Battle of Cimtar (TOS-RH)

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Richard Hatch Novelizations separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

For the canonical version of this event, see: Battle of Cimtar.

The Great Betrayal, also known as the Battle of Cimtar, was the devastating Cylon ambush that resulted in the near-total destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Man and initiated the exodus of the surviving Colonial population aboard the Fleet. The event serves as the foundational tragedy that shapes the entire narrative of the Richard Hatch novelizations, with characters repeatedly referencing its profound personal and collective impact throughout the series.

Background

After a millennium of warfare between the Cylons and the Humans of the Twelve Colonies, Baltar successfully negotiated what appeared to be a historic peace accord. The agreement called for all twelve battlestars of the Colonial Fleet to assemble as a ceremonial vanguard to meet the Cylon fleet for the signing of the peace treaty. This unprecedented gathering of the Colonies' entire military might at a single location would prove to be a catastrophic strategic vulnerability.

The peace initiative was, in reality, an elaborate trap engineered by Baltar in collaboration with the Cylons. By convincing the Colonial leadership to position their entire battlestar fleet away from the home worlds for the peace ceremony, Baltar facilitated what would become the most devastating military defeat in Colonial history.

The Ambush

Discovery of Cylon Forces

Captain Apollo and his younger brother Zac were conducting routine patrol operations when they discovered dozens of Cylon fighters positioned in wait for the attack signal. The discovery of this massive Cylon strike force revealed the peace initiative as a deception, prompting the two pilots to immediately attempt to warn the Colonial fleet of the impending ambush.

Zac's Death

As Apollo and Zac fled to alert the fleet, Cylon forces pursued them. The Cylons moved in before the brothers could reach safety, and Zac's Viper was hit during the engagement. Those on the bridge of Galactica heard Zac's screams as he burned in the cockpit of his Viper a micron before the fighter exploded. Apollo escaped, though he would be haunted for the next eighteen yahren by the possibility that he might have somehow prevented his brother's death.

Zac's death represented merely the first casualty of what would become the most devastating day in Colonial history—a tragedy that would claim millions of lives and destroy an entire civilization.

The Colonial Response

Thanks to Baltar's deception, the Colonial battlestars were positioned too far from the Twelve Colonies to mount an effective defense against the Cylon attack. With the military might of the Colonies concentrated at the false peace ceremony, the home worlds were left vulnerable to the full force of the Cylon armada.

The Destruction of the Colonies

The Cylon attack force descended upon the defenseless Colonial worlds, initiating a campaign of total annihilation. The attack resulted in the destruction of the Colonies and the deaths of millions of human beings. The scope of the devastation was so complete that nearly every family in what would become Galactica's fleet was touched by the tragedy.

Among the prominent casualties of the attack:

• Ila, wife of Commander Adama
• The wife and sons of Colonel Tigh
• The husband and daughter of Siress Kiera
• Tyr, brother of Guinn and a decorated Viper pilot

The attack succeeded in accomplishing what the Cylons had been unable to achieve in a millennium of warfare—the effective extinction of humanity as a spacefaring civilization, reducing the entire Colonial population to the few thousand survivors who managed to escape aboard a ragtag fleet of civilian vessels.

Aftermath

Immediate Consequences

In the wake of the attack, Commander Adama gathered what remained of the Colonial population—refugees not only from his home planet of Caprica, but from all the Colonies—and organized their exodus across space. The survivors faced the dual challenge of fleeing from Cylon pursuit while attempting to maintain some semblance of civilization aboard the refugee fleet.

Baltar was ordered by the Cylons to destroy this last remnant of humanity, beginning a pursuit that would continue for eighteen yahren before Baltar's eventual capture and imprisonment aboard Galactica.

Long-term Impact

The Great Betrayal fundamentally shaped Colonial society and individual psychology in the decades that followed:

Personal Loss: The scope of the tragedy ensured that virtually every survivor carried deep personal grief. Characters throughout the Richard Hatch novelizations reference family members lost on that day, with the trauma remaining fresh even decades later.

