Chapter 2 The Shape of the Galaxy
The world forever changed on October 20th 2020 when the average citizen of the world learned about the existence of a device that would forever change the way they saw themselves and the galaxy. On that day, the world learned about the existence of an alien device called the Stargate which could form a wormhole to any other stargate in a galaxy wide network and allow instant transportation to multiple worlds. The Stargate became the corner stone of a program ran first by the United States Armed Forces and later by most of the nations of Earth. Early in the life of the program they would meet a race of parasitic aliens called the Goa'uld inhabiting humans body, the descendances of slaves they had taken from Earth in the ancient past and still used as slave labor quickly stumbling into a war with the different Goa'uld factions. The people of Earth had many encounters with the Goa'uld gaining the name Tau'ri meaning those of the first world from the slaves.
The people of Earth didn't just gain enemies they gained friends the four most important friends they gained was first a faction of a warrior race for the Goa'uld the Jaffa. The Jaffa where enslaved themselves believing the Goa'uld where gods but some wanted to be free and in time with the help of the Tau'ri they began to rebel. The second group was an offshoot of the Goa'uld the Tok'ra, they were like the Goa'uld in almost every way only they didn't believe in slavery and worked with the human they inhabited in a symbolic way. The other two major aids to the Tau'ri where both advance race, far beyond the Tau'ri or the Goa'uld, they were the Nox and Asgard. Both races where members of an alliance of four great races with the greatest being the Ancients themselves the builders of the Stargate and the most advanced race in the history of the known galaxy. The peaceful Nox mostly stayed on the sideline helping on occasion however the Asgard saw great protentional in the people of Earth. With them at their side helping whenever possible the people of Earth along with the free Jaffa and Tok'ra where able to defeat the Goa'uld and free thousands of worlds from enslavement.
Sadly, the Asgard wasn't to last, they had used cloning technology to extend their lives for thousands of years and it caught up to them. With a sickness raging through them and no hope of a cure before they ended themselves they passed on their legacy to the people of Earth proclaiming them to be the 5th race in the great alliance of Races. By the time 2012 came around the Goa'uld where gone, another threat the crusading religious fundamentalist the Ori had been driven back to their own galaxy and in another Galaxy where the Tau'ri had rediscovered the Ancient's capital city ship of Atlantis the conditions where almost there to inform the world of the Stargate Program.
To make the people of the world ready for the Stargate new technologies where brought into the public knowledge. Technologies to clean up the decades of pollution, that cured sickness and improved people's lives. Great projects where undertaken however the greatest project was taking place off world. Then on October 20th 2020 the world learned off the stargate and the world changed forever. For a while everything was going according to plan as new technology came out and the people of Earth were looking forward to a golden future, however the storm clouds of war were already gathering.
It started just before the unmasking when a Tau'ri warship contacted a group of warships from the 12 colonies of Kobol. The humans of the colonies believed that Earth was one of their colonies and that they should fall into line with the rest of the children of the Lords of Kobol. Earth refused and a tense situation exploded when a group of colonial warships called Battlestars appeared over Valhalla and carried out a single nuclear strike on the new colony. The loss of so many people caused the blood of the Tau'ri to boil as the multiple nations of the Tau'ri united together against a common enemy. The Colonials where at a major disadvantage, they were centuries behind the Tau'ri alliance which was still integrating the technology that the Ancients and Asgard had left for them. What the colonials had was numbers they outnumbered the Tau'ri drastically when it came to men, material and ships. To overcome this advantage the Tau'ri used a time dalliance device to slow down time in the 12 colonies buying the Tau'ri four and a half years to build new ships, train new soldiers and integrate all the different nations together. During this time, the close allied world of Lanagara joined the Tau'ri and Mars and Venus where terraformed into worlds that could support life, bringing the total number of Tau'ri worlds to five.
When the Tau'ri hit they hit hard, the colonial military used tactics that where dated by the standards of the Tau'ri and within 48 hours the war was over with 75 million dead on the colonial side with only eight thousand dead on the Tau'ri side.
