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FYI: My username is Jaster1 on Galactica Fanon.
''There are [[User:Troyian/Archives|archived versions]] of this user page, dealing with other subjects.''
''There are [[User:Troyian/Archives|archived versions]] of this user page, dealing with other subjects.''


:'''Descriptions of Caprica, Aerelon, Gemenon, Tauron and Virgon:'''
'''Battlestar Galactica: The Original Series'''
 
Approximately 20,000 years ago, an extradimensional race that would one day be called the "Beings of Light" discovered humanity and recognized the potential of the human species. A group of Beings of Light transplanted a large number of humans to another planet tens of thousands of light-years away and 'civilized' them. Upon gaining a new language, the humans named their new home planet "Kobol" and began calling the Beings of Light, the "Lords of Kobol." They developed an entire religion around these Lords of Kobol. Over time, the humans on Kobol also developed a civilization with all the amenities of an advanced society while the humans on Earth remained in the Stone Age.
 
As the people of Kobol developed high levels of technology, they eventually discovered a method of interstellar travel. However, they became a wasteful people, and didn't care for their planet. Waste piled up, the air and seas became polluted, and many species of animals died out. Simultaneously, the star that Kobol orbits began showing the early stages of imminent destruction. The end result was that all life on the planet would be doomed by either humanity or nature's hands. However, the people of Kobol united to act before it was too late for them. They built great space arks to transport the majority of their population to other worlds, and they set out across the galaxy in search of a new home. At some point, explorers found Earth (and gave it that name). However, they were unaware it was their original homeworld, falsely believing the presence of humans of both Earth and Kobol to be the result of parallel evolution. Some time later, other explorers found a system which had twelve habitable planets circling three stars, and it was here that the Twelve Tribes of Kobol settled, and these worlds were to become the Twelve Colonies of Man. The worlds were Aquarus, Aeries, Cancera, Caprica, Gemoni, Leonis, Libris, Picon, Sagitaria, Scorpia, Taura, and Virgon.
 
Kobol was ruled by thirteen tribes, but the thirteenth didn't follow the other twelve. Instead, it left Kobol before the other tribes and settled on Earth (although some subgroups settled worlds such as Terra and Paradeen). The members of the Thirteen Tribe were the forefathers of the ancient Egyptians, the Toltecs, and the Mayans. They were also the architects of the great pyramids, as well as the lost civilizations of Lemuria and Atlantis. As for the other twelve tribes; once they landed on the twelve colonies, they turned on the technology that had both saved and corrupted them - destroyed it along with the great arks - and returned to a very simple life without it. Most records of the time before this were also destroyed or lost, and soon Kobol was just a legend and a myth as most elements of its civilization were lost.
 
However, the Beings of Light had given their ancestors a capacity for genetic memory. This genetic memory does not take the form of passing on personal memories, but of an unconscious knowledge of certain invented concepts and ideas such as technology, language, engineering and even fashion and music along with various other aesthetic cultural aspects. Over a period of several thousand years, all the technological and cultural aspects from Kobol completely reconstituted within the Twelve Colonies because the genetic memory of these concepts and ideas 'leaked' into the subconscious minds of various people who gradually and collectively reinvented these aspects of Kobol society.
 
Space flight was eventually rediscovered, and with it, the door was opened to establishing contact between the Twelve Colonies once more. Once cultural differences were sorted out, trade and help was forthcoming amongst the various worlds. Unfortunately, one of the 'cultural differences' would actually be the "Unification War." Up until this point, all of the Twelve Colonies had developed with their own governments, cultures and way of doing things. As such, many misunderstandings would occur before the Colonies reunited, and as a result of this, there would be many small skirmishes between the various planets. None of this could be called a war as such, and indeed most of the action would take place within the political theaters, but sometimes it spilled out, and a lot of lives would be lost before the Quorum of Twelve could be established, ending the strife and bringing on a new era of peace and prosperity.
 
Eventually, the Colonies started to launch probes and expeditions to explore the galaxy that they lived in, and it was then that the colonies established new settlements on other planets and asteroids, and made peaceful contact with intelligent life from other worlds. Some of the races that were contacted by the Colonials included the Hasaris, a peaceful amphibious race, and the Orion's, traders and merchants, making and selling goods. They used their own money but became very important to the Colonials, providing technology and luxury goods.
 
It was during this time that a central Colonial Government was established and that with the advent of extra outposts and trading links, piracy soon got itself wired up, which lead to the formation of the Colonial Fleet to counter this threat. The Colonials' technology became greater, and artificial intelligence was soon common place, the goal being that of robots doing all the boring and dangerous jobs that society didn't want to do. However this backfired when the computers and robots revolted against their human masters.


'''Caprica'''
A short 'war' against the machines was instigated, and when the revolt was finally put down, the Colonial Code was passed, limiting the sort of intelligence that could be programmed into a computer, and effectively meaning the end of AI for the Colonies. While each world was free to define exactly what that meant, Caprica was the harshest in it's ruling, and had to be restrained from banning computers all together. Scorpia on the other hand, was the least firm in implementing the Code, and continued to use robots and artificial intelligence to almost the same levels as before.


Caprica has been the center of Colonial civilization from time immemorial. The planet is a paradise for humanity, and seems uniquely suited for human habitation. Even at its earliest stages, Caprican society was highly egalitarian, ordered and peaceful. Capricans are also avid philosophers, particularly of legal issues, morality and enlightened thought. Despite its high philosophy, however, Caprica is also the fashion capital and trendsetter of the Twelve Colonies - Fashion Week in Caprica City is a major Colonial event for the elite.
A little under a thousand years before the 20th century on Earth, the Colonials received a distress call from their alien allies - the peace loving Hasaris - who were under attack from a race known as the Cylons. A malevolent Being of Light known as "Count Iblis" secretly influenced the Cylons to attack the Hasaris. Under Iblis's influence, the Cylon leadership decided that the Hasaris couldn't be allowed to exist, and thus in typical fashion decided to remove them - permanently.


Thanks to a pleasant environment, and good governance, the Capricans soon dominated the remaining colonies with respect to economic and military power but rarely attempted to convert their dominance into outright hegemony. Caprican morality and political thought considered such "high handed" tactics as heresy (although there are incidents where Caprican military power was used as a threat, but always subtlety). Caprican resolve to push through the Articles of Colonization was the single most important factor in the unification of the Colonies.
This started out by the Cylons simply attacking civilian ships and lone warships in a pirate style series of raids, but then when the Hasaris started defending their convoys and ships, the Cylons sent in Baseships with the edict of extermination. The Hasaris tried to defend themselves as best they could, but they were simply no match for the size of the Baseships and the sheer numbers of Raiders that the Cylons could throw at them.


Caprica City itself was the first Colonial settlement to be founded, and it is from here that the fledging Caprican government ran its planetary affairs. The Capricans invested much time and effort into their "Crown Jewel", and prior to its destruction by the Cylons, Caprica City stood supreme amongst all Colonial cities as the most beautiful, cultured and richest City with wide boulevards and malls. The government compound itself is a tourist attraction as much as the bureaucratic and political heart of the colonies.
The Colonials sent aid, in the form of a large battle fleet, to help defend the Hasaris from the robotic invaders, and were horrified to learn first hand of the brutality of the Cylon fleet and their ships capabilities. Whilst it was clear from the start, that even flying outmoded equipment, Colonial pilots were superior to their Cylon counterparts, the Cylons could employ far greater numbers than the Colonials could even dream of. And skill alone couldn't fend off the Cylon fleet.


'''Aerelon'''
In the span of two years, much of the Colonial Fleet, and the entire Hasaris race, were destroyed. Humans could outfly Cylon Raiders in any battle, but they would never be able to match sheer numbers, nor the destructive power of the Cylon Baseships. Because of this intervention, the Cylons learned about humanity, and felt that it too, constituted a major threat to their well being and their order of the universe, and thus had to be removed. There could be no chance for peace or negotiation. Only the complete extermination of the human race would satisfy the Cylons. Exactly what had happened to the Hasaris. The Cylons moved on the Colonials' worlds, and the war began in earnest.


Aerelon is similar to Caprica; the two worlds share a similar nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere, size, gravity field and land mass, although Aerelon experiences a longer rotational period (longer days). Aerelon continental land masses also tend to be relatively smaller that others found on the other colonies, although they are more in number (fourteen continents and two subcontinents). The Aerelon surface is also remarkably flat, although why this is so despite a tectonically active world remains a mystery that defies the explanations of geology. Irrespective of its seismology or topography, Aerelon remains the most fertile world of the Twelve Colonies. Square meter for square meter, the Aerelon soil is more than three times as fertile as the Colonial average.
The war went badly for the Colonials. Not having learnt as much of the Cylons as the Cylons had of the Colonials, they were unprepared for the all out nature of the Cylon assaults. As the Cylons wanted the Colonials exterminated, prisoners were not taken, unless the Cylons needed information, and then the prisoners were executed afterwards. Outposts were destroyed, civilians butchered without mercy. The Colonial Fleet wasn't up to the task of stopping the Cylon might completely. While Colonial pilots fought bravely - and always outnumbered - there were simply too many Cylons, and the early ships of the line weren't up to the task of taking on the Cylon Baseships. However one thing that the Cylons hadn't counted on, was the human tenacity and refusal to bow out and allow themselves to be killed. This meant that Cylon advances were never as great as they should have been, and the Colonials hung on, something the Cylons could never understand. However the Cylons were stopped. In their arrogance, they couldn't believe that the Colonials could stop them - maybe slow them, but not stop, and they launched an all out invasion of the Colonial space. The Colonials had not only anticipated this attack, they stopped it dead and had the Cylons running.


The surface of Aerelon is also remarkably uniform, made up of large swathes of grasslands and plains; only one significant forest, the Evergreens, exists (located on the continent of Ileuses). The Aerelon distribution of land mass and climate patterns essentially ensures that no arid regions develop. The soil is rich and fertile, strictly maintained in this state by advanced farming methods and soil fertilization techniques. Even without science to boost the fertility of the soil, the Aerelon biosphere is already the richest in terms of fertility and diversity. As such, Aerelon agriculture and husbandry forms the main backbone of the Colonial food supply; the colony produces more than four times the food that its population can consume. Several Colonial worlds including Tauron, and to lesser extents Caprica and Aquaria, depended entirely upon Aerelon for a steady supply of food. Thus, the Aerelon economy is largely based upon agronomy for income.
The middle stages saw the most action and the least conquest. The Colonials had some initial breathing space as the Cylons decided how to react to the humans recklessness and backed off to mere probing attacks instead of all out assaults. Another reason for the Cylons pulling back, was that the Colonial destruction was not the sole plan of the Cylons. They had an empire to forge out, a galaxy to explore, other races to contact, and be ordered into the Cylon Empire or enslave or destroy. The Cylons did venture out far into the galaxy, further out then the Colonials ever imagined or did themselves. They did ally themselves to some races, and it has never been made clear what constitutes a threat to Cylon Order. It is due to this that the entire Cylon fleet was never actually employed against the Colonials, which was a good thing, as the Colonials would never have stood a chance.


Due to this reliance upon primary produce to earn revenue, the Aerelons as a population are not overly rich; the average per capita income is below the Colonial average. Nevertheless, the Aerelons are also unique in being the first colony to eradicate poverty amongst its people. Thus, while not rich, the Aerelons are also comfortable. The Aerelons also embody the ideal of many Revisionists (of which a large number can be found on Aerelon), or those Colonials who support a reversion of Colonial technology and culture towards the bare minimum needed to main a healthy and comfortable population base, eschewing many of the comforts of modern Colonial life, e.g. wireless communication, FTL travel, telescreens. The Aerelons are polite and courteous to a fault, while their hospitality is genuine if simple. Their views on things tend to be conservative; adaptation and change is not high on their agenda. They have an aversion to violence, being a "relaxed" sort of people. They are also similarly lax about time; farmers have loads of it so they do not bother keeping track very often, meaning that they tend to be chronically late. They are also un-cosmopolitan; most Aerelons have never been or seen a major Colonial city. Even the planetary capital of Megaera is rustic in comparison to Caprica City for example.
The Colonials however, put this breathing space to good use. They overhauled their fleet, firstly building the new light cruisers to escort the aging Heavy Carriers and other ships of the line, before retiring them when the Battlestars entered service. Other ship types soon followed, as did the Viper fighter. While these designs were updated and modified over the course of their long service history, the Colonials preferred to overhaul old ships rather than design new ones, and hence the amount of ship designs over the 1,045 years of the war was pitifully small. With these new ship designs, and a better understanding of how the Cylons waged war, the Colonials conducted their own attacks, and finally brought the war back to the Cylons.


'''Gemenon'''
While the Cylons could never actually be driven back, neither could they advance, and the middle stages of the war was one of probing assaults, strikes and counter strikes into each others territories, but very little actual conquest. The current permanent combat footing and way of life for the Colonials was developed here. During this period, there were many lulls in the fighting, and these lulls sometimes lasted tens of years. To civilians growing up in this era, these lulls were often misinterpreted as separate wars of their own.


Gemenon is certainly not as utopian as Caprica, but still a pleasant location to live in, although the planet is subject to violent weather patterns.
While this was happening, various societal ideas, concepts, and cultural aspects of Kobol's civilization were appearing on Earth as a result of genetic memory passed on from the Thirteenth Tribe.  Although they appeared only in rudimentary, modified and even fragmented forms, eventually those fragments coalesced into complete reconstitution of Kobolian aspects. For instance, the Kobolian language eventually reconstituted as the "English" language. The English language did not suddenly appear, but instead evolved through centuries of modifications along with amalgamations from numerous other languages. It was all the result of the genetic memory of the language 'leaking' into the subconscious minds of people who unconsciously directed the language toward a linguistic endpoint that is an exact replication of the dominant language of Kobol (and hence also of the Twelve Colonies).


While Caprica and her people chased more temporal and physical pursuits, the people of Gemenon have always been the most devout and religious of the Twelve tribes. Their belief in the spiritual and power of the Twelve Lords have undoubtedly been influenced by the location of the High Temple on that planet. The High Temple was the ecclesiastical capital of the Twelve Colonies, housing the keenest theologians in brotherhood with the Priests and Priestesses who tended to the people's wellbeing. The High Temple is also the reputed location of the Wrath of Hera; nobody other than the High Priests know exactly what the Wrath is, whether it is a physical artifact of some sort, or a metaphor/analogy.
Far away amongst the stars, the Colonials continued the fight against the Cylons for over a thousand years. In that fight, they never forgot their neighbors. When the Cylons attempted to attack allied planets, the Colonials always tried to help. Sometimes this worked and they freed their allies from the oppression of Cylon rule, and sometimes they lost.


