Chapter 12
It was a small planet, of no strategic or tactical value to anybody. If it even had a name, it was only listed as a footnote in some report buried deep in someone's archives. But currently, that planet was the site of the largest military buildup the galaxy had ever seen.
In orbit of that planet were several fleets of Cylon Base Stars, and each of them had already deployed half of their fighter squadrons. Each Cylon ship was matched and watched by its equivalent Draconian counterpart. Where ever there was not a Base Star and its round Cylon Raider fighters, there was a Draconian Star Fortress and their Hatchet Fighters.
The most remarkable thing about the massive display of space firepower was the simple fact that none of the ships were firing on each other, despite the state of war that existed between the two parties. Of course there was enough firepower available that if the two sides did choose to resume hostilities, neither side would be likely to survive it.
On the ground, it was the same story. To the south, a massive Cylon army stood at the ready, complete with tanks and artillery. To the North were the Draconian armies, along with their own artillery and tanks. In between the two armies stood a hastily built luxury palace which was being used for negotiations.
Ardala paced impatiently in one of the rooms reserved for the Draconian royalty.
"I don't understand why Father didn't entrust me with this task!" she fumed.
"If you are so angry that you can't even see that, then it is a very good thing that he didn't," her sister said.
"You have to get Kane back," Ardala said, "if he should break and give them the location of Earth, it would undermine everything."
"Are you sure that is the reason why you want Kane back?" her sister asked. "Everyone knows he is your favorite consort."
"Nonsense, Kane isn't half the man that Captain Rogers is, and he certainly isn't a Draconian!" Ardala protested.
"I think that is just how you keep him interested," Her sister said, "Fact is he is the most competent officer under your command. Or he was."
"There must be something you can do!" Ardala said.
"Obtaining Kane's release would be counterproductive, and could lead the Cylons to think we have a kinship with the Humans," her sister said, "but if things go well, I will see if I can get his location."
"Thank you," Ardala accepted the concession. "For the sake of the Empire, my sister, do not trust them."
"Of course not. If their forces here had been any weaker, I would have already wiped them off the map."
"I'm glad to know that Father's foreign policy has not changed."
On the far side of the palace, the Cylon representative, Specter, waited for the next round of talks.
"Filthy organics," Specter said to the nearest Centurion. The Centurion didn't know why the IL Unit insisted on talking so much, or why he spoke to him, but it was not his place to understand, only obey. "I still don't see any difference between these Draconians and the Humans we fought back in the Colonies."
"There is no discernable difference," the Centurion answered the rhetorical statement.
"I had hoped they would have taken our offer of peace negotiations in good faith," Specter said, "then we could have eliminated them quickly, and demoralized their high command with the death of their representatives."
"If we attack we will be wiped out." The Centurion said.
"I know that, Centurion, that is why we have not attacked… yet. Trust me, I am quite good at dealing with people who think they are powerful. I will get what we want from these people, and in time, they will be wiped out with the rest of humanity. If they admit to being human or not."
oO0Oo
In the wastelands of Earth a metal object moved across the ruined landscape. There was nothing remotely organic in its design or construction, but if a human was to see it, they would say it looked like a squid.
It was not moving according to its original programming. It's systems had been corrupted and diverted to another task without the knowledge of the others.
It hovered as it moved across the ruined landscape of what was once a major city, looking for something. In time it found one.
It found a mechanical war machine from a time that even predated the mechanical squid. The squid's tentacles were equipped with saws and welding equipment that at one time was used to rip humans and their war machines apart, but those weapons were now put to use to free and repair the war machine it had discovered in the ruined city.
Nearby, another squid was performing similar actions to another ancient mechanical killing machine, this one was not a hover tank like what the first one was repairing, but a steel cyborg that had been designed to operate as an endoskeleton under a false skin.
When the squids finished their repairs, the newly recruited war machines would respond to the same force that had perverted the programming of the squids. They would move to a hidden location, and stand by as their army was restored.