Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 52: Counter-Attack
Troy landed the shuttle down on the surface of Skatia near the new settlement of Skartians. It had taken a while but the clones had been integrated into the colony. No one could say with any certainty which side the Skartian clones would be on. As a result the clones were put to work farming, building buildings and other meaningless tasks.
“Captain,” Ares’ voice said.
“Here commander,” Troy replied.
“We need you back at the Argo. The patrols have reported an incoming Arbus battle fleet,” Ares said.
“On my way,” Troy said. He turned to Keela who stood nearby. “I need to get back. The counterattack we’ve been expecting is coming.”
“We’ll be ready down here as well,” Keela said. “Good luck captain.”
“Thank you,” Troy said. He turned and boarded the shuttle along with several other pilots from the Argo and headed back up to the battlestar.
*****
Commander Pratt stood on the bridge of the Daedalus. Things had been very quiet so far. The Hermes had just returned from Skartia after delivering Doctor Weaver and his crew.
“Commander, message from the Argo coming in.”
“I’ll take it in my quarters,” Pratt said walking off the bridge. He sat down at his desk and opened the message. Ares’ face appeared on the screen.
“Pratt, just wanted to inform you that the patrols have picked up an Arbus attack fleet. By the time you get this message the battle should just be starting. I will let you know when the battle is over and the outcome. If you do not hear back from me in six hours assume the worst and prepare for battle,” Ares said.
Pratt leaned back in his chair for a second thinking about what Ares had just told him. He wished that Ares had told him how large the Arbus fleet had been. Settling on a course of action he leaned forward and opened his communicator to Earth.
“Commander Pratt, what can I do for you tonight,” Xai said.
“Mr. President, I just received word from Commander Ares. The counter-attack is happening as we speak. I’m bringing the threat level up from yellow to orange,” Pratt said.
“That might scare a lot of people commander,” Xai said. The difference between yellow and orange was that orange meant that the threat of an Arbus attack was imminent.
“Just for the next twelve hours or so,” Pratt said.
“Do you really think such an increase is justified,” Xai asked. “I’m not trying to be mean I just don’t want to cry wolf too much.”
“I understand, but in this case yes. If the first fleet is destroyed then it will be only a matter of time before we are invaded as well,” Pratt said.
“Very well, I’ll get my cabinet on it right away,” Xai said. “Who needs sleep anyways, I hear it’s overrated.”
Pratt chuckled at that. Being a commander could really suck sometimes.
*****
Bri made a hard turn in her viper, lining up another Arbus ship. Pressing the trigger she watched as two shots flew straight hitting the target. A second later it exploded as Bri turned to find another.
A quick glance around she noticed tht the Argo and Tiger engaged in combat with the Arbus fleet. The attack fleet had turned out to be larger, including a battleship class warship and six attack class ships. The largest attack fleet the Arbus had yet sent against them.
“Bri, head to sector 4, Red squad could use some help there,” Troy said.
“On it,” Bri replied as she and her wingmate turned to head into the battle.
Bri could see the intense firefight going on between red squad and the Arbus fighters. She hit her turbos allowing her to enter the battle quickly. Spotting an enemy fighter she banked a bit and without looking at the target hud she opened fire. The fighter took a few hits before exploding adding another to the growing total that Bri had.
“Scratch another one,” Bri said.
“Glad you could make it,” Jax said.
“Where can I help out the most,” Bri asked.
“Frak, there’s one enemy that’s pretty good, do you think you can take him,” Jax replied.
Bri glanced around for a few seconds before spotting the Arbus fighter in question. She watched as the pilot finished off two vipers in one pass.
“Well, I’ll give it a try,” Bri said, turning her viper towards the enemy in question. “Nall watch my back to make sure no one sneaks up on me.”
“Sure thing,” Nall replied.
The Arbus pilot seemed to noticed Bri just before she fired and made a quick adjustment. Bri’s shots missed. She watched as the Arbus’ fighter twisted and turned to avoid her pushing his fighter to the limit. Against a normal pilot his maneuvers would have worked. However Bri pushed her viper and herself to the limit as well.