The Gemenese also hold to their own brand of honor, dictated by the scriptures of the Book and the teachings of the Twelve Lords; the word honour holds a very different meaning to them compared to others. Gemenese are also, on the whole, a kindly society, and extremely charitable, also undoubtedly due to the strong influence of the High Temple. They are also polite and helpful people (although sometimes overly helpful to the point of being nosey). On the other hand, centuries of religious indoctrination have also tended to make the people of Gemenon view "right" and "wrong" from a more traditionalist point of view, and also tended to fuel zealotry amongst the populace. In particular, Gemenese tend to have conservative opinions towards sexual morality. As a direct consequence of their sexual conservatism, Gemenese also tend to be insanely jealous and suspicious of any sort of infidelity, true or imagined.
Inevitably, the Cylons had had enough. Destroying a race was never meant to be such a slow and tedious process, and so they put their collective heads together to destroy the humans. They had an empire to manage, and the Colonials were a thorn in their side to be removed for good. Thus they started learning from their enemies, and became sneaky and treacherous, employing any sort of ambush and bait to trap and destroy the Colonials. It is in this fashion that they got their reputation for being underhand. Any trick to bait Colonials - distress calls, hostage bait, Trojan horse traps - all were deemed acceptable if the end result was the death of more Colonials.


'''Tauron'''
One thing that never changed though, was that their tactics always involved overwhelming odds and enough firepower to make sure that the Colonials were destroyed. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The end result though, was always a drain on ever shrinking Colonial resources.


The planet of Tauron itself is unremarkable, being close to the Caprican standard for habitability.
All the decisive battles of the war were played out in this stage of the war, and while the Colonials managed to inflict major damage on the Cylons (nearly always destroying more than they lost, even in their defeats), they were generally on the defensive just trying to stem the relentless advances of the Cylons. Despite this extra offensive state of the Cylons, no one suspected that the end was nigh and that the endgame was finally being played out.


Tauron's early history was marked by industrial development of the virgin planet. It appears that the migration to Tauron from the home world of Kobol was by far the largest of all of the Twelve tribes to depart from that doomed planet. As such, Tauron had a population base that supported rapid industrialization, coupled with extensive resources and mineral deposits on the surface. The industrialisation of Tauron from an early stage meant that the lifestyle of its people has always been standards above most other Colonial worlds; the Tauron capital of Hephaestion in its early history rivaled Caprica City in splendor. The drawback was a certain amount of ecological degradation that was contained by concerted Tauron government action.
The Cylons managed to convince Lord Baltar of Picon, a Quorum of Twelve member, that they would spare his world if he helped them conquer and enslave the people of the other eleven worlds. They also told him that he would rule over the Colonies as the representative of the Cylons. Baltar spoke to the Quorum of Twelve that they Cylons wished to sue for peace. This peace would be sealed at the old moon of Cimtar, a system only a short journey away from the Colonies.


With the advent of tylium-based reactors, the Tauron industrial machine was increasingly overshadowed and out-competed by Virgon. Like an industrial blackhole, Virgon began sucking the production power from Tauron through advantageous trade agreements secured with the major colonies of Caprica, Picon and Libris (with its extensive R&D facilities). As a result, Tauron suffered a short-lived economic depression during the relocation of heavy industry to Virgon. The government took a pragmatic outlook on the situation, and deciding that competition with the growing Virgon juggernaught was no longer an option, embarked upon a policy of reform. While Tauron might be loosing industry to her brethren, Tauron was still an important hub in the financial network of the colonies, superceeded only by Caprica. Favorable policies and legislation soon turned Tauron into the financial capital of the colonies, overtaking even the prodigious flows of money travelling through Caprica. All major economic institutions, from multi-Colonial corporations, stock exchanges, to banks have major branch offices on Tauron if not headquartered. The Colonial Reserve Bank, the single most important government institution with respect to the economy of the Twelve Colonies, is also headquartered in Hephaestion.
The president of the Twelve Colonies, Adar, had had enough of war at this point, and he believed Baltar - as did most of the Quorum, a notable exception being the military Commander Adama who represented the planet Caprica in the Quorum - that the Cylons truly wanted peace. As such, he let himself be led by Baltar, and the heavy elements of the Colonial Fleet journeyed to the moon of Cimtar to seal the truce.


