Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 26: Decisions Made
Troy walked up to the bridge where Nall and the captain of the Hermes were keeping watch over what was going on. Not long ago there had been a message that had arrived. It had sent two of the ships racing out of the system. They did not really know what had happened just yet but they were sure that the news had not been good.
They were still waiting on a report from the planet’s surface to find out what had happened to the base. The last they had heard was Peter and his group had made it down into the shelter. Troy understood that the less he communicated from the surface the less chance they had of being intercepted. That might come in handy later on.
There was still a lot to do along with the fact that the Tiger had headed off in the direction of the signals did not help either. Troy was hoping that they would gain a signal from the Tiger soon. The Hermes supplies were running a bit low so they would have to leave Earth’s space soon. The ship had not been stocked for a long mission like the one it was on right now.
Troy wondered if he should order the ship to go back to Centari One. He did not want to leave with Peter still in an unknown situation and have a radio trail back to the base which they would be able to follow. There was a lot which they had to decide if they were going to get involved in this war. That was the one decision that he was sure had already been made. They would help out the people of Earth.
“Have we received anything from Earth,” Troy asked hoping that they had.
“Nope,” Nall replied. He did not like that at all. The one thing that Nall was glad of was that Rebecca, Troy and Bri were all off the planet and he knew that they were safe.
“Not good,” Troy replied. “I don’t know how much longer our supplies will last.”
“Aye, that’s the one thing that worries me,” the captain said.
“I think we’re going to have to start thinking about heading back to Centari One,” Troy said.
“I’ve been thinking about that. We could head out then let the base know that we’re coming so they would be ready when we arrive. We could be there and back in less than a day,” the captain said.
Troy thought about it. The time sure did seem short yet it was also a long time to be gone. So much could happen in that amount of time. He could not order the Argo out here as the battlestar would be spotted right away. He still was not sure that the Hermes had not been spotted. He hoped that they would hear from the planet’s surface soon so that he could tell Peter to maintain radio silence for most of the time.
*****
Peter looked over the group that had made it into the shelter. The number seemed smaller than normal for him. He was sure that they should have had more people in the bunker. He made his way over to where several others were standing.
“Do either of you know how many did not make it,” Peter asked them.
“No,” they both replied.
“All right then. I want both of you to try and figure out how many didn’t make it and who if you can,” Peter said to them then turned to another person. “You’re in charge of gaining information from any news channel that may still be operating. You two check the supplies to see what we have and how many people are down here.”
The group of people who had been just standing around suddenly found themselves at work. Peter walked over to the communications area himself to see if he could find anything out that he could report back. He was still concerned about the way his friend in the government had brushed him off.
“There’s not much still operating right now,” one of them said to Peter as he got close enough.
“What is operating,” Peter asked.
“We’re only able to find one channel at the moment,” the reply came making Peter look at the screen. There was a reporter looking scared by everything that had happened. Peter then concentrated on what the reporter was saying.
“For those of you who can still hear us, we are not sure what happened anymore. There are many rumors from all out annihilation to an alien attack. At the moment it appears that there is more credibility in an alien attack than anything else,” the reporter said. “There were reports from all over the world of the same type of craft attacking cities. If this is true then the question to is there life out there has been answered, but the question of why now needs to be answered.”
“Why indeed,” Peter asked himself. This was the question that he was sure everyone was asking themselves.
They listened a bit longer to what the reporter was saying. It appeared that most cities were in ruins from the attack. The military organizations of the world were also in shambles having taken massive losses. To Peter it seemed like they knew exactly where to hit. That piece of information did not hold well with him either.
“Do we still have a link with the Hermes,” Peter finally asked.
“Yes,” the reply came.
“Put me though,” Peter said.
*****
“Commander,” Pratt said as he looked at his scanner.
Ares glanced up from what he was doing and walked over to the command chair.
“Take a look,” Pratt said.
“Well that answer this question,” Ares said seeing the two vessels on the edge of the scanner. “Helm plot a course around the incoming ships, then head for Centari One.”
“Yes sir,” the helm officer said turning back to the controls to bring the ship around and head back to Centari One.
“It appears that we gained some attention,” Ares said.
“Yep,” Pratt replied. “Their course indicates that they are from Earth.”
“Hmm, gives me an idea, put me through to the Hermes,” Ares said. He was also hoping that they had some new information for him.
Ares did not have to wait long before the captain of the Hermes appeared on the screen. He could see behind him Troy was also there.
