Chapter 3
Location: Stargate Command
Date: September 25, 2021
Time: 1200 Hours
Kelsey Adama was awoken by a soft knock at her door after falling asleep for several hours in the soft bed she was laying on. She hadn't really changed into anything different when she had gone to sleep, well she didn't have anything else. So Kelsey moved to get up out of the bed, remembering her injury as she moved and felt the piercing pain still in her thigh. Before she got up she saw a small plastic cup of water and tray with a couple painkillers that a nurse had left for her, popping them in she slugged the water and decided not to push anything and used the button on the nightstand next to her to flick on the green light outside the door, meaning it was okay for visitors to come on in, and after this the door opened. Leading the way in was the same nurse who'd been the one handling her and also revealing Dr. Jackson standing there with a handful of books and magazines in his hands.
"Oh hello Doctor Jackson," she sleepily greeted him.
"You can just call me Daniel, I'm sorry did I wake you?" he said, noticing the sleepiness in her eyes.
"It's fine, I just dozed off a little, or a lot. I guess it's a new day, what's with the books?" she asked.
"Oh I just figured you'd want something to do, and I thought you'd appreciate a good book or magazine just to pass the time in case you aren't a TV watcher. Y'know so you can learn about Earth a little bit, you know, that sort of thing," he offered the stack to her which she looked at and perked her eyebrow up, motioning towards her arm in its sling where she was sitting, "Oh yeah right. Where would you like 'em?"
"Oh I guess the nightstand will due," she replied motioning vaguely with her hand towards the gray table next to her.
"Alright, I'll just put them right here. Also, I was wondering if you were hungry, we've got quite a menu for dinner tonight, if you were interested…I mean unless you wanted to read these first or you weren't hungry?" Daniel offered kindly, walking towards the door.
"Uh I guess getting something to eat wouldn't hurt," Kelsey responded, shrugging her shoulders.
"Great, but uh…you may want to stay off that leg," he said, pulling the wheelchair over as the nurse went to help her, "I mean from what I've read you took some nasty pieces of shrapnel from your crash."
Kelsey was still adamant that she was a tough individual, strong and proud, a product of growing up with two older brothers. She felt that she couldn't afford to look weak, especially considering that these Earthers would be judging her whole people by her every action and tendency. She couldn't let them think her people couldn't stand a little pain. However, the more logical side of her mind said that she shouldn't make her people look like proud obstinate fools who were unwilling to accept kind offers, which was the side she chose to listen to.
"I think I could do with some food," Kelsey grumbled as she gratefully as she swung her legs over and the nurse gave her a hand into the wheelchair and decided to try and lighten the mood some, "It's not going to be poisoned, is it?"
"Nah, we only do that for the uncooperative."
"Well I'd better be cooperative huh?" Kelsey said as Daniel took over handling the wheeling of the chair for the nurse who fell in behind Daniel and walked besides the SF assigned to keeping an eye on her.
Daniel just smirked in understanding, he was well aware of what she was going through. He had been there and done that. Which meant he was a good person to help connect with her while she was under Earth's stewardship.
"So, I've been cleared to kind be your caretaker while you're here on Earth," Daniel started, not really gaining her attention, "I was wondering if you could perhaps help me out with trying to figure out where exactly your system is located. That way we can return you to your home and family."
Kelsey nodded in understanding, she knew that they couldn't help themselves, it was human nature to want to know and understand things, "I don't know how much help I'll be, my sphere of interest was fairly narrow, so I mean…y'know there's only so much I can reliably convey."
"Oh you never know, you might end up being a huge help, we've explored quite a bit of our galaxy and know most of more advanced cultures out there. At least I hope we do, the more advanced people become the more out of touch they become with their ancestry," he said.
"That tends to happen," Kelsey said, taking in the talk of advanced culture quietly, trying to mask her face's curious expression, holding onto all the information she could.
"So do you even have an idea of where your system was located on in the galaxy as a whole?"
"Well…if you showed me a big overview of the galaxy, with the arms and all, I could tell you where in relation to an arm we thought we were located."
"Alright, good, that's a start."
Kelsey smiled as Daniel opened the door politely and held it open for her to enter the mess hall where there were a few people grabbing a late lunch. Daniel instantly noticed that most of SG-1, save Colonel Carter, were all sitting together in a corner together, enjoying a large pizza while other tables were likewise occupied.
"Daniel," Colonel Mitchell called out, waving him over.
