Well here we go the third chapter finally and again I have to apologize for the extreme lateness of this post as the saying goes 'Life is what happens while you are making other plans' anyway here we go. As promised this chapter is completely from the Colonials perspective and I think that is one of the reasons why this chapter was so hard to write. I have made a few minor changes to the Galactica 2003 storyline but it is more of a balancing out of the Colonials in comparison to the Tau'ri as far as numbers not tech. Anyway here is the continuation of the story. Hope you all enjoy and please review.

Chapter 3

Their Who and From Where?

Battlestar Galactica

Commanders Quarters

23:00 HRs Fleet Local Time

Commander William Adama was sitting in his office nursing a glass of ambrosia as he was reviewing his logs for the past few months. He was doing this to remind himself that even though the Colonies had been destroyed by the Cylons and with them a vast majority of the Colonial fleet as well. The survivors in his fleet were in fact lucky to be alive. It was in fact a series of fortunate events that seemed to culminate with the fleet discovering Kobol and finally finding a possible path to Earth.

It all started several months ago, when Adama had received the Decommissioning orders for Galactica. Normally when a Battlestar is decommissioned there escort vessels are reassigned and dispersed throughout the rest of the fleet. And Adama did not expect anything different to happen in this situation. He was however somewhat surprised to find that the orders for Galactica's retirement did not include new orders for her escort group. They were in fact ordered to remain with Galactica until the decommissioning ceremony after which time they would escort Commander Adama and his crew back to Caprica for his official retirement ceremony with full honors. This meant that when the Cylons attacked the colonies, Galactica had her full complement of two Strikestars and four Gunstars with her.

The next bit of fortune to come to the Colonials happened after Lee activated the EMP on the than newly sworn in President Roslin's shuttle. A Strikestar and two Gunstars from the Atalantia's Battlestar group had escaped destruction by disabling their networks before the Cylons could hit them with their virus. They stayed with President Roslin and aided the Civilian ships in getting their jump drives repaired. Which had the fortunate effect of not only increasing the number of survivors but also the amount of available food production in the fleet as one of the ships was an agro ship.

The next bit of good luck they received was when the Galactica and her escorts arrived at Ragnar Station. There parked next to the station was a Hephestian Class Mobile Fleet Yard. Adama can still remember the surprise at finding this ship parked here of all places. These ships were developed during the time of the first Cylon war for the sole purpose of repairing ships in the field without the need to tow them back to Anchorages. While they could and in fact did have the ability to connect to overhaul and repair a Columbia Class Battlestar such as the Galactic with its attached collapsible framework. They also had several enclosed bays for repairing and in some cases even constructing smaller vessels. Adama immediately ordered several of the flight decks and engineering teams repair crews over to check out the vessel and to bring it online. This proved to be a wise decision for Adama when Laura Roslin showed up with her refugee fleet and several of the civilian vessels needed to dock to the Hephestian right away for repairs and or service.

That was in fact one of the reasons they were in their current predicament right now. Some of the ships the President had brought with her were in such rough shape that they needed massive amounts of resources to make them not just flyable but liveable. In one case the ship had to in fact be practically rebuilt from the frame out. This meant that they were using up most of their stores of raw and recyclable materials extremely fast. Even some of the salvaging Adama had ordered like with the Cylon attack two weeks ago that Sharon Valerii had stopped, was in fact only good as a stop gap measure. They needed raw materials and they needed them soon. They had enough to make it a month two at the most if they rationed their Tyllium. But after that they would be dead in the water, and easy pickings for the Cylons.

This was the reason he was up sill rather than in bed like he knew he should be. He had sent out raptor patrols to several of the nearby systems to do survey's for the resources they needed. All but one of the flights had returned and so far the reports were not promising. The last raptor survey should have been back by now if they did not come back soon he had left explicit instructions. The fleet was to jump away and they would move on to the next group of systems. He hoped that the raptor crew would come back but if they didn't return soon he would have to leave them. He hated losing people but he had over 120,000 souls to look out for between the civilian and military members of the fleet. He could not in good conscience risk those lives for just two people. Feeling the effects of the ambrosia, Adama finishes his drink, closes his log book and proceeds to bed. Between his exhaustion and the ambrosia Adama quickly falls into a rare untroubled asleep.

Battlestar Galactica

Commanders Quarters

02:30 HRs Fleet Local Time

Lucid dreaming as it is sometimes called is a skill Bill Adama picked up years ago during the Cylon war. It is how he survived and dealt with the horrors he had seen and it is a skill he uses to this day. He had tried to teach his sons to do it. Lee could never really get the hang of it Zach however picked it up like nobody's business. That was probably why Lee was such a great pilot and Zach was no longer with them. He could see it clearly now but back then he couldn't.

Right now he is dreaming of his house on Caprica, doing some work on it, mainly fixing the roof. For some reason this section has always had a leak in it during every rain storm no matter what he did. And Bill is bound and determined to fix it, of course in reality his house on Caprica is probably in a shambles by now. Smashed to pieces in a nuclear blast from the Cylons assault on Caprica. It didn't matter though to him as right here right now in his mind it was just like it had been the last time he was on Caprica. Of course when they found Earth, he planned on re-building it from the ground up, hopefully without this gods cursed leak.

It is as he is finishing up putting the final nail in to his repair job that a buzzing noise seems to come from out of nowhere. It takes almost no time at all for Adama to realize what it is and in that brief second he hopes, whatever it is really is important enough to wake him up.

Opening his eyes, he reaches his hand behind his bed and activates the light that is there, and in the same motion he picks up the comm. device and speaks into it. "This is the Commander go."

"Commander Adama , sorry to wake you sir, but you left orders to be notified when Raptor 314 returned, well it just returned a few moments ago and its proceeding to the port bay as we speak." Lt. Gaeta said in the intercom.

"Any chances of it being infiltrated or a Cylon trap Lt." Adam asks knowing that is one of the reasons why it took them so long.

"No sir," Lt. Gaeta replied "they gave all the appropriate replies to all challenges, and our cap confirmed no damage to the raptor and to people occupying it."

Adama released a sigh of relief as the worry for the raptor crew evaporated and his curiosity into what had happened to them begin. He did not let that effect his judgement though and still feeling quite tired he decided to get his answers tomorrow. "Very well, Lt. inform Capt. Apollo and have him handle the standard pilots briefing, then schedule a command level briefing for tomorrow at 0800 and inform the commanders of the Strikestars and the President, if they wish to be in attendance."

"Aye aye Commander." Lt. Gaeta replied before closing the connection. Hanging up the phone Bill looked around his room for a few more minutes. Relaxing and letting his curiosity slide to the back of his mind until tomorrow morning. He could wait that long to get the answers as to why it took the crew so long to get back to the fleet. Releasing another sigh and the last of his immediate worry for the people under his command. He reaches his hand up and turns out his light, maybe he can get back to finishing the repairs on his house before he has to wake up tomorrow morning. The fence could in fact use a new paint job as he drifts back into sleep.

Battlestar Galactica

Outside the Briefing Room

09:30 HRs Fleet Local Time

Lee Adama closed the door as the voices inside began to rise in argument. As he does so he releases a sigh he did not know he was holding, glad he is not in either President Roslin or his father's shoes right now. For the most part the briefing had gone fine, better than fine in fact. The treasure trove of resources that 'Racetrack' & 'Skulls' had found would serve the fleet exceptionally well. 'Skulls' had even followed his suggestion that they downplay the unknown signal, until Vice President Baltar had asked him a very specific and pointed question about it. From that point on the temperature in the briefing room seemed to drop several degrees. He was thankful that his father had dismissed his pilot's and himself, with strict orders to not discuss the unknown contact until they could gather more intel.

Right now Lee was off to his office in the pilots briefing room to work on the flight schedule for the C.A.P. He had released 'Racetrack' and 'Skulls' reminding them of the Commanders orders. Just as he is about to enter the pilots briefing room though he hears a voice calling his name that is equally the Bain of his existence, as well as the greatest asset any CAG could ask for.

"Hey Lee, so I hear scuttlebutt says 'Racetrack' & 'Skulls' may have found a lead to the thirteenth tribe?" Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace says with a smile on her face.

Groaning Lee turned to see her walking up to him dressed in what to her recently was becoming her standard duty uniform. Her flight suit was removed to her waist with the upper part of her suit tied around her waist. Sighing and ignoring the complete lack of military decorum and protocol that seemed to be slowly seeping into the pilot ranks, Lee asks, "What have you heard Starbuck?"

"Well," Starbuck pauses "depending on which scuttlebutt you listen to, 'Racetrack' and 'Skulls' either found a ship abandoned by the thirteenth colony with a route to their world in its databanks. Or they found a previously unknown scroll of the lords of Kobol outlining the route to Earth. Or they found an abandoned top secret Cylon staging area with lots of ships, and supplies available. So take your pick Apollo."

Lee groaned as his free right hand covered his face, scuttlebutt is quite possibly the one form of information sharing that even when the fleet was whole was impossible to monitor and or control. Lee wipes his face and looks at Kara, who is grinning like that cat that ate the bird, and realizes he needs to nip this in the bud and soon. Decision made and noticing he is in front of the pilots briefing room Lee tells Kara, "In here and close and lock the door behind you."

Lee goes into the room, walks down the steps and sets the binder and clipboard he has been carrying down on the podium. As he does this Kara closes and locks the door and heads down to her normal seat, the smile she had on her face before has disappeared now, as she waits for Lee.

Lee for his part takes a few moments to collect himself, as he does he thinks of what if anything he should tell Kara. After all on the one hand he is not only under orders from the Commander to keep quiet about the signal, but the President made it an order as well. On the other hand this is Kara Thrace, she saved him when they escaped Ragnar Anchorage. She was with him when he had to destroy the Olympic Carrier. If he couldn't trust her he can't trust anyone.

Decision made Lee begins telling her what he knows, from his debriefing of Lt.'s Edmondson and McCall. His excitement about their find, to his concern and worry about the signal they detected. His instructions to them to downplay the signal to the command staff, telling them he would brief Commander Adama separately about it before the command briefing. To how Vice President Baltar had asked several very pointed questions about the signal bringing it to the forefront of everyone in the room. Even how Commander Adama and President Roslin had ordered all three of them to keep quiet about the signal until they could get some further information. After he finishes he looks at Kara as she sits there quietly which for her is a definite concern.

"Frack me," Kara finally says after a few minutes silence. "Do we have any idea about what that signal was?"

Lee shakes his head no as he moves from behind the podium to stand in front of Kara. He kneels down to her level "Gaeta and Dee are going over the recording 'Skulls' made comparing it to what information we have in Galactica's databanks seeing if it is something we may have encountered before. I haven't checked with them yet but I don't believe they've made very much progress. But I didn't tell you this to ask for your help with that, I need your help with the scuttlebutt." Lee pauses for a second holds up his hand and continues before Kara can comment. "I'm not asking you to stop the scuttlebutt, that's all but impossible, but you can steer it away from some of the crazier theories. Truth is Kara that signal could be anything, and it could be nothing, we just don't know."

Kara thought about it for all of two seconds before standing and saying "Deal, but you better keep me in the loop on this Apollo." Sticking her right hand out for Lee to grasp.

Grasping her arm Lee shakes it and say's, "Done, now how about giving me some input on the C.A.P?" With that the two of them head over to the podium and begin working out the flight schedule for the next two days.

Battlestar Galactica

Hallway to Main Computer Core

10:50 Fleet Local Time

Gaius Baltar was apparently alone as he walked through the corridors of Galactica on his way to the main computer core. And to the outward observer he would appear to be talking to himself as he walked along the aging Battlestar. The truth is though Gaius is never alone, he hasn't been since the colonies fell. The ghost of the Cylon known as six was always with him occasionally giving him guidance more often than not testing him or making herself a nuisance. It all seemed to depend on the mode she found herself in that particular day, at least that is what it seemed to him. Today it seemed she was helping him, it was her insistence that got him to ask the questions about the DRADIS contact Lt. McCall had discovered that lead him here.

Entering the core room He sees, what his name again, Gaeta yes that's it. Along with Gaeta is an exceptionally attractive young woman of Sagitaron decent. Right now both of them are so engrossed in what they are looking at on the screen they don't notice him as he enters the room. Clearing his throat rather loudly to get their attention he say's "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I thought you could use some assistance Mr. Gaeta."

Startled, Felix looks up from the computer monitor and sees Dr. Baltar entering the room. A slight smile plays across his lips as he responds "No of course not Mr. Vice President, we were just analyzing the unknown contact by running it through the Galactica's Database." He pauses "I'm sorry where are my manners, Mr. Vice President allow me to introduce Specialist Anastasia Dualla, Galactica's Comm. officer."

Gaius reached out his hand and shook and held Dualla's hand "Always a pleasure to be introduced to a lovely young woman. Though may I ask why it is you are here, I thought that we were investigating a DRADIS contact not a signal?"

Before Dee could answer him Felix spoke up and replied, "I called Dee down here to help me out because while I was looking at the scan I noticed some definite irregularities that reminded me of a comm. signal, and I wanted her opinion."

"And as I was explaining to Felix before you came in, while it does share some commonalities with a comm. signal. I have no way of determining if it is one or not." Dee explained.

