Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 38: New Attack
Ares sat back at his desk going over what had been uncovered by the Skartians. They appeared to be a normal race much like they were. The Arbus had appeared and worked with them for a short while then had attacked them. It was slightly different than what the Arbus had done against them. The Arbus had not even tried to announce their arrival before attacking.
The one thing that was similar was the way the Arbus attacked. They had used clones that were loyal to them to cause disruption in the way the military was able to defend against them. Once the military was gone then that was something that Ares was not sure about. He would have to talk with Keela as to what the Arbus did to their world.
Ares had a feeling from what he had learned on Earth that the Arbus were trying to wipe all evidence of civilization on Earth for some reason. What that reason was he did not know and hoped to find out soon.
“Commander,” Ares heard Reliy’s voice say as he walked up to the commander.
“Yes colonel,” Ares replied wondering what was going on.
“Just letting you know that the Sprint has started their patrol mission,” Reliy said.
“Good, this will be a good test for Renee,” Ares said. The young woman was working hard to make sure that she was a good captain of a ship. Ares had the feeling that she would do just fine. “The Ant is also coming along just fine as well. It should be completed soon as well,” Ares said talking about the next destroyer that he dock yards were working on.
“Yes, I hear it is an upgrade of the Puma,” Reliy stated.
“Upgraded weapon systems, but the Ant will not have the S-metal on it,” Ares said.
“Still working to make it stronger so resist attacks,” Reliy asked.
“Yes, I don’t want to endanger lives for thinner armor on some ships,” Ares said. “We’ve already had to repair the Argo’s S-metal covering a few times. I’ve thought about doing the same thing with the other ships as the Argo but we need ships right now.”
“Well if we have a group of stealth ships that can patrol without being seen then a normal fleet with heavier armor can come in for the kill,” Reliy said.
“Yes that is the thinking right now,” Ares replied. A small patrol fleet to scout for the main battle fleet. In war information meant a lot.
“I’ll let you know when the Hermes arrives,” Reliy replied.
Ares watched as Reliy walked off to his station. The next ship that they needed to complete was the first ship of the tanker class. It would be able to take materials from the Tylium mine in Earth’s system to Centari One. As it was every ship had to go to the base to fuel up right now.
*****
Renee made her way to the cafeteria on board the Sprint. They had started their patrol and felt confident enough in the crew to finally get something to eat. She would have to as they were going to be on patrol for the next three weeks. When the Sprint arrived back at the mining base for refueling the fleet should have another ship, the Ant ready.
Renee had just sat down when her communicator went off. She picked it up and answered it.
“Renee here,” she said.
“Colonel, scanners have picked something up. We would like for you to come up here,” her second in command said.
“Be right there,” she said. The internal communicator was something that they were going to have to get used to. Each person had one that was tied into a separate computer to allow communications in the ship between the crew.
Looking at her food with a sigh she turned and walked out of the cafeteria towards the bridge. Upon arriving at the bridge she was greeted with chaos all over.
“What’s going on,” Renee finally asked not sure what to make of the chaos going on.
“We’ve spotted two attack class Arbus ships along with another unknown ship that is larger than the others,” Brett said from the scanner position.
“Three Arbus ships,” Renee said. “Get me Commander Ares at once.
Renee was not sure that she really like what was about to happen. With three Arbus ships heading towards Earth the Sprint was sure to be in the middle of combat. She could only hope that she was ready to handle a combat situation.
“Colonel Renee, what’s wrong,” Ares asked as he face appeared on the scanner.
“Our scanners have identified three Arbus ships on their way to Earth. Two attack class ships and one unknown that is larger than the others,” Renee said.
“I see,” Ares said thinking quickly. “Send us the report of their position and direction. Then I want to follow them until you receive new instructions,” he told her.
“Understood commander,” Renee said relaying the order to the scanner operator.
“Do you think they are going to head for Earth,” Brett asked.
“I think so, their path would lead them right to Earth, but only three ships, that doesn’t make sense,” Renee replied.
“You’re right, they should know that we have the power to repel an attack of that size,” Brett said. “Something doesn’t make sense.”
“How close do we have to be to get a scan of the ships,” Renee asked.
“Probably too close, we would be spotted before completing the scan,” Brett replied.
“That’s what I thought,” Renee said as what Brett had said went though her mind. Something here did not add up and she wanted to know what that was.
*****
Bri walked up to Troy who was lying down on the bed.
“What’s up,” he asked her seeing the look on her face.
“The Arbus are about to strike again,” she said. “It seems that we’ll be sitting this battle out though.”
“What,” Troy asked wondering what she was talking about.
“Captain Scott just received word from Commander Ares that an Arbus attack fleet was heading to Earth. We’re to stay here at Centari One until the attack is over,” Bri said.
