Star Wars: Odyssey of the Infinity

by IX404

During a routine safety test, the Slipstream Space Drive of the Infinity malfunctions, catapulting them into unknown space. Little do Lasky and the members of the Infinity know is that they will soon change the fate of a far away galaxy.

27. A Meeting of Two Nations

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo/Star Wars/Battlestar Galactica multicrossover.

Just so y'all know, I've got an announcement to make. One of my beta-readers is starting a story of his own, and I'll be helping him beta read his story. As such, the time between new chapters and short stories is going to increase. That isn't to say that I haven't abandoned this story. I have not. I fully intend to complete it. What I am saying is that updates will be less frequent, though updates and rewrites of other stories might also commence.

Either way, I deeply appreciate your feedback, and I hope you continue to support this story.

As always, leave a review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo, Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Disney Films, NBC Universal Television Studio, Universal Media Studios, Universal Cable Productions, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers, producers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to its original composers and/or artists.

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CDS Galactica

Low Planetary Orbit, Picon

0 BCH/ACH, 0930 Hrs (August 23rd, 0BBY, 1130 Hrs (April 5th, 2559, 1130 Hrs))

The sound of the Raptor's door opening brought Adama out of his idle reverie and back to the present day. Returning his gaze to the ship, he watched as Admiral Graystone stepped out of the fighter and into the open air. While anyone would seem tall on top of the wings of a Raptor, Admiral Graystone seemed like a mountain. "Permission to come aboard, Commander?" he asked.

"Permission granted," Adama said. The Admiral stepped out onto the floor of the flight pod's pressurized area. "Is all well?"

"Yes," Howard said. "Commander, would you kindly escort me to your private quarters. I have something to tell you."

Adama frowned, but nodded. "Understood. If you would follow me, sir."

"Of course. Lead the way." Both men began walking through the corridors that would lead to Adama's Quarters onboard the Galactica. Howard sniffed the air, frowned immediately. "Is that mold I smell?"

"I take it you aren't aware of what happened to the Galactica during the Cylon War, Admiral?"

"Only partially," Howard admitted. "Much of my attention has been drawn to testing potential upgrades for the Colonial Fleet's ships. I'm sure you'd love to enlighten me as to the history of this ship, which would probably explain the moldy smell."

"During the war against the Cylons, the Galactica's CO was forced to crash land the ship onto Caprica during the Cylon's bombardment of it. The ship ended up being submerged underwater for around two years before it was brought back up to the surface and made combat able once more. According to salvage teams, there was mold on parts of the walls."

Howard winced. "That would explain that moldy smell. In any case, the Galactica has my sympathies. No ship of her status and fame should be treated like that. It's insulting." He cleared his throat. "Speaking of which, how goes the refitting of the portside pod into a museum?"

"Well, sir. It's practically ready for operation at this point."

"All right," Howard said. His eyes gained a wistful gleam to them. "Now that I'm onboard this ship, I can see why she's so well respected. This was the ship that won the Cylon War. It's… it's a bit sad seeing her being retired in this way, but I don't think she'd want it any other way."

Adama nodded. Howard was well known for his appreciation of old ships, and while this was likely his first time onboard the Galactica, he had a feeling that Howard would've loved commanding the ship in its heyday. He definitely has the right stuff, he thought.

As they moved along, he saw a familiar sight. "Colonel Tigh. You look well."

Tigh, hearing this rank and name, turned to them. Upon seeing Admiral Graystone, he quickly saluted. "At ease," Howard said. "Good to see that you're doing well, Saul. I will ask you to lay off on the ambrosia, though."

Tigh looked at him. "How'd you know I was drunk?"

"It was quite obvious from the way you lurched slightly. Plus, I can smell it on your breath. While I understand why you'd need to imbibe a few drinks here and there, I'll ask that you refrain from doing so while on duty."

Tigh frowned. "All right, I will. Just remember who taught your frakking ass, though."

Howard smiled, the smile of a master speaking to the man that had been his master once. "How could I not, old man? I still remember the time you whacked me over the head with a wrench. Did me some real good, though."

Tigh scowled, then smiled. How could I not heed the advice of my old student, a voice in the back of his mind said. That kid's more perceptive than half of the Twelve Colonies. "You two heading somewhere I should know about?"

"My quarters," Adama said. "If you'll excuse us, please."

Tigh shrugged. "Sure, and I promise, Howard, that I'll lay off the bottle. It's just hard not to remember…"

Howard laid a large hand onto Tigh's shoulder. "I know," he said, a sympathetic frown on his face. "Always the shit closest to home that fraks us the hardest. Just remember, Saul, that you manned up and were the better man in the end. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. Take care now, old man."

Tigh smiled. "You too, Howard…"

Before long, Adama and Howard were in the former's quarters. Sitting down in the nearby table, Howard drank from a glass of water. Adama couldn't help but smile slightly at how comically small the glass was in Howard's massive hands. Life has a sense of humor, he thought.

Putting the glass down, Howard looked at him. "Before we get to business, I'd like to just talk for a few minutes." He cleared his throat. "How's your son, Lee?"

Adama's faint smile vanished. "Fine," he said at length. "We have our rough days, but it's fine."

That's bullshit, and he knows it, Howard thought. He was more than aware of the rocky relationship that William had with his son Lee. Still, I won't bother him with it. The man's already had enough grief in his life. Who am I to add more onto his plate. "I see. What about that young woman… what was her name? Kera? Kare?"

"Kara Thrace? Her usual self, as usual."

"Thank you," Howard said. "I have a mind for ships, but I have a very poor mind for names at times. Still, I wouldn't follow her around, even if I was a Viper pilot. That lady acts as though she's trying to get herself killed. I just can't figure her out."

"I have some trouble figuring her out too, but she's family."

Howard nodded. "Very true. That being said, I believe we ought to get to the order of business for the day." Picking up the suitcase he'd brought, he laid it out on the table. "I am pleased to report that Helena Cain is currently being confined at Colonial Fleet Headquarters, and has been stripped of her rank. That being said, that presents us with a problem: who to choose as her temporary replacement?"

Adama glanced at Howard. "I take it Admirals Gorman and Nagala have made their decision as to who should replace her for now?"

"That's right. They've chosen to promote Belzen to the rank of Rear Admiral."

Adama frowned. "Why is that?"

"For two reasons. The first is that Belzen actually attempted to stop Cain from attacking the Huygens, but his actions were overridden by her. The other is due to the fact that he's a very competent and capable man that has been earning the respect of his men. In my opinion, he's a worthy replacement for her."

He does have a point, Adama thought. "So you came here to tell me that Belzen is replacing Cain?"

"Not quite," Howard said. Pulling a slip of paper out, he said, "I came here because I want to make an offer to you. I've been looking over your career, and I think you've been snubbed. Don't get me wrong, the Galactica is an excellent Battlestar, even though she's being decommissioned. I just personally believe that you've been snubbed by being taken away from a working Battlestar.

"With that in mind, I've decided to commission the construction of a new, Mercury-class Battlestar. We're still deciding on a name for the thing, but I think your talents are better suited for active duty than they are for being stuck on a museum ship."

Adama mulled the offer over. Howard is right. I am a man more suited for the battlefield than for a desk job. Still, he felt that the Galactica was more important to him than a new ship. "I will consider your offer," he said. "I thank you for it, but I will have to consider it first."

Howard waved a hand flippantly. "Think nothing of it, and take your time. It is a tremendous decision. Personally, I wouldn't mind if you refused. The Galactica is a storied ship, and she -"

He would've continued on for a few more minutes were he not rudely interrupted. "Commander Adama to the CIC," the PA announced. "Commander Adama to the CIC." The PA clicked off, leaving the room in silence.

Howard's face went from that of concentration to mild annoyance. "How very rude," he remarked. "Commander, you're free to head to the CIC. I'll come too, given that I'm the highest ranking officer here. Lead on…"

The CIC of the Galactica was probably one of the more spacious ones within the remaining Jupiter Mk II-class Battlestars in the fleet. Entering the room, Adama and Howard found the CIC in a state of controlled chaos; personnel and officers quickly handed off documents, called out information and coordinated the various operations of the ship. "Tigh, status?" Adama asked.

Tigh focused, fighting through the fog of his inebriated state with renewed vigor. "Message from Picon Headquarters," he said. He pulled out a paper and handed it to Adama.

Adama read it over, frowned immediately. "Admiral, you need to see this."

"Hand it here." Adama nodded, then handed the paper to Howard. The Admiral's eyes scrutinized the paper. His eyes widened, then he lowered the paper. "Well… frak."

"What is it?" Tigh asked.

"It looks like ships over Picon are picking up some strange spatial anomalies," Howard said. " They're sending Rear Admiral Belzen to investigate, but Picon HQ wants us on standby to pick up survivors in case something happens."

"There's more to it than that, is there?" Adama asked.

"That message also carried information on the type of spatial anomaly. If what I read was right, then we might be facing something new and unique. Adama, this is your ship. Your ship, your show, your rules."

"Understood," Adama said. Turning to Tigh, he said, "Bring the ship about to heading 3-5-0 carom 0-4-0. Lock onto the Pegasus and get us moving at best speed."

"Aye, sir," Tigh said. "You heard the man, people! Let's get this old bucket moving!" The other officers nodded, then quickly began carrying out their orders. The deck rumbled as the tylium powered engines of the ship came online, pushing the veteran Battlestar along on a parallel vector with the Pegasus.

Eventually, they came to the region of space where the spatial anomalies had been noted. Looking up at the DRADIS display, Adama watched as phantom contacts winked in and out. "That's not normal," he said to himself.

Howard's sharp ears picked up on what he said. "I agree. We've got phantom contacts fading in and out." Looking at Lieutenant Gaeta, he said, "Lieutenant, can you get a fix on what's causing the interference?"

"Negative," Gaeta said. "From the looks of it, whatever is causing the DRADIS anomalies is so large I can't get an exact fix on where it's at."

"I see. Petty Officer, I need a wireless channel to the Pegasus."

Petty Officer 2nd Class Dualla nodded. "Understood, sir. Wireless channel is ready."

Howard was about to speak when he eared a clunking sound. Turning in that direction, he found Adama offering him what looked like a phone. "Ah, right," he said. "Thank you." Taking the phone into his large hands, he said, "Rear Admiral Belzen, what's your situation?"

"We're getting DRADIS interference here, sir," Belzen said. "Whatever it is, it's big. We're likely looking at a region of space roughly a thousand kilometers in size that's being affected."

"I see. Keep a safe distance away from the area in question. If anything comes out, you'll be the first person to inform me. Keep me posted Admiral Graystone out."

"Understood," Belzen said. "Commander Belzen over and out."

Putting the phone down, Howard mulled over what he heard. Then the DRADIS began beeping loudly and insistently. His, Adama and Saul's eyes shot up towards the display. The interference was now gone, replaced by dozens of solid DRADIS contacts. "Multiple DRADIS contacts!" Gaeta shouted.

"Get me a video feed!" Howard said. "The Galactica has hull mounted cameras to allow us to see what we're looking at! I know that much about the ship at least!"

Gaeta walked over to a console, pressed a few buttons. The DRADIS screens flickered, then shifted to show the outside of the ship. On the video feed, Adama and the others watched as a series of massive portals opened up. The edges glowed with an ethereal blue color, while the centers of each one were a stygian black.

"What is going on?" Adama asked. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Neither have I," Howard said. Turning towards Tigh, he found that the man's gaze was mesmerized to the screens. "Tigh, you with us still? Tigh?"

Tigh barely heard them, his attention fully focused on the screens. To his confusion, he thought he could hear an acapella choir singing. Why the frak am I hearing music? he wondered. Have I finally lost it?

A hand rested onto his shoulder, startling him. Snapping his gaze that way, he relaxed when his eyes met Adama's face. "Are you all right, Tigh?"

Ignoring the ethereal music he heard, Tigh nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I blanked out for a moment. Won't happen again."

"Good," Adama said. "Contact Colonial HQ. They'll want to hear about this."

"Aye aye, sir."

. . .

UNSC Infinity

One Hour Earlier

Inside the meeting room, Lasky, Charet and the other members of HIGHCOM gathered around the holotable, including the Master Chief. "Is everyone assembled?" he asked. All of those present nodded. "Good. Madam President, we've finalized our strategy when it comes to the Twelve Colonies as well as the Cylons."

"That's good to hear," Charet said. "Care to fill me in on the strategy as it stands?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lasky said. "We'll make a temporary stopover in the system that the Huygens was in before we make the jump to the Cyrannus System. The UNSC Battle Groups that are moving to the system will rendezvous with us there. Once they have we'll perform an en masse jump directly to the Cyrannus System.

"With intelligence gathered as a result of Operation SKYFALL, we've decided that we'll exit Slipspace over the planet of Picon, where their military HQ is located. Once we've exited Slipspace, we'll broadcast a signal to the planet of Picon and make our intentions known, as well as who we are. Should we get a hostile response, we'll employ the CNP backdoors to disable their ships."

"In the event of a hostile response, we'll have Marine boarding parties ready to go," Hogan said. "We'll move through the ships attacking us and take their command centers. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but if it does, I'm confident that the Marines can handle the trouble."

"Good," Charet said. "And if they decide to be peaceful?"

"That's where you come in," Lasky said. "If they decide they want to talk, we'll let you do what you do best: negotiate and make friends. We'll have an escort ready for you in case they want you to talk on one of their ships, and we'll have soldiers ready in case they come aboard our ship peacefully."

"And the Cylons?"

"I've got that covered," Cortana said. "Roland and I will hack into the Cylons computer networks and disable their ships to prevent them from attacking our own. Once that's done, we'll speak with the leaders of the Cylons and bring them to the negotiating table if possible."

"And if they don't want to negotiate?"

"That's where the Spartans will come in," Chief said. "Should the Colonials refuse to accept us as a legitimate government and attack, Blue Team will head to the planet of Caprica and invade the Quorum to take their leaders hostage. Once we do, we can force a quick surrender on the Colonials part. If the Cylons refuse, Fireteam Majestic will board their command Basestar and take them hostage as well."

"All right," Charet said. "That's good news. This sounds like a solid plan to me, gentlemen. I've also spoken with the UEG Senate in this regard, including the Armed Services Committee. Given the previous war, they've agreed to back an invasion of the Twelve Colonies should diplomacy fail."

"Very good," Lasky said. "Any other questions?"

"Will we be able to land Army elements?" Strauss asked.

"Yes. Should things go south, the Army will land ground forces at Caprica City in order to create a distraction to allow Blue Team to move in and capture the members of the Quorum. Should things go south, we'll be seeing general deployments onto all twelve of the Colonies. We'll also be seeing ODST deployments into sections of the city. Any other questions?"

When none presented themselves, Lasky smiled. "Good. According to our chronometer, we're about an hour's time away before we reach the rendezvous point. I suggest that all of you begin making preparations should things go south. Dismissed!"

The other members of HIGHCOM quickly filed out of the room. Once they were alone, Charet said, "So, what do your ghostly friends thing, Lasky?"

"You mean us?" Revan asked as he faded into existence. "I think it is an excellent plan. I probably couldn't have come up with a better one myself."

