CHAPTER 8—INTERNAL BATTLES

[LucianG]

<Note: Part of Chapter 8 was lost when the SciFi Board deleted the posts. Fortunately, we had saved a number of sections, so the following are synopses and recovered text fragments which tell the basic story….>

Lucian

Captain Lazant’s visit with Commander Sheba had gone even better than he’d expected. While she warned him about his proposed action, she had not been able to refute his evidence, and had allowed him to proceed. Over the next few cycles later, as the Callisto continued its jump to the Garrano system, Lazant investigated fully and finally filed charges against Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis for dereliction of duty related to the abandonment and death of Lazant’s friend, Lieutenant Martinzi.

Charybdis was very surprised and angry at the accusations. He got Science Officer Solon to act as his Protector. Solon, who was approximately 80 yahrens of age, had been involved in legal action for a number of yahrens earlier in his life, but he hadn’t been involved in a real case in nearly 40 yahrens. Solon is not the same individual who had been the Opposer in Starbuck’s tribunal over 20 yahrens ago, and claimed no relationship to that man.

* * *

At the beginning of the Tribunal, Lazant gave his opening statement, and began calling witnesses laying out his case. Major Buellah was named chief Tribune.

Lazant questioned several people from among the Callisto’s Bridge personnel regarding Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis’s actions on the day of the battle.

Next, Lazant called Nurse Holodoc regarding the Lieutenant Colonel’s sleeplessness and medical condition. Then the Tribunal broke for lunch.

* * *

With Black Squadron having completed its simulator exercise, Gold Squadron had its turn starting the same morning as the Tribunal….

* * *

Brie

As Captain Brie was about to enter the room where the sims were held, she ran into Lt. Resonat. He looked like it was the last place where he wanted to be. "Lt., " Brie said, "you don't need to be here. I've run these before. And I have a surprise or two planned. So take some time off!" Brie watched as he practically ran out of the room. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw him take something out of his pocket.

Brie looked at the eight people that she had chosen to take part in the simulator exercise. Lt. Cain was a good friend, her second-in-command, and probably more capable of leading the squadron than she was. He had turned down a promotion to stay with the squadron, a move that Brie didn't fully understand until she had been in the same position. Lt. Ben was young but had proven himself time and time again. Brie didn't know Ensign Conan too well, but he had shown that he was capable. Ensign ThunderWarrior was the newest member of Gold Squadron, his participation in the sim was important, Brie needed to see what he was capable of and how he would react to various situations. Brie glanced at the other four. Lt. Amy and Ensign MaraJade had entered together. Brie and Amy were good friends. Amy had been hiding something, some secret, for awhile. Brie had thought she knew what it was, but after seeing Amy with Najinn at the Officers' Club she wasn't as sure. Ensign Najinn. Brie knew that he was haunted by something. He had become friends with Amy, but the two of them now wouldn't even look at each other. It was obviously uncomfortable, and Brie felt a twinge of guilt at what she was about to do. She glanced at her new friend Ensign MaraJade. Mara hadn't been around long but had certainly livened things up. She stood next to Lt. Skyler, although they didn't look at each other they both had slight smiles on their faces.

"Good, you're all here and on time," Brie started matter-of-factly. "I'm going to be running the excercise, you're going to be in the sims. Quick background, for the purpose of this exercise we're out to destroy a basestar. No problem, right?" Cain and Ben both laughed hard, everyone else remained quiet. "Now, we're not thinking about the Callisto, imagine that Black Squadron is taking care of any raiders that get through, although we don't want them to have to work too hard now, do we?" Cain and Ben both laughed again. Brie was glad that her jokes weren't falling flat for everyone. "Now, I'm going to pair you off, a Lt. and an Ensign. Since Lt. Cain is the most experienced, Ensign ThunderWarrior will be his wing."

MaraJade raised her hand. "Captain," she said quietly, "Am I still your wing?"

"If this were a real battle, yes," Brie replied. "But for the purpose of this exercise I'm back on the Callisto playing Pyramid. And winning big, by the way. So, Mara, since you asked, right now you're Lt. Skyler's wing." Skyler, Mara and Amy all looked at Brie with surprise. She decided not to explain. "Lt. Ben, your wing will be Ensign Conan. That leaves," she paused for a moment, "Lt. Amy and Ensign Najinn." Najinn looked at the floor, Amy raised her hand.

"Captain, a moment alone?" Amy asked. Brie nodded and motioned for Amy to join her on the side, away from the group. "I don't know if it's a good idea to put Najinn and me together."

Brie had seen this coming and knew exactly what she wanted to say. "Lt., you told me that you could handle this. Has that changed?"

"No, Ma'am," Amy said quietly.

"Good," Brie stated. "If you can't handle this in the sim, then you won't be able to handle it in a real battle. You're a good warrior, Lt. You can do this." Brie headed back towards the group and Amy followed. "I want everyone at some time during the exercise today to have command, but we'll start off with Lt. Cain as the leader. Everyone ready?" All eight nodded. "Good, then to your ships."

* * *

Najinn
Najinn looked at the floor when Capt Brie put him and Amy together in the sim.

Amy had immediately questioned the idea, and this hurt Najin, he was a professional and she was a professional they had to work together, and he thought she understood that. But he also realised how complicated things were and how she must be feeling. He again kicked himself, but he knew why Capt Brie had paired them, she was testing them.

To be honest at Capt Brie saying it was a base star that they were taking down, Najin's mind rushed to the last battle with the Aggi. He had been through a nightmare with that mission and here he had to face those demons in a sim, but whether it was in a sim or not the fact remained he had to face his nightmares. And he thought he could if he was wing to Amy's lead, he completely trusted her.

He looked straight at Amy as she turned back from speaking with Capt Brie;

"Lt, It's ok. This is professional time, you can trust me. We have to be able to work together. You know my mind on this Amy, I have been open and honest with you. We can work this together. I trust you, and I hope you trust me. Friends first and foremost, colleagues and warriors who know our jobs."

He tried to reassure her, and he would prove to her in the sim he could be professional and competent. He had to face his nightmares and he would. He had prove to himself he could be professional. He would draw on his yahren of experience to make sure he acted with the upmost integrity and professionalism. He would show Amy he was a good warrior, and trusted friend and colleague. That was the best way to take the pressure off of her, and that was just what he was going to do.
* * *
Brie

The sim started, with Cain in command. A basestar and what seemed like thousands of Cylon raiders were coming at them. Captain Brie hated to watch, but she knew how important this was, how deadly NOT having these exercises would be. The first one "killed" was Lt. Ben. He was gone after only a couple of microns. Then Ensign Conan. Lt. Skyler had one on his tail. Lt. Amy was able to destroy the raider, but at the cost of her "life." Skyler was gone moments later anyway, then Lt. Cain. The same raider that took out Cain also got Ensign ThunderWarrior. Ensigns MaraJade and Najinn worked well together, stopping several raiders before Mara was hit. Being alone, Najinn took a run at the basestar and did some damage before he, too, was destroyed.

"Nice try, everybody," Brie's voice spoke in their helmets. "I bet it felt like a lot longer than 54 microns."

"Fifty-four microns?" Cains voice answered. "That's all?"

"Well now that everyone knows what to expect," Brie replied, "maybe next time you'll make it a whole centon. How hard can this be? Remember how Apollo and Starbuck took on an entire basestar alone?"

"There were no raiders with that basestar," Cain replied. "Besides, it was hiding behind a planet, so the Cylons didn't see them coming."

"You want a planet?" Brie joked. She pressed a few buttons. "Okay, you've got a planet. Get ready for round two."

[LucianG]

Skyler
Skyler caught the jovial sound to Brie's voice. He knew this was a serious event. The training they had here would save them one day, and perhaps the fleet also.

Trying to help ease some of the tension gained in the might 54 micron run, Skyker keyed the intercom,

"Captain, They also had Purple and Orange Squadrons."