"Hey Cam," Daniel replied, "Teal'c, welcome back, how're things on Dakara?"
"The new elections are not going as well as hoped Daniel Jackson," Teal'c admitted, "But there remains much time with which to rectify the situation. For now I am glad to be back in the company of my Taur'i friends."
"So, how's the pizza?"
"Amazing," Vala managed to mumble through a mouthful of the delicacy.
"Who's your friend?" Mitchell asked, flirtatiously, examining the pretty face of Kelsey Adama.
"Lieutenant Kelsey Adama, Colonial Fleet," she greeted, offering a hand that Mitchell hesitantly took.
"Colonel Cameron Mitchell. Daniel?"
"Oh this is that pilot that crashed at the Alpha Site. She's from a system that we're trying to find so we can make contact with her people. Kelsey this is Vala, and the big guy is Teal'c," Daniel said pulling out a chair and allowing her push the wheelchair into its place.
"Her people?" Vala asked, "And what would be your people's name? Perhaps I've heard of them," she then winked.
Kelsey looked over to Daniel as he offered her a plate, "It's fine, just don't play cards with her and you'll keep whatever valuables you have."
"We call ourselves the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, we're about as advanced as you are, with several differences of course."
"Of course," Mitchell acknowledged, trying to take part in the conversation.
"Kobol…hmm…nope, never heard of 'em. How 'bout you muscles?" Vala asked, placing her chin in her hand as she looked at Teal'c as he tapped a parmesan shaker over the top of his slice of pepperoni.
"I am unfamiliar with the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."
"Some help you are," Vala grumbled, taking another bite of her pizza, and noticed that Kelsey hadn't even taken a single bite of her own pizza yet as Daniel gave her a plate with a single slice, "You gonna eat that?"
"Oh…I've just never seen food quite like this," she gestured to the peperoni pizza on her plate.
"It's good, granted it's not delivery, but it's good," Mitchell said as he finished a slice.
"Wow, it is good today," Daniel said as he too took a bite.
"See, told ya the new mess staff were good."
Kelsey gingerly picked up the hot slice and nibbled off a piece of melting cheese and sauce. Immediately she took an even bigger bite, which drew the smiles of everyone including Teal'c.
"Was my face like that when I took my first bite of pizza?" Vala asked as Kelsey chewed the amazing food.
"You were slightly different, granted the pizza nearly scalded you, but you looked a lot like that. Dammit, I forgot to take a picture of a first pizza slice face again," Mitchell groaned, getting some chuckles.
"Okay, we had nothing like this on Caprica, or any of the Colonies for that matter," Kelsey said first thing after swallowing, "This is amazing, why didn't we figure out how to make this?"
"Well, the whole key to a culture's food is a combination of geography, plant life, and animal life and its abundance. I can actually suggest a few shows on Netflix, your room's TV has it, stuff like that is actually the best way Teal'c and Vala learned our culture," Daniel offered.
"I find the man known as Andrew Zimmern most entertaining," Teal'c spoke up.
"I like Bear Grylls personally, wait no…Jason Bourne is my favorite, I've always had a fetish for adventurous and dangerous men," Vala trailed off, kind of putting a real awkward atmosphere over the table, "What? Surely you all have celebrity crushes. How about you Kelsey? Any men back home you wouldn't mind ripping the clothes off of?"
Kelsey coughed violently as she was chewing at such an unexpected question, and Daniel just sighed through his nose and then flicked Vala on the side of her head, causing her to yipe for a second.
"What?! I'm just trying to connect with the girl on a more…personal level."
"That's pretty personal," Kelsey stammered, recovering some sense of calm.
"Yeah, let's avoid that topic with total strangers," Mitchell agreed.
"I would ask you to cease staring at my forehead Lieutenant Adama," Teal'c suddenly spoke, catching Kelsey slightly off guard.
"Wh…what?"
"You were staring at the gold…thing on his forehead weren't you?" Mitchell asked.
"I'm sorry I've just never seen anything like that before, what the frak is that thing?" she replied.
"It is the sign of Apophis, a Gou'ald system lord that I served in my days of worshiping false gods. But thanks to the warriors of the Taur'i me and my people overthrew the Gou'ald and won the freedom of all Jaffa," Teal'c said, quoting the classic line.
"The Jaffa? So that means that you're…"
"I am not of this world, nor am I human."
"But…but you look just like a human," Kelsey stammered. She'd always thought of alien as being grotesque beings with two heads or something.
"The Jaffa are a race much like ours, just genetically altered to the point of being a separate race," Daniel informed Kelsey.
"I see…and these Gou'ald? What were they?"
"A race of parasites that took humans as hosts and then took on the mantle of Gods and enslaved both Humans and Jaffa, more than once they attempted to enslave this world, but the Taur'i defeated them on every occasion," Teal'c said.
"You have been attacked by aliens? How'd you fight them off?"
"Let's just say that luck had more to do with it than we'd like to admit, also having the damn best teams of combat operators, scientists, and alien allies helps too."
"So you used this Stargate thing, the thing you brought me here through?" Kelsey asked again, really feeling she could glean a lot of information.
"Not entirely, having probably the finest warships in the galaxy has its perks, and we only just acquired those," Mitchell said.
Instantly Kelsey shifted, this was information that could prove useful to the Fleet if they ever went to war as she was afraid they might. But judging by the track record of these Earthers, a war was looking more and more like a real two-way fight. But she also realized that they could be pulling a fast one on her, trying to appear like they were in a position of strength to intimidate her and then later her people and government.
"These warships of yours…" she began, but was cut off by Mitchell.
"Let me stop you right there, Lieutenant. We only just met you, don't push your luck, the state of our ships and planetary defenses is something very few people on our own world know, much less someone we only just met. So even if you do ask, then I am obliged to tell you that no, none of here will tell you."
She winced from the scathing remark, but she had to say something, so she went out on a limb, "I was going to ask if they were anything like our Battlestars? Just curious if your people and my people have retained a similar taste in warship construction."
"Maybe, but you won't know that until after your people meet us," Daniel spoke up, wanting to get rid of the rising tension that talk about military and secrecy tended to cause, "But first we need to find them right?"
- Four Days Later -
Battlestar Galactica
0930 Hours
Commander Adama was in the gym of his old Battlestar, pounding away at an old punching bag that was hanging over in a corner. It had been week since his daughter had disappeared. Fleet Command had since declared her MIA along with the Raptor ECO. The scuttlebutt rapidly spread that Lightbulb and Eyeball were MIA, and that the Commander was not taking it well. They were right. William Adama had lost one child, the loss of another would have been too much to bear.
But he went about dealing with the stress in the only way he knew how. He started spending more and more time, several hours at a stretch, pounding either a punching bag or a brave crewman or officer who happened to be sparring with someone or was just unlucky enough to feel sorry for their CO and step into the ring. Already Adama had put his CAG into sickbay with a broken nose after the Captain had decided to pull Adama off a punching bag and fight a real opponent.
The crew didn't seem to be taking the loss of a pair of pilots any better than he was, a silent memorial was held in honor of the two on the flight deck, with several candles being lit and silent prayers said for their souls. As ordered, the entire Raptor fleet aboard Galactica had been barred from FTL activation pending an investigation, which was now pointing to faulty fuel stores aboard the ship's number six tank. But of the crew, the pilots were taking it the hardest. They'd given the rookie a hard time, but that was Battlestar tradition, but seeing that same rookie leave and never return was not something that was normal for these pilots considering the fact many were reservists. But of all the pilots, Starbuck was having the hardest time with Kelsey's disappearance. She'd become even more insubordinate and dangerous than ever before, fighting anyone she perceived as talking about Kelsey in a negative way. The two had been best friends since Kelsey had joined the Fleet, and had become her mentor aboard the Galactica.
Adama continued pounding the poor inanimate bag with everything he had, so he didn't take note of the door opening and saw the small figure of Dee walk in with a very familiar face in full flight gear right behind her.
"Commander?" Dee asked, trying to speak over the slapping noises the boxing gloves made on the bag. But her voice went unheard, "Commander Adama sir?" this time her voice was drowned out by one last blow that actually ripped the hanging bag from the chain holding it up. It smacked onto the ground, leaving both Dee and Lee Adama standing there stunned at the sheer power exhibited before them.
"Dad," Lee finally spoke, and gained his father's attention. Commander Adama turned around slowly and gazed at his oldest son, his last child.
"Lee…" he panted, examining the tall young man before him, "What're you doing here? You weren't supposed to arrive for a couple months."
"I asked to be transferred to the Galactica until her decommissioning," Lee said, stepping forward, "After what happened to Kelsey I felt that I needed to be here."
