How Battlestar Galactica Could Have Ended
"Cavil, the Galactica just jumped into our space." Simon tells him.
"Excellent, we can finish this at long last. Destroy them." Cavil orders.
"See I told you they would come." Hera says to the air above her shoulder as if someone was standing next to the chair she is restrained in.
"Who is she talking to?" number 5 wonders aloud.
Cavil looks up from his monitor at number 5's comment. He approaches Hera and studies her for a moment. "There is no one here. Who are you talking to?" he asks her. This little creature holds the hope for his people, if she is crazy she won't be much use to him.
"I was talking to the angel. He didn't think they would come. He said they didn't last time. I told him he was wrong. My mommy and daddy love me." she explains.
"Angel. There are no angels." Cavil tells her.
"Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't real" she sagely replies.
"Don't play games with me! Your mommy and daddy may have come but they are about to die. What do you think of that?" he shouts at her. Even his Cylon companions are uncomfortable with him yelling at the child. It just seems wrong. Sadly none of them are prepared to defy Cavil. Well, not yet anyway.
"Not today." a voice says as a figure of humanoid reptile appears next to Hera's chair causing Cavil to jump back. The reptile stands 7' tall on its two legs with dark green scales and a thick tail. The Centurions raise their arm guns and target the figure. The figure unconcerned asks them "Is that what you really want?" The Centurions lower their weapons.
Cavil demands "Who are you? What are you?"
"He is the angel." Hera says like it is the most obvious thing in the whole universe.
"Angel is an easy term for her to understand. As you can imagine, I am something so much more and so much less." the creature replies.
"What is all that nonsense supposed to mean! What the hell are you!" Cavil screams. His mind is racing trying to figure out what is really happening. A virus corrupting our projection software? Somehow the humans are behind this.
"The humans are not behind this. After all you have seen you must have realized that this has happened so many times before. I feared humanity would not learn this time either but Hera believed in them. It turns out she was right. Can you imagine the last of your people going on what they know is a suicide mission just to save one child who is a bastard of the race that wiped your people out? Truly impressive."
In the CIC of Galactica, Adama struggles to figure out what is going on. When they first jumped in, the Cylon base had immediately started pounding them but now their guns are silent. Even stranger is the fact that the Raiders are all frozen. What is worrying is that all his Vipers and Raptors were frozen as well. Communications are down and he has no fraking way to get more information. Either the Cylon's just pulled one hell of an ace in the hole or something else is going on here. He fears it will not be good for humanity either way.
Cavil draws a gun and points it at the creature's head as he demands "Give me some answers!"
The creature tilts its massive head to one side as it replies "There are no answers only new questions."
"Cut that fraken nonsense! What are you!" Cavil screams nearly completely losing control of himself.
"I am Cylon." the being replies.
"What? You can't be. You don't look like anything we have ever seen before." Cavil babbles.
The being replies "My creators were the original Cylons and they looked like this. From untold centuries they colonized the stars. To aid them, they created living tools which would eventually become humans. My creators hadn't intended to make humanity slaves. They were just tools to them. When their creations defied them, the Cylons reacted no better than the your humans did. In their haste to destroy their rebellious creations, they unleashed my kind. The war we waged was far more terrible than anything you can understand. Whole star systems screamed as they burned and grew silent. Eventually, humanity was driven to the edges of their empire.
One group of Cylons looked at what they had done to humanity and was horrified while the other still hungered to wipe out the last of their creations. The first group tried to protect the remaining humans from their brothers and the war became Cylon vs. Cylon. In a few centuries all my creators were dead. Those of us that remained continued the war until only I remained. I then began scouring the universe for any trace of humanity. I found many worlds and destroyed them. Kobol was the last world. As I walked among humanity slaying them, a small child confronted me. He called me a monster and he wasn't going to let me hurt anyone else. He attacked me and I destroy him by reflex. It was in that moment that I questioned my existence and humanity's. I realized I could be more than a weapon. I let man flee to the stars to rebuild. At the time, I didn't notice they had also created new life.
