This is a work of fan fiction done purely for fun and not for profit.

A bright bluish white light appeared in the darkness of space, and the massive Colonial Jupiter Class Battlestar Rycon flashed into existence. A few seconds later more flashes lit up space around her, as five escorting Valkyrie Class Battlestars jumped into the system. Shortly after, the electronics surveillance ship Silent Seeker appeared followed by the Kobolan hospital ship Mercy, a Tylium tanker, and two fleet supply ships.

"All ships accounted for," Captain Jason Bennett the Dradis officer reported as he scanned his Dradis screen, quickly identifying all the green icons that represented Colonial ships.

They were a long way from the Colonies, and the presence of the familiar green icons was comforting. Captain Bennett began to relax knowing that all ships were present. Jumps always made Bennett nervous, especially since they were so far from the Colonies. There was no way to know what might be waiting for them at the end of a jump. There were still a lot of Cylon ships unaccounted for.

"All ships report successful jumps," Captain Amanda Billings the ship's communications officer reported. She was listening on her mini com as the various ships reported in.

"Fleet is at Condition Two as per standard operating procedures," Commander David Stramm reported from his position opposite Admiral Reed at the operations table. He was listening to the various ship commanders over his mini com which was set to the fleet com channel.

"Begin routine system scans," Admiral Reed ordered as he looked at the large Dradis screen, which showed no obvious threats. "Launch standard CAP and prep the survey raptors."

Admiral Reed watched the Dradis screen as the fleet took up a diamond defensive formation with the hospital ship, the Tylium tanker, and the two fleet supply ships in the center. The Rycon was at the front of the formation with four of the Valkyries at the side points and the fifth bringing up the rear. The surveillance ship Silent Seeker moved up to just behind and above the Rycon.

"Silent Seeker reports no energy signals within two light years of us," Captain Angela Simms reported from her surveillance and sensor console. "They're powering up their systems for a full sweep. They should have preliminary results in about twenty minutes. Our own sensors are still scanning the system."

"Initial results from your scans?" Admiral Reed asked looking over at Captain Simms. She hadn't changed much in the last few years. She was still pretty and one of the best sensor operators in the fleet!

"The system we are in is a G type with the primary about twenty two percent larger than Caprica's sun," she reported studying the data coming in on her computer screens. "So far we have detected four planets and a small asteroid field. System scans should be completed in another ten minutes."

Admiral Reed relaxed and looked over at Commander Stramm. "Standard search procedures, let's see if we can find any trace of the Galactica and her fleet."

It had been four years since Admiral Clements had successfully retaken the Colonies from the Cylons. For the first two of those years, tremendous work had been done on repairing ships and securing the Colonies. They had also updated most of the surviving Colonial fleet to Kobolan standards. For the last fourteen months, Admiral Reed had been searching for the Galactica and her refugee fleet. This would be his third time out from the Colonies searching. So far, they hadn't found a trace, other than at Kobol! Where ever Adama had gone, he hadn't left a trail for anyone to follow. This didn't surprise Admiral Reed. Adama was a crafty commander and would not have left a trail for the Cylons to follow. Unfortunately, this made finding his fleet by the surviving Colonials difficult as well.

"CAP is in place," Commander Stramm reported listening to the mini com in his left ear. "Survey raptors are being launched to check the four planets and the asteroid field." Stramm was extremely pleased with the efficiency of his ship's crew. This was a handpicked crew and all were exceptionally well trained.

Admiral Reed knew the raptors would be searching for signs of abandoned ships, wreckage, and any traces of mining operations. Adama had to stop occasionally to resupply his fleet. Somewhere, they had to have left a sign of their presence! They couldn't have just disappeared completely.

Admiral Reed stayed in the CIC for the next several hours, as more raptors were dispatched to survey the system as the final scans came in. The Silent Seeker reported no energy signatures within a ten light year radius. Inside that radius were four G type stars that would need investigating. They were working on the assumption that Adama would be stopping at systems that held a possibility of habitable planets to forage for food and water.

Admiral Reed contacted the Valkyrie Class Battlestars Victory and Independence over his fleet com. "Victory and Independence you have a go for search. Coordinates of your target stars will be transmitted to you from the Silent Seeker. You have four systems to check, good luck and good hunting."