Tauron is now the largest provider of services amongst all twelve worlds. Its people have never known hardship on the same level as the poorer colonies (e.g. Sagittaron), giving Taurons a reputation for being pampered. They tend to be materialistic and overly luxurious; the latest gadgets and fashion are a must (Capricans look on Taurons as being classless and lacking in finesse due to their reputation for greed). Indeed, Taurons are thought to be the pettiest of all Colonials when it comes to recognition of their status, invariably determined by wealth. They can also come across as amoralistic, with cubits being their obsession in life to the detriment of higher morals and ideals, including compassion. On the upside, Taurons are also extremely people people; they are witty, quick thinkers, and the ultimate ales people. They often dream up ingenious solutions to seemingly intractable problems, using their natural deviousness and cunning to their advantage. Their high stakes world, however, tends to leave many with undue amounts of stress; most thrive under such conditions but other Colonials think they are too high strung and "type A".
The Cylon plan was three fold. The first two parts operated together to destroy the final defenses of the Colonies, and then the third part would be the ultimate destruction of the human race. Part one was a huge trap for the Colonial Fleet. Surrounding the moon of Cimtar is a vast mist layer, and hidden within this layer were Cylon tankers. They fueled a vast armada of over a thousand raiders, which would allow them to operate without baseship support. These would destroy the Colonial Fleet. At the same time, part two of the trap consisted of three fully loaded baseships jumping into the Colonial system to attack the twelve worlds. Targets would include any Fleet elements and planetary defenses. Part of this plan was to use spies of Baltar who would attempt to disable defenses and provide information on Fleet movements. Then, when the raiders and baseships had done their jobs, they would rendezvous with the remaining Cylon fleet elements, and once refueled and rearmed, the entire fleet would then jump back to the Colonies and complete the destruction. The plan worked almost perfectly.


'''Virgon'''
The Colonial Fleet moved to the moon of Cimtar, but a lone patrol from the Colonial battlestar ''Galactica'' discovered the massed raiders and the Cylons had to spring their trap early. Thus during the attack, the Colonials detected the presence of the baseships in their home systems, and the ''Galactica'' managed to break away from the ambush and jump back to the Colonial system. The rest of the Colonial Fleet, aside from a few vipers, was destroyed.


Virgon is located close to the important Colonial worlds of Caprica and Tauron (which between them generate almost one quarter of all Colonial trade revenue). The Virgon surface is dominated by two large continental land masses, Eurynome and Thetis.
The ''Galactica'' arrived too late to save the Colonies. The first group of baseships had already arrived and left, and with the help of human saboteurs, had disabled the planetary defenses, allowing them and any Fleet elements present to be easily destroyed. Commander Adama realized that life on the Colonies had come to an end, and there was no hope of remaining there alive. So he sent word to all survivors who assembled in any ship they could find, and lead this fleet away from the remains of the Colonials and from the Cylons. Having no choice to stay, the battlestar ''Galactica'' assembled as many survivors as it could, and a space-dwelling caravan of human survivors left the Colonial system for good. This rag-tag fleet is on the search for the Thirteenth Tribe and legendary planet known as Earth, which they believe will be a new home for them.


The early history of Virgon appears to have been largely agrarian, although the fertility of the planet is only marginal at best. With the advent of tylium reactors, however, industrialization began at a rapid pace, helped by government subsidies and vigorous pursuit of inter-Colonial trade agreements to bolster the fledgling Virgon industries. With time the Virgon industrial juggernaught grew to over-shadow Tauron and even Caprica; at the time of the Holocaust, Virgon stood unchallenged as the industrial capital of the Twelve Colonies.
Shortly afterwards, the Cylons arrived back in Colonial system, and this time they completed the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, and the extermination of all life there. All of the twelve worlds were rendered uninhabitable as a result of nuclear fallout. Despite their deal with Lord Baltar, the Cylons attacked Picon along with the other colonies. The Cylons have kept Baltar alive as a prisoner because their commander-in-chief, the Imperious Leader, believes that, to find the surviving Colonials, another human is needed that thinks as their prey does. And so Baltar aids the Cylons in their pursuit of the battlestar ''Galactica'' and its fleet.


Nothing helped to secure Virgon industrial dominance more than the development of an indigenous space construction industry; Virgon production of civilian FTL capable ships soon rivaled Aquaria (although most military construction continued in orbit of Picon and Caprica). Virgon was the first to pioneer the giant Space Arks, which served as FTL transports for STL ships, allowing Virgon to begin exporting these cheaper vessels. The Virgon shipyards have been credited as being pivotal in decreasing the cost of space flight for the average Colonial citizen, and bolstering the Colonial economy in that way.
Meanwhile, the people of the surviving fugitive human fleet have dedicated themselves to finding Earth; a world whose people live in complete ignorance to the fact that there are brothers of man who now fight to survive beyond the heavens.


The Virgons of today tends to be very pragmatic and accepting of things as they are - they tend not to question the status quo or the social order. As such, civil disobedience is virtually unheard of on Virgon. The only cases of unrest were recorded in periods of economic downturn; idle workers are troublemakers. Indeed, Virgons are the archetypal workaholics and terribly unhappy when they have nothing to do. They also tend to be task-oriented and obsessive about the task until it is accomplished successfully, although that is not to say that they work stubbornly as Virgons are also highly adaptable and efficient. However, their stoicism renders them a bit humorless to most other Colonials; whatever humour they have tends to be dry, and expression of emotion beyond the polite (e.g. a brief smile) is a big social faux pas. Virgons also have a reputation for being temperamental; while patient as a saint, when a raw nerve is touched, Virgons are known to combust and turn ugly very quickly.
[[Category:Galactipedian|Troyian]]
[[Category:Galactipedian (US)|Troyian]]

Latest revision as of 16:32, 18 February 2012

FYI: My username is Jaster1 on Galactica Fanon.

