Commencement
Two Weeks Later
Warstar Nemesis CIC
It was a tense situation. The Action Stations klaxons were sounding. The crew, so recently arrived on board, manned their myriad posts throughout the huge warship. Damage control teams stood ready, the flight decks were a hive of activity as pilots dropped into their cockpits, preflight checklists already begun. The assorted weapons crews activated their fire control systems and warmed up the guns. The engineering crews opened up the power feeds from the redundant generators and made ready to divert more power to engines, weapons or shields as necessary.
At the centre of the cavernous CIC stood the ship’s new commander, Captain Wayne Davies, the Commonwealth Navy’s most senior and most experienced and respected line officer. In a compartment just aft of this one was the Fleet Operations Centre, where Admirals Lethbridge-Stewart and Adama were on hand to oversee the situation and command the fleet.
The ship’s XO, also a new arrival, reported to the Captain that all posts were manned and ready. Commander Wallace had taken up the position once his recovery was completed; the injuries that had forced him to evacuate from the
Barham months ago having been more severe than first thought. It was not mere pity or seniority that had brought him this plum assignment though, the man had been heavily involved in working up procedures and tactical ideas for the massive ship almost from the beginning.
The Captain nodded and examined the large holographic sensor display at the central table. It was imposing indeed, even for a veteran of the Battle of Terra. One huge contact was almost dead ahead, with three smaller (but still massive) hostiles in a screen formation, appearing to be ahead and port and starboard bow from the Warstar’s perspective. A number of smaller contacts were hovering around the main contact, moving in erratic patterns as if to evade weapons lock.
Captain Davies called out to one of his officers, his voice strong and calm despite the situation. “Helm, roll ship twenty degrees to starboard. Weapons, get me firing solutions for the dorsal and ventral main batteries on contacts Bravo-Two and Bravo-Three respectively. Forward main battery on contact Bravo-One. Secondary batteries and point-defence may engage targets of opportunity. Flight Ops, hold our birds in the tubes for now.”
The Weapons Officer nodded in acknowledgement before passing the orders on. A brief span of seconds passed as the ship continued to close on the contacts, now deemed targets. Then the Helm officer called out.
“Roll complete sir!”
“Very well. Weapons?” Still, Davies had a calm tone, despite the tension and rising excitement.
“Main battery has a firing solution on contacts Bravo One through Three.”
“Fire at will!”
In the ship’s bow section were four large talon-like protrusions, each of which held three mega-lasers. From these twelve weapons emerged brilliant red beams of fiery death. Four similar beams emerged from the large dorsal turrets and a final four from the ventral turrets. The beams all aimed for a single point on their respective targets and the effect was dramatic.
The targets exploded in an instant. If one were capable of perceiving events on very short timescales (as the ship’s sensors were) they would have seen the material at the point of impact flash to vapour, whilst matter further away melted and ran like water over a stone. As the beams penetrated deeper more and more of the targets became superheated until finally the bonds holding them together were broken and the clouds of superheated gas and debris fragments ere hurled outwards.
In a moment the three large contacts were shattered, the larger fragments that were thrown outwards did, in a few cases, strike some of the smaller contacts, breaking them into pieces as well and filling the sky with debris.
From the Warstar’s flanks, bow and stern came a hail of smaller turbolaser bolts as the ship’s secondary battery tore into the cloud of smaller contacts. It was a veritable slaughter as the gunners went to work with a vengeance. None of the contacts could be allowed to get too close to the ship.
Back in CIC, Davies nodded in approval at the performance of the mega-laser gunners. There was still the large target ahead though, and the ship still had one weapon left to fire.
“Weapons, superlaser status?”
“Capacitors at 95% sir, ready to fire in thirty seconds, firing solution ready.”
“Send target coordinates to the Helm. Helm, orient the ship to firing position.”
The officers nodded in reply and went to work. The ship’s thrusters flared in carefully controlled bursts as her bulk moved around onto a slightly different heading. The superlaser had no traverse or elevation and required an exact position to hit it’s target.
“Superlaser fully charged, firing solution readied for contact Alpha-One. Ship is aligned sir.”
