god Has A Plan (alternate Battlestar Galactica (RDM))

[Brky2020]

THE ‘WESTERN ALLIES’
The United Colonies of Kobol
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Canada
Germany
France
Japan
Spain
Australia
Portugal
Belgium
South Korea
The Netherlands
Poland
Czech Republic
Norway
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
Philippines
Greece
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Norway

THE AMERICAN PACT
United States of America
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Venezuela
Colombia
Liberia
New Boer Republic
Yucatan

NEUTRALS
People’s Republic of China
Brazil
Argentina
India
Nigeria
Panama (U.N. protectorate)
South Africa

[Brky2020]

Prelude

Mangala, Kansas, United States of America
Eight days before the Invasion

The pastor of Mangala Baptist Fellowship climbed up on the ladder and began dusting the large, wooden cross. 

Designed to be the most prominent object in the sanctuary of the small Southern Baptist church, the cross had outlasted 21 different pastors and eight generations of Christian believers. It was there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, when the Allies marched through Nazi Berlin and captured Adolf Hitler, when Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon, when Sekiou Armistad became the first human to walk on Mars, and when the Long Terror finally ended with the Treaty of Geneva.

The pastor was the 22nd man -- in America, especially now, all officially sanctioned pastors were only men -- to stand in the pulpit of the venerable church. He chose this church -- well, he always added the qualifier that God led him here -- but he would then add that he always wanted to pastor this church because the small town an hour west of Wichita was named after the large Colonial metropolis he grew up in. The pastor -- "Padre", he told folks to call him -- was a folksy, amiable sort, the kind of man who wouldn't necessarily be the centre of attraction but everybody liked. He preached good sermons, in the tradition of the Presbyterian pastor and radio host Steve Brown, and was always around whenever someone wanted to talk.

Unlike the entrepreneur/campus pastor of the LifeChurch branch next to Wal-Mart, or the more reserved pastors of First Baptist and First United Methodist churches, the pastor of MBF had no problem with talking to anyone who wandered in. So when a scruffy, homeless blond-haired man limped in, the pastor's first act was to greet him. 

Then, the pastor looked around to make sure no one else was there -- he had sent his secretary home early -- and then he said a very un-Christian word. 

"Frak," he uttered, very much annoyed at his appearance. "I told you never to show up here. Do you want to blow my cover???"

"Do you have a fumarello?", the scruffy visitor replied, shaking lightly and waggling his fore- and index fingers.

"They call them cigars here, but you're talking about a cigarette." The pastor gave him a lookover and was disgusted with what he saw -- and smelled. "You've probably had enough cigarettes to kill a horse. Besides, smoking is illegal in this state."

"Tell that to the men at that garage I walked past on the way here."

"You should've asked them for a cigarette."

"I did ask. They ridiculed me instead and told me to 'get a job'. C-can I please have a fumarello? I know you have a pack stashed away."

"How in the hells do you--" The pastor sighed and waved his guest over. "C'mon...follow me." 

The pastor led his guest out of the sanctuary and out the side door. They were behind the small house the pastor used as his parsonage, and there was nothing but a garage and Kansas farmland behind them; unless someone drove in and parked in front of the garage, no one would see the jittery homeless man leaning up against the church building.

"Wait here, I'll be back in a minute," the pastor said. A minute later, he came out with a pack of Lucky Strikes. "Kentucky, vintage 2018, or 21355, depending on which false god you follow," he said, handing the pack and a book of matches to his guest.

"Y-you bring me out here so none of them would hear you spout off heresy?", the visitor said as he lit one of the cigarettes. He took a draw and inhaled; he relaxed a bit as he blew smoke rings towards the very annoyed pastor. "You're not being very pastoral, you know."

"You're not acting very smart. This nation has eyes everywhere! You're on 50 different watch lists somewhere in Washington, D.C. alone. You're on the American, Colonial and Interpol Most Wanted Lists. That--"

"Don't forget Britain: MI-5 and MI-6. But I'm just a simple bomb-maker."

"You blew up Union Station in New fracking York! And a hotel in Scorpia, and a soccer stadium in Manchester, and an airport terminal in Munich--"

"All in a day's -- or days -- work. And Old Traford was...old, as the joke went, when I read it on the dark web."

The pastor looked at him with disgust.

"Hey, I laughed," the visitor said, clearly calmed by the second cigarette he was puffing away on. 

The pastor knocked the cigarette out of his mouth and grabbled him by his dirty jacket collar. "Do you want to blow what we've worked for before we can even begin"

"Come on!", the guest protested. "What I did made a ton of money for the cause."

"How much of a cut did you take for yourself?"

"A little bit."

The pastor sighed again, and let loose his grip. "You're pathetic. Your...twin is worried sick over this. He can't believe you'd be capable of what you've...done."

"He always was too spiritual. Has he had any more visions?"

The Padre ignored the jib. "The others can't, either. That includes me."

"I wouldn't think of blowing you or them up...you know, I always offer my services to you and the others, pro bono. If you ever want to get rid of your competition--"

"You act like you have all the time in the frakkin' world," the pastor said. "Things are happening. When's the last time you checked your texts?"

"I ditched the phone."

"You ditched....son of a frakkin' bitch. The phone? The secure phone we gave you?"

"Only one I had...hey! I was on the run after the Old Traford bombing. You want it that bad, I'll show you the loch in Scotland I dumped it in."

The pastor quietly uttered every American and Colonial profanity he knew, plus a few he picked up during a missionary trip to Siberia. 

"Shit's about to go down," the pastor said. "Colonial Fleet HQ and Army Central are in the final stages of planning for an attack on the United States. The Pentagon is in the final stages of planning an attack on the Colonies."

The visitor put the third cigarette he was about to light up back in the pack. "They're that far along?"

"Which you would've known had you bothered to read your damn texts!"

"I thought...I thought we had years. My sources would've heard something--"

"Everybody's keeping this on the down low: element of surprise," the pastor said. "Except part of each nation's military protocols are to be ready for war at any time. They're getting ready, for sure. Everything we've ever worked for is about to fall into our laps, so that means we have to be ready, too."

"God has a plan."

"What?!?"

"God's about to bless us."

"Jesus....you sound just like her. Leo. God, the gods, don't exist. We do. And if something doesn't frak all this up, things are about to look up for us. No...go in the house, take a long shower for gods' sake. I'll start making some chili, and I'll lay some clothes out for you."

"Thanks, John...I could use a good night's sleep, by the way."

"Sleep in the truck. I want to be on the road by midnight and in Dallas by sunrise. Less locals around to see us, that way."

[Brky2020]

Day One

Part One

1841 hours Colonial Standard Time

Caprica Bay

The CNS Galactica sat at the mouth of the large bay like a sentinel, guarding Caprica City against American aggression. It and the rest of Battleship Group-4 wouldn't have long to wait.

Less than ten nautical miles away, Carrier Strike Group Six, led by the supercarrier Ronald Reagan, approached Caprica Bay. Colonial Air Force Vipers and Stingers hovered over the city and the bay and Poseidon submarines guarded the bay from below the Galactica, ready to defend Colonial territory against the enemy's jets, bombers and subs.

Galactica's CIC was a beehive of activity; each person either ignored the tension or mentally pushed it aside, focusing instead on doing their jobs.

Lieutenant Felix Gaeta's job was monitoring the dradis that tracked friendly and enemy movements, and he watched the red triangles filling up the top half of the screen with the calm professionalism his commanding officer expected of him.

"Commander, the Americans have just crossed the line," Gaeta announced. "ETA five minutes."

"The damn bastards are making good time," said the ship's executive officer, Colonel Saul Tigh. "Won't have to worry about our aircraft burning up tylium."

"I don't like waiting," said the CO, Commander William "Husker" Adama, a decorated veteran of the Colombian and Angolan Wars. "I think it's time to send our guest that welcome basket."

"That'll piss 'em off," Tigh said.

"That can't possibly piss them off any more than we already are," Adama growled.

[Brky2020]

According to the Kobolian religion, life began long ago...out there...in space.

Scientific and archeological findings suggest some sort of emigration from southern Europe, specifically Greece, circa 1st century B.C. This is consistent with Colonial historical accounts of the founding of Kobol over 2,000 years (yahren) ago, and the split of the continent into 13 tribes -- one of which left for parts unknown and never returned [1]. The Colonials knew of Europe, but as stevep suggested, they were in fact isolationist; although attempts were made to explore the world (as with the Saggitarons), they always returned.

The Spaniards who discovered North America in the late 15th century took a northern route, just above Virgon (but out of eyesight of Virgon land and ships), due to legends of "sea monsters" in the southern ocean. This trip was about getting to the Indies (and the direct route to China and India); legends could wait. Of course, Columbus discovered the Caribbean in 1492.

In 1493, Columbus took a straighter route, accompanied by a formidable Spanish armada in case the sea monsters were real. Instead, they discovered Caprica Bay. Only the good will of Columbus and certain people from the Caprican government kept war from breaking out; instead, it marked the opening of the Colonies to the greater world.

Sagittaron maps describing what we know as North America were shared with the Spanish with the caveat they also would be freely shared with the rest of Europe (and, if warranted, any group from the Americas, China, India and elsewhere). Caprica began trading with Spain. The English arrived, the Capricans pointed the way west, and Cabot re-discovered the North American east coast. The Colonies debated sending their own exploratory groups west, but decided that the Europeans could have the Americas if they wanted them.

History proceeded ITTL largely as it did IOTL, although trade routes had to adjust to account for the Kobolian continent in the central Atlantic. The Colonies allied themselves with western Europe and the United States, while desegrating at a lightning-fast pace compared to the rest of the western world. The Colonies also beat the rest of the west in just about every social category: slavery was banned by the time of the French Revolution; when American John Brown (partly inspired by Gemenese and Sagittarian abolitionists) was organizing armed resistance at Harpers Ferry, Sagittaron eliminated the last of its Jim Crow laws, putting it in line with the other 11 colonies; gays and lesbians had full rights by the time the U.S. Civil War broke out. Oscar Wilde went to Caprica, and took back such terms as "gendergay" and "allsexual" to a country that wasn't ready for such things (Wilde chose to stay in England, for the sake of others like himself).

Christianity came to Kobol, as did Judaism and Islam and Buddhism and other non-Kobolian religions. Even today, only 9 percent of the total population in the UCK (Colonials and non-Colonials) consider themselves Christians of any kind; there are more Gemenese fundamentalists than Christians total. Judaism is at 2 percent, Islam (all types) 1.4 percent. Buddhism is at 6 percent. Other religions combined, 3 percent. So that leaves 52 percent of Colonials as atheists/non-religious, and the remainder as believers in what is called by outsiders as "the Colonial religion".

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Colonials were fully open to the world, and were beginning to "encourage" the West to give up their own colonial holdings. The Colonies have done more than any other western nation to build up the post-colonial goverments in Africa and Asia, and in so doing put themselves sometimes into conflict with their allies (and the corporations influencing the allies' policies).

Oh, yeah. There's one other thing.

The space race.

Caprica got to the moon in 1971, a year behind the Soviets and about two behind the U.S. Unlike the Soviets, the Russians and the Americans, the Capricans stayed there. There's a Mars mission, planned for 2021, and subsequent missions planned for the asteroid belt, for Europa, and eventually Titan.

[1] Conventional wisdom is the "13th Tribe" headed east into Europe and assimilated into the local population.

[Brky2020]

Part Two
Washington, D.C.

Marine Sargeant Jeff Connors dug into the trenches that lined Constitution Avenue, directly in line of sight of the Washington Memorial. He looked up and saw the sky filled with every kind of aircraft -- including drones -- that the U.S. military had access to.

He knew it wouldn't be enough.

Those so-called jump drives the Colonials possessed could literally put them anywhere at a moment's notice -- including over his head. The only good thing about them is that there weren't many of them. If scuttlebutt was accurate, the Colonials didn't have enough tylium for more than four. They could be anywhere, but not everywhere -- and, between the Americans and the Russians, the Allies should have ehough soldiers to outnumber the pagans and win the war--

Connors was blinded by a flash, for several moments. For a brief moment, he wondered if this would how he'd meet the Lord. Moments later, his eyesight returned, and to his surprise, the giant obelisk stood as it had since the Nazi-backed Silver Legion terrorists tried to knock it down with a hijacked Army truck in 1943.

There also was a Colonial ship, about 50 feet in front of the monument, and hovering about 30 feet above the ground. Boy, was it big...how many soldiers are onboard that thing?

"Here they come!," Connors yelled to his troops. "Shoot to kill! They can not keep an inch of American land!"

The soldiers dropped from the ship, dozens at a time...and Connors pissed himself when he saw the soldiers. Each seven feet tall, built like a linebacker on steroids...and all metal.

"What the fuck are they?", he said, not caring about the Moral Majority morale officer shitting himself three feet to his right.

[Brky2020]

Part Three
Somewhere in Caprica

In an oceanside mansion that he used, free of charge, courtesy of a Caprican politician, Gaius Baltar lie on his couch in his robe, watching the Colonial news channels with great interest, like a commoner sitting in their jersey and underwear would watch a domestic or international pyramid match.

--Colonial forces have been confirmed to have touched down inside Washington, D.C.--

--Colonial Air Force fighting alongside their Canadian counterparts over the Maritimes--

--NATO air units heading to the Balkans to intercept U.S. forces heading into Italy--

--British Royal Navy units assisting Colonial forces in the North Atlantic--

She hovered over the couch, reaching over and touching his chest ever so slightly. "Gaius, don't bother yourself with all of this. Relax. You've earned your rest."

"This is how I'm resting," he said to the blonde woman, not bothering to turn his eyes from the four 4K TV sets set up in a giant rectangle. "I'm curious to see how my work will be of use to the military."

"You've given the military the ability to shut the enemy down," she said, moving her fingers further down his body. "I've always wanted to visit Miami, or Las Vegas. I'd imagine either would be much more fun under Colonial rule."

Baltar turned to look at her directly. "Nonsense."

"Really?", she purred. "They'd be more fun under the Gemenese than they are now."

"I meant, the Colonials won't occupy America. Adar will force terms on them and install a friendly government. America's too big and there are too many of its citizens who don't want to change their minds. Adar will let the Canadians and British and the rest of NATO deal with it."

"Perhaps God will do what the President or his allies won't."

Baltar rolled his eyes. "You on that 'God' business again? There's no evidence for the Lords of Kobol. There surely isn't any evidence for the Abrahamic variety, either."

"I never mentioned the 'Abrahamic variety'. God is...different than any of the gods on this planet. And He has His own agenda."

"I hope that includes a quick end to this war, then," Baltar said, turning his attention back to the TV sets. "I don't think a prolonged war would be good for me--"

He felt a sudden tightening of his nether regions, a feminine hand with decidedly masculine, almost inhuman, strength.

"Do not mock God. Ever," she said, only then relaxing her hold. After allowing Baltar to catch his breath, she continued speaking. "Now, turn those sets off. You can catch up on current events later. Now, let me make you feel much better."

Baltar never could resist her 'come hither' look, and followed her like a puppy in heat to the bedroom.

[Brky2020]

Part Four
Caprica City, Caprica
From the journal of Secretary of Education Laura Roslin

The first westerners to reach the New World were not the Spanish nor the Norse. Everybody knows that.

Sagittaron got there ahead of all of Europe. They went, were unimpressed, turned around and went back home. The entire continent of Kobol was like that at the time; if any one of the Colonies had an interest in the New World, North America would be the 13th Colony today.

I bet, about now, that President Adar wishes to hell the Sagittarons had stayed.

--Colonial Intelligence announced the arrest of four CIA agents today at a gas station in the town of Demeter. All four are suspected of collaborating with convicted terrorist Thomas Zarek and of involvement in the attempted bombing of the Arrow FC soccer team bus--

--President Graham vehemently denied the charges and called the arrests 'just another example of anti-American aggression from an ungodly pagan nation'--

--Zarek has been outspoken in his calls for Sagittaron independence or admission to the United States as its 51st state--

The Colonies and the States never quite got along, I suppose, even during the years they were officially allies: when Britain brought them together after the First World War, after the Colonies withdrew from the Central Powers; when the Colonies followed President Roosevelt's lead in declaring war on Hitler -- by the way, it was Colonials who infiltrated Nazi territory and liberated the camps, or as many of them as possible, and Colonials who alerted the world as to the atrocities there -- and when both countries stood shoulder-to-shoulder against Soviet aggression, until Yakovlev and his reformers permanently took control of their country.  

The late '70s brought perestroika and glasnost, along with disco and colorful outfits, and for a brief time the world got along. Even China wanted to open up, thanks to Nixon.

Then the fundamentalists took over in the U.S.

