Halsey and Sharon stared at one-another. It hadn't been a long interview, but Sharon could probably tell of the distaste Halsey had for the ones that had attempted to wipe humanity out. Then again, Halsey had learned a little of the Cylon as well, and with the physiological research she heard doctor Baltar had supposedly done, she could learn even more. Still, she stared at the pregnant Sharon and part of her wondered just how much of the Infiltrator was human.

She spoke as kindly as she could muster, "Thank you for your time, miss Valerii," before sighing and stowing her tablet away. Sharon didn't seem to know much of anything, in truth. She'd told Halsey all that she remembered about her time on the desolate wasteland that now was Caprica, of the Cylon Infiltrators' various models, including her own and all that. Halsey told her, "I'm sure I'll be able to put in a good word to the Commander and President for you being so keen to cooperate."

"A new face to humanity helped," Sharon spoke, a little awkward. She joked, "Though your troops glaring at me from behind the grates and bulletproof glass did also persuade me to talk," motioning to the Chief. The Spartan perked up a little at that and Halsey, in her infinite wisdom, gave a simple wave of her hand to show him it was fine. He nodded, paused for a moment, then Halsey put her hands next to her head and moved them up. The Spartan once again took a pause, then nodded and gently removed his helmet, revealing the tired, old, scarred face of the hero of mankind. He remained impassive, though he didn't seem that hostile.

Sharon smiled a little at the show of kindness that was revealing the face of one of the soldiers keeping tabs on them. She sighed, relaxing a little, then said, "Thanks for the offer, Doctor, but I understand fully why I'm in this cage. I can't blame the Commander..."

"Another version of you putting two slugs into the man's chest," Halsey replied, surprising her. She told the girl nonchalantly, "Our little alliance is being built on trust of one-another. To that point, I, as acting Admiral and director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, have had to give up some approved information of my own. They told me of many of the things the survivors of the Twelve Colonies have had to face before I came here."

"Don't presume they told you that there might still be plenty of survivors on Caprica...?" She asked, leaning back and rubbing her belly. She smiled as she felt the baby kick, then told Halsey, "She's moving around an awful lot in there..."

The doctor couldn't help but crack a small, melancholic smile as she remembered her own pregnancy. With a heavy sigh, she told Sharon, "Captain Thrace did mention they ran into survivors on Caprica, yes. A Resistance group," before she checked her tablet, "I wished to speak to UNSC HIGH-COM in order to see if we can start sending them supplies... Though I hope you wouldn't tell that to your kin?"

"I don't think I can," Sharon admitted awkwardly, "Also... Uhm..."

The awkwardness which the humanlike Cylon woman now displayed made Halsey blink. The emotions were far too real to simply be displays made to confuse the human mind, she thought. She gave a slow, calm wave of her hand to allow Sharon to continue. Sharon did, "Helo sent me a letter about there being actual, living aliens in the Galaxy we're currently in. Is it true?"

"Well, yes," Halsey replied, "Not only do we have aliens in this Galaxy, but mine and the Republic's as well. The Galactic Republic Admiral we've talked to is, in fact, an alien with a somewhat human appearance," before she pulled up the image of the man on her tablet, a photograph taken by Alliance and ONI staff to show. The tall man, clad in the grey Galactic Republic Navy uniform, stood proudly, his face showing no emotion as his red eyes peered into the cameras.

Sharon seemed scared for the first few seconds, but childlike curiosity seemed to snuff out the fear as she saw the humanlike features of the Chiss admiral. She smiled and said, "This is amazing... All this time, we all thought we were alone," before looking at Halsey, "Not to say intergalactic travel isn't amazing, but you get my point, right?! Aliens! Honest-to-God Aliens!"

Halsey genuinely cracked a smile at that, covering her mouth to hide it. The beauty of a human, or even something human-made like these Cylons, facing a peaceful First Contact with such wonder made the jaded heart of the woman a little warmer. It was something that'd been sadly ripped from the people of the Unified Earth Government thirty-four years ago.

