Chapter 59: The battlestars

Heracles in the videos a gift from Joker of the BSG Deadlock discord,

Commander Maria Ramirez was looking positively thin in her blue day uniform. She was immaculate. Every button was polished, All her uniforms have been altered to her new more svelte physique physique.

She knew the hallways of this Battlestar very well having served on it for a year under Admiral Mueller before the fall of the colonies. She checked him in CIC I’ve been told the commander was in the Virtual Reality suite.

Now I command are starting out the war as an information technology Lieutenant, she was remarkable and how she’s adjusted to a new role far above her former rank. Her CAG, call sign “sausage” has been a malcontent Lieutenant disrupting his squadron commander on the mercury.

With the responsibility of command and a promotion pressed upon him he had grown into the role immediately. He was flying sometimes 18 hours a day training as pilots. He gave individual attention to those that needed it and now have three other pilots doing flight training along side him. The Air wings performance in recent battles had been magnificent.

This Battlestar is hallways were long and monotonous. She found her legs were getting a little bit tired and she made her way to the VR section of the ship.

Her mind wandered ass at the origin of her CAG call sign. She was pretty sure it was not because he like to eat homemade sausage which was not available in the current climate of late. She wondered what was so special about him to get a call sign named after a part of his anatomy.

“You’ve got to get yourself a man,” she said she reached Commander Eva Lawson’s location. She gently knocked on the door heard some kind of a noise from inside and then announced her self.

Commander Lawson did not look like she been taking care of herself. Her hair was unkempt, she was in her undershirt with no rank inscription on display. She pulled her head out of the virtual reality computer and looked up at Commander Ramirez.

“Good morning Commander Ramirez, ” she said. “What brings you to my neighborhood on this fine day. Bored from the lack of activity except for those to Battlestar’s attacking remote outposts?”

“Well actually your crew especially your XO is very concerned about you. Looking at you I can see why. What simulation are you running that it so important that you don’t eat for three days?”

“I’m trying to figure out how to take those Battlestar’s away from the Cylons. I am absolutely positively obsessed with this. If we can’t figure a way to take those Battlestar’s away from them we’re going to have to destroy them. That represents a doubling of our capital ships heavy fire power.”

In spite of her physical condition, commander loss and did not sound maniacal. She did not sound like she was crazy or going mental. She was actually focusing very hard on the problem and trying to solve it on her own without getting help. This was her way throughout her career.

There was a fight and over early in her career that was difficult to do correctly on the mark seven viper.

It was a difficult move and it was a requirement to get advanced status and get promoted be on the rank of Lieutenant. She spent hours upon hours in the simulator, trying to figure out how to do the maneuver and continually lost control of her viper. She refused to reach out to other pilots for help and it wasn’t until she missed a rotation and CAP and the flight surgeon decertifying her first flight status that her commander took her aside and asked what she was doing.

She explained sheepishly he got into the simulator with her and told her to maneuver in about 15 minutes. It was a death when she learned the lesson to reach out for help. Apparently as commander she had fewer resources so she could trust but she has seemingly forgotten this important role that it saved her career.

“Tell me how you’re trying to do this,” Ramirez pressed. “What fleet and tactics are you using?”

“Well you know only 4 Atlas carriers and I wanted to maximize the size of the marine force. I equip them at all Raptors. I have 4 Janus class cruisers because they have an amazingly large ammunition and fire capability.”

“What’s the munitions loud I know Janus cruisers?”

Dealerships are outfitted with mostly proximity mines and EMP minds. Each ship has at least one EMP generator. Dealerships have two EMP generators and one EMP mine load out.”.

“What else?” asked Amanda Ramirez.

“The two air wings and both of our mercury glass Battlestar’s. We need the air power so it’s very problematic to attack the vipers on the other side due to confusion and the fact that we’re having an air battle right within close range of their mercury class PDC’s”

“What does the other side have?”

“Recent intelligence shows they stopped using the Heracles probably because our fleet that they massacred took out five of them. They using Minataur class cruisers. Looks like maybe eight. Great gunships.”

“What happens when you run a simulation?”

“Most of the task force is destroyed, usually the Battlestar’s are taken. But we lose either the mercury or the Saturn every time. I need a new tactic but I can’t think of any other way to conduct a mission.”

