Chapter Six: A Helping Hand

Sagittaron

LSM-440

Fleet Admiral Scott Tolan stared up at the screen in shock at what he had just heard. There on the screen was Galit Malka. She looked better than the last time he had seen her on Picon, more like the woman he had met during their mission to rescue President Adar's sister and niece. Somehow, she had managed to survive the Cylons' attack on the Twelve Colonies. Then there was the matter of her message to him, and the words she had spoken to him.

'I wanted to let you know that the 'Messenger of the Gods' and the 'Archer' are alive and still out there.'

He knew what that meant, and for the first time in a while he felt a sense of relief as a mystery had been solved that he was not sure he wanted to know the answer to. Commander Artimus Bowman, one of his closest friends, along with the Battlestar Hermes had survived and was still out there somewhere.

"You look to be at a loss for words?" a voice said that brought him out of his thoughts.

He turned and saw the Colonial Military Intelligence officer known as 'Scorpion', someone he had just met and had yet to find out his real name.

"Who are you?" Tolan asked.

He saw the amused look on Scorpion's face, and he wished there was some way to wipe the amused smirk off of the man's face. This was his world, and for now he would have to be polite as he tried to find out more.

"Admiral, I don't know if you're ready to find that out," he said.

Tolan instinctively crossed his arms defensively; it was a gesture he had not even realized he had done and looked at the man.

"I think I'd rather find out now," he replied.

He studied the man's face to get a read on him, but Scorpion's face remained impassive. The thought of the type of triad player this man was came through his mind, he would be impossible to get a read on.

"I am Major Henry Selano," he said.

"That's an interesting combination of names."

"My mother was from Tauron, and my father was from Canceron."

He looked at the man and tried to gauge his age and he looked to be about as old as him. Maybe a little bit older, but not so much that they would not fall within the same age range.

"Let me guess, they met during the Cylon War," he guessed.

"There's a conference room nearby where we can talk further," Selano said.

"Lead the way."

Battlestar Colossus, CIC

Commander Bridget Woods glanced up at the DRADIS display to see what new information she could glean from its readings. There was an odd feeling that nagged at her mind, and she hoped there could be some way to put her mind at ease. She remembered something Scott had told her back when she left to take command of the battlestar Kios. He told her that the longer she was in command the more she would develop the sixth sense of a battlestar commander.

"Something bothering you, ma'am?" Ensign Sophia Tolen asked her.

"I was just thinking," she said as her thoughts began to form in her mind, "We've been out here in the open and there has been no hint of the Cylons."

"It does seem odd, but maybe it's just because of how long we've been on the run?" Tolen asked.

Whether it was from their time on the ground of Ostarsis or just her paranoia that came from trying to think of every worst-case scenario of how to stay alive there was the constant threat of the Cylons. It had kept them alive, and not having them nearby or in danger of attacking gave her room for concern.

"Ms. Tolen, have a message sent over to the Hagen. I want them to do a recon patrol of the outer edge of the system."

Frigate Hagen:

CIC:

Major Jerrod Stokes sat in his chair and thumbed through the reports from his department heads. The idea was to keep him occupied so that his impatience did not get the better of him. Since his conversation with General Gauthier there had been one thought that had driven his actions. The Hagen could be at risk if it encountered the Cylons if the backdoor in the CNP program was real. His XO, Captain Darren Ellsworth, stood over by Tactical as he monitored the techs.

'He's going to crack the whip if they don't get it done fast enough for him,' Stokes thought he observed the scene.

The thought dawned on him that he might be the good cop to Ellsworth's bad cop, but it was something that had played out before during their time here at Kyros Station. The tall Caprican may have been built like a brick wall and could look intimidating when needed, but by this time the crew knew he had their best interests in mind along with those of the ship.

"Come on Baynes, we need to know what's going on with the CNP," Ellsworth said to spur the tech along.

"Patient is a virtue," Petty Officer Albert Baynes, the Hagen's Interface Control Officer, replied evenly.

"Not right now it isn't," Ellsworth countered with an exasperated puff of breath.

"XO, a word please," Stokes called out.

"I'll be right there, Commander," he said before he turned his attention back to Baynes, "I want some real progress by the time I get back."

"Riding him a bit hard, don't you think?" Stokes asked once Ellsworth was within earshot.

"Just inspiring him to get the work done promptly, if the CNP is compromised then we're sitting ducks here if the toasters show up."

