The story you are about to read is not meant to infringe on any preexisting copyrights. This is just for personal pleasure. For Many years, we have believed that there were other intelligent life somewhere across the vastness of space, but little do we know that other tribes of humans, at this very moment, are struggling to survive. They have conquered many perils, but their one mission is to find a planet that they believed only existed in their myths, a planet known as Earth. This fleet of humans have traveled far and through many unimaginable terrors, but they remain confident that someday soon, they will find Earth, led by the last of the Battlestars. The Last Battlestar Based on Battlestar Galactica by Glen A. Larson Story by: Joshua S. Richards The Second Journey From Adama's Journal: It has nearly been a yahren since the second tragic human holocaust back at Toltron. Though it has been a yahren, memories from that Cylon death trap is still fresh in my mind. I can not help but be tormented by the thoughts of me being responsible for the near destruction of the fleet. The council has pardoned me from my actions, but pardoning myself is something totally different. Another fact that is dwindling through my mind, which nearly helps me forget about the horrid event, is the thought that is also in the minds of every single warrior's mind; The planet Earth. Kornel, the distant relative of someone from the thirteenth tribe, the tribe of Atlantis, had calculated that from Toltron, it would take us a yahren to reach the planet Earth. That time has nearly expired, and hopes are high that we are at last reaching the final centons of our long relentless journey. The excitement is apparent throughout the Galactica, and I assume as in the rest of the fleet as well. I hope this excitement doesn't distract us from keeping an eye on the Cylons. Even with our new warrior, Captain Bane, an off guarded attack can be devastating. "I accept your challenge, and I'll raise you five credits." Bane threw out the red chips into the middle of the card table, where a decent sized chip pile awaited to be one by someone. "Too rich for my blood." Boomer placed his five pentagon shaped pyramid cards on the table. "It's just you and Bane, Starbuck." Apollo announced to his best friend. Apollo was interested to see who was going to win this profitable hand. Starbuck was always the ace of pyramid, and a gambling fool. Bane seemed to finally be giving Starbuck some tough competition. "Fine. I accept your brave challenge of seven credits, and I'll even raise it up two more credits." This has to convince him to fold, thought Starbuck. Starbuck realized that he was not like the other warriors when it came to playing pyramid. He was almost like another Starbuck. "I accept." Bane grinned and threw in the two extra chips into the pile. "What do you have?" Starbuck asked. "I have half of a pyramid." Bane said laying down his cards for all to see. "Unless you have anything worse than that, you won." Bane grinned, knowing full well what Starbuck's reaction was going to be. "Frack!" Starbuck threw his cards onto the table. Everyone around the table laughed as Bane dragged the pile of chips towards his personal pile, which had more chips than anyone. "I see you are an ace in Pyramid as well." Apollo commented toward Bane. "I'm pretty good." Bane admitted. "That's an understatement." Starbuck said, taking a puff from his cigar. A familiar voice called him from behind him. He put the cigar back in the ash tray and turned his hover chair around to face the person who had called his name. Cassiopeia stood at the door, in her blue robe and her stomach which was becoming rounded with her child in her womb. "What are you doing out of bed?" Starbuck asked, looking at the size of her belly. She was definitely entering the late stages of pregnancy. "Hey Cass, how are you feeling?" Bane asked politely. "I'm doing fine, thank you." Cassiopeia smiled tiredly. "Starbuck, can I speak to you for a minute?" "Sure. You guys play the next hand without me. I'll be back in a few microns." Starbuck followed Cassiopeia out of the room and into the halls of the Galactica. Commander Adama was sitting at his chair just thinking to himself, until he heard Boxey running to him, followed by his two barking daggots. "Hi, Grandpa!" "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise!" Adama smiled, helping Boxey to climb up unto his lap. "So, how is my favorite grandson?" "Great! I'm teaching Toffet some new tricks!" "You are? That's great!" Adama remembered the time back during the final moments of Caprica as Boxey and his mother, Serina, were amongst the group of survivors of the Cylon raid. Adama's son, Apollo, had begun falling in love with Serina, and Apollo was very good with children. He brought Boxey and Serina to Dr. Wilker's science lab, where Dr. Wilker introduced Boxey to the first mechanical daggot, Muffy. Almost a yahren ago, back at Toltron, Dr. Wilker was killed in an explosion from the Cylon's death trap, and Muffy was damaged from the attack. Muffy was repaired by the Dr. Kornel, but Kornel had thought Muffy to be damaged beyond repair. So Dr. Kornel somehow, created another mechanical daggot in a very short time, and after completing Toffet, Muffy became operational as well, and now here they were, two mechanical daggots, Muffy and Toffet. The thought of Boxey's mother's death came back to Commander Adama. Serina's death affected Apollo deeply. He and Serina were just married when a Cylon had stolen her life away from him, back at Kobal. Adama had never thought that Apollo would ever come out of mourning, but it was just recently when he and Sheba started getting close and now was going steady. "Grandpa, are you sick?" Boxey asked him with a childish concerned look on his face. "What?" Adama hadn't realized that he had returned back into his deep thinking. "Oh, no Boxey. I was only thinking." "About what?" Adama didn't want to remind the young boy about his mother. It might still be a sore spot for him. While trying to think of something to say to his grandson, Colonel Tigh approached the commander. Colonel Tigh was the second in command, underneath Adama's authority. Tigh was a black man wearing his navy blue colonel's uniform. "Commander, we may be approaching Earth! We have passed several uninhabited planets, and according to the maps drawn out by Boxey here, and described by Starbuck, the next planet in line should be planet Earth." Adama helped Boxey of his lap, and stood up with his eyes full of joy. "Fantastic! After many yahrens of traveling thorough the endlessness of space, we have at last found-" "Commander, look!" Rigel screamed in alarm out the glass window in front of the Galactica. Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh stared out the window in puzzlement. "What in blazes?" A bright flashing white light was speeding through space, heading straight for them. "Shield down!" Adama order, but it came to late. The last thing anyone could remember was that the entire bridge of the Galactica was engulfed in totally bright white light. "What's wrong Cass?" Starbuck asked. "You shouldn't be standing on your feet, you know that." "I know, but I was getting board doing nothing but sleep. It's not fun sleeping in the medical center." "Do you want the guys and I to go over to Apollo's quarters?" Starbuck asked. Before Cassiopeia could answer that question, they both screamed as they were suddenly blinded by a bright white light that filled the halls of the Galactica. Apollo dealt the cards for the next hand of Pyramid. "It's hard to believe that Starbuck and Cassiopeia will soon be having a baby." Apollo commented. "I mean, nearly a yahren ago, they had just announced their wedding, and it was only half a yahren ago when they announced that they were going to have the child." "I know. Starbuck has really changed since the accident. I don't know whether it was for the good or not. I sort of missed the old Starbuck." Boomer added. Suddenly, all of the men were startled when they heard Starbuck and Cassiopeia scream in horror, in the hall. Bane had jumped out of his chair as a reaction to their scream. Before anyone was able to move any further, they were blinded by bright white light. "Commander, are you all right?" Adama had found himself on the ground, looking up at Colonel Tigh, who had a small cut across his forehead. "What happened?" Adama asked sitting up. "And where's Boxey?" "I'm here, Grandpa!" Boxey stood next to his grandfather. "That white light had knocked us all unconscious. Half of the bridge crew is still unconscious. Boxey and I just awakened, ourselves." "What was that light? I never saw anything like it?" Commander Adama asked, in puzzlement. "I wish I knew Commander, but I do have bad news." "What is it?" "Whatever that light was, it threw us right past earth." Colonel Tigh reported. "By how far?" Adama's heart sank as he received this heart breaking news. "It is unknown. We no longer have earth on our radar. We are basically back where we started from, except that we are now on the opposite end of the Galaxy." "We were so close." Adama said sadly. "We were right there until this phenomenon came. Now our journey has been prolonged. How about the rest of the fleet?" "We count all two hundred and six vessels. They all experienced what we just went through." Adama stood up and straightened his uniform. "Any damage to the Galactica or any of the fleet?" "Negative. Everything is operational." Colonel Tigh reported. "Let's go around the bridge to see if everyone is all right." Adama said. "Yes, Commander." The two men, Boxey, and the two daggots walked around the bridge, checking up on all the warriors at their station. "Starbuck, speak to me!" Cassiopeia's voice awakened Starbuck, who found himself on the floor, knocked out of his hover chair. "Starbuck, are you all right?" "Yes, I think so. What happened? " Starbuck asked, sitting upward. "That white light must have knocked us out." "Are you sure you are all right?" Starbuck said getting up from the floor. He was deeply concerned about Cassiopeia's and the baby's safety. "I'm fine. I-" Cassiopeia stared at Starbuck in disbelief. "What? What's wrong?" Starbuck asked wondering why she was staring at him with eyes wide open. "Starbuck, look at yourself! Your standing!" Starbuck looked to the floor to see that she was right. He was standing. Starbuck moved his right leg around and then his left. Starbuck couldn't believe this was really happening! "I don't believe it! I'm standing! I'm healed!" Starbuck said. He began walking slowly. He was walking as if he had never lost the feeling in his leg. "I'm walking!" Cassiopeia laughed with joy. Here eyes were full of tears of joy. They embraced each other in their arms, and their lips met with one long passionate kiss. Cassiopeia no longer cared what the light was, her husband was able to walk again, that's all that mattered. As the two of them let go. Cassiopeia shook her head in disbelief. That light must have done something to your brain, to give you full strength back into your legs. That is the only explanation I can think of." "Are you two okay?" Apollo walked out of the room, following by Bane, Boomer, and Rodgiez, who all were walking dizzily out of the room. "I'll say I'm okay!" Starbuck looked excitedly at his friends. It took a micron for Apollo and the others to realize what they were seeing. Starbuck was not in his hoverchair. "Starbuck, you're standing!" "Isn't it great!" "I don't believe it!" Boomer commented, looking at him like he was some sort of alien or something. "It's a miracle!" Apollo laughed out with joy. He went over to him and gave him a manly hug. "I'm happy for you, Starbuck!" "Thanks, Apollo." Bane came up to Starbuck and they hugged, but Bane forgot to control his strength in the excitement. "Uh, Bane." Starbuck gasped. "My situation will only be temporary if you squeeze any harder." "Oops!" Bane let go of Starbuck, embarrassed by what he had done. "Sorry about that." "No major harm done, just a little bone crushing, that's all." Starbuck assured him. "Let's go see if everyone on the bridge is okay." The bridge was in great distress over what had just happened. There were still several warriors unconscious at their stations, but other warriors were trying to awaken them and treating their minor wounds. The news also got around about the upcoming second journey to Earth. No one was at all happy about it. Apollo, Bane, Cassiopeia, Starbuck, Boomer, and Rodgiez entered the Bridge. Adama was rushing from station to station, trying to find an explanation for what had just happened. "Dad!" Boxey ran up to Apollo, followed by his two mechanical daggots. "Are you all right, Boxey?" Apollo knelt down and put his hands on his shoulders, and looked to see if he was okay. "I'm fine, Dad." Commander Adama heard his son in the back of the bridge talking to Boxey, so he went up to see how he was doing. Starbuck had caught his attention. Adama couldn't believe what he was seeing. Starbuck was standing! He wasn't in his hoverchair anymore! "Captain Starbuck, you're standing!" Adama's reaction was quite similar to Apollo's, which made sense; Apollo was Adama's son. "Yea, that's what everybody has been telling." Starbuck responded, getting a little annoyed with everyone saying the exact same thing over and over again. "I don't know how or why, but that light must have fixed my spine, or triggered something in my brain of something, I'm no doctor." "I'm happy for you, Starbuck and I wish we were all in the mood to celebrate with you, but it has come at a real bad time. This light has throne us who knows how many light years past Earth. It looks like our second journey will take just as long as the first one did. "No, it can't be true." Apollo shook his head in disbelief and walked a couple feet past Adama. Adama turned to look at his son. "It took us over five yahrens just to make it this far!" This news had disturbed Cassiopeia. She had so much hoped to give birth to her children at Earth. Starbuck noticed how upset she was over the news, and pulled her into him and he wrapped his left arm around her, to show support for her. "Commander, maybe we should send out a patrol to see if that light thing is still out there." Colonel Tigh suggested. "Agreed." Adama agreed with his second in command and his personal friend. "Commander, if you don't mind, I would like to go out on the patrol." Starbuck asked, anxious to get back to his viper at long last. It had been a long time since he had flown a real viper. "I don't see why not. You're been keep away from it for so long. I guess it's time you get yourself back out into space where you belong. You and Captain Bane go out on patrol." "Just the partner I was hoping for?" Starbuck smiled as he turned around a placed a hand on his shoulder. "Apollo and Boomer, I want you two to take your vipers and quickly checkup on the fleet. I want to make sure everyone is still behind us. "Yes, Father." Starbuck turned back around and faced his wife. "Well, this is it. The moment I have long dreamed about. I am back where I belong. I guess everything will be going back to normal." Starbuck said. "I guess so." Cassiopeia responded, not at all thrilled like she would like to be. "Listen, go back to our quarters and get some rest. I'll be back shortly to get you anything you need." "Okay." Cassiopeia tried to force a smile on her face. "Let's hit our vipers!" Starbuck smiled over at bane. "I'm looking forward to this." Bane laughed, long wanting to fly with his best friend. The four men headed out of the bridge and started walking towards launching bay ALPHA. Cassiopeia slowly headed for the exit as soon as the four men were gone. Sensing that something was troubling her, Athena left her station and ran across the bridge to catch up to Cassiopeia. Adama and Boxey headed back towards Adama's station. Athena reached her just outside of the bridge. "Hey, Cass!" Cassiopeia turned to look at her friend who had called her. "You seem to be depressed. Is something wrong?" "I don't know. I guess I have to get use to Starbuck going back out into battle." "I thought you wanted Starbuck to go back into battle, so he would be happy?" Athena asked, confused about the sudden switch in her feelings. "I do, but now I have to get use to being afraid of losing him in battle. It's hard for me to get use to it again, even more so now since I'm expecting twins." "Twins!" Athena's eyes widen. This was news to here. Had she missed something recently or something? "Does Starbuck know you are expecting twins?" "I was about to tell him that Dr. Salik had detected a second child was developing next to the first baby, but this whole light thing came up." "Starbuck will be okay. Why don't you come over with me to Rigel's station to watch the takeoffs." "That's kind of you, Athena. Thanks." Cassiopeia smiled. The two women walked together back into the bridge. Athena helped Cassiopeia down the three steps and they two of them went over to Rigel's station. The young female warrior looked up at the two women. "Do you mind if we watch Captain Starbuck's and Captain Bane's takeoff?" "Sure thing." Rigel smiled. She looked at Cassiopeia and stood up. "Here, take my chair, you shouldn't be on your feet." "Thank you very much." Cassiopeia smiled. She put her hands on her belly as she slowly sat down. "Are you comfortable?" Rigel asked politely. "Yes, thank you for asking." Starbuck and Bane entered the launching bay, a place Starbuck had not been for quite some while. "Are you ready for this?" Bane asked. "Are you kidding! I've been dying to do this again!" This time, Starbuck climbed up the ladder to the cockpit of a real viper and not the simulator. The cushioned seat was much more comfortable than the seat in the cockpit of the simulator. A crew person, handed Starbuck his brown helmet. Starbuck put the helmet on and turned on the helmet comlink. His heart pounded on his chest with anticipation; it felt like his heart would just break through his chest. "Commander, Captain Starbuck and Captain Bane are ready for takeoff." Rigel announced to the Commander, with her very soft voice. Rigel was standing, allowing the pregnant Cassiopeia to sit in her seat. "Launch when ready." Adama ordered from his station, looking down upon all the crew of the Galactica. Bane's viper thrusting down the triangular launching tube, was on one of Rigel's screen. The other was showing Starbuck, waiting for Bane to reach the blackness of space. As soon as he was clear, Starbuck pushed the thruster button. The G-force slammed his body into the seat, as his viper raced down the launching tube. His viper began shaking, just barley missing from scrapping up against the wall. "Straighter, Starbuck, or you'll crash!" Bane called out. Starbuck didn't reply; his concentration was on just getting out of the launching tube alive. Cassiopeia watched, unaware she had strongly gripped the arms of the chair. She almost began praying that her husband will make it. The launching seemed to go on forever until Starbuck had finally reached the end of the launching tube and out into the vastness of space. Starbuck began gaining a perfect control over his viper. All three women sighed with relief. Athena looked over at Cassiopeia, who was in the progress of standing up. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." She admitted. Cassiopeia made it to her feet and headed out of the bridge. "I think I'll sleep this one off." Cassiopeia took the steps slowly, leaning against the wall for support. When she reached up the three steps, Cassiopeia put her hands on her belly, and left the bridge. "That was some rocky start, Starbuck." Bane critiqued. "Are you sure you are up to this?" "I don't understand what happened!" Starbuck exclaimed, unsure why this whole thing happened. He was a great pilot, why did he have troubles with the launch? "I must be getting a little rusty!" "I guess I can understand that." Bane agreed. "Well, lets turn on our radars and see if we can find that flashing light." The two pilots flicked on their switches up and the green monochrome screen flashed a grid. There was nothing our of the ordinary any where for microns. "Whatever that light was, it's long gone." Starbuck stated. "I'm begging to agree with you." Bane said, looking around him and seeing nothing but billions of stars in the blackness of space. A green blip appeared on Starbuck's radar screen at the top of the screen. "Hey Starbuck, what do you suppose that is?" "I don't know, but I'm willing to go find out." Starbuck responded. "Let's do it." The two warriors thrusted forward, to try to catch up with whatever that blip was. Both warriors turned on their warbooks, and see if the viper can identify the blip. The transmission was beginning to gut fuzzy. There was nothing on the monochrome screen except static. No matter how far the two vipers traveled, the blip remained on top of the screen. What ever ship it was, it was running from them. "We're not getting anywhere. The ship must have detected us and is running away." Bane replied. "Maybe it's an asteroid. Whatever it is, it's heading away from the fleet. I think it's safe to head back." Starbuck suggested. "Yea, I agree. Let's get back, there's nothing of importance out here." The two vipers peeled off to the right, and thrusted back towards the Galactica. Starbuck was sort of upset at a boring patrol. This was his first time back since the accident; he wished something was out there exciting. Off in a distance, a single Cylon raider was rushing back to their base, but the pilots of this raider were not centurions. The pilots had green, scaly skin, with dark green claws at the tips of their fingers. Their heads were that of an alligator, with their snouts sticking out several feet from the body, and their bloody red, half- mooned eyes staring out the window. They were a relentless lizard race, long thought to be dead. "How you sssttthhupposssttthhe they found usssttthh?" The right lizard warrior asked one of the other two lizard beings. "I don't know." The chief lizard sitting in the back center seat of the Cylon raider, which was the commanding warrior's, seat. "Ttthhey have come to finisssttthh usssttthh off. We musttthh report ttthhis to ttthhe sssttthhuperior leader." The second piloting lizard exclaimed in anger of seeing these humans once again. "Yesssttthh." The chief lizard agreed. Starbuck entered his room, where he found the empty card table, still with all the chips and cards scattered all around. Starbuck looked to his right, and found Cassiopeia laying on their twin sized bed. Cassiopeia heard Starbuck come into the room, and sat up, with her sheet covering her. "You're awake?" "Yea, I couldn't sleep. So, how did it feel being back in space?" Cassiopeia asked. "It felt great! I'm looking forward to fighting the Cylons, if we ever see them again because of this whole light thing." Cassiopeia wasn't looking forward to this "next battle". She didn't want him to know how she truly felt about him going out into battle. "Well, I have an update on my pregnancy. Today, Dr. Salik has informed me that we are not only going to have a child, but two! We're going to have twins!" "Two! We're going to have two children!" Starbuck had not expected this news what-so-ever. "Yes." Cassiopeia responded, not sure if he was happy about the news or not. One child may be fine with Starbuck, but