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Skyler prepared for round 2.
* * *

Cain
Cain said to himself: "You're one fine pilot Cain, get with it!" With a grumble he took off his black gloves, a good luck present he recieved while aboard the Pegasus. "Ok, let's try this again." "Wingman, are you ready?"
* * *

Amy

The first sim had gone poorly. I was knocked out pretty early, and had a moment or so to think while the others played it out. I hated sims. They had their purpose, but to me they always seemed phony. You just knew they were, no matter how real it looked and felt. And after the Battle of Shonada Delta, I wasn’t really looking to revisit the experiences of battle anytime soon. But you have to do what you have to do.

The whole day had gone pretty sour. Some days it doesn’t pay to get up in the morning. The memorial service set the tone for me. If that wasn’t bad enough, I made a crying fool out of myself when I finally had a chance alone with Charybdis. And now I was acting like an idiot with Najinn. The way I was going, I’d end up with no boyfriend at all. And why that appealed to me for the smallest of microns, I’m not really sure. But I felt pretty frazzled, that much was certain.

I watched Najinn, the last pilot standing on the first sim run, finally go down, and on an impulse I switched over to his private COM. I know it was against the regulations during active simulations, but I needed to talk to him. I hadn’t had the chance to explain myself before the sims began, and I needed to now.

“Yo, Najinn” I barked into my microphone.

“Lt.?” Najinn replied. “Sorry I wasn’t on your wing that time. I’ll do better.” Oh, ever the earnest warrior, Najinn was doing it again! Not that he was really doing anything, but Najinn just being himself made my heart race. What WAS it about this guy?

“No” I replied, “It’s not about the sim. I need to talk to you.”

“There isn’t much time now, Lt.”, he reminded me. “Besides, it’s against the regs.” His voice changed, rising a little. “Hey, look! Captain’s just added a planet!”

“Forget the regs, Najinn. Follow my lead, and we’ll have a few moments.” I sat back, and waited for the second round to begin. In a flash it fired up, and the sky was full of Cylon Raiders once again. I lined up a likely patsy, and flew right in front of its path. It’s lasers flashed out toward me, and I think I made the quickest exit ever in a sim! I hoped it wasn’t too obvious, and that Najinn would know enough to opt for an early exit too. Seconds later, Najinn was history too.

“Okay, Amy”, he said nervously, “Make it count. Captain will have our hides if she knows something’s up”.

“Najinn, I didn’t mean what I said about not pairing up with you. I meant that right at that moment, until we had a chance to talk, I thought it might not be a good idea. I just didn’t get the whole thought out.” I paused a moment, imagining trying to explain that to Brie in front of everyone. “I’m sorry it came out wrong. It’s seems a lot of what I say these days comes out wrong.” Conan went up in flames, Cain right behind him.

“Forget it, Lt.”, he said easily. “I was a little surprised at first, but now that you explain it, it’s cool. What I really didn’t get is why you were ignoring me when you first walked in with Marajade.” Speaking of which, Marajade went up in spectacular fashion. Two other vipers soon followed.

“Oh, that” I said sheepishly. “I look horrible. I didn’t want you to see that I’d been cr…” I cut myself off. Did I really want to get into that?

Always the gentleman, Najinn sidestepped the whole
thing. “You could never look horrible, Amy”. Jeez! Did that make me feel better or worse? I couldn’t tell for sure how I felt. The resetting of the sim interrupted my thoughts.

“Let’s do it again!” Captain Brie barked out. “SOME of us, at least, doubled our survival times. Let’s see if we can take out the Basestar this time!”

And it started again. I wasn’t sure that he would, but Najinn veered off and got himself fried, actually breaking my unofficial record for speedy exit. I tried to make it look good, and lasted seconds more before taking one for the fleet.

“Brie will kill us, you know” Najinn said with a chuckle. “Anything else, Lt.?”

Yeah, Najinn, you stupid lug: I love you. I thought it, mouthed it, but dared not say it. My damn eyes watered right up. I couldn’t see a damn thing. It’s really hard to dry your eyes with a sim helmet on. Where do my eyes get their tear supply? And how did my stupid heart allow me to fall in love with two people? The ol’ ticker wouldn’t be forgiven any time soon, that was for sure.

“I like you a lot, Najinn”, I said. I was thankful I couldn’t look him in the eyes at that moment. I would have melted, I’m sure. “Thank you for giving me time to think. If I act stupid again, please just whack me one in the back of the head!”

“I can’t do that! Assaulting a senior officer! No can do!” he laughed. “Maybe a gentle reminder? How’s that?” His voice dropped suddenly. “Uh, Amy, a senior officer might be assaulting YOU! Enemy at three o’clock!” With that, he closed his comlink. I looked over, and standing inches away from my canopy was Captain Brie! She didn’t look happy.

She made a motion, and I popped my canopy, and gave her a guilty look. With my red eyes, I must have really looked a sight. “Captain?” I said as innocently as I could.

“I’m beginning to see why you two shouldn’t fly wing. YOU WOULDN’T LAST TWO MICRONS!” I actually cringed back in my simulator. I hadn’t been scolded so hard since Mom ripped me about becoming a warrior, back on the agro ship. “Maybe you two would rather sit this one out, back at the Officer’s club maybe?” Other canopies were popping. I could hear a couple of stifled chuckles.

“No Ma’am” I stammered. “I’ll…” I shut up. Sometimes I actually know when to do that.

Brie glared at me, then Najinn. Looking back at me, she spoke again in a lower tone. “I’d like to think that nothing shady has been going on here. But if that’s true, then I have no idea how you got to be a Lt., Lt.” Ouch! My good friend knew which buttons to press, that was for sure. She stood there, maybe expecting a reply, but I sure as Hades wasn’t going to offer one.

Brie stood there, her stare burning a hole right through me. But then her face softened, and she just walked back to the controls. “Let’s run it again!” she called out. Canopies lowered, and the sim was reset. I looked over at Najinn, with a sheepish look on my face. He mouthed an “I told you”, pointing to me as he said it. He smiled, and I smiled back.

Suddenly the sky was filled with Cylon fighters again. I couldn’t go down this time. My life really depended on it!

* * *

Lucian

After lunch and a long recess (to allow for some of the officers involved in the Tribunal to take care of shipboard duties), the Tribunal resumed. Opposer Lazant first called in succession several people who had been on duty in Alpha Launch Bay during the battle. Lazant questioned each in turn regarding Lieutenant Amy’s ship, and the Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis’s actions. Protector Solon waved off each in turn, each time reserving the right to recall them at a later time….

[LucianG]

Brie
In adding the planet that the basestar was hiding behind, Captain Brie hoped that it would delay the inevitable. It also gave the raiders a place to hide, making parts of the sim more difficult instead of easier. Round two started. Both Lt. Amy and Ensign Najinn were out fast. Some of the others did better, which pleased Brie. She decided not to let anyone know it. "Let’s do it again!" Captain Brie barked out. "SOME of us, at least, doubled our survival times. Let’s see if we can take out the Basestar this time!"

Round three started. Once again, Najinn and Amy were out fast. "Do they think I don't know what's going on?" Brie wondered. She waited for the round to end, then walked over to Amy's canopy. Amy looked suprised. "Captain?" she said with an annoying innocent tone to her voice.

"I’m beginning to see why you two shouldn’t fly wing." Brie said seriously. "YOU WOULDN’T LAST TWO MICRONS! Maybe you two would rather sit this one out, back at the Officer’s club maybe?"

"No Ma’am," Amy stammered. "I’ll…" She was quiet.

Brie glared at Amy, then Najinn. Looking back at Amy, she spoke again in a lower tone. "I’d like to think that nothing shady has been going on here. But if that’s true, then I have no idea how you got to be a Lt., Lt."
Brie stood there for a moment, then walked back to the controls. "Let’s run it again!" she called out. Canopies lowered, and the sim was reset.

