A bit of damage control or more like a rebuttal. I have received some harsh criticism over some of the story by some people that won't register or create a profile. So I cannot PM them to explain why I did what I did in the story. The Cylon attack on the 7th fleet succeeded because they didn't jump between the shields, they jumped PAST the shields and directly into the superstructure of the ships. They were also packed to the gills with tylium (for the purposes of my story I am calling it a form of liquid naquadah) which I understand to be highly explosive (fictionally of course) according to the research I have done. Yes the fleet had conformal shielding but HAD NOT installed, at that time, the frequency blocking technology that the attack spawned. So like O'Neill and Carter did with Anubis' ship, the Cylons were able to bypass the shields completely to reappear INSIDE the ship itself. AFTER this disaster was when McKay, Zelenka, Moros(Merlin), and Janus came up with the smart shields to block the jump. I am also not an English major and do the best I can with grammar and spelling. I read each chapter multiple times before posting but I still miss mistakes here and there. I still find mistakes in chapters I have already posted even after reading over them more than four or five times. I apologize for any mistakes I do make and will correct them when I find them or they are pointed out to me.

Colonial Raptor

Cylon pod facility at Delphi

Admiral Adama sat in the passenger compartment as the Raptor lifted off, heading back to the Galactica.

He was going through things he had seen in Delphi just now and also 40 years ago on that desolate planet. The pods back then were nowhere near as sophisticated as the ones in Delphi but they were the prototypes after all. If the Colonial fleet had listened to him and glassed the planet, the Colonies wouldn't be in the situation they were now.

At least with allies like the UEC, they would be able to rebuild and even surpass the point they were at before the attack. There was a discussion going on throughout the fleet about whether they should join the UEC or stay allies instead. Adama was of the opinion that they should remain just allies so as not to lose their identity. On the other hand the colonies would not exist if not for Earth both before Zeus brought them from Earth and now.

Had the UEC not intervened, the Cylons would have caught up with and overwhelmed the Galactica and wiped out her ragtag fleet. The Galactica was a tough old girl and might have given the Cylons fits for years. But even with the manufacturing facilities onboard her, without a true anchorage, eventually they would finally break down and it would be all over.

Adama chuckled to himself as he thought about the "manufacturing facilities". They were not the fleet standard facilities like those on a Mercury Class Battlestar but they made due. Chief Tyrell had repurposed one cargo bay using scrounged parts from several different ships to include what was left of the Pegasus.

But even the state of the art facilities on the Pegasus looked like they were out of the stone age compared to the replication ability of the UEC. Admiral O'Neill had made it plain that the Colonies would not be receiving the latest UEC technology unless they actually became a member of the UEC. And even then it would take the UEC time to fully trust the Colonial people. What they would get was the level of ships they used in retaking the Colonies. That was still light years ahead of what they had before.

Admiral Adama looked toward the pilot, about to ask him how much longer before they docked only to realize he was no longer sitting in the Raptor. Everything around him was solid white. He found himself standing instead of sitting and he was also dressed all in white.

Adama looked around in confusion before hearing a deep, booming voice. "Sorry if this seems overly dramatic but I knew we needed to talk face to face soon."

Standing in front of the Admiral was none other than Zeus himself. "Ten thousand years ago I took your people from Earth and brought them to Kobol. A parasitic race called the Goa'uld had established a strong foothold on Earth and had subjugated the primitive peoples of the time. I guess I should start at the very beginning."

Zeus took a deep breath (even though he didn't need too, it was mainly a force of habit). "Hundreds of thousands of years ago, my people, the Furlings, formed an alliance with three other races. These three races were the Alterans, the Asgard, and the Nox. Each was millions of years old and very advanced. The Nox were the only true natives of the Milky Way. My people and the other two races were from another three separate galaxies."

Adama stood in stoic silence allowing Zeus to continue. "Both my people and the Alterans had fled our respective galaxies to escape being destroyed in a war they didn't want to fight and one we couldn't win. The Furlings, my people, relocated to this galaxy and lived on Kobol where I brought your people to be taught and nurtured. We met the Alterans before fleeing our galaxy and they helped the last of my people escape being destroyed. But that's an entirely different story for a different time."

