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Mankind started it's existence somewhere far out amongst the stars, on a planet known as Kobol, where thirteen tribes of man lived in prosperity for many millennium. Unfortunately, man started overusing the resources of the planet and Kobol's sun began to die. The scientists of Kobol knew this, and informed the Lord of Kobol. He decided that his people must go out, amongst the stars, and escape to start new homeworlds, colonies of Kobol. Twelve of the Tribes set out immediately, they soon got lost in an endless black sea, a void, where no stars shone, and no planets existed. Soon though, a lone star shown through the void, and led the twelve tribes to a star system with 12 Planets, and two Suns. The final tribe, the thirteenth tribe, set out just prior to the final days of Kobol. After the thirteenth tribe left, very few people were still on Kobol, only the Last Lord of Kobol, and a few required people to make sure the Lord was placed in his tomb.
The Thirteenth Tribe was never heard from again outside of rumors that they founded a colony, on a blue-green planet, called Earth. The Twelve Tribes that found the Cyranus System, each settled on a different planet, and started to rebuild. They set up a Government in the form of a Democracy. Twelve elected officials, one from each of the tribes or Colonies, with one of the twelve elected as President of the Council. The people of the Colonies, while retaining knowledge of intra system travel, soon lost the knowledge to fly from Star System to Star System.
While they struggled to build their Colonies up, somewhere, far across the universe, another civilization was making it's own strides forward into space. This was a humanoid lizard-like race that called themselves Cylons. Cylons, feeling themselves superior to all other races they came across, created a vast war machine, made stronger by great strides in cybernetic systems, artificial intelligence, advanced weapons and propulsion systems. The Cylons made duplicates of themselves as robots, and gave their artificial progeny artificial brains. The new Centurions had no desires outside of what was programmed into them:
1. Advancement of Cylon principle
2. Destruction of all non-perfect races
3. Total domination of the universe
While lacking in individual initiative, these Centurions were soon functioning in every capacity, with the exception of leadership, which was changed when the IL Series Robot was perfected. The IL series was given three brains to help them process the information they received. They were programmed to become the Imperious Leader of Cylon. While there are many IL series robots at any given time, all of the ones selected to become Imperious Leader undergo minor changes in appearance and their sound emitters, so that all Imperious Leaders sound like the one before them. The true Cylons soon started to die and they were hidden by the Imperious Leaders, kept as a myth for the robots that took the name of Cylon. The Cylons went from a natural life form to a race of cybernetic machines over the course of a millennium and a half.
During this time, Man had rediscovered the means to travel between Star Systems, thanks to the work of Marron. Marron was born on Caprica, one of the twelve Colonies. She studied for many yahren to be a spacecraft designer and engineer. When she started working on a new engine that could approach light speed, she discovered a rare fuel source, Solium. Her engine was tested, and the prototype blew up, injuring Marron and killing her husband. When Marron recovered, she was determined to discover her mistake. Thirty yahrens were devoted to this sole purpose, but no one could find a fault in her design; however each time the engine was fueled with Solium, it exploded. Marron continued trying different processes to purify the Solium and one day, just prior to her 60th Birthday, made a breakthrough. She learned that Solium, after being exposed to a rigorous refining process, would change its composition and become what she called Tylium, in memory of her husband, Tylen. The next day she tried the Tylium in her latest engine prototype. Marron launched from the surface of Caprica, set a heading for the most distant Colony from her, and dialed in the new engine specs. Her ship shot forward, made a streak across the sky, and in little more than a centar, she was at her destination, a trip would have normally taken sectons. Mankind was once again capable of traveling through the stars.
Needless to say, it didn't take long for the Cylons and Humans to make first contact with one another. At first, the Cylons didn't see the Humans as a threat to their perfect order of the Universe, so they left the Humans and their Colonies alone. Soon however, the Cylons moved against the Colonies closest neighbors, humanoid felines called Hassari. The Humans went to the aid of the Hassari, helping them win their planet back from the Cylons. This enraged the Cylons, and they struck out at every Human ship they ran across, merchant ships being a favored target. Very few of the ships were able to get messages back to the Colonies about their attackers, so the Humans didn't know the Cylons were behind the losses until a Cylon warship attacked one of the Colonies. Human ships, equipped with the Marron Star Drive, launched from all twelve worlds and proceeded to attack the Cylon ship, destroying it. This was the first battle of a war, that would span a Millennium.
Both the Cylons and Humans poured everything they had into the war, making great advances in weaponry, ships, and in all forms of related technologies. The greatest of the Human discoveries, were the Battlestar and the Viper. Nearly halfway through the war, the built the first of the massive warships known as Battlestars. Pegasus, as the first Battlestar came to be called, was the largest ship ever constructed. She was equipped with more than 30 laser turrets, and a score of fusion missiles. Alone, she could lay siege to an entire planet and with the addition of star fighters, could easily take on three of the largest Cylon warships and survive. Quickly, the Humans built more Battlestars. Galactica, the last to be launched, was built 200 yahren after the Pegasus. This led the Cylons to build their answer to the Battlestar, the evenly matched Basestar. The Basestar had forward guns that were more powerful than anything the humans had fielded, but they were fewer in number. The Cylons introduced new, smaller fighters, the Cylon Raider, that could out fly, outmaneuver, and outgun the Humans Triton Skyfighters. Hard pressed by these new ships, the Humans decided to build a new fighter of their own to counter the Cylon Raiders. One hundred yahren ago, the first of these new fighters, called Vipers, were introduced to the Colonial Fleet. A Viper could outmaneuver the Raider, it was faster than a raider, but it did fall short in firepower. Over the last 100 yahren all the major combatants on both sides have been improved, but no more Battlestars have been constructed.