"How'd you find out about your sister?" the Commander asked as he took his gloves off and put them in the bag he brought with him to the gym.
"Petty Officer Duala told me you weren't taking it very well," Lee said, looking at Dee.
"Sir, me and the crew couldn't stand to see you going through the kind of pain you've gone through, not alone. Colonel Tigh…Colonel Tigh ordered me to contact Captain Adama and inform him of what's happened and ask him to come see you," she said, "You needed family to be here."
The old Battlestar commander looked his young officer with stabbing eyes that seemed to soften as he listened to her statement and nodded in understanding, "I know what you're trying to do Dee, and I thank you and the crew for your concern, return to your post."
Dee looked at Lee and saluted smartly as she left and closed the door shut and then Lee went to the door and latched it shut, leaving the two Adamas alone.
"What happened to my sister?" Lee asked, holding back the tears and the stress in his voice as he let go of the hatch.
"We don't really know, Mr. Gaeta and Chief Tyrol have been looking into it for the past week and so has a Fleet inspector. So far all of our investigations have pointed to is a faulty fuel filter leading an over-concentration of the reactive component of tylium, which might have overloaded her ship's systems resulting in an overjump, but as for how far…we have no idea. She was set to jump to Caprica where she was supposed to pick up some of the Galactica's original crewmen for the decommissioning. But when she jumped…" Adama spoke, pausing to find words to describe it, "She never reappeared."
"Just like that? And Kelsey just vanishes?!" Lee snapped, unleashing pent up emotion he had been storing for at least three days.
"Lee…"
"Oh I know that story. Those are the kinds of risks we take every time we step into the cockpit, it's exactly what you said when Zak died!"
"Lieutenant Kelsey Adama was your sister, but don't forget she was my daughter!" Adama growled stepping into Lee's face, "And you would be wise to remember that."
"Why…why did you choose her? Why didn't you choose some other pilot? Why…" Lee trailed off, frustrated beyond anything he'd ever experienced in his life.
"Say what you came to say Lee. You know that I have no say on the pilots being sent on frakking milk runs!"
Lee sighed a labored breath out through his nostrils, and turned around.
"She did it for you, you know that right? When Zak died and you were back aboard a Battlestar she couldn't stand to see you leave like that. And it was my own fault for not being there for you. So, she wanted to step up, be a true Adama, Viper Wings and all, and be there for you. She saw what losing Zak did to you, and all she wanted to do was make it better, to help. Just like she always wanted to do, just like when she quit the school Pyramid team to help mom, or when she got a part-time job when you and her divorced," Lee ranted, fuming with every breath she took.
Adama stood there, watching the flushing of his son's face as he fumed and rolled around in his pent-up anger. He saw his bloodshot eyes refuse to give into the grief that he was feeling, but refused to let it out.
"Son…" Adama spoke quietly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything. Your mother, your brother, but this is one child I will not lose. She's out there, she's alive. We will find her."
In that moment Lee felt his father's powerful arms grab him by the collar of his flight suit, and he felt the powerful embrace he was pulled into. Finally, the emotion just poured out and he just grabbed his father tightly and closed his eyes, allowing himself to put aside all that anger, all that hate, and allowed himself to let the tears fall.
"So say we all."
- One Week Later -
Stargate Command
1200 Hours
"Ah Colonel Carter, good to see you," General Landry said as soon as the blonde-haired officer he had once had the privilege to have under his command stepped into the room.
"General Landry, how are you sir?" she replied happily, shaking her superior's hand.
"Never better, how's George's ship?" Landry asked, offering her a seat.
"The Hammond will be ready again in a few days. The new Space Dome missile defense system is installed as well as our new VLS silos and the new armored housings for our railgun turrets. We're almost finishing rewiring with fiber-optic cables and adjusting the ship's drive systems to compensate for the weight savings. Right now though the ship's upgrades and training simulators are being used as a training aid for the Sydney's crew so they can get some experience on the real thing before their own ship launches. It's the best we can do until we can get a proper full-scale simulator for new recruits."
"Lord knows we need one," Landry chuckled, "But with everyone and their mother wanting their own battlecruiser it's practically impossible to get anything else built except for what's needed in order to keep to schedule."
