Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I make nothing off of these and I am penniless. That means it's pointless to sue me.
Here is what will most likely be the final installment of my Soultripping trilogy. I wish to thank all the loyal readers who have given me good reviews. I have always wanted to write a sweeping story and I guess this is about as close as I will ever get.
Please all reviews are welcome and will be appreciated. Remember it takes constructive criticism to be able to grow. Or you can just tell me if you liked it.
Soultrippingbook3
Chapter One: "What the frak is coffee?" or Starbuck gets a nickname.
Starbuck sensed the movement to her left, but all she saw was a blur. The next instant she went from being the one with the gun and the control to being a defenseless potential hostage.
The most infuriating part of the whole situation was that the man directly in front of her didn't so much as blink an eye. He hadn't said anything since his first rather odd complaint either. Starbuck pulled her rapidly careening thoughts back to the most important matter at hand, that being the rather sharp sword resting against her throat.
She slowly raised what was left of her gun and stared at it for a second or two. It had been cut cleanly in two, right in front of the trigger guard. It had even been cut right through the round in the chamber. Taking stock of the situation Starbuck did the only thing that seemed reasonable.
"Uhhh… Hi! The name's Starbuck! How's it going? You guys got any Ambrosia or cigars in this place?" When in doubt always confuse them with BS that's my motto Starbuck thought to herself. In her experience it worked every time. To give matters a nudge in the right direction she even flashed the man her best roguish grin.
The grin became a little forced as she felt the sword press the tiniest bit deeper into her neck. She risked a glace to her side and was rewarded with a sight that sent a small shiver down her back. Standing at arms length from her was what had to be the scariest looking man she had ever seen in her life. He stood close to seven feet tall, looked very muscular and had an eye patch.
"Stop babbling. Now," was the only thing the big brute said! Starbuck decided that she really didn't have anything more to say that would contribute to the conversation at that point.
"Ken-chan, are you going to cut off Coffee Girl's head?" This question brought Starbuck's eyes shooting downward. Standing there looking up at her was the same pink haired face that she had seen just before she… Starbuck wasn't really sure how to finish that thought. It didn't feel like she was dead, not that she had a lot of experience with being dead.
This whole exchange seemed to strike everyone else standing around them as very funny. Even the guy with the sword had just the slightest hint of a smile playing around his lips. That would have been reassuring in most circumstances Starbuck thought except the guy had pointed teeth, which combined with everything else about the guy ended up giving him a wolf like appearance. Nope, she thought most definitely not reassuring at all.
"No one will be cutting off anyone's head just now," said the green hated man.
Turning back to face her, the man in the hat tapped his fan against the side of his face.
"Why don't we just start over from the beginning," he said with a smile.
Taking the hint Starbuck took the plunge, "Hello, my name is Captain Kara Thrace, call sign Starbuck. I'm a Colonial Warrior stationed on the Battlestar Galactica," there she thought that should make everyone happy.
Starbuck slowly brought her finger up to the tip of the sword at her neck and gently put pressure on it. It didn't move.
"Uhmm didn't we all just decide that nobody was going to get their heads chopped off today?"
"You can lower your sword Captain Kenpachi I'm sure that Captain… which do you prefer Captain? Starbuck or Thrace?" the strange man asked.
"Starbuck is fine umm... " Starbuck just left her question hang there, hopping for an answer.
"Oh where are my manners, I haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Urahara Kisuke that is Captain Kenpachi and his Lieutenant Yachiru," he said pointing to each in turn. The one eyed Captain just looked at her and grunted, the pink haired girl was much friendlier.
"Hi Coffee Girl, do you have any brownies. Or how about some cookies or maybe…" she came to an abrupt halt do to a rather large sucker being stuck in her mouth by Urahara.
"You'll have to forgive Yachiru, she gets carried away sometimes. Now you said you were from the Galactica that is very interesting, very interesting indeed."
"You know about the Galactica?" Starbuck asked.
"Yes, but not much. We had rumors that a large fleet of survivors had escaped the Cylons, been captured and then re-escaped. However we have never been in contact with anyone who was actually part of the fleet. Our most solid information so far has come from several Cylon prisoners that we have questioned."
"You guys have Cylon prisoners?" Starbuck asked in a shocked voice.
"Had prisoners is a better way to describe the situation. Once Jonin Ibiki Morino gets done with them we have been turning them over to Captain Mayuri for further study." Just by the way he said this it sounded ominous to Starbuck. Another clue that it wasn't a good thing to be given to those two, were the shudders that ran through everyone in sight. Starbuck made a mental note to herself not to ever be sent to those two.
