Author's note: It has been a while, hasn't it? It was the most prolonged hiatus since I started writing here. First, I suffered from one of those writer's blocks that, sooner or later, anyone who writes a long story experience. Then, work began pilling up more and more until there was no way to write anything of any value even if an idea suddenly popped. And lastly, so much time passed that I needed to read my own story's previous chapters before being able to proceed any further. Well, the result was this story not progressing for almost a year and a half. That's bad. My apologies.
At this moment the situation still isn't all that great, time-wise at least. The good thing though is that now I have a clue on how to end the story, so let's say that the writer's block is gone now. I have the next three weeks with nothing but free time, without having to work, meeting people to discuss work, or plan for the future. I'm completely free! Therefore, I'm going to spend this time to write as much as possible. After that, well, your guess is as good as mine on how things will proceed. I predict my boss will dump a lot on me as punishment for having had too much free time. Ah! I'm getting depressed now :( Better change the subject.
So, with an uncertain schedule, I'm still planning to continue writing these two stories until the very end. There's not much left to write anyway. This story might have between five and ten more chapters, and the other one twice that - maybe? That's my prediction anyway.
To you who are still sticking with the story, a big thank you for not giving up. I too am reading a few stories on the net, and so I know how it is when chapters stop coming for a prolonged period.
Well, without further ado, thanks to my beta, and I hope you'll like reading this late chapter too.
updated on 7/17/2019
"I can't believe it," Norton murmured while reading the bulletin he'd received a minute ago. It was news from back home, which was almost 300 light-years from where he and the rest of the fleet were right now. "The very moment I start thinking that things are finally settling down, then this happens!"
"It is baffling why this group of individuals would do such a thing," his XO, Harris, stated while working on his datapad. Knowing him, he was probably doing something completely unrelated to their current topic of conversation.
Norton too would like to have the same ability to multitask as his XO did. Unfortunately, his brain wasn't built that way. Regardless, his XO was right in wondering why they had done it. "Perhaps they were trying to create strong opposition to the current administration so that maybe people would start demanding new elections? I'm not sure what their thought process is."
"It reeks of desperation," Harris replied.
Norton was shocked! This time Harris had deigned himself to look up from his datapad. Harris was finally conversing without making him feel like an annoying afterthought that had somehow found his way inside his hectic daily schedule. Why did he hate it so much when people didn't pay attention to him? It wasn't like the guy didn't do his job or that he skipped answering any of his questions.
'Yet, sometimes I get the urge to strangle the guy,' he thought.
"Probably because it was exactly that. A desperate move on their part," Norton responded after his mulling over his XO's behavior had ended. "Things were going too well for Nagala; something they must have hated. Though he had used force to get the presidency, the masses loved him. The visible recovery of their crumbling economy, the relief efforts on the less fortunate planets, and their ability to chase the Cylons out of Colonial space are all incredibly strong points going in his favor. In theory, people should be happy to have Nagala as their president for decades to come, with no complaints spoken. If he were to bridge the gap between the Colonies and the Terrans, there would be no way for someone to take the presidency from him. That's right! People wouldn't let him resign even if he wanted to!"
"Desperate plans tend to backfire," the XO responded.
As expected, it didn't last long. Harris was already back with his face stuck to his datapad's screen. If he weren't such a proper officer, he would have chosen someone else as his right-hand man. "No need to state the obvious, is it? These people must have believed that Nagala was one of those bleeding-heart types. The type that's always trying to do the ethical thing; not to mention a lawful one. It is true that only old friends like I know what kind of bastard the man can turn into in the blink of an eye if pressed too hard."
"They should have predicted it after witnessing Nagala take the presidency through force. They should have known how little he would care about removing a few wealthy industrialists full of delusions of grandeur."
"Maybe the way we dethroned Adar was the reason for their overconfidence. We devised the entire operation in a way that there would be as few casualties as possible on both sides. Nagala even came up with the idea of drugging the CID agents inside the palace to diminish the number of combatants during the battle. He then reinstated the Rule of Law in mere two weeks! If we went in more aggressively, perhaps then these people would have realized with whom they were dealing with."
"No need to ponder over old decisions. If Nagala hadn't been forceful enough during the coup, he was more than forceful enough during this incident. Now everybody knows."
"That's true. Too bad that I can't be there for the execution that's to take place in a week," Norton said. He wanted to go back to the Colonies and see their faces before they get shot. He would have to do with a meager recording of the event. It was a too-small consolation.
"Unfortunately, our mission is of too grave of importance to delay it for such a reason, Admiral," Harris responded with an almost accusatory tone of voice.
