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 eight: To Kobol with questions.


Meeting point, deep space, 2 days later

2 raptors were already waiting at the designated location that Adama marked where he wanted to meet the rebels. So far it was quiet. And the crews were getting restless. Many were asking themselves if the old man had lost it. Actually agreeing to this plan.

With 1 hour left for the meeting to begin. A flash of light above the 2 raptors signaled to them that the boss had arrived with the Aurora. One of the 2 Valkyrie classes of the fleet. Adama had left the control of the fleet to commander Bastil on the Belophron and the old girl to Saul. And Saul was not happy, as they had managed to send one of the 2 cargo ships to the Colonies successfully. This time without any incidents. But when that ship returned… Boy did the headaches ever begin. Bill never thought that he would be willing to forgive Baltar. Dr. Justus was a real pain in the ass. Several times he or some other officer had to reign Dr. Justus back in. As he was almost oozing drool when he began his 'inspection'. Bill actually pitied Gaeta and Galen at this point. They were at his mercy when it came to the alien ship. Good thing Bill did not let that man get in the way of the upgrade project. Nagala only send him here to inspect the ship, use his PHD to analyze and plan for when they get it to the colonies and coordinate with Baltar. He would only accept his input on the upgrades, if, and ONLY IF, his people said so. Here he was at their mercy.

"Aurora to raptor 210 and 177, report." The ship's comm officer demanded from the 2 scouts.

"All silent here, sir. Not even a raider to scout out this place."

In the CIC, Bill saw the empty dradis screen as did everyone else. On one hand he understood the cautious nature of his... contact. But it made him think a bit defensively. "Commander. Keep the 2nd jump drive hot. If we need to make a fast exit. No viper patrols. Only raptors."

"Understood, admiral."

"In the meantime, we remain on condition 1." Bill hated to effectively take command of another officer's ship, but this could not be avoided. And there was one new mission he and Nagala agreed on that was currently already underway...

But there was something else on his mind of lately. Luck or not. Higher power or not. Gods or not... What they found so far was... Based on the intel on the size of the Goa'uld empire and the age of it, not to even drag these 'older' races into this calculation. Any civilization leaves stuff behind, chump change. Primitive ones leave artifacts and ruins behind. Advanced ones probably more than that. Star faring even more... And war faring ones in every scenario at least the leftovers from said battles. How much more was out there just in their little sector of the galaxy? And how hard would it be to find, if it would not have a emergency beacon locator? How much more useful stuff and space junk might they find. He also knew that the chances of them finding anything without knowing where to look for it, were slim to none. Space was after all mind blowing big. Based on the fact that the Cylons have been snooping around their corner of the galaxy for decades and found nothing. Says what an issue this might be. Well, at least he hoped they didn't find anything, they surely weren't showing it.


Hyperspace, Tel'tak transport ship, same time

Lee and the other pilot from the Galactica were in the cockpit, making sure all was working as intended. They had been at it for more than half a day, and the people in the cargo hold were getting restless. The ship was packed full of marines and their CO Commander Arkhipov. Bill realized that they did have an opportunity here. Yes, they could use both working cargo ships to taxi people back and forth... But this was a waste in his mind. So he pitched the idea to Nagala to... Scout Kobol out in advance. With this ship they could beat the Cylons there and get the lay of the land. And perhaps find something of value the toasters missed. Hopefully his ship's scanners and access codes would help. But for this mission he decided that a more experienced officer was needed. One more experienced on the ground. So Lee was the 2nd in command here.

Commander Arkhipov entered the cockpit and leaned on Lee's chair. "Time?"

"5 minutes out, Sir." Lee reported.

"Can you tell if there's anyone in orbit?"

"Not while we are in this hyperspace dimension."

Commander Arkhipov didn't like that. A strategic weakness of this tub. "Fine. I'll get my men ready. Once we arrive, you start scanning the planet."

"Will do sir."

Minutes later the ship exited hyperspace in the Kobol system. "We're here, I hope."

Commander Arkhipov was back again, this time in full gear. "So... where are we? Was Baltar's research worth it?"

On the holographic screen a solar system appeared as well as a dot representing the ship's location. "We seem to be 2 AU's from the 4th planet, a small gas giant. 7 planets in total..." Lee scrolled through the planets data to find the habitable one. "2nd planet. Caprica class. Nitrogen oxygen atmosphere. In the green zone. That has to be Kobol."

Commander Arkhipov agreed. "Then take us there, top speed. Anything else on dradis? Like artificial?"

The co-pilot checked it as Lee was making the course adjustments. "Nothing sir, not even ship debris."

A micro hyperspace jump later and they entered low orbit of the planet. The scanning began. The ruins of the Colonials who left Kobol were easily found. Including the city of the gods. But Arkhipov didn't care about that. He was paid to bust skulls and capture territory, not dust off ruins.

"Sir... I think the ship fund something." The co-pilot alerted both officers.

Lee checked the data out. "Seems the ship locked on to some kind of guidance beacon. Our equipment wouldn't have found it."

Arkhipov looked at the topographical map of the planet. The small southern continent. "Were there any Colonial ruins on that continent?"

"No sir. Nothing there but, Major?" The co-pilot asked Lee to check the reading to confirm it.

"I see it. Increased radiation reading on that continent."

OK, radiation was not good. The commander kept his focus on the display. "What kind? Levels?"

"Hm... now I'm no expert, but this looks like radiation from prometheon fuel." Lee explained. He, unlike some others, took his time to examine some of the more technical stuff, including the possible decay rate of the energy grade prometheon . " This... might be leftovers from that fight we saw in the alien ship's recording. If the battle..."

Arkhipov realised that major Adama was probably right. "If the ship parts fell to this part of the planet or were destroyed while still on the ground, some reactors might have breached, contaminating the place. It explains something else..."

Now Lee got curious. "Sir?"

"I thought after seeing that recording that our ancestors would pick up the pieces of that battle... or find anything of value. But... that continent is really small... more like a large island. If most pieces fell into the surrounding ocean and that land was contaminated. Any and all expeditions there would have resulted in lost lives. Bet our ancestors declared that place as... 'unholy or cursed' and told everyone not to go there. How are the levels now?"

Lee checked. "Acceptable. We might need some anti-radiation meds if we remain there a week or two, but otherwise in the acceptable zone." Lee then pushed his chair back from the console and turned to the commander. "Sir, what about the tomb of Athena. That's why we got that arrow in the first place..."

"That can wait. I don't care about some tomb. Take us down there, over the irradiated continent. Fly low and keep scanning for any unnatural formations."

Lee did as ordered. He understood the commander's reasoning.


Scorpia shipyards, battlestar Pegasus, same time

Cain was partially packed and in uniform. She packed light, only intending to go for a few days. Her door rang. "Enter." It was her XO, with a small stack of papers. "That your report?"

"Yes." He was ordered by his XO to screen the crew. For anyone that could not or would not hold their tongues once she told them what the Pegasus would receive. If and when Baltar was done and the expedition fleet's discovery arrived. Nagala's threat that her head would roll if her ship would be a leak for their findings is something she took very seriously. She told the same to the two commanders of the two battlestars she selected for the same upgrades. Only once she was sure the secret was secure would she tell the senior officers of her ship and the other two battlestars.

So she told her XO, whom she trusted to get the job done, to take a look at the crew. The entire crew. She opened the first folder... and was not surprised. "Fisk..." She sighed. "Is there no hope to..."

"No, Helen." He was one of the few officers on the Pegasus she would allow to just cut her off in a sentence.

"Didn't I tell you to get him in shape?"

"Yes, and if I had six months to work with, I would succeed. One week? Not a chance in Hades."

Cain bit her lip. She had to admit that Fisk was a bit... sub-standard in work ethics and efficiency lately. She kept him because of the old times. But this would not do. She would not risk her career for his drunken mouth. "Fine. Rotate him out. I already talked to Nagala about it. Anything I want, personnel wise." She opened the other folders, one at a time. Mostly deck hands... a few marines, the occasional pilot or officer... She closed the last folder. "Good. Rotate them all out. Get competent people, but more than anything else, people who can keep their mouths shut. Like black ops shut!"

