Dislaimer: See Part 1
The Milsian Princess
by AJ Marks
Part 6
Mark looked at the scanner wondering what he would do next. The information had proven true and now he looked upon a fleet of ships. The middle ship and largest appeared to be a warship of some sort. It seemed to be about the size of the Nevada and probably had similar capabilities.
“Well, now what?” Kim’s voice said.
Mark wondered that as well. The size and composition of the fleet also confirmed Baltar’s story. He really had no idea what he might do now. They could make contact, or he could leave and report this back to HQ and see what they say.
“Captain, we’re being hailed,” Hans said.
Mark actually felt no surprise at the fact they were being hailed. It might be something the Colonials would do, if you believed Baltar. Mark realized he would never know unless he replied back to the hail.
“Send it up here,” Mark said.
“This is Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica to unknown ship, identify yourself,” the voice said.
Mark thought about the tone, a bit different than Baltar if he spoke the truth. Baltar seemed friendlier but Mark needed to find out for himself.
“This is Captain Mark Cave of the Alliance battle-cruiser Nevada,” Mark replied back.
“The Eastern Alliance?” the question came back. Mark frowned slightly at that question. He had never heard of the Eastern Alliance before.
“Eastern Alliance? I have not heard of that group before,” Mark replied.
“Then perhaps we should meet,” Adama said.
“It might get some confusion out of the way,” Mark said.
“You are welcome aboard the Galactica, or we can come aboard your ship,” Adama said.
Mark thought about that for a second before finally replying. “I shall come over there.”
“Then we shall make arrangements, and I look forward to meeting with you,” Adama said.
“And I you,” Mark replied.
*****
Baltar turned at the entrance of Lucifer.
“Any news from the Alliance?” Baltar asked.
“Only this message from one of their government officials,” Lucifer said. “They have located the Galactica for us.”
“The Galactica,” Baltar said. Knowing that the battlestar was around he wondered exactly how he could destroy it and gain revenge on Adama.
“We do have another basestar in the area, it was the closest one,” Lucifer said.
Baltar hesitated knowing he wanted the glory of destroying the Galactica. But Adama had a way of escaping destruction. If he ordered the basestar to attack he could force the Galactica into a battle leaving it damaged and venerable to his second strike.
“Have it head to that area and if the Galactica is there, destroy it,” Baltar ordered.
“By your command,” Lucifer replied.
Now Baltar’s mind quickly worked at how exactly to distract the Alliance while he went to destroy Adama after this attack.
*****
Mark stepped off the shuttle along with John, who would not allow Mark to go over by himself. Mark noticed several men right away, two dressed in tan colors and the third dressed in blue. He noticed the tan men wearing holsters and weapons and figured them as guards. The man in blue with white hair obviously had to be Commander Adama.
“Welcome aboard Captain Cave,” the man said. “I am Commander Adama, and this is Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck.”
Mark glanced first at the dark haired man called Apollo then at the blonde man. “I’m Captain Mark Cave, and this is Lieutenant John qwert.”
“I have a meeting room set aside where we can talk in comfort,” Adama said.
Mark nodded as the group left the hanger. Mark glanced around it noticing it was larger than the Nevada’s. He also noticed with the Galactica it had two large hangers. He wondered how many hangers the Cylon warship had. Putting that out of his mind he followed Adama up into the ship. He did noticed walking down the hallway that the ship appeared more crowded than a normal warship.
“Here we are,” Adama said, as they walked into the room.
Mark noticed right away the technology appeared slightly less advanced than he had expected. He really thought they would have been more advanced. Green monitors on the wall reminded him of holo films of ancient Earth computers. He looked over at John who sat down as well and Mark knew he had seen the technology as well.
“Welcome aboard the Galactica again,” Adama said. “I can assume safely that you are not part of the Milsian Empire.”
“Ah, no, but I think you are what is called the Colonials,” Mark replied watching Adama show a bit of shock.
“Yes, you have been talking to the Milsian Empire?” Adama asked.
“Not really, we don’t get along very well,” Mark said.
“Well there is that part where they keep trying to conquer us,” John said. “Like they did with Serria.”
“Serria?” the man called Starbuck asked.
“It’s the planet a small Milsian fleet orbits right now. They are subjecting the population there to life under Emperor Tony,” Mark said. “We’ll be launching a counter strike here soon, I hope, part of our reason for being here.”
“But you knew we were here?” Adama said.
“Yes, an anonymous message pointed you out,” Mark said. “And we wanted to check out your story.”
“Our story? Seems like you’ve already heard a story,” Apollo said.
“Well, yes, but I’ve found the best way is straight from the source,” Mark replied.
Mark watched as Adama held up a hand to Apollo before returning his attention back to Mark. “All right, the short story is we were at war with a race for a long time. They were called the Cylons.”
Mark nodded as only he and John knew they had met the Cylons already.
“Well, we fought them for a thousand years. Then by contacting a councilmember they said they wanted peace. It turned out to be a disaster. The Cylons destroyed our fleet, and our worlds. At the time the colonies had twelve homeworlds representing twelve of the thirteen tribes of mankind,” Adama said. “After the devastation I knew the Galactica could not defend what remained of our people. So I gathered all I could and left to find the thirteenth tribe, Earth.”
Mark sat back listening to the story looking for deception. The story was good, and the commander definitely believed in it.
“If you had been at war for so long how was it the government believed they wanted peace?” Mark finally asked.
“Baltar did a good job of that,” Adama said. “He was a councilman and it was through him they said they wanted peace. Only he knew what their true objective was. I have no idea what they promised him but he made sure our defenses were down when they attacked. Now they hunt us to finish what they started.”
Mark heard the name and managed to hide his shock over the name. He had a lot to think about right now and wished a bit that he knew who was telling him the truth.
“Why would they use a peace treaty to attack, doesn’t sound like something an intelligent race might do,” Mark said.
“The Cylons are a race of machines, they only wish to win. I’ve learned they do not care about honesty, or morals, only that they win, that’s it,’ Admaa said. “And their mission at the moment is to eliminate all human life. If they meet you they will try and destroy you.”
Mark mulled this over for several seconds. He had to figure out if Baltar was telling the truth or not. Of course Adama had no idea Mark had already had contact with the Cylons.
*****
Tigh paced on the bridge wondering what was happening now with their latest visitors. The Alliance ship sat at the edge of the fleet not doing anything.
“Colonel,” Athena’s voice said, sounding very tense.
“What is it,” Tigh said, glad for an interruption of his thoughts.
“We have a Cylon basestar heading towards the fleet,” Athena replied.
Tigh stopped turning to her. He swallowed once before jumping to action.
“Sound red alert, where is it coming in from?” Tigh asked.
“Bringing it up on the screen now colonel,” Athena replied.
Tigh noticed the Cylon basestar would attack the rear of the fleet.
“Set course to intercept,” Tigh said as the Galactica went to red alert normal lighting replaced with the red glow of the alert lights. People on the bridge quietly went about their duties preparing for a battle. “Send out the word to all ships in the fleet.”
“Yes sir,” Rigel replied.
Tigh wondered briefly what the alliance ship might do, but did not have time to worry about that. His first priority was protecting the fleet.
*****
Mark glanced up when the normal lighting suddenly changed to red along with a sounding tone. He decided from the way the three men jumped the Galactica had gone to red alert, but the question now was why?
“Tigh, what’s going on?” Adama asked at the intercom. Mark thought he moved pretty fast for someone his age.
“Commander, scanners indicate a Cylon basestar incoming,” a voice replied back.
“Launch all vipers, I’ll be there shortly,” Adama said. Mark watched him turn back to him in deep thought. “I suggest you return to your ship captain.”
“That probably would be a good idea,” Mark replied. He turned to John who appeared ready to get off the ship if battle would happen. Not that Mark could blame him.
“We’ll take him down,” Apollo stated. They began walking down the hallway. “Have you heard of Alphas, Betas and Gammas?”
Mark felt a bit of shock at the question wondering if Apollo knew or not. “Well, we know it as part of the class social system of the Milsian Empire. Alpha Superior is the highest, made up of the current Emperor’s family, then Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Gammas, and finally Epsilons.”
“A social class?” Starbuck said. “Might explain the tension we felt meeting them.”
“You’ve met them? Have they met these Cylons?” Mark asked.
“Not that I’m aware of, but they have attacked them while they were defending a plant from attack by, um, well, the Alliance,” Apollo replied.
“I see,” Mark said. “They lie very easily.” Mark wondered if the Cylons lied as easily as the Milsians did. If they did then Baltar did a good job of making these look different.
The hanger looked quite different than before. Pilots raced to their battlestations while fighter crews made sure every fighter was armed and fueled ready to go.
“How quickly can you get out of here?” Apollo asked over the noise.
“Quite quickly, don’t worry about that,” John replied back.
