Battlestar Galactica

Past, Present, Future

Chapter 37

Starting Over

The cycles that followed the battle to retake the Colonies were chaotic at best!

So many things needed to be done, but there was never enough time to get them all done. Even with most every man, woman, and child in the Colonies busy working around the chronometer, looking for food, water, medical supplies ….. anything that could be used for their survival, the work never seemed to be getting done. Most of the survivors were overjoyed to be free of the Centurions and to once again be able to walk the surface of their homeworlds, but many were those that simply wondered the landscape, seemingly in a trance, having lived in fear underground or in the least hospitable areas of their planets for nearly four decons, their minds reeling, unable to comprehend that the war was finally over. For many, it was the first time in their lives they had ever seen the suns of their homeworlds. Whole generations of humans had lived their entire lives underground! It was going to take a long time for the survivors to adjust to their new lives. Everything was different now. Everyone would have to find their place in the new world order. And with so much change and so much needing to be done, no one was sure where to start. It seemed things would never be settled!

Aboard the Battlestar Genesis, Commander Verga was beside himself as he attempted to prioritize and organize all the tasks that needed to be done. There were so many things that needed to be attended to, but where to start? He was beginning to think he was not the one to take on this challenge. He was fine with commanding the Phantom Fleet, for those he guided were for the most part Warriors or civilians that had spent their lives working alongside Warriors and were used to the military mindset and discipline, and following orders. But now the fate of the Colonies was in his hands! The entire human race! Millions, if not Billions of souls, reliant on him to help and guide them into this new and frightful world that victory had thrust upon them! How was he going to deal with the needs of so many?

The first thing he'd done was to assign each of the colonies to one of his senior commanders and have them begin the process of administering to the needs of that colony, dealing with the problems of that colony and only that colony. Those officers in turn were delegating the many tasks at hand to their subordinates and the other commanders assigned to assist them, thereby making it easier to deal with the tens of thousands of requests for assistance coming in every centar! There were requests for food and water. Requests for medical assistance and medical supplies. Request for various types of equipment to help rebuild homes. Requests for shelter. Everything that a person needed to survive was is short supply and being asked for. But most of all, there were the endless streams of requests for information! The people wanted to know what was going on and what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately for Verga, he had few answers to give and the answers were not so easy to come by.

He sat at the desk in his office, sifting thru hundreds of pages of reports and updates of reports, many of which he had yet to see. His entire staff was likewise buried in endless streams of reports and request forms that were coming in from every colony and ship in the colonies. It was a madhouse!

He'd turned over the cycle to cycle operations of the Genesis to his Operations Officer, Major Verner, so he could dedicate more time to trying to get help down to the people on the planets and organize the future defense of the Colonies.

Commander Raylac and the Battlestar Revenge had originally been assigned to head up the defenses for the Colonies after the battle and take up the patrolling of their newly won space, but he was relieved soon after by Commander Leonitus and the Scorpion Fleet. Leonitus had requested the "honor" of protecting the Colonies while they were taking care of the relief efforts. Since they no longer had a world to tend to, Leonitus felt defending the Colonies would help his people deal with the loss. When the Scorpion Fleet took over the patrol duties, Raylac and most of his group were assigned to manage the planet Taura.

Amongst those ships going with him were the Destroyers Typhon, Guardian, and Torrent from the "Phantom Fleet", all of which had taken direct action against the Centurion forces during the battle, but were unharmed. Also with him were the Destroyers Cetus, Charon, and Gyes from the Galactica's Fleet.

Verga wondered why the Centurions had not attempted a counterattack when their bid to destroy the planets of the Colonies had failed. What were they doing? He was positive that the Centurions had fallen back to their own homeworld to regroup after their humiliating defeat, which suited him just fine. With any luck, they would stay there until he was ready to move forward with their plans to end the Centurion treat forever. Unfortunately, with all need he'd found in the colonies, he wasn't sure when they'd be able to set those plans in motion.

Another thing that disturbed Verga's thoughts about the after battle situation was the fact that since the battle ended, there had been little to no contact with their Cylon allies! No messages had been sent from them at all, not even from their Imperious Leader. Not a single ship from the Cylon fleet had come anywhere near the Colonies as a matter of fact. They had, except for when they intercepted and destroyed the lone Centurion Baseship that had tried to escape, not moved away from their rallying point between the Colonies and the Cylon homeworld. They had acknowledged the report concerning the escaping Baseship and then confirmed its destruction, but since then, they had not made any attempt to contact the human fleets since. This did not set well with Verga. He wondered what was going through their minds.

As he was contemplating this, his executive officer, Colonel Leon walked in with a fresh stack of reports.

"Tell me those are all updates of these reports", he said indicating the stacks covering his desk, "so I can just ignore all of them and read your updates!" Verga said half-jokingly.

Leon laughed and said, "Well, most of these are in fact, updates Commander! But there are a few new bits and pieces mixed in there too."

"Lovely!"

"I think this one report will be of special interest to you sir." Leon said as he handed a green folder to the Commander. Verga looked at his exec suspiciously as he took the proffered folder and opened it. He began scanning thru the pages and his expression went from one of uncertainty to one of surprise. He looked up from the pages and asked Leon, "Are these figures correct Colonel? Has this been verified?"

"Well, for the most part ….. yes!" Leon started. "Those are only partial numbers mind you Commander, but I'd say they are accurate so far! My people are still tabulating the numbers as they come in."

Verga looked at the sheet again, hardly believing what he was reading. The file Colonel Leon had handed him were the updated head counts from the various Colonies. The numbers were astounding!

It had only been a few cycles since the battle ended and Commander Saxton from Caprica, using his communications network passed word of their victory over the Centurions for the people of each of the Colonies to start gathering together so as to get as complete a census as they could as well as a list of any and all of their immediate needs. The response it seemed had been far better than anyone had expected. Verga had expected a fair response to the call, perhaps a few hundred thousand from each colony, but what he got was nothing short of a miracle.

So far, his people had accounted for over TWO BILLION SURVIVORS!

"This can't be right Colonel!" Verga insisted. "How could there be so many? Where did they all come from? How did they survive? Where did they live? Were they all hiding from the Centurions for the last thirty eight yahren?"

"I'm not sure Commander, but from what I've been able to gleam from the reports I've seen, most either went underground or moved out into the wilds of their planets. They lived in caves or up high in the mountains or in the deep forests. Anyplace the Centurions couldn't or wouldn't go."

"By the Lords of Kobol!" Verga said in astonishment. He never in his wildest dreams thought there would be so many!

"Aye sir, and we haven't even finished the counts as yet." Leon said. "There are still hundreds of groups from each Colony that haven't made contact with our teams as yet. Add to that the fact we've still have heard nothing from Aquaria thus far. I wouldn't be surprised if those numbers double before we're done counting."

"Amazing!" was all Verga could say, shaking his head slowly.

"And before I forget Commander" Leon said somberly. "The battle casualty report is there on the top."

Verga looked at the folder mentioned and dreaded what was inside. He always wondered why that particular report was always placed in a black folder. He guessed that black was the color most associated with death. And there were far too many deaths involved in this last operation. Mind you, he knew their losses where far less than had been expected, but to him, the loss of even a single Warrior was too much. He sat the head count folder down and took the casualty folder in hand.

"I'm not going to like this, am I Colonel?"

"No sir, no man in his right mind would, but it could have been a lot worse! Remember that Commander! It could have been a HELL of a lot worse!"

Verga stared at the folder and just nodded his head.

He opened the folder and began reading. His facial expression never changed, no emotion giving away his thoughts, but inside he was an emotional tempest! He started to read the contents of the folder out loud.

"Units sustaining major damage or lost in battle are to include, but are not limited to the following….. One Scorpion Warstar, Aniketos, severely damaged, Salvageable.

One Colonial Battlestar, Alphosina, severely damaged, Salvageable.

One Scorpion Gunstar, Medeia, Destroyed.

Two Colonial Destroyers, Maru and Zepher, Destroyed.

One Colonial Destroyer, Torrent, severely damaged, Salvageable.

Seven other units involved in this action received moderate to minor battle damage. All Units Salvageable."

"What's the status of the damaged ships Colonel?" Verga asked, rubbing his face. "How long before we can start repairs on them?"

"Well we were very fortunate there Commander. Seems the Centurions neglected to destroy the shipyards and repair facilities around Caprica and Virgon. Both are intact and fully functional."

"Are you serious? They didn't destroy them?"

"I couldn't believe it myself Commander. I had my explosives technicians check them both out carefully for any type of booby-traps and they were clean. Once more, the ship repair facilities at Taura are still intact as well, but my people haven't given the all clear to them as yet, so we might have three repair facilities up and running within a secton!"

"Amazing!" Verga said, not believing their good fortune.

"Of course, we don't have a dock big enough for that monstrosity of a Warstar, so I'm having it moved as close as possible to Space Dock number five at the Virgon shipyards. Once we get our people up there to start working on the damaged ships, they can fairey whatever they need back and forth to do the work, of course we have to get the people out there first. I'm not sure we have enough people to get the job done in a timely manner, but I'll do my best to find people from the colonies to help."

"We'll get em up there Colonel. Of that I have no doubt!" Verga said. He looked at the next page of the report. That was the page he hated most! He started reading aloud.

"Casualty report from battle action…..

Battle deaths: fourteen thousand nine hundred two.

Battle wounded: twenty three thousand six hundred fifty eight.

Missing in action: four hundred sixty four.

Casualties from Warstar Aniketos: seven thousand eight hundred seventy seven dead, including Commander Alcibiades.

Fourteen thousand eleven wounded.

Two hundred six missing.

Casualties from Battlestar Alphosina: three thousand two hundred sixty six dead, including Commander Andrea."

Verga stopped reading for a moment as his emotions flared up. He had served with Commander Andrea for well over fifty yahren. It was he who recommended Andrea to Commander Cain and Commander Bannon as a replacement for Colonel Farris as the exec aboard the Phoenix when Farris became the commander of her own Gunstar. They had become good friends over the yahren. She would be missed.

After a moment, Verga began reading the report again.

"Five thousand five hundred twelve wounded.

One hundred eighteen missing.

"Casualties for Destroyer Torrent: Two hundred twenty seven dead.

Two hundred sixty six wounded.

Twenty eight missing.

Casualties from Gunstar Medeia: Eight hundred eighty eight dead, including Commander Jared and Commander Seleukos.

Two thousand eighty wounded.

Fifty eight missing.

Casualties from Destroyer Maru: All one thousand two hundred dead, including Major Hack.

Casualties from Destroyer Zepher: All one thousand two hundred dead, including Major Barba."

Verga stopped reading and closed the folder, setting it on the desk. He'd seen enough. He slid the folder to the side and began rubbing his face and head with his hands. The mental anguish he felt was nearly overwhelming. Verga sat with his head in his hands, staring at the black folder.

Just then, Commander Bannon walked in and was about to say something when he noticed the drawn look on his friends face. He glanced at Colonel Leon, who merely indicated the black folder sitting in front of Commander Verga. Bannon nodded his understanding.

"Well Commander, I have some good news for you. I was finally able to get in contact with some of the people on Aquaria!" Bannon told Verga. "Seems the reason they didn't answer the calls from Caprica over the yahren is because their transmitting stations on the surface were all destroyed during the Centurions attack thirty eight yahren ago and they never got around to fixing them!"

Verga looked up at his friend with a puzzled expression.

"What? Are you telling me they knew their transmitters were damaged and they just left them that way? They just decided to do nothing about it?"

"That's pretty much what they told me Commander.' Bannon confirmed. "They said that they didn't make the repairs because they didn't want the Centurions to notice they'd been fixed. They figured if they tried to fix the transmitters, it might tip off the Centurions to their presence. And if they suspected there were people still alive down there, they might start snooping around and accidentally find their underwater cities. So they left everything above the surface of the seas alone."

"Hmmm! Well, I guess that does make sense …. Sort of?" Verga said. "But how did they know to fire their planetary defense missiles? From the reports I got from Commander Saxton on Caprica, he'd had no contact with Aquaria the entire time and this ….. Colonel Nader was unable to connect to the Aquarian defense network either."

"All true sir." Bannon told him. "I was informed by our friends on Aquaria that even thou they couldn't signal out, their receiving stations were intact and fully functional the whole time. So they sat down there and listened to everything that went on for the past thirty eight yahren! So, when Saxton put out the call for teams to man the missiles stations, the Aquarians went ahead and manned their stations and readied the missiles. When the order came down the line to launch, they followed thru and fired off over two hundred missiles. Those folks took out all five Baseships in orbit around the planet."

"Well I'll be damned!" Verga exclaimed softly.

