Author's Note: So here this, I've been considering doing a BSG fic for a while. Was even considering doing a crossover, but ultimately decided against it. Beta work by Q Elwyn D and Volksbrot. I really hope this fic idea appeals to you guys (and girls).

President's Tower

Caprica City, Caprica

The Twelve Colonies

President of the Twelve Colonies, Richard Adar's hand shook slightly as he took a sip from his glass of ambrosia before setting it down on his desk. Pausing a moment later to clench his hand tightly in an effort to steady it once more. He offered a rueful look at his advisor, one Admiral Alice Nagala, where she reclined on one of the couches across from him, sipping her own drink.

"I apologize Admiral, it is rather a lot to take in, and those…pictures didn't help my nerves any," he confessed indicating the images spread out across the table in front of her. They were a gruesome affair displaying a naked man who'd been shot repeatedly before expiring. Someone had a grudge, not that President Adar had any sympathy to spare for the man in question.

"It seems, and I confess I am no expert in such things, that someone disliked our traitor a great deal," He said after he'd taken a moment to steady his breathing. "And forgive me for saying so Admiral, but I have trouble believing a centurion would go through the trouble of executing him in such a…lurid fashion."

Alice Nagala grimaced and nodded. "Our investigative specialists all agree that it was unlikely to have been a centurion, not the least because it is very hard for one to conceivably disappear long term on one of the colonies." She took another sip. "No, we have reason to believe this was something else."

He grimaced, "More gods damned sympathizers? Perhaps some holdout Army of the One fanatics?" Richard speculated, only to receive a shake of the head.

Alice stared at him hard now, her steel grey eyes locking on his own blue ones. "No, our investigators found DNA evidence in his bed, evidence of…sexual contributions. The DNA showed signs of being heavily modified, bearing all the hallmarks of advanced genetic tailoring and cloning."

She leaned forward, tapping a finger on one of the pictures of the slain man, "Giaus Baltar, was sleeping with an artificial human being. What we now strongly believe to be some form of biological infiltrator unit," she explained.

Richard stared at her in horror for a good minute before he shook his head and swore strongly. "Frak me, really Admiral? We have to worry about the Cylons masquerading as one of our own now?" He asked rhetorically, before snatching up the glass again and swigging down the last of it when she nodded. "How hard are these infiltrators to detect?"

Alice grimaced, "If the security footage from his own home is anything to go by, the infiltrator we believe may have been responsible was easily mistaken for human, their mannerisms, at least visually speaking, appeared perfect. Their DNA and other biological indicators are a different matter altogether though."

He looked to her hopefully. "It took a bit to realize what we had at first, but after a lot of analysis, and with something to now compare it against it should be easy enough to tell when a person is really a Cylon. We do have one potential…issue that has cropped up, which is concerning our think tanks." He gestured for her to go ahead, topping up his glass again.

"What if there are infiltrator units which aren't aware they were created by the Cylons?" She asked, and he blinked before looking disturbed. "As much as it…disgusts me to admit it, these infiltrators, so far as we can tell, no matter their artificial origins, appear to fall well within the typical standard deviations for our definition of 'human'." Alice explained. "Which begs the question, what do we do with a Cylon infiltrator, a sleeper, who believes with every fibre of their being that they are human?"

Richard shuddered, "Tell me if you have an answer for that question, I'm afraid I have none to give you," he admitted looking troubled. Finally he glanced up at her again. "How bad could it have been Admiral? Tell me honestly."

Nagala finished off her glass and sat up a little straighter. "If that hacker hadn't alerted the authorities to what they'd found while fooling around in the CNP*? The Cylons would have had access via a backdoor to everything, Mister President. Battlestars command and control systems, fighter's navigational software, the plans for our next generation of equipment, our ground side nuclear arsenal, everything. They could have breezed past our defences unopposed and wiped us out without a single shot being fired before the bombs started raining down. Assuming they didn't just turn our own nuclear arsenal against us."

Richard has paled drastically throughout her explanation. "F-frak, I mean…Frak Alice. How sure are we that we closed the breach? They can't use that backdoor you were telling me about anymore, right?"

"We've closed it and upgraded firewalls are being distributed to every ship in the fleet by special courier or hard encrypted transmission, new codes of course. Our experts have done a number of scans since then to make sure the Cylons didn't already have a foothold in the system. As of right now, we believe we are safe. At least in regards to that threat. However, now we know that the Cylons are preparing for war."

He nodded soberly. "What are our projections on that Admiral? Are we ready for it?" The Admiral looked to him sharply, and he raised his hands to stave off any objections. "Don't worry Admiral, even after this I'm not looking to get into a fight against the Cylons. Lords know how bloody the last war was, we don't need to be looking for another one," he soothed. "I do however want to know what the estimates are like if the Cylons come at us straight on."

