InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Butt is where the fart is."

tom_burk (tom_burk) wrote in kobols_legacies,
@ 2007-12-31 22:25:00

Entry tags:

(g) group scene, (p) cylon attack

ACTION STATIONS!

Commander Thomas Burk had gone over the last of the after-action reports of the security breach in the Operations Department, while he stood at the center table in the Combat Information Center. The lapse of security, he considered reflected bad on his command of the ship as those in the department were his crew and he only considered them on loan to the Admiral.

The officer of the deck, had come over to his side with some papers for him to sign, when one of he DRADIS monitors beep, beep then buzzed.

“Contact!” said the tactical officer with urgency. “One cylon raider”

Burk’s eyes were already locked on the lone red colored marker on the DRADIS screen. It was bound to happen, the Cylons had never gave up searching for them, it had only took them longer between intervals to find them.

“Set the fleet to Condition One, and launch the alert fighters, Lieutenant.”

“Aye, sir,” in an instant the ship’s alert alarm sounded. “ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS, this is not a drill, SET Ship to CONDITION ONE. Enemy Contact, Launch alert fighters.”

The lone raider was far enough to be out of range of any of the fighters already on Combat Air Patrol and the destroyer picket, giving the Cylon a good minute to get a good read on the fleet.

“Intercept five minutes,” the tactical officer passed on to the Commander. “Strike that, the raider has jumped.”

“Don’t worry it will be back with its friends.” said Burk. As per standing operation procedure, Burk as the Commander on duty, ordered the fleet to begin jump preparations.

(Thread - post in comments, initial character reactions.)

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jake_mackenzie
2008-01-01 04:53 am UTC (link)

"Contact! One Cylon Raider!" The Admiral's tactical officer in the situation room called out.

Jake's eyes snapped from the report he'd been reading as he stood watch at the plot table up to the DRADIS Screen above.

He opened his mouth to respond when the call to Action Stations went out over the PA. Jake nodded in satisfaction, at least Avalon was on the ball. Hopefully Pacifica had learned its lessons from the Admiral's visit and would be ready to respond.

"Avalon and Pacifica both report launching Alert fighters, Airgroups are scrambling."

Jake wished it had been his turn on rotation, he'd have been down close enough to the hanger decks to make it to a Viper in time to make a difference.

"Has Commander Burk ordered jump prep?"

"Yes, sir."

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Situation Room

absolutelysheba
2008-01-01 05:14 am UTC (link)

At the end of an extended shift of work, the drama of today's crisis in the operations department had been draining on Jilleen's spirit. At least she had something to keep her level minded through it all, but something was very wrong about her dependence and she knew it. This crisis was of an administrative nature, but the stress of it had got the best of her and she was exhausted.

The hot water of the overhead shower washed over her body. She could fell the warmth on her skin as the jets of water massaged her neck. She turned around, closed her eyes and made a half step to let the water pour over her head and cover her face, when she heard something through the sound of rushing water.

She turned a dial to shut the water off. “...Stations, this is not a drill.” That was all she had to hear to get her to react. She grabbed her towel and threw on her robe. There was no time to run to her quarters and change. Action Stations was not optional.

Dripping wet with her towel around her neck, Jilleen rushed with the rest in the corridor hurrying to stations. At least she had a robe and slippers.

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-01 08:27 am UTC (link)

There were what amounted to two different central control nodes aboard the battlestar. One was for the Commander of the individual ship. The other was specifically for the Admiral and her staff to use, so as not to interfere with that specific ship's running.

Commanders were responsible for the individual craft. The Admiral, however, had jurisdiction over the fleet, as a whole.

It was to her own where Sinclair made good time heading. A situation report was the first thing she ordered, being informed of friend and foe status, alike. As each civilian unit flashed away, so the Admiral was informed of that, too.

Simmons' state of undress did not cause her concern. It was hardly the first time the call for readiness had caused such a state of affairs.

"Tell the Pacifica to take up station here," she commanded, directing the vessel to a series of co-ordinates not too far behind the Avalon. A bearing punched in, telling the other ship to face an alternative direction, once reaching there. Until knowing when and where the enemy might come, it was all about mutually covering fields of fire.

It was then that the icon marking one of the destroyer's positions began to flash.

Something was wrong. Something temporary, Sinclair hoped.

"Find out what her problem is - now," she barked. "The moment the last civvies jump out, I want us ready to follow suit."

The alternative was to send the Pacifica on ahead, along with just enough assets to safeguard the fleet. Sinclair did not want to risk doing so, until all other options were exhausted.

There was only a small window of opportunity until the Cylons began arriving in force.

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Re: Situation Room

jake_mackenzie
2008-01-01 03:17 pm UTC (link)

"Brownlee Reports a failure in their Nav Computer, they're working to get it back online. Estimated time...five minutes. Shangri-La is away." The Communications officer relayed.

Jake looked over at the Admiral. This sort of thing was precisely what they had worried about and why she'd ordered up the report.

"DRADIS Contact!" Tactical called out, "Cylon Basestar, bearing 136, carom 228! They're launching raiders!"

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-01 04:40 pm UTC (link)

Even Admirals were known to swear, as this one did now, cursing under her breath. If there were a higher state of alert, then what was left of the entire fleet was now on it, red lights and all.

