Earth at Last
by AJ Marks
Part 8
“Well, what do you think?” Apollo asked, looking over at Starbuck. They had returned to the shuttle and heading over to the Rising Star due to damage to the Galactica. The other reason being most of the council members had gone there instead of the Galactica, again because of damage.
“Not sure, they appear highly advanced, but the government seems almost primitive,” Starbuck said, thinking about the question a bit. “I do think they would make great allies, what about you Boomer?”
“I don’t know, they seem genuine,” Boomer replied.
“If they have the military they say they do, they might just be able to protect us for a while,” Adama said, speaking up.
“What did you see while you were with them?” Starbuck asked.
“Well, I saw only one of the bases, but I was impressed with the number of ships that were in it,” Apollo answered, looking at them. “They had several ships, probably forty or so ships inside that one base, and they said they had bases all over the system. Even if they had five other bases of similar size that makes about a hundred warships.”
“That’s quite a few warships, and more than what we had towards the end of the war,” Adama said. “What did you two see with their fighters? Did they fare well?”
“Well, what I saw, the speed was slower, but more maneuverable than anything else I’ve seen,” Starbuck replied, Boomer agree with the assessment of their new ally’s fighters.
“Seems like they have at least some military power to back up their claim,” Uri said, speaking up for the first time. “But, the question is do we stay?”
“That’s what it will come down to in the end, do we stay or go,” Adama said, looking over at the others.
“I think they would make great allies against the Cylons, the allies we needed during the war,” Apollo said.
“Well, if they have the military firepower, my only question is how we could integrate our government with theirs,’ Starbuck said, putting how own opinion out there.
“I have to agree,” Boomer said, adding in his own thoughts about the situation.
“Leaving puts a tremendous burden on the Galactica and the warriors, both suffered tremendously in the last battle,” Adama said.
Apollo looked at the group, knowing that the military could not protect the fleet anymore, a sobering realization, and one that reminded him too much of when they fled the Colonies. The only difference this time, they might have an ally who could help.
Lord Arkis looked over at Derkik, who remained in the conference room after their guests left. Derkik seemed a bit uncomfortable and Arkis waited for him to speak his peace.
“You didn’t tell them everything, why?” Derkik asked, his tone indicating his confusion over the situation.
“Actually commander, what I told them was the truth, to a certain point,” Arkis answered, as Derkik looked at him skeptically.
“I don’t follow?”
“They are fleeing a race of machines who destroyed their worlds, chased them who knows how far, and they are looking for their last hope, the very hope they cling to for survival. I don’t’ think saying welcome to Earth, oh by the way, we’re clones who fought a war which killed off all natural born humans a long time ago,” Arkis said.
“You think they might be suspicious?”
“They will be skittish, as is their right to be,” Arkis said. “Having fought an enemy for so long, and to lose, it’s not a great feeling. We have an opportunity to do what we were created for, and this time we can help save a civilization instead of destroying it.”
BSGBSG
Cassiopeia waited anxiously with her daughter for the shuttle to land. The news that Starbuck ahd survived filled her with joy, as many she knew probably did not survive from the Galactica. Many others on board the Rising Star did not yet know if their friends were killed or not. Tigh himself had come down to inform her about Starbuck’s survival. Of course she would not fully accept it until she saw him for herself.
Athena stood next to her, waiting for the shuttle, as both Apollo and Adama were also coming over. She witnessed the transformation the woman had gone through upon learning her brother and father were both still alive.
The shuttle landed, and they both waited anxiously for the doors to open. Cassiopeia did not bother trying to contain the tears of joy, hugging her daughter when Starbuck walked out of the shuttle. He made his way over to them giving them a hug.
Apollo and Boomer walked out as well, seeing their friend with his family. Apollo found himself hugged by his sister, who then went on to Adama, before finally giving Boomer a hug, which surprised him slightly.
Adama, after hugging his daughter, made his way over to Tigh.
“Never thought I’d see you again, alive,” Tigh said honestly.
“We had a lot of help, but lost a lot of warriors,” Adama said grimly before changing the subject. “is the council here yet?”
“The others have arrive, and been taken to the meeting room,” Tigh said. “They’ve been asking what is going on, but I don’t have any answers for them, only that we found some allies.”
“We’ll answer their questions,” Adama replied. “What is the status of the remaining ships?”
“Most have returned to the planet, a few are keeping their distance, unsure about what to do,” Tigh replied.
“Get in touch with them all and find out the status of the ships, damage, that type of thing,” Adama said.
