Remembrance


"A millennia ago, the great houses of our Colonies
were in a struggle amongst themselves," Adama said
solemnly as he looked out at the sea of warriors and
civilians who had come to the Galactica to pay their
respects to their honored dead.  "We fought for land,
for minerals, for control.  We were blind to the
unique abilities that each of our worlds possessed and
nearly destroyed ourselves in our ignorance.

"It was at one of these battles, the last major
conflict within our race, that three of the great
houses met.  They fought for sectaries over the hills
of Caprica.  The Aries and the Tauran both struggled
to overtake the House of Kobol while they also fought
each other.  The casualties were high, but there were
many more to take their place.

"It was on the seventh day, when the two great houses
were at the doorstep of the House of Kobol, that they
discovered that there were other more powerful beings
moving into their universe.  Within centons, the alien
fighter craft devastated the lands.  Buildings were
incinerated and millions of people were gone.  By
nightfall, all of the warring families were left with
only a handful of survivors.

"They would discover later that the single Cylon
fighter had been a part of a convoy and had wandered
too far off course.  With its fuel tanks spent, the
centurions realized that there was no way they would
ever reunite with their convoy so they followed their
programming to destroy.  The Raider continued to fire
on the masses, circling and diving until it eventually
crashed into the heart of the city.

"The leaders of the great houses finally met that day
at the sight of the crash.  They saw for the first
time the machines bent on subjugating and annihilating
alien species.  They finally understood that the human
race was one to be cherished.

"For the next seven sectaries, the leaders of those
great houses inscribed the names of their dead on the
columns of the building destroyed by the Raider.  From
that moment on, the Twelve Colonies were united in
their struggle and the tradition of the Memorial
Column was born.

"We gather here now to remember those who were lost to
us as we venture out through the stars.  Our home has
become a vessel in space, but we are still one people.
 We still survive and it is because of these brave men
and women, our brothers and sisters.our sons and
daughters who have given their lives for us.  Even as
we honor our fallen warriors, there are a multitude of
others who we will never know and it is to all who we
have lost that we dedicate this memorial."

Adama lead the way as people slowly filed out of the
large meeting room to walk down a corridor lined with
warriors.  Apollo reached out and took Boxey's hand as
they fell into step behind the Commander along with
Tigh and Boomer who was on his first official walk as
a command officer.  Apollo glanced around for Athena.
He had seen her in the crowd, but she was avoiding her
usual station at the Commander's side.  She couldn't
have made it more obvious that she was extremely angry
with them.  Apollo sighed heavily as they continued on
their way.

The warriors lining either side of the corridor had
their heads bowed with one hand tucked behind their
back while the other was extended to hold a flag.
They stood with their feet spread a shoulder's width
apart and the staff butted up against their boot so
that the flag was held out at an angle. There were
fourteen flags in total down the long hall.  One for
each of the Twelve Colonies as well as the Galactica
and the Council of Twelve.

At the end of the corridor, the blast doors stood open
to reveal only a hint of the sanctuary inside.  An
artificial stone path had been laid at the entrance of
the Memorial Chamber with an assortment of flowering
plants and shrubs flanking either side.  Adama bowed
to Carmichael and his son, the designers of the
veritable garden, as he stepped inside and then the
vision of the room took his breath away.

Although the room was relatively small, Carmichael had
placed cleverly designed artist's renderings on the
walls that gave the illusion of a massive garden.  The
walkway not only crisscrossed into the center of the
room, but completely circled it so that every blossom
and painting could be explored.  Not to be forgotten,
the ceiling of the Memorial Chamber had been fitted
with a view screen which ran a video image of open
skies dotted with clouds and birds.

The crowning glory was the massive monument at the
center of the room.  Large columns of polymer glass in
varying sizes were jutting up from the floor like
crystals.  The soft blue light coming from the base
made the columns glow from inside and illuminated the
room in a soft, welcoming aura.

Apollo was unaware of the movement around him until he
felt someone take his arm and he discovered Sheba and
Starbuck at his side.  "You okay buddy?" Starbuck
asked the concern evident in his eyes.

"You've been standing here for the last several
centons without saying a word," Sheba added.

"I have?"  Apollo subconsciously grasped her hand at
his elbow and pressed it firmly against his arm.
"Where's Boxey?" he asked as he searched the crowd
milling about the room.

"Relax buddy," Starbuck assured him and gestured over
to the couple closely examining the memorial.  "He's
with your father."

Apollo sighed heavily and shook his head slightly.  "I
can't believe I zoned out like that."

"I can," Starbuck returned as he looked back at the
memorial.  "It kinda gives me the creeps."

"Really?" Sheba asked in surprise then gazed back at
the luminous lights.  "I think it's beautiful and
there's something almost familiar about it."

Apollo looked at her curiously.  "You don't recognize
it?"

Sheba's eyes darted from Starbuck to Apollo.  "Should
I?"

"It's like someone broke off a piece of the ship of
light," Starbuck told her as he hitched a thumb toward
the cenotaph.

Her mouth dropped open as she looked back at the
seemingly random shards and fleeting images toyed with
her mind.  "Now that you mention it."  She shook her
head as her voice trailed off.  "It's almost like
trying to catch images from a dream."

"You don't remember talking to those.angels?" Starbuck
said for lack of a better word.  "What about John?"

"She never met John," Apollo stated as understanding
dawned.  "That's when we got our memories back."

"Oh yeah," he returned slowly.

Sheba looked at both of them curiously.  "Who's John?"

Apollo lightly rubbed his hand over hers.  "That's
kind of a long story."

"That's going to have to wait," Starbuck said and
gestured over to Boxey.  "It looks like your presence
is needed."

Apollo excused himself when he saw his son waving for
him to come over.  As he walked up to Adama, he could
see that his father had been deeply moved by the
memorial and was immersed in thought.  Apollo dropped
down on one knee next to Boxey and wrapped his arm
around his shoulders.  "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Look Dad.  It has Mom's name on it," Boxey informed
him as he pointed to a shard of synthetic glass that
seemed to be suspended in mid air as it turned
listlessly.

Apollo felt his heart lurch in his chest as his eyes
immediately fell on the smooth shard with Serina's
name.  He quickly glanced up at Adama and followed his
line of vision to see another shard with Zac's name
etched into it.  Apollo closed his eyes and gave
Boxey's shoulders a squeeze.

