It's not mine because if it is, the sizing and scaling of these ships would have been consistent!
Not intended for profit.
Again, many thanks for all the good feedback.
Scipio: A minor oversight on my part, Athena was supposed to follow on to the Hybrid chamber after inspecting their ride. Much the same as she did in the series.
Now, on with the story!
Admiral William Adama watched as Doctor Gaius Baltar kept his attention on the tablet in his hands. His eyes were wide, darting to and fro to capture various details on the footage he was watching. His mouth alternated between periods of mumbling furiously and simply hanging slack-jawed. He couldn't really blame the younger man. A short while ago when Helo and Hotdog had first brought the footage to his attention, he had been pretty much the same. Tigh had been the same as well, and had argued strenuously before agreeing that Dr. Baltar had to be brought in on this. The man may now be a crackpot preacher of some kind, but he was still the foremost scientific mind on the fleet.
"What do you think?" He asked when he thought the scientist had had enough time to digest what he had seen.
"What do I think?" The other man turned to him, eyes still wide. "I think we shouldn't piss these people off."
There was an audible sigh as Saul Tigh resisted the urge to physically hurt the good doctor.
"And their technology?" Adama tried again. This time steering the conversation towards something Gaius could focus on.
"Ah yes, yes. Their technology, very advanced." Gaius' eyes lost their glazed look and he paused, as if collecting his thoughts.
"For such a small ship too." He was holding the tablet once more punching in commands. "About a fifth the size of the Galactica. Probably smaller."
"The ship's rate of acceleration was unheard of. Nothing we have can accelerate so quickly." Gaius continued. "Even if we could, it would almost certainly crush everyone on board. Are they human?"
"Athena reported that they looked completely human." Helo answered the scientist's question.
"I see. Must be inertial compensators then."
"Inertial compensators?" Tigh ground out the unfamiliar term.
"Accelerating causes G-forces." Gaius explained. "G-forces are primarily caused by inertia. When you're stationary in a Viper and you suddenly open up the throttle, inertia will push you back towards your original location. That's what gives you the feeling of being kicked in the... posterior." He grinned at his own joke, before realizing nobody else was laughing. Clearing his throat, he continued. "It's pretty much the same even if you move from a state of lower velocity to higher velocity. Inertial compensators work by counteracting these forces."
"How?" Adama asked curiously.
"Two ways of doing it that I know of. By creating a field where the effects of outside inertial forces are somehow blocked off, or by generating an artificial gravity field oriented in the opposite direction of where they should be. Pulling on you at the same time that G-forces push at you." Gaius pushed his hands together in front of him for emphasis.
"It's not just their capital ships. Their fighters were pulling extremely high-G turns as well." Hotdog piped in.
"So it's not a technology we possess?" Adama asked.
"No. Space craft that are large enough often have multiple gravity field generators oriented in all directions to counteract acceleration as a stopgap measure, but this is obviously not a viable solution for the smaller fighters or shuttlecraft..." Gaius' brow furrowed in concentration before continuing. "Caprican Space Tech was researching it prior to the First Cylon War, but the prototype fell into enemy hands. I suspect that's what the Cylons currently use for their ships. The technology is intimately related to reactionless drives. Since then, Picon Orbital recently restarted experiments on it, but they were a few more years away from a working prototype."
"Even Cylon ships don't accelerate that fast." Tigh mused.
"No they don't. But as you see, these Tau'ri seem to help things along with standard reaction-based engines. Still, the fact that they apparently have these on their fighters as well imply a deeper understanding of the underlying technology than even Cylons possess."
"What about the other things? The lasers, the energy shielding?" Adama asked, trying to move the discussion along.
"For weaponry, again the Tau'ri have a mix of the mundane and the esoteric. I don't know what they use for their projectile based weapons, but the tracers move more quickly than our own KEW's. The energy beams aren't lasers. Too slow. My guess would be focused high intensity plasma. That one we definitely do not have."
"How would our armor hold up against it?" Tigh asked.
"Not very well. It depends on how hot the beam is and how quickly it penetrates. The temperature might be high enough to cause our armor to melt or even sublimate instantaneously. From the outside it will look like an explosion. Depleted as it is, our armor won't last much longer than the Baseships' did."
"Then what?" Tigh asked again, morbid curiosity getting the better of him.
