Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 29: Discoveries
Peter walked over to the communicator. Captain Gunther was reporting in from the Hermes. It appeared that the fight in space had finally ended. It would take a few minutes until any forces from the ships were available to help out on the ground. It was one thing however that he was grateful for. That meant that the forces on the ground would not have to be worried about an air strike or a strike from space.
“How are things going down there,” Gunther asked Peter.
“So far so good,” Peter replied. “We’ve taken most of the town from the Arbus forces. It’s a bit more of a hit and run type tactic that both sides appear to be using.”
“How long before the entire city is under your control,” a new voice said. It took only a second before Commander Ares’ face appeared on the screen.
“Well, we believe that we’ll have regained control over the city hopefully by the end of the day,” Peter replied.
“Any news from other parts of the world,” Ares asked. He hoped that more places would begin to rebel once a general rebellion started.
“I’m still trying to get the local news agency on it. We do have some reports that a few cities have begun a rebellion as well but nothing firm yet,” Peter said.
“All right keep me informed. We should have some reinforcements for you in a little while,” Ares told him.
“No problem commander,” Peter replied as the screen went dark. Peter figured that the warships would probably encounter some damage that might affect their fighting readiness.
“Do we have anything else that has happened,” Peter asked.
“Nothing yet captain,” Tammy replied.
Peter wondered how long the citizens of Earth would allow this invader to control them.
*****
Bri and Troy walked down the corridor to the pilots debriefing room. They had won the first phase of the battle and now the second phase was about to begin. He knew that intelligence did not have enough information to provide targets for strikes by the vipers just yet.
Walking into the room he was relieved when he saw so many of his friends still alive. Nall and Jax were sitting at a couple of seats. Troy was sure that Rebecca would be grateful for that. Looking around he did notice that the heaviest losses were from the new recruits. Not that it was that unexpected to him.
Troy sat down and Bri sat down next to him. Commander Ares would be coming in soon to give them an update on how the ground battle was going. A lot of things depended on them winning this battle. They would need people to fight the new war. It was something that he was sure would not be over quickly.
“All right ladies and gentlemen I do have some news for you all,” Ares said as he walked into the room. “First off for the Colonial warriors. We received the latest news from home. Nothing much has changed. There is talk of sending the Pegasus and the fifth fleet to help out the Delphian system but I doubt anything will be finalized for another year or so.”
Several of them looked at each other. Troy was not sure that sending part of the fleets away to help out another group was wise. Most of the group here knew that such a thing would not be taken lightly. There were not enough battlestars to defend all of the colonies if the fifth fleet fell.
“Second news is the battle on Earth. From what Captain Peter is able to tell me he has almost beaten back the Arbus in his city. So far he has not heard anything from any other city or military units. So we should exercise extreme caution when heading down to the planet’s surface,” Ares said. “I don’t want us being surprised by something on the ground.”
The group understood what the commander was saying. Most in the group hoped that the battle would go smoothly. Troy was hoping that they could uncover something about the Arbus that they could use. Maybe some reason as to why the race had attacked them in the first place.
The pilots received their orders as to where to do and where to patrol. They also knew that there would be some Earth fighters in the air. There was also the reasoning that some Earth fighter might attack the vipers. If that was to happen then the pilots were to escape into space at once. Troy hoped that he did not have to worry about that. The meeting ended and the pilots headed to their vipers to help out anyway they could.
*****
Troy walked onto the shuttle. He was one of a few to volunteer to be part of the ground forces. He was a bit surprised when Bri and Nall joined him on board the shuttle.
“Thought you were going to fly cover,” Troy asked looking at Bri.
“Fly cover when you’re down there, I don’t think so dear,” Bri said. “I go where you go.”
“Okay,” Troy said knowing that he would not be able to change her mind. He then looked at Nall. “What about you.”
“Hey, someone has to watch her back while she’s watching yours,” Nall said with a smile.
“Just be sure that not watching my butt,” Bri replied.
“I won’t let anything happen to that pretty butt of yours,” Nall replied.
“All right, if you’re both here then who’s commanding the squad,” Troy asked when he saw them.
“Jax is,” Nall replied.
“You mean she didn’t want to come along with us,” Troy asked.
“Nope, she said it was too dangerous. Something about not being able to see the enemy coming,” Nall replied.
“Then I guess it’s the three of us,” Troy said. Part of him felt better with them along and another part was worried about what might happen.