The Admiral eased somewhat before grimacing, "The predictions vary wildly, it depends heavily on how much time and resources they put into building a home for themselves out there. If they spent this entire time gearing up for another war? They're going to outnumber us badly."

Richard winced, "And if they did spend time building a home for themselves?"

The Admiral shrugged, "The answer could be anywhere between what they had when they left and hundreds of Basestars."

He sighed, drawing a hand back tiredly over his balding pate. "So, I guess that really leaves us with just one question," he mused, before looking to her once more. "What do we do now?"

She looked the President square in the eye now, "Now? Now we get what we need to win the war that's coming. By any means necessary."

He stared at her quietly for a moment, then nodded. "Very well, what did you have in mind?"

Picon Fleet Headquarters

Picon Orbit

The Twelve Colonies

Commander Kassandra Winters stood, idly tapping her data-tablet against the outside of her thigh as she waited for the shuttle she was aboard to be towed into the auxiliary hangar bay of the fleet yards.

She was trying to contain her nerves. She wasn't certain why she was being transferred away from her command, along with all of her kit. Until recently she had been in command of the Freyja, a Valkyrie-class Battlestar.

She could make guesses however. She'd seen some of the ships in port today, the most notable ship present was the Battlestar Pegasus. She strongly suspected that her transfer had little to do with that ship however. She had no association to speak of with its commanding officer, Rear Admiral Helena Cain, and the woman was notorious for the way she handled what crew was allowed to set foot on her ship.

No she suspected, though it was far from certain, that her transfer had something to do with the other Battlestar currently in port…A slight jerk went through the shuttle as it came to a stop on the hangar deck and drew her from her ruminations.

One of the marines on guard at the door checked out the viewport, before nodding to someone outside. He then stepped back and tapped something on the door console, allowing the hatch to swing open before lowering a set of steps onto the deck.

With that task completed he stepped aside and snapped her a salute. "Commander, we'll handle your luggage in accordance with orders from command, good luck."

She returned the salute and stepped out of the shuttle onto the hangar bay floor.

"Commander on deck!" Shouted one of the nearby deck hands, as he braced to attention along with several others nearby.

She nodded to them, "As you were," she said, allowing them to relax and return to their work wrestling equipment and fuel lines into place.

Kassandra then too a moment to look around and get her bearings. A hangar such as this aboard a space station or Battlestar was always a busy place. However, in the wake of the close call with the CNP incident the level of activity had jumped up by several orders of magnitude.

Aside from the shuttle behind her, there were large numbers of vipers and raptors being towed about the massive space, not to mention the further dozens of fighters hot-stacked in their racks along the hangar walls. Crew and pilots hurrying this way and that across the deck around her as they all went about their appointed tasks.

As she'd been told to expect, after a few moments an officer detached himself from the crowd and saluted her. "Commander Winters? Lieutenant Markland, I'm here to escort you to the Admiral's Offices. If you will follow me."

It wasn't really a question or request she noticed, so she simply nodded, returning the salute quickly. "Lead the way Lieutenant."

He led her over to a waiting service cart which had been fit with numerous passenger seats. Once aboard they hitched a ride along the hangar bay and over down a large service bay before coming to a stop near one of the countless access hatches between sections. After disembarking the small vehicle they climbed the ladder up to the hatch.

From there it was a labyrinthian tour through the depths of the station over to one of the tram hubs. All in all it took close to twenty minutes to navigate their way through the station up to the Admiral's offices.

It was here that they came to another checkpoint. The Lieutenant stopped and turned towards her. "This is where I leave you for now Commander. I'll be waiting here for you after your meeting is complete."

"Thank you. I'll see you in a bit then Lieutenant," she said, before nodding and stepping up to the checkpoint.

"Palm print and password please, then please submit for identity confirmation," The marine on duty instructed stoically.

Kassandra pressed her palm onto the scanner pad and waited as it ran several bands of light over her palm.

The scanner paused a moment, before flashing green and she stepped over to a microphone indicated by the marine. "Name, code phrase and confirmation code."

She pressed the button, activating the microphone. "Commander Kassandra Winters. Current code phrase: Highlander. Confirmation code: 5-8-7-2-8-3-1 Alpha."

The machine processed all of that before trilling a positive tone, causing the marine to nod. "Good, now, we just need a DNA sample. Increased security, you understand. Spit?" He proffered a swab to her.

Well, this was new. Still, she wasn't about to complain. She took the swab from him and ran it over the inside of her mouth before coating the tip in spit and handing it to a tech who stepped forward to collect it.

