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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:42:45 GMT -5
"Captain, we have an unusual target coming into the scanner range," the scanner officer said not looking away from his monitor.
"What is it," the captain asked walking down the short way to where the scanner officer sat.
"I don't know. We've never seen anything like it before," the officer replied. "But whatever it is, it is very large."
"Get me destroyer eight and ten," the captain said.
"Sir, we also have destroyer twelve on Praxis five," the communications officer said.
"Good, we might need them as well," the captain said. "If they dare to travel in our space then they will know the might of the Alliance once and for all, politicians be d**ned."
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:44:53 GMT -5
Nall and Jax had returned to their fighters and changed out of their uniforms into something he hoped would be a bit less conspicuous to the people. The one thing that he did not like was leaving his weapons behind.
"Perhaps just one of us should go down there," Jax finally said a bit uncomfortable with everything.
"No, the commander will know that we are on the planet by now. If we take too long he'll send a rescue team," Nall said as if he knew for sure what was going to happen. "Besides, all we're going to do is observe, that's it."
"I'm taking you at your word," Jax replied.
"Really," Nall said as he looked over at the black haired woman.
"By the lords of Kobal," Jax said rolling her eyes. "Bri was right about you."
"She was right about everything," Nall purred as he walked closer to Jax. "How would you like to find out about it later on after the mission?"
"We'll see," she replied back then turned and with an exaggerated sway of her hips walked off towards their objective.
"Oh yeah," Nall whispered quietly to himself. Then he had to job quickly to catch up to her.
They walked back to the hill where they had observed the ship. Reaching it they were both glad and disappointed that the ship was still there. They silently made their way down to the other side of the ship and noticed a small town. That would be the best bet to see what was going on.
Nall noticed that their clothing might be a bit different but would probably pass. He observed that the kids had some weird styles on so no one would probably notice them at all. They walked into part of the town which had people walking around.
Listening to the conversation he was glad to know that he could understand them. That would have been a sticking point if they did not talk the same language. Even then he had the feeling that some words might not mean the same in their language. He reminded Jax to be careful of what she said.
"Eh, I don't remember seein' you around here’s before," a man with a uniform said walking up to where Nall and Jax were standing.
"We're travelers," Nall replied eyeing the man. He did not seem like he was trouble but Nall was not going to take any chances.
"Dat so, den where are you from," the man asked.
"Don't know, I was an orphan going up," Nall replied telling the truth knowing that it quite was not what the man wanted.
"Dat's not what I'm talkin' about and you knows it," the man said.
"Its top secret," Jax said speaking up with a hard look in her eye.
"Wells then perhaps yous should head to de captain's office. He'd probably be waiting for yous," he said then turned and walked off apparently satirized about the response.
"I think we should try and get our information quickly and get out of here," Nall said to Jax.
"Right," Jax said agreeing with him. They both had the feeling that he was probably on his way to talk with his captain then they would be in trouble real quick.
They walked a bit further down the street when Jax motioned to Nall. She glanced at the store and then back to Nall. There was a book store in the area. Nall figured that it might have the information that he needed and they walked into the store.
"Greetings and welcome," an elderly lady said as they walked into the store and the bell chimed indicating someone had walked in.
"Hi there," Jax replied.
"Is there anything I can help you with," the woman asked.
"Perhaps there is," Nall said looking at Jax then back at the woman. "My wife and I are travelers looking for ancient myths and legends. Where would we find anything on that here," Nall asked her knowing that Jax was stifling a look at him and he had stifle a grin.
"Oh, I don't have much here in my store, but what I do have is over here," the lady replied leading them over to the books. "Is there anything in particular that you're looking for," she asked them.
"Anything regarding a planet Earth," Jax said deciding to just bring it right out to the open.
"Earth, I'm afraid that I don't have anything on that. The Alliance doesn't like anyone talking about that myth," the lady said.
"Alliance," Nall said before he could stop himself.
