At the advise\request\demand of a lot of readers and after having watched it myself if will make this story a cross over with the West Wing. No worries for those who haven't seen it, I'll focus more on the BSG side, but it does allow me to exploit the interesting characters from the west wing. The time line for the west wing will be changed a bit since this does take place in the present. So say, season 4, the end, but before Zoey gets kidnapped. This chapter will only see some slight changes, but the next, if it ever comes will have better interaction for the west wing crew.
Disclaimer: I don't own the west wing or Battlestar Galactica and any affiliated characters etc. and I don't make any money from this fic.
CIC, Prometheus
Far side of the moon
100 days since the second exodus
Woods was just tending to her business in the CIC as the president walked in.
"Madam President, what brings you to the CIC?" Woods asked.
"I thought I get a report from you now, I don't want to wait any longer." Roslin said.
"You're curious if these people can help us or not right?" Woods asked.
"Yes, that is true. So spill it, what have you got."
"The planet is divided. There are many more powers then we thought. Fortunately not all are major powers and there seems to exist a reasonable stable peace between the majors. Some of the smaller and major powers however are involved in what they call a war on terror. The most powerful nations can be found on the northern hemisphere. The nation most like our own before the fall are the United States of America, they have fought several wars against dictators since the forming of the nation. The US, as they are usually called, has the most powerful and advanced army, infrastructure and industry. The US has several allies; they are bonded together in something called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO for short. In the last nine years the US has started two wars in response to a terrorist attack nine years ago that involved hijacked planes crashing in skyscrapers. There are five countries that officially have nuclear weapons, but there are also some who might have them, we can't scan for ourselves." Woods said.
"How about political and religion?" Roslin asked.
"There seem to be many religions, the largest is Christianity, the second largest is Islam, these two don't always mix well together. The terrorist attacks seem to have been done by ultra radical Islamists, a bit like Soldiers of the One, before the first Cylon war. Anyways, the US and many of its allies have freedom of speech imbedded in their laws. There seems to be no religion like ours but some do have similarities. If I can make a suggestion, if we approach there are two good options, the US or the international organization called the United Nations, they represent the entire planet. Downside of them is that every nation has a say and a decision can easily take months if not years."
"Do you have any idea how to contact the United States? Do we need to do it publicly or keep it secret and give them the chance to make it public or keep it secret themselves." Roslin asked.
"We might be able to hack into their communications network; it's based on satellites orbiting the planet." Woods said.
"Do they have any space flight capability?"
"They have very primitive shuttles, a few habitats, the biggest being the International Space Station, it is primarily a research station, a few days ago they launched a shuttle to deliver new parts but overall they have no noteworthy space capabilities."
"DRADIS ALERT!" an officer yelled as the Dradis console beeped.
"They launched another shuttle?" Woods asked as she looked up at the Dradis console which showed a yellow contact, an unknown contact.
"Negative, it's near one of the other planets in the system, a planet called Mars." The Dradis officer said.
"I thought they only had primitive space capabilities, how were they able to get to a planet that far away?" Roslin asked.
"They can't." Woods said. She looked at the dradis console again hoping the contact would change or disappear. "Stealth systems are active, right?" she quickly received an affirmative from the responsible officer. "Set condition one throughout the ship, launch four Blackbirds on an intercept course for the contact. Tell them to go in at stealth mode." Alarms started blaring and preparations were made to launch four Blackbirds. A Raptor was launched with the newest Intel and jumped to the Fleet at the edge of the system.
"Blackbirds one through four are underway, time to intercept four minutes." The CAG announced.
"What is the contact doing?" Woods asked.
"It is in a geosynchronous orbit over Mars." The Dradis officer said.
"Can the people of Earth see it?" Roslin asked.
"Our Intel suggests they would only see it if they are looking for it or if they get lucky, they don't have a Dradis system." Woods said.
"Blackbirds are nearing the target. No identification yet. One minute away." The CAG said.
"Who's lead on the Blackbirds?" Woods asked.
"Captain Thrace Ma'am." The CAG said.
"Starbuck, what' she doing here, why did Bill let her go?"
"The Admiral said she was the best Blackbird pilot seeing as she made the maiden voyage. That plus I think he wanted to have someone here to keep an eye on you Madam President." Woods said.
"Adama will never change I guess." Roslin said.
