Title: "Last Man Standing" Chapter One
By: kellifer_fic
Fandom: BSG/SG-1
Rating: PG
Category: Crossover
Words: 2,432
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue, no money!
Notes: Thanks to my beta *superfox*. Author's notes about the setting at the bottom.
Summary: The Cylons and the Ori battle to gain Earth for themselves. All the while, Earth prepares.



For a man who’d looked at him blankly when he’d first proposed a game of chess, he had gotten scarily good, scarily fast.

Jack watched as one of Adama’s knights took his last bishop and sighed. Adama touched his top lip and Jack wondered if he was used to wearing a moustache.

“They’re worried,” Jack said, watching Adama carefully.

“Understandably. That doesn’t change the fact that I have over thirty-five thousand civilians still orbiting your planet.”

“Believe me, everyone’s aware of that.”

“But?”

“But they also think the only way to make sure a Cylon doesn’t touch one foot on Earth is to restrict who comes here. You said yourself that there’s a very real possibility that you still have unidentified tin-cans in your fleet.”

“I did.” Adama nodded. Jack had moved a pawn and Adama now moved his queen and then looked up. “Is check the right term?”

“For that? No. Checkmate,” Jack grumbled, using a finger to topple his King sideways. “You say you’ve never played this before?”

“No, but we had a similar game. It’s all strategy anyway, right?” Adama looked up at Jack, his question double-edged.

“Right,” Jack nodded, wondering why the hell he hadn’t retired when he’d had the chance.

000


Daniel was pulling at his tie when Laura Roslin breezed into the room, all cool efficiency and talking to her aide. She noticed Daniel as he came to his feet and smiled, waving him back into his seat.

“Now I want people to try to understand that they no longer need to horde. We’re not going to be cut off,” Laura said as the petite woman at her elbow furiously scribbled notes.

“There are some elements that are still trying to control supply so that the black-market isn’t strangled into non-existence,” the woman said with a grimace and Laura turned to Daniel, her eyes narrowed.

“Tell me the Integration talks have moved forward or I’m really going to have to land Colonial One on top of your White House,” she said with a quirk of the lip that Daniel had come to recognise. It meant that she was only half-joking.

“I’d call it less forward and more sideways,” Daniel said and Laura threw up her hands.

“Honestly,” she snapped. “If I could just go down there.”

“I know. I’m working on that too.”

“I’m trying not to be insulted but it’s getting increasingly difficult.” Laura skirted behind her desk, waving off the aide who retreated, still writing. As she sat, she pulled her diary to herself and opened it. “Unfortunately there’s no real way to reassure your Officials that I’m not a Cylon.”

“There lies the problem.”

“Other than the fact that I’m not,” Laura said, pulling a pen free and making a notation. “I just can’t believe-”

“You do see why they’re being cautious don’t you?” Daniel asked mildly.

“What? Fairly low-ranking politician suddenly elevated to the post of President of the Twelve Colonies because she happens to be the only one to survive? No, not at all.” Daniel was relieved to see Laura smiling. He got a little worried when she was determined. “I just feel I could do more onworld.”

“I know. Believe me, I know,” Daniel agreed.

“Not that I wouldn’t miss our little meetings,” Laura said and now her smile was brighter. They had the same argument every time they met and it had become just something to get out of the way before they moved onto real business. Daniel still wasn’t quite sure how he’d become unofficial liaison between the people of the Twelve Colonies and Earth.

He figured it was mostly because the higher-ups of Earth were still treating the whole thing like they were negotiating with aliens. It didn’t matter that Laura and her people weren’t little, green and wielding probes. They’d arrived, tailed by an enemy the likes of which Earth had never seen and strangely, if it weren’t for the Ori, would have probably obliterated them from existence.

Daniel had never thought he would see the day where he was glad that the Ori were around. They and the Cylons duking it out for dominance meant that Earth had time to prepare and mount a defence. The Daedelus had been recalled and now orbited alongside the Galactica. Resources were being devoted to making more vipers, X-302s and Prometheus class ships.

The Asgard had even supplied two of their own ships, which now stood between Earth and the edge of the galaxy where the Ori had stopped the Cylon’s incursion in their tracks.

In the beginning it had been bandied around that perhaps the people of Earth should prepare for evacuation, much like the people of the Twelve Colonies had been forced to do.

One thing everyone managed to agree on was that Earth was the last stand.