It was a fact that with the new matter synthesizer technology acquired from the Asgard Computer Core that manufacturing warships of the BC-304, the Daedalus-Class, and the BB-305, the Alaska-Class, was going much faster than it had in the past, but they still had to do quite a bit of the work the old way seeing as there was no way they could power their synthesizers for the whole process and nor could they create advanced fully-assembled components. But they could create the raw material, such as shaped and fabricated trinium hull plates, control crystals, small sections of corridors, and the individual subcomponents to the thrusters, the numerous scrubbers and life support duct work, generator casings, power lines, their advanced weapons subcomponents, and other such materials. Assembly was still a laborious and certainly not an easy process.
The BC-304's had received incremental upgrades over the years, going in one at a time for these upgrades which included a space-capable version of the Israeli Iron Dome, and newer and faster anti-ship missiles fired from new VLS silos along with newer magnetic launch systems refitted in the stead of the older steam catapults in the hangars. This went alongside mid-life maintenance work including replacing computers, kitchen equipment, weapons subsystems, life support equipment, older sensors with newer models, and other such items. Still, with the lethargic pace of construction and mid-service refits slowing their build-up the number of trained crewmen was just barely able to keep up with the pace of building. Even F-302's were being scaled back due to hundreds of them now sitting in underground bunkers in the Alaskan Range, at Area 51, on Ascension Island, the Tibetan Plateau, the northernmost Swedish Scandinavian Mountains, in the Australian Outback, and the Ural Mountains needing to be upgraded to the Block II standard with new avionics packages, new computer support systems for a special version of the USA-sourced JHMCS II helmet, a built-in FLIR pod in the nose, and an all fiber-optic cable set-up and new vertical stabilizers, including the removal of the second seat except in the training version.
But that still didn't stop the geniuses and technicians at the shipyards from coming up with new designs practically daily. There were designs for numerous ships such as a science vessel the IOA was screeching about not getting and a supply ship meant to assist off-world allies and serve as a basis for a future civilian cargo ships. But the military had managed to win the competition for priority with a carrier-type ship, tentatively called the X-307 class being chosen for development priority, this was intended as an answer to the noticed inability of the Taur'i to put out a large fighter screen by taking an Alaska-Class and enlarging the hangar bays both length-wise and width-wise to house triple the number of F-302's with a second command deck astern of the Alaska's command deck and removing much of its developmental predecessor's offensive weapons systems. But this had led to a massive glut of unmanned designs ranging from fighters, gunships, and recon assets, they had three competing unmanned fighter designs meant to supplement the F-302 in planet-based defense squadrons, two gunship types, one for true space combat, and another meant to act as a Stargate-capable combatant, and a solid dozen unmanned reconnaissance and hunter-killer drone designs. Even General O'Neill had slipped the idea of a massive command ship 1,200 meters long to her, wanting it called the Enterprise.
But Colonel Carter was here to share the idea of the smallest of their new manned designs, and nearest to completion of these designs, the X-306 Scout Ship. General Landry had seen the specs and pictures of the ship, and even read a file of its first trials.
"So, Colonel, let's skip to the part where you dazzle me and Jack with this new wonder ship that you've been working on."
"General O'Neill's here sir?" Carter asked.
"He's getting coffee right now, but he should be back any moment. Ah there he is…" Landry said, standing up when he saw Jack sauntering in with a great big SGC mug filled with coffee.
"General O'Neill sir," Carter saluted, smiling at seeing her former team leader again.
"Carter, good to see ya. What wonders do you bring to dazzle and confuse me with this fine day?"
"Well…I have been told you wanted to see the specs on the X-306," she said.
"Excellent, I always enjoy seeing another badass ship we've made," he said walking to the door into the briefing room, "General," he said holding the door open for Landry, but stopped Carter, "Say Carter, any word on that…idea I pitched to you?"
"You mean the Enterprise?" Carter grinned.
"Yeah, has it…interested those ship junkies at all?"
"Sir, like I told you the last time you pitched the idea of the Enterprise to me it's simply too big, it would take up every one of our matter synthesizers for at least a month just to hollow out space for the dock for the Enterprise. That is…if we can get approval for using that much. Then the ship itself would take almost a year just to construct and launch, if we had the personnel. But to train a crew of the size needed would be nearly unfeasible with the manpower we have and wouldn't be very efficient at all."
"So…not yet?"
"Think about like this sir, what would you rather have? Six Battlecruisers, or three Battleships, or one Command Ship?"
"Well ideally all the above," Carter chuckled a little and walked in, "But you didn't say no."
"Jack, I know how much you want to have your big flagship but she has a briefing to give us."