Sinclair cared not where the Prime Minister had gone to, whether this room or the Commander's. What mattered now was in dispatching orders and, unfortunately, weighing up consequences.

A destroyer was an incredibly valuable asset, out here. They were fortunate to even still have one, never mind several. No reinforcements would be coming. If any did, it would be a miracle worthy of the gods, themselves.

To lose one was, in short, unthinkable. But then, it was her job to not only think the unthinkable, but plan for it, too. As in need of them as they were, they simply were not worth a battlestar and never worth two. If those directed to support it were in immediate danger, the order would have to be given to withdraw.

"I want a BARCAP set up, between us and them, immediately! At least two flights protecting the carriers - get those Raptors up and designate escorts for each; tell them to target the hanger exits. Tell our supports to aim the big guns for their silos - hard. I don't want that thing throwing anything more at us than we let it!"

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Re: Situation Room

absolutelysheba
2008-01-02 12:30 am UTC (link)

At her station with her robe wrapped tight around her, Jilleen took a quick read of the large displays on the wall with the latest data of the battlefield. On the DRADIS she noticed that two additional basestars had joined the first one. She turned her head to look back at the admiral to see the woman’s reaction when she was jolted by an impact on the ships hull, that almost caused her to fall to the floor, but she grabbed hold of the Colonel who happen to have been standing near by.

“Jake.”

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Re: Situation Room

jake_mackenzie
2008-01-02 01:07 am UTC (link)

Jake swore as two more basestars appeared on the DRADIS, bringing the total to three. This was getting nasty fast, and they needed to get moving.

At least the last of the Civilian ships jumped away, from what reports they'd gotten it didn't appear that any of them had suffered significant damage. The same couldn't be said for Brownlee however, as the basestars seemed to sense weakness in the destroyer like wolves circling juicy prey and were devoting the majority of their fire on the crippled warship. Shared point defense between the entire strike group helped lessen the damage, but shots were still getting through.

Not that the toasters were ignoring the rest of the strike group. Avalon bucked hard from the impact and detonation of a missile slamming into the battlestar's hull. He swayed with the impact, and managed to catch Jill before she slammed her head against the plot table.

"Careful Jill," he glanced down at her slippered feet. "You might be better off barefoot."

He made sure she was back on her feet before letting go and returning his attention to the battle.

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Re: Situation Room

absolutelysheba
2008-01-02 02:30 am UTC (link)

Holding tight to his arms, she looked down at her thin shower slippers. He was right, they were not meant for combat,her bath robe was not either. She kicked her slippers off to the side and out of the way as he suggested, and stood bare footed in the heart of a battleship in the middle of combat, but of course kept on the robe and towel around her neck.

They had let go of each other, but while Jake attention was turned back to the battle, Jilleen could not help but smile at him, and almost giggle at the situation, but had the sense enough to stop herself before it became too obvious that she was under the influence.

She went back to her station and took a seat, to gain access to the data base on the station’s computer. Lists of units and their combat readiness ratings, equipment and manpower. It was her department’s job to keep an update on unit combat effectiveness, and that meant getting regular updates on any loses when they could.

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-02 09:10 pm UTC (link)

As hard-going as it was, the Colonials were giving as good as they good and had the the advantage of not only deploying carriers, but much more. The edge in versatility was theirs.

Sinclair only hoped they could press it home.

"Tell the Gorgan and Rex to match bearings on Master 1 and co-ordinate with the Raptors! Saturate their defences from both sides! Neutralise, then repeat on Master 2!"

Each 'Master' designation represented a basestar. A ship could have a more or less easy time of repelling an attack, if it came only from one side. Split its direction, however and it would have to divide sensor focus, fire control and weapon platforms between each successive strike. If enough of them hit home - and did not misfire, much less get decoyed - they might just inflict enough damage to make this worthwhile.

Watching as units set about to carry out her orders, it was up to the individual pilots and crews to put theory now into practice and...

Sound might not travel in space, but the glaring flash was obvious. Defensive fire was spreading in all directions, but offensive was heading only in one and they were treated to the spectacular of a disintegrating Cylon capital ship; fire spreading throughout superstructure, before core went nova, incinerating everything in its most immediate locality.

Unfortunately, something not too dissimilar was seen to happen to one of the Avalon's own support vessels, cutting any would-be celebrations short.

"Frack," snapped Sinclair under breath. "Receive and re-arm all Raptors for a repeat on Master 2! Give me a read-down of the Brownlee's status! She jumps in the next two minutes or there won't be an escort!"

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Re: Situation Room

jake_mackenzie
2008-01-02 11:07 pm UTC (link)

Fortunately the initial reports of the complete destruction of one of the Colonial ships had been somewhat exaggerated. Brownlee had been badly wounded, thus generating the spectacular display.

Jake got on the wireless directly to find out Brownlee's status. "Major Davies reports they suffered severe damage to the sublight engines in that last Cylon missile barrage. They've just managed the nav computer working, estimate thirty seconds before they'll be able to jump, assuming nothing else goes wrong. It sounds pretty bad over there Admiral."

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-03 12:04 am UTC (link)

"Move the-"

An alert sounded and Sinclair's eyes widened at the radiaiological alarms now screeching out. There were five, at least, with symbology indicating their having been detected by a group of Vipers shielding the Brownlee. The same Vipers now awaiting release from the Avalon to intercept the hurtling missiles.

"Time to pray in CIWS," Sinclair muttered, knowing fully well that if they got through this, getting overhauled in dock was not an option.

Making a judgement call, she felt a carrier to be of far more importance to the fleet's security.

"Authorise that flight for interception. That still leaves a few over for the Brownlee," she ordered, knowing that Burk would already be giving commands for evasion, ECM and decoys. That was his responsibility.

"Tell the Pacifica to head out, full burn - give our metal friends something to chase. Give the alert for the recovery of all birds. We need a fleet-wide jump in effect, the moment Brownlee's able to."

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Re: Situation Room

jake_mackenzie
2008-01-03 03:53 am UTC (link)

"Brownlee reports Nav computer back online and FTL Drive spinning up. Estimated time to jump fifteen seconds." Jake relayed after hanging up from his conversation with the Brownlee CO.

"All strike group assets report FTL's are spun up and ready to jump on your command Admiral." The Comm Officer reported shortly thereafter. "Avalon and Pacifica have ordered recall of the air groups."

"Three missiles destroyed, two more still inbound. Four minutes to impact!" Tactical called out.

It was time to go, the additional basestars that showed up gave the Cylons enough assets to pound the strike group to scrap in short order. Jake had no doubt that there would be more arriving to help finish them off if they stuck around much longer.

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-04 12:17 am UTC (link)

Hearing the call of all craft having been recovered, Sinclair had been counting down the seconds, fist clenched. Orders were being thundered out to account for every new move the machines threw at them. She was no slouch, although left the micro-managing up to those in individual commands.

Once everything was ready, however...

"Jump the fleet!"

Those five inbounds had tripled in the last few seconds, but none were going to reach them in time. With multiple flashes of light, the Admiral's command was carried out.

Hopefully, everyone's drive would now function as it should.

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Re: Situation Room

absolutelysheba
2008-01-04 12:53 am UTC (link)

They did it.

Jilleen felt as she could breathe normally again as it had been a close call with those incoming warheads. She patted the person next to her on the back. “Well done,” she praised the specialist.

She looked back at where Jake would be standing and flashed me a quick smile, then returned to her work. The smile on her face had disappeared as the numbers were starting to come in. No names, just head counts and equipment conditions. From initial counts, it looked as if the air group took the most loses as a section of a hanger deck had collapsed on Avalon. It was the price they had to pay.

Before Jilleen could continue, she would have to get away for a moment and return to her quarters to change into some proper clothes, before she could complete Operations after-action summary.

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-04 01:07 am UTC (link)

It took a moment to mentally adjust. There was the feeling that their foe might suddenly appear, right along with them. A fear which slowly dissolved away to vapour.

Letting relief, but not celebration, flood through her, Admiral Sinclair slowly exhaled, trying to tell the muscles in her body to relax and knowing it would probably take some time.

"Damage reports... Casualties... Give me the list."

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Re: Situation Room

absolutelysheba
2008-01-04 01:28 am UTC (link)

Unable to get away, Jilleen stood up and turned to face the Admiral with her notes in hand. She again tighten her robe to look some what presentable.

"Sir, Avalon reports heavy damage to its starboard hanger deck nine, initial causalities are nineteen and ah... Master Chief Troy is dead.

"Pacifica, reports lost of one of its main gun batteries, initial causality count, twenty five.

"Brownlee, heavy damage throughout, intial causality count twenty nine.

All remaining ships report minor damage, a dozen or so causalities.

"Air Groups are still reporting, sixteen dead or missing."

"Thats all at the moment, sir." Jilleen stopped. They had seen worst numbers, but any lost was not welcomed news.

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-04 01:58 am UTC (link)

A moment passed. Sinclair knew there would be losses. Fortunately, they had inflicted a great deal more, but the bad news was, the Cylons could very easily just manufacture more.

It took her less than ten seconds to take mental stock of the situation and react with a virtually elastic, "Good job, everyone."

Then, removing herself from the chair, she approached Jake, lowering voice.

"Looks like we might have to put that contingency plan into operation, sooner than expected, Colonel..."

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Re: Situation Room

jake_mackenzie
2008-01-04 02:16 am UTC (link)

The butcher's bill had been high for this engagement. How high Jake wasn't sure but it definitely would be more than they'd suffered in some time. A few more like that and there wouldn't be a fleet.

He'd acknowledged Jill's smile with an absent nod, his attention still focused on the DRADIS as if the cylons would appear at any moment. When nothing appeared on the screen but friendlies, his body language visibly relaxed.

Turning to face the Admiral as she approached, he nodded at her statement. "I'll alert the staff once we've got a firm estimate on the butcher's bill. It would be a good idea to increase the scouting parties in the mean time."

Cannibalizing the civilian ships was a last resort, but it was also a finite resource. The rest of the fleet was also experiencing wear and tear, and the civilian ships hadn't been designed with the redundancy that the military vessels had.

If they didn't find someplace to stopover for repairs soon, the entire journey might be for naught

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Re: Situation Room

admiralsinclair
2008-01-04 02:38 am UTC (link)

"I concur," she confided, hands joined behind back. "Inform the Commanders and make it happen. Wyndom seemed agreeable, in either case. I can only imagine this is going to make him more so. Maybe the Cylons did us an unintentional favour."

