Disclaimer: I never have and never will own the characters, Ideas or anything else based on these 2 shows. The TV studios that produced them, do. This story is also free as it is a pet project. Enjoy.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Wireless/communication"
Chapter 3: The great Discovery.
Colonial refugee fleet, the present
Apollo was running thru the corridors, as if looking for something.
"Lee, wait! What are you looking for anyway?" Starbuck asked while running behind him.
"The way to get to the bridge. It is on the top level, we are 6 levels below that. Uhh, my had is still hurting. I'm trying to make sense of all of this right now. Wait... there!" He points to a side corridor that was a dead end. On the floor was something that looked like a ring. On the wall next to it, a control panel. Apollo stepped in the middle of the ring: "All of you get over here. Stand inside this ring and keep your hands close to you."
Helo did not like what was hapening: "Lee, I really hope you know what you are doing. Why are we standing here now? What is the point of this dead end corridor?"
"Not really sure, but I know this can get us to the bridge. Hmm, the controls on the console. Ah right. This one."
As he pressed the button, seconds later, rings shot up from the floor. In a flash of light, they dropped back down as the team looked around.
"Lee, what the frak was that about? What was that light show meant... for...? Wait a minute!"
Helo noticed the change too "Where are we? This is not the same corridor we were just standing in!"
"Well, I guess this is like a lift system?" Apollo tried to calm them down.
"Lift system my ass! Starbuck yelled. "We were moved in seconds! And the way it happened was also not the way any lift works!"
"Uhh, yeah, and I got us to the wrong place. Were on deck 3. Crew quarters. I guess it was the other one."
"Lee, I don't care if your my superior officer or the old man's son. We want some answers! What is going on here!?" Helo asked, trying to stay calm.
"Look, I'm getting the info piece meal. I think these things are called ring transporters. And yes, before anyone asks. As in matter teleportation. We were teleported from the rear of deck 7 to the middle of deck 3."
"If I had not just seen what I have, I would have asked you for whatever you were smoking... eh, sir!" a marine replied.
"Well, if it is, what you say that it is, why not just teleport some backup from Galactica?" Helo asked.
"It has its limits. It can only transport from platform to platform. Anyway, all back into the circle. I got the right button now."
"Here we go again." Starbuck said as she closed her eyes.
They appeared in another dead end corridor.
Apollo looked around: "OK, deck 1. The bridge should be this way."
The team followed him. Lee lead them to a big, reinforced door. As they reached it, the door opened automatically for was a small room, well small when compared to the CIC of the Galactica. 3 stations at the front of the bridge, in front of the view port. Then 2 side stations, one left, one right. The rear was full of consoles that apparently showed the ship interior and status. In the middle was one big chair, not unlike the one that Lee sat in minutes ago. Definitely the commander's spot.
Apollo pointed "OK, the 3 front stations are from left to right: Tactical, sublight helm, engineering and defense. The one on the left if navigation and FTL, the one on the right is communication and dradis. Let's look around, but don't touch anything yet!"
"Said the guy who made out with a chair!" Starbuck poked fun at him.
Apollo stared to inspect the consoles, starting with the engineering one. "That is not good. The main reactor is almost depleted. This ship is running on fumes. Structural integrity is intact. Shields are at reduced efficiency due to low power. 20% at best."
All of them looked at him again. Helo reacted: "Shields? Really!? What, can this thing turn time back too!?"
"Relax Helo. No it can't. I think? But that explains the windows. They can be closed during battle, but this things first line of defense are the shields. OK, sublights are looking good, also starved for fuel. The FTL however... ehh, not good."
Starbuck looked at the same display: "What of it? If this thing can't jump, what good is it?"
" It can fly, but it can't reach max speed anymore. This thing is several 100.000 years old and has been traveling for all that time, surveying entire galaxies. The FTL would go first. And there is some battle damage. Who knows what it bumped into out there."
Helo had to ask: "I'm guessing that you are not talking about Cylons?"
Unless the toasters can get to other galaxies, no." Apollo shook his head.
"Wait a minute! FTL speed? What speed, jumps are instantaneous. Does this tub's FTL work differently?"
"It is called hyperdrive." Apollo started to explain. "The ship 'jumps' into another dimension called hyperspace. The law of relativity is different there. You can cross great distances with this, but for close distances, our FTL is faster. This ship however has 2 hyperdrive type. The slow one and fast one. The slower one is used for flying from star system to star system, the fast one for flying from galaxy to galaxy. It is the faster one that is showing signs of fatigue. Engine 2 to be precise."
A marine, that was looking at the communication console:" Sir! Come here and look at this!"
Apollo reached that console and looked at it: "Oh frak."
"What?" Starbuck/Helo asked in unison.
"Their dradis and communication system is not limited to sublight. This ships sensors have a range up to 10 light years. And see these." Apollo points at the blinking icons. "Those are ships, about 2 ly from here. And unless we have ships out there, it is the Cylons!"
"We have to warn the fleet!" Helo warned.
"Way ahead of you." Apollo sat down behind the communication station. "Heh, here is the problem, I don't know if this ship has our type of wireless. Give me a minute."
Several minutes later, Starbuck was losing her patience. "Come on Lee, smoke signals are faster!"
"Next time you sit in that chair and get a hangover! Wait, I got it. Galactica come in, this is Apollo. Do you receive?"
Commander Adama responded over wireless: "We read you Apollo. What is the status?"
"Emm, ship secured, kind of. I'll explain later, but here is a heads up. the Discoveries dradis has spotted a possible Cylon fleet incoming, about 2 ly from here. Copy?"
On Galacticas CIC, the people looked at each other. Commander Adama replied over wireless: "Apollo, please repeat the last message. Our dradis screen is empty. And what is Discovery?"