"Don't worry. I'm not planning on ditching the mission at this late stage. Although, I'm still uncertain if this is the right way to go," Norton frowned. He had mulled over their current predicament many times in the past few days.
Unfortunately, their mission had lasted for far too long and with very little to show for it. Months of monitoring the vast region of space beyond the Red Zone the Cylons had taken as theirs had resulted in very little new data. The only thing they had learned to this day was the location of a mining outpost the Cylons seldom visited. Only once a month when they came to collect the mined and refined resources. A Cylon baseship was able to jump farther away than the tracking range of their newly devised subspace sensors. It had resulted in no new information on where the Cylons were taking the raw materials. By now, they all knew the Cylons hadn't placed their new homeworld anywhere near the previously stipulated border. Which, if someone thought about it for a little, was a very natural decision to make. By placing their homeworld far away from the border, the Cylons gained a significant advantage in this war. They knew the location of the Colonies while the Colonies needed to spend a lot of time and effort searching for their assets. Maybe even years of random searching wouldn't be enough.
"It isn't a matter of if this is the right way to go. It's a matter of not having any other choice," Harris replied.
The man had such an unpleasant way of telling you what the real situation was that you wanted to punish him in some way. Maybe by putting the man on latrine duty for a week would make him feel satisfied. He would do it in a heartbeat if he didn't know how much the Fleet would suffer because of his absence. "I understand that. However, if we fail to gain any new intel from this raid, we'll lose the only lead that we have."
"We have prepared for this. The Cylons should be unable to escape without us knowing where they went," Harris responded with confidence.
It was his idea, so he should naturally be showing the most confidence. For the mission to succeed, they had spread all the raptors capable of detecting the distortions in space a jump would make around the recently found mining site. There were almost two thousand raptors, evenly spread, and all waiting for a chance to detect the jump Cylon ships would make while escaping. Norton looked at the clock showing that the mission was about to start in less than a minute. "It seems the time to turn some Cylons into scrap has finally come."
"It's the first time after the previous war that ended more than four decades ago that we are going to fight the Cylons outside of the Cyrannus system," Harris said.
After forty years the Colonials were again venturing outside of their system, seeking to find those accursed toasters and make them pay for the devastation they brought. "That's true. That is if you don't count the misdeeds of the Expeditionary Fleet led by Adama. From the little we know, they did have a few battles with the Cylons. I'm certain they had a few more after we received the last data delivery from the CID agents."
"Commencing jump in 10 seconds!" a lieutenant shouted.
Norton stopped thinking about trivial things, immediately switching his mindset into battle-mode, and exclusively focusing on the battle that was about to begin. Seconds later, the jump finally happened.
There was no question in his mind on who would win this battle. The powerful warstar and twelve additional battlestars, of which two Mercury and the rest Valkyrie class, formed the bulk of their fleet. Together, these battlestars could launch two thousand Vipers and six hundred Raptors. The enemy only had one basestar and the stationary defenses built on the mined asteroid. The disparity between their forces was huge.
"Let's focus our forces on the mining outpost. Only the two Mercury ships are to target the basestar. And make sure to tell them again to give the enemy the chance to flee. To the rest of the fleet, let's burn down the mining outpost," Norton ordered. He didn't have to, though. The plan was still the same one they had devised in advance, but, somehow, he just hated not doing or saying anything in such a situation.
The fleet split in two. The two larger battlestars moved closer to the lonely Cylon warship while the rest was about to begin bombardment of the mining site. The heavy railguns placed here and there on the asteroid began barking slugs the very moment the ship entered weapons range. It was all under their prediction. Under their calculations, the Cylons wouldn't be able to inflict severe damage on any of their ships before they turned them into scrap.
Impacts were felt inside the CIC, but he knew it was far from enough to damage a ship like the warstar. It would have been better if they had targeted one of the weaker Valkyries first. Not by much, though. There was no surviving this for any of the installations on the asteroid.
Return fire began in earnest, and it was a heavy shower of slugs fired from the broadside of no less than eleven ships. A dust cloud erupted from the surface of the asteroid, caused by the many impacts.
"Progress?" Norton asked. Some sensors could see much better than his eyes ever could.
"Enemy defenses are steadily decreasing. Two more minutes and the central mining outpost will be the only surviving target on the asteroid."
"Any report of damage on our side?"
"Nothing serious, sir. Minor damage to the hulls of two Valkyries with four and seven railgun batteries damaged on those ships. Our ship also lost three railguns and have sustained minor damage to our communications array," his XO responded.