At that a memory begins tickling the edge of Gaius's memory but refuses to come forward for some reason. So instead he motions to the workstation and asks "May I take a look Mr. Gaeta?"

Getting up somewhat excitedly Felix turns the chair back around and facing the esteemed scientist and third most powerful person in the fleet say's "Please do so sir."

As he sits down at the terminal he begins his analysis of the contact recorded by Lt.'s Edmondson, and Mc Call. While he is transfixed on the monitor and the information the Raptor crew recorded he nearly jumps when he feels his invisible and constant companion the Cylon known as Six. Six for her part wraps her arms around Gaius's shoulder, rest's her chin on his shoulder. When she speaks her breath brushes across Gaius's ear and cheek causing his blood to rush from his brain to another part of his anatomy, and his heart rate to increase. "Like I told you in the briefing Gaius, this contact is going to change things a great deal for the Colonies, and the Cylons."

She disentangles herself from him and begins walking around the console, dressed as she is in a skin tight red cocktail dress it is exceedingly difficult for Gaius to maintain his focus on the recording rather than the extremely sexy apparition. She smiles when she notices how he fights and fails to ignore her as she continues to speak. "So, what is it Gaius?" she asks in her sultry questioning tone pausing on the other side of the monitor, she rests her hands shoulder length apart and leans forward giving Gaius an ample view of her cleavage due to the plunging neckline of her dress and continues to question him. "Is it a Jump signature of some type? Perhaps some new type of vessel from the Cylon's? Or perhaps some new super secret Colonial vessel that escaped the fall? Well Gaius, are you going to look at the screen or not?"

Gaius started at that and returned his attention to the screen and within moments he could not tear his eyes away again. The contacts signature while similar to a jump engine, which is why the dradis systems detected it, were in fact vastly different. Once that realization struck him his mind raced to discern what in fact this contact was. He began running every piece of analytical software the terminal would handle and when he needed more, he copied the contact recording and moved to another terminal to run more. Within minutes all six terminals in Galactica's central mainframe where running a multitude of data analysis on this one recording. The only systems not directly related to this task were those dedicated to life support and the main dradis operations. Once done Gaius sat back down and awaited the results of the tests.

It is several hours later that the terminals begin announcing that their task had been completed. Gaius begins going through each test on the various terminals one at a time not being surprised or even upset at the lack of results. It isn't until he gets to the last terminal and the last test that he decided to run, more for the sake of thoroughness than anything else that Gaius, Felix and Dee receive a massive shock. As all three of them stand there looking at the results with their mouths hanging open Gaius catches sight of his Cylon companion. She stands there on the other side of the terminal her arms across her chest a somewhat satisfied look on her face as she say's "Isn't interesting Gaius, how a piece of 100 year old software developed by a scientist whose very development of it caused him to be declared a heretic, has shattered the pre-conceptions of Colonial society."

Commanders Quarters

The Next Day

10:00 Fleet Local Time

As the door to his quarters closes William Adama thinks on what both he and the President have just been told by the Vice President, and resident genius Gaius Baltar. While he found the man personally reprehensible, especially considering some of the activities he has been up to from the reports he has gotten. He cannot fault that the man is in fact a genius. But if he did not have a corroborating report from both Lt Gaeta and Spec Dualla he probably would've thrown the good Dr. in the brig for a few days and had Doc Cottle hype him up on whatever anti anxiety meds they had left. As it was he did, and so now both he and the President have to deal with this possible fallout from the situation. Speaking of the President she is sitting across from him looking at him as if she is waiting for him to make a decision. Lee has told him in private that he calls the look her teacher's face, she has apparently been using it to get certain people in line and make others feel slightly uncomfortable after a few minutes under her gaze. Fortunately for him, he has had experience dealing with it over the years, from Admirals and representatives to the quorum. He decides to break the silence and gets up, gets two glasses and pours them both a drink of water, as for him at least it is still too early for anything stronger.

Handing her a glass and sitting down next to her as she beats him to it and begins the conversation "So, what is our next move now Commander?"

Taking a drink of his water Adama leans forward with the glass between his hands and replies "We need to go to the system. There is no other system at least within a reasonable range that has all the resources we need especially in these concentrations. If we can get what we need from this system we should be set for at least a year barring any unforeseen incidents."

Laura Roslin let out a small laugh and shook her head as she replied with a small sad smile on her face "I would say everything for the past several months has been a series of unforeseen incidents Commander. So how do we make certain that the remainder of our people are as protected as can be?"

Adama leaned back in his chair and took another drink of his water, releasing a sigh he looks to the President and in complete honesty replies "I'm not sure that we can Madam President." Pausing to collect his thoughts he runs through Baltar's briefing in his head again. "If these beings, whoever or whatever they are, are as advanced as the Vice President believes then there may be nothing we can do to stop them if they have hostile intentions towards us. If that is the case the military will try to protect and defend the civilian ships as they make their escape, any surviving military vessels will then join the civilian ships and try to get as far away from this system as possible. I don't hold out much hope that we will survive long if that is the case though, our best bet and hope is that they are peaceful and not looking to start a fight with us. If that is the situation than at the very least they will give us the opportunity to negotiate or to withdraw."

Laura watched the Commander as he explained his opinions and what surprised her the most was the genuine concern and worry etched on his face. "Well I take it you have a plan in place to try and reduce the risk to the fleet Commander?"

"I do madam President," Adama started," and this report I got from the Hephestian will help out immensely." handing her the report.

Opening the report Laura's left eyebrow shot up within the first paragraph. Continuing to read it her right eyebrow soon joined her left and her appreciation for the Commanders foresight and planning shot up immensely. She could only hope they could help in the defense of the fleet. She was getting the feeling however that Adama was not the type of man that would order a ship or in this case several ships constructed without a plan in mind for them. A fact that she intends to mention to Adama now, "So Commander, I take it you have a plan in mind for these six blackbird's you ordered constructed?"

Adam got a slight smile on his face and looked the President in the eyes "Stealth recon in force Madam President." He pauses for a few minutes and continues to explain "We send them to the system two at a time. They keep watch over it for a few days; make sure no one is there. If after that time we receive no further contacts we precede to the system get what we need and move on."

Laura Roslin gave a small laugh when he finished and looked at the Commander, "I am sorry Commander, I am not laughing at you. So what guarantees if any do we have that the Blackbirds will not be picked up by whatever these people use?"

"Absolutely none Madam President, "he pauses and sighs "I am just trying to give our pilot's and people the best chance I can think of. Truth be told I am hoping that when the Raptor initially jumped into the system it triggered an automated message buoy of some type and what the Raptor picked up was in fact a challenge signal. When they didn't respond properly the system either shut down and hid or it self destructed. This is why the Raptor found nothing when it searched the area. With all of the scenarios going through my mind that one is the one that offers us the best options, as well as the least worries."

"When do you plan on briefing your pilots than Commander?" Roslin asks. She notes Adama looking at her with a slight smirk before he checks his watch within a few moments there is a knock at his door that startles her she than looks over to him as he gets up and walks over to the door.

As he puts his hand on the wheel for his door Adama looks over to Laura Roslin and see's the shocked look on her face as he turns the wheel to open the door he say's "Be briefing the C.A.G. right now."

As he opens the door Laura sees his son and the current C.A.G. Lee 'Apollo' Adama walk in. It is than that she realizes that Commander Adama had planned to use the blackbirds all along to scout the system ahead and make certain it is safe for the fleet to travel to. Baltars briefing on the signal and its possible alien source as well as the advanced nature of the signal, and therefore the probable advanced nature of the civilization behind it have only extended the amount of time the scouting mission would occur. If her previous dealings had not already convinced her to this one act would have cemented it, she thinks to herself, William Adama is definitely not a man to be trifled with.

Battlestar Galactica

Pilots Briefing Room

1100 Hrs Local Fleet Time

Lee Adama stood just inside the door to the briefing room looking down at the six pilots he had chosen for this mission and wishing again he could join them. At first when the President and his father had briefed him on the contact analysis from Raptor 314 he thought they were pulling some kind of prank. Only the knowledge that his father wouldn't do something like that with the security of the fleet and the fact that the President herself was there lended credence that they were indeed very serious. Once he realized that he was about to volunteer himself for the mission but his father could see the action forming in his son's eye's and expressly forbid him from participating himself in the mission. With that out of the way he had come up with six names and had the CIC have them called to the pilots briefing room which brings us back to the present.

The six pilots Lee had selected are right now gathered around the middle front two rows talking amongst themselves trying to get an idea about why they were called here. As some of the wilder theories began circulating Lee decided he needed to take control of the meeting and get things started. The first team needed to be ready for launch in an hour anyway to get on the Commanders timetable as it was. With that he started walking down to the dais announcing his presence as he went "Alright people we've got a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time so let's settle down and get started shall we?"

As he reached the dais, the assembled pilots each went to their preferred seats in the galley among the first two rows. Setting his binder on the podium, he turned to the screen behind him and activated it showing a diagram of system AC120. He then turned back to the pilots putting his hands on either side of the podium he began with the briefing.

"As some of you may know Skull's and Racetrack completed a survey of this system the other day that we have designated as AC120. They discovered that this system has the largest deposits of minerals that we need for the fleet since we left the Colonies. But that is not why we are here today, what I am about to tell you is classified so top secret that unless you receive clearance from either the President or the Commander if you reveal anything I am about to tell you in here right now, you will be shot for treason to the Colonies. If you feel you cannot accept these terms, please leave now, but know this there are two Marines outside that door with strict orders not to let anybody in until this briefing is over. So once you leave you can't come back also once we start you can't leave, Decide now."

After several minutes with no one either leaving or speaking Lee took their silence as a cue for him to continue with the briefing. "Alright then here we go," pausing for a moment he gathered himself and continued. He began by informing them of the unknown signal that Skull's and Racetrack detected during their survey. He explained how the scoured the area after they completed the survey where the signal was detected and found nothing with their dradis. He told them of the Commander's combined reactions to this news as well as the President's and the Vice President's. He told them of the investigation into the signal by Lt. Gaeta and the assistance he received from Spec. Dualla and the Vice President. Including what the Vice President discovered, and his subsequent conclusions, that the signal was a form of communication far more advanced than any the colonies had ever seen or detected before. The President and the Commanders decision had been obvious and that was why they were there.

At that point Lee paused and let the assembled pilots absorb the information bombshell he just dropped on them. Several immediately began to voice their disbelief to these revelations. Two others also began to voice their shock and opposition to the idea that the Colonials were apparently not alone in the universe. He let them go for a few more minutes something he realized not many other C.A.G's would do but he felt they needed this. Let them get it out now he thought and not in the pilot seat when and or if they are faced with this possibly new and dangerous threat. Once he felt that they had vented enough he simply shouted "That's enough!"

After every one of the pilots had settled down and where back in their seats, especially after a pointed stare from Lee to Kat. The only other person in the room, who did not blow up, aside from himself was of course Starbuck. Lee took a moment and looked every one of them in the eyes before continuing "I know this is a shock for you, and I know most of you are or have due to recent events become fervent believers in the Scrolls and the Lords. But right now, right here I need all of you to put those feelings and belief's aside because we may or may not have a potential threat to the survival what's left of the Colonies and its citizens. And I need all of you to act professional and do the jobs you were trained to do. Now weather this is an alien threat, or the thirteenth tribe, or even some new Cylon ploy or trap we don't know but it's your job to find out."

He then outlined the plan from Commander Adama that Lee himself had refined with the Commander. Two of them would jump into the system from opposite sides well outside the system in order to avoid possible detection. Each would initiate a full burn and accelerate to full speed before cutting all engines and going to minimum power. They would then pass through the system on passives only looking for any sign of the contact that Skulls and Racetrack discovered. It would take 8 hours for each flight to pass completely through the system where they would then return to the fleet and the next flight would jump in from a completely new direction. It is hoped that these alternate directions and jump points as well as the Blackbirds stealth capabilities would protect the pilots and help in discovering the nature and source of the signal. Should any of the Blackbirds detect any contact or be contacted by anything in system, a pre-recorded message was to be played and they were to immediately return to the fleet.

Once certain they understood their flight plans and orders Lee separated them into their separate flights, set the first team to disembark in one hour and dismissed them. Once everyone had filed out Lee began gathering up his papers once again wishing he could take one of the blackbirds on this mission. However his father had specifically ordered him not to so here he was, having to let others fly this mission while he stayed behind with the rest of the fleet. A part of him is really hoping that they don't make any contact at all, that it was as his father predicted that is was an automated probe that had self destructed upon completion of whatever its mission was. Walking out of the briefing room he headed for his rack to get some rest before his own C.A.P. flight. Whatever the future held for the survivors of Colonies, Lee couldn't shake the feeling that the next few days would in fact help define that future for good or ill.

System AC120

Three Days Later

Colonial Strikestar Atlantias Hammer

09:30 Colonial Fleet Time

Walking into the CnC of the Atlantias Hammer Commander Walter Simmons could definitely say that today was not a good day for him. He and his Strikestar had been regulated to guard duty of two of the fleets 6 mining ships which were heading into the asteroid belt to mine the ample Tyllium sources found there. Granted it was an important assignment no doubt, but one that could in Walter's mind be easily filled by a squadron of Vipers with Raptor support. Having a Strikestar and two Gunstars acting as guards was pure overkill plain and simple.

Of course in his mind the reason was simple, Adama wanted him gone. Walter was the only other officer in the fleet aside from Tigh who was close to Adama for time in service. He himself could still not understand why Fleet HQ after all this time had not given him command of a Battlestar and had left him on a Strikestar. But then again that was a moot point now; maybe he should have exercised his authority more when Adama was shoot rather than backing down to Tigh. Not that it would have mattered anyway he would've probably made the same decisions that Tigh had. And as it stood Adama recovered anyway so he would have been right back here where he started.

Standing in front of the plotting screen of the Strikestars small CnC room he noted the position of his Gunstars and his own Strikestar in relation to the two mining vessels. Pleased with his formation he turned his attention to the rest of the fleet. Watching their deployment Simmons at first thought he caught a flaw in Adama's plan and a smirk began to form on his face. A hole in his defences that would leave the civilian fleet completely exposed to any attack. Until that is he noted the position of the other Strikestar and two of the Gunstars than his smirk became a frown. The supposed hole was a ruse and anyone attempting to exploit it would find themselves quickly overwhelmed by those three ships combined firepower.

Moving away from the plotting screen he began attending to his ships business and headed for his executive officer. Nodding to the man he began receiving the reports from the departments on board. Despite the reduced fuel load and the limited number of nukes on board (he still couldn't believe he was only allowed six and had to wait for Adama to authorise using them) everything seemed ship shape for now. He signed off on the reports and handed them back to his XO god's he thought I almost wish we could get attacked right now to end the boredom. Little did he know he would get his soon enough.

12 Hours Earlier

15 Light Years outside of System

Cylon Baseship C-257-Gamma

The One also known as John Cavil was walking through the corridors of the Basestar on his way to the command deck. While most of his brothers and sisters would use their visual stimuli to simulate a forest or walking through a city street or some other scenery. John himself preferred the aesthetic lines of the Basestar as is it fit his personality and his desire. Moving into the nerve center of the Basestar he nods at the two, otherwise known as Leoben Conoy, a four also known as Simon O'Neill, and a five known as Aaron Doral. The three's sixes and eights were not a part of this action in fact at the moment these four were the only human form Cylons in their attack group. The rest of the ships were being manned by the Centurions not to protect the human forms but for security. One had noticed a slight shift in the three's sixes and eight's recently and he didn't like it one bit. So he decided to take care of the Colonial's and to try and recover the eight known as Sharon Valerii who was pregnant.

Not that one cared that the others seemed to believe in the so called plan of God, but the child of Sharon Valerii and Karl Agathon could in fact aid in the continued development of the Cylon race. Standing with the others with their hands in the interface surfing the data stream as some called it he waited for them to pull out.

As the others pull their hands out of the pool They all look at each other and then look over at One who asks "Well, have you analyzed and correlated the data?"

"We have," Two states "The Colonial's have entered a very promising system for them at least, it is rich in tylium and several other minerals they need for repairs. And according to the long range scans by our Raiders several of their ships have begun shutting down their jump drives for service with several more looking like they might shut down soon as well."

At that One smiled what could only be described as sadistic smile and replied," So what you're saying is that the Colonials are sitting out there just waiting for us to end them?"

"Not quite," Four replied," Based on our projections the best time to hit them will be twelve hours from now. They will have the most ships down for repairs and Adama will be forced to either protect them till they can restart their jump drives. Or abandon most of the survivors to our attack. Based on our projections he will endeavour to save as many as possible leaving his forces open to attack for possibly ten to fifteen minutes."

"Excellent," One stated," then this is how we will hit them and end the stain of humanity once and for all." With that one put his hand in the data stream and invited the others to join him. Once they did so plans were made and finalized for the end of the human race once and for all. Or so they all thought so at least.

System AC120

Colonial Battlestar Galactica

Command & Control Center

09:45 Colonial Fleet time

Col. Saul Tigh was currently handling the watch standing near the plotting table in the CnC of the Galactica looking over several reports on the ship and the fleet. While it is true that most if not all of the reports still have to go through the Commander for him to officially sign off on them. If a report includes Saul Tigh's signature as well, the old man usually doesn't look to deeply into it. Unless of course Saul marks it for his attention than of course Adama will take a closer look at it. The same is true for some of the requisitions they receive. Most of them Saul looks over and makes an approve mark or deny mark on them for the Commander to finish off. A few he leaves for Adama himself, usually those from quorum representatives or the President herself.

