Chapters 12 Hours Later
The Fleet, The Battlestar Galactica
Jennifer groaned as she slowly woke up. On the top bunk of her cabin, she felt a kick.
"Ugh....stop it, Lauren."
The kicks stopped. "You know its only for your own good, Cuz. The rest of the fleet just jumped in."
"Uh huh?"
"Starbuck wants you down in the starboard launch."
"Stop speaking like a pilot, you'll never be one with those pipe cleaner arms and legs." Jen straightened her reddish brown hair.
"Still, Starbuck needs you."
"I'm going, I'm going..."
Jen walked into the hanger, looking for a certain strawberry blonde ace. Finding her target, she walked over.
"Reporting for duty, ma'am."
"Well, if it ain't one a mah former nuggets. Just call me Kara for now. Admiral Adama wants you and this guy to go down on a Raptor to the planet down below."
"Who is he?"
"My name's Sam Blyth, call sign's "Boxer." The ginger stuck out a hand.
"Jennifer Thatcher, call sign "Lunaria." Jen took his hand and shook it.
"Did they already do the scans?"
"Yeah. Well, we're supposed bring Dr. Baltar down to the surface and back in one piece."
Sam followed Jen to the brown Raptor. "How heavy is his equipment?'
"Nothing much, just some tubes for dirt samples and some fancy life scanners. He wants to figure out if the earlier recon Raptors were playing a prank on him."
"Why?"
"Would you believe me if I told you the planet was full of stone age ponies that can walk on clouds and use magic?"
"No."
"Exactly."
The two pilots finally got to their Raptor. Jen immediately picked up the pre-flight checklist and ran through it. Sam stood to the side, watching her.
"How did you know all of the systems?"
"I signed up as a Raptor pilot." Jen answered simply.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you sign up?"
Jen nodded.
"Because I needed the cubits."
"Care to explain?"
"My family lived on Aerlion."
"The poorest of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol?"
"Yeah." She set down her clipboard roughly, obviously unhappy about the topic.
"Then what about your cousin?"
"My uncle got lucky and won the Colonial lottery. He and his immediate family moved to Tauron."
"So, they got rich, then left the rest of your family to be stuck on the half-baked planet to die?"
"Do you what the Taurons are known for?" She quickly changed the subject.
"War and blood?"
"Yes. They are battle hardened individuals. Our family has a long line of service. My grandpa was a gunner aboard the Galactica type Battlestar Rycon , my uncle was a marine reserve at the time he hit the jackpot, and my mother was a mechanic on a flak frigate for some time."
"So he moved because he wanted to fit in more?" Sam asked as she suited up.
"Pretty much. They expected Lauren to join the Fleet and bring honor to the family name or something." Jen climbed into the Raptor, closely followed by Boxer.
"And how did your family get out alive?"
"They didn't. Unc commandeered a shuttle, but was shot down by marauding Raiders. Mom was on the Olympic Carrier." She gave a pointed look at Starbuck, who was talking to Sharon "Athena" Agathon. "Dad was killed on New Caprica. Brother was shot down in a Viper thanks to Scar." She strapped herself in to the seat on the left. "G-Ma had already passed. Auntie was on the Cloud Nine when it blew up."
Sam sat down in the right, or pilot's seat. "Sorry for your loss."
"Don't be. They're dead, and not coming back." She flicked a couple switches and press several buttons, getting ready for take off.
"You said you signed up as a Raptor pilot. So, why where you in Starbuck's Viper class?"
"What are we playing, twenty questions?"
"Just answer it. I promise it will be my second-to-last."
Jen rolled her eyes as she put her helmet on. "Fine. Some guy screwed up the simulation, and I ended up in a Viper MK III and had to fight some Cylon war era raiders."
"I take that you did so outstanding that they put you in a Viper class."
"I had no idea what I was doing. I only got through by the skin of my teeth."
"So you were a natural?"
"A person who got "lucky." Jen turned on the DRADIS computer and other systems, and leaned back against her seat. "Is Baltar gonna come or what?"
"You married?"
"To Chuck."
"The mechanic?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. I never knew you fell for lower ranking boys."
"I swear, if you-"
Baltar walked in, cutting Jen off. "All ready to leave?"
"Yes." Jen said through gritted teeth.
The Raptor barreled out of the rear of the left flight pod, pulled up and turned left, zoomed over the Galactica's sublight engines, then headed to the planet below.
"So peaceful. So innocent." Jen muttered. She turned to Boxer. "Unlike you."
"Wow. I'm hurt."
The assault craft hit the atmosphere, and the bottom began to burn. It was in a nose-up position, so it was hitting the air completely flat.
"All systems normal...Preparing for standard flight.
The Raptor leveled out, and the vertical landing thrusters were fired. Landing skids extended, the Raptor roughly settled into the hard ground.
Baltar got out and said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for-"
Jen bounded out form the door and hopped down to the ground. "Wow. This place looks like it just got nuked."
"By the lords of Kobol, Lunaria, you just messed up Doc's speech." Sam walked out onto the wing.
"Don't matter, don't care." Lunaria went back to the engine. "The Raptor might be faulty. Please leave me alone to sort this frak out."
Baltar brought out several life scanners, and took out a shovel. Multitasking by looking at the screen as he dug, his expression rapidly began to change to confusion.
"Lunaria, were done here. There is a place I would like to go."
Jen walked over. "Sentient life forms down under. There's no way we're going down there, even if we can."
"Just fly me to where I need you to go."
"Doc, no. Too. Dangerous."
"I just don't respond to "Doc." A dock is a place for ships to load."
"Well, you are loading, aren't you?"
Jen brought the Raptor down a winding path into the ground. After flying for several minutes, they saw a massive cave, and Baltar directed her into it. As they descended, the ever present cursing from the two pilots brought some humor to the otherwise boring flight.
The cave suddenly ended to reveal a massive cavern. To put it into perspective, Galactica and the rest of the sixty ship fleet could easily have fit in, with room for the whole Viper wing to fly around easily.
"What's that moving down there?" Kara asked to no one in particular as she pressed her head against the windshield.
Jen took out her binoculars. "Bugs. Horse-bugs."
Baltar came forward and looked at the DRADIS screen. "Two contacts coming up."
The two contacts revealed themselves to be two of the bug things, wings buzzing, and they directed them down to a castle in the middle. Slowly coming down onto the flat area to land, she noticed what seemed like humans walked the streets. The whole place reminded her of Aerlion, with what appeared to be slums and low profile. The cavern seemed to reek of depression.
Once again, setting down the Raptor roughly, which brought a muttered curse from Baltar, Jen opened the door and stepped out. Boxer came out next, and removed Jen's helmet from her head, then her own.
"Kali rah." One of the bugs said, making motions for them to follow him. Or her. Jen couldn't really tell.
"You stay here, Boxer. I'll take Baltar with me."
"Sounds good to me." The brilliant inventor nodded.
The two were brought into the massive castle, and the two instantly noticed the hexagonal layout of everything. The green chandeliers were arranged with six arms, the black, six edged bricks, and the green-on-black carpets. Once again, it took on a depressing tone.
Jen and Baltar were soon built into a massive throne room, the six pillars stretching far above them, and the carpet stretched to an over sized version of the horse-bug. It didn't look too good, with bags under it's eyes and obvious hunger. Jen, after thinking about it, realized that most of them were incredibly thin, and mostly skin and bones.
"Haya basi!" She spoke. The guards quickly left, leaving the two humans to be with her. Her hole-filled horn glowed for a moment, then subsided. "Welcome to the humble changeling hive, great sky humans. I am Queen Crysalis of the royal ruling family of Lupis Major."
"You speak Caprican?!" Jen blurted out. Definitely not a good diplomatic start.
"Caprican...? No, this is just a simple translation spell. It allows me communicate with most living specimens." Her cat eyes flicked towards a potted plant in the corner. "Most."
"You said "great sky humans." Baltar spoke up. "What does that mean?"
"Humans are one of the most respected species of Griffonia and the Hive. Your ability to adapt and change your lives to suit your surroundings even surpasses the changeling's abilities, and mental prowess can create machinations that magic cannot match. Your sky box is a good example.
"But this is not the case in Equestria, land of ponies and "harmony." I just did a failed invasion a year ago to feed my hungry subjects. It ended with our hive being blown out by our own food source. They consider you to be second class citizens, even worse than the earth ponies, because you do not have magic. They essentially turned you into free labor."
"Slavery?" Baltar interjected.
"Pretty much. But that's not all. They force you into contracts to "protect" you, but it's just another piece of propaganda to keep them from rebelling. Celestia knows the danger of the humans, and she's doing her best to keep their power in check."
"Sounds like you need help. Right now, above this planet, is a deprived fleet of ships and their weary crew and passengers. We can give you food and technology in exchange for water, tylium, and a place to repair Galactica." Baltar offered.
"No, we feed off of love." Seeing the human's confused expressions, Crysalis began to explain. "Changelings can detect emotion due to magic. Love is like a life elixir to us. It supports all of our needs. The only reason were alive now is because feed off of our own love for each other."
"Like a cow drinking it's own milk to survive."
The changeling nodded. "But enough about us. You said that there is a fleet of ships over the planet?"
"Magic...?"
"Do you not know about magic? Oh wait, a whole civilization of humans. Right." She face palmed. Or face hooved. "Tell you what. If you tell me the story of what happened to you, I'll tell you about it."
