Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 54: Familiar Foe
Renee glanced around at the bridge of the Fire Ant as the crew watched the space station of the Arbus. She wanted to make sure they had the best information she could give them. So far all they had found had been about a half-dozen warships.
“All right, we head back. I haven’t seen anything new in the past day that might indicate something happening,” Renee said.
The crew started the procedure to head back to the First fleet. Once back Renee would give her report and then Commander Ares would make a decision on wither or not he would attack. She could almost say with certainty that he would say attack.
“Any ships in our path back,” Renee asked the scanner.
“No captain,” the reply came.
“Good, let’s head back,” she said.
The Fire Ant turned around and headed away from the base.
*****
Troy looked over to where Bri sat on the bed. They had managed to get a good night’s sleep and the latest word had come in that the Fire Ant had just returned. That meant that the attack could start at any time.
“When do you think Ares will say its time,” Bri asked.
“Well, it only takes a few hours to reach the base and Ares probably wants to start his plan as soon as possible,” Troy replied. “I have the feeling that if the report is favorable then he will order the attack rather quickly.”
Troy had barely finished that statement when the order came for him to report to the bridge along with Bri. A glance at Bri and he knew that they both thought the same thing. It would time to brief the pilots as to the attack plan Ares wanted to use.
Troy replied that they would be there as soon as they could. “Well it looks like you have your answer,” he said to her.
“I suppose we should go on ahead and get this out of the way,” Bri said.
They quickly made their way to the bridge where Ares stood waiting for them. He motioned them on over to where he was.
“We will be there in about twenty minutes, your squadron should be ready to launch as soon as possible,” Ares said to Bri.
“I’ll get everyone ready then,” she said turning and heading off the bridge towards the hangar.
“Troy, be prepared for anything out there. There appears to be several Arbus ships at the base. The Fire Ant just reported in that the Arbus base has about a half a dozen ships so be careful,” Ares said.
“We will,” Troy said.
Troy walked off the bridge headed to the hangar. He would barely have time to get into his ship before they would launch. A half a dozen ships but no clue about the type of ships.
“Here you go Captain,” the head crew chief said to Troy handing him his helmet.
“Thanks,” Troy said noticing that the rest of the hangar seemed ready to launch. Green squadron would be armed with missiles to attack the Arbus ships. He hoped that they would make every missile count.
“All pilots prepare for launch sequence,” he heard the voice from the bridge say.
“This is it everyone, prepare to move out,” Troy said. He knew that he would have to keep an eye on a few of the rookies. They had replaced the fighter squadron losses when they had taken the Skartian home world back.
“All vipers, launch,” the order came.
Troy pressed the turbo button feeling his viper accelerate down the tube then out into space. Green squadron quickly followed him out of the hangar as they formed up with their wing-mates. Orders were quickly given as to who would attack what. Red squadron launched from the other hangar of the Argo and formed up in a protective screen with Green squadron. He joined Red squad in the protective screen as the vipers headed on their way towards the Arbus ships.
He noticed that so far the Arbus had not sent up any fighters other than the ones that were already on patrol. That also seemed a bit unusual to him. The Arbus had learned something when it came to war and adapted. He slightly wondered if the scout ship had picked that up on the recon trip.
The fighters though would already have someone targeting them. The fighters were quickly closing in their targets. Troy briefly wondered just when the Arbus ships would pick up the fighters and approaching fleet. His question was answered a few seconds later when the Arbus fighters turned to head towards the vipers. Green squadron however had already launched their missiles as they streaked towards the enemy ships.
*****
Ares listened to the reports being sent to him all over the bridge. The Arbus ships had begun launching fighters. That had meant that the vipers had been spotted already. He had not been surprised but had actually thought it would have happened sooner.
“Enemy weapons fire trying to lock on to the Argo,” Ralph said.