During round four everyone faired better. No one was killed for almost three microns, and three vipers actually made it all the way to the basestar. It was almost fifteen centons before all eight vipers were destroyed. "You're getting there," Brie said. "Let's take a break for, what, ten centons. Lt. Cain, I need to talk to you in private for a moment." Brie and Cain left the main room while everyone else was getting out of their sim viper.

"What's up?" Cain asked.

"I need your help setting up a situation," Brie replied. "I want to run a little test. We need to set it up so that Mara has to choose between saving Amy and Skyler."

Brie remembered a similar test that had been pulled on her when she had first started dating her husband. They had failed miserably, and they had then been assigned to different squadrons. Brie discussed the details of this latest test with Cain, and he promised to set things up.

"Okay, break's over," Brie said upon reentering the room. She was met with groans. "The sooner you destroy that basestar, the sooner we're done. We're going to change things around a little bit this time. Mara, for this round you're Amy's wing and Najinn is Skyler's wing. And STAY OFF the private channels, that's an order. We'll switch back again the next round."

The fifth round started, with Ensign MaraJade unaware that she would have to choose between the life of her good friend Amy or her new found love.
* * *

MaraJade
MaraJade's jaw just dropped when she was told she was going to have to Amy's wing. A thought to protest came to her mind but she stopped it. Shrugging she grabbed Amy's arm and pulled aside real quick.
"Amy, I don't know what's going on but if you want me to keep you alive you better keep me alive too!" Seeing Amy look over at the guys, better yet Najinn, she grabs her arm. "Amy I am serious! Please! What ever it is wait till afterwards. I want to impress the Captain, I have a feeling all our jobs are on the line now." Amy sensing her seriousness and understood. They climbed in their "vipers" and got ready. They were going good till they got near the basestar again. Raiders were coming in and lighting up the sky. Looking over at Amy, she must have been thinking the same thing, and they went head on. Fighting and covering each other's tails, we fought hard. Something was wrong! Najinn and Skyler had gotten seperated somehow and Skyler was in trouble! But looking again at her screen Mara saw that Amy had one on her tail too! FRACK! Hesistating as Mara listened to the voices over the communications link, she was torn as what to do. Remembering a scene from the previous battle, her answer came to her mouth and she almost shouted it.
"I will not leave my wing!" Taking control of her viper, Mara moves into position to take out the Cylon who was chasing Amy. "Amy! Just keep steady I am on my way!" Wiping the sweat from her eyes so she could focus yet squinting from the sting from the ones that did make it in her eyes. Blinking a few times to clear her vision, she took the Raider off of Amy's tail. Feeling a sense of relief as she knew she had done the right thing. But her heart sunk as she hear the oh so familiar words being shouted in the sims.
"Lt. Skyler you are dead!" Shaking her head, that was the price of being a warrior. Still it was good to know this was just a simulation. So it really didn't affect her too bad. Plus she had other things on her mind, STAYING ALIVE! Her head snapped as she heard that ever growing sound of the sensors beeping. Looking again, she saw Amy had another one on her. Trying to get into a firing range, another beep went off! Great! I got one now! She thought!
"Uh Najinn can you do me a huge favor and get over here NOW!?! I need help!!" Come on you bugger, she thought as she was lining up on the cylon in front of her. She heard Najinn saying something as he was interupted,
"Ensign Najinn, you are dead!" Great!! I'd like to see you get out of this one! The cylon took Amy out,
"Lt. Amy you are dead!" Frack!!! MaraJade started to panic as she realized that Cain and his wing were almost to the Basestar and she was now all alone and ... BZZZT!
"Ensign MaraJade you are dead!" Taking off my helmet and smacking the canopy from the frustration. One she panicked and she let out a few curse words. Sensing someone looking at her she turned slowly and saw Cpt. Brie almost shocked to hear these things coming from her. Bringing her hand to hide her eyes and down she slunk in her chair. Still mad at herself for failing, it was hard to hide the frustration. She hated having to choose but she had always been taught never to leave your wing. She proved that in her first battle, but this was different. No matter what she felt, nothing could have been done. Atleast they stood a better chance if they stick together. Sighing she realized she chose duty before love and she knew she had to live with it. She was a warrior first then a woman a second. She pledged her protection to the fleet once before and that came first. The canopies opened and she was just waiting to get razzed by Brie for her swearing.
* * *

Skyler
As the sim started, the vipers were advancing on the basestar. They were hugging the planet to keep out of its scanners. Buzzers warned the pilots that several phalanx of Raiders were coming to intercept them. Was it a hidden air base was on the planet, where did they come from?

Lt Skyler, Ensign Najinn, Lt Amy and Ensign Marajade broke formation, moving to intercept, giving Lt Cain and his fighters time to hit the base star. They engaged the first cylon wave, and lived to tell about it. Brie must be giving them a break. Then it happened. Three raiders cut between Skyler and Najinn causing them to break formation.

"Hang on, I am swinging back around." It was to late, The raiders were on Skylers six. No way to shake them. He checked his attack computer, Amy had one on her tail, so did Najinn. Mara was free. Time stood still for Skyler. Frack, Brie set us up!! he thought. If Mara comes to save me, Amy dies and we will have proved we can't fly together. Skyler was worried Mara wouldn't see this test, that she would feel, before she thought.

In what seemed like Centars, but was less than a micron her Viper turned towards Amy's Viper. He breathed again, but only once before.........

Lt. Skyler, you are dead!!
* * *

MaraJade
MaraJade realized her earlier talk with Amy and bit her lip. Boy that sounded bad. Looking over at Amy, she managed to get her attention.
"Psst! Amy! Hey, sorry about letting you get crunched. And about earlier, I was just freaked out that was all. I know that Captain Brie is watching us real close and I don't know about you but I don't want to go to the Black wing. I like it here. I just think we, you and me, can impress her with some great moves and team work if we both just put our minds to it. How about it? You game?" Seeing Amy's reaction, she smiled and nodded. "Hope you aren't too mad at me?!" MaraJade said as she waited for Amy's reply.
* * *

Lucian
As Captain Brie was getting ready to start another round, one of the Security Officers entered the Control Room. "Excuse me, Captain Brie, Lt. Amy is needed at the tribunal. She has been ordered by the Tribune to accompany me to testify." He handed her the order, signed by Tribune Buellah, Lt. Colonel (temporary), Colonial Military.

[LucianG]

Skyler
The security officer coming to get Amy had paused the sims for a minute. Skyler didn't like the idea of losing to this basestar time and time again. There has got to be away..but how?

Then he remembered that Ensign Nijann had been up against a basestar before joining the service. It was in his records. Maybe he would be game to breaking formation next round.

Maybe Captain Brie had used the reference to Apollo and Starbucks famous run 22 yahren ago for a reason. If we can get on their channel, let them hear us coming. Maybe we can pull the same trick. Would they be dumb enough to fall for it twice?

Skyler saw Brie was busy with the Security Officer, he click on his private comm link, and raised Nijann. After explaining his plan, hoping Nijann's experience would add helpfull insite. Together they formed a plan that should be fool proof, against real Cylons anyway. These Sim Cylons seem to be smarter and faster than the real ones.

He switched over to Mara's comm link.

"Mara no time to go into details, don't want Brie to catch us. Nijann and I have a plan. Stay with you wing. You did good last time. Duty before love. I am so happy, even though I got killed. When this is over, we need to discuss the use of swear words in front of the Captain, and other higher officers" Skyler killed the link before she had chance to respond. If she knew what they were doing she would have been right behind him. Even in a Sim, he didn't want that on his mind when they were planning a run on a basestar...
* * *

Najinn

Najinn looked over at Amy as she opened her simulator hatch;

"Amy, good luck, I'll be thinking of you. I know you will do the right thing, the truth, and that if their is justice Charybdis will be cleared. Just remember you are not alone, you have us with you."

