Battlestar 'Atlantia'
Helios Delta, Outer Cyrannus System, Colonies of Kobol
Commander Adama's Raptor arrived on the Atlantia to little fanfare, he was a simple man and had never been much of a fan of ceremony, so he was greeted only by Admiral Nagala and a few other senior officers from Nagala's Battlestar Group, before the rest of the welcome committee waiting for the Imperials joined them in the hangar deck.
It was a first for the Colonial Fleet, but they had decided to treat the Imperial guests as the old colonies fleets had treated dignitaries of other worlds in the pre-unification eras. Two squads of armed ship's marines waited in lines behind the group of officers, and the Atlantia's chief medical officer stood with a handful of excited fleet science officers discussing how different the aliens and their technology might be from the Colonials.
After Adama's arrival, it didn't take too long for the Imperial shuttle to appear, immediately drawing the eyes of all the Colonial sailors; it was a unusual looking ship, with three wings, arranged almost like a triskelion with one at the top centre of the maim boxy part that must have been the shuttle itself, and two lower and on each side of the craft.
As it came in to land, experienced former pilots like Adama could tell how smoothly the small ship moved, and as it entered the Atlantia's hangar deck, the lower wings folded upwards and were replaced by landing gear. The shuttle touched down softly, and there was a joint feeling of anticipation as the Colonials watched for any movement.
After a few seconds, the front of the ship opened, like a great metal snake opening it's mouth, and a ramp extended to the floor. As soon as it had fully extended, a figure stepped out; mostly white, with bits of black padding visible between the white plates of the armoured suit.
Nagala had asked them to wear something to prevent contamination, but Adama had expected something simple like their own pilots helmets or EVA suits. The man in white was followed by four more figures in identical armour, and Adama felt a chill at the inhuman appearance, they didn't look that much like Cylons, but their masks had a sort of skull-like quality to them. They looked like something a Colonial propaganda team would design for a film about Cylons, if he had never actually seen what one looked like.
The Imperials strode forward confidently, stopping a few yards from Nagala's reception party and giving what must have been their equivalent of a salute, clicking their boots together and snapping off a fluid hand gesture that had them extending their arms in front of them at a slight upwards angle.
Nagala gave a salute of his own in acknowledgement, before one of the men in white introduced himself as Captain Tillian of the 'Galactic Empire'. There were a few moments of silence as the two parties stood and simply stared at each other, and a few of the Colonials shifted nervously at the sight of the armoured Imperials, while the Imperials were unreadable in their white suits and skull helmets.
"And may I introduce my companions?" the Imperial Captain broke the silence, and waited for a small nod before continuing, "Agent Prendt, of the Imperial Security Bureau" he gestured pointed to the man to his left, exactly identical to himself in the suit.
"Chief Medical Officer Antilles," at least was slightly shorter, making him slightly more identifiable, "And Captains Kadeyrn and Anlav" the final two men were taller and stronger looking, even in their armour. Adama figured them for the Imperial equivalent of marines, and assumed they were here to guard the other officers.
Introducing the various Colonial officers took a bit longer, as many of the commanders in Nagala's group had wanted to be present for the event, but each of them were greeted with a nod of recognition from the Imperial Captain.
"Now, on to business, would you be agreeable to first having your medical officer accompany our own back to the medbay and we see whether or not these suits of yours are removable." Nagala wanted to have a discussion with these Imperials face to face, he wanted to know what they looked like, so he needed to find out whether they could breath the same air first. It was helpful that the Imperials had brought one of their own doctors.
"Certainly, Captain Anlav would you please escort Dr Antilles?" two of the white suited men were soon hurried out of the room by the mob of scientists and the Atlantia's medical officer Dr George Salik, who seemed about to burst with energy.
"Now, if everyone would follow me, we will continue to a more suitable location for discussion." Admiral Nagala addressed the gathered officers after the scientists had left. There was a slight nod of acknowledgement from the Imperial Captain, who made no sound but following along at a steady pace when the group began to move.
The marine escorts saluted as the officers passed, and a few joined the group at various points, mainly at the front of the group, around where Nagala walked with the Imperials.
The bowels of his Battlestar were clean and orderly, though the area had already been cleared of regular personnel to remove any distractions or surprises. While the Imperials stared straight ahead as they went, Nagala assumed they were taking everything in with an eagle eye. He knew he would if he was to visit an alien warship.
There wasn't much for them to see of course, a few maintenance panels, closed doors, vents, various branching hallways and access points. The walk only took a few minutes, as there were rooms available relatively close to the landing deck for efficiency's sake, and Nagala was soon sitting in the center seat on one side of a large table, joined by his officers around him, and the Imperials took their seats at the other side.
Battlestar 'Atlantia'
Colonies of Kobol
The main impression that Captain Tillian had from the corridors in the Colonial vessel was that the halls were oddly shaped, with the walls closer together at the top, giving the corridor a triangular shape. It must have been a cultural thing, because he could think of no economic or other benefit to the design.
He wasn't enjoying wearing the Stormtrooper armour; he could have worn some simple rebreather system over his face, but since they were dealing with an unknown party, he had made the decision to don a set of whites just in case they were attacked.
The Wrath's medical officer, Torrens Antilles, had gone off with his Colonial counterparts earlier. Antilles was a good man, a graduate of the University of Aldera and one of the few Alderaanians in the fleet to remain loyal to the Empire after Tarkin's criminal destruction of their homeworld. Captain Esel Anlav, a company commander from the ship's Stormtrooper contingent, had accompanied him.
Tillian was sure that even with the presumed lower level of technology, it shouldn't take them too long to assure the locals that they were perfectly safe to be around. It might be best to show their faces sooner rather than later. Some of the Colonials had a noticeable reaction whenever they looked at the helmets, partly intimidated but also wary, and perhaps a bit hostile.
The room they were lead to was large enough for the group, and Captain Tillian sat on the far side of the table with Agent Prendt and Captain Kadeyrn at his flanks. On the other side, a dozen or so Colonial officers were crowded around Admiral Nagala and Commander Adama.
Those two Colonial officers in particular looked like experienced sailors, they had veterans' eyes and serious countenances. They certainly must have seen action, more serious action than just anti smuggling or piracy patrolling, while some of the other officers were younger and much greener looking.
Captain Tillian waited for the Admiral to start the conversation. He was already breaking the Empire's Tarkin Doctrine by allowing the Colonials to take the lead in this situation, and therefore making the Empire look weak and submissive according to the theory.
Kriff Tarkin.
He had one damaged ship and nearly thirty-thousand men to think about, and he would gladly treat these unknown Colonials with respect and cooperation if it meant a better outcome for them.
An officer placed a roll of flimsi on the table and unrolled it, revealing it to be a map of a multi-star system with numerous planetary and lunar bodies, with a two-dimensional image of a galaxy in the upper corner and a pyramid shape that was presumably pointing out the location of the star system.
The galaxy was not one that Tillian recognised, and he felt an unfamiliar feeling in his stomach. He was sure that the other two Imperials had the same feeling. Tillian looked up at the Colonials, "Are we in this star system now?" intentionally taking a blank tone, "Is this Kobol?" he guessed.
That seemed to take the Colonials aback for some reason, but Admiral Nagala answered smoothly; "Yes, and no. This is a map of the Cyrannus system, home of the Colonies of Kobol, and our location in the galaxy. Kobol is our people's home world, but it is not located in the Cyrannus system."
It sounded like there was some sort of story there about Kobol, and it's location, but Tillian didn't press this. Nagala continued, gesturing towards the map, "Can you show us where you come from? Where your Empire is located?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.
He felt a dark sense of amusement as he instinctively looked back at the map, before replying to the Colonial Admiral.
"Unfortunately not."
"We could get a more detailed map, if that would help?" one of the minor Colonial officers asked.
"That's not the problem. I'm afraid I now understand why our navigation systems aren't working; that galaxy looks nothing like the one that I am familiar with." he motioned to Captain Kadeyrn, who pulled a small holo device from one of his pouches and placed it gently on the table in front of Tillian, who nodded in thanks.
With the eyes of the Colonial officers on them, he tapped the activation button and a three-dimensional holographic map of the Imperial home galaxy was projected above the table. Prendt chuckled when the Colonials jumped in surprise, before all leaning in to get a look at the holo.
The Colonial ships had been communicating via some primitive radio wave technology, so they must not have any sort of holo-tech. Perhaps they would be able to trade something like that in exchange for the Colonial's aid?
"This is galaxy, or was, until we arrived here. The territories claimed by the Galactic Empire are shaded in red. I'm sure you can see the obvious difference between this galaxy and your own..." he considered briefly what to say next, before deciding to tell the truth. "Earlier today my ship was involved in a battle against rebel forces. After the battle, we inadvertently jumped through a black hole, and found ourselves here, in your space."
Nagala's eyes widened, but the man stayed silent, looking between the Imperial officers and the holographic map display on the table. Adama on the other hand had his eyes narrowed, he seemed suspicious of them, and looked unimpressed by their technology.
"You claim to come from another galaxy? That your people control most of an entire galaxy? I don't believe that." The Colonial officer next to Adama shook his head as he spoke, "And that you travelled here through a black hole?" he snorted derisively, "Sure, that projector there's fancy tech alright, but how do we know this all isn't some weird Cylon trick?"
What in the Force were Cylons? They must have been another race or civilisation in this galaxy, perhaps an enemy of these Colonials.
