I want to thank every one who has reviewed the story. I finally revised the beginning chapters from prologue to chapter 4 and each modified chapter as a V2 to indiquate the correct version on the side of the Chapter number in the story body.
The Fifth Race: Chapter 12
The 25th fleet had taken position around the planet, maintaining sensor surveillance in the system hoping to know in advance if any ship would jump in system while the fleet was orbiting the Planet.
Director Pedersen was currently meeting directly with the Council of Sage of the 13th Tribe and for the moment everything was going smoothly, however Admiral Delterre was nervous as for him the system was not secure enough and several echoes had appeared and suddenly disappeared on the sensors but never at the same time nor the same place. The specialists onboard the General's Glory had deduced by the sensors readings that the ships detected were sent as scouts to evaluate the field for a possible operation under cover of the large area filled with debris in the system where even the Terran sensors had problem getting a clear reading, the scouts probably thought that the fragments of ships would be able to screen them from the Terran sensors.
They were almost right as even Terran sensors were not powerful enough to detect a scout sized ship in the middle of a cemetery of ships with a definitive image. No, what had allowed the Terran Sensors to detect something were the very brief energy readings from the FTL jumps the scouts used and even these readings were barely registered by the sensors.
For precaution the Admiral had ordered the Carter's Genius and Autumn's Equinox to maintain a tight Combat Space Patrol around the Fleet and to keep the crew on duty around the clock in rotations while the negotiations began. He had a bad feeling about this debris field and knew that the Cylons were obsessed about finding Earth and the 13th Tribe.
******
In the unknown system sheltering the Hub, the Terran teams of Engineers were working around the clock to install a hyperspace generator but several complications had delayed the process. Due to its size, the Hub needed a Star base class hyper drive to move its bulk through the Hyperspace window without reaping the Hub apart.
Unfortunately the only hyper drive of that class available in the system was the spare situated in the Star Base Sea of Tranquility needed if the primary hyper drive was disabled during an attack. The Star Base being located in a war zone was rationing every additional part they had in storage including the spare Hyper Drive and General Mathews, the General Commanding the Star Base, denied the team of engineers the use of the extra and a new one had to be shipped from Terran federation space. A week later, as the new hyper drive was installed for future testing a new problem arose. While the Hub was a veritable powerhouse compared to Colonial or other Cylon ships, it was still insufficient to power the hyper drive to open a hyper space window big enough to allow the hub to travel let alone provide the energy necessary to travel in hyperspace at more than a snail's pace. The engineers had to improve the power plant of the Hub before attempting a Hyper Jump by installing several advanced Naquadah reactors in the Hub at strategic emplacements to protect the power conduits not used to channel so much energy. From the simple Naquadah reactor built thanks to the Orbanians more than a hundred years ago the technology had improved to a point where a single portable Naquadah generator could power a city in itself and was used almost exclusively by the Terran Army to power forward outpost and bases. At the moment 3 were installed and tied directly to the hyper drive generator, supplying energy directly into the drive, while another was powering the navigational computers and the last one was tied directly to several shields protecting the essential systems of the Hub, like the life support systems, one of the principal targets of the Centurions during the first Cylon War and a tactic the Terran Army learned to protect itself against before starting the campaign.
The Terran engineers were ready to test the installation with the opening of an hyper space window but before they could do so a proximity alert sounded signaling the arrival of ships in system with no warning from the usual Terran Sensors. The ships had appeared instantly using the Cylon FTL drive without any warning.
Alerting every Arrow patrolling the system 11 ships appeared around the Hub opening fire on the Arrows and Fishers with a rain of plasma bolts not even asking for surrender or even opening with a threatening message.
To the surprise of the Terran Garrison onboard as well as the Arrows Pilots, the Cylon Basestars had taken a completely new appearance only basely reminiscent of their original form from the previous engagements. The new ships were in the shape of a nine edged star with a similar design to that of the six edged Base Star but black as night and literally brimming with weapons ports all over its surface. The squadrons of Arrows sent a request for assistance to the Star Base Sea of Tranquility and immediately charged the ships hoping to strike them as fast and as brutally as the attack they used on the Cylon ships to take the Hub.
But to their complete surprise, the lasers they were equipped with collided with a shield clear of the ship's hull and allowing the Cylon Neo Base Stars to replicate in kind destroying dozens of Arrows, barely allocating the time for the emergency life systems to evacuate the pilots before the Space Superiority Fighters were destroyed. As the first wave of Arrows had been repelled by the Cylons, their hangar bays opened before hundreds of Fighters exited, their green eye gleaming in the shadows of the Capital Ships.
The new Raiders exited their mother ships, their hulls gleaming under the rays of the system's sun, made of a black material seemingly absorbing the rays of the sun. While before the Raiders where in the shape of a crescent with a central elongated helmet as the main body, the new Raiders had 2 crescents shaped wings on either side of the fighter facing away from it, tied to the main body of the fighter in the shape of a snarling serpent with green eyes.
