Battlestar Galactica

Past, Present, Future

Chapter 39

Getting Our Houses in Order

The elections had concluded three sectons prior and things were finally starting to fall into place with the new council.

The new Council of the Twelve had already settled into their new duties and were coming up with plans to get the people back on their feet and return their homeworlds back on the road to the level of prominence they had enjoyed prior to the Centurion attacks thirty eight yahren before.

One of the first orders of business for the new council was to elect a new President. After only a few cycles of discussion and debate, the representative from the colony of Leones, the former President of the Galactican council, Tigh, had been selected as the new President. His experience as President of the Galactican fleets council and his long service as a Colonial Warrior were huge factors in the decision of the new council members in electing Tigh to the position. All agreed he was the perfect person guide the Colonies back to prominence.

The other elected members of the new council were Siress Tinia of Virgon, a longtime member of the Galactican council and staunch ally of President Tigh's, thou they had started off much differently. She would serve as his second on the council.

The former Prime Minister of Aquaria, Ja'Tel was the overwhelming choice for their representative as he'd led his people since the holocaust and continued their society's many yahren of prosperity.

The Librian people had elected former Warrior and war hero, Kerr. He'd resigned from active duty due to problems he experienced from his wounds suffered during the escape of the Destroyer Torrent from the Battle of Molocay forty plus yahren before. His heroics then and service since made him an overwhelming choice.

The representative from Canceria was a long serving member of the Galactican council, Sire Millard. Millard had been a very troublesome person for a number of yahren during the Galactica's long journey, but over the past ten yahren, he'd mellowed somewhat and had in fact become a strong backer of President Tigh's.

Another former member of the Galactican Council that was elected by his people was Sire Reynard of Picera. He too had been a thorn in the side of President Tigh, and Adama before that, but had come to accept Tigh's sound leadership and decision making after a while.

The people of Aires elected a member of the Galactica's fleet by the name of Tanya. Her story was one of the most interesting ones amongst the candidates. She'd been born on the prison colony of Proteus. Her father, named "Robber" and mother named "Slayer" were inmates of the prison. The people of the Proteus prison colony didn't have "real" names per say, but were referred to by the crimes of their "original sinners", those that had committed crimes that got them sent to prison. After a time, the prisoners started having children. The prison guards didn't know what they were to do with the children of the prisoners, so they just kept them in prison with their parents and referred to them by the crimes committed by their parents and a number. After several centuries, all the original criminals had died off, but the children of those prisoners were held captive still, making ambrosia for the Colonies. Problem was, the powers that be had forgotten all about the old prison colonies, thus, all the ambrosia the prisoners had been making was never sent to the Colonies, instead it was sitting in huge warehouses, gathering dust and aging into fine vintages.

The Proteus prison was discovered when Starbuck, on an undercover scouting mission in an advanced prototype Viper, was tricked by Robber and had his ship stolen by him. Starbuck tried using Robber's ship to follow him, but was taken prisoner by one of the Proteus prison guards, Croad. After learning what had been going on there in the prison and finding out that the cell doors no longer locked, Starbuck revealed who he was and led a short revolt against the guards, thus freeing all the prisoners.

Starbuck, Boomer, and Apollo rescued her from the prison along with her parents, most of the former "prisoners" and the guards when Proteus came under attack by the Centurions. They became part of the Galactica's fleet and many found new purpose in life being freed of their taskmasters. Tanya grew up with the fleets other children and became interested in politics in her youth. She served as an assistant to the Arian council member on the Galactica, Atos, for many yahren, learning the many faucets of Colonial politics from her mentor. When Atos decided not to run for the new council due to his advanced age, he encouraged and endorsed Tanya to run for the seat. With his backing, she won by an overwhelming margin and thus, became one of the youngest members on the new council.

The Gemonese Representative was a man named Jameis. He'd been a Warrior before the holocaust and had organized a guerrilla fighting group that constantly kept the Centurions garrisoning Gemon off balance. He'd saved thousands of his people over the yahren and found safe havens for the survivors in the catacombs of the old capital city of Pylorom. When word came from Caprica to try and activate the planetary defense systems, Jameis and his troops answered the call and were able to successfully launch their missiles. The people hailed him a hero, thus, he was elected in a landslide.

Libra had the closest election amongst the colonies, with three candidates nearly splitting the votes evenly. One candidate, Benedict, was a former Warrior who had led a large group of survivors into the mountains of Libra's Bazaras range on the northern continent. The Centurions didn't venture into those mountains often because the terrain was extremely hazardous for the slow moving Centurions and the climate was extremely hard on their circuits. This was very fortunate, for had the Centurions ventured deeper into the mountains, they might have discovered the hidden Colonial astrometric complex built into Mount Sardis. It was not as large a facility as the DreamWorks, but it was able to hold over two thousand people. Benedict had been stationed there for several yahren and knew its location, so he'd gathered nearly two hundred survivors and then made his way there. Over the next thirty eight yahren, the number of people calling the complex home grew to nearly two thousand by the time of the liberation of the Colonies.

