The battle that erupted in the Temple courtyard filled that space with the buzz of lightsabers and the hum of lakesh blades, though mostly the former. The Cylons set upon the present members of the Order with a savage glee, as if years, decades of patience were finally paying off.

Lucy's first foe was a Caucasian-colored male Cylon, one of the models she wasn't familiar with. He moved with a fury and speed that she struggled to match. Beside her Gina was locking blades with one of the D'anna Biers-looking Cylons and Meridina was facing one of the Cavils. Talara, unarmed, had no choice but to keep moving, focusing on avoiding the lethal blade of one of the Sharon Valerii models.

While they held their ground as best as they could, the rest of the Order wasn't doing quite as well. The Mastrasham and the handful of Temple Knights present were also holding their own, but some of the Knights were struggling with the sheer ferocity and power of their foes. Each of the Cylons was gifted with dark power, and they used those powers happily, mixing lightsaber strikes with attempts to choke or bind their foes, or to channel purple-tinged lightning into them.

In ordinary circumstances this may not have been enough. But such circumstances didn't exist. The Order's recent malaise, its clear demoralization, were exacerbated by the sudden shock of the attack. One by one, some of the Knights - especially those not as experienced - fell to the attacks of their foes, while the Cylons suffered fewer losses at the hands of the Order.

Lucy herself was in the fight for her life. The SS men she'd fought in the Fuhrerhaus had been neophytes compared to the Cylon she was fighting. The last time she'd dueled someone this powerful had been Goras himself, and that was when she was far less experienced in the art. She remained on the defensive, using maneuver and short blocking strikes to defy her foe repeatedly. Talara needs me, I can't let this go on…

Then her opponent, perhaps sensing her desperation to aid Talara, got overconfident. His attacks were stronger, but less agile, more exposing. After the third such attack, aimed at her head, Lucy twisted in one direction and struck out with her armored boot. It slammed into the knee of her opponent from the side with enough strength to dislocate the entire joint. The Cylon's leg came out from under him. As he cried out, Lucy completed her maneuver with a horizontal slice of her weapon, cleanly taking the head off the Cylon.

A quick check of the battlefield told her the Order was struggling. Meridina and Gina were still in combat and Talara was running out of room to run. Lucy ran to her aid, just to be intercepted by the lightsaber of one of the bald, dark-skinned Cylons. Immediately she was forced on the defensive.

Talara gathered what strength she had left and pushed out with her power, trying to knock her armed foe away. The Cylon absorbed the strike with her own power. Her hand came up and purple-tinged lightning erupted. Talara tried to resist it, but she wasn't experienced enough to do so. It blasted through her attempted defense and seared her body. She spasmed and fell, screaming from the shock. Her foe, grinning, advanced with blade raised to end Talara's life.

And then unseen force slammed into the Valerii-model, into Lucy's foe, into Gina's, into Meridina's. All four Cylons went flying as if struck by a speeding air car. Two collided with such force that their heads smashed together and inflicted fatal head trauma. The four could feel a sense of confident, strong light amongst them, someone openly defying the darkness sapping at them and the rest of the Order. They turned to see the robed figure, his purple robe lined with blue to mark a Council member.

Mastrash Karesl held out a hand clutching the lightsaber that Lucy had personally taught him how to make. It ignited in a flash of green light. But it wasn't the weapon he used. They all felt raw power gather around them and release, an invisible plow blade that ripped through several approaching Cylons and sent them flying.

It occurred to Lucy that she'd never seen Karesl fight. She always knew he was powerful, very much so. But to see him use that power… it was like how Robert now fought, but refined. Controlled. Completely confident, not restrained.

The sight of Mastrash Karesl joining the battle gave heart to the beleaguered Knights of Swenya, who fought all the more fiercely to protect their temple.

Karesl turned to them. "Ledosh was in his office. See to him!"

"But you'll need…"

Before Lucy could finish, Karesl thundered "Go!" in a voice that brimmed with stern command. She felt the sheer strength in him vibrate in harmony with the command. Here and now he was in charge, and his orders were not to be questioned. Too much was at stake.

"Come, Lucy, Gina," Meridina said, accepting her father's command without protest. "We must hurry." Be safe, Father, Meridina urged mentally as the quartet departed.

The same to you, Meri. Karesl plunged into the fray after sending the thought.

Amidst the rubble that had once been part of the Order's organization offices, Mastrash Ledosh gave a final surge of effort. Broken masonry and stone flew away from the protective bubble he'd pulled around himself the moment he sensed danger. Sunlight poured into the ruins around him. Only his desk and the books, with their notes, were preserved.

He could feel the dark power near. A battle raged nearby. His fellows in the Order were struggling against a foe. And in the distance, fire rained down on Jantarihal and other places. His worst fears were realized. I was too late!

For a moment despair took him. But only for a moment. He could feel Meridina, Gina, Lucy, all alive. All here. There was still hope. He would not let the darkness drive him to despair, not now.

He grabbed the protective container he used to move the books around from its place by his desk. It snapped open and he quickly stashed both the books and his notes into it, after which he snapped the container shut and slung it over his shoulder.

