Editing Margaret Edmondson

{{Character Data
|photo= Margaret Edmondson.jpg
|birthname= Margaret Edmondson
|callsign= Racetrack
|death= Asphyxiation {{TRS|Daybreak, Part II}}
|seen= Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II 
|role= [[Raptor]] pilot and [[ECO]] assigned to ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''
|rank= Lieutenant Junior Grade 
|actor= [[Leah Cairns]]
|lastseen=Daybreak, Part II}}

Lieutenant Junior Grade '''Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson''' is a female [[Raptor]] pilot aboard ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. She harbors an extreme racist contempt for the Cylons, and tends to have a dark, bitter, and cynical attitude towards life.

== Biography ==
Edmondson accompanies Lieutenant Junior Grade [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] on a mission to destroy a Cylon [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]]. She witnesses Valerii's attempted assassination of Commander [[William Adama]] in ''Galactica''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[CIC]] {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II}}.  Immediately after, she informs the CIC staff that Valerii returned from placing the nuclear warhead inside the basestar orbiting {{RDM|Kobol}} without her helmet on and that she probably gave away ''Galactica'''s position to the Cylons {{TRS|Scattered}}.

During the [[SAR]] mission to Kobol, Edmondson pilots the Raptor carrying {{callsign|Lee Adama}}, encountering fire from Cylon anti-aircraft missiles. Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]] destroys the missiles' [[DRADIS]] dish on the surface, and they fail to lock on.  Edmondson's Raptor then destroys the [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]] on the ground with a missile, and recovers the trapped ''Galactica'' crewmen {{TRS|Fragged}}.

She aids the escape of President [[Laura Roslin]] from the [[brig]] by falsely claiming that her [[Raptor]] was having technical problems, enabling the furloughed Captain {{callsign|Apollo}} to report to the hangar bay instead of the brig per his arrest.  She then helps prep the Raptor used as the escape craft for launch, but remains on ''Galactica'' {{TRS|Resistance (episode)}}.

Edmondson serves as ECO on [[Raptor 1]], plotting the best point of orbital entry when taking Commander Adama to {{RDM|Kobol}} to find and meet with President Roslin {{TRS|Home, Part II}}.  Since then, Margaret flies basic supply runs between ''Galactica'' and the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]].  She continues to light candles for fallen comrades in the Cylon attack.  She is almost certain she will eventually die on a mission, and is more focused on taking out as many Cylons as she can before that happens {{TRS|Final Cut}}.

Like many others, Edmondson initially snubs Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]] upon his return because of his romantic relationship with the [[Caprica]] [[Sharon Agathon|copy of Sharon Valerii]].  When she insults Lieutenant [[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]] over the matter, Thrace slams Edmondson face-first into a card table {{TRS|Flight of the Phoenix}}. Edmondson later offers conciliatory congratulations to Agathon for his help on the [[Blackbird]] and his suggestion to use [[DRADIS]]-absorbing carbon composites.

[[File:Racetrack2.jpg|left|thumb|Edmondson in a Raptor]]
Edmondson is particularly overjoyed when ''Galactica'' encounters the [[Mercury class battlestar|advanced battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''.  While socializing with ''Pegasus'' pilots in the hangar bay, she fails to understand Thrace's contempt for the "scorecards" on which they tally their kills {{TRS|Pegasus (episode)}}.  Edmondson's Raptor rescues Lee Adama during the [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship]], reviving him using defibrillator paddles in her emergency gear {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part II}}.  When Edmondson transports Lee Adama and a squad of Marines to check the ''[[Daru Mozu]]'' for signs of sabotage by Cylon sