The council session begins like any other: a call to order, the discussion of motions. In this case, the debate focuses on the incorporation of the new civilian ships into the socialist economic structure in place. But when an emergency motion is tabled to discuss the religious context of the fleet’s actions, matters rapidly get out of hand.

Nicteus Philemon informs the Fleet Council that the Oracle has spoken to many of the civilians and military, saying that their continued existence is an aberration, defying the will of the Gods. The cycle of history sees civilisations fall and rise, but for the first time, this cycle has been disrupted; the terrible danger is that if the Colonials fall now, they will never rise again. Nestra Duvali adds her voice to Philemon’s and indicates that the absent Julius Hoxam also agrees.

They demand that the fleet halts all progress to Chiron and turns over every record and scrap of data to this group, the New Believers, so that they can discover where the fleet departed from the path of the Gods and find a way to correct the error. The request is summarily rejected, at which point Nicteus sends a signal to the New Believers in the fleet; they begin to assault the FTL drives of each ship, crippling the fleet’s ability to jump. At the same time, the Steropes jumps away.

Armed civilians assault the Fleet Council Chamber on the Helios Refinery. Pulling a gun on his fellow captains, Nicteus tells the astonished Fleet Council that if they do not hand over control of the fleet to the New Believers within one hour, Hoxam will send a signal to the Cylons from the Steropes giving away the crippled fleet’s location; if the fleet will not cease in its defiance of the will of the Gods, it must cease to exist.

Furik, who flew the escort to the Helios, leads a squad of marines through the New Believer defences and reaches the Council Chamber. As he tries to besiege the hostage situation, Darius disarms Philemon. Duvali takes a shot at him but is herself disarmed, injured and knocked unconscious. Darius then shoots her.

Outrage quieted for the moment by shock, the Captains leave the Council Chamber and make their way to the hangar bay, even as the marines and civilian security begin a desperate bid to regain control of their vessels’ FTL drives. Darius takes Philemon back to the Myriad, to a sealed room and leaves marines guarding it outside.

Left to fight the battle for the fleet, Stanton is briefly distracted by the news that Ivor Nereus is absent from his cell. Jena Dorian tries to reach Darius and Philemon, but is turned away by the marines and is forced to wait for him; unbeknownst to her, Darius finishes his work and leaves by the air ducts. CIC gets word that a solitary Raptor has launched and jumped away from the fleet.

Even as Raptors scramble to follow it, Stanton receives a communication from Darius, saying that he cannot remain part of the fleet after what he has done, and giving the jump coordinates of the Steropes’ current location, which were extracted from Philemon. Seconds later, a nuclear detonation is detected at the Raptor’s position and there is nothing left besides dust and echoes.

As Furik leads a strike team to capture the Steropes and prevent it from making its fateful broadcast, the last of the civilian ships comes back under the control of the authorities. The calm is almost immediately shattered as Priam Teucer begins ejecting the New Believers aboard the Accretion Disc into space. Stanton and Dorian break into Darius’ sealed chambers and find the grossly mutilated remains of Nicteus Philemon.

Stanton investigates the disappearance of Ivor Nereus from his cell; Jena Dorian reports to him that she and Darius had agreed to quietly move him to the Hyperion so that Dr Perseun could begin experiments on him.

A funeral is held for Darius, his uniform and pins launched into the nearest sun, though his final departure leaves a fleet sorely and bitterly divided. Stanton assumes command of the Myriad, while the hardliner Sarah Lianova is elected representative for the Augea and Tom Scylitzes reluctantly takes over as nominal captain of both the Crazy Ace and the Helios Refinery. Rage flares at the Council Session, with some demanding harsh punishment of Priam Teucer, and others demanding the same for New Believers. In the end, the Council agrees to Perseun’s suggestion of a general amnesty.

Controversy flares again as stories are leaked to the press, apparently by a senior member of the Myriad staff, attacking Stanton’s handling of recent events and those stretching back to the Exodus, questioning his command. Accusations and protestations reverberate, but the fleet resumes its course towards Chiron - in one piece, but never more deeply fragmented…

Survivors: 3165

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