FicWad

VI

General Kendrick Grayson was holding one last meeting aboard the William Adama, with the Admiral, the XO and the CAG, Justin Bond. It was just about showtime. About ten Armored Personnel Carriers were on the planet, ready to scout the Mountains East of Caprica.

"OK, Nick, again, give me time to get everyone in place before you launch your air recon. I doubt it'll take me long to get it organized. Most of these guys are top-shelf soldiers."

"Understood, General", the CAG responded. "I'll have everyone airborne within five minutes after I hear from you, Good luck, sir", Nick saluted the General. Grayson saluted back.

"Safe flying, Captain", and he turned to board his Raptor to the surface.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Lee had walked Nick down to his Raptor in the Starboard Hangar, wanting to see him off. "I know you really don't need to hear this, but no hot-dogging by anyone out there", he said sternly.

"Sir, I've told everyone if they act like Costanza, they're dead meat", he deadpanned to his Admiral.

Lee laughed out loud, "Damn if you're not your Old Man's son, Nick! I'll see you in a couples hours, Axman."

Nick saluted The Boss, "Wilco sir, have a good meal waiting for me!"
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Nick Bond headed towards his Raptor in preparation for the Mission. As he came closer to his bird, he saw a familiar face looking at him with a smile on her face.

"Captain Bond, Sir!", Ensign Natalia Schrevrenko said, saluting properly. Nicholas Bond returned the favor.

"What a surprise to see you here, Ensign?" He said deadpan, which made her laugh.

"Yes, you looked shocked, Captain."

"I assume my ship is in order, Ensign?" he said archly.

"When I work on something, Captain, I make sure my work is thorough", herself no slouch at using the technique of deadpan. That made the Captain blush a little.

"Yes, uh, well there's no doubt of that", he said, trying to regain his composure, remembering the night before.

"Stay out of trouble, Captain", she saluted again, "I don't want to have to work you over again." she said with a wink.

Nick laughed and boarded his bird.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

After returning to the Roslin, Admiral Thrace-Bond had made a visit to the surface and talked to the three leaders and to others in the enclave. She was like her father: see with your own eyes, if you can, before committing. She had taken a Raptor tour around Aerilon to get another birds-eye view as well.

Before leaving the surface, Kara met with General Trevor, "General, I couldn't be happier with things her on Aerilon. I'm going to assign about one hundred Raptors and about fifty Falcons to patrol. I'll also send down the transports, probably for about five trips each, to get enough food, water and more permanent housing material for you and the inhabitants." She paused and looked out over the people she had met. "After the transports are completed, I'm taking about half of the fleet to Canceron."

"Once we have things worked out here, I will join you on the scouting of Canceron, Admiral", he paused, "That world might be a little tougher nut to crack, if I may say so, sir."

"I'm thinking the same thing, General", she said with a wan smile, "but I hope we don't run into a situation like there is on Caprica", she saluted him, "I'll see you soon, General."
__________________________________________________________________________________________

"CAG, General Grayson, all forces in place on the ground, start the music."

Nicholas Bond was in his Raptor with his right-seater and an Electronics Officer, all prepped for take-off. "Grayson, CAG, Roger that General", he switched to the departure frequency on his radio, "Adama Actual, CAG, we're ready to lift off, Falcons are a go at this time."

"Copy, CAG", Lee replied, "All Falcons launch immediately."

It took about five minutes to get all the fighters clear of their tubes. One tube stopped working before the last Falcon launched, but that bird had been moved very efficiently to another tube and was away.

"CAG, Adama Actual, the Raptors are cleared to depart." And with that, the Raptors took off from the Adama and a nearby Raptor Launcher ship. Nick Bond was the last one airborne, and they headed to the surface.

The conclusion during the debate on the Op Plan was that if there was some kind of camouflage in place, the Raptors couldn't actually see the compounds for this group that was up here allegedly. The first order of business was to try and gauge where the camouflage was and how big the disguise was. That way the could more precisely plot the main encampments of this outfit.

Within ten minutes the Raptors were in their positions. Many of them were on the periphery of the search area for close-in support, and to cover the ground recon forces who, like the Raptors, were just trying to get a feel for exactly where this group was in the Caprican Mountain Range. Some others were there for an intermediate cover of the search party, well below the Falcons, who were, in essence, an emergency force. Lee had not wanted to take any chances.

