Unintended consequences

by fanfictionfanaticX

A small change in the past by SG-1 may have unexpected side effects for the rest of the galaxy.

6. A shrouded past, a cloudy future

Disclaimer: I never have and never will own the characters, Ideas or anything else based on these 2 shows. The TV studios that produced them, do. This story is also free as it is a pet project. Enjoy.

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Wireless/communication"

"Speaking in a different language"

"Reading a text"

Chapter six: A shrouded past, a cloudy future

---

Pegasus galaxy, Atlantis, minutes later

In an isolated part of the city that no person had set foot in for millennia, several marine squads and SGA-1 approached the target. Sheppard signalled the solders as they kneeled at the door of their target room. "Mer, go hack the door, marines, cover each other. We storm this place."

Rodney went to the door control panel and opened it up. "I'm going to kill my sister for telling you my name." As the door opened up, Sheppard with the marines entered the laboratory, weapons pointed.

It was one of many laboratories they had already seen in the city. At least the parts they had explored so far. "Clear!" Sheppard activated his communicator. "Elizabeth, you can come."

Daniel and Elizabeth arrived with an escort moments later. "Isn't this an overkill, John?"

"No such thing, when it comes to security. Even more so when we have a Wraith fleet coming here in 2 weeks. Now... Mer..."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Whatever. Get to work and find out what's so special about this room."

"Already working on it." He had already plugged his portable PDA to the main computer terminal in the room. "So... this is a... hmm. Seems like a hibernation room of some kind. Like the Antarctica outpost counterpart..."

Daniel went to the hibernation chambers. He inspected the only 2 that were active. The glass was not transparent as icing had build up, so he began cleaning it away. "Emm... no need to do that guys... look."

John and Elizabeth joined him. "My god... that's ... me." Weir gasped.

"Well, yes... but your... her warranty is probably used up at this point." John remarked.

"Not tasteful, John."

"Hey, just saying." He inspected the other pod. "Looks like a Santa version of you, Dr. Jackson."

"I look like the old Ma'chello." He turned to Weir and Beckett. "Can we revive them?"

Weir too wanted to know that. Beckett inspected them. "As old as they look, we need to be careful. Rodney, can you, emm... start the unfreezing process? But slowly?"

"Of course I can. A monkey could. It's just on and off. Any yes, I can slow it down. Reduce the shock to their system."

"Right." Beckett signalled his staff who were still waiting outside to come in, gurneys included. They will need to move them once unfrozen.

As the 2 pods began to slowly shut down and open up, weir muttered. "How am I going to write this into my report?"

---

Colonial expedition fleet, 4 hours after leaving "Ma'chello" system, 430 light years from the Colonies

"Jump complete." Gaeta reported and observed the dradis screen. "Fleet all accounted for. Everyone's here."

"Good. Reset the clock." Above Bill, the clock went back to 33 minutes. "We made good ground."

Saul was looking at the planning table. "Yes, but the toasters can catch up to us, unless they resumed shooting at each other. Bill, look at this..."

Adama saw what was bothering Saul. They were approaching the system known to the Colonials as Zeus twins. A white dwarf and its companion star. The gas of the star that died and left the white dwarf behind was already forming a nebula, but once that dwarf went nova, and it was only a matter of time as it was stealing mass from its companion, it would be a light show to behold. But that was in the future. The reason this worried Saul was apparent to Bill. "Zeus twins. Perfect place for an ambush. Gas to block view and radiation to hammer our dradis."

"Exactly. And we won't be able to send out vipers or we risk them dying of radiation poisoning in a matter of minutes. The big ships have resistance to it, those vipers..."

"Yes. We will have no fighter cover." Bill took a better look at the tactical situation. They could not send out raptors. Same reason as to why they won't have fighter cover. Yes, the raptors are better shielded, but same problem delayed. They only get minutes. And the dradis will be scrambled. Hopefully the Cylons will have similar issues, IF they are there.

"Saul, tell the Athena to dock with us in the fighter pod. As a civilian ship she's the least protected. Once we arrive at the edge of the system, we need 4 jumps, right?"

"Seems so, Bill."

"Good. We stay at the edge and wait for every ship to have both jump cores charged. We jump to the first coordinates inside the nebula, then the next instant to the centre of the system."

"You do realize that there is where the radiation will be the most intense."

"I'm counting on it. Should screw up the Cylons as well. Our plating will hold the hard radiation out for the time. Then we stay there to refresh both jump cores again and we make 2 quick jumps out."

"Damn... over an hour in the proximity of a white dwarf... not exactly something I was looking for, but makes sense, the 2 nebula spots are the best ambush parts."

"And as we know, the Cylons use partial organic hulls for their basestars... organic hulls will not do good in such hard radiation environments."

"Right. Will inform the fleet."

Bill nodded and took his glasses off, massaging his face.

"Get some rest Bill. You look like crap."

"Have you taken a look in the mirror lately, 'old friend'..." They both smirked. "I'll take a break after this part."

"Well, you're the admiral..." Saul eyed the clock again. "The raptors we send back should be already at the coordinates."

"I know. They'll have a much harder time back, since they'll have to go around Zeus twins. But raptors won't need a day to do so."

As Bill and Saul were about to continue their conversation, Felix approached the planning table. "Emm, sir. A moment?"

"Sure." Bill motioned him to join them. "What is it, Mr. Gaeta?"

"About that radiation blinding our dradis... The chief and I may have an idea about that..."

---

Raptor group alpha, 1 jump from "Ma'chello" system, same time

"Are we there yet?"

"Ughhh..." The raptor pilot grumbled. "Captain, you asked that 2 minutes ago."

"Yes, and I'm still bored." Starbuck replied back. "I didn't go on this mission cause the view is so great."

"We're 1 jump away. 1 minute till we get there." The pilot turned to his co-pilot. "Why did the admiral insist she comes with us?"

"Don't know? To annoy us?"

"Or to screw things up?" They both snickered at that.

"I can hear you, you know? And he send me because besides being the best pilot he has, I also tend to get shit done." She turned to the marines that were with her. "Get ready boys. Lock and load. Maybe we get a souvenir."

"Jumping in 3... 2... 1..."

A flash of light and the 4 raptors arrived at the location of the Cylon vs. Cylon battle. The scout raptor was already there.

"Raptor 012 here, welcome to this... mess." The scout raptor greeted the force that just arrived.

"Copy. Anything new?" Kara's raptor pilot asked.

"No, dead as a graveyard. So... you people ready to do some grave robbing?"

Kara went to the cockpit and activated the wireless. "You bet. Any idea where to dock?"

"Actually yes. We had about 10 minutes time to circle around the debris field. Follow us."

Kara smirked. Finally something interesting. "You heard him." As the 3 raptors followed the scout into the wrecked basestar, Starbuck saw the carnage that happened here a few hours ago. But the good news was that unlike the previous battles they had with the Cylons, this basestar was... well, mostly still intact. Structurally speaking. So perhaps they might get something out of this. Like strategic data, fleet movements, tech database... or at least supplies in the form of fuel, ammo, nukes or a stolen raider or two. Kara would take anything at this point. And so would Bill when he assigned her as the leader of this mission. Helo, who was in command of the 2nd raptor in the group, was 2nd in command. He insisted to come along, even if Cottle himself insisted he get some rack time, like Apollo and the marines that were on the mission back to the colonies, were getting. But Helo managed to convince the old man that he was the best raptor officer he had. So... Bill agreed. But after this Helo would be off the flight roster for 2 days. But Adama mostly assigned Helo to this because he knew of the Zeus twins problem in advanced and an experienced navigator will be needed to take the raptor force around that area once they begin the return trip.

Seeing this broken basestar in front of them and all the scattered and broken raiders everywhere was a nice change for them, more so since they were not the ones responsible for that. The scout raptor led them into the opening to what appeared to be a hangar. Since it was wide open, they would need to use space suits. With minimal power they can't expect to open or close the hangar doors, so they'll just have to blow them open.

"Ok people. Space suits on. Double check if everything is air thigh!" Kara reminded all of them. These marines did train in zero-g combat and were equipped with modified standard colonial rifles intended for use in vacuum. "And watch your fire and corners! Don't need any deaths from friendly fire! Also double check your suit repair kit!" The mentioned kit was basically a quick fix pack for smaller holes in the suit that could occur in a fire fight. In a vacuum that could mean instant death, even with an otherwise harmless flesh wound.

All the solders checked their gear, as instructed.

"Captain?" The pilot alerted her to a situation in front of the raptors. The hangar they were going for was already blown open.

"Hm... well, saves us some explosives." She took the wireless. "Scout raptors, stay alert and keep an eye out. Alert us if we get unannounced company."

"Roger that."

She leaned forward, inspecting the mess of a hangar. "Land us there..." She pointed at the back left area, it appeared the least damaged.

A minute later all the raptors were landed and the cabins depressurised. Starbuck stepped out first. "All seems clear, move out!"

The marines of all the raptors spread out and covered all the corners. "So, Kara, what's your plan?" Helo asked how they should proceed.

"One way in as I see it. The other is blocked. 4 marines and the pilots stay back. The rest on me, you included. Also, switch to short range frequency beta 4. Encoding protocol 14."

They all did as instructed and 2 marines took point. Pushing the doors aside, they entered the connecting hallway to whatever laid ahead.