She shut off the tablet and stood up, then said, "As I'm doing the rounds aboard each allied vessel to help the UNSC understand you all for now, it might be a while before you see me again, miss Valerii. Thank you again for your time."

Sharon chuckled, "All I have is time while I'm in here, doctor. Glad that I could be of some help to your people, too..." then she took a good second to ponder what else to say. She settled on, "And thanks for even considering trying to talk to the Commander and President for me," then looked down at her tummy and put her hands on it, "If nothing else, I just want to keep my baby, raise her with Karl whenever he comes back from his assignment..."

As a former mother herself, one who'd lost her daughter at a late age, Halsey understood. She replied to the girl, "I will do my best to convince them. Farewell, miss Valerii," then turned and faced the door. The Colonial Marine on guard duty opened the door, allowing Halsey to step outside. She thanked the man quietly, then waved to John to follow her. As they walked down the corridors, the Spartan's footsteps thundering against the steel plate below them, Halsey said, "They truly seem too human, these Infiltrator models."

Chief inquired, "Concerned over something, ma'am?" with little change in his tone.

"No," Halsey replied, calm, "From the way I've heard and seen Adama talk about miss Valerii," and she looked at John as they walked, "The man still cares about her as if she was his own daughter, understandably. The Galactica crew seem fairly tight-knit as far as families go..." she lifted her tablet and started writing, "To that extent, I will very much request something that may ease the Commander's life in terms of the 'question' of the halfbreed child. I will ask that she be kept alive simply so we may non-invasively study her."

"Do you think they'll let that happen, ma'am? The Cylons wiped out their homeworlds and families, too," John perceived it through a military and surprisingly human lens at the same time. Halsey was impressed, listening to him as he spoke, "They might try to keep the baby away from Lieutenant Valerii and Lieutenant Agathon at the very least. Fears of possibly raising an enemy among their ranks..."

"Then, we'll just do what we can," Halsey shrugged, "This alliance is already more in their favor than anyone else's. They have pretty much already received the lion's share of it:Options in regards to where to settle, either in UEG or Systems Alliance space, they have the guaranteed protection from us, the Alliance and the Republic and they might even have a consolidated force to retake the Twelve Colonies with if so requested and negotiated. Saving a child and its mother and letting them live somewhat normal lives seems fairly disingenuous of them to refuse..."

"Hope you're right, doctor," Chief replied calmly, all while Cortana seemed to be surprisingly quiet on the matter. Halsey appreciated the AI not interrupting to give her own opinion here. There was a certain bias to be expected from an AI, due to being artificial and organic in nature, much like the Cylons. She would not have even held it against Cortana if she did intervene.

They stopped in front of a door, hearing the ramblings of a man inside. Halsey noted that this was, in fact, the bulkhead door leading to current Vice President and Doctor Baltar's laboratory. She breathed in, sighed and mumbled to herself, "Time to see our Colonial counterpart..." before calmly knocking on the door. The rambling seemed to cease, only for the door to unlock moments later, revealing a man clad in a shirt, tie, suit pants and a labcoat, as well as glasses. His long hair was unkempt and a mess and his five o'clock shadow was growing closer to a very unmaintained beard.

He and Halsey stared eye-to-eye for a moment, before the woman spoke, "Doctor and VP Baltar, I presume?" and extended her hand. Gaius blinked, staring in pure surprise at the woman. She told him, "I had half-expected you to be away, dealing with issues of the Vice-Presidency. I am glad I caught you in your laboratory," as she waited to shake his hand.

"Uhm," Gaius blinked, then replied, "Oh, yes, indeed. You are... Doctor Halsey, I believe?" and shook her hand, only to blank the moment the looming shadow of the Spartan appeared in the corner of his eye. He looked at the Chief and went bug-eyed while the Spartan simply stood there. The supersoldier offered him a nod of acknowledgement, to which Gaius waved, surprised.