The area to be searched was quite large-perhaps thirty miles in length, and up to ten miles in depth. The search patterns had been laid out during the forming of the Op Plan. Nick's Raptor was on the Southern end of the search area, where he and a couple other Raptors would try to ascertain where the Southernmost point of the camouflage was.

"CAG, Raptors 44 and 45, I'll reconnoiter the middle of the search zone, 44 take the West, 45 take the East, stay sharp." There were still mountains behind them, and Raptors were also patrolling those areas to make sure of no surprises, so his wing of three could concentrate on what was thought to be the Southern boundary.

Nick's right-seater, Lieutenant Rick "Pirate" Londhal, was doing most of the flying while Axman was using Mark One Eyeballs on the area. "Anything of interest there, CAG?"

"Nothing so far, Rick, not a damn thing. Move us a little more Westward, if you will. I think the Southern border is a little further in than we might have thought."

"You got it, CAG", and the Lieutenant banked the bird to the left for a closer look-see. After about three minutes, Nick suddenly sat more upright in his seat.

"Hey Pirate, I think I have something. I think I see a netting canopy at about my Ten O'clock, give me the bird for a moment, I want you to eyeball this." Londhal did just that, as Axman took the flying.

"Yeah, Boss", Pirate said slowly, "I do see a netting over the trees. It's a damn good piece of work, but I can see where the netting ends. Want me to bring the other two birds this direction?"

"If you please, Rick", Nick Bond deftly maneuvered his bird at almost a hover and initiated the cameras on the bottom of the bird to take high-resolution photographs of the netting, as Nick checked the coordinates to where they were at. The other two Raptors in his wing of three were now even with him, and they, too, said they could see the netting. He ordered both Birds to head in opposite directions to try and find the corner of the netting, so they could plot its width.

Lieutenant Londhal had his hi-res binoculars out and was looking at the netting. He could clearly the demarcation of the netting, and where uncovered mountain began. The other two birds were reporting that they had yet to find the ends of the camouflaging.

In the rear was Lieutenant, Annabel Marisio, a twenty-five-year-old from Venezuela, who had just gotten her wings a few months back. She was the Electronics Officer for this mission. Her call sign was "Purple", or in Spanish, "Púrpura". It was her favorite color, and she wore it constantly when off-duty.

She had been pretty useless on the trip so far. Then again, CAG said he wasn't expecting much that would set off electronics or warnings on this mission, but she was alert and ready to do whatever arose.

Nick had moved the aircraft to within about a thousand yards of the netting, and perhaps another thousand above it. He saw no movement near the canopy. He was just about to back off and take his bird to the Eastern end of the search. He didn't get the chance.

"Missile Warning!", Purple said in alarm, "Port, behind us about two thousand yards!"

"Goddammit!", the CAG yelled, as he swung his bird around and firewalled the pedals to get them out of there. He could get the Raptor to a breakaway speed very quickly, but would it be enough?

"CAG, Missile directly to our rear, fifteen hundred yards and closing fast!"

"Come on, you piece of shit, get moving!", Nick yelled to no one in particular. The Raptor was gaining speed, as he headed Eastward. But the missile kept closing. Londhal had even released the chafe anti-missile system, but the bird kept coming.

"Sir, five-hundred yards, CAG!" Annabel said in terror.

"Everyone brace for impact!", Nick yelled, banking the aircraft hard to the right at the last moment.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Lee was monitoring the scouting mission in CIC. So far, it had been routine. He had received reports from the Western and Southern search groups that they had found the netting. The Northern party was still searching.

Suddenly the radio erupted, "Krypter! Krypter! Krypter! Raptor 45, missile fired, CAG's bird is going down, repeat CAG is going down!"

Lee didn't hesitate, "Falcon Lead, Adama Actual, Bravo alert, missile fired, CAG is going down, descend to assist!"

"Roger, Actual, I'm taking five birds down, will advise!"

