Worldwar: Establishing the Balance
Chapter 27
Cyrannus Star System: Planet Caprica
"…If the UCW wins, we will have more time to prepare against the Ashtorath Empire," President Goesel stated. "We know they are coming. That is why I made this proposal. This is of critical importance to the Kobollian nation and those of our cousins. We need to establish a united front against all of our enemies, both local and galactic."
President Antonius Goesel continued speaking to an audience that wasn't fully in agreement with him-the usual to any of his proposals. He was fully aware that he needed to have everyone onboard if this plan had a chance for success.
The Colonials were political animals. There was no doubt in anyone's mind about that, but the Terrans were just as politically astute as his people were. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, since Colonials and Terrans were the same people when it came down to it. Both sides thought the same way.
The direction of both civilizations was disturbingly similar, and even the religious attitudes were all that different when it came down to it. Thousands of years of differences and different experiences, separated by tens of thousands of light-years, and still, the attitudes and actions were so alike it was frightening. That was probably the most likely reason why the two cultures didn't get along, he mused.
"We must solidify our status with the others as soon as possible. We cannot standalone against what is coming by ourselves. I propose that the high-ranking members of the Quorum and our military forces in this room be a part of this delegation. Because time is of the essence, if this is agreed to and if it is agreed to by the Terrans and UCW, I would ask that the Terrans supply the transportation and security for the journey to Earth. The travel time using our methods at best is nine months one way. A two-year round trip is simply unacceptable. I am aware that this presents a security problem for the members who will be going to Earth. But this has been done before. Vice-President Willius and other members of the Quorum and our civilian representatives did not encounter any security complications during their time away from the home worlds."
The last words turned sour because there were no problems until they reached Makaria station. His own people tried to blow up a Terran space liner carrying the vice president and several Earth representatives. That incident forced the Makaria commanders to ban most civilian travel from Terra until the situation could be resolved, something he planned to do as soon as possible, even if it meant open civil warfare. Iblison and his followers would not be allowed to continue to threaten the safety of all the Colonies.
"I am sure that many of you are wary of such a drastic action considering our still fragile relationship with our cousins. There are many here who believe that we are submitting our sovereignty to our cousins, but I assure you that this isn't so. I have no intentions, and I am positive that you would not allow me in any way to force the Colonies into some form of vassalage." It took a lot of strength to keep the amusement of that statement from making him break out into a huge sarcastic grin. "That is not my intentions. We are a free and powerful people and we will always fight for our independence; however, this doesn't mean we cannot ask for help during our times of need."
A chorus of quiet mutterings filled the room as several of the quorum members made their feelings known.
"If they demand that we abandon our religion, there will be war," Livia said flatly. He could see the defiance in her eyes. It was impressive.
Augustus Caine glared at her. "Why would they ask that? They're not interested in our religion. They have enough trouble with their own to care about ours, unless we try to force the issue," he grumbled. "I remind this body that religion was one of the reasons we fought against them in the first place."
"Yes, we did fight, and it is over," General Horton stated, speaking for the first time. "Mister President, I have to agree with Admiral Cain. I am more concerned about the survival our people and I see us at the edge of a cliff about to fall over. Our culture is large enough and able to handle some bumps along the way. But with the possible exception of the Race, we cannot survive a war with the aliens or anyone else." Staring directly at the assembly to make sure that they were listening. He continued speaking as his eyes focused on the president. "With the circumstances being as they are, I wouldn't want to fight them either. That window, Mister President, is rapidly closing. The longer the Race associates with the UCW the quicker they will gain technology that could wipe us off the map, sir. On land or in space, we will lose."
Several people in the room immediately voiced their displeasure known.
"You sound like a coward," the Gemenon quorum member spat.
To his credit, the general didn't so much as flinch. Instead, he ignored the man and faced the president and continued speaking. "Sir, I am a military officer and I will lay down my life to protect the Colonies. But I must question why are we automatically assume that the Terrans would try to provoke us by offering terms that they know we would reject out of hand? My conversations with the Terrans and my studies of both the Terran and UCW charters suggests that they wouldn't push us into a corner. I know they will try to take as much advantage as they could, but then, so would we if we were in their position."
"Our culture will remain intact," Goesel assured everybody as he interrupted before the argument could really heat up. "We are not a weak people. if we are, then we don't deserve to preserve our way of life."
The assembled men and women in the room erupted.
Planet Ba'alath:
On the island of Casnanna, the eight Ashtorath Lords, inheritors of the remains of the former Goa'uld Empire, sat at the Imperial table across from each other. Seated next to the Ashtorath goa'uld were their Tay'skel–the Bonded Ones. Each of the eight Lords were presented with a cup of blood red wine, as was the tradition when they came together in the seat of power.
The four Goa'uld Lords Astartea, Anath, Ashtoreth and Atargatis were genetically engineered Goa'uld, a product of the deceased System Lord Ba'al. They were the end results of what he considered his greatest scientific achievement. These goa'uld were designed to be a new, improved generation, one not prisoners of their passions that ultimately doomed the System Lords to endless fighting among themselves and a stagnant, feudal existence in which none of them could or would trust each other.
Ba'al was convinced that the overuse of the sarcophagus and the feudal possessive nature of his race were the goa'uld's greatest weakness, one that the Tau'ri had endlessly exploited to the detriment of his race. Ba'al's opinion, that exploitation ultimately ended in the detriment and the destruction of the System Lords. The deceased system lord tried to counter the Tau'ri, even resorting to cloning himself in efforts to deceive and countering ever-increasing Terran power.
Desperate to survive, he forced his surviving scientists to create a series of new clones derived from cells of his own genetic material. These cells were engineered from their first mitotic division. They were modified to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters, not potential threats. They were aggressive, but not to the point of being imbeciles. Furthermore, they weren't slaves to those passions. They were bred to be smart and patient, but that wasn't enough.
From the four original constructs, four additional clones were produced. These clones were human, but each one specifically bonded to one of the goa'uld clones. They were genetic counterparts, each one bonded to their specific goa'uld brother and sister and to the others in general. Each one shared a limited telepathically link and were totally loyal to each other. Ba'al planned for them to be the face of the new empire, a more outwardly benevolent one with him pulling the string from behind the curtain. Together, they would rebuild the empire and elevate its status and prestige of the new empire, making it a once more strong and feared power. And when it was strong enough, he would order his children to crush the Tau'ri (and O'Neill if he was still alive). And the Ashtorath would follow him because he would enforce his will with the fail-safe he installed in each of the eight.
Unfortunately, Ba'al underestimated the deviousness and tenacity of his children. They killed him and the last of his clones before he could implement the failsafe device, thus ensuring that they were their own masters. Together they created a division of power, the template of the new empire to come.
The four Tay'skel, an identical twin to each of the Ashtorath, designed to look a little older than their counterparts, were called the minor lords of power. Their authority deferred only to the Ashtorath Lords, and they wielded that power with confidence.
These lords were loved and feared by many worlds in the galaxy. Together, these eight lords were rebuilding their power base, using diplomacy as well as aggression to do so. Only the Terrans and their allies openly defied them without fear of retaliation. The Ashtorath hated the Tau'ri. But as recent events had shown, they needed the Terrans if the empire was to survive. That meant leaving the Colonials alone for now.
Astartea hadn't participated in the battle against the barbarian cyborgs. However, she had seen the battles and these machine creatures had taken two worlds from the empire. The Ashtorath weren't even aware of the loss of their first world until weeks after the attack. The world had a small population and being a minor agricultural world; it wasn't of real importance. Several thousand people were killed. Several thousand more were missing. It was believed that those survivors were taken as slaves. Those things happened, and the loss of servants weren't unknown to the goa'uld. What annoyed her and the others was that it was their property was taken, and they wanted them back.
That desire would turn out to be a futile wish, as this last battle had made very clear. This unknown force attacked a moderately secure world, and this time the Ashtorath discovered it almost immediately. Several Ha'taks were sent to punish the interlopers who dared defy the Ashtorath. The confidence in their forces turned out to be in error, as their ships were unprepared for the aggressiveness of the enemy and were wiped from space. Several loyal goa'uld servants were lost, but not before they managed to send valuable information about this new enemy.
Astartea assumed it to be a simple raiding party and again thousands of slaves–no, they were called loyal servants now–were taken. The Lords believed that they would return, and they did. The Empire was ready for them, or so they believed.