"Major, there's an encrypted transmission incoming from the Colossus," Ensign Tajiri Deanira announced from the Communications station.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Commander Woods is requesting you jump to Sagittaron to join the Colossus," she announced.

'If only it were that easy,' he thought to himself.

He knew his orders were to guard the station at all costs, but the world they lived in was different now. Not only was the Colonial Fleet as they knew it gone, so was the whole civilian government. Had it not been for the arrival of the Colossus they would have had no idea it had even taken place. In the time since the Hagen had been assigned to guard the station he had come to think of the crew as a family of his own, as dysfunctional as they could be at times, and he wanted to do all he could to keep them safe.

"Let the Colossus know we're still sorting out the CNP program, and once it's done, we'll jump to their location," he replied.

He waited as patiently as he could for the reply to his message. There would be a dilemma if the order came back for him to go ahead and jump to Sagittaron. It was a roll of the dice he would not be comfortable with, but he would ultimately have to decide if it were a fight, he could win if it escalated into a battle of wills.

"Commander Woods says to stay in place, and let her know once you're able to jump," Deanira announced.

An involuntary sigh of relief escaped before he had even realized he had done it. He put himself in Commander Woods' shoes and reasoned that in her mind every ship that could be used would be needed if it could be done safely. The CNP program was too much of a risk for any ship to still use currently. Once that problem was taken care, he would take his ship to Sagittaron to aid the Colossus.

Battlestar Colossus

Viper Launch Tube

Captain Joseph 'Gears' Geary, the commanding officer of Viper Squadron Three sat in the Viper Mark VI and looked at the wall of the launch tube. The Roaring Bulls, as the squadron was named, had been tasked with the job as the alert vipers that would be launched whenever the word came from the CIC.

"Captain Geary, Commander Woods wants to remind you that this is a recon mission," the voice of Petty Officer Anyana Thalas said through the communications speaker in his helmet.

He rolled his eyes at the comment. A fight with the Cylons was something he would have a hard time turning away from. There had been battles with the Raiders, but he never tired of them, every chance he blew one out of the sky he had gained a small measure of revenge for his loved ones back home on Scorpia.

"Let her know that I understand her orders, and will not engage," he said as convincingly as he could.

"I'll pass the message along," Thalas replied as the line went dead.

"Captain Geary, you and Lieutenant Cashen are cleared for takeoff."

He looked at the direction of Captain Adrian Garranis, the Colossus' LSO, and gave him a nod of the head followed by a salute. Garranis saluted him back and he relaxed against the seat of his Viper. The launch tubes doors opened and with he waited with a grin on his face for the rush of excitement that would come when his Viper was launched into space.

"I can hear you smiling."

The voice belonged to Lieutenant Lashana 'Rebound' Cashen, the pilot who would shadow him on the recon mission. She had been brought over from the battlestar Achilles when it came time to create the air wing for the Colossus. She had proven herself in the different battles that had taken place with the Cylons.

"Nothing wrong with that," he countered.

"You're happy with any reason to be in a Viper."

"Guilty as charged."

He would have replied more but with a sudden jerk the catapult system engaged, and the Viper was hurled towards the end of the launch tube.

LSM-440

Commanding Officer's Conference Room

Tolan entered the room followed by the man he now knew as Henry Selano. There had been little said between the two as they walked the corridors of the underground station. He knew there was something this man had kept secret, but he found it difficult to narrow it down.

"Please, Commander, step in," Selano said as he opened the door that led into some type of conference room.

He stepped inside and found himself in a time capsule from forty years ago. The décor of the furniture along with the technology present looked as though it had not been touched since the Cylon Wars.

"Back during the war this was known as Citadel Six," Selano said as he stepped inside and closed the door.

"Citadel Six?" he asked in hopes that he would prompt more explanation.

"You have to think back to the worlds we lived in during that time," Selano said as he stepped nearby and looked around the room, "The Cylons held the major cities, and the civilian government had to meet somewhere."

"This base would be a place where the government could hide out?" he asked.

"Something like that, there were six citadels built in the rural areas because there was no telling where the Cylons could be held at," Selano said as he took a seat at the head of the conference table, "Back in the day this place just an unknown rural area. I don't think anyone expected a tourist city to develop here once the war was over."

"I appreciate the history lesson, but I still want some answers," Tolan said as he dispensed with the small talk and walked over to where Selano was seated.

"That you do, and you'll get them," he replied casually, "I still need to get your help off this planet."