With the Cylon-Human war reaching almost 1000 yahrens in duration, the Cylon Imperious Leader looked to end the war in one great battle. He sent messages to the Colonies, asking to discuss a peace between the two combatants. The Council was ecstatic, as the people of the Colonies were weary of war. Imperious Leader chose a Human named Baltar to finalize the agreement, convinced that he could seduce Baltar into setting his own race up for total destruction. He was right and Baltar quickly agreed. Soon Baltar went back to the Colonies and the Council ratified the agreement. All that now remained between peace and the Colonies was the signing of a formal treaty. The Humans sent the entire Council, accompanied by the remainder of the Battlestar Fleet to meet with the Cylon Imperious Leader and sign the peace treaty.
Imperious Leader was pleased with his battle plan to attack the Battlestars; victory would come in the form of a two pronged attack, one force of fighters would engage the Battlestars and combined force of Baseships and fighters would attack the Colonies themselves. Fortunately, a patrol launched from the Galactica discovered the hidden Cylon fighters and fled in an attempt to warn the Fleet. The Cylons jammed communication of both craft and set out to destroy the offending Vipers before the attack could be thwarted. Both Colonial pilots used every bit of skill they possessed, but still, one of the Vipers was soon hit. The damaged Viper, unable to keep up, sent the undamaged fighter off to warn the Fleet. The pilot in the intact fighter, a young captain named Apollo, got to the Fleet and went through Decontamination before heading to the Bridge. By the time he got there, it was too late. The damaged Viper, piloted by his younger brother Zac, had been destroyed and the fight for survival had begun in earnest.
The Cylons knew, through intelligence provided by Baltar, that the president and the council were located on the Atlantia and they were determined to strike the first blow squarely upon the council's flagship. This preoccupation with the Atlantia's destruction and the wariness of the Galactica's commander, Adama enabled the rest of the Battlestar fleet to launch squadrons of Vipers and begin to fend off the Cylon onslaught. As the true situation became apparent to even the stubborn mindset of President Adar, he wisely gathered the embarked council members and proceeded with all dispatch to the launch bay where they ran across another council member, Baltar, already in a fast ship, fortuitously ready for escape. Under the cover of the quickly escalating battle raging through space, the council escaped to a secret rendezvous known only to President Adar and the Commanders of each Battlestar. Mere centons after the Council ship escaped into the vastness of space, the mighty Atlantia, largest of the Battlestar fleet, succumbed to the massive attack and vanished in a bright flash of light.
With the loss of the Atlantia, the resolve of the surviving Colonials stiffened immeasurably. With less than 400 Viper fighters pitted against a legion of Cylon Raiders, a hideously beautiful dance of death spread out and enveloped massive areas of space. On board the Pacifica, Commander Ragnar, newly advanced to the position of Fleet Commander after her predecessor's death in the pyre of the Atlantia, gathered the remaining Battlestars together and began a series of lightning slashes against the Raiders in an attempt to draw fire from, and support the vastly outnumbered warriors in their fragile fighters. Fighters twisted through space, seemingly entwined by lethal laser torpedoes, huge Battlestars darting through massed formation of fighters, comm channels filled with cries of triumph and alternately, the chilling screams of those who failed to best the Cylons, the small blossoms of light that indicated yet another brave warrior or remorseless machine leaving the universe; these were the sights that would be forever imprinted on the minds of those who survived.
After several centars of heavy fighting the Raiders began running out of fuel, thereby becoming easy prey to the exhausted, but resupplied Vipers. Although the losses had been horrific, the Colonial fleet emerged victorious and its war leaders were finally able to take stock of the situation. The Atlantia was destroyed, the Pacifica crippled, the supporting units decimated and more than 200 Vipers lost, a heavy price to pay, but a paltry sum in light of the alternative; the annihilation of the life-form known as man.
News reports from Caprica showing the incredible devastation being wrought there, had been flooding in throughout the combat but the hard-pressed Fleet could do nothing without risking the loss of the Colonies only chance at staying alive. Fleet Commander Ragnar, though grievously wounded in the battle, directed the Galactica, Columbia and Solaria to return to the colonies with every available Viper and warship still capable of combat and make every effort to stop the slaughter being rendered upon the helpless people back home. Triton, badly damaged herself, would stay back with the Pacifica and help nurse her home. Ragnar found herself confronted by a terribly choice: Which colonies to try and spare, and which to leave to their own devices. It was decided that the task group would attempt to save what remained of Caprica due to it being the home of the Colonial Military Academy, Sagitara due to its importance in shipbuilding, weapons manufacture and being the seat of the council, and finally Virgo because of its large agricultural base. After a frantic three day voyage back to the colonies, the fleet found itself arriving over a badly savaged Caprica. The scenes from the ground were at first appalling, but then, as the situation grew clearer, hope sprang anew as the Cylons appeared to have been interested in neutralizing the defenses of the planet, and then moving on to repeat the process over another world. Reports from Caprica clearly spelled out to Adama, in command of the task group, that he was facing three fully operational Baseships with full fighter compliments, against which he could field three damaged Battlestars, approximately 30 ships of the line, and only 120 operational Vipers. Enough to prevent the Cylons from returning to Caprica, but not enough to defeat them in battle. For now, only the Colony of Caprica would be saved.
Our story picks up 6 sectars after that terrible battle. The fleet has been somewhat reassembled, Caprica has been hastily rebuilt and plans are being made to attempt to lift the blockades on the other colonies. It is a dark time for the Colonials, but hope is not gone. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Human spirit and determination have salvaged a chance to survive from the very jaws of annihilation. This is the Colonies finest hour. This is your universe.