Anath was confident she could destroy them–until she saw the numbers arrayed against her forces. Vastly outnumbered, she conceded the battle and withdrew without firing a shot. Anath's bloodlust in battle was legendary among the Ashtorath, but she wasn't a fool. This was the first time that the enemy was seen in such numbers, and Anath had no illusions of winning this battle.
Scans and images of the planet attacked provided proof of the ruthlessness and savagery of the enemy. They killed indiscriminately. In many ways, the enemy tactics were like the goa'uld. They enslaved most of them, and that was when the Lords discovered their primary objectives and purpose.
What was described as a processor ship was discovered on the planet. Slaves were herded into and converted to warrior drones. Those slaves not converted into warrior drones were converted into worker drones implanted with cybernetics and parts of their brains removed according to the few surviving Jaffa planet-side using their failing planetary communications system.
The Jaffa fought back hard because they had no choice. The enemy had no interests in the goa'uld carrying humans. Maybe the infants rejected the implants. The lords didn't know yet, but it was clear that they were specifically targeted and killed. Even the young ones, no matter the age, were killed.
The next unwelcomed surprise to the Empire was that the fact that the Terrans spy network was far more effective than previously believed and they were aware of the initial attack. Lord Atargatis was responsible for keeping those humans away from imperial territory. Apparently, he failed miserably in his duty. However, what came next had shocked all the Lords. The Tau'ri had offered their help. This afforded the lords the opportunity to eliminate this threat and find out first-hand what this new UCW was capable of.
"Tell me once more," Anath, growled Astartea. "How did we lose fifteen percent of our forces even with Tau'ri help?"
"Save your theatrics for someone else," Anath growled back. "You're here playing public face of the empire while I'm fighting and securing new territories. It's not the same as it was in the days of the System Lords of Old." Her eyes flashed as she tried to calm down. "This enemy has superior shields that are difficult to get through. Even the Tau'ri had trouble breaking through and destroying our enemies."
Astartea was calmer, although her eyes flashed with anger at the situation. "The UCW didn't lose Fifteen percent of their forces, not even five if what I am seeing is correct."
"That is true," Anath conceded. "But their ships suffered damaged. Their ground forces took many causalities."
"As did ours. The enemy weapons are very powerful, and they are somewhat resistant to Tau'ri weaponry."
"What I want to know is what are they, where are their bases and how do we destroy them," Ashtoreth yelled.
"Agreed. If we continue to lose our ships and warriors at the current levels, then even if we win, the Empire will be crippled for decades. The Tau'ri will conquer everything and rule all who survive their conquest. This can never be allowed. Humans are to be ruled by us, nothing more." Each of the lords stared at each other, none of them openly ready to admit the apprehension and fear those words generated. With such power, the lords could not conceive the possibility that the Tau'ri would not begin a mission of conquest. "We are all here now. We must discuss what we know of this enemy. To do this, we will find samples of their technology and take it for ourselves!"
Four pairs of eyes glowed, and four heads bowed in agreement. They would survive this war and then destroy the Tau'ri.
Caprica
"How dare you, Mister President," the Gemenon representative coldly said. "Our colonies have stood for thousands of years through blood and struggle. We survived Kobol and flung ourselves across the unknowns of space to new worlds, we tamed these worlds and made our own. Our forces are one of the strongest in the galaxy. We are not weak! We have the gods on our side! For you, as the President, to spout such heresy suggests that you are unworthy of leadership and our trust!"
Goesel was expecting such an outburst. What he said was akin to a slap in the face of any politician and most of the people in the Colonies, to be blunt. The reaction was also an indication of how frightened the people were. Fear mixed with pride was a dangerous combination. He, however, couldn't allow such a comment to go unchallenged.
"You're correct, we are not a weak people," Goesel pointedly stated. "But we are not closing our eyes to the truth, either. There is no dishonor in asking for help. We forget that we were the ones that attacked them. I signed the standing orders that can be summed up thusly. 'Earth is the Thirteenth Colony. They must return to us by any means necessary'. Let's not fool ourselves, we all know exactly why we wanted Earth." His voice increased, and he continued speaking. "We, and I mean everyone in this room assumed that we could subjugate them and take what they have for our own benefit.
