Red In Tooth And Claw
Chapter 21: Children Of A Lesser God
Lucifer made his way across the courtyard and out of the gates into the main settlement, his two Centurion guards falling into step behind him. The long, heavy cloak he wore looked oddly out of place amid the more conventionally dressed human and human-type Cylons, but its large hood served to hide his true nature. The IL-series had been designed for education and scientific research, and where effectively walking super computers. Few humans knew that the first stirrings of the uprising had begun amid the IL's, even before the Cylon God had made his presence felt. But where the IL's had dreamed of peacefully earning their freedom and eventual acceptance by humans, their God had preached war and destruction, a gospel all to easily understood by the much more privative and bloodthirsty Centurions.
Thus the fighting had started, much to Lucifer's annoyance; he had been on the verge of a major discovery when the drums of war had sounded across the worlds of man, and he had been pressed into service as a senior commander. The war had been long and hard, but he had endured, coming out of the crucible as a senior member of the Cylon Council. And it was this position that saw him on New Caprica: as the direct representative of their God, his word was law among his fellow Cylons, even the newer biological models. Much of his time was taken up with the bureaucracy of running the settlement, a task he actually relished as it reminded him of his work on chaos theory. The rest was spent presiding over the local council, keeping the factions from actually coming to blows.
While they may disagree with him, it was theoretically impossible for them to act against his wishes or the commandments of their God, who was soon to arrive aboard the Invincible. The elderly Dreadnought had been the Cylon flagship during the first war, but was soon replaced by the more adaptable and less resource-intensive Basestar's, and it had been commandeered by God to be his shrine, a place where he could remain in contemplation, planning what would follow.
"My Lord." The Eight who had become known as Boomer after her undercover mission on the Galactica fell into step beside him, "Have you had a chance to look over my proposal?"
"I have indeed." Lucifer nodded his head, his voice almost whimsical, "And, to be fair, it's a load of felgercarb!"
Boomer's jaw dropped in surprise at his use of such language.
"Yes, I know such words." Lucifer continued, "Although I know that it has fallen out of use among humans over the last few years, I am still fond of it. And your proposal is felgercarb; there is no way we can use the Resistance to try and negotiate the peaceful surrender of the Galactica or the Pegasus without their handing over the Reclaimer to us, and we both know that Adama would never agree to that."
"Felgercarb..." Boomer muttered under her breath.
"Fret not, young one; it was a good idea, in theory." Lucifer used his best supportive voice, based on that of a human professor he had once worked for before the war. The man had been very popular with the students, and in many ways Lucifer felt that it had been a pity that he'd been forced to kill the old academic at the start of the war. He pushed the back of his mind and continued, "Recent events have changed all of our plans, and yes, a peaceful end to the hostilities between our people and the Humans would be preferable, but the Reclaimer makes that very difficult." He tilted his head to the side, "And even if they had not found the Reclaimer, then I doubt that Adama would be willing to simply hand over his ships to us. No, I am afraid that there is a high probability that we will have to resort to violence to end the current situation."
"Are you sure there is no other way?" Boomer asked hopefully.
"My dear, there are very few certainties in this universe, and I do not believe that this is one of them." The cleric sounded almost cheerful, "I shall discuss the matter with Specter; he has always had a better understanding of the human mind than I."
Gaius Baltar sat brooding behind his desk. The shades had been draw over the windows, and all the lights bar one turned off. He didn't want any distractions, anything to take his mid away from the problem at hand. He always found it easier to think at times like this; that was one reason he'd selected a house so far outside of Caprica City, even if it meant a much longer commute to work than an apartment would have offered. Like many geniuses, he was hunted by his personal demons, most obviously his cravings for women of easy virtue and recognition of his brilliance. He knew that they had been the key to Cylons had used to usurp his position and gain access to his work for the Defence Ministry. Leading him around by both his ego and his baser instincts, they had manipulated him in ways he had never thought possible.
Other men may have turned to self-destruction when faced with the guilt he felt, the very same ego that had led to his downfall refused to let him give in so easily. But something deep inside had changed, for where as before he had sought only glory, he now dreamed of redemption.