“Oh, great,” Troy said not liking the fact that he was going to be sitting here doing nothing.
“There’s not much we can do right now anyways,” Bri said. “Nall and Jax are still there making sure that the squadrons are operating smoothly. They will be able to handle the situation.”
“I know, I just like to be there,” Troy replied.
“There’s little we can do right now except listen to the updates that Captain Scott receive,” Bri told him.
Troy resigned himself to waiting for any new reports even though he did not like it.
*****
Ares looked over the data that had been received from the Spirit. He had already sent out the Puma in a direction that was a bit different from the current vessels. The main concern was the fact that there were only three ships approaching Earth. He had a feeling that this might be a diversion for a larger group of attack ships. The last thing he wanted was to be caught off guard.
He knew that the Puma should be in position in the next couple of minutes. Then he would know if there was anyone else from that direction. The bridge of the Argo was feeling a bit tense at the thought that a battle was about to occur. No one was sure as to what type of battle it was going to be.
Ares also knew that there was also the ongoing situation of the Skartians who had appeared not that long ago near Centari One. The one thought that kept going though his mind was were the two connected. He hoped that the two groups were not but he could not ignore it either.
“Sir, the Puma is checking in,” Rebecca said.
“Good,” Ares said knowing that he would now have his answer to one of his many questions.
“Commander, we’ve found nothing in the area,” Reliy said.
“Good, make you way to section eight then,” Ares said planning his own little trap for the incoming ships.
“Yes sir,” Riley said as he relayed the instructions to his crew. “Anything else,” he asked.
“Just keep your scanners open just in case,” Ares said then the line when blank.
Ares sat back glad that there were no other ships that they knew about. That did not rule out any other ships coming either. The fact that one of the Arbus ships was larger than any others did concern him. Was the ship a transport, or was it a new attack ship that they had yet to tangle with. If that was the case did they have larger ships as well?
“Prepare all sections for combat,” Ares said finally. “We have two hours before they arrive.”
The Argo went into preparations for combat. Ares sat back wondering if the people who had constructed the battlestar would have imagined what it would be fighting against. He figured that they did not. The battlestar was designed to fight the Cylons.
Ares sighed as he realized that he was going into battle again. He wondered how many more battles he would have against the Arbus, and if he would ever fight against the Cylons again. He thought over the latest reports from the Colonies. That was something that was kept hidden from many of the others. The latest reports were about the same as the others. The war was still going on just like it had for generations.
*****
Renee watched on the scanner as the three Arbus ships kept on their course to Earth. The three ships were not trying to be quiet in their approach to Earth that was for sure. They were headed straight to the planet. That made Renee think that perhaps there was something else going on.
“Do we know what direction they will be coming in from at Earth,” Renee finally asked.
“Its coming in now,” the scanner said. “Interesting,” he said looking at the reports.
Renee wondering what the scanner operator was talking about walked over to see for herself. She glanced at the scanner and noticed that the operator was correct. There was something wrong about the entire flight path. She looked some more at it before noticing something.
“Get me Commander Ares at once,” Renee said.
“What’s up captain,” Ares said to Renee as his face appeared on the screen.
“I think the target is not Earth, but our fuel station,” Renee said.
“Fuel station,” Ares said not sure he like that. If they managed to destroy the fuel supply then they would be just sitting ducks. Now he had a problem. One battlestar, three enemy ships and two potential targets.
“Yes sir,” Renee said. “The course would have to change for them to attack Earth.”
“I see,” Ares said. “Keep with them,” Ares told her. As he signed off.
Renee knew that her information was not that good. It meant that there were two targets. It also meant that somehow they had learned about the fuel station and how little fuel they had in reserve.
“We maintain our speed and course. Let me know the moment the Arbus ships change anything,” Renee said walking back up to her command chair.
“Yes ma’am,” the replies came.
*****
“Captain Reliy, change in plans,” Ares said to him. “Meet up with the Argo. “We’re going out to meet them.”
Ares had figured that he could not allow the Arbus ships to get too close to either Earth or the fueling station. That would have problems for them. Hitting them further out would solve a lot of problems as to where to be.
Reliy replied that the Puma would be ready and signed off. Ares turned to the bridge crew and rattled off the orders. It would leave the Earth with only the fighter squadrons for defense but he hoped that it was worth it.
“Commander Ares,” his scanner came alive and he noticed General Pakrov’s face. “I hear that the Argo is going to be leaving.”
“There are three Arbus ships heading towards us,” Ares said.
“Surely you would have a better chance with the fighter squadrons from Earth by staying,” he asked.
“That is true, if they are headed here, but I now have reason to believe that they are headed to the fueling station,” Ares told him.
“Oh boy,” Pakrov exclaimed. “That could set us back a ways.”
“Yep,” Ares said. “The fuel ship won’t be ready for another week either. If we lose that base then our entire war effort would be crippled.”
“You know what that means then,” Pakrov said.
“Yes, we still have spies, or that was what they were sending when we destroyed the base on Earth,” Ares said. “I’ll leave that in your hands then.”
“I have the time to do something about it. You just get ready for the upcoming battles, and good luck commander,” Pakrov said.
“Thank you general,” Ares said as they signed off.
“Contact at current speed and heading will be thirty minutes,” Rebecca said to Ares.
“Get me the Puma and Sprint,” Ares said.
“Captains Renee, Reliy,” Ares said after they were both on the screen. “We’re going to be attacking. The Argo and Puma will attack head on. The Spirit will attack the rear ship in hopes of confusion. Don’t try to slug it out with them. Use your speed to your advantage Renee.”
“Understood sir,” Renee said.
*****
“All viper pilots report to you vipers,” the voice though the hanger deck.
“Mount up everyone,” Jax yelled to the group. With Bri and Troy gone she was ranking fighter pilot on board the Argo. It was a position that she was not used to.
“Everything’s ready lieutenant,” the flight crew officer said to her as she approached her viper.
“Thanks,” Jax replied as she climbed up and into her viper. He handed her the helmet. Turning on her systems she could hear the engines begin to whine as they came to life.
“Green squad, launch when ready,” the flight controller said over the communicator.
“Understood core command,” Jax said as she looked down the launch tube. With a breath she pushed down on the thrusters causing the viper to rush down the tube and into space.
“All right green squad, form up on me,” Jax said taking over as squad leader. “Our target is to keep any Arbus fighters from our ships.”
Jax heard the replies come from the rest of the squadron. The other squadron was to attack the incoming ships weapons systems. She knew that one of the ships was larger than an attack class Arbus warship but there was no other information besides that.
She scanned local space for any targets that they would be able to engage. It did not take long before several Arbus fighters began to emerge from the incoming ships.
“All right green squad, engage,” Jax said as she activated her attack scanner as she headed into the middle of the battle.
*****
“All fighters have engaged the enemy,” Rebecca said to Ares.
“Good,” Ares said. “Take us in an open fire.”
The Argo turned slightly to engage the enemy ships. Its weapons opened fire on the lead ship as the Puma not far behind it also opened fire on the Arbus ships.
The Spirit coming up from the rear waited until it was in range before the ship opened fire as well. The enemy did not know where to attack first. The stealth metal made it hard for the Arbus to lock onto the human ships.
“Commander, the escorts seem to be breaking off the attack,” Rebecca said to Ares.
“What about the other ship,” Ares asked.
“Nothing yet,” she said continuing to monitor her screen for any changes. “It is still heading towards us though.”
Ares was not sure that he liked that piece of information. Something was going on that he just had not been able to figure out yet. The two Arbus attack ships were pulling back yet the larger ship continued to close with them.
“Shift fire to the larger ship,” Ares finally said after a few minutes of thinking.
“Are you sure commander,” Rebecca asked.
“Yes,” Ares said. “There is something going on here and I want to find out what it is.”
The Argo shifted its fire from the Arbus attack ships to the larger ship that they had been escorting. The main guns of the ship opened fire on the Arbus ship getting hits right away. The large ship suddenly began powering up.
“Power up detected on the Arbus ship commander,” Rebecca said.
“Weapons power up,” Ares asked.
“Unknown,” Rebecca replied as she continued to monitor the situation.
“All ships, be aware, large power up coming from the largest ship,” Ares said over the communicator to the Puma and Spirit. “Put a bit of distance between us and that ship.”
The large ship turned a bit to and put a bit of distance between the two ships. Ares was not going to take a chance that the ship was powering up its weapons for a close strike.
“Its weapons build up commander,” Rebecca said as the energy suddenly spiked. “She’s firing!”
“All hands brace for impact,” Ares said as the Arbus ship suddenly opened fire.
The Argo was rocked a bit by the impact of the Arbus weapons fire. Ares stayed on his feet even though a few of his crew were thrown to the floor.
“Medical crew to the bridge, return fire,” Ares said.
“Weapon systems are still operational, returning fire,” Rebecca replied.
“Prepare missiles for firing,” Ares said not wanting to remain in this battle for much longer. It was obvious now that the larger ship was a warship. He was not sure if it was new or just a larger ship that the Arbus had in their fleet.
“Forward batteries locked on commander,” Rebecca said as the Argo turned again to bring its forward main weapons to bear.
“Fire,” Ares said as the Argo returned fire to the large Arbus ship.
*****
“Captain,” Reliy turned to see Gunther pointing to the screen. Reliy looked down to see the large Arbus ship attacking the Argo. From the scanners it appeared that the large Arbus ship was a battleship or something like that.