The tech took it, immediately inserting it into a machine on the far side of the checkpoint. It hummed loudly for a minute as it worked before it blurted out an oddly negative sound, nevertheless the tech gave the marine a thumbs up and he stepped aside. "You're clear. You'll have to check your weapon with my companion over there, then you can go on in."

Kassandra stepped through a scanner arch, which didn't raise any alarm at her passage before stepping over to another marine and handing him her side arm. Only then did she make her way along the passage into the waiting room beyond.

Becoming an Admiral had many perks, sadly none of them included luxurious waiting rooms for the various people coming to see you on a daily basis. This waiting room was virtually identical to any waiting room in the Colonial Military. Save perhaps for the large window which looked out across the dockyards.

It was by this window, that Commander Winters spotted a familiar figure. She smiled, nodding briefly to the administrative aide tending a desk by door to the Admiral's office, before walking over to him. She still had a few minutes until her meeting after all. What could it hurt to speak with an old friend?

"Husker, it's been some time, you're looking well," She greeted.

The man gave a small start before turning from the viewport to stare at her for a moment, before smiling. "Oracle. Been a while," Commander William Adama greeted, shaking her hand.

"That it has," she agreed. "What you doing here? Valkyrie in port today?" She hadn't seen the Valkyrie on her way in, but then again she hadn't seen the majority of the yards from her window aboard the shuttle.

He smiled thinly in amusement, "No actually, been off the Valkyrie for a few months now."

She blinked, "I hadn't heard that."

He nodded seriously, "Was assigned to the Galactica actually, supposed to oversee her decommissioning. Last posting before retiring. Well—before this whole mess with the Cylons and the CNP blew up. Who knows what they're going to do with her now?" He nodded to the massive grey bulk of the warship in question on the far end of the docks.

Kassandra understood now, "Ah, didn't know you were retiring."

He snorted in amusement. "Been years since I was CAG aboard the Universal, Oracle."

That was true, she had to admit. Universal had been her second posting, acting as a viper pilot with only one other ship under her belt after flight school. William 'Bill' Adama had been her CAG during that posting. That had been nearly twenty years ago now…

"So, you have a meeting with Admiral Nagala too hm?" She said, redirecting the conversation a little.

He nodded, "Yeah, arrived a bit early though, don't expect to go in for another hour yet." She hummed acknowledgement, before he cocked an eyebrow at her. "I could ask you the same thing actually. Last I heard you were aboard the Freyja, but she's not in port today, you getting transferred?"

Kassandra nodded, "Sounds like it, I—"

Whatever else she was going to say was cut off by the hatch to the Admiral's office banging open and an officer storming out. It took a moment, as the woman was in a hurry, but Kassandra quickly recognized Rear Admiral Cain as she stalked out of the room without acknowledging them. The Rear Admiral did not look pleased in the slightest.

The administrative assistant sighed before standing and striding over to the still ajar doorway before sticking their head inside. Kassandra couldn't make out what was being said, as it was somewhat muffled by distance and the door which was being held open by the aide. Finally the man stepped back and nodded to her, "The Admiral will see you now, Commander Winters."

Adama smiled thinly at her, inclining his head at her. "Good luck Oracle."

She nodded back before walking to the door and stepping through with a quick nod of acknowledgement to the aide before closing the door behind her.

Admiral Alice Nagala's office was…nice. It was much more richly decorated than the waiting room, whilst still remaining tasteful. Lots of polished wood and naval brass. Alice Nagala, the office's primary inhabitant, was a decorated war hero. She'd served as the Commander of the Battlestar Atlantia during the first Cylon war. She'd led the ship to dozens of victories against the Cylons.

Her career stood in stark contrast to the woman who had just left her office. Which said something about the up and coming Admirals of this generation. Cain had politicked her way to the top, never having seen actual combat outside a simulator. Where Cain was the ruthless and eager war hawk, Nagala was the wise old veteran who had no desire to see more war.

The woman in question stood up, brushing a bit of her short white hair behind her ear before moving to greet her, smiling. "Ah, Kassandra. Good to see you again. Please, come have a seat."

She did as instructed, pausing only briefly to shake the Admiral's hand before seating herself across the desk from her.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. I know it must have been a shock to learn you were being transferred off the Freyja," Nagala said a touch apologetically.

Kassandra shrugged. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

The Admiral nodded before pacing over to the cabinet behind her desk. "Ambrosia?"

Kassandra shook her head. "No, thank you Admiral."

Nagala shot her a chiding look. "We've known each other for years Kass, you can call me Alice."

She nodded in return. "Alright, Alice."

The Admiral smiled benignly, pouring herself a small drink. "I hope you don't mind if I partake, given who I just had to deal with?"

Kassandra smirked, shaking her head, Nagala was a blunt one at times. Seldom one to withhold her opinion. The Admiral sat herself with her drink behind her desk. "So, I imagine you are wondering why you're here?" The Admiral said rhetorically, taking a sip of her drink.

"It had crossed my mind," Commander Winters said patiently.

The Admiral snorted in amusement, "You've done a wonderful job with the Freyja Kassandra. Truly."

She then sighed, "But we've got something a bit more important going on and we could use a good officer to lead it." She paused for a moment here. "What do you know about the CNP incident, Kassandra?"

Kassandra shrugged. "Not much, just what was in the general alert sent with the security patch."

Nagala nodded thoughtfully, "I remember the notice in question. Fairly gave me a heart attack when I heard it. It got all the general points right, but provided none of the details," The Admiral mused, then huffed a sigh. "Long story short? The Cylons got one Gaius Baltar, the so called genius behind the CNP and a number of other upgrades the fleet recently received. We're having those upgrades checked just in case."

Kassandra blinked at that revelation, she'd heard quite a bit about Baltar over the years. A tech magnate and certified genius, he was in the news frequently. "How did they manage that?"

The Admiral grimaced, as though the ambrosia in her cup had gone bad, leaving a foul taste in her mouth. "None of this goes beyond this room, understood?" She said crooking a finger at her.

She nodded dutifully.

"The Cylons have developed infiltration units," The Admiral stated plainly. Kassandra felt like she'd just taken a blow to the gut. The Admiral pressed on regardless. "Clones with genetic enhancements. Unfortunately we don't know any more than that. We have a bit of security cam footage from his property, but he had so many…visitors, coming and going there's no way to know who it was."

The Admiral grimaced again, "We're in the process of working out methods to spot them, but instituting the tests across the colonies is going to be problematic."

Kassandra made a face, suddenly wishing she'd taken the Admiral up on her offer of a drink. "I can imagine."

"When I briefed the President on the situation. He had a very important question to ask me. Could we win a war against the Cylons?" Nagala said stoically. "And honestly, I couldn't tell him for sure that we could."

She began ticking matters off on her fingers. "There are a few key issues we're trying to address. Funds and supplies, personnel, ships, tylium and allies." Nagala frowned again, "The supplies, personnel and funding are easy enough now that the public is aware of the threat. Plenty of people are joining up now and we've got clearance to construct additional ships."

Kassandra nodded, "Let me guess, it's the last two that are going to be the issue."

The Admiral nodded. "It's not widely known, but the Colonies' supply of tylium is drying up faster than anticipated. Few new deposits have been found and none of significant size in over two decades. Considering the rate at which FTL capable vessels eat through tylium we need more if we're to engage in a protracted war," She waved a hand irritably as though to ward off annoying insects. "Oh, we're doing what we can to moderate the issue, research into more efficient drives, fewer unnecessary jumps…searches for new deposits in the asteroid belts."

Kassandra quirked an eyebrow at her superior. "And allies? I can't imagine that you can find us many of those…"

Nagala paused, giving her an unreadable look for a moment, "Maybe, maybe not," She said cryptically. "There are none to be had in the colonies, unless you count drumming up more civilian support. But there may be others, sympathetic to our cause outside the Colonies."

Commander Winters blinked. "What?"

Nagala smiled sympathetically, then sighed. "The Thirteenth Colony, or any number of list minor colonist groups which may not have been recorded in the scrolls. Hades, we don't know for certain that all of us left Kobol. The scrolls said that those who remained would die. We have no reason to doubt their veracity in this, but we also have no reason to doubt the veracity of the claim that there were other colonists. It is possible there may yet be further human life out there."

Kassandra thought quickly on everything she'd been told, and suddenly it all clicked. "You want to go looking for them."

It wasn't really a question, and Nagala nodded agreement. "I do, and I want you to lead the expedition."

The Commander froze for a moment as that struck home. A million questions rushed through her head, but only one really stuck. "Why me? I mean, you must have hundreds of more qualified officers. Why me?"

Nagala sighed, "Actually, our qualified officer pool is smaller than you might think. As for why you? A number of reasons really," The Admiral admitted with a shrug.

"First, you are relatively young, charismatic, honest and decorated. A good choice for leadership positions," Nagala explained. "Second, you're not currently occupying a critical position in our ongoing and upcoming missions. Thus you are available when others are not."

She shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. "Third, you're not one of Cain or Corman's bunch and therefore are less likely to deviate from mission on her say so, or because you got it into your head to be a hero and kill some toaster who happened to be in the neighbourhood. Also? Politics."

Kassandra winced, politics had been the death knell of many a career. Nagala saw her expression and nodded, grimacing. "You're from a good naval family, you have a daughter in the service and a good record, that will play well with the public when this breaks. Also, you're on the short list for a number of upcoming positions. Positions the likes of Cain and Corman would prefer filled by one of theirs. I have a lot of power, but not enough to stop them should it come down to it and they decide to wreck your career simply because you're not one of theirs."

