Fanfic / Going Native

Going Native by Rap 541, is a fanfic crossing the reimagined Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which Felix Gaeta turns out to be a Starfleet officer stranded in the Twelve Colonies by an experiment gone wrong ten years ago, forced to blend in in order to uphold the Prime Directive, and has been quietly directing the Rag-Tag Fleet towards the Federation. When the RTF stumbles onto the Enterprise-D (sometime near the end of season seven), his secret is revealed, and things get interesting...especially when it's revealed that Felix's grandfather was the god Apollo (as depicted in an episode of the original Trek series (the episode "Who Mourns For Adonis?", specifically)). Features Culture Clash, politics, action, romance, and Felix dealing with the consequences of going native.

Has a sequel, Going Forward, which remains ongoing as of late November 2011, and actually went and updated in September of 2013. Set several years after the initial fic, it features the Galactica characters finding their new lives in the Federation disrupted by the ourbreak of the Dominion War.

Note: Like many fans, Rap 541 disliked the revelations of Galactica's third season finale, and declared that they would be ignored, instead producing an alternate solution to the mystery of the Final Five. However, recent chapters of the sequel suggest that these ideas may be used after all.

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This fanfic provides examples of:

• Alien Non-Interference Clause: The infamous Prime Directive is brought up a few times, and is a source of anger for Starbuck, who claims that Felix could have pointed them towards Earth or given them Photon Torpedoes.
  • Many Colonials don't exactly like it either, viewing it less as "The only enlightened path to preserve pre-warp cultures" and more as "Let's sit on our asses and watch people die while we feel smug about it."
  • The Federation people do note, though, that the Beta Quadrant is notably lacking in the resources that are needed to build lots of their technology, so not only was Felix forbidden from doing so, but he also physically couldn't build them photon torpedoes or warp drives.
• And Then What?: Gaeta tells Picard in their one-to-one that he thinks the Cylons have no idea what to do after they manage to destroy humanity.
• Babies Ever After: In the sequel, it's explicitly noted that many of the Galactica characters now have offspring... as do the Cylons, as their fertility issues are now solved.
  • Justified by the very nature of the situation the characters are in- they're the last of their people... if they want to have a future as a society (and not just be swallowed up by the Federation) they need to (to quote President Roslin) "Start Having Babies."
  • Lee puts a darker turn on things in relation to the organic Cylons- the organic Cylons are an endangered species, slowly dying out. Even if they do have babies, said children won't be Cylons, they'll be humans who just call themselves Cylons.
• Bait-and-Switch: Early in Going Forward, there's a scene where Adama is talking to "Chief Tyrol," and the audience is led to believe that it's Galen, the one who answered to that name in the main series. It turns out that it's Cally, who took Galen's name (and still has a job since Galen metaphorically self-destructed not long after the Colonials arrived on New Atlantis).
• Beware the Nice Ones: Felix, normally so polite, easily defeats Starbuck when the latter tries to kill him.
• Bittersweet Victory: The Humanform-Cylons did destroy the Colonies, yes... but it turns out that they were never in charge at all, the machine-models were. Human-Model Cylons are actually human clones with nanites inside of them, and this revelation getting out leads to the Human-Models getting wiped out by the machine-types. There are currently nine hundred Human-models in existence, their religion was a lie to get them to obey commands by a false god, and even though they can have children, their kids will be assimilated into the federation and not be able to have all the special abilities of the Human-Models (strength, interfacing with machines, resurrection), and ultimately the Human-Models will go extinct.
  • The Colonials are in much the same situation, if much lessened. Their culture is going to be slowly eroded away by outside influences, they'll never return to the Twelve Colonies, and all they can do is try to cling desperately to what they have left. It is lessened in that they can still keep their culture, but it will be very difficult. In addition, the stress of surviving the long flight from the Colonies means that the Federation's counselors and mental hospitals are all working overtime, with multiple suicide attempts and incurably insane patients.
• Came Back Wrong: The Cylons on the Basestars destroyed by the Enterprise's photon torpedoes aren't downloading right.
• Cool Ship: The Surprise, which was constructed under Felix's supervision. It's a Defiant-class starship with a Colonial FTL drive.
  • Galactica, which gets upgraded with Federation technology, now is capable of pulling More Dakka with Photon Torpedoes.
• Curbstomp Battle: The Enterprise VS three Basestars, Data VS a Centurion.
  • Lwaxana Troi's meetings with Baltar could be considered a Curbstomp Battle of Wits.
  • Twenty Romulans beam over to the Galactica. One survives only because a Vulcan got to him before the Colonials could, with only one person injured on the Colonial's side.
  • Three Jem'Hadar fighters versus the Galactica post-Starfleet refit. Galactica's first action in the fight (after jumping in) was to fire one hundred photon torpedoes. It is also the last thing it does in the fight, because after that, there is no more fight.
• Deleted Scene: A few chapters depicting the initial meeting between the Enterprise and the Galactica are appended to the first fic.
• Doomed Hometown: While we don't get to see it, the Cylons are forced to abandon their new homeworld once the Dominion starts to advance from Bajor.
• Dramatic Irony: "Could you prove you're from Earth and not… And not Apollo's child sent to save us?"
  • "Sharon and I had a bet that you were really a Cylon. ... I defended you… I said hey, he's probably just from Earth, that explains the weirdness..."
• Expy: While unintentional, the series stars a part-human being worshiped by the natives who has suffered a great loss in the past, being assigned to a station near said natives, arrives with a custom Defiant-class ship, and has ongoing problems with the Dominion... are we talking about Felix Gaeta in "Going Forward," or Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space Nine? Okay, so there are more differences than similarities, but it is somewhat odd.
• Fantastic Racism: The Federation's lingering anti-Augment sentiment is a minor plot point.
  • Some paranoia is shown towards human-looking aliens among the Colonial Fleet- which is understandable, given that until recently they had to worry about human-looking robots that wanted to murder them all in their beds.
  • Colonials who encounter Data feel some understandable, if unfair, discomfort around him once they learn he's an android rather than a flesh and blood alien.
  • "Going Forward" shows the Colonials having trouble with members of Starfleet, who often view them as primitive, violent, and disruptive for being paranoid and wanting fighters and guns.
• Foreshadowing: Starbuck can "feel" which pilot candidates will do well or not, and later on, it's revealed that those with Pallamas Indicators have a limited ability to sense one another.
  • Saul Tigh mentions that he feels awful going through transporters. It turns out that this is a very common trait among Cylons.
  • Starbuck mentions that Sam doesn't have the right "Feel" for flying, that he'd be okay flying a Raptor, but not a Viper. Couple what was said above with the "Palamas Indicator people can sense one another," with the fact that Cylons have no Palamas Indicators...
• Going Native: Obviously, but forms a major plot point- instead of going native out of love for a place, he went native because he had to- and the decisions he's made since then are a source of considerable stress for him, ranging from Prime Directive violations to lying to everyone he swore to protect to his divided loyalties to the Colonies and the Federation.
  • Also played straight, in that Gaeta genuinely appreciated the anonymity living in the Twelve Colobies granted him.
• Half-Human Hybrids: Felix and his sisters (well, technically, they're three-quarters human hybrids), as descendants of a Physical God. As is Kara Thrace, though how far back her ancestry is is unknown.
  • Due to Pollux IV Life Forms having heavily interfered in Colonial Society, it's strongly implied that a good deal of the Colonial population has at least some non-human DNA in its makeup.
  • Averted with Hera, daughter of Sharon and Helo- since Cylons are biologically human, she's just an ordinary human (mostly, as Dr. Crusher notes that she's getting a hefty dose of Palamas Indicators from her father. Still, this makes her as human as any other member of the Twelve Colonies).
