Battlestar Galactica
Past, Present, Future
Chapter 25
Daemon's Task
In a room filled with row upon row of computers, a single Cylon stood vigil.
This was Daemon, the IL series Cylon that the Imperious Leader had tasked with the awesome job of finding out who it was that was attacking their Baseships and figuring out a way to stop them. It was a duty that Daemon both relished and despised. If successful, Daemon would be elevated greatly in the hierarchy of the Cylon power pyramid. But if he failed, Daemon knew that his existence would be at an end, that he would be destroyed, or worse, disassembled and his parts used to build a refuse collector. The thought of that sent an uneasy jolt through his systems.
Daemon was plugged directly into the central computer core so as to assimilate any and all data that was transmitted to the homeworld concerning the strange alien vessel that had destroyed Baseship number 407 near the Paradeen sector. The Baseship had reported that it was under attack by an unidentified ship that "appeared" out of nowhere, and then just as quickly, disappeared without so much as a trace. This did not seem possible to Daemon and his theory was that the Baseship commander tried to lie about what happened to cover up its own incompetence. Not that it mattered now though since the Baseship exploded a short time after the message was sent.
Daemon was lost in thought when a data file popped up on the network and was sent to his "second brain". He was caught totally off guard by this and almost did not react quickly enough to open the file before it returned to the data stream. Daemon wondered how the Imperious Leader could stay connected to the data stream for sectars at a time and never miss a single byte of information when he was hardly able to keep up with the data from such a restricted search parameter as he was searching.
The file that popped up was a visual file. Daemon opened it and was amazed at what appeared before him. The visual images were somewhat blurred from having to travel so far a distance, but it was unmistakable as to what was being shown to him. It was the alien ship!
The first image showed an enormous ship with its prow heading right at the Baseship. Daemon entered a few commands into the computer to try and clear up the image, but this had only moderate success. Daemon could not make out too much detail, but he could tell that this ship was far larger then the one Battlestar he had seen, thus making it highly unlikely that the humans were behind these attacks. The second image was not much clearer, but it did give a better idea of just how massive the ship was. Whoever these aliens were, they were a serious threat to the empire.
The next few images were of the same quality, even with the enhancements. They showed the giant vessel moving toward the Baseship, turning and firing missiles, and then moving away. Daemon could make out only a few details of the ship, such as missile launchers and what appeared to be laser turrets, but he could not discern any real details. The quality of the image signal was just too degraded from having to travel so far through space.
Daemon brought up the last few images and could see what looked to be landing bays. There were two large openings on the side of the ship near the rear of the central section. These greatly resembled the landing bays of a Colonial Battlestar!
Interesting!
The next image showed the ship fully from the rear. Daemon could now see the outline of two more landing bays on the other side of the ship.
Four landing bays!
Daemon could only guess how many fighters a craft of that size could carry. A thousand? Tens of thousands? No telling how many this thing held. Daemon was beginning to think that his centars were numbered, either because he would not find a solution to this new adversary or because this new enemy would destroy the entire Cylon race.
The next image was brought up and Daemon immediately could tell something was not right with it! He could still see the alien ship as it moved away from the Baseship, but in this image, it looked different. Daemon studied the image in minute detail, scanning and enhancing every square micrometron of it. After several centons of careful scanning, Daemon realized what it was.
The alien vessel was entering some sort of opening in space!
Daemon could see the very faint outline of what he guessed was a hole in space. A rift! He quickly went through the previous images to see if the rift was there before and sure enough, it was not! The rift did not appear until the ship was at that precise spot in space. Daemon quickly forwarded to the next image to see if the ship and rift were still there. The ship was gone, but Daemon could still detect the slight outline of the rift.
Daemon "stared" at the last image for several centons, absorbing the implications of what this could mean. If he was right, they could be dealing with beings that were not from another galaxy, but possibly another dimension! That strange surge passed through his systems again. Daemon wondered for a moment what could be causing this reaction. After several microns a strange, almost unfathomable thought came to this "mind" ….. Could this be fear?