Admiral Adama was still sort of stunned that not only did all of this go against the current interpretations of the Sacred Scrolls but he was being told all of this by the head figure of the pantheon of the Lords of Kobol. "My people are very long lived and it had been centuries since I had visited Earth. So I thought I would stop by and check on our allies that we hadn't heard much from. By the time I discovered your people, the Alterans had either died off to a plague we now know came from their former oppressors or ascended to a higher plane of existence. Seeing the ancient Greeks, your ancestors by the way, being similarly oppressed by the Goa'uld, I had to act to save as many as I could."

Adama considered this thoughtfully as he continued to listen. "My ship was larger than a UEC Dreadnaught so I had room for roughly half a million souls for a short time. I decided on half that and other staples required for your people to survive, multiply, and thrive. My people had suffered greatly in the war that forced us out of our galaxy. Though our numbers had risen, we had to few ships and were greatly outnumbered by the Goa'uld. The Alterans had allowed the Goa'uld to grow prosperous because they were too few in number as well. They had also scuttled their warships and had locked away their knowledge in several interfaces scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

Zeus looked Adama in the eye. " The race of people they created to follow in their footsteps, the Lanteans, returned from the Pegasus galaxy with their tail between their legs after losing a protracted war with a race called the Wraith. Basically the Empusa from the myths in your Sacred Scrolls. So instead of turning their rage on the Goa'uld, they followed the Alterans into ascension. The Asgard had problems of their own in their own galaxy and were only able to send a few ships sporadically. So I wanted your people to develop to the point they could return and deal with the Goa'uld."

Zeus sighed deeply and slowly shook his head. "Our mistake was in allowing your people to believe we were gods and worship us as such. Your people became dependant on us and instead of becoming the righteous avengers I thought they would become, they turned on each other and forced the exodus of Kobol. My family and I had ascended by that time and were forbidden from interfering in the affairs of mortals. Though with the worship of your people we could step in here and there, we chose not to unless absolutely necessary. We are not Gods though so we are not all knowing. We missed predicting or seeing the Cylon treachery that destroyed the colonies of Kobol, until it was too late to stop."

An actual tear rolled down the cheek of Zeus as he continued. "We had the power to prevent your destruction before the bombs fell but we didn't see the deception until it was too late. The best we could do was prevent the Cylon fleet from catching you after you left New Caprica. At least until you were met by Captain Barrett and the UEC. We were unaware the Cylons would use technology we ourselves had developed, to bypass the shields of the UEC and badly damage their 7th Fleet. But the UEC bounced back and perfected the technology left by our former allies to defeat the Cylon threat once and for all. They have shown an uncanny knack for fixing the mistakes of others. I'll leave that part of the story to them if they choose to share it. Let it suffice to say that they corrected the Alteran mistake with the Goa'uld and ours with the Cylons, among many others and leave it at that for now."

Admiral Adama rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So the jump drives we use, are originally your technology?"

Zeus nodded his head slightly. "Yes they are, that and many other technologies you use. They are not as advanced or sophisticated as ours were but they have served you well. We called it a worm hole drive. We could travel a much further distance though, as our computers were immensely faster and our power generation was also vastly superior to yours. No offense intended now. It's just the straight, honest truth."

Adama chuckled. "None taken and I appreciate you being honest and truthful. There isn't enough of that now days. Since we are being honest, I would like to ask you a serious question."

Zeus looked Adama in the eye. "By all means. Ask away." Again Adama couldn't help but chuckle. "Can we trust the UEC not to take advantage of my people and frak us over?"

It was Zeus' turn to laugh now. "You don't mince words do you? Yes Admiral, you can trust the UEC. At least the current administration. As I previously stated, we are not gods and cannot see what future generations might or might not do."

Adama accepted that answer at face value. "Fair enough. I will keep that in mind for future negotiations. There are so many other things I would like to know about but I need to get back to the fleet. We have A LOT of work to do in order to rebuild our civilization."

Zeus waved his arm and the white nothingness around Adama began to fade. "In three days The Box of Pandora that I left with your people will open. It was stored deep in a secure vault on Gemenon and survived the bombings. The colonies of Kobol will need the knowledge that was stored within to aid in their rebuilding. It was set to unlock at a time when your people reached a level of enlightenment where they would not misuse the knowledge the box contained. I believe that the trials that you and your people have suffered recently, have prepared you to guide your people properly. Some of your people are ready while others cannot be trusted with the power the box contains. It will be up to you Admiral to keep your people on the straight and narrow as your cousins from Earth say."