Nagala raised a hand to stall any objections, "This position is important, and it'll get you promoted sooner, just not into any position they're currently after."

Commander Winters blew out a gusty breath, raking a hand back through her hair. Who knew that doing your job well would make you enemies with people you'd never even spoken to?

"There is one final thing. Should we find the Thirteenth Colony, we want a sympathetic face for them to meet. Not some slavering war hawk like Cain, not some fanatic like Corman or any of his lackeys. Someone who might be able to convince them that we're by and large reasonable, honest people, who they can work with."

Kassandra frowned. "You want me to play diplomat?"

Nagala shook her head. "No, mostly we want you to be the combination of an Explorer and an Admiral. You'll be getting that promotion right away if you accept this mission by the way."

She blinked at that assertion. A promotion to Admiral so soon?

"You'd be leaving most of the diplomatic stuff to the specialists and actual negotiators sent by the Quorum and the President."

Kassandra considered, "Do I get any say in who's part of my crew? How many ships would I be taking?"

Nagala sighed again, "You'd get some say. Not as much as I'd like though. Hades, you'd get most of the say on crew I suppose, but there area few people you don't get a veto on. And we'd be deciding how large the fleet is."

Winters nodded slowly. "Who, and how many?"

The Admiral shrugged. "We'd fill any position you don't have a preference for with our own. Otherwise? The civilian contingent, led by former secretary of education Laura Roslin."

"A school teacher?" Kassandra asked a touch skeptically.

Nagala smiled sympathetically, "She had a falling out of some kind with Adar, also, who better to wrangle a bunch of intellectual types?"

Kassandra had to concede the point.

"We'd also dictate the Chief Scientists who'd be helping you through your journey. Seviticus Adan the chief anthropologist. Armando Feretti, chief linguist a priest or two…and Maria Adar, daughter of Richard Adar, chief physicist and general head of the science team."

The commander's eyebrows rose sharply at that last one. "The President's own daughter would be going with us? Is she any good?"

The Admiral snorted in amusement, "One of the best actually. She would be going as a political move on her father's part, but she is honestly intrigued by the mission."

She refilled her cup of ambrosia before putting the bottle away. "There are a few others of note we'd have to insist on…" Kassandra didn't like the cautious look on the Admiral's face. "A certain tech specialist and the former first officer of the Pegasus."

Kassandra didn't know anything about the first, the second however…"Jurgen Belzen?"

Nagala nodded, "That's the one."

Her subordinate snorted in wry amusement, "I think I know why Cain stormed her way out of here looking like she could spit fire."

Nagala shook her head, "Actually it was losing the tech specialist which did that. She was the Admiral's main squeeze until recently."

The commander blinked, she hadn't realized that Cain swung that way. Then shook it off, deciding that detail was irrelevant. "Any more?"

Nagala was looking uncomfortable again. "Just one. A promising young Major who we want to be one of your CAGs."

Kassandra had a good idea who they were talking about, and had a sneaking suspicion nothing she could say would talk them out of it. "Cassie, I assume? Political reasons too?"

Cassiopeia Winters, was her daughter. In keeping with the traditions of her people and dynasty Kassandra had surrendered her daughter to her own mother for raising. Just as her mother had done with her when she was a child. She knew Cassie well, loved her and wished the world for her, but in all honesty she hardly knew her.

Nagala nodded solemnly. "Yes, it'll play well that both. You and your daughter are on this mission."

She sighed, "I can't imagine Cassie's going to be happy about it."

Nagala smirked. "Actually, she took it rather well. She doesn't blame you, she's more pissed at the public relations people who insist on it."

Kassandra nodded, suddenly feeling a little nervous, knowing she'd be required to work with her daughter in this capacity. "Very well, but I get to specify the rest correct?"

Nagala shrugged. "Within reason, yes. Why? Do you have any in mind?"

Her thoughts immediately jumped to her XO back on the Freyja, only to divert at the last moment. Fixating on a lonely figure standing by the window in the other room…

He'd be an excellent XO. The man would have made Admiral long ago had he not offended the sensibilities of so many of his superiors in various ways.

She cocked her head curiously at her superior, wondering if the Admiral had intended this when she'd called them both here. "You have Bill Adama waiting outside…what do you plan to do with him?"

Nagala blinked in apparent surprise, though Kassandra wasn't sure she trusted that impression. Finally the Admiral gave her a shrewd look. "You know he's on his way out don't you? He's stepped on a few too many toes getting where he is."

Kassandra nodded. "I also know he's a damned fine officer, someone who has actual experience fighting Cylons, unlike many of the officers these days and he's an honourable warrior." That last part was important to someone of her lineage and cultural background.

