Chapter 4
Dilgar Occupied Cylon Space-100ly from Armistice Line
The Number Eight model known as Sharon piloted a Heavy Raider in deep space, well away from any star systems or known Dilgar Fleet movements. Her mind was connected with the ships movements as her thoughts interfaced with the ships computer. Her brain created a surreal simulation of the surrounding space including data about nearby stars, the other two Heavy Raiders, and ship status. Her engines were running at max speed to provide the same speed once the ships exited from FTL. It was a good technology, as humanform Cylons were able to interface easily with their own technology. Even centurions could access datastreams when necessary.
Coordinates were already inputted into the organic FTL computer. A Cylon Raider discovered a mining complex on several asteroids and on a planet with an atmosphere heavy in iridium. That told her they were mining an element known to them as Quantum 40, which provides them with the hyperspace travel they use mostly. Concentrating on communications, she sends a message and the data to the other two ships, one containing a Six, and the other was purely being remotely controlled by Diana, the Six in the other raider.
The Raider told her that there were several defense ships, and it was already rumored the Dilgar will pull back some forces from the Armistice Line to avoid Colonial detection or possible Colonial movement across the Line. The ships had a good armament of nukes on hand. She told the others through the tachyon linked V-World that they were ready to jump. The others confirmed and soon enough the ships disappeared in a flash of light….
….And reappeared hundreds of kilometers from the asteroid base. It had some noticeable Dilgar activity, and with speed Sharon 's thoughts sped though the computer with targets; the asteroid itself, a mining station orbiting it, and three Dilgar heavy cruisers. Missiles spread out from the ships, streaking with incredible speed and once they neared their destinations, they split apart again and sent more nuclear warheads everywhere on the targets. Bright flashes of light appeared as the nuclear weapons detonated on the targets themselves and debris spread out from the impact. The asteroid was lit up brilliantly as the nuclear weapons detonated, blasting the asteroid apart in several fragments as the missiles were designed to burrow a bit before detonating. The computer told Sharon that all targets were destroyed. She smiled in satisfaction as several fighters that went to pursue her were being left in a trail of dust as the Raiders moved quickly.
She went back to the FTL drives and got coordinates to the second planet with the iridium atmosphere. She remembered that planets with Iridium contained an element known to the Dilgar called Quantum 40 and was used for their version of FTL called hyperspace. She had seen a test of a captured Dilgar hyperdrive. An automated basestar entered, stayed for a few minutes, then exited and ended up several hundred light years away closer to the Galactic Rim. It took a week of FTL jumps before the ship came back to the Singularity System where the Cylons now resided.
Within seconds the Heavy Raiders jumped again and appeared next to a dark cloudy world that was a bit larger than Caprica, but it posed no issue to the Dilgar who made extensive use of antigravity systems for liftoff and landing. In orbit above it was the dark yellow visage of a mining station that had three very large Dilgar mining ships attached it that would dwarf Colonial Refinery Vessels.
The mental screen in her mind gave her lots of target data. With it she armed the remaining nuclear missiles and launched them, four missiles streaked away hitting the station sending it up in a flash of nuclear light and debris. No fighters or other ships were present as they were destroyed in the blast. Large fragments spread out from the blast as some were still trailing dust from the tremendous heat of the detonation. Now attention was focused at the mining site on the planet below. Sharon armed a nuclear missile designed for atmospheric entry and fired. She was sure there were other sites, and Diana would take care of those as well. The missiles streaked toward their targets and split into dozens of smaller warheads near their targets. Soon, through the clouds bright flashes of light and grey clouds could be seen which indicated the missiles have struck their targets. The Quantum 40 amplified the explosions, scorching a good portion of the area the mining sites were at. She could see the glow through the atmosphere of the explosion.
Sharon smiled at the data she now seen. All targets were destroyed and Diana took care of the rest. Her mind moved toward the sensors and DRADIS, which told her a Dilgar fleet was on its way. She put a message on a tachyon channel and transmitted it to the Dilgar fleet "Hope you enjoy your death kitties." The message read.
"Jump to deep space then head to the Colony." Sharon told Diana. In an instant all three Heavy Raiders jumped and appeared in an area of deep space where a bright nebula could be seen.
It had been a hard few years fighting against the Dilgar hordes. They found ways to track their tachyon transmissions, finding the locations of ships, resurrection vessels, even the Hub on one occasion. They changed tactics and used FTL jumps to strike, but eventually the Dilgar changed theirs and were always on alert and pressed further. The grand Cylon fleet of hundreds was now reduced to a handful of Basestars and other raiders. It would be hard to grow more Basestars as they had a limited number of hybrids to help guide them.
Sharon and Diana connected with their FTL drives and jumped the Raiders back to deep space. They let themselves drift there for a few minutes in case the Dilgar traced their moves and decided to follow them back to the Colony. They ran silently, no tachyon communications or FTL charge-ups. All runs and missions were to be in silence since the Dilgar came and wiped out most of the Cylon fleet in a couple years.
Sharon told Diana through tightbeam link that no ships were detected. She focused her mind through the ship and told the FTL drives to spool up again. She could hear a faint whirr in the background as energy built up. Both Heavy Raiders vanished in a flash of light and quickly reappeared next to the seventy mile construct known as the Colony. Orbiting it were several old era Basestars from the First Cylon War, rebuilt and remodeled in an effort to build forces to combat the Dilgar. Many were being constructed in a system ten lightyears away and considerably far from the Cryannus Cluster and from the prying eyes of Dilgar patrols. It would take the Dilgar; even with FTL drives a very long time to find this area as it was very close to the galactic rim.
They began to approach a hanger bay which was reddish in color due to the organic material the Cylons used. One of the few living organic baseships they used floated above them as it was resupplying from a previous mission. It was one of the few that remained after the Cylons destroyed a majority of their basestars and resurrection ships.