Mark followed John on board the shuttle quickly heading to a seat while John prepped the shuttle for launch. Mark worked on communications hearing the shuttle’s engines powering up to the point it was ready for launching. He felt the acceleration of the shuttle a second later the communicator came to life.
“Captain Cave, come in,” Kim’s voice said.
“Colonel, good to hear your voice, what’s the situation?” Mark asked.
“The fleet is doing some radical maneuvering,” Kim replied.
“Is there a Cylon ship on the scanners?” Mark asked.
“Wait, yes, it just came into range,” Kim stated. “Oh great, we’re going to be in a battle between two forces.”
“Prep jump engines and get me HQ,” Mark said.
“Understood,” Kim said.
Mark turned to look outside the forward windows watching John pilot the shuttle with ease. The Nevada came into view finally. Mark finally breathed a sigh of relief when the shuttle landed in the hanger.
“You need me to do anything?” John asked.
“Gather up the pilots and keep then ready, just in case,” Mark said. He had no idea what would happen in this battle and he wanted to be prepared. He quickly headed up to the bridge to see what would happen next.
*****
“Report Lucifer,” Baltar said.
“By your command,’ Lucifer replied. “The basestar has engaged the Galactica and the Colonial fleet.”
“Excellent,” Baltar replied. “How quickly can we engage the Galactica?”
“At our present speed, in sixty centons,” Lucifer replied.
“Have all our pilots ready to engage,” Baltar said. “I want our forces ready to destroy the Galactica. Not a ship of that fleet is to survive.”
Baltar knew when he arrived the battle would have been engaged for a while making the warriors tired. His centurions would come in fresh and fully armed.
“I will make sure all pilots know your orders Baltar,” Lucifer said.
Baltar watched Lucifer walk out of the room to carry out the orders. Baltar smiled finally having Adama right where he wanted him.
*****
Mark glanced at the scanner on the bridge wondering who might win this battle. He could see that the Galactica’s fighter squadrons had already engaged in the Cylon forces. He noticed the large number of fighters compared to the Alliance ships. The Nevada held fifty fighters and the Cylon warships appeared to hold even more.
“Looks like a large fight,” Kim said.
“In terms of fighters, yep, but there are only two warships,” Mark stated.
The two warships continued to close the distance and he started seeing damage begin to appear on both ships. They had engaged each other.
“No shields captain,” Kim said finally.
Mark glanced down noticing that as well. Their ships might not have as many fighters but their ships had better protection.
“New incoming Cylon fighters,” Yvette, the weapons officer, suddenly said.
Mark glanced around the scanner before seeing the fighter formation. He noticed it was now behind them and heading right towards them.
“Orders captain?” Kim asked.
“Raise shields,” Mark said. He wondered exactly what would happen next. “Order all pilots ready to launch.”
“Captain, is that wise, they are our allies,” Kim said, confused at the order.
“Just do it, I’ve had some new information lately and if it’s right they will attack us,” Mark said.
Mark watched as the Cylon ships closed in. They would either pass right by the Nevada or they would attack his ship with little warning. He rubbed his forehead feeling the strain of the situation wearing on him.
“Still closing in sir, shall we open a hailing frequency?” Hans asked.
“No, move us further away from the Colonial fleet,” Mark said. He wanted to see if the Cylons would change course slightly to attack a ship with humans on it or ignore it and go for the Colonial fleet.
He watched the Nevada turn slightly and begin moving away from the fleet. He glanced at the Cylons waiting several seconds. He almost breathed a sigh of relieve and then several fighters changed course heading straight to the Nevada. He quickly activated the communicator and waited patiently for John to reply.
“What’s up skip?” John’s voice said.
“If you launch it’s probably to engage Cylon forces,” Mark said.
“Cylon, all right,” John said. “Numbers?”
“Around a hundred and fifty right now,” Mark said.
“Oh, only outnumbered three to one,” John’s reply came back. Both understood the news meant nothing good. Mark could only hope the Starcats were as good as the designers had made them.
“Cylon fighters firing on us captain,” Hans said. Mark really did not need Hans to mention that as he rocked slightly by the hits to the Nevada.
“Shields holding captain,’ Kim said.
“Launch fighters, engage hostile forces,” Mark replied.
*****
Adama turned when Athena mentioned that Cylon forces were approaching from behind them. He should have figured something like this. Draw the Galactica away from the fleet then split his forces.
“Can any squadron break away to engage?” Adama asked.
