"The Cylons entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to completely eliminate the human race and nobody was going to try to eliminate them. At Picon, Caprica, Virgon, and every other of the 12 colonies and all human settlements of note they put their rather naive theory into operation. Th virus imputed into all of our computers won them the day, and allowed them to genocide human race. But they had not accounted for survivors; those mechanical bastards thought any stragglers would be easy picking. None of them prepared for a protracted campaign. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind."

Timothy Cunningham, Admiral in the Colonial Fleet and later Colonial remnant in a speech hours after the colonies fell

Description: A lucky discovery of the CNP Backdoor slightly before the fall of colonies leads to the survival of more of humanity. Now the scattered remnants of the Colonial Fleet, pirates, civilians, and local defense forces will fight back in space, land ,and even underwater. The Cylons have sown the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.

Author's note: this is my first foray into the realm of BSG fanfiction. I've taken inspiration from a variety of other authors, including (but not limited to) Wes Imlay, The Wilky Bar Kid, Kelso323, Monblade, atlanti , H Max Marius, Xeal II, United Systems Navy and Fabius Maximus. All of these authors have published amazing works within the realm of BSG fanfiction, and I'd definitely recommend looking at their works. It's definitely difficult to pin down my favorite of the bunch, but United Systems Navy's The Long War, and the four BSG works by Fabius Maximus have had the most clear impact on the vision for what I am writing. The Long War has been the most useful in its interpretation of the ship composition of the colonial fleet, and the works by Maiumus due to how various groups of survivors would appear, not just Galactica's fleet.

This fic will cover the tale of a number of different survivor groups, including colonial fleet units, pirates, civilians, army units, local defense forces, and maybe even more. I take a wide interpretation when it comes to survivors of the twelve colonies, that there were most likely a lot of scattered. With FTL as common a technology as it was, so many ships would be able to just jump away when cylons appear. Certainly most of the Colonial Fleet's Battlestars would get destroyed, but the losses would probably be less among smaller ships at less proportional to the combatants (although still staggering).

If any group can secure a reliable source of food, (which can be grown by agro ships) water (at least some ships probably have waste reclamation facilities, and a dedicated sewage ship can help with that) medical supplies (might be possible to make some, but probably not more advanced medicines unless you have a hospital ship. Fuel can probably be created by refining Tylium from asteroids that were mined, so as long as a fleet has sufficient search and prospecting capabilities and a refinery and mining ship it would be able to operate indefinitely. Spare parts could probably be produced on repair ships, though having some sort of factory ship would definitely help. And protection against the Cylons would be nesearcy, but having a battlestar would not necessarily be needed. Smaller ships such as a group of cruisers would probably suffice. You really don't need an offensive capability, all you need to do is to be able to run away from advancing cylons. Space is massive, and there are an infinite number of places to run away to.

Another area is that if you take away the C N P, the Colonials would win a conventional war with ease. The Cylon Basestar is little more than a platform for missiles and raiders, and while it excels in that role, it lacks any sort of gun armament. The youtuber Spacedock (an excellent channel by the way) covered this in one of his older videos, and basically concluded that if the cylons had used guns instead of missiles they would have crippled Galactica much earlier. Missiles can be shot down by flak, close in weapons systems, and Vipers as we see on screen, and I would imagine the Colonials do have at least some sort of electronic countermeasures and smaller missiles to shoot down incoming ones. So the only way the Cylons were able to win was throug infiltration.

One advantage they do have due to each baseship carrying some 400 raiders is that since all of these small craft are FTL capable, they have the ability to scout at a rate that simply can't be matched by a battlestar. Having 400 raiders would likely overwhelm the defenses of a battlestar, right? Wrong. All available evidence points to the fact that the raider is inferior to a viper in a dogfight. We see Galactica which starts off with about 40 - 50 vipers mostly of the Mark II vintage able to defend against far larger swarms of raiders, and that losses to these craft are not significant through a number of years. In the game Battlestar Galactica Deadlock (an excellent game by the way) it is shown that you need about 3 times the raiders vs vipers to win. Applying a similar ratio and taking into consideration that you have capital ships that can fight against raiders as well, the colonials still have fighter superiority. So both of the Cylon's major advantages have been nullified. (For the sake of realism, the Cylons will have other types of ships, so don't worry about them being that underpowered.)

As for canonity, any changes will not affect the fate of Galactica and her fleet. I intend for their story to play out without the interference of any other survivor groups (I cannot confirm that that will not change in the future however. But that won't be for a while, so don't get your hopes up.)