And then he set off to find Meridina and the others.

Onboard the Pegasus, now a storied and infamous survivor of thirty or more engagements thanks to the Reich War, Major Hoshi had taken the report of Aurora's shields going up and alerted Colonel Shaw, who had (like usual) refused leave and remained onboard to drill new arrivals and oversee inspections and repairs. Then he'd asked the Aurora what was going on.

He'd barely finished when Kendra Shaw arrived at a dead run. The short woman was in her uniform trousers and boots and a sports bra, wet from head to toe with the shower she'd been taking and with her uniform jacket draped around her shoulders and flapping open from where it was half tugged on during her run to the bridge.

"Mister Rawlin," she ordered the engineering lieutenant on the bridge without even asking any details, "Spool the jump drive!"

"Sir?"

"That's an order. Mister Hoshi, Report?"

"Aurora has raised her shields and there's an unknown jump beacon active on the planet."

Kendra Shaw's damp brown skin paled. "Shields, now!"

Hoshi had been dealing with Kendra for long enough to know better. The survivor of the Scorpion shipyard had gotten steadily more functional over that period, but she was utterly inflexible in this kind of situation, and..

"Sir, jump-points forming!"

Kendra gazed at Hoshi for a moment like she was going to berate him for not having already raised the shields, but then she just pulled a handset off the wall next to the red toggle switch which she firmly depressed, the alarms immediately sounding around them.

"All hands, this is Colonel Shaw. General Quarters, Set Condition One throughout the ship." She released the toggle on the handset. "DRADIS, what do we have?"

As she asked the question, the Pegasus rocked, but not severely.

"Shields holding, Colonel!"

"Colonel, multiple significant contacts. Schutzstaffel warships emerging from interuniversal jump points. We are taking fire from at least four heavy cruisers."

For a moment, Kendra Shaw's face was fixed and chiseled in place, expressionless. The entire thing was brutally like Scorpion. Hoshi had been unconscious the entire time and the event remained at a remove for him. With her free hand she reached into the pocket of her still hanging uniform jacket and gripped hard at the closed metal form of Cain's razor. Then she spoke with confidence and decisiveness. "Prepare for emergency jump!"

"Sir… Preparing for emergency jump." Rawlin turned back to his console and Kendra watched him, remembering herself in the same position only a few years before. The ship rocked under her again.

"Nazi dreadnought is bearing on us with its spinal mount, Sir!"

"Jump the ship."

For the first time in the Colony's history, the space around New Liberty was filled with the violent spectacle of starship combat. The disruptors of the arriving SS vessels lashed out at the unprepared ships in orbit, joined by the visible tailfire of their missiles and torpedoes. The vessels in orbit over New Liberty barely had a chance to begin maneuvering before the emerald beams began to carve through them. One of the vessels, a Narn cruiser, took several hits against bare hull before a terrible explosion blew the vessel in half. A Bajoran ship managed to evade much of the incoming fire due to its small size and maneuverability, until it took a direct hit from a heavy disruptor that blasted through its shields and speared its engine section, destroying the vessel in a white fireball.

Where weapons fire struck the Aurora, it encountered fully-engaged shields. On the bridge, Nicholas Locarno found himself in command of the ship. "Send out a fleet alert," Locarno ordered. "And open a tac comm link."

"Doing so now," said Tra'dur. "The Pegasus just jumped out."

Locarno frowned at that. Not that it didn't make sense - it did, tactically, since Battlestars were primarily carriers and the ship's fighters would need time to be launched - but that it made the job of protecting the Colony even harder. Perhaps impossible.

"Targeting enemy vessels now!" called out Lieutenant Syrandi Luneri, the Dorei woman at Tactical.

As disruptors played over her shields, the Starship Aurora turned to face the enemy. Her weapons began to blaze. One by one, the other ships around her joined in the battle, the cerulean fury of the Melissa Davion's naval PPCs joined by the amber strikes of the Charleston's phasers. Both ships contributed missiles and photon torpedoes to the barrage.

Unfortunately, most of the ships were not so lucky. With every passing second more of those vessels in orbit died, many of them civilian ships. Locarno gripped the command chair arms tightly at the thought that there was nothing he could do for those poor people. It would be hard enough keeping his own ships alive given the number of enemy contacts showing up on the holo-display. A destroyer squadron, several cruisers of varying classes, all centered around an Aryan-class dreadnought with SS colors and markings.

Even as they engaged the SS task force, some of those black ships were not responding to the challenge from the orbiting defenders. They were too busy pouring fire into the Colony.

Cat and Jarod were the first to hear the boom of explosions from inside the ops van. Jarod scrambled to the front of the van in time to see an emerald disruptor beam stab down from the sky and blow apart a nearby structure. Beyond more explosions flowered, some without aid from the sky. "We're under attack!" Jarod shouted into the omnitool before getting behind the wheel. He brought the van's motor to life and sent the vehicle into gear, pulling out on the road to bring them back to the warehouse the others were in.

Behind him, Cat was looking at the van's instruments in utter shock. "The… this is all… we're under attack." Her voice squeaked the repetition of Jarod's remark. "But I can't get anyone on comms!"