"Oh, that's not all!" Bannon continued. "Seems that since most of the Aquarian cities and industries are under their oceans, they hardly sustained any damage to their civilization! They came thru the last thirty eight plus yahren almost entirely intact!"

"Come again?" Verga said.

"I mean, things there are pretty much as they were before the Holocaust. Their population is well over Two Billion people, and what's more, their industries are all based on their oceans, so they continued working and producing as if nothing had changed." Bannon went on. "And since they couldn't use all the stuff they were making, they started stockpiling all those items. As of this moment, they have nearly four decons worth of goods stored away! More than adequate supplies of food, water, medicines, and most every other item we need to care for the rest of the colonies! And I spoke with several of their leaders and they are more than willing to share what they have."

"Praise the Lords!" Verga mumbled.

Until that moment, Verga had no clue where they were going to get enough food and other supplies for all the people. Now it looked as if they would have plenty to go around.

"That is most excellent news old friend." Verga said to Bannon. "With what I just read in that green folder, we're going to need every resource we can get."

Bannon glanced at the green folder on Verga's desk and asked, "What's that?"

"That Commander is the latest census report Colonel Leon's crews have from the other colonies." Verga told him, handing the folder to Bannon. "According to that, we have around two billion plus survivors accounted for thus far on the other planets. That is of course only those people that have come out of hiding and have made it to the rallying points. What did you say your people were expecting the final number to be Colonel?"

"We estimated the final count will be somewhere between four and five billion people across the nine colonies that had reported their results so far. With what Commander Bannon just said about Aquaria, that number could go as high as seven billion survivor's sir!"

Verga slowly shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. How by the Lords was he supposed to take care of so many people? There was no way he could possibly do it.

Just then, the door chime sounded. Verga called for them to enter and in walked Apollo, Starbuck, and Boomer, along with President Tigh from the Galactican fleet.

"Greetings gentleman. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Verga said.

The four men exchanged confused looks with each other.

"You asked us to meet here sir." Apollo said.

Verga wore a somewhat confused look on his face now. He did not remember making such a request. It was not the first time he'd forgotten something of late. This was becoming a real concern for Verga.

"I'm sorry for the confusion gentleman. I've had so much going on, I seem to have forgotten the reason I called for you."

"Well, since we're here, we might as well give you our progress reports Commander." Apollo ventured, glancing at Commander Bannon, who looked at his old friend with a somewhat worried expression on his face. "We were also wondering if there were any new developments regarding the distribution of supplies to the colonies yet?"

"I take it the people are getting a bit nervous about things?" Verga said.

"You could say that Commander. We've pretty much handled things up till now using the resources of the fleet, but those are starting to run low." Apollo told him. "I've started sending search parties out on Aeries to scrounge up whatever they can find, but I things have already been picked clean over the last thirty eight yahren."

"Well, as luck has it Commander, I just received word from Commander Bannon that Aquaria survived the Centurion attacks and occupation extremely well. They have come thru virtually unscathed and have plenty of resources stockpiled and avalible to help the rest of the colonies."

Apollo looked at Bannon, who was just smiling, with a shocked expression.

"Are you serious Commander?" Apollo asked in disbelief. "That is fantastic news!"

Verga smiled at Apollo and said, "It's true Commander. Now comes the task of determining what is needed on each colony and getting those items from Aquaria to the other planets."

"I'd say shuttles sir." Said Bannon. "We take shuttles down to the Aquaria, load em up and bring the stuff back to the other colony worlds."

"That would take sectars to get everything needed to the other colonies." Verga said. "There has to be a better way."

"We can have some of the freighters land on the planets and use them to move supplies." Apollo suggested. "The Galactica's fleet has a good number of cargo ships capable of landing on the surface. We can load them up with supplies and take them to the planets."

"Good idea Commander." Verga said. "Between your cargo ships and the freighters from the Phantom Fleet, we should more than enough ships. We'll be able to start delivering relief supplies in just a few cycles. Of course we'll need crew's planet side to load and unload everything. And people to distribute items as well."

"I'll handle that Commander." Colonel Leon said. "I've already assigned a good many folks to doing that already with the supplies from the Galactica's fleet and our own. I'll have them start making landing and staging areas for this new operation."

"Good. Use whatever resources you need to get this set up Colonel." Verga told him.

"What do you need my people to do Commander?" Apollo asked.

"I suppose I'll need you to get as many of your cargo ships ready to start transferring supplies from Aquaria to the other colonies. I'll have Major Verner order our cargo ships to do likewise. Hopefully, we can start sending relief to the other colonies in a cycle or two."

"I'll have Sheba pass the word to all our cargo ship masters to ready themselves for this mission. Anything else sir?"

"We'll need you and the other colony managers to find out how much of everything you need to get by for say ….. a secton, and send your requests to Colonel Leon. Colonel, have your teams start gathering whatever supplies each colony requests from Aquaria's stockpiles and get them staged for pickup."

Colonel Leon just nodded.

"Once you have the supplies gathered together and staged, contact the officers in charge of each colony. They'll arrange with Colonel Sheba to have their supplies picked up and transported for distribution."

"Yes sir."

The three Galactican Commanders all nodded.

"Colonel, get word to the other colony OIC's about this plan as soon as possible. Be sure to explain the details to them so we have minimal confusion and delays."

"Will do Commander."

'Gentleman, this is going to be a rough task. It will most likely take a very long time to get things to the point where our people can be self-sufficient again, but we have to get them there." Verga said. "At this time, Aquaria has abundant resources stockpiled, but they are not infinite. They will start to get low and eventually, they will run out unless we can get all of the colonies back on their feet and get them to start producing for themselves again. So I want you to encourage the people to start setting up farms as soon as possible. Luckily, we've arrived at the optimal time of the yahren to start planting on most of the colonies. If we can get crops in the ground within the next few sectons, we have a good chance of producing a full harvest within a couple of sectars. That should help relieve some of our food shortages."

"Sound like you know something about farming Commander?" Colonel Leon said.

"That I do Colonel" Verga told his exec. "I once had a fairly good sized farm on Caprica before the Holocaust."

"I didn't know that sir." Leon said.

Verga leaned back in his chair, a very thoughtful look on his face.

"Oh yes, my family were farmers for generations. We had our own collective going on Caprica for over three hundred yahren. I was the first and only member of my family to join the service. Made my father so angry when I told him I wanted to be a Warrior, but he acquiesced in the end. Everyone else stayed on the family farms, well except for my older brother. He left the farm and started working in some sort of genetics research thing after the Centurions attacked about 70 yahren ago. He wanted to try and locate his son that had gone missing after the attack. To my knowledge, he never did find the boy, but he did reunite many children with their families over the next few yahren. Then he just vanished. I guess he decided to go looking elsewhere for his son."

