With the new "Battlestar Galactica" about to air on the Sci-Fi Channel, Tom DeSanto -- who was once attached to the project with "X-Men" director Bryan Singer -- has shared some of the ideas and storyline that was supposed to be a part of their vision of the BSG franchise. Those ideas recently were compiled by the Cylon Alliance.

According to Cylon Alliance, the DeSanto/Singer story would've opened in a school classroom where children are being taught the history of the Colonies and its destruction by the Cylon machine race. Of course, these children know little about the invasion, being so young, so their questions help provide some of the backstory of the original 1978 series.

Through the classroom experience (and possibly "flashbacks,"), the students learn that two years after the BSG episode "The Hand of God," the colonials finally reunited with the Battlestar Pegasus, and together, they were able to stop the Cylon pursuers. The Pegasus was lost, and during the battle, the character of Apollo became missing in action.

During the time, the mission continued. However, Adama died during the course of the mission, and Tigh took over.

"The burden of full command weighed heavily on him," the site said. "(Tigh) was worn down by the challenges of leading the people and dealing with the ever-plotting Council of the 12. Amidst this background, the people grew increasingly weary of their flight until the fleet stumbled across a huge asteroid containing an abundance of natural resources. The masses revolted and voted to cease fleeing and settle. Having been lulled into a sense of security after driving the Cylons back, they sought a new life in this far away place. It wasn't the promised land of Earth, but most felt it was good enough."

The colonists decided to finally relax, and fell into a life of pleasure, while paying little mind to the whole Cylon situation, feeling they were safe.

The Cylons, realizing that the true weapon of the humans was free will, discovered Baltar isolated on a planet. Since Baltar had free will, the Cylons had no more use of him. About to dispose of him, Baltar convinced the Cylons to use him as part of their new plan.

"Cylon technicians designed nano-technology to adapt his body, disallowing any ideas of individuality and transforming him into a loyal servant," the site said. "In the end, this experiment proved fatal to the Cylon order. Many leaders objected to the alteration to what they saw as the perfect order. Others demanded unquestionable loyalty to the Imperious Leader. The gulf between the two groups grew and the Cylons did the unthinkable. They engaged in a civil war."

The story that DeSanto and company had come up with had Starbuck continuing with the original character, but not in charge of the Galactica. That honor fell to Boxey, who is now referred to as Orin (and not Troy as it was in "Galactica 1980").

President Mara, who was leading the colonies, decided that the original fleet of ships that got the colonists to the settlement, was outdated, and decided to decommission the Galactica. Just as the ship is powered down and preparations are made to abandon it, the Cylons attack.

This portion of the story has been confirmed by Ronald D. Moore, the writer and executive producer of the current BSG project for Sci-Fi Channel. It is similar to what Moore independently decided to do during his reimagination, which is decommissioning the Galactica, and at the point of its powerdown, the colonies are attacked by the Cylons. Also similar is the use of somewhat hybrid-like Cylons, although the Cylons in Moore's version appear fully human, while it was believed that the Cylons of DeSanto/Singer's version would not be.

Through the course of the new story, the humans learn that the Cylons no longer want to destroy them. They want to incorporate them into their society. If the humans refuse, apparently they will be destroyed.

Through yet another major battle, of course, involving the Galactica, the colonists are forced to flee their settlement, and resume their course toward the mythical Earth.

The final scene, however, which is supposed to be the impetus to the series, is described by DeSanto on the Cylon Alliance site.

"in the final shot, you go through the clouds, and you actually see the Cylon planet for the first time," DeSanto said. "It's this massive, mechanized society, and you go in through the Chamber of Rule as we called it. You hear these voices talking, and you come across wave after wave of Cylons. Then you come through the shadows and you see human faces, and the last face you see was Richard Hatch. It was Apollo, and as you push in on his face, in the middle of his pupil, you saw a little red Cylon eye."

Whether this idea would've been successful or not is hard to tell. The original project headed by DeSanto and Singer, would've been carried by the Fox Network. However, when both men were consumed by production of "X-Men 2," they abandoned the project, and so did Fox after a failed attempt to pull in Nicholas Meyer of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" fame.

Universal eventually stepped in, brought in Moore (who was most recently working on both "Roswell" and a new HBO series called "Carnivale"), who decided to move forward with a reimagination instead of a continuation. Sci-Fi Channel ordered a back-door miniseries pilot, and that final version will air Dec. 8 on the cable channel.

For more details of the original DeSanto/Singer story, visit the Cylon Alliance.

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