The warstar's systems had such redundancy that causing crippling damage in such a short time was an almost impossible feat, especially so for such a feeble opponent. The barrage of slugs coming from the surface of the asteroid was lessening with each passing second until they successfully silenced even the last few remaining batteries. It was now time for the fleet to focus on the mining outpost.
The bombardment of the outpost began and ended just as quickly, in the span of only a minute. It all felt very anticlimactic. Some Cylons might have survived in the deepest parts of the outpost. However, for all intent and purpose, they had cleared the asteroid of all hostiles, meaning that they could leave it be for now. Now it was time to redirect their attention to the only remaining combatant in the system.
The basestar was currently firing at the two Mercury-class battlestars with everything it had. It was to no avail, though. The two ships were keeping their distance - after all, their task wasn't to destroy the Cylons ship. Hence, the range was such that missiles were unable to reach them before being shot down and railguns were only sporadically hitting the two mighty Colonial warships. They were peppering the Cylons ship, with the large frontal railguns scoring a few good hits on the outer, non-vital sections of the basestar. To the Cylons, it should have looked as if the two Colonial ships were waiting until the rest of the fleet finished the mining outpost before joining in the fight. Frankly, Norton did not know why the ship was still here. After seeing the size of their fleet, they should have immediately jumped away.
As if the Cylons had heard him, the large basestar suddenly vanished.
"The mining outpost is gone. Why did it take the Cylons so much time to leave?" Norton asked no one in particular.
"Since our ships were going easy on them, maybe they thought they could destroy at least one before leaving," Harris replied.
Norton was waiting without saying anything. The Cylon ship was gone. It was now time for one of their raptors to notify them through the newly developed FTL comm system when they caught anything on their sensors. As the defunct scientist who had invented the gimmick had explained, the invention was so pathetic that he didn't want to have his name attached to it. But, for sending short messages even a hundred light-years apart in a blink of an eye, it would be more than enough. It was true that the amount of data sent couldn't allow for audio or video communication. Instead, it was only capable of sending bursts of data containing no more than a thousand characters.
But even that was enough for their purpose.
"Raptor R-01298 is reporting now! The message reads as follows: Distortion indicative of FTL jump detected. Relative distance: 3.234557ly, Coordinates: 177.097976, 2.876789," the communication officer reported eagerly.
Norton looked at the large table - which doubled as a large display - showing the space around the system where the fleet was. Raptor R-01298 suddenly turned red. The raptor was distant 14 light-years from the main elements of the Fleet. To understand the given coordinates, one needed to know that the last two were degrees. Zero degrees would have meant that the direction was towards the center of the galaxy. They usually did in-system calculations with the closest star as the reference point instead of the galactic center. It meant that the Cylons basestar had popped up approximately 3.234557 light-years away from the raptor, almost exactly opposite from the center of the galaxy, and with an angle depicting the elevation of nearly 3 degrees. The display also showed what Norton had calculated in his head. It was displaying where the Cylons ship had reemerged from the jump. By drawing a line from their position and the Cylon ship's current one, they now had their predicted path of retreat. Other Cylon assets should be somewhere down that path. It was difficult believing that the Cylons would jump anywhere except in the direction from where they came. That should especially be true since they did not know the Colonials would ambush them or that they could track them afterward.
"We now have the direction where we need to look, sir," the XO said with a smirk on his face.
He wasn't the only one. It seemed the bridge had turned into a bunch of smirking hyenas that had finally realized that their prey could not escape them anymore. They would proceed and do the same thing they did here today until all Cylon assets were found and destroyed, including their homeworld.
It was only a matter of time before all Cylons were gone, Norton was sure of it.
It was something completely different. It was something Adama hadn't dreamt of ever happening. Not if he used the past as evidence.
He had to admit that after the last battle against the race they believed was called the Aschen, their journey toward the Lagoon Nebula had continued free of any incident. Hope had been that they would reach their destination very soon and without any unnecessary delays. However, a few jumps before reaching the highly sought nebula, one raptor had discovered another system - one inhabited by more humans. Moreover, it also seemed that the planet in question was a newly colonized one. Merely ten thousand people were crawling about on the surface of the only habitable planet in the whole system.
That was what had been reported by the stealth raptor sent there to investigate in more detail the discovery. However, something else had piqued Adama's interest even more than the uncovering of more humans living elsewhere in the galaxy. By now, finding more planets with humans wasn't even news anymore. However, a ship orbiting the only habitable planet, with its design different from any seen thus far, was something in need of promptly being investigated.
The ship wasn't a replica of the Prometheus that they knew so well, but this one also had that certain feel of a vessel designed as someone's first attempt. The important thing here was that there were similarities between the Prometheus and this ship. It could indicate they'd stumbled upon a planet in the process of being colonized by no other than the Earthers. It was a fortunate find, as now the people of Earth would be unable to flee from them. They would have to answer questions and listen to their plea for help in the war against the Cylons. They could not leave this recently colonized world, and that was an indisputable fact. They would finally be able to talk to the Terrans until some answers were received. That was what Adama had thought.
He was wrong. Again!
After having performed a jump in the system with the Galactica alone, Adama had promptly ordered the comm officer to open a comm channel. The short conversation that had ensued had cleared the misunderstanding of to whom the orbiting ship exactly belonged.
"How did they say the name of their race was?" Roslin inquired while sitting next to him inside the raptor. The bird was flying on its way to the other ship.
"The Langarans, I think," Adama replied, not entirely sure. Lately, there had been a lot of new names of races and individuals that he had to memorize. Plus, the person they had talked to spoke very fast and seemed quite excited for some reason, so he had missed half of what he'd said.
"And they've invited both you and me to come on their ship to talk?" Roslin inquired what had already been asked and answered before at least a few times by now.
"They did," Adama stated.
"And the one who asked us to come, what was his name again?"
"Quinn. Jonas Quinn."
"Ah, yes. Jonas Quinn. And he has invited us while specifically calling us by our names, is that correct?" Roslin asked another question.
"He did," Adama replied while letting a little sigh. He had to admit. This journey was testing his patience in a variety of ways.
"So, he did, huh," Roslin concluded, nodding absentmindedly a few times.
"He did exactly that," Adama replied, this time while showing a wry smile. He didn't find any of this amusing, but he couldn't help himself from feeling the way he did. Maybe they should have stayed back home. The more he knew about the universe at large, the less he liked it. He wanted nothing more than to spend some time surrounded by people that he could call his. He wanted to be surrounded by Colonials, and no other humans, period.
"Well, it seems that we are popular in the galaxy. Everyone knows who we are."
"Not sure that's a good thing," Adama concluded. No, he was sure that wasn't a good thing. These humans that were all crawling throughout the galaxy were too advanced. Better for the Colonies to stay hidden. He also knew that Roslin wasn't thinking just about other races knowing about the Colonials but also about the fact that these people somehow knew their names. It was indicating a much broader understanding of who they were. "I'm a little pissed that we know next to nothing about them while they seem like nosy neighbors who have lived next to you long enough to know all your secrets. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."
"That's understandable. With your military background, not knowing your opponent while he knows a lot about you must be like being stuck in Tartarus."
"Close to it, yeah," Adama replied. Then he turned to look at her with a stern look.
"What?" Roslin picked up on it immediately.
"Not happy about your decision for both of us to go. The two people with the highest positions in the fleet, both civilian and military, will be in their hands the moment we board their ship. I don't like it, not one bit," Adama replied. He wasn't in a good mood, that was clear. On the other hand, if Baltar - who had been adamant that he needed to come along - died here today, he wouldn't bat an eye.
"We are here to ask them for information about the Terrans. Our main mission is to ask the Terrans for help in our war, maybe even ask these people if they can help too! I somehow doubt we'll get anywhere if we are unwilling to discuss such matters with them in person. They are asking us so politely, which, by the way, doesn't happen very often, does it?"
"Still, I could have gone alone," Adama retorted.
"That would have been a bad move," she responded while slightly shaking her head. "Their leader isn't from the military. It would be insulting to send only a military representative. I'm also not losing the opportunity to talk to these people by relinquishing my seat because of safety concerns. I'm not giving it to someone else from the civilian side!"
"Stubborn as always," he replied with a snort. "Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?"
"I'm just thinking positively here. I believe that, this time, our meeting with a new race will proceed amicably and that we'll also gain something valuable from it."
"You just had to jinx it, didn't you? Now that you've said that, no frakking way it will go smoothly," he replied, mumbling the last part. Everybody in the military knew that some things you did not do or say if you didn't want things to go wrong.
And one of those was to say that it would all be nothing but smooth sailing.
"Well, unfortunately for you, I don't believe in that stuff."
He didn't reply. He did not see the point in arguing with her. It always ended with him losing the will to counter. He sighed while glancing over the copilot through the frontal view. They were approaching the port hangar of the alien's small ship. He hadn't thought much about the ship until this moment. It was 312 meters in length, and the design seemed awkward. However, what he saw now was baffling him, and he wasn't the only one. The two pilots were also muttering words of puzzlement at what they were seeing. It was the final approach to the hangar, and they were currently able to see what was inside, clear as day, which is where the problem was!
