Operation Exodus

1:8 Calm Before the Storm

2 Days After Arrival Of Battlestar Atlantis And Her Escorts...

Olympia Station Conference Room

There were a lot of people inside the conference room, most of them military Commanders and a few others.

"Ladies and Gentlemen please be seated," Admiral Stryker said after he entered the room together with Admiral Thorn and Commander Haller.

"I will get straight to business," Admiral Stryker said as he sat down, "there are several objectives we need to accomplish before we leave the colonies for Avalon."

"Leaving the colonies, sir?" Commander Erickson of the Battlestar Caprica asked.

"Yes, once we finish our jobs here we are going straight to Avalon. From there we can plan any further moves. This was the last order given to me by Admiral Nagala, and I quote Get as many survivors as possible to safety," Admiral Stryker said.

"What about all the survivors still on the colonies?" Commander Clark of the Concordia asked.

"They are included in one of our objectives, so I will tell you what our priorities are for now. Our first priority is to check every surplus yard, depot, storage yard, civilian yard, and installation for more ships - civilian and military. We're looking for as many ships as possible that we can use to evacuate more of our people that are still in the colonies. Those ships that are operable but damaged will be sent to the shipyards Eternity and Unity for repairs. Every ship that can fly will be appreciated and will mean more lives saved in the end. Several of our Gunstars will be charged with this job as they can get in and out in the smallest amount of time possible without being noticed by the cylons. Once they find them, extra engineering crews they will be carrying will then board the found ships along with marines and get them powered up and ready to go, assuming if it is safe to do so. The Gunstars can dock with damaged ships and use their FTL drives to jump them back to our holding area for repairs, but I caution the Captains of those Gunstars that their crews are not replaceable, so the gain had better be a good one or I will have them piloting a trash shuttle for their next command. I trust that I make myself very clear?" Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, yes Sir!" the group said.

"The second task will be for the Battlestar Caprica. I want her and her escorts to find the missing Gunstars mentioned in the intelligence reports that I received from Admiral Thorn. With them, we can protect the civilians and the stations better while still maintaining our operational status. Commander Erickson, I want those ships; so please find them and get them back to us. Of course, all ships should consider it a secondary mission to try to find any survivors they run into and escort them back here, but don't let that impede your primary mission. If the need arises, have one of your escorts bring them back. I also want raptors to check all colonial installations, outpost, former outposts, mining facility, and docks. And I think that we should place special emphasis around Tauron, Virgon, Caprica, and any other major battle site for whatever we can salvage. I would like to find the Battlestar Trinity if she is still alive as well since we could use another Battlestar," Admiral Stryker said.

"The Trinity survived?" Commander Elkins from the Battlestar Titan asked.

"As far as we have been able to determine from Cylon communication intercepts, she was damaged, but the Cylons cannot confirm that she was destroyed. So we need to find her before they do. The next task that we need to tackle is how we are going to rescue the military personnel and civilians from Cylon prisoner of war camps located all around the colonies. This will open up the possibility to crew the ships we find and or take from the Cylons, as well as give us a chance of taking this war back to the Cylons in the future. And let's not forget that this will also allow us to get those military personnel back to those Warships that the Cylons have parked on the dark side of the Aerelon moon. I really want the Battlestars Chimera and Vanguard. Those two Mercury class Battlestars, plus their support ships, will help us a lot in the coming guerilla war we will have to fight, and if I'm correct there are some marine ships in the mix as well. General O'Rilley will need those ships to help get his troops off of Caprica when the time comes. You see finding more ships that we can use is one of our top priorities. Thanks to Admiral Thorn's Stealthstar Banshee, and other classified sources (Cylon traitor), we were able to break the Cylon communications network. So now we know what they are planning and we are working on locating more Colonial fleet survivors. We know that there are a lot of survivors left on the colonies, some in POW camps, and others hiding in the mountains. Mainly, there is General O'Rilley on Caprica who is leading a guerilla campaign against the Cylons, and I want to help him and his troops, as well as to get those civilians out of there as soon as possible," Admiral Stryker said