A few minutes later, the two indicated Battlestars vanished in flashes of blue white light as they jumped to the first of their target systems. The two Battlestars would spend enough time in each system to confirm that there was no trace of the Galactica or her civilian fleet, before moving on to the next. If they found a trace, a raptor would jump back to the Rycon and report.

"Commander Stramm, you have the CIC, I'll be in my quarters if you need me," Admiral Reed spoke. A few moments later, he left the CIC.

Reaching his quarters, Admiral Reed sat down in a well-padded comfortable chair and closed his eyes trying to rest. The last several years had been difficult, while they had found a lot of survivors on some of the Colonies; others hadn't fared as well.

His family had lived on Picon in a small-secluded valley close to one of the planet's large oceans. A Cylon 50 megaton bomb had ensured that none of his family survived. Unfortunately for his family, a major defense installation had been located at the far end of the valley. It had been abandoned for years, but the Cylons hit it anyway. His mother, his younger brother, and everyone else that mattered to him were gone. All he had left was the fleet. The fleet was his family now!

Admiral Reed had volunteered to lead the search for the Galactica. It got him away from the Colonies and those memories. Somewhere out here past the Promar sector, the Galactica had fled. They had been pursued by nearly a full quarter of the Cylon fleet's Basestars. The Cylon Colony, as well as their Resurrection Hub, had also followed. That was another reason why it had taken over two years to launch the first search and rescue mission. The Colonies had to be secured first in case the remaining Cylon fleet returned. That had been accomplished, now the search was on.

After a few more minutes, Admiral Reed fell into a restless slumber. In his dreams his family still lived. There was his younger brother, with his carefree laugh, and his mother with that warming smile that was always on her face.

In the CIC Captain Angela Simms had finished her system scans with the Rycon's advanced sensors. These sensors were so much better than the old ones she had used on the Victory when they had attacked the Cylon shipyards during the war. The Kobolans had updated the sensors on the Rycon. The ship had been built in the orbiting shipyard above Demeter and possessed all the latest technological developments from the Kobolans as well as the Colonies. The accompanying Valkyrie class Battlestars had also been updated with Kobolan technology.

The system they were in consisted of seven planets. There was only one in the liquid water zone, and it was on the outer edge of it. Already a survey raptor was in orbit looking for any signs of ship landings or other traces of human visitations. Angela knew they were looking for a needle in a haystack. She had found two small asteroid fields in the system between the sixth and seventh planets, both of which were gas giants. Two other survey raptors were doing a quick scan of the asteroid fields for any traces of mining operations.

Angela got up and walked the short distance to Captain Amanda Billings's communications console. She was still listening to incoming reports over her mini com from the survey raptors, but she wanted to speak to Amanda. "How are things Amanda?" Angela asked stopping next to the young woman.

"Same as usual," Amanda replied with a bored smile. "Everything so far is routine, no one is reporting any traces of the Galactica and her rag tag fleet. Do you think we will ever find them, or what happened to them?"

"I don't know," Angela replied with a slight shake of her head. "There are potentially hundreds of G type stars on the course we believe the Galactic took. If we extend the search pattern out, we would be talking about thousands of stars to search. But we have to try."

"Then there are the Cylons," Amanda spoke with a hint of concern in her voice. "The Cylons that remain on their home world said John Cavil took nearly thirty Basestars with him when he went off after the Galactica and her fleet. Then there is the Baseship and the ships that escaped with it during the battle of the Cylon home world."

"All out here somewhere," Angela replied nodding listening to a report on her mini com in her right ear. She knew that Amanda was listening to the same report. The raptor was in orbit around the planet in the liquid water zone. It was reporting no evidence of plant or animal life on the planet. Looked like another dead end. After each failure, it reminded Angela just how difficult their task was.

"The Cylon Colony and Resurrection Hub are also out here somewhere," Angela continued. "That's why all of our ships are equipped with the latest stealth technology, including the survey raptors."

"What if we find the Cylons, what will we do?" Amanda asked worriedly. She had seen so much death during the Cylon War, even on board the Victory.

"We report back to the Colonies," Angela replied recalling their mission briefing. Admiral Clements had been extremely explicit in his orders. If any Cylon vessels were located, their positions were to be marked and monitored, as long as those operations didn't jeopardize Admiral Reed's fleet. Combat with Cylon forces wasn't authorized unless the fleet was in eminent danger or was discovered.

"What if the Cylons have already found the Galactica? It's been over four years!" Amanda continued. "The fleet we are searching for could have already been destroyed.'

"I doubt it," Angela responded. This was something she had thought a lot about. "If the Galactica and her fleet had been destroyed, then the Cylons would have returned to their home world or at least sent back a ship. Neither has happened, no, the Galactica and her rag tag fleet are out here someplace; we just have to find them."

"I just hope we find them soon," Amanda replied softly.

"Major Simms and I are eating together in the officer's cafeteria after our shifts are over. Would you like to join us? We can invite Captain Bennett if you want," Angela said looking over at the captain who was watching his Dradis screen intently.

"Sure," Amanda replied with a smile. She liked the young captain, and he was pleasant company.

Nodding, Angela walked over and talked briefly with Captain Bennett then with a confirming nod of her head toward Amanda, she returned to her workstation.

Out in space, Major Aaron Simms looked at the Dradis screen in his command viper, checking on the locations of the vipers flying CAP. There were four groups of two flying patrols around the fleet's perimeter. After a moment, he nodded his approval. The vipers were right where they should be. After all the training he had put the Rycon's squadrons through, they were finally performing up to his expectations.

He really liked the new Mark Eight vipers. They had been built at the Demeter orbiting shipyards with some help from Kobolan engineers. The new vipers were slightly larger than the older Mark Sevens. The engines were more powerful, new sensors had been installed, and the new interfaced computer system made tracking targets highly efficient. The vipers were also able to carry six small interceptor missiles as well as larger thirty millimeter twin cannons. What Aaron really liked was the Kobolan inertia compensator system that had been installed. While it didn't totally neutralize the g force in a tight turn or from sudden acceleration it did reduce it by nearly forty percent. This vastly improved the viper's flight capabilities.

Aaron had applied for the CAG position on the Rycon because he wanted to get away from Caprica. Even though there were over twelve million survivors on the planet, it would never be the same again. Flying over blasted cities, burned out towns, and abandoned farms was just too much! Colonel Adams had recommended him for this position, and Admiral Clements had approved the transfer. Susan had remained on Caprica, and her parents had returned to their hunting lodge in the mountains. She had elected to stay on Caprica to be near them. He still checked on her whenever he was on leave.

…

Commander Turner looked over the CIC of the Battlestar Independence. The Victory and Independence were in the second of the four star systems that were on their search list. The first system had contained no planets in the liquid water zone and no asteroid fields. A quick sweep by the two Battlestar's survey raptors had revealed no traces of any past or current human presence in that system, so they had jumped to the next one on their list.

"We're showing two planets in the liquid water zone," Lieutenant Brenda Edmondson reported excitedly from her sensor console.

"Very well," Commander Turner replied with a pleased smile looking over at his Executive Officer Major Burns. "Launch our survey raptors, if the Galactica and her fleet were ever in this system, there should be traces of them on one of those two planets. Inform Commander Willis on the Victory he has the CAP."

Commander Turner sat down in his command chair just off to the side of the operations table. Now it was a waiting game as they waited for information from the survey raptors. Both Battlestars were operating in full stealth mode. Unless a ship jumped in right on top of them, their detection was unlikely. The CAP vipers were also specially shielded to make detection minimal. Each Battlestar had four such shielded vipers.

"Picking up a very large asteroid field," Lieutenant Edmondson reported as more information came in from her scans. "Sir, my long range sensors are showing a major Tylium deposit on one of the asteroids!"

"Tylium!" Commander Turner spoke surprised rising and stepping over to the operations table, where the survey data on the system was being displayed. A blinking red circle in the asteroid field designated the location of the Tylium. The asteroid field was located between the fifth and sixth planets, the sixth planet being an unusually large gas giant. He knew that a large Tylium source could definitely have drawn the Galactic to this system. Maybe their luck was finally changing.

Major Burns, instruct Commander Willis to send four of his survey raptors to that Tylium source," Commander Turner ordered studying the information being displayed on the operations table. "Tell his pilots to use extreme caution on their approach. If the Galactica needed Tylium, this might be where she got it!"

"Sir, if my scans are correct, this is a huge Tylium deposit!" Lieutenant Edmondson continued, looking intently at the data being displayed on her screen. She double checked the figures and then looked back at the commander. "I don't think I've ever seen one this large on an asteroid before, not even in the Caspian system!"

Commander Turner nodded. They were so far out from the Colonies that mining this Tylium would be impractical. But they could do a complete survey, and if they ever had to have it, they would know what's here. He was highly curious to see if the Galactica had beat them to it. He hoped so; it would be their first trace of the old Battlestar.

Captain Samuel Brett was in survey raptor six and in charge of the four-raptor group assigned to check out the Tylium deposit. "All raptors set your FTL computers to bring us out of jump ten thousand kilometers from target," he ordered over the com system as his fingers ran smoothly over the controls. "Full stealth mode upon system stabilization after the jump. I want to run some long range sensor scans before we close on the target asteroid."

"FTL spun up and ready to jump," Lieutenant Jenny Albright reported from her copilot seat. "I hope there is some trace of the Galactica there!"

"It's possible," Captain Brett replied nodding. "A Tylium source this large would have been impossible to pass up."

"Stealth and sensor systems are ready sir," Ensign Dwight Higgins reported from his position directly behind the two pilots.

"All raptors report ready to jump," Lieutenant Albright confirmed.

"Very well," Captain Brett replied, then over the squadron com. "All raptors jump on my mark. 3, 2, 1, mark!"

All four-survey raptors vanished in blue white flashes.

Captain Brett felt the normal queasiness associated with a jump as the raptor reappeared at the designated coordinates. He looked quickly at the Dradis screen as the raptor's systems came back on line. He wanted very badly to see humans down on this asteroid, they all did.

"Stealth systems activated," Ensign Higgins reported. "Beginning long range scans of the asteroid."

"All other raptors report normal jumps," Lieutenant Albright reported. "Waiting on our approval to move in for close scans of target." She looked over at Captain Brett with growing excitement. Surely if the Galactica had passed through this area, they would have found this Tylium source. Lieutenant Albright was positive they were about to finally find a trace of the Galactica and her rag tag fleet.

"Frak!" Lieutenant Higgins said suddenly with surprise spreading across his face. "I'm detecting mining operations on the asteroid!"

"What!" Captain Brett exclaimed turning around and staring at the ensign. "Double check your sensors; we aren't detecting any ships in the area. How can there be a mining operation? Is it the Galactica?"

"It has to be," Lieutenant Albright spoke her eyes wide. "We finally found them!"

Ensign Higgins studied his screens for a few more moments, reading the data the sensors were downloading. "It's definitely a mining operation and a pretty big one. There are no ships on Dradis."

"Why the frak didn't the Silent Seeker pick up the power emissions?" Captain Brett demanded with an uneasy feeling. "She should have with the power a mining operation puts out!"

"The Tylium might have masked them sir," Lieutenant Albright commented looking over at Captain Brett. "It could have caused interference with the scans."

Captain Brett was silent for a moment mulling over what needed to be done next. "Raptor 4, you are to jump back to the Victory and inform Commander Willis what we have found and request additional orders, all other raptors will stay in this location with all stealth systems activated," he ordered over the raptors secure ship-to-ship communication system.

A few moments later raptor 4 jumped away in a blue white flash of light.

It was twenty minutes later when the Independence and Victory both jumped into close proximity to the asteroid. As soon as their systems stabilized viper squadrons began launching and taking up defensive positions around the two Battlestars.

"I want full scans of that asteroid!" Commander Turner ordered hoping that finally they had found a clue as to the Galactica's location. He couldn't imagine who else would be mining this Tylium. With the fleet the Galactica was protecting, they would have to stop periodically to mine Tylium for fuel. He felt there was a reasonable chance they had finally found them, which was why he had jumped the Battlestars in so close. He wanted to contact the humans on the asteroid as soon as possible.

On the Battlestar's main view screen, the large asteroid appeared. The asteroid was pock marked with old asteroid strikes. Lieutenant Edmondson adjusted the screen and increased the magnification zooming in on one of the mining operations her sensors were now picking up.

"That's not a human operation!" Major Burns spoke his eyes growing wide at what was on the screen. He watched in shock as large robotic machines moved back and forth across the surface of the asteroid going between the mining operations.

"Sensors are showing twenty different mining operations on the asteroid," Lieutenant Edmondson reported studying her data screen.

Commander Turner was silent as he studied the screen. He felt extremely disappointed. He had been so sure they had finally found the Galactica. Looking at the robotic machines on the surface, he knew they weren't Cylon either. Could they have found another sentient race of beings, if so, where were they? He looked over at a secondary view screen and noticed a series of large buildings and something he couldn't identify lying between them. "Expand that area where those building are!"

The screen expanded and suddenly an alien freighter or tanker appeared on the screen. A number of large hoses connected the ship to several of the buildings.

"A Tylium tanker," Major Burns said gazing intently at the screen. "Those buildings must be processing centers for raw Tylium. The finished product is being loaded aboard that ship."

"Frak!" a frightened and stunned voice spoke from behind Commander Turner. Turning Commander Turner saw the young Kobolan systems engineer assigned to the Independence looking in shock and fear at the screen. "That's an Ovion mining operation sir; we need to get out of here!"

"Ovion!" Major Burns repeated his face taking on a sudden look of worry. "Where did they come from? We're hundreds of light years from where their system was!"

"It doesn't matter," Commander Turner spoke looking over at his executive officer. "We didn't come out here to fight the Ovions. We need to get this information back to Admiral Reed. Bring all of our birds home, combat landings authorized. Contact all survey raptors in the system and order them to jump back to the Rycon's location. I want us out of here yesterday! We jumped in too fraking close to the asteroid. Their sensors might have detected us! Damn, I should have known better! Admiral Reed will have my ass for this screw up!"

Six minutes later, the Independence and Victory jumped reappearing back in the system where Admiral Reed and the Rycon waited. Commander Turner immediately contacted Admiral Reed. He needed to be told about the Ovions!

Down on the Ovion asteroid, surveillance systems had recorded what appeared to be two large warships appearing in orbit as well as a multitude of smaller craft. The Ovion operations computer recorded all the data and sent out a subspace message with the data packet included. Once that was complete, the partially sentient computer went back to focusing on the mining operation it had operated for the last twenty years.

"Ovions!" Admiral Reed spoke in surprise his eyes widening listening to the report from Commander Turner over his mini com. "Where the frak did Ovions come from way out here?"

"It was only a mining operation Admiral," Commander Turner replied defensively. "But from the scans we were able to take it's been there a long time!"

"Did they detect your ships?" Admiral Reed asked worriedly. He had no desire to tangle with an Ovion battle group. Commander Turner had screwed up; Admiral Reed just hoped there were no Ovion warships nearby.

"I don't know sir; we jumped in pretty close to the asteroid," Commander Turner confessed. "We thought it might have been a mining operation set up by the Galactica."

"It's possible we may have an Ovion colony in the neighborhood," Commander Stramm commented with a worried look. "Perhaps the Ovion home world put a colony out here centuries ago, after they destroyed the New Kobol system."

"Is that possible?" Admiral Reed said turning and looking at Major Streen. Major Streen was the Kobolan liaison officer assigned to the Battlestar Group to monitor the use of the Kobolan technology built into the Colonial ships.

"Anything's possible," Major Streen replied looking at the main view screen, which was showing a view of the Ovion mining operation. It was of the main buildings and the tanker on the landing pad being loaded with Tylium. "As you know, for the last several years we've been detecting Ovion warships in systems around the destroyed Ovion home world as well as in the New Kobol system. They have to be coming from somewhere, but this is a long way from either of those systems."

"So we may be dealing with another Ovion colony different from the one that Terra has been searching for," Admiral Reed commented not liking where this was going.

Terra had been searching for the surviving Ovion warships that had escaped the destruction of their home world. The Terrans felt there was a good possibility that the Ovions had set up a small colony somewhere prior to their home world being destroyed and were using it for a base of operations.

"If this is a long established colony, and from the size of that mining operation it very well may be, there could be more than one Ovion world nearby," Commander Stramm stated nervously looking toward the Dradis making sure it still showed only Colonial ships.

"As far out as we are, I can't imagine that the Ovion ships we have been detecting back home came from here," Major Streen said with a worried look. "We have to assume this is a different group of Ovions."

"We need to get this information back to Terra," Major Streen spoke still gazing at the screen. "We're over twelve hundred light years from New Kobol and the old Ovion home world. We need to have Terra send out some of our newer stealth ships to investigate this!"