"I'll make you a deal, "Tolan said as he sat on the table and made himself comfortable, "You tell me what I want to know, and I'll be happy to get you away from here."

"You're telling me that your help requires me giving you the answers you want?"

"There you go, now you're putting the pieces together!" Tolan exclaimed, "If I'm going to take a group of people that I've never met up to my battlestar then I want to know who I'm bringing on board."

"That's so very Basileus-like of you," Selano said with a chuckle, "I knew somehow it was going to rear its head."

Tolan smirked but refuse to take the bait. He knew what Selano was trying to do, and he would not give him the satisfaction of getting underneath his skin. The comparisons to Carl Tolan and the Basileus were inevitable, and it came with the territory of being a Tolan.

"Not the first time I've had that comparison made, and it won't be the last," he shot back.

"Let me ask you a question," Solano said before he added, "Don't worry, I'm not trying to avoid telling you what you want to know."

"What makes you think I'm worried about that?" he asked him, perhaps more quickly than he had intended.

"I can read people too, Admiral," Solano said before he added, "What can you tell me about your father?"

Tolan thought it over, all he really had were the stories that his mother had given him while he was growing up. There was one time when he had called in a favor over at the Colonial Fleet Records Department to get more information. It showed that he was assigned to the battlestar Columbia for most of his time during the war. He was part of the engineering department, but there was not much else.

Canisteo, Sagittaron

Lieutenant Valerie 'Val' Warrick sat at the controls of the Raptor and looked out at the ruined cityscape before her. Now that Admiral Tolan and the Special Forces soldiers were out there somewhere all she could do was wait for what was to come. A puff of air escaped from her lips as she wondered how long she would have to wait.

"Sit here and wait, no chance I'm going to get bored."

A movement off in the distance caught her eye and she thought she saw something move in the debris of a nearby store. She sat up straighter and her hand instinctively went to where she kept her service pistol holstered. The Cylons could still be out there somewhere, and the last thing she wanted was to be caught by surprised.

'Time to fire up the engines just in case,' she thought as she fired up the Raptor's engines in case.

A banging noise was heard near the rear and her first instinct was to ignore it in case there was trouble. She began to pull up on the stick to begin the ascent when another series of bang emanated from the same area. As much as she wanted to ignore it her training told her that if something truly wrong then she would find her journey away from the planet would be a short one if something went wrong.

"Fine, let's play it safe," she muttered as she lowered the Raptor back to the ground.

She powered down the engines and opened the hatch. Once she had stepped to the ground, she walked to the back of the craft to see if the thrusters had been damaged. She had seen what had happened once on the Orion when a piece of debris had gotten sucked into the engine intakes. At the time she had been on the elevator on her way to the landing deck.

"Everything looks fine," she said as she inspected the engines for any sign of damage.

It was then that she felt the pressure on the back of her neck. Her mind froze and she wondered what would happen next. Was this the point where she met her end? In the time since the Colonies fell, she had often wondered if it was fair that she had survived. The pilots and crew of the Colossus were like a family to her as well, but the loss of her biological family still stung. She had lost them, lost her boyfriend, and had spent the past months wondering if every day was going to be her last.

"If you're going to pull the trigger, just go ahead and do it," she said to the unknown person behind her.

"That depends on you," a woman's voice replied.

"You have my attention," she finally said.

"Nice Raptor you have here," the woman said before she added, "This looks like one it's been modified for an assault role."

That caught Warrick off guard, but she made sure she did not let it show. Whoever this person was, she knew enough about the various Raptor modifications. Regardless, she wanted to put an end to this game. The idea of being caught by a stranger stung her pride, and the last thing she wanted was for Admiral Tolan to find her in this position.

"Listen, I'm going to turn around and talk to you face to face," she said.

With a breath to steady her nerves she took one step forward and turned around. She took in the sight of a woman in a worn Colonial Fleet officer uniform. She looked like she could have been in her early to mid-thirties, but there was a tired look to her face. Whoever she was, this woman had endured more than her fair share of sleepless nights.

"Who are you?" she finally asked the stranger.

"Commander Myra Aperlae, and you're my ticket off of this planet."

VIPER 6801

"We should be clearing the asteroid field in the next couple of minutes," Geary said as he slowed down his Viper to maneuver more easily through the obstacles.

"I still say we should have taken the longer way around," Cashen said as she followed behind him.

"The toasters would be expecting that, and I'd hate to be predictable," he countered.

"Remember the wargame against the Hermes, that was predictable. This is just reckless," she said with a chuckle.

