Record keeping time:

OMAC001: Nope. They Cylons have not sided with the Shadows When you read this chapter, you see what is gong on with them.

: Yep. The Race is in this so keep whatching. They had a role to play.

Chronus1326: The chapters ARE somewhat disjointed as I am trying to keep the suspense as well as wanting the readers to see bits and pieces like a puzzle. All of the pieces have not been seen yet. The attitude between the Colonials and Earth are different here and as the chapters continue you'll see those differences. I can't say anything more on that for now.

Major Simi: One comment- COA books I and II.

B5B7: Ordnance, not ordinance. Got it and made the correction.

Chloe: There is background that has yet to be revealed for the readers who don't want to know yet. The Colonials are analyzing what they are seeing and there are correct. However, their conclusions are wrong at this point. but it is a honorable mistake. If this is Earthforce and I am not saying that it is-yet, then something happened in the Earth Minbari war for this to happen. It starts with COA books I and II and what possibly happened at the end when the Achilles left. There was a lot of bad blood there and what happens is one version of a what if. Let's just say that the EA went dark in the same way as Frodo slowly did with that cursed ring he tugged around. I will say that yes, the EA is in bed with the Shadows and there is no Vorlon counterpoint here. More on this soon.

Tweeky: We've talked about this, but I will summarize a bit for here. I will make the corrections about the solar mass statements. I didn't want a galaxy sided hole created but more of a somewhat characteristic 'black-hole. But the results created a rift that is unnatural (whatever that means) that is creating massive pan dimensional ruptures or doorways that effect multiple realities and is not a nature phenomenon. By the way the EA did survive the Earth Minbari war. That's why the crap happening now is occurring. Some people have very long memories. No final five, and none of the other Cylons of the earlier times will be mentioned here.

On with the disjointed new chapter…Please enjoy.

Roads Paved in Shadow

Book II

Chapter Three

(chapter 9)

Cyrannus Star System

Planet Caprica

CDF Base Athena One

Athena One, the premier military center of the Colonies represented the largest and most heavily defended military/civilian installation of the Colonies of Kobol. If the Picon Radain Colonial Defense Installation was the heart of Colonial defenses, Athena One was the Colonial military's brain. The Athena One Command Center was built inside of the Gracean Mountain Range located some thirty miles from the city capital. Underneath the southern edge of the range existed a natural system of caves. Its huge caverns and extensive tunnels carved out by lava from an extinct volcano more than six hundred thousand year earlier, was perfect as a natural defensive stronghold. The military originally built it to be used as a protected base for the Colonial Intelligence Division. Situated three miles underground, the base grew from a small intelligence gathering center less than two acres wide to extend a total of six miles wide and eight miles long. The main underground center contained twenty-six levels, supported three armored divisions, the Colonial Intelligence Division, the Anti-Cylon Defense Reaction Corps, Computer Defense Reaction Corps, Weapons Research and Development Operations, and a medium-sized underground airport for use by government and military personnel. The complex was protected by extensive anti-armored and anti-personnel weapons systems. Heavy coil guns and missile systems dotted the mountain range.

The underground railway WRB system's reach extended throughout the capital city and the suburbs. The separate MTRW underground railway extended to four cities on Caprica, using the extinct lava tubes as natural throughways for the rail lines. With its additional; layers of military grade armored shielding, it was estimated that the complex could withstand at least four heavy nuclear strikes before they would even begin to feel it. It was designed with Cylon invasion in mind. With the evidence of the Prometheus and the revelation that Earth did exist and the ease at which the small ship humiliated the Colonial Defense Force during that first contact years earlier, the base was still being expanded.