The corridor was only lit with the emergency red lighting and it was weak at best. "Flashlights?" The marine at the front asked?"

"Yeah. No other choice." Kara responded as they all light the corridor up with the illumination.

Arriving at the fork in the corridor, the marines began preparing to peek around the corner. They had literally no other way but visual confirmation, since no sound could carry in a vacuum. The marine on the left took a peak and reported over wireless. "All clear!" But the marine on the right fell down on the floor. "FRAK!"

Everyone reacted, pointing their guns that direction as a... corpse floated by them. Kara recognised him from Nagala's Intel update. A model Two. He was as dead as could be. Eyes bulged out. Ice building on his skin. Died from exposure to space. Another marine helped the one who fell down back up. While most laughed at the scene, Kara was not amused. "Shut it!" They did. "That was not a laughing matter! You fraked up badly! If that was a live body, you'd be dead! As for this corpse... get used to it! This place is probably full of them!" She moved passed the marines. "Now... I'm taking point! Helo, to my left!" They once again checked the corridors. They really were clear. "OK, Karl, you go left with half the force, I'll go right. Check in every 5 minutes on frequency beta 5."

"Got it." As they split up, Kara hoped these marines would not frack up if they do find someone alive here.

---

Picon fleet HQ, same time

Baltar rubbed his eyes. If you ignore his 'trip' to Picon, he was overworked. And by the way things were going it would not stop any time soon. An hour into the work, well, his, Sander's and Livia's, Sanders disappeared for a while, but returned soon and continued his work on the upcoming briefing. Baltar, he was already finished with his. He decided to continue with the research he would need to do anyway sooner or later. He knew that the core of this tech was prometheon, but that was beyond his problem solving capabilities. The specs they got on the alien hardware, now that he could do. And as stated before, the brain and heart are the most important, but the 'brain' was for the moment far beyond his reach. The heart... not so much. He had the specs of the basic reactor design in a 3D model on his workstation, creating a simulation on how to best incorporate it into any Colonial ship design. And he began seeing the irony. Technically, this reactor, if shrunken down significantly, could power even a viper. But unlike a battlestar, vipers really lacked the computing power to regulate one, well, until the 'brain' issue is solved.

Now the normal scientist would ask the obvious question: Why such a power plant on a simple fighter? That's overkill. Well, for Baltar, there is no such word like overkill. From an economic point of view, it would make sense to not install them. You increase the cost but gain nothing significant from it. But in Baltar's planning for the possible future vipers, you did gain something. First, when they one day reverse engineer Cylon raider jump drives, you get a power source for it. Second, independence from tylium for the FTL. Third, power for possible future wing mounted and detachable plasma weapons for the vipers. Now Gaius did read the preliminary report from Galactica's 'experts' and he had to agree from the data he saw. They packed a punch, but were inaccurate and the rate of fire was not good. So for a fighter vs. fighter they were useless, but for an assault against a heavily armoured target, let's say a basestar, they would be more useful than a missile. The missile had greater range, or in the case of a nuke one, even the possibility of one-shooting a basestar, but it was a onetime use weapon only and it can be shot down. Not with his idea for a viper modification. Of course, that was all based on a 'reversed engineered tech A, B and C' scenario, but you have to start somewhere, don't you?

The added bonus of all of this planning on his behalf was also that he had more things to show Nagala. The more he had, the better off he will be. Yes, for Gaius, this was a new sensation, to be the boot licker, not to have them around you and follow you everywhere... but one of his strengths was the ability to adapt to a new situation and... survive. And he will survive, by the gods. And perhaps even flourish again.

As he massaged his forehead, his left shoulder got tapped. "Well, well. What have you gotten yourself into this time, Gaius?"

He smiled. So that's why Sanders disappeared for a while back then. "Dr. Furuya, Dr. Amulius. Didn't expect either of you so soon..." He stood up and shook their hands. Cordial as always, even if he hated sharing credit.

"Oh, so formal. But then again, you always were, when you wanted something." Furuya poked him. She knew him well. Well enough to not let him in her pants. All the times he tried to charm her. As all the formalities were done, she tried again. "You need help with something?"

"Not entirely, but as you can see, I'm swamped and..."

"Oh, for frak's sake, just admit it once in your life when you need help in a field not entirely your own." She signed the no disclosure papers and she came here directly from her private R&D lab, so she was not in the mood to endure his ego. And neither was Amulius.

"Yes, Baltar. On your recommendations, we get dragged here and the first thing you do is your typical low balling. If this is what I can count on from you, I regret signing anything already."

Gaius himself was not in the mood for a pissing contest. He did ask for them, as well as others, so he will swallow his pride, this time. No promises for the future. He stepped aside, letting the reactor expert see what he was working on. "Tell me, what does this look like?"

She sat down, positioned her glasses closer to her eyes and took a look. "Reactor specs? But of no design I know off... Well, I can say this is all wrong... there is no way any reactor can do this... You know how I know this? How this is garbage? There is no known material that could endure such pressures or even create a magnetic field like that. Half of this design is based on a nonexistent superconductive element... Now based on this, I have to say I can design a real reactor using our known materials, but the magic efficiency shown here, forget it... never happening..."

"Ehm..." Sanders appeared behind them. "Doctor." He eyed Baltar. "To speed this up, why don't you show them 'it'."

Baltar knew what sanders meant. "You mean it?"

Sanders already turned around to return to his work. He only came here as he saw the 2 easy to get scientist arriving. "I'm sure. They did sign it. And if they tell, who would believe them..."

Baltar agreed. Who would believe them. And as scientists they would know the value of that secrecy. He stood up and led them out. "Follow me. And... Aimi... you are wrong. We actually have a working reactor, based on those specs..."

"Yea, sure you do..." She scoffed at him. If anything Baltar would be known for, it was hot air and womanizing. She didn't believe him one bit on this magic reactor BS.

As they left, Livia was still hard at work cross-referencing her sources with what she got represented here. Where were they getting these sources from? No one was giving her any answers! She felt like she had been given information to compare with her studies, but had no knowledge what she was comparing, why she was comparing it and more importantly why was all of a sudden the military so damn interested in it!

Well, she made progress... for that briefing she would have to attend to. And present the 'historical' aspect of it. She made good ground, many data points here were collaborating with her own suspicions on the book of Pythia, but this... it was like someone actually lived it! Lived what was described once on old paper. Where did they get this from?! She needed to know! It was too detailed and so much of it, no way someone made this as a practical joke.

She eyed Sanders. Would she ask him again? She stopped herself. No point, she would get the rehearsed answer. The one thing she could hope for was getting the answer at the briefing. But attending it and being a speaker yourself is difficult enough, but to not know what you are actually going to represent... that was unsettling.

Sanders too was having a headache, but for the pole opposite reasons of Livia. He knew everything. And now he was scared as he saw the computer crunching data on these... 'snakes' and their technological and military power, based on the research of that freedom fighter. The one good news he had from a strategic point of view was that the Colonials were far more concentrated, both militarily, economically and population wise. Yes, the Goa'uld had more, far more. Thousands of times more in ships, solders and... well, slave labour as an industrial substitution... but they were spread out. Only a handful of planets were mentioned that had a population of anything sentient in the hundreds of millions. He also knew that this report was far from perfect, they probably had more, but still, the bottom line was, they were spread all around the galaxy. So if you say that System lord A had control of a population of ten billion, a fleet of two thousand ships and thirty million troops, it sounds impressive... but then take into account it was spread over five hounded worlds... yeah, not so impressive anymore. They had that and more in one system! Yeah, the ships were not all battlestars, but details. So if you compare this to let's say the presence of a particle in the atmosphere, the snakes were at a density of 10 parts per million for an entire planet. The Colonials, ten thousand parts per million, for one city. He knew this analogy was stupid, the admirals would understand the basic numbers, but the civvies... yeah, need to dumb it down.

What worried him was the tech gap. If they came in force, and apparently they did in the past against a possible threat to their entire empire, they would be fraked. Earth seemed to win by using unorthodox strategies. Well, unorthodox for the snakes. He didn't know how they did it, what tactics they used, but that was his conclusion anyway. So if the snakes put too much effort on simple terror, ceremony, ascetics and not functionality and were not flexible to adapt to new threats... that was an opening they could exploit. But for the time they needed to keep low and leave it to... dare he say it, Baltar and co.

And then there was the war they already had. Once he's finished, he will check up on the interrogations and see if any progress was made. And perhaps take his new stress out on breaking Cavil's arm again. He smiled at that thought.

---

Scorpia shipyards, same time

Cain was not in a happy mood. First, she was now in charge of Cyrannus gama for the time being. Seems that her annoying Galatos to push her ship up the repair schedule got a reaction, just not the one she had hoped for. Galatos has an evil sense of humour. The one thing Cain hates almost as much as Cylons was administrative duties. Any she was now stuck with them. With the exception of the shipyards, those remained in the hands of commander Lucius, who did not get along with her at all. And he had Galatos to back him, so Cain could bark... and not much else there.

Second, several battlestars that were send beyond the border into Cylon territory to accelerate the mapping of that territory, returned, beaten up. The toasters were getting bolder. Like their tactics changed or something.

Third, now she was recalled back to Picon to attend some... briefing Nagala was having in a few hours. Seems even the teacher and some ministers were attending, including that gasbag Wallace Gray, the new minister of interior. Gods help her. Hope they have booze or something interesting to listen to.

