Colonial Crossover: chapter 2
Title: Colonial Crossover
Author: Betty (sarah_jones on lj) & Katie
Fandoms: Stargate SG-1, SGA & Battlestar Galactica
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.
Summary: The survivors of the fight against the Ori ships get thrown into another galaxy where they meet the Colonial fleet. Will they unite against the threats of the Cylons, the Wraith and the Ori?
Warnings: some character deaths implied
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chapter 1
chapter 2:
on the way to New Caprica - Pegasus:
Lee stood next to Dee on the Pegasus bridge while they flew towards New Caprica. He could still hardly believe it, but General O´Neill had agreed to help them. After hours of talking and making decisions they had started to plan their moves. They would first get back near New Caprica and stay just out of range of the Cylon radar. Then they would send a small ship called puddle jumper to the planet. It apparently could cloak itself and not be detected at all. This really would give them a huge advantage, as they could find out the numer of Cylon basestars and other enemy ships. And they also could fly to the planets surface to find out how their people were. Lee just hoped New Caprica wouldn´t look like Caprica when they arrived.
Pushing away those thoughts Lee tried to focus on their mission instead. Luckily the Daedalus had many people on board, more than one ship needed to function properly. The general had offered to send some of them to the battlestars to help out. Of course accepting the offer had been really hard, as any of those people could also try and sabotage the battlestars. But he had talked it through with his father privately. They didn´t have another choice. They had to trust these people if they wanted to save their own people. Lee then had gone to the Daedalus himself and looked around. There definitely were far too many different looking people on board to all be cylon models. Of course they could be wrong about the actual number of cylon models, but he had decided to believe that they were right.
For once in a long time they actually had to have some luck, didn´t they? Lee really hoped their luck didn´t end with finding people from Earth, but would last long enough to let them save their people and maybe even destroy the Cylons.
If they really succeeded in that plan they would take the fleet with them and join the Daedalus on its way back to a place called Atlantis, which was closer to their current location than Earth. From there they would be able to get information about the war in the Milky Way, which Pegasus and Galactica would join together with the Daedalus afterwards. Hopefully they´d live long enough to even reach Earth or Atlantis.
Lee then turned to Dee and gave her a smile, before looking at the people from the Daedalus who were with them on the bridge. They had tried to teach them as quickly as possible what they would have to do during a battle and Lee could only hope that they would manage. He still wasn´t sure how different their systems were to the ones from earth. Several of his team were still giving instructions to their new 'allies'.
Lee walked over to one of the men, a Dr. McKay, if he remembered the name right. He seemed to be quite fascinated with everything on the battlestar and Lee was curious to know if he was familiar with the ships systems by now.
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Doctor Rodney McKay scratched the side of his nose distractedly as he continued to examine the FTL Computer.
"Amazing," he mumbled under his breath.
Realizing that Lee had ventured over, McKay decided to share his thoughts with him: "This is similar to our hyperdrive system, just less superior. Instead of opening a window into hyperspace for long periods of time you merely open a window for a fraction of a second to create a jump. We've done that in the past but not to the point where we can reappear at certain coordinates. One of your technicians said you use electromagnetic or centrifugal energies. It's something we hadn't even thought of."
It was at this point that Rodney had forgotten that Lee was even there, he was too wrapped up in his own ideas. "Now if I could get a look at the FTL engines and figure out exactly how they're powered I could maybe link it to our own database and run a full …" Then he remembered Lee… "But none of this matters seeing as we're most likely heading to our own doom." It was no secret that Rodney was hardly happy to be heading towards a planet that was overrun with highly intelligent killing robots.
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Lee smiled at the mans enthusiasm. It looked like he did understand their systems perfectly. He was about to say something when the Dr. said that they were heading to their own doom. Lees face didn´t show it, but he felt bad. He knew, that there was a big chance, that the man was right. But he just didn´t see any other way.
"Don´t listen to him, Commander," Cadman said stepping next to them. "According to Rodney’s predictions we would have had to burry him at least a hundred times already. But it seems like we just can´t get rid of him. So, we should be fine as long as he is around," she said with an amused smirk.
Rodney turned his attention away from the computer database long enough to half heartedly glare in Laura's direction.
"Oh yes, consider me a good luck charm. That'll make me feel a whole lot better when we're blown to pieces."
Cadman just grinned at Rodney.
Turning back to the computer Rodney opened the defence file.
"Does this ship have a defence shield?" he asked as he scrolled down some statistics that were on the screen. But before Lee had a chance to respond Rodney glanced at Cadman. "And did you check the damage control computer?" he asked her.
Cadman sighed. "Of course Rodney. I do follow orders, even yours. At least in a situation like this."
Lee waited for Cadman to finish, then answered the scientists first question: "No, we don´t have defence shields. The battlestars are made of armor, which usually can take a lot."