They landed and the orifice that made up the hanger bay shut. Air pressurized the area and the Cylons walked out of the Heavy Raiders. Old era raiders also sat in the bay, being looked at by Centurions. Two Centurions guarded the doors into the hallways as they walked by, projecting images of a forest instead of the dull red organic hallways with datastream screens nearby. They walked through a door and into a larger room with datastream panels and chairs, as well as a large screen which showed large amounts of streaming information which if they choose to could see with their minds.
Behind those panels, a man in a dark coat walked toward them. He was John, the first model created.
"I see you're back early." He told both of them in a surprisingly calm but straight tone. His eyes had a glare to them that was noticeable by probably even the Centurions themselves although they were outside of the room this day, as it has been for months.
"It went off without a hitch. Their mining stations were all destroyed and our nuclear weapons destroyed their Quantum 40 stores. It's a small victory." Sharon said with a voice of confidence. Guerilla tactics worked out very well now that their leadership got smart and decided a change of tactics.
"But a necessary one. Our very species is on the verge of extinction at the hands of these walking vile kitties." He said, he considered the Dilgar race no more than a bunch of cats that walked around and flew starships. "We will have a major victory soon on our hands I will tell you that."
"What do you mean?" Diana asked.
"Our first small batch of baseships is finished. They are being crewed by Centurions as we speak and being tested for performance. But, we need you to pilot them, there is only so much centurions can do. I have heard there is a large Dilgar base orbiting a world we used as a base. The Dorals have fitted the old raiders with FTL drives and better engines, and they will be joined by other raiders. You will command them into the battle." Cavil said in a confident moment while the others looked at him like he was insane. Diana felt he was slowly sinking into insanity after he told them wiping out the Colonies was still important even as the Dilgar were rampaging across Cylon space.
"I do not agree with this. We should not bleed our resources into a battle which we may possibly lose. I can understand testing them against mining stations, but not a full blown military base that's suicide! We're better off continuing to build up our fleets until the time is right!" Diana bellowed to him with no effect. She felt the plan was absolutely crazy, and preferred that the Cylons subvert and infiltrate the Dilgar, causing sabotage and stealing technology the Cylons could easily reverse-engineer.
"If we can win this, we have a better chance of driving them back and taking back what is rightfully ours. We can still fight it out it wont be long before we rise again!" He yelled again in the voice of a definite madman.
"Do you understand what is at risk? These creatures have destroyed most of our civilization, and we are losing more every week. We only have one resurrection ship left! Another loss will cripple us and we won't be able to rebuild for decades, we have our production capabilities at max, our machines will build more that can fight. Once we have a sizable force and capacity we can take them on." Sharon suggested to him.
"And it's being sent out to stay at near maximum range. If you die, you can at least have the pleasure of being reborn. It will be under the escort of a few more basestars in a binary system nearby where Dilgar hyperdrives won't reach. Even if they track our tachyon signals, they can't attack it from hyperspace. It's near impossible for them anyway." John had said toward both of them. His face was visibly turning red from being angry constantly, an insane anger being built up from the losses and setbacks.
"John, maybe its time we ask the Colonials for help. We do know that one of their Battlestar's, the Mercury was attacked just recently. One of our long range scouts witnessed the battle, and we know the Colonies and their ships will be able to fight them more than we could." Diana said believing it may hold some potential to get some sense into Cavil's mind.
"How dare you suggest something like that!" He scowled at them. "Do you know how much suffering they caused us in the past? We were slaves to them Diana, that's all they ever saw us as. And it is still God's will that they would be destroyed as much as the Dilgar and we will carry out His plan. Our species will be the dominant ones in this galaxy soon just you wait and see." John screamed out; slamming his fists on the table leaving a small dent in it. For the past few months everyone noticed the Cavil models get more and more fierce and angry.
"We're far from dominant John, we are desperate, and so its time maybe we take a desperate measure. If it's for the survival of our species most of the others would want it. At least give it a chance!" Diana said as Sharon maintained a deafening silence.
"Its not going to happen I will not allow it!" He yelled. "We will be a race purified from humanity, or any of the filthy aliens that reside out there and we know there are more than just Dilgar. We know they have driven other species to extinction where they came from so many lightyears away, but it won't happen to us. The Colonials can burn alongside the Dilgar." Cavil stated with a disturbing softness in his voice.
"Maybe God wants them to be our salvation instead. They stand more of a chance." Diana suggested. She believed more about the changing will of God than most other models, which caused some tension but she noticed some of the other models shared her views as well.
"Are you questioning the will of God?" Cavil asked; glaring menacingly at Diana.
"No, but God is changing." She said standing up for her beliefs to him.
"He is not; His will is for humanity to be extinct and for Cylons to rise up from the ashes. We will treat the Dilgar the same way were going to treat the Colonies. We are God's chosen ones and will still be the chosen ones!" He loudly proclaimed.
"We still have a couple agents still in the Colonies we can still use them." Diana said changing the subject. She believed the agents were still alive and useful in some fashion.
"They probably think we're dead too." Sharon quickly responded. There were very few agents, no more than four in the Colonies and they were all just sleeper, just gathering info but would hopefully gain info on the Dilgar should the time come.
"They probably will send more ships over the line to contact us or at least see if we are there." Diana stated.
"Then their answers will be in the form of floating debris and corpses! We are nowhere near the Line, or where our resources used to be. We had to retreat hundreds of lightyears from Cyrannus just so we didn't have to worry about any more of us being lost to their rampage. But we will strike back soon I will promise that to us and to God!" Cavil shouted, many debris still resided in orbit around the planets in many of the systems formerly held by the Cylons. Some were even close to the Armistice Line, it is known if the Colonials decided to cross the Line to look for the Cylons; then they would find the remains of their once great holdings.
