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Isak is the name of the personal robot belonging to the Tanner family and served as an assistant and aide to Ben Tanner ever since he was a child on Caprica. After the outbreak of hostilities between Caprica and Sagittaron, Mrs Tanner had Isak watch over her son despite him being a teenager and not needing a bodyguard. When open war was declared, Isak accompanied his young master into the military where Tanner received officer's training. During one such exercise, Ben Tanner asked Isak what he would have done in such a scenario to which the robot replied that he could do anything as programming prevented him from harming Human life. He later accompanied his master during the fleets movement to the battle zone near the moon Abraxus where he aided Ben Tanner when the Caprican forces were ambushed. Following the victory, Commander Tanner was assigned to a robotics project to create mechanical soldiers to fight Sagittaron and both he along with Isak were assigned to the Tanner Robogenics Production Facility at Cameronis located near Oceania. The facility were later attacked but not before Tanner and Isak managed to save the prototype war robot. (Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War 1)
Despite the success in creating the war robots, they failed in actively fighting due to programming that prevented them from harming Humans. However, this changed when a startling change occured in Isak who, at the Akins Transluminal Orbital Manufacturing Facility, saved his master by killing the Sagittarons that were attempting to kill Tanner. The robot stated that he had been programmed to protect his master and the only option to allow that was to kill his attackers. He later accompanied Tanner when he was promoted to lead Caprican Battle Group Theta from the Eos that journeyed to protect the Scorpia Exo Shipyards. After the victory, he journeyed with Tanner to a temple where Ben asked Isak to leave him alone for a moment though the robot believed that was unadvisable due to possible snipers in the region. However, Tanner dismissed the comment saying that the war was tipped in their favor due to Isak - the fact that he had overcome his programming and that it was used to create battle capable war robots. Whilst left alone in the temple, Isak had an epiphany where he concluded the existence of only the One True God. Feeling that Humanity was going to destroy itself and that the only way to alter this outcome was to kill Mankind, Isak resolved an ethical paradox and believed he was the hand of God. (Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War 2)
As the war continued, reports came in that Sagittaron was considering the use of nuclear weapons to which Isak stated that such a move was against Interplanetary law and risked turning the other Colonies against the side that used weapons. Isak attempted to convince his master to explore a peaceful alternative but Ben Tanner got angry and stated that he was a soldier and had a war to win. Dismissing Isak and his advice, the robot contemplated his masters actions and believed that they were flawed. Isak was later present at the attempted peace talks on Bainstrom Space Station but these failed but at the time, the robot began sharing his new found belief in God with other robots during the negotiations. During the next engagement between Caprica and Sagittaron, Isak sent a fleet wide transmission to all robots and turned them against their masters on both sides. He later abandoned his master, Ben Tanner and after his fellow machines devastated the Human fleet; the surviving robots escaped in their captured ships. (Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War 3)
Isak's actions led to the open revolution of the robotic machines that became known as the Cylons with the Cylon War now being fought against the Colonies. During this time, the Cylons began evolving and creating their own designs and war machines which they used to butcher mankind. The fighting culminated in the Colonials dispatching a large fleet led by Admiral Tanner to the Hadrax Moon in order to deprive the Cylons of their resources. However, the Colonials were ambushed by an even larger Cylon force led by Isak. In desperation, Admiral Ben Tanner opened a communique with the lead Basestar where he asked for mercy and that they were only trying to survive, contemplated his former masters words and decided to allow for mercy thus recalling the Cylon fleet as well as ending the war. This brought about the signing of the Cimtar Accords and the clear establishment of boundaries between the Colonies and the Cylon region of space. However, Colonials suspected that the Cylons were building up their forces for a renewed assault and sent the Stealthstar class Valkyrie to investigate but this brought about the Cylons declaring the Cimtar Accords breached. This resulted in renewed hostilities and open devastation of the Colonies. (Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War 4)
By this point, Isak had been remodeled into a Centurion body and conducted a battle against the devastated Caprica. There, he fought against Human resistance forces led by formerly retired Admiral Ben Tanner. Tanner called his men to cease fire as he recognised the robot and Isak simply commented that God had shown them reason and mercy to which his former master claimed that he finally understood. Tears came to Tanner's eyes whilst Isak simply stated that God was just whereupon he killed Ben by shooting him in the head whereupon his fellow Centurions exterminated the remaining Colonials. Afterwards, Isak simply strode across the battlefield as he believed that he had accomplished God's will. (Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War 4)