Aboard the Galactica. Observation deck.
The Aftermath of the Strike on the Flotilla was profound. Still hovering in orbit, the wrecks of dozens of ships, both Civilian and Military and once belonging to the Quarian people, were now nothing more than the graves of tens of thousands. Estimates were still coming in a day after both the Assassination Attempt on the Citadel and the Cylon's cyber-attack on Alliance Space.
Relief ships belonging to the UNSC, Republic and even the Colonials had jumped in-system and were assisting with search and rescue, while Office of Naval Intelligence, Colonial Intelligence and Republic Intelligence Bureau units and vessels were ripping apart the Reaper-allied Cylons' vessels for every piece of information they could get.
Watching the ongoing repairs and SAR operations, Doctor Baltar couldn't help but feel a hint of guilt. He saw her in the corner of his eye, the blonde Cylon, the one he'd talked to so many times before, the Number Six. She weirdly seemed empathetic to the Quarians' plague, despite her previous boasts about wanting humanity to settle here.
That was a discussion they'd still had multiple times over, with Gaius agreeing to it, but he partially wondered if it wasn't just so they could accomplish what they'd failed to do during the final hours of the Twelve Colonies and wipe out humanity from all sides of the Universe, regardless of their capabilities and strength.
These Reaper Cylons, the machines modified by what Commander Shepard had referred to as the Reapers, had just inflicted casualties on more than just humanity. They'd burnt out tens of thousands of aliens that had so far done no harm to Humanity whatsoever. He sighed deeply, turning to face the woman.
She spoke, "You seem to think this is my fault, Gaius…"
"Would I be wrong to assume that?" He asked, slightly deadpan, as he walked away from the window. He was whispering so he didn't bother anyone else. She shrugged and gave only a slight nod. He sighed deeply, rubbed his chin and looked at his trembling hands. He needed another smoke pretty soon.
Deciding to avoid looking at the destruction left by the Cylon, he left the room, marching down the corridors toward his laboratory. He was followed by the woman, who told him, "We don't keel needlessly, Gaius… I felt the same thing Sharon felt when those monsters appeared here and you did, too. Obviously, not quite as violent, but-"
"I know," He replied in a mumble, "I know."
The Reaper Cylon, the machines taken and twisted by the Reapers themselves, were certainly something else. He would have called bullshit on Shepard's little blueprint of Sovereign until this very moment. Magnetohydrodynamic railguns, kinetic barriers to rival some of the thickest armor on any Battlestar and brains so frakked up, they were a twisted form of the enemy alright.
As he entered his laboratory, he paused, surprised to be greeted by an ONI agent. His eyes shot wide open as he saw her, though. That same blonde hair, though caught in a ponytail, that same jawline, the same lips and eyes. She was rifling through his stuff, guarded by a pair of their elite soldiers, the Spartans. He could swear that if he'd gone in with the lights off, he'd have thought they were Centurions.
She noticed him with the corner of her eye, then looked up and crossed her arms as she asked, "Doctor Gaius Baltar?" and even her voice sounded the same. He looked back at the Cylon apparition behind him, then at the woman before him. Slowly, growing ever more pale, he nodded to her. She spoke, "I'm Captain Veronica Dare, Office of Naval Intelligence… I was just redeployed here from the Citadel. Far as I understand, you developed a Cylon Detection system, correct?"
"Y-Yes…" He managed to utter out, still dumbfound. Though she obviously noticed his surprise, she continued scouring through the items around. As his heart rate began to settle and he realized that the reason she asked was because she was looking for it, he told her, "It's the computer on the desk, Captain," and he motioned to the screen and machinery around it.
Veronica looked up at it, examined it, then said, "How quickly can you examine a blood sample?"
"It should take me less than a few minutes now that I've started perfecting the genetic detection system…" The man replied, surprised, "Why?"
The woman breathed in, then let out a deep sigh. He finally noticed greying hairs and the wrinkles and realized she was aging. Part of him wondered if that was a sign she was not one of them. She lifted a com device and showed him a photograph which stunned him:A single Number Six, bound to a chair and bruised and battered.