No running away.

So lost in his thoughts, Daniel almost missed Laura asking him a question. “Hmm?”

“I wanted to ask for our supply runs to be doubled and to receive marine support. We’re having trouble with some of the shadier elements of the fleet trying to keep their black-market interests alive. Do you think that would be possible?”

“I don’t see why not. You have a call in to the President this afternoon don’t you?”

“Yes, I guess that’s something.”

“What is?”

“That he’s taking my calls.”

“I’m sorry Madam President. I know this is frustrating. Integration talks aren’t dead. They’re just… stalled.”

“Unless these Asgard or Tok’ra you speak of can find a way to screen for Cylons, I don’t see your Officials allowing us to commence settlement anytime soon.”

“If it’s any consolation, there are massive organised protests going on all over the world. People understand who you are. They want to welcome you home.”

000


Cameron came awake with a start when he felt someone slap his stomach. He looked up into Kara’s smiling face and rolled over with a groan. “What?”

“Time to earn your wings,” Kara said, real glee in her voice.

“What?” Cameron asked, sitting up and scrubbing his forearm over his eyes. He felt like he’d only gotten twenty minutes sleep.

“Squadron of Raiders and a Heavy Raider got through the Ori defence lines and are on their way here.”

“They didn’t jump?” Cameron climbed out of the rack and shrugged on his flight suit. He’d only managed to get half out of it before collapsing face first into sleep. He was pretty sure he smelled but he figured it didn’t matter much because in a viper, there wasn’t a co-pilot.

“Nah. Whatever those Asgard satellites are doing, it’s working. No one seems to be able to jump close enough to Earth to cause problems. Just close enough for us to go and clean up, stretch our legs.”

“You’ve had about as much sleep as me. How are you so chipper?” Cameron grumbled, following Kara out of the hatch.

“I, unlike someone I know, went to sleep as soon as I got back. I didn’t stay up with my girlfriend.”

“She’s not my… you’re a real pain in the keister, you know that?”

“I think it’s cute, you and Racetrack.” Kara skipped out of the way as Cameron took a swipe at the back of her head.

“There is no me and Racetrack,” he snapped. “I can’t help it if she has a… crush.”

“It’s adorable that you indulge her. Be careful though, Vala showed us a movie where this woman gets obsessed with this man and boils a rabbit. I’m seeing that in your future.”

“You’re not allowed near Vala anymore, or any movies,” Cameron grumbled. He still had one arm out of his flight suit and couldn’t seem to find it. He turned a full three-sixty before Kara finally took pity on him and grabbed the suit’s shoulder and guided his arm into it.

“I can’t believe you’re not more excited. This is your first live combat.”

“It’s not my first,” Cameron snapped. They’d entered the flight deck and Cameron had to take a moment, seeing vipers stretched out before him. He felt the faint stirrings of anticipation and would never admit in a million years to Starbuck that yes, okay, it certainly felt like his first time.

“Try to bring them back in one piece,” Chief Tyrol remarked as he passed, smirking when Kara tipped him a jaunty salute.

An orange suited tech ran up to Cameron, helmet in hand. “Sir?” he prompted, already turning to point in the direction of Cameron’s viper.

“Let’s pop your cherry, Shaft!” Kara called, jogging over to her own.

Cameron was still laughing as he was strapped in.

000


“Helo, I suspect we’re being hustled.”

“Now why would you think that?” Vala asked, wide-eyed and twirling the end of one pig-tail around her fingers. She laid her cards flat on the table and grinned. “That is, by the way, what you call full colours is it not?”

“I agree Lee. We’re being hustled.”

Vala looked between the two men while she scraped her winnings toward her. She looked at her pile and grimaced. “I don’t see what the two of you are concerned about, your money isn’t actually worth anything.”

“You won’t mind giving it back then,” Lee snorted and leaned forward but Vala curled a protective arm around her winnings.

“I’m keeping it because it’s pretty,” Vala smirked and reached for the deck, Helo slapping her hands away.

“I don’t think you should deal anymore,” he said, retrieving the cards and shuffling, unbending the bent down corners of some of them with an arched eyebrow. “How did you get on Galactica anyway?” he asked as he dealt.

“I have my ways.”

“Why would you want to? You’ve got a whole planet down there that none of us are allowed to step foot on,” Lee asked, picking up his cards and sorting them out. With Helo dealing, he got a decent hand.