“Fire superlaser!” Here, finally, the Captain’s voice showed a hint of excitement.
In the bowels of the ship, the firing sequence began. The superlaser ran nearly half the length of the ship, and was in fact almost exactly as long as a
Lionheart class Battlestar. Sixteen hundred metres of capacitors, focusing elements, power amplifiers and cooling systems formed the single most powerful weapon ever mounted on a Terran warship. Even naquada enhanced nuclear weapons paled in comparison to the awesome destructive potential of this weapon.
The power built and built, channeled further and further forward. The main emitter began to glow an electric blue. The primary focusing elements activated and then, from the centre of the dish, a brilliant blue beam erupted. It flew forwards at nearly lightspeed, covering the gap between the Warstar and the target in a fraction of a second. For a moment the ship and the target were linked by the blue strand. Then, for a nanosecond, the entire target glowed the same vivid blue before it shattered into a trillion pieces, each no larger than a finger.
The ship’s sensors were blinded for a few seconds by the flash of the weapon’s discharge. When the sensor picture cleared, there was nothing but dust and debris. The CIC crew, and most especially the Weapons crew, released a breath they had subconsciously held from the moment the fire order had been given.
The Captain and the XO also sighed in relief. The sensor display showed no further contacts. Then, he heard the CIC doors open and turned to see the two Admirals walk in. He stood to attention as the Marine guards did likewise as they called out “Admiral on Deck!”
The crew joined the Captain and XO in standing. The two Admirals nodded appreciatively before Lethbridge-Stewart spoke up.
“A very impressive weapons test Captain, Commander, especially the superlaser. Weapons, describe the target for us please.”
The officer nodded before speaking. “The target was a large asteroid, approximately five kilometres by four by three and a half. Mass was approximately twenty times our own, primarily comprised of a nickel-iron alloy with trace amounts of other elements, most prominently silver and platinum.” He took a breath. “The superlaser reduced the target to an expanding cloud of fragments no larger than a few centimetres in diameter.”
That was certainly an impressive result, and the Terran Admiral’s expression clearly said so.
“Excellent. Captain Davies, what is the next test in the series?”
“Admiral, next up is testing Flight Ops and the missile batteries.”
“Then by all means proceed.”
Davies nodded and turned back to his CIC crew. “Flight Ops, squadron status.”
The Warstar’s Air Operations Officer spoke up. Lieutenant Commander Williams had been a squadron commander in the recent battle and had distinguished himself by bringing every one of his twenty pilots through the battle alive.
“All Cobra and Scythe squadrons are ready in the tubes sir. All Scimitar squadrons are spotted for rapid launch from the forward flight decks. All planes can be launched in sixty seconds sir.”
“Very well. Scramble launch, all birds.”
The order went out. Down in the launch bays, six hundred and forty Cobra fighters were launched off the catapults in rapid succession. Further forwards, the eighty Scythe gunships similarly launched. These were larger planes with a crew of four, mounting six twin laser cannon turrets evenly spread around its hull and a single turbolaser in a fixed forwards mount. They carried shields sufficient to withstand several volleys of fighter weapons and a short range FTL drive, were almost as fast as a Cobra and carried an electronic warfare and sensors suite similar to a Raptor. They were designed for defensive actions around larger ships, especially when facing enemies with large numbers of fighters and to serve as airborne early warning and control units.
From the forward apertures on each flight pod came the Scimitar bombers. The same craft that had dealt so much damage to the Cylon fleet, these had yet to prove themselves beyond the surprise attack, what was now known as jump-shoot-jump by the bomber crews. They could carry a dozen heavy anti-ship missiles, two external racks each holding a dozen anti-fighter missiles and also mounted a pair of twin laser turrets for self-defence. Like the Scythes, they carried shields, an FTL drive and a powerful sensor suite.
In just fifty five seconds the ships full 800-strong Air Wing was deployed and forming up. A veritable cloud of contacts appeared on the sensor displays. Captain Davies nodded as the Flight Ops Officer called out the results of the launch.
“Very good. All planes will assume air-defence formation and clear our fire lanes. Weapons, have we acquired the target for the missile test?”
