Editing Battle of the Guardian Basestar

{{Battle Data
|image=GuardianBasestarBattle.jpg
|description=Battle of the Guardian Basestar
|conflict=[[Cylon Attack|Second Cylon War]]
|date=Roughly 9 months after the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]<ref>"[[Razor]]" incorrectly implies this event to occur 10 months after. [[Tom Zarek]] talks about people being cooped up in ships for ''nine'' months at the beginning of "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]," which is after "Razor" in the [[Timeline - Season 3 (RDM)|timeline]].</ref>
|place=In [[FTL|jump]] distance of a supernova event
|result=Colonial victory
|combatant1=[[Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]
|combatant2=[[Guardians|Guardian Cylons]]
|co1=Commander [[Lee Adama]] <br /> [[Kendra Shaw|Major Kendra Shaw]]<br/>[[Kara Thrace|Captain Kara Thrace]]
|co2=[[First Hybrid]]<br />Golden Cylon 
|strength1=battlestar ''Pegasus'', approx 80 [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] , approx 30 Raptors, and strike team
|strength2=[[Guardian basestar]]<br/>Unspecified number of Cylon War-era [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s<br/>[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Centurions]]
|shiploss1= 1 Raptor
|shiploss2= Various Raider losses. Guardian basestar destroyed.
|casualties1=[[Dasilva]] and [[Kendra Shaw]]
|casualties2=Various Centurions<br/>First Hybrid
|prev=[[Battle of the Binary Star System]]
|next=[[Rescue on Caprica]]
|series=RDM
}}

The '''Battle of the Guardian Basestar''' is an engagement between the battlestar ''{{RDM|Pegasus}}'' and the [[Guardian basestar]].

== Events leading up to the battle ==

When a [[Raptor]] with a civilian science team goes missing, Admiral [[William Adama]] orders a [[SAR|search and rescue]] mission - [[Lee Adama]]'s first mission as commander of ''Pegasus''. After jumping to the Raptor's last known location, a Viper patrol encounters Cylon [[Raider (RDM)#Cylon War-era Raider|fighters]] of an unknown configuration. ''Pegasus'' fights off the attack and eventually jumps out again, but not before a Raider is shot down in one of the [[landing bay]]s. The wreck is discovered to be a Cylon War-era Raider crewed by [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Centurions]] from that time, its navigational records pointing to the possible location of their home base.

Remembering Cylon [[Razor Flashbacks|experimentation on humans]] during the first [[Cylon War]], Admiral Adama transfers his flag to ''Pegasus'', hoping to rescue the missing people and maybe learn what exactly he witnessed over forty years ago. Not wanting to risk both battlestars, ''Pegasus'' is dispatched alone.

== Confronting the Cylons ==

''Pegasus'' initiates the confrontation by jumping to the basestar's location, then commencing an attack that draws off the vessel's Raiders. The battlestar shuts down its [[FTL]] drive and simulates engine damage, ensuring a concentrated attack by the Raiders that leaves the basestar's immediate perimeter unguarded. ''Pegasus'' successfully engages the fighters, taking only minor damage in the process.

While this is happening, a Raptor - carrying a rescue team and a nuclear weapon - jumps past the advancing Raiders and heads for the basestar. When two enemy fighters spot the Raptor, the crew fakes an engine malfunction and abandons ship with the warhead in tow. The Raiders subsequently destroy the Raptor and break off their attack, believing the crew to be dead. No longer pursued, the team continues on its way by means of thruster packs. 

Upon successfully boarding the basestar, the rescue team locates the room where the science team is being held and works to free them. The rescue party is ambushed by [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Centurions]], and [[Dasilva]] is critically wounded. As two Centurions drag him away, Major [[Kendra Shaw]] shoots and kills him, believing that he would have been used by the Cylons for experimentation. Shaw is subsequently shot in the abdomen by one of the Centurions.

The basestar begins jamming [[wireless]] communications, and not knowing if his boarding party is still alive, Commander Adama orders a [[Missile tubes|nuclear missile]] to be fired at the ship, but Admiral Adama countermands him. As the men attempt to determine a decisive plan of action, communications are restored, and Captain {{callsign|Starbuck}} reveals that the warhead's remote detonator was damaged in the firefight with the Centurions. The only way to set the warhead off is to do it manually. Commander Adama suggests evacuating the rescue team and then launching the missile, but the admiral points out that the Raiders will destroy anything they fire at the basestar - ultimately, a member of the rescue team will need to stay back and detonate the warhead. Reluctantly, the commander orders Captain Thrace to fulfill this role, and she complies. 

''Pegasus'' immediately launches a second Raptor, getting it close enough to the basestar to land within a hangar bay and to evacuate the rescue team. Thrace is ready to stay behind when Major Shaw orders her to leave at gunpoint, intending to detonate the warhead instead. The two argue, but Thrace eventually concedes, boards the Raptor, and returns to ''Pegasus'' with the others. 

With blood streaming from her open wound, a delirious Shaw descends deeper into the basestar, eventually coming across the [[First Hybrid|Hybrid]]'s chamber. The Hybrid knows she wants redemption for her [[Scylla|past actions]] and tells her to come closer, as he has something he needs to tell her. He explains to her that Thrace will [[The Destiny#The Warning from the First Hybrid|lead mankind to its end]], and that they must not follow her. Shaw attempts to contact ''Pegasus'' and warn them, but cannot deliver the entire message due to Cylon jamming. As Shaw prepares to destroy the ship, the Hybrid calmly addresses that "all this has happened before, and will happen again" repeating "again...again" over and over. Shaw detonates the nuke, destroying the Guardian basestar, along with herself, the Hybrid, and the entire Centurion crew {{TRS|Razor}}.

== References ==
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{{Battles (RDM)}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial]]
[[Category:Colonial Battles]]
[[Category:Colonial Battles (TRS)]]
{{indicator|TRS}}[[Category:TRS]]

[[de:Schlacht um das Wächter Basisschiff]]