Pale Sunlight, Bright Moonlight (FT, Closed)

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
The Democratic Republic of Maxis Laudi
Audeamus
Captain Arin Newman

Captain Arin Newman had never thought he’d be in command of a ship. He had the skills, the training, the seniority, but even in a republic, there were ways one had to be in the in-circles, to have those valuable connections to get the rare hyperwarp capable commands in a navy that was fairly static. Death in combat hadn’t been much of a threat until very recently and even then the small size of the detachment sent to the Boneyard meant the chance of getting those commands was even smaller.

So imagine his surprise when in the middle of the night he was awoken by a call from Captain Jonathan Chase, one of his former commanders with a favor to ask. He’d jumped at the chance, after all what officer didn’t want a warship, and one with a real war record to boot. He wasn’t blind to one of the reasons he had been asked, as he was well aware a small chunk of Audeamus’s crew was certainly AI and had no qualms serving with them. After all when you save the leader of AI resistance from death and discovery of his origin without ratting him out, that tends to make you an AI supporter.

Even with the events of Ares and the start of the raids, things had been fairly quiet with the Colonials as they planned and reactivated older ships. Least until Captain Insaro called him up to explain he was providing escort to Majestic for shore leaveand serving as courier of her reports back to Naval Command.

So here he was a few minutes from popping back into existence from hyperwarp, before Majestic to make sure his nation understood this wasn’t an invasion.

“Exiting now!”

---

Majestic had been told to wait a little bit while Newman made the calls that would warn everyone who needed to know that an outsider was coming in on his tail and wasn’t an enemy. They’d also been warned off a CAP, as while Insaro and all the Laudians that had come to know them trusted that the pilots would mind themselves, the rest of the shipping In system didn’t know that.

It was just a 5 minute delay between arrivals and Majestic would emerge into the Maxis Laudi Star System, Audeamus waiting at a safe distance to escort the battlestar in system.

Their DRADIS was busy with many, many contacts. Some more of the huge breakaway freighters trudged across the system to out system holdings. Ships like Audeamus and Provoco were mostly clustered in a neat fleet near a station in orbit over the habitable world. Civilians ships of formed a healthy, but not overcrowded, ring of ships in orbit. Smaller contacts flitted in and out of existence, but they were very distant and Audeamus was kind enough to explain that that area of the star system was where hyperwarp skimmers could play around and should be avoided if Majestic managed to weasel permission to launch their fighters.

As they were guided in into orbit by orbital control, the civilians shifted under orders to give the Colonial plenty of clearance. Maxis Laudi was a lush planet of greens and deep blue oceans, with large white polar ice caps and the dark side showing a healthy network of cities across dark land masses.

---

Newman brushed a wrinkle out of his uniform. President Kline had called, ordering him to bring down Insaro’s reports and the senior Colonial Officer as well. He wondered why they hadn’t called up Majestic themselves but he guessed leaving the messenger duties to people that they were familiar with had some sort of diplomatic elegance.

“Jackson, tell Commander Byrne We are being summoned by President Kline for diplomatic niceties. I can either come over and pick her up or send the coordinates for the landing pad so she can travel down on her own.” Newman said after he called up the com officer. “Either way I’m sure we’ll get yelled at for doing it wrong.” He murmured to himself as he began his walk down to the shuttle bay.

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Battlestar Majestic, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Samantha Byrne winced as the nauseous sensation of completing a hyperlight jump washed over her, no matter how long you were in the Fleet you never truly got used to it, even if you got better at hiding your reaction. It was one of those things, where everyone knew that it was an awful feeling but it was the ‘done thing’ not to show your discomfort as quickly as possible, due in no small part to deckhands and junior officers wanting throw off the ‘rookie’ moniker. As was the case for any long-distance journey, the trip had been split into a number of jumps with several hours in between, both to reduce the strain on the FTL engines themselves and to ensure that you weren’t subjecting your crew to the same horrible sensation over and over again. Nevertheless, it had been a gruelling few days as they picked their way across deep space towards their target; they could have completed the trip quicker, but that would have been harder on the crew, and they could have completed it far slower, with a day or more in between jumps, however given the military situation that less time it took them to complete the journey the better.

That was putting it mildly, Byrne thought to herself grimly, as the military situation had not improved over the past month.

Although they had been able to launch two further large-scale raids, with Admiral Spencer aiming for one a fortnight to keep the Cylons honest and boost morale, they were not exactly the most effective military actions in Colonial history. Sure, they had been able to take out two more tylium refineries, however in order to do so they had been compelled to take three or four Battlestars into the engagement to be sure of victory of the Cylons ambushed them (which, of course they had), which severely limited operational flexibility. Moreover, even if the warships themselves had survived with only minor damage in each engagement, they had lost more pilots in each of the raids, and whilst the losses weren’t catastrophic they were a bitter pill to swallow. In an ideal situation, these sorts of raids would be against weak targets that could be destroyed with minimal losses. It was not that the Colonial Fleet, as an institution, was adverse to casualties, they had proven through the First Cylon War that they were resilient, but the simple fact of the matter was that they did not have the same kind of a manpower reserve and could ill afford any losses.

It was partially for that reason that it had been Byrne and Majestic that had been sent to Maxis Laudi for shore leave and to meet with their government to discuss the situation more broadly. Originally, Admiral Spencer had been planning to bring the Acheron out himself, which made sense given that he was the senior officer and the de facto leader of what was left of the Colonial Fleet. However, he had been ill at ease about leaving the immediate combat zone as he wanted to be on hand to respond to any targets of opportunity as decisively as possible. Once it became clear that it would not be the Admiral, it had been pretty obvious that it would be Byrne who would be sent on his behalf. Not only was she the most senior of the remaining Commanders, but she had a long history with the man and she knew how he thought and he trusted her implicitly. It wasn’t to say that he did not trust Commander Maynard, or the other more junior commanders, it was just that his relationship with Byrne was closer and more developed which made her the obvious choice.

“Jump complete,” Major Liam McCreary reported from the tactical station. “Multiple DRADIS contacts, it’ll take us a while to sort through them, Sir.”

Byrne glanced over at the Major, in the small and intimate CIC common to the Mercury-Class Battlestar (thanks in no small part to its more advanced technology, even without the CNP) she could see the less than pleased expression on his face from her position at the command table as she monitored the contacts on DRADIS herself.

“They should all be friendly, so that is something,” Byrne replied wryly. “Concentrate on the area immediately around us and on our track and I’ll be happy.”

“Yes, Sir,” Major McCreary nodded.

Byrne managed to smother a grimace at the obvious undercurrent of annoyance in her tactical officer’s voice; although they were in friendly space she knew as well as he did that the situational awareness was less than ideal. It did not help that they had been strongly advised against, and Admiral Spencer had made it an order, launching a standing CAP, which went against the grain in peacetime much less in wartime. She understood the reasoning, but it still made her uncomfortable not to see at least a pair of Vipers on the DRADIS display. In the end, she had ‘agreed’ with the order but had made it clear that she would keep a number of Vipers in the launch tubes and on alert status, ready to launch. She had also made it entirely clear to the Maxis Laudians that she would expect the local traffic control to enforce at least a small exclusion zone around her ship, similar to what she assumed they would have for their own, and request or not she would launch Vipers if any civilians got too close to shepherd them away. Although it was unlikely that a civilian ship could truly threaten a Battlestar, a collision could cause a fair amount of external damage, if not worse.

Nevertheless, it was a hell of a feeling to see a habitable planet once again, and to know that she would be heading down there herself in short order, as would her crew. There were still details to be ironed out before the Colonials could be let loose, amongst them the provision of a shore patrol detachment from Majestic and the matter of exchanging kubits for local currency, but it was tantalisingly close and despite the rough journey morale was high.

“They want you down on the planet, Sir, the President himself.”

Byrne simply nodded, she had been expecting as much. It was unlikely that any planetary leader would want a foreign warship, particularly one as large and imposing as a Battlestar, sitting in their orbital spaces for too long without meeting with its commanding officer. Leaving the ship in the capable hands of her executive officer, Colonel William T. Rutledge, she made the way back to her quarters where she quickly changed out of her service blues and into her dress greys, which she was less than thrilled by. The Dress Gray was largely similar to the service blues, albeit made out of a more substantial and less flexible grey material, which meant that it was far less comfortable to wear for any prolonged period of time even if it looked more formal. Combined with the amount of accruements that had to be added, most notably the leather sash which held her flight wings and decorations, meant that it was far more difficult to put on quickly. It was undoubtedly more formal, and was suitable as a dress uniform, but that did not stop it from being despised across the Fleet, and only worn when necessary… which meeting with a foreign head of state clearly qualified for.

With her uniform changed, Byrne made her way down to the starboard flight pod where a Raptor was waiting for her. She had considered the offer of a flight down to the surface, however she had decided that it would be better for the Maxis Laudian government officials to see Colonial hardware as it emphasised that they were not incapable, even if the offer had been a nice courtesy. It also underlined the military consideration that the Colonial Fleet was at war, and where an unarmed shuttle would probably have been used in peacetime a true military Raptor was appropriate, even if it had no visible weapons it still had a full suite of defensive decoys and ECM. Moreover, although these were friendlies it kept her in control of her own movements and in a situation like this that was at leats a small comfort, even if the likelihood of any attack was slim to say the least.

It was not long before Raptor 791 had launched from the Majestic and began angling its way down towards the planet, following the directions of the local flight control services. Sitting in the rear compartment, Byrne did her best to keep her own nerves under control; she had faced down the Cylons on multiple occasions now, she could handle a foreign politicians. It was, she had realised, more the fact that she knew that getting more support for the war effort, even if it was not in the form of warships, would be essential and it was a lot of pressure on her dainty shoulders. Even the use of manufacturing capabilities, whether for spares or entire small craft or even perhaps ships, would be of untold advantage, but doubtless difficult to arrange. Especially given that it was not like the Twelve Colonies could offer much in return right now, and given that their odds of succeeding were not exactly high… it was entirely possible that Maxis Laudi would find itself pouring resources into a hopeless investment, which was a hard sell to say the least.

“We’re about two minutes out, Commander,” The Pilot called from the cockpit.

“Alright,” Byrne replied simply, then murmured to herself. “Alright, here we go.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

The city which they were flying down and over was a fairly sprawling one, messily spreading out over a long portion of the coast, the lights of a living night city blinking out as the sun rose over the horizon in the east. Flight Control had called it Principia and further directed and authorized them to land at the President's House. A boring name for a sprawling complex on a small island connected to the city by only a fancy bridge, the grounds looked perfectly kept all around the large building that sat at its center. A clearly marked and lit landing pad was on the backside of the House, where a Laudian shuttle painted in the red/blue gradient of its mothership already sat tucked off to one side.

As the raptor landed the sky had begin to take on blue tones and the breeze was cool, but not uncomfortable, as little bits of clouds skittered across the sky. Waiting for Byrne was Newman standing at attention beside a lanky fellow with blonde gray hair and a sharp suit. Behind the pair were two obvious guards with rifles and stoic expressions.

“Commander Byrne, this is President Oscar Kline, Mr. President, may I present to you Commander Samantha Byrne of the Battlestar Majestic.” Newman introduced her and Kline stepped forward and shook her hand with a firm hand and practiced smile.

“Welcome to my Home Commander.” Kline said warmly. “I was watching your ship on it’s way in, it certainly lives up to its given name.” A perhaps a little too obvious buttery smooth compliment by the side-eye he got from Newman who was currently a step behind the President. “Come! Let’s not dally out here.”

Kline turned and led the way, the two guards following him with Newman and Byrne behind them. Stepping through beautiful dark wood doors into a building that looked half mansion, half business, some aides and workers stepping to the side to let the President and his entourage pass unbothered down halls richly decorated with all sorts of historical looking paintings and a flag here and there.

It had been pretty much a straight shot to the office where Kline led them. Thick blue carpet and an impressive desk that had all the little fixings of a desk on them but was too clean to be a regularly used space. As he sat down in the big comfy looking chair behind the desk and turned around the blank wall behind him seem to spark to life, showing the city of Principia in all its glory as the sun rose to chase away night. The two guards stationed themselves against the wall flanking the door, there but quiet and unmoving.

Kline took a moment to plug some sort chip into the desk and once it gave soft beep he nodded and looked up. “Thank you for coming down to Principia to see me so promptly Captain, Commander.” He said as he sat back. “First let me extend my condolences to you and your nation Commander, your people did not deserve such an unwarranted attack, it is a terrible thing when Artificial Intelligence gets out of hand. I am, however, grateful that Captain Insaro had the initiative to join your fights and help you in those early fights.”