"Excuse me Commander, but where was your farm located on Caprica?" Starbuck asked.

Apollo, Boomer, and Tigh all looked at Starbuck with expressions of both trepidation and interest. They were all very aware of where their friend was going with his question.

"Our farms were in a small agro community on the western continent Commander. A place called, "Umbra". Have you heard of it?"

Starbucks face went ashen at the mention of the settlement.

"Commander, what was your brother's name?" Starbuck asked with a slight quiver in his voice.

Verga took note of the blonde commander's evident nervousness and cautiously replied.

"His name was Chameleon, Commander. Why do you ask?"

Starbuck's eyes widened to the size of triad spheres and his knees threatened to give way. Apollo and Boomer both grabbed Starbuck by the arms to help support their friend. Bannon quickly grabbed a chair and placed it where Apollo and Boomer could lower Starbuck into the seat. Verga had come out of his seat as he watched the junior Commander's near collapse.

"Are you alright Commander?" Verga asked, his concern obvious. "Do I need to summon a med tech?"

"I – I'll be fine." Starbuck said weakly, his head hanging.

"Are you sure Commander? If you're ill, I can have the med techs here in a few microns."

"I think he'll be fine Commander" President Tigh said softly. "He was just caught off-guard by your story is all."

Verga looked at Tigh for a moment, confused by what he meant.

"My story? I don't understand Mister President. What about my story could have had such an effect on Commander Starbuck?"

Starbuck lifted his head to look at the senior officer. The look in his eyes was one of shock.

"Because Commander, your brother, Chameleon, was my father!"

Now it was Verga's turn to look shocked! He stepped back for a moment and slowly lowered himself into his own chair, his eyes never leaving Starbucks.

"Are you telling me you're my brother's missing son?" Verga said slowly.

"Yes sir." Starbuck said softly.

"How do know this Commander? Where did you get this information?" Verga asked suspiciously. "Can you prove what you say?"

Starbuck just nodded his head.

"It's true Commander." Apollo chimed in. "Chameleon was one of the survivors we took aboard when we escaped the colonies. He was aboard a Gemoness freighter when we left the colonies and Starbuck had a chance meeting with Chameleon on the Rising Star a few sectars later."

Apollo chose to skip over Chameleon's involvement with the Borellian Nomen and his attempt to swindle the Nomen.

"After they talked and found out they could possibly be related, they went to the life center on the Galactica and did the genetic testing. The results were confirmed by our medical personnel. Chameleon was Starbucks father!"

Verga nodded his head slowly, looking from Apollo to Starbuck.

"Is Chameleon still alive?" Verga asked softly, knowing the answer in his heart already.

"I'm sorry to say no Commander." Apollo said gently. "He was killed on "New Genesis", a planet we attempted to colonize over thirty yahren ago. The Centurions attacked the planet and killed over half our population. My own father included."

Verga sat quietly, absorbing this new information. He'd given his brother up for dead yahren ago, but the confirmation of his death was still disheartening. Then he looked at Starbuck again. He studied the young blond Commander and he began to see the resemblances. As hard as it might be to believe, he somehow knew it was true.

Verga stood up from his seat and walked around his desk to stand in front of Starbuck, who was now on his feet, looking Verga straight in the eye.

"Nice to finally meet you ….. Nephew!"

The two men embraced fiercely. Then Verga held Starbuck at arm's length by the shoulders, "Once we get the Colonies back on their feet, you and I are going to sit down and have a very long talk Commander!"

"Agreed!"

"Until then however, we all have work to do." Verga said, regaining some of the command decorum he'd lost a few moments before. "Right now, I need to speak to President Tigh and Commander Apollo privately, so if you Commander Starbuck and you, Commander Boomer will excuse us, you can leave your reports with Colonel Leon. Thank you."

Boomer and Starbuck exchanged a quick glance then nodded. They saluted Commander Verga and handed their reports over to Colonel Leon, who escorted them from the Commanders quarters. When the door slide shut, Verga returned to his seat and motioned Tigh and Apollo to the chairs in front of his desk. Once Tigh was seated, Verga, Apollo and Bannon, who had stayed behind as well all took their seats.

"Gentleman, I've been receiving reports from all the colonies about the number of survivors we've found, and I must say, those numbers are staggering!" Verga told them.

Tigh and Apollo exchanged looks of surprise at this.

"Commander Bannon has confirmed that the planet Aquaria was able to come thru the Holocaust nearly unscathed and have been able to not only survive, but have in fact, thrived! They have maintained most of their culture and infrastructure, and have flourished over the past thirty eight yahren. The have continued to turn out food, medicines, clothing, and every other item they did before the Holocaust and have for the past three hundred yahren. With no one to sale or trade these items with, they have been stockpiling those resources that they did not need for themselves. From what Commander Bannon has been told, they have a population of over two billion souls!"

Again, Tigh and Apollo exchanged glances.

"And thou the numbers are not nearly as great coming from the other colonies, they are far higher than we'd expected."

"How much higher Commander?" Apollo asked.

"Not all the survivors have been accounted for as yet, but according to Colonel Leon's findings, he estimates there are somewhere close to seven billion spread across the colonies."

"By the Lords!" Tigh exclaimed softly.

"Exactly!" Verga said. "Which brings up a new problem. With this bounty from Aquaria, we should be able to feed and care for the people until such time as they can become self-reliant again.

"That's good news Commander." Tigh said. "What's this new problem you mentioned?"

"To be perfectly honest with you, I have no clue as to how to run a government. I'm okay with running a fleet, but I'm afraid that when it comes to governing this many people ….. this many "civilians", I'm way out of my league."

Verga looked at the three men to gage their reactions. All had the same expression.

Confusion.

"I've been a Warrior my entire adult life. I've commanded tens of thousands of Warriors in battle and over two hundred thousand personnel while at Phantom Base, but taking charge of seven billion people, most of whom are civilians! I'm afraid I am out of my element here gentleman. I'm not sure I'm up to this challenge."

"I don't know if any of us are Commander." Bannon said. "We're all Warriors here, not bureaticians!"

Bannon looked quickly at President Tigh and added, "No offense to you sir."

Tigh laughed a bit and said, "No offense taken Commander. It was nice of you to include me amongst the Warriors and not the bureaucrats!"