Admiral Adama blinked and looked around the passenger compartment of the Raptor. He looked out the front window to see several Asgard ships, Daniel Jackson class science vessels to be exact, slowly easing into the atmosphere of Caprica. White transport beams began sweeping the planet, repairing the damage done by the Cylons and rebuilding infrastructure. As this was happening several large, automated vehicles were beamed down by the UEC Walter Reed. These vehicles were terraformers similar to the Ziggurat class construction vehicles used on the seed ships. They were being used to clean up the radiation and pollution from the bombings.

The terraformers were usually dropped off on uninhabitable planets to terraform them to Earth like planets. A dozen terraformers could turn a planet like Mars into a habitable planet in just under six months. Since Caprica was already an Earth like planet, the terraformers would be able to clean up the planet in a fraction of the time they normally took to terraform a planet.

There were twelve terraformers per planet working on all twelve planets of the Cyrannus system as well as fifteen Daniel Jackson class science vessels. The science vessels were broken down in teams of three sweeping each planet. They would take a bit longer than the terraformers but until there were more Colonials, a majority of the rebuilt structures would not be needed anyway.

There was a debate about using Cylon technology to grow clones but Adama was dead set against that idea. He wanted to explore the Asgard method perfected by the Atlantis team instead as it didn't involve anything remotely robotic or cybernetic. The only problem he could see was there weren't spare consciousness' available to download into the Asgard clones. The Asgard had billions of minds stored when they used the method.

With the help of the advanced sensors used by the UEC, nearly five million survivors were discovered spread across the twelve planets of the Cyrannus system. Most were suffering from radiation sickness in varying stages. Again with the help of the UEC and its advanced medical technology, most of them were cured and survived. That gave a wide enough genetic base to rebuild the Colonial population. Their physiological health would take some time to heal even with the advanced technology. The Nox, descended Alterans, and the telepathic members from the Starfleet Universe were immensely beneficial in helping in that department.

The Raptor eased into the starboard launch bay of the Galactica. As Admiral Adama exited the Raptor to the noise of the hanger deck, Colonel Tigh was waiting for his friend. As Adama's foot touched the deck he spoke up. "I know that look Bill. What's going on? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Saul's old friend smiled slightly. "You might say that I have old friend. A ghost from the past and even more. Zeus and I just had a long conversation about the past and our future. We need to get a team to Gemenon like yesterday. Zeus says there is a box, called the Box of Pandora that we need to find. It is supposed to open in three days and is a suppository of knowledge from the Gods or as Zeus swears, the Furlings."

Saul scoffed. "Humph. Gods my ass."

Admiral Adama laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder. "That's what Zeus kept repeating over and over. That his race weren't gods and that their biggest mistake was in letting our ancestors believe they WERE gods because of their advanced technology."

Saul just humphed again and called the C.I.C. "Lt. Duala, get me a line to Admiral O'Neill and tell him that Admiral Adama and I need to speak to him. Then plot a jump back to the UEC starbase."

UEC Starbase

in Orbit of

Sagittarius Earth

Admiral O'Neill was just getting off of the line with Lt. Dualla from the Colonial Battlestar Galactica when he was informed by the tactical officer that Thor was on his way as well. His friend had just returned victorious from the Starfleet universe and wanted to stop by.

It only took a few seconds, once he had given permission for the Galactica jump into the system, before the Battlestar appeared nearby. Not long afterward a Raptor exited the launch bay. O'Neill chuckled. "Wow, this must be really important since Admiral Adama couldn't wait until his ship finished docking to head over. Route them to shuttlebay two and I'll meet them there."

Jack was just entering the shuttlebay as the Raptor settled to the deck and the door opened, allowing Admiral Adama to exit the transport.

He saluted Admiral O'Neill as they neared each other. "Permission to come aboard Admiral?" O'Neill looked a bit confused until he remembered it was the Colonial Navy and they stuck to the old naval traditions as did the Earth Navy.

He returned the salute and answered. "Permission granted Admiral."

Admiral Adama lowered his voice. "Admiral O'Neill, we need to talk in private immediately. I have just been given information that is vital to the independence and survival of the Colonies."