Reagan was killed by an assassin's bullet and the fundamentalist plotters took over. One day, the American people woke up and discovered that the fundamentalists were in charge of everything.

After America put down its internal uprisings (African-, Hispanic- and Native Americans, the LGBTQs and various other minority groups), the government turned its attention outward. The Colonies, more than every other nation combined save for Canada, had accepted millions of American refugees; it hosted the U.S. Government-in-Exile in Caprica City, led by former Senator and current President-in-Exile McCain. America wanted every last refugee, from McCain down to infants born to parents who had emigrated from America 20 years before, back.

President Adar, to his credit, wouldn't budge. He's a lot of things, most of them less than flattering. On this matter, he did the right thing and I am proud to serve as a member of his cabinet.

As the Secretary of Education, it has fallen to me and my department to educate the world on what freedom really means, and how ironic it is that the standards of liberty and freedom our professed Christian former allies-turned-enemies claim to be their birthright are actually held up, albeit imperfectly, by a nation that by and large worships gods and goddesses the rest of the world dismissed long ago as myth.

There's a knock on my door. I've been summoned; there's an emergency meeting of the Cabinet about to take place.

Despite the fatigue I've lived with for some time now, I hurry to the meeting room in the basement, near the situation room. I sit in seat 43, and wait along with the other Secretaries. Finally, four Marines walk in, followed by the Secretary of State, the directors of Colonial internal and global intelligence, and, finally, President Adar himself.

"No time for formalities, people," Adar says, waiving his hand downward. "You're going to want to sit for this."

We comply.

"At 1310 Colonial time, BSG-2 was in international waters, just outside the Colonial territorial line off Picon. It is one of 11 Battleship Groups surrounding the Kobolian continent; BSG-7 is deployed near Australia, BSG-4 near India.

Colonial cruiser Homas detected submarine activity near the group, and it wasn't one of ours. Commander Cain of the Pegasus authorized drones to visually investigate the vehicle, and confirmed it to be United States Navy. Air drones verified the approach of the American carrier group identified as Carrier Strike Group Five. That includes the USS George Washington supercarrier, which for those of you who don't know is identical to our Valkyrie-class supercarriers. Cain contacted Fleet HQ to request orders; at its direction, she ordered the Americans three times to stop; each time they refused to acknowledge her hails. Eight American fighters then lifted off from the George Washington, and Cain sent eight Vipers from the Pegasus to respond. The jets buzzed one another but did not engage. The George Washington carrier group is maintaining its position, as is BSG-2.

"At 1341 Colonial time, Colonial submarine Hermes began to be tracked by the American submarine Kentucky. The American sub continued to track the Hermes, until firing on the Colonial ship without provocation nor warning at 1349. Fleet HQ has lost all contact with the Hermes; we believe her to be lost at sea."

Lords of Kobol, I think, as I hear the gasps around me. The President isn't finished.

"Simulatenously at 1345, the American Secretary of State informed our ambassador in Washington to vacate the Colonial Embassy immediately. Emissaries from the White House were delivering similar messages to our other NATO allies; the President was reportedly on the phone with Canadian Prime Minister Harper demanding his country's surrender--"

"Over what?", yells Simona, the Secretary of the Interior.

"Colonial Intelligence tells me Graham demanded Canada peacefully surrender its sovereignty and military to the United States and the return of its 32 million American 'dissidents'. Harper's response was for the President to 'go frak yourself'."

Seven minutes ago, Colonial intelligence satellites detected U.S. and Russian naval activity in western Greenland and the Gulf of Alaska. Ships headed we believe for British Columbia in the west, Quebec or the Maritimes in the east. Our satellites also detected land forces amassing along the U.S.-Canadian border from the province of Alberta to far western Ontario, with three dozen US Air Force fighters heading north into Manitoba out of Fargo, North Dakota. This alone is an attack on a member of NATO, and as a member of NATO, our obligations to our fellow member have been activated. Ladies and gentlemen, as of this moment, we are at war."

There's silence in the room for a few moments. I'm half-waiting for the air raid sirens to begin blaring. Instead, Adar clears his throat and points to the large high-definition screen along the north wall of the room. Unlike my colleagues across from me, I don't have to turn in my seat to watch; I look up and see a Naval admiral from what I think is supposed to be an undisclosed location, but is probably the Colonial Air Command HQ near Picon City.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Admiral Nagala," he says, and proceeds to give an update on the current situation. Four minutes later, he allows for one question; it's Adar's way of throwing a bone to the Cabinet, to make us feel like we're being consulted at some level. We know full well we only know what they want to tell us.

"Admiral, how many Colonial troops will we be sending into battle?" asks Secretary Simona, who never was one to stay quiet at anybody's request or direction. "How will we get those troops to Canada? Will we reinstate the draft?" That's three questions.

"Madam Secretary," Nagala responds, "we will be sending troops to North America and, if necessary, to assist NATO forces in western Europe. But we'll only be sending a minimum of troops -- human troops. The Cybernetic Lifeform Node artificial intelligence military units are ready to be activated and deployed."

"I'm sorry, Admiral, the what?" Simona says. She's not familiar with the reference.

It dawns on me, and my blood suddenly runs cold. I momentarily think I'm having another attack.

"You know it by its more popular name, Madam Secretary," Adar interjects. "We're sending in the Cylons."

I don't know if it's the cancer or the chamalla or another vision from the gods, but all I see in my mind's eye is the end.

[Brky2020]

Part Five
Washington, D.C.

In just over an hour, Marine Sgt. Connors' unit had retreated from Constitution Avenue back to Pennsylvania Avenue; the robot soldiers or whatever the hell the pagans had built had driven them back and were already on the verge of knocking on front door of the White House.

