Chapter Seven
Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace was feeling very pleased with herself as the small group of Raptors prepared to make their final jump back to the fleet. The rescue mission to the colonies, to pick up Sam and other survivors, had gone better than she could ever have imagined despite losing two Raptors during the voyage back to the slowly freezing, radiation blasted remnants of the worlds that had once been home. Not only had they been able to rescue Sam and the other resistance fighters, but they'd been able to raid an intact Colonial Fleet supply station on one of Caprica's moons. Which had not only netted them four more Raptors but enough food supplies to ease the food shortage situation in the fleet by a considerable margin for at least a month. Not to mention acquire some vitally needed additional medical supplies such as anti-radiation meds, antibiotics and so on.
Why they had been able to get so much was the only thing that puzzled her. The Cylons had almost completely vanished, there had been only one or two basestars orbiting the colonies instead of the dozens there had been the last time she was there. Baseships that had been relatively easy to evade as even with their full compliments of raiders deployed, they didn't have sufficient numbers to patrol orbit properly. The same was true on the ground as the humanoid Cylons had all vanished though the Centurions had remained only they had changed what they were doing. Instead of cleaning up and trying to rebuild the cities for some strange reason they had begun dismantling things recovering materials and surviving technologies and loading them aboard transport ships that we're arriving and leaving almost constantly.
According to Sam they had been doing this for about a fortnight by the time she and the others arrived.
Not for the first time since they'd arrived and learned all this Kara found herself wondering just what had changed the Cylons plans. Maybe they underestimated the amount of radiation their nuclear bombardment would leave behind or overestimated the resilience of their own physiology against conditions like cancer, she thought not for the first time. She had to admit that it was an amusing mental image the Cylon skin jobs – especially that creepy one Leoben who seemed to have a thing for her for some reason – suddenly finding themselves dealing with the scourge of cancer. Of course, knowing them they would simply terminate the affected bodies and download into new ones. So that wouldn't make them abandon the colonies unless the organic forms were dying in such numbers that the resurrection system couldn't keep up. A pleasant thought given that they had callously murdered billions of innocents in their unprovoked assault on the colonies after forty years of peace.
"Starbuck, I have the final jump coordinates," Sharon, the Model Eight Cylon who had fallen in love with Helo and defected to their side as a result, said from behind her. Her help in operating the biomechanical computer they'd salvaged from a Cylon heavy raider had been the only reason why they'd been able to pull this mission off. The Colonies were simply too far behind them for their ships to have made it with conventional Colonial jump systems. Didn't mean she trusted her though as she would be six days dead before she ever, ever trusted a Cylon. "I'm relaying them to all ships now."
"I see them," Kara replied as the coordinates appeared on her navigation screen and she, still somewhat reluctantly, entered them into the jump navigation system. The system flashed and bleeped to indicate that the coordinates had been accepted and verified. One by one the other Raptors all checked in reporting that they had the coordinates and were ready to jump.
She opened a comm channel to all of them. "Alright people this is it our last jump," she said. And not past time, she thought as consecutive jumps were not fun. "You've all done a great job on this mission, first rounds on me tonight. Let's go home."
She signed off and pressed the button that would synchronize all the jump clocks and start the jump sequence on all Raptors simultaneously. For the last time on this mission, she heard the FTL motor spin up and felt/saw the familiar stretching disorientation that accompanied a jump. There was a momentary flash of eldritch light outside then reality snapped back into normal…
…and the familiar sight of the fleet that housed the last remnants of humanity came into view.
Unsurprisingly the Pegasus was hanging in space in front of them. The massive Mercury-class battlestar that Lee was now in command of – something that if Kara was honest with herself she was still having trouble wrapping her head around Leeland Adama in command of a battlestar at just thirty, though he was doing a good job of it having inherited enough of the Old Mans personality and skills to make it look easy – had been where there mission had set off from and where it was planned to end. She was preparing to hail the Pegasus and request landing clearance when she saw them.