“Yes sir,” Tigh replied, then walked off towards the bridge to carry out the order.
Adama had to admit, he was glad to see Tigh once more. Things were a bit different compared to the last time they talked face to face. He also figured the same thing about Athena, that she would never see him, or Apollo, ever again.
“I’m going on ahead to meet with the council and get this over with, or started,” Adama said, looking at the others. He walked off with the other two council members. He had some back up this time with the council, but had no idea what they might decide to do. They could stay, or want to continue running. In his mind, they needed a united council when talking to the rest of the civilians.
Adaa walked into the room, making his way over to one of the empty chairs and sat down, along with the other two.
“Adama, what is the situation of the Galactica?” one immediately asked, barely giving Adama any time to settle into his chair. It was a question he fully expected and prepared for having received the latest information on the way over.
“I won’t lie to you, it’s in bad shape, and suffered severe damage to just about all systems,” Adama told the group. “I doubt we can get the battlestar into action quickly, and without some sort of dock its going to be almost impossible.”
“Are we stuck here?” “Where are we?” “Is this really Earth?” “Who helped us?” the question came at him, faster than he expected them to.
“Hold up!” Uri’s voice said, silencing the group, “Let Adama answer the questions, there is a lot to understand.”
“I know you all have questions, I still have some for our new allies, but I’ll answer what I can,” Adama said, looking at the group. “First, yes, we have reached Earth, and they have extended a welcoming to us.”
“So what’s the catch,” one asked. “I don’t recall hearing anything about a civilization on the surface.”
“It seems hey had a large war, and their current government is a dictator democracy,” Adama replied. “Their leader has expressed his wishes to work with us.”
“A dictator democracy?” one said, confusion in his voice.
“It sounds strange, I know, but that is how it is. They survived a civil war that almost destroyed them,” Adama said, giving them a shortened version of what Arkis told him. “So, there will probably be some political issues to overcome, but I think it’s workable.”
“And their military capabilities?” another member asked. “Will they be able to fight the Cylons? The Galactica, if you’re right, will not be able to protect us.”
“Their military, according to Lord Arkis, is quite powerful, if what he told us is true. They have some two hundred warships in their fleets,” Adama said, knowing the number was high, even for whent hey fought the Cylons.
“Are you sure?”
“Colonel Tigh and I counted at least fifteen large warships that came to our rescue, and Apollo told me they had over twenty on one base,” Adama said. “I believe they have the military might to fight the Cylons for now.”
“They have the military,” Uri said, supporting Adama in the matter.
“Will they help us fight the Cylons? After all, the Cylons are not their enemies,” another member asked.
Adama recognized the fair question, one he had to answer as well. To his surprise it was Uri who answered.
“I have a feeling they will help us, in fact, I might be wrong Adama, but I thought they were almost anxious to fight,” Uri said.
“Yes, I got the same impression,” Adama said.
“Are they over confident?” the member asked.
“No, just ready to go into battle, like it was all they lived for,” Adama said.
“The question is do we move on, or stay?” Uri asked the group. “That is the biggest question for now.”
“Both pose challenges,” Adama said to them. “But we must speak with one voice, not divided on this issue.”
“Settling down might be dangerous, especially with the Cylons so close,” one member said, echoing a concern Adama knew would come up.
“Perhaps we should settle back down, our people are on the verge of collapse as it is,” Uri said. “Moving though the stars like this, a dangerous situation ready to blow up. I feel that we have our best chance of survival by staying.”
“I second Uri’s sentiment,” Adama said.
“Perhaps we should vote to see how we stand,” Uri said. It would be a vote on the future of their civilization, and how things would go forth.
“By your command,” a black centurion said, standing in front of the Imperious Leader.
“Report Centurion,” the Imperious Leader said, looking down at the Cylon wondering what information it would give.
“Our forces have been defeated, and unknown military force helped out the Galactica and its fleet,” the centurion said.
“How is that possible?”
“Our forces reported the Colonial warriors and their fleet were almost ready to be destroyed when new forces entered the battle and overwhelmed our forces. Reports were of humans,” the centurion said.
“Human, explain?” the imperious Leader said, confused about that. They were chasing the last humans in the Galaxy, how was a human fleet suddenly found.
“We have no records of human forces in this area, the only logical explanation is the human group has been in hiding for a while,” the Centurion said.
“Send out a scout group, get me information about this new human group,” the Imperious Leader said.
“Lord Arkis,” a young woman said, walking into the room heading straight towards him. He turned from his conversation from Derkik to her.
“Report,” he said.
“Long range scanners have picked up two Cylon basestars approaching Sol system,” she said to him.
“Alert the Kirov battle group for immediate departure to intercept the Cylons and destroy them,” Arkis replied, watching her turn to carry out the order. He turned back to Derkik, who watched and waited to see what might happen next. “It appears that we have a war on our hands, regardless if our new friends stay or not.”
“Yes, looks like it,” Derkik replied with a smile.
Arkis felt his thrill at the fact they might be going back into battle. So many were ready to fight again, and did not care if the Colonials stayed or not.
“At least this time, we don’t be fighting each other,” Derkik said.
“That’s the truth,” Arkis replied, agreeing with the statement.
Omega stood on the bridge of the damaged Galactica, being the commanding officer at the moment. He could look out and see the planet Earth below. All around people were working to repair the bridge. A few were working scanners and such keeping an eye out for any Cylons. Also Adama wanted to know if anything happens.
“Sir, we have something,” the scanner operator said.
“What is it?” Omega asked.
“We’re getting movement from the asteroid belt. Several ships appear headed away from us and towards the Cylon Empire,” the operator said.
“What do long range scanners show?”
“Long range scanners are still under repairs, however, two of the ships disappeared,” the reply came back.
“Disappeared?” Omega questioned.
“Yes sir, I think they accelerated beyond our scanner’s abilities.”
“Frack, what is going on out there?” Omega questioned, not expecting an answer. “Any word from our new allies about what is going on?”
“Nothing yet sir.”
“Let me know if anything else happens, and when the long range scanners are operational again,” Omega said, sitting back down in the chair wondering if he should inform Adama or not.
Beyond the Earth’s star system two Cylon basestars approached to scout the area. Their mission was to gain intelligence of who the new allies of the Galactica were. The imperious leader had ordered the mission himself.
The basestars registered six ships at first, which quckly went down to four when two of the ships disappeared. They put the disappearance of two ships to a glitch in the scanning systems. There were four ships headed towards them though. Knowing that the scouting mission was a failre they made a hasty retreat, with the knowledge tha the humans in the system had spotted them early.
The fleet from the system did not appear to be in a hurry to close the distance. The Cylons never even knew they were headed into a trap, as two of the ships had jumped into hyperspace. Now that the trap was set, they moved to spring it.
The Cylon basestars barely realized when the two ships appeared in front of them, launching fighters and engaging even before the Cylons were able to counter attack. The outcome of the battle determined even before the battle was started. The Cylons tried to launch a counter attack, but with so few raiders able to launch the defense of the basestars was severely limited. The other four ships from the system caught up sealing the fate ofhte basestars.
“By your command,” the centurion said, waiting for orders.
“Speak centurion,” the Imperious Leaders said.
“The two basestars sent to scout the system were destroyed.”
“How?” the Imperious Leader asked, wondering how such a thing could have happened.
“They were caught in a trap from reports they managed to send back. Two ships disappeared and appeared in front of them while they were trying to retreat.”
“Interesting, it appears that these new humans are even more cunning than the Colonial warriors were.”
“Orders?”
“Gather our forces, we shall see what their next move is,” the leader said.
Adama stood on the bridge of the Rising Star listening to Omega’s report of what happened, and wondering what was going on for six ships to leave the system. He wondered what it might mean, it could be anything from something normal to heading out to scout or engage a new enemy.
“Commander,” the captain of the Rising Star said. “We have a message coming in from Lord Arkis.”
Adama nodded, watching as the screen shifted from Omega to Arkis. “Greetings, what can I do for you?” Adama asked, wondering if he would be told what was going on, if anything.
“Commander, a pleasure to speak with you again,” Arkis said. “I have some news to report to you concerning the Cylons.” Adama’s eyebrows rose at that, causing him to wonder if Arkis knew something about why several ships left the system, but waited as Arkis continued. “As you probably know, a squad of warships left eth system to intercept two Cylon basestars approaching the system.”
“They probably were scouting your defenses,” Adama said.
“That was our thought, but it will take more than two to make a scratch in our defenses,” Arkis said.
“You already defeated both basestars?” Adama asked.
“Yes, we were able to lay a trap and defeat them quite easily,” Arkis said. “I was wondering what you know about their military capabilities, we wish to start an offensive as soon as possible.”
The news stunned Adama slightly. He could not remember the last time they had been on an offensive thrust. The war had bogged down for so long, it almost seemed refreshing.
End Part 8
Comment below or send to AJMarks01@aol.com