"Alright." Baltar agreed. "I'll tell the political side, she'll tell the war side. It all started with a girl named Zoe and a company called Graystone Industries..."
As the two explained what happened in the last couple years in Colonial history, Crysalis's expression grew more and more shocked at the brutality the Cylon tactics and human hatred.
"And that's pretty much it in a nutshell."
"Nutshell...yeah right." Jen muttered. "She didn't understand half the terms you were using."
Crysalis nodded at the,. "Any human or Colonial ship is welcome here. I look forward to meeting President Roslin, also."
Baltar gave a farewell bow to the Changeling, and they made their way back to the parked Raptor.
“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!"
"Lunaria, please report to Admiral Adama's office." Those words silence the entire mess hall.
Lauren leaned in. "Go on." She whispered. "Don't keep the Old Man waiting."
She stood up, the chair scraping against the floor. The crew parted for her, looking at her like she was a condemned convict.
*Knock knock knock*
"Come in." Adama took off his glasses and placed them on his desk. Jen snapped him a salute. "Have a seat.
Getting on the wrong side of the Old Man was always a bad thing. It was like waking an evil dragon who knew your every move.
"Do you know why you're here today?"
"Starbuck was shot down?"
"Yes. Of course, that was her role in the battle. We're here to talk about you...and future plans."
It took all of Jen's self control to not shudder.
"So, I guess I'll just tell you. Lets start out with your statistics. Three Raiders shot down, forty probably, and hundreds of assists."
"I was trying to give the recruits I paired up with some kills."
"So that was why you always asked for the newbies, didn't you?"
"I was the only pilot on the Pegasus that actually tried to help some of the less experience pilots. Everyone else were just wrapped up in a cocoon of their own problems."
"The good traits of a squadron leader. A drink?"
"I'm good, thanks."
"Some scans found Cylon activity in some mountain city on the surface of the planet. We're setting you up for a Raptor raid on their airbase, then you'll be leading a squad of Rebel Raiders operating from the Rebel Basestar."
"...Thank you sir. I wasn't expecting this, really."
"What were you expecting?"
"A silent execution?"
Twilight and her friends were together in their weekly picnic.
"Every time, Applejack, your pie doesn't get old." Rainbow commented. "It may even be better with each week."
Applejack blushed. "Thanks partner. All the credit goes to Granny Smith, though. She's the one that did the recipe."
"Well, darling, it is you who cooked it, isn't it?"
A loud explosion shook the ground.
"LAND SAKES!"
A huge black cloud had formed on Canterlot, and several burning pieces of stone were broken off and plummeting toward the lake below the mountain.
Several Raptors flew out of the black smoke. "Galactica Actual, this is Lunaria Actual. Mission is accomplished, we are coming back for some twinkies. Over."
"Erm...Lunaria, Galactica Actual. you might want to watch your-" The engine section suddenly exploded.
"Raider! How did we not get all of them?"
"Joker, get the rest of the squad out! We're going to try to crash land near the hive!"
"Roger!" One after another, the Raptors jumped away, leaving Jen, Lauren, and their dead radio officer on their own.
"Shut off engine two...Turkey, dump anything we don't need."
"I'm not Turkey!" Lauren wailed as she began to throw out all sorts of stuff.
"Are we going to make it?"
"No, we have to ditch...I'm aiming for that field."
"There's no way we can make it." They were thrown around as the Raptor adsorbed more hits from the Raider.
"Right...right..." She flicked a couple more switches. "Frak, the FTL's offline."
"Can you use thrusters?"
"I can try." She switched them on, resulting in the craft rolling. "Nope. Something's broken. Rrrrrrr...."
"Brace for impact?"
"Yeah. That would be a smart idea." Jen calmly said as the Raptor pancaked into the ground. Mud covered the windshield, and the people inside were thrown around.
The left wing clipped a tree, spinning it around. As the craft finally came to a rest, the windshield broke, spraying the insides with mud and glass.
"Ugh..." Lauren tried to wipe it off.
"Don't bother, there's glass pieces inside. You could hurt yourself."
The two forced the door open. "Ah, thank the Lords of Kobol we're still breathing fresh air."
"So. What no-"
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
Lauren was suddenly tackled by an orange blur, which latched onto her face and began to pummel it.
"Well." Jen said, amused. "They have the same battle cry."
"Just get it off already!"
Jen sighed, and pulled the Orange pony with a stetson off, holding it by the scruff of it's neck. It tried to bite them, but Jen kept it far away.
"Just like those damn locusts..."
Soon, another five came.
"Let her go." A purple unicorn said. Jen dumped the Orange pony onto the ground.
"Mar cheo an tsléibhe uaine ag mlmeacht go deo!" A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane flew up into their faces and yelled at her.
"Look, um, can you tell us your side of the story?" The purple unicorn asked while she casted a spell over the rest of them.
"Short story: We're being chased by our own creations, robots who want us dead because...I actually don't know why."
"They claim to hate us," Lauren barged in, holding up her two pointer fingers. "But of course, they really can't dislodge themselves from us yet, considering how much they copy us. It's flattering, really."
"Oh, my, that must have been terrible!"
Rainbow flew back into their faces. "Who do you think you are to attack Eq-"
"You are allied with the Cylons, thereby giving the Colonial fleet clearance to attack any of your cities, civilians, or military craft. I suggest you start running." Jen took out her Revolt and cocked it.
The purple unicorn had took the two humans to hide in her house, which was...a tree library.
Jen soon left the little building, wandering throughout the town and scaring the inhabitants, until she came across a small stream. Sitting down near the riverbank, she hummed a tune and swayed to it.
She closed her eyes thought back to a summer day on Aelieron.
A seven year old Jen stood near a small creek. She was wearing a pair of rolled up, ripped jeans and t-shirt that was two sizes too small. Suddenly, she noticed a small black shape underneath the glass-like surface. She quickly got down to her belly, then slowly lowered her hand into the water behind the fish. She began to stroke it's belly.
Just the day before, daddy had taught her how to catch fish only with bare hands. What happened to fish was that they got comfortable when they got belly rubs; so comfortable that they fell asleep.
So she went out and tried it. The fish fell asleep, but when she got it out of the water, it managed to flop back in.
Today, she was going to get it. Yanking the fish out of the water, she made sure it didn't excape. After it stopped moving, she began to carry it back to the farmhouse.
"Daddy, daddy! Look what I caught...!"
She smiled at that memory. It felt like only yesterday...
Twilight (as her name turned out to be) came over and nuzzled her. "Something wrong?"
"Nah. Just memories."
"Of what?"
"Aelieron. I used to be a farm girl before I joined."
"Ah. You don't seem like one."
"If ah talk lahck this, will ya believe me?"
"...Yes."
Lauren walked over. "You know, I never forgave dad for moving away."
"Oh, is that so?"
"You only told me the Colonies were destroyed." Twilight raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes."
"Well, it's not going to be a good story to tell."
It wasn't an easy story to listen to, either.
"Before the attacks, the Cylon fleet was amassed around the Colony, the Cylons' "homeworld." When the command was given, the basestars jumped to their targets before striking. It took the Cylons all but three minutes to access the defense mainframe and shut it down, leaving the Colonies and the Colonial Fleet defenseless. This infiltration of Colonial systems combined with the "complete surprise" that the Cylons achieve enables them to crush the Colonial Fleet with minimal losses, a triumph beyond their most optimistic predictions.
"Having received the Control Navigation Program “upgrades”, the Colonial Fleet was easily shut down by attacking Cylon Raiders. The fleet loses at least 30 battlestars in the opening wave, which is a quarter of the fleet. After this news is broadcast, Admiral Horace Nagala takes command of the Battlestar Atlantia, and began a counter attack near Virgon’s orbit, as per a system plot by Lt. Gaeta aboard the Battlestar Galactica.
"The battle doesn’t last long, and Atlantia is lost along with the battlestars Triton, Solaria, Columbia, and others, and Galactica's commanding officer William Adama took command of the Fleet, and he ordered any remaining human ship to Ragnar Anchorage for regrouping.
"The Battlestar Galactica, which was about 300 million miles from Caprica at the time, was largely unprepared for the attacks, having just been decommissioned and transformed into a museum. The crew had destroyed its munitions as part of the decommissioning ceremony, and it had lost it's primary fighter wing. However, as part of the museum, it has a couple of older Viper Mk II's aboard, which Commander Adama put to use, as Galactica is attacked herself.
"Here, the attacking Raiders try to shut down Galactica and her Vipers, but since she has no interconnected networks, the shutdown command has no effect. The handful of planes are enough to hold off the attacking Raiders, however, not before a Raider fires off three nuclear tipped missiles in a last ditch attempt to destroy the battlestar. Out of three missiles fired, Starbuck managed to shoot down two, before the last one strikes the battlestar. Galactica comes out relatively unscathed, with the ship's armor plating keeping out the hard radiation.
"After the blast clears, the ship's port stern thrusters got stuck on, pushing the battlestar into a right turn. The port flight pod sufferd the most damage, with violent decompressions along the forward sections. 85 crew members were lost when damage to the fire suppression system vented off the pod's atmosphere to prevent the fuel lines from igniting, stopping the destruction of the ship. From here, Adama takes command of the fleet, and orders the ship to prepare for an FTL jump to Ragnar to re-arm.
"Battlestar Pegasus (my ship), under the command of Rear Admiral Helena Cain, was docked at the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards at the onset of the attacks undergoing a system refit, which left its computer networks offline. Most of the us were about to take shore leave when the Cylons attacked the shipyards. The battlestar was heavily damaged in the opening salvo and there were many casualties, however, thanks to DRADIS interference, the Cylons were not able to confirm its destruction, and continued their assault on the other battlestars and support ships docked at the yards.
"Not wanting to give the Cylons time to realize their mistake, Cain ordered a blind jump away from the combat zone. The ship re-emerged several plotted jumps away from the Colonies. After sending a recon Raptor back to the colonies to confirm their destruction, we began to make repairs, while Cain ploted her next move.
"All the while, there were many civilian transports and passenger liners in the space lanes near Caprica. After the Government shut down these lanes, these ships became trapped and were attacked as they were found by the Cylons. It wasn't long before Roslin takes the effort to round up the survivors and form a caravan to help get the civilians out of harms way, and sends out Sharon Valerii in search of more ships. Valerii is able to recover at least three homeless Vipers, and numerous transports, her last being a tylium transport, before the Cylons jump in and scan their caravan.
"At this point, Roslin makes the decision to abandon the sublight only ships, and orders the remaining FTL capable ships to jump to Ragnar to rendezvous with Galactica. Among chaotic comm chatter, prayers, and spite, the fleet jumps away just as a Raider squadron jumps in. Around twenty sublight ships, including a Botanical Cruiser are left behind, and destroyed.
"An additional small caravan of civilian ships, led by the transport Scylla, are able to survive on their own for a few weeks after the attacks. The Cylons are the first to find them, and attack. The Scylla and a handful of others are able to escape the attack, and survive on their own until being found by us. The civilians were thrilled to find us, however, their joy was short lived. After taking the fleet by force, Admiral Cain strips the ships of crucial parts (including FTL drives), abducts many of the civilians for service aboard Pegasus, and leaves the rest to their fates."
"Cain was your commander?"
"Yes. I....I helped force some of the civvies to join our ranks."
"Jen, it's alright, you lost you home, family, I can't blame you."
"Moving on...Galactica completed its first FTL jump in over 20 years to Ragnar Anchorage. The crew immediately began to re-arm the ship, not wasting time. However, the specialists ran into a sickly looking man pointing a rifle at them. As the CO is questioning him, a fallen charge detonates, trapping the two behind a now fused hatch.
"As the two seek an alternate route back to the ship, Adama's First War experiences, and the man's remarks reveal his true nature: he is a Cylon. The radiation surrounding the station has affected his silica pathways which leave him dying a slow and permanent death, however, Adama soon finishes the job after the Cylon, Leoben, is able to throw Adama to the ground. Conoy's body is transferred to the Galactica for further study.
"Meanwhile, the civilian fleet arrives in orbit of Ragnar, giving the crew of Galactica a slight scare as they move down through the cloud layers. President Roslin comes aboard and asks for Galactica's protection, a notion Adama later strikes down, still hoping and preferring to take the battlestar into combat, until he realizes the Cylons followed them to Ragnar, and are now waiting for them to re-emerge from the gas giant.
"After negotiating with the President and his executive officer, Saul Tigh, Adama orders the fleet to prep for a jump to the Prolmar Sector, far beyond the Red Line, where he hopes the civilians will be safe. Galactica is able to emerge from the cover of Ragnar's atmosphere long enough to calculate a jump, and defend the fleet as they jump away.
"Just as the Cylons are sending in a new wave of Raiders, the battlestar recovers it's Vipers, and jumps to join the fleet. While Galactica and its fleet are momentarily able to escape the Anchorage, they are hounded by the Cylons, who jump to the fleet's location every thirty three minutes. A cat and mouse game lasts for days after the fall.
"Olympic Carrier, sometimes referred to as Carrier, is officially designated an "Intersun Passenger Cruiser." With a length of 825 feet, it comfortably accommodates 1,000 passengers in style and luxury on journeys between the Twelve Colonies. A commercial passenger ship, it has no weapons or defense capabilities.
"The Carrier was able to successfully make the first 237 jumps in the seemingly endless 5-day Cylon pursuit of the Fleet that occurs a short time after their escape from Ragnar Anchorage. Just before to Jump 238, the Carrier sends a message to President Laura Roslin, who aboard Colonial One.
"The message purportedly comes from Doctor Amorak, formerly of the Colonial Ministry of Defense and a former colleague of Dr. Gaius Baltar, with information regarding "a traitor in their midst." Soon thereafter, Carrier goes missing after failing to arrive with the rest of the Fleet on Jump 238."
"Three hours later, the Olympic Carrier suddenly materializes at the Jump 238 coordinates, raising the suspicions of Roslin and Commander Adama. When asked over wireless by Lieutenant Sharon Valerii how they avoided Cylon attack, a voice from the starliner claims ignorance, saying that someone must have been looking after them, and that they used the intervening three hours to fix their malfunctioning FTL drive. Baltar, fearing exposure of his own actions in the undermining the Colonial defenses, urges Roslin to cut off communication with the ship.
