"Dear Dad, in your last letter, you questioned whether it's my responsibility to join this fight." "The truth is we all became responsible the day we created the Cylons." "We're the ones who let these robots become our servants, our trusted helpers and even our friends." "We let them into our lives, only to see them repay our trust with a violent revolt against us." "I know there's a lot of debate about why they hate us." "But in the end, does it really matter?" "Kill the enemy or be killed." "That's a reality." "In a war where mankind's very survival hangs in the balance, it's up to each of us to make a difference." "Being a pilot is the best way I know how to do that." "Your loving son, William Adama." "Hold still, you toaster bastards." "Watch out, hotshot, got a bandit on your 6." "That's fine, just adds to the challenge." "Come on, kid, break off!" "Break off!" "No way!" "I got this!" "Come on." "Come on." "Yeah!" "Whoa!" "Frak." "I can't see." "You got no visibility, kid." "Get out of there." "Watch your back, kid, he's coming around again." "There we go." "Much better." "What, are you crazy, Ensign?" "Return to base." "You can't take that kind of radiation exposure." "You'll die in less than 30 seconds." "Twenty seconds and counting." "You're approaching radiation exposure max." "Frak, my gun's jammed." "You only have 12 seconds left." "Frak that." "Okay." "Game over." "Are you crazy?" "You can't fire your..." "Yeah!" "Deal with it, sucker!" "Come on." "Tell me that ain't a record." "Congratulations, Ensign." "You have completed Level 6." "Good sim score?" " No, no." "Not a good sim score." "The top sim score." "Mmm." "I'm impressed." "Thanks." "I'd be, if I were you." "Uh-oh." "Look out, Jenna, we've got a live one." "Let me guess, you're fresh out of the Academy, you've been itching to fly Vipers since you were in short pants, but your only worry now is that the war will be over before you get a chance to prove what a bona fide ace you are." "Congratulations." "You got me pegged, except for the worrying part." "I don't do that." "Oh, look at the pair on you." "Was that a request?" "No." "No." "Don't get your hopes up, rook." "You're not my type." "No?" "Good." "So it's a date." "Easy." "Down, boy." "Oh, man." "You're a real charger, aren't you, rook?" "Thank you." "You looking for some action?" "There's the girl that's gonna give it to you." "Godsdamn!" "Yo, rook, you're blocking traffic." "Sorry." "That's Deke Tornvald." ""The Minute Man."" "Heard of him, huh?" "Heard of him?" "He was, like, my hero at the Academy." "What's he got now, like 30 kills?" "Better hurry or there won't be any left for you, ace." "McGavin." "Back just in time." "Suit up." "Briefing in 30." "Another snowball patrol, sir?" "Yeah." "What's this?" "Fresh meat?" "Ensign William Adama, reporting for flight duty, sir." "If there's a mission, I'd like to be part of it." "Good." "Papers." "At ease." "You're FOB, Ensign." "Sure you don't want to find your rack first?" "Respectfully, sir, I signed on to kill toasters, not take naps." "Just point me at my plane and I'll get started." "All right, Ensign," "I'm assigning you to the Weasel." "She's right over there." "She's beautiful, sir." "Not the Viper, rook." "The bird behind her." "That old flying pillbox, sir?" "It's a Raptor." "That's the designation and you're qualified." "No, sir, there has to be some kind..." "Respectfully." "Respectfully, sir, there is a mistake." "I did not rate top of my class so I could drive a bus." "I'm a Viper pilot." "Congratulations." "I'll break it down for you like this." "The brass makes it seem like Operation Clean Sweep lived up to its name, but somebody forgot to give the toasters that memo." "They're taking down our planes right and left." "And right now I need Raptor drivers more than I need Viper jocks." "So make sure your bus is ready for action." "Is that clear?" "Yes, sir." "Good." "Dismissed." "Oh." "Oh!" "Frak!" "I am so sorry." "I'm sorry." "I just finished mucking this whole thing out!" "I'm sorry." "I didn't see what was going on." "I'm sorry." "Yeah, of course you didn't because you weren't looking!" "What are you doing in here?" "Are you with the godsdamn press tour?" "No." "I'm William Adama." "I was just assigned to fly this bird so I came to get acquainted." "You?" "You're my new driver?" "Yeah." "They sent me a rook fresh off the boat?" "Great." "Guess you must be my new co-pilot." "Not if I can do something about it, I'm not." "I want new gyros on there this time or I will be pissed off." "I'm working on it, Lieutenant." "Here, let me help you with all this." "Just leave it." "Just leave it." "I said leave it alone." "Fasjovik?" "Frak." "You gotta call me something, call me Coker." "Just don't get too familiar with it." "Okay." "So, Coker, who was your last pilot?" "Just mopping up what's left of him." "Frakking knuckle-draggers." "Poor bastard." "Who the frak signs up for a third tour?" "Hey, look, I'm sorry about your friend." "He wasn't my frakking friend!" "He was an asshole." "And he was worth 10 huskers like you!" "Lieutenant Fasjovik and Ensign Adama, please report to the CO." "Briefing call." "Here we go again." "Just listen real good and try not to get us killed, okay, rook?" "And you better clean up." "This ain't one of your barnyard tractor pulls." "Um, I'm from Caprica City." "Yeah, tell that to someone who cares, Husker." "You gonna offer the Commander a drink?" "What?" "Flask." "Frak." "Let's go." "Sir." "Mr. Fasjovik." "Forty-seven days left in your mandatory second tour." "Planning on re-upping?" "Not if I get a say in it, sir." "Hard to part with an experienced officer, but that's your call." "Clean up that image." " Yes, sir." "Ensign William Adama." "Caprican, but with some very interesting Tauron family connections." "The Ha'la'tha?" "Can't see that my family has anything to do with this mission, sir." "Relax, son." "I'd never judge a man on his father's sins." "Or merits." "Your grades at the Academy weren't exactly stellar, but your flight instructor says you were a "natural." I quote," ""One of the best pilot candidates I have ever seen." ""And unfortunately, he knows it."" "You're a cocky son of a bitch, aren't you, Ensign?" "Yes, you are." "So is this an accurate assessment, son?" "Are you a natural?" "I can fly a plane, sir." "A "natural," I can't say." "Is that mine, Mr. Sig?" " Yes, sir." "Thank you." "We are 10 years into a bad war, son, so now this is how I handle cocky sons of bitches on my ship." "I assign them to milk runs until they cool down." "Your orders." "Something funny, Mr. Fasjovik?" "Not at all, sir." "You boys are going to take some cargo to the Scorpion shipyards." "You are going to return with spare parts." "Four-day round trip." "I'd assign a jump-capable ship if I could afford one, but I cannot, so your sorry-ass Raptor will have to do." "Above all, you are to avoid any enemy contact." "That includes Cylon ships, SAMs, slingshots, and anything else they might happen to have floating around out there." "Understood?" "Yes, sir." "Gentlemen, do not frak this up." "Come on. "Milk run"?" "I said I didn't want to drive a bus, now he's got me driving a frakking delivery truck." "Hell, yeah." "Only thing better is if he'd make it a regular trip, say for the next, I don't know, month or so." "You're really getting out?" "Like a shot, kid." "And go back to what?" "Where?" "Who cares?" "As long as it's far away from here." "Excuse me, Captain?" "Captain Tornvald?" "Sir?" "Sir, I just wanted to say" "I've been following your record since you first joined the Squadron." "Someday I hope to be half the pilot you are." "I'll let you in on a little secret, kid." "It's bullshit." "All of it." "It was awesome." "And then I think he's gonna bust us down and he says," ""You know what I do?" "I'm gonna send you on a godsdamn milk run."" "That's it." "We're going out." "It's gonna be two days out, two days back." "So what, you gonna lay over?" "Hell, yeah, I'm gonna lay over." "They got real booze over there." "Not like this watered-down pruno." "So it sounds like you two booked a bona fide pleasure cruise." "Yeah, but tell that to the young, dumb and itching to get his ass shot off over there." "He's still crying his eyes out." "What do you expect, Coker?" "Our young thane just wants to make a name for himself." "Isn't that why we're here?" "Huh?" "Kill the enemy?" "Destroy the frakking machines before they destroy us." "Hoorah." "Kid, we all know why we're here." "Just don't be in such a rush, okay?" "I think that's my towel." "See anything you like, rook?" "Hydraulic reservoir?" "Full." "Cap secure." "Front dradis antenna?" "Almost." "So, Ha'la'tha." "My dad's a lawyer." "Yeah?" "Mob lawyer?" "Defense attorney." "Uh-huh." "What's it to you?" "Just saying, seems to me you could've wrangled a pass on this whole fracas pretty easy." "Is that what you would've done?" "Found a way out of the war?" "All I'm saying, Husker, is nobody gave me a choice." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "What the hell is this?" "Your ordnance package, what's it look like?" "Well, it looks a little light to me." "I see a full set of com drones, missile decoys, and what, two Archers?" "Yeah, we're short on air-to-airs." "Ordnance chief says two, so two's what you get." "You got a problem, take it up with him." "Yeah, I'll take it up with him." "I'm more concerned with our cargo." "Can we at least get an exact weight?" "Why don't you ask it yourself?" "Tiu, she's our cargo?" "Hey." " Hey." "We already met, right?" "In the..." "Oh, yeah." "In the shower." "In the shower." "You're a pilot?" "Uh, civilian." "I'm a software engineer." "I'm Bill Adama, your pilot." "It's nice to meet you." "Welcome aboard, anyway." "Like I said, I'm Bill Adama, your pilot." "This is my co-pilot and ECO," "Lieutenant..." "Coker." "Coker's fine." "You look kind of young for a pilot." "Are you any good?" "So they tell me." "You believe everything they tell you?" "Why don't we get going?" "Assuming this piece of shit can actually fly." "Raptor Niner-zero-niner, you are cleared for departure." "Good afternoon, this is your Captain, Bill Adama." "Our flight time to Scorpion is approximately two days, during which we hope to encounter absolutely nothing." "Fortunately, you'll find a wide range of fine holoband entertainments to help you pass the time." "For now, please remain seated with your seatbelt securely fastened and thank you once again for flying Wild Weasel Airlines." "Like that, huh?" "Lovely." "You're wasting your charms, such as they are." "I know her type." "Yeah?" "What type is that?" "As far as she's concerned, we're just the hired help." "Oh, hello." "Are we still in dradis range of Galactica?" "No." "No." "Good." "If you'll open this, you'll find a new set of orders." "Give me that." "What the hell is this?" "Open it and you'll find out." "These are from the Admiralty." "As you can see, it specifies a new set of coordinates for a rendezvous with the heavy cruiser Archeron." "No, no, no, no, no." "That is two days in the wrong direction, lady." "That is Sector 12." "That is right on the edge of Cylon-controlled space." "No, there's no way we're going to make it out of there alive." "No, no, no." "There's no frakking way this is right." "I'm calling Galactica." "No, you're not." "Excuse me?" "The orders specify wireless silence." "That means no contact with Galactica or any other Colonial ship or outpost." "It also states that you are both to follow my orders." "So let's get started." "We have a lot of space to cover." "What are you grinning at?" "Milk run?" "Milk run, my ass." "Damn it." "Having trouble with your band?" "Yeah." "Let me have a look." "You know how to..." "You know how to fix them?" "I used to work for the company that designed them." "You worked for Graystone Industries?" "I worked on Cylons." "I designed the upgrade on their MCP chip." "That's their brain." "Their brain, I know." "So in other words, you helped improve the machines that are killing us." "Hey." "Better get up here." "We're approaching the rendezvous coordinates." "Husker?" "Dradis?" "Clear." "Here we go." "Colonial transponder." "Good." "Hold on." "I'm reading multiple signatures." "Maybe Archeron has support ships." "Then where the hell are their transponders?" "Something's wrong with this picture." "Break radio silence and hail them." "Archeron, this is Raptor Niner-zero-niner." "Acknowledge and respond." "Try again." "Archeron, this is Raptor Niner-zero-niner." "Acknowledge and respond." "Gods!" "Is that Archeron?" "Got your answer?" "Okay, get back there and sit down." "Strap yourself in." "Now." "This is unbelievable." "Must've been an ambush." "Nobody could've survived this." "I've got three enemy contacts." "Incoming!" "Whoa!" "Oh!" "I got one Raider inbound on our starboard side." "Visual." "Where are the other two?" "I don't know." "Targeting." "Damn it!" "Auto-targeting is not responding." "I can't get a lock!" "Can you get the helmets, please?" "Switch to manual." "Switch it to manual." "You don't understand." "We're not to engage the enemy!" "The godsdamn enemy engaged us, lady, and we can't outrun them in this bird." "Thank you." "Come on." "Visual." "We've got our second bandit incoming." "Straight ahead." "We're locked on." "Firing." "Where's that third Raider?" "Visual, 3 o'clock." "Fire." "What's going on?" "Of all the frakked up..." "What happened?" "It's all good." "We're all right." "Two bandits, no missiles." "Now I really don't like the math." "Where the frak are you going?" "We can't stay out in open space." "I thought we couldn't outrun them." "We can't." "Maybe this will slow them down." "The frakking thing's jammed!" "Let's go to plan B." "There's a plan B?" "The fuselage is still largely intact, so there's a good chance the jump drive will be, too." "What the hell are you talking about?" "We're gonna thread the needle." "Let's see if the toaster can follow." "One, two, three." "Husker." "One..." "Are you counting?" "No, Husker." "One, two..." "No, no, no, don't try it!" "No, Husker, no!" "You're not gonna make it." "This is what we do!" "Yeah!" "Not bad, Husker." "Stupid, but not bad." "Let's get our asses home." "No arguments there." "You okay?" "I'm all right." "Good." "Don't worry." "We'll get you back to Galactica safe and sound." "All right?" "We can't go back." "Not yet, anyway." "I'm sorry." "What?" "I need you to send a simple hail on that frequency." "Lady, our orders were to get you here and that job is done." "Your orders are to do as I say so long as I'm aboard this ship." "They are." "All right?" "They are." "Send the message." "Sure." "Let's just let every toaster ship in the sector know exactly where we are." "Clever." "I like it." "What the frak?" "We got a response already?" "It's like someone was camped out on the frequency, waiting." "Someone was." "What's the message?" "They're coordinates." "And these are in Cylon space." "Then that's where we're going." "No, it's not where we're going." "Yes, it is." "No, it's not where we're going." "Yes, it is." "I'm going home." "No." "Coker..." "If you guys want to come with me, that's great." "I'll take you." "Listen to me, all right?" "I'll give you a ride." "There's even some food..." "Coker, listen to me!" "What?" "You've got two