She told him, "Orbital Drop Shock Troops helping the guerrillas on what remains of your Colonies sent this image a while back through secure channels. A Cylon, Model Number Six, as they refer to themselves. Same-faced blondes…" and she turned to face him, stating rather bluntly, "I want to know if I'm one of them and I need the blueprints of this device for dissemination back home. If we have a dozen of these bastards running through our Colonies, I, ONI and the entire UEG want to know."
"... Of course," He took a minute to register the request. She took her armored gauntlet off and rolled back the sleeve of the undersuit, revealing her arm. The scars of battles marred her skin, from plasma burns to bullet holes. He blinked, then sighed, washed his hands, donned surgical gloves and grabbed disinfectant, a cotton piece and the needles and stuff necessary. He tightened the
Before long, he'd withdrawn the necessary amount of blood into a vial, capped it and removed the needle, then pat down the vein and put a bandaid over the insertion point before dumping everything in a trash bin. He said, "You can stay here and keep tabs on it if you wish. I have something to resolve…"
"Thanks," Captain Dare replied. The man slid the blood vial into the analyzer and activated the machine, letting it work. She pulled her sleeve down, put on her gauntlet and turned to face the device. She told him, "I'll let you know the results whenever you come back. Those Blueprints would really be appreciated, too."
"I'll do my best to have a copy of them for you," The man nodded, then excused himself and walked out. That woman had the same face as a Number Six. An Office of Naval Intelligence agent. It must have rung so many bloody bells back at their headquarters here that it was no wonder she wanted to nip any allegations in the bud.
The Number Six, or whatever this woman was in his head, spoke, "... That was certainly strange…" with the same amount of confusion in her voice as anyone else's. He looked back, raising a brow, to which she told him "... I can't feel her, Gaius. She is not a Number Six… She just happens to have that same face."
Gais shook his head, "There's no coincidences…" and he pushed his way into the CIC. He overheard various calls, ranging from pilots' chatter:'Starbuck, Kat, confirming all Raiders eighty-sixed. Bastards were hiding real well';'Galactica, SAR Raptor Three… No survivors aboard the Chrysanthema, RTB';'UNSC CAP is taking over. Starbuck and Squad are RTB… Save us a drink'.
Among many other calls, those stood out to Baltar the most. Their allies were taking over, with the visible sight of the thousands of vessels still on DRADIS/Sensors and playing across the three-dimensional details of the Holographic table ahead. The crews spoke to each-other, chatted and discussed matters. And As Gaius approached, Tigh was telling Adama, "... First ones to jump in, Bill. UNSC came in swinging… Might've even saved our asses, considering the hit we took amidships."
"I know, Saul. Preaching to the converted," Adama replied, leaning onto the table and watching the Phoenix-class refit support vessel Mary Magdalene providing repairs to a Quarian civilian freighter. The Republic vessels that had also come to support them, namely a Venator and several search and rescue vessels that ranged in size, were aiding in the repairs of the Liveships.
The other man told his long-time friend, "The Citadel had the balls to say they can't send anything to help, too. Sure, the Alliance was trying, at least, but a lot of'em got recalled to the Citadel, too, for checkups," then he sighed, frustrated. He asked, "Roslin still talking to the Conclave and the Admiralty Board?"
"Yeah," Bill replied, nodding along, "She sent a message to the Colonial One and it was relayed to us. Sounds like the Quarians wanna tag along with us to the Waystation to request asylum there… Seeing as the Citadel's too busy with their own games," then he tapped a holographic display feature and activated a zoom-in, plus readable sensor data on the Rayya, one of the most heavily damaged ships.
Saul snorted and said, "Next thing they're gonna tell us is they wanna tag along with us to the UNSC…" before pausing and finally noticing Baltar. He spoke, "Doctor," with a flatness to his tone that betrayed zero emotion. Adama turned toward the man and waved him over to the table, before Saul continued, "And knowing Roslin, she'll probably see we're actually better off with the UNSC."