However, there will be other parts that are different but not related to Galactica's fleet. For example, resistance in the colonies. But I will get to that later.

1 month before the fall of the Colonies

Commander Timothy Cunningham's free hand rubbed the sore spot beneath his regulation haircut, shooting a glare at the low-hangin tree his six and a half foot frame had driven his head into. The report on the other hand was momentarily forgotten. The rising star within the fleet had taken command of the Mercury Class Ravager at only 35 years of age. That had been four years ago, and he had proven himself a capable commander and a good leader since then. But what he was about to experience would be his challenge yet.

The massive room he was in was built to simulate th (or command information center) of a battlestar for use in war games. Other rooms held smaller colonial warships and dozens of small craft simulators, for use by Viper and Raptor pilots. A massive number of rooms would be used for today's war game. All of these rooms were connected by a central computer that would sort the ships into their respective teams, Red Force and Blue Force.

There had been significant opposition to computerized war games by the old guard from the Cylon War. They had been vocal about the fleets over reliance on computers and thought they would be a vulnerability if the Cylons ever came back. But many of them had eventually backed down when it was declared that war games could be hosted at 10 times the rate when compared to conventional games. Despite that, the facilities had cost millions of cubits. But it had been designed to last for decades, and to be easily upgradeable.

The simulation was ready to begin. Cunningham commanded the Red Force which was made up of three Valkyrie Class Battlestars, three Tiger Class Gunstars, and five light cruisers. Fighting him would be the infamous Admiral Helena Cain, known by nickname as the "The Iron Lady". She commanded two Mercury Class Battlestars, two Gunstars, and three medium cruisers. A force that was superior to his own in quality.

But Cunningham had some tricks up his sleeve. Cain was a good Admiral, but she had flaws. Her strategy was simple. Attack attack, and attack some more. Keep the enemy off balance with a constant stream of tungsten rounds and missiles. In other war games, she had easily overpowered more defensive and balanced commanders. It helped that she had two Mercury Class Battlestars, a class of ship considered to be one of the most powerful in the fleet.

comm

"Dradis contacts! We have a large amount of small craft inbound, looks like 120 Vipers and 60 Assault Raptors." Reported the ship's tactical officer, Lieutenant Marcus Jerry. He was a professional and composed officer on the Ravager, the Mercury Class that was Cunningham's normal command. He was still getting used to commanding the simulated Valkyrie Class, which was a bit over half the length of the Mercury.

"How far away is that asteroid that we used in the plan?" The Commander asked, preparing to execute the first part of his plan.

"About two kilometers." Responded Jerry.

"Tell the other ships to begin Alpha Maneuver once we get in the sensor silhouette of that rock." Cunningham ordered the Comms officer, Captain Drew Huntfield. He was a young officer, but quite skilled with communications devices and other electronics.

"We're there sir." Jerry said after several moments.

"Commence Alpla Maneuver."

The three Battlestars and seven support ships maneuvered once they were behind the cover of the asteroid. The Valkyrie that Cunningham commanded, callsign BS 1 switched places with one of the others, BS 3. The thick asteroid was impervious to Dradis, so this would fool Cain as to which ship Cunningham commanded.

The ships emerged from the cover with no apparent changes to their formation. Then the ships split up. Cunningham's BS 1 split off to one side, with the other ship, BS 2 battlestar breaking off to the other side and BS 3 continuing on the course that Cunningham's would supposedly follow. Cain would probably guess that the central Battlestar was his, and focus her fire on it. The large fighter strike was evidence of it, and Cunningham reasoned Cain wouldn't split it up. That was not like her. By the time she found out which battlestar was his, it would be too late.

All the escorts grouped up and split off from the main force as well. They would come in handy later.

"The fighters are headed for BS 3." Jerry reported. The battlestar that had taken position to imitate BS 1. That ship would likely face the brunt of the attack, if not the entire fighter attack.

"Are any breaking off to engage us or the other ships." Cunningham asked. He already had an idea of the answer.

"No sir." Said the ships XO, Oswald Gardener. "Just like what we thought."

Before the battle Cunningham had extensively studied Cain's personal file and recordings of past war games. She hit hard, fast, and decisively. She was aggressive and would assault targets unrelentingly. But she lacked the adaptiveness and finesse of a truly great Admiral, in Cunningham's opinion. Cain was inflexible and single minded, often simply relying on overwhelming firepower to win a battle. Accounts from officers that had served with her in the past were generally mixed. Some praised her for her ruthlessness and the discipline she enforced on her crew. Others criticized her for not allowing dissenting opinions and for being single mindedly aggressive at every chance.