Neither side engaged in what had become a personal dogfight between the two pilots. Nall knocked off another fighter while keeping an eye on Bri.
Bri had narrowed her concentration down to the one fighter. She trusted Nall and the others to watch her back in this fight. “No two bit daggit is going to get me today,” she growled, as the enemy managed to fire a few rounds at her. “Let’s try something different,” she said watching her scanner. “Come on, come on, a little bit closer you daggit,” Bri mumbled. “Ah-ha!”
Bri slammed the reverse thrusters on effectively reversing her course. Pressing the turbos had her going forward again with the Arbus’ fighter in front of her. She didn’t waste time on the battle-scanner as she fired. The enemy fighter exploded as her aim was dead on.
“Good job Bri, return to the Argo,” she heard Ares voice say.
“Yes sir,” Bri said.
She turned her viper toward the Argo and headed off. She kept her wits about her as she left the combat zone just in case anyone tried anything. It seemed though that the Arbus fighters went out of their way to avoid her.
*****
Ares stood on the bridge watching as the reports of the battle trickled though. The enemy ships had taken quite a bit of damage. That was not a surprise considering that the Tiger and Argo were both concentrating on the battleship.
“Turret sixteen has been destroyed,” Ralph said. “Fire control teams are responding to the fire on deck eighteen.”
“Damage to the enemy,” Ares asked.
“The battleship has taken tremendous damage,” Ralph replied. “One attack ship is also seriously damaged, the others have received slight damage.”
“Tell Green squad to fall back and prepare to rearm,” Ares said. “Their target will be the attack class ships.”
“Yes sir,” Ralph said, telling Troy the order. “Troy says that might leave them short in vipers to cover the fleet,” Ralph said relaying what Troy had said to him.
“Do it anyways, I have confidence in red squadron,” Ares said.
“Yes sir,” Ralph said. “Green squadron is heading back sir.”
Ares knew that he would have to wait a while as the crew reloaded the squadron. He had confidence in red squad but he knew that any squad would be good only for so long. What would be red squad’s limit?
“Recovering fighters as quickly as possible. The rearm teams are working on the first arrivals,” Ralph said.
Ares nodded again as the battlestar traded jabs with the Arbus battleship. The Tiger currently had engaged a few of the attack ships. The destroyers had come along to help out the Tiger but the ships were outnumbered. Ares thought that the few minutes wait took an eternity until Ralph said that the first vipers were ready to launch.
“Good, their target is the attack class ships. I want their weapons disabled as soon as possible,” Ares said.
*****
Bri landed on the Argo after her fight with the Arbus pilot. Whoever the pilot had been he had skill. Her canopy opened and she almost stepped out when the crew chief came up to her.
“New orders captain,” the chief said. “We’re rearming you with missiles and readying you for launch.”
“Again,” Bri replied. She took the moment to stretch as the crew worked quickly on her fighter. A second later the chief signaled for her viper to be moved to the launch bay.
“Captain Bri, your orders, Green squad is to attack the attack ships disabling their weapon systems,” Ralph said to her.
“Understood, where is the rest of my squadron,” Bri asked.
“Being rearmed as we speak captain,” Ralph replied.
Bri almost replied when another viper pulled up in the next launch bay. She recognized it as Nall’s viper.
“All fueled up and ready to go beautiful,” Nall said to her.
“You know the mission,” Bri asked.
“Yep, I’ll let you choose the target,” Nall said.
“All right, let’s go then,” she said pushing the turbo button. The viper shot out of the launch tube back out into the battle.
*****
Troy watched as red squad held back the assault of Arbus fighters. With green squadron temporally withdrawn from the fight he had joined the battle himself. A few moments later he noticed that green squad had launched but had a new mission.
He lined up another fighter pressing the trigger. A few seconds later the ship exploded as Troy switched to another target. “Nice shot,” Jax said over the radio.
“Thanks, good to know that I haven’t lost my skills yet,” Troy said.
“I thought that was a requirement of becoming an air group leader,” Jax said.
“Nah, I’m the exception, besides I’m married to Bri,” Troy said.
“Well, here she comes so you better be ready,” Jax said.
Troy would have liked to watch, but he had gone into the middle of the battle. Now he seemed a bit more concerned with staying alive. Lasers flew past him as an Arbus fighter had gotten in behind him. He turned quickly using the vipers superior maneuverability to his advantage. A few seconds later the tables were turned as he opened fire. The Arbus fighter had engaged his thrusters to try and get away from the viper but Troy’s shot were right on. A few seconds later the fighter exploded leaving Troy looking for another enemy fighter.
“Arbus attack ships suffering damage to their weapon systems,” he heard over the radio. Bri and Nall had delivered their payload and now were headed into the firefight at top speed.
Troy noticed that with the additional numbers coming back from green squadron. The attack on the Arbus ships seemed to be a success. So far the enemy ships had suffered some damage helping out the Argo and Tiger in the battle. The attack ships had fallen back a bit along with the battleship. He wondered if the Arbus were retreating.
*****
On the bridge of the Argo Ares wondered the same thing as Troy as he watched the Arbus fleet withdraw. The Argo had suffered some damage but nothing that interfered with its ability to fight.
“Get me the Fire Ant,” Ares said waiting for Renee to appear on the screen.
“Commander, what can I do for you,” Renee asked.
“Have you found any indication of any other ships in the area,” Ares asked.
“No commander,” Renee replied.
“Good,” Ares said. He felt a bit confident in allowing the Arbus fleet to withdraw. He could repair the damage to his fleet while preparing for the next attack. He held his ships and crew in high confidence.
“Allow the enemy to withdraw for now,” Ares said.
“Yes sir,” Ralph said relaying the order.
“Renee, I want you to tail the enemy fleet to see where they go. Do not engage if you do not have to. I want the information more than you destroying another enemy ship,” Ares said.
“Understood sir,” Renee replied.
“Arbus fleet is retreating,” Ralph said.
“Get red squad landed and refueled at once,” Ares ordered. He watched as the crew went to work. The good news had been no fires reported in this fight. He quickly sent word down to the planet’s surface of what occurred and then his next message went to Pratt back at Earth. The last thing he needed would be the Second fleet heading to their location leaving Earth undefended.
With everything done and the messages sent Ares walked back to his office to review the damage done to the Argo. If the Arbus sent any larger fleets then they would need more batlestars to defend Earth with.
The next generation battlestar, Enterprise had started construction. The lessons of the war had been instituted. Ares wondered if this latest attack on the Arbus would mean more counterattacks. He did not like the fact that the Arbus did not attack as much as the Cylons did. That could mean the Arbus were already at war with someone, or they did not process a large fleet to fight with. He hoped to gain the information soon.
*****
Captain Scott watched from his position on the bridge as Gunther walked over to the scanners. Something had been picked up and now they had to figure out what it could be.
“Hmm, large group of ships,” Gunther said out loud. “If I didn’t know better I would say it was a battle.”
“A battle, out here laddie,” Scott said.
“Let’s get closer,” Gunther said. “Helm, course six by thirty-five.”
“Yes sir.”
Scott walked over to where Gunther stood. Looking down at the scanner he noticed that there appeared to be several ships, many large. The scanners indicated two battleship class ships, along with ten attack class ships. The opponent seemed to have a couple of large ships as well and a few smaller ships. The scans indicated that the two sides were about equal in power.
“Well this is real interesting,” Scott said watching the screen.
“Very, perhaps we should head back with this information. I think Commander Ares would like to hear this,” Gunther said.
“Aye laddie,” Scott replied. He did not look up from the screen. “Perhaps though we should wait and see who wins as well.”
Gunther glanced at Scott for a few seconds as he thought it over. “Good idea.”
“If the Arbus lose should we try to contact whoever they are,” Scott asked.
“Not yet, there is no telling if they are friendly or not. The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend. We cannot afford any more enemies,” Gunther said.
Scott nodded his head in agreement. The Arbus and the Cylons seemed bad enough already. Another enemy might be one too many for the fledging Earth military.
*****
Pratt sat in his chair on the bridge waiting for the next message from Commander Ares. So far it had only been a couple of hours since the message had been received. He would not get to worried until a few more hours had gone by.
“Incoming message from Commander Ares.”
Pratt jumped up and quickly activated his screen to view the message.
“The battle is over for now. We’ve sustained some damage but are repairing it right now. I would like for you to keep your guard up as the Arbus still might attack in the next couple of hours. Will contact you again later for the resupply, Ares out.”
Pratt leaned back in relief as he learned that the First fleet had survived. Now he just had to wait out the next couple of hours.
“Maintain level of alert for the next four hours then bring the condition of the fleet back down to yellow,” Pratt said sending a message to Xai and Pakrov down on Earth. He figured that Xai would be glad to hear the news. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
Pratt walked off the bridge of the Daedalius and for his bridge. He wondered what would be next now that the Skartian homeworld had been freed. What type of strain would that place on the defenses of Earth? He hoped that Ares had thought about that as well.
*****
Troy walked into his quarters after the long day. The debriefings had been long and red squad currently had combat patrol duties. Bri turned around as he walked in.
“About time you made it back,” she said to him.
“Yeah, the commander wanted to make sure that the current patrol plan covered everything,” Troy replied. He walked over giving Bri a hug and a kiss. “Green squad has patrol in a couple of hours.”
“I know, John and Mike have the first patrol,” Bri replied slipping into the bed.
Troy joined her a few moments later. He felt Bri snuggle up next to him as she quickly fell asleep. He joined her not that long after.
*****
Troy glanced around the bridge of the battlestar noticing that it seemed a bit different. It looked like the Argo but seemed a bit different. The bridge currently seemed to be in a state of alert. The red alert lights bathed the entire area in a red light.
“Commander, we can no longer raise the rest of the fleet,” a young woman said to the commander.
Troy glanced at the commander and thought that the man looked familiar. He had to think about where he had seen the man.
“All of them,” the commander asked.
“We can’t raise the Galactica or the Pacifica commander,” the woman said. “The Triton has been destroyed for sure.”
Troy suddenly wondered if this had anything to do with the vision he had of the Pacifica. Before he could continue the thought another explosion rocked the ship throwing people to the floor.
“Major damage to Alpha landing bay,” the woman said. “Many systems are not responding.”
Troy watched as the commander stood there. His face showed that he knew what would come next. The battlestar had taken the maximum damage that it could take. A wave of flame suddenly engulfed the bridge snapping Troy awake.
His eyes had to adjust to the dark room of his quarters before he fully realized that he had awakened. He released a breathe knowing that he now had several visions of battlestars being destroyed. The one thing he had no answers to had been when and where. He now had seen three different battlestars destroyed. He felt confident that none of them were the Argo but he could not be certain about the Daedalius or the Enterprise.
“Another one,” Bri’s sleepy voice said.
“Yeah,” Troy said. “It seems to be the only vision I’m getting lately. Aside from the birthday party for Mary next year.”
A green eye popped open and looked at him. “Birthday party?”
“Um, yeah, we’re all going to be invited. There is something about a cake and a candle some singing and laughing but nothing major,” Troy replied.
“Good,” Bri said snuggling back down.
A few seconds later Bri had fallen back asleep. Troy remained awake as the vision kept repeating in his mind. What was the universe trying to tell him and what was he ignoring? He finally decided that he would talk with Ares about what he had seen. Maybe he would be able to shed some new light on the visions.
*****
Pakrov walked off the shuttle. For being the general of the military he had rarely been off world. The last time had been almost three years ago. Now here he stood on Centari One watching as Commander Peter walked up to him.
“General Pakrov, welcome to Centari One,” Peter said.
“Thank you commander,” Pakrov said. “Quite impressive. I noticed the Enterprise seems to be approaching completion.”
“Yes, we’re all quite excited about it,” Peter said.
“I also noticed the Atlantian ship on the surface of the planet. Anything new from that source,” Pakrov asked.
“No, most of the team went with Doctor Weaver to explore the Argus transport we captured at the Skartian homeworld,” Peter replied. He led Pakrov down the hallway towards some of the many training rooms used for the pilots. Pakrov glanced around looking at the facilities.
“You were on Earth when the Arbus attacked right,” Pakrov asked as they continued on towards the quarters.
“Yes, I was the commander of the base on Earth,” Peter replied. “I never dreamed that I would be fighting a different enemy.”
“Ah, the Cylons,” Pakrov said. “I had to try and force it out of Commander Ares.”
“The rumor is around but we use the name as the training enemy,” Peter replied.
The rounded the corner in the guest quarters area. “This is your quarters, if you need anything for it just ring. Do you wish to get settled first or continue the tour?”
“Let me put my stuff down and we’ll continue. I really want to see these hydroponic farms,” Pakrov said.
“Ah yes, they brought in income for us in the beginning, or at least they were,” Peter replied. “The Arbus attacked before it was fully operational. That and we had some sabotage problems.”
“Read about that,” Pakrov replied as they walked out of the quarters area and towards the farms. “Do you think it was because of the clones?”
“It makes sense but we still have a few of them working for us,” Peter said. “In fact one went on board the Colonial Bound.”
“I heard that ship completed its original mission,” Pakrov said.
“Yes, they returned about a month ago,” Peter replied. “Well, here we are.”
Pakrov stood in awe as the smell of dirt, water and flowers invaded his senses. Before him he overlooked a large area of plants and trees. Above him rose the huge dome structure that allowed the light in.
“Impressive,” Pakrov said. “I see where some of this technology is starting to be used on Earth.”
“Yes, they really improved some areas of technology. Though they really lag behind in computer technology,” Peter replied.
“I’ve had to answer some questions about why the ships are not very technological in nature,” Pakrov said.
“Yeah, can’t really tell them about the Cylons,” Peter said, as they continued though the farm towards the part that Pakrov came to Centari One for.
“I wonder if we should start telling people about it. It’s already a rumor on the internet,” Pakrov said.
“So far they’ve got it wrong though. I’m going to be asking Commander Ares about that next time I talk to him,” Peter said.
They entered a large area where a mass of troops were exercising and going though drills. Pakrov stood there watching the group.
“The ground troops are coming along quite well,” Peter said.
“So I see,” the general said.
“General Pakrov, good to see you sir,” a young man said walking up to them.
“Ah, Captain Jones, how are your troops doing,” Pakrov replied.
“They are doing well, awaiting your inspection,” Jones said.
“General, this is where I’ll leave you,” Peter said.
“I’m sure you have many other things to do than babysit me,” Pakrov said. “Besides, I think Jones will be able to handle any questions I have.”
“Very well sir,” Peter said. He walked off leaving the two men to run though the training for the ground forces.
“Sir,” Jones said after he had finished the tour. “Some of the men asked why we’re doing this. Most of the battles seem to take place in space.”
“Ah, we only have so many pilots and they cannot be in two places at once. Its only common sense that we have a division of ground troops,” Pakrov said.
“Sissy pilots,” one man said.
“I doubt you would think that if you were in their shoes private,” Pakrov said.
“Yes I would sir,” the man replied. The general reached into his pocket and produced a small handheld.
“Then identify this ship,” Pakrov said.
“Ah,” the man hesitated taking his time. “It’s the Hermes.”
“Correct, but your dead,” Pakrov said. “Each pilot must know without thinking if the ship is enemy or not. Any hesitation in battle costs you your life. You don’t have a bunker to hide behind while you think. They also have tremendous g-forces to withstand each time they go out in battle that can take their body beyond physical endurance knowing if they black out their dead. Is that what you want?”
The man thought about it for a few seconds. Sure they trained all day long, but there seemed to be some advantages in being a ground force. They had yet to really be needed and they knew what the enemy looked like. Even a clone might be easy to spot with the training they had.
“I’ll take where I am for now sir,” the man said.
“Good, now I’m here because you’re being deployed,” Pakrov said. “We’re sending you to the Skartian homeworld to help organize and make sure that the Arbus are gone.”
“We’ll be ready,” Jones said.
End part 52