Five - The Massena
Survivor Count: 3,848
Secondary explosions continued to rip through the Massena’s hull as the ship’s structure buckled and broke under the damage the explosion had caused. On the command deck Colonel Matthew Boyle looked around the bridge to see many of the crew nursing bumps and bruises but looking mostly intact. “What happened?” He struggled out feeling the ship rock heavily.
“Massive explosive damage to port hull.” Victoria Kryvych said from his right-hand side she hadn’t taken her eyes off her systems.
“Did we hit something?” He asked wondering if they’d struck some unexploded munitions.
“Unknown… running analysis” she said she was silent for several moments she stopped doing anything but was staring at the screen.
“Victoria” Boyle said speaking her name to try and get a response.
“Colonel” she said looking over her shoulder “sir, the explosion occurred inside our hull it blew through our port side and engineering section.” She said Boyle immediately reached for his communication microphone.
“Engineering respond.” He said “engineering this is bridge someone answer.”
“Captain, this is Engineer’s Mate Toby Onwumere” the Engineer said forgetting his Captain’s increased rank. “The Chief’s dead, there’s so many dead down here, we’ve got a hull breach down here we need to evacuate.” He struggled out
“Get out now, Engineer” Boyle ordered “Boyle to Sinclair, Major if you can hear me, I need some of your people down to engineering now they’ve got casualties down there.”
“We’re on our way, Colonel, do you know what happened?”
“Some sort of internal explosion we’re still working on it.” Boyle responded switching the channel “Captain Rhodes, I need a Raptor to jump back to the asteroid and tell them what’s happened. We’re going to need support.” He said turning back to the sensors station “Victoria, anything else?”
“The initial explosion originated in the science quarters… another explosion blew up a couple of seconds later in the sections directly above and below it.” She said looking back
“Son of a bitch we took them in and they stab us in the back.” Boyle snarled angrily “Sinclair, this is Boyle, get some troops to the science sector as well. I want them all arrested and put somewhere secure until we can figure out what is going on.” He said below decks a single Raptor launched from the vessel’s hanger bay and quickly jumped out of the area.
Within an hour the Colonial Heavy Transport which had previously been recovered jumped into the area with the Raptor escorting. Onboard the Massena they had completed a head count and one hundred-and-six souls had been lost to the explosions which had blown through the port side of the hull. Chief Engineer Morena Harold was among those who were dead and more damaging to their cause was that the ship’s FTL engine had been destroyed.
Several hours after the Heavy transport had arrived Matthew Boyle stood in a meeting room with his remaining senior officers. Boyle looked around “we’ve done some research” he said and reached over to a nearby wall pressing a button it displayed a message in binary “this message was received by Dr Simon Tellar before we jumped to the asteroid. We believe it is Cylon in origin.” He said looking at the others who looked shocked “he’s like the head researcher at the facility appears to be a collaborator to the Cylons.”
“It’s unbelievable” Victoria Kryvych said
“Why would they?” Captain Rhodes wondered
“I have no idea” Boyle admitted “but that is a question that will have to wait instead for now we need to concentrate on the here and now. Major Sinclair has placed all of the remaining scientists onboard under arrest. Several were killed by the explosion but there were several in other sections until we know their status we’re keeping them in isolation.” He said “we’re going to evacuate as many of the injured as we can to the Colonial Transport. We’re also going to transfer as many of the Vipers as we can to that ship and send it back to the asteroid.” He saw their shocked looks “we have to face facts people this is probably the final flight of the Massena.”
Several hours passed and the Transport jumped away with nearly eighty casualties and fourteen of the ship’s Vipers leaving six onboard for defence. Unable to make repairs to the jump drive the ship Boyle carried on with his plan to search the world of Picon for survivors and transports who could help evacuate the asteroid and continue the human race.
“DRADIS contact” Victoria Kryvych called out looking over at him “wreckage, Colonel, Colonial Warships” she said looking over at him “one of them is the Atlantia… what’s left of it.” She said as the Massena continued towards the wreckage of the Battlestar Atlantia. The once mighty flagship of the Colonial Fleet was missing the majority of its upper hull and its entire port flight pod.
“Scan it, it’s possible there are air pockets onboard her” Boyle said looking at the screens the vessel slipped past the wrecked vessel.
“We’re not detecting anything…” Kryvych said stopping mid-sentence “wait one, we have movement from the Atlantia four contacts.”
“Identify” Boyle ordered
“Four Vipers and a military shuttle” Kryvych responded after a moment as the four Vipers and shuttle approached.
“Raise them” Boyle commanded Jon Kamen nodded a moment later “this is Colonel Matthew Boyle of the Massena please respond.”
“Massena, this is Lieutenant Jonas Maliki, Colonel we’re all that’s left of the Atlantia’s Battle Group.” He said “eighty-two souls. Please say you can help us.” He said as the four Viper Mk VII fighters and transport continued to rise towards them.