Newman found it hard not to want to roll his eyes at the President. Well meaning and maybe sincere, but he was frankly amazing the man managed to turn sympathy into a way to half-brag about his own navy. Politicians just seemed to be that way he guessed.

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

“A Commander always likes to hear her ship appreciated, Mister President,” Byrne replied with a smile as she shook the offered hand.

Only her years of experience in the Colonial Fleet kept the smile from growing into a smirk at Captain Newman’s expression; although she was proud of her ship, and appreciated the compliment, it was an obviously political gesture. Silently congratulating herself for her commendable restraint, she was rather known by her friends and contemporaries for her tendency to snark, she followed the Maxis Laudian President inside. It was much as she had expected; she had never been to Colonial Tower in Caprica City, but she had seen footage from inside and, with obvious differences for architecture and interior design, there were definite parallels between the two buildings. Her quick eye passed over the various artwork and flags, interested in the history and culture contained in them but know that this was hardly the time to stop and start asking questions. She also swept her eye across the people they passed, she was human like them of course but she rather suspected she’d be getting some interested looks on account of her uniform which was very different to that of Maxis Laudi’s own navy.

Once she was settled in the offered chair, the leather folder that she had carried under her arms placed across her lap for use when the time came, she looked across at the Maxis Laudi President and smiled sadly.

“Thank you, Mister President,” Byrne said simply in response to the condolences, after all what else could truly be said.

Whether she was off-put by the semi-brag at the end, Byrne didn’t show it as she nodded.

“We very much appreciated Captain Insaro’s presence during those early days, particularly as she and her ship were very much a wildcard as far as the Cylons were concerned,” Byrne continued. “So, please accept my appreciation, that of Admiral Spencer, and our entire fleet, with the highest regards for Captain Insaro’s conduct, and those of her subordinates during the past three months.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

Kline seemed very pleased by the praise, then again any politician just loved anything that made him look better and he had been the one that had decided to send her back after that first contact. Something he could hang his name on for some future political battle no doubt.

His eyes flicked down, reading something on his terminal before back up to Byrne. "How is the war effort going anyways? I have the reports from Insaro here," He tapped the terminal built into the desk, "But I would like to here about it from a Colonial. Insaro was a good captain, but she wasn't trained with the same threats as your people, so may be over, or under, estimating the situation. Admiral Ford, my head of Navy, seems to believe there may be some bias there that is making her overreact." A bit of an indirect slap in the face to say to both Byrne's and Newman's face that the report may be of been unfairly written due to past hatred, probably with AI since both populations shared that thread at least.

Newman stiffened a little. It took a lot of willpower to not snap at the man. "Sir, Captain Insaro has always been completely truthful in her reports and never lets any sort of bias affect her work."

Kline looked amused. "That's the second time I've had a navy officer in here getting all puffed up. Captain please, settle. I am not going to throw the sacred honor of the Navy and her officers under the bus as I have great respect for my military. Admiral Ford has 3 planets worth of people to worry about already, no matter how much our trading partner tries to deny it, we have to watch over them with our Navy because theirs is so patchwork it barely functions. Ford is just doing his job, remember its a bit larger that Audeamus."

"Sorry Sir." Newman said, obviously backing down from the apparent slight against one of his fellows. It was a bit hard to argue with the man that 'led' the nation you took your oath to but he wasn't going to sit around and let Kline just say that without challenge. "Go ahead Commander, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Although her schooled expression prevented it from showing on her face, Commander Byrne was more than a little peeved at the implication that the situation was not being adequately reported by Captain Insaro, to whom she felt more than a small degree of comradeship having fought alongside her. In truth, the raw data ought to have proven instructive as to the seriousness of the situation, with the casualty numbers alone being mind-boggling. Nevertheless, Byrne knew her duty here and she knew that she had to keep any personal emotion separate from a reasoned response, it was after all perfectly reasonable to want to hear the assessment of a senior Colonial officer even if it could have been expressed in a more tactful manner. If there was one thing that would sum up her first impression of the Maxis Laudi President it was that the man was a through-and-through politician, with all the implications that came with such a label. It would be important for her to draw a more balanced assessment of the man, as much would rely upon it in order to handle him in the best possible way, but she rather doubted her first impression was far off the mark.

“The military situation is difficult in the extreme and the civilian front is little short of catastrophic, Mister President, we’ve been able to confirm that our initial estimates of at least eleven billion dead is likely accurate, and the remaining sixteen billion are under a fairly widespread Cylon occupation across the Twelve Colonies,” Byrne replied grimly. “Militarily, although we still enjoy a general superiority in terms of individual firepower and capability for our ships an fighters, we are substantially, hilariously outnumbered, which throws up countless challenges on both a tactical and strategic level, any given engagement is dangerous, and re-taking much less holding territory is… almost impossible.”

Byrne sighed.

“I don’t know the exact contents of Captain Insaro’s reports, but based on even a surface-level appreciation our situation is bad,” Byrne shook her head. “Indeed, with our intimate familiar with the Cylons it would be far to say that full picture is considerably worse.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

President Kline sighed, the Cheerful façade he had been keeping up slipping off his face. “To be honest Commander, I was hoping that there had been a misunderstanding or mistranslation in those numbers, I do honestly trust the words of Insaro or else I wouldn’t of rushed her promotion and sent her back with our first wave of gifts.” He swiveled his chair to face the image of the capital city. “Your casualties double my own population, an impressive statistic that has made a lot of my advisers... let’s charitably call it arguing.”

Kline turned back to the two officers. “I’m not a military man, and my advisors try their best but I believe I can best sum up all the jargon is that ‘we are a single system power.’ 12 different planets to free and keep freed is not exactly a cake walk for us either, though given your disadvantages a snowball is still an upgrade over a snowflake in hell.” The President turned a glare on Newman just as the Laudian man opened his mouth. “Captain I don’t intend leaving the Colonials out to dry, I’m a politician, not a bastard. If you tell anyone I said that I’ll cashier you.”

Newman immediately looked taken back by the comment, it was obvious that by the shock that such frank language was probably out of character and unusual.

Kline waited a second befor containing. “I have been priming the Senate for a vote on the matter of authorization for more funds for our military, if not a full declaration of war. The Colonies are still a relative unknown, but information always leaks and is spread and the idea that there is an actual AI fleet of boogeymen out there is making my population unsettled. AI are always diametrically opposed to human life and won’t take kindly to our interference but I don’t believe we can bury our heads in the sand.” He couldn’t quite help the dramatic pause. “Other than miracles and more manpower, what do you need Commander? Our first gifts were just a bandaide for a bullet wound, but it was the best I could manage to scramble for the short period of time I had before send Insaro back out there.”

