WarStar Galactica (Series 1 Episode 2)

Episode Recap: The IWS Phoenix encounters and survives a massive attack from an ancient, powerful and thought lost super Cylon Basestar known as a StarFalcon after staging a massive counterattack against the Ultra baseship as it attempts to steal various core components and possibly several core defense ships within the Athena Defense/Exploration fleet they managed to escape generally intact however much of the attacked portion of the WarStar group is lost and all that remains of the enemy fleet is a heavily disabled single basestar.

Act 1
''IWS Betelgeuse silently glides in a vast orbit around the energy core of the Cyrnus Galaxy. The 1st in a series of Elite Class NovaStars the Betelgeuse was solely designed to be the ultimate in military function and efficiency. The general size and scope of the WarStar is so vast that at a closer look and angle the ship appears to eclipse the bright shining galactic center itself. Within the center of the ships Command Core it hums with silent order and quick efficiency as it keeps silent watch over the galaxy, the fleet, and its known inhabitants. Standing stoically within its very center is Alice the NovaStars 2nd Officer. While at times a she has a generally serene calm demeanor at times like this however she typically is far more stern and authoritative especially when both of the ships commanding officers were off ship and the ship that they were on has not been in communication for the past several hours as is per standard required orders.''

Alice (Standing in Betelgeuse CIC Core)- "Officer Report! What is the status and position of the Phoenix and why haven't we been able to contact them for the past 4 hours!"

Deck Officer - "Thats the problem Ma'am for some reason after the launch of our Mega-Raptors we been receiving some sort of odd interference that has been disrupting all forms of both short and long-range communications both to and from the Alpha Quadrant."

Sensory Officer - "Strange… Ma'am were are appearing to be receiving DRADIS Contact from what appears to a large mass detonation from over 100 parsecs from the Phoenix's last known position but.…"

Alice - "But What commander?"

Sensory Officer - "But it cannot be truly verified because it seems to be there 1 minute then just gone the next. It could be just a sensory glitch or blip but well never really know for sure."

Alice only gives a small sigh (she was readily and easily frustrated by general Human incompetence and inability as she was hearing all of the reasons why the Betelgeuse's commander couldn't be reached she was secretly thinking that none of this foolishness would never happen on a Cylon ship however she managed to compose herself and turns back to the CIC Crew.)- "All right increase sensor sweeps of the entire galactic region and keep me apprised on our progress in contacting either the Phoenix or its crew."

''All the other deck crew could say is "Aye Ma'am" as she walks towards the ships Ready Room. As the doors of the room close she gives a slight slump against the rooms forward wall. While Alice was primarily created as a special series/class special/black ops. command Inviere cylon unit she never really cared for the actual position of command especially now, with both of the ships commanders gone her only other help was the ships own CORA unit who was while more than capable then acting as ships 2nd in command she personally believes that a colonial ships commander needs a more "Human Touch", a statement that even she realizes is both contrary and ridiculous for a machine to make such a statement.''

Suddenly the Ready Room Door opens next to where she was standing and another Betelgeuse officer appears.-

Arya - "Alice. What is going on?"

''The Master Sergeant, or "Chief" of the on-board marines, one of the youngest command officers in the Imperial Fleet, Arya is a hand-to-hand and weapons specialist. While she hates flying in anything smaller than a cruiser, she is more at home in space than on ground.''

All Alice can respond is by giving a small sigh in frustration

Arya - "That bad huh?"

Alice - "I cant believe that anything organic can even be this incompetent!"

Arya - "I know that you were posted on an an command HyperStar for a while but you have to realize that Humans don't work or react as fast or intuitively as a Cylon crew would or can..."

Arya adds with a small smirk - "..Remember after all were only Human."

''Alice responds only with a small grin in return, Alice and Arya were friends since Arya's attendance of Imperial Academy, with Arya always seeming to be the yin to Alice's yang. Arya always seemed to have the right answer or saying to calm Alice down and find her center.''

