Betrayal

“Today in flower, tomorrow scattered by the wind — such is our blossom life. How can we think its fragrance lasts forever?”

"You have a grave responsibility, ladies and gentlemen. One life is gone, another is at stake. Thank you"

Jen had been called to jury duty on Colonial One. After an entire hour of sitting in the stuffy court room, the six person group was more than happy to get a breath of air; after all, the last Cylon attack had been against the air conditioning units on the civilian ships.

They entered a small meeting room, and everyone sat down, save the foreman.

"Let's get down to business. All in favor of guilty, raise your hand."

Everyone but Jen raised their hand.

Number Six, a Gemenese priest, began to redden, as if he was going to explode. "You. Why did you not vote guilty?"

"We're about to send this boy to his death. Can't we at least talk about it?"

"Give her a chance." Number Three, a Libran layer, spoke up. "She deserves something, doesn't she?"

"Alright. Let's talk." Number Two muttered. He was a Tauron ginger. "First evidence. His weapon. He used a strange device, a double barreled pistol with the barrels on top of each other."

All the physical evidence lay on the table in front of them. Two picked up the gun and held it up for everyone to see.

"He said he got it from a shady character on the Astral Queen for some water. Claimed that it fell through a hole in his pocket and he never saw it again."

"That is nothing strange." Jen calmly, but firmly spoke.

"And how do you know that?" Five, a Leonis shepherd groaned. "I never seen anything like that."

Jen took out an identical weapon from her holster and slammed it on the table. "That is a standard issue A-1137 "Revolt" pistol issued to Raptor pilots. I don't know if he stole it or not, but it sure as hell isn't rare."

"Then he lied! That isn't helping your argument!"

"No. It means that he was lied to."

"Fine, you don't vote. If someone else votes not guilty, we'll continue to talk. If it is still all guilty, you'll vote guilty. Deal?"

"Deal." Jen turned to one of the windows and looked out at the winking stars.

Everyone wrote their answers on their paper, and passed it on to the person next to them.

The Foreman took all of the slips and began to read them off. "Guilty....Guilty....Guilty....Guilty...Not Guilty."

Jen turned back to the table, ponytail swishing through the air.

"I want to know who voted not guilty!" Number Two screamed. He grabbed Five. "Why did you vote not guilty, you damn bastard!"

"He didn't vote not guilty. I did." Number Three said calmly. His old frame stood up defiantly, even though he was hunched. "And the angle of the fire. The boy was a good foot shorter than the man. Don't you think it's strange that the bullet was going down?"

The Foreman, Number Five and Number Six changed their votes to not guilty.

Number Two ripped a tuft of hair out. "You people, we need to put that monster back on the chair where he belongs!"

Jen looked at him in surprise. "Jeezus. You're a sadist!"

"Shut your mouth, witch."

"Number Four is right. The only monster here is you."

"Shut up!"

"I may even go as far as to say that you were the killer."

"SHUT UP!"

"Well, we can only hope that in a couple months, you might get some sleep."

Number Two began to sob. ".....Not.....Not guilty....."

"Well, that escalated quickly. Jury is dismissed, I guess."

Everyone except  Jen and Two left. Two picked up the gun and pointed it at Jen, then he turned it around and held the handle towards her. He left the room, obviously in a hurry, but trying to hide it.

Jen looked around the room for a final time, then she too walked out. Number Three was waiting for her.

He stuck out his hand. "Johnny Baker."

She took it. "Jennifer Thatcher."

Lauren lay in her cot, waiting for her cousin. Playing with her blonde hair, she watched the replay of the trial. She always took interest in these kinds of things.

Jen came in. Closing the door lightly, she sat on the end of the bed.

"So. How did it go?"

"He's off the hook."

"It's always like you." Lauren muttered, eyes never off the screen. "You never like death. Unless the thing dying is a Cylon that wants to kill us."

"There's a good reason for that."

"Good point. Considering that we only have each other, I guess you can get overprotective." The two headed off to the mess hall.

"Well, Pop's on the edge of life and death. And we have Chuck."

"Yeah. The reason I'm on this topic is because I signed up as a Viper pilot."

"Wait, what?!" The two just entered the double doors, and everyone present looked at the bickering relatives.

"I'm in, and you are not stopping me."

"Why? You always run from a fight."

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

Hundreds of heads turned to whoever was talking at the moment.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"You do and you know it!"

"Do...not?"

"Is there a problem, ladies?" Colonel Saul Tigh wrapped his arms around the two.

"No! I mean no, sir."

"Good. If I ever see you arguing like children again, I'll personally put both of you in the brig for a week."

"Yes, sir..." The two drawled, and Lauren shot her cousin a glare.