how about two? "We're sure going to have our hands full. I mean with you and your nursing, and me and my being a fighter pilot once again." Cassiopeia couldn't hold it back anymore. She had to tell him about her feeling on the matter before he got to out of hand. "Starbuck, maybe you should consider keeping the cadet training position." "Why? Getting into space and defending the Galactica is what I love to do, and what I know the best!" "Starbuck, I saw your takeoff. Do you realize how scared I was off losing you, just in the takeoff? If I lost you, what would I tell our children why they do not have a father?" "Apollo is out there! he leaves Boxey all the time!" Starbuck pointed out. "The accident didn't happened to Apollo! You are no longer as good as you use to be! That accident is going to change your life forever. Yes, your walking once again, and that's fantastic, but your flying capability have deteriorated!" "I'll just practice a little more in the simulator." Starbuck suggested. "Yes, you can practice in the simulator, but how about the cadets you have all ready begun teaching? You can't just leave them stranded!" "I don't know." Starbuck raised his arms. "I just do not know what to do anymore! I beginning to think that it would have been better just to have died in that accident!" Starbuck didn't realize how much that comment had hurt Cassiopeia. That comment made here eyes water, and started sobbing quietly to herself. Starbuck pranced around the room in frustration. He thought everything was going to go back to normal, just like before the accident, but it wasn't turning out that way. It was all turning for the worse. "I need to go out and think!" Starbuck turned and raced out of the quarters. Apollo and Boomer was in the bridge, giving the report to Commander Adama on the results of their checkup on the fleet. "All of the fleet are accounted for, and say that they are doing okay." Apollo informed his father. "Good. Colonel Tigh, patch me in to all of the fleet. I must inform everyone of our current situation. "Commander, do you think that's a good idea?" Colonel Tigh looked at him. Who knew what the reaction of the fleet would be, not to mention the reactions of the council. "Yes, I will not hide anything from the people. They have a right to know what is going on, and what is going to be done." "Yes, Commander." Colonel Tigh grabbed the microphone from the post that he was standing right next to, and dialed several numbers on the number pad as he handing the commander the microphone. "Go ahead, Commander." "To all the fleet, this is Commander Adama. As you are all aware of, we have just been through something unexplainable. I wish I could give you answers, but I would lying if I said that I knew what happened. This unexplainable phenomenon may not have damaged any of our ships, but it has damaged our hopes. I believe we were close to finding earth, but this light has thrown us past Earth. It appears we are being forced to take on this second journey to find this planet. This second journey may very well be just as long, if not longer, of a journey than the first was. "I apologize, and all I can say is, that we must stay strong as we start our second journey. We will try everything in our power to try to make this as short of a journey as we can." Adama handed Colonel Tigh back the microphone. "Let's make a one hundred and eighty degree turn, and begin the journey." Colonel Tigh nodded in response. He knew how Adama felt. Over five yahrens of being cramped up in these small vessels, and now the journey has just been extended, just become of some unexplainable phenomenon! "I know how hard that must have been for you." Colonel Tigh said with a concerned look on his face. "That was nothing compared to what I'm going to get from the council." Adama smiled faintly. Adama knew that he had better start preparing a good defensive speech since he knew exactly what they were probably thinking right now. The council was gathering around the oval shaped table. Adama was the only one standing; he didn't like sitting with the council because a meeting like this usually ended up in an argument between him and the council. The council had made minor changes since the holocaust at Caprica. The biggest thing was that the first woman had been sworn into the council. She had been nominated as speaker of the council. Adama had given his disapproval over having a speaker of the council, because he knew it was a step towards the council taking control over the fleet. As had suspected, he was the only council member to disapprove of this suggestion, so as a result, they have sworn in Sire Urserla. "Commander Adama," Sire Urserla began with a strong gaze towards him. Urserla was a mentally strong woman, who had many characteristics as a male, except for her anatomy. She head brown hair, cut to make her look almost like a male. This was to make the council feel better about her. "We know how hard this dilemma is for you. The council had backed up your journey to earth all the way since the dreadful events back at Caprica," Apparently, Sire Urserla didn't remember what had happened back at carrilian, Adama thought to himself. "but we have been cramped up in these vessels for over five yahrens now, to a planet that we don't even know if it exits!" "If I may interrupt, Sire Urserla, may I remind the council that we were on the brink of reaching earth, according to our radars. We were basically at earth's front door step." "Or so we may believe." Sire Urserla added. "Many of us are getting restless as it is." Urserla reminded Adama. "I warned the fleet, when we first left Caprica, that the length of this journey is unknown." Adama added. "Granted, but now we know how much longer it will be, and many of us do not want to go through another long journey under these circumstances. We have put up with them for five yahrens, and we do not want to do it again for five more." "There is nothing else we can do but to go back and find earth!" Adama persisted. He didn't like where this conversation was going. "You think there is no other alternatives, but there are. We are now in totally new territory. We are out of the Cylon territory, making them no longer a threat to us. I purpose to the council that we look for the first habitable planet and live there, so the colonies can be reborn." Commander Adama's fist pounded on the table in anger. "I must highly advise against that notion. We do not know what species that prosper around this territory. For all we know there may be a species even more deadlier than the Cylons!" "It's possible," Sire Urserla admitted, nodding her head. "but highly unlikely. I propose to the council that we vote on my proposal right this instant. All in favor of voting over my proposal, raise your hands." Every single Council member raised their hands straight up in the air, except for Commander Adama. "The majority has it. We will now vote on my proposal to inhabit the first habitable planet that we pass. All in favor of this proposal, raise your hands." All but one council member raised their hands. The one who did not raise his hand was Sire Hunts, the newest and youngest council member . Sire Hunts had always trusted Commander Adama to lead the fleet to find earth. He will never vote against Adama and his dream. Adama knew him, and was fond of the young council member, but his attempt to help Commander Adama in this situation was not going to be enough. "Majority has it. Commander, you are to stop and search the first planet to see if we can inhabit the planet. Council dismissed." Adama held back his anger. It seemed that the council has now taken more power away from him, and there was nothing Adama could do about it. Adama stood there until the last council was out of the room. Sire Hunts approached Adama with a sorrowful face. "Don't worry about it, Commander. I believe you will find a way to change their minds." Adama patted him at the back of his right shoulder, and walked out of the council room in dismay. The planet Habot was a very distressed planet. It was once a strong planet, but now Habot was nearing the end of it's life cycle. Scientists predicted that this was the last year until Habot would explode and cause a supernova. Habot had many violent quakes, which were signs that the end was getting closer. The quakes had only now started to become more frequent. This small green planet, from space, looked beautiful. On land, it was even more beautiful! The capital city of eastern Habot was one of the richest cities on Habot. The entire city was made up of glass and crystal. Most of the buildings were at least ten stories high. The city reflected power and riches, but money was the last thing Habot needed at this moment. The Mopets were also not on the top priority list. The Mopets were a small rebellion trying to destroy the peace that this planet had. It was only recently when a civil war had come to an end between western and eastern Habot, and a peace was able to be formed. This great catastrophe of the soon explosion of this planet had brought the two feuding halves together. The Mopets were not heard from for weeks. An assembly had been formed in the Great Hall, a conference room in the capital building of eastern Habot. At this assembly, ten leaders, from both halves, gathered. The Ambassador, the head of the assembly, was always dressed in a pure white gowned unlike the leaders, who wore a bright solid navy blue uniforms. The twenty leaders all began sitting in their seats around a big circular table, with a hole in the middle and a podium separating the ends of the tables. All the leaders were talking amongst themselves, all on the same subject: their fate. A high, sharp, squealing noise echoed through the room. All the leaders quieted down as the Ambassador approached the podium. He was a very old man, late in his eighties, with thin white hair. He still had enough strength to be able to stand straight up and walk without any assistance, unlike most men his age. "This conference will be brief, as you probably all ready are aware of why we are gathering this morning. The quakes, that our planet suffers from, are coming more often and is increasing in strength. I am ordering a state of evacuation for all humans on this planet, starting immediately after this conference." Mumbling, amongst the leaders, echoed through the disoriented group of leaders. This was happening way to soon. Now, everyone was going to have to leave everything behind and leave their only home. "Habot's energy level has become officially unstable. At this level, the energy level can go out in a moment's notice. It is essential that we start loading on all war carriers that we have. Are there any current deported war carriers?" The Ambassador asked the group of leaders. A leader at the opposite end of the Ambassador stood up. "Just one, Ambassador! The Calcunna." The ground began shaking violently. The leaders fell of their chairs as the ambassador held tightly to his podium. The quake rumbled, scaring all of the leaders until it ended, one minute later. Everyone was disoriented as they stood up to gather papers that was scattered in the quake. The Ambassador looked out to his leaders. "I want the Calcunna here as soon as possible. Send a radio transmission if you have to!" "Yes, Ambassador." the leader left the room and ran for the nearest holocom. The war carrier, Calcunna, was a fairly big warship. It had two engines at the rear of this ship. The Calcunna had two triangle shaped wings, but with the ends flat instead of pointed. The front was straight with a pointed nose and a glass oval shaped window where the bridge of the Calcunna was. One could look up and out the oval glass window