As the serpentine Raiders started their attacks against the Arrows, they opened fire with their main armament, Plasma canons reminiscent of the primary weapon found on Death gliders but apparently more powerful as the impacts made against the hulls of the Arrows almost burned right through the tick Naquadah – Trinium alloy which typical Death Glider's Plasma Canons were barely able to scratch before. The serpentine raiders formed up into squadrons before attacking en masse the Arrows and a dog fight erupted. While the Arrows and Fishers were occupied by the serpentine Raiders, the Neo Base Stars turned their attention toward the Hub, opening concealed openings all over their hulls. Suddenly hundreds of 20 meters long missiles erupted from the ports toward the space station and travelled the short distance before penetrating partly into the hull of the Hub, burning their way through metal before stopping when they reached open space.
The Terran soldiers all over the space station were startled to discover that the missile they were expecting to utterly destroy the Hub were in fact breaching pods, each one containing ten Praetorians, superior in every way to the centurions, equipped with shields and small plasma canons. Contrary to their Centurions subordinates, the Praetorian's intelligence was not restricted and they were capable to think, strategize and make autonomous decisions. Coupled with their new weaponry and the very resistant alloy they were made from, the Praetorians were the response from the Cylons to the Terran Space Troopers.
******
The Hub, Garrison's headquarters.
Colonel Gerard was the commanding officer of the 255th regiment of the Terran Space Troopers. When he first received the reports of the breaching pods he ordered his officers to prepare the key positions to receive heavy fire and bunker themselves as much as they could. The Engineers had reported that the Hyper Drive was almost ready and that they would attempt a jump in hyper space as soon as possible. If the Troopers were able to hold out enough for them to reach their destination they would be able to ask for reinforcements directly in Terran Federation space. The colonel knew that the Star Base Sea of Tranquility would not be able to send reinforcement in time as they had to bypass the 11 Neo Base Stars surrounding them. They barely had enough room as it was for the formation of a Hyper Space window without colliding with one of the enemy's ships.
Barricades had been formed in the corridors leading to the Engineering, life support systems, hangars and cells for the prisoners. Several teams had been dispatched to hunt down the Praetorians trying to secure different parts of the Hub. The problem for the moment was fortifying their positions so that they could hold on for the week long journey till they reached the Star Base Mediterranean, the closest Star Base to the Cyrannus system with a permanent Fleet attached to it, without being overrun by the Cylons. It was true that the Terran space trooper was equipped with technologies that enabled him to almost have no counterpart in one on one fights. However the Cylons as robots did not tire nor need to sleep and from the first echoes of battle he received these new Cylons even on one on one fights could withstand, thanks to the shields they were fitted with, a great number of a Space Trooper's weapons.
Where the Cylons got that kind of technology he did not know. It was impossible that the Cylons were able to develop such a technology just by seeing it in action, as it would have required years for their scientist to just come up with theoretical concepts and no Terran ship had been captured so the only possibility remaining was that someone else was behind the Cylon leap of technology.
However that would be the problem of the Intelligence Office, one more mystery for them to unravel and not something a soldier needed to concern himself for the moment when he had breaching pods sending enemy troops breathing down his neck.
His fifteen hundred men were good, the cream of the garrison stationed on Star Base Sea of Tranquility but even the best fighting force could hold out for so long and he really hoped the engineers would be able to set everything up rapidly. Several of his officers had questioned his decision to go to Terran Federation space and cross the void between the galaxy lengthening the time they had to hold out to a week and many of them wanted to directly go to the Star Base Sea of Tranquility, at barely 1 light hour. Each destination had its advantages but he had to think first of the mission and his mission was to capture and transport to Federation space the space station known as the "Hub". If they jumped to the Star Base, they would have immediate support in troops and firepower to take out the immediate threat. However the Hub was not equipped with shields and the hull while solid and armored against ballistic hits would not be resistant enough against energy weapons additionally to being collateral in the middle of a space battle as the 12th and 34th Fleets were still a week away, with their more powerful Base Stars the Cylons presented a danger for the Hub. If they jumped toward Terran Federation Space, they would have to hold their positions for at least a week while they would travel in hyperspace and against an enemy benefiting from superior numbers and almost equivalent technology but in Federation space they would be under the protection of Terran Fleets and out of range of the Cylon Neo Base ship and the Hub would be protected against destruction. He finally choose to travel to Federation space because he had faith in his men and their strategically placed barricades as even with brute force the Cylons would not be able to overrun them.
As the first Cylons approached his station he could finally take a good look at these updated Centurions. Standing at 2 and a half meter tall in lines of 4, their green eye standing still in the middle of their visors they slowly raised their arms and started firing on the Terran Troopers, their plasma weapons impacting the shield installed as a defense mechanism. In response the Terran Space Troopers targeted them with every weapon they had, from fixed Plasma Canons to Personal Energy Gauntlets. To the surprise of the defenders, the plasma shots were almost all stopped by a silver shield protecting them almost perfectly. Several of their numbers had been destroyed when their shield overloaded from the strain of containing the sheer fire power flung at them, while the Terran Shield was powerful enough to resist their Plasma weapons, the new Cylons were not similarly lucky and the sensors of their mobile base detected the drop in power of their shields.
Almost as if they could read the thoughts of the Terran soldiers, the Cylons started advancing toward the blockade, trying to overthrow them by sheer numbers. Immediately the Officers in charge ordered a barrage fire to mow down the approaching droids. More Cylon fell before finally withdrawing and taking defensive positions.
Colonel Gerard had just stopped firing when he received a message from the Engineers. As he received the message, the deck started vibrating under his feet as the Hub was lurched into the newly opened Hyper Space windows. The Battle for the Hub was just beginning.
