There is an easter egg in the story, though it's not BSG related. Cookie for the reference (Got to fire up the Easy bake oven!)
-M
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The Twelve Colonies of Man had been fighting countless skirmishes and wars with one another for the last few thousand years. The Caprica-Picon War. The Virgon-Aries Conflict. The Sagittaron-Gemonese Jihad. Too many hyphenated names for the typical Colonist to remember in the right chronological order.
There was one war everyone remembered.
The First Intercolonial War.
It had started with The Scorpion Coup. The combined might of six other colonies rose to the defense of the Quorum of the Twelve. The other five took sides with the separatists.
The Cylon Corporation supplied all twelve colonial armies with fuel, parts, ammunition, medical equipment, supplies, food, water, air, etc. Everything needed to keep the dying Colonial Warriors alive and fighting one other.
At the dawn of the seventh millennium of Man, the interstellar wars began to die down and a Day of Armistice was declared. The Colonies were finally at peace.
The Cylon Corporation was commissioned to build a station where representatives from the Twelve Colonies could maintain diplomatic relations. Every year, each of the Colonies sent an officer to Armistice Station, as stipulated by the peace treaty.
The Cylon Corporation was never present at the negotiating table, but they had a presence there anyway, just like they had a subtle influence on life in the Colonies, including the recent wars that had kept them divided for the last forty years. The company had risen so much power during the Intercolonial War they were almost a thirteenth colony in and of itself. It had infrastructure and distribution on all of the colonies, as well as a war chest of trillions of cubits. Some Colonists joked that the Cylon Corporation could buy out the Twelve Colonies if they wanted.
Peace was not what the Cylon Corporation wanted. The fighting had to continue. The only way for the Cylon Corporation to keep war going was to start another one on its own.
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Zac Adama brushed a stray piece of lint off his grey military dress tunic. Today he wore his Caprican Colonial Fleet dress uniform. As he readjusted the awkward shoulder strap back into place, he gazed at Armistice Station through the slats in the main viewport of the Cylon made ship he traveled in.
“Good Luck, Little Brother. You’re going to be just fine.”
Another set of words also entered his mind.
“You’re wasting your time. The diplomatic corps is quagmired with slick politicians who only want to work the system for their own colony’s benefit. The Peace will not last. Not while the Cylon Corporation is under control of the Quorum through proxies and lobbyists.”
“But father, I know I can make a difference.”
“You’d make more of a difference in the cockpit. Or in command of a Battlestar.”
“Dad, I wear the same uniform you do.”
Commander Adama looked down at his son’s chest, on the left side where nothing occupied the space where a Viper pilot would wear his wings. “A man isn’t a real man unless he wears....”
“For frak’s sake, spare me another one of your flyboy lectures, Old Man.” Zac couldn’t remain in the launch bay any longer and boarded the empty seat aboard his transport.
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“Speak, Centurion.”
The Pilot responded to the passenger in the rear seat of the Cylon Raider."Estimated time to arrival, thirty-six centons.”
“Minutes, Centurion. They’re called minutes.”
“By Your Command.”
Zac rolled his eyes with frustrated annoyance. He hated the Centurion Guards assigned to him as escort for the peace mission. Unlike the sleek and deadly Cylon Soldier models with built in armament, the pair of hulking monstrosities in the Cylon vessel had funny looking molded shiny armor, complete with ceremonial sword and sidearm; All of which was made more for show than for function. On top of all that, their voices were monotonous and difficult to understand. Like all Centurions, the Cylon bodyguards had the eerie pulsating red eye loudly swooshing back and forth.
Armistice station auto-detected the incoming raider and released the magnetic field to the last of twelve hangar bays. As the small craft floated into the path of a tractor beam, Zac noticed some of the other assorted craft docked inside, including a trio of red Mark VII ‘Scarlet’ class vipers from Sagittaron as well as a Cylon made personnel transport sent by parties unknown.
Once parked inside, the Centurions exited the raider, followed by Ambassador Zac Adama. The hangar bay was dimly lit and empty, devoid of any other vehicles or equipment. The observation deck above was manned by a single Centurion Soldier. The Cylon stood before the plexishield viewport absolutely motionless.
A large set of metal doors parted to reveal five figures, two Centurion Soldiers and three human men. One of them was an older man in a formal set of white religious robes. Caprican in origin, Zac noted. The second man was tall and wore glasses. Unlike his companion, he was dressed for business, sporting an expensive looking suit. His nametag identified him as a Vice President in the Cylon Corporation.
The third man in the group was the one that stuck out the most. Although his face was hidden in the shadows of the room, Zac observed that he was clad in the red jacket and tan uniform of a Sagittaron Colonial Fleet officer with the rank of Commander. His jacket was adorned with a set of gold braided ropes on his shoulder. Zac also noted he still carried his sidearm.
With a sweeping gesture and a warm demeanor, the elder of the new arrivals spoke. "Welcome to Armistice Station, Captain Adama."
Zac raised his hand with a polite wave. "Please, call me Ambassador. I don't like to use my military rank; this is a mission of peace."
"Of course. I am Baltar. I myself have dropped my personal name, though my nephew here has not."
Seizing the opening his uncle left for him, he interrupted Baltar's introduction so that he could speak for himself. "My name is Gaius. Gaius Baltar. Vice President, computers and science." He eagerly thrusted a hand toward Zac Adama, who reluctantly took it in his grasp to shake.
The preist looked somewhat displeased with his nephew's businessman's mentality. Lords, this was not a job interview! "I was about to get to that, dear nephew, but it looks like you beat me to it."
Baltar turned to the other man in his company. "Allow me to present the representative for colony of Sagittaron."
"Greetings." He stepped into the light and made his introductions to the Ambassador. "Commander Thomas Zarek of the Battlestar-
***break
And this is where I stopped writing. As you may be able to gather, it's an alternate BSG universe, with elements of both shows. All of this has happened before and all of...you know the rest.
Everyone, feel free to edit, make additions, spew ideas, whatever. I do have a few surprises in mind, as well.
Okay, let me have it!!
(update 5/11)
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just trying to spew ideas....
The Cylon Corporation has manufactured most of the Battlestars in service and many of the functions are automated or manned by Cylon Centurions or other models. It is something different than planetary holocaust or Dr. Baltar's CNP program to make the Colonial Holocaust happen.
Android models exist, but they are few and far between, due to the Colonials general disliking of them. Many of them serve in various positions in the Cylon Corporation. Unlike nBSG's Galactica universe, they are more artificial looking...kind of like Mr. Universe's sex toy robot from "Serenity" or Gigolo Joe from "AI." (OT-Both are yummy!
) Spoiler in parentheses: (Lucifer is one of these models.)That's it for now...Hopefully more to come.
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"Commander Thomas Zarek of the Battlestar-"
The Saggitaron man extended his hand to shake, but Zac refused to take it. "I know who you are, Commander, though I cannot fathom why your colony would send you of all people to a peace conference."
"Gentlemen..." The younger Baltar interjected, but was quickly silenced by the raised hand of his elder.
Zarek stood silent as he lowered his hand. He directed his gaze into the eyes of Captain Adama, who stared back with cold ferocity. Was he not clouded with hatred, Zac would have been able to see the sadness on the face of Commander Zarek.
"How many innocent people did you kill when you gave the order to bombard a Caprican <something, factory, orphanage, not sure>?"
.....darn. My writing brain just shut off. Oh, well, at least I solved that little Battlestar problem!