They sat down as the shuttle launched and made its way down to the planet’s surface. They would be meeting with Captain Peter once on the surface to see what the situation was. The flight was not that long before they landed on the surface. The door opened and the group walked out to see destruction everywhere. There were few buildings that had not been damaged in some way.
“Captain Troy,” a male voice said as the group turned to see Captain Peter walking towards him. “Hope your flight was uneventful.”
“Quite smooth thanks for asking,” Troy said. “What is the situation?”
“Well,” he said pulling out a map of the city. “We’re here, and have control of this area. Resistance is heaviest in this sector.”
“What about the military base,” Troy asked.
“Haven’t heard much except that the fighters are flying cover for us and helping out as much as they can,” Peter said. “It’s a bit hard without direct communication.”
“Then lets rectify that,” Troy said. “We’re heading to the base and see what’s going on.”
With that the group had a mission and moved out.
*****
Troy watched the base for himself as many people walked around like nothing was going on. He had learned from Peter that the Tammy had gotten in and out with ease so the young woman was with them right now. They were taking a small group; just Nall and Bri were also along. Tammy quietly led them though the perimeter of the base.
Once on the base they made their way over to where the hangers were. Tammy had a feeling that her sister would not be there but it would have the best shot of finding out who to contact. They were about halfway there when Troy noticed something strange. He motioned everyone down. There were armed guards that had surrounded the hangers. They made their way closer where they could hear what was being said.
“You are in direct violation of superior orders,” a man was saying in a megaphone. “What you have done could result in war with the aliens.”
Troy’s eyebrows rose at that comment. He glanced around to the other men. He could tell that many of them were uncomfortable with what was going on.
“If you do not surrender force may be applied,” the man said. Troy could not stand to hear any more and quickly approached the group.
“Force may be applied,” Troy said loud enough for all to hear. “Funny considering how the aliens have destroyed your cities already and killed who knows how many yet you stand here and do nothing.”
The group turned to look at Troy and the others. The guards were a bit perplexed. Three of the group in front of them were dress in tans and browns. A weapon was on the hip of all three and they had a look of military personal.
“And you are trespassing,” the man said.
“Tell me how it is that you can stand there and do nothing when millions of innocent lives are being killed,” Troy said. “Why are you so stubborn about fighting back?”
“You know nothing,” the man said.
“Then enlighten me,” Troy challenged as the man walked up to him.
“It is the cycle,” he said just loud enough for Troy to head before the man attacked him.
Bri watched as the man attacked her husband. Before the man could move again Bri had the man on the ground and drew her weapon.
“I would stay still if I were you,” Nall said seeing Bri’s face.
“You have to realize that you can fight back,” Troy said. “The ships in orbit have been defeated.”
“Impossible,” the man on the ground said. “We don’t have a space military.”
“You don’t, but we do,” Troy said. “Its too long to explain but you have the opportunity to free you people now.”
“Are you sure,” one guard said.
“Yes,” Troy said. “But now we need your help to complete it.”
The group looked at each other almost as if they were trying to figure out what was the right course of action. Finally one of them made a decision.
*****
Sara banked her fighter around looking visually for any targets. She was also keeping an eye on her fuel. She was beginning to run a bit low and knew that the rest of her squad would be as well. Returning to base was not the best option at the moment as there was no way of knowing what type of reception they would receive.
“Hey lieutenant, any idea as to what we should do when we run out of fuel,” one of her squadron members asked.
She was about to answer when another voice interrupted her.
“Then come on back to the barn, we’ll refuel and rearm you,” the voice said.
“Lieutenant, what do you think,” her squad member said.
“I’m not sure,” Sara said.
“Lieutenant Sara, the officers have been arrested and Hawkes base is giving full support to this attack now,” the controller’s voice said.
“Well, we’ll try it,” Sara finally said. “Give us landing orders.”
“Roger Eagle squad,” the controller said.
Sara approached the base according to the controller’s orders. She noticed after she touched down that other squads were arming as well. She wondered what had happened to bring the base back into the fight.
*****
“Captain, they are making a news break,” One of the men said to Peter. He quickly made his way over to where the TV was sitting to see what was going on.
“This breaking news just in,” the reporter said. “We have reports that the military jets have been spotted overhead for the first time since the aliens attacked.”
There was a bit of commotion from off screen and what appeared to be an argument that distracted the reporter’s attention for a second. The reporter quickly recovered and focused back on the camera.
“We have things that we have not told you that are important. I don’t know how long they will allow us to continue. There are new reports that the alien spaceships have been defeated and at least one town has freed itself from the alien control. Now is the time to rise up and rebel,” the reporter said.