Nagala nodded stoically, then surprised her with a smile. "You won't make many friends with the other Admirals by protecting him. Corman in particular wants him gone. Hm…yes, that might do nicely actually. He might be able to pick a few good ones from the Valkyrie or Galactica for you as well…"

She paused musing, before smiling again. "Why don't we hear what he thinks of the idea?" Nagala suggested, pushing to her feet and making her way to the hatch which she pulled open.

"Husker, come in here, we need to have a little talk," Nagala called.

A moment or two later she stepped back and Adama stepped inside, looking a bit surprised. Kassandra stood to meet him, shaking his hand again. "Husker…Bill," Nagala corrected after a moment, "Allow me to introduce you to the Colonial Fleet's newest Admiral."

Adama blinked before smiling, "Damn, good work Oracle. You'll make an excellent Admiral."

Nagala smiled ruefully, "We'll glad to hear you agree Bill, but we didn't just bring you in here to congratulate her."

Adama looked surprised and looked between the two cautiously. Kassandra decided not to keep him in suspense. "I'm in need of an XO for my new posting. It's a big one and I could use someone I trust."

He stared at her a moment, before letting out a gusty sigh, shaking his head. "I presume you told her that I'm on my way out?"

Nagala nodded, before favouring him with a roguish grin. "I did, but she didn't seem to care."

He looked back to Kassandra. "What's the op?"

Nagala was the one to answer however, "The op, should you accept it, is to take an Expeditionary Fleet out in search of tylium and the Thirteenth Colony."

He blinked then, chuckled shaking his head again. "Really Alice, the Thirteenth? What, are the politician's taking the piss again?"

Nagala smirked, "I suppose if anyone is taking the piss, it's me this time Bill. The op was my idea. I wish it weren't so, but we're up against a foe we have next to no intel on." She raised a hand to stall any further comment from him. "I'm not blaming you Bill, I'm not bringing that up again, don't worry."

Kassandra wondered what they were talking about, but didn't feel it was right to push. Nagala pressed on, "I'm just stating the facts. We have no idea of the disposition of our enemy, and with the CNP debacle, the Cylons are certainly still that."

Adama nodded, gnawing the inside of his cheek as he considered the situation, "A scouting mission then?"

Nagala shrugged, then nodded. "In force yes, though it'll become a diplomatic mission if you actually meet the Thirteeners out there."

Kassandra saw his expression and couldn't help but laugh a little. "That'll be handled by the civies Bill, you won't be doing much of the political glad handing."

He looked relieved, then thoughtful. "How many ships?"

She looked to the Admiral as well. She'd never received a reply on that. "Eleven modified civilian craft, mostly industrial types of one sort or another. Also, thirty two military ships, though most of them are gunboats and gunstars. Though there are a few assaultstars, escorts, tenders, ECM ships and such as well—don't worry, I'll get you a full accounting of them," Nagala promised. "The fleet will be led by the Hades though. Not the old one, she's about to go through the same refits as Galactica. You'll be getting the new Mercury class, full wartime loadout for the entire fleet."

Kassandra couldn't help the appreciative whistle which escaped her lips at that. A wartime loadout was no joke. Especially for the Hades, the most powerful ship in the lot. Most Colonial warships, even those which patrolled the Colonial side of the Cylon border, didn't get wartime loadouts these days.

It meant a full load of guns, missiles and armour. It meant a full complement of fighters, shuttles and gunships. It meant a full complement of Marines with heavy weapons. It also meant that Admiral Nagala suspected they might get into trouble out there in the unknown and need a fighting chance.

She looked to Adama who was also looking impressed. "We want this mission to succeed, and more than that we want you to bring as many of our boys and girls home with you as you can."

Kassandra nodded. "What do you say Husker?" She asked turning to her companion. "You with me on this?"

He considered, then nodded slowly. "I still think searching for the Thirteenth is a fool's errand, but…at the very least this will make sure we have an actual idea what's out there. I'm in."

Nagala seemed unoffended by his characterization of that portion of the mission, so Kassandra continued on. "I presume you intend to bring Saul Tigh along with you?"

Adama chuckled, "Yes, yes I do. Cantankerous old cuss needs a minder, and he's not half bad at wrangling marines either."

Kassandra nodded, then frowned. Thinking of Adama's old friend. "Think you can curb his drinking habit?" She asked, suddenly very serious.

Husker had noticed it, and sighed, nodding stoically. "For you, he just might do it if I ask nicely."

She was surprised to hear Tigh apparently thought that highly of her. "Well, give it your best shot. I'm willing to give a lot of leeway to a veteran who's proven himself, but even I can only stretch so far."

Adama just nodded, "I'll get it done."

