Belzen couldn't help but scratch his head at what he had seen when reading over the reports Adama had provided him with. The two had spent days comparing notes and reports, punctuated only by rest, food or the occasional message by Belzen to his ship that everything was alright on their end.

Adama had a few choice words when the reports on Galar had become the topic of conversation. Though Belzen hated what he had to say about his former commander, he couldn't disagree that his assessment had been correct that she had been way out of line, and likely would have been placed before a firing squad had her work not been turned into the only real victory their people could claim in the war. Adama knew that such actions in wartime where necessary evils, telling him of his first missions aboard the Galactica back during the Cylon war, and specifically a suicide mission he had gone on which had seen one of the smaller, older class of pocket battlestars and her crew lost all to get faulty intel into enemy hands to allow for a massive strike against their production facilities by the shadow fleet of ships which had been officially marked destroyed in action.

Belzen wondered how large the shadow fleet was now. A long standing open secret of the military, it wouldn't be too hard to have a few of the old mothballed ships from years passed brought back into service without anyone noticing, and with what happened over Earth and the battles since there would be no shortage of ships which could have been added to the fleet without anyone's notice.

"You should probably leave." Adama stated as they finished looking through some old files Belzen had gotten his hands on.

"You're right. After two weeks command is probably already suspicious of my being here." Belzen agreed. "I'll make a request for the Pegasus to be officially stationed here for secrecy reasons. If that's accepted we can have more cooperation between our two groups whenever there's a resupply."

"That sounds like a plan."

Sanctuary City

Libran

Catharine wasn't sure how she had gotten to where she was now. For the past few weeks she had been moved from one house to another in the dead of night to avoid authorities before being brought to Libran by a transport. The place she had been brought to was not what she would have thought when thinking of the colony. Instead of one of the few cities the planet had which were built within an hour's drive from each other, instead she had been brought to a town of several hundred hidden in the mountains deep within the nature preserve which made up most of the planet's surface. The town, if one could call it that, was built inside the face of two mountain sides which faced one another, twin walls of rock going up hundreds of meters before the sky could be seen, each home carved out at its base like an artificial cavern.

Had it not been for the glass windows and doors of wood with lights over them, she would have thought it a town divorced from modernity.

In what passed for a street between the two rock faces, hundreds of people were walking, though to and from what she did not know. Most looked like normal people, but some stood out to her as they had some deformity or abnormality, such as skin which was an unnatural colour or some feature which was slightly off.

"What is this place?" She asked quietly.

"This is Sanctuary City, a place for us to live in peace away from the eyes of humanity." Gustaf informed her. Ever since she had been taken from the Temple of Athena, he had always been there watching over her and giving her tidbits of information about their people. In the time she had about the history of the Inhumans, from their creation by the blue angels who opposed the gods before the exodus to the formation of their society as far away from human civilization as possible within territory which was habitable. She had been quite fascinated, an entire history separate from that which she had learned, isolated from that of the colonies.

"Ah Gustaf, there you are, I was under the impression you wouldn't arrive for another few hours." An elderly woman stated, walking towards the two from the crowd. "And you must be Catharine."

"You know me?" Catharine asked.

"Oh everyone here knows of you, it's not every day we get someone new here, even less so one who has awakened." The woman stated, bending down to be at eye level with the girl.

"Magritte, you know how I like to be on time. It's my brother who is the one who's always late." Gustaf stated flatly.

"Oh yes, sorry I keep forgetting that, you two look so alike I mix you up."

Gustaf rolled his eyes at the comment. "In any event, Catharine this is Magritte, she's responsible for handling newcomers."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Catharine. Please, allow me to show you our village." Magritte offered, extending her hand. Catharine looked at Gustaf, who nodded his head.

"I have business to attend to myself, please, make yourself at home. This place is as much your own as it is ours." Gustaf stated, watching as Magritte left with Catharine it tow, not going ten feet before she started to point to different places to explain what they were.

Gustaf didn't stay where he was very long, electing to walk to one of the doors in the rock side that didn't stand out in any way. Entering, he found the tunnel he was expecting seemed to be smaller than it used to, only barely being wider than the door itself. He figured it just meant he had been away for too long, far too long had he been in human society.

It took him a minute to walk to the end of the corridor, another door waiting for him. Looking up, he gave a wave of his hand to a man standing on the wall about three meters up. The man waved back, but neither spoke as he entered the new door, leaving the other to stand sentry over it.

The room he entered was much more colourful then the stone hallway he had walked through. The walls where decorated with red and yellow fabrics arranged to draw the attention of the eyes to a blue device at the center of the fall wall. The device was a dark blue, a ring just over two meters wide and the object itself a few inches wide. Before the device sat a woman on her knees, her back towards Gustaf as she faced the object.