Rodney resisted grumbling about how much more effective a shield would be, especially as he was on the ship. It wasn't a very comforting thought to go into battle on a ship that Rodney considered less safe than the Daedalus.
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After been strictly told not to touch anything by Rodney out of all people, Sheppard had joined Ronon at the other end of the Pegasus bridge. Crossing his arms over his chest, John watched the Pegasus crew.
Ronon stood next to John. He had insisted to come to the Pegasus with the Lt. Colonel and the puddle jumper. As Sheppard was the best pilot to fly the jumper he would be going to the planet and Ronon intended to join him. He would be more use on the planets surface than stuck on the Daedalus or any other ship.
"Has it been decided yet who else will come to the planet with us?" he asked John. They certainly needed someone who knew the way around and who could tell them which people on the planet could be trusted. He didn´t want to rescue one of the human looking Cylons by accident. They had more than enough enemies of their own already and didn´t need to take a Cylon back to Atlantis.
When Ronon spoke John turned his head to look at the warrior. "Nope, not that I'm aware of. You'd think I'd be the first to know, seeing as I'm leading this mission." He paused for a moment before asking: "You've hardly said a word, what do you think about all this? I know what McKay and Teyla think, but you..." He shook his head bemused.
Ronon looked at John and shrugged his shoulders.
"It´s a fair deal, our help against their help. And it looks like we will need their help as much as they need ours," he simply stated. It didn´t look like they had the slightest chance in beating the Ori, so two more ships would definitely be a plus.
"Besides, if we don´t help these people now they might be dead by the time we could get back." If they would ever get back. It was highly possible that the Ori would just destroy the Daedalus as well and kill them all.
Apart from that Ronon had never been one to stand back if people were in danger. It wasn´t in his nature. He´d just have to kill robots instead of Wraith this time.
John was glad that Ronon believed that this was the right decision. John had been the first person to declare that he was happy to follow O'Neill’s decision when he had asked. It was only now that he had considered that his own team might not be in agreement.
"These two ships will definitely be a plus,” John said patting the side of the mainframe computer for emphasis, which received him a glare from one of the technicians. Pulling his hand back he gave the pretty brunette a sheepish smile.
"We probably should ask the Commander who will be coming with us to the planet. I've got an issue with leaving things to the last minute, especially when it has to do with who's on my team."
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"Commander, we've just received a hail from Galactica," Dee called out to Lee.
Once Lee picked up the phone he heard his fathers voice: "I have decided that Sharon Valerii will be joining the team that flies to New Caprica."
Lee took in a deep breath upon hearing this. Of course Sharon had helped them a lot in the past, but he still couldn´t manage to trust her. He wanted to protest, but he knew that his father wouldn´t make a decision like this without giving it a lot of thought.
"I understand," he just said. "But shouldn´t another one of us go with the people from Earth? I mean a human," he added silently. He stood a bit away from the others and wanted to make sure they didn´t overhear him now. He wanted to tell them later in person.
"I could go," he then offered. But he was sure, that his father wouldn´t agree to that. He wished to go himself, but he knew as well, that the Pegasus needed its Commander.
"No," William answered more sharply than he had intended. Softening his voice a little he continued: "No, Pegasus needs you. If we're detected and the Cylons attack Pegasus will need you to guide them."
Lee wasn´t surprised by his fathers reaction. He had expected it.
As William watched his own crew rush around Galactica's bridge he brought the communicator closer to his mouth. "I considered Lieutenant Agathon but decided that he was more valuable here. Is there anyone on the Pegasus that you feel you can trust on this mission?"
"You are right, Helo should stay. I feel safer with him here when Sharon is out there,” Lee said.
He then thought for a moment and looked around. His crew wasn´t that big anymore. And most of his people were badly needed on the ship. His gaze then fell on Dee.
"How about Lt. Dualla? She can handle herself pretty well by now and has my complete trust," he said. He didn´t feel good thinking about Dee going to New Caprica, but he couldn´t picture sending anyone else either.
"Lt. Dualla has my complete trust as well," the Admiral stated, seemingly happy with this decision. "I'll have Sharon brought to Pegasus shortly. Commander, I'll leave it to you to decide if you tell our 'friends' about Sharon's true identity or not. Keep me posted."
"I´ll let Dee know," Lee said. He then thought for a moment. "I will tell them. They would find out the moment they arrive on New Caprica anyway."
After having finished talking to his father Lee turned around. He then waved Dee, Colonel Sheppard and Ronon Dex over to him.
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Ronon had watched the Commander after having talked to John. He was sure that they would now be informed about their team.
When they all stood next to him Lee started to tell them what they had decided.
"Lt. Dualla, the Admiral and I would like you to join the Colonel’s team that flies to New Caprica. The Admiral also decided that Sharon Valerii will join you."
Dee appeared a little surprised that she had been selected to join the team to New Caprica, and was even more surprised when Lee said Sharon would be going too, until she realized the advantage Sharon would bring them.
Lee then looked from Dee, who fully understood what risk they were taking, to their new allies.
"Sending Sharon Valerii on this mission with you has not been an easy decision, but we have decided to trust her, as she has helped safe the fleet on several occassions."
After a small pause he then added: "Sharon is a Cylon, who has decided to defect to our side a while ago. She will be able to walk around on New Caprica without being noticed and thus can gather helpful information for us."
Ronon stared at the Commander, not feeling sure if he liked the idea of trusting a robot to help them fight it´s own race.
Sheppard blinked once...and then twice. "Excuse me?" he asked, not sure if he heard right. "You're sending us to the planet the Cylons invaded…with a Cylon? You've got to be kidding."
"She has proven on a number of occasions that she can be trusted. She won't betray us," Dee said, not entirely trusting her own words but still saying them to back up Lee's and the Admirals decision.
"You trust someone to help fight their own people?" Ronon asked speaking up.
"Yes," Lee said calmly. "We also trust that she would do nothing to harm the man she loves, Lt. Karl Agathon, who will stay behind on the Galactica.
Ronon just raised an eyebrow at that and glanced at Sheppard. Taking a Cylon with them could either prove to be very useful, or deadly stupid.
Sheppard returned Ronons look before shrugging his shoulders. It wasn't like they had much of a choice here. It wasn't their war and they didn't know the whole story. They'd just have to trust that these people knew what they were doing.
"Cadman," Sheppard called out, his eyes landing on the woman who was standing beside McKay. "Fancy going on a mission?" he asked. Having one more of his own people on the team would make him feel a bit more comfortable about all this.
Cadman turned around when she heard the Colonel’s voice.
"Of course, sir," she said. "Need me to plant some bombs?" she then asked. She usually went on missions with the Colonel himself if he needed her expertise.
Ronon smirked at Cadman. He had the feeling that she slightly enjoyed blowing up stuff.
Sheppard’s lips curled up into a small smile. "You read my mind, Lieutenant."
Lee looked from the Colonel to the woman he had addressed. From what he just heard she seemed to be a bomb specialist, which sounded good.
"I certainly wouldn´t mind to see some toasters blown up," he said with a slight smirk. Having the people from earth around him and having gotten back a bit of hope had improved his mood.
When Lee spoke John looked at him and his smile widened. "Oh, you'll definitely be seeing some of that." He then patted the Commander on the shoulder as he walked past him.
"Cadman, we'll need some C4, I trust I can rely on you to make sure we have some before we head off?"
"Of course, sir. I will contact the Daedalus to beam some on board as soon as we reach our position near the planet," Cadman said with a smile.
Dee who was still at her station glanced down at the screen. "Commander we should reach New Caprica within the next hour."
Lee turned to Dee and nodded. "Make sure we stay out of reach of the Cylon radars and tell me as soon as we see the Daedalus again." The ships had to split up before, as the Daedalus went into hyperspace and the battlestars jumped most of the way.
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New Caprica - 3 days after the Cylons arrived:
Laura Roslin was in a tent with several other people. She still couldn´t believe that this actually happened. Of course she had warned everyone and especially Gaius Baltar, the president, about this. She had already tried to make him see reason during the elections, but he had been too blind to see that it had not just been about winning the election for her.
Now it had happened, the Cylons had found them and taken over New Caprica. The only surprise was, that they hadn´t destroyed it like they did with Caprica. Apparently there had been a revolution and a change in leadership amongst the Cylons. At least this was what Sharon Valerii, the Cylon that had been stationed and killed on the Galactica, had told her. The Cylons no longer wanted to kill them, but live together with them in peace.
Of course that would have been too good to be true. Maybe Sharon Valerii even believed it, but apparently not every Cylon did. There had been many fights and several deaths since the Cylons had declared that they would be the new leaders of New Caprica and wanted humans and Cylons to live together peacefully. Some of them might have been because humans tried to kill Cylons, but Laura Roslin doubted, that many humans were stupid enough to just attack a Cylon in their position. There was no way they could fight them and win, not without the battlestars. She even doubted that they could win with the help of the battlestars. That was why they had jumped away after all.
The only obvious reason for all the deaths and fights to Laura was, that certain cylon models just didn´t want to live together with humans, especially not with those who had killed one of them, or even their previous bodies. The number of dead military people supported that theory.
Besides the fights and deaths it had shown to be very hard to live together with Cylons peacefully. They treated them as nothing more than slaves.
Laura suddenly was pulled out of her thoughts when someone entered the tent. Turning around to see who it was she noticed Sharon Valerii, or at least one of her models.
"Madam pre... Miss Roslin," Sharon said correcting herself. It was still strange for her to accept the fact that Gaius Baltar now was president of the colonies. How could the drunken idiot, who obviously only cared about having sex with more than one woman, that they had found upon their arrival, have been elected president? No wonder the fleet had been easy to find and take over!
"You have to talk to the people. If they keep up resisting the new order and living together with us there will be more fights and deaths. That is not what we want." It certainly was not what she wanted. She just wanted the Cylons and humans to live together peacefully, to have a chance to be with her friends again. And she certainly didn´t want the humans she cared so much about to get hurt. What was happening on the planet at the moment was far from what she had hoped when they came here. She really wished it would get better in the future.
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Kara Thrace and Cally were quickly making their way to Laura Roslin's tent. Over the past two days Kara (with the help of Cally, Tyrol and a few others) had been secretly forming a new resistance movement ready for when Galactica and Pegasus returned. She knew a lot of people believed they had been deserted but she refused to believe that. Lee and the Admiral would be back when they were good and ready and she was making sure that the people on New Caprica were prepared for when that time came.
Spotting Roslin leaving her tent followed closely by one of the Valerii copies she quickly stuck her arm in front of Cally so she came to a halt.
"What do you think they want with her?" she asked, concern flickering across her hardened face.
Cally looked at the scene in front of them. "I don´t know. She is not the president anymore after all," she said.
Laura spotted Kara and Cally nearby and stopped walking. She had agreed to talk to the people. But she would prefer it if Kara went with her. She knew that Kara propably was the leader of the new resistance movement and would like to have her with her. If Kara stood next to her when she told the people to be peaceful, they hopefully would get that she only meant that they should wait until the right time had come.
"Kara, Cally," she called, waving them over.
When they were closer she continued: "Sharon here asked me to talk to our people and tell them to try and live peacefully with the Cylons."
Sharon looked at Kara and Cally. She was glad to see Kara again. She still hoped that they could be friends again one day. Cally on the other hand was one of her least favourite people. She had killed her after all.
"I don´t want any more people to die," Sharon then said. "I hope you see it the same way. We have to find a way to live together in peace."
If Kara had let her guard down she would have laughed out loud. The thought of them and the Cylons living together in peace was frak. Trying to hide her evident distrust, Kara turned her expressive eyes to Sharon and merely stared at her for a couple of seconds before looking back to Laura.
"The people will listen to you," she agreed. "It'll be hard to convince them though. They're scared and many have lost loved ones..." She swallowed hard trying to keep her voice even. "Is there anything I can do?" She directed the question at Laura.
Laura gave Kara a nod. "I would like you to come with me and stand by my side when I address the people," she said.
Sharon glanced from Roslin to Starbuck. Maybe that would be a good idea. Starbuck represented the military after all. She just hoped her former friend would agree.
At first Kara appeared a little hesitant. She glanced at Cally and then mentally scolded herself for doing so. Was it possible that the Cylons knew about the resistance? Was this some kind of trap? Had she not covered up her own tracks? No, she had been careful. Pushing the paranoia to the back of her mind she finally gave her answer: "I'll stand with you."
As she said those words she stared at Laura long and hard trying to detect a trace of fear in the former president’s eyes. She saw nothing and this alone calmed the Captain.
Sharon smiled at hearing those words before turning around to leave.
Laura nodded at Kara thankfully. "Ok, then let´s go," she said and followed the Cylon.
"I´ll see you later," Cally whispered to Kara. She needed some rest anyway. Touching her belly she then turned around and walked towards the tent she shared with Galen.
Kara nodded at Cally and even gave the woman and her swollen stomach a slight smile.
"I'll let you know what's going on when I return." She then turned and jogged to catch up with Laura and Sharon.
Making sure they were about five feet behind Sharon and out of ear shot, Kara tilted her head towards the older woman’s ear as they continued to walk. "This could be some kind of trap," she warned the former president, making sure her voice was quiet enough not to be overheard.
Laura looked at Kara and shook her head. "They don´t need any traps. They have taken over the planet. They could kill us right here, if they wanted to," she whispered. Besides that Laura felt like this Sharon model really believed in the illusion of having peace between their races.
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Team heading to New Caprica for Recon:
"I hope I don't have to remind any of you that this mission is strictly re-con?" John Sheppard said as the cloaked puddle jumper flew closer and closer to the planet. They had already passed the first two Cylon basestars and there were three others orbiting the planet.
"We land on the planet, check out the situation and plant some C4 ready for detonation. Sharon…" he glanced over his shoulder at the Cylon woman who was sitting quietly in the back. "It is Sharon, isn't it?" he asked.
Sharon nodded silently.
"Well, Sharon, I expect you to help us walk around unnoticed. From what your Commander tells me, you're the best person for the job."
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, Cadman? I'm thinking we should be planting a couple of bombs as a distraction for when we decide to attack. We’ll have to be careful though, we don’t want to be injuring the wrong people."