"She's already subscribed to the idea we oughta go with them, Saul. This might just settle her on it," The man replied, then looked at Gaius and asked, "Anything new to report, Doctor? How's your campaigning going for Office?" with a drip of underlying sarcasm in his military tone. Gaius rolled his eyes.
"Decently enough," He answered, then said, "We'll see about who goes where when I win, though."
"If," Saul corrected, staring him down and a lot less diplomatic than the Commander. He then looked and watched the Normandy doing its own SAR, probably due to Tali's request. He said, "There's a lot of crap going down in the Galaxy if the Cylon are now working with the Reapers. Wonder what the others have to say about that."
"That it isn't all particularly bad news," Voiced a particularly familiar voice as she walked onto the deck. Doctor Halsey, donning a new outfit and seemingly fresh out of the shower, stepped forward, requesting, "Permission to come aboard, Commander and Colonel?" to which the two men gave nods of approval, Adama even cracking a smirk.
"Granted, Doctor," The man replied as he looked at the holo-table.
"Grim day," She murmured as she approached the table. The three other men let out murmurs of agreement, to which she said, "The interrogation of one of the Cylon the ODSTs and ONI assets on Caprica have captured paints a strange picture, however. There seem to be two camps of Cylons… The Reaper ones, called 'Heretics' and the ones who made a certain set of items that Lieutenant Thrace never mentioned…"
"We saw the flash-messages, yes," Adama replied, "Breeding farms. Horrifying…"
"You'll be happy to know that any further such breeding farms will be dismantled," The woman stated as she pulled up some data, "Additionally, the Republic will be deploying its own strike team to Caprica to assist our ODSTs in… Causing havoc behind enemy lines. And gathering intel for us to use, as well, same as the Prowlers in the AO. All in preparation for the next part of the mission."
"Which is…?" Baltar raised a brow.
The woman stared at each of the three men for a tense second, before stating, "A joint operation to retake the Twelve Colonies from the Cylon, one that is currently in a very early planning phase," which caused the entire room to stop dead. She understood what she was saying by the stares all three gentlemen around her were giving her, but she stood firm, adding, "... It will be a while before they may be livable again, gentlemen… But after what we've seen, no inch of soil should be left to the Cylon to hide. Your worlds will be yours again. Or Humanity's, however you wish to see it."
She then looked around at them and said, "You'll still be welcome on our Earth, of course, or the Alliance's, depending on which you choose. It may take us decades to clean the planets of all radiation, yet more to rebuild, but at least we know it will be possible to get them all after we deal with the Cylon," as she leaned against the table.
"We'll… See…" Gaius mumbled. The possibility of returning home, though slim, seemed to hit the gentlemen like a hammer. She sighed. It wasn't a hope she dared give easily, but those were their worlds. They had as much a right to choose to go back to them as they did to pick one of their two Earths to head to.
"... What did you find at the dig?" Adama inquired, choosing to leave this all for a later report to be sent to Roslin.
Halsey, understanding the reason for the topic switch, replied, "Oh, quite a few interesting details. Though we're still deciphering them all, it seems as if the first common denominator between all of us, sans perhaps you, descendants of Kobol, is the fact Humanity was touched by the Librarian across all parts of our Galaxies… And she seemed quite intent on keeping our species alive."
"What're you saying?" Gaius raised a brow.
She shrugged, "For now? Nothing concrete," then she activated her tablet and showed him some translations, providing context by saying, "Simply a speculation, backed by a few lines, that all four Human groups from our Galaxies may very well and truly be much more closely related than our very distant places of growth might have let on. Certainly, we have not grown in the same frame or location, but I think I can attribute that to the Star Roads themselves and the slight issues of relativity and time displacement courtesy of the artificial singularities running them. With that, however… I am afraid I will have to leave."
"Doctor," Adama started, causing her to pause and turn toward him just as she was about to leave. He asked her, "Keep us updated. Until the Election season ends, I don't think we have much left to do but provide escort to the Quarians. If they tag along with us to the Waystation, that is," to which the woman nodded. She bid a quick goodbye, letting the fact of their species' relationship hang in the air.
There must have been some difference between Humanity across all four strange corners of this Universe… Right?
Normandy
Shepard sighed, rubbing her eyes. She sat in the hangar, looking over the dozens of body bags they were on their way to give back to the Quarians. Tali was also there, crouched beside the corpses and quiet. Thane, meanwhile, had his hands together, whispering a prayer so as to not disturb the Quarian's own mourning.
Garrus sighed as he approached from behind Shepard, whispering, "We've counted two hundred corpses recovered off the Chalcedon. It had a crew of a thousand," as he sat down next to her. The Chalcedon was another repurposed, but old model of Turian warship that the Quarians had bought for cheap off of the relatively young, new arrivals in the Galaxy. It supplemented the Heavy Fleet. Or it had, before this.
"Its reactor went critical. We're lucky we found so many as it is," Shepard whispered back, staring at the rows of black body bags. She continued, "Estimates put the dead roughly at thirty-two thousand, give or take a few thousand missing crew, spaced or vaporized by the Nukes," as she leaned back. She gazed up at the ceiling.
"Almost two dozen ships were lost, too. A decent chunk of the Quarian Patrol and Heavy Fleets," Garrus added, lifting up his Omni-Tool to show Shepard the numbers. He added, "I tried contacting friends on the Citadel to see if they're sending a relief force, but they're a bit too busy dealing with the assassination attempt on a Waystation diplomat. Rooting out any other Cylon sympathizers or hostiles…"
"Security's a bit too lax on the Citadel," The Commander nodded, "Always told them…" then she rubbed her eyes and mumbled, "Doesn't help that the Number Six Cylons are apparently a lot like a few people we know. Captain Dare herself's on the Galactica right now, trying to figure out if she's one of them, planted ages ago."
"That'd be awkward for Buck," Joked Garrus, causing Shepard to let out a brief, if slightly more mirthful laugh.
"Good news:She's not," Karl spoke as soon as the elevator doors opened behind them. He lifted up a tablet that showed Captain Dare's test results, then said, "She just has one of those faces. You wouldn't believe how happy Gunny Buck was about it, though," as he walked over to the Commander and Garrus.
"Karl," Shepard started, standing up, "Ready to go meet Commander Adama and the President?"
"Yeah…" He replied with half a mouth, visibly concerned.
The Commander gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, "Relax. If reports are to be believed, she rang the advanced warning bell for the entire Fleet. It's why the Cylon didn't exactly catch the Quarians or the Galactica at a low readiness level. She saved lives out there…" and she looked at the contrasting number of bodies in the bay, "... Even if she couldn't save them all. That should give her enough leeway…"
"I sure hope so, ma'am," The man replied, scratching his cheek.
Tali approached, stating, "I want to come with…" which caused both Shepard and Garrus to look at her with mild concern. She raised her hands and spoke, "Easy… I'm genuinely tagging along for good reasons. I understood from communiques that Sharon warned the Galactica and they were ready to scramble their whole fighter complement…"
"Shepard was just saying the same thing," Karl nodded, though he still felt off, "Sorry you had to learn why we all hate the Cylon, though… Why they don't trust her and why I highly doubt they fully trust me," and he crossed his arms. Tali nodded, a bit disappointed that history loved rhyming so much, but she knew deep down that Sharon had actually tried to save lives, unlike what she thought many of her sisters would've done.
Karl motioned to the Raptor in the bay, to which Shepard nodded. She activated her com and spoke, "All crew, be advised:I, Tali and Karl are heading to the Galactica to talk through releasing Sharon. Miranda, I'd appreciate it if you and Blue Team could handle the delivery of the bodies. General Tano and General Skywalker are talking to Thrawn right now."
"No problem, Commander," Miranda replied, her own tone surprisingly somber. Tali blinked, surprised, but nodded and walked with the Colonial and Alliance officer toward the Raptor, where Helo's co-pilot awaited. She waved them aboard and handed Helo his helmet. Shepard activated her own, then sat down nearby the ECO station.