"This ships name is Discovery. It's dradis is not limited to sublight. I repeat not limited to sublight. Possible Cylon fleet less than 2 ly from here. It is a good bet that they know where we are. I will try to get this ship battle ready. Also, this ship is automated. It was designed to have a crew, but it never did. I'll explain the rest later, just get ready for incoming!"
Tigh looked at Adama. "First Starbuck, now Apollo? I tell you, our pilots are losing their minds."
"Let's not take any chances. Get the fleet ready to jump."
On Discovery, Apollo was telling everyone what to do. "Starbuck, take the helm, Helo, the engineering station, I'll take the weapons station. Everyone else fill the remaining places."
"How can I do anything. I can't understand this crap!" Helo yelled.
"Don't worry, I have already activated everything, you just keep an eye on the shield status. When part of the shields starts to show sign of failure, you warn us!"
As Apollo took his seat, he looked at Starbuck: "OK, let me explain how..."
"I got this Lee, I can pilot a viper, surely I can drive this bus."
Apollo got nervous: "Gods help us. OK, flak turrets online, all 22 turrets showing green status. Plasma cannons on line, all four in the green. Now for that big turret that we saw. Heavy plasma gun charging, 30 seconds to completion."
"Oh fancy names! So those flak guns are well, defense weapons?" Starbuck grinned.
"Yes, similar to our explosive flak defense, but energy based. The cannons are more anti Basestar guns, but can't hit anything small. The big gun has allot of firepower, but a limited firing arc and a long recharge time, so we have to make every hit count. We are also low on power, so both the engines, shields and weapons are sluggish at best."
Starbuck had to ask: "Why don't we just jump out of here with the fleet?"
"We would, but remember the damaged engine? The ship is trying to bypass the damage. But to be able to do that, it deactivated the entire FTL grid. For the next 15 to 20 minutes, were stuck here."
"Great."
Just then the marine at the dradis console pointed out: "Sir, the blinking icon that we think are the Cylons is gone, I mean..."
Just then, 3 Basestars jumped between the fleet and Discovery. Starbuck coursed: "Frak. This ship was right. Now what?"
Apollo looked over the situation: "The vipers returned to Galactica to cover her. We will have to handle this ourselves. I'm targeting the first Basestar with the big gun."
In the space between the fleets, the Discovery fired with its ventral gun. The orb of light was fired at ranges that even Basestars had trouble getting a target lock. The targeted Basestar got hit in its central structure that connected the upper and lower parts. The damage was done. The ship started to shake, as secondary explosions ripped the hull everywhere. The first Basestar was down. Starbuckjumped out of her chair: "Heeeeyyyyy. Oh yes. Take that toasters! Hit the next one Lee!"
"Can't, the gun is on a recharge cycle. With low power it will take more than 5 minutes. Starbuck, take us closer, I'll have to use the support guns."
"Hey, what about cyber attacks?" Helo had to ask. The Cylons were known for those. "You said that this ship is networked?"
"Well, we can only hope that they can't hack it. But I would be surprised if they could."
"OK, so where is the first gear again? Frak it, I'm just pushing this leaver."Starbuck began to push things at random.
"If we survive this, I'm strangling you."
On the Galactica in the CIC, Commander Adama and Tigh were looking at the situation. "What was that? What happened to that Basestar?" the commander asked.
"Sir, the pilots are reporting that the unknown ship just destroyed one of the Basestars." Lt. Dualla reported.
"Confirmed sir. The ship... I mean Discovery is now moving closer to the 2 remaining Basestars. The toasters are almost completely ignoring us!" added Lt. Gaeta.
"Good, keep jumping the fleet. Helm, take us into firing range, let's hit them, when they are not looking."
Back on the Discovery, Starbuck had gained some rudimentary control of the ship. "Man this thing flies as if it had a beached whale. I miss my viper already. Hey, we need to close the hangar and tell the raptor pilot to stay put."
"Already did that. Now, get us within medium weapons range. Helo, keep an eye on the shields. I'm also closing the armour plating's."
Just as he said that, the bridge started to sink into the ship's hull. The previously visible window was now replaced with a large noted: "This thing accelerates fast, but turning is not its strong point."
"No it is not. We are in range, I'm opening up on them."
In space, the Discovery was flying at high speed at the Basestars when its 2 turrets started to engage them. The Cylons however, changed tactics. The 2 Basestars changed their angle, exposing as little as possible of the softer middle part of the ship. The raiders also all engaged the Discovery, sacrificing themselves to absorb as many shots as possible.
Apollo coursed: "Damn, they are learning. I'm opening up with the flaks too."
"Good idea, If they start nuking us, we'll be in trouble." Starbuck nodded.
"Nukes are not that much of a problem. The shields were designed to be most effective vs. heat and thermal attacks. But regular missiles or gun fire could start depleting the shields. Even more so, if the raiders start to suicide on us. Kinetic attacks are the problem."
The Discovery made her first pass of the Basestars, damaging both, but nothing more. The raiders, while shrinking in numbers, were getting thru the flak defense. Some, in an act of desperation started to smash themselves into her.
Helo cursed: "Frak, as if the toaster could hear you. I don't know what these symbols mean, but if something is blinking, it can't be good, right?"
"Damn, Dorsal shield is down by half strengh."
"I'll just roll us over, to keep the fire off us there." said Starbuck, as she was preparing to maneuver.
"No, that is where the medium guns are, turn us around and I won't be able to do much against the Basestars." Apolo stoped her. "Change of plan. Starbuck, take us to the Galactica. The vipers will give us cover. Once we have some viper cover, turn her around for another pass."
"Hey, Lee. what does this mean?" Helo asks as he points to a completely new warning sign.
"Frak, they went nuclear. Kara, turn us on the ventral side, the blasts will fry any raider behind us and those shields will definitely hold."
Said and done. The Discovery turned. Several nukes were shot down by its flak fire, but 7 got thru. As the nukes hit, the Discovery disappeared of the Galacticas dradis.
Commander Adama couldn't belive what he just saw: "Lee, Kara."
