Breaking the Veil (Commissioned NuBSG/BT crossover)

Location: In Orbit of Caprica, Twelve Colonies
Year: 1980C/20BCH

"So, remind me why they're pushing back the retirement of the Daedalus," Colonel Francis Woullard said, looking at the small group forming around the Valkyrie-Class battlestar. "Because I was looking forward to finally getting to enjoy my grandkids."

"Because, some sort of distress beacon came from deep space," Commander Ike Senner replied. "And the Powers that Be have seen fit to send all of us Old Bastards out to go check on it. Lieutenant Lenz, open up a channel to the rest of the fleet. I'll give them a quick update."

"Opening channels now, sir," Lenz replied, his salt and pepper hair showing he was one of the youngest members of the crew. "The fleet's ready when you are."

"This is Commander Senner," Ike began, speaking into the handset he'd grabbed. "I'll keep this as brief as possible, given you've all already been given this information. Three days ago, a communication was received from deep space. It was unencrypted, but we were able to make out some familiar words, including one of a request for assistance. Now, High Command is aware that it is possible that this is a Cylon lure to force us to break the armistice. But, they have decided that it is worth the risk if there is a lost colony out there. You have all served for many years, protecting the twelve colonies, ensuring that our loved ones are safe. Now we're being trusted once more, this time with a mission of exploration and aid. After this is finished, I look forward to a nice retirement party with you all. But if it does lead to war. At least us old bastards were the first into the breach. May the gods watch over us and direct our footsteps as we journey into the unknown. Senner, out."

"You know, if they were going to send us on an exploration mission, they could have sent us with more modern ships and sensors," Woullard complained. "I mean, hell, we're only missing the Galactica to round out this group."

"Older ships are less valuable to the Fleet, sir," Lenz offered. "Given the Daedalus is the oldest of the Valkyries, it makes sense they'd send us."

"We're all expendable here, Lieutenant," Woullard chuckled. "The Old Bastards are just more expendable than others."

"Aye, sir," Lenz nodded, seemingly lost in memory for a moment before he snapped back to the present and continued. "Commander, the fleet's ready to jump when you give the word. FTL drives are ready to spin up, and we've got the basic course laid out for us to follow to the broadcast location."

"Alright, Lieutenant," Commander Senner nodded. "Tell the rest of the fleet to begin jumping, Scouts first, then the rest of us follow once we're given the all clear."

–
–
Three days later…

"Well, Commander, after this next jump, we'll be fully out of explored space," Lieutenant Lenz informed Senner. "How do you want the fleet to proceed from here on out?"

"If this is a trap like I suspect," Colonel Woullard said from his seat. "Then, we should take it slow, Ike. The last thing we need is to burn out our drives jumping far and fast like we've got something to prove. 'Sides, we're collecting extra pay for the retirement checks. Might as well take our time."

"I'm more concerned with the exploration aspects, Colonel," Senner replied. "We've got an opportunity to map out potential resource deposits and maybe even a place for us to Kobolform some new colonies later. So, here's how we're going to proceed. We scout at one system per week, depending on the distance. Then we stop and scan everything that is in the system. I want us to know where everything is and what it is. In the event this turns out to be a Cylon trap, we'll still have at least one ship with the data available and ready to return to the Colonies and the fleet."

"Yessir," Lenz nodded. "Sending message to the rest of the fleet."

"Lieutenant, you have the con," Senner said after a moment. "Colonel, please join me in my office."

The CO and XO of the small fleet left the bridge to the other officers and vanished into the 'shoe closet' that was Commander Senner's office.

"They offered to let me retire fully instead of doing this last mission," Senner said once he'd sat down and pulled out a small glass bottle from a drawer. "I almost took them up on the offer. Figured I'd give you your shot at commanding a fleet before you retire."

"Frak that," Woullard swore, laughing as Senner poured two glasses of the liquor. "I'd have told them no and gone home for the last time."

"That's why I took it anyway," Senner chuckled. "Frank, I don't think this is a Cylon trap."

"Why not, Ike?" Francis leaned forward. "Because it certainly looks a lot like one of the ones we used to encounter during the War. Fake a distress call, lure a few ships in, and then ambush them when they respond."

