Part 6: Attack

Toni raced to her viper along with the rest of Gold squadron. She entered the hanger ahead of everyone else and ran to her viper where the hanger crew was waiting for her. The lead crewman waited until Toni was in the cockpit before handing her helmet to her. There appeared to be mass chaos on the hanger deck until she looked again. Everyone was doing their duty getting everything ready. That was what they needed to do.

Toni's heart was pounding as she sat in her viper waiting for her orders as she tried to remain calm. The bridge crew had spotted something that might be threatening to the fleet. Toni briefly tried to guess what it was and hoped that it was not the Cylons. She was not sure that they were ready for a Cylon attack. If it was she could only hope that the training they had gone through would prove to be enough.

Up on the bridge the crew watched as the Cylon fighters came into scanner range. The war book was able to identify the incoming fighter now. The ID came up as a three piloted craft Cylon raider. There were no human life forms in the ships not that anyone expected there to be.

"Sir, I'm getting a new reading on the edge of our scanning range," Rhea said as she noticed a blip on her screen that kept appearing and disappearing.

"Can you identify it," Omega asked. He could hear Commander Adama over the intercom ordering the fleet to begin to head away from the attack. There was something that felt wrong about what Rhea had just said.

"War book identifies the ship as Cylon, Tartarus Class," Rhea said not knowing what that meant.

"What sector," Omega asked quickly and Rhea could hear the concern in the man's voice.

"Sector Beta one," Rhea replied.

Omega quickly checked out the direction and realized what was happening. He quickly got Adama's attention. This was serious trouble for the entire fleet.

"What's wrong Omega," Adama said.

"You're turning the fleet into a trap," Omega replied. "There's a Tartarus class basestar waiting for the fleet in sector beta one."

Adama seemed to hesitate for a second when he heard that news. A Tartarus class basestar was the one ship that he had feared more than any other. It was designed for anti-ship action and nothing else. If it was alone they would have a good chance of destroying it, but with several other basestars attacking it would be harder to destroy.

"Do you have a fix on the other basestars attacking us," Adama asked.

Omega glanced at Rhea who shook her head. "No commander," he relayed. The Hyperion's scanners were better than the Galactica's but the basestars were still out of their range.

Adama thought about what to do quickly. Three battlestars were more than enough to fight a Tartarus class basestar. The only problem was they needed an advantage, and they needed one quickly.

Adama thought about the situation and realized that they could not continue their direction. The Cylon fighters would attack the fleet. If he was right then the Cylon fighters were just there to lead the vipers away from the fleet while the Tartarus class basestar engaged the Galactica and the fleet.

Adama thought about his last thought. Not just the Galactica but the Galactica and the other two battlestars that has since joined the fleet. That was the advantage he had.

"Fighters are still approaching," Rhea said breaking his train of thought.

"Launch all vipers," Adama said to both Omega and Tigh who relayed the orders.

"All vipers pilots, we are under attack by Cylon raiders in sector Gamma four, engage and destroy are the orders, launch when ready," Rhea said then quickly listened for each pilot's response.

"This is it Gold squadron," Sheba said over the intercom.

Toni felt her heart rate pick up again at the news of what was happening. She then acknowledged the orders.

"Gold two ready for launch," Toni said.

"Proceed Gold two, and be careful," Toni heard Rhea say. She could tell that Rhea was concerned about her. There was something else in her voice that concerned her but Toni realized she had a job to do.

"I will Rhea," Toni replied as she activated her engines and pushed her turbos. She felt the g-forces pushing her back into her seat as the viper accelerated out of the launch tube. Once she was clear of the Hyperion she ordered her squadron to form up on her and Sheba. Sheba told everyone to stick to their wingman and remember their training.

"There must be thousands of them," one pilot said.

"Probably five basestars, not enough to take on three battlestars," Sheba replied. "Remember you're better than any of them are," Sheba told them as she glanced at the scanner.

The viper squadrons raced towards the Cylon raiders to engage them as far from the fleet as possible. Two squadrons remained in the fleet to catch the ones who made it through the first wave of vipers.

Toni banked her viper and approached a couple of Cylon fighters. Taking a quick glance at her targeting scanner she found the raider lined up in her sights. She pushed the fire button and watched as red lasers streaked towards the Cylon fighter. It took the hit and exploded as she was already on the next Cylon fighter.

Two attacking fighters were down and Toni headed to find another target. She was trying to keep an eye out for others that might be in trouble. She glanced around and noticed another trio of fighters heading towards the fleet. She turned her viper to intercept the group.

Explosions lit up the surrounding space as fighters from both sides were destroyed. The Colonial warriors were better than the Cylons were. The Cylons used overwhelming numbers to defeat the humans.

Starbuck pulled around in time to destroy a Cylon raider that was on Boomer's tail. Boomer said a quick thank you and continued fighting. Apollo tried to keep some organization in the battle. He was in constant touch with the battlestars in an effort to engage all hostile targets.

"Two raiders breaking through, gold four intercept," Apollo head a female voice say. He made a mental note to find out who it was as it was not the first time he had heard her say something. He had thought he heard a reply call sign but he would talk with the others to make sure.

The fleet was moving towards a threat that none of the viper pilots were aware of. There was a Tartarus basestar waiting for them. Adama was taking a gamble that the three battlestars would be able to destroy it before it could do too much damage to the fleet. He was just hoping that the other two battlestars had not been discovered yet and destroyed his slim advantage.

Adama told Tigh and Omega that he was going to try and use the Galactica to lure the basestar to them. If their luck held out the Cylons would be so busy against the Galactica that it would not notice the other two until it was too late.



"Report Lucifer," Baltar said from his chair on the basestar.

"Our fighters are reporting large a numbers of Colonial vipers defending the fleet," Lucifer said.

"To be expected Lucifer," Baltar replied. "Remember that the Galactica has the compliment of two battlestars, hers and the Pegasus."

"Of course Baltar," Lucifer replied. "There have also been reports of unusual communications within the Colonial fleet."

"Commander Adama is no doubt trying to prevent the fleet from being destroyed. What is their course," Baltar asked wanting to know if his trap was working.

"They are almost all heading towards the battle basestar, or Tartarus basestar as you know it," Lucifer said wondering it there was a threat that Baltar was ignoring.

"Excellent," Baltar said as s smile crossed his face at the thought of revenge. "Tell the commander to attack as soon as the fleet is within his range. Take out the Galactica first then the rest of the fleet will follow."

"By your command," Lucifer said with a slight bow he left the room.

"Soon Adama, I will destroy you," Baltar said to himself.

Lucifer went to carry out his orders, but something in his circuitry told him that something else was going on. He had a feeling like he always did that the human's would find a way to survive like they always had done. He just could not think of what it could be.



The fleet continued to head towards the Tartarus class basestar with only the a few people knowing about the killer Cylon ship. On board the battlestars everyone was tense as they were in their combat positions. All the damage control teams waited for the word to move out. The weapon operators checked out their equipment and hoped that it worked as many of the weapons systems had never been tested yet.

"Contact in one minute," Rhea said out loud to the bridge crew. The nervousness in her voice could be heard by all.

"Steady as she goes," Omega said calmly while keeping an eye on the scanners. He knew that he had to remain calm for the rest of the crew.

"Forty-five seconds until contact," Rhea said trying to keep calm.

"Positive shield now," Omega said as the shielding went down in front of the view port that allowed the bridge crew to look out into space. "Activate all batteries."

All over the Hyperion battle stations were manned and ready for combat. The tension on the bridge became intense as they waited to see if they were spotted.

On the Galactica Adama noted that the other basestars were not approaching them, but keeping them from escaping from that direction. They wanted them to make sure they headed toward the Tartarus basestar. Adama had the feeling that the Cylons hopeful still did not know that there was more than one battlestar in the fleet now.

"Ten seconds," Rhea said. "Galactica has entered range of the Cylon basestar."

The Galactica opened fire on the large Cylon basestar which returned fire.

"Bring us around," Omega said as the Hyperion turned toward the basestar from a different angle than the Galactica had. The Agamemnon was headed in from the one big weakness that the basestar had. It had no weapons above and below it.

The Hyperion approached the basestar from the other direction than the Galactica. A few ships of the fleet were with the Hyperion giving the appearance that the battlestar was just like any other ship. The Tartarus basestar seemed to be concentrating its firepower on the Galactica at the moment.

"Within firing range," Rhea said as the Hyperion entered the battle. "No fire directed at us yet."

The Galactica and the basestar continued to exchange fire. Both side getting hit and damaged but it was something that the Galactica alone would not have been able to handle.

"The Galactica is taking hits," Rhea said silently hoping that the battlestar could hang on a while longer. "Entering maximum effectiveness range."

"All batteries open fire," Omega said.

The large lasers on the Hyperion opened fire on the Cylon basestar which for a few precious seconds halted it attack on the Galactica as the Cylons tried to figure out what had just attacked it. It then resumed firing but this time its attention split.

Rhea could feel the ship taking hits on its armor but so far there had been no severe damage and the landing bays were intact. Another hit rocked the ship but the superior armor held up to the attack for which Rhea was grateful.

"Hull breach on the Cylon basestar," Rhea said. "The Agamemnon is almost in position. Damage to the Galactica's landing bay but it appears to be minor damage."

The Agamemnon came in from above and so far had not been noticed by the basestar. The Cylon ship had already taken some damage, and the Galactica and Hyperion had taken the brunt of the fighting. Tigh stood on the bridge as the ship entered killer range on the basestar.

Rhea watched from her position as the battle continued. She could see the Agamemnon approach killer range. The battlestar then opened fire on the basestar. Before Rhea could tell what had happened a shot from the basestar hit the bridge tossing people around.

Rhea landed on her side and quickly got up and glanced around the bridge. There was a beam sitting on the rotating platform where the commander was. Glancing around she saw Omega lying on his side.

"We need a medic up here," Rhea yelled out then noticed that Colonel Stark was under the beam and Bobbie was lying on the other side of the platform. Stark was breathing, but the beam was still on him, Bobbie looked to have hit her head.

Rhea suddenly realized that she was in command. For a few seconds she panicked at the thought. There was no one else to step up. People looked around for direction and Rhea felt their eyes fall on her. The Hyperion took another hit which seemed to shake Rhea out of her mental shock.

"Janiel, report on the condition of the Cylon basestar," Rhea said.

"Heavily damaged," Janiel replied.

Rhea thought about what she had to do. Taking a glance at the scanner she noted the position of the basestar and the battlestars. The Agamemnon was coming in from the top while the Galactica and the Hyperion were both the targets of the main guns. Rhea realized that the Agamemnon would not be safe for much longer.

"Helm, course change to omega five," Rhea ordered.

"But ma'am, that takes us out of our firing radius," the helm officer replied.

"Do it," Rhea countered taking command of the ship.

Everyone could feel the battlestar turning around. Rhea knew that she had to time it just right. She kept her eye on the basestar and waited.

"Now bring us around and wait for my order to open fire," Rhea said as the battlestar turned back around. The helm officer realized that they would now be approaching from on top of the basestar. This meant that they would not be fired upon.

Rhea waited until they were within kill range before she ordered all weapons to open fire again. The Hyperion fired on the weakest part of the basestar. The resulting damaged combined with the damage from the Agamemnon exceeded what it could take. It exploded in a brilliant flash of orange and yellow.

Cheers went up throughout the bridge as the basestar was destroyed. Rhea let out a sigh of relief until she realized that there were probably other basestars out there along with the Cylon raiders.

"What about the Cylon raiders," Rhea asked keeping her mind on the battle.

"They are breaking off their attack," Janiel said.

"Set course for the fleet and prepare to receive fighters," Rhea ordered as the med teams damage control teams come on to the bridge. There was a voice that Rhea recognized and looked around to see if she could find the source.

"Come in Omega," Rhea head the voice say and realized it was Commander Adama. She walked over to the platform to see if she could access the communicator.

"Commander Adama," Rhea said as she found a way to the communicator.

"Where's Omega," Adama asked concerned.

"We took a hit to the bridge, and Omega, Sterk and Bobbie are all injured," Rhea said.

"I see, what about the rest of the ship," Adama asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Rhea replied then turned to Janiel. "What's the damage over the rest of the ship?"

"Damage reports coming in, all systems are functional and all landing bays are operational," Janiel replied.

"That's good to hear, we'll be landing some of our fighters on the Hyperion as landing bay alpha is damaged," Adama said.

"We'll be ready," Rhea said.


"Report Lucifer," Baltar said.

"The battle does not go well," Lucifer replied.

"Explain," Baltar said.

"It appears that the battleship basestar has been destroyed," Lucifer replied.

"How is that possible," Baltar asked. "One battlestar is not enough to destroy a Tartarus class basestar," Baltar said a bit confused.

"Reports are sketchy but there was word from the basestar of another battlestar," Lucifer said.

"The Pegasus has been found," Baltar said bitterly remembering the defeat he had suffered at the hand of Commander Cain.

"It would seem so," Lucifer replied. "Our raiders took heavy loses and our operational strength is down to thirty percent."

"We'll wait for replacements then continue to follow," Baltar said. "Have all basestars fall back and shadow the human fleet."

"By your command," Lucifer replied.



Toni felt the thrill of battle as she destroyed another Cylon raider. There were a lot of the Cylons but the human pilots were better. They did not have the sheer numbers that they would have had if there had just been the Galactica. Instead of the compliment of one hundred and fifty fighters that they Galactica was carrying there were almost four hundred and fifty fighters from the three battlestars.

Her squadron had taken loses, but not as many as the Cylons had taken. They were only outnumbered about four to one and those odds had quickly dwindled as the battle raged.

Toni had stopped counting after her tenth Cylon had been destroyed. The Cylon raiders had not been trying to get past the vipers but had engaged them. That meant that the viper pilots could concentrate on destroying the Cylons easier.

Toni destroyed another Cylon and they suddenly turned and left. Toni wondered if they should pursue when the order came down to return to base. Toni formed up her squadron as Sheba joined them.

"I see that you survived," Sheba said.

"I wondered sometimes," Toni replied honestly. There were a few times when there was about ten Cylons around her. But another viper would join her and they would quickly destroy the Cylons.

"They were hurt, that's for sure," Sheba replied.

"I think they probably lost half of their fighters," another voice said.

"Let's go home and refuel and regroup," Sheba said to the group.

As they approached the Hyperion they noticed that there was some battle scorching on the hull of the ship. She noticed that it was near the bridge and her fist thought was for Rhea and hoping that the small blonde was all right.

"Gold two requesting landing instructions," Toni said hoping that she could get some information about what had happened.

"Landing bay alpha," came the voice but it was not Rhea's and she hoped that her fears of Rhea being hurt were not real.

Toni wanted to ask if Rhea was there but realized that if everyone was landing she would be busy. She landed her viper and went to find out what had happened.

Sheba noticed Toni standing next to her just a bit before she noticed that Apollo and Starbuck were headed towards her.

"Apollo," Sheba said and ran to give him a hug.

"Hey Sheba," Apollo replied.

"What are you doing here," Sheba asked.

"The Galactica had some damage to her landing bays so we were ordered here," Starbuck said.

"I didn't think any Cylon fighters made it by us," Toni said as she had listened in on the conversation.

"They didn't. It seems their job was to keep us occupied while a Tartarus class basestar attacked the fleet," Apollo said.

Toni listened to the conversation learning about the basestar that had attacked them. If the vipers had not been engaged then the ship would not have been a bother as vipers could easily damage and disable the ship making it easy for a battlestar to destroy it.

While she was listening she heard some of the dock workers talking about the damage the ship took. More importantly about the hit to the bridge that injured several high officers. Toni suddenly hoped that Rhea had not been one of those injured and had to find out.

Sheba, Apollo and Starbuck watched as Toni suddenly left and raced off the landing bay.

"What's that about," Starbuck wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Sheba replied. "Was the Hyperion damaged in any way," Sheba asked one of the ground crew.

"We took a hit to the bridge. Injured some of the officers," the crewman replied.

"I understand," Sheba said then clarified upon seeing her friends' confused faces. "Her girlfriend is a bridge officer."

"I see," Apollo replied.

Toni made her way to the bridge and glanced around. There was a crew cleaning up the debris and another couple of people already making repairs. She quickly glanced around for a glimpse of blonde hair.

It did not take her long until she noticed the little blonde in the middle of the bridge giving out orders. Toni rushed over to Rhea.

Rhea was in the middle of receiving a damage report of the bridge and when it would be repaired when a pair of arms encircled her. She did not have to be told who they belonged to as she turned around.

"You're all right," Toni said breathing a sigh of relief. She felt Rhea turn in her arms and return the embrace. Toni inhaled the sweet scent that was Rhea and sighed a bit.

"I'm glad that you're all right as well," Rhea replied. "I have work to do still," Rhea reminded Toni gently. She was the only senior office still on her feet.

"Oh," Toni said relaxing her hold but not yet releasing her. "You've got a cut on her forehead," Toni said touching the small cut.

"I didn't realize it," Rhea said raising her hand to inspect the cut. Now that she knew about it her head began to hurt a bit.

