Returning Home "Where is the Fleet now?" Adama asked the Colonel as he stared down at the tactical screen to watch the oncoming Cylon force. "They've moved out of scanning range," Tigh reported. "The last transmission we received from Red leader was that all ships were on course and no enemy fighters have been spotted." Sending the fleet ahead had spared the civilian lives, but now the Galactica had to take on a full garrison from the nearest basestar. "What is the status of our fighters?" "Blue Squadron's about to engage oncoming Cylon Raiders. Silver Spar Squadron has just launched and, except for the vipers we sent with the Fleet, Red Squadron is on standby." "Have the remainder of Red Squadron launch as soon as their ships are ready." The colonel turned away to relay the orders into his headset and Adama leaned in over Omega's shoulder. "What's the status of that basestar?" he asked. Omega punched up the long range scan for the Commander. "It has just passed the orbit of the planet where we left Baltar and is heading this direction." He punched at a few more keys. "They will be within assault range in twenty centons." ~~~ "Here they come," Starbuck said as he looked from his attack screen to the wave of Cylon fighters directly ahead. "Just once I would like to not be outnumbered." "Ten microns to firing range," Sheba reported. "Silver Spar is thirty microns behind us," Boomer stated as he checked he rear scan briefly before flipping back on his attack computer. Apollo felt the familiar rush before battle heightened his senses. "Okay Blue Squadron. On my wake," he ordered. "Three microns," Sheba announced. Apollo let out a steadying breath. "Now!" The micron before the leading Cylon Raiders opened fire Blue Squadron plunged downward then came up under the attack force microns later. The wide underbelly of the Raiders made targeting easy. The tight formation held the Raiders in place so the Vipers were able to eliminate more than a full squadron before the Raiders further behind were able to engage them. "Silver Spar reporting for duty," Bojay said flippantly then opened fire on the scattering Cylons. Vipers and Raiders darted in every direction. The precise Cylon formation dissolved into a chaos of individual ships peeling off to chase the Vipers. Explosions and laser fire lit up the darkness of space as the deadly dance ensued. "I've got one on my." one of the warriors began, but never was able to finish when his ship was destroyed. "A little help here," Sheba ordered as three Raiders bore down on her. She was able to take out one, but the others were too close for her to turn in time to fire or flee. "I've got ya covered," Apollo returned, coming in at an angle and performing a strafing run to take out the other two before they were able to target Sheba. "Sixteen," Starbuck said then took out another Raider. "Seventeen." He circled around to continue the fight. "I'm going for a personal best here," he announced. Boomer quickly took out a Raider who had maneuvered into Starbuck's blind spot. "Try not to get dead in the process," he insisted. Boomer jumped when a Viper exploded just off of his starboard then he veered off. He caught sight of the Cylon Raider that had been behind him just as it exploded from a laser hit. "Frack!" Bojay swore as his Viper shook violently. He looked back at his charred wing then quickly checked his instruments. "Bojay?" Sheba called out to him as she searched the skies for his ship. "I'm okay," he returned. "I just got clipped by some laser fire." "Captain Apollo," Lieutenant Giles said. "Yo!" Apollo returned. "I've lost one of my thrusters and the other two are tanking," he reported. "Head back to the Galactica immediately," Apollo ordered. "She will be pulling out soon. Who's available for cover?" he asked the squadron. "I'll escort him back," came the response. Apollo had to think for a micron when he heard the voice. "Brie?" "Yes sir," she returned. His mouth dropped open. He hadn't realized that she had launched with the squadron, but he was glad to know that she had joined in the fight. "Okay Cadet," he returned with a smile. "Get him home safely." "Yes sir," she returned and fell in behind Giles' Viper. "Come on baby," Starbuck ordered as he plunged toward a Raider with another one firing on his tail. "Just a little more," he begged his Viper. Instead of firing at the Cylon he was approaching, Starbuck pulled up at the last micron and the Raider following