'There are people inside moving about!'
The question of how people could be moving as if nothing was wrong while seemingly exposed to the harsh environment of space was swirling inside his head. The Raptor entered the hangar as instructed, which caused some sizzling on the craft's front to be seen. It was just for a moment, but he knew they had just passed through an energy-based forcefield. It was like an invisible wall that was keeping the air and heat from leaving the ship to be lost to the emptiness of space. It must be a barrier designed in such a way that a craft could still pass through.
'Even these humans are showing technology far in advance of the Colonies!' he thought bitterly.
He turned his sight and saw the figure of their esteemed genius expert, Gaius Baltar seated opposite to him. He was currently bouncing like a kid in a candy store while attempting to get a better look at what was outside, which, in his humble opinion, was unbecoming for anyone older than twelve. Ever since Baltar had seen the same thing that he'd had, the man became extremely excited. His current behavior was dangerous. Once the conversation started, the scientist would most certainly start with some annoying techno-babble, relentlessly pestering their host possibly until the moment they were kicked out. A short glance directed at Roslin was enough for her to understand what they needed to do during the incoming meeting.
Baltar had to be silenced, at all cost.
'Why did we even take him with us?' He knew they had to so that he could give a glance at their ship's interior and equipment. He was regretting it even before having boarded their ship.
The raptor landed, and a polite crewmember guided them through its many corridors. Adama was sure they were going towards some conference room where they could talk with Jonas Quinn.
While walking and observing the corridors and anything that would catch his eye by whispering, he inquired the other two people with him, "What's your opinion of the ship?"
While scrutinizing her surroundings, Roslin was first to reply. "At first, I thought it was the same as the Terran ship Prometheus. The size of the corridors is the same, and the overall feel is somewhat similar. However, I think this ship is more polished. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at discerning what a piece of advanced technology is from what isn't, I'm sorry."
"Oh, there are a few things that seem quite advanced, but, for example, the metallurgical work doesn't seem all that refined. It is not at a level as bad as the one on the Galactica, but it isn't as refined as the one done on the new Mercury or Valkyrie class ships either. I've also witnessed the use of crystal-based technology in a few places, which is, unfortunately, far from our understanding or ability to reproduce. And let's not talk about that forcefield that was preventing air from escaping the hangar bay," Baltar commented at length while looking left and right.
"Yes, let's not talk about it. Mine was a simple question that needed a short and hushed reply, and not the beginning of a dissertation!" Adama responded, a little peeved. Even worse, Baltar was so oblivious that he didn't even understand why he had whispered the question in the first place. Therefore, he'd replied at full volume for everyone to hear as if he was inside an audience hall delivering a speech. The smile on the crewmember that was leading them was enough proof of how loud Gaius had been.
Realizing that asking questions wasn't smart, they proceeded through the various corridors until they came in front of a set of double doors. The doors parted, revealing the room inside. The man that he'd talked too over the comm was seated in one of the twelve available seats around a long conference table.
As he saw them, the man stood up with a beaming smile. "I'm glad you agreed to meet with me. Please, come in! You can take whatever seat you feel most comfortable with."
The man seemed very cheerful. He must be that kind of person.
He quickly glanced at Roslin before stepping inside the room. Reaching the table, they took the three seats precisely opposite to the man who was still standing and waiting for them to all be seated before he would do the same. After they sat down, Mr. Quinn thought about something for a moment before taking all his things that were spread on the table and quickly moved to the seat next to them. The guy was now in the process of seating down just to his left.
"You don't mind if I sit closer, do you? I mean, talking while I'm on the other side of this large table somehow feels too formal, and cold," Jonas replied while keeping a full smile.
"We don't mind at all!" Roslin was the first to answer, apparently liking what the man had done.
They were now all seated and waiting for the friendly Mr. Quinn to begin the talks.
"So, you are humans from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, am I right?" he asked, still smiling.
"Yes," Roslin responded. "You've stated during the communication that your name is Jonas Quinn and that you are from a planet called Langara, is that correct?"
"That is correct," Jonas began explaining. "Langara, my home planet, is quite some distance from here. The planet we are orbiting right now is our first colony; barely six months old!"
"Distant? How distant?" Roslin asked, clearly curious.
Quinn smiled even more. "Well, let's just say that as far as I know, the Cyrannus system is closer than my homeworld is."
"So, you know our home system's location?" Adama asked, not liking this part.