"Doctor Salik will confirm whether or not the Imperials are organic," Nagala glared at the other officer, while Tillian attempted to figure out what the kriff Nagala was talking about. "But it is concerning. I too find your claims hard to believe, especially given the lack of a black hole in this area, so how could you have travelled through one?"
"I can't explain what happened, I don't know what happened to us. All I know is that one moment we were in our own galaxy, and accidentally jumped into a black hole, and then we were here." he sighed before continuing, "I will be honest. My ship is damaged, the engines need urgent repairs before we can go anywhere, and apparently we don't have anywhere to go, anyway." he waved a hand between the flimsiplast map of the Colonial galaxy and the holographic map of his own one both sitting on the table. "We need your assistance."
"Why should we trust you?" Adama finally spoke.
"As you can see, we have technologies that you do not, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement? We could provide you with some advanced equipment and schematics, in exchange for your aid in getting our ship operational." he wasn't sure what they would do after that, sell their service as mercenaries to the Colonial navy, while they also attempted to return home?
Or would they travel off in search of a planet of their own, and found a new Empire in this new colony? Perhaps they could have done that, if only the ship's population wasn't so heavily male. No, unless some other opportunity arose, they would need to stick with the Colonials, the Star Destroyer (if repaired) could support itself for a few years independently, but not forever.
"Perhaps... I'm assuming you have more technology to show off than just this?" Nagala pointed to the still-active holo, and Tillian nodded. Luckily, the two societies seemed to use identical body language. There must be countless advancements they could share, from technology on board the Star Destroyer as well as information in their databanks.
Of course, even while trusting their fate to the Colonials, there was much that he would be sure to keep as Imperial-only knowledge. They had to trust these people, but they still didn't know them. Better to be safe.
The Colonials seemed to be considering their offer, so Captain Tillian sat back in the chair and waited. A few moments later, an officer came into the room, "Admiral Nagala, Sir, Dr Salik is here, along with the, uh, Imperials who were assisting him." the relatively weakly armed (and barely any armour at all!) presumed Stormtrooper-equivalent let the others into the room before leaving again.
Dr Salik looked like he had seen a ghost, while Antilles and Anlav were unreadable in the Stormtrooper armour they were still wearing. The two Imperial officers joined their comrades at the far side of the table, with Antilles reporting to the other Imperials through their helmets built-in comlinks, just as Salik began whispering rapidly to the Colonial officers.
"Captain Tillian, I have the pleasure of reporting that we should suffer no ill-effects from exposure to the Colonial's atmosphere, or to the Colonials themselves. They appear perfectly healthy, and we rate the chance of any contamination as being very low. Any crewmen with a serious illness would have already been quarantined, as per Colonial regulations explained by Dr Salik." Antilles had a typical Alderaanian half-rim, half-core accent, with its vowels slightly leaning towards the rim drawl, but the crisp consonants of the core.
Antilles continued, explaining the results of a blood test showing that the Colonials were purely human and of a genetic lineage most similar to that of several core worlds, including Grizmallt, and a few Rim human populations, like the Naboo. As he was explaining that the Colonials had no concept of Midi-Chlorians, there was an uproar from the Colonial side.
"Impossible!" "What?" "But the Scrolls?"
The Imperials turned in unison and stared at the Colonial group, where just about every facial expression was on display. "I think that is our queue, gentlemen, to remove our helmets." Antilles sounded amused on the comlink. He was the first one to remove his helmet, with Captain Tillian and the others following soon after.
The Colonials eyes were nearly bugging out of their heads, they really must be a primitive society to have never met any other humans. Humans were the most common species in the Imperial's home galaxy. But then maybe these Colonials were the only humans in their own galaxy, and their ancestors had arrived here the same way the Star Destroyer had?
"You're human?" Nagalas face had settled into a stony expression, "How could you possibly be human, if you're from another galaxy? Humanity was created by the gods on Kobol."
Oh stang, of course the Colonials with their primitive tech would also be a religious society. The Empire due to its vastness incorporated tens of thousands of different religions, some worshipped only by a handful of sect members on a single backwater moon, others followed by trillions of beings across a thousand systems. As long as a religion and it's followers adhered to the Imperial guidelines, they were tolerated, but there was no official state religion, and the large majority of Imperial citizens were not religious.
"The human race is the most widely distributed and settled species by far, in our home galaxy. The Empire alone has almost two-million member worlds, and there must be a hundred million colonies of whatever size throughout the galaxy. If humanity wasn't on at least seventy-five percent of those worlds I would be surprised."
They had already seen the projection of the Imperial galaxy and the Empire's official territorial boundaries, but it was only now that the claimed scale of the Galactic Empire became truly apparent to the Colonials. It no doubt sounded impossible.
