Categories > TV > Battlestar Galactica > A Journeys End
A Journey's End
A Journey's End
Authors Note: This is a revised and hopefully improved upon version of the original story.
Prologue
If there was one thing in the universe that Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama hated more than the Cylons it was boredom. Especially the mind-numbing boredom that you got on a long-range patrol ahead of the ragtag fleet of ships that held the few pitiful survivors of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.
Lee understood why it was necessary to patrol the space ahead of the Galactica and the rest of the fleet; they had to make sure that the Cylons were not waiting in ambush. To complete the genocide they had begun four years ago, when they had returned from nowhere, more advanced and more powerful than ever before, and launched a massive assault on the Twelve Colonies.
In a few short hours the Cylons had carpet bombed everyone of the Twelve Colonies with nuclear warheads and reduced the once mighty Colonial Fleet of corvettes, frigates, destroyers, cruisers and battlestars to a single old battlestar that had been due for decommissioning. Now the Galactica the last of the battlestars was the solo guardian of what was left of the Human race as they moved deeper and deeper into unknown space looking for the mythical thirteenth tribe of Kobol hoping that the people of the mythical Earth would be able to give them sanctuary from the Cylons.
Though the smouldering remains of the Twelve Colonies were far behind the ships of the colonial remnant the Cylons still pursued them, determined with every fibre of their existence to destroy those who had long ago created them. A number of times the Cylons had come close to trapping them, especially when the sentient machines had managed to get ahead of them and wait in ambush. The remnant had had some pretty narrow escapes.
So it was that Lee and a rookie pilot recruited from one of the civilian ships - a kid just barely out of his teens - were out here running ahead of the fleet scanning everything in their path.
Lee's dradis screen abruptly bleeped for attention, Lee turned his attention to it, to see two contacts coming around the curve of the horizon of the planet they were just passing. The contacts were awfully close and Lee guessed that they'd used the planets gravitational and magnetic fields to mask their approach. Now they were almost on top of them. A moment later his tactical computer identified the incoming contacts as two Cylon Scimitar-class raiders.
"Reaper," Lee called using the other pilot's call sign. "We've got a pair of Cylon
Scimitars coming right at us. Evasive action now, they are right on top of us."
"Roger that Apollo," Reaper replied just as the two Cylon raiders came into weapons range and immediately opened fire, twin streams of blue tracers shooting forth from each raider.
Apollo turned his Viper in a tight evasive manoeuvre the salvo of Cylon rail gun fire only just missing him. Reaper wasn't so lucky. Before the rookie could start turning his Viper into an evasion course fire from one of the raiders ripped into it, the explosive rounds tearing through the armour like it was paper to rip through the Viper's delicate innards, one round penetrating and exploding inside the fuel tank. Reaper screamed even as his Viper exploded in a plume of plasma and vaporised metal.
Apollo didn't have time to mourn the death of his fellow pilot as he now had the undivided attention of two Cylon Scimitars, not an ideal situation for any Viper pilot to be in. Apollo pulled another tight evasion manoeuvre dodging another volley of Cylon cannon fire, as he turned one of Cylons cut across his gun sights and Lee instinctively pulled the triggers. Twin streams of rail gun pellets shot out from the Vipers guns and tore across the Cylon raider, snapping the Scimitar's right wing clean off. For a second the Cylon tumbled out of control then its power plant went up turning the raider into an expanding rapidly cooling ball of plasma and debris.
The remaining Scimitar fired another volley of projectiles from its twin wing cannons at him - pulling another evasive manoeuvre out of his hat Lee was able to evade the twin blue streams of death. Annoyed and frustrated - if a sentient machine could feel those emotions - that it couldn't nail him with its rail guns the Cylon raider fired a missile at him. Apollo's thread board screamed an urgent warning as the missile locked onto the heat corona of his engines and sensors also detected a small nuclear warhead in the missile. Not that the warhead type mattered, either a conventional or thermonuclear warhead would be more than capable of destroying him especially if it hit the engines.