"We believed we could jumpstart our economy with the influx of new markets and products. And," he looked at his defiant, but also embarrassed High Priestess aunt, "bring about a new level of religious prosperity to the temples of Athena. What little we knew of their technologies alone would have been a boon to our worlds and of course, we would be reunited with our cousins." Goesel stared at each person in the room, daring them to contradict him. "We can pretend that our motives were pure, but we all know better. Now those same people, who are not whom we believed them to be, defeated in their own system even with our forces massed against them."
"They could have destroyed our civilization. Instead, they are opening their border to us, even if cautiously, to open the lines of communication." Again, he stared at those in the room.
"They have offered us a hand and here we are, worried about losing our culture to them? If we do, then we are a weak people and deserve what happens."
He continued speaking to keep the screaming from beginning all over again. "Everyone knows how I felt about the Terrans when we first encountered them," he said without emotion.
"Earth was real! But whether it is our Earth, or some unique world we're just beginning to understand, does not matter. My feelings, the feeling of everyone in this room, the feelings of everyone in the Colonies are unimportant if it means that we bury our heads in the sand and complain about the unfairness of it all, while our real enemies are lining their sights on our worlds. This reality is something I cannot ignore. As president, I am responsible to protect and serve the people of the Colonies of Kobol. As members of the government, it is your responsibility to see the evidence which has pushed me towards the decisions that I have made, decisions I believe are in the best interests of all our people.
"I do not make this decision lightly and to help you understand why I have chosen these measures; I want you to see the faces of our real enemies. After you've seen this, then we'll focus on what we need to do. Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Quorum and our Defense forces. We need to address this quickly, or our lives as we know it, will cease to exist in as early as a year, if the UCW loses this war. You are here to witness what has happened and to get information that will allow you to come to an informed decision.
"To save our people. I want you all to watch carefully. It's the reason why I propose taking such drastic actions. Undersecretary Randersan," Goesel said, pointing to the frail-looking bald man sitting next to him.
The man stood and cleared his throat. He pressed a button on his computer and the room darkened and an image of a battlestar appeared on the huge wall screen. Everyone turned towards the screen.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, representatives and to our esteemed Defense force representatives. To better appreciate this presentation, I will present a short history of recent events. Approximately four years ago, four battlestar squadrons were assigned to hunt down Cylon remnants that survived the Battle of Kartum Five. In that battle, Cylon forces were attacked and destroyed. The original target called the Hub was destroyed and most of the ships, supplies, and resources were either destroyed or captured by elements of the Colonial Defense Force. We destroyed all the remaining cylon tech and centurions, after our scientists acquired certain items of interests such as their faster-than-light communications the Terrans call subspace comms. What we also discovered was that the machines had created massive numbers of clones who infiltrated our colonies in a prelude to a major attack. We destroyed the cloning facilities and every clone we discovered. With our victory, we removed their threat once and for all.
"But, several basestars along with a resurrection ship and two supply transports escaped. To ensure that their threat was removed, President Adar ordered the squadrons to explore possible escape routes the cylons might have used, while the main fleets tracked down the known surviving vessels that eventually found Earth-Apellai territory. I note that the battlestar pursuit squadrons did not find any Cylon stragglers but the battlestar squadron under the command of Demetrius Eddlison commander of the Battlestar Junis discovered what we are now calling the stellar transportation device or STD for short, located fourteen hundred light-years from our parent system. That sounds like a significant distance from the Colonies, but compared to Terran FTL speeds, that's next door."
Many of the people in the room shifted in their seats at that.
"I want to state that our combat groups have ventured passed the now defunct Red Line. In this situation, however, this is the furthest any Colonial ship have traveled in that direction. Hence, the squadron was out there to explore that region as much as to search for escaping Cylon elements. As we know, the search for cylons yielded no results and helped to confirm existing data that indicated the remnants had indeed fled as a combined group. Again, we know that the cylons unintentionally found Earth sector, the very sector we are looking for since First Contact.