Lee, ever the military man, knew the risks, and he knew Nicholas Bond knew the risks. The CAG had known for years about his father's ordeal in Afghanistan many years ago, so he definitely knew the risks. He cared for all his crew, and deeply. But Nick Bond was almost family, and the alert had put a cold ball of fear in his stomach.

He had to put that out of his mind for a moment. He had a job to do.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Admiral Kara Thrace-Bond was prepping her ship and half of her current fleet to leave orbit around Aerilon and to hop over to Canceron to begin the process of scouting that planet. She had been lucky, and she knew it, that things were going so well on Aerilon. There would be no problems, so far as anyone could see, in starting to rebuild that world. Her officers were already putting in requisitions that would be sent back to UED on the provisions needed to start the rebuild there when the next fleet arrived, which would be shortly after this fleet headed back to Earth.

The fleet was waiting for the last two mammoth transporters that had brought the last of the supplies to the surface to return. The crew was looking forward to the second stop on this mission. After that, there would be four more to go. The Fleet would be back here before heading home, but she felt good about the head start they had on Aerilon.

The two transporters had just radioed that they were on their way back to The Fleet. Then the Officer at Signals broke in, "Admiral, Code Red message from Admiral Adama", she said without any distress in her voice. But the "Code Red" turned heads. "Do you want it here or in your Quarters?"

"Ensign, I'll take it here", the Admiral replied. She knew there were problems on Caparica, and she had even visited the planet a week ago with her father and brother to get a birds-eye view of the issue. But a Code Red was only for dire emergencies. Whatever it was, she wanted to be able to react instantly to the message, "Send it to my terminal, if you will."

"Aye, Admiral", and in a few moments the message had arrived, and she pulled it up on her computer: "Attention all ships, Code Red issued by the Commanding Officer. CAG down on recon mission over Caprican Mountains, repeat, CAG down, status unknown at this time."

Kara almost physically recoiled from the message, her eyes going wide. Commander Carrico saw her reaction, and he became concerned immediately, "Boss, what is it?", he said, sliding over towards Kara.

Kara just looked at him and turned the screen in his direction. Chase scanned it, then in sotto voce spoke again, "Goddammit!" He put his hand on one of her shoulders, then began giving orders, "Set Condition One throughout the Fleet! Prepare for Possible Jump!"

That caught the crew a little off guard, but they were pro's and went about preparing the ship for possible action.

"Admiral!", Signals cut in again, "a Priority Follow up from Admiral Adama."

"On my screen immediately", Kara said trying to keep calm. Kara, I did not include your father in this message, he shouldn't find out like this. Caprica has the info, but I told her that I wanted you to be the one who tells your folks. Still have no information on Nick's whereabouts or condition, we're searching. I'm with you, my friend.

Kara snapped back into her command mode after a moment, "XO, cancel jump prep for the moment, but have The Fleet remain at Condition One until further notice. Chase, I need to see you in my quarters."

Chase Carrico followed her at a fast clip into her quarters, which was just off of The Bridge. She shut the door behind her. She was still facing away from her XO, took a deep breath, then turned around.

"Chase, the hop over to Canceron will continue, but keep us at Condition One until I find out more information", she was working mightily to keep her emotions in check.

"You're going over to the King, then to the Adama?" It had sounded to Kara like more of a challenge, even though Carrico hadn't said it in that way.

"Chase, he's my brother, for Christ sake!", her emotions starting to unravel a little. "My first mission is to this Fleet, but I'm talking about family here!"

Chase was momentarily taken aback, but he collected himself, "Kara", he said, dropping formalities for a moment, "I wasn't questioning that, and I apologize if it came out wrong."

Kara stopped for a moment, and sighed, "I need to apologize to you, Rabbit, I'm sorry I snapped at you like that."

Chase shook his head, "Kara, I know your family is more important than anything in the Universe to you. And I'll back whatever you have to do at this time. If you say we jump, we jump, if you tell me to jump and bomb the shit out Caprica, I'll do it. I know what you need to do here, trust me, and I'm behind you one-hundered percent."

Kara's face broke into some tears at that moment. She went over to hug her XO. She and Chase had gone to war together, and he was not only her XO but one of her best friends. At that moment, she needed a hug.