Jack nodded his head and simply lead the way to a secure conference room. Once they entered, Jack gave a simple command. "Computer, activate security isolation protocols."

With that order the base V.I. swept the room for any form of listening device, a noise blocking force field surrounded the room, and Merlin's Mantel took the room out of sync.

As Jack sat down he motioned for Adama and Colonel Tigh to sit as well. "We're as secure as it gets Admiral. What information were you given?"

Adama began explaining what he had been told by Zeus. Jack made a face before answering. "You know? I still can't get over this non-interference/interference thing they aren't supposed to do. One minute they are all in our business and the next we're on our own because they can't interfere. It's damn frustrating!"

Colonel Tigh couldn't help but laugh. "You got that right Admiral. That's the way I feel about it too."

Adama had to chuckle at his old friend's and his new friend's antics. "That may be true but if not for the interference from Zeus, no one from the Colonies would be here to feel frustrated. We need to find this hidden vault though and secure the Box."
O'Neill agreed, had the computer deactivate the isolation protocols, then tapped his combadge. "O'Neill to Ops. Get me the Cortes. We're going need her advanced sensors."

Within a few seconds the captain of the Cortes was calling Admiral O'Neill. "This is Captain Vargas, what can I do for you Admiral?"

O'Neill appreciated the quick response and nodded before answering. "I'll be beaming over in a few minutes and Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh will be transporting over on their Raptor. I'll brief you on our mission once I arrive."

He then turned to his communications officer. "Ops, signal Thor and tell him to follow the Cortes and I'll meet him once we arrive at our destination."

Both Captain Vargas and Ops acknowledged their orders and signed off. Jack walked his guests back to their Raptor and made his way to his quarters to grab his go bag before transporting to the Cortes.

The Cortes and the Well of Urd dropped out of hyperspace and glided into orbit of Gemenon. A flash on the bridge deposited a grinning Viking Warrior next to O'Neill. Thor grabbed his friend in a bear hug. "O'Neill my friend! It is good to see you again!"

O'Neill was turning blue. "Thor buddy, I can't breathe." He wheezed. "But it's very good to see you too."

Thor sat Jack back on the floor and laughed a deep belly laugh. "Chancellor Martok swore I was a reborn Klingon. Maybe he's right. The Klingon code of honor is very similar to the original Norse code of honor we taught the Vikings centuries ago."

Thor clapped O'Neill on the back. "So what is so interesting about this planet?"

Jack nodded toward Admiral Adama. "Thor, this is Admiral Adama and his XO Colonel Tigh of the Twelve Tribes of Kobol. They were brought to this galaxy 10,000 years ago or so, by a furling calling himself Zeus."

Thor's head snap up and he got serious. "I know of this O'Neill. I assisted Zeus against a Goa'uld attack fleet that had ambushed him as he was attempting to break orbit and return to Kobol,"

Adama looked the large warrior straight in the eye. "He told me he did it as a countermeasure against the Goa'uld because neither the Furlings nor the Alterans were in any shape to fight against them. He wanted our people to grow into a fighting force that could return to Earth and free it from the grip of the Goa'uld. It just didn't go quite the way he planned it."

A flash of light filled the room as the very being they were discussing phased through the forward viewscreen.

"Greetings again my old friend. It has been entirely too long. Yes my intentions were for the children of Kobol to grow to be a force that neither the Alterans nor us could be anymore. And you and your people had your own problems to contend with in the Vanir. I truly thought the ancient Greeks would mature quicker and not make the same mistakes we and so many others had. My people and I set them up on our new homeworld of Kobol and nurtured and taught them from the Alteran city of Olympus. Our mistake was in allowing them to believe we were gods and even worship us as such. Our Furling names were too complicated for them to pronounce so we shortened them to make it easier for them."

He paused for dramatic effect before continuing. "Thor knows this, as do the Alterans and Nox. My Furling name is Zeusatranioistrumrock for short. That is even the shortened version given to our allies. The humans of that age seemed to have trouble with even the short versions."

O'Neill, Adama, and Tigh looked at each other. "Yeah, I see where that may be a problem." Jack said as he rolled his eyes. Thor just shook his head then looked to his age old friend. "If I know you my old, old friend, you have something else you're not saying."

Zeus smiled. "You do know me my old, old friend. But I have told you and Adama all I am allowed to. He knows what needs to be done and that is why you and your UEC allies are here. Your sensors are much more advanced than the reverse engineered sensors of the Children of Kobol."