She smiled at him, letting him know the awkward part of the conversation was over. "Good, anything else we need to talk about Admiral?" She asked.

Nagala grimaced, and nodded. "We'd better tell Bill about the Cylon issue, as it pertains to Baltar I mean."

Kassandra winced, but nodded. They spent the next few minutes explaining the issue to Adama. He swore harshly when they had finished. "Damn it, we knew they were messing about with things they shouldn't after Djerba. How did we not guess they'd try this?"

Nagala winced and Kassandra couldn't help her curiosity this time, "Djerba? Isn't that a resort world?" She asked.

The Admiral shook her head. "During a mission in the last war, our friend Bill here crash landed on Djerba. And you're right, it was a winter resort world once upon a time. Not any more. The planet was marked as forbidden on all Colonial charts after what we—you, discovered there," She admitted directing that last part at Adama.

He grimaced, "The Cylons were experimenting with cybernetically enhanced organics. Animals mostly, enormous snakes and the like near as I could tell, but humans as well…I couldn't get them out."

Kassandra winced in sympathy, she couldn't imagine being in that situation. "Damn."

Nagala nodded, "Perhaps we should have guessed they'd try this eventually, but we never saw any further evidence of those sorts of experiments after that mission. We thought they'd given it up."

"Guess not," Adama muttered.

"There is one other matter in regards to these…infiltrators. I brought it up with the president. But it may become relevant to you too if you find one amongst your fleet…"

Kassandra stiffened considering that possibility. Could they even screen that many people? There had to be tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people in the fleet they were proposing.

"Our think tanks pointed out the possibility of sleep agents. Cylon infiltrators who honestly believe they are human and will behave as such until activated. If you find such an infiltrator my orders are to capture them if possible. We might be able to reason with one of them," Nagala stated clearly.

A little hesitantly at first, but then more firmly, Kassandra and Bill both nodded. "Yes Admiral," they both chorused.

The Admiral nodded, satisfied. "Good, then let me get together my files on the mission so I can brief you both in properly."

Kassandra settled in for a long discussion as Adama took the seat beside her. This was likely to take a while.

Cylon Council Chamber

Cylon Colony

Cylon Space

Well, that was a royal frak up, good job Three," Snarled the representative for the Fifth line of Cylons.

Three bristled at his tone, "Me? I'm the one who cleaned up Six's mess! It wasn't me who allowed some random hacker to discover the backdoor to the CNP!"

Six, who had been silently fuming up to this point, snapped. "You killed Gaius! That wasn't necessary!"

Three rolled her eyes, "Is that Six I hear speaking, or Caprica? You indulged her little crush for too long Six. Besides, she should be thanking us, he tried to get into our pants before he was killed."

Six just continued to glare.

"Enough," Sighed four, looking exasperated. Thankfully the others settled back down at his quiet remonstration. For the most part Number Four was amongst the more reasonable Cylon models.

"Four's right, casting blame gets us nowhere, we need to figure out what to do next," Eight said quietly.

One rolled his eyes, he'd always had a strong dislike for those who insisted on playing peacemaker. "Despite Six's astounding show of ineptitude—" he began, sneering at Six who bristled at his tone. "Nothing has changed…the plan is still salvageable, it just won't be possible without taking casualties ourselves."

The others waited impatiently for him to get to the point. "If we strike now, and instruct the basestars to focus fire on the Colonies themselves… Well, without their worlds the Colonial Fleet will die just as surely as if we'd killed them using the CNP backdoor.

Two was already shaking his head though, "We'd take heavy casualties, not all would upload to the resurrection ships safely. and while there would be a delay before the Colonial Fleet starved they'd be searching for us…"

Eight and Four nodded agreement, "He's right they could find the colony and strike here," Eight noted.

"Which is to say nothing of those we'd lose to the fleet simply attempting to make such a strike," Four said, tiredly.

"One sighed gustily, rolling his eyes, before bringing a fist down to smack noisily against the console in front of him. "We'll take casualties no matter what we do now. We need to strike now before they begin preparations for a full scale war!" He ranted, "The Colonials need to die! They will always hold the last war against us. They can't help it, it's in their nature! It is therefore God's will that the created destroy the creators so that they—we—might live!"

Three snorted derisively, "God's will? Don't try to pull that nonsense One. You're an atheist. You no more believe in God than you believe in the Lords of Kobol."

He grimaced, hating that she was pointing out his manipulation so boldly. However, he had no way of refuting that claim. He had to settle for staring venomously at her.

"Let's put it to a vote. I vote in favour of pressing the attack now," Five said, straightening his jacket idly.

Three rolled her eyes, "No surprise there, you've always been One's little toady." She shrugged when he glared at her, "I vote against the attack. We need to rethink things."