"Are you implying that non-humans live on the remaining worlds? We have no evidence of any intelligent alien life..." one of the Colonials asked with a frown.
"We have extensive databanks on our ship, containing practically the entire collected knowledge of the Empire; you might not accept it as truth, but we could easily provide information about any one of those worlds. While the original home-world of humanity is unknown in our galaxy; humanity is by no means rare, nor is it the only sentient species in the Empire." he did not say that all of his crew were human, because that just wasn't true, members of certain especially humanoid alien species were also often found in the Imperial service.
"Are you from the Thirteenth tribe?" one of the Colonials blurted out, "Is this all some bizarre joke? Why not just say you were from Earth?"
"I have never heard of the Thirteenth Tribe, nor any world called Earth. I am a Dauferim, I was born on the planet Daupherm. Agent Prendt is from Imperial Centre, Healer Antilles is from Alderaan, Captain Kadeyern is from Anaxes, and Captain Anlav is from Tatooine."
Captain Tillian made it a point of pride to know at least the basics of his subordinates life stories, it was so much easier to get along with a man while stuck in a metal box with him for months at a time if you just understood him a bit.
"Well, Dr Salik assures us you are indeed fully human, or at least the two samples you provided were, so unless you're a bunch of Monads I doubt you're working for the Cylons." Nagala was leaning forward onto the table, "I don't really believe your story about a galaxy-spanning empire or arriving here through a black hole, and the Colonial population as a whole won't either, but your gadget there speaks for itself as to your technology..."
"I think we can come to an arrangement; we can provide whatever you need from us to repair your ship, and in exchange you allow us access to your ship and it's technology. We will require you to disarm your weapons, at least until the repairs are complete, and we will place observers onboard your ship..." the Colonial officer paused.
Part of Tillian was outraged by the suggestion of disarming, and allowing the Colonials to swarm around his ship, but there was only so much that they would be able to gleam by simply observing the ship and it's technology. They would need detailed instructions, information and schematics in order to actually replicate anything substantial. He should be able to control the flow of information.
"We will have to come up with some sort of cover story to explain your existence, the public will not believe you are extra-galactic, and we wouldn't be able to cover up a major project or fleet deployment for long. What would your intentions be, after the repairs have been completed? Will you leave the Colonies, and, assuming you're telling the truth, attempt to return home?"
"If we do find a way of returning home, we will try to do so. If not, I had thought of just leaving and finding a habitable world, but my ship's complement doesn't have enough women to make a long-term settlement viable." he smirked a little at the thought of the inevitable chaos of letting his men loose on a virgin world. "Perhaps we could come to another arrangement in the future, I don't suppose you have a history of employing mercenaries?"
"Hmm. Nothing like that would have happened since before the unification of the various colonies, but it may be possible." said Admiral Nagala, "It would depend on the reaction the public has to you, and the politicians will be especially difficult. If you really do come from another galaxy, I suppose you don't worship the gods?"
"I suppose not." Tillian shrugged, "Though perhaps there are similar gods worshipped by some in our own galaxy."
"Hmm, perhaps we could say you were members of a lost tribe... Lead astray from old Kobol by the Titans? That would explain why you do not worship the gods, but it would make the religious wary of you. I am not a scholarly man, but we could surely create a believable story." Nagala looked at the other Colonial officers, as if signaling them to share any thoughts of their own.
"Perhaps Prometheus, the thief who vied with Lord Zeus for control over humanity?" one proposed, "He was a nephew of the Titan Cronus, who ruled Kobol until his tyranny was overthrown by Lord Zeus and the other gods," the man helpfully explained to the Imperials.
"Prometheus attempted to challenge Lord Zeus. Followers of the Titans had sinned against the Lord Zeus, who forbade them from the use of fire, but Prometheus famously returned fire to the sinners, and was bound in chains for eternity by Lord Zeus as punishment.
"Yes, yes, they could present themselves as the descendants of Titan-followers and especially Prometheus. It wouldn't be a new interpretation of the myth to read fire as allegorical for technology, perhaps they could have used the "fire" of Prometheus to leave Kobol before any other tribe?" Nagala nodded to himself, before adding, "Of course, I will require all of you to keep the Imperials' true origin secret, from this point onwards, they will be referred to as a lost tribe of Prometheans."
"Well, you'll have to send us over some reading material so that we can familiarise ourselves with Prometheus and the Titans, if we are to pretend to be their followers, but I have no objections." Agent Prendt signalled his agreement, so Captain Tillian continued, "Earlier you accused us of being Cylons, or members of a Thirteenth Tribe, and since you also denied the existence of aliens, I must assume these are societies with similar origin stories to our own proposed ruse, branches of your own people that broke off at some point?"
Admiral Nagala sighed, this could be a long story.