There are archived versions of this user page, dealing with other subjects.

Battlestar Galactica: The Original Series

Approximately 20,000 years ago, an extradimensional race that would one day be called the "Beings of Light" discovered humanity and recognized the potential of the human species. A group of Beings of Light transplanted a large number of humans to another planet tens of thousands of light-years away and 'civilized' them. Upon gaining a new language, the humans named their new home planet "Kobol" and began calling the Beings of Light, the "Lords of Kobol." They developed an entire religion around these Lords of Kobol. Over time, the humans on Kobol also developed a civilization with all the amenities of an advanced society while the humans on Earth remained in the Stone Age.

As the people of Kobol developed high levels of technology, they eventually discovered a method of interstellar travel. However, they became a wasteful people, and didn't care for their planet. Waste piled up, the air and seas became polluted, and many species of animals died out. Simultaneously, the star that Kobol orbits began showing the early stages of imminent destruction. The end result was that all life on the planet would be doomed by either humanity or nature's hands. However, the people of Kobol united to act before it was too late for them. They built great space arks to transport the majority of their population to other worlds, and they set out across the galaxy in search of a new home. At some point, explorers found Earth (and gave it that name). However, they were unaware it was their original homeworld, falsely believing the presence of humans of both Earth and Kobol to be the result of parallel evolution. Some time later, other explorers found a system which had twelve habitable planets circling three stars, and it was here that the Twelve Tribes of Kobol settled, and these worlds were to become the Twelve Colonies of Man. The worlds were Aquarus, Aeries, Cancera, Caprica, Gemoni, Leonis, Libris, Picon, Sagitaria, Scorpia, Taura, and Virgon.

Kobol was ruled by thirteen tribes, but the thirteenth didn't follow the other twelve. Instead, it left Kobol before the other tribes and settled on Earth (although some subgroups settled worlds such as Terra and Paradeen). The members of the Thirteen Tribe were the forefathers of the ancient Egyptians, the Toltecs, and the Mayans. They were also the architects of the great pyramids, as well as the lost civilizations of Lemuria and Atlantis. As for the other twelve tribes; once they landed on the twelve colonies, they turned on the technology that had both saved and corrupted them - destroyed it along with the great arks - and returned to a very simple life without it. Most records of the time before this were also destroyed or lost, and soon Kobol was just a legend and a myth as most elements of its civilization were lost.

However, the Beings of Light had given their ancestors a capacity for genetic memory. This genetic memory does not take the form of passing on personal memories, but of an unconscious knowledge of certain invented concepts and ideas such as technology, language, engineering and even fashion and music along with various other aesthetic cultural aspects. Over a period of several thousand years, all the technological and cultural aspects from Kobol completely reconstituted within the Twelve Colonies because the genetic memory of these concepts and ideas 'leaked' into the subconscious minds of various people who gradually and collectively reinvented these aspects of Kobol society.

Space flight was eventually rediscovered, and with it, the door was opened to establishing contact between the Twelve Colonies once more. Once cultural differences were sorted out, trade and help was forthcoming amongst the various worlds. Unfortunately, one of the 'cultural differences' would actually be the "Unification War." Up until this point, all of the Twelve Colonies had developed with their own governments, cultures and way of doing things. As such, many misunderstandings would occur before the Colonies reunited, and as a result of this, there would be many small skirmishes between the various planets. None of this could be called a war as such, and indeed most of the action would take place within the political theaters, but sometimes it spilled out, and a lot of lives would be lost before the Quorum of Twelve could be established, ending the strife and bringing on a new era of peace and prosperity.

Eventually, the Colonies started to launch probes and expeditions to explore the galaxy that they lived in, and it was then that the colonies established new settlements on other planets and asteroids, and made peaceful contact with intelligent life from other worlds. Some of the races that were contacted by the Colonials included the Hasaris, a peaceful amphibious race, and the Orion's, traders and merchants, making and selling goods. They used their own money but became very important to the Colonials, providing technology and luxury goods.

It was during this time that a central Colonial Government was established and that with the advent of extra outposts and trading links, piracy soon got itself wired up, which lead to the formation of the Colonial Fleet to counter this threat. The Colonials' technology became greater, and artificial intelligence was soon common place, the goal being that of robots doing all the boring and dangerous jobs that society didn't want to do. However this backfired when the computers and robots revolted against their human masters.

A short 'war' against the machines was instigated, and when the revolt was finally put down, the Colonial Code was passed, limiting the sort of intelligence that could be programmed into a computer, and effectively meaning the end of AI for the Colonies. While each world was free to define exactly what that meant, Caprica was the harshest in it's ruling, and had to be restrained from banning computers all together. Scorpia on the other hand, was the least firm in implementing the Code, and continued to use robots and artificial intelligence to almost the same levels as before.