******
Unknown System on the rim of the Milky Way Galaxy, 13th Tribe Home System, Gaiatena.
The Council of Sages was the highest and oldest authority for the 13th Tribe government on the planet they named Gaiatena. The Council was not the most powerful institution on the planet for the everyday affairs for the last thousand years however it was still the Council of Sages that decided the future of the 13th Tribe and spoke for its people, keeping the traditions of Kobol alive even if the 13th Tribe evolved in a more democratic form.
The Council of Sages was in session, hosting the first face to face meeting with the Terran Federation representatives giving the opportunity for the 13th Tribe to have contact with the Galaxy at large and more importantly their Brethren. However not everyone was happy to hear from the outside as they were happy to be left alone, out of sight and danger the Galaxy was capable to unleash on them, in other words they feared what they did not know and they had their partisans in the Government and even in the Council of Sages.
As the Terran ship landed in the central plaza of the capital city, a honor guard stood at attention ready to welcome the Terrans and provide an escort to the Council Hall where waited for them the entire Council.
Director Pedersen exited the ship, escorted by a Special Forces Team in their day to day uniform and followed the Council's envoys. The Director admired the architecture of the 13th'Tribe's Capital City a mix of both Colonial and Alteran designs, an attempt to conserve their heritage from Kobol from where they left 4 000 years ago. They entered a gigantic ante chamber before coming in front of 10 foot tall doors made of stone. The escort ordered the doors opened before he entered ahead of the Terran party of five and announced them.
The Council chamber was separated in 2 tiers with a raised platform at the end of the hall where was situated the 14 Sages headed by Haram, First Sage of the 13th Tribe. On the lower tier was placed the tribunes welcoming the officials of the 13th Tribe, here to be witnesses of the historical event.
Director Pedersen stood before the Council and bowed before them with the traditional salute of the colonies. "Greetings, I am Henrik Pedersen, Director for the Terran Federation. We contact you in peace and in friendship in the hope of forging ties with your people. I also bring you words from your Brethren, the 12 Tribes of Kobol which are now provisional members of the Terran Federation."
As he presented himself and opened the floor for the first meeting between the 13th Tribe and the Terran Federation, the public in the hall erupted in murmurs and several Sages looked shocked.
Haram, the First Sage of the Council of Sages stood up and asked for the silence of the public comprised of the Tribe's more powerful people. "Let the Terran representative speak"
Thanking the Head Sage, Director Pedersen continued "Thank you First Sage Haram. The Terran Federation is a group of planets in the Milky Way galaxy that decided to unite in a common government whose capital is on Earth. As of now the Terran Federation represents more than 80 members on hundreds of worlds in 2 galaxies."
The hall again erupted in exclamations between the spectators and Pedersen could feel on his back the looks sent to him from several people in the audience, and not all of them were friendly.
A Sage stood up and addressed the Council "My Brothers, what assurance do we have that these people are not envoys from the False Gods that banished us to this planet. Director Pedersen wants us to believe that Earth, the cradle of our race, is the capital world of his Federation while the False Gods taunted us with its destruction during the battle our ancestors fought in Millennia ago. I say all he tell us is folly and that his lies must not weaken us. We stayed strong despite being stuck on this planet for Millennia; we adapted our technology so that we could survive. Do not cast aside our very way of life for some tale a stranger is trying to sell us!"
The Sage was at the end of his speech almost screaming at Director Pedersen clearly trying to harangue the public against the Terran Federation, while said Director remained calm, sitting calmly at the table provided for him. Clearly the isolationists had a firm hold of the political scene and were hell bent on maintaining their power and not allow outsiders to influence their people, even going as far as to try to discredit anyone who was a threat to their ideas.
Pedersen calmly stood up and stepped in front of the Council activating a Holographic generator he left on the table for his presentation. "If I may, can I respond to the councilor's accusation First Sage Haram?" Getting a nod as only response he started a more detailed explanation.
"I will now explain to this Council the road that took us to this world and will let this council judge for themselves if we are just deceiving you or if we tell the truth, If I may have the indulgence of this Council I will be as brief as possible and if at the end of this meeting the Council wishes us to leave then we will obey the Council's wishes. 4 000 years ago the 13th Tribe left Kobol for reasons unknown to us and disappeared for Earth, a thousand year later a catastrophic event destabilized Kobol's core. The planet became unable to sustain life and the 12 remaining Tribes fled Kobol and each of them established a colony on different planets in the nearby Cyrannus System. However discontent appeared between the Tribes over their planetary resources and the technology they horded from Kobol, each planet being vastly different from the other, providing clear advantages for each colony. They renamed themselves Colonies of Kobol and started wars against each other the unity they shared before destroyed, each war becoming more vicious years after years. After a while they became afraid of the life toll their wars claimed and created the Cylons, machines made to make war for them. Unfortunately they made a mistake, as they did not anticipate that their creations would develop their own consciousness. When they were made aware of that fact instead of embracing their children, they repressed them, forcing them to fight against each other until they had enough and revolted against their creators. As the machines revolted the Colonies presented for the first time in millennia a united front in the face of a common enemy. The war against the Cylon machines lasted 40 years before an amnesty was signed between the 2 forces and a demarcation line drawn in space as a frontier and marked by an armistice station. 40 years later, responding to an incursion in their borders, the Cylons attacked the Colonies and bombed them from orbit. 50 billion people died and the mere 45 000 survivors fled in search of an almost forgotten legend, their only hope, Earth and the remaining 13th Tribe but instead they found us, the Terran Federation and have been accepted as provisional members in the Terran Federation."
The assembly was silent for the first time since the start of the meeting and as the Director regained his place one of the Sage stood up and asked to be heard. "Director Petersen if what you say is true, how is it that your fleet found us because as we saw in the hologram you showed us of your battle against the Cylons, your trajectory would not lead you to us and the system where the battle took place is far from here, at least 300 light years."
Manipulating with a thought the hologram projector, he showed to the Council the slow road the mission of exploration accomplished by the 25th Fleet system by system until they reached the 13 Tribe "When it was determined that the 12 colonies of Kobol had contact with the Alterans, the Terran Federation decided to send teams to Kobol to study the remains of the Kobolian society and discover if any clue of their Alteran heritage remained. There, they discovered a hall of records that gave us the information we searched for. Armed with that knowledge and the confirmation that a 13 Tribe had existed on Kobol and was sent to Earth we decided to study the Scriptures from the Colonies and search the more logical route from the clues left taking Kobol as a point of origin and Earth as a destination. Our fleet was then dispatched and scanned system after system to finally stumble upon your people." The Director preferred to keep under silence the ascended Kobolian's assistance in filling the blanks absent from the official records in the hall of the gods as named by the Kobolians of that time. While the Terran Federation had more than a few encounters with ascended beings, as several of their people had achieved the required level of evolution and mental aptitude required to ascend, it was still a delicate subject as it touched on the domain of spiritual and could be interpreted by more primitive cultures as a sign of godhood.
One of the Sages snorted and stood up seemingly laughing from a dark thought only privy to him. The other Sage let him, watching him with attention, although the First sage, Haram, looked almost chagrined of the attitude of his fellow Sage but resigned to hear what he had to say with the little show he was putting in front of the court. The Sage finally reached the table with the Terran Official and started to speak, clearly talking not only to Director Pedersen but also to the audience attending the proceedings. "4 000 years ago during our ancestor's travel to Earth they encountered a powerful enemy, one of the False Gods, Cronus. The battle was fierce and lasted for hours until finally the False Gods fled the battle like the cowards they were, living our ancestor's ships crippled, unable to return to Kobol. But they survived! They lived and flourished on this planet, our planet, Gaiatena. But contrary to what you may believe Director Pedersen, our ancestors were not assigned a glorious task but banished from Kobol! And now 4 000 years later you dare come to us with the idea that the 13th Tribe would open its arms wide for the return of our "brethren" when they banished us in the first place!" The sage was almost red with rage, gesturing wildly and haranguing the listeners.
Director Pedersen simply listened politely not showing much on his face except a little curiosity at the way the Sage was behaving in front of him. While he gathered that the 13th tribe had a grudge against the 12 colonies of Kobol, however he did not expect to incite such a violent reaction in a political figure as important in the Tribe's food chain. Calmly, he stood up and not even responding to the Sage he stepped in front of the podium to talk directly with the First Sage, knowing that in doing so he slighted the virulent Sage's pride but also knowing that responding directly to the man would have made his words more important than they were. "First Sage Haram, we are not here to reunite you with the 12 Colonies. The reason they were looking for you more than anything was because they were desperate, they were not even sure you really existed. But faced with an holocaust and hunted to the far reaches of the universe by an implacable enemy they had no other recourse. My government discovered them when the breached our frontier pickets and contacted them. They themselves have very little remaining historical records concerning your tribe and did not know the reason why you left or as you say were banished. However the reason the Terran Federation gave safe heaven to the 12 Colonies was to help them as fellow humans. Now we have contacted you not because we wished to reunite you with the other Tribes but because you are fellow humans and it is a goal of the Terran Federation to unite humanity. If you wish us to leave you in peace we will do so however may I ask a question? Why did the other Tribes banish you for Kobol?"
Folding his hands beneath his chin First Sage Haram responded to Director Pedersen calmly contrary to Sage Galon who had regained his place on the Council and was silently steaming at being ignored. "Our historical records were kept intact by generations of historians so that our past may never be forgotten contrary to our technology. After the tribes left Earth with the Alterans Lords we established ourselves on Kobol. We lived in harmony, each tribe governing themselves separately under the enlightened direction of the Kobol Alteran Lords. They taught us, held us equal and everything was perfect and Kobol became our paradise for a while until the first Alteran Lords started to ascend leaving us for another plane of existence as beings of light. Many of the Tribes started to admire them even more until the last Alteran Lord ascended. We then elected a Council of Tribes were the First Sage of each tribe would siege to govern Kobol however the legends of ascension grew to a point that many of the Tribes started worshipping the Alteran Lords, particularly the members of the Alteran Council until every tribe but ours took them as gods. The 13th Tribe always believed that the Alteran Lords were powerful and wise leaders but still mortals and that very idea clashed against the other tribes until they decided to give us a mission, in reality a punition disguised as an honor to accommodate the "Gods". We were banished and almost annihilated because of that exile by our people. Now you can understand why we don't particularly welcome the news of contact with the 12 Tribes."
