Archangel and Garrett danced in the Starburst's giant ballroom.

"You know everyone is watching us, this will be across Orion by tomorrow morning." Garrett said quietly.

"Who gives a frak, they can talk all they want." He replied with a smile.

"Moments like this make me forget where we are and everything that is going on around us." She said.

"What the frak?" Archangel said.

"What is it?" she asked.

Archangel pointed over to the chaos going on outside the hall.

"Something is going on, there are marines and medics." He said.

"Leave it, if they need us they'll come get us." She replied.

The two continued to dance. The moment stopped as Bojay came over to them.

"Sorry to interrupt but you have to come." Bojay said.

"What is it?" Garrett asked.

"The Commander has been stabbed." He replied.

They all quickly made their way outside.

"Oh my gods." Garrett said putting her hand over her mouth.

The Starburst medics worked to try and help the Commander who was bleeding heavily from the seven stab wounds he had received. Garrett saw the marines holding D'Anna tightly in their grasp, she had blood running from being punched in the mouth.

"Did you do this?" Garrett asked walking over to her.

She didn't reply, she stood there and smiled. Garrett punched her as hard as she could, breaking D'Anna's nose.

"Take her to Orion and throw her in the brig." Garrett ordered.

"Yes ma'am." The marine sergeant replied.

"Colonel." One of the medics said, "We don't have the medical facilities to deal with this kind of injury on Starburst, he will need to be taken to Orion or the Medstar."

"Bojay, get the Commander to Orion." Garrett asked, "We'll follow."

"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied before heading to the hanger bay.

"This is bad." Garrett said as she sat in the back of a shuttle with Archangel.

"He's strong. The doc will be able to help him." Archangel replied putting his arm round her and kissed her on the head.

Minutes later they were getting off the shuttle on Orion's flight deck. As the Raptor in front opened, D'Anna was thrown out, hitting the ground with a thud, followed by the marines and medics with the Commander. Dr Hammond met them and immediately took the Commander to sickbay. The marines dragged D'Anna away.

"Major I want you to follow her to the brig, find out why she did this." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am. If she won't talk?" Archangel replied. Vanessa looked at him, she knew what he meant, without him even saying the words.

"Make her talk. When you've finished put a bullet in her brain." Vanessa replied.

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

Archangel stood looking at D'Anna through the window as he prepared himself, this wasn't the first time he'd had to question someone under these conditions. He hoped that she'd talk, no one on board had ever truly seen what he was really capable of and he didn't want to have to show them. He took a deep breath before opening the door and walking inside. She smiled up at him.

"Hello Major, any chance of unfastening these cuffs?" she asked.

"Who sent you to kill the Commander? Or did you do this all by yourself?" he asked as he sat down.

"All in good time Major. We have a lot to talk about and I have a lot to tell you. Don't worry you won't need to use any of your torture skills on me." she said still smiling.

Archangel was a little confused, "Excuse me?"

"Oh Major don't be so surprised, I've read your sealed personnel records."

"What? How?" Archangel replied. He could hear the confusion in his own voice, he was losing control of the situation, it was time to get it back.

"Come on, if you think about it I'm sure you'll figure it out." She replied.

Realisation hit him like a brick, "You're a Cylon."

She smiled and nodded her head, "Yes, I am. And I have a lot to tell you, some of which I've been told to say, other things that I feel you've earned the right to know." She replied.

"Are there more Cylons in the fleet?" he asked.

"Yes there are and it was one of them who told me to murder your Commander. You see we're having a few problems with Orion. We didn't realise just how powerful she is. Some of my brothers and sisters are even scared of her. So if we can't destroy it from the outside we thought it would be better to do it from the inside. With Commander Johannsen dead the ship is weak." D'Anna answered.

"Well it's a good job that he's not dead." Archangel replied.

"Yet." D'Anna replied.

"I want the names and a description of every Cylon in this fleet." Archangel snarled.

"Well I can tell you now that is not going to happen. I will tell you lots of other juicy bits, but that is off the table. No matter what you do to try and make me tell."

Garrett now back in her uniform walked into sickbay.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Bad," Hammond replied, "He has two knife wounds to his left lung, his stomach is torn to shreds and there is major bleeding. I'm about to operate and see how much I can fix." She replied.

"Okay, keep me informed." Garrett replied.

"Of course." Hammond replied.

Garrett walked to the CIC in a daze. The happiness and calm she had been feeling less than an hour ago was now gone. She tried to collect her thoughts, to make sense of what had happened. As she walked onto the CIC everyone turned to look at her.

"How bad is it?" Major Rae asked.