A little under a thousand years before the 20th century on Earth, the Colonials received a distress call from their alien allies - the peace loving Hasaris - who were under attack from a race known as the Cylons. A malevolent Being of Light known as "Count Iblis" secretly influenced the Cylons to attack the Hasaris. Under Iblis's influence, the Cylon leadership decided that the Hasaris couldn't be allowed to exist, and thus in typical fashion decided to remove them - permanently.

This started out by the Cylons simply attacking civilian ships and lone warships in a pirate style series of raids, but then when the Hasaris started defending their convoys and ships, the Cylons sent in Baseships with the edict of extermination. The Hasaris tried to defend themselves as best they could, but they were simply no match for the size of the Baseships and the sheer numbers of Raiders that the Cylons could throw at them.

The Colonials sent aid, in the form of a large battle fleet, to help defend the Hasaris from the robotic invaders, and were horrified to learn first hand of the brutality of the Cylon fleet and their ships capabilities. Whilst it was clear from the start, that even flying outmoded equipment, Colonial pilots were superior to their Cylon counterparts, the Cylons could employ far greater numbers than the Colonials could even dream of. And skill alone couldn't fend off the Cylon fleet.

In the span of two years, much of the Colonial Fleet, and the entire Hasaris race, were destroyed. Humans could outfly Cylon Raiders in any battle, but they would never be able to match sheer numbers, nor the destructive power of the Cylon Baseships. Because of this intervention, the Cylons learned about humanity, and felt that it too, constituted a major threat to their well being and their order of the universe, and thus had to be removed. There could be no chance for peace or negotiation. Only the complete extermination of the human race would satisfy the Cylons. Exactly what had happened to the Hasaris. The Cylons moved on the Colonials' worlds, and the war began in earnest.

The war went badly for the Colonials. Not having learnt as much of the Cylons as the Cylons had of the Colonials, they were unprepared for the all out nature of the Cylon assaults. As the Cylons wanted the Colonials exterminated, prisoners were not taken, unless the Cylons needed information, and then the prisoners were executed afterwards. Outposts were destroyed, civilians butchered without mercy. The Colonial Fleet wasn't up to the task of stopping the Cylon might completely. While Colonial pilots fought bravely - and always outnumbered - there were simply too many Cylons, and the early ships of the line weren't up to the task of taking on the Cylon Baseships. However one thing that the Cylons hadn't counted on, was the human tenacity and refusal to bow out and allow themselves to be killed. This meant that Cylon advances were never as great as they should have been, and the Colonials hung on, something the Cylons could never understand. However the Cylons were stopped. In their arrogance, they couldn't believe that the Colonials could stop them - maybe slow them, but not stop, and they launched an all out invasion of the Colonial space. The Colonials had not only anticipated this attack, they stopped it dead and had the Cylons running.

The middle stages saw the most action and the least conquest. The Colonials had some initial breathing space as the Cylons decided how to react to the humans recklessness and backed off to mere probing attacks instead of all out assaults. Another reason for the Cylons pulling back, was that the Colonial destruction was not the sole plan of the Cylons. They had an empire to forge out, a galaxy to explore, other races to contact, and be ordered into the Cylon Empire or enslave or destroy. The Cylons did venture out far into the galaxy, further out then the Colonials ever imagined or did themselves. They did ally themselves to some races, and it has never been made clear what constitutes a threat to Cylon Order. It is due to this that the entire Cylon fleet was never actually employed against the Colonials, which was a good thing, as the Colonials would never have stood a chance.

The Colonials however, put this breathing space to good use. They overhauled their fleet, firstly building the new light cruisers to escort the aging Heavy Carriers and other ships of the line, before retiring them when the Battlestars entered service. Other ship types soon followed, as did the Viper fighter. While these designs were updated and modified over the course of their long service history, the Colonials preferred to overhaul old ships rather than design new ones, and hence the amount of ship designs over the 1,045 years of the war was pitifully small. With these new ship designs, and a better understanding of how the Cylons waged war, the Colonials conducted their own attacks, and finally brought the war back to the Cylons.

While the Cylons could never actually be driven back, neither could they advance, and the middle stages of the war was one of probing assaults, strikes and counter strikes into each others territories, but very little actual conquest. The current permanent combat footing and way of life for the Colonials was developed here. During this period, there were many lulls in the fighting, and these lulls sometimes lasted tens of years. To civilians growing up in this era, these lulls were often misinterpreted as separate wars of their own.

While this was happening, various societal ideas, concepts, and cultural aspects of Kobol's civilization were appearing on Earth as a result of genetic memory passed on from the Thirteenth Tribe. Although they appeared only in rudimentary, modified and even fragmented forms, eventually those fragments coalesced into complete reconstitution of Kobolian aspects. For instance, the Kobolian language eventually reconstituted as the "English" language. The English language did not suddenly appear, but instead evolved through centuries of modifications along with amalgamations from numerous other languages. It was all the result of the genetic memory of the language 'leaking' into the subconscious minds of people who unconsciously directed the language toward a linguistic endpoint that is an exact replication of the dominant language of Kobol (and hence also of the Twelve Colonies).

Far away amongst the stars, the Colonials continued the fight against the Cylons for over a thousand years. In that fight, they never forgot their neighbors. When the Cylons attempted to attack allied planets, the Colonials always tried to help. Sometimes this worked and they freed their allies from the oppression of Cylon rule, and sometimes they lost.

Inevitably, the Cylons had had enough. Destroying a race was never meant to be such a slow and tedious process, and so they put their collective heads together to destroy the humans. They had an empire to manage, and the Colonials were a thorn in their side to be removed for good. Thus they started learning from their enemies, and became sneaky and treacherous, employing any sort of ambush and bait to trap and destroy the Colonials. It is in this fashion that they got their reputation for being underhand. Any trick to bait Colonials - distress calls, hostage bait, Trojan horse traps - all were deemed acceptable if the end result was the death of more Colonials.

One thing that never changed though, was that their tactics always involved overwhelming odds and enough firepower to make sure that the Colonials were destroyed. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The end result though, was always a drain on ever shrinking Colonial resources.

All the decisive battles of the war were played out in this stage of the war, and while the Colonials managed to inflict major damage on the Cylons (nearly always destroying more than they lost, even in their defeats), they were generally on the defensive just trying to stem the relentless advances of the Cylons. Despite this extra offensive state of the Cylons, no one suspected that the end was nigh and that the endgame was finally being played out.

The Cylons managed to convince Lord Baltar of Picon, a Quorum of Twelve member, that they would spare his world if he helped them conquer and enslave the people of the other eleven worlds. They also told him that he would rule over the Colonies as the representative of the Cylons. Baltar spoke to the Quorum of Twelve that they Cylons wished to sue for peace. This peace would be sealed at the old moon of Cimtar, a system only a short journey away from the Colonies.

The president of the Twelve Colonies, Adar, had had enough of war at this point, and he believed Baltar - as did most of the Quorum, a notable exception being the military Commander Adama who represented the planet Caprica in the Quorum - that the Cylons truly wanted peace. As such, he let himself be led by Baltar, and the heavy elements of the Colonial Fleet journeyed to the moon of Cimtar to seal the truce.

The Cylon plan was three fold. The first two parts operated together to destroy the final defenses of the Colonies, and then the third part would be the ultimate destruction of the human race. Part one was a huge trap for the Colonial Fleet. Surrounding the moon of Cimtar is a vast mist layer, and hidden within this layer were Cylon tankers. They fueled a vast armada of over a thousand raiders, which would allow them to operate without baseship support. These would destroy the Colonial Fleet. At the same time, part two of the trap consisted of three fully loaded baseships jumping into the Colonial system to attack the twelve worlds. Targets would include any Fleet elements and planetary defenses. Part of this plan was to use spies of Baltar who would attempt to disable defenses and provide information on Fleet movements. Then, when the raiders and baseships had done their jobs, they would rendezvous with the remaining Cylon fleet elements, and once refueled and rearmed, the entire fleet would then jump back to the Colonies and complete the destruction. The plan worked almost perfectly.

The Colonial Fleet moved to the moon of Cimtar, but a lone patrol from the Colonial battlestar Galactica discovered the massed raiders and the Cylons had to spring their trap early. Thus during the attack, the Colonials detected the presence of the baseships in their home systems, and the Galactica managed to break away from the ambush and jump back to the Colonial system. The rest of the Colonial Fleet, aside from a few vipers, was destroyed.

The Galactica arrived too late to save the Colonies. The first group of baseships had already arrived and left, and with the help of human saboteurs, had disabled the planetary defenses, allowing them and any Fleet elements present to be easily destroyed. Commander Adama realized that life on the Colonies had come to an end, and there was no hope of remaining there alive. So he sent word to all survivors who assembled in any ship they could find, and lead this fleet away from the remains of the Colonials and from the Cylons. Having no choice to stay, the battlestar Galactica assembled as many survivors as it could, and a space-dwelling caravan of human survivors left the Colonial system for good. This rag-tag fleet is on the search for the Thirteenth Tribe and legendary planet known as Earth, which they believe will be a new home for them.

Shortly afterwards, the Cylons arrived back in Colonial system, and this time they completed the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, and the extermination of all life there. All of the twelve worlds were rendered uninhabitable as a result of nuclear fallout. Despite their deal with Lord Baltar, the Cylons attacked Picon along with the other colonies. The Cylons have kept Baltar alive as a prisoner because their commander-in-chief, the Imperious Leader, believes that, to find the surviving Colonials, another human is needed that thinks as their prey does. And so Baltar aids the Cylons in their pursuit of the battlestar Galactica and its fleet.

Meanwhile, the people of the surviving fugitive human fleet have dedicated themselves to finding Earth; a world whose people live in complete ignorance to the fact that there are brothers of man who now fight to survive beyond the heavens.