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Byrne nodded grimly. It was perfectly understandable that anyone hearing such horrific figures and tidings would hope that the reports were exaggerated, as the reality was almost too terrible to think about. It was probably particularly chilling to President Kline, both due to the fact that the Colonial losses had been in excess of his entire population, which had to be a sobering thought, and in particular if he was a true believer as far as the threat posed by the Maxis Laudi AI went. Although Byrne did not feel the same instinctive hatred for their AI as she did for the Cylons, mainly due to Admiral Spencer’s vouching for Captain Insaro (and indeed her own interactions with Insaro), she could still understand the fear, as indeed any Colonial could. Moreover, for a civilisation that had suffered their own AI uprising, even if it had been mercifully small compared to the horror inflicted by the Cylons in both conflicts, they had to be absolutely terrified of the threat posed by the Cylons, which would only be made worse as it became clear just how much damage they had been able to do to the Twelve Colonies in recent weeks.

In any case, the President’s obvious deflation did help to cool her initial first impressions of the man; it was still obvious that he was a politician but it was also equally obvious that he had been hanging onto hope that the situation was not as bad as reported for all the right reasons.

“I can completely understand and appreciate your concerns, Mister President, and those of your people; the Cylons have been a bogeyman for my people for forty years, and that was before this catastrophe, so I can only imagine how bad it’ll be in the future,” Byrne replied with a heavy sigh. “In terms of what we need, in the short term it would be continued medical and food supplies, as we have very little capacity to restore our own supplies, potentially the opportunity to mine any tylium reserves we find in your space.”

Byrne shook her head.

“Thinking more long-term, our biggest challenge as our campaign ramps up is going to be our industrial capacity; both the Boneyard and individual Battlestars have enough machine shops aboard to replenish our ammunition, even able to build Vipers aboard larger ships, as long as we keep a supply of raw materials,” Byrne explained. “However, large pieces of equipment, such as gun emplacements, armour, and the like are beyond our current capabilities, and there’s only so much that we can pull from the derelicts that we can’t get back online, and it’s particularly difficult without a secure dock to complete major repairs, so far we’ve been lucky in terms of battle damage, but…”

Byrne sighed.

“At some point we’re going to take heavy damage, and we can’t allow the Cylons to effectively mission-kill a Battlestar because we don’t have the capacity to complete the repairs,” Byrne continued with a grim expression. “I appreciate that it’ll be difficult to work out the renumeration, but access to your industrial base would do us wonders, perhaps even one or more dockyard slips if that’s possible… we can provide trained yard workers, but we could do with the infrastructure.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

Kline frowned. "Tylium?"

"Its what they use for fuel." Newman explained. "And ever since we encountered it those of us that have been with the Colonials have been racking our brains over if have anything like it. Since we use fusion reactors for almost all space-born systems we haven't exactly been looking for rare fuel materials we have no use for."

The President sent off a few queries from his terminal and frowned deeper at the results. "You would think as President I would have a godlike link to the information my planet holds, but I'm getting at best vague directions on the idea of strange space fuels, so I assume if your people know how to find this stuff Commander, then we can let you mine it." He shrugged. "The short term stuff is also fairly easy, though if my nation has to be doing it regularly I am going to have to push some more bills through the Senate, but for now it can be more off-the-cuff since your fleet isn't that large at the moment. The long-term..."

Kline rubbed his chin. "Its a little more difficult. I want to send more assets to help fight these Cylons but as we siphon off ships people are going to wonder where their protectors are going and why some of them aren't coming back. People know whispers and rumors, but I haven't come completely clean as I waited for Insaro to return, or send a messenger or, as she did, send an actual representative, no matter how junior they might of been." He obviously didn't mean it as a slight, but the President was basing the Commander's seniority off Laudian rank, where hilariously Commander was one of the more junior ranks. "Now that we have a Battlestar hanging in orbit I think I can stir the pot with the news about the Cylons, which might scare the Senate in line for support." Newman would give Kline credit, he might not understand military stuff well by his own admission, but his political plan seemed solid, if a bit... slimy.

Then again, AI was easy sore spot for the nation, so using it as a way to draw support wasn't a new concept.

The President was back on his terminal, working the controls and commands. The wall behind him blanked and he spun his chair as the seal of the Laudian Navy appeared before being replaced with older man with an impressive burn scar that covered half his head and wearing a working uniform while at an very well used desk. "Ford! Glad to see you are still awake." Kline blatantly ignored the annoyance that flashed over the man's face. "Do we have any open dockyard slips?"

Ford's eyes purposefully glanced over Kline at Newman and Byrne. Kline waved a dismissive hand.

"Look one way or other they will puzzle the answer out even if I don't tell them outright yes or no. Answer the question."

"With the... uptick in possibilities of hostilities and battle damage I have been planning to have all of them full with new construction. Should I belay those plans?" Ford replied after a moment.

"Not entirely, our new friends here," Kline motioned to Byrne, the confident smile of a politician back at full force. "Will need somewhere to repair damage when it gets too severe, I was thinking sparing... oh two or three slips for them at our yard."

"My Yard, Mr. President." Ford ground out, obviously unhappy. Kline just waited with a patient smile and Newman had the look of a man who was watching two parent quarrel. After a long tense moment Ford finally spoke again. "You realize we're going to have to disclose the location of The Yard if they want to be able to get there, right? to people with an AI enemy that, as Captain Insaro stated, has tried many times to gain access to her ship systems. If the enemy finds out where we are hiding our main ability to construct and repair ships we might loose it. Which won't help anyone in this situation."

"If you just want to the Colonials to lose you can just say that out loud Admiral." Kline's voice hardened, gaining a dangerous edge. "Maybe that scar didn't teach you the first time that AI cannot be trusted to leave human lives alone or do you want Maxis Laudi to burn so the Yard can stay completely safe?"

Ford narrowed his eyes at Kline, "Fine," The single word seemed to singe the air. "I can spare a dock or two once I get some some more recent status updates from the Yard. But if it falls I better not hear you cry about losing the resource."

"Thank you Admiral!" Kline's voice seemed a bit less hostile now. Ford closed the link without another word and Kline spun back around. "Sorry for the show and dance, lost a vote in the next election no doubt but got you your slips. I'm going to have to bother Admiral Ford again later but they aren't doing much so I was considering lending Insaro Bow and Arrow. Mobile Repair Ships which can take raw material and process into new spares for our ships."

