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Post by Brie on Jun 17, 2005 12:39:06 GMT -6
Commander Apollo sat up in his chair, waiting for the interview to begin. The lights were so bright that they hurt his eyes. A woman was applying some type of power to his face, “so your forehead won’t be shiny on camera, Sir,” she explained. He had been interviewed dozens of times for the IFB over the yahrens, and several staff members who were still there had been friends with his late wife when she had been a reporter. He hated watching himself later, he always felt that he looked stiff, but that was better than the uneasiness that most warriors showed when interviewed.
Zerra sat across from him, going over some notes. “Are you sure you don’t want to let me in on this announcement of yours? Just a hint?”
“Let’s just say that it’s a ‘major’ announcement,” Apollo said cryptically.
“Fine, be like that,” Zerra said with a smile. She had known Apollo since right after the holocaust, and had watched him grow from an idealistic, sometimes hotheaded viper pilot to become the man that the fleet needed to lead it. “We’ll start with the events on the Agro Ship if that’s all right with you.”
“Zerra, 30 microns,” a man called.
“That’s fine,” Apollo told Zerra. He waited patiently for the countdown.
“We’re live in 5...4...3...”
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Post by Amy81 on Jun 18, 2005 9:13:35 GMT -6
Ange sat in the mess hall, his eyes on the monitor. A lot of the old memories were coming back to him. The feel of being on a battlestar brought back a lot of the old days to him, and waiting for Commander Apollo's interview to start... well, seeing him again, even on a monitor, would be a welcome sight. He wondered what the interview would be about.
Ange leaned back in his chair, pushing the tray of empty dishes away. Good old mess hall cooking. Another memory, and one he could have done without.
He reached into his pocket and took out the few strands of yellow hair he'd put in there, wrapping them around his finger absentmindly as he waited for the interview to start.
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Post by Brie on Jun 19, 2005 7:52:10 GMT -6
Zerra waited for her cue. “This is Zerra, live aboard the Battlestar Callisto. ‘General Sickbay’ will be seen in it’s entirety following this all too rare interview. My special guest is none other than Commander Apollo himself. Thank you for joining me, Sir.”
“It’s my pleasure, Zerra,” Apollo replied. He hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt. It wouldn’t do the fleet any good to see their leader sweating on the IFB.
“Let’s get right to it,” Zerra suggested. “The entire fleet wants to know what happened on the Agro and Livestock Ships. We’ve heard that there was a takeover attempt of some type.”
“That’s correct,” Apollo replied. “Now I don’t have all the details from the Livestock Ship yet, but I have been informed that the situation there is under control. But I can tell you what happened on the Agro Ship. Where would you like me to start?”
Zerra didn’t waste a micron. “How about with former-Major Brie’s escape from the brig? We heard reports of her being involved, and that she brought a dog named Roy. I have no idea what a dog is, but I do know that there’s a shuttle pilot named Roy...”
“I obviously need to set the record straight,” Commander Apollo said. “First off, a dog is an ancient name for a daggit, and the Roy you’re referring to had nothing to do with any of this. But more importantly Major Brie did NOT escape from the brig. Her being on the Agro Ship was not by her own choice. She was drugged and kidnapped.”
“By whom?” Zerra asked, surprised.
“By that daggit that you already mentioned,” Apollo told her. “Although it wasn’t a daggit. You’re referring to ‘Dogwenruoy,’ which is actually ‘your new god’ backwards. And the person who was calling himself ‘Dogwenruoy’ was Major Pierce.”
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Post by Brie on Jun 20, 2005 8:55:56 GMT -6
Zerra stared blankly at Commander Apollo, at a momentary loss for words for the first time in her career. “Major Pierce?” she said at last. “The same Major Pierce who was Chief Opposer at Brie’s Tribunal? What does he have to do with any of this?”
Apollo had rehearsed what he was about to say dozens of times. “Major Pierce was the leader of a cult called the New Secret Survival Society,” he explained. “He convinced his followers that he was actually God, not mortal like the rest of us. He had a plot to take over the fleet. One of his people bragged of this plot to Major Brie and he decided that she knew too much, so he had her kidnapped out of the brig. She was taken to the Agro Ship, where he also placed a bomb. He threatened to blow up the ship, cutting off the fleet’s food supply, if his demands weren’t met.”
“What were his demands?” Zerra asked.
“He wanted control of the fleet, and he wanted us to land on a planet that he had found,” Apollo explained. “Although there was never any chance that we would give in to his terrorism, we ran a preliminary scan on the planet and it was uninhabitable. He would have led the human race to its destruction faster than the Cylons.”
“What did you do?” Zerra wanted to know.