The second candidate in the Libran election was named Carter. He'd been a political aide before the holocaust and was one of a small group of survivors that found refuge in the underground tunnels of the capital city, Lumina. He was a good leader, but his age, nearly two hundred yahren, was a factor against him.

But the candidate that won the election was a former media member from the Libran Broadcast Network named Lindor. He had no experience in politics or true leadership abilities before the holocaust, but in the decades that ensued, he'd become a very strong and charismatic leader, often leading his people on raids against the Centurion bases for supplies as well as foraging missions into the nearby towns and villages. His fame before the holocaust and his exploits during the occupation won him thirty eight percent of the forty million votes cast.

The Sagittarian council member was another of the younger people elected. His name was Hatch. He was the Warrior that had taken command aboard the Scorpion Warstar Sharlianos after it had been mortally damaged in the initial attack on Gamoray. He'd managed to close the Sharlianos' trans-spacial portal before the Centurions could use it against the fleet and then was able to effect the evacuation of the Sharlianos crew before it blew up, saving thousands of his fellow Warriors. He was only an Ensign at the time and at twenty two yahren of age, he became the youngest member of the new council.

The Caprican council seat was won by Bawel, the longtime assistant to former President of the DreamWorks council, Siress Illya. When Illya decided not to run for the new council, she suggested that Bawel run for the council seat. He'd been her right hand for the most part during the entire occupation and was a very strong and knowledgeable statesman. With her backing, and that of Commander Saxton, he won easily over Sire Cantor, who was still looking to gain some measure of power for himself.

The last member of the new council did not have to face the trials of an election.

That council member would represent the far distant colony of Scorpia, and would be designated by Commander Leonitus, who as the sovereign of the Scorpion people, was within his right to pick his own delegate to the council. And so, Leonitus chose his daughter, Androkallosia, to be the representative for Scorpia. She was well versed in the political world and would give her people a strong voice in all matters.

And thus, the new Council of the Twelve had finally been elected. Now all that was needed was to get them formally sworn in and make the transition from marshal law and the military leadership that had been in place since the holocaust back to a civilian leadership.

This had been the goal of Commander Verga since he'd been forced into the permanent leadership of Phantom Base many yahren before. He'd never wanted the responsibility, but when it was thrust upon him, he took up the challenge and did an outstanding job. The fact that the millennium long war with the Centurions was now over and victory had been achieved largely due to his leadership skills proved this. With the new council taking over the civilian leadership, he'd be able to focus on the one task left before him … the rebuilding and reorganization of the Colonial Fleet and the Colonial Warrior Service.

"Greetings Commander." Said Commander Bannon cheerfully as he entered Verga's new office in what had once been the offices of the Caprican Shipyards. Now they were serving as the headquarters for the Colonial Military. The old Colonial Military Services complex was now nothing more than a huge pile of rubble, a stark reminder of the Centurion attacks of nearly forty yahren before.

"Commander Bannon! Early as usual I see?" Verga said with smile. "Have you ever been late for anything in your life?"

"Not since I came home late for dinner when I was nine and was sent to bed without eating." Bannon replied with a chuckle. "Since that cycle, I've made it a point to never be late again! As far as I'm concerned, if you're fifty centons early, you're still late!"

Verga laughed at his oldest friends joke. In truth, Bannon was almost always a centar early for every meeting or mission briefing.

"So are you ready to turn over the reins to the new council sir?" Bannon asked, already knowing the answer.

"I've been looking forward to this cycle since the Fifth Fleet was destroyed and Cain went missing." He replied. "The sooner the council can take over the cycle to cycle duties of governing, the better!"

"True that sir. Then we can start getting our own house in order!" Bannon said as he took his usual seat at Verga's right hand. "Have you figured out who will be running what yet?"

"I have a basic outline of the various staffing positions and who I think would fit most those billets best, but a lot of it depends on who decides to stay in the service and who doesn't." Verga said leaning back in his seat with his hand folded on his chest. "With the war finally being over, I think a lot of our fleet Warriors might opt to retire or resign and start new lives away from the military and outer space. Most of our senior Warriors have lived the past forty yahren or so on the asteroids of Phantom Base or on the ships of the Galactican fleet. And our younger Warriors have spent their entire lives in space. They may want to get back to terra firma for a while."

"You think we'll lose that many?" Bannon asked concernedly.

"I don't know Commander. I know most of our senior officers are getting up there in age. I myself am a hundred and twenty yahren old. Commander Leon is only a few yahren younger than me. You and Raylac are both in your eighties and I think Apollo and his senior officers are all well into their seventies. So I'm not sure who will decide to stay in the service and who will leave."

Bannon sat shaking his head. He knew he was staying in the service. Being a Warrior was his life. He'd be a Warrior until the cycle he died. But he understood what Verga was saying. Most every Warrior in the fleet had spent most, if not all of the past forty yahren in space, so they might well want to stay on the homeworlds. Only time would tell.

"So, what news do you bring from your section Commander? Everything moving along as planned?"

"Yes sir" Bannon said. "I just finished with an inspection of the Caprican shipyards and Commander Leon has them up and running. They've been working two full shifts and a partial third shift on the Aniketos and Alphosina, and according to him, they both should be back in action in about six or seven sectars. The Torrent he said should be ready in about four sectars. The ships at the Virgon shipyards should all be ready in a little over a sectar."

"That's great news Commander. If we get those ships back, that will give us at least fifty warships and about a thousand support craft. Not a bad start for the new Colonial Fleet."

"Yes sir, that should keep us safe until we can build up to full strength again."

"That's going to take a long time my friend." Verga said. "Even with two fully operational shipyards running, it will be decades before we reach the numbers we had before. I really wish we hadn't had to destroy Phantom Base. That would have made things much easier"

Bannon nodded his head in agreement. "Even with Phantom Base being so far away, it had everything we needed to build hundreds of Battlestars and Vipers. That base alone could have rebuilt the fleet in less than a centuron. So, any word on how many people are going to be showing up for this fiasco today?" Bannon asked.

"I have no idea." Verga said, shaking his head slightly. "I had the word passed down to all points that anyone currently holding the rank of "Commander" was to report here today for evaluation and assignment. I'm sure there won't be that many legitimate "Commanders" showing up since most would be older then we are. And the Lords only know how many people have granted themselves "promotions" to the rank. I'm sure a good many of them didn't earn that rank legitimately."

"I'd say that's a safe bet." Bannon said in agreement. "But I have to say, most of those I've been working with have earned their rank. That Commander Saxton is a prime example of a Warrior that has earned the position with his hard work and leadership."

"That he has my friend." Verga agreed. "I dare say, if it hadn't been for him and his people coordinating all the missile commands and instructing the people on the various colonies how and when to fire their missiles, we'd have no worlds to come back to."

"Agreed" Bannon said.

"Well, what say we get down to the auditorium before all the others arrive? I wouldn't be surprise if most of our people had arrived already."

So Verga and Bannon gathered up the materials for their meeting with the senior Warrior staff to plan and discuss how they were going to go about the task of interviewing lord only knows how many potential candidates.

When they entered the auditorium, they found most of the senior staff already there. Apollo, Leonitus, Raylac and Saxton were all standing near the front of the room talking while Dieanicas, Makedon, and Ptolemy were laughing about some story one of them had told. Teris was standing with Bojay discussing the differences between the Scorpion Asp fighters and the Colonial Viper. Alexios had found a kindred spirit it seemed in Jolly as they discussed the finer points of Scorpion cooking. Atreus talked with Eller off to one side and Goff, Hawley, and Sachs stood together watching the room full of senior officers, wondering where they were going to fit in to the new Colonial Warrior hierarchy. Verga and Bannon saw hundreds of others who they did not know, all wearing the uniforms and/or insignia of Colonial Warrior Commanders all over the huge room as they entered. This was going to be a more daunting task than Verga had first believed.

As they entered the room, Bannon, in his rather loud and commanding voice called the room to order. Verga noticed that the members of his fleet and those officers from the Galactica's and Scorpion fleets were much quicker to come to form proper ranks and come to attention than those officers that had spent the past thirty eight yahren under Centurion occupation. He also noticed that the officers from the colonies were much more lax in their appearance and military bearing. Their uniforms were unkempt and worn improperly, their hair was not regulation. They were not even able it seemed to form up into proper ranks. Proper military discipline had taken a huge hit it seemed with those present. This would have to be addressed throughout the service it seemed. But that would have to wait for later however, for now; getting a simple chain of command in place was the focus of this meeting.

Verga and Bannon made their way to the front of the room and took their places at the table that had been set up at the front of the room. Verga called for everyone to be seated and after giving everyone a few moments to settle in, he stood up and began to speak.

"I want to thank you all for coming here today and for your cooperation in making this meeting happen. I know most of you have been busy working on getting your people settled into their new lives and establishing a new routine for them. Your hard work and dedication to duty is recognized and is greatly appreciated. For those of you who do not know me, I am Commander Verga, senior officer of the Colonial Warrior Services at this time and commanding officer of the combined battle fleets that liberated the Colonies a sectar ago."

