Lee Adama looked at the survivors brought back from the hospital on Gemenon. Most were women between the ages of 15 and 35 – child bearing age. There were a few males but not many.
He saw a group of three who were sitting off to the side after having been examined and he decided to speak to them. They were apprehensive but not horribly so. He hunkered down close to them on his ankles so as not to tower over them. "Hello. My name is Lee Adama, and I command the Pegasus, the Battlestar you are on." He received hellos back. "How are you three doing?"
One of the women, the oldest one (about his age) took charge. "We're much better for having been rescued from that hell."
Lee nodded sympathetically. "We're going to be sending you all on to where the Colonial survivors are – far away from here and at a place far out the reach of those who held you captive." He noted that their tension eased at that. "We also captured the Cylons who were doing whatever it was to you. What it would be helpful to know is: What were they doing to you?"
"They were testing our reproduction systems. I heard two of them talking. They were trying to figure out how to have children because they haven't been able to."
"I see." He paused and then said, "I assume that many tests were invasive. Was it painful?"
One of them shrugged. "I know they cut me open. But they used anesthesia. But I don't know what they did to me!" She was suddenly hysterical. The other two moved closer and tried to provide comfort.
When she had calmed a bit, "We're going to try to figure it out. If Colonial doctors can't, Earth doctors probably can."
All three suddenly looked at him. "Earth? You've found Earth?"
Lee chuckled weakly. "Yes and no. We have found it, but it's not what we thought. Earth does exist, it has its own colonies. But they are also having some internal trouble. But not only that, we've found Alien races. Did you see the ones with our soldiers with bones on their heads?"
The one who hadn't spoken volunteered, "I saw someone like that. But I thought it was hallucination."
"No." Lee smiled. "They are an Alien race. Their warrior caste sent ships and warriors to help us rescue you. In fact, the leader of the entire warrior caste, a third of their people, came to lead the ships helping us. His name is Shakiri. He helped plan your rescue. Without his advice and without his warriors, we might have lost more people, or some might have been killed."
The youngest asked, "Can we meet him?"
Lee considered that. "I'll ask." He stood up and motioned a female colonial marine (they had tried to have mostly women marines around the rescued women, and all Colonial personnel were ordered to removed headgear so that they could be seen to be different people. The captured Cylons were being kept isolated and watched on one of the Cargo ships.
The marine came over. "Commander. Do you need something?"
"Yes. Can you see if you can find Shai Alyt Shakiri? Three of those rescued wished to meet him."
"Yes, Sir." She ran off. Shakiri was with his men, and overseeing the refueling of the flyers and the debriefing of the warriors involved.
Very soon, the Shai Alyt came walking from where the Minbari were centralized. "My presence was requested?" Lee nodded after reading the tablet he now carried for when he spoke to others.
"Yes." He turned to the three. "He doesn't speak our language, but does speak the main language of Earth." Shakiri read his own tablet. Lee then said, "I would like to introduce Shakiri, Shai Alyt of the Minbari warrior caste. That is equivalent to the Admiral of the Fleet."
The three looked at the Alien. The oldest spoke. "We wanted to thank you for you help in rescuing us. Commander Adama said that it was your plan which made it so successful."
Shakiri nodded in acknowledgement. "Actually, it was the Commander's plan. I just added my advice to improve it and to ensure that the resources my people brought were best used."
The youngest, who was not as traumatized as the woman who was operated on, looked at the Alien man. Unlike Humans, he looked nothing like the Cylons who held them captive and experimented on them. He dressed nothing like them. The bone on his head marked him as completely different. Even his beard was uncommon in the Colonies, at least among on the military bases she had grown up on, and no Cylon who had visited the facility had a beard. She didn't know if they could grow them. Also, the barrel-chested figure was so very much like her grandfather that she remembered as a little girl.
She stood up and said, "My name is Emily Soren. I asked to meet you to say thank you." She then cautiously walked over and slowly reached her arms around the figure. After a moment the alien man placed his hands on her back. She withdrew her arms and went and sat back down.
The man looked at her and then put lifted his hands in fists and then moved them to almost a prayer position and bowed his head. "I am honored to receive your thanks." The commander showed her the translation. And the man truly sounded honored.
He paused and then asked, "May I ask a personal question?" Emily looked at him in interest. "What did your parents do? What was their work?"
Emily read the question and said, "My mother mostly took care of the children and home. But my father was career military. He worked at Picon Fleet Headquarters before the attack. I was away at school during the attack."
Shakiri read the answer and once again bowed. "Thank you."
Shakiri went back to the bed that he used with the others of his caste on Pegasus. As he lay there, he considered what he had experienced. It was a rare thing to receive such simple gratitude for doing what was expected of him. Minbari did show respect, his caste did recognize him and his skills, but being thanked by one who had directly benefited was rare.
The Human girl (for compared to him she was a girl) had expressed her gratitude with grace, especially given what his warriors had described as the conditions found in the place she was redeemed from.
Had he ever truly thanked anyone himself? When other warriors took his orders and followed them, when the workers serviced his ships, he took such as expected. Thanks was neither sought not expected. But it was courteous. And reflecting upon his past, he realized that he had not been a courteous man.
He also felt gratified to know that he had help save the daughter of a warrior, a warrior who – according to what he knew of the attack – likely died in the midst of his duties. Warriors often neglected to remember those left behind. Death was a part of the warrior's life. Those left behind were expected to understand and to bear the necessary pain.
How often had he considered those left behind by warriors who he commanded? Warriors he had led into death?
Many warriors had accused Delenn of pride and presumption. And when he had heard she had upbraided the Grey Council for such before breaking it, when he had heard the words she had spoken, he had agreed with those accusations. He had been offended on the behalf of his entire caste. Such was one of the prime motivations for the later conflict between the warrior and religious castes.
Perhaps, he considered within his heart and mind, perhaps Delenn had been making a very valid point.
Shakiri resolved that he would have to meditate and consider the things that he had long ignored in his ambition to reach for power and influence.
The next morning, Lee Adama gathered the mission commanders together once more. "We have enough to fill one of the transports. And I believe that it would be better to send Athena back with the one transport rather than wait for the next to be filled. I need to report to the Admiral and the President what we found. It is likely there are other places where the same is taking place. I also need to ensure that our plan to lead the Cylons away from our escape is implemented. Any objections?"
There were not.
"Okay. Athena? Pegasus will fill the Cybele and you lead her back. We'll continue on operations. Before you leave, make certain we have a time table and alternate jump coordinates. If we end up fighting, we'll have to be cautious in returning to normal space and prepared to open hyperspace to retrieve you."
"Aye, Sir."
"Now. We've hit a Cylon facility and destroyed the majority or all Cylons within that area. Our efforts are likely now causing an alert to be made to the Cylon forces available. We've held off from scanning the cities but I believe that it is time to perform when there may be opposition. I would like to hit Caprica City and any other city on Caprica. See if there are any more facilities like the one we just cleared out. We'll still try to stay on the dark side, but it is possible, even likely, that this will open the door for a baseship to attempt to stop us. Are you all ready for this?"
"Yes, Sir," sounded out in unison.
"Shakiri, Are your Nial pilots ready?"
"They have been ready for days. For them, I believe, it will be satisfying to see battle."
"Alright then. So here's how this goes: We will begin operations in Caprica City as soon as nighttime fully takes hold. Survivors that are not in Cylon custody will be scattered. So raptors will have to land as directed by Eyes in the Sky to retrieve them. Each raptor is to have a squad of 3 marines minimum. It is possible, even likely, that we will have to enter buildings to retrieve people. We will also be prepared for large groups of Cylons. Vipers. Be prepared for bombing and strafing runs, depending on what is found. Eyes in the Sky.
He looked around. "In addition to scanning, you will have to jam all frequencies outside of what we are using. But it may be necessary to stop jamming for short periods for our operations. This means that the likelihood of a message to Cylon units not present getting through. If there is one baseship, the White Stars will engage, the Nials supporting. If there are two baseships, we will launch vipers as well. If there are three, we launch all fighters, hurry up all rescue operations, and be prepared to retreat." He paused.
"Shakiri? Can a flyer open hyperspace at the outer edge of the atmosphere like a White Star?"
"It can be done, but it is harder for a smaller ship to withstand the pull of the immediate atmosphere attempting to equalize. Opening a vortex and maintaining position will likely burn through their fuel much more quickly."
"Then if we have to prevent the necessity of bringing the raptors into orbit to keep them from attack, we get all raptors to fly through a vortex in the upper atmosphere and the flyer will follow through to be refueled immediately rather than shutting it down and preparing for more raptors."
Shakiri replied, "I will give the appropriate orders."
"Good." He looked around. "Anybody have any questions?"
"No, Sir!"
"We hit Caprican orbital space in 2 hours."
Flyer 1 was positioned in orbit, prepared to open the way for returning raptors. Suddenly, in the distance, he observed a large ship appear. It was as large as a Battlestar and it had two triangular structures separated by a small core.
"Flyer 1 to White Star Command."
"This is White Star Command."
"Basestar has appeared. Count: 1. Distance: 50,000 kilometers and closing."
"Have they seen you?'
"Unknown."
"Launching Nials. Alert Eyes in the Sky and prepare to retreat into atmosphere."
"Understood."
"White Star Command, Out."
Flyer 1 called the Human Anla'Shok and monitored the incoming ship. It was fairly aesthetic in a way that Human ships were not. The three protrusions from the upper and lower sections were offset. Suddenly, he could see the reason for the offset axis: It allowed more efficient launching of multiple banks of fighters.
"White Star Command, Flyer. Enemy ship has launched fighters."
"Understood. Vortex opening in 10 seconds."
"Acknowledged."
The pilot on the flyer saw the vortex appear. Viewed from the position of the basestar, it would likely look like ships appearing from no where. The thought was amusing.
At the end of the line of fighters, White Star Command and the supporting ship appeared and then turned facing the incoming ship.
A Six and a One were in the control room. There had been an alert to Colonial units appearing over Caprica City, now moving through, stopping and then taking off. Cylon installations were being bombed by vipers, and patrolling centurions were being shot by them.
Suddenly One noticed something. "Zoom in on that area." The mental holographic interface allowed the hybrid to immediately understand. The view enlarged. "Does that look Colonial to you?" he asked Six.
She peered at it. "No. Its coloring and shape are entirely unknown." She read the scanner results. "What information we can gather on composition is unknown. But we cannot get a targeting fix on it."
"Launch raptors. It isn't large enough to be a threat. Disable it and then we can retrieve the remains for analysis."
The Hybrid pulsed and several squadrons of raiders exited the arms of the ship.
Six suddenly was taken aback. "New contacts. Smaller than this one but colored similarly." She pushed a few "controls" (holographically created). "We cannot get a targeting lock on theses either."
One turned his head quickly in shock. "No lock?"
"No."
Suddenly there were two much larger ships appearing. "Where did these come from?"
"Unknown. They didn't just appear as from a jump, but flew out. All ships appeared from the same location."
"What is that design? It looks nothing like a Human design."
Six was as perplexed as One. She reported, "We can target those ships. Analysis of readings show unknown composites in hull design."
"Weapons?"
"No missile tubes. However, the end of the wings do appear to have some weapon installed."
One took a long look. "Try to call them." Six looked at him in question. "We don't know what they are. Let's try to find out."
Six opened a radio transmitter. "Basestar to unknown ships. Identify yourselves."
Shakiri looked at the display. "Lead the Nials away from the planet. This may prevent them from attacking the raptors. Have Flyer 1 retreat into atmosphere as soon as the enemy turns."
"Shai Alyt. Message coming in from the basestar." A Human ranger had taken the watch, the Shok'nali was assisting Marcus with directing retrievals.
"What does it say?"
"Translation: Basestar to Unknown ships. Identify your bodies."
"Bad translation." He turned to the ranger who was operating communications. "What do you think?"
The ranger thought quickly. "Send a message back in English to confuse them." Shakiri considered and slowly smiled. "Message repeats," the ranger reported.
"Open a channel."
"Channel open."
Shakiri spoke not in English but in Feek, the language of the warrior caste. "White Star Command to Basestar. Identify yourself."
Six looked at One after the voice came through. "What is that language?" One asked.
Six looked at her instruments. "Completely unknown. We have no common words to known Human language."
One's eyes widened. "It must be Alien of some type."
Six looked at him quickly. "Alien? We have never seen anyone not Cylon or Human."
"But that isn't Human. Try sending out a datalink. Maybe they can understand that."
"Sending a message using basic binary translation of known language."
The trouble with this approach is that without some basis of common understanding, a data stream was completely untranslatable. The only reason it worked with aliens was because different races used prime numbers as a basis on common computing. But the Cylons had never conceived a need to come up with a protocol for unknown contacts. They had never come up with language files.
Shakiri looked at the Ranger. "What did they send?"
The Ranger answered, "What they sent was a translation of letters of Colonial. If we did not know what they were, it would be incomprehensible."
"Let us not help them. They have no translation which is common."
"So we should not send Interlac?" Interlac was sufficiently simple that most computer systems could work out language and numbers with sufficient analysis. This was why unknown contacts were sent Interlac.
"No. If they learn this, then they may eventually be able to communicate with other races. They would begin learning. We know they cannot communicate. Let us not give them a means to learn and to use it to increase their threat. Send them a corresponding message with common Minbari letter translation. With no common source, it will be as meaningless as their own message."
Six reported. "Data message return. Hybrid cannot work out a common basis for work to begin translating."
One replied, "Damn. Send …. Prime numbers."
The Ranger said, "They are sending prime numbers."
Shakiri considered. "Very well. Show them we understand Prime numbers. Send back a stream of prime numbers as well. Send more than they sent us."
The Ranger did so. "Shai Alyt? May I ask a question?"
"Ask," the Minbari leader replied.
"What is the strategy? Ranger training was most complete, and I have easily grasped your orders and the reasons for them. Until now. What is the strategy? The tactics?"
Shakiri smiled. "You know. The religious caste preaches recognizing commonality so that you can relate to those you encounter. The warrior caste teaches one to understand oneself and the enemy so that you can predict their responses. I am applying this. And I have conceived of the fact that the Cylon, at their very base, are machine-like in their responses. They do not have the same intuition and ability to concentrate on multiple things. Oh. Wait that reminds me. As soon as prime numbers are completed, send … computer translations of music. Something that may be understood but we are unsure. Narn opera if we have recordings."
The Ranger did as ordered. "Done, Shai Alyt."
"Good. As I was saying. They are, at their base, machine intelligences. They need to understand us, to classify us. They lack true intuition. They ignore the fact that they were sent signals because the Humans are operating in the cities and that is why they arrived here. They ignore what is happening to concentrate on trying to determine who and what we are. I am using this to keep their attention on me rather than on the mission. At some point, they may eventually realize and attack but until then, we provide a distraction. And we carefully do not send and receive transmission from the Humans. We don't want to alert them to their error."
The Human ranger was amused as he said, "Sun Tzu, a Human general thousands of years ago wrote a book called the Art of War. In it he said: The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
Shakiri nodded. "True. Has there been a reply to music files?"
"No, Shai Alyt." After a moment, "They have sent … something. The computer registers it as a simple computer virus. But for them it might be advanced."
"Well, we 'can't understand' them. Send them … Pak'mara translation files. Let's see what they can make of those. Continue flying in patterns not threatening but away from the direction of the planet. Keep their attention on us. Have Nial fighters follow."
"Yes, Shai Alyt."
"Now, what other truths do you have from Human warriors of the past? Let us compare them to Minbari teachings."
The Ranger actually grinned at that. "Never interrupt an enemy when is making a mistake. Napoleon Bonaparte. Oscar Wilde said: Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much."
Shakiri laughed at that. "That describes Delenn!"
The Ranger smirked. "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. Eisenhower."
Shakiri and the Ranger made it a game of exchanging truths about war and battle while distracting the Cylons.
However, after about 30 minutes more, the game was up. The basestar had stopped trying to decipher what was being sent and the Cylon raiders moved forward to attack.
"Very well then. Send the Nials against the raiders," Shakiri ordered. "Blanket all frequencies save our link to the Nials and the other White Star."
The Anla'shok spoke. "Nials are now within weapons range."
Shakiri watched. "They do not fire?"
"No, Shai Alyt."
One looked at the screens. "What's happening?"
"The raiders can't get a lock on them. Their targeting sensors are scattered and they don't have regular sight."
"Can we link in and direct them?"
"Not efficiently." And after a pause. "Enemy fighters are among the raiders."
"Order the raiders to fire without a lock!" Six pushed a few buttons and several raiders shot blindly.
The fighters then began firing. "What are they firing!?"
Six shook her head slightly. "We read it as plasma. Superheated. No projectiles." After a moment, "Raiders now firing based on calculations on source of superheated fire."
A few raiders had some small success. A few fighters had been hit and one had been destroyed – it exploded.
The alien fighters then began chaotic patterns and the raiders were not able to calculate trajectories quickly enough. The two larger alien ships then began approaching the basestar. "Launch anti-ship missiles!"
The basestar launched them. The ships then used superheated plasma to defend. "Missiles destroyed."
"Fire all batteries!"
The two ships, however, hadn't waited. Rather than being in the field of fire, they had moved in sudden speed and in wrenching maneuvers. They couldn't hit them and they couldn't calculate where to fire to intercept them. The two ships separated and flew from two sides, one toward the top, and one toward the central axis.
The upper and lowed platforms adjusted to try to move emplacements directly toward them but the ships vectored to the side, up, down. They made impossible reversals and shot off at impossible angles, at least for a ship that size. A fighter might have been able to – not a warship.
Six and One couldn't keep up. "Order raiders to retreat!"
"We can't reach them! Signals jammed!"
"Prepare to jump!" One ordered.
Six began charging the jump drive. However, she was too late. One of the ships, from too far away, fired a single powerful beam of plasma and the central axis was destroyed. The entire baseship exploded.
"Target destroyed, Shai Alyt."
"Continue jamming until all enemy fighters are destroyed. They might be able to jump away and if we can interfere, it would be best. Order the Nials to ensure all fighters are destroyed, not just disabled."
"Aye, Shai Alyt."
Very soon, all raiders had been destroyed and not had been able to jump out.
"Order all fighters to return to base and follow them. We need to analyze what was done and how to repeat the best parts."