Apollo sighed. “We pretty much stalled for time. Pierce had contacted us from the Agro Ship’s bridge, he had murdered a couple of their officers already, and he started to threaten to execute hostages. Major Brie stepped up and volunteered to be the first one killed. While we were watching on the monitor he shot her three times. Then, as he aimed for her heart, one of his followers came to her senses and kicked his laser out of his hand. It saved Major Brie’s life, but we lost communications with the Agro Ship in the process.”
Zerra was intensely following the story. “What happened then?”
“Fortunately Pierce had underestimated the survival skills of the Agro Ship workers,” Apollo continued. “They fought back and freed themselves from Pierce’s followers. Major Brie and the others with her were able to secure the bridge, then went looking for the bomb Pierce claimed to have planted. Pierce had snuck away from the bridge like a coward. Major Brie and the Agro workers found the bomb and were able to secure it aboard a shuttle, which she set on auto-pilot and blew up harmlessly in space.”
“So happened to Pierce? Where is he now?” Zerra asked.
Commander Apollo looked down for a micron. “He gave a suicide order to his supporters. He was able somehow to broadcast it all over the fleet. At last count there are over 250 people dead. He then committed suicide himself.”
“So the fleet is now safe?” Zerra asked.
“Yes,” Commander Apollo replied. “Unfortunately there were some deaths aboard the Agro Ship and I’m expecting a similar report from the Livestock Ship. There were a few minor injuries and of course we almost lost Major Brie, but everything is secure. No one on any other ship in the fleet was in danger, and things are now totally back under control.”
“Backtracking a little bit, so former-Major Brie’s injuries were a direct result of Pierce shooting her three times?”
“Some of them,” Apollo answered. “There was a bit of a scuffle with some of the Agro workers who had jumped to the wrong conclusion and decided that Major Brie was working with Pierce.”
“Will charges be filed against them?” Zerra wanted to know.
“There will be an investigation, of course, but probably not. I was with Major Brie when she woke up and the first thing on her mind was making sure that the Agro workers weren’t blamed for trying to protect their ship. Some of Pierce’s followers will be charged, though, with crimes dating back several yahrens. I’ll give you more information on that when it becomes available.”
“Anything else you would like to add?” Zerra asked.
“There are a few people I’d like to mention by name,” Apollo replied. “Major JustinB of Black Squadron, whose quick thinking saved Brie’s life, also Ange, the Chief Security Officer of the Agro Ship. Two other warriors need to be thanked publicly, Lieutenant Logan of Gold Squadron and Ensign Dolet of Black Squadron. Captain Suttir and his co-pilot Dorn of the Ago Ship did an admirable job under circumstances that they never even dreamed that they might face. And although I won’t mention her by name until I’ve had a chance to thank her in person, I’d like to express my gratitude to a certain young med tech whose quick thinking and even quicker kick saved dozens if not hundreds of lives.”
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Post by Col. Charybdis on Jun 20, 2005 10:34:08 GMT -6
"I knew it!" I almost yelled out loud. I was standing in a lonely corridor watching Commander Apollo's interview. He regaled us with quite a tale, but one that was true. I had privy to some of it while on the bridge watching Pierce give his demands. But the part about Brie 'escaping' to go with Pierce, I knew that Brie had been kidnapped. She would have never gone along with a plot like that.
I continued watching to see what else Apollo would say...
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Post by Brie on Jun 21, 2005 9:34:59 GMT -6
Brie glanced at Justin out of the corner of her eye as his name was mentioned. She was slightly embarrassed about being one of the main topics of the whole interview, she wondered how he felt. Commander Apollo continued to name names. Ange was going to come out of this a hero. Lieutenant Logan...what a surprise she had been! To think that Brie had been upset with Skyler because of her! Ensign Dolet...Brie hadn’t met him but she hoped she would. She wasn’t sure what his part was but if Commander Apollo was thanking him he must have done something important. Suttir and Dorn...she worried about the aftereffects that they would experience. No doubt they would both be plagued with nightmares. And Kyla. Brie was thrilled that Commander Apollo realized the importance of Kyla’s role in ruining Pierce’s attempt. She wondered where the girl was, and made a mental note that she needed to ask to see her.
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Post by Brie on Jun 21, 2005 9:38:58 GMT -6
“As if this story isn’t incredible enough,” Zerra said, “you had promised me an announcement.”
Commander Apollo smiled. “If you’ll recall, I promised you a ‘major’ announcement. And that’s exactly what it is. It is my incredible pleasure to tell you that Major Brie has been returned to her position as Gold Squadron Commanding Officer on the Battlestar Callisto.”
“Her conviction has been overturned because of her help on the Agro Ship?” Zerra asked.
Apollo shook his head. “No. There never was any conviction or court-martial. I can’t go into all of the details for security reasons, but the entire Tribunal was staged. The charges were false. We knew that Pierce was up to something, and we knew that he had an intense hatred for Brie. This hadn’t been Pierce first mutiny plan, his original scheme was thwarted by Captain Turner, Brie’s late husband. We had hoped that by allowing Brie to be convicted, Pierce would make a mistake.”
