Post-Leap Summation
Our story re-opens twenty-two years after the final showdown with the Cylons. I will be hitting the topics point by point rather than writing a single narrative that wanders around. Focus is key.
The APF
With the war coming to a close, it left tens of millions of Allied Planetary Forces (APF) members across half the colonies. The Cylons could only take a few million. The Colonials demanded their surrender or be faced with being hunted down and jailed or killed, aided by the Cylons turning over their identities and Colonial Security Numbers. Most of them went into hiding almost immediately. All members of the APF who surrendered or were located were shipped to Libran while the planet's own evacuation was ongoing. However, about one year later nearly one million in hiding on Picon, Aerilon, and Caprica rose up and attempted to restart the war but the Colonies had decided they were no longer going to show patience. The response was swift. With the help of the Arpay Fleet, the Colonial Fleet began orbital bombardment of suspected strongholds to set examples. Hundreds of thousands were killed. With a population already ravaged by war, humanity on the Colonies merely watched with cold indifference. Most of these people were already guilty of war crimes. Few Colonials voiced protest, willing to say that the struggling remnants of humanity should enter into a new ground war and needlessly waste more lives. Often they were shouted down. Over the course of five months the combined fleets shelled more than four thousand positions. The APF took the remainder of their people and melted back into the population while those on Libran raged. The fleet hoped they would die peacefully. Over the next two decades they would prove themselves a cancer.
For six years the APF were quiet while humanity got back on its feet. It is believed that many of the surviving APF took this time to establish covers within the population and gain trust. Around the six year mark, however, leaflets started appearing. These small documents asserted the dangers of the Arpay and their technology. It also railed against humanity for dabbling further into computer research and opening up related avenues of study. More and more they would appear, and over time they become more hostile and threatening. The APF declared that humanity needed to be saved by an AI who could control humanity and watch over it, protect it from itself, keep it at a stable state to ensure their futures. Ten years after the end of the war, the bombings and assassinations began. The APF no longer seemed intent on attempting to turn the population through propaganda.
The currently available 'manifesto' of the APF declares that they intend to contact the Machines by any means necessary to bring them to the Colonies and that the violence against they only strengthens their resolve and proves the righteousness of their cause. The document states that targeted killings and bombings of public locations is the only way to force the public to take this issue seriously. Primary targets are original Fleet Personnel (to include Marines), and their families, and Lines. Any Lines are good and are usually the main targets. The families of Lines are considered to be blasphemous to the APF religion with essentially treats AI as God and the Centurions or Walkers as the chrome hand of their Lord. Some of the Colonials quietly support the APF in killing the Lines, but its expected to be around three percent of the population. However, the rest of the goals leave most Colonials in fear of the APF. With hundreds of thousands of them spread across the Colonies, they have penetrated society and walk among the Colonials. They could be your mother and/or father, brothers and sisters, best friend, or even your own child could have been recruited.
Their threat is real and is a regular story on the news. The local police forces rarely handle these well-armed groups. Designated Enemy Combatants, the military conducts raids on APF targets and prosecutes the targets as designated by military intelligence.
The Role of the Arpay
For many, the role of the Arpay came with a lot of hesitation. The Colonies were as weak as they ever had been and were in dire straits when the Arpay arrived. They claimed they were there to help. It was something that human history was riddled with just before the rescuing forces began to take over completely. However, the Arpay held up their word and kept a fairly hands-off approach. After the war, a few documents were published to humanity for them to read. One of them was an official guideline of the Arpay Diplomatic Corps: 'All civilizations must reach for their own salvation. The Arpay will militarily evacuate worlds that are ready, but the Arpay hold no such mandate for their own colonization and such practices are considered contrary to our aims. Education and Support are the pillars beneath our efforts and should form the foundation of all efforts.' The guideline was supported by numerous documents and personnel interviews stating that the Arpay would teach a concept then expect a person to apply it and teach it themselves. Some say the Arpay are lazy because of it. Most who have met them understand that the Arpay have no interest in doing things for the Colonials, and thus holding positions as the keepers of knowledge, but want the Colonials to stand on their own two feet and build and create on their own using shared technology. That concept has even held to their rules about what their role is with humanity at large. No laws exist that prevent the Arpay from doing anything, however their own published laws forbid them from drawing compensation from the Colonial Government — especially the military. They are forbidden from holding any position in the government or military by their own rules.
However, what they have brought are quantum computers and secured network capability. They have brought weapons and armor technology, science and theory, they have exported medical advances and hope to a population in dire need of something bright. It was slow at first while the Arpay evaluated humanity, but became much more after one year. It was around this time that the initial volunteers who had their conversion surgeries were released from all testing with no ill effects found on them. The conversion surgeries were opened up to the military and a select few civilians, a larger test group, however the genetic therapy (disease elimination and anti-aging) was opened up to all who wanted it. Another one year evaluation and all results well and good, the rest of humanity was offered the Arpay conversions if they wanted it. While most of the population has elected to perform the gene therapy at some point, only about one million Arpay conversions have been done in the last twelve years.
Today, twenty-two years after the end of the Second Cylon War, the Arpay hold a very protected place with the Colonies. They are seen as the temporary protectors and holders of the Colonial banner. The continue to insist that the Colonials are Erfriki descendants and more evidence is found regularly to support this. But more functionally, Carrier Strike Group Nineteen has 'dropped anchor' in the Colonies and has been using it as a base of operations since then. Other Apray CSG's have passed through for a visit but Nineteen has been the constant, as has its Admiral Mikael Fencer. The Admiral oversee's all Arpay responsibilities and operations on the Colonies. Per his order, all individual Arpay arriving inside Colonial space are held to military law and under his command. One whole ship in his fleet is dedicated towards ensuring that the teachers, consultants, and engineers that are working with the Colonials are following policies he has enacted to protect the Colonials for too much Arpay exposure.
In his words, "We don't need the Colonies to become Arpay and quite frankly I'm averse to the idea. We need humanity to develop along its own avenues. We can give you the knowledge and the technology, but how you implement it is on you. We can show you how to build things, but we will not build them for you. Fighting the Machines means that they adapt and learn our tactics. We need fresh minds and blood helping us, which we hope you will one day. That is the faith."
There are currently one hundred forty thousand Colonials, including families, living at Arpay and constructing ships and space stations. The Colonies ship their own resources back to Arpay for construction or pay the Arpay to provide what they have. The Arpay provide fair trade to the Colonies in all forms, though coffee has become the primary export of the Colonies to Arpay. The other export is humanity itself. Ten years ago humanity began its evacuation to a different galaxy. Ships arrive all the time to take families and move them out to someplace safe in order to start over. More than ten million have already made the journey. Three million are expected to make the evacuation in the next year alone.
Piraeus
Per the agreement with Nomad Command Staff and The Lines, Piraeus has been handed off to The Lines as their official home planet. It is considered to be their home and they enact the laws there. The Lines have established their own city (Jamestown) and home there on the other side of the planet from Sheridan. At this site is one of the three facilities where new Lines are awakened and is the only one that has been in use for the last fifteen years. Most of the local population, which does include a few humans, works in some supporting capacity to operate the facility. However, on the other side of the planet, Sheridan has been allowed to not just stay but also grow, with the addition of a Colonial Fleet Air Station south of town that serves as a trans-shipment point for Sheridan and a weapons depot. Two years after the end of the war, per treaty with the Lines, Piraeus was designated a military and research reservation in addition to its protected status as a War Grave. The only non-Line people allowed at the planet are active duty military or researchers (to include planetary scientists, anthropologists, archaeologists, etc) with specific and written orders to the site. The only exception are military personnel who were veterans from the last war, who have been given leave to settle the planet as long as they abide by martial law which governs the planet loosely. Personnel who reside there must have respected service records and be clean of criminal records post-war. Anyone who commits crimes will be evaluated for permanent deportation back to the colonies.
To this day the location of Piraeus is a closely guarded secret. There are no tourists or people who end up there by accident. Sheridan is a thriving town of twelve thousand in the surrounding area, many of whom are retired personnel and their families. There are schools, shopping areas, a movie theater, and everything that one would come to expect from a town that size. Despite the growth, however, Charlie's is still there. Entry through to door requires military identification as current or former service. Non-military spouses and +1's are allowed as long as they stay with their escort. Very little has changed about the bar.
Nobody has ever figured out what 'The Ghosts' are. As a point of respect to them, very few people even try to figure it out anymore. No facilities to support scientific theories have ever been found despite several detailed surveys of the planet. After hostilities settled down and day to day life became more peaceful, they were not seen around Sheridan as much. They will still stop in from time to time to talk with people or researchers, but for the most part their presence is still felt in the sense that they are there and watching over humanity. Most of the reports about interaction come from the children living on Piraeus, most of whom have seen them repeatedly in some sort of protector role. Whether it be appearing to a lost child and showing them the way home, protecting them from wildlife, or even just walking them home after the sun has set, these figures will appear out of thin air and provide guidance or help as needed. One report came from a young man who was caught in a debris pile during the collapse of an apartment building being constructed. Trapped for two days, he said that Captain al Yamoha sat with him and kept him calm and motivated to stay alive. They have never been seen off planet but some veterans claim to feel their presence on ships or the Colonies during difficult periods of time.
A notable statistic from Piraeus is that child mortality rates due to accidents or external forces are near zero.
The only reported acts of violence attributed to 'The Ghosts' are two separate incidents where people were found executed outside the city, usually within hours of their arrivals. Single gunshot wounds to the back of the head, the letters 'APF' written in blood across their foreheads. Al Yamoha has never admitted to performing the executions but has intimated that the individuals were about to act on their beliefs and that something needed to be done in a timely manner.
The Lines and Humanity
The last two decades have been difficult for both The Lines and Humanity in relation to coming to terms with the war. For years after the war many of the Lines were not welcome very many places on the colonies. The war crimes committed on behalf of One could not be forgotten. Some of those who had since become individuals, but had committed the acts, simply vanished from the Colonies. It is suspected that most of them built Faraday cages somewhere and killed themselves inside them, preventing the individual from downloading. Before reaching epidemic status the Colonial Government called together representatives from the Lines to discuss the problem that nobody wanted to talk about. During the talks it came out that Twelve had been pressuring those guilty of the crimes to confront the issues or face their wrath for guilt. It almost resulted in a civil war within their own culture, but was saved by cooler heads prevailing. The committee eventually came up with a guideline for protecting the Lines who had fought in the war but were dealing with the trauma of their actions against innocents.
The proposal was that the individual Lines who wish to no longer download be provided that freedom of choice. Humanity balked at a race of beings that would give up eternal life. Emotionally charged debates on both sides raged across the colonies for months. Eventually every single Line, excluding the obvious One, signed the proposal. It granted forgiveness to those who committed the crimes as long as they had not 'Awakened' before such action took place. Immediately thousands of Lines signed up, requesting that they be allowed to die and not be forced to endure their knowledge or lives forever. For months the registry didn't change much, but as the opinion spread, so did the idea of giving it all up. Six months later, Lines of all makes were signing up to live a singular and defined life. One year later the Lines destroyed all of their resurrection technology, in a vote that took just over 4/5's majority. That was eighteen years ago. To this day there are members of the Lines, as individuals, that still do not support giving up the resurrection technology and exist as a bloc of roughly 8% of the Line population.
Portions of the fleet and military intelligence sections were aghast that they would voluntarily do such a thing, but the Lines had decided that if they ever wanted to pursue their endeavor to understand humanity and truly join it as individuals, then they needed to cast aside the one thing that set them apart. Two 'resurrection ships' were kept in order to produce more Lines, but the rest of the technology was scrapped and the ships were jumped away to a secret location and placed into mothballs. With the Lines casting aside their infinite life, something happened almost immediately that nobody was prepared for. The Lines began to reproduce. No scientific explanation could be found, either. The females among the population found themselves able to carry a natural child to term, from both human or Line, and the males found themselves about to sow life to the womb.
The news broke slowly and then when it was confirmed, it exploded across the colonies. Opinions ran heated on both sides with very few people falling in between. New elections brought about a change in policy, though. Laws were passed for protection, as well as treatment. Doctors were reminded of their oaths and that life was to be respected in all forms. While it took years for the Lines to gain acceptance with this, and the racism still exists in some cases, the salvation of equal medical care came from the Arpay. In exchange for the ability to run tests, the Arpay provided excellent medical care to those who needed it and helped tens of thousands of women bring new life to the Colonies. While the few protesting Colonial Doctors were vocal, the return fire from the Arpay was lethal to their careers. Led by Admiral Becks Jimenez, the Arpay gathered up the names of those Doctors who refused to treat the women and published their names in a very accessible database. Newspapers on each Colony had the lists on Page Three in full page ads. In one well-replayed interview, Doctor Jimenez was engaged in a debate with the Doctor heading the resistance where she was angrily quoted as saying, "Why don't you just stop hiding behind your organization and call yourself what you are? A bunch of ignorant racists who have zero business practicing medicine. Refusing to treat these women on the basis of reproductive ability is as asinine as refusing treatment because they have a certain blood type! This is a developing civilization! You are not doctors, but you are an embarrassment to humanity, so at least you've established one factual point. <Dr. Petaki attempts rebuttal but Jimenez speaks over him> …No. I'm done. *Bleep* you, *Bleep* your organization. I refuse to share this studio with you." The interview ended on that note with Jimenez walking out.
A year later none of those Doctors had the patient-base to maintain a practice. The future was already happening and children were being born. Nobody could stop it and none of the Lines wanted to. It was a moment of pure rejoice for them. A few Lines were interviewed saying that they didn't think the trade was worth it after the fact, but 98% of Lines polled consistently supported the trade, even if nobody could explain it. The Arpay had theories but none of them were scientific enough and they mostly smiled, holding the opinions to themselves. It was a new era of pride.
The only place left that actively awakens Lines, twenty-two years after the war, is Piraeus — which makes all new Lines true Piraean people. The Lines have never forgotten what the Arpay did for them and the mothers of their children. There is still scattered racism spread through the Colonies based on the war still being within the lifetimes of so many. Some wounds won't heal. Most people keep it to themselves and do what they can to keep the Lines down, but there is a larger majority who treat them like any other person. As part of the whole reproduction issue with humanity, the number of Lines allowed on the Colonies at any one time is 75,000. The Lines have opted to cap their total numbers there as well. While they do have Piraeus, the overwhelming majority leave Piraeus and come to the Colonies to mix with humanity. An interview with a Nine explained it well for many, "We are human under declared law. The law does not distinguish between artificial or natural. While the law is an excellent basis for protections, the Lines exist in a vacuum. We need humanity in order to grow and become our own people. Without humanity, we truly are just biomechanical creations. The context of our lives is the history we wish to create with the Colonials. According to the Piraeans, we struggled for acceptance once. We can endure and do it again."
Lines exist in examples of almost every profession. Many of them opt to join the fleet due to the regimen and service. Some just feel the need to repay the Fleet for their faith. Others pursue a lot of careers associated with the medical field or research sciences. Despite knowing some of the secrets to how resurrection are done, none of them seem interested in helping bring it back or trying to develop new technology or abilities related to it. With the Arpay breakthrough in gene therapy for the Lines roughly six years after the war, they also now have the ability to live lives on the par length with those they fall in love with and want to share their existence with. Things are not perfect, but the situation for the Lines holds a huge amount of hope for their race and culture.
Colonial Fleet Status
The once-mighty Colonial Fleet has been in the process of rebuilding and has-been since before the war ended. Almost all of the construction for the new fleet has been performed at Arpay since their production times and facilities can put out ships much faster. Rather than building a Battlestar in three years, it could be completed in three or four months. Cruisers could be delivered in two months. Vipers and Raptors could be delivered by the squadron-load every two and a half days. Once the upgrades to current designs were settled on by the Colonial ship designers and crews, production began quickly. At any given time there were at least three ships being constructed at Arpay for the Colonial Fleet, all of them being built with Colonial labor and resources. This does not include colonization ships for relocation of Colonials to take them through the evacuation jump.
In twenty-two years, a lot can be done. Eventually negotiations were reached with the Arpay for the Marines and Navy to conduct training for the Colonials at their home planet. It meant that the crews could get a year of training and education in just under one month for Colonial time. They would return as specialists and trained personnel in their field, immersed in VR combat that the Arpay provided for them. Again, Colonial instructors teaching Colonial troops. Tens of thousands of needed personnel were brought into service over the first five years which created a huge swell of further interested folks. War survivors, people who looked to the fleet as saviors when they were children, were now of age to enlist or attend the rebuilt academies. The citizenry understood that the threat was not over. The Cylons were no longer a factor, but the APF was home-grown terrorism and one day, they were told, the Machines would find them. If the Colonials were not ready, they would perish under either annihilation or enslavement.
Twenty-two years after the war ended, there are twelve battlestars once again. The eleven new ones, all of the Mercury-Class, were all test-beds for upgrades individually and to ensure that systems integration was working properly. Prefits were set for new and untested tech were installed. It was all set to come together on the Orion, though. Eighteen years after the end of hostilities, the Orion was finally put into drydock for the planned overhauls. Not only did it get the wormhole drive and upgraded weapons and tracking systems, but also the avionics and electronic warfare suites. The whole ship was overhauled and crew requirements were reduced. Redundancies were installed and enforced. The Orion was declared to be the crown jewel of the fleet and The Hunter would lead the way for the future of the fleet. It came out of drydock six months ago after an extended rebuilding on the engineering housing and is just finishing shakedown cruises. Five other battlestars have already finished their overhauls to match the Orion's upgrades. The other six are slated to leave.
Based around a large space station anchorage, the newly rebuilt First Fleet is headquartered from Picon's orbit and retains its offensive/defensive posture from that location. Capable of responding to most threats in minutes, the Colonial Fleet no longer keeps its munitions in storage depots. While those sites still exist, it is for the overflow. What the fleet does not have room for, it shoots and expends as training ordnance. The Colonial Fleet is determined to never be caught with its pants around its ankles again. Whenever possible, training is done with live fire. Veterans are the teachers and make heavy demands on their students. Many have since retired from it all, though. However, the Fleet does keep tabs on them. There does come a time when they may be needed again. The Fleet is highly motivated but still heavily untested. Training can only go so far.
The Last Two Years
The lives of the veterans and their own children have taken them all in many different directions. Much of the Orion's crew has opted to find solace and protection of the relative quiet of Piraeus with the understanding that if the Machines arrive, it would likely be the first target. Just over half of the fleet's surviving crew has resettled back on the Colonies to help rebuild in their own ways. Where the war has created massive holes in the worlds and killed tens of billions of people, there is opportunity to be found by the gaps left. With so many veterans tired of destruction, so many want to produce or create.
But the Colonies are not quiet. Gemenon, Tauron, Canceron, Virgon, and Sagittaron were nuked or destroyed into a state where they will be uninhabitable for millennia. Longer, likely. Long after the Colonials have completed their evacuation, these graveyards will still be monuments to the horrors of war. Aquaria was a tragedy that few want to think further on and the colony, like the others, is listed as a War Grave and closed to occupation. Those have lost everything of their homes and families have tried to carve out new lives on the Colonies but most of the homeless settled on Piraeus. Those who could not or would not, are causing political problems at home. Nobody can pass anything through the government and the influx of immigration has caused havoc and there are questions of what it means to retain colonial identity. Carving out provinces for certain Colonies has only worked to certain limits thus far.
In the last two years there have been protests and political strife associated with it. To the man and woman sitting at home watching TV, it would seem everything was starting to fall apart. Their lives had begun to recover and everyone who had made it this far was clinging to the fragile recovery with their fingertips. They were so close to being able to make it back to who they were and things were beginning to fall apart because humanity couldn't help fighting itself over who was right and who was left. The people born after the war were of voting age and have no idea what the hell the hardships were truly like and what the horrors of the war truly were. Protests are everywhere, those who demand more from the fledgling government shouting louder and louder. There are rumors that the APF has infiltrated the protests and is behind the rallying cry of disarmament and the military spending. None of the protesters seem to be interested in hearing about the dangers out there. Attacks against the Arpay and those who have done the surgeries are up. Hooded figures smash home windows of the altered residents. The children are facing increasing adversity, often being placed into the same boat with the Line Children.
Some have begun to question whether or not the APF was right. Human cannot help tearing itself apart. Even with the assistance and encouragement from the Arpay, the Colonials continue to fight among themselves. Disinformation is making it hard to understand where their worlds really fit. Of course, none of the people who actually faced real hardship through the war would ever think such a thing. But there are enough survivors on Caprica and Leonis to make it a question in the back of some minds. 'What if the Machines arrive before we can evacuate? Would you fight?' is the quiet set of questions making its way around society.
And while humanity fights, the Fleet stands. The recruitment drive has never finished. Many of the senior leadership fought in the war twenty-two years ago and remembers what it was like. Many of the children of those individuals are flag waving Colonials. it has refrained from getting involved with politics once again, but the Fleet stands tall while people sit at home wondering whether or not the next two years will bring civil war. The supplies aren't there to stockpile. Everyone is nervous and looking inward.
Everyone except the Fleet.
With the fleet having been partially rebuilt, the Colonial Navy has seen eleven new battlestars built with Arpay technology at their homeworld, the work all performed with Colonial labor and resources. The Orion spent three years in drydock to undergo rearming and retrofitting and is now the crown jewel of the Colonial Navy. However, there is the ever-present threat in the distance. The Arpay have continued to be patient and get the Colonials ready for the day The Machines will find them. Evacuation of the population has already begun but will need more than eighty more years. Before Jameson passed, he warned the Admiralty in careful tones: The sins of our fathers are still to visit.