Disclaimer: I do not own BSG or Stargate, blah blah blah.
The fact is, I was never happy at the way Ruined Earth turned out. It was a nice one-shot, don't get me wrong, but even reading it felt rushed and hurried. A good idea, but one not given any real justice. In this new version I added a lot more illustration, some more dialogue(though I'm torn as to whether less was better), and made clearer that it was Repli-Weir. I'll leave it to the readers to decide how she got back or ever 'died' in this AU. I added more stress on the 'gentle guidance' that I personally felt was only a step below the attitude of the Ascended towards the lower planes. I thought the destruction of Earth would have created a humanity more wary and careful, even slightly bitter and remorseful. So let me know what you think.
The Cylons and Colonials stared out at the gray and bleak visage of what had once been a city, now a monument of twisted metal and ruined buildings. The soil was black and ruined beneath their feet, hardened and scarred. Both parties seemed equally devastated and equally disheartened by what they saw.
There was a long silence, then the older Adama spoke, the Admiral's voice gruff with grief for how hopes had been so brutally crushed. It was painfully familiar, this sight. The ruins did not speak of disuse but nuclear war. Nuclear war so fierce that the buildings were more damaged than even those on Caprica. "How did this happen?" For a moment he entertained the thought that the Cylons had come here, too, come the Thirteenth Tribe of humanity and destroyed it utterly. But he didn't even have to look anymore at the faces of the rebel Cylons to know it wasn't true. Nobody wanted to respond to the question, but one voice did reply. But it was a voice not belonging to anyone who had come down from the Fleet above.
"We destroyed ourselves." Most of the Cylons whirled around to focus on the speaker, a woman, while the Colonial marines turned and raised their rifles, training them on the newcomer with unerring accuracy that was only born of strife. Even Gaius Baltar, his features radiating bleak despair, looked up from where he sat. She stood there like a statue, fingers interlinked and hands folded together in front of her. Kara Thrace had her hand on a sidearm, and the marines were tense.
The woman had an expression of sadness etched on her features, and she looked older than her youthful appearance suggested. She was wearing simple gray trousers and a gray jacket, red dominating the front of the seemingly casual top like a rank or station and as bright as if it had just been dyed. Even the dust seemed to fail to cling to her boots. Her eyes seemed dull, but an intelligent gleam lay behind them, obscured by grief.
Roslin stared at her, utter loss and confusion warring for dominance on her face, standing close to Adama with a hand resting on his upper arm. Partially for support because of her cancer, partially for the emotional comfort. She spoke only one word, but filled it with hurt in a profound way. "How?"
The woman smiled, but it was bitter. "There was no enemy but ourselves. The revelation of a great secret was forced by events beyond our control, and the planet broke along too many lines to count. Old tensions flared, nations fractured. Someone, somewhere, used a bomb, and others followed. Again, and again, until the Earth burned and life died. Can you taste it on the air?" she asked, turning her head to look across the ruins and the gray sky, as if she too was seeing it for the first time. "Even the plants could not survive such a bombardment of radiation. The air is filled with toxins. Stay here too long and you will begin to feel the effects." Nobody moved as the woman spoke, immobile as a statue.
"We had hoped the secret would bring the world together, unite us in a way countless initiatives and deals had failed. We thought we knew the worse side of human nature. We were wrong…and billions died. Everybody on Earth died. By the time help arrived the radiation had killed everyone the nuclear fire had not, save mere thousands. Our survivors are less than yours." D'Anna shook her head as if trying to deny it, grief twisting her features until she couldn't contain it, stepping forward with an arm raised brandished in accusation.
"We were brought here! The Final Five…we were shown the way…" Her voice cracked, and she fell silent. The woman looked sad.
"You are machines, and machines can be changed more easily than a human ever could. When we found you Colonials among the stars and saw your pain, your scars…we were compelled to help. You were so like us, and searching for home that no longer existed. The Cylons too were not unlike children learning to walk." Her face momentarily twisted in an expression of distaste. "There were questions of whether or not the Cylons should be allowed to continue, but we know painfully the costs of playing God." Several of the marines, who had not so much as moved their aim, stiffened. They weren't the only ones, as most of the Colonial party had similar reactions. But they did not voice their sudden flurry of questions, even though a small part of their minds were screaming 'Cylon, Cylon!' over and over again.
If the woman had noticed she gave no sign, continuing as if oblivious to the reaction around her, though judging by the way her eyes were now failing to leave Roslin and Admiral Adama she might well have. "We planted seeds of rumours among the Cylons and altered memories, bringing the Final Five into being. Then we took humans and gave them a song to guide you here." Anders flinched at the mention of the song. Gaius Baltar stood shakily, pointing an accusing finger. He spoke in a voice that would have been charismatic were it not for the hoarse and almost broken quality to it.
"You…you manipulated us!" The woman shook her head in a way that conveyed desperation, an urge for them to continue listening to her, though Kara Thrace noted with eyes that were rapidly growing colder and more distrustful that the action was not mirrored in her body language.
"No! We wanted to bring you home!" Lee Adama clenched his fists, a steady rage creeping up. He threw his arm out to encompass the surroundings.
"To this? To a dead world!" The marines, as if reacting to both the impassioned and furious tone of a respected officer and a man who had what felt like mere hours ago been President, stiffened again in preparation for the recoil firing their weapons would cause.
"No!" The reply was instant, sensing the so far mostly one-sided conversation had come to a vital point. "We couldn't guide you to where we were. It was too far…and Earth…you had to see. We had hoped you would come together…so we could take you both to your people. Unity is everything, and because we didn't have it humanity as we know it is dying. One day we will come back to our home, but not for years yet." She paused for a moment, then spoke in a voice laden in sympathetic pain, eyes and voice alike soft. "Your struggle for survival has taught you as an entire people the value of another day, and given you the willingness to do anything to achieve it." Her eyes flickered to the assembled Cylons. "Even allied yourself with those who used to be your worse enemies, if only for a while."
Admiral Adama gritted his teeth, tired of the one sided monologue. He was an officer, and he knew the sound of a person when they were trying to justify themselves. She didn't have the same confidence as one who was completely convinced they had done the right thing, either. So when he spoke there was a steely anger layering his tone. "So why are we here?" he ground out. As if on cue a silver light shimmered behind the woman and a great ring appeared in a sudden pulse of brightness, set into the earth like a gateway. The Colonials drew back and the marines almost fired, unnerved by the display. The Cylons showed surprise as well, but they stood their ground, eyes darting all over the ring, as if trying to analyse it.
"We can give you all a home. Home safe from danger from the other Cylons that still hunt you. Home so far away they could never reach you." Roslin looked up into the sky as if to see where the ring came from in a beam of light, but there was nothing but blue sky. She looked at the woman with a mixture of awe and fear.
"Who are you?" she asked finally, saying what had been on the mind of the entire group. The woman straightened, fire lighting behind her eyes for a moment, as if something very important had just been said.
"I was once Doctor Elizabeth Weir," she said proudly, while Admiral Adama filed her way of saying it away for later examination, "and Atlantis awaits." The inner track of the ring began to spin with the sound of what seemed to be stone against stone, and moments later the future unfolded in a wash of blue light.