A/N: To my readers, it seems like a very, very long time since I have touched this. I no excuse as I had a beta, however that Beta has failed me. When that beta failed me I felt like not writing anymore. However, I have recently rewatched Battlestar Galactica and I remembered why I wrote this story. I remember why I felt so strongly in the ending and why I wanted to extend the series. There will an ending to the series, there will be something that I think will work out. I remembered why I didn't enjoy the second half of the last season as much and why I cried the most during the last half.

This series, the re-imaging of Battlestar Galactica is and I believe always will be the best TV show to hit the airways. It spoke of politics, it spoke about humanity, it spoke about different races and peace amongst war. It also spoke about the people and their capacity to love. The relationships between the various characters tug at my heart. They make me cry when things happen to the characters. The characters take you on an exceptional journey and through their eyes we see things that we deal with in our lives.

I am continuing this story to honor no just the TV Show, not just to extend it into an alternate extended universe, but to honor the characters brought to life and their journey that they endured. And so without further ado, I present the next chapter of Danse Macabre. As previously stated, I do not own the re-imaging, not the characters. I do however own Erik Destler, Kamryn and the rest of what will be the crew of a new Battlestar to join the fray and help Adama and his people. There will be other references to properties that do not belong to me. Keep an eye out for them and enjoy.

(WARNING POSTED RAW)

-H

Chapter 4

"Put down your fucking guns..." A heavy thud followed by the compression of some hydraulic piston moving then a lighter foot fall on the metal of the platform had everyone keep their weapons raised. Erik stepped onto the top step before pushing himself forwards scattering the people that were around him. Everyone in the area now had a clear look at Erik and they all shifted away from the man. Looking down at himself Erik raised his remaining eyebrow then raised his head back up looking at the people.

"Oh... well I can explain"

"You're a frakking machine!"

"Just my arm, leg, half my half and one of my eyes... but I'm human otherwise Admiral. There is a reason that I have a file that you disregarded in the other room" With the guns were still pointed at him including Adama's pistol which was currently aimed at his heart, looking up from his chest Erik's face hardened waiting for the insanity to cease.

"Put down the damn gun, I'm not going to hurt you" Laura saw the pleading look in Erik's eye, her mind made up as she turned to Adama putting a hand on his arm holding the gun steadily at Erik.

"Bill, he just saved us. Put down the gun before I order you to."

"Laura, I... he..."

"Admiral put down the gun, which goes for the rest of you... Now!" Having to comply with the order of the president, the Marines stood down first followed by Starbuck, Lee and finally Adama. With the weapons finally put away Erik looked less tense and he had a soft smile on what remained of his face.

"Thank you" Erik said gently. His appearance not all what people had seen before was much like a man put through a blender that neither cut properly nor put him into pieces. Flesh and muscles hung off him like a rotting carcass in the heat for a number of days. His right arm had glints of silver underneath all the blood and tissue, pistons and other components moved with each other his movements. His neck had what looked like a large bite hole, like someone took out a good chunk out of him, however unlike most people that would be dead with the tearing out of vital area. But it seemed that his important blood connections were coated in some sort of material making it tougher than before. His face gleamed a bit of silver as well as part of his was missing and his eye that had been there before was now missing leaving a machine eye glowing red, it moved and tracked everything as he looked around.

His chest and torso didn't look much better either as his shirt was barely hanging on from all of the cuts, rips and tears. Going further down his body his right leg looked like it had really been through a shredder, a hole in one of the stairs platforms made it evident that the grating was torn open and the leg was pulled through leaving bits of skin and muscle behind. The structure of the leg was easily better seen then the arm as two hydraulic pistons moved opposite of each other. A large plate gave the leg structure as the rest gave it definition as he walked.

Machine components to the side, the numerous cuts and gashes along his body bled but it slowed as if there was something else there. From the way that he was holding himself up, there must have been enough adrenaline running through his body that he wouldn't feel the injuries for a while yet. Tony who happened to be looking Johnson over moved stepped away and over to Erik as did Doctor Landing.

"You look like shit..."

"I can see that for myself thank-you" Doctor Landing had finally calmed down enough from her earlier fright that she was back to herself pressing a towel against Erik's bleeding side. Laura Roslin looked on with a controlled look on her face as she walked away from the Colonials towards Erik and the two fussing over him.

"What happened to you Lieutenant?"

"I've been blown up, crushed underneath roofs, pillars, concrete. I've had my arm sheared off at the shoulder, my eye and face broken; I've been shot at... I'm been amongst a whole multitude of incidents that any normal man would have died from and I'm still here." Looking down to the knife that Tony was using to dig out bone that wasn't his from his shoulder he nudged the man away taking the knife in his left hand. Holding up his right arm he cut away the ruined flesh and shirt exposing the rest of the intricate machine underneath.

"Oh why did you have to do that Erik, you're not actually a terminator..." Tony whispered to Erik as he watched the man cut away the false flesh and muscle.

"No I'm not, but they have to understand that I'm half machine and they need to know exactly what they are dealing with. Those other machines over there, and I know they are just like Saul and Anders there are different they are another generation like the books go. You should know that... besides you built the arm and after the endos."

"I know... but I don't think that exposing them to that unless we can trust them is a smart move..." Erik raise his eye at the other man and handed the knife back before he pulled the last of the skin away and holding up his hand inspecting the machine component. Laura and the others of the colonies looked sick as they watched on; the members of the military unit shook their heads looking away smirking as they saw the looks on the colonials. The cylons watched on with extreme interest and disgust as no one moved to look at the actual machine.

Erik raised his gaze from inspecting his arm, the pistons shifting much like a human's muscles. Laura looked at Erik hesitantly as the man looked at him closing his hand into a fist and opening it. Holding out his hand he looked at the President with a soft gaze as she slowly reached out and touch his hand. She visibly shuddered as Erik kept his hand open. Once she put her hand around his, he slowly closed his hand around hers causing her to look up and smile at him. When he let go of her hand she brought her hand along the forearm and then the upper arm with Erik watching her. When she got to the shoulder joint that met human skin she looked at him and saw the grin on his face.

"It's okay; there is no pain, the nerve connections died as soon as my skin was heavily damaged. Go ahead you can touch it"

"This is so different, how much of you is machine?" Laura asked as she ran her hand over the shoulder and to the neck where muscles twitched and Erik turned his head and offered a smile. Looking to his hand he turned it so he looked at the top of his hand for a few moments before turning it over again to look at his palm before closing it.

"Well, quite literally half of me is machine; I lost my right arm in a police incident back in my time in an explosion. I lost the arm again and my right leg when I got crushed, beaten and battered. I later became reinforced internally to support my new systems and my left side was altered a bit so that there was some weight balance. My face well that was somewhat of an accident, didn't mean for my right side of my body to get this changed."

Erik let go of her hand and bent down pulling away the remains of his leg seeing as it didn't need a knife to remove the bits and pieces clinging to the metal. Dropping the remains of his leg to the ground Erik turned to Tony and glanced at him.

"Hey do you have any more of the mixture left?"

"I might, but I don't know about the state of my lab. Both are here on the base and the Draugr."

Tony watched as his friend stiffened and folded the knife and tossing it back to him. Walking out of the room Tony followed Erik who looked like he was a man on a mission of his own. As Erik passed by a marine Erik took a pistol from the man's leg holster and continued on. The marine and the Colonials whipped out and readied their weapons aiming at Erik's back expecting the worst. Heading down a hall with markings on the wall painted 'HANGER' ignoring everyone.

Walking up to the double doors, Erik aimed the hinges of the doors squeezing the trigger four times. Getting up close to the doors Erik raised his right leg and kicked the door down, stepping through the remains of the door and into the darkened room the red glow of his eye shone around.

"Why did you do that?" Erik turned to see people running up behind him with their firearms drawn both Colonial, Cylon and Past Humans looked on into the darkness.

"Have a look at the door…" Erik lifted the door up showing the letter before he dropped the door and walked into the room. Saul followed him into the darkness and looked for a wall switch, when he found one he pushed as couple of switches and lights turned on an entire bay. As the lights turned on in the room, the outline and the hull of a massive ship, ultimately the hull became a full Battlestar in dry dock.

"It's completed." Saul started before Tony cut him off.

"It is, the ship you designed and implemented."

"What is this?" Lee asked as he looked on in amazement, his father took a step forwards with everyone looking on at the plating of the massive ship. The gun turrets lay silent and folded in their holdings. Launch tube exits lined the underside of the turrets ready to activate and defend the Vipers that would come from the tubes in three levels. The flight pod on the side that was visible looked almost the same as the one on the Galactica but it was larger than the Galactica's.

"This is the first Battlestar…" Kara walked away from the group and stood at Adama's side gazing at the hull. "This is the Draugr and the only one to be properly built, no short cuts, nothing taken for granted. The first of its kind, but I thought it was a legend and the first of the Battlestars to be built."

"There was a Cylon legend of a ship like this that was made for the people long thought to be dead. The ship was to be crewed by the undead or so it was said." Leoben looked at the shop then the people seeing Erik's right eye glow red.

"We are the 'Undead'; our official files have us as dead. Whoever put us in these tanks either was trying to save us or leave us here to rot and die either way we are all connected one way or another." Tony was looking over papers that he had taken from the other room when Vince looked Tony's shouldn't, he couldn't understand what he was looking at other than the words: D.O.D May 16th 2009 (Explosion).

Karin Landing looked over Vince's file that Tony handed her and looked over the papers.

"There is nothing here that indicates an autopsy and it's signed by someone that I don't know."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Tony looked to Karin who asked him the question. Tony cocked his to the side and was trying to think.

"I was in my lab looking over one of the projects. There was someone that came in, I don't know what happened next other than woke up in a tank with a blond lady standing over me along with him." Tony said pointing to Saul, looking back to the group. "I can only think of one group that could have done this, get in without us knowing."