“Blue squadron,” Omega replied.
“Have them turn to engage them then,” Adama said. He wondered if there was another Cylon basestar out there that he did not know about. Now he had to finish off this basestar with as little damage as possible and possibly engage a second basestar.
“Damage to alpha hanger, minor though,” Tigh said.
“Have the damage control teams begin work on it,” Adama said. He glanced at the scanners which indicated the damage to the basestar. So far the basestar had suffered more damage than the Galactica. Adama knew that in battle things could change in a moment. He hoped his luck would hold on a bit longer.
*****
Crystal walked up to her fighter under the stares of several others. Beside her John stood before giving her a pat on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about them, right now we have a problem with the Cylons,” John said. “If what the Colonials said was true, the Cylons pose a threat to both the Milsian and Alliance.”
Crystal heard the words but knew her only real concern, staying alive to gain revenge. She only cared about that and if protecting the Nevada helped her gain that revenge she did not care.
“Seems like according to the Colonials all the Cylons want to do is destroy humanity,” John said. “The only orders right now are protect the Nevada from the Cylons attacking us.”
Crystal nodded her head before climbing into the fighter. She turned slightly confused when a mechanic handed her the interface helmet.
“Go get them,” he said.
“Don’t worry,” Crystal said thinking how much he looked like the head mechanic on the Kitakkim. The one place she had any friends at all and even then she wondered if that had been controlled.
“Skull seven, cleared for launch,” the bridge said.
“Launching,” Crystal replied, as her fighter raced out into space. Her scanner quickly came to life with multiple targets. She quickly picked out the closest enemy fighter destroying rather easily. The disk shaped fighter exploded even as Crystal moved on to her second target. She destroyed that one too before finally destroying the third fighter. She glanced at the scanner noticing right away that the Cylons appeared to fly in groups of three. If they all fought like this she could have an easy fight.
*****
Apollo glanced at his scanner at the incoming Cylon raiders and at the fact many of the raiders had stopped to engage the Alliance warship. Apollo did not know what the capabilities of the Alliance ships were but he hoped they could defend themselves. The Galactica’s fighter squadrons were stretched to the limit right now.
“Heads up, here they come,” Apollo said. He switched over to his targeting computer and opened fire on the Cylons. Space immediately criss-crossed with red and blue laser fire as the two groups engaged each other.
Apollo destroyed one before turning to engage another Cylon raider. That one was destroyed before he realized there were about forty or so unknown fighters in combat with them. He quickly realized they had to be the Alliance fighters.
“Starbuck, make sure you don’t destroy the unknown fighters, they have a human pilot,” Apollo said.
“Yeah, I know, saw one streak through destroy three Cylon raiders and continue on like nothing happened,” Starbuck replied.
Apollo thought that would be impressive, but then concentrated on the next Cylon raider.
Apollo turned away a few moments later to survey the situation when he noticed an Alliance fighter on his scanner. Two Cylon raiders disappeared on the scanner as the Alliance fighter continued on to another group of Cylons. Apollo figured that to be the fighter Starbuck spoke about. He watched for a few moments as whoever piloted the fighter destroyed another three while he watched.
The pilot seemed to weave a path of destruction wherever it went. He shook his head then re-engaged wondering where the Cylon basestar would be.
*****
“Report Lucifer,” Baltar stated watching the Cylon enter the room. “Are the Galactica’s warriors eliminated yet?”
“Not yet Baltar, there appears to be a slight problem,” Lucifer said.
“The Pegasus?” Baltar asked. He had almost been caught once by Commander Cain and he did not want that to happen again.
“Not the Pegasus, but it appears there is an Alliance ship as part of the fleet,” Lucifer said. “Its fighters are putting up tremendous resistance.”
“What?” Baltar stammered. He had not expected an Alliance ship with the Colonial fleet. “Order a retreat at once, frack!”
“By your command Baltar,” Lucifer replied.
Baltar felt slightly sick. “And why were our forces attacking an Alliance ship Lucifer?”
“You ordered all ships in the fleet to be destroyed. It was part of the fleet and trying to run when our forces engaged,” Lucifer replied logically.
“Get out of my sight, and get us back to the Alliance world, Pacifica at once,” Baltar said. He had to do some quick thinking to get out of this one. His entire plan appeared to go up in smoke rather quickly. He realized one person who could help him, Senator Agnot. Yes, the senator, after all they were very much alike and Baltar planned to use that to his advantage.
End Part 6