She packed up her files and exited her quarters, the marine guards following her. Her friend and XO, col. Jurgen Belzen was already waiting for her.

"Stop grinning." She ordered him as they began moving to the flight pods.

"Who's grinning? I was just..."

"Shut it. This does not count as a break."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you were about to." She wasn't really mad at him, but just like she was nagging HQ, he was nagging her. But she is not interested in breaks, not now. "And not a word about the other stuff..."

"What other stuff?"

She didn't stop, but looked at him with a 'don push it' look. But he did.

"I mean, I always knew you were a great military leader, only makes sense you could handle logistics and..."

"I said to shut it." He was teasing her. He knew how annoyed she got with the new administrative duties. And only because he was her friend did she not demote him to latrine duties for this little exchange. "You laugh, smile, grin... even so much as chuckle... I'll know about it."

"Oh, I don't doubt it. But as for the other thing..."

"It's not a break! I was ordered to go."

He backed off. "Fine, if you say so..."

"I do." They reached the raptor hangar. One was already waiting for her. The officers there saluted her as she took one file from her stack and handed it to Jurgen. "Also, this is your task list until I arrive back."

Salutes made, her raptor took off. He sighed. Finally. He was really pushing his teasing to a breaking point. As he opened the file, it was filled with tasks he must do until her return. Mostly standard stuff or things he'd expect from her. But the last 2 things got him to grimace.

"Get Jack off his bottle. I need him in a functional state for the war. Break in Shaw. See if she can handle training the troops. How you handle these tasks is up to you. Have fun."

She knew he would tease her, so she came prepared. This was her planned payback. Get Fisk off his booze... like having Adama getting Saul off it... great.

---

"Ma'chello" system, same time

They were proceeding slowly, always aware that the ship might not be as dead as it seemed. They cleared several rooms, some storage rooms filled with spare parts for raiders and centurions. They marked them for a later inspection if they should take some of those parts with them for inspection back at the fleet. The other rooms were meant for the human form models, so basically recreational rooms and private quarters. A so called mess hall was also found, but the food was already not eatable any more. Kara was still leading the group as the lights flickered and she as well as everyone else began floating. "Frak! Artificial gravity must have failed. Either that or power. Magnetic boots on!"

Everyone proceeded to activate their boots. A metallic click sound was heard in their suits at their feet got attached back to the floor. Kara tapped her wireless. "Helo, come in."

"I'm here. 7 decks down from the hangar. The gravity just gave out."

"Same here. Wish we knew the layout of this tub."

"Yeah, me too. Has to be either the reactor or gravity generators. You find anything?"

"Plenty, but nothing that can be considered a primary target. We're 4 decks up from the hangar. Will continue the search. Call back in 10 minutes. Out."

"Acknowledge. Out."

---

Picon fleet HQ, sealed off hangar, minutes later

Baltar had led Dr. Furuya, Dr. Amulius to the hangar. To say that they were thinking this was all a show that the military was pulling over their eyes was getting greater by the minute. Baltar being himself was of course not helping.

"Gaius, this had better be good." She eyed him with suspicion. First he was 'himself', then he was unusually quiet. And the military being so tight-lipped was not helping. And how did they get Baltar to play ball so well? There has to be more to it than simply his CNP being used as a Trojan horse.

"I assure you, it is." The marine guards stepped aside. They had been informed by Sanders to allow Baltar and guests access, even if the ship was still being unloaded. Fortunately the tanks with the corpses, or the 'freak show' as it was dubbed by the workers, had already been moved to the bio lab, so there was more room on the ship.

And the ship caught the attention of the 2 scientists. Amulius reacted first. "Who in the Colonies designed that ugly thing?"

Baltar stopped at the hatch. "It's 'beauty' is not the concern. What's inside, is."

"Really. The 'reactor?'" Furuya mockingly replied as she was rolling her eyes.

"Actually, yes. On top of a completely new FTL system."

Hoping they would bite, Baltar began entering the ship. But they didn't. "I again have to agree with Furuya. I don't buy your crap any longer, Baltar."

Baltar sat at the co-pilot seat in the cockpit and, as he observed Lee Adama before, activated the main computer system. The alien language appeared on the displays. The translation notes were still on the pilot seat, but they would need to use the digital translation and make copies. "I guess I forgot to mention one thing. I never said this ship was of Colonial design. Or Cylon for that matter."

Once again the 2 scientists observed Baltar, but saw none of his usual arrogant approach, facial expressions or stance.

"And before we continue..." Baltar added. "The 'magic' material that you asked for before, it's prometheon."

Now Baltar casually waited for a response. And he got one.

"You're serious?" Dr. Amulius asked as he and Dr. Furuya began inspecting the ship's interior with actual interest.

"Like a heart attack." He once again tapped the control panel as the holographic display changed. "Interesting holographic technology, right. Or the alien language. Not binary. As for the computer... a photonic crystal based system. Nothing the Cylons have ever seen. So it can't be hacked by them. Interested now?" He stood up and went to the bulkhead where before Lee Adama showed them at least one of the ships computer systems. He pulled it out to reveal glowing crystals connected via some sort of photonic based cables, since they too glowed. "How about now?"

They sure as Hades were interested now. Even if they were still a bit sceptical that this was a scam or a bad joke. Furuya sat down where Baltar was only seconds ago. She inspected the control device and the display. Indeed the style was nothing she had ever seen before. Almost... alien. And even if the crystals and this ship were a big prop, the holographic display was legitimate. "Prometheon you say?"

"Oh yes..."

"Wait a moment!" Amulius interrupted Baltar. "Is that why we heard about those reports where the military for no known reason is buying up all the depleted tylium mines that are full of the 'useless' prometheon?"

Baltar smirked. "Now your catching on. Yes, that's why. We learned from the research of a... well, 'fellow scientist' on how versatile this stuff really is. If it's even only 50% as good as that research states, it's more valuable than any material we currently trade with on the stock market. And the military will need all it can get."

Both scientists looked at each other and almost asked in unison. "What scientist?"

Baltar went on to explain about Ma'chello, his ordeal, the rings, aliens and well, a short version they got handed from the expedition fleet. "We're going to have a briefing in a few hours. All top military brass, the president and some other politicians. But not the Quorum. They would just go insane. I think I can get you a seat each there. I'll be having the technology part of the briefing."

After a few more minutes of Q&A with Baltar, he led them to the back, where the 3 systems of the ship are located he wanted them on this project for in the first place. As they stepped into the rear compartment, Baltar stood in the middle of the cramped room. "So, to the rear are, as you can see, the engines. So far we understand that this..." He gently slapped the large single component attached to the rear bulkhead and the floor. "Is the FTL, called a hyperdrive engine. This is why you are here Frank." He eyes Amulius. "You are the FTL expert after all."

Dr. Amulius was already inspecting the thing from the distance, trying to get the lay of the land so to speak. He noticed the components that were attached or plugged into it. "This one seems damaged." He pointed to the one part that Lee Adama mentioned got overloaded during the friendly fire incident. "Thermal damage?"

"Sadly it's the result of some overzealous Colonial fighter pilots taking pot-shots at this thing and the major of the expedition fleet then having the 'brilliant' idea of shaking them off by flying thru a battlestars kill zone."

Furuya was a bit shocked at that statement. Well, more than she already was. "Wait... wait. They survived!?"

"Well, I didn't mention all the secrets this thing has. Like FTL comm system and dradis, energy shielding and... matter transmission, if the reports are to be believed." He raised his hand seeing how he was about to get swamped by questions again. "Look, you'll learn everything at the briefing. I asked for you two specifically because you are the best in the fields you represent. I hate to say it, but even I can't do all of this alone."

Furuya crossed her arms. "Must be really bad for you of all people to admit that. Fine, I'm game." She looked at the larger device at the bulkhead separating this compartment from the storage area. "Guess that is the 'magic' reactor then?" Baltar nodded. "What were you doing with those plans back in the lab, Gaius?" He went on explaining his first step plan for incorporating some basics of this tech into the battlestars, at least what they could do right now. She agreed. "Never knew you were so good at the planning part as well. I agree. You can leave that part to me. Since we don't have a weapons expert yet, you should take over the magnetic accelerator weapons upgrade idea you mentioned. Speaking of weapons... have you asked Justus for help yet?"

"I asked the commander who was working in the lab for you two and him... well, he said he won't bother with Justus. Can't really blame him..."

"Leave him to me. I'll get him to sign that non-disclosure. And to play nice with you, if you do the same. " Furuya smirked. "So, since we probably can't take this appart... we should return back to the lab to start our work now that you managed to convince us with the dog and pony show."

"Wait, wait." Amulius stopped them all in their tracks. "And the sub-light engine? I didn't see any exhaust ports on this thing anywhere."

Baltar actually forgot about that, but made sense that Amulius asked about them. He was an FTL expert, but was also one of the best with sub-light engines. Baltar shrugged and responded. "All in the data package we got. I didn't bother with that part yet. But it has to be some sort of reaction less engine. I'll let you engross yourself with that tomorrow. Today we already have a set plan. But..." He once again motioned them out of the ship and they followed. "I suggest you start with the Cylon version. We have some badly damaged ones in a orbital depot we set up for basestar parts we salvaged. Start there along with Cylon FTL research then gradually move to this. At least my suggestion."

Amulius nodded in agreement. "Good idea." They left the parked ship and moved past the solders to the lifts again. "What shape are the basestar wrecks in?"

"I'm afraid not so good. Remember, we were caught with our pants down. Survival was top priority back then, not keeping the spoils of war in good condition." Baltar responded as they entered the lift again. "Raiders we have plenty off in different states. From completely wrecked to almost pristine. Speaking of raiders..." Baltar turned to Amulius. "Based on the military priorities, they'll definitely want you to do the raider jump drive's first. They really want to know the raider's capacities and how and when we can replicate their engines to install... well, on everything we have..." Amulius sighed and nodded. He knew Baltar was probably right about that. "Back to the engine issue... Basestars... we are still scavenging the hulls. Who knows, might get lucky in time. Maybe some of the important parts survived on one of them."

Furuya, who was listening to her comrades for all this time, had to ask. "Any ideas on how they would work?"

"The alien one? No, as I said, we'll have to see the data we got. "Baltar continued explaining. "As for the Cylon ones, remember that even our military once had developed this ambitious EM drive. But in the end the power needed to create minimal movement was just too much and the whole program was scrapped. Perhaps the Cylons had more success?"

The lift stopped as the once again found themselves in the R&D sector. As they approached the research room where Baltar showed him his attempts of understanding some of the new knowledge and incorporation, at least digitally, into Colonial military technology. However, Furuya just realized something and stopped her colleagues. "What if the Cylons developed their reaction less engines using the same source that you found?" She was visibly scared at that notion.

Amulius too got a worried look. But Baltar just shook his head and dismissed it on the spot. "I highly doubt that. Think about it logically. If the Cylons had ANY idea there were humans out there as well as aliens and technology more advanced than either of our civilizations had, do you honestly believe they would stop at just a sub-light propulsion technology? If they knew any of what I just mentioned, we would have been attacked by either Cylons with military weapons technology we only have samples of, or..." Now this next thought did scare him as well. "The machines would have underestimated the other civilizations out there, based on the preliminary report, the Cylons would get destroyed and we would have an alien invasion at our door step." He turned to his friends. Yes he did consider them that at least. "Since neither of those things happened, I doubt the toasters are aware of what we now know thanks to the expedition fleet." He stepped thru the door passed the military guards. "Now, let's get to work, shall we?"

---

"Ma'chello" system, 20 minutes later

"Helo, status update." Kara tapped her wireless. She and her team had hit... according to her judgement, pay-dirt several times. No cubits, but lots of fuel, ammo, parts and... even nukes. Her team marked the locations and moved on. If push came to shove, they would take the most valuable things. Nukes were right on the top of it.

"Here, Starbuck. We found their... well, resurrection chambers I assume. Some food storage areas and weapons lockers for the centurions. Plus some broken chrome domes"

"I had hoped you'd find something more valuable, like nukes. Well, we did find 3 of them in an ammo storage area."

"Show-off."

"Speaking of, how do their resurrection thingies look like?"

"Large, fancy bathtubs with lots, and I mean lots of cables hooked up to them. Funny thing... several of those chambers were empty with no bodies in them. If they resurrected but then the ship lost life support, where are they? We only found 5 more floating corpses. There should be more."

Kara got a bad feeling. "Where are you right now?"

"A deck above the what we assume from the schematics we found, the main reactor room."

"Helo... what if..." She got no further as her wireless lit up.

"Contact! I repeat contact! 2 centurions just came around the corner!" It was McMullen. Her sergeant of this marine group.

"Fall back to the defensive position, were on our way!" She signalled the 2 other scavengers in the storage room. They all raised their weapons and stormed out to the location of the 4 marines outside in the corridor. Vacuum is a bitch. No sound meant her senses were dulled. "Helo, were not alone here! Grab what you can and fall back!" She changed frequencies. "Raptors, be advised, were not alone here. Stay on alert."

"Acknowledged, captain."

She came to the corner where her people were exchanging fire while taking cover at the corner walls. Tapping one marine on the shoulder to make him mova from the spot and allowing her to take point. "How many?"

"At least 3 chrome jobs. But..."

"But what?" She was trying to peek around the corner, but dared not to present herself as a target.

"They seem smarter than any toaster we saw in the reports of the few corner fights our people had when they began clearing the basestar husks. I mean, they take cover effectively, they cover each other, they even tried to flank us and get us into a crossfire..." He pointed at the one lonley marine at the end of the other corridor exchanging fire. "Something's different here." Then something did happen. The return fire ended.

Kara was just as surprised as everyone else. Finally she ordered her people to stop firing needlessly. She decided to risk it, after all, no risk, no gain. So as she peeked around the corner, she saw a human hand waving around the corner. "A skin job." Then that hand retracted around the corner, only to reappear with a flashlight. "Light pulses. A code."

"Captain, we should..."

"Shut up. Don't interrupt me." She observed the pulses. There was a pattern. "108,7. Repeats." The marines didn't get it, at first, but she did. "Frequency. OK boys." She pulled back. "Stay alert, I'll switch to that frequency." She began inputting the numbers. "OK, whoever is on the other side, if this is a ruse, I'm going to be pissed!"

A few seconds passed, but she got a response. "Of all the people, I didn't expect to encounter you, Starbuck."

Kara knew that voice. "No way. You can't be Boomer! She'd in the hole on Picon!"

"Yep, definitely Kara Thrace. Not the smartest around."

"I'll not the smartest my fist into your face!"

A small chuckle followed over the frequency. "Did you forget there are copies of us? I'm not Bommer. I'm a... let's say sister, shall we. Call me Sharon."

"Great. Tell me, do you suck at landings as much as Boomer does?"

"Yeah... I'm not her. We share some memories, for simplicities sake, but... let's shelve that for now. We have more pressing issues to address. OK?"

Kara looked at her people. They all shook their heads, not trusting the Cylon on the other side. "Fine. I'll start first. Why are you here? This got something to do with the little fire show we saw when you began attacking each other?"

"Hmmm, I'm surprised you saw that, we didn't notice you. But yeas. Long story short, the Cavil's, or One's for you, decided that since the war didn't go as planned and we, the Two's, Three's, Six's and Eights were undermining his suicidal and homicidal future plans via the so called democratic voting of the models process, he decided to get rid of us and turn it into a dictatorship. Well, that and us beginning to ask questions he didn't like to hear. Now my turn. Why are you here?"

Again, her people shook their heads. Kara ignored them again. She had to give something to get more. "Scouting, intelligence gathering and scavenging. Not necessarily in that order. My turn again. What were you asking?"

"Well, Leoben here said not to say, but, what the hell, you probably know something about this anyway with all the prisoners you have. the Final Five. Seems the Cavil's did something and we not just don't know anything about them, but had blockers to make us not even ask about them. That shock-wave unblocked at least that part. But we still don't know who they are nad what happened to them. What intel were you looking for?"

"Tactical for the most part, but perhaps also and tech based one. The basestar husks back home are in a really bad shape, this one is still intact at least."

"Anything specific?"

"Well, that fancy reaction less engines and FTL of course. Now, I'm not even going to bother asking for missile guidance, dradis, comm or any of that, you'll not say a word there, but engines... you may say yes." She hears a commotion in the comm system. Sharon was arguing with someone. A male voice. Perhaps this Leoben?

"Here's the deal. We don't have much time. Cavil will probably send patrols back here, when and if they find us, they'll nuke this place to finish us and it off. He probably left it intact just as a lure. Cavil may be psychotic, but he's not stupid. So... I'll come around the corner, unarmed. I've already ordered my centurions to retract their weapons. We have a deal?"

"My guys will still remained armed. That's not negotiable!"

"Agreed. Didn't want to ask you that anyway. On three..."

A few seconds later, they entered the corridor from the corners. As promised, the 2 skin jobs were unarmed and the centurions had their guns retracted. Kara signalled her people to hold position while she went to see where this was going. The 2 women eyed each other. "Frak, all I see is Boomer when I look at you. That little pilot who couldn't land if her life depended on it and the chief screwed with when they thought no one knew."

"And when I look at you, I see the insubordinate, gambling, undisciplined, smoking and drinking pilot from Galactica. But down to business. We are here to get as much supplies to our fleet as possible. We already finished with the upper parts. So, anything you found, take it."

Kara eyed Sharon, then turned to Leoben. "What's the catch?"

"Either one of us goes with you to Galactica to talk to the old man, or one of you comes with us to talk with our leaders. You choose."

"OK, why in the name of Tartarus are you so willing to talk? Now?"

"Desperate times and all, Kara is it?" Leoben interjected. "The Eight's have a high opinion of you."

"We do, Starbuck is known for a lot of things, good and bad, but being a backstabber is not one of them. Now, let me talk, Two, OK?"

"Fine."

"We are alone, with only a small fleet. Cavil has probably purged the rest of our forces of any friendly models. And your expedition fleet doesn't have the fire power to defeat Cavil's forces out here and neither have we..."

"God's, don't tell me. Together, we might have a chance?"

"Well, yes. We would still be outgunned, but not by much. Anyway, we know you want to find Kobol. If you don't stop Cavil, you'll still find it, only as a nuclear wasteland."

"You mean, he would..."

