Storm Clouds
by AJ Marks
Part 10: The Trap
Adama sat at his desk impatiently waiting for any news from the Agamemnon. The scanners still indicated the ship there and the last report from Tigh indicated a meeting with the unknown group. He still had a lot of questions about what was going on, and what other group was out there. A light knock on the door caused him to look up.
“Enter.” The door opened revealing Crystal standing there. “Come in.” he said to her, watching as she came in and sat down. The young woman with highly developed powers became a welcome distraction many times. “What can I do for you?”
She remained quiet for several seconds, normal for her before saying anything.
“The feelings have changed,” she said quietly. Adama leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk as she took a breath and continued on. “It’s a choking feeling, someone is searching for us.”
Adama quickly thought about the Cylons, but closed his mind as quick so Crystal did not pick up his uneasiness.
“There is a group looking for us, ones we are trying to avoid,” Adama said.
“The two are different,” she finally said after another lengthy silence. “The choking feeling and searching, two different feelings.”
The statement confused Adama a bit. What did this mean? Could there be a group out there searching for them, wanting to help? Another group like the Beings of Light they encountered. If so the question became how advanced were they. If reports from the Agamemnon were accurate, they are advanced enough to take on two basestars.
“What do you think sir,” Crystal asked, after another silence. She looked worried causing Adama to consider his actions.
“I think it is worrisome,” he said, watching her face. “There are many unknowns out here in space, many other races we’ve never encountered. It is also possible we’re moving into a war zone between two warring factions. The possibilities are enormous and something I have to consider every day.”
“How do you sleep?” she asked.
“I rely on my experience, and the experience of my crew. They are prepared for all encounters,” Adama said. “We are better prepared now than before you came on board. If anything happens we’ll know about it. If you have any other forebodings let me know.”
They were interrupted by the bridge calling for the commander. Crystal excused herself, leaving the office as Adama walked over to the communicator hoping for a report from the Agamemnon.
*****
Apollo and Starbuck followed the flight plan, not wanting to get too close to where the Agamemnon was. It had moved further away from the fleet to meet up with this unknown group. So far the battlestar had stopped and the scanners did indicate a ship landing on board the Agamemnon, but it was close by which confused Apollo.
No communications were received since then, and everything appeared normal on board the ship. The vipers did pick up some communications, including a burst from the Agamemnon away from the fleet. It seemed a bit odd, but they waited anyways.
A quick two beeps caught his attention. The return to the Galactica signal. He motioned over to Starbuck, who nodded and both turned around heading back to the fleet. Apollo wondered what happened. He intercepted no signal from the Agamemnon to the fleet. Confusion remained as the viper touched down allowing him to climb out, seeing a mass of activity in the hangar.
“What’s going on?” Starbuck asked, as one of the hangar crew raced to the viper, arming and fueling it.
“Cylons spotted,” the crewman replied, not stopping to chat.
Both Starbuck and Apollo froze at that. The Cylons finally found them.
“You’re wanted in the debriefing room,” another person said to them. Taking off to the room in question they arrived to see a full room, and Apollo took a seat next to Aaron and Jason, and looked to the colonel who waited for a few more to join before speaking.
“Commander Adama has placed the fleet on red alert, as we spotted a Cylon patrol approaching from behind,” the colonel said to them. “The next time you launch, it will be a real battle, not a training exercise, there is no reset button for a mistake. Remember your training, and do your duty.”
Apollo understood the situation, many of the pilots were new recruits, with only a few centars of flighty experience.
“Is there an indication that an attack is going to happen?” Apollo heard someone ask. He looked over to see Jason waiting for an answer.
“Not yet, but we are sure that at least some of the ships were discovered,” the colonel replied. “As a result, we need to be combat ready. Commander Adama wants everyone to be careful, also be aware of anything unusual. There is another group out there, one who attacked and destroyed two basestars. But we do not know if they can be trusted.”
Apollo understood, the group Commander Tigh was talking to. If things got out of hand would they help out? Patrols were not increased, and the alert level would rise. Apollo had no idea what the future might hold.
*****
Phantom felt confident about the upcoming battle as a centurion walked into the room.
“Report,” Phantom said. “Are the basestars in position?”
“By your command,” the centurion said. “Patrols have picked up a new fleet of Colonial ships.”
“Where?” Phantom asked, suddenly interested in the latest news. A spot on the map indicated the position, and he realized the location was different. “How many Colonial ships?”
“The patrol picked up a dozen civilian ships, along with a viper patrol,” the centurion said.
The number was larger than the previous Colonial ships. The battlecruiser only had a total of seven ships. Was this part of the fleet with the Galactica? A thrill ran though his circuits at the idea. He quickly looked at the map judging where the other basestars were. He could trap the Colonials once and for all, overwhelm the battlestar and destroy the entire fleet.
A hero of the Cylon Empire, able to do something not even Baltar did.
“Inform all basestar commanders of new orders,” Phantom said, quickly calculating where each one needed to go to make sure a complete attack would shut off all escape routes to nearby systems. With his planning complete, he sent the centurion off to carry out the orders. Once the Galactica was destroyed the Colonial battlecruiser would fall next. It would not take long before all ships were in position.
*****
Scott listened to the countdown, indicating when they would jump to the next position. His squadron had been busy lately. With the discovery of the Colonial ships and a few Cylon basestars they were all a bit tense. His squad participated in a food operation for the Colonial ships until supply ships were able to arrive. The people on board the ships had been survivors.