As he heard that little revelation, Director Pedersen could not help but let a groan echo in his head. From the peaceful contact he expected he now had to deal with hostile negotiations with a pissed of civilization. The worst was that while the Terran Federation was an entity completely different from the 12 Tribes of Kobol, their sheltering of the Remnant colonies bathed them in a bad light in the eyes of the 13 Tribe.
Straightening his shoulders he decided to alleviate the tension present in the room and show them that while they did shelter the Colonials, they did not share their beliefs. " First Sage, I understand the deep and terrible history that bond you with the 12 Colonies of Kobol, however the Terran Federation is not the government of the 12 Tribes that banished you. When we gave shelter to the 12 Colonies and later offered them membership into our federation, we did so to help our fellow humans fleeing a holocaust and the terrible enemy that caused it. While the 12 Colonies still worship the Lords of Kobol, the Terran Federation does not. Like your people, First Sage, we know of the deeds of the Alterans, of their technologies, of their powers and we have met some of them during our experience of the universe but we do not worship them. Respect them yes as the Alterans were the greatest race that ever existed in 4 galaxies and achieved wonders still out of reach for us. On the other hand we know of their faults, of their bad deeds and for all the powers they possessed, of their inherent humanity. Finally I will say this to you and the Council: The Terran Federation as contacted you in a spirit of friendship, to offer trade in culture and knowledge in good faith. The dramatic history you have with the other 12 Tribes are not an impossible obstacle to cross for continued relations between our people. As the Terran Federation's Contact Director I can only urge you to consider the benefits you can gain if you agree to develop a peaceful relationship with us."
The first Sage nodded to him, but the quick look he gave the rest of the council did not bode well for the Terran federation's cause. "The Council will make the decision that he deems best for the 13 Tribe as is his right and duty. You will have to wait for our decision in the ante chamber."
Director Pedersen after saluting the Council left the hall and waited for an hour during which he could hear the mutated voices of the council during its deliberation. He could not understand the word being spoken but the tone he heard progressively made his hope of a successful first contact plummet.
He was finally recalled in the hall to hear the Council's decision. Unfortunately the decision was the one he feared as First Sage Haram informed him that for the time being the 13 Tribe did not wish to have any associations with the Terran Federation while the 12 Tribes of Kobol are members of it.
The decision was final and acclaimed by the audience whose feelings were made clear. Director Pedersen said farewell to the Council, knowing that the membership of the 12 Colonies had only been an excuse and that the real reason the 13 Tribe refused to have any exchange with the Terran Federation was because of their fear of the unknown. The Director had no choice however as the first rule of contact drilled in the Terran federation policies left the decision solely in the hands of the rightful ruling body of the contacted world.
Escorted by the honor guard and his own squad of Terran Special forces he regained his ship and left the planet minutes later heading toward the General's Glory to report to the Terran Foreign office.
To say the least, several people would be disappointed.
******
Defense Star Galactica, in orbit of New Kobol, Same time.
The Galactica was now, 4 months only after arriving on orbit of New Kobol, a dedicated defense space station in charge of all space in New Kobol's system. The port nacelles had been permanently extended and the ship completely reinforced and redesigned. Where before the engines, reactors and Tylium processing units stood now where the emplacement of a brand new Terran Neutrino Ion reactor and shield generator as well as new available space for the training ground of the New Kobol Defense Force which role was to protect the Colonials from threats from without and within.
Several Viper exits had been remodeled to accept Arrows and Puddle Jumpers in their bays. While the Terran policy for the members worlds were very firm, the Terran Space Navy still decided to maintain a permanent force of Arrows onboard the Galactica and 2 Squadrons had been assigned the task of maintaining a combat space patrol on the system as well as familiarize the Colonial Defense Force with the Terran Space Navy's operations.
However pilots would always be pilots from wherever they hailed from and it did not take long for the Terran and Colonial Space Pilots to try to first show off in front of each other before offering rides in each other's Space Superiority Fighters.
The colonial pilots were very impressed when they finally got a close sight of the Arrows and were literally salivating at the thought of trying it. The Arrows were developed as a Space Superiority Fighter able to function for years without the constant need of maintenance generally necessary for the usual fighter. The design was partially aerodynamic, even if such a thing was unnecessary in space, and small enough to fit through a Stargate for rapid deployment. At the head of the Arrow was placed the generator of the fighter able to give power to its systems for at the least a dozen years, as well as a combined stealth and shielding system. This new hybrid was not a true shield but allowed the Arrow to confuse the Enemy's targeting system and make the fighter near impossible to anchor by automated systems and reinforced the vital components of the ship with individual protection, not enough to protect it against a hit form a capital ship but at least strong enough that any hit meant to disable its system would be ineffective.
The pilot's cabin was placed in the body of the fighter in a completely covered cockpit where the canopy was in fact a virtual screen showing exactly the view outside as well as heads up displays and targeting systems and sensors, with all the systems activated via the use of the Alteran Gene. In case of an emergency the pilot was dematerialized by a transport beam and stored in a rescue pack which was then ejected from the ship activating a distress signal on all Terran frequencies to be retrieved, allowing the pilot to be placed in suspended animation for at least 200 years while waiting to be rescued.
Finally the tail of the ship was designed in the form of 4 small wings forming a cross where was mounted 4 lasers instead of plasma canons. While the plasma canons had more destructive power they lacked the precision necessary to target enemy fighters accurately enough to disable them instead of utterly destroying them. While the Arrow was a multitasking ship its primary goal was to confront enemy Space Superiority Fighters, not engage Capital Ships.