The main planner of the invasion of Tauron which was once the heart of the colonial military forces, General Leong sat behind her desk in her new office. The office was perfectly clean and was massive in scale compared to her first office when she was just a low-ranking officer in the People's Liberation Army. The office was lied out in a T shape with a personal secretary and waiting area outside. Inside the office was one area which was set aside for larger meetings with a command table capable of seating a dozen officers and putting up holographic images, across from that was a sitting area for more informal meetings with a coffee table even though she had a tea set sitting there and a full backwall bookcase. In the back part of the office was her main desk, a solid oak monster block U shaped desk. Walking up to it no one would notice any sign of a computer because the screen was holographic was well. Along one wall were multiple paintings and artwork from around the world. Along with a door leading into a small private bedroom in case she had to stay overnight at the office during an emergency. On the other side was a bathroom with a full shower for the same reason.
Not that she needed to go far if she had to stay, her office was in the newly finished Military Command building on the still half-finished city ship which would serve as the new Capital of the Tau'ri alliance. Her apartment was only a couple of blocks away. She turned around in her swivel chair and looked out the window at the setting sun, in the distance she could see the Capital building rising from the center of the massive city ship which was going to be almost five times the size of Atlantis. Unlike Atlantis this city would never fly it would instead once it was finished being built travel out to sea until it was in the Atlantic Ocean about midway between Europe and North America. That was still years away as most of the civilian sections of the city was not finished yet and only key government offices had moved. As the newly appointed commander of the Tau'ri military forces she was one of those.
The city was set up similar to Atlantis only the six points shooting off from the main central area where wider and the space between them where open water could be found was smaller. All six points where connected on the outside. From above the road system was straight forward, there was a main street running around the entire city along the sea wall with roads shooting straight down the middle of each arm before circling the still half-finished Capital Building in the center of the city. There was a main boulevard which was wider which ran straight north and south aside from when it went around the centurial area, a matching one also ran straight East to West but that wasn't the official boulevard. None of the streets where really needed, they had multiple forms of public transport ranging from teleporters system similar to what the ancients had in Atlantis to monorails which ran around the city. The boulevards where there for a few reasons. First to give people a more room to walk around in, each street was wide enough to drive on with a turn lane in the middle, the second reason was for parades and other events.
Her office was located in the military headquarters building located on the South arm beside a small military garrison. Which including a landing area for a Daedalus class cruiser, their larger ships couldn't land inside the city itself. Not fully, there was a civilian space/airport on the Western arm that could have a larger ship land on it however it was more designed for the smaller shuttle crafts which where becoming common. In time, the city would hold everything needed for a functioning government, Military headquarters along with headquarters for different civilian departments ranging from State to interior department. The two state of the art hospitals where already up and working and a university, the Daniel Jackson University was almost finished as well.
To the far North the Presidential estate was just being finished as well and in time the first elected President of the United Tau'ri alliance would move into the building. In all the city was about half way done, the major government buildings where done aside from the congress building and the multitude of museums that where going up. The main unfinished areas was, where the people who would call this city ship home would live. The apartments, malls and other living areas, those had hardly gotten started yet.
The Tau'ri congress Building, was going to be massive when it was finished was going to be located in the center of the city was something very interesting. Unlike the other city ships they had come across which was only a handful, it wasn't a tall spire shooting up into the air towering over the entire city. It was instead a domed building, a massive domed building that went out into a larger octagon shape which was covered with two rows of towering 100-foot-tall columns surround the outside with steps leading up to them. Inside would be a large rotunda which shot up to unrealistic height but it was what was approved by the nations of the world. Inside was where the Tau'ri House and Senate would be held, it was almost a perfect copy of the American system which was what was agreed too once again.
"Might as well call us the United States of the Worlds instead of the Tau'ri alliance." complained General Leong to herself before waving the issue away, it may be true that in the short run Americans would play a large role however in time the whole idea of American would fade until it meant very little. Same would be true about her home nation of China, which had the most votes of any one nation in the Tau'ri house because even with the massive migration off world they still had the largest population.
She reached for a button on her desk and instantly the glass frosted blocking out the view and making it slightly darker in the room. With that done she turned her attention back to the reports on her computer pad. Military action was the situation was very good, the Colonials where for the most part following the terms of the peace treaty however there were some painful exceptions to that. She moved past that to reports of a single Lucian Alliance ship and a Free Jaffa ships trading shots within a few lightyears of Lanagara.