months left on your tour." "All right?" "You're coming with us." "You want to spend the rest of your life in prison, huh?" "'Cause you're gonna get a court martial like that." "Do you really think you can talk to me in my godsdamn ship?" "Coker, I am the pilot of this ship!" "You are a co-pilot." "Let me know when we're close." "I'm beginning to like her about as much as I like you." "Good." "That it?" "Coordinates are on the far side of that big rock." "Still nothing on dradis?" "No." "But with all this radiation, dradis ain't worth a damn." "You could hide a fleet of Basestars in this system." "Better go wake up her holiness." "Dr. Kelly?" "Becca?" "Wake up." "Ezra?" "It's you." "You were talking in your sleep." "What did I say?" "Nothing." "You called me Ezra." "Look, you don't have to explain who he is if you don't want." "You've heard of Ezra Barzel?" "Of course I have." "Old Marine, took out like an entire Cylon platoon single-handed." "A lot of the guys joined up at the Academy because of him." "It's an inspiring story." "Hmm." "He was an inspiring man." "And a good husband." "I hope you had a nice snooze." "We're about to find out what kind of fun and games you got us into this time." "Approaching coordinates." "Dradis contact." "Multiple readings." "It is a fleet." "Colonial transponder." "It's one of ours." "There you go." "All right." "And it looks like they're sending up a greeting party." "Hello, people." "They're coming in hot." "Weapons locked on." "Unidentified Raptor, answer password challenge "Spigot."" "What the frak?" "I don't know." "This is Raptor Niner-zero-niner, attached to the Battlestar Galactica." "We do not know of any password." "We're here on a special mission." "Repeat, challenge is "Spigot."" "You have five seconds to respond or we'll open fire." "Five seconds to respond?" "Five, four..." "Did Nash tell you any passwords?" "No." "Did you get any passwords?" "No, I didn't get any passwords." "You didn't read the order?" "Did you read the orders?" "I skimmed it." "I don't know." "But, Coker, we need that password." "Well, try and think of something, all right?" "They're engaging us." "They're gonna open fire any minute." "We're from Galactica." "We don't have a..." "Arrow." "Response is arrow." "Affirmative." "Niner-zero-niner, follow me to the outer marker then contact LSO on frequency 1 34 for landing instructions." "Roger that." "You might've told us that bit of business before we almost got our asses shot off." "Everything I tell you has to be on a need-to-know basis." "That's the order." "Frak." "See that Battlestar?" "Wait, is that Valkyrie?" "No." "It is." "It is, it's Valkyrie." "That's not possible." "Valkyrie was destroyed on Canceron Prime." "No, it was reported destroyed." "See that heavy cruiser over there?" "That's the Loki." "She was reported lost." "Presumed destroyed, too." "It's a fleet of ghost ships hiding out in Cylon space." "Get out!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "I'm fine." "Move out!" "People, move!" "Come on." " Your hands up!" " On your knees." "Easy." "Easy, easy." "I just want to speak to the commander of this ship." "Shut up." "You tell me who you are and how you found this fleet." "Take these to your commanding officer." "They'll confirm my identity and mission." "They're not exactly going all out to make us feel welcome, are they?" "Reminds me of Colonial Day at my mother-in-law's." "Shut up." "You're married?" "Do you see a ring on my finger?" "Stand her up." "Hold still." "Commander will see you in her quarters." "Pick it up." "All right, all right, all right." "Get the Admiral on the horn." "Tell him I'm coming aboard to brief him on a priority one mission." "Fit Osiris out for a 12-league jump, and tell him I'm gonna need 10 of his new Mark Threes loaded for bear and prepped for atmospheric insertion." "Oh, and detail a Raptor for Dr. Kelly here." "Commander." "Commander on deck." "Ensign William Adama." "As you were." "Squadron Victor-Alpha-42, Galactica." "We brought Dr. Kelly here and I would like to volunteer our bird for this mission." "How long you been flying, junior?" "This is my first op, sir." "But my ECO and I have already taken out two Cylon SAMs and three Raiders." "Three bandits?" "In a Raptor?" "That true?" "It's true enough." "Well, thanks, son, but I think we'll go ahead and use one of our own birds on this one." "Commander." "Excuse me." "Commander." "These men have gotten me this far in one piece." "I'd like to stick with them if it's all right." "Have it your way." "Thank you, Commander." "Make sure the other pilots are volunteers, too." "Um..." "Did you just hear that?" "Volunteers." "So?" "So, congratulations, Husker." "You just signed us up for a one-way trip." "We're on course to Djerba, a former winter resort moon in Sector 12." "Cylons took it over early in the war as a strategic outpost." "Now, it's so deep in their space that intel says it's mostly unguarded." "Some ground forces with support ships visiting periodically, but no Basestars." "A spec ops Marine reckon team has already been inserted." "Our job is to deliver