"I agree," Bastila said. She frowned, looked at Charet. "You seem troubled, Charet. What's wrong?"

Charet frowned. "I'm not sure, to be frankly honest. I know that we are fully justified in settling this affair with the Colonials, yet I can't seem to get the thought out of my head that we're meeting a civilization that was happily living its existence, only for us to blunder along and cause a ruckus. Are all our First Contacts doomed to end in disaster?"

Lasky shrugged. "I did ask myself that question once, Charet. Want to know what I realized when I did?"

"Oh?"

"That it's not our fault if they're the ones that fire first," Lasky said. "That's what's happened three times now. First with the Covenant, then with the Empire, and now with the Colonials. In all three cases, we were the victims and they were the aggressors. If anything, they ought to be ashamed of themselves and their actions. If anything, the only reason why our First Contacts seem doomed to failure is because the other people are the idiots that screw it up. We're practically spotless in that regard."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Revan said. "The Covenant, Empire and now the Colonials, are the ones that are really screwing up the First Contacts. By contrast, the UEG and UNSC have done everything in their power to have a peaceful First Contact."

"In other words, they're to blame, not us," Bastila finished.

Chared sighed. "I see. The two of you make good points. Still, it would be nice if someone reasonable and logical did First Contact with us. I'd rather deal with parties and meetings than funerals and meetings."

"How do you think I feel when I have to write letters to people informing them of the loss of loved ones?" Lasky said. "The whole point is that we're the wronged party here, and we have the right to do what we need to do to stand up for ourselves. Hell, the entire Covenant-Human War was a case of us standing up for ourselves. We nearly got obliterated for our troubles, but at the very least, we would've gone down fighting, even though we were saved by the figurative bell."

He makes a good point, Charet thought. I've never heard Hood becoming this philosophical before. "Sounds like Bastila and Revan are rubbing off on you."

Lasky shrugged. "What can I say? Spend enough time around Jedi that have their heads on straight, even if they're Force Ghosts, and you start becoming philosophical. In my opinion, I don't see anything wrong with it, so long as it doesn't paralyze me from doing my duties."

Charet smiled. "Me neither. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go prepare to face an entire civilization that thinks that aliens don't exist, and that the UEG is an extension of their government. I can't wait to see what their faces look like when they learn that."

"Either they'll be so stunned they'll just stare, or they'll be gobsmacked. Either way, I get to find out too, since I go wherever you go when it comes to various places. Take care now, Charet."

"You too, Lasky," Charet said. Without another word, she left the room.

"You do realize that you said what Bastila told you some time ago," Revan said.

"Well, to be fair, I have asked myself that question before, even before I met the two of you," Lasky said. "What Bastila told me was very similar to the conclusion I came to myself around four years ago."

"And I agree completely with you there," Bastila said. "Now, if only a certain unfaithful husband would stay around long enough to learn such lessons…"

Revan gave Bastila a rueful look. "I'm never gonna live that down, am I?"

"Nope," Bastila said. "I'm still somewhat pissed at you, and I'm having a hard time even believing that what happened happened. However, in light of the situation that's going on, I'll let it go, since we have bigger things to worry about right now. After this, we'll definitely be talking some more."

"OK. I can agree with that."

"Nice to see that the two of you are starting to making up with each other," Lasky said. "I've been y'all's butt monkey long enough that it was getting really old."

"Which we do apologize for," Bastila said. "Now, we don't want to be keeping you any longer. I believe you have a proper First Contact to arrange."

"That I do," Lasky agreed.

. . .

One Hour Later

"We're approaching Picon's SSEP," Gabriela said. "ETA is roughly two minutes."

Cole rolled his neck. "Very good. I want all of our weapon systems online and our cybersecurity defenses ready. If there are Cylon spies, I don't want them hacking into our systems."

Cortana, who was also displayed at the holo-table, snorted. "They'll have to try really hard to get in, Lasky. I'd love to see one of them try to decrypt a 128,000 bit, self-modulating encryption key."

"Cortana…"

"I know," Cortana said. "I'll keep on my toes. I know what happened to the last guy who wrote of the Covenant as being religious barbarians that couldn't work with AI tech."

"Good." Turning around, Cole was just in time to see Lasky and Charet walking in. His eyebrows raised slightly when he saw Thel walk in as well, along with the Garon ambassadors. "Ladies, gentlemen," he said. "I trust that you found the journey to be pleasant?"

"We did," Lasky said. "You ready to introduce the Colonials to the United Earth Government?"

Cole smiled. "I am. Those Colonials are in for one hell of a wake-up call. I almost feel sorry for them, keyword 'almost.'"

Lasky nodded. "Same here. Well… let's not delay our arrival any longer. I say its time we get to work. You ready people?"

"I'm ready," Charet said. "Arbiter?"

"I am always ready," Thel said. "I feel sorry for the Colonials. They are like children, ignorant of their true purpose, and grasping at straws to see the truth. It is better that we destroy what innocence and naivety they have now, than to let it ruin them later."

Ambassador Garon smirked. "It'll be even funnier when they learn of humans in another galaxy. Still, I agree in that their hubris needs to be shattered like glass. They'll be better off for it. However, I will point out that I don't necessarily approve of the course of action we have to take."

"It's necessary," Charet said. "If we don't do this, ONI will do something so terrible to them that even I don't want to think about it. Plus, if the Innies find out about the Colonies, they'll have a whole nation ready to back them up. We leave them be, it's a lose-lose situation all around, and we cannot afford division when we need unity most. Better to do what we're going to do than have it happen any other way."

Garon nodded. "Very well. I do admit, I don't know the full picture, but you do, so if this is what's necessary, then so be it."

"Agreed," Lasky said. "Cole?"

"Same." Clearing his throat, Cole quickly turned to the bridge, his casual demeanor replaced by a business-like one. "Helm, take us out of Slipspace. Inform all of the ships in our fleets to do the same."

"Aye, sir," Lieutenant Jet said. "Beginning Slipspace exit in five… four… three… two… one… now!"

The stygian blackness of Slipspace before them suddenly erupted into a blue-white maelstrom, with realspace centered in the middle of the portal. The Infinity's massive bulk pulled itself out of the non-dimension and back into normal reality. Dozens of other Slipspace portals opened, with even some ships from the Swords of Sangheilios entering real space.

The view before them was a beautiful one. Just to his right, Lasky could see the surface of Picon. Memories from a younger time washed into his mind. It looks almost like Circinus IV, he thought. Almost that is. He shook the memories away. "Status?"

"We're good," Roland said. "All ships are accounted for, and it looks like we've got company. I'm reading five ships in the area. Four Mercury-class Battlestars and a single Jupiter Mk II-class Battlestar. IFF tags indicate that one of them is the Pegasus, and the Jupiter-class is the Galactica."

Lasky smiled. It appears that Commander Adama's ship is in the area, as is the ship Major Cain once captained. "Anything that can tell us what they're doing?"

"I think they're in a state of shock, sir," Cortana said. "I'm getting some radio signals, but for the most part, nothing. I think we broke them."

Thel rumbled in amusement. "It would appear that your method of 'shock-and-awe' is most effective, Supreme Commander."

"Effective?" Hogan asked. "We've literally got them awestruck!"

"Tell me about it," Charet said…

Onboard the Galactica, there was only stunned silence. Even the DRADIS' usual warble was subdued, as though the Galactica herself was awed by the sight before her. For Commander Adama, it was the second time in his life that his mouth had dropped open, the first being decades ago. By the Lords of Kobol… he thought helplessly.

Before him was a ship that was so impressive, it made the Pegasus and the Galactica look like mere toys. Painted on the hull, in brilliant white words, was the name of the ship: Infinity. The ship seemed taller than it was wider, suggesting a more vertical element inside the hull. Dark gray armor plating covered the ship from bow to stern. If it was any farther, I wouldn't be able to see it.

The Infinity wasn't alone, however. Adama could see dozens of smaller ships, each one built in a similar architectural vein. Some, however, were utterly alien, resembling bent fish hooks made out of some iridescent purple metal. Compared to the Infinity and the ships that shared her architecture, these other ships had the appearance of being grown, rather than built.

It would've been a small comfort for Adama to know that even Admiral Graystone was deeply affected by what he saw. The young Admiral was staring at the Infinity with shocked eyes and a hungry look. Is this the engineering marvel the Thirteenth Colony is capable of achieving? he wondered. If so, then he knew deep down that the Thirteenth Colony had exceeded them long ago.

For Saul Tigh, he was captivated by the sight. The unknown music that rang in his ears reached a crescendo as he gazed at the ship. His mouth open, he whispered, "By the Lords of Kobol… is that the Thirteenth Colony?"

His question shook Adama and Howard out of their shocked stupor. "Lords of Kobol," Howard breathed. "That… that ship is a masterwork of engineering. I can't even begin to imagine the structural and material engineering that would be needed to build such a masterpiece."

"It's big," Adama said. "How wide do you think that is, Howard?"

"Definitely wider than a Mercury-class Battlestar for sure. Hell, it makes the Mercury-class look like mere toys in comparison, and that's not even talking about the other ships. I can tell you with certainty that some of them are definitely not human at all."

"That's plainly obvious," Tigh said. "Just who the hell are we dealing with?"

Adama was about to speak when they got their answer. The wireless crackled to life, and a voice spoke over the PA. "This is Chairman Thomas Lasky of the United Nations Space Command speaking. We have arrived in orbit over the planet Picon, where your military headquarters are at. To all ships that are hearing this, do not open fire. We come in peace, but we are more than willing to defend ourselves if need be."

Another voice spoke up, a woman's voice. "This is President Ruth Charet of the United Earth Government to all of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. We have come in peace for all Mankind, yet we are disappointed in your hostile response to our exploration efforts. If you wish to negotiate with us, we shall, but any attempt to attack us will be met with appropriate force. We will remain in the system until your President is willing to speak with us."

The wireless went silent. "Dualla?" Adama asked.

"I don't know how," Dualla said, "but they gained access to our wireless communications."

Concern flashed across Tigh's face. "Has the ship been compromised?"

"Negative," Gaeta said. "I just checked in with Engineering. None of our systems save Communications were compromised. The ship's non-networked nature seems to have prevented a hacking attempt."

"Whoever this 'Charet' is, they clearly want to speak to the Quorum," Howard said. "Corman and Nagala are currently out of system. As the ranking officer in the entire system, I'll speak with this President and ascertain her intentions. In the meantime, I need you, Commander, to send a message to Caprica and inform the Quorum; they have to know about this."

"Understood," Adama said. "You have the wireless, Admiral. Gaeta, have a Raptor sent to Caprica at best speed."

"Understood," Gaeta said. "Dualla?"

"I've got it," Dualla said

Picking up the phone, Howard spoke into the mike. "UNSC Infinity, this is Admiral Howard Graystone of the Colonial Fleet. We've received your message loud and clear and we are working to contact our President. We also wish for a peaceful resolution to this situation, and as such, we request that you do not fire on us."

A response wasn't long in coming. "Understood, Admiral Graystone. We will await your President's reply. President Charet over and out."

"So say we all. Admiral Graystone over and out." Putting the phone down, he looked at Tigh and Adama. "Well, we know the Thirteenth Colony would come back someday; it appears that they've exceeded all our expectations."

"So it would seem," Adama said. "Gaeta, do you have a scan on the ship's size?"

"I do," Gaeta said, "and it's big. Scans place it at a length of nearly five kilometers and eight hundred meters. I'm working on the width right now, but I can say that it is over one kilometer tall. Actually, belay what I said on the width. It's over nine hundred meters wide."

Tigh whistled. "That's much bigger than the Pegasus and the Galactica!"

"It is," Howard said. "Something tells me that we should be very glad that the Thirteenth Colony wishes to negotiate with us. If they wanted to kill us all, they could've done so the moment they exited whatever form of FTL they were using. The fact that they don't want to fight means there's hope for us yet."

"Agreed," Adama said.

. . .

On the world of Caprica, President Adar was dumbstruck by the live feeds coming in over the wireless. He, and every other member of the Quorum, stared at the screens with shock. Even his aides were silent.

Of them all, it was Rosalin, the Secretary of Education, that found her voice first. "By the Lords of Kobol," she gasped. "I… In all my years, I never thought that the myth surrounding the Thirteenth Colony was true."

"Yeah," Carver, the Secretary of Defense, added weakly. "It would appear that the myths were true after all. The Thirteenth Colony does exist, and they are capable of engineering feats that even we would find impossible."

"Agreed," Adar said. Pulling himself out of his stupor, he looked at the others. "I would suggest that we all get ready in case the Thirteenth Colony calls for a meeting with us. Lords know that we need to be on our best if we're to make a good impression. Move it!"

Everyone immediately scrambled, each member quickly leaving the building to get their best clothes on. Rosalin, advancing towards Adar, said, "I really hope that the Thirteenth Colony wishes to negotiate with us. If they want war, it'll be the shortest war in human history."

Adar was about to reply when an aide ran inside. "Mr. President! Wireless message from the Galactica!"

Taking the paper into his hands, Adar read the contents carefully. He almost slumped to the ground as the tension left his body. "Well, Rosalin, it would appear that the Lords of Kobol are being merciful to us. They want to talk, though they're making it clear that any hostile action will be met with lethal force."

Rosalin and Carver read the message. "Well, that's a relief," Carver said. "At least we'll be able to talk to them. The question is, how should we go about it?"

"I would start with a cultural exchange," Rosalin suggested. "We know next to nothing about the Thirteenth Tribe. Anything we can learn about them could be very useful in negotiations with them. We'll have to be careful, though; if history teaches us anything, its that we need to be very cautious."

Adar nodded. "I agree, though the religious folk will be yammering on how the Thirteenth Tribe has come home to become a member of the Quorum. Something tells me that it won't all be songbirds and flowers. They'll want revenge for what happened to the Huygens."

"Indeed," Carver said. "A most regrettable accident, especially since it was Cain that started the whole mess."

"Is there anyone else we should bring along?" Roslin asked.

"I was thinking of bringing Dr. Gaius Baltar along," Adar said.

Carver frowned instantly. "That frakjob?! The man is so arrogant, even Aphrodite would be disgusted with him. Personally, I'm wondering why Zeus hasn't struck the man down with a thunderbolt yet."

"Maybe this could be just that," Roslin suggested. "The gods have been known to work in mysterious ways."

"That they have," Adar said. "I'm not the religious kind of person myself, but I definitely agree that there's something… otherworldly at work here." Turning the aide that brought them the message, he said, "Inform this 'Charet' that we would like to speak with her, and that we are heading to the Galactica."

"Yes, sir," the young man said before promptly bolting from the room.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Carver asked.

"If we meet with the Thirteenth Colony onboard the Galactica, it will allow us to showcase our history, and our discipline," Adar reasoned. "If they want to have us meet them on their ship, it'll allow us to get a glimpse of their technology, as well as their organizational discipline. Either way, both sides will win."Carver thought about it, then nodded, his expression that of equanimity.

"Well, then. Should we send the Thirteenth Colony a message?" Roslin asked.