These were flaws that could be exploited. Cunningham wasn't sure if his plan would work, but at least there was a chance.

"Dispatch one Viper Squadron from us and another from BS 2. Send them to intercept Cain's strike." He ordered Huntfield.

"Do you think BS 3 will survive the attack sir?" Asked Gardner. "That's a lot of birds after her."

"They know Cain is coming. Ysylla will be prepared." He responded.

"We're coming into KEW range sir." Reported Jerry. Just as he said that, a loud thud could be heard as several massive armor piercing shells impacted with the ship. They had been fired from far away by one of Cain's ships, and had therefore lost much of their velocity. Because of that, they didn't penetrate the battlestars thick armor. Other shots seemed to miss, probably due to a poor firing solution. Even though the main guns of a Mercury Class had a longer range than that of a Valkyrie, it wasn't a massive difference. One that could be made up quickly.

"Get me a firing solution on Cain's flagship. Ordered Cunningham. "All main batteries are to begin firing when they have their solution. Main batteries are to fire armor piercing rounds, but be ready to switch to flak if necessary. CIWS is to stand by for point defense as well. Load nuclear missiles in the tubes, but wait until my command to fire them."

The radiological alarm blared and new contacts emerged on Dradis.

"About 70 missiles inbound, almost half of them nuclear!" Jerry said. "There are also 70 headed to BS 2. No one had been expecting such a strike upfront, not even Cunningham. It just went to show how aggressive Cain was to the point where she would throw away valuable nuclear warheads at a range where many would be shot down by flak and CIWS.

"Delay that order! All batteries commence flak on those missiles. CIWS are also to fire at will. Load Springer anti fighter missiles in the light missile tubes and fire on any missiles that make it past the flak barrier."

"Are we going to launch Vipers yet?" Gardner asked.

"Not yet. We wait until we're close or Cain sends fighters to us."

The mass of missiles entered the outer flak field of the ship. Valkyries might be relatively small and be less well armed when compared to other battlestars like a Mercury Class or an old Jupiter, but they had the most weapons per square foot of any battlestar. With every battery capable of doing so on the nearly kilometer long ship firing at the advancing missiles, few if any would get through. Over two dozen missiles with many being nuclear were destroyed instantly as they entered the battlestar's flak field. More were destroyed in the following seconds by accurate fire from several hundred CWIS guns. Others were picked off by the small Springer rolling airframe anti fighter missiles. The smaller size of the Valkyrie at just under a kilometer in length was a benefit, as there was a smaller area to defend.

The ship shook with several impacts, throwing many of th personnel off their feet. Cunningham got up quickly and saw only minimal damage probably caused by one of the missiles. He found himself forgetting that this was a simulation and made a mental note to praise whoever was responsible for its accuracy.

"Report." He ordered.

"Sir, three missiles made it through. Two conventional and one nuclear. The nuke hit our forward armor on the alligator head. The armor absorbed most of the blast, but we have several dozen injuries and deaths due to the kinetic impact. One of the conventional ones hit one of our ventral KEWs and shot it clearly off it's mount, but besides that little damage. The other one hit the port flight pod and caused some damage, but DC just said they should have it under control in about 15 minutes." Jerry reported.

"Close the gap and bring us close to Cain. It's time to strike back." Cunningham was ready to get back at her. She'd pay for her rash decision, even if it meant the end of him.

"Vipers are to standby for launch. Resume main battery fire on Cain's ship. What's the status of BS 2, 3 and our gunstars and light cruisers?"

"BS 2 came under a similar attack from Cain's other battlestar and suffered minor damage. BS 3 is under heavy fighter attack but is holding on. She and her air wing have taken out almost half of Cain's Vipers and Raptors. The escorts are looping in to attack Cain's ship. They haven't faced any resistance yet."

The ships closed the distance with one another, with Cain aggressively accelerating towards Cunningham's ship. They both traded gunfire and missiles, causing light damage to both of them. But certainly not enough to cripple their systems and take either one of them out of the fight.

Soon they were less than ten kilometers from each other.

"I want us to deploy all of the Vipers we have in the launch tubes. Except Jennifer's squadron. They are to wait until my direct command. And so are the Raptors." Cunningham's plan was coming to fruition. He just needed to get in close enough.