“Commander Ares, good to hear from you,” the captain of the Hermes said.
“We intercepted a couple of unknown vessels that we think were Arbus vessels,” Ares said.
“That may be why two ships suddenly left Earth’s orbit,” Troy said. “Was the engagement that long ago?”
“No, we’re just finishing up the mop of the engagement,” Ares replied. You have answered a question though.”
“Really,” Troy said not sure what answer he might have provided.
“Yeah, whatever the ship was carrying it was important,” Ares said. Now he really wished that he had been able to gain a bit more information about what the ship was carrying. The only thing that they really knew was that there were humans aboard the ship. The question now became why were there humans aboard and what purpose did they serve.
“I was about to head back to Centari One,” Troy said. “Our supplies are running a bit low right now.”
“Good idea, any word lately from the base on Earth,” Ares asked.
“No, not since the last transmission,” Troy said.
“Very well, begin to head back to the base, we’ll resupply the ship and make new plans,” Ares said.
Troy signed off leaving Ares and Pratt to think about what Troy had just said. There was something going on that they were missing, but what. Ares had the feeling that a lot of information was missing. He would have to have intelligence work on the intercepted messages to see if they could tell what they were saying.
*****
Troy turned to the captain when the communications officer reported that another message was coming in. Troy turned around hoping that it would be Peter. He watched as the man’s face appeared on the screen in front of him.
“I’m glad to see you,” Troy said.
“We’re surviving right now if that’s what you mean,” Peter said. “I’m keeping everyone busy for now but I’m not sure how long that’s going to work.”
“Understand,” Troy said. “We don’t have much in terms of resources right now but I think Commander Ares is working on a plan to free Earth.”
“That would be nice,” Peter said. “No one down here really knows what is going on. The reports are nothing more than rumors swirling around.”
“Not good,” Troy said.
“No, but the biggest rumor is the fact that we’ve been attacked by an alien race,” Peter said.
“Well it seems that maybe they got it right,” Troy said. “Have you heard anything from any of the governments?”
“No, from what I’ve heard the capitals were some of the first places to be hit. The governments do not seem to be working anymore,” Peter said.
“I’m going to be taking the Hermes back to refuel then I’ll be back,” Troy said. “Next time we’ll be able to stay longer.”
“I understand,” Peter said. The Hermes was at best a transport and usually only stocked for the short distance that it would take to head back and forth to Centari One. That also made Peter think. Troy had not mentioned Centari One. “Captain, is the base in danger?”
“No, but its more for security purposes. I don’t know if someone is listening to this,” Troy said.
“Right,” Peter said. “We should end this conversation then. I’ll try back tomorrow at this time, or the next day at the same time.”
“Good, we’ll be listening,” Troy said as the communication line went dead.
“Helm, set course for Centari One,” the captain said to his crew.
*****
Ares sat back in his chair as he thought about what had happened in the last little while. Earth had been invaded by an enemy they did not know for reasons they still did not understand. Now he had a feeling that his mission would change from preparing Earth to saving Earth. Would it make a difference in the long run in the war against the Cylons?
“Agh,” Ares silently muttered gaining a look from Pratt who had a questioning look on his face. “Nothing, just doing too much thinking,” Ares told him.
“Ah, yeah,” Pratt said. “I hear too much of that can cause unwanted side effects.”
Ares chuckled at that. “Yeah, like making a decision based on facts. No, I was trying to figure it all out, that and what was I going to tell Robert and Sam.”
“I don’t envy you there,” Pratt said. “We should make it back before the Hermes leaves again for Earth.”
“Good, what is the word on the Argo,” Ares asked.
“They’ve begun work on her right now,” Pratt replied.
“Good,” Ares said. He really wished that he had his battlestar back. He would definitely feel better with the battlestar in the fleet again. He felt handicapped right now. He would have to make do with the Tiger and the Hermes at the moment. He guessed that he would figure out what to tell everyone once they got back to Centari One.
There were still about a million questions going on in his head. Who were the Arbus, what did they want and why did they attack earth? Those questions were just a few among many. The one thing that he really hoped for was that the Arbus would not be technology superior to them. That would not be a good thing for any of them.
Ares sat back in his chair as the Tiger made its way back to Centari One. There was a lot of work to do and to Ares there did not seem like there was a lot of time in which to do it in.
*****
Troy and the rest of the group made their way onto a shuttle. Behind him were Bri, Nall and Jax. The Tiger was just scheduled to arrive and they were heading down to the planet’s surface for the debriefing. He and Bri had taken the trip time to take a nap and rest. He was not sure what to expect once the debriefing began.