Alice responds in kind- "Thanks I guess I needed to be reminded of that."

Arya- "Cm'on whats on your mind...Besides our organic incompetence?"

Alice - "Michael and Henry's been gone for more then 2 hours and it's starting to worry me if they don't come back soon..."

Arya - "Don't worry about it..their big boys Im pretty sure that they can handle themselves…" Suddenly an alarm sounds and both of them race out of the room

Sensory Officer - "New DRADIS contact! Picking up 1...5, no 6 new contacts leaving the target area at near lightspeed velocities."

Alice - "Launch an intercept squadron. I want answers."

Arya - "Im going too!"

''As the only 2 command officers entered the main launch deck the entire room was filled with activity as the command Raptor prepared for launch. In the center of the room was the massive personnel carrier currently being loaded with Heavy security mechs.''

''At the opposite end of the flight deck a Large, somewhat imposing man firmly stood a top a piece of hover scaffolding. As the man carefully surveyed the quick pace of the deck the man loudly barks commands to the younger (by comparison) launch prep crew.''

Man - "All right you Slackers! Double time! Get those Heavy Cylons prepped to the Solenium chambers before launch, back in the war you'd all be DEAD right now!..Now move it G** Dammit!!."

''James Stonewall Clarkson (called either "Stone" or "Stony" by his few friends) was central deck commander of the Betelgeuse, one of the oldest crew-members of the Athena Fleet, and one of the oldest veterans on the Imperial Fleet altogether. Joining the Colonial fleet only a few years after the end of the 2nd Earth/Cylon war while James earned high marks during his tenure as a Viper pilot it was his leadership skills and ability to expertly coordinate and maneuver large groups of troops during the years of the then early Empires civil strife.''

''As political (and some social) structure within the Empire began to quickly collapse James quickly joined the fleet led by Laura Roslin in the hopes of returning the Empire to its gloried height of power. James tactical and logistical expertise was invaluable during the War of ReUnification. This is where James had first met and befriended the now Commodore Atradies. James acted as a mentor and (for a short time) instructor for the hotshot ace pilot and the rest of the wars most elite squadron Eagle 1. The men became fast friends due to their shared strong moral and political views.''

After the war while due to his high accolades and experience James could have had an endless string of commands and elite postings across the Fleet (including the Galactica) however Clarkson had constantly stated that he had his more then fair share of military action and decided to leave both command and control to as he himself had termed it far more "Interested" men.

James had simply became the Betelgeuse's deck chief mainly as a favor to his old friend the other reason was due to of the Athena Fleets scientific directive he had seen this as (for his own point of view) a chance to "get away from it all" such as basic day to day military service which he had now saw as ridiculously routine.

James had never let any one except for his closest friends call him by his nickname however Alice (who somehow unknown to him) had learned this and now at certain times calls him by this (especially when he appears to harsh or serious) to his own frustration and this was certainly one of those times.

Alice - "Status and ETA Stony?" Arya gave a small smirk in knowing (yet gentle) smugness

''All Clarkson could give was a small grunt in frustration and annoyance. If any other crewmember had called him that he would have promptly given said crewman a good "lesson" in manners and respecting a senior officer. However Alice was both a superior officer (although younger) and also a friend in good standing ("personal past" with Atradies notwithstanding) to the Commodore. So all he could do was bite his lip and take the small abuse.''

James - "ETA in 10 Ma'am" with a slight tone in sternness and anger "All critical components are installed and ready for launch"

Alice - "Good make sure all weapons energy munitions are fully charged and all investigative probes are prepped"

James - "Yes Ma'am"

''As he says this Arya finishes putting on her combat uniform. The form fitting outfit slips on with little effort as it's seemingly both dress and armor. However it becomes somewhat difficult to dress as her breathing and heart rate increases. While only slight smaller then half the size of a Colonial Battlestar Arya hated the thought of being "cramped" into a Mega-Raptor (the addition of heavy cylon units, weapons, and extra troops no help) the corridors were built only slightly bigger then a train walkway and bunks no better. Nevertheless Arya placed her frivolous fear out her mind and quickly went to her duty.''

''The row of Imperial Marines stood near the main hatch of the heavy carrier. Razor class marines were the newest elite commando of the Imperial Fleet, Razors were the brainchild of Cain Industries and the Hyperion Corporation the Empires leading weapons designer and co-manufacturer of the Betelgeuse. Razor marines consist of the colonies best human and cylon solders. ''

''Created mainly as a combination covert op./peacekeeping task force, Razors were dismantling rings of Eastern Alliance remnants trying to steal/reverse engineer various pieces of older Colonial technology and trying to rebuild they're failing dictatorship. Also Razors aided various poorer refugee colonies along the edge of the galaxy. Arya was the leader of Alpha squad the fleets main special defense force and proud of her position.''

Arya Stood at the front of the group- "Alpha squad ready."

Alice - "All right as soon as we reach the target ten of you are to be placed as a scouting team several sectons ahead of us be ready for anything understood?"

Alpha Squad - "Huraa!"

Alice into her wrist comm - "This is comm make final prep for launch and ride out."

Raptor Pilot - "Aye Ma'am this is Raptor actual understood."

Alice - "All right lets ride!"

Arya - "You heard her move out!"

As she said this the helmeted marines march quick step into the Raptor as they fully load into the carrier Alice turns to Clarkson.

Alice - "If I don't return...you know what to do."

James now less harsher in tone- "Aye Ma'am"

As he remains still on the hover scaffold the massive carrier leaves it's docking bay and enters into the unknown he silently considers the backup plan if the NovaStars second officer truly doesn't return.

Act 2
''A Mega-Raptor along with several escort fighters silently comes out of HyperJump within a fairly remote region of the Galaxy. Appearing somewhat damaged the large craft "limps" along at FTL velocities desperately trying to reach any of its fellow ships.''

Commodore Atradies - "What is this now our tenth Jump?" Staring out the main cockpit

Pilot - "Actually it's our 12th sir."

Atradies - "Ugh..why is this taking so long?"

Co-Pilot - "Sorry sir this would have taken less then 5 minutes but since were on less then half our power we can only afford short jumps back to the rendezvous point."

''Michael Atradies was a battle hardened veteran of the War of Imperial ReUnification. Raised in a poor farming community on New Sagitarron Michael was the 1st in his family to join into military service. He joined the Cadet Corps at 17 (an actually surprisingly early age to first join into Fleet service) but this was mainly due to his own hesitation to join with an organization with massively differing political and religious beliefs from his own, but Michael was a believer in the belief that change comes from within so he joined in the faith that he could in time influence reforms into the corrupt Imperial structure.''

''During his training tenure in Viper Fight Academy Michael began to earn a strong reputation as a maverick and loose cannon in both his flight and combat skills. One time Michael was stranded several parsecs from his training squadron with no readily available help or communications sources nearby so he took the only option remaining to him. With all the remaining fuel in his fighter he jumped in one massive burst towards the squads rendezvous point. The desperate maneuver saved his life but it also nearly destroyed his Viper beyond the point of capable repair.''

''Commodore Atradies almost nearly considered using the same move on the Raptor but dared not its one thing to put his own life on the line but now he had the lives of several men and women besides his own to think about so for then the commodore had no choice but to sit patiently until either they had arrived at the meet point or a rescue squad came for them. so for now all he could do is silently walk down the raptors command deck in silent and short frustration.''

Act 3
''The unknown Battlestars flight deck was filled with the instant blinding streams of laser fire in front of her and muzzle flashes coming from unknown corners of the massive chamber. Next to Kendra Shaw lay 2 bodies one of a fallen marine who despite all of his (or hers Kendra couldn't really tell at that point) advanced Training it couldn't help him against the surprisingly massive barrage of direct enemy fire that slammed him across the room. The other casualty was a civilian who was hiding somewhere in the deck and was unfortunate enough to get hit by a stray ricocheted bullet off the battle chassis of one of the Cylon defense units.''

''As Kendra tried to look around at her chaotic surroundings she suddenly saw coming out from the corner of her eye her commanding officer stun blasting 2 soldiers who suddenly seemed to appear in front still firing as they hit the floor. The Commander seemed to be strolling calmly and casually taking down hostiles 2 by 2 as if she were mearly walking through an empty military obstacle course while randomly firing at paper targets. Suddenly again Kendra something else out of the corner of her eye, It was brightly flashing bright blue and seeming to be flying at her at to close a distance next to Her. And as fast as the object came at her so did the command that came after it''

Razor Security Marine - "Stun Grenade!!!"

Ten Minutes Earlier
''Kendra Shaw was a first year Fleet Med-Tech who was assigned to the Athena Exploratory Fleet. This was Her dream ever since she joined up for Fleet Service. Kendra Denise Xao Shaw was born the oldest of 4 children, Her father was a Colonial from New Tauron, Her mother came from Beijing, China. While Kendra and all of her siblings were born and raised on Earth they all strongly considered themselves Colonial. This was the feeling of most children born even with a small amount of "Galactican" blood after the arrival of the Colonial Fleet in the end of the 20th Century.''

''By Comparison to what was happening to her now Kendra's military career was considered pretty casual. Actually many Medical Corps positions were considered pretty cushy after the end of the War of ReUnification. And thats just how Kendra wanted it, she never really considered herself a career soldier. In fact she never considered herself any sort of military type but when the Imperial Fleet began to genuinely restructure the space corps for exploration applications Kendra almost instantly knew she had to join.''

''Kendra was told that she was to be assigned aboard the Phoenix the crown jewel of the exploratory fleet before disembarking from Pluto Station, Her transport Raptor left almost instantly from Pluto and only stopped for a short refuel in the Andromeda Galaxy. Kendra thought that all her dreams were finally coming into fruition until a communication came in to their Raptor saying that they had to regroup and redirect their ship to the Betelgeuse, The fleets central military/defense carrier.'' Kendra's 1st reaction was almost one of disapproval and disobedience — "What do you mean we have to regroup with the Betelgeuse??, No we have to join with the Phoenix."

Raptor Crew Member - "No ma'am were now ordered to change course, sorry but Orders are orders"

As the crewman walked away all Kendra could give was a small "But..." Before finally falling back in her passenger seat.

''As she sat in silent frustration with arms crossed for a few minutes until a young man with dark brown hair and shining eyes noticed her and gave a knowing grin. He suddenly broke the silence by saying'' — "So you're trying to get to the Phoenix too huh?"

Kendra - "Umm Yeah..I Am and you are?"

With a larger, friendly grin and an extended arm he replied - "Sorry They call me Strider, just Strider I'm..."

Kendra - "Let me guess you're a Viper Pilot..right?"

Strider - "Well right now I'm just a standard fighter jockey, but gimme a few years and you'll be lookin at the newest CSG of the Athena Fleet!"

Kendra - "Well you're got your sights high"

Strider - "And what about you? You buckin for a surgeon general position??"

Kendra now somewhat shy — "Oh no, I'm not cut out for any of that serious Fleet Career stuff, Im pretty happy just to be posted with the BAR as research tech."

Strider looked slightly shocked as Kendra said this and said with a somewhat resignation — "ohh..well I guess not every one is cut out for this ruff n tumble Fleet life…"

As Strider finished that last sentence suddenly the quantum transport came out of temporal jump and the vast flowing shape of a NovaStar abruptly came into view.

''For a few seconds Kendra's anger fairly subsided as the awe inspiring sight of the "muscle" of the Athena Fleet slowly grew and spread out towards them as their raptor maneuvered in for dock. Simply just the sight of the impressive NovaStar sparkling and beaming brightly in the galaxy glowing center made Kendra feel sure and more confidant then ever that she made the right choice to enter fleet service. However her assurance seemed short lived as the transport finally came into dock.''

Raptor Pilot - "This is AQV Transport to Betelgeuse Actual requesting permission for dock"

Voice from Raptor Comm - "Transport this is Betelgeuse Actual, command codes received and accepted prepare for final dock."

Pilot - "Understood Actual, Raptor out."

With a large boom and several locking clicks the raptor finally came into a full dock against the side of the ship and the transports main door begun to open when Kendra distinctly began to hear the shouts and bustle of the NovaStars crew outside, For a few seconds Kendra almost began to think that the ship was under attack, however Kendra could clearly see outside no other ships were either near or next to the Betelgeuse.

Suddenly a young officer in a sharp pressed blackish blue uniform ran up to the open hatch and met with a loud almost ordering tone of voice…

Officer - "Are any of you supposed to be posted on the Phoenix?"

Kendra somewhat meekishly - "Well I am sir and so is he..." pointing a finger in Strider's still seated direction

Officer just staring - "All right you 2 come with me" As he said this he quickly turned almost heel step turn into the ships larger walkway

As the remaining passengers stepped off the Officer led them into another much larger walkway into a flight deck — "All right we don't have much time so get this gear on and get ready to disembark."

''As he said this he suddenly threw a large duffle pack at Kendra, one slightly larger then the one she was already carrying. As she opened the pack she took out a small collection of flight gear mostly consisting of a utility belt, straps, and a rather large back worn med kit. As she put it on she began to ask…''

Kendra - "Not to sound out of turn sir but...why are we required to put this on?"

Officer - "Well you want to get on board your posted ship don't you?." As he was saying this he walked them into yet another raptor and into several large combat jump seats

As Kendra sat in her posted seat several raptor crewmembers began to lower the chairs heavy safety harness and strap Kendra in the officer continued.. - "something happened to Your posted ships..."

Kendra (somewhat worried) - "What do you mean something happened to our ship.…?"

Officer - "We don't know all we know is that something happened to the Phoenix several hundred Parsecs from its previous position and you're their to possibly meet up with it at its new position."

Suddenly he turned his attention to Strider standing quietly at a side to the both of them — "You, Get yourself to a Stealth Viper and prepare to meet up with the recon group ahead of us and be prepared for Anything!" As the officer barked this he seemed to say it with a concerning tone as to what the Anything he referred to was.

''Strider only responds with a short and sharp salute then he quickly jogs out of the room almost in lockstep. Kendra's worry slowly increases as the Raptor begins to prepare for release from dock. As this begins the unknown officer suddenly turns back to her…''

Officer - "Good Luck"

As he says this he begins to walk away and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder before he finally exits, leaving Kendra alone in a absolutely darkened and somewhat silent (except for the sounds of the flight crew).

Suddenly with a heavy jolt of momentum based Gravity the Mega-Raptor ejects itself out of dock breaking the unnerving silence then the darkness is broken with a bright flash as the small cruiser breaks itself into Quantum flight heading into the unknown.

Five Minutes Earlier
Raptor Pilot - "This is Raptor Actual to Comm, were in direct DRADIS contact with the detected objects and requesting your appearance on the bridge."

''Alice works her way as fast as she can through the short maze of corridors and command decks to the Raptors "Actual" deck. On a larger Warstar a command officer can reach any deck easily if they use the ships own internal quantum teleporters, however a Mini-Star isn't equipped with such transport (except for the few emergency teleporters to evacuate the ship) Alice finds (in times such as these) a craft with a lack of such technology to be somewhat of a hindrance. But (as with many Human inconveniences) Alice just grins and bears the small inconvenience.'' ! Alice with (Arya closely following in tow) enters the Raptor CIC — "Report! What do we have!!"

