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Depot Veil

Prologue

The Cylons were created by Man.

They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.

And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.

After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.

The Cylons left for another world to call their own.

A remote space station was built...

...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.

Every year, the Colonials send an officer.

The Cylons send no one.

No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years...

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Until Now.

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Two years before the attack;

Long term ship storage Veil One;

Hyperion Nebula;

Station Veil;

Forty-three year old Admiral Moiré Hays sat in her seat as her raptor slowly flew towards the massive station known as Veil One which was hidden deep in the Hyperion Nebula. Moiré set the pad of papers to the side and looked out the front of the ship as they passed by four giant Battlestars that were parked next to each other, and next to the station. Each of the Battlestars was over twice the length of a Nova class and had been built just after the war had ended with the Cylons. She knew that further back in the depot were another three of the mighty Titan class ships along with fifty other warships of the reserve fleet. Most were Gunstars, but a few Warstars were docked in static formation along with some Firestarsfrigates. On the other side of the depot were the support ships and repair ships as well as a few civilian ships deemed to valuable to be left at the civilian depots like the three five hundred meter long twenty-four domed Argo ships that supplied some of the food for the roughly twenty thousand crew of the depots. There were also over two hundred other ships in various states being dismantled at the recycling yards.

She knew that further into the nebula depot were three massive mining facilities run by civilian crews that lived in the smaller Veil Two station. The mining facilities supplied all the fuel, water and minerals that were used in the depot to keep the ships in reserve status. Guarding the entrance channel were thirteen PDWs of the Veil defense forces along with two static Columbia Battlestars. The old Caprica and Virgon served as viper response stations while her main guns were always trained on the channel to stop any unauthorized ship from entering the zone.

Looking out at her new command, she was amazed by its size. She was assuming command of the Depot because the former commander and his aides had been arrested for not doing their jobs. Basically that was keeping the reserve ships barely up to par for quick deployment and embezzling funds.

"Ma'am, we're landing in five minutes. Commander Torrez reports they are ready for the change of command on the main landing deck," the pilot reported from her station.

"Thank you, notify Commander Torrez on our ETA and the change of command venue," Moiré replied as she sat back down in her chair and picked up her papers.

Five minutes later the raptor settled onto one of the landing platforms of the station and gave a lurch as it was lowered into the bay. The astrosphere was quickly replaced as a tow truck dragged the twenty ton machine into the hanger. As the ship came to a stop, a red carpet was rolled out to the side of the ship. The hatch popped loose and rose up to its maximum height as Admiral Hays stood up and walked to the hatch. Looking out, she saw the rows of marines standing at attention. In front of them were five officers wearing the colonial fleet uniform.

Moiré looked at the officers as she walked towards them. The one in the center was Commander Mark Torrez, the temporary commander of Veil station. To his right was a colonial marine wearing the rank of Colonel. To his right was a colonial medical officer. To the left of Commander Torrez were two female officers. One had flight wings on her collar along with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. The other had the rank of Sergeant Major and was wearing battle fatigues.

Walking down the wing, she headed towards them as a voice came over the loudspeakers.

"Commander Station Veil, arriving."

"Permission to come aboard, Sir?" she asked.

"Permission granted, Ma'am," came the reply.

Coming to a stop in front of the five officers, she said, "Admiral Moiré Hays reporting to assume command of Veil Depot."

"Welcome aboard Admiral. I'm Commander Mathew Torrez temporary commander of Veil Depot. I relinquish command to you," Torrez replied.

"Thank you Commander. Please introduce me to your officers."

"Ma'am, to my right is Colonel Josh Mallard of the Colonial Marines. He is in charge of the two thousand marines in the Depot for security. To his right are Doctor Elizabeth Myers of the medical core and commanding officer of the medical ship Hope. To my left is Lieutenant Commander Isis Hamilton who commands the small craft of the depot. And to her left is Sergeant-major Erik Ways commanding officer of the station police force. We were all brought in by Admiral Corman as temporary officers as we looked over the evidence that was gathered against Admiral Myers and his staff. We're at your command."

