Preview

Here is just a taste of things to come on Battlestar Olympic. Enjoy.



  Pherin quickened her pace to keep up with the Marine as they drew closer to the CIC doors, her heart 
pounding. After out-piloting the senior captain of the Olympic Elite Viper squadron a request for a meeting with the commander and his staff could lead anywhere; a chiding, a lecture on proper fleet etiquette, the importance of rank, a promotion? She had always wanted to be a Viper pilot and now that she was all the 'what ifs' were finally catching up to her. And what better a time than now? Pherin shook her head, trying to clear her mind. 

 Arriving at CIC the Marine suddenly turned to Pherin. "Wait here," he said in a gruff voice and entered the heart of Olympic control.

 Waiting just inside the CIC Pherin quickly found herself caught up in a sea of Colonial uniformed personnel; seated, standing, running to and fro or, as Pherin was starting to learn, staying out of the way. A dull roar of overlapping voices made it all but impossible to focus on one thing at a time while instruments flashed while an army of officers guided the Olympic on route the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards as well as maintained order for the entire ship. Pherin couldn't imagine being stuck in a place like this for hours on end. In flight school she had always found that the solace and serenity of a Viper cockpit always felt, to her, like being at peace; her home away from home.

 Towards the center of the large room, under the DRADIS console, a grey haired man stood surveying the room with cold, knowing eyes. His squared shoulders, the right adorned with the BS-76 emblem, arms folded over his chest as he seemed to watch every single member of the CIC staff, along with the tell-tell rank badge, quickly revealed to Pherin, and just about anyone aboard the Olympic who he was.  Though she had never seen or met the man in her life Pherin knew that this was Commander McCallister. The fact that the Marine had stopped and motioned for her to approach was also a pretty good sign that this was, in fact, McCallister. So much for the powers of deduction possessed within the mind of a young woman.

 Taking a deep breath Pherin approached the Commander, passing the wireless communications bench along the way, stopped and saluted. "Ensign Ph-...." she started to say.

 "You must be 'Slingshot'," McCallister said warmly, taking the young pilot by surprise. The commander was rumored to be a tough as nails, by the scrolls leader who seldom took any liberties with his crew. Returning her salute the Commander smiled, looking down at the shorter Pherin. "That was some impressive flying, Ensign. Good to have you with us."
  
  Hoping that the rumors, about the commander being a hard ass, were untrue and also attempting to make 
a good, first impression the girl simply said, "Thank you, sir." 

  "On final approach with Scorpion Shipyard, sir," one of the navigators called out.

 Acknowledging the man momentarily McCallister then proceded to pick up a document he had resting on 
the console beside him, looking the document and Pherin over carefully. "Pherin Nevarro, callsign 'Slingshot'. Born on Picon to a mother and father who later set her up for adoption, immigrated to Caprica at the age of 17 where she first attended the Premier Academics school and finished above average. After graduation went on to enroll in the Colonial Fleet Academy and graduated near the head of her class. Shortly after enlisted in the Fleet where she went on to break nearly every record in flight training." Setting the document, which presumably was a file on Pherin, on the nav-table McCallister crossed his arms over his chest. "Your flight instructors noted that you are, without a doubt, one of  the most fearless, talented and natural pilots they have ever seen pass through Viper training."
  
  Pherin fought the urge to smirk as McCallister continued.

   "But they also noted, and I quote, 'The same fearlessness often leads to unnecessary, not to mention, 
dangerous, reckless behavior that could [potentially] make her a danger to herself and those in her squadron.' Unquote." The commander calmly laid the document back on to the surface of the console, looking Pherin directly in the eyes and crossing his arms over his chest once more.
  
 The young pilots confidence wilted. So much a good first impression. 

  Commander McCallister continued to stare in to Pherins eyes, saying nothing for well over a minute before 
sighing and shaking his head. "I think you'll fit in just fine aboard the Olympic," the man said as a smile crossed his face. "You remind me of-..."

 Above their heads the DRADIS console suddenly chirped to life.

 Looking up in confusion the commander squinted as he studied the screen on the console. 

 "DRADIS contacts!" a lookout shouted, bringing the dull roar of the CIC to a slight hush as all 
conversations tapered off and nearly two dozen sets of eyes turned, mostly in confusion, to the DRADIS 
console. 
  
  Shifting her gaze up to the monitors Pherin could make out several green blips on the DRADIS screen; 
Colonial transponders from nearby vessels. Since the Olympic was on an inbound course to the Scorpion 
Shipyard, traffic with other vessels was to be expected in DRADIS. What wasn't expected were the red 
blips, dozens of them, that had just appeared in the monitors on a different path.

  "Multiple bogeys," the lookout shouted again. "Identities unknown, bearing a course headed toward 
Scorpion."
  
 The commander looked puzzled as he stared at the monitors. This, for some reason, created a feeling of 
uneasiness with Pherin. 
  
  Near the DRADIS console, the conversations from the wireless scanner began to buzz with a flurry of 
activity as the crews of nearby vessels also took notice of the abnormal DRADIS activity. It was hard to 
make heads or tails out of the conversations, or lack there of, until one statement rang out louder than 
the other transmissions:

 "Oh my gods!" a terrified voice called out over the radio."It's the Cylons!"

  A dead silence fell on the CIC as everyone froze in place. Heartbeats skipped, sharp breaths were 
quickly inhaled and blood ran cold as that one, chilling word was broadcast over the wireless. That 
name, a name that had been all but forgotten in the forty years since the War, still commanded the 
attention of anyone within earshot.
  
 The commander let out a long breath, one that he had been holding up to that point, and picked up the 
nearest telephone he could get his hands on. After waiting a moment a chirp could be heard through the 
ships internal PA system. "Attention, crew of the Olympic," Commander McCallisters voice echoed through 
the corridors, common areas and rooms of the immense battlestar. "Set condition One throughout the ship. 
I repeat, set condition One throughout the ship." Laying the receiver back down the weathered commander 
turned to face his staff in the CIC.
  
  Before the commander could breath a single word of hope, damnation, or orders the DRADIS chirped 
again.

  "Bogeys have a weapons lock!" a voice rang out,

 Chaos descended on the CIC as alarm bells began to sound throughout the ship as officers and enlisted 
personnel seemed to, simultaneously, forget their military training and panic. On the wireless other ships seem to fall in to a similar state of disarray, fueling the rapidly declining morale and well being of the Colonial ships. 
  
  From where she stood in the CIC Pherin could only look on in awe as an unfamiliar pang of fear began 
to wind its way through her body. What started as a normal day was quickly turning in to one that could 
only end badly for her and everyone aboard the Olympic. In the back of her mind an event from the day 
she had enrolled the Colonial Flight Academy entered her mind, offering a small distraction from the 
current situation.
  
"Why do you want to be a pilot in the Colonial Fleet?" her instructor had asked her in a boring, monotone voice.
  
  Pherin had answered with a snarky, "To shoot down every Toaster that gets in my way."
  
  Her response was intended to be a joke, at the time. Staring at the DRADIS console, now, she realized 
that she might get exactly what she wanted in the first place. But only one question loomed in her mind: 
was this really happening?

*BATTLESTAR OLYMPIC*