She would make some sort of speech later, but now was not the time. People were still taking stock of loved ones, colleague and equipment, with the latter most definitely being a primary concern now. They had expended a lot of weapons in that last engagement.

How much time did they have before the ship magazines ran empty or Vipers and Raptors could no longer be armed?

Awaiting the next batch of reports, Sinclair moved to another station, conferring and goiving orders, as was her duty. Once they came up on a certain percentage of readiness, she could retire for the duration.

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Air Group

kobe_sykes
2008-01-01 06:08 am UTC (link)

In front of those selected for the tomorrow's reconnaissance mission, Kobe had just started the briefing with the alert sounded. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” he paused for dramatic effect. “Last one out, turns off the lights.” He shut his briefing book, and took off running toward the exit to get to his fighter.

Already in his flight suit he headed directly to the upright hanger in the port pod.

The alert fighters were already space-borne by the time he got to his Mark VII Viper. The plane captain, the specialist assigned to take care of his fighter, was already waiting with Kobe's helmet and neck ring. As the CAG, stopped before the ladder to slip on his gloves, the plane captain had locked the metal ring, also affectionately called the 'donut', around Kobe's neck.

As Kobe climbed the ladder, “Everything checks out?”

“Yes, sir.” Then plane captain handed the pilot his helmet. “Good Hunting, sir.” Kobe was too busy to reply.

Inside the cockpit, helmet on, and strapped in. Kobe gave his plane captain, the thumbs up. The clear canopy dome came down, the ladder was removed quickly before the viper moved toward the launch tube.

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Re: Air Group

vosca_tarix
2008-01-01 08:45 am UTC (link)

Nobody could miss that klaxon, although there might be a danger of it causing deafness. The moment it went, Vosca 'Dagger' Tarix jumped out of her seat with an instinctive jolt. This was a drill done countless times before and that included people finding methods to get out of approaching pilots' ways, as well as personnel finding the shortest routes to their craft.

She was in the next batch of fighters on alert to go, already in flight suit and needing to do little more than zip it up, attach helmet and quickly check for pressurisation.

She was into the cockpit with little more said to the crewmen prepping her Viper, than a brief exchange of official checks.

A flurry of hand gestures were made at those readying her for the next flight out and then came the impact of G-force, pressing her back into the seat through inertia, wingmen from her own squadron soon coming up and level. From outside the glass, the glare from large flashes of light could be seen, as civilian transports put theory into practice and activated their drives for pre-arranged designation points.

"Avalon, this is Hydra One. No targets yet visible. Requesting instructions."

Vipers were typically used to either blow things up or take up station by somewhere to deter anyone else with the same idea. Tarix needed to know at least in which direction her own flight was meant to be headed.

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Re: Air Group

erin_tallis
2008-01-01 04:16 pm UTC (link)

Erin was once again sitting in the corner of the pilot’s recreation room doing nothing but thinking, waiting for something to get her out that chair she had been stuck to for all this time. She had lost track of how long it had been since she had got sleep, days at least. It was quiet, her eyes closed slightly but were immediately snapped open when the ship’s Klaxon aired through the ship followed by the all too familiar call from CIC.

“ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS, this is not a drill, SET Ship to CONDITION ONE. Enemy Contact, Launch alert fighters.”

She jumped to her feet and started out the recreation room with the rest of the pilot’s and instantly headed for the hanger deck where her bird would hopefully still be sitting and fully ready for combat. Erin rarely made mistakes so her bird should be ready to fly if there weren’t any technical problems.

The hanger deck had a buzz of activity again as Tallis made her way down to the deck, running for her bird and was intercepted by the deck hand. “Lieutenant, everything checks out, you’re good to go.” Erin delivered a single nod and climbed inside the cockpit, getting herself strapped in as quickly as possible before taking her helmet from the deck hand. “Get me in the tubes on the double.”

“Yes sir. Good hunting sir” He climbed down the steel steps and pulled them away as the canopy was closed over her head. She had her helmet on and did pre-flight while some of the deck hands got her bird to the tubes. It wasn’t long before she was staring down the long launch tube. All she wanted to do was get out there and kill some frakking toasters.

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Re: Air Group

the_angel
2008-01-01 04:50 pm UTC (link)

Caitlin was sitting, lounging in the briefing from the CAG who had been talking for quite a while from what she could determine. Maybe she should actually pay a little more attention and listen to the specifications for this mission. The klaxon sounded inside her head and her eyes sharply opened full, realizing what was going on. She rubbed her eyes and brought herself up into the seated position before her awareness of the situation kicked in with the urgency in her body’s moment. A curse left her lips as she scrambled to her feet, pulling up her flight suit to fully on, zipping and clipping herself in. After only a few moments of haste dressing, Caitlin was kitted in her flight suit and boots, running for the hanger deck as fast as she could.

Her feet hit the deck a few minutes later, a deck hand coming over to her with helmet and neck brace. “It’s the cylons sir.” He escorted her to the grounded bird, her bird, putting the neck brace on just before she climbed up into the cockpit, securing herself inside and then taken her helmet off the deck hand. “I never would have known the specialist.” She raised a small smirk and pulled her helmet on, closing the canopy once the deck hand was clear. Cait gestured for them to move her viper into the launch tubes where she would sit anxiously and wait for the go or stay orders. It was the worst thing about being a pilot.