"I see you have returned." The old woman stated, turning her head to look at him. Which was quite difficult as her eyes were visibly fused shut.

"I brought the girl, and I have news on the humans as well." Gustaf stated, kneeling before the woman.

"I see, tell me."

"The humans continue to fight amongst themselves; their war has escalated to the point where tens of thousands have been lost in but months. I do not foresee their war doing anything but escalate until one side has completely eliminated the other."

"That is of no consequence to us." The old woman stated, returning her sight to the device.

"No, but what is is the appearance of people with abilities like our own entering the conflict on both sides. I fear our existence will eventually become known to them after millennium in the shadows if our kin…"

"They are not our kin." The old woman interrupted.

"What?"

"They are not are kin." She repeated. "I do not see the light within them, whatever they are, they are not Inhumans. Even in he who attacked the capital of the humans, he who could produce the Mist with his own body, who blessed Catharine with the divination which the angels bestowed upon us at our creation, even he I do believe is one of us. He, the one they call Jon Haida, is no Inhuman, if what our brethren of Earth say is true. He is what they call 'Esper', whose abilities come not from the blessings of the angels, but a mutation of the mind. Our brothers in Attilan have confirmed the identities of all those fighting for the Earth, though not all are human, those who are not are not our kin."

Gustaf took a moment to take proses the information in his mind. "I see. What shall we do now, then, my Queen?"

"You will go to Earth, to Attilan, and then make your way to their civilization of humans. There you will make contact with their government on my behalf."

"What!?" He asked in shock, standing up. "But we…."

He was cut off by the Queen lifting her hand. "You're knowledge of Earth, its history, cultures and customs is unparalleled amongst our people. Of the tens of billions of beings in this system, you are likely the one who understands them better than any. That is why you will do this."

Gustaf knew this was likely true. While the history of the First World was one all Inhumans where taught from a young age, he had taken an interest beyond the history of their Attilan cousins and had over the years learned much of the humans of the planet. Of the fourteen human worlds he was aware of, they were by far the one for which he held the most respect, their ingenuity and asymmetric thinking coupled with a discipline unparalleled in the Cyrannus system had made him slightly jealous of the Inhumans of Earth, as in his eyes they had a society on the world they shared which was worthy of seeing outside of the need to keep up to date for security reasons. But to go to Earth to make contact with their government…

"That's unthinkable." He stated. He returned to his kneeling position. "We have remained hidden from the humans for two thousand years, since the days when we and our mechanical allies rose up against our mutual oppressors."

"The wings of change are upon us." The Queen stated calmly. "The return of contact between the tribes of man for the first time in ten thousand years marks the end of an era where isolation from all is viable. The flames of war will eventually reach here, this I can see clearly, and when it does we must make sure those burning the lands ignore our own."

"I will not fight for the humans." Gustaf stated firmly.

"You will not have to, you will simple make sure they do not fight us while they fight each other."

"But…"

"My decision is final."

He let out a sigh. "As you command."

"Good. Now, your things have been prepared. Set forth and make things right for our people, assure our survival while the monkeys fight each other." With the gesture from her hand, Gustaf noticed a large duffle bag which was clearly filled on one side of the room which he hadn't noticed until then. Knowing it had what he needed already; he took it and approached the blue device on the wall of the room.

The Queen stood up from where she was sitting, and slowly walked up to the device. She moved to its side, and with the placement of one of her hands on it the machine started to give off a light hum and glow. It took a few moments, but in a burst of light a liquid looking substance formed within the device, bubbling out in an almost explosion like fashion before returning inward, collapsing into a wall of liquid within the frame of the device. What set the machine apart from what most in the galaxy would call a stargate, apart from its smaller size and different colour, was that the event horizon, instead of the silver which was the standard in such machines, was instead black.

Gustaf didn't think about any of that, however, as he walked across the event horizon for the first time in his life. The trip took less than three seconds, but when he reached the other side he found himself cold and covered in a light layer of ice and snow. It took him a moment to get his sight back, and when it returned he found himself in a small room with large stone bricks for a wall. Three people were present in the room, two covered from head to toe in armour and the last in a woman with long red hair.

"Welcome to Attilan." The woman greeted. Gustaf didn't waste a moment before he kneeled before her.

"Thank you, Queen Medusa, it is an honor to be in your presence and finally meet you in person." He had learned about the Queen of the Earth Inhumans during his basic study of history of their counterparts, but had never expected he would meet her in the flesh or travel to her world. It wouldn't dawn on him until that night when he looked up at the stars and saw how different they were to those which he knew. It gave him an odd sense of scale and purpose, that he had traveled so far in but an instant. He may have had misgivings about his mission, but he felt a bit of optimism at its potential outcome.