Hanging off the fleet were a group of strange ships that definitely weren't Colonial. The Colonials didn't build ships that had lines that made them look like they were meant to cruise beneath the surface of a very different ocean to the endless one of space. They weren't Cylon either and they also barely even showed up on dradis. There could only be one explanation…
…they were, as impossible as it would seem, alien.
She was so stunned that she almost missed the flashing indicator on the console that indicated that she was being hailed by the Pegasus. She quickly flicked the switch to accept the communication and the speakers crackled to life.
"This is the battlestar Pegasus calling Raptor 218 please respond," came the voice of Lieutenant Hoshi.
"Pegasus this is Raptor 218 receiving you loud and clear," Kara answered before grinning. "We're back."
"This is Pegasus Actual," a very familiar voice said joining the conversation. "So, I see Starbuck and is our dradis screen malfunctioning or do you have a few extra Raptors with you?"
"They're not Apollo," Kara answered using Lee's old callsign, "we picked up a few and whole bunch of supplies from a supply base on one of Caprica's moons."
For a moment there was silence and Kara grinned imagining the surprised look on Lee's face at that. "How did you manage that?" he asked after a moment.
"The Cylons have withdrawn the bulk of their forces from the colonies. There are only a few baseships and raider squadrons hanging round it created a gap we could exploit after saving the resistance fighters."
"That's odd," Lee answered after a moment. "Your debriefing is going to be quite interesting I think, not that that's unusual with you."
"Well, you know me."
"All too well. Alright come on in Kara bay four is ready to receive your Raptors."
"Will do. Ugh Lee can I ask who do the new ships belong to?"
"It's a long story and you'll be briefed later. For now, I can tell you that they mean us no harm."
"Now you've piqued my interest. Can't you tell me anymore?"
"Not right now Kara just land. Medical personnel will be waiting to check over the survivors you rescued."
Knowing that tone of Lee's voice well – a tone that confirmed he would not reveal anything more about the new ships until either he was good and ready or he was ordered to – and knowing better than to nag him for more details - he would not give it no matter how she nagged as Lee was, if anything, even more stubborn than she was on things like this – Kara decided to do as instructed.
"Alright we're coming in," she said before matching words with actions, bringing the engines to life and heading for one of the specialised Raptor bays on the side of the Pegasus flight pods.
"See you later. Pegasus Actual out." The communication link closed down and Kara focused on navigating towards the seventeen hundred and eight nine meter long battlestar. As she closed on the grey armoured side of the mighty warship – which on her own could and had wiped the floor with multiple Cylon baseships – the dradis console gave a slight beep of warning. Now what, she thought a second before a flash of light outside caught her attention and she looked over to see a series of large energy spheres that looked for all the world like whirling balls of frosted golden glass had appeared. After a few seconds there was a gyroscopic flash of radiation and the spheres vanished, revealing more alien ships just like the first few including one vessel that was comparable in size to the Galactica but like the others looked almost like it was meant to travel under the sea.
More of them, she thought even as she mentally prayed to the Lords of Kobol that Lee was right and that these people, aliens or whatever they were, really meant them no harm. Then she focused on the task of landing on the Pegasus.
---///---
Colonial Raptor 102
Forty Minutes Later
President Laura Roslin would, if asked, admit that she was nervous as the Raptor carrying her and a small delegation in the form of Gaius Baltar – who was still the representative of Caprica on the Quorum – the Gemenese representative Sarah Porter and Commander Timothy Richards of the Cerberus made its way towards the Procyon. The Terran – which was apparently the name that the Thirteenth Tribe used to refer to themselves – admiral Christina Haywood had invited a delegation to come to her ship to discuss both their immediate requirements and what to do with them in the long term.
For once there hadn't been any friction from the Quorum over the meeting. They had quickly chosen who they wanted to accompany her, while Bill had assigned Richards who apparently had advanced diplomatic training only his habit of stepping on the admiralties toes back before the fall had prevented him commanding anything more than a Medusa-class heavy cruiser, to the meeting. The only concern about the meeting she had was the fact that Sarah was along as like most Gemenese she was extremely devout in her faith in the Lords of Kobol. Which could be a recipe for trouble if the Thirteenth no longer worshipped the gods.
