Record keeping time: first Fanfiction net is acting up again. No email receipts. Hopefully they will correct this problem.

Hello AdmiralSpikuyness: Greetings: The Terrans have been working hard, but as you say, things are coming along slowly, but not as slowly as one thinks. Between the different governments and species, They are just really starting to work together. Everyone is new to this. They are improving and building. The question I have been asking in the latest chapters is how are they building so many ships so fast? The answer is coming up. In the worldwar series, the same thing was mentioned. They do have an edge, but not Asgard tech as much because that government is rebuilding and increasing their population as well. This was mentioned in the Worldwar series and the price they paid to reinvigorate their species. The same is happening in this timeline. The UCW is just starting to work together as a single entity. Research is just starting to bear fruit. Colony ships? Not yet. The UCW is in the early grade school stage, hasn't hit middle school yet in terms of maturity. No time dilation cheats in this story.

Hey Trevayne (and everyone who reads this): Some comments about Isahan and Kunningham are correct. They are not idiots but simply products of their own culture. Therefore, most of their reactions, approaches, and responses are to be expected. However, there is a problem here, even more basic than not having their government send a diplomatic mission without all of the necessary information. The point is this. The Colonials had no information whatsoever. They had six hours of first contact with Prometheus, involving Jackson and then O'Neill.

Summary of the Prometheus incident

That conversation consisted of:

Yes, we are from Earth; we got here by mistake and didn't know you existed. No, we don't know you and haven't heard of you. Earth has monotheists and the gods you serve are known, but is a minor religion situated in a very small area of the planet. (Daniel! Thou shalt not speak of the Goa'uld and the false gods …NOT NOW!)

Yes, we may have a history, but Earth is the home world of humanity, not Kobol, and we have the evidence to prove it, which we will show you in the future when we meet again. Yes, were in a battle and we were damaged, which is why we are here. We are not at liberty to discuss the war which involved the destruction of no less than three worlds which you wouldn't believe in the first , the battle wasn't anywhere near here. No, the threat level is low in this area of space. The enemy is on the run. We are making sure they will not be back. No, we will not give you details of our ship and no, it is not a patrol boat. Yes, there is proof of the war. No, they are not Cylons. Question, what are Cylons? No, it's not them. Who the enemy is, is classified for your own benefit. No, you cannot have access to all of our records. That would violate Earth's regulations and security. We are not under your governmental authority, and we are not one of your colonies. We are not insulting your government or religion. Note to Daniel. No more discussions about religion-ever.

Of course, we know where Earth is. No, we will not give you the coordinates. No, we cannot allow you to examine our ship. No, we WILL not allow you to examine our ship. You can insist all you want, the answer is no. No, we don't care if you require proof of the validity of our claims being from Earth. No, we are not pirates. We will not submit to orders by your military command. Our authorities and orders come from Earth Command. No, we are not lying to you and that is not the reason why we will not submit to Colonial authority.

It's been nice meeting you, but we have repaired our ship and it's time to go. Why do we speak with accents? We are using a translator program because we do not speak your language. Goodbye.

Do not fire on us or we will respond.

Prometheus, we are leaving. We do not have time for this. Return fire, do not destroy if possible. These people tried to nuke us! That was a bad idea. We're gone.

Admiral Agustus Cain and his fleet arrived but missed the battle but was in time to see the aftereffects of one small ship humiliating the Colonial fleet and he wasn't there to participate in the battle. He is pissed because he couldn get in on the fight. Total time. Six hours of First Contact. From here we can jump forwards 16 years.