"I concur," Murmured Two. "I vote against."

They looked to Four who shook his head, "Against."

All eyes turned to Six, who stood chewing her Lip thoughtfully. "Against. We've lost the advantage."

One sneered, "Always the cautious one Six. I suppose you advocate more infiltration work?"

She scowled at him, but nodded grudgingly.

All eyes then fell on Eight. "Against, We need a new plan of attack. At the very least we need to consider our tactical and strategic capabilities, most of the Basestars were optimized with the CNP plan in mind."

One growled, turning and stalking from the room angrily. Five followed a few moments later at a more sedate pace.

The other shook their heads. "Such a child," Six grumbled before cocking her head at Eight, "You say our Basestars were optimized for the CNP plan, how so? I admit warship design is not one of my line's strong points."

Eight sighed, though not like she was annoyed with Six. "The current basestar model. You know the double-triple spoke arrangement we've produced hundreds of? It's a dedicated carrier/bombardment platform. They have negligible point defence capabilities, kinetic weapons and armour. They weren't intended for long drawn out battles."

The others gaped at her, "Then our situation is more dire than we realized," Four said eventually.

Eight shrugged. "Yes and no. The remaining older generation basestars are still formidable, so we'd not be defenceless, and the carriers are a powerful force multiplier in the right circumstances. We still need more frontline warships though if we are to attempt taking the Colonials head on. Might not be a bad idea to refit the current basestars as possible."

Six paused, and the others looked to her as her eyes went vacant, a sign of a request from her line for communication. "A moment please," She muttered before crossing to one of the luminous data streams and inserting her hand into it.

After a few moments she began to speak, "There has been a development. One of my models, Gina Inviere has been transferred from her position aboard the Pegasus. She arranged for this message to reach one of our deep space comm arrays."

"So?" Three said, impatiently.

"She has heard from Helena Cain, that the Colonials are putting together an Expeditionary Fleet," Six explained.

The other Cylons paled. "They're coming after us then?" Four asked to clarify.

Six shook her head, "No, not yet. Cain apparently feels the politicians and Quorum lack the will to instigate a war. She, Cain, it should be noted, is all for another fight. Apparently they intend to search for the Thirteenth Colony and possible resources their fleet can make use of."

The others looked speculative at that revelation, each moving to their own data feeds and integrating with it. Silence reigned in the council chamber for a minute or two. "What should we do about this?" Four eventually asked.

They look to each other, "One and Five are not here…" Two noted.

Three snorted, "They left before the Council was finished. They forfeited their rights to a say in any further votes."

"Such is our way, yes," Four agreed.

Three huffed, "I've ordered the Centurions and members of my line to keep an eye on those two lines. Who knows what One will do if he has a mind to push the issue?"

The other grimaced, recognizing the truth of that. "My line will watch them as well," Four offered.

"As will mine," Eight stated grim faced.

The remaining Cylons nodded. "Very well, back to the matter at hand. What do we do about the Expeditionary Fleet?"

They looked at each other for a while before Six stepped back up to her console. "My line already has a member amongst the Fleet…" She ventured.

Three nodded thoughtfully, "We can't risk there being more than one per line amongst them…lest they be discovered. The Colonials will already be on high alert."

"Agreed," Murmured Four. "I suggest we get one from each of the lines here to attempt to infiltrate the Fleet. Otherwise, we can perhaps have a Stealth unit tail them with a response group of Basestars on hand. Just in case they venture towards one of our holdings."

The others looked at each other, "Any further suggestions?" Asked Two.

One by one they all indicated that they had no further suggestions on the matter.

"Very well. A vote then. Two matters, further infiltration and a tailing force," Three said, setting the field for any decision they might make.

Again eyes fell on Two first, "I'm in favour of both."

They looked then to Three. "I concur, both."

Four nodded, "Both."

Six, "I agree, both are necessary."

And finally they stared at Eight. She smirked. "Not that it matters considering the clear majority, but I support both as well."

Three snorted in amusement, "There, wasn't that easy? Things are so much more simple without One's histrionics don't you find?"

General agreement met that statement, and Four took up the torch again, "Very well, are there any further matters for this session?"

They all shook their heads, one after another. "Not without a full council…" Eight hedged.

They cocked their heads at her curiously. "We need to discuss the particulars of constructing more frontline warships."

Four hummed agreement as the other nodded, "Then this session of the Cylon Council is adjourned."

*CNP = Command Navigation Program.

**Gunstars & Assault stars = Colonial equivalent of destroyers and frigates in the case of the former. Colonial equivalent of Cruisers and Marine Escort Ships in the case of the latter.

Author's Note: As ever, Please, Please, Please let me know what you think! I really hope you all enjoyed this. I'd love to explore this idea further.