Earth at Last by A. J. Marks Disclaimers: Battlestar Galactica and all of its characters are owned by Universal City Studios, USA. Send comments to: AJMarks01@aol.com Part 1 Two vipers effortlessly cut through the vacuum of space toward an uninteresting solar system. "Hey Starbuck, do you read any signs of life from any of the planets?" Apollo asked. "If there is any life they are jamming us really good." Starbuck replied. Both vipers swept past the first planet in the system. "This planet looks like an asteroid." Starbuck stated. "Well there's quite a few planets left so let's split up. I'll take the four outer planets and you take the four inner ones." Apollo said. "We'll also save our fuel." "Ok, I'm off," Starbuck said as he hit his thrusters and sped off. Neither pilot was aware that they were being watched. Commander Adama paced slowly around the command center. He glanced at colonel Tigh. "There's been no word yet from Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck, Commander." Colonel Tigh replied to Adama's silent question. "I just pray to the gods that they find some fuel, or else." Adama left the rest unsaid, but everyone else understood what he meant. The fleet was very short on fuel. If a source of new fuel could not be found quickly then all would be lost. "Bring the fleet to a stop, we'll wait until we hear something." The Galactica and the other one hundred and fifty ships slowed to a halt. Everybody on board the ships were tense, because the Cylons were not far behind them. Starbuck maneuvered past the asteroid belt and started his exploration of the inner four planets. The first planet was completely devoid of all life. As he approached the next planet his scanners indicated that there might be some life on the planet. "Hey Apollo!" He said. ''I think I found something worth checking out!" Starbuck replied. "Ok, but try to maintain radio contact." Apollo replied. "I've had nothing but gas planets." Starbuck's viper descended down into the thick atmosphere of the planet. He flew over thick lush forests and vegetation. "Apollo, you're not going to believe this but this planet is..." "Starbuck, are you ok? Starbuck!" "Holy frak!" Starbuck said. "What's wrong?" "You've got to see this Apollo! The entire planet looks like it was in a war." "I'll be there in just a second." A couple of minutes later Apollo touched down near Starbuck, he too was in shock. All around them there were destroyed buildings and evidence of a large battle. "What do you think Apollo?" Starbuck asked. "I'm not sure, Starbuck." Apollo said looking around. "Let's look around and see if we can find out what happened, and hope it's not the Cylons." A soldier made his way down the corridor and into the bridge of the command ship. In the center of the bridge sat their commander. "Report!" he said "My lord, there are indications that the pilots that have landed are human." The soldier reported. "Are you sure about this?" The commander replied. "Yes, we are quite sure. Do you want us to capture one of them?" "Make it so!" The soldier saluted, turned and walked back out. Starbuck and Apollo slowly walked through what appeared to be a street. The destruction appeared to be from laser blasts. "Hey Apollo take a look at this." Starbuck said holding a ragged book. "What is it?" "I think both good news and bad news. Take a look at this passage." Starbuck handed Apollo the book he had in his hand. Apollo glanced at the book, "this is a history book." "Yeah but take a look at whose history." Starbuck replied. Apollo read the text more carefully this time, and then he saw what Starbuck was talking about. "Frak! Father won't like this at all." Apollo said in a sad voice. "We finally find Earth and there's nothing here." "It looks like there was quite a war, you don't think it was the Cylons." "By the gods I hope not. The fleet would be a sitting duck." Apollo said looking around. "Let's get back to the Galactica and report this." "That's a great idea, I feel that something or someone is watching us." Both pilots cautiously looked around for any signs of trouble. Unfortunately they never saw the ambush that awaited them near their ships. They split up to go to their ships, and that's when they struck. Two came after Starbuck as a distraction. As he fought them off he did not notice that Apollo had been overwhelmed by several unknown figures. A few minutes later Starbuck noticed that he was by himself and Apollo was not there. "Frak, this isn't good." He muttered to himself. "Apollo, where are you Apollo?" Starbuck grabbed the book that was lying on the ground and jumped into the cockpit of the viper. Seconds later he hit his thrusters and left the planet. Down on the planet the mysterious attackers watched with an unconscious Apollo as Starbuck left the planet. Just outside the solar system the Battlestar Galactica and the fleet hung in space awaiting word from the scouts that had been sent out earlier. On board the bridge Omega noticed only one viper returning. "Commander Adama, only one viper returning." "It could be they found something Adama." Colonel Tigh said. "Perhaps, but I don't think so Tigh. Something happened, do we know whose viper?" Adama said. "It's Lieutenant Starbuck's sir." Omega replied. "Let's hope that they found something important and Apollo stayed behind to protect it" Adama said to the bridge crew. Starbuck touched down on the Galactica's alpha landing bay and quickly went up to the bridge to tell Commander Adama what had happened to Apollo, even though he was not sure himself. Starbuck did not look forward to telling Boxey what happened. Starbuck reached the bridge where everyone was waiting to find out what was going on. "What happened to Apollo, Starbuck?" Adama asked him. "I think that we had better sit down, this might take awhile." Starbuck replied. Apollo groaned as he regained consciousness. He did not remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was Starbuck and himself fighting off some attackers. He could only assume that he had been captured, but by whom he could only guess. Apollo looked around his cell to see if there was any way out and figure out where he was. The cell did not appear to be a Cylon cell but he could hear the rumblings of an engine that probably meant he was on board some sort of alien ship that they had yet to encounter. Apollo could only hope that Starbuck had made it back to the Galactica safely and report what happened. He wondered at what could have happened to the inhabitants of Earth. He thought that perhaps they had kidnapped him. The door to his cell opened and a robed figure motioned for Apollo to follow him. Adama and Tigh sat stunned as they listened to Starbuck tell them about the planet. "I found this book." He stated handing Adama the book he had found. "It appeared to be a history book from Earth. But if it was Earth, it had been through a war. I don't think that anyone friendly survived. "Let's hope it wasn't the Cylons!" Tigh said. "That's all we would need." Starbuck agreed. "Tigh, go back to the bridge and tell the fleet to move toward Earth. Perhaps we can find some fuel and supplies for the fleet." Adama said. "Yes sir!" Tigh said and left the room. "Commander, I don't think that this is wise." Starbuck said. "I know that you have your doubts Starbuck, but the truth is without some more supplies the fleet will be floating dead in space." Adama said seriously to Starbuck. "I'd rather be near a planet if that were to happen." "I just don't like it commander, but you are right." "You and Boomer have my permission to look for Apollo." "Thanks Commander." The Battlestar Galactica and the rest of the fleet moved out towards a new planet and an unknown future. Beyond the Galactica's scanning range a patrol noticed the tail end of the fleet. After calculating where the fleet was headed the patrol turned around and went back where they came from. Part 2 Starbuck walked back to his quarters where his wife Cassiopeia and their four-month-old daughter, Alieva, were waiting. In one way he felt relieved that he did not have to tell Boxey that Apollo was missing. Commander Adama said he would tell his grandson. "How are you feeling Starbuck?" Cassiopeia asked him. "Like there should've been something that I should have been able to do." He said shaking his head in a defeated mood. "I allowed myself to be distracted and they were able to grab Apollo." "Starbuck?" "Hmm?" "Is our situation really that bad with fuel and supplies? I've been hearing some rumors going around the Galactica." Cassiopeia asked him. "Unfortunately it is Cassie. Commander Adama said to Apollo and me that if we don't find any fuel soon the fleet will be without fuel." Starbuck told her. "I do have some good news and bad news. We think that we found Earth." "That's great news, why are they not announcing it?" Cassiopeia asked him. "Because, it looked like the colonies after the Cylons had attacked. No one wants to bring moral down any further than it is." Starbuck replied. "Commander Adama has decided to move the fleet into the system and search for supplies." "Isn't that dangerous to the fleet?" Cassiopeia asked. "After all we don't know who or what attacked you and Apollo." "Yes Commander Adama has taken all of that into account." Starbuck said putting his hands on her shoulders. "But if the fleet does run out of fuel he would rather be next to a habitable planet than deep space." Way beyond the scanning range of the Galactica sat a large ship. It had a distinctive Cylon appearance, but it looked different. Instead of two circular shapes this new Basestar had three, with the center one larger than the ones on the top and bottom. In the large circular room a robed figure sat waiting in his chair on a raised platform. His superior intelligence and experience made him the commander of one of the newly developed advanced Cylon Basestar. The door to the room slid open and two of the new model centurions walked in. The new centurions were completely black, having lost any of the shiny metal surfaces of the earlier models. The new models were also sleeker but the single red eye was kept. "By your command." One of centurions said. "Speak centurions!" The Cylon leader's voice said echoing in the circular room. "The Battlestar Galactica has been found imperial leader." One of the centurions said. "The human fleet is approaching a small solar system." "When can we be in range to intercept the Galactica and her fleet?" The leader asked. "In about one day." "Excellent, move us into striking range at once, and notify the central core." "By your command." The centurions said and left the room. Commander Adama and colonel Tigh watched as the fleet approached the planet 'Earth'. Both men had mixed feelings about the planet. Adama knew that if no supplies were found on the planet the fleet would be stranded, and it would only be a matter of time before the Cylons appeared. "What do you think Adama?" Tigh asked him. "I pray to the gods Tigh, I pray to the gods that I haven't lead us to our deaths." Adama stated to Tigh. "If it is Earth then I don't think that we will be able to stay, because someone, or something, destroyed that civilization." "That gives us two priorities. Finding supplies and a clue as to the attacker, and hoping that they are not the Cylons or as powerful as they are." "Commander Adama, we are within range to start sending down patrol teams." Omega said to him. "Make sure that all patrols are armed and stay in constant communications with each other." Adama advised. Apollo followed behind the two robed guards in front of him down the corridor. He was still trying to figure out who they were, however they were not Cylons. A minute later he the guards led him into a small room that had one person waiting. He wore what looked like a commander's uniform. After about a minute he turned toward Apollo. Apollo could only stare in shock at what he saw. Standing in front of him was someone who appeared to look human. "Who are you?" The figure asked him. "I am Captain Apollo of the Battlestar Galactica." Apollo answered him. "Where did you come from?" "The twelve colonies. Who are you?" Apollo asked the stranger. "That is not important, you look human, are you?" "Uh, yes." Apollo answered uncertainly. "Yes I am." "Impossible!" The man said turning around to face Apollo. "Where are you from?" "The Colonies." Apollo told him again. "That cannot be." He said still keeping his back to Apollo. "There were no colonies." "Who are you?" He practically yelled at Apollo. "I told you, I'm Captain Apollo from the Battlestar Galactica." "Take him away!" He said to the guards. Omega walked up to where Adama and Tigh stood. "Commander, they are ready to begin landings." "Have the patrols found anything unusual at all?" Adama asked Omega. "No sir!" Omega said shaking his head. "What do you think Tigh?" Adama said turning toward Tigh. "Well sir, there's something there that I don't like. Someone or something took Apollo, and they are still there." Tigh said, "however we do need the supplies, so I would suggest that armed patrols remain on guard." "Ok, start rotating the patrols." Adama told Omega. "Keep the Galactica on yellow alert, and put blue squadron on full alert. I don't want any surprises." "Yes sir! We'll start sending down the scouts." Omega said. "We should know if there's any supplies by the end of the day." They all knew that if no supplies were found the fleet would be stuck, and it would only be a matter of time before the Cylons found them. The decent of the shuttles and vipers did not go unnoticed by the observers on the planet. Within the hour there was several scout teams roaming the planet's surface. "Bring me some more of these invaders." The leader said to the waiting soldiers. "Yes sir!" Jolly and his patrol partner, Ehilla, drove along what appeared to once be a road. They had not encountered anything worthy of reporting in. The scanners so far had not found any fuel, but other scout groups had found small supplies of fuel and larger supplies of food. "Whoa, hold up Jolly. Take a look at that!" An excited Ehilla said pointing at the screen. There on the screen was a reading for a large supply of fuel. "Galactica this is patrol five." Jolly said reporting in. "Galactica here." "Our scanners indicate that there might be some fuel nearby, we're going to check it out." "Roger patrol five, maintain radio contact with the Galactica." Jolly and Ehilla got out of the land rover and walked towards what appeared to once be a warehouse. "Stay alert Ehilla," Jolly said drawing his weapon and slowly approached the door. Jolly need the door as Ehilla kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. Jolly did not see anything out of the ordinary inside. Ehilla watched as his partner disappeared inside the building, and then with one last glance at his surroundings he went inside. "Put your weapon away, or you'll blow us back to the Galactica the hard way." Jolly said having holstered his own weapon. Ehilla followed Jolly's instructions and holstered his own weapon. All around the warehouse were barrels. Jolly walked over to one of the barrels and gave it a slight nudge. "These barrels are full!" Jolly exclaimed. "Unfortunately I don't think that there is enough for the fleet." "Let's go radio the fleet so refueling operations can get underway." Ehilla said walking out to the land rover. A minute later they were making their report to the Galactica. "Patrol five, remain at the site until a tanker lands." "Roger Galactica, Patrol five out." The two remain on high alert aware that there were still no answers for Apollo's disappearance. "Patrol five this is patrol three, have you hear from patrol four? They were headed your way last time they reported in." "Patrol three this is patrol five, no sightings of patrol four yet." Jolly replied. "Frack, they should have been there by now." Adama stood on the bridge not liking the reports coming in from the patrols on the planet's surface. So far contact with two patrol teams had been lost. The only good report was some fuel had been located, it was not much but it would enable the Galactica and her fighters the fuel needed to maintain ready status. "Commander!" Tigh said watching Adama. "Yes, Tigh?" "Why don't you take a rest Adama? There's nothing you can do, go talk to Boxey." "You're right," Adama said as he started to walk toward his quarters. "Let me know if anything new happens." "You'll be the first to know." Adama entered his quarters to see Sheba and Boxey deep in conversation. "Any news?" Sheba asked him. "No," Adama replied rubbing his eyes. "In fact we have lost four more pilots." "Whoever's doing this is real good." Boxey said, and Adama had to agree with him. "When is my dad going to come home?" "I don't know Boxey, but we're looking for all of those who are missing." He said noticing Sheba's reaction to his words. "They'll find him Boxey." She told him with unshaken confidence. "Why don't we try to get some rest?" "That sounds like a great idea!" Adama said knowing that he could use the rest. Two of the black centurions entered the leader's room. The leader's chair swiveled to face them. "Speak centurions!" He said, his voice echoing off the walls. "We have entered striking range of the Galactica and the human fleet, we are waiting for your command." "Then let the attack begin." Scanners detected the impending attack and watched as more ships came closing in. No alert sounded yet, as they watched and waited to see what would happen. Part 3 Starbuck and Boomer touched down in approximately the same area that Apollo had been kidnapped. Starbuck glanced around the area, the shot up street to his right. "We were right about here when they attacked us." Starbuck said looking around. "You know Boomer, now that I think about it the two guys after me were not very hard." "Like a distraction?" Boomer asked. "Exactly! They wanted to capture one of us." "Looks like it, I can see prints here." Boomer said pointing to some tracks in the dirt. Starbuck came over to where Boomer was standing. "Looks like the dragged Apollo over behind that building." Starbuck said pointing to the area. They slowly walked over to the building with their blasters drawn waiting for anything to try to attack them. "Boomer, this is Jolly, have you heard from patrol three?" Jolly's voice said over the radio. Boomer picked up his radio and responded, "No, haven't heard anything lately Jolly." "We've found a small deposit of fuel over here." Jolly said. "It's not much, but it will allow the Galactica and the fighters the fuel to defend the fleet or a new colony." Starbuck looked at Boomer with some disbelief. "I guess that the fleet won't be leaving this system." "Doesn't sound like it." An agreeing Boomer said. "Come on, let's see where this trail leads to." "Now that sounds like a plan." Starbuck agreed walking around the corner. It took a few seconds for the scanner operator to realize that there were multiple contacts. Omega stared at the screen willing for the inbound fighters to disappear, but they did not. He finally realized that that the inbound fighters were Cylons. "Colonel Tigh!" Omega almost yelled. "Inbound Cylon fighters!" "WHAT?" Tigh said almost falling over the rail. "Sound red alert, call commander Adama to the bridge, and recall of the pilots on the planet's surface." The familiar red lighting lit up all the areas on board the ship. Pilots raced to their vipers as flight crews raced to make sure the fighters were ready for takeoff. Adama raced onto the bridge to find the normal confusion during battle. "How many?" He asked. "Scanners indicate a complement of about two Basestars." "Two Basestars." Adama said in slight shock. 'By the gods, we're sitting helpless right now.' "Positive shield, now." Tigh said. They watched as the shield came down. "All fighters have been launched Commander." Tigh said. "Activating all defensive turrets." Down on the planet's surface the pilots raced to get to their vipers. Starbuck and Boomer were looking down in the dirt at where the tracks ended. "Looks like they placed him in some sort of vehicle." Boomer said pointing to what appeared to be to tracks. "What I can't figure out is why the scanners didn't pick them up?" Starbuck said looking around. "Especially if they were that close to us." "All pilots red alert, the fleet is under Cylon attack." Their communicators said cutting off Boomer's reply. "Just great!" Starbuck said as both of them raced to their vipers. Starbuck jumped into his fighter and quickly ran through the takeoff list, then powered it up and hit his thrusters. The viper squadrons from the Galactica formed up and headed out to meet the incoming Cylon fighters and bombers before they could get in range. The fighters from the surface would help the Galactica guard the fleet. The Galactica moved at a conservative speed to put itself between the fleet and the approaching Cylon raiders. The Colonial Warriors knew that they had to win the battle to allow a small window of opportunity for the fleet to escape, if escape were even possible. The leading Cylon raiders encountered the first of the vipers and space lit up with the crossfire of lasers. "Galactica, this is red leader, over." "Galactica control here go ahead red leader." The female voice said. "Looks like the Cylons have improved their designs lately." Red leader said, "These fighters are faster and more maneuverable then the older raiders." Adama and Tigh looked at each other sharing a common thought about the fleet's future. Sheba took a quick look around and noticed that her wing mate in trouble. He tried to jerk his viper right then left. The Cylon raider however stayed with him. Sheba executed a quick left turn and brought her thumb down on the thrusters. The viper quickly accelerated during the turn and fell in behind the Cylon. "I'm on him." Sheba told him as she watched her targeting display line up the raider. Her thumb pressed down on the fire button and the familiar red lasers shot from her viper. Seconds later the raider exploded leaving he wing mate free. A blast rocked her ship as a Cylon had managed to get behind her. A quick reverse thrust and the Cylon was now in front of her and blown to bits. Starbuck, Boomer, Jolly and the rest of blue squadron arrived in the battle as several of the Cylon raiders had made their way past the first wave of vipers. The space around the Galactica filled with explosions as both raiders and vipers engaged each other. A group of three Cylon raiders converged on the Galactica's landing bay. Starbuck noticed the raiders and hit his thrusters to hopefully catch them before they reached the landing bay. Starbuck lined up the first raider and easily destroyed it. The second raider exploded seconds later as Boomer joined Starbuck. The third pressed on toward the landing bay. Both Boomer and Starbuck opened fire in the hope that they would destroy the raider before it hit the bay. The raider exploded just at the entrance and fragments of the fighter scattered throughout the bay starting fires and setting off explosions. Everyone on the bridge felt the rocking of the ship as the explosion went off. Tigh got up off the deck and quickly checked the damage report. "Landing bay beta is hit and reporting small fires. Damage control crews are at the scene fighting the fires, but the landing bay will be out of commission for a while." Tigh read to Adama. "Where are the baseships located?" Adama asked. "We figure just beyond our scanners, sir." Omega answered. Before he could say any more another explosion rocked the ship. Crewmembers were tossed around and over railings. Athena glanced around as she got back up. She found her father getting up and he appeared to be okay. "Cylon raider collided on starboard side, damage to decks 1-5. Fire on decks two and three." Athena ported as the damage report came in. Starbuck just finished pulling up after destroying the landing bay attackers when he saw a raider collide with the Galactica. "Looks like they've taken to suicide runs." He said to Boomer. "And this new design is harder to hit." "There's a fire in bay beta." Sheba grimly stated as she took a quick glance at the landing bay, lit from the inside from the burning fires. "Come on guys, we're still better than they are one on one." Bojay's voice said over the radio. "So lets kick some Cylon butt." The vipers and Cylon raiders continued their deadly dance around the Galactica. The Battlestar, however, continued to take hits, but the old warship continued to stay together. A few minutes later the last of the raiders were destroyed. "How many fighters survived?" Adama asked. "The count is seventy three, we lost forty-seven. Commander, we can't house all of the fighters in Alpha Bay." Tigh told Adama. "No you're right about that." Adama agreed. "Have about twenty sent down to the surface of the planet to refuel, also have the damage report sent to my ready room." "Of course sir!" Tigh said turning to the rest of the bridge crew as Adama walked off the bridge. Apollo sat down on the small bench that was in the corner of the room. He tried to figure out who his kidnappers were; he knew that they were not Cylons. He leaned his head against the wall behind the bench. There were a few other possibilities. The commander he had met seemed to be human or humanoid, so Apollo figured that the kidnappers were either the winners of a war on Earth, the human survivors, or the ones who attacked Earth. The cell door opened and two pilots from red squad were pushed into the cell. "Captain Apollo, are you alright?" One of them asked. "I'm fine, what happened to you two?" Apollo asked. "We were on our way to meet with patrol five, Jolly and Ehilla, when all of a sudden several figures came out of nowhere." He replied. "Same thing happened to Starbuck and I." Apollo said, and then realized something. "Starbuck, did he make it back to the Galactica?" "Yeah, last I heard was he and Boomer were looking for you." "Well, I think we're on a ship, and whoever they are they are not Cylons." Apollo told them. "Did either of you see anything useful that we could use for an escape?" Both of the other two pilots nodded their head's in a negative response. "We were blindfolded on the way in so we didn't see much." They responded. "That's okay, at least you were conscious at the time. One of them got me from behind everything went black and then I was here." Apollo said gesturing to the room with his hands. "Have they asked you any questions?" "They just wanted to know where we came from." One said. "Seemed a bit strange to me." The other one said. "It was almost like they couldn't believe that we were humans." "I know, I had the same experience with them." Apollo said. Before the three pilots could continue the door opened and they were told to follow the guards. Commander Adama sat down behind his desk. A worried frown masked his face; he was very worried about the status of the fleet and the Galactica. He knew that the Galactica was damage, but the extent of the damage still was not known. He also did not know how long his warriors could adequately defend the fleet. Adama was so deep in thought that he did not hear Tigh enter. "Commander!" Tigh said. "What's the damage, Tigh?" Adama asked. "It's quite extensive, sir." Tigh answered. "The beta landing bay suffered extreme damage and will be out of commission for a while. Forward starboard decks two and three will require some time to rebuild, and about half of our defensive turrets are damage or destroyed." "What about our fighters." "Only about sixty are operational, sir." Adama closed his eyes and pondered what course of action he had left. "What about our fuel and supplies?" "With the fuel from the planet we can replenish most of our fuel." "No," He said quietly. "Have the fuel tankers resupply the other ships." "What do you have in mind, sir?" "Have the fleet resupplied, then the fleet will split up." "Split up? I don't understand sir." "The Galactica will stay here to help stall the Cylons." "Stall?" Tigh said with some disbelief in his voice. "Yes, I don't think that we can continue with all the ships together and still be able to defend the fleet." Adama told him. "I believe that the best course of action will be a split up of the fleet. Perhaps our warriors will be able to delay the Cylons long enough for the fleet to scatter." "Sir, you are aware that some of our warriors