Ok I don't own Space Above and Beyond nor Do I own Battlestar Galactica 2003 so please don't sue me.

HOMEWORLD BOUND

A BSG2003/SPACE ABOVE AND BEYOND CROSSOVER STORY

CIC Galactica 1920hrs

Earth Calendar June 8, 2071

In CIC things were hectic as usual; crewman manned their stations attending to their duties like a well oiled machine. Officers ran back and forth between stations, a testament to the ship's lack of networked computers. Orders had been given and carried out in such a manner that left no doubt that the person in charge ran a tight ship. But looking down from overhead it all looked like utter chaos, people moving this way and that, voices overlapping one another; like a hurricane in motion. Yet in the middle of any hurricane stands an eye of calm.

Commander William Adama, Commander of the last Battlestar "Galactica" studied the Dradis console intently, tracking the progress of the 2 vipers and 1 raptor that had departed Galactica 20 minutes prior enroute to the nearby star system.

"Let's hope they find something this time, because I'm not sure how many more disappointments we can take." Came the raspy voice of the ships xo Colonel Saul Tigh as he came to stand next to Adama.

"Lets hope" was all Cmdr Adama said as half his attention was on the Dradis console the other half registering what his friend had said.

"Have you read the report yet?" ask Col Tigh.

"No and I'm almost afraid too" Cmdr Adama leveled his eyes to meet those of his long time friend "how many ships?" he asked.

"11 ships report having trouble with their FTL drives, 2 of them being catastrophic failures. I've deployed elements of Tyrols deck crew to assist the engineering units on each ship but we're looking at 1 week of work minimum, and that's with our people pulling double and triple shifts." Reported Col Tigh

Commander Adama turned that over in his head as he brought his arms to rest on the table below the Dradis console. This was a problem, a big one, but truth be told it wasn't the only one on his plate right now. During the last Cylon attack 3 weeks ago the Agrarian was destroyed with all 1107 souls on board. Tragic as the loss of the ship was it was made even more so by the fact the Agrarian was 1of 3 ships that had the principle duty of growing and storing much of the fleet's already dwindling food supply, her loss put the fleet at bare minimum rationing.

Then 4 days later as if things couldn't get any worse another Cylon agent of Aaron Doral had appeared on the Tauranian refinery ship. Colonial Marines dispatched from Galactica had managed to locate Doral.

But as the Marines began to close in on him Doral detonated a series of explosives he had placed on the refining tanks killing 8 Marines and 4 of the crew. Thank the lords the ship didn't go up herself, but half of the fleets fuel reserves were gone which put the fleet on an even stricter rationing of Fuel.

Cmdr, Adama feared that the Cylons had managed to infiltrate more of their agents into the fleet during the attack while the Galactica's attention had been diverted elsewhere. With the permission of President Roslin Cmdr Adama ordered the immediate search of every ship in the fleet, as well as series of jumps to evade their Cylon pursuers so far nothing else had turned up.

This now brought them to their current dilemma. The fleet was extremely vulnerable to attack at the present time, if the Cylons attacked now there would be nothing the Galactica could do but delay the inevitable, at the cost of many vipers and possibly Galactica herself.

"Bring the ship to alert 2 status and have all vipers begin roving patrols around the fleet. Also have the reserve vipers on emergency standby, I want to be able to launch them the moment trouble strikes. In addition evacuate all nonessential personnel to other ships in case the Cylons do show before were ready, I want to minimize casualties. I know the ships are overcrowded as it is but we'll have to make due for the time being." Ordered Cmdr Adama.

It seemed that after 2 ½ years of running from the Cylons, after all the struggle, sacrifices, and heartache, and all the people they had lost, they were reaching the end of the road. The walls were finally closing in.

"Aye sir I'll get right on it." Replied Col Tigh who turned his back then hesitated. "Problem?" asked Cmdr Adama.

"Well no sir it's just that… the rookies that Lt Thrace has been training don't have a lot of stick time yet. Are you sure you want to use them as a reserve force if things get hot?" asked Col Tigh.

"This is the perfect time for them to get some much needed experience, besides I need every pilot I've got when the Cylons make their inevitable appearance" Replied Cmdr Adama.

"How long do you think we have" asked Col Tigh

"Hard to say but let's not waste a minute of it" replied Cmdr Adama.

"Aye sir" with that Col Tigh departed CIC to carry out Cmdr Adama's orders.

Cmdr Adama brought his tired eyes back up to the Dradis console to monitor the progress of the recon force.

Tigh was more right than he could have known; the fleet couldn't take many more disappointments. There was already unrest over the fleet's current state of affairs, the search for Cylon infiltrators had caused sporadic outbreaks of violence on several ships, which the Colonial Marines had to put down.

This gave Tom Zarak the opportunity he needed to launch his anti-Roslin campaign and he was milking it for all it was worth.

Adama suspected that Zarak's people may have been behind the initial riots unfortunately they covered their tracks well. no concrete evidence could tie Zarak to the riots….at least not yet.