"No, that part lines up with what we know," Ike agreed. "But I think this is more of a case for Fleet Command to write us off. We're old, we're not as good at using new tech like they want, and we're stuck in our ways. The reason I don't believe this is a Cylon trap is the language. If the Cylons wanted to fake a distress call from someone, they'd use our language. Not whatever gibberish was in the message we received. Besides, the beacon's ancient by our standards. The tech types put the date that it originated from anywhere between four hundred and five hundred years old."

"It just took that long to reach us," Woullard grabbed the shot glass and slammed it back. "So, whatever attacked them might still be out there. Waiting for us?"

"That, or it was the dying gasp of a distant prespaceflight civilization," Senner sighed. "Either way, I want the full route to that system explored. If we do run into some sort of advanced enemy, or an alien of some kind, we're going to need a clear route back to the colonies."

"I'll make sure our CAG is ready for launch if that ever happens," Woullard nodded. "Did you need anything else, Ike?"

"Just to talk about the grandkids," the CO grinned. "Chuck's going to get his pilot's license this year. He's intent on signing up with the Fleet."

"Well, talk him out of it," Woullard shook his head. "Civilian hauling pays better, and you have less idiots to deal with. At least he's sticking with the Navy. My grandkids are following in their father's footsteps. Not Marines, not Navy, but Army. I don't know where I went wrong in raising him, but it must have been something his mother said…"

---

Three months later…


"Alright, ladies, this should be the last system we have to scout and clear for the rest of the fleet," Lieutenant Jaime "Ice" Ernalia informed the handful of Raptor Mk. IIIa's that made up her scouting force. "Spin up FTL drives and follow my lead. We're not here for a fight; we're just here to ensure the next system's clear."

"ECM is on standby, ma'am," Ensign Kim Atsu said. "Just waiting on the rest of the Raptors to report in."

A few moments later, the rest of the six-Raptor scouting force had done so, and they jumped into the next system. Their final destination.

"Wow," Atsu snarked as the initial scans started coming in. "Another star system with nothing in it."

"Wait, that doesn't look like the usual asteroid belts we've seen so far," Jaime shook her head. "Looks more like a debris field from back in the War."

"Frak," Atsu agreed. "I'm not seeing any active signatures on the medium scans, though."

"Hey, Ice," Hansa 'Carver' Zende called out over the wireless. "Ash here's identified what he thinks is a couple of half-destroyed wrecks within medium scanner range. I'm going to take Victim as backup and go check them out."

"Just get scans and fall back to the rest of the group," Ice ordered. "Once we've established that there isn't an ambush waiting here, we'll jump back to the fleet. Their sensors are going to be better than ours anyway."

"Copy that, ma'am, we're en route now. ETA is about an hour, maybe more."

"We'll find it in our hearts to wait for you, Carver." Ice snarked back. "I can't promise the same for Bankroller."

"Hey, you know me. Always on the move!" the cheery Raptor pilot chirped back. "Sleeping in a cockpit's way more comfortable than the benches in the park."

"You would be the only one to know that," Knife sighed. "Ice, can I swap partners? I'd rather not have 'Roller on my six."

"Take it up with the Major when we get back," Ice replied. "He's the one who assigned the wingmen for this op."

"Frak," Knife swore. " 'Roller, I swear to the gods that if you get me killed that I'll haunt you for the rest of eternity."

After that, the wireless filled with the chatter from the Cylon War veterans. This was the third month they'd been rotating into these scouting runs, and with how little they had seen, the Major had allowed them to relax their wireless security measures.

"Jaime," Atsu said as his ECM console beeped. "We just had the signal we're supposed to investigate send out the broadcast again."

"Well, let's listen to it, see if we can understand anything now that we're closer," the Lieutenant replied.

The once full wireless was now silent as the entire Raptor group listened to the beacon's message. Instead of the garbled mess they'd been given on the initial deployment, they heard it clearly. The radio waves were no longer bouncing out and around the stars.

"They sound like they're speaking that language from the show my grandkids watch," Knife commented. "You know, the one with the made-up orks and shit?"

"I'll take your word for it," Ice shrugged. "Carver, what's the status on your scans? I want to get the full message back to the fleet ASAP."

"Another fifteen minutes and we'll be ready to jump," Carver replied. "Victim here's a wiz at cutting down the scanning time."