"Prometheus, this is Starbuck. We have a Cylon heavy raider here, it seems to have an enlarged sensor array, perhaps to scan the planet. Request permission to engage."
"Granted, Weapons free engage the target and destroy. If there is anything left have a raptor pick it up." Woods ordered.
"Copy that. Okay you nuggets, number two cover me, three and four stay at a distance and watch out for any other bogeys." Thrace's voice came over the intercom. Sounds of her Blackbird powering up and readying weapons came through as well as sound of weapons fire.
"This is Starbuck, target is destroyed, there are a few pieces left, might be useful to send a raptor to pick them up. From what I could see the heavy raider's package included geological sensors, perhaps they were looking for tylium ore."
"Copy that Starbuck, sending a raptor to pick up the pieces and another to start a geological survey of the planet Mars." Woods said. "Stay around to secure the site."
The CAG automatically relayed the orders to the flight deck.
"What is the chance there is Tylium on that planet?" Roslin asked.
"Small, there is a gas giant in this system that has a much better chance of containing liquid Tylium, if not said giant has several moons which are also possible candidates." Woods said.
"Very well, if there is anything else, you know where to find me." Roslin said. She turned around towards the door but remembered something. "Can you ask Kara Thrace to visit me once she is back aboard?"
"Yes Ma'am. First thing once she's back." Woods said.
Hanger deck
Two hours later
Thrace's blackbird was brought into the hanger deck, the canopy quickly withdrew and Thrace took of her helmet. The deckhands quickly placed the blackbird into its designated slot. A ladder was brought up against the side of the blackbird and Thrace made her way down it.
"Chief, I need the post flight checklist stat; I wanna hit the showers as soon as I'm done here." Thrace said as the chief approached the captain.
"Yes ma'am, right on it." The chief replied.
"Thrace!" Woods said from up on the walkway. "The president wants to talk to you."
"Yes ma'am, on it."
Commander's room
A knock on the door announced the arrival of Thrace. She was quickly allowed in after the marines checked her.
"Starbuck. I'd like to think the old man sent you here because of your flying skills, but honestly I think he's just worried." Roslin stated.
"You'd have to ask him about that madam president." Thrace said. "But it might also be because the Admiral wants to have his best pilot there when we contact the Earthlings."
"Because you are such a good diplomat." Roslin said half sarcastic, half laughing.
"For my stunning beauty of course, what else. Besides, someone has to show them how to fly." Kara said, now laughing loud.
"So now back to being serious. What do you think about these Earthlings?" Roslin asked.
"Well, for starters, we need to give them another name. Second, we need to make contact rather sooner than later. We've had at least one Cylon heavy raider in this system and they're bound to start missing it soon. Third, and last for now, I need some new meat, all the pilots have been trained and are at the peak of their ability."
"I agree about the first two, and I don't really care about the third. So let's get both admirals and the fleet here and get this party on the road." Roslin said.
Plot room
Galactica
The president had been brought back to Galactica to discuss the first contact with the earthlings. The quorum and senior commanders of the military were present to establish a plan.
"Ladies en Gentlemen. During my stay aboard the Prometheus, Captain Thrace and I have made a plan to contact Earth. Captain, if you will?" Roslin said as she waved Thrace up to the table.
"We plan to contact the President of the United States of America directly by hacking into their communications network. We will give them the choice to make our arrival public. As has been stated in the briefing package the Earthlings can be quite paranoid. The fleet will be divided into several groups and stationed throughout the system. In case of a Cylon attack we will bring all warships where they are necessary and the civvies somewhere safe."
"What will happen after we made contact?" A quorum member asked.
"That depends on what they want. Hopefully we can enter into a dialogue with them. Secure a place for us to live, and perhaps an alliance of sorts." Thrace said.
"How do you want to convince them that we are real? As you said they can be quite paranoid and someone getting the personal line to the president of a nation can sound like a nut job hacker from earth trying to pull a joke on them." The Caprica Quorum member asked.
"We know that a small part of their satellite coverage is aimed outwards, probably searching for other life or asteroids. We will put one of our battlestars right in front of it before we make the call. Hopefully that will get their attention." Thrace answered.
"And what if they don't want us or outright declare war on us?" the Saggitaron Quorum member asked.