Adama nodded. "Yes Admiral O'Neill and Thor is it?" He turned toward Zeus. "But our Sacred Scrolls tells of the God Ares battling an evil God Thor to save our people on Kobol?"

Zeus shook his shaggy main. "No my friend, that was the Goa'uld Ares and it was Thor that assisted in fighting him off so I could escape Earth with your people to GO to Kobold. I had returned for a second trip moving your people. The Goa'uld had detected my leaving on the first trip and were waiting for me with an attack fleet led by Ares. Ares was a System Lord of the Goa'uld ruling party. The Goa'uld took on the names of your Gods which we unfortunately allowed your people to believe."

A tear actually ran down the cheek of Zeus. "If not for Thor the Goa'uld attack fleet would have overwhelmed my shields and destroyed my ship and ended my plan before it could get started."

Adama was mildly confused. "But you said you had already removed roughly 250,00 people? Wouldn't that have been enough to start the society you wanted us to be?"

Zeus did a very human thing proving that sentient races were a lot more alike than some would like to admit and shrugged slightly. "It would have barely been sufficient but the other 250,000 made it more viable plus the fact that I had all of the data FOR the plan on my ships mainframe and hadn't told anyone else the whole plan. For security reasons you understand?"

Adama couldn't help but snort. "I didn't know ascended beings had a sense of humor. Especially one that is actually funny."

Zeus looked at Adama in disbelief that a mere mortal could speak to him in such a way. Then he realized what Adama had been through in the last few years and burst out laughing.

"Oh that is hilarious... I have actually never been talked to in that fashion by a mortal. They are usually quaking in their boots at the mere sight of me our my family. I actually find this VERY refreshing. We must do this more often!"

Thor and O'Neill exchanged looks before Thor stepped forward. "Zeus my friend, the old alliance we had was nearly gone. The Nox kept to themselves, we were nearly defeated by the Replicators, the Alterans had all ascended or died off, and the same with you and your people. If not for the humans of Earth, the Alliance WOULD have gone the way of the Alterans."

He looked to O'Neill as a brother would. "Thanks to O'Neill from two dimensions, we have the chance to make this right again. Hundreds of thousands of Alterans have actually chosen to descend and become mortal again. The Wraith are defeated, the Ori are defeated, the Replicators are gone, all thanks to the Tau'ri. You could choose to join us as well."

Zeus looked thoughtful for a second. "I thought it over and I have decided I will stay right where I am. I have spent my time on the mortal plain and though I cannot influence or interfere in mortal lives, I am allowed to converse with old friends. The Ascended Council has decided to loosen the rules slightly as long as we don't use our powers to shift the balance of power in either direction. The Ori thing was a totally eye opening affair for them."

Jack and Thor both agreed and Thor spoke up. "It was an eye opening affair for all involved. Mortals and ascended both were very much at risk. I am just glad Ayiana had the idea to have myself and Admiral Caldwell use the time dilation devices to construct the number of ships necessary to overwhelm the Ori fleets."

O'Neill had to throw in his two bits too. "Don't forget it was her and her team that designed the ships as well. Those ships were everything I ever dreamed of when the Goa'uld turned their attention back to Earth. Big Honkin' ships with big Honkin' guns!"

Thor roared with laughter and even Zeus joined in. "You have always wanted your big guns O'Neill and your Enterprise and you finally have both!"

O'Neill grinned at his good friend. "And we got the Alliance that we always needed. Not just for Earth but for all of the galaxies we have influence in. And from the reports I've been reading from Destiny we will need all of the help we can get very soon."

Zeus looked toward O'Neill thoughtfully. "The reunion has been great but aren't we here for a reason?"

Admiral O'Neill looked toward the viewscreen smugly. "Captain Vargas and his team have been scanning while we were discussing things. They have found several vaults buried deep enough to survive the bombings. A couple have some very interesting readings." He handed the pad, that Captain Vargas had handed him, to Thor.

Thor pulled an Asgard pad and compared his readings to the ones on the UEC pad. "Yes, I see what you mean. These readings in particular from this vault show a much higher power output than Colonial technology. In my expert opinion I would say that is the vault that contains the Box of Pandora. I would say there may be other technologies in there as well. The readings are too high for it to be just one data storage box." Zeus didn't say anything except cock an eyebrow and smile.

"Then that is where I would say we started. Wouldn't you Admiral Adama?" Adama had been watching the exchange between these figures of legend and shaking his head in awe. Colonel Tigh tilted his head toward his friend. "I'm right there with you Bill. It's like this isn't even real." He whispered.

Admiral O'Neill didn't seem uncomfortable at all despite his earlier comment about the ascended rules. From the hubbub both Colonials had heard from working with UEC crewmembers, O'Neill was considered a living legend among the UEC population. Little did they both know that among the Colonial people, both Bill Adama and Saul Tigh were as well.

"Captain Vargas, have a Marine company prepared and beamed down to meet us in twenty minutes. We are going down now if you would like to contact President Roslin to meet us there."

Adama nodded his head. "I'll contact her and meet you all down there. I don't think I will ever get used to that beaming thing." Everyone in the room to include Zeus had a good laugh at the Admiral's uneasiness with transporters. The UEC members made their way to the transporter room while Zeus said his goodbyes and phased through the ceiling to observe from the ascended plain.

Ten Minutes Later

on the surface of Gemenon

Captain Vargas had insisted a squad of Marines beam down with Admiral O'Neill as he was a V.I.P. after all. Even though sensors had shown no danger in the area or the entire planet for that matter. He was just nervous with the Admiral's reputation for attracting trouble. So he figured better to be safe than sorry.

Admiral Adama had asked that his Colonial Marines help secure the area and assist in the exploration of the vault and O'Neill agreed and had the UEC Marines take a wider perimeter. The squad that beamed down with him stayed close to him as his P.S.D. (personal security detail) though.

The Colonial Marines had arrived within ten minutes of O'Neill and his team arriving. They arrived in a Marinestar and transported down in Raptors. None of the Colonials were very comfortable with the UEC matter transporters.

The building housing the vault was located easily but accessing the vault itself was proving to be a problem. The vault was under the ruins of the building dedicated to Zeus in the Pantheon Complex of the city of Illumini.

O'Neill stood looking at the collapsed building. Thor was standing next to him with Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh. "How the hell are we supposed to get to the vault now?" Tigh demanded.

Thor looked at O'Neill and burst out laughing. "Like this my good Colonel." He pulled out his pad and entered a few commands. All of them looked up as a massive shadow covered the area and a loud rumble filled the air.

"By the gods that's a big ship!" Tigh exclaimed. The Well of Urd eased over the building throwing the entire area into a deep shadow. Asgard transport beams swept the area quickly and the building vanished then rebuilt itself before their very eyes.

Colonel Tigh stood in total amazement at the display of power in front of him. A completely leveled building now looked totally pristine and fully restored. Admiral Adama wasn't as shocked as he had seen a trio of Daniel Jackson class ships do the same thing over Caprica.

Adama looked up as a thought occurred to him. "How do you know how to restore the buildings exactly the same as they were? I watched the other three ships as they were working over Caprica and everything they restored looked exactly the same as the day the bombs fell."

Thor entered the commands to send his ship back into orbit before answering. "Before the Daniel Jackson science vessels began the restoration process, they used images from an intact computer the UEC Marines found in one of your outlying news stations. Most of the main branches in the major cities didn't survive but there were some of the smaller outlets that did survive. Now not every single building on all planets had a picture of it. Just your major cities and more important structures were shown."

He shrugged slightly before continuing. "So they downloaded those images from that computer then uploaded them to all of our ships. If there are no images of a particular building then those buildings are simply being rebuilt in a similar fashion consistent with Colonial architecture."

He then looked around at the rubble surrounding the now rebuilt Pantheon Complex. "There will be a lot of vacant buildings until your population recovers somewhat. So we won't activate the power plants until people are ready to move back in."

Thor put his pad away and clapped his hands together. "So my friends, are we ready to delve into the vault of mystery?" Everyone chuckled and made their way into the building and down toward the Vault of Zeus.

Three months later

Presidential Complex

on Caprica

The Box of Pandora had opened just as Zeus told them it would. The information contained was being gone through by the Colonies best scientists. It was millennia ahead of anything the Colonies had ever used, even before the Cylons became a threat. It would take centuries for them to understand without the help of the UEC. The technology gifted to them by the UEC was ahead of their existing technology but was chosen for the fact that current Colonial manufacturing facilities could duplicate it. The technology from the box would require a complete rebuilding of the Colonial infrastructure before it could be built much less understood.

