The air in the courtyard of the alien structure was electric with tension. At the slightest move a battle would commence.

Meridina's voice broke the silence. "How could you say such a thing about Swenya? She gave our people a new path. She knew kindness."

"She laid an alien way upon our people," Intalarai spat. "She suppressed our paths to greatness! A hundred ways of attaining power, shattered and ruined by her!"

"She united our people, she brought them balance! She ended the suffering we brought to ourselves through the meaningless conflicts and struggles that divided us!"

"Struggle breeds power, particularly for those with swev'a." Intalarai sneered. "You are blinded by her dogmas, the dogmas of an outsider."

"Don't bother with them, Meridina," Megaera snapped. "They are blinded by their own arrogance. Nothing but children resentful of the traditions handed to them, beholden to a maddened fool who never understood or cared to understand."

"Kohbal saw the truth!" Intalarai retorted. "Who are you to speak of him so!"

Megaera's lips curled into a bemused sneer. "Someone who knows the truth, and furthermore knew that Kohbal could not handle it. Kohbal was a pathetic wretch, and followers like you are blind pawns. I know who the real puppet-master here is." She glanced to the shrouded figure. "Why didn't he tell you about me, I wonder?"

Rage laced Intalarai's voice. "You know nothing, outsider! We will break your precious Circle, and Gersal will be restored!"

"If you break the Circle, Gersal will no longer be," Megaera retorted. "No matter what the Pretenders have told you otherwise."

Intalarai roared, "Take them!" and their enemies advanced, lightsabers igniting to life. Goras immediately lunged for Meridina, murderous hate in his eyes, just for Megaera's lightsaber come up and nearly slice into him. He deflected the blow and snarled at the interloper. The pale, hooded figure went for Meridina as well, just to be blocked by Robert.

Around them, a general battle broke out.

The Aurora blazed through the Cylon formation again, slipping through a hail of missile fire as she did. The missiles were being fired with greater accuracy, more than expected, and this time three made impact. "Shields are now at forty-five percent effectiveness," Tra'dur said while Angel busied herself with landing further hits on another of the remaining Basestars.

"Given their improving fire, they clearly have their own metaphysical talents aiding them." Kaveri's attention went to her stepdaughter. "Lieutenant, have we heard anything from Command?"

"No, Captain, nothing yet."

As the ship continued pulling away, Angel glanced upward from her station. "Captain, I think I have a way to deal with their missile fire, I'll need cooperation from Ops and Sensors."

"You will have it, Lieutenant," Kaveri said.

Angel shared her idea with them while Rawlins brought the Aurora around for another pass. The Cylon ships fired missiles into their path once more.

As the Aurora closed in, many of her lighter batteries opened up. Brief pulses of sapphire energy blossomed from all quarters of the ship. A number of the incoming missiles struck these pulses and were blown apart. This time, no missiles intercepted them, and yet again the torpedoes fired, striking another Basestar in passing.

Kaveri beamed with satisfaction. "Excellent thinking, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Captain," Angel responded.

"Are the enemy ships attempting any other maneuvers?"

"They're changing direction now." Cat examined the sensor readings. "It looks like they're heading back into orbit."

"Probably to limit our attack vectors," Locarno said. He eyed the markers on the tactical display for where their fighter squadrons were waiting for orders. "Maybe it's time to launch Laurent's squadrons for a multi-vector attack?"

"Five Basestars still in operation would mean our fighters would be heavily outnumbered. I want to preserve them until their entry can be more decisive."

Their conversation ceased as another strafing run progressed. Angel's tactic provided another halo of protection against the metaphysically-targeted missiles, keeping them from suffering further shield loss. The torpedoes she fired this time broke through the shields of one of the Basestars and heavily-damaged its core section, leaving it vulnerable for the Koenig's attack run.

The attack ship dropped from warp, fired a barrage of phaser cannon fire and torpedoes, and pulled away to warp out again before enemy fire could become too deadly. The effect was to gut annother of the Basestars, leaving four.

"They're entering orbit now," Cat said. Her brow furrowed as she examined the electronic returns she was getting. "Their targeting sensors have gone active."

"Who are they targeting?" Kaveri asked. "The Jayhawk?"

"I can't tell yet, I'm reading active sensor emissions."

"Message coming in from Jayhawk, Captain," Tra'dur said. "It's Commander Jarod."

"Aurora, we've got a problem," Jarod said. "They're targeting the planet."

"They are going to bomb our people?"

"No ma'am. From what my sensors are showing, they're locking weapons on the planet's population centers." Quiet horror was audible in his voice. "They're going to wipe out the native civilization."

Goras, Intalarai, and the ancient Pretender all lunged straight for Meridina, joined by two of their peers. Megaera, Robert, and Lucy went to her aid while Gina and Talara prepared to defend Julia, Miko, and Liara. A second passed and the harsh buzzing of lightsabers colliding filled the courtyard grotto of the mountain temple.

Meridina received the attacks of two of the Brotherhood, a D'anna model and a Leoben. In front of her Lucy's lightsaber sliced through the air to intercept the furious blows of Intalarai, marking the third time the two found themselves in combat with each other. Through her vicious anger Lucy felt Intalarai's purpose, Meridina's death. She wouldn't allow that to happen and held her ground all the more strongly, her lightsaber a solid blur of blue as it met every blow.

Miko and Liara weren't holding back either. Biotic bolt, flame, and gusts slammed into the Brotherhood and Pretenders trying to overwhelm Talara and Gina. Even with this intervention, the two were still facing two opponents each.

The fight, for Talara, was the most difficult yet. She felt the utter darkness of her foes keenly. Their hatred and anger at being defied were no less weapons than the crimson blades that slammed against the lavender weapon she was swinging. She summoned up every ounce of herself to counter those dark feelings, aided by the emotions from the others. Miko's fiery defiance, Lucy's fearlessness, Julia's resolve, all of her allies provided something for her to focus on and counter the darkness that threatened to claw away at her being.

All save one.

Megaera and Robert were at the center of the courtyard, and their foes were the greatest. Megaera's lightsaber shined with a crimson brighter than Goras' weapon. She met his attacks with a savage sneer that stoked his fury. "I sense the darkness within you. The power." His yellow eyes glistened. "Why do you stand with Swenya's slaves?"

"Every victory against the Pretenders I count as revenge for my people, that is the sum of who I am," Megaera answered, and met Goras blow for blow as the Gersallian felt a growing intensity of fear and uncertainty grip him as Megaera turned her power against him. For a moment his breath even stopped, and he struggled back on the defensive trying to cover himself, finding himself badly outmatched by the short, blind woman.

Nearby Robert's green blade intercepted the weapon of the ancient Pretender. He sensed the next blows coming even as he sensed a void in the Flow of Life around the being. Nothing but hatred came from the being. His speed was inhuman as he lashed at Robert repeatedly with his weapon. "Forceful." The being's voice was a deep crackling rasp, befitting a monster more than a man. "I have dealt with your kind for countless years. You are no worry to me." His blade went into motion again, but his leg moved in as well as hooked under Robert's. The force of the blow brought Robert's feet out from under him, toppling him over.

A killing blow came next, but Robert's power surged to meet it, not only stopping the blow but throwing the creature back into a column. It held itself up after impact while he scrambled back to his feet. Within the shadows of the hood a vicious sneer crossed his face.

You'll lose control. You'll hurt your friends. You'll hurt Julia. The fear struck at the core of him, full of doubt and despair. It's more power than you can handle.

You're not me, he thought back, regaining physical control in time to catch another strike by the ancient being. Get out of my head. He focused his will around his mind, forcing the doubting voice out.

The contact was enough to tell him that they didn't have time to indulge a long fight. More of the Brotherhood was coming, with these dark allies to aid them. Even if they beat these foes back they would get overwhelmed in time. They had to unlock the Temple, find what was within.

Julia, we'll cover you. Get in and open the place up.

Robert's thoughts came to Julia while she waited for an open shot. Her pulse pistol was still useless, but the silver-firing gun provided by Megaera wasn't affected by the dampening field around them. Her trigger finger remained still because she didn't want to hit an ally.

Gina must have sensed her attention. The rogue Cylon pivoted and twisted, deflecting a strike at her as she did, and opening up a shot for Julia. Julia's finger stroked the trigger. The thundercrack split through the air, echoing in the courtyard grotto. The silver bullet planted itself in the back of the robed figure with a spurt of blood. The Cylon went down with a cry.

Meridina's mind touched hers. Julia, we'll hold them for now. Open the Temple.

But there's too many, she protested. You need all the help you can get.

And there'll be more. Robert's voice was different. He wasn't in her mind like Meridina's, but something deeper. We can hold them. It's up to you.

It was the right call. She could feel his certainty that it was, and it filled her as well. She returned the gun to her suit and went to the big double door. The brief effort to open it left it opened only by a crack. She grabbed at it and pulled at the door, but the weight was too much.

Two more hands appeared beside hers. Miko pulled with her. The door slid a little. "I wish I'd taken up Komin on those early Earthbending lessons," she groaned.

"Let me try," said Liara. She gathered her will and generated dark matter around the door's edge. Julia and Miko pulled as hard as they dared.

The door protested with the shriek of stone against stone, but gradually it opened enough for them to slip in.

The inside of the structure was less a temple and more like the approach to a vault. Only the decorative use of the temple's access to the mountain's water streams broke up the endless stone walls and vaulting ceiling. The columns were more of the cone-headed aliens.

Across the chamber was a set of double doors set into the wall. The ruins of some sort of computer station or interface remained beside the doors, and the door was framed by two columns.

Two columns with an open circular port set into each.

Julia took in a breath and reached into the upper layer of her tactical suit. She pulled out both of the lightsabers received on A Famoso.

Julia, they're through!

She felt Robert's mental warning just in time. She turned and caught a glimpse of the first robed, shadowy form through the door. It rushed at her with inhuman speed, going for her throat.

There was no time to evade. The creature slammed into her with such force that it knocked the air from her lungs and the weapons from her hands. He carried her to the ground and snapped at her neck. She fought off the panic and put her left forearm up just before the teeth could move in. They dug into the material of the suit and the wrist guards underneath.

Megaera's silver-sheened gifts drew a roar of pain from the creature. Its mouth smoked and smoldered as if ablaze.

That gave Julia the moment she needed. Her hand came up with one of Megaera's silver daggers shining in it. The blade pierced the flesh of the creature's throat. It let out a gargling screech as its form seemed to burn away at the touch of the metal.

When she forced the creature's decaying form off, Julia found the inner chamber a battle site. Miko was fending off one foe with gusts of air and blasts of fire, Liara had the other one held back by a biotic field.

Her eyes scanned the floor and found the ancient lightsabers she'd dropped. She got back up to retrieve them.

There was a blur and another robed figure was already there, scooping up the dark shape of Reshan's Blade. Julia barely got to Swenya's in time. She laid eyes on her foe, a Cylon of Sharon Agathon's model, who smirked at her before raising an open hand. A powerful force clamped down on Julia's throat, as if a great hand was squeezing her airpipe closed. She choked and instinctively reached for her neck to free herself.

But she couldn't.

A grim silence dominated the Aurora bridge. It only ended when Caterina spoke up. "The Cylon ships have a stable orbit, and their electronic emissions are picking up. I think they're about to fire."

"Our enemies know us very well," Kaveri noted grimly. "Helm, bring us in. I want the shields to full."

Angel nodded. "Yes ma'am. And I'm setting tactical systems to target their missiles."

The Aurora warped in a moment before the first Cylon ship fired. A wave of missiles descended on Domaram H and the cities that dotted the planet's surface. The Aurora's weapons fired rapidly, striking and destroying these missiles.

The enemy was quick to seize advantage of the moment. The full fury of the four Basestars vented on the Aurora, with emerald disruptor beams joining missiles and railgun armament. The bridge shuddered repeatedly. "Shields are back down to fifty percent," Tra'dur reported.