"Not the exact coordinates, no. The Terrans only told us the length of your voyage," Quinn replied, again while putting up a benevolent smile. "You don't have to worry about information like the exact location of your planet or any other sensitive information from being leaked, I can assure you. The Terrans won't divulge such information to anyone. Even the information they told me was only because your Expeditionary Fleet was coming our way. They didn't want for any dangerous misunderstandings to needlessly spring between us."
From his behavior, Quinn must have realized how skeptical they were when the Terrans were involved.
"So, they are keeping it for themselves," Adama replied while thinking. At least it appeared that the Terrans weren't needlessly spreading information about the Colonies to other races.
"Yes, but I have been given some information regarding recent events in your home system. It isn't much. However, Daniel Jackson was certain that you'd want to hear it as soon as possible," Quinn stated, with a smile.
Of course, they were interested. The last news received was when Agathon and the Cylon woman had reached the Expeditionary Fleet. By that time elections were nearing their end, however, the victor wasn't yet known.
"We are very interested, yes," Adama asked. There was no reason to hide how interested they were.
"Well, from the little I was told, your current president is an admiral in your space navy. His name is Augustine Nagala," Quinn revealed.
"Admiral Nagala?" Roslin was first to answer, seemingly clueless about how this was possible. She murmured while looking at Adama, "He wasn't even a candidate."
Adama responded quickly after realizing the only option left. "A coup. For Nagala to be the president, there's no other way than to have staged a coup."
"You are correct. From what I was told, the previous president, Richard Adar eventually won the elections," Quinn added.
"Adar? From what Agathon told us, it should have been Foster who won the race," Adama interjected. He couldn't understand how things had evolved back in the Colonies.
"That's because the other candidate, Foster, was assassinated three days before the elections. That allowed the previous president to win without opposition, even though his popularity was low. Afterward, the Colonies were in an uproar since everybody believed the mastermind behind the assassination had to have been Adar. Even though there was no proof of his involvement, rumors spread quickly. They were enough for the people to begin showing their dissatisfaction towards the current administration and especially towards their reelected president," Quinn continued.
"Well, if there's something that would push someone like Nagala to stage a coup is the idea of Adar winning the elections by orchestrating the assassination of his only competitor. I know Nagala well. He was probably waiting for the elections to bring change to the Colonies. But when he saw the result, he must have decided to do something," Adama contemplated at loud.
"Yes, you are correct," Quinn added. "After several bad moves made by Adar's administration, Admiral Nagala finally enacted his coup and took the presidency by force. During the coup, they kept the bloodshed to a minimum. Also, the people have reacted positively to admiral Nagala removing Adar and him taking Adar's place. Beside Adar's closest allies and the CID agents, others welcomed the new president with open arms."
"I'm sure they did. If they thought Adar was behind Foster's assassination, whoever came to replace him would be welcomed as a hero," Roslin said.
"Yes, but I was also informed that after the elections was a time of great turmoil for the Colonies. I'm talking about the conflict between the Colonies and the Cylons that, unfortunately, had intensified. After they had retaken Caprica under Adar's order, the Cylons went on an offensive that once again recaptured the planet. However, that wasn't all. Afterward, I'm afraid the Cylons went on a rampage and caused massive damage and great loss of life on three other planets. Those planets were extensively bombarded from orbit, primarily targeting areas with a dense population. Most of the biggest cities on the surface of Aerilion, Aquaria, and Canceron in the Helios Delta System were devastated by nuclear bombs." Quinn continued with this last part spoken in a much more somber tone. "I'm very sorry, but it seems that billions of lives were lost in those attacks. I don't have the exact numbers."
Adama didn't know what to say. This information was something that erased every thought he had about who the current president was or how he got there. Suddenly, it all became irrelevant. Right now, the only thing he could think about was how many people he knew from those planets that might have been there when it had happened. He knew many, yet, their deaths paled in comparison to the real depth of this tragedy. A tragedy with billions lost in a blink of an eye, almost as if they hadn't even existed. There would not be even a coffin for those surviving friends and loved ones to visit.
He turned to face Roslin and saw the grim expression on her face. She too didn't know what to say. The blow after the first attack had been severe. The loss of so many lives on Caprica and Geminon was a catastrophe. However, suddenly finding out that while on their way to find Earth, their home had sustained an even more devastating attack was possibly even more frightening.
"I give you my sincere condolences. My planet has lost almost a quarter of its population during attacks perpetrated by invaders. They wanted to enslave us or, if unwilling to bow to their ruling, murder us all. Therefore, I know how you are feeling right now," Quinn added after he had given them a minute to process the information.
