Part 2: Battlestar Galactica, Dawn: Collision

Chapter 15

XV

Cavil's face lit up in a mass of joyous vindictiveness. "Burn, Galactica, Burn! You're finished, Adama! Follow up with all squadrons of Raiders. Finish her off!"

CIC was wrecked. Tigh knew his left arm was broken, and that he probably had a concussion as well, but he was damned if he would leave his post. Caprica had been knocked unconscious but was coming to, blood all over her face. Kelly had been knocked fifteen feet from his communications seat but seemed no worse for wear. He glanced around CIC and saw at least a dozen people that had to be dead. But where was The Old Man...

He glanced down and to his right. Bill Adama had been thrown a good fifteen feet away from his post and was lying face down in a heap of glass and metal. There was blood near his head...

"Cavil, all fighters engaging Galactica!" Doral Whooped. This was the moment they had all been waiting for.

"Goodbye,Galactica! As soon as she's done, join the other two against Pegasus!"

Sharon, her hands in the data stream in Command and Control, suddenly got a quizzical look on her face. It took her a moment to realize what was going on.

"Cavil, I think you should take a look at this!"

"Not now, Sharon, I want to see the last moments of Galactica!"

"Uh, Cavil, I think you better look at the new Battlestar..."

That didn't register at first, so focused was he on Galactica's demise. "What are you blabbering about! What new..."

Simon filled in the blanks for him, horror in his voice: "New Battlestar to Galactica's port. She's coming right at us!"

Cavil was never short of words. Now? He could not utter one.

"XO, fire a spread of eight missiles with the new transmitters. I'll leave the firing pattern to you!" Hoshi's first words in battle weren't going to be remembered along the lines of anything special, but his crew would remember it forever.

"Aye, Admiral! Weps, full spread of eight to her Starboard!"

The missiles thundered away from Victory's forward-mounted launchers. As everyone had expected, the Cylons were modulating their shield freq's, and the new transmitter could scan through all the frequencies at amazing speed. It took them less than three seconds to match frequencies.

Galactica's CIC continued to burn, but Lieutenant Kelly climbed back in his chair. "Sir! Victory has fired eight nukes!"

"Copy, Mr. Kelly!" Tigh had to ignore that calamity around Bill Adama, and concentrate on the battle at hand. It wasn't easy. For the moment, he had to get them through the hell that had descended upon them. "Caprica, fire a spread of five nukes towards that Baseship!"

"Aye, Sir!"

"Lee, Victory has engaged! Eight nukes away from her, time on target seven seconds! Galactica has just fired five more!"

"Very well, Mr. Agathon," Lee said calmly.

Athena tracked the missiles on Dradis. The next site she saw was maybe the most beautiful she had ever beheld. "Admiral, nine direct hits! The Baseship is disintegrating!" A tumultuous cheer when up from the now-Christened CIC.

Hoshi brought everyone back to the moment. "We'll have time for that later, people." He turned and grabbed the dark orange growler. "Pegasus Actual, Victory Actual, Victory ready to move into your Starboard!"