In the Battle of New Caprica, battlestar Galactica launches a daring mission to occupy the Cylon force's attention as the majority of the Colonial citizens escape from Cylon occupation on New Caprica.
Prior to the battle, Admiral William Adama makes contact with the New Caprica Resistance, and later deploys a Raptor, Lt. Sharon Agathon commanding, to coordinate a plan to liberate the colonists during the Colonial offensive. Agathon uses her Cylon heritage to retrieve the Colonial civilan ships' launch keys from a secured Cylon building, while Samuel Anders and Tory Foster train the colonists in "fire drills," meant to show readiness to the Cylon Occupation Authority in the event of a natural disaster, but in reality has prepared the colonists to escape to any Colonial ship to leave the planet and the Cylons.
Galactica draws the bulk of Cylon fighters away from the planet by using her Raptors and a salvo of swallows to feign the electromagnetic signature of two battlestars. Moments later, Galactica herself performs a risky intra-atmosphere jump to avoid baseship detection and provide Viper ground support for escaping civilians. Back in orbit but damaged, Galactica is soon overwhelmed by four baseships and faces destruction until Commander Lee Adama, initially ordered to stay with the spaceborne remains of humanity, enters Pegasus into the fray to draw fire away from her sister ship and allow her to escape. The lack of Viper support from Pegasus indicates to the elder Adama that the advanced battlestar is on a one-way trip. While Pegasus endures serious bombardment, Galactica is able to bring its FTL back on line, retrieves her Vipers, and escapes. ...continued...