Phoenix Rising

Chapter Nine

The Best Laid Plans of Dicey Men…

Earth Defense Headquarters

Megalopolis

September 28, 2214

The generals who sat on the EDF Council had thought that they had discredited General Singleton and Derek Wildstar. The media ate up the story and the pundits were having a field day with it. It seemed only a matter of time before the public turned on the Star Force.

The public did turn against something, only it wasn't the Star Force.

Inside General Beauchamp's office, he, along with Generals Albion and Fielding, were thunderstruck at the civilians protesting outside EDF headquarters. "Bring the muckrakers down!" echoed against the walls of the massive building, which headquartered Earth's military force.

They knew that Derek, Nova, Wendy, and Homer had gone to the media and gave their side of the story. Derek and Wendy explained what happened and asked for forgiveness, not only from their respective spouses but also from the people of Earth. The generals on the Council had thought it had made the quartet look weak, but they had underestimated the public's reaction to the widely viewed interview.

President Brandon Hamilton's baldhead gleamed from the light in the office as he entered the office. His dark skin clashed with the cream white of his uniform, having served under General Singleton during the five years of fire. "Gentlemen, it appears that we have a problem!" Hamilton rumbled with dissatisfaction.

"I agree, sir! Shall we call out the riot squad to disperse these protestors?" asked General Beauchamp.

Hamilton shook his head and said, "No. But I would like your resignations, as well as the rest of the EDF Council, within the hour."

The three generals looked at each other, stunned at this development. They had assumed that the president had been on their side, but they had been wrong. "Sir, you can't just let Wildstar get away with this!" screamed Fielding.

"Of course I can! They are the Star Force, and they're far more heroic than any of the lot of you on the Council!" Hamilton countered, dismissing Fielding like an impudent school child.

"This isn't proper, sir! You'll have a mutiny on your hands if you go through with this!" Albion warned in his Texas twang.

"You think I came here without a few aces up my sleeve?" Hamilton pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on Beauchamp's desk. It was a list of names of generals to be considered for revised Defense Council. "They all are personally loyal to me, as well as Generals Singleton and Glitchman, and they have the support of over three-quarters of the general staff!"

The three men could see that the president had just put them in checkmate. "And if you even think of trying to ventilate me, gentlemen, I'll personally sign your death warrants in front of you and watch as the soldiers pump you full of bullets! Do I make myself crystal clear?"

The three mumbled "yes sir", and Hamilton commanded them to clean out their desks. The president proceeded to find the other members of the council and give them the same bit of bad news, with the same threat of execution if they were to try to counter this.

When he returned to his presidential suite, Major General Charles Singleton and Brigadier General Douglas Stone sat in front of his desk, waiting for his return. "Well, they were less than happy at what I had to say!" Hamilton said with an ironic smile as he sat down in his chair on the opposite side of the desk from Singleton and Stone.

Stone replied, "It had to be done, Brad. People have been getting restless with this whole situation ever since it broke, and the last thing we needed was a revolution on our hands!"

"Well, they're getting one anyway!" Hamilton said.

"What?" Stone asked, stunned at the news, but Singleton only nodded and added, "The people have been without a civilian government for over twenty years now, ever since the Gamilons began their war against us. Granted, we're far from the kinds of military dictatorships that were seen in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but still, like my father always said, the people have an instinctive right to have a voice in their own fates!"

"This couldn't come at a more convenient time for us, though. We've been wanting to enact this, but we knew that as long as the triumvirate led the EDF Council, we would never be able to get this accomplished." Hamilton said.

Stone reluctantly agreed and conceded, "It will take some time to bring civilian leadership into the fold, but, if we do this right and don't rush things, we can make the transition smooth."

EDS Yamato, orbiting Phoenix Station

September 29, 2214

Nova sat beside Derek on their bed, not knowing what to say. Her true love had betrayed her, yet she knew deep down that it ached him to have erred so greatly. The rest of the crew had looked at him in disbelief, and he had a hard time looking back at them without melting from their "say it isn't so, Derek" expressions.

Nova's grandmother had taught her about forgiveness when she was a young child. Her older sister, Gally (short for Gabrielle), had broken one of Nova's favorite dolls, and Nova had refused to talk to her older sister for days on end because of it. Not even the scolding of her parents could get her to forgive Gally, even after she had apologized for what she had done.

But her granny had told her about an incident where one of her best friends in high school had unknowing stolen the affection of a boy that she had pursued, who turned out to be a user in the end. She could have easily abandoned their friendship, she had told young Nova, but I forgave her because she was my friend, and because she admitted that she had made a mistake, even unknowingly.

Forgiving Derek was the hardest thing she had ever done, but she knew she had to do it. Forgiving Wendy was just as hard, but she knew she had to do that if she was ever to find peace.

"Are you going to say anything?" Derek sheepishly asked.

"I…I tried to kill myself, Derek." Nova began to sob. Derek embraced her, and Nova, for a moment, almost brushed him aside, but allowed him to hold her despite her reservations. "I was weak and forgot about how important I am to my daughter back home."

Derek began to cry as well, ashamed at what had happened. Homer had forgiven him and had made every effort to mend fences with him, which amazed Derek, because he had always figured that once Homer found out (and Derek admitted to himself after it had happened that Nova and Homer would find out eventually), he would knock him on his ass. "I'm so sorry, Nova! I'm so very, very sorry!"

Later that day, Derek was working out alone in the gym aboard the ship. He had just finished doing some curls when someone tapped him on the shoulder. As he turned to look to see who it was, a fist made hard contact with his jaw, knocking him to the floor.

He got onto his back to see who had punched him, expecting to see Homer standing there, finally giving him his just due. Instead, it was Starbuck who stood over him. "How could you?" she growled at him. "How could you do that to her?"

Derek had no answer for her as he got to his feet, only to be knocked back down onto his ass by a right uppercut from Starbuck. "Answer me, you son of a bitch! How could you do that to her?" Starbuck said in an angry whisper, which tore into Derek more than her loudest scream ever could.

"I…I made a mistake. I…" Derek said as he got back to his feet again, only to be staggered by another roundhouse by Starbuck. This one had lost some steam, though, and it only staggered him. He looked at her and shouted at her, "Hit me! Hit me again! I deserve it!"

Starbuck was shocked at what he said, and stepped back at Derek's verbal counterattack. "Go on! Knock me on my ass! I deserve it! I deserve it for disobeying a direct order from Captain Avatar, to made Nova happy! I deserve it for letting down the two women in my life that I would give my life for! I deserve it for letting down my daughter back home!" Tears ran streaming down Derek's eyes as he awaited another punch from the young Colonial officer.

Starbuck sat down on a nearby bench, stunned at Derek's reaction. She had come in there looking for a fight, but he wasn't giving her one. Suddenly she began to become racked with tears, and Derek asked her what was wrong.

"I made the same damn mistake, Derek! I…I tried to cheat on my own husband…with Lee Adama! I let my own damn misplaced affections get the best of me!" Derek sat down next to her and stayed quiet as she spilled her guts to the man who she had wanted to thrash just moments earlier. "I…used to want to be with Lee. He was so much like his brother Zak, whom I was engaged to before he died. I…I just couldn't bring myself to admit that I loved him."

Starbuck sniffled as her tears continued to run down her face. "Then I met Sam, and fell for him on Caprica when I went back for the Arrow of Apollo. I had to leave him there to come back to Galactica, and I met up with Lee again. I was so conflicted. I wanted to be with Lee, but I was in love with a man who I had thought was dead, even though I had promised to go back for him and the rest of his team."

Nova walked in just then and noticed the bruises on Derek's face. "What happened?" she asked.

Starbuck couldn't face her, so she looked forward and just said, "I kind of got out of line. Sorry about that!" She wiped the tears from her eyes and walked out of the gym, leaving Derek and Nova alone.

"Don't say anything about this, Nova. She didn't do anything that I didn't deserve!" Derek grabbed a towel and wiped his face, then put his arm around his wife and headed back to their quarters.

Aboard Pegasus, orbiting Phoenix Station

Inside Commander Lee Adama's Quarters

October 1, 2214

Admiral Adama had decided to make it a practice to alternate daily briefings with the commanders of Galactica, Pegasus, and Yamato, mainly to give him an excuse to see his son more often, but also to see the interior of Wildstar's ship. Today, though, he sat inside the command quarters of his son's ship, which was much more advanced than the rust bucket he commanded. But, as he had seen with Yamato, rust buckets tended to be just as tough as the shiny new ships fresh onto the line.

President Roslin and Vice President Zarek sat on one couch, opposite from Admiral Adama and his XO, Colonel Tigh. Lee Adama's new XO, Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon, as well as Lee's wife, Dee Adama, sat on the couch opposite from the one across from Derek Wildstar, Captain Nova Forrester-Wildstar, General Wendy Glitchman, and Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. Dee was staring daggers at Starbuck, not in the least comfortable with her presence.

"Okay, what's the latest concerning our move to Earth?" Roslin asked General Singleton. The Colonial president could tell that the tension in the room was thick as peanut butter, and she had to use all of her diplomatic skill to navigate through this minefield.

"The new Council had tentatively approved your emigration to Earth, pending a review of a committee to determine where it would be best to settle your people. My father has convinced the president to keep the Colonial Forces together as an independent unit under the joint command of himself, Admiral Adama, and yourself, Madam President. Galactica and Pegasus would still be kept in service, and upgraded with our latest technology." General Glitchman said.

"Good, but our flight bays would need extensive work to accommodate your Black Tigers and Cosmic Zeros. How would we be able to launch fighters without a massive overhaul?" asked Colonel Tigh.

"That won't be necessary, Colonel. The EDF Council has agreed to build new Mark VI Vipers that are compatible with your launch tubes. Sandor has informed me that we can successfully adapt the current design for Cosmic Zeros to the Viper prototypes." Wildstar replied.

The meeting was a somewhat dull affair, but there was plenty of good news to help lighten the mood somewhat. But the meeting was about to turn heavy when Dee blurted out, "If I may, I would appreciate it if Starbuck would stay on Yamato whenever we have our daily briefings here." Dee's catty remark got her an icy glare from Starbuck, who was not amused at what had just been said.

"Starbuck is obligated to be here, since she is the liaison officer." Admiral Adama said, seeking to quash Dee's objections.

Nova could tell where the meeting was going, so she stood up and said, "Admiral, if you would, could you please take the vice president and the president back to your Raptor? We all need to have a talk."

Adama looked around to everyone in the room before replying, "Sure. Saul, if you would." Tigh nodded and followed Adama out. Before they got to the door, Adama asked, "Would you like me to send up your husband, General? Perhaps Anders?"

Wendy only nodded, saying, "If you wouldn't mind, Admiral." Adama nodded and waited for the president and vice president to pass before following them out. As they made their way down the hall, Roslin commented, "Things are about to get quite thick in there, Admiral."

Adama replied, "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather watch a battle with the Cylons than watch what's about to take place in that room. It's going to get ugly in there. I just hope that it doesn't end ugly."

Everyone waited until Homer and Anders got into Lee Adama's quarters before getting started. "Wendy, what's up?" Homer asked, then looked around the room and nodded. "

"Homer, sit down, please. We all need to talk, but we'll wait until Sam Anders arrives." Nova said, then heard the beep of the door chime. "Come!" Nova said, a beat before Lee could.

Sam Anders came in and looked around. "Oh." He looked like he wanted to retreat, but Nova stopped him by saying, "Sam, come in please. We all need to have a talk." He nodded and sat beside his wife Kara.

Nova sat back down beside her husband and asked Kara, "Okay, Kara, how did this all happen?"

Kara told the story of the party after the ground breaking of the New Caprica city hall, and how she and Lee had went into the forest, both a bit tipsy from drinking too much. With tears in her eyes, she told of how they had made love that night, and how they had screamed each other's names into the night.

"So, then, why'd you marry me?" Anders said without any heat, but clearly uncomfortable with what was going on.

"I don't know, Sam. That's the thing. I love you, but I love him too." Kara looked at Lee when she said this, and Lee looked back at her.

Dee asked, "I could ask the same question, Lee. Why did you marry me?"

Lee said, "To get back at Kara." It visibly pained Lee to admit as much, but he added, "I don't regret it. I do love you, Dee. It's just…I should have waited."

Sam asked Kara, "So what's to become of us?"

Kara replied, "I need some time to think about this, Sam. I'm a frakked up mess. Maybe some time away from all of you would help me get some clarity about things." She shrugged, unsure of whether or not she would get that clarity no matter how long she stayed aboard Yamato.

It was an uneasy meeting, but there was no yelling. Yet the emotions were intense, and the issues remained unresolved, but as Nova left the meeting room with Kara, she thought that the future would see some resolution. Derek stayed behind to take a tour of Pegasus and spend some time with Lee. Sam and Kara agreed to some time apart and Sam would move back to Galactica briefly until the admiral and he could decide what to do from there. Dee decided to stay with Lee for the time being, but it was clear that they had plenty to work out if they were to stay married.

Back aboard Yamato, Kara Thrace spent some time training on a Cosmic Zero fighter. From the bridge of the ship, Nova listened in as the squad conducted training maneuvers to help bring their liaison officer up to speed with the new fighter.

Wendy came onto the bridge and sat beside her friend. "She seems to be adapting well to our fighters."

Nova nodded and said, "She's a natural fighter pilot, just like Derek and Pete Conroy."

Wendy asked her friend, "Are you okay?"

Nova turned to Wendy, knowing what she meant. "I think so. I…I wish that I knew that you and Derek were having trouble with our absence."

"I had been thinking of mustering out of active duty after that tour, but I just felt a sense of obligation to serve. We're so short of good officers at the moment." Nova replied.

"I'm sorry it happened, Nova." Wendy apologized again.

"I always suspected you had a crush on him, even back before the mission to Iscandar. Can't say that I blame you!" Nova said with a chuckle.

Wendy smiled and said, "Yeah, you're right. I had wanted to go on that mission so badly that I didn't speak to my father for weeks after he denied my request to go. Partly because of Derek, partly because of Mark." At the mention of Mark, Nova felt a shudder of a sob go through her, which Wendy noticed.

When she asked about it, Nova admitted, "During that mission, I had my own issues, sort of like Kara has with Sam and Lee. I knew that both Mark and Derek were interested in me back then, and I had a hard time deciding whom I wanted to get involved with. It wasn't until we got to Iscandar that I made my decision to be with Derek."

Flashback

Fifteen years ago

Queentown, Iscandar

Mark Venture was the pilot of the Yamato, and was also Derek Wildstar's best friend. He was also someone that Nova had come to regard as a friend, but only as a friend. During the voyage here, she had considered being with the both of them at one time or another, but, as time wore on and as they got closer to the world in which Queen Starsha ruled by her lonesome, she began to draw closer and closer to Derek.

Mark needed to know, Nova thought, so it was time that she told him so that he could move on. She arranged to meet him near the ocean while Derek spent time with his brother Alex, who had miraculously been found here, having been rescued by Starsha when the prison ship taking him to Gamilon crashed on Iscandar, leaving him as the sole survivor.

"I know how you feel about me, Mark, and I appreciate it, but I just find myself more attracted to Derek. I hope you understand." Nova said.

Mark nodded and replied, "I do. I had suspected that you two were gravitating towards one another. I had just hoped that I was wrong."

