AWD #628: Death and Victory Over Caprica
Death and Victory Over Caprica
Summary: A routine Airwing mission over Caprica turns into an all out assault by the Cylon. It turns into a desperate, bloody battle full of death until the Arpay arrive.
Date: 11/03/2017 (OOC Date)
Related Logs: Ceasefire related RP.
Gloria Pearson Alastair Pratt Brandon 
Bennett Robin Alejandro Elena Kelsey Dropkickst 
Space Over Caprica
Use your imagination while you read the log.
Tue Sep 26 11:35:25 2006

Picon and Caprica might be in the same ystem, but the planets are far enough apart in their orbits that simply flying between them in a Viper or Predator doesn't really work since it would be a couple hours. Its more efficient to jump a light cruiser and offload at the target. With a new intent on getting close air support to the Lines on Caprica, the wing has pushed out about half of its strength to the cruiser. A mix of everything except the Rhinos has been brought out to play and the goal for the day is for the Predators to plow the road of anti-air vehicles while the Vipers provide top cover and the Raptors, loaded down with rockets, miniguns, and missile packs, will be striking strategic APF targets like airbases. Its a heavy push, but lacks the dedication of large numbers of fleet vessels for bombardment. There's just something about the idea of pounding Caprica from space that doesn't sit well with a lot of folks.

The wing jumped in on the Durbitz with the minesweeper Bonaventure and cutter Scholenn. It isn't a massive strike force but it has some firepower to it and the miniature task force i ideal for rescuing any downed pilots. Being small keeps it maneuverable. The Wing is just leaving the docking ports on the Durbitz and looking down at that beuatiful blue and green ball of a planet. Caprica is lit up magnificently as the terminator of the sunset is on the far side, leaving the strike force almost completely backlit by the star. It gives the strike force a stunning view of the planet below. It might even inspire a little hope. Things have been decently quiet with the Cylon fleet since they were turned back from their efforts towards Erfrik.

The wing jumped in on the Durbitz with the minesweeper Bonaventure and cutter Scholenn. It isn't a massive strike force but it has some firepower to it and the miniature task force i ideal for rescuing any downed pilots. Being small keeps it maneuverable. The Wing is just leaving the docking ports on the Durbitz and looking down at that beuatiful blue and green ball of a planet. Caprica is lit up magnificently as the terminator of the sunset is on the far side, leaving the strike force almost completely backlit by the star. It gives the strike force a stunning view of the planet below. It might even inspire a little hope. Things have been decently quiet with the Cylon fleet since they were turned back from their efforts towards Erfrik.'

Bennett's raptor is one of those points of light streaking away from the Durbitz as the wing disgorges enmasse. Both engines are throttled up to full power as the bus maneuvers in almost balletic fashion from belly up attitude to slot into strike formation. Her pilot, meanwhile, is busy scanning through the list of targets they've been assigned, gaze circumspect behind her helmet's faceplate.

Brandon Pearson

Gloria Bennett

Robin Alejandro

Kelsey Pratt

Alastair Elena

Gloria has been temaed upp with Pratt for this mission, and while she hasn't flown with him before in anything but the sims they are at least in her prefered airframe. Strapped into the back of a Raptor she doesn't have to look right out of the cockpit, and can much more easily pretned it's just another sim run and not return her lunch. Once they're free of the carrier she does her checks and confirms to the pilot "Bacchus, all systems good, I'm green across the board."

Pratt follows Bennett's lead off the deck when she heads out, his attention flickering from the view to his DRADIS to keep proximity with the rest of the flight while he follows the squadron leader in, "Got it, my dear Oates. Ready to save all of our asses? Cause they love to paint our big slow butts as targets, especially when they see all this lovely ordinance we have strapped on." His humming threatens to break into actual song if the radio chatter doesn't demand his attention soon.

Alejandro has wrangled up his Viper Squardon and gotten those who could be spared from flying CAP on the Orion into order. Preflight checks completed, they launch and begin forming up. 'Chiron' has consulted with Robin as to who is tackling flight lead for the Lucky Strikes and so there can be no confusion there. They form up as the Raptors sort themselves out and prepare for their assault. Captain Salazar listens for radio chatter and as Major St. Clair… Major Yynr rather starts to lead off, he speaks to his own pilots.

Brandon takes a deep breath as he looks out of his cockpit for a moment at the sight of Caprica. Yes, it's pretty…but for every bit of hope the sight gives him, he also gets a small knot in his stomach: The way the war has been going lately, there's /always/ a catch. You splash the Toaster worlds? They hose Airwing and you hear of even more worlds. You go in for intel? You get part of it and the rest is a disaster. And so on.

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Flight, Chiron. Vipers form up on me. You know the drill. We are to keep Raiders off of the Raptors. You have your assigned wingmen. Sing out if you need additional support, Over.""

Sitting behind Kelsey in the Predator, Alastair is running a last check on all systems, reading off their statuses as he runs down the checklist. As everything comes up green and powered, he toggles through the weapon systems, making sure they're all go as he reads off the sheet to Kelsey, before he switches on the comms to offer up a quick prayer.

"Dionysus, lord of mercy and wrath, here the humble request of the Orion Wing this day.

Let us sweep the skies with fire and steel,

our highway is the cloud.

We will swoop, we will soar, aloft we shall wheel.

Our engines laughing loud

We will fight with gleaming blades the wind,

That dares dispute our paths.

We leave the howling storm behind,

And we ride upon it's wrath.

We laugh to see our enemies tiny world

Your toys of Raiders, your Battlestars.

We rove an endless road unfurle,d

Where the mile stones are the stars

And far below, our enemies wait and peer,

For what my coming brings,

We will fill their quaking hearts with fear,

For death.. is in our wings.

So say we all."

With that, he quiets on the comms to start reading off on the mission log as Kelsey needs it.

Phalanx had never set eyes on Caprica before. She never cared much about current events, politics or civics. This planet looks just the same as any other to her. She doesn't chatter with her ECO. She's avoided talking to them much at all since she came back, save when she's feeling extra sassy. It's some misguided attempt to distance herself from them emotionally. It doesn't work.

Even Alejandro is quiet for that moment's prayer, and even though he's not generally a religious man, he quietly repeats, "So say we all…" after Alastair's prayer. After all the shit he's been through and somehow lived, even /he/ might be nurturing a little more faith in the Gods these days. Miracles do happen.

Heavy with 4 AAM's rigged to her viper, which is (as always) dubbed 'Pinto', Metis sorts out her position in the flight formation, checks relative position with all the rest of the viper jocks and settles in for the dance to come. Com chatter filters through her helmet while she does one more round of flight check-list OCD before giving her full attention to the sight of Caprica. Inside her helmet, and with a brief shake side to side, she keys into the coms to reply.

Kelsey is in a Predator, just departing the ship. She casually turns the strike aircraft towards the formation and begins nudging up the speed. She's become a much more careful pilot. Especially since having to take the squadron, she realized how many eyes were on her. There's been a glow to the girl in the camouflage helmet, but the smiles that once were her trademark have vanished. Now its all business. Aegis ignores the prayer, though. She just stares straight ahead, relaxed to the point that her body trembling subtly with the shake of the engines. Even being strapped in tight, it doesn't phase her anymore. Too many bombs and missiles on the wings to make her think about the Gods.

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. Copy, wil-co. Over."

Robin is in her Viper. She was pretty adamant, even after being challenged by a fellow wing member to try on a Predator for size. The incident seems to scream her callsign. Robin sighs and settles in as the Viper zips along. Spoons keeps her craft in formation and says nothing as she listens to the prayer. Then she says to herself, "I really need to remember to talk to him about doing that /before/ we get to the frakking battlefield. We'll be slaughtered with our eyes closed."