She broke the embrace, then smiled at him, "I know you will Chase. It means everything to have you in my corner, you young bum", and they both laughed.

"You need to go to the King, and tell your folks, and then get them over to the Flagship ASAP, so they can be close to what's going on."

"That's what I'm going to do, XO", she said, sniffling a little more. "I feel like I'm abandoning my post, though."

"Kara, we're all family here. All of us. But we're talking about the most important people in your life, the people who helped make you into one helluva Admiral and person. I can get the Fleet to Canceron, you know that."

"I have to assume Lee has told Abby, who is on the Carl Sagan, so I'll go on that assumption right now."

"I think you're right, Boss." He put his hand on her shoulder, "Now get out of here and go be there for your folks and your sister and that's an order."

Kara laughed one more time and hugged Chase again. "I just have to get a few things from CIC and then I'm gone."
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Kara and Chase had forgotten to take the information from Lee off the screen, and, of course, the entire CIC now knew what was going on. A member of the CIC saw the two Bosses approaching. He sprang to his feet and in a loud voice called "Ten-HUT! Admiral Of The Fleet On Deck!"

The entire CIC came to rigid attention with crisp salutes. The call had stopped Kara in her tracks. She knew they knew.

"As you were, everyone", she said, "Thank you very much for that. I'm headed to the King then to the Adama. XO, you have the conn."

"Aye, Admiral!", Chase saluted, with Kara reciprocating the gesture.

As she turned to leave The Bridge, the Ensign at Signals spoke to her, "Admiral?"

Kara turned, "Yes, Ensign Chatham?" The young Ensign had tears in here eyes.

"We'll get him back for you, sir.", and saluted her Boss again.

"Thank you, Ensign. I'm honored to serve with you."
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Justin and Judith Bond were having a light lunch in their quarters. The Governor had slapped together some BLT's, with a side of potato chips. It was the kind of lunch they had both enjoyed dating, lo those many years ago, and it was the kind of lunch where they could talk over events that were going on.

"So then, of course, Minister Laflame got upset, because he felt that his manhood had been challenged, and he started to stalk over to Minister Kwok", Governor Bond was laughing through the statement, remembering the argument at the meeting with the Quorum that day, "I mean, LaFlame is what? Six foot four, and Mrs. Kwok is about five-foot-nuthin', and he felt threatened?"

Judy was drinking ice water and dare not take a sip at that moment because she knew she'd spit it out when laughing. She was almost doubled over sitting on her chair, tears coming out of here eyes.

"Oh, my God, that's hysterical, Justin!", she said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "LaFlame is if you'll pardon the expression, an uptight prude if you ask me."

"If you ask me, I think it's a good thing that Robere didn't make it over to her chair. He can't reach her, but Minni could certainly haul off and hit him quite easily in a tender place."

Judy had taken a drink that time, and spit it onto the floor almost immediately, laughing hysterically once again. The Governor was shaking with laughter as well.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Admiral Caprica Baltar was in the Starboard Hangar area, awaiting the arrival of Admiral Kara Thrace-Bond. Caprica felt horrible withholding the news from the Governor and Mrs. Bond, although she completely understood that Kara needed to be the one to tell them.

Starbuck touched down and had the side hatch opened before the bird was a full stop. She hopped off the back of the wing. Caprica was waiting for her. "God, Kara, I'm so sorry!", the Cylon said in greeting, hugging her friend.

"Thanks, Caprica, I appreciate it", she said when breaking the embrace, "I hate to be so sudden, but we need to get to my folks and get the hell out of here."

"Of Course, Starbuck, follow me."
___________________________________________________________________________________________

The Bonds had calmed down from the hilarity and were munching on their lunch when there was a sudden knock on the door. "Governor, it's Caprica, may I enter?"

The looked at each other. It was unusual for The Admiral to make a house call. "Of course, Admiral, come on in."

Caprica opened the door, which didn't surprise them...but Kara was in her wake. Judith Bond went immediately pale on seeing the stricken look on her daughter's face.

"Kara...what is it?"

Kara went up to her mother, with tears in her eyes. He father moved in next to his wife.

"It's Nick. His Raptor was shot down."

To Be Continued in the Next Story, Battlestar Galactica: The Fight For Caprica.