"I understand you have a Cylon detection method, correct?" Halsey asked, straight to the point. He took a brief second to understand the question, then tilted his head forward, confirming it. Halsey told him, "I'd like to see it. It might be useful if we wake up with them on our own turf," to which the man awkwardly and almost bumblingly let her in.

When she'd arrived at the computer designed to examine blood samples for the Tell of Cylon versus human blood, she saw the differences, noting them down. She hummed, then looked up as she saw Gaius whispering to something behind him, only to clear her throat, taking his attention toward her. She said, "The Algorithm, while genius, is surprisingly slow... Did you intend to upgrade its speed?"

"Yes," Gaius nodded, then sighed, "Doctor, do you mind me asking some questions?"

"By all means?" Halsey replied as she checked the code, making sure to save a copy on her tablet for later verification. She saw him turn his head ever so slightly to listen to something that was talking to him. Halsey knew this type of person. She deduced Baltar from the get-go. No, he was not cowardly. Had Halsey been a little younger, she was pretty sure she would've reacted with much the same fear about the existence of humans in other Galaxies as he did.

He was a selfish animal. She could tell by the face alone, by that look in his eyes. He wasn't even a simple monster of science like herself, rather a man stuck with his basest instincts taking somewhat of a forefront in his mind. However, above all others, he thought right now of his survival. She wondered what it meant for their alliance, stating simply, "Calm down, doctor. I merely seek to understand the people I will working with on the Waystation."

"Of course," Gaius sighed deeply, taking his glasses off, "Pardon me, doctor, but it's still... Hard. Getting used to the idea we ran into several new species and two new groups of humans with homeworlds, colonies, ships..." then, he looked Halsey in the eye as he told her, "The Algorithm for the detector. I've been meaning to improve it somehow, but my mind is blanking currently due to the situation. If you have any ideas, I am willing and able to listen..."

Halsey nodded. Good, she thought. He knew what was good for him...

... Meanwhile, on the hangar deck of the Galactica, Lee and Kara watched with smirks on their faces, listening to an elderly UNSC Marine barking, "... And don't get me started on the sloppy formation and the looks y'all are givin' me! You're staring at my black ass like I'm Satan himself, crawled outta the gates of hell to get your heads out of your own prissy asses!" then taking a deep, long drag of his cigar. Scratching his salt-and-pepper mustache and grinning as he took the cigar from between his lips, he spoke, "But that don't matter none to me, honestly. I'm here cuz your Colonel, Tigh, asked me to see what the hell kinda Dogs he has on board his ship. That is little pups... Or Devil Dogs."

Kara, though amused, asked, "And who're you, then?"

The man smirked, showing the pearly white teeth that he was known for, his brown eyes locked onto Starbuck. Facing the Marines, he spoke, "My name's Sergeant-Major Avery Junior Johnson. Call me Johnson, Sarge, or Sergeant-Major. I'm one of the men of the United Nations Space Command's Marine Corps. Your new best friends," with a certain pride in his voice.

"Most of these guys have shot at tin cans that'd probably make you blush, Sarge," Kara quipped, facing the man. Johnson snorted at that, to which she said, "I'm serious. Cylons ain't anything to scoff at. Toaster bastards are deadly in the air as they are on the ground. Hell, I can tell you these weapons saved our asses on multiple occasions. Admittedly, they take a few shots to take down the bastards, but-"

Johnson looked over to the Marine in front of him and requested, "Hand me your weapon, son," only to slowly be handed the strange bullpup weapon. It was a black rifle, made mostly of polymer, but with a magazine in the rear grip. The stock was almost like a thumbhole one. Johnson found and hit the magazine release and examined the ammunition, then blinked. He looked at the blonde and said, "These are nine millimeter rounds. Barely fast or capable enough to penetrate light armor."

"Well, they did good enough for us most of the time," Kara mumbled, partially lying.

Lee stepped in and told him, "Sergeant-Major, with all due respect, do you see where we are?" as he opened his arms, broadly showing their surroundings. Johnson nodded, well-aware they were on a ship, to which Lee asked, "What kind of rounds do you usually employ for defending your warships if you get boarded, then?" only to yet again pause as Johnson pulled a shotgun shell out of his rig and showed it to them.

"Eight Gauge soelkraft Buckshot most of the time in my case," Johnson grinned, then stowed the shell back into his rig. He then pulled out his pistol and showed the men the magazine, "Or Fifty Caliber semi-armor piercing high explosive. For when you really wanna hurt somebody," before turning to face the man and asked, "Captain Adama, right? Lieutenant Thrace's buddy."

"Yes," Apollo then replied, staring at the magazine as Johnson slotted it back into his pistol.

He told them, "Trust me when I tell you, sir, I'd rather be packin' these in case your bot buddies decide to swing by and take a pot shot at us. I'm not sayin' your stuff doesn't work for you, but I am sayin' I'm a little disappointed you're reducin' yourselves to using low-caliber rounds against them. Readin' the briefings about them that Commander Adama wrote, it makes me think we should really start supplyin' you lot with good guns ASAP."

Kara blinked, then asked, "You folks actually fight Aliens, right?"

"Yes," Johnson replied, then smirked as he said, "Marine Corps' job. Kick alien ass and look damn fine while doin' it," before asking her, "You folks don't have that many aliens in your home Galaxy aside from the tin cans, right? Toasters as you call'em," and got confirmation from Kara. He told them, "Our people ain't that different, El-Tee. We lost worlds, too, we just never had to go full Ark to escape our enemy. And thing is, we wanna help against the Bots, much as Command doesn't wanna get into another War. It's why I'm here, prepping to train your Marines and give them some new weapons to fight the Toasters with. Lil' Common Ground."

Kara sighed, then said, "If getting your guns means I get to pack something other than the standard Colonial sidearm in my Viper, that's fine by me. They really made them a bit unwieldy," before looking to Lee, "Think your dad and the Prez really approved provisions like new guns for our troops? I mean, I know Tigh approved of a harder training for the Marines, but new gear...?"

"President Roslin's having talks with everyone from the Alliance to the UEG right now, but military stuff goes through the Commander," Lee replied calmly, crossing his arms to his chest, "So, yeah, it's probable he approved the re-training. I don't think he expected you all to be so prompt, though, Sergeant-Major, what with the mess that the Colonial Fleet is right now. Rumors abound about the Two Earths and our Republic partners..."

"Rumor Mill always goes strong in a small group. Fifty thousand folks ain't that big a party," Johnson quipped, then slid his cigar between his lips. He noticed the case of cigars in Starbuck's breast pocket and, in a surprising move to the UNSC staff present near the Pelican they'd come in with, offered one of his own to Kara. He then said to the two, "Don't know much about the Systems Alliance folk yet myself, but I know the UEG won't force y'all to pick us as a new home. Vote it out for all we care, but we got your backs."

"Reassuring," Lee nodded, "Thanks, Sergeant-Major."

"Welcome, cap. Mind me gettin' back to work with your Marines?" He asked. The two officers shook their heads. Johnson gave them a salute out of respect, then swiveled about after receiving a salute back. Kara and Lee exchanged a quick look, then Kara removed the tip of the cigar, slid it between her teeth and used her lighter. Taking a puff from the cigar, she smirked and gave a nod of approval. The two then watched a Republic transport and an Alliance shuttle touch down in the hangar, too, presumably for a little chat.

Maybe this was gonna go well after all, both she and Lee thought...

Aboard the Normandy

Shepard found herself once again walking through the ship, this time heading right down to the Hangar to engage in small-talk with a certain someone. General Tano was an alien, that was for sure. She didn't know the species, what she was capable of and all that, she just knew the girl was from the Republic, had fought in a war against their Separatist enemies and was a high-ranking officer fighting the enemy still. The thing was, she looked incredibly young.

As the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft and the door slid open, the Commander marched out onto the deck, unsurprised to see the Clone Troopers, a dozen or so men with the same face, just varying features like haircuts, hair colors and tattoos. They were laughing, chatting, betting on something. Even Jesse and Fives seemed to be engaged in the small-talk.

To the right, she saw Helo tending to their aircraft, his co-pilot checking shipboard systems. She'd need to have a talk with him later. Regardless of how calm he seemed right now and how nicely he smiled to the crew, the man was troubled by something. Understandably, Shepard thought, since apparently his girlfriend turned out to be a Cylon and was currently pregnant.

Ahsoka was also tending to her own starfighter, her small companion droid chittering happily as she did so. She smiled and gave it a pat on the top of its frame, then paused as she seemed to have felt the Commander approach. Turning to face her, she stood to her feet with a smile. Shepard snapped an almost instinctive salute toward the General, which Ahsoka replied to in kind. She then told her, "At ease, Commander. No need to follow all the military protocol on a private contractor ship..." And then she added, "Speaking of, I've been meaning to talk to you about our posting, so it's a good thing you came here."

"Oh, well, that's gonna make things easier," Shepard quipped as she leaned against the Starfighter's side, watching Ahsoka get back to work on it. She asked jokingly, "You answer mine, I answer yours, or do I have to answer first since you're a general?" to which Ahsoka let out a chuckle. The general gave a short wave of the hand, meaning Shepard could go ahead. She took the offer happily, asking, "It's gonna be a bit of a personal question, ma'am, but how old are you?"

"Nineteen," The girl didn't even hesitate as she used a spanner or something to set a component into place. Shepard went bug-eyed at that, staring at the girl like she'd just called out the Devil's name. Ahsoka looked up and said, "Problem?" before standing up and leaning against the starship as well. She wiped away some muck from her face with a towel sat on a flat part of the vessel, then said, "I was taken in young."

"Yeah, but still. A general at nineteen..." Shepard mumbled, "Any particular reason you're seeing war so young?"

Ahsoka's lips became razor thin, a melancholic look on her face. She spoke softly, "Well, it's because of how I was brought up," only to show Shepard to wait. She said, "My turn," and looked at the Commander. Shepard gave a nod, well aware she'd agreed to an exchange of information, which meant Ahsoka could safely ask, "Why are you not commanding an Alliance vessel if you're an Alliance officer?"

"I died," Shepard responded just as frankly as Ahsoka, to which the girl blanked. While Ahsoka simply looked, stunned not to feel any sort of disingenuous lie from the woman, the Commander pointed at scars on the side of her face, stating, "Cerberus decided to try and play God. Revived me from the dead, worked on it for two years. I owe the bastards now, but our goals are aligned. For now, obviously," she shrugged, "I've shot at them before, about two and a half years ago."

Ahsoka hummed, then replied, "Sounds like it wasn't pretty. Take it the 'Collectors' we're hunting had something to do with it," with incredible deductive skill. The girl was really perceptive as whatever she was, Shepard thought. She said, "Alright, well, now it's your turn, though I can sort of guess what's coming next. I was a Jedi back in the day, found and brought to our temple to be raised. I was a Padawan when the war started, basically an apprentice."

"Oh," Shepard blinked, "Got it. And that led to...?"

"Fighting in the war," Ahsoka replied, "Though it was obviously a poor decision. Jedi weren't exactly the best officers back at the start of the war, to put it bluntly," then she patted her lightsabers, "Many of us thought that these and our Force powers made us practically invincible. Many more saw the troops under their command as... Well, not as men, but expendables, like the Droid Army we're fighting."

"That's certainly no way to make friends," The commander quipped, smiling, "Going by the way Jesse, Fives, Bold and the others treat you, you weren't that type of officer."

Ahsoka chuckled, "Oh, no, I was annoying when I was a kid. Thirteen and thrown into the fray, under the command of one of our best and The Chosen One of prophecy," then she leaned down and grabbed her water bottle, taking a sip. She sighed, shaking her head, "Master Anakin Skywalker, Skyguy as I call him, taught me everything. The 501st, his Legion, included Clones that became some of my best friends... By the way," then she smirked, "Feel free to use that nickname when you meet him."