may not like this decision." Tigh said. "They'll fight, they know what's at stake. Have all non-combat personal evacuated from the Galactica, and the fuel split up and distributed among the fleet." Adama said with confidence. "It'll be done sir." Tigh said. "Are you sure commander?" "Yes, perhaps with the split up of the fleet some of the ships will escape and survive." "With the Cylons concentrating on the Galactica and her fighters it may provide the time needed for some to escape." "Precisely." "I know our warriors will do everything they can." Adama could only nod in agreement, knowing that he had just condemned the Galactica to death. He also knew that some hope still would remain, it would be a slight chance but better than if the fleet remained here. Apollo and the other two pilots walked back to the room with the commander. He had his back turned away from them watching a monitor. Apollo could not see what the commander was looking at. "Good, you're here, I have some more questions for you." He said facing the three pilots. "Who are they?" A holo-image popped up from the table. All three of them stared in shock at what they saw. "Cylons!" Part 4 "No! I am not leaving!" The loud voice said, it could be heard several quarters away. "And I don't care what you say." Two officers walking down the corridor looked first at the door then at each other. They could only chuckle at each other, for they knew what the argument was about. It was the same all over the Galactica ever since Commander Adama had made his announcement about the fleet split up. Inside Cassiopeia was giving Starbuck a piece of her mind. "I cannot believe that you want us to leave, doesn't my opinion mean anything to you?" She asked. "Now Cass, come on you know..." "Don't you patronize me Starbuck." She said cutting Starbuck off. She was about to continue when Alieva let out a cry. "Now look what you've done!" She said picking up their daughter. "But..." He clamped his mouth shut at his wife's glare. He knew better then to try to argue with her when she was in this mood, so he chose instead to walk up to them and gently gave them a hug. "I just want to know that you're both safe, that's all Cass." "I know Starbuck," She said as she looked up into his face. He noticed that she had started crying. "But I don't want to live without you Starbuck." He continued to hold them both, knowing that he would never see either of them again. Cassiopeia buried her face in his shoulder. If anyone else had been looking they would have seen tears falling down Starbuck's cheeks as well. "Who, or what, are the Cylons." The mysterious stranger asked them. "A race of robots." Apollo answered him. "Silicon based life form?" "I guess you could say that now." Apollo said. "What do the Cylons have to do with this?" The mysterious commander did not reply, instead he appeared to be deep in thought. "Tell me, what you know about this 'Cylon' race Captain Apollo?" Apollo exchanged glances with the other two pilots; all three thought that this was an unexpected question. "Let's see, where to begin?" Apollo said thinking about the question asked. "When we had met the Cylons they were already a race of robots, but at one time the Cylons were a reptile type civilization. They were excellent scientists and created robots to help them. The robots slowly took over until war broke out." "Apparently the robots won." "Yes, they created a social structure that does not allow the freedom that mankind enjoys. The Cylons have a very strict structure, because of that they started to conquer any race that was different. They wiped out any race that was different." "How did the human race get involved in the war against the Cylons then?" "You might say we fell into a role as protectors." Apollo said staring at the Cylon raider missing the look that passed over the stranger's face. "Our neighbors were under attack from the Cylons. They asked for our help and we intervened. We built up our military and for several hundred yaharns were able to fight them." "I take it a 'yaharn' is a long time." "It's the average time that it takes, took, the planets of the twelve colonies to make one complete orbit around their stars." Apollo answered. "Probably equivalent to our year." The stranger said rubbing his chin with his left hand. "Please continue." "We fought the Cylons for yaharns to a standstill. We were able to keep the Cylons from invading our home planets until just about seven yaharns ago." Apollo noticed a brief look of sadness in the commander's eyes, but continued on. "Ironically we were betrayed by one of our own people." "Betrayed you how?" The commander asked, genuinely interested. "The Cylons concocted, what I must admit, was a brilliant scheme. They were able to contact an aspiring and respectable man named Baltar. Through him the Cylons expressed a hope for a peace, however they both fooled all of us." "I don't understand." "Baltar claimed the Cylons wanted peace, even though he knew their real intentions." "He knew that he was consciously betraying his people?" The commander said shaking his head in disbelief. "Yes, and we fell for the peace talk hook, line and sinker." "I take it from your voice that you were there when it happened?" "I was on patrol that day with my brother." Apollo said with a far off look in his eyes. The other two looked at Apollo with interest, they had both joined the military after the colonies had been attacked. Not many civilians knew what had happened to the fleet other than only the Battlestar Galactica had survived. They both listened with interest. "We were out on patrol while the fleet made its way to the rendezvous point. My brother saw something on his scanner near a moon and I went to investigate." Apollo paused a second. "I found two empty Cylon tankers just sitting there jamming us. Wondering what they were doing there I went further and saw them." The commander sent a knowing glance at Apollo, as if he understood what Apollo was saying. "There must have been over a thousand fighters hiding there just waiting. Four Cylons raiders jumped us, and we had to fight our way out. Zac's fighter was damaged in the fight, he told me to go on ahead to warn the fleet." Apollo's voice cracked a bit when he mentioned his brother's name but continued on. "When I got back to the Galactica I was informed that he didn't make it back." "What happened to the fleet Captain?" One of the two pilots asked him. "Wasn't the fleet on alert?" "No, Baltar made sure of that!" Apollo answered with some venom in his voice. "He confused the President long enough that by the time we realized it was an attack, it was to late. Of the five Battlestars only the Galactica was on alert, the others were taken by surprise. We never stood a chance." His last statement was a mere whisper, but it sounded the loudest. The room fell silent for several minutes before anyone could speak. Apollo was reliving that terrible day; the two pilots finally fully understood why the fleet never came to the colonies rescue. The commander seemed to look out the window for a second. "What happened to the colonies?" He finally asked. "They raided all colonies, sparing nothing." One of the pilots responded. "The sky seemed to be full of them, and there was nothing we could do to stop them." "My father, Commander Adama, gathered what ships that could fly and what people he could for a search for a sister world, called Earth." "Is that the reason you are here?" "We have nowhere else to go, and even if we did we have no fuel to get there. And now, if the Cylons have found us, were doomed." Apollo said with a slump in his shoulders. The mysterious commander took in Apollo's dejected look and knew that he was a defeated person. He told the guards to return the three men back to their cell. "You heard?" He called out. "Yes." A smaller man walked out from behind a secret door. "If what they say is true, we have much to do." "Yes sir!" "Commander Adama," Tigh said as he entered Adama's room. "You wanted to see me sir." "Yes Tigh, come in." Adama said still sitting behind his desk. "I've been doing some thinking." "About what sir." "I would like for you to go with the fleet." Adama stated into stunned silence. "I'm afraid that I don't understand sir." "The leaving ships will need a commander to help lead them, and since I am staying on board the Galactica, you should go Tigh." Adama said to him. "I can't think of anyone more qualified." "But what about you, your a member of the council of twelve." Tigh said. "I've already spoken to the council Tigh." Adama said interrupting Tigh. "They have agreed with me. I have enjoyed a full life, my place is here on the Galactica." "Have you talked to your daughter and grandson yet?" "Yes, and I had the same argument with him also. Tigh, you still have a long time yet to live, me I've live a good life, its time to move on. Even the council agrees with you being my replacement. Adama said finally standing up and walking around the desk to where Tigh stood now speechless. "I believe that you're ready my friend." "It will be an honor Adama." Tigh said regaining his voice. "I'll try to do you proud." "I know you will Tigh, I have every confidence in you." Adama reaching out his hand to shake his friend's hand. "I'll get ready at once." Tigh said walking toward the door. He stopped just short of the door and looked back at Adama. Neither of them said a word, they didn't have to. Both men understood what the unspoken thought was. Tigh then walked out the door toward his quarters to pack. Adama walked back to his desk and heavily sat back down. That task had been one of the hardest decisions he had ever made in his life. He knew that Tigh wanted to be on board the Galactica during its last battle, but the human race still needed a military leader in the upper command. Not a person who would dominant control, but a person who would be cautious and look at the protection of the people. The human race would need men like Colonel Tigh. "Bring in the other two captured humans." The mysterious commander told his guards. Minutes later the guards returned with the two humans. "You are human, yes?" He asked them. They looked at each other a bit confused. Finally one decided to answer. "Yeah, we're human. What about you?" "Where do you come from, and why are you here?" The mysterious commander asked ignoring the question. "Well, we're from the colonies and we're looking for Earth." "Why are you looking for Earth?" "Well, according to our legends Earth is a sister planet to the twelve tribes. We call it the thirteenth tribe. If that planet we were just on is Earth then the human race is doomed." "So, according to your legends Earth is your thirteenth tribe, correct?" "Ah, yes." One replied still confused. "Take them back to the room that the others are in." The commander said motioning for the guards to take the two prisoners. Once they were out of the room the shorter man came back out. "Are the test results back yet commander?" The man asked. "We are expecting them back from the lab any minute now my Lord." "And then we'll know." "Last call for all personal that are leaving the Galactica, the last shuttles will be leaving in fifteen minutes." The announcer said. The flight deck was crowded with loved ones and friends saying goodbye. Spouses were hugging each other and their kids. All knew that there would be no happy reunion. Those staying on the Galactica would die. Colonel Tigh slowly made his way through the crowd to his shuttle, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Tigh turned around and was quite surprised to see Adama standing there with his daughter, Athena, and Boxey. Behind them were Starbuck and his family. "Tigh, I'm glad I didn't miss you." Adama told his friend. "I was hoping I'd see you here sir." Tigh replied shaking Adama's hand. "I'll miss you Tigh." "I know I'll miss you and this ship." Tigh said looking around the landing bay. "We had some great times Tigh, I know you would rather be on the bridge with me, but I can't let you remain." "I've thought about it, and I know you're right. Goodbye my friend." Tigh said, his eyes starting to tear up. "Goodbye Tigh." Adama told him, releasing Tigh's hand. Tigh walked up to Starbuck who was still saying goodbye. Tigh waited until Starbuck noticed him before saying anything. "I would normally tell you to be careful, but that's a mute point." Tigh told him. Starbuck chuckled at the statement, even though Cassiopeia did not find it funny. "Can I ask for a personal favor?" Starbuck said suddenly very serious. "Of course." Tigh said catching the serious tone in Starbuck's voice. "Would you, um, would you make sure that Alieva hears about her father." Starbuck said with tears in his eyes. "I'd be honored to Starbuck." Tigh promised. "You better get going." Adama said from behind them. Tigh nodded his head and went on board. Outside the shuttle Starbuck was saying goodbye to his wife and daughter. "Now you be good to your mom, you hear." He said kissing Alieva's forehead, tears falling down his own cheeks. "And you take care also Cass. I love you." "I love you to." Cassiopeia whispered. She then walked up to the shuttle door and turned around for one last look. "I'll wait for you." Starbuck said. "I know." Cassiopeia and Alieva entered the shuttle and the doors closed. Everyone there watched as the last shuttle left, all who remained were warriors and they would try their hardest to give their loved ones the time they needed to get away. The Imperious Leader sat on his chair. Soon the Galactica and the remnants of the human race would be gone from the universe forever. Two centurions entered the room. "Speak centurions." He told them. "We have a total of eleven Basestars converging on the Galactica." "Excellent, destroy the Galactica, then the human fleet. Tell the commanders to attack when ready, and let no ship survive" "By your command!" Part 5 The commander paced back and forth on the bridge impatiently waiting for the test results. "Be patient my friend." The man called 'Lord' told the commander. "I know my lord." The commander said sitting down on a chair. " It's just I don't think we can afford to be wrong about this." His companion studied the commander's face for a few seconds before saying anything. "I know, we can't fail our masters again. There is too much at stake." An aide walked into the room with a report and handed it to the leader. "Well, what does it say?" The commander asked wishing for good news. "It appears that the 'Cylons' are going to be mounting a full scale attack on our visitors." The 'lord' said. "However they do not appear to have noticed us yet." "That would give us the advantage." The commander replied nodding his head. "But it will also complicate things." Another aide entered the room and handed the test results to the leader. "Well, this is what we've been waiting for." He said handing the results to the commander. "Do you believe what they've said?" The commander asked. "Well, they're human." He replied. "But, I've been reading the early history texts and there is no mention of an advanced tribe or race." "Hmm! I've got an idea, let's go talk to our visitors again." The commander said walking toward the door. The 'lord' just raised his eyebrows and followed the commander. Commander Adama slowly walked down the now almost empty corridors towards his quarters. He could feel the almost overwhelming feelings of despair all over the ship. There was no reason to try and cover the feelings; everyone knew that they would soon die in battle. He reached his office and sat down behind his desk. He finally let the tears come. A knock on his door brought him out of his daze. "Come!" The door opened and Starbuck walked in, his eyes still red and puffy from crying. "I hope I'm not intruding commander? "No, of course not." Adama said. "I was just thinking, have I led us to our deaths?" "I don't believe that commander. We both know that if we had stayed near the colonies we would have been dead already." Starbuck said sitting down in a nearby chair. "And there's still a chance that some of us will survive in the escaping ships." "I hope you're right Starbuck." Adama replied. "So what brings you here Starbuck?" "Well, this is going to sound silly, but I just don't want to be in my quarters." Starbuck said shifting in his seat. "I understand completely Starbuck." Adama said quietly. Apollo sat in the cell as two more pilots entered. Both gave a similar account of their interrogation that the others went through. "Does anyone know who they are?" One asked. "If I was to guess, probably the winners of the war from the planet." Apollo said. "What about the Cylons?" Another one asked. "Are they involved?" "No, I don't think so. They didn't seem to know who they were." Apollo answered. A couple of minutes later the commander and a shorter man walked into their cell. Omega watched from the bridge as the fleet they had protected for so long began to split up. A few ships had started to leave knowing that time was essential for escape. He did not know how long it would be before the Cylons attacked in more raiders, only that it could be any minute now. "Sir, long range scans have located several Cylon Basestars approaching our position." The operator told him. "About time. Contact the fleet and let them know where the Basestars are." He told her. "Are they within fighter range yet?" "No sir, but they will be in thirty minutes." She replied. "Prepare to go to red alert." "Yes sir." Omega looked at her and realized just how pretty the operator was, he should have asked her out when he had a chance. He knew now there was no chance, sighing he told her, "I'm going to tell Commander Adama of our situation." He did not see the eyes follow him off the bridge. "You are human, that much is for sure." The shorter man said. "The question of how remains to be answered." "I don't know how to prove that to you." Apollo started to say before being interrupted. "It is irrelevant at the moment captain." The man said. "We must move quickly to save humanity. I do have one question for you. Have you ever heard of Atlantis?" "There was a Battlestar named Atlantica, but I haven't heard of Atlantis." Apollo answered. "Actually, captain the Battlestar's name was derived from a legend..."One of the pilots said his voice trailing off as a realization hit him. "According to legend the thirteenth tribe called themselves Atlantians." "Well I guess we should introduce ourselves to you, I am Lord Arkis, and he is Commander Derkik." He said. "Now, tell us more about these Cylons, now that they are invading our space." "Come in." Commander Adama said as the chime went off. Omega walked into the quarters. "Commander Adama, long range scans have picked up five Cylon Basestars." Omega said. Both Commander Adama and Starbuck jumped right out of their chairs. Both men had a small look of surprise. "By the Lords of Kobal, call red alert." Adama told Omega. "Tell the fleet to split up and start moving immediately. Then we'll take the Galactica and move toward the Basestars. Maybe if we meet them it will allow more time for our fleet." Omega left the room leaving Adama and Starbuck standing alone. Both men knew and understood what was about to happen. They were the sacrifice to help save all of mankind and there could be no failure. Starbuck started for the door, then stopped in front of Adama. "It was an honor to serve under you sir." Starbuck said extending his hand. "Thank you Starbuck, you're one of the greatest pilots I've ever known." Adama sincerely said to him shaking Starbuck's hand. "I'll see you on the other side." Starbuck said turning back towards the door and walking out as the ship went to red alert leaving Adama to stare at the retreating form. He knew that Starbuck was right, but he could not help but feel tremendous sorrow about the coming attack. Adama paused at his desk, and picked up the burned picture of his wife and family. It was the same picture that he had rescued from his home. The familiar red alert sounded throughout the ship. He turned around looking at what had been his home for the last several yaharns with sadness in his eyes. As he left for the final time, he could not help but think of what he had thought after the destruction of the colonies, he was never there when it mattered. "May the Lord have mercy on my soul, I tried the best I could." He said into the empty room, then turned and walked towards the bridge with a confident stride. Boomer and Jolly stood next to each other not saying a word, they did not have to. They were fighting for time, time to allow the others to escape. Neither man figured to return from this battle, but they were calm and understanding. Starbuck came down the lift to see two of his friends waiting for him. "Well, looks like this is it!" Boomer stated neutrally, belying his true feelings. "Are you ready?" "Ready as I'll ever be." Starbuck replied clapping his hand upon Boomer's shoulder. "Let's make the Cylons regret the day they ever tangled with us." "I bet I take out more raiders then either of you." Jolly said challenging both of them. "You're on!" They both replied momentarily forgetting their desperate situation. The three of them walked over to their fighters and climbed up. They had to hold onto their helmets climbing into the cockpit, as the techs that did that job were no longer on the Galactica. Starbuck sat down in the cockpit and put on his helmet. He only partly listened to the reports that were being told to the pilots, he knew his job, and that he would not see this landing bay again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a recent picture of his wife and daughter. Normally pilots were not allowed to put pictures or anything else on the control panels, but he figured that no one would care. He went through the start up sequence and waited for the launch order. Adama stood silently on the bridge watching his crew work, treating the upcoming battle as if it were any other and Adama felt both proud and guilty. He knew that they could not win the battle; they had to be told what his feelings were. He walked over to the internal communications control and picked up the mike. "May I have everyone's attention please?" He said and watched as heads on the bridge looked up to hear what he had to say. "I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell all of you how proud I am of you. We have fought hard, but our toughest fight lies just ahead. We fight now for our very survival, and in time, those who escape will look back on this day, when we sacrificed ourselves to ensure our survival. Make us all proud." His small speech ended in silence as each crewmember contemplated what had been said. "Cylons are now launching raiders Commander." Omega reported. "Do we give the launch order now?" "Has the fleet started to dispersed yet?" "The ships have just started to leave." Omega replied. "Launch all fighters, tell them to engage the Cylons as far away from the fleet as possible." Adama said. "Flank speed for the nearest Basestar and ready missile launchers." "Nearest Basestar is targeted, increasing speed." Came the reply. "Missile launchers are standing by for your orders." "All vipers launch!" Starbuck took a breath and released it before bringing down his thumb on the thruster button. He felt the normal acceleration g's pushing him into his seat as the viper sped out of the launch tube. Other vipers were leaving the launch tubes in order to prevent a collision between launching vipers. As the squadrons formed up they remained on course toward the nearest raiders. It took only a few minutes before both sides were close enough for the battle to start. Space became a death zone as both sides engaged each other. Lasers lanced through space as fighting from both sides started to explode. Starbuck watched his targeting monitor as he lined up another raider. A quick press of his thumb and the Cylon raider exploded, and he continued on to his next target. Raiders were blown from space at an alarming pace, however the viper pilots were also taking loses. The difference between the two sides was that the Cylons had wave after wave approaching the Galactica. Starbuck watched as the Galactica went straight for the nearest Basestar. The two warships engaged each other, but he could no longer focus his attention on it as several more raiders converged on him. He made a quick evasive turn and engaged another raider. Starbuck found himself to be surprisingly calm despite the odds of the battle. His scanners indicated that another wave of raiders were approaching. On board the Galactica, Commander Adama watched as the ship passed by the fighters heading toward the nearest Basestar. He noticed that it appeared to be a more advanced design. 'I hope we can at least destroy this Basestar!' He thought to himself. "Have all weapons open fire when we are in range." 'Hopefully an aggressive tactic will give us an edge.' On board the Basestar one of the black centurions was making a report to his leader about the battle. "Speak centurion!" "The Galactica has ignored our raiders and appears to be heading right for us, their tactics are quite illogical!" "And what of our raiders, have they destroyed their vipers yet?" "Our raiders are encountering heavy resistance, and our loses are high, however raiders from the other Basestars are approaching the battle." "Then it is only a matter of time until the race known as mankind forever vanishes from space forever!" The commander said. "Have two other Basestars brought to make sure the Galactica is destroyed and have the rest destroy what remains of the human fleet." "By your command!" The centurion said then turned and left to carry out its task. Apollo walked down the corridor beside Lord Arkis and commander Derkik. Apollo glanced around at the smooth construction of his surroundings. He could tell that however the two races were connected, they were highly advanced. He wondered if they would be able to help in the battle against the Cylons, and perhaps the combined might of them both could finally defeat the Cylons. "I...holy...by Kobal!" Apollo heard one of his men say. He looked up and saw that they were looking out a window; he looked out the same window and just stared out it. They had a view of a huge lighted cavern, it was probably a hollowed out large asteroid. Scattered throughout the cavern they saw several large ships, most looked to be larger than the Galactica. "What is this place?" Apollo asked Derkik. "You're in our largest space station." He replied. "It was carved out of an asteroid. This allows us great deal of privacy." "How many ships are out there?" Apollo asked, curiosity tainting his voice. "We currently house about forty-five ships in this base." Arkis replied. "Other ships are scattered about in other hidden bases." 'Forty-five ships!' Apollo thought, 'that's more than we ever had against the Cylons.' "What are you going to do?" "Help you, of course!" Arkis replied leaving Apollo to ponder what he meant. His thoughts were interrupted by their arrival at what looked to be a high tech meeting room. "Welcome to our CIC Captain." Derkik said raising his hand to indicate the room. "From here we can watch everything that's happening." Apollo looked around and spotted what had to be the scanner readout. He was quite surprised as a halo image sprung up from the table. The image showed the surrounding area of space and the battle that had just started. It appeared that the Galactica had started to move toward the Cylon Basestars. "What's he doing?" Derkik said as he watched the Galactica head right towards a Cylon base ship. "Scanners indicate heavy damage to both warships commander." One controller reported. "The fleet is splitting up!" Apollo exclaimed in a bit of shock. "They're trying to give the fleet time to escape!" Indeed they could see the strategy that Adama was trying to do. The scanners showed the fleeing ships, but it also showed their pursers closing in. "They won't make it!" Apollo said sadly observing the screens. "And our ships here are to far away to be able to help in time." Derkik said in a calm voice. Are you just going to stand here, or are you going to help?" Apollo said, anger starting to creep into his voice. "If you don't leave now we can't help them!" "The battle is still young captain, besides I said from here." Derkik replied to the now angry captain and watched understanding light his eyes. "My Lord, section Gamma is ready to execute." An aide said before Apollo could respond. "Tell the second fleet to engage, and prepare first fleet to move out." Arkis ordered. Adama was almost thrown off his feet as the Galactica was hit again. The rest of the bridge crew quickly regained their composure and returned to their duties. Even though nobody thought that the Galactica would survive small repair crews worked on putting out fires and repairing critical equipment and weapons. "Commander, scanners indicate five Basestars closing in on our position, the rest are closing in on the fleet." Omega said. "It looks like most will be caught in the asteroid belt. Some might be able to hide in there and survive." The situation was becoming hopeless; Adama did not think any ship would survive. Another shout from Omega caused Adama even more concern, wondering what else could go wrong. "Scanners indicate unknown ships moving in the belt." 