The viper was pushed into the tubes where she sat, finishing her check on the systems before staring down the long straight tube, wondering what awaited beyond. She hated this part, waiting for instructions but regulations dictated she wait for those orders.

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Re: Air Group

kobe_sykes
2008-01-01 08:21 pm UTC (link)

Already in the fray, Kobe began to assess the battlefield.

The battlestars and the basestar were starting to put up a spectacle light show as the ships exchanged weapons fire. The occasional flashes would light up his cockpit.

“Noodles, Reaper stay out of Avalon’s firing solutions.” Too late the nugget, Noodles, went up into a ball of fire as her viper was thorn apart but the Battlestar’s fire. “Frak!”

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Re: Air Group

erin_tallis
2008-01-02 04:40 pm UTC (link)

It seemed like an eternity, the endless chatter was telling the story of what was going on inside and outside the ship. Erin had both hands grasped around the stick, ready, waiting for the chance to kill some frakking cylons. She was itching for a chance to take revenge but had to wait for that order, the go order for the grounded birds like her. That funnel, the long tube she was staring down was all that stood behind her and the coming cylons.

Finally the ordered came to scramble the rest of the squadron, the alert fighters going to be out numbered in the skies. Straight away Erin nodded to the on duty control officer who did a quick final check of systems. Within moments she was propelled down the long funnel and out into the darkness, her finger immediately hitting the power.

“Hydra One, this is Nemesis. Be on your six in a few moments.” She looked around, trying to see what and where the action was going to take place. It was the first thing she always did, making eye ball contact with the fleet and then the enemy.

Basestar and Battlestar started trading pelts, one or two pilots making a rookie mistake and plunging to there deaths because of they strayed into the firing range of the Battlestar. She shook her head, idiots. Sometimes she thought it was the easy way out as if they were deliberately forgetting the basics in order to end there pain.

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Re: Air Group

vosca_tarix
2008-01-02 11:41 pm UTC (link)

"Hydras, we are going in hot! You are authorised weapons free! Brownlee, we are inbound - IP, ten seconds."

'Initial Point' was the designation given to the final waypoint before reaching primary target. The latter, in this case, being the swarming furball of swerving, afterburning metal, straight ahead of them.

"Hydras, this is Dagger. Off-loading our kill-box to you, now. Ladies, gentlemen, pick a target. Anything trying to hook into the Brownlee - that's our priority."

The 'kill-box' was a selected area of three-dimensional space. Their area of engagement. It helped to prevent two different groups of Vipers wasting fuel and stores on trying to defend the same place.

Their duty was to defend the stricken destroyer, for as long as it took. Quite how long that would be, was not up to them.

"Roger, Nemesis - I've got a Heavy Raider closing in. Stay with me."

It was at times like these when Dagger's ice-cold hunting manner came into its own. Going up against her in trials, could be much the same as going up against a machine. In some ways, perhaps that assisted her, when it came to Cylons.

Five seconds later and the target was vapour.

"That's a kill...! That's a kill!"

Off in the distance, the sight of an entire basestar splintering into ashes caught Dagger's attention, in no uncertain terms.

An electronic alarm, likewise. That time, however, of even more importance.

"Avalon! This is Hydra 1! I'm picking up five radiologicals heading straight for you - requesting permission to engage."

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Re: Air Group

kobe_sykes
2008-01-03 11:14 pm UTC (link)

Communications in the middle of combat as best was hectic with all the cross chatter. The CAG had heard Dagger's call to the Avalon about the missiles and heard Avalon's reply for her to engage the missiles.

After no response from Dagger, Kobe did a quick glance of the Dradis summary, Dagger IFF was still active, which meant her viper was still intact, but it was not confirmation that the pilot inside was still alive. Her birds were the closes to those missiles.

"Dagger/Bojay, engage those warheads, Avalon advise to pursue till red zone, do you copy, over." The red zone was the area of heavy point defense fire around the battlestar.

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Re: Air Group

vosca_tarix
2008-01-04 12:06 am UTC (link)

Dagger was riding the last two, hard. She had managed to strike one, others had killed the rest. As someone ditched the other, she was left with the last, hearding Avalon's call to land. For someone as strict about orders as Captain Tarix, that would have meant something, but being hot on the tail of a nuclear warhead heading towards her own carrier, changed things.

"Got tone... Firing."

Two missiles of her own leapt from their rails. One hit, but was part of that percentage of failures, as the fuse failed to detonate, leaving it up to the companion round to slam home and explode.

"Splash one nuke!" Dagger called, swerving off to kick in the 'burners and head home. Spinning metal ricocheted into the airframe and the Viper shuddered, trailing fumes. Within the cockpit, warning sirens began to sound aloud and Dagger radioed on ahead of needing an emergency recovery.

She was coming in hot and a number of the thrusters usually meant to make it turn in vacuum were no longer functional. Even the machine-like Vosca was not able to prevent it from skidding along the flight deck, sparking hard, all the way.

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Re: Air Group

primitive_soul
2008-01-04 01:22 am UTC (link)

"We copy that, Captain. Bring her in and don't spare the floor."

Alice had been trained in how to use the radio in case of emergencies, and as soon as she put the handset down she organized a few of the other crewmen and handed thenm fire extinguishers in case Tarix's Viper was still burning when she landed. There were enough chemicals down here to punch a hole in the Avalon's hull wide enough to land a dozen Vipers.