He remembered the wargame she was talking about; it was three years ago when they were pilots on the battlestar Achilles. Geary had been squadron leader and had led the pilots on a textbook attack formation and the Hermes' Vipers were there when they arrived, the wargame judges ruled that all the squadron had been lost and he never heard the end of it from both the pilots of the Hermes' squadron as well as his own.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" he asked.

"If we survive this, I might reconsider it, but first we have to make it out of this asteroid field alive," she teased.

He looked ahead and saw the clearing. Once they were out of the field, they would be exposed to any Cylons that lurked nearby. He remembered the orders from Commander Woods to not engage the enemy, but he had to wonder if there would be any way to avoid that if they got too close to the enemy forces.

"Once we're out of the asteroids engage recon camera," he ordered.

"Roger that," she replied.

He banked hard to avoid one of the larger chunks of debris in the field and moments later he exited onto the other end of the asteroids. His thrusters roared to life as he accelerated, and the Viper bucked with the sudden increase of speed. He thought of Cashen and how she might think it was reckless, but the Colossus would need to know the information they had on the Cylons sooner rather than later.

"Rebound, catch up as quickly as you can," he said.

"Don't you think you're being a little too eager?"

A ship up ahead caught his eye and he was not sure what it was. They had encountered the Cylon baseships before, but this was not one of those. It was a long, slim vessel and it looked like no other design he had seen before. His instincts told him it was of Cylon origin, but that was all he had to go on.

"Do you see what I'm seeing?" he finally asked.

"I see it, but I have no idea what the toasters use it for," she replied.

He looked down at his DRADIS display to see if there were nearby baseships but it he saw that it was blinking in and out of operation. Maybe when he got back to the Colossus, he could get Chief Harrison's gang to look at it. All he had to do now was use his eyes to scan the horizon. It was not as accurate as the DRADIS, but it was what he had available now.

"Colossus is going to want to know about this," he said as he switched his communications channel over to the one for the battlestar, "Colossus, this is Gears. I've found something."

He waited a moment for a response and moments later he heard Commander Woods' voice come over the channel.

"This is Colossus Actual, what do you see?"

"It's a ship I've never seen before, we can try to get some images without being discovered," he said.

"I want you to…"

Woods' voice was cut off with a loud hiss of static and he felt a stab of pain in his ears. He quickly changed the channel over to the one he and Cashen used for short range communication.

"I've lost contact with the Colossus," he said.

"We should turn back," she offered.

He thought it over, but ultimately, he decided against it. There was something ahead and he had no idea what it was. Even if they were discovered by the Cylons there was no guarantee that they would come across this type of ship again or even be able to go and bring back images. In this war they needed every advantage that they could get.

"Negative, we're going to get in and make a run on both sides of the ship to get footage to bring back," he said.

"Gears, that's insane!"

"It's a risk we have to take," he countered before he added, "That's an order, Lieutenant Cashen."

There was a moment of silence and he believed either she had to fight back something disrespectful to say back to him or the communications channel was now blocked.

"Aye, aye…sir."

"Let's get in position, you take the port side and I'll take starboard."

He slowed down is acceleration enough for Cashen to get close to him. The unknown vessel loomed ahead and, but it became larger the closer they came to it. She pulled away and lined up her Viper with the port side of the vessel while he angled the Viper to where he could make a pass along starboard.

"What do we do once we're done," she asked.

"We get the frak out of here before the toasters realize we're here," he said.

LSM-440

Tolan and Selano bounded into the CIC room where the staff were gathered around the large video screen that took up most of the wall where it had been mounted.

"Report," Selano ordered once he was in earshot.

"Our proximity alarms triggered, something or someone is out there," one of the base's personnel said.

"Hawkes, I'm going to need more to go on," Selano said to the man.

"The cameras should be coming on soon, we had a brief power spike that disabled them," he admitted.

"You're just telling me about this now?"

Tolan heard the sharpness in the man's voice, and he could not blame him. For all they knew the Cylons had discovered the base and had readied an assault to breach the doors. His eyes stayed fixed on the screen as the seconds ticked by. If it were possible, he would have willed it to blink to life and show them who it was that awaited them.

"This should do it," Hawkes announced.

The screen came to life and an image appeared of a group of people he thought might be resistance fighters. They looked ragged, as though they had been through the proverbial ringer. He wondered if that was the doing of the Cylons, and how badly had the fight gone for them. Bridget had been through something similar on Ostarsis, but she had managed to survive. If he had to make an educated guess, these people would not have had much longer until they met their demise.