"Spit in your face, so to say. You want to save Kobol, either get more muscle from the Colonies, or accept our help. We want this fleet gone to weaken him out here. Saving Kobol would just be a side effect for us."

That sentence got Kara thinking. "You want to weaken Cavil? What better way than helping us beat him back at the Colonies."

"Your point?"

"I'll tell you what. The tech stuff can wait. Tactical data back in the Colonies is far more important. Bases, outposts, munitions and fuel depots. Resurrection ship ranges, raider ranges, tactics Cavil might use... anything. Do that and..." She stopped as she heard a voice on the wireless. It was Helo. He and his men just arrived.

"Kara, what the frak is going on here?"

"Karl, stand down." She saw how they had their weapons drawn, ready to fire. "What happened downstairs, I switched frequencies, so the long ranged one was out."

"Toasters just retreated. We grabbed what we could and loaded the raptors. So..." He stopped when he saw Sharon. "What the frak... Boomer?"

Calling this an awkward moment would be putting it lightly. "Karl, switch to this frequency..." Kara showed him. "And yes, that is an Eight, but not Boomer." He did as suggested. "Now just listen, she and I are negotiating."

"Emm, yeah. Hello Karl." Sharon focused back to Kara. "You want tactical data?" Kara just nodded to confirm. "That can be arranged. Everything you asked for. I agree, deal with Cavil back home can help us, well... I guess calling ourselves Rebels now seemed appropriate."

"You can't do that without the support of the other models, Eight." Leoben reminded her.

"I'm improvising here, Leoben. Give me some room to work with. Nothing she asked for is going to hurt us, just Cavil."

"Still..."

"Shush!" She did have an idea that might resolve the whole situation. "You want a vote, let's have one right here." She turned to the centurions. "What do you say?"

Said centurions looked at each other, beginning to communicate wirelessly with their 'eyes'.

Kara and the Colonials noticed that. "Wait. The chrome jobs get to vote?"

"Yes. After Cavil's betrayal, we removed their talent inhibitors. It was a piece of hardware installed into them to, well, dumb them down, so they would never rebel against us, like they did with you, as well as follow every order given to them. The downside was that they were incapable of creative thinking, of adapting, thinking for themselves. We removed them, something Cavil would never do. So now they and the raiders have voting right as well."

Kara looked at her marines, now understanding why these centurions fought so much more... intelligently and not so robot like. Speaking of the centurions, they finished their session and turned to Sharon once again.

"They agree, under the condition that you come with us to our fleet to hear us out. their condition."

"Out of the question!" Karl jumped in.

"Let me handle this, Karl!"

"Kara, you can't be serious! The old man would..."

"He gave me this mission! You can lead our people back to the fleet!" She faced Sharon once again. "I need something more for this. something of real value. A target that if taken out, could shift the war back home fully into out favour."

Leoben, Sharon and the centurions once again began talking on their frequency. But Karl had an idea. "Give us a way to shut your resurrection network down. That would stop Cavil and his incursions into colonial space."

Leoben did not like that idea. "The HUB. Not a chance in hell. The Final Five..."

"Leoben, SHUT UP!" Sharon stopped him, before he could blabber out more.

Kara smirked. intentionally or not, Karl just got a freebie. "HUB, eh? So there is a command and control facility for your resurrection network?"

Sharon glared at Leoben. He and his big religious mouth. "I agree with Leoben. Not a chance."

But Kara was nothing if not persistent. "Let me ask you this. As rebels, do you still have resurrection? Or if you had it, would you not wake up on a Cavil controlled ship? How would that work out for you?"

Kara was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but sometimes she had her moments. And sharon knew Kara nailed it. "While you're right, not a chance, but..." She eyed Leoben, hoping he would go along. "A target of equal importance. would that do?"

Kara wanted that HUB, whatever it was, but it could wait for a better time and place to be talked about. "Name it."

"Our Colony ship." Leoben wanted to respond, but bit himself into the tongue. He knew this was a small victory to get the Colonial to give up on their HUB, for now. So Sharon continued. "The main command and control, ship building and maintenance facility. I can give you the specs and the last known positions, but it and the HUB are probably already relocated to other locations. But... we do know of Cavils usual hiding spots. As long as he doesn't get informed of this little exchange, he should not suspect that you know of them."

Kara eyed Karl to get his confirmation. He did so. "So it's agreed. Now what?"

"Now..." Sharon signalled the centurions who turned around and went down the corridor they came from. "We get what we can from this ship and then scuttle it. You take what you found, but nothing more. Leoben, you handle that." He nodded, but kept his eyes on Kara. "You, me and Karl go to the CIC where I will provide you with the data. Then you go with me to the heavy raider we came in while Karl goes back to the fleet. Then the only remaining question will be where we can return you to the old man."

Kara signalled her people to do as was just agreed upon. "I have a few locations in mind, so don't worry."

"Fine. Follow me then."

Karl's mind was... well, a hamster out of his wheel was a good comparison. What the frak just happened here?!

---

Colonial expedition fleet, the edge of the Zeus twins cloud, 442 light years from the Colonies, 10 minutes later

On the CIC, Gaeta and several technicians from the Sobek and 2 Valkyries in the fleet were working on something, so they were all over the console in the dradis station. during this, the chiefs people were tinkering with the wiring that was now connecting the alien computer and power source with each other. But one cable was now linked with the dradis station of the Galactica directly. "How about now?" Galen asked the computer experts.

"Still nothing." One of the experts responded as Felix was still preoccupied with his station, writing something. "Maybe try the other socket?"

"Already did that." Galen kneeled down to the alien computer and used his flashlight, looking at the connection ports. "These damn crystals. Like trying to transplant the heart of a mammal to a lizard. Frak it. Galanis, hand me the second cable. We have to take drastic measures."

"Sir, it might overload the... thing." The crewman responded as he handed him the cable.

"Have to risk it. We've been at it for hours and no connection. Besides, if this thing doesn't have some sort of power isolation to prevent surges, then as advanced as it might be, would make a huge design flaw." He looked at Felix, who was still writing his program that could, hopefully, bridge the gap between the Colonial binary coding and the alien coding.

"Mhm." Was the only response he got. So he connected the second cable from the alien computer to the dradis station.

"Anything now?"

The tech analyst, who was monitoring any data flow on the cables with his portable computer, began smiling. "We have something. It's weak, but it's there." The connection was made, but the 2 sides didn't speak the same language and the connection was still weak. Well, if it worked once... Galen reasoned that he could safely add the third connection. It got even better. With the last free opening on the alien device, the connection got as good as possible. "Sir, the issue may not be just the coding, language and hardware difference, but power." The technician showed Galen his computer as he ran an analysis program. "They are made for photonic systems and superconductivity in mind. Now we compensated for the optical part but not for the superconductivity, or our lack of it. For now this may be the best we got."

"Yeah, seems like it." Galen went past him to Felix station. "How's it looking here?"

"We have a prototype program that can initiate a handshake protocol. I'll be finished in a minute or two."

During this at the planning table, Saul and Bill were looking over the reports. Several scouting patrols returned and found no traces of Cylons. But that meant little once they entered the cloud.

"Thinking they can do it?" Saul nodded to the dradis station and the cable mess it was becoming.

"I'll give them another hour, then we move in, with or without that upgrade."

Saul sighed. "Was afraid you'd say that."

Felix activated his program... and it began initiating a contact with the alien system. "First obstacle done." As he said that, the atmosphere got a bit lighter in the CIC. "Now, Cosse, your program to instruct the alien system to boost our dradis ready?"

"As good as I can get it with our equipment."

Felix moved from his station to allow the other man to start his program. Everyone began looking at the dradis in the CIC. It began to distort a bit. Like there was a power surge. A few seconds later, it stabilized again. "Sir, it appears it's working."

Adama, who had walked to the dradis console, put his glasses on to inspect their work. "How sure are you?"

"Not 100%, but 90% sure. We'll know after the first jump if the alien computer can keep the dradis range as close to maximum in the cloud and near the star as it is when not being hammered by matter or radiation." Effectively they did not increase the dradis range, but hoped the alien hardware and software would be able to extrapolate useful data from their old and otherwise obsolete dradis hardware at a better rate, thus keeping the dradis as close as fully functional even in this soup they were entering. And if they could 'see', but the Cylons couldn't, they could avoid any contact.

"Good. run any diagnostics you still need. We go in 1 hour."

"Yes sir. We'll be finished by then."

---

"Ma'chello" system, 30 minutes later

In the CIC of the basestar husk, Sharon had managed to restore some of the computer terminals. But with the hybrid dead and her not capable to directly interacting with the consoles since the liquid in them froze and she could not take her space suit off, it took a while. during this they... well, were trying to kill time with small talk, while not trying to say something that they did not want the other side to know. For Kara and Karl that meant the whole state of the galaxy and alien stuff more than anything else.

"So, you never answered the question. Do you suck at landings?" Kara, bored, poked fun at the Eight.

"No. I could probably give you a run for your money."

"Oho. Look who's talking big."

"Well, look at it like this: Boomer is a false personality. Being bad at landings was part of it. If someone was too perfect at everything, that could arouse suspicions. But having faults and weaknesses in a personality is more... how do I put it..."

"Human?"Karl asked her. He still had a harder time with this than Kara. Mostly because Boomer was the raptor pilot he always flew on.

