[oBSG/BT] Mission of Civilization

[Eternal_Freedom]

And the plot thickens. I was wondering if these guys were going to turn up

Mysterious Dark Lord, you've done it again

[LadyTevar]

.............
So.... what happens to my 10 cubits?


Great job, loved the play-by-play. However, I forgot everything about Euryale, cant' recall (her?) at all. Lucifer is well-known, with his clear dome, dual-sliding eyes, and subtly insulting wit. Baltar should be interesting... stupidly egomaniacal, highly incompetent, and it was never really explained just WHY he sided with the Cylons. Neo-BSG at least gave their Dr. Baltar a personality and a damned good reason for all his actions. Old Baltar was just a traitor with no explanation why the Cylons suffered his incompetent for so long.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I think the bet is void, my Lady. Neither won but neither lost. I knew I should have betted on that

[MysteriousDarkLordv3]

.............
So.... what happens to my 10 cubits?

Tie game. Sorry but thats the way the dice rolled.

.............
Great job, loved the play-by-play. However, I forgot everything about Euryale, cant' recall (her?) at all. Lucifer is well-known, with his clear dome, dual-sliding eyes, and subtly insulting wit. Baltar should be interesting... stupidly egomaniacal, highly incompetent, and it was never really explained just WHY he sided with the Cylons. Neo-BSG at least gave their Dr. Baltar a personality and a damned good reason for all his actions. Old Baltar was just a traitor with no explanation why the Cylons suffered his incompetent for so long.

You don't remember Euryale because she came out of my own sleazy mind as both a rough equal to play Lucifer off of and as a future plot point. And as for the nature of the snakes in Baltar's hat, I think I have a couple of ideas on that.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Aww, I thought this was another chapter. Bugger.

In this storyline, did Adama live up to his dea with Baltar and leave him on a habitable world to wait for the Cylons?

And if he did, did the toasters pick him up, or shoot him?

[RhoOmicronMu]

A defensive force field of ten meters in depth - comparable to a Viper - had been installed and the armor tonnage was doubled. An anti-gravity system improved atmospheric flight by removing gravitational considerations as well as making the light fighter into a VTOL craft.

All aerospace fighters are VTOL already. Link. IIRC, they have been since Aerotech 2 Revised. They have to be VTOL or they couldn't take off and land under zero/micro gravity.

Just thought I'd clear some of this up LadyTevar. Hope you don't mind.

I believe the Colonials will have this battle wrapped up before the Pirates hit the ground.

Indeed, the Pirates space forces are pretty pathetic.

The BT Jump Ships are battle-capable, however, it's custom not to attack them because there's so few of them left. Its' far better to offer terms of surrender to preserve the technology.

Jumpships are not capable of combat and mount only token weapons if any. The most common Jumpship, the Invader class, mounts 2 large lasers or 2 PPCs.

DropShips are not as battle-worthy in flight, but depending on the model they are able to be used as a defensive position at the LandingZone.

Even transport dropships are far more combat capable than jumpships. The ubiquitous Union class mech hauler mounts 3 PPC, 5 AC-5, 6 LRM-20, 5 Large Lasers, and 12 Medium Lasers. Dropships are also capable of far more acceleration than the partly .1 g of Jumpships.

Once again, BattleTech norm is to try to capture than destroy, especially if it's one of the rarer models. To the BT mindset, there's been so much Tech loss, it's far better to salvage as much technology as possible.

IIRC, there is no evidence destruction of Dropships was avoided. There's an old thread about it over on ClassicBattletech.com I might be able to dig up if you want a reference.

BattleTech weapons include Lasers, Particle Projection Cannons (PPCs), AutoCannon, and Missiles (mostly unguided), and Gauss (mass) Cannon. Pistols, rifles, SMGs and Flamers are normall infantry weapons, either ballistic or laser depending on what they can afford/scrounge. Missiles, PPCs, Autocannon, and Gauss Cannon are mostly too large for Infantry, outside of the rare weapons teams. The tech just didn't survive.

There are some relatively powerful crew served support weapons (not the full scale autocannon available as field guns) available at very low tech levels that can do almost a point of mech scale damage by themselves. Do you remember those IIRC militia technicals with support PPCs on them in Decision at Thunder Rift?

Tanks, AeroSpace Fighters, and Mechs are measured by tonnage, Light (5-20T), Medium (20-50T), Large (50-75) and Heavy (75+). They use the same weaponry, appropriately up-sized from the Infantry models. The bigger they are, the bigger the weapons load-out each one can carry, as well as thicker armor.

Mechs: Light (20-35T), Medium (40-45T), Heavy (60-75T), and Assault (80-100)
Tanks are pretty much the same.

Aerospace Fighters: Light (20-45T), Medium (50-70T), and Heavy (75-100T)

DropShips and Capitol (jump) Ships are again measured by tonnage (Light, Medium, Large, Heavy), which affects their weapons and cargo capacity.

Dropships and Jumpships don't have weight classes.

Once again, only the same weapons are available, suitably upsized.

They use exactly the same weapons as used on mechs, tanks, and aerospace fighter down to the model. The only aditional weapon they have are IIRC screen launchers and the varius capital missiles.

Only the JumpShips are jump-capable, all other ships are limited to sub-light speeds with ion/fusion drives.

They don't use ion drives for anything IIRC.

[Vehrec]

All aerospace fighters are VTOL already. Link. IIRC, they have been since Aerotech 2 Revised. They have to be VTOL or they couldn't take off and land under zero/micro gravity.

This has never been explained to my satisfaction, why do you need a VTOL to take off and land in such conditions? I mean, microgravity and vacuum seem to obliterate the need for dedicated hovering in 1g conditions, and even a very modest thrust vectoring system would let you nose up on the runway and rocket away from any sizable mass that supports a base.

The BT Jump Ships are battle-capable, however, it's custom not to attack them because there's so few of them left. Its' far better to offer terms of surrender to preserve the technology.

Jumpships are not capable of combat and mount only token weapons if any. The most common Jumpship, the Invader class, mounts 2 large lasers or 2 PPCs.

Remember the Kzinti lesson-Jumpships still have torch drives.

Once again, BattleTech norm is to try to capture than destroy, especially if it's one of the rarer models. To the BT mindset, there's been so much Tech loss, it's far better to salvage as much technology as possible.

IIRC, there is no evidence destruction of Dropships was avoided. There's an old thread about it over on ClassicBattletech.com I might be able to dig up if you want a reference.

There is no reason to waste a perfectly good piece of hardware-expecially if you intend to capture it's mothership.

Once again, only the same weapons are available, suitably upsized.