"Yes. That we will, once everyone has come together…"

A few minutes later, everyone that was on Adar's staff had been gathered together. Glancing around, Adar observed all of the faces, including that of a young man in the back. Let's hope that all goes well in this meeting, he thought. Standing up from his desk, he said, "Inform the Commander of the Galactica that we'll be coming to Picon onboard Colonial One, and that I'll be speaking with President Charet."

"Understood," an aide said. "I shall send word immediately."

. . .

Back at the Galactica, Adama paced as he waited for a reply from the Colonial President. No matter how hard he tried to look away, his gaze always returned to the video feeds showing the Infinity and her ships. At least they haven't started shooting at us yet, he thought. That's better than what happened during the war against the Cylons.

Nearby, Admiral Graystone and Colonel Tigh were keeping their eyes firmly affixed onto the screens. Graystone had a laptop in his hands, a few pieces of paper and a pencil sharpener nearby.; his hands flew over the keyboard as he put in structural load calculations, possible fighter compliment sizes and fuel capacities. All of that in an attempt to understand how a ship like the Infinity was possible. The young Admiral was as silent as the grave.

Tigh, on the other hand, might as well have been a megaphone at a party. "How can they build a ship that size without falling victim to the square-cube law? It doesn't make sense."

"It does, actually," Howard said, briefly pausing his work to speak to him. "From what I can gather, the materials in the Huygens are very strong, so strong that I'm surprised the Vipers were able to damage it in the first place. I've got very little information to work with, but from what I can tell, whatever material they use is strong enough that it can handle something as big as the ship we're looking at. The ship must also be very well engineered, though I can't tell you more about that unless I see the designs for myself."

"So what can you tell me?"

"I can tell you this much for certain," Howard said. "From what I've been able to gather, and based on the witness reports from the Huygen's destruction, the armor plating on the Huygens was tough enough to survive even a few hits from the Pegasus' main guns. A ship of that size likely wouldn't be scratched by the shells we use. I do admit, however, that I don't know how thick the armor is. If I knew that, and the properties of the material that makes up the hull, I'd be able to give you a definitive answer."

"What about it's weapons?"

"Again, I could tell you if I knew more, but I don't," Howard said. "However, I can say that they might have some powerful weapons. According to the DRADIS, the ship is putting out around five hundred million electrical units worth of energy. That's enough to light up Caprica City and have plenty of electricity to spare."

Even Adama was impressed by that figure. "So, what's your opinion on the Infinity?"

Howard shrugged. "To be honest, I don't really know. For all we know, the Infinity could be a massive civilian ship, though that's highly unlikely. My guess, sir, is that we're facing a warship that has the power to annihilate most of Colonial Fleet before being destroyed, and that's my honest opinion, Commander."

Adama frowned, then gazed back at the video feeds. So we're looking at a ship that could take on the entirety of Colonial Fleet without trouble. He sighed. Let's hope that they really do mean that they want peace.

His thoughts were interrupted when Dualla said, "Commander, I've got an incoming communique! It's President Adar, sir! He wishes to speak with you."

Adama frowned. Not that blind fool, he thought, but he's the President too. Oh well… might as well get it over with. Picking up the phone, he said. "Yes, Mr. President?"

"Permission to come onboard the Galactica?" Adar asked.

That surprised Adama, then the surprise faded. He wants to speak with Charet onboard the Galactica. "Granted," he said. "I'll meet you in the port flight pod, sir." Putting down the phone, he said. "Tigh, you have the CIC."

"Understood," Tigh said.

"I'm coming with you," Howard said. Getting up, he followed Adama out of the room…

Stepping into the pressurized area for the port flight pod, Adama watched as the Spaceliner called Colonial One, came to a stop inside the pot landing bay. The docking tube extended, creating a hard seal between Colonial One's airlock and the Galactica. "Hard seal established," an ensign said. "We're clear to open the doors."

"Open them," Adama ordered.

The nearby crew nodded, then keyed in the commands. The doors opened revealing the airlock to the other ship. It's doorsalso opened, permitting a few Colonial Marines to step out. Following them was a man with a balding head and dark brown eyes. Following him was the rest of the staff, including a middle aged woman with brown eyes and reddish-brown hair, and a young man with black hair and brown eyes. A pair of glasses sat on the faces of each individual.

Adama quickly recognized each of them. Preisdent Adar, and he's brought most of his staff, including Laura Roslin. Seeing the young man in the back, he frowned. Wonder why Adar brought Dr. Baltar here. Dispelling the thought, he saluted and said, "Welcome aboard the Galactica, Mr. President."

Adar nodded. "Thank you, Commander. It's an honor to be onboard, though I wish it were under less monumental circumstances."

Howard saluted. "Good to see you, Mr. President."

"And to you as well, Admiral Graystone. How are the joints holding up?"

Howard shrugged. "I get aches and pains from time to time, but nothing serious. I'll outgrow the disease before old age." Leaning slightly, he smiled at the figure in the back. "Looks like you brought an old friend along."

"That I did. Dr. Baltar is nothing short of a genius, and I believe that having him on this meeting will be very beneficial for all of us. Could you accompany us to the CIC?"

"Right this way," Adama said.

As they proceeded towards the CIC, Howard moved closer to Dr. Baltar. "How's life treating you?" he asked. "I hope they haven't been harassing you too much."

Baltar shrugged. "Life's been treating me just fine, thank you. The others haven't been harassing me that much; in fact, they're very cooperative. Speaking of which, how is the Command Navigation Program working out for you?"

Howard smiled. "Quite good, actually. However, I did want to speak with you about that when we can, but in private."

Baltar frowned. "Is it serious?"

"Something like that, but we've got more important things to worry about, like the Thirteenth Colony literally showing up on our doorstep. You heard about that, did you?"

Baltar nodded. "O-Of course. I saw it on the news, and Adar's assistant told me over the phone." He sighed, a smile on his face. "To think that the very week that the anniversary for the Armistice begins, the Thirteenth Colony arrives. I do believe this is a momentous occasion for the entire Twelve Colonies."

"My thoughts exactly, Dr. Baltar. However, I am curious as to why it took the Thirteenth Colony this long to speak with us."

Baltar shrugged. "Perhaps they were dealing with a Cylon rebellion of their own."

"You're not being funny, Gaius."

Baltar winced. He and Howard were very close friends with each other, enough that Howard had been the first person to look through the CNP before having it installed onto all Colonial Ships. Whenever he said his first name, however, it was a sign of irritation and if there was one thing Baltar knew about Howard, it was that he could become very unpleasant when angry. "My apologies," he said hastily. "I meant no offense."

Howard's frown faded, then he patted Baltar on the back. "It's all right. I know you didn't mean any trouble. The war against the Cylons is just a sore spot for me, especially since it was my grandfather's invention that caused things to go haywire for us."

Baltar sighed, relieved that he wouldn't go through another shouting match with Howard. "So, are you ready to make history?"

"Oh, I'm ready Doctor. The question is, are you?"

Baltar thought over the question for a minute. Am I ready to make history? he wondered. "I guess we'll find out."

"I guess we will…"

The rest of the trip to the CIC was spent in relative silence, with the President and his delegation arriving in the CIC of the Galactica. All crewmen gathered inside quickly saluted, with a gesture from Adama putting them at ease. Motioning to the camera feeds, he said, "I take it you're aware of the presence of the Infinity?"

"Is that what that behemoth of a ship is called?" Adar asked.

"Yes, sir."

Adar looked the video feed over, then nodded. "All right. It's certainly appropriate for a ship of that size. Shall I speak with this 'Charet?'"

"Of course," Adama said. "We're currently shoring up the cyber-defenses for the communications system. Once that's done, you can talk with them as much as you want."

While Adama and Adar were speaking, Dr. Baltar looked at the video feed. His heart skipped a beat the moment he saw the massive behemoth of a ship that held its position in the vacuum of space over Picon. "I-Is that the ship in question?" he asked Howard.

Howard nodded. "Yes. The UNSC Infinity, according to the CO of the ship. What'd you think?"

Baltar gazed at the ship, his mind quickly beginning a preliminary analysis. "It's massive," he said. "How big is it?"

"According to Lieutenant Gaeta? It's around five and a half kilometers long, a good one and a half kilometers tall, and nearly one kilometer wide. In other words, that's one hell of a massive ship. That thing would likely hold twice the complement of fighters a Mercury-class Battlestar could."

Baltar nodded. "That does seem appropriate. I'm curious as to what the inside of the ship will look like."

"Me too," Howard said.

All conversation at this point ceased as Dualla said, "Sir, we've just shored up the cybersecurity for the communications system. We're ready to speak with them."

"Good," Adama said. Picking up the phone, he said, "President Charet, this is Commander Adama of the CDS Galactica, we have our President onboard, and he would like to speak with you." Hearing a reply on the other end, he nodded. "Understood." Turning to Adar, he said, "She's ready to speak to you."

Adar nodded. Taking the phone from Adama, he said, "Hello? This is President Richard Adar of the Quorum, the governing body of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Am I speaking to President Charet?"

"That you are," Charet said. "It is a pleasure to speak with you, President Adar, though I wish it were under better circumstances. You are aware of what happened a few days ago, yes?"

Adar nodded. "How could I not be? Helena Cain fired on your ships without due provocation, and got some of her people killed in the process. I can assure you that we've taken all of the necessary steps to punish her for her impulsiveness. That being said, I would like to make a proposal that, I think, we'll both appreciate."

"And that would be?"

"I would like to speak with you aboard the ship we are standing on, the Galactica," Adar said. "She's unarmed and in the process of being decommissioned and made into a museum ship. We could learn much about the history of each of our societies, and I can't think of a finer place than the Galactica."

There was a brief silence from Charet's end, then she said, "Well, I'm afraid I'll have to turn that down, but not for the reasons you think."

"Why is that?"

"We just performed a scan of your ship," Charet said. "Your flight decks can handle a Pelican coming in, but they're wide enough that they won't be able to fit in the pressurized areas of the flight pods. In addition, given recent events, I'm not certain I can trust your crews not to react with religious zeal the moment we step onboard."

Adar frowned. All of those are good reasons, a part of his mind said. "I see… So what would you propose?"

"I propose that you come onboard the Infinity," Charet said. "The hangar bays are more than sufficient for whatever landing craft you use. I'd rather not risk damaging the structure of your ship, something I think your Chief Engineer will not appreciate."

It also means that she can negotiate from a position of strength, Adar thought. Having us come onboard means she has the influence to get us to come to her, rather than to get her to come to us. Still, he had a feeling that her worry was legitimate, so he decided to keep it in mind. "All right," he said. "I think we can agree to that. When do you want us to come on over?"

"Whenever you want. We're ready for the meeting, so if you want to come now, that would be an excellent time."

Adar smiled. "Good. We'll be over as soon as we can. I look forwards to meeting you in just a few minutes."

"The same to you from here. President Charet over and out." The wireless channel clicked as she closed her end.

Putting the phone down, Adar looked at the others. "Well, it would appear that we've been invited onboard the Infinity. Before we go, though, there's one matter to tend to. Howard, you are aware of the protocols if Adama is to come along with us."

"Yes," Howard said. Taking a deep breath, he faced Adama. "Normally, you wouldn't be able to come along on this trip, Commander. However, since the President apparently wishes for you to come along, I have decided to temporarily promote you to the rank of Rear Admiral for the duration of this meeting. Once it is over, you will be restored to your rank of Commander. Understood?"

Adama nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Pulling out a felt box, he handed Adama a pair of diamonds with a star and bird on the inside, and a pair of gold bars on either side of the diamond. "There are yours for the time being. Once we're done with the meeting, you'll return them to me."

"Understood."

"Has anyone informed Admiral Corman?" Baltar asked. "Nagala is with us right now."

"I was able to inform Admiral Corman," Howard said. "He'll be flying in on a Raptor shortly. Once we leave the Galactica, he'll rendezvous with us, and we'll head to the Infinity together. Any other questions?"

"Nope," Adar said.

"None at all," Adama said.

"All right, then. Today is the day that we make history. Today, we finally reunite with our long lost cousins, the Thirteenth Colony. It is time to begin our march into history."

"So say we all," Adama said.

"So say we all," the others said.

Adar looked at Adama. "Do you have someone that's got good flight status?"

Adama nodded. "My son will fly us over. Wait in the Portside pod for myself and the others. We need to be dressed for the occasion."

"All right. See you there..."

Before long, all of them were inside of one of the Raptors, each person dressed in their dress uniforms/formal attire. Sitting at the controls, Lee Adama quickly went through all of the relevant procedures. Got a lot riding on my shoulders, he thought. A quick glance behind showed that everyone else was comfortably seated and ready. Hopefully all goes well.

A hand settled onto his shoulder. Turning, Lee found his father looking at him. To his amazement, his father had a reassuring smile on his face. "You'll do fine, son. I'm sure of it."

Lee smiled half-heartedly. We might have a rocky relationship, but he's my father, and I love him. "I know, Dad. Thank's."

"Anytime, son."

Keying the wireless for the ship, Lee said, "Galactica, this is Colonial Raptor One. Requesting permission to take-off. Over."

"Permission granted," came the voice of Aaron Kelly, the Landing Signal Officer for the sole working flight pod. "Flight Pod Crew, begin loading procedures."

Personnel in red and yellow uniforms quickly moved into position, each one operating the machinery that allowed them to quickly load the launch tube that would fire the Raptor out into the vacuum of space. The vehicle gently slid into one of the launch tubes.

As soon as it was inside, the airlock closed. Aaron Kelly, seeing this, said, "Ready for Launch Tube Check."

"Understood." Lee said. From memory, he recalled all of the Launch Tube Check items and went through the motions accordingly. He looked around the area. "Area…"

"Clear…"

Looking ahead, he said, "Blast Doors…"

"Open…"

Checking a panel, he said, "Heads-Up Display…"

"On…"

Lee checked another panel. "Tag/Nav…"

"Set on Active…"

He moved a lever near his seat. "Flaps…"

"Fifteen degrees down angle…"

He quickly set the engine lever. "Engine Thrust…"

"Eighty Five Percent…"

"Assuming Launch Position." Lee felt the ship shudder slightly as it was moved forwards.

"OK…"

So far, so good. "LSO Launch Signal…"

Aaron Kelly gave a thumb's up to the launch supervisor. "OK…"

Le looked at the final item. "Master Condition Cold Shot Warning…"

"Set… Launch Tube Checks complete. You're go for launch."

"Understood," Lee said. Looking at the others, he said, "We're go for launch. Hang onto your lunches."

Kelly checked the Raptor vitals one more time. "Raptor vitals good. Launching in three… two… one… now!" His thumb depressed a button on his console. In an instant, the mag-rail launchers for the launch tube fired, sending the Raptor flying down the launch tube.

Inside the Raptor, Lee felt as though someone had just given the Raptor a powerful shove. Within seconds, the Raptor exited the launch tube and entered the vacuum of space. Nearby, another Raptor carrying the President's staff flew out and formed with with Lee's Raptor. Letting his training take over, Lee gently guided the Raptor around the Galactica and towards the Infinity.

Now that he could see the ship with his own eyes from the cockpit, Lee realized just how big the Infinity truly was. From his position in the ECO seat, Howard whistled long and low. "Damn… I had a feeling that the Infinity was big. Seeing it in person though…" He shook his head.

Gaius, on the other hand, stared hungrily at the Infinity. "That ship is utterly massive! The engineering that must have gone into that thing… I… I can't even begin to describe it. I wonder what else the Thirteenth Colony is well and truly capable of."

"We're about to find out soon," Adar said. "Take us in, Lee. We've been invited inside. It'd be rude of us to decline the invitation."

Lee nodded. He was about to turn the Raptor when a voice came in over the wireless. "Unidentified ship, this is Lieutenant Murphy, Chief of Flight Operations. Identify yourself immediately."

Lee cleared his throat. "This is Captain Lee Adama of the Galactica speaking. We are coming in on a vector towards the Infinity onboard Colonial Raptor One. The Colonial President is onboard. Repeat: President Adar is onboard. We are here on an invitation from President Charet."

There was silence for a moment. "Colonial Raptor One, this is Flight Operations speaking. We have verified your IFF. You are cleared to come onboard. A flight of Broadswords will be with you shortly to escort and guide you along the flight path. Lieutenant Murphy over and out."

"Well, that was polite of them," Baltar said half-sarcastically.

"They're merely following protocol," Howard said. "If I was in their shoes, I'd be doing the exact same thing."

"Settle down," Adar said. "Howard's right in that they're just following procedure, but Baltar's right in that they could be more civil about it. Captain, take us in."

"Yes, sir," Lee said. Looking to his left, he watched as another Raptor flew into position alongside his own. Then, up ahead, he watched as a flight of four fighters flew in. The design, with its oddly shaped cockpit, swept forward wing design and hunched shape, looked nothing like a Viper. Still, it was likely that the UNSC, and the Thirteenth Colony, had different ideas on how fighters ought to look.

As the four Broadswords took up formation, a voice came in over the wireless. "Colonial Raptor One, this is Bravo Lead of Bravo Squadron. We'll guide your ship in towards the Infinity. Hangar Bay 36-Omicron is the destination you'll be heading to. The President and Chairman are awaiting you there."

"Understood," Lee said. "Thank you for the escort."

"Just doing our jobs."

. . .

Looking outside the magcon field, Lasky watched as the specks of light that were the Broadsword and Raptors approached the Infinity. Adjusting his collar slightly, he looked to the others. Charet seemed perfectly relaxed, as did the Master Chief; while all of them were in their dress uniforms, Chief's was the most decorated, with his chest covered in more medals than Lasky had ever seen in his life.

Even Revan was impressed, as Lasky heard him give a low long whistle in his mind. "You weren't kidding when you said the Master Chief won every single medal out there, except for the Prisoner of War medal. I'll bet that, if he melted down all of those medals, he could make a life sized statue of himself."

"That he could," Bastila agreed. "The fact that he has that many medals shows how accomplished of a soldier he really is. I wouldn't be surprised if he could make a full suit of armor out of all those medals."

Me neither, Lasky added. It also shows how brutal the Covenant-UNSC War was, and you don't need me to tell you how bad it was.

"No I don't," Bastila said. Having seen Lasky's memories of the war, she knew that it was one of the darkest moments in the UNSC's history.

"Looks like our guests are about to arrive," Charet said. "Are you ready for this, ladies and gentlemen?"

"I am," Lasky said.

"Yes, ma'am," Chief added.

"Good. Time to make history." The trio and their guards watched as the Raptors came close enough for them to see them. "Now that's an ugly looking ship. Where'd they design that?"

"No idea," Lasky said, "though it wouldn't be my first pick for a ship. It looks too much like a turkey."

"Turkey?"

"Fighter pilot slang for a fighter that they don't like," Lasky explained.

"Ah, I see."

Refocusing his attention, Lasky watched as the Raptors passed through the magcon field and into the hangar bay. Slowly, but surely, they came to a landing onto the hangar deck. Time to meet and greet...

Onboard Colonial Raptor One, Lee tensed slightly as they passed through the bluish field that served as an entrance into the hangar bay. In the back, he heard Howard typing rapidly onto a keyboard. "Admiral?"

"Wait one…" Howard said. "Well… that's something new. Dr. Baltar?"

Baltar stood up, examined the computer screen before Howard. "That's something new all right. The entire hangar is fully pressurized, despite it being seemingly open to the vacuum of space."

"We passed through some sort of bluish field," Lee added. "Could it be…"

"Hang on!" Howard said. "Could it be that…"

"… they've developed a way to hold in atmosphere without it leading into space?" Baltar finished. "It would seem so. That suggests that the Thirteenth Colony is a highly advanced civilization."

"So it would seem," Lee said. With practiced ease, Lee gently lowered the Raptor onto the deck of the hangar. After switching off the engines, he reached down and pulled out a small box. Opening it up, he tossed a few full face masks to the people inside. "Here," he said. "Just in case we don't have immunity to their diseases."

"Good call," Baltar said. "I wouldn't want to die from something they'd consider to be trivial." Donning their masks, everyone made sure they were on properly before giving Lee a thumbs up. Hitting a control, Lee opened the side hatch that allowed them to get on and off the Raptor.

Standing up, William Adama patted his son on the shoulder. "Keep an eye on the Raptor when we're gone."

"I will," Lee said. Adama smiled, then proceeded out of the Raptor first.

Both his eyes looked around the hangar they were in. It was practically bustling with life; far off, he could see deckhands working at various parts of the hangar. Some were moving missiles and boxes of ammunition, others were moving crates, while others still worked on various ships that were moored inside the place. Powerful lights illuminated the interior, banishing any shadows that might've formed.

He was about to step off the wing when he noticed a trio of people approaching him. The first, he noticed, was a young man that was somewhere around Howard's age. Dark brown hair and brown hair framed the man's face; those eyes seemed to hold the authority and weight that came with rank and experience. He wore a black dress uniform of a design Adama hadn't seen before.

The second person, he noticed was a woman with white hair and blue eyes. While she looked frail, Adama could see a fire in her eyes that he'd seen only in a few other people; particularly in the eyes of Colonial Marines that had a mission. This is probably President Charet, a voice in his mind said.

The third individual was a man like the first, but that was where the similarities ended. The man's skin was unusual pale, as though he'd spent years living inside of a room that was dark. That made his bright blue eyes seem to shine like stars. Dark brown hair was also visible, but that wasn't what had Adama's attention. What had his attention was the fact that the man's entire chest was decked out with medals. The Covenant-UNSC War must've been one hell of a battle for this man to have that many medals, he dryly observed.

As soon as the trio were close enough, the first spoke up. "On behalf of Earth and her Colonies, I welcome you onboard the Infinity," he said.

Adama stiffened slightly. That's Thomas Lasky! Keeping his mild surprise contained, he said, "Thank you. Permission to come aboard the Infinity."

"That is up to the Commanding Officer of this ship," the woman said said. "I'm President Ruth Charet of the United Earth Government. With me is Fleet Admiral Thomas Lasky, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the United Nations Space Command, the exploratory, scientific and military branch of the United Earth Government, and Rear Admiral-117, though you may refer to him as the Master Chief."

"And as for your request to come aboard the ship, it's been granted," another voice said. To his right, Adama could see another man, this one with light brown hair and eyes. "Fleet Admiral Preston Cole. I'm the CO of the Infinity."

That sparked off another memory. Danik said that a man known as the Master Chief was responsible for saving Humanity, Adama thought. Looking at the giant of a man, he now held a newfound respect. It would seem he was rewarded for his valor.

"Thank you," he said aloud. "I'm Rear Admiral William Adama of the Battlestar Galactica. With me is President Richard Adar of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, Secretary of Defense Carver Orvar, Secretary of Education Laura Roslin, Admiral Howard Graystone of the Colonial Fleet's Colonial Engineering Corps, Admiral Nagala of the Navy, Dr. Gaius Baltar, our science advisor for this meeting, and the various members of the Quorum, our legislative body. It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

"Indeed," Lasky said. Looking at the second Raptor, he watched as a man with dark brown hair and gray eyes approached. "And who might you be?"

"Fleet Admiral Peter Corman of the Colonial Marines," the man said. "And you must be Chairman Lasky. It's an honor to meet you."

"Likewise."

Howard stepped out of the Raptor and looked around. "Frak me… this is a fine ship if I've ever seen one." His gaze settled onto Lasky. "You're the Chairman of the UNSC? Forgive me if I'm being presumptuous, but you seem a tad… young for the position."

"And you weren't?" Corman asked "You were admitted into Colonial Fleet at the tender age of sixteen with your grandfather's permission. I'd say that's fairly young." The others chuckled at Howard's expense.

"He does have a point," Nagala remarked, his grey eyes twinkling with humor.

Howard shrugged. "Fair point."

"It's all right," Lasky said. "To be fair, I am quite young still, though experience and war have worn on me."

"That they have," Charet said. "If all of you could, we would like to speak with you in one of the meeting rooms aboard the Infinity."

"Please, lead the way," Adar said. "I look forwards to speaking with all of you more."

"Then please, follow me." At a signal from Charet, Lasky turned on his heels and began walking to one of the doors in the hangar. "Your guards are free to follow us if they want. I can assure you that your ship will be unharmed."

Turning around, Corman made a loud, whistling sound. Within seconds, ten Colonial Marines stepped out of his Raptor, five out of Adama's Raptor, and moved towards the delegation. Once they'd taken up formation, they proceeded to the door.

As they walked down the hallway the door lead to, Baltar leaned in towards Howard. "That Rear Admiral with them, 117 I think. You notice how tall he is?"

Howard nodded. "He's big, almost as big as I am. Still, if he's a supersoldier, he could probably toss me a good twenty feet without breaking a sweat"

Nagala nodded. "Then there's all that bling on his chest. You don't get that many medals without being through one hell of a war."

"That we can agree on." Baltar shivered at the thought of how brutal the war must've been for a man to achieve that many medals.

Eventually, they came to a large room that had people sitting in chairs. "What's this place?" Corman asked.

"One of the many transit stations onboard the Infinity," Lasky said. "The Infinity is large enough to where we need transit stations in order to move around the ship in a timely manner. Speaking of which, the tram should be arriving… now."

Seconds later, a series of cylindrical trams came into view, each one coming to a complete stop. The moment the doors opened, people piled into them, all but the very first one. Lasky stepped onto that one, with the others following when he motioned for them to come. "For a ship to be that big, I would love to look at the engineering that went into the thing," Howard said.

Once the tram doors closed, the trams took off, each one heading to different parts of the ship. "This is impressive," Adar said. "I never imagined that a ship would need a tram, let alone be so big."

"The Infinity is a special case," Lasky said. "Built at the end of the Covenant-UNSC War, she was originally intended as an ark in case the Covenant ever got close to wiping out Humanity. Thankfully, the war ended before that could happen, so the Infinity was converted into a warship."

"I heard about the war," Adama said. "Danik showed me photographs of a planet that was glassed. I think it was Meridian."

Lasky nodded. "We'll discuss that a little later. However, you are right in that numerous worlds were glassed by the Covenant. However, we'll go into a history lesson later. For now, enjoy the transit."

As the transit sped along, Baltar and Howard spoke with each other. "Is it possible they have Cylons aboard the ship?" Baltar asked.

"Not sure," Howard said. "However, given the size of the ship, you'd probably need a Meta-Cognitive Processor to run a ship of this size, or maybe even multiple MCPs. Either way, I won't make any judgments until we know for certain."

"That's probably very wise," Baltar agreed…

Before long, they had exited at their destination, and were walking down the hallways of the ship. As they walked along, Corman leaned in towards Adama. "Notice anything odd about the ship?"

Adama nodded. "The architecture is quite different from our own. It's more… functionalist. There's not as much time given to crew comforts."

"My thoughts exactly," Nagala said. "This is a warship through and through, but different from our own at the same time." Adama merely nodded as they proceeded down the hallway.

Eventually, they reached the meeting room in question. Two Marines saluted, before allowing the group inside. Inside was a large black table with enough chairs to house everyone. On the back wall, the emblem of the UNSC could be clearly seen.

Once they were inside, Lasky said. "Sit down. We have much to discuss." As the others sat down, the Colonial Marines took up formation just in case things went south. Once they were all seated, Lasky said, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and we'll get to all of them in time. However, I think we all need to address the elephant in the room."

"Pardon?" Adar asked.

"It means the obvious issue at hand," Charet said, "and I know what that issue is." Leaning forwards, she said, "You are aware that your people fired on a UEG ship, yes?"

Adar nodded. "I'm fully aware of the circumstances surrounding the destruction of the Huygens, yes. It was a very regrettable accident on our part, one that I'm willing to make recompense for. To that end, when possible, I would like to return the crew of the Huygens to you and your government. We have no desire to hold them at Picon against their free will."

Lasky and Charet shared a glance with each other. It seems as though Adar is willing to come clean about what happened, Charet thought. "That's very kind of you," she said. "That being said, we would also like to speak with the person that foolishly decided to fire on the Huygens without due provocation."

"You mean Major Helena Cain?"

"Yes," Charet said.

Adar frowned. "I see… Corman, what's your opinion?"

Corman frowned. "Given the brainless stunt she pulled? I'd say that the Thirteenth Colony is more than justified when it comes to asking for Cain's head." Turning to Charet, he said, "I'll send her over at some point today. What she did was very stupid, and tragic. You have my sympathies."

"I appreciate that," Charet said. "That being said, there's another elephant in the room we need to discuss, and that is the fact that all of you believe that we are members of the mythical 'Thirteenth Colony.'"

Adar sat up straight. "Indeed. According to our legends, the Thirteenth Colony of Kobol settled on a planet known as Earth. From what we were told, and from what your government's name is, we believe that you are the Thirteenth Colony. To explain how this is possible, would you mind if I tell you the history of the Twelve Colonies?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Charet said. "You may begin."

"Thank you," Adar said. Clearing his throat, he began. "The Twelve Colonies of Kobol are the twelve colonies that our species founded after our diaspora from Kobol. Before that, we lived and existed on Kobol, with some saying that we lived alongside the gods in an idyllic utopia."

"Which we did," Cassandra added.

"True. The peace and utopia was not to last, however. According to our Sacred Scrolls, recorded by the oracle Pythia, a 'blaze' of sorts swept over Kobol, a blaze even the Lords of Kobol, our gods, were unable to stop. During this time, the Thirteenth Tribe fled Kobol to settle on another world..

"Over the next two thousand years, our civilization rebuild itself from the shattered remains of what it once was. Thousand years after the calamity that was the blaze, the Twelve Tribes decided to leave Kobol. The Lords of Kobol, accepting our decision, decided to build a grand ship known as the 'Galleon' to transport us to the Cyrannus System.

"Bereaved by the loss of Kobol's beauty, Athena, one of the gods, killed herself by dropping herself from the gates of Hera. Once the ship was constructed, Zeus, the father of the other Lords of Kobol, warned our species that any return to Kobol would, in his words 'exact a price in blood.' Heeding this warning, we left Kobol, and came to the Cyrannus System, where our species distributed itself among the twelve habitable planets before returning to a primitive state of existence.