“Open fire,” Ares ordered. The vipers had launched their missiles so the threat to the fleet would be minimal at most. The weapons were the main targets of the Arbus fleet.
The Argo’s main weapons opened fire upon the Arbus fleet. The missiles from the vipers had already done their damage. Now the Argo and the rest of the first fleet would engage in battle. The Arbus fleet seemed to be taken by surprise. The larger ships of the Arbus fleet had begun to move towards the fleet.
Ares stood there watching the ongoing battle from his scanner. The Arbus fleet seemed a bit disorganized from what he was able to see. The Arbus fleet had three Attack class ships, two unidentified ships, larger than scouts but smaller than the Attack ships along with six scout ships. The attack ships were what he wanted to destroy. The one thing he had not told anyone had been his thoughts of retreating before the Arbus fleet had been destroyed. He hoped that such a move with him retreating back to Alpha one might bring the Arbus into a trap.
The news from Earth and the Colonial Bound had made him nervous as well. He wondered just how long a civil war had gone on between the two groups. He also had to figure in his expanding fleet. He had two battlestars with a third under construction. The Enterprise would be constructed to an improved design.
“Damage to one of the attack ships is critical,” Ralph said to him. He glanced at the screen as the damage overcame the ships defenses and exploded.
“All ships, prepare to retreat,” Ares said suddenly. The bridge crew glanced at him with a strange look. He only repeated the order and waited a few seconds until the order was carried out.
*****
Bri turned her viper in another to a position to attack another Arbus fighter. Pressing the trigger the viper’s weapons opened fire quickly destroying another enemy.
“All vipers, return to base,” Troy’s voice said.
This caught Bri by surprise. She had not been expecting to hear that. The attack had gone quite well.
“Troy, what’s going on,” Bri asked. She was not sure about the order that Troy had just given and knew that some others also would be questioning the order.
“Commander Ares had given the order to retreat. We’re to return back to the Argo,” Troy replied to her.
“Doesn’t sound right, we’ve got them right where we want them,” Nall’s voice said.
“The commander has a plan guys,” Troy replied.
Bri broke off from her fighting and headed back to the Argo with the rest of the squadron. She kept an eye on the scanner to make sure that none of the enemy fighters followed them. She did wonder as to what Commander Ares had planned. It seemed unlike the man to just leave in the middle of battle when they were winning.
Keeping a close eye out to make sure that everyone else from her squadron had already landed she lined up and landed as well. Getting out of her fighter she walked over to where Troy was standing. The crews were already working to refuel and rearm the vipers which really made her wonder what was going on.
“So, do you know the plan,” she asked Troy.
“The commander wanted to try and give the impression that the raid is coming from Alpha One,” Troy said. That way any attacks by the Arbus will hit a base that isn’t that important to the war effort.”
“Oh, I see. So why didn’t he tell us,” Bri asked.
“He didn’t know what he’d be up against,” Troy replied. “I figure that we’ll be seeing more of these raids in the future.”
“It will keep us on our toes then,” Bri replied as they walked off the hangar bay.
“That it will,” Troy replied. Bri turned to him as he caught up with her.
*****
Gunther walked onto the bridge as he had been called back. His new second in command Gary stood there looking at the scanner with a bit of a strange look on his face. Gunther wondered just what had caaused that look.
“Captain, we’ve encountered something really strange,” Gary said.
“What is it?” Gunther asked, quickly making his way over to the scanners. He looked down and paled at what the scanner told him. “Frack.”
“Ah sir, just what is a Cylon,” Gary asked. There had been confusion in the man’s voice as Gunther turned to look up.
“Something I had hoped not to see in a long time,” Gunther replied. His mind was whirling at the implications at what this could mean. “Try and close the gap to see if we can get a good scan of that ship.”
“Yes sir,” Gary replied. “But we still are not sure who these Cylons are?”