"If the Galactica and her fleet came this way, they wouldn't have stood a chance against Ovion Dreadnaughts and Battle Cruisers!" Commander Turner spoke listening to the conversation over his mini com. "The same would go for the Cylons if there is a major Ovion colony or colonies nearby."

Admiral Reed thought for a moment. They had just begun their third search for the Galactica and her fleet. He hated giving up so quickly. "I want all ships to stay at condition two for the immediate future. We need more information about these Ovions before we go running back to the Colonies."

Commander Stramm was silent for a moment. He didn't like the idea of tangling with Ovion Dreadnaughts. Even with Kobolan technology augmenting Colonial technology, those mother's were just too powerful. "Sir if the Ovions show up, what are your orders?''

"We run," Admiral Reed replied in a low voice, his eyes narrowing. "We run like hell and get the frak out of here!"

…

For the next two days, Admiral Reed was in almost constant communication with Colonel Stahl Greenview. Colonel Greenview was the Commander of the Silent Seeker. The Silent Seeker was constantly surveying all the systems within ten light years for any unusual energy readings. Now that they knew what to look for, the Ovion mining colony was being kept under constant surveillance.

"From our subspace FTL detection sensors, there are two Ovion tankers each day arriving and leaving that asteroid," Colonel Greenview reported.

The subspace FTL sensors were a Kobolan system, which had been installed on the Silent Seeker. Colonel Greenview knew that the sensors were based on the technology used in the Kobolan FTL sensor buoys.

"That's a lot of Tylium," Admiral Reed spoke wondering where it was all going.

"We may have discovered another mining site in a system seven light years from us, like the other it's hard to tell from the scans," Greenview continued.

"I'll send a stealth raptor out to investigate," Admiral Reed replied. If it were another mining site, then this would indicate there had to be Ovion colonies somewhere close by. "We may want to consider deploying some Kobolan FTL sensor buoys in the surrounding systems to increase our detection range."

Admiral Reed could hear someone speaking to Colonel Greenview frantically in the background. Admiral Reed had a sudden feeling he wasn't going to like what he heard next.

"Admiral, we are picking up a number of FTL signatures in two of the designated G type star systems that we located earlier," Greenview reported worriedly. "The signatures are large, and the Kobolan officer we have assigned over here, she says they look like Ovion Dreadnaught FTL signatures sir!"

"It's a search pattern," Admiral Reed said over the mini com. "They must have detected our Battlestars over the Tylium asteroid. I'm recalling all the stealth raptors we have out, and then we're jumping for home. Our stay here is about to get a little warm I'm afraid." Admiral Reed just hoped he had time to get all of the out system raptors back.

"Captain Billings, send out a subspace recall to all of our stealth surveillance raptors to return home ASAP," Admiral Reed ordered. "Tell them we expect Ovion Dreadnaughts to make an appearance here shortly."

"All ships this is Admiral Reed," he said over the fleet com line. "The Silent Seeker has detected what appears to be Ovion Dreadnaughts in two of the four G type star systems we detected earlier. In my opinion, they are running a search pattern. They are looking for us! As soon as all surveillance raptors have returned, we will be jumping for home. All ships are to go to condition one and spin up your FTL drives!"

"Commander Stramm, double the size of the CAP and have our squadrons on standby," Admiral Reed ordered studying the tactical data being displayed on the operations table. "If necessary, we will cover the rest of the Battle Groups withdrawal."

"Yes sir," Commander Stramm replied. Commander Stramm hoped that the raptors made it back in time. Tapping his mini com, he ordered the CAP doubled and blue and green scorpion squadrons to be loaded into the launch tubes. Red and orange squadrons would be on standby.

Two hours passed, and all the surveillance raptors except one had made it back. Admiral Reed breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the last raptor jump in just short of the fleet. We might get away clean, he thought. He had watched so many people die in the Cylon war, he didn't know if he was prepared to lose more now.

A sudden warning alarm went off on the Dradis startling him and drawing his eyes to the Dradis screen above the operations table. Six deadly red blips came into being.

"Six Ovion Dreadnaughts detected sir!" Captain Bennett reported instantly; he had been on the lookout for exactly this type of Dradis signature. There was no mistaking an Ovion Dreadnaught!

"Have they detected us," Commander Stramm demanded looking over at Captain Bennett. All ships were running in full stealth mode, and the Ovions were over twelve million kilometers away.