She just hoped that if that was the case the Sarah would put the more immediate needs of the fleet, and their survival as a species, before her faith.
"Are you alright madam president," Richards asked seeing she was distracted.
"I am fine commander," Roslin replied, "I was just thinking."
"About what?" he asked curious.
"Just how vital this meeting is," Roslin admitted glancing towards the cockpit. Through the windows she could see the side of the Terran flagship looming ever closer outside. It was starting to blot out space ahead and they were close enough to make out the ranks of turrets and ports lining the hull. They were heading for a bay on the forward starboard side of the main hull as opposed to the two smaller hulls that gave the ship a distinct trimaran design. "Potentially the fate of the entire fleet rests on what happens here today."
"It is a pretty hefty responsibility," Richards agreed, glancing at the great battleship himself. While she seemed to have fewer turrets than a battlestar did he didn't doubt that if that ship wanted to, she could destroy their entire fleet without breaking much if anything of a sweat. He, like everyone here, had seen the recordings of what the Sirona – which was apparently according to provide documentation a long range exploration cruiser – had done to the Cylons. The ease with which her blue beamed energy weapons had torn apart multiple Cylon baseships made it perfectly clear how much more powerful than them their cousins were. Even with the Galactica and the Pegasus – which as a Mercury had heavy bow mounted railguns – here they would stand little chance if the Terrans for some reason decided to shoot at them.
"I don't foresee there being a problem," Porter commented. "It is the will of the gods that we meet our brethren now and join with them. They should see that."
Baltar raised an eyebrow. "You are assuming that they still believe in the gods," he pointed out, "remember that their ancestors left Kobol anywhere from a thousand to two thousand years before The Blaze and our own Exodus. They've been separated from us for a minimum of three thousand years if not longer, plenty of time for them to have either found new religions or abandoned the idea entirely."
"The Gods would never allow that."
"Like they would never allow the Cylons to murder eighty-nine billion people in hours? Like they would never allow our planets to be reduced to radiation blasted cinders?"
Sarah started to open her mouth to refute Baltar's points – and remind him that it was a punishment for their sins, especially the sin of trying to be gods themselves and create life in the form of the Cylons – but before she could speak Roslin stepped in. Knowing full well if she didn't then the deeply religious Sarah and the committed atheist Baltar would get into an increasingly acrimonious debate that would last hours.
"Enough," Roslin snapped looking at the two Quorum members sternly even as she wondered, not for the first time, when had leading what was left of their people had turned into the deeply frustrating exercise of trying to heard cats. "Now is not the time for you two to have yet another of your arguments. Right now, we need to present a united front to the Terrans. We can sort out any issues of religion later."
"But…" Sarah started to object but a stern look from Roslin silenced her. A look that promised that disobedience would not be tolerated in this matter. And truth be told the other woman was right, there would be time to sort out saving their cousins souls if they no longer believed in the Lords of Kobol later. "I understand I will keep quiet on the subject."
"As will I," Baltar agreed.
"Good," Roslin replied a moment before a faint shudder ran through the Raptor. "What was that?"
"Madam President we just passed through some kind of gravitational-electromagnetic field across the entrance to the hangar bay," one of the pilots reported back, "there's now atmosphere around us. We're landing now."
"A gravitational-electromagnetic field what do they mean by that," Richards wondered.
"It's a force field," Baltar exclaimed, shock and awe in his voice. No wonder Six is worried about these people, the power they have, he thought even as he spoke again. "They've been theorised for years but the power requirements for one are far beyond our technology. Gods I wish I knew what their power source is, to be able to manipulate gravitational and electromagnetic fields like that it's mind boggling."