He had to blink away tears and swallow hard to get
past the lump in his throat as he gazed on the
memorial once more.  It was Carmichael's son, Tanis,
who actually designed the memorial as well as the
paintings on the walls and Apollo was in awe of his
talent.  As his gaze dropped to the plaque at the base
of the monument, he smiled.  It read, "Alive In Us"
and he took comfort in that.

~~~

Starbuck sighed heavily as he watched Athena on the
other side of the celebration tent talking with Leto.
She had been giving all of them the cold shoulder the
entire night.  He quickly reached out and snagged two
drinks off of a tray as a waiter walked by and handed
one to Cassiopia as he joined back in the
conversation.

"How did Boxey handle seeing the memorial?" Cassiopia
asked Apollo.

Apollo gave half a smile.  "He thought it was
`awesome'."

"Did he understand what it was for?" Sheba asked and
Apollo nodded.

"I had a long talk with him before the ceremony to
explain everything."

"Where's he at anyway?" Boomer asked.  "I half
expected to see him here."

"A couple of the cadet's parents are having a sleep
over with Boxey's class.  They thought it would be a
good idea to have the kids get together and discuss
what the memorial means and how they feel about it."

"That's a great idea," Cassiopia commended then looked
at Boomer curiously as he craned his neck to see
around the tent.  "Looking for someone?"

Boomer shot her a glance out of the corner of his eye.
 "Yeah, Gaea.  She's usually close to Athena, but I
haven't seen her anywhere tonight."

"She's in seclusion," Cassiopia explained and darted a
glance over to Starbuck as she wondered how much she
was allowed to say.

"Still?" Boomer returned.  Starbuck and Apollo had
already filled him in on what had happened the night
before on the Adena and the conversation in Adama's
office.  Since Athena had refused to even discuss
possible security, they took it upon themselves to
watch out for her.

"She was pretty sick.  I dare say that we won't see
her for a couple of sectaries.  Not that we would
recognize her if we did."  She shifted uneasily.

"You've got to give her credit, though," Starbuck
interjected.  "It took a lot of guts to do what she
did.  Thanks to her, we now know which Council member
has been subverting Adama's leadership.  It's just a
shame that we weren't able to find anything in
Semele's quarters."

"Yeah, they cleared that out quick," Boomer returned.
It had been a major disappointment to them to discover
that Semele's quarters had been, not only cleared out,
but wiped down as well.

"We'll find her eventually," Apollo interjected as he
looked at Athena then glanced around at the others in
the tent.  "There are only so many places you can hide
in the Fleet."

"Captain?"  The young lieutenant was hesitant to
approach the group of officers, but he steeled himself
as he looked up at Apollo.  "I'm Lieutenant Baal."

"Red Squadron, right?" Apollo returned uncertainly.

"Yes sir."  He glanced around at the others and felt
like he was in the spotlight as everyone waited for
him to speak.  "I went to the Academy back in the
Colonies with your brother, Zac."  He hesitated when
Apollo straightened and wondered if he should have
even brought him up.  "I didn't have the chance to say
anything to you after..everything that happened."  He
cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably.  "Zac
was a good man and a good friend.  I just wanted to
say I'm sorry for your loss."  He straightened and
held up his mug of grog.  "To Zac."

Apollo smiled slightly as his friends also lifted a
glass to his brother.  "Thank you Lieutenant," he
returned softly.  The warrior gave him a subtle nod
then disappeared back into the crowd.

Sheba held up her glass while everyone remained
silent.  "To Serina."

Apollo's eyes darted over to hers and his smile
broadened.  "To Serina," he repeated and took a drink.
 He slipped his arm around Sheba's shoulders and
pulled her close.  He appreciated the fact that she
never pressed him about Serina, but allowed him to
cherish the memories without guilt or jealousy.

Boomer frowned as he searched the crowd.  "Did anyone
happen to see where Athena went?" he asked as his
concern grew.

Apollo and Starbuck straightened to see over everyone.
 "She was over in the corner a centon ago," Starbuck
said as he shifted for a better viewing position.

"I think she just left with Leto," Cassiopia informed
them as she looked at the warriors curiously.  She
hadn't been privy to the discussion on precisely why
Gaea had been in the guise of Athena or their concerns
for Athena's protection.  She simply noticed that they
had developed an avid interest in Athena's activities
of late.

All three men turned to Cassiopia.  "Was anyone else
with them?" Apollo asked.

She started to shake her head then hesitated.
"Actually, I think I saw Croft follow them out a few
microns later, but he looked a little worse for wear."

Apollo, Boomer and Starbuck all exchanged glances
knowing that they were following the same line of
thought.  "The shuttles," Boomer said simply.

Before they could turn to go in search of Athena, a
familiar sound began pulsing overhead.  The loud hum
was deafening and drinks were set aside to attempt to
block out the noise with their hands.  Everyone rushed
to exit the tent then stood in awe of the balls of
light streaking the night sky.

"This can't be good," Starbuck said.

Apollo stared at Starbuck and felt Sheba grasp his arm
tightly.  Somehow the ships of light had become an
ominous warning for them.  "Everyone back to the
Galactica now!" Apollo ordered.  He glanced down at
Sheba as he grabbed her hand and they started running
toward the shuttles.

They had only gotten a few hectars away from the
celebration tent when the ground rocked with a huge
explosion.  Everyone instinctively covered their heads
at first then they turned back to see the tent they
had just left was in flames.  They searched the skies,
but couldn't make out the black dome ships streaking
by until they began firing on the line of vendors that
were on the planet.

"Who in Hades are they?" Boomer asked, his eyes
narrowing to try to catch more than the outline of the
ships.

"They're not Cylon," Sheba returned.  "Look at their
flight pattern."  The alien ships darted in and out
quickly as they obliterated the camp.  Their strikes
appeared erratic at a glance, but on closer inspection
it was a carefully orchestrated dance of concentric
circles that kept the fragile tents and huts under
continuous siege.

"Whoever they are, we can't knock them down standing
here," Starbuck stated.

"Let's get to the shuttles," Apollo said and they
started running once more.


Errors-To: bsg-fanfic-bounces-
airys=mirarialpacafarm.com@lists.eyrie.org
X-UIDL: 02n"!h&?"!nFS!!\,l!!

Athena and Leto froze when the ships of light
appeared.  In an instant, Athena's dream returned to
her.  Apollo, Starbuck and Sheba are all taken by the
celestial beings.  Her heart flipped over in her chest
as the image of Apollo stretched out on a glass table
flashed in her mind's eye.  "No," she whispered and
started to turn back, but Leto grabbed her hand.

"Athena, we've got to get to the shuttle," he told
her.

"I've got to find my brother," she returned as she
tugged at her hand.

"There's nothing you can do for him now."

Athena felt a jolt course though her.  "What do you
mean?"  She barely got the words out when a huge
explosion lit up the darkness.  Her hand flew up to
cover her mouth and her eyes grew wide when flames
shot up over the rocky hills surrounding them.

"We've got to go now!" Leto ordered.

She felt his arms go around her waist and she
immediately tried to pull away.  "You knew!  You
knew!" she screamed.  When his grip tightened and she
felt herself being lifted off the ground, she threw
her elbow back twice into his face.

Leto stumbled back and Athena struggled viciously when
his grip loosened, but he still wouldn't let go.  "Get
off me!" she ordered when he trapped her arms.  He had
managed to gather together the folds of her gown to
effectively restrain her.

"Stop struggling!  I'm trying to save your life."

She felt her cheeks burn when she realized how easily
she had been seduced by his charms.  "Why?  To use me
to blackmail my father after you kill my brother?"

"You belong with us."

Athena flung her head back, but she barely grazed his
chin in the effort.  When she started to kick with her
feet, she felt his head slam forward against the back
of hers.  She was dazed and fell hard against the
ground, but scrambled away when Leto released her.
That's when she realized that they were no longer
alone.

Croft dropped a large rock to the ground then reached
out to help her up.  Athena grabbed his hand, but
nearly pulled him down with her before she rose to her
feet.  "Are you okay?" she asked as he swayed.

"Someone put something in my drink," he told her "but
I'll be all right."

She wrapped an arm around his waist to help steady him
then shot a glance back at Leto stirring on the
ground.  She looked up at Croft as he rubbed at his
droopy eyelids.  "We've got to find Apollo," she told
him.

They hurried back toward the tents and just rounded
the bend on the narrow path through the trees when
they saw a large group of people heading in their
direction.  "I think he found us," Croft commented
then looked back to see that Leto had managed to get
to his feet and was stumbling toward his shuttle.

Athena sighed in relief when she saw Apollo and Sheba
heading toward them.  She scanned the sea of people
and was easily able to make out Boomer, Starbuck and
Cassiopia not far behind.  "They got out."

Apollo saw a shuttle launch as he rushed over to his
sister's side.  "Are you all right?"

She nodded.  "Leto knew about the attack," she told
him as Apollo eyed Croft.  "He tried to get me onto
his shuttle, but Croft stopped him."

"Captain!" Giles called to him from further down the
path.  "All of the shuttles are gone," he told him
when Apollo looked up.

"We've been set up," Starbuck said with certainty.

~~~

"Report!" Adama ordered as he ran onto the bridge from
his quarters.

"It's the ships of light," Tigh said simply to explain
the red alert that he had sounded.  "They're skimming
over the planet surface directly above our
encampment."

"Commander!" Omega called out as he turned and pressed
his earpiece more firmly into place.  "The structures
on the planet are under attack."

"What?" Tigh returned in shock.

"By whom?" Adama asked.

Omega shook his head.  "Unknown sir.  I'm picking up
civilian transmissions from the surface to ships in
the Fleet."  He tapped at his earpiece then reached
over to his console to alter channels.  "I've lost
them sir," he reported.

"Launch all squadrons," Adama ordered.

"Sir," Tigh interrupted.  "Many of our warriors are
still on the surface for the memorial celebration and
we have nearly a full squadron out on long range
patrol because our long range sensors are down."

Adama sighed.  "Someone has very good timing," he said
softly then ordered "Launch all available fighters.
Omega, what's the status of the shuttles on the
surface?"

Omega brought up the appropriate program on his
monitor, frowned then checked the data once more.
"All shuttles have launched," he reported.  "The last
one is leaving the planet atmosphere now."

"Has Captain Apollo reported in?"

"No sir," Omega replied then turned in his seat to
face the Commander.  "In fact, none of the warriors on
leave for the celebration have reported in."