Jinking madly Apollo tried to shake off the missile as it streaked towards him, but the missile stuck to his tail like glue the sophisticated tracking systems in its warhead enabling it to follow his every move. Lee frowned wishing not for the first time that the antiquated Mark-III that he was flying had a decent missile countermeasure system.
Then an idea struck him, it was crazy but it was his only chance. Turning his Viper he headed straight for the Cylon raider and hit full thrust heading right for the war machine. The Scimitar turned to face him and opened fire on him again, streams of blue projectiles shooting across space towards him. Continuing with evasive manoeuvres even as he dove right at the Cylon he evaded the fire. Lee opened fire as he closed on the Scimitar sending projectiles right at it. One struck the machine and tore right through part of the right wing of the raider causing it to stagger in space as a stabiliser disintegrated. Then he was almost on top of it.
At the last possible moment Lee pulled up into a steep climb feeling gee forces pressing him back into his seat. The nuclear missile on his tail was not able to react to the manoeuvre quickly enough and slammed into the Scimitar, with predictable results since despite the level of their technology the Cylons still used simple kinetic detonators on missiles.
The nuclear warhead detonated, the Scimitar flashed to vapour instantly consumed by the blue-white blast of star fire. A sphere of superheated plasma accompanied by an electromagnetic blast wave and a lethal sleet of gamma radiation shot out from the point of initial detonation.
The edge of the blast wave caught Lee's Viper and knocked it tumbling out of control, arcs of electromagnetic static crackling along its whole length. The impact of the blast with knocked Lee hard into the side of the cockpit wall, so hard in fact that despite the protection of his helmet he was knocked unconscious, even as electromagnetic arcs played over cockpit instruments crashing or blowing out whole systems.
The sounds of the Vipers systems died, as all power was lost. The only sound that remained was the urgent - and unheard - bleeping of the radiation detector built into Lee's flight suite.
***
The sensor officer frowned as the long-range scanners on the patrol cruiser detected a thermonuclear detonation a few parsecs from their current location.
"Sir," the young woman called out to her department head. The lieutenant came over and read the display.
"Call the captain."
"Aye sir."
A Journey's End
Authors Note: This is a revised and hopefully improved upon version of the original story.
Prologue
If there was one thing in the universe that Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama hated more than the Cylons it was boredom. Especially the mind-numbing boredom that you got on a long-range patrol ahead of the ragtag fleet of ships that held the few pitiful survivors of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.
Lee understood why it was necessary to patrol the space ahead of the Galactica and the rest of the fleet; they had to make sure that the Cylons were not waiting in ambush. To complete the genocide they had begun four years ago, when they had returned from nowhere, more advanced and more powerful than ever before, and launched a massive assault on the Twelve Colonies.
In a few short hours the Cylons had carpet bombed everyone of the Twelve Colonies with nuclear warheads and reduced the once mighty Colonial Fleet of corvettes, frigates, destroyers, cruisers and battlestars to a single old battlestar that had been due for decommissioning. Now the Galactica the last of the battlestars was the solo guardian of what was left of the Human race as they moved deeper and deeper into unknown space looking for the mythical thirteenth tribe of Kobol hoping that the people of the mythical Earth would be able to give them sanctuary from the Cylons.
Though the smouldering remains of the Twelve Colonies were far behind the ships of the colonial remnant the Cylons still pursued them, determined with every fibre of their existence to destroy those who had long ago created them. A number of times the Cylons had come close to trapping them, especially when the sentient machines had managed to get ahead of them and wait in ambush. The remnant had had some pretty narrow escapes.
So it was that Lee and a rookie pilot recruited from one of the civilian ships - a kid just barely out of his teens - were out here running ahead of the fleet scanning everything in their path.
Lee's dradis screen abruptly bleeped for attention, Lee turned his attention to it, to see two contacts coming around the curve of the horizon of the planet they were just passing. The contacts were awfully close and Lee guessed that they'd used the planets gravitational and magnetic fields to mask their approach. Now they were almost on top of them. A moment later his tactical computer identified the incoming contacts as two Cylon Scimitar-class raiders.