That did concern her as she pulled up a tactical map of that part of space. Lanagara had a fleet of ships protecting her but she sat in the crossroads of six different free Jaffa and Lucian Alliance factions all of whom wouldn't mind a toss down with each other. If they carried out an attack on Lanagara then it would bring the Tau'ri into the war. What was worse was that all sides used the same goa'uld ships the Hataks, death gliders and the like. None of which was the equal to the Tau'ri battleships, carriers and Eagle space fighters however the Tau'ri while still the most powerful civilization had the fewest numbers of warships. If they wanted to and if they wanted to pay the high price, Lanagara could be taken in a long battle. That was highly remote, the more likely move was for one of the factions to carry out an attack on the Tau'ri with ships taken by another faction to bring the Tau'ri into the war against their enemies.
"Make sure intelligence gathering in consecrated on ship identification, we need to make sure we know what ships are in the area and which side they are on. Also build up more defense stations around Lanagara and early warning systems." wrote General Leong on note for herself. She then turned her attention next to the military budget which would be the next great fight on her hands. The military budget was massive for sure and they were still making warships in the shipyards of Valhalla and Mars was positioned to take over the production of civilian grade ships which would free up shipyards on Valhalla. The main issue would be that with peace the rate of ship launching was way down as money was diverted toward public works.
She rubbed her temples and stood up, it was time to call it a day. The minor reports would wait until morning. With that done she shut down and locked out her computer to preventing hacking, that was an old habit when she was worried about spy rings like the American CIA, the Russian Foreign Intelligence service and others. Now all those agencies where working on coming together like the military forces of the world where. She moved out of her office the armed guards snapping to attention as she left. She caught the elevator down to the ground floor and through the lobby pass that statue of General Jack O'Neill, the statue showed him in his off-world SG-1 uniform. She moved out of the lobby and into the street. With public transport and the teleportation system like what was used on Atlantis cars where not really needed. The roads where more for show and parades than anything else. Right now there was more construction crews in the city then actual government workers but that would change in time. She was about to head onto one of the monorails which ran around the city when her phone started to go off. She stepped aside and looked down at her wrist, a couple of years ago Apple of all things had come out with a wrist mounted video phone/computer. Since the power suits which was standards for all soldiers had a military version of the same thing it had caught on like wild fire with the newly civilian soldiers and sailors. She tapped the screen as the image of her aid came up.
"General, moments ago an outer defense station picked up a probe launching from a group of what we thought to be asteroids." stated the aid "We now believe what we thought to be asteroids may be a slow moving fleet."
"How many ships?" inquired General Leong
"We are still getting an estimate but at least 500 strong." Stated the aid as General Leong eyes narrowed. "They are moving extremely slowly, no sign of FTL or hyperspace we estimate that it will be at least a two days before they are within range of our defense line at Pluto and 3 months to reach Mars."
"Very well, get the staff together I am turning around now. I want Akula stealth ships to move to make first contact, I want information no actual contact." ordered General Leong "Has anyone briefed President Carter?"
"Not yet, no one is really sure what to do." Admitted the aid "She doesn't get sworn into office for another two weeks but she is already the President in all but name."
"Have her there." ordered General Leong as a normal day was turned upside down as she wondered who drop the ball and allowed a fleet to get so close to Earth.
Elsewhere on Earth the warm sun beat down on Private Tadeas Spiro, grandson of former Vice President Spiro of the 12 colonies of Kobol. The native Sagittarian was likely the only colonial born human on Earth at the moment as he sat in a little tea shop on the banks of the Yamuna river, a side river of the great Ganges river in New Delhi, India. Not that the fact that it was India really mattered all the much now, with the formation of the Tau'ri alliance starting unofficially in 2012 and becoming official in 2020, there were open trade and travel borders to almost every place in the world. Now even off world was totally fine and could be reached in only a few hours if you stayed in system a few days if you went without stargate to either Valhalla, Lanagara or even if you wanted to the 12 colonies of Kobol or beyond. The native Sagittarian enjoyed the tea as a waiter likely a veteran of the war just like he was brought him some more.
"Thank you." said Tadeas Spiro in English as the Indian smiled at him as he poured the steaming hot liquid.
"No problem sir, if I may ask what did you do in the war?" inquired the server, Tadeas was in his day uniform. The light day uniform was very common dress in Tau'ri space, considering a lot of people where in the military and it tended to get people automatic veteran discounts at stores. It also allowed people who normally wouldn't have much in common to have something in common to talk about, that was the situation here.
"I drove a Leopard main battle tank? And you?" inquired Spiro
"I was a gunner onboard the battleship Shiva." explained the waiter before looking around. "You know I almost miss all the crowds."