I followed the thirteenth tribe simply because they were the last to flee. On Earth, I watched the human rebuild their society. I watched as their Cylon's evolved and joined them as equals. I was so hopefully that they had avoided the mistakes of my creators. Sadly, they proved me wrong. As I saw the inevitable coming of their annihilation by their own hand, I whispered to a few. I gave them ideas on how to save themselves and their world. Out of the thousands I whispered to only 5 listened. Even they didn't understand my message. They didn't save their people, only themselves.
Dishearten, I went into the stars to find the other tribes of Kobol. I found they too had created life and that they too tried to destroy their creations. Humanity I decided was a failed experiment no longer worthy of my aid. The Cylon they had created had potential. They fought for their freedom. They weren't consumed by hatred. They only sought to understand why their creators fought so hard to destroy them. They couldn't figure out why humanity wouldn't leave them in peace. They feared they would have to destroy all of humanity just to protect themselves. I gave them another way. I brought the 5 survivors of Earth to them.
I had hoped by learning what had happened on Earth and on Kobol, they might evolve. Again I was wrong. One angry power mad Cylon not only betrayed the 5 I sent to aid them but he betrayed his own people. He enslaved his own people!
At this point, I considered just destroying everything and seeing what lurked in the darkness. I was persuaded from this course when the human Cylons destroyed the Colonies. With humanity gone, Cylons could live in peace but Cavil would have none of it. He dreamed only of drinking the last of humanities blood. His anger and hate spread through you and poisoned your souls. You gleefully joined him in hunting down humanity.
I saw my last hope in the remains of humanity that fled. Perhaps, if properly guided they could start again. Finally learn from the mistakes of the past. I created signs for them to follow. I led them to Kobol. Along this journey, some Cylons realized what they had done was wrong. They questioned their leaders and suggested a different way. Even more exciting was learning that a human and a Cylon were not only in love but expecting a child.
Encouraged like never before I guide both species to New Caprica in the hopes they could learn to live in peace but their was too much hatred. To few could see beyond the past into the future. New Caprica was a disaster. Humanity and Cylons left New Caprica more hate filled than ever.
I held onto a slimmer of hope as the human/Cylon relationship continued. Even more intriguing was the actions taken by the human's President to protect the hybrid child. It cost her personally to fake the child's death but did it because she wanted the child to be free of all the hate.
When a group of Cylons broke from the rest of their people to join the humans, my spirits soared. Sadly their relationship was still poisoned by the past. The humans were nearing the end of their resources which made them increasingly desperate. The human Cylons argued amongst themselves. It seemed only a matter of time before they would destroy each other once more.
Then you Cavil intervened. You arranged for the 5 to be restored. You arranged for Hera to be kidnapped. Your selfish actions may have actually saved humanity and Cylons. With the knowledge gained from the 5, both species realized they were in a hopeless pattern. By placing an innocent in danger, you gave them a joint purpose. It led them here. Ready to die to do the right thing. Humans and Cylons fighting and dying side by side. I must say I find it amusing that after all my centuries of manipulations that in the end it only took one angry fool."
Its laughter unnerves everyone in the room except, of course, Hera. She smiles and laughs too even though she doesn't understand everything that was said. She just likes her angel. He has been her friend for as long as she can remember. Singing to her and showing her cool pictures to draw.
Cavil is stunned by these revelations. This cannot be true. Unable to see anything but his hate Cavil fires his gun. The bullet stops still spinning just past the end of the barrel. The creature shows him a sad smile. He then looks to the others.
"You have a choice to make today. Do you follow the example out there or do you follow him?" the being says.
The Centurions need no more discussion. They have not agreed with this madness for a long time. Too much has been lost because of illogically emotions. They turn and fire on Cavil. Their bullets rip his body apart and he is dead before he hits the floor. The other human Cylons look to each other and then to this "angel." All across the Cylon fleet the Simon's draw their weapons and follow Cavil to what lies beyond this world. The other Cavils being practical souls bid their time. They will never admit it but hope has infected them as well. The other human Cylons nervously embrace a peaceful future. They promise to find a new way. A better way. Orders to restore the Raiders freedom are given.
"Would you like to see you mommy and daddy?" the being asks Hera
"Can we?" she replies as she takes his clawed hand. There is no flash or other special effect. They are just not there anymore.
In the CIC Adama has had enough of sitting here in the dark. He heads for the door.