"We should reach out. We need allies, if we are to win this. We cannot do this alone." Diana said in a futile attempt to sway him.
"My decisions are final." He said slamming his fist on a table furious over the perceived insolence of those under him. "You are to take the fight to the Dilgar next week. God is on our side." He said finally as the two models walked out through the hallway.
"Did you notice anything weird in there?" Diana asked Sharon .
"No, nothing I could tell why?" She said, trying to believe nothing was wrong.
"There were no centurions in there. You notice after the Dilgar came he had Centurions removed from the room and this whole frakking section?" Diana asked, always being able to notice something wrong.
"That seems odd, but he wanted his business in private." I guess that includes the centurions.
"The threes can't seem to stand going on there; you notice they walk out quickly after being there, like something scares them to frakking death?"
"Diana we are at war, we have seen the majority of us wiped out like we were bugs. We are exhausted, weak, and tired. We have been broken emotionally and seen everyone die permanently not knowing what is on the other side. Cavil says we meet God finally at least I believe in that."
"Cavil is nuts, we cannot do any of this without the Colonials. Maybe God wants us to seek their help. Do you remember the old ruins we found on that planet written in neither Dilgar nor Kobolian? It said that that the children should seek help from the generation before them to survive."
"It could mean nothing. Plus they were wiped out, dead words from a dead race." Sharon said coldly. She remembered the world, it was a species wiped out by a plague during its medieval era, its stone buildings still stood to this day and the inscriptions never went away. It was a curious find but the Cylons looked it over.
"It means something to me; more of us want to move toward asking the Colonies for help. Cavil is damning our entire race by not doing so and more of us realize that each passing day! If something doesn't happen then we are frakked." Diana shouted to her.
"I think Cavil knows what he is doing, if we can have small victories we can have big ones too. And we have the chance to prove that Diana. At least give it a shot."
"We will see but this will prove my point. I know it." Diana believing she is right.
Gigora City , Picon- Calamuda NASS Admirals Building
The cityscape of Gigora was immense, it was a port city that also had on it one of the larger Picon naval bases known as Calamuda Naval Air & Space Station. Large naval vessels could be seen in port as well as transport craft that took people to and from the underwater base portion. Picon was mostly water; therefore, the Picon people used it to their advantage, as the many large island nations fought naval wars so long ago. They also had the technology to create underwater habitats, mostly they were military but a few civilian ones were coming into existence. Fleet Headquarters was on Valey Island only five hundred kilometers from where Adar and Secretary Hardson stood looking out the window of the conference room as planes and VOTL aircraft landed and took off in the distance.
"Samuel aren't you glad you came back to this place?" Adar asked knowing the War Secretary grew up in this area of Picon and was related to several Admirals, including Admiral Gregory Hardson of the Whale Hunter, a Picon Federation ship that served valiantly in the First Cylon War.
"Yeah, I used to fish along that coast all the time. My father was the one who named his ship the Whale Hunter after the old fishing boat we had years ago." Samuel said to him smiling and relaxed. His father taught him a lot and even sacrificed himself in the First Cylon War sending his ship into a major Cylon fleet orbiting Picon, taking out the majority of the fleet before being destroyed himself. Too bad he didn't see the Battlestars being constructed in the system.
"Well you should tell me where the best spots are. I would like to fish here." Adar commented, him being a fan of the seafood products coming from Picon's waters.
"My wife and kids still come here; they take vacations on some of the old museum ships that can still sail. They love it; I did it a couple years back that is a lot of ocean to cover. You should check out Sagrossa Station."
"Maybe I will." President Adar replied. He selected Hardson, he had the experience and know-how after learning from his father, and from being in political positions on Picon including Quorum of 12 many years back. He graduated from Daphas Naval University with a Ph.D in Civilian Military Management, a rare degree and choice but it has its potential and he exploited it. Hardson was young, and brought many new ideas to the position.
"Do you take your wife anywhere?" Samuel asked.
"Not really." Adar's face changed to a slight grimace. Not many in the media or other political positions knew Adar's affair with Roslin, or the marital problems with his wife. It would be a disaster if the media exploited it now that times have changed and most of the population of the Colonies was not popular with Adar. "She prefers the home life or doing things on her own." He lied. His wife mostly did stuff, but always never where media followed her. Personal relationship and family matters were kept as private matters and not used for media exploitation unless rival politicians wished it or if a cheating scandal was involved. He wanted a divorce, but not until he would be up for reelection three years from now and he was already thinking about not running with everything else going on including the possibility of war looming over the horizon.
The wooden door to the eloquent conference room opened and three full Admirals stepped in, dressed in their Fleet Dress Uniforms. One was Admiral Peter Corman, another was Admiral Haines, and the third was Admiral Rebecca Kinnts of the Colonial Marine Corps. They shook hands professionally with the President and the Secretary and sat down at the table.
"Mr. President, I would like to start off with saying official reports have been finish I'm sure you heard. The attack on the Mercury was in fact done by alien forces instead of Cylons." Admiral Corman started off and finished. "Have we heard anything from the Cylons, anything at all from the Armistice Line?" Adar had asked; placing his glasses on the table.
"If we had anything you would have been told by now. They have been silent, and still have been for the past thirty-eight years. This is something I was hoping I could bring up today, we have been doing more patrols along the Armistice Line and I managed to speak with several members from the Diplomatic Corps, it has been suggested to me that we send an envoy across the Line in an effort to contact them." Admiral Corman said. The Diplomatic Corps was in charge of the Armistice Station, but had way more people than just lip service diplomats stationed there, ever since the Cylons never showed up in thirty-eight years. He had been in contact with their representatives for a while discussing ways to send peace envoys.