"I've just got to know Mr. Urahara, are there any other survivors here?" Starbuck asked in a voice hoarse with emotion.
"Oh, of course of course, yes there are about one thousand survivors at last count. We've been finding them all over the place. On all of the Colonies and scattered about various systems in battered old ships. We have found most everyone we're going to by this time though. Most of those who escaped the onslaught did so with very little supplies or resources. I think it would be best if we took you to The Free Colonial Armed Forces H.Q., so you can be debriefed by your own people."
"Free Colonial Armed Forces?" asked Starbuck as they walked towards the imposing castle. That was something that was going to take some getting used to, Starbuck thought to herself. No one in the Twelve Colonies had ever thought to build something this big, so the idea of how to build houses in a space station had never come up.
The castle itself was exotically different and was breathtakingly beautiful. It was made from stone. It rose upwards level upon level each inner circle reaching higher. The roofs were of a striking design. Instead of just ending at the edge there was the slightest bit of an upward flair at the end. It was definitely not something that Colonial architects would come up with.
As the walked through the main gate they were met by an orange haired young man. Starbuck noticed that this man also had an attendant just like Captain Kenpachi did.
"Yo! How did things go Kenpachi?" Ichigo asked "I see that you picked up a new face, are you looking to start dating?"
"Well after you and Nell ran off with your tail tucked between your legs we felt we needed some company!" Kenpachi growled at Ichigo slowly getting ready to draw his zanpakuto.
Yachiru jumped off his back and scampered off to one side. She crouched down and kept a watchful eye on Nell. Nell had also moved to one side and was glaring at everyone, especially the attractive new woman.
Starbuck looked on in shock, even though she couldn't understand a word being said it looked like the two men were getting ready to kill each other. She could literally see the hostility in the air between the two. It was so powerful that she couldn't even move. The really worrisome part was that no one seemed too excited by the whole state of affairs.
"Gentleman, that is enough of that, you're scaring our guest." Urahara stepped between the two men and snapped his fan closed. "There will be time enough for fun and games when this little crisis is over. Understood?" He fixed each of them with his sharp gaze. Both men looked at him and laughed.
"We will have to spend some more time sparing Ichigo," said Kenpachi as he put away his jagged edged zanpakuto. "You're getting soft. Where is that kid who fought me to the death before?" Without a backward glance Kenpachi strode off.
"Bye, Bye Coffee Girl," Yachiru yelled at the Starbuck waving as she turned to run after Kenpachi, her zanpakuto trailing behind her on a set of little wheels. As she ran after him she shouted, "Wait Ken-chan you're going the wrong way!"
Starbuck didn't know what to make of what had just happened. She could tell that this Urahara guy must be rather important to order men like these around with such ease. She took the time to study the new man, Ichigo. These names were going to take some time to get used to. They were very different from Colonial names.
Ichigo looked to be fairly young, late teens or early twenties she guessed. Unlike Captain Kenpachi, Ichigo's clothing was black trimmed with white. His sword was smooth and sharp. It was also much bigger then the other Captain's. Starbuck automatically gave him this rank because of what she had witnessed so far. The sword really reminded her of a giant pointed meat cleaver. In a flash it disappeared back onto his shoulder.
The small green haired girl had reattached herself to his back and was glaring at her over Ichigo's shoulder. The girl was tiny, she looked like she was about three maybe four in Starbucks eyes. She wore a shapeless, green robe and what looked like a part of a human skull on her head.
"Ichigo, I want you and Nell to take Ms. Starbuck to the Free Colonies H.Q. and turn her over to them for the debriefing. Have them do a rush job on this. Ms. Starbuck here has just come from the Galactica and has its' current location. We need to compare star charts and get them rescued. I will be meeting with the rest of the Council to plan the operation. Report back to me at RDF H.Q. as soon as possible."
"Yo!" Ichigo replied with a curt jerk of his head.
"You do have a way with words don't you?" sighed Urahara. With that Urahara turned and headed of toward what looked like a waiting air transport.
"Yo! Coffee Girl let's get going."
At the sound of Ichigo's voice Starbuck's head whipped around. "Alright what in the frak is coffee anyway?"
Chapter Two: Of Chopsticks, Christmas, Hollows and Invid or "What the frak is up with these sticks?"
Sheba sat and stared with absolute hatred at the two long, thin sticks. She was holding one in each hand to the obvious entertainment at everyone else kneeling at the table.
