Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 7: The Alliance
Ares walked along the bridge of the Argo as he watched the crew go about their normal routines. So far the news from home had indicated that the encounter with the Cylons that they had interfered with a major offensive by the Cylons. The Battlestar Prometheus had been destroyed but the warriors had inflicted heavy damage on the Cylons.
Ares figured that the Cylon force that they had destroyed was probably part of that offensive push. It had been beaten back and now thing back at the Colonies had settled down a bit. He briefly wondered what would have happened had the Argo been part of the battle fleet and not encountered the Cylon forces. Would one battlestar make a difference in the fight?
With those thoughts Ares knew that the only way to defeat the Cylons was a larger fleet. That was something that the council of the twelve seemed not to what to do. They were satisfied with the seven battlestars that they had right now. He wondered how the funding for the Argo had happened. There were several in the military that wanted construction of new classes of battlestars. Some of the ships were hundreds of yehrens old like the Galactica. She was over five hundred yehrens old already. Some of the newer battlestars were already one hundred yehrens old.
“Commander, we’re receiving a contact on the long range scanners,” Renee said as Ares turned and walked over to his scanner. There on the edge of the scanner were two blips on the screen. “Who’s on ready patrol,” he asked.
“Lieutenant Nall and his new wingmate Jax,” Renee replied.
Ares nodded his head knowing that Jax was one of the replacement pilots that was on board to replace loses that the Argo might encounter. “Have them head out and investigate the contacts with caution,” Ares said.
“Yes sir,” Renee replied relaying the orders to the two waiting pilots. Within a few moments the two vipers had been launched. Ares hoped that he had an answer soon to his questions.
*****
Nall approached the strange ship which he had never seen before. It had a long triangle shape to it. It hull was painted black but was easily seen unlike the other ship they had encountered earlier. This one had a more military look to it for sure but the warbook was not able to identify it.
The two followed the ship as it headed toward a planet. It seemed to be a planet that looked like it was able to sustain life. There were no other ships of other signs of orbital station around the planet as they watched the ship land on the planet’s surface.
“What do you think lieutenant,” Jax asked over the intercom.
“I thinking we should check it out and see what’s going on,” Nall said. “We might be able to find out something.”
“Lead on,” Jax said as she followed Nall’s viper on down to the planet’s surface. Once on the ground they checked the planet’s atmosphere to make sure that it was compatible to their own.
“Watch out, the air is thinner here so you won’t want to overdo it,” Nall said.
“I copy,” Jax said as they got out of their vipers and looked around. Everything seemed to be normal to them from what they could see. It was like being back on the colonies.
The two of them slowly made their way towards where they had seen the larger ship land. They were on the lookout for anything as they were sure that they had been spotted. If they had no then the people here were not as advanced as they thought.
Nall walked to the top of the hill to see if there was anything that he could see. So far they had not found anything and he was a bit reluctant to go much further for fear of losing where their vipers were. He could see the top of a ship in a large clearing where on the other side a couple of buildings were. This must have been the ship that they were following. Now all they had to do was approach it and find out who they were. He quickly motioned to Jax to come on up.
“Is that it,” she asked once she had reached the point where Nall was.
“I think so,” Nall replied. “It does look about the same.”
“Now what,” Jax asked.
Nall thought it over for a few seconds before finally coming up with a small plan. They needed information about everything that was on the planet to see if this was perhaps Earth or maybe a colony of Earth. He quickly explained what he wanted to do and they headed back to their fighters.
*****
“Commander, Lieutenant Nall and Jax have landed on a planet just on the edge of our long range scanners,” Renee said to Ares and Pratt who were standing on the command platform of the bridge.
“Good, lay in a course to the planet but at a slow speed. We need to know what we are up against,” Ares said.
“Understood commander,” she replied as the helm officer plotted the course to the planet a t a slow speed.
“What do you think,” Pratt asked him.
“I don’t know. We could be on the edge of Earth space, but I just don’t know,” Ares said. “We’re going to have to wait until Nall and Jax return from their mission.”