Thankfully for the Colonials pilots, they descended from the Alterans more closely than the Terrans and rarely needed the Alteran Gene Therapy, allowing them to fly the Arrows immediately. And what an experience that was for the Colonial Pilots as they discovered a Fighter able to maneuver more fluidly than a Viper or a Raider with at least 20 times the speed without feeling any of the negative effects they were accustomed to in their Vipers. In the Arrows, the inertial dampeners prevented the pilot from feeling any G forces from the accelerations and speed the fighter was capable of with its gravimetric engines.
Most of the Pilots were however disappointed, for while they got a taste of the incredible Fighter machine that was the Arrow, they were not authorized to pilot it without the direct supervision of a Terran Officer and even then only for testing purposes and not in the pursuit of their duty. The provisional membership status placed the Colonials under the protection of the Terran Federation; however it did not incorporate their forces into the Terran Army and thus all military technology was off limits except for Terran military personnel and the occasional guest.
******
New Kobol, New Colonia, President Adama's Office.
It had been 3 months since their arrival in their new home and for the most part everything had gone smoothly. For a time a shortage of hands had been feared by the colonial government as they established the remains of their civilization on this world but with the rescue of the remaining survivors in the colonies their population had increased ten times and now on the contrary unemployment had been feared. However their fear was for nothing as the constructions financed by the Terran loans created many opportunities and allowed the Colonial government to employ as many as they needed and then more to reconstruct their way of life.
After the arrival of the survivors, many of their numbers petitioned for a new election for the leaders of the government, almost causing a riot but after an agreement was reached between the leaders of each faction it was decided that the current leadership would be expended to include them in the running of the government and to allow new elections in a year.
With a consensus reached and the political front resolved President Adama asked the Terran Ambassador to give him an update on the Cyrannus front. The Ambassador gave him the classified report of the Kobol exploration the Colonial Remnants never had time to conduct since they were on the run from the Cylons, and the results were staggering for the colonial people. The photos and holo videos of the Hall of the Gods as well as the conversation that occurred there changed completely the history of the colonies and while many people in the government would bury their heads in the sands and refute the findings from the expedition, he knew that the history books of the Colonies would have to be completely rewritten. They had effectively been reunited with their people like the Terrans said but not the 13th tribe as they expected but their brethren nonetheless. With the capture of the Cylon Hub by the Terran Army he knew that the answers they were looking for concerning the secrets the Cylons still kept, and with the discovery of these secrets a page of Colonial history would be turned and a new chapter could finally begin without the weight of their mistakes spoiling everything.
For the moment he was waiting for the regional manager of Interplanetary Vehicles a subsidiary in part of Tekcon and several other companies specialized in personal spaceships. The manager had requested a meeting to negotiate for a license to use the Colonial FTL drive.
His secretary knocked on the door and introduced him to the manager, a native from Langara originally, named Triv Naruk. The negotiations started and the manager put on the table the plans for the personal spaceship they wanted to build around the Colonial FTL drive: the Hyperspace drive used commonly in the Milky Way Galaxy was impossible to build small enough for a viable choice as a personal ship with a smaller size than a Goa'ould cargo ship or a Marauder class ship. The Colonial Jump drive gave the ability for the engineers of Interplanetary Vehicles to build a two to four man ship capable of interstellar travel up to 30 light years which was a market left completely untouched in the Terran Federation.
The deal was hammered between the 2 parties until an agreement that satisfied the 2 was made: as a license fee, Interplanetary Vehicles would pay 200 million Terran credits a year plus a 5% commission on every ship sold. Furthermore, the President was able to obtain a concession as the first factory for those ships would be build on New Kobol, providing thousands of jobs for the Colonial population. Satisfied with the negotiation the manager left New Colonia for Hebridan where the company's offices were located.
As the manager left the meeting, President Adama prepared the press conference for the announcement of the new deal he bargained for his people and perspectives they offered. Good news was something always appreciated by the population and after 4 years of hell they needed all the good news they could get.
******
Outer Rim of the Milky Way galaxy, Gaiatena, Home world of the 13 Tribe.
The Super-Dreadnought General's Glory was a ship of the line, as such its crew enjoyed a comfort not seen previously in War capable ships and thanks to its multipurpose mission the crew enjoyed the luxury of a life zone the size of a City. But today was special as the famous Loop of Kon Garat was broadcasted on the central holographic screen of the central plaza of the city and almost all of the off duty personnel of the ship was there to watch the famous race. The Loop of Kon Garat was one of the most dangerous and popular space race in the Terran Federation followed by billions of people in the galaxy and sponsored by Tekcon the galaxy wide corporation whose headquarters where on Hebridan. The race was in full swing and already 2 competitors had been eliminated by the obstacles inherent of the race, the crowd watching, rooting for their favorite pilot or moaning at the defeat of their choice of contestant.
The on duty crew cursed the fact they couldn't watch the race but duty aboard a starship was nonstop and the crew respected the typical shifts of 8 hours and remained faithfully at their post. However even the more focused crew would not anticipate the attack that followed.