The same could not be said for his own Queen back home, who meditated on what the future of her people would hold. It was said that to their people, the abilities which appear come in time of need. This had held true with Gustaf, whose ability to make himself disappear had been activated at a time where Colonial security systems had their infiltration of Colonial society much more difficult. With that being the case, it made her wonder why Catharine could cause plants to grow rapidly with but the sound of her voice. Food was never scarce for her people, and the world their civilization was hidden within was mostly a nature preserve which had the strongest ecosystem of any world. She had a few ideas of what the reason could possibly be, all of which made her fear for the future.

New trials were about to begin, though weather or not her people would be the ones doing them or dealing with their repercussions remained to be seen.

Downtown Tawa

Sagittaron

"I want a ten block perimeter set up and all civilians evacuated from the area. If you can't get them out then get them in the subways or underground, just off the streets and for the love of gods not in the higher levels of the buildings!" The police chief ordered. Around him was a scene of disorganized chaos as civilians ran for cover while officers tried to retain order. The military had been called in already, but their response wouldn't be there for some time.

What had happened was an initial force of a single platoon of Colonial marines coupled with two of the enhanced humans they had where on patrol in the planet's capital city when two of the Earther enhanced had attacked them. The two Earthers had struck in an ambush, striking most of the soldiers down with lightning from above, and quickly dispatched the outclassed marines before the fight had devolved into a brawl between gods.

Looking at the scene as it was now, the chief saw two of the enhanced running towards each other. The one he could recognize as wearing the uniform of the Colonial military had his skin change before his eyes, morphing from skin to metal as his fist flew towards his opponent, the other, the Earther, having his own fist meet the other's half way. The result of the blow of metal against super strength was mutual pain, as the Colonial enhanced was sent flying back a good ten meters down the road while the Earther, though uncombed from his position, had clearly broken a few bones in his hand with the punch. That didn't faze him though, as he ran towards his Colonial counterpart, leaped onto his chest and then started using both fists to punch him across the face. Harold didn't care, however, as his face had also turned to metal and thus the hits felt like next to nothing, and where in reality doing more harm to Toji's hands than anything else.

Harold's response to it all was to wait a few moments to let his opponent wear himself out, and, when he saw his opening, used his own arms to punch him back. Lifting himself up to his feet, he saw that his opponent had landed on a car, causing the roof to bend down into the vehicle and the windows to brake.

"Is that all you've got, Earther?" Harold asked sarcastically.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Toji stated in response.

As the two charged again to continue their fight, down the street two others had been engaged in an odd game of cat and mouse. The two in the dual where the Colonial girl who created orbs of plasma on command facing down the Terran who controlled and manipulated electricity. Unlike their counterparts down the street, who where a fight between one who could take a lot of punishment but not deal much of it against one who could deal much but take little, theirs was a much more even match between two individuals of a power which was in theory on the higher end of what humans with powers where capable of. Neither had an advantage over the other, as both had powers which could deflect the offensive abilities of the other. It was all down to the tactical application of their abilities and situational awareness coupled with experience. Though the Terran had more experience, it wasn't much as he was one of the newer additions to the Terran arsenal of living weapons, his experience on Galar being his first off world mission.

By the time the Colonial military had been able to send reinforcements to respond to the situation, several of which included Kull armoured soldiers and one of the 3X70's, the two Terrans had been ordered to withdraw to an isolated area to allow for a beam out.

The battle, which became known as the First Battle of Tawa, had resulted in a platoon of Colonial marines lost, the injury of all enhanced humans involved in the fight, the death of three police officers and one civilian, coupled with ten million cubits in property damage. Had it happened a few months before it would have been breaking news for the Colonial people, but with how the conflict was progressing it barely got mention as the same day multiple campaigns by Sagittaron republican forces had begun, and the Intrepid had renewed its convoy strikes between its regular resupply runs to Earth or its tactical or strategic application of its transporters to assist with the war effort.

The New Year's Offensive had begun, marking the start of a new phase in the conflict on the world which more and more was turning into a planet wide battlefield.

Jove Industrial Yards

Picon

With the turning of a key and the press of a button, Baltar felt great pride as the factory he had created came to life. With facility opening faster than expected, something Baltar had made sure of when he overestimated the initial time he'd need to have it built, the factory line hidden within the dozens of other factories already in the area began to churn out Colonial built Staff Canons for the purpose of using them in ship construction. Though the factory wasn't as critical to the war effort as it had been when construction had begun, its use as a means of creating liquid tylium could not be understated, nor could its output of over one hundred Staff Canons each day be either as the Colonial navy was welding the weapons to the hulls of ships as fast as they could get their hands on them.