Amy smiled, she looked like she respected Najinn's words and was reassured by them. At least Najinn hoped so. Amy left the sim room with the officer and Capt Brie restarted the simulation.

* * *

Lucian

When Lieutenant Amy arrived, Opposer Lazant questioned her extensively regarding the events leading up to the launch with Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis. He then dismissed her with a right to recall, and Solon said, “I think he’s covered it pretty well, but I’ll reserve that right, too.” Lieutenant Amy was escorted from the chamber, and the next witness was called….

* * *

Najinn

The group of Vipers flew in formation;

"Najinn to all, please turn onto a secure channel." If he could see Capt Brie's face now, she was the only one who couldn't hear them.

"Me and Skyler have a plan, we are going to win this one."

"When we break, we need you to continue fighting and open your comm links onto this frequency," Najinn punched the right frequency, "This will keep the Base Star occupied and tracking you all. You need to draw their fire and keep them busy for a while. Base Stars control their defensive Raiders out of a central command point if they hear you all they will concentrate on you. Leaving me and Skyler to pop in the back door."

The group agreed, and the Vipers flew into battle,

"On my mark, Skyler drop low left and hit the deck of the planets surface we need to be below 100 clicks for their sensors to miss us."

Najinn smiled, the last time he did this kind of flying he was dodging asteroids in a ship more than a hundred times bigger than a Viper.

"BREAK!"

Skyler and Najinn's Viper looked miniscule as they throttled towards the Base Star. The fighting above had opened the gap they needed and the Raiders had not responded.

Najinn paused, oh boy is Capt Brie gonna love this, not.

His and Skylers Vipers closed to kill range, if they could just survive for another few microns they could loose off their torpedoes right under the Base Star into it's belly and its main reactors.......

* * *

Brie
Things weren't going the way that Captain Brie had hoped. MaraJade had passed her test, and Brie was pleased about that. But before she had a chance to put Amy to the test, Amy was called away to the tribunal. They had told Brie that Amy wouldn't be called away, she wouldn't be needed for centars, but now she was gone. Brie was worried that Amy might be distracted after all the hard work, she hoped that Lt. Col. Charybdis' case wouldn't be hurt. And now they were one person short for the sim.

Brie turned back to the monitor in front of her. What the frack were Skyler and Najinn doing? She couldn't hear what they were saying, they were using the private channels again. She was going to have to have a LONG TALK with those two about following orders.
* * *
MaraJade
Seeing the black shirt come in and get Amy for the tribunal, MaraJade was about to sound off again with more swearing but remembered what happened last time. Don't get out of control like that again, it's bad enough Brie caught you and Skyler too. Just mummbling to herself, she said a few.
"Ensign, are you saying something?" Brie chimed in. Putting her helmet back on, she was embarrassed that she was caught again. Rolling her eyes as she swore inside, she got ready to fly wingless. This run they had in mind was suicidal but she would do her best to draw fire from the basestar. Flying the best she could and asking way too much from her viper, MaraJade worked what magic she could. It was harder than she really thought at first, knowing her time was almost up since she was taking on way too much fire power. She was about to really let go of the swearing as she saw Najinn and Skyler head off to the basestar. What are they up too? We aren't supposed to take it on!! Pulling up so a cylon could fly by to take it on. She was about to fire on it when she got hit and hard! Feeling the viper go out of control, she decided to let it go.
"I'm hit and hit hard! Can't control it anymore....." then silence. The lights on her helmet went dead. She knew what was coming.
"Ensign MaraJade...." She jumped in before they could finish
"Yeah Yeah I know!!! I am dead!!!!" And when I get my hands on Skyler and Najinn.... argh! They could have helped but they had this hairbrained idea in their mind.
"Hey Captain! You feel like flying with me again? I could really use it!" Slamming my helmet in my lap and smacking the canopy again! Frack! What was he up to and why is he not following orders? Just don't take me down, she thought.
* * *

Skyler
Skyler knew the risk. They could die, or they wouldn't simple as that. Almost 50/50, well this is a Basestar, and we are in Vipers, okay, 30/70, but that is all I am giving them If the tin heads were taken off guard, it would work. The only thing he knew for sure was Brie was not going to be happy at all.

Skyler checked his scanners. So far none of the squadron had been killed. He was glad they were alright.

They were just a few microns out, and closing fast. The targeting computer locked onto the reactor core of the large Basestar. She still hadn't scanned them. It was to busy coordinating its raiders..

Then it happened, the basestar's gunners started firing, but Vipers posed to small a target to hit with out luck. And with luck, Skyler an Najinn would be out of here before then. Their being detected did draw the raiders off the rest of the squadron. This made the Cylons easy targets. They were to busy trying to return to defend their base to worry about a handful of Warriors. Gold Squadron made easy work of the Raiders after that.

The Basestar's turbo lasers were getting close, but not close enough, Najinn and Skyler's attack computers both beeped, signaling they were in range, and locked on.

Both Warriors thumbed the firing control, torpedoes away. They banked, kicked in their turbos, and rocketed back towards their squadrons. The Torpedoes found their mark. Scanners recorded multiple explosion's, and finally went blank as the exploding Basestar overloaded them.

A micron before Skyler's computer came back, a raider had him targeted, but quickly exploded. It was Lt. Ben. Thank the Lords. Checking his scanners, where was she, Frack! Mara had gotten hit. Man, I can win for losing. I hope she understands why I did this. Do I understand why I did this?..

Lt Cain, finished off the last raider, and all Warriors cheered.

As the lights came back up, Skyler looked over at Najinn and both smiled at each other. Looking at the control booth they both saw Brie. They could tell she was not happy. She hit the intercom button.

Getting out of the Viper mock ups, Skyler could tell Mara was also not to happy with him...

"Take 5 everyone. You deserve it. Lt. Skyler and Ensign Najinn, I need you to stay behind a micron to, eh discuss your tactics employed during the last run."

[LucianG]

Brie
"Congratulations on destroying the basestar. You did what you set out to do. But..." Brie's tone of voice changed, "...you did it by disobeying orders. That is NOT acceptable. Part of the reason that we hold these sims is that we need to know how everyone will react under a real situation. Skyler and Najinn, you have shown me that I don't know if I can trust you in battle. Trust is a very valuable asset, gentlemen, especially when you're trusting someone with your life. We're not here to be heros, we're here to do a job. Plain and simple. Although you acheived the desired goal THIS time, next time it might cost someone their life. If someone is killed when you're following my orders, it's MY fault, not yours. But if they're killed because you think you know better than I do..........Think about what is going on right now with Lt. Col. Charybdis. We all know these charges are felgercarb, but he's in front of the tribunal because someone thinks he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Serious consequences." Skyler raised his hand to speak, but Brie brushed him off. "One general word of warning, if you don't start to take these sims seriously, as if it were a real battle, we'll keep doing them over and over again until you do. Your life and the lives of everyone in the fleet depend on it."
Brie took a quick peak out in the hall. She was hoping that someone would be walking by and could replace Lt. Amy. No such luck. Brie didn't like using an odd number, so she decided to join the sim. She pressed a few buttons on the main control board so she could still control things from inside the simulated viper. She called everyone back together. "So Ensign Mara doesn't have to fly alone, I'm joining the sim. But I'm not Captain Brie. Call me...Ensign A. I'm just out of the Academy, I've never even flown a viper before. And believe me, I'm going to fly just that way!" A slight laugh passed through the room. "Now, since Lt. Skyler seems to think he knows exactly what needs to be done to destroy a basestar, he'll be in command of this round. Ensign Najinn will remain Skyler's wing. And one word of warning...the next person to use the private communications channels will be on report. Don't believe me, try it. Let's get going."

Brie got into her viper and played with the controls. Without telling Skyler or anyone else, she had just doubled the number of Cylon raiders that they would be facing. She wanted everyone to know just how serious things could be.
Captain Brie, as Ensign A, took her place in the sim. She was planning on giving Lt. Skyler a hard time. He needed to know what if felt like to have orders disobeyed. "This could be fun," Brie thought. She pushed that thought out of her head. The sim was serious, and she needed to be serious as well.
* * *

Skyler

The sim started up, all the Vipers were in the classic spear head formation. The plan was to punch through the approaching raiders, make a run on the basestar, blow it up, and then finish off the raiders.

Well, that was everyone's plan except the newly acquired Ensign A. She would lag behind the formation, when told to keep up she would pass and fly in front of us. When told to back off she would tell us to make up our minds.

When we hit the cylons, which had at least doubled in number, Ensign A decided she should leave her wingman, and just blast her own way through. She picked up a cylon on her tail, her wing man went to intercept, Bam!! Ensign Mara Jade was dead. Ensign A blasted a cylon here and there, but mainly she distracted the others and Bam!! Lt. Cain was dead, and Bam!! Ensign Ben was dead. Skyler barked orders to her, and she did the exact opposite. He thought of switching to the Cylon radio Frequency to she if they were giving her orders. She flew like she was Baltars own Daughter.

Bam!!! Najinn was dead.

One by one the Warriors went down. Until it was just Lt. Skyler and Ensign A. It had to be rigged, him surviving this long. Then it happened, 10 raiders approached from all sides, he just let go of the navi hilt, and Bam!! Lt Skyler is dead.

The sim went dark. Skyler knew the importance of orders. He had lived by them since entering the Military. He also knew that what he and Najinn had done would have worked. It did work, and he hadn't really disobeyed orders, I mean Lt. Cain was in charge, and they did run the plan by him. He didn't say not to. Would this defense work at his tribunal. A trial, how much easier that would be than facing his Captain. Less painful than the look in her eyes and the knowledge that she might not trust him. It was a stupid move, it worked and would have saved the Fleet, but would it be worth the risk? Was it worth the risk?

He climbed out of his sim cockpit, Brie was waiting for him. They steped to the side so no one could hear.

"I hope you understand why I did it this way Skyler? I don't want to lose good Warriors by them pulling stupid hair brained stunts. Apollo and Starbuck are still alive by the grace of the Lords. Don't expect your luck to hold like theirs."

Brie paused for a micron, and then added

"I know how it was, being old enough to remember the destruction of our home, and then filled with stories of their heroics. I think sometimes it is easier on the younger warriors. They only have to fill our shoes, not Apollo or Starbuck's."

Smiling she turned and walked over so the rest could hear her and gave out the next set of instructions.

Skyler felt better. He understood her motives better now. He was glad to have her as his Squadron Leader. He hoped to do her proud and regain her trust.

* * *

MaraJade
MaraJade didn't know what to think when Brie said she was going to be a fresh newbie. Yikes! That is hard to work with being new herself. Hoping she would sound ok, and that Brie wouldn't give her a hard time like she did Sklyer then again he deserved it.
"Ensign A, I learned the greatest rule in combat and I want to share it with you so one day you can share it to someone who will be newer than you, Never Leave Your Wingman! Doing so you and your wing stand a greater chance of staying alive and doing more damage. Ok, lets go kick some cylon arse!" The sim started up again. MaraJade was feeling the strain from the day. Her muscles were cramping and it was getting hot. Focusing again, she got ready to go in and show em what they were made of!
"Ensign just stay by me and we will get to some crunch time!" They were doing great and it almost felt like when she flew with her before. They were picking them off and taking hits here and there. Then it happened! Ensign A had a raider on her tail.
"I got one on my tail! Help!" It was almost hard to hear that coming from Brie, Mara thought. MaraJade put on her reverse thrusters and went past the newbie.
"Ok, just remain calm! Keep it steady! Not too steady!! You don't want him to get you! Ok, almost got him..." The sound of laser fire interupted her. "You are all clear! Now lets get moving again. *I can almost hear the Wallflowers we can be heros playing here* They were picking them off and a raider split them apart. One was after Mara the other was after the newbie. (OH no you don't she thought) and did a barrell roll down so she was actually going head on with Brie!
"Ensign I got an idea! When I say break you break left and I am going to break right! (then remembering what brie did to skyler she decided to play it safe she was going to go the other way) If we play this right we can take them both out! Ready? BREAK!" Just as she thought the "ensign" went the opposite way she just said, and almost laughing as she went the opposite way too, they rolled out of the way for the raiders to run into each other. Pulling back beside Brie, she could hear her laughing.
"Next time tell me which left?" She said! Both warriors started laughing. "How did you know?"
"I remembered what you did to Skyler!" Speaking of which when she looked on her scanner he was still fighting, him and Najinn. Maybe they were getting better after all! "Hey Ensign A did you see any cylons that need to be taught a lesson? I say we go let our presence be known!" They fought hard and long. *I can almost here DangerZone from TopGun here*
* * *

Lucian

Next, Lazant questioned called Major CureMode to the stand, and questioned him about the landing bay defensive system. There was discussion regarding how Commander Cain had used an upgraded system in comparison to that originally present on the Galactica.

“And can you tell us why the laser shielding was not activated after Lt. Amy was on board?” Lazant asked.

CureMode shook his head and said, “No, I suppose—”

“Dr. CureMode, facts, not suppositions are required here. Thank you. I’m done, but I reserve the right to recall this witness.”

Tribune Buellah looked to Solon and asked, “Any questions?”

Solon pulled himself upright, and holding the gold knobbed cane, said, “Not at the moment, but I, too, reserve the right to recall this witness.”

Buellah looked to the other Tribunes then turned to the court and said, “Let’s recess for a fifteen centon break.”

[LucianG]

Brie

Captain Brie was trying to stay serious, but she admitted to herself that she was having a lot of fun playing Ensign A. After all of the events of the past few days, it felt good to be someone other than herself. She was also enjoying giving certain members of Gold Squadron a hard time. She hoped that they were learning the lesson that she wanted them to learn. She knew that the sim session had lasted a long time, it was almost time to wrap things up.

"Okay," Brie said, moving back into her 'Captain' mode. "A couple more rounds, then debriefing, then we'll call it a day." She took a deep breath and became Ensign A once again.

* * *

Lucian

The Tribunal was back in session. “Unfortunately!” Resonat thought to himself.

Lt. Resonat had sat uncomfortably in the witness chair for over fifty centons. His testimony was being used by Opposer Lazant to establish the actions and events during the battle, as seen by “Dasher” Wing, which consisted of the four Officers from the Training Academy aboard the Callisto, and four newly promoted Ensigns. Unfortunately, the wing had the dubious distinction of suffering the highest rate of casualties in the battle, with the losses of four of eight Warriors and five of eight Vipers.

So far, things were not going well. All of Protector Solon’s protests were overturned. Resonat had been forced to admit that the wing had been ordered into battle despite not being ready, with the Ensigns receiving their promotions on the fly and then being dumped into their Vipers to go to their deaths. Three of the four had barely qualified, which was not surprising since they weren’t supposed to graduate for at least another ten cycles. He was pointedly questioned, as an instructor and evaluator, about the qualifications of each of the new Ensigns prior to the battle, and thinking, “Please, please, please, forgive me, Kris,” he proceeded to answer truthfully. Then, Lazant compounded the situation by asking about the recent flight experience of the other “Dasher” officers. This time, Solon won his protest, which Lazant promptly countered by introducing into evidence the personnel files of the dead Warriors, and then, asking Resonat, as a fellow Warrior, trainer, and evaluator of the dead Warriors, to evaluate their recent flight and battle experience. Finally, Resonat felt he had dodged a tough one when Lazant failed (or possibly deliberately?) did not ask the same about either himself or Resonat. The Lieutenant was then asked to describe the events leading to the destruction of Lt. Martinzi’s Viper.