"As far as we know the only thing they can use against us are land or sea based ICBM's meant to destroy another country by nuking it into a nuclear winter. Even so, we can determine most of the positions of these ICBM's and shoot them down before they'll become a threat." Thrace said. "If they don't want us, we'll either have to persuade them or leave for another system. There is a system, called Alpha Centauri by the people of Earth at about 4.37 light years from the sun of this system. It is one of the closest to Earth and might even be viable to sustaining life."
"So when are we going to start this mission?" the Virgon Quorum member asked.
"As soon as we have the Quorum's approval and the plan is final." Roslin said.
"Well, let's vote for it now, perhaps we already have a majority." The Caprica Quorum member suggested.
"Fine. All in favor of the plan to contact the Earthlings via the president of the United States of America please raise your hand."
All twelve quorum members raised their hands and the plan was accepted.
Thrace leaned over to Admiral Adama who stood next to her and whispered. "That was fast, I think they just broke a record."
Adama chuckled softly before replying. "I knew there was a reason I didn't throw them out of an airlock the first chance I got."
"Admiral Adama, now that the mission has been approved by the Quorum, you are welcome to commence the plan whenever you're ready." Roslin said.
"Very well. Captain, set time at T minus thirty minutes. Signal all ships in the fleet and tell them to commence operation Z, standard pattern. To all other commanders here, I'd say you'll need to get back to your ships." Adama said. "I'd also like to invite the Quorum to attend the meeting from this plot room. It'll be the Galactica that'll make first contact and attract their attention."
The Quorum members all nodded in unison while a timer above the plot table started running down from 30 minutes.
During the next thirty minutes all ships were prepared for anything, the battlestars loaded up their guns just in case, the vipers were given an extra check and were fueled and armed to the max. the civilian fleet also put their FTL drives at condition one meaning it would take less than thirty seconds to spool them up in case of an emergency. Some additional equipment was brought into the plot room. All commanders left for their ships and more personnel were brought in.
When the timer neared zero everyone tensed up.
"Prepare for FTL Jump." Adama ordered his XO through a wired phone.
The timer reached zero and beeped before starting counting again. Simultaneously Adama ordered the 'Jump'.
The battlestar appeared with its trademark flash right in front of Earth's Hubble telescope setting of several alarm bells on the planet below.
"Geata, start the hack." Adama ordered. Geata, whom had first been able to hack into the nearly undefended internet, quickly hacked into the White House's phone network getting quick access to the president's private line. Roslin picked up one of the headsets lying around and on cue started talking.
"Who is this?" Came the voice of president Bartlet.
"I am President Laura Roslin of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. I'll be very straightforward. Before you hang up I'd like you to get on the phone with whoever is in control of your satellites, ask him to take a look at what the Hubble telescope is currently looking at."
"Is this some king of joke? You know what kind of trouble you're in once my people catch you. Hacking into the White house alone will get you life imprisonment. Stop it now and I can assure you my people will go easy on you." Bartlet stated angrily not willing to play a game.
"I can assure you mister president that I am not joking. I am currently aboard the battlestar Galactica, a space ship. We wish to open a peaceful dialogue but we didn't want to scare your planet into chaos. Therefore we contacted you directly, so that you could decide what to do with our existence."
Roslin and the entire Quorum waited patiently while they heard hushed speaking on the other side. Apparently someone just told president Bartlet something interesting.
"I just received word that the Hubble Telescope has indeed detected your spaceship, the people working with the satellite also tell me it has a lot of, what they think are weapons, care to explain?"
"That is correct, the ship, called the Galactica was one of the 120 battlestars that made up the Colonial Fleet before the nuclear annihilation, now there are only seven left. The thing is, several years ago, an artificial race that we created called the Cylons destroyed our colonies without warning. Ever since the destruction we've been looking for a planet that our sacred scrolls called Earth, the home of the Thirteenth tribe. Now, we've already established that your Earth isn't the one indicated in the scrolls, but nevertheless we'd wanted to ask for your help."
"I am very sorry to hear that madam president. How can I trust you when I haven't even seen you and you already have one of your warships in orbit of the planet and six more somewhere out there?" Bartlet asked.
