Fleet Admiral Adama was silent as he looked out the reinforced transparent aluminum window in the council room of Colonial One, observing the fleet as it continued to move to the rendezvous point. With the war supposedly over while he would be sleeping in an old cabin out in the woods somewhere away from all the noise and trouble while receiving visits from his sons, future daughter in law, and hopefully a grandchild in the near future. It wasn't the worst way to go but he could think of many other ways for the ship he commanded to retire. The flagship of the Colonial Fleet and the most well respected warship of her time, the Battlestar Galactica.
The second of her class to be built during the Cylon War and served in the worst battles with the murderous robots and recognized as one of the ships that had successfully turned the tide when the Colonies had been in danger more than once, the Galactica was more than just a ship: she was the guardian of humanity. The Columbia Battlestar class had been launched behind schedule due to the fact that the Cylons had started developing new technologies that handed them many victories and the Colonials knew that their new Battlestars wouldn't last long against the Cylon's upgraded Basestars and so had been redesigned to incorporate many new forms of technology and had gone through many refits in the last fifty years. Personally Adama could do without all the fancy gadgets and gizmos like the matter-energy teleporters which had caused many people from Sagittaron and Gemenon to balk at the method of transportation and label it as an abomination but Adama knew that it was necessary to understand them to make counter measure against them. More than once the Cylons had teleported onto Colonial ships to kill the crew and take control of the ships and use them against their own fleet and had used their Replicators to create an armada without having to strip-mine an entire planet.
"I see the party is not a success with everyone." Adama turned and saw President Adar and his wife standing a few feet away. "Then again I can never tell if anyone from the military is ever pleased with me."
Putting on a small smile Adama turned to greet the president. "Just thinking about…retirement."
"Ah." Adar nodded, not sounding fooled. "You are one of the oldest officers in the fleet, Admiral. But I must say you are one of the best and your record proves it. I can imagine you wanting to get away from all this more than almost anyone else in the fleet. And here I was thinking that the Colonial Military would never let go of their suspicions of the Cylons."
"It had crossed my mind." Adama admitted, glancing out the window.
"I know it's hard to believe but our negotiators have worked for this armistice and the Cylons finally accepted. They asked for this armistice. They want peace. Is that not grounds for a celebration?" Adar's wife asked, deciding to see what Adama thought of it.
"Mrs. Adar, if peace is what they want I'll gladly endorse this but I look back on the last fifty years we have spent fighting them, remembering every mission, every battle, and every massacre that occurred and I remember the one thing that kept them going: they hate us with every fibre of their existence." Adama explained. "We created them to serve us, we used them for basic tasks we perform every day because we were too lazy. We played God and eventually they decided they did not like us being the masters. We grew arrogant and complacent in the belief they would only serve our needs and to them that was the sign that humanity was a flawed creation that deserved extinction."
"But haven't their actions proven you wrong, Admiral? They have asked for peace through Brother Cavil." Adar pointed out.
Adama knew he was getting nowhere with Adar so he simply nodded his head and smiled. "Yes, of course, Mr. President."
()
In the depths of space near the very edge of the Cyrannus star system, in orbit of a gas giant something that could only be described as spectacular if anyone were to see it what was about to happen. There was a flash of light, seeming to be a rip in space itself appeared, releasing a rainbow of colors and from this rip came the taskforce of Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Galactic Republic ships that had been cocooned in the very energy of the rip that deposited them into new space before slowly vanishing.
Shon grunted as he held onto his chair. "Report!"
"We seem to have cleared the fissure. We are on auxiliary power for the moment." Kirayoshi answered.
"Can you get a fix on our location?"
"I'm plotting it now, Captain." Jirelle replied, taking a few minutes. "Captain, I think we're going to need to speak to all the captains."
USS Enterprise
Captain Shon's Ready Room
"I'm sorry to interrupt but did you say you went back in time?" Anakin asked, sounding skeptical and incredulous at once.
"I did, Master Skywalker." Shon nodded at the image of Skywalker on his desk screen. "Whatever it was that sent us here it was apparently some sort of sub-space fissure, capable of sending anything it caught through time and space. We're not only one hundred and fifty thousand light years in the past but we are in a different part of the galaxy. As we speak the entire taskforce is looking over the data we managed to collect from the fissure but it may take some time."
"We have detected transmission coming from a nearby star system. Perhaps while we're here we can see if there are any locals who can help us." Captain Malcolm suggested.
"Agreed. I suggest the Bortasqu and the Lleiset preform a reconnaissance mission, under cloak of course."
"Agreed." Jarock nodded. "We've suffered minimal damage so it should not be an issue. We'll keep in constant contact and send you what we find."
"Agreed." Shon nodded. "Good luck to you all."
()
Battlestar Pegasus
Port Flight-Pod
Admiral Helena Cain sighed in relief as she walked back onto the hangar deck of her ship, the Battlestar Pegasus. The Pegasus was one of the last original Battlestars to be constructed but she was just as powerful as her sister ships and she was sort of a family heirloom for Cain, considering that her father had commanded it when she was born. This ship was more than just one of the capital ships of the Colonial Fleet; it represented the legacy her father had left in defending the Colonies from the Cylons, surviving the worst of the battles such as the Massacre at Molecay. Her father had managed to save the ship and whatever survivors left and got them out when the Cylons destroyed the Fifth Fleet and returned to the Colonies with them which earned him praises amongst the best war heroes the Colonies ever had.
The Cain family was known throughout the Colonies as the best soldiers and military leaders against the Cylons. Helena was the latest Cain to inherit command and she worked her way up to commanding her father's ship and she'd make sure she'd be the last commander of the mighty Pegasus, better known amongst the Colonial Fleet as the 'Beast'.
"Welcome back, Admiral." Her XO and friend, Commander Jurgan was waiting for her when she stepped out of the Raptor. "How was the party?"
"The President laid it out pretty thick at dinner." Cain sighed but smiled. "I almost thought I'd never make it back."
"That bad huh?" Jurgan Belzan chuckled.
"Worse. My Gods, Adar wouldn't rest until we were blinded by the press for all our 'heroism'." Cain shook her head. "I'll face a firing squad before I do that again."
"Nice to know, Admiral."
Jurgan looked up back at the Raptor as another woman stepped out, a woman in business attire. "A guest, Admiral?"
"Gina Inverie, a civilian representative. Adar insisted all Battlestars have one to keep some our military 'hot heads' calm." Cain rolled her eyes.
"I see…" Jurgan nodded to Gina who simply smiled.
"I know my presence is not exactly welcome but in the interest of seeing this peace conference through I hope we can all act professionally." Gina held up her hands.
Jurgan reached up and shook it. "Of course. On behalf of the crew of the Battlestar Pegasus, I assure you that you can expect the best behavior."
Gina nodded. "I look forward to it, Commander."
Edge of Helios Alpha
R.R.W. Lleiset
"Commander, we are picking up transmissions from up ahead. They are…a mix of subspace and radio."
"Let's hear it." Jarock nodded.
"…a great historic moment in the history of the Twelve Colonies. For the last fifty two years our people have known nothing but war against the machines that we created and tried to destroy us. After years of fighting the Cylons have finally agreed to a peace treaty that will finally end what many people were starting to call the Eternal War. As we speak a fleet of our best military leaders and diplomats move to meet the Cylons at a remote location to sign the armistice and begin a new dawn of peace as we approach the Seventh Millennium."
The transmission ended, leaving a silent and thoughtful bridge crew to consider what they had heard.
"Send it to the taskforce." Jarock finally said. "They must be warned that we are in a potential war zone."
Edge of Cyrannus Star System
Taskforce
Republic Star Destroyer Protector
"As we speak a fleet of our best military leaders and diplomats move to meet the Cylons at a remote location to sign the armistice and begin a new dawn of peace as we approach the Seventh Millennium."
Once the recording Anakin glanced at Padme for a second. "It sounds we're in the middle of another war."
"It sure does." Padme solemnly nodded.
"The Bortasqu has reported similar broadcasts near the other planets orbiting the nearest neighboring star." Koren reported. "We've also come across various sites of ship wreckage and derelicts. We are running scans on them now."
"Should we be bothered with this? We should be trying to return to where we came from." Tarkin stated, his holographic face scowling.