“I know, but Cylons are a hundred more times deadly than the Arbus,” Gunther told him. He had a thousand questions in him mind. Why were the Cylons there? That one seemed to be the largest one at the moment. The one thing that soothed him a bit had been the fact that among the ‘rebel’ Arbus ships was that only one basestar had been found. Were the Arbus and Cylons working together, or was the basestar manned by Arbus?
That question brought up a lot of other questions that Gunther had. He did not really think that they Arbus knew about the Colonials and their fight against the Cylons.
“Are you sure about that sir,” Gary asked still a bit confused.
“Positive,” Gunther replied knowing that he had to answer a few questions. He quickly made a decision as to what he would do. “I’ll make a ship wide announcement soon, set course back for Earth.”
*****
The Battlestar Argo arrived at the base Alpha One. The base really only consisted of one base, primarily designed for defense and with a large power generator. That powered the several holograms of ships that seemed to float nearby. The holo fleet consisted of one battlestar, two cruisers and several scout ships. Now the Argo, Tiger and several support ships arrived at the base to supplement the base’s other real ships which consisted of two destroyers.
Ares stood on the bridge observing the ghost fleet. It really did look quite impressive especially now that the first fleet had arrived. The main base held three fighter squadrons as well. Ralph’s voice broke Ares’ concentration on the fleet in front of him.
“Commander, incoming message from Alpha One,” he told Ares.
“Put it though,” Ares said, waiting a few seconds until the face appeared on the screen. “Commander Ahmed.”
“Welcome to Alpha One,” Ahmed said. His back ground was of the middle eastern area but Ares had found the man to be extremely smart and focused to his task.
“Thank you,” Ares said. “How are things here?”
“We have been quiet for now, but I suspect that it will not last,” the man said.
“Then you would be correct,” Ares said. “Keep an eye out for any Arbus activity. I have a feeling that they will try something real soon.”
“How did the mission go?”
“Quite well,” Ares replied. “We’re going to be here for a few days at least. I’m hoping for an attack within the next couple of days.”
“Then I will let my people know,” Ahmed replied.
Ahmed signed off as Ares glanced back out at the group. He hoped that he had not taken on more than he could handle with the ships he had. The Enterprise would not be ready for a few more months still. He had a lot of things to do still. He could only hope that the Colonial Bound might have some news about this civil war that the Arbus were involved in.
*****
General Pakrov sat in the office in the orbital defense platform in Earth’s orbit. The base had been recently completed much to his delight. Since finding out the clones things with the military had gone smoother and defenses were able to be built quicker than earlier. Most people approved the military spending at the moment as the Arbus still were making waves. The military had so far successfully defended the Earth and now the three bases that Earth had.
“General,” a voice said making him look up. Standing in the door way was Captain Scott. He had become the head of the support fleet.
“Captain, come in,” Pakrov said.
“Ah just wanted to let you know the schedule for everything,” Scott said, handing Pakrov a piece of paper.
“Ah, yes, good,” Pakrov said. He noted the supply ship headed to the Skartian homeworld. The rebuilding there was going very well considering how extreme the devastation had been.
“The Blue Wood should be complete real soon as well,” Scott said. The Blue Wood would be the tanker that would be supplying Earth with fuel from the moon nearby.
“Good, that should free up some of the other ships,” Pakrov replied.
“Ayep,” Scott said. “The two supply ships will help bring supplies and people to and from them bases. Right now it’s very tight with the two supply ships and four bases. Supplies are at a trickle but we need the fuel for the fleet.”
“Things should pick up soon,” Pakrov said. He knew that the fleet had been rapidly expanding ever since the war had started. He also wondered just what the others would say when the threat of the Cylons became known.
Scott excused himself as the general continued to think about the future. The Cyons he was sure fit in there somewhere.
“General, incoming vessel,” central command said. Pakrov got up wondering who had come back now.