"Sabotage," Jarod said grimly. He tapped at his omnitool as he turned the wheel. "Jarod to Aurora, what's going on up there?!"

"SS ships just jumped in. They were using IU drives," Locarno answered. "We're trying to fight them off now, but the comm network is acting up. We aren't getting replies from Defense Command."

"New Liberty's comms are down too, try to patch in to Julia and as many others as you can."

"We're a bit busy, but we'll do what we can."

They pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse as Robert, Angel, and Tony emerged from the door. They ran toward the van.

As they did so, another pair of vehicles pulled in behind the van, moving to block its exit. From the vehicles several men in civilian clothing emerged, but given the uniform shades of blond hair it wasn't too hard to guess their affiliation.

At a barked command in stern German, the group opened fire.

The initial explosions sent the Colony into chaos. They could be heard in every corner as pre-set bombs destroyed or damaged buildings across the city. Some of the targets seemed random, simply to add to the chaos, but with one bomb nearly gutting Colony Security HQ and another damaging the Government Building, it was clear that there was a purpose beyond mere chaos. Only later was it realized that the bombings were well-placed to disrupt the city's power grid, preventing the raising of the protective theater shield.

Moments after the bombs went off, emerald beams struck at the Colony with deadly precision. Entire buildings were demolished with a moment's contact with them. People were vaporized where they stood.

The explosions disrupted the opening session of the Summit, meeting in the Legislative Chamber of the New Liberty Government Building. The entire building shook violently from the blast, although the chamber itself was not directly affected. From her place at the Presiding Table Beth Rankin rose and looked toward the sergeant-at-arms, Sergeant Bomayako. The African woman drew her pulse pistol and spoke into her omnitool. Beth knew something was wrong the moment confusion showed on Bomayako's face. "Communications are down," she said. "Madame Governor, we should evacuate."

"Agreed." Beth looked to the assembled delegates. With the exception of the Narn and Bajoran members, not to mention Governor Kuhln, they all showed various levels of uncertainty or fright. "There is a protective bunker here. Please follow me."

Trying hard to keep her own rising fear and worry at bay, Beth stepped away from the table toward a side door. She opened it… and immediately closed it at noticing the armed man down the hall, firing a Reich-made disruptor rifle into another room. "Armed intruder," she said to Bomayako.

"The other door, quickly!" the other woman hissed, moving to take cover in sight of both doors. "I will buy you what time I can."

Beth didn't argue. She knew better, just as much as she knew Bomayako was sacrificing herself to protect the summit delegates. Beth rushed across the room to another door. She activated her omnitool and found a basic life sign scanner app loaded into it, part of the base firmware of the model. The scanner told her there was nobody ahead, so she opened the door. The corridor ahead led toward various offices for the Council members and their staff, and from there she knew the way to the entrance to the bunker. She motioned for the others to follow and walked out into the hall.

Bomayako watched them go, breathed a silent prayer, and had her gun leveled and ready when the first intruder came through the door.

The first boom interrupted Julia and Lee in their game. Julia stopped dribbling the basketball and let it bounce away on the court. "What the hell…?"

"It sounds like a…"

More booms could be heard. Going from confusion to worry, Julia went for her omnitool.

Before she could activate it, Lee grabbed her and pulled her toward the west door. Julia nearly stumbled and just managed to keep her footing. "What is…"

Before she could finish, she heard a voice snarl in German. This prompted Julia to glance back at the far door, where an armed man in basic civilian garb was entering, disruptor rifle readied, and more followed. He scanned the room and noticed them just as they got to the door. A moment after Lee pulled Julia through a disruptor beam sizzled through the door, barely missing her.

"Did you bring your sidearm?!" Julia demanded, forcing down the questions racing through her mind. Was it just a coincidence, or was she actually facing some kind of remnant forces of the Reich? Released POWs turned mercenary?

"No," Lee answered, looking ready to kick himself.

"Don't feel bad, I didn't either." They kept running, going past the shower area and toward the front of the lodge. Behind them the armed men burst through the door. Julia, remembering the Lodge layout, pulled Lee with her into a room to their side. It was full of tables and chairs, recognizable as one of the Lodge's rentable meeting rooms. They continued on through the door on the opposite side. "Jeong might, though."

"The owner?"

"Yeah," she said. She activated her omnitool as they came to the end of the recreational area. "Andreys to Aurora, I'm under fire!"

"So are we," Locarno replied. "SS warships have jumped into orbit. We're under heavy fire, most of the orbiting ships are already heavily damaged or destroyed."

Julia felt a sick feeling in her gut. "They jumped, as in…"

"They have the IU drive," Locarno confirmed.

The horrible ramifications of that fact bubbled to the surface of her mind. If they had the drive, the SS could attack anywhere. They could hit any target in Alliance space.

But there were more pressing matters to worry about. "Do what you can to keep the Colony and ship safe!" she ordered. "We'll hold out as best as we can."

"Planetary comms are down, but we'll do what we can to keep comms going through our systems. Stay in touch."

"I'll try," Julia answered.

In the warehouse parking lot, Tony and Angel raised their rifles and opened fire just as the incoming attackers did, nailing one and sending the others to protective cover. Both had to hit the ground before fire converged on them.

Robert's lightsaber flashed to life. Its green nearly matched the green of the disruptor beams fired at him, beams his blade deflected. He moved to guard Angel and Tony and keep any fire from converging on them. They remained prone, firing from the ground.

Several shots hit the van as well, even as Jarod kept it moving. It stayed moving thanks to its construction, being made to potentially end up in a firefight, but it wouldn't take many hits before succumbing.

Thanks to intense practice Robert knew how to multi-task with his abilities. How to maintain his defensive posture while preparing to go on the attack. He carefully divided his will, keeping up his defensive posture while gripping with his will the vehicles the attackers were blocking the van with. His will was that the vehicles would spin outward, both opening the way and slamming into most of the shooters.

The shooters had no time to react when their aircars spun in place, slamming them with the hood areas with enough force to knock most over. The ones not knocked over were momentarily confused by the sudden lack of supporting fire. Robert effortlessly deflected their shots back into them, taking both out.

The van pulled up as Angel and Tony moved ahead to secure the shooters. Both pulled out the zip cuffs they'd brought along in case of prisoners. While they restrained the shooters, Robert took in the sight of disruptor beams lashing down from the skies, slicing through buildings and bridges. The bombardment was indiscriminate, and fires were breaking out across the city.

New Liberty in flames. Just as he'd dreamed for years. Just as he'd dreamed that night before the fateful operation at 33LA, when the fear from those dreams drove him to bad choices. Choices that helped precipitate the war with the Reich.

For a brief moment, the thought This is my fault crossed his mind. He was broken from it by Angel, who called out, "Oh crap."

She was standing over one of the prisoners, having patted him down for more weapons. With his shirt pulled up to his arm, a tattoo under his armpit was revealed. A pair of lighting bolt runes. "What the hell is an SS guy…"

"They're here," Jarod said, now hanging out of the van. "They've got ships in orbit, the Aurora and the others are fighting them now."

Angel almost asked how, but she immediately realized what that meant. "They've got the drive. Holy sh…"

"The summit," Robert said. "They're here to disrupt the summit."

"Makes sense, a lot of the attending nations are their old victims," noted Jarod. "So we need to get to the Government Building."

"And Colony Security," Angel said. "Maybe we can get comms going."

"So we need to get back into the city center," Robert said. He eyed the captives. "We don't have room for them. Take their weapons and leave them. We'll…"

A sudden cool feeling came to him. A dark presence, not nearby but somewhere in the Colony. "Let's go, now," he urged, going over to grab some of the SS shooters' guns. Tony and Angel got the others and threw them into the van, piling in with Robert. Jarod got back in the driver's seat and drove between the two dormant aircars.

The orbital space over Gersal was filled with the chaos of battle as individual Alliance ships started arriving. Most were Gersallian vessels approaching from the Ring Station around Gersal's moon, others jumped or warped in to respond to the litany of distress calls from ships that were now broken hulks, some already drifting into the atmosphere.

The Cylons greeted the arriving ships with the same fire, taking fire in turn. Some still fired missiles or weapons into the planet's cities. Jantarihal and some targets were facing energy fire from disruptor cannons mounted on the Basestars; other Gersallian cities suffered far worse from the nuclear warheads deployed against them. Across the planet and further out those with sensitivity gasped in horror at sensing the thousands of lives being snuffed out of existence.

The fire against the planet only stopped as, one by one, the civil defense theater shields started coming online. Delayed by sabotage, and some still non-functional due to the same, these deflector shields absorbed the incoming fire with little effort, protecting damaged and intact cities across the planet.

The Cylons reacted by turning their attention to the incoming ships. Their numbers were not great, but until a full fleet response could descend upon them, their cohesion gave them the advantage against an Alliance still reeling from the sudden attack.

Below the engaging ships, another battle still raged in the Great Temple of the Order. Under Karesl the surviving Knights were rallying and holding their own in the Temple courtyard.

And yet, as they ran across the complex, Lucy and the others knew something else was going on. They could feel it in their very being, and in the facts of the attack. The explosions that preceded the Cylon arrival, taking out the Temple Knight barracks and the Council offices. There is more to this than the Cylons, Lucy insisted mentally. She gave Gina a curious look. None of the other Cylons ever used swevyra before. None except my clone on New Caprica.

They are Inner Circle, Gina revealed. It is the only explanation that makes sense.

Inner Circle? inquired Talara.

I was with the Consensus, the majority of organic and non-organic Cylon models. The Inner Circle directs and advises the Consensus.

They were the ones responsible for the genocide of the Colonies. That note, not a question, was from Meridina.

Yes was the simple response from Gina. They were the ones who told us it was God's Plan.

They found an intact hall connecting to the Offices. As they went down the length of it they came upon a prone figure in purple robes. Meridina was the first to note the blue trim of the robes and went up to roll the figure over. "Mastrash Tinaran," she gasped, and not just from the sight of the senior member of the Order dead before them.