The lady turned around and studied them carefully then looked around before saying anything. "You’re not from around here are you," she said.
"Nope," Nall replied.
"A bit of advice then, get away now before they find out," she said. "The Alliance doesn't like strangers asking questions."
"Before we go do you know anything," Nall replied.
"Very well, I will tell you what I remember of the myth," the woman said. "It’s an ancient myth, one that says we came from the stars, from a place called Kobal, also called Eden. Thirteen tribes lived on the planet in peace. But a terrible tragedy occurred and they were forced to flee the planet. Twelve tribes set out together and the thirteenth went off on their own. On the way a group mutinied and wanted to rejoin the other twelve tribes. Not able to find the others they settled on a planet and called it Terra."
Nall thought about what he had just been told. This group was part of the thirteenth tribe, but not Earth. He and Jax exchanged a look that the older lady caught.
"Is it really true," she asked wondering if what she had been told was true or not. She had always thought that in myth there was an ounce of truth.
Nall considered what to tell her as he thought about it. Most of what he knew was legend and myth much like she knew. The only difference was she had a different piece of the myth.
"I don't know, but I really hope so," Nall replied.
"It seems that you should leave quickly," the lady said looking out the window.
Nall and Jax turned their heads to see what she was looking at. Outside there were two uniformed men talking with another person.
"That doesn't look too good," Jax said which Nall had to agree with.
"I think its time we left," Nall replied turning back to the woman and thanking her for her help. They quickly walked out of the store and down the street hoping that they would not be detected. That was short lived as he heard one of the guards order them to stop. "Run," he told Jax who began running towards their fighters.
They could hear the men running after them as they quickly made their way out of the small town. It seemed that the guard they had encountered had gone to talk with his captain and found out they were strangers. Nall was glad that their vipers were not parked that far away as he was breathing heavily already when he got to his. He glanced over and noticed that Jax had also arrived at her viper.
Nall risked a glance at their pursuers and noticed that they too were breathing quite heavily. That meant that they were not used to the thin atmosphere either. As quickly as he was able he got into his viper and ran through an abbreviated checklist for takeoff.
The group running after them stopped as they saw the strange fighters and the whine of the engines warming up. Before any of them could do anything else they blasted off and headed up out of sight.
Nall breathed a sigh of relief as they passed thought the clouds and left the atmosphere of the planet. He was not sure if they would be followed or not but he did not want to take any chances.
"Green three to Argo over," Nall said.
"Go ahead green three," he heard Renee's voice say over the intercom.
"We found out what we needed but ran into a bit of trouble with the authorities on the planet," Nall replied.
"We'll keep an eye on the scanners, but in the meantime make your way back here and let me know what you found out," Nall heard Ares say.
"Yes sir commander," Nall replied as he and Jax made their way to the Argo.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:45:36 GMT -5
"Sir, we have two unknown contacts coming up from the Parxis heading towards the unknown target," the scanner operator said.
"They must be Nationalist spies. Any word from Parxis," the captain asked turning to see what was going on.
"Nothing yet captain, we're still trying to get a hold of destroyer twelve," the communications officer said.
"Let me know the moment you have him. What about destroyers eight and ten," he asked them.
"Both captains report that they are on their way here and should be here shortly," the officer replied to the captain.
"Good," the captain replied.
"Captain, I'm getting a communication from the planet's surface, its Captain Jonas," the communication officer said.
"Put it through," the captain said.
"This is Captain Jonas of Parxis Five to any Alliance destroyers in the area. Parxis was just visited by Nationalist spies, if anyone can intercept them and destroy them. Destroyer twelve is launching as we speak," Jonas said.
"This is Captain Ryan of destroyer four, I have the spies on my scanners and already requested back up from two more destroyers," Ryan replied.
"Good, I will inform headquarters of what has happened," Jonas said.