to look out into space. The fighter import was on the Calcunna's back, in between the two wings, while the fighter export was at the same spot but on the belly of the great war ship. In all, the Calcunna looked like an over grown one man fighter. It's weapons were well hidden. Some of the metal framing flipped around, revealing it laser turrets. The Calcunna was armed with ten laser turrets: two at the nose; two by the export; two by the import; one on the tips of each wing, which could fire in any direction; and two rear laser turrets underneath the engines. The Calcunna was also armed with a power missile launcher, which was on the belly, close to the nose of the Calcunna. The Calcunna was a mighty ships, and it represented their race of human beings very well. Not only was the Calcunna an excellent warship, but it did very well in transporting many people for long periods of time. The ship could hold five thousand civilians easily. The Calcunna was much more advanced than all the other war carriers. The Calcunna had a special fuel pack that never needs to be refueled; the fuel pack produced it's own fuel. This special kind of fuel pack had many advantages, but it did have one major disadvantage. If the fuel pack was damaged, the Calcunna would be drifting through space. Fuel packs were not easily repaired. On the bridge of the Calcunna, twenty-two of the best warriors controlled the mighty war carrier instead of the usual fifteen, since the Calcunna was more equipped than a normal war carrier. The bridge was perfectly circular shaped, with a black marble floor and gray metal walls. Exactly in the middle of the bridge, was the general's podium, which was sixteen feet in circumference. The circular podium was surrounded by a metal railing, except for two spaces, one on the right and one on the left, which was the ramp off the general's podium. Exactly in the middle of the podium was the general's chair. Near the front railing was his holocom. The holocom was a holographic communication link between other ships and back to Habot. If a ship did not have a holocom but just a old fashion comlink, then it was capable to switching the holocom into comlink form. In front of the general's podium was five consecutive stations that curved around the circular podium. These stations controlled the ships weaponry. The stations were set so the five warriors at the stations sat facing the podium. Curving around the back of the podium was three consecutive stations that controlled the external communications, which included the General's holocom. The three warriors who work at these stations controlled all communication to and from any place out of the Calcunna. These stations were also set so the warriors were facing the general's podium. All the way back, by the back wall were four stations that controlled the ship's defense. The warriors sitting here, were forced to turn around to announce something to the general. These stations controlled the protecting shielding for the window ceiling and monitored all vital rooms of the Calcunna. To the podiums right wall, was the radar map, and three stations, besides it, who controlled all the radar equipment of the Calcunna. It was their duty to warn the general of any incoming ships, vessels, or fighters. All the way up to the front wall of the bridge was four stations that controlled the Calcunna's navigation. The four warriors at these stations is what made the Calcunna move, and had complete control of the engines. And finally, all the way to the left wall of the general's podium was three stations that controlled the internal communications. They announced any warnings throughout the ship, mostly to the pilots to tell them to get to their stations. Any communication that went on inside the Calcunna was operated by these three warriors. This was what drove the Calcunna. General Nodieck was the brave general who led this fearless crew. General Nodieck was a calm man, mid aged, and was extremely skinny, which made him easily conspicuous. General Nodieck had thick, shortly trimmed, brown hair. General Nodieck was wearing his General's uniform. His uniform was straight black with a thick red line which covered his right shoulder, and went across his body to his left hip. The red resembled a high ranking officer; all other uniforms, except for the Colonel's, were blue . The metal star patch on his right shoulder was what identified him as the general of the war carrier. General Nodieck also had a black cape which this metal star kept onto his uniform. The Calcunna was returning back home to Habot after a two day mission that was assigned to them by General Nodieck's leader. All the warriors were anxious to return home to see their families once again. Amongst the ones who were desperate to get home was General Nodieck. He hated departing from his beautiful young wife back home. Nodieck was currently talking to his wife over his holocom. Seeing her beautiful smooth skin and beautiful curly black hair made him even more anxious to get home and put his arms around her slender body. She had to be the most beautiful creature in the galaxy! "So when are due home?" the holographic image of Nodieck's wife's face asked him. "We should be arriving the atmosphere any minute now." General Nodieck answered. "So soon! I was expecting them to send you on a week long mission like they usually do!" "Not this time, fortunately." General Nodieck smiled. "So, Tralila, how has the quakes been going?" "They're getting more violent." She responded. By the looks on her face, General Nodieck knew that another quake had just happened. "I hear rumors that the great Assembly was gathering today to discuss the fate of Habot." General Nodieck leaned back in distress, shaking his head. "D-Day is approaching sooner than any of us had expected. As soon as I get home, we can start packing our valuables. I'm sure we'll have enough time to save them at least." "I know, I-" Tralila looked behind her as if something was coming up behind her. "Tralila, what's happening?" General Nodieck stood up in alert. Tralila's image began to fade. "It's a quake! A bad o- " The holographic image of her face disappeared. General Nodieck turned around to face the external communication station. "Get her back!" "Sorry, General. The quake knocked out the power of your holoprojector back at your house." A female warrior responded. Another warrior next to her stood up. "General, we getting a transmission from the Great Assembly," the warrior announced. "Patch me up." General Nodieck sat back in his chair looking at the holocom, disturbed by the abrupt end of his conversation with his wife. Nodieck's leader's head, appeared on the holocom. "Yes, Sir?" "The Calcunna is to immediately land back here and prepare to have as many civilians as you can hold to be boarded as soon as possible. the ambassador has issued a state of emergency!" The whole news began looking unto the general's holocom, disturbed and distressed by the news that they had just heard. General Nodieck stood up slowly unto his feet, in shock. "Habot is on the verge of destruction all ready?" "I'm afraid so, General Nodieck. Habot's energy level has become unstable. The planet is able to-" Just like his wife, the leader's head turn to look behind him. Instead of returning to face the General, the leader began to scream in horror and pain. The message came to a deadly end. "Down screen and show me Habot, now!" General Nodieck screamed. A screen lowered right above the heads of the navigational stationed warriors. On the screen was the giant green planet of Habot. The next minute was the most horrifying minute in their lives. Habot suddenly exploded, throwing huge space rocks in all directions. A shower of space rocks were heading straight for the Calcunna. "All hands prepare for impact!" General Nodieck screamed. The Calcunna began to violently shake, sending many warriors off their seats. The lights flickered on and off. The pounding on the Calcunna lasted for one more minute until the Calcunna ceased shaking,. General Nodieck stood up, a little dazed at what had just happened. "Damage?" "Very minor. Most of the meteors were dried out rock which broke at impact. The Calcunna only was a few minor dents, and one small hull breach on her stomach, near the fighter export. Repairs will take not even an hour, while no casualties were reported. Only a dozen or so minor injuries. There was mourning and crying across the bridge, as they had just witnessed their races distruction. General Nodieck sat down and stared at the blank screen in front of the bridge. He could not believe what he had just seen. He did not know if he could even talk! "It's too early!" he exclaimed. His wife Tralila was gone forever! His friends were gone forever. His heart broke as he continued to stare at the screen. "I can't believe it." Colonel Klad shook his head in disbelief. Lucifer sat on his thrown proudly. This was his destiny. This is what he deserved. Baltar had made a lousy leader for the Cylon empire. How could the superior leader make such a major error? Most of all, how could he put Lucifer under Baltar's command. Was the superior leader upset at him for some reason? Did Lucifer do anything that upset the superior leader? What ever the reason, Lucifer now held Baltar's position which should have been rightfully his. It was Baltar's clumsiness that allowed the Galactica to escape Caprica in the first place. The basestar shaking awakened Lucifer from his deep thoughts. The shaking nearly caused Lucifer to fall off the high throne. The golden, chief centurion that stood before Lucifer, struggled to stay on his feet, and was successful. Lucifer looked down at the chief centurion. "What was that?" "An asteroid, no doubt." The chief centurion responded with an echoing male mechanical voice. A silver centurion guard marched into the room, and stood beside the golden one. "By your command." "Well, what is it?" Lucifer said impatiently. "We are approaching a war ship of unknown class." The centurion reported. "That strange flashing white light must have thrown us into another galaxy. If this is so, then we are no longer under the superior leader's leadership. We can build another centurion race in this galaxy!" Lucifer thought out loud. "And I could be the superior leader! Then again, The Galactica must have been sent to this galaxy as well." "The vessel is not the Galactica." The centurion guard commented. "I know, I was just thinking out loud. Attack the war ship. It will make good practice for our fighter pilots when we confront the Galactica again." "By your command." "General!" A female officer called from the radar post called out. "We have a ship approaching! It is unlike any ship I have ever seen!" "Go to code green! I want fighter classed X, Y, and Z ready for combat!" General Nodieck ordered. A greenish tint along with all the other emergency lights turned on in the halls of the Calcunna. General Nodieck was in no mood to fight. He would rather mourn the death of his wife. He was sure his whole bridge was not ready for a battle. "Try to communicate to them. Tell them we are not dangerous and need assistance." "There not accepting our contact request!" An officer from the external communication post responded. "Code red! I want fighter classes X, Y, and Z out there now! A female at the internal communication station picked up her head set and spoke into the microphone. "Attention all pilots of fighting classes X, Y, and Z, prepare for launch! Repeat, prepare for launch!" "Activate all lasers, and revive the power missile launcher. Prepare to raise the protection shielding over our heads.!" General Nodieck ordered. He didn't specifically look at each station as he gave the orders. He just looked forward, expecting his officers to obey them. "Classes X, Y, and Z are ready for launch!" The head officer of the internal communication station reported. "Launch!" Five fighters simultaneously flew down the launching bay, gaining speed rapidly. These were five ships of the Z class fighters. The fighters looked exactly like miniature Calcunna's. When the five Z fighters entered space, and flew underneath the mighty Calcunna, Five more Z class fighters were launched. When twenty Z class fighters were launched, then twenty Y class fighters, and then twenty X class fighters. All three different class fighters looked exactly the same, but each class had specific capabilities. This was good to confuse enemies. Z fighters could the most, they were the most unique fighter class of all of them. They could pull through special maneuvers which no other class fighters could do. The Y fighters were equipped with more weapons, and could shoot down almost all targets they shot at. X fighters had the speed. X class fighters could out run any of the other class fighters. All sixty fighters assembled into three groups according to their class fighter. As they flew forward, they could see a fleet of fighters coming towards them. They even matched their amount, maybe they even had more fighters. All the fighter pilots stared out at the mother ship. It was the most frightening ship they had ever seen. It was like two flying saucers connected in the middle. The fleet of fighters coming from the mother ship were oval like. "I hope they aren't as dangerous as they look!" Class X leader, Captain Geraurd commented. "If they are, we may be in for some trouble!" "I just hope the Calcunna will be able to take on that monster ship!" Another voice responded over the com. "Look how they fly: in perfect battle formation! They are definitely not Mopets, and I doubt if they are even human!" A third voice commented. "Let's form a wall, and get ready for battle!" Captain Geraurd announced. The three class fighter groups formed similar battle formations, making a thick wall for the intruders to break through if they wanted to reach the Calcunna. They hoped this formation was going to give them some advantage! The fleet of invading fighters opened fired, as they made a high pitch humming noise in the emptiness of space. The wall was not as helpful as they would liked. "Split up and fight them one by one!" Captain Geraurd commanded all three class fighting groups. The sixty class fighters disassembled from their battle formation to avoid being hit by any of the intruders laser fires. The alien fighters also split up to take them on one by one. "Man, who are these-", his transmission was cut off as Captain Geraurd watched the class fighter be engulfed in flames. "There's too many of them!" Another voice cried. "We're being killed out-" Another voice was cut off as another class fighter was erased from existence. "General, we're dropping like flies out there!" Colonel Klad reported. "The mother ship is entering firing range!" An officer from the ship's defense station announced. "Fire a power missile, and try to disable them." General Nodieck turned to the officer and commanded. General Nodieck and Colonel Klad ran to the radar board as they watched a small red blip leave from their ship. They watched as the red blip headed toward the mother ship, which was the bigger red blip. The small blip disappeared several feet away from the mother ship's hull. "Blast! Their shield totally reflected the blast!" General Nodieck cursed. "General, They've open fire!" An officer announced next to him! The whole war carrier shook violently. General Nodieck and Colonel Klad fell to the ground. "Damage!" General Nodieck yelled, getting back up onto his feet. "Our thick hull will not be able to take much more hits like that one! That ship has monstrous lasers!" A female officer reported at the ship's defense station. "I think we're in serious trouble!" General Nodieck mumbled. Starbuck sat in the officer's lounge, drinking a cup of ambrosia. He was thinking about the argument he had with Cassiopeia. She wanted him to give up the one thing he enjoyed doing! Bane entered the officer's lounge, and saw Starbuck sitting alone. He decided to see what his friend was up to. He walked up from behind him, and patted him on the shoulder. "So, how does it feel to be walking again?" "Great, but I still wish I knew how I am doing it! How did that white light fix my back?" "Who knows. I say, let God do whatever He want's to do, and don't argue with it! Hey, that's not what is really bothering you. What's wrong?" "Well, Cassiopeia and I got in an argument. She wants me to quit flying." "Ouch!" Bane commented. "She thinks that I should stay a teacher, so she knows that she doesn't have to raise the twins alone." "I don't blame her, after what happened earlier." "What does that suppose to mean?" Starbuck gleamed over, angrily, at his friend. "You nearly crashed during the take off. How do you think that made her feel?" Starbuck had forgotten about that incident. It must have really shaken her up. That was probably why she expressed her feelings when he had returned. "I may be a little rusty, but I'll get back into the hang of it." "What Cassiopeia is afraid of is that you'll get shot down and she alone will have to raise the children, who would be deprived of a loving father." "You have a point." Starbuck admitted. "I have to get going. I'll see you later, Starbuck." Bane stood up and headed out of the officer's lounge. Starbuck remained, and continued on in thought. Adama sat in his commander's chair. He, as was order to, had the crew start looking for the nearest planet. The crew was surprised by the news, and very reluctant, but they obeyed. The crew had complete faith in Adama's dream. Adama knew that they knew that he had no choice in this matter. The council had, once again, ruled over Adama. Every time they have done so, they had fallen into another Cylon trap. All the council cared about was their current comfort, those egotistical, rich snobs! They had all ready found a planet. Adama had ordered the bridge to head for it so they may search the planet. Adama hoped that is wasn't habitable for humans. "Commander!" Colonel Tigh rushed over to the commander. "The planet is no longer detected by our radars!" "What's that?" Adama broke out of his self- indulgment.. "The planet that we detected a centar ago, we're nearing the location, and the planet isn't there any more!' "Impossible." Adama stood up, hiding back some of the relief, but he also was confused. "A planet can not-" "Commander, there is a Cylon basestar up ahead!" Omega said, running up to the commander and colonel. "Apparently they have been hit by that blinding light as well." Adama commented, mostly to himself. "Sir, the basestar is currently occupied attacking another vessel!" Omega continued to report, but with a confused look on his face. "This would give us the advantage. We can take out the basestar, easily." Adama looked over to his second in command and his best friend, seeing if he was thinking what Adama was thinking. "Plus the other vessel is in need of our help, and we know more about the Cylons than they do. I say let's take her on." Colonel Tigh smiled. "Battle stations! Positive shield!" Starbuck had just finished his ambrosia when Cassiopeia entered the officer's lounge, a place she would never be found on most normal occasions. Starbuck watched her as she sat down across the table from him. "Cass, I'm sorry about earlier." Starbuck apologized first, unsure about how to continue. "I'm sorry too. I guess My mood has been affected by my pregnancy. Pregnant women seem to get angry for no reason at all." "No, you had a good reason to be angry." Starbuck admitted. "I'm just not read to give up flying. Being a viper pilot has always been a part of me. It's-" Starbuck was interrupted by the lights turning red. All the other warriors in the lounge began to jump from their tables and began running out of the officer's lounge. An emergency had arisen. Starbuck stood up from his seat. "I guess duty calls." Starbuck said. "Starbuck, don't go out there!" Cassiopeia pleaded. "You're not ready to take on the Cylons!" "Can we talk about this later, Cass? Let me do this one fight." "Starbuck, no!" "I'm sorry Cass." Starbuck answered, trying not to get angry. "I have to go." Starbuck ran to catch up with the other warriors. Cassiopeia pounded on the metal table in anger. She stomped off back to her room. Starbuck ran into the launching bay and found Apollo getting ready to get into his viper until he saw Starbuck running into the launching bay. "Starbuck, are you sure you're up to this?" Apollo asked. "Why?" Starbuck asked, showing a little anger in his face. "I mean, you haven't been out there for quite a long while." "Will everyone just get off my case! I'm fine! I'm just as good as I was before my accident!" Starbuck shot at Apollo, and walked off to the next viper over. Bane, seeing what had just happened, walked up to Apollo. "What's bothering him?" "I think he and Cassiopeia are having their first argument about him flying as a pilot." Apollo answered. Bane shrugged as he headed back to his viper. "All vipers are ready for launch!" Rigel announced to Commander Adama in her regular soft toned voice. Her hair was braided into two pony tails. "I want all the vipers to stay along the Galactica until we make the first attack on the basestar. Then they can go out and help the fighters." "Yes, Commander." The vipers thrusted down the launching tube. One by one, each viper flew out of the battlestar, and gathered in formation underneath the Galactica. It was Starbuck's turn to launch. He pushed the thrusting button with his thumb and the G-forces threw him back into his seat. His viper raced down the triangular launching tube, until all lights had disappeared, and only the infinite blackness of space surrounded him. Starbuck let out a sigh, glad to have done a perfect takeoff. "The launch was successful." Rigel announced to Commander Adama. "Excellent." Adama commented. "We're now entering radar range of the basestar." Omega announced, standing next to Colonel Tigh. He had his head set on his head, which blended perfectly with his raggedy black hair. "Let's hope they are paying too much attention to their current battle." Adama said, mostly to himself. "General, another star ship is approaching. It's not the same kind of ship we are battling with. They seem to be sneaking up on the vessels back side!" A male officer at the radar station announced. "I hope their friendly." General Nodieck commented. "Let's keep their attention on us, so the new star ship can take them by surprise!" The Galactica was slowly getting closer and closer to the dreaded basestar. The basestar still had no fired a shot back at them. They were still unaware of their presence. "Commander, we're now at firing rang!" Colonel Tigh announced, looking to his right at Commander Adama. "Fire when ready." The Galactica let out a thick yellowish laser bean from it's stomach, and hit the surprised basestar right between the two saucer sections. The basestar shook violently, knocking Lucifer off his high throne. He was lucky not to be damaged from the long fall to the metallic floor. Lucifer sat himself up. "What was that?" "The Galactica has sneaked up behind us." The chief centurion soldier responded. "The Galactica! Of all the times to find them, this is not a good one!" Lucifer mumbled to himself, as if he were human. "The Galactica has delivered her punch. Let's go help out the fighters!" Apollo ordered. "Ready or not, here we come!" Starbuck said, anxious to get out there and kick some Cylon butts. Class X leader, Captain Geraurd was in deep trouble. He had one of the strange oval shaped alien fighters on his tail. Geraurd was unable to get him off. "I need help!" No one responded. Everyone else were fighting for their own lives. This maybe his last mission. It was strange; he didn't think it would end like this. He had hoped to find a beautiful woman to marry, and raise a happy family. It looked like it may never come true. A laser blast had suddenly destroyed the tailing fighter, and another strange looking fighter had flown past him. "That was for the misery you miserable tin cans put me in!" A human sounding voice called out on the com. "Thank you, whoever you are!" Captain Geraurd said, wiping the cold sweat off his eyebrows. "The name is Starbuck. Captain Starbuck from the Battlestar Galactica." "Battlestar? What is that?" Captain Geraurd asked. "That's the giant vessel that is helping yours take out that Cylon basestar." Starbuck answered. Captain Geraurd looked to his right to see the new giant vessel. It was wider than the basestar, but the basestar still looked more powerful than it. "The round vessel that our vessels are fighting is called a Cylon basestar. Cylons are a machine race bent on destroying all human life." "These fighters out here are all being piloted by machines!" Captain Geraurd exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Yes, and dangerous ones at that. Let's go help out the rest of your team." "You bet!" Captain Geraurd said, happy to see the tide was finally turning. "Our shields are useless against attackers from both sides." The chief centurion reported, emotionless as usual. That's what Lucifer hated about these old fashioned centurion guards. They have no sense of urgency as this situation was calling for. This was not fair! This was only suppose to be a practice drill, and easy one, and now they're facing their own destruction. It was illogical. "Get us out of here, now!" Lucifer barked out angrily. "Commander, the basestar is trying to retreat!" Omega announced excitedly to Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh. "Oh how the rolls have changed." Adama couldn't help but grin at the ironic situation. For once, the Cylons were going to be destroyed,. The Cylons had never shown humans mercy, so he wasn't about to give those machines any either. Adama could only hope that Baltar was on this basestar. This should serve as his final punishment for his crimes against the human race. "I want that basestar destroyed!" "Yes, commander." Omega responded, only happy to obey. The Calcunna and the Galactica continued to deliver damaging blows to the basestar. Both star ships threw everything they had at that basestar. Finally, the final blow was delivered by the Galactica, as it fired off another yellowish laser beam, which caused the basestar to explode into millions of tiny burning space dust spreading in all directions. "Yehaa!" Starbuck cheered as he watched the basestar be engulfed in flames "Starbuck, watch it!" You got a Cylon on your tail!" Apollo warned. "Oops!" Starbuck peeled of the right, hoping to lose the Cylon but the fighter did not fall for his trick this time. "Oh frack!" The crew of the Galactica stood and cheered as the basestar was destroyed. Adama sighed with relief that the danger was over with minimal damage to the Galactica. With all the celebration going on, Adama almost did not notice Cassiopeia enter the bridge. "Commander?" Adama looked to his right and saw the pregnant young woman standing before him. In courteousness, he stood up. "Please sit down." He said, offering her his commander's chair. He knew for a pregnant woman, the walk from her quarters to the bridge must have felt like walking to another end of a planet. "Thank you." She replied, with a very nervous look on her face. "Is there something wrong?" Adama couldn't help but notice her nervousness. "Starbuck is out there in the battle. Is he okay?" "What!" Adama couldn't believe Starbuck would go out into battle after being away from it for so long. "Captain Starbuck is no shape to fight in a battle of this proportion!" Colonel Tigh added. "The basestar is destroyed, but our fighters are still finishing up the rest of the Cylon fighters." Adama answered Cassiopeia's question. "Colonel Tigh, patch us into the vipers frequency so we can listen in to the progress of the battle." "Yes Commander." Tigh said, rushing over to the officer who could carry out the orders. "I'm sure he's okay. Starbuck has always been full of luck." Adama said, trying to ease her nervousness. Suddenly the voices of the vipers was heard throughout the bridge of the Galactica. "I can't shake him!" Starbuck's voice cried, with a hint of nervousness. Cassiopeia gasped, and her eyes widen in fright. "I'm on my way, hold on!" Bane said. "You better hurry, he's about to get a lock onto me!" Starbuck had never been so scared in his life. He didn't know why he was scared; he was in many more worse cases than this. The Cylon had open fired. Starbuck pulled right to maneuver his viper out of the laser fire. One of the laser blasts had hit one of his engines. "I'm hit!" Starbuck's voice cried out like a nightmare. Cassiopeia had gripped the arm rest, and wasn't aware of how tightly she was squeezing. Bane saw the Cylon that was on Starbuck's tail. Bane locked onto the fighter, and shot it into oblivion. "Thanks, Bane!" Starbuck's voice said. When Cassiopeia heard Starbuck say that, she sighed with relief. "How bad is the damage?" Bane asked. "He hit my right engine, and I rapidly leaking fuel! I need to make an emergency landing." Hearing this, the intense built back up in Cassiopeia, remembering what had happened last time Starbuck attempted an emergency landing. "You can head back to the Galactica, we're about finished with the remaining Cylon raiders." Apollo said. "That's going to be a problem. I don't have enough fuel to make it back to the Galactica." Starbuck announced. "No!" Cassiopeia cried, stumbling to get up. Her stomach was quite heavy and made it hard for her to stand up. "Can you make it back to our ship, the Calcunna?" Captain Geraurd asked. "If the Calcunna is that star ship over there, I might be able to." Starbuck said, looking over at the ship that the officer had suggested. "Okay, follow me and my instructions, and I will land with you. The landing process is quite difficult." "I've always liked a new challenge." Starbuck looked around for a fighter that was heading towards him. Starbuck then realized how much the stranger's fighters looked like their star ship. "I'm right next to you." Captain Geraurd announced. Starbuck looked to his right and saw one of the stranger fighters flying next to him. "I see you." "Do everything I do." Captain Geraurd started flying towards the ship's back. "Where is the landing bay on you ship?" Starbuck asked. "Our landing import is on the Calcunna's back, while her launching export is on her belly." "Landing import. I like the sound of that." Starbuck grinned. General Nodieck was sitting back in his command chair, relieved to have seen the enemy ship destroyed, thanks to the strangers that had come to help them. "General, one of our class X fighters is leading one of the stranger's fighters towards us, wishing permission to land. The stranger's fighter has been hit and is leaking fuel." "Tell them they have permission to land." "Yes, General." The officer from the internal communication station replied. The closer they got to the Calcunna, the bigger it got. Starbuck was impressed with it's immensity. "We are flying to where those two flashing lights are blinking. They inform us of how big the import is. A maximum of five class fighters can land at the same time." "What's a class fighter?" Starbuck asked. "I'm flying a Class X fighter. There are ten classes of fighters: A through I and W to Z. Each class fighter looks exactly the same, but each were designed for totally different purposes. Each class has different maneuvering capabilities. Splitting up the maneuvers with similar looking fighters often confuses the enemies." "Very cleaver." Starbuck admitted. Some of his controls began to spark. "Oh frack! My controls are sparking!" One of the sparks shot out at the control sticks and covered his hands. "Frack!" "Captain Starbuck, are you okay?" Captain Geraurd asked. "Frack! My hands! They're burnt!" The sparks calmed down a little and he looked down at his hands which were in great pain. The flight gloves were burnt right off his hands, revealing very dark redden and blistered up skin. "Can you make it to the Calcunna?" "I'll make it." Starbuck painful grabbed the control stick again. No matter how much it hurt, he had to land on the Calcunna, or he'll be dead in space. "Hold on, we're about to start our landing process. Slow down as much as your fighter will go. Try shutting off your engines and drift your way into the import. As soon as we pass the gate, we will be landing on a platform. The gate will close, and the platform will lower into the main level. That's where we get out and get our decompression showers." "Anything you say." Starbuck thought about the argument he had with Cassiopeia right before he came out into this stupid battle. He hoped Cass wasn't watching. Starbuck shut off his engines and began to drift into the landing import. He slowly brought his viper to a soft landing on that wide rectangular platform. Captain Geraurd turned his engines off as the gates closed behind them. Both men stayed in their fighters as the platform lowered. "Say, what did you say your name was?" Starbuck asked. "I am Captain Geraurd," he replied. "Well, thank you for saving my life." Starbuck said letting go of the control stick. Both hands stung tremendously. "I guess that makes us even, since you did save my life first." Geraurd replied. "I guess it does." Starbuck agreed. His face began to feel the same stinging that his hands felt. Those flying sparks had to have burned his face as well. Starbuck gently took his helmet off. The platform stopped and in front of them was a huge hanger where other class fighters were parked, and crew workers were running in all directions, refueling fighters, and what ever else they did. Starbuck lifted up the hatch and stood up. A bunch of crew workers, dressed in their orange uniforms and orange hard hats, ran over to his viper. Starbuck started to climb down the ladder, his hands killing him with each bar he grabbed. As he finally touched ground, he couldn't move his hands any more because of the pain. A beautiful black hared woman in a white uniform was heading his way. Her black hair was kept together in one long ponytail that went down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were sea-blue, and had a smile of an angel. "Welcome to the Calcunna! This ship thanks your people for helping us." She smiled, with a twinkle in her eye. "It's the least we can do since we are the reason they're here." The young woman noticed that he was grimacing. She saw his face was redden and his hands were burned badly. "My name is Doctor Odmander. Why don't you come to my med-tech room." "I would, but shouldn't I take my decompression shower?" Starbuck asked. "Yea, I forgot. You're a pilot. The shower is right over there." She pointed to a wide door, with a window in the middle. I'll go get my medical kit and treat your wounds in the chamber." "Sounds good to me." Starbuck headed off to the decompression chamber. Dr. Odmander didn't realize that her eyes were fixed on the handsome pilot. His short, ragged-brown hair, and his brown eyes. For the first time, since her break-up with her boyfriend, she thought she was in love again. She hurried off back to her med-tech room so she could continue to