“All right I’m gonna go into the second suite and we’re going to do the simulation again you’re running the entire show I’m just watching and observing. Set up I’ll take five minutes do you need a coffee break?”

“My blood is 5% caffeine right now,” Lawson joked.

#####

Simulation

After the exercise Ramirez gently took her former commander by the arm and walked her back to her quarters. “Dr. Farragut contacted me about you. You were going to sleep after you eat a complete and balanced meal. If you do not I will talk to the doctor and get you relieved of duty until you do.”

“Yes mother,” Commander Lawson sat down at her desk and begin consuming the least spoiled food trays left in her office area.

Maria Ramirez did something she did when she was under Lawsons command, which was clean up this messy office. She got on the wireless and ordered a cart. She emptied all the meal trays that it accumulated into the cart. She went through the entire office and cleaned everything up while Lawson slowly consumed her meal.

“What next mom?” She stripped off her underwear and was completely naked in front of her last senior officer.

“You were going to get eight hours of sleep, 12 if you can. I’m going to take my crew and change the nature of this battle. I’ll be back to you with a new battle plan in 12 hours. I will not discuss it with you until you have slept.”

Lawson slipped on a nightgown and climbed into her bed. She pull the covers up to her chin and was in spite of the amount of caffeine in her bloodstream asleep within two minutes.

The colonial fleet had realized there was a technology gap concerning the Cylons. During the war which it ended 40 years prior the best the colonials could do is put up strong firewalls. They never made a real attempt to hack the Cylons. What good would it do to try and out hack a machine?

The problem had vexed colonial admirals for decades after the war. The Cylons have not made an appearance in decades it seems to be an issue. But it was an issue, it was a problem that needed to get solved.

In spite of the ban on artificial intelligence the cyber corps of the colonial fleet have been created a decade earlier. It rained thousands of officers in the art of defending information systems. It also trained in the art of offensive use of computer technology. In essence they were going to try it out hack the Cylons.

During the shuttle ride back to the Saturn, Ramirez ponder the problem. Suddenly it was very simple. All they have to do to change the course of the battle was take the cruisers out of the battle. The way to do that would be to take over their systems and crashed into each other at the exact opportune moment.

Her only other modification of commander Lawsons battle plan was too slow the rate in which they went into battle.

It was the 250th day since the destruction of the colonies that Commander Maria Ramirez came back to the mercury and showed her plan in a graphical slideshow.

“I call it operation turn around. We turned around the tables on the enemies instead of waiting to get hacked by them we hack them. Since the toaters are using obsolete Colonial vessels, the hack is quite simple.”

“I determined where the ships are coming from. As it turns out the Virgons had a contract to dismantle Colonial warships. For about 50 years they failed to fulfill the contract and sold parts from the systems on the black market. Some of the technology got back to the Cylons.”

“Our enemy has been doing part of the shipyards for decades. That’s how they mastered the technology of the mercury Battlestar. The prototype, built before the ship for the class got a name was dismantled. Except it was never dismantled.”

“Operation turn around has two components what is your conventional attack with 1000 Marines to take those to Battlestar’s. The second equally important operation is we’re going to go to the shipyard I’m gonna take as many steps as we can out of there and we’re going to nuke the rest of them. Admiral Cobb is going to lead that fleet.”

“We already have the intelligence in our database that shows over 300 ships are nearly completely assembled at the junkyard. Our estimates as we have enough crew to take out 100. The rest are going to mine and destroy. “

“As far as the assault goes I have changed a few things. We are going to put the marine Raptors in a fighting and vulnerable position above our fleet. We’re going to use electronic interference to mask the presence of Mark seven vipers in the same formation.”

“We are going to slow our approach speed slightly and when their writers engage we are going to ambush them. The battle will occur within range of our point defense cannons not theirs. During the ambush the Raptors bring 500 Marines each to the Athena and the Acropolis.”

“At the moment we enter optimum firing range, I take over the systems of the cruisers and they slam into each other with the mines we have laid in their path. Boom boom boom, the colonial three cats two new battle stars.”

Lawson asked, “are you sure we can hack those cruisers?”