Now his squad had resumed their normal activities, of jumping and scouting. He read reports of another battlestar, the Agamemnon, and the destruction of a couple of basestars by the Enterprise and Hornet along with the arrival of the 4th battle fleet. There was now five battlestars in the area, the three stealth ships, the Argo and a Warspite class battlestar, and improved design to the Colombia class.
He felt the ship shudder slightly as it slipped into the hyperjump before another shudder and everything went silent for a few seconds.
“Jump complete, scanners online,” he heard, waiting for a few seconds. “Contact, one basestar.”
“How close?” Scott asked, nervous about the contact.
“Outside of detection range.”
“Report back to base of the situation,” Scott said. He knew the admiral would want to know this information. A basestar so close by would disturb him. “Launch probes to over the other areas.”
The crew went about their work, and probes were launched, but none in the direction of the basestar. He did not need it to discover the probe. They would run for a couple of hours. The scout ship would remain there for a few more hours gathering information. Scott hoped nothing else was discovered.
*****
Ares walked into the situation room where Otto waited for him.
“What’s so important?” Ares asked, having been summoned by the room.
“Scout ships have reported in, and the picture isn’t good,” Otto said, as the starmap came to life. Ares noticed several new ships were now shown along with a large cluster in the center. “Probes discovered this group of ships here, along with two battlestars.”
Ares looked on, seeing the number of ships over a hundred. “The Galactica?” he asked.
“That’s our guess,” Otto said, but these ships are Cylon basestars,” Otto said, indicating nine ships moving around the fleet.
“They’re laying a trap,” Ares said.
“Yes, and it’s almost complete,” Otto said.
“They are preventing any escape to the nearby systems which can support life,” Ares said, looking on. He realized the Enterprise, Hornet and Agamemnon were in a blind spot between two systems. Nine basestars against his five, plus the Agamemnon, and two other battlestars, a total of eight. He would still be outnumbered in capital ships, but there were other smaller ships, about six cruisers, and additional destroyers and frigates.
The Cylons had encircled the Galactica, which appeared the best to destroy an enemy, but his ships could be concentrated in one area, overwhelming the few Cylons there. He looked on at the map trying to decide where he might attack first. The most logical solution would be nearest the Enterprise group and the 4th battle squad. Six battlestars would easily overwhelm the two basestars. That left the two battlestars to protect the large fleet alone.
“What are your orders?” Otto asked
He had another thought. “Get me the Sunflare, Argo and Enterprise,” Ares said, waiting a few moments before the commanders of the ships came on. He noticed Pratt and Gunther were looking on, they had probably spotted the nearby Cylons. Tagget appeared confused as to why he was there.
“I take it you all know about the nearby Cylon basestasrs,” Ares asked, seeing them all nod. “Also nearby is a large fleet of civilian Colonial ships, and two battlestars, we think one is the Galactica.”
“And the second one?” Gunther asked.
“That I don’t know,” Ares answered honestly. The question confused him as well. “Perhaps another battlestar managed to survive that Commander Bakkus was unaware of. It does not change the situation we are not faced with. We have a large fleet of civilian ships which need our help.”
“Any idea how long until the Cylons attack?” Pratt asked.
“Don’t know, but all ships are to start moving now. The Cylons appear to be in position already,” Ares said. “I don’t want our ships too far away to prevent an overwhelming attack.”
“Commander Tagget, how operational is you r fleet?” Ares asked.
“We can fight,” Tagget replied.
“Good, if it’s all right with you, I want to place you under the 4th battle group, under Captain Pratt’s command,” Ares said.
“We’ll be ready,” Tagget said, saying something off screen.
Ares quickly outlined his plan to the group, hoping it worked.
*****
Troy and Bri walked onto the bridge of the Agamemnon at the call from Commander Tigh. They had a communications. Troy walked over to the console and looked down expecting Gunther, and felt confused at seeing Pratt’s face. Troy wondering what the importance was.
“Troy, we have a new problem, scout ships have reported in,” Pratt said. “We have about nine baseestars in the area.”
The news shocked Troy. He had no idea that many were so close by.
“There is more, we’ve also discovered a large group of Colonial civilian ships, including another two battlestars. We think it’s the Galactica and some unknown battlestar that survived the attack. The layout of the basestars indicate they know about the fleet, and are moving for a full attack,” Pratt said.
“When?” the question was asked, but this time, by a very concerned looking Tigh. He seemed eager for answers.
Our sources don’t say, but we’re moving the 4th battle group into position, the Enterprise and Hornet along with the Agamemnon will head off to attack another group, hopefully it will distract the Cylons and disrupt their attack,” Pratt said.
“And the fleet?” Tigh asked. His tone indicated he knew more than he had said.
“If everything works out, the Cylon forces will be disrupted, and we’ll be able to help out the Galactica protect the fleet, if not, there are smaller ships we can use to help defend, it all depends on how the battle shapes up, or when it starts,” Pratt said. “The 4th is already moving to intercept.”
“We need to get back to the fleet then,” Tigh said.
“No, trust the plan,” Pratt said.
“You knew the Galactica is there,” Troy said looking over at Tigh.
“Yes,” he finally said. They stood in silence for several seconds before Pratt interrupted them.
“We have no time, move now.”
End part 10
Continued in part 11: Battle for Survival
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