“I had a feeling that you were going to say that,” Pratt said. “And what if it’s something else, or even a hostile force?”
“Then we’ll cross that daggit when we get to it and not before,” Are said. “I don’t plan on being the hostile one here but if they start a fight I’ll finish it.”
“I know you will,” Pratt replied. He had gone over Ares record and was impress with the man’s potential and ability to command. He could understand why he had been chosen for the command.
The Battlestar Argo slowly turned towards the planet unaware of the chaos that it was causing.
*****
“Captain, we have an unusual target coming into the scanner range,” the scanner officer said not looking away from his monitor.
“What is it,” the captain asked walking down the short way to where the scanner officer sat.
“I don’t know. We’ve never seen anything like it before,” the officer replied. “But whatever it is, it is very large.”
“Get me destroyer eight and ten,” the captain said.
“Sir, we also have destroyer twelve on Praxis five,” the communications officer said.
“Good, we might need them as well,” the captain said. “If they dare to travel in our space then they will know the might of the Alliance once and for all, politicians be damned.”
*****
Nall and Jax had returned to their fighters and changed out of their uniforms into something he hoped would be a bit less conspicuous to the people. The one thing that he did not like was leaving his weapons behind.
“Perhaps just one of us should go down there,” Jax finally said a bit uncomfortable with everything.
“No, the commander will know that we are on the planet by now. If we take too long he’ll send a rescue team,” Nall said as if he knew for sure what was going to happen. “Besides, all we’re going to do is observe, that’s it.”
“I’m taking you at your word,” Jax replied.
“Really,” Nall said as he looked over at the black haired woman.
“By the lords of Kobal,” Jax said rolling her eyes. “Bri was right about you.”
“She was right about everything,” Nall purred as he walked closer to Jax. “How would you like to find out about it later on after the mission?”
“We’ll see,” she replied back then turned and with an exaggerated sway of her hips walked off towards their objective.
“Oh yeah,” Nall whispered quietly to himself. Then he had to job quickly to catch up to her.
They walked back to the hill where they had observed the ship. Reaching it they were both glad, and disappointed that the ship was still there. They silently made their way down to the other side of the ship and noticed a small town. That would be the best bet to see what was going on.
Nall noticed that their clothing might be a bit different but would probably pass. He observed that the kids had some weird styles on so no one would probably notice them at all. They walked into part of the town which had people walking around.
Listening to the conversation he was glad to know that he could understand them. That would have been a sticking point if they did not talk the same language. Even then he had the feeling that some words might not mean the same in their language. He reminded Jax to be careful of what she said.
“Eh, I don’t remember seein’ you around here’s before,” a man with a uniform said walking up to where Nall and Jax were standing.
“We’re travelers,” Nall replied eyeing the man. He did not seem like he was trouble but Nall was not going to take any chances.
“Dat so, den where are you from,” the man asked.
“Don’t know, I was an orphan going up,” Nall replied telling the truth knowing that it quite was not what the man wanted.
“Dat’s not what I’m talkin’ about and you knows it,” the man said.
“Its top secret,” Jax said, speaking up with a hard look in her eye.
“Wells then perhaps yous should head to de captain’s office. He’d probably be waiting for yous,” he said, then turned and walked off apparently satirized about the response.
“I think we should try and get our information quickly and get out of here,” Nall said to Jax.
“Right,” Jax said, agreeing with him. They both had the feeling that he was probably on his way to talk with his captain then they would be in trouble real quick.
They walked a bit further down the street when Jax motioned to Nall. She glanced at the store and then back to Nall. There was a book store in the area. Nall figured that it might have the information that he needed and they walked into the store.
“Greetings and welcome,” an elderly lady said, as they walked into the store and the bell chimed indicating someone had walked in.
“Hi there,” Jax replied.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” the woman asked.
“Perhaps there is,” Nall said looking at Jax then back at the woman. “My wife and I are travelers looking for ancient myths and legends. Where would we find anything on that here?” Nall asked her knowing that Jax was stifling a look at him and he had stifle a grin.
