Captain Danton continued to monitor the operations from the CIC on the Leviathan. He was anxious about the rescue mission. Since he was dealing with civilians -- many of whom were likely to be weak or injured -- he couldn't simply order them to quicken their pace. He could order the Marines and infantrymen to move faster but they could only push the civilians so far.

"Lieutenant, contact Icarus. We need an update on the Raiders. We only have one transport ship loaded and on the way."

The communications officer transferred the call to Captain Danton.

"This is Icarus. What is your estimated time of completion for the evacuation?"

"Commander Firth, Captain Danton here. It's going slower than we had planned. We had assumed the Pergamos government would have mobilized their people and gathered the survivors at the designated pick-up locations near the main city gates. However, no such efforts were made. In fact, our teams are encountering resistance."

"Repeat, Leviathan. Did you say 'resistance'? The survivors are resisting the rescue efforts?"

"Correct, Commander. The survivors, particularly the civilians, are resisting."

"Please explain, Captain. What do you mean by 'resistance'? Are you facing armed attacks in the city?"

"Negative. It's a passive form of resistance. Not being willing to follow orders. Running from our troops. Refusal to board the personnel carriers or to leave the city."

"Blast it! Then make them get on the carriers, Captain! If we delay much longer, all of those people are going to be slaughtered."

"We've had reports, sir, that the Cylons won't attack the city."

"And why is that?"

"Unknown, sir. However, we have confirmed that there is very little physical damage inside the city walls. Our teams have found massive piles of human bodies lining those walls, but they appear to have died from starvation or disease, not from blunt force trauma. A few show evidence of gun shot wounds, but not many. I can't explain it, Commander."

"Well, it doesn't matter now. We can investigate the situation later. For now, our priority remains the rescue of the survivors and then departure from the area as soon as possible."

"Copy that, Icarus. We are continuing to stress to our teams on the ground the time pressure they are under."

The Viper Red Group had suffered significant losses in the battle near the moon. Fully one third of the Vipers had already been destroyed or disabled. Regrouping into a new attack formation provided only a small and momentary benefit. The superior numbers of the Cylon armada proved to be too much to handle. One Viper pilot had overloaded his internal power systems intentionally after his left wing was irreparably damaged. The resulting explosion destroyed several Raiders, some of which crashed into other Cylon ships. The courageous act gave the Colonial forces a temporary lift, but the Cylons recovered quickly.

Red Leader realized that the Vipers couldn't stop the Raiders from attacking the survivors on the planet for much longer. He made a fateful decision.

"Pilots, we can't last long out here. We have to start ramming the Cylons."

"You mean suicide runs, sir?"

"Yes. If we're going to go down anyway, we need to take as many of the Cylons with us as we can. Our mission is to aid in the rescue of the survivors on the planet. This is the only action we have left.... It's been an honor serving with all of you. May the gods look kindly on your souls."

Moments later, the leader steered his ship into the path of a Raider. The collision incinerated both vessels.

"You heard the captain. Let's take these frakkers down!"

The Vipers turned and collided with nearby Raiders. The tactic was effective at thinning out the Cylon fleet but there weren't enough Vipers to take out all the Raiders. When only a small remnant of the Viper squadron remained, the Cylons turned toward the Icarus.

The Icarus began firing at the Cylons with all of her defensive batteries. The speedy and agile Raiders were able to avoid the streams of bullets. The Raiders flew at the Icarus in lightning-quick runs.

Commander Firth ordered the com officer to re-establish contact with the Leviathan.

"We're under attack from Cylon Raiders. We'll fight them as long as we can, but you should make preparations to call up your teams. We'll evacuate the survivors as we're able. The rest of them will have to wait until we can return with a larger battle group. Time to cut our losses, Captain Danton."

Danton mulled over Commander Firth's words.

"How long can you delay them, Commander?"

"This isn't a debate, Danton. Get your teams off the planet. If you try to rescue everyone, you'll only end up losing them all. Your people, our people, the civilians. Evacuate immediately! Is that clear?"

"Er, yes, yes sir. I read you. Good luck, sir."

Damn fool, Firth thought to herself. She knew Danton would try to rescue one more group of survivors, and that would be one group too many. He would end up jeopardizing all of them to save 'just one more.' She couldn't fault his instincts, but this was one situation where it was better to use one's head than to follow one's heart.

Commander Firth knew there was little she could do other than to threaten to file a report when they returned to Picon... if any of them survived. Suddenly, a feeling of weariness took hold of her. It wasn't melancholy; it wasn't fear. It was weariness. Weariness of living on the edge for all these years, of contemplating the destruction of the human race, day in and day out. She was tired of losing people, good people, and brave people. Old generals, young recruits, innocent civilians on distant outposts -- all of them dead in the course of a long war.

"How are we doing, lieutenant? Damage report."

"Not good, sir. We're low on missiles but it doesn't matter. We can't launch them anyway. Several missile and bomb explosions have taken out our missile launch tubes. Internal weapons controls are down. The starboard landing bay has been damaged so severely as to be useless. The port landing bay is currently under attack. If --"

"Yes, I know, lieutenant. If we don't call in the remaining Vipers immediately, they'll be stranded in space once the final landing bay is taken out. OK, send the order. Bring all remaining Vipers home. Sound a general retreat order to all ships. We did what we could. At the very least, we have to make it back to Picon to warn Central Command about the moon base and the Cylon fleet near Pergamos."

The lieutenant relayed the retreat order to the entire battle group, including the Leviathan. Firth was disappointed by the failure of the mission but she vowed to return.

"The Leviathan is not responding, sir. But we have a transport ship hailing us. They're bringing survivors."

"Tell the transport captain to get to the port bay immediately. Provide cover for their approach. At least we can get some survivors out alive."

"And what about the Leviathan, sir?"

"I don't think they will be joining us. May heaven help you Captain Danton."

The transport ship landed safely on the Icarus. The small Viper squadron, all that was left after the devastating battle, landed immediately afterward.

"One last task, lieutenant. Have our crew launch a remotely controlled ship and send it to the central city on Pergamos. Make sure it's loaded with food rations, water supplies, med kits, weapons and ammunition."

Commander Firth hoped the supplies could help sustain those trapped on the planet until a new rescue mission arrived. Once the ship was launched, the Icarus took the lead in steering the battle group out of the Pergamos system. Only the Leviathan remained behind.

The Raiders chased the badly damaged Icarus until it was no longer possible to do so. Their own base ship had been crippled so the Raiders could not venture too far away from Pergamos. Otherwise they would run out of fuel and be unable to return to the base ship or the moon base. The Raider fleet turned back and focused on a new target, the Leviathan.

"Captain Danton, we need to leave the system. DRADIS is picking up hundreds of Cylon Raiders on an intercept course."

"I'm well aware of that, lieutenant, but we have a transport ship en route. We have to wait for that last airborne ship. Then we'll leave. I don't think the Cylons will attack the people inside the city, for whatever reason."

"Sir, the Cylons will get here before the transport ship does."

"We can fight off the Cylons until she arrives. We don't have to battle them forever, just long enough to buy time for that last transport."

"I hope you're right, Captain."

"Believe me, lieutenant -- I hope so too."

Danton knew that at least one transport had landed on the Icarus. He hoped that the survivors would be able to explain to Central Command why they were so reluctant to leave Pergamos. Damn, if only they had cooperated, all of the survivors would have been evacuated successfully.

Danton was concerned about the Marines and soldiers on the planet. Would they be able to survive until a new battle group could arrive?

"Here they come, sir. Too many to count."

"How far away is the transport ship?"

"Too far, sir. She's not going to make it."

***

(Click on link to read the 2nd part of Chapter 15)

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