Storm Clouds
by AJ Marks
Part 3: Patrols
Phantom, an IL series Cylon, watched two centurions enter his command room with an update on the situation he so carefully planned.
“Speak centurion,” he said, looking down at them from his command chair.
“By your command,” the gold centurion said. “As you calculated, the Colonial ships turned upon intercepting our signals.”
“Then they are headed towards the trap?” Phantom asked.
“Yes, two basestars are closing in behind them, and one waits for them in the system,” the centurion said.
“Make the preparations to destroy them,” Phantom said, knowing his plan had been flawless in every detail. He had studied the ways of the humans though Blatar and Lucifer, and later Specter, and now, he would be greater than any of them. He, not those other IL series Cylons, would be responsible for the final destruction of the cursed human race.
“By your command,” the centurion said, turning around and walking out to carry out the orders leaving Phantom alone to ponder his glory which awaited him.
*****
Sheba walked across the hangar of the Agamemnon. The battlestar had been detached to search another system. She would be on patrol with Coral, a new recruit. She missed Apollo and the Galactica, but she was helping the last of the recruits on board the Agamemnon.
“You ready?” Sheba asked Coral, a red-head who looked back at her.
“Yeah, can’t wait,” Coral replied.
“Remember to be quiet, keep an eye on your scanners for any ships and check out the planets for supplies,” Sheba said, watching Coral nod her head in agreement. Walking over to her viper she quickly checked it over before climbing in and being handed her helmet by the flight crew.
“Core control this is patrol five,” Sheba said as she started the vipers engines.
“Patrol five, this core command, commencing transfer of flight path,” the control said, recognizing Rigel’s voice before looking down at her computer as the file was downloaded.
“Transfer complete,” Sheba said.
“Patrol five, launch when ready.”
Sheba pressed down on her turbos, feeling the normal acceleration pressing her into the seat. A second later she was out in space, followed closely by her wingmate, Coral. Turning the viper she headed towards the patrol area, a system which they hoped held some promise for supplies as well.
She took one last look at the Agamemnon and with a bit of wonder at how lucky they were, looked back in front of her wondering what she might find this time. Anything could happen on any given patrol, including finding a hidden construction asteroid and two battlestars. Shaking her head again at the improbability of it all hoping if it was a dream, she wouldn’t wake up from it.
*****
Ben and Issac walked over to the briefing room, knowing they were about to go on another patrol. It seemed like the commander trusted them more than anyone else for such missions. Not that either really minded, it got them away from the fleet for a period of time.
The latest decision by the commander had been met with some anger by many others, mostly civilians on board the other ships. They were tired, hungry, and frustrated by everything. He even heard a few people speaking about a coup, something neither Ben nor Issac supported.
They sat down at the table, and Ben noticed the weary appearance of Commander Tagget. He had bags under his eyes and looked to have aged even more if that was possible. He thought if the man wasn’t already bald, he would have lost his hair out of frustration.
“I don’t have to tell you the situation,” Tagget said, his voice tense.
“No, we’ll do our best,” Ben said.
“We don’t have many options here, we have to hope for at least one planet capable of supporting life, we might not be able to move on,” Tagget said. “Good luck.”
Ben understood the magnitude of the situation. It had become critical. Walking out of the briefing room neither spoke as they made their way down to the hangar where their vipers waited for launching. The entire flight deck seemed quiet as people went about their duties as best as they were able.
With a nod towards Issac, who then headed to his viper, Ben climbed into his. Gaining the patrol coordinates and then launching out of the hangar. He turned slightly to look at the Sunflare, a bit smaller than a battlestar, and with only one hangar, the other side housing massive lasers. His home for the past yahren, privately he hoped they would find something useful. Heading towards the system he pushed aside everything else, and prayed to any divine being for something.
*****
Troy and Bri walked up to the bridge, having been summoned by the captain. Troy hoped for some news on the position of the battlecruiser they were after. With Cylon ships out here, they were unsure what else might be going on out here.
“I think we should buy a house on Sierra,” Bri said. “It’s affordable, and close to the base, we can have a spot to call home.”
Troy thought about it for a few moments as they entered the elevator, heading up to the command deck. “It’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah, but we can be part of a first group there,” Bri said. “Nall and Rebecca are already planning on moving there.”
“Well, Rebecca is pregnant, Nall has to do something for a family,” Troy said, agreeing with her.
“There’s a nice house close by in the same neighborhood,” Bri said. “And I know you’ve been offered a position on the station, I could transfer to the training group, they’ve been after me for a while now.”
Troy considered that, knowing that Bri would be very good at training recruits, and if the Cylons were close by, they would need highly trained pilots. The doors to the elevator opened allowing them out and the conversation was shelved for now. They made their way across the deck of the bridge to the captain sitting in his chair.