"This is a secure facility, if you do not leave immediately, we will fire upon you," Selano announced through the microphone before he turned his attention to Tolan, "Just got to see if that will scare them off."

The group parted as two women made their way to the front. Tolan recognized Lieutenant Warwick right away, and he felt a tightness form in the pit of his stomach. Their one way off the planet had been captured, unless there was a way to get to another Raptor that he was not aware of. His attention turned to the other woman, who held a gun pointed towards Warwick. It took him a second to realize her, and once he did, he knew exactly who it was.

"That bitch," he muttered.

"Old friend of yours?" Selano asked.

"Commander Myra Aperlae, she and I crossed paths," Tolan said as his gazed hardened at the sight of her.

"She was a rising star in the Fleet, something about how she rescued President Adar's sister and niece," Selano said.

Tolan heard him, but in that instant, he was taken back to over six years ago when he had been recruited to carry out that mission with a team of Colonial Fleet personnel and Marines. Aperlae had found a way to get herself involved and sold his team out to cover her own exit. He and a few others had barely managed to escape with their lives, and the escape had included nearly being destroyed by the Colonial Fleet taskforce sent to bombard the base. Their paths had crossed again over a year ago on Picon, when the Officer Review Board had met to discuss the next round of promotions her name had been on the list for promotion to Commander.

"She's a ruthless bitch, and now she's holding my pilot hostage," he said to Selano.

"Okay, so what would you like for me to do?" Selano asked before he added, "Killing her, sadly, is not an optio

"Give me the gun and I'll do it myself, problem solved," Tolan spat back.

"Admiral, you really need to get those Basileus instincts of yours under control," Selano cautioned, "Right now, in case you haven't noticed, she's a fellow survivor and at this stage in the game there aren't a whole lot of them around here."

He knew Selano had a point, but it did not mean he had to like it. Besides, all he had to do was get Warwick to safety and then he could deal with Aperlae. The other thing the man said did make sense, but even he did not want to admit that. The worlds had changed in the last years, the society they were once a part of was for intents and purposes gone. He wanted to curse at the irony that even with the Cylons and the destruction of the Twelve Colonies that Myra Aperlae had somehow survived.

"Let's hear what she has to say," he finally said.

Selano reached over and switched the microphone back on so that they could communicate with Aperlae and her people.

"This is Major Henry Selano, you have my attention," he said.

"Major Selano, if you'd kindly step aside for now. I want a word with Admiral Tolan," she said.

"You're at a facility that I command, you'd do well to talk with me," Selano countered.

"That may be true, but Admiral Tolan is an old friend. Do not make me ask again," she said as she pressed a gun against Warwick's ribs.

Tolan shook his head as Selano muted the microphone. Aperlae knew he was here, he imagined Warwick gave that information up when she was captured. He had to admit, the woman still had that arrogance about her when he had first met her. His eyes went to the video screen, and he noticed the look in Aperlae's eyes. There was little doubt that she would do what she said she would do. The distaste he felt for the woman was there, but he did not need to lose Lieutenant Warwick. There had been enough casualties under his watch while his fleet fought the Cylons. He did not want to add more to it due to a situation like this. He walked over and unmuted the microphone.

"Commander Aperlae, this is Admiral Tolan," he said as diplomatically as he could.

"Admiral Tolan, I guess it was too much to ask for the Cylons to finish you off," she said.

"What do you want?" he finally asked after he bit back a sarcastic retort.

"I want off of this gods-forsaken planet you banished me to," she said.

"Release Lieutenant Warwick and we can discuss this further."

He watched her face to see if there would be a response, but she did not appear to register what he had said. The comment she had made also made him curious. To say he banished her here was not entirely true, but he wondered just what information had gotten back to her. It seemed she did not appreciate the posting she ended up with after she had gone before the review board.

'I didn't appreciate you trying to get me killed all those years ago,' he thought.

"Admiral, may I suggest you not antagonize her," Selano whispered to him.

Tolan heard the words and they registered in his mind, but she was still a sore spot for him. Selano had a point, and for now he would have to play nice.

"Commander, we will allow you and your people access to the base. After that, I expect a full debriefing from you," he said through the microphone.

"I accept, now if you would be so kind as to open the door. We're a little exposed out here," she said.

