Chapter 7: Into the Fire
Setting: Kobol, three days after Chapter 5
Two lone Vipers floated in orbit over Kobol, the beautiful blue planet with the specks of green that once housed a great civilization. All that is left is ruins of the buildings, homes, and temples of the Lords of Kobol. And somewhere on that planet was a crashed ship and hopefully seven people still alive.
"Starbuck, run a life signs scan over the planet. See if we can locate Baltar and his team." Apollo was beginning a deep scan of the planet to pick up ruins, hoping to detect the Temple of Athena.
Starbuck ran her test on the planet and radioed Apollo. "I found seven life signs all gathered together. Hopefully ours and not Cylon. There is a nice sized area close by where we can land these babies."
"Send me the coordinates and I'll meet you down there." Starbuck sent the coordinates of the landing site to Apollo's Viper and they began their descent. Both ships touch downed on the ground very gently and the hatches slid open. The two pilots stepped to the ground and began to walk toward the area where Baltar should be.
The stranded team looks to the sky as they saw the two Vipers descend. "Thank the gods, we are saved!" Baltar knelt down to the ground and prayed. They began to walk towards the area they believed the Vipers landed.
The two teams met halfway. After checking injuries, Crashdown and another pilot took the Vipers back to Galactica to have them send some Raptors for rescue. Starbucks removed the arrow from her shirt and held it out. It began to move and finally settled in one direction, east of their current location. Baltar and the others followed them and they searched for the Tomb. Baltar already knew its location, as Number Six escorted him there earlier.
After about a half hour of walking, they stumbled upon the ruins of an old temple. Apollo knew it immediately. It was the Tomb of Athena. Hardly anything left, they began to search for text or writing that would them to where they needed to go. Baltar, with the help of Number Six, found a small block of one of the columns raised, and he pressed it in. An opening opened up in the ground, which opened to a staircase leading down. Apollo and Starbuck, with Baltar in tow, headed down the dark staircase.
The staircase led to a large circular room. In the center stood a giant ring of metal. A metal unknown to Apollo, Starbuck, or Baltar and not one used in Cylon technology. Baltar and Starbuck examined the ring, while Apollo took the arrow and began to check the walls. Completely smooth all the way around, Apollo was disappointed he did not see any place to put the arrow. His fingers brushed over smooth surface over and over, and then he felt it. A small section that seemed raised. It looked like it was filled with dirt. Apollo used his fingers and hands to scoop out the dirt and then saw it. A small opening where the arrow had to be inserted. Unaware of what would happen when it was inserted, he called Starbuck and Baltar over. They watched as he took the arrow and inserted into the hole. The cavern began to rumble and shake, and small flecks from the ceiling fell on the three people.