The Imperious Leader was scanning the same data that Daemon was and coming to many of the same conclusions. Whoever these beings were that had been attacking them, they could not be the human survivors from the Colonies. The humans could not have advanced that far technologically in just 30 yahren. The technology to do what that alien spacecraft had done was far beyond their capabilities. Humans, the Imperious Leader was certain, did not have the aptitude or intellect to create such a thing. These beings had to be from another galaxy, or another plan of existence. The possibilities were endless, and somewhat daunting. How could they deal with this enemy? An enemy that could strike at them without the slightest warning and then be gone in an instant!
And what was their reason for attacking? Had they done something to these new antagonists? If so, what did they do? And when did they do it? And how could they be stopped? Could they be stopped? Those and hundreds of other questions flew through the Imperious Leaders "mind" as he sifted through the endless streams of data. One thing was for certain, the Imperious Leader needed to find a way to defeat this faceless enemy and take their technology for his own.
At that moment, another item caught the Imperious Leaders attention.
Another report of an attack, this time three Baseships were under attack!
The Imperious Leader brought the data to the fore and began assimilating the information. Immediately it noticed a difference in the way this attack was progressing. This time the enemy ships didn't just "appear" out of nowhere because the Baseship commanders actually picked up their approach on their scanners and were able to defend themselves.
The Imperious Leader followed the course of the battle via the information stream that was being sent from the lead Baseship, number 308. The Baseship commander, an IL series called Malice was sending open frequency reports back to the Central Command so the Imperious Leader was able to "see and hear" the battle as it happened through Malice's "eyes". A brilliant idea on Malice's part, one that would earn him a promotion ….. if he survived!
"Seeing the battle as it was being fought, the Imperious Leader could see that the enemy was engaging his forces with fighter craft. Upon closer examination, he saw that some of the craft bore a very strong resemblance to the Colonial Vipers the humans flew thirty yahren ago. Others that attacked he did not recognize, and yet, they seemed somehow … familiar!
Another difference was that these ships were much smaller and numerous. In the previous attacks, there had been but one enormous ship reported, but this time, they were attacking with what appeared to be a score of large vessels and hundreds, if not thousands of fighters. And were his sensors deceiving him, or did several of those larger ships look like … Battlestars?
"They are Battlestars!" Daemon said out loud to himself.
He had tapped in to the same data feed as the Imperious Leader and was watching the same video feeds from the far distant Baseships that were under attack. Daemon worked franticly to record and clarify the signals, enhancing the images of the enemy ships as much as possible. Was one of those ships the Galactica? If so, why did they come back? And who are the people in the other Battlestars? There where at least three that he could make out, not to mention the dozen or more ships that he could not identify. Who were they? All these questions and more kept popping into his "thoughts" as he watched the battle progress. Daemon was sure of one thing, this was not the same enemy that had destroyed the other Baseships! These were humans!
Daemon entered a new search into the computer and a large, three dimensional map of the star system appeared above the table next to him. He then entered another command into the computer and a voice said, "By your command". Daemon had initiated a voice command interface.
"Computer, plot the location of the battle being fought at this time in sector eight seven seven."
Immediately a red ball appeared in the star grid. Daemon studied it for a moment then ordered, "now, plot the locations of all the previous attacks on our forces going back one sectar."
Several orange balls appeared on the map, forming somewhat of a line …. from the opposite side of the map! Daemon studied this for several moments as well.
"Computer, do a search of any know human activity in sector eight seven seven or any adjoining sectors radiating out from that point." Daemon ordered. "Search back fifty yahren."
The computer began placing green balls into the map at a score of locations. They were wide spread throughout several adjoining sectors and most were along know trade routes that the humans used when they existed.
All except one.
Daemon looked at the one spot and wondered, why was this on spot so far away from all the others?
"Computer, what is this one location?" he asked.
"Specify." came the electronic voice of the computer, the same one that all Centurions had.
"The one in sector nine nine two!" Daemon said in a tone of what would be utter frustration had he had emotions. "What can you tell me about that spot?"
The computer took a moment to find the data requested then began to relate it to Daemon.
"The contact indicated is an unverified human outpost that was destroyed fifteen yahren ago."
"Unverified?" Daemon said. "What do you mean, "unverified"?"
"The initial report was made by Task Force One Two One while searching for signs of human survivors. The report states that the task force detected a Centurion locator beacon in that sector and went to investigate. The task force commander reported that one of their scout ships discovered a small network of satellites near the Sepharis asteroid belt."