talk to this handsome stranger. "You must be Captain Starbuck." Captain Geraurd ran up to Starbuck. He turned to face the young man who had helped him make his emergency landing. He had the same kind of haircut as he did, but Captain Geraurd's head was more oval shaped, while Starbuck's was more round. "Yes I am. Don't mind if I don't shake hands with you." Starbuck showed his hands to the young captain. "Ouch! That has to hurt!" Geraurd commented. "Well, I'll talk to you more after the shower." "Sure thing." Starbuck replied. Captain Geraurd headed off in a different direction. There had to be another decompression chamber elsewhere in the hanger. Doctor Odmander ran into the med-tech room and grabbed her medical kit. Before she could run back, here holocom on her desk buzzed. She rushed to her desk, and push the activation button on the holoprojector, and a holographic image of General Nodieck's head appeared. "Has the visitor successfully landed?" "Yes, General. I have to treat some very serious burns on his hands and face, but besides that, he's fine." "Excellent. Carry on then. Over." His holographic image disappeared, and finally, she could get back to the handsome visitor. The vipers were returning back into the Galactica. There was no reported loses in this battle, except for Starbuck's, and that was still to be found out if he had successfully landed or not. Adama had a gut feeling that no one here had seen the last of Starbuck. He had to much luck going for him to let a simple thing like this to take him out. "Can we make contact with the other star ship?" Adama asked out to Athena, his daughter. "I can try." She responded, hoping that Starbuck had made his landing, just like the rest of his friends. "General, the other star ship is trying to make contact. They do not have a holocom." An officer from the external communication station announced. "Switch the holocom to comlink mode." General Nodieck ordered as he sat down in his chair, ready to speak with the people who had helped them with the battle. Put him on screen." On the screen above the weaponry station, a white haired older man appeared on the screen. "This is Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica." "We want to thank you, Commander, for helping us out." General Nodieck said. "The Cylons is a vicious mechanical race that is not to be taken lightly. You were fighting a Cylon basestar. The Cylons is a mechanical race bent on destroying the human race. They must have found you before finding us." "It's hard to believe that there is such a think as a mechanical race." General Nodieck commented. "It hasn't always been like that. The original Cylon race were reptilian. They built the machines, but it is unsure that if they made them specifically for the extermination of the human race, or just to try to imitate us." "Well, the Cylons does sound like a very dangerous race." Nodieck admitted. "I am General Nodieck of the war carrier Calcunna. I'm afraid we were caught off guard by you Cylons. Just moments before they attacked, our home planet had exploded. It came too soon and-" General Nodieck tried to hold back his emotions, everything still fresh in his mind. "It's understandable. We have faced a similar fate. The Cylons invaded our home planets, and massacred most of our people. We are leading a small fleet of a little over two hundred ships of the only survivors." "We need to arrange a get together, and maybe talk in private." General Nodieck suggested. "Agreed." Adama said. "Great. How about we meet in an hour to give us time to heal up emotionally and mechanically?" Hour! Kornel had taught them the Earth time system. Could it possible that they are still near earth, even after being thrown passed by that strange blinking white light. "Do you, by any chance, know of a planet called earth?" General Nodieck thought that question over for micron. "No, I haven't. Why?" "I'll explain at our meeting." Adama shook his head. "Starbuck." Cassiopeia whispered to Adama. "Ah yes! Has one of our pilots, Captain Starbuck, landed on board your ship?" "Yes, Captain Starbuck has landed and currently being treated for server burns. Besides the burns, he's fine." "Thank you very much, General Nodieck, and I look forward to meeting you in person. I and several of my warriors will arrive in an...hour." Adama had to make sure he pronounced the word correctly. "The feeling is mutual. Calcunna over." General Nodieck's face disappeared from the comlink screen. Adama turned to find Cassiopeia standing to her feet. "You are welcomed to come over to the Calcunna with us, if you're feeling up to it." "No." Cassiopeia said angrily, not towards Adama, but towards Starbuck. "If Starbuck want's to see me, he needs to come to me." Cassiopeia headed out of the bridge. Colonel Tigh walked up to Commander Adama. "Apparently Starbuck has gotten her upset by going out to battle." "I believe she has always expressed a negative feeling towards him going out into battle." Adama informed his friend. Starbuck's burns were starting to get unbearable. Usually the decompression shower felt good after coming from a battle, but this time it was really bothering his burns. He was getting anxious to get out of there and go apologize to Cassiopeia for disobeying her, if she'll ever forgive him. After what he had pulled, forgiveness would be a miracle. The decompression chamber door opened and Dr. Odmander entered the chamber. "I have my medical kit. Let's treat your burns," she said with a beautiful smile on her face. Dr. Odmander sat next to Starbuck, and he held out his burnt hands. She tried not to stare at the young pilot. "So, tell me about yourself." "Well, my name is Captain Starbuck from the Battlestar Galactica. I am, or I was, a great pilot until I was paralyzed in a crash. After a long time of being crippled, just recently I was able to walk again because of some unexplainable phenomenon, and now here I am." Starbuck looked down to see what she was doing to his burns. She was spraying some medicine. Starbuck then realized that she had asked him to talk to her so he would be distracted so he wouldn't feel the pain. She was obviously a brilliant doctor. "I guess I should have listened to her not to go back into piloting." "To who?" She tried not to sound interested, but in reality, she was extremely interested to know who "she" was. "My wife. She warned me not to go back out, but I didn't listen. I should be over there right now, keeping her comfortable. She's pregnant with twins." "Oh." She tried to hide her disappointment, but with some failure. She was wrapping his hands with a white gauze cloth, until they were totally wrapped up like hands belonging to a mummy. "Try to obtain from using your hands for a couple of weeks." "How about my face?" Starbuck asked. "Close your eyes." He did as instructed. She fought the urge to lean over and kiss him, and instead sprayed his face with her spray medicine. The spray made his face sting tremendously. "Yikes!" "Stand still. I'm almost done...there. I can't bandage your face, so your face may be in a good deal of pain for a while, but that's all I can do." "Thanks." Starbuck replied. "Well, I have to go, I have other people to attend to." Dr. Odmander said standing up. She walked out of the chamber, leaving Starbuck alone once again. General Nodieck sat on his bed, looking onto a holopicture of his wife in her wedding dress. Oh, how lovely she looked! She was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy! She was so young, so innocent! She was the last person on Habot who deserved to die! He clicked on the remote control, and a new holopicture of his wife appeared, replacing the old one. This picture was of he and his wife holding each other so tightly in each other's arms, embracing each other with a passionate kiss. Nodieck swiped a hand through the image of his wife, hoping for the impossible, that he would be able to feel her soft smooth skin. General Nodieck turned off the holopicture, and began weeping. A grown man like him, crying like a baby! He was suppose to be a brave General leading the weak to victory! What would his crew think of him now? Their brave, and fearless leader, crying like a little kid. "General, I brought Captain Starbuck as you have instructed." Colonel Klad's voice came on the speaker. "You may come in." Nodieck called out, wiping away the tears in his eyes. The door slid open and Starbuck entered General Nodieck's private quarters. Colonel Klad didn't come in with Starbuck. Instead, he headed back for the bridge to take command for the general. General Nodieck stood up and smiled. "Welcome aboard the Calcunna!" "Thanks, General." Starbuck said, wishing he could shake his hand, but his hands were all wrapped up. "Come sit down at the table." General Nodieck said, walking across the room towards a small square glass table. "Do you want anything to drink?" "No thank-you, General." Starbuck answered politely, sitting down across the table from the general of the mighty Calcunna. "So tell me, Captain; how is life on this battlestar of yours?" "Well General, there are so many things to say about the Galactica, I don't know where to start." "I'm not looking for secret information or anything like that, I'm just interested in knowing a little bit about where you come from, what you have been through, what are the living styles on the Galactica." "Well, we come from a planetary system of twelve planets know as the colonies. The President and the council had been tricked in believing that the Cylons wanted peace after a millennia of war. This mistake took their lives, as well as millions of innocent people. "The Galactica is the last of twelve battlestars, all the rest were destroyed in the battle back at the colonies. We, and a small fleet of two hundred ships set sail for a planet which is only known to us as a myth, a planet known as earth. "All throughout our journey, the Cylons have tried to destroy or capture us, but we have the greatest commander, as far as I'm concerned, Commander Adama. He has lead this fleet just shy to finding earth until some unexplained phenomenon threw us pass our given coordinance, and then here we are." "A journey like that is not easy. You people are brave and strong." General Nodieck commented. "I am going to be suggesting to your commander that we, the Calcunna, join you on this voyage of yours, and maybe even help defend your fleet from the Cylons. You see, our home planet, Habot, had just exploded, just under an hour ago. We were not ready for the Cylon's attack." "Your planet just went up and exploded for no reason at all!?" Starbuck couldn't believe that a planet would just explode due to a natural cause. "We knew it was coming. The planet was coming to the end of it's life cycle, but no one knew it would come this soon." "I'm sorry to hear this, General." Starbuck said sympathetically. "Did you lose any loved ones?" "One. My wife." "I'm sorry, General. I shouldn't have asked." "It's okay." General Nodieck said. It was about time to change subjects before he broke out crying again. "So, Captain Starbuck, are you married?" "Yes, sir. Cassiopeia and I have been married around a yahren now, which in your time, I believe, equals a little longer than a year." Starbuck tried to remember the time system Kornel had taught everyone, since Starbuck had noticed General Nodieck using the earth time system. "We're currently expecting twins." "Good for you, Captain!" General Nodieck congratulated. "Some of your friends are coming over in less than a half hour, maybe your wife will be coming over as well." "I'm hoping so, sir. We kind of gotten into an argument right before we took battle stations, and was sent out to help you guys." "You two need to make up. It's not a good idea to get a pregnant woman angry." "I found that out the hard way." Starbuck smiled. "Why don't I show you around the Calcunna, and show you everything." The general stood up from the table. "I think that will be great!" Starbuck agreed. Adama stood once again in front of the council. The council was now made up of more than twelve. They believed they no longer had to worry about continuing to live as twelve separate colonies. Adama was trying to get the council to change their minds about their ruling about finding the first habitable planet. "As I have feared, the Cylons have been brought here as well. This is why I believe we need to continue our journey towards earth. We may soon have another ship to help fight off the Cylons." Sire Urserla was also standing, listening to Adama's reconsideration proposal. "I understand how you feel, commander, but this incident has only strengthen our choice in the matter. With another star ship added to the fleet, we will be well protected from any intruders for long enough until we can build more battlestars, and begin to grow once again. In the matter of the Cylons, there may be one or two more basestars out there, but we can handle them. Most of the Cylon empire is on the other half of the galaxy. Again, let's bring this matter to a vote. All in favor to continue searching for the first habitable planet, raise your hands." Again, the majority raised their hands, except for the young Sire Hunts, and two new hands, that had previously voted against him the last time. "You have managed to convince a few more council members, commander, but I'm afraid not enough to over rule the proposal. The ruling remains on effect unless something very unusual changes our minds. Council dismissed." The final stop of the tour was back at the landing import, where Starbuck's friends from the Galactica was coming over to meet with General Nodieck. Starbuck was anxious to see his friends again, especially his wife. He had some major apologizing to do. They saw the ramp beginning to come down. They had landed on the platform! Starbuck waited impatiently has the ramp came down slowly. Finally, the shuttle was in view. The ramp stopped and General Nodieck and Starbuck walked up to the bottom of the shuttle's ramp. The first one down was Commander Adama in his dark blue uniform, with the sign of Kobal connecting the two ends of his dark blue cape around his neck. "Welcome to the Calcunna, commander!" General Nodieck greeted the commander. "Thank-you General." Adama said, looking over at the scarred Starbuck. "I'm glad that you're all right, Captain Starbuck." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank-you, commander." The rest of the passengers walked down the ramp. The next one down the ramp was his best friend, Apollo, and his girlfriend, Sheba. "Starbuck!" Apollo and Sheba ran to him, with a big comforting smile. "I'm glad to see you!" "Well, this time I didn't crash." Starbuck shrugged. "My hands are a little burnt, but nothing to big." "Starbuck!" Bane's voice called out as he was the next one running down the ramp to see Starbuck. He was about to slap him on the back, but saw his wrapped hands, and his burned skin on his face. "Are you okay?" "I hurt a little, but nothing I can't handle." Starbuck lied. He didn't want to make himself look wimpy in front of a legend. Kornel was the last one off the shuttle. He was looking around at all the technology around him. "Not bad. Not bad at all." Starbuck was hoping for Cassiopeia to be the next one down, but no one else came from the shuttle. He turned toward Apollo. "Apollo, where's Cass?" He whispered. "She didn't come. She seems to be very angry at you." "I guess she has the right to be." Starbuck said disappointingly. "If this is everyone, then I will lead you over to our conference room where we can talk." General Nodieck announced to everyone. "Lead the way." Adama said cheerfully Starbuck thought about Cassiopeia for the first ten centons of the meeting. He had regretted the bad decision he had made about going out to fight in this battle. He wished he could take everything back. Now, he had to wait until after the meeting to make amends with his wife. Starbuck began to listen to the conversations around him, as the important topics were just being brought up. "The Calcunna has no where to go. We are the last surviving war carrier of Habot. We would like to join your fleet, and maybe help to defend the fleet. The Calcunna needs no fuel, nor food supply. We have special technology that provides us with an infinite supply of them. We would very much like to join you to find this earth." "You are welcome to join us on our voyage, but I'm afraid we are no longer looking for earth. The council has voted to search for the first habitable planet we come across." Adama warned General Nodieck. "We don't mind," he replied. "What changes need to be made for us to be able to fit in with you?" "Just a few things. You will be made a council member, just as I am, who will represent the Calcunna. I will warn you, the council is very selfish and, you never heard me say this, but dumb. I can represent a matter until I'm blue in the face, and they will go against it, because they can only think of their present sufferings. I proven them wrong on numerous occasions, but they continue to slowly take over the fleet." "I'll support you on what ever you propose." General Nodieck replied. "Thank-you, General. When you become a council member, you will be referred to as a commander. I hope you do not mind changing your rank name." "No problem." General Nodieck assured. "Just one small question. Do you, by any chance, have any extra room here on the Calcunna? The Galactica is over populated, and it's very tight for our people." "We have plenty of room. You can bring over as many people over here as you want. We can even train some for bridge duty." "That will be great! As soon as I return to the Galactica, I will take volunteers throughout the fleet to move over to this ship." Starbuck had paid careful attention to the last proposal. He now had a excellent idea how to resolve the conflict between he and his wife. Now all he had to do was wait to return to the Galactica. Cassiopeia sat on a chair, looking out the circular shaped window at the millions of stars. She was a little concerned about Starbuck, but mostly was still angry at him for what he had just put her through. "Cass?" the familiar voice of her husband come from the door. Cassiopeia stood up and saw the burn marks all over his face, and his hands wrapped in white gauze cloth, immobilizing the movements of his hands. She was dying to check the wounds, and see if they were properly taken care of, but her anger had restrained her. "You're hurt." "It's nothing." Starbuck commented. "Listen Cass, I'm sorry about earlier. You were right, I should not have gone out to battle." "Starbuck, you don't understand. It's not only now that I was talking about. I was talking about the rest of our lives! Starbuck, things aren't the same anymore. We have children coming. I can't tell our children what happened to you, if you died. How can I possibly raise them on my own?" "I understand what you're trying to say." Starbuck admitted. "I have an idea. I heard that Commander Adama is taking volunteers to move on board the Calcunna. I was thinking, why don't we move to the Calcunna, and I'll take a less dangerous job on the bridge." Cassiopeia's eyes quickly were flooded with tears of joy. She was so happy to hear her husband say this. This was exactly what she had wanted. She walked to him and gently hugged him, so not to bother his wounds, and the children in her womb. "I'm going to go hand in my wings." Starbuck said. "Let me help you take it off your shirt." Cassiopeia offered. Starbuck sighed. He couldn't believe he was giving up the one thing he truly loved doing. This was the greatest sacrifice that he could give for his beautiful wife. That was how much he loved her. Adama was sitting at his desk in his personal quarters, contemplating on the events of the evening. His door slid open and Starbuck entered the room. "Commander?" Adama looked up and smiled. "Starbuck, what brings you here?" Adama had always thought of him as another son. It was only recently that Adama was able to tell Starbuck this. He was best friends with Adama's son, Apollo, ever since they were little kids. Starbuck dropped a pin from his covered hands. "I'm handing in my wings. I am resigning from fighter and teaching duties." Adama had a feeling this was going to happen. Adama hated to see one of his best pilots leave. "Is there any particular reason why? After more practice, you'll be back to the way you were before your accident." "Commander, my life is changing. I now have a wife, and soon will have two children to raise. I must take a less dangerous job. This is why Cass and I want to volunteer to move on board the Calcunna." This, Adama was not expecting. It was as if Apollo requested to move to another ship. It pained Adama to move his loved ones out of his protection, but as a commander, he also knew that there were times where he had to let them go. This was another one of those times. "Well," Adama stood up to his feet. "I wish you two well on the Calcunna then, and may the lords of Kobal be with you as you go." Adama almost stuck his hand out to shake his hand, but remembered about his injury." "Thank-you, commander." Starbuck nodded. For some strange reason, it felt like this was going to be the last time he saw Commander Adama. "I guess I should return and start packing." Starbuck walked out of the room. Starbuck wouldn't allow Cassiopeia to lift one thing, or even stand on her feet. She was feeling guilty about watching him struggling to help a soldier do all the work. "Starbuck, let me help. I'll take the lighter luggage." "No, We can handle it. You sit down and rest. You're not suppose to over exhort yourself in your stage of pregnancy." Starbuck replied. "Starbuck!" A young, excited child like voice called. Boxey came running in. Starbuck knelt on one knee, and picked the young boy up, trying not to do so with his hands "Hey sport. How are you doing?" "I'm fine." Boxey said, almost in an adult manner. "I hear you and Cassiopeia are leaving the Galactica. Why?" "Well, Cassiopeia and I have to build a new life together, to get ready for our children. Don't worry, we'll be over to visit. We'll only be one ship away." Starbuck explained. The two mechanical daggots moaned had entered the room, moaning, as they must have sensed the sad moment. Apollo entered the room, with one arm around Sheba. "Hey Starbuck!" Apollo greeted. Behind them, entered Bane, Boomer, Athena, and Commander Adama. "We hear you're leaving us." "Yea, Cass and I are moving on. We figured we will raise our children on board the Calcunna." Starbuck said, shrugging his shoulders. "I never thought I would see the day when you would become a family man." Apollo grinned, walking up to his friend. "We're going to miss you, man." "We all are going to miss you." Bane added. "Why is everyone so sad? I'm only going to be one ship over." "It's not going to be the same without your mischievous innocence around here." Boomer smiled, recalling all the times Starbuck had tried to convince him to join him on a crazy business scam. Starbuck laughed. "Yea, I remember those days. Maybe I'll come over and visit and propose a new business deal." All the people in the room laughed. Starbuck realized what friends he had, and how much he was going to miss them. The last battlestar, battlestar Galactica, continues to lead the only human survivors of the deadly Cylon holocaust to a mythical planet known as earth.