“Before the war you were a fighter jock and he didn’t have much concern about information systems. My cyber team was a board the mercury figuring out how to defend it from the enemy. Further our mandate was to offensively use technology against the enemy. My crew did a demonstration for Admiral Mueller. With no route passwords or any other administrative access we want if we exercise against the mercury with three Artemis class battle stars.”

“As a matter of fact I’ve already cut software on all the ships in the enemy fleet. Last night they attacked one of my remote listening stations. They hauled it right into the landing being connected it to ship systems on the Acropolis. CNP was a very great accomplishment by the enemy. I’m going to give them that back to the third power”

Commander Lawson’s eyes lit up like a kid on colonial day morning. Commander Ramirez had a self-satisfied grin on her face.

“Commander Lawson,” Ramirez said “all you need to do is get the order and we jump off in six hours. We know exactly where the Cylons are. We’re going to take those battle stars away from them.”

“Is the Admiral ready to go?”

“Yes sir he is,” Maria Ramirez clasped her hands and looked confident.

“The order is given!” Commander at Lawson said emphatically. “I’m ready to sign the tactical orders.”

“Admiral Cobb signed them while you were sleeping sir.”

* * *

The FTL jump went smoothly. The enemy ships were in formation exactly where they were supposed to be. The colonial fleet was clumped together in a way that protected the valuable mercury glass ships from taking too much fire from the cruisers.

“Everything shows green,” said major Simmons. “Shall we launch the vipers and raptors?”

“Launch all aircraft,” Lawson ordered.

Her mind did not wander. Her consciousness remained in the presence. She listen to the radio chatter as the mark 7 vipers launched and formed up with the Raptors high above the fleet. She gave the orders for the mines to be laid in front of the enemy cruisers.

Lawson watched the various camera feeds as the mines shut out and took a course tour the picket line of the enemy which was composed exclusively Minataur cruisers. The enemy knew how to fly the ships but was not completely familiar with some of the details of the process. Commander Ramirez’s virus reported back to settings of weapons and other important details through an encrypted channel.

A surprisingly detailed status report was displaying based on the transmission sensor to the cylon command. They were less than 200 centurions aboard each of the two massive Battlestar’s.

The squadrons reported inbound enemy aircraft and sprung their ambush. Crowded with Marines the colonial raptors went into maximum priced to close distance on the two mercury class ships.

The air battle was going well. It took less than three minutes to eliminate the mark seven vipers flown by the cylon pilots which apparently were humanoid models.

Apparently they have not had sufficient time to obtain their viper wings! They were clearly skilled pilots, however they did not show the experience of having flown hundreds if not thousands of hours on the colonial viper. It was a slaughter.

With the sound of bullets deafening in the background there to Marine expeditionary forces an ounce that I had control of one of the landing base of the target ships. There was a shooting in confusion and the marine commander report he was going to blow the hatches and move into the battle star.

This was the tenses portion of the battle. If the Marines failed, hundreds would be killed and the mission would be a failure.

Commander Ramirez’s voice appeared in the chatter. Her words were crisp and clear. “”Operation turn around now now now.” There was an ominous pause and then she spoke again. “Take over navigation systems is complete. Changing course of the cruisers.”

A sea fire was displayed on the monitors. Where they had once been eight cruisers, they were now three badly damaged and burning ones.

“This is marine force Acropolis. We have the CIC. We have the Battlestar Acropolis!”

“Prepared to jump to safety,” Lawson ordered after pressing the microphone button on her wireless headset.

“DRADIS five base stars jumping in ad launching raiders. Radiological alarm nuke inbound to both Battlestar’s.

“This is Commander Hernández on the bridge of the Athena. The ship is ours. We are beginning jump preparation and we have inbound nukes!”

“CAG! All vipers to intercept nuclear weapons. Priority One. Begin jump prep. We’re getting out of here.

Lawson’s orders were confident. She still out direct without the aid of a crutch.

“Hit! It hit! Acropolis is hit. Fire warning! Armor bravo armor bravo! We have structural integrity. Jumping!”

“This is Athena we have taken a nuclear hit on her forward armor. We have structural integrity and we are jumping now 3….2….1 jump!”

Her voice sounded gravelly, as if of an older man. “Recall our birds. Combat landings are authorized!”

“We have lost a Janus!”

“All birds are in. All birds are on the deck. All lights are green ready to jump!”

As she spoke, Lawson heard Ramirez’s voice on the wireless. “Jump!”

As the FTL affect gathered, she saw one of the atlas carriers explode under fire. The rest of the ship seesaw jump away before the Mercury was the last ship out. The mission has been successful. On day 250 at the second cylon war, a major victory has been achieved.


Raid on the Virgon ship junkyard

* * *

Seizing the battlestars

Two days after the battle: The model number one known as Cavil had a chain on his neck. His feet were shackled and he shuffle along very slowly. He was brought into the CIC in the Battlestar Athena to a strange looking device, filled with goo and lit up by red and white lights.

The interrogator pointed to it and spoke roughly to the Cylon humanoid model. “What is this?”

“It’s a hand sanitizer,” answer Cavil. “Your human ships are such a disgusting germ factories we decided we needed to keep ourselves clean when we operated the ships.” He dipped his hands in to the goo and demonstrated. He made the motions with his hands as if he was washing them.

“You’re such a freaking liar,” the interrogator snarled. These are all wired into the communication network of the ship.”

“You’re right you caught me,” the model one said. “I just transmitted our coordinates to the Cylon empire. They will be jumping to this location to destroy you as soon as they receive the signal.”

“Frack you!” The interrogator slapped the model one across the tour and ordered him dragged out of the room back to the detention center.

“You neglected to tell him that all the Communications gear on the ship is shut down,” the engineer in charge of the refit smiled.

“He thought he sent this message, and I got quite a confirmation that this is a Cylon data network. We are going to rip these out of both ships and take them to the lab for study.”

______________________________________________________________

The Cylon model number one was developing a very large bruise on his face when he was brought into the laboratory with Commander Lawson. He smiled when he saw her enter the lab. For all these days she was still wearing the Cylon jewelry he called it. The metallurgy was beyond human science.

“Can you take this off me?” She asked in a shaky voice and she commanded herself to remain calm.

“What’s in it for me?” He asked with a sneer on his face.

“We can improve your conditions in prison.”

He laughed hardly at that remark. How about this,” he continued He laughed hardly at that remark. How about this,” he continued “how about I get the Frack you again?”how about I get the Frack you again?”

“As I’m sure you know your people fuck with my body and my mind quite enough. I moved on to other challenges in life.”

“Well then we have an impasse. You could take me off suicide watch and let me kill myself and then I wake up in a new body full of intelligence for the Cylons.”

“Does that process hurt?” She asked curiously.

“I’ve been through it twice,” he said see me to be honest in his tone. “I was killed during war games preparing for the assault on the colonies. The process was pretty painful. Then I was unlucky during the attacks and killed again on Sagitarron. It felt like a white hot poker going through my skull. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if it was more painful than if we tortured you do every day for 12 hours a day what kept you alive.”

“We are programmed to resist such measures,” he said in a matter of fact tone.

“Well we will be testing my theory very shortly if you don’t cooperate and get this freaking thing off me. We’ve studied it we know it’s got a thumbprint reader or fingerprint reader. Question is is a keyed to your fingerprint? I wonder if it works if we cut your fingers off?”

“All right I’ll take better food and a larger cell if I take it off you right now. You were right it is key to my fingerprint only my model can release you. It’s also in collecting data all your conversations and transmitting it surreptitiously to the Cylon command.”

“It did not seem to help you when we took those to Battlestar’s away from you.” That was looking pride on her face.

“I want to get up slowly and reach up and put my finger on the fingerprint reader of the device. Please tell your goons not to shoot me.”

She motion to the Marines in the next room behind one way mirror to remain calm. “Do it slowly” she said.

He reached up and he put his finger print on a seemingly flat section of the metal of the collar. He held it there for five seconds and he put a second finger on the reader. The device made a noise and cracked open.”

“Take your hand away,” she said sharply. He immediately withdrew.

Completed the process of removing the device and laid it down on the table. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell us how this thing works?” He asked.