He was almost drained emotionally by the time Solon’s turn came. Several easy questions were followed by the tough one. “Lt. Resonat, you told us about the recent flight and battle experience of the other Officers, but what about you and Captain Lazant, who was in charge of the ill-fated—” a flurry of protests and activity, followed by, “I apologize, Tribune.” He repeated the question, but without the prejudicial language.

Resonat gave a brief description of Lazant’s recent experience, then paused, staring down at his feet, and said, “I have none.”

Solon pursued the course, “No recent experience?”

“Yes, sir. No recent experience.”

“Then tell us about your qualifications as an instructor.” Resonat paused again, then drawing himself upright, he reached in his pocket, pulled out a carefully folded paper, and handed it to Tribune Buellah. He read the paper, then said, “It appears that this information is Classified. Security, clear the room except for the principal parties. We will call you back in when we are done.”

A short time later, Resonat left the Tribunal, alone, angry, and humiliated. Once again, a single action of long ago had come back to haunt him again.

* * *

Skyler

The sim session was winding down. Gold Squadron had started beating the Basestar scenario most of the time. Brie would add a twist if they were doing well, to keep them on their toes. She decided to change to a new exercise.

"Everyone is doing a great job. We have time for a few more runs before the next group is scheduled to enter." Brie punched some keys and set up the new run.

"This one is different. Commander Apollo and President Tigh are enroute to the Callisto for a meeting to discuss the new Cylon tech we encountered in the last battle. Out of nowhere, 10 Raiders are picked up moving to intercept the shuttle. Gold Squadron has been scrambled to intercept, and defend the shuttle. To save time, you will start in the launch bays already in your Vipers on this run. You will not have to get out and back in."

Brie hit another button, and the Callisto launch bay appeared before them. Brie smiled
"By the way, I will be a Captain again on this mission. I don't want anyone killing me off so they can take over the squadron, ok."

Flight control cleared all Vipers for launch. And they rocketed down the tubes exited into space. Attack computers picked up the shuttle and the approaching raiders. The raiders were at maximum speed, and would reach the shuttle a full centon before the vipers. Capt. Brie ordered full turbos. The Vipers streaked through space. Closing the gap, but not quick enough. The raiders engaged the shuttle. The shielding was taking a beating. If it could just hold a few microns more.

On the shuttle the pilots hailed the Vipers. "Electronic Counter Measures failing, evasive maneuvers not working. Don't want to pressure you guys, but hurry up!!"

The vipers attack computers showed the shielding fail. The trailing raider was moving into position. His targeting computer acquiring its target. If the shuttle were hit now, it would be over.

Skyler reacted without thinking, dumping all but his reserve fuel supply to lighten his load and increase speed, and pulling ahead of the others. The raider laser cannons fired. Skyler came up under the shuttle, pulling up on the Viper and placing his Viper between the shuttle and the raider laser blast. His viper burst into a ball of fire and was gone.

Lt. Skyler your dead!! The computer told him.

Mara was shocked, and stared in disbelief. Skyler had sacrificed himself to save Commander Apollo and President Tigh.

Brie brought her and several others back to reality. "Come on Gold Squadron, don't let what Skyler did be wasted."

Brie and Mara split off after three raiders. Brie fired and destroyed two of them in a sec. The third raider flashed in Mara attack computer, she thumbed the fire button, and her Viper's lasers reached out and crushed the raider. "That's for Skyler you tin headed bastards"

Najinn had blasted the raider that got Skyler, and moved on to another. In 30 microns after the battle started, the shuttle was safe and all but one Viper headed back to the Callisto.

As the sim shut down, Brie keyed the intercom. "Good job Skyler, I am sure Commander Apollo and President Tigh will pin our highest medal on your coffin. This is one of the only times where I would condone stupid heroics. In fact, everyone did outstanding and will get medals. Are you ready for the next run."

* * *

MaraJade
Well of a red headed tempermental warrior who is in love.
***
MaraJade just sat in the viper she already got blown up so she was just watching the rest go for it. That's when the emotions started to sneak into her mind. First off she needed to talk to Amy to see what is up with her friend. Something was wrong there and she was getting worried. Then there was the "test" that had her worried. Knowing that one day she may have to under go that scene in real life. The thought of this brought anger and pain and fear. They both were warriors and this didn't make it any easier. MaraJade then saw the antics Skyler was up to and that got her blood going.
"I know that we put our lives on the line when we fly, but asking for it by flying recklessly is just idiocity!" No one had heard her since she was "dead". She was getting angry with Skyler for this whole sim session he was flying as if he didn't have a care. So what am I? Chopped Daggit?? Knowing he cares deeply for her, it just made her so mad to see him tempt death so. The anger was building with in her and she was just waiting for the session to be over and to be debriefed so she could just lay into him and make a few things clear. He had better take her serious or she will really let that temper show. Then her thoughts drifted back to her own performance. She was mad at her own self. She had crashed, been blown up and bumped into many times. She was going to have to do some sim practice on her own at some point. So many thoughts and feelings running rampid through her, Mara felt sorry for the poor sap who talked to her after this...

[LucianG]

MaraJade
Uh guys and gals from the Gold squad... our fearless leader Cpt Brie may end up getting in trouble cuz of us. If you read the note from Charybdis titled alone... you will see what I mean. Looks like we are in trouble... for some reason I am getting a feeling that we are going to spend a lot of time in these sims...

* * *
Jarrynn
"Excuse me Cpt. Brie! Sorry to intrude but it has come to my attention two certain warriors from this squad have not come back to sick bay for a follow up on their eyes. After the sims will you please send Najinn and Cain to sick bay for a check up? Thanks."

* * *
Jarrynn

ps if they wont come willingly I will have someone go and drag them in. By the way are you two still wearing your dark glasses I gave you?
* * *
Brie
Captain Brie finally decided to end the sim session. There was a party going on, and since everyone was thinking about that there was no sense going on. She wasn't really happy with the session as a whole and knew that she would have to answer to Lt. Col. Charybdis, but part of it was due to circumstances. She was very upset with the fact that Lt. Amy had been called away. It wasn't fair to any of them, and she never had a chance to test Amy and Najinn the way that she had wanted. She knew that the tribunal was important, but they had told Brie that Amy would be able to finish the session, and Brie had never been able to handle being lied to.

The thing that bothered Brie more than anything else was the fact that the sim hadn't been taken seriously enough. The use of the private channels, which had been forbidden, was unacceptable. She knew that Skyler and Najinn thought she was upset about the way they first destroyed the basestar. That wasn't the problem, what she was most upset about about that they had used the private channels when they had been ordered not to. She knew that Skyler had been really shaken by her comment about not trusting him. Truth be told, in an actual battle she would trust him with her life and the lives of the squadron. But in the sim...

"A few things we need to go over," Brie started. "Ensign Mara, I'll need to speak to you in private after this debriefing." Mara looked away, she thought she knew what was coming.

Brie looked at the seven faces staring back at her. She let out a slow sigh. "Now, there were some good things that happened here. Mara, you stuck with your wing, exactly what you were supposed to do. Good job. Skyler, Najinn, you two work well together. I MIGHT consider making that a permanant pairing...possibly. Careful with the heroics, though. Cain, excellent as always. ThunderWarrior, you performed admirably, it's good to have you in the squadron. Ben, Conan, you both did well. Thank you all for your time, I'll let you know if I decide to schedule another session. Mara, I need to see you, Cain and Najinn need to check in with Jarrynn, everyone else can leave. Enjoy the party!"

Mara walked slowly to where Brie was waiting. She wasn't looking forward to what she thought she was about to hear. "Ensign." Brie said, "which is worse, cursing, or the captain catching you cursing?"

Mara thought for a moment. "Getting caught," she said quietly.