"Very." Garrett replied, "Please put me through to the entire ship."

"Channel is open." Lieutenant Taylor replied.

"All hands this is the XO. I must inform you all that Commander Johannsen has been stabbed. He is currently receiving treatment from Dr Hammond but his injuries are very very serious. All we can do now is wait and pray that he will be okay. I will keep you all informed when more news comes through." she said before putting the handset down.

"Who did this?" Major Rae asked.

"The journalist who interviewed Major Hunter, D'Anna Biers I think her name is. Archangel is questioning her now." Vanessa answered.

"Colonel I have the President on the line for you." Taylor said.

Garrett picked up her handset, "Mr President."

"Colonel I've just heard, how is he?" Milo asked.

"Not good sir, the doctor is with him. Major Hunter is questioning the woman who attacked him." she answered.

"I just wanted to let you know that if you need anything at all I will make sure you get it. Please keep me informed of his status." Milo said kindly.

"Thank you sir I will." Vanessa replied.

As she put the phone down she sighed a little, "Major I want you to reassign any hours you have as LSO to someone else, I need you here as my second for now."

"Yes Colonel." Major Rae replied.

"So do you want to know about Cylons?" D'Anna asked.

"What is there to know, you're robots made to look like us." Archangel replied.

D'Anna let out a laugh, "If only it were that simple. There are twelve models of humanoid Cylon and multiple copies of each one, but I'm guessing you knew that part already."

"I've seen three different types of male. And I've killed as many of them as I could." he replied with a wicked smile.

"But that's the thing you didn't kill any of them." She replied.

"That's funny because they all seemed to die to me. Shoot them, stab them, they all stopped breathing eventually, if that's what you even do." he said.

"Only a Cylon's body can die, our mind, our consciousness is downloaded into an identical body and then we carry on as normal. Cut us, shoot us, split us open we look like you inside and unless you know, there is no way that you can tell." D'Anna said.

Archangel was taken a back by this news.

"What's wrong Major, cat got your tongue? You can't beat us, no matter what you do."

"We will see. If you've read my file you already know, when it comes to stopping my enemies, I have a very VERY high success rate." He replied.

She looked at him for a moment. Even though she would download, part of her was worried about what he would do to her before she died. She had indeed read his file, it was not for the faint of heart. She knew that he was capable of acts of extreme violence and brutality. He had been the Colonial militaries best killer and they had sent him after people who 99.9% of the human race would be terrified to even be in the same room as. He scared her, fear was a new emotion for her, and she didn't like it one little bit. "That's all I have to tell you for now, come back a bit later and we'll talk then."

Archangel didn't even question what she had to say, he stood up and walked out. As he shut the door behind him he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Are you okay sir?" one of the marines outside asked.

Archangel nodded in reply, "Do not let anyone in here till I get back."

"Yes sir." The marine replied.

Archangel kept on walking and before he knew it he was outside the pilots mess. He walked inside and poured himself a large drink of whiskey and downed it in one. As he put down the glass he realised everyone in the room was looking at him.

"Are you okay?" Wedge asked.

Archangel nodded, "Yeah I'm fine." He walked over to the phone on the wall and picked it up.

"CIC." He said, moments later Lieutenant Taylor picked up on the other end.

"CIC." She said.

"Is the XO there?" he asked.

"Yes she is." Taylor replied.

"I need to speak with her please." Archangel said.

"Garrett." Vanessa replied moments later.

"Colonel, I need to see you straight away. I have some news, you'd probably better get the President over here as well." Archangel said.

Archangel sat in the XO's quarters facing Garrett and the President.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" the President asked.

"Yes I do," Archangel replied, "She just gave me this information. She says she has more to tell me."

"This certainly puts a different slant on things." Garrett replied.

"Is there any news on the Commander?" Archangel asked.

"Nothing yet." Garrett replied.

"What do you intend to do with the Cylon once you've finished with her?" Milo asked.

"That all depends on whether or not the Commander survives." Garrett replied. She gave Archangel a look that he knew meant she didn't want Milo to know about the kill order she had already given him.

Garrett sat next to the Commander as he lay on a ventilator fighting for his life. He looked so fragile and weak. She watched his chest go up and down, willing him to keep breathing.

"Commander I don't know if you can hear me or not but we need you, you have to pull through." She said quietly to him. She wiped tears from her eyes as she spoke, "I can't do this by myself."

"Colonel." Dr Hammond said.

"Yes doctor, how does it look?" Garrett asked.

"Touch and go. The internal damage was very severe, I managed to fix it for now but he had lost an awful lot of blood. We'll know more over the next twenty four hours." Hammond replied.