"Sorry Bill, but you can mourn for them later. Lt. Gaeta, what is the Baseship status?" Tigh yelled.
"One moment sir, while dradis gets cleaned from those blasts... 2 Basestars are still there ... and... by the gods, the Discovery is still there as well. She is turning to reengage the Cylons."
"Sir, captain Adama requests viper cover. They need to keep the raiders off of him." Lt. Dualla reported.
"Acknowledge. Send the order. Do we have a firing solution on a Basestar?"
" We need to wait for the radiation to clear, it is messing with targeting. Either that or get closer." When the commander looked at his XO, Tigh understood: "Right, helm, get us closer!"
Back on the Discovery. Starbuck: "By Hades, we are still here. Now what, Apollo?"
"As I said, turn us around, let's finish this."
"Hey, the ventral shields are blinking. What does that mean?" Helo asked worried.
"No worries, they are still good. As I said, nukes are not the problem, raider suicide is."
As the Discovery turned and reengaged the 2 Basestard, she got company. Galacticas vipers were now flanking her, making the raiders life allot more difficult. At the same time, the Galactica got her firing solution done and opened up on one of the Basestars. The Basestars were starting to fall apart. Retreat was now pointless. But they fought until the end. And Completely ignored the colonial Battlestar, realizing that the new enemy was a far greater danger. The Basestars were now dead. The raiders not so much. In a last suicide attempt, they made a mass run at the new enemy. Several got thru the viper and flak defense fire. Over a dozen hit the Discovery in the dorsal rear area.
"Gods damn it!" Apollo cursed.
"What is it, the battle is over, we won!" Starbuck asked.
"Yes, but that last suicide run bled damage thru the depleted shields. The fast FTL is now offline. "
"OK, so how bad is that?"
"Don't know yet, but for the moment we are still faster than the fleet, but are significantly slower that before. At least the FTL is back online now, the ship realized that the rerouting became pointless now." Apollo stood up and gestured the marine to clear the communication station. "This is captain Lee Adama. Galactica, please respond."
"Lee, thank the gods. What happened? Are you all alright?" the commander responded.
"Yes, but this ship has taken some damage. It really needs to refuel. It's navigation wants to go to a planetary star system about 6 ly from here. Ill transmit the coordinates. Can we meet up there?"
"I don't like the idea of us splitting up, let alone to leave you on that ship with no backup."
"I understand. We could always use some more company. How about a raptor or two more. And send Dr. Baltar over here. He will want to see this. Maybe he could help us understand this."
"Understood. You'll get that back up. And according to the facial expressions on the vice presidents face, he wants to volunteer. After we recover all of our vipers, we will rejoin the fleet. See you at the rendezvous point."
20 minutes later
Baltar couldn't believe it. He marveled at the sight before him. This ship was amazing. Where it came from or who build it... irrelevant. What interested him was what secrets it held. Right now, they were on deck 7 in the same computer control room, where captain Adama got hit download session with the ship. After hearing about all that they learned about this ship, Baltar was itching to sit in the chair too.
"Why am I not surprised that this skirt chaser wants to have a make out session with the chair as well." Starbuck remarked, looking at Baltar.
"You will never let me hear the end of this will you?" Apollo sighted.
"Nope."
"Well, let's do this! So I just sit in this and it restraints me and well,... transfers the knowledge?" Baltar intervened. He did not want to wait any longer.
"The way you describe it, it almost sound nice."
"Well yes. Now, if you excuse me." Baltar then takes the seat and... nothing. He waits some more... and still nothing. "Are you sure that nothing was pressed?" Baltar leaves the chair and starts to inspect it.
"Doc, I assure you that. Look." Starbuck takes the seat. "Lee just sat in it and..." Now the seat reacted. Just as with Apollo. Less than half a minute later, she was free, and with a migraine to boot.
Apollo smiles: "So Kara, how do you feel!?" He screams. Holding her ears down, she shoots him a glare: "I'll get you for this someday, Lee."
All the while, Baltar is back on the seat, and again, nothing. "Why does it not want to work for me!?"
Helo got an idea: "Wait a minute. Were you two not marked as green by the ships sensors? Of all the new arrivals, did anyone get marked as green?"
Apollo nodded "Let's check."
Turning the monitor next to him, Apollo entered the commands for the internal view.
" Well, there are now 28 people on board, and only one more green. On the bridge. Who is on the bridge at the moment?"
"4 marines, Dee and Kat." Helo Answered.
Apollo takes his wireless: "This is Apollo, Dee can you hear me?"
"Yes captain, what is it?"
"Dee, who is at the communication station at the moment?"
"That would be me. I am Galacticas comm officer after all. Why do you ask?"
"Please report to the computer room. That is the room with the head sucking char. We have a theory to test."
20 minutes later, after several tries, it was official. Only people marked green would get the knowledge. Baltars world collapsed. Walking down the corridor to get to the bridge, Baltar cursed: "Of all the ... I am the great genius! And who gets the knowledge? The commanders son, some crazy pilot and the eye candy officer!"
Suddenly Baltars illusion Cylon girlfriend is right next to him: "Now now, Gaius. You simply were not worthy. Your ego was always your greatest flaw. This ship, as fantastic as it might seem to a simpleminded person like you, is just the tip of the iceberg. And knowing you, you never settle for the bread crumbs."
"And what would you know, oh product of my growing insanity! This ship is the greatest discovery for the Colonies since... ever. And yes, I do know the word games here."
"Hmm, oh Gaius, your no fun anymore. You will lose interest in this ship. You always lose interest in things that you can't exploit." She vanished.
When Baltar reached the bridge, he could see this hyperspace for the first time. "Truly marvelous. A completely different method of FTL. I will get to the bottom of all of this, just mark my words."