The thrusters had apparently burned out, and metal screamed against metal as the Captain landed her bird. Alice used her own extinguisher liberally, spraying everything that even looked like it was thinking of igniting. Someone brought a short ladder, and she handed off the object before climbing up on the rungs and unlatching the hatch.

"Need some help, Sir?" she asked with a poor attempt at a salute. "Frakking good landing, all things considered, by the way."

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Re: Air Group

vosca_tarix
2008-01-04 01:42 am UTC (link)

There was the momentary fear of the cockpit fusing shut and having to be cut out, whilst the fighter around her became a ticking time-bomb. Fortunately, it was not anything of the kind and, with some assistance, was able to make it out, just in time for reality to bend around them, only to snap back in elastic fashion, as the ship instantaneously leapt across more space than her Viper could ever hope to cover on fuel reserves.

"Crewman," thanked the pilot, nodding. Tarix was not someone known for being sociable and was a woman of, usually, very few words.

Without the tell-tale sounds of impact resounding throughout the hull, or of the ship's guns recoiling as they fired out, come to that, she could only assume that they were out of danger.

Removing helmet, still in full flight suit, Vosca looked around, knowing she had yet to make a full and informative tally of her squadron and how many had survived. Such was her responsibility.

"Looks like I'll be putting my bird in storage, for a while," she judged. "Your people suffer any casualties?"

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Re: Air Group

primitive_soul
2008-01-04 01:51 am UTC (link)

"We lost Chief Troy, Captain," the noncom answered, gesturing to where a covered form lay inert on the deck. "We took a hit just before the jump, and he caught a piece of shrapnel from the hull. One of the other mechanics was pretty badly burned. PO Gaither took him down to the sick bay himself because he couldn't see."

She glanced at the damaged Viper, weighing the chances of ever getting it back into flying shape. Maybe, maybe not.

Alice paused, feeling awkward and a bit foolish. Talking to officers wasn';t something she did on a regular basis. Really, talking to anyone was a bit of a chore for her. But Captain Tarix seemed unlikely to press her for details of anything beyond the official.

"How many birds went out?" she asked the officer, knowing they were going to have to make their own tally of what to repair and what to scrap. "The klaxon echoes so much down here it makes it hard to think."

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Re: Air Group

vosca_tarix
2008-01-04 02:13 am UTC (link)

Tarix did not like the sound of that. The mechanics had their own culture, much like pilots and just about every other speciality on board. The loss was one of a leader and whoever next stepped into the position would have a period of adjustement to make, which would probably eat a little into efficiency.

Or perhaps improve it. One never quite knew.

Looking over at a crumpled heap of a craft, in much worser shape than her own, the Viper driver grimaced, as those clambering over it designated the wreckage a no-go.

Which meant what was left of those inside would probably have to be scraped out, rather than carried...

Vosca had seen it before. All too many times, unfortunately. It was part of why she came down so heavily on those who did not pay nearly as much attention to their situational awareness as they should. The ones who showed off.

Catching sight of another pilot who gestured a negative hand sign, she gave a small sigh of resignation and answered Crewman Starkweather with a, "Not enough returned, I can tell you that much. I'll know in a few if my squadron's still intact."

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Re: Air Group

primitive_soul
2008-01-04 02:34 am UTC (link)

"No, Sir," Alice agreed quietly, also looking at the battered Viper. "Not enough of them ever return."

Letting herself think of Nathan again, his boyish face tired and grime-streaked the last time she'd seen him alive. He was lost to her now, like so many others had been lost. She'd been a child then, unaccustomed to the horrors of war. Innocent. No more, though.

"Is there anything you need, Captain?" she inquired, pulling herself out of the reverie. "I could get you some water while you're waiting, if you'd like."

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Re: Air Group

vosca_tarix
2008-01-04 02:52 am UTC (link)

Space was a cold environment, but it did not prevent you from sweating. Between generated body heat, the natural anxieties of combat and installed central heating unit, just about all the pilots were heated up and in need of a shower.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you," she nodded and gratefully received the bottle, once it was given over, with a press of it to damp forehead, then a swift unscrew of the cap and swallowing of the contents down throat.

In the meanwhile, another pilot had come over, exchanging information while Starkweather had been getting the refreshment. With the done with and the girl to thank, she returned attention, placing hand to shoulder.

"I'm not as egotistical as a lot of my brethren... I appreciate what you do for us. You've got my personal thanks for today."

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Re: Air Group

kobe_sykes
2008-01-04 01:51 am UTC (link)

Kobe was one of the last to come in for the combat landing in his assigned flight deck. The deck was full of vipers that had found a place along the flight line to hold up for the FTL. There was a narrow line left open for vipers that had to come in damaged and needing the room.

Crews in vac-suits inside the large open flight deck were already beginning to direct fighters to the evalators when the battlestar jumped.

He would have to wait his turn and be prepared to make a cold launch from the flight deck if the Cylons had followed. While those fighters in immediate danger of losing a pilot were taken down to the hanger deck level, where the environment was more accommodating without life support.

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Family Quarters

model_pilot
2008-01-01 06:13 am UTC (link)

Dani had been resting with Rhys on their bed, just enjoying some quiet time as a couple when the PA sounded.

“ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS, this is not a drill, SET Ship to CONDITION ONE. Enemy Contact, Launch alert fighters.”