She grabbed her bag and began leaving her quarters. Her XO followed. "Sir... you still haven't told me what this is about."

"And I can't. Not until I get a green light from Nagala."

He accepted that answer. "We also need to talk about Shaw."

"What about her? She's not in that stack you gave me."

"Exactly. She's good at what she does. A bit too good, driven and motivated."

"So? I don't mind motivated people."

"She's like you. She's overdoing it. Ever since her family all died in the nuke..."

Cain stopped at the entrance to the pylon connecting to the port flight pod. "Listen. We all lost someone, now or 40 years ago. If she doesn't want a break, I won't force her to take one. In fact... She's the new major on this ship, in charge of the crew. You select the new people, she break's them in."

"But Helen..."

"That will be all, colonel." She dismissed him. In a tone that made it clear the matter was closed and he should shut up. Which he did. He understood what Cain was doing. She basically found a younger version of herself. She would take her under her wing, no matter what he did. Who would break first was the question, not if.


Tauron, Tauron steel works, same time

In the main foundry Baltar with a large military escort was observing the work the civilians were making on the first batch of prometheon.

"As you see, we are doing it as per your instruction." The foreman led Baltar through the plant. "We even did the modifications to the mill and heating furnace per your instructions."

"Good, good." He inspected the glowing piece of metal. Armour grade prometheon. But... it was their first attempt. They could and would do better. "What's the status of imperfection?"

"Still above the Colonial standard for military vessels." The foreman answered. "We will need a few days to get the right mix and procedure down."

Baltar suspected as much. And it will take even longer after that to get to the next phase, the superconductive one. "You still did good work. Once you get to a 90% purity rate or higher, we'll take them. 95% is preferred. We selected your company because you did the armour plantings for the Mercury class. We'll need the same dimensions."

The foreman was stunned. That will be work for months. Paid work for months maybe years. A secured contract. "How if I may many ships will receive..."

"Three to begin with, then the rest of the fleet if it checks out."

The foreman gulped. That was... wow. The company will get rich.

"Remember the non-disclosure your company signed."

Yes, he did. The one issue. His company needed to keep this a secret, so the CEO tightened security. All workers would be screened. If anyone talked, they would get fired and prosecuted. For such a contract, they would ensure security themselves.

"So, I can assume you find out work acceptable?"

"Yes, so far. Keep that up. And inform your boss that he will not just keep his job for this work."

The foreman smirked like an idiot while Baltar remained neutral. While progress was made, he could not take credit for the same reason. Security. As he began to leave, satisfied with the progress, a man in the back of the worker line stepped into a small corridor between the smelting lines. He took out a small wireless comm device, encoded.

"Boss... you were right. The military guys are up to something. That Baltar asshole was here with big security to oversee the order given."

"What are they doing?"

"Melting prometheon of all things. For the shipyards."

"Good work. I'll inform 'him'. You stay low. And ditch the wireless. Your done working there anyway. Will talk later."

He did as ordered and threw the small wireless into the molten prometheon where it melted on the spot.


Pegasus galaxy, Atlantis, same time

Dr. Beckett decided to wake the older Weir and Jackson today as their vital had stabilized enough. But something came up that needed his attention.

SGA-1, minus Rodney as he was busy with the satellites, just returned from a mission where they had had an encounter with a Wraith and... his prey. A rather large man with dreadlocks. They killed the Wraith hunter, but the human male was not really in a cooperating mood himself, so they tased his ass and dragged him to the puddle jumper once it arrived.

"OK, on one, two, three..." They lifted him on the gurney as Beckett began his inspection. "Rather large fella, isn't he."

"Yeah..." John still held his jaw with one hand. "Punches like a brick wall, I can tell you that much."

"I think I may have an idea what he is." Teyla remarked as she finally had a chance to visually inspect him as well. "He's a runner."

"Ok, what's a runner suppose to be." Ford inquired.

Tela explained what the Wraith did to some people to amuse themselves. To say that everyone was repulsed by the Wraith even more now would not be surprising.

"Wait... how do they know where they go, the gate network is huge?" John pointed the issue of this runner business.

"I think they have... oh my..." Tela realized it. "A tracking device in their body." She realized that they would now know where this runner was brought to.

"Yeah, as if they don't already know we are here... No harm done." John calmed her down. "Doc, you heard her, find that thing and take it out of him. And keep him sedated! Don't want more people with bruises in here."

As Beckett and his team went to work, Sheppard went to see Weir in the medical observation room. "Hey Elizabeth, you... oh, right." He saw how she observed the other Weir. "So, after doc deals with Conan there he'll wake these two up."

"In a couple of hours. I really hope we might get some answers."

John looked around in his usual annoying way. "Where is Jackson by the way."

"I sent him to bed, with Carson backing me up. He was really overdoing it for the past two days. Every time I send him to his room, an hour later, he was back. So this time I posted a guard there."

As they went to the gate room, Weir addressed John. "I want a report in an hour. Get cleaned up."

"Yes mam. By the way, where is Rodney. Not that we miss him out there..."

"Where do you think?"

"That bad?"

Weir huffed. "Looks like the exodus plan is getting more and more appealing." She turned to go to her office. "Go."

He then mockingly saluted and left the gate room.


Dakara, same time

Taking O'Neill's 'advice', Colonel Mitchell went to Dakara. He, as an Tau'ri military officer was tolerated here. Something other human worlds didn't seem to enjoy much.

Currently he was walking down the halls of the Jaffa temple where the council was currently residing. A session was taking place, giving him and Teal'c some time to talk. "I am sorry, Colonel Mitchell, but my duties are to my people at the moment. I cannot help you."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, was already afraid you'd say that. But come one, big T. You guys altered this galaxy more than most. You..."

"I agree, but the galaxy is mostly at peace now. And if we wish to keep it that way, human, Tok'ra and Jaffa have to learn to work together. That's why I'm here now as well. But..."

"What?"

"While I cannot help you directly, not unless the galaxy itself is at stake again, I can help you indirectly."

That gave Mitchell some hope, even if he didn't know what that meant. "Care to elaborate?"

Teal'c smirked as he saw a Jaffa approach them. "As I understand you do not have a team yet."

"Yes, as I said, I'm trying to get the old band together again, including you!"

"Perhaps you will accept a compromise then." Teal'c stretched his arm out to greet the other Jaffa who had just arrived in the traditional Jaffa way. "Thank you for coming."

"When you and lord Haikon proposed this, I could not say no to either of you."

Teal'c turned around to introduce the new arrival to Mitchell. "colonel Mitchell, this is Jolan of Geshrel of the Sodan Jaffa."

"Em... pleasure, I'm sure." They greeted each other.

Teal'c continued. "I suspected something like this might happen, so... I suggested to general O'Neill a compromise. Jolan is one of the best, if not the best Sodan warrior. He could take my place on your team, once assembled."

"Em... wow. T, I'm honoured..."

Teal'c saw the confusion in Mitchell's eyes. "I can assure you, if O'Neill said it could work, he'll convince your world leaders. Even more so since both the Tok'ra and Tollans have pitched their own people to be added to the new SG-1. A multi-planetary team." He put his hand on his shoulder. "Something to think about. I have to go, the talks will continue shortly."

As Teal'c left, Jolan went passed Mitchell. "I promise I'll go easy on you." He also left.

"Why do I have the feeling that general O'Neill once again pulled a fast one on me?"


Meeting point, deep space, 1 hour later

Bill was having a stroll around the ship. It wasn't his ship, but he knew these Valkyries inside and out due to his command on the ship of the same name. He was basically killing time. All the preparations were made, now all he could do was to wait.

"Admiral Adama to the CIC, repeat, admiral Adama to the CIC."

That was his queue. Some must have arrived, and judging by the fact that no one was shooting, they were friendly... he hoped.

Arriving in the CIC, he got the update. A raider jumped in, got the lay of the land and jumped out. Not they would have to wait. But not for long as a basestar appeared a minute later. He was already waiting with the wireless phone in hand.

"This is admiral Adama. Am I speaking to Sharon as we agreed upon?"

"Hello admiral. Nice of you to keep our 'date'. But the other models are asking why you didn't arrive in the old girl as you said you would?"

Bill cleared his throat. Hopefully they'd buy it. "Repairs from our previous skirmish with your forces. Couldn't be helped."

Silence followed for a while. Finally he received a reply. "Acknowledged. As per our deal, we will arrive on your ship to finalize the deal and begin the planning stage."

"I am already waiting for you."


Battlestar Galactica, secret location, same time

Saul really hated Bill leaving him to deal with this. Jensen was a prick and a half. So he let him to 'run amok' on the alien ship, just to get him out of his hair. So to speak.

Saul just wanted to get drunk and sleep it out, but he couldn't. Bill was depending on him.

The only person who benefitted from this was Kara. Saul had basically forgotten how mad the XO was at her. She was still grounded, but at least not in the brig. Again. And the old man did not want her with him on this mission, so she was free and bored.

On the ship, Justus was on the other hand feeling like a kid in candy land. He did the thing that left the bad taste in his mouth, calling Baltar to give his update. So he was now making a scientific evaluation of the salvage.

Meanwhile on the Galactica, the hangar in mind for the upgrade was already sealed off from the front. They also had the parts needed to seal it off from behind. But that would wait until they get all the components to work at a rate acceptable by Gaeta and Galen.

In the space that separated the outer bulkhead / armour plating with the first layer of interior bulkheads. Galen was currently having his people drag the large power cables through to get to the parts of the bulkheads where they will have to decompress a bit to get the cables into position where the shield projectors will be. The engineers and... Justus took a look at the Galactica design and came to an agreement where the emitters would be best placed. Gaeta and his team were currently working on the alien computer in the CIC to design a program that would coordinate all installed systems. The idea was simplified when Justus became useful. He remarked that they should let the computer they already had crunch the numbers after they upload the Galactica specs into it. Once done and they connect this computer with the big one from the spares they got off the derelict, it should accept that input. At least on paper. The same computer will also have to regulate the reactor flow and shield generator output as well, but they were according to the manifest. Multipurpose ones anyway so they would handle such things. They already had the alien software on them to do all those things.

But Galen was currently having a new issue, so he called the XO down to the bulkhead walkway. His people were all around the place, making sure the lines went to where they were supposed to and that the holes to the bulkheads they already made, were air-tight after they pushed the cables through.

Saul walked up the stairs to the walkway where the chief was inspecting a support beam with his flashlight.

"You wanted to talk to me, chief?"

"Yes Sir. We found a bit of a problem as we were getting the cables through here." He switched his flashlight off and grabbed the larger light projector. "We inspected these beams to see if we would damage any of them doing this. So we tried different sources of light." He turned it on. To now see small cracks in the metal structure. "Micro fractures." He turned the light source to other areas. All the same.

Saul put his hand on the iron. "How?"

"She's old and we have seen some battle in the past weeks... but this is older. Like first war old."

Saul kept looking at the fractures. "How? The people at the dry-docks would have seen this after the war..."

"Sir. I think they are the issue."

Now Saul turned his attention to the chief. "Explain."

"I think we're looking at substandard material usage, to thin plates,and cheap welding techniques."

"The frakers cut corners, didn't they?"

Galen nodded. "They did." The turned the light off and grabbed his regular flashlight.

"Will this impact our project here?"

"Shouldn't. But my guys will now have to tread lightly. And we won't be able to do any fancy maneuvers in an atmosphere like a gas giant, or risk this spreading."

Saul crossed his arms. "I'll talk to Bill when he gets back. I guess you can't do anything?"

"No. Not even with a dry dock, unless you replace all of them. And I mean all of them. And that."

"Would take years. And an old girl like her is not worth it in our current situation." Saul concluded that thought. He turned around, facing the stairs again. "How's it looking with the project here?"

Galen shook his head and smirked. "Hate to admit it, but Dr. Justus is handy, when he wants to be. We're taking all the components for the weapons upgrades as well. With his help, we could do all at once. And the faster we finish and test this, the faster the Atlas can start her journey home."

"Good. The faster that hack leaves, the better. Keep me posted." The XO stormed out, leaving the chief to his duties.


Picon fleet HQ, prisoner complex, same time

Something was wrong. Both Cavil's knew it. The Colonials, all of a sudden, changed tactics. Now they were all separated, no longer in shouting range of each other. In solitary confinement. And his possible escape plans were foiled. In this rubber room there was no way he could kill himself. Yes, he knew he was outside resurrection range but he didn't care any longer. He knew that sooner or later he would break. Him or his brother. And that would be the beginning of the end of it for their plan. One way or another, he needed to kill himself. To preserve what was left of the plan.

While One was pondering what he could do, the other One was having the same treatment in an interrogation cell. The Two's, Three and Eight's that were captured on the other hand had a nice group talk with a Colonial navy intelligence officer. They were shown the footage of the Cylon on Cylon war that had erupted. And the recorded talks Adama already had with the rebels. Two and most of the Eight's took it relatively well. Surprised, but well. The exceptions were Boomer and the Three. Boomer was more chaotic than ever, after seeing 'herself' talk with the old man. The other her having some of her memories didn't sit well with her.

D'Anna on the other hand didn't buy it.

The Colonials knew that they probably got most if not all out of these models already. Well speaking of secrets. Tactical details and tech stuff were still not discussed, but they already had more than expected from the expedition fleet anyway.

Now the prisoners were led back to their cells, the ones not separated from each other, to 'discuss'. All the while the Four, Five and One were kept in the dark. But while Five and Four were as dumb as a bag of rocks sometimes, One was not fooled. Neither of them.

Kobol, expedition force, minutes later

They got as close as they could to the signal source, but the place was now overgrown with the forest, so they needed to land a few kilometers from the source and make their was on foot. Lee and the co-pilot remained on the cargo ship as Commander Arkhipov and his team made their way through the thick forest to their target. All of his people were professionals so he could count on them. They all had the standard marine special forces equipment, except for the two snipers, two sappers and the medic and tech guy. Two of his people had asked to carry those staff weapons with them, just in case. He allowed it, even if he was not impressed by the weapon.

His 2nd in command, a Colonial captain, held his radiation meter in his hand. It was beeping all the time, sometimes more than others. "A few more decades, a century at most and this radiation will be gone."

"Still..." The colonel stopped and signalled his people with a closed fist to be on guard. They reached the edge of the thick forest. But what he saw was something different. They didn't get a good look at it from the sky, but now. "Captain, what does that look like to you?"

The captain was already taking a look with his binoculars. "Like a flat pyramid overgrown by vegetation and covered by mud and earth."

"Exactly. According to that data the snakes made them as landing platforms. So this might be it." They remained vigilant as they approached the structure. "Fan out. Look for an entrance or something."

They did as ordered. The commander himself reached the edge of the structure and smeared some of the dirt and moss away. He got the typical golden color underneath. "Yep... looks like we found it."

"Commander." It was the tech guy.

"Go ahead soldier."

"Sir, we found one of those control panels with those pictograms for buttons."

"Understood. Wait for us." He signalled his people to converge to that location. Once there, he saw the same symbols as in that cave on the planet where it all began. "OK people! Get ready!" They took defensive positions, weapons ready. "Press that one." He pointed at the bird with open wings symbol.

As the tech guy did that the wall began lowering itself next to them as the shrug. Moss and other vegetation fell to the ground. After a few seconds the wall was lowered to the floor and a wide opening was before them.

"Lights!" They were still in a defensive position but activated their flashlights to get a better view in the dark entrance. And it was an entrance, just not for people.

"A fraken hangar door!" Commander Arkhipov smirked. What they saw inside was a partially full hangar. Filled with more of those gliders and one more cargo ship. But from the looks of it, it was not used in a long time. He tapped his wireless. "Major respond, over."

"This is major Adama. What is it, sir?"

"Fly that tub over here. We have a parking spot for you after all."


After a few minutes Lee arrived and landed the cargo ship in the hangar to provide some illumination. Lee joined the marines.

"Sir, what's the plan here?" A corporal asked commander Arkhipov.

"Search this place out. This does not look like a landed Ha'tak or Cheops, not by the designs we have of those things."

Lee, who had time to look around himself, agreed. "Probably a base of some kind."

"Right. First order of business. Determine the status of this place. Find the CIC and power room. Second order of business, find out what happened before and after that fight we saw in the recordings. Third... find out where the damn ring is!" He gave each of his officers a task to do. "Major, you take squad beta and search this level." They saluted each other and went to work.


Around 20 minutes passed, reports were already being made via the wireless, but mostly this place was a base, as suspected. They found Goa'uld versions of mess halls and barracks rooms. Armories, fuel depots, ammo storage rooms, and the real good news was that when they evacuated all those years ago, they were in a real hurry. At least half of the supplies were still here. Well the food was of course no good, but that was not important.

Lee and his team were still in the lower levels when comm traffic picked up again.

"Commander Arkhipov, this is captain Chontos. We found this thing's CIC, it seems. Still intact. But... power is a no go."

"Understood. Which level are you on right now?"

"27, sir."

"Right. Get the tech team there to inspect it."

Lee was still listening to the comm traffic when he spotted the reinforced large doors in front of him in the main corridor they were currently in. He signaled his people to get ready. Big doors usually meant important things behind them. The good news was that they were not locked. The bad... no power, so they had to manually push them aside. Not an easy task, since they were heavy bastards.

Once they managed to get inside, Lee noticed that this room had some minimum power. And several reactors he did recognize from that derelict ship they found.

"Commander Arkhipov, this is major Adama. I think we found the power room. There are still some consoles that are working in here."

"Good work. See if you can start it up again."

Lee pointed to the consoles so the marines went to work. One of them pulled out a Colonial laptop and hooked it up with the alien computer. Felix and the other 'experts' modified the cables to be compatible and with Ma'chello's research they managed to now write a program that could initiate a handshake protocol with the alien software.

"Sir, we have a connection. I think we can start this thing up again." The marine reported.

"Then please do so."

The light flickered as the place began working again. The reactors in the back began humming as they powered up. The computer in the marines lap began showing the data, as did the alien consoles. "Well the reactors are around 40% full. So that's not bad, but not good either. Hm..."

"What?" Lee inquired.

"Sir, see this reactor on the display?" The marine who now took the seat behind the main work station as he put the connected laptop on the table, pointed to the data. "This one is not a prometheon reactor. It's closer to the one on Ma'chello's planet."

Lee looked back at the reactor all the way back in the larger hall that was behind them. "Geothermal?"

"Seems so. Still hot. Guess the snakes can be pragmatic when it benefits them."

"Major, did you get the lights working?"

"We did, sir. Is everything working in the CIC now too?"

"Affirmative. We'll try to get any logs or recordings in this database. Can you get the layout of this base from your location?"

Lee looked at the marine who got the place to work. He shrugged. "I'll try to find it in this mess..." He went back to work."

"We're on it, sir." Lee reported back.

"Good. Report back in 10. Out."


Planet Pallas, moon Mintas, Cyrannus Beta system, same time

The planet Pallas, like many others, was an outpost for the Colonials in the centuries when they mapped their home system. Many of the non Caprica class planets had outposts, military bases or mining colonies on them. As did their moons. But many were abandoned. Mined out or lost their importance. The moon Mintas was in the mined out category. But now it provided the military with a valuable, safe, hidden and cheap way to create an off the books base. Engineers and welding teams were already working both outside in space suits as well as inside to get this place up and running as fast as humanly possible. Each system would get one of these places. Off the books and off limits to civvies. After the cargo manifest was fully analyzed, they noticed six FTL sensor arrays among the equipment. That would be a tactical game changer in the chess game with the Cylons. 1 would be installed on the Pegasus, 1 would be installed in each of these bases, providing each system with coverage and the last one... well, they didn't decide yet. But the one on Mintas where Sanders was currently inspecting the progress, was a special one. It would be here that the ring would be installed, once all preparations were made.

"Looks nice." Sanders remarked. This was all admiral Bouras plan and Sanders was making sure it was going all according to schedule. He did Nagala's plan and separated the Cylon prisoners by model. He showed the Two's, Three and Eight's the video of the Cylon on Cylon basestar battle. The Three didn't buy it. But the others... were far more inclined to believe him. And now he had another One to interrogate. But right now he was needed back at Picon. So he was already on his way to the raptor bay. He only hopes that admiral Rosi will clear the ring for transport and the tech guys manage to make that iris plan work soon. Until then any and all ring usage was suspended.


Tauron, mountain retirement colony, 3 hours later

Helen had arrived at her intended destination. She paid the cab driver who drove her from the local city a few kilometers from this location in the valley.

Looking around, she saw how retired people would find this place attractive. Far from the noise of civilization. She looked at the houses and went to search for the one she arrived here for.

Once found, she rang the doorbell. As it opened, she was not really glad to see who, or should we say, what opened it. "Hello, how may I help you?" It was a service robot for the elderly. While the Colonials viewed any and all bipedal machines with resentment, they did not abandon this tech completely. They couldn't, not with the demographic issues they had. But they did learn from the past. These robots were really simple in programming. No wireless transmitting. No learning programs. It could never do anything beyond it's programming, not learn anything new on its own. No neural network. Simple, dumbed down servants for simple tasks. So they were useful to help the elderly. Still, Helen hated anything that looked like a toaster.

"I'm here to see your owner, toaster."

"I'm sorry, input not recognized."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "For the love of the gods... what a stupid piece of..."

"9091, let her in!" Was the shout from within the house.

"It appears the master permits you entrance." The robot stepped aside, it's single red eye still keeping an 'eye' on Cain.

She picked up her bag and stormed in. In the den, the person she came to see, was having a smoke. "You know that stuff will kill you someday."

The man didn't respond at first, but inhaled another puff. "My dear daughter... I do have so little time left, give me some pleasure in it." He put the cigar down and went to hug her, smiling. "Nice of you to see your old man again."

She returned the hug. "Nice to see you too, admiral." She was addressing him with his old rank out of habit. For her he was always the admiral who drove the robots that took her sister from her off the colonies. That was also why she went down the military route. Her mother did not approve. He let her be herself. She inherited his drive, but her mother's temper. A bad combination.

As they both sat down, he told his robot to get some drinks. She still glared at the thing. "Wish you'd get that thing scrapped. You know how I feel about toasters."

"Helen, relax. He hasn't stabbed me in over 10 years since I got him, I doubt he'd do it now. And if he does, he only kills an unimportant old man." He joked, trying to lighten up her mood. It didn't work.

"Unimportant! You were a hero in the first war! You single handedly drove them out of Cyrannus Alpha! Your ship had a greater kill to loss ratio than any battlestar in the war, and ... I might not admit it, but you are my father and, while you and mother divorced after I entered the military. I have always loved you, even if I stayed with her for that time at the academy."

The robot returned with the drinks. "I know. I always knew. I may have never shown it... but I was always so proud of you. But..." He sighed. "You know, even if I knew I'd never have grandchildren... you sacrificed your personal life for your career."

"So did you."

"I had no choice. War is harsh. You went through the ranks in peace times."

"Yes, but they are over now, aren't they." She motioned her head to the working screen where the news were shown. War report.

"Yes... I thought they might come back. But I'm too old to be able to do anything about that any longer." He took a sip. "So, daughter. Is this war the reason you came here? Or did you finally find a girlfriend who could keep up with you. Your stubbornness most of all."

Helena's eyes darkened a bit. That brought back memories of that traitorous snake she thought once about as a girlfriend. She didn't care if there would be an alliance with these 'rebels', she'd have her hide one way or another, even if her career ends. "Long story, father. I'm sorry to say I can't tell you anything. Top secret, highest level. But..." She put her glass down. "What I can tell you is that soon. They will regret that they ever came back."


Kobol, expedition force, 1 hour later

They set up a sort of command post in the base's CIC. They were getting more and more use to the alien hardware and tech every time they had to interact with it. So things were progressing smoothly. As the base was now powered up. Even the internal ring transporters worked again. Facilitating a faster travel time around the base. But this was not just a military base. It was the old HQ of their 'Lords'. That was leaving a bitter taste in their mouths when they thought about it. The upper levels were all about decoration, not practicality.

Commander Arkhipov was getting the idea how this place was meant to work. The upper levels were reserved for the 'elites' or the Lords if you will, the lower levels for the Jaffa guards, the outside for the slaves as for the middle of this structure... all the technical secrets of these bastards.

This place was actually heavily fortified. It could create a 5 kilometer shield bubble around itself. Some defensive turrets that were retracted into the pyramid, were still operational. They even located the landing pyramids in the next valley via the internal database. They were of course also overgrown with nature.

They also found the comm system and had decided to shut down the beacon to not attract any attention. For the time being Commander Arkhipov had the hangar entrance closed off and he even had instructed his people to restore the camo of that panel they found to open the hangar in the first place. There were also several places that were a weak spot now. After millennia of no maintenance.

Commander Arkhipov was still in the 'CIC'. He was glued to the log of this place. Or what was the equivalent of a log. The history of Kobol written before him. His people were sending the data through the translator as fast as possible with some words remaining un-translated.

It seemed as if a lower ranking Goa'uld, a servant of the big ones here was keeping things recorded. Tactical information through the centuries of this sector of the galaxy. Battles. Enemies. While all interesting... it was outdated for their use. But perhaps for further salvage operations, useful. And there were also locations on the star-map of their little sector. No ring addresses, that was not good. But the Cyrannus cluster was NOT on it. Wow. The snakes didn't know about it! Well they probably knew about the 4 stars circling one another, but not about the planets. So their home was never visited or colonized by the snakes. That explained a lot.

Something else was also explained. Why these 'Asgard' took action. Seemed that the big 3, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon began waging war against each other. Their 'truce' when they took Kronos down, ended. While this space was not their centre of power, it was important. And everyone of them wanted it all for himself. The war escalated and one of them or all of them. Began taking these battles into Asgard protected territories right next door. After several warnings and the intruding fleet or ship destroyed, these Asgard must have had enough of this. They didn't declare war on all System Lords for some reason. But they did do so on the three that ruled here. And while this space didn't have many habitable worlds, it was a rather mineral rich sector. And since the Asgard only had issues with the three. The rest of the System Lords did nothing. They had after all an agreement with the Asgard. The three retards escalated their feud to the level that instead of them sharing this space or one having it all, they lost it all. The other System Lords were all too happy to see this. The Asgard wasted time and resources and the three rather low ranking Lords got slapped and lost prestige, territory and power. They as in the Colonials, were left behind to fend for themselves. At least this was something learned.

Lots of answers in here that Arkhipov knew Nagala would be interested in hearing as well. But there were still some issues left unresolved. One: The original ring was stolen by Kronos when he fled. And he was according to this, only defeated because the three brothers declared an alliance. As long as that lasted. One alone was never a mach for the older Goa'uld. He was apparently still a big fish again according to the data he was seeing. Two: Why take the ring, where did he take it and why is there a new ring in here? They actually found a ring in centre of this pyramid. Major Adama was currently in that room and he was expecting his report soon. But to put the ring deep into this place, it really made it stealing the thing a lot harder. Third: If their three Lords of Kobol were only medium sized Goa'uld. What was the big fish like? Power? Military? He shivered at that thought. Fourth: Would the Asgard react to them just like they did to the Goa'uld, if they sent a ship or fleet into their territory? Yes, they were months away at full speed, but still... Fifth: What was Kronos doing on Kobol. The others, as in Athena, Zeus, Ares... the entire bunch, they never figured it out. Hok'tar? What does that word mean!? But here was the interesting part. Even before the war began between the three brothers. Athena bailed on them all. Then went to work for the big ones. Selling her intellect and knowledge. She and someone named Qetesh were always working together and scheming. But she bailed because and this is the really BIG ONE. The others found out that SHE worked for Kronos the whole time! She was the chief scientist that led this Hok'tar thing, whatever it is. When Kronos left, she played ignorant and the others believed her. But around 500 years before the war. Some of the population on the planet revolted. Interesting. But they didn't defeat the 'gods'. They gained control of a mostly constructed transport ship and fled at sub-light speeds. Athena wanted to pursuit them. The others didn't care. Let them die in space. No way a monkey species could navigate space. Seemed Athena didn't share that point of view.

Arkhipov made a mental note to point this above all to Nagala. 500 years before the war, which means 1000 years before their ancestors left Kobol. The 13th tribe is mentioned to have left then. What? What was going on here. And the really weird part was this. Athena bailed not long after that. Apparently the Hok'tar thing became useless after that.

He remained glued at the screen as the translation continued to work. What is Hok'tar!? Is it a word for the 13th tribe in snake language?

The last thing that peaked his interest was this: At some point an intruder was spotted on Kobol. In a 'ghost' ship. Telling the slaves lies about the gods. Arkhipov had a pretty good idea that this must have been this human from that damn book the priests always talk about. 'Ghost' ship. That was really interesting.


During all of this Lee was in the grand prize room as the marines called it. As suspected, there was a ring on Kobol. And there were signs that the snakes tried to remove it, but had not time to do so. The ring was lying on the floor and some damage was seen in the ring room.

Lee and the tech experts were in the back of the room taking a look at the computer that was somehow intended for the ring. The part of the room where they were had a back exit and could be sealed off from the main ring room. Lee thought this was if trouble came through the ring.

The commander had arrived not long ago when he was finished with his first impressions of the CIC. He was helping his men getting the damn ring back in a standing position so that they could use it. The companion device was already there, so why not try it.

Lee saw the strain this was putting on the marines. They had no real lever to pull the thing up, so they had to use their hands instead.

"Sir... I may have something here." It was the marine tech exert again. He was in high demand right now. "Look a recording of..."

"Addresses." Lee beamed. This could be it. A glimmer of hope that they could use this thing. "6 symbols for every address. Guess they just left the point of origin symbol out. Hmmm..." There were about 30 addresses in there... but he didn't spot the one he was looking for. "The first planet we found. The address of that base is not in here..."

"And look at this some addresses are marked in red?"

Lee turned back to the ring that was now being pushed to a standing position slowly but surely. "Perhaps..."

"Perhaps, sir?"

"Perhaps... the ring can't function if not standing upright? I mean it would not surprise me if some fall down with time, natural disasters or like this one, war."

A female marine that was working with them on the console next to the one they had just found this treasure on, remarked. "Wait didn't that report from Nagala state that the Order of the Lords found their ring originally buried under rocks?"

Lee realized that this might be it. "Yes! It might be. Perhaps..." He turned to the display once again. "These red ones mean addresses they tried but couldn't dial. So... one of these might be the colonies."

"All good and well, sir. But why is Ma'chello's base not in here?"

"A good question." Lee agreed.

"Perhaps..." The female marine gave it a try. "Perhaps... since the snakes didn't build the rings, they too didn't know all the addresses?"

"Good thinking." He poked at the program some more. Each address had some info in that language. So they went through the painstaking process of having to take that alien language through the translation database in the attached laptop. As they were working through it, the marines managed to get the ring back in a standing position, but all were panting. Even the commander, who was not above helping his men to do a dirty job.

"Good work people. Take five." The marines didn't argue. They all sat down anywhere in the room they could to get some air into their lungs. Arkhipov however didn't have time for that. He saw the major busy at that work station so he checked up on the progress there. "Major, status?"