"You heard the captain, once destroyers eight, ten and twelve form up with us we will attack and destroy this new Nationalist threat to our security," Ryan said.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:46:40 GMT -5
Ares did not like the fact that Nall and Jax might have gotten into trouble during their mission. The question now was how to handle anything that might come their way. They could view the Argo as a threat to their security. That would mean they might attack them even without warning.
"Commander, I'm picking up movement near the system that Green three and eight just came from," Renee said.
Pratt quickly walked down to see for himself. He noticed that there appeared to be two to four targets that the scanners were picking up. It was hard to determine because of the planets and how close the ships were.
"Looks like a possible four contacts commander," Pratt said looking up to where Ares was standing.
"How soon till our fighters are back aboard," Ares said. He was told that it would be another couple of centons until the remaining fighters were aboard. "When their aboard set in a course away from the contacts."
"Commander, the contacts have begun to move towards our position. At their current speed they will arrive shortly after we recover the fighters," Renee said to Ares.
Ares turned to Pratt and they both knew that this was not good news. He wondered what he should do and what options were available to him if any. The only thing that ran through his mind was run or fight.
"Suggestions," Ares finally said.
"We could try and communicate with them commander," Pratt said stating the obvious.
"Do it," Ares replied.
After a few moments there was no reply from the incoming ships. Ares ordered them to continue to try but to bring the ship to yellow alert just in case. He was about to start the fight, but he had to be ready just in case.
"Sir, they are asking for our surrender," Renee said to Ares who just shook his head. He wondered what Nall and Jax had done on the planet's surface to provoke such hostility.
"Transfer it up here," Ares told her as he was able to hear the demand. A Captain Ryan was demanding that he surrender his ship and the 'Nationalist' spies. He realized what was probably going on and switched on his communicator. "This is Commander Ares of the Battlestar Argo, we are not from the Nationalists, but a group that has travel far to reach this place."
"Your lies will not work on us Nationalist pigs, you will surrender your ship to us along with your crew, or you will suffer the wrath of the Alliance," Captain Ryan replied.
"Sounds like they have their minds made up commander," Pratt said.
"They've opened fire on our returning vipers," Renee said. "Lieutenant Nall is requesting permission to return fire."
"Launch green squadron, maybe they will be enough to dissuade them from attacking," Ares said.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:47:50 GMT -5
Troy sat in his viper waiting to see what was going on. So far the only thing that he was aware of was the ship was on yellow alert. His squad was on the ready alert with red on back up.
"Green squad, you are to launch but not engage yet," Renee said breaking Troy out of his thoughts.
"Roger core command," Troy said as he pushed his thumb down on the thruster button and felt the ship accelerate out of the launch tube.
As Troy's viper reached space his scanners came alive with Nall and Jax's vipers as they raced towards the Argo. Behind them were four patrol sized ships were chasing them. He could hear Nall saying that they were under attack requesting permission to fire back. Troy wondered what was taking the commander so long to respond to the request. Two of their own were in danger.
"Green squad, form up on me and head towards the incoming fighters," Troy said. The group formed up and headed out to greet the incoming ships.
"Core command, do we have permission to open fire or am I going to see some of my squad mates blow to Hades," Troy said hoping to push the issue.
"Green squad, your orders have not changed," Renee replied relaying Ares' orders.
"Great," Troy mumbled a bit under his breath but not loud enough for anyone else to hear it.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:49:26 GMT -5
"Captain, we are picking up multiple single man craft coming form the larger ship," the scanner operator said to Captain Ryan.
"These single craft have no weapon systems, tell all destroyers to continue to attack. Head to the big ship and ready all weapons," Ryan replied.
"Understood sir," the crew replied as the communications officer relayed the message to the other three destroyers.
Ryan glanced at the screen and realized that the ship they were about to enter combat with was a very large ship. To him though it did not really matter. He had numbers and superior firepower compared to Nationalist ships. He would either bring back the Nationalists as his prisoners or they would be destroyed. To him it really was that simple.
