Episode 1: "Home"

Speech by Commander/Admiral Titus

"I stand before you in humanity's darkest hour. We have suffered the greatest losses imaginable. Yet we remain, we survive, and in time we will prosper.

How do I know this? In the past few weeks, I have seen people in the depths of grief –people who have lost everything and everyone they loved – put their own pain aside and reach out to others. Reach out and make that difference. The difference between surviving and living. This happens in small ways and large, every hour, even to this very moment and beyond.

Our hope lies in each other. Our assurance comes from our shared history.

The Sacred Scrolls tell us of the last time we lost a world: the world of Kobol. We lost our homeworld then, and the physical presence of the Lords ob Kobol – but we can never lose their importance in our hearts. We lost a tribe then, a Thirteenth Colony on an unknown planet known as Earth – but we should never lose their example. Just as when they were separated from the twelve, we who come from every Colony now form a new tribe – a Fourteenth Tribe. With the guidance of the gods, the inspiration of the tribes, and the traditions of the Colonies, we can move forward together, until the day we regain our homeworlds.

That may sound impossible. We stand against an implacable enemy, who gave no quarter and would not accept surrender. Well, neither will we. We will resist, and we will not relent.

Although we remain at war, we will continue to honor our past and observe the laws of the Articles of Colonization. Under those traditions and laws, in a time of war, a member of the Admiralty may stand as military governor. When an Admiral of the Colonial Fleet performs executive duties, the Articles require a civilian authority to act in a legislative and advisory capacity. I’m proud to say we have someone who can capably assume those duties.

You may know her as the wife of Cletus Mason, former Quorum Member from Tauron. A position which, under the laws of the Colonies, now falls to her. Allow me to introduce your civilian representative, Councilor Thea Mason!

*

Thank you for your wise words, Councilor Mason.

This Battlestar was named for a brave band of heroes who dared the wrath of the gods to prove that mankind was ready for knowledge, for the power to shape its own destiny. The Lords of Kobol honored the Prometheans for their courage to stand against the odds.

Now, the Cylons are not the Lords of Kobol. They’re not even human. They’re machines. And machines can be broken.

Our Colonial Warriors have proved it. Thanks also to the efforts of our civilian scientists, we’ve gained important intelligence on the Cylons. But no victory can be assured without one key piece of information: the whereabouts of their home base. It’s the Cylons’ most guarded secret. It’s a secret no longer.

I know the location of the Cylon homeworld.

Yes, the Cylons have hit us where we live. Soon, we’ll return the favor.

For obvious security reasons I cannot reveal specifics; yet. But I can assure you that our counterstrike, when the proper moment arrives, will secure a future for mankind forever.

Though we begin this day far and away from where we were born, each of us from our own cities, our own Colonies…we end it together, as one tribe. One people.

So from this day forward, home is where we stand. And we stand strong, knowing that the day will come – the day when we take back what is ours.

So say we all!”

-- ChrisLightfoot - 28 Apr 2009