The screen quickly went blank making Peter turn to the nearest person.
“Get me Commander Ares,” Peter said an idea forming in his mind. It did not take long before Ares was on the screen.
“What’s going on down there,” Ares asked.
“It appears that there are people that want to fight but people are telling them not to. I think if we could broadcast a message to the people it might help out,” Peter said.
“That might work,” Ares said. “I think I have just the person that we could use as well.”
The screen went blank for a moment then came back. It took a second then another face appeared. Senator Sam Harvey listened to what Ares was saying. Ares was telling the senator about Peter’s idea. The senator thought it was a good idea. Peter wondered how long it would take before the broadcast would start. He did not have to wait long until the senator’s face appeared on the screen.
“This is Senator Sam Harvey of the United North Americas. Many of you know that aliens have invaded our home killed millions of people yet there has been almost no response from the governments. That has changed. The warships that were orbiting the planet have now been eliminated. The time to strike back is now. I urge you to rise up and free yourself now,” Sam said on the TV. “All ready several military units have begun to fight back but they will need your help to complete this.”
Peter continued to listen to the senator. He hoped that this would bring people into the battle.
*****
Ares sat in his chair on the bridge of the battlestar Argo waiting for reports of the ground war. So far rumors and reports were coming in from the main ground base about fragments of military units beginning to join the fight, many times in direct violation of their superior officers. This still disturbed Ares. What type of military officer denies his troops the chance to strike back when the opportunity arrives?
There had to be a reason for everything. From why the Arbus attacked to how the leaders of Earth were acting. Ares only hoped that he was able to figure it out before it was too late. There was a lot at stake, more than many on Earth would probably ever know.
“Commander,” Reliy said. “We have reports from the China sector of uprisings.”
Ares looked at the map as another marker was placed on the map. That meant that there were now around sixty groups that were rebelling. There were also large areas that the Arbus did not have any units in. A large expanse was already recaptured. Ares also knew that the next phase of the war would be harder to do. By most accounts the current governments could not be trusted to protect the citizens. That meant that new governments would have to be set up. Ideally one single government would be set up.
Sam and another senator John were already working on writing up a new government proposal. Ares wanted to know what government officials hindered any efforts to protect the people against those who did try.
Ares could only hope that the ground campaign ended soon. Then they would have to begin to deal with protection of the planet which meant that at least one ship would remain here at the moment. He really wished that the destroyer was complete. That would be the next part, building a large number of warships with which to defend Earth.
*****
“Hey Weaver, can you come here for a second,” Weaver’s assistant asked him.
Weaver walked over to where his assistant was standing. It did not take long for Weaver to notice what the man was looking at.
“That’s a bit interesting,” Weaver said. The metal deposits were a bit strange and now Weaver had a bit of a mystery on his hands.
“I was thinking of sending out a team to investigate the readings,” the aide said.
“That’s a good idea,” Weaver said as he continued to look at it. There was something strange about the shape of the metal deposits. A team would be able to figure it out a lot quicker than he would standing here. “In fact I think I’ll go as well.”
“All right I’ll let the team leader know,” the aide said.
*****
“Is this the place,” Weaver said as the small group stopped at a point not far from the base. They were wearing oxygen masks just to make sure that they had enough oxygen in the natural atmosphere.
“Yes doctor,” the leader of the group replied.
“Let’s see what we can find,” Weaver said. “The metal should be close to the surface.”
The group began to dig though what was surprisingly soft soil. They dug down a little ways until the soil became harder. That’s when they began to use the shovels and other tools.
Weaver turned to look at the scanner. The metal was not far down and not that big compared to other deposits. It was the outline of this one that had him wondering. That and according to scans the metal was in a higher quantity. That also puzzled him a bit as well. The other deposits were a lower quantity but easy to get to. They had not mined this one because of its size. It was a smaller one and the logic was to get the larger mine operational as quickly as possible.
“Doctor Weaver, can you come here,” one of the group said. The tone in the man’s voice indicated that something was different.
Weaver walked over to where the man was just standing there with his shovel looking puzzled about what was going on. Weaver got to the spot and did not notice much. The shovel appeared to be resting in the ground.
“What did you find,” Weaver asked.
“Listen,” the man said lifting his shovel then sending it down. A clank sound greeted their ears.
Weaver’s eyebrows went together at the sound. It sounded like metal striking another metal. He took the shovel and repeated the motion getting the same sound. He then began to wipe the dirt away from the surface. What began to appear was not something that he had hoped to see. A dull metallic surface began to appear as he brushed more and more away.