'A trap!' Adama thought, 'I should have seen it coming.' "Report centurion!" The Imperious Leader commanded. "The Colonial Warriors are giving our forces some heavy loses, however we will soon overwhelm them." The centurion reported. "And what of the Galactica?" "She is currently engaged with one of our base ships. We have four more base ships closing in on her." "And the rest of the fleet?" "Our forces should intercept most before they can reach the asteroid belt. " "Excellent!" Slowly creeping out of their asteroid bases, warships the like neither the Cylons nor the humans they were fighting had ever seen started to head into battle. Part 6 "Commander Adama, fighters coming in from in front of the fleet." An operator said. "More Cylon raiders!" Adama said quietly. "Damage report on the Cylon Basestar?" "Scanners indicate heavy damage sir!" Omega replied. "Our fighters are going to be caught between two large groups of enemy fighters." "Give a warning to those who remain, that's about all we can do." Adama said as the Galactica was rocked by another hit. "Commander, we have ships approaching us from front and rear quadrants." "Incoming ships and fighters from the asteroid belt do not match any known Cylon war machines!" Omega stated. "What?" Adama puzzled voice said. "Report centurion!" "By your command." The Centurion replied. "There are new reports of incoming warships and fighters from the asteroid belt." "Identification?" "Unknown. Orders?" "Continue the assault on the human fleet, and if the incoming ships attack wipe them out." "By you command!" The centurion said and left the room. Starbuck banked a hard right just narrowly missing incoming fire from a Cylon raider. The maneuver put him in perfect position for a shot on another raider. He quickly destroyed the raider and took a quick glance at his scanners. Boomer and Jolly were still holding their own, however they had suffered heavy loses, only a quarter were left and the Galactica did not appear to be fairing much better. To make matters worse he noticed more incoming fighters, from both the front and rear. "Heads up guys, more fighters on the way." Starbuck said. "Not much we can do about them Starbuck!" Jolly said while concentrating on staying alive. The newly arrived Cylon fighters engaged en mass against the remaining vipers and began to quickly overwhelm the warriors. Starbuck barely noticed that his wingmate had been blown up because of his own fight for survival. He did notice that the new Cylon raiders were the old style, ones that had less maneuverability then the newer ones. He tried to quickly finish off the fighter he was fighting. A Cylon fighter managed to get in behind him and fired several shots at him. By an instinct honed by more than years of fighting he dodge them all. 'It'll take more than that!' He thought as he took a quick glance at the photograph of his wife and daughter, and noticed what his computer was trying to tell him. Tigh watched from the bridge of the Rising Star as the battle unfolded. He saw that the Galactica and her fighters were engaging the Cylons a far away from the fleet as possible. Tigh took the opportunity and ran the opposite way. Tigh and the bridge crew were so engrossed in the fighting behind them they almost missed the incoming ships from in front of them. "We're gonna be caught!" One operator said in despair. The statement seemed to demoralize the crew even further. "Change course ten point five degrees to port." Tigh commanded. The Rising Star was a fast ship and he hoped he could out run the Cylons. "Colonel Tigh, the ships behind us are changing course to intercept us." The operator said. "What about the ones in front of us?" Tigh asked. "Their course has slightly changed, it appears that they are headed towards the Cylons and not us." The operator stated. "What?" Tigh said turning around quickly to see if there was some sort of miscommunication. "The incoming ships are not Cylon commander Adama." Omega told him. "The ships are still to far away to accurately tell, but they are not Cylon." 'Could the Cylons have allies out here?' Adama asked himself, but before he could formulate a reply the Galactica was hit again. "Major damage to starboard engine, maneuverability is severely limited commander." Omega informed him. "Less than half of our laser turrets are functional." Adama nodded his head knowing that the damage would only get worse. A fate he had accepted, but not wished for. The Galactica had served him well and he was saddened at the thought that this was how it was to end. "Commander, you're not going to believe this." Omega said startling Adama out of his thoughts. "What?" "Their human, Boomer!" Starbuck said while avoiding the Cylon fighters that were attacking him. "Your instruments must be wrong, recalibrate them." Tigh said not quite believing what the operator told him. "Scanners show they are functioning normally commander Adama." Omega said after making sure the scanners were working properly. "By the Gods, human!" Adama repeated, still not believing it. Starbuck quickly overcame his shock as the thought that he may still be able to see his family registered in his mind and a new fierceness overcame him. "Boomer, Jolly come in." He radioed. "Yeah!" They replied. "Lead the Cylons into the incoming fighters, they're human." Starbuck said stating his plan. "Okay!" On board the Rising Star's bridge Tigh was having similar thoughts. "Change our heading, go directly toward the fleet in front of us." He said, "And let's hope they're friendly." Everyone on the bridge silently agreed with him. The scanner operator watched with a bit of tension as the Cylons closed in from behind them. "They're within firing range now." He said as the first shots started to rock the starship. The Basestars opened fire on the small fleeing fleet. They launched their raiders to engage the fleet of ships. Back aboard the Galactica Commander Adama was receiving reports of the battle. He was concerned about the reports of a possible human fleet approaching. Another hit to the Galactica brought his attention back to the Basestar they were engaged with. "Fire missiles!" Adama commanded. Missiles streaked toward the Basestar and impacted against its shields. The advanced Basestar had stronger shields, but they were not enough to stop the force of the missiles. The hull broke up with the force of the explosion leaving the Basestar's reactor to go critical, within seconds the Basestar exploded leaving only debris. The bridge crew of the Galactica did not have time to rejoice in their brief victory as five more Basestars and several other ships were approaching. "Commander Adama, incoming message." Omega said pausing for a second. "Its from Apollo!" "Put it through." Adama said and watched as his son's face appeared on the screen. "Apollo!" "Hello father!" Apollo said. "Looks like you could use some help?" "You found us some allies, incredible!" Adama said. "More like they found me." Apollo replied to his father. "How bad is she?" "The Galactica will hold on Apollo." Adama replied. "The incoming ships from the asteroid belt are friendly, for some reason they like to remain hidden." Apollo told his father. In space the new allies of the Colonial Warriors started to engaged the Cylons. Starbuck watched as the newly arriving fighters engaged the Cylon raiders. With the arrival of fresh fighter the tide began to turn against the Cylons. Several raiders were taken out quickly before they realized which side the newcomers were fighting on became clear. "Speak centurion!" The Imperious Leader said. "By your command." The centurion replied. "The battle with the humans is not going as planned." "Explain centurion?" The Imperious Leader ordered. "There appears to have been a force of armed humans hiding in the asteroid belt. Our forces are being overwhelmed." "Why didn't we detect them before the battle?" "They appear to be capable of hiding from our scanners." The centurion explained. "Tell our forces to withdrawal from the battle at once." The Imperious Leader ordered. "If they are able to." "Explain?" "Many of our forces have been surrounded already, it may already be to late." The centurion said. In the places where the battles were raging the Cylons found themselves against a foe whose weapons were better than the Colonial Warriors they had fought for a thousand yahrens. Starbuck noticed that the new fighters were more maneuverable than either their vipers or the Cylon raiders, however the new fighters were slower. Starbuck glanced at his fuel gage and realized that he needed to land real soon, or else he would be floating in space in the middle of a battle. He wondered about the rest of his squadron, if they were as low as he was. "Attention Colonial Warriors, this is Captain Johnson." A voice said over his radio. "I realized you are probably running low on fuel, if you can land in our hangers you are welcome to land. We will continue your fight." Starbuck hesitated for a second looking at his fuel gage and the picture of his family. He took a deep breath before he answered the message. "Jolly, Boomer, they're right, if we don't head to a ship right now we will be floating in space. I say we trust them, after all they appear to be on our side." "You're right Starbuck, I just don't know if we can trust them just yet." Boomer said as he banked his fighter and shot another Cylon raider. "I don't think we have many options left here Starbuck." Jolly said making his opinion known. "If I don't land soon I'll be out of fuel." Jolly said glancing at his fuel gage. Starbuck took a quick glance around a noticed that the newcomers had turned the tide of the battle they were facing. Their fighters were more of a flat wedge shaped vehicle, but they were extremely maneuverable even though they were slower than the Cylon raiders. "Starbuck." A familiar voice said over the communications. "Apollo?" Starbuck sad with some excitement in his voice. "Is that you?" "Yes Starbuck, you probably don't have much time so get going!" Apollo said. "Adama already knows what is going on." "Ok, lets head for the nearest allied ship." Starbuck said as he swung his fighter around and headed toward one of the new comers capital ships. Tigh watched as the ships that came from the asteroid belt engaged the Basestars that were closing in on the Rising Star. The ship had taken a few hits, but damage control teams were taking care of the problems and the ship would be able to continue its journey. "Colonel Tigh, I have Commander Adama on the line for you." The communication officer said. "Put him through." Tigh said wondering what was going on. "Tigh, start getting in touch with the remainder of the fleet and tell them to return, we've found some allies." Adama said to him. "I noticed that we had some allies, who are they?" Tigh asked him. "I don't know yet." Adama replied. "Only that my son is with them and trusts them, and that is good enough for me." "How's the Galactica?" Tigh asked, concerned about the Battlestar. "She suffered some serious damage, but it would have been a lot worse if they hadn't shown up." Adama replied looking around the smoky bridge. The fires on the bridge had been put out, and there was still some fires going on in the lower decks and the alpha landing bay, but otherwise the ship had held up quite well. "She'll survive Tigh. What about you?" "I was concerned for a while, but when they started to attack the Cylons, well, I felt a bit better." Tigh said to Adama. "I'll let the rest of the fleet know what's going on commander." "I know you will." Adama let his second in command work on notifying the fleet as he concentrated on getting the Galactica's fires under control. The battle had been close; he had almost commanded a suicide-ramming run on the Basestar when the new incoming ships had opened fire upon the Basestars. Now that there was time to think about what happened he wondered if the newcomers were the residents of Earth? Adama figured that he would get his answers soon enough, but for now they were alive and had found some new allies who could hold their own against the Cylons, allies such as them could be helpful. Starbuck walked wearily down the corridor following a young woman who was leading him to a room where he could rest. Two other pilots were with him, and they also looked as tired as he felt. She stopped at a door and opened it and motioned them inside. Starbuck walked inside and looked around, there were several cots set up in the room and another door on the side of the room. "If you need anything just push this button right here." She said pointing out the intercom to them. "The door controls are located just below the intercom, although I would suggest you stay here and not wonder around, you might get lost." "Of course." Starbuck said agreeing with her, and watched her leave the room. He walked over to the intercom and tried the door. The lever to open the door was not difficult to learn, flip it up and the door closed, down and it opened. With the door opened he looked out into the corridor. Much to his surprise he noticed Boomer's head also sticking out just a few doors down. "Boomer!" Part 7 The wounded Galactica made its way back to the planet called Earth slowly because of the battle