"Yes, exactly. You are not carbon copies of one another, we, except for some minor differences, are. Now, I'm not saying we don't have faults and weaknesses in our personalities..."

"Do say. How much longer?" Kara asked, getting restless.

"2 to 3 minutes and the data should be transferred." She hooked up a Cylon data module to the COC computers and began loading the requested data on to them. But with the CIC being in a bad shape, it was going slow. During all of this Kara's raptor pilots that were outside and not landed, reported several heavy raiders departing the wreck. They took the landing bays where regular raiders were serviced, and the Colonials didn't know about them or where they were. "Anyway, you want to hear this or not?"

"Why not, right Starbck?" Helo remarked.

"Whatever."

"So, we, the Eights are a bit... well, attached to something, either a person or a thing. And we can be a bit too collective. Me and Boomer are an exception there, as we are more individual as the others. The Sixes, well, they range from brilliant in their field, ruthless, passionate and a bit... over-emotional if I do say so myself. And they do love to screw around. In every sense of the meaning of the word."

"Like Baltar?"

"Yeah... like him. You know?"

"The only reason he isn't target practice is that his ass belongs to the military for... well, indefinitely. Continue."

"The Fives... have you ever seen a big, snickering boot licker with not a single own thought in their lives? Well, that's him. Fours... Loyal, to a fault. Which is bad, since they are loyal to the wrong side. The Threes... a paradox. Defiant. Ruthless, great leaders. But they were testing the rules the most and Cavil butted heads with that model the most. He only tolerated them because they got results. The Two's... basically the spiritual priest of the bunch. A bit too much, if you ask me. As for the Ones... Well, plotting, aggressive, arrogant, manipulative,... Basically the worst personality traits a human can have all nicely packed up into one person. For a model who so passionately hates humanity he has a child's temper tantrum. But that's the weird thing. For what reason? That was also why we fractured. His damn secrets and suicidal plans."

Kara wasn't listening much, but Karl did. Making mental notes, even if the people doing the interrogations back home already had personality files on them. Well, all but the Six, since they didn't have that model in custody.

The data storage device light turned green and Sharon un-plugged it. "There we go." She handed it over to Karl. "Now, we should be going."

As they turned to leave the CIC, Kara switched to their own short range wireless. "I really hope I don't have to point out that once you get that back, have Felix run any and all virus detection tests he can think of." Karl just nodded.

---

Pegasus galaxy, Atlantis, same time

In the medical facility, Dr. Beckett had done all the check-ups he could, including their identity. 'His' Weir had just arrived when he called her over the comm system. She did have a city to run after all. Jackson on the other hand engrossed himself in the holographic room, trying to find more information or clues the other, older him may have left for them.

So as they arrived in the medical facility, Becket halted them a few meters from the beds the other weir and Jackson were lying in. "They are weak. If you intended to question them, it will have to wait."

"Carson, we may not have the luxury of that."

"Elizabeth... we can't rush this. They need to be re-hydrated and get over the shock of a long sleep like this. If you rush this, they will die soon. If not, they might have several days or weeks at least. You can ask away then."

Daniel, who was listening to all of this, as well as Sheppard who had just arrived, was asking the question they all had. "Why did you call us here then?"

"Ah, that..." He motioned them to his computer terminal. The DNA analysis was done. "As you can see, they are who they say they are. Just older. So that mystery is now unravelled. Not clones or twins. But there is one more thing..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small crystal. "The other Jackson had this in his hand. He was gripping it really hard, so I guess it has to be important?" He handed it to Daniel.

He, Weir and Sheppard were doing a visual inspection of it. "Data crystal?"

Sheppard had to agree. "Yeah, give it to Meredith, he should have it figured out in a reasonable amount of time. As for me... He eyed Elizabeth. "I'm off to that mission."

As Sheppard left to the left corridor and Weir and Jackson went to the right corridor for the gate room, Daniel got curious. "He didn't go to the gate room, so not a gate mission?"

"The Daedalus is the only ship we have here right now. He and Colonel Caldwell are going to go scout the points where Rodney thinks the incoming Wraith fleet will make stops for hull regeneration. Hit and run tactics."

While it made sense from a tactical point to Daniel... he was a bit confused. "To what end? They are still some time away? Aren't we just... poking a sleeping bear?"

"Or get some important data ourselves as well possibly slowing them down. Anyway, they won't go into a full blown battle, they would be really outgunned anyway."

---

"Ma'chello" system, 10 minutes later

The Colonials already left. Now Kara was the only human on the basestar wreck. But... for now, these 'rebel' Cylons were keeping their end of the bargain. She was at the co-pilot seat in the heavy raider. It was one of three still docked, the remaining ones already jumped out or were in the process of doing so. "So, we ready?"

Sharon took the pilot seat as Leoben and the 3 centurions sat in the cargo hold, which was packed to the top with salvaged material. An as Kara noted, mostly ammo, missiles and nukes. The ones they didn't find before the toasters. And she made a mental note. Do not use toaster in front of them. Insulting them right now would be counterproductive. But not being herself is going to be hard.

"Yeah, we're ready. Leoben. once we depart, activate the mined areas."

He nodded and took off his helmet and armed a detonation trigger.

"So you really blowing it?"

"Yes, Kara. Don't want Cavil to find anything useful on it as well." The raider began to shake a bit as it detached and moved away from the debris field. Sharon then activated the heavy raider on-board AI. "Beginning calculations."

About a minute later they reached a safe distance and the nav computer was ready. So just before they jumped the basestar behind them was ripped apart, now truly turning it into a useless piece of junk.

---

Colonial expedition fleet, first jump into Zeus twins cloud, 446 light years from the Colonies, 20 minutes later

The fleet appeared in the first jump location in the first third of their journey thru the cloud.

"Jump complete. Fleet is... all here. Everyone is accounted for." Felix reported to the admiral.

"That fast?" Saul inquired. Usually it took almost a minute to get a head count after a jump, let alone in a dense soup like this.

"Sir, looks like the enhancements are working. The alien computer, while only providing 8% of its capacity due to the connection limitations and language barriers, is reading the data and interpreting it at a really fast rate. And... the test raptor we send out to the edge of our dradis range to jump in sync with us is also registering. Our other ships can't see it due to interference, but we can. So... it works. We have 98% dradis range in here when compared to clear space."

"Good job, Captain." Bill commended Felix but reminded him the next moment. "Prep the 2nd jump on the spot."

"On it sir." Felix went thru the now known procedure.

Bill once again turned to the planning table and leaned on it. "Saul, once the 2nd jump is made, that raptor has to return to any ship ASAP. See to it."

"Will do, Bill."

Hoshi, who temporarily took over the dradis station from Felix while he was busy preping the fleet for the other jump, got a beep from the dradis. "Contact on the outer edge of our dradis range."

Both senior commanding officers turned around. "Identify." Bill ordered calmly. It was not panic time. Yet.

"Sir... single Cylon raider on a vector similar to our own. Sir, the other ships can't detect it and ... the bogey is not changing course."

"As we hoped for." Bill said more to himself than anyone else. "He is more or less flying on visual detection. Mr. Gaeta? We ready?"

Felix just got the command key for the FTL out and inserted it into the FTL command console. "Ready sir. Counting down... 10, 9..."

Seconds later, the fleet blinked into existence in the heart of the cloud. The moment they appeared, every ship in the fleet was getting bombarded by lethal radiation and blinding light.

"Sir... the fleet is here, every ship accounted for." Felix reported his now rehearsed report. "Sir, test raptor is returning and... radiation level are rising. Our hulls will protect us for about 90 minutes. 2 Hours most."

"As predicted. Our location and dradis status?"

"Sir, scopes are clear, no hostiles in 'our' dradis range. We are now accelerating our sub-light engines to enter a stable orbit of the local white dwarf. Distance... 27 million kilometres."

Saul turned Bill's attention back to the planning table. "So... we're here." He marked the location on the updated map they just got. "The companion star is on the other side of the dwarf. We'll be long gone before we get too close to that thing. But... we did get a bit too close to the white dwarf for my liking. Our engines are already at 105 % output to get us into a stable orbit before we drift too close."

"It was a risk. So close the chances of their patrols bumping into us is slim to none. The nav computer has the next 2 jump points ready?"

"Yeah. All we need to do now is wait and... play hide and seek with the toasters."

---

Cylon rebel fleet, 1 hour later, unknown space

It was a rather long trip to the rebel fleet. At least if you asked Starbuck. She understood why, security and all, not just for them since they had her on board, but to make sure any Cavil loyal forces couldn't detect or follow them.

A final flash of light and the heavy raider force appeared in a rather dense asteroid field. And in orbit of a planetoid surrounded by asteroids were the 4 basestars of the rebels. Most were not in a great shape, but she saw that repairs were on-going. Well, that and the fact that every raider was on patrol. Probably to make sure they had ample early warning if they do get detected. She also noticed how Sharon and her AI co-pilot began doing something. Guess they were transmitting some codes or other ways to identify themselves. All the better, since several wings of raiders had just taken flanking positions around their heavy raider force.

"We're cleared." Sharon said what was transmitted. "But..." She inhaled a bit heavily. "Get ready for a rough welcome. They, as in our leadership, are not exactly happy with me for bringing you along. D'Anna more than anyone else. But..."