Its opening would also mean that the ability to hide the Staff Canons which were received through trade with the Trade Coalition would be easier to hide the origins of, as on paper they could simply have the weapons be marked as produced in the factory. Because of the efficiency of the factory's construction, both in how much faster it was built coupled with how far under its original budget it had come, a second factory on Scorpio has begun construction.

Baltar would not oversee that one's construction, instead he had been recalled to begin work on a new project, one he thought he wouldn't live to see become a reality. His orders where to dissect an energy shield which the military had somehow gotten its hands on. He had not been told where they had gotten it from, only that he had to learn the physics behind how it worked, and to figure out how to make their own. Making improvements to it was a secondary objective, such as making it more efficient without using more power or more powerful altogether, but as he had never even laid eyes on the device nor had he thought it possible for him to even work on such a project until he had been ordered to, he had doubt that he would be able to accomplish even his primary objective, let alone his secondary one.

He was beginning to think that command was looking at him more and more as a miracle worker, something that despite his ego he knew he was not.

Taking a moment to reflect on his career, he actually wondered how the hell he had gone from being a software engineer to alien weapons dealer to now what was every day seeming more like the mad scientists of old pulp stories form his youth.

Streets of Caprica City

Caprica

For the third day in a row, tens of thousands of protesters from around the Colonies, mostly from Caprica, had been blocking the streets of the capital of the system in protest against the escalation of the conflict on Sagittaron. While there had always been some tolerance for the putting down of rebels on the planet by authorities due to the need for unity, the conflict as it now stood was one which was quickly catching up to the one with Earth in terms of how many people in the past year had lost their lives to it, thousands of coffins and thousands without limbs returning home to families in an action which many of the younger generations, those born after the Cylon war, had no stomach for as they hadn't lived through the struggle for survival the deadly decade long conflict had spawned.

With how the conflict was progressing, many felt that it was a waste to try and force the Sagittarons to remain within the Colonies, Earth being the real danger which needed to be dealt with. With the news of the new offensive having started on the distant planet brining out more protesters then any of the previous days of protest, along with anarchists and other trouble makers or young people who were just board, the protest didn't take long to turn into a riot, one which the police quickly started to clamp down on. The sheer number of rioters was too overwhelming for the Caprica City Police to deal with, however, and thus the military police from a nearby airbase where called in to assist in the dispersion of the rioters. This was accomplished with the use of tear gas canister equipped Landrams and the first deployment of the newly built Landmasters.

The Landmasters, never before seen by the public, where used purely for their psychological effect on Colonial civilians, the dreadful appearance of a new, almost alien looking machine of war making people run away at the mere sight of them even despite the fact that none deployed had fired a single shot.

Though the protests had failed to turn the public on their side, the rioting damage to businesses and homes actually making the local support for the government and police increase, those who had partaken in them learned something important. The way the Colonial government did things had changed for ever.

HMS Prince of Wales

Outskirt of the Sol System

On the bridge of the ship leading the four gathered Earth warships, the crew of the Prince of Wales where in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.

Days earlier, the Strategic Galactic Command Center had detected a ship heading through hyperspace directly for the Sol System. With its speed, size and distance of detection, it was believed to be a single Ha'tak. Why a single Ha'tak would be making its way to their home system without any governing body informing them of their intention to enter their space was beyond them. Weather a failed attempt at espionage or a poorly thought out attempt at an attack, S.W.O.R.D. wasn't taking any chances. After all, someone could have gotten their hands on a ZPM and intended to detonate it within the solar system, which would destroy the Earth and everything else in the system along with it.

When the ship had exited hyperspace around Jupiter orbital distance from the sun, an instant scan of the ship revealed no ZMP present, and as no hostile action was immediately taken by the ship a message requesting to know why their boarders had been violated was sent. The response was not the one they had expected, and if they had it was one they likely would have dreaded hearing.

"As a representative of the New Goa'uld Empire, we would like to open diplomatic relations between our Empire and the Tau'ri."

It would have been funny had it not been the horrifying knowledge that the Goa'uld where back at the worst possible time.

Author's notes

Well, here we are, exactly one year since this story started. I didn't manage to reach 30 chapters in this time, but I came close. This story is almost at the half way mark (that's the next chapter) and as always the status quo has been violently shaken up before it had time to really solidify from the last time it got shaken up.

The next chapter will mostly be focusing on closing the current story arc, namely in regards to the Goa'uld Empire's return, and marking the start of a new arc which I've placed hints at throughout the story.

But wow, this is by and large my longest and most popular story I've made. I'd like to thank each and every one of you who has been following this story and giving feedback. Some of you know this, but others may not: I do read every comment people make on this story in an attempt to improve the quality of my writing or of the narrative.

Here's to a great year past and to another to come.