"Hawkes, open the access door to the base," Selano said before he added, "Commander Aperlae is a piece of work, I can see why you feel so strongly about her."

"If you only knew half the story," Tolan replied.

"What makes you think I only know half the story?" Selano teased.

Tolan gave him a quizzical look and found that he wished he had been able to get more answers from this man when he had the chance. There was more to him than what he had let on, and he knew that had it not been for the timely arrival of Aperlae he would have had them by now. Whether before the left the planet or once they were back on the Colossus, he would find out what he wanted from Selano.

Battlestar Colossus

Situation Room

Woods looked at the video footage that the Vipers had captured at this unknown Cylon vessel and wondered just what it was they had discovered. This was unlike any of the other ships that had been encountered so far, and she found she had more questions than answered.

"The Cylons just have it out there undefended?" she asked aloud.

"That wouldn't make much sense."

She looked at Sophia Tolen and nodded her head in agreement. The Cylons were out there in the system, and the more she looked at the footage the more she became convinced they had to have watched what happened.

"No, it doesn't Ms. Tolen, and that's what concerns me," she admitted.

"Between this ship, and that device the Cylons attached on the flight pod. Do you think we're going to set off a trap?"

"It may be a case where the only way to know what the trap is to spring it and hope for the best," she joked.

"If there's anything I learned from our time on Ostaris, is that you could set off a trap and still come out okay," Tolen said.

Woods appreciated the comment, even though she had her doubts about how well she had pulled off the resistance movement at the time. It concerned her that something that appeared to be of Cylon design had not made any movements towards them when they were clearly out in the open. If anything, the Colossus itself should make for a tempting target for them to attack.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence," she said to Tolen, "I wish I knew exactly what type of Cylon vessel this was, I'd be able to sleep better tonight."

"The Vipers were able to get close enough to get some great footage," Tolen commented as she looked at the video from the wing cameras.

"They did, and that is what bothers me," Woods said as she thought over the situation in her head, "It's like they wanted us to get close enough to get this footage."

"I agree, the toasters could have easily shot them down and made a move against the Colossus," Tolen added.

Woods was silent as she contemplated her options. She reasoned that it was foolish to stand around and wait for the Colossus to become engulfed in some enemy plan, and she would not learn anything new if she just waited. She also had a Fleet Admiral who was down on Sagittaron who had not communicated in some time, and for all intents and purposes could do nothing to assist with the situation anyway.

'Scott, what would you do in this type of situation?' she asked herself as though her knowledge of Scott Tolan would be enough for her to divine his intentions.

"For now, we're going to have to wait and see," Tolen said.

"We're going to investigate further," she said.

"Commander?" Tolen asked.

She had to take charge and find out what they had encountered. Not only were the lives of the Colossus' crew on the line, but so were Scott's and the rest of the crew down on the planet. She almost chuckled when she thought of Major Darren Clay, and that she took his safety into consideration. Not that she would ever admit it to the smug Special Forces officer, his ego was large enough as it was.

"I'm going to meet with Major Torero to put together a boarding party, we're going to investigate that Cylon ship and see what's there."

LSM-440

Tolan stood at the entrance door and waited for it to open. He took a breath to steady himself. It was not a case of him being nervous, it was to keep his emotions in check. Myra Aperlae struck a nerve with him, and he admitted to himself that part of that came from when she almost succeeded in ending his life during that mission when they had crossed paths for the first time.

"You really don't want to meet with her, do you?" Selano asked.

"What I want to do is put a bullet between her eyes, but we all have to make sacrifices in a time like this," he said.

"For what it is worth, I don't blame you. That move she pulled on the SLA base was uncalled for," he said.

He shook his head at the comment, of course Selano would know that. He seemed to know everything about him, and it had to be more than just the fact that the man was from Colonial Military Intelligence. He intended to find out more about this man, but first he had to deal with Myra Aperlae.

"That it was," he said before he nodded his head, "Let's open the door and let her in."

Selano pressed a button on the wall and the door slid open. Within moments Warrick was pushed inside as Aperlae and her small group made their way behind her. Once the group was the door was closed and the series of inner locks engaged to seal them in.

"Major Henry Selano, welcome to LSM-440," Selano said before Tolan could get a word out.

"Major Selano, a pity you didn't tell us you were here," Aperlae replied evenly.

"You just walked up to our door and knocked," he said.

She closed the distance between them and slapped Selano across the cheek. He took a step back but otherwise showed no reaction to the slap.

"You could have done something while we were out there trying to survive," she hissed at him.

