Occupation Part 1: "So It Begins: Day One, Hour One"
The faces were swept over with fear as the metal feet clapped the dirt ground. Not a person spoke. Everyone stood in horror. Everyone cowered or was overcome with shock. Always a possibility but never did anyone think it would come to pass. Cylon occupation. Extermination: an almost certain end for all trapped on New Caprica now. New Caprica had been the place of promise, the paradise land with dreary skies and unbearably cold weather. It was their safe haven, despite its unappealing qualities. It was a place to call home and that was enough for the people who had spent years confined to the inside of ships with dull gray walls and constant night skies. This place had become home and this home had enemies stepping upon its soil.
Centurions now paraded through the street, the light of the sun reflecting off their metal exterior. No one dared to try anything right now for it would probably result in someone's untimely death. This someone would probably be human rather than toaster. The only noise was that of shallow breathing and the zooming raiders that flew overhead in the cloudy skies. They were trapped. They were in a hopeless position. Fight and die. Live and suffer. The only options. Everyone on New Caprica knew that the silent skies could only mean that Galactica and the rest of the fleet jumped to safety. Over 30,000 men, women, and children were now in the hands of the cylons. This place once called home was now enemy territory. They were no longer safe. They were behind enemy lines.
Kara had rushed out of the grounded raptor when she heard the beeping of the com. link indicating that the comms were being jammed. Her eyes closed as she cringed to the familiar noise of the cylon raiders overhead. It had been a year, but the noise to her was like that of nails on a chalkboard. She stood out by the dirt path and watched as the things she had for so long wanted dead, now stood before her. She looked at them with distaste, disgust, hate. These things were evil. Sin. They committed genocide and tried to wipe out her entire race. She despised them and all they stood for. She had been in their hands before and she swore she would never be again. Too bad some higher power had a different plan. Too bad fate works to its own will and cares not for the wishes of others.
Chief Tyrol and his very pregnant wife, Cally, came and stood beside the hate-consumed Kara. He saw her and knew exactly was she was thinking. Cally clutched her belly and looked on at the terrible sight. Tyrol had let himself go. He had a very scruffy beard and now wore glasses. He had been, for the past few months, the head of a workers union. He detested President Gaius Baltar and how he mistreated the working class. Now it seemed he would take the role of a leader of the Resistance; fighting the good fight. He knew that war never ends. The effects of war linger on and you cannot truly rid yourself of your problems by hiding and running away. You must face up to the things you've done. There'll come a day when you can't hide anymore. That day was today.
"What do you want to do, Captain?" Tyrol looked on and watched as Kara stood, her eyes focused intently on the chrome toasters walking before her. She spoke in a deadly, serious tone, "Fight em' till we can't." The centurions marched forward. Then the skin jobs came out. These machines that pretended to be human. These things that altered their appearance to deceive the humans. They were the most pathetic of beings. Unable to cope with the reality that they are machines and they are not, and will never be, human. They walk. They talk. They bleed. They sweat. But they'll never be human. They are programmed. They follow the orders of one another, unable to make a decision on their own. Their free will is wasted. Without free will, can you truly call yourself human? Can you even pretend? The worst deception is self-deception.
Ellen and Tigh were standing on the other side of the path, looking on in the same shock as everyone else. Tigh wore the same face as Kara. His eyes narrowed in on his enemy targets. What he wouldn't do for a gun. He wished he could blow these frakkers away, but his wish was going unanswered. The Six model was walking with a Sharon model, paying no attention to the angry and terrified faces of the people. Saul held Ellen closer to him as she covered mouth with her hand. Am I the luckiest man in the universe or what? I come to New Caprica the day of the cylon occupation...Gods, I could use a drink. Tigh began to turn away with Ellen and head back to a tent when something grabbed him on the shoulder.
Shocked, Tigh turned around to see a Sharon and Doral model standing before him. He laughed at them and waited for them to say something. He just laughed at them. They saw the humans as inferior but he saw the cylons as nothing more than broken toys. "Well, what the frak do you want?" He said between laughs.