"Frak!" Dani instinctively sat up and started to get out of bed, then stopped. She couldn't go anywhere, she was on medical restriction due to the pregnancy. There was no duty station for her to go to, and as awkward as she'd gotten the past few weeks she'd just get in the way anyway.

This was the first time the Cylons attacked that she wasn't able to do anything but sit.

She looked to Rhys, the worry clear on her face. She wasn't able to do anything, but he needed to report to his action station ASAP.

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CIC

tom_burk
2008-01-01 06:01 pm UTC (link)

Moments after the first basestar had appeared, two more had joined it. The Cylons had done this many times before with the expected the same result, the refugees having or in the process of jumping away. Most engagement would only last long enough for the human fleet to get away and escape. All the cylons could hope for was an opportunity to exploit a mistake or weak point.

“Second Basestar, bearing 165, carom 302, Third Basestar bearing 211, carom 078, they are launching raiders,” said the tactical officer.

Burk received the orders directed by SGC over the head set when his tactical officer relayed the latest additions. His eyes locked on the overhead monitor, “Bring the ship, about…” The first impact from a Cylon salvo to have passed the point defenses shook the ship hard, jarring those inside. Burk had caught himself on the center table and continued to shout his orders to comply with the admiral’s orders

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Re: CIC

john_swagger
2008-01-01 11:42 pm UTC (link)

Gunnery Sergeant John Lee Swagger entered CIC and heard the alert alarm sound.

“ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS, this is not a drill, SET Ship to CONDITION ONE. Enemy Contact, Launch alert fighters.”

He had arrived for shift rotation. He nodded in the direction of Sergeant Harper and Corporal Piper as they headed to the hanger deck. John and four other marines were left in CIC he stood guard a short distance away from the Command and Control station. He didn't want to get in the way but needed to be near the Commander and Admiral if Avalon was boarded.

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Family Quarters

model_pilot
2008-01-02 03:01 am UTC (link)

The section of Avalon devoted to crew quarters, including those for families, was a ghost town. Those members of the crew that had been off duty before the call had dropped whatever they were doing and left quarters to man their stations, leaving the area quiet as a tomb and just as deserted.

Deserted...except for one Daniella Kypros, who sat huddled on her bed as she listened to the muffled noises of the battle. This was torture, just sitting there listening to the fighting and not being able to help.

It was also scary as hell, as she listened to the hull plating creak and groan from the impacts. She could imagine the sight from the cockpit of a Viper out on the BARCAP...missiles streaking toward Avalon and the point defense batteries trying to blow them up before they could reach the ship. The space around the battlestar would be ablaze with light from all manner of munitions and explosions of vipers and raiders whose luck had run out this particular day.

A loud Boom! rang out through the hull as a missile slammed into it and detonated, causing the ship to buck violently. Dani screamed as she was jolted from her bed onto the floor from the force of the impact.

The young woman sat on the floor and clutched her swollen belly protectively, praying for the gods to help her people defeat the enemy and escape unscathed.

She'd always wondered what it must be like for the Civilians...now she knew.

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Rude Awakenings

josiah_cobra
2008-01-02 08:06 am UTC (link)

Josiah sat up quickly in his rack, the call to action stations had been given. The last five words in the announcement were the ones that caught his attention. "THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

It had been months since their last engagement with the Cylons. In those months both the and Burke had not relented on drills and training. Knowing somehow that this point in time would come, sooner or later. still, his mind drifted to the other ships of the fleet. Pacifica, the destroyers, even the civillian fleet he questioned as to their capabilities. It had been far too long, in his opinion. Far too long for one reason and one reason only. The other ships, in his mind, had become far too relaxed. Seemingly thinking that the Cylon troubles were over. Somehow, they seemed to have forgotten that they were dealing with machines. Machines needed no rest. Needed no sleep. They were relentless in their hunt for the remaining humans of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

Shaking off the fog of sleep and introspect, he quickly hauled himself out of his rack. Grabbing his uniform trousers, he quickly slipped them on, fastening the buttons then the buckle of his belt. Next he threw his tunic about his shoulders, running his arms through the sleeves.

Not bothering to button it up just yet, he slightly slid the slide back on his sidearm to check the round in the chamber, then holstered it. Opening the hatch door, he ran down the passageway to the CIC while buttoning his tunic.

As he was nearer to the CIC, the first Cylon missile slammed into the ship, throwing her hard to her portside. Josiah braced himself against the bulkhead he was thrown against. "Bloody tinpot bastards." He muttered.

Quickly he grabbed a few of the orange clad damage control teams that were thrown to the deck on their way to parts below decks. Hauling them roughly to their feet he pushed them along. "There's work to do gentlemen, it's time you weren't here, get to it!"

Entering the CIC he quickly grabbed the glass door closest to him, as another missile impacted the ship. Recovering quickly he took his place across the plot table from Commander Burke. Simply nodding at his CO he glanced at the DRADIS confirming the reports he had heard being called out.

Shifting his gaze over to DC Central he didn't have to bark out his order for a SITREP, the Petty Officer at the DC Station noticed his look and began shouting the battle damages to him.

"XO! Damage moderate so far! Small hull breaches deck three frames three, one, seven, three, to frame three, one, eight four. Also, deck four, frames four, one, two, six, to frame four, one, three, two."