The gladiator-looking metal behemoths -- what else would you call a robot as tall as Anthony Davis and as big as Bill Goldberg, just not human? -- had already taken the lives of 18 of Connors' men and God knew how many hundreds (thousands?) more across the D.C. war zone. The Washington Monument had fallen, not by enemy hands but from one of dozens of Javelin missiles fired at the Colonial floating ship that had warped -- for lack of a better term -- right next to the monument.

Connors wanted his men and himself -- and that included the MMMO embedded with his unit -- right on the South Lawn, ready to defend the White House to the last man and, probably, die in the attempt; Graham and the rest of his cronies had escaped D.C. and fled to safety, probably either the "Doomsday" Boeing jet that Graham would have had to board from Joint Base Andrews, or that place at Mount Weather, Virginia that The 700 Club said had been turned into a vacation spot for politicians and other VIPs.

Instead, he got orders from the commanding officer in the theatre -- an Army Colonel holed up in the Capitol building -- to send his men to defend the Office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C. The surprise in his voice wasn't lost on the morale officer, who admonished him for "questioning authority" and a "lack of faith" in his commanding officers. Connors ignored him, as usual, and kept to himself the profanities he was thinking for having to keep this dipshit alive: the Moral Majority division of the FBI was notorious for finding ways to make any officer who was less than fully enthusiastic and appreciative of God's people doing the Lord's work in the military, whenever and whererever, including when unkillable robots were running amok.

Looking up in the sky, Connors saw more of those damned Colonial jets. There were two very different types that obviously had control of the air over D.C. -- he hadn't seen a friendly jet since the shooting started -- and very different from the Viper jet fighters and the Raptor attack helicopters the pagans normally used. One could be best described as a 'flying wing', the other like a buzzard with its wings stretched forward like it was a kamikaze Superman about to dive down and in for the kill.

"I wonder if those bastards got the President and the rest of them," Connors said, leery of the brief respite from fighting. He looked around from his men's position on 14th St NW, behind the White House Visitor Center, and saw soldiers everywhere: behind him, in front of the Bauer Building and Trade Center; to his left down 14th, behind the Hoover and Department of Commerce buildings; and to his right, in Freedom Plaza and Pershing Park.

"Joshua one-nine," the morale monitor chirped up, before proceeding to quote the first chapter and the ninth verse of the Old Testament book of Joshua. "Remember your position, Sergeant. You are a leader."

"No shit," Connors said. That would probably get him a demerit, which meant diddly-shit in the life-and-death situation they were all in.

"Watch your language, Sergeant. Ephesians 4:29: 'do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your--"

Connors clamped his palm over the monitor's mouth when he heard a explosion off in the distance towards the White House, then pulled his communicator out of his jacket with his free hand. "What the hell was that?", he yelled, hearing automatic fire in the same direction. Then, there was a flash that briefly blinded both men and everyone else in the vicinity.

When his vision returned a few seconds later, Connors realized he still had his communicator to his ear. "Sitrep! Sitrep!" The situation had already devolved to the point where unit commanders had ditched proper communications protocol in favor of simply being able to talk to one another in the field.

"Reading you five by five," said the voice in the earpiece clamped tightly to Connors' right ear. "The Borg have warped in. Metal Goliath's blown 34, heading towards the den. Stand by." The flash meant another one of those ships had jumped in, and the robots had blown up the Eisenhower building -- the smoke trail rising in the distance confirmed that -- and they were headed right for the White House. He was a fan of the Metal Goliath cartoons put out by CBN when he was a kid, watching them take down Satanists, Colonials, Japanese, Euros and Canadians week after week. Nothing in the cartoons nor in the Spire and Thomas Nelson-backed comic books prepared him for the real metal goliaths marching through D.C.

"Stand by?", Connors muttered, his left hand still clamped over the morale officer's mouth. He shoved his communicator back in his jacket and let go of the idiot, then reached for the M27 in front of him.

"Wh-what did they say?", the morale monitor stuttered. "What's going on over there?" Connors could still smell the shit-stained stench off the back of the man's khakis.

"They said wait, but we're heading towards the 'den'." Connors looked to the rest of his unit, which had picked up stragglers from another unit mostly decimated in the fighting at the monument. "Bastards are at the White House. We're going there too. On me." Connors ran out from behind the abandoned Nissan Altima he was using as a sort-of-shelter, and his men followed right behind.

The monitor sprinted to catch up to the sergeant. "Sir, I must protest. Your orders were to 'stand by'. That does not mean 'leave your post'." Connors glanced at the man briefly, then resumed his pace. Other units were starting to move forward, towards the fighting, and Connors's unit quickly formed the third line of seven headed towards the White House.

"I will have you written up, Sergeant. This is a clear violation of--"

Connors stopped, his men stopping behind him, as soldiers in the other units moved forward. He grabbed the monitor by the throat. "I'm going to tell you this once, so listen," he growled. "Here, I'm God. Not you. Not the man in the sky. Me. When I give an order you obey. Never question me or bother me with your bullshit ever again."

He let go of the monitor, leaving the man gasping for air, then looked back at his men. "What the fuck you standin' around for? GO!"

"Kick some toaster ass!" one of the stragglers yelled, but the rest of Connors' unit kept silent. Their boss expected results, not yelling.

As the unit crossed into Pershing Park in front of the Sherman monument, they saw a massive explosion in the direction of the White House. Moments later, Connors saw American soldiers running towards him and his unit. "FALL BACK!" they shouted. "GO."

Connors grabbed one of the retreating soldiers -- the morale monitor, annoyingly, was still by his side -- as the soldier ran past, and turned the kid to look him in the eye. "Why the order to fall back, soldier?", he yelled.

The soldier, an 18-year-old draftee, was as poised as a scared kid in his position could be. "They blew up the White House, sir," he replied. "H-hundreds of ours dead. Enemy's all over the place. My C.O. told us to retreat."

"Retreat where?"

"East, down Pennsylvania Avenue."

"The battle's lost?"

"A-affirmative. Sir."

Jesus. "Where's your C.O. now?"

"Dead. One of those goliaths blew his brains out after he issued that order."

"The rest of your unit?"

"Scattered, or dead...I lost track--"

"You're with me, now." Connors looked at the other men in his unit. "We're heading back, down Pennsylvania Avenue." Down Pennsylvania, towards the Capitol building. "Go!"

"NO! WE FIGHT!", the morale monitor screamed, holding his Baretta pistol in the air. "JOSHUA 1:9! DEUTERONOMY 20:1 THROUGH--"

Connors kicked the monitor below the belt, and looked at his newest straggler. "Confiscate this man's weapon, and pull him with you. If he offers any resistance, shoot the son of a bitch."

"Sir?"

"Did I stutter, Private?"

"No sir," the private said, and grabbed the dazed (and hurting) morale monitor by the arm. Neither had trouble keeping up with the rest of Connors' unit, as they raced to reach some kind of fall-back position, before the enemy could beat them there.

[Brky2020]

Re: the Borg reference -- there was a Star Trek in this universe. Roddenberry escaped to Canada (as did so many in Hollywood -- he was part of the second wave of refugees during the late '80s). Next Generation never got made. They continued the adventures of the Enterprise-A:

Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei)
First Officer Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes)
Science Officer Data (Brent Spiner(
Security Officer Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig)
Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden)
Communications Officer Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols)
Helmsman Lieutenant Geordi La Forge (Levar Burton)

Star Trek: The New Generation lasted five seasons (1987-92) on NBC and was cancelled soon after reaching its 100th episode, the minimum number considered to be necessary for syndication.

McFadden left the series in 1988 and was replaced by Doctor Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) for the remainder of the series. La Forge was moved to the chief engineer position from Season 2 on; other regulars included Lieutenant Laurel Ro (Michelle Forbes), Klingon captain Worf (Michael Dorn) and Doctor Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton, assistant to Dr. Pulaski). Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) returned in Season Three, taking over Uhura's spot without comment nor explanation (in reality, Nicholls fled to Canada to protest the Thurmond Bill in safety, and in exile). The primary enemies were pulled from the Original Series, the Animated Series and from Rodddenberry's unmade Phase Two series: the Klingons, the Romulans, the Tzitzi, among others. The Borg -- stolen from Roddenberry's notes discovered by series producer Bob Justman in 1988 -- were introduced in Season Three, which gave Trek its first cliff-hanger: will Sulu survive assimilation? (Yes.)

Midway through Season Five, Sulu was assassinated, putting Riker in the captain's chair; in-series, the Romulan Tal Shiar were behind the assassination, as they were behind the deaths of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty (as revealed in the third-to-last episode of the series); in reality, Takei's sexual orientation was found out and he was sent to an ex-gay camp operated by Exodus w/federal funding (part of the Thurmond Bill). Takei escaped and eventually wound up in Canada, as did so many people, in 1994. He wrote two books about it, one comparing it to his family's experience during World War II, the second focusing on the more unpleasant parts of his stay.

Takei's book was supressed, although Americans along the border got the truth via Canadian and Mexican TV/radio, and the series went to syndication. Thanks in part to a dearth of quality sci-fi and quality TV in general -- New Generation outshone almost everything on TV -- the show endured in popularity even as things got worse. Takei was said to have died in the camp, having repented of his sins (thereby assuring the mirage of Sulu/Takei as a straight whiteish-American hero and ensuring the show stayed on air).

If you want to know what American TV looks like now, imagine a mix of PureFlix; Christian shows on Netflix; the Christian fiction shelves at your local bookstore; and Russian-made action shows. Colonial, Canadian, British and Australian TV are WAY better for English-speakers.

[Brky2020]

Part Six
25 days ago
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.
10:02 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

U.S. Air Force 1st Lieutenant Jaclyn “Converse” Brown walked along the revetment where the F-15C Eagle fighter jets assigned to the 1st Fighter Squadron were currently parked.

The 1st Fighter Squadron was deactivated a few years back by President Sarah Palin, and then reactivated after Lindsey Graham took office and given a new mission: being part of America’s first-line defense against “international aggression” which in practice meant Canadians, Colonials, British and anyone else on the current regime’s enemy list.

Brown was one of 117 female pilots in the USAF, an accomplishment she owed as much to the women’s movement as to her own skill. Brown grew up in Clearwater, Florida, a town long-taken over by the west coast-based Calvary Chapel, to the point where it was nicknamed Costa Mesa East. Her family was working-class, and gave their daughter a work ethic that — along with her natural charm — got her to the front door of where she wanted to be.

But as she entered college, Brown’s America was mostly white, still ruled mostly by men and almost completely Christian. There was still sizable African-American, Hispanic and Asian minorities throughout the country — again, almost exclusively Christian — and several prominent Christian women had fought to restore, and even grow, the work done by their heathen sisters in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Brown was one of the beneficiaries of these particular women’s work. She wanted more than anything to be a pilot, and the Air Force opened up an opportunity just in time for her to apply for flight training. She sent an e-mail to President Palin that the chief executive saw and answered and before Brown knew it, the University of Florida freshman was on a plane for Colorado Springs — not to work as a secretary at Focus on the Family, but to attend the Air Force Academy. She overcame every obstacle put in her way and graduated with honors.