"Fine."
Both General officers sat down and let Carter pop an encrypted data drive into a computer and started projecting the power point she had prepared on the X-306.
"The X-306 is a prototype scout vessel that we've designed as an answer to planets of strategic importance with no Stargates. Its stated mission is to be able to stealthily get to a faraway planet quickly, and observe any activity going on there. And if needed land an SG-Team which will be required to be trained to handle this craft. It is equipped with the smallest working hyperspace engine we've ever made with twice the speed of the original Prometheus. It can hold a maximum compliment of ten but only needs one person to operate it. For stealth it is also equipped with a cloak reverse-engineered from the one used on the Tel'tak, but if push comes to shove it can be outfitted with a combat payload of two built-in rotary missile racks, the same used in the F-22 Raptor, and in the chin it has the same gun as the one used on the F-302," she paused it to scroll to a clip of the X-306 running through a few trials, doing simple maneuvers with flawless precision, "Our initial tests have shown that the X-306 is well and truly our version of a Puddle Jumper, being very comparable in overall performance characteristics, but a bit bigger. And in terms of defensive characteristics it is roughly comparable in strength to that of a Jumper thanks to its layered trinium hull with a crumple zone present in the beneath the floor for absorbing shock from crashlandings. So in terms of the crew compartment it can take hits and give the crew a very good chance of getting out alive. And the best part, is that they were designed to fit into the ventral bays of our ships so that our fleet's hangars won't need a substantial refit in order to operate a 306 for the long-term. While it's no combat ship, it can still be used in a pinch to support ground teams with some limited capabilities depending on its missile loadout, it's capable of taking Hellfires, Sidewinders, and Sparrows. If necessary, it could also mount a pair of Maverick missiles or a variety of bombs under each wing or rocket pods and has a built-in FLIR pod for self-designating targets for precision strikes."
"Very impressive, I want one," O'Neill said, watching the graceful craft on the screen perform expertly executed barrel rolls over Area 51.
They watched the Scout Ship for a while noticing how simply it was built. It had an angular, larger, more dart-like, body of a Puddle Jumper. On top of the hull towards the back were short and long dual fins with the ship's classification number on it. But instead of the retracting engine pods of a Jumper it had four massive engines mounted above and below both wings that were angled down from the fuselage and then bent back upwards to allow the ship to be able to land without having to retract the wings. The missile pods were mounted directly into the sides of the belly that opened their doors to allow the variety mission centered weapons to be fired. The gun was visible in the chin of the craft, giving an easy aim point for the pilot. It looked to be slightly smaller than a Tel'tak in terms of length and the hull a little wider than a Puddle Jumper, but if what Carter had said was true it could outperform the former and not break a sweat, and could give the Ancient mainstay gateship a run for its money, but was still larger and not capable of gate travel.
"What do you think, Colonel? It is ready for full production?" Landry asked.
"As of now sir?" she asked, "We've conducted thorough testing, both virtual and trials, and the results have given me good reason to say that it could go through some careful field testing, and pending the results of those field missions I'd say we can begin our initial production run."
"So...yes?" O'Neill asked.
"Yes sir, it can be deployed as of now, but only in quiet missions. I wouldn't suggest combat at all. It's a Scout Ship, not a Gunship."
"Good, because Daniel is going to want one."
"Want one for what?"
"Doctor Jackson has sort of taken it upon himself to find the home system of a pilot who crashed at the Alpha Site a few weeks ago. So far, he's pinpointed the potential location to a single sector of the Milky Way Galaxy where, frankly, we've never visited the sector before, and neither had the Gou'ald, Jaffa, or Ori. According to what we've gathered from her, her people believe that Earth is a long-lost cousin that split from them several thousand years ago. In that time these Twelve Colonies of Kobol have mastered interstellar travel and have amassed quite a fleet of supposedly-impressive warships. But she's barely given us any information on the capabilities of her people's military," Landry spoke.
"That's why we want this craft, we need to see what they're packing, and Daniel wants to study them and their culture so he knows what to expect when we make first contact," O'Neill said.
"Well what has she told us about their military capability?"
"We know they call their capital ships Battlestars, so that's one thing."
"She has made a point of not telling us about her military, she's afraid she could help us find weaknesses in her people's defenses and if war erupts, which she says is likely, she'll be responsible for the deaths of thousands of her people."
"But if they've got ships called Battlestars you know they're packing some heat."