Brie smiled. "Good, you're honest. Compared with other things that happened here today, a couple of words is nothing to worry about." Brie put a hand on Mara's shoulder. She changed instantly from being a captain to being a friend. "Sorry about that stunt with Amy and Skyler," she said. "You did just as you were supposed to do. When my husband and I first started dating, they pulled the same thing on us. We failed MISERABLY!" Brie laughed. "That's why we were never allowed in the same squadron," she said as they walked out of the room.
* * *
Skyler
Skyler looked at Mara and Brie as they went off to one side. He hoped Brie wasn't in any trouble for his stupid hot dogging in the sims. He knew he should take them serious, and he did for a while, but repeated runs against the same objective wore thin. He couldn't resist cutting loose and trying stuff he had heard about at the Academy.
Frack, Starbuck had been one of his flight instructors, and who better to learn the trick stuff from. The countless centars of hearing him describe his battles. Once Starbuck was leading a training patrol. Nothing fancy, just him and Jolly, and two cadets. Hands on training in a real Viper. They were jumped by a Cylon Scouting Patrol. A total of 3 raiders. Starbuck ordered Jolly to pull the cadets back. He raced ahead, turbos at full burn. Engaged the raiders, and destroyed them. The cadets knew he made it, but was suprised to see the blackened scars on his Viper when he landed. Starbuck was more than willing to give them the details. One of the cadets asked wasn't it risky doing what he did. Starbuck just smiled and said in a calm voice. Son, Risk is part of the game if you want to fly a Viper, and don't forget. He never did, and when in the sims, that young cadet, now a Lt. would risk a little more, push his Viper a little harder. See what it could do. He would never try these stunts in combat, well maybe some of them. The ones that worked, but thats all...

Skyler remembered Najinn had to go for an eye check up, and decided to catch up to him, and keep him company. It didn't look like Brie and Mara would be finished anytime soon.

[LucianG]

Lucian

That evening, Lieutenant Lucian sponsored a surprise party for BatGal and the other newly promoted lieutenants. He’d been slipping out of the barracks for several evenings in a row, making preparations in a small generally deserted room that he’d located in his work with the Engineering Department. On the last evening before the event, Randrius had followed him, so upon being caught, Lucian shushed Randrius to silence and had him help finish painting the big “Congratulations Lieutenants!!!” sign.

Lucian found newly promoted Lieutenant BatGal, his best friend from their time together at the Training Academy on the Galactica and then his wing for many of their first missions, singing softly, sweetly, in the observation dome. It was her favorite thing to do, and he enjoyed hearing her, so he stood quietly in the shadows enjoying her song until she’d finished. He walked forward, being careful to make a little noise as he did to keep from surprising her, and then told her that all of the Black Squadron Warriors had been asked to assemble in the O-Club for a briefing. When they arrived, Lucian stepped to the side allowing her to enter first, and all of the Callisto’s Warriors who weren’t on duty who had gathered in the room shouted “Surprise!” or “Congratulations!” Fun was had by all, though thoughts of the Tribunal weren’t far from the minds of a number of the Warriors….

* * *

A bit later in the evening, a couple Warriors leaving the party had a run-in with several black-shirted members of the Fleet Security force. The Warriors withdrew rather than start a fight, but as they did, the Black-Shirts’ taunts that Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis would be found guilty were ringing in their ears. The Warriors reported the incident to Captain Brie, who put in a call to Captain Urdea, former Warrior and current head of the Callisto’s Fleet Security.

* * *

It was early on the second morning of the Tribunal….

“Ensign Wendy,” Opposer Lazant began, “did you see a cockpit ejection pod floating free during the Battle of Shonada Delta?”

“Yes,” she replied, “I thought so, just briefly, out of the corner of my eye.”

“Did you report the ejection cockpit to anyone, and if so, to whom?” asked Lazant.

“I told Lieutenant Lucian over the comm,” she said. “He immediately reported it to the Callisto.”

Lazant looked at her and asked, “Ensign Wendy, did you know who was in that pod, if it was a pod?”

“I wasn’t certain but I was pretty sure it was Lieutenant Martinzi since his ship had just been reported as destroyed.”

“Thank you, Ensign,” said Lazant as he dismissed her. Solon once again had no questions, though, once again, he reserved the right to recall the witness.

* * *

Lazant briefly questioned Lieutenant Lucian on the report about the ejection pod. Then, he called Flight Officer Geenie to the stand, and asked why a C.O.R.A. drone was not dispatched to locate the pod. “We had several out there at that time, so I don’t think one was dispatched specifically for Lieutenant Martinzi.”

Then, Lazant called and questioned bridge officer Lieutenant Sanwal on the status of the bridge during this time. Several officers had been assigned to the wings to fight, so the bridge was very short-handed. “Lieutenant, do you know if Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis was aware of this?”

“Yes,” said Sanwal, “I’m sure he was, but—”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” finished Lazant.

Next, Major CureMode was recalled to the stand, and Lazant questioned him closely on the return of the C.O.R.A.’s. After the first couple questions, Lazant turned to a pad and said, “This is from the Bridge recording, a certified transcript, submitted as my next exhibit, that states:

Commander Sheba—"Halt all launches immediately. Our warriors are to disengage the Raiders as quickly as possible and return to the Callisto. We must be out of here in three centons. Are the calculations nearly complete?"

Helmswoman Karia—“Yes, Ma’am, course input and ready.”

Commander Sheba—“How are those C.O.R.A.'s doing? Do we have all our people who ejected?"

Major CureMode—“Yes, Comman—"

<loud explosion, followed by about 50 microns of commotion as damage reports are filed>

Major CureMode—"Damage control reports no serious structural damage, although there are several casualties in the area, Commander. We can move to the jump location as soon as our Warriors are on board."

“Now, tell me, Major, when the Commander asked we had all of the people who ejected, you responded, ‘Yes,” said Lazant. “Why didn’t you report that one pod was missing.”

“Captain Lazant, it was extremely busy, and we were extremely short staffed. I was filling in on a number of duties, trying to keep everything going. All of the escape pods with active homing devices had been rescued by the C.O.R.A.’s, though I never got to tell the Commander that there was possibly one reported pod still out there. We never picked up a distress call or homing signal from it, so we couldn’t be sure. When those explosions occurred, we were getting damage reports from everywhere, and those were suddenly a lot more important. Then, with more Raiders and BaseStars arriving in centons, the Commander ordered a complete withdrawal and we got out of there just before they arrived. Believe me, Captain, there was no intent to leave anyone behind.”

After CureMode had completed his testimony, Commander Sheba was called. It took a while for her to arrive, and she said she was extremely busy, so Lazant agreed to hurry through the questioning. He quickly covered with her the same issues that he had covered with CureMode just a bit earlier, then he moved on, “Commander, were you aware of Martinzi’s missing pod?”
“No,” replied Sheba.

“Were you informed that there might still be a missing pod?” asked Lazant.

Again, Sheba said, “No.”

“Now tell me, Commander Sheba, would you ordinarily deal with such issues during a battle?”

“I might receive reports, but I don’t usually have time to deal with them directly,” she replied.

Lazant smiled, “Then to whom would this information ordinarily be reported? Who would ordinarily make sure that such minor issues were handled?”

There was no smile on her face as Sheba replied, “Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis.”

“One last issue, Commander. Did Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis report to you that he was leaving the Bridge, the severely short-staffed Bridge, where life and death decisions were being made micron by—”

Solon called, “I object! I think there were quite a few life and death decisions being made all over the place during that battle!”

Lazant sneered, “I’ll rephrase. Commander, did Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis report directly to you that he was leaving the severely short-staffed Bridge to go somewhere else during the battle?”

“Not directly to me, but—”

“Thank you, Commander,” interrupted Lazant, but Sheba continued, “BUT, he made other Bridge officers aware so they could fill in for him.”

For his cross-examination, Solon crossed over in front of the Commander and asked, “Commander, is Lieutenant Commander’s duty station classified only as the Bridge?”

“No, while he customarily serves on the Bridge, as the second-in-command of this ship, his duty station is the Bridge or wherever else aboard ship he is most needed at the time,” stated Sheba forcefully.