"I don't think so sir," Captain Bennett replied breathing a sigh of relief as he read the data on his screens. "They're beginning to run a standard search pattern and are launching fighters for a CAP sir."

"As soon as that raptor completes its landing, we jump," Admiral Reed ordered looking down at the operations table and studying the new tactical information being displayed. He still might be able to get the fleet away safely.

It was at that moment the unthinkable happened, the inbound raptor's stealth systems failed. The raptor suddenly became a blinding signal on the Dradis screen.

"Sir, the raptor just showed up on Dradis," Captain Bennett warned his eyes widening. "Its stealth systems must have been switched off!"

"What the frak happened," Commander Stramm demanded whirling around and looking at Captain Billings. "Contact that raptor and see why they dropped their stealth systems! Tell them to get them back up immediately!"

"To late sir! The Ovions have detected the raptor. They are landing their fighters; and I believe they are spinning up their jump drives," Captain Bennett reported as he leaned forwards and adjusted several controls on his console. He could feel tension building in his stomach. This situation was about to go south very quickly.

"Get that raptor in, launch our squadrons!" Admiral Reed ordered as he looked at the tactical data. "All ships except the Rycon are to jump to the standby coordinates now!" At least he could get the other ships to safety; he had to stay and land the last raptor. What the frak was that pilot thinking about. Reed still couldn't believe the pilot had turned off his stealth systems!

On the main Dradis screen, the friendly green icons began to vanish rapidly until only the Rycon remained. Then the red Ovion icons vanished to reappear around the Rycon.

"The Ovions are here!" Captain Bennett reported with wide eyes. He had never seen combat before. "They're launching fighters!"

"Activate energy screen," Admiral Reed ordered. He knew that once the energy screen was activated the Ovions would be able to lock onto the Rycon with their weapons. But the Kobolan energy screen was their best defense against Ovion nukes.

"Sir, the raptor is reporting partial power failure. They had to turn off their stealth systems, so they would have enough power to land," Captain Billing reported. She could feel her heart beating faster. She looked over at Angela, and their eyes met. Angela gave a reassuring nod.

Major Simms rolled his viper to avoid an interceptor missile launched by an Ovion fighter. Turning sharply, a move that would have been impossible without the new Kobolan inertia compensators, he locked his thirty-millimeter cannons on an Ovion fighter. Squeezing the trigger, the shells tore into the fighter shredding it. Checking his Dradis, he saw that both squadrons were heavily engaged and seemed to be holding their own.

"Stay with your wingman!" Major Simms ordered over the squadron's com system. "Don't get separated. Do as you were taught!"

He could hear the excited chatter as his pilots fought their vipers dodging Ovion missiles, and returning fire when they locked onto an Ovion fighter. These Ovion fighters were slightly smaller than a viper with wider wings. Evidently they were designed to hold more missiles.

"Vipers are engaged with the Ovion fighters," Commander Stramm reported as he listened to the squadron leaders on his mini com. "Red and Orange squadrons are loaded in the tubes and ready to launch!"

"Hold the launch," Admiral Reed ordered as the raptor entered the starboard landing bay. "Order our vipers back, combat landing authorized. We're getting out of here!"

"Ovion missile launch!" Captain Bennett spoke loudly from his Dradis console as an alarm went off. "Twenty missiles inbound!" Another warning alarm suddenly sounded and Captain Bennett checked the data on his terminal quickly. "All the missiles are nukes sir!"

"Activate defense grid!" Commander Stramm ordered as his eyes went to the Dradis, which showed twenty inbound threat icons. The damn Ovions went in for nukes in a big way. From what they had learned from the Terrans, most of the Ovion nukes were big and nasty.

On the hull of the Rycon, two hundred twin defensive turrets and forty defensive laser turrets began tracking the inbound missiles. In moments, they opened fire as they locked onto their targets.

Six of the missiles were destroyed in the first barrage from the defensive turrets, and the laser turrets destroyed eight more. Then all turrets went into automatic fire putting up a curtain of exploding shrapnel and laser beams around the Rycon. Five more missiles exploded just short of the Battlestar. The last missile penetrated and struck the ship's powerful energy screen. The missile detonated, and for just a moment, the Rycon disappeared in a brilliant flash as nuclear fire washed over the screen. Then the Rycon reappeared unharmed.