"A couple of the ships are still targeting the planet," Cat added.

Locarno noticed a series of new contacts on the tactical display. "Enemy is launching fighters."

"Call in our own, Commander, and Koenig. Tactical, fire all available weapons on the Basestars, but our priority remains protecting the planet."

She was answered with a pair of affirmatives.

Jarod sat silently in the cloaked Jayhawk, hovering at the edge of the atmosphere just outside of the combat area. He watched the Aurora firing on both the Cylons and their deadly missiles with trepidation: given their further refitting with Reich technology and the forced diversion of the Aurora's firepower, the Cylon ships were more than a match for the Aurora by herself.

The small ship's sensors were quick to identify the Koenig as she came soaring back into the fight, phasers blazing. Torpedoes erupted from her launchers and slammed into the shields of one of the Basestars. Her dorsal phaser array fired rapidly, spearing the cloud of Cylon raiders that assembled to harass her.

The Aurora's Mongoose fighters arrived next. They focused a torpedo run on the two Basestars furthest from the Aurora. Point defense fire met them, as did the raiders pouring from the Cylon ships' hangars. The Cylons threw themselves against the fighters' barrage, sacrificing themselves to save their motherships from being overwhelmed by the incoming strike. The raiders of the other ships gathered, firing pulse disruptors instead of the ballistic weapons they'd once used in attacks on the Aurora's fighters.

Laurent's fighters are drawing their raiders up. That development opened possibilities, and Jarod quickly identified the best of them.

At his control the Jayhawk's engines went to full thrust. He maneuvered the ship into position and disengaged the cloaking device. At a key tap the weapons systems auto-targeted the Cylon missiles raining toward the planet. The plasma cannons and pulse gun turrets fired away at the nearest missiles, blowing them apart with direct impacts. He quickly calculated a new approach vector to after another batch.

One finger moved over and triggered the tight-beam tactical channel to the Aurora. "I've got the missiles. You can focus on the Cylons!"

The entry of the Jayhawk to the battle, and Jarod's attacks on the missiles, was just what the ship needed. Kaveri was quick to recognize the opportunity and take it. "Helm, adjust course, bring us into the Cylon formation. Tactical, all weapons on the enemy!"

The Aurora turned away from the planet and toward the four Basestars. Their weapons continued to blaze away, striking at the Aurora's flickering blue energy shields, and under Angel's guidance the Aurora returned fire with everything she had. Her bow cannons blazed away, their sapphire bolts slamming repeatedly into a Basestar's deflectors until they collapsed, then tearing the lower half of the ship apart along the core section to send the arms spiraling away from the ruined ship. A spread of torpedoes from the bow launchers blew two legs off of the remaining upper half, virtually crippling the ship.

The second vessel fared little better as repeated sapphire beams sliced into its shields. It likewise took a spread of solar torpedoes, the blue-white sparks striking the shields and then blowing off an arm of the upper half of the ship.

The Aurora pulled clear of its adversaries and turned to face the two most-intact of the Cylon vessels. Their weapons fire continued to play over the shields, sending shudders through the Aurora with the worst hits. "Shields are down to twenty percent," Tra'dur warned. "Cohesion in the bow shields is failing."

"Rerouting shield power to the bow," Ensign Mallory reported from Engineering. "Commander Scott is diverting emergency power reserves to the shield generators."

"Keep us on target." Kaveri spoke as she noted the activities of the other ships. The Jayhawk was rapidly maneuvering, engaging every missile the Cylons sent toward the planet. Some of the Cylon raiders were heading toward the vessel. "Detach squadrons to aiding the Jayhawk."

"Sending the order now," Locarno answered, while the ship plunged back into the fight.

In the courtyard, Meridina's two opponents kept up their attacks. Their blades struck at her repeatedly, forcing her to remain on the defensive. Even if one showed an opening for her to strike in, her other foe's attack would force her to ignore it in favor of protecting herself.