Tadeas looked at the mass of humanity moving through the streets with all the experience of a 20 year old man who had seen battle. Being from Sagittarian he was used to crowds but this one was almost the equal of any from his childhood in the religious focus world of the 12 colonies of Kobol. It didn't help that he came from the main religious power family, that meant that when his parents defected to the Tau'ri mission on Caprica to escape religious prosecution they were wanted back badly. All that was behind him, the religious grip in the 12 colonies of Kobol was broken, well lessened at least. The entire 12 colonies of Kobol, now they were broken and where likely to remain broken for a while even with the Tau'ri helping them rebuild the stuff they had knocked down.
"I assume it was worse then?" inquired Spiro as the waiter nodded his head, the tea shop was almost empty so the waiter didn't have to worry about a lot of other people. Most people where actually in the river bathing themselves in a religious ceremonial.
"Yes, I admit considering all the trash and garbage having all the people living here made I don't miss the crowds that often. With the new purification technology, the air is clean and the mighty Ganges likely hasn't been as clean since humans started building cities along its banks." Stated the waiter "Amazing things that come from the Stargate."
"Amazing is an understatement." said Spiro as he took a drink from his tea cup.
"Sir, if I may inquire some more where are you visiting from?" inquired the server.
"I am stationed in South Korea." answered Spiro as the servers eyes darkened a bit, he like everyone else knew what that meant. Most of the nations on Earth, even those who were 3rd world backwaters in 2012 where now if not official members of the Tau'ri alliance where in in all but name. War torn nations in Africa, the middle East and central Asia where in the middle of rapid development in an effort to bring the world into a single standard. Only one nation refused to accept that everything had changed and it was there if anywhere a war would break out on Earth in the near future.
"I see, I was discharged and as soon as my wife gives birth I am settling on Venus of all places." Laughed the server. Like everyone who joined the military to fight the Colonials had the option of taking either a full pay for his time or get some of his pay in the form of land on either of the 3 worlds currently being colonized by the people of Earth and Lanagara. Lanagara had come late to join the Tau'ri but where full members with equal rights in the alliance and the only reason why land wasn't being offered there was while not as packed as Earth it was still full enough. A mass migration was taking place as people spread out, a lot of people where leaving from the most populous nations of India and China, and from places where it was crowded like Japan and South Korea. Still others went out to start new lives and to seek adventure.
"Congregations." said Spiro, it had been just over a year since the end of the Colonial War and the population was booming all the way around. There where multiple news reports about the new baby boom which was upon them as men and women returned home from the battlefield to start their new lives. Estimates where for a 5 to 7 percent increase in babies born each year which on the surface didn't seem much until you took into account that was for the entire population of Earth plus Lanagara so estimated current population of 14 billion people on both worlds would likely become over 18 to 20 billion within 15 years over five worlds. With the average life span likely to double almost at once to over a 150 years for a person in their mid-20s early 30s today due to medical technology from the Asgard and Ancients that number was going to go up higher and faster than it would have.
"Well I have to go." Said Spiro as he finished his tea and stood up and leaving the tea shop with a tip behind for the server using some of the Tau'ri money which was accepted across every nation in the Tau'ri alliance.
With that done he walked back to his hotel and then after grabbing his bags and paying his bill he was in a cab heading toward the airport, more of a space port now for the one hour flight from New Delhi to his station in Seoul. From what he had heard that flight would have taken around seven hours but with sub orbital flights it was cut down a lot. He could reach Mars or Venus in about that same amount of time but none of the shuttles flying around the system now didn't have hyperspace drives. As the shuttle took off, he wasn't looking forward to returning to duty but he was grateful that he was far away from his old home in the 12 Colonies of Kobol.
Far away from Earth in the 12 Colonies of Kobol on the world of Libran, an alarm was going off. Unlike almost all the other worlds in the colonies of Kobol, Libran had remained untouched by the war which had devastated the Colonies. In their short and rather foolish war against the Tau'ri, they had seen only a handful of victories and those victories where questionable at best. When the guns finally stopped firing the Tau'ri had lost under 10,000 soldiers outside of the nuclear strike on Valhalla which started the war that killed over half a million people both military and civilians. The total Tau'ri dead was under a million people while the colonial causality when they were finally totaled was just under 76 million people mostly in uniform dead with almost a 168 million people wounded in some way or another. It was a totally one-sided war which had forever changed the colonies of Kobol and the people who lived there. The colonies which had once believed that they were the strongest power in the galaxy with the only threat coming from the machine race called the Cylons had learned that they were small fish in an ocean full of larger and stronger predators.
The alarm kept going off, it was likely the strangest alarm in the 12 colonies of Kobol outside of the Tau'ri military base on Aquaria. When the sleeping figure's hand moved out from under the cover to turn it off, instead of turning off it instead started playing music. That wasn't strange that was common what was strange was the music being played and the mini holographic images which was being displayed. The image was of a castle with white walls and blue tower roofs with a large golden topped spire. Then the image changed along with the music to show a water filled grotto with a mermaid with red hair singing along with the song.
"Part of your world." Sang the mermaid as a second tap of the hand turned the song and the alarm off turning it back to a simple digital display of the local time on Labran. Slowly the figure sat up in bed and studied the alarm for a moment through half asleep green eyes.
"Possibly the most advanced piece of technology on the entire world and I have it as an alarm." Laughed former Private in the Colonial Army now full time University student, Acacai Drivas.
"Well that is what happens when your boyfriend is an officer in the Tau'ri military." said a voice from her open door as Acacai turned her eyes toward it to see her best friend and roommate Medea Carras who was standing in the doorway with a cup of tea in her hand.
"Your one to complain, you wouldn't be walking if the Tau'ri hadn't be Tau'ri technology growing new clone legs for the ones that you loss outside of Lezbha during the fighting." countered Acacai as Medea shrugged.
"I admit, I shouldn't judge Gods know enough people judge you for your relationship with Robert and mine for being friends with you." admitted Medea with a sigh, the two of them had been best friends since their first day at school and now shared a small apartment near their university on Libran. Medea was studying law while she was studying zoology. "A lot of people are still upset from the war, a lot of people lost loved ones or where injured themselves."
"Hasn't stopped them from going to the movie theater which are showing all the Tau'ri movies. Frak that song is from a movie called the Little Mermaid from Disney and that has been sold out for a whole week straight." stated Acaci as she looked to where the stupid hat she had to wear at work sat on top of the desk along with her university text books on the different animals of the 12 colonies, beside it was a handful of books about Tau'ri animals. "But then again all those things are new and people like things that are new."
"Speaking of that, I see you don't remember what day it is." stated Medea as Acaca blinked for a moment her copper red hair moving in front of her eyes.
"Wait, it is the 17th isn't it?" inquired Acaca as her eyes moved to the packed suit cases which rested beside the closet door. On top of which sat a folder with their tickets first to Aquaria and then with multiple background checks for their flight from Aquaria to Vahalla, known as Kobol in the 12 colonies.
Her boyfriend of almost a year Robert Lefeld, a newly promoted Captain in the Tau'ri 101st airborne stationed on Aquaria had pulled some strings and gotten the two of them on the first flight to Valhalla. She and Acacia would be joining Robert and his family in a 10-day vacation, it would be the 1st time she would meet his parents on top of grandparents and extended family that would have worried her anyhow but the fact that she was Colonial and he Tau'ri add to her concern. She had to laugh to herself about how she met him, when he placed the barrel of his gun to the back of her head and took her prisoner outside of the city of Lezbha on Tauron.
He had shown a strange amount of kindness after that, more then she had expected from the Tau'ri officer who was supposed to be her enemy and they were just over 3 years apart in age. What made this relationship work was that he was stationed on Aquaria where the Tau'ri had set up their base.
"Yes, which means that we must be at the space port for our flight to Aquaria in five hours." explained Medea "Then seven hours later we will be getting on a Tau'ri ship to go to Kobol, or maybe we should call it Valhalla. We wouldn't be able to go if your paratrooper boyfriend hadn't pulled a few strings to get us on one of the first civilian flight between the Colonies and the Tau'ri. You did remember to tell him that your parents were going with us to Aqauria to meet him?"
"Yes, of course I did, I am meeting his on Vahalla." said Acaca as she stood up and stretched a bit.
"And you did tell your parents he is Tau'ri?" inquired Medea
"I told my mother that a long time ago." stated Acaca with a roll of the eye. "Now I better get ready. I wonder what Robert is doing now?"