"What the frak is up with using these sticks anyway?" Sheba pouted.
"No, no you have to hold them this way," explained her little sister Cami. Cami then went and grabbed her hands and the chopsticks. She then gently guided Sheba's hands into the correct position.
When Sheba had first moved out to the farm, where Cami lived with what seemed like some sort of adopted extended family, Sheba hadn't been able to speak a word of Earther; but because of her trip through the gate it had come to her over the course of several days. This was different than what had happened to Cami. When Cami had traveled through the gates she had also gone briefly to another dimension, this had allowed her to pick up the language in a matter of hours. Picking up how to use Chopsticks on the other hand were an entirely different fraking matter.
"I'm never going to get the hang of these things," Sheba said as yet again the food flipped out from between the two sticks.
"It is just a matter of pressure," said Risa.
Risa was one of three women who lived on this farm along with their husbands. Risa was a tall, young woman with long, reddish brown hair. She was very loud and outgoing. She was also very kind and caring. Her companion at the table Chiharu was the exact opposite in many ways. She was very tiny and shy. However she, like Risa, was very kind and caring. Risa and Chiharu stayed mostly at home taking care of the small chores on the farm. Everyone else in the group had jobs either at the castle or in the village of Konoha. For the larger projects on the farm everyone took time off and pitched in together.
"You put just enough pressure on the food to hold it in place." With ease she picked up the piece of fallen food and put it back into Sheba's bowl.
"Don't worry Sheba, it took me weeks to learn how to eat," said Cami "I thought I was going to die of starvation."
Everyone at the table laughed. Cami's good humor always seemed to be able to take the tension right out of the room. Sheba realized how lucky they were to have found such a welcoming home, many of the Colonial refugees were not having as easy a time adapting to their new home. This wasn't for lack of trying on everyone's part. It was due to the massive amount of trauma that they had all been through.
"Well I'm going back to school starting tomorrow," Cami said to no one in particular. "I can't afford to miss anymore days what with mid term tests coming up."
"Aren't Yuzu and the other girls helping you?" asked Chiharu in a soft voice.
"Yes, but notes aren't the same as being there. I'm missing so much and I miss my friends. Besides Christmas is coming up and I want to be there for the class party."
Sheba didn't say anything, but she began to worry. This whole Christmas thing was fine with her. She was from Caprica after all and they were considered the most cosmopolitan of the Twelve Colonies, but she wondered how some of the people from the more devout colonies would react. They had never experienced the idea of different religions and were rather intolerant to begin with. This hadn't become a problem yet, but it still worried her. Sheba turned her attention back to more pleasant things.
"Well we will just have to take a trip to Macross," Risa said.
"Wow!" shouted Cami "That's the biggest city in the whole station," she informed her sister.
"Yes and it will have the best shopping. I think I will see if I …" Risa stopped in mid sentence as a tremor shook the house.
"What was that?" ask Sheba and Cami at the same time.
Standing up Risa left the room without a word. She was headed toward the garage where they kept the large farm truck for hauling their goods into town. At that same instant the unmistakable sounds of sirens.
"Chiharu what is happening?" ask Cami in a trembling voice.
"We are under attack," she answered. "Don't worry, even though this hasn't happened in years we are well prepared for this. Risa is getting the truck and we're going to go to our designated shelter. The shelters are very well defended."
As she was explaining Chiharu had been taking bags down from one of the closets. Grabbing several bags Sheba noticed that while most were full of clothes and supplies, one bag made a rather distinctive clanking noise that she suspected was weapons.
"How do you think the Cylons found us?" Cami asked as they climbed into the waiting truck.
"It might not be the Cylons," answered Risa.
"Not the Cylons? Who else could it be," asked Sheba in a shocked voice. What did Risa mean by that? Who else could it be besides the Cylons Sheba thought to her self?
"It's… it's not Hollows is it?" Cami said in a fear stricken voice.
"Ok, what in the frak is a Hollow?" Sheba shouted over the roar of the motor as Risa sped down the lane towards the main road. This was starting to freak her out just a little. These Hollows had Cami in a state of panic at just the thought of them.
"I hope not Cami-chan. We haven't had any of those things make it in here in years. Most likely it is an Invid attack group or maybe a group of Robotech Masters," Chiharu said in a soothing tone of voice. As if that, is going to make it all better thought Sheba.
It suddenly dawned on Sheba why there were so many of these castle like buildings scattered all over the country side, as Risa turned the corner and merged into the developing convoy headed towards Urahara Castle. They were defensive rally points to provide cover fire for each other if anything got into the inner part of the station. All around her Sheba saw soldiers readying weapons and equipment in preparation for a fight. She saw at least four of the walking monsters that they called Destroids taking up positions around the castle and she could see Shinigami running along the walls.
People were streaming into the castle compound from all direction and parking assorted kinds of transports in various parking spots. No one seemed to be panicking so Sheba began to relax just a touch. This wasn't like the fall of Caprica where people ran around in terror and fought over anything that might save them. Here everyone was following some sort of plan and it felt like everyone knew their part.
Suddenly without warning there was a massive explosion on the left wall, where there looked to be one of the many sealed up air locks. Metal and flames shot out for hundreds of feet. The surrounding Destroids swiveled their upper bodies towards the now gapping hole and trained their shoulder mounted guns on it. Out of the smoke flew a dozen blue and purplish, crab like ships. They were firing glowing, disked shaped balls of light in every direction. Instantly the Destroids opened up with everything they had, in the first seconds they managed to take down five of the twelve incoming ships. Four they shot right out of the sky and one was caught in the resulting explosions. That still left seven enemy fighters.
The noise from the guns was like nothing that Sheba had ever heard in her life. Even during the height of the battle for Caprica, if you could call that slaughter a battle, she hadn't really heard much. There had just been distant booming and afterwards panicked yelling and screaming. Now the noise was deafening. She could see Cami screaming with her hands on her ears and tears running down her face, but she couldn't hear her even though she was less than three feet away. She could feel the heat pulse through the air as it tore at her. It came from different directions as a delayed reaction to the firing of the Destroids shoulder cannons.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that Chiharu was trying to get her to move the final few steps towards the Castle gate. Shaking her off Sheba began to move on her own. Chiharu had already gotten Cami past the gates and was heading down the shelter stairs. At the top of the stairs Sheba stopped next to Risa and looked back one last time. In the distance they could see the last two remaining invaders engaged in a swirling dog fight against several fighters. Much to Sheba's shock one of the fighters turned into a giant robot like figure right before her eyes.
The robot took what looked like a rifle and with a quick snap shot blasted both of the enemy fighters out of the sky. As soon as the last explosion faded away the robot changed back into a fighter and sped off. Just as Sheba turned to continue down the stairs with Risa she felt a sharp pain and then a massive wetness soaking her clothes.
"Sheba what's wrong?" Risa asked when she felt Sheba stop again.
"My fraking water just broke," gasped Sheba as another contraction gripped her.
"Oh my!"
"That's all you can say? We need a doctor because this thing is coming out!"
"Are you sure Sheba?"
"How the frak should I know! I've never had a fraken baby be…oh frak, oh frak."
"Somebody get a doctor she is having a baby!" shouted Risa at a group of passing shinigami.
"I don't know if there is a doctor available right now, but there might be a med-nin somewhere!" answered one of the men.
"I don't care just get some one! And please hurry!" Risa watched the men speed off. Turning back to Sheba Risa tried to help calm the panting woman.
"It will be alright Sheba. Everything will be alright."
Grand Admiral Global stood in the massive control center of the station watching the battle unfold on the banks of monitors. His crew worked like a well oil machine. Reports from various squadrons and battle groups showed that the Invid attack group was making a very serious push on the station. This attack was the most serious in several years. The Invid attack group had already succeed in making one penetration it to the center of the station.
They had been able to fight off all of their attackers, those many years ago, but had never been able to rebuild up to the same levels. Their weapons systems had gotten better. They had also improved the level of cooperation between the different groups living in the station. Global wondered if it would be enough.
"Lieutenant, is rear Admiral Hayes in position?"
"Yes sir."
"Very well then, send the order."
Almost instantly the order to spring the carefully set trap that Global had spent weeks readying burst upon the unsuspecting Invid.
Twenty of the newest heavy cruisers to be built folded into the area of space directly above and behind the five Invid troop carriers. The ships looked very much like their old Zentradi counterparts, long and very organic looking. However, they were only about one eighth the size since there was no need to have the massive living quarters on the ships that the giant Zentradi had needed to use.
Aboard her Flagship Humanities Guardian Admiral Lisa Hayes sat in her command chair. She gazed out at the vulnerable clam shaped Invid troopships and gave a one word command.
"Fire!"
All twenty of the cruisers fired their main cannons at the Invid ships. The devastation was massive. In one case the enemy ship simply faded from existence from the shear number of massive internal explosions. Others were turned into holed wrecks drifting helplessly in space. Astonishingly one ship made it through the onslaught relatively intact. Relatively being the key word, Lisa thought to her self as she stared at the battered wreck.