"Understood, sir," Cadman said. The C4 had been put in her and some of the other’s backpacks. Once they were on the planets surface she would plant them wherever they saw fit.
John grabbed the life sign detector and put it in his pocket.
“Lieutenant Dualla, to your left there should be a cupboard, inside are some weapons called Zat guns. I think they might be more useful than normal firearms. But hopefully we wont have to use them if this mission goes smoothly.”
Dee grabbed one of the Zat guns and looked at it curiously. “How do I use it?”
“One shot stuns, two shots kill and the third shot gets rid of the body.”
Dee nodded and looked at the small gun impressed.
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Ronon watched the female Cylon. She really looked human. He had been sceptical when he had been told that some of the Cylons looked exactly like humans. Now he began to understand how easy it must have been for the Cylons to infiltrate Caprica and the fleet.
He then looked out of the window again and saw the planets surface coming closer.
Cadman did the same. "I so wouldn´t want to live there," she said narrowing her eyes. "With or without the Cylons." It just didn´t look very welcoming.
John silently agreed as they slowly descended down through the atmosphere. The place looked harsh but habitable. Instead of landing straight away Sheppard decided to take a look around from the air to begin with, just so they could gather their bearings.
Soon they were flying over what could be described as a small city of canvas tents. "Is this where most of your people are?" he asked.
Dee walked over and stood beside him to look out of the window. "Yes, there are other scattered settlements but this is the main section."
"We'll land close by then. Preferably somewhere with some cover, not that there seems to be much of that," John said turning the jumper and looking for somewhere to land.
Ten minutes passed before he found a suitable place to land. Once the puddle jumper had touched down John stood up and pulled his jacket on.
"Okay is everyone prepared?" he asked before grabbing a Zat gun for himself and walking through the jumper.
"Yes, sir. I´m ready," Cadman said. Ronon just nodded.
They then left the jumper and started to head towards the city.
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Hiding behind a rock Ronon glanced over it. There were some weird robots walking around. He guessed those were the original Cylons.
"Where do we start?" Cadman asked Sheppard. "Didn´t the Commander tell us to look for some people to talk to?" She then glanced at Dee. She surely would remember better who the Commander had been talking about.
"Yeah, he said to try and find some of his crew who were left on the planet. Lieutenant Dualla, we'll need your help with that, seeing as we don't know anyone and no one knows us," Sheppard said and then peered through his binoculars. After a moments pause he passed them to Dee. "Here, see if you can see anyone you know."
Dee took the binoculars and pressed them to her brown eyes. Scanning the groups of people she eventually spotted someone she recognised. Passing the binoculars back to Sheppard she said: "The pregnant brunette on the far left is Cally. She worked on Galactica."
Sheppard nodded and took a look through the binoculars at the woman called Cally.
“One of us should go in there and bring her over here. Sharon?"
"I don´t think that's a good idea," Sharon said quickly. "She has no reason to trust me."
"I'll go," Dee volunteered, standing up. She knew why it wasn´t a good idea to send Sharon to Cally. They weren´t exactly on friendly terms, after Cally killed the other Sharon model.
"We've got your back," John promised her. "First sign of trouble get yourself out of there."
Dee nodded before walking out from behind one of the rocks and heading to the camp. Making her way through the groups of people unnoticed she quickly walked over to Cally.
Cally was on her way to see Starbuck, when she suddenly found herself face to face with Dee. Staring at the other woman she was unable to speak for a few seconds.
"Dee? How...," she started. Then a small smile appeared on her lips. They had come back. Pegasus and Galactica were here to save them.
It was only then that Dee noticed how tired and worn Cally looked; how everyone looked. Dee briefly returned Cally’s smile in the hopes of reassuring Cally that they really were here.
"Pegasus and Galactica are not alone. We've found people from Earth, Cally. And they've come to help us." She hoped that the hope she had just given Cally would last until they could make a proper rescue.
Cally stared at Dee in shock. This was too good to be true. After all they had been through could they finally be that lucky?
Dee then beckoned the woman to follow her. "It's not safe to talk here. Follow me."
Not knowing how to react to all these news Cally let Dee drag her away from the camp.
----- -----
Sheppard had been watching the two women through his binoculars. Once they were close enough he stood up.
"Cally, this are Colonel Sheppard, Lieutenant Cadman and Ronon Dex." Dee pointed to each of them in turn. "And you know Sharon..."
"Hello Cally, it's a pleasure to meet you," John said with a friendly smile.
Seeing the strangers it finally really hit Cally. They were not from the fleet, so they really had to be from Earth.
She gave them a small smile before glancing at Sharon.
"Why did you bring her?" she then asked. She didn´t feel comfortable to tell them anything about their resistance movement in the presence of a Cylon.
