doors and set a course for the fleet maximum speed." Tigh told him.
Everyone watched as the huge doors of the asteroid began to move. They were able to see through the crack that had begun to appear the blackness of space beyond the asteroid. Slowly the huge doors of the asteroid swung open until there was room for a battlestar to exit the asteroid.
"Engines to quarter power, helm, take us out." Tigh told his bridge crew.
The battlestar Agamemnon slowly gathered speed as she slowly moved toward the exit. Her main engines roared to life and the observers from the asteroid watched as she moved leaving a better view of the battlestar Theseus behind it.
The gleaming white armor of the Agamemnon contrasted with the blackness. The contrast gave the Agamemnon a look of a shark slowly swimming out of a cave. Everyone knew that the Agamemnon was a deadly warship and the news of her joining the fleet had given a moral boost to the warriors of the fleet.
The Agamemnon slowly drifted past the asteroids in the field with her scanner operators keeping a close watch on them. She finally cleared the field and Commander Tigh gave the order to increase thrust to the engines to join up with the fleet.
"Commander Adama, incoming message from the Agamemnon sir!" Omega said from his new post.
"Put it through." Adama said and watched as Tigh's face appeared on the monitor in front of him.
"Sir I just wanted to inform you that we have cleared the asteroid belt and are now on route to join the fleet." Tigh said to Adama.
"That's great news commander, we'll be leaving now for the asteroid belt to get an estimate on how long it would take to repair the Galactica." Adama replied and signed off. He then gave the order for the Galactica to begin heading for the asteroid belt while he and the remainder of the council headed for the landing bays to transfer to the Agamemnon.
"Omega, you have command of the Galactica for now." Adama said knowing that it was a test for the man. He was hoping that the man would take over command of either the Galactica or the Theseus when the fleet was back together, Adama would see how well he could handle himself in command alone.
"Yes sir!" Omega said with a bit of pride. He knew that he would probable be in command when Adama transferred to the Agamemnon to stay with the fleet, but part of him thought that Tigh would be coming back aboard.
"Steady on course." Omega said to the bridge crew who was now looking to him for their leadership.
"Good luck Omega." Adama said as he left the bridge.
"Thank you sir!" Omega replied as he watched from the command station as Adama left the bridge.
A few minutes later he heard Rigel giving instructions to the shuttle pilot.
On board the shuttle rookie cadet Aaron sat beside Jolly to learn how to fly, the first time he would be with the shuttle pilots. They were to learn how to fly by helping with the transfer of personnel from the Galactica to the Agamemnon. It would still take a couple of days for them to learn where they would be stationed, either aboard the Galactica, the Agamemnon or the Theseus. Aaron hoped that he would be stationed aboard the same ship as his sister was.
"Shuttle Alpha, this is Galactica control, you are cleared for launch." Jolly and Aaron heard the voice say over the intercom.
"Roger Galactica control." Jolly replied then turned to Aaron. "Are you watching, because this is a big part of your training and you'll be doing this soon by yourself." Jolly said watching as Aaron was paying close attention. "The shuttle is the easiest machine to fly, because it's the least complex. Flip this switch to power up the engines after the flight crews have given you the green signal, which he just gave us. That thumbs up is the signal, reply with a salute." Aaron watched as Jolly gave the reply signal.
"After powering up the engines the next step is to actually launch the ship, which is done on all ships, whether they are shuttles or vipers its the middle button on the stick, and I'd lean back." Jolly said as he hit the button and they felt the G's from the quick acceleration.
Aaron felt himself thrown back into his seat but it was not that bad.
"A viper launch is about five times worse." Jolly said watching as Aaron's face pondered that statement.
Jason walked around the bay of the Agamemnon waiting for his next shuttle launch. This time he was to be doing it all, he would have Boomer with him to make sure that he did not mess up, but then after that he would be paired with his new friend Aaron on their first solo mission.
He walked around the bay area and was not really watching where he was going. His mind was going over the information that he would need to know for the flight so he would not look like a total fool. The hardest part was the actual landing, which is where you really had to concentrate. The launching was pretty easy, as the biggest thing he had to watch out for was the flight deck crew.
