"In breaking news we have just heard of the successful defeat of the Confederation second fleet by the Colonial Fleet elements orbiting Caprica. Jedi Master General Mace Windu personally led the assault on the command carrier which resulted in the capture of Warmarshal Ebecta and the surrender of three cruiser weight ships. Rumours persist that the Ace Dug pilot Sebulba may have been killed or captured during the attack.

"The Battlestars Atlanta and Centauri are currently standing ready against the possibility of a follow-up attack by Confederation forces. General Windu has indicated that such an attack is unlikely in view of the heavy losses that the Confederation has taken in this action.

"In other news the latest regiment of Clones has now been deployed into action. Their deployment, the largest in two months, has been seen by many as a turning point in the war; four Battlestars, previously undermanned, are now back in service-"

"Someone turn that fraking thing off," Starbuck growled, chewing on a cigar as she shuffled her cards once more. "Fraking Clones, getting all of the fun..."

"I doubt that they see it that way," Boomer replied, considering her own cards as Helo stood up and turned the holoscreen off. "After all, those Battlestars were unmanned in the first place because the crews were killed."

"At least they're doing something though," Starbuck replied, throwing down a couple of cubits. "Rather than sitting around babysitting a group of kids."

"You object to your duty?" asked a new voice from the doorway.

Everyone turned, slightly startled by the intrusion.

The rec room was in its usual state of early-shift disarray; pilots and crew who had just come off duty had arrived, dumped stuff, and crashed out to relax, eat, drink, or play sabaac. Most of them were still in flight suits or coveralls. The remains of the previous shift had been cleared away before they arrived, but no one had yet taken the time to tidy up their own debris. The room was about half full with the various people scattered around it, most of them around the bunks and seats around the room, but four of them sitting at the table in the middle of the floor with a couple more watching them.

Given that all of them were military, the idea of someone sneaking up on them was off-putting. That they had managed to also sneak up on Starbuck, whose knack for spotting such things was astounding, gave everyone pause.

The figure in the doorway, leaning on the frame, was clearly not part of the crew; he wore no uniform, favouring instead a utilitarian set of trousers and a top. A utility belt was around his waist and he had sturdy boots on. His hair was if anything slightly longer than Starbuck's, and he looked, if anything, slightly younger than anyone in the room.

"I asked if you objected to your duty," the man repeated, stepping away from the doorframe and into the rec room. A lightsabre was suddenly visible hanging from his utility belt as he moved.

"I'm not objecting to doing my duty, sir," Starbuck replied, adding the honorative as a verbal afterthought. "But babysitting a group of Jedi kids isn't exactly what I joined up for."

"Relax lieutenant," the Jedi said easily, giving a grin easily as insolent as any of Starbuck's. "I feel like we would be better served being somewhere other than here as well." He slipped into the empty chair at the table and looked around. "Is someone going to deal me in?"

"Play against a Jedi?" Boomer asked, disbelief layering sarcasm onto her tone.

"Hey, I don't need the Force to win at sabaac," the Jedi said, sounding offended at the suggestion.

"I was more wondering about Jedi living without possessions and how you were planning on paying for your losses," Starbuck cut in with a sharp grin and a puff on her cigar. She took it out and waggled it at him. "You can't exactly cash a Jedi Mind Trick after all."

The Jedi returned the grin and reached into a pocket, pulling out some high denomination currency. "Oh, this won't be the first table that I've wiped clean," he assured them.

Helo and Boomer both looked put out by the sight of the currency. Helo sat back and pushed himself away from the table. "Too hot for me," he declared, tossing his cards down.

"I'm still in," Boomer declared, apparently spurred on by Helo's decision to back out.

"I'll come in if we're playing swaps," Jolly declared. The veteran pilot, and Galactica's CAG, sat down in Helo's seat, placing some money on the table. "You wouldn't be the first Jedi that I've bankrupted," he admitted.

"This is starting to sound good," Starbuck declared. "Let battle commence."

As she shuffled the deck, Helo came back to the table and stood looking over Boomer's shoulder. "D'you have a name?" he asked the Jedi.

"Anakin Skywalker," the Jedi replied.

"That would make you... Kenobi's intern," Starbuck said after a few seconds of thought. "I'd heard about you. They say that you're some kind of ace pilot."

Skywalker tossed her a look, but restrained himself. "There are only a couple of people that actually rank higher than me in the Fleet," he declared boldly. "I don't remember seeing you on the list."

Starbuck dealt out the cards. "I'm stationed aboard the oldest active Battlestar in the Fleet, which keeps being given backwater jobs like babysitting Jedi around the one world that hasn't been attacked by the Confederation yet. You don't get much chance to earn glory here."

"What's with the babysitting anyway?" Helo asked. "I know there's the main Jedi academy on Alderaan, but people keep talking about there being more Jedi than usual or something."

"It's the Chu'thundor," Skywalker revealed, sorting his cards. "It's a ship, about the size of a Battlestar actually, but it's a mobile academy and testing centre rather than a warship. They tried jumping into this system and blew out their FTL drives in the process, ending up three days out at sublight. The Galactica is running escort duty whilst the repairs are made. And someone decided that it would be handy to have more Jedi on hand in case anything goes wrong here, so I'm stuck here rather than being useful on the front line."

"That's gotta hurt," Jolly said with a hint of sarcasm. "I mean, the last time the Galactica saw the front line was, oh... Two months ago?"

"Six weeks," Boomer corrected him. "We caught some frak around Kuat when they dropped a couple of light cruisers in on the shipyards. But yeah, since then it's been rearguard action all the way."

"I wouldn't have counted Kuat as action," Starbuck commented as cubits were pushed around. "There were fifty Battlestars there at the time; we were more in danger from the Fleet's saturation fire than we were from the Confederation."

"That was an interesting one," Helo admitted. "Sitting there in the launch tube wondering why we've got all the noise of combat and Commander Adama has refused to let us launch. Then we find out that most of the damage to the Galactica was near-misses from out own side..."

Skywalker seemed to rethink complaining about not being on the front line, and concentrated on his cards for a few minutes. The game was going well, with it being fairly even overall, when the tanoy cut across the conversation.

"At this time the Galactica would like to welcome aboard Senator Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia."

"Sithspit," one of the pilots swore, swinging himself off a couch and to his feet. "Why can't they tell you these things sooner?" He rushed out of the door to the rec room without further explanation.

"What was that about?" Skywalker asked. "He seemed in a hurry."

"Who, Zak?" Starbuck smiled. "His brother's flying escort for Bel Iblis; it's been a couple of months since they met up, and he's been talking about getting together with him since he heard that they would be turning up."

The hanger bay of the Galactica, once his shuttle had moved down into the pressurised deck, was slightly more cramped and dingy than the newer models of Battlestar that Garm Bel Iblis was used to seeing. Obviously the oldest Battlestar in active service wasn't going to be in quite the same condition as the newer ones, but he hadn't realised how much he took the newer ones for granted in that regard.

He stepped down from the shuttle's hatch, his Correlian Guard uniform neatly arranged. He had opted for the lesser uniform, eschewing the full dress uniform in favour of something that could actually be seen as practical, much as most of the crew aboard this ship would be expected to wear. He had caught at least one Battlestar crew off-guard doing this, though he suspected that in this case it wouldn't happen.

Sure enough, when he stepped onto the deck and looked around the deck crew and pilots that were assembled were in regular uniforms, some of them clearly having been pulled in from wherever they had been working just before his arrival without a chance to tidy themselves up. Despite that they were formed up properly and at parade ground alert, managing to look surprisingly smart in the process.

At the head of the line, walking down the hanger deck from the entrance, came a older man in the uniform of a commander of the Colonial Fleet. He walked up to Garm wearing a carefully neutral expression, which Garm matched easily. He had played politics for too long to let his thoughts show openly. He stepped forwards, allowing the pilots who had flown in with him to form up as an escort behind him, and then paused to allow the commander to come to him.

"Senator Bel Iblis," the commander said in a stiff greeting. "Welcome aboard the Glactica."

Garm kept quiet for a second, looking around at the crew and pilots on display. "A rather scruffy turnout, isn't this?" he said slowly, allowing his tone to carry a hint of distaste.

The commander looked back at the crewmen and then back to Garm. "Well, you know how it is," he said with a careless shrug. "We like to only get dressed up for the really important people."