Palin brought Brown and the other 26 women in her graduating class to the White House Rose Garden for a photo-op, and Brown immediately went back west for Initial Flight Training in Pueblo, Colorado. Passing IFT with flying colors, Brown then went to Oklahoma for Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, and afterwards was assigned to Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi….as a Weapons Systems Officer, known informally as a rear pilot or ‘guy/girl in back’.

The geniuses around her thought the ‘girl in back’ jokes wrote themselves, but she had the last laugh. Brown’s value showed when she was called upon during US military actions in northern Mexico, Haiti and Guyana; when the veteran pilot she had been the GIB suddenly retired to care for his sick wife, Brown was a certainty to become the USAF’s fifth female lead pilot.

Instead, Graham won the Presidential race and, politics being what they are, she was put into the GIB seat for a cocky, white, heterosexual, straight male pilot who became famous on the news channels for killing four Brazilian fighters in support of Venezuelan forces.

And that’s how Captain Paul “Kodak” O’Leary got stuck with Jaclyn Brown.

O’Leary — named Kodak for a picture of him wearing an ugly yellowish shirt with the Kodak corporate logo at a campus ministry retreat — was one of the youngest captains in USAF history, and enjoyed the confidence of the men who ran the Air Force. A devout evangelical Christian, O’Leary was married to Taylor, who like Brown had gone through the Academy, but on a different track: she was a MMMO, seeing it as a way to serve next to her husband and as a venue for ministry and evangelism.

Brown spied O’Leary in the distance, looking over their ‘bird’: an Eagle 15-C, as was his custom around this time of day six days a week (except for Sundays). They got along well enough, but there was some tension in their working relationship — she was single, perfectionistic and opinionated, and O’Leary felt pressure from his wife on account of Brown being around him more than she herself was.

Then, there was the tension in the air from something else, that affected everybody: the prospect of war. Not the one-sided attacks on smaller Central and South American countries, but full-on war with nations that could go punch-for-punch with the U.S., and if things spiraled out of control, nuke it out of existence.

“Penny for your thoughts?”, Brown said, dressed in her flight duty uniform and wearing her unsanctioned Converse sneakers.

“I’m worried,” said O’Leary, also wearing his flight duty uniform, and officially sanctioned footwear.

“The Colonies?”

“Yeah. The morale officers, they…they downplay everything, tell us this’ll be another Sinaloa or Qatar or Ghana…Taylor says the same thing.”

“Except it’s not.”

“Except it’s not,” he said. “You know Guru’s really concerned. If he’s concerned, the big brass have to be, too. You hear the scuttlebutt?”

“You mean like they strip naked and have orgies in front of every single one of their gods, on pay-per-view?”

O’Leary chuckled. “Don’t let Taylor hear you say that,” he said. “She thinks it’ll be like the Patriots lining up against some bad Conference USA team.”

“Sorry, not a sports ball person,” Brown said, with a smile.

“I’d call you a heathen for saying that, but they’re just as crazy about pyramid as we are about football…no, I meant that if there is a war, we might get deployed to one of the Carrier Groups.”

Brown pondered that for a moment. “We’re in the mix.”

“We are, and Guru says we’d likely get sent right in the line of fire. Caprica City, Picon, maybe that big naval base on Virgon where they could attack the east coast….you been praying about all this, right?”

Brown wasn’t the praying type, at all, and very much kept that inclination to herself. “You pray about this?”

“Yeah. I feel a little better, but not much….you didn’t hear me say this, but I’d rather the U.N. get both sides to settle up. We go to war, Jac…I’m pretty sure we’ll meet the Lord sooner than we expect. How are you doing with all this, Converse? What impression do you get when you pray?”

She was glad he phrased his question in that particular way.

“I get the impression I…expect to get when I pray,” she said. “I’m good. We’re pilots, professionals. We do our duty. We go to war with the Colonials, we fly, we fight, and we go out there to win.”

“Yeah…you’re right,” he said, turning his head to look at their bird. “She looks good.”

“She does.”

Far away, but close enough to see them with binoculars, Taylor looked at them while listening in on their conversation, via the bug placed on the nose of the fighter jet. Whether out of concern for her husband, her marriage or her country, Taylor O’Leary was willing to do things few Morale Monitors would do.

God help whomever got in her way.

[Brky2020]

THE COLONIAL GUIDE TO EARTH

NORTH AMERICA
Canada has benefited tremendously in almost every area from American refugees, though it’s more of a cultural leader than anything else ITTL. The Canadian Navy is not to be underestimated, and can punch far above its weight. Mexico is a hot mess, thanks to CIA intervention that went FUBAR and put the cartels in control. Because the southern border is sealed tight and illegals (just about everybody) crossing the border into America are shot on sight, you have a tiny handful of people who dare to cross the border into the US. If they make it and don’t get shot, they get put on a plane and dumped in allied Yucatán. The Caribbean is solidly anti-American, and China is now the benefactor of the People’s Republic of Cuba. Puerto Rico is independent, and dependent on Colonial, Latin AMerican, European and African trade.

SOUTH AMERICA
Venezuela and Colombia are American allies and God’s bastions of freedom and holiness in this part of the world according to American propaganda: in reality, they’re American puppets, and the rest of South America is firmly united against them and especially against their benefactor (CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying is always REAL interesting when the Yankee bitches play anyone else). They’re also where America gets its cocaine (yes, underneath all the sanctimony there are Christians, real and otherwise, who party and drink and shoot up and snort and all manner of things in the States). Brazil and Argentina are second-tier economic and military powers, with strong ties to other ‘neutral’ bloc nations like India and Nigeria...and are growing closer to China.

KOBOL
The home of the 12 United Colonies of Kobol. The UCK has taken on many of the U.S.’s old NATO obligations, including the military bases in Germany. They are strongly allied with Canada, the U.K., the European members of NATO (not so much Turkey — the religion thing), Japan, South Korea and Australia, are friendly with most other nations (including China) and polite to almost every Muslim nation. Their main enemies, it has been said, are America and themselves.

EUROPE
This timeline’s Britain has had its own version of Brexit, but the American threat has kept it a little more tied to the rest of NATO, and the American threat has tied it more closely to Canada and the Colonials. Western Europe — namely France, Germany, Italy and Spain — has become tight with the Canadians and Colonials and is firmly against the regime ruling America. Central Europe is split between west and east — the Czech Republic is firmly in the western orbit, the rest of the region allied with Russia. Eastern Europe and the Balkans are firmly in the Russian orbit, and Turkey is headed there.

RUSSIA
The Russian Bear is one of America’s only friends, and does business with America and anyone else who’s willing (Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Turkey, North Korea, the Balkans, Egypt, China, et al). Putin is firmly in control and has been for years: he switches titles when he needs to or when it suits him. Because they have a lot of nukes, the world takes them seriously. They love doing business in America and love how much influence they have there.

THE MIDDLE EAST
Israel is another one of America’s Only Friends, and it will always be, because of the belief that when America turns her back on Israel, God Will Destroy MURICA And Then Some. The Sauds who run Arabia also are friendly with America, although they’re much tighter with Russia. In fact, the Middle East is virtually Russian (a fact the Bible prophecy wonks keep hammering away on), and China has its fingers in the Arabian oil as well. That’s forced the western Allies by the way towards tylium-based and alternate energy sources.

AFRICA
The Sleeping Giant, if someone can unite the continent. The main factions are Muslim (North Africa-based), a western/central faction led by Nigeria, and the Colonial-aligned Republic of South Africa. Nigeria has allied itself with the likes of Brazil and India, is hostile towards America (thank the ‘80s for that), and is a major overseas market for China. Russia has some influence in the Muslim-majority nations, who also are hostile towards America (mainly b/c of Israel and b/c of America’s own hostility towards Islam). The RSA was a Colonial rebuilding project from the time the old Union of South Africa split in 1992. America has influence in two countries: Liberia (considered an American puppet) and the white-majority New Boer Republic.

ASIA
India is another second-tier economic power and also considered a sleeping economic and military giant, and a leading country among the Non-Aligned Bloc. Pakistan allied itself with Russia, while Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia aligned themselves with the western ALlies. New Zealand is officially neutral, but culturally aligned with Australia, the rest of Oceania and Britain. Oceanic nations like Samoa (including the former American Samoa), Fiji and Tonga are culturally and military aligned with Australia, Japan and the Colonials —speaking of the Colonials, they also took on America’s responsibilities in the old ANZUS alliance and took over AMerican bases in South Korea. North Korea is the same as ITTL, and the lunatics who run the asylum are making threats at Adar and the Colonials instead of Graham and the Americans. Japan is more independent than ITTL, and has a strong military to boot. The real giant in the region, though, is China. China has stayed neutral in the American/Allied “dispute”, but does business with anybody and everybody while slowly building itself into a military, technological and economic mega power. China firmly controls Hong Kong, Macau, Guam and Taiwan and strongly influences affairs in South Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

[Brky2020]

I'll reformat everything later.

[lordroel]

Jan 6, 2020 21:28:24 GMT Brky2020 said:

THE ‘WESTERN ALLIES’
The United Colonies of Kobol
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Canada
Germany
France
Japan
Spain
Australia
Portugal
Belgium
South Korea
The Netherlands
Poland
Czech Republic
Norway
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
Philippines
Greece
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Norway

THE AMERICAN PACT
United States of America
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Venezuela
Colombia
Liberia
New Boer Republic
Yucatan

NEUTRALS
People’s Republic of China
Brazil
Argentina
India
Nigeria
Panama (U.N. protectorate)
South Africa

First, nice to see you made the thread.

Secondly, nice to see the Netherlands hopefully being part of the good guys.

Third, is the New Boer Republic new country formed out of South Africa.

[stevep]

Brky2020 ,

  Good to see it all under one thread and think I had missed the prelude before.  Sounds rather like there's possibly a 3rd party operating as I assume the 'colonials' weren't responsible for the serious of terrorist attacks, including ones on allies?

  Are the Saggitarons one of the colonies who are a bit more adventurous than the others, which resulting in their contacting N America but still isolationist enough at the time to decide not to settle or otherwise influence it?  Related was there any impact on civilization in the Americas as a result.  [Difficult not to have some happening, such as introduction of some level of metallurgy, horses, writing, transfer of food crops/animals etc?

  In part 4 where the education secretary, Laura Roslin, describes the cabinet meeting just before war she feels concerns about the use of Cylons.  Is this based on some previous problems with them and if not giving the game away are they going to be a future problem for humanity?

  Thanks

  Steve

[Brky2020]

Jan 7, 2020 4:11:27 GMT lordroel said:

Jan 6, 2020 21:28:24 GMT Brky2020 said:

THE ‘WESTERN ALLIES’
The United Colonies of Kobol
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Canada
Germany
France
Japan
Spain
Australia
Portugal
Belgium
South Korea
The Netherlands
Poland
Czech Republic
Norway
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
Philippines
Greece
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Norway

THE AMERICAN PACT
United States of America
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Venezuela
Colombia
Liberia
New Boer Republic
Yucatan

NEUTRALS
People’s Republic of China
Brazil
Argentina
India
Nigeria
Panama (U.N. protectorate)
South Africa

First, nice to see you made the thread.

Secondly, nice to see the Netherlands hopefully being part of the good guys.

Third, is the New Boer Republic new country formed out of South Africa.

Thanks, they are, and it is formed out of the former apartheid South Africa (and backed up by the US regime)