'Enemies Within' Fanfic

Author's Notes: This is another chapter from my 'Farscape: The Lost Warrior' series, which involves a massive crossover from Farscape, Stargate SG-1 and the original Battlestar Galactica. This chapter involves the Cylon invasion of Scarran space.

I figured that some people here after seeing the 'reimagining' of Battlestar Galactica mini would want to see 'real' Cylons in action. Chrome suits and all! Cylons are meant to be scary... not sexy!

Here's the Link to my website if you wish to read more: https://www.mnsi.net/~tower/ftlw/main.htm

For now, please read and enjoy! And feedback is welcomed!




Chapter Six: Enemies Within



[Scarran Space – Katratzi]



In the War Council chamber the holographic images played out like a bad dream for all who were seated around the ‘C’ shaped table. They all watched attentively, except for Emperor Staleek… He’d already seen similar recordings a hundred times before and they all ended the same way. Staleek had no desire to make this viewing one hundred and one. He kept his eyes focused on the table, anywhere except at the playing image.



To him, it was his darkest fear. What he saw was not only the possible fall of the Scarran Empire, but also the extinction of the entire race itself.



The image playing showed nearly five hundred battered and nearly exhausted Scarren and Charrid soldiers lined up in a hastily dug trench, staring out over the horizon, waiting for something. Something they all hoped wouldn’t come.



The image panned up out of the trench to the far distant landscape as the camera operator focused on thousands of glimmering flashes appearing on the rocky plain in the afternoon sunlight.



The camera clicked and zoomed in on the source of the shiny reflections…



There, row upon row and shoulder-to-shoulder, stretching out in a formation that seemingly went on forever, were thousands of Cylons. Their silver and golden armor sparkled in the bright daylight as they marched on course, straight for the waiting defenders.



A Charrid could be heard shouting, “They’re coming!!”



More shouts and cries could be heard. Many of them sounded panic stricken.



A Scarren officer roared out to his troops, “Ready all weapons!”



The Cylons continued their steady advance step by step and the defenders waited until they could see the red of their sensor eyes.



“Open fire!!” The Scarran officer shouted.



Pulse blast rounds, bazooka shots, gyro-jet projectiles, tak charges, every weapon the defenders had, they let loose. So devastating was the assault that the attackers disappeared from view in the ensuing flame and smoke. For a moment, it seemed nothing could survive that initial volley.



As the black clouds of smoke and dust cleared, movement could be detected as the Cylon army broke out of the smoke and dust. Their formation seemed unbroken as they continued their apparently unstoppable march toward the defenders in the trench. Step after step after step…



“FIRE AT WILL!!!”



Was it a Scarran or a Charrid that screamed that order? It no longer mattered, because the defenders started to throw all they had left against the approaching Cylons.



As the machines drew nearer, the camera zoomed in again and it showed the lead Cylons of the formations were indeed smashed and in ruin, with arms, legs and even heads missing. Incredibly, the Cylons behind them were apparently holding their destroyed counterparts up like shields against the incoming fire.



When the Cylons were within fifty feet of the trenches, the mechanical army released the smouldering remains of their frontline comrades and returned fire with their blaster rifles. The sheer volume and power of the Cylon’s weapons was overwhelming.



The camera operator dropped down just in time to avoid the incoming bombardment. Those who remained standing were instantly killed or blown back down into the trench by the concussive force of the intense barrage.



The camera levelled off to show a Scarran soldier standing back up to return fire, only to have his head cleanly taken off by a well-placed Cylon blaster shot.



“Stand and fight, you cowards!”



The camera operator turned toward the shouting and showed a Scarran officer trying to stop a group of Charrids from fleeing the trench.



“There’s no place left to run! Fight!” He shouted to the terrified Charrids.



Unbelievably, three of the Charrids levelled their weapons and fired several bursts into the Scarran before running by him as he collapsed to the ground, wounded. The fleeing Charrids didn’t get far before they were cut down by hostile fire. The camera turned back and up to the source of the weapons fire.



The Cylons were standing on top of the trench in massive numbers and were pouring more fire down on the trapped defenders. Some Cylons actually dropped their rifles and drew swords from their belts before jumping into the trench amongst the ranks of Charrids and Scarrans. This was immediately followed by more screams, as the remaining defenders were blasted or sliced apart.



However, the Scarrans and the Charrids fought back with all they had. One wounded Scarran surrounded by three Cylons primed a grenade before setting it off, taking his attackers with him in a thunderous explosion.



The Scarrans continued to battle on fiercely while the Charrids were now panicking, firing their weapons madly, no longer caring if they were hitting friend or foe in the crossfire. All sense of order was collapsing.



Another Scarran was physically struggling with one silver Cylon who was trying to impale him with his sword. The Scarran was a foot taller and much more massive than the machine he was battling against, but the Cylon pushed his larger opponent easily against the trench wall. With one hand on the Scarran, the Cylon raised the sword to jab it into the creature’s chest. The desperate Scarran soldier grabbed the mechanical arm to stop the descending blade. Even with use of both arms against its one, the Scarran couldn’t match the sheer strength of the Cylon. Slowly, the blade was pushed down against his chest before jabbing and powering through the Scarran’s armor and tough hide. The Scarran convulsed and coughed up blood as the blade penetrated his chest until he grew silent. Without delay, the victorious Cylon pulled the blade free before scanning for new targets.



Staleek could hear War Minister Ahkna, next to him, letting out what could be considered a frightful hiss as she observed the cruel efficiency of the Cylons. For so long, the Scarrans had believed that they were without equal, that they were destined to conquer this region of space and beyond. Now, they were facing an enemy even more powerful and brutal.



Returning attention to the holographic image, they all watched two Charrids who were on their knees begging for mercy as one Cylon advanced upon them. His sword was covered with the green and blue of Charrid and Scarran blood. The Cylon stopped before them and showed no mercy as the machine raised its blade and chopped both of them down in turn. Their pitiful wails and screeches didn’t last long.



The machines knew how to kill and there was no hesitation or second-guessing in their actions. Nor there was either hate or pleasure taken in the slaughter. The Scarrans and Charrids were merely targets or obstacles to be removed.

The camera operator started to retreat as the Cylons gained more of a foothold in the trench over the corpses of their enemies. He turned only to come face to face with another Cylon. Realizing his mistake, the camera operator tried to back away to run, but the Cylon methodically levelled his rifle and fired it at point blank range. The camera picture suddenly jerked and came to rest pointed skyward.



The image continued to play as several Cylons walked past in the view frame and the sounds of battle slowly died out; not even the screams of the dying could be heard anymore, just the fading sound of Cylon weapons fire.



The holographic image ceased as Emperor Staleek rose from his chair at the head of the council table and started to walk about the table. His immense form towered over all in the chamber room, as he eyed the other Scarrans, Charrids and Kalish who were also present.



“That was from Sous Prime,” he rumbled. “It ‘was’ a major military installation before the Cylons attacked. In predictable fashion, they first destroyed the defending fleet before launching an orbital bombardment and the ground assault to wipe out the remaining garrisons. They left nothing alive in their wake.”



Staleek continued to walk around the room until he stood inside the arc of the table. “Since this invasion, we have faced nothing but endless defeats and lost numerous worlds to the Cylon advances. The planet Sous is most troubling because it’s only twenty light cycles from where we are standing. If we don’t find a way to stop the Cylons, they will be able to lay siege to this fortress moon within one weeken.”



Slowly, Emperor Staleek turned his steely gaze to the Charrid General Rahzaro.



“Now, General, the performance of your ‘men’ in that recording was far less than inspiring. They all ran or cried like little, furry ‘mortuctens’ in the face of the Cylons. My own commanders are actually refusing to fight alongside your troops because they tend to disappear whenever the Cylons show themselves. What do you have to say for yourself or your ‘men’?”



General Rahzaro had the look of a man who was about to die. He leaned nervously back into his chair as Emperor Staleek loomed over him. “My men… They’ve never faced anything like these things before. The Cylons are machines and are fearless and nearly impossible to destroy… Shoot off an arm or a leg, they still keep coming until you completely obliterate it.”



“Am I hearing excuses, General?” Staleek hissed.



“No, my Emperor!” Rahzaro pleaded. “My men will stand and fight! I will see to it!!”



“Good,” Staleek said evenly. “Tell your soldiers if they don’t start doing their part in this war, they will have more to worry about than fighting Cylons. I will have them all eliminated.”



General Rahzaro’s pointed ears nearly shot up in fright. “You can’t be… I mean, Emperor, you will be destroying nearly half of your forces!”



“Only the useless half.” Staleek replied darkly.



On the opposite side of the table, Secretary Vakali quietly laughed, but the Scarran Emperor overheard it. Staleek angrily spun about and approached him, leaning over the table to glare down on the surprised Kalish.



“And you, Vakali! Your race proudly boasts of your superior intelligence, yet you still haven’t offered any solution to stop these Cylons!”



It took a few precious microts for Secretary Vakali to find his voice. “My Emperor… I have a report… If you will.” He quickly gestured to a female Kalish standing just behind his chair. “My aide is prepared to give it…”



Emperor Staleek lifted his gaze to the small woman and nodded. Hoping to finally better understand this new enemy that they never heard of three weekens ago and had so far proven to be nearly unbeatable, he moved to return to his seat.



As he did, the Kalish female leaned down to whisper angrily into Vakali’s ear, “I’m not ready!”



“Just do it, Sikozu!” He hissed back under his breath. “Give him something or he might have one of us killed!”



With a faint sigh of resignation, Sikozu glared furiously at her Kalish leader one last time before moving to stand before the war council. She removed a small sphere from her belt and placed it on the floor. Standing back up, she touched a control on her bracelet. A second later, the sphere glowed and a life size projection of a Cylon Centurion appeared above it.



“This is what we are fighting,” Sikozu started. “From observations and wreckage recovered from the previous battles, this is the backbone of the military force that are waging war on us. It is nothing more than a ruthless killing machine with a heavily reinforced chassis. This chassis is resistant to all but the heaviest energy or projectile weaponry.



“It is powered by an incredibly sophisticated fusion power cell and each machine can scan a wide range of frequencies, including electromagnetic, infra-red and ultraviolet. They are well armed and possess incredible strength, far greater than the strongest Scarran. Despite this and the level of technology used to build these machines, their processing centre is quite limited. I believe this was done deliberately to keep the machines from thinking on their own. Their builders might have feared their own creation could possibly turn on them.



“Cylons like this one can carry out basic functions, functions which enable them to fight and even pilot ships, but they can’t operate on their own independently for long periods without oversight. Now, there are two Cylons that we currently know of, Silver and Gold. The silver models are the grunts, soldiers if you will. The gold models are exactly the same in construction, except that they have greater processing capacity, which makes them the equivalent to officers. They issue orders to their silver counterparts, but still their programming is very rudimentary. That means there must be even more advanced models that control them…”



“And how is that supposed to help us in the mean time?” War Minister Ahkna interrupted. “We need the means to defeat them on the battlefield.”



Sikozu bowed her head politely. “I was getting to that, War Minister Ahkna. If we could find and capture these advanced models who are directing their silver and gold Cylons, we might be able to gain valuable information and intelligence on Cylon command and control.”



“What are we doing ‘now’ to stop them?” Emperor Staleek questioned. He wanted answers, and so far he was getting nothing but more talk.



“We have several new weapons in the development stages that will be more effective in penetrating their armor and the defence fields about their ships,” Sikozu said.



“How long before can we deploy these weapons in enough numbers?” Ahkna asked.



Sikozu couldn’t lie. “Four weekens.”



General Rahzaro almost erupted in sarcastic laughter. “Half of the sector will be overrun by the time we get these supposed weapons! I thought you Kalish were ‘smart’?”



Sikozu sneered back at the Charrid General. “And I thought that you Charrids were supposed to be fierce warriors and not cowardly Hynerians that break wind when frightened.”



“You dare call us cowards!!” Rahzaro.



“I thought the recording we just witnessed clearly showed that,” Sikozu gloated with a smile.



Rahzaro snarled and started to rise from his chair when Emperor Staleek’s voice boomed loudly,



“Enough! I want immediate results both on the battlefield and in finding measures to defeat the Cylons! It is bad enough that we are facing a powerful enemy, but now the Peacekeepers have learned of our misfortune and Commandant Grayza will be arriving soon to exploit it.” He glared at the people before him. “I want new strategies and technology to break these machines who have invaded our space. If not, I will have to settle on breaking you instead.”



Without another word, Emperor Staleek rose from his seat and left the council chamber under the escort of his four Scarran honour guards.

“You stood before the Emperor and simply told him we need BIGGER guns?” Vakali said in disbelief as he stepped out from behind his desk. “The Charrids could have told him that!”