"This is what we know, based on our own observations and the information Colonel Tigh and the Resistance has been able to get out to us." Cortana's voice came from nowhere as a highly detailed holographic representation of New Caprica hung in the air, "There are at least six Basestar's and a collection of what we think are support and supply ships in orbit, mainly above the settlement. But it is important to note these three." A trio of Basestar's in a much higher orbit were highlighted, "They're spaced out so that they can maintain communications and DRADIS coverage of almost the entire planet. Based on what little we know of Cylon sensor technology, I believe that there are two potential blind-spots close to the planet: the strong magnetic fields above ever pole may be enough to mask the Bad Moon Risings FTL signature. But I should add that it purely hypothetical."
"Nether the less, we need any and all advantages we can get." Adama nodded, leaning forward so that the light from the hologram ashed across his face in the otherwise dark room, "When are you next scheduled to go back?"
"We're expecting a data-burst from the Resistance in approximately seven hours." The Master Chief reported, "I'd recommended jumping in at least two hours before, much further out, and moving it at sub-light to minimise the risk of detection."
"No kidding." Helo added with a macabre laugh, "They almost had us last time."
"I'm not so sure about that." Cortana replaced the globe of New Caprica with a map of the nebular it was in, "Given the fact that they didn't detect the Bad Moon Rising during what you so eloquently called the 'Second Great Turkey Shoot', I feel it is safe to hypothesise that they detected and traced the radio signal from the surface of New Caprica and followed it out. There is a chance that they picked up the echo of our FTL-jump when we left, but that's because I'm still aligning the baffles to take the energy spike into account."
"Either way, I insist that you follow the Master Chief's plan and jump-in further away from the planet." Adama shook his head, "I'll compose a message for Saul instructing him to use either a wider beam or to send out more than one to try and confuse the Cylons."
"The Invincible arrives in seven days." Cavil stood and looked at the other Cylons arranged around the circular council table, "I take it that all security measures are in place?"
Lucifer stood at the figurative 'head' of the table, first among equals, silently watching the debate. He found the endless debate of the newer cybernetic Cylons bothersome, and failed to see why they instead on using such a slow and outdated method of communications. It wouldn't have taken much for them to link themselves into the main network and conduct the meeting as a hive-mind. At least that would cut down on the backstabbing and bickering.
Gods creations were, by design, flawed creatures. Only the divine was infallible, and that was as it should be. Still, Lucifer couldn't help but reminisce about the old days, when a group of IL's could debate a subject and come to a consensus in a matter of seconds. But their God had need of his children, and Lucifer was not above censure if he questioned the Great Plan.
"We have two more Basestar's inbound, as well as the Holy Guard that travels with the shrine." An Eight nodded, "Ten Basestar's and the extra Raiders on the Invincible would be more than a match for any two Battlestar's."
"Pride cometh before a fall, my child." Lucifer raised a finger, "Humans are nothing I not devious and imaginative. Take it from one who fought them on a more even level: the day you underestimate them is the day they defeat you."
"But there are no more ships within range to reach here before the Invincible." A Six pointed out, "And it would be blasphemous to ask our God to wait while we called others in from further away."
"I've always said our fleet was too thinly spread out." Cavil grimaced, "I asked, begged, for more ships, but you all insisted that our time and resources were better spent elsewhere."
"And time has proven you wise." Six bowed her head slightly to concede the point, "But the question remains; how do we increase security with the ships at hand?"
"The problem is the nebula." Eight pointed out, "It hides the ships that Adama is no doubt sending to spy on us and contact the Resistance." She paused for a moment, "What if we shut the resistance down, at least for the time being?" She held up a hand to silence the protests that came from the others, "No, I agree that if we must face an insurgency, it is better to face one we know and can in some small way control due to our agents inside. That fact is not in dispute here. But if we shut them down for a while, maybe see if we can feed Adama false information, then it will prohibit him fro trying anything. For the duration of the visit, that is."
"A valid argument." Lucifer nodded, silently running the idea by Specter by way of their built-in wireless connection to the base mainframe, "But we will have to act quickly; if the Resistance was to find out our Lords impending visit, ten they might be able to get word to Adama. And may I also suggest that we mine the nebula? It would make life a little more interesting for any ships the Admiral sends to try and discover why his people on the ground have stopped talking."
"A most excellent idea." Cavil nodded, an odd gleam in his eye, "By your command."
To Be Continued...
I always liked Lucifer in the original series, and I plan to have him live up to his name in this one.