Sharon glanced up at Cally when she referred to her as 'her'. The tone of her voice told Sharon all she needed to know. Cally just like the others would never trust her and would always fear and hate her. To them she was just a Cylon. They wouldn’t even try to understand that she was different.
"It was the Admirals decision," Ronon said looking at the small, tired looking and very pregnant woman.
"She can be trusted." Dee honestly felt like she had said that for the hundredth time that day. She was getting sick of trying to defend Sharon all the time when she herself wasn't even sure if she trusted her.
"What can you tell us Cally?" John then asked, getting to the point straight away.
Cally sighed. For the moment she would just have to risk telling these people and Sharon what she knew. Otherwise they were screwed anyway.
"The Cylons took over the planet and claimed that they wanted to live in peace with us. But they merely wanted slaves. They order us around all day and treat us like scum. And they murdered several of us, especially military," she said looking really sad and angry.
"We did not give up hope though. We have...," she started and then glanced at Sharon.
"Who guarantees me that the Cylons won´t know what I tell you the moment this one hears it?" she asked frowning. "Even if she is on our side, who knows if the others don´t know what she knows or can reprogram her, make her shoot one of us all of a sudden again, like she shot the Admiral?"
Dee raised both her eyebrows. Cally did have a point. None of them truly knew enough about the Cylons. Even if it was unintentional Sharon could be handing over information to the Cylons right now.
”Just for the record, it wasn´t me who shot the Admiral,” Sharon stated. "I'm not a sleeper agent," she then added. There was a sharp tone to her voice. "And they can't reprogram me..."
"How can you be sure?" Dee asked Sharon sceptically.
"Ladies," John raised his hands trying to keep the peace. Turning to Sharon, he hesitated before saying: "Just to be sure, maybe you should wait by the ship. I'll call you back when…"
Sharon didn't even wait for him to finish. Frustrated she turned and walked away heading back towards the puddle jumper. Half of her was tempted to prove them right and betray them. It was obvious that she would never wholly gain their trust, so why keep fighting them and try to prove herself? But then she thought of Helo. After everything she couldn't do that to him. She loved him and he loved her, and deep down that was all that mattered. As long as he trusted her, she would stay with the humans.
Cally actually was surprised at how quickly Sharon walked away.
"Ronon maybe you should go and keep an eye on her," Sheppard suggested, suspicion yet again planted into his mind by the other two women’s paranoia.
Ronon nodded at Sheppard and followed her quickly. He didn´t like to leave the Colonel alone, but he knew that it was important not to let this Cylon just walk to her people and tell them they were here.
Once Sharon was out of earshot Cally continued: "We have a resistance movement. We have started hiding everything we can use as weapons. And we also have decided on a few signals to let everyone know quickly what to do, like run and hide or stand up and fight."
Dee was clearly impressed by how quickly a resistance had been created. It sounded like they were organised and prepared for whatever was to come. This would be a relief to Lee and the Admiral.
"What can you tell us about these Cylons? Do they have a main base on the planet and if so, where?" Sheppard asked Cally. The Cylon base would be their main target.
Cally looked over at the Colonel. "They have taken over a few tents at the other end of the city. There also are many Cylons patrolling the city day and night. But most of the toasters are still in their ships for now. We think they want to be prepared for when the battlestars come back," she said.
Thinking for a moment she then added. "Maybe I should go and get Starbuck. If you want to work on a plan to get us out of here she would be the one to talk to. I´m not military after all." Starbuck always came up with the best plans and she surely knew where the Cylons weak points were on the planet. She just had an eye for it.
John nodded at Cally. Even though he didn't know who this Starbuck was, if Cally thought she was the right person to talk to, then he wanted to speak to her.
"This Starbuck can help us decide where we should plant the C4," he decided.
Cadman nodded as well. “Could you also try and find some of your pilots and other important people who worked on the battlestars? Commander Adama said they could need some help on the battlestars and more people to fly their vipers. We can take a few people with us."
When Cadman spoke up mentioning that Lee Adama had wanted them to bring back some of his crew which were stuck on the planet, John congratulated himself on his decision to bring Laura along. He had clean forgotten about the Commanders request.
"Be careful, the last thing we want is for the Cylons to get suspicious. The element of surprise is our greatest advantage. We don't want to loose that," Sheppard warned Cally and after a moments pause added: "We can squeeze about 10 people into the puddle jumper, and we can make a couple of journeys if needed," he said.
Cally nodded. "I will go and get Starbuck," she said. "And then I’ll walk around and spread the word to all pilots and people who were stationed on the battlestars. Bringing a large group will be impossible. But maybe one after the other can try to escape unnoticed. Where shall I send them?" she asked.
"Directly to the jumper?" Cadman suggested and looked at the Colonel.
John nodded at Cadmans suggestion and then turned to Cally again.
