Avalon
Commanders Log 333
It's been a little over nine months since we discovered the graveyard around the now dead planet that was once so full of life and a home to an unknown civilization. After the Gunstar Onyx battled with some kind of automated defense drones, possibly part of an old defensive system, there have been no new engagements. We proceeded as planned with the route that our scouting probe mapped, with no real pit stops so we did not risk running into more drones like the Onyx found.
There were a few additional wrecks on the way similar to those that we found before. We are now two jumps from our final destination, a planet similar in size of Caprica that is capable of sustaining human life. The Gunstar Onyx has been fully repaired, and the engineers on the Invictus have created a new type of alloy that they called of all names "super ablative armor" because it is similar to the ablative armor we found on the first wrecked ship. The Gunstar Onyx has been upgraded with it. Once completed and we arrive on our target world; we will upgrade all the other Gunstars with it, but the Battlestars will stay on their current configuration for now.
Kathy Morales, the Atlantis CAG, reported that all ship squadrons had perfect scores in practice simulations and in real training flights. I never have doubt in her and her squadrons; she is the best damn pilot in the Colonial Navy. Well with the exception of Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.
I sent a full and detailed report back to the colonies about our findings and everything we had on our journey. End Log.
Atlantis Flag Suite
Commander Stryker was just finishing his log when he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," Commander Stryker said.
The doors opened and Colonel Haller and Dr. Aren entered the room.
"How can I help you gentlemen?" Commander Stryker asked.
"Well sir, I think we may have found something; a data pad or data disk of some kind. It's a log, a history written by someone from the destroyed civilization we found. Even more interesting; it was written in ancient Kobolian dialect," Dr. Aren said.
"That sounds interesting," Commander Stryker said.
"It is. It gives us at least some proof that the planet we found was once settled by humans or even the gods themselves," Dr. Aren said.
"It took some time, but we managed to find more, at least about their enemies. It's written like a legend," Dr. Aren said, and read off the log: "Millions of years ago, in a time when the gods were mortals like us, and in a time when they started walking between the stars, the gods discovered that they were not alone in the universe. They found a trace of a race even older than they were, and they were in a massive battle with an unknown enemy. This enemy came from the darkness of cold space, from the edge of the galaxy, and possibly even the edge of the universe itself. The Gods observed this great ancient conflict and saw that the old race was losing, that they were falling one star after another. Finally, the old race found the gods themselves and both the gods and the old race fought the darkness. The Gods helped invent sentient machines and created them in the image of themselves. The machines fought the darkness, and they won. They didn't destroy the darkness, but they sealed it in the center of our galaxy for all eternity. But something unexpected happen; a plague, a virus, spread through the machines, and the machines turned on their masters. First the old ancient race fell and then the machines, poisoned by the darkness, turned their eyes on the Gods. The Gods fought valiantly and they succeeded in destroying most of them, but many escaped and vanish between the stars. Millions of years later, the Gods evolved into creatures of pure light, and found a brutal and savage race on a planet on the edge of the galaxy. They landed between those primitive barbarian races, and started choosing the best of them. The best were then taken to the world which was later called Kobol, and the race of primitive savages became known as humans. Centuries passed, and humans evolved; becoming more civilized, but even more destructive. Humans organized themselves into tribes, and these tribes often fought in wars with each other, while also forging alliances against other tribes.
The Gods saw that humans were not perfect, that it was in their genes to be aggressive, warlike, and that they would never have peace between them. So the Gods started making copies, their own versions of humans. But the other tribes didn't like them; they were smarter, stronger, and better organized. They were cast out to the island where they lived isolated for many years, but over those years many others came to the island - mostly those that were outcasts and not wanted in the other tribes.
Four thousand years before the great exodus from Kobol one of the strongest and most silent tribes left Kobol with the blessing of the Gods. Our ancestors were not the last that left Kobol though; two thousand years later a second tribe left Kobol to the Promised Land, a planet they called Earth. On the way they split; those that were intelligent and smart continued on their way to Earth, and those that had come from other tribes found themselves on a planet that they called Terra where they created a great but brutal empire.
For a few hundred years, a war raged across the world of Kobol. Eventually, it resulted in the total exodus of the remaining twelve tribes off the surface of Kobol.
The twelve tribes all went in the same direction. They found a system with three stars and twelve habitable planets that could support human life. It was revealed to us by the goddess Athena that Hades, Hephaestus, and Poseidon had terraformed those worlds for the remaining tribes knowing that one day they would evolve and rise to become one force, and one nation united. Zeus gave names to the tribes that they would carry proudly; Aerilon, Aquaria, Canceron, Caprica, Gemenon, Leonis, Libran, Picon, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Tauron and Virgon. And the Gods appointed us Atlantian's to protect those young new colonies, to keep them safe until they evolved.
One day, the gods disappeared without a trace. A planet that they used for their own purposes was gone, and only an asteroid belt remained. There we found them, the ancient enemy had returned, stronger and angry for what our gods did to them long ago. It didn't take long before they found us. They started destroying our colonies one by one, defeating our ships with their advanced weaponry. With time we adapted, but this was not enough to defeat them. In a great battle over Atlantis itself our remaining fleet clashed with them, and both fleets annihilated each other. Small pockets of the enemy survived, they followed us here on Themis and they destroyed us. Many survivors succeeded in escaping to a new place that they would call their home. I hope they survive, I hope someone finds this log, and finds out what has happened. It was necessary to tell the entire story to understand, I hope, I can only hope..."
"It sounds like a nice story," Colonel Haller said.
"Colonel this is not a story, this is what happened years ago, and everything is put into this small log," Dr. Aren replied.
"Still it seems familiar, Gods or a race that we think are our Gods created machines to help in a fight against some other race, and after the victory the machines turned on the Gods. After many years they wiped them out entirely. Sound familiar to you doc?" Commander Stryker asked.
"I see your point. So I take it you believe that the Cylons will return, as Admirals Torres and Nagala think?" Dr. Aren asked.
"It's logical, and I know that there were old scrolls from the pre-unification era. In fact each of the colonies has a legend of an ancient enemy fighting the gods. Torres and Nagala must have given these scrolls detailed research, and they believe that the Cylons will return. The story might be true, but it doesn't need to be. We have our mission doctor, and I don't have time for fairytales. I didn't say that this isn't interesting, but until we find more evidence I cannot believe that this stuff is actually real. No matter what is written on the log," Commander Stryker said.
A Few Days Later
6 and a half months before the fall of the colonies
A planet like Caprica, full of life, stood in space alone with two small moons around it when suddenly a fleet of ships jumped in.
30 minutes later
Battlestar Atlantis C.I.C.
"Jump completed, we are at our targeted destination sir," Colonel Haller said happily.
"Open a channel to the fleet," Commander Stryker said.
"Open sir," the communications officer said.
"This is Commander Stryker from Atlantis. After a long 11 months of travel, we have finally come to our goal; the planet where we will settle, and make our colony. A planet that will become a beacon in the darkness and our home for a long time. I salute each and every one of you for a job well done, thank you!" Commander Stryker said.
"What will we call the planet?" Colonel Haller asked.
"It will be called…. Avalon," Commander Stryker said smiling.
"Avalon sir?" Colonel Haller asked.
"Yes Colonel, it was a mythical land from Picon legend, if memory serves," Commander Stryker replied.
"I see," Colonel Haller said.
"Colonel, please set up and launch a scouting party to the planet. I want a suitable place for the first settlement on Avalon," Commander Stryker said.