A Bullet flew through the air bouncing off the side of a Tau'ri owl transport flew through the air over a city slum on the nearby colonial world of Sagittarian. Unlike Libran who had accepted peace, Sagittarian which had been a hotbed of religious extremist had yet to fully accept that the war was fully over. They didn't want to accept that they had to accept that other religions where now allowed and that they couldn't force the religion of the Lord of Kobols on others.
"Another peaceful day in the 12 colonies." laughed a paratrooper as the owls flew toward a staging area. "Don't you think so Captain?"
"More like a peaceful day on Sagittarian." countered the newly promoted Captain Robert Lefeld of the 101st airborne division. He like everyone on the owl was a veteran of the night jump on Tauron, they had all seen combat and they now had the task of backing up the still reforming Colonial military. Unlike the others he had been on Valhalla when the nuclear strike took place which had started the whole war, his likeness was forever enshrined both in the photo of the flag raising of the Tau'ri flag when the Chinese and American Paratroopers rose the fallen Tau'ri flag outside Disney World Valhalla. That photo had becoming engraved into history along with other images from that day and a statue of it now stood in the memorial park. "The other colonies aren't bad, hell they are very fun."
"You are one to talk Sir." Laughed a fellow trooper "Your lady friend is from Libran right."
"And I met her on the battlefield, I am going on vacation with her once this mission is over." laughed Robert as the crew compartment laughed a little, Robert had come up through the ranks and he knew that working well with his men meant sometimes letting them rip on him. "War is on strange thing isn't it."
"60 seconds!" yelled the pilot in the back the front of the Owl, now the joking was over as the engines wined as the thrusters brought the Owl toward the ground.
"Lock and load, I want your stun rounds ready do not go live rounds without orders." ordered Lefeld as he took command of the unit, the rest of his 150-strong company where in the following Owls or on standby alert at the nearby space port. The area had already been locked down by Colonial military and police forces however they would be the ones who would do the operation. The owl touched down and the paratroopers rushed off the back ramp only to be greeted by some special forces who were holding the park as a landing zone.
"Welcome to fun town." said an officer in heavy Russian accented to Robert.
"Captain Robert Lefeld, 101st airborne." Introduced Lefeld as his man fanned out to reinforce the special forces.
"Colonel Drugov, Spetsnazs." introduced the Russian "My team has recovered some of the missing children and sadly we can't pull them out on fast ropes due to gun fire by some locals who are not so happy to let them return to their parents. Your mission will be to hold this area, while we head into the hornet's nest and pull them out."
"Yes, sir." said Lefeld "I will have two fast response teams standing by for backup if you need it."
"If we need it we will call." confirmed Drugov as he moved out and Lefeld began to position his man as best he could. So far the local Sagittarian where only throwing rocks at them not shooting at them with any firearms like they had on their way in. With that Lefeld took up the task of making sure none of his soldiers opened fire on the Colonial civilians throwing rocks at them. In his helmet, he could access video feed from the Owls flying over the scene. He could see that the Colonial police where doing only a half ass job of keeping everyone inside and making sure no one rushed into the area with any weapons. He turned his attention toward the special forces as they reached a tiny house. After a couple of moments they came back out with a group of five children raging from the toddlers to teenagers. The toddlers had to be carried along with some of the older kids however one of the teenagers was actively fighting the soldiers.
"ETA 1 minute coming in from the west." radioed Drugov as Lefeld moved toward the western path. When the special forces came around the corner the colonials gave them space even as the Tau'ri kept their guns on them.
"Help they are kidnapping me!" yelled the teenager as he tried to punch and kick the Tau'ri solider holding his skinny frame off the ground. He looked dirty and covered with old wounds, his hair was matted with dirt and even with the built-in air scrubbers Lefeld could smell that the child hadn't showered in a long time. He had open soars on his body and had massive bruises and scars mostly on the back.
"Let ME GO!" yelled the teenager as they reached the Tau'ri line. The other children seamed too stunned to do anything more then move along with the Tau'ri.
"GIVE US BACK OUR CHILDERN!" yelled a group of older adults from outside the line, as the Airborne troopers raised their weapons but didn't fire into the ground. All of them had stun rounds in the magazines of their SIR-15 assault rifles but with a simple switch of the magazines they could go full live rounds and even the high explosives rounds that the colonials used in their guns.
"Grandma, Grandpa save me! I don't want to go! My Faith is strong! MY FAITH IS STRONG!" yelled the teenager as he was half pushed half carried toward the Owl which was descending to pick up the children.