"Captain, I'm counting about fifty of these small one man craft," the scanner operator said.
"They are nothing more than blockade and spy ships. Destroy them as well, but concentrate all firepower on the larger ship for right now. The Nationalists must not know what is going on at Praxis five," Ryan said.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:50:23 GMT -5
Ares stood watching the incoming ships. He still was not sure what was going on but the launching of the vipers had not deterred the incoming ship. They were still closing and firing on green squad. He now had several pilots requesting permission to return fire. The Argo was suddenly rocked a bit as the incoming ship opened fire on the battlestar.
"Commander, we're under attack. I suggest negative shield," Pratt said.
"Put the shields up," Ares said. So far the incoming ships had refused to acknowledge any more hails from the Argo and now they were attacking them as well.
"Captain, we just lost green eleven," Pratt told him. He knew that given everything he would not be able to control the pilots much longer.
"Tell all stations to open fire," Ares said finally.
"Yes sir," Pratt said turning to the communicator. "All stations, fire at will, repeat fire at will."
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:51:14 GMT -5
"You heard the commander," Troy said as he lined up the first ship in his sight. Pushing his thumb down on the weapons trigger his weapons opened fire on the ship.
The Argo's weapon systems also came to life opening up on the attackers with deadly accuracy. The attackers did not have the weaponry or shielding that the Colonials did and the battle was over very quickly. All four enemy ships were destroyed with the loss of another three vipers.
Troy was glad when the last enemy ship had been destroyed. They attacked them without any real reason. He just wished that he had been able to open fire a bit sooner. Thinking back on what had happened he realized the pressure that the commander had been under. They might have just declared war against an unknown enemy.
"Everyone back on board the Argo," Troy said to the squad. They quickly regrouped and made their landing on the battlestar. He was glad to see that Bri and Nall had made it as well.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:52:16 GMT -5
Ares sat at his station wondering if he could have done something different. He would have to study what happened to see if he could learn anything from it. He was sure that this was not going to be the first time that he had an encounter like this.
"What do you think colonel," Ares asked.
"We lost a total of four pilots along with three others in the battle," Pratt said.
"And all four attackers," Ares said. Even after realizing that they were against superior firepower they continued to attack. It just did not make since to him.
"They fought till the end. They may have a different type of mentality then what we're used to. Perhaps we are too used to the Cylons and their ways," Pratt said as an answer.
"Perhaps we are," Ares replied. "Perhaps there was no way to avoid bloodshed."
"Then again maybe if we had attacked right away they might have backed down," Pratt said.
"Perhaps Pratt," Ares said with a sad sigh. Then with a deep breath he rose. "Helm, set course to the next system and engage at light speed. I'm going to go grab something to eat. Let me know when Nall and Jax get out of detox for their briefing."
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:53:38 GMT -5
"Captain," a junior officer said running into the office.
"Report," Captain Jonas said as he turned to look at the junior officer.
"We lost contact with all four destroyers," the officer said.
"All four," Jonas replied.
"Yes sir, and the remaining ship was seen heading in the direction of Terra" the replay came.
"Inform Terra and let them know that we've been attacked by Nationalists," Jonas replied watching as the officer left to carry out his orders.
The Nationalist will pay for what they have done here today Jonas thought to himself. Many in the higher command had been looking for a way to begin a war against the Nationalist and now they had their reason. The battle plan would be simple. They would destroy the colony worlds of the Nationalists then destroy them on Terra until there was just the Alliance left.
The only thing that worried him was the fact they had lost four destroyers to one ship. But if they only had one then it would be much of a difference. One ship can not be everywhere like their destroyers were. He smiled as he realized it would be a glorious war indeed.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:55:20 GMT -5
The Gods
Bri and Troy walked along the corridor as they headed to the briefing room. It was red squads turn to take the next planet but he liked to know what was going on. He would be present to red squads briefing much like Gunther was at green squad's briefing. He had gained a bit of respect for the other captain as he was a hard worker and willing to put his life on the line for someone else.