As the hatch sealed, Helo began, "Helo to all units on net, be advised:Departing for Galactica on request of Commander Shepard. Requesting permission to land and guidance from Traffic Control, over?" and he paused. The com replied with affirmatives and coordinates while their console played the detailed course plotted for them to avoid most of the Traffic.
As they lifted off and left the Hangar Bay of the Frigate, they saw the ships being transported by the UNSC's massive repair ship. Debris still floated aimlessly around the fleet and in some parts of the Liveships, small fires still burned, holes still spewing small gouts of oxygen to feed said fires. The outer hulls of a lot of ships were crawling with repair crews from all parties, trying to patch said holes up.
Though the trip over was silent, the hum of the ship's engines and the chirps of its computer systems served as a nice backdrop. Two Vipers swung in beside the craft to provide escort and presumably to touch down, refuel and rearm. As the craft gently powered their thrusters and engaged their magnetic landing struts, the deck crews moved about.
When they were brought to the elevators and then below deck, the hatch opened, allowing the crew to stand up. Chief Tyrol stepped up and greeted, "Commander Shepard. Good to finally meet you," before taking a step back and letting them walk off. He added, "And Karl. Good to see you two are back," and pat the ECO on the shoulder. He smirked, while his Co-Pilot gave a thumbs up.
Then, the man paused as he saw Tali and said, "Miss Tali'Zorah… My condolences for your people's losses. We know the feeling all too well," to which the engineer simply nodded as a thankful gesture. As they jumped onto the deck, the vehicles were quickly carted over to their pits for refurbishment, refueling, the whole nine yards.
Karl whistled, however, as he saw the Pod had been reinforced, with the internals and equipment visibly newer, more well-built. He said, "The Old Girl sure got an upgrade while we were out. It ain't just prettier on the outside," to which Chief Tyrol snorted and nodded in approval. Shepard looked around, having come here for the first time ever.
An escort squad of Marines clad in UNSC gear, just colored black, stepped forward and snapped salutes, with the leading man stating, "Commander Shepard, Captain Agathon, miss Tali'Zorah. Right this way, please," before turning about and leading them toward the CIC. They marched through the corridors, to the sight of some areas with bullet holes and spilled, glowing blue oil. A few boarding parties must've hit the Galactica, but the UNSC weaponry must've dealt with them quite well.
Shepard made a mental note to switch to a mix of standard projectile rifles like those and the Republic's blasters for their ship, finally. Garrus had been asking her to get an SRS-99 since they saw Linda and the others basically kick a boatload of ass with them. They walked past a bulkhead that had a human blood stain on it in turn, with Shepard narrowing her lips as she stared at it.
As they reached the CIC, they found Doctor Halsey and the two flag officers aboard the warship in a discussion. She spoke calmly, "... Taking into account miss Valerii's open desire to assist you all, I wouldn't presume it would be too much to ask for her to be allowed safe passage to the Waystation. She saved lives. The least we can do is have her in a proper hospital bed aboard the Waystation so she may give birth free."
"I'm sure you understand the weight of that request, doctor," Colonel Tigh spoke, staring her down, "We can't just let one of the toasters free. Hell, for all we know, she might have even called them here herself," then he saw Shepard, Karl and Tali in the corner of his vision and sighed, "She's staying in that cell unless someone can come up with a good argument against it."
"Shouldn't be too hard," Shepard smiled as she approached. She saluted, "Commander Adama. Colonel Tigh. Good to meet you both face-to-face again," then she looked around and smiled, "Nice digs. UNSC really gave you guys an upgrade, eh?" before settling her gaze on Adama. The man snapped a salute and smiled a small smile, too.
"Much to my disbelief, sir, I'm with Doc Halsey, Karl and Shepard here," Yet another voice joined the debate. The team turned to see Kara sitting in the doorway. She greeted, "Good to finally meet ya, Shepard. Sorry it took so long, but frak-ups made it a bit tough to swing by and say hello," as she walked down toward the center of the CIC.
… This was gonna be an interesting debate, wasn't it?