"But aren't they out in Sol with the Earth Task Force?" Newman questioned.

"Yeah, but we have Earth and Mars still at 'shaky peace' levels of activity. I can have Ford send Axe out as a replacement since 2 of them is a bit of overkill for such a quiet star system. Lords know Commodore Deianira would probably enjoy escaping the politics of Earth. It'll give Insaro's ships expanded repair ability so they don't have to come home every time they scratch the paint and can help with the Colonials too if they don't mind us learning how to build their technology." Kline glanced over at Byrne with a smile. "Is this sounding like a good deal so far Commander?"

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Byrne nodded, more than a little relieved that their source of supplies was assured, at least in the short term and more than likely indefinitely. Whilst it was true that Admiral Spencer had a wish list as long as her arm when it came to longer-term support, which would be essential if they were going to win the war, it was also true that if they could not keep themselves adequately fed and medically fit they would not be winning anything. Moreover, although the Maxis Laudians had clearly not come across tylium on their own, or certainly not identified it for what it was, at least if it was discovered they would have a supply of the essential fuel safe some distance away from the conflict zone. Perhaps it would be worthwhile sending out a few Raptors into the neighbouring systems, this was meant to be a restful stay away from the war, but simple milk runs into uninhabited systems, without the likelihood of a Cylon ambush, was not exactly a hardship. Indeed, it would be good experience for her her Raptor nuggets, pilots-in-training, so she would have to arrange that over the coming days.

Byrne watched with bemusement as the President went through the motions of finding out if there was any shipyard availability, and only barely managed to keep her surprise at his… interesting leadership style from her expression as she sat otherwise impassively to see the outcome. She had not bothered to correct the President as to the relative seniority of her rank, she presumed that someone would point this out to him at some point if he did not realise himself that a ship the size of a Battlestar was not going to be under the command of a Commander in his navy’s system. It was apparent that the Admiral was less than pleased with revealing the location of his primary shipyard, something that she could appreciate given that she was the primary custodian of the location of the Boneyard, but was grateful none the less that the outcome of the discussion was that there would indeed be repair slips available in the event that major repairs were required and outside the capabilities of the Boneyard’s staff. The offer of mobile repair ships was also one that she would gratefully accept, wishing that the Colonial Fleet’s equivalent resource had survived.

Her interest was piqued most, however, by the mention of a planet by the name of Earth. It was a name that she was familiar with, given that it was mentioned in the Sacred Scrolls as being the destination of the Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol, who had left the planet in the early days. She knew that Spencer had theorised that the Maxis Laudi, once it had became clear that they were the same species, spoke similar languages, and had at least some cultural parallels, were descendants or related in some way to the Thirteen Tribe but it was not a theory that had been brought up, much less investigated. With the mention of Earth, however, the likelihood of the theory being correct shot up dramatically, at least as far as Byrne could see. Indeed, the mention of ‘Mars’, which was an alternate name for the Lord of Kobol known primarily as Ares, only solidified that belief.

“Yes that sounds a very good deal so far…. I’m sorry, Mister President, but,” Byrne frowned. “But did you mention a planet called Earth?”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

President Kline looked a bit confused, but amused. “Yes, Sol Star System is our trading partner, well,” he paused, “partners given the political powers there, but Sol does contain Earth and its semi-rival Mars.” Kline looked at Newman, “Did you never seriously tell them about our planet of origin?”

“I was a late arrival Sir.” Newman protested. “I never really had the chance to say anything about them because it wasn’t relevant to any discussion we were having. I assume Captain Insaro told them when she first met or sometime afterwards. Given our history they aren’t...” he trailed off, unsure how to explain their relationship with Earth.

Kline made an amused sound. “And here I thought naval officers were all students of history and tradition. Yes Commander, I did mention A Planet Earth, it’s where human life, ours at least it seems, first began. A short version of our history is one of the old governments on Earth a while ago got extremely tired of all the fighting and war and we up and left to here, founding Maxis Laudi. We keep in touch, trade, and generally watch over our planet of origin, but honestly we take care of them more than they like to admit. So combine babysitting Sol with trying to help 12 other planets may be overreaching some.” He laced his fingers together as he stared at Byrne.

“Why does it matter?”

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Byrne nodded thoughtfully; nothing that the President had just said made Admiral Spencer’s theory unworkable. The twelve tribes that would form the Twelve Colonies had left Kobol over two thousand years ago, and the Thirteenth Tribe had left many years before that. It was entirely possible that the memory of coming from elsewhere, and any trace of how they got there, could have been lost leaving only the remnants, like cultural figures such as the Lords of Kobol, in myth and legend. Although it was all primarily conjecture, with much of the evidence being in the form of religious texts, it was starting to make a lot of sense. Of course, whilst those most atheistically-inclined within the Twelve Colonies assumed that the Lords of Kobol were not actually deities, but some form of leadership caste, even they tended to accept the Sacred Scrolls as providing a general history of Kobol, so long as you took out the more overtly spiritual aspects.

“I only ask because the name ‘Earth’ is referenced in the early history of my people, as the destination to which an early expedition left our original homeworld, Kobol, thousands of years before the rest, we call them the Thirteenth Tribe,” Byrne replied, doing her best to explain without overly committing. “When we first met your people, and it became obvious that we are both humans, we did wonder whether your people were descendants of the Thirteenth Tribe, or of at least some of them anyway.”

Byrne shrugged, as a military officer it was not her most immediate concern even if it was an interesting theoretical consideration.

“It doesn’t matter overly much at this point, I suppose, and it’s not like we have access to the Colonial Archives or academia to allow for any real research, but I was just curious,” Byrne commented thoughtfully. “Although it would explain the same root languages, as well as some of the cultural parallels that we’ve noticed our the past few months… but as for what you said before I interrupted, yes that sounds wonderful.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

Kline looked interested. “Maybe one day we can look into it. Though I assume it will be a while before we could deep dive into our histories.” He tapped a control and the wall behind him shifted again to show a black star speckled expanse and the familiar shape of Majestic in all her glory. “Now hopefully you can leave most of this political stuff to me as you and your crew might need a vacation for a little while.”

“Shore leave.” Newman supplied and Kline snapped his fingers and smiled.