"Maybe not every pilot and military personnel, a large amount of people disappearing over a short period of time is just going to alert the Cylons that something is up. I say around half of your personnel. We have plenty of men on the Daedalus which are pretty fine pilots. Besides, it's not going to be a walk in the park for the people stuck on this planet. The moment the Cylons sense an attack there's the possibility that they are going to not be so peace giving with you guys. It would be best to have some military personnel back on the planet in that case. And make sure you tell them discreetly. The last thing we want is to alert the enemy. Tell them to take a ten minute walk in this direction. Dualla will then greet them and take them to the jumper," he glanced at Dee and waited until he got a confirming nod.
Then he turned back to Cally. "You're comfortable with all this?" He hated to put the pregnant woman in a position where she would be in danger but at this precise moment he didn't have a choice.
"Of course I am. My husband, Starbuck and I formed the resistance. We just waited for the perfect time to stand up. I´m just glad it didn´t take you longer to come back," Cally said and then glanced at Dee with a thankful smile.
She then turned around. "I will see you later." With that said she slowly made her way back to into the city, carefully looking around, to not cause any suspicion.
Dee smiled back at Cally before the woman started walking away. She was glad that Cally was okay, and also saddened by the news that a lot of the crew had been killed. It was a major loss of life, which with no doubt Galactica and Pegasus would suffer from.
John watched Cally hurry away until she was lost in the crowds.
"Well, that went well," he said, commenting to no one in particular. “I’d say things are going well so far, which is surprising.” He wasn’t pessimistic but if he was honest he’d have to admit that not a lot of the missions he went on or led went according to plan.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Once back among her people Cally looked around. She found Kat and Brendan first. They were some of the last remaining viper pilots that she knew. She quickly told them what had happened and they agreed to sneak out to meet Dee and the people from earth. She also told them to tell a few other pilots.
She then continued her way through the city, avoiding to get close to any Cylons.
When she arrived at Starbuck's tent she whispered: "Kara, are you there?" She was sure, that she was, seeing as Anders was still sick, but she didn´t want to just go inside.
----- -----
Kara sat in her and Anders tent, lost in her own calculating thoughts as she watched Sam toss and turn in his shivery sleep. With each day that passed his condition grew worse and she felt helpless.
She then suddenly heard Cally's voice. Leaving Sam’s side, she pulled back the material of the tent and looked at Cally.
“What’s wrong?” she asked straight away, assuming the worst.
Cally quickly pulled Kara towards her. They had long found out that it was best to talk about important things outside. There they at least could see where the Cylons were.
"Nothing is wrong, Kara. I actually have great news," she said barely being able to hide her smile.
"They are back," she just said, knowing that Kara would understand. The less she said, the less could be overheard.
Kara's eyes lit up for the first time in days with the news that both Pegasus and Galactica had returned. She had always known that they would come back to save them but so soon? It had only been days since the Cylons had invaded and she was well aware that the number of crew on both ships was not enough to start a full blown attack against them.
"And they are not alone..." Leaning in closer and pretending to brush something out of Kara’s hair she whispered: "They found people from Earth. Dee brought some here. They want to talk to you."
That changed everything. Aware that her mouth was hanging open, Kara quickly tried to maintain her composure in case prying eyes were watching them. Brushing her fingers through her long blonde hair, she turned her back on the other tents and whispered: "You've got to be frakkin' kidding me, Cally." It was too good to be true.
"That´s what I though when Dee told me, but then I met the people from Earth," Cally whispered.
"Where are they? Dee's here too? Do they have a plan?" She knew she was firing too many questions and the less that was said, the better.
Cally just discribed to Kara where they were waiting for her. All other questions could wait.
"I have to spread the word, you go and talk to them," Cally said, just when Laura Roslin appeared.
"Is something wrong?" the former president asked when she saw the two standing close.
Starbuck risked a smile when Roslin approached them. Laura Roslin may no longer be president but if Kara had to choose between sharing this news with her or Gaius Baltar, she would choose Roslin, whether it was the right thing to do or not.
"Let's take a walk, I'll explain on the way," she promised before glancing back at Cally.
"Be careful and keep your eyes open."
"Just give me a sec", she then told Roslin before disappearing back in her tent. She wanted to check on Anders. Minutes later she reappeared and headed off with Laura the way Cally had come.
On the way to where Cally had instructed her to go, Starbuck told Laura quietly everything she had been told.
Laura could hardly believe what Kara told her. This was the first really good news in years. They then managed to get to the meeting point without being noticed.
Cadman held her Zat gun at the two woman when they walked around the rock. They had only expected one, so it could be someone else. Next to her Sheppard did the same.
Laura Rolin just stared at the group in front of them for a moment. Two of them were completely unfamiliar. By now they also had seen most of the cylon models, so she was pretty sure they were no Cylons. This could only mean that this was no sick joke or trap. A smile started to appear on her lips.