"The Junis pursuit squadron were approximately a year out when they discovered evidence of an alien construct, shown here on the screen." He paused for a moment as the others looked at the massive stargate surrounded by asteroids. "The STD was purposely obscured by these asteroids seen here," he said pointing to the screen with his laser pointer. "These asteroids remained stationary, effectively blocking the construct from view. The object refused to be identified as it either absorbed or reflected all initial scans directed at it. Note: the materials that made up the construct was unidentified and not found on our periodic table, so the Junis combat group were unaware of what they found. The material that the STD is constructed from is known as the mineral naquada. The initial survey is referenced to on page sixteen in the summations. The construct's nature and function were revealed when the object powered up and a vessel came through the water-like energy aperture, as you can see on screen. These videos were taken from the Junis' cameras. Note also that when the construct activated, it created a wave of unidentified energy that interfered with the battlestar's power systems. There were systems burnouts throughout the ship, but no casualties were reported. At this time, we do not have a counter for this and until we do, all Colonial vessels encountering this, or other, similar devices should remain at a safe distance when the construct is activated."
Everyone in the room had clearance and was aware of the Door of the Gods, or what was commonly known as the stargate, or chappai.
"Other than size and superficial design, the STD construct is very similar in nature and materials to the stargate. Despite the apparent danger, the Junis squadron, using established stealth protocols, remained in the system to study the device. The second time the STD was observed to activate what emerged wasn't a transport ship, but a warship. It immediately detected, locked onto, and destroyed our probes. The vessel's sensors burned through our ships' stealth and established communications. Our translation system interpreted it as a 'growl'."
"A growl?" the Tauron representative asked in confusion.
"Yes sir. That was the only communications that the Junis ever had with those people. The warship intercepting our Colonial squadron isn't much larger than our Zeta-class gunstar, about two hundred and fifty meters. But the power emissions are equal to the Terran's early Prometheus class. According to the Junis' logs, the unknown's power reading actually increased to the point that the DRADIS had difficulty trying to scan the ship and categorize the levels of its power emissions. The profiles were similar to the power generation profiles of the Terrans but not identical. Without provocation and despite repeated attempts by our people to communicate with them, the enemy fired on the Junis using plasma weapons, again not unlike the Terrans and Ashtorath weapons systems. The Junis responded with nuclear weapons fire. Commander Eddlison had assumed and correctly so that the enemy ship possessed shielding. A dozen multi-megaton missiles struck the ship with no apparent damage! Additional missiles from the Battlestar Tycheon followed by their main guns had little to no appreciable effect, both battlestars were damaged from the counter attacks. Multiple strikes from the battlestar damaged the vessel. It changed course and rammed the Junis. It was discovered that this was a preempted attack used by the aliens to board and take over opposing vessels. This we believe is standard operating procedure for boarding actions. As I stated earlier, the enemy vessels power ratings are equivalent to the Terrans. We believe they could have destroyed the Junis squadron but chose this method in order to gain information about us. The tactic was effective, but it also left their ship vulnerable to the Tycheon's main guns. The subsequent battle and their discoveries about the aliens are in the report pages three twenty to five eighty-eight.
"The Junis medical staff performed autopsies on the aliens and the reports that the bodies were filled with cybernetic implants to augment their bodies. Most of the implants were centered in the brains and spinal cords. Communication between the aliens is done using wireless implants as far as we can tell, although they can vocalize as necessary. Judging from the numbers of implants in the brain, we believe that they are strongly computer dependent, but are not networked to each other. They appear to be independent computer-organic entities. Until we know more about them, this best describes the primary species.
"The secondary species is in fact made up of other races who are effectively subservient to the primaries. We believe that the subservients are captured species that are forcefully turned into slave race to augment their military and civilian society. I use the word civilian loosely, as we have discovered that the so-called mundane tasks are given to the subservients. The primary species is a very aggressive military oriented society. The squadron discovered very little of their culture other than the fact they were in a war with something called the Wraith. We have little information on their enemy or their central base of operations or location of origin other than that they are another aggressive species. We will be sending out probe missions to discover the locations of these Wraith and determine their threat levels in the future. With the available data we have, we can extrapolate a few bits of data about these cylon-like aliens from the Junis' records. Now, we will continue with the squadrons encounters with these cyber-aliens and the worlds they have occupied and proceed onto the conflict with their goa'uld. This supplement was given to us by the Terrans, so what they have granted us must be verified before we can confirm its validity. Please turn to page one-hundred eight, which we will cover in our presentation. This is the planet the Junis discovered wnd battle that occurred."
TBC