“Did Major Brie know what was happening?”
“No,” Apollo replied. “That’s a decision that I regret. I had wanted her to react naturally, and the only way to assure this was to not let her in on the plan.”
“Did things go as you had hoped?” Zerra asked.
“Not exactly,” Apollo replied sadly, “but it did force Pierce to move his plan forward. He also confessed to everything that he’s done to Brie, starting with the murder of her husband. I’ve brought a recording that took place between the battlestars and the Agro Ship that includes Pierce’s confession, if you think that your viewers would like to see it.”
“I’m sure they would,” Zerra said enthusiastically. She looked to the side. “We’ve been given a thumbs up, so let’s watch.”
Suddenly Pierce was seen on the screen. “You should be afraid of me,” he was saying. “Think of what I’ve done to ruin your life. I arranged Turner’s execution and made sure that it was carried out. I wouldn’t let anyone believe you when you kept trying to tell them that he hadn’t been killed by the Cylons. I made sure that you were committed. I made it very difficult for you to be reinstated. I took your final mission, what should have been your crowning achievement, and turned it around to make it look like you were negligent. I had you arrested, tried and convicted. You had just returned from a suicide mission with most of your team alive, and I had you court-martialed! A career as brilliant as yours, but they listened to me instead. It’s fitting that your life should end now, by my hands.”
“That’s incredible,” Zerra said after the picture flicked off.
Apollo cleared his throat. “There is something else that I really need to say.”
“Please, feel free, Commander,” Zerra said.
“Major Brie was in NO WAY negligent on the Pangara Moon Mission. Her quick thinking and careful timing allowed the fleet to escape. And also a word about Captain Amy. I’ve read the report filed by Captain Lazant quite closely, and no matter what Pierce tried to state in the Tribunal, Captain Amy was a fine warrior, a hero, especially on this mission. That is the way that she is to be remembered.”
“Is Captain Amy...”
“No,” Apollo interrupted. “And I can’t give out any more information than that without permission of her family.”
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Post by Col. Charybdis on Jun 21, 2005 10:38:22 GMT -6
"the entire Tribunal was staged. The charges were false. " I sat there dumbfounded at what I had just heard. Commander Apollo was stating that the entire tribunal against Brie was staged and that she did not even know abou it!!!!!
I didn't know what to think about this. The first thought that came to my mind was Commander Sheba. Did she know about this plot or not? Was she in on it too? How many lives were trampled because of this sham of a tribunal, not to mention Brie? She almost lost her life as well as many others because of this!!!
I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe our Colonial Military leaders would do something like this even in the name of justice! I kept watching the monitor but my rage was beginning to grow with each passing word of Apollo's. ..
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Post by Brie on Jun 21, 2005 11:36:29 GMT -6
Relief. Part of Brie felt like she should be angry for what had been done to her, but all she felt was relief. With Commander Apollo’s words the whole fleet finally knew. She was back where she belonged, leading Gold Squadron once again. But more importantly the truth about what had happened to Turner had finally come out. She had known all along that he hadn’t been killed by the Cylons, but no one, not even Charybdis, had ever believed her. Turner’s file would most likely be changed to reflect his murder. Hers would be changed to show that parts of her life had been manipulated by Pierce. She could finally admit that she had faked her nervous breakdown, that she had never been crazy. Although she had been used by Commander Apollo and a few others, to her it had been worth it for the truth to come out. If she had to she would do it all again in a heartbeat. She couldn’t feel angry because even though it was from a hospital bed, she was pleased with the outcome.
A single tear rolled down her cheek as she realized that she could put it all behind her and actually move forward with her life. Things were going to get better at last.
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Post by Brie on Jun 22, 2005 8:46:45 GMT -6
“Speaking of Captain Amy,” Zerra continued, “if the Tribunal was staged does that mean that she and Colonial Charybdis didn’t make love in a broom closet just centons before Amy’s leaving on the mission?”
Apollo rolled his eyes. “I expect better than that from you, Zerra. That is something that I won’t lower myself enough to comment on.”
“My apologies, Commander.” Zerra put her hand to her ear, listening to something in her earpiece.
“I think we’ve covered everything,” Apollo said, “and I’m sure your viewers would much rather be watching ‘General Sickbay.’ Although personally I prefer ‘All My Younglings’...”
“Funny you should say that, because I’ve always thought that you look a little like the actor who played Erica’s first husband.”
Apollo seemed surprised. “Really? No one has ever said that to me before.”
Zerra smiled sweetly. “Just one last question, Commander Apollo. Is it true that Major Brie is Captain Amy’s biological mother?”
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