This brought a loud round of applause and cheers from the assembled Warriors. Verga raised his hands to quiet the crowd so he could continue.

"Today's meeting, as was stated in the message you all received, is to establish a new chain of command for the Colonial Warrior Services. With the new Council of the Twelve taking over the cycle to cycle operations of governance and planning for our civilian population, we can finally get back to the task of putting our own house in order. The need to reorganize the Colonial Fleet and establish our new command structure will be the focus of these meetings. First we need to find out who we have here amongst us and where best those people fit into things. That's what we are all here for."

A murmur of agreement went thru the crowded room. Verga continued.

"You're here because you all hold; wither thru official channels, thru field promotions, or ….. other means, the rank of "Commander" in the Colonial Service. Because we are building the new command structure from the ground up, we will be conducting interviews with each and every one of you to determine exactly where you might best fit into this new command structure."

"You said there will be interviews conducted? Who is going to conduct these "interviews"?" asked an older man in a very old and worn dark blue uniform.

Verga fixed his eyes on the man and said nothing for a few moments, making the man feel somewhat uneasy. After a few microns, Verga replied.

"I have assembled a panel of senior Commanders from our three fleets to assess each of those present and to gather information about your military background, both prior to the holocaust and since the Centurion occupation. Once we have determined who we have here and where their skills and knowledge would best serve, we will place everyone into those positions we feel they would best be suited for."

"Why are you and your people the ones running the show?" asked another man. His uniform, or what was left of it, looked to be that of a Viper pilot.

Again, Verga looked long and hard at the speaker. This man did not flinch as did the first man.

"Because, as the senior officer in the Colonial Service, It falls to me to reform our chain of command. The officers I've designated to conduct these interviews have all been serving in our fleets since before the holocaust. They have lived under Warrior discipline and maintained the standards and knowledge that will be required to rebuild the services and to train those that wish to remain in the service."

"So what you're saying is that all of your people will be given the prime positions and the rest of us will either get the leftovers or be kicked to the curb. Is that how this is going to play out?"

"What is your name ….. "Commander"?" Verga asked, his temper beginning to rise.

"I'm Commander Brooker." He said. "I was the leader of a group of over a hundred Warriors that had fought the Cylons face to face for over thirty six yahren on Leonas."

Verga looked the man over carefully. He was a tall dark skinned man with broad shoulders and a shaved head. His face and hands showed a number of scares, likely from his battles with the Centurions. He was only about sixty yahren old, so he couldn't have been in the Warrior service very long at the time of the holocaust. Verga wanted to learn more about this man's background. But that would have to wait.

"That is not true Commander Brooker." Verga said in a calm voice. "Positions within the command structure will be given out on merit and experience. The best qualified people will be placed where they will do the most good."

"And you expect us to believe that?" Brooker said somewhat challengingly.

"On my honor as a Warrior, it will be thus!" Verga said, glancing around the room to look at all those present. Then looking back to Brooker, he said. "You can believe that to be the truth or you can make up your own version of it. It's your choice."

After a rather tense moment, Brooker gave a slight nod of his head and sat back down.

Relieved that that situation had been defused for the moment, Verga went on to other matters.

"For the past few sectons, we've had a team working on accessing the personnel files from before the holocaust. These will be used to identify those of you who were in the service before the Centurion occupation and a little background as to what your formal training might be. Of course this will not tell us what you have experienced since that time, but at least it will give us a starting point. We are going to rely on you to fill in the blanks of the past thirty eight yahren. I hope you will all be completely honest with us and not ….. embellish your accomplishments. And by all means, don't under state what you've done. We need to know everything you've done to be sure you are properly placed."

Now the statement he didn't want to make.

"I know many of you have served for a very long time. I myself have been in the Warrior service for nearly one hundred yahren."

This statement brought a chorus of murmurs from the crowd.

"And I'm sure, looking out at all of you, there are some here that have served nearly as long. Those of you with sixty, seventy, or even more yahren in the service are probably looking forward to retiring and starting a new life for yourselves. Trust me, I totally understand. If it is your plan to leave the Warrior service, then I wish you well in your future endeavors. If this is route you choose, please let your interviewer know this immediately and they will assign you to the retired rolls or to the reserves. I hope that most of you will at least stay on and help us with the reorganization before you leave, but if not, then all my best to you. We will start the interviewing process tomorrow morning, so you'll need to gather any documents you might have regarding your military service and bring them with you. If you have a uniform in good condition, wear it. If you don't have a uniform in decent condition, see the Warrior quartermaster in room one forty four in this building and she will outfit you with a new uniform. I expect you all to show up tomorrow with regulation haircuts and looking like Colonial Warriors! Until tomorrow, get some rest and get ready for what I'm sure will be several very long cycles. I look forward to speaking with each and every one of you. Again, thank you for being here. Dismissed."

With that, the assembled officers came to attention as Verga and his staff departed. He was proud to note that all of those present had snapped to in a much more professional manner this time. Perhaps discipline was not going to be such a huge issue after all?

Verga returned to his office on the top floor in the old Caprican Shipyards building along with Bannon, Raylac, Apollo, Leonitus, Dieanicas, and Saxton. These, along with the newly promoted Leon would be the officers conducting the interviews of the potential new Warrior commanders. It would be a difficult task at the very least. And thou, most of those under consideration were Warriors before the holocaust, the vast majority had been junior grade officers at the time of the Centurion attacks. They had taken the mantel of "Commander" upon themselves. Very few were promoted thru the "normal channels" because they no longer existed. So it would be up to Verga and his team to sort thru the hundreds of self-promoted commanders and find those that were and are truly deserving of placement in the Warriors command structure.

"I wonder how long this will take if they all have an attitude like that Brooker guy?" Raylac said as they entered Verga's office and took seats opposite his desk. Verga moved behind his desk and dropped into his chair heavily. He felt more exhausted than usual for some reason.

"I don't know my friend." Verga said. "I never imagined there would be so many people assuming the rank of "Commander"! Did anyone get a count on them?"

"I counted two hundred seventy eight, not including those of us from the three fleets." Bannon said. "And I can tell you that less than ten of them held rank before the holocaust."

"I know of only two that were of rank before then, Commander Laird who was in charge of the Colonial Sixth Fleet and Commander Jorad from the old Battlestar Cynergy. Both of them were retired yahren before the holocaust. I doubt they're going to want to return to active duty." Saxton said. "And just so you all know, I was only a Major when the Centurions attacked, so I'm not going to say too much bad about those that didn't go thru the normal channels of promotion."

"Yes Commander, we are aware that you didn't go thru the regular system of promotions," Verga said. "but you were promoted by the elected President of your community. So that, and your exemplary performance during the occupation has more than earned you your position."

"Thank you sir. That means a lot coming from you." Saxton said humbly.

"I'm sure many of those we seen today are nearly as well qualified, but we have to make sure. That is why we are doing these interviews, to evaluate who is and isn't qualified to retain the rank of "Commander". "

"What are we going to do with those that don't make the grade Commander?" asked Bannon. "Do we demote them to "Colonel", or maybe revert them back to their former ranks? Do we dismiss them all together? How are we going to deal with those folks?"

Verga dropped his gaze to his desktop in thought. He'd not considered that part of all this. What would they do with those individuals that were not qualified to be commanders?

"I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it my friend. Most likely, we'll deal with them on a case by case basis. It's my hope that we don't have too many people needing to be demoted or discharged."

At that moment, Boomer and Starbuck arrived at Verga's office with good news.

"Gentleman, what news from the records department?" Verga asked as the two new arrivals took seats with the others.

"Well Commander, it took a lot of time and hard work, but with the help of Major Leia and Captain Duggan from the DreamWorks, we were able to download all the personnel files from Sabo's archives and connect all your computer terminals downstairs to the new data base mainframe Doctor Prior and his people built." Boomer told everyone. "You'll have instant access to the files of every Warrior that was one active duty, in the reserves, or on the retired lists going back from the cycle of the Centurions attack to the beginning of the Colonial service."

Boomer looked at Saxton and said, "That kid you have on your team, Duggan, he's a full on genius! He basically invented the entire algorithm we needed to get all those files and programs to work together."

Saxton nodded his head, knowing that Boomer spoke the absolute truth. Duggan had been performing "miracles" ever since he'd been placed in "The Pit". He'd have to put him in for another promotion for this latest feat.

"So you have everything ready for tomorrow then?" Verga asked, the surprise in his voice obvious. "I didn't figure you'd have the system up for another secton."

"Yes sir. We've already tested it and it's working perfectly." Boomer assured him. "And Starbuck has Warrior security on all components of the system to insure there is no tampering. It's a closed system, so nobody can break into it from an outside source, but if they could gain access to one of our terminals or the mainframe, they might be able to screw things up, if they could break the passcode that is."

"Sounds like you thought of everything Commander." Verga said approvingly. "I congratulate you and your team."

"Thank you sir." Boomer replied.

Verga looked around the room at his senior officers. They looked tired and yet excited at the same time. He understood exactly how they felt. Everyone there had been working exceedingly long and hard since long before they retook the Colonies, battling first the Centurions, then facing the challenges of reestablishing control of their homeworlds and helping the billions of survivors they'd found.

The stress of it all was almost unbearable, but know there was a light at the end of the tunnel! Now they could see the fruits of all their hard work and sacrifice coming together. Soon, they'd be able to take a little time to relax and maybe get their own lives on track. But first, they had to finish rebuilding the Warrior services.

"Gentleman, tomorrow we'll start the interviewing process. We will conduct them as a single panel, doing as many interviews as we can, as quickly as we can. All those that meet our minimum requirements will be brought back for follow up interviews if need be. Those that do not meet the requirements will be assigned to whatever lower postings they are best suited for or will be discharged. I'm sure there will be more than a few disappointed people during this process, that can't be helped. If they do not wish to accept our decision, they will be dismissed from the Warrior service altogether. We don't have the luxury of letting disgruntled people remain amongst our ranks."

"Wouldn't be quicker if we conducted these interviews with two or three of us to a panel?" Raylac asked. "We could get thru a lot more people in a shorter amount of time that way."

"You're right Commander, it would make things more expedient, splitting our group up into smaller panels and conducting multiple interviews at the same time, but I feel this is too important to chance not having each of us able to ask questions of the individuals and see and hear their responses." Verga said. "A single panel will give us the advantage of hearing the same answers and seeing their responses so we might evaluate each member equally. We'll also be able to discuss any aspects of the candidates' answers immediately."

"Ummm, Commander?" Boomer interrupted. "One of the things we incorporated into the computer programs for the personnel files is a place for you to add notes and another to send messages to each other while you're doing the interviews."

Verga looked surprised by this.

"You mean we'll be able to communicate amongst ourselves while asking them questions?"

"That's correct sir." Boomer said, a bit surprised at Verga's reaction. It was like he'd never heard of such a thing before.

"Excellent. Then we'll conduct the interviews tomorrow as a single panel. This should eliminate the need for most follow up interviews after the fact. With a bit of luck, we should be able to knock this out in a secton!"

Everyone agreed with his assessment and were happy to hear that things might take far less time than had been expected.

"So, let us secure for today and get a fresh start in the morning, shall we?" Verga said tiredly. "Ready your questions for tomorrow so we can proceed thru each interview swiftly. Until tomorrow than, dismissed."

With that, the senior Warriors departed to their various destinations to ready themselves for the next days adventures.

The next morning, Verga and his senior officers arrived in the auditorium just as the first sun broke the horizon. There was still a bit of a chill in the air, but nobody seemed to mind. Their minds were on the task at hand.

The Warrior security Starbuck had arranged for were still on guard, insuring that no one could tamper with the computers or the mainframe that held the personnel records of every Warrior that had served from their beginnings until the cycle of the holocaust. Everything was in proper order as Starbuck checked with the head of the detail, Major Phelps. Once Starbuck was satisfied everything was in order, he dismissed the security detail. They were relieved by a new contingent of Warrior security led by Colonel Deitra from the Battle Cruiser Egidon.

"Major Phelps said everything was quiet last night. No disturbances anywhere Commander." Starbuck reported to Verga.

"Good. I really didn't expect there to be, but better safe than sorry." He replied. "What measures do we have for things while we are conducting the interviews Commander?"

"I have two score of Warriors from the Carpathia under Colonel Deitra shuttling down for external security and another two score from the Chimaera under Commander Jolly for interior security. Myself, Boomer, Bojay, Goff, Hawley, and Eller will handle stage security."

Verga nodded his approval. He liked that Starbuck had arranged for only senior officers to be on the stage so as to keep the topics of the interviews at the highest level.

"Very good Commander. Once your people arrive and you get them deployed, go ahead and start letting the others in."

"Yes sir."

Verga made his way to the table that had been set up on the stage since they had conducting the interviews for the new council. It seemed to Verga that all they'd been doing for the last sectar was interviewing people for what have you! He felt as if he'd spoken to every person in the colonies by now! He was looking forward to getting this over with. He had other matters that needed attending.

"Are you alright Commander?"

Verga turned his head sideways and saw Bannon and Apollo standing next to him with worried expressions.

"Yes. Yes, of course I'm alright." He said a bit more curtly than he'd intended. "Why do ask?"

"Well Commander, you were mumbling rather angrily to yourself." Bannon said softly. "I couldn't understand what you were saying, but it didn't sound too pleasant."

Verga looked at his friend for a moment, a bit surprised that he'd spoken out loud.

"It's nothing my friends. Just a bit tired is all. When you get to be my age, your temper tends to flare up at the slightest things. I'm fine."

"If you'd like to reschedule this for another cycle, we can do that Commander?" Apollo volunteered.

"Nonsense, we're not going to cancel just because I'm a little bit cranky." Verga said with a wave of his hand. "I just want to get this felgercarb over with, and the sooner the better."

"Agreed!" Bannon said.

Just then, Starbuck approached the table.

"Commander Verga, our Warrior security teams have arrived and are in place. Just say the word and we'll start letting the people in."

Verga looked at the members of interviewing panel and they all nodded that they were ready to go. Verga took the seat at the center of the tables with Bannon to his immediate right and the newly promoted Commander Leon to his left. Next to Leon were Raylac, then Leonitus and Dieanicas. Next to Bannon was Apollo and Saxton. These officers would have the responsibility of determining who would become the new leaders of the Colonial Warrior Servies.

"Very well Starbuck, go ahead and throw the doors open and let's get this party started!"

And the party did start!

Only there were far fewer people in attendance than were expected. Of the nearly three hundred people that showed up the cycle before, only about a third of them had returned when the doors opened. Verga and his staff were amazed by how few candidates there were.

"Where'd they all go you reckon Commander?" asked Bannon quietly.

Verga shook his head slowly, not knowing what to say.

When everyone that had been waiting outside had entered and taken their seats, Starbuck left the stage and went to the door to see if there were any more people waiting.

"Hey Bojay, is that everyone?" he asked.

"I guess so Starbuck. I sent people around to the other side to see if anyone was there, but that was all we had out here." Bojay told him.

"Okay then. This is going to hurry things up a lot. Did you get a count on how many there were?"

"I counted a hundred and four."

Starbuck nodded his head.

"Okay, I'll let Commander Verga know. If more show up, have them come in quietly."

"Will do."

Starbuck turned as Bojay secured the door. He walked back to the stage and over to Verga and the others.

"I'm afraid that this is it Commander." Starbuck told him. "There's no one else out there."

"Looks like those people with questionable claims have decided not to pursue positions in the command core." Bannon whispered to Verga. "Makes our job a lot easier I'd say."

Verga nodded and looked at the other members of the senior staff. They were all looking toward him, wondering what he was going to do next. He didn't hesitate long before letting everyone know.

"Ladies and gentleman, Warriors all!" Verga started, standing up and looking at the faces of the Warriors seated before him. He was pleased to see them all in new uniforms and well-groomed to Warrior standards. A far cry from how many of them appeared the cycle before. "Thank you for being here today and for enduring the process to come. We will try to make it as painless as possible and get thru it as fast as possible."

"As I'm sure most of you have noticed, there are far fewer people here today than there were yesterday. I don't know why most of them decided not to join us, but I assure you that it will be their loss. So without further delay, I'd like Captain Duggan to call for the first candidate to come up. Captain Duggan, if you please!"

Duggan had been tasked with running the computer system that ran the mainframe holding the personnel files. He'd already pulled up the service records for all those that attended the first meeting the cycle before, and had been working furiously to separate the records of those people in attendance now from those of the no-shows. He still had a good number of them to work thru, but he was able to call out the first candidate immediately.

"Major Alden. Please report to the stage. Major Alden." Duggan announced loudly.

Near the left side of the stage in the front row, a distinguished looking officer with short grey hair stood up, straightened his new dark blue uniform, and made his way to the steps at center stage, next to where Duggan, Boomer, and Starbuck stood. He climbed the steps slowly, but without any trouble and produced an old Colonial Warrior's ID badge. Boomer looked at it and the man and nodded, saying "Thank you" to the man. The man walked to the chair sitting opposite of Commander Verga and his panel and saluted. Verga returned the salute and indicated to the man to have a seat. Alden nodded and toke the offered chair.

"You look familiar to me Major Alden." Verga said, looking closely at him. "Did we serve together?"

"No sir, I don't believe we did. I was the person that asked you who would be conducting the interviews yesterday sir."

Verga looked more closely and he could see it then. Major Alden had been the officer in the worn out blue uniform from the cycle before. He hardly looked the same, clean shaven and hair cut short. The tired man from yesterday had been replaced by a Warrior ready to face the future. Verga highly approved!

Duggan had forwarded Major Alden's personnel file to the board's computers so they all could review his career up to the cycle of the holocaust. Verga sat looking at it for a few moments then looked at Major Alden. He was impressed by his military bearing, sitting at attention, eyes caged, hands setting comfortably on his knees. This is the type of officer they were looking for he thought.

"Tell me what you've been doing since the night the Centurions attacked Major." Verga said. "Don't embellish it and don't skip anything. Just tell us what happened and how you dealt with things."

"Yes sir."