damage it had sustained. The crew that had remained aboard had finally gotten the fires under control. Battling the fires had taken quite a lot of time and effort. The fires had not been put out as quickly because of the lack of fire control personal that would have normally been aboard. Adama had not been expecting any help to appear. When he realized that they just might survive that battle he put as many people as he could spare to fight the fires and repair the damaged systems on board. The vipers that survived the fighting were taken on board the allied ship because of damage to the Galactica's landing bays. It would be some time before the landing bays would be operational again. "Omega, how many ships did we lose?" Adama asked his current second in command who was standing on the bridge next to Rigel. "I don't know about the vipers, but we lost sixteen ships of the fleet." Omega replied. "Sixteen!" Adama whispered to himself. He knew sixteen ships lost were considered light given the situation, but he still mourned the loss of life. Without the help of their new allies the losses would have been much worse, perhaps everyone could have been destroyed. He was just glad that the Rising Star had survived the battle. "Get in touch with our allies and find out how many of our pilots survived." "Yes, Commander!" Omega replied and started toward the communications monitor to carry out his orders. Adama wondered how many had survived the battle; he knew it would have been worse if their new allies had not shown up. He wondered about their origins and if they were the original inhabitants of the planet he now considered Earth. That thought brought up another thought. They had now found Earth, would they stay, or should the fleet move on, especially now that the Cylons had found them again. "Commander." Omega's voice pulled Adama out of his thoughts for the moment. "Go ahead Omega." "They say that twenty-one of our pilots were picked up on their ships sir!" Omega reported to his commander. He himself was not expecting so many survivors, but that was just a testament of the training and skill of the human pilots over the Cylons. "They'll be giving us the names of he pilots in just a bit." The fleet was only left with twenty-four pilots, the twenty-one picked up by their new allies and Apollo and the other two that were with him. There was no way that the Galactica could adequately protect the fleet with so few viper pilots left and one very damaged Battlestar Adama thought to himself. He would have to talk to their new allies to see if they would help them. Apollo stated that they could meet as soon as he was ready, and Adama would determine the place. He would have to meet them on board one of their ships, as the damage on the Galactica did not make it a place he wished to meet visitors. "Starbuck, I'm glad to see that you made it." Boomer said as they relaxed in one of the room on board what they called the Bismarck. "I heard that Commander Adama is going to be coming here to meet with our new allies." Starbuck said. "Apparently the Galactica is still heavily damaged." "Looks like we might be here for a while Starbuck." Jolly said joining them. They had been allowed an area for them to gather and relax. On the Bismarck there were ten pilots, the rest were scattered aboard three other ships. Through communications with the other ships they had learned that Bojay and Sheba had also survived the fight, which they were glad to hear. "I heard that the Commander and Apollo would be aboard soon." Starbuck said to the others. "Perhaps we can find out who they are, and if we will be staying here or moving on." Boomer said, he personally hoped they would be staying. He wanted to get to know one of the Bismarck's crewmembers. "You just want to stay in order to get to know her better Boomer." Starbuck said, ribbing his friend a little. Boomer neither agreed nor disagreed with Starbuck's statement, Boomer knew that Starbuck was worried about his wife and daughter aboard the Rising star. Apollo boarded a shuttle with lord Arkis and commander Derkik. They told Apollo that they were headed to the warship Bismarck and a meeting with his father, Commander Adama. Lord Arkis told Apollo that he would answer any questions that they had in the meeting, that way he would only have to tell the story once. On the way over to the meeting Apollo thought about how lucky they had been. Starbuck, Boomer and Jolly had all survived the battle, even though he knew some of his friends he had lost. He had talked to Sheba ad learned that Bojay had also survived the battle. From his father he learned that the Galactica had been badly damaged in the battle and it would take some time to bring her up to fighting form. If their new allies had not come to help Apollo knew that the fleet would have been destroyed, it was bad enough that they had lost fifteen ships. "Captain, are you ok?" Arkis asked Apollo when he noticed how quiet the captain had become. "Yes, just thinking." Apollo replied. Arkis and Derkik nodded in understanding. A short while later they touched down on the Bismarck's landing bay and were disembarking from the shuttle. Apollo looked around the bay to see if his father had arrived yet. There were several vipers parked around the area, but no shuttle from the Galactica yet. "We've just received word that the Galactica's shuttle is on her way and should be here in a couple of minutes." Arkis told Apollo. "I'm sure that you want to see your friends captain, Ensign Troe will show you the way." Arkis said gesturing toward a young women standing near the doorway. "Thanks, I think I will see them." Apollo said to his hosts. "I would like to be present at the meting." "Of course, you and any of your friends are welcome." Derkik told Apollo as he started toward the doorway and Ensign Troe. Apollo nodded his thanks and followed the young ensign down several corridors to where Starbuck and Boomer were. Apollo found his two friends sitting down playing a game of pyramids with some of the local shipmates of the Bismarck. "You guys are not corrupting our hosts now are you?" Apollo asked the two who chose to try to look innocent. "I don't know what you're taking about captain." Starbuck said raising his hands in a defeating gesture. "Boomer and I are just trying to have some fun." "Don't bring me into this Starbuck." Boomer said pointing his finger at Starbuck. "It was all you fault." "Traitor!" Starbuck said as Apollo watched the two of the banter back and forth leaving a couple of confused players watching them. "They do this all the time." Apollo told the others. Starbuck got up and gave him a bear hug. "I wasn't sure that I would ever see you again buddy!" Starbuck said to Apollo. "So who are our hosts?" Boomer asked Apollo as they both sat down. ''I believe that they are the thirteenth tribe." Apollo told his two friends. "My father should be here soon. I just wanted to know if you two were interested in joining us?" "You bet!" Starbuck said with some excitement in his voice. "I've been very curious about our hosts." ''How soon will commander Adama be here?" Boomer asked his friend. ''Well I was told that he would be touching down real soon." Apollo replied. "Ah, Apollo?" Starbuck said motioning Apollo to the side he whispered, "The Rising Star, did it..." "Did it survive?" Apollo finished for him. "Yeah?" Starbuck replied confirming what Apollo figured his friend was asking. "They made it." Apollo said, and watched as relief flooded Starbuck's face. Commander Adama watched from the view port as the shuttle approached the warship Bismarck. He noticed that the warship was smaller than the Galactica was, but the Bismarck looked like she was designed for all out space warfare. Her outer hull was dotted with laser cannons and other assorted weapon systems and sensors. He wondered how many other ships like her their new allies had on their fleet. They might even have enough ships in their fleet to fight the Cylons. Another thought entered his head as he was looking at the ship, what if the Bismarck was not the most powerful ship in their fleet. The question buzzed around his head and the only people with any answers was the ones he was about to meet with. Adama felt the familiar jolt of the shuttle landing on the flight deck and knew that the shuttle had landed. He wondered if his son would be waiting for him, he knew that he would be present for the meeting, but he did not know if Apollo was already on board yet. "Well, here goes nothing." Adama muttered to himself. "Did you say something sir?" The pilot asked him as she leaned back to look at him. "Oh!" Adama looked up a bit startled at his pilot not knowing that he had spoken that loud enough for her to hear. "Nothing to important." He told her and smiled reassuringly. "We've landed sir!" She told him. "Ok!" He replied to her and got up out of his chair. He was a bit anxious to start the meeting. Lord Arkis and Commander Derkik waiting for him, however there was no sign of his son. Adama took a quick look around the landing bay to see if his son was somewhere else. "If you're looking for your son he is with the other pilots." The smaller man said to Adama. "He will be joining us in our meeting." "Oh, he must have been worried about his friends." Adama reasoned logically. He and Starbuck were like brothers, and secretly Adama thought of the rash viper pilot as a son. ''Were there any injuries to any of the pilots?" "No, your pilots are quite good." Derkik replied, complimenting Adama on his warriors from what Derkik had been told by his own pilots. "Thank you." Adama said quietly absorbing the compliment. "Most were veterans and were used to fighting the Cylons. If you and your military hadn't shown up when they did, well we probably wouldn't be here now." "If you are ready commander, there is much that we have to discuss." Arkis said motioning both commanders to the side door. "Captain!" A young woman said to Apollo. "Yes!" Apollo answered as he turned around to face her. "Lord Arkis said that you wished to be informed as to when Commander Adama arrived?" She said to him. "He's here already?" Apollo asked already knowing the answer. "He and Lord Arkis are on their way to the meeting room." The aid replied. "Thanks!" Apollo replied to her. "Well guys are you ready?" He asked Starbuck and Boomer. "Yeah, let's go!" They both replied and followed the young women out of the room. A couple of minutes later the three pilots were shown into a meeting room where lord Arkis, Commander Derkik and Commander Adama were seated. "Come in gentlemen! " Lord Arkis told them. "We were just about to start. I'm sure that all of you have some questions about us." Arkis said watching his guests' reaction. Adama and the other two pilots seemed to he more interested than Captain Apollo, then again the captain and Arkis had talked more than the others. "How about the most obvious question." Adama said looking right at Arkis. "Is this Earth?" "Yes! This is Earth!" Arkis replied. "You're probably wondering what happened?" All four of his guests nodded their heads. "I'm not really sure of what really happened, but I'll give it my best shot!" He watched as everyone, including Derkik, was now looking at him with a lot of interest. "I'm not sure I understand?" Adama questioned leaning forward as if to hear the answer better. "Well!" Arkis sighed. "Most of our resent history has been destroyed or rewritten for political reason's. Because of this the real reasons for the start of what we now call the Colony Wars. Rumor has it that the war started over trade between Earth's government and the colonies. The official reason was the colonies attacked Earth because the colonies wanted to overthrow the government." "So the winner of the war was able to change the reasons for the beginning of the war." Apollo asked trying to understand the reason. "Yes Captain Apollo, that is correct. But in this case no one won the war, therefore we have several 'reasons' for the war." Arkis told them. "Another problem is that no one knows how long the war lasted. From what I've been able to piece together about the war and some educational guesses I'd say the war lasted over six hundred years." "Years?" Starbuck asked, confused about the term. "Years are a period of time that is defined as the amount of time that is required for the planet Earth to orbit around our sun." Commander Derkik explained. "Similar to our yahrens." Apollo exclaimed. "Whoa!" Boomer said as he realized how long the war went on. "How long has there been at peace?" "We've been at peace for almost one hundred years now!" Arkis answered. "That's almost as long as we've been fighting the Cylons." Adama said in disbelief. "So how did the war end?" "That's the interesting part about the war. It never really ended, it just faded away. After a while the fighting started to die down because the original sides of the war, the Earth government and the Colonies, had faded away. Neither sides government was working effectively anymore and anarchy ruled. In a weird twist technology still advanced at a rapid pace. Eventually the war broke down to feuding rival families, until a new stronger government came to power. It became a form of elected dictatorship. I am the current dictator." Arkis told the group. "That answers my question about who we need to talk to." Adama said. "Do you have the authority to make decisions Commander Adama?" Arkis asked. "I have the authority to make a short term treaty for survival purposes, but a longer treaty will need the approval of our council." Adama replied to the asked question. "Yes, I see!" Arkis said nodding his head before continuing. "Now let's see, where was I, oh yeah! With a new government the survivors of the war slowly banded together and we have just recently begun the process of recolonizing Earth when your fleet appeared. You and your people are welcome to stay with us." "We would like to, however, it appears that the Cylons have found us. I would have a hard time staying here with our enemies so close behind us." Adama told him. "Nonsense!" Derkik responded. "I believe that my warriors are quite looking forward to this new threat." "In due time, Commander. Right now we should work towards seeing if our guests would like to stay." Arkis told his commander. "I would like to extend my hospitality to you and your fellow travelers Commander Adama, anyone who wishes to stay can." "I'll let everyone know about your decision." Adama told Arkis. "However I know that some of us have military concerns?" "Ah, yes! The Cylons, we should have enough military craft to help defend you from them." Derkik said with confidence in his voice. Starbuck and Boomer looked at each other with a bit of shock. "Are you sure?" Starbuck asked him. "After all, we have been fighting them for a long time." "True, however, we have been fighting among ourselves. Your technology is almost the same level as ours is, and our fleet is very large." Derkik answered. "I believe what Commander Derkik is saying is that our forces are quite large. What you saw was a small part of our military forces." Arkis said shocking the group. "My people are spread across several solar systems and each has a large military, left from our war." "Just how large is your military?" Boomer asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "We have five active fleets each with over two hundred warships, not including supporting ships." Arkis said. "That's over a thousand ships!" Starbuck whispered to himself in shock starting to realize the true extent of their allies' power. "Commander, I hope that you and your people will stay here and help us recolonize our planet." Arkis said. "I can promise you complete support from our government." "I'll talk with our council." Adama said. "I look forward to talking to you again." Arkis said as the men got up. Part 8 "Well, what do you think Starbuck?" Apollo asked his friend when they were back on board the shuttle and headed to the Rising Star because of the damage to the Galactica and most of the council was on the Rising Star. Those council members that were not on the Rising Star could get there quickly. "I'm not sure. They appear to be highly advanced, yet their government seems to be almost primitive." Starbuck said after some thought. "However, I do feel that they would make great allies to us, what about you Boomer?" "It they have the military capacity that they claim they have, they might be able to protect us for a while." Adama said. "I was able to see one of their bases, and let me tell you, I was quite impressed with the number of ships that they had." Apollo stated to his father. "They had over twenty ships inside just that one base and they said that they had several more scattered around the system. Even if they had five other bases that would mean that they have at least a hundred warships." "That's more than we ever had fighting the Cylons in our entire war." Adama said. "Did either of you two see how well their fighters fared against the Cylon raiders?" Adama questioned Boomer and Starbuck. "Well, their fighters were a bit slower, but they were definitely more maneuverable than anything I've ever seen." Starbuck said and Boomer agreed with Starbuck's assessment of the fighter's performance. "They have the military power to back up their claims, I guess the question is should we stay, what do you three think?" Adama said trying to gage their responses to his question. "Father, they would make great allies in our fight against the Cylons. They could be the allies we need against them." Apollo told his father. "Well if they have the military firepower, my only question would be how would we integrate our government with theirs?" Starbuck said giving his own opinion. "I have to agree with Starbuck and Apollo Commander." Boomer said adding his thoughts as well. "We've lost too many warriors and the Galactica is still heavily damaged, I don't see how we can not take their offer to stay, at least for a while." Adama said. "I just hope that the council will agree." Lord Arkis and Commander Derkik sat in the conference room after their guests had left for their own ship. Derkik shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What's the matter commander?" Arkis asked. "You didn't tell them everything." Derkik asked feeling a bit strange. "Why?" "Actually commander, what I told them was the truth." Arkis answered and Derkik looked a bit skeptical at his leader. "I don't follow?" "What are we to say, welcome to Earth, but we are all clones from a war that nobody remembers how it got started! We have an opportunity to do what we we're created for, war, this time we can help save our civilization, instead of destroying it." Cassiopeia waited anxiously with her daughter in her arms as the shuttle landed. She had been overjoyed to learn that Starbuck had survived the battle; she knew that many of their friends did not make it through the battle. She had not been able to speak with him yet, but she had received word from Tigh that Starbuck had survived and that the fleet had received some allies. Although Tigh had been vague on what had happened she had learned enough to understand what had happened. Athena stood next to Cassiopeia and was also waiting for the shuttle. Apollo and Adama were also on board and Cassiopia had seen the transformation in Athena when she had learned that her father and her brother were all right. They both looked at the exit when the shuttle had landed and the door to the shuttle had opened. Cassiopia could hardly contain her tears of joy and hugged her daughter to her when Starbuck walked out of the door. As for Starbuck, he decided that there could not have been a better sight in the entire galaxy then his wife's face at that moment. He ran up to them and gave them a hug. Apollo and boomer watched their friend and had never seen him be so emotional. Apollo decided that if he thought he would never see his child again then he would feel the same way. He saw Boxey standing next to his sister and thought for the first time how grown up he looked. It would not be long and he could join the military if he wanted to. He gave his sister a welcoming hug and his son a hug as well. Adama was grateful that Colonel Tigh had showed up as well. "Are all of the council members here yet?" He asked Tigh. "Yes sir, and most are already in the meeting room. They've been asking what's going on, unfortunally I don't know all of the answers." Tigh told him, in fact they had been running him ragged trying to get some answers. "I'll take care of them." Adama said to Tigh. "I need you to start rounding up the surviving ships of the fleet and get an inventory of damage." "Yes sir!" Tigh replied and then walked off to carry out his order, but stopped after a step and turned back to Adama. "It's good to see you old friend." Then turned back around and left the room. Adama had thought the same thing as he was headed back on over to the Rising Star. He turned to look at his daughter who probably thought she would never see her father again when they had left each other on board the Galactica. "I'm going to go on ahead and meet with the council and get that taken care of." Adama told the group and then went on to the room that the council was in. The rest of the group watched as Adama walked out of the room. Each was wondering what was going to happen in the meeting and what the future held for them. Adama walked into the meeting room where all of the council members were waiting. "Adama, what is the situation of the Galactica?" One of the council members asked Adama almost as soon as he walked in the room, but he was expecting the question ad was prepared for it. "I won't lie to you," Adama told the group, "the Galactica has suffered severe damage to just about all systems. I doubt that we could get the Battlestar back in action quickly." "Are we stuck here?" "Where are we?" "Is this Earth?" "Who help us?" The questions came faster than Adama could answer or hear. "Wait!" Adama said in a loud commanding voice. The room went silent. "I know that many of you have questions and I'll try to answer as many as I can. First off, yes we have reached the thirteenth colony, Earth. They have extended a welcoming to us." "So what's the catch Adama?" One council member asked him. "The only thing that could effect a peaceful arrangement between us." Adama told the council. "From what I've beard about their government they operate a form of dictator democracy." "A dictator democracy?" One council member questioned. "I know it sounds a bit strange, however, its how they have managed to survive a civil war that almost destroyed them." Adama told them giving the council a shortened version of what Arkis had told him. "So there will be some political issues that will be needed to overcome." "What about their military capabilities?" Another council member asked. "Will they be able to protect us while the Galactica is under repair?" "Their military, if what Lord Arkis said is true, is very powerful. They have over two hundred warships in their fleets." Adama told them knowing that the number was over what the colonies ever had. "Are you sure?" "Colonel Tigh and I counted at least fifteen warships that came to our rescue and Apollo told me that in one of their bases they had over thirty ships." Adama said. "I believe that they had the military might to fight the Cylons for some time." "So they have the military capabilities to help fight the Cylons, the question I have is do they have the will to fight our enemies?" One of the members near Adama asked. "I feel that they are willing to help us in our fight, they almost seemed anxious to fight. It was a bit strange to hear that kind of talk, they were so full of confidence it almost was scary." Adama replied to the council. "My question to you is do we try to stay for a while or do we try to leave as quickly as possible?" "I put forth the motion to vote on whether or not to accept their help or not." The council member right next to Adama said. "I second the motion." A second council member said putting forth a motion to vote on the measure that would decide the fate of the fleet and their people. "By your command!" A black centurion said to the Imperious Leader. "Report Centurion!" The Cylon Imperious Leader asked the centurion who had walked into the room. "Our forces have been defeated. An unknown military force has destroyed all Basestars. The Galactica survives and the colonial fleet has still survived." The Centurion reported. "How is this possible?" "Our forces almost had the Colonial Warriors and their fleet at the verge of destruction when some new forces came into the battle. The new forces appear to be human." "Human? Explain!" "There is no known record of human forces in this area. The only logical explanation is that the human group has been in hiding since we had discovered the system." "Get reports about the new human military forces." "Lord Arkis!" A young woman said as she walked into the room where Arkis and Derkik were. "Report!" Arkis told her. "There is long range scans of a Cylon fleet approaching the Sol system, what are your orders?" She asked him. "Alert the Kirov battle group for immediate departure to intercept the Cylon forces and destroy them." Arkis told the women who left to carry out his orders. He turned to Derkik who was standing next to him and said. "Well, looks like we have a war on our hands, regardless if our new friends stay or not." "Yes, it looks like it." Derkik said with a smile, feeling the thrill of battle course through his veins. It had been to long since they had been at war and many were ready for a fight. "At least this time we won't be fighting each other." Arkis had to agree with the commander and nodded his head. Omega stood on the bridge of the damaged Galactica, which was orbiting the planet Earth, overseeing the repair process. There were a few people on the bridge keeping a watch out for any more Cylon movement and bringing the fleet back together. "Sir!" One of the operators said. "What is it?" Omega asked. "We're getting ship movement from the asteroid belt! The ships appear to be headed away from us and toward the Cylon Empire." "What do our long range scanners show?" "Long range scanners are still under repair. Two of the ships just disappeared!" "Disappeared?" Omega questioned. "Yes sir! I think that the two ships accelerated beyond our scanners abilities." 