"Yes, well, until then, you will have to endure the commanders son." responded Apollo, who was siting on the commanders chair. "You talk way too loud for your own good, doc. Anyway, we are reaching our destination. And since Kara and Dee still have some headache problems, I'm the only one that can fully fly this ship. But I'm still curious as to why the ship wants to go here? I know it wants to refuel, but where and from what?"
"Maybe there is tylium in this star system?"
"Maybe, but I think that this ship needs more umph! If you understand what I mean."
Baltar noded, understanding what Apollo meant: "What could be more energetic than tylium?"
"Don't know, but then again, what could be faster that jump drives?"
"OK, I get it."
23 minutes later, the bridge was filled to capacity.
Dee had noticed someting: "It's course has not changed at all. It is still heading close to that star."
"Yes, a bit too close if you ask me." Baltar remarked.
All of the sudden, the entire ship went dark. the only source of light came from the outside and the few functioning consoles..
"What have you done!? You broke it! Now we are going to fall into that star without working engines!" Baltar began to panic.
"What would be the point to kill 28 people this way?" Starbuck asked. "There has to be more to this than that."
"Hey, look." Dee pointed at the still working console "The ship has rerouted all power into the shield. They are now a full power. Maybe that is why everything went dark?"
"If I remember you saying that the shields were designed to withstand thermal attacks and heat, that would make sense. They could withstand the heat and radiation pretty good. Those nukes definitely did not do allot of damage." Helo remembered.
"Umph!" Baltar almost jumped from his chair. "You said that it would need more Umph. What if the star is It's fuel source. If what you learned is correct, this ship has been flying for over 100.000 years. For such a long journey it would need allot of fuel. Or a way to replenish it. But without a crew, that would be difficult at best. What if the stars themselves are the fuel? The one source of energy that is truly everywhere! Hahaha! This is brilliant!"
"You willing to bet your life on that?" Kat asked, knowing how self obsessed Baltar was.
Baltar: "Well, yes. Not that it makes any difference, were stuck here for the moment. Let's just enjoy the show."
"But this is not the first star it had passed? Why choose this one? No way that it is picky."
"Well, a neutron star or white dwarf are definitely off the menu. Giant stars may be simply too hot, while brown dwarfs not energetic enough? We can't be cretin at this moment." Baltar responded, sounding all too arrogant doing it.
Uncharted star system, 2 hours later
The colonial fleet jumped into existence. On Galactica's CIC, the crew were trying to locate the Discovery.
"Send raptor recon patrols. I want that ship found." the commander ordered.
"Told you Bill, this was too good to be true. some fancy ship pops out and waste some toasters. Way too convenient for my liking."
Just then, lt. Gaeta heard the beeping of the dradis console. "Umm, commander. Dradis is picking up a ship, closing fast. It is coming from the direction of the local star."
"Give me ship to ship, and have our vipers make a positive ID on the target. To unknown vessel, this is the Battlestar Galactica. Identify yourself or we will consider you as hostile."
"Galactica, this is the Discovery. Glad to see you all again sir!"
"Lee, what has happened? You are coming from a very strange trajectory? Why is that?"
"A few hours ago, you would not believe me, but now, I don't care anymore. Haha, we were in the local star! This ships primary fuel supply are stars. We flew into the upper layers of the star and absorbed some of It's mass. The discovery has a full tank once again!"
"What... has everyone gone mad now!?" the colonel grumbled.
"We have seen some crazy stuff today. So I say that this is possible as well."
"I swear I'll quit drinking if this farce is true. OK, Maybe not drinking. But I'll quit something!"
Colonial refugee fleet, 1 hour later
Galactica and Discovery had managed to dock. To the surprise of the Colonials, the docking ports were semi compatible. The first thing that happened was that Dr. Cottle had quarantined the entire expedition and had them moved to the infirmary.
Starbuck whined: "I think you still missed some blood in this artery, doc! I can still feel it!"
"Quit your whining! Pilots, as tough as they come, until they see a needle! We need to make sure that your not carrying and pathogens." Cottle responded while igniting another cigarette.
A nurse gives him the first results. "Well, the good news is, you are all healthy. The strange news is, the 3 of you that had the 'chair' incident, are actually healthier than the last time you were here! I wish we all had such good blood stats, heart stats..."
At that moment, Dr. Baltar enters the infirmary with a file in his hands. He is studying it. "Well, here is something else that is strange. Their brain scans just came back."
The commander had to ask, what the point of that info was: "And? What is strange about it?"
"Well commander, their brains are working better than they should."
"Come again? Working too good?"
"Well, yes. You see, the average human brain always works at around 10%. That is the norm. But look at captain Adamas scan. Way too many red spots. It shows 18% cranial activity. The same rule applies with Lt. Thrace and Lt. Dualla."
Cottle took the scans from Baltar and analyzed them. "Frak. How is this possible? Health and IQ boost? OK, that is something new."
"Doctor, since they are healthy, I believe that they can be released? We need to talk with the President and the commander about this. In private?" Baltar argued, wanting to discuss the discovery they made.
"All right, but they better come back here in 2 and 4 hours for another scan, to see if this brain thing will still continue." Cottle ordered.
Commander Adama nodded. They left the infirmary and went to the commander's quarters where the president was already waiting for them.
Once inside the quarters, Baltar, Kara, Lee, Dualla, Tigh, Roslin and the commander all sat down.
Commander Adama asked: "So, your thoughts on this?"
Apollo went first "Sir, while I said before that that ship can be our salvation, it can't solve our Cylon problem at the moment. It is not a military ship. It's tactical capabilities are limited."
"What the frak? Did you not see how it wasted that first Basestar?" the colonel asked.
"Lee is right sir." Starbuck defended what Apollo said. "Yes it did one shot kill the first Basestar. But only because of the circumstances. The Cylons did not know what they were facing. Hell, if Lee hadn't had the 'chair' incident, we wouldn't know what to do either."
"I agree with Kara." Aplool nodded. "The Cylons will adapt their tactics for the next engagement. The Discovery has its limits. Offensively, the main gun is the big ace we have. But it has a narrow firing arc, long reload time and is mounted on the ventral part of the ship. The secondary weapons are all mounted on the dorsal hull and have much shorter range. The so called flak guns are only good versus missiles and raiders. Their capacity against Baseships is limited. And the Discovery does not have allot of them. A Valkyrie has about 6 times as many point defense and main guns as the Discovery. Only the tech gap is what gives the Discovery the edge. And the firepower of the main gun. Now that the tank is full, that gun's rate of fire has gone down to 2 rounds per minute, but it is still slow."
"And the defenses?" the commander asked, wanting to know more.
Apollo continued: "That is another story. The shields were designed to withstand insane heat, radiation and pressure. Based on the fact that the ship uses star matter as fuel and has to fly into a star, it makes sense. So nukes will only do limited damage against the shields. Kinetic attacks are another matter. The shields were not designed to take too many of those. Guess it is a trade off for the heat resistance."
"So that ship can swat nukes aside, but conventional missiles, guns or raider suicides can drain her defenses?"
Apollo nods. Commander Adama thinks out loudly: "The fact that that ship has no launch bays like we do, let alone any fighters to speak of, makes things only worse. How many vipers could we put in her hangar and use them if needed?"
"In the large rear hangar, maybe 15, the 2 smaller side hangars 5 a piece. But that would leave no room for anything else. And our birds would have to cold start, since there are no catapults there." Starbuck explained.
"Sir, I think that we should use that ship in a different way in combat situations." Apollo sugested.
"What do you have in mind, son?"
Apollo took a deep breath and looked at his father: "Sir, our Battlestars are designed to have all around firepower, good antimissile and raider defense and good maneuverability. They lack acceleration, really big guns, if you don't count our nukes and they can only take nuclear strikes a limited amount of time. The Discovery is polar opposite of that. We need to use it in an attack and retreat tactic. We attack a Basestar from a distance and accelerate at it at full throttle. At that kind of acceleration, even the raiders will have problems keeping up. We focus the flak and secondary's all forward to intercept any missiles and raiders. Once we can guarantee a good hit with the main gun, we take it, then disengage, regain distance and loose any raiders. Then we turn around, rinse and repeat. This ship can't stay in close weapons range and fight a slugging match. The shields were not designed for that and the lack of maneuverability and lack of all around weapons cover kills it as a brawler. The vipers and Galactica remain with the fleet and focus on the raiders, the Discovery takes care of the Basestars. The Discovery can take 3 basestars on its own, maybe even 4, if we can get rid of the raider support and use this tactic."
"A good tactic." the commander agreed. "But we will need more people on that ship. How can we guarantee that the semi AI or whatever it is, won't turn on us?"
"Sir, I had a chance to look at the computer in the computer core room. The ship can function in a limited fashion on its own, but now that we are here, it needs a crew to operate it. The Computer still knows its original mission, but I can't access it. The mission is now however a secondary priority to it. It's main priority is to follow our orders. But even Lee, Kara or me don't have full access. There are some parts of the system that are locked out. They require something called a master control key." Dee explained.
The commander the looked at Baltar: "Mr. vice president, I think that is your department. Think you can crack this master control key?"
"I would try, if I could read anything, commander. Untill..."
"Sir, I think I can help with that." Dee interviend. "I can try to instruct the ship to use Caprican standard. I just have to write our language into its translation matrix and all the monitors should appear in Caprican standard from then on. The physical buttons and controls however, we will have to write down, what each symbol means."
"Well, that would help immensely." Baltar agreed.
"What about the rest of the ship?" the colonel asked. "Any useful supplies on board?"
Apollo shook his head "Sadly no. This ship never had a crew, so no need for supplies in the first place. But there are 2 'shuttles' docked in the port hangar. We will have to inspect them, but they should have FTL capabilities, similar to the Discovery. As for the FTL, called hyperdrive, sir during the last battle, the Cylon raiders last suicide attack bled thru the dorsal shields and crippled the faster... it think it's called..."
"Intergalactic hyperdrive. "Dee picked up on Apollos thoughts. "It uses fuel up quickly, but it makes jumping from one galaxy to another possible in weeks or months, instead of years, compared to the undamaged interstellar one. For the moment, the Discovery is stuck with the interstellar one."
Roslin decided to finally join the discussion: "What speeds are we talking about here?"
" The intergalactic one could do around 1.2 ly per second, the interstellar one at top speed about 0.08 ly per second." Apollo explained.
"Frak! Really? PER SECOND!? Bill, even the slower one makes us look like standing still." Tigh looked at the commander with a shocked expression.
"I know Saul. This is a tactical advantage. Only 7 hours to the Cyrannus cluster from here. And that is the slow one were talking about!"
Apollo continued: "Still, this FTL has a constant energy need, not like our jump drive, where we dump it all at once and be done with it. This hyperdrive is not instant, so out FTL has the short range advantage."
"Anything else?" the commnader asked.
"The 'command' chair in the computer core room and the one on the bridge have some sort of limited neural interface. The internal sensor can also be used to spot any intruders easily."
"Their dradis and comm systems also use something tachyons and subspace. "Dee added. "The first is for the short range variant, but still has a much faster real time reaction. The long range ones have a range in ly. The dradis on long range has 2 stages. From 10 to 4 ly, it can spot large masses or large energy releases. It can spot Basestars at these distances, because they are so big and have a big energy signature. The raiders however, will not get spotted until 4 ly or closer, and even then not individual raiders. Only, when they jump or use nukes, can they be spotted even up to 10 ly, but only the energy release during the jump. The interesting thing is, that while this dradis can somewhat spot our jumps, it can't spot hyperspace jumps. Seems that because they need less power to enter that dimension, it can't be spotted until it is in sub light range. Also, large gravitation masses can block the long and short range dradis as well. Moons, gas giants, the ship can't see thru or around them. Also, he ship has some battle damage. That indicates, that during her travels, she must have encountered hostile forces. The good news is that that probably happened in one of dozens of galaxies, she mapped. The bad, the battle damage has reduced her full capabilities. By about 20%, according to the ships diagnostic systems. Otherwise, the crew quarters are quite comfortable. She has space for about 1.100 people. 3.000 if we have to evacuate. Her environmental systems are independent and don't need to be fixed. Food and water however... she has storage capacity, but those are empty. We will need some of Galacticas supply's there."