2 weeks Later
Surface of Avalon – Location of New Caprican first settlement
In the first fourteen days since the expedition arrived at Avalon, the scouting parties visited several places on the planet. The chosen site for the settlement was on one of the largest continents for the first city; it was surrounded by mountains and forests, and was relatively flat, so it was the perfect place for a town. Already construction machines and equipment were down on the ground, working on creating homes and buildings and making very good progress. It was at first believed that it would take months of ground work before the first solid buildings were ready to be built, so it was a real surprise to see so much work already completed. Colonial Command quickly appointed a governor to the new colony. Miral Skhan, the former governor of the Hera colony near Virgon, was appointed as the first governor of Avalon.
5 Months Later
Commander Stryker's Log 503
Five months have passed since the groundwork began on creating the first city for our colonists on our new home, Avalon. Thanks to the automated equipment Admiral Nagala saw to being brought along with the fleet, construction has gone along smoothly and quite quickly. The city has been completed enough for our thousands of colonists to start setting up inside their homes, and construction was started on basic structures the city will need such as a fire and police departments, a hospital, a marine base at the edge of the settlement to provide our marines a ground base of operations, and several other important structures. The city is planned to be expanded to able to contain 50,000 people by the time we return from the colonies with more colonists. Completion of the marine base was insisted upon by General David Lee, who was brought from the colonies aboard Argona along with a few hundred marines as instructed by Admiral Nagala personally, in order to build a base of operations for his startup force of marines for planetside security. A set of raptor and viper bases to land and refuel ground based squadrons is also being put under construction, which should be completed within a few months. Invictus will supply the military bases with the necessary equipment to construct them and will supply them in the future with necessary equipment for to manage and upkeep the bases. Additionally, Invictus will supply the bases with vipers and raptor squadrons once they are completed. I'm told the bases should be able to launch over a thousand vipers and several hundred raptors once completed and supplied; though we'll need to bring back pilots on our return trip to the colonies to have enough pilots to fully man the squadrons. In a few weeks Atlantis, Pleiades, and Argona will be returning to the colonies as planned. End Log.
30 days before the fall of the twelve colonies
Red Horse Nebula – Olympia station
Olympia station observatories deck
"Admiral Thorn, the reports you asked for are here, and everything is going as planned," Commander Corgon said.
"Good, let's start with it shall we; project Eternity, what's the status of it?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"Both the Eternity and Unity shipyards have been completed sir. Each shipyard is capable of housing two Andraste class Warstars in its main shipyard enclosure ports. They each have six piers that can hold two bigger (Mercury / Nova) and four smaller (Galactica / Valkyrie) Battlestars, and then there are the lower piers which can hold at least 30 to 40 Gunstars depending on their size.
Each shipyard has over 25,000 people aboard, but since it is mostly automated they can work with even a fourth of that number. There are large spare parts shops, ammo factories, fighter, bomber and raptor repair and production facilities, and large storage tanks for water and fuel. There is also a Tylium refinery to refine Tylium into E-85 Liquid Tylium which as you know is 250% more efficient than regular Tylium. Every shipyard has over 500 Vipers plus 220 Python bombers on board, with 200 raptors, and several dozen tankers and over a 100 shuttles of all types," Commander Corgon reported.
"Good, continue," Admiral Thorn replied.
"The Shipyards are extremely well armored, to be almost impenetrable. There are over 400 MKEV cannons, and 120 HKEV cannons. There are also 1,500 silos full with Anti-ship and Anti-Missile Missiles and 150 special nuclear silos. The Point defenses are the closest we can make them to be impenetrable, with over 10,000 point defense guns. It is a fortress in every way sir," Commander Corgon reported proudly.
"The Engines are top of the class. There are two blocks of Titan Mk I class engines that are mounted together giving enough power to move the station at a moderate speed. And the power plant is composed of 8 prime energizers and 16 secondary energizers on each station giving enough power for all the weapons to work at the same time, while maneuvering. The only limitation is that she cannot maneuver and can only fire 75% of her weapons when they charge the three FTL engines to jump the station," Commander Corgon finished.