“Shore leave! That’s the term, thank you Captain.” Kline said. “So since you are here, I guess I can lay down the rules about my planet. No fires, no harassing the freighters in orbit and had you been literally anyone else, I’d have said ‘no AIs,’ but I doubt that would be a problem on your end. You’ll probably see some sparse warnings about AI around but we have them under control so no need to worry.”

He straightened, glancing back at the imagery of Majestic, a shuttle briefly flying across the view showing it was a live feed. “Now is there anything to related to your stay here you’d like to ask? Either for or about?”

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Byrne nodded thoughtfully; it was certainly something that would be worth looking into down the line, but they had neither the time nor resources to do the question any sort of justice, much less the amount that would be required to make the research public in either the Twelve Colonies or Maxis Laudi. It was an academic question, however, which meant that it was not exactly an important question for the moment. It was not like it would change anything as far as the war with the Cylons went and that was the top priority at the moment.

“Those rules sound perfectly fine, I’ll make some of my marines available as a shore patrol, if needed, but I’m pretty confident that my people will be well behaved; pretty much everyone just wants to get off the ship and I can’t see many putting that at risk,” Byrne replied with a slight smile. “My only other point would be that I’d like permission to launch some Raptors, I understand your objections to me putting up a CAP in your space, but I’d like to do some reconnaissance runs of nearby systems for Tylium, if that’s okay?”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

"My objections?" Kline frowned. "I don't remember objecting to any CAPs. What is it? Does it involve shooting?"

"It was more of an educated guess on Insaro's part Mr. President." Newman said after a moment, while Kline stared down at something that had popped up on his terminal. "Since our navy doesn't regularly use fighters and the civilians aren't use to their presence, we thought it might be better to keep the Colonial's fighters under wraps while in friendly territory to prevent any misunderstandings."

"Combat Air Patrol is what my computer is telling me that means. And I appreciate you trying not to spook the civilians but I trust Orbital Control to keep a handle on things.” Kline said, with a mildly disapproving expression at the Laudian Captain. “It sounds perfectly normal and practical since I’m literally reading Insaro’s words about it from her first report.” He fixed his attention back on Byrne.

“Commander, you have my personal blessing as President of the Democratic Republic to send out your scouts and I can transmit up some permissions and explanations to Orbital Control to give you a special orbit so your CAP can fly around if it wants. The harassing the freighters rule still stands though.” The amused tone and carefully bright smile returned. “I think I should let you be about your shore leave while I get to work on making sure you can bring back as much good news as possible to your Command...” he paused for a second, “Your Admiral Spencer. Stace, Mike,” Kline looked up to the guards still standing silently at the door. “Please, escort them out.”

---

Once Newman heard the door close behind him to Kline’s office he let out a small relieved breath, walking a little slower down the hall to admire the history, neither guard seemed to be a hurry to rush them out the door.

The paintings showed a rich and varied history of Maxis Laudi at a glance, one showing a fierce battle of two armies fighting at close range with bayonets, while another showed a ragged space fleet above the very planet they were standing on. The flags that hung on the wall were variations on the current ones, always featuring a mix of red, white and blue and occasionally mixed with the flags of the Laudian Armed Forces.

Finally stepping outside it was easily morning and the strong breeze coming off the ocean was surprisingly fresh and unsalty. Once the two guards that had come from Kline’s office retreated back inside Newman rolled his shoulders to release the tension from sitting in the office with the president of his nation.

“That went better than expected, and bonus, you can have your CAP after all!” Newman said. “Sounds like we might be throwing our full weight behind you sooner than later.”

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Byrne smiled at the President’s works, relieved that she would be able to launch her CAP and conduct survey missions in the surrounding systems. It was not that she expected to have any real need for the CAP, given that they were in friendly territory and one that did not use all that many fighter craft of their own in any event. Rather, it was simply that a Battlestar’s CAP was a critical part of its defence and no Commander worth her salt wanted to be without that line of defence, particularly as there was theoretically a chance that the Cylons would make an appearance here. If it had been peacetime she would not have been as concerned, but in wartime she’d have felt awfully naked otherwise. Moreover, it would almost certainly attract some attention from the Maxis Laudi media, and if the CAP was well behaved (which she fully intended to ensure it would be) it would positively raise the profile of the Twelve Colonies amongst the Maxis Laudi public. Even before President Kline had finished speaking, Byrne had already decided that she would send out her Mark VII Vipers to mount the CAP, wanting to present the latest and most capable examples to any watching eyes.

As the meeting reached its end, Byrne shook hands with President Kline, grateful and broadly satisfied with what had been discussed, or at least that she had laid the groundwork for future discussions. She remained silent as she appreciated the history on display as they made their way back out towards the landing pad. As they stepped back out into the breeze, she smiled slightly at the obvious relief Captain Newman displayed once they were out of the building.

“I know I don’t have anything to worry about from your people, not like you’re going to attack us, but I’ll feel better with my Vipers up,” Byrne replied with a smile. “It did go well, it’s all well and good shooting for the stars, but the more immediate stuff is important too.”

Byrne glanced back across at Newman again.

“It does certainly seem that way,” She agreed. “It’ll be great to not be fighting quite as alone as we have been, won’t feel quite so hopeless.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

"Its probably worse on your end but I'm not going to pretend us being out there was anything more than a bone thrown to you for that initial return. I didn't expect the president to be that eager though." Newman admitted. "It kind of threw me for a loop, which was probably the idea." He took off his cap as they walked, the light on the crystal blue ocean making him squint a bit but he preferred not having the cap on with such a beautiful day.

"Now before you go back and get your ship straightened out, Insaro told me I have to play nice for some reason and I didn't intend not to, but I'd understand if you'd rather go get lost in a crowd and not deal with any Laudian officers for a bit so feel free to say no." Newman paused as they reached the pad. "But can I offer to treat you to a nice meal once everything is settled topside Commander?"

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

“Your people were always going to be freaked out by the Cylons, particularly given your history with your own AI, but perhaps your President has decided the best way, politically, to handle the threat is to grab control of the situation and ride it forwards,” Commander Byrne shrugged. “It’s probably easier politically to try and proactively deal with the situation, and get the people to buy into a fight, than to try and ignore a threat that a significant proportion of your people will see as an existential threat, no matter the distance.”

Byrne glanced across at Captain Newman as she considered the offer. As much as she liked the idea of changing into civilian clothing and getting lost in a crowd, leaving her responsibilities behind for a few hours, she also liked the idea of a proper meal and company. It was the eternal curse of command, there were very few people you could socialise with, and after three months of eating nothing but emergency rations and basic foodstuffs, she wasn’t about to say no. Besides, she could head down to the planet alone some other time, they would be here for a few days.