Victim had never been one to speak all that much, and simply clicked the radio once in response.

"Well, we'll get the coordinates calculated for you and send 'em to you so you're ready to jump when the rest of us are," Atsu informed the two craft that were scanning the wreckage.

–
–

"So, it looks like some sort of battle took place, lieutenant?" Commander Senner removed his cap, revealing his bald head for a brief moment as he considered all the information the Lieutenant and her scouting team had provided.

"Yes, sir," Jaime nodded. "According to Victim's scans, it looks like it was done with conventional weaponry. Although he did admit that it's possible they used nukes and that it was so long ago that any radiation might have long since dissipated. It's also possible that we missed something; we didn't want to stray too far into the system."

"Thank you, lieutenant," Colonel Woullard nodded. "Go get some rest, I'll have the Major handle the rest of your team's debriefing."

"So, what'd you think?" The colonel turned to the Commander. "Do we jump in and take a look behind the veil?"

Ike Senner had folded his hands underneath his chin and seemed to be deep in thought before he nodded and stood up. "Alright, Frank, fold the fleet into formation," Senner opened the door to the bridge and stepped out onto it. "All hands to battle stations. I want Vipers prepped for launch, and everyone ready to jump in the next twenty minutes!"

---

"Alright, people, listen up! Because I'm only going to say this once," Captain Jorge Lezzhov yelled over the din of machinery. "Outside of the initial scans, we have no idea what's waiting for us down there," he pointed at his feet. "It looks like everything's destroyed and that there aren't any people down there. But we have no way of verifying that without getting our boots on the ground. So, we're going in and taking a look around before the navy-types and the big brains start examining shit. Keep your weapons on the ready and your heads on a swivel. I didn't keep you all alive through the Cylon War just to have you die to some alien freak on another planet. Any questions?"

"Yessir," A corporal grinned. "What're our orders regarding loot?"

"If you can carry it and it fits in your bunk, you can keep it," the Major replied. "Now, get to your designated Raptors, it's time to see what kind of aliens we're dealing with."

"I thought I told you I didn't do taxi services for free anymore," Ice commented when a group of Marines and familiar faces entered her Raptor's troop bay.

"Just put it on our tab," Jorge replied. "The Corps'll pay for it eventually."

"You hear that, Atsu?" Jaime turned to her partner. "We're gonna be rich in a few years."

"I don't remember the Corps ever paying for our services," Atsu smirked behind his helmet. "In fact, don't they still owe us from the War?"

"Nah, we wiped that slate clean after they bailed us out on Vergon, remember?" Ice asked.

"Right," Atsu nodded. "I suppose we'll start a new tab for you, Major. But don't go forgetting to pay us this time."

"Drinks are on me when we're back in the colonies," Jorge promised as the Raptor left the launch bay and began its descent through the atmosphere. "I might even find something for you down below."

The Major closed his mouth as soon as the ship began shaking upon reaching the edge of the atmosphere. Jaime and Atsu might not have been affected by the usual procedures, but Marines are a superstitious bunch, and it had long been established tradition that speaking on the way down was a surefire way to go down upon entry.

Once they'd broken through the barrier of the atmosphere, a small screen in the troop bay showed what the cameras in the front of the Raptor were seeing.

"We're going to set you down in that intersection," Ice broke the stunned silence. "We're not detecting any radiological or other warnings, so whatever nukes got used here, the radiation levels have long since passed."

The Raptor slowed and came to a stop in the intersection Ice had indicated.

"Alright, people," Jorge said, unstrapping himself and hefting his carbine, the weapon looking small in his massive paws. "We've got our mission, let's take a look around."

"We'll hang around to assist with maintaining contact with the other groups," Ice called out to the Major. "Just let us know if you need anything."

All around the ten-man group of marines were skyscrapers. Some looked almost pristine, while others had been bombed into oblivion or had toppled over.

"It almost looks like some of the cities did after the War," Sergeant Malcom said quietly.

"I don't recall any of our cities looking this bad," a private replied. "And I was in the thick of the city fighting on Tauron."

"Alright, let's see if we can find a government building of some kind," Jorge said into his radio. "All teams, fan out, look for a symbol of government or any signs of intelligent life."

"Yes, sir!"

The Marines spread out and began exploring the ruined city until another group got into contact with the Major.

"Major Lezzhov, you're going to want to see this," Sergeant Volke's voice chirped on the wireless. "I think I've found where the distress call is coming from. Along with something else… But you'll need to see it to believe me."

"I'm on my way, Volke. Signal your position with smoke," Jorge switched channels. "Ice, I need a pickup on the location of the Flare I'm about to send up. One of the other platoons found something, and I need a ride."

Pulling the small pistol from his belt, Jorge pointed it into the sky and squeezed the trigger, the bright glow of the green light illuminating his position for the Raptor to see.

---

"What is it you wanted to show me, Sergeant?" Jorge dismounted the Raptor and waved at Ice as she lifted off.

"Right this way, sir," The sergeant replied, beginning a fast walk down the street. "I was going to explain it over the wireless, but this is better if you see it in person. Also, we're pretty sure that the people here were human, or at least close to it."

"What makes you say that, sergeant?" Jorge asked.

"We found a few skeletons around the distress beacon in the government building," Volke said. "They looked an awful lot like the burnt husks I saw during the war."

"I thought we didn't have any colonies out this far," the Major commented.

"I dunno, sir. That's for the scientists to figure out," Volke shrugged. "But we're pretty sure that," He pointed at something that was so large, Jorge had dismissed it as a trick of the eyes at first. "That is one of the things that killed the people here. Well, that and the nukes."

"That's the largest frakking Cylon I've ever seen," Jorge clutched his carbine closer as if it would help protect him.

"Yessir, we think it's also why some of the 'scrapers around here got demolished. Set some charges up, and you can drop a building on one of these things as it walks by if you do it right. I can't imagine fighting one of them on foot outside of that and having a lot of air cover."

"It also explains the nukes," Jorge sighed. "Alright, let's get the Navy down here. Time for the eggheads they hired to earn their keep. If these things were active enough to kill us, they'd have already done so."

"Ice, please let the Commander know that we've found a government building and have secured it for further study. We're going to hold until given further instructions, Major Lezzhov, out."

---

"What do you have for me, Doctor Russell?" Ike asked the question that was burning in everyone's mind.

"This is definitely a dead human colony," The archaeologist said. "But I'm not sure that the Cylons had anything to do with the fallout. It appears to me that there was a divergent evolution in our paths. We developed the Cylons, and they developed these," the screen displayed a multi-story bipedal machine. "Our Cylons made use of artificial intelligence, whereas these require a human pilot to ensure the tasks are done. There is also no Tylium to be found on this world or the surrounding planets."

"Then what happened here?" Colonel Woullard asked. "What are we going to report to the brass at the Fleet?"

"I believe that there was an internal conflict that manifested in a civil war," Russell replied. "According to close scans of the planet taken by raptors, the nuclear weapons used damaged the ecology of the world, ash clouds decimated plant life, and it's only recently that the world itself has begun to recover. If the people who lived here didn't evacuate, then they died. It's possible that there may be records of where they would have gone, but it would take time to translate and figure such things out. At present, I have only translated the name of this nation. Anything more would take time that I do not believe we possess."

"No," Commander Senner agreed. "Fleet HQ will expect a report fairly soon. We've got another week or so to explore and make conclusions at most."

"Then my recommendation is to pack up everything that may reveal their secrets to us and to bring them back to the Colonies," Russell said. "My colleagues and I will have more time to study it at the university, and if more is needed, we can return at a later date with a civilian fleet to inspect this wreckage of this 'Taurian Concordat'."

Senner considered this for a few moments before exhaling a heavy sigh.

"Alright, I'll have extra personnel and shuttles sent down with you, Doctor. We'll load up what we can and will bring it back with us for the return trip."

"Thank you, Commander." Russell grabbed his satchel and stack of books.

"And Doctor, please try to keep your lab clean," Senner said before the archaeologist had left. "I've had far too many sailors tripping over books for it to be safe there."

"I'll see what I can do, Commander," The Doctor vanished around the corner.

"So, you think we're going to end up having to come back on a return trip?" Woullard asked.

"I all but guarantee it," Senner sighed. "So much for retirement. It looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while…"

Author's note: I'm probably going to leave this as a one-shot unless someone commissions more of it. Still, enjoy, @CrazedGamma1721's commission.