There were murmurs and shufflings from the people around them as the two men looked at each other stonily for a few more seconds, before they both broke out in a grin.

"It's good to see you again Bill," Garm said, stepping forward and embracing William Adama.

"You too Garm," William replied warmly, slapping him on the back. "It's been too long," he added as the broke the embrace.

"A war can do that for your schedule," Garm admitted. "I still owe you that trip to the Hornis mountains. Damned inconvenient of the Confederation to make us put it off."

William chuckled and then glanced back at the small group that had followed him in. "You'd better meet some of the locals," he said. "This is Mr Doral," he said, indicating a smartly dressed man who stepped forward with a hand outstretched.

"I'm the civilian liaison officer," Doral introduced himself. He was fairly non-descript, with sandy brown hair and a pleasant smile that made Garm think of PR men. His assessment was confirmed when Doral continued. "I'm primarily here to co-ordinate with the news crews that are aboard while the Galactica is the safest Battlestar to visit and the Chu'thundor is in orbit here. I've been asked to pass on a request for an interview," he added hopefully.

Garm exchanged a look with William, who gave a slight shrug that suggested that it wasn't likely to be avoided.

"I'll try to find time in my schedule," Garm offered. "Obviously I'm primarily here to visit the Chu'thundor and discuss Corellia's ongoing treaty with the Jedi council."

"And yet you've come to the Galactica first," Doral said slowly, clearly not understanding this.

"Were it anyone else that I was visiting, I would have gone to them first," Garm admitted. "But a chance to meet up with an old friend wasn't to be passed up. And in my experience Jedi tend to be forgiving of such matters when friendship is involved."

"That we do," came an assurance from the back of the group behind Will. Garm looked at the source of the voice and saw a figure in Jedi robes approaching, his hood thrown back to reveal ginger/ brown hair and a beard, with a rugged face and a pleased smile. "I've been in contact with Master Yoda and he acknowledges that there will be a delay before your arrival."

"Master Kenobi. It's good to see you again," Garm said, extending a hand to the Jedi. "And they picked you as the liaison for this?"

"I asked for the assignment; it's a nice change of pace to be aboard a ship that isn't involved in heavy fighting on a regular basis," Kenobi replied.

"I'll bet Anakin is getting bored out of his skull," Garm said with a smile. "That padawan of yours-"

His annecdote was cut short by the sound of running feet and a shout of "Lee!" from the passageway that William had entered through. Various people turned to look, just in time to see a young dark haired man in most of a pilot's flight suit burst in through the doorway and then skid abruptly to a halt as he saw the assembled mass of crew and others staring at him. He hesitated for a second, then drew himself up sharply to the alert and threw a salute to the commander. "Sorry sir."

Garm glanced at William, who held the pilot's gaze for a few more seconds, refusing to return the salute and thereby forcing the pilot to hold it. After those few seconds though he glanced at Garm. "Senator. I believe that you've met my son, Zak."

Garm looked sharply at the pilot, trying to place the features in the young man's face from those that he remembered. "Zak? Lords of Kobal, the last time I saw you, you only just came up to my chest..."

Somewhat taken aback at being remembered in this manner, let alone being so publicly remembered that way, Zak fell back into a parade rest and nodded. "It's good to see you again Senator," he said, somewhat formally.

"I believe," William continued, "that you may also remember my other son, Lee." He gestured behind Garm to where the pilots who had served as his escort were standing. Garm looked back at them, searching over the faces before managing to match up the face above the flight suit labeled "Apollo."

"Oh my... Lee?"

"Senator," the wing leader of his escort flight replied, his tone formal and his faint smile only just concealed.

"Well... I seem to have arranged quite the reunion here," Garm observed with a mildly stunned tone. "I would suggest that we let your sons catch up with each other, and then I'd like the chance to catch up with them both later on. It's one thing hearing that your friend's children are all grown up, but actually seeing it..."

"You think it's shocking?" William asked. "Imagine how I feel..."

Zak and Lee hugged as their father led the Senator and the other members of that group away. "It's good to see you again Zak," Lee said as they separated.

"You as well." Zak looked his brother over. "You know you must have been keeping in shape; I was expecting you to put on some weight working in a development lab."