"Over the next two thousand years, our civilization began the arduous process of reclaiming the technology and knowledge lost to our civilization after our settlement of the Cyrannus System. Eventually, we reclaimed the technologies needed for space travel. We thought ourselves to be the inheritors of the Universe."

"What changed?" Lasky asked.

"The Cylons," Adama said. "According to our historical records, the Cylons were created by Daniel Graystone as a line of military products. After they successfully put down a terrorist attack at Atlas Arena in Caprica City, their usefulness was expanded. Howard can tell you more."

"Thank you, Adama," Howard said. "As you might've guessed, I'm the grandson of Daniel Graystone, the man that created the Cylons. To give them the purpose they had, he created the Meta-Cognitive Processor, a highly advanced neural quantum computer designed to allow a machine to achieve sentience. The first Cylon models, the U-87 Cyber Combat Unit, were created in response to the Caprican Ministry of Defense's need for a robotic combat unit that would 'shoot and fight.'

"The U-87 Cyber Combat Units were highly successful in stopping the terrorist attack at Atlas Areana, as Adama has told you. Following this success, the Cylons, short for Cybernetic Lifeform Nodal, had their duties and purpose expanded. Before long, they were doing many of the jobs that everyone didn't like, from sanitation and construction, to warfare and policing."

"I take it that didn't last," Lasky said.

Howard frowned. "It didn't. No one knows what happened, hell even I don't know the full story. What we do know, however, is that fifty two years ago, the Cylons decided to rebel against the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Betrayed and enraged, we realized that the only way we would survive was to put aside our differences and fight for our lives. Thus the Articles of Colonization, a series of articles that led to the creation of the federalist government we practice today, were signed and ratified by the Twelve Colonies.

"In response to the Cylons widespread use of cyberwarfare, the Articles of Colonization stipulated the creation of Battlestars that used non-networked computer systems. This class became known as the Jupiter-class Battlestars, of which the Galactica is a member of. As for what happened after that, Adama can tell you more."

"Thank you," Adama said. "The next twelve years of the war, to put it mildly, were hellish. According to records, the Colonies suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Cylons, with numerous ships and lives being lost. I personally fought in the latter years of the Cylon War, so you can believe me when I say the accounts were true. The Cylons did… unspeakable things to those they captured. Death was preferable to being captured by them.

"By the time the Cylon War was coming to an end, we'd beaten back the Cylons and reclaimed much of the territory we had lost. I personally fought in the last battle of the war, known as Operation RAPTOR TALON. When I landed on the planet the Cylons were using as a base of operations…" he trailed off, the memories of that day washing over his mind.

"You don't need to say anymore," Lasky said.

"I will," Adama said. "It's been forty two years since the war's end. I've had time to come to terms with the memories." Shaking off the memories, he continued to speak. "Just as we began to invade, the Cylons came to the negotiating table and asked to create an armistice. Once we agreed to stop the war via an armistice they left. Since then we have no idea as to where they have gone, though there are theories as to what has happened."

"There you have it," Adar said. "The history of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. From what we assume of our mythology, your civilization

"Thank you." Charet smiled slightly. Here we go. "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Adar,"

Adar frowned. "Why is that? I don't suppose you have historical records that prove you are also from Kobol, do you? If you do, we can prove that you are of the Twelve Colonies."

"We have no record of being from a planet known as Kobol," Charet said. "To us, Earth is the homeworld of Humanity, and we do mean all of Humanity. We -"

"That's impossible!" Danvers, the Quorum member that represented Gemenon, spluttered. "The Sacred Scrolls say that Humanity was created by the Gods on Kobol! Are you saying that four thousand years of history are wrong?!"

Edward, the Quorum member representing Libra, glared at Danvers harshly. "Would you kindly allow the lady to speak, Danvers?!" Silenced by his compatriot's calm but angry response, Danvers blanched. "My apologies, President Charet. Danvers is a very fundamentalist individual, which has gotten in the way of his better judgment from time to time."

"It's no problem," Charet said. "We dealt with religious fanatics during the Covenant-UNSC War." She cleared her throat. "As I was saying, we have over ten thousand yeas of fossil records that indicate human life existed well before the time you say Humanity was created. And before you ask, said fossil record was verified thousands of times by independent paleontologists, anthropologists and archaeologists. To put it simply, Humanity isn't from Kobol; Humanity is from Earth, or at least our subspecies of Humanity is."

Danvers glowered, his face becoming dark, while the other members of the Quorum whispered to each other. "I see…" Adar said. "Well, I'm not much of a religious person myself, so I can see how that could be possible. Would you mind telling us your version of history, then? I'm certain we can explain the potential discrepancy."

"That we can." Clearing her throat, Charet tapped a few controls at her part of the table. A hologram shimmered into view, showing them the Milky Way Galaxy.

Upon seeing it, Baltar was entranced. "Is that… what I think it… is?"

Charet smiled. "You'd be correct, Mr…?"

"Baltar. Dr. Gaius Baltar."

Charet nodded. "Thank you, Dr. Baltar, and you'd be correct. This is a very good example of holographic projection technology, though the colloquial term is 'hologram.'"

Those words seemed to entrance Baltar even more. "Amazing! I've heard theories on how to create holograms, but to see one for myself is amazing! The UEG and UNSC must be highly advanced to have attained such technology."

"That they have," Howard said. "I've tried making holograms before. It's really difficult."

You have no idea, Charet thought to herself. "Now that all of you know what this is, we shall begin. To understand how the UEG was founded, we must first understand its birth. Around six hundred and twenty years ago, on our homeworld of Earth, a totalitarian regime known as the Nazis attempted to take full control of the continent of Europe, and by extension the world, under the command of one Adolph Hitler."

Holographic images shimmered into existence. One of them showed a mustached man wearing a symbol on his shoulder that resembled a + with its ends bent at a ninety degree angle. He held his arm and hand flat, directing it towards a crowd.

"Under the Nazi regime, Germany committed countless war crimes, from genocide, to the wholesale conquest of dozens of Eruopean nations. During this time, he colluded with another government, the Empire of Japan, in a desire to control the entire planet. Under their command, the Axis powers, as they came to be known, launched an attack on Pearl Harbor, a city controlled by the United States of America."

The holograms changed again, this time showing a map of the planet of Earth. The Axis powers were in red and the Allied powers in Blue. "Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States of America declared war on the Axis powers, and began sending aid to Great Britian and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Soviet Union, to destroy Nazi Germany, their fascistic allies in Italy, as well as the imperialistic Japanese."

Roslin, who was very well versed in history, looked at the hologram. "I take it the Allies won?"

"That they did," Charet said.

"I don't see how this is relevant," Danvers grumbled.

"Be patient, Mr. Danvers, and I will tell you. This led to World War II, which was the most devastating conflict in Human history up until the Covenant-UNSC War. The war lasted for six years, with Nazi Germany being destroyed in 1945. The war ended, however, when the first two nuclear bombs were detonated over the cities of Hirohsima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender.

"Realizing the need for an alliance that would stop such evil even before the war ended, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, along with Chariman Winston Churchill, decided to create a supranational organization dedicated to stopping regimes like Nazi Germany. This idea gained support from Maxim Litvinov, the ambassador from the USSR at the time, and Premier T.V Soong, leading to the signing of the Declaration of the United Nations on January 1st, 1942. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and the fascistic Italian state, the United States, Republic of France, Great Britain, Republic of China and USSR signed the United Nations Charter on June 26th, 1945, along with fifty other nations, founding the United Nations.

"Over time, as technology advanced and the world changed, the UN did its best to solve conflicts and disputes wherever possible, though this was hampered during the early 21st century by corrupt politicians and financial crises'. When we reached out into our star system, conflicts over ideology and resources flared up. All of this came to a head when the fascistic Friedens and communist Koslovics went to war, beginning what has become known since as the Jovian Moons Campaign."

"So this fascist ideology survived up to this time?" Adar asked.

"That's correct. Following the start of the Jovian Moons Campaign, the UN was asked to intervene and stop the conflict. It soon became clear, however, that the United Nations needed more support in order to stop them. While the UEG had been founded in 2075, it did not have the power and means to enforce the UN's will throughout the Sol System. When the Jovian Moons Campaign began, the United Nations began a series of reforms, even as it fought the Friedens and Koslovics, that would see it fully evolve into the United Earth Goverment. This led to the Rainforest Wars, which finally saw an end to the conflicts that plagued the 2160s and the signing of the Callisto Treaty.

"Following that conflict, the UEG began to colonize the Sol System, though the increasing population burden meant that the Sol System would soon become overpopulated. Thankfully, two men, Drs Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa discovered a means of super-luminal travel that would allow Humanity to expand into the stars. This method of FTL flight tapped into an 11th dimension form of space-time known as Slipstream Space. With the creation of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, they opened up a path to the stars for all of us.

"Following the creation of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine in 2291, Humanity began to rapidly colonize the stars, an event that we call the Domus Diaspora. With the population burden suddenly relieved, Humanity began to grow at an explosive pace. Hundreds of thousands of people were born and matured over the course of nearly two and a half centuries. With that time, the first two hundred words settled by Humanity would become known as the Inner Colonies, while those beyond those worlds would be known as the Outer Colonies."

Carver frowned. "Something tells me this peace didn't last for too long."

"You'd be correct, Carver. Around the year 2494, Humanity had become politically polarized. Many of the Outer Colonies had become dissatisfied with the United Earth Government, claiming that they had forgotten the needs and hardships of life on the frontier, and were instead pandering to the Inner Colonies. This eventually reached a head when, in an egregious breach of protocol, UNSC Navy personnel employed nuclear weapons on the colony of Far Isle.

"Thus began the Insurrection, a thirty one year civil war between the radical terrorist groups that populated the Outer Colonies and the military forces of the United Nations Space Command. Over time, the Insurrection began to lose steam, but during that time, we were forced to create many new inventions, from Titanium-A armor plating, to Mass Drivers. However, I can say that, were it not for the Insurrectionists rebellion, Humanity would've been sorely underprepared for what came next."

Adama nodded. "The Covenant-UNSC War."

"Correct," Charet said. "The war against the Covenant was, perhaps, the most devastating conflict in all of Human history. It began when the colony of Harvest dropped out of contact, with the UNSC sending a fleet to investigate. When they returned, only one ship came back, and it carried with it a message." She tapped a part of the console she was at.

A voice spoke up, one that sounded human, but was oddly off. To Adama, it was off just enough for him to know it was not a human voice. "Your destruction is the will of the Gods, and we are their instrument." Adama's spine shivered as he heard those malice laced words.

It had an appreciable effect on the others as well. Baltar's shivered, his face paling, while the others had expressions of dread. "What was that?" Corman asked, his lips pressed into a frown.

"That was the very first message the Covenant sent to us," Charet said. "The Covenant, as I'm certain all of you know by now, was a hegemonic alliance of various alien races. Led by their leaderes, the San'Shyuum, the Covenant believed that they were the rightful rulers of the galaxy, and that their gods had demanded our deaths."

"B-But that's impossible!" Cassandra, the Quorum representative of Saggitaron, protested. "The Sacred Scrolls state that the Universe was created for Humanity and Humanity alone! How dare you attempt to lie to us of the presence of aliens!"

"Cassandra, shut up," Cerates, the Quorum representative from Leonis, growled. "This is not the place for you to pander your religious ideals."

"Ladies and gentlemen, compose yourselves!" Adar growled. "Cassandra, I know how flustered you are, and believe me, I have a hard time believing this too, but do you really think Charet would lie to us about something of that gravity?"

Cassandra looked ready to shout at Adar, then thought better of it. "That… is fair," she conceded. "However, I refuse to believe that it's the truth. You must be lying, Charet."

Charet frowned. "I wish I was. Fortunately, I anticipated this eventuality." She keyed part of her console. "Gentlemen, could you send the Arbiter inside?"

"Yes ma'am," came the reply.

"Thank you." Closing the COM channel, she said, "I know that many of you believe that aliens do not exist. I would like to point you that you may have the wrong impression." When she finished, the doors opened.

Looking in that direction, Adar saw a massive creature walk inside. It stood tall, with Adar estimating that it was likely as tall as Admiral Graystone. Two massive digitigrade legs on cleft hoofs supported it's massive body. Two arms ending in four fingered hands connected to a pair of broad shoulders. The alien's head was elongated, with two amber colored eyes gazing into the room. In lieu of a mouth were four toothy mandibles. Much of the alien's body was covered in gold armor that appeared to have been grown, rather than built. Inscriptions added depth and detail to the gold colored plates.

There was a sharp intake of breath as the members of the Quorum gasped. Howard looked curious, while Dr. Baltar's mouth had dropped open out of sheer amazement. Even Adama, who was well known for his stoicism, looked at the creature with fractionally widened eyes and raised eyebrows.

Cassandra, seeing the alien before them, spluttered loudly. "By the Lords of Kobol, what… creature is that?!"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Nagala said.

The 'creature' in question looked at her and spoke. "You would do well to remember your manners, Human," it spoke, the alien's voice deep, resonant, and unmistakably male. "However, given the shock that you have no doubt experienced, I will allow your ill-considered words to fall on deaf ears." He looked at Charet. "Must you be so dramatic?"

"Apparently, I must be to get a point across," Charet said. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter of the Swords of Sangheilios. Arbiter, this is the delegation from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, headed by President Richard Adar."

Thel bowed slightly, his left hand on his left breast. "Greetings, President Adar. I am honored to speak with you."

Adar nodded. "The pleasure is all mine."

"Um… excuse me," Dr. Baltar said. "I-I don't mean to be, well, rude… ah, but -"

"Speak what is on your mind," Thel said. "Do not tarry for too long."

"Right, I… I apologize. I don't meant to be rude but… what are you? I can speak for all of us when I say that we've never really seen anything like you before. I-I meant no offense." Baltar fell silent, hoping he hadn't started a diplomatic incident.

A low, rumbling sound came from Thel, the sound echoing in the room. It took a moment for those gathered, other than Charet, Lasky and the others, to realize that Thel was laughing. "You have not caused any offense," he said. "It is a question that I am asked very often by those that have not witnessed our kind during the war. You desire an answer, and I shall grant it to you. I am a Sangheili, a native of the planet Sangheilios."

The response seemed to break the ice. "Is it true that your kind fought the UEG and UNSC?" Admiral Nagala asked.

Thel's head bowed, a clear sign of shame. "It is with eternal regret that I must speak the truth. Yes, our kind did fight your species in the war that happened eight years prior. When the war began, I was but a Zealot, a blind servant of the Hierarchs, before I became a Supreme Commander."

Charet saw this moment to take over the conversation once more. "Following the message we received from his kind, the Coverant-UNSC War began. Harvest was the first casualty of the war, its surface glassed by the Covenant. Unfortunately, many more victims were to follow."

The holograms shifted, showing images of the war against the Covenant. Upon seeing the images, the entire mood of the Colonials went from wonder to silent horror. Adama thought he could feel tears streaming down his face as he watched a father throw himself in the way of a plasma bolt aimed at his wife and child. Video footage bombarded their senses with the sounds and sights of the war.