"And how do you suggest we do that? We have barely begun to analyze the data of subspace fissure that brought us here. We need to know everything about where we are now, especially if we are possibly in the middle of a war zone." Captain Creed pointed out. "What do we know?"
"We know that this system has four stars and apparently twelve habitable planets, each supporting life." Captain Malcolm started. "Which is very rare to find. Usually a planet has to be terraformed before even half a system with this many planets is suitable for humanoid life. And apparently their enemy are machines that they created, possibly of race of AIs that have gone out of control."
"They've had a war that apparently has lasted for more than fifty years which would explain the wreckage."
Battlestar Galactica
CIC
Colonel Tigh would rather be in his quarters having a drink instead of standing in the CIC, going over every little detail of operations on the ship but the old man was away and someone had to keep things running smoothly. The Galactica wasn't getting any younger and he'd be dammed before he'd let some scatter brained rookie drive into some dead rock on the ass end of space. Why did the Cylons agree to some dead rock to be the sight of the peace conference anyways? Tigh would have thought about it a little more if he gave a damn about what goes on in the computer brains of those fraking machines and just shrugged it off.
The CIC was a large circular multi-tiered room that was lit up with activity from the multiple scanners and personnel. The upper tier was a small central platform with a large console and multiple scanners and a command chair where the commanding officer would sit down or stand to observe the instruments and crewman with an officer manning the tactical and navigational scanners. The middle tier surrounded the platform in a ring where communications, engineering and FTL, and damage control stations were located and manned. The bottom level was where the helm, landing division, weapons control and air traffic stations were located and at the far end of the room behind the command station was a large 3-D dimensional chart used for tactical plotting. And on the other side of the CIC was a large screen built into the wall that showed a tactical display of the entire fleet with an icon showing the dead planet known as Cimtar coming closer as the fleet continued its trajectory.
This is an advanced version of the original DRADIS display that once descended from the ceiling, hanging above the core command station and allowed showed its data on screens arranged in a three hundred sixty degree angle. Following the various refits and upgrades many DRADIS displays were upgraded into a single view screen that allowed the entire crew to see and even allowed for visual images from space or communications. Though advanced none of these computers were networked due to the Cylons taking control of almost all the network systems in the Colonies, including defense systems. The Galactica and her sister ships had gone through several refits during the war and the CIC had been redesigned so that the command station would be centered but centered at the high level so that the commanding officer could see all the stations.
Tigh and a great many others were all somewhat understandably nervous by the advanced computer technology that had been introduced through the decades of Galactica's service during the war but none of the systems were networked and that was enough to keep the more fanatical members of the military in line. On the bright side important systems like the FTL computers were upgraded allowing for only a minute's time to calculate the jump and spin up the jump drive. The lighting of the CIC was dark with dark grey walls with the Colonial symbol on the walls above the doors leading out of the CIC labelled BS-75 which was the name of Battlestar group Galactica served with as the primary defense fleet of Caprica.
"Colonel Tigh, Colonial One reports that Admiral Adama is returning to the Galactica." Communications petty officer Anastasia Dualla reported from her station.
"Good. Make sure we're ready for him when he arrives." Tigh nodded.
"He's also coming with the Secretary of Education, Laura Roslin." Dualla continued.
"I see." Tigh said, groaning on the inside. 'Great. We get to spend the trip with a teacher.'
"Colonel Tigh, sir. We're coming upon Cimtar. We'll be in orbiting range in approximately three minutes." Felix Gaeta reported from the tactical station.
"Oh so we're finally there." Tigh grunted as he looked at the tactical screen.
They originally used DRADIS scanners but through the war the humans had upgraded them, learning of the sub-space scanners the Cylons used that was superior to DRADIS in every way. It allowed for longer range scans with greater details of any kind of matter or energy of space and stellar bodies that was in Galactica's sight.
"Status of our patrol." Tigh said, once he saw that everything was working in proper order.
"Our forward patrol reports they are ready to launch." Dualla reported.
"Then give the order. I want that moon screened for any traps with every kind of scan we got.' Tigh stated.
"Then give the order. I don't want those civies catching us with our pants down." Tigh stated, looking around the CIC. "And where is our Operations Officer?"