Sharon looked down at the ground and Doral smiled. "We'd like you to come with us." He remained completely, eerily calm.
"I don't give a frak about what you like." Tigh turned around and grabbed Ellen's hand. He started to walk away when Doral grabbed him by the shoulder again.
"Well I don't care. You're coming with us." He smiled at Tigh.
Sharon raised her head. She turned her eyes to Tigh and frowned. "Look, just come peacefully. We really don't need innocent bloodshed today. Okay?" She crossed her arms and stared at him.
Ellen held Saul's hand tighter and a tear fell from her eye. "No, Saul. No." She began to cry.
He lifted her cheek and smiled. "I'm not going anywhere." Suddenly, Doral punched Tigh in the stomach and motioned for one of the centurions to come over. Saul was on his knees with his hands in the dirt. He began to cough and he glared up at Doral. "What the frak do you expect me to tell you?"
"Where Galactica went. We know that you and your best friend probably worked out some plan in case we ever found you. We want to know what the plan is." Doral picked Saul off the ground and pushed him into the centurion. "Don't hurt him too much. Have him detained."
"Where?" Sharon questioned. "We have no where to put him."
"The centurions have already been ordered to begin creating holding cells. It shouldn't take them too long to have them done. Have him held by Colonial One where Caprica Six and D'Anna will decide where to put him." He smiled at the centurion as the centurion placed its cold metal hands around Saul's arms.
"There really was no plan." He laughed as he lied through his teeth.
"NO! YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM!" Ellen begged them. Doral hit her and knocked her out.
"We'll just see about that." Doral motioned to the centurion. "Take him away."
Sharon and Doral watched as Saul was "escorted" away. Sharon turned and looked at Doral with sad eyes. "What?" He questioned.
"Do you really think we should be here? They hate us. They'll never want to co-exist. They want us dead and they want to live. I say this is frakking pointless." Sharon turned her head away.
Doral sighed. "Quite possibly."
"Did you see the way they looked at us? Their eyes were filled with anger. All of them would kill us if given the chance."
"Yes, but we are in control here. Don't worry." Doral smiled at Sharon and both he and her walked off.
Kara, Tyrol, and Cally had re-entered the tent where Chief had been inciting a riot only an hour earlier. None of them had seen what had happed with Tigh and Ellen. Kara sat down on a bench and clasped her hands together. Her mind was racing. She couldn't form a thought. All she wanted to do was kill all the chrome domes. Chief was holding Cally and frowning. Cally looked up at Tyrol and with sorrowful eyes, she spoke, "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know." Chief looked over at Kara. "What are we going to do?"
Kara turned her eyes towards Tyrol and Cally and shrugged. "I don't know. We don't know how many baseships there are, how many centurions and skin jobs are here, or what they want."
"They're probably going to kill us all." Cally looked at Kara.
"No. If they wanted to do that, they wouldn't have bothered to land here. They would have just blown us away without a moment's hesitation." Kara began trying to think.
"We could try and see if we can get a hold of Galactica." Tyrol suggested.
"No. The centurions blocked off communications already." Kara sighed.
"Frak." Tyrol turned his back to Kara and leaned against a chair. "What if we get Sam, his friends from the Caprica Resistance, and whatever marines we have down here, and try to come up with a plan?"
Kara's face fell. "Sam." She muttered under her breath. She quickly got up from her bench and ran out of the tent. How could I have forgotten? He's sick. He's stuck in bed. Defenseless. Kara ran hurriedly through the street, almost to the tent she shared with Sam. Her mind was racing. Everything felt as if it were going in slow motion. Time had come to a sudden halt. Her breathing was louder, her heart pounding. She arrived at her tent and burst through it. Sam was laying on the bed and a man stood beside him.
"Hello, Kara." He smiled and turned to face her.
"Leoben..." She turned to try and leave the tent but two centurions came and blocked her path.
"Stick around, Starbuck."