Sticking in Tinaran's chest, right through his heart, was a dagger. Blood was pooled around the blade and the fabric surrounding it, having run in rivulets to the ground beside him. Meridina and Lucy examined the dagger closely, noting that the hilt guard was marked by a hexagon insignia, the same as the ones worn by the Cylon Inner Circle. Lucy pulled the blade out and looked over the bloodied weapon. It was made of common steel, not memory metal, with a sharp tip for stabbing as well as slashing. "He didn't even defend himself," Lucy said, noting Tinaran's lakesh hilt was still on his hip.

"Treachery," Meridina said. "We must hurry."

Far below them, in the dungeons of the Temple, two of the Temple Knights remained on guard over the cells. The two men wore the armor and red robes of their station and quietly meditated, even as they felt the death and violence raging above them.

The attack came without warning. In a split second they sensed the dark energy nearly on top of them, but before either could even pull their blades, blood-red energy blades cut them down despite their armor. The Knights' bodies fell in a thump to the floor.

Nearby the fallen Mastrash Goras sat in quiet meditation, reveling in the fear and death he sensed above. He opened his eyes. Their unnatural gold color betrayed the extent of his corruption. He smiled at the approach of his former "apprentice". "Sister Intalarai," he said. He held up his arms, as if to gesture toward her. But he could not actually gesture for the lack of hands.

"Brother Goras." Intalarai's own gold eyes took in her former master's appearance. Her hair was growing back, coal-black in color, given she no longer needed to keep up the appearance of being his pupil. "Your time has come." She set a case down and, with a gesture, opened his cell.

Goras was still chained, so he summoned the case to him with his power. It slid across the stone floor, rattling as it did, until it was before him. It opened. Inside was a hilt, the same kind that dangled from Intalarai's waist, placed over a set of dark robes the same as hers.

And beside them were two metal hands.

Beth's heart pounded in her chest and her body burned from the unexpected exertion of flight from danger. With a line of panicking, worried dignitaries behind her, she turned the corner in the maintenance wing of the Government Building. The entrance to the bunker below the Government Building was now ahead, in a supply room.

The bunker was not originally planned for New Liberty. It wasn't like there were any known enemies in the H1E4 Universe, after all. But starting a couple of years before Robert had insisted on creating them, for reasons she was still not sure of, and with openings in the budget New Liberty had done so.

The bunker door itself was reinforced starship-grade alloy, tied to an isolated computer system. Beth placed a hand on the panel beside the door. The armored door popped open, revealing a flight of metal stairs leading to the underground emergency living area that would keep a population of hundreds alive for at least a month, with an isolated naqia reactor and attached replicators with stocks, as well as living quarters. "Go!" she urged.

The delegates, Human and non-Human alike, surged by her, moving nearly at a panic. Yvonne Steiner-Davion stood beside the door to help guide them in. The redheaded Inner Sphere princess was joined by her older counterpart Isis Marik, both seeming relatively calm and collected despite the situation.

Beth was joined by Sonek Pran. "I didn't see Governor Kuhln," the multi-species Federation delegate said. "I've no idea where he is."

"He's a powerful telepath, so he's probably safe wherever he is." Safer than us.

Beth turned toward the hall further down. In their haste nobody in the rear of the line closed the door to the storage room, so she could see the armed man step into the hall. Just as he turned toward them she rushed up and shut the door. Given the situation it was no surprise that she slammed it, certainly giving away their position. "Go go go," she urged the remaining delegates, following them up to the bunker door. Isis took Sonek's offered hand and stepped in with him.

By this time the door behind them was being pounded. Just as Sonek and Isis crossed the threshold, leaving just Beth and Yvonne, the distinctive sound of a disruptor firing came through it, and the door exploded.

Beth acted instinctively. She shoved Yvonne through the door. The younger woman shrieked in surprise as she fell through the portal to safety. With no time left Beth forced the door closed and slammed the emergency lock key on the control panel, putting the bunker door on internal lockdown. Only those inside could open it.

When the attacker stepped through the door, gun raised, Beth was convinced she was about to die. Instead the gunman stomped across the room and slammed the butt of his rifle against her belly. Beth doubled over in pain. A steel-toed boot slammed into her ribs, cracking one, and she fell over moaning.

Fear and pain gripped her while the gunman tried, in vain, to open the bunker door. She heard him speak in German. "Brigadeführer, the door is locked from the inside."

Another voice replied coldly, "It is of no consequence. When the Colony burns, they will burn as well. We have what we came for."

A moment later another foot viciously kicked Beth, this time in the side. She rolled with the impact and looked up to see another man standing over her. To her shock and horror, he was in a dark SS uniform, complete with a red swastika armband. Blond hair, well-combed, was visible under his officer's cover.

But instead of blue eyes, his eyes were an unnatural, vicious gold color.

"Elizabeth Rankin, elected Governor of New Liberty, and the cousin and only living blood relative of Captain Robert Dale," the man said. His expression betrayed hate and disgust. "And a degenerate who entered a sham marriage with a mongrelized half-African whore."

Beth hissed in anger, "Don't you dare call Annabelle anything like that, you…"

Before she could continue, the SS officer's boot crashed into Beth's cheek. She felt two of her teeth break, one popping out. Blood welled in her mouth as she toppled over.