Saul was in the process of denying a request from the Rising Star, 'Gods,' he thought to himself, 'did they really think they would be jumped ahead of every other ship out there just because of a faulty CO2 scrubber?' Shaking his head and marking it for denial he begins going over the next request when from behind him Lt. Gaetta speaks up. "Dradis contact, far edge of dradis range."

Turning away from the plotting table towards the young officer and asks, "Do you have any identification yet from the contact Mr. Gaeta?"

"No sir it's too far out for a positive identification, hold on, now reading three contacts. Correction five, no, now reading eight contacts I say again eight contacts at extreme Dradis range Colonel." Gaetta replied with no small amount of tension.

"Frack," Tigh said just barely under his breath before issuing several orders, "Set condition two throughout the fleet, and get the nearest patrol group out there to confirm ID of the contacts. And Dee call the Commander to the CIC we're going to need him."

Several moments passed by as Saul kept an eye on the dradis screen above the plotting table. Meanwhile the CIC burst into activity from his orders, everyone waiting for the report from the patrol. Saul himself was so focused on the dradis and his own thoughts that he almost fails to notice his friend and Commandeer not only entering the CIC. That is until the marine guard called out "Commander on Deck."

Adama stood there for a moment his eyes taking in the whole of the commander centre in an instant before moving towards the plotting table. "As you were, give me a status update Colonel?"

Tigh nodded to Adama and began his report, "Eight contacts just jumped in at extreme range a few minutes ago, right now all they are doing is sitting there doing nothing. I've ordered the fleet to condition two as well as a nearby patrol to ID the contacts. As far as I know the fleet should have the most recent list of jump coordinates although, a recent report from the Hephestian stating that nearly a third of the fleet is reporting issues with their jump drives. They ordered those ships reporting problems to shut them down until they could send some mechanics to check them out. Other than that we are just waiting on the report from the patrol."

Bill Adama took the clipboard from his friend and XO and looked over the listing of ships that reported problems with their jump drives. Most of the ships names he recognizes immediately as being the ships that the Atlantias Hammer repaired and rescued. The rest were older vessels that should have been scrapped months ago. But necessity and lack of space anyplace else stayed his hand. That and his decision to prioritize repairs on the Galactica and her escorts using up the materials store on the Hephestian, is now biting him in the ass. Just as he is about to ask Saul a question about the downed ships and the Hephestian, when he hears Specialist Dualla speaks up from the comm. station.

"Commander, report coming in from the Raptor patrol," pausing to hear the report Dualla than schools her features but still looking quite pale continues, "Raptor patrol confirms eight Cylon Basestars Commander."

Tossing the clipboard onto the plotting table he places his hands on the edge and leans his head down closing his eyes. There was no way his ships could fight off eight Baseships even if they were fully combat capable which right now Galactica was not. Even though she finally had her full complement of CIWS since the first Cylon war and that accursed museum was gone replaced with a fully active starboard bay again. Galactica was still woefully short on active fighters and pilots not to mention the support personnel. Straightening himself up he looks over at his longtime friend and XO and he see's in Saul's face what he was feeling moments ago, and as he glances around at the young eland women currently in the CIC he sees it's in their faces as well, FEAR!

Before Adama can address the issue though, Lt. Gaeta again speaks up from the Dradis station. "Five more contacts appearing on dradis, between us and the Cylons..." scowling as he looks at the dradis screen.

Adama notices the look Lt. Gaeta is giving the dradis screen and is about to address it when Dualla speaks up "Commander, we're receiving a transmission from the new contacts on an open frequency."

Indicating for Dualla to put the message on speakers he begins listening to the message, as it begins repeating itself. Most of the message he could not understand as the language spoken was strange to say the least. Whoever was sending it obviously did not speak colonial standard as evident by the broken speech and mismatch words. At one point though in the message he looked to Saul, and Saul looked to him, both their eye's were wide and eyebrows had gone up to near the top of their heads. If they looked around the cic nearly everyone else had the same look on the face.

The message everyone was shocked by continued repeating itself. "Attention (untranslatable) Captain William Harris (...) from The Earth remnant defence force. (...) Claimed (...) aggressive actions (...) war (...) retaliate accordingly."

Everyone just stood there in shock as the message continued repeating itself. No one however could bring a voice to the questions racing through their minds everyone was in such a state of shock that they did not even notice a small group enter the cic. Until that is the message repeated one more time, "They said their who, and from where?" President Laura Roslin had just arrived.

A.N.

Ok not even gonna try and justify it let's just say I have had about the worst case of writer's block known to man. But I seem to have at least (finally) worked through it. Still not happy with this ending but it is in my opinion passable.