Dr. Kelly safely to the operators, then bug out, let them take her the rest of the way to her objective." "I want all Vipers prepped by 1400, tactical jump to follow at 1500." "Let's get to work, gentlemen." "Yes, sir." "Holy frak." "Is that my old friend Jim Kirby," "Coker." "It's good to see you." "You, too, buddy." "So good." "That was a heck of a surprise, man." "I read your name on a casualty list when the Valkyrie, you know, supposedly bought it." "Yeah, well, we almost did." "Ship was shot to hell." "But then Command saw that she could be salvaged, and they saw an opportunity." "Right, you assemble a fleet of dead ships and hit them when they least expect it." "That's good." "Talk about creepy, though." "They made us witness our own death certificates." "Are you frakking kidding me?" ""Give your all for the war," right?" "Yeah, "Us or them."" "So, I'm guessing that you being dead and all, you haven't had a chance to talk to Janey?" "No." "I saw her." "I had a couple of days' leave over on Picon." "So what are you gonna tell me now?" "She's remarried?" "Not that I blame her." "Just this frakking war." "No, she's on her own, man." "Well, she's..." "She's got a kid." "A kid?" "What are you talking about?" "She's got a boy." "He's got her hair, man." "He's got her nose." "He's got your eyes." "Wait, what are you saying?" "I got a son, is that what you're telling me right now?" "I got a son?" "Yeah, you do." "Anslem." "That's his name." "That's my father's name." "I know." "Really, I got a son?" "You motherfrakker..." "I got a son?" "Yeah." "I got a frakking son!" "I got a son!" "This is the Commander." "Thirty minutes to combat jump." "All pilots to their planes." "Action stations, set condition one throughout the ship." "Hey, thank you." "Jump." "Jump complete." "No dradis contacts." "Approaching launch window in ten, nine, eight, seven..." "Dradis contact!" "Basestar bearing 275 carom 412, range 2,000." "Inbound." "Have they made us yet?" "No." "They still haven't scrambled their Raiders." "But even in stealth mode, they're gonna pick us up on dradis soon, and they'll definitely see us if we try to launch." "We can still abort." "This is the Commander." "We've encountered a Basestar." "We're going to engage." "We'll be launching the Raptor along with the Vipers." "The objective of the Viper fleet is to drag the fight away from the ice planet Djerba." "Kirby, Elias, you accompany the Raptor down." "It is critical that Dr. Kelly reach her objective." "The fate of this war hinges on the success of this mission." "Activate all batteries and arm the nukes." "They've seen us." "They're launching Raiders." "Launch." "Launch all planes." "534, it's positive and steady." "Go for launch." "Check thrust." "Positive and steady." "You are a go for launch." "Thrusters engage." "Dradis is green." "I see them." "Raptor's away." "Open fire." "We're down two planes." "We can't keep them bottled up any longer." "Duster bought it." "Those poor bastards are outnumbered 10-to-one." "They're never gonna make it." "Fire the nukes." "At this range we may not clear the blast." "Do it." "No, no, no!" "We got atmosphere." "I'm flying blind, here." "I can't frakking see anything." "We got a contact!" "Look out, guys." "I got two..." "No, three bandits." "Two klicks and closing." "Wait, wait, wait!" "I see them, 7 o'clock high!" "Copy that, Kirby." "I'll follow your lead." "Better take us down." "Betting those things can't handle the atmosphere." "Roger that." "Bay doors are jammed!" "Take us in." "We'll trigger them manually." "Affirmative." "These clouds are hiding a lot of crap." "This is not going to be easy." "Oh, now he gets humble." "Just try and get us down in one piece, Husker." "Distance to target, two klicks." "Then take us in." "I'll trigger them manually." "Give me manual override on the nukes." "Squadron leader just got hit." "I'm hit!" "I'm hit!" "You have it." "Distance is 1,500." "Brace for contact, my friend." "A nuke just went off." "I've lost dradis contact with Osiris and the Basestar." "Keep a grip, kid." "Bandits right up our asses." "Weasel, we're gonna have to roll out to get behind them." "I can do better than that." "Coker, get on that tail gun, and try to hit something this time." "You worry about the flying, I'll worry about the shooting." "I got one!" "I frakking got one!" "I'm all right!" "Gods damn it, guys." "A little help here, please?" "We're getting our asses kicked!" "Got him !" "Got him!" "He's on my 6." "I can't shake him!" "Wait, I see him!" "Elias is down!" "I'm hit!" "We're hit." "I'm sorry, Coker." "I'm going home." "Say again, Kirby." "I didn't copy that." "I'm going home." "Kirby!" "Kirby, what the frak?" "I'm out of ammo!" "Coke, where is he?" "Frak!" "200 meters and closing!" "Good." "Yeah!" "Last one, Raider!" "Whoo!" "Hydraulics are shot." "I'm losing attitude control!" "We've lost the left engine!" "Just find a soft place to land!" "Com's shot and the nav system's a mess." "I think if I can get that left engine back online," "I can get her off the ground." "No way, there's too much damage." "The only way out of here is to get Dr. Kelly to her rendezvous." "Rendezvous?" "Are you nuts?" "Do you know how many people just died on that ship?" "I'm talking to you!" "Hey!" "Do you know how many people?" "Typical crew complement of an Orion-class ship is about 150, not counting the pilots." "Hey, well, for fun, let's count the pilots, 'cause I'm pretty sure they're frakking dead, too." "Look!" "Get your things." "We're moving out." "No, no, no, Husker, we are not going anywhere unless I frakking say so." "Husker?" "I am getting tired of that frakking name." "Come on, guys." "Well, you know what?" "The shoe fits." "And I am really getting tired of this frakked up attitude." "You need to soldier up and stop whining like a chicken shit short-timer." "That's it?" "One week out of flight school and you're calling me yellow?" "You want to go home?" "The fastest way to do that is to find those Marines." "I can pinpoint the location of their transponder using my encrypted tracking device." "All right?" "They'll have their own extraction plan." "We can piggyback with them." "I don't see any alternative." "This bird's kept me safe for a bunch of years, and I frakking hate leaving her like this." "I know." "It's coming from over there." "Hello?" "They should be here." "We're still getting signal?" "Are we?" "Yes." "Yes." "Then the transponder's here." "Oh, Gods!" "Oh, frak." "What the hell happened to these guys?" "These aren't gunshot wounds." "Frak." "All right." "All right." "Transponder's still broadcasting." "I think we found our reckon team." "That's it." "We found them." "They're dead." "This mission's a bust." "I'm heading back to the Raptor." "No." "Frak." "Well, this has been a real treat, but I think it's time we get out of here." "Any takers?" "Let's go." "Becca?" "Coker?" "We're here." "Becca, where are you?" "Becca!" " Help!" "Coker!" "We're down here." "Bill." "You okay?" "Oh, is he okay?" "Welcome to the party." "If that was your attempt at a rescue, you get an E for "effort"" "and an F for "frakking it up."" "You don't appreciate shit." "How're we gonna get out of here?" "What the hell is this?" "There's got to be another way out of here." "What was that?" "Did you hear that?" "What the hell are all these holes?" "There's something in the walls." "What?" "What the frak was that?" "In the walls?" "What the frak are you talking about?" "What was that?" "What the frak was that?" "Coker, are you bitten?" "Yes, I'm frakking bitten." "Ow!" "What is it?" "I don't know." "Coker, hold it still!" "I can't get a good shot!" "Get it off me!" "I can't get a clear shot." "Hold still!" "Get it off of me!" "Shoot the motherfrakker!" "Shoot it!" "You're late." "Oh, Gods!" "Oh, man!" "Are we cool with this thing in here?" "Don't worry, tough guy, it's as dead as the ones down below." "You must be Captain Ramirez." "Do I look like a Ramirez?" "Captain's on ice with the rest of the Marines." "I'm all that's left." "Toth, Tech Sergeant, demolitions." "I was starting to think you weren't gonna make it, man." "Yeah, we almost didn't." "What the frak are these things?" "Toasters have been using this planet to test-drive cyborg critters." "Half-machine, half-organic, very hard to kill." "Unless you have the right weapon." "Makes for good eating, though." "There it is." "How long you been here, man?" "You don't want to know." "No." "Thank you." "Maybe later." "I'm all right for now." "Mmm." "I'm sorry" "I couldn't get here any quicker after I saw your signal." "Speaking of which, who's got that bitch?" "Right now, we don't need any more company." "Is that how they found your unit?" "Toasters didn't find them." "We were breaking camp in this cave." "Captain sent me out to reconnoiter the neighborhood, and when I got back, well..." "Little demons ambushed them." "Frakking abominations." "Whole war's a frakking abomination." "Ain't that right, flyboy, huh?" "Ain't that right?" "Ain't that right, frakker?" "Sergeant!" "Sergeant, please." "Ain't that right?" "I assume that you've been briefed on my mission." "How long to get us to my objective?" "Yeah, well, storm's getting worse and you don't want to be out there when it does." "Plus, there's a toaster patrol that I've been eyeballing and they see better in this crap than we do." "No, I'm sorry, but I've got a timetable." "I can't just sit around and wait for this storm to pass." "I think it's gonna blow over by morning." "Plus, I got a secure location where we can hole up for the night." "You want to pack that to go?" "Yeah, no, we just ate." "You know what?" "I'm not frakking going with you." "Because our mission was to get..." "Hey!" "Apply pressure to the occipital nerve and the carotid artery." "Unconscious in eight seconds, dead in 10." "Five, six, seven, eight." "Like I said, let's get going." "Come on, get up." "That's your secure location?" "A frakking ski lodge?" "Toasters used it as a storage facility after the initial attack." "Then they just abandoned it." "What were they storing?" "Spare parts." "Anyway, four stars and all the comforts." "Some of the suites even have gas fireplaces, honey." "Watch your step!" "Got my babies planted all around here." "Tripwires and mines." "Follow me." "Is it me or is this guy wound a little tight?" "Come on." "Nice, huh?" "I got a generator set up for minimal power." "Just don't turn on too many lights, for obvious reasons." "And if someone or something comes knocking..." "Controlled bursts." "We're low on ammo." "Anybody want some rack time?" "Now's your chance." "I'll take first watch." "You all right?" "Yeah." "What was he like?" "My husband?" "Yeah." "A lot like you, actually." "Idealistic." "Ambitious." "Was he a computer nerd, like you?" "He was a professor, thank you very much." "An historian who woke up one day and decided he couldn't just sit back and watch history pass him by." "He never wanted to be a hero, but they turned him into one anyway." "Slapped his face on recruiting posters." "All but resurrected him in V-world." "Yeah." "I remember that." "I'm just going to sleep by the fire." "Yeah, I'll make a bed over there." "What you don't remember, because they never let it out, is that afterwards a reporter found out it was all a fabrication." "A lie." "He didn't take out a Cylon platoon." "His scouting party was shot up by men from his own unit." "Friendly fire." "But like you said, it's a war, right?" "Shit happens." ""Us or them."" ""All for the war."" "Everything they tell you to make you give up what really matters." "That's why this war has to end." "I understand." "Believe me, I understand." "You're going to regret this." "I'm..." "I'm from Aerilon." "Where are you from?" "You got a family?" "Kid's green, he's never gonna make it." "Pretty damn good pilot." "I had a pretty good unit." "Fifty guys, ultimate bad-asses." "I'm the guy that's left." "Where's your pal?" "I don't know." "Don't you?" "I had enough of people." "Get out." "Get the frak out." "Back home, I couldn't afford any of this stuff." "Figured it'd be a crime to let it go to waste." "May I?" "Help yourself." "Show some respect." "Do not frakking sip that." "Yeah." "It's nice." "You had to frak her, didn't you?" "Dumb, Husker." "Dumb, dumb, dumb." "It wasn't like that." "It just happened." "Oh, I guarantee you, whatever it was like, it did not just happen." "Case in point, I'm guessing she did not tell you why we're here." "She did." "Kind of." "She's..." "She lost her husband." "He was some kind of a..." "Her husband." "Her frakking husband?" "Something just hit the tripwires." "Let's go get your girlfriend." "We don't need her getting in the way of any bullets." "Becca?" "What?" "I thought she'd wait here." "She probably just got spooked." "We'll find her." "I'll take the north wing, you go south." "Stay cool, Husker, all right?" "Keep your head down." "All right, you bastards." "Come to daddy." "Becca?" "She's okay." "This one almost nailed her before I got here." "What's that noise it's making?" "Screaming." "Sorry, what?" "Screaming?" "They feel pain." "Put this thing out of its misery, then." "It's okay." "That's all of them." "Toth." "It's not going to be okay for Toth." "Toth?" "Tough motherfrakker just took out two more." "He's not gonna make it." "I got his wireless." "Why?" "Why do you think?" "Fun and games are over." "I'm sending the evac code." "We're getting the frak out of here." "No." "No." "Crazy." "Are you nuts?" "Nope." "Look, we complete this mission, then you can send whatever code you want, all right?" "Look, kid, unless you haven't noticed, we're fresh out of Marines and ammo." "I'm not trained for this." "I noticed." "So we're going to have to make do, all right?" "Where are we going?" "It's an automated transmission array." "You need to put your gun down, Husker." "Put it down." "Coker, what are you doing?" "Look, you guys want to die heroes right now?" "I can do that for you, right now." "Test me, Husker." "Coker, what are you doing?" "Why are you doing this?" "I can't take it." "Please, put the gun down." "Come on." "All right, it's gone." "You tell me why we're here, right now." "Don't do this." "Tell me why we're here!" "This war isn't going nearly as well as the government claims." "I know." "This surprise attack is a last roll of the die." "If it fails, we fail, and it will fail if you don't get me where I need to go." "She's talking sense." "Coker, please." "So now we need to know." "You tell me why we're here." "It's an automated Cylon transmission array." "Once we gain access, I will upload a virus." "Can you please take the gun off my chest?" "Please." "Keep talking." "I will upload a virus that is designed to blind their defenses." "A virus I have been carrying in this." "What, you didn't trust me enough to tell me this before?" "No." "I'm sorry." "I trust you now." "Good." "Then we're communicating." "Tell us the rest." "Make sure there are no more surprises." "Like I said, it's an automated Cylon transmission array about six klicks from here, so if we leave now, we'll make it before nightfall." "The facility is automated, so we shouldn't run into too many Centurion guards." "That is, if we're careful not to trip the internal defense systems." "The central corridor leads directly