"Shall I execute her, Brigadeführer?" asked the gunman who'd caught her.

"No," said the yellow-eyed SS man. "She is the perfect bait for my prey. Bring her!"

"Jawohl!"

Beth was still reeling from the blows, so she couldn't fight back as she was forcibly lifted to her feet and dragged away.

The Offices for the Council were barely intact, and half the building was a wreck. As Lucy and the others approached they found another fallen figure in a Councillor's robe, this one a tanned woman with gray hair. "Mastrash Hadisina," Meridina noted as they approached, seeing her face and the look of stunned shock that she'd died with. Another of the hexagon-emblazoned daggers was stuck in her body, this through her back and into her heart.

"She was betrayed," Talara said, her expression betraying her own pain. They could feel the deaths that still came from the courtyard, both of their foes and of the Temple's defenders. "The Cylons, how could they have allies inside the Order?"

Meridina frowned. As shocking as it was, in retrospect she didn't feel surprise. Goras' followers had been more than willing to slay Maklir, after all. And there was the matter of Dralan Olati, who received training but without any record of his existence in the Order, or even the Gersalllian government. "They still exist," she murmured.

"Who?" asked Talara.

"The Brotherhood of Kohbal," said Lucy. "That's what you're saying, isn't it?"

"They were supposed to have been wiped out… but we cannot ignore the facts before us."

"Indeed."

The new speaker drew their attention. From the direction of the demolished section of the building, a dusty and haggard Ledosh approached, bearing a case slung on his shoulder. His free hand gripped his lightsaber. "It is good to see you," he said. "We haven't much time."

"What is it, Mastrash?" Gina asked. "What do you mean."

"This is a plot nearly three thousand years in the making," Ledosh said. "The Brotherhood bided its time well. If we are to survive, we must keep them from their goal."

"Their goal being?" asked Lucy.

"These." He offered the case to them. Gina took it. "Inside is the Life of Reshan and Gartanam's translation guide to the written language of Swenya's era, along with my notes. The knowledge you need is in these books. Continue my work. Get the books to safety, and do not let them fall into the hands of the Brotherhood."

"Mastrash Karesl has rallied many in the Temple in the courtyard, they're fighting off the Cylons now," Lucy said. "If you join him you might defeat them."

"The Cylons…? They… yes…" Ledosh nodded. "The lightsaber you found on New Caprica. The connection makes sense now. But the Cylons are not the only threat, we…" Suddenly he became alerted. "You must go. Now. Go and retrieve Swenya's Blade, and leave this place." At their confusion, Ledosh added, "It is the key to Reshan's knowledge! You must…"

The others felt it too now, a dark presence, a familiar one. They turned toward an open hole in the damaged wall, facing the other side of the Temple.

Dark-robed figures were entering said hole. Meridina and Lucy felt a shiver of recognition at the bald head of the leader of the group, clad in black robes, a lightsaber grasped in his metal hands.

"Ledosh," purred Goras. "Meridina. And Lucero. It is good that you are here." A sinister smile crossed the fallen master's face as he ignited his lightsaber. Its blood red beam was joined by those in the group around him, one of which Meridina and Lucy recognized as Intalarai. "You took my hands, Lucero. I will take much more from you before I let you die."

"Gina, Talara, get the blade! Go!" Meridina shouted in the moment before Goras, Intalarai, and their allies charged the group. Ledosh's lightsaber blade ignited and intercepted Goras', leaving Intalarai to attack Lucy and the other robed figures to go after Meridina and Gina. Gina's lightsaber flashed to life as well, but Meridina intercepted the three opponents and forced them back with her will. "We will hold them. GO."

"Both of you, go now!" Ledosh added, his lightsaber and Goras' locked together.

Gina nodded. She handed the case to Talara, gripped the Falaen woman's free hand, and pulled her away from the battle.

The SS group didn't see the attack coming.

They entered the lobby of the Lodge with guns drawn and moved to clear the room. A pulse blast from near the area of the main desk put the lead man down. His fellows turned their weapons to the desk and opened fire, damaging it and the displays and key shelf behind.

They were so focused on the shooter hidden there that they didn't see Julia and Lee strike until it was too late. They came from the nearby restrooms and rushed across the distance before the gunmen could bring their weapons to bear. Lee immediately punched one and sent the Nazi to the floor. As he went for the man's gun, Julia swept away the rising rifle of the other and struck him in the throat with a chop. While the Nazi gagged for breath, she grabbed his head and smashed his nose into her rising knee, breaking the cartilage and tissue. The blow sent a spurt of hot red blood onto her skin.

The fourth member of the team brought his rifle to bear on her. Another pulse shot rang out and the side of the Nazi's head turned into a blackened mess. He fell over, dead.

Julia reached down and grabbed her opponent in a headlock while Lee struggled with the other for the disruptor rifle between them. Julia's foe was not the largest she'd ever seen, but he was on the larger side, and genetic engineering made him stronger than he looked. Even as her arms cut off blood flow and air through his throat, desperate strength brought him to his feet, lifting even the six foot tall Julia off hers, allowing him to start slamming her against the wall. Despite the pain she held on.