Toni watched as Rhea registered the pain from the cut. Then deciding it did not really matter she pulled Rhea close again and claimed the blonde in a kiss that Toni was sure Rhea would feel all the way to her toes.

"There, does your head still hurt," Toni said with a smirk.

"Um, head, oh nope," Rhea said as she recovered her balance. She then realized she was still on the bridge and glanced around. There were a few people who had smiles on their faces and others who had buried themselves in their work.

"You better get back to work," Toni said but did not leave the bridge.

Toni watched with pride as Rhea went back to work. The damage to the bridge had been extensive but repairable. Most of the damage came from the support beam that fell. Already repair crews were working to replace it. By the end of the day no one would even know the bridge had been hit.

It was a while later and Toni was wondering when Rhea would leave. There was something she had to tell the small blonde. The thought of losing Rhea had made Toni make up her mind.

Rhea was tired but knew that she could not leave until everything was finished. She was the acting commander of the ship at the moment. She had no idea as to the condition of the other three officers.

"Rhea, status report," Rhea heard a familiar voice say. She turned around to see Omega standing there.

"What are you doing out of med lab," Rhea said to the man.

"Checking the status of my ship. The doctors say it's a mild concussion and that I should not sleep for a little while," Omega said.

Rhea quickly told him about the damage to the bridge and what was being repaired already.

"Go and get something to eat," Omega said. "Sterk and Bobbie are going to be laid up for a little while longer."

"All right," Rhea said and was led off the bridge by Toni.

They walked a bit down the corridor and Toni smiled to herself when she felt Rhea lean against her and put her arm around her. There was a comfortable silence between them and Toni realized that this was the person for her.

As they approached the cafeteria Toni thought about what to say to the small blonde. This was important to her and she had a feeling that it would be important to the blonde as well.

Rhea watched as Toni was quite through out the meal. She thought that maybe it was the battle that had made Toni fall silent. If she knew the truth it would had shocked her a bit.

After they finished Toni led Rhea towards the observation room. There were not a lot of people in the room at the moment which made Toni feel a bit better. She was feeling nervous about what she was going to do. But her heart said that Rhea would be happy.

"Ah Rhea," Toni said turning towards the small blonde woman and grasping both of the woman's hands in her own. "I realized that we haven't know each other too long, but," Toni dropped to one knee and Rhea's heart was in her chest as she had a feeling of what was going to happen. "Will you join with me?"

Rhea felt like she was floating by the question. Her heart had already made up her mind as she was nodding yes before she even realized it. "Yes," she said and was embarrassed by Toni.

They stood like that for a while until Rhea realized that she had to go back to the bridge. She would have to relieve Omega so he could rest and eat as well. Toni walked her back to the bridge and then realized that she would be back on duty in another couple of hours flying combat patrol around the fleet for four hours.

Omega watched as Rhea and Toni came walking back onto the bridge. Something was different about the way they looked at each other. Toni gave Rhea a hug and a quick kiss before leaving the bridge. Rhea seemed to bounce across the bridge with happiness.

"Everything all right Rhea," Omega asked when she approached him.

"More than all right," Rhea said as a smile lit up her face making her green eyes twinkle.

"So I see," Omega said.

"She asked me to join with her," Rhea said.

"What," a female voice said from behind them. Rhea turned to see Janiel standing there with her hands on her hips but a smile on her face.

"She asked me if I would join with her," Rhea replied and Janiel gave Rhea a hug in congratulations.

"I had a feeling about you two," Janiel said. "Now we'll have to plan something but for now you have work to do," she told Rhea giving her a push towards the command area.

"Congratulations Rhea," Omega told her honestly. "I don't think that you'll get much of a honeymoon on board a battlestar though."

"No, but I have an idea," Rhea said.

"There is the normal traffic but you're going to have to let Janiel and the others do that job as I need you for second in command for a little while," Omega told her.

Rhea figured that she would be spending a lot of time doing the duties that omega and the others had begun training her for. She really did not want to do it but realized that until Colonel Sterk and Bobbie were back up and ready for duty she and Omega were the command staff.

"How is the ship sir," Rhea asked knowing that the Hyperion had received some damage and hoped that it was not too much.

"Damage control teams are already making repairs. They should be done in about a day. The bridge suffered the most damage but it should be back to normal by tomorrow," Omega told her. He then let her know that he was headed to the cafeteria to eat and that she was in charge. Omega left the bridge and headed to his quarters first with a bit of a smile on his face.

End Part 6

Continued...