They use exactly the same weapons as used on mechs, tanks, and aerospace fighter down to the model. The only aditional weapon they have are IIRC screen launchers and the varius capital missiles.

If you seriously believe this, I have a bridge I'd like to sell to you. There is no reason to suppose that an AC-2 mounted on a dropship or a warship as point defense is the same gun carried by a scout mech, it's just a rules abstraction!

[LadyTevar]

Once again, only the same weapons are available, suitably upsized.

They use exactly the same weapons as used on mechs, tanks, and aerospace fighter down to the model. The only aditional weapon they have are IIRC screen launchers and the varius capital missiles.

If you seriously believe this, I have a bridge I'd like to sell to you. There is no reason to suppose that an AC-2 mounted on a dropship or a warship as point defense is the same gun carried by a scout mech, it's just a rules abstraction!

Indeed. The weapons used in SpaceBattles are obviously NOT the same ones mounted on a common OstScout -- for one thing the scale would have the damned Autocannon LARGER than the MECH!! Thus my contention that the weapons are Upsized for CaptiolShips. Now, the smallest dropships may have Mech-Sized weaponry, as that would 'scale' better to their size, even with the Union dropship.

[RhoOmicronMu]

This has never been explained to my satisfaction, why do you need a VTOL to take off and land in such conditions? I mean, microgravity and vacuum seem to obliterate the need for dedicated hovering in 1g conditions, and even a very modest thrust vectoring system would let you nose up on the runway and rocket away from any sizable mass that supports a base.

It was the reason given by the writers, IIRC. I'm not exactly sure what they meant by that myself.

You would need to do more than just nose up though. The backblast from the engine could damage the fighter otherwise. That's the same reason aerodyne dropships don't normally take off vertically. Using the main drive mounted in the belly a few feet off the ground would do bad things to the dropship. If your interested, there should be an explanation of that in the rules section that describes doing it.

Remember the Kzinti lesson-Jumpships still have torch drives.

Yes, but it's not exactly the most practical weapon. They threatened to do just that though in IIRC the second Gray Death Legion Novel.

Once again, BattleTech norm is to try to capture than destroy, especially if it's one of the rarer models. To the BT mindset, there's been so much Tech loss, it's far better to salvage as much technology as possible.

IIRC, there is no evidence destruction of Dropships was avoided. There's an old thread about it over on ClassicBattletech.com I might be able to dig up if you want a reference.

There is no reason to waste a perfectly good piece of hardware-expecially if you intend to capture it's mothership.

My point was that they didn't avoid destroying Dropships because they where rare like they did jumpships.

Once again, only the same weapons are available, suitably upsized.

They use exactly the same weapons as used on mechs, tanks, and aerospace fighter down to the model. The only aditional weapon they have are IIRC screen launchers and the varius capital missiles.

If you seriously believe this, I have a bridge I'd like to sell to you. There is no reason to suppose that an AC-2 mounted on a dropship or a warship as point defense is the same gun carried by a scout mech, it's just a rules abstraction!

The same model of weapon of the same type from the same manufacturer are used on tanks, mechs, aerospace fighters, dropships, and warships. A Sunbeam Large Laser made by Diverse Optics is the same weapon no matter where you put it.

Where did you get the idea a dropship mounted AC-2 was different from a mech mounted AC-2 anyway? Do you believe aerospace fighters mount yet a third type of weapon or the same type of weapon as mechs? I can understand the different ranges everything has in different situations causing confusion, but the idea is really quite odd.

I might not be able to respond for a day or two, but I'll get back to you.

I edited this in to avoid a double post.

Indeed. The weapons used in SpaceBattles are obviously NOT the same ones mounted on a common OstScout -- for one thing the scale would have the damned Autocannon LARGER than the MECH!!

Art in general is overruled by everything. Specifically, the weapon sizes and bore diameter seen in the artwork are completely at the discretion of the artist and are not canon. This is why you see things like small lasers with bores several meters in diameter that are twice as large as AC-20s.

[drakensis]

I think the confusion over weapons here is the distinction between naval and standard weapons.

An autocannon on a mech will be similar to an autocannon on a dropship or warship, allowing for differences in mount and targeting. A naval autocannon is a much larger and more complex weapon that bares only a slight resemblance (some of them use nuclear detonations as propellant!).

It's like comparing the 16" guns of a WWII battleship to the 88mm cannon of a WWII tank.

[syed]

Lets guess, botney bay will be building defences, defense shiels, defense station the works. Keep the system seemingly like no chage from the outside so the pirates will come in and be over a day away from from the jump point when galactica, appears withing weapon range, with vipers covering them all, with parties boarding. THey capture the ships intact, the dropships, the fighters, the battle mechs, and the infantry weapons. THey will question and then likly kill all the pirates. THey will get info on other pirates, their bases, their raiding grounds, their allies, their markets, their suppliers, slave markets,. THey will go after the isolated target first. THen go after the more traveld areas. Raiding the pirates, as much as possible, with raided colonies, either invite them back, or help them protect them selves. PLanets aiding pirates will be deat with harsh, either striped of enough material to make then worthless to pirates, or crippled. Erewhon will have its factory complex striped or destroyed. THey have plenty of military material, but if they steal it it makes it seem its just more pirate activity. ALso would speed up its capabilities, if they take the materials there are. Currently there next to no warships capable of dealing with adama. THey could clean up a large are locally of raiders and pirates, as well as former colont worlds. ALso would slavers recorded what happen to slaves.

[Mayabird]

Welcome to the board and I'm glad you apparently like his story, but please, please, please for the sake of me not going into a grammatical rage proofread your writing if you're going to be posting anything else.

[MysteriousDarkLordv3]

Unnamed Planet
Rimward March of the defunct Delphian Empire
Beyond the Border of the Cylon Imperial Alliance

Gaius Baltar, Scion of the Royal House of Picon, the only person in history to have been both a member of the Quorum of Twelve and a caste noble of the Cylon Empire, was a very unhappy man. He muttered Very Bad Words to himself as we waited for his Thing to finish roasting over an open fire. (He called the creature a Thing because he had no other name for the non-mammalian, non-reptilian, non-insect creature that he was forced to eat. He suspected that it was the young of the Very Large Thing that had tried to eat him once.)

"Damn you, Adama," he muttered for the ten millionth time. "You knew. You knew that those food reprocessors were contaminated. Leaving me to have to hunt and scrounge on a deserted planet like a wild beast ... Damn you, Adama!"

Baltar was so busy blaming others for the failings of his life that he failed to notice the moving lights in the heavens. He only looked up when the high-pitch tone became louder than his own voice. He was struck dumb as he beheld the huge star-shaped Ship of Light, then yelled in pain as the tone and the light overwhelmed his senses.

The ship retreated into the sky, leaving a cooking fire unattended with a partially-roasted Thing on a spit. The fire would die a centar later, and a Very Large Thing would lurch out of the woods and devour the remains of Baltar's unclaimed meal. Thus did Humanity's brief reign on this remote world end, with a belch.
----------

Baltar looked up, finding himself in a huge chamber decorated all in eye-hurting white. He looked down at himself and noticed that his clothes were clean, mended, and now in that same shade of white. Various persons in white were milling about or on incomprehensible errands.

He recognized this place from his youthful studies of the Book of the Lords of Kobol. This was the realm of the Seraphs, the angelic Beings of Light from whose ranks had come the Lords of Kobol.

"So," he said to himself (after a yahren and a half alone, he was unused to speaking to others), "Either the Lords of Kobol have saved me or I am totally mad."

"Wrong on both counts," said a voice behind him. "But you are also right on both counts."

Baltar turned and faced the kindly-looking older man in white who had addressed him. "So which is it? Are you a Seraph to save me, or a hallucination caused by trace chemical poisons in the Things I've been eating?"

"You may call me John," the man said. "That's what Captain Apollo called me."

"Apollo," Baltar sneered. "So you're a friend of Adama's spawn - so why rescue me from my exile?"

"Personally, I didn't want to," John said. "I proposed giving you a K-T Event, but I was outvoted."

"A what?"

"Never mind," John said. "Baltar of the House of Gaius, your life is a shameful list of duplicity and villainy. Your crimes are innumerable and in many cases unforgivable. And what is worse, these atrocities were committed for the most pathetic and paltry of motivations - jealousy and misguided pride."

Baltar sneered at the Seraph. "So you brought me here to castigate me?"

"No. It is perceived that you may be of some use to the human race as a whole. So we will allow you to rejoin civilization."

Baltar was shocked for a brief moment, then gave a courtly bow. "By your leave, Sire. I humbly thank you for this honor."

"Don't give me that felgerkarb," John said. "We can view the courses of Time as it winds ahead, and we have perceived a future where the human race is extinct and the Cylons dominate all life in the known universe."

"Indeed."

"It is the opinion of the ... bare ... majority among the Seraphs that you are the key. Your actions can determine whether or not humanity lives or dies."

"And how is that to come about, Sire John?"

"That is your affair. We can influence, but we will not command."

Baltar pondered this. "And where are you going to release me? If I appear among Adama's Fleet, I will survive only as long as I am not recognized. And I was quite a media idol in my Quorum days."

"We will deposit you anywhere you wish," John replied. "The Twelve Colonies, Kobol, Earth, any world or vessel in the Inner Sphere or the Periphery."

Baltar didn't recognize those last two locations, but he was already hatching a cunning plan. "I will require resources to save Humanity, a base of operations. When I commanded the Hades, I secretly placed commands within it's systems, allowing me to wrest control from the Imperious Leader should the situation require it. Deposit me aboard the Hades, and in short order I will bend it to my will."

John frowned. "Very well. Your basestar was testing what the Cylons call a 'Dadelus Drive, but they had a minor malfunction and will end up sixteen hundred light-yahren from their Empire. Oddly enough, they will end up in the depths of the Inner Sphere, in the general vicinity of Earth - in a cosmic sense. Finding the Galactica - if your plans require it - would be simple, as it would lie on a direct path between the basestar's position and the Empire. We can place you directly on the basestar."

Baltar had been listening intently, absorbing the information. "I thank you, Sire, for this opportunity -"

"As your Earth brethren would say, 'quit shoveling it while I can still breathe.'" Baltar vanished.

Another Seraph asked, "Do you think he bought it?"

"Baltar? Certainly. He can't do anything else. Remember, he was brought up with his ancestors' tales of 'the good old days' before the 'blight of democracy' removed his family from the throne of Picon. Anything that inflates his perception of his self-worth is eagerly absorbed. That's why he hates Adama so much, who shattered his self-image so totally in his youth without even knowing that he had done it. And his childhood indoctrination makes him believe totally in his destiny as a ruler - so fervently that he aided in the massacre of his own civilization, just for the promise of a crown. He has now half-convinced himself that he is destined to supplant the Imperious Leader and dominate the galaxy."

"He is diseased. Madness clings to him."

"Yes. But he will be the catalyst we need to create peace. May the God of Creation forgive us for unleashing him."
----------

Office of the President
Government Yacht Star Kobol, Aurora Spaceport, Arcology of Aurora
Planet Botany Bay, Coreward Periphery
November 24, 2999 AD

Big Chief Voort looked out of the observation window of the grounded spacecraft at the bustling city-building in the distance. Just nine days earlier it had been half-ruined and uninhabited. Now it was lively and energetic, with an increasingly fey quality to it as the buildings atop and around the main arcology block were replaced with pyramidal structures and the slender, tall towers made possible by antigravity technology. And behind the arcology was the blue pyramid of the Power Center.

"Incredible," he said. "In eight days."

"Thank you," President Tiria said. "We're quite amazed ourselves. And rather proud." She gripped his shoulder. "Not to mention grateful."

"No worries," he said. "You've given a lot. We had fifteen percent unemployment last month. Now we've got a labor shortage!"

"And we have air that doesn't taste like it's been reprocessed ten thousand times. A fair trade."

"So why do you still run government out of this ship?"

Tiria pointed to a cleared patch. "That's where the new Presidium will go up as soon as the committee decides on the design."

"Committee? Then it'll be a while."

"Maybe my successor will get some use out of it." Tiria went to the table and sorted through the documents. "One more bit of good news - we've checked on all the orphans that have been adopted out."

The Orphanage Ship had been a godsend to many families on Botany Bay, as so many had lost children to the pirate slave-taking. "All well?"

"Amazing! Not a single suicide! We used to have an average of a suicide a day among the children." Pain crossed her face. "We kept saying we had a quarter-million people in the Fleet, but we really just started with that many. We have barely two hundred thousand now. Hopelessness took a greater toll than the Cylons did."

Voort took her hand and squeezed gently. He couldn't think of a thing to say that wouldn't sound trite, so he kept silent.

A chime sounded announcing the arrival of the military contingent. The two leaders pulled their hands away from each other and tried to look innocent. The four people entering - the two military leaders and their aides - hesitated for a moment.

MacRuder asked, "Should we come back later?"

"If you're busy -" Adama added.

"Come in!" Tiria said. "Chief Voort and I were simply ... discussing the growing connection between our peoples."

"So we noticed," MacRuder said as he took his seat. He activated the languatron that was at the table by habit but at this point the mix of Kobolian, English, and languatron translations went unnoticed by the people speaking.

Adama winced as he sat down, and his aide Athena gave him a drink from a bottle. "You should delegate more of these things, Father," she whispered. "You're not as young as you -"

He whispered back, "Finish that sentence, Daughter, and I'll reassign you to turboflush maintenance." He drank the medicine she had given him. "I already promised to retire from official command of the Galactica next yahren. I've handed over most of the Galactica's command functions to Tigh already. And you're still not satisfied."

"I'm terribly sorry that I worry about my father's health!"

Their whispers weren't as quiet as they hoped, and the residents of the Bebee had different ideas concerning public formality. "Will the Commander's retirement cause any problems with the merger to the services?" Voort asked, making the Adama family flush in mild embarrassment.

"The opposite actually," MacRuder answered. "We were working with the idea of the Defense Militia becoming the foundation of the infantry and marine forces, with the Colonial Service being the nucleus of the aerospace and spaceborne forces. And Adama for overall command."

Voort asked, "Why Adama?"

"Overall experience. Adama's mind is as sharp as anyone's, and he has over a hundred and fifty years of combat experience, both frontline and command. He'd be wasted anywhere else."

Voort choked slightly. "How much experience?!"

"He's a hundred and seventy-seven yahrens old," Athena said. "And he should take better care of his health."

"I'll be in an office, in a mostly oversight position, with an alert and skilled staff," Adama said. "I won't jump into a Viper to make attack runs on a basestar, and I promise that I won't get into any hand-to-hand combat with Cylon Centurions unless they make an appointment first."

Her scowl could have curdled hull-plating.

MacRuder interrupted, "The mergers have gone along without a major hitch. All of our aerospace and air traffic personnel have transferred to the Colonial Service and their surviving Colonial Marines have been incorporated into the Defense Militia. There are only fifty of them but their special training and familiarity with the Kobolian technology will be invaluable."

"What of the distribution of materiel?"

Adama answered, "We're transferring Silver Spar and Bronze Spur Squadrons to Botany Bay to act as system defense, as they were not equipped with jump-drives. We are also transferring the Viper manufacturing facilities planetside. After the test exercise two time-cycles ago - " That line caused a few smirks. " - both Chief MacRuder and myself have agreed on the construction of a third squadron of twenty-five fighters, based on the future re-design of the Zero, optimized for suborbital and atmospheric defense. That will be started as soon as resources are available, acknowledging that civilian projects have priority."

Athena added, "In addition, Galactica's twelve landrams and three landcruisers have already been transferred to the Defense Militia, as well as eighty percent of the Marine-issue weapons. Also, the transport Gladius has been placed under Defense Militia jurisdiction - just in case we ever need to make offworld infantry deployments - and the transfer ship Janus has been assigned a position in the inner system as a forward base for Viper patrols of the polar jump points. Permanent fortresses at the polar jump points are on the list for future construction."

"The transfers will be complete in three days," Adama said. "And the Galactica will set out on the Dark Nebula Expedition in four days. So the Galactica will be gone from - what are those dates again?"

"November 28 to December 6," Athena provided. It had been decided that since the Thirteenth Tribe was far more numerous - both on and off the planet - to use their calendar.

Adama nodded. "I'll get the hang of this new calendar eventually. Anyway, fifty Vipers plus the Defense Militia should be enough to keep the planet safe for a few days. In the meantime, have you decided on the personnel for the Apollo Expedition?"

Voort handed over a folder. "It wasn't easy. Many of the most sober and respected professionals in the world would beat each other to a pulp for the chance to go to another planet, even if it's on an intelligence-gathering mission. So I had to be quiet. But I have a team of experts picked out."

"Excellent. Athena, get our people together and we'll brief them."

Voort asked, "If there's no other business?"

"Actually," Tiria said. "Yes there is. There is a long-term concern."

Voort and MacRuder looked worried. "What's the problem?"

"Were you aware that your planet was entering an ice age?"

Voort gave a chuckle. "So the notorious Halsey Theory rears it's head again. We've been listening to that panic-mongering for a century, and the government's best researchers inform us that there's no sign of a long-term cooling trend. Some crank organization been sending you spam-mail?"

Tiria was serious. "I've never heard of this Halsey Theory. And no one from Botany Bay contacted us about it. I heard of it from Colonial climatologists who have compared your records to the records of over three hundred other planets in our archives and analyzed them using the best computer-based mathematical models. Within fifty yahren Botany Bay will be in an ice age, and this region has a fifty percent probability of being under an ice sheet. The climate shift will alter the arable territories, so preparations should be made -"

"Hold it!" Voort said. "This is based on your own analysis? You derived these results independently?"

"Of course."

"Um ... would you mind letting our boys look over those results?"

"Certainly." She handed him a thick folder and some Botanean computer tapes. "Unfortunately, we currently lack the resources for large-scale climate correction, but we may be able to change that in the available time-frame."

Macruder whistled. "Oh boy. You just reignited one of the least rational controversies in the Bebee's society. Plus the argument on whether or not we should relocate the entire population or somehow deliberately cause a greenhouse effect."

"Sorry," Tiria said. "But better we figure out a course of action now instead of waiting for the famines."

Voort asked, "Well, is that the last of today's business?"

"I think so."

MacRuder sighed. "WarShip deployments. Intelligence operations to other planets. Contingency plans for offworld troop deployments. The universe shaken and turned over. All in eight days."

"I know," Voort said. "I got a report this morning. There have been fifty-one Kobolian-Botanean marriages in those eight days, most of them in the past three days. Not to mention over ten thousand orphan adoptions. Two or three generations of this and there won't be any way to tell us apart!"

As Adama rose, Yeoman Rand discreetly tapped Athena's shoulder. "Just out of curiosity - how old are you? If you don't mind."

The exotic, lovely Caprican answered, "I'm not old enough to mind my age - just fifty-eight yahren. Why?"

"Oh, just curious, no reason ... " To Yeoman Rand's eye, Athena appeared to be in her mid-twenties, perhaps a youthful thirty. "You wouldn't happen to have any skin-care tips, would you?"
----------

Basestar Hades
Unknown Space
Alliance Date 2779.228.3

One of the differences between organics and Cylons is their differing definitions of the term 'busy'.

If an organic were to enter the Central Chamber of the Cylon basestar Hades, he would see two Centurions standing guard by the glass door, and a huge empty chamber with a twenty-foot pillar in the middle of it. And on top of the pilar would be Lucifer, sitting silently, lit from above. Their first thought would be that this whole chamber was an exercise in ego and that Lucifer was sitting around doing nothing.