Lee took a punch from his foe that rivaled anything Kara had ever thrown, but held on to the rifle regardless. He replied by headbutting the Nazi in the face, smashing the blonde man's nose with a sickening crunch. The surprise of the blow, and the pain, loosened the man's grip on the rifle enough for Lee to wrench it from his hands. One of those hands balled into a fist and slammed Lee in the jaw. As he stumbled backward, the Nazi followed up with a vicious kick aimed at Lee's knee. The steel in his boot smashed the kneecap, drawing a cry of agony from Lee as he tumbled over.

The Nazi went to reclaim his rifle. He took a shot to the chest before he managed it.

By this point Julia's foe was losing consciousness from her headlock. He smashed her against the wall again for good measure, but before he could try one last time he stumbled forward. Within moments he went down completely. Julia let him drop and winced in pain from the repeated impacts. She noticed Lee writhing on the floor and went over. His smashed left knee was turning purple, as was his left cheek. Blood seeped from a split lip. He looked worse than she did.

Lee noticed her concerned look and forced a grin to his face. "It's fine," he gasped.

"It's a shattered kneecap," she pointed out, helping him up. She brought him over to the desk where Jeong Jin-Taek, the owner and operator of the Colony Visitors' Lodge, rose from behind his desk. The Korean man was middle-aged, with salt and pepper hair, wearing a nice buttoned down dark red shirt and black slacks. He was one of the few Koreans in the Colony who was not rescued from North Korea but had, years before the Facility started liberating North Korean camps, escaped on his own. Family that the crew had gotten from the camps led to Robert and the others contacting him in America, where he quickly agreed to move to New Liberty and help get his family members settled in their new lives. In his arms was a Darglan-model pulse rifle. "Do you have a first aid kit?" she asked.

Jeong nodded. "Over here." His English was thickly accented. He reached down and pulled the kit out.

Julia brought Lee behind the desk. Jeong applied a bandage to the injured knee, with a wrap. "You'll need a medtech," he said to Lee. "I cannot heal with this."

"It's fine," Lee said. "I'll…"

His attention, and Julia's, was taken up from the sight through the glass doors at the end of the lobby. Two air cars pulled up. From them stepped more blond-haired, blue-eyed men cradling Reich-model disruptor rifles. They motioned to each other, one of them clearly giving orders.

"That's not good," Julia said. "But why here?" While Jeong attended to Lee she went over and inspected one of the defeated Nazis. The most prominent object was a hypo-syringe dangling on his belt. From what German she knew, she recognized words for combat and for improvement, showing it was a combat drug of some sort. In the pocket beside the syringe was a datapad. When she activated it, it showed images with the German for "target" on top of the screen. She noticed her face immediately, and Robert's, Jarod's…

"They're after us," she said. "They're after the Aurora command crew. Why?"

"And they don't want you dead." Lee held up the disruptor rifle he'd worked so hard to keep. "This is set to stun."

"They want to capture us, then." The thought sent a shiver down Julia's spine. "They're after me, that's why they're here." She returned to the desk. "There's too many out there. If they attack…"

"You saved my sisters and my father from the camp," Jeong said firmly. "I will gladly fight to protect you, Captain."

"I know, but with Lee in his condition, you won't be able to retreat from here. They'll outflank you…" As she spoke, Julia knew exactly what she needed to do to protect both.

Lee noticed the look in her eye and nodded. "I'm sorry," he said. "If I wasn't…"

"It's fine. Help Jeong hold out. I'll draw them away."

"Don't be a hero. Get away from them," Lee admonished.

"That's my plan. I've seen what they do to prisoners," Julia replied.

Jeong stepped into the office behind his desk and came out with a second rifle. "My backup," he said. "Charge clip is old, but we can…"

She took the second rifle instead of his main one. "I'll make do. You're the one facing a siege situation." She slung it over her shoulder. It occurred to her that given she was in clothing meant for playing basketball - white tank top, burgundy red sports bra and shorts that ended above the knee - she looked like she was from some action movie more than anything. Tom would make some kind of smartass comment about that right about now.

She and Lee might have exchanged more words, but the sound of the door opening ended all of that. Jeong opened fire from behind his desk. Lee brought up the disruptor rifle he'd taken to do the same. Julia, no options left, dashed for the door they'd entered from. She sprayed the door with fire with another disruptor beam sizzling by her head, an inch or so away from her shoulder. Jeong shot down the shooter.

After Julia went through the door she heard a distant voice barking in German. Figuring they were circling to take the direct exits around the lobby, she ran the way they came, looking to exit out the back. As she did she keyed her omnitool. "Locarno, I'm being pursued by SS, they're after us, as in everyone from the Aurora! Warn the others and see if you can find anyone to come help Jeong and Lee, they're in the Visitors Lodge lobby!"

Thanks to the Aurora, this transmission was immediately heard in the van. Robert felt a lump in his throat. Julia was apparently on her own and being chased, and the other SS attackers would undoubtedly pursue them as well.

"I guess we know what was going on with that warehouse," Tony noted grimly. "They weren't just smuggling in explosives, they were bringing in SS men too. And weapons."