"Last viper is aboard," Commander Stramm reported as he checked the damage control board. Other than a few short circuits, the ship was unharmed. Between the energy screen and the new improved armor the ship had suffered very little damage other then several scorch marks to its outer hull.

"Jump us!" Admiral Reed ordered. Even with the energy screen and the Rycon's new weapon systems they couldn't stand up to six Ovion Dreadnaughts.

The navigation officer obeyed and turned the jump key. The Rycon vanished just as the Ovion Dreadnaughts launched a larger wave of nuclear missiles.

The Rycon reappeared at the standby jump coordinates where the rest of the fleet waited.

"Damage report," Admiral Reed demanded looking over at Commander Stramm.

"Very minor sir," Stramm reported with a relieved look on his face. "We were lucky. They must have underestimated our defensive fire power or they would have launched a larger spread of missiles."

Admiral Reed was silent for a moment. The Ovions were a long way from the Colonies and were probably not a threat. He knew that Terra would want to know everything about their encounter. They had gotten some pretty decent scans of the Ovion ships, which should be useful. He just hoped they hadn't started another war!

"Plot a series of jumps toward these coordinates," Admiral Reed ordered calling up a star chart on the operations table. "We will take a longer route home so if the Ovions try to track us, they won't know where we're going. Once we reach these coordinates," he said pointing to a star system on the map, "we will return to the Colonies."

"Yes sir," Commander Stramm replied. This would add six jumps to the return trip. He didn't like the idea of calling the search off, but he knew they had no other choice.

They were going home; the search for the Galactica would have to be put on hold temporarily. Admiral Reed looked at the main view screen, which showed a number of brilliant stars. Somewhere out there, the Galactica and Adama waited; he was sure of that! We will find you Adama, Reed swore to himself. He had met Commander Adama on several occasions and had even served with him briefly on the Valkyrie. He knew in his soul that Commander Adama would have found a way to survive!

Check out my profile for information on a new project I am considering!

Author's note: I always thought the Battlestars on Battlestar Galactica the new series were ridiculously low tech. A culture that had space travel on and off for several centuries should have had a much higher tech base, even with the threat of the Cylons. In the original Battlestar Galactica series, the Galactica was the most powerful of the fleet's Battlestars, had heavy laser weapons, defensive turbo laser turrets, and some force field technology.

I wanted to give the current ships better tech, so I introduced the Kobolans in Gunstar Titania. A group from Kobol that had kept and developed a higher tech base than what was available in the Colonies. This way I could introduce an energy screen, some laser technology, improved computer technology, and other improvements. The Pulse Laser concept was introduced in the original Battlestar Galactica series and was developed on an Ice Planet by professor Ravashol.

Jupiter Class Battlestars (Hyperion, Prometheus, Rycon, and Pacifica)

Length: 1,600 meters

Width: 450 meters

Height: 400 meters

Crew: 1,500

Marines: 250

200 Rapid firing twin defensive turrets

40 Twin defensive laser turrets

4 Heavy bow KEW batteries

8 Quad pulse laser batteries mounted on the upper hull

10 Medium twin KEW turrets on the upper hull

24 Dual batteries capable of firing shells or missiles. Twelve on each side of the hull

8 Medium twin KEW turrets on the lower hull

6 Bow missile tubes

16 Missile tubes. 8 each on the starboard and port sides of the ship

160 Mark Eight Vipers (upgraded version of the Mark Seven with several Kobolan tech improvements.) Better sensors, more efficient engines, basic inertia dampening system.

20 Raptors

Energy Screen

Stealth Technology

Valkyrie Class Battlestars (Victory, Independence, Dark Search, Shrike, and Caprica)

Length 1,200 meters

Width 400 meters

Height 225 meters

Crew 800

Marines 200

140 Twin rapid fire point defense turrets

30 Twin defensive laser turrets

4 Heavy KEW bow batteries

4 Quad pulse laser batteries on the upper hull

20 Dual batteries capable of firing shells or missiles

8 Medium KEW twin turrets on the upper hull

6 Medium KEW twin turrets on the lower hull

4 Bow missile tubes

6 Missile tubes along the hull on both the starboard and port sides

80 Mark Eight Vipers

12 Raptors 4 Stealth Raptors

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