"Unbelievable," Sarah breathed a moment before a soft jolt ran through the deck as they set down. The sound of the engines died as the pilots powered them down. She had to wonder what other technological wonders the thirteenth had. No doubt that there would be some technologies that the Gods would not approve of technologies that would have to go in the long term.
Undoing her restraint Roslin stood up. "Well shall we go?" she said prompting everyone to stand up. Commander Richards moved in front of her, Admiral Adama had made it clear that Roslin's safety while she was here was his personal responsibility, as they headed to the gullwing hatch as it opened letting in the familiar scents of a hangar bay.
Carefully he led the way out of the Raptor, noting that as he left the influence of the Raptors own gravity that his feet felt heavier than they normally did. He guessed that Earth had to have slightly higher gravity than Colonial standard. Then he saw the honour guard waiting for them, two lines of young soldiers in tough and durable looking armour – that bizarrely looked almost like it was meant to lock into something else – and holding advanced looking rifles that experienced eyes told him did not fire any sort of projectile. Energy rifles! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised given their warships fire particle beams and use lasers instead of autocannons for close in defence, he thought even as he saw three people waiting for them on the other side of the honour guard.
As they all stepped out of the Raptor someone shouted a command and in a clatter the honour guard moved their rifles to the present arms position. Impressive discipline, Richards noted with approval, it would do anyone in the Colonial Fleet – well what was left of it as they had gone from having hundreds of warships to just seven one of which was ironically the oldest battlestar in the fleet – proud. He wasn't the only one.
Laura Roslin took a moment to compose herself then resolutely started walking. It wasn't as easy as it normally was as, like Richards, she noticed that the gravity field on this ship was stronger than on any Colonial vessel reflecting the fact that Earth had slightly higher gravity than what they were used to. But she managed it. In moment's they reached the delegation that was waiting for them including a middle aged woman in a red and white uniform with a black high-collared, sleeveless jacket over the top of it.
"President Roslin," the woman said inquiringly. Roslin nodded and the other woman smiled. "Greetings I am Admiral Christina Haywood. On behalf of the United Earth Government, I welcome you aboard the Procyon. Allow me to introduce you to my flag captain Ulysses Parkinson and my CAG Commander Takashima."
"A pleasure admiral," Roslin replied. "Allow me to introduce you to my companions. This is Doctor Gaius Baltar, Caprican representative to the Quorum of the Twelve. This is Sarah Porter, Gemenese representative to the same body and finally Commander Timothy Richards commanding officer of the Cerberus one of our only two surviving heavy cruisers."
"A pleasure. If you would kindly follow me a room has been prepared for us to talk. Commander Takashima will take care of your pilots while we talk."
"That's fine," Roslin agreed. The other woman smiled back and turned, beginning to walk off the hangar deck into the corridors and passageways of the ship's interior. Accompanied by her companions Roslin followed as she did so she compared the interior of the Procyon to both the Galactica and the Pegasus both of whom she had been on numerous times since the fall. The corridors were closer to those on the newer, larger battlestar than on the Galactica bright and spacious though the light was different. Warmer and more natural feeling in some fashion than the somewhat harsh artificial lights she and others had had to get to in the year that had passed since the Cylon began their genocide.
It didn't take long to reach the conference room that had been set aside and prepared for them. Admiral Haywood gestured politely for them all to be seated and they all did so – Roslin and her companions down one side of the table, the Terran personnel on the other – before Haywood sat herself. For a few moments nobody said or did anything then the Terran admiral spoke.
"Before we begin working out just how we can help each other," she said. "Let us begin by learning a bit more about one another. Since you are my guests here, I will begin if that is alright with you?"
"That would be fine," Roslin replied.
"Very well then our story begins twenty-three years ago when on the night of the twenty-second of March in the year 1998 of the Common Era a phenomenal event occurred in the skies above Earth that forever altered the course of our history…"
---///---
Twenty Minutes Later
Laura Roslin sat stunned and more than a little horrified as Admiral Haywood finished outlining the modern history of her world and people. To say it was like something from the tales of old, tales that had been passed down since the time of Kobol, would have been an understatement. Twenty-three years ago, their cousins had still been a planet bound species until a warship of unbelievable complexity and power had emerged from something called foldspace above their world. A warship produced by a civilization that was hundreds of years ahead of either of them at the time – and indeed would still be centuries ahead of the colonies if they had still existed – which had fallen to Earth coming to rest on the surface at an uninhabited volcanic island called Macross.