It was then he heard voices of to the left of him.
"&ldots;look like an accident." Jason heard the voice say.
"You better or else there will hell to pay." Another voice said.
"You worry to much, Ithian is untraceable and looks like a normal heart attack." The first voice said.
"Just as well, I'm not sticking my neck out to save you if something happens."
"No need, he'll be dead before the week is out." The first voice said.
"He better be, or else you will be." The second voice said with a voice as cold as ice.
Jason decided to leave the area as quickly and quietly as he could. His mind was now in turmoil about what he had just heard. These two men were planning to assassinate someone. He would have to visit the medical bay as soon as possible.
"Hey, you ready for the return flight to the Galactica." Jason heard Boomer's voice say as he approached the main area again. He looked behind him to see if he could see anyone coming out of the area but saw no one.
"Uh, yeah." Jason heard himself say.
"Don't worry about it kid, even I was nervous the first time." Boomer said as he slapped Jason on the back and they turned to go back to the shuttle.
Commander Tigh waited patiently as Adama's shuttle landed and the door opened to allow Adama to exit the shuttle.
"Permission to come aboard commander." Adama asked as he walked down the ramp and was met by Tigh who was at first thrown by the statement.
"Of course you are Adama." Tigh said with a bit of confusion.
"Tigh, this is your ship, I'm still the commander of the Galactica, but here I'm a visiting commander and a member of the council, not the commander of the Agamemnon." Adama said to Tigh and watched as Tigh's eyes lit up with understanding.
"Thank you sir, but I will miss you." Tigh said.
"I need to talk to you, so I'll see you in you state room in a little bit." Adama said. "I would like your thoughts about who is to take command of the Theseus."
"I take it you have a couple of people in mind?" Tigh replied.
"I've got a couple." Adama said with a grin.
Jason watched from the flight deck as he friend Aaron made his first landing. The instructors were rushing the seven of them through some intense training. They had been told why, and that they would probably start flying vipers real soon, probably within the week as more recruits came on. They had been told that they would be required to do intense training in the simulators for a while as they flew combat patrol with a veteran pilot.
Jason thought about that for a second, he never imagined that he would be flying a viper. He had tried a couple of times and was almost taken in last time. Apollo and the rest of the veterans were looking at him to provide some leadership with the new recruits as he had already had some simulator training. Starbuck had taken a liking to the young man and had offered some simulator training and they had been impressed with the raw talent that Jason had. He reminded everyone of Starbuck when he was a recruit.
"Hey Jason, how's the flying going?" Jason heard someone say from behind him. He turned around to see who it was and noticed that Starbuck was walking toward him. "See I told you that you would make it." He said with a grin.
"You did say that, but I did not think that it would be so soon." Jason replied with a grin of his own.
"Have you been practicing lately?"
"As much as I could. I think I could beat you now." Jason said.
"I look forward to it, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be your partner for the patrols until you feel comfortable with the procedures." Starbuck said to him.
"I can't wait." Jason said with excitement. Starbuck only smiled at Jason's enthusiasm.
Commander Tigh walked into his ready room for the first time and knew that the upcoming meeting was going to be a bit strange. His and Adama's places would be switched after so many years. Tigh would be the one behind the desk, not Adama.
The layout was similar to the Galactica but the walls were spotless and the entire area still smelled new. They still had to bring in the supplies such as paper and personal belongings, but most of the furniture was provided already. Tigh sat down in the chair and tested it out. He swiveled it from side to side and leaned back in it getting a feel for the chair. It was not that different from the chairs on the Galactica. The chair felt good, he would have to tighten the springs.
The door chimed and Tigh knew that it would be Adama and let him in. Adama walked in and noticed that the room was almost identical to the one on the Galactica.
"So, have you tried the chair out yet?" Adama asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"That's just what I was doing when you arrived." Tigh said and the two men shared a chuckle together.
"How are you adjusting to command?" Adama asked his best friend.
"It will take me a bit of time for me to become accustomed to the fact that you will not be on the bridge." Tigh replied.