"I can assure you that we are not here to conquer you. We hope to be able to gather your help in defeating the Cylons, even now it is likely that they're still somewhere out there and looking for us. If no one from your planet wants us, we'll leave peacefully without doing you any harm, you have my word. If you'd want to meet me, you'll only need to give me the coordinates and I'll see what the pilots can do."
"You want to land that entire ship of yours? How do you want me to hide that?"
"Not the Galactica. We have smaller ships which can take on a multitude of roles; one of them is personnel transportation."
An ensign walked up to Adama and gave him a note. Adama in turn, gave the note to Roslin.
"Mister President, it seems that your security is breached, our technicians have spotted news broadcasts reporting pictures taken of the Galactica by the Hubble telescope."
"The Hubble telescope is a civilian program; anyone who regularly uses the Hubble can access it. I think we should meet face to face soon, how about my front lawn in four days? I hope there will be enough room for you to land one of your raptors."
"That would be most welcome; I'll have my people coordinate with your people for additional instructions."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to get my cabinet together and discuss what will happen the next few days. How can we contact you?"
"I'll have my people send you some frequencies that are secure. My people will call your secretary within minutes for the information."
"Alright, thank you very much; it's refreshing talking to someone who's so straightforward. I hope to see you in four days good bye."
"Bye." Roslin said before she put the headset down. "That went well."
"Almost too good to be true." Adama said.
"Sir, there is already news coverage about small riots in some cities." Geata said.
Hanger deck
Galactica
104 days since the second exodus
0900 hours
March 12 2010
"So what's the latest?" Roslin asked Adama while he guided her towards the raptor that was going to take them down to the planet. Roslin was still weak for the cancer had returned and was ravaging through her body. Doc. Cottle hadn't given her much more than a month.
"They have agreed to an escort of eight vipers and a total of four raptors. We will take a raptor flown by Kara with a few marines and Ishay, while a second raptor will have an additional guard detail. The other two raptors will be loaded to the brim with missiles and marines in case this turns ugly. Once we're through the upper atmosphere their fighters will take up guard duty over the capital. The CAP will be flown by four groups of four fighters, two of ours and two of theirs. Galactica will have two squadrons in the tubes at all times as well as several blackbirds."
"How about mister Lampkin?" Roslin asked.
"Romo Lampkin has been sworn in as vice president and is aboard the Zeus and in lockdown until you're back aboard Galactica." Adama said. After several, less then legitimate actions of Tom Zarek were discovered, Roslin had al she needed to kick him to the curb and install a new vice president. Eventually Romo Lampkin was chosen as he had no political ambitions whatsoever which suited Roslin and Adama just fine.
"He'll love that." Roslin laughed.
Thrace came walking towards them in her dress uniform and after confirming that the raptor was ready to go took the other arm of Roslin to guide her to the Raptor. Once they reached the raptor, Ishay helped Roslin up into the raptor and into a comfortable seat. Next Thrace got in taking the pilot seat while Adama took the co pilot seat. Then four marines got in and the raptor was packed.
The four raptors that were assigned to the mission were brought towards the lifts that would bring the raptors on the flight deck. Once they arrived there Thrace asked permission for departure of Raptor one. She got permission to leave and she and the other three raptors took off. Once outside the hanger bay eight viper Mk.7's joined up and took position around the raptors.
Together the twelve craft sped towards the planet's northern hemisphere. Once they got into range eight US F-22 raptors took escort positions together with the vipers. At an altitude of 1000 meters, they passed Reagan airport and the vipers and F-22's leveled off while the raptors continued to descend towards the white house. Once they passed the Washington monument the raptors slowed down and dropped to treetop level. The two raptors carrying the president and security detail eventually landed right in front of the white house while the other two hovered at about a hundred meters to provide over watch until Secret Service could take over.
Outside the concrete cordoning thousands of civilians shouted carrying signs with a variety of messages. Since the arrival of the Colonials, the planet had undergone mass rioting which could only be contained by declaring martial law in several areas and deploying the military. Eventually the riots died down but people were still angry and afraid of the colonials. Nevertheless, President Bartlet still wanted to meet Roslin and had gotten a lot of support from the Congress, as they too didn't know what to do but support their president.