Without any warning from the advanced sensors the ship possessed, 15 ships appeared suddenly around the General's glory immediately opening fire on the ship with Plasma canons firing large bolts at high velocity of extremely hot plasma. The Glory immediately raised its shields at the bequest of the Asgard Officer, Freya, and a call to actions stations echoed calling every crew member off duty, beaming them directly from their position on the ship to reinforce the sectors of the ships more vulnerable to attack, followed by a general alert to every ship in the fleet and the planet bellow.
The attackers were ships in the form of a star with nine arms reminiscent of the Cylon Basestars but sporting a much improved technology base. The crew immediately returned fire, at first with their Alteran Drones while the Heavy Laser Beams were charged for a rapid breach in the ships encircling the Super Dreadnought to allow the ship some space to maneuver. However the Commander of the Super Dreadnought was astonished to discover a shield glowing briefly with the impacts of the Alteran Drones, partially halting their advance although the sensors detected a sudden drop in the enemy's shield strength before the Drones finally were able to phase through the shields only to be destroyed by point defense system based on energy weapons.
The Admiral suddenly arrived, after making the short route from the corridor where all personnel assigned to the bridge was beamed to in case of an emergency and witnessed the destruction of the third attacking ship coming apart under the massive swarm of Alteran Drones draining rapidly the enemies' shields and finally striking at the core of the Basestars.
Admiral Delterre, his face showing his astonishment at the data he was reading, detached his eyes from the technical readout from the sensors before focusing on the Holographic display and analyzed quickly the situation. While the General's glory was encircled by 12 ships, the rest of the fleet was in more precarious situation. A Dreadnought or Super-Dreadnought class of ships was designed to attack via multiple vectors to respond to multiple types of attack. However the Heavy Carrier and Cruisers of a fleet were more susceptible to attacks made from capital ship even if said capital ships were technologically less advanced. Quickly he finalized his deductions of the situation before sending his orders to the Commanders of the ships to make a breach in the formation and free some space around them. He also send a more detailed message down on the planet to warn the people of the 13th Tribe that these ships were enemies only to receive a message back from the Tribe's Government that the Terran Federation's enemies were of no concern to them and that they had complete faith in their defenses and did not require any help.
The Cruisers were moving rapidly, trying to avoid a maximum of the enemy's Plasma Cannons by using their natural maneuverability while at the same time deploying their contingent of drones to attack several ship simultaneously. They weaved on and off around the Heavy Carriers, trying to protect them while they deployed their contingent of Arrows to engage the enemy fighters heading toward them and participating in the battle.
The Mesopotamia was suddenly flanked by 2 Neo base Stars before both ships, severely damaged from Drones impacting against their hulls, swerved toward it in an impact course. Seeing the danger it was in, the Mesopotamia escaped the first kamikaze attack by concentrating its Drones on it but was unable to completely avoid the second Neo Base Star. The Mesopotamia, its port wing completely destroyed, lost containment in its Neutrino ion generators and exploded taking with it another Neo Base Star nearby. Thankfully, the Avatar of Hope's Asgard officer was monitoring the situation with its sensors and beamed out of the ship all the personnel still alive onboard. From the hundred originally that crewed the cruiser, only 62 could be saved, the rest having died when the ship was damaged by the first kamikaze attack.
The Heavy Carriers possessing the strongest shields in the Fleet were left relatively untouched as the plasma bolts that managed to collide with their shields barely made a dent in its strength, but their contingents of Arrows were in heavy fights trying to destroy the horde of Serpentine Raiders aiming to hit the Heavy carriers with either their plasma cannons or by physically ramming themselves using their FTL drives to appear in the shields as that tactic had good results for them in the past. The Arrows still held a clear advantage over the Serpentine Raiders has they were more maneuverable and had more precise firepower than the new raiders who had difficulty targeting the Arrows with their Plasma cannons. Even with a 2 to 1 Ratio against them, the Arrows were keeping the Raiders at bay as for the moment the losses were minimal and the Arrows were slowly but surely repelling their attack.
From the 57 Neo Basestars of the initial attack only 25 remained in condition to pursue the fight against the 25th Fleet barely a half hour later, the rest slowly losing hull integrity and with shields failing rapidly, or completely destroyed. As one the remaining Neo Basestars currently not attacking the Fleet turned toward the planet, opening their ports and sending a thousand breaching pods toward Gaiatena covering their descent by opening a large salvo with their plasma canons. The Planet's defense grid tried to intercept a maximum of the breaching pods but they already had to intercept the heavy bombardment from the Neo Basestars trying to bring them back to the Stone Age.
As the first Sage threatened when the 25th Fleet first arrived, the defenses protecting the planet were powerful. Contrary to the Terran federation which uses satellites in geosynchronous orbit around a planet, the 13 Tribe, like the Tollan before them, used planetary Cannons placed strategically around the world to strike directly the attackers or in this case intercepting the breaching pods and plasma shots.
Unfortunately the defense screen was not perfect and several breaching pods were able to impact the Capital and to the fright of the inhabitants Cylon Praetorians started immediately engaging the tribe's High Guard to take control of the Capital while the ships in orbit kept bombarding the defense cannons with heavy plasma bolts, not even moving when the freed Terran ships targeted them.
The 4 Dreadnoughts and the Super Dreadnought finally destroyed the last Neo Basestars attacking them and turned all their Firepower to destroy the remaining Neo Basestars bombarding the planet.