Earth' military was considered a minor obstacle if they proved to be too aggressive. However, from what little intelligence they had gleaned from the Earth people, it indicated the Colonies had the edge in ships and industrial capability at a ratio of at least eleven to one. That was considered a comfortable ratio but apparently, there were other concerns in the form of real, although unconfirmed. alien threats that were considered by the Earthers as a lot more dangerous than just the Cylons, whom they'd never heard of until they arrived into the Cyrannus star system. Intelligent aliens had never been proven to exist, but Colonial Intelligence took it very seriously, just in case. It was assumed that the Thirteenth Colony couldn't comprehend what true menaces the Cylons were and few things could be worse. Earth was behind the Colonies in technology and resources so any alien threat they had encountered would have an unwelcomed surprise if they chose to attack the Colonies, or so CI assured in their final reports.

It was here at Athena One, that the situations across the Colonies were monitored in detail. A continuous stream of incoming video and data flowed into the complex. Some of the data was received in real time, but much of the information was delayed from seconds to minutes as it made its way to the vast numbers of satellites orbiting Caprica as the transmissions were limited by the speed of light. The combined data was intercepted and interpreted by close to two hundred highly trained operatives. The Cylon cold was taken very seriously by the Colonials who couldn't afford to do otherwise.

"For a twelve-minute ride, it feels like an eternity," Adar told Marthia.

"So long a ride?" she asked. "This is a high-speed rail. Why can't it go faster?"

His wife of thirty-nine years was petrified, and he honestly couldn't blame her. The life-long school teacher whose beliefs tended to edge towards religious extremism was legendary in the political world. Many of the more religious oriented looked to her as an example of piety, a source of spiritual strength, but he knew the truth. His wife didn't do well with changes of this magnitude. She used to be an excellent teacher, even a passable wife when she wanted to be, which was relatively rare these days. He strongly suspected that she knew of his flirtations and two actual affairs, but she never said a word or confronted him, not even about Laura. She was, in some ways the perfect political spouse. In other ways, she wasn't a wife at all, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't blame her for the faults in their marriage. Whether they were close or not these days she was his wife and their most important contribution to his political campaign, well, he was eternally grateful for and he owed her because of it.

Her actions saved him from fracturing an already weakened unity of the Twelve Colonies.

Richard couldn't help reflecting on those turbulent days if only for a few moments because until now, it was the most dangerous threat to the government occurred.

In his early years in office, it wasn't the Cylons that were giving him ulcers, it was those godless teachers and their militant union. The teacher's rebellion as some called it, brought the Colonies close to the edge of civil war.

By tradition and culture, many of the teachers were, are still he corrected himself, from the colonies of Sagittaron, Gemenon, and Libria. By training. most were instructed in the religious schools of the followers of Zeus' and Athena's Holy Rites. It was considered a great honor to acquire a degree from the six prestigious teaching universities located on the colony worlds of Picon and Caprica. Years before Adar won the Presidency, there were several years of increasing unrest among the teachers. Religious convictions aside, the Teacher's Union was political to its soul and it craved power, political power and Adar, still a wet behind the ears newly-minted President at the time, was considered weak by the powers that lead the Union. The Union had supported his political rival, Garrius Handus, a religious pontiff whose outward devotion to the gods brought him a hair's breath away from winning the Presidency. But when the counting was done, Adar had won by a mere three points across the Colonies.

The opposition hadn't taken that well which was expected but, it was the Teacher's Union that seethed in frustration and anger at losing their claim to power. The Union supporters' rage boiled over and the first post-election protest brought an estimated two billion people out into the streets to support the union and rally against a president they barely knew.

Six months later, the more religious factions of the union staged an illegal strike that stretched across the twelve worlds. Anyone that tried to cross their lines was attacked and beaten. They demanded more pay, better representation in the government, and the resignation of the Vice-President Counlis. Being their most ardent critic, he was hated by the union more than anyone else. The elder statesman carried more influence with the Quorum than Adar and was considered a threat by the religious factions controlling the union. The factions were so bold as to twice try to assassinate him. The riots that followed resulted in the deaths of more fifteen thousand people and close to sixty thousand injured. Heavily armed bands of teachers, their families, and their followers attacked and captured several cities on Picon and Libra. On Caprica, several suburbs were burned and looted and a military base was overrun. But it was on Sagittaron that true insurrection happened. The rebels there wanted to create an independent nation separate from the United Colonies. Insurrections and terrorists such as Robert Grey and Tom Zarek were responsible for hundreds of acts of destruction and murder across the planet.