There was the normal rivalry between the two squads but each held the other in mutual respect, at least outside the Tri-ade court that was. There were several teams on board the ship to help with the down time. That and another transmission from the colonies had been received. So far everything had been normal just like normal.
A few people like Troy had received messages from loved ones. That usually improved moral even though they could not reply back at all. It was the thought of someone back at the Colonies thinking about them was comforting somehow.
Troy turned into the briefing room with Bri right behind him. She had wanted to head on over and get something to eat but he wanted to come here first. She had decided to come along and wait.
Their relationship had grown back after a lengthy talk about Martin. Bri had been angry at him for that. But when he explained everything just last night she seemed to sleep on it and was in a better mood towards him. He was glad that she was no longer mad at him. Bri was one person that he did not want mad at him.
He had watched too many times lately as Nall got the wrong side of her attitude. So far the poor guy had run into a doorframe, tripped in front of everyone, and had his voice taped while having sex all with the help of Bri. The guy took it all in stride and did not seem to affect his moral or his relationships with the women on board. He shook his head slightly at the thought.
"What are you thinking about," Bri asked.
"Nall, I can't believe you pushed him into the doorframe," Troy said.
"I was merely walking though the door with him," Bri replied innocently.
"Yeah, with you holding his ear," Troy said. "If I didn't know any better I'd say he likes it, perhaps he gets off on it."
"Eww," Bri replied scrunching up her face at that thought. "Thanks for a mental image I did not need."
"No problem," Troy said then focused his attention on the commander who had walked into the room.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:57:24 GMT -5
Ares walked into the room and noticed that Bri was sitting in the room. He knew that she was part of green squadron and not red but it seemed like more and more pilots of the other squad would listen in to the conversations. This one would seem routine compared to the last couple of missions. At least he hoped that it would go smoother than the last one.
"Lieutenants Tanner and Zac, you're flying patrol to the upcoming system," Ares said to the two men. "Your orders are simple, just observe what type of planet's are in the system and if any have intelligent life on it. Once you return back tot he Argo we will decide what the next step will be."
Ares and Pratt had talked it over about what to do if another encounter with an alien race happened. The decision was for the patrol to pull back and wait to see what type of reaction the aliens gave. That would determine if the Argo would leave or not. It was a hard decision but Ares wanted to avoid another disaster like they had just encountered.
"I want all of you to remember that if you encounter a alien ship head back to the Argo. Once you report back then we will decide what to do. Also if there is any intelligent life on any of the planets just report back to the Argo and we will decide what to do later," Ares told the group. This part was a bit different then the last patrol but they had learned a few lessons.
Tanner and Zac left the room to head to their vipers to begin the patrol. Ares left and headed to the bridge to watch how the patrol went. So far they had had very few patrols that did not have anything exciting to learn. He was ready for a patrol that did not uncover anything for a change.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 14:59:08 GMT -5
Bri and Troy left the room knowing that the last part of the briefing was new. He would have to inform his squad about the changes that had happened. Troy could understand why the changes had been made. The last thing any of them wanted was a new war with another race.
"Do you think we've left that group called the Alliance behind," Bri asked as she had hot heard anything about what happened after the fight.
"I don't know, we either just skirted the edge of their Empire or we are headed right into it," Troy replied. He really hoped that they were not headed into the Alliance space.
"Come on, let's get something to eat, I'm starving," Bri said tugging Troy along with her. They would find out what was in the system later after the patrol and if there was anything of importance.
They found themselves at the cafeteria and Bri grabbed her breakfast putting more food on her plate than Troy did. Her small size hid a vivacious appetite. She could out eat several larger men and yet she managed to burn off all that energy. Troy put some bread on his plate along with some fruit that the still had.
