7 Points
By Chaoseternus
Thanks to: Steven, Genesis, bugeyedmonster, jonharper, w1ref1re, rogue1615, elfin2, fataman, ponywalker, jon, andrewjameswilliams. for your reviews.
NOTE: to andrewjameswilliams & rogue1615 & w1ref1re.
This is backstory to the thundersdawn series, though the Tau'ri will not be making a major appearance till close to the end.
you might find the other thundersdawn series stories in my profile or at thundersdawn. tcafanfic. net to be of interest (url without the spaces of course)
right now there are 7 complete main stories in this series.
Note: to andrewjameswilliams: Vipers have the edge in manoverability and (depending on the mark) ease of maintenance. thats it. As to the rest... you will just have to wait and see.
please read and review
Chapter 1: Recognition
Commander Adama slowly and carefully removed the ancient scrolls from their protective wrapping, drawing them slowly from the bulky protective metal cylinder. Maybe there was a clue in here to the mythical 13 th colony's location? These scrolls were his best hope of finding such a clue at least, though he was extremely lucky to have them. These originals were being sent to Caprica for restoration and so were aboard their own transport, a small Colonial Courier by the name of Hell's Runner , when the Cyclons attacked. That ship, and the scrolls, had survived Ragnar anchorage, unlike so many.
And Hell's Runner had been a lucky catch in more than just the scrolls. She was based on a Colonial Military design, and not only carried a pair of rail gun turrets as standard, but Tyrol had insisted that it would be relatively easy to add the Scarab launchers standard to the military version. To be honest, he hadn't argued with Tyrol over it that much. Another warship, even if it was only a minor warship, was a welcome addition to the meagre fleet.
Adama turned his tired eyes back to the original copy of the Books Of Kobol in his hands. He knew there was a clue in here somewhere, some link that would point the way to the mythical 13 th colony, except this was just confusing him. Unlike later copies, including that issued to every cadet at the Colonial Military Academy, this said Kobol was a person , not a place. Stranger still, it referred to Earth as being the first world, not a colony. He knew this copy had not been opened, not been viewed by human eyes for at least 800 yahren, but would that have been long enough for this level of change to have appeared in the texts?
And what were these strange symbols etched into the ancient scrolls' handles? His instinct told him they were significant, important, but he could not see how. Six symbols at either end, with space for a seventh. What in Kobol's name were they?
He copied the symbols onto a pad and carefully packed the ancient fragile scroll away, locking it into his personal safe, before grabbing the pad and heading towards the canteen. He could do with something to eat, if what they had nowadays could be considered food.
He sat down at the table with a sigh, looking glumly at the unappetising bilge on the plate in front of him. He hated this stuff as much as everyone else did, but still… He grabbed his fork and began eating, concentrating on the pad as he did so. He could have sworn he had seen those symbols before, but where?
"I didn't think you were much of a history buff, Commander."
Startled, Adama looked up at the weakly smiling face of Cally, one of the few survivors of Tyrol's crew.
"Mind if I join you, Commander? Everywhere else is taken."
"No, be my guest," he paused. "What do you mean history?"
"Those symbols, they are the ancient symbols for the colonies, from before the Cylon rebellion, I had a friend in school who was a big history buff, loved that period." Cally brushed the tears from her eyes as she remembered her dead friend. "Actually they are still used by astrologers, they insist they are constellations but they can't remember which colony they are from," she laughed slightly. "They don't match any constellation from the twelve colonies though. Ran them through a Raptor's flight computer several times to check for him," she added sheepishly.
Adama nodded, no luck there then, but it was one thing he could scrub off his list of possibilities. As it was, even if they did find directions to Earth, he wasn't sure they could use them. Each of the colonies had used different star mapping and co-ordinating systems, those that had them, before the unification war, and each one was completely unique. Chances of the co-ordinates for Earth being in a recognisable format were, therefore, small. What they really needed was a fixed set of reference points, six preferably, such as stars. Oh plus their location, of course. Six fixed points, plus the point of origin… Six fixed points, plus the point of origin? He stiffened, looking back down at the copied images. Six images of constellations… Plus space for a seventh. Six relatively fixed points in space, plus space for a seventh, a point of origin. It was a course.
"Frak me!"
"Excuse me, Sir?"
Adama realised he had spoken that last out loud. "Never mind. Excuse me, I have to go."
Adama walked swiftly up to the bridge, clutching the pad tightly, his mind moving in only one direction - this could be it, this could be it.
"Tigh, I need this symbols matched against the star charts."
Tigh glanced over at the symbols Adama had copied and smothered a chuckle. He hadn't thought Adama was into that stuff, he usually had his head where it belonged, stuck firmly on his shoulders.
"What, these? They don't exist. Don't tell me you've starting listening to those astrology nuts now?" Tigh responded, his voice rough from years of alcoholism.
"Not from the twelve colonies, no, but find the world where you will see these symbols and you will find Earth. Six fixed points in space," Adama tapped at the offending symbols. "And space for a seventh, a point of origin."
"You're crazy," Tigh replied.
"I don't think so, I found these symbols on an original copy of the books of Kobol. Just match them, please."
"Okay…"
"And just out of curiosity, why is it everyone else knows about astrology and I don't?" Adama asked, a slightly wry tone in his voice.
"Because you have your head firmly stuck on your shoulders, like a good commander." Tigh chuckled at Adama's look as he left the room.
"How do you do it?" Tigh said, striding into Adama's office three days later.
"Excuse me?"
"That excuse we call a back-up jump computer finally spat out a list of possibilities, all within the same general area, one of which is a trinary star system."
"From the pad you mean?" Adama said, pulling the glasses off his face.
"It gets better. No ship on record has ever been this way, and yet we have some information on stellar bodies in the area in the computer. Unfortunately the information has been converted from format to format so many times it's partially corrupt, but this information appears to be tagged with the symbol of the original colony ships themselves, and it mentions at least two inhabitable systems."
"I think we have ourselves a destination," Adama said, unconsciously fiddling with the glasses in his hands.
"I've already plotted the hyperlight jumps, we're talking at least fifteen jumps ," Tigh replied, solemn. He knew as well as Adama what fifteen jumps meant.
"Start the jumps, talk to Tyrol about any modifications he can make to the shuttles and Vipers to reduce fuel usage, and prep for a fuel sweep of every system we hit," Adama replied, placing his glasses back over his eyes, the decision made.
"I'll get right on it," Tigh started to leave, but turned back, and added "And let me guess, we don't tell anyone right?"
"Maximum security Tigh, do not let this go over the airwaves, if the cylons hear of it…"