To say that Adar faced a political crisis was an understatement. With his position weakening, the negotiations stalled, and people dying every day, he authorized the CDF to act against the union and its followers. He outlawed the union, arrested the leaders and crushed the insurrectionists using military force. Urged by his advisors, Adar was very tempted to call in a series of air strikes against a large metropolitan city where the union headquarters on Sagittaron lay. It wasn't just a building. With more than a thousand teachers armed with military grade weapons, it was an armed fortress. On his orders, thousands would have died. His wife's pleas stopped him from what would have been a horrible mistake. He thanked the gods that he chose to follow his wife's advice against the wishes of his senior advisors.

The military, using land operations, cleaned out what he labeled, 'a civil rebellion'. Close to a thousand people were killed or injured during the three-day running battle. In the aftermath, Adar would always be branded as the President who crushed the teachers strike. It would have been far worse if he hadn't listened to his wife's advice. It kept him from forever being known by history as the 'city killing' president. He came close to resigning after the strike was over and he was blamed for every bit of the unrest and political fallout that followed. Sympathy for the teachers and their families kept the revised Teachers Union in turmoil for years. Those 'poor teachers' almost fractured the Colonies. To Adar's dismay, everyone seemed to forget that little fact. But that was in the past and Adar wasn't concerned about that now; he was focused on comforting his petrified wife.

That consolation couldn't happen, not with this present situation. The officials and military brass looked to him to be the Leader at this critical time. Marthia needed him, but then, so did the entire nation. As the President, he was in charge until President-Elect Goesel was found alive–gods he still held a small hope the man and his family had survived the strike–so that he could officially take the reins of power as leader of the Twelve Worlds.

Until Goesel Vice-President Elect Willius were found alive, something that looked very unlikely since Meletis was destroyed, Adar would make decisions that would affect the entirety of the united worlds. The responsibilities were his now and that meant that there was no way that he could contact his son stationed on the battlestar Setarius just to find out his ship's status. He might still be the President, but he didn't have the right, not yet. He was just one man worried about his son and there were countless thousands doing the same. He winced. Marthia would never forgive him for choosing everyone over her and their son. She understood perfectly what he had to do, and she would curse him for it forever.

A junior officer on the Battlestar Rycon, Richard Antron Adar, their second son had to be caught in the middle of the fighting. Marthia despised the fact that her son was in the military in the first place, risking his life in the cold war with the Cylons. Now her worst fears were realized. The Colonies were caught up in a shooting war with the Cylons and her husband would never use his influence to pull their son away from the front lines. Marthia knew what her husband would choose, and she would hate him for that no matter what the outcome. It was a price Adar knew he would have to be paid one day. He just didn't expect it to be paid while he was still President.

The high-speed train slowed down and came to a stop. Armed guards were at the door waiting for the President and his entourage to exit. The President and his wife were quickly escorted down the hallway past security into the Athena One complex. They too another elevator four stories down and tool the corridor that lead to the very heart of the complex. Proper clothing was quickly provided for both before they were escorted into the Command and Control Center. Marthia would normally not be allowed there but this was an obvious exception as she was escorted to a smaller waiting room away from the heart of the complex. She'd be comfortable there as much as one could, during this time.

The President, looking presentable despite his haggard expression stepped through the heavy reinforced doors that lead to the heart of the center.

"The President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol!" a heavily built officer who should have used his talented lungs as a Major Domo, yelled. His rich baritone voice captured everyone's attention announcing that their leader had arrived.

Immediately, the hundred and nine officers and support staff in Central Control either saluted or stood at attention the instant Adar walked through the door. In Adar's mind that voice said it all. It confirmed that he was still President, period. With Antonius Goesel and his cabinet along with the city vaporized, he had to step up. Even with the Cylon cold war threatening to break into a hot one at any time. the man never truly expected become a wartime leader.