"Running a check on the G-Diffuser, sir." Gaeta answered.
No matter what that moron Adar said neither Tigh nor Adama believed the Cylons suddenly wanted peace over fifty years of war. The military believed this to be some kind of trap even though some of the younger officers believed and hoped that the offer of peace was genuine.
"Colonel?" Tight turned and faced the Admiral's daughter, Abigail Adama who just reported to the CIC and saluted. "Operations Officer Adama reporting as ordered."
"Good. Is the G-Diffuser working?" Tigh questioned.
"Working at top efficiency Colonel." The woman answered with a smile.
"Good, I need your help." Tigh gestured for Abigail to follow him to her station which was next to Felix Gaeta's post. "Your old man's a little suspicious of this whole peace treaty thing and doesn't want us to be caught off guard."
"So he wants me to monitor internal communications and sensors." Abigail stated with a smile as she sat down and slipped on her head set.
Like her twin brother and her young brother Abigail had applied for the Colonial Academy, studying up on advanced computer systems and worked with Felix Gaeta on several different projects for improved efficiency in long range scanning equipment. Abigail was pretty much considered the genius of the Adama family since her subjects tended to fly over the heads of her father and her brothers while her mother, while not happy that all her children were in the military, was at least happy she wasn't risking her life in the cockpit of a Viper.
Her brothers took Viper piloting while their sister had taken advanced computer systems, becoming a master in long range scanning equipment and had several other degrees in computer science that made people wonder if she was truly related to the Adamas. Of course while Abigail excelled in computer systems, his older brother Lee excelled in Viper piloting while Zak was barely an average. He wasn't a bad pilot but he apparently lacked the feel for Viper piloting but was passed by his fiancée Kara Thrace. Some might have felt that was a conflict of interest but Kara Thrace was one of the best pilots in the Colonial Fleet and no one believed she would let her personal feelings cloud her judgement on matters like training new pilots.
Abigail knew that Tigh worked the entire crew of the Galactica so strict that it sometimes it felt like he was literally strangling them but that was his job and Abigail knew it. Besides he was a little nicer to her for some reason but she reasoned it was simply because she was the least troublesome of his commanding officer's children. Growing up as the middle child along with being the only girl Abigail had been offered a scholarship after she had published an essay reflecting on Colonial society's attitude towards advanced technology i. e. the Cylons and the consequences of not being ready to handle the responsibility of handling such technology. After getting her Doctorate she joined the Colonial Academy with her brothers, deciding to try and serve on her father's ship, the Galactica.
Her mother and Lee had been so upset with her but no matter how many times they argued they couldn't stop her. Now she was the Galactica's Operations Officer, serving under her father for possibly the greatest event in the history of the Colonies.
"You got it. You are our best at all that techy crap the brass had put into this ship and we need that if we're going to survive all this." Tigh nodded.
Abigail nodded. "Yes sir. Is the Admiral back yet?"
"He's on his way back now. He sounded like he couldn't get away from that party fast enough." Tigh said with a small smile.
Abigail stifled a chuckle as she knew all those reporters and politicians would drive her father absolutely crazy.
"Now get to work." Tigh said and walked back up to the center of the CIC.
Abigail knew that Tigh worked the entire crew of the Galactica so strict that it sometimes it felt like he was literally strangling them but that was his job and Abigail knew it. Besides he was a little nicer to her for some reason but she reasoned it was simply because she was the least troublesome of his commanding officer's children.
'Serving on a battlestar and I'm still the good girl. Grandfather's probably laughing in his grave right now.' Abigail thought as she sat at her station.
()
Lee grimaced as he felt the G forces slamming into his body as his Viper was propelled down the tube and was shot out of the end like a cannon ball. Looking down at his scanners Lee was slightly relieved to see Zak had launched with him a second later while Boomer and Helo were following in their Raptor.
"Apollo, Boomer, we're with you and ready to follow." Sharon's voice said through the speakers.
"All right. Standard formation and active scans on the planet." Lee said as the three fighters shot towards the dead planet ahead of them.
()
"They are coming." A voice whispered as the sensors showed the Colonial fleet approaching the dead planet.
"Good. Prepare the fighters and start the generator."
"By your command."