This is not to say that the battle was entirely one sided. The troopships had been packed with thousands of fighters that had already deployed. These fighters knowing that there was no hope of rescue turned their suicidal fury against her ships.
The on rushing Invid fighters were met by a barrage of anti fighter suppression fire. Only several hundred Invid managed to make their way through it. They were met by squadrons of Veritech fighters launched from the newly arrived battle group.
"Let's get them boys and girls," shouted squadron leader Ben Dixon. Ben led his squadron directly at the largest concentration of Invid survivors.
As the two sides merged into a huge, mix of ships Ben narrowed his focus to exclude all other thought except for the ongoing fight. He seamlessly morphed his fighter from fighter mode to Battleoid mode to take out a string of Invid fighters.
All around the fighting broke into one on one engagements. For many of the new pilots these were the last moments of their lives. Ben could hear their death cries over the radio. No matter how much training you gave them there were always those who forgot the most fundamental rule of fighter combat, never ever leave your wingman.
As good as the RDF pilots were some of the Invid fighter broke through and mad their attack runs on the battle group. Their shoulder cannons fired at any weak spot they could find, causing explosions to rip across several of the ships. Three of the fighters concentrated their attack on the Excalibur. Racked by secondary explosions, the Excalibur began to fall out of formation. In this kind of situation that was going to be fatal. Like sharks scenting blood in the water several more Invid fighters swooped in on the damaged ship with cannons firing.
"Admiral, the Excalibur isn't answering our hails" shouted the communications officer from his post.
"Order the Ajax and the Repulse to move into supporting positions and see if they can't help keep those fighters off of her!" Lisa grabbed the armrests of her command chair and studied the unfolding battle. She felt like she was missing something. It felt like things were going too easily for her forces
"Order the Defiant to proceed towards the cripples and finish them off. Have the rest of the fleet take up position around the Station," Lisa ordered in a contemplative tone. As her well trained staff leaped into action Lisa began to formulate her next moves.
Suddenly there was a series of bright flashes in space. Six more Invid troop carriers sprang into existence. Fighters spilled from them like angry ants intent on punishing their tormentors. If Lisa had not moved her ships it would have been a devastating counter attack. As it was the Invid lashed out at the Ajax, Repulse and the crippled Excalibur and simply wiped them from the universe.
"Tell all ships to target the newcomers and fire at will! Get me the Grand Admiral! This looks like it could get really ugly, really fast."
"I've got the Grand Admiral on the line Ma'am," came the quick reply.
"What can I do for you Lisa?" asked Global with his characteristic gruff voice.
"Well sir I feel that we need to get the Station ready for an emergency fold."
"Is it that serious? It looks like we have things under control at this point even with the loss of three ships."
Even over the radio Lisa could hear the pain in his voice from the deaths of so many of their people.
"For right now we do Sir, but we are very close to Cylon controlled space. Something this big is bound to get their attention and the last thing we can afford right now is to get dragged into a prolonged battle against a new enemy. I know we are better than the Cylons in terms of equipment, but we don't have a firm grasp of their numbers yet. Plus they are machines. Their pilots won't get tired or worn down. We just can't afford long battles." No sooner had the words left her mouth than she heard a shouted report from behind her.
"Long distance sensors have an unidentified contact. Distance three A.U.s out. Sensors now say it has a 87 Cylon match. We're getting multiple contacts now. They seem to be matching up with the readings we get from the Basestars."
"It seems you were right Lisa. Very well we will fold to the alternate site as soon as we have notified all our scout ships that are still out. I want you to stay here and give the Cylons a nice little welcome when they decide to join the party. Don't stay to long."
"I'll try not to Sir. We will see you at the rally point shortly then."
Several hours later Henry Global slowly pulled his favorite pipe out of his pocket and put it between his teeth. Turning he paced down the length of the upper command deck occasionally glancing down into the bustling yet oddly quite CIC. It had taken only a few moments to send word to the rest of the fleet scattered around the edges of the Twelve Colonies. All those that could or would be saved from the colonies now were on board the SDF.
It was a pitifully small number. They had been able to rescue just over one thousand, badly traumatized people from twelve different cultures on twelve different planets. Just over one thousand out of close to forty billion was staggering and unless they were able to find the Galactica and its' fleet of survivors, the people of the Twelve Colonies of Man would cease to exists as a separate and unique group of cultures.