“Thank you, Commander,” said Solon, as he nodded to Lazant in case of redirect.

[LucianG]

Lazant stood in front of the Tribunal and said, “And now, for the prosecution’s last witness, I recall Lieutenant Amy to the stand.”

Once she was on the stand, Lazant asked her a few general questions. Then, he turned away from the witness and to the Tribunal, and stated that there was another reason, so far unstated, that fully explains Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis’s actions during the battle. He turned back to Lieutenant Amy and accused her of being involved, romantically or possibly even sexually, with Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis. She was seen emerging from his quarters when he was known to be present and otherwise alone on at least two occasions, and Lazant said he had witnesses he could call to prove it if she said otherwise. When she did not dispute that, Lazant said, “Now, the reason Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis left his post on the Bridge, the Bridge that was, according to the sworn testimony of officers serving there, extremely shortstaffed, that Bridge where he was desperately needed during the heat of the most significant combat this ship has ever faced, was to find and protect his little girl friend, or perhaps even, his lover! Then, when she was bravely determined to fly back into the battle, he decides to leave the ship entirely, to accompany her to protect, not the ship to which he is assigned, but HER! That, Tribunes, is the real reason that Lieutenant Martinzi was left behind to die a slow, agonizing death. That is the real reason we are here now. And that, Tribunes, concludes this case.”

Solon, blindsided by the testimony, and seeing Amy’s tears, said, “No questions for this witness right now, but I reserve the right to recall. And,” he added, “we would like to request a recess until tomorrow.”

When the recess request was granted, Solon turned and whispered to Charybdis, “But boy! Do I ever have questions for you!”

* * *

<Note: Unfortunately, the next, very important part of the case, the Protector’s defense and related testimony, was lost when Sci Fi zapped the board. The following original outline fragment was located, but it doesn’t do justice to the events as originally written….>

The Protector’s case.

· Establish that he was in good emotional condition/recall Nurse Holodoc, and call Doc Bkj
· Establish that at the time Lt. Colonel Charybdis left the bridge, all was under control.
· He went to the landing bay to personally check the status of the effort, since communications were giving everyone fits.
· Command decision to protect the ship in the best way possible.

* * *

<Synopsis>

Following completion of the testimony and the impassioned closing arguments from both sides, the Tribunes went into recess to determine the outcome of the Tribunal. Later in the cycle, they returned and Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis was found guilty, though not stated, most certainly due to his association with Lieutenant Amy. He was immediately stripped of his rank, and sentencing was scheduled for start of First Shift during the next cycle. As soon as the verdict was announced, a number of Warriors who could not believe the verdict began investigations of their own….

* * *

Later that evening, several Black-Shirts were gloating that the Lieutenant Colonel had been found guilty. A group of Warriors had witnessed the scene and took offense, and before long, a fistfight was underway. Captains Brie and Urdea, who had met earlier in the day to discuss reducing the tensions between the groups, rushed to the location and had broken up the fight without any serious injuries….

* * *

<Fortunately, the end of the chapter was saved to give the outcome of the Tribunal




Lucian

“Morning” had come to the Battlestar Callisto. The First Shift Warriors and crewmembers were going about their daily routine. There was much discussion and even gossip aboard ship about the sentencing phase of the Tribunal of Charybdis, formerly a Lieutenant Colonel of the Colonial Warriors. Everyone waited to hear the outcome.

In the Tribunal, Solon stood, grasping his cane, and walked toward Tribune Buellah. He said, “Tribune, Opposer, members and guests of this Tribunal, as you know, Colonial Law allows new evidence to be entered into the record in a case, even after the verdict has been reached. This morning, we have new evidence that will shed new light on this case.”

Following a brief counsel, Solon called Captain Brie to the stand. She explained that she had checked the records of repairs performed on Vipers during the Battle of Shonada. A large number of Vipers had to land during the battle for repairs of various types. Because of this, it would have been impossible to activate the laser shielding without sacrificing numerous pilots and Vipers.

Solon asked, “Captain, was Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis aware of any problems with the Vipers?”

“I protest,” said Opposer Lazant. “Just because there were some problems during the battle doesn’t mean there are ‘problems’ with our Vipers.”

“If the Tribune will permit, I will attempt to show just that,” countered Solon. He placed a stack of papers on the desk, entering them into evidence. “These are selected entries from Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis’s private journal. He became aware of production quality control problems a couple of sectons ago, and has since been investigating this. These entries corroborate this investigation. In addition, we have separate reports by then Ensign BatGal, Ensign Conan, Lieutenant Lucian, and our head of Engineering, Lieutenant Titon, regarding this issue.”

Lazant asked for a brief recess to review the documents. About ten centons later, he indicated that he had scanned the material and found it to be as Solon had described. Protector Solon then continued, “Captain Brie, considering the great deal of work that Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis had done in this investigation, in your opinion as a command officer, where was the best location to determine additional information first hand regarding this problem during the battle?”

“In the landing bays, Protector,” Brie replied.

Next, Solon called Lieutenant Titon to the stand as an expert witness. Lt. Titon explained how overnight he and his crew had checked the emergency beacons and comm systems on the newer model Vipers produced over the last two yahrens. They had found that over 40 percent do not work properly. In addition, Lieutenant Lucian and Ensign Wendy had done some tests on the ejection system of one of the newer Vipers, and found it to be far out of specification. It was entirely possible that Martinzi could have been knocked unconscious as a result of the ejection, if not the initial explosion of the Viper. “Immediate repairs of the affected ships are required,” he said. “Those repair efforts are beginning this shift, and should be completed in three to four cycles, as long as no additional problems are discovered.”

Finally, Solon called Flight Officer Geenie back to the stand. “Based on your knowledge of the locations of the various wings during the battle, what resources, other than those aboard the Callisto, were available to defend our launch and landing bays at the time Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis and Lieutenant Amy launched?”

Geenie produced a printout and associated diagram showing the locations of the Viper groups at that time. “As you can see, Sir, we had very few resources available to defend ourselves in those areas,” she said.

“Was Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis aware of this?” Solon asked.

“Sir, he was familiar with the disposition of our forces at the time he left the bridge, and there were no further forces available for deployment. Based on typical combat, it would have been very unlikely that the situation would have improved significantly when by the time he launched.”

Before Solon could begin an impassioned plea for redirecting the verdict, Lazant rose from his seat, and asked for permission to address the Tribunal.

“Tribune, Protector, Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis, and members of the Tribunal: As are all of you, I am greatly shocked and displeased at the revelations we have heard here this morning. We are told that the safety and welfare of our fleet and our people are at risk. As shocking and unbelievable as this is, the evidence points to this as fact. Not being privy to this information before this time, it appears that I have let my desire to avenge the death of my friend, Lieutenant Martinzi, blind me to the fact that Command Officers sometimes do things that, though appearing wrong, may be for the good of the ship. In my zeal to avenge my friend’s death, I looked at the evidence and drew conclusions, but without all of the facts, I have focused my anger at the wrong party. The Cylons are responsible for Martinzi’s death, not Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis. While the evidence I presented was certainly damaging, and was even enough to convict him on one of the two charges, this new evidence is equally compelling. His actions, while appearing suspicious on the surface, appear to have been appropriate,” he said. “Now, it is my duty as a Colonial Warrior to do two things: First, I hereby apologize to Commander Sheba, Tribune Buellah, Protector Solon, Lieutenant Amy, and the members of this crew, but most of all, I apologize to Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis. While I doubt that we will ever be friends personally, he is a brave Colonial Warrior, and as such, he deserves the respect due a Warrior. I offer my heartfelt apologies, Colonel.

“Second, Tribune, I hereby ask that all charges against Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis be dropped and that the charges and conviction be stricken from his record.”

Tribune Buellah was smiling as he picked up the gavel, spun it around a 360 in his grip, and, slamming it against the table, said, “DONE!”