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Chiron, Spoons. Copy that-Wing, Spoons, good hunting. Let's show them who's boss."

They're still cruising towards the planet when there' some more jump flashes, two of which are just below the air wing's flight trajectories. Probably more colonial ships coming in, or maybe the Arpay. Their CSG has been itching to get into some trouble but so far they have been kept in a cocked and locked state, the ambush the Cylons wouldn't see coming. Maybe someone let them off the leash. Lords and Ladies knows the fleet could use the help. But its more than one or two. Four. Five. Seven. Eight. Ten. Then a rapid-fire half dozen much larger jump flashes. They are all around them and one of them is damned close to their six o'clock. There's a pair of secondary, bright orange flashes that come with the bright flash to their six. Anyone who looks behind them can see the Durbitz exploding, along with part of a basestar. The damned thing jumped in and immediately collided with the cruiser, killing everyone aboard and sending the minesweeper and cutter into a panicked flee for their lives.

Frak me.

That's a lot of Cylons.

<FS3> Alastair rolls Ecm: Great Success.

<FS3> Gloria rolls Ecm: Great Success.

"Confirm ready to haul your arse out of the fire Baccus," Gloria replies back with a grin, "but only cos it's kinda linked to mine right now you understand." Keeping her eyes on her board she mutters a "So say we all" in reply to the prayer, even if she's more of a Zeus girl herself. "DRADIS coming online," she notes calmly as the system starts to get it's own reading now they're clear of Durbitz, "all cle… HOLY FRAK." As she processes what she's seeing she flicks from internal coms to speak to the whole flight.

[Into the Wireless] Gloria says, "Flight, Flight, Oates. I read multiple cylon signatures! I count.. ten troop tansports, fiv.. no scratch that, six basestars.. RADIOLOGICAL ALARMS, they're firing on Bonventure and Scholenn. Durbitz… Durbitz is gone, repeat Durbitz destroyed. *muttered* Father Zeus, protector the weak, help me be strong against my fears"

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Flight, Nyx. Enemy contacts at three, four, six o'clock and closing fast. They are flanking us. Strike group Bayonet, fall back behind the vipers and take evasive maneuvers. Priority targets for heavy ordnance are those basestars, if you can get a shot off."

"So say we all." Brandon offers his reply sincerely, despite being more of an Ares-and-Posideon-and-Hermes guy (not that he hasn't offered his fair share of respect to Dionysus, but he usually does so /after/ the battle since D's blessings usually make it harder to execute some of the others' blessings) and listens for the rest of the briefing before muttering words to the effect of "If I have to bow my head he'll send me off course." Somehow he's become more of a fan of the prayers offered amidst profane language while shit has gotten real…

…which it does, naturally, right on cue. Off comms, Brandon lets out a string of words which would make the rest of the Wing present blush before growling. "So they're annoying /and/ incompetent. Great." He gets the feeling that they did /not/ plan for their jump in to go that way. Of coure, with the toasters you never know.

And then Gloria pipes in over comms and Brandon starts swearing again: As far as he can tell, they didn't come equipped for this fight at /all/. "Ok, who do I need to kill today?" He sounds just /thrilled/…and it also sounds like he's not sure if his target should be a toaster or someone in Intel.

Pratt mutters, "So say we all…" after the prayer and takes a deep breath, letting it go with a sigh. DRADIS promptly goes batshit crazy and Pratt blinks at the myriad warnings that click on. He's silent while he listens to Gloria calling off just how frakked the flight is and waits for instructions he knows are going to come, lifting his voice to Gloria before he hits the radio, "I already regret saying I was bored earlier this week. Hold on to your butt."

Kelsey glances at the jump flashes but doesn't seem to be too concerned. She's focused on the strike ahead of them, thinking about the dradis maps and signatures, and when they are going ot flight test the new missiles. Frakkin Sabers. She lazily drums her left fingers on the throttle. But there's more jump flashes. And more of them. She sits up and doubletakes out the canopy glass at seeing Durbitz explode. "Oh- SHIT!! Helios, arm everything!!" She rapidly turns her head back to look at the ships that jumped in all around them. Troop transports.

[Into the Wireless] Pratt says, "Nyx, Bacchus. Prioritizing your target. I got no nukes, so recommend concentrating fire to cripple or destroy one while the Vipers regroup. Little friends got no escape route."

"Arming!" Helios snaps out in report as soon as Gloria calls out the alert and Metis is sending the warning. "Missiles up! Bombs up!" he calls out as he's throwing the arming switches in groups of two to arm them up. "Countermeasures up!" Not that what little this crate has is going to help them with this furball. "We're not jumping from this one, Metis. Let's make sure we leave a trail of debris in our wake!"

If Phalanx wasn't wearing gloves, it would be clear that she's white-knuckling the edge of her console. "Normal day at the office," she says to her ECO, voice eerily calm. "Gimme my booms please." She sings out over the coms to confirm and falls back with the rest of the strike team.

[Into the Wireless] Elena says, "Nyx, Lanx. Falling back."

Bennett, on the contrary, likely would not blush at all at the stream of invectives coming from Brandon off the airwaves. Not that she heard him, mind. Chopping her throttles to ease back a little from her previously aggressive stance, she keys her radio again after a beat to evaluate the situation.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Flight, Nyx. Belay previous targeting orders. Priority targets are the troop transports and whatever they are carrying. Keep your distance."

Alejandro is like the others, focusing on the mission ahead when the flashes get his attention. Even he's not certain /what/ precisely is happening and starts craning his head around in his cockpit to try and make ID's, then looking at his HUD for DRADIS readout even as Gloria comes over the coms. "Oh shit." No panic but his heart rate like everyone else's starts to speed up. Especially when the Captain realizes their ride back out of this mess has just become a fireball. Salazar 'Chiron' listens to the radio chatter and speaks into the coms to his pilots.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Bacchus, Nyx. Copy that, concentrated fire."

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Wing, Spoons. That was our ticket home. All weapons free. Shoot at will against all aggressive forces. Nyx. Get a Raptor back to the bushwhack point and let them know how massive the forces are. We need the cavalry. I want Raptors to focus on those troop transports."

Hearing a variety of variations of 'frak' and 'oh shit' and a generous sampling of everything in between, Metis is quiet by comparison and only marks the explosion as a reference point while getting a bead on all of the other targets popping up on the DRADIS like daises popping up out of the snow during a spring thaw. Another, freakishly calm, check of all the weapons she has to pick from (not a lot, but a girl likes to have options!) and waits for Spoons and Chiron to call the ball while sorting through the various targets that are immediately clear in her line of fire.

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Flight Vipers, Chiron. Your heard Nyx. Mission abort. Reform up on me. We are going after those transports, Over." Their ride home just blew but, -if- any of the viper pilots survive this, they can still make a run for Picon if they have enough fuel left, and can escape. But reality is settling in on the Captain that this is probably the end of the Orion's viper squadron. He draws a slow deep breath even has he has brought his fighting craft around, double checks the positions of his pilots and makes ready to attack."

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Flight Vipers, Chiron. Your heard Nyx. Mission abort. Reform up on me. We are going after those transports, Over.""

Their ride home just blew but, -if- any of the viper pilots survive this, they can still make a run for Picon if they have enough fuel left, and can escape. But reality is settling in on the Captain that this is probably the end of the Orion's viper squadron. He draws a slow deep breath even has he has brought his fighting craft around, double checks the positions of his pilots and makes ready to attack. (repose)

"Arming everything we have," Gloria notes to Pratt, followed quickly by "preparing to jam. I can start spooling the FTL up any time, but it'll take my concentration away from jamming while I do." Possibly common enough knowledge, but in high stree situations it's always worth making sure everything is fully understood. Once Bennett's orders come through though she's plotting the trajectory of the troop transport and working out which they can most easily get an attack vector on. "Baccus," she calls on internal coms, "that one bearing 3-5-4 high, best chance of a targetting solution."

"Frak," Robin mutters before clicking onto the radio to relay orders. She shifts in her seat a little and then peels her Viper off, checking in with her wingman first. She starts to hum to herself as she makes her ship dance. "We are so frakked," she mutters to herself and then grins as if she always considered it a matter of time. "We just need to hold out."

As Alastair is going over the tactical data, his eyes suddenly go wide and he looks up and slap the back of Kelsey's seat to get her attention first before he sings out over the comms. "The whales are armed!" he calls out to her as he switches to comms.

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. Copy. Manouvering to intercept and engage. Over."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Spoons, Nyx copies. Nails, plot a course back to bushwhack and relay the situation. We will require additional strike craft armed with nuclear ordnance and viper transport."

[Into the Wireless] Alastair says, "Flight, Helios! The whales are armed! Repeat, the transports are flak and SAM capable, targetting systems are active! Be aware!"

Now that the ball is called, Metis confers briefly with her wingman then alters course accordingly, taking her position relative to Spoons, Chiron, their wingmates and the rest of the vipers along for this walk in the park.

The Bonnie and the Scholenn were just getting their FTL's up to spool when their meager flak systems start firing. They might get lucky, right? Each one suddenly vanishes in a bulb of blue-white light as the ships are vaporized inside the nuclear detonations. There's no hope for survivors. When the four warhead detonations fade, not even wreckage remains. They're just gone.

Meanwhile, all around them, the transports have SAM and AAA systems coming online and beginning to track the Wing. None of the Cylons likely expected to jump in with half of the Orion's air wing in its midst. Blind luck on their part.. in their opinion. The odds are billions and billions to one. Even the human pilots have to consider the staggering odds of ending up right here. However, they're in a brilliant tactical position, already poised for attack in the very center of a Cylon ship formation, surrounded be smaller and softer targets - the transports. The odds on survival of the Wing is small but just who has had better luck?

Meanwhile Nails gets his orders nad the Raptor peels off and jumps away almost immediately. Heading towards the Orion, it had just enough time to map the Cylon positioning and formation and get away. Now all it needs to do is just transmit it to the Orion and wait for the cavalry… right? Isn't that how it worked on Picon? …Unless this is only one small part of the larger Cylon effort.

<FS3> Kelsey rolls Alertness: Good Success.

<FS3> Alastair rolls Alertness: Good Success.

<FS3> Robin rolls Alertness: Good Success.

<FS3> Gloria rolls Alertness: Great Success.

<FS3> Pearson rolls Alertness: Success.

<FS3> Alejandro rolls Alertness: Good Success.

<FS3> Elena rolls Alertness: Good Success.

<FS3> Pratt rolls Alertness: Success.

<FS3> Brandon rolls Alertness: Good Success.

[Into the Wireless] Elena says, "Flight, Lanx. Has anyone ever seen a dolphin hunt? That's what this looks like. Surrounding and confusing us, going to try and herd us where they want us."

<FS3> Bennett rolls Alertness: Great Success.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Phalanx, Nyx. On the contrary I rather wonder if they are just as surprised as we are. Spoons, suggest we close ranks before they get their act together."

Steeling himself in the expectation that today he will die, the fine hairs on the back of Alejandro Salazar's neck start to prickle with a strange feeling. Blue Axe all over again with a twist? His dark eyes take in everything as quickly as he can before he too speaks on the coms.

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. Condensing our formation into a single body creates a large target instead of multiple small ones. Over."

Pratt mutters, "Oh, this isn't frakking good. Oates, try to jam the frak out of anything targetting our little friends. We can usually take a hit or two, but the Vipers can take them out. We are /not/ jumping out and abandoning the Vipers. Roger your transport target. I…" he pauses, "We gotta hold out until we can get someone back here to either bail the Vipers out or kick the basestars butts." He pulls the Raptor over firmly to nose in Bennett's direction, attempting to light up the same transport she's heading for.

[Into the Wireless] Pratt says, "Nyx, Bacchus, roger. Recommend concentrating on transport at bearing 3-5-4 high. Firing on your lead when flight ready to engage."

Bennett keeps her raptor at the rear of the formation, and slightly above in something of an overwatch stance. It opens her up to attacks from behind, but keeps her bus and its array of pointy missiles pointed at the cluster of troop transports. Her gaze is drawn to her windscreen for a few seconds, and there's a twitch of her brows as if she's seen something there. Just for a few seconds. And then she is all business. Master arm, on; engines are lit as she skims in to coordinate targets with Pratt.

Gloria can feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she tracks the progress of the cylon ships on her screens. The situation is.. well, fraking terrible, but she's calm, surprising even herself at the lack of terror. Tilting her head slightly to get a reading onthe progress of the minesweeper who jumped with them she sees it's marker vanish and hopes for a moment that it jumped… but her data quickly tells her otherwise. "They didn't make it," she tells Pratt, "I count.. four nuclear explosions, they never stood a fraking chance." There's a hint of bitterness in her voice but then shecatches sight of something else, a momentary reflection and it takes her attention for a moment. "Mum?" she calls, sounding surprised, confused, then Pratt's words bring her back to the present and she replies quickly, "copy that Baccus. Jamming."

Brandon stays off the chatter on comms, but his ECO can hear hum grumbling as the hairs on his neck stand up. "So of all the random points in space we all showed up at the /same/ one to the ppint of literally /crashing into one another/?!?" And then he hears the direction of who to kill and sighs. "Alright, that works…"

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Bacchus, Nyx. Copy that."

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Flight, Chiron copies. Let's go, over."

[Into the Wireless] Brandon says, "Nyx, Hector. You all keep forgetting me. On that transport. Copy."

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Nyx, Spoons. I agree with Pearson. We need to take down as many transport as possible. Do not get too spread out though."

[Into the Wireless] Alastair says, "Nyx, Helios, the Vipers are going to need jammers on those transports, they are running armed, over."

Kelsey's apprehension seems to just drain from her as she watches the two remaining colonial ships vanish. Its the resolution. She knows this is the end. It sombers her further and something else wells deep within. Its the clarity that comes with finality like that. It makes her smile, just a touch, and for once the stormy soul seems to have found calm seas. A long breath taken, the girl puhes a few buttons on her MFD's. "Helios, call up your missiles. We came here to kill SAMs. I think we should kill SAMs, don't you?" She then clicks over to the coms..

[Into the Wireless] Kelsey says, "Spoons, Aegis. We're picking up SAMs and flak. The Preds can work the defenses." She sounds eerily calm, almost pleasant. "Standing by, sir."

Alastair has grown quite familiar with that feeling by now. He knows it, he embraces it, and when he hears Kelsey, he gets a grim smile. "Doesn't matter if they grow in the land or in the sky, they blossom the same way." He reaches to flip the master arm on the missile packages and brings up the targetting systems. "Missiles up." he reports, "Let's go kill some SAMs, sir.'

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. Crazy idea: if we can narrow down what bandwidth they're broadcasting on, maybe we can try to talk out way out of this without this getting out of hand? Over."

[Into the Wireless] Alastair says, "Metis, Helios. A nuke is usually the universal greeting of 'Frak You'. Over."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Helios, Nyx. Affirmative: jam at will."

Interjecting one remark, then another, into the flight com, Metis and her wingman take aim at one of the transports that are accompanying the basestars and works out a firing solution that won't have her cross-firing at any of the rest of their combat wing. She gives a brief wiggle of the Viper, side to side, settling in for the slog, no matter how it sorts out, and tries to find the sweet spot between taking advantage of any jamming capabilities aimed at the enemy while also NOT making a big honkin' target out of herself and her wingman by flying in to tight of a formation. Ergo. Sweet spot.