Also inside the vault were several stargates of Furling construction. There was also an archway like the one that had been discovered on the planet designated P5X-777, that transported whoever went through it to the large moon in orbit. A small village had been on that moon but all of the residents there were long dead from a plant that made them fall on each other in paranoia. The UEC had cleared every trace of the plant from the moon and set up a small observation post there. On the planet they had established a research colony around the doorway to study the technology.

President Roslin was seated in her office surrounded by her advisors and the newly reconstituted admiralty of the Colonial fleet. They were going over the data from the UEC research colony studying the Furling archway and some of the data from the Box of Pandora. Admiral Adama had been promoted to Fleet Admiral in former Admiral Nagala's place. Lee Adama and Colonel Tigh (against Saul's better judgment) had been promoted as well to Rear Admiral(lower half). Until more Colonials were cloned and more numbers available, three Admirals would be enough to command the fleet.

"How are we doing on the repopulation project Admiral?" President Roslin asked Adama. "We are well ahead of schedule using the Asgard technique. With the just over five million survivors the UEC located, we have a wide enough genetic base to revitalize our population in a few years. We won't be anywhere near the numbers we had for decades if not centuries though."

President Roslin nodded and continued on. "Thank you Admiral. Not the news I really wanted to hear but it would have been much worse without the UEC. Gods, we wouldn't even be here if they hadn't intervened. Ok, how about the Cylon refugee situation?"

Admiral Tigh swallowed uncomfortably. "Frankly not good Madam President. There were two more attacks last night in as many hours. Our baby police force is overwhelmed trying to protect the Cylons. People are looking for a place to vent their anger and since we no longer have a common enemy, my people seem to be taking the brunt of that frustration."

The President thought for a moment. "Lee, I want you to assign two companies of Military Police to the Cylon Refugee settlement for extra security." Admiral Tigh shook his head.

"That's like slapping a band aid on severed leg. We need a more permanent solution. There has been talk, among the remaining two's through eight's, of us just pulling up stakes and leaving altogether. But the Final Five have a different idea."

Admiral Adama looked up quickly. "Saul, you don't have to do this. We need your people as much as you need us."

Saul held up his hand. "Bill, let me finish. We're only talking about the ones people actually know are Cylons leaving. With the help of the UEC, the new batch of clones will be as human as you or any other Colonial and there won't be a bunch of duplicates of just a few people. They will have a higher than average I.Q., strength, and endurance but essentially they will be human. We remove the known faces and no one will ever be the wiser. There will still be over one million to help with the repopulating and in a few generations, they will be exactly like any Colonial."

President Roslin was satisfied with that answer. "Ok, that settles that issue. Bill, how are we coming with the exploration?"

Bill Adama picked up a small remote and pressed a button on it. The projector lit up, shining a map onto the wall. "This map shows the area we already had mapped before the fall in Green. The Yellow shows the area we mapped with Galactica during our flight to find Earth. The Blue shows what we have mapped since retaking the Colonies. Now the rest in Red is what we have deciphered from the Box of Pandora. We are in the process of verifying the accuracy of the Furling maps as fast as we can. We have already found a couple of discrepancies since their maps are over ten thousand years old."

Roslin looked up. "What do you mean by discrepancies? I thought their technology could predict the shift in star patterns and such."

Adama nodded his head. "And they can and did very well Madam President. Their charts are accurate as to the placement of planets just not the condition of said planets. For example, on the Furling charts, Saul's real homeworld was a primitive rainforest. But we know it was a radioactive wasteland until the UEC cleaned it up. Predicting where planets and stars will be in ten thousand years is one thing. Predicting what an intelligent race will do to those same planets is another thing entirely."

It was the President's turn to nod her head. "I see. Have the exploration teams found any advanced ancient technology yet?"

Once again Adama shook his head. "Not as of yet Madam President. They have found ancient ruins of unknown origin on some planets but no advanced technology. Archeologists are in the process of excavating the ruins to see if they match anything in the database of the Box." For expediency's sake, everyone from the President down had taken to calling The Box of Pandora simply the Box.

President Roslin listened intently to all of the reports. "Ok, how is the relocation of the people going?"