“Affirmative, Lieutenant, come into the bay.” He ordered the Vipers and shuttle quickly docked with the vessel and Boyle made his way to the hanger meeting with Major Sinclair and a group of his marines. They entered the hanger bay to find the pilots disembarking from their fighters and the passengers from the shuttle joining them. Boyle was aware of the of Sinclair’s marines fanning out either side of him as they approached Jonas Maliki was a dark-skinned man with long hair and a well-trimmed beard. “Welcome onboard”
“Colonel, you’re not Colonial fleet…” he said glancing either side of Boyle “Major, you and your marines are?”
“The Colonel is in charge, Lieutenant, this is his ship and he’s on a mission from the Commander of the Galactica you’ll answer to him if you want to stay onboard.” Major Sinclair said nodding towards Boyle when he looked at him.
“Understood” Maliki said looking back at Colonel Sinclair “we’ll stay, I can vouch for those onboard we’re just glad to have found someone who can help us. You can help us?”
“Well we can give you more of a chance than you had before” Boyle answered “unfortunately our FTL is currently in pieces so we won’t be rushing out of here.” He explained the truth was plain to see on Maliki’s face “fortunately we’re not alone we have allies nearby who will assist us.” He explained not going into details “for now we need to know how did you avoid the Cylon onslaught?”
“We were training nearby among the asteroids when the Cylons hit the Admiral ordered us to stay low. We did so until they passed then we returned and began to pick up all of those that we could.” He explained “where is the Galactica?”
“Leading a fleet of civilians away from the Twelve Colonies.” Boyle said “we’ll hopefully meet up with them in the future if not we’ll do all we can to keep people safe.”
Hours later the Massena was a distance from the Atlantia’s wreckage still heading for Picon with no Cylon presence detected. Boyle sat on the bridge waiting for them to find something “why are they not here?” Boyle wondered to himself more than anything.
“Probably because they destroyed everything that was here.” Sinclair said entering the rear of the bridge.
“How are our new guests getting on?”
“Shell shocked by what’s happened to them. We’ve cleared the shuttle and the Vipers of the CNP navigational program and loaded older models onto them” Sinclair explained “most of the shuttle passengers are maintenance staff from the Battlestars in Atlantia’s group. They survived due to being below decks on their ships Maliki’s people did wonders getting them off those ships onto that shuttle which has no right to still being flying.”
“This ship has no right to still being flying it’s a running trend” Boyle admitted the Massena was having near constant power issues since the explosions that had damaged the vessel when they arrived near Picon.
“How long?”
“Maybe a few more days” Boyle admitted “then we’ll have to call in the freighters and evacuate but before then we’ll get to Picon and we can see what remains of the world.” He said
“And the shipyards?” Sinclair asked wondering about friends who may have been there with their ships when the Cylons attacked.
“In ruins” Boyle said “most of them have already fallen into Picon’s atmosphere. The rest will follow them soon and Picon will be uninhabitable.”
“A sorry end” Sinclair said
“Along with the rest of the colonies.”
Two days later the Massena arrived near Picon above the world the shipyards continued to descend into the atmosphere heading for the planet below. From orbit the Massena began to scan the ground looking for signs of survivors.
“Unbelievable” Will Stonagal at the weapons console said “Colonel, there’s a Heracles-class Gunship on the planet’s surface it appears to be fully intact and we’re receiving a positive reply from its FTL. The Cylons must have classed it as a non-threat due to its age, they haven’t been in use since the early stages of the first war.”
“Show me an orbital shot” he said looking at the screen as it changed to show the long thin hull of the gunship settled in its ground-based maintenance cradle. Boyle reached for his microphone “Major Sinclair, are you near a monitor.”
“AscentPod 3, Colonel” the Major replied through the Comm.
“What do you see?”
“A tempting target for any survivor, and a trap.” He said there’s probably Cylon forces hidden all around that area waiting for you.
“But it’s the only thing we’ve seen that would make this trip worth it.”
“I agree Colonel, my people are ready when you are.”
Over the next three hours they came up with a plan and launched their attack. From the side of the Massena all three of the marine’s AscentPods launched towards the ground followed by the ship’s complement of Vipers, Raptors and the Hunter. Behind them the Massena descended into the atmosphere intent on landing and offloading all of its remaining passengers onto the Gunship.
From the ground concealed missile batteries opened fire on the incoming Colonial force immediately knocking one of the Vipers from the sky blowing it to pieces. “Keep your spacing!” Cassiopeia shouted as a second volley of missiles streaked up this one directed at the Raptor force the large ships electronic suites protecting them. “Maliki use your speed hit them” she commanded as the AscentPods came in for a landing around the Heracles and marines charged out to attack. From the undergrowth around the docking facility Cylon Centurions raised firing cutting down many marines immediately but their numbers couldn’t match the number of marines nor the airborne support.
“Apex to Cassiopeia, we’re coming around again” Maliki replied the four Viper Mk VIIs turned around in space blowing up another of the missile points. From behind the Vipers and Raptors the Hunter and the Massena appeared and opened fire with their combined weapons bombarding the area around the drydock.
“Their heads are down helm put us on the deck” Boyle ordered “weapons keep firing as long as our weapons can hit them then get to your evacuation point.”
“The Marines have breached the Gunship’s hull no traps so far the Cylons were hoping their trap would hold back anyone getting too close.”