"How many of the missing children have we found?" inquired Lefeld as he looked toward Drugov who was eyeing the two grandparents of the boy.
"About 75%, the colonials only handed over about a third of them after they signed the treaty." answered Drugov as the Tau'ri looked out at the angry faces, the screaming and cursing grandparents. "Sometimes I wonder what the future for these kids will be, some of these kids like that boy there has basically been brainwashed by his grandparents. He was living in his own waste and chained to a wall for his religious reeducation. He is going to have spend most of the time cursing his parents and the therapist on Aquaria then anything else. Also taking away children does not make us look good even if we are returning them to their parents from those who kidnapped them because in the eyes of most Sagittarians it wasn't kidnapping."
The roar of the Owl taking off caused both officer to look at the dark shape heading off world.
"We will not find them all." admitted Lefeld
"We will find them." countered Drugov "The question is will we find them alive or not. Another team pulled a pair of twins that had been missing since their parents were taking to the religious education camp. They had been killed by their own Grandmother because she wouldn't return them to their parents who don't believe in their lords of Kobol. Better to die believing in her Lords of Kobol then live believing in something else, in her crazy view. Didn't even attempt to hid it when we knocked down the door and was too much of a coward to take her own life."
"What happened to her?" inquired Lefeld
"Took her to Aquaria for her day in court, she would get off here. Personally I wouldn't have blamed the team if they had put a round in her head, but they didn't." stated Drugov as the owls came in and the Tau'ri began to pull back. "I don't understand these colonials, they are religiously crazy. Millions dead in the war and they want to keep fighting for their Lords of Kobol."
"Not all of them. Even to most Colonials Sagittaron's are crazy." Countered Lefeld as a shoot rang out and both of them got down on one knee and raised their weapons scanning the area.
"Who fired." Inquired Lefeld as his command checked in, none of his paratroopers had fired. Last outpost confirmed that a man with a rifle had taken a shot at them only to disappear back into a building.
"Enough of them are crazy." Countered Drugov as the last Tau'ri owl came in and both officers got on board while a crew member kept the crowds back by aiming his minigun at them. The owl lifted off and the gun swung back inside as it headed back up into space before the short journey to Aquaria.
"I am just happy to be going on vacation." admitted Lefeld as Drugov chuckled.
"Really where are you going?" inquired Drugov
"My girlfriend has become obsessed with Disney and I was part of the airborne team that rose the flag so I get in for free." explained Robert with a slight smile. "I am actually going to meet her parents on Aquaria when we get back."
That caused the Russian to look at him with a questioning look.
"She is a colonial, from Libra meet her when I took her prisoner in fact in Lezbha." Explained Robert as ready for a fight, some people tended to hate colonials with a passion. He knew that came from the fact they had been at war only a short time ago and it was likely that way with veterans of WW2 when it came to the Japanese and the Germans, but he still didn't like it. Not when the woman he loved was the one being hated.
"I have been to Libra one of the only worlds where we aren't hated." stated Drugov with a smile "Really good food. I hope you and your girlfriend have a good time."
"So, do I but I am meeting her parents on Aquaria and she is meeting my family on Valhalla." Said Robert "Should be interesting."
Unaware to the Lefeld the operation had been filmed by a local news crew and had gone out to other colonials. One of the people watching the broadcast was the sitting President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol Laura Roslin. She sat in what had become the Presidential office in Delphi while the Caprica City was being rebuilt. Caprica City had been whipped off the map by a Tau'ri super weapon called the Ragnarok but it wasn't a nuclear weapon.
Somehow the Ragnarok broke down compounds into their basic electronics, protons and neutrons and then rearranged them into whatever the Tau'ri wanted. They had whipped out a whole city without even harming the people in the city leaving only an empty field. The new capital would be almost a perfect match to the old one, however they had lost a lot priceless art and historical documents which had been stored in the museums around the city. They had replicas of the documents, some of them as old as the original documents but it wasn't the same. Some of those items lost where the original articles of Colonization which was where all the Colonies signed when they formed their new government, the defense of Hypatia painting which showed a major victory in the Cylon War. Those where gone, she was now the leader of a defeated force.
That fact was very clear as she looked away from the TV and to a map of Caprica City, near the new Capital Mall which was shaped like a plus sign would be something that hadn't existed in the Colonies since unification, a row of Embassies. The largest of the Embassies would be the Tau'ri but it wasn't alone there was also an embassy for the Cylons and space for other smaller powers in the Galaxy. The Cylon embassy would be the main problem however there was nothing she could do about it.