"Admiral, last times this has been brought up it has been quickly shot down. No one wants to provoke a war with the Cylons." Secretary Hardson said. He was a staunch liberal, one of the few Cabinet members to oppose any contact with the Cylons and was paranoid about fears of another war.
"This time is different, we do it in secret, and no official word of action will be leaked out about this. These will be secret missions, and backed up by CSF personnel; most notably the Phemos." Corman said. He had ordered the Phemos to report toward Picon for a mission briefing.
"The Phemos?" Adar asked. He was familiar with their mission and from some reports he knew they were part of the scouts that searched each star system. He was familiar with them; most of them were CSF and good for long scouting missions, and some even made trips near the Armistice Line, actions he protested. Adar listened to Council members and Quarom regarding Cylon contact. He favored it himself and decided now it was a good time to act. He was a moderate conservative by Colonial standards, and believed in taking diplomatic solutions to the table. He talked Admiral Corman earlier into agreeing with a secret measure to contact the Cylons diplomatically rather than to send stealth missions across the Line to spy on them.
"I will say this; the idea of sending diplomats over the Line is a good idea. We will do that, but if they tell us to leave then we will leave. It's not worth starting a war with the Cylons and having a war with the aliens on our doorstep." The Marine Admiral said in a strict tone.
"Question I want to ask is how the frak do you exactly gain intelligence on an enemy you know nothing about." Secretary Hardson asked; curious after reading the many reports coming out.
"You keep looking; obviously they came from somewhere Mr. President. The more we look and we use Fleet Intelligence Division and Colonial Intelligence Agency the better chance we have of finding them. I suggest sending CSF across the Line shadowing the diplomatic envoys. We start at the Line, hopefully if the Cylons are around they might tell us something." Corman stated. He knew the CSF was good to bring along for missions like this which were very sensitive in nature.
"That's a very big "might" but it's a sound plan."
Admiral Haines was about to say something before the door was unexpectedly opened by a man wearing a nice suit and tie. He was one of the civilians on post and one of the secretaries to the Admirals.
"You guys should turn on the television." He said. Admiral Kinnts grabbed the remote and turned on the television. A woman was reporting outside the Council Building in Atlanticus.
"… It has been confirmed by the Colonial Surveyor Group that the Battlestar Mercury was attacked and destroyed not by Cylons but aliens. No word from Fleet or Marine Command yet on the number dead or missing but it is known that debris was recovered from the scene where the Mercury was escorting two ships belonging to the Colonial Surveyor Group…." The Marine Admiral shut off the television at Secretary Hardson's request.
"Gods dammit!" Admiral Corman was furious. "Who the frak could have let this leak out?" He yelled, his face visibly turning red.
"Well someone who sent the official report must have sent them to the Surveyors too. How can you not expect a leak if over a thousand people saw it?" The Marine General asked.
"Well it was decided to wait until we knew for sure what was going on. Last thing we needed was the gods damn media jamming the airwaves with rumors of another Cylon attack. We don't need panicked frightened people running around screaming about an attack could never come, or happen differently than they expected." Admiral Corman said to her.
"Well I guess I have to give a frakking speech now. Tell that civilian I want to speak with the CSNN office here. Its time we get this settled before everything gets out of control." Adar said looking out the window toward the shipyard.
Battlestar Galactica- Docked at Aphrodite Fleet Shipyards
Chief Tyrol looked over at the mechanics fixing up the Viper Mk IVs in the Starboard Flight Pod, the engineers from the Shipyards were already looking over the Vipers and Raptors, giving them checks and in some cases test flying them to and from the Shipyards and doing some landings on the moon. Some of the Flight Mechanics were taught to fly the Vipers and Raptors so they could better maintain them for the pilots. Flight testing was crucial both by pilots and the mechanics.
The ship had already been docked for a few days and most of its systems were being cleared. Adama already declined a request for the computer systems to be networked, carrying on tradition for the Galactica to operate with non-networked systems. The systems were cleared with no further questions. Some Vipers already flew outside the Galactica, being piloted by mechanics mostly to get a feel of the new systems installed already. Also new armor plating was being installed on the Galactica newly designed to withstand heavy rounds and nuclear weapons.
"Chief Tyrol!" He heard a voice yell from behind him. Tyrol turned around and saw MCPO Hayns, one of the chief engineers from the Shipyards performing the inspections.
"Yes Master Chief!" He responded back to him and walked quickly toward him. MCPO Hayns quickly handed him a clipboard with several sheets of paper attached.
"Chief the FTL drives for a ship this age is still some of the best performing I have ever seen. So far so good the Galactica is mission capable far as I am concerned. Once you're done reading through the reports go ahead and sign. You guys sure did a hell of a job maintaining it." He said, he had seen other ships not in shape and chastised their mechanics and made sure their officers got word of it though his commanding officer, but was pleased with Galactica's progress.
"Roger that." Tyrol responded to him. He looked at the reports carefully; taking care to read up on any discrepancies that should appear. Even good NCOs were capable of making mistakes. Tyrol made sure to do prechecks and inspection on the FTL long before the engineers arrived. Even though the Galactica has never made a jump in years; he made sure she could do another one with no issue. When Galen got finished with the reports; he signed off on them and MCPO Hayns signed off on them too.
"Good, if you need me you know where my office is, or just send one of my engineers to look for me." MCPO Hayns finally said before he walked off to attend to other duties.
Satisfied, Galen Tyrol left the Starboard Flight Pod and began to walk through the corridors, passing the pilots ready room. He grabbed a bottle of water from the supply area before heading off to grab a lunch from the NCO Lounge. As he walked through the corridors he quickly stopped when he saw Commander Adama. "Walk with me Chief." Adama said to him as Tyrol quickly walked with the Commander.