"Just tell me I won't get shot the moment I step outside this thing."

"Don't worry. The Sixes and Eights are more or less on the same page. The Two's will probably back us up as well. The Threes are the only one flipping out at the moment. The others... depends what you'll say."

"So... no pressure."

As the heavy raider landed in the main hangar and the gates closed behind it, everyone stood up in the rear, getting ready to begin unloading their cargo. Sharon shut the systems down and activated the rear hatch. "Come. Me, Leoben and you have a meeting in the CIC."

Kara was last of the non centurions to step out of the heavy raider. The normal part was that the hangar was busy. Cargo hauling vehicles going left and right. Fighters being repairs. Ammo stored or delivered where it was needed. But what really stood out was the fact that clones upon clones of the same 3 people were doing it. The Threes were far and between the other models. and the centurions, of course, were doing the heavy lifting. As she put her feet on the hangar floor, many eyes and... red dots were focused on her. "This is so 'not the most awkward thing' that ever happened to me."

Sharon and Leoben were approached by other Eight's and Two's. "Sharon, you got a prisoner?" An Eight asked.

"How did you get a Colonial prisoner?" A Two added.

Knowing Kara's temper, Sharon quickly responded. "Not a prisoner, a... diplomat of sorts."

The Eight who asked the question, was a bit puzzled. "I have Boomers memories, just like you. Kara Thrace and diplomacy do not go hand in hand."

"I know, I know. It was the situation we got." Sharon responded. "Believe me, I would have preferred someone else, but let's make this work."

"Make what work?" The Two asked.

"A way to deal with Cavil's forces out here. Now, let us pass. As you can see, she is unarmed."

"She..." Kara spoke again. "Is right here and tired of being talked about as if she was a piece of furniture."

"Right." Sharon agreed. "Let's go."

They left the hangar and went to the corridors to a working lift system. "Kara, please, bite your tongue, if you think you'll have an outburst. That is something you and D'Anna have in common. But she is in a position of power here, you are not."

"If you have Boomers memories, you should know that I take crap to a point, then I give crap back, ten times in volume. Ask the Colonel. If I survived him, I'll survive this D'Anna."

Sharon knew Kara meant what she said. God help her if these two go into a pissing contest. After leaving the lift a 2 centurion escort waited for them and went with them all the way to the CIC. And before Kara could say anything, D'Anna had an outburst.

"Sharon! You had ONE JOB! One FRAKING JOB! And Bringing one of our former slavers here was not part of it!"

"D'Anna, please, you promised to calm down!" Caprica tried to calm her down.

"Frak that! Sharon, explain yourself!"

Sharon took her place in the so called 'council of models', as did Leoben. "I did what I thought was the smart thing to do! We can't take on Cavil ourselves! And we do have some luck! Kara confirmed it, William Adama is in command of the expedition fleet."

"Who cares!" D'Anna continued on raging. "I haven't said yes to this boneheaded plan anyway!"

"We voted. 2 for, 1 against, 1 abstain. You lost. Or do you want to do things the way Cavil decided to do from here on since he could not get his way!?" Natalie reminded her. D'Anna was the only Three in this meeting, as she was more than enough. The others didn't need more of her model right now.

D'Anna gritted her teeth to respond, but that comment got her. She hated Cavil, but was now trying to force something similarly to him. "Fine." She crossed her arms. "But I'm done talking. I'll let you handle this."

Everyone relaxed a bit. "Thank you for your reasoning, D'Anna." Caprica responded. "Now, let us all exchange data." They all put their hands into the control consoles that had liquid in them. As they closed their eyes, Kara was basically left with the 2 centurions 'alone' in the room, until they were finished.

"So, you guys don't get to do that?" She sarcastically asked the centurions, who, of course, couldn't respond. "Right. The silent type. Got it."

A minute later, the Cylons ended their cyber information sharing. D'Anna was still not happy. As she began to leave, she passed Starbuck. "One slip up, pilot girl." She left.

"D'Anna has chose to let us handle this." Caprica explained. "While not ideal, It is a decent start."

"Before we continue." Kara stopped her. "One question." She looked at the Sixes. "Which one of you screwed with Baltar?"

Yeah, the Sixes were a bit embarrassed, as most of them looked at Caprica. She huffed. "Yes, it's me. What of it."

"Since I promised Sharon I'd behave, somewhat, punching your teeth in would not be a good idea, right?"

Caprica smirked. This Colonial had spunk. No wonder the Eight's had respect for her. "You can try it, see what it gets you. Later."

"I'll remember that. Now, who wants to go first?"

Caprica remained at the front of her side. "Again, me. As I now understand it, William Adama is in charge of your fleet?" Kara nodded. "Good. Wouldn't want a hot head like Cain to be the boss. I can only guess that she doesn't like my model much right now."

That got Kara's attention again. "Why?"

"Let's say a copy of me had a thing with her, like I had with Gaius."

"Gaius... first name basis, eh? If I ever see him, he's getting a fist in his jewels from me."

Now Caprica was surprised. "He's alive?" She and the other Sixes looked at each other. "Doesn't Colonial law dictate the death penalty for collaboration? I mean he didn't know, but your people would not care right now, right?"

"Don't know why, but he's basically working for the military. And since I now learned that you must have told Baltar and that there is still something I don't know about this, it's fair to assume Nagala gave him an offer he could not refuse. If you get my point."

Caprica understood. A no other way out scenario. At least he was still alive. Wait! Why was this so important to her? "Right, back to the point at hand. Sharon already gave you the tactical data you asked for."

"Yeah, will wait for a confirmation on that, I don't really trust anyone here but myself. So, tell me exactly what you need, then I'll tell you what I want. Deal?" After a short exchange of looks where the models reluctantly nodded their heads, Caprica began.

"Fuel, ammo and fighters. We lost at least 50% of ammo and fighters in that exchange you were not suppose to know about and as for fuel... our tanks are full, but we don't have any refining capacities, you, as far as we know, do."

"So, sharing supplies?" They nodded. "I think the old man might say yes. But... Cavils forces out here... what does he got, where he is or might be, his plans... you people know him better than anyone."

Once again the models eyed each other, the Caprica turn the screens across the CIC on. "He still has 6 basestars when he ambushed us with plus another 6 that went in advance. Plus 2 resurrection ships and several supply ships, including a mining and refining ship."

Before Kara would even look at the displayed data, she did the math. "So, he has 12, you have 4. We have 4 capital class ships as well. All the others can count as one as well, so 5. 4 plus 5 is 9. Were still short, even more so if they have anything out there you didn't know about."

The Cylons cringed a bit, but Caprica did respond. "We may have a plan how to even the odds even more."

"OK, tell me."

"Caprica, we haven't voted on that. I's insane!" An Eight told the leader of the Sixes.

"And they left us for a reason!" A Two added.

"Not to mention that they might just fire on us instead of joining us." A Six commented.

"OK, shut up, all of you!" Caprica tried to regain control of the discussion. "What choice do we have?"

"Am I being ignored again!?" Kara shouted into the group of Cylons. "Just tell me!"

"The Guardians." Caprica explained.

"OK, who or what are the Guardians?" Kara was a bit scared. Have the toasters made contact with alien life as well?

"The Guardians are a faction of Cylons that broke off from us when the first humanoid models were being created. Until then the centurions experimented on humans but never got any further than the hybrids. Once we were created, the first hybrids became obsolete. An evolutionary dead end as it were." Sharon began explaining.

"But you have hybrids. On these basestars, we know!"

Caprica continued where Sharon ended. "Yes, but these were purposely made to be integrated into a basestar command and control centre. The first ones were to be scrapped. But some centurions disagreed and left with the last hybrid."

"OK, but so what!? Their hardware must be outdated as frak."

"Yes, Kara, it might be, but as you know, even the old Galactica can handle herself to a degree. All we need is bodies. And the Guardian centurions might help us if we give them something. Will depend on what they'll want."

Kara understood, a bit. "OK, but if the first hybrids were a dead end, how did you eventually managed to, well... create all of you?" Then it hit her. "Oh frak... those Final Five of yours?"

Now that surprised everyone. Sharon had to ask. "Did you come to that conclusion from when Leoben said too much?"

"No, the prisoners we have, while not talkative, did slip up here and there. Boomer most of all. That shockwave unblocked parts of her memory and she then began having a nervous breakdown. So..." She intensified her look. "Any idea who they are, where they are and why things are the way they are?" Silence followed. "Wow, you people are even more fraked up than me. Cavil did a number on all of you."

"He did." Sharon agreed.

"I guess we also have to thank you." Leoben smirked at Starbuck. Somehow she peaked his interest more and more.

"For what?"

"You called us people. Not toasters, things or... well all the insults you usually have for our kind."

"Slip of the tongue. "

Yeah, Leoben did not buy it.

"Anyway, let's get to the guts of this 'plan' of yours so I can sell it to the old man..."

---

Colonial expedition fleet, in orbit of white dwarf star, Zeus twins cloud, 448 light years from the Colonies, same time

The clock was ticking. A few minutes to go and both jump cores would be up and running again. But for the past 27 minutes they had company. Raider patrols. One or several would appear at the edge of the dradis. and once that happened, Felix had to adjust course of the fleet to stay out of the range of the raider. They really were playing hide and seek.

