Perseun:

Hello everyone,
This is Viktor Perseun speaking – and I’m as surprised as you are that I’m still here, and that I’m talking to you today! I was, as you will have been told, left behind after our last encounter with the enemy. And I must say that I genuinely believed my ‘number had been called’, as you might say. I was floating alone in space, in the midst of the terrible attack that claimed yet more lives. *pause, deep breath*

But mine wasn’t one of them - shortly after this, the brave crew of the Battlestar Charybdis (which is composed of both humans and Cylon renegades, as you know) appeared and rescued me.

So it seems that you can’t get rid of me that easily! I am pleased to be here, and I’m pleased that I can once more stand in front of you, and that I can pledge once more to serve you with my whole self, knackered old body and rusty tin leg included…

Now... you are surprised to hear mention of the Charybdis I don’t doubt. And if you haven’t already heard, you’ll be wondering where it is now. It is, in fact, no longer. It was taken to pieces in order to retrofit the shiny new Myriad which has rejoined the fleet.

I feel obligated to point out before we go any further that, since they wrested their liberty from the occupation of the Cylon Main, this is the second time that the Cylon members of the Charybdis crew have chosen to save the Myriad, at great personal cost to themselves.
As always, there is something serious that I want to discuss with you. *pause, deep breath*

So… as I have already said, the Myriad has been almost completely overhauled. [tone becomes a little more bullish/bluff at this point ;) ]More than ever before, we have something at our command that will make the Cylon Main think twice about attacking us; it is a truly awesome battlestar, a dreadnought. To summarise some of the new additions to our beloved battlestar; the damage has been completely repaired, and in most cases made stronger than before. We have better defences, greater jump capability, better armaments…. and for the first time in ages we have enough provisions and resources to last us for a reassuring amount of time into the future. And, yes, we also have the ability to create new raiders and even new centurions. *lingers over this sentence, pause*

So there’s no sense in hiding any of this from you – the technological balance has been somewhat tipped in our favour, though it might be a shock to you. We have most if not all of the advantages that were once the exclusive preserve of our enemy.

You are free to make up your own minds about what this all means. I urge you only not to dwell on lingering suspicions of what we once called ‘Cylon technology’. It is my deeply held belief that it was never the technology of the Cylon Main that we were fighting against – it was the ruthlessness and cruelty with which they used it. It was the heartlessness, the sadism, the inhumanity. Now that the lines are more blurred than before, I think we need to re-evaluate what that word, ‘humanity’, really means, and what it encompasses.

Now… we also have one more type of technology at our disposal that is going to be quite a shock to all of you. But I’ll leave that to Eddard Stanton, who is here with me now, to explain…

Stanton:

Thank you Doctor Perseun. It truly is a pleasure to have you back among us now, and before I expand on the points you have raised, I would like to say that I am hereby officially relinquishing the governorship of the fleet back to its elected representative, now that you have returned.

*looks down as if gathering his thoughts for a few seconds; then raises his head and looks solemnly at the cameras*

And so, to the matters Dr Perseun has just alluded to: First of all, there is something I need to say. This… isn’t easy to articulate, but I’ll just say it. People of the fleet, I must let it be known that I, Eddard Stanton, am a cylon.

*waits until, presumably, the commotion has died down a little*

This probably comes as a shock to many, indeed, it came as a huge shock to me; I found out only a few weeks ago, during the traumatic events in which we presumed that the Myriad was lost.

I am sure many are feeling distrust of me now, knowing as you all do that I held onto the post of governor during this period. I maintain, though, that all I have ever been doing has to try to do the best for this fleet. I believe that my motivations have not changed in that regard, and with the increased involvement of the Variant cylons and the other renegades in our fleet, my conviction is all the stronger.

We need to use all the resources we have at our disposal to survive, for the human race to survive. The cylons with us have thrown in their lot with us, and are contributing to our survival. I believe, in my admittedly biased opinion [he shrugs and smiles resignedly], that the lines between our two peoples are becoming more blurred. It is no longer enough to say, to assume, that humans are on one side, cylons the other, and that there can be no common ground. Yes, atrocities have been committed, terrible, awful actions, on both sides, we cannot forget that. But if recrimination is all that we think of, we will never be able to recover, or to prosper.

So you can see, unity amongst the disparate elements of this fleet is my primary concern, and this brings me to the next subject at hand. You may have wondered what Dr Perseun meant when he talked of another technology at our disposal. Well, it has come to light of late that there has been some scientific work conducted in secret, before the existence of the Variants was known to us. This work involved… experiments to allow humans to resurrect in the fashion of cylons.

*pause for commotion again, no doubt*

These experiments were carried out on two members of the Myriad crew, who will be known to you all. Both Jena Dorian and Krysten Furik are both successful products of these experiments. They are essentially human-cylon hybrids who have been through the process of rebirth.

*more commotion*

Again, I’m sure this is a shock to all. But beyond your immediate reaction, I urge you to think of the possibilities. Once the Variants are able to recommence their work, resurrection can be available for anyone who wants it.

I would of course stress that this is not an attempt to subvert the fleet. This is a matter of choice, anyone who wants to have the ability to resurrect may make that decision. Anyone who does not, will absolutely not be compelled. And, sad as it is that it will probably come to this, anyone who feels strongly enough against this use of technology, to bring humans and cylons closer together – they are free to depart from the fleet. At least two of the captains of the fleet, on being informed of this development, have expressed a wish not to be part of it, and to strike out on their own. Of course, this is not something I want, but we cannot have our fleet bound together in mutual suspicion. Another fleet will no doubt be formed and provisioned appropriately, free to continue as it sees fit.

In conclusion, I would like to restate the fact my personal aims. I want, more than ever, that we survive and flourish. I think we can do that, if we pool our resources, put our differences behind us. However, I am fully aware that, in resigning my temporary governorship, I now have no legal mandate to push my personal beliefs. I will join my people in the areas they currently inhabit; however, I will do my best to improve relationships between humans and cylons, and working with Dr Perseun I hope that humans can be given back some of what has been taken from them. It may never be enough; but I cannot state enough that if we are to move forward, we can only do so working together. I stand by this belief, and hope it will be shared.

Thank you