"It’s ok! You can lower your weapon. This are Captain Thrace and our former president Laura Roslin," Dee quickly said.
Cadman and Sheppard relaxed and put their weapons down for now.
Kara waited until the weapons were lowered before she let down her own guard.
"Starbuck?" John questioned looking at Dee for confirmation. Cally had only mentioned Kara's call sign so he was unsure if either of these woman were who they had been expecting.
"That's me," Kara said with a nod of her head as her eyes flickered between Sheppard and Cadman with disguised uncertainty. So these people were from the legendary Earth? She felt a flutter in her stomach. There was truly hope after all.
“I’m Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and this is Lieutenant Cadman. I’ve been told that I can rely on your help in creating a plan of attack down here on the planet?”
“You’ve heard right,” Kara stated with a small smirk.
"It´s nice to meet you Colonel, Lieutenant," Roslin greeted the two of them, before turning to Dee with a smile. "And I´m glad to see you again so soon. We didn´t dare hope to see you again this quickly."
"It's good to see you too pr-… Miss Roslin," Dee said. She then turned her attention to Starbuck. "...you too, Captain."
Kara gave Dee a curt nod in acknowledgement. It was no secret that Dee and herself didn't exactly get along. Still, Kara did know how to be civil, as did the Lieutenant.
Roslin then turned back to the Colonel, knowing that they shouldn´t waste any time.
"What is your plan so far and how can we help?" she asked all business-like.
John decided that he liked Laura Roslin's attitude. Straight to the chase, just what they needed.
"We're relying on the element of surprise to work to our advantage. We have a whole backpack of C4, which is an explosive. We're going to plant it all around the city and detonate it just before we start the attack. I'll need to know the best places to plant the C4, preferably in places where it'll pack a punch."
He paused for a moment before continuing: "The explosions will hopefully cause enough confusion among the Cylons for your resistant movement to fight back. There are five Cylon vessels orbiting the planet, we'll deal with them. The Commander mentioned something about two of the fleets ships being on the planet."
"Colonial One and the Astral Queen," Kara said.
"Right. It would be helpful, if you could regain control of both ships."
"That won´t be easy, but we will try," Roslin said.
Cadman then spoke up. "Do you have a map of the city, where you can mark which places should get blown up? Then I could already head there and plant the C4, while you continue working on a plan," she suggested.
"No," Laura Roslin answered. "There was no need for a map so far and people have moved their tents around often anyway. But maybe we can draw a simple one?"
"You got a pen and paper?" Kara asked. The moment they had mentioned planting bombs she had already picked out the places to put them.
"It so happens that I have," John stated with a wry smile. Opening one of the pockets on his black military jacket he handed over a small notebook and pen.
Crouching down, Kara used her knee to rest the notebook on. "The Cylons have set up their base aboard Colonial One. Their raiders are on the other side of the city, heavily guarded. You’ll want to target those. It won´t be easy," she admitted with a slight frown. "Leave some of this C4 with me, I'll figure something out. Now, other places you can target are here, here and here." She circled all the places on the basic map she had just drawn.
"Oh, and one here," she circled a place close to the Astral Queen. “Some of our men are imprisoned here. Give us a good enough distraction and we'll try and get them out."
John tilted his head, watching the blonde as she worked away.
Cadman smiled when Starbuck drew the map. It looked like the other woman had already given this some thought before they had arrived, which was a good thing. Once Starbuck had finished Cadman took the map from her, while listening to her final statements. She then nodded at the blonde before turning to Sheppard.
"You want me to go alone or take anyone with me?" she asked.
"Take Lt. Dualla with you and, uh Sharon." The women’s earlier paranoia about Valerii had made him a little uneasy. Pushing his own concerns to the back of his mind however, he decided that if the Admiral and Commander believed she could be trusted then that was good enough for him.
"Yes, sir," Cadman said. "I will go get Sharon and Ronon." With that she then disappeared.
"Sharon? Boomer?" Kara glanced to Dee who merely shrugged her shoulders at Kara. "You do know that she's…"
"Cylon? Yep. But your Admiral believes that she can be trusted. So I'm going to have a bit of faith."
Roslin sighed. She didn´t like the thought of having faith in a Cylon, but if the Admiral trusted Sharon she would try to do the same.
She then looked at the others before saying: "If you walk around the city, you might want to change your clothes. If a Cylon sees you like this you might be dead before you can plant even one bomb. I can go and get you some of my clothes, if you want to."
John looked to Roslin, considering her offer. "Good idea. They need to blend in. Starbu- er, Captain Thrace?"
"Call me Starbuck," she told him. "No need for formalities here."
"Alright, Starbuck. We're going to have to come up with a plan of action."
Laura Roslin nodded at Sheppard and then turned to leave. "I will be back as soon as possible."
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chapter 3