"The beam will superheat any air it comes into contact with for meters around. In an atmosphere there's less of a problem because of the volume of air present. In the confined spaces of a ship though, the corridors themselves will seem to burst into flame. This is all theoretical of course. I really wouldn't know for sure without further tests."
"And the shields?" Adama asked.
"Jump field stabilizers are valuable components of FTL drives, more so than spin sync generators. Those only let you point where you want to jump to. Jump field stabilizers create an energy field that counteracts the turbulence of an FTL phenomenon. It's why the Galactica has to retract its flight pods prior to jumping, the jump field stabilizers are an older design and the jump field won't cover the entire ship like that on a newer ship like a Mercury or Valkyrie class will."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Tigh asked, annoyed that Baltar was apparently going off topic.
"There was a theory going around before the Fall that a jump field could be used as a protective barrier. Fleet R&D was extremely interested. It was to be the next big research project after the Colonial Navigation Programme. In any case, testing the theory was ridiculously prohibitive. Jump field stabilizers are notorious power hogs after all. Almost half the power required for an FTL jump goes into one. Finally the High Energy Labs at Caprica Tech was able to get one going for three minutes. In that time it stopped everything they threw at it. Including a nuclear bomb."
"So you're saying we have the technology, we just don't have the juice for it?" Helo clarified.
At Baltar's nod, Tigh muttered a curse.
"What do you mean he's not here?" Col. Cameron Mitchell was beside himself. They had finally finished with the Hybrid and had returned to the landing bays only to find that the junior officer he had left in charge of guarding the Heavy Raider had gone missing.
"A Cylon dragged him off, sir." One of the enlisted men supposed to stay with the missing officer replied. The other one had accompanied Athena when she made her way to the Hybrid chamber after inspecting the Heavy Raider. Leaving this one to watch the Heavy Raider alone.
"And you didn't radio this in... why?" Cam tried to remain calm.
"Didn't think he was in immediate danger, sir." The airman seemed more embarrassed rather than afraid at being grilled by a full bird colonel.
"And why did you not think he was in immediate danger?" Cam asked again.
"What was that?" The reply had been an almost unintelligible mumble.
"She kissed him first, sir." The airman repeated. This time more loudly.
"She what?" Daniel's eyes were wide.
"It was a Model Six, sir. Like Miss Faust." The soldier continued.
Now more perplexed than actually angry, Cam turned to the aforementioned Miss Faust for an explanation. The Cylon leader flushed. Finally she was able to speak, "uh..some of our sisters have gained a taste for... uhh.. entertaining guests. Few and far in between as they are."
"So you're saying somewhere on this ship, one of our officers is being.. entertained... by one of your people. One of the same model as you." Daniel spoke. A hint of a smile was on his face as Natalie nodded, looking embarrassed.
Vala was worse. She snickered audibly. Hailey looked abashed. The missing officer was her direct subordinate, after all. Other Tau'ri coughed discreetly. Smirks and grins hidden behind hands. The Colonial reaction was a bit more obvious. Starbuck at least looked scandalized at the idea of such close "encounters" with Cylons. Nevertheless she, along with her two officers were openly amused.
"Lucky bastard." One soldier behind Cam could not help but mutter enviously. He was not sure he disagreed. Much as his southern gentleman sensibilities objected, there was also the saying about not looking gift horses in the mouth. Soldiers, in particular, tended to be less restrained about such things. When you looked at death as a way of life, you tended to live in the moment whenever you could. And what a gift horse the missing Lt. Spencer had seemingly found. Cylon females were of only two varieties that they had seen so far. Both were attractive, but the Model Six in particular tended to look as if she had stepped straight out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue.
Cam sighed. It wasn't as if stranger things had happened to SGC personnel on offworld missions. With another groan he tried to figure out what to do next. Interrupting the young officer would probably embarrass him more. As it was he was probably going to get some sort of sleazy callsign over this.
"Can you guarantee his safety aboard your ship?" He asked Natalie. The Cylon nodded eagerly in response.
"Can you provide transport for him back to the Hammond when your sister is done... entertaining... him?" Another nod, then Natalie gestured to two more Cylons who had been attracted by the commotion. The Six and the Eight giggled but nodded in agreement. "These two will take care of it."
"Right then. Let's get going." Cam frowned as he noticed Vala and Daniel were still snickering. "Maybe I should offer him a spot on SG-1. We're still down a couple people and it looks like he'd fit right in with the two of you."
That shut them up.