Back on Yamato

Nova worked out in the gym, but couldn't get her mind of Mark Venture. They had managed to remain friends afterwards, but there always seemed to be a distance between them. She couldn't ask him now, of course, because Mark had died of a gunshot wound he had received as the Yamato valiantly tried to prevent the Dilguil cityship from warping the water world of Aquarius one last time to Earth. He had somehow managed to get back to the bridge, and used his remaining strength to pilot the ship off the self-destructing megalith.

She remembered watching him die, after he had put her hand in Derek's and made him promise to make her happy. It was healing in one way and painful in another, because Nova had hoped to one day see Mark walk down the aisle with some lucky woman.

Jordie Venture, Mark's younger brother, finished his workout and nodded at Nova before leaving. As he made his way out of the ship's gym, he moved aside to let Starbuck come in. "Captain, I just wanted to let you know that I had finished my training."

"Good. How do you think it went?" Nova asked as she did a leg press.

"The Zeroes are about the same as the Vipers when it comes to handling, which is good. The speed took a little getting used to, but I managed well enough." Starbuck said as she walked over to the bench press that Nova had just lie down on and began to spot her friend.

"I did well enough on them when I was checked out on them, but I knew that I would never cut it as a fighter pilot. Derek said I had a lot of the instincts, but I just didn't have enough skills to be effective. He was kinder in his evaluation than I was. Point was, I sucked." Nova said as she began her rep.

"Yeah, that was something I should have told Zak years ago. I'm glad Derek had enough sense to tell you that you couldn't cut it." Starbuck replied.

"There is a difference, though. I realized that I wasn't a good enough pilot to fly Cosmic Zeroes. Zak couldn't come to that conclusion because he was trying too hard to impress his father. I know how he feels, because I was always trying to impress my own demanding father." Nova finished her reps and spotted Kara as they changed places on the bench press.

After the workout they went their separate ways, and Starbuck went to the mess hall for chow. From the looks that she got from the crew, scuttlebutt about the fight with Derek Wildstar had already made its way through the grapevine. No one directly confronted her about it, but there was a pointed silence as she made her way through the line.

She didn't pay it much attention as she sat down at an available table, alone. She nodded as she observed that Yamato's chow was better than the stuff she got on Galactica. Of course, the battlestar could only rely on the rag-tag civilian fleet to grow the food needed for the entire Colonial population.

Roughly five minutes after she sat down to eat, Derek Wildstar came into the mess. Starbuck looked up at him and they locked eyes briefly before he turned and got in line. The buzz that arose from the room was in expectation of a scene, but Starbuck was too tired to give them one.

Sure enough, Derek came over and sat across from her. "Where's Nova?" Starbuck asked.

"On the bridge. She's speaking with the new council about the last details on moving your people to Earth. We should be able to get underway within the next few hours. I have to go back to Colonial One to meet with President Roslin and Admiral Adama." Derek replied.

Starbuck nodded, then pointedly asked, "Why did you sit down here?"

"To tell you that you were right and I was wrong, and to thank you for preventing Nova from taking her life." Derek said.

Starbuck looked at him with a surprised look on her face. "She told you?"

Derek nodded and said, "That's why I deserved getting my ass kicked by you in the gym. In many ways, Nova and you have a lot in common."

Starbuck shook her head and said, "No, I don't think so. She's much more confident and much more at peace than I'll ever be."

"If you only knew." Derek said with a grunt. "You'll begin to see as you get to know her better. It's obvious to everyone that you think highly of one another."

"That's true. I didn't think much of her when I first met her, because of her looks. I thought she was one of those fragile women who couldn't stand up to fire. She proved me wrong on New Caprica." Starbuck conceded.

"She wasn't always that way. But going through the five years of fire did forge her into what she is today. That and the pressure she got from her parents to succeed."

Starbuck asked, "Is it true that you brought some kind of machine to Earth and cleansed it of massive radiation?"