[Into the Wireless] Elena says, "Flight, Lanx. How about we not let personal drama get in the way of Metis' good idea?"

[Into the Wireless] Gloria says, "Flight, Oates. Leading with nukes indicates they're not here to talk."

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Pearson, Chiron. We already tried that at the Armstice Station. I think we are past that point. Over."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Flight, Nyx. This is not decision by committe; let Spoons make the call. Hold your targets."

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Wing, Spoons. You have your orders. If you're being fired upon, you fire the frak back. If they want to talk they can pull the plug out of their arses and get on our frequency."

[Into the Wireless] Pratt says, "Uh…Spoons? Bacchus. Considering they blew up our carrier, Im consider us having been fired on then, just to clarify, unless someone wantsa correct my big Tauran butt."

[Into the Wireless] Brandon says, "Flight, Hector. I could give them the collision on bad luck. Nuking two other ships is a bit much for me."

Hundreds of Raiders have disgorged from the six basestars. Only a few minutes have passed. Meanwhile the transports are nosing over and beginning their descent towards Caprica. The baseships behind them are slowly closing the distance to the air wing. Meanwhile the Raiders are mixing up their focus. About a quarter of them are heading for the Air Wing with their targets locked up. The rest are descending on Caprica or taking up defensive positions around the transports. About this time the basestars all begin locking up their missile systems on the air wing. ETA with the Raiders, 30 seconds. Nobody else is firing yet, though.

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Nyx, Spoons. Those transports are going to get away. Let's strike while the iron is hot. And affirmative Bacchus. Congratulations on noticing an act of war."

Brandon gets a transport…maybe the one specifically mentioned earlier, maybe another one…in his sights. He has no nukes, but he has missiles…and, well, he might as well put them to good use before he gets to enjoy either a volley of shrapnel in his chest or breathing vacuum. Hell, maybe the Toasters will be offering a two-for-one unpleasant death special today?

Setting her sights on one of the transports, and hoping privately that it isn't loaded with more civilians on their way to a brain washing camp dirtside - Metis counts it down until the combat wing and the transports themselves re withing firing range.

With nothing further contradicting the channel chatter, Pratt, keys up the first of the missiles the Raptor is armed with and attempts to get a fix on one of the transport's emplacements, "Do what you can, Oates. Hades doesn't judge. This feels like shooting a skyscraper with a BB gun, but…frak me. Fox one!"

"Jamming everything I can," Gloria calls back, "we're radiers incoming but we're half a minute or so before they hit." Not much the raptor cna do about them anyway mind, but it's alwaysuseful to keep your pilot apriased. Then, she mutters, 'Father Zeus, protector of the home, help me to safeguard those within my walls.'

Kelsey hears the call on the radio and that's enoug hfor her. No need to make it more clear than that. "Alright, Al, we're rollin in." Kelsey pushes up the throttle, stroking the burners. Thrusters puff and aim her nose down towards one of the landers that seems to be getting away. She starts whispering the lyrics to an annoying pop song that was popular just before the war, not a care in the world.

[Into the Wireless] Kelsey says, "Aegis, in hot."

"Roger that, Kels. Let's frak some cans." Alastair says, switching on the targetting systems and lining up the first of the landers. If they can get that first one down and either crippled or destroyed, the rest in the group will have to manuevur around it in order to get through and hopefully by the rest of the group time for clean up.

Brandon slides into a 'zone' as he comes in hot, hard, and fast on one of the landers. Yep, he is now in full Hector mode, he's got a target, and he's letting that bloodlust from Blue Axe come back in and starts…singing? "Frak the toasters, frak the toasters, frak the toasters…" Bombs away! "…and they die!" Boom, please.

They close the distance and begin to engage hot and heavy, fast as they can before the Cylons can react any further. Alejandro has poured on the throttle to race out and engage as soon as he sees two raiders heading in to fire at Nyx's raptor. A grimace as one of the landers tries to get a lock on him, alarms already starting to flash on his HUD but he stays focused on his target and keeps manuvering, trying to get a missile lock himself. It's all or nothing and maybe a little bit in the hands of the Gods after all.

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Nyx, Chiron! You've two raiders incoming and I'm on one of them!"

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Nyx and Chiron, Spoons. I'm on the other one."

Robin notices the Raiders starting to form up and curses under her breath, her mic on comms is cold, thankfully enough, though by her tone earlier, it probably wouldn't come as so much of a surprise. She zeros in on one of the Raiders that has targeted Nyx's boat.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Chiron and Spoons, Nyx copies. I will try to line up firing solutions for you."

Some pilots might consider Raptors to be clunky and inelegant. They just don't understand. Phalanx banks turns with almost Viper-like finesse, coming around for a space-borne bombing run on Chiron's target. She's never tried something like this before. This never occurs to her.

Bennett caroms about in a sleek arc that brings her across the guns of several of the vipers, with two raiders in hot pursuit of her twin engine bus. She waits for the last minute to line up her shots on the target she's sharing with Pratt, and launches her missiles with a flick of her thumb.

Some pilots might consider Raptors to be clunky and inelegant. They just don't understand. Phalanx banks turns with almost Viper-like finesse, coming around for a space-borne bombing run on the nearest lander. She's never tried something like this before. This never occurs to her.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-0749k - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Aa Battery-6854p - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider4 attacks Bennett with KEW but MISSES!

<COMBAT> Raider3 attacks Brandon with KEW - Serious wound to Controls (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Viper-1543k - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - ARMOR on Tail stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Robin - Light wound to Chest.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Raptor-4982m - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-0362x - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Gloria suppresses Lander2def with Ecm. <successful>

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-8757s - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8757s - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8757s - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8757s - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8757s - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8757s - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8757s - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Close To Raider-5441n - Light wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-5441n - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-5441n - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Far From Raider-8820s - Moderate wound to Body.

<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Kelsey with KEW but MISSES!

<COMBAT> Raider1 attacks Bennett with KEW and MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-0362x - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0362x - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Very Far From Raptor-4094b - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Viper-9437t - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Right Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Nose stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-0749k - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> Raptor-4982m has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Brandon has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Aa Battery-0749k has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Lander1 has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Aa Battery-8757s has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Lander3 has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Aa Battery-0362x has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Lander4 has been KO'd!

<FS3> Kelsey rolls 2: Success.

<FS3> Kelsey rolls 2: Failure.

<FS3> Kelsey rolls 2: Success.

<COMBAT> Brandon spends a luck point to keep fighting!

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Hector, Chiron, this is Nyx. Do you require assistance? You are both looking pretty mangled."

Damn it! Salazar just /knew/ he should have been evading but he does manage to get his lock just as a lock is made on his craft. He fires and Alejandro tries to late to evade, his gloved hand even then reaching over to dump chaff to try a counter measure but … the Captain's viper is hit. A bright flash of light, a huge concussion and for a few seconds it's all Alejandro can do to regain control of his craft and belatedly realize that he's still a live. "Son of a bitch!" Yep, he should have evaded. Time to chew his own ass out later! Gods damn it. Chiron bares his teeth as Betty bitches, alarms wailing and he's real busy trying to stay out of those lander's missile locks here on out.

Pratt growls when his missiles hit but seem to do little damage to the lander other than blow out a panel and set something on fire. At the last moment he swears in Tauran, pulling the raptor over *hard* as a piece of exploding panel slams into a wing and a warning starts chiming on his board, "I know! I know! Cmon baby, you like it a little rough. Oates you still doing good back there? We alive?"

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Frak! Flight, Chiron. I'm hit pretty bad, but I've regained control. Great shots, Gentleman Ghosts!"