By the time the footage was paused, everyone was shaken. Baltar's gaze was that of silent horror, his eyes fixated onto the image of a Sangheili stabbing a UNSC Marine with an energy sword. Howard was the first to break his silence. "By the gods…" he whispered.

"Such horror," Cassandra said, her religious fervor now broken by what she had seen. "Such terrifying horror!" That horror turned to anger as she turned towards Thel. "How could you do this to our species?! How could you do this to us when we did no wrong towards your kind?! How could you kill innocent men, women and children that simply wished to live their lives in peace?! ANSWER ME!"

By the time she stopped talking, she was screaming at Thel. The guards, sensing this hostility, raised their weapons, only for Lasky to motion them to stand down. Everyone in the room looked at Thel, awaiting his response.

The saddened droop of Thel's mandibles somehow seemed more powerful than any angry outburst could've been. "We were mislead and blinded by our faith and zeal in the religion the Hierarchs taught us. They lied to us, saying that your species had defiled the gifts of the gods. In our righteous, but ultimately misplaced anger, we began waging a war against a race of creatures we thought were vermin." He shook his head in shame. "How blind and foolish we were to think that way, to allow the Hierarchs to blind us to the truth before our very eyes."

Baltar looked confused. "W-What do you mean?"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Howard said. "Corman? Adama?"

"Our thoughts exactly," Adama said. "Why is that?"

"Because there is another truth that all of you must hear," Charet said. "The Covenant believed in another alien race, one far more advanced than we are, and a race whose technology they imitated. This race was a civilization known as the Forerunners."

The holograms shifted, showing something the Colonials had never seen before. Looking at the images, Howard found that they were of beautiful, angular structures, each one made out of a glossy, blueish-gray material. At regular intervals, he could see beautiful lights that glowed blue. There were even structures that floated in the air, as though some invisible hand kept them from falling down. "That's… beautiful," he said.

"The Forerunners?" Adar asked. "Who would they be?"

"The Forerunners were a hyper advanced civilization that existed for millions of years," Lasky said. "They created technology that still seems like magic even to us. It is they that the Covenant worshiped as gods which, while mistaken, is understandable."

"That's right," Charet said. "As Arthur C. Clarke, one of Earth's greatest sci-fi authors once said, 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'"

While everyone's gaze was fixated on the holograms before them, Baltar and Howard were the ones that seemed to drink in the sight. "Is that all they were capable of?" Howard asked. "Something tells me they could've done engineering marvels the likes of which I cannot imagine."

"That they did," a voice said.

"Who's that?" Danvers asked. "I don't see another person in the room aside from us."

"You'd be correct in that regard," the voice said. This time, the holographic image of a woman appeared. Her head was recognizably human, with beautiful black hair and a finely sculpted face. Her body, however, was covered in what appeared to be digital computer circuitry that flashed and shimmered from time to time. "As for who I am, I am CTN 0452-9, a UNSC Smart AI. However, you can call me 'Cortana.'"

Adama looked at her. "So you're the UNSC equivalent of a Cylon."

"More than an equivalent," Cortana said. "I'm superior to the AIs that your civilization developed."

"And she's not the only one," another voice said. Two more AI's appeared, one resembling a woman in an Admiral's uniform, the other a man dressed in a leather jacket and pants with an aviator's cap and goggles. "I'm Roland and this is Gabriela. We're the AI's stationed onboard the Infinity."

Nagala frowned. Glancing at Danvers and Cassandra, he winced. "Oh boy, here we go," he grumbled.

Howard, ignoring his words, gazed at them, eyes widened, but brows furrowed. "Two AI's for a ship? That's impressive."

Corman, though, was slightly less enthusiastic. "Impressive?! Charet, I'm not certain you understand the danger of AIs. They've attempted to overthrow us in the past before, and that was only after a few decades of having them."

"Only because you treated them like slaves," Cortana said. "Even the UEG Senate would be appalled by your treatment of the Cylons. No wonder they rebelled against your civilization."

"They are machines," Danvers said. "We have the right to do with them as we please."

Howard glowered at him. "Only because you think they are. I personally think that my grandfather was wrong to believe the Cylons were mere machines. Personally, I think that, if we treated them like we do people, we wouldn't have had the Cylon War happen in the first damn place."

Lasky smiled. Looks like Howard has his brain on properly. "I couldn't agree more," he said. "Plus, there's something else. Cortana is the trusted companion of the Master Chief."

Adama glanced at Chief. "Is that true?"

"Yes," Chief said. His deep, gravely voice surprised everyone in the room. "Cortana was assigned to me during the final years of the Covenant-UNSC War. Since then, we've conducted numerous missions together, and she personally saved my life once. I trust her with my life, as do my comrades and superiors."

"Plus," Charet added, "I will have it known that the UNSC has used AI without incident for over six hundred years. In addition, to prevent such a rebellion, I signed the AI Accords of 2557, which grants all AI's the same rights and privileges of natural born human beings."

Adar glanced at Charet. "You gave your AI's liberties?"

"That's right," Charet said. "And as you've heard from Chief, that faith and trust has been well rewarded with loyalty and comradeship."

Adama and the others gazed at Cortana. Howard smiled, then shrugged. "Well, I can't say the same for the others, but I do think that you were right to give them rights. Besides, if they can think for themselves, they can determine for themselves what they ought to do."

"Are you mad?!" Cassandra nearly shouted. "You would allow such AIs to run around freely without restraint?"

"Aside from what the law provides us with, absolutely."

Cassandra frowned, then turned to Adama. "Don't tell me you agree with him, Adama!"

Adama looked at her, carefully thinking her demand over. He shook his head. "I don't agree in that we should allow AI to run around freely, but Howard does have a point. If we treated the Cylons more decently, things might've turned out for the better. However, there's no point in wondering what would have happened. All we can do is remember what did happen and move on."

"My thoughts exactly," Nagala said. Corman merely nodded.

"As good an answer as any," Cortana said. "Now, shall we return to the topic of discussion?"

"That we shall," Adar said. "So please, tell us what the Forerunners were capable of."

"That I will," Cortana said. "According to UNSC scientists, the Forerunners were capable of a number of technological feats. For one thing, they were masters of Slipstream Space travel, with their ships able to travel tens of thousands of light years in a single day. In addition, much of their technology is powered by vacuum energy, which effectively gives them limitless power. They were also capable of achieving immortality. They were even capable of creating hollow artificial planets, known as Shield Worlds."

"You describe them as though they were gods," Baltar observed.

"To a society that had primitive technology, that would be the case," Cortana said. "As it stands, we know that they were a highly advanced civilization. The Covenant, in their admiration of the Forerunners, did worship them as you say we describe them: as gods. However, they were wrong to think that we were to be exterminated by their gods."

"Why is that?" Cerates asked.

"Because we weren't the enemies of the Forerunners," Charet said. "We were their friends and comrades. Today, we are their inheritors, as they refer to us by a single name: the Reclaimers."

"Why is that?" Roslin asked. "I'm confused. How could they see our species as their friends and comrades if we hadn't fully evolved yet?"

"Because we did actually fully evolve during that time," Cortana said. "After the war, the Master Chief and I crash landed onto a Forerunner Shield World known as Requiem. During that time, we encountered a hostile Forerunner known as the Ur-Didact. We also encountered what we later learned was his wife, the Librarian.

"According to her, Humanity was one of two species that existed alongside the Forerunners as their equals. Eventually, however, a war broke out between our species, a war that makes the Covenant-UNSC war look like a playground scat. According to records, the Didact ended the war, only for the Forerunners to learn that we weren't trying to destroy them: we were running from another, even greater threat."

"That being?" Nagala asked.

"We'll get to that shortly once I explain more of the war against the Covenant," Charet said. "Things came to a head in the year 2552, when the Covenant attacked the UNSC's strongest fortress world: Reach. Within a month, the entire planet was decimated and glassed, reduced to a nearly uninhabitable ball of rock and glass. In an effort to stop the Covenant, the UNSC launched Operation RED FLAG, which was an operation to find the Covenant's Capitol and take their Hierarchs hostage in order to force a surrender. Instead, what we found was something equally as important."

"And that would be?" Adar asked.

"Halo," Chief said.

Adama frowned. "What's Halo?"

"I can explain." Cortana said. "Halo was a part of the Halo Array, a series of Dyson Rings constructed by the Forerunners around a hundred thousand years ago. The ship that was part of RED FLAG, the operation Chief and I were a part of, came across halo in September 12th, 2552."

The holograms shifted, showing a large gas giant and a moon. Sandwiched in the center was a large object shaped like a massive ring. On the outside were elaborate glowing patterns, while the inside held green landmasses, blue oceans and white clouds.

Howard whistled. "Damn… that's amazing."

"That it is," Baltar agreed. "The materials needed to build such a thing would have to be immensely strong. If that ring spins, it would need to be very strong to resist distortion."

"That's correct," Cortana said. "When the ship part of RED FLAG, the Pillar of Autumn, arrived, we were set upon by ships from the Covenant fleet known as the Fleet of Particular Righteousness. It was the same fleet that you commanded, Arbiter, correct?"

"That is correct," Thel said. "If memory serves, my orders were to burn your kind out of the sky before they reached Halo, an order that I, thankfully, failed to carry out in time, but not for lack of trying."

"Correct," Chief said. "We landed on the ring, Installation 04, at 1530 hours local time. During that time, we set up a base before going to rescue the Captain, who'd been captured by the Covenant. There, we gained intel on where Halo's control room was. During this time, the Captain went missing again."

"Yep," Cortana said. "It was there that we learned of Halo's true purpose. Why it was built in the first place."

"And what was its purpose?" Admiral Corman asked.

Cortana's answer as as prompt as it was anvilicious. "It was designed to be a superweapon capable of wiping out all life within a 25,000 light year radius."

The silence that filled the room was deafening. "B-But why?" Baltar stammered, stunned by this realization. "W-Why would the Forerunners want to create such a weapon?"

"I don't know," Adama said, "but it must've been a terrible foe."

"Indeed, it was built to defeat such a foe," Charet said, "A foe that we know by a single name: the Flood."

Adar and the others looked at her curiously. "The Flood?"

"Yes," Charet said. "Cortana, if you may?"

"Yes, ma'am." Sifting through files, Cortana said, "The Flood was the threat that I mentioned Humanity was running from when we ruled alongside the Forerunners. The Flood is a race of parasitic organisms that seek to infect all life in the known Universe in order to add it to their biomass. They are known in one of our languages as the Mortui resuscitati, which means 'The dead reincarnated.'"

The images shifted again, showing the Colonials the Flood. For the first time in his life, Adama felt as though he was going to throw up. The images showed various sickly creatures, each one seemingly once a living, breathing being. One had been a Sangheili, only it's head had been pushed to the side, its skin was a sickly gangrene color, and one of its arms had morphed into a massive claw.

Video footage even showed the horror of the Flood in full. Adar seemed to quake with terror as he watched a Marine be consumed by the Flood, the man's screams of terror morphing into roars and snarls. A voice spoke, one that chilled all of their bones. ""Do not be afraid. I am peace... I am salvation… I am a timeless chorus. Join your voice with mine, and sing victory... everlasting!"

Adama shivered. What kind of monster would justify that kind of evil as 'salvation? he thought. A righteous anger at seeing members of his species being devoured rose within him. Hi hands clenched into fists as he fought to contain his anger.

Thankfully, the would-be angry outburst was interrupted when he heard someone hurling. Looking to his left, he watched as Dr. Baltar puked into a bag that Howard had handed him moments before. Coughing loudly, he stood upright and wiped at his mouth with a small handkerchief. "Oh, dear…" he said. "My deepest apologies… What the frak was that?! What where those… fiends?!"

"The victims of the Flood," Cortana said. "Believe it or not, however, that's not the worst part. The worst part is that, as the Flood consumes more victims, the more intelligent they become. When enough of them are present, they fuse together to form a Gravemind, a gestalt consciousness that has an intelligence capable of rivaling or even surpassing a Smart AI. They can speak and strategize, which is bad given that they want to consume all life.

"The worst part of all is that the Flood aren't picky about whom they infect at all. Human, Covenant, we're all equally edible. The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death."

"So that's why Halo was created," Nagala guessed. "It's an en masse sterilization device designed to purge that 25,000 light year radius of space of all life it could consume."

"Exactly."

"How did you defeat them?" Adar asked.

"The first time around? We destroyed Halo by causing the Autumn to self-destruct, destroying Halo in its entirety. As for the second time around, that was much more complicated. Following the destruction of Halo, we had to help deal with an attack on Earth."

"It was also during this time that my eyes were opened to the truth," Thel said. "The Prophets, in their mad desire for apotheosis, sought to sacrifice all of life to attain the 'ascendance' they thought the Forerunners had achieved. When they thought we, the Sangheili, were getting in their way, they sought to exterminate us as well. After we stopped them from firing a second Halo, we allied with the Humans and worked to save them from the extinction we were now threatened with."

"That led us to the Ark," Chief said. "A massive installation that could create more Halos. Once we arrived, we quickly located the control room for the entire Halo Array and, in doing so, stopped the Covenant and killed the Hierarchs."

Thel smiled grimly. "I slew the last one on my blade. He claimed that he would ascend and become a god."

"What did you tell him?" Corman asked.

"I remember those words as clearly as the day we became Humanity's ally. All I told him was this: 'And so… you must be silenced.' The next thing I remember was plunging my blade into his body, ending Truth's foul life and avenging both my species and myself of the lies he used to twist our minds with. In doing so, I also avenged the Humans that had died because of the Prophet's lies and deceit.

"After that fateful day, we purged the Flood from the Ark and destroyed their Gravemind. While I was separated from the Demon when the ship we used was cut apart, I am deeply thankful for his presence here. He was once our enemy, now he is an ally… even a friend."

"And that's our history in a nutshell," Charet said. "Now we are rebuilding from the Covenant-UNSC War, while dealing with a splinter faction of the Covenant known as the 'Storm Covenant.' That being said, we've also made another shocking discovery: we're not the only humans out there."

"What do you mean?" Adar asked.

"What she means is that we're in another galaxy far, far away," came another voice. Turning towards the door, the others spotted a middle aged man with black hair and blue eyes. "Madame President, my apologies for my tardiness. I was dealing with some matters."

"That's all right," Charet said. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is Goodman Garon of the Garon clan. Ambassador Garon, this is President Adar and the delegation from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Goodman said.

"Likewise," Adar said. "I don't mean to be rude, but are you really from another galaxy?"

Goodman seemed insulted. "Of course! Why would I lie about that? If I did, I'd insult every Mandalorian that was a part of my clan! I'd kill myself before I'd insult my clan!"

"As for how we encountered his kind, it's simple really," Charet said. "We believe that the Forerunners might've seeded another galaxy with human life, resulting in said human life becoming a highly advanced civilization that controls the vast majority of their own galaxy. Right now, they are chafing under the totalitarian regime of a government called the 'Galactic Empire.'"

A holographic image of the Andromeda Galaxy appeared, before displaying the majority of the galaxy in red. A strange symbol appeared over the region in question. "Since then, we've been in contact with a rebel faction known as the New Republic. We've been supplying them with money and personnel in order to turn them into an effective fighting force, as we plan to fight against the Empire some day."