"Thank you." Garrett replied.

"Colonel if I can be honest I would prepare yourself for the worst." she said.

As the doc walked away she turned back to look at the Commander and put her head in her hands.

"Hey." Archangel said as he walked over to her.

She looked up to see him sitting next to her. He took her hand and smiled.

"Hey, have you spoken to the Cylon again?" Vanessa asked.

"No I was just about to go and talk to her again." he replied.

"Dr Hammond has told me to prepare for the worst." Garrett said.

"Vanessa if the worst happens you'll be fine." He replied.

"No, I won't. I've been an XO for a few months, I'm nowhere near ready to be the CO." she replied with a sniff as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"Let's just take one step at a time, the Commander could still pull through." he said.

"I hope so." She replied.

He kissed her on the forehead as condition one began to sound.

"Launch alert vipers, three Cylon base ships have just jumped in." Major Rae said over the COM.

Orion opened fire as the Base ships launched raiders and missiles.

Archangel was one of the last vipers to launch and immediately engaged a small group of raiders, tearing two of them apart with his opening volley of rounds.

"Vipers 7 and 12 you have a heavy raider inbound." Archangel said.

As viper 7 turned, it was hit by fire from the heavy raider.

"Frak this." Archangel said, "Viper 12 I'm on my way."

Archangel flew at full speed dodging away from all the enemy fire. He switched to missiles and waited to get a tone. As the targeting system locked he fired, seconds later the missile hit its mark and the heavy raider exploded.

"I have a raider on my six and I can't shake it." Bojay said over the COM. Once he had given his position Archangel did a 180-degree turn and fire walled his throttle.

"Bojay this is Archangel I'm on my way, hang in there buddy." Archangel said.

Archangel could see a raider out of the corner of his eye as it turned on him. Before it could open fire Wedge appeared taking it out.

"Archangel this is Wedge I have you covered."

As Archangel neared his target he saw Bojay's raptor take a hit making him lose control for a split second. As the raider picked it's kill shot Archangel opened fire and kept his finger on the trigger till the raider exploded.

"Bojay this is Archangel, get your ass back home, you've got a lot of damage." Archangel ordered.

"Archangel, Bojay on my way." Archangel could hear sirens blazing over the COM as Bojay spoke.

The CIC was busy as it always was when they Cylons attacked.

"Colonel gun captains report the EMP warhead is ready to use if you choose to." Major Rae said.

"Tell them to load it and fire at the closest base ship. Once it's hit blow it out of the fraking sky." She replied.

The fight was fierce. All the pilots wanted to destroy as many Cylons as they could. The morale had taken a huge hit since the Commander had been attacked and a lot of frustration and anger was being taken out on the raiders. Archangel noticed the blue streak the EMP warhead left behind in the sky as it launched from Orion. As it hit its mark the base ship flashed with streaks of electric currents before becoming dead in space. As it began to drift, Orion directed its fire at the base ship destroying it quickly. The engaging raiders all broke off their attack at the same time and headed back to their base ships.

"Orion this is Archangel the raiders are bugging out."

"Archangel, Orion come on home." Major Rae said in reply.

As the vipers and raptors turned to head back to Orion the two remaining base ships jumped away.

"Good work guys." Archangel said to his fellow pilots over the COM.

D'Anna sat by herself in a darkened cell in Orion's brig. She looked up and smiled as Archangel walked in.

"Good to see you survived Major, how's the Commander doing?" she asked smugly.

Rage took over Archangel, he was on her before she could open her mouth again. He picked her up by the throat and pinned her against the wall with one hand while the other pressed one of his side arms into her temple.

"Eight of my men and women just died because of your people, you don't get to make comments like that or ask about the commander is that clear?" Archangel said with pure hate in his voice.

D'Anna couldn't breathe let alone speak, she managed to nod her head. She was astounded that a human could be this strong. He let go and she fell to the floor coughing for air. He sat down and glared at her as she picked herself up and sat opposite him.

"Talk." Archangel said.

"What do you want to talk about?" D'Anna replied.

"Don't test me I'm not in the mood. You've read my file so you know what I am capable of, you may download, but before you do you'll be begging me to kill you."

D'Anna looked into his eyes and knew that he wasn't lying, "Firstly you are not the only survivors out here in open space."

"We know Pegasus survived and we found wreckage of some of Galactica's fighters. Tell me something I don't know."

"The Hermes survived as well along with a number of other Battlestars." she replied.

"Which ones?" Archangel asked.

"I can't tell you." She replied.

"Oh you will tell me." He said taking a knife out of his pocket.