Joyce Rassipy, the newly appointed Minister of State, spoke up. "As you know Madam President, all of the survivors were temporarily relocated to Caprica originally. Most have since made the move either back to their home planet, if the cleanup is finished on it or opted to stay here on Caprica. A majority opted to stay and create new lives here as the memories of their former homes was to bitter of a pill to swallow."

She took a drink from her glass of water. "Currently there are just over four million settling in on Caprica, three hundred and twelve thousand on Gemenon, and the rest split between Aerilon, Virgon, Leonis, Picon, and Tauron. The UEC is working on the other planets and should have them ready for recolonization within the next two months."

Roslin accepted the report and closed the meeting. "That seems like we covered everything. Thank you all for your diligence and support. The Quorum of Twelve will be meeting this afternoon to discuss either joining the UEC or remaining independent and signing a military and trade alliance. Bill, I would like you and Saul to be present. Thank you all again and dismissed."

The UEC would be keeping a fleet stationed at New Earth to help when needed. They also had Galileo class explorers mapping and scouting the galaxy. The Colonial forces were also sending out ships to explore beyond the range that they had originally. Their FTL just wasn't as efficient as the UECs or even the warp drive they used. While traveling at warp or through hyperspace, the UEC could still use its scanners to record data. The Colonial ships could only scan when traveling at sublight. But the more powerful computers they now had, helped increase the range and sensitivity of their scanners so they were making due.

Elsewhere on the Astral Plain

Another meeting was taking place

"So, we are in agreement then? We will contact our former allies and tell them what we have decided." Dregefax, the leader of the Ascended Council and first Alteran to ascend stated.

"We are in agreement." Answered Amelius, the inventor of the Ark of Truth.

Zeus was off to the side observing with his son Ares and his daughter Athena. "So, they will now officially recognize the people of Earth as the fifth race. They even want an official indoctrination ceremony. This is a first for ascended beings. I am glad we played a part in making it happen. Have either of you decided what you will do?"

Athena just shook her head no but Ares announced his decision proudly. "I will descend and join the new Council of Five to help guide them toward our home galaxy. They have shown a tremendous ability and willingness to help others. Maybe they are the ones the prophecy spoke of that can reclaim the Citadel."

Both Zeus and Athena were shocked at Ares. "In time, I am sure they will be more than willing to help reclaim the Citadel and take the fight to the nameless ones that drove us from our home. But I have a feeling they will have their hands very full with their latest venture. I since something very familiar yet foreign in this new galaxy the humans call A3559."

One Month Later

Heliopolis Planet

Representatives from four galaxies and several ascended beings were assembled in the rebuilt hall of the planet that had been dubbed Heliopolis by Ernest Littlefield. Dregefax was standing at the podium addressing the assembled races.

"My name is Dregefax. I am the Chairman of the Ascended Council I guess you could call it. For millennia, ascended beings have stood by a law we considered to be the highest law in existence. That law basically stated we would not use our ascended powers in any way to influence the mortal plain. I still stand by that law but I have come to see that we can at least still interact with former and new allies. It is appropriate that we gather today in the place where four great races established a true universal language. We come together today to officially welcome a fifth race into that alliance. That fifth race is the humans of Earth and the second to follow the evolutionary path that my race, the Alterans followed. They have evolved with a trait we ourselves lacked. They have learned to take diverse differences and bond them together to form a stronger communal base than we our any of our allies ever could. Just look around you for the proof. Races from more than four galaxies are joined here today like never before. As the humans of the UEC continue to grow and expand, I foresee even more galaxies will join this endeavor. Myself and my fellow ascended beings, endorse and welcome the Tauri as the Fifth Race. We also charge you with Assuming the Mantle of leadership that ourselves and the other races of the Alliance failed to uphold."

To the sound of thunderous applause and a complete standing ovation, the ascended beings present, slowly rise toward the ceiling before fading through it and back to the ascended plain.

I know this was VERY late in coming and much shorter than my other chapters. This will also be the last chapter to Assuming the Mantle. Once again I'm sorry for the shortness of not only the chapter but the story itself. There just really isn't anywhere else to take the BSG arc in my opinion. I am ready to move on with the next story arc, Whispers of Power. I hope to post chapters on it much more consistently and more frequent. Until then, thanks for reading.