"Welcome aboard, sirs." The dark skinned Naval Captain greeted the new arrivals aboard his ship as soon as the light from the beam transporters had faded. "At ease, Captain. Good to be aboard. You already know General O'Neill and Colonel Ronson from training. The jarhead is Colonel Reynolds from the Stargate Command," the white clad Admiral introduced the others with him.
"Welcome aboard, General, Colonels." Captain Ron Hunter smiled. "If you'll follow me, we can proceed with the inspection."
Before following the man picked to command the US Navy's first Deep Space Carrier out of the bridge, Jack happened to glance out the forward viewports, in the process spying the two fighters maneuvering for landing. "Are those the testbeds for the planned modifications for the Type C 302's?"
"Commander Mitchell's ride is, sir. The chase plane flown by Commander Kazanski is a standard model. I believe they had atmospheric entry and exit tests as well as high altitude maneuvering scheduled for today. Ahead of schedule too. At the rate they're going the testing should be done by tomorrow." Capt. Hunter replied.
"We're all set to start retooling the assembly lines pending completion of these tests. Upgrade kits for the existing planes to start rolling out within a week, with the new fighters shipping in a month." Rear Admiral Metcalf supplied, having obviously taken a personal interest in Earth's primary space superiority fighter.
"Good." Jack nodded, pleased to note that the feared structural weakness at the seams were the wings were meant to be folded had not materialized. He had been involved with the first prototype what seemed like so many years ago now. Back then nobody had thought to design it with folding wings for storage. Ironic since even the Goa'uld Deathgliders they were based on had their wings folded for storage. As time progressed the Air Force simply never got around to modifying them. Now that the Navy was getting on the program, they had lost no time in proposing the change. They were looking at up to a hundred percent increase to a Carrier's fighter complement.
"Maverick and Iceman, conducting the tests, huh... I'd have thought those clowns would have made O-6 by now." Col. Reynolds mused, having met the two pilots earlier in his career.
"They should have." Rear Admiral Mike Metcalf grimaced. "Both of them turned down promotions so they could fly three-ought-two's. They were on the shortlist for this command, too."
The others wisely kept their mouths shut. Mike "Viper" Metcalf had been a throttle and stick jockey himself. He had been something of a mentor for the two aforementioned pilots before moving up to command of a Carrier group. That was what he had been doing before being tapped to head the team developing the doctrine for deploying flotilla sized task forces built around 304's and the new escort craft currently on the drawing boards. As it was, the antics of his erstwhile proteges were obviously something of a sore issue for him.
"So Captain Hunter, how goes the new ship?" Jack asked, trying to change the subject.
The Captain cleared his throat before speaking. "Everything's great, sir. Crew is good, the shakedown is proceeding according to schedule. The advisers you assigned have been nothing but helpful."
At the last statement, Jack shared a look with Colonel Malcolm Reynolds. Both men grinned inwardly. Capt. Hunter's advisers was a team of marines. And while said marines had served aboard the Daedalus in numerous battles in the Pegasus Galaxy and was therefore undoubtedly qualified, they could only imagine what Navy sailors thought about a jarhead telling them how to run their ship.
"All right, people, this is it." Colonel Paul Davis had convened the meeting as soon as the Tau'ri officers got back to the Hammond. "As of this moment, we are less than 48 hours away from first contact with the Colonial Fleet. I want to make sure everything is ready. Doctor?"
Doctor Lam had been sent to coordinate distribution of the relief goods, as well as head the team of doctors being sent to assist the Colonials' no doubt overburdened medical capabilities. "Relief goods are ready for distribution. My team is ready."
"Do you anticipate any problems?"
"I've been discussing it with the psychiatrists. They are predicting a high incidence of PTSD and advise caution." She turned to Daniel. "It was a good idea to minimize unsupervised contact. Unfortunately however, events have already proven them to be correct."
"The medical emergency they had? What happened to it, anyway?" Cam asked.
"An armor piercing round hit Lieutenant Gaeta in the calf. It tore through muscles, then both the fibula and the tibia, before exiting out the front. We found residues on the bone tissue. The materials upon analysis turn out to be close analogues of what we use on our own armor piercing rounds."
"You're saying one of their own people shot him?" Maj. Hailey's eyes were wide. The Colonials seemed professional, she would never have thought they would resort to guns over an argument.
Doctor Lam nodded before answering. "That's the working theory. Some sort of altercation on board resulted in the man being shot. We were able to save the leg, but it will be a while before he's back on his feet. Even then he'll probably need therapy."