“Sir?” Troy asked.
“I need you to patrol an area up ahead,” Johnson said, bringing up the starmap in the center of the bridge and walked over to it. “The lasts reports of the probs stated the battlecruiser was here,” he said pointing to a spot, “and they were headed probably to one of these two system.” Now Johnson pointed to another area.
“You want us to check it out?” Bri said.
“Yes, and if anything else is there,” Johnson stated. “We also have a new report from HQ, they are sending out a fleet as well.”
“Which ships?’ Troy asked, knowing by the ships it would determine what actions they should take.
“The Enterprise and Hornet along with a dozen other ships, all stealth ships, and the Yorktown and her escorts are on call,” Johnson said.
Troy nodded slowly at that news. Using the stealth ships meant Ares was worried about where the Cylons were. They had two types of ships, the high stealth which were designed and made of such materials, which were not as strong as normal armor. The other ships were coated with a layer of stealth materials, which was about half effective.
“What about our mission?” Troy asked.
“Still the same, haven’t heard any differently,” Johnson said.
“Which system should we investigate?” Troy asked, turning their attention back to the starmap.
“Take this one, it’s a bit closer, if nothing’s there come back and we’ll have you head out to the other one,” Johnson said.
“All right, we’ll get going,” Troy said, looking over at Bri, who nodded her head before they headed off towards the small hangar on the Sydney.
*****
Ben kept a close eye on the scanners, watching as the planets came into range. There were a dozen in the system, several looked promising to him. He hoped their luck held out once more. He looked over at Issac, signaling to him his intentions trying to avoid using the communicator, not with Cylons so close by.
He watched Issac acknowledge the signal, which meant they would split up each taking several planets. Doing this conserved fuel and time. Ben would take one half of the system, he would take the other half.
Heading towards the nearest planet, he found it to be a gas giant, which would do no good, but looked at the moons. None were very large, and he continued on to the next planet. It held no promise either and continued to move on, his hope dwindling as he passed the third planet.
The fourth planet was also the fourth in the system, and was in the range considered to form life. He approached, seeing encouraging signs ahead. Keeping a close eye on his scanner, he understood this planet had an excellent change of being what they needed. Closing in his scanners showed signs of plant life, and water, the atmosphere appeared to be similar to their own.
He relaxed slightly, he found good news.
Warning signals went off on his scanners, breaking his bubble. He looked, feeling his heart sink at the sight. A Cylon basestar rising from the opposite side of the planet and it looked to be in orbit.
“Frack,” he muttered to himself, quickly turning around and heading out of the system riding his turbos and flipping his communicator on. “Issac, get out, now.”
Their unwritten rule, if silence was broken, leave now. He hoped Issac was listening. He fled as fast as the viper could, watching the scanners, relieved at seeing Issac leaving as well but no sign of any Cylons. A few seconds later Issac joined up with him as he kept an eye on the scanners, nothing. That was some good news, but not a lot. He wondered how the commander would take this bit of new, and didn’t pity the decision they would have to make.
*****
Troy and Bri flew along in their patrol, heading into the system. They were looking for any sign of ships, and he recalled the first time they came through this way on board the Argo. They had stopped at a planet in a nearby system to resupply with some water and food. They even relaxed a bit in this system.
Lost in his thoughts he had to refocus on his scanners. So far he spotted nothing, but they closed in on the system, and headed straight to the spots where a Cylon basestar might be hiding. Previous knowledge of the system helped them out with such things. Both headed straight towards the planet, and he saw it right away, a basestar in orbit around the planet.
“Well, that confirms one problem,” Bri said, obviously having seen the same thing.
“Yeah, let’s get closer,” Troy said. “Keep an eye out for any raiders nearby.”
They both knew as long as they maintained a certain distance, they would be safe from detection. Despite that knowledge he still felt nervous about the situation. He participated in drills, but never against a Cylon in such a situation. He hoped they had not improved their scanners in the years after he left.
“So far, nothing,” Bri replied back to him.
“Yeah, and its sitting there, around the planet, the one planet they know any fleeing humans might stop at,” Troy said, pondering the situation.
“Troy, entering the system,” Bri said, causing him to look back down at his scanners. He saw two incoming boogies, and watched them split up heading through the system. It took a second but the computer finally identified them, vipers.
“Oh boy,” Troy said, knowing the silent communications they were using would not be compatible with the incoming vipers. He watched as the one approaching the planet with life spotted the basestar. It streaked out of the system at full speed. Troy turned his viper to follow for a little bit, gaining the direction of the vipers. The vipers would lead them to a group of Colonials. However their fuel became a problem causing them to turn around.
They had information they needed, and so turned around himself heading back to the Sydney. From there they could close the distance and make contact with the commander of the group.
End part 3
Continued in part 4: Decisions
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