In Those Brief Moments, All I See is Red: Chapter 1
Title: In Those Brief Moments, All I See is Red
Author: NightSpank
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Kara/Kendra, Kara/Lee
Rating: Overall PG-13 (sex, drinking)
Warnings: Femslash
Summary: Slight AU - Kendra hears the hybrid speak but is rescued off of the baseship at the last moment. (Okay, big huge frakking AU.)
I.
Raising her arm to shoulder height, parallel to the floor, Kendra aimed the nuclear bomb's detonator straight at the Hybrid. Her hair was stuck to her face from her sweat and a trail of blood was dripping down from her mouth, but she still appeared as hardened and collected as always. There was even almost a hint of a grin on her face, as she understood the outcome of her actions.
"You're scared, aren't you, motherfrakker? You should be."
A soft whirring noise sounded from the detonator as she armed it, ready to press the button to destroy the baseship with herself sitting right in the middle. She was prepared for her death; she was a soldier, always ready to lay down her life.
The Hybrid began to chant.
"All of this has happened before. And will happen again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again."
She pressed the button.
--
"Sir?"
Commander Lee Adama turned to face Hoshi, who was looking back at him with wide eyes. "Go ahead," he stated.
Hoshi nodded, then turned back to his monitor screen. "Sir, it doesn't look like the entire Baseship wasn't destroyed. But their FTL is gone, so they can't jump away."
Tapping his fingers against the glass tabletop that stood in the center of the CIC - where, if he squinted, he swore he could see dried blood at the edges - Lee looked up to his father, who was staring back at him from the opposite side. Even though he had commanded the Pegasus for a few weeks, he still was waiting for instructions, for orders, just as he always had. Now, there were no orders to be given - this was his mission, not his father's.
Hoshi's voice interrupted his thoughts again, as he stated, "Raptor is on its way back, sir. They have Starbuck aboard. Major Shaw stayed behind."
"Hoshi. Get Captain Thrace on the line," Lee ordered, almost automatically, trying to ignore the gravity of Hoshi's report.
Hoshi responded a quick, "Affirmative," before frantically pressing buttons until he could turn around and hastily say, "She's on the line."
Picking up the comm from its holder on the table's side, he pulled it up to his face. There was still a chance - a small one, but a chance nonetheless - that Major Shaw had been on the remaining piece of the baseship. Sending the Evacuation Raptor back into the mess might be risky, but with Starbuck as pilot, it could be done.
"Starbuck, this is Pegasus Actual. Report."
--
Kara stared at the flashes of light that still erupted in the space around her. With no atmosphere to carry the sound to her ears, she could only watch as the eerie explosions continued silently, ominously, and she felt an odd feeling wash over her, like something was going terribly wrong. However, besides Major Shaw sacrificing her life, the mission had been a success.
Lee's voice carried through the sides of her helmet, and she was jerked out of her daze, catching only the end of his statement, which was enough for her to guess the reason for the transmission. "...Report."
After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves - something sill wasn't right, she couldn't figure it out - she spoke, "Pegasus Actual, this is Starbuck. Mission successful. Baseship destroyed. One casualty: Major Kendra Shaw."
"Take a closer look out there, our readings show the entire ship may not have been destroyed," Lee ordered.
She turned her head back to face out the window at the floating remains of the baseship to find that Lee was right. The ship had been severed in half, and one of the halves had exploded nicely into many pieces, just as was expected. The other half, however, stayed intact. After taking the controls of the Raptor, she piloted it closer to try and find a clue to what part of the ship it was that was still operational.
A shiver ran down her spine and she tried to ignore it.
"Pegasus Actual, Starbuck. Half of the baseship is intact and operational. It contains the compartments which we explored, and chances are high that Major Shaw is there."
The order would come to send a Rescue Party, she knew it, a typical decision that Lee would make. Even before the order came through, she had already turned the Raptor in a 180 degree heading and quickly sped towards the remains of the baseship.
--
"She is the Herald of the Apocalypse. The Harbinger of Death. They must not follow her."
Images swam in her mind... pieces, fragments... but the world was a brilliant white, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen.
Kendra Shaw had never been one for beautiful things. Focused on her studies, then her career, that was who Kendra Shaw was and always had been. Yet, as she saw the shine of what looked like the sun for the first time in months, felt what was so similar to the wind against her face... She came to the conclusion that wherever she was, whatever she was doing, this was beautiful.
"Kara Thrace will lead the human race to its end."
Coherency was returning to her, as the light began to fade from before her eyes. A voice - a woman's, she guessed - was yelling, perhaps at her, but she couldn't make out the words. A burning sensation rose in her chest, uncomfortable, making it difficult for her to breathe. Memories returned with the pain, and she remembered being shot, coming here, hearing the Hybrid speak.
"Major! Major, get up!"
A slap across her face added to the dull pain she was feeling, and Kendra blinked through the swirls of colour around her until she settled on the dark flight suit in front of her. Following the shaking - no, it was her vision that was shaking, not the person, she knew that much - outline up, she finally found the face of Kara Thrace staring back at her, her vision too blurry to properly read the expression the Captain was giving her.
Herald of the Apocalypse.
She tried to say something, to force the woman away, but she could hardly breathe through the pain. Sparks seemed to explode at the edges of her vision and she could feel her head numbly roll around on her neck, trying to turn, to look elsewhere, ignoring the strong arms reaching towards her.
Harbinger of Death.
Hearing a frustrated exhalation from someone around her, she felt her body being lifted, someone carrying her away. The sudden movement grated her nerves together harshly and a shooting pain ran down from her chest to her stomach. She forced her eyes to stay open, to try and focus on who was carrying her. The person's lips were moving, asking her a question, but she couldn't hear anymore, could only focus on the glare from the helmet that hid the face from her view.
She must not follow her.