Operation Exodus

1:12 Strike at Picon

The Colonial fleet jumped near the moon of Am-Saar in the vicinity of Picon. The mobile docks, troop transports, and half of the 11th Marine Division jumped to their rendezvous coordinates. The other half of the 11th joined the attack fleet, and the fleet was divided into three smaller battle groups for the upcoming assault at Picon. The first two groups each held five Battlestars, while the third group was made up of the Battlestars Atlantis and Theseus, and the Warstars Argona and Daedalus.

Ready flights of Raptors armed with nuclear missiles were already gathered near the fleet in preparation for the attack. Stealth raptors were to disable the FTL drives of the resurrection hub, thus preventing the hub from escaping the coming battle and also locking her in place for a team of marines to board the ship. A group of regular raptors armed with nuclear missiles were prepped to attack specified baseships as soon as they jumped to Picon with the fleet. All other raptors would provide anti-fighter and ordinance support in conjunction with the fleet's vipers. Admiral Stryker's plan was to hit the Cylons hard and with a degree of extreme prejudice. With all the preparations complete, it was finally time for the first major battle with the Cylons since the fall of the colonies.

Atlantis C.I.C.

"Sir, all ships are reporting they're ready and standing by for your orders," Commander Haller said.

"Good, instruct all ships that as soon as their jump is complete they are to start pushing the Cylons as fast and hard as they can without endangering their ships. We know the weakest area of Cylon Baseships is their central axis so that will be the target of the gunners. Tell them that I want every shot fired from our ships to hit the enemy, and even though this battle must be fast I'm looking for all the damage we can do. With this in mind I'm authorizing the use of nuclear weapons, at the Commanders best judgment," Admiral Stryker said.

"Also all fighters, except those that will be staying with the anti-fighter armed raptors are free to engage the enemy raiders, and whatever they do, they need to keep raiders off our backs for as long as possible."

"Major Morales is already instructing our own squadrons of their assignments sir," Colonel Slater said, "the 11th Marine division is also standing by; they are ready to descend to the planet once we deal with the Cylons in space."

"Understood, as soon as we start the attack on the Baseships; they are to jump directly above Picon's northern pole and start making their way to the survivors. I want them to destroy any Cylon in their path and they are to use their vipers and bombers for their attack and defense," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, the General assures me that 6000 of his best marines will be deployed and stay to protect the planet until we can come back for them. They will be taking extra weapons, ammo, food, and medicine with them, as well as their tanks and anti-air defense units," Colonel Slater said.

"Are we picking up any of the survivors sir?" Commander Haller asked.

"Yes, as many as we can take off the planet during the time that we have, and that is the best we can do at this time," Admiral Stryker said.

"Sir, all fighter and raptor squadrons are ready. Raptor squadron "Ghost Riders" are ready to be deployed," Colonel Slater said.

"Excellent, what about our teams on the defense platforms; did they manage to get all of them back online?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"Yes sir, three of the targeted five are ready, and they said they will be able to get the remaining two ready by the appointed time of our attack," Colonel Slater replied.

"That's good, and they have 30 minutes remaining. So let us hope they are successful. What about the rest of the grid?" Admiral Stryker asked.

"They said that they think they might be able to get it all online, but it will take them at least an hour or so for the entire defense grid to be online and ready to fire on the Cylon fleet. Sir, are we going to delay for thirty extra minutes?" Colonel Slater asked.