Every command chair in the Terran Fleet focused their Drones, while the targeting systems selected a new mark for their Heavy Laser Beam, concentrating their fire on the 12 remaining Cylon Ships currently bombarding the planet directly. Within seconds the incredible dance of lights indicating the successful launch of drones illuminated space between the 2 fleets on a direct course toward the Cylons. The remaining Serpentine Raiders in order to protect the Neo Basestars proceeded to jump a short distance and acted as a shield to absorb the first assault of the drones with their hulls. That tactic was however doomed to fail as the incredible firepower contained in those drones and their sheer number was simply too overwhelming. Before the Neo Basestars could even jump to safety as per their usual modus operandi they were hit at full power from the remaining drones still numbering in the hundreds and the Six Heavy Laser Beams punching through their shields and burrowing deep into their hulls. While the Drones partially phased themselves to bypass altogether the shields, the Heavy Laser simply overwhelmed the shields forcing them to short out by pure concentrated force. Their systems critically hit, the Neo Basestars either drifted slowly into the atmosphere or imploded when their generators reached critical failure, lighting the sky ok Gaiatena with mini novas and sending a mass of Electro Magnetic waves in every direction causing massive damages to the planet's infrastructure and hitting heavily the Terran Space Navy's shields.
The battle was finally finished but unfortunately the repercussions on the diplomatic front would be disastrous. The 13 Tribe had clearly shown their dislike of the Terran Federation and they would no doubt hold them responsible for the appearance of the Cylon Fleet that attacked them.
One thing was sure, the people of the 13 Tribe's government hoping for a rapid dismissal of the Terran Federation would be disappointed for even if the Terran Federation was not responsible for the actions of their enemies, further contact would have to be maintained to help them.
As the Admiral ordered an assessment of the damages done to his fleet and to the planet bellow, Director Pedersen was already preparing his notes for the future meeting with the Council of Sages who would be shouting for reparations.
******
In a stone chamber located high within the Free Jaffa Nation's Capital was assembled the Jaffa Council of Brothers. The Council was composed of the more powerful Jaffa Warlords of the Free Jaffa Nation and was not limited in its members. Each Jaffa holding a seat on the Council was practically a head of state due to the size of their domain and armies, ruling hundreds of systems and their resources.
While the Terran Federation represented the more technologically advanced faction in the Milky Way Galaxy, the Free Jaffa Nation was the group holding the bulk of the Galaxy's resources and jealously protected its domain by maintaining a constant level of military action to dissuade any action toward its territory. But while the Free Jaffa presented a united front for the protection of their brothers, the individual warlords still tried to increase the borders of their domains not by attacking the other warlords as the Goa'ould System Lords would have done but instead by annexing in their borders the primitive worlds on the fringe.
The Terran Federation had at first strongly opposed that expansion done at the cost of stifling the emerging civilizations barely out of the Stone Age. However the Federation was not about to start a war against one of their oldest allies over the displacement of populations not hurt in the process of their relocation to another planet. But the Federation drew the line at the annexation of worlds under their direct protection.
Kalina was a peaceful world not far from the limits of the Jaffa Warlord Keffu, home to a civilization of just entering the Industrial Era and with a population of 76 Millions. The Kalinans were a displaced people originally taken from the studies done on their culture, from the Native American Tribes almost 2 000 years ago and enjoyed a peaceful life without wars for at least 500 years and symbolized for the archeologist a preserved Native American culture without the external influence that caused so much damage on Earth with the discovery of the Americas. For the Ministry of Culture, the preservation and protecton of that world was of the utmost importance and no contact whatsoever had been allowed between the Terran Federation and the Kalinans, first to respect the First contact protocols and second to allow this unpresented opportunity to allow a preserved Native American civilization to develop at their natural pace. The Contact Office believed that with their current speed of development, a first contact may be possible on 200 to 300 years after the creation of their first Inter stellar Drive.
For the moment, several observation Satellites were placed in orbit and cloaked to provide a warning system in case of emergencies and to observe their culture without interference.
But even the best laid plans of mice and men could not predict every event. While the Terran Federation did criticize the expansionist tendencies of the Free Jaffa Nation, they did have a understanding that any planet under the protection of the Terran Federation were to be left alone, which included outside the old Asgard protected planets, any planet with Terran Federation Satellites in orbit. Save for foolish raiders and pirates, no one had ever dared incur the Terran federation's wrath by attacking one of their protected planets as unlike the Asgard, that protection was all but a bluff and the Terran Army responded to such threats with the full might of their armada and without any mercy. It was almost a sacred duty for the inheritors of the Asgard and Alterans legacies to protect the various populations seeded in the Galaxy and while the Federation was not perfect they took their role very seriously. And this was why the current Terran leadership did not anticipate the source of the attack.
Emerging from Hyperspace, a fleet of 8 Ha'tak took positions around the Kalinan world, hiding behind 4 of the seven moons of the planet. The Terran Satellites detected them and send a warning message of the planet's status. The response from the Jaffa was quick. From the lead Ha'tak's canons emerged a bolt of Plasma, hotter than a sun's core, which rapidly crossed the distance and destroyed the Satellite. Each remaining Ha'tak suddenly shot toward empty space, hitting the concealed remaining Satellites, utterly destroying them but not before they sent an alert to the nearest Terran Space navy ship and a data burst containing the latest moments on a subspace frequency used for emergencies.
The hostilities had begun between the 2 super powers.