"Dee what's the status of the recon patrol?" Cmdr Adama asked.

"Estimate they're five minutes out from the first planet sir about to begin their survey, so far no Cylon activity detected" Petty officer Duella reported anticipating the Commander's question.

"Very Well, whose patrol is it anyway?" Adama asked cursing himself for not remembering.

"Apollo, Starbuck, Helo and umm…Boomer sir". She replied.

"Very well keep me posted" Cmdr Adama ordered.

"Aye sir".

The toaster! Another problem, but one he didn't have to deal with right now. Even though she had been extremely helpful in recovering Helo, Starbuck and the Arrow of Apollo from Caprica. Despite the fact she killed her counterpart when she escaped and attempted to overload Galactica's Fusion core, irregardless of the fact she had been pregnant, she was a Cylon!

But apparently her actions had won over president Roslin who at the insistence of Vice President Baltar Granted Her Immunity and restored her commission. Cmdr Adama was in no position to refuse. He had lost his support from the Quorum of the 12 after the attempted coup and reinstating Sharon Valerie was one of the few conditions given to him to resume command of the Galactica, he reluctantly accepted.

Now more than a year later with so many things coming at him at once he felt as if he would be overwhelmed, the strain and fatigue unlike anything he had ever known but still he pushed on. In these desperate times the fleet needed something, to know their flight from the Cylons wasn't in vain and Commander Adama was determined to find it.

United Nations building New York

1300hrs 9 June 2071

Admiral Glen Ross had finally cleared the last of the security checkpoints heading into United Nations building en route to his meeting with Admiral Jake McIntyre he entered the nearest elevator and pressed the button for the 7th floor. He was an African American male in his early 60's adored in his dress blues with medals decorating the left breast of his uniform detailing over 30 years of service to his country.

His short cropped dark hair graying, which his wife said only made him looked more distinguished, and dark piercing eyes that showed of a man who'd seen and done it all and lived to tell the tale.

And he had, he first started his career as a Navy Seal back when the Navy was still an ocean going force. But after several years and numerous missions Ross realized he was in a dead end job. He quickly transferred to be a line officer and began to work his way up the ranks. His career received a significant boost when it was determined that he was one of few officers that could make the psychological transition from ocean navy to space navy.

He eventually got his star and command of his own ship, the John F Kennedy class Space Aircraft Carrier USS Saratoga. Ross had commanded her During the Earth/Chig war which had been nothing more than a 3yr blood bath that had cost the lives of 4 million men and women.

Until Earth Forces had forced the surrender of the Chigs at Anvil. That had been 5yrs ago, now he was an Admiral in charge of a Carrier battlegroup.

Ross exited the elevator after it had deposited him on the seventh floor.

After a few turns on the now familiar floor he found his destination and knocked.

"Enter" came the resounding voice on the other side of the door. Ross opened the door and entered the plush office of Admiral Jake McIntyre.

"Glen how the hell are you?" Piped Admiral McIntyre

"I'm good sir cant complain, and you sir?" Replied Ross

"I wish I could say the same Glen. So how's the family?" Asked Admiral McIntyre

"Denise will start her senior year at Caltech but if she's like her mother she won't stop till she has her doctorate." replied Ross pride evident in his voice.

"Good to hear Glen, good to hear, please sit down" Admiral McIntyre said.

Admiral Ross did so, now that the pleasantries were out of the way Admiral McIntyre turned serious.

"We may have a problem Glen" at Ross's Raised Eyebrows Admiral McIntyre continued. "6 days ago the Destroyer USS Gettysburg entered the Kappa Reticuli system during a routine patrol near the Chig border". Admiral Ross stiffened out of reflex any news concerning the Chigs was typically bad news.

"She has not been heard from since." Stated the Admiral in a deadly serious tone. "In addition to that Telemetry from the mining station on Aris ceased 48hrs later." As Admiral McIntire was briefing Admiral Ross he activated a 3d hologram that floated over the briefing table.

Admiral Ross couldn't help but notice the distance between the two red pulsars in midair representing Gettysburg's last known position and Aris, or the lack of distance for that matter.

"As you can see Gettysburg's last known position to Aris mining station is roughly 16 AU's, just a short hop away. Stated Admiral Macintyre.

"Admiral are we to assume that hostilities have once again broken out with the Chigs?" asked Admiral Ross.

"Until we can determine otherwise, yes Glen we are" Answered Admiral McIntyre. He continued.

"You are to take the Saratoga battlegroup and make a show in force in the Kappa Reticuli star system. Your mission will be two fold 1. Attempt to recover survivors from the Gettysburg and Aris mining station, if possible. 2. Determine the Chigs intent by any means necessary."

Ross began to generate possible scenarios based on the information at hand none of them good. The Main reason why Kappa Reticuli was still considered contested territory between Earth and the Chigs was the Simple fact it was so vast. A binary star system With 37 planet and 213 moons and a dense asteroid field you could play hide and seek for years and not find anything.

Ross Remembered the last few months of the Chig war during the Kazbek campaign. Kazbek was a planet rich in a unique ore dubbed "Suel Fuel".

It was Bio organic in nature that if properly refined could produce more energy than extracted. In fact a few crystals of the ore fitting in the palm of a persons hand had the ability to power a ship such as the Saratoga for up to10yrs. Add to the fact the exhaust produced was clean at temperatures negligible at .05microns keeping a ship from being detected by Infrared sensors on LIDAR scanners.

As if to drive home the point of how powerful the ore was, a single Chig prototype fighter Dubbed "Chiggy Von Ricktoven" had amassed an impressive kill record against Hammerhead fighters which had been unable to detect and engage him effectively. That was until LtCol TC McQueen had single handedly engaged and destroyed him. Still that awesome display of power had shown Earth the potential of the Suel Fuel. Thus the Kazbek campaign commenced.

More than half of 7th fleet had been committed to that battle; the Lincoln, the Colin Powel, the Saratoga and the Enterprise battle groups along with 7 British Battleships for heavy fire support stormed the Chig ships defending Kazbek. The Lincoln and the Colon Powel groups along with the HMS Victory, and the HMS Warspite charged the defending Chigs head on in a Blitzkrieg style assault which caught the Chigs off guard.

With the Chigs concentrating on the Lincoln and the Powel groups they never noticed the Saratoga group coming out of the dark side of one of Kazbecks moons, until she was hitting their left flank.

Just as it seemed the Chigs had reoriented their forces to meet the Saratoga group, the rest of the British Squadron appeared and began hitting the Chigs right flank. Flanked with their lines crumbling and being pushed back into Kazbeck's gravity well the Chigs began to withdraw their forces. That was until the Enterprise battle group closed the net. The ships defending Kazbek were utterly annihilated in less than 2 days; like a bulldozer running over cardboard. It had been the fleet's biggest victory in the war since the counter attack at Ixion. However it was the battle on the ground that proved far more difficult and far bloodier for the Earth forces.

Once space around the planet had been secured Earth immediately put boots on the ground 600,000 strong. In the 4 month period that followed The Chigs made the Earth forces bleed for every inch of ground taken. Kazbek had earned its nickname in that time period "the Meat Grinder".

But after the 4th month Earth had secured Kazbek and repelled 2 Chig attempts to retake it. Of the 600,000 men and women that went in 106,000 came out.

Ross didn't want to think about the prospect of another war with the Chigs. The last one having left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Sir one Carrier Battle group no matter how well armed, will be very vulnerable operating Alone in-system." Stated Admiral Ross, he continued "will additional carrier battle groups be acting as support?"

"Not at first Glen but we'll have the Kennedy battle group Divert from Proxima to support you, she should arrive 5 days after your arrival on station. 2 days after that the Yorktown battle group will arrive to provide additional support" Admiral McIntyre informed.

1 week without support against a technologically superior force whose size and intent can only be guessed at. Ross reflected, things could get interesting…quickly.

"Anything else Glen?" Admiral McIntyre asked.

"Yes sir. I want the 58th they're the best we have and the Chigs know it. Bringing them in will show the Chigs how serious were taking this escalation in hostilities Sir" Admiral Ross stated.

"Approved" Admiral McIntyre stated without hesitation

"Anything else Glen?" asked Admiral McIntyre

"No Sir" Admiral Ross answered.

"Very well then you depart 3 days. God speed Glen and Good Hunting!" the admiral said standing up while extending his right hand.

"Thank you Sir" Replied Ross as he too stood up and took the Admirals hand in a firm handshake. With that done Glen Ross grabbed his cover and Exited the Admirals office and headed back to the lobby floor of the United Nations building. Once the Admiral had cleared all checkpoints he exited the building and proceeded to his Humvee III transport. There stood his aid LtCmdr Marcus Beach.

"Cmdr Beach get on the horn to Commodore Masterman and the other ship Captains. Tell them to recall their crews shore side, and to expedite what maintenances and repairs that can be accomplished within the next 48 hrs.

In addition they are to make sure their ships are fully resupplied and rearmed for probable combat operations. Also tell them that I want a full staff meeting on the Saratoga at 1700hrs EST all CO's and XO's."

Admiral Ross ordered as he entered his vehicle.

"Aye Aye Sir." Replied LtCmdr Beach as he lifted his SATCOM link and input the Frequency for the Saratoga.

Then turning his attention to the driver Admiral Ross ordered "get me to my transport."

"Aye sir" replied the driver then he proceeded to carry out the Admiral's orders.

With that taken care of Ross sat back in his seat contemplating the possible reasons behind the Chig attacks. There were none he could think of, and why now? The Chigs had lost more than half their fleet.

Their army wasn't even a shadow of what it once was. They didn't have the resources or the manpower to take on Earth in a prolonged war, so why? Was he missing something?

Admiral Ross wondered.

Admiral Ross then dismissed all thoughts of the Chigs Motivation behind the attacks; one thing he knew for sure was that he had a mission to perform and he would do so to the utmost of his abilities.