"It will take me a while to get used to not having you their either." Adama said. They had been serving together for a long time especially since the destruction of the colonies.
"Let's get down to business, there are a couple of things I want to tell you." Adama said settling down to business.
Bri walked around the immense size of the Agamemnon. The ship was even larger than the Galactica and she had been told that this was the ship that she would serve aboard. She knew that commander Tigh would be the commander of the ship and that he had a reputation that ha was just like commander Adama. Both were easy to get along with, listened to what a person had to say. At the same time they also expected you to be loyal and obey any orders no matter how strange.
Bri had managed to talk to Rigel while they were both still aboard the Galactica. Rigal had told her not to get frustrated, but just do the same job she had always done and she would be just fine.
Bri had noticed that with her experience already that there would be little training for her unlike a lot of the other new recruits. The commanders were still trying to figure out where to station her and that was why she had some free time. Personally she hoped that she would be stationed aboard the same ship that her brother was.
The Agamemnon was her first choice as it was a new ship and she wanted to start work as soon as possible but many of the Galactica's crew was being transferred over to the Agamemnon along with most of the recruits. She had heard that her brother was learning how to pilot the shuttles as a first step to flying. She had been piloted over by Jason on his first trip.
She noticed that an officer was walking toward her.
"Are you Ensign Bri?" The officer asked as he approached her.
"Yes." She replied.
"You're to report to the bridge at once." The man told her. She acknowledged and headed toward the bridge.
When Bri arrived at the bridge the commanding officer met her at the entrance.
"I'm told that you have experience in flight control?" He asked her to which she replied that it had been her last job on a civilian ship. He then told her that they needed another person they only had one person doing the job and Rigel was not scheduled to transfer until a later date. He led her over to the controls and gave an introduction to the other person on duty, Jessica.
"Don't worry about him Bri, he's always in a bad mood." She told Bri after the man had left. "You should not have too much problems adjusting, seeing how you already have some experience with controlling."
"Thanks." Bri replied looking at the control panel, it was similar to the one she had used but was more complex than what she was used to.
"Most of that other stuff is for the viper pilots, but we shouldn't have to worry about that right now, what I need help on is the shuttles, I'll let you have beta landing bay, and I have alpha okay?" Jessica asked her.
"Sounds good." Bri replied and went to work with the first of her incoming shuttles.
Aaron and Jason ran through their pre flight check up. The shuttle was empty except for two passengers, Starbuck and Boomer who were flying back to the Galactica, but they were seated in the back of the shuttle just watching how the two recruits react to their jobs.
"How is Starbuck?" Aaron asked his new friend.
"We're getting along just fine. He told me that I remind him of himself when he was starting out, all natural skill but no experience." Jason replied. "Personally I think that he wants to go back on over not to watch us but to fly over with Cassiopeia."
"Probably, I know if I had someone that good looking I would too." Aaron replied back. "I heard that you flew my sister over to the Agamemnon?"
"Yeah, and they'll probably start working her real soon." Jason told Aaron, what he did not tell him was how they had talked before the flight.
"Okay you two, that's enough gossiping for now." They heard the voice of Boomer say from behind them.
"Yes sir!" They both replied in unison and Jason asked for permission to launch. Bri told him that all systems were good. Jason hit the thrusters and the shuttle launched itself out into space for the now short trip to the Galactica as the two ships were starting to pass each other.
Jason and Aaron along with Starbuck and Boomer looked out the windows to see the two battlestars. The Galactica with its gray dull armor looked as old at it was while the white armor of the Agamemnon almost seemed to glow in space.
"Did you ever think that you would see something like that again?" Boomer asked his companion.
"No, not after the Cain attacked the Cylons head on with the Pegasus over a year ago." Starbuck replied remembering when he first joined the military and the ships that were there back then.
Jason and Aaron piloted the shuttle around the Agamemnon and lined up with the Galactica's Alpha landing bay as they were instructed and made a flawless landing on the deck.
"Well done you two." Starbuck said. "Now you're on your own. You're scheduled for two more transfers flights and then you're to shuttle over to the Agamemnon for a rest period, there should be someone there to show you to your new quarters."