Shepard snorted, "Nah, not gonna disrespect him. Anyways, moving on. Much as I'd like to learn what you mean by the Jedi being poor commanders and what that entailed for the Republic going forward..." and gave Ahsoka the in for her next question. The General spent a moment thinking up what to ask next. About the XO that seemed to be stuck-up, about the crew that felt off, or about Okeer the Warlord and his tankbred Krogan? Shepard told her, however, "Before you ask about the rest of the crew, they're Dossiers given to me by the Cerberus boss, a man we call The Illusive Man."

"Ah," Ahsoka sighed, "That makes sense, I guess. Then how about the fact your ship seems to also be actively undergoing upgrades?" before pointing up and stating, "Just yesterday, when I moved past the cryopods, I found mister Vakarian upgrading the gunnery calibration for what he called the 'Thanix' Cannon, your shipboard main gun. I've also seen armor upgrade packages and all else when I came in."

Shepard replied to that, "The last time, the Collectors caught us unprepared. Any extra layer of defense I can strap onto this ship so we don't lose it is being put on. The Illusive Man even hinted it might be a good idea to ask local crew what they think I should put on the Girl," and she shrugged, "I'd ask you guys, but it might take a while for the resources to arrive."

"Makes sense," Ahsoka shot back.

"Finally... What exactly happened in your world for your 'Republic' to have been at war for five years? You mentioned you were a Jedi, too..." Shepard raised a brow. That second line was not phrased as a question, but was one regardless, a hint that she wanted to know what Ahsoka meant by the fact she had been a Jedi. Was she no longer one, or what?

Ahsoka hummed, then said, "It all really began at the battle near the Republic's capital city, Coruscant. A massive CIS fleet appeared out of Hyperspace in a ploy to try and end the war, or so we thought," and she crossed her arms, "We fought them and managed to beat them, rescued our chancellor in the meanwhile and won. Found out the Separatists were simply using it as a distraction to bring up masses of reserves they had built up..." then she tapped her foot, "As for what happened in regards to me once being a Jedi, our order, an ancient order formed millennia ago, had a Schism. It happened due to defeats under Jedi Generals leading to a Review and a Report."

She hummed and checked her pockets to see if she had some sort of databank or info on it, then added, "The Republic had made the 'Force-Sensitive Commander Review' a priority after the aforementioned defeats. Said review had a good chunk of the Order, formerly generals in charge of everything from Naval to Ground Operations, removed and demoted. The Schism came after a good few of us, my master, his master and a few close friends included, agreed with the Review and reformed. I got promoted after leading a siege on the planet of Mandalore and successfully capturing the planet's hostile leader," then she paused and added, "Who's a whole different can of worms, while they remained generals because they'd proven themselves before."

She then pulled something from the side of her ship and used the spanner on it, continuing to explain, "Following that, the Schism separated us into the Old Jedi Order and the Knights of the Republic, who follow different paths. The Old Order retains the ideas of Light without darkness, while me, my master and the others do dip our toes into the Dark, but retain our light-sided alignment, so to speak."

"Well, that's a lot..." Shepard hummed, rubbing her face, "So your religious order broke apart after a Ruse done by your enemies worked and caused you to win one battle, but lose a bunch more. Your friends, you and the people who trained you stayed as Knights of the Republic while the Old Order retreated into seclusion..." then she sighed, "And now you're all stuck fighting the fifth year of this war of yours."

Ahsoka nodded, "Yeah. Long story short... A little incompetence went a long way to making things a little worse for wear in our Galaxy. We're working to fix it," and she shrugged, "It's not far now. Some estimates say maybe another year 'till the Separatists' last reserves are exhausted and we win. We'll see if it's true or not. We'll also see how our encounter affects everything else."

"Yeah," Shepard sighed deeply, "Now it all makes sense. Thanks, General."

"Any time, Commander," Ahsoka smiled, then turned back to work. Shepard looked over to Helo again, then decided it'd be better to talk tomorrow.

Too much for one day.