Robin gets hit by one of the lander's missiles. To the body, tail, and even some that looks like it might be hitting the engine. The cockpit canopy shatters in the corner and part of it pierces Robin's suit. She immediately reaches for some sealant and makes sure her suit is good before reporting in and re establishing her lock on that damned tail on Nyx.

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Wing, Spoons. I'm hit as well. Sealed my suit, but I'm not expecting much from the rest of the canopy. Still in play and I'm okay."

[Into the Wireless] Brandon says, "Flight, Hector. Negative. Either I'm frakked or I'll survive, do /not/ divert for me."

"Alive and well," Gloria almost sings back, "minor damage only, nothing vital." There's another reflective flash in her screen and she lifts her eyes slightly, glancingover her shoulder for a moment out of instinct rather than belief that the figure she can see might atually be there. They're not, the reflection is all there is, but she raises a hand to meet the one 'on' her shoulder. Shhe keeps it there a moment, until Pratt's manouverings mean she has too grab the board for stability, then it's back to jamming.

Bennett also succeeds in scoring little more than a hit to her target's flank, and with her six presently clear, she takes the opportunity to firewall her thrusters and pinwheel her bird in at full burn. The hand unoccupied with the flight stick reaches across to her weapons console and keys something in before tapping the release switch on her raptor's bomb bays. The doors open with a motorized drone, with a little ping to signal they are armed and ready to be deployed.

Kelsey dives at the lander and, by consequence, Caprica at a velocity that is way outside the safety zone for re-entry. She's lost all concern for that sort of stuff. She tilts her camo helmet side to side as she sings the little pop tune. This may or may not be concerning for her backseater. When it looks like the velocities are right, she kicks the bombs off and begins a pull-out, accelerating even higher in velocity. She blows past the lander and the chasing gunfire just as the bombs eplode. Combined with Pearson's missile, the lander takes the damage to engineering and the whole thing explodes in a brilliant white light. Slowing, she begins to come back around towards a lander heading towards the dark side of the planet.

"We've got a tone on us, Aegis." Alastair reports to Kelsey. "Deploying countermeasures, targetting incoming lander. Just keep us going." he says as he knows flares would be useless in the dead of space, so he's preparing to fire chaff canisters as he grabs the chicken bar to look behind them. "Our ass is clean of Raiders at the moment, play her fast and loose!"

Brandon growls into the comms as he seals up his suit, grunting. He's got all sorts of fun alarms going off, but…well, for now he just wants to keep going after the toasters and then try to limp out if he can't do anymore on that front. "Lord Hades, please be a dismissive twit towards whatever Toaster-lovers I may commend into your care." On the bright side, he's sent the lander he targeted reeling…which means that whomever or whatever is on board is not only going to die, they're going to get to enjoy waiting to turn into a fireball. This…actually gives him some satisfaction as he turns his attention to the ship's point defenses.

"That's what I'm talkin' about," Metis mutters to herself as multiple explosions pop off and bits of pieces of debris begin to spin and spiral away as result from the missile attacks. A scan of DRADIS is enough to let her know that the enemy has decided to take offense, she calmly selects another target while listening to the com chatter. Keeping pace with Kelsey, she and her wingman angle along as escort, cuing up another firing solution along the way and taking aim at the same target that Kelsey does as it heads toward the dark side of the planet.

Kelsey looks out her canopy glass to Metis and gives her a thumbs up and probably the most terrifyingly happy smile Pearson has ever seen.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Raider-8820s - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-8820s - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-8820s - Critical wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-8820s - Serious wound to Right Wing (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-8820s - Light wound to Engine (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-8820s - Critical wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-8820s - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider1 attacks Pratt with KEW and MISSES!

<COMBAT> Gloria suppresses Lander2def with Ecm. <successful>

<COMBAT> Raider3 attacks Robin with KEW but MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Raptor-4094b - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4094b - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4094b - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4094b - Serious wound to ECM.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4094b - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Pratt - Light wound to Left Hand.

<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Pratt - Moderate wound to Abdomen.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Raptor-4982m - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - Critical wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - Critical wound to ECM.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - Critical wound to ECM.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - Critical wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4982m - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Brandon - Serious wound to Left Hand.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-3739r - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider5 attacks Brandon with KEW - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Predator-5348t - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Predator-5348t - Light wound to Weapon.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Predator-5348t - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Lander2 attacks Alejandro with KEW but MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-2812a - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2812a - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2812a - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2812a - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2812a - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2812a - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2812a - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider4 attacks Alejandro with KEW - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Elena with KEW - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-3739r - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-3739r - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Close To Raptor-4094b - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4094b - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Far From Viper-0485d - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - ARMOR on Tail stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-1726e - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-1726e - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-1726e - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-1726e - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-1726e - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-6854p - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-2233l - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider6 attacks Pearson with KEW - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Pearson - Moderate wound to Right Arm.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Aa Battery-6854p - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6854p - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Viper-9437t has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Alejandro has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Brandon has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Raptor-4982m has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Brandon has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Predator-5348t has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Kelsey has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Alastair has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Kelsey spends a luck point to keep fighting!

<COMBAT> Alastair spends a luck point to keep fighting!

<COMBAT> Brandon spends a luck point to keep fighting!

<FS3> Kelsey rolls 2: Good Success.

<FS3> Kelsey rolls 2: Failure.

<FS3> Kelsey rolls 2: Failure.

"That's right!" Robin nails her target while KEW fire whizzes by. "And that's a miss," she's sort of rubbing in the Raider-on-her-tail's face when she realizes the Raider she was just after, the one she swore she exploded into little bits, is still in play. She mumbles something unpleasant under her breath and crosses back on her tail to go after the wounded Raider.

Pratt mutters, "Okay, this time you're going down…" He keys the selector over to the inertia-fed munitions and whips around to gain speed towards the lander, calculating the trajectory the bombs need to prescribe to hit. He mutters over the bus comm, "Releasing," and yanks away…but unfortunately the Cylons can predict ballistic trajectories as well and the Raptor catches a massive blast of flak practically on it's nose. The canopy takes a huge hit, shattering a panel and stabbing Pratt across the chest with pieces of either cylon metal or broken Raptor. He has enough presence of mind to slap his visor down and scream, "SEAL HELMET OATES!" before chiming over the wireless.

<COMBAT> Alejandro spends a luck point to keep fighting!

[Into the Wireless] Pratt says, "Flight, Bacchus. We took a major hit. Our ECM is damaged, cabin is ruptured and I think my suit's punctured. We're still in it. Baby hasn't shut down on me yet."

[Into the Wireless] Elena says, "Flight, Lanx. I'm hit, but it didn't break anything. Good for another bombing run."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Spoons, Nyx. No sign of reinforcements yet, and we are taking heavy damage. Orders?"

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. Multiple impacts but still combat worthy, over."

"Helmet sealed," Gloris calls quickly. She'd ask more on his condition but since he broadcasts it she doesn't have to. "I'll see what I can get back," she notes regarding the ECM, the hull, well, thats firmly beyond her. "Looks like you blocked most of the shrapnel," she calls, hoping it'll cheer Pratt up a bit, "not seeing any dmaage back here bar the ECM."

Dear Gods, his missile impacts the lander but doesn't seem to do it any good, and Alejandro's viper is hit again though it's only minor damage this time. Still, his craft is already in bad shape and he's having to fight the controls to keep it even sluggishly responsive. Then his consule starts with another alarm to warn him of another missile trying to get a lock on him, "Shit." The Captain has his hands full and breaks off for a second from trying to attack, giving his full attention to trying to evade the missile and not die.

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Vipers, Chiron. Sing me your status, over!"