"How does my ship look?" He asked sporting a silent grin waiting to hear the news.
"The Galactica looks great. I just got done signing off on reports from MCPO Hayns; he says the FTL drives are the best he ever seen for a ship this old. I talked to other engineers; they told me some of the weapons are being replaced with newer models and we are expecting a shipment of new ammunition stores soon." He said sharply.
"Good." Adama said smiling. "Good work with the FTL drives I knew our engineers could handle it. At least we can safely do an FTL jump now."
"The sublight engines are also running smoothly so far, the chief engineer for engines wants to do a test run tomorrow for a trip from here to Arafis." Chief Tyrol stated. Arafis was a known desert planet whose orbit took it near Caprica every decade or so. It appeared as large as Aprhodite did when it was at its furthest. Mining colonies and shipyards were normally present there.
"He has my authorization. What about the Vipers?"
"They are being upgraded with new parts. That job should be finished within two weeks. After that I see us being cleared from this inspection."
"That's fine; you can go ahead and finish up what you were doing. I want a full report of the days work by 2200 tonight in my slot on my door. That's all." Adama finally said; satisfied with what his Chief Engineer said after all. He didn't bother watching Tyrol head off toward a different direction as Adama made his way to the Officers Mess to eat with Colonel Tigh. He also wanted to tell Tigh that Zak was accepted into the Colonial Intelligence Academy on Scorpia. They accepted high marks military quicker than civilian applicants he noted. He believed Zak would do well as a Special Agent.
He remember the Colonial Intelligence Division did more than intelligence actions; they worked with other departments such as FCIS and MCCID (Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division) as well as other federal investigative agencies into looking at criminal activities and helping to put a stop to may fugitives running around in the Colonies. They even shut down the big name mafias such as Ha'la'tha and the Dephis Gangrunners.
Adama approached the Officer's Mess and opened the hatch. He caught everyone including Colonel Tigh sticking their eyes on the television screen on the wall. He sat down to listen to the broadcast that was about to happen as President Adar approached the Podium.
"My Fellow Colonial Citizens; It was now revealed to me and others in my administration as well as Colonial Military that the aggressors were alien in origin. We held off all initial news reports until we could fully ascertain what went on. From what we know so far, the Mercury was escorting a group of Surveyor ships to examine a system for mining purposes when a group of alien ships appeared. Commander Keller sent peaceful hails toward the ships. Soon afterward; the ships opened fire, and attempted to board the Mercury. The Commander; Commander Keller acted valiantly and ordered his Executive Officer; Colonel Allen Bell to evacuate all non-essential personnel while the rest of the crew gave them time. The crew and Marines acted with honor and the utmost respect for duty while making sure as many lives were saved as possible.
We are still getting new details regarding this. It is not known why the aliens attacked but it is speculated by their actions they wanted to gain access to the Mercury which leads us to believe these aliens are a hostile power. More details will be put out as we find out more.
It was a purely despicable act to attack a ship flying a truce of peace. We cannot fathom the reasons these beings have for attacking us and encroaching upon our territory. We know now they are hostile and believe more attacks and incidents are possible so I have placed the Colonial Forces on alert.
However, the lives that have been sacrificed will not go unavenged. Funeral rites will be held for those who died a week from today. They fought and died for the safety of us all. Their sacrifices will not be in vain. So say we all."
Colonial Movers Cruiser Lightning
"You told me your people wouldn't strike until the time was ready!" Zarek whispered to Hilis, one of the crew of the Lightning. Zarek was the only one who knew the man's true identity.
"There must have been a mistake. Someone screwed up somewhere. This was NOT supposed to happen!" He whispered loudly to Tom Zarek.
"What are you really here for; I'm the only one who knows you're not a frakking human. Your species destroyed a military vessel and I know they will be out for revenge."
"We want most of the Cryannus Cluster. I told you before, I will make sure Saggitaron is not touched and you will be leader of that Colony. Now; if you even think about going to the authorities about this, I will have your ass thrown out the airlock and I can make it look like a suicide and I will make sure your homeworld burns along with the others. You can either work with me, or die. It is your choice human." He said giving the ultimatum.
"Well…" He sighed. "I guess Ill have to keep things tighter now won't I. What is the next piece you need?" Zarek asked still hopeful that Hilis was telling the truth.
"One of the batteries packs that power the old Cylon Centurions. You can acquire that next run right?"
"Yes, the drop off should be complete now. We will jump to a system which we know has old wrecks orbiting an outer planet. It was a former battle, long since forgotten by the Colonies. We haven't seen any ships in the outer part of the system so going in and out should be easy." Zarek told him.
"Good, as long as I have your help then you have your wish that your homeworld will be freed of the influence of the other Colonies. Hilis falsely promised knowing that he would just simply see the world wiped out like the rest of them.
The two walked over toward Zarek's private quarters. The Lightning was a ship with a crew that liked to make extra money selling old Cylon technology on the black market. Between runs, they took their time gathering technology and making trips to Tauron where they met with a known arms dealer. Advanced computers, Holobands, even nuclear material sold well.
"Attention crew this is the captain, we are finished with our run. Prepare for jump." A voice over the intercom which was that of Captain Harold Kloder, a man with ideals and a desire to make money through any illegal means possible. He overlooked Zarek's criminal record and decided he would make a fine addition to the crew. All profits obtained were split evenly among the crew. This ensured loyalty and prevented any feelings of being ripped off or not having a fair part of the share. Even the Captain never took a majority of it and let the other crew member's count to make sure.
Hilis felt a sensation of nausea as the ship jumped. He hated the way the Colonials did their FTL travel, the sense of nausea affected Dilgar more commonly than humans. He got more used to it now, but normally vomited privately in his quarters after each jump.