"Yes sir!" The replied in again and were told by Boomer to relax and that they had done a fine job.
"If you have any troubles just ask, we'll be on patrol with Apollo and Jolly and we'll be watching you." Starbuck said.
The two pilots left their recruits and walked over to the viper area to begin a patrol of the area around the fleet while the battlestars were getting into place.
Within a few minutes they were getting into their vipers and running through the last minute checklist. They received the okay to launch and felt the Gs as their vipers accelerated into space. Starbuck joined up with Apollo who was already waiting for him and Boomer went with his normal patrol partner Jolly and they headed towards their respective patrol areas. Apollo and Starbuck flew back and forth between the two battlestars and Boomer and Jolly went to relieve the patrol there.
It was a sight that everyone on board the two battlestars wanted to witness. The passing of the two warships, something that most had given up on ever seeing again in there lives. Adama and Tigh watched from the window of Tigh's ready room.
"It reminds me of the first time I ever served aboard a battlestar, I was stationed on board the old Eurphis watching the Atlantis go by on a mission. I wanted so badly to be on the flagship and was almost disappointed when I learned that I was to serve aboard the Galactica, until I learned that you were to be its new commander." Tigh said quietly to Adama who understood what his friend was saying. The Atlantis was the one battlestar everyone wanted to be on, the flagship. When it was destroyed a part of the morale of the fleet was lost as well.
"The first battlestar I actually saw was the Galactica, returning from a patrol mission to Caperica as I was on my way to the training station." Adama said. "It was a strange moment for me, I can remember that the ship almost called out to me, like it knew I would someday be on it." Adama said watching the old battlestar go by. He could almost feel the pull from the ship even now, and he knew that his adventure with the ship was not over yet.
"You can still feel it." Tigh stated knowing the feeling, he felt it when he saw the Agamemnon.
"What do you think about the selection for the commander of the Theseas?" Adama asked a few minutes later as the Galactica left their view.
"He's the best for the job, and the only one with some experience with battlestars." Tigh replied. "He should do just fine."
"I'll let him know later after we've looked to see what type of repairs can be given to the Galactica. Lets go get something to eat." Adama said and the two men walked out headed to get something to eat, not seeing the someone in the shadows of the empty corridor who's face curved into a cruel smile.
Jason and Aaron quickly finished their two trips of shuttling without any incident and Apollo and Starbuck were truly impressed with the two recruits. They had talked about the two recruits while on their short patrol and what would happen to them. Jason saw Apollo heading toward them and he wondered what they would need to do next.
"Its your down time for the next eight hours. I suggest that you get something to eat and some sleep." Apollo said to the two of them. "Come on, I'll show you your new quarters on the Agamemnon." He said turning around heading for the quarter's area on the Agamemnon.
The three men entered the pilot's quarters a few minutes later and they were quite impressed with the room. It was a bit bigger than the Galactica and they could almost smell the newness of it in the room. They quickly grabbed some bunks as they were one of the first in the room and had their choice of almost all the bunks except four. It seemed that Apollo, Boomer, Jolly and Starbuck had beat them to beds, but there were still several to choose from.
After claiming their bed they headed over to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. They discussed several things including what each thought that serving in the military would be like. Just before they entered the cafeteria Aaron bumped into large sized man who was making his way out of the room.
"Watch it runt!" The man grunted at Aaron who did not know what to say. The big oaf had bumped into him not the other way around. "You've got a problem?" The man asked Jason who was now staring at him.
"Ah, no, come on Aaron." Jason said as he quickly pulled his friend with him into the cafeteria. The large man watched them head into the room and he went on his way.
"What's wrong?" Aaron asked as they stood in line a few minutes later and Jason still had not said much. He looked like he was a thousand miles away.
"Huh? Oh, nothing too much." Jason said evasively.
"Okay!" Aaron said slowly drawing out the word knowing that they both knew that Jason was lying but Aaron would let it drop for the moment.