Everyone laughed at this. Then Tigh went on.

"And I totally understand your feelings and concerns Commander." He said to Verga. "When Adama handed over the Presidency to me, I had no idea what to do or how to go about getting things done. Like you, I'd been a Warrior my whole life. I was nowhere near ready to run a civilian government. But I had several very good people beside me that guided me thru those early cycles and helped me learn how to be a President and help me grow into the job. I swear, if it hadn't been for Siress Tinia's guidance, I would never have made it."

"Perhaps you and your Siress Tinia can take the leadership role of a new council?" Verga suggested.

Tigh shook his head slightly and said, "I don't think that would go over too well with the masses Commander. They haven't had a centralized government for thirty eight yahren. Most of them I'm sure have been living in small groups, each with its own leaders. I doubt that all those people that have held sway over their groups will so easily give up that control."

"True, but eventually, they'll have to turn over control to a central government." Bannon said. "The question is, how do we go about the transition?"

"Elections!" Apollo said. "We have to have elections, just like we did before the Holocaust. We let the people choose their leaders from amongst themselves."

"A good suggestion Commander." Verga said nodding in agreement. "But how do we organize an election? We hardly know how many people we have alive in the colonies, were still trying to count them all. Furthermore, we have no idea who amongst the survivors we've counted has any sort of leadership ability. We can't just throw a bunch of names out there and expect the people to pick a competent and knowledgeable council. "

"Then I suggest we bring all the leaders of the various groups together and discuss having open elections." Apollo said. "We can interview all the potential candidates and weed out those that are not suitable for positions on the council."

"That could work." Bannon said. "But there must be tens of thousands of group leaders out there. How are we going to get them all together in one spot to perform these interviews? And who'll be conducting the interviews?"

"I'd say we set some sort of minimum standards for attending the interviews, say only those that were in charge of groups of say ….. a hundred or more? If they come from a larger group, such as your fleet Apollo, or the Phantom fleet, they go to the head of the line." Bannon suggested.

"What if we limited it to only those people that hold the title of say, "President" of a Council or "Council Member"?" Verga said. "At least then we'd know that they have already had some experience in group leadership and not just a dictorial position?"

"That should help weed out some of the unqualified people and those that have led their groups thru force of will and bullying." Verga added. "What else should we look at?"

"What about members of the military?" Tigh asked. "There have been hundreds of Warriors in the past that have served in both the military and on the council. Adama did both for decons. We should consider them as well."

"Planning on running for the council Mister President?" Verga asked with a slight smile.

"Well, I have considered it." Tigh said with a smile of his own. "I've come to enjoy the challenges the position has afforded me over the yahren. And I'm getting a little too old to walk the deck of a Battlestar anymore."

"Alright then, we'll include those members of the Warrior service that are qualified to run for council office." Verga said. "They can maintain their service rank and serve on the council if they so choose, but they must maintain all qualifications of the Warrior service or they will be required to retire from active duty."

Everyone agreed with this proviso.

"Is there anything else?" Verga asked.

"Well, I think this brings up another question." Bannon said. "Sooner or later, we're going to have to figure out who is going to command what in the Colonial Services. With three battle fleets and lord only knows how many senior officers there are in shore commands, this might be a good time to get as many of the senior officers from around the colonies together and figure out a chain of command?"

"Good point Commander." Verga said. "I think you're right. Gathering all the civilian leaders to discuss having elections is our first priority, but we do need to figure out the military leadership as well. This could prove to be as difficult as hold elections for a new council."

"How so?" asked Bannon. "We already have a chain of command. We simply have to integrate the Warriors from the colonies into the chain of command according to rank, don't we?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But we're dealing with a great many unusual factors here Commander." Verga said thoughtfully. "Those of us that have held the rank of "Commander" or "Colonel" or whatever before the Holocaust did so by serving in the fleet for many yahren, earning those positions thru our experience and merits. But I'm willing to bet that most, if not all those from the planets that hold the ranks they claim by bestowing it upon themselves sometime during the last four decons. They were never formally or properly promoted to the ranks they now claim."

"True. Perhaps we should try and tap into the Colonial Service Data Base and download the Warrior service records?" Bannon said. "We can see what rank a person held before the Holocaust. That way, if we find someone that was an Ensign before the Holocaust now claims to be a Commander, we'll be able to question their "promotion" and the merits of it."

"That would be very difficult do considering that the Colonial Command Center was destroyed." Apollo said. "When we were readying our fleet for departure, I went to several military complexes' looking for survivors. Most of them were completely demolished."

Verga and Bannon both nodded their heads, understanding that they would not be able to get the information from those sources.

"But I might have another option." Apollo continued.

"Really? And what might that be Apollo?" Tigh asked, not understanding what he was talking about.

"Our secret weapon!" Apollo told him with a grin. "Commander, can I borrow your comm unit?"

Verga looked at him with a confused expression for a moment, then handed him the headset.

"Who are we calling Commander?" Verga asked.

"The Galactica sir."

Verga just nodded and punched in the comm code for the Galactica. A few moments later, Sheba was on the line.

"This is the Galactica, Colonel Sheba speaking." She responded.

"Sheba, it Apollo. I need you to find Lieutenant Sabo and have him contact me here on the Genesis right away."

"I'll find him Apollo. Give me a few centons."

She motioned to the bridge officer to put the call out for Lieutenant Sabo. It took less than a centon to get the young man on the comlink.

"Sabo here sir." The young blond man said with a bit of a tremble in his voice. Even after a yahren of working with Apollo, he still got a bit nervous talking to him.

"Sabo, when your father downloaded all those records from the central archives way back when, did he happen to include any of the Warrior service records that you know of?"

"As a matter of fact Commander, I do have the personnel files from Warriors archives. Is there someone you need me to find for you?"

"Not just yet Lieutenant, but if you can, get whatever you'd need to research those records quickly together and have them ready for transport down to Caprica. I'm going to need you to verify all the Warriors from the colonies for me."

"All of them sir?" Sabo asked, the nervous tinge still in his voice.

"That's right Lieutenant. All of them." Apollo said. "Can you do that for us?"

"Um ….. yes, I think I can sir, but that's going to take a lot of time."

"Lieutenant Sabo, this is Commander Verga. How about if we give you some people to help with the searches? Would that make it easier?"

"Y-y-yes sir Commander sir." Sabo stuttered. "It most certainly would sir."