Once the two raptors had settled down, the hatches opened. The presidential escorts exited first. Normally the escorts, who were marines, were dressed in their black uniforms, but for this occasion they had changed into their formal uniform with their pistols in waist holsters. Once the escorts signaled the all clear, Thrace and Adama exited as well as the pilot of the other raptor. They both stood beside the short wing of the raptor waiting for Roslin who was being guided by Ishay, the last to exit the raptor. Adama and Thrace helped Roslin down the raptor and Ishay climbed of herself while she took a bag of medical supplies with her.
While Roslin was being unloaded, several secret service agents approached them while President Bartlet was also walking towards them. His wife and chief of staff were waiting at the entrance to the white house itself.
Roslin straightened herself before she took a few steps forwards to greet President Bartlet. At all times she was flanked by both Adama and Thrace. Several photographers kept shooting their film as the two presidents and their entourages approached each other.
Once they reached each other they shook hands and traded messages of welcome and gratitude as well as several jokes. They soon moved inside where they got down to business. Topics as the Cylons, resurrection, battlestars, Earth politics, the War on Terror, the possibility of an alliance, intentions and the presidents Cancer were discussed before they and several American dignitaries attended a banquet. Afterwards, when it was getting late, the colonial delegation got back to their raptors, which were still at the white house lawn.
The entire process of unloading earlier that day was reversed and the raptors started their engines.
"Galactica, this is raptor one, we are leaving within the minute, standard formation and flight route, ETA twenty two minutes." Thrace said once she had made contact with Galactica. The two security raptors were already flying overhead to provide security while the vipers were also flying close by.
As the raptor's engines were finally warmed up, Starbuck contacted the pilot of the other raptor. "Racetrack, this is Starbuck, we're engines hot and ready to go, copy."
"Starbuck, Racetrack. We're engines hot also and ready to follow your lead." Racetrack responded within seconds.
At the confirmation of Racetrack, Starbuck powered the vertical thrusters and the raptor took off with a small hint of hesitation. The second raptor also climbed to about 25 meters before it started moving southwards.
Just as the two raptors were picking up speed, two missiles streaked out from the still protesting civilians. The first hit just behind the hatch of Racetrack's raptor. The hatch was blown away and two marines were blown out towards a horrible death. The second missile hit Thrace's right engine destroying it. There was no chance for Racetrack's raptor. It crashed several hundred meters from the white house into a building. The pilot and co pilot were able to bail out right before the crash but the rest were killed as the raptor exploded. Thrace just punched the throttle down attempting to get as high as she could, as fast as she could. Fortunately the Raptor was designed to function with one engine.
On the ground American Secret Service and police tracked down the launchers of the missiles and after a small firefight captured three of the shooters and killed four. The missiles were two stinger missiles fired from the back of a van.
CIC Galactica
"Galactica, Starbuck here, our starboard engine has been blown out; I have damage to several other systems but will try to make orbit by use of FTL. Request backup."
"Copy that starbuck, help is on the way." Tigh responded. He turned to Lieutenant Geata. "Geata, send the signal to the Pegasus and Prometheus."
Geata already knew which signal to send, as he devised the signal plan, quickly sent it.
Within seconds the Valkyrie appeared beside the Galactica.
The Pegasus however had a far more dramatic entrance planned. To get the vipers where they were needed fast without requiring them to descend they had to be brought into the atmosphere.
The Pegasus appeared high above the Washington DC launching vipers from the moment they completed the jump. Many civilians fled indoors thinking that hell was falling upon them. When all tubes were cleared the Pegasus jumped again sending a shockwave over all of Washington DC.
The raptor soon vanished from the Dradis console as it made the jump. It however did not appear in space.
"Geata where are they?" Tigh asked.
"How the hell should I know, Dradis is not picking them up." Geata yelled out. A signal came in. "Wait, I'm receiving their locator beacon."
"Krypter, Krypter, krypter, this is Raptor one, we are going down." Thrace came in over the wireless. Krypter was the colonial form of mayday.
"Geata, Location."
"Last known earth grid was; 20.568856 by negative 75.255418. An Island called Cuba.
"Redirect all vipers and launch additional raptors to secure the crash site. What do we know about Cuba?"
"They're not friendly." Geata replied.
"Tell all our units they have permission to fire when they feel threatened.
Down on the planet the crashed raptor showed no sign of life.
so, I'm sorry for the long wait, this fic is not my main priority, school is and i am also writing alliance wars. nevertheless i will try to get you guys and girls an update. someday.