Some sooner than others, Global thought to himself. So far they had only found eight people from the colony of Aquaria. Of those eight, three were beyond child bearing age even with modern medicine.
There was some good news at least. According to the most recent information from Starbuck or "Coffee Girl" as she was becoming known as, Global let his lips twitch upward in just the briefest of smiles, there were somewhere close to forty thousand survivors with the Galactica. More than enough to make sure that their entire civilization wouldn't simply be erased from the universe.
A sudden spike in the level of activity in the CIC drew his attention. Looking at the giant tracking screen he saw that Admiral Hayes's Fleet was rejoining them. He counted only fifteen out of the original twenty ships. One fourth of the newest warships they could produce gone in one short series of battles.
Thoughts that had been drifting around in the back of his mind began to form into a more solid plan. It was time to run them by the Governing Council. Humanity needed to find a new home somewhere they could be safe. Gathering up the Galactica would be the perfect time to act on that idea.
Chapter Three: Some times bigger is better or "That thing is fraking huge!"
President Laura Roslin eased her tired frame down into her chair in her office. Tory had brought her the day's reports. They were more of the same. Shortages and more shortages, the fleet always seemed to be just on the edge of disaster. They still hadn't completely recovered from the occupation of New Caprica. To add to her worries Bill had still not fully bounced back from Kara's suicide two months before.
Suddenly alarms sounded throughout the ship. Colonial ones crew leapt into action.
"What's going on Tory?" asked Laura.
"I'll find out Madam President," Tory replied over her shoulder as she rushed from the room. Dashing through the press room, Tory blew off the reporters shouted questions. In moments Tory had reached the front of the ship. Poking her head into the Bridge she rapidly assessed the situation. The Captain and his Co-pilot were hurriedly entering the jump coordinates for their escape.
"There go the Galactica's Vipers," said the Captain.
"There are the Basestars," the co-pilots announced in a horrified voice.
"Sir one of the Vipers is taking off on its own," shouted the communications slash electronics officer. How they managed to cram another person into this cramped space Tory would never know. Sure enough, after a quick peek at the Dradis Tory could see one of the Vipers heading deeper into the gas cloud that the fleet had been using as cover. Suddenly a second friendly blip appeared on the screen.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Tory asked.
"What the frak are you doing on the Bridge?" shot back the Captain.
"The President needs an up date on what is going on. That is what I'm doing on the Bridge." Tory matched the Captain glare for glare.
"Holy frak, what in the name of the Gods is that thing? It's fraking huge!" exclaimed the electronics officer.
Sure enough what ever it was, it was taking up most of the space on the Dradis screen. Bending over to look out the window Tory gasped in complete shock. Coming out of the gas cloud was the biggest thingshe had ever seen in space. It looked to be the size of a small moon. The Cylons instantly turned their attention towards the approaching ship or moon or what ever the frak it was.
It did the Cylons little good to mass their strength against the new contact Tory saw. With one massive volley of fire the Cylon Raiders and the Basestars disappeared. All that was left were a few bits of glowing wreckage drifting in space. The new ship continued to glide out of the cloud. It kept coming and coming and coming. Tory finally noticed that none of the ships had jumped yet and they hadn't either.
"Why hasn't anyone jumped yet?" she asked to no one in particular. "We should have gotten jump coordinates from the Galactica already. What the frak is the hold up?"
"I don't know." Answered the Captain, "but I'm going to find out. Luke get me the Galactica on the wireless."
"Yes sir!" came the reply.
"Send someone back to us when you find out what is going on," Tory ordered the Captain. "I need to get back to the President."
"Understood."
Twenty tense minutes later Tory and Laura both jumped at the sound of a knock on the door frame.
"Come in," answered Laura.
One of the Presidential security detail entered the office and approached the desk.
"Madam President I have an initial report from the Galactica."
"Well what does Admiral Adam have to tell us," Laura said with a smile trying to put the nervous man at ease. She wondered what could make one of her rock steady body guards look nervous.
"Ma' ma Galactica says that Captain Starbuck is alive and has returned with what she calls the SDF-1. Some of them are claiming to be from Earth."
Laura and Tory both gasped. No wonder the man had looked so nervous. Either one of those messages was important news in and of itself. Together they were nothing short of ground shaking.
"They want to have a meeting with you Madam President. Admiral Adama suggests that we land Colonial One so that we can meet them onboard the Galactica."
"Tell Admiral Adama that I agree. Order the Captain to begin landing procedures."