Their cousins had recovered the vessel, which amazingly had been almost completely intact with only the external hull suffering major damage from not just the crash but whatever battle the ship had been in before it fled into foldspace, leaving the systems and technology inside unharmed. How doing so had united their previously fractured world and brought about a decade of peace and increasing prosperity to their people even as their now united military forces prepared for the original owners of the ship to come and attempt to retrieve it.
Eventually servants of the ships original builders – a race of giant humanoid alien warriors known as the Zentraedi – had come to retrieve the ship sparking a war between the people of Earth and the giants – who honestly reminded her of the tales of the titans – which had raged for the next two years. Leading to a climactic battle between the supreme commander of the entire Zentraedi Armada and Earth which had included a cataclysmic orbital bombardment with weapons that made the strongest nukes possessed by either Colonials or Cylons look like firecrackers. How billions had died in seconds, incinerated in quantum fire, but somehow the Terran race had survived. Survived, fought back and ultimately defeated Dolza – killing him and destroying the bulk of his fleet in a clash of epic proportions – before beginning a process of rebuilding their smouldering world.
"How, how many died," Sarah Porter asked looking at where the holographic display that had shown footage of the Rain of Death – as their cousins somewhat poetically but correctly – called it had been. The sights she had seen would haunt her nightmares as it was way, way worse than a nuclear bombardment seeing streams of unbelievably powerful energy striking the surface wiping out entire landmasses in seconds was almost unimaginable. It was power that she was sure even Zeus himself would be in awe of.
And then there was the quantum reflex energy weapon that Earth had fired back. A massive version of the same weapons that had ravaged the planet and which in the few seconds it had fired had wiped from the stars hundreds of thousands of warships and millions of fighters and other battle mecha – whatever battle mecha was as she had never heard of such a thing before – as if they had been mere toys. Though nothing compared to the final cataclysmic explosion that not only wiped out Dolza but destroyed most of the Zentraedi fleet. A fleet whose sheer size and firepower didn't bare thinking about as it was so unbelievably vast.
"The true number will never be known," Admiral Haywood replied, her eyes dark with the deep pain and sadness that not just the whole Terran race but what she personally still felt over the events of the Rain of Death. She had been there after all watching in horror from the command bridge of a disabled Oberth-class destroyer as her homeworld burned. "But before the Rain there were an estimated eight billion people on Earth after it, we estimate anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five million. Most of those who died did so in the Rain, but a sizeable chunk died in the immediate aftermath from everything from hyperphase radiation poisoning to getting caught up in the geological upheavals that followed due to quantum energy bleed through disrupting the tectonic system."
"Gods," Porter breathed. "What about the Zentraedi did you wipe the rest of them out after what they did to you? Are you out here because you are chasing them to make them pay?"
"No, we didn't and no we are not," Haywood answered, "the Zentraedi didn't know any different. In many ways they were like robots at that time windup toys of destruction and conquest for beings we know as the Robotech Masters. We broke the chains that bound them to the Masters and have been teaching them since then that there is so much more to life than going around the galaxies waging war after war to expand the Robotech Masters empire."
"I am not sure we would be as merciful," Roslin admitted even as she felt a sudden guilt. She wasn't unaware that there were numerous parallels between themselves and the Robotech Masters and how they had both created an entire race for labour and for warfare. "So why are you here so far from your homeworld?"
That had been another shock that Earth itself was many thousands of light years from here.
"We're searching both to find the path to Tirolian space and the Robotech Masters and for places to set up colonies to ensure our race is not threatened by extermination again. We dodged a bullet once we might not be so lucky next time, especially when you consider what robotech weaponry is capable of. I have to admit that we were surprised to stumble across you. Captain Harrison reported that you are refugees and that you are at war with a machine race called Cylons?"