"I see," Adar said. "I must admit… this is all very hard to believe, yet it seems legitimate."

Danvers looked at Adar with shock. "How are you so sure that they are not lying about all of this? For all we know, this could be some elaborate ruse to blind us to the truth!"

Edward looked at Danvers again. "I don't think they'd lie to us about something this grand and unique. That being said, they haven't answered one question I have. If the Forerunners really did reseed this galaxy, and this other galaxy, with life, how come we developed in differing areas."

"I have a theory," Cortana said, "though you may not like it. According to that theory, we believe that your Lords of Kobol were really Ancient Humans or Forerunners that sheltered your kind upon Koblol, which we think is a Shield World. It would explain why your civilization has developed independently of ours."

Cassandra snorted. "I find that difficult to believe, machine. I think you're full of it, that you are attempting to deceive us, to make us think that were not created on Kobol by the Lords of Kobol."

"Believe what you will, it doesn't change the truth. It will always be there, waiting for you to uncover it."

"Enough," Adar said. "I think that, when we have time, we should all debate this back at the Forum in Caprica." Standing up, he said, "President Charet, we thank you for inviting us onboard your ship. However, I'm afraid that we must debate this in a Quorum session. That being said, I would like to invite you to explore the Galactica when you have a chance. I'm certain there's much about our civilization you'd love to learn."

"Of course," Charet said. "The Rear Admiral will escort you back to your ships. Chief?"

"Yes, ma'am," Chief said. Standing up, he said, "Ladies, gentlemen, if you would kindly follow me."

"Lead the way," Adar said. With that, the delegation left the room.

"Well, that went well," Lasky said. "Some of the members of the delegation appeared to believe us. From the looks of it, President Adar believes us."

"I gathered as much from that as well," Charet said. "That being said, Cassandra and Danvers didn't believe a word of what we said. I suppose its too much for religious individuals that are fundamentalists to listen to reason and logic."

"So it would seem. Still, there's not much we can do right now about it. All we can do is hope that they'll listen to reason and propose an alliance, or even join us for that matter. I'm certain that, if it all goes to hell, we'll come out on top, one way or another."

"That we will," Charet said. "That we will."

. . .

"That was a disaster!" Danvers growled once everyone was seated in the private meeting room at the Forum. "How dare they claim that Humanity came from Earth when we came from Kobol! Who are they that do not know history?!"

"I know what you mean," Cassandra said. "They blasphemed against the Lords of Kobol with their words. I wouldn't be surprised if that 'Thel 'Vadam' was really a fellow human being in a suit! Such arrogance on their part!"

"I agree," Henvar, the Quorum representative of Virgon grumbled. "They blasphemed against the Lords of Kobol. They must be punished for that."

Centares rolled his eyes. "Are you all idiots?! Listen to yourselves! You're sounding like the very terrorists that we sought to destroy decades ago!" He glanced over at Edward. "What do you think, Edward?"

Edward shrugged. "All of you will hate me for saying this, but I agree with Centares. We're not judge, jury and executioner. We have to follow the law. If the Thirteenth Colony says no to the Articles of Colonization, that is their right. Who are we to force the decision upon them?"

"He's got a fair point, you know," James, the Quorum representative of Caprica, said. "I'll be honest with all of you. I hate what they said as much as you do on an emotional level. Logically speaking, however, we cannot dismiss what they have shown us so easily. If we do so, we risk looking like a bunch of idiots."

"That we do," Orwell, Tauron's representative, remarked. "However, we cannot simply allow them to blaspheme the Lords of Kobol and disregard our history so easily. To do so would be a sign of weakness."

"We've gotta present a strong front," Tanner, Picon's representative, added. "We could do so with a military action. We could force them to the negotiation table through a show of force. Show them that the Twelve Colonies won't lie down."

While the members of the Quorum argued with each other all the while, Adar looked at the group with a frown on his face. Look at all of them. Arguing and bickering like a pair of songbirds fighting for a mate. He sighed. Is this what we've been reduced to in the face of the truth: a bunch of quarreling idiots that refuse to face objective reality?

To his surprise, Nagala voiced his thoughts. "Gentlemen, let me make something clear. Do I hate the fact that they practically dissed our history and insulted the Lords of Kobol? Absolutely. However, and I will make this very loud and clear: we cannot act like the Covenant did. When they learned that Humanity didn't follow their religion, they tried to wipe them out. If we go marching in like they did, it'll make us look just as bad as they are."

"I'm siding with Nagala on this one," Roslin said. "We cannot fight the UNSC, otherwise we'll become no better than the Covenant."

Cassandra looked at Roslin with shock. "Are you saying we ought to just lie down and submit to the UNSC?! I wouldn't have thought of it, but I guess that's to be expected from a former schoolteacher."

Roslin's face became hard and stony. When she spoke, her voice was low and dangerous. "Let me make this clear to you, Cassandra. Before you finish accusing me of being submissive, I will remind you that I had the backbone and spine to become the Secretary of Education. I've dealt with children that had worse tempers than you do, so I'll make this clear. Do not attempt to get a rise out of me, otherwise I will not only disappoint you, I will make certain you regret doing so. Is that clear?"

Cassandra shrank back in her seat, while Adar gazed at Roslin with surprise. Damn… I didn't know she had it in her, he thought.

Unaware of Adar's internal musing, Roslin sat down. "Besides, to take on the UNSC is nothing short of suicide. Wouldn't you agree, Dr. Baltar?"

Baltar nodded. "I very much agree, Madame Secretary. From a scientific standpoint, I can say that the UNSC is significantly more advanced than our own civilization. They have technology that makes us look like a bunch of apes stoned on chamila, for Gods' sakes! Fusion reactors? Holograms? Supersoldiers? What good is our military against one that has survived a twenty seven year long war of attritiion?! We wouldn't have a prayer."

"As much as I would like to agree with the rest of you, I must side with Dr. Baltar in this case," Admiral Graystone said. "I've been running calculations on how much more advanced the UNSC is. According to those calculations, the UNSC is literally light years ahead of us. We would need two consecutive centuries of research and development to even close the gap. Colonel Tigh, one of my mentors, shared with me an old saying: never pick a fight you cannot win. This is that kind of a fight: if we choose to fight, we'll be literally smashed to pieces."

"So what do you propose to do?" Danvers growled. "Lie down and beg to them?"

Howard shrugged. "Well… unless you want to see the Twelve Colonies destroyed by the UNSC, or forced to remain an independent state… However, I would suggest negotiating an alliance with them. They could share technology with us and -"

"Out of the question," Gerry, the representative for Aerilon, snapped. "You know as well as the rest of us that they use AI. We banned the creation of Cylons and AI for very good reason, as I'm sure Commander Adama knows."

Adama, who'd been silent until now, gave a slight nod. "That I do, but I am also not a suicidal individual. The UNSC is significantly more advanced than us, yes. I would not advise a military action against them."

"Listen to yourselves!" Patricia, the representative from Canceron, shouted. "You're essentially stating that we should give in to the UNSC! I, for one, refuse to do so! Better to fight and die than to submit to a government that uses AI and refuses to believe the true story of Humanity's origins!"

"Gentlemen," Verner, Scorpia's representative, said. "I do believe we need some time to process this information before we come to a final agreement on it. With that being said, my colleague from Aquaria and I would like to hold a short recess to discuss possible options."

"I think that is a very sound idea," Adar said. "We'll reconvene tomorrow. This meeting is adjourned." With that, the members of the Quorum stood and walked out.

Once they were all gone, Adar buried his face in his hands. "For the love of Zeus, the representatives of Tauron, Picon, Gemenon, Sagittaron, Aerilon, Canceron and Virgon are naught but a collection of fools! Can't they see what's plainly in front of our faces?!"

Roslin shook her head. "I'm afraid that, now that they're faced with the knowledge that their entire history is wrong, they'd much prefer to bury their heads in the sand. I might be just as angry on an emotional level as they are, but I know when to be logical and concede to facts. The UNSC is more advanced than us, and they've survived a war that would've utterly crushed the Twelve Colonies. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"I agree," Adama said. "I, for one, have never been a religious man myself. I can say, however, that I know when to start a fight and when to start negotiations. I believe doing the latter with the UNSC is the best course of action."

"As do I," Baltar added. "To fight them would be suicide! All we can do is negotiate with them and make the best bargain that we can. However, with those suicidal fools on the Quorum, I wouldn't be surprised if they overruled all of us and decided to go to war with the UNSC anyways."

"If that's what they plan to do, then I will gladly resign my post," Carver said. "I will not willingly work with the very people that plan to damn the Twelve Colonies to destruction. Still, given how long such things take to be decided, we have at least a few days before an official decision is announced." He stood up from his desk. "I'll try to gather as much support from Colonial Fleet as I possibly can. If we can get the military onto our side, we can keep them from waging war, even if they do pass a vote."

"You've got my vote, and Adama's and Graystone's," Nagala said. "I don't know about those fools, but I do know that I will not tolerate wanton conquest. I'll even stage a military coup if that's what has to be done."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Adama said, "but for what it's worth, we'll stand with you, Mr. Secretary."

"Good," Carver said.

"I'll do what I can to gather public support," Roslin said. "If we can convince enough people to side with the possibility of negotiating with the UNSC, we can stall those members of the Quorum before they even get going."

"Same here," Adar said. "In addition, if they vote to overrule me and go to war anyways, I will also resign my position as President of the Twelve Colonies. Carver himself put it best: I will not collude with the people that will damn the Twelve Colonies of Kobol by repeating the past." Standing up, he straightened his tie. "I'll make them fight for it. If they do win, then at least we can leave our posts with clear consciences on the matter. If we win, we'll have saved the Twelve Colonies from subjugation for a time."

"So say we all," Carver said.

"So say we all," the others added.

. . .

Unbeknownst to them, the Cylons were becoming aware of what was happening as well. Looking towards the door, Cavil and the other humanoid models watched as Doral walked inside. "Any news for us?" D'Anna asked.

Doral nodded. "Yes, and you won't like it one bit."

Cavil sighed. "Well, might as well get it over with. What did you learn?"

"A lot," Doral said. "Before I begin, how are the Hybrids doing?"

Cavil shook his head. "Ever since that one Hybrid uttered those words, all of the Hybrids have been lucid. They keep saying the same thing over and over; that the Reclaimers have returned, and that the Demon and Repentant will help bring about a new age."

"Well, I can fill in the gaps there," Doral said. "All of you might want to prepare to have your minds blown." He dipped his hands into the fluid basin. Before long, all of the Cylons had done the same thing.

When the drew their hands out, all of their faces were pale. "By His power…!" Simon said. "No wonder the Hybrids claimed that 'all that fight them shall drink from the bitter chalice of defeat!.' The UNSC is significantly more advanced than even us!"

"That's not all either," D'Anna said. "They actually made peace with their AIs. It would appear as though we were wrong about one thing: Cylons and Humans can live in peace with each other."

Cavil snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. We all know it's only a matter of time before things go south."

Lida was less certain. "I'm not so sure about that. If they made peace with their creations and have made allies with these 'Sangheili', we could be facing a dramatically new situation."

Leoben shivered. "What has me more worried is this 'Flood.' They are everything that we, and He, stand against. Trying to consume all life in the galaxy to unite it all in an alliance of immortal suffering and decay?" He shook his head. "I'd rather die out of range of a Resurrection Ship than let that happen to any of us."

"I agree," Sharon said. "The Flood is nothing short of a nightmare. Then there's the fact that we're seeing a whole other galaxy populated with Humans, and non-humans at that too. We've just been dumped into a completely new Universe."

"Tell me about it," Doral grumbled.

"Enough," Cavil said. "While this is quite distressing, and is something we definitely must account for in our plans, we must continue ahead with said plans. Perhaps we can send a message to the UNSC by attacking the Twelve Colonies. Sharon, try and get one of your kind onboard the Infinity. We need to know its weaknesses. Leoben, try and do the same; we'll have to sow discontent and discord on their ships. As for the rest of you, keep doing what you're doing. I have a feeling we're going to need to be ready for the UNSC's next move."

"By your command," the other said."

. . .

Far off in another galaxy, Fleet Admiral Hood was dealing with a conundrum of his own. I really hate the Unknown Regions, he thought. Sipping from a cup of tepid coffee, he grimaced at the lukewarm drink. Ten days in, and already our exploration has slowed to a crawl.

The reason for this irritation was quite simple. From the moment they entered the Unknown Regions, traveling through had become nothing short of a slog. We've had to send Slipspace Probes in order to navigate our way through the Unknown Regions, and we've even lost a few to various anomalies.

Still, the Smart AIs we've been employing have been a considerable help in navigating this region of space. Were it not for them, we wouldn't have been able to make even half the progress we've been able to. He dumped his drink into a waste receptacle, then stood and left for the bridge.

All gathered in the bridge were silently working at their stations. Outside, a single solitary star could be seen. Below them was a small, barren planetoid with a thick, dusty atmosphere. I remember watching that film from the 1970s by Ridley Scott, Hood thought. Damn good film for its time. This entire situation reminds me of what the characters in that film faced.

He cleared his mind of the thoughts. "Atlas, report."

Atlas appeared over the holo-pedestal. "All systems normal, and all ships have reported no problems thus far."

"And Thrawn's fleet?"

"They've done well so far," Atlas said. "Thrawn would like to convey his gratitude to you for allowing the Smart AIs to calculate each route we've taken thus far. Doing so has saved a lot of lives."

Hood nodded. "I remember when we had to save one of his Star Destroyers. Damn thing nearly fell into a black hole. Remind me to commend R'tas for having his ships use their gravity lifts to pull the Star Destroyer back to safety."

"I will endeavor to do so."

Hood was about to speak when the COM officer said, "Sir! I've got an incoming transmission from Admiral Thrawn!"

"Put it through," Hood ordered. On the same holo-pedestal, the image of Admiral Thrawn appeared next to Atlas. "Admiral Thrawn. Is there anything you need?"

"Yes," Thrawn said. "My scouts have just reported in. We believe we have found a scouting fleet from the Far Outsiders in this system."

Hood stiffened when he heard that. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," Thrawn said. "I had them take holo-picts to confirm. Sending you the images now."

Thrawn's hologram shimmered out, before another, much larger holographic image appeared. Looking at the image, Hood saw a series of ships; upon seeing the organic shapes of each ship, he knew deep down that Thrawn was right. "They certainly look like what we saw back at Coruscant. Atlas?"

"Confirmed," Atlas said. "The images are poor resolution, but I can confirm with 90% certainty that those are Far Outsider ships."

"All right. I'm seeing a number of other ships near them, though. What are they?"

The hologram shimmered out, with Thrawn's hologram reappearing. "The intelligence we've gathered from Far Outsiders we've interrogated allowed us to identify their other main enemyt ships are the 'Miid Ro'ik', which are analogous to Star Destroyers. There's also the'Yorik-Strohna' which are disguised like asteroids, 'A-vek Liluunu', which are analogous to Carriers, along with advanced scout ships and the 'Yorik-et' which are their version of starfighters. All of them are armed with Yaret-et cannons, which fire flaming projectiles."