"Yes Ma'am," said the bodyguard. As he turned to go he paused and looked over his shoulder. "Do you really think they are from Earth?"
"I don't know but I do hope the Gods have answered our prayers with this miracle."
"Tory."
"Yes Madam President."
"Let's get ready to meet our new rescuers shall we."
Two hours later Laura walked into a briefing room sitting just off the main hanger deck. It normally was for pilots to be briefed on upcoming missions, this time however no one would be flying out. Rather they were going to have some rather interesting guests fly in.
Laura looked at the three people already standing in the room. Bill Adama looked as steady as always, Colonel Tigh looked ready to burst and last but not least was Starbuck. She stood there with her trade mark silly grin plastered all across her face.
"I take it that since Captain Starbuck is standing here and not floating out some airlock, you two are convinced she is not a Cylon spy?" Laura had to give Kara credit, her grin barely faltered when she heard the 'floating out an airlock' bit.
"Yes Ms. President, I am convinced." Bill's face never changed expression Laura noticed.
"How can you be so sure that she isn't?"
"Well Ma'am," Tigh began. "We have had Lieutenant Gaeta working on a new improved version of Baltar's Cylon detector for quite some time now. Starbuck passed with flying colors."
"That is a relief. So Captain Starbuck, what can you tell us about your or should I say our new friends?" Laura turned to face their long lost lamb with her arms crossed and a questioning look on her face.
"Well I've got some good news and some bad news. Actually a lot of bad news but the good news is pretty fraken good."
"Well why don't you start with the bad news and we will work our way to the "fraken" good news," Laura said without the hint of a smile on her face. She hoped that Kara would take the hint and get serious about this. Starbuck had the good graces to look slightly embarrassed at her behavior, but only slightly. Laura gave her, her best angry teacher look. It got the results she wanted.
"Yes MA'MA," answered Starbuck as she snapped to attention. "First Earth is no longer habitable, second that ship contains all the rest of known humanity outside of our fleet, third they are at war with the following groups: The Invid, The Robotech Masters, Hollows and lastly The Cylons."
"I have to agree that is a lot of bad news, very bad news. Bill in your opinion would we stand any chance against these people?"
"No."
"That's it? Just a plain old 'No'?" Laura looked at her friend and military commander.
"Laura," replied Bill in the same informal tone. "These people would squash us like bugs if we tried to fight them. They caught us flat footed just like the Cylons. We have no way or place to run." Laura watched as Tigh just nodded his head in mute frustration.
"There is some good news," everyone's head snapped back to Starbuck. Laura nodded for her to continue. "Well for starters, they have made a sweep through the Twelve Colonies and basically rescued everyone who was still left alive back there. They have close to a thousand Colonials onboard."
"They are willing to give us a ride to where ever we want to go and give us enough supplies to start over. Some of them are also willing to let us live there with them. They also have a plan to get to a safe place where none of our enemies can reach us."
"What do you mean 'some of them'," asked Tigh.
"There are many different factions in the SDF-1. Each one has its' own agenda. Right now I'm in good with Lord Urahara's group and he has the support of Grand Admiral Global of the RDF. None of the other factions are outright against us. They just don't feel any pressing need to get dragged into another war.
Lord Urahara wants to send over some representatives to meet with you and to talk about what you would like to do before he commits himself to any one set of plans."
"Typical politician," gripped Tigh.
"Not at all sir," replied Starbuck "these people do things much, much differently. They really don't seem to hold elections all that much. Everything seems to rest on some sort of strange set of personal obligations and outright brute military power."
"You mean they are a military dictatorship?" asked Admiral Adama.
"I wouldn't go that quite that far. They seem to run things by a consensus among the major power groups. There is a civilian element and local elected councils, but they confine themselves to very local matters."
"Who are these power groups then?" inquired Laura in a very worried voice. "Can we trust them if they say there're going to help us against the Cylons?"
"Yes Ma'am I think we can trust them to help us. But, I don't think they will go to war against the Cylons. It sounds like they have something else in mind."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, but they seemed to have reached a turning point after their last big battle with the Invid. It seems that the Invid were able to penetrate the station and do some damage. Even though they were defeated it cost more than the RDF was expecting, something along the lines of at least three if not more of their newest warships."
"Are they planning a general withdrawal then? Is it a total disengagement from the enemy," murmured Adama, somewhat to himself.
"I kind of think so Sir," answered Starbuck "and I think we might just be getting an invitation to go along for the ride."
"What do you think Bill?" asked Laura, looking at Adama intently. "Do we give up our independence and forge an alliance with these people?"