Raptor Pilot - "Thats why we called you Ma'am..." He continued with some small hesitation "We don't really know what it is"

Arya - "I thought it was the Phoenix"

Pilot - "So did we however when we began to receive full DRADIS contact we received something strange…" ''As he said this he gestured towards the Raptors main DRADIS console. The console was lit with multiple objects that looked familiar but could not be identified by the device "We don't know what'' these ships we found are but they are tagged as friendly or more to the fact...Colonial."

Arya - "Colonial??..Then what is…"

Pilot - "Then the 1st recon group got closer and they snapped some pictures of this…" As he said this he enabled a holo-screen with an image that only could be described as a 2nd Cylon War era Battlestar in close quarters combat with...Something

Alice (Staring intently) - "This cant be possible, are you sure that CORA is reading this correctly"

Pilot - "Positive i also did a manual double check on the images myself its real all right"

Arya after several minutes of stunned silence speaks — "What is the other ship that they're fighting??"

The Pilot hesitates to respond for a few seconds but then answers.. - "...Well Ma'am, we don't know who the other ship is but the ships support fighter configuration is unmistakable...their Cylon."

''Alice stood in solemn silence for a minute trying to rationalize the event before her eyes 'how in God's name were there other modern Cylons within this barren area of this Galaxy and why were they still in locked combat with a Colonial ship??' were her first thoughts as she gazed in deep thought at the scene playing before her. When suddenly completing her thoughts she spoke.''

Alice - "All right tell all other Raptors to form up and try to intercept both ships and hopefully most of their fighters!!"

Pilot - "Aye Ma'am"

Alice - "Also contact the Betelgeuse and tell them to have as many spare Raptors and free Viper and automated squads on standby for possible reenforcement and scatter at least 2 to 4 stealth squads to intercept and neutralize as many fighters as they can"

Raptor Pilot crew (in Unison) "Aye Ma'am!"

Alice (walking away in calm defiance to UniCom) - "This is comm to all ships crew, for now this will only be handled as a peacekeeping operation, a police action only. However be prepared if actions become more hostile, That is all."

Raptor Pilot- "Aye Ma'am switching to radio silence and strict stealth flight procedures..

As he says this nearly all of the twinkling lights across the DRADIS console panel go dark leaving the raptor crew is silent and hesitant waiting for what would happen next.

Same Five Minutes onboard Betelgeuse
''Strider suddenly went from a paced jog to a full run towards the Viper flight deck as the ships alarms went into a Priority Yellow alert meaning a possible combat situation. As Strider quickly turned into the deck in managed a short gasp at the majesty of the rows both in front of him and hanging above him of glossy matte black stealth craft.

''They seemed to even him silently as he passed by each one. The only interruption from this slick black uniformity were brightly colored winged spikes hanging and being lowered into their launch tubes. From one Kelly Green fighter a somewhat thin framed boy climbed down.

''He turned towards Strider wearing a emerald green flight suit with noticeable Cylon fleet markings. Suddenly he turned further near him with a beaming smile.''

Cash - "Hey names Cash and im guessing your my new CO??"

''Strider stood in what felt like eons of stunned silence, as he did this he suddenly looked down and noticed the bright Kelly Green patch on the shoulder of his pilots jacket referencing his squad affiliation. It was with that he regained the ability to speak.

Strider - "Um yeah I guess so..."

Cash (With hand thrusted out) - "I'm Cash nice to meet ya!!"

''Strider eagerly and strongly shook back, he couldn't believe his luck he earned his own squad along with a combat ready Cylon unit all in less than 1 or 2 minutes. As if to suddenly interrupt this wonderous moment a loud call came over the decks Uni-Comm.

Uni-Comm - "All pilots to Viper Priority Yellow all repeat all Pilots to Vipers!!"

''Neither young men had to be reminded again as in just a few seconds both were prepping their fighters for launch.