Lee treated him to a look. "Very funny. I'll have you know that I've had more exercise working on that project than I got on the Galactica." He looked around at the other members of his wing. "Make sure the fighters are stowed and then head off to the rec room. I'll catch up later." He turned back to Zak. "Give me a hand here and I'll show you over the fleet's latest and greatest."

Zak grinned as his brother led the way over to the Vipers that were parked behind the Senator's shuttle. Deck crews were already looking over them as Lee arrived and laid claim to his own. All eight of the Vipers were a much sleeker design than the slightly rougher Mark II variants that the Galactica sported, and Zak looked over them with amazement.

"The shape wasn't my choice," Lee admitted. "I wanted something more like the solid design we had for the Mark II; the team was split as to whether to go for solid or the more flashy shape. I managed to keep it using projectiles rather than lasers at least, and the control setup hasn't changed too much."

"What kind of speed can it do?" Zak asked, running a hand over the hull and then pulling it away sharply as the cold started to burn his fingers.

"Acceleration and handling are both about fourty percent over what the Mark II can do. Weapons accuracy and power is improved somewhat. Life support efficiency is up about twenty five percent over anything you'll have flown. Dradis and comms are up by about fifty percent-"

"Wait a minute," Zak said, stooping to look at Lee under the nose of the Viper. "I've seen the stats for the Mark VI. You're quoting those. I thought you were designing the Mark VII?"

"We are," Lee confirmed. "And we've done it. The Mark VII is far more capable than the Mark V, which is the current service model along with the Mark IIs that haven't been phased out yet. Once we complete final approval trials, the Mark VIIs will be phased in to replace the Mark IIs, and the Mark Vs will be kept in service until they can be replaced once the Mark IIs are cleared out."

"Yeah, but you haven't actually improved on the Mark VI," Zak objected.

"I admit that the stats aren't much up on the Mark VI," Lee replied. "But the main thing we improved there wasn't the capabilities, but the room that things take up. We've managed to reduce the component sizes enough that even with the new hull design, we were able to fit in some extra space. There was some talk about putting in a larger reactor so that we could fit it with lasers, but I managed to get that idea thrown out."

Zak nodded at that comment. Lasers, relying on Tibanna gas, were hard to fuel properly on a large scale. Projectiles could be produced from the same materials as a hull and superstructure if necessary, and were mined from similar sources. Those sources varied wildly throughout the Twelve Colonies and included every habitable world and the assorted moons and asteroids in each system. Tibanna gas however was mined from only a couple of gas giants, and with its limited utility it tended to be rarely gathered and expensive. Equipping Vipers with lasers would have been interesting, but ultimately counter-productive; on average lasers did only marginally more damage for an effective hit than projectiles did, but projectiles were cheaper and easier to produce.

"So what did you do with the space?" Zak asked.

"There were a couple of suggestions put forward," Lee replied as he connected up the fuel hoses and signalled to one of the deck crew that he was done and they could take over. "There were two main ones though. The first was shields."

Zak snorted. "They wanted shields? You let them get away with that?"

"You think I want Starbuck to mock me for that? Of course I didn't. Which means that we went for the other option." Lee smirked. "FTL."

Zak gaped at his brother for a second. "You've got an FTL drive in there?" he asked, unsure of whether to be impressed for aghast at the idea.

"What? You think we flew all the way from Correlia without one?" Lee shook his head. "We've done some trials already. This is the maiden voyage for the Mark VII though." Smiling, Lee removed his flight suit's gloves and put an arm around his brother's shoulders. "So, what about you? You've been busy?"

Zak nodded and led the way out of the hanger deck. "As busy as we can be when we keep being kept out of combat," he replied. "We're mostly running patrols and stuff. Lots of training runs. Huge amounts of sabaac."

"Ah, and how is Starbuck?" Lee asked with a smile. "You've been a bit coy the last few times you've written."

"She's my training officer," Zak objected, pulling his brother to a halt. "We're good friends. She's my superior officer for Ares sake Lee."

Lee was somewhat taken aback by his brother's rebutal. "Okay, I'm sorry Zak," he apologised.

Zak nodded, his expression still serious as he started walking again and added, his tone entirely serious, "And she's very hot in bed."