“Where are the attack ships,” Reliy asked.
“Over here,” Gunther told him as they looked at the screen. “They’ve headed towards the Spirit’s position.”
“All right, what about the Arbus’ fighters,” Reliy asked.
“Our fighters are currently engaged with theirs. It might be some time before we can pull some away from that mission,” Gunther replied to him.
“All right, get me Captain Renee,” Reliy said. He did not have to wait that long until she appeared on the screen.
“Make it quick, I’ve got company coming,” Renee said as she looked at him.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. It appears that they are singling you out at the moment,” Reliy said. “Your ship is quicker than theirs is so let’s use that to our advantage.”
“What did you have in mind,” Renee asked.
“Circle around on vector alpha, and that should put you close to my position. I’ve moved the Puma out a bit and right now I’m not sure they even know I’m here,” he told her.
“Catch them looking the other way,” Renee said.
“Yeah,” Reliy said.
“What about the Argo,” she asked.
“The Argo can take care of herself just fine,” Reliy said.
“All right,” she said as she relayed the heading to her crew.
*****
The Spirit used her speed to out run the Arbus attack ships and headed towards the Puma which had stopped firing and turned away to appear to be retreating. The Arbus ships continued to try and close with the Spirit. Having two ships it made it a bit easier to try and corner the smaller ship.
The Arbus ships had just come back into range when the Puma opened fire again from her new hiding spot. The hit damaged the Arbus’ engines systems which affected the entire ship. Its weapon fire died down to almost nothing and its speed was severely reduced.
The other Arbus ship was caught looking the other way when the Puma had attacked. Now it was torn from going back to help the other damaged ship or continue to attack the smaller ship. The Arbus ship continued on its way after the Spirit.
The Puma decided to continue to attack the damaged Arbus ship so that it would not be able to get back into the fight.
*****
“Commander, one of the attack class ships has been disabled,” Rebecca said as the Argo rocked from another hit.
“Good, that means that the Spirit and Puma can handle themselves. Continue firing at the main target right now,” Ares said.
Rebecca understood and the Argo continued to fire on the Arbus ship. So it seemed to be a slugfest between the two large ships. The Argo was giving as good as she was receiving at the moment.
“Missiles are ready and armed commander,” Rebecca said.
“Good, launch one and two,” Ares said as the weapons officer pushed the button and the two weapons raced out of their silos.
Ares watched as the two missiles were launched. These were made on Earth so they were not quite as powerful as the ones from the Colonies. He also wanted to see how destructive they were.
“Direct hit commander,” Rebecca said as the missiles struck the large ship. Its armor was effective but the two missiles caused extensive damage. “Arbus ship retreating from battle commander.”
“What about the other ships,” Ares said.
“One is suffering multiple internal explosions the other is retreating as well,” Rebecca said.
“It’s over for now,” Ares said with a sigh of relief. “Let’s go home.”
The Argo, Puma and Spirit turned and headed back to Earth. The Argo would be requiring some repairs but otherwise they appeared to have come though the conflict just fine.
*****
Ares walked into the meeting room where President Harvey and General Pakrov were waiting. They were wondering about the outcome of the battle. They had heard that a new Arbus warship had been encountered and what to do with the Skatians.
“Welcome home commander,” Harvey said as Ares sat down.
“It’s good to be home,” Ares said as he thought about that statement. He was slowly beginning to think of Earth as home for now.
“So what happened,” Pakrov asked wondering what had happened and what the damage to the fleet was.
“The captain of the Spirit noticed something strange about the course of the incoming Arbus attack fleet,” Ares said. “She then plotted the course and noticed that it was headed to our fueling station, not Earth.”
“Fueling station? Doesn’t make much sense,” Harvey said.
“Actually if they had destroyed that we would not have the fuel to operate our ships,” Pakrov said. “We don’t have enough reserve yet to survive.”
“Oh,” Harvey said not sure he liked that news. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
“Right, the fact that they knew where it was, and our dependency on it makes me question something’s. That is why right now we’re keeping the location of Centari One and the new base that will start construction next week top secret. Only a few will know where it is,” Ares said. “I’m no longer sure that Centari One is unknown by the Arbus anymore.”
“But if its attacked it can defend itself right,” Harvey asked.
“Yes, and with the Tiger there it’s a very dangerous place to try an attack,” Ares said. “But that leads me to the next problem. It seems that the Arbus have a larger attack ship, maybe a battleship class that we just encountered.”
“How serious a threat does it pose,” Pakrov asked.
“Well, it could go toe to toe with a battlestar, not win but could inflict damage. We will have to make repairs to the Argo’s armor, a few of the viper launch bays, and other areas but it is still operational and will not have to be put out of action because of the damage,” Ares said.
“That’s good news,” Harvey said. “Now what about our new visitors?”
End of part 39