There was already a steady stream of shuttles to the Hermes. The ship was scheduled to head back to Earth in the next couple of hours. He sat down with Bri sitting next to him.
“I wonder if Commander Ares found out anything,” Nall said out loud. It was a question that they were all asking themselves.
“Don’t know,” Troy replied. “This will be a different war that’s for sure.”
“What do you mean,” Bri asked.
“Think about it,” Troy said. “We’re used to war, but against an enemy that wants our extermination. This enemy seems a bit different. They are conquering worlds.”
“Yeah, that is a bit different,” Bri said.
“Now we just have to figure out their angle,” Troy said briefly aware that others were listening to their conversation. “We know that they are not the Cylons, nor does it appear right now that they are in alliance with the Cylons.”
“I think you’re right there,” Nall said. “Completely different direction. But that leaves us with who are they and what do they want?”
“Exactly,” Troy said.
“I wonder if our weapon systems will be a match for theirs,” Jax said bringing up a question that was going to be critical in the upcoming battles.
“I think Commander Ares has a better idea if they are or not,” Troy said.
The shuttle landed allowing the group to leave. They had heard that the Tiger had just arrived so they knew that the meeting would be held soon. They headed toward the meeting room.
“Hey Becca,” Nall said as Rebecca found them. She was with Sam and Robert who appeared to be waiting as well. Rebecca walked over and hugged Nall who returned the gesture.
“What happened,” Rebecca asked. She had heard several reports and none of them were good.
“Well, it seems that the Earth has been attacked by a group called the Arbus,” Troy said loud enough so that Robert and Sam could hear him. They did not seem that surprised to hear that. “Aside from that we don’t know that much.”
“I heard that they tried to contact the governments,” Sam said.
“Peter said he tried, but was told to ignore it basically,” Troy said.
“Hmm, I don’t like that,” Sam said as he thought about it. To him something did not seem right about it all. He had a lot of trouble believing that the government would do nothing about an impending alien contact.
“Any ideas senator,” Troy said seeing the concentrating look on the man’s face.
“No, it doesn’t make much sense to me though,” Sam said.
It was another puzzle that they would have to try and decipher if they were to better understand their enemy.
*****
Ares walked into the meeting room which was packed with people. He recognized many of the faces in the group. They were people that he had served with aboard the Argo and had learned to trust here on Centari One.
“Thank you all for coming,” Ares said as Pratt stood off to the side. “We received word about a day ago that the Earth was attacked by a group that calls themselves the Arbus.”
A low mummer went across the room. Almost everyone knew that something had happened on Earth, but the name of the race that had attacked them was not widely known.
“The crew of the Hermes had noticed strange scanner contacts. On the last flight to Earth they did a bit more investigating. They found a large base along with six ships. At the time they did not know what they were,” Ares said to the group. “It turned out to be warships. The warships then attacked Earth while the Hermes was still close by. Our commander on Earth fled to the shelters during the attack. He also tried to get in touch with the governments of Earth. When he warned them he was told to ignore it.”
That comment created a stir. People did not think that their governments would do such a thing. They had a military but the thought that the government would not raise a finger to stop this was unsettling to most of them.
“During the invasion a message was sent to an unknown point. I took command of the Tiger and with additional fighters went in search of the intended target. We ran across two ships. We engaged the ships only to find out that one had a large group of humans on board. The other ship did not have any. It was assumed that the ship loaded with humans was a transport ship while the other was an escort of some sort,” Ares told the group. “The escort was destroyed. We then tried to board the transport which the crew activated the self destruct.”
Troy’s eyebrows rose at that statement. It was something that he was not expecting to hear. He really had hoped that they had been able to find out what the ship was carrying and who they were carrying. He was saddened by the loss of life on board the ships. He was glad that it appeared that their weapons would be a match for the Arbus’ weapons.
“You all know as much as I do. I now that this fight isn’t the Colonials fight so I ask all of you what your decision is. What course of action do we want to take,” Ares said.
“Take us back to the colonies. We would be able to arm ourselves and come back even stronger and rid Earth of the Arbus,” one man said. Ares recognized him as one of the volunteers from Earth.
“Fight them now,” another person said.
“No, build up here then fight them,” still another said.
Sam stood up and walked over to where Ares was standing. There was a big decision to be made and already several opinions had been expressed.
“I have to strike going to the Colonies,” Sam said. “It is an illogical decision. It would be at least three years before we would even be able to return.”