"Reaper," Lee called using the other pilot's call sign. "We've got a pair of Cylon
Scimitars coming right at us. Evasive action now, they are right on top of us."
"Roger that Apollo," Reaper replied just as the two Cylon raiders came into weapons range and immediately opened fire, twin streams of blue tracers shooting forth from each raider.
Apollo turned his Viper in a tight evasive manoeuvre the salvo of Cylon rail gun fire only just missing him. Reaper wasn't so lucky. Before the rookie could start turning his Viper into an evasion course fire from one of the raiders ripped into it, the explosive rounds tearing through the armour like it was paper to rip through the Viper's delicate innards, one round penetrating and exploding inside the fuel tank. Reaper screamed even as his Viper exploded in a plume of plasma and vaporised metal.
Apollo didn't have time to mourn the death of his fellow pilot as he now had the undivided attention of two Cylon Scimitars, not an ideal situation for any Viper pilot to be in. Apollo pulled another tight evasion manoeuvre dodging another volley of Cylon cannon fire, as he turned one of Cylons cut across his gun sights and Lee instinctively pulled the triggers. Twin streams of rail gun pellets shot out from the Vipers guns and tore across the Cylon raider, snapping the Scimitar's right wing clean off. For a second the Cylon tumbled out of control then its power plant went up turning the raider into an expanding rapidly cooling ball of plasma and debris.
The remaining Scimitar fired another volley of projectiles from its twin wing cannons at him - pulling another evasive manoeuvre out of his hat Lee was able to evade the twin blue streams of death. Annoyed and frustrated - if a sentient machine could feel those emotions - that it couldn't nail him with its rail guns the Cylon raider fired a missile at him. Apollo's thread board screamed an urgent warning as the missile locked onto the heat corona of his engines and sensors also detected a small nuclear warhead in the missile. Not that the warhead type mattered, either a conventional or thermonuclear warhead would be more than capable of destroying him especially if it hit the engines.
Jinking madly Apollo tried to shake off the missile as it streaked towards him, but the missile stuck to his tail like glue the sophisticated tracking systems in its warhead enabling it to follow his every move. Lee frowned wishing not for the first time that the antiquated Mark-III that he was flying had a decent missile countermeasure system.
Then an idea struck him, it was crazy but it was his only chance. Turning his Viper he headed straight for the Cylon raider and hit full thrust heading right for the war machine. The Scimitar turned to face him and opened fire on him again, streams of blue projectiles shooting across space towards him. Continuing with evasive manoeuvres even as he dove right at the Cylon he evaded the fire. Lee opened fire as he closed on the Scimitar sending projectiles right at it. One struck the machine and tore right through part of the right wing of the raider causing it to stagger in space as a stabiliser disintegrated. Then he was almost on top of it.
At the last possible moment Lee pulled up into a steep climb feeling gee forces pressing him back into his seat. The nuclear missile on his tail was not able to react to the manoeuvre quickly enough and slammed into the Scimitar, with predictable results since despite the level of their technology the Cylons still used simple kinetic detonators on missiles.
The nuclear warhead detonated, the Scimitar flashed to vapour instantly consumed by the blue-white blast of star fire. A sphere of superheated plasma accompanied by an electromagnetic blast wave and a lethal sleet of gamma radiation shot out from the point of initial detonation.
The edge of the blast wave caught Lee's Viper and knocked it tumbling out of control, arcs of electromagnetic static crackling along its whole length. The impact of the blast with knocked Lee hard into the side of the cockpit wall, so hard in fact that despite the protection of his helmet he was knocked unconscious, even as electromagnetic arcs played over cockpit instruments crashing or blowing out whole systems.
The sounds of the Vipers systems died, as all power was lost. The only sound that remained was the urgent - and unheard - bleeping of the radiation detector built into Lee's flight suite.
***
The sensor officer frowned as the long-range scanners on the patrol cruiser detected a thermonuclear detonation a few parsecs from their current location.
"Sir," the young woman called out to her department head. The lieutenant came over and read the display.
"Call the captain."
"Aye sir."
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