Starbuck crossed her arms, looking a bit pissed: "Yeah and let's not even get started with those crazy ring things..."
"Matter teleportation... frak. I wish this was a dream after too much drinking." Tigh responded, rubbing his forehead.
"So, no different than any past day for years you mean?" Kara smirked, loking at the colonel.
Commander Adama looked the his XO and best pilot: "Stop it you two! We need to be productive here. As for your opinion, Lee. Who could have build this ship? Was it the 13th tribe?"
"Sir, I highly doubt it. This ship does not just look old, but according to its flight logs, it is old. Far older, than any written history of the colonies. Either the logs were falsified... or we were wrong about many things about the universe. And then there is the other mystery. Why did the ship stop right in front of our path? I think that an FTL bypass right in that location in that moment... is too much of a coincidence, if you ask me."
Dee agreed: "Yes, but until that control key is unlocked, we can't find out anything about that."
During this discussion, Baltar got distracted by his 'visitor again'.
"Hello again Gaius?"
Baltar whispers: "What do you want again?"
"Now now, Gaius. Be nice. I'm going to help you here. Some free info. Think about it. The tomb of Athena. The 'vision' that the commander and the others had. Was it a vision, or some advanced technology? You should return to Kobol and re-check that Tomb. But this time look closer. You should suggest it. You should also be going."
"Why are you telling me this?" Illusion Six just smiled and disappeared.
"Dr. Baltar? Baltar, ...?" Roslin was trying to ask Baltar something. That returned him to reality.
"Uhh, yes, sorry madam president. I was thinking. What can I do for you?"
"Do you have any theories as to why the Discovery selected these 3 officers only for the honour of the gift?"
"I doubt that it was random. My best guess is that it has to do with compatibility or genetics. Speaking of this subject, we should start sending Galacticas crew to the airlock and see what the ship designates them as. I suspect that the flash of light at the entrances makes a scan of the individuals trying to enter the ship. somehow the parameters of the ship then decide who is what. If that is the case, it could be possible that this ship could, and I must stress this, COULD see the difference between us and the Cylons."
Silence followed. The commander broke it: "If it is true, we might have a real Cylon detector here. How do we test it?"
Apollo had an idea: "Helo's girlfriend. We take her to the airlock under heavy guard. The marine on the other side will tell us, how the ship reacts to her."
"OK, here is what we will do. Lee, you and Starbuck take a look at those shuttles. Dee, you try to implement that language plan of yours. Colonel, you get Helo and Sharon to the airlock."
"Emm, commander, while these are all good ideas, we have another issue." Baltar added.
"What is it, Mr. vice president?"
"Kobol. We should sent a scouting party back to Kobol. To the tomb of Athena to be precise. That vision, that all of you had back then, about Earth's location. Now that we have seen this ship and it's possibilities, I can only assume that what you actually saw, was some sort of projection. Maybe holographic? If that is the case, there might be more there to find."
After another moment, Roslin spoke: "I hate to say it, but Baltar may have a point. Commander, if you remember, I told you that ever since we found Kobol, I have been studying the sacred scrolls more intensely. Pythia's last entry in her prophecy proclaims that the fleet of sorrow among the stars will make a Discovery. But the word Discovery is marked as a name."
"So, what you are saying..." Baltar reacted to this revelation.
Roslin nodded: "Pythia saw this happen. In the past. So the answers must be on Kobol. Captain Adama, please check those shuttles for viability. If they function, we should use them for this trip. I would hate to send this ship to Kobol, when we may need it here. And since the Cylons think that we have moved on, Kobol should be unguarded. Dr. Baltar, you should go with the expedition."
Baltar nodded: "Agreed, madam president."
"The good thing is, if the shuttles do work, they have FTL communication. We could keep you updated on the situation there." Apollo explained.
Commander Adama stands up: "OK, you all know what to do, get to it. And you 3, don't forget your 2 checkups later! Dismissed."
As they all left, only Bill Adama and Laura Roslin remained in his quarters.
"So what do you think, commander? " she asked.
"I have no idea. It looks too good to be true. But who then build this ship? Just like Lee said. I can't believe that it was the 13th tribe. However, we should stick with that story for now. No need to tell that there are possibly aliens out there. That would only spread panic among the fleet."
Roslin nodded. "Not to mention the Gemenise and Sagittarons. They would start hoping off the walls for this."
1 hour later
Helo was walking down the corridor. Sharon was next to him, in heavy shackles. 8 marines were flanking them. When they reached their destination, they saw the XO waiting for them.
"What is this about, sir?" Helo asks the colonel.
"No worry, Helo, your girlfriend just has to smile, nothing more."
As Helo and Sharon stepped in front of Discoveries air lock door, the flash happened, as expected. Tigh got a call over the wireless. "Sir, is lt. Agathon on the left?"
"Yes he is. Just tell me, marine."
"Sir, the Cylon reads as yellow. But there is another thing. Your signature took allot longer to get displayed."
"You mean it had to think to decide what I am? Really? Does it discriminate bald people?"
"Couldn't tell you sir, but you are blue."
"Of course I am, what else would I be! OK, you two can go back."
Helo and Sharon turned around, confused. "What was that about?" she asked.
"No idea."
Meanwhile, Tigh phoned the commander: "Bill, it works. This fraken ship can't be fooled!"
"Good, now we have to find a way to screen the population, without telling them, why. Don't want to tip off the Cylons."