And so the process began. Each member of the panel was given time to ask whatever questions they had and the candidate was given time to answer each question fully. Some of the interviews went smoothly, such as now Commander Alden's and took very little time. Others took a good deal longer as there were certain ….. "irregularities" in the recollections of the candidates that needed to be ironed out. When it became apparent that they would not get thru all the candidates in one cycle, Verga asked that those people that still needed to be interviewed return the next cycle. To his amazement, not one officer objected to coming back the next cycle. All hands were dismissed until the next morning and they left in an orderly fashion.

"Captain Duggan, would you secure the mainframe and all the computer terminals for us please?" Saxton said to his electronics wiz.

"Yes sir. Should I arrange for the security teams to come back?" he asked.

"I've already arranged for that Captain, but thanks for asking." Starbuck told him with one of his famous smiles.

Duggan nodded and went about securing the system.

Starbuck turned to Saxton and said, "That kid is right on top of things isn't he?"

Saxton smiled, looking at Duggan and replied, "That he is Starbuck. Always has been! Wish we had a hundred like him."

"Alright everyone, time to secure for tonight and get some rest. We have a lot more people to talk to tomorrow." Verga said. "How many did we get thru today?"

"Thirty eight Commander." Apollo told him. "We still have about sixty or so left to go."

"So at least two more cycles of this felgercarb huh?" Raylac said tiredly. "Makes me wish I was still doing the perimeter security patrols around the colonies."

"I'm sure we all wish we were doing something else my friend, but this is the job that requires all of our focus and participation right now. So let's just get it done as fast and well as we can. Perhaps afterward, we can take a break for a few cycles?" Verga said tiredly.

"Yes sir." Raylac replied in an exhausted tone.

"Good, we'll all meet back here in the morning then. I'd like Bannon, Apollo, Leonitus, and Saxton to join me in my office once we secure. I have a few things discuss with you all."

The named officers exchanged glances, none knowing what Verga could want at that late centar, but all agreed.

A few centons later, Starbuck returned to inform Verga that Duggan was finished securing the mainframe and terminals and that the Warrior security was set for the evening. Verga thanked him and told him to secure until the next cycle. Starbuck gave Apollo a quick glance and departed.

The five senior Warriors made their way to Verga's office where he had ordered dinner and drinks for all to be prepared. They all sat down around the conference table in the office and exhaustedly nibbled at the food provided. None seemed very interested in eating it seemed.

Verga looked at the tired faces of his people and figured he should get to the business at hand right away so they could all get some rest.

"Gentleman, I asked you all here because we have a very important issue to discuss. One that will change the Warrior service in the future."

All four officers exchanged surprised looks, their faces no longer reflecting the exhaustion they felt.

"What's going on Commander?" Bannon said worriedly. "Is everything okay?"

Verga gave his oldest and dearest friend a faint smile and waved away his concerns with his hand.

"Everything is fine my friend, or as fine as it can be considering." Verga said softly. "But there is a matter of paramount importance to discuss and you four are the only ones that need know about it, because it concerns all of you!"

Again, the four exchanged surprised looks.

"So what is this matter that is of such importance Commander?" Leonitus asked.

Verga looked around the table for a moment, than continued.

"My friends, after many sectars of deliberation and reflection, I have decided to retire from the Colonial Service, effective immediately after we get our chain of command settled."

Shock registered on everyone's face at this announcement. None of them had even considered this as a possibility. Somehow, they all were of a mind that Commander Verga would always be in command of the services. A thousand questions were running thru their minds at that moment. Verga was about to answer many of them.

"I know this may come as a shock to you all, but it is something I've been mulling over for quite a while now and I believe I have made up my mind on the subject."

"Why would you leave now Commander? Things are just starting to fall into place." Saxton said. "Once we get the command chain in place, you won't have to worry so much about everything."

Verga glanced at Saxton and nodded.

"That might be true Commander, but the truth is ….. I'm tired! I've been a Warrior for nearly a hundred yahren. I've been running the Phantom Fleet for forty plus yahren and the entire human combined fleets for nearly a yahren. I did the best job I could and I'm proud of what we've accomplished. I mean, we won the war with the Centurions for lord's sake! But the fact is, I'm tired gentleman. Once more, Doctor Felton has confirmed to me that I have some sort of neurological disease that he says is one hundred percent fatal."

"What disease is that Commander?" Bannon asked, the concern for his friend evident.

"I don't know how to pronounce it. It has a name a metron long." Verga said with a slight edge in his voice. "It doesn't matter. The fact is, I don't have a whole lot of time left to me. The last thing I want to do is spend whatever time I have left dealing with the day to day operations of the service."

They all could understand his feelings on this matter.

"And that is why I asked you all here. One of you four will be the new head of the Colonial Warrior Services."