Derek nodded and replied, "Yeah. We lost a lot of good people in bringing the Cosmo DNA home, but it worked."

"Cosmo DNA? That's kind of a weird name!" Starbuck said with a startled laugh.

"Well, that's what Queen Starsha called it. I didn't care what it was called, so long as it worked."

"You do have a point." Starbuck conceded as she finished off the last of her grub. She had no idea what chicken cacciatore was, but at least it was somewhat tasty and did its job of filling her belly. "Do you think it could be used on one of the Colonial worlds?"

Derek thought for a moment, then said, "I'm not sure. We still have it back on Earth. We'd have to bring it back aboard and reassemble it, but that should be no problem."

Just then, the intercom beeped and an announcement came over it. "Wildstar to the bridge! Wildstar to the bridge!"

Derek wiped his mouth with his napkin before getting up from the table. "Gotta go. Nice talking to you, Starbuck!"

Starbuck replied, "Thanks, sir!" As she watched him leave, she shook her head and wondered how she could go from wanting to knock his head off to having a civilized discussion in such a short period of time. She still was angry with him for what he did, but it was now only a simmer.

Aboard Colonial One

Presidential Meeting Room

October 2, 2214

Just before she was to meet with Wildstar and the Adamas, Doctor Cottle came to see her to give her the latest on her cancer. "It's slower this time, but unless they have some better ways of treating it on Earth…I'm sorry, Laura." Cottle said, dropping his normally gruff exterior.

Laura nodded and said, "So the Cylon blood wasn't a cure after all? Just a stop gap?"

Cottle shrugged. "That's about it. From your blood work, it seems like your natural blood cells overtook the Cylon ones we infused you with a year and a half ago. I do not know if simply giving you a transfusion from Athena will work or not…"

"I still can't believe he allowed her to rejoin the crew!" Laura said, then apologized for interrupting the doctor.

"It may work, but it's doubtful. Besides, it's probably better to wait until we get to Earth and see what kind of treatments they have there." Cottle said.

"What about Dr. Sane? Do you think he could be of some help?" Laura asked as Cottle got up to leave.

"If you could pry him away from the bottle long enough." Cottle said, using the universal gesture of someone imbibing alcohol.

"We all have our vices, doctor, like with your smoking." Laura replied.

"Maybe, but smoking doesn't dull your senses like alcohol does." Cottle made his exit, nodding to Tory Foster, the Adamas, and Derek Wildstar as they entered the room.

Cottle motioned for Laura to come over to a corner, then he added, "He may be a drunk, but I've heard from members of their crew that he's damn good at what he does. Maybe he could be of some use, or at least know of someone on Earth that could help."

Laura nodded and then went over to greet the guests and start the meeting. In her mind, though, she was curious as to whether or not an Earth doctor could be of some help. It was a long shot, but considering how far they had all come, another miracle wasn't quite out of the question.

Aboard a Cylon basestar

October 3, 2214

Gaius Baltar did not know how much longer he would live. As someone whose base instinct was self-preservation, this was a very unwelcome feeling. He had been left alone for the most part, with the exception of Caprica Six and the Cylon formerly known as D'anna Biers.

They had finally given him some clothes after asking Caprica Six to intervene on his behalf. It seemed that she was the only ally he had on this ship, as the others were either indifferent to him or somewhat hostile towards him. As he lay upon the bed they had given him, he wondered why he was still alive.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had no idea he was being used by the Cylons to betray his own people. The old Caprica Six had seduced him into giving her access to the defense mainframe, and it was only when it was too late that he realized that he had given the lethal enemies of the Colonies the very key to wipe them out.

The Six in his head had not been around for a couple of days (or at he thought it was a couple of days, as he had no idea what time it was), and he wondered why that was. Was she jealous of Caprica Six?

He didn't have any more time to contemplate that as D'anna came in with a harried look on her face. "Gaius, come with me. We need you!" she said, and Gaius didn't hesitate to follow her. He didn't bother her with questions as they made their way up one hallway and down another, because he had no idea if she wanted to keep him alive or get rid of him.

