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Post by Col. Charybdis on Apr 4, 2006 11:54:16 GMT -6
"As far as we can tell, given Cylon autonomy with their power requirements, we think that the centurions onboard are still alive and well," Apollo concluded his assessment over the comm screen.
It was amazing! I looked at Sheba and she just looked back at me. "What now Apollo? Why don't we just get it over with. Why do we even want to gamble with them?"
"Because of what we can learn from them. Have the fleet catch up and then have all ships reduce speed. We might be staying around for a little while. Get any infantry supplied and have them on hold. And you might want to rest up your squadrons, they might need it..."
Sheba and I turned to stare at one another. We didn't like the sound of what Commander Apollo just said...
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Post by Col. Charybdis on Apr 4, 2006 11:58:49 GMT -6
The comm unit buzzed. Captain Hector turned over from his bunk in the infantry section of the Callisto. "Captain Hector, report to Commander Sheba immediately."
Frack, what could this mean? The battle-hardened leader of the infantry aboard the Callisto had heard some rumors lately from some of the pilots who had returned from the battle about a Cylon baseship stalled in the atmosphere of the planet, but what did that mean?
Frack, he knew what that could mean! He quickly pulled on his uniform top and sprinted toward the bridge...
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Post by Logan on Apr 4, 2006 12:07:12 GMT -6
'Sighing heavily, she reached for her uniform top...'
The door to the washroom opened at that micron and Logan walked in, uniform jacket grasped in one hand as she massaged the back of her neck with the other. She was wearing a frown, mumbling something about 'fracking naptime' and it took a micron for the girl's presence in front of her to register.
Ally stood there, frozen in midmotion, hand still extended towards her uniform top.
Logan saw the tell tale stains on the Warrior's pants in front of her and the pale complexion and put two and two together. Her expression relaxed into a smile.
"Well, Bronze, I almost didn't recognize you. I'm not used to seeing you so...still." She extended her hand and shook Ally's. Ally was surprised by the warmth of the gesture which seemed to contradict Logan's nonchalant tone.
Ally seemed nervous, but Logan couldn't blame her. Not exactly how I'd want to meet a fellow Warrior. But hey, I probably look just as harried as she does.
Logan took a look in the mirror and sighed. She hung her own jacket next to Ally's and splashed water on her face. "Battle sure does make you pretty, doesn't it?" she laughed as she pulled her own hair out of its knot on top of her head and began running her wet fingers through it to work out the tangles.
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BRIK
Viper Pilot
Posts: 227
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Post by BRIK on Apr 4, 2006 20:04:24 GMT -6
Landing his Viper and clearing the deck for others, Brik sat in his cockpit for a few sentons. This was a custom that he'd picked up early in his career that made him feel better, only the Lords of Kobol knew why.
This particular day his custom became fateful as his new and unmet friend Ally (but still and always Bronze, he guessed) happened to pass his damaged viper as he was bent over in rest and she never knew he was there, nor he her. It helped that his ship was not on the end, thus hidden from easy view, Two battlestars passing in the night, as it were.
Gathering his wits, he left the damaged ship. One look around the bay told him that getting another ship was almost out of the question but he thought to try anyway. About that time a certain grumpy, fumerello chewing chief walked in his general direction muttering something about flyboys...
"Hey Chief...what's the chance of getting another ship before Gold has to take off?"
The man looked at him with a grim face covered with silence.
"Uh...well, you see, my high engine was blown off in the battle and-" "Of course it was, I can see! Frackin' flyboys...and I guess you want a brand new one, as if parts grow on trees!" The grim silence returned... "Well, see me before your next launch and I'll see what I can do. Oh, and I'll take that!" and the man made a suprisingly quick move to snatch a new fumerello out of Brik's pocket before the stunned warrior could begin to react. And walked away to inspect the useless high engine with a veteran eye, putting the new fumerello in his mouth and tossing the other on the deck. Brik decided (rather correctly) that he should just walk away now.
As he neared the ready room he heard the distinct sound of Logan's voice and the new and unmistakeable voice of Bronze.
Frack!