He wondered about the food supply and how much more they had. So far he had not heard anything about their supplies reaching a critical stage. He guessed that they still had enough at the moment. Perhaps one of the planets that they encounter might have some food which they might be able to barter for.
They sat down and were joined by Nall. He seemed to be in his usual mood even though he still had a bit of a bruise on his forehead.
"How's the head," Troy asked.
"Still hurts, want to kiss and make it feel better," Nall replied looking right at Bri.
"That's what got you that in the first place,"' Bri replied.
Troy just groaned as the two continued to banter back and forth. He sometimes wondered how Martin had ever handled it.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 15:00:00 GMT -5
"Commander, we have a problem here," Renee said not looking up from her scanner.
Ares walked down to where she was sitting and inquired what was going on. From the sound of her voice he was sure that it was no good.
"I've lost contact with the patrol," she told him.
"Run a scanner check," he ordered quickly.
"Already done," Renee said having already done that before she had called the commander over. She had been hoping that it was a computer glitch but now it did not look like that was the case.
Ares was not sure he liked this one. They had been lucky the last time a patrol had gone missing, this time it seemed a bit different. His gut feeling was that something was going to happen this time. It was what was going to happen that he did not know.
"Have Captain Troy assemble a team to inspect the area," Ares replied. "Have them keep in constant contact with us just in case. He's squad has had experience with this before."
Pratt left the bridge to find the captain and tell him the news. He was sure that Troy was not going to like it too much. Ares remained on the bridge wondering if he would ever had a patrol that did not encounter something. Maybe it was to be expected though.
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Post by ajmarks on Mar 3, 2009 15:02:00 GMT -5
Troy noticed the colonel making his way to where he was sitting and knew that something was up. By the look on the colonel's face Troy could tell that it was no good whatever had happened. Part of him wanted the colonel to walk on by but knew that was not going to happen.
"Colonel," Troy said as the man came up to where they were.
"Captain, you're needed in the briefing room along with a team of your choosing," Pratt told him watching as the captain and everyone else sighed.
"Yes sir," Troy said as Pratt walked off. "Well, I guess you two are part of my team as well," he said to Bri and Nall.
"Great, knew I should have sat somewhere else," Nall said.
"Find Jax as well, we'll make it a four man team," Troy said. He was not sure how many people to take so he decided that four would probably be the best.
A short while later they were all sitting down in the briefing room as Colonel Pratt walked in. Usually Ares would be the one giving them their mission so Troy wondered what was going on. He had the feeling that he was not going to like what the commander was going to say to him.
"We have another situation," Pratt said to the four of them. "Another patrol disappeared just a few moments ago while on the way to investigate the latest solar system. Seeing as you have experience in this type of mission your job to find out what happened to the patrol and investigate the threat to the ship, if any."
"Any clues as to what happened," Nall asked.
"None, just that the patrol vanished without a trace. You all know the drill, keep in contact at all times," Pratt told them then dismissed them.
The group left the room and headed towards the launch bay where their vipers would be waiting. Troy could not believe that they would be looking for another lost patrol. The last time they had come across a hidden ship that had been drifting in space. He doubted that the second time they would be so lucky. They would have to keep their eyes open this time for trouble.
The four vipers approached the spot where the patrol had disappeared and found nothing. They moved around a bit hoping to find some trace of the ships but so far they had not found anything yet. There was no trace of any debris or even a distress signal. They could still communicate with the Argo and the Argo still had them on their scanners. Troy had hoped that it was some sort of anomaly in the area that messed with the scanners.
"What about the planets, they might be on one of them," Jax said as she thought about it.
"You and Nall head to the system and see if you spot anything, Bri and I will continue to see if we find anything around here," Troy said.
Nall and Jax turned away from them and headed towards the planets to see if they could spot anything on the surface of the planets. It was a bit of a long shot but at this point Troy was ready to try anything to see if he could get to the bottom of this mystery.
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