After Tigh left, Jen muttered, "I outrank you...Why didn't I order you to shut up?"

The two young women walked through the starboard hangar, avoiding the strewn Vipers and Raptors as they made their way to their own craft.

"What squadron are we in?" Lauren asked

"We? No no no, I'm in the Fourth Demons." Jen smiled.

"You, on the other hand, are in the Second Strike Fighters."

"What's the difference?"

"The second is for inexperienced nuggets like you." Jen put on her sweetest smile as she climbed into her Viper Mk. VII."Get in your Viper already. We're going on a recon mission."

"Already?" Lauren climbed uncertainly into her strike Viper Mk. III. "I barely got any training."

"Which is why you're coming with the best." Jen slid on her helmet.

Princess Celestia looked out at the night sky. It really was rare for her to enjoy her sister's work. A blazing trail suddenly lighted up the night sky.

Hmm...A meteor shower. She didn't tell me about it. Celestia thought. Perhaps a birthday present?

The blazing meter began to maneuver, and headed directly for the Canterlot Castle. Before she could process what was going on, the...craft slowed down and hovered in front of her.

A...human stepped out. "Siúlaigí a chairde, siúlaidh liom."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I can't understand you."

He seemed to make some motions, gesturing at Equestria, and he seemed to want to land on the area.

"Wait, one second." She quickly cast a lanuage spell. "Just talk, please."

"How-wha-?"

"It's a language spell, magic."

"Magic doesn't exist!"

Celestia levitated over several drinks. "Anything to drink? Water, tea, coffee?"

"Okay...point taken. I was trying to negotiate a trade."

"I am sorry, but I do not trade with humans."

"Neither do we." The human smiled. "I am John Cavil, Cylon Model Number One."

"Why are we even doing a recon mission, Lunaria? There's nothing to recon." Lauren muttered.

"We haven't even launched, dumbass." Jen groaned. "That's what the Cylons want you to think. There's fleets out there, and they sense that we destroyed their homeworld."

"We kill more of them, they kill more of us. What's the point?"

"I have nothing to say to that, except saying that I have nothing to say about that."

"Come on, we're being called."

"Hotdog, Juggernaut, Lunaria and Turkey, ready up."

"Ready!"

"I'm not "Turkey!" Lauren wailed.

One after another, they rocketed out the launch tubes.

"Hotdog, Juggernaut, take point and look scary. I'm going to take care of our young friend here."

"I don't need taking care of!"

Hotdog sighed. "Turkey, you're ego's writing checks your body can't cash."

"NO!"

"Correction, cuz: No sir."

"Ah! Everyone, stop goofing off! Unknown contacts at three o clock low!"

The other three pilots burst out laughing. "Turkey! Those are asteroids!"

Lauren instinctively lowered her head and let the others laugh.

"Wait...there's enemy contacts in the field! It's a trap!"

Her wing mates roared louder. All the while, crescent shaped raiders closed in for the kill.

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The slightest things changed. The blue afterburner darkened for a moment. The helmet lights and instruments jumped for a moment. The scanners on the raiders paused for a moment.

A pair of turquoise eyes tracked both groups movements.

Sudenly, blue tracer fire rushed across Jennifer's canopy. Juggernaut was killed instantly when his Viper exploded. The remaining three split up immediately.

"You weren't joking were you, Turkey?!"

"Would I?!"

The empty area was very alive with the light of gunfire and tylium reactor engines. Not one minute into the dogfight, Cylon reinforcements jumped into the fight. Bright flashes of light signaled their arrival, and soon, Hotdog was forced to eject. There was no way that two Vipers could hold up against eight Raiders.

"Lunaria! Incoming Raiders!"

"Get out while you can, Turkey! THAT IS AN ORDER!"

A missile streaked in, heading for Jen. She looked up at it. It was it. That would be her fate. She took a deep, slow breath.

Two streaks of orange bullets cut across the path of the missile, detonating it.

"Lunaria! You get out while you can!

"But-"

"ORDER!"

Starbuck swung around, stopping the Cylons from trying to attack the retreating Mk. VII.

As Jen pushed full afterburner, she looked back at Starbuck. "Oh dear...Please come back safe...please..."

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Swinging around and around, she fired whenever the Raiders crossed into her line of fire. Just as they were about to calculate some form of pattern into her flying, she would change it, throwing off their estimates.

"Starbuck! Do you hear me?!"

"Yes sir!"

"What's going on out there?" Adama yelled into his mike.

"Nothing but the rain, sir!"

"You gotta get home!"

"Aye sir! Bringing in the cat!" Just as she said that, a Raider cut her off. She tried another point, but Raiders swarmed to wherever point she tried to go for.

One of the Raiders fired an impact missile.

"STARBUCK!"