“Oh, I don’t have much here in my store, but what I do have is over here,” the lady replied, leading them over to the books. “Is there anything in particular that you’re looking for,” she asked them.
“Anything regarding a planet Earth,” Jax said, deciding to just bring it right out to the open.
“Earth, I’m afraid that I don’t have anything on that. The Alliance doesn’t like anyone talking about that myth,” the lady said.
“Alliance,” Nall said, before he could stop himself.
The lady turned around and studied them carefully then looked around before saying anything. “You’re not from around here are you,” she said.
“Nope,” Nall replied.
“A bit of advice then, get away now before they find out,” she said. “The Alliance doesn’t like strangers asking questions.”
“Before we go do you know anything,” Nall replied.
“Very well, I will tell you what I remember of the myth,” the woman said. “It’s an ancient myth, one that says we came from the stars, from a place called Kobal, also called Eden. Thirteen tribes lived on the planet in peace. But a terrible tragedy occurred and they were forced to flee the planet. Twelve tribes set out together and the thirteenth went off on their own. On the way a group mutinied and wanted to rejoin the other twelve tribes. Not able to find the others they settled on a planet and called it Terra.”
Nall thought about what he had just been told. This group was part of the thirteenth tribe, but not Earth. He and Jax exchanged a look that the older lady caught.
“Is it really true,” she asked wondering if what she had been told was true or not. She had always thought that in myth there was an ounce of truth.
Nall considered what to tell her as he thought about it. Most of what he knew was legend and myth much like she knew. The only difference was she had a different piece of the myth.
“I don’t know, but I really hope so,” Nall replied.
“It seems that you should leave quickly,” the lady said looking out the window.
Nall and Jax turned their heads to see what she was looking at. Outside there were two uniformed men talking with another person.
“That doesn’t look too good,” Jax said which Nall had to agree with.
“I think it’s time we left,” Nall replied turning back to the woman and thanking her for her help. They quickly walked out of the store and down the street hoping that they would not be detected. That was short lived as he heard one of the guards order them to stop. “Run,” he told Jax who began running towards their fighters.
They could hear the men running after them as they quickly made their way out of the small town. It seemed that the guard they had encountered had gone to talk with his captain and found out they were strangers. Nall was glad that their vipers were not parked that far away as he was breathing heavily already when he got to his. He glanced over and noticed that Jax had also arrived at her viper.
Nall risked a glance at their pursuers and noticed that they too were breathing quite heavily. That meant that they were not used to the thin atmosphere either. As quickly as he was able he got into his viper and ran through an abbreviated checklist for takeoff.
The group running after them stopped as they saw the strange fighters and the whine of the engines warming up. Before any of them could do anything else they blasted off and headed up out of sight.
Nall breathed a sigh of relief as they passed thought the clouds and left the atmosphere of the planet. He was not sure if they would be followed or not but he did not want to take any chances.
“Green three to Argo over,” Nall said.
“Go ahead green three,” he heard Renee’s voice say over the intercom.
“We found out what we needed but ran into a bit of trouble with the authorities on the planet,” Nall replied.
“We’ll keep an eye on the scanners, but in the meantime make your way back here and let me know what you found out,” Nall heard Ares say.
“Yes sir commander,” Nall replied as he and Jax made their way to the Argo.
*****
“Sir, we have two unknown contacts coming up from the Parxis heading towards the unknown target,” the scanner operator said.
“They must be Nationalist spies. Any word from Parxis,” the captain asked turning to see what was going on.
“Nothing yet captain, we’re still trying to get a hold of destroyer twelve,” the communications officer said.
“Let me know the moment you have him. What about destroyers eight and ten,” he asked them.
“Both captains report that they are on their way here and should be here shortly,” the officer replied to the captain.
“Good,” the captain replied.
“Captain, I’m getting a communication from the planet’s surface, its Captain Jonas,” the communication officer said.
“Put it through,” the captain said.
“This is Captain Jonas of Parxis Five to any Alliance destroyers in the area. Parxis was just visited by Nationalist spies, if anyone can intercept them and destroy them. Destroyer twelve is launching as we speak,” Jonas said.
“This is Captain Ryan of destroyer four, I have the spies on my scanners and already requested back up from two more destroyers,” Ryan replied.
“Good, I will inform headquarters of what has happened,” Jonas said.
“You heard the captain, once destroyers eight, ten and twelve form up with us we will attack and destroy this new Nationalist threat to our security,” Ryan said.
*****
Ares did not like the fact that Nall and Jax might have gotten into trouble during their mission. The question now was how to handle anything that might come their way. They could view the Argo as a threat to their security. That would mean they might attack them even without warning.
“Commander, I’m picking up movement near the system that Green three and eight just came from,” Renee said.
Pratt quickly walked down to see for himself. He noticed that there appeared to be two to four targets that the scanners were picking up. It was hard to determine because of the planets and how close the ships were.
“Looks like a possible four contacts commander,” Pratt said looking up to where Ares was standing.
“How soon till our fighters are back aboard,” Ares said. He was told that it would be another couple of centons until the remaining fighters were aboard. “When their aboard set in a course away from the contacts.”
“Commander, the contacts have begun to move towards our position. At their current speed they will arrive shortly after we recover the fighters,” Renee said to Ares.
Ares turned to Pratt and they both knew that this was not good news. He wondered what he should do and what options were available to him if any. The only thing that ran through his mind was run or fight.
“Suggestions,” Ares finally said.
“We could try and communicate with them commander,” Pratt said stating the obvious.
“Do it,” Ares replied.
After a few moments there was no reply from the incoming ships. Ares ordered them to continue to try but to bring the ship to yellow alert just in case. He was about to start the fight, but he had to be ready just in case.
“Sir, they are asking for our surrender,” Renee said to Ares who just shook his head. He wondered what Nall and Jax had done on the planet’s surface to provoke such hostility.
“Transfer it up here,” Ares told her as he was able to hear the demand. A Captain Ryan was demanding that he surrender his ship and the ‘Nationalist’ spies. He realized what was probably going on and switched on his communicator. “This is Commander Ares of the Battlestar Argo, we are not from the Nationalists, but a group that has travel far to reach this place.”
“Your lies will not work on us Nationalist pigs, you will surrender your ship to us along with your crew, or you will suffer the wrath of the Alliance,” Captain Ryan replied.
“Sounds like they have their minds made up commander,” Pratt said.
“They’ve opened fire on our returning vipers,” Renee said. “Lieutenant Nall is requesting permission to return fire.”
“Launch green squadron, maybe they will be enough to dissuade them from attacking,” Ares said.
*****
Troy sat in his viper waiting to see what was going on. So far the only thing that he was aware of was the ship was on yellow alert. His squad was on the ready alert with red on back up.
“Green squad, you are to launch but not engage yet,” Renee said breaking Troy out of his thoughts.
“Roger core command,” Troy said as he pushed his thumb down on the thruster button and felt the ship accelerate out of the launch tube.
As Troy’s viper reached space his scanners came alive with Nall and Jax’s vipers as they raced towards the Argo. Behind them were four patrol sized ships were chasing them. He could hear Nall saying that they were under attack requesting permission to fire back. Troy wondered what was taking the commander so long to respond to the request. Two of their own were in danger.
“Green squad, form up on me and head towards the incoming fighters,” Troy said. The group formed up and headed out to greet the incoming ships.
“Core command, do we have permission to open fire or am I going to see some of my squad mates blow to Hades,” Troy said hoping to push the issue.
“Green squad, your orders have not changed,” Renee replied relaying Ares’ orders.
“Great,” Troy mumbled a bit under his breath but not loud enough for anyone else to hear it.
*****
“Captain, we are picking up multiple single man craft coming from the larger ship,” the scanner operator said to Captain Ryan.
“These single craft have no weapon systems, tell all destroyers to continue to attack. Head to the big ship and ready all weapons,” Ryan replied.
“Understood sir,” the crew replied as the communications officer relayed the message to the other three destroyers.
Ryan glanced at the screen and realized that the ship they were about to enter combat with was a very large ship. To him though it did not really matter. He had numbers and superior firepower compared to Nationalist ships. He would either bring back the Nationalists as his prisoners or they would be destroyed. To him it really was that simple.
“Captain, I’m counting about fifty of these small one man craft,” the scanner operator said.
“They are nothing more than blockade and spy ships. Destroy them as well, but concentrate all firepower on the larger ship for right now. The Nationalists must not know what is going on at Praxis five,” Ryan said.
*****
Ares stood watching the incoming ships. He still was not sure what was going on but the launching of the vipers had not deterred the incoming ship. They were still closing and firing on green squad. He now had several pilots requesting permission to return fire. The Argo was suddenly rocked a bit as the incoming ship opened fire on the battlestar.
“Commander, we’re under attack. I suggest negative shield,” Pratt said.
“Put the shields up,” Ares said. So far the incoming ships had refused to acknowledge any more hails from the Argo and now they were attacking them as well.
“Captain, we just lost green eleven,” Pratt told him. He knew that given everything he would not be able to control the pilots much longer.
“Tell all stations to open fire,” Ares said finally.
“Yes sir,” Pratt said turning to the communicator. “All stations, fire at will, repeat fire at will.”
*****
“You heard the commander,” Troy said as he lined up the first ship in his sight. Pushing his thumb down on the weapons trigger his weapons opened fire on the ship.
The Argo’s weapon systems also came to life opening up on the attackers with deadly accuracy. The attackers did not have the weaponry or shielding that the Colonials did and the battle was over very quickly. All four enemy ships were destroyed with the loss of another three vipers.
Troy was glad when the last enemy ship had been destroyed. They attacked them without any real reason. He just wished that he had been able to open fire a bit sooner. Thinking back on what had happened he realized the pressure that the commander had been under. They might have just declared war against an unknown enemy.
“Everyone back on board the Argo,” Troy said to the squad. They quickly regrouped and made their landing on the battlestar. He was glad to see that Bri and Nall had made it as well.
*****
Ares sat at his station wondering if he could have done something different. He would have to study what happened to see if he could learn anything from it. He was sure that this was not going to be the first time that he had an encounter like this.
“What do you think colonel,” Ares asked.
“We lost a total of four pilots along with three others in the battle,” Pratt said.
“And all four attackers,” Ares said. Even after realizing that they were against superior firepower they continued to attack. It just did not make since to him.
“They fought till the end. They may have a different type of mentality then what we’re used to. Perhaps we are too used to the Cylons and their ways,” Pratt said as an answer.
“Perhaps we are,” Ares replied. “Perhaps there was no way to avoid bloodshed.”
“Then again maybe if we had attacked right away they might have backed down,” Pratt said.
“Perhaps Pratt,” Ares said with a sad sigh. Then with a deep breath he rose. “Helm, set course to the next system and engage at light speed. I’m going to go grab something to eat. Let me know when Nall and Jax get out of detox for their briefing.”
“Yes sir,” Pratt said.
*****
“Captain,” a junior officer said running into the office.
“Report,” Captain Jonas said as he turned to look at the junior officer.
“We lost contact with all four destroyers,” the officer said.
“All four,” Jonas replied.
“Yes sir, and the remaining ship was seen heading in the direction of Terra” the replay came.
“Inform Terra and let them know that we’ve been attacked by Nationalists,” Jonas replied watching as the officer left to carry out his orders.
The Nationalist will pay for what they have done here today Jonas thought to himself. Many in the higher command had been looking for a way to begin a war against the Nationalist and now they had their reason. The battle plan would be simple. They would destroy the colony worlds of the Nationalists then destroy them on Terra until there was just the Alliance left.
The only thing that worried him was the fact they had lost four destroyers to one ship. But if they only had one then it would be much of a difference. One ship cannot be everywhere like their destroyers were. He smiled as he realized it would be a glorious war indeed.
End part 7