“Good news” Boyle said as the Massena touched down on the ground “right people, grab your ready bags and let’s go. We are not coming back.” He said looking around. Outside Vipers and Raptors were keeping the ground forces in check cutting down the Cylons as they formed. As soon as they were able the Massena’s crew and passengers also began to make their move from the Massena to the other ship.
As the crew ran across the broken concrete ground between the two ships the Vipers continued to strafe Cylon ground positions. Above even them there were sonic booms as Cylon fighters entered the atmosphere. “Apex, Cassiopia, support our ground force we’ll taken on those fighters.” Maliki said turning his fighter with him the other three Viper Mk VII craft turned and rose through the atmosphere intent on opposing the incoming Cylons. As they closed both sides opened fire three Cylon craft exploded under the Vipers sustained fire. Both formations passed through each other and the four Vipers spun chasing after the still diving Cylons. “Their intending on opposing our taking over of the Gunship.” Apex warned as they chased after the Cylons below them the Hunter suddenly appeared all four of its turrets filling the air with concentrated fire cutting down another four Cylon craft. “Pull up, pull up!” Apex shouted a warning to his fighters avoiding the incoming fire “Hunter, check your fire, remember you’re with friendlies now!” He warned as the four Vipers spun away from the incoming fire put up by the Hunter.
“Sorry Vipers this is a busy environment!” The reply came back a moment later
On the ground the Massena’s crew entered the Gunship and began to move through it. “Everyone without a duty find a seat and get comfortable!” Boyle shouted standing near one of the airlocks “security teams sweep the ship for Cylons, engineering team get this bird ready to fly, command team follow me” he ordered heading through the ship. Everyone was armed and ready for threats but there were no threats onboard instead pressure doors opened for them and lights seemed to activate automatically.
Entering the CIC they were greeted by a round room on two levels with a situation table in the centre of the room beside the table there was a gangly thin looking man with short brown hair and stubble. He wore a white shirt with a utility bodywarmer over the top. He immediately put his hands up seeing Boyle’s weapon on him. “Wow, wow, wow hold your fire my name is Leoben, I’m an arms dealer and I just wanted to steal this ship!” He said immediately “I found this thing needed a bit more than me to fly it, I’ve been waiting for you” he saw Boyle’s face twist “I mean you, anyone, who could help me get the hell out of here… please say you can.”
“We can” Boyle said his weapon not leaving him. “Sorry, but we’ve been burned a couple of times so far so you’re not staying in here while we prepare.” He said turning to a pair of marines who were with the command team. “Marines escort Mr Leoben below decks we’ll deal with him later.” He said turning back to Leoben “go with these men they’ll find you somewhere to stay until we find you quarters.” The arms dealer looked at the marines then put down his hands and nodded his agreement leaving the command deck “lets lock it down.” He commanded behind them the pressure doors of the CIC closed behind them. “CIC to engineering, seal up for take-off, activate engines when you’re ready. Rask, get us in the air. Jon let the fighters know we’re moving we’ll still need cover since weapons aren’t manned yet.”
A few moments later the Heracles lifted off the ground and began to lift into the sky. The ship lacked aerodynamic surfaces to lift it up through the atmosphere but the massive engine block behind the ship and thrusters below the craft were more than enough to lift it. Around the ship the Vipers and other small craft continued to hold the Cylons at bay as they left Picon behind.
“Ok what do we have?” Boyle asked still standing beside the situation table in the centre of the room.
“It’s one of the last models of the Heracles-class Gunship.” Will Stonagel said looking over from the weapons control console “Thirteen heavy anti-ship cannons facing forwards and into the broadsides a further three lighter cannons covering the rear sides. Multiple smaller weapons we’re a lot smaller but we could probably put out a flak field as thick as most Battlestars.” He said “they’ve also added a hanger to the rear of the ship, these things weren’t built with them originally, it won’t hold all our fighters but it’s a start.”
Boyle nodded and reached for the ship’s personal announce system “This is Boyle, Chara and other hanger specialists prepare to receive our small craft at the rear of the ship.” He said as the Gunship rose into space. “Boyle to fighters, we’re going to open the rear hanger bay which will house some of your craft, other fighters will need to mag-clamp onto the hull and their pilots space walk into the ship via airlocks.” He explained to the fighter craft which had formed a formation around them now that the Cylons had abandoned their pursuit for now.
Over the next hour the Hunter, the two non-jumpable Raptors and the military shuttle had docked in the hanger while the remaining seven Vipers had docked on the outside of the hull, three craft had been lost in the skies around Picon while twenty-seven more people had been lost getting to the ship. “Jump us to the asteroid” Boyle ordered and in an instant the ship was gone appearing near their base.
“DRADIS contact, we’re being challenged it’s the Agosta and Caerphilly, they’re in for a surprise.” Jon Kamen said smirking as he looked back at his CO who was reaching for the microphone.
“Massena to Agosta, we’re friendly.” Boyle said
“You’ve changed” came the response from the CO of the Agosta who recognised Boyle’s voice.
“Call us the Massena II, we’ll be alright for now.”