'Damn! What is going on out there?' Omega said to himself. "Any word from our new allies as to what is going on?" "Not yet sir!" "Keep tracking the ships and let me know when the long range scanners are operational again." Omega told the operator. Just beyond the Earth star system two Cylon Basestars slowly approached to start scanning the system that now housed the Galactica and the rest of the fleeing fleet. The main mission of the Cylon fleet was to gain information about the new human military that had helped the Galactica. The Cylon Basestars at first registered six ships, but the number jumped down to four when two of the ships just disappeared. The Cylons put the quirk to a glitch in their scanners, but there was four ships headed toward them. Knowing that their mission was a failure the two Basestars made a hasty retreat, somehow the humans from this system had detected them early. The Earth fleet was not in a hurry to catch up with the Cylon Basestars, they were just herding the ships into a trap. Two Earth ships had gone into a hyperspace warp that would not be traceable by the Cylon s ships and were waiting for the Cylons ahead of them. The Cylon Basestars ever knew what hit them as the two forward Earth ships engaged with deadly accuracy. Fighters streamed toward the Basestars and started to engage before the Cylons were able to even counter attack. Laser fire around the Basestars was very heavy as the Basestars tried to fend off the fighters with defensive laser fire. A few of the fighters were destroyed, but without defensive fighter support the outcome of the battle was clearly on the side of the human Earth fleet. A few Cylon raiders managed to launch and it seemed that the Cylons might make a break for it when the other four ships caught up and engaged the Cylon Basestars, their fate was now sealed. "By your command." The centurion said. "Report centurion." The Imperious Leader said. "Our two Basestars the were sent in to scout the enemy defenses have been destroyed" "How?" "It appears that a trap was laid and both Basestars were destroyed." "Interesting! It appears that these new humans are more cunning then the Colonial Warriors were." "What are your orders?" "We shall wait." Adama stood on the bridge of the rising Star listening to Omega's report and wondered what was going on. The council had decided to stay for the time being, and anyone who wanted to leave could do so. "Commander," the captain of the Rising Star said. "We have a message coming in from Lord Arkis." "Greetings Lord Arkis." Adama said. "Commander Adama, a pleasure to speak to you again." Arkis replied. "I have some news to report to you." Adama's eyebrows went up with that statement and he wonder if Arkis would mention anything about the ships that had left the system. Arkis continued speaking. "As you probably know several of our warships left the system to attack two Cylon warships." "They were scouting your defenses." Adama said. "Well then, they realized that it will take more than two Basestars to even start to make a scratch in our defenses." Arkis said. "You mean that your forces defeated two Basestars." Adama asked. "Yes, we were able to set up a trap and we defeated them quite easily. What do you know of their military capabilities?" Arkis asked. "I would like to begin an offensive campaign as soon as possible. " Arkis asked a stunned Adama. Part 9 "What?" Adama repeated with a bit of surprise in his voice. "I would like to start conducting offensive campaigns against the Cylons as soon as possible to keep them off balance." Arkis repeated to Adama. "Are you crazy, we fought the Cylons for over a thousand yehrens and lost the war." Adama said allowing the words to come out for the first time. "Commander Adama," Arkis said politely, having heard the bitterness of his words and speculated that it was the first time the proud commander had ever spoken those words. "With all due respect, there have been something that I haven't told you about us yet." "Are you saying you lied to me then!" Adama said. "No, everything I told you was true, I just left some things out." "Well?" Adama said waiting for an explanation. "Well, it's like this." Arkis said starting his tale. "Our race is a race of clones that were engineered for war and we failed our creators. We were created to protect our creators and destroy their enemies; unfortunately we succeeded to well in that mission. It wasn't long before all who were left were clones, and we decided to stop the war. The people we were fighting for and against no longer existed and the reasons for the war we no longer knew. We still thirst for battle commander, and many of us almost welcome this opportunity for battle." "I see." Adama said a bit perplexed at the news that Arkis had told him. Adama wondered if this news would effect the councils' decisions. He knew that he would have to consult the council with this news. After a few minutes of silence Adama continued. "I guess you're ready to start fighting again." "Don't let our being clones destroy our relationship commander, we are trying to create a normal society, but we need help." Arkis told Adama. "Now I don't understand, aside from military, uh, counseling I don't know what we could have that you would need help with." Adama said a bit perplexed with Arkis' statement. "Well, this is a bit embarrassing to us, but I'm afraid that we don't know how to have a normal society commander." Arkis told Adama. "You see, my people know nothing f a civil society, all we have ever know is war. This dictator democracy is the beginning of our attempts to begin a society that includes something besides war." Arkis said continuing leaving Adama feeling closer to what really happened to the people of Earth. "We could really us your help in this aspect of our growth." "Do you still know the technology of cloning?" Adama asked, knowing that this would be an important part of the debate with the council later in the day. Arkis' answer would probably determine how the council voted. "I'm afraid commander that we have lost the secret to that technology, I'm afraid that I can't give it to you." Arkis said almost apologetically. "I'm afraid you misunderstood what I meant, I'm glad you no longer know how. That knowledge would have worked against you in our council." Adama said and continued when he saw the confused look in Arkis' eyes. "The council might have considered you like the Cylons in nature." "Ah, yes I understand now, your son Apollo mentioned that about the Cylons, and I can now see how you would view us the same way." Arkis said with understanding in his voice. "I assure you Commander Adama that we only wish to try to become like our 'ancestors' were, and by ancestors I mean those who live here before us. We have started to view ourselves as a new beginning to mankind here on Earth. Will this mean that you may not stay?" "I don't think it will make much difference, the fact that you and you people are so well adapted to war will probably negate the fact that you are clones. How old are you?" Adama asked as the thought jumped into his head. "Well, our aging has been slowed down, but I am over eight hundred years old." Arkis said to a now shocked Adama. 'Eight hundred years old, that's about eight hundred yehrens old!' Adama thought to himself. "You look to be about my age." Adama said. "How long do you live?" "We don't really know, but estimates have put it around nine hundred years. We've only seen a few people die of old age, and it is a rapid aging process." Arkis told Adama. "We are able to reproduce and we have had a few children born to a couple of couples. The children appear to have a diluted slowing of their aging like we do, but it appears that the growing up phase takes some of that aging process away, but they still have an extended life cycle." "Aside from the aging process is there anything else of any difference?" Adama asked. "No, the aging difference is the only one. We have recently uncovered documents containing information that they were working on enhancing the clones strength and trying to make new clones that were immune to space for a short period of time." Arkis told Adama. "But from all other accounts they never got beyond the experiment stage, and no one wants to try and find out." "I don't blame them." Adama said laughing a little along with Arkis. Adama then went serious. "I'll see about sending my son, Apollo and a couple of others over to give you some information while I talk to our council." "Sounds good enough to me, till we talk again commander." Arkis said signing off. "Well, this should prove interesting!" Adama whispered to himself, but loud enough for Tigh to hear what he said. "Do you think that this will change the council's vote?" Tigh asked him. "I don't know old friend, I don't know." Adama answered him and walked off the bridge to look for his son and his friends. Adama found his son and his friends in Cassiopia's room. Starbuck was playing with his daughter, Alieva, on the floor while Boomer and Apollo watched on. Athena and Boxey were at the table playing a game. Apollo noticed his father walk in and went over to ask what was wrong. "Nothing to much, or at least nothing for you to worry about." Adama told his son. "I do need volunteers to help out our new allies with their fight against the Cylons, and I was hoping that you and either Starbuck or Boomer would go with you. "I think Boomer would be glad to go, Starbuck would have to make up his own mind." Apollo said not knowing if this latest fight had made Starbuck want to stay with his family. "I think he probably will go." Cassiopia said from where she was sitting watching her husband and daughter play with each other. "You both know that he wouldn't pass up this opportunity." Adama nodded his head, he remembered the choices he had made in life and wondered if he had concentrated more on his family if he to would have died on Caperica with his wife. He did not think about that too much, he still had a son, a daughter and a grandson. He also felt that he had an adopted son in Starbuck. "Pass up what?" Starbuck said having only caught part of the conversation, and looked at Cassiopeia and Adama. Adama looked up and noticed that everyone now had their attention on him. "Well," he cleared his throat, "Our new allies would like some advisers on their war against the Cylons, and they want to plan an offensive engagement as soon as possible." "An offensive engagement?" Apollo said unbelievable. "Are they sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." Adama replied "We all know that they have quite a lot of firepower at their disposal, the only thing I don't know anymore is how well equipped the Cylons are now." "They were able to match the Cylons in firepower during the battle." Starbuck said recalling the battle. "What are their fighting capabilities?" "Well, if Arkis' word can be trusted, then they have over a thousand warships in their fleet." Adama told the group. "They are also clones." "Clones?" The others all replied as one. "Yes clones. They were 'built' for war and they have been feeling a bit restless." Adama said. "They apparently don't age very fast and for the past hundred yehrens they have been trying to develop a civilian society. That has been something that has been hard for them to do considering their past. They also feel that this is their opportunity to make up for their failure." "What failure?" Cassiopia asked. "They failed because the ones they were protecting were all killed." Adama told them. "They all seem to feel that we are their redemption." "So we're just supposed to sit back and allow them to fight for us." Apollo said. "I don't know Apollo, but I think that they would allow us to fight with them, but right now the Galactica needs some serious repairs and our defense forces are almost depleted." Adama replied with reason. "It would take a least a yehren to get our forces up to what they were before that last attack." Everyone in the room knew that Adama spoke the truth. Their forces had taken quite a blow in the last battle, the Galactica could barely move, the fleet was about out of fuel and the viper squadrons were only a quarter of what they should be. "You know," Starbuck said. "He's right. Besides, it will be interesting to be an advisor, that's something I've never been, and I'll be in less risk." "We might even start to begin a normal life again." Apollo said. "Has the council said anything about this?" "Not yet, we're meeting in a few centions. Then I'll give my reply to Arkis, I can tell him that I have some advisors for him?" Adama said to the three who all nodded their heads. "Good." "I hear that there is some developments with our new allies?" A council member said as Adama walked into the room. "Yes." Adama said as he sat down at the head of the table. "I would like you all to hear me out before you begin your questions." Adama told the group and waited until they all seemed to agree with him. "I was talking to Lord Arkis, who is their leader, and he wants to begin an offensive campaign against the Cylons." A mummer went through the council and Adama could hear some saying that their allies were crazy or insane and Adama let the noise die down before continuing. "What many of you don't know is that our allies are clones, designed for war against their enemies. For those of you who are wondering, these enemies are all dead, that's why the war here ended." "They are trying to develop a society and want our help, you see they don't know how to develop a society, they can help defend us and we can teach them." Adama said. "They also no longer have the knowledge or equipment to make clones." "This does change some things Commander" One council member said. "How do we know that they are different from the Cylons?" Adama took a deep breath and sighed, he knew that this question was coming and he was dreading it. "Our situation hasn't changed gentlemen. The Galactica is still heavily damaged and our fleet is still dangerously low on fuel. Our military defenses are almost non-existent and you want to try to leave. I would rather take our chances with our new allies then go back out on our own." "Are you saying that our warriors can't defend us?" "That's exactly what I'm saying, our viper squadrons have been decimated and it will take a yehren to bring our forces back up to what they were, and right now we can't even defend ourselves against one Basestar, and they were able to bring several Basestars against us at the last battle." Adama said telling the truth and not caring about his pride. "I think we should stay." One of the non-vocal council members said. "I don't think that it's wise for us to keep moving when we can't defend ourselves. We need our new allies as much as they need us." "And why would they need us, the moment they finish with the Cylons they will turn on us." One member said. "Because, by then we will have integrated our two cultures together and people together, they may have been clones, but they are still human, and its up to us to teach them what humanity is all about." Several members agreed with the quiet council member and they decided that it was time to take a vote about the subject. A little while later Adama walked up onto the bridge of the Rising Star and asked to get Lord Arkis on the channel. "Commander Adama, I didn't think you would be back so quickly." Arkis said. "I take it you have talked to your council?" "Yes I have." Adama replied. "It wasn't easy, and the vote was close, but we will stay for the time being, and I have three good men that are willing to advise you on your offensive." "That is good news." Arkis said. "You will help us develop a society?" "In a way yes, it might be easier to watch and learn from our everyday lifestyles, and you could ask questions and even join us." "That could work, we have several families that would probably join you right now." Arkis said. "The planet Earth, the atmosphere is clean once again, the soil is ready for farming and the ecosystems are balanced, all that's missing is humans living there again." "You're inviting us to make ourselves at home, right?" Adama said. "Yes, I am." Arkis said. "Welcome to Earth." The End