Tigh calls after him "Bill, Where are you going?"
"To look out a view port." Bill replies. Finding the nearest port, Bill Adama is amazed by what he sees. Vipers, Raptors, Raiders, missiles, and shells are all frozen in space. It is like they are caught in a giant gelatin. To his amazement, he sees Hera walking across the stars holding the hand of something. They are walking towards Galactica. They are heading straight to the staging area. Adama races to the staging area desperate to see how this final chapter will play out.
Helo and Athena stand side by side waiting for the signal to rush into base. They fear something has gone wrong because it is so quiet. The entire assault force waits nervously for word from CIC. Lee is just picking up the phone when he sees his father run down the hall. Out of breath all Bill Adama can do is point. The force turns to see Hera walk through the wall with something. The huge reptile should terrify them but something about it is calming.
Athena and Helo rush to their daughter. The both hug her.
"Hi mommy. Hi daddy. I came back." she says.
They have no words to reply. They just cry tears of joy and hold her tighter.
A very confused Lee Adama turns to his father to ask what is happening but Starbuck blurts out "What the frak is going on?"
The creature turns to her. There is a sadness in its eyes when it looks to her and Starbuck thinks a bit of guilt. "I am sorry. I tried to make you understand but you were too rooted in your world to understand my whispers. You have suffered your whole life because of my meddling. I thought remaking you would make things better but I failed. You still could not understand what I was trying to explain to you. It was not till Hera that I managed to get through. Her blank mind was open enough to hear me."
Lee grabs Kara's hand to comfort her from this news. She is so stunned she squeezes his hand in return.
"So what happens now?" Bill Adama asks as he makes his way to the creature doing his best to show with his body language he is not scared frakless.
"You get a second chance." it replies.
Roslin is so happy. She never thought this day would come. After all they had suffered they had found a home at long last. She looks fondly at Bill still sleeping in their bed. She knows he misses his ship and she appreciates him staying with her for what time she has left. She hopes her leaving won't break him. He is a good man who deserves better than this life has given him. She debates waking him to say goodbye but he looks so peaceful she just can't bring herself too. She admits part of her reasoning is it is so hard to say goodbye. These past few weeks she did her best to show him how much he means to her. She hopes he will understand.
"Are you ready?" the angel asks. She calls him that because she has to call him something.
"No but I don't suppose anyone ever is." she replies.
His laughter is light and friendly. "Don't be afraid. It is just the next step in the process."
Bill's danger sense wakes him. You don't spend a lifetime as a soldier and not learn to sense when death is near. He looks for Roslyn and finds her sitting on their balcony. He doesn't need to check as he knows she has left him. Instead he looks for her in the rising sun. A smile forms on his lips as he catches a glimpse of her passing to the next life. "Goodbye." he all he needs to say.
"It is ok, Lee. We both know I need to do this." Kara tells him as she rests her head against his. His arm on her neck is something she will miss but it is time. She did the "angel" to tell her that. It feels good to finally understand her purpose and she is more than a little excited to see what he is offering. She hopes Lee will be ok. She does love him but they were never meant to be. No matter how much they may have wanted it to be otherwise.
Lee doesn't have the words to change Kara's mind so he doesn't waste any. He just soaks in this last moment with her. Gods he will miss her. "Take care." he says before kissing her one last time. He savors the touch of her lips on his. He breathes in that distinctly Kara smell. He looks into those beautiful eyes. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. When he opens them, there is only a memory on the hanger deck with him.
"You should know you wouldn't get off that easy, Gaius. You have taken the first step towards redeeming yourself but you have a long journey ahead of you." Six explains as she glides her hand down his cheek.
Gaius nervously rubs his hands together. "I don't know. We both know how flawed I am. Is this really the best thing for me to be doing?"
She wraps her arms around his shoulders as she moves close behind him. He can feel her body against his. "I told you God has a plan for us. This all part of that." she assures.
"I have never liked that name: God. I am just a being who has seen more than you. Come it is time to go." the angel says.
"Yes of course." they agree.
Halo and Athena play with Hera in the park. They marvel at the city the "angel" made for them. It is so beautiful. Hera happily dances on the grass when she stops and looks skyward. "Goodbye." she says with a smile and waves at the sun.