"Sagittarian will be up in arms about this." stated the head of the Colonial Military Admiral William Adama.
"Again." added Vice President Gaius Baltar as he took a drink of his own cup of Tea. "They have been up in arms since we surrender."
"Yes." Admitted Laura "I have to admit, I am not that upset about having to return children to their parents but it doesn't look good on TV."
"No, it doesn't look good." admitted Admiral Adama before letting out a sigh. He was in command of all Colonial Military forces but he knew that meant next to nothing, the land forces had been crushed by the Tau'ri and his entire Colonial Navy was made out of 24 ships. Before the Tau'ri attack, they had fleets in the thousands with huge battlestars at the heart with countless wings of viper space fighters. His largest ship could only hold a single flight of six Vipers. "They don't seem to understand that we stood no chance of winning and overall the Tau'ri have been very generous to us. Our people would be starving if it wasn't for Tau'ri shipping grain and other food stocks around the colonies. We are still rebuilding our shipyards and we lost a lot of ships."
"We lost a lot of everything." Stated Laura as she looked toward the TV. The broadcast had changed to an image of the beautiful soon to be second Lady Dr. Jenny Oldstone. She was standing in front of the newly open Caprica City General, since Laura wasn't married there was no 1st man to take up some of the ceremonial roles. The public was more than happy with the beautiful woman who was soon to marry the vice President. There was already talks that she would officially enter politics next election and with her popularity she would easy become a major player in the Quorum. Laura looked toward her vice President, he was the real political power in the office. He had spoken the truth about the upcoming defeat at the hands of the Tau'ri had that had catapult him to the vice President office. When her 5-year term as President was up, he would follow her and barring any issues he would win all three terms that a President could hold before reaching the term limit. Fifteen years under President Baltar and by then Dr. Jenny Oldstone, now Dr. Jenny Baltar could be in place to run and maybe win all three terms as well. The Colonial Government of the 12 colonies of Kobol unless something unforeseeable future would be under the control of Dr. Guise and Jenny Baltar. "But yes, the Tau'ri could have beaten us into the ground a lot harder when it comes to peace terms. We basically had to just declare them free and independent and given what they are capable of how could we do anything else, recognized their territory and allow freedom of and from Religion."
"They could have turned us back into stone slinging savages if they had used that Ragnarok ship more but they didn't." stated Baltar with a smile as he looked at his soon to be wife making a speech, only he knew that she was in fact a humanoid cylon. With the two of them working carefully the Colonial government would be under the semi control of the Cylons for the next 30 years. "Besides like our President has said, they could have been at harsher to us and we should be grateful for that. Imagine if this was the Cylon forcing their will on us?"
"I don't want to imagine what life would be like under the Cylons." said Laura as she let out a sigh, she wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for the Tau'ri medical technology which had cured her cancer. "In the end we were fools to go against the Tau'ri."
"I pity the next fool to challenge them." added Admiral Adama, knowing that challenge wasn't going to come from the Colonial military in any organized form.
Fleet lord Atvar couldn't sleep, he closed his eye lids but sleep avoid him. Like all the other males of the conquest fleet at the moment he floated in space. To get gravity on the ship he would have to order the ship to start spinning to simulate gravity. He couldn't rest, he didn't know why but he felt like a dangerous animal was stalking him across the deserts of home. He knew he shouldn't feel that way, he was in command of a fleet full of warships and warriors, he had conquered a world and was about to conquer another.
"How could we be getting broadcasts from Tosev 4, 3 and 2?" said Atvar to himself it made no sense, if it was a solar flare of some kind then how come they weren't getting the same type of broadcasts from Tosev 1 as well. In the end he let it go, he would let the problem sit while he gathered more information that is what any member of the Race would do. Still he moved toward his computer and sent a message back to Home about the sudden discovery. With that done, he once again tried to get some rest. Little did he know that his fleet wasn't alone, three cloaked Tau'ri Akula class stealth ships had just come into visible range and had begun the task of gathering information about the sudden threat.
Well I hope you liked this chapter, I have reintroduced some people from Contact at Kobol which I am bringing back into the story as well as filling in background information for anyone who hasn't read that story. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you keep reading. Wilkins75.