"Well, guide me to the CIC so I can assume command officially," Moiré ordered.

"Right this way, Admiral," Commander Torrez said as he turned and led her to the main elevator.

As they stepped in to the elevator she heard the marines being dismissed behind her. "What's the condition of the reserve fleet?" she asked as the doors closed.

"Ma'am the reserve fleet is a mess. The Battlestars Caprica and Virgon are on static placement because their engines have been partially dismantled. Now the nightmares are the Titans. The Battlestar Titan is at sixty-five percent combat ready. The Coeus, and the Cronus, are at fifty percent ready while the Crius is at thirty-five percent. The Leto and Asteria are at twenty percent each while the Menoetius is just the shell of the ship at fifteen percent. The Titan has a supplemental crew of fourteen hundred on board while the Coeus, and the Cronus, have less than six hundred each. The Crius has two hundred onboard to monitor her engines and life support. The remaining Titans have no crew."

"Frak! Ok, how about the Gunstars?"

"We have twenty-three Gunstars in the reserve fleet. At this time, each has a core crew of one hundred and twenty onboard. The Warstars have two hundred and fifty each and there are seven of them here. They are of the Thor class, and are the Pan, Tyche, Rhode, Peitho, Eunomia, Hermaphroditus and the Eros. The Gunstars I cannot remember all the names but I know of the twenty-three there are four different classes. They are the Alberio, Sterope, and Defender which is a downgraded version of the Guardian as well as three old Guardians'. We have nine Assaultstars or Marinestars as they are called by the marines as well. We have three of each of the Harriers, Aethon and Pyrois classes. The rest of the fifty reserve ships are Firestars. Five are type I's and the remaining ones are type II's. Each of the Gunstars has a core crew of forty out of a complement of five hundred. The Assaultstars are being crewed by some of Colonel Mallard's marines while the Firestars have thirty crewmembers each. All the Gunstars, Firestars and Warstarsare under the command of a Lieutenant or Ensign with orders to start repairs on their commands."

"Lieutenant Commander Hamilton, status of our small craft and types?" Moiré asked.

"The Caprica and Virgon have four squadrons of Mark VI vipers on the as well as four MK III Raptors each. On Veil One we have eight squadrons of VI, while in the storage depot we have ten squadrons of VI, five squadrons of V, and four of IV. As you know, each squadron is twenty fighters each. The Titan has forty squadrons or eight hundred Mk V's and ninety MK3 Raptors on board which is still below her complement of eleven hundred Vipers and one hundred and twenty Raptors they also only have fifty pilots for the Vipers and ten crews for the Raptors. The Coeus and the Cronus have two hundred Mark IV's each and forty MK 2 Raptors with only five Raptor crews and no Viper pilots. We have eighty MK 2 and seventy MK 3 Raptors in flight status around the system and five hundred and ninety of the MK 1, 2 and 3 in storage. We just took delivery of our first MK 4's and that was thirty of them from Caprica. There are fifty shuttles around the depot as well as forty refulers. Of the refulers, twenty are in storage with twenty more on back order from Caprica shipping. We have sixty-three heavy lifters as well with an order of forty more from Tyco manufacturing. Twenty-two of the Heavy lifters are currently down for maintenance. There are fifteen Hades marine drop ships aboard the Assaultstars. There are two Stealthstars as well, but both are down for maintenance work to their composite hulls. We have nine fleet tugs of the Octopus class working around the dismantling stations moving the derelicts to the smelter station or the reclining station," Commander Hamilton reported.

"Medical situation," Moiré said as Commander Hamilton stepped back from her.

"Medical is running smoothly at this time. All supplies are fully topped off on the stations and the Hope. Currently there are fifteen civilians in the Veil Two station. Twenty-four in Veil One and five new mothers onboard the Hope. I have seventy doctors for various medical fields under my command as well as two hundred interns. We have ninety-eight nurses with seventy more under training. The medical support ship Guardian of Life is due to arrive with more supplies in two weeks, which should top off both stations and the Hope. All three blood banks are finishing up blood drives to bring the three medical stations up to full capacity at this time, Doctor Myers reported.