"Sir... were checking the data on these addresses. I think one of them could be the Cyrannus system."

The commander crossed his arms as he stopped behind Lee to take a look himself. "How so? We never found any signs of their influence there. Yeah, sure. We still worshipped them, but that was carried over from Kobol."

"Well there are no real space-time coordinates of the red marked ones. They probably couldn't locate them since they couldn't dial them. The others have locations in the nav systems. They're all in our local part of the galaxy."

"Perhaps the Lords we worshiped used this space as their territory and they mapped out what they could. I mean there is no sign of the Cyrannus cluster in here." The female marine added.

"That does make sense." Commander Arkhipov acknowledged the idea had merit. He turned back to the ring. "How many remote controlled corner fight cameras do we have?"

One of his men stood up, having recovered some stamina. "Sir... I have 10, every other marine one a piece."

Commander Arkhipov formulated a plan. "Major, with me." Lee did as ordered. They reached the dialling device. "You get the addresses in red ready. We'll dial them one at a time, see if your theory pans out. If one activates, we throw a camera through." His men began prepping them at that sentence. "If one is Picon HQ, this could solve some issues here."

"Agreed, sir." Lee remarked. A corridor back home. And they might get the so much needed address of their home.

"Major, one last thing before we continue. Was there... an address for Kobol in there?"

"Not in the address log, but in the star map we found of all the locations that were mapped here, it had an address. So yes, we know."

"Sir..." The female marine nudged Lee. "The other thing."

"Right. Emmm, sir, it seemed that whoever was living here, they tried to erase the logs as well. But like they left so much lying around here, they didn't succeed with that erasure either."

"Good..." Commander Arkhipov remained optimistic. The data on local space seemed intact.

The tech marine gave Lee the written down addresses in red. "Let's begin, shall we."


Picon fleet HQ, 20 minutes later

Baltar had returned to his workstation. He was tired. His legs more than anything. In the past day he'd been running around the colonies, seeing the civilian contractors understood what they must do. Inspecting their first work, coordinating with Admiral Rhode for the supplies and mining of prometheon, having Admiral Rosi down his neck demanding progress. And now having to hear Justus gloating well, at least he wasn't shot for treason. But that was looking better and better by the hour. At least Sanders was a no show for the past 2 days. Guess he had his hands full as well. And now he added a new task on his own to his platter. He saw how his colleagues were working. As hard as him. He knew that if anyone could make the reactor tech useful and reproducible, it was Dr. Furuya. And that research plus the Cylon FTL would be the backbone for his new long term plan. On his digital drawing board was a design based on a combination of the current battlestar designs. But not one that existed, yet. Baltar was planning for the next gen Colonial ships. He knew that upgrading their existing fleet was all good, but it had its limits. Sooner or later, you have to use the new knowledge on new designs that incorporate the advances from the foundation up, not just slapped on after. He knew no one asked him to do this. But.l something else to give Nagala. That will help him in the long run.

But why another battlestar design? Why not? It worked in the first war, it still works... why invent hot water? It surely was better than a flying pyramid.

His clock beeped. He sighed and saved his progress on the computer. The engineers on the ring asked him for help when they would try the first attempt of installing a basic barrier to stop anyone arriving. It was a stop gap until they got the perfect one from the metal-works. It was just... Sanders scared them.

So he arrived and began instructing them what they could do according to his thoughts.

Nagala had just returned from his short break on Picon surface to resume the planning of the future offensive. Hopefully Adama's plan to send that 2nd cargo ship to Kobol in advance if they find it. Wasn't a big mistake. He just left the hangar where his raptor had landed when the alert signal was given for the station. He ran to the command phone to contact CIC. "This is Nagala, voice recognition. What's going on?"

"Sir, we received an alert from that 'special' storage room in the science sector. Dr. Baltar's orders."

His grip on the phone tightened. "Understood. Have Sanders meet me there with a security team..."

"Sir, he's already on his way. Arrived back only minutes before you."

He hung up and went to the lift hub on this level. "Baltar... what have you done now?"


In the cargo room, Sanders just stormed in with a group of armed marines. They saw the ring was active. "Baltar! The order was that all ring activities were suspended!"

"And I didn't touch the damn thing!" That was true. "You said this was a priority but then the ring started rotating on its own."

"Frak! Take defensive positions! We were dialed!" His soldiers did so, preparing for the worst. After a few more seconds a small orb was thrown through and landed at Sander's feet. He recognized the thing and picked it up. "Marine standard issue combat camera?" He eyed Baltar. They were thinking the same thing. "You don't think..."

"What else..."

"Commander Sanders, do you copy? I can see you holding the camera I just threw through the ring."

Sanders turned to the computer people in the back. They were still at the stations from where they could control that cobbled together rover they send through when they tested the ring. "What channel is that?"

They began scanning the wireless frequencies. "Em... marine channel beta 2, encryption code 7."

Sanders took his wireless from his breast pocket and tuned the frequencies. For now he could only hear not respond. "This is Sanders, do you hear me?"

"I hear you, you old bastard!" A small laugh was heard and Sanders knew who it was.

"Commander Arkhipov, you old dog! Where the frak..."

"Kobol, that's where!"

The room erupted in euphoria and cheering. And that's how Nagala found the room when he finally reached it. "Is this a circus show or what!?"

"Sir... " Sanders extended him his wireless. "You'd better hear this yourself."

Nagala looked skeptically at the wireless, but took it anyway. "This is fleet admiral Nagala, respond!"

"Sir... commander Arkhipov reporting for duty! From Kobol!"

Nagala looked at the wireless then Baltar, then Sanders. A deer in headlights moment. "Can we confirm it?" He asked Baltar directly.

Baltar extended his hand, asking for the wireless. Nagala obliged him. "Commander Arkhipov, this is Dr. Baltar. Can you activate your body camera and transmit through the same frequency. We wish to confirm your story?"

A few seconds of static later they got a positive response. "Give us a moment."

Nagala and Sanders went to the engineering workstation where Baltar was already at. On the screen where Baltar was sitting, the static turned to a wireless audio video transmission. And they saw... Colonial marines, Major Adama, another active ring and a strange place where they all were, but it was clearly of the same design as the alien ships they saw in the reports from the expedition fleet. "I'll be damned." Nagala remarked. "Commander... please tell me you have coordinates."

"I'll do you one better." Commander Arkhipov responded. The camera was clearly from his point of view. He went to the station where the major currently was. He positioned himself so that the screen with the coordinates and addresses in the alien computer system were displayed. well, as much as was possible. Slowly the tech guy in the field began turning the digital pages. Well, the four that were in the system.

And then Commander Arkhipov's hand pointed to an address on the display. "That's the Cyrannus system, by the way. But just the address, not space time coordinates."

Baltar was the first to realize it. "We can dial back!"

"Exactly." Commander Arkhipov then went on to explain their theory how the snakes tried to dial Gemenon, but the ring must have been buried in the rubble at the time, so they failed. "Sir... since we already tested it with a camera, perhaps we should shut down and you dial us... and come see yourself. Sir, there are things you need to see yourself." The commander's voice changed its tone. A serious tone. Nagala knew this would be either good or... another bombshell.

"Agreed. We'll cut the feed and use the info you just gave us. Hopefully see you in 2."

"Hope so too. In 2, sir."

The feed shut off, the ring followed seconds later. Sanders leaned over Baltar's shoulder. "Kobol's address, doctor, if you please."

Baltar did as asked. Sanders had memorized the symbols, he was good at such things. Without even asking his CO, he went to work.

"Get ready people, let's see if it works." He was done with the sequence and pushed the red gem on the dialing device. It worked. "Arkhipov, this is Sanders, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear. Worked like a charm. We lack a red carpet here... but come on over anyways."

Sanders held a laugh back. "First thing's first..." He threw the camera back through the ring. "Is your junk there now?"

"Yep. Any why do you call my friend here junk?"