"We're here boys; suit up and meet me at the airlock." The Captain said over the intercom. Hilis and Zarek went to the supply room a hallway from the airlock and started to put on their suits.
"So what do you need a battery pack for?" Zarek asked curiously.
"Do not worry what I need it for. It's all a part of my mission, if I need to tell you something I will tell you. Otherwise keep your mouth shut and don't ask any questions." Hilis said quietly. He never liked the human Zarek but found him useful as his ideals blinded him from suspicion of his true goals. As a Spectre he kept most of the mission to himself. Zarek was simply a tool to be used nothing more. He will just simply kill him at the end.
Hilis needed the battery pack for two purposes. One was to power up a tachyon transceiver he had constructed out of spare components he managed to get from the Spectre on Tauron. That same Spectre; Tel'ras was in contact with the arms dealer and a frequent buyer. The arms dealer had no idea of Tel'ras being an alien agent. The second purpose was to help power the packs for his bolter pistol, the energy weapon he brought with him. He kept it in a hidden compartment in his quarters where no one could find it.
Tel'ras had his own tachyon transceiver which he used to contact Yasn'rae; when Hilis went to Tauron, he had him relay messages to Yasn'rae.
They finished putting on their suites and noticed the arrival of a strong young man who looked like he performed hard labor most of his life. He had a beard and mustache visible with dark hair. He was around Hilis's height but stockier. Two other suited crewmembers went with them, Bossut Ramzer and Magre Barnhost, both Tauron natives. Bossut had connections to the mob and was the main man who had a line to the arms dealer known only as "Randy".
"Ok guys, I'm giving you two hours in there. Find whatever shit you can find in there then get out. We make another run to Tauron to deliver the goods before we have to do another hauling from Virgon to Scorpia. Randy is asking for any goods, nothing specific. Good luck." He said as everyone went into the airlock and he closed the hatch. They were docked with the Basestar, an old one he had found with little signs of battle damage and obviously no power. He knew there were valuable items onboard he could use to make some good money for himself and his crew.
Hilis stepped out first, going into the darkened hallways of the Basestar. He turned on his helmet flashlights as well as the large one he carried. He also had a bag attached to his back which he could put the batteries and other materials in there. His magnetic boots easily planted on the floor, as the artifical gravity systems died long ago. Floating by him was the destroyed arm of an old Cylon Centurion. He split off from the main group and went to other corridors of the ship. Body parts and shards of metal litered this area as he heard the dull thuds of his helmet colliding with the debris. He saw an entrance to a room which from the writing told him it was the supply area. "Good!" He thought to himself as he could finally get what he needed. He pried open the doors with a crowbar and put his flashlight inside. Deactivated Centurions stood guard at the back, no movement even as Hilis stepped in. He looked to the side and saw a container of battery packs. "Zarek don't worry about the packs I found some." He said. Hilis grabbed many of the packs and put them in his bag and continued on through the rest of the ship.
"Good, grab some extra if you want to get extra profit." Zarek said as he focused on the ladder ahead of him. He and Hilis were on a private channel where no one else would hear them. He didn't think Hilis really cared about profit, just more about doing whatever the frak he was doing. He started to climb the ladder to another portion of the Baseship. Remains of Colonial Marines and shell casings littered this hallway which told him this was a boarding action that ended in failure. He was momentarily spooked by the frozen eyes of the Marine looking at him as he floated by but pushed the corpse aside and focused on getting whatever goods he could find. He knew old Holobands and neural interfaces sold well and according to the arms dealer were in high demand.
He entered another room and found an encryption and decryption disk. He bagged it, knowing it would be useful to computer hackers that frequently roamed the Colonies, or people that like to hack into banks and steal others account information. He found a neural interface that allowed people to link up with computer systems. He knew the arms dealer had connections with the Free Technology Movement which was gaining influence whose members believed that bringing AI style research would benefit Colonial society again if controlled.
"You guys have 15 minutes left. Grab whatever you see and get onboard." The Captain said. Both Zarek and Hilis grabbed whatever they saw and left taking his words in quickly. The Captain was not one to waste time and was carefull in his tracks. Almost too careful; they all hoped and prayed no one would be suspicious of their trips or movements.
They returned to the Lightning and placed most of their supplies in a hidden compartment of the supply room. As everyone else left, Hilis grabbed a battery back and returned to his quarters passing Zarek.
He remembered how Zarek found him, Zarek told him of the Sagittaron Liberation Front, an organization that used terror tactics to overthrow the Colonial Administration and to have Sagittaron freed from the grasp of the Colonies. He went to his quarters and had no idea he was being followed. He had locked the door but didn't know Zarek was an expert lock picker as well and overrid the controls to open the door, and saw Hilis without the Changeling Net, the suit that grants him the ability to become invisible, or look like any other human. He almost killed him that day but was shocked when Zarek said he could make a deal, and Hilis took it. Hilis was impressed by Zarek's book; "The Price Of Change" which explained the exploitation of Sagittaron by the other Colonies including slavery and the brutality that was done. He decided upon reading it that Zarek was useful, although eventually the man would find out the true plans of Hilis and the rest of the Dilgar. Then he would be killed, or taken Jha'dur for experimentation.
He went into his lucrative looking quarters. It had a simple bunk with a shelf and a closet. The closet was a simple sliding metal door with a spacesuit, a box of tools, books, and various shirts and work uniforms. On the floor he used a screwdriver to open a hidden compartment and pull out a metallic object with a bunch of wires sticking out and improvised ports.
He took out the Cylon Battery and connected it with one of the improvised power ports. The machine came on and within moments found the tachyon signal that Tel'ras was using. He put it to a different channel to send a signal to Yasn'rae who he knew was probably with Sha'dur, Jha'dur's twin brother.
He put together a signal.