“If we did at all, remember that the Colonies are already at war with the Cylons. We cannot afford any resources to help Earth out at the moment,” Ares said. It was a truth that only the Colonial warriors knew. The war was beginning to tilt in favor of the Cylons and it was only a matter of time before they would have the full advantage unless something drastic was done. That was why the Argo was sent on this mission.
“But they do have the military power to expel the Arbus from Earth,” the man said.
“The cost though would be enormous. Billions could die at the hands of the Cylons if such an expedition was undertaken,” Ares said. “It is something that we really cannot afford right now.”
“But our lives are expendable,” the man said.
“The Arbus do not appear to be exterminating you, the Cylons would without mercy, every last man woman and child,” Troy said.
“Yeah right,” the man said.
“My family was killed by them, I’m the only one left of my family,” Bri said suddenly standing up to her full height and staring at the man. Anger seemed to pulse off her and Troy was glad that he was not the man she was mad at. “If the Cylons had attacked Earth they would not have stopped.”
The man rolled his eyes but backed down. Bri slowly sat down but Troy could tell that she was still angry. He would have to find out why she was so mad later on. He glanced at Nall who only shrugged his shoulders at him. It would be something that would have to wait until later.
*****
Sam stood by Commander Ares as people began talking about what they should do. Aside from a few who wanted to head to the colonies most seemed to understand the obstacles that such an endeavor would experience. He wanted to get an agreement on what they should do. He really wanted some time to talk it over with Ares but knew that right now there was no time for that.
There seemed to be two different ideas. There was one group that wanted to rush in and retake Earth. Another group wanted to wait until they had more resources to battle the Arbus. Sam could see both sides that argued that. There was a part of him that wanted revenge right now. Then another part of him knew that they did not have the resources to fight such a battle. There was also others in the crowd who did not want them to do anything.
“Commander Ares, I think we should take the suggestions that have been mentioned here seriously. It seems like there are three main groups of thought,” Sam said turning to Ares.
“Agreed,” Ares said. “One wants action right now, another wants to build up and another doesn’t want to do anything. Regardless of what we decide I’m sending the Hermes to Earth to continue surveillance to see what else we can find out. Also I want to see if we can make contact with the base on Earth.”
“It might be best to wait for more information on the Arbus before doing anything else,” Sam said.
“I think so. Rushing in to help out Earth might destroy any chance we have of freeing Earth. But if we wait too long then we might do irreparable harm instead,” Ares said.
“A fine line we must walk then,” Sam said.
Everyone in the room was listening to the discussion waiting a bit to see what would be decided. So far the course of action seemed to please most people. Most who wanted action right now knew that information would help while those who wanted to wait had a bit more time before something happened.
“Contact the Hermes and tell them to more out once Gunther has gone aboard,” Ares said. “For now we must continue to train our people for when we do attack.”
*****
Troy sat back listening to what Commander Ares and the senator were saying. There were two options that he was not comfortable with. One was going to the Colonies for help and the other one was doing nothing. He was glad that going to the Colonies was not really being considered by any of the leaders. It also seemed that doing nothing was also not being considered. Troy figured that the best option was the wait and see what to do option.
Troy heard that Gunther was going to be heading to Earth on the Hermes. That meant that he, Bri and Nall would probably take over on training the new pilots. That was not going to be that bad. They would need pilots and warriors for whatever battle was going to be taking place.
Gunther got up and walked out of the room heading towards the shuttle bay to head up to the Hermes. Troy also knew that one of them would be taking over command of the viper squadron on board the Tiger. There was going to be a lot of work that needed to be done. He just hoped that they had the time to do what they needed to do.
The meeting broke up and Troy felt a nudge on his arm. Turning to look at Bri she suggested that they grab a bit to eat. Jax, Rebecca, and Nall joined them. Troy felt a bit better in knowing that a simi course of action was being taken. They would scout out and see what they could find out.
“You okay,” Bri whispered to him as they walked out of the room.
“Mostly,” Troy replied. “I’d feel better if we had more information than we had.”
“I think we all would,” Nall said getting an agreement from Jax.
“Let’s hope that the Hermes has some success in their mission,” Jax said.
“I’m hungry,” Bri said as her stomach chose that moment to growl.
“All right, come on and let’s feed you,” Troy said with a slight chuckle as the group headed towards the cafeteria. There they could talk some more and perhaps Bri and Troy could tell the others how their vacation went.
End of part 26