"Hello Myra, it's been a while," Tolan finally said.

She turned to face him, and Tolan noticed that the anger in her eyes that she had directed at Selano had lessened when she looked at him.

"Admiral Tolan, it looks like our fates are once again intertwined," she said.

"If you're referring to the SLA base, that's not how I remember it."

"The Sagittaron Liberation Army, taking them down was what launched my career," she said wistfully before she added, "I thought I was going to have my own battlestar, instead of commanding a small base in the backwoods of this planet."

He could not have stopped her from her promotion to the rank of Commander, but when one of the other flag officers mentioned that President Adar wanted her assigned to take over command of Midinia Fleet Air Station he offered his enthusiastic support. The idea of her assigned to a small base on a colony not many officers would want to be assigned to instead of a battlestar was too tempting for him to pass up.

"Seems to have worked out for you," Tolan replied.

"Because I am still alive?" she asked before she added, "I barely escaped the destruction of Midinia, and the few survivors I still have left have been scavenging for supplies and trying to evade the Cylons."

He caught the tiredness in her voice, and he felt a pang of sympathy for her. Not enough to regret her banishment to Sagittaron, but enough to make him think about how hard she had lived since the Cylons had attacked.

"Do you think it would have been more merciful if you had died on a battlestar?" he asked.

"I'm not going to answer that, but I would like for my people and I to have access to the facilities of this base. Some food and water wouldn't be too much to ask either," she said.

Tolan looked over at Selano and then back to Aperlae. Her and her group must have been at the same point Selano and his staff had reached at the base. They wanted off this planet, and the Colossus was their ticket out. When he looked at her, he still saw the same woman who had left him to die at the hands of the Colonial Fleet, but Selano was right that survivors were harder to find now and even a few new bodies could help replace the ones who had been lost so far.

Battlestar Colossus

MARDET

Woods entered the Commanding Officer's quarters to find Major Esteban Torero seated at his desk with a stack of papers in front of him. The Marines onboard had been busy since the rescue from Ostarsis, there were survivors who had been kept on the lower hangar deck and they had guard duty while the crew sorted out who was who among them. The last thing she wanted was to put the Colossus in danger because a rogue human or even one of the humanoid Cylons had slipped through the cracks.

"Major Torero," she announced.

He looked up from his papers at her and when he recognized her, he stood up to greet her. She had read up on him before she had come to have this conversation. He had been born on Tauron and joined the Marines as an officer upon his graduation from Abry Military Academy on Caprica. There had been alternating postings between battlestars and the Colonial Fleet's various fleet air stations throughout the Colonies.

"Commander Woods, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She motioned for him to take a seat and sat down as well once he was seated. Her mind swam with the thoughts of what would come from what she was about to ask of him. Yet, she also knew it had to be done if she were to get the answers she needed.

"Our Vipers discovered a Cylon vessel on the outer edges of the system," she said.

"I see, and is it a baseship?"

"It's a design we haven't seen before, and we need to find out more about it," she said before she added, "It did not fire on our Vipers and did not make any defensive moves when they encountered it."

"That's odd, especially for a Cylon vessel," he said.

"Exactly, and I was thinking about investigating it further. For what I have in mind, I'm going to need your help."

"We can repel boarders should the Cylons try to board us again," he offered.

This was the moment the conversation had led to. His response to her suggestion would tell just how much he would be onboard with the idea.

"I was thinking of something different. I'd like for you to lead a group of Marines to board this Cylon vessel to see what you can find."

She could tell by his facial features that he was surprised by the idea, and she wondered just what his thought process would be. There were risks involved with what she had proposed, but it was the best way to get new details on what they had encountered.

"Maybe I could spare Captain Nayaga and a few others for this mission," he offered.

"No, I want you to lead this mission yourself," she said, and she pressed on, "I'm sure Captain Nayaga is a fine officer, but for something like this I want the best available to lead."

"I can lead a fireteam onboard, but I want you to know that this is borderline reckless," he cautioned.

She had thought of that as well, but at this point she needed to do something to find out what they had encountered. When it came to the Cylons, the unknown was more dangerous than what they already knew. It was a lesson that had been taught to her the hard way on Ostarsis, and she did not want to allow that to happen again.

"You call it reckless, and I call it being aggressively proactive."

"Will there be anything else?" he asked.

"You're going to bring Ensign Sophia Tolen with you, she's seen the same footage from the Vipers as I have, and she has an eye for detail."