"Cat, Jarod, can you track where Julia is?" Robert asked. "We can go help her."

"We can, but Colony Security HQ should be our priority," Jarod reminded him. "Not to mention securing the summit reps."

He was right, of course, but the idea that Julia was in trouble… he needed to get to her, to help her, and then together they could deal with the situation.

"Do it anyway, we'll do what we have to," he said. As they went to work Robert tried to quiet the surge of emotion he felt. The idea that the SS were after them, as in the crew of the Aurora in particular.

Not that I should be surprised. If he's behind this attack then…

"There's a general transmission coming from the Government Building," Cat said. "Video and audio."

Robert turned to face the ops van screens. "Put it on."

The image showed the shattered foyer of the Government Building. Beside the broken reception desk stood Erik Fassbinder, in an SS uniform, with the three branch rank tab of a Brigadeführer on his collar. "I know you are out there, Herr Dale. We have unfinished business from Germania, indeed, from the day we met."

"That bastard just doesn't know when to die, does he?" Angel grumbled.

"Allow me to make it clear. Come to me at your Government Building, and I may indulge in mercy for your colony of pathetic untermensch and leave in peace. Refuse and I will kill everyone. Starting with the ruler of this pathetic place." Fassbinder turned and the video recorder followed his eyes. Beth was on her knees between two armed SS fighters, bruised and beaten. A third SS trooper smashed the side of her face with a baton, sending a spray of blood from her nose and mouth. Robert felt a surge of horror and blind anger at his cousin being abused. "Her life is in your hands, Kapitan. Don't keep me waiting."

When the call ended, Angel immediately said, "Trap."

"Trap," Jarod agreed.

"Trap," said Cat.

"Obviously," added Tony.

Robert nodded grimly. Even as he did, he knew that he had a choice to make. Go to help his cousin, or to help Julia.

It was a choice he never imagined he'd have to make and one he didn't think he could make.

And yet, he'd have to. And do so decisively, with the others watching.

Robert breathed in to steady himself, and then made his choice, praying it was the right one.

Near the broken remains of the Order offices, Lucy and Meridina fought with all they had to help Ledosh, who stood alone against Goras. The fallen former Mastrash seemed even more powerful, and even more corrupt, than the day he'd tried to kill Meridina. He wielded the lightsaber in his prosthetic hands with deadly power and skill. Ledosh was clearly not his equal, but had the raw power to stymie Goras' attacks.

Lucy recognized her opponent from the attack on the Alliance Senate. But her hair was growing back now, coal-black in color, and her eyes now had the unnatural yellow of someone given over to darkness. Lucy had the feeling Intalarai had been holding back that day in the Senate; despite her own increase in skill since then, she was struggling even more to hold off Intalarai's strikes. Intalarai kept Lucy on her back foot, her red lightsaber flashing through the air with a speed even Goras never managed, and it was everything Lucy could do to parry the blows.

The three other robed figures were teaming up on Meridina, each eager to kill her. Despite her skill, their training was sufficient to overwhelm her if anything else, and she too was being driven back. But Meridina had an edge they did not. She revealed this when, after buying a moment with another quick retreat, she focused her mind in an attack on her lead opponent. Telepathically she slammed through his mental defenses, altering his perception of reality. Convinced suddenly that gravity had shifted around him, he lost his balance in trying to compensate for what did not actually exist. As he fell over Meridina struck, slicing his arm off at the shoulder. He howled as he hit the ground.

"Goras, what have you become?" Ledosh asked. "I feel it in you. You embrace this madness."

"I have had the scales lifted from my eyes." Goras' blade came within a centimeter of slicing through Ledosh's shoulder before he successfully parried. "I know the truth!"

Ledosh said nothing in reply. Mentally he insisted, You must go! Get the Blade and leave!

You will be overwhelmed! protested Meridina.

That does not matter! The books and the Blade must be taken from this place, taken somewhere safe! They are the key to everything! If Goras and the Brotherhood acquire them, they can break the Circle!

What circle?! Lucy demanded, jumping to the side and barely avoiding a strike from Intalarai. She parried the follow-up cut.

The book will explain! Now go! With that Ledosh turned away from Goras long enough to focus his power on the other combatants. Intalarai and her compatriots all went flying. Go! he urged, turning back and barely stopping a strike from Goras.

Lucy and Meridina might have stayed anyway, but they sensed the danger to Gina and Talara. More than that, they sensed that Ledosh was right. Though it hurt, especially for Meridina, they broke out into a power-augmented run to catch up to the others.

Intalarai recovered. With a snarl on her face, she took off after them. Her compatriots were slower to recover, but they followed.

The Council Chamber was more intact than other parts of the Temple. One of the bomb blasts left the entire north side a pile of rubble, but the pit where the Council met and where Swenya's relics were kept was untouched. Gina and Talara rushed in and went to the pit and the ceremonial stands there. Swenya's robes and sandals were still in their cases.

Her blade was gone.

"Where is the blade?!" a male voice demanded. The two turned and faced three of the Cylons. One was a doppelganger of Gina, accompanied by one of the Cavils and one of the Valeriis.

And all had their lightsabers active.