The Sepharis Belt was an asteroid field of enormous size and density formed when the planet Sepharis tore itself apart over ten thousand yahren ago.
"When the task force moved into the sector to investigate, they were destroyed."
"Destroyed? How?" Daemon asked.
"Unknown. No further contact was made with Task Force One Two One."
Daemon thought on this for a moment. An entire task force destroyed without any explanation. What could have done that? Certainly not those that attacked them now. They would have been able to send some sort of message had that been the case.
"Where there any other reports of attacks on Cylon forces in this area before or after?"
"Negative."
Daemon was silent for over a centon as he tried to figure out what was going on. How could an entire task force be destroyed without there being any reports of it? Was it some sort of natural disaster? A star gone nova? A black hole swallowing them? Daemon was coming up with lots of questions and no answers!
"Were any other units sent to look for Task Force One Two One?"
"Affirmative."
"Let me see the details."
It took the computer less then a micron to locate the information and send it to Daemon's electronic brain. Daemon absorbed the information quickly and mulled it over. According to the reports, another task force was dispatched to the area after contact was lost with Task Force One Two One. The reports state that no sign of any Cylon presence was found and the asteroid belt had been "significantly altered"! Daemon found this description odd. The reporting commander stated that the asteroid belt was seventy eight percent smaller by volume then it had been when the Cylons first discovered it two hundred yahren before and that it was almost devoid of asteroids in one area.
Daemon contemplated this for several microns, trying to figure out how a thing like that could have happened. And then a thought came to him.
"Computer, what was the general make up of the asteroids of the Sepharis Belt?"
The computer searched for the requested information. After a few microns, the geologic report from the first expedition sent to the belt by the Cylons was found and forwarded to Daemon. What was found in the report all but confirmed what Daemon had suspected.
A massive explosion!
That is what destroyed Task Force One Two One. The Sepharis Belt contained extremely high levels of tylium, higher then those on the planet Carillon that exploded 30 yahren ago when the humans escaped from the Cylons. Somehow, the massive amounts of Tylium in the asteroids must have been ignited all at once, causing an explosion of unimaginable force! That is the only thing that could have destroyed the task force and altered the asteroid field to such a degree!
But what could have set off such an explosion? Even if a Baseship had exploded there, it would not have been powerful enough to set off such a massive explosion. It would have taken several Baseships exploding at the same time to ignite so much Tylium! It would also require a great deal of time for the Tylium to reach critical mass before it exploded. This happened all at once! It would take something much more powerful, but what?
Daemon returned to the live feed from the battle in sector eight seven seven. Two of the three Baseships had been destroyed and the third Baseship, the one Malice was on was in shambles. Daemon was sure it would not last much longer. Malice was giving the order ram one of the Battlestars that looked to be in almost as bad a shape as was his Baseship. Daemon could see the dying Baseship alter course and start picking up speed, heading right for the heavily damaged Battlestar! Hundreds of small fighters could be seen making desperate strafing runs at the Baseship as it moved toward the Battlestar, making the behemoth shake violently! But still it advanced toward what would be a monstrous collision. Daemon almost felt as if he was there, standing in the command center, watching the distance close between the two ships.
Then, just as it seemed nothing could stop it, another vessel moved in between the Baseship and the wounded Battlestar!
There were dozens of bright flashes coming from the new ship, laser fire from scores of turrets and the launch of as many as ten missiles. Then just as fast as it had appeared, it was gone, sailing away at high speed.
The Baseship was rocked violently by the impact of the missiles and laser fire. New fires broke out all over the Baseship and huge sections of the hull began to fall away, spinning off into space. The Baseship lost its momentum and veered off its intended course due to the force of the explosions from the missiles. Daemon knew that Baseship 308 was done! And no sooner had the thought been made, Baseship 308 exploded in a huge ball of flame.
Daemon stayed motionless for several centons as he reviewed the events that just transpired. He had just witnessed the destruction of a Baseship first hand and now knew that they faced not one, but two enemies! One, the known enemy, humans, who it seemed had returned in great numbers and was now reigniting the war that they had lost thirty yahren ago.
And two, a faceless, unknown enemy of immense power that strikes without warning and destroys without any chance of retaliation. To Daemon it seemed that the Cylon race was caught between forces bent on their destruction and perhaps being turned into a refuse collector was not such a bad fate after all!