Paul nodded before moving on. "Colonel Gant what's the colonial fleet's status?"
Colonel Erin Gant aboard the Odyssey was on teleconference over subspace. "We've been shadowing the colonial fleet under cloak running scans. The ships are maintaining hull integrity, but these ships have clearly been missing some serious dry dock time. Most are civilian transports, including what the fleet keeps referring to as a prison transport. We're also seeing a pair of what our science officer swears are zero gravity mining platforms."
"Zero gravity mining? Sounds valuable." Vala was only partly joking. Her time as a Goa'uld host, Tau'ri consultant and all around galactic rogue had given her a certain kind of insight into the technological capabilities of the various powers in the galaxy. Nobody else did zero gravity mining. Well, the Tau'ri did but they cheated by using beam transporters. If the Colonials had some way of doing it reliably, they could corner the market.
"What about their warship? The... battlestar?" Paul asked.
"It's huge. About a click and a half, but it looks like its coming apart at the seams. From what we hear, it was already due for decomissioning when they started this exodus."
"I see." Paul then turned to Sam. "Any other comments about their technology?"
"We've determined their FTL drives to be wormhole drives. Mass produced and extremely scaleable."
"I thought the power and computational requirements were prohibitive. Even McKay couldn't finish the necessary computations. Shepard never let him live down the fact that Dr. Zelenka completed what he couldn't." Daniel commented.
"Well they found a way around the power issues by running the power into a capacitor bank that dumps it all at once. As for the calculations, the problem is that the calculations are essentially defining the path the wormhole will take. Planetary masses aren't so much of an issue unless you terminate your wormhole in one, but there are other things that wormholes have to steer clear of."
"Flares." Paul supplied. He was rarely out in the field, but he had been associated with the Stargate Command long enough to have picked up some of the lore.
"Among others." Sam agreed. "These Colonials work around that problem by keeping to straight line point to point jumps of five to fifteen lightyears each. That way an experienced navigator can do the necessary calculations by hand. Works great in deep space, though they may take shorter, more numerous ones when they're in a densely occupied planetary system."
"And you're just gonna let them bring these ships within striking distance of the fleet?" Laura Roslin had just seen the footage. Suffice to say she had not been reassured.
"I doubt we have much of a choice. For what it's worth they don't seem aggressive. They didn't open fire until fired upon." Admiral Adama replied, trying to calm her down.
"Because a single shot can't hurt them," Laura retorted back. "They're just too powerful. That kind of power can hang over our heads like a sword."
"Madame President, much as it pains me to say it, we need these people. The Galactica is just one ship. All it will take is one more Baseship, one more raider, one more nuke. We need the help of a spacefaring power that can keep the Cylons in line. One familiar with the surrounding space."
"And what? Point the way to Earth maybe?" Laura replied sarcastically. Deep down though, Laura knew the Admiral was right. She had been a schoolteacher and had at least been aware of the theories. Just because the Colonies had never found any evidence of life outside their territories did not mean it did not exist. Now here was proof that it did. And if there was one there was probably more. Particularly as they got closer to the galactic core where there were more stars and planets.
"I wonder if they're actually from the Thirteenth Tribe." Laura sighed, her face softening as her anger faded away.
"If they are we have no way of knowing for sure. They've consistently denied any knowledge of Kobol or the thirteen tribes of man. Even if they didn't, who's to say they're being completely honest with us?"
"It makes for a good dream, though. Don't you think?" Laura smiled sadly, remembering all the heartaches of the past three years.
"That we'd be welcomed with open arms by a Thirteenth Tribe who could keep us safe from the Cylons? It does. Unfortunately that's unlikely to happen. Even if the Thirteenth Tribe was still out there, we have no guarantees as to what sort of welcome to expect from. Nor do we even know if they'll remember us at all." Admiral Adama took off his glasses to wipe them clean before continuing. "No. Instead of a Thirteenth Tribe come to welcome and protect us, I'm afraid we'll have to make do with these Tau'ri."
"Just make sure you take appropriate precautions." Laura advised, her voice hard once more.
"The fleet's safety is paramount. All ships will be ready to jump at a moment's notice. If they show any sign of being hostile..." There was no need to finish that statement.
"You just better hope they can't follow us through jumps."
"If they can, then we play the hand that we're dealt." Adama said grimly.