• Human Resources: The big reason that the Cylons fled their system is that it's possible to turn their nanites into the same type that the Hybrids use, which greatly increase the range and accuracy a Colonial/Cylon FTL drive has. Given the reports that the Cylons have received about the Cardassians and the Dominion, they didn't want to risk the chance.
• Humans Are Warriors: Oh yes.
  • The Centurions are aware that humans are the best at killing other humans, which is why they created the biocylons to begin with
  • Twenty Romulan Centurions (marines, not cyclopic robots) beam onto the Galactica. End result: 19 fatalities for the Romulans, with the only survivor getting nerve-pinched by a Vulcan before the humans can get to him. The human cost? One injured, and he was brought back to full health on the Enterprise.
• In Medias Res: The story begins with Felix aboard the Enterprise, having a therapy session with Troi. The scenes of how this happened are added to the end of the first story.
• Macross Missile Massacre: The Galactica, once upgraded with Federation technology, tends to spam Photon Torpedoes like they're going out of style.
• Mama Bear: Felix's older sister Sophia roughs Kara up for mistreating Felix and warns her against doing so again.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While Felix's powers are proven time and again that they're not magic or godly, he does suspect that something is helping the Colonial Fleet to survive in their journey, specifically, making it fit the prophecy from the Scroll of Apollo (pointing out the sheer ludicrous odds against someone descended from Apollo being the only person who could help with an experiment that happened to shoot him through a wormhole to a friendly human society that still worshiped the Greco-Roman Pantheon, in the Beta Quadrant, which is known to be barren of life and resources).
• Meaningful Echo: "Sometimes you have to roll a hard six, sir."
• More Dakka: Starfleet vessels tend to rely on speed, shields, and maneuvering. The Galactica, post-Starfleet Refit, can't fight like that, as it's old and slow. That being said, it is absolutely covered in guns and torpedo launchers.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Riker compares Gaeta's situation to being similar to that of his Transporter Clone, Thomas Riker- out of contact with the rest of the Federation for many years, and ending up psychologically damaged as a result.
  • Upon seeing the Fleet, Riker also wonders if this is what the Federation could have turned out like had the Borg succeeded in "The Best Of Both Worlds."
  • Doctor T'Kil notes that Doctor Cottle's mannerisms are similar to that of her own mentor, Dr. McCoy.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Reg Barclay corrects someone, Starbuck notes that this is OOC and the person getting corrected is saying something sensitive.
  • Later on it is noted that Starbuck doesn't like admitting mistakes after she does just that.
  • In the sequel, the Cylons arrive in the Colonial's system without any warning (nearly causing Felix's ship to crash). While the Colonials assume the worst (and it's not like they don't have the justification to think so), some of the cast note that given the penalties that the Federation would lay on the Cylons if they broke the treaty (which included coming to the Colonial's system), it would be a very bad idea for them unless they had no other choice.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Lwaxana plays this card even more than usual when she speaks with Baltar.
• Odd Friendship: To the surprise of everyone, Starbuck and Reg Barclay get along splendidly. While less remarked on, Doc Cottle gets along great with the Vulcan Dr. T'Kil.
  • Reg, post-timeskip, is implied to have some sort of romantic relationship with Racetrack... and she can apparently understand him when he starts talking technobabble.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "Welcome to Sick Bay. Do you need a bandage?" Spoken by Cottle before he blows open a Romulan's torso with explosive ammo.
• Prophecy Twist: According to the Scrolls of Apollo, the son of Apollo may be either a savior or a destroyer; most Colonials consider Felix the former, but Starbuck spends most of the story convinced he's the latter.
• Really Thirty-Two Years Old: "Good genes" from Apollo mean that Felix looks half a decade younger than his actual age. Meanwhile, his 63-year old sister Sofia appears to be in her thirties, and his 100+ mother looks to be 45.