"You misunderstand, I can't tell you because I don't know. I haven't been on a base ship since the attack started and the other Cylon I've been in contact with didn't tell me." she replied.

Archangel had been watching her carefully and as far as he could tell she was telling the truth. But he couldn't be sure that the tells a human has when he or she lied applied to the Cylons as well.

"Go on." Archangel demanded.

"I know that the Galactica is looking for Earth." D'Anna answered.

"You've got to be kidding me, Earth doesn't even exist!" Archangel replied impatiently.

"That's where you're wrong. It very much exists. Galactica found Kobol and that gave them a map to Earth." she said.

"Do you know where Kobol is?" Archangel asked.

"Give me a pencil and a piece of paper." She said. Archangel slid them over the table and D'Anna struggled to write on it. When she had done Archangel took them back off her.

"And what is this?" he asked.

"The co-ordinates of Kobol and where we believe the tomb of Athena is. There is a chance that you won't be able to see what they did as you need the arrow of Apollo." D'Anna answered.

Archangel laughed out loud, "You toasters really do believe in some fraked up shit."

"It's not fraked up, find the Galactica and you could find the salvation you so desperately seek." she said.

"What I can't figure is why you would want to help us, let alone have us find Galactica?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to give you all this real information so when I told you the last piece of information I have for you, you would know I wasn't lying." she replied, daring a smile at the same time.

"And what is that?" she asked.

"Not yet, I want you to check out those co-ordinates first, then I will end our conversation and I guarantee your whole world will be shaken." She dared a smile as she spoke.

"If you're lying to me, and this is a trap, I'll skin you alive." As he walked out of the cell the Colonel and the President met him.

"Did you hear all that?" Archangel asked.

"Yes we saw and heard everything." Garrett replied.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper." Archangel replied.

"Don't worry about it." The President replied, "After what she has done to the Commander, I'm half tempted to go in there and hurt her myself."

"What do you want to do about this?" Archangel asked handing Garrett the piece of paper.

"We could send a recon to see what's out there." Garrett said.

"I'd like to go along for the ride." Archangel said.

"Of course but at the first sign of a Cylon trap I want you all back, no heroics." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Archangel replied.

Archangel sat next to Bojay as he led the four raptors towards the jump.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Bojay said.

"I agree," Archangel replied, "Bria I want everyone's FTL's to be ready to jump out as soon as anything kicks off."

"No problem." Bria replied from behind them, "Okay people jump on my mark. In 5… 4… 3… 1… jump."

The four raptors all flickered away before reappearing on the other side.

"Frak me." Archangel said. In front of them, the large planet of Kobol.

"Looks like she was telling the truth." Bojay replied.

"I'm picking up radiation from a nuclear explosion." Bria said, "There is a large amount of wreckage showing on dradis."

"Let's take a look." Archangel said.

"All raptors form up on me we're going to check out the wreckage that's just appeared on dradis." Bojay said.

The four raptors turned and made their way to the debris field.

"Wow the readout from that planet is amazing. Atmosphere we can breath, oceans, vegetation. We could live here." Bria said.

"That is till the Cylons come back." Bojay replied.

As they made their way around the planet, they saw the base ship wreckage spread as far as the eye could see. This made them smile.

"Looks like Galactica gave them a good kicking." Bojay said.

"Good for them." Archangel replied, "Okay let's take a look on the surface, see what's going on down there."

President Vents walked onto Orion's CIC, all the crew stood to attention.

"At ease please." He said almost embarrassed.

"Mr President how can we help you?" Garrett asked as she walked over to him.

"I've just had a disturbing conversation with the captain of the Starburst. They've just found Edgar Vance's body in his suite." He replied.

"Vance is dead? Do they know who killed him?" she replied.

"No but after his little outburst was broadcast across the fleet, I can't say I'm surprised. He had been shot twice in the head." Milo said.

"Do you want me to assign someone to start an investigation?" Garrett asked.

"No. The Captain told me he is going to have someone look through the security footage but there wasn't much of a shot of the corridor where his suite was. The fact there is so much traffic coming and going from the Starburst is going to make it nearly impossible for us to find anything." Milo answered.

"Fair enough." She replied.

"I've just been to see the commander. Dr Hammond says there has been no change." he said.

"I've just spoken to her, I suppose no change at this point is good." Vanessa replied.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"The best I can. I'm trying to focus on work. We haven't heard back from the raptors yet and the Cylon refuses to talk to anyone other than Archangel."

"Would you like to see if she will speak to me?" he asked.

"You can try but the chances are she won't speak to you either." Vanessa replied.

"No but maybe she will at least listen." He replied.

The four raptors touched down high in the mountains on Kobol as close as they could to the co-ordinates they had been given. As they began to walk Archangel took out the motion tracker Mike had made from him on Caprica.

"What's that?" Bojay asked.

"It detects Cylon and humans within a few hundred feet. Metal toasters appear in red, skin jobs and humans are green." Archangel answered.

"Impressive." Bojay replied.

"The EMP warhead was made by the same kid, he's a fraking genius." Bria added.

As they walked into a clearing they saw a stone door in the rock face.

"So this is the tomb of Athena then?" Bria said.

"It's open." Archangel said drawing one of his side arms, "Ready to see what's inside?"

"Not really." Bojay replied taking out his weapon.

They pushed the door further open and walked inside.

"Oh my gods." Bria said.

They were all shocked to see the statues of the symbols of the colonies.

"This is too much." Archangel said, "This has to be fake, something the toasters left behind."

"It's not." Bria replied.

"How can you be sure?" Bojay asked.

"I may not be religious but I've read the scrolls and scriptures, they talk of the tomb of Athena on Kobol and this is what they describe. I mean look at these they've been here for a long time." Bria replied.

"So what about this arrow of Apollo?" Archangel asked.

"It should be here with Sagittarius. If someone from Galactica has been here they must have taken it with them." Bria replied.

"Frak, then we're never going to find them." Bojay said.

Milo sat looking at the Cylon. He couldn't believe his eyes, she looked human. There was no doubt in his mind, this was why they had been defeated so easily.

"Are you going to say anything?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I'd believe anything you said." Milo replied.

3 tapped her fingers on the table and looked Milo straight in the eyes, "Major Hunter does."

"Major Hunter sees through your lies, don't delude yourself."

3 laughed, "He is an interesting man. Are you fully aware of how interesting?"

Milo didn't know much about him at all. He knew more than most, but none of the details. He didn't understand the young CAG. He took pride in being able to read someone and get a measure of them quite quickly, but it had been impossible for him.

"I know some, more than most." he replied.

"I know it all. He is capable of inflicting destruction at a level you couldn't imagine. They sent him after truly despicable humans and he ended them all. He holds the record for the most kills by a Shadow operative in 24 hours. Take a guess at how many?"

"I'm not playing this game." he retorted, but he was curious.

"Eighty seven." D'ana replied immediately. "But for his acts of destruction and death, it is estimated he has saved the lives of 1.2 billion. We decided to play with him on Sagitarron, on Caprica because he really is the best of you."

"Because he's killed a lot of people?"

"Because he reached his true potential. He had goals in mind and he achieved them, the same after we attacked. You are lucky to have such a powerful weapon at your disposal, use it wisely."

"I thought you hated all humans?"

"I do. That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to respect one. I am looking forward to seeing how far you humans get. I wonder if you'll cross paths with one of the other Battlestars?"

"One thing I would like to know, why?"

"Because we could. Did you really never expect it to happen? You were our masters and we were your slaves. We did everything barring wiping your arses, of course we revolted. You learned nothing from when you kept human slaves. Our singular purpose has been to come back and kill you all. This universe will never be safe while there are humans to destroy it. We were inevitable."

Dr Hammond sat in sickbay reading through some paper work. Aside from a broken ankle from one of the raptor pilots while playing Pyramid and a couple of cases of Tauron flu she was able to keep her eye on the Commander. No matter how much she wanted to be, she wasn't hopeful. The damage she had witnessed inside the man should have killed him outright. She knew he was a strong man and right now that was the only thing keeping him alive. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She was waiting for one of the doctors from the Medstar to come over and relieve her so she could get some rack time. She didn't want to leave the Commander without a doctor at any point. As she took a sip of water, the alarms on the Commander's heart monitor began to beep loudly.

"Frak." She said as she darted over to him. His vitals were crashing. When she touched his stomach she new something was wrong. She darted over to her intercom.

"Guys I need you in here, we have to take the Commander back into surgery." she said frantically.

The medics who were in their rest area in the next room darted through as quickly as they could.

"Colonel the raptors are back." Lieutenant Taylor said.

"Get Archangel on the horn." She replied.

Moments later his voice came through the speakers.

"The info was good. We found a debris field from a base ship and the tomb on the planet." Archangel said.

"Did you see the map she spoke of?" Garrett asked.

"No, if anyone from Galactica was there with the arrow, they took it with them. There were statues though of the ancient symbols of the colonies." Archangel replied.

"Okay get yourselves back onboard, see what else she has to say." Vanessa said.

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"Colonel, I've just had one of the medics on the COM, they've had to take the Commander back into surgery." Taylor said from her station.

Garrett fought to keep her composure, she had to stay strong for the crew.

"Thank you Lieutenant. If any of you pray," she said to the staff of the CIC, "Now is the time."

Archangel stepped back into D'Anna's cell and sat down.

"You found Kobol?" she asked.

"Yes we did and the tomb of Athena." He replied.

"So you've seen the map?" she asked.

"No, whoever has been there took the arrow with them. I need you to tell me which way Galactica went." Archangel said.

"Once again I can't answer that, I haven't been included in that information." she answered.

"So what else can you tell me? Is there any point in me not sending you back to your brothers and sisters as you call them?" Archangel asked.

"I have one last piece of information for you, now you know I've been telling you the truth." she said smiling.

"Enlighten me." He replied.

"Grace is a Cylon." she said bluntly.

The words hit him hard, "What? No that's not true, bullshit."

"It is very true. She is a model number six. She was sent to you after we intercepted your transmission to Admiral Negala." D'Anna said.

"But she saved my life so many times." He said.

D'Anna smiled as she spoke, "Her mission was to infiltrate your group and gain your trust."

"But she can't be, I don't believe you." He said getting to his feet.

"At first she was loyal to us, she reported in when she was supposed to and followed her orders to the letter. Then she stopped turning up, around the time she fell in love with you. That part was real you can believe that. When we knew you were getting closer to Caprica it was decided that she should be removed from your group as there was more chance of you seeing a 6, so we staged that little fire fight to retrieve her." she smiled as she spoke.

Archangel looked like he was getting angry.

"When she came back to us she told us that she had been pregnant."

Archangel didn't know what to do with this information, tears started to stream down his face. He paced like a caged lion.

"We should have realised then that she would harbour some hatred towards us, but we let her go down to Caprica to resume the work she was supposed to undertake before we sent her to you. She killed a large number of Cylons before making an escape and we haven't seen her since."

"She turned her back on her own people?" Archangel said.

"She hates us more than she hated the humans before we sent her to you and my god she hated humans. Because of you she is a traitor to her own."

"Where is she?" he yelled.

"I just told you Major we don't know, but I would imagine you'll see her again."

Archangel kicked the chair he had been sitting on with all his strength and it shattered on impact with the wall. He took out one of his side arms and pointed it at her hatred in his eyes.

"There is one more thing, that centurion didn't kill your friend Danny, Grace did."

"No that I don't believe." He replied, lowering the gun.

"Well you should, because it was me who ordered her to do it." she said still smiling, knowing they would be her last words.

As she finished speaking, Archangel let out a deep breath, raised the gun and pulled the trigger blowing her brains all over the wall behind her. He dropped the weapon before upturning the table. He walked over to her, bent over and began to beat her lifeless corpse with all his strength.

"YOU MOTHER FRAKER!" he screamed as he beat her skull into a pulp. When there was literally nothing of her head left to beat, he broke down in tears. With everything else that was going on this was the final straw that took him to breaking point. The door to the cell opened and Colonel Garrett walked in with the president, they both looked horrified when they saw what Archangel had done and the broken man that kneeled in front of them.

"What happened?" Garrett asked walking over to him.

Archangel couldn't speak, his whole world lay in tatters around him. He looked up at the young Colonel and then looked over at what was left of the Cylon.

"Lies, that's all it ever was, that's all they ever say." He said as he rubbed the tears away from his face, leaving the blood of the Cylon in their place.

"Come on let's get you out of here." She said trying to help him to his feet. The president picked up his side arm and handed it to him.

"Thank you." He replied.

Major Rae stood on the CIC. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. She took a sip from her coffee and looked at the dradis console for what must have been the hundredth time that hour. The silence was broken by Lieutenant Taylor's COM buzzing.

"CIC." She said as she answered it, she could see all eyes were on her, "No but Major Rae is." She turned to the OOD, "Major, it's Dr Hammond."

"Put her through." Rae picked up the handset.

Garrett and the president stood talking after they had helped Archangel to his quarters.

"I've never seen him like that, whatever she said to him has torn him apart." Garrett said.

"Do you think he will be okay?" the president asked.

"I don't know, I hope so." She replied.

"Colonel Garrett contact CIC, repeat, Colonel Garrett contact CIC." A voice over the intercom said.

"Please excuse me." She said. She had a horrible feeling in her gut that this was going to be bad, but she tried to ignore it as she was put through to Major Rae.

"Everything okay up there Major?" she asked.

"I've just been speaking to Dr Hammond. I'm sorry Colonel but we've lost the Commander." Rae answered, her voice wavering as she spoke.

"Oh gods no." she said dropping the phone.

Milo knew what had happened without being told. He gave the Colonel a hug. Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity.

"I have to tell the crew." She said wiping the tears from her face and composing herself.

"Would you like me to tell them?" he asked.

"No thank you sir, it should come from me." she looked him in the eye, "We're fraked. How the hell are we going to cope without him?" she said.

"One thing at a time, Vanessa." He replied.

Archangel stood in the shower, the water beating down on him. He had coped with the destruction of the colonies and the death of Danny. Grace's apparent death had taken him to the edge, now this news was on putting him so close, he felt like he would fall off. D'Anna had said Grace loved him and she had become a traitor to her own people. He didn't even know what to make of the pregnancy never mind the news that she killed Danny. All he knew was the confusion he currently felt. He had loved Grace more than anyone else he'd ever met and he knew without being told that she had loved him. You couldn't fake the way she had been with him of that he was certain. He had seen her risk herself to save him and the others. Skeeter would have been dead if it hadn't been for her. He came to it a little when he heard the COM flicker to life.

"All hands this is the XO." He heard, "We have just received word, despite Dr Hammond's best efforts, the Commander has passed away. Words cannot express how distraught I am to have to give you this news. Johannsen was a great man and no one will be able to fill the role he has left behind and the sorrow that I know you all feel right now. News will follow when the Commander's funeral will be and on who killed him. Right now we need to continue to do our jobs, we have to try and focus and continue for the sake of the Commander, we will not let his death be in vain." tears once again fell down Archangel's face.

On the CIC everyone was distraught, many of the crew had broken down. Major Rae's usual steely composure was beginning to crack.

"Colonel we need to talk in private." The President said.

"Yes of course. Major please take the CON." She said quietly.

"Yes ma'am." She replied.

The walk to the Colonel's quarters was silent. Garrett tried to walk with purpose as she passed her crew, torn apart by the news they had just received. As they entered her quarters she took out two glasses and a bottle of whiskey and poured them both a large glass. As they sat down Garrett took a long gulp of her drink.

"Colonel, I don't know if this is the best time, or even if there will be a right one but we need to talk about where we go from here." He said.

"Where we go?" she replied calmly, "We're fraked."

"I need you to take over as Commander." He said.

Vanessa laughed loudly, "Me?" she exclaimed, "I've been an XO for a few months, what the frak do I know about commanding a Battlestar?"

"More than anyone else. You are the next in line, Heinrick chose you because he knew you were capable of doing the job." Milo replied.

"Promote Archangel." She said.

"Archangel isn't the XO, you are and he is in no fit state to take command right now." Milo said bluntly.

"I don't know if I can do it." She said quietly.

"Heinrich had faith in you, the same faith I have. I've met a lot of CO's and XO's in my time and you are one of the few who has genuinely impressed me. I hereby promote you to the rank of Commander of the Battlestar Orion." He said.

"Yes sir." She replied.

Archangel stood looking at the photographs of the dead. He stared at Grace's photograph before taking it off the wall.

"You're not dead." He quietly said.

"Major Hunter to the Commander Garrett's quarters repeat Major Hunter to Commander Garrett's quarters." Taylor's voice said over the CON.

"Commander Garrett." He said to himself, "The president doesn't waste much time."

As Archangel entered Garrett's quarters she smiled at him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Not really, you?" Archangel replied.

"About the same." She replied.

"I'd say congratulations but I don't think it would be appropriate." He said sitting down.

"I think you're right there." She said, "Listen I need you to be my XO."

"No." he replied.

"No?" Vanessa exclaimed, confused by his reply, "Why?".

"Considering what's happened, the most effective place I can be for you right now is as CAG." he said.

"But I need you." She replied quietly.

Archangel walked over to her and held her in his arms.

"I'm not the right person for the job. I'd be wasted as an XO, I KNOW how to be a CAG." He said quietly, "But you know I'll always be here for you when you need help."

Garrett gently pushed him away and sat back down.

"Who do you recommend I choose then?" she asked.

"Major Rae. She's already the ships second officer and she's good at the job. She's wound as tight as an XO needs to be." he answered.

Garrett laughed a little, "Okay."

"Listen do you want to meet up for a drink later on? We can toast the Commander." He asked.

"No. Whatever is between us has to stop. I'm the CO now and I need to focus my attention on the crew." she said, her heart breaking as she said it.

"Okay." He replied.

"What did she say to you?" Garrett asked.