He slowly backed away from the room and contemplated actually going to his quarters but that would be a BIG no-no. Hmmn...he kept a kit in the squad-room... And thus Lt Brik, SIC of Gold Squadron and Colonial Warrior of the Battlestar Callisto, veteran of many battles and bane of still more Cylons, beat a hasty retreat from the ready room to retrieve his mighty...shaver.
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Post by Col. Charybdis on Apr 5, 2006 10:00:45 GMT -6
Cpt. Hector was ushered into the war room behind the bridge. Commander Sheba, myself and Hector were the only ones in the room.
Sheba began. "Captain. Commander Apollo believes that the Centurions on the base star are alive and well. He wants to formulate a plan to land infantry and isolate as many centurions as we can, basically, not kill them all, but trap them in various parts of the ship. Given your experience with these types of infantry operations, we want you to form a plan for our regiment of warriors onboard the Callisto. We will have the Galactica's compliment of warriors to work with as well."
Hector shook his head. "Landing an infantry force on a base star with all Cylons knowing we're coming? Commander, I think this mission is even more suicidal than the last one we took. If you don't mind my saying."
"That's what I was afraid of. Get some time to think of something we can do. Come up with a plan, even if it's not what you want. We have to start somewhere. I'll contact the squadron commanders to see how our pilots can play a part in this as well. Thank you. Captain."
Cpt. Hector stood up and was excused.
"Commander, he's right. How in Hades Hole do we just walk onto a Cylon baseship?" I asked.
"We've done crazy things before, Charybdis, we'll just to have do it again," came her not so reassuring reply...
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Post by Col. Charybdis on Apr 5, 2006 10:02:44 GMT -6
Hector kept thinking about this all the way back to his office. The one thing he began with was the central column. If ships could hit it and destroy the use of the main suppport structure, it would at least isolate half the ship from the other half. That was a start at least...
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Post by Col. Charybdis on Apr 5, 2006 10:03:48 GMT -6
Sheba walked back out to the bridge. She turned to Lt. Aegina, "Lt. get me Major Brie and Captain Skyler on the double."
"Yes, ma'am."
The call went out immediately...
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BRIK
Viper Pilot
Posts: 227
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Post by BRIK on Apr 5, 2006 17:07:20 GMT -6
Entering the squad-room at a brisk pace, the Lt went directly to his cubicle. Looking at his face in the mirror, stuble and all, he realized that he'd forgotten how much a battle takes it out of you. The mild bags under the eyes and the harried look in general reminded him of the price that all warriors pay to be the true defenders of their people...which made him wear the "marks" with a certain grim yet unmistakeable pride. He smiled at himself in the mirror. Then his look turned to mild concern...as he began shaving the stuble from his face in preparation for returning to the ready room.
(...several sentons later...)
Well...he was now clean shaven and about as ready as he could reasonably get while on alert. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Turning sharply on his heel he left his "sanctuary", headed for the ready room, not really knowing what to expect...but looking forward to the meeting regardless!
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 5, 2006 23:46:35 GMT -6
(with Logan in the washroom...)
Ally took her top off the hook, turned, and looked at the warrior at the sink. She held the top close to her, squeezing it to her with both arms wrapped around it. "Logan is it?" she asked with a hesitant voice.
She'd seen Logan from a distance enough to know it was her, but when they shook hands she hadn't said her name. Her voice made it obvious enough too, but something that'd been inside Ally far too long wouldn't allow her to admit that to Logan. Especially since until a centon ago Logan didn't know Ally from a daggit hole.
Still, she saved my life, Ally thought. Obviously I've been wrong about her. Well, too late now, I've already asked who she is...
The warrior at the sink stopped what she was doing long enough to look at Ally through the reflection of the mirror and nod.
"Name's Ally" Ally said with a shakey smile. "Not bronze. I don't know how that all started..." Sure I do: Brik... "Look, I just want to say I owe you big time for what you did out there for me. If you hadn't done what you did, keeping me focused and concentrating and everything, I would have bought it for sure..."
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 6, 2006 11:25:57 GMT -6
The message came across the bridge's loudspeaker:
"Colonel Charybdis, report to medlab immediately. Colonel Charybds, report to medlab immediately."
* * *
(Anyone not following along, see Ch 36 F- Finally Visiting Amy, replies 125, 126, 127 for details.)
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