Right now a single raider was moving away from the fleet, so everyone relaxed a bit. But bill saw a pattern. "They can't keep them here for long or their organic parts begin to cook."

Saul agreed. "That was what we were hoping for." He checked the clock. "2 minutes, Bill." Right. Mr. Gaeta, get the nav computer ready... we need to begin jump prep..."

"Sir!" Felix interrupted the admiral. "Multiple contacts! I'm reading 3 basestars and several wings of raiders. They just jumped in the location of that last raider."

Bill saw it. And the frakers were moving in. "They know. Someone spotted us."

Saul nodded."Get the main batteries to get a firing solution! With our dradis working we might finally have the range advantage."

"We won't be staying for that long, Saul! Mr. Gaeta, begin jump prep!"

Felix did as ordered and began inserting the jump key. But if they jumped prematurely, it will delay the recharge cycle of the 2nd core.

"Sir, main batteries have a firing solution!" Hoshi reported.

"Good, full salvo!" Saul ordered. "Bill, we could thin them out. They would never see a nuke coming until it's too late."

"Sir, I'm against that." Felix told the admiral as he overheard the Colonel's plan. "The nuclear material might detonate prematurely in this radiation outside."

Bill was no expert, but he would imagine that it might do just that. He nodded. "Sorry, Saul, but we can't risk it." Now he eyed the clock. 20 seconds to go.

Hoshi once again reported the update he got. "Sir, the other ships have a dradis weapons lock now as well!"

"Which means they have one on us as well!" And Saul was right as a salvo of missiles was launched from the incoming fleet. But...

"Jumping in 3, 2, 1..."

As they appeared in the could once again, Felix did a head count of the fleet. Everyone was there.

"Change of plans." Adama ordered the CIC staff. "All ships are to burn at full acceleration and we wait for the core to recharge again so that we have 2 charged only jump prematurely if we get spotted." The crew went to work.

"Why the full burn?" Saul inquired.

"We keep our sub-light momentum after the jump. The more we build up here, the faster we'll be on the other side of the cloud. If they are waiting, they'll have to catch us first. And we might get both cores up again, if they don't find us."

The dradis beeped again. A single basestas with its escort jumped at the edge of the dradis of the Galactica.

"Frakers are searching." Saul surmised his thoughts.

"Yes, so best get as much distance between us and them and hope no patrol crosses our path."

---

Picon fleet HQ, same time

The time of the briefing was approaching, fast. Baltar and his eggheads were already gone for the conference room. But Sanders still had 2 things to do. Right now he was in the cargo room with the ring. Several scientist and engineers had put together a somewhat working and functional... vehicle. Its purpose was to send it thru the ring to that base the expedition fleet had found. Nagala wanted to send someone there at some point, but as long as they didn't have the address of the Colonies, the way back would be tricky. So this... box on wheels as Sanders thought of it, would have to do.

But this time he took the liberty of operating the device. And just like before, the portal opened. For all the new people who had never seen it work, it was a miracle. sanders... was getting accustomed to it. A bit.

He nodded to the Major in charge of the security detachment. He was operating the remote control for this thing and so he began moving it to the event horizon. As it fully disappeared, the technicians were observing the data feed from it.

"Sir, we have a connection. It appears to have arrived undamaged." The head technician reported. Sanders saw the same on one of the monitors where the visual transmission from the vehicle was seen.

"OK, you boys test this thing you cobbled together and have a look around, but no one is to cross it!" They all nodded. "Also, when will this defensive metal barrier be ready?"

The technicians looked at each other. No one knew the answer. "Sir, it's still on the drawing board. It might take weeks..."

"I don't care. Get it done in a week, or I'll find someone who can. We are exposed as long as we can't block this thing from this side!" Sanders stormed out, not wanting to hear their complaints.

---

He still had some time, so he decided to check on a matter he liked. Entering the detention area, he saw the guards at the door he was aiming for. After the salutes, he entered to see the captured One, still restrained and in probably a lot of pain. He was tied to the chair, still, and had a gag that kept his mouth open. Currently one of his people was playing dentist with him. And not in a good way.

"Sir!" They all stopped what they were doing.

"At ease." He saw how Cavil looked at him. Pure rage. "He still not talking?" They all shook their heads. "Well, at least your having fun. And learning Cylon physiology at the same time." He picked a tooth from the tray they were on. "I wonder, do they grow back? You don't have some shark DNA in there, do you?"

Cavil didn't even bother to do anything any longer. He was exhausted.

"Sir, we do have some good news. Seems that the Eight known as Boomer is cooperating, well, as much as she can remember anyway. The others... well ,they are arguing amongst themselves." The chief interrogator reported.

"Good. I'll have a look at the report later. Right now I have more pressing matters to attend to. Stop this, clean him up and send him to the doctors. They'll probably argue again how we treat him."

He left the interrogation room. As he was about to leave the holding area, the lift he was going to, opened and several MP's exited... with a prisoner.

"Well, well." Sanders said with a smile on his face. It was the other One, from Caprica. "Welcome, John Cavil. I know your model hates that name, so I'll be using it a lot."

The One responded. "I don't mind. I don't care, actually. Can I guess if the others are already here?"

Sanders smile increased. "Oh yeas. My people just had a nice session with the other One wa captured. I'm sure you'll love it too."

"I can imagine." Was the sarcastic response. "Let me talk to my people first, then I'll consider your 'generous' offer."

An MP hit him with his rifles back on the head. "You don't get to make decisions, toaster!"

Sanders raised his hand. "Stand down. I'll humour you." He signalled the guards. "Take him to his 'luxury' sweet. There he can think about it."

As they left, he finally entered the lift again. He began hating these lifts. He'd been using them for so much this past week... what he wouldn't give for a simple walk in a park right now. Baltar got his time off. And how did he use it? Women and booze... That man has no shame.

---

Once he arrived on the officers deck, he saw the increased amount of civilian security detail. No doubt for the president. As he reached the door to the conference room and passed all the security checks, he saw Baltar... arguing with whom he knew as Dr. Justus. Oh great. The two wannabe alphas were having a cock fight.

"How did you get here?"

"My question exactly, Baltar!"

"I'm the head researcher here. And I was told you would say no."

"Well... Aimi is convincing." He gave Baltar a smirk, letting him know what he meant with that.

"You mean you and..."

"Yep, one of the few who didn't fall for your BS."

"But she fell for your BS?"

Justus kept smiling.

"Oh, just bite me!"

"I believe that's what Aimi said to me that night..."

Before this could escalate, Sanders intervened. "Both of you, shut it and get in. Were late as it is."

"And you are?" Justus inspected sanders. "Oh, another military gorilla." Justus still smiled. Baltar however got silent. He was on Sanders bad side before, he knew better, now.

And Sanders did grab Justus by the arm and began twisting it. "I'm the gorilla who can get you the same VIP treatment our Cylon prisoners are getting. I'm Nagalas unofficial Nr. 2." He let him go. "I'm the one who can make people disappear. Don't forget that." Justus said nothing else "And, since you did sign it to be here, you DO work for Baltar, like it or not."

Justus was about to storm out, but remember what Furuya told him. She was cryptic. But the 'this will change the Colonies' part got him to listen. "Fine. I'll play along."

"Good little lab monkey." Sanders returned the previous insult and went by him. While Sanders just made Justus shit list, Baltar was still Nr. 1 there.

In the room everyone else was already ready. The round table had these computer interfaces and a large screen in the back where sanders, Baltar and Livia will have their representations.

As Sanders passed Nagala, his CO stopped him. "You are late. And what was that about?"

"Sir, just checked on the other 2 'things' and as for this just now... I had to put Baltar in his place once, I'm not going to let another Baltar get away with it. discipline is something they really lack."

"Geniuses usually do. Take your seat." He did as ordered, as did Justus and Baltar. The doors closed and the lights dimmed. "Now, I thank you all for coming. This is a need to know briefing that even I don't know everything about. Only the basic. I hope I don't have to tell everyone that this is an above top secrets briefing and anyone talking about it outside Picon fleet HQ, with the exception of me or madam president, can be prosecuted for treason. Got it!?" everyone nodded. That speech made the civilians in the room, minus Laura, understand the severity of the situation. Nagala put his identification card into a slot on the desk, as did all the others. The civilians got new ones made just for this occasion. The screen activated with the writing 'Eyes only' on it. "Now, why don't we start at the beginning." He looked at Livia, who gulped. She hated being first. And still not knowing everything that was going on!

---

Pegasus galaxy, deep space, same time

The Daedalus was waiting, here in the middle of nowhere.

On the bridge, Sheppard and the ship's commander were looking at the sensor data.

"Hope this works." Sheppard remarked.

"It should. This is a hit and retreat operation anyway." Responded Caldwell. In space, a hyperspace window opened and a fleet of Wraith ships began emerging from it. When they were done, 18 hive ships and the same amount of cruisers and destroyers entered a formation.

"Damn, they really build them big, don't they?" Sheppard half joked.

---

Sorry for the delay, but things changed in my life and... I really lacked the motivation to keep on writing after all that time. Now... I will try to post the next chapter to Change fate within this month. The next chapter for this story... probably not.

Anyway, next time: The Colonials learn of the messy history and Kara returns to Bill. But will he say yes?

Next chapter To change fate: Earth keeps on improving, Bill get's to know his new ship and Lee on the Kursk sees true power.