"My god," Admiral Thorn said shocked, "I think that Torres and Nagala will like this very much!"
"Well sir, it cost as much as three years of the military's budget to build these two stations. Luckily the credits came from mostly our civilian sector and private companies under our command," Commander Corgon said.
"Next?" Admiral Thorn asked, eagerly wanting to know what else Corgon had for him.
"Well sir, we also have 8 new Titan II class Heavy Gunstars. That's four for each shipyard, as well as two old Columbia Type II Battlestars we rescued and refitted from the inactive shipyards. And finally the Theseus project, which will be ready in a week I think," Commander Corgon said.
"Refresh my memory, the Theseus project?" Admiral Thorn asked.
"It was directed by Admirals Nagala and Richardson. It's a heavily upgraded version of a Nova class Command Battlestar, with an advanced version of the point defense guns "interceptors" and new laser guns that we've been developing for some years. The guns are mounted in front of the ship in a stationary position, since it would require a really big turret for them. The ship will have the most advanced armor ever developed by the Colonial Navy, and lots of nasty guns," Commander Corgon replied.
"An oversized and overpowered Nova, nothing more?" Admiral Thorn asked with disappointment in his voice.
"Sorry sir, but those mobile shipyards eat almost 90% of our ready resources, plus rearming several other older Battlestars. Then you add those new Gunstars into service and an additional 10 under construction. It cost a lot," Commander Corgon said sadly.
"Yes, and it will cost us even more if President Adar finds out," Admiral Thorn said, "Do you know how bad it will be, that almost the entire Command staff worked behind the back of the President? We are spending enormous amounts of money on secret projects. It's already a lot with the Copernicus colony, and the even more from the secret Prometheus and Atlantis expeditions. I just hope that all this will prove useful and that we will have a good explanation if this is to go public."
"Yes sir," Commander Corgon said in agreement.
30 days before the fall
Cylon Space, Cylon Homeworld
John Cavil sat in a chair in the main command room onboard the Command Basestar known as Basestar 01. Leoben, Doral, and Simon entered the room.
"The problems we've been facing have been fixed, and production on the weapons for all our basestars and specifically high yield nukes to hit the colones should be completed soon. We should be finished as planned within a month," Doral said.
"Really, this time for real, oh I am so happy," Cavil said mockingly thinking angrily about all the delays to the attack on the colonies.
"As I promised, all will be ready in a month," Doral said unamused.
"Good, I can't wait to finally start this and to finally get rid of those humans," Cavil said with a trace of joy in his voice.
"I am still against this," Leoben said, "by killing them we will accomplish do nothing, and in doing so we will become them."
"Oh you would like them to attack us instead wouldn't you?" Cavil asked sarcastically.
"The humans would never attack us, it's been 40 years and they have never attacked," Leoben said trying to defend himself and humanity.
"Really and why was the Battlestar Valkyrie looking around the border not too long ago? There is also the question as to why they launched a stealth fighter into our territory, or was that simply curiosity?" Cavil said.
"I don't know, but that was not the reason," Leoben replied.
"You sound like Kathy, we gave humanity a chance all these years to see if they would improve themselves, become better or more civilized, but they didn't. They are the same savages as they were before. Murderers, torturers, rapists, and they are not better than animals. Except animals do what they do because it's plugged into their genes in order to survive, whereas humans do everything for their own pleasure. They don't deserve to live, and they will continue to be a huge threat to us as long as we allow them to remain, especially with people like Nagala and Torres," Simon said.
"And you think that even with all this military might, we will not defeat them?" Leoben asked.
"Yes, yes we will crush them like bugs, and what is important is that they will not even know that it is coming," Cavil said.
"One day your stupid arrogance, no the arrogance of all of you, will cost us, and we will deeply pay for what we have done," Leoben said and left the room.
"Yes, we will pay alright," Cavil replied with a smile.