"Good, then I'll have some of my people assigned to help you with this project." Verga told him. "You'll have to show them how to access the data and send it to those of us that will need the information of course."

"I can do that sir."

"Good, then I'm putting you in charge Lieutenant. Send your list of equipment needs and such to Colonel Sheba and Colonel Leon here on the Genesis and they will see to it that you get everything you need. This is a high priority task Lieutenant. I have full confidence in you to handle this!"

"I'll do my best sir!" Sabo replied, now even more nervous than before.

"I know you will son. Get that list together and get yourself set up in the Palladium as soon as possible. I'll have your team report to you there. Good luck Lieutenant!"

"Th-thank you sir!"

Verga smiled at the young man's nervousness and nodded to Apollo, who stood chuckling while Verga was talking to Sabo. He knew Sabo was always a bit intimidated by him, but know, having spoken with the overall fleet commander, he could almost picture Sabo passing out!

"Sabo, I'll let Colonel Sheba know to look for your list of equipment and have you and all your records transported down to the surface." Apollo told him. "I'll ask Commander Saxton to provide you and your team quarters as well."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir."

"We'll see you on the planet in a few cycles Lieutenant. Apollo out!"

"How old is that kid Apollo?" Bannon asked with a huge smile. "Does his momma know he's playing Warrior?"

Apollo chuckled at Bannon's statement. Sabo looked ten yahren younger then he was, so he got that reaction all the time.

"He's actually nearly twenty yahren old." Apollo told them. "And don't let his youthful appearance fool you, that kid knows more about the history of the Colonial Services than anyone alive! If it wasn't for him, we'd have never been able to salvage all those old ships from the Second Fleet or even for Leonitus and the Scorpion survivors of that fleet. Did you know there was a prescribed sequence for restarting a Battlestar?"

Verga and Bannon exchanged confused looks and both shock their heads.

"Neither did any of us!" Apollo told them. "Had we not found Sabo and had him along to instruct us about this, we'd have most likely lost most of the Galactica's fleet."

Verga and Bannon nodded, understanding what Apollo had meant.

"So, now that we have the vetting of our Warriors handled, we should concentrate on the Council of the Twelve." Verga said.

"Would that be a "Council of the Twelve" Commander, or "of the Ten?" Bannon asked. "After all, there are only ten surviving colonies."

"I can assure you Commander that the people of the Scorpion Fleet, both Scorpion and Sagittarian will want to be represented on the council." Tigh said, looking directly at Commander Bannon. "They've waited too long and fought too hard to not have an equal voice on the council"

"I meant no disrespect sir, I was merely pointing out that Scorpius and Sagitaria no longer exist. We're not even sure if the Scorpions and Sagittarians are going to stay in the colonies, seeing how their homeworlds were destroyed. And if they do decide to stay, where are they going to settle down? Do you think any of the other tribes will accept them? Will they want to share a world with either of them?"

"I guess we'll have to wait and see what Leonitus plans on doing Commander." Verga said. "But, until we know their minds, we will proceed as if they are still part of the colonies and include them in all aspects of the upcoming elections, after all, they are still one of the twelve tribes that left Kobol and founded the colonies. Are we agreed?"

All three men agreed with Commander Verga.

"If they do decide to stay in the colonies, we'll deal with where they will live then."

"Agreed." Bannon said, still not sure where the two tribes would settle.

"Good! Then let's get the word out and start gathering those people together those that will be the best fit for the new council and will help get things in order amongst the civilian population. Then we Warriors can go back to dealing with securing the colonies and bringing an end to the Centurions once and for all!"

"Agreed!" Tigh said with a great deal of force.

"So, now the sixty four thousand cubit question ….." Bannon started. "Where do assemble all these representatives? You have to figure there will be several thousand of them at the very least. I don't know about those Scorpion Warstars, but I'm pretty sure that there's not a space large enough on any of our Battlestars to put that many people, not even the flight decks can hold that many people."

"Good point Commander." Verga said thoughtfully. "I wonder if there are any venues on Caprica that are large enough for our needs? One's still standing that is!"

"I don't know Commander, but with your permission, I can contact Commander Saxton and ask him?" Apollo said. "If there's a place anywhere on Caprica, he'll know about it."

"Good idea Commander." Verga said nodding. "Have him search for a building large enough to seat at least twenty to thirty thousand."

"Are you expecting that many people sir?" Bannon asked.

"I don't really know Commander, but I'd rather have a building that is too big then one that's too small." Verga said with a wry smile. "Imagine the uproar we'd have if we had to turn away a bunch of representatives!"

Bannon smiled and nodded his head.

"I'll tell Sax to find the biggest arena possible." Apollo said. "Maybe one of the old triad arenas is still standing and in decent shape. The one in Caprica City use to hold around fifty thousand as I recall."

Verga chuckled at that statement.

"I hope we don't have need of that large a venue Commander."

"I'll talk to Sax and find out what they have left standing sir."

"Very good. I guess until we hear from your Commander Saxton, we will continue to move forward with our relief efforts, getting our census numbers added up, and passing the word about organizing an election." Verga said looking around the table. "I'll have Commander Sachs start rounding up as many shuttles as we can to transport all the representatives to our as yet undetermined location. Commander Bannon will organize the security for the venue and you Commander Apollo will handle the seating arrangements of the ….. delegates! You've had the most recent dealings with the people of the colonies, so you'll know better than any who should be kept separated."

"I'll take care of it sir."

"Very well then, report back to me tomorrow around this same time with your progress reports. Hopefully we can get this election done within the sectar and start handing some of the responsibilities over to the new council. I thank you all for being here. Dismissed."

Once he had returned to the Galactica, Apollo contacted Commander Saxton to see about a facility large enough to handle the twenty to thirty thousand representatives Verga was expecting to show up. He was not too optimistic about Saxton finding a venue large enough to handle that many people in good enough condition to be of use, but he had to try and find something. He was about to be surprised yet again!

"So you need a place that can hold thirty thousand people? With power and all the other necessary facilities still intact and functioning? And a large enough area close by for shuttles to land and takeoff? Is that what you're telling me Apollo?" Saxton said in a very deadpan tone.

"That's about the size of it old buddy!" Apollo said in a light hearted tone, hoping to lighten the mood.

"No problem!" Saxton said matter of factly.

Apollo was stunned by this response.

"You have a place already Sax?"

"Sure do!" Saxton said. "The main assembly amphitheater of the Palladium!"

"You're kidding! It's still standing?" Apollo asked, astonished that the building in question would still be in one piece.