“Yes sir, target Delta-One is just entering our missile envelope. Tubes one through eighty loaded with test rounds, ready for salvo launch sir.”
“Ready firing solution for target Delta-One, all tubes.”
A short amount of time passed before Weaps spoke again. “Target locked and firing solution ready sir. All tubes ready.”
Davies nodded. “Salvo launch, all tubes.”
In the ship’s bow section, four armoured panels had retracted, one each on the upper port, upper starboard, lower port and lower starboard sectors. From each recessed panel came twenty large anti-ship missiles, propelled outwards from the launch cells by inert gasses before turning and igniting their engines. As one they flew towards another large asteroid a considerable distance from the ship.
“All missiles launched sir, running hot and on course. Target is now actively jamming the missiles, ECCM active.”
The missiles were following their programming. Their ECCM gear tried to burn through the jamming while they executed a rapid series of twists and turns, jumping up, down and sideways to avoid enemy point defence fire. This time of course the target wasn’t shooting back. These were test missiles, identical to the real item in every respect save one – they didn’t carry a live warhead. Even the TCN frowned at expending eighty high-yield nuclear weapons in a single test launch.
The missiles closed the range, before impacting on the large rock. Several managed to actual hit and destroy the jammers by impact alone, whilst the rest impacted the rock in such a way that if they did have live warheads the target would be vaporised.
The missile test was completed satisfactorily. But before the next test could begin, the Comms officer called out.
“Sir, priority-one message from Fleet Command. All senior officers to report to Olympus Base briefing room ASAP, code blue.”
Davies looked at the Admirals, a question in his eyes. He quickly saw that the two senior officers were just as surprised by this as he was. He told Comms to acknowledge the signal and was about to order Flight Ops to ready a shuttle when Commander Wallace spoke quietly enough that only he could hear.
“Sir, this would be an excellent opportunity to test emergency landings and escape jumps.”
Davies considered that for half a second before nodding. “Good thinking. It’s your idea Phill, you give the orders.”
The XO nodded and turned to the CIC crew. “Flight Ops, signal all birds; emergency recall. Combat landings authorised, all decks. Nav, prepare immediate FTL escape jump to Terra orbit.”
The officers in question looked briefly surprised before complying. Outside, the assorted squadrons received the recall signal and turned tail, racing for the ship’s eight landing decks. The bombers and gunships landed first, followed by the fighters. Meanwhile, the Nav team frantically readied the required jump. Far aft, the engineers quick-charged the four FTL drives. Three minutes later, the last plane thudded into the upper port pod’s emergency landing deck and Flight Ops reported all birds secure.
“Start the jump clock.”
“Aye sir, jumping in five…four…three…two…one…jump!”
The ship twisted and vanished, reappearing over Terra two hundred kilometres from the Olympus Base perimeter. The two Admirals, the Captain and the XO left for their shuttle to the base. On the way they could see a handful of other shuttles making the same trip from the assorted Battlestars.
The four officers strode with purpose into the main briefing room, having gathered up several other Captains and XO’s on the way. They were all somewhat surprised to see the two Presidents, Supreme Commander Thor, General O’Neill and Daniel Jackson waiting for them.
The Terran Admiral was the first to break the silence. “What’s happened?”
Jack and Daniel shared a look before the archaeologist-turned-Ambassador spoke, it was his job after all.
“We received a burst transmission through the Earth Stargate three hours ago. It’s from Atlantis.”
==========
-End of Part 2
-Part 3 - The War in Heaven will start soon (as in sometime this week depending on when I get time to write) and yes, Adama, Jellicoe and co are off to Pegasus to fight the Wraith. After all, the Wraith are the devils who drove the Lords from Heaven ten thousand years ago...time for the Children of Kobol to take up the torch and finish the fight.
-We get some hints of the
Nemesis' abilities here, plus a more detailed look at the Scimitar bombers and the new Scythe gunships - and yes the Scythe gunships are created with fighting Wraith darts in mind (out of universe anyway, in-universe they're a way to even the odds against Raider swarms).
-Finally, a bone to those who've said I'm too nuke-happy...see, they don't light off the giant firecrackers
all the time!