"They would have killed us rather than tank us…" Vince said holding up Alistair Johnson. Alistair looked at the ground trying to remember the past.

"I wouldn't put it past them… Vince was the first out, then a few scientists, then soldiers and units. All were replaced to take our places. They must have kept us alive. To make sure they would have fresh evidence to place us where ever we are to be."

Erik turned to look at Alistair before he hung his head a little with a frown on his face. Sighing and raising his eyebrows up he looked to the others of his group that looked to him.

"That would be a good idea, so that means we are no longer in control. They take out of the good guys, replaced with evil, sadistic bastards. They take over the world, nuke the shit out of Earth, someone was smart enough to leave the planet but somehow they survive and they what leave us behind? Only to be found by these people only to have the world nuked twice including those of well the colonies?" Vince stared at everyone and let out a hearty laugh causing people to stare at him as if he was insane.

"Only you would do something like that Vince, laugh about the situation we are in…" Erik dead-panned. Gryphon and Alana glared at Vince moving over to him and beginning their yelling. Chuckling he turned back to the Colonials and Cylons whom was giving him a confused look.

"What are you talking about?" It was the Biers Cylon that spoke up, Erik turned fully to the Cylons and put a hand in his pocket that remained on his pants he was wearing.

"What are we talking about? We are talking about what used to be a corporation that went and finally took over a planet. We are talking about saving what's left of humanity. Well we are what's left, the people that originally put us into these tanks. They are called the Trimirivate."

Leona moved away from Alana after finally putting her clothes on, with her arms wrapped around her stomach she eyed the room carefully.

"What I don't get is, where are the monsters and the Hydras?" Everyone turned and looked at her this time, the people from the tanks stiffened at the question. Digging through their bags they had over their shoulders they pulled out what seemed to be tactical gear.

The marines from the Colonial side raised their weapons and were ignored as Erik pulled on brand new black BDU's followed by gear, Vince pulled the last of his gear on yelling out as he pulled a rifle from the bag and slamming a magazine in.

"Johnson, Jarl, Winchester, Harper; you are with me. Erik the rest are yours."

"Hunters, I want this base searched top to bottom, if it ain't ours… drop it. Coordinate with Vince in your search and clear. Tank, you are going to take Alana and Tony to whatever is left of Tony's labs; that is if they managed to get in. I want eyes in the halls see if you can get this place going again." Erik called out after Vince marched through, Kamryn called her people out and followed along with the first team.

Adama was about to yell out about what the hell was going on when he saw the look on Erik's face.

"Set your men at the entry, if they hear moans or see people worse looking than me or Johnson… Drop it. The rest of you are going to have to come with me, this base isn't safe, and the only place that is in that ship."

"Erik, we're in the labs, nothing has been touched." Erik's ear piece buzzed in his ear hearing Tony's voice. Looking around Erik took in sights and sounds as he held his rifle at the ready.

"I need full base information sent to the eye" Erik said

"Roger"

"Start up the Draugr, and lower dock side ramp when I get within 20 feet."

"On it Erik."

"LET'S MOVE!" Erik yelled to the people around him. The Cylons and the Colonials followed Erik when they heard gun shots in the distance followed by moans. "SIT REP!" Erik called out into his mic, the crackle on the other end followed by yelling had Erik stop in his stride to listen.

"We got movement in the lower storage levels, they left a few of the 'Tankers' behind. We are on our way back to the North door" A female voice crackled over the head piece. Erik raised his rifle up and aimed to the door that he originally took down.

"Erik we have more hostiles. Be prepared to have inbound." This time it was a male voice that came over the com. Erik made a signal to have the others get behind him. Erik raised his rifle further up and set it against his shoulder as Erik pulled a pair of black shades out and put them on.

"Wake up the rest, if you have to take the Hunters and get them to the Draugr we'll stand at the ramp. I'm going to get the civilians on board and stand waiting here for the others to get on board."

"Roger, you heard Erik get the others, I want them protected Kamryn get the supply bags!"

"Eyes open Marines!" Erik roared out, he swung his rifle to the side after he thought he heard something.

"What the hell are you…" Moaning came from the side and behind a tall stack of crates. The marines from the Colonials swung their weapons up and around searching for the sounds. Erik pulled the President around him and pushed Adama behind him as well.

"Stay close to me, if you don't then you won't be walking out of this base alive." The Cylons ran over to Erik and the Marines that he was taking command of stood at his side with weapons at the ready. Shuffling came from behind a stack of containers, the first to appear looked like hell. The being was struggling to make its way to the Colonials, Cylons and Erik who squeezed the trigger of his rifle blowing the back of the Hydra's head out.

"EVERYONE TO THE SHIP!"

A/N: I know there seem to be zombies in this, but bare in mind with me. This all comes full circle I can guarantee it, there is going to be a new development coming soon. Thanks for reading, please review.