"I kid you not Apollo! The Cylons or Centurions ….. or whatever the hell we're calling them these cycles left it completely alone during the attack thirty eight yahren ago. From what I've seen of the place, it didn't take a single hit, nor did most of the rest of the Palladium complex." Saxton told him. "We were going to use the place as a refugee center until we found that the luxury housing on the north side of the city was in perfect shape, so we diverted everyone there. Must have been ten thousand units in those buildings ready and waiting!"

"Does the Palladium's auditorium have power and everything?" Apollo asked.

"Sure does. The Centurions were using the auditorium as a storage area for a lot of their electronics and such, stuff they needed to keep in climate controlled areas. So they kept the power on and left most everything as is. Now they did remove most of the seating, but it's all stacked up in the storage areas. Won't take us long to return all the seats to the main hall and bolt them back into place."

"How long do you figure that would take?"

"With the people I have, maybe a secton." Saxton told him. "With help, maybe half as long."

"Most of my civilian specialists have been assigned to other priority duties already, but I think I can give you a few hundred Warriors to help out." Apollo said with a smile. "I'm sure there will be plenty of volunteers. Any chance to get off the Galactica and down to Caprica will be jumped at!"

"No doubt, but let them know that if they do volunteer, they'll be working their astrums off. Won't be any time for sightseeing or souvenir hunting." Saxton said seriously. "When does Verga want the place ready?"

"Yesterday!"

"Should have known!" Saxton said sarcastically. "I vaguely remember him as being a very serious officer. But then serving under Cain will have that effect on you."

Apollo glanced toward Sheba, who was standing nearby working on some other project. She didn't seem to hear Saxton's jab at her father.

"I'll gather what troops I can from the Galactica and send them down to you. Let me know when you have everything ready so I can tell Commander Verga to start picking up the delegates from the other colonies."

"Will do Apollo." Saxton said. "See ya soon."

Apollo watched as the screen with Saxton's face went dark, closing out the channel. He walked over to where Sheba was monitoring the progress of the Galactica.

"Status report?" Apollo asked as he stepped up next to Sheba, who was not only his second in command, but also his wife!

'All systems are normal. We should arrive at Aries in about forty centons." Sheba said in a very official tone. Then she added, "Sounds like your friend, Saxton, doesn't hold a very high opinion of my father."

Apollo looked at her and could see the hurt in her expression.

"Well, he didn't really know your father. All he really knows about Cain was what other people said about him."

"It's okay Apollo. I know my father was a very stern and demanding commander. More so then anyone else." She said with a hint of sadness. "But nobody likes to hear bad things said about their family!"

"Well, don't let Sax's opinion bother you!" Apollo told her.

"I won't!"

Apollo looked at her for a few moments and decided to say nothing. He knew all too well that Sheba was hype-sensitive about many things and had a tendency to get her feelings hurt quite easily at times. Talk of her father, the legendary Commander Cain was one of those subjects, and anything said about him that was even slightly unflattering hit her hard.

On Caprica, three hundred Warriors arrived from the Galactica to assist with the cleanup of the Palladium's auditorium and the reinstalling of the thousands of seats that had been removed by the Centurions. It was a daunting task to be sure, but not insurmountable. The Centurions were if nothing else, very methodical and organized. They had removed over half the seats in the lower floor section of the hall, where over fifteen thousand seats had been, and had placed them orderly in the many huge storage areas in the building along with crates of the hardware to reattach the seats. So all the Warriors had to do was return the seats to their former places and bolt them in. And since the seats were all numbered as to the section, row, and seat number, it would be fairly easy to get them into the correct place on the floor again.

Saxton oversaw the operation personally, knowing they had little time to get the place in order for this big meeting Apollo had told him about. He thought it rather ambitious to try and hold a general election to fill out a new "Council of the Twelve" so soon after retaking the colonies. They hadn't even secured the basic needs of the people yet, so in his eyes, forming a new council seemed ridiculous, but he was not the one calling the shots anymore. And in some ways, he was happy about that. He'd been responsible for the lives and wellbeing of close to nine thousand people for nearly four decons. He was ready for someone else to take charge!

"Commander Saxton, message coming in from the Galactica. It's Commander Apollo!" called out a young Warrior from the "DreamWorks" communications division. He nodded and headed over to the communications center his people had repaired. The equipment that had been there was in perfect condition, but needed a thorough cleaning after so many yahren of neglect and nonuse. Saxton picked up a headset and opened the channel to the Galactica.

"Galactica, this is Saxton. Do you read me?"

"I read you loud and clear Sax!" came the cheerful voice of Apollo. "How goes it down there?"

"It's going great Apollo. I put those Warriors you sent down straight to work on the auditorium seats and they are knocking it out faster than expected. They have about half the seats replaced already and should finish the job before the end of the cycle."

"That's good to hear. What about the rest of the facility? Any surprises?"

"Not so far. We have power to all areas and the sound system in the building is working perfectly. The turbo flushes are even up and running!"

"Now that is a priority detail." Apollo said laughing.

"I have people out in the parking areas cording off two dozen landing areas for shuttles and half dozen larger areas on the other side of the building for Vipers to land. The security perimeters have been set and are fully manned. Commander Bannon had his people down here right after I told you about the Palladium. He and I did a walkthrough and he agreed that it was perfect for our needs, so he had his people setting up the security perimeter immediately. That is one efficient Warrior."

"Another Cain disciple!" Apollo joked.

Saxton laughed and added, "I see why Cain was the best there ever was. He had the best people working for him."

"Cain made the people under his command the best!" Apollo interjected.

"No doubt." Saxton said. "I better get back to it Apollo before everyone starts thinking I'm goofing off! I'll let you know when were done down here."

"Sounds good. I'll let Verga know you're ahead of schedule. He could use some good news I think."

Saxton wasn't sure what Apollo meant by that, but said nothing.

"Sounds good Apollo. Talk to ya soon! Saxton out!"

Saxton was good to his word, as his people finished replacing every last seat in the auditorium a centar before nightfall. He had his people retest everything in the building to insure everything was ready for the big event. He stood on the main stage, watching his crew setup a lectern, a few large tables and two dozen chairs. These he was told would be used to conduct the interviews of the candidates for the election they were going to hold. Saxton still didn't think it was a good idea to be holding this election so soon after winning back the colonies, but it wasn't up to him. He'd have just had the leaders from the three fleets, the DreamWorks, and maybe a few of the larger groups from the other colonies form an interim council to get things rolling until some later date when they could do it properly, but nobody had asked for his thoughts on the matter.