Sharing a smile with Kels through her canopy, and a shaking her head, a somewhat reluctant grin settling in place before she turns back and watches the exchange of munitions. The sizzling and random pops and minor explosions within her own viper have her hissing out a sound of pain. Careful to cue up the firing solution to keep her head in the game, Metis eyes the shrapnel that has hit her right arm, calmly takes the roll of tape out of one of her pockets and wraps it around the weak spots on her flight suit. The bit of tape is squared away and she's back on focus, head still in the game. With no explosions to signal that they hit the target hard enough for it to go splat and splash in the atmosphere, she selects the third of the four missiles she's carrying and sends it toward the target with a snarl that she is careful to keep off the com.

"Kels, we're still good." Alastair says as he's pulling panels, making sure the Predator is holding together, the tough old bird somehow remaining flight worthy. He lets her concentrate on the fight as he works on the targetting and singing out conditions as he frowns. "Where the frak did that Raptor go for support? Earth?" he murmurs to himself as he triggers up his missiles to draw a bead on one of the damaged but still firing Landers.

[Into the Wireless] Brandon says, "Looking at my damage. I don't think this bird is combat-useful anymore. If we still had a bunch of them that would be one thing, but I don't want to lose /her/."

[Into the Wireless] Alastair says, "Flight, Predator Team. We're hit pretty bad, but we're swinging in for another pass. Cavalry should be here soon."

Blowing things up in space is a much different experience, Lanx discovers. And somewhat less satisfying. You don't hear the booms. She tries to tell herself that doesn't matter as she moves on for a run on the next lander.

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. Nothing a little tape and gum can't handle, Chiron. Mostly impact damage, hasn't compromised hull integrity entirely. Over."

Brandon's voice is pained as he slips on radio procedure (something about being shot through the hand will do that): He's got a blown ECM suite, the controls are a mess, and with the way his cockpit is? He's basically flying a convertible in space.

Bennett is, inexplicably, untouched. Possibly due to skill, more likely due to blind luck. She strafes between floating wreckage of ships both Colonial and Cylon, banking away from the transport coming apart at the seams, and hurtles in on the next target to drop another cluster of bombs.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-2233l - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-2233l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider3 attacks Elena with KEW - Serious wound to Right Wing (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-8240l - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Gloria treats Raptor-4094b:

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Raider-9826y - Serious wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-9826y - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raider-9826y - Light wound to Right Wing (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> Raider6 attacks Pratt with KEW - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> Raider5 attacks Bennett with KEW but MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Aa Battery-8240l - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-8240l - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Lander7def attacks Brandon with KEW - Moderate wound to Body.

<COMBAT> Lander6def attacks Bennett with KEW - Light wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Raptor-9438i - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-9438i - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-9438i - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-9438i - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-9438i - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-9438i - ARMOR on Cabin stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-9438i - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Aa Battery-1558s - Critical wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-1558s - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-1558s - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-1558s - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider4 attacks Robin with KEW and MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Viper-0485d - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - Serious wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - Critical wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - ARMOR on Engine stops the attack!

<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Pearson - Moderate wound to Left Hand.

<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Pearson - Serious wound to Right Arm.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-5440a - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5440a - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5440a - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5440a - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5440a - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5440a - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5440a - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Kelsey with KEW but MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Viper-0485d - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - ARMOR on Right Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-0485d - ARMOR on Left Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Viper-9437t - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Controls stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-9437t - ARMOR on Right Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Viper-9437t has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Alejandro has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Raptor-4982m has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Brandon has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Raptor-9438i has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Elena has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Aa Battery-1558s has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Lander7def has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Aa Battery-8240l has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Lander8 has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Brandon spends a luck point to keep fighting!

<COMBAT> Alejandro spends a luck point to keep fighting!

<FS3> Kelsey rolls 2: Failure.

<COMBAT> Elena spends a luck point to keep fighting!

Pratt triggers the rest of the inertial weapons and attempts to pull off only to have the raptor hit by both explosive proximity and KEW fire, ripping through the cabin. Perhaps fortunately none of the systems take further hit, but crap is Toby gonna be pissed. He checks himself for a moment then keys the intraship intercom, "Oates, talk to me, you still breathing back there? How are you doing? They're turning us into cheese…and I don't see backup."

This is new. Her bird is hurting, but Phalanx is fine. She fusses with the controls, seeing how she's moving now. Her ECO is fine, and giving her a thumbs up. That's almost encouraging.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett's voice betrays just the slightest waver as it crackles across the radio, "Raptor Flight, Nyx. If you are unable to complete the mission, sing out. Otherwise, stay the course. We must deny entry to Caprican airspace to as many of those transports as we possibly can."

[Into the Wireless] Elena says, "Nyx, Lanx. My bird's limping, but I can finish the job if they keep that Raider off of me."

[Into the Wireless] Brandon says, "Nyx, Hector. Left hand took a shot, ECMs are down, controls are wrecked, and I'm flying a convertible. Can NOT complete, over."

[Into the Wireless] Pratt says, "Nyx, Bacchus. They're blowing holes I can shove my head through in this Raptor, but Oates has the ECM up, I think. Im outta inertial ordinance and we're good to make missile runs on that smartass at our 2. We're still in this."

Almost all the large landers have been blown apart. A handful of them are in death spirals and deorbiting. Blazing large orange contrails of plasma across the Caprican sky, pieces of them are breaking off and burning white hot as they melt into slag or evaporate in the heat. Meanwhile there are furious and very pissed off Raiders descending on the Wing. About half of the ones heading for Caprica have turned around and are now heading back. That close to six hundred Raiders. They've sandwiched the remains of the airwing in between themelves and the basestars. The sheer number of fighters is going to make escape out of this close to impossible.

That's when Nails' Raptor jumps back in at the very edge of vision. Smart enough not to jump back into the middle of that mess, the pilot is quick to get on the radio.

[Into the Wireless] Nails says, "Spoons, Nails. Nomad is fully engaged at Picon with twice this number of basestars and cannot lend support. Blackjack is also engaged at Aerilon. They've come back en masse, sir. We're going to try Leonis."

More tape is wound around the various weak points of Metis's flight suit along her right arm, another layer run back across the previous points to make sure that the flight suit remains intact before she begins checking over the damage on her viper. The canopy of her viper is spiderwebbed to the point that her view thru the canopy itself is almost entirely obscured. A number of systems are on the fritz or electing to malfunction entirely. She fights the viper for control, which is to say she uses all of her skills to actually make the viper still function and has to finagle the firing system to make sure that it still does what it's supposed to do (That being: actually FIRE the selected weaponry). Keeping the Viper more or less in enough enough piece to keep it moving in the right direction (mostly) occupies the rest of her attention while listening to the news of the com. "Well . frak," she mutters to herself and casts a sidelong look through the spiderwebbed canopy to Kels' position then turns her focus back on the DRADIS and HUD. So many options.

Kelsey drops ordnance and blows the air defense sit apart happily. The rest of the ship is breaking apart in little bits with small explosions here and there. "She's a good bomber, Al. Real good. One of the best things you can ride with your clothes on." Kelsey seems immensely upbeat. She then hears the call from Nails pops her brow. Huh. It doesn't even seem to phase her. But every piece of ordnance on her bird has been spent. She looks out towards Pearson and gives and upnod and salute, then looking back… and suddenly hitting the burners because whoaaaa she's being shot at.

[Into the Wireless] Kelsey comes on the line, calm, "Aegis is winchester." Out of ammo.

"Still breathing, and we have limited functionaluty back with the ECM," Gloria replies as she attempts to focus back into a jamming mindset. "Don't mean to alarm you Bacchus," she states after a good peer at the DRADIS, "but those raiders are turning." Then apparently it's one bit of bad news followed by another as Nails gives his report, "frak!" She keeps off the group coms though, letting the proper officers call out the orders.

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. One missile left. Canopy is almost shot entirely," there's a pause followed by, "flight suit damaged as well. Hull integrity likely compromised. Over.""

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "Nails, Spoons. Copy all. Go now. Nyx. Get the Raptors out of here as soon as they are empty. That's an order and you're now in command of the Wing. Predators and Vipers, stay or go, but I'm not going to die with my tail between my legs."

After letting out a long stream of curses, Alastair flips off his targetting computer. "We're out!" he reports to Kelsey. No more missiles. All he can do now is swing around to look out the side windows and watch for missiles and try to help Kelsey keep things cleared. "We've got a Raider trying to sneak up on us…." he starts to say and then he notices the flash and track. "Missile, missile!" he calls out to her. "Seven low!"

"You just keep riding it, Aegis. I'll ride with you til the end." he notes, a quiet glance, first towards where he sees Metis' Viper, and then off in the distance to where he knows Picon, and the Orion fleet is engaged.

With the order that comes in over the comms, Brandon shouts back to his ECO. "Alright, get us out of here." If anyone wants to give him guff for this today, as soon as he lands the damned bird he'll /happily/ ask for permission to report to an airlock. He's replacable, the Raptor isn't.

Pearson feels the viper starting to shudder, the entire frame damaged from the impacts it's taken thus far and turns her viper toward the transport that she's been firing at for the last several passes. She opens the channel briefly and speaks into the com.

Robin laughs as she dodges yet another volley of fire and her missile hits the body of another Raider, but is quickly sobered by the all too obvious truth catching up with her again. Oh yeah, this is where she's going to die. Above Caprica, where all her comrades did before. There's no way she's not going to be there to fight the Cylons with her dying breath. There's a solid graveness about the pilot as she zeros in for the fight.

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "Flight, Chiron. I may be a bad flight leader but I've got two missiles left and I'm not runn'n. Vipers, free choice. Over."

She what? Bennett doesn't respond over the comms for some moments. She's still got a couple more missile left to make hell with, and the CAG did say to go once they were empty. Hand and heart steady, she stiches a path through wreckage in silent pursuit of one of the remaining landers. There is no sound in space, but plenty of fury; and hers is all laser focused on her unlucky target. Her voice clicks over the radio, smooth as silk.

[Into the Wireless] Pearson says, "Flight, Metis. Going in. See you on the other side."

[Into the Wireless] Alejandro says, "So say we all…"

[Into the Wireless] Gloria says, "So say we all"

[Into the Wireless] Elena says, "So say we all."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Flight, Nyx. You heard Spoons. Raptors who cannot fight, spool FTL and jump when ready. Those who can, focus your attacks. Have faith."

[Into the Wireless] Kelsey says, "Thanks for the opportunity, Nyx. I mean it. Your faith meant a lot to me, sir."

Alejandro has been hit again and his craft tumbled out of control. Just about everthing is fried and Salazar knows he's not going to get back to the Orion this time. He's canon fodder now. Tension flows out of him, heart rate slowing, calm. He sees Pearson flit past, badly damaged. Whatever Chiron can get out of his viper, he kicks thrusters to try and regain enough control to keep moving even if he's lost anything like precision control. His dark eyes intent, he focuses on the one of the lander defense platforms that is still firing and does his best to take it out - even if he has to ram the damn thing. But, two missiles. If he can live long enough to fire them. Orion's in trouble and has her hands full. Nobody's coming to help them this time.

Pratt listens to the chatter and coughs up a little, then mutters to Gloria, "Im letting them have the racked missiles, then spool the FTL up as fast as you can and keep it hot if you can, and lets hope they don't hit THAT system. We're taking that transport out. We're making this count."

[Into the Wireless] Alastair says, "Lords and ladies, hear the call of those gathered in your bosom today. For this may be our final request. Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will. This be the verse you gave for me: Here she lies where she longed to be; Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill. Pay the boatman, pave the way. For we give our souls to you on this day."

[Into the Wireless] Brandon says, "Best of luck, Nyx. I'll try to join you when I'm /not/ flying an irreplacable bird."

[Into the Wireless] Elena says, "You're also an irreplaceable pilot. See you on the other side."

[Into the Wireless] Pearson opens a private side channel in a last burst to Kelsey, "Be fearless, Aegis. I'm glad to have known you. You're a good mom. When in doubt, be bold."

[Into the Wireless] Brandon says, "I'll make sure to train my replacement first. I promise."

"Spooling FTL," Gloria replies, somewhat subduedly. With no orders as to where to jump she lays in inital co-ordiantes for the first jump point to Piraeus, then confirms with Pratt. "I've got a course that'll take us to Piraeus. If you're wanting anywhere else sing out int he next minute or two."

Kelsey puts her gloved hand up on the glass, towards Pearson's decaying Viper. The smile slips away and she looks sad in her eyes, but manages a smile.

Pratt grunts softly, "Put us a significant distance away from Piraeus if you can. Just in case. Understand? I took tactics classes and if they know that's how we beat them last time, they wouldn't jump back like this if they didn't know where P was, and risk doing this all over again. Follow me, Oates?"

[Into the Wireless] Kelsey replies on the private channel, "We don't have a jump drive either, hon. I'll be seein you real soon. Pour us a drink, yeah?"

[Into the Wireless] Alastair says, "Hey, Aegis? I think there's enough tylium on board, we can take one more with us. Ever tried to crash one of these?"

[Into the Wireless] Pearson 's chuckle carries over the channel. "I'll have one waiting," the com fading to static.

"We can't make it in one jump," Gloria replies solemnly, not wanting to think about an attack on Piraeus, their sanctuary. "We can regroup with the others after the first one or two, co-ordinate our entry points." As the drive starts warming up she switches forcus a moment to see if she can jam the cylon ship Pratt's firing at. Every little helps right, got to make their remaining time in the combat worth it

[Into the Wireless] Kelsey says, "Nah, Al, you can punch if you want. I'm stayin. Its one more target they have to work for."

[Into the Wireless] Alastair chuckles. "I'm not going anywhere. Just throwing out suggestions, since we've thrown out everything else. And Spud? I'll save you a seat at that cafe and we'll talk about old times."

<COMBAT> Robin attacks Raider2 with Kew and MISSES!

<COMBAT> Gloria suppresses Lander9 with Ecm. <successful>

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Very Far From Aa Battery-5440a - Light wound to Body.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-6646g - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Raider6 attacks Alejandro with KEW - Moderate wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> Raider5 attacks Pearson with KEW - Light wound to Left Wing.

<COMBAT> Raider3 attacks Brandon with KEW and MISSES!

<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Elena with KEW and MISSES!

<COMBAT> Raider4 attacks Kelsey with KEW but MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Very Far From Aa Battery-5790q - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Far From Aa Battery-5790q - Moderate wound to Body.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-5790q - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Pretty Close To Raptor-4759y - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Raptor-4759y - ARMOR on Cabin stops the attack!

<COMBAT> Lander6def attacks Pearson with KEW and MISSES!

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Viper-1543k - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - Critical wound to Weapon.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - ARMOR on Right Wing stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - ARMOR on Nose stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - Serious wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Viper-1543k - Critical wound to Cockpit.

<COMBAT> EXPLOSION! Right Next To Aa Battery-6646g - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - ARMOR on Weapon stops the attack!

<COMBAT> SHRAPNEL! Aa Battery-6646g - NEAR MISS!

<COMBAT> Viper-9437t has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Alejandro has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Aa Battery-6646g has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Lander6def has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Aa Battery-5790q has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Lander9 has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Viper-0485d has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Pearson has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Pratt has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Raptor-4094b has been KO'd!

<COMBAT> Pratt has been KO'd!