Jason's mind had been in a swirl of thoughts. The large man who had bumped into Aaron had the same voice that he had heard in the landing bay talking about poisoning someone with Ithian, and who ever was the target Jason felt that it was an important person, and who could he trust with this information.
They had made their way to a table with their food and sat down when they heard a voice from behind them asking if they could sit with them. The two men turned to see Starbuck and Cassiopeia standing there. Aaron immediately motioned for them to sit down.
"How are you doing Aaron?" Cassiopeia asked as she sat down.
"Its been a lot of work, but its been fun learning everything." Aaron said happy that someone was now here that he could converse with, as Jason seemed to have his mind occupied with something else.
Starbuck joined the conversation here and there but mostly it was Cassiopeia and Aaron talking. They had found out that they both were form the same planet and were talking about when they were younger. Starbuck, having heard most of this before was glad that she was talking about her past so openly to another person. He knew that her past was not the most pleasant and what she had done to survive, part of him was proud of her for having the courage to survive, much like he did.
"How has the infirmary been lately?" Jason suddenly asked.
"Quiet lately, we are mostly moving supplies around." Cassiopeia replied and everyone wondered where this came from.
Jason looked around before continuing. "I overheard something earlier on the landing bay. Someone wants someone dead and they are going to use Ithian." He whispered to them.
"That would simulate a heart attack, and you would have to administer the antidote before trying to restart the person's heart or else the person will slowly die during the day." Cassiopeia said not liking this conversation at all. "No one has come in complaining of chest pains lately."
"I think that you should let the doctor know about that." Starbuck told her. "But don't tell anyone else and make sure that he knows that as well."
"What about Apollo and the commander?" Cassiopeia asked.
"I think that we'll just wait, let them make the first move, if we go blurting out that news then we could all be in danger." Starbuck said knowing that this was dangerous news.
Cassiopeia left to go to work as the medical supplies were still coming aboard and needed to be sorted, her first priority was to find the antidote to Ithian. When she arrived at the medical lab she quickly told the doctor who seemed to be quite shocked, and wondered if their course of action was the best one, but went along with it anyway.
Newly appointed Commander Tigh walked onto his bridge. There were several people walking around going about their duties. Most of the supplies and personal had come aboard and now it was a matter of training recruits so that the ship could operate at one hundred percent. It would take a bit of time, but with the experienced crew of the Galactica mingled with the new recruits the transfer was sure to be smooth. The only thing they did not need was the Cylons finding them real soon.
"Sir, the patrol group reports everything to be normal." Bri said to Tigh making her report as Rigel had told her to do. Right now Bri was the most experienced flight control officer on the bridge so it had been decided to have her make the report.
"That's good news, let's hope it remains that way." Tigh said with everyone knowing what he was saying.
A small shuttle carrying just one passenger entered the almost empty landing bay of the ship. Lined up in even rows were the fighters just waiting for their pilots to man them so they could fly out into the vastness of space on missions that they were made for.
One lone figure waited as the shuttle doors opened and a ramp was lowered onto the deck of the landing bay. Appearing in the doorway a lone robed figured stepped into view. A hood obscured a view of the figure's face as it walked down the ramp towards the other waiting figure.
"Ah Lucifer, its good to see you again." The human voice said as the hood was removed revealing Baltar's face.
If Lucifer could have expressed emotion there would have been shock all over his face. "Baltar, its good to see you again." Lucifer quickly said.
"Its good to be home." Baltar replied with a smile and a laugh. "We have work to do Lucifer, the Galactica and Adama are ahead of us, but not that far away. I know where they are going."
Cassiopeia had been going over all of the reports from the other ships looking symptoms of a heart attack in the last day. So far all of her research had proven fruitless, there were a couple of people who had complained of heart attack symptoms but all recovered.
There was a commotion at the door and Cassiopeia looked up wondering who it was and her face fell at who it was and where his hand was clutching.
In the vastness of space the battlestar Galactica arrived at the large asteroid to begin repairs, the Agamemnon arrived to start protecting the fleet and leaving from Gamoray a Cylon basestar leaves in search of it's prey.
End of Movement of the Giants
Continued in A Killer Reveled, A Killer Unknown
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