"When radiological alarms sounded on Valerii's Raptor on CAP, indicating the presence of a nuclear device, Commander Adama and President Roslin come to a quick consensus that the ship must be destroyed. Lee Adama and Kara Thrace reluctantly carry out the order and destroy the vessel before the nuclear weapon could detonate. All of the one thousand civilians on board the Carrier, women and children, were slaughtered.
"President Roslin later wrote the ship's name down on a piece of paper and left it in her desk aboard Colonial One as a reminder of her role in the tragedy. She had once seen President Richard Adar do something similar when he also gave an order which killed a bunch of people on Caprica."
Twilight looked at Jen. "How...how many died after the fall?"
"Billions."
"Survivors?"
"Less than fifty thousand in the fleet now. They had their foot on humanity's throat, but didn't stomp hard enough."
The three sat under the shade of the arch bridge (not that it mattered, the sun was nearly down) and listened to the crickets chirp. Twilight was deep in thought.
"I think Princess Celestia made a mistake with allying with the Cylons. I'll go talk to her about this."
"Thanks." Two SAR Raptors descended in her. "I'm hoping she'll understand."
"Of course she will. I'm her protégé!"
Jen looked at the lowering sun. She knew rulers. As soon as their power was wilting, they would cling on to it desperately. Celestia would probably not listen to Twilight. She sighed. A civil war was inevitable.
"The following people please report to the CIC: Lunaria, Boxer, Constitution, Joker, Ninja, and Flamer."
Jen sighed as she got up from her bunk. If someone didn't report on time, Rear Admiral Helena Cain would give them a verbal lashing.
As the six pilots stood at attention to Cain, with a certain Jack Fisk making faces behind them.
"All of you have proven to be good, brave soldiers. You tweak the very nose of danger. You laugh in the face of death. The mission you're tasked with today is to guard the technicians who will strip the civilian ships of their FTL drives."
"Wh-" William "Constitution" Burrows tried to object, but Samuel "Boxer" Blyth beat him to it.
"Ma'am! This is all about human survival! We need as many as we can have!"
"Yes...to draft into the ranks of the Pegasus." She gave Sam a cold, piercing look.
Jen saluted the admiral. Seeing this, Cain broke into a genuine smile. "You two need to learn from Lunaria here. She actually follows orders."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Don't thank me, impress me. Keep the good work up and you're in line for a promotion, Leading Flight Officer."
As the six waited to dock with the Scylla, Sam looked at the LFO. "You just kiss Cains arse, don't you?"
"Hey, at least you have a brother."
"She's using you, don't you know that, Jen?"
Her face contorted into anger. "Just you wait. The moment I get a promotion..."
The airlock opened with a hiss, and it revealed civilians huddled, with a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
"Alrighty." Flamer, who wasn't exactly like Jen when it came to Cain, but she still supported her, said. "We need several people of these people to be drafted onboard the Pegasus..." She called out several names. None of them moved, except one.
"There's no way I'm leaving my family." He got up and pointed a gun at the colonial pilots, in which Jen took out her Revolt and pumped a shot into his body.
Everyone present (except Flamer) let their jaws drop.
Several engineers came in and began to strip the FTL drives.
"Wait, what are you doing?! We need th-" *bang* Jen took the captain out.
The jaws went lower, and no one seemed to want to object anymore. Jen gave a pleasant smile then turned away to return to the Pegasus. She stopped in her tracks as she saw a young, thin blonde woman standing behind main crowd, a hand over her mouth almost as if she was sick.
"Ma'am, please, that's the only person in my family that I know is alive!"
"Lunaria, I'm very sorry, but I cannot waste precious materials on someone who cannot give back an equal share."
"Ma'am, do we need any cooks?"
Cain raised a finger, then lowered it. "Very well then. She'll be another cook."
"Reporting for duty, sir!" Jen saluted Lee "Apollo" Adama, Admiral Adama's son.
"At ease, Lunaria."
"Sir, down there on the planet, we got a new ally."
"Well that's good."
"But that's not all, sir. We also got an enemy."
"What do you think the best course of action would be?"
"Sir, I do not think I would be the best tactician for this type of situation."
"That's what Starbuck said before she planned the attack on the Cylon Tylium ore facility."
The two exchanged a smile. "Fine then, sir. We take out royal sun ass first. Our allies have offered all of their support, so we should repair Galactica to her most powerful state."
"Her Cylon war configuration ?"
"Yes, sir. I might even suggest making a second Battlestar."
"Very well. I'll think about what you said."
"Thank you, sir."
"Dismissed."
