The admiral argued against it,\nCommander Ramirez argue against it. Nothing could stop Cory Brooks in\nher desire to go forward with the cease fire. Truth be told the\ncolonial fleet, disorganized and undermanned needed some time off.\nThey need to repair their ships. More than that they needed to train\ntheir people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The heavy casualties at the battle with\nthe base star fleet were attributed to a lack of training especially\nof the crews on the doomed adamant frigates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As it turned out they were substantial\nnumber of berserk carriers and adamant frigates that have been\nconverted for civilian use. These were very easy to upgrade and arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spare parts were very easy to retrieve,\nbecause the cylons never attacked the junkyards. In the first 30 days\nof the cease-fire, a lot of training was done a lot of missions were\nrun to retrieve spare parts from the junkyard around the colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cease fire agreement was\nsurprisingly detailed and one of them allowed and did not allow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A line has been drawn three\ndimensionally conceding that the cylon had control of the 12\ncolonies. This was designated as occupied territory. The colonial\nfleet was allowed to run recon missions, so long as they were lightly\narmed and did not include heavy warships. Everyone knew that the\ncolonies was a good source for spare parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a prohibition against\nmovement of heavy ships in and out of the colonies. From the tiny\nberserk all the way up to the mercury class Battlestar all heavy war\nships were restricted from the colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fierce argument a fierce argument\nbroke out over the patrols that the cylons were allowed in the 12\ncolonies. They claim to be facing a rebellion on several worlds.\nPeoples Council Executive Cory Brooks allowed the enemy they have two\nbase stars per colony to defend against incursions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The admiral was very angry about this\nprovision, because it allowed the enemy to concentrate their forces\nand wipe out the rebellions that were known to exist on Caprica,\nScorpia, and several other Colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He argued that this was a sell out to\nthe brave souls that stood up against the cylon might. Unfettered,\nthe enemy would be able to wipe out these rebellions without fear of\nretaliation from the new colonial fleet. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She successfully argued that if the\nenemy did not get any benefit from the cease-fire, there would be no\ncease-fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An enormous amount of territory was\ndesignated off-limits to all cylon fleet movements. Both sides\nrealized that the other would violate the agreement. In order to rest\nand repair their forces, they agreed on rules of engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The colonials were allowed to attack\nany vessel in their territory. The amount of territory was large\nenough that the executive felt it was possible to hide the civilian\nsettlements. The supply runs to the colonies of unarmed, lightly\nprotected salvage ships was tolerated. Both sides were building up to\nthe next confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commander Eva Lawson was nowhere to be\nseen. She left her ship in the command of her new XO William Bill\nSimmons. She was in a military hospital that was set up a location\nthat the civilian government was not aware of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She had promised her friend Maria\nRamirez that she would get help. She was not judged the most\ncooperative patient. She didn’t want to talk about her flashbacks.\nShe didn’t wanna talk about her indiscretions before the war. She\nreally doesn’t want talk about anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psychotherapy sessions sometimes\nconsisted of her staring into space. She could easily fall into a\nPTSD flashback. Sometimes during the sessions with the\npsychotherapist, she would come out of a flashback in tears, drenched\nin sweat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, two weeks into the cease-fire\nfire, Lawson gave in and started talking about her experiences. The\ncylon’s were particularly concerned with the mis treatment of one of\ntheir model sixes that was captured about the Battlestar Pegasus,\nearly in the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They had wanted Lawson to feel the same\npunishment physical, and psychological as their six was undergoing on\nPegasus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This had involved a lot of physical\nabuse. Sometime she was assaulted a dozen times a day. To mess with\nher mind they change the cycle of days and nights. She had no idea\nhow many hours were in a day. She knew that for about 12 hours a day\nshe was left alone in the cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the cylon models and argued\nagainst this torture. They had said this because the humans had done\nthis to the sex, it did not justify stooping to their level. The\nsixes and the eights were very angry about this and there was this\nunity among the cylon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Model number one, the Cavil, would not\nhear of any change in the regimen. The long cold nights sometimes\nlasted 18 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometime she would be continually\nassaulted for 24 hours. Memories came back to her of her screaming\nand begging for mercy. She had been very angry with herself for\ngiving in and letting them force of the beg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was angry with herself for not\nbeing strong enough to resist. After all these assaults were no\ndifferent than when she done consensually and she had ruined her\ncareer many times over prior to the fall of the 12 colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her therapist tried to tell her that\nalthough the assaults we’re often sexual in nature, but they were not\nabout sex. They were about control and domination and the cylon\nattempt to break her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She realize they have been completely\nsuccessful. Their goal has been to send her back to the colonial\nfleet broken. Perhaps that even program triggers into her through\nmanipulation of her memories. She remembered sessions being connected\nto resurrection equipment. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The memories of her time in cylon\ncustody may have been false. Although she had a physical scars of\nassault it was possible that they have changed her memories of the\ntime in custody and perhaps even her 41 years of life before being\ncaptured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She asked her therapist how could she\nbe sure of any of her memories. The answer came she could not be sure\nbut much of it could be verified. A copy of the colonial fleets\ndatabase has been taken. They were written and visual records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She encouraged to look at the visual\nrecords. As these verified her memories of her time in the colonial\nfleet, she felt less broken. Her confidence came back. By the third\nweek of a cease-fire, she was having less frequent flashbacks.\nSurprised she was talking about the flashbacks helped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a training incident that\nhappened when she was very young. This memory was very strong in her.\nIt involved off duty mis-behavior. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She had remembered being written up for\nher behavior. She had earned a demerit. There was no record in the\ncolonial database of this incident. Her service record made no\nmention of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The psychotherapist had made it clear\nthat the memory was a strange thing. People often remember incidents\nin the way they understood them. People experiencing the same thing\nat the same time came away with very different memories. It was part\nof the human condition memory it was not precise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no reason to be upset about\ninaccuracies in the memory. Entire incidents could’ve happened and\nnot been documented. As it turned out there were several incidences\nduring her career that she knew have been written up. As a matter\nfact it has never been entered into the database by commander who\nwished to cut her a break and did not want her to be slut shamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the flashbacks involved her\nturning over the tactical details of how a mercury class Battlestar\noperated in offensive mode. It upset her greatly that she would have\neven thought about discussing these things. It was possible that this\nmemory was planted in her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The resurrection technology that they\nused to alter her memories was designed for cylon synapses not human.\nThere could be damage, there could be conflicting memories and\nthere’s nothing to do about it other than deal with it. The\npsychotherapist at the end of week three so that they would be daily\nsessions for the rest off the cease-fire. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The therapist had actually done a four\nyear stint in the colonial Fleet. She was technically in the reserves\nand she arranged for her self to be called up. She was also a medical\ndoctor and will always be useful on the Battlestar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She thought the doctor Jameson was a\nhack, but pledged to work with him as she was given the rank of\ncaptain. He was a major and was in charge of his sick bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sessions will continue until both\nparties agreed that we needed to stop. The doctor put her self on 24\nx 7 availability. Anytime that commander Lawson needed to talk Dr.\nFarragut would be available. Commander Lawson wondered how the doctor\nwould do during triage after a battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a cozy arrangement that seemed\njust like a bolstering of the medical corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Why would you give up your\npractice?” Asked Lawson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Well to be honest with you I’m\nnot getting paid anyway. There is no currency system right now. There\nis no economy other than the black market. At least working for the\ncolonial fleet I might get some money in my account when this war\nfinally ends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The outcome of this war is not\nlikely to be good,” said Lawson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I have faith that if we’re going\nto survive you’re gonna have a hand in it commander Lawson,” the\ndoctor answered. \u201cWe created this mess don’t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day 218 of the second cylon war. Day 25\nof the first cease-fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The early morning meeting was\ndisorienting because the shipyard was hidden in a dark corner of a\nsolar system with no life in it. It was called for 5 o’clock in the\nmorning, which disrupted ships routine. After the capture of\nCommander Lawson several months ago, commanders travelled with a bit\nof an escort. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today’s escort was five assault\nraptors. There were two recon raptors further confuse any attempts to\nkidnap a senior colonial officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There had better be coffee at\nthis meeting,” Amanda Ramirez remarked as she walked through the\ndoor into the admirals office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is it for which should become a command\na table was set out with pastries in the finest coffee available in\nthe colonial fleet. Ramirez dug in, securing two pastries for herself\nand a cup off coffee with generous portions of sugar and creamer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commander Lawson yawned and stretch\nyour arms in the air. This is not the most professional way to enter\na meeting, but she was not trying to act professional. She was trying\nto express her annoyance at a 5 AM meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I am sorry I had to schedule this\nmeeting so early. The situation has developed rather quickly. We are\nspotted a cylon fleet that is moving through our territory under the\ncease fire. It is a big one. Under the terms of the cease-fire we\nhave a right to destroy it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If you’re asking my opinion I\nthink we should slam it. It’s obvious to me that the fuel shortage\nthat we thought we were creating was an illusion presented to us by\nthe cylons. If they are moving fleets around, they are setting up for\nan attack, probably after he cease-fire expires.