"Thank you, Mister Quinn," Adama stated. "However, now is not the right time to talk about the losses sustained in the Colonies. We will have plenty of time for that later. Do you have any more information for us?"
"I was given this data storage unit to pass it onto you. I don't know how much more information is on it than what I've already told you. The device can be accessed only by president Roslin," Quinn said while facing her. "The Terrans knew that you wouldn't appreciate it if they gave me any sensitive information. Because of it, I have only one more piece of information to give you."
"What piece?" Roslin asked while taking the given device.
"Under Nagala's leadership, your people were able to push the Cylons out of the entire Cyrannus system. Furthermore, the Terrans have now found a person in the current President of the Colonies with whom they think they can work with, someone with an open mind. First, the Terrans have sent aid to help the Helios Delta system. They've also devised plans and ideas that could greatly help the Colonies in revitalizing their economy. Afterward, members of the Terran Council had a meeting with president Nagala. I can only hope that the details of the meeting are on that data storage device that I just gave you. They haven't told me any more than what I've already told you," Quinn concluded.
"The Terrans made contact with the Colonies?" Adama half asked, half stated, not exactly sure what to think. He wasn't even contemplating the possibility of this information being a lie. He knew in his bones that it was the truth. He could also predict that the storage unit they had just received would contain evidence of what this man had just told them. Therefore, now the question was, what are they to do with this new piece of information? He turned towards Roslin. Again, she had a perplexed expression showing how she wasn't sure about what to do. "If that's true, are we then supposed to go back home? Without completing our mission?"
"Wouldn't the Terrans like that," Roslin added with a good dose of sarcasm mixed in. "Out of the blue, we find out that our whole mission makes no sense anymore because the Terrans have already contacted the Colonies. I don't like it. I don't like it at all."
Roslin wasn't sharing his certainty that this new information was legit. "You have doubts if the Terrans are telling the truth? You shouldn't. I'm sure we will find something on that data unit that will corroborate what Mister Quinn told us just now."
"Which, with their level of technology, means nothing. It can easily be falsified evidence," Roslin responded.
Adama couldn't deny it. The Terrans possessed technologies that were far beyond their understanding. No matter what proof they provided, there would always be doubt if they might have falsified the data. He hated worrying about something even before knowing what was in the data unit. However, his pondering was cut short by Quinn's prompt response.
"You don't need to doubt the veracity of the information I passed onto you," Quinn began what would probably be an explanation. "And that's because the Terrans wish for you to continue your voyage to reach Earth. They knew you wouldn't go back after coming this far, regardless of any claims or evidence they provided that states the Colonies had already opened talks with the Terrans. Therefore, they are encouraging you to proceed. Daniel Jackson said - and I paraphrase here - it would be beneficial for the Colonies if they proceeded further on their journey. He said that if you do, you'd be able to understand your distant past much better and possibly even gain something from it. However, they also want you to be careful because you are entering a region of space with many habitable planets in it. Consequently, there are also many races present. Some hostile, some not. Some human, and some not."
"Like the Asgard?" Adama spat, the moment he did, immediately realizing how much they must have left an impression on him to react like that in such an occasion. So much so that their race's name was the first to come out.
"So, you met the Asgard," Quinn added with a smile.
"We did meet them," he replied, but opposite to Quinn's, his tone was much darker.
"Well, I don't know the exact circumstances on how you met them, however, I do feel from your reaction that it wasn't a completely amicable encounter, which would suggest that you did something that angered them. Am I correct in my assumption?"
It seemed this guy was good at reading people. There was no point in hiding or lying about what had happened either. "Yes, our first and only encounter didn't go so well. Let's say that we didn't show them our best side."
"I think you shouldn't worry too much about that, though," Quinn responded. "I will tell you this. In the past ten thousand years, the Asgardians have been known as the protectors of humanity, even though they are not humans. If you don't cause them reasons to think of you as someone needlessly hostile towards them or other races, then, I repeat, you truly have nothing to worry. After all, the Asgardian were members of an alliance of Four Great Races that kept this and other galaxies under their benign control several millions of years ago. A time so long ago that humans didn't even exist back then."
Adama thought how this man could spit such sentences as if they were nothing, even though he had just given them some mind-blowing revelations. The man must have noticed that he was treading on dangerous grounds that he better shouldn't because he quickly continued.
"Oops, let's not talk about strange things that have no relevance to your current situation. What's important right now is that, from here on out, you proceed with caution towards the Lagoon Nebula and then straight to Earth. I repeat. You need to be careful on your journey," Quinn explained.