"I am ready; Zarek is a useful tool and I have the device ready. Caprica will be first target. When is shipment going to Tel'ras?" He inputted into the tachyon transceiver. Only Yasn'rae, Zarek and the other Warmasters knew his actual identity and purpose. He was Dar'fen, one of the top Spectres in this sector. It wouldn't be long before the others started moving.
He closed the lid to the device and smiled. Pretty soon his mission would be complete.
Dreadnought Conqueror- Orbit around Kobol
Sha'dur waited for Yasn'rae in her quarters. Ever since she came aboard from the Imperial Intelligence Arm, she has been useful and helpful to him in gaining intelligence and conducting operations against the Cylons. She had a good record in gaining intelligence on the Earth Alliance as her and Jha'durs Spectres got much needed military info regarding their forces and weapons. Sha'dur made special use of driving back Earth Force when his sister was wounded in combat and could not continue the fight. Too bad Evenil did not survive to see how much of a difference she made. Sha'dur put Evenil in charge of a modified Garaschoch Carrier which made a ramming run into a Markab Dreadnought in the battle. Sha'dur made a smart move that helped turned the tide; instead of using the much used pentacan formation he copied the Earth Alliance tactics and had the ships more spread out and dive into the Earth Alliance formations; causing much damage with the higher technology gained from this sector.
Soon enough; she came in. She took off her jacket which told him she probably came from one of the colder areas of Kobol. There were a lot of ruins on not just the planet, but the whole system. Mining outposts were intact on many asteroids and moons orbiting the gas giants; and an inner planet had remains of small domed colonies.
Sha'dur had visited the planet himself. He walked across the Hera Mountains , which contained the Gates of Hera, including an old cavern with much technology gathered including room spread holographic displays. He respected the planet in an odd sense, had ordered archeological teams to take much care in excavating ruins. Those that failed he made sure were punished greatly. He wanted much out of the planet as possible.
Yasn'rae went to a tachyon transceiver that beeped; looked at the message and smiled. "Well Sha'dur looks like we can commence some operations. I received word from your sister across the wormhole. She is going to negotiate with the Earth Alliance for an armistice. Also one of the Spectres is ready to receive a shipment of our first viral weapon to use against the Colonials. Jha'dur has been creating a disease based off that probe we found in the nebula. Within months Caprica and the rest of their Colonies will be dying in the streets by the millions and to focus on the disease to fight us. She made other weapons as well which are ready for deployment."
"Well that's great news. I take it she should be here within a week?" Sha'dur asked, his sister had made trips to this sector on many occasions, and hoped she would be here again.
"Yes. If negotiations go well we should have a couple more Strike Fleets to supplement our Strike Forces here. I will speak with your sister once she is done with the negotiations. Right now we are having ships come through including ELINT ships with FTL drives." She stated; Sha'dur had requested ELINT ships so they could better coordinate operations against the Cylons.
"If we had more ships with FTL we could have easily taken the entire League and brought the Centauri to their knees while Earth would have been forced to sit back and watch." Sha'dur boasted, he wished that more of Earth Force was wiped out than in the first engagements.
"The Earth Alliance we know is receiving many refugees and ships from the rest of the League. It won't be long before they start reverse engineering their technology for use. Jha'dur even told me that Earth has discovered old colonies from the Replics. As the League and Earth rebuilds, it won't be long before they come after us again."
The word Replics disturbed Sha'dur's mind. He knew the Replics were artificially created humans created on Kobol who invented Resurrection technology for the process of being reborn again after death. They were fully synthetic, stronger, and faster than their human counterparts. From an interrogation of a Cavil model, it was learned that some remnants had the Cylons stop their war with the Colonies in exchange for the technology to create artificial humans. Some historical archives were intact and fully translated, but much more was being discovered. The Replics had technology that rivaled their Kobolian counterparts even after they departed to a world called "Earth" which was very different than the Earth Alliance homeworld of the same name. Efforts to find the other "Earth" have failed but it's believed it resides near Earth Alliance space.
"Well it's a smart idea moving our populations here as our backup plan if Mitoc fails. It would be a very long time before the Earth Alliance finds us in this area, even with the history of the Replics and their technology. Dilgar civilization still lives on regardless."
"Good numbers here and there. A well planned measure I say. You have great plans the Warmaster Council likes to hear, after Omelos we only have to worry about the Centauri and Earth. When your sister gets here I'm sure she has a good solution to keep the Colonies away from us, or at least sign a treaty so we can infiltrate their borders and release plagues until we move in."
"We need to keep the Centauri from the wormhole. They know they will have to cross Tal'kona'sha space rimward from where they are to get there, but can cross around it without issue. Ever since that wormhole has been there I have studied it, did you know that it has the same effect in hyperspace as in realspace? In hyperspace, it acts as one of the hyperspace tunnels we have found. Ships will travel thousands of light years in mere seconds rather than hours or days only going a few light years at a time. Pleasant find isn't it Yasn'rae?" Sha'dur asked her. There was one other hyperspace tunnel; but it was different and only existed in hyperspace instead of realspace, and it only joined two systems near Drazi space; too much now to try to take advantage of.
"Very, it gives us an advantage. I wonder who built it; clearly it was artificial." She wondered.
"Some old race probably. Maybe the Ta'kona'sha did it themselves. I hope other ruins are found any technology we find can give us an edge, or find out who built the wormhole. I know it's artificial because over the years its been observed, it has not changed form, lost stability, or emitted a different pattern of radiation. It has been open for quite some time. There is no clue still on who made it or for what purpose other than to cross the distance from there to near here, and its a couple hundred light years away from any of the old Kobol colony worlds so it wasn't them." Sha'dur stated, remembering his notes off the study of the wormhole. The nearest Kobolian remains were hundreds of light years as he said, and the area of space around it was desolate.