"Cause it is, don't want to litter at the admiral's feet." He stopped talking over the wireless and eyed Nagala for a confirmation. He just nodded. "Ok men. We get paid to do crazy shit... let's go!" He and the marines that arrived with him, stepped through the active ring...


Kobol, same time

Sanders was the first to arrive, his people followed one after another. The first thing that happened was, after the salutes, was Sanders and Arkhipov shaking hands, both grinning.

"So, how's it feel to be the 2nd commander on Kobol?" Sanders knew that was a friendly jab. He was gladly returning it.

"Still faster here than you. Took less than a second for me."

As the security detail arrived, Nagala and Baltar followed promptly. After all the official greetings were done, Nagala inspected the place. "We are secured here?"

"We are, sir, for now." Arkhipov replied. "But I think you should see something first."

"Right." Nagala agreed. "Men, carry on." He turned to Lee. "Any word from your father?"

"Nothing sir. He must be already talking with the toasters."

Nagala nodded. He hoped this was not a disaster in the making. "Sanders, go back and assemble a team. Best military team, engineers, scientist... the works. Not the people working for Baltar, leave them for now. We need to secure this place." Sanders nodded and asked Lee to dial him back. "Now, Commander Arkhipov, show me what you found."


Meeting point, deep space, same time

Bill knew his lie was not that good that no one would be asking questions. D'Anna more than the others was poking at his lie for a while, but the other models didn't really care if the admiral lied or not. They had bigger fish to fry.

Progress had been made... somewhat. Bill agreed that in exchange for all the info they got so far and for the combined mission to stop Cavil, his support ships would produce the ammo, spare parts and fuel for the Cylons as well. The Cylons would have to accept the 'inferior' Colonial ammo and components, but... they were compatible, so something. When and how they could get it was not yet discussed. One step at a time.

"Any idea on the Guardians... where to find them?" Bill was getting a bit exhausted, so he changed the subject. And did he ever change the subject... his Cylon guests were a bit too quiet for his liking. "What?"

"Ehm..." Caprica took the initiative. "We have both good news and bad news there. The good news: We found them, and they are willing to help. The bad news: It has a price tag."

Adama took his glasses off, he would not be needing them at the moment anyway. "Shoot."

"They want... what you want?"

"Excuse me? Kobol?"

Leoben answered. "No, the resurrection hub."

Bill leaned into his chair. "What?" He was really confused. "Why?"

"They want to capture the hub. They don't care long term what we do with it, but they need it." Sharon explained.

"Again, why?" They were dancing around the issue and Bill hated that.

"Remember that evolutionary dead end I mentioned?" Sharon reminded him. "They have one last first gen hybrid alive. They want to complete his evolution with the hub."

Bill pondered at that. "So they need it intact?" His Cylon guests nodded. "Even if I agreed, that would take me back home, from Kobol. I can't do that!"

"Well..." D'Anna smirked. "Then I guess we can divulge our last secret. The hub is closer than the colonies or Kobol."

Now Bill was not just annoyed, but confused.

"You see, admiral, Cavil, in his infinite wisdom, sent the hub in advance with an escort. It was already not in Cylon space when we lost the initiative... but after that, it was sent into deep space. Security reasons. Now... locating the hub is the easy part for us."

"The escorts... that's the problem, right." Bill put 2 and 2 together.

"That... and taking it intact. Eight basestars at any given point, four in jump range and the hub itself can jump to a random set of coordinates if threatened." D'Anna concluded her part.

"But the good news it... if the hub is in danger, Cavil will turn back." Sharon tried to make Adama like this plan.

Bill knew Sharon was right, the hub was really important to them. Loose the hub, loose the safety net. "So it's a number game again. At best we're even, at worst..." Bill began calculating the risks in his head. "With the hub, can you get the identities of the Final Five, why Cavil did what he did all the things even you don't know?"

The Cylons looked at each other on the other side of the table. "We can't promise anything really." Caprica responded. "We simply don't know what skeletons Cavil has buried there. But if you give us your word you will not destroy the hub, we give you our word we will share anything we find out."

"NO!" D'Anna stopped Caprica from continuing. "I want a promise the admiral can't give." She glared at him. "A guarantee that the Five will not be harmed. And since we don't know where they are, you can't speak for Nagala back at your home. You can't guarantee he won't have them shot."

"D'Anna!" Caprica wanted to stop her.

"Forget it! I knew this was a waste of time!"

"Sit down!" Sharon supported Caprica as they tried to make see reason.

"Actually I can." Bill broke this argument before it escalated. "And I can tell you we can take the hub. The 12 basestars shouldn't be that much of a problem. However, getting the hub from not leaving and not stranding it there... I may have an idea on that as well."

Now his guests got silent. D'Anna was still glaring, not buying it, Caprica and Sharon were interested and Leoben was lost.

"Care to elaborate?" D'Anna asked.

"Not really. Not yet anyway." He turned to eye Sharon again. She was his way in. "Look me in the eye and tell me am I lying?"

Sharon had Boomers memories, yes, but... this was difficult even for her. "Let me answer that question with my own. Does your cryptic answer have anything to do with you not being here on the Galactica?"

She was sharp. And judging from D'Anna's look, she thought the same thing. He had to give them something... no matter how small it was. "Yes."

"And what..." D'Anna started, but was cut off. Sharon continued.

"Fine. That will do, for now. But next time we want more than this. So you talk with Nagala..."

"And you find the hub." Bill finished the sentence. They all stood up. Today's work was done. Now Bill only hoped that the upgrades could be rushed to meet whatever timeline he will get and Nagala actually agrees him telling the Cylons more than he currently is comfortable of doing.

But if he could kill two birds with one stone... making Cavil's forces do a 180 and make them come to him, plus get the hub... sounded nice. On paper. But paper plans never work out as ... intended.


Earth, 1 hour later

Mitchell had a long talk with general O'Neill. Yes, Jack was his usual self. He knew. Even Landry didn't know about the new SG-1 idea. So Hank just shook his head, knowing that O'Neill childish behaviour could get on some peoples nerves.

In the briefing room Jolan and Mitchell were already present, waiting for the 2 remaining new team members.

In the general's office, O'Neill and Landry were having a discussion. Landry was already here to get used to the place he will be taking over soon. "Jack... why didn't you tell him?"

"Hey, he's a big boy. And nice sense of humour. People I can annoy and they don't lash out at me I like. People that do... I really annoy."

Hank was sitting behind 'still' O'Neill's desk, his hands on it to see how it felt. "One day you will poke a sleeping bear, Jack. God help us all when you do. And I am curious. Who are..."

"Scheduled off work activation." The alarms went off and the gate began dialling.

Jack stood up and clapped his hands. "Let's go meet them, shall we..."

The guards stood down when the guests arrived. A Tollan security detail with a female in the middle and a Tok'ra guard escorting Anise.

Mitchell, who was still in the briefing room, looked Jolan. "A Tollan and Tok'ra? Did you know?"

"Master Teal'c said nothing."

"Great. No one said anything. Let's go."

In the gate room, O'Neill was already doing the meet and greet. "Hello Anise and... Freya, nice to see the both of you again. Been a while."

"It has, O'Neill." Anise responded, then closed her eyes. A warmer smile followed as Freya took over.

"A bit too long, Jack."

"Emm, yeah." He forgot she used to have the hots for him. Not that he minded. He turned his attention to the Tollan guest as Mitchell and Jolan arrived. "You must be the Tollan cultural expert Omoc said he would send. Miss..."

"Dr. Orina." She replied with a bit of an arrogant approach. "I am only here because of my father's request."

"Father?" Both O'Neill and Mitchell asked.

"Yes. Omoc is my father. and while his views on other human civilizations may have softened in the past years due to... obvious reasons, mine have not. I am only doing this for professional reasons do to my people, since this might help my people recover faster, and personal reasons, my father, as mentioned."

O'Neill snapped out of it and leaned to Mitchell. "A piece of advice, don't bother arguing with her in a logic debate, didn't work with her father either."