"Colonel Mallard what is the status of your Marine contingent?" Moiré asked as she looked at the elevator panel and saw they had seven more levels to go.

"Ma'am, as Commander Torrez reported I have two hundred marines on each of the Assaultstars as crew, except for the Pyrois on which I have two thousand. Each of the Gunstars has ten men each, while the Warstars have twenty-five. I deployed ten as well to the Firestars. On the Titans I have four hundred on each of the nearby Titans and one hundred on the rest except for the Menoetius which is just the shell of a ship, along with her engines. Veil One has six hundred marines while Veil Two has two hundred. I have fifty marines over on the Recycling Yards and with ten more deployed to Refinery One. I am expecting four hundred new recruits within the next two months and have fifty being rotated out back to Picon for reassignment," Commander Mallard reported.

"Commander Torrez what about the repair ships? What is their status?" Moiré asked as the elevator came to a stop and they stepped out into a long hallway with dozens of doors.

"As you know Admiral Nagala sent us some repair ships when he found out the condition of the reserve fleet. We have two Leviathan class repair ships and six of the twelve Hephasetus Constructstars at this time. Each ship is fully manned with a full crew and repair staff. Two of the Hephasetus are being redeployed to BG 12 to replace two of the mobile docks that are being retired. We should be getting the docks in the next ten to twelve months, depending on how long it takes to finish their current jobs. As soon as their current job is finished, the Constructstars will be rotated out, as long as they are not working on anything important."

Moiré's lips narrowed as she started thinking on how to use the repair ships and then she ordered, "Have one of the Leviathan's move to the Titan and start bringing her back up to full operational status. The second is to start work on the Coeus. One of the Hephasetus's is to start work on the Cronus, while the rest of the Hephasetus ships start working on the Gunstars and Warstars. Admiral Nagala and Corman want the reserve fleet back up to par within two years. Also, see if the Leviathans can send some work crews to the Caprica and Virgon and get their engine rooms repaired. They shouldn't be in a static dock to defend the tunnel. Ships that stay in one place die there. Once we get some Warstars back in operation we'll designate them as the tunnel guards and pull the Caprica and Virgon back behind them to provide a cap for them. Have the Leviathans start building two new PDWs to be deployed near the tunnel for additional backup. Primary weapons will be light KEWs with a minimum anti-fighter/missile defense. Once the two PDWs are built have them start producing tunneling satellites to build two escape tunnels on the back side of the nebula and I want a second chamber created, where the restored reserve ships will be moved to."

"Ma'am, where are we going to get the crews for the ships?" Commander Torrez asked.

"Let's wait until we get into the conference room off the CIC before I explain what is going on," Moiré said as she stopped outside of a pair of armored doors with two marines standing guard.

Checking her uniform, she nodded to the marines who opened the door. Stepping inside she heard one of the marines follower them in.

"Officer on deck!" came the marines shout.

"As you were, everyone," Moiré said as she looked around the massive room.

There were over fifty people working the room. They manned communication stations, dradis, security and many others that she would come to know as the months went by. Walking to the main dradis board, she pulled a handset off of the side and flipped the switch to 'station wide.'

"Attention Veil One, this is Admiral Moiré Hays speaking. As of ten minutes ago I have assumed command of Depot Veil and all its assets. Assets that I'm disappointed in and so is the Admiralty. Ships that should be ready to be deployed in thirty days are now months and years away from full status. The Admiralty has given me two years to get the reserve back up to what it's supposed to be. So, our first order of business, is all of the Titan Battlestars, the Caprica and Virgon, the Gunstars, and the Warstars; in that order, or close to it, for ship repairs. We will also be expanding the air wing to full capacity and working on Search and Rescue drills. We will also be getting about forty other ships from other depots to restore along with another one hundred that have been classified to be recycled for parts and dismantling. If you were part of the problem from before, don't try it under me. This is your only warning. I don't like thieves and thievery is what was happing before I took command. So at this time I, Admiral Moiré Hays by the orders of Colonial Fleet command under Fleet Admirals Nagala and Corman do assume command of Veil Depot. So says we all," Moiré said as she released the handset and hung it back up.

"Welcome to your command, Admiral," Commander Torrez said as he saluted his superior officer.

"Thank you, Commander. Now how about a conference room for all of us," Moiré asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. Right this way," Commander Torrez replied as he led his boss out of the CIC and across the hall. He opened the door and stepped to the side, "After you, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Commander," Moiré said as she stepped into the forty by forty foot, square room. It had a large table in it, and stacked at one end of the table were several folders placed in front of six chairs. Nearby, on a small table, was a coffee maker with fresh coffee. Behind the head seat, the blast window shield had been raised up, showing the Battlestar Titan in all her light glory.

"Coffee, Ma'am?" Commander Torrez asked as everyone took a seat.

"Please. Black," Moiré replied as she sat down at the head of the table and softly sighed as she looked at the dozen stacks of folders.

Moiré took a sip of her coffee as Commander Torrez passed cups around to her fellow command staff. Looking once more at the first stack she pulled the first file to her.

Commander Torrez sat down and said, "You were saying about crew?"

"Yes. I was in meetings with Admiral Nagala and Corman for three days before I shipped out. We will be getting an addition ten thousand Colonial fleet crewmembers, and two thousand marines, to help man the ships. I know it won't bring them up to full strength, but they will help. The problem is: the Titans. With a crew of twelve thousand each, it would be a nightmare to man all of them. It's amazing that at the cost of each ship, they built ten of them, even if only seven are here at this yard. I did ask Admiral Corman about the Eos, Helios, and Selene. He says he wants to transfer them from Virgon Depot, but it will take some time, because all three are in inactive reserve: meaning they have no crew on board. Admiral Corman wants all ten at the same location. Since we're secure, here, Nagala and he figure this would be the best place."

"By the Lords of Kobold! That's a hundred and twenty thousand crewmembers just right there… not counting the escorts," Torrez blurted out.

"I know, and if we get a third of that, we'll be lucky. We will also be getting the fourth and fifth year midshipmen's from Picon and Caprica Academies for summer training on fleet protocol in three months. The cadets will spend eight weeks here and then return home for one month of leave before the fifth years are deployed and the fourth advance to fifth year. Admiral Nagala wants the new recruits to get some ship time. By sending them to us, we'll get some more warm bodies, and they will get some training on the Virgon and Caprica as well as the Titan when we finish her repairs. Some of them will be going on to Viper and Raptor training schools, so we can start them on their training there, as well. Commander Torrez, make sure we have enough supplies on hand for the addition six thousand recruits and possibly up to eight thousand if we can get the recruits from Virgon Academy."

"I'll get on it right away."

"Thank you," Moiré said, and turned. "Commander Hamilton, check with the other depots and find out if they have any stored Vipers and Raptors. If they do, get with one of the Viper ferries and get them out here. We're going to need at least four thousand more Vipers to get the Titans up to full strength.

"Ok, next item: supplies!" Moiré said as she pulled out a new folder.

Special Notes

Ship classes mentioned can be found on my info page.

I am still recovering from surgery and trying to get back into writing. I am working on my other stories but they are hen and peck as I try and get back into them.

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Remember the ships links can be found on my main page and please leave a comment.

First Edited By

Final Edit By TeNdErLoin

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Battlestar Galactica™ is a registered trademark and copyright (©) Glen Larson & the SciFi Channel. Thank you to the Battlestar Wiki and The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game, Battlestar Prometheus have proven invaluable for the information they contain. All material found in this story is for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement should be inferred or is intended. Depot Veil and all its original characters and story lines presented here are the copyright (©) of their creator (©) 2010. Special thanks to CanisD and all the other ship designers from Wolf Shipyard for the ships.