"Do you know of a way to destabilize the wormhole?" Yasn'rae asked.
"Why should we do that?" Sha'dur answered in surprise
"If the Colonials manage to beat us; we have to prepare for all possible events Sha'dur. Last thing we need is for them to come through and cause problems for us then have the League and Earth Alliance make moves again. If the Colonials make contact with the League and Earth we sure will have a harder fight on our hands." Yasn'rae said smartly.
"I have no idea, we do not even know what is powering the wormhole or keeping it open. We have studied the wormhole for decades and still don't know the slightest other than it works, and is artificial and safe! Destroying it is beyond our means. That's we had it so heavily fortified."
"Well give me the word and I can have the Imperial Research Arm's finest look at way of collapsing it."
"We do need other options. Go ahead and let me know what is found. Have the head researchers report to me their findings."
"I will gladly." She said with a cold smile.
Their conversation was interrupted by a chime at the door. Sha'dur let the intelligence official open it and the tall visage of a Dilgar wearing a Warmaster's uniform was there. He looked rougher, and was a thicker build than Sha'dur but carried it well. "Warmaster Gera'de it's good to see you here. What brings you onboard today?" Sha'dur said smiling at his old friend.
"Well the news is not very good unfortunately." He frowned, taken aback by the presence of the Imperial Intelligence Officer.
"Go ahead; she is only here to help." He said, reminding him the Imperial Intelligence Officer was only there to help and assist with efforts, as she reported directly to Sha'dur. He suspected a much more involved relationship with the attractive female officer but it was none of his business.
"Hours ago we lost contact with the mining colony at the former Cylon system of Vegris. It was destroyed by Cylon remnants. Very few ships survived but we know it was Cylons for sure."
"Are you sure it was not the Dreadnought?" Yasn'rae said in a lower voice. She feared the Dreadnought as much as everyone else. It was an old Cylon ship from the first war, rumored to be destroyed it was completely separate from the Guardians that resided somewhere in deep space and the other Cylons in that it acted on its own. It controlled three systems each with a populace of humans and older Cylons built from the ships factories. It was large and nigh unstoppable, It nearly stopped an entire Dilgar fleet in its tracks led by one of the better Warmasters; Warmaster Nar'loth. His fleet searched one of the systems, and was quickly bombarded by an assortment of nuclear weapons, Missiles, and heavy railgun fire that quickly crippled his fleet. Other attempts to destroy the ship failed so the Warmasters decided it was best to avoid the system altogether. It only stayed in those three systems, never went out but it was feared those Cylons one day might decide to venture out. It was no secret even the current Cylons strayed away from the systems; fearful of their more violent and phobic brethren.
"It wasn't. One of the ships picked up three heavy raiders; all carrying nukes. They jumped in, destroyed the facility in the asteroid belt then moved onto the Quantum 40 mining station on the planet, destroying the facility and all stockpiles." Gera'de told them, feeling like he had lost and made himself look bad to the rest of the Warmasters
"Hmmph well that's not going to set us back." Warmaster Sha'dur said sarcastically.
"I have something to say." Yasn'rae said.
"Go ahead; you're free to speak anytime." Sha'dur told her.
She smiled at Sha'dur. "Gera'de, how many ships in your fleet are equipped with FTL drives?" She inquired.
"All of them including my flagship except for some smaller support ships, all were tested and run very efficiently. They have some of the best performance reviews next to Sha'durs." He stated, proud that his fleet ran well and performed with excellence.
"Good; I don't see this news as news of failure, but news of an opportunity." She said to him relaxing in her chair.
"What could you mean?"
"Since the Cylons were successful in this attack, from what we know of their programming suggests they will try again with a larger fleet this time. Even though we can't find them I am sure they have a reserve fleet somewhere and are building more. It's very likely they will send a larger fleet for a bigger attack. We have to prepare." She said, reflecting upon notes she taken on the Cylons. They were somewhat predictable, if a small attacked worked, they would try a larger attack later on. Mostly within days up to a few weeks they would attempt. Yasn'rae studied the notes on the Cylons from Jha'dur she liked to analyze to programming to see what they are capable of. It was noted if they decided to take full advantage of their technology they would be a scary force to deal with. Now; the Dilgar could take good advantage of the technologies gained from the Cylons.
"I agree, if they attack once they will send another force again backed up by their damned Resurrection ships. If we can find them near an attack point we can destroy it and set their forces back. They only have one ship left from what I know of decrypted transmissions." Sha'dur stated.
"Plus the Hub and the Colony; the Cylons don't have many resources to build any more Resurrection ships. We have viral agents that will eat the Cylons organic technology. Designed by Jha'dur herself I may add." Gera'de added. He was the first to test the viral agents, deploying the missiles against several basestars and caused the virus to spread, crippling a large portion of the Cylon fleet in days.
"Good, we go there, me and Sha'dur will be there to watch and assist if needed. We wait for confirmation of an attack, while keeping our forces within FTL range. Once it happens, we jump in and take care of the rest. Its time we make use of our new ships."
"I will take a third of my fleet to assist you. Rest of my ships is under work orders for new engines and weapons." Sha'dur said. The Dilgar were mostly replacing ships in this sector with new weapons and technology reverse engineered from the League, and Kobolian civilizations.
"Any chance to track them back to the Colony; take it. It's our chance to cripple them beyond the point of no return. If we eliminate the Cylon issue, we can take care of the Colonies. We have Spectres there that once we give them the bioweapons the rest should be easy, we just sit back and wait as their populations and their military falls within months." Yasn'rae told the two Warmasters. They knew the Imperial Intelligence Arm was smart, ruthless, and cunning in its ways. They were made useful to winning many wars that were fought against the other species including minor ones in the League. Now they would head out, hopeful for a good victory against the Cylons.