"What? More Jaffa, Aschen, and alien ships that look like floating pyramids?" Adama replied, fed up.
Frankly, he did contemplate the idea of turning the fleet around and going back home at best possible speed. If the Terrans had opened a dialog with the Colonies, what were they even doing by being here? However, the Terrans, as if they knew it would unnerve him, added that they wanted them to continue with their trek towards Earth by giving them the final bait. The bait that the voyage they were on would give them some important clues about their distant past they, in truth, knew very little. Right now, he wasn't even sure if the slip about the Four Great Races that had ruled millions of years ago was a slip at all or perhaps was a piece of information that was given to them on purpose, to entice them even further. The idea of other races, of humans not being the only ones, or the idea that humanity was not on the top of the food chain in this and other galaxies!
A right they thought was given to them by the Gods.
His mind was swirling. These few new pieces of information and the revelation of the tragedy that had occurred back home and that he still hadn't been able to process correctly, it was all giving him a debilitating headache that left him unable to come to any useful conclusion. This meeting should end soon, and he should go back to the Galactica, spend some time going through the given data storage unit, and only then spend some more time to think about what was going on and what wasn't. What was the truth, and what were the lies? And most importantly, what were they supposed to do next!
"You are correct," Quinn responded and by doing so snapping him from his current train of swirling thoughts. "And also, many more. The quicker you realize that you are not alone and that this galaxy – and other galaxies - has many hostile races in it, the safer you'll be. We learned it the hard way. I hope you'll be more fortunate than we, the Langarans were."
At first, it seemed the man wasn't giving them any useful information. However, he now thought differently. The man was indirectly implying that significant events were happening outside of their little corner of the galaxy. Far more significant than they could ever imagine. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the part in which he'd subtly mentioned other galaxies, when he'd implied there were races not native to this one out there, was a warning that was telling him that things currently happening around the Terrans were much more significant than they could imagine - things of such importance that the Terrans might not have any time to devote to the Colonies.
"Are the Terrans waging wars with other races?" Roslin spat out those words so fast that he couldn't believe it.
The man, Quinn, was scrutinizing her while not saying a single word. He as well must not have expected her to ask such a question so bluntly. Adama could only feel proud of how she had so quickly come to the crux of the matter.
What was the real state of the galaxy? Why weren't the Terrans helping with the war against the Cylons?
It took a while, but Quinn did answer eventually. "They are. They are fighting so many enemies that you and your problems seem almost insignificant. Not to you, of course, but to the rest of the universe, the many galaxies that are involved, many races - yes, your troubles seem small, I'm afraid."
It was true, it seemed. The Colonies were a small fry with one meager system that had problems against a race they'd created. If the scope of troubles the Terrans were dealing with encompassed races from this and other galaxies, then it wasn't strange at all that they did not devote any more than some intelligence-gathering assets to monitor the Colonials. They were probably thinking of the troubles the Cylons were causing as irrelevant and only spent the least needed to monitor the situation and prevent it from turning from a small problem into a big one. They were probably more worried about the Cylons somehow attaining a faster method of travel and spreading far and wide than anything else that happened in this war. Only recently had the Terrans deployed another ship, probably as the replacement for the Prometheus that had sustained damage while saving their collective asses from that accursed pyramidal ship.
It all fits now. It wasn't that the Terrans were contemplating joining the Cylons, or that they were condoning what the Cylons had done. The sad truth was that they were dealing with other matters and didn't have the necessary assets to protect the Colonies, much less to search for the elusive Cylons.
"Thank you, Mister Quinn," Roslin said, snapping Adama from his frantic thinking spree. "Well, I think that we should return to our ship. You'll have to forgive me, but I am a little piqued to find what's on the data unit that you gave me."
"Not at all. There's nothing more that I can offer you anyway. This meeting wasn't meant for our two races to learn about each other. For that, we will have to wait for another day. Maybe when your troubles back home are solved, and you have established diplomatic relations with the Terrans. Perhaps then."
"Quite Correct. Now is not the right time…"
Adama listened as the two of them were exchanging the final few pleasantries before ending the meeting. While they were doing so, he anchored himself in front of Baltar who was itching to ask something. He would probably end up bothering their host with questions about their technology or something similar that the host wouldn't answer anyway. By placing himself between them, he was preventing that from occurring.
The meeting was over, and they were guided back to their raptor. Once on the Galactica, they should start discussing what had transpired during the meeting. However, that would also have to wait. First, they'd need to go through the received data and see what had happened back home.
Only afterward could they start planning their next step.
Thanks for reading, and please leave a review if you feel like it.
