In the shadow of the events and chaos of Disclosure, the first Battlegroup is formed...
And sent straight into action!
“We're out of the fight,” Jones shook his head, quietly and tiredly dismayed, “we'll need repairs just to return to home plate,”
“True enough,” Sub-Lieutenant Higgs replied, gazing at his Captain somewhat distant eyes, a slight slurring in his voice explained away by the heavy bandage wrapped around his forehead, “maybe the Chief could have rigged up something…”
Captain Jones glanced up as Higgs paused, a slight catch in his voice, “but at least most of the job is simple parts work. As soon as we get home, well, it should be a relatively quick repair job. Can't say the same for the other ships though, Searcher has lost at least a quarter of her crew and Persephone will have to be towed home.”
“I've already arranged for a tow from our allied friends,” he replied, “it'll slow us down but the escort will be helpful and its not as if any of us are in any real condition to race.”
“That's certainly true Sir, but I wouldn't even think about heading home till I've had at least a week to work as much of the kinks out as I can,”
Jones nodded, thanking the all too swiftly promoted Chief of Engineering as he gestured him out of the room. Higgs nodded, pausing by the door as he left the room.
“All this death, all this destruction… was it worth it sir?”
Captain Jones found himself without a reply.
“The Royal Star Service has confirmed the destruction of several internet backbone satellites by its fighters, stating ‘reasons of national security' as an excuse for the unacceptable destruction of private assets and property by the renegade British agency.”
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“Cheering in Washington DC today as the cities first mark II defensive satellite is placed in orbit. The satellite, the first of a network paid for by public donations, was displayed under heavy guard for three days inside the National Air and Space Museum before being lifted directly into orbit by an ‘Airhead' class orbital lifter.
Meanwhile, controversy reins over the placement of the prototype type III ‘Lancelot' defensive satellite, currently under construction at an undisclosed location. Military sources in both Stargate Command and the Royal Star Service state that the most likely location for the satellite will be in orbit over the Stargate Command Facilities currently being cleared ready for reconstruction at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs, however many politicians are arguing for placements more likely to protect their constituents but quite possibly not in the best interests of Earth's continued safety.
It is hoped by this news agency, for all our sakes, that saner heads prevail.”
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“The Senate passed a bill today authorising funding for the construction of a dedicated shipyard in Earth orbit. This facility, intended to increase the ability of our space forces to build and repair ships has yet to be ratified by the British Government, currently sited somewhere in Edinburgh. Official sources say the station, tentatively titled ‘Gaia Station', will be able to handle at least 14 ships at any one time.”
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“I'm standing outside a warehouse in Surrey that just five hours ago was the site of a vicious firefight between government forces, primarily army but with RSS Security support and a number of, what I can only describe as robotic warriors suspected to be Cylon forces. This comes a mere two days after a police station in West Yorkshire was raided and destroyed by individuals wearing Jaffa armour with massive causalities amongst police and prisoner alike.
So far, no official statement has been released regarding either of these incidents.”
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“The internet largely collapsed today as the central IP servers, controlled almost entirely by the US, were taken offline for almost seven hours after the discovery of what official sources describe as an insidious and clever hi-jack. The servers are online at this moment but the disruption has caused massive problems throughout the internet which we are told, may take days to fully clear.”
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“A class action suit brought against the US Government was thrown out of court today. The suit, brought against the government by an alliance of citizens from all bar three of the states, stated that the government had acted in direct contradiction of its responsibility to the general populace.
The response from the government was simple, a potential source of both threats and allies had been found and that, for better or for worse, they had an obligation to investigate.
The judge reminded the court in his closing statement that hindsight was always 20-20. The so called ‘Freedom Alliance' stated that they were going to file charges against the judge for the ‘illegal' ruling… just as soon as they could figure out what those charges should be.”
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“Judge Olymeyer was murdered in his bed last night, just five hours after throwing a suit against the US Government out of court. The ‘Freedom Alliance' has denied any involvement.”
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“Armed police clashed with rioters at Biggin Hill, headquarters for the 1st Motor Torpedo boat Squadron, as an unidentified craft bearing what we believe to be Colonial Markings landed, marking the latest stage of the ongoing colonisation of Alpha Prime. This wave will mainly include the pre-selected, that is, those individuals whom the RSS and SGC commands had already accessed and hoped would apply for the move.”
Defeat.
The word settled over her mind, a bitter pill, poisoning and twisting its way through her gut, they had been defeated. The Cylons, the race truly destined to control and bring order to the human infested chaos of the universe had been defeated by the very pestilence they were meant to destroy.
It truly proved how much of a threat these humans were and how determined they were to resist the rightful rulers of the galaxy… not that any of this helped her at the moment, not with a gun pointed right between her eyes and a probably blocked connection to the resurrection ship.
Could they have figured out how to commit that heresy?
The six admitted to herself that she didn't know, and truly, she didn't want to find out. In the darkest, quietest corner of her mind, she also admitted to herself she was truly afraid.
“Signal from the basestar commander, it's Gullotine. ”
Adama glanced up, a faint grin lighting up the corners of his eyes, “the prize is ours people, the basestars central computer has been isolated,” the grin disappeared as cheers filled the room, “but don't let that get to your heads, we're not safe yet. We've got near 300 hundred people on that basestar whose lives are in jeopardy if the Cylons pay us a return visit. The prize needs to be repaired, made ready to move and it must be protected all the way back to friendly skies, we could still lose this one.”
Pleased at their more subdued and serious attitudes, Adama rubbed the bridge of his nose as he glanced back at the tactical displays dropping down from the ceiling.