• Rock Beats Laser: Hoo boy. When 20 Romulan Centurions (no relation to the Cylon robot) beam onto the Galactica, they expect it to be a cakewalk, as they have disruptors. Only one of them survives the fight, and that's only because one of the Vulcan doctors managed to nerve-pinch one while he was distracted by Doctor Cottle blowing open another Romulan's chest with explosive rounds. Only one injury is reported by the Galactica crew, and he survives thanks to the doctors on the Enterprise.
• Running Gag: Felix being thought to be a Cylon.
• Shout-Out: The Starfleet crewman who lets slip Felix's heritage while drunk is named Tex Jarman.
  • Racetrack is given The Hobbit to read.
  • Reg Barclay, after his ill-fated Raptor patrol, is given the call sign "Mad Dog" by Starbuck. This references the character that his actor played over in The A-Team, "Howlin' Mad" Murdock. To make the connection better, Dwight Shultz (said actor) played the role alongside Dirk Benedict, who was Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica.
  • At one point, Riker wonders if the Federation would have done any better than the Colonial Fleet if the Borg had taken Earth. The Next Generation episode Parallels shows his concern is entirely justified.
• Single-Issue Psychology: Averted. Felix has a vast array of neruoses from a vast array of sources.
• Spared by the Adaptation: anyone who died after mid-season 3 of Battlestar Galactica, due to meeting the Federation.
  • Thanks to Starbuck, the crew of the Valient never goes on their suicide mission and are absorbed into Felix's mini-fleet.
• Take That!: there are a few towards Battlestar Galactica, such as the nepotism that Adama shows or how the Colonials are more violent than Starfleet... but for the most part, these are very minor things, and most of them are done from the perspective of a very pacifistic, aethiestic society- the Federation. For the most part, the Federation shows great respect for the Colonials and their troubles, and especially their endurance. In addition, it shows that some of those problems are not because the Colonials are bad people, but in their situation, some of the problems become far more likely (such as Lee Adama serving directly under his father; which isn't great but understandable as there is no one else alive to transfer him to). Riker even comments that he wonders if this is what the Federation might have turned out like if the Borg hadn't been stopped in "The Best Of Both Worlds."
  • Kara's... issues are given some time in the limelight, and she doesn't come out looking good.
  • While Starfleet goes on about the Prime Directive being one of their nobler concepts, more than one Colonial notes that it sounds more like "Stand by while other people die."
  • Going Forward has plenty towards Starfleet, which is viewed as naive, stubborn, and willing to stick their heads in the sand. Scientists are openly dismissive of the colonial FTL drive as "inefficient" and a waste of time, and those who say that Starfleet needs actual warships are mocked and ridiculed, even after the Borg attack on Wolf 359.
• Technopath: Felix, as a consequence of his alien descent.
  • The sequel implies that some Colonial technology rely on their users having Palamas Genes. The original points out that unless you can have a connection to the machine, Vipers are almost literally unpilotable by ordinary humans.
• Tomato in the Mirror: the bioCylons are human, and the Centurions have always been running the show.
• Willfully Weak: Felix deliberately hid his special gifts, like the fact that he's smarter, stronger, and faster than most humans, specifically because those are also traits shared by the human-model cylons. It wasn't perfect, though- he did allow himself a great jump in intellect when the first attack came because he didn't want to die, and people noticed that he never got sick- he was accused of being a cylon several times.
• You Are Number 6: Played straight and averted. While this was definitely the case with Cylons in the original show, in the sequel many have started to take on human names to differentiate themselves... though many still retain their numbers as identifiers. Some even fuse the names, such as Lt. Amy Eight, A Model Eight Cylon, and some even take on numbers as family names through marriage (a Leoban, a Model Two, takes on the last name of "Three" when he marries a Model Three). This does, however, mean that some of the names are shockingly uncreative, like a married couple taking the last name "Twothree." Guess what models those two are.

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