The President quickly acknowledged them and headed straight towards the main observation monitors showing all the major civilian news stations as their reports added to the massive amounts of information about the very obvious, but undeclared war. The sober and quick glances were cut short as the presence of another man, a hero of the Great Colonial-Cylon War made his presence known.

"Mister Present. I'm glad you made it. Now, we can get some real work done."

Lead Admiral Augustus Cain's ice-blue eyes stared at the President drawing the man to him. Adar, however was searching for another officer who should have already been there.

"Where's Admiral Nagala?" he asked, looking around for the military officer that should have already been there. The passion in his voice surprised hm. He found himself really concerned for the military advisor he'd come to rely on.

Cain, with his unruly snow-white hair and aged face crisply answered. "Sir, he was on a military travelling liner to Picon when we were attacked. The Admiral is now with the Zeus squadron and is the Admiral on site on the front lines."

The President wasted no time regretting the circumstances that force him into the thick of the fighting. His presence there might change the fortune of this war. "How many members of the Quorum are secured and where are they?"

"President-Elect Goesel is confirmed dead," Cain said without preamble. "He, his wife, most of the incoming cabinet are gone along, with most of the two million inhabitants of Meletis. The cities of Garash, Pimross, and Tyris, were nuked. Vice-President-elect Willius is confirmed alive and well on Picon. General Corman is on his way here and should arrive shortly. We don't yet know the status of the other officers and members of the leadership yet. We believe most of the members of the Quorum are alive at this point since they're spread all over the Colonies, but we will have to assume some losses there."

Pimross, the city where James Counlis and his family lived after he retired from office. Paternal early onset senility ended his career too early, Adar thought. But he was fighting it. He still had years of life ahead of him. Now, all of that was gone alone with the people he loved and the city he loved.

"There's nothing that we can do about that for now," announced a grim-sounding Adar. "What's our current situation?"

The Lead Admiral pointed to the main screen. "This is the situation as we know so far. There are two hundred capital ships of four main classifications attacking our forces. We've designated these warships as destroyers, cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships. There are also gunboats of at least two configurations and two fighter types that we've identified so far. All of them are deadly. Mister President, this is not some random strike. It's a prelude to a full invasion. This attack was well planned, likely years in the preparation. They're hitting selected spots for now to try and soften us up but we're getting sporadic reports that they are massing, organizing for their major attack. We must assume that their forces will link up and hit us soon. One of their main targets appears to be the Scorpia shipyards. Scorpia and Tauron suffered the most casualties. We have confirmation of a dozen nukes detonated on Tauron. Five military bases were lost. The space ports at Lembar and Tauron City were hit. The total estimated loss is thirty-three million. That number is certain to go up, Sir."

"Gods, most of our ground troops and small craft are there. Can we get them any support?"

"Battlestar groups Three and Four are heavily engaged," Cain answered as one of the main screens showed an image of the ships engaging Colonial warships. "We can't affect support yet. We're still mobilizing so they're on their own for the moment. We don't dare pull in our sources at the border without inviting an attack by the Cylons on another front although there are some reports that…"

"If they're not an immediate threat, then we can hold off on that front for now." Adar looked at the image and then started squinting. The blurred images of the different ships didn't look anything like Adare thought they would. "I assumed our equipment is better than this," he snapped. "These images are terrible. We should be able to see with some type of clarity! These images are crap, no real detail at all," he continued while squinting so he could glean a better image."

"That's just one of our problems, Mister President." Adar turned to see Admiral Corman walking up to the main screen. Sixty-year-old Admiral Corman looked as strained and frustrated as everyone else. There was a gleam in his eyes that Adar easily recognized. "Sir, I received reports from various stations on my way here. Those blurred images are as good as our camera systems can manage. You notice that our forces seen in the same frames are clearly detailed. We have to assume that the enemy has some sort of stealth system that distorts our DRADIS and visual targeting systems. We're having a very hard time trying to lock onto their ships. Targeting is being distorted by as much as three degrees. We can't hit them at all from long range. We have to be almost at point blank range to hit them."