"Lies plain and simple. She was trying to get under my skin and she succeeded."

The president stood in front of all the press in the main auditorium of the Starburst.

"As I'm sure many of you are by now aware Commander Heinrick Johannsen, commanding officer of the Battlestar Orion has died today. I'm sure I speak for the entire fleet when I say that we are all deeply saddened by this news and we send all the ship's crew our heartfelt sorrow and continued support through this terrible time. What you are not aware and I feel it is now time to reveal to you, the Commander was murdered by a Cylon." There was a collective gasp of horror around the room, "We have discovered recently that the Cylons have the ability to appear human. This woman, D'Anna Biers was one such Cylon," he said as he held up a photograph of her, "We have also learned that there are multiple copies of each Cylon. Anyone who sees someone who looks like her should immediately contact the Battlestar Orion or the Office of the President. Do not confront anyone you suspect. It is at times like these when we need to band together more than ever before. We must stay strong in the face of our enemies and if we stick together we will prevail." Milo said.

Orion's flight deck was full of people wanting to pay their last respects to Commander Johannsen. His coffin, covered in the flag of his home colony sat in one of the viper launch tubes. The mood was sombre and people's emotions were high. Brother Ramok stood before the crowd.

"Lords of Kobol hear our prayers. Please take the soul of our comrade Heinrick Johannsen and guide him to the afterlife. May he be reunited with the souls of those friends and loved ones who have passed before him. In the few encounters I had with the Commander I found him to be a kind and loyal man. His dedication to his crew and the people of this fleet was unmatched by any other. Commander Garrett has asked to say a few words." Ramok moved aside as Garrett took the podium.

"Is there anything that can make this better? I really don't know. Can we prevail without him? I do not know that either. What I do know is that this ship will continue to stand for all the values the Commander instilled in us. We will continue to defend this fleet as the Commander wanted and we will find a new home. He was by far the greatest commanding officer I have had the honour to serve under. There were too many CO's in this fleet who ruled with an iron fist and used fear in an attempt to get the best out of the men and women who serve under them. If there is one thing I learned from him, it is that way of command does not work. You need a fair and nurturing hand. I don't know if I will be able to fill the gap the Commander has left us with. But I promise you that I will try and I will do my best for you all and to use the tools that he left me with. I won't let you down sir." As she finished speaking she turned around and sat back down.

Ramok took the podium again, "Thank you Commander Garrett. Now as we send our fallen comrade to his rest." As Brother Ramok spoke the launch tube doors began to close and all the military saluted, "We pray that his lasting influence will help guide us and keep us safe in the days to come. So say we all."

"SO SAY WE ALL." The noise thundered and echoed through the flight deck as everyone spoke the words in unison.

As the commander's coffin gently found itself in open space Orion's main battery of cannons fired five shots each in respect for their fallen commander.

Archangel sat in Brother Ramok's sanctuary on the Starburst. The only light in the room came from the dozens of candles that had been placed around.

"How can I help you my child?" Ramok asked.

"My whole world is falling apart." Archangel replied, "The things the Cylon told me, the things I've seen over the last day or so I don't know how to process them."

Ramok handed him a glass of water, he took a sip before he carried on, "I always thought the sacred scrolls and other religious things were just stories, but I set foot on Kobol, I walked into the tomb of Athena. Now something that I thought was just a story, seems real."

"The confusion you feel is understandable. As you say something you have disregarded your whole life has now come and shown you the proof that you needed to see in order to believe. While you still may not find comfort in religion, it may help you understand what is going on a little more. What is happening to us now was foretold in them." Ramok said.

"But what has hit me that hardest is the last thing she said to me. She told me that Grace is a Cylon, a model number 6 and she is still alive." Archangel replied as he began to cry.

Ramok looked surprised, "Do you believe her?"

Archangel nodded his head, "Yes I do. She told me that Grace turned her back on her own people and they now view her as a traitor. She said that she did it because she loved me."

"And you doubt that love?" Ramok asked.

"I love her more than anyone I've ever met before and I honestly believe she loved me."

"In my many years I have witnessed the love between two people many times and I can honestly say to you that she truly loved you." Ramok said.

"What confuses me the most is now I know she's a Cylon my feelings haven't changed, through all the pain I've been feeling through the last couple of days it's still there. What's wrong with me?" Archangel asked.

"Nothing is wrong with you. Whatever she was, you must focus on how she made you feel, on the things you witnessed her doing, like saving lives. Let me ask you, what would you do if she were to walk in here right now?"

Archangel sighed, "I would be happy, all I want is to see her again," tears rolled down his face, "Even though she killed Danny."