Cain wouldn't turn down a close range knife fight. She was too aggressive. Which was exactly what he was relying on.

The two ships got even closer to each other. Vipers clashed in an intense dogfight that appeared to be a stalemate. Cain had deployed many of her fighters to intercept Cunningham's.

Both ships were taking a beating. Despite her large quantity of weapons a Valkyrie had fewer than a Mercury and was less armored. Therefore Cain's ship was taking less damage and causing more and more damage to Cunningham's.

"We're within a kilometer sir. Jennifer has relayed that she is ready and waiting." Garner said.

"Order the Raptors to launch. They are to make an assault on Cain's ship. But they are not to target the engines. Jennifer's squadron will be deployed once we pass Cain's engines." Cunningham replied.

30 Raptors in Assault configuration launched out of both the ship's flight pods. They made for Cain's ship at maximum speed. But they soon ran into a mass of flack and several Vipers Cain had held in reserve. Cunningham hadn't expected her to leave many behind, as most were engaged in the massive dogfight with his Vipers.

This was his chance. Her defenses were engaged elsewhere. It was time to strike.

As the simulated ship shook with the impact of several heavy shells, Cunningham turned to Garner. "Tell Jennifer to get out on the field and head with maximum haste to the engine block of that ship. She knows what to do from there."

Major Jennifer "Duster" Anderson accelerated out of the Valkyrie with the help of its launch tubes, her squadron close behind. The squadron of 20 Mark VII Vipers tore across the short distance to Cain's flagship. Half of the birds, including hers, were armed with nuclear missiles. They were to target the engines of the massive ship, a blind spot for the ship's main batteries CWIS. They'd need to be quick as they might not get another clear shot, with Cain's remaining Vipers intercepting the Raptors.

"You still think this is a good idea?" Her wingman, Captain Paul "Buster" Dringa asked. "Maybe Raptors would be better here?"

"We need speed, a Raptor can't give us that Buster."

After being thrown out of the launch tubes, it didn't take long for them to come close to Cain's engines. They would be in and out in no time.

"All birds, fire away." She ordered as the single nuclear missile charged forward and impacted on the engines, causing a massive explosion. Seven other nukes hit their target, with two others being shot down by CWIS guns. Eight nukes in a spot of the ship that was not well protected would cause substantial damage. The aft engines of the ship were literally blow off to the rear of the ship and were completely gone. Secondary explosions ripped throughout the rest of the vessel, and the entire ship exploded in a flash of light and debris.

"Whooohooo!" Anderson yelled as the pilots flew away from the meager remnants of Cain's command. She wasn't recovering from this.

Cheers could be heard throughout th as Dradis showed Cain's ship was gone. A few minutes later, the rest of her forces surrendered. The other Mercury class had been heavily damaged by BS 2, with Gunstars and light cruises launching a destructive flanking attack. All of Cain's escorts were damaged or destroyed, and most of her small craft as well. All three battlestars had significant damage, and two Gunstars and three light cruisers had been lost.

The simulation ended, and Cunningham was led to the central room along with hi staff where many flag officers had been watching the simulated battle intently. Cain sulked in as well, an expression of disgust in her face.

"I'll have your ass next time, Cunningham." She spat at him.

Cunningham saw an opportunity. "You want my ass, that's sweet." He said it loud enough for the other officers to hear. There was some muffled laughter and many of the Admirals were desperately trying to keep a straight face.

Cain was visibly angry now, more than she regularly was. "Are you FLIRTING with me Commander." She roared.

"Flirt with you? I'd rather flirt with a brick." Everyone around them burst out laughing, even members of Cain's crew and several of the Admirals.

"Knock it off, you two." Admiral Nagala walked up to both of them, barely holding a straight face. "Congratulations on your victory, Commander Cunningham." He said, suppressing a laugh. "Meet me in my office in half an hour."

Author's note: a few notes about in-universe stuff, one was that official sources put the Valkyrie at about 700 meters. I thought that was too small for a battlestar, so I changed it to about a kilometer. Since the design originated near the end of the Cylon War, I'd assume that there were multiple variants of that ship and would range anywhere from 700m to a kilometer. The 700 meter length can also be explained by the fact they were warring and been raging for years, and colonials were probably short on ships and supplies for building them. So they decided to cut corners when building those and many other ships. Post war designs would be made to a larger size.

Also several novels and comics depict Cain as a poor strategist and too inflexible. One of my intentions with this chapter was to portray this, as well as introducing one of our main characters and several secondary ones.