The room was a labratory, but not a real one. Gaius Baltar had been in enough real labratories - worked in them, designed them - to know the feel of the real thing. This one was too neatly arranged, too clean. It grated on his nerves somehow in a way that a tidy room simply shouldn't do. It felt like a sham, and just being here made him want to abandon it and return to a real world.

Beside him, Lorna rested a hand on his arm and gave him one of her reassuring smiles. "Relax Gaius, you'll be fine," she assured him. "You've done interviews before; this isn't any different."

"Never in a place like this though," Gaius pointed out. He fiddled nervously with his glasses, taking them off and wiping them on a hankerchief. "It looks so..."

"It looks like people expect it to look," Lorna assured him, radiating reassurance as she always had done. "They'll look at this and won't know it from the real thing. And they'll see the Gaius Baltar they want to see as well; you can go out there and be confident, because they'll see the person who has saved them from the invaders. You're a hero, and they won't have it any other way."

For a moment Gaius paused, trying to sort Lorna's words around how he felt. It wasn't easy, and it didn't exactly make sense, but somehow, as always, he felt her words settling on him, keeping him centred. He returned her smile willingly, and with confidence, before looking across at the interviewer. They were looking ready, and if he was going to appear confident it wouldn't hurt to assume that they would be ready when he was. With a final smile back at Lorna he turned and stepped forwards, treating everyone to a cheerful and expectant smile, radiating a confidence that he couldn't believe that he really felt.

Whether they were genuinely ready or merely carried along by his enthusiasm, everyone fell into place, and Gaius settled into one of the seats at a lab bench, smiling at the young woman who would be interviewing him. He remembered seeing her several times before, normally on interviews with popular figures like holodrama stars or sports heroes. He found it slightly odd that he could be held in the same category as such public figures, but presumably they knew what they were doing.

"Doctor Baltar, thank you for joining us," the interviewer said once the signal had been given that the holocams were running.

"Thank you Sarah," Gaius responded genially. "May I say that it's a delight to be here and to meet you."

Sarah West smiled, looking slightly more genuine pleased about it as she did. "Thank you. I'd like to begin by asking you about how the cloning process is going. I know that people have raised concerns about the number of clones being produced."

"Oh, believe me, the number of clones isn't an issue," Gaius assured her. "We've planned very carefully, actually limiting our production rate in places to ensure that we don't exceed the available supplies. We, of course, have to match that against the rate of attrition of the clones themselves. But we're holding even, running easily within all of the margins that we've set out."

"That's good to hear. Have you been following the accounts of the clones in action? You must be quite proud of their achievements."

"Oh, I am. I must admit," he added with a wistful smile, "I do sometimes get a bit paternal about them. For that reason I tend not to follow accounts of the war, beyond the general notes and descriptions. While I admit that it is necessary for the clones to be used in this manner against an enemy as vast as the Confederation, I prefer to look forwards to the time when the clones can become a part of society."

"That's an interesting thought," Sarah replied. "What sort of role would you see them playing? Some people have complained about us exploiting thinking beings by using them as what has been described as cannon fodder. Presumably you feel that they could be better serves elsewhere?"

"Oh definitely," Gaius assured her. "The clones are a hardy bunch, but they are intelligent and could easily become a real part of our society. There would be a period of adjustment, I have no doubt about that," he admitted. "But the clones can easily become people in the true sense."

"What about the suggestion that they are going to be too distinct; they are, after all, of the same type. I don't think that anyone has ever explained that part to me properly."

"The clones were produced from a single template; a man call Jango Fett. You see, most people don't understand that cloning is a complicated process; most of the time it doesn't work well because of the way that Human DNA is set up. Jango is one of very few people whose DNA can be adjusted to be cloned successfully, without losing the integrity of the DNA patterns. He took quite a lot of finding, and I'm grateful to my associates for locating him. Since then most of our work has been centred on trying to expand the procedure to work on other people."

"Hey Lee," Starbuck called, not even bothering to look over her shoulder at the door as Lee slipped through it as silently as he could manage. Helo, standing back and with a good view of the door looked up, startled at the sudden appearance of Lee and Zak. Starbuck, facing away from the door, recognised them being there without even looking.

Starbuck knew full well how Lee would react to that: Lee had a smile that he used, somewhat uncertain but still a smile, when she managed to pull this kind of stunt on him. Zak would be grinning at his brother being caught again.

# 12 Colonies

Coruscant

Caprica

Korriban

Correlia

Kuat

Alderran

Hoth

Picon

Taris

Nar Shadaar

Yavin

Naboo

# Cylons

Created by Trade Federation as battle droids

After defeat of Trade Federation during the first war with the Colonies the Cylons rebelled, taking over the Trade Federation and forming their Empire.

After the second war, the Cylons withdrew and planned again. They believed that the Lords of Kobol (the Ancient Jedi still believed to exist coherently within the Force) were fighting for Humanity and resolved to become Human in order to trick the Force into taking their side.

They discovered Palpatine's plans and, through the agency of their Human forms, offered the mass-produced clones of the Threes as soldiers. When Order 66 went out, the Threes first turned against the Jedi, then against the Republic itself, intent on wiping out the threat of Humanity.

# Sith Plans

The Sith had remained hidden since the days of their defeat on Korriban three hundred years before the arrival of the Trade Federation. The latest Lord of the Sith was Palpatine.

Having managed to rise to power through some skillful power plays and the sympathy vote he received after arranging (in his role as Darth Sidious) the first Dug invasion of the Republic of the Twelve Colonies, Palpatine was in an ideal position to make his final play for power by starting a second invasion.

The plan was simple enough: Dooku would begin fermenting a new invasion force amongst the Dug and several other non-Human groups nearby. This Confederation would be spotted in time for Palpatine to gain power by building up an army that he could use to supplant the Jedi as the Defenders of the Republic. When the time came this army would turn on the Jedi.

The plan could not have worked without Gaius Baltar. Baltar was contacted by three people who offered him cloning technology and the position as head of their consortium. He took on the role gladly, and when the time came he was able to provide Palpatine with a nearly unlimited supply of cloned troops. These troops were exactly what Palpatine needed for his plan, and he began working them in alongside the Colonial forces right away.

# Disaster

When the Dug invasion failed, Palpatine issued Order 66, turning the Clones on the Jedi. Halfway through this however something else happened: Cylon Basestars jumped in launching Raiders and Vengers. What might have been a salvagable situation turned to disaster when the Clones suddenly turned once more, fighting alongside the incoming Cylon forces.

Most of the two hundred Battlestars were crewed by Clones by this time and their takeover was swift and efficient. Only a handful of Battlestars were safe from this threat, and only a couple of them were sufficiently safe as to escape the initial effects of Order 66.

The Battlestar Galactica, an older model Battlestar that was being held in orbit of Alderran, was one such ship. Only carrying a couple of squads of Clones,

# 12 Models

1 John Cavil

2 Leoben Conoy

3 Rex/ Cody/ Clones

4 Wedge Antillees - Created the Secondary Hub, trying to produce 'innocent' humanforms. In doing so he locked up five of the places available to the others. The Secondary Hub can reproduce him as well, but the process is not 100% refined and he may default back to the Primary Hub instead. As such he has to be far more careful than the others. When any of the Final Five are killed they are reproduced back on the Secondary Hub, which then makes arrangements as appropriate, either producing them as children and having them adopted, or as adults and replacing them without their knowledge.

5 Aaron Doral

6 Six

7 Sharon Valeri

The Final Five:

8 Helena Cain

9 Luke Skywalker

10 Kara Thrace

11 Leia Organa

12 Anakin Skywalker

# Major Characters - Colonial Fleet

Palpatine - Chancellor, based on Colonial 1

Adama - Commander of Galactica/ military forces

Obi-Wan Kenobi - Master in charge of Jedi Order (pending recovery of other Masters)

Tigh

Apollo

Starbuck

Boomer

Tyrol

# Major Characters - Pegasus Fleet

Admiral Helena Cain (49 years old...)

Samuel Anders

# Major Characters - Dug Fleet

Dooku - Stuck with

# Secondary Hub

FTL drive

Secondary Hub - used for Models 4 and 8 - 12

Crewed by Centurions, Engineers

Commanded by Gabriel (L Series Cylon; same model as Lucifer)

Has an early model Hybrid

Weapons are missile/ ECM based; some PDL turrets

Mining/ refinery facilities for self repair