Collective Memory: The event became known universally as "the Great Betrayal," emphasizing not merely the military defeat but the profound sense of treachery that defined the catastrophe. The term captured both the Cylon deception and Baltar's collaboration in the genocide of his own species.

Military Doctrine: The disaster taught harsh lessons about the dangers of unwarranted trust and strategic overconfidence. President Tigh would later remind Siress Kiera that instead of defending the Colonies, Galactica was too far away to stop the Cylon attack due to Baltar's deception, resulting in countless families never having the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones.

Baltar's Legacy: The Traitor's role in orchestrating the peace initiative remained the defining element of his identity, even after his eventual capture and controversial rehabilitation within the Fleet. The blood of millions, including the families of nearly every Colonial officer, was understood to be on Baltar's hands.

Adama's Wisdom

Years after the Great Betrayal, Commander Adama's teachings about the event would continue to guide his son Apollo. Adama had counseled the young Apollo about the nature of enemies and alliances, wisdom that proved tragically prescient: "Don't believe that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Wisdom lies in recognizing what makes someone your enemy in the first place. If they wish to destroy you even if you have done them no harm, they will be equally unjust with others. They will make other enemies because it is in their nature. Form your alliances on the basis of self-defense, not self-delusion! And don't make the ultimate mistake of acting as your enemy does."

These words, spoken when Apollo was only fifteen, took on profound significance in the context of the Cylon genocide that followed.

Historical Parallels

The Great Betrayal established patterns that would recur throughout the Fleet's subsequent history. When Commander Cain encountered the Fleet ten yahren after the disaster, the meeting represented another instance of apparent salvation bringing instead more complex dangers—a parallel to how the hope of peace had brought catastrophe.

Similarly, when Baltar later offered to negotiate another peace agreement with the Cylons during the siege of Ochoa, the proposal evoked immediate and visceral responses from the civilian population, who remembered all too clearly how his previous peace initiative had ended. The full circle of history—Baltar once again offering to broker peace with the Cylons while a Cylon armada filled the sky—proved too much for many to bear, resulting in mob violence against the former Traitor.

Legacy

The Great Betrayal remained the defining trauma of Colonial civilization throughout the Richard Hatch novelization series. The event shaped military strategy, political decisions, interpersonal relationships, and individual psychology across three decades of the Fleet's journey. Characters made decisions with constant reference to the lessons learned from that terrible day, ensuring that the memory of the Great Betrayal continued to influence the survivors long after the immediate danger had passed.

Even as the Fleet discovered new worlds, encountered new allies and enemies, and struggled with internal conflicts, the shadow of the Great Betrayal loomed over every decision. The knowledge that trust had once been weaponized against them, that peace had been used as a tool of genocide, and that one of their own had facilitated humanity's near-extinction created a permanent wariness that defined the Colonial survivor mindset.

The term "Great Betrayal" itself captured the essential truth of the disaster: this was not merely a military defeat or tactical error, but a fundamental violation of trust that had cost humanity its home, its civilization, and millions of lives. The Cylons had taught a stern lesson through their genocide, and the survivors would spend the rest of their lives ensuring they never forgot it.

Notes

• The Great Betrayal occurs prior to the events of all the Richard Hatch novelizations, with references to the event appearing throughout the series as characters grapple with its ongoing psychological and strategic implications.

• While the Great Betrayal follows the basic narrative structure established in the original Battlestar Galactica pilot, the Richard Hatch novelizations provide additional details and emphasize the long-term psychological impact on survivors.

• The event's designation as "the Great Betrayal" rather than simply a battle or attack emphasizes the role of Baltar's treachery in the disaster, distinguishing it from ordinary military defeats.

• Zac's death during the initial discovery of the Cylon ambush force serves as a personal trauma for Apollo that parallels the larger collective trauma of the Great Betrayal, with both losses shaping Apollo's subsequent development as a leader.

• The eighteen-yahren gap between the Great Betrayal and many events in the Richard Hatch novelizations demonstrates how the trauma remained fresh despite the passage of time, with characters still grieving loved ones lost decades earlier.