“For that I’d have to get a promise of being resurrected back home. Not part of our initial deal here.” He moved his hand and touched her on the nape of her neck.

The motion was so casual the Marines were not alerted until she collapsed onto the floor. Her eyes were vacant she look like she looked and we got PTSD flashback episode. Wislie put his hands in the air and step away from her.

The Marines hit him in the face and shoulder with the rifle butts. In 30 seconds they tuned him up and broke his jaw. They were very protective of their commander.

Commander Lawson woke up in her quarters two hours later with Dr. Farragut by her side. Her voice , “what happened?”

“Most likely some kind of post about suggestion program into you while you were in captivity. We can work on this together and find out what the trigger is what appears to be being touched in certain parts of your body.”

“There may be some things I’m never going to enjoy again doc?” she asked.

“Your work on it together” she said.

* * *

Commander Lawson groused and she struggled to get into her dress gray uniform. What possible reason that the peoples counsel want her to testify. She made a request for additional manpower to crew the ships that have been taken from the enemy. The word manpower was a phrase that had been dropped centuries ago but that’s how she thought of it. It was the way they talked on Tauron.

She had asked Cory Brooks so she needed to bring a lawyer. The leader of the peoples counsel clearly had negative thoughts about Lawson. But she just laughed laughed and smiled and said just come and we will listen to your case.

The lights were hot, and Commander Lawson stood stiffly in her dress gray uniform at the podium. This was her opening statement. “The capture of the two mercury class Battlestar’s, the Acropolis and the Athena along with nearly 100 abandoned warships from the Virgon junk yards was a significant military achievement.”

“I would remind you though that due to corruption and failure to fulfill military contracts stretching over five decades, these junkyards were available to us together in the warships. For decades they were being used by the enemy to collect information on our technology. Our corruption was being used to kill us.”

“The current colonial fleet consists of 70 warships, and two mercury class battle stars. We have approximately 15,000 persons under arms. What we have taken from the enemy will double our firepower. Our fire power will only be increased if we find conscript the people we need to crew these ships.”

It was then the commander Lawson realized she was in a auditorium. This was not where Council meetings normally occurred. There was an audience. She looked around and she paused and fumbled with her notes. There must be 10,000 people in this room. That makes this room at target. His ideology idea was it assembled as many people in one place?

“It will take six months to get all the ships ready for battle. At that moment we need 15,000 or more likely 20,000 persons in the colonial fleet to crew ships. I urge this council to give appropriate funding and resources to the colonial fleet, and to extend the draft to give us the people we need to fly the ships. We have the opportunity to watch an offensive against the enemy and drive the Cylon from our home systems. I know these worlds are not habitable, but they belong to us!”

The peoples council composed of 50 representatives chosen by population districts. The majority leader stood up spoke with Lawson concluded.

He was an older man, between 60 and 70 years old with a patricians look and snow white hair. “The Council has voted on extending the draft and has rejected it,” he said. “The reason for rejection is a draft is no longer necessary. I believe we have sufficient volunteers in the assembly Hall. Well at least half of what we need.”

His gestures were grand, the consummate politician. “Do we have any volunteers to join the colonial fleet and win the war against the Cylons?”

One high voice from the bleacher seats rang out. It was a young woman perhaps twenty years old. “I volunteer to fly wipers or do any jobs that the colonial fleet needs from me!”

Another voice rang out, “I volunteer to join the colonial fleet!” The second voice was that of a shockingly built middle-age man.

Then the room shock as every other voice chat in near unison. “So say we all!”

Again. “So say we all!”

Cory Brooks stood up and walked to her lectern. “I have reluctantly excepted the resignation of Admiral Cobb due to health reasons.”

“I am happy to announce on this the 283rd day of the second Cylon war the commander in chief position at the colonial fleet is being given to Commander Eva Lawson. The commander of the colonial fleet should not be a commander. Colonial law is that if we commander should have the rank of Admiral. Admiral Lawson you are out of uniform kindly step down to the lectern and receive your admiral stars.”

Lawson was so shocked she remain frozen at her lectern for nearly a minute. She felt like she was floating and she walked down and received her admirals stars.

She whispered to herself. “I’ve given up on these along time ago.”

Far across the galaxy, Baltar was elected president.