Chapter 33

TN:- I will be Including the time measurement ET(Earth Time) so you will be able to tell when in the stargate timeline they are until we leave the colonial Arc altogether.

TN:- I Apologize in advance if this chapter seems a bit forced but I'm just trying to get the Arc finished to move the story on so dont judge me too harshly in rushing through the nitty gritty stuff.

Waypoint Station Alpha - Meeting Room - 36 DAH - ET-Nov 2001

Gathered in the meeting room of the station are gathered all the current leaders of the Colonial and Alteran Civilisations. Currently leading the meeting for the colonials is Admiral Corman who was sitting at the head of the large table being used for the meeting. Also sitting at the table representing the colonials are Admirals (Bill) Adama, Admiral Wallace, President Roslin and Deputy Governor Dilios who survived the attack on Leonis and an empty space for unknown attendees.

Also sitting at the table representing the Alteran's are councilor Louise Corman followed by Alteran Admiral (James) Adama, Admiral Stokes, Alteran councilor Holloway and General Spencer. The other end of the table was empty but was expected to be taken by Admiral Kosta.

A few minutes pass until Leo walks into the room, Some noticed he was not dressed in his colonial uniform but the same dress as the Alteran Councillors but with slight differences to the lapels. Leo took his place at the other end of the table as expected and put a few files on the table.

He looked around at those gathered and said. "Thank you all for coming to this meeting as I think there are a few things that need to be cleared up before we move on from here." He took a breath then continued. "First on our agenda is that you all need to know that I am no longer a member of the colonial fleet and as of an hour ago I have taken up my role as the high councilor of the Alteran people."

At the end of his statement he took his colonial rank pins and placed them on the table as a sign that he was no longer a colonial officer. The others in the room had a mixed response from nodded confirmation from the Alteran representatives to shock from the colonial's. He waited for them to process what he said before picking up a file from the table.

"Now i would like to share what's behind the founding of the Alteran Colony, why we had to separate from colonial rule and keep the whole ordeal quiet." He then proceeded to describe how when he came of age he was approached by a being claiming to be Athena and how she and the rest of those thought of as gods were just more physically evolved beings who were once part of a vast technologically advanced civilisation.

He had to stop for a few minutes as gasps followed by denial and plain dismissal came from both government officials. "Your insane, Your blasphemy against the gods will bring down nothing but destruction on yourselves and us by extension." Was the statement from the Deputy Governor of Leonis.

Leo looked him straight in the eyes and said. "You will sit and listen to everything I have to say and if you disagree with it that's fine as you're free to believe whatever you want but while you're here you will speak to me with respect." You could tell from Leo's tone that he either remained civil or left the room.

Gov. Dilios huffed but remained quiet while the rest of the colonials also quietened down after Leo's warning. Leo nodded then continued where he left of describing the part of their history involving how Kobol came to be and how they were almost wiped out from a plague that gave them no time to research a cure and how they migrated to another galaxy to escape the plague with the hope that given time it will burn itself out after a few thousand years.

He then described what happened in this new galaxy and how they once again found themselves fleeing but this time their numbers were so low that they had lost all hope of rebuilding their civilization so worked on what they called ascension. He then described the origins of Kobol and what ascension was.

He told them about the history of their people from the moment their ancestors arrived on Kobol as he was told by this Athena. He then went on to explain how the colonial religion developed and that the twelve gods were just the last 12 members of the Alteran Council on record and the last of the original Alterans to ascend from Kobol. He then described how when they abandoned technology that it inevitably led to their race de-evolving into what became the 13 tribes and how a war between the tribes is what led to their leaving Kobol.

"After that you know the story as it is no different than what is in the sacred scrolls. At first you must know I was skeptical but what led me to believe her was that most of the origins of the technology we have developed came from this Athena and since my meeting with this being my future with Louise Corman has since been visited by Aries." He then looked at each of the colonials and knew that the next piece of evidence that he will present will be crucial in convincing them of the truth. "I know you will still be skeptical and I understand why as we have a habit of passing off the unexplained as divine when we don't understand."

He then picked up a remote and said. "Now Bill I would like to ask you to remain calm as what I'm about to reveal will be very emotional for you." He waited for Bill Adama to nod in understanding before he continued. "Several years ago a young man entered the Fleet academy and progressed as any would and made his way through to flight training where his Viper experienced a major fault. Being a rookie he was unable to pull the craft out of its dive and was unable to safely eject and was pronounced dead at the scene."

He pressed a button on the screen and an image of Zak Adama appeared on the screen to Bill's astonishment. "Well what i can say is that the beings i have decided to name the ascended could foresee that my story would be challenged and prepared for that eventuality." He then clicked another button and a slide changed to a screenshot of the Confirmation of Death. "As you can see his body was recovered and positively identified by the relevant departments. Well that is not the end of the story."

He pressed his comm's and waited for the door to open and in walked an older looking Zak Adama. "The Ascended saved Zak and ascended him but given that his body was not ready for that stage of evolution he was immediately descended and has since been here training with my people waiting for this moment to reveal himself."

He barely finished before Bill Adama broke out of his shock and jumped up and raced to his youngest son and hugged him and asked. "Zak, is it really you?"

"Dad, I can't breathe." Bill released his hug but still had his hands on his son's shoulders. "Yes, I am alive and I'm sorry I didn't contact you sooner but the deal was that I wouldn't contact you until the time was right." He then guided his father back to his seat and took the empty seat next to him.

"As you can see Zak is alive and well after having direct contact with the ascended beings. It might seem strange that they made preparations in advance for this and i have not been privy to any knowledge that this attack would happen and though Zak's existence was just in case we ever needed to prove what we know with the colonial government if they ever tried to force there will upon us when we eventually made ourselves known to the wider public." He saw that what he said relaxed some of the colonials who looked like they were ready to throw accusations.

He decided that it was time to take a break. "I think now is a good time to take a break for 30 min. Bill, I have had a meeting room down the hall prepped for you to talk in private." Bill nodded and then he and Zak left the room promptly followed by the rest in their own time.

Meeting Room - 30 min Later

30 minutes passed quickly enough and found the group of important people once again gathered around the table with the added member of Zak Adama being somewhat of a go between having experienced enough of both the Colonial way of life and that of the Alterans. Leo was once again standing at the front of the gathered officials as he brought the meeting back to order.

"Now that we have had some time to come to terms with what i have revealed its time for the more pressing matters to be discussed such as the relationship between our two governments, what we are going to do to rescue as many of the colonies as we can and how we are going to get all the survivors to the new Colonial colony." Leo said as he looked at each member of the Colonial delegation to gauge their attitude towards him and his people. "I think first of you all need to know that Admiral Corman received a copy of the initial draft of a treaty between our two people for your consideration."

President Roslin was the first to speak up. "I would very much like to look over this treaty before any agreement is agreed upon as although the military is currently in charge due to the attack it will be the civilian government's responsibility to negotiate and agree to any treaty." From her tone you could tell she meant everything she said and that nothing would be achieved until she had her say.

Leo nodded and answered. "As I said , it was a draft and was given for your consideration and input. We have no need to lie to you or cheat you out of anything as we both represent humanity and making sure that we don't fight amongst ourselves is crucial for our survival."

All those gathered nodded their heads at what Leo said so the treaty was shelved till a later date but it was agreed that they would maintain friendly relations until the official treaty was written and signed. "Now let's move on to the second point at which time I will pass the meeting over to Admiral Corman who will lead this section of the meeting."

Leo then sat down while Admiral Corman stood up and addressed the room. "Thank you High Councillor. Now what we know is that every colony has suffered from a high number of nuclear attacks and the planets are likely to suffer from radiation storms and nuclear winter going forward so we have a limited amount of time to save who we can before the radiation makes it next to impossible for human life to exist on the planets."

Those gathered were disheartened to hear what has befallen their homes but since it's been a few weeks since the attack they were less affected than they would if it happened yesterday. So the meeting moved on with them covering plans for rescuing any survivors they could while reducing the risk of losing more of their limited manpower and ships.

Admiral Corman now came to the part of the meeting that involved the continued relations between the two groups. He Addressed those gathered. "So we now come to the initial draft of the treaty between our Nations." He then laid out the points that were initially agreed upon with his daughter a few days earlier with a few changes. "While this is just the initial draft we have agreed that while we don't have enough trained personnel to man the ships being given to us by the Alterans they have generously agreed to man the ships and hand them over as requested as we train more personnel."

The military officers present nodded as that was said and Corman then added. "With that in mind and the need for a treaty to be completed as soon as possible I would like to have regular meetings between the representatives of both parties to work out the details ready for it to be signed by the leader of both nations."

The meeting was slowly winding down as Admiral Corman again took his seat and Leo stood back up to finish the last task for the day. "The last piece of business is to discuss the order in which people are transported to your new colony as the transports that we have can hold no more than 35,000 for the month and half trip it will take with our current engine specs. Currently it is a 3 month round trip at best possible speed but we will need to increase that to 4 months to not over tax the engines with constant use. The first group will be required to leave no later than 1 week from now as they will be accompanied by myself and the other council members and Alteran ships now required for the defense of this station."

The Colonials, while glad they wouldn't have to take the 3-4 year trip that their own ships would be forced to make if they traveled by their own power, were still hesitant to leave their ships behind. It was Admiral Bill Adama who spoke up first. "What about our ships that are here now?"

Leo looked towards Admiral Stokes for the answer as this part was his plan. Admiral Stokes nodded to Leo then turned towards the colonials and answered. "We plan to use the ships left behind as a means to rescue those from the colonies. As for the agro ships and specialty ships you will need to further your rebuilding efforts. We plan to upgrade their engines over the next 8 months and have them follow the third group back to your new Colony."

While Leo was hesitant to give these engines to the Colonials he knew it was needed and with the progress they were making in researching more powerful drives they would still have the better ships. "With that in mind we also agree to provide the necessary supplies needed to sustain your people and will use the return trip to bring in more resources as needed but I would still recommend you look into the hidden depots your military had stashed around the borders of the colonies to reduce the dependence on us."

The meeting devolved into a discussion about who would be first to be sent to the colony and what resources they would need sent back to sustain their population. Lastly they argued over what upgrades they would provide their ships and what level of help they would provide in combating the Cylon threat.

The meeting finished with the two groups going their own way to have their own meetings and how they would treat their new allies.

Caprica City - DAH 36

Former President Adar was currently sitting in his luxury apartment waiting for John to arrive after being informed that he was required to be ready by this time as John had something to tell him. He has been in this room for a few weeks now and although he had everything he asked for he wanted to get moving with the plan to make himself the life time president of the colonies.

He was just thinking of all the things he could do and all the women that would be charmed by his new position when the door to the room opened and in walked John followed by another man who he didn't recognise.

John looked at Adar who was once again indulging in the alcohol provided by his centurions and smiled. "Hello Richard, I hope you are enjoying yourself?" He sat on the sofa opposite Adar and poured himself a small drink before sitting back comfortably.

"Everything is fine but when are we going to bring those renegades to heal?" Adar asked. "I would very much like to get this over with and start on the necessary changes to ensure my rule is not interrupted by those less than savory people."

John sighed and answered. "It's slow going my friend as it looks like those troublemakers at Ragnar have left and we don't know where as we think the Military has been keeping more from you than we first suspected."

Adar jumped up and all but shouted. "WHAT!. I will have them executed for treason for this." He then started pacing the room thinking about where they could have gone.

John watched in amusement as Adar worked himself into a bother over imagined slights. "It's ok Richard we know you have nothing to do with it so we won't hold you responsible but until we know where they are we can't send you to reign them in. So for now we plan to have you broadcast a speech to the people of the colonies to stop their conflict with the Cylon forces that are trying to enforce order."

Adar nodded and thought about what he could say and asked. "When will we start?"

John looked to his companion and answered. "My friend here will discuss it with you and get you ready for the first broadcast in a few days time." He then stood up and walked towards the door getting ready to leave before stopping and turning back to Adar. "I would recommend you stay inside as we have been seeing increased lawlessness lately and we wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

Adar nodded and returned to his seat and drank while watching John leave before turning to this new person and asked. "So where do we start?"

TN:- So there is the end of the main Colonial Arc, we will visit it now and then but will focus more on the Alterans. The next chapter will have a bit of an info dump on where the Alterans stand before a time skip to allow the story to progress a little faster.