With a chuckle as she's closing in on the transport, which grows alarmingly bigger in size the closer she gets to it, Pearson uses her left hand to switch off the alarm that's blaring mathematical nonsense about proximity and potential impact hazard. Then she switches off another series of alarms, in order, cuing up the missile to cook off on impact and anything else she can set off to go at the same time. "Piers, you always did make me smile. I think I won this round of negotiations," she says into the com, whether it goes through or not, then tips her head back to stare up at the stars. "So . . beautiful," she breaths before the explosion blinds her in a brilliant flash of light.

<COMBAT> Pratt spends a luck point to keep fighting!

This is the furball to end all furballs for some. There are so many ships, so many explosions, so much debris over Caprica. So many lives lost even in the first minute that battle opened, let alone the ensuing desperate battle itself. It is surprisingly the most beautiful thing he has ever seen as Alejandro turns his head to spare one last look at Caprica. Like a brilliant crown jewel, bedazzled in blues, greens, browns and white swirling clouds, a rich home to so many people. A brief appreciative look. Salazar would have liked to have seen Scorpia one last time.

Intent, it is as if time has slowed down. His badly damaged viper keeps wailing it's alarms, crippled and barely able to move or fire. Chiron gets his missile lock and fires his payload off. There is only the crackle of radio in the distance, the sound of his own breathing in his helmet.

The Raider behind Alejandro lights him up! There is a bright flash, an explanding explosion as viper and pilot are ripped apart in an expanding ball of gas and debris - lost almost instantly against the star scape. Nothing, in the scale of this battle.

Lo, there do I see my father. 'Lo, there do I see my mother, and my sister, and my brothers…

As Kelsey jukes and dodges, Alastair watches Pearson's Viper, as if trying to will it to evade. Praying, hoping against hope as he presses his gloved hand to the window. When the missile strikes near and Pearson's Viper turns end over end and disentegrates, Alastair's eyes widen, tears springing to his eyes. "Benecia!" he cries out, his voice breaking and not on the comms, thankfully. "No! Frakking Gods, NO!" he pulls against the restraints, trying to reach out to her before it pulls him back to his seat and his gloved hands ball into his face, tears springing into eyes and rolling down his cheeks. "….Benecia." is offered more weakly as he tries to suck it up and remember the mission.

Pratt arcs the holed Raptor around, teeth clenched as he looses the last of the explosives, lingering a bit too long to watch them explode and the lander jerk and begin to spiral out of control, "Gotcha you sonofab…" He winces and reaches up to grab at his chest and coughs, then grunts at Gloria, "Frak. Jump if you got em, Oates. My head is spinning." His eyes focus on the field of explosions ripping across his field of view, and mutters a prayer to Hades under his breath.

Bennett is hit, but it seems so insignificant in the scheme of things. All around her, her compatriots are being torn apart, ignited into great gouts of flame without even enough oxygen supply to burn for more than a microsecond outside of atmo. But still she soldiers on, ignoring the klaxxon that begins blaring at her as she finally takes damage enough to set off warnings. She's good for one more attack run, this much she knows. But even so, a few of the other raptors are blinking out to supposed safety. Silent over the comms, she focuses on covering their escape and initiating her own. Because Spoons gave her the order.

Godsdammit. Alejandro and Benecia? Ellie smashes a bulkhead with her fist. There's one last bit of transport still flying. She's gonna get it before they get her.

The Raiders are closing in much tighter and its looking bad. Nails has already jumped away. Missiles are flying in all directions. The indistinct radio chatter they come across on sidebands from Caprica is full of air raids and about how the Cylons are attacking again and attempting to invade. There's word of a called who is supposedly watching the battle through a telescope and recording it on his PC. But for the aircrew involved in the fight, this is how it ends. One might even wonder what their Erfriki ancestors would think about this. The Colonials are being picked off one by one and the rate is increasing. There's someting peaceful about knowing its all about to be over.

Then there's a new DRADIS contact. Probably more Cylons. Then ten more. And fifteen. The number climbs. The voice on the radio is loud, stern, and sounds like he is in no mood to be frakked with.

"AI, this is Admiral Fencer of the Arpay Fleet, Carrier Strike Group Nineteen. Signal your surrender by jumping away or recalling your fighters and ceasing fire. …All ships, full battery fire. Engage. Orion Wing, Hornets are inbound. Hang on. Fencer, out."

The distant ships suddenly seem to glow with the sheer number of guns firing at once. The shells cover the distance in seconds, much faster than the normal rail guns the Orion has. But they don't stop firing, either. Fencer called for it, but there does not seem any intent to give the Cylons a chance to surrender. The closest basestar is naturally the first to get hit. It comes apart rapidly, big pieces getting torn off. The explosive force of the impact and detonations looks like the ships were losing flower petals in gale force winds. The first basestar is gone in seconds, followed quickly by the second, then the third.. the fourth is the first to even have a chance at getting missiles off. There's brief radiological alarms but the incoming rounds destroy the missile before it has a chance to go more than a couple miles. The ship goes quickly after it. The fifth basestar looks like it might be trying ot maneuver out of the way of the incoming rounds, and it does.. a little. A full third of one spire manages to avoid being hit but gunfire. The Sixth? Smarter. He jumps. Right away he disappears in a brief flash, gone. The Raiders seem to stop in place, unsure of what to do. They slowly begin to disengage and drift away from the Colonials.

[Into the Wireless] Robin says, "CSG 19, this is the CAG. Glad to see you."

Once the raptor's weapon racks are empty, and Pratt has given the order to get out of there Gloria does not wait to take holiday snaps before she punches the FTL into action. Their little raptor blinks out in a small flash a couple of moments before the Arpay make their presence known, leaving her and her wounded pilot to limp all four jumps to Piraeus, hoping at each and every jump point to be met with other survivors. It's a cold and lonely trip.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Raptor Flight, hold FTL. I repeat, stand down FTL and regroup."

Robin hears the voices of the Wing dying off one by one. It feels like Blue Axe. It feels like Caprica, at the beginning of the war. She switches targets to try and hold out some of the Raiders picking her comrades off, but she pulls her viper towards around just in time to see Pearson's craft collide, and do basically whiff hitting anything on anyone's tail. Chiron is gone. She clenches her jaw as she keeps up evasive maneuvers with that ever present focus, that deliberateness. She watches as the basestars get taken out, just continuing her maneuvering. Her bird is better off than most, so she does her best to protect the wounded birds, but thankfully she doesn't have to for that long. When the Raiders start going dead, Robin slumps back in her seat and tends to some of the alarms in her cockpit that have been going off since the canopy was busted.

Brandon's ECO gets the FTL spooled up before the Arpay fleet jumps in, so he misses out on the complementary Arpay light show…and on the belaying of the jump order. So Gloria's trip home is at least /that/ much less lonely, but for the ride home? As far as he can tell they're the only survivors.

Phalanx hauls her limping Raptor into formation. Her FTL was frakked. She wasn't getting out of here. She's having trouble processing it all, so she's not even trying. She's just following orders. Orders, she can do.

Kelsey is busy maneuvering and whispering her little song to herself. "Hit me, baby, one more time," she sings to herself, dodging incoming fire. There's death everywhere and she seems as at peace as anyone has ever seen her after the war started. She almost misses the voice on the radio. That? That's new. She turns her head to look back and thats when she see's the basestars start coming apart. "Ohhhhhh that's totally pretty. Look, Al, fireworks." 'Aloof' would be a good word to describe how she sounds.

Alastair doesn't want to look. He's seen enough death. He's just waiting for his own now. That is until Kelsey calls out to him and he hears the voice on the comms. "…no, Kelsey, that would be help arriving." he says quietly, turning his attention to his console. "We're going to need a landing vector and soon. We're in a bad way. Are you hit?"

[Into the Wireless] Alastair says, "Admiral, Helios. A lot of us are in pretty rough shape. You got landing vectors for us, sir?"

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