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWait a minute,\u201d Lawson ran a hand\nthorough her black, tightly curled hair. \u201cThis is what we have\nspotted. They could already have other fleets in our sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWouldn’t we have spotted it?”\nAsked the admiral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Space is vast and inhospitable.\nThere is no way we can set up a sensor network that they can spot the\nenemy ships. Plus with FTL technology they can jump a considerable\ndistance into our territory without our knowing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“How is this possible?” Asked\nthe admiral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The cylons possess superior jump\ntechnology. They can jump further than we can with our technology. It\ntakes much fewer jumps to get to the colonies using their technology\nthan ours,” said Ramirez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admiral Cobb sighed, \u201cWhat are the\nimplications of us breaking the cease-fire?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That is a political question. The\nagreement allows us to attack silent forces and motion on our side of\nthe armistice line we spotted at four so we need to eliminate that\nforce.\u201d Lawson was not liking the stress of this meeting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We need to know the scope of the\nproblem. We need to get a massive recon net out there so we can find\nand see how much trouble we are in. We may need to pick up and run\nif they have infiltrated us with superior forces.\u201d Admiral Cobb\nended his statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet’s hit the fleet we are tracking\nwhile we escalate the search for any fleets we missed.\u201d Lawson\nsuggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is going to require approval\nfrom Cory Brooks,\u201d Admiral Cobb said. \u201cI am going to have the\nintelligence bureau write up an assessment. You two interview our\nCylon prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Absolutely not,” Corey\nBrooks said emphatically. She brought her hand down on the desk\nmaking a very loud bang. “I am not going to be the first to\nbreak the cease-fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are not the ones that broke\nthe fire. The toasters did that when I sent this week across the\nline. Our doing is enforcing the conditions of the cease-fire\nagreement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Did you ever stop to think that\nmaybe the cylon perceive themselves as injured party here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No I didn’t. They destroyed our\ncivilization and left our worlds a nuclear wasteland they massacred\nbillions of people. Why should they be the aggrieved party here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We created them,” Books\nbegan. \u201cWe created them as slaves and did not understand when they\nbecame sentient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When your washing machine breaks\ndown,” the admiral answered. “We don’t send it out for\ntherapy. We throw it away we buy a new one. The Cylons are no\ndifferent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our washing machines did not\nrebel spark a 10 year war and then 40 years in exile only to return\nand destroy us. The Cylons may have had grievances as to how they\nwere treated. Perhaps if we can come to an understanding with them\nand stop the killing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Peoples council executive Cory\nbrooks you are insane. Battlestar wears out we destroy it or make it\ninto a museum. We don’t ask it how it feels about being taken apart\nand melted down we just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“He’s appliances,” Brooks\ncontinued \u201cHave evolved and taken human form. They walk they talk\nthey breathe they bleed. Things are different than they were at the\nbeginning of the cylon war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If you weeks ago, you were in\nfavor of exterminating them. You ordered a raid to deprive them of\nfuel and destroy their fleet as they sat in shipyard unable to move.\nThat was the right call then. unfortunately we weren’t ready to do\nthe job. It is the right call now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,” Brooks said forcefully.\n\u201cYou may not attack. You may send a force to intercept them and\norder them to comply with agreement and return to cylon territory. If\nthey refuse then you can attack them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That is asinine,” The\nadmiral replied angrily. “We have to be used both of the mercury\nglass Battlestar is to be able to overcome this force. To announce\nourselves takes away the element of surprise. We need to pounce on\nthem like a lion on prey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“All right,” she said. “How\nabout this. Intercept him with a force recon. That’s like a squadron\nof assault raptors. Let them know they face attack if they don’t\nreturn to their territory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Do you know Miss Brooks in time\nof war I don’t need authorization to attack a threatening target. You\nare not president of the colonies. You’re the executive of the\nPeople’s Council. However I don’t want to cooperation between the\nmilitary and the civilian government just end. So will send our force\nrecon and see what the Cylons do. My guess is they’re going to shoot\nat us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On day 219 of the second cylon or a\nforce recon consisting of five we can Raptors 30 assault Raptors\njumped in the location of the cylon fleet. They broadcast on all\nfrequencies a warning to return to their own territory or face\ndestruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no reply. I did not shoot.\nThey activated their FTL drives and jumped. The entire fleet\ndisappeared in under 10 seconds. Commander air group (CAG) Of the\nmercury, call sign Jaybyrd was at a loss to explain behavior. They\nwere caught red-handed. They had more than enough Raiders to wipe out\nthe weekend for us. They did nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This led to a 9 AM meeting on a\ndecrepit old freighter, The council of three they were called, the\nAdmiral and commanders of the mercury class Battlestars. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“So do we know where the jumped?