"I think we are going to have to. We just can't keep going like this. If nothing else this will give us the time to make repairs, stock up and get better organized in a calmer manner rather than always doing things on the fly."
"I agree Ma'am," said Tigh. "We have been just lurching from one crisis to another for to long we need the break."
"Alright then we will make the deal. Starbuck who are we dealing with?" Laura said with her typical decisiveness. "Who are these people?"
"There are basically four main power blocks in the SDF-1 each, as I said earlier made up of different factions. The largest by far is the RDF. It is made up of the deep space forces and those who maintain the stations outer defenses. They are under the command of Grand Admiral Global.
Next you have the Soul Society Protection Division Squads. There are thirteen of them, each commanded by a different Captain. They are under the overall command of General Shigekuni. They are in charge of any internal defense and all ground assaults. While they are as large as if not slightly larger than the RDF they have recently been in the midst of an internal power struggle. As a result at least three of the Divisions are without leadership.
That covers the big two, now for the smaller two. The third most powerful group are the Ninjas of the Hidden Village of the Leaf. These people are best described as the SDF-1'S Special Forces. These are the guys who do the long range scouting and infiltration. They also work as something like an internal police force in conjunction with the major city police forces. Basically they work across jurisdictions. They are led by the Hokage Tsunade. Tsunade is one of the few women in a position of major power. This isn't to say women don't hold power. It just means that she is the strongest.
Lastly we have Lord Urahara. He commands one of the smallest groups. Basically it is made up of several semi independent groups under his overall guidance. They also seem to rely on him for material and technical support. Urahara seems to be a man of many talents. His group works closely with the ninjas more often than not. It seems that he even has his own little fleet of rather specialized warships. This seems to be the main thing that puts him in the top four.
After these groups everything breaks down into civilian political groups and heavily armed police forces in the cities, Leaf Village being the exception. Leaf Village is more commonly referred to as Konoha. It is basically the ninja's own little R&R base.
"Well I guess we don't have much choice in the matter," said Laura. "We will have to accept whatever kindness these people offer us and hope for the best."
Chapter four: Meeting new people or You have got to fraken kidding me!
Less than a week later, Admiral Adam stood on the Command deck of the SDF-1 next to Grand Admiral Global. It had been a incredibly busy few days. They had managed to find docking space for all but three of the ships in the Colonial fleet. To tell the truth Bill wasn't sad to cut loose the three decrepit old hulks. They had been a constant source of worry for him for many months.
Getting all the people settled had been a Herculean effort. The people of the SDF-1 had done a tremendous job of finding homes and places for all the Colonials to stay. There was going to be a lot of re-adjustment taking place among the Colonials. Many had been stunned to find out that the people onboard the SDF-1 had different religions than theirs. While this had not caused any trouble yet Bill and Laura had agreed that they would come done had at the first sign of religious intolerance on their people's part.
"Doctor Lang, are you ready to start the cross dimensional fold jump," asked Global in his characteristic gruff tone.
"Yes sir," came the prompt reply from the disheveled little scientist.
'So this is how it all ends,' Laura Roslin thought to her self as she watched the two Admirals from one side. She was one of many guests on the Command deck for this monumental event. For all of its' historical importance it had a distinctively anti-climactic feel to it. Technicians scurried about checking systems. Officers gave orders. And the Big Shots, well the Big Shots just stood around with their fraken thumbs firmly planted in places not mentioned in polite company.
It had been decided that they would fold into the outer edges of the Earth system in order to asses the situation. So far everything was running smoothly. We will see how long that lasts thought Admiral Global.
"Very well, execute the fold now." Space and time warped and twisted around them. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun it was over.
All across the command deck alarms began to sound.
"Status report!" shouted Admiral Global.
"Sir we have emerged in the Sol system. It appears we are between two large fleets!"
"Try and get someone, anyone so we can talked to them."
"Sir we are being hailed."
"Well who is it?"
"Sir it is from the fleet at the outer edges of the system. They say they are the Mimbari."
"Well what do they want?" asked President Roslin from one side.
"They just say prepare to die humans."
"You have got to be fraken kidding me!" said Starbuck to no one in particular.
The End
Author's note: I felt that this was a good way to end this, because it will allow me to pickup the story at some future point if I want to. Or I can just leave it as is because it wraps up everything I have covered so far.
If anyone wants me to continue just let me know. If there is enough interest I will give it a go.
I would like to say thanks to all the loyal fans who have read this trilogy and gave me feedback.