The summary above indicates that the Colonials know nothing about the Tau'ri other than the fact that they denied being the 13th Colony, have real energy shielding that protects their ship, were in a war that may or may not have been a fabrication-a lie to spy out the Colonies (which would have credence these days, as they were attacked by Earth Alliance). But instead of trying to pull Earth into the Colonies by force, ala Worldwar and Reunions are a Deleted-same universe, different realities. Goesel and Adar tried a peaceful approach. Trust me, the peaceful approach was a close call. The point is the Colonial knowledge about Earth's current situation was equal to nothing. Other than the fact that they were assumed to be a small struggling colony, had a very powerful energy system, had energy shield technology, rating to be determined, small ships, and had large populations that believed in one God and didn't believe in the gods of Kobol which was blasphemy.

Kunningham, like the other officers in the fleet, assumed that the defensive field rumors which the Government tried to keep the lid on, were speculated not to survive a full on attack with the latest Colonial firepower, if they came in force.

But they came in peace. With two percent knowledge and ninety-eight percent speculation.

How they found Earth even I am not really sure (smile).

Bottom line, they came with all the information they had. But the whole mission was based on assumptions. Kunningham and company believe they were sent without all of the data. They are (currently) based on their own evidence since arriving at Earth assuming the Colonies met the Race. They are assuming that Earth is afraid of the colonies and spied on them. There are other assumptions, as well as cultural differences complicating things. But, as mentioned earlier, there is something even more basic going on which will be revealed in chapter 49. Hope this gives some clarification and insight so far.

Next, I mention the word war a lot here. I call it beating a dead horse. There are reasons for this war, is understood differently by the colonials as compared to the Earth and UCW. We mentioned this in Reunions and Worldwar. I will describe this again later. For now, please enjoy. What is described above is the short history of First Contact.

One last thing. FF is acting up again and I am not getting any emails. So if you have pm me, sorry I did not receive anything, not even the fact I posted chapter 47.

Peace. I wish you all well.

AlbertG

Roads Paved in Shadows

Chapter Forty-Eight

CDF Radiance

The admiral already had come to the obvious, forced real conclusion: Earth was by no means some poor, isolated, weak begging for their elder cousins to come aid them, planet. He was beginning to doubt that Earth was the Thirteenth Colony of myth. Thoughts of the Colonial fleet being sent to Earth to convince them that it was in their best interest to join their fellow Elder Tribes pushed themselves to the forefront of his mind–and just as quickly vanished. Such a battle would surely wipe out both sides if the Quorum was stupid enough to try after reading his report. He really didn't have any interest in trying to force these people to do anything. Any ideas of conflict with these people were out of the question now.

"I want a final count…"

Before the officer could give the admiral a count, the UCw ships began changing vectors. The ships slowed and changed courses to clear up space as yet another tear in space rift erupted.

What they saw exiting the now closed rift was something the Colonials never dreamed of. It was huge. At first view, it was believed to be a space station, but designed in such a way that screamed a work of art, not a functional station. It had the ability to travel freely, like any space vessel. It looked like a floating celestial class hotel in orbit.

"It's a ship, shaped like a city! A floating city? in space. A spaceship city! A city ship." DRADIS operation was at a loss for words, as he stumbled trying to describe the–object on screen, or a space station, shaped like a cross between a small modern city and a snowflake.

The crew of the Radiance looked on, astounded, watching the spectacle before them. Inside the Command Center, Kunningham and the others saw the powerful engine underneath the vessel glowing blue-white. The sight was as majestic as all Hades. The station eased into orbit while another thirty UCW vessels of different configurations exited from another set of rifts in space.

The thruster system was completely unknown. The ship… whatever, had to have a type of energy shield protecting the overall structure. Some of the bridge vaguely wondered if they could see people moving around through the windows that permeated the skyscrapers, if they were close enough. It was majestic. It was beautiful.

"Unbelievable," Colonel Clifton Ramsies said, while confirming that the crew and the fleet were recording and gathering data on everything. "How could they build all this? The Quorum is going to have collective strokes. Admiral, we have bigger space stations, but they don't jump around like some kind of pleasure cruiser. And why would they design something as crazy as this unless they use them as colony ships of some kind?"

Frankus hadn't said anything because he was too busy picking his jaw up from the floor. The Earthers had played him. Or rather, the Colonials had played themselves, thinking the Earthers were somehow primitive compared to the Twelve. His people had always believed the Thirteenth to be somehow, someway, inferior, and in need of help. They always believed that they would welcome their long-lost kin with open arms. His people fooled themselves.

Now these new revelations would certainly cause an uproar among the people and especially the Quorum. Greed and envy were going to run rampant amongst the politicians and the CDF attempting to at first convince and having failed that, and he knew they would fail, try to get their way by force of arms. He highly doubted that tactic would work, considering what he'd witnessed in the last few hours. Most likely, both sides would expend themselves at war. And that was if, if the Colonies were still standing and were withstanding the Earth Alliance attacks.

He began to actively worry about what his people might try and how disastrous it would be for all concerned. Being here and talking to the Earthers had opened his eyes at the way they warred. The colonials believed when the war was over, it was over. That was a result of hundreds of years on all sides limiting themselves from wiping out their fellow colonies, thereby lessening Humanity as a whole. Earth didn't have such limitations. They went all out and that disturbed him greatly. The different approaches were horrific for Humanity and it gave him another reason to have headaches.

General Cain would have seen it too, as well as Isahan. None of them could have missed it if they tried. Then a thought slapped him. Wrapped up in his own thoughts, he barely heard his XO's comments. He ignored the words as realization struck.

Lemuria!

It was the same, except Lemuria was floating on the ocean! How much more did the Apellai have to offer their brethren? Or would they deny that like they did everything else?

He so hated this mission. How was he going to explain all of this when or if he returned home? How completely would this change the very nature of the Colonial people, their way of life and their religious heritage, not to mention their mindset?

His XO was still speaking, and the words pulled him back.

"Sir, there are four distinct configurations, five, if we count, that city ship." That was the best way he could think of to describe that object out there. "The Terran ships we know, the Jaffa ships, the unknowns, the battleships, and heavy cruisers that are similar in design, and the floating city."

"Why would they build a ship like a city? Is it a colony ship and if so, why would they bring it here now, unless it's a troop carrier of some sort?"

"It didn't look like a troop carrier. It looks like it could house families there long term, long term," lieutenant Boydic said." The navigation's officer could barely tear his eyes off the main view screen.

"What are the emission readings on that thing?" demanded the admiral. His mind was still in shock. The Colonial shipyards were larger, but the design style of the snowflake in front of him boggled his brain. The technology behind such a ship literally screamed 'hyper-advanced'. And he had not forgotten that ship's connection to Lemuria city, which to all intents and purposes looked very, very similar to the snowflake settling in orbit over the now, not so behind the curve, Earth.

"I cannot get a reading, Admiral. There is some type of ECM blocking our scans. Must be the shields. All of those ships are blocking us. We can barely detect them. No details."

Just like Lemuria, thought Kunningham.

Could that ship actually have atmospheric capability? What would it be like if that mobile station came and visited the Twelve? What would be the political ramifications, besides total anarchy?

Frankus Kunningham couldn't see how everyone had so underestimated Earth's capabilities, but he was taking nothing for granted now. The UCW was showing its fleet and, in extension, their world, how advanced they really were. They were trying to intimidate the Delegation fleet and the Colonies as a whole and they were succeeding.

After he detailed this little demonstration to his superiors, the Quorum would either back off, or become even more adamant at trying to force Earth to submit and share. One thing was for sure, the Colonial legal administrators would find it extremely difficult trying to force any sort of compliance with a tribe that wouldn't acknowledge their legal existence, let alone their authority, and had the power to back it up!

Frustrated, it took a lot for him not to vent his anger at the crew. His mission was to intimidate the Earthers, not the other way around! The Apellai were supposed to reunite with the Colonials, and irrationally, he suspected that the reverse might happen in light of these revelations. He could easily see a battle of wills between the UCW and the Quorum, and what he saw didn't look nice. He hated repeating these facts constantly, being continually in his mind over and over., but he couldn't help it. it was a circular torment. The entirety of everything the Colonies believed they knew Earth to be true was a self-indulged deception!

The Colonies could well look weak when compared to Earth, and that was something he knew a lot of people wouldn't tolerate, especially not now, being embroiled with another tribe claiming to be Earth. The Twelve were going to be in an absolute political and religious uproar when everything came to light.

"Sir…"

One of the larger Tollanian vessels approached one of the extensions, the snowflake. There was a flash of light, and the entire crew observed a circular bubble surrounding the city. Where the ship touched the bubble, there was a bluish glow, and the ship passed through without difficulty. It landed on what he knew to be a landing pier, identical to the one at Lemuria. The energy bubble seemed to extend around the ship. It appeared to be dropping some equipment off. However, he wasn't sure as visuals were being partially blocked.. It then reversed, pulling away to rejoin its squadron.

Seconds later, the entirety of the Earth-UCW ships' near orbit simply faded away, other than the city shaped ship. Only a few of the patrol ships remained visible. Try as they could, the unknown vessels he was most interested in, and were now invisible to sensors, had still refused his continual hails. Everyone knew they were still there. Only the mobile city station remained visible. That awesome spectacle was more than disturbing, and highly deceptive. Earth looked as if it was a small civilian based world with only a few defensive assets to protect it.

It quite eloquently explained why they were so uninterested in the mobile dock. The refusal made sense. They really didn't need it. point, in fact, his people needed it more than the locals did. It was something else requiring his attention. No need for it to go to waste. He would request that they allow him to reconstruct it for use for his own ships, since several required repairs and the fleet were initially counting on the mobile dock being constructed.

The admiral was momentarily stunned silent. He had no doubts the Earth Alliance crews were as equally shocked as was the totality of the delegation fleet. An entire fleet of UCW ships and that floating city were out there, and no one could detect anything!

"Gods," one of the members of the crew whispered loud enough for everyone to hear across the silent command center. "How can we compete with something like that? They are far too advanced. How are they doing this?"

A narrowed-eyed Kunningham was thinking of the very same thing. The mere presence of such stealth vessels explained how the Earthers were able to spy on the Colonies without being detected. It was a forgone conclusion and obvious fact. The UCW knew too much about the Colonies. Now he understood how they obtained their information. Their stealth systems functioned on levels his own military could only dream of. And how, he wondered when this had become a competition between earth and the Twelve colonies?

One day, with these people united with their brethren, or at least sharing, humankind would never fear their mutual enemies again. On that day, the Cylons and other dangerous aliens would be extinguished forever.

There were some religious leaders who believed that the gods had given mankind the right to dominate the galaxy. That, he didn't believe. There was simply too much out here for him to believe that. He wasn't arrogant enough to expect the gods to hand humanity everything, but he did believe the Tribes of Man would ascend to heights undreamed of.

Maybe the interpretations that the priests and priestesses of Athena and Ares were true. Those more radical teachings were close to being heretical and said teaching seemed counter to everything he'd seen in the last few weeks. By instinct, he didn't believe it, but he knew many others would.

The Gemenon onboard were, in all likelihood, praying fervently to the gods as soon as they witnessed this technological miracle, and equally furious that they weren't allowed to step foot on Earth to personally speak to the unenlightened masses, and bless the planet in the name of the gods and thereby, sanctify the technology they saw.

Those were the people he had secretly watched since the fleet arrived on Earth. The more radical Gemenon religious leaders who were screaming the most, fully expected to mold Earth in their image, considering the planet and its people as something to be shaped like clay. That also meant that some of their advances would be removed once reunification began. It was another reason why he never allowed them to set foot on Earth without them adhering to the Apellai rules, which, of course, they refused to do. It turned into a stalemate. The admiral considered them serpents of the fleet and he kept a close eye on them.