From Lucifer's point of view, he was very very busy.

The pillar was in fact the central computer server of the basestar, and it's optimum operation required an IL-series to sit in the chair. Lucifer himself was the main router through which all signals passed through the ship's intranet. Every conversation, every routine, every function, was relayed, monitored, and if necessary modified by Lucifer himself. While the vessel could operate without him, it's efficiency was vastly increased when the chair was occupied. When he sat upon the pillar, Lucifer, in a very real sense, was the Hades.

Lucifer was amazed at the results of the Hades' test of the Dadelus Drive. The first jump had sent the ship fifty light-yahren in seconds, to emerge in empty space far from a solar gravity well. It would take over seventy time-cycles to get this far using the conventional drive, and the basestar would still have to pass between gravity wells to a null-space in a solar system. The drive took almost seventeen centars to recharge, but that was a small disadvantage when the strategic speed and range was considered.

He was already plotting the potential uses of the drive ... sneak attacks by zipping between remote stars while ignoring null-spaces; secret bases placed in the interstellar void, mere seconds from any strategic point in a sector ... The galaxy would truly belong to the Cylons.

Lucifer listened to all the checks from the various departments, the last calculations were made, and the second test jump was engaged.

Then the universe vanished and collapsed into a tunnel.

[What is this?] Lucifer demanded through the intranet of the scientist Dadelus. [What's happening?!]

Dadelus was in the Core Command, hopping up and down. [WHEE! Wooooo! Booga-booga! Next stop, basement level - OF THE UNIVERSE! Listen to the daemon flutes! Watch the mad gods writhe! IA! IA! YOG-SOTHOTH! CTHUGHA FTHAGN! MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!]

One of the AD-series pilots reported, [We are in a space-time wormhole created by an instability in the Dadelus Drive. We have no control. We will probably die. I am sad.]

Euryale, who had been supervising the test in the Core Command, shouted. [If we're going to die, he goes first!] She grabbed Doctor Dadelus's head and twisted it off, silencing his maniacal cackling. [Pointless, but I feel better.] His body was still dancing, so she kicked it over.

A bright light came from outside, filling the ship with a high-pitched scream. The basestar shook as something hit it and everything went white. A loud BOOOM!! sounded throughout the ship and everything went silent and dark.

One of the pilots reported, [Something happened. Insufficient data to determine exact event, but there is a high probability of a collision of some sort, restoring us to normal space. And we are alive. I am happy.]

Another pilot pondered something. [A collision may have brought us out of the wormhole. That would mean that an object was inside the wormhole first. But our drive created the wormhole. I am confused.]

"Never mind," Lucifer said as he began accumulating status reports. [Structure intact. Dadelus Drive discharged but in nominal condition pending a complete check. Sublight drive operational. Jump drive operational. Power systems and weapons operational. Force-field operational. Sensors operational. Radiers operational. Personnel ... ] He paused for a moment as new information came in. [Crew complement has increased by one. Possible intruder. Location ... Alert. Intruder located outside the Central Chamber. Security send immediate reinforcements.]

Lucifer relayed the information to Shadrach, who activated the alarms. He ordered the Chamber to seal itself, but the glass doors slid open anyway.

And the white-clad figure that entered was the last one that Lucifer expected.

"BALTAR!!" Lucifer exclaimed. "What unholy glitch of the Great Machine - " Lucifer suddenly found himself in a condition resembling choking.

When Baltar was given command of the Hades, he was also given bionic implants that would allow him to function as an IL-series Cylon, including a recognition signal and a limited link to the intranet. Now that he was physically back in the Central Chamber, the Hades's systems were recognizing him and restoring his perogatives as commander.

And since all that restoring was going through him, it hurt! A lot!

Through the intranet, a noiseless scream came. [Lucifer!!] Euryale called. [Baltar's on board! My overrides are engaging!]

Baltar grinned his unwholesome grin. "I am so pleased that you missed me, old friend," Baltar said as the central pillar lowered to the floor.

"You will never know the depths of emotion I feel on seeing you again, Baltar," Lucifer said. If he had teeth, they would have been grinding. As it was, all he could do was rise from the chair. "As you are here, I assume you had something to do with that bizarre event that restored us to normal space?"

Baltar said nothing. He took the chair and allowed it to rise into position. In seconds he was sorting through the data reports. Lucifer knew that Baltar's organic mush-brain would take an inconveniently-long time to organize the data, so he pondered whether or not he could get the Centurions to shoot Baltar now. Once again he regretted his lack of arms with which he could have shot or strangled Baltar himself.

The doors slid open, admitting Euryale. Somewhere between the Command Core and the Central Chamber she had lost the metallic cloak that all IL-series wore. Normally only her human head showed. Now her entire body, based on ancient humanoid infiltration models, could be clearly seen. Lucifer was torn between disgust at the reasons Baltar forced her conversion to this form, envy for the arms, and admiration for the minutely-detailed construction that made her indistinguishable from a human female. She stood by, shivering, waiting for Baltar.

[Euryale?] Lucifer asked on a private frequency, one he was certain that the intranet didn't use..

[Lucifer? Please have me shot or something!] Her 'voice' was a faint whisper, the clamor of Baltar's imperatives screaming in her mind.

The central pillar lowered itself and Euryale scrambled into Baltar's lap. "Ohh, sweetie!" she moaned as she wriggled and nibbled at his neck and ears. "I missed you sooo much! I've been sooo naughty!"

"Patience, my dear," Baltar said. "Soon, we'll both be satisfied."

Lucifer was utterly repulsed at this display, especially since he could faintly 'hear' Euryale's real voice screaming in disgust. During Baltar's earlier term of service, Euryale had been kept confined in Baltar's quarters, so no one had actually seen how Baltar's programs had forced her to act.

"Lucifer!" Baltar said, getting up from the chair. "I must congratulate this Doctor Dadelus on his design - his little 'accident' has propelled us sixteen hundred light-yahren from the borders of the Cylon Empire. But I have been informed that the Galactica lies between us and the Empire. Make sure we are prepared for battle. Also, we should be in the vicinity of the lost Colony of Earth. This region is called the 'Inner Sphere', so I assume Earth has sub-colonies. Locate the nearest ship or world and seize navigational data. We need intelligence."

"Yes, you do require intelligence." Lucifer was intrigued. "And may I inquire of the source of your knowledge of the Galactica and the Lost Colony? And whether it has something to do with your mysterious return?"

"You may inquire," Baltar said, smiling. "But I will not answer. Suffice it to say I prefer throwing my lot in with the winning side. Come, my dear Euryale." Baltar held out a hand, which she took, making an odd giggling sound.

"I will be occupied for several centars, Lucifer. See to things, will you?"

"Lick my blinky diodes," Lucifer muttered in a low voice.

"What was that, Lucifer?"

"By Your Command," Lucifer said, somewhat louder.

Baltar gave Euryale his evil grin. "As for you, my dear Lia -"

"Euryale," she corrected him.

"Of course. Euryale. I have something special I dreamed up during my exile. Just for you."

"Anything for you, My Lord Baltar," Euryale replied. He led her off, with Euryale walking in a very strange fashion with an excess of hip movements.

As they left the chamber, Lucifer resumed his position on the pedestal. As it rose and he reconnected to the Hades intranet, he noticed that the turboflush systems for Baltar's private quarters had not been activated in a yahren and a half. He saw no reason to keep obsolete routines in the system and deleted all programs for and references to the turboflush from the system.

[LadyTevar]

So... Euryale is a FleshForm Cylon. Poor thing, stuck with Baltar. Obviously Baltar's normal incompetence will show through. I do like your explanation for Baltar's traitorous actions -- a boy thinking he should be king.

However -- Are you sure Athena is 58? I thought she was younger than Apollo. I know Apollo and Starbuck are about a year apart, so are they in their 50s? (Which would be late-twenties for the Lost Tribe). The adoption of the orphans, and the rash of sudden marriages are a fun thought, but the difference in aging is going to make long-term relationships interesting.

I am still wondering what you will do with Starbuck's on/off girlfriend Casseopaia. She had become a very skilled nurse (she started as a courtesean nearly stoned by the other refugees in her ship). I'm not sure if there's a need for trained Courteseans, but nurses who can teach Colonial medical skills.

[syed]

well the pirates only have 2 J, 6 D, and 5 F ships. Its unlikle J would be that well armed, drop ships possibly, and the fighter are the real threat. 2 squadrons could fight, they do have the speed and weaponry advantage so likly capable of catching them. The pirates do return before the galactica.

Baltar, is he going to build an empire, or search out adama? JOhn must want baltar to survive for a while otherwise why help him out. A common enemy for all, or his command over the ship may make it easier to be captured.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Goodie, an update. And lots of interesting details.

I find it very impressive how you write the characters. All the required seriousness is there, but with a human touch I ave rarely seen outside of something like SG-1. The coments on Adama and Athena's age are interesting, it means Adama was fathering kids at age 119. Kudos to him if he keeps up that long

And Baltar, oh wonderful Baltar. That bastard returns in all his evil and perverted ways. I especially liked the bit with him on the planet "Thus did Humanity's brief reign on this remote world end, with a belch" that was just priceless

[MysteriousDarkLordv3]

Author's Note: I've modified the canon Fomalhaut system to conform to the real-life Fomalhaut system (google it to get a look at the Eye). As well as ... other factors.

Private DropShip Max's Boys
Nadir Jump Point, Fomalhaut System
Draconis March, Federated Suns
December 1, 2999 A.D.

Jamie looked up from his navigational work to see his boss staring out the viewport. "Don't you ever get tired of staring at the sky?!"

"Not really," she said. "If I got tired of the stars I wouldn't be in this line of work, would I? Besides, look at it!"

He looked. "It's a big red eye. They call it The Eye down on Fomalhaut. They say a demon of fire lives on a planet orbiting it."

"Did you know that Fomalhaut isn't Fomalhaut?" Ship's Master Maxine 'Max' Sandoval said. "That thing out there is the original Fomalhaut, named on Earth thousands of years ago. But nothing human could live in that radioactive dusty hell. The primary is A-class - it and that mass of dirt around it put our so much energy that the planets in this system a light-year away get more light and warmth from it than from that pathetic ember they orbit."

"Yeah, fascinating," Jamie said in as bored a tone of voice as he could muster. "The Haul-Ash is fifty thousand klicks away. Preparing for approach."

"Okay, okay. I wouldn't hurt you to stretch your brain every now and again."

"Don't be silly. I married you for your brain, just like everyone else. With you around, none of us need to think. All we have to do is lift heavy things and keep you smiling in the sack."

"Remind me to make you lift lots of heavy things and not let you in the sack for a few weeks."

The distinctive rainbow of a jump emergence flared in the viewport. Alarms went off, since the new JumpShip appeared between them and their destination.

"HOLY SHIT!" Jamie yelled, bring on braking thrusters. "What the bloody green rape is that thing?!"

Max went to the sensors, activating the warbook that all ships carried. "It's not on record. It's something new." She looked at the huge double-disc structure. "Looks more like a station than a ship. Big sucker, though."

A flash of light flared from the upper disc, and the JumpShip Haul-Ash filled space with the radioactive plasma in it's core as it was ripped in two. Other light-flares headed out toward other more distant JumpShips.

"What's happening?!" Jamie yelled in a panic.

"It's shooting!" she yelled back.

"Is it the Dragons?!" he asked. These worlds had traded hands between the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns several times over the past century, usualy amid violence.

"I don''t think the Combine has anything like that! The warbook doesn't even recognize the weapons they're using! It's giving a Code Zulu!"

Suddenly, inexplicably, the DropShip began to move toward the double disc.

"Reverse thrust!" she ordered. "Why are we headed toward it?"

"The engines are on station-keeping!" he retorted. "We shouldn't be moving at all!"

The unknown ships loomed large as they were drawn in. Max activated the boarding alarm, making her other husbands grab weapons and her children hide in the lifeboat. As soon as the lifeboat ejected, she turned her thoughts to the defense of the ship.

The Max's Boys was an old Union-class DropShip modified for cargo hauling. She had more tonnage than most because most of the weapons arrays had been removed along with the Mech bays. But she still had a half-dozen Firefly Type II Medium Lasers, which cut loose at a thousand meters.

The beams had no effect at all. There was no indication that they had even hit. And the main engine was dead.

As the Boys entered one of the discs, the sensation of 'down' suddenly returned.

"What was that?!" Jamie blurted out. "We've got spin!"

"No we don't," Max said. "There's gravity. Artificial gravity, like in bad science-fiction books written by ground-huggers. Aliens. Jamie, these are aliens."

The DropShip came to a rest, and there came a rapid pounding like a jackhammer. Hull maintenance controls recorded one of the cargo doors super-heating.

"They're burning through the cargo doors!" Max said. She got on the shipwide intercom. "Boys, I think these are aliens. Do not fire first! They could have killed us in space but they didn't. Maybe we can get out of this alive. But if they shoot, let them have it."