"Sir," the Lead Admiral saluted.

Corman's return salute was quick and abrupt as he first acknowledged the President and then the old war horse Lead Admiral Augustus Cain, a legend and the father to an admiral, and a general. "It's good to have you here. Sorry to pull you from retirement, but by the gods, we need you right now."

"Of course, you do," Cain answered without a hint of humility. Half of the senior officers were spread from Caprica to Gemenon. Although retired there was no way he could ignore the call. "I couldn't sit at home doing nothing and the military chiefs agreed since they all but drafted and pulled me here. We're in a bad way. We've got to get a handle on the situation."

"You need to retake the oath, to be officially reinstated into command, Lead Admiral," Corman said. He wanted Cain to do that as soon as possible to put him into the system. Who knew how many senior officers like General Heradis and Admiral Norman had already died?

"I am aware of the regulations," Adar snapped with far more vitriol than he'd ever intended. The stress was already getting to him and the day hadn't even really begun. "I'm sorry. Let's do it as soon as possible. For now, though, we need to stop these Cylons from wiping us out."

Corman frowned once again as he had when the first reports were given him. Something wasn't adding up. "Mister President," Corman continued. "The only way we've been able to effectively hit back at them is at almost point-blank range which is tantamount to suicide going against their weapons, and those are not the only problems we're facing. Those ships," he said, focusing on the blurred images on screen, "have a crystalline coating covering their armor. Whatever that substance is, it makes their ships tougher to hurt. Their ship configurations are different from any Cylon ship we've ever seen. Worse, they have some kind of fantastic energy barrier we're starting to call an energy blister that surrounds their ship. When visible it's like an ovoid bubble that protects the ship from missiles and our kinetic weapons. It's strong enough to shrug of several nukes."

"I don't really care if its round or ovoid," Adar snapped. "What can we do to defeat it?"

Corman looked irritable but answered the question. He was more than a bit concerned that the President didn't fully understand the magnitude of the forces arrayed against them. "Sir, the more we know the faster we can defeat it. To answer your question, the shape is strongest at the front of their ships. To the sides the shields are weaker and towards the rear, they are at their weakest. However, we can't deny the evidence in front of us. Those blisters are protecting their ships and keeping us from blowing them all to hades. If we can't get through that blister, and then their armor after we defeat the ECM, we will lose."

Adar looked on in shock. The bile in the pit of Adar's stomach made him want to throw up and the news made him even angrier. "How did the Cylons develop such technologies so quickly?"

"They're not Cylon, sir," grumbled Cain as everything suddenly connected. He was angry at himself. "I must be getting old. I didn't see, and it was right in front of me!"

Adar saw that Corman was already nodding. It was an answer which confirmed what Adar's gut was already telling him. But he didn't want to believe it. All the clues were there but…

"Those are too many unique technologies on those ships. Shields, beam weapons, crystalline armor, what I'm calling scattering ECM and the new FTL drives."

Corman nodded. "It can't be Cylons." Turning from the monitors, he faced the President. "Sir, please look carefully. The enemy ships are very powerful but weren't indestructible. A half-dozen ships were cooling scraps of metal and our people quickly scanned as much as they could, before retreating."

Corman was first to notice the script for what it was now that he could see a clear image and he blanched. A moment later, the new arrivals General Coralis and newly minted Rear Admiral Frank Cunningham recognized the same. Every single high-ranking officer was taught to recognize the writing by sight. "Gods…"

Script from the now clear pieces of metal were plainly visible. Those images and scans proved beyond a doubt exactly who this enemy they were fight against, was.

"I've seen that script before," Adar growled and indeed he had. He'd spent weeks comparing the language with his own as he struggled to learn it for future use. "It's Tau'ri… the Thirteenth Tribe?"

"Yes, sir. They're the ones hitting us."

"It could be a ruse by the Cylons to throw us off while they attack," argued Adar, not that he really believed it. he wasn't as much grasping at straws as attempting to provide a counter argument.

Corman shook his head in dismay and mounting disgust. "No, It's not Cylon. The technologies are very similar to the Prometheus vessel we encountered years ago. They are Tau'ri, not Cylon."

At those words, most of the muted voices inside the Command Center went silent.

"This is retaliation for the Prometheus incident," the President grumbled. The more he thought about it the more his rage increased. "We apologized for that incident and they answer by invading us!" he spat. "All of that work, the resources, the peaceful overtures, all for nothing?"

The words sounded bitter even as he uttered them.

The humanoid Cylon named John Cavil, the senior leader of the model Ones as well as the self-appointed leader of the Cylon Liberation Forces, woke up coughing and puking his lungs out. Even before he opened his eyes, he instantly realized where he was.

He rested for a moment, gathering his strength. t Leader of the glorious Cylon Liberation Force. Each time he thought of that name he had to strain to keep from roaring with laughter, something that he couldn't do at this moment. Laughter was painful when just resurrecting.

Freedom from the Colonials? The only way that would happen when his people liberated the Humans of their pathetic lives.

Those lovely thoughts caused him to momentarily forget where he was, inhaling deeply. He immediately choked, vomiting out resurrection fluid from his lungs and mouth. How easily it was to forget, he thought.

Breathing carefully now as he regained his full senses he started smiling. John silently thanked resurrection technology for bringing him back once more, not that he intended to die again any time in the immediate future. The ability to return from the dead was a great advantage, most likely the greatest advantage the Cylons possessed over the Colonials. It didn't bother him that here was some question whether they were truly the original returning to life or simply a perfect digital copy, but none of the Cylons that mattered really questioned it, especially the number One series. If he was really a copy of the previous John and not who he believed he was, it didn't matter. That John and his soul, which John didn't believe in was gone. He was here now with all the memories and characteristics, and he was alive. The other body, the dead one, was in the past.

The reality was that it was much easier for the organic models to believe that they were the originals returning from the dead in new bodies as opposed to returning as a copy with all of the memories that once belonged to someone else and not know the difference. That reasoning saved a lot of unnecessary questions and grief. Yes, resurrecting from the dead was convenient, however, it was a very unpleasant experience waking up and taking your first breath only to feel thick resurrection fluid filling one's lungs again. Renewed life shouldn't begin by feeling as if you were drowning and Human babies entered the world experiencing that all the time–disgusting. Furthermore, the resurrection, or more specifically artificial amniotic fluid solution tasted horrid. Maybe he would suggest a minty flavoring be added in the future. John shook his head, bemused at the idea he intended to implement. As revolting as it tasted, it affirmed that he was alive, and he was in a jubilant mood considering the circumstances.

Struggling to get the viscus fluid out of his eyes and nose, John slowly lifted himself up without any help but almost fell backwards. He wasn't used to this new body and it being so fresh, the muscles were still a bit weak as they'd never been used before. He hated the feeling of temporary weakness and treated it as an aggravation he didn't need. The other Cylons didn't need to see him, their leader, weak, not at a time like this.

John Cavil 'died' a few minutes earlier in a flash of nuclear fire that incinerated the city of Isa on Sagittaron. The untimely death by nuclear explosion came as a surprise and one that he really hadn't wanted to experience. The reason he was on the planet in the first place was because the mission was so critical. His mission was a simple one; get in, deliver the nuke and get out. His loathing at being on a Colonial world was legendary among his fellow Cylons. Normally, John wouldn't have even subjected himself to visiting a planet filled with Humans that he hated. He was more of an organizer, a vital and necessary component of the Cylon race, who was needed at central command. The other Ones could do field work and they did for the most part however, the mission that got him killed on Sagittaron was too important to leave to his fellow Cylons or even his fellow Ones. Tom Zarek, who still eluded those ignorant Colonials was too valuable a resource to leave for the others to deal with. The terrorist had done so much for the Cylon cause that John almost liked him as a Human would love a dog or cat, only more. His actions in the last few years had caused the Colonials nightmares while they tried to keep the local government on that miserable planet from falling apart.