"Thanks, sir. I didn't notice that." Cam remarked with sarcasm.

"We should dispense with the formalities and begin with the first mission. The Tok'ra high council is pressing me for this." Anise pushed the agenda of he people. She eyed Jolan. "Your people have prepared an escort?"

"We have ten of my finest warriors awaiting us."

"Good." She went past both generals, her target the briefing room. "We have to plan this mission, so please let's go."

Orina followed right after her. "At least one more person on this team that seems competent." She went past Mitchell, not even acknowledging him, but she did nod to Jolan, who followed next.

Mitchell and both generals were left there to wonder what just happened. "Am I still in charge of this operation?" O'Neill asked no one in particular.

"At least you leave in a few weeks, Jack, I'm the one stuck with them." Hank smirked as they both went after them.

Mitchell however went last. "At least you are in charge here... the way I see it, me, the 'commander' of the team... and I get the feeling I won't have much to say or command with this team..."


Battlestar Galactica, secret location, same time

The rest of the expedition fleet jumped in not long after the admiral's return. Saul was happy to see that the 'rebel's' didn't backstab anyone, but he was always on guard anyways.

Bill had just arrived in the CIC and updated the colonel from his end. "So, Saul, what's new here?"

He got the run down version of what happened. The upgrades were going smoothly. According to projections, they should be ready for a start-up test in seven hours, a field test in one day. He liked that.

The whole corner cutting problem from the shipyards was a real slap in the face for him. He knew how much pride the Colonial shipbuilders had, so this... was really something he did not expect. He'll tell this to Nagala as well. Someone's getting fired for this, he guaranteed it. No way did this got unnoticed all the years when this ship went in for periodic maintenance.

"Saul, I assume I can't use the alien computer here to contact Nagala right now?" Bill eyed all the computer programmers swarming around the place. They had their hands full, so he dared not interrupt them if they wanted to keep their schedule.

"We have the other cargo ship docked here... you can use it."

"Thanks. I won't be long."


Kobol, minutes later

Around 200 marines were now deployed to secure the location. As per Nagalas orders, the place would remain sealed off. No one was to go outside, security and safety reasons. Nagala had just returned to Picon as he was informed that Admiral Adama wanted to talk with him. He hoped it was good news. With what they currently got on Kobol. No way could they hold it if the toasters arrive in force.

Sanders in the meanwhile remained busy. As did Lee. As they dug deeper in the leftovers, they found more interesting stuff. The newly arrived experts helped a lot. Minus Baltar. He returned with Nagala, protests and all.

Seemed that while the snakes evacuated the planet with most of their stuff, they left something useful behind. Useful for Kobol's defense. This continent had, according to the data in the base, at least 4 dozen landing pyramids. And they were also used for construction purposes. Made sense. The labor force was here, so was the material. And they took all of the built ships with them. But once again, they found the locations for the storage areas where the individual components were built. Hopefully there was some left. Sanders would mount an expedition soon.

Lee on the other hand was inspecting the hangar on the ground level in a bit more detailed search. And he did find something new. Several fighters were in the back area. The cockpit was the same as these 'death gliders', but the wing design was all wrong. Not one of the marines knew what a fighter like this would be used for. But after some observation, Lee realized something. The shape... it could fit through the ring. A 'ring fighter' of sorts... five of them in total, four in working order, it seemed. Perhaps they could ship them back home the fast way.


Pegasus galaxy, Atlantis, same time

In the medical observation room, Daniel, after some forced rest, joined Weir, Sam and John to be there when Beckett woke the older Weir and Jackson up.

"Where's Conan?" John inquired about their new guest.

"Surgery went well. Found the damn bugger. but will keep him sedated for now. He needs to rest." Beckett answered. "Now..." He injected the older Weir first, then moved to the older Jackson.

"Here we go..." Weir hoped this would work and they got some answers.


Picon fleet HQ, minutes later

Nagala was having a long talk with Bill. He was sitting in the damaged transport ship. He had the cockpit closed off for this. And he was getting used to being here.

Bill dropped a bombshell into his lap. Again. Getting the hub off the board, and out of the Colonial's hair... was it worth them exposing the secret to TWO Cylon factions? And Cavil will also learn one way or another. Which would mean that Cain's surprise attack after the upgrades will not be a surprise any more. And Cavil will move the colony, once he sees the Colonials and rebel Cylons working together. IT was a gain some but lose some scenario, but he agreed with the rebels on one thing. Cavil will pull his forces meant for Kobol back to defend the Cylon grand prize, buying them more time. He also liked Bill's idea, if they could get it to work, to deploy some of those EM mines from Ma'chello. To get them to work on Cylon ships. More specifically on the hub.

But for once, Nagala also had a bombshell for Bill. He was on Kobol before him. Thanks' to Bill's plan, they had a corridor to Kobol with the usage of the ring. And more info and stuff, which they will have to sort out first.

Nagala ordered no contact with the expedition fleet until they call back, so to not disturb Adama during the negotiations. Now that this was over...

The alarm of Picon HQ went off, again. Nagala told Bill to hang on as he got his escorts outside to get him a wireless comm to the CIC.

"Sir... Galatos here."

"What's the reason for the alarm?"

"Sir... there was an incident on Kobol... involving the ring. They got uninvited guests."

Nagala paled. This was the last thing they needed. And just another reminder to get that ring blocker manufactured and installed. The first ring activation was to their benefit, this one...


Earth, Cheyenne mountain, Stargate command, minutes earlier

O'Neill was in the gate room to see the new SG-1 off for the first time. "Now I know how George felt all those years."

"Except you knew the team would listen to you, sir." Mitchell grumbled.

"Oh, not always. Daniel was not always compliant and Teal'c was for a time a wild card. Worked out well in the end."

"Right..." Mitchell turned around to inspect his team. Everyone was in their own uniform. A Sodan Jaffa, a Tok'ra and a Tollan. All they needed now a priest and they could walk into a bar. This didn't strike him as a unified team. Guess it would be a work in progress. "Well team. Jolan's vanguard team is already on site, so let's not keep them waiting. Hope they didn't get spotted."

"They never do." Jolan reminded him of how good the Sodan were at their job.

"Fine. Let's move out."

Jolan nodded, as did Anise. Orina didn't respond but just turned to follow him through the ring.

As they left, Jack sighed. "They grow up so fast."


Kobol, colonial expedition marine force, minutes earlier

Sanders and Arkhipov were having their final discussion on what team to send to which alien depot on the continent and how. There weren't sufficient cargo ships for all sites at once. They were in the ring room, preparing to dial Picon again. Lee was still in the hangar, doing pilot stuff. They did get some pilots and test pilots here to inspect what they had.

"Right... Will tell Nagala, see what he thinks about it. Admiral Adama should be up to speed on our situation here by now as well." Sanders informed Arkhipov.

"Meaning you want me to leave so you can turn this place upside down?"

They both smirked at each other again. They had this friendly competition between each other going on.

"So, we should..." Sanders got caught off. The ring began rotating.

"We have any plans from the fleet admiral?" Arkhipov asked Sanders

"Not to my knowledge." They both knew this could be bad.

"MEN! Defensive positions!" Arkhipov shouted and went into cover. Sanders did the same on the other side of the ring. As did Arkhipov's men and Sanders marines.

"Hope we're not getting the scaly type of company." Sanders remarked just loud enough for Arkhipov to hear him.


Charlize Theron = Cultural specialist Orina (Omoc's daughter) If you ask me, she can play really hot, but unlikable female characters. Your opinion may be different.

Lloyd Bridges = retired admiral Augustus Cain

I decided to break up the original SG-1, since I didn't see that many Fanfictions doing that. It also made some sense, now that the galaxy seems quiet. And adding some blondes into the team that will make Baltar's libido go off is always good... XD

Update: I re-uploaded this chapter, after a great person said 'Yes' to be a Beta of this story. The Beta shall remain anonymous, but I am really grateful.