to the control room." "We'll need to access one of their com channels to upload the virus." "A virus that is designed to spread through their entire network and lie dormant until we trigger it, disabling all of their communications in advance of an attack." "Clear." "What is it?" "Thought I saw something." "Guess I'm just jumpy." "We're in." "Come on, Becca, hurry with that thing, all right?" "Come on." "It's a large program." "It'll take a..." "No." " Stop." "Put it down." "Put the gun down now, Husker, I will shoot you." "This frakking bitch is working for them!" "What?" "She's a Cylon spy!" "No." "How the frak do I stop this thing?" "A spy?" "Coker, how could she be a spy?" "Ask her about the hotel." "About the Cylon that stopped and scanned her." "What?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "What hotel?" "That frakking toaster had you dead to rights and then it saw this thing and it froze." "Can you explain that to me?" "Can you?" "I have no idea what you're talking about." "Coker." "Put the gun down on the floor and calm down, okay?" "Drop the gun." "Oh, frak." "It's not a virus, it's a recording device." "What?" "Oh, frak!" "You're giving them all the info on the ghost ships, aren't you?" "You frakking bitch!" "That's why they destroyed the Archeron." "So that Colonial intel..." "Coker!" "Stop." "I will shoot you if I have to." "What?" "Oh, no!" "No!" "I thought you wanted to end this war." "It'll end when we realize that we can't win." "That we have to negotiate." "Negotiate?" "For the last 10 years they've been trying to wipe us out." "Stop." "They were just defending themselves." "No." "They value life more than we do!" "You saw what was in that freezer, Becca." "Stop." "Was that them defending themselves?" "Was that them valuing life?" "They're robots, Becca, okay?" "That's all they are." "Soulless..." "You okay, buddy?" "You all right?" "Coker, you okay?" "Stop the upload." "It's all in Cylon." "I can't make it out." "Well, then go to plan B, kid." "Come on." "Come on." "No, no, no, it's..." "It's no good." "It stopped but I don't know how much has already been sent." "Then stop wasting time and get yourself out of here!" "You think I'm gonna start listening to you now, huh?" "Come on!" "Okay." "This is far enough." "Put me down." "I said put me down!" "Shouldn't be long now." "Hold onto that for me." "Who is this?" "It's Katie." "My wife." "Why didn't you tell me?" "Sometimes you..." "You miss something too much..." "You wouldn't understand, kid." "You got lousy taste in women." "But you're all right, Husker." "Coker?" "Are you alive?" "Do you think because you're more enlightened than the rest of your species, we hate you any less?" "There's our young hero." "At ease, son." "How you feeling today, Ensign?" "Ready to get out of here, sir." "That's the spirit." "In the meantime, I wanted you to review your after-action report." "Command made a few changes they need you to sign off on." "Guess they felt you were a little hard on yourself." "Sir, this report says that our mission was a complete success." "That's just a lie." "Was it?" "You knew." "You wanted her to upload that data." "So when the Cylons attacked, the fleet..." "Was long gone." "We hit every toaster base in five sectors, inflicted some major damage." "For a while anyway, they're going to be on the defensive." "And what about the Osiris?" "What about all those people who died?" "You mean all those people who gave their lives." "Right?" "You disapprove?" "Yes." "You feel used?" "Mmm-hmm." "Well, I'm sorry, son, but there's a bit more at stake here than your personal sense of integrity." "The truth is that the people support this war with their money, and they will stop if we stop giving them hope." "So let them have their heroes, let them have their unblemished victories, while you and I fight the real war." "Yes?" "Good." "We're assembling a joint task force." "Our best pilots, Marines and infantry units for special ops throughout the war theater." "In case you want to volunteer, there's a shiny new Viper with your name on it waiting for you in the hangar bay." "Well, maybe not with your name on it just yet." "I hear you still have to pick out a call sign." "You think about it." "Yeah." "What?" "No cocky comebacks?" "You look like shit." "You're one to talk." "You going home?" "Well, I got six weeks left in my tour, so I figure I'll stick around that long." "Long as I don't have to fly with you." "Dear Dad, I got your last letter." "You're right about preconceptions being dangerous, and not just in court." "This war is turning out to be different than I expected." "But maybe my mistake was to have expectations." "It's something you have to live inside of to really understand." "While a part of me already hates it, another part knows that I'll make soldiering my life." "But this is the life I've chosen, and this crew, it's my family now, too." "Because I'll tell you something else, when this war is over, and some day it will be, what I'll remember most are not the battles, but the men and women who fought them with me." "And I will miss them."