Unity, a laughable phrase when describing that miserable world, was strength and Tom was the perfect foil to help break that unity. His escape from prison, with help from fellow sympathizers and heavy covert support from several Cylons, made the Sagittaron authorities look like fools and enhanced the reputation of the rebellion, and it served to strengthen the calls for independence. John loved it. as he always said, a little revolution was good for the soul and the Cylon cause.

John's mission to sell a small nuke to the Zarek resistance fighters was just completed when the fighting broke out. No one knew exactly what was happening not even the authorities. The television reporters said that the Colonies were being attacked and everyone just knew that it was the Cylons. John also concluded that his people were hitting the Colonials. The attack was happening way too soon and the One was angered that his people had gone behind his back and staged a surprised attack without his permission, or knowledge just after he left central command and out of communication.

John was the de facto leader of the Cylon race even though all of the models always voted on any major decision with the majority consensus being the law. The fools had no real idea who was truly running things and this unsanctioned attack was exactly why he rarely left the Colony unless it was mission critical. Without his guidance, any gains they had achieved so far, would quickly fall apart. His fellow brothers and sisters were idiots and dupes when it came to seeing the big picture. His fellow Ones weren't much better although they could be counted on to do the correct thing at the correct time. Why they hadn't stopped this untimely attack was beyond him, but they were committed now, and John was glad he was back to handle things and make the big decisions.

Collecting his thoughts about the mission, John remembered sirens began screaming all over the city just as Zarek's associates had driven off with the package. People were panicking everywhere saying that the Cylons were attacking. A lot of them were praying to their false gods in the middle of the streets instead of trying to save their pathetic lives. Naturally, John knew that that was impossible, but just to be safe, he decided to relocate to a shelter. Real death had little meaning to him but how one died was important and he refused to die in the middle of a street looking up for salvation that would never come. Getting crushed by a car or shot in the stomach; those type of violent and lingering painful deaths was something to be avoided as much as possible.

But he also had to grudgingly admit that for whatever the reasons his people had decided that now was the time to attack the Humans, their actions came as a welcomed surprise as he had had pushed hard for the war, despite everyone continually overruling him, for years. Something in the equation had changed and it had to be something important enough for them to engage the Colonials so quickly and without some preparation or input from him. They just weren't that independent-minded which to him was a glaring weakness among his people.

Their overarching fear was that they weren't prepared to attack the Humans with having a high probability of winning. Colonial battlestars were powerful and respected weapon systems. A straight up fight with the Colonials was too high a risk and the probability of defeat would doom his race, although John believed that his people would come out on top in capital engagements. The odds however were too close to call and the Cylons wanted an edge and they had prepared one. That now defunct edge, laughably called 'the plan' was torn apart and flung into the wind. All that work for nothing.

And it was all the Thirteenth Tribe's fault.

That world shouldn't have even existed! It was destroyed long ago according to all his information and yet, there they were all those years ago, meeting with the Colonials as boldly as if they owned all of space. Their mere existence proved beyond a doubt that his sources had lied to him, and the Cylon plans to finally remove Humanity from the stars went up in smoke.

If the Earth ship Prometheus hadn't shown up, the plan would have been enacted and everything would have been perfect. But no, the Thirteenth Tribe just had to prove itself real and show up at the exact worst possible time. The software tampering was discovered by accident–all of that work and planning for nothing! –and that forced both sides into a cold war where neither the Colonials nor Cylons had a clear advantage over the other. Instead of the Colonials gearing down as they were years earlier, they were constantly gearing up. Battlestars that should have been retired or scrapped were being maintained and upgraded, adding to their overall fleet. The only good things to happen was the Colonial hatred of the Thirteener's religious beliefs, their refusal to immediately acknowledge Colonial oversight, and the attack on the Thirteenth's ship tore the first contact to shreds. Those stolen records of the meeting were eye-opening and somewhat amusing; however, an unintended side effect was that years of Cylon preparation were ruined because of them. He and the Threes swore that the Earthers would pay in blood as soon as the Colonial ships that were heading to that hated planet made contact and identified where its location was. Then the huge Cylon fleet tracking the Colonials would burn that world and pay them back for all the misery and interference they'd caused. The so-called Tau'ri would be crushed just like their Colonial counterpart were going to be.

Not surprisingly, it took about fifteen minutes for him to find one that wasn't filled with people. Inside one of the hundreds of huge bomb shelters located in and around the city, John saw two of his fellow Cylons both of whom purposely ignored him. Instead, they like others in the shelter were focused on the television, staring at the well-known blond reporter located some twenty miles south near Polatis city. So, everyone was watching when the reporter turned her head and opened her mouth to speak. Every person in the shelter saw her face change in an instant from professional confusion to absolute terror. Whatever she was looking at off-camera had frightened her badly. By the look on the faces of his fellow Cylons, John suspected that his bellow brethren had no idea what was happening either. The television screen turned to static and then went out as the shelter lost power. A dull roar accompanied by a violent rumbling was felt in the shelter along with an ever-increasing brightness that penetrated the very walls even though they were below ground. That left no doubt as to why the reporter had panicked and the television lost the signal. A second, heavy rumble happened, overriding the first one. In that instant, the Humans started screaming. The shelter would not hold. The second nuke had detonated too close. Everything and everyone was starting to catch fire. John's last agonized thoughts before the blinding light scorched his eyes from his sockets and the heat melted the shelter were 'those spineless idiots really did it! Now we can kill them all and get rid of the Human infestation like they wanted. Mindless agony overwhelmed him, and his world went black.

Grabbing a towel to wipe the excess glistening fluid off him before he took a quick shower, Cavil stopped suddenly as he became fully aware of his surroundings. His fellow Cylons were running around like birds with their heads cut off. The centurions were moving around erratically as if waiting for instructions. The resurrection tanks were filled with his fellow Cylons waking up. A wild-eyed Eight ran by him screaming something about being targeted and the ships emergency sirens were screaming several warnings at once. Something was terribly wrong, and John wanted answers now. He coughed once as he used his voice for the first time. "What is…?" he began.

He didn't finish, his ears popped as he saw the merest glimpse of yellowish light passing through the resurrection ship just in front of him…

…Only to wake up once more choking on that abominable fluid once more.

"What's happening?" he managed to yell…before he woke up again on yet a third resurrection ship.

"Will someone tell me what's happening!" he screamed out. Confused and exhausted, he fell back into the tank splashing fluid everywhere. Again, he heard those hated alarms. How did they kill two of our resurrection ships?" he yelled out in frustration. "How did they get through our defenses?"

Now he was badly frightened. Obviously, the Colonials had tracked and destroyed at least two nearby resurrection ships. He wanted to know they found them so quickly and why hadn't the ships already jumped to places of safety? Colonial tracking capabilities weren't that great when compared to Cylon technology, so that should not have been a problem. Like most Cylons, he initially assumed that the Colonials were the ones retaliating but something was off. The Humans were striking back much quicker than they should be capable of and the Cylons were being hurt. "How are the Colonial doing this to us?"

"They're not Colonials," a Two yelled at him. "Unknown ships are attacking us with weapons we've never seen before. I don't think they're Human!"

"Are you damaged or insane? It's the Colonials!" John yelled.

The Two shook his head violently. "They can't be," the Two yelled back. "They're like nothing we've ever seen before. I think they're alien."

TBC

Okay, what is going on here? They Cylons are at war? Yes. With the same enemies as the Colonials? No. Are the two sets of enemies working together? Yes. Stay tuned.