"That is true," Roslin admitted, "we had been at peace with the Cylons for forty years until a year ago when without warning they launched a massive attack against our fleet and our planets. In mere hours they destroyed most of our fleet and carpet bombed all twelve of our worlds with nuclear weapons. We tried to surrender after they started doing that, but they never responded. They have been chasing us ever since."
"I see. Did you have a plan? Or are you just running blindly?"
"We were actually looking for you or rather looking for your planet."
Haywood raised an eyebrow. "Okay why?" she asked.
"We're the same race, we both come from Kobol, and it is the will of the Gods that the tribes of man reunited if we are to survive," Porter replied.
"Kobol? I have never heard of it, and I don't know why you think humanity evolved there but it did not. There is fossil and genetic evidence that indicate that humanity evolved on Earth."
"Blasphemy."
"Sarah enough," Roslin snapped before the Gemenese woman could start a diatribe.
"But…"
"I said enough they are entitled to their beliefs just as we are. If they have fossil and genetic evidence that they evolved on Earth then they can show us later," Roslin said firmly. "For all we know they did evolve there, and we evolved on Kobol."
"Convergent evolution theory its possible I suppose," Baltar admitted with a thoughtful frown. "Though there is the whole thirteenth tribe leaving Kobol thing to get past."
"It isn't something we will get past here," Haywood answered firmly deciding to change the discussion for now as she could see that the religious woman Porter was about to do an impression of Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii if they continued. "Tell me about these Cylons. By attempting to upload a logic bomb to the Sirona's computers and then opening fire on her when they failed, they've shown themselves to be a threat. A threat we will not tolerate."
"It's a long story," Roslin answered.
"We have time."
"I suppose we do at that, and you deserve to know," Roslin admitted. She was about to begin explaining how sixty standard Colonial years ago Dr Daniel Grayston of Grayston Industries had introduced a revolutionary new line of robots called Cybernetic Lifeform Nodes to the then disunited colonies when an alarm klaxon began wailing with an urgent clamour. "What's that?"
"It's a battle alert," Haywood replied as she manipulated a small console in front of her. A projector field powered up and a holographic screen pixeled into existence showing the face and torso of Captain Parkinson. "Captain Parkinson report. What's going on out there?"
"Admiral we are detecting multiple Colonial style fold disturbances. There are ships appearing from them."
"What kind of ships?" Haywood asked. "And how many of them?"
"They're Cylon ma'am. We read fifty capital ships and rising."
Listening in Roslin exchanged a look of mixed shock, horror, fear, and sheer terror with the rest of her delegation as the flag captain said how many Cylon ships were arriving. Fifty baseships and rising, it was a fleet almost as big as the one that had attacked, and ruthlessly nuclear carpet bombed the colonies. As they looked at each other they all realized one thing, that no matter how advanced and powerful the thirteenth tribe was in comparison to them that there was no defence against this fleet.
They, Colonial and Terran, were all dead.
---///---
Authors Notes: Well, another chapter bites the metaphorical dust I hope you all enjoyed it. Next time we will have the epic clash between the Cylon forces that Cavil/One has assembled for his all or nothing gambit and the combined forces of the Colonial Remnant and the REF ships. It should be a real clash of the titans as it is not going to be an easy fight for anyone and people – including perhaps some main characters as I don't believe in shielding them – will die. Who will live and who will die well you will all have to wait and see won't you.
Finally, before someone says that the REF doesn't have atmospheric force field technology they actually do. It is actually seen in the Sentinels movie during the scene where Max Sterling and Karen Penn are bringing two prototype Alpha/Beta combined fighters into dock aboard the factory satellite. Both pass through an energy barrier that is keeping the air in the bay. The technology is also seen to be possessed by the Zentraedi in the Titan comics series, so I have used it here. Well, that's all for today until next time.