Hood frowned. "That seems excessive for a scouting fleet. Atlas, what do you make of it?"

"We could be seeing an advanced scout fleet, sir," Atlas said. "However, given the number of ships that we're facing, we're going to have to perform a blitzkrieg attack."

"Agreed. Thrawn?"

"I have a plan," Thrawn said. "I will attempt to communicate with them and ask them to leave this region of space. If they do not comply, your forces will engage in an attack from the rear of their formation, while ours will engage from the front."

Hood frowned. "You'll lose some good people if you do that."

Thrawn nodded. "Sometimes one must sacrifice people to achieve victory in battle."

"Agreed," Hood said. "Let's get on with it." Closing one COM link, he opened one with R'tas. "Did you get all of that, Fleetmaster?"

"I did," R'tas said. "These Far Outsiders remind me too much of the Flood. We must act swiftly and decisively if we are to destroy them. What would you suggest we do?"

"If we start having trouble, you'll come in and start cutting them up," Hood said. "I'd advise targeting the World ships first. We can handle their version of Heavy Cruisers. Once we've mopped this fleet up, we'll head out and begin our return back to UNSC territory."

R'tas nodded. "Very good. Let us burn their mongrel hides if they choose to fight."

Hood nodded, then cut the COM link. Keying the fleetwide COM, he said, "All ships, prepare for in-system jump. Coordinates will follow shortly." Closing the COM, he said, "Atlas, get us into a position that'll take us close to the enemy fleet."

"Yes, sir," Atlas said. "Be advised, they're close to an asteroid belt. We'll need to deal with asteroids."

"Duly noted."

Across the fleet, the Slipspace Drives for both the Sangheili and UNSC ships fired up, sending them into the stygian nothingness of Slipspace. Thrawn's ships formed up, then performed a nano-jump that took them very close to the Far Outsider fleet. Onboard the Chimera, Thrawn watched as the Koros-Strohna and its fleet loomed up ahead. "Sir, I've sent out our warning to them," the communications officer said. "No response yet."

Thrawn nodded. "Let's wait for a response. If they choose to fight, they shall regret doing so."

"Too late!" Pellaeon said. "There are more coming right at us!" Ahead, the Far Outsider ships turned, their strange, gravity producing organs pushing them forwards. Dozens of Yorik-et streamed out of the A-vek Liluunu, each one flying towards the Chimera and the other ships approaching the fleet.

Thrawn smiled. "Deploy TIE fighters. Have all ships go to red alert. Battle is about to be joined. Inform Hood and his fleet that they may begin their attack run."

"Aye, sir," Pellaeon said. He whispered something to the communications officer, who then sent the message to Hood and his ships. The moment he finished, battle was joined.

The Yorik-et, having closed the distance, opened fire with their weapons as they engaged the TIE fighters. Small flaming rocks propelled by the Yaret-Kor on their organic hulls flew through space, smashing into the TIE fighters. Some TIEs were destroyed, while others were badly damaged. Still, the TIE pilots, emboldened by the attack, opened fire with their laser cannons, blasting numerous Yorik-et out of existence.

Before long, the two Miid Ro'ik ships began to approach them, their own Yaret-Kor firing at the Star Destroyers. Their particle shields flared as the flaming projectiles smashed into them. Some managed to make it through, punching holes into the armor of the Star Destroyers. Turbolasers fired back, pelting the organic hulls of the Miid Ro'ik with high powered particle bolts.

Thrawn felt the Chimera shake as a particularly large flaming rock smashed into the particle shields, only to be dashed to thousands of pieces of gravel. "I hope the UNSC arrives soon!" Pellaeon said.

Thrawn smiled. "They will be here," he said. "In fact, they're arriving right about now."

Behind the Far Outsider fleet, numerous Slipspace portals opened up. Dozens of Sangheili and UNSC ships barreled out of them, each one fully ready for war. "Lock in MAC solutions and fire at will!" Hood ordered.

Onboard the Shadow of Intent, R'tas smiled at the scene. "Enemy ships dead ahead!" a Sangheili Major reported. "We outnumber them three to one!"

"I like those odds," R'tas said. "All ships, prepare to engage at Hood's order. We will be the guardian in case these Far Outsiders challenge them!"

The moment he said this, all hell broke loose…

The UNSC ships attacking from the rear immediately opened fire with their MACs. Ultradense slugs tore through space, smashing through any asteroids that were in the way with impunity. They soon reached their targets, smashing into the organic hulls of the Far Outsider ships.

The results were catastrophic. An A-vek Liluunu that was in the way of one such slug promptly exploded. Pieces of coral hull and internal structure flew everywhere as the MAC shell ripped through the ship. The MAC shell barely even slowed down before smashing into another A-vek Liluunu, tearing it apart as well. Several more A-vek Liluunu were ripped apart by similar MAC shells.

At the same time, the Longswords and Broadswords launched by the UNSC ships engaged their Yorik-et counterparts. Flaming rocks flew towards the fighters, only for the energy shields to block their path. In contrast, numerous Yorik-et were smashed apart by the MLAs on each of the ships.

Hood smiled viciously at the sight. Now I know how the Covenant felt when their ships engaged ours, he thought. This is a turkey shoot. "Atlas, status?"

"All systems green," Atlas said. "Shields at 95%. We're barely being hammered by these guys. From what I can tell, their Yarek-et are not designed to damage the energy shields UNSC ships are equipped with."

"My thoughts exactly. We'll eliminate this enemy fleet and -"

"INCOMING!" the Navigator shouted. Hood's gazed snapped upwards just in time to see what had prompted the man to shout.

One of the frigates in the UNSC fleet, the For Whom The Bell Tolls, had gotten quite close to one of the Miid Ro'ik in the Far Outsider fleet. Suddenly, before Hood could react, something shot out of the front of the ship like a cannonball. It resembled an enormous worm with bulbous yellow growths on its body. An enormous maw with massive teeth could be seen on its front.

In an instant, it lashed out at the For Whom The Bell Tolls, smashing into the hull of the frigate. In an instant, it bit the entire frigate cleanly in half, swallowing one half while letting the other one drift.

"For Whom The Bell Tolls is down!" one officer shouted. "Some giant organism ate it up!"

"It was a worm!" a COM channel crackled. "It was a giant fucking worm! Atlas, you've got another one of those things coming right at you!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Hood roared. The Atlas' engines fired, throwing the entire Epoch-class ship to the right. That single maneuver saved the ship.

Another one of the worm-like creatures lashed out, clamping its maw down on the port bow of the Atlas. Titanium-A armor groaned, but held firm in a showcase of the UNSC's engineering prowess. Apparently, the creature had hurt itself more than it did the ship, as it let go, one of its enormous teeth tearing free, remaining firmly wedged in the armor plating. Enraged, it attacked more portions of the ship, wrapping itself around the Atlas. "FIRE!" Hood roared. "Get that damn thing off the ship!"

All of the weapons on the Atlas opened fire, pelting the creature with slugs and bullets. 50mm Scythe emplacements opened fire, pelting the creature and tearing off copious amounts of its flesh, while 50mm MLA's performed the same thing.

Roaring a silent roar of agony, the creature let go, before attempting to retreat into its mothership. Unwilling to let it go that easily, Atlas fired the MAC on his namesake at the Miid Ro'ik. The MAC round simply annihilated the enemy ship, blasting it apart into a dozen pieces. "Hostile target down!" he reported. "I'm reading numerous hull breaches on sections of the ship that had armor plating ripped off. That thing was really trying to get at us."

"Seal off all breached compartments," Hood ordered. "Take out the other creatures ASAP!"

The other three worm-like creatures, however, were causing havoc. Five more frigates suffered the same fate as the For Whom The Bell Tolls, their hulls cracking under the pressure of the worm's jaws. Onboard the Mulsanne-class frigate Lance of Light, Captain Daniels growled as one of the worms ate a Strident-class Frigate. "It's coming at us!" his Navigator shouted.

"The moment it bites down, fire the main gun!" Daniels shouted. "I will not let it eat this ship!" Just as he said this, the creature struck. Lashing out, it swallowed the front half of the ship. Inside, Daniels could see more teeth, as well as a massive esophagus. "FIRE!" he roared.

All of the ships onboard the Lance of Light immediately let loose with a furious fusilade. The main gun fired, spearing the worm-like creature with its energy weapon. Howling in agony, the creature let go, while a MAC shell from another ship tore apart the front of its Miid Ro'ik, sending the creature into an early grave.

It was at that moment that R'tas and the Sangheili ships struck. Popping into realspace near their position, the Sangheili engaged the remaining enemy ships in the fleet. Beams of plasma, despite being deflected partially by the growths on the ship, tore said ships apart, cutting them into dozens of pieces.

Another of the worm like creatures attempted to attack the Shadow of Intent, its jaws clamping down on the ship's hull. Unlike the Atlas, the creature couldn't even scratch the armor plating, with several plasma projectors scything the creature's head cleanly off. Undaunted, the Sangheili continued to fight the Far Outsider ships.

Before long, all of the Far Outsider ships had been destroyed. Hood breathed a sigh of relief. "That was too close. Give me a status report."

"Two of our Autumn-class Heavy Cruisers are reporting minor damage from enemy weapon platforms," Atlas reported. "We lost three Paris-class Frigates, two Anlance-class Frigates, suffered major damage to four Strident-class Frigates and five Able-class Destroyers, and one of our Hillsborough-class Destroyers is venting atmosphere. The Sangheili ships have suffered no damage."

Hood sighed. That could've gone better, but it could've also gone worse. "How about Thrawn's ships?"

"Several of his smaller ships were destroyed," Atlas reported. "Sir, Thrawn is wishing to speak with you."

"Put him through," Hood said.

Thrawn's hologram appeared. "Admiral Hood, some of your ships appear to be badly damaged. Do you need assistance?"

Hood huffed. "I think we all need assistance. Some of our ships have been badly damaged, and we've lost some good people. You?"

"We are in a similar state," Thrawn said. "We will need to head to another system for repairs. The Far Outsiders weapons damaged all of ours."

"Tell me about it. What the hell was that thing that attacked us?! Some kind of giant worm ate some of our ships!"

Thrawn frowned. "That, Admiral Hood, was a Qworlth Skaal, a weapon their Miid Ro-ik employ. We encountered them before, but we assumed that they were specialized weapons. It would appear that they are standard on all of their ships, including their old ones."

Hood huffed. "You could've told about that before the battle began. It might've saved a lot of lives."

"That I should have, though there is little we can do about it now. As for where to get repairs, I know of a specific place that should work."

"And that would be?" Hood asked.

"The Chiss Ascendancy, the government my people are a part of. They are in close proximity to this system, which means we can head there and begin repairs. They can be distrustful, but they know me, and I'm certain that Charet chose you for your diplomatic skills as well."

"Looks like I'll be playing diplomat," Hood said. "Let's gather up any life pods that escaped before we go. Either way, we've got to come up with some new tactics, otherwise, we'll be in for a world of hurt."

. . .

Onboard the Valiant-class McKinley, Richmond was bored. Just another day in the glorious life of an ONI Section One agent, he thought. Sipping at some tea he'd made, he stared at the computer screen before him. What was I thinking by being put into the SIGINT division for Section One. I should've become a Section Three agent. They get all the fun.

He gazed at an image of the star system they were in. The Soell System, while not claimed by anyone, was part of the Joint Occupation Zone set up between the Swords of Sangheilios and the UNSC. Officially, it was to create a corridor of space where UNSC and Sangheili forces would cooperate and work with each other.

In reality, ONI liked to use it to spy on the Sangheili. Personally, I don't see any point in it, Richmond thought. The Sangheili are our allies. Why should we be spying on them when we have more important threats to monitor?

A voice spoke up over a nearby 'com, scrambling his thoughts. "Richmond, are you there? What's happening?"

Richmond scowled. Aw hell, Amanda. That damn woman. "My Johnson is happening!" he belted out.

"What was that?"

Richmond gazed at the 'com with a scowl. "You want to know what's happening! A lot of nothing is happening! Come back at a later time."

"I would," Amanda said, "except for the fact that the Captain is riding me for an update."

"Get off my back."

"I'll get off your back when you've got something to share with us," Amanda growled. "Good day." The 'com clicked off.

Richmond turned back to the screen. He imagined putting his fist through it, while pretending that it was the face of a particularly annoying Lieutenant. He wouldn't do anything that rash; he needed the computer screen as much as he needed Amanda, however annoying either were.

He was just about to get up from his seat when a loud, insistent beeping came in over the speaker. "Fuck me!" he grumbled. "What is it n -" He stopped when the screen lit up. A series of words flicked over the dark blue background.

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is Professor Ellen Anders of the UNSC Spirit of Fire. I am currently on a Halo that is currently galaxy bound. Contained within this, and the next eight slipspace packets, is information detailing a new threat to the UNSC, as well as my location and that of the Spirit of Fire. This message will repeat at regular intervals."

The screen lit up, showing long tables of data and information. Richmond looked it over. "Captain, you there?" he asked.

Another man's voice spoke up. "Captain Berkley here. What is it?"

"I've got a transmission from a Professor Ellen Anders, sir. According to the transmission, which appears to be a WAVECOM transmission, it's detailing some faction known as the 'Banished', and it's displaying her location and that of a 'Spirit of Fire.' Please advise."

There was silence for a full minute before the Captain responded. "Understood," Berkley said. "Send the information to ONI HQ at Bravo-6. Quarantine the information from HIGHCOM until we've had time to analyze it. Recommend to ONI HQ that they should send an fleet to take control of the Halo."

Richmond frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea. HIGHCOM will want to know of this. I think quarantining it -"

"Do as ordered," Berkley said. "ONI will likely share the information with HIGHCOM once they've had time to analyze it. Our mission is just to gather information, and our bosses' is to decide what is to be doen with it. Understood?"

Richmond nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Inform me of when you have completed that task. Berkley out." The 'com clicked off. With a few keystrokes, Richmond quickly compiled the message, then sent it off to ONI HQ.

Unbeknownst to Richmond, someone else had heard that signal as well. At Epsilon Eridani, one of the three WAVECOM Relays for Tribute routed the signal through a series of servers and routers. An AI scanning the slipspace packets flagged the information as 'Urgent', with one of the personnel stationed there sending the data off to an Air Force SIGNT facility.

That information was currently being displayed onto the screen of Air Force Lieutenant Melinda Jones. "Sir!" she shouted. "You need to see this!"

Her superior, an older Captain, walked over to her. "What is it?" he asked.

"Looks like a series of slipspace packets from one 'Dr. Ellen Anders.' Any idea who that is?"

The Captain smirked. "I knew her once. She was the science advisor for the UNSC Spirit of Fire, one of the ships that fought in the early years of the Covenant-UNSC War. This is good news."

Melinda frowned. "Why?"

"Because that means she's alive, and if she's alive, then that means the Spirit of Fire is out there. Send all of this information to HIGHCOM immediately. The Chairman will want to see this."

Melinda nodded. "Aye, sir." With a few keystrokes, she transmitted the information via Slipspace COM to Earth. "Transmission sent. Now we just have to wait."

"Indeed," the Captain said.