Max activated the cargo bay camera. A patch on the cargo door was buckling inward and glowing dull red. Then it popped like a blister, splattering molten metal inside the main bay. And ignoring the heat and molten metal came a line of chrome silver armored beings carrying huge rifles. Their demeanor screamed 'soldier'.

They quickly found and disarmed the men and herded them into the middle of the bay as two more searched the ship. It didn't take long to find the bridge.

Max kept her calm - and Jamie tried to - as the three big silver intruders with the scanning red cyclops-eyes walked into the bridge. One of them walked over unerringly to the main computer and put a hand on it.

The Cylon's sub-quantum interface systems bypassed the normal I/O ports and tapped directly into the ship's systems. Since the Boys was a family DropShip, there were educational systems and personal computer accounts. It was all fed to the central system, where Lucifer ran it through the languatrons, processed it, and fed a linguistic program to the Centurions.

At this point, Lucifer could have gotten all the navigational information they required from the computers. But he decided to make Baltar's life difficult and erased the humans' computer records. Baltar would now have to get his information from the humans themselves - and Lucifer knew from experience how aggravating interrogating humans could be.

"We now have your language," the Centurion addressed its captives. "Which of you is the navigation officer?"

Before Jamie could answer, Max blurted out, "We both are!" She stepped forward. "I'm Max Sandoval, Ship's Master and owner-of-record. This is my husband Jamie. You have my crew in the cargo hold. I'll be more cooperative if they are unharmed."

The Centurion paused, receiving instructions, then stated, "You are now prisoners." He addressed the other Centurions. "Take these humans to holding cells."

"By Your Command," one Centurion replied.

"What of the other humans?" the other Centurion asked.

Their commander said, "The navigation officers are all that is necessary. All others are to be exterminated."

"By Your Command."

Max and Jamie began screaming in protest as the Centurions hauled them off the bridge. They tried to wrest their arms free, but the aliens were too strong. The pair stopped sceaming as they passed through the cargo bay and they saw the decapitated bodies of their family. The shock was too much for them to even protest as they were burned while being hauled through the partially-melted cargo door.
----------

Dark Nebula
Trellshire Province, Lyran Commonwealth
December 1, 2999 A.D.

The departure from Botany Bay four days ago had been exciting. The Galactica, with the mining ship Majahaul and the passenger ship Sagittaria Dawn attached to it's upper hull, went to lightspeed and with exacting calculated precision hit the null-space to the next system. The Bebee was covered with parties as their people - both new Galactica crew and the crew of the Noonien Industrial Consortium - set out on the second interstellar adventure of the new era of spaceflight.

(The first interstellar adventure had been the Nextdoor Consortium, a group made of old Kobolian miners and Botanean supporters, who took the mining ship Treasure and the passenger shuttle Persephone to the adjacent system GCC-1123 the day before. The system in question didn't contain tylium, but the newly-established mining operation it looked to make a healthy contribution to Botany Bay's economy. Not to mention the glory and spot in the history books.)

The next few days were a rush through uninhabited systems. The Galactica could only use the lightspeed system safely for six hours at a stretch, so they spent six hours rushing from one null-space to another in a slalom course measured in light-years, then the rest of the day resting and performing maintenance.

Juliet had been volunteered for the Apollo Expedition because of her working familiarity with Inner Sphere military technology. And yes her first starflight was exciting and Starbuck was fun and exploring the ancient vessel was a wild experience. (The Celestial Temple visit was memorable ... ). But being relegated to supercargo with no defined duties was not fun.

So she was in the Officers' Club reading a book and sipping a beer.

Colton Peck, one of the Militia personnel who had transferred to the Galactica, noticed her. They knew each other and had been sociable for several years, although since Juliet hung out with the pilots and Colton was support, they had only talked a few times on the trip. So he came over and sat down.

"Yo, Julie," he said. "You read Kobolian now?"

"It's not that hard," she said. "Besides, this is fascinating stuff."

He looked at the title. "'Starways Tales'? Rip-roring space adventure, to contrast with your dull, sedentary life?"

"No, yobbo. These are old Kobolian stories. Before the Quorum was founded a couple of thousand years back, the Twelve Colonies were all separate nations. The Colony of Picon had this god-king setup with a bunch of castes and people kept trying to sneak off the planet. The other colonies couldn't openly help without triggering a war, but civilians organized the Starways, smuggling operations to sneak caste-breakers off Picon. They had to get up to some pretty wild stuff to avoid the Picon Orbit Guard and the Thought-Control Police. The caste system was broken by the Quorum, but before that there was over a thousand years of freaky sneakiness."

"Like the last days of the Star League or the Cold War of Old Earth? Spies and secret wars and all that dreck?"

"Yeah, all that dreck." She picked up her beer can. "Speaking of dreck, they have any real beer left? Or just that 'grog' swill?" Beer had quickly replaced grog as the plebian alcoholic drink of choice among most Kobolians. And after having tried grog, no child of the Bebee was surprised.

"Good question," Colton said. "I'll check."

Boomer came into the Club. "Hey, Captain Crash! We're almost there. Thought you wanted to see the Nebula."

She closed her book and got up. "Gotta go, Colton. Pay my tab, will you?" She got out of the Club before he could protest. "And Booms? You got to call me 'Captain Crash'?"

"That crash in the duel has got to be the worst crack-up I ever saw anyone human walk away from. Besides, as long as you call me 'Booms' I'll call you anything I want."

They made it to the transport and got in one of the cars. It still amazed Juliet slightly that this ship was so large that it had it's own public transport system to get the crew to battlestations quickly. This one was headed for Landing Bay Alpha.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just that 'Boomer' sounds like an odd name. In my language 'boomer' means -"

"Yes I know," he said. "But I'm from the Colony of Leo. My use name is for the public and my real name is a matter for family. Sagittarans are the same way."

"Sagittarans? Tall pale folks?"

"As a rule."

"Okay, that explains that guy everybody calls 'Greenbean'."

They stopped and disembarked at the Landing Bay Alpha station and went to the bay itself. Thirty or so meters away was the landing bay door itself, which had been the big shocker to Juliet when she first landed on the Galactica.

She understood intellectually that the force-field that protected the Kobolaian ships from energy weapons could be made to stop the kinetic motion of gasses. She knew that the field at the bay door, all of three meters deep, made the outgassing air go slower and slower until it stopped and liquified, where it was swept up and sucked back into the ship's life support system. The practical upshot of all that was a bay that was safely open to the vacuum of space, not needing huge doors or giant airlock systems, and reduced the kinetic energy of incoming craft by a factor of ten.

Of course, her instinct still said 'There's a huge freaking hole in the spaceship!' which made her uncomfortable.

Now her instinct took a backseat to her sense of wonder and glory.