D'anna had led him into a room that looked like a central command center of some kind. It reminded him a bit of the CIC aboard Galactica, except that some of the Cylons had their hands in trays with water, or what looked like water.

"We've picked up some radio transmissions from the Colonials. It appears that they are headed to Earth." Gaius looked at Boomer as she said this and wondered what she was thinking about this discovery.

"Do we have any idea where they are at the moment?" Cavil asked.

"Yes. We've traced the signal to a point just two jumps from here. We could be there shortly and jump on them right before they leave." One of the Simons replied as he looked around at those at this particular data port.

Before Gaius could say anything, Boomer added, "Too late! They've just jumped!"

"Damn! So much for giving them a nuclear surprise party!" Cavil added as he took his hands from the port.

"We can't just jump in and expect to wipe them out easily. It was hard enough when it was just Galactica and Pegasus, but with those Earth ships, it would be even harder." Leoben said.

"You, my friend, do not have an appreciation for the element of surprise." Cavil added. Moments later, the Cylons got a surprise of their own as their ship was rocked by an explosion.

D'anna hadn't put her hands in the port yet, but after she picked herself off the floor, she plunged her hands into the water to try and find out what had happened. "We're under attack, and it's not the Earth ships!"

Another explosion shook the ship violently, knocking Gaius and several of the humanoid Cylons to the floor. Even the Centurions shook with the energy of the blast, but they somehow managed to stay upright.

"We have to get out of here!" Caprica Six said urgently, and D'anna nodded. She looked around the room and the rest of them silently agreed.

"Tell the hybrid to jump the ships!" D'anna said. Moments later, all five basestars jumped from their location to their next rendezvous point.

From his seat on the bridge, Gamilon General Dommel Lysis laughed as the last of the basestars winked out of sight. "Pity that they do not have the stomach for a fight!" said the dark haired, blue skinned commander

Colonel Geru Volgar nodded and added, "Those are not Earth ships, General! Wonder who they could be?"

"It is no matter! We know where the Earthers are, and we know that that fool Deslok will come to their aid! I knew I should have deposed him when he turned his back on me after what happened at Balan!"

This brought Volgar up short. "You can't be serious! No one has ever attempted to depose him!"

Lysis laughed the mere thought of failure off as he turned to look at someone entering the room. "Little does he know that one of his own flesh and blood has already turned against him!"

Medusa was Deslok's second eldest daughter, and she, as Lysis knew all too well, resented her father's grooming of her older sister to take over the reins of power. She hated Desmonda for having the gall to be born ahead of her, and the price she paid for failing to kill her was to be cast off of Gamilon by her father.

"When do we go after that fool of a father of mine, my dear general?" Medusa said with relish.

"Soon! I want them all to be at Earth when we strike! Then we can wipe them all out at our leisure. I want to see Deslok's face as he watches me wipe out the human race once and for all!" Lysis' menacing laugh echoed off the walls of the bridge, and brought an evil smile from his lover Medusa.

Little did he know the Maddarens were slowly making their way towards Earth as well. Within a matter of days, these elements would meet together above Earth, and the resulting battle would forever change the Milky Way Galaxy.

Back on Kobol, the being inside the Temple of Athena watched all of this as if it were a movie. She knew what was coming and she knew what she had to do. The time had come to strengthen the visions she had sent to those aboard the Earth and Colonial ships. She closed her eyes and focused her mind on finding the right people to connect with. She knew that she had to expand beyond those she had already contacted, because she had to get them to believe in what was to come.

She looked into the basestar of one of the Cylons and noted that one of them was asleep and having strange dreams. This made her curious, so she entered the mind of this humanoid machine. What she found there surprised her, and she decided right then to focus on this one Cylon and use her to bring together the two warring sides to fight against an enemy that made them all look like primitives.