Saxton strolled over to the communications area, were a young Warrior was maintaining vigil over the equipment and contacted the Galactica.

"Saxton to Galactica. Come in Galactica. Do you copy?"

"Commander Saxton, this is the Galactica. We read you loud and clear." Came the response of an unfamiliar female voice.

"I just wanted to let Commander Apollo know that we've finished preparing the Palladium for the big meeting. I'm going to have my people do one more check to be sure nothing was missed. Tell Apollo he can start bringing the delegates down anytime."

"I'll pass that along to the Commander Sir." was the somewhat curt response.

"Thanks. I don't recognize your voice. Might I ask to whom I'm speaking?" Saxton asked.

"This is Colonel Sheba, executive officer of the Galactica."

"Uh huh. Nice to finally speak with you Colonel. Apollo has told me a great deal about you." Saxton said, trying to break the ice.

"Is there anything else sir?" Sheba replied coldly.

Saxton could hear the ice in her voice and decided not to push things until he could speak to Apollo. He knew Sheba was Apollo's wife and he didn't want to step over any lines.

"No Colonel, that's all. I'll talk to Apollo later."

"Very well Commander. Galactica out!"

Saxton closed out the channel and handed the headset to the Warrior at the communications station. He walked away slowly, wondering why this person he'd never met, had never even spoken to before, would act so coldly toward him. Perhaps he'd be able to get some answers from Apollo?

A short time later on the Galactica bridge, Apollo returned from a short meal and sleep period He'd been going for over forty centars straight and needed to get some rest before the meeting with all of the would be delegates for the Council of the Twelve. There was an event he was not looking forward to!

"Status report Sheba." He asked as he stepped up onto the command dais next to his XO and wife.

"All systems are normal. We are continuing to deliver supplies to the planet and relocating people to new quarters on the surface and in the cities. Colonel Leon's people are still making a head count of the survivors and from what the leader of his team said, they have a little over two million people just in Arianas! Colony wide, they have over twenty million."

"Wow! Amazing that so many people survived the Centurion occupation." Apollo said. "Any word from Saxton on Caprica? Has he finished up yet?"

"Your friend, Commander Saxton did report that he and his team were finished with restoring the Palladium's auditorium. He said he was going to double check everything to insure things were working properly." She told him. "He also said you can start bringing the delegates down anytime."

"Good! The sooner we can get this over with the better!" Apollo said.

"Agreed." Sheba said with a tone that spoke of her dislike of the situation. She had been somewhat irritable ever since Saxton's offhanded comment about her father. He knew that Cain was never far from her thoughts, but now, with the war finally over, she had more time to dwell on the fate of Cain. He'd have to have a long talk with her about that subject soon!

"I'll let Commander Verga know that the venue is secure. We'll need to start gathering up the representatives from Aeries and transporting them to Caprica."

"I've already given the order to do that Apollo." Sheba told him. "We have two dozen shuttles ready to start bringing the representatives to the Galactica and I've had the aft section of the hanger decks cordoned off to accommodate them until we arrive at Caprica. Security has been posted at all points of egress to and from that part of the landing bays and hanger decks to insure none of them "wonder off"!"

Apollo chuckled a bit at this.

"Sounds like you have things well in hand Sheba! Not sure why I'm even here!" He said with a smile!

"You're here to deal with all the important felgercarb, like who gets to go to this meeting and who doesn't!" she said with a slight grin.

"Oh thanks!" he said sarcastically. "Leave the hard stuff for me to do!"

"That's why you make the big cubits my love!"

They exchanged a smile, then Apollo made his way to his office to report in to Commander Verga about the Palladium.

On the Genesis, Verga spoke with Apollo via comm link with Bannon and Leon in his office. He was surprised and thrilled with the news from Apollo about the Palladium being ready so quickly. To his thinking, the sooner they could get a new Council in place, the sooner he could turn over the cycle to cycle duties and responsibilities of the civilian population to them and concern himself with the more comfortable task of reorganizing the Warrior Service.

"Your friend, Commander Saxton, did an outstanding job Commander Apollo. I'm looking forward to meeting him." Verga said. "I'm going to issue orders for all of the ships from the Phantom Fleet and the Galactica's Fleet to begin transporting the delegates from their home colonies to Caprica immediately. With any luck, we can have them all rounded up and ready to start processing within a few cycles."

"I don't want to throw a wet blanket on this Commander, but has anyone figured out where all these delegates are going to stay while were doing these "interviews"?" Bannon asked.

Verga turned to him with a totally confused expression. He hadn't even considered that particular aspect of the evolution. Where were they going to house all those people?

"I believe Commander Saxton has that situation covered sir." Apollo answered. "He told me that there were a number of brand new housing developments right next to the Palladium plaza. He's already commandeered several thousand units for the delegates to stay in while they are on Caprica. I've sent him three hundred Warriors to use as he sees fit, so he should have ample personnel for security in those complexes."

"Commander Saxton seems to have thought of everything!" Bannon said chuckling.

"Well I'm glad that's settled." Verga said, happy that he didn't have to deal with the situation. "Colonel, would you be so kind as to pass the word to the Colony managers and have them begin transporting their delegates to Caprica? Be sure to reaffirm the criteria for delegate's attendance."

"I'll start letting them know sir."

"And if there are any disruptive types amongst them, have them identified and separated as much as possible. Bring them to Caprica and we'll take care of them here, away from the other delegates."

"Will do sir."

Leon left to pass the word to what Commander Verga had started referring to as "Colony Managers". These were the senior officers from the fleet that he'd assigned to administer to the needs of each colony. Commander Apollo had been tasked with managing Aeries, Bannon was given Aquaria, Colonel Eller was given his homeworld of Canceria, Commander Starbuck had been assigned to Gemon since his wife, Cassiopeia, spoke the language, Commander Jolly was given Pisceria, the colony where many of the traitors had come from, including Baltar. Commander Boomer was assigned Leonia, Commander Goff had her homeworld of Libra, Commander Raylac had Taura, and Commander Hawley managed Virgon.

Commander Verga had assumed stewardship of Caprica, as it was his homeworld and the Colonial capital. Each colony manager also had several other ships working with them, so Verga figured it should only take a few cycles to get everyone together on Caprica, perhaps a secton to process everyone and come up with the most viable candidates for each colony.

Then would come the fun part ….. staging the election of the new Council of the Twelve!