Jen saluted him, then left the room.
Over the last few days, Twilight and her friends had been gathering support for their campaign. Equestria had divided into two sides; the West, which was under Celestia's full control, and the East, which Luna helped, and had been based off of the Colonial's democratic government.
The Changelings and Griffins came forward to help the now dubbed Lunar Republic, and the Colonials sent down plans for the Brimir Class Escort Carrier and several Viper MK IIs to support and equip them.
On a counter offensive, the Cylons sent their wedge shaped Jormungs and crescent shaped Raiders. Outnumbered but not outgunned, the Cylons were certain to win. The presence of Dragons in Canterlot didn't help either.
There is a reason that Cylons are so overpowered. Their armor actually, you know, deflects gunfire, and while they aren't the best shots, they occasionally do get a hit. Oh, and their fleet still has the numerical advantage. The colonials had to stop that.
Over the months, a small space station had been built from materials given by the Griffins, and Galactica was nearly in operational order. Apollo had listened to Jen when she said "another ship," and began to build a second Galactica Type Battlestar. It would be christened Galaxia in hopes that Galactica's luck would rub off on it.
The Galactica had returned to it's former elegance, almost as if it was spanking new. The Colonials had three capital ships and seven escorts, while the Cylons had four capital ships and sixteen escorts.
As always, the Colonials were outgunned, but they were never out maneuvered. Galaxia and Galactica were near operational status, crew members had been placed, and everything was in working order.
Jen looked over the battle plan. The Raptors and the Brimirs would assault the now dubbed "Solar Empire," while Vipers and the Capital ships would assault the Basestars. A really audacious plan, but risks had to be taken.
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As Lunaria waited in her Viper in the hangar, she looked over at Lauren. Butch "Interceptor" O'Hare, the new CAG, spoke into his mike, giving a speech.
"I see unfairness and misrepresentation. I see that I want to help fix the world. I picture myself rising and rallying these people that don't have; people that need. I see people getting shot, standing for what they believe. We try and hope for a better world where we can be one. Freedom and peace.
"I see myself living for many years, keeping morale and fighting alongside my allies. Then I see myself leaving, unleashing chaos. Buildings crash and children cry, adults hold back and try to stay strong. In the end, after all the work that we as people have done, the world crashes. Life that used to give us reason to smile, to be creative, gives nothing as it all just blows away as if it were dust in wind. It feels me with fear that we aren't ready; that we are getting to far behind the ability to recover."
Lauren then looked over at Jen, and gave her a nod.
"Good hunting, everyone." Butch finished.
Meanwhile, in the CIC, Admiral Adama was giving his own speech.
"Three hours before I came here, I debated in my mind if I should tell you I am afraid. But I am a person of simple truth. The task before me is daunting. The roads too long, the stakes too high. I am afraid. This statement is true. But I can't help but feel that everyone is afraid with me. So I step up, grab my sword, give some speeches and become the leader of our cause. But I can still feel it in me, the gnawing sensation of fear, failure, and an overall sense of dread all wrapped into one.
"I am not your hero. I am afraid. But being brave isn't about not feeling fear. Saying that you must be brave without fear is like saying you must be strong without muscle, or wise without age. It is an impossibility. Being brave is simply feeling fear, but overcoming it because you know that what you do is more important than the fear you feel.
"I look into each of your eyes and see fear, but I look into each of your eyes and see bravery, because when I look in your eyes I see your wives, you children, your very lives, and I know that you will overcome something as fickle as fear to save those very things! So will you follow me? Will you draw you pencils against the enemy? Will you conquer fear?"
The Vipers were lowered into their tubes and set up for launch. Assault Raptors prepared their FTL drives, and people everywhere scrambled to meet the demands for the battle.
Computers were put online, FTL drives whirring for the surprise attack, engines started, and the two battlestars and one basestar was abuzz with activity.
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The assault began with Heavy Raiders and Raptors joining the Brimirs as they descended into the atmosphere to destroy Canterlot.
The Rebel Basestar, Galactica and Galaxia, one after another, jumped to the Cylon staging ground. Vipers were shot out of their tubes, and rushed to meet the incoming Raiders, in loose formation due to the complete surprise. The Cylon fighters were cut down by a combination of Galactica's flak batteries and the Vipers.
"And that one's for Starbuck!" Lunaria yelled as she downed another Raider. She wasn't the only one who was having a turkey shoot. Lauren had downed two already and was on her third.
"To the best pilot there ever was!" Lauren yelled as she barely missed her kill.
Cavil's basestar quickly jumped away, leaving the other two to their fate.
Princess Celestia looked up at the Brimirs and Raptors. It was bound to happen if she chose any side. "Release the dragons!"
The Brimirs began to fire away at the scaled beasts. Dragons were considered to be impenetrable by pony standards, but that was because they didn't have point defense flak batteries.
