The Milsian Princess
by AJ Marks
Part 11
“This is the place?” Apollo said, as the vehicle approached a building.
“Yes,” Amy said.
“Some good news, they’ve taken the communications center,” Sheba said.
Apollo nodded still watching where they were going. He felt slightly surprised there was no one on the roads. That changed when they turned the corner, a barricade in front of the building with armed guards.
“Open fire,” Apollo said.
The ATV opened fire blasting the emplacements. Two heavy emplacements were quickly destroyed before the troops could recover.
“I think this is where we get out,” Sheba stated.
“All right, we’re headed into that building then,” Apollo said.
“Sounds good to me,” Sheba replied.
“Jolly, keep up the covering fire for us,” Apollo said.
“Not a problem,” Jolly replied, firing again at another emplacement.
Apollo quickly found cover off to the side glancing around towards the building. Jolly had done a good job but the destruction would have prevented the ATV from going any further.
“Let’s get going,” Apollo said to the group. They had about sixteen people and headed off towards the building. Apollo fired off a few round watching the soldiers drop stunned.
He entered the building watching carefully for any danger. A few more guards came running up which were quickly stunned before they could even retaliate. The one thing about stunning, they could fire first without the care if the person was friendly as no harm would be done.
“Firing randomly?” Amy asked.
“It’s set to stun, they’ll wake up in a couple of hours,” Apollo said.
“Ah, a bit dangerous to leave your opponent alive,” Amy said.
“Not when you’re fighting the Cylons, you needed every person you have,” Apollo replied as they walked into another area.
“Stop,” a commanding voice said.
Apollo watched as three men walked out. He had no idea who they were.
“Surrender to us and we won’t kill you on sight,” the man who appeared in charge said.
“No, we’re here for your surrender General Bartin,” Amy replied.
Apollo watched as the man laughed at Amy’s statement. “My dear woman, you have what, a couple of dozen men, I have a couple of thousand.”
“You forget the population, they outnumber the soldiers, and we’re taking our planet back. Already we have the communications sent forth call to begin open resistance,” Amy said.
“With what, all weapons were confiscated,” Bartin replied.
“You really think we allowed it all to be taken, then you’re a bigger fool than I thought,” Amy said. “We’ve prepared for this for years.”
Apollo thought the general’s face showed a bit of shock at Amy’s words. Apollo held his blaster ready waiting to see what would happen next.
“You are to surrender at once,” Amy said.
“And if I refuse?”
“Then I shoot all three of you and we take over anyways,” Apollo replied pointing the blaster at the men. Bartin hesitated for several seconds before replying. Apollo hoped the man saw reason but prepared for anything.
Bartin raised his gun and Apollo shot automatically stunning all three.
“Well, that might complicate things,” Amy said walking past the down men and into the next room.
“I’ve always been quick on the draw,” Apollo replied. He had a flashback to his encounter with ‘Red Eye’ shortly after the Galactica began its flight.
Apollo watched as Amy quickly went to work at one of the consoles.
“Good, everyone’s in place,” Amy said. “Switch that on will you.”
Apollo glanced down at what she said taking a guess on what the on switch would be. It hummed to life and he stepped back waiting for whatever Amy would do.
“Pam, you there?” Amy said.
“Here.”
“Chad, Aaron, you there yet?” Amy said.
“Yep, ready to go,” a couple of replies came back.
“Switch it on,” Amy said. Apollo watched as Amy straightened up facing a camera. “This is the new emergency Governor Barnes to all citizens of Serria. The Milsian general has been taken hostage and the new government bequests the citizens of Serria to help overthrow the Milsian invaders with the help of the Colonial forces. This is a time to band together. The fleet is Milsian fleet is no longer in orbit, now is the time. There are already command people in every city with organized resistance. Please help them out. I will ask help from the Alliance but I have no idea how long help will be. Until such time it is up to us to retake our home.”
Amy switched it off then turned to Apollo.
“Well?” Apollo asked.
“We now wait,” she said bringing up a map. Apollo noticed it was the planet.
“We have resistance groups in every city, they are working to engage all Milsian forces, but we might not have enough.
“If you let us know where, we can help reinforce your people,” Apollo said. He opened a communications to Boomer. “Boomer, send the shuttles back up to get reinforcements. We might need them in the surrounding cities. But we have, at least for now, a working government.”
“On it,” Boomer replied.
*****
“Commander,” Tigh’s voice said breaking Adama’s thoughts about the fleet.
“What is it?” Adama asked, hoping for good news.
“Seems like things are going well, minimal losses so far, three warriors,” Tigh said. “And they have now taken the government buildings. A government it seems has already been established.”
“Interesting, they were well organized for this rebellion,” Adama said. “Which makes me wonder why they needed us?”
“Their fleet, reinforcements could be sent down at a moment’s notice,” Tigh said. “Apollo has already sent a request for additional troops.”
“All right, have additional ground forces ready to go,” Adama said. “We’ll have to talk with the new government about our situation real soon. The fleet will be arriving in a couple of Sectons.”
He watched Tigh nod his head in agreement. He wondered how much of the planet would be under the new government’s control by then. Either way he had pretty much run out of options for keep the fleet safe.
“Commander, this is interesting,” Omega said. “Our scanners indicate Tylium on a far moon in this system.”
Adama perked up on that. The news had to be the best he had received in a while now for the fleet. He also understood that neither the Alliance nor the Milsian Empire mined Tylium. He would have to begin operations right away. He quickly thought about who to call to begin operations and sent forth the communications to the proper ships.
*****
Mark sat across from another Milsian captain as the results of the test came back for him. Mark watched him read it over then glance over at Crystal with interest.
“So it’s true then,” the man said.
“Yes, I am Prince Boris’ daughter,” Crystal said.
“Then you were not lying, you are the rightful heir. How did this happen?” the captain asked. Mark noticed that even the other Milsian captains and Admiral Junkers focused their attention on Crystal.
“I don’t know, but I think it has to do with my mother’s position,” Crystal said.
“And your father’s ideas at that time,” Otto said speaking up. Everyone glanced over at him before he continued. “I never really realized it until recently, but Prince Boris would have changed the Empire over time. He disliked the class system. Thought it killed progress by preventing good people from excelling in positions that could greatly help the Empire. Don’t get me wrong, he still wanted to conquer the Alliance, but he knew that the classes had prevented good technologies from coming forth. You see the Milsian Empire is heavily dependent on the Alliance for technology advances.”
That shocked Mark. He had never known that the Alliance was ahead of the Milsians in technology considering their ships and fighters.
“And what does that prove?” one captain said.
“Don’t you see, it would have not mattered to Boris who he decided to marry. He liked Crystal’s mother, I’m sorry Crystal, I have nothing that can prove he loved her,” Otto said.
“I know, but I think he did, or at least I know my mother did,” Crystal said softly. “She spoke of him and his kindness and strength.”
“Yes, he was strong, but in the end, the royal family saw him as weak and a threat to the system,” Otto said.
“I can see why,” the Kitakkim captain, Diern, said.
“People fear change,” Mark said. “Even now all of us are afraid because we’re undergoing change in ways no one can understand.”
“What do you mean? I’m still trying to figure out why you’re here,” another captain stated.
“That will be address but now is everyone in agreement that Crystal is the rightful heir and therefore Empress of the Milsian Empire,” Otto finally said.
Mark glanced around looking at people in the room. No one raised any objection at all.
“Good, then we still have a lot of work to do,” Otto said. “Captain Cave, if you would explain the overall situation to everyone here.”
“Thank you admiral,” Mark said, standing and heading over to the screen. “Some of you already know of this part, but several days ago two new groups appeared in the mix, I am talking about the Colonials and the Cylons.”
“I’ve heard of them, but what does this have to do with anything?” one asked.
“The Cylons are currently infiltrating the Alliance under a man named Baltar. The Nevada, my ship, is considered a rebel ship for disobeying direct orders of HQ. This is because of the Cylons,” Mark said.
“These Cylons, are they the same ships that helped defend Pacifica from our invasion?” Otto asked.
“Yes,” Mark said.
“They caught me by surprise forcing me to retreat,” Otto said.
Mark did not realize that he would actually meet the commander he had fought against. He recovered and continued, “I made contact with the Galactica, and the Colonials only to come under Cylon attack. The Cylons will not stop until we’re all dead, or we have completely defeated them.”
“Yes, Commander Adama made some comment about that,” Diern said.
“If humanity does not stand together, we will fall,” Crystal said finally. “That means the Milsian Empire has to stand side-by-side with the Colonials and the Alliance if we are to survive.”
“We don’t need the Alliance to defend ourselves,” Diern said fiercely.
“It’s more than defense, we must attack,” Mark said. “For that none of us have the resources, so we have to ban together.”
“You expect us to work together?” one other captain said.
“If I can work with a Milsian captain and fleet, and take orders from a Milsian Empress, and call her a friend, then yes,” Mark replied.
“It will not be a debate,” Crystal said suddenly standing up. “The survival of more than the Empire is at stake. If we allow the Alliance to fall in battle then we’ve lost a potential ally against the Cylons. And from what I’ve seen and heard, we’ll need all the allies we can find.”
Mark looked around noticing for the first time the effect of an Empress. A few appeared to struggle with the order, but had already backed down. Mark could only hope everything came together in time.
*****
Baltar turned to see Lucifer walk into the room. “Speak Lucifer.”
“By your command Baltar,” Lucifer replied. “The basestar commanders await your orders, and have gathered at the point you indicated.”
“They arrived quicker than I expected,” Baltar said.
“Yes, a tanker arrived so they could go full speed,” Lucifer replied.
“Good, this might be what we needed,” Baltar said. “Is there still an indication the Milsian Empire is in chaos?”
“Yes Baltar,” Lucifer replied.
“Then I have a plan, get me Senator Agnot,” Baltar said. It would be simple really. Destroy the Alliance and then he could turn his attention to the Milsian Empire and finally the Galactica. With eight basestars he would become a legend in the Cylon Empire.
*****
Amy glanced over wondering if she had heard Pam correctly.
“The Alliance is on the line?” Amy asked.
“Yes,” Pam said. “Seems that once communications was restored they didn’t waste time.”
“All right, put it through,” Amy replied. She wondered how they would react to the fact she appointed herself title of emergency governor.
The screen came to life and Amy recognized the man on the screen as Senator Agnot.
“Senator Agnot, this is Governor Barnes, what can I do for you?”Amy said waiting to see what he would say.
“Where is Governor Celp?” Agnot said.
“Dead, the Milsians killed almost everyone in the government,” Amy said.
“The Milsians, they never invaded Serria,” Agnot replied.
“Were you born a moron, or did you grow into one,” Amy replied hotly. “They invaded and tried to take over Serria and we fought them off with some help from another group, no thanks to the Alliance. If you want Serria to rejoin the Alliance you’re going to have to start acknowledging the real facts.”
“Real facts, I highly doubt that the Milsians are behind this…”
“Do you hear yourself, I saw them, I was there, YOU were NOT! They were Milsian,” Amy replied cutting off the senator.
“I see you haven’t learned how to properly talk to an elected official still, you’re father will learn of this,” Agnot said.
“My father probably has more smarts in his pinky than you do in your entire body,” Amy replied. “He knows what is really going on. I’m beginning to wonder what your game is though.”
The phrase came out in Amy’s anger, but the moment she said it her attitude changed and she really looked at him.
“That’s it, that’s the reason you don’t want to admit the Milsians are invading the Alliance, you are working for them,” Amy replied.
“Preposterous,” Agnot replied, his face tingeing red in anger.
“Then tell me why you don’t think they are capable of this?” Amy replied. She waited expecting a reply, not for Agnot to end the conversation rather suddenly. Amy glanced over at Pam wondering what had happened, she only shrugged her shoulders.
“Looks like that went well,” Apollo’s voice said.
“I don’t know, but I now have doubts about his loyalty,” Amy stated.
“There is one thing I need to talk to you about,” Apollo said.
“Go ahead, I’m listening for now,” Amy said.
“We need a place for our civilians,” Apollo said.
“I have a feeling this is a long story,” Amy said, settling down to hear what Apollo had to say.
When he finished Amy heard of a story covering a long time, a war with the Cylons, and how they were fleeing looking for Earth. The biggest problem now was they were almost out of fuel and needed a place to rest. She glanced over at Pam then back at Apollo.
“How much of the planet has been taken back?” Amy finally asked.
“We have reports from most cities that there is fighting, and in some areas the Milsians have been beaten back. When they lost their general things did become easier,” Pam replied.
Amy nodded knowing that the general in question was being held in the local prison.
“How many people,” Amy asked.
“Several thousand, probably close to fifty or so,” Apollo said.
Amy gasped slightly knowing that they had once been on twelve worlds and probably had millions if not billions of people. The destruction from the Cylons was that great they were a huge threat to everyone here.
“Well, try and work with local people and we’ll see about finding a spot for them,” Amy finally said. She noticed Apollo looked relieved with the news.
*****
Emperor Tony sat at his desk impatiently waiting for news from the Second Fleet. They had lost contact with them not long ago, and now he began to worry Jurez failed.
“Emperor, we have word from the Kitakkim that Admiral Jurez has been killed in the battle,” an aide spoke. “After the battle they retreated to regroup and are awaiting your orders.”
Tony drummed his fingers on the table for several seconds thinking about what to do next. He had a large amount of problems Jurez had been killed. He looked at the screen before finally making a decision on what to do.
“Get Admiral Garrett on the line,” Tony said, referring to the admiral of the First Fleet. Tony glanced at his monitor for several long minutes until Garrett’s face appeared.
“Emperor, you called,” Garrett said.
“Yes, I have a mission for the First Fleet,” Tony said.
“We are there for the Emperor,” Garrett said.
“This will be a hard mission admiral, there is a rebellion going on among the fleets. It appears that the Third Fleet is following an imposter that has managed to influence Admiral Junkers,” Tony said.
“Otto was always weak, unfit for command in my opinion,” Garrett replied.
“I want you to head to Baraton, and either force them back to loyalty, or destroy them,” Tony said.
“It shall be done,” Garrett said. “Shall I take the First Fleet?”
“Yes, I want this rebellion crushed quickly,” Tony said.
“As you wish Emperor,” Garrett said, signing off.
Tony knew this would hurt the invasion and he would have to postpone it all. Even with everything in place he had to wait for the Empire to build the military back up. He also understood the threat that Crystal poised to his rule.
“Not everything going to your plan I see,” a child’s voice said.
“Still snooping I see,” Tony said.
“When you speak so loudly I can’t help but overhear. You made a mistake already, and it’s costing you,” she said, before disappearing.
Tony growled in frustration, more because she was right than anything else. He should have killed Crystal earlier than in a battle where she had a chance of survival. He would make sure this time everything went as planned.
End Part 11
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