“Let’s clear this away and see if we can figure out what this is. It obviously appears to be manufactured which means someone with intelligence built it,” Weaver said sending the team to work. It might take a while but he had a new mystery to try and solve.
*****
Ares waited for the Hermes to return from Centari One. On board were the two senators which would be the best help of getting a new government working on Earth. He was not sure how long it would be before the Arbus made a counterattack. He had sent the Tiger in the direction where another battle had occurred. Now he wanted time and information about any Arbus attack fleet. Green squad was also now flying patrol around the system making sure that no Arbus station was still around.
The ground war had wound down a few hours ago. Ares was a bit disappointed to learn that no Arbus had been captured alive. For some reason they had all either gone down fighting or killed themselves.
“The Hermes is inbound commander,” Renee said from her post.
“Good,” Ares said. That meant that he could begin with this phase of the planning. Down on the planet Peter was already gathering groups that they were hoping to become the next leaders of the planet. He would leave that part up to the two senators.
“Commander, we’re getting a message from the planet,” Renee said. “They want you to come down and see.”
Ares was not sure what was going on but decided that he would. He told Renee to let them know that he would be down shortly and to have a pilot ready to shuttle him down.
*****
Ares walked out of the shuttle and was greeted by Nall and Jax. The two of them were helping mop up operations on the city.
“So what’s going on lieutenant,” Ares asked approaching the two of them.
“Come on in,” Nall said quietly. Ares walked into the room and stopped at what he saw.
“By the lords of Kobal,” Ares said glancing at what he was seeing. “Tell me I’m not seeing this.”
“I can’t,” Nall said turning to walk back out with Jax and Ares following.
“How many know about this,” Ares said.
“I don’t know,” Nall replied.
“They were killing the human race,” Ares said. Inside he had seen the instruments of mass killing along with piles of dead bodies. The entire thing did not make any sense. “I think its time to talk with these leaders.”
*****
Sam and John could not believe the stubbornness of the remaining elected officials that nothing was happening. Cities were in ruins and millions had died and they were saying nothing had happened. Ares chose that moment to walk into the room.
“Commander, glad you could join us,” Sam said noticing that the normally calm and cool commander appeared quite angry.
“Did you know,” Ares asked the group in front of Sam and John. The two exchanged a glance but turned to the group.
“Know what,” one of them said in a accent.
“That the Arbus had set up mass killing chambers and were wiping out large segments of the human race,” Ares said.
“Don’t be ridicules,” one of the said. “There is no danger from the aliens.”
“How about I show you then, then you can say it didn’t happen,” Ares said.
*****
The group was forced to go inside. Sam and John were almost sick to see something. The only thing that they could even relate it to was the Holocaust of World War Two. There was a pile of bodies that was rotting in the corner which made Sam wonder what the Arbus’ plan was.
“This does not prove anything,” one of the members said.
Ares wanted to strike the man but then noticed something. There appeared to be two different groups.
“What do you mean,” another one said. “I’m not staying quiet any more. The Arbus are invaders and it looks like they were trying to wipe us out.”
“Nonsense,” one from the other group said.
Ares watched a bit more as the two groups separated themselves from each other. Know Ares knew that something really was going on.
“Commander,” one of the group said. “Can you arrest these men and hold them. I don’t think they are human.”
“Yes I can,” Ares said waving a couple of guards on over.
“This is outrageous,” the apparent leader said.
“Just until you prove that you are in fact human,” John said. The group was led away leaving the group alone.
*****
Weaver stood looking at what was being uncovered. It was taking more and more shape. He was hesitant to say anything just yet. That was until what appeared to be a hinge appeared. That was what Weaver had been waiting to discover.
“Concentrate here,” Weaver said to the group. It took a few more seconds to uncover but as they did whispers began to swirl about what they were uncovering. “I think its time we call Commander Ares about this.”
“Doctor is this what I think it is,” the team leader asked.
“I believe it’s a spaceship of some sort,” Weaver said. “We’ll know more once we go inside. But let’s send a few back to report what we found and gain supplies.”
It was a tremendous discovery and one that no one was expecting to find. Weaver wondered what type of discoveries they would find once they got inside the ship. He hoped that the technology still worked as there was not telling how long the ship had been here.
With one last glance he headed back to the base. He only hoped that Commander Ares had finished with the battle at Earth and could spare some time to look at this discovery. The questions that Weaver was thinking now were where the ship had come from and who built it.
End of part 29