If they wanted to go to Earth, all they had to do was take the medical screening like everyone else did. He didn't like doing it himself, but he had. But the Gemenons insisted that it was against their religion, and they had a right to adhere to their beliefs. The Terrans said fine, but don't come here until you adhere to our rules.

Oh, how that infuriated them to no end, to be so close yet not be able to take those small, final steps. The more radical religious leaders demanded that the locals honor the religious culture of the Colonies, but the same Colonials refused to honor the Earth culture by obeying the rules. So, to keep the peace with Earth, a difficult thing at the best of times, he endured the prayers, songs, and constant entreaties to the gods over the intercoms throughout most of the ships. That constant, all day and all hours, threatened to drive many of the crews mad. Others laughed behind their backs, which enraged them even more. It was such an easy fix, but some people refused to endure a little humility.

He did ask, what if the locals sent their religious followers to the Colonies to better understand and try to convert the masses top the religion of their one God (whichever variation)? How would they react?

The response practically shredded his eardrums.

Dealing with the Apellai-Terrans was bad enough without them stirring up anger amongst the local by sending disrespectful religious zealots to Earth. And he did admit a few of his people were. Actually, as he thought about it, if the situation wasn't so dire, he would have enjoyed the conflict. Earthers would certainly match their religious fervor with their own. Jealousy would also play a part in that battle.

Looking at the city vessel beginning to descend–descend!–towards the planet made him more than a little envious. The vessel was landing and DRADIS finally locked onto what had to be Lemuria! It was rising, about to achieve orbit!

If only the CDF at home could see this! The sights confirmed what he had already deduced.

Lemuria.

That beautiful floating city was another one of their city ships. No point in trying to purchase it now that they knew what it was. The Twelve would fall all over themselves trying to force unification once they found out about this! He couldn't see the Apellai sharing something like this for a long, long time.

The Apellai had the keys to the city. Literally.

Two were now confirmed. Just how many did this world have? Did every member of the UCW have one? What were the requirements obtaining one? If the Cylons wanted this world destroyed earlier, then these revelations guaranteed total war with the Cylons. The toasters would do everything in their power to destroy this world. And the Kobollian people would do everything in their power to prevent it.

Once more, he resolved to advocate for total war against the Toasters. They could never be allowed to come anywhere near Earth. Them acquiring Earther technology? He couldn't imagine a worse fate for Humanity.

Admiral Frankus Kunningham realized his mission had subtly changed from reunion with the Earth tribe (he wasn't sure if their world really was the Thirteenth Tribe now), to protecting and trying to influence them that it was in everyone's best interest to form some type of alliance. With them, all of humanity could flourish and be safe. If nothing else, this mission had turned everything upside down.

Too many small incidents were adding up, and so had his doubts. It was time to adjust and treat these people like an unknown tribe instead of the lost Thirteenth. He needed to become more circumspect. For a personality like his, that was going to be difficult, he admitted.

It was bad for him; however, the Quorum and the rest of the people would be beside themselves. If this world wasn't the Thirteenth Tribe, then there was an offshoot, a not illegal, but non-legal tribe with rights to be determined by Colonial law. Once the lawyers got into it, this whole thing would be the worst migraine ever. Earth wouldn't accept Colonial law. His people would insist. At best the whole thing would turn into a, as the Eqrthers called it, cold war. His mission would have been a wasted trip.

He couldn't even account for their fantastic innovations. His superiors would be outraged and embarrassed and the axe would fall on his head and that of the ambassador's. Earth didn't like to share, or they didn't share easily. His people desperately needed these technologies if they were to grow and spread out. Learning about aliens, the stargates and enemies he didn't even know about yet, had become a priority.

Provided the Colonies were still intact and had defeated the Earth Alliance tribe, he had a lot to report. And if that was to work, then the Colonies had to get rid of the Cylons once and for all. The temptations for them would be too much. He needed to talk to his senior staff and some Earth Alliance representatives and come up with something. That meant that he had to reign in his command presence so that he wouldn't piss off the Tau'ri too much.

'Gods', indeed. Why couldn't the Earthers have been desperate and in need, like everyone assumed in the first place?

"Sir, Lemuria has achieved orbit. It Vanished from DRADIS! There's nothing there!"

No doubt about it. This was a gods' given responsibility for him to acquire this stealth tech by any means necessary after the battle.

His headache developed into a migraine.

Six hours later, the department and division heads from across the delegation fleet met in the massive conference room. Commanders, scientists, researchers, religious leaders, engineers, and personnel temporarily stationed on Earth were gathered together for their weekly meeting.

Admiral Kunningham expected this particular meeting would explore some of the intel gathered as well as give some directions on how to work with their Earther cousins, which was proving extremely difficult, given recent events.

"This meeting is called to order," the admiral began. "I want to hear your input on the Tau'ri, as they call themselves. Just to refresh everyone, we they them as the Apellai or the Thirteenth Tribe of Man."

Before he could continue, Priestess Yavannia Goesel, a relative of President-elect Goesel, spoke up, cutting him off.

"Why do we have so many names for this tribe? One should be enough. They are the Apellai, the Thirteenth. Just because they have chosen the name Tau'ri doesn't mean we have to legitimize it. We, the Colonies of Kobol, should call them by their rightful names."

"That is one of the points that we will discuss later in our meeting. They have not chosen that name. Their enemies and allies refer to them as the Tau'ri. They call themselves Terrans, or Earthers," he explained to the woman. "I will add that as of this time, there is some doubt whether they actually are the Thirteenth."

That precipitated large numbers of mummers and uncertain looks throughout the group.

"Impossible," the religious leader snapped. "They have to be."

"I am sorry," the ambassador countered. "Despite what we want to believe, they have some compelling evidence that supports their claims. We're just starting to really analyze said evidence, so we have no conclusive proof other than the scrolls to prove our own assertions. However, we need to keep our eyes open. We will have to change our approach with this tribe of Man. I admit that I believed, insisted that they were the Thirteenth Tribe. I couldn't see them being anything else but the Apellai of the Scrolls. Now… I am uncertain and I will not ignore those observations."

Admiral Kunningham was quietly grateful for the assistance. "For the duration of this meeting, we will use the word Terran to address the name of the locals," he stressed. The words were said in a way that boded no argument. "We understood that the Terrans had some technological advances, but in the last few hours, the Terrans have revealed two of their closely guarded secrets. The first is the stargate, which we will discuss shortly. The second is the mobile space station we've seen ascending and descending without any difficulty." Shaking his head, he continued. "This represents an advancement we believe far beyond the Terrans. It's beyond our capability. This is exactly what we came here to find out, the technology shown can revolutionize the Colonial economy, and our ability expand our knowledge of the galaxy as we know it. I don't need to say how this could enable us to expand far past the limitations of the few systems we already have."

No one said anything as he continued. "We need to discuss the main item on our agenda, the discovery of the large mobile space stations we've just seen possessed by the Terrans. Before we do that, however, we need the reports from the archeological surveys and bio scientists on their latest observations and discoveries. Let's begin in ord. first, we will have the archeological reports."

archeologists began their report, which took about twenty minutes. When it was completed, most of the people in the room were confused. Some were angry.

The results so far refuted evidence of Colonial assumptions about Earth, biological and cultural data was far more extensive and concrete than previously believed. Although there was some evidence that the Earthers were related to the Kobollians, most of the evidence swung in the opposite direction. The evidence seen indicated that Humans originated from this world and the scientists couldn't dispute those arguments.

The results implied that the scrolls were wrong or incomplete. It wasn't a small matter, and several of the religious division and department heads were twitching and about to explode. Kunningham spared a quick glance towards his ally.

Thankfully, not all of the religious were ready to go nuclear in the next few moments.

TBC