The Raptors, avoiding the dragon fire, began to fire away at the already weakened structure.
"Your highness! May I say the following term, "Oh shit"?"
"Yes, you may."
"OH SHIT!"
Canterlot began to slide down the mountain. Celestia tried to slow it down with magic, but the weight of city was too much for her.
It splashed into the lake, generating a wave that pushed to the banks of the body of water. The ponies unfortunate enough to be caught in the wave were killed nearly instantly.
Jen was the last one into the pod before it retracted and the Galactica jumped back to the planet. As she was lowered back into the hangar deck, she noticed the other pilots seemed to be slightly scared of her.
Lauren came over. "Hey, cuz. Didja year?"
"Hear what?"
She leanded in. "Adama wants you to follow directive TF-5390."
"B...wha..impossible...."
"Not probable. There's a difference."
Jen sighed as she went back into her Viper. "Well, I better be back for some dinner. Save a hot dog or something, 'kay?"
"Got it."
When she was all alone, Jen reached into a compartment below her chair and pulled out an envelope stamped with the Colonial Phoenix.
Pilot:
Proceed to coordinates 1123.6536.5221
Mufflers and DRADIS jammers on, maintain radio silence.
"But that's in that asteroid belt..."
She soon entered the belt, and several dark shapes loomed in the distance. Jen looked down at her DRADIS screen. They were listed as the battlestars Atlantia, Triton, Solaria, and Colombia.
"I thought those were destroyed." Jen muttered
Two Vipers streaked around her and fell into formation.
"And here's my welcoming party."
Suddenly, alarms blared as they got a lock on the Mk. VII.
"What is the password?!" A voice demanded.
"Uh, open sesame?"
"Ten! Nine! Eight!"
"Wait! I have it here somewhere!"
"Five! Four! Three!"
"It's lance!"
There was a tense pause. "Yes. Welcome Battlestar Group Thirty Nine, the Ghost Fleet. Cleared to land on the Atlantia."
The Atlantia was a massive Nova class battlestar, clocking in at 2100 meters. The Mercury class, which the second Battlestar Colombia and the Battlestar Pegaus belong to, are the second largest, 1789 meters. Triton and Solaria, in formation with the Atlantia, were the only two of the three Galactica type battlestars to survive the First Cylon War. Several support ships were around the group, the entire formation stock still.
Jen lightly touched down in the right flight pod of the Atlantia, and was lowered into the hangar.
"Ma'am, Admiral Nagala wants to meet you."
"Thank you, Sargent."
She made her way to the Nova class ship's massive five-story CIC, and as soon as she came in, she snapped a salute.
"Lt. Jennifer Thatcher reporting from the Galactica, sir."
Nagala looked up at her. He had a similar physique to Adama, but his hair was dirty blond, and he had a thick beard.
"At ease, Lunaria. Sorry about the Vipers. Safety precautions and whatnot."
"That's alright, sir."
"I looked over your service record. You do realize that even the Cylons would kill for you, right?"
"Sir, with all due respect, I believe "Starbuck" is a very strange way to pronounce "Lunaria."
"Lunaria, you have potential. I'm a senior officer in the Colonial fleet. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm saying."
"Sir-"
"You're being too modest. Lunaria, Adama wants you to command the Galaxia. You may not know it, but he was thinking it over for a while. I'm putting you in command of her. Now, down to business."
"Sir...?"
"So, the Cylons are down to one capital ship, but have sixteen Jormungs. They are likely to have that sun ass unicorn build more."
"Sir...?"
"As soon as they break out all of their ships, we jump in and destroy them. This time, they don't have a chance."
"Sir...."
"Then we assault solar arse's kingdom."
"Sir!"
Nagala looked up. "Yes, Lunaria?"
"Sir, I don't think I'm ready to take command of a fully fledged battlestar. I can't even fly without someone screaming their heads off."
"Lunaria, I can assure you, you have what it takes. I don't want to make it an order."
"Very well then, sir. I guess I'll have to accept the position."
"Don't worry about anything. Adama will know everything. You're the Galactica's CAG, right?"
"Uh, yes, sir?"
"Enjoy it. This is your last day."
"Sir, I don't know if I should throw a cursing fit or thank you."
"Just settle for the latter, Lunaria. You'll get thrown in the brig less."
Assault
Jen turned to her teenage daughter. "Good afternoon, Kara. Did you have a good school day?"
"I did. The teacher wanted us to share something interesting in our family, so I told her that you were a Viper pilot!"
"And?"
"She wants yout to speak about it tommorow at school. Give a, you know, history lesson."
"Tell her I'll come."
"Okay, I'm sending her the message!" Kara took out her pad and used her pen to write something down. "Thanks! Everyone will be so jealous!"
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