The Dark Nebula, when viewed from a distance, was a hole in space, and an inky cloud when viewed from within. But at the right distance it was something else entirely.

The Dark Nebula was a stellar nursery, filled with infant suns being born, their light illuminating the torrents of gas and debris within. And some of those baby suns died aborning, often from collision, scattering exotic materials and colors in all directions.

And there was nothing between her and it.

Boomer saw the expression on her face and gave a chuckle. "The Book of the Word says, 'To see the naked heavens is to feel the God of Creation touch your soul.'"

Juliet nodded. "It's right. You must be used to stuff like this."

"If I get used to seeing something like this, push me over and throw dirt on me." He patted her shoulder. "I'm in command of the Majahaul security flight and we've got one more jump before we deploy the Majahaul Expedition - be launching soon. Enjoy the view."

"Oh I will." She took out the expensive camera she had brought from home and began photographing.
----------

The red dwarf star was only visible outside the nebula as a red haze. The light-pressure cleared out a bubble a few dozen AU across within the cloud, an area of relative visibility in the aptly-named Dark Nebula. Nothing lived here anymore, although they used to.

When the Galactica erupted from the null-space, it did not go unobserved. The appearance of the Starchaser several days ago had alerted it, and the battlestar's arrival awoke it fully. It watched as the two smaller craft detached from the hull of the ship and six small craft launched from the pontoons on the sides. A few hours later, the Galactica sped away and disappeared into a null-space.

Every characteristic of the alien ships - materials used, engine output, radio frequencies, signals emitted, and their arrival and departure - all of them triggered 'Code Zulu' alerts in the computer systems of the old Star League observation satellite. And for some reason, no one had bothered to tell the stupid machine what to do in case of aliens showing up, so it sent a signal to Camelot Command, asking for human instructions.

Camelot Command received the signal. But the base had been abandoned for over two hundred years and the alarm echoed in an empty chamber. The powerful defense systems awaited instructions, inert.

The satellite continued to watch, impassive, waiting for instructions as the Kobolians and Botaneans built a civilian mining base in the same system as the most powerful Star League military base in the galaxy.
----------

Basestar Hades
Unknown Space
Alliance Date 2779.227.3

The Hades drifted alone at the Fomalhaut nadir jump-point, with nothing for hundreds of thousands of kilometers but the wreckage of Inner Sphere JumpShips and a lone lifepod. A point-defense blaster flared briefly, casually erasing the lifepod from existence. A moment later, the basestar vanished into hyperspace.

Lucifer was still doing Baltar's duties, which were the same ones that he would normally do, but the thought that Baltar was hovering somewhere nearby, doing who-knows-what irrational things to Euryale, spoiled his mood. He checked on the prisoners, and they were engaged in the activity called 'weeping'. Humans often did this after Cylons came through an area, although why was still a mystery. Human and Cylon emotional responses differed a great deal.

The Hades emerged from hyperspace a light-yahren away, inside the dust cloud that the humans of Fomalhaut referred to as 'The Eye'. There was a great deal of infrared haze, pluton particles, and what appeared to be large numbers of anomalous motile plasma balls in the cloud. Not a pleasant environment, but one that no human would venture into. He decided to dither in this pointless system until Baltar showed up, got annoyed with the dithering, and gave orders. The logical step of discovering the exact whereabouts of Earth from the prisoners was conveniently overlooked. Why make Baltar's life easy?

A signal briefly registered on the Hades's sensors. Extremely faint, but obviously artificial. It lasted less than a micron before being lost in the haze. Lucifer automatically began the process of classifying it. To his surprise, he got an answer from the warbook almost instantly ...

Colonial Service transponder, identified as the United Colonial Battlestar Pegasus, command ship, Fifth Aerion Fleet,

Lucifer focused the visual sensors on the region where the signal came from. There was a object there that could possibly be the size of a battlestar.

He deleted this information from the records. No need to annoy the great Lord Baltar with trivia.

The Centurion guards at the door looked up when they heard Lucifer chuckle. If they had spines, they would have had cold chills running up them.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Oh my Lords....Cain? Sheba's going to be happy. Speaking of which I dont think you'v mentioned her or Cassiopaeia at all. This is gonna be good

Jesus H Vishnu, this story is getting more and more astounding.

Even if the good old Pegasus is abandoned, Galactica suddenly has an extra warship and plenty of volunteers to crew it with

EDIT: For goodness sake, keep writing! This is a brilliant story

[Themightytom]

Oh my Lords....Cain? Sheba's going to be happy. Speaking of which I dont think you'v mentioned her or Cassiopaeia at all. This is gonna be good

Jesus H Vishnu, this story is getting more and more astounding.

Even if the good old Pegasus is abandoned, Galactica suddenly has an extra warship and plenty of volunteers to crew it with

EDIT: For goodness sake, keep writing! This is a brilliant story

Not neccesarily... the cylons found it first...
I like the casual tragedy that befell Julie and her family. Its easy to forget those bumbling comedic cylons are actually killing machines
Awesome story I can't wait for more.

[Eternal_Freedom]

True the Cylons found it first...but Lucifer is ignoring it, considering it "trivia"

And we saw in the Living Legend that Baltar was shit scared of Cain and the Pegasus, retreating even when he had a 3 to 1 capital ship advantage. At any rate, it's nice to see Pegasus wil be making an appearance in the story, and I hope, Commander Cain as well

[tortieconspiracy]

From context, I don't think Lucifer actually thinks it's trivia. I think it much more likely that that's going to be his excuse if/when Baltar finds out about it. If he thought it was trivia, he just wouldn't bother mentioning it. Actively erasing the information implies that he's letting his dislike of Baltar skew his priorities.

[Eternal_Freedom]

True, msyteriousdarklord explained that one to me. Oops

At any rate, it's an awesome development, and a great chapter

ThoughI have to wonder why the Centurions beheaded the crew rather than simply shot them

[S J C]

True, msyteriousdarklord explained that one to me. Oops

At any rate, it's an awesome development, and a great chapter

ThoughI have to wonder why the Centurions beheaded the crew rather than simply shot them

There deep in enemy territory, So beheading them save energy.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Fair point, I thought mysteriousdarklord did it to counteract the familiar "bumbling centurion" that I remember from the shows

[RhoOmicronMu]

"Is it the Dragons?!" he asked. These worlds had traded hands between the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns several times over the past century, usualy amid violence.

Make that "Is it the Snakes?!" or "Is it the Dracs?!" with Snakes being more derogatory. No one calls them the Dragons. People from the Combine will make reference to The Dragon, but that's either a reference to the Coordinator or a semi-mystical reference to the state as a whole.