Josiah nodded at the Petty Officer. "Very well DC, lock down all portside pod, outer passageways. To include all service passageways, I want redundancy. As for the forward section of the ship. Lock out the forward crews mess, storage spaces one, three, five, seven, nine, eleven, and thirteen. Lock down first three forward sections of crews quarters on the portside."

DC Central gave a thumbs up as he voiced his orders through the headset.

Josiah then concentrated on the DRADIS display. The Baseships were maneuvering into the best attack positions possible.

Picking up the handset from it's cradle he looked at Burke. "Two minutes and we call the birds back home? They won't survive much longer than that...."

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Re: Rude Awakenings

tom_burk
2008-01-03 01:28 am UTC (link)

Commander Burk gave his Executive officer a nod and was about to say something when, the tactical officer called out “Radiological alarm!” followed by a second later by the Hydra leader reporting the same with the additional detail of five missiles.

“Tell her to engage till the missiles are in range of our point-defense perimeter, ” he ordered and then turned to his XO. “Evasive procedures, prepare to lock fire on remaining incoming missile when they get in range.”

The DRADIS alarm sounded again. “New contacts! Two…three basestars. Enemy formation bearing 071, carom 340.Range…”

Burk could read the range of the new basestars on the DRADIS for himself. The additional basestar were out of weapons range. “Are they launching raiders?”

“Confirmed and those three basestars are holding their positions” replied the tactical officer. “Master 2 is…gone? No, Master 2 has jumped.” tactical was perplexed as some of the others in CIC were now. In the three years of fighting, a basestar had never simply withdrawn voluntarily.

The Brownlee better make its getaway in the next few minutes, or they will have even additional basestars on them, Burk thought to himself. But his next worry was the incoming nuclear warheads.

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Re: Rude Awakenings

josiah_cobra
2008-01-03 06:13 am UTC (link)

Standing ready to recall the airgroup, Josiah instictively lowered the handset slightly as more baseships jumped into the furball. "Bloody hells." He whispered. Switching the handset to the Avalon battlenet he listened to the damage battle reports and wireless comms between the warships and the fighters. Brownlee was getting pounded. The other destroyers were moving into good tactical positions. That was before the other baseships jumped in.

Studying the DRADIS he watched as any slight tactical advanted vaporized into non existance. All gave way to the glowing red icons denoting the inbound nukes. And the airgroup standing between them and the loss of ships and scores of human life.

Out of habit Josiah looked down at the plot table. Making a quick mental study of the battlefield. The positions of the Cylon ships now essentially encircled the battlegroup, closing off any room for maneuvering to fight for a better vector of attack.

He and Burked locked eyes momentarily, Josiah merely shook his head slightly. Confirming this was a battle they were quickly losing.

Switching to engineering he spoke into the handset. "Standby to jump."

The Engineering Officer of the watch acknowledged. "FTL's spooled up and ready. Standing by to jump."

Josiah nodded. "Very well." Josiah turned to the Nav console. "Nav?"

"Emergency jump coordinates, Constellation, Zulu, two six, plotted. FTL key inserted, ready to jump, Sir."

"Very well Nav."

Josiah looked over to Burke. "Sir, the ship is ready to jump."

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Hangar Deck

rhys_gaither
2008-01-03 01:50 am UTC (link)

"ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS, this is not a drill, SET ship to CONDITION ONE. Enemy Contact, Launch alert fighters."

Rhys had been up and moving as soon as the klaxon started to sound, giving Dani a quick kiss before dragging his boots on and following the tide of people out of family quarters. Frak, but he hated to leave her there, knowing how much she wanted to help, but her condition made it impossible.

It was a quick trip down to the hangar, and an orderly sort of chaos was in full swing as fighters started taking off to combat the incoming Cylons. It was always a question of how long it was going to last. Materials were in such short supply that every patch job took a toll, and every missile that hit home cost them both time and resources.

"Crewman Starkweather!" he called, having spotted Alice close by. "I'm going to need your assistance when the birds return. How many fighters have launched so far?"

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Re: Hangar Deck

primitive_soul
2008-01-03 01:50 pm UTC (link)

"ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS, this is not a drill, SET ship to CONDITION ONE. Enemy Contact, Launch alert fighters."

Cylons.

Alice's heart had almost stopped beating when the klaxon began its deafening wail, and then it started a slow, ponderous thud as the first of the pilots rushed through the open doors of the hangar. Since then, she'd been on automatic, removing the blocks from in front of the fighter planes' wheels so they could take off and keeping the younger crewmen out of harm's way. They might not find her very sociable, but there was a wary sort of respect there because they had seen she knew what she was doing.

A missile blast rocked the ship, and she landed hard on her shoulder, her ears ringing. She had never intended to find herself in the middle of this war, witnessing it first-hand, but here she was. And as traumatized and even scarred as she might be, what she would not be was helpless. She rolled to her feet, coughing a little as black smoke trickled through the damaged hull.

The recognition of her name drew her attention to PO Gaither, and she gestured towards the remaining fighters. "About a dozen, I think. Probably more will go before its over."

There was another explosion, this one from outside, and they both looked in that direction. "The deck took a couple of hits," Alice continued, indicating the debris where it had fallen. The big man nodded grimly.

"Keep the rest of these kids in line, Crewman," he said, stomping off to go see how many other birds would be taking off before it was over. "I'm thinking this might end up being a bad one."

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