Editing Colonial One captain

{{Character Data
 | title=''Colonial One'' Captain
 | photo=Miniseries Colonial One Pilot.jpg
 | age=
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 | seen=Miniseries
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 | role=Passenger liner pilot
 | rank=Captain
 | actor=[[Barclay Hope]]
 | cylon=
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}}

[[File:Colonial-one-captain-pin-wm.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Colonial One flight wings]]
The unnamed captain<ref>In the [[Battlestar Galactica (2005 Novel)|novelization]] of the [[Miniseries]], the unnamed character (credited as the "Transport pilot") is given a name: "Captain [[Russo]]". However, because of many contradictions and inaccuracies in this book, this name and the novelization are [[separate continuity]] references.</ref>  of the [[Government of the Twelve Colonies|government-chartered]] passenger transport ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'' ferries Secretary of Education [[Laura Roslin]], her aide, [[Billy Keikeya]] and several members of the [[Colonial Press]] to attend the decommissioning ceremonies for the [[Cylon War]]-era [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]''. The pilot tells his passengers that the trip from {{RDM|Caprica}} to the battlestar would take about 5 1/2 hours.<ref>For an interesting analysis on the speeds and distances involved in the Miniseries based on ''Colonial One's'' trip, see [[Navigation_in_the_Re-imagined_Series#Distances_and_speeds_in_the_Miniseries|Navigation in the Re-imagined Series]] and [[Science in the Re-imagined Series]].</ref>

After the ceremonies, ''Colonial Heavy 798'' begins its return to Caprica, accompanied by [[Lee Adama|Apollo]] in his [[William Adama|father's]] old restored [[Viper Mark II]].

About 3 hours away from Caprica, the captain leaves his cockpit to make a personal announcement to his passengers of strange events surrounding Caprica that will delay their flight. He keeps his message rather cryptic as neither he nor Lee Adama can discern exactly what is going on from their wireless monitoring. The captain expresses his happiness that Captain Adama's fighter is escorting them, but Adama reminds him that his old Viper was rebuilt for show, not combat. Adama warns the pilot to be ready to escape if there is any sign of trouble. The pilot acknowledges, indicating that his hand hasn't left the ship's throttle since they received the first messages of trouble.

Some time later, Secretary Roslin visits the pilot's cockpit to confirm a passenger's report from his shortwave [[wireless]] that Caprica has been hit by nuclear bombs. The pilot, holding a printed message he just received, trembles as he confirms that not only Caprica, but three other colonies have been attacked. The visibly-trembling pilot feels the need to make some sort of announcement, but Roslin assumes that responsibility, and asks the pilot to try contacting the Ministry of Civil Defense to see if there's anything the ship can do to help in the crisis. Roslin's new instructions help the captain focus, and the fear in his face lessens.

After Roslin's report to the passengers, the captain reports that he managed to reach someone in the Ministry. Roslin speaks to [[Jack|this individual]] and manages to get some inconsistent information on the attack, which is confirmed to be of [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] origin, when the captain interrupts Roslin: ''Colonial Heavy 798'' is under attack by an incoming missile. Luckily, Apollo is able to lure the incoming missile away from the passenger transport to detonate it remotely. The transport captain is called to retrieve Apollo's Viper into his ship's immense cargo bay after the missile's detonation disables the fighter. The captain and Roslin discuss rescue plans and resources as Lee Adama enters the passenger cabin.

Later, with Roslin and Adama in the cockpit, the transport captain receives a strange government message over wireless. Roslin answers the concerned faces staring at her for answers that the [[Case Orange|automated emergency message]] is designed to be sent out when the President of the Colonies and most of the Cabinet are dead or incapacitated. She asks the captain to transmit her government ID code back on the same frequency, then leaves. Shortly, the transport captain delivers an printed response from the emergency system: Laura Roslin is the only known surviving government official of the Twelve Colonies, and she is now President of the Twelve Colonies by emergency succession. She asks the transport captain to find a [[Elosha|priest]] onboard for her swearing in.

Approximately 4 hours away from Caprica, the transport captain has located several civilian ships, which now fly with his ship. The small group of ships find ''[[Gemenon Liner 1701]]'' adrift and in need of assistance. As he calls out to the ship, the transport pilot changes his ships designation from ''Colonial Heavy 798'' to ''Colonial One'' in recognition of having the President onboard. The small verbal change in station startles Roslin and brings a smile to the captain's face. Their rescue is interrupted by a second Cylon missile attack. Lee Adama remembers that the otherwise-defenseless transport is carrying some old [[EMP|electromagnetic pulse generators]] from ''Galactica'' that the passenger ship was ferrying back to Caprica. Adama activates the devices, which disables the missiles, fools the Cylons into thinking that the group of ships are destroyed, and knocks the cockpit crew of ''Colonial One'' unconscious. The transport pilot soon reawakens and brings the ship back up to operation. After he and Roslin find Lee Adama by the pulse generators, who explains what he did, the transport captain wonders if anyone else in the [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|Colonial Fleet]] knew of Adama's trick.

The small group of civilian ships that Roslin gathers soon becomes a large caravan, which attracts the attention of a Cylon scout. While the transport captain agrees with [[Aaron Doral]] to use every second possible to retrieve as many passengers from the [[sublight]] ships as they could, Captain Adama disagrees, knowing that very little time remains before everyone is destroyed.

The transport captain and Adama prepare ''Colonial One'' with the other [[FTL]] ships to escape. The captain resists the urge to tell the helpless sublight ships the coordinates to follow by sublight speed when Adama tells him that the Cylons could gain that information if they capture the people left behind {{TRS|Miniseries}}.

==Notes==
*Despite his importance as the chief pilot of ''Colonial One'', the character does not appear again after the Miniseries.
*The logo on his uniform reads "[[Eversun]]" instead of "Intersun" (as on the ship). This is probably a mixup between the special effects and costuming departments.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Characters (TRS)]]
[[Category:One-Shot Characters (TRS)]]
{{indicator|TRS}}[[Category:TRS]]
[[fr:Commandant de bord de Colonial Un]]