Standing in Vakali’s office, Sikozu just stared straight ahead as the Kalish Secretary scolded her. However, Sikozu knew that Vakali was angrier with her for making him look bad than at her performance.



“I told you I was not ready to make that report…” she started.



“You have an army of researchers and support personnel under you, but all I heard were excuses!” Vakali shouted. “I want you to get organized and find a countermeasure to defeat the Cylons. The Emperor will not tolerate failure and whatever punishment he decides to hand down to us if we should fail, I will make sure it will happen to you first! Am I clear?”



“Yes,” Sikozu said slowly, biting her tongue from saying what was really on her mind. “Very clear… sir.”



Satisfied, Vakali nodded and began saying, “Good, I want you to focus on…”



He was interrupted when the doors behind Sikozu parted open and War Minister Ahkna and General Rahzaro entered.



“Wait outside,” Ahkna ordered Sikozu. “Now.”



Sikozu didn’t hesitate and was grateful to get away from Vakali, even for a moment. She stepped from Vakali’s office out into the corridor and it was then she noticed the huge Scarran personal guard for Ahkna. As the door closed behind her he moved to position himself in front of the entrance to keep anyone from walking into the room.



The War Minister and the Charrid General must have important and private business with Secretary Vakali, the Kalish spy thought. Hoping it was to deliver more bad news from the front against the Cylons.



The Cylon invasion of the Scarran Empire did nothing but help the Kalish secret resistance. The Scarrans had their full concentration on stopping the invasion and little else, allowing many of the resistance to infiltrate into high levels of the Empire. Sikozu had been deliberately dragging her heels on any findings concerning the Cylons as a way to keep the Scarrans from exploiting any advantages against them. Every defeat the Scarrans suffered meant freedom was that much closer for her people.



Inside, Vakali turned to Ahkna, smiling politely. “Minster, what may I do for you?”



The darkly dressed Scarran gestured to his desk. “Please have a seat. General Rahzaro has something of interest that might help us against the Cylons.”



The Charrid produced a copper coloured canister, the size of a drinking thermos.



Curious, Vakali made his way back to his desk and sat down as Rahzaro placed it before him.



“What is this?” The Kalish asked.



Rahzaro began to unscrew the lid, casually saying, “Something that will save us from the Cylons.”



Vakali’s interest grew. “A weapon?”



“A lifeform,” Ahkna answered as she stepped behind Vakali’s chair. “A superior one.”



“A superior lifeform,” Vakali now laughed, staring at the canister. “Compared to what?”



When Ahkna spoke again, it wasn’t her voice he heard. It was as though something else was speaking through her.



“To you!”



He glanced up just in time to catch the Scarran War Minister’s eyes glowing before she reached down, grabbing a fistful of his hair and slamming the side of his face into the table.



Stunned and confused, Vakali struggled, but Ahkna was far too strong.



“Release me! Guards!!” He shouted.



Rahzaro smiled as he finished unscrewing the lid to the canister. His voice had also changed, sounding as eerie as Ahkna’s now.



“This room is sound proof, Vakali. Relax and it will be over shortly.”



“What are you?!!” Vakali demanded.



Rhazaro, or whatever he had become, stared back calmly. “We are servants of our Lord Anubis and so will you be.”



Horrified, Vakali watched as a dark snake with red eyes and sharp fangs suddenly rose out of the canister. It hissed at him before lunging straight at the terrified Kalish’s face.



Vakali’s biggest and final mistake was to open his mouth to scream …



Outside, Sikozu waited for a few minutes when Ahkna and Rahzaro exited Vakali’s office. With no word said to the young Kalish, both they and Ahkna’s personal guard left.



Curious, she re-entered Vakali’s office and found him sitting quietly at his desk, looking over several files. He glanced up at her with an uncharacteristic crooked smile.



“Sikozu, why are you still here?” He asked.



“I was…” She stared at him, wondering what Ahkna or Rahzaro could have said that would put him in such a good mood all of a sudden. “I was not sure if you were done giving me your instructions.”



“Oh,” he said, glancing over another file in interest. “Carry on and I want a report on anything new you should find on the Cylons.”



Sikozu nodded and started to leave, but stopped and turned to face him again. “May I ask what War Minister Ahkna and General Rahzaro said when I was waiting outside?”



“Nothing important,” Vakali answered with that odd smile again. “We discussed how much we are looking forward to Commandant Grayza’s arrival.”

TBC...