What was more important was their strategy. She sensed their intent to separate her from the others, and she worked to thwart it. She refused to be driven away, staying as close to Lucy as she could to hold their side of the courtyard. Fighting beside her student gave her a sense of confidence. They'd fought so many battles before this one, faced such threats, that victory was still possible in her eyes.

But victory would not come automatically. She had to work for it. That meant turning the odds, if she could.

She let her swevyra, her bond to the Flow of Life, guide her physically, while her mind fought in other ways. Her mind probed that of her foe's and found basic defenses, but no telepathic power to back them up.

For the first time she gave ground. That bought her the moment she needed to push through her foe's defenses and enter his mind. SLEEP. The command went straight to his brain and took effect. He dropped to the ground with a thud.

Her other foe came in to attack and Meridina met the blow. She parried repeatedly before counter-attacking, a slash that cut across her foe's shoulder and left visible wound. She sensed the rage behind the coming attack and was ready for her lightsaber to absorb the purple-hued lightning that erupted from her enemy's hands.

A warning feeling filled her. Meridina maneuvered just in the nick of time, as her unconscious foe was back up and fighting. She evaded the angry swipe and parried a second. How did he awaken so quickly? she wondered.

She received her answer a moment later, as the dark mind swept over the room.

The ancient Pretender's mental abilities were significant, and the full fury of them came down on Robert's mind with such force that all of the others felt some of it.

You can't control your powers. You can't stop us. You can't protect the people you care about. The litany progressed, step by step, with imagery of his friends and allies dead. Transformed, made into hosts.

It took all of his will to force it away in time to parry the Pretender's next strike. He projected force to knock the creature away, enough that it did slide backward by about a meter, but the pale thing never lost its footing. Its crimson lightsaber slashed through the air again to be met by Robert's emerald-colored blade. The weapons' buzzing gave way to crackles as they met again and again.

The weight on his mind increased through the exchange. Now it brought to him memories of just a couple months before. Toutaine Station, the Aristo Lord Haron. The desperation and anger that he'd felt lashing out at the sadistic monster. He remembered the cold power he'd channeled through his rage, the invigoration.

The Aristos, the SS Exiles, the Dominion, NEUROM… all of them, in their own way, brought pain and suffering to billions, trillions, of beings, and that struck at the core of him. The Pretender pressed that point home in his mind. You fight alongside an agent of NEUROM now. The same people who stood ready to poison an entire world! Who threatened those close to you! The Pretender cackled. You've felt a taste of this power before. Stop fearing it. Embrace it. Use it to crush those who offend you. Crush them all!

This is a trick he reminded himself. He's trying to distract you. It took a lot of effort to push the thoughts away, and he was barely fast enough to stop the incoming blows. He sensed the truth from his foe: he was being toyed with. The Pretender saw this as amusing.

Then the greater distraction came. From within the Temple he felt Julia's panic and fear. He felt the vise on her throat. I have to help her!

Through that instinctive thought, the Pretender struck again. His thoughts slithered through and filled Robert's mind, a darkness that overwhelmed everything. He stopped in place, quivering in his struggle to move. "Fool." The pale man smirked with amusement. "Your kind are so easy to—"

Another mind, nearly as dark, poured into his thoughts. It had direction, purpose, and in its hate for their enemies he felt a familiarity. This is not a battle for you, not yet, Megaera's mental voice echoed through his being. You are not ready.

Just as her mind intervened, so did her body. Her lightsaber interceded before the Pretender could strike at Robert.

More are coming. Get to your friend if you can, and hold the door as you must.

He almost protested, but stopped himself. The memory of that cold power rushing into his mind and holding him in place made it clear this was a threat he might not be ready for. He pulled back, letting Megaera face the Pretender directly. Its weapon struck at her and she caught and deflected it.

Goras seized his chance. WIth her blade out of the way, he went at her, looking to slice her in two if he could. With savage glee his swung his lightsaber blade…

...snap-hiss…

…and it was blocked, as a second bright red blade shot from the other end of Megaera's hilt to intercept it. Her will formed a wave of kinetic power that drove both of her foes back, giving her room to shift her stance. A satisfied, smug grin crossed her face at Goras' surprise.

The grin was challenge enough. They attacked. Megaera met them blow for blow with the double-bladed lightsabre, equal to the one they had seen for the first time at A Famoso in the hands of The Alekto, which even Tisiphone did not possess. Settled into her feet, she looked comfortable and composed. "I am the Guard in the Mouth of Hell! The Apocalypse must always face me before it comes!" The tremendous fury which erupted from the bitter wounds of her soul was channeled with rigid control into a dark economy of lightsabre ballet and telepathic attacks which handily drove both of her opponents back on the defensive.

Robert stared for a moment. Blind, Megaera was driving back the two most powerful opponents he had faced except for her own Mistress, Tisiphone. He steadied himself, tore his eyes away, and fell back from that fight, leaving Megaera to her foes, and headed for Julia. As he neared the door he sensed the threat and turned, catching two foes with a wave of power. They hit the floor and rolled before coming to their feet, a pair of Cylons. He returned to a defensive stance and placed his back to the temple entrance. He suppressed the shivers he felt from the remnant traces of the Pretender's power and focused on his immediate task, meeting their attack as it came.

Julia's eyes panned desperately around the room, but she saw no aid coming. Liara was defending herself from a lightsaber-wielding Gersallian. The whipping winds and flames in the other corner told of Miko's efforts to fight her foe. Help was not coming.

With her vision starting to black out, Julia fought back her instinct and let go of her constricted throat. Her hand went to her belt and retrieved the old-model pistol Megaera replicated for her. She brought her hand up and fired it.

Her opponent saw the shot coming and raised a hand as if to stop it. It was to the surprise of both that the bullet crashed through the palm of the hand before entering the shoulder. Sudden pain diverted the Cylon's attention, freeing Julia to suck in a greedy breath and regain her balance. She lunged forward to retrieve Reshan's Blade.

The Sharon model reacted too quickly. Sensing Julia's intention she raised her hand and directed a wave of solid force that threw Julia backward. She crashed into one of the columns with bone-jarring power. With blood pouring from both hand and shoulder the Cylon hissed in rage and pulled out her lightsaber to strike Julia down.

From across the room came the cry, "Julia!" A large ball of fire struck the Cylon in the back, setting her robes alight. The Cylon swiftly shed them, revealing the dark-colored tunic she wore below.

Julia tackled the Cylon as she finished pulling the robe free, knocking the lightsaber from the Cylon's hand with the impact. The two went crashing to the hard stone floor.

Miko spun away from her foe again, feeling the sting of the Gersallian's lightsaber grazing her back and leaving a burn behind. She gave a hissed cry of pain while regaining her footing. At the movement of her left arm a gust of powerful air moved forward, but her foe caught it with his own talents and kept his feet.

He sees every attack I make before I make it, he's fast, and he's not afraid of getting burned, she thought, dodging another attack. I need another way of attacking him!

There was a way, in fact, but she wasn't sure it'd work.

Be fluid, she thought. Let energy flow through me. Go around resistance. Flow. The movements and thoughts of all her training with Julia came to her. This is what it's for!

She brought her arms up and whipped them forward.

The water from the decorative fountain and pool rushed forward. The Gersallian had no chance to dodge. He was thrown to the floor.

Jubilation at Waterbending in a fight was quickly countered by remembering that it wasn't over yet. Her opponent was getting back up. But he was stunned enough that she had an opening, and she took it.

Flame and air answered the movements of her arms and legs, her very will, as she threw everything she had at the man. Invisible force stopped the initial attacks. But he was at his limit, and Miko had yet to find hers. A ball of flame coated his arm and caused him to drop his weapon. As he recoiled from this strike and more, she formed a gust of air that threw him into the roof. He flopped to the ground and didn't move.

Triumphant, Miko turned to the others. She drew her arms together and the water came at her call again. This time she drained both of the chamber's pools in summoning pistons of water. Her targets were taken by surprise, throwing Liara's into the far wall and Julia's into a column.

Her allies recovered quickly. Liara dropped her field and struck her opponent with a stasis field followed up by a burst of dark matter that knocked him into the wall again. Julia scooped up her firearm and fired into the Cylon, a series of thundercracks that filled the air. With blood seeping from her wounded torso, the Sharon model's golden eyes rolled up into her head. She fell in place.

Given the sounds of fighting outside, Julia knew their time was running out. She pulled Reshan's blade from the dead Cylon's belt and picked up Swenya's from the floor. She went to the columns by the inner door and the open aperture in the left column. She pushed Swenya's weapon in, projection side first, and did the same with Reshan's on the other end.

Light poured from around the hilts, then from the columns themselves. Miko and Liara joined her in time for the doors to slide open.

They all gasped in surprise.

A few of the Brotherhood were fallen to the ground of the courtyard, but even more were coming up the steps from the mountainside. Everyone had two foes to face already, with Lucy struggling to hold Intalarai and a Cylon back from Meridina. Meridina's foes had her pinned against the side of the courtyard, unable to break through her defense but keeping her from moving. If Intalarai or another joined in, she would be overwhelmed.

Robert wanted to aid them, but couldn't. He had his own foes, a Cylon Leoben and one of their clones of Lucy, to contend with. Megaera was likewise hotly engaged against the ancient Pretender and Goras.

Every fiber of Lucy's being strained against her foes. Intalarai was a match for her; having a second foe meant she had to give ground, and they were pressing her up toward Meridina. She knew the intention well; Intalarai would go for the kill.

She wouldn't let that happen.

So she stopped. With her feet planted Lucy met their attacks, swinging and twirling and twisting as she had to, their lightsabers in such constant motion her vision was full of blue and red light. She sensed their attacks as they came and let her arms go to meet them.

But the attackers were coming fast. Too fast. She would have to move, soon, or they would strike her down.

To make matters worse, another group of six robed figures appeared at the top of the steps at the courtyard entrance. They ignited lightsabers.

"Here!" Intalarai cried. "Over here! Kill them all!"

They went to rush forward… and stopped.

At that moment, they all felt it. A power filled the temple, no longer dormant, no longer sleeping. Awakened and full of purpose. The sense of it was enough to draw the attention of everyone, bringing the fight to a temporary suspension.

The doors to the temple, up to this point cracked open, exploded outward.

The figure that stepped out was humanoid, clad in a Gersallian robe of dark gray matched with black armor. The greater light within the temple gave the figure a bright silhouette. Under the shadows of a hood nothing was visible of the newcomer's face.

All eyes went to the objects in the man's hands, the blades of Swenya and Reshan, as they came alive, blades of brilliant sapphire and amethyst color igniting into being.

With the blades of Swenya and Reshan in hand, the hooded man rushed forward. The Cylons dueling Robert were his first targets. They stood their ground, weapons raised and ready.

Their foe swiftly proved their superior. His blades met theirs only twice before each plunged into the Cylons' bodies. They cried as they fell.

The six Brotherhood figures newly arrived rushed up to face the new foe, all while the others could only watch in surprise.

Half of them never got into range. One was struck by raw force, two thrown into one another.

The three on one that resulted didn't last long. The man moved with uncanny speed. Deflection, deflection, parry, thrust, and down went an enemy, over and over until all were slain.

"No!" Goras screamed. "No!"

The man turned toward him. "You're not welcome here," his voice boomed through the courtyard. "Get out."

Megaera ruthlessly took advantage of Goras' distraction, bringing her lightsabre up in a stroke that brought a cry of pain to him as his off-hand hung limply by charred flesh and bone.

"No!" Intalarai raised her lightsaber. "The Circle will be broken! Gersal will be ours!" She charged, her lightsaber glowing hot in her raised hands.

The man's movements betrayed contempt more than concern. He caught her wild, enraged blows on his weapons once, twice… and then the purple of Reshan's Blade plunged into her heart. Her gold, darkness-tainted eyes widened in despair and disbelief as she fell, her life draining from her.

With rage and pain in his voice, Goras called out, "Flee! We will find another way!" He backed away and fled, leaving the ancient Pretender to face Megaera.

Some of his compatriots did the same. Others, their blood up, angry at being denied, attacked anyway. The battle resumed, but with the momentum on their side, Robert and his team quickly gained an upper hand.

In the middle of the courtyard the ancient Pretender stood his ground. Megaera kept hers as well, shielding the newcomer from attack while he dispatched another Brotherhood member. "It's been a while. She didn't send you, she isn't that foolish. But you…" Megaera faced her opponent, deactivating one of her blades.

"You will never win. In a million years you and your mistress will still be fighting us and with each battle you will get weaker and we will grow stronger," the Pretender answered. He turned his mental powers against Megaera.

Megaera did not reply, but instead met the telepathic assault with a gentle turning, and for the first time, attacked; she turned into a blur of motion as the Pretender likewise blurred. But instead of two people emerging from the moment of combat, there was one person and the sectioned body of the other, the Pretender split from the top of the head down to the hips in a rough diagonal line.

"In a million years," Megaera repeated with soft melancholy in her voice, looking down at the body that collapsed into decayed strips of bone and mummified flesh. Then she deactivated her lightsabre and turned slowly to face the man who had aided them, putting down the last of his would-be killers. "We kept the faith, M'Lord," she said, and bowed her head politely.

Once all their opponents were down Robert turned toward the temple. Not to take in the man who appeared from within, but to reassure himself of what he already felt to be true: Julia was alright. He saw her standing with Miko and Liara, the former beaming with pride, and sighed in relief.

Meridina was still regaining her breath, but she approached the hooded figure with trepidation and curiosity. "Who are you?" she asked gently, speaking softly in High Gersallian. "I am Meridina of the Lumentala, formerly a Knight of Swenya."

"I know." The man turned the blades off and set them on his belt. He turned toward her and the others gathering behind her. His hands, freed of their weapons, came up to lower his hood. With it no longer casting his head in shadow, they could see his neck-length hair of snow and ash-color and his weathered face, bordered by a deep scar. A pair of brown-colored eyes took them in one by one.

The surprise wasn't in his reply, but how it was delivered. Not in Gersallian, but in English.

"Well, it's about time you showed up," he said, a slight grin coming to his old face. "I've only been waiting about three thousand years."

Lucy's eyes widened. "You… you can't be… you're…?"

"I think the name you're looking for is 'Reshan'," the old man said, the grin growing. He cast his eyes around the courtyard. "So, who's going to help me clean up this mess?"

The Aurora twisted as it slipped between two of the remaining Basestars, weapons still blazing away. Around it point-defense fire tore apart several attacking Cylon raiders while the Koenig burned in on another attack run. Its weapons pummeled down the weak shields of the Basestar and exposed it to torpedo fire. The torpedoes blasted chunks out of the upper arms, severing one completely.

"Shields are below ten percent, cohesion is failing."

Ensign Mallory was quick to follow up on Tra'dur's report. "Armor auto-repair systems operating at full capacity."

"Status on the missile bombardment?" Kaveri asked.

"They're still firing, but the Jayhawk's taking them out before they can get into the atmosphere." Cat saw something on her screens. "I'm picking up energy spikes from the planet. It looks like their heavy raiders are jumping out."

"I wonder if that's a good sign or a bad one," Locarno said.

"We are about to find out I imagine," Kaveri replied.

A few more shots were fired and the Aurora's weapons severed another arm from one of the Basestars. As they moved past Cat spoke up again. "Power spikes in the Cylon ships. They're jumping out!"

One by one, the hostile red lights on the tactical display winked out.

Kaveri did not let any relief show. This did not mean victory, after all. "Status of the ship?"

"Damage to Decks 16 through 19 and 24 through 30, superficial," Tra'dur answered. "Shields are already regenerating to normal strength." A light appeared on her console. "We're detecting a hail from the planet's surface."

"Put them on."

Robert's voice crackled over the line. "Dale to Aurora. Mission accomplished. We'll be coming back up as soon as it's clear, and we'll have a passenger with us."

Kaveri betrayed no curiosity about what he meant. "Standby for transport then. I will inform Command of our success."