“I’d like that, Captain,” Byrne replied with a nod and a smile. “It shouldn’t take too long to get things squared away, the biggest addition to my initial plans is the Raptor missions, so let me know when you’ve got in mind.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

"I can call Majestic with an exact time, but considering its still early morning in Principia its going to be a little while before dinnertime for the city, and the place I have in mind isn't open for a while so bit of time to wind down from your trip here and the meeting at least." Newman smiled and gave Bryne a small, informal salute. "I'll see you soon Commander."

---

Back up in orbit, once Byrne had actually arrived. The new spot they'd been given gave quite the commanding view of the planet, with most of the civilian ships in orbit 'below' them around the equator. The Battlestar was now clear of pretty much all the space traffic around Maxis Laudi with plenty of room for their CAP to fly around as they pleased. Their shift in orbit brought them closer to the odd fixture in orbit over what was the planet's northern pole. A little longer than 4km it was probably one of the largest man-made objects in system that wasn't obviously a station. It sat there cold and dead with the whole system giving it space but in no way acknowledging it. No shuttles docking with it or freighters around it. Orbital Control gave them a somewhat half-hearted warning to not go near it, but the person who said that had sounded so unbothered it wouldn't really matter to them apparently.

As time passed, some civilians in smaller craft, mostly shuttles that bore some logos on their sides, began to unabashedly creep closer to the Majestic for recordings for their own use. It took exactly one incident involving a shuttle that was a bit too brave for its own good and being chased off by the vipers before everyone learned the ship's limits and respected them. Local news was starting to buzz about their first outside visitors ever, how it tied in with the President's meeting with them earlier and what it could mean for the nation.

At around what Principia would call lunch time(1300 local,) Newman called Majestic and Commander Byrne giving her the time of 1900 for dinner as well as insisting that he be allowed to provide the transportation, as she was his guest for the evening and no need to be bothering any more of your people than necessary.

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Battlestar Majestic, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

By the time Captain Newman’s appointed time arrive, the Majestic had settled into an easy routine. At any given time, a third of the crew had been released for shore leave, allowing a third to get some sleep and rest aboard the ship, whilst the remaining third manned the ship and kept her at some form of readiness, just in case. By and large, the split was done along the lines of watches, however there were some volunteers to stay aboard for one reason or another, particularly junior pilots eager to get additional flight hours whilst they could. However, Commander Byrne had passed an order to ensure that every member of the crew had to get planetside for at least some R&R whilst they were here, volunteering for extra duties or not. It was not clear when they would be able to get out here again, or indeed any other place that they could enjoy some shore leave and actually get off their ships, so she wanted to makes sure that even the most work-obsessed junior officers and deckhands made sure to take some time to enjoy themselves. She knew that many were hiding from their emotions in their work, but that was not sustainable forever.

Shortly after she arrived back onboard, the first CAP was sent out to form a modest perimeter around the Battlestar. It was comparatively small compared to what she would put up if they were in the combat zone, consisting of only two pairs of Vipers, one to remain close to the ship whilst another was available to move out and intercept any interlopers. As with everyone heading planetside, Byrne had made it clear that everyone was to be on their best behaviour, as they were in the limelight as the first Colonial guests of Maxis Laudi and she underlined the importance of making a good first impression. As a result, when the first of the local small craft bean to approach they were intercepted and turned away by polite, courteous, but firm Viper pilots who formed up on their wings to escort them away from the Battlestar’s defensive perimeter. Some effort was made aboard the Majestic to monitor the local news broadcasts, to keep an eye on how they were being viewed. Maybe an hour after she had returned to the ship, after having time to brief the CAG on her intentions, the first of the Raptors were launched and jumped away to nearby systems.

Once the message from Newman was received, Byrne accepted that he would send his own transport, and sent back instructions for the shuttle on how to land safely on one of the flight pods, and to liaise with the Battlestar’s landing signals officer (LSO) when on approach. Once the arrangements were in place, she retuned to her quarters and changed back into her service blues. Normally, she would have changed into civilian clothing, but such things were in generally short supply aboard a Battlestar in normal cases (much less in wartime) as even downtime tended to be done simply in dress-down versions of uniform, or other fleet-issue kit. As such, beyond a few pieces of casual clothing, Byrne did not have much in the way of formal or even semi-formal civilian clothing, and there was no way in hell she was going to dinner in her dress greys for anyone short of President Kline himself (or maybe one of their senior Admirals). Besides, given the fleet wide hatred for dress greys, almost everyone in the Fleet kept at least one set of service blues that they rarely wore so they remained crisp and without wear and tear, to be used in semi-formal environments.

As such, after stopping by the CIC to give Colonel Rutledge some last minute instructions for the Raptor surveys, and to check over the duty log, Byrne made her way down to the starboard fight pod where the Maxis Laudi shuttle would be being directed to one of the few pressured landing bays on the flanks of the flight pod.

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

The shuttle that came over came straight from Audeamus, baring the same red/blue gradient as its mother ship, which was the ‘command shuttle’, the Captain’s personal transportation on and off the ship when it wasn’t docked. Even though for the most part once Provoco had become Insaro’s command the escort cruisers had kept to themselves, Audeamus’s pilot’s knew the drill for landing with their Colonial counterparts or at the least knew to listen to their new friends when they told them something!

Captain Newman came out to greet her, wearing a slightly less flashy version of the uniform he’d worn before with the President, he as always warm and polite as they sat down the shuttle, with compliments that were more genuine about how proper the battlestar looked on approach and no doubt all the news shuttles they had collected as gawkers were enjoying the sight the Colonial warship.

---

Given that it was not evening local time, the fact that the sun was start to approach the western horizon but not quite darken the sky was inevitable as the Laudian shuttle dove down into the atmosphere once again, gently landing on a landing pad atop a building farther inland in Principia showing a wide stretch of grasslands leading to rocky mountains in the far distance that were tall enough to have snow on them even in what seemed to be local summer.

Newman led Byrne down into the building, where a maitre d' greeted them and led them into an impressive dining room, which appeared to be surrounded on all sides by windows, or at least projections, of the world outside. The table was back away from most of the others currently eating, near the wall that faced the distant mountain range. The man gave them menus and quickly vanished back to his job to go greet more people.

“Hope you don’t mind my indulgence, Commander.” Newman said once they were settled. “This is one my favorite places to come with fellow officers when we celebrate and considering what we have in the cogs for your war effort, I think it’s fitting.”

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Byrne had appreciated the compliments to her ship on the flight down aboard the Maxis Laudi shuttle; although Colonial warships did not tend to be the most sleep or graceful ships ever built, particularly when compared to some civilian ships operated across the Twelve Colonies, they were distinctive and iconic in their own right. The Majestic and her classmates in particular had foregone the somewhat sleeker lines of the likes of the Acheron in favour of a a much more bulky form to allow for more armour and more internal space for various capabilities not found on her small predecessor. Nevertheless, few could deny that the Majestic was anything but properly turned out; the battle damage had been primarily surface-level and had been repaired, to ensure the best possible visage for any onlookers, but there were still a few small indications of the turmoil the ship had been through. She also appreciated the way the outer CAP was deliberately performing close flybys of the news shuttles, nowhere near close enough to be dangerous but close enough to ensure that they got incredible pictures of the craft; there was a reason the Viper was iconic in the Twelve Colonies and she was all for it becoming so in Maxis Laudi.

Byrne followed Captain Newman into the restaurant and looked around appreciatively. As a Colonial Fleet officer she very rarely got the opportunity to enjoy the best restaurants in the likes of Caprica City, but that only ensured that she appreciated it all the more when she got the opportunity. Unlike civilians, the men and women of the Colonial Defence Forces accepted certain limitations on their lifestyle in order to protect the rest of them from harm, but were widely appreciated for that sacrifice and it was common to see CDF personnel in uniform across the Twelve Colonies.

“I might have spent most of my life eating galley food aboard a Battlestar, but I’m not going to say no to a restaurant like this,” Byrne replied with a smile. “It certainly does seem that way, that we have cause for celebration, and that’s something we’ve not had much to do in recent months, so I very much appreciate it.”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

"Its the least I can do, given that now all we're doing is waiting for Kline to do his job." Newman said, though he paused as a waiter came over and cheerfully told them about the specials and took their orders, though the young woman did seem a bit confused by Byrne's uniform until Newman somewhat pointedly called called her by her rank and the waiter immediately took up the correct form address.

Looking around they definitely weren't the only military here this evening, as some of the other tables held familiar naval and marine uniforms while there were some others that were unknown maroon and gold but still definitely uniforms. This seemed to be a popular spot for formal celebrations from the Laudian military, but was in no way reserved for them by the mix of civilians that sat with them.

"If its not a sore subject Commander, may I ask if you've commanded any other ships?" Newman asked once they had been settled with drinks of choice and left alone once more. Had to admit it was a bit hard to small talk when most of what could be brought up meant talking about people who had a good chance of being dead, home's bombed and occupied, etc. He didn't want to bring the mood down too much though he was keenly aware that the Laudian's out at the boneyard had taken a collective unspoken agreement to not be the ones to bring up what they had waiting at home for the most part. mentions of Maxis Laudi itself were brief, talk of families kept only when asked and occasionally indulging whatever curiosities their Colonial fellows had if they asked. But this seemed safe enough to ask for the most part.

[United Colonies of Kobol]

Commander Samantha A. Byrne, CF
Maxis Laudi, Maxis Laudi Star System
Second Cylon War, Day 80

---

Commander Byrne smiled slightly at the waiter’s obvious confusion at her uniform, but she recovered commendably and continued with taking the orders without any further issues, making sure to use her rank. It was obvious from looking around that this was a popular restaurant for the Maxis Laudi military, and that was reflected by the obvious ease by which the wait staff addressed their military patrons. There were, or rather had been, similar establishments in the Twelve Colonies that gained themselves a popular following amongst the Colonial Defence Force, although they were likely all shut down now if not outright destroyed by collateral damage from the destruction of a nearby military base. She placed her order, based on the existing cultural similarities in their cuisine with some help from Captain Newman when it came to more unique dishes, and gratefully accepted her drink once it arrived; sipping it and sighing appreciatively at the taste.

“Of course, it’s perfectly fine, and to answer your question, I have indeed commanded a few ships before the Majestic,” Byrne replied with a nod. “Immediately prior to Majestic, which I only assumed command over maybe nine months ago, I commanded the Battlestar Heimdall, it is not uncommon to command smaller battlestars before bigger ones.”

Byrne sipped her drink again.

“Before that, I commanded the Combatstars Aether and Erebus, which are also common first commands for a future Battlestar Commander, due to the obvious parallels in command style,” Byrne added. “In general, command officers in the Fleet go, or rather went, down two primary pipelines; Combatstars to Battlestars or Escortstars to Gunstars, due to the very different styles required for the two types, its very rare for a Gunstar CO to end up commanding a Battlestar”

Bryne sipped her drink again, swallowing a little heavily at the thought of how that paradigm was not really relevant anymore due to the decimation of the fleet, and any officer with command experience would be put into whatever slot needed filling at this point.

“What about yourself?”

[Maxis Laudi]

Maxis Laudi Star System
Principia, Maxis Laudi
Captain Arin Newman

"So thats four separate commands, that sounds like an impressive and fruitful career." Newman said, "As for me, Audeamus is actually my first command. If I had a few more connections to high command or some relatives in the Senate I might of had something before now... but while we do try our best to make sure skilled captains get ships, the more people you know and can vouch for you, the better. Before this I was the executive officer aboard Provoco's sister ship, Ego te Absolvo. But when command began a scramble to see who to pull for Audeamus due to Insaro's promotion I got recommended by an old, higher ranking friend for the spot. That was one hell of a call to wake up to in the middle of the night, being given the only ship in the navy with a record of real battles on the spot."

He paused to take a sip of his drink, a wine that had come from Earth apparently, wishing he could explain why he'd gotten the promotion and command over others but Byrne wasn't exactly in the loop of Laudian fleet politics and he had no way of saying out loud without possibly compromising Chase.

"But I am curious, as I did do a bit of poking around our archives and I'm not finding anything obvious before coming down here... do you honestly believe that we are some sort of lost colony of your nation or maybe we are just reading into some very lucku coincidences?" Newman just sounded interested and of course earlier with Kline he couldn't of indulged the idea much. Surely there had always been a little bit of talk over how and why the Laudians turned out to be so similar but it had never been a serious topic of discussion. It would probably be very easy to just dismiss the idea as superstition or humans finding patterns that aren't really there.