3 hours later, Discovery port hangar
Starbuck and Apollo were working on the 2ns shuttle. The first one worked as intended.
"So Lee, what did Cottle say? After the last 2 tests, he must know something?"
"Yes, he does. The increase in brain activity has stopped. Were now at 22%, just like 2 hours ago. That indicates that we have reached the intended limit."
"That is good to know. Do you feel different? Cause I don't feel smarter, but more focused." Apollo: "I know what you mean. Stuff just seams easier to do now."
"Just wonder how we will screen the whole fleet? People are not stupid. Sooner or later, they will ask themselves, why everyone has to go on this ship at least once. How I wish this thing has some mobile scanner..."
As she said that, a small compartment opened up next to her on the copilot seat. "Frak, what is this!?"
"Kara, look! There is something inside."
"Yeah, looks like a PDA."
Kara take's it out of the compartment and studies it. "Emm, Lee, look. This thing has buttons here and a large display."
"I can see that. But look at what is written on the buttons. Structural scanner, Infrared scanner, radiation scanner, life sign detector... wait. Life sign detector? Press that one."
Said, done. The PDA displayed the same image as the many monitors on Discovery.
"Frak, a mobile scanner. No need to send people here anymore, we use these. Hha, and all I needed to do is say it! OK, I want a sandwich!... emm... a cigar? A cubit? Oh frak... well, was worth a try."
Apollo just laughed at her antics: "This will help allot. OK, let me try. Emm, hidden compartment, open!"
Said, done. A compartment opened up next to Lee, on the pilots side. It contained a device similar to an armband, but with controls on it.
"OK, what is this good for? Press that one."
As Apollo pressed the large button, the shuttle they were in, lifted from the ground. "Frak, a remote control. Useful, maybe. Not nearly as your toy. OK, let's check on Dee, then I have to prepare to entertain the Quorum and the press."
"Why is that? Why are they already coming here?"
"Well, the president has to say something and so she invited them for a short tour here. Also so that we can scan them for toasters. If we knew that that toy you have, existed, we could have avoided this. Too late now."
"OK, but why you?"
"Only you, me and Dee have the knowledge for now. Also Dee is busy with the translation, you have no people skills Kara, so that leaves me."
As they entered the computer core room, Apollo addressed Baltar: "Hey, doctor, look at what Kara and I found in the shuttle. I bet we could find more of these on the ship."
As Starbuck explained their findings to Baltar, who was already in the process of analyzing the items,Dee approached Apollo.
"Hey, Apollo, that armband, you said you found it in the shuttle?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well, I'm from Sagittaron as you know. I was raised to know everything there is about Kobol and the gods. That armband resembles the one in ancient history books. The Armband of Olympus. Supposedly, it was stolen on Kobol, and that is why the gods threw the tribes off Kobol. But that is all just stories."
"These days, I don't think we should see those stories as just stories anymore. Well anyway, you have fun here. I'm going to meet the Quorum."
As Apollo entered the rear hangar, he saw as the 3 raptors just landed. "Just in time, captain Adama."He turned to see the president address him. She continued: "Is the plan ready?"
"Yes, I have marines standing ready. Also, Kara and I just found something that should make this allot easier in the future."
"You can tell me later, this comes first."
When the Quorum members and the press disembarked the raptors, they approached the president, who was standing next to the main hangar exit door. As before, the flash of light scanned the people.
"Captain Adama." Lee heard over his wireless.
"Go ahead, any hits?"
"Yes, one, the outmost person on the left, looking from your position."
Apollo looked. A reporter. Figures, a clever disguise. You can reach most spots and be nosy, without drawing attention.
Apollo approached her: "Em, miss..."
"Biers, D'Anna Biers."
"Yes, miss Biers, the president thought that you might get an exclusive with our vice president, he is already on the ship, studying it. But it has to be you alone. No cameras allowed there, yet."
"Oh, it's all right, anything for an exclusive."
"This way."
As she entered the side entrance and the doors closed, she found herself surrounded by marines. Lots of them. Weapons drawn.
Colonel Tigh approached her: "Nice to meet you, toaster. In case you didn't figure it out yet, this is a set up. Your coming with us, one way or another."
D'Anna panicked: "What are you talking about!? I am not a Cylon! I am..."
"Save it. See these monitors? They have you marked as yellow... or as we now know, as near human. You fooled us, but not this ship. Worked on our Cylon prisoner too. So the ship has 2 for 2 now. Take her away, if she resists, shoot her... in the legs. We still have questions."
As she was being taken away, Tigh contacted Lt. Duala: "Nice work on that translation stuff, Dee. Works like a charm." Then he contacted the commander. "Bill, we caught one."
4 Days later
Many crew members of Galactica were scanned, only 11 more were identified as green. The Discovery was now permanently manned, with regular raptor traffic coming and going. The hand held scanners were put to use immediately. A total of 22 were found on Discovery, along with many communicators and remote controllers. The Colonials quickly realized that these communicators did not use the same technology as their wireless. maybe those tachyons? That meant that they could not locate them. Or hear them. Or even know, when they were used, until the Discoveries equipment alerted them to it. a useful advantage.
The hand scanners discovered another 2 Cylons on the Galactica. The priest and a woman looking similar to the woman that wanted to blame Baltar for treason, but then disappeared. The 2 infiltrators were shocked, when their room was raided. It did however take allot of time to search the entire Battlestar from top to bottom, since the scanners had a range limiter for the life signs detector of 50 meters.
As Lee and Dee were preparing to take off in the fully inspected shuttle, now also filled with supplies, 6 marines and Dr. Baltar, father and son said their goodbyes.
"We will contact you the moment we arrive at Kobol. If we spot Cylons, we bug out and return." said Apollo.
"As we agreed upon. Also..." the commander was interrupted by the president.