\u201d\nAdmiral Cobb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No,\u201d Ramirez\u201d replied, \u201cbut\nwe do know where they didn’t jump. We have Monitoring in about 150\nsystems. We tagged one of the base stars with a tracker. They are not\ncurrently in the 12 colonies or the 150 systems we currently\nmonitor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow are we sure this track or even\nworked?\u201d Cobb asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We tag the nemesis cruiser that\nthe Cavil that negotiated with Miss Brooks. We’ve tracked it through\n15 jumps. It’s currently at Caprica. The device is very small,\npenetrates the armor. It’s about the size of a bullet from a hand\nweapon. I can’t say for sure they didn’t detect it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On cue there was a beeping sound that\nsounded like a mobile phone. Commander Ramirez called what looked to\nbe a mobile phone out of her pocket and check the message on it. “We\nhave located the cylon fleet. It is at Scorpia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That’s technically a violation of\nthe seas fire agreement,\u201d Commander Lawson noted. Jumping to the\ncolonies is not an option. It’s too far away from our logistics hubs\nto support a battle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admiral Cobb handed over a small USB\ndisk. “This is technical data on the cylon FTL technology. You\nshould be able to predict their maximum jump range. Draw a sphere on\nthe map and see what systems are close to the line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Always the information technology\nwizard, Ramirez attached to drive to her phone. Then she input some\ninstructions. “Admiral what is the encryption key to your\nworkstation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He worked a keyboard for several\nseconds and answered your question. A three dimensional map came up\non the monitor which he turned around to show the two commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our most valuable asset is the\nshipyard,” Lawson said. “If this date is correct they can\ndo it in 1 Jump straight from Scorpia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Then that is where we will set\nour ambush,” the admiral said. \u201cPut together a heavy fleet and\nbe waiting for them when they arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day 221 of the second\ncylon war. Day 28 of the first cease-fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They jumped in as two distinct fleet\ngroups. One was led by Commander Lawson, the other by Commander\nRamirez. After they both jumped in they saw the DRADIS was clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is Saturn actual calling for\nMercury actual.” The speaker crackled with static.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawson picked up a headset and put it\non her head. “This is Mercury actual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You know when I was a kid I could\nused to pretend to be a Battlestar commander,” Ramirez said on\nthe wireless. \u201cI never dreamed with a career in IT that I would\nactually achieve that childhood goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Same here,” Lawson replied.\n“Which Battlestar?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGalactica. I was always Galactica\nactual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Galactica was my first choice\nalso. Sometimes my brother made me take the original Pegasus the\nJupiter Mark one version.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCommander Lawson,” Ramirez\nasked \u201cWhat is our readiness profile going to be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m going to rotate a squadron of\n75 vipers with pilots in their seats ready to launch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That is what we should do as\nwell. We each have six squadrons now so we can minimize the fatigue\non the pilots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlso lets put some distance between\nthe jump in point and our deployment,\u201d Commander Lawson suggested.\n\u201cI have noticed it is easier to take their fleets apart if we force\nthem to send their fast ships forward without enough backup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes Sir,\u201d Ramirez answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six hours passed. Then 12 hours, then\n18 hours, then 24. During hour 26, the DRADIS lit up with 10 targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll right all birds in the air.\u201d\nLawson ordered. \u201cForm a picket line and let the cylons get hammered\nby flak before they join the fighter battle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll ships are launching, coming into\nformation.\u201d Major Simmons reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c500, no 700 missiles inbound.\u201d the\ntactical officer warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new XO started to take the\ninitiative. \u201cAll ships confirm full defensive posture and flak\nconfiguration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSteady,\u201d Lawson said softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the next four minutes the radio\nchatter reported inbound missiles, nuclear weapons and pilot chatter.\nThe pilots took out a few nuclear weapons, but mostly battled the\nCylon fighters. There were several remarks about older Cylon ships\nbeing identified. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The raiders were suddenly gone, all\ndestroyed and the pilots started goin after the warships. There was a\nNemesis destruction, followed by a few Phobos. When a Cerebes carrier\nwas engaged, Lawson gave the order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBreak formation, keep flak up, start\noffensive operations with the Battlestars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ten minutes later the last Cylon ship a\nfirst war Argos was demolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRecall all birds,\u201d Lawson ordered.\n\u201cDamage reports to the XO.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Commander clicked on her wireless.\n\u201cGive me Saturn actual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat next?\u201d she asked. There were\na lot of voices shouting in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey may be tracking the shipyard,\u201d\nLawson said. \u201cJump it to a new location. We will set up another\nambush.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo say we all.\u201d Ramirez replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n