*****
Ares stood on the command center of Alpha One base. The center was larger than the bridge of a battlestar but then again it would serve as a command feature for the fleets stationed at the base. So far the scouts had not found anything unusual. He wondered if things really were going well for them, or if the Arbus had held back. A Civil War, he thought, would drain resources from anything else rather quickly.
“Sir, message from the Fire Ant,” Ahmed said to Ares.
“Put it though,” Ares said, waiting to see what Renee had found.
“Commander, we waited around for a few hours but did not see anything unusual except for a higher concentrated patrol. We managed to avoid the patrols before reporting back here,” Renee replied.
“Good,” Ares said. He had wondered how long it might take for a counter attack to happen. He also was prepared to quickly retreat in case the Arbus attacked in a large force. “I want you to remain on patrol and report the moment you encounter anything.”
“Understood commander,” Renee replied as she signed off.
“Colonel,” Ares said, watching as Ralph turned towards him. “Have the viper squadrons begin patrols right away.”
“Yes sir,” Ralph said. He turned and walked away to carry out his orders.
*****
Pratt stood on the bridge of the Daedalius watching as the vipers flew by. He had to admit that things were looking up lately with regards to the war. The government had turned things around on the planet’s surface as well. Many clones who had been discovered were actually working for the war effort even though they did not know it. The people had rebuilt much of the destroyed cities and were supportive of the war.
“Commander, incoming message from General Pakrov,” his second in command said.
“Put it though,” Pratt said watching as the general appeared on the screen. He wondered what the man wanted and from his appearance the man appeared to be quite nervous and in a bit of shock. “General, what can I do for you?”
“I need to talk to you in private,” Pakrov said. Pratt hesitated for a second before heading to his office. The tone in the general’s voice said more than anything else making Pratt wonder what was going on.
“All right general, what’s going on,” Pratt said sitting down in his office facing the screen.
“I’m keeping this quiet but the Colonial Bound returned just a few minutes ago,” Pakrov said.
“All right, but what did they find,” Pratt said having a feeling that what they found had led to the general’s attitude.
“A Cylon basestar,” Pakrov said.
Pratt just about fell out of his chair upon hearing that news. “What?”
“They discovered a group of the rebel Arbus and one Cylon basestar. They are not sure about much except that there is a Cylon basestar with their fleet,” Pakrov said to him.
“We need to inform Commander Ares right away,” Pratt replied quickly. He quickly made a decision. “Have Captain Gunther report to the Daedalius right away so he can report to Ares with me.”
“I’ll let him know what’s going on,” Pratt replied as the transmission ended. Pratt leaned back in his chair not sure about what he had just heard. The Cylons were here! That made their mission even more critical.
*****
Renee watched the scanner screen, seeing a slight blip. While it did not seem that exciting she did not want anything to happen while she was on her watch.
“Helm, take us in for a closer look,” Renee said to her crew. Things seemed to be a bit stressed in the ship at the moment.
The Fire Ant quickly took off towards to investigate the sighting. It did not take long for her to realize that it was indeed a ship. The scanner identified it as an Arbus patrol ship.
“Contact,” Renee said to the bridge crew. “Maintain contact but do not engage. Let’s see where this ship is heading.”
“Yes captain.”
The ship continued to follow the Arbus ship towards the base. The closer the two ships got the more nervous Renee got.
“Prepare laser transmission,” Renee said. She needed a way to communicate what was going on to Commander Ares.
*****
Ares sat on the bridge of the Argo. At times he wondered just what it was like to not sit at this seat and be a regular person. It seemed that the only time he was not on board the Argo was when he went to talk with the Earth Council.
“Commander, incoming message from Commander Pratt,” Ralph said to him.
“Put it though,” Ares said wondering what had happened now. “Pratt, what’s going on.”
“A new development Ares,” Pratt replied. There seemed to be a bit of hesitation in the man’s voice that Ares thought was unusual.
“What type of development,” Ares asked.
“Are you sitting down,” Pratt asked. This question made Ares a bit more nervous about the situation.
“Sir, incoming laser message from the Fire Ant, its captain says its urgent,” Ralph said.
Ares stopped for a second wondering just which communication would be more urgent. “Commander, is Earth under attack or in danger of imminent attack?”
“Well no, but it’s very urgent,” Pratt said.
“Then hold for one second,” Ares said, switching the communication to Captain Renee. “Captain, what have you found?”
“We were tracking on Arbus patrol ship until just a few seconds ago. We just picked up on scanners four attack class ships,” Renee said.
“Only four,” Ares asked. He was not too concerned with four ships, as the Argo and Tiger had taken on more than that in one battle.
“Yes sir,” Renee replied.
“Have all patrol ships scan the nearby area at once,” Ares said, to Ralph who relayed the message to the fleet.
“Let me know when they begin to move,” Ares said
“Understood commander,” Renee said.
Ares stood, knowing that there would be a lot to do in a short amount of time. Then he realized that Pratt was still waiting on the line. He activated the screen, watching as Pratt’s face appeared once more.
“Pratt, can you make this fast, we have uninvited guests coming,” Ares said.
“Then make room for another, Cylons,” Pratt replied. Ares stopped what he was doing, and looked at the screen in disbelief.
“Cylons, as in tin cans Cylons,” Ares asked.
“Yes sir,” Pratt said.
“Where, at Earth?”
“No sir, the Colonial Bound came across a basestar while patrolling deep in Arbus territory,” Pratt replied.
“Just one,” Ares asked. He knew that they now needed information about what was going on.
“Yes commander,” Pratt replied. “There is more though, Captain Gunther didn’t know if Arbus or Cylons manned the ship. They feared getting too close.”
“Wise decision,” Ares said. “Send the Colonial Bound back out to the location along with four other patrol ships to the same area. We need to know if this is a lone basestar or not.”
“I’ll send the ships out at once,” Pratt replied.
“Good, the Argo will return back to Earth once the Arbus attack is over,” Ares said. He ended the communication then stood up. He could see a few confused faces as to why he reacted the way he did. Most in the government knew about the Cylons, or at least something about them. Now he had to inform a group in the military about the Cylons.
*****
The few Arbus ships made their way towards where Alpha One base sat. The hologram projectors were working at full while hiding behind the disguise giving a illusion of a ship were fighters bunched together making it appear as one ship.
“Have I said lately how much I dislike this,” Bri said calmly. She sat in her fighter drumming her fingers on her thigh.
“Yes,” Troy replied. “Only about twenty times.”
“Well, one more time then, I hate this,” she said.
“Heads up, incoming Arbus fleet,” Colonel Ralph’s voice said over the intercom.
Bri felt her heart beat pick up with that bit of news. She felt a bit more energized now that the actual battle would begin. She adjusted her grip on the flight stick checking the fighter’s systems. The lst thing she wanted to occur would be a system malfunction in the middle of battle.
“Red squad prepare for disbandment.”
The order came a few minutes later as she watched the incoming Arbus fleet on her scanner. The hologram continued as her fighter broke though the ghost-like image. The incoming Arbus ships suddenly found themselves without a target to go along with a squadron of vipers heading straight towards them. The two sides engaged in battle in another contest for survival.
*****
Ares watched on the bridge of the Argo as another battle raged around him. He briefly wondered when the fighting with the Arbus would stop. Once again he thought his name was a bit ironic, Ares, the Greek god of war and here he stood commanding over a fleet in another battle.
“Sir, the Arbus ships are retreating,” Ralph said.
Ares thought about the fact that the Arbus were retreating with knowledge of the holograms. Then he also had the knowledge that the Cylons were out there somewhere. He had to plan for that next.
“Let then go for now,” Ares said. “Recall all fighters and prepare to head to Earth.”
“Understood commander,” Ralph said relaying the orders though the fleet.
The Cylons were next.
End of part 54