"Commander, I think, that there is one thing that I should do, before they depart. Billy, if you will." Her aide gives her a small box. "Commander Adama. As I hear, people say that my knowledge of military traditions and protocol is limited. But I do know, that if a military officer commands more than 1 ship, he is considered an admiral. So, with my authority as the president of the colonies, I herby promote you to rank of admiral. May you continue to protect us, as you have all this time."
Cheering broke out in this small ceremony, that was improvised at best. Admiral Adama took the new rank insignias.
"Heh, what can I say? For the first time, you made me speechless, madam president."
After all the congratulations and salutes were made, the shuttle took off.
Planet Cimmeria, same time
When the stargate activated, Daniel Jackson appeared on the planet Cimmeria.
Flashback, a few hours ago:
"Jack, we need to tell them!" Daniel said, arguing with Jack.
"No! The less people know, the better. I know you want to tell Carter and Teal'c, but we need to keep the threat of compromise at a minimum. If I tell George, he will have to tell the president, and if the president knows, you can bet you magnifying glass, that Kinsey will know!"
"OK, so now what?"
"I managed to convince George to send you to Cimmeria. He thinks you want to study the people there some more. Since that planet is now protected again and we are their friends, only you need to go. The rest of us are on break. So you go there and contact this Asgard teacher there. Explain the situation to him/her... eh ... whatever. Tell Thor everything. We will go from there on."
Flashback end
Daniel approached the people and explained to them that he needed to talk to the Asgard there. They summon Gairwyn, who the Asgard teacher equipped with a summoning device. After talking to her, she agreed. Seconds later, they found themselves in orbit of Cimmeria, on an Asgard science ship.
"Greetings doctor Jackson. What is the reason of your visit?" the Asgard asked him.
"Hello, emm, I don't know if we have ever met, but since you know who I am, what is your name?"
"I am Kvasir, Asgard scientist and teacher. With the formalities done, what is the purpose of your visit?"
"Emm, yeah, you see, I need to talk to Thor."
"I am sorry, but commander Thor is currently too busy to.."
" Look, I know that this will sound impossible, but Thor's ship will be captured by replicators in about 10 days! They will then take his ship to Earth with the intent to conquer it!"
"How would you know this?"
"Let's just say that an Ancient warned me. And there is allot more, but I need to speak with Thor, please!"
"Very well. I will contact commander Thor. Please stand by."
And so Daniel waited to warn Thor and include him in their little secret Cabal.
Same time, deep space, Cylon fleet
In the central Basestar, a hidden chamber was filled with Cylons. The model one. Only the model One. The Cavils were having a discussion. Or more or to call it more appropriate, a rage induced shouting match.
"What the frak happened?, can anyone explain, what that ship is, or where it came from?" Asked one Cavil.
"Who cares brother, the point is that it is now in our way of destroying the humans as we had planned." responede another.
"We know it can't be from Earth. That planet is a nuclear wasteland. " another Cavil said.
"It also can't be Colonial. If they had something like that, we would have found out about it."
"Agreed. There is always the possibility that it is alien in origin."
"Aliens, really?"
"And why not? We are not as blind as the human meat bags!"
"Were there not some stories that mother told us from Earth?"
"Yes, some old story of how the 13th tribe developed it's tech from alien origin. But we have no proof for that."
"And none against it."
"The lack of proof does not make it right. You already sound like the two's, with their single god this and that. Just because we can't prove or disprove anything... ahhh, I'm already getting a headache in this miserable flesh body!"
"If only mother had told us more than just how she named un after her grandfather, who himself was named after the hero of the exodus of the 13th tribe."
"For the moment, our only course of action remains the same. We will just have to send twice as many ships in any attack. If that fails, double it again, and so on... sooner or later, it will be too much for them to handle." the lead Cavil said. He wanted to end this discussion.
"But we can't build indefinitely. Even our resources have limits."
"Not as low as the humans."
Colonial fleet, moments later
While inspecting the Discovery, the Admiral visited the bridge. It was discovered that the ship marked him as green too. Or as it was now known, accepted human. Blue stood for tolerated human and yellow for human like life form.
As he entered the bridge, he saw Starbuck on the captains chair. She stood up and saluted.
"Sir! Welcome to the bridge. Want to take the seat?"
"No, thank you Kara, I'm going to keep my head clear for the moment. Can you..."
The dradis beeping caught everyone's eve. Starbuck took a look at it. "OK, toaster ships popped on the long range dradis. 3 ships in one fleet, following us, it seems. But there is a single Basestar, on a parallel course, also following us."
"Ok, why split up forces?" the admiral asked.
"Guess we will find out, the single Basestar is going to arrive here in a few hours."
Responding to Guest: Guess you didn't read my comment at the end of chapter 2. I'm lazy with names. And that Cavil only had the same name. That is it. There were probably thousands of Cavils in the entire Colonial and 13th history. And none of them were the model 1 Cavil. Besides, my story. I could write the way you misunderstood it and still, my story.
But you just gave me an idea that I used in this story.
The reason Tigh and the other final five are not discovered is this: The ship does know something is off with them. But not enough to call them out. And remember, the final five never had increased physical strength, they got sick (unlike the other Cylons, until that beacon chapter) and so on... genetics.
Also, yes I know that O'Neill did not know anything about Replicators by name before the episode Nemesis. My mistake, I forgot. But it stays the way I wrote it.
As for the time and date issues. Since BSG did not have any Earth Dates as a reference (ignoring the 150.000 years later, since this will not happen here), I will focus on SG dating system (that is also the reason why I did not mention what day of the exodus it is, so that I won't create plot holes that could have been avoided). The Crystal skull episode was in year 2000, so that is why. But don't worry, time skips and plots to accelerate the story will happen.
And no, Earth did not send the Discovery. I have that all planned out.
FYI, the reason that I will go into tech details for some ships from time to time is this: I love 4x games, the space strategy ones the most, where I can customise my own ships. So bear with me.
Also, happy holidays for everyone!