"Can she handle a weapon?" he asked with barely concealed sarcasm.

"She was one of my resistance fighters on Ostarsis, I think she knows a thing or two with a weapon," she said, and she looked down at her watch, "Be ready to leave within the hour, I'll have a Raptor ready for you by the time we've reached the edge of the system."

LSM-440

Tolan walked over to the communications station where Hawkes still monitored traffic on the different frequencies. He tapped the man on the shoulder, and he turned around to face him.

"Admiral Tolan, what can I do for you?"

"I want you to contact the Colossus," he said as he jotted down the frequency needed to establish contact with the battlestar, "I need to speak to Commander Woods."

"Yes sir," Hawkes said as he entered the frequency into the system and activated the communications device, "Battlestar Colossus, this is LSM-440…do you copy?"

He waited and stared at the microphone as if he could somehow make it to come to life with a voice on the other end. All he could do was wait to see if anyone would respond. The last thing he wanted was to have something happen to the ship, if it did then the mission, he had in mind was going to become a lot more complicated.

"Battlestar Colossus, this is LSM-440. Do you copy?" Hawkes asked again.

Finally, there was a burst of static through the phone and a man's voice came through the microphone, but it had become decidedly distorted.

"This is Petty Officer Amaras; we're moving to the edge of the system and will be out of range…"

Whatever came next was drowned out in a burst of static before the line went dead. Tolan stood there and wondered what it was that would make it necessary to take the ship away from the planet and towards the edge of the system. The only thing that made sense that it had something to do with the Cylons. He felt powerless here on the planet and would happily change places and be in the CIC of his flagship.

"Hawkes, keep an ear out from any further messages the Colossus sends our way," he said.

He heard Hawkes acknowledge what he had said, but by then he had turned and walked away. He had to meet with Selano to get some appraise him of this newest development. When he had entered the room, he had every intention of contacting the Colossus to get every available Raptor down here to planet to evacuate the people in the base. Now he was in a waiting game, and he had no idea exactly what the outcome would be.

Battlestar Colossus

Upper Hangar Deck

Woods stepped through the hatch and onto the upper hangar deck of the battlestar. With no flight operations planned the cavernous space was not as busy as it would normally be. That could change on a moment's notice, it depended on what was discovered soon. The alert Vipers were in the launch tubes, and ready to fly as soon as she gave the word, it was an extra layer of security that she was grateful for. The events on the Kios had stayed with her, and she was glad that this time the Cylons could not simply flip a switch and turn off the power.

"Commander Woods," a familiar voice called out to her.

Woods turned to see Ensign Tolen. She wore a battle dress uniform that had probably been given to her by the Marines, and she appeared to have a body camera attached to the front of the uniform as well.

"Ensign Tolen, you look like you're ready to go," she said with a smile.

"I wanted to thank you for choosing me, and I promise I won't let you down," Tolen said.

Woods put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. They had been through a lot together, and in that time, she had seen Sophia Tolen grow from a cadet who had been too full of herself to an officer who showed great potential. She had hoped that she could put an end to the family feud with Admiral Tolan, but she had to remind herself that all things took time.

"The Marines are going to have your back, just make sure you get me the best intel you can over there," she said before she continued with, "Lastly, for Gods-sake don't go and get yourself killed. I'd hate to have to explain that one to Admiral Tolan."

She watched as Tolen made her way over to the Raptor that had been assigned for the mission. It was Raptor 755; the pilot was Lieutenant Lalita 'Empress' Jivan and her ECO was Ensign Talin 'Priest' Sorenson. There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that bothered her, and it was one she had not felt since her time back on Ostarsis. Whenever she had sent her teams out to gather intel on the Cylons or to forage for supplies at their makeshift base she always worried if they would return. As she watched Tolen board the Raptor with the five Marines that made up the fireteam she wondered if that feeling was just an old habit that had reared its head. She turned and began to make her back towards the CIC, it was where she would be needed right now as events unfolded. All she could do was wait to see what happened, and she silently prayed that they would get answers once they were onboard the Cylon ship.

Author's Note: It's taken some time...okay, a lot of time. However, I'm glad to finally be able to update Colossus and start on the next chapter of Battlestar Victorious. It took some time to get the rust off, but I feel like things are coming together regarding the storylines. There may be some rough patches in writing this because even now I'm still getting a handle on the overall story. Thank you all for taking the time to read, I'll make sure the next update comes much sooner than before.

-Wes