him crashed into the one that had been in front of him. Starbuck let out a whooping sound as they both exploded. "Thirty-two. A new personal best." "Thirty-six," Bojay said as he took out a Raider. "Thirty-seven," he added as another Cylon ship exploded under his fire. "Get over yourself, Bojay," Starbuck ordered then fired on another Raider. "There's no way you've got thirty-seven." "Wanna place a bet on that?" he asked as he veered off to circle back around. "A hundred cubits says I top your total," Starbuck challenged. "Our computer logs will be our impartial judges." "You've got it," Bojay accepted. "Captain Apollo," Giles voice came back over the line. "I'm tracking six inbound raiders on the Galactica." "You steer clear of the fight Giles," Apollo returned. "And that's an order." Apollo switched over to Fleet channels. "Captain Apollo to Galactica. Six fighters incoming." "Affirmative Captain," Tigh returned. "Red Squadron has been launched to engage." "You two had better get to work because I'm catching up on you," Sheba warned them. "Twenty-eight." "Don't even go there," Bojay warned. "We don't want to have another Novacon incident." Sheba shook her head at his nerve for bringing up the battle where he had outgunned her nearly two to one. "Shall we discuss the Saroon raid?" she asked. She had fended off ten Cylon Raiders single handedly after Bojay's Viper had been completely disabled by a sneak attack. Bojay had been embarrassed to no end that he had been caught so off guard on a routine patrol. "I'll shut up now," Bojay returned and heard Sheba laugh over the com-link. The battle continued for several more centons before Apollo finally received word from the Galactica. "Okay boys and girls. I'm getting a recall signal from the Galactica. Time to tally up those points. Let's go home." ~~~ "Omega," Adama said. "Plot a course of 0-2-8 mark 4." Omega dutifully typed in the new coordinates then turned in his seat to look at Adama. "Sir, that course will take us directly into a large asteroid belt." "I'm well aware of that," Adama returned. "The gases and ore present in that asteroid field will mask our ion trail when we circle back around to meet with the Fleet." Tigh gave a slight shake of his head. "That's going to be hard on our hull," he warned. "Not all of the repairs have been affected yet." "Omega. I want a lock down of all compartments just before we reach the asteroid field," Adama ordered then looked back at Tigh. "If we do this right, we'll have those basestars looking in the wrong quadrant for sectaries." "Long enough to give us a good head start," Tigh approved. "Have our Vipers made it in yet?" Adama asked. "The last of Blue Squadron is landing now sir," Tigh returned. "Excellent. As soon as those ships are in I want maximum speed until we reach the edge of the asteroid field then bring our speed down to one-third." ~~~ Bojay swaggered over to Starbuck's Viper with several Silver Spar warriors following along. "You got that hundred on you, Starbuck?" Bojay asked as Starbuck stepped out of his Viper. "You haven't won yet," Starbuck returned. "What does your computer say?" Bojay smiled. "Forty-six confirmed targets." He laughed as one of the men next to him gave him a high five. "That's pretty good," Apollo said as he joined the growing group of warriors around Starbuck's Viper. "The Galactica record is forty-eight." "Forty-six huh?" Starbuck returned. "Yeah, that is pretty good," he said coyly then smiled. "But not good enough." He reached into his Viper and hit the voice button on the control panel before pressing the computer readout. "Laser capacity down to 15%," the computer voice reported. "Fuel capacity down to 23%. Confirmed targets fifty-one." A howl went out from Blue Squadron warriors in the crowd and everyone applauded as Starbuck descended the Viper platform. "And that's not counting the two that I got to ram each other," Starbuck returned glibly. "Congratulations buddy," Apollo said as he reached out to shake Starbuck's arm. It had been a long time since any of the Galactica battle records had been broken. Starbuck grinned from ear to ear as he slipped a fumarello out of his pocket then held his hands up to encourage the cheers to continue. Several of the warriors reached out to give him a slap on the shoulder in congratulations then Starbuck looked at his competitor. "Got that hundred on ya?" he asked Bojay. Bojay patted his jacket. "Will you take an Orion check?"