Adama shook his head as he looked out at the blackness
of space.  "Give me a concentrated scan on the surface
and see if you can locate any survivors," he ordered
Omega then he looked over at Tigh.  "Get Wilker on the
unicom and tell him we need those long range sensors
up now!"

~~~

"We've got about thirty civilians heading our way,"
Bojay reported as he joined the rest of the warriors
from his survey of the devastation behind them.

"We're going to have a major problem if any of them
are seriously wounded," Cassiopia informed him.  "I
don't have a medkit.  They were all on the shuttles."

Apollo looked at Athena and she nodded.  "I'll do what
I can," she told him.

"But only if absolutely necessary," he ordered her.
Since Gaea was in seclusion and she was the only one
who knew how to help Athena, he didn't want to take
any chances.

"All of the civilian transports on the ground have
been destroyed," Giles reported as he put his hands on
his hips.

"Yeah, the landram in the camp is gone too," Bojay
added.

"So now what?" Starbuck asked as they heard back from
their scouts.

"Would the wood collectors have a transmitter?" Sheba
asked as she looked up at Apollo.

He nodded.  "I was just thinking the same thing," he
returned as he looked off in the direction of the
collectors.  "But that's going to be one long walk and
there's some pretty rough terrain between here and
there."

"The Galactica would send a shuttle before we could
reach it," Boomer added then looked over the
mountainous rock wall behind them.  "The ruins aren't
more than a few matzens away.  The research crew may
have a shuttle there."

Apollo looked at the rock wall and shook his head.
"We'll have to send someone.  There's no way some of
these people will be able to make that climb."

"Look out!"  The cry came from the fringes of their
growing group then laser fire broke out.

"What the." Starbuck began, automatically drawing his
weapon.

The air filled with horrified screams that grew closer
to them with each passing micron.  It was as if the
trees near them were coming alive.  A supernatural
howl went up and reverberated off of the hills and
rocks.  Microns later, small, bright stones could be
seen hurling through the air.

Apollo glanced around and spotted a small outcropping
of rock.  "Sheba."  He grabbed her arm and pointed
over to the area.  "Get Athena and Cass over there and
watch your backs."

"What are you doing to do?" she countered, knowing
before even asking.

"They've got us backed into a corner," he said simply.
 "We've got to find a way to get these people out of
here."

"Give me a gun," Croft ordered.  "I can fight."

"I need you to stay here and keep my sister safe,"
Apollo ordered then looked to the other warriors
standing nearby.

"Bojay.  Giles."  Boomer called out. "Get to those
civilians and see if any of them know another way out
of here.  Whoever these guys are can pick us off one
by one unless we can find another way out."

"Incoming!" Starbuck yelled when one of the dark domed
ships which had been devastating their camp turned its
fire power on them.

Everyone scattered as streaks of laser fire rained
down on them from above.  A second ship closely
followed the first then they vanished in the darkness.
 "Everyone okay?" Apollo asked as he rose off of the
ground.  He helped Sheba up and glanced around to see
that his friends were still moving.  They had only a
moment of silence before the battle began again.

"There!" Starbuck said when he saw someone moving in
the shadows.  "Just inside the tree line."

"Let's hit it," Boomer returned as his gaze locked
onto the shadow Starbuck had pointed out.

Sheba grabbed Apollo's arm before he moved out of
reach.  "Be careful."

Apollo grabbed Sheba's chin and kissed her hard before
following Starbuck and Boomer.  Starbuck waved for
Apollo to keep his head down as a flash of light came
through the trees.  "What is it?" Apollo asked softly
as he crouched down beside them.

"One guy over there," Boomer whispered.

"Make that two!" Starbuck yelled as he stood and fired
at the man suddenly bearing down on them.

Apollo and Boomer immediately trained their weapons on
the man they had been watching and saw him draw his
arm back to throw the glowing rocks in his hand.  They
both fired off several shots and brought the man down
before he could discharge his weapon.

"Let's get out of here!" Boomer ordered.  "That bola
is going to blow!"

"Bola?" Starbuck said in confusion as he looked back
at the man he had shot, but he was too far away to see
clearly in the darkness.  Starbuck heard Apollo call
out his name just as an arm came around his throat
from behind.

"Time to die Caprican," the Nomen hissed into
Starbuck's ear as his blade rose.