“Daniel spends most of his time either here or on Colonial One and I like to keep him close.”

Keep him close is a nice way of saying frakking isn’t it?” Helo hazarded with an eyebrow waggle and Vala sighed, slumping in her seat.

“Unfortunately, if we were frakking as you so colourfully put it, I wouldn’t be so concerned. I like to keep an eye on him because we’re not.”

“Keep him on a short leash you mean,” Lee chuckled.

“If you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of desperate women on these ships and Daniel is a very nicely formed human.”

“Where are all these desperate women?” Lee laughed and Vala waved a dismissive hand at him.

“You have enough problems without complicating matters. You’re with the small woman with the nice eyes and always watching the blonde one.”

Helo choked on the drink he’d been swallowing and wiped what he’d lost on his chin with the back of his hand while blinking at Lee, who was staring resolutely at his cards. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he grumbled.

“See? Problems,” Vala said, nodding and then looked at Helo. “Besides, I think that President of yours is altogether too… handsey,” Vala added with a pout and a waggle of her fingers.

Both men stared at her.

000


“I’m sure you have people that you could make do this for you.”

Sam felt someone tap her foot and from the voice, she guessed it was Gaeta. “I like doing this myself. I like… getting my hands dirty,” she said. She was under a control panel in the CIC. She’d been asking how the FTL worked and had gotten frustrated when someone had tried to explain it, needing to see for herself. She had already been through the FTL drive itself, seeing where the Asgard hyper drive and the Galactica’s FTL technology diverged. She had schematics and she had time.

Two luxuries she was happy to abuse.

Her next project was to fit out Raptors with DHD consoles much like the Puddlejumpers but like with most things, she was mired in red tape. The powers that be had concerns about sharing technology so quickly that continued to frustrate her.

“So tell me something,” Sam said, scooting out from underneath the console and finding Gaeta on his haunches by her feet. He gave her a hand up and she dropped into a chair that he pulled her way before settling in one opposite. “There’s risk every time you jump. If you’re calculations are out by even a little, you could wind up in the middle of a planet or a sun?”

“It’s measured risk, but yes. When the Cylon first attacked, we had to do a blind Jump with most of the fleet. We were very lucky not to have lost any of the ships. When we sent Raptors back to Caprica to rescue the survivors, we lost one in a mountain.”

“Instantaneous travel,” Sam breathed, scrubbing a hand over her face. “You’ll forgive me but we’ve been playing catch-up for years now. This is a whole new level.”

“I’ve been confused about that for some time,” Gaeta admitted, looking at Sam steadily. “If you are the thirteenth colony our Scripture speaks of, then just how are you only coming into space travel now?”

“I guess no one will ever know,” Sam shrugged. “A long time ago the Goa’uld enslaved our people. Technology, hell writing was outlawed. If our ancestors were truly settlers, they might have been stripped of everything, all people with the knowledge killed. When the Goa’uld was overthrown, they may have been starting again.”

“I guess so,” Gaeta said, still sounding troubled.

“Look, honestly there’s no real way to know if we are actually these long-lost cousins of yours.”

“But this is Earth. We’re the same race.”

“True, but there are hundreds, no, thousands of planets that were seeded with humans by the Goa’uld and the Ancients. Who’s to say even if this Earth is the Earth? Maybe the name was appropriated.”

“Well, that concept really makes my brain hurt,” Gaeta sighed, shaking his head. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No. I just really appreciate your Admiral giving me permission to poke around. Our people certainly haven’t been as forthcoming.”

“What’s the expression? You have us a bit over a barrel.” Gaeta grinned. “If we ever want to get access to your shielding technology or the Stargates, then we’re going to have to offer first.”

Sam smiled, watching people move through the CIC, marvelling that they’d been totally unaware that any of these people had even existed only a few short months ago.

Author's Notes: This piece is set in a 'verse where the Galactica was still on its own and the jump that took Racetrack to New Caprica by accident, took her to Earth instead. This 'verse started because of a request fic Friendly Fire.

From: [identity profile] lastingdreams8.livejournal.com


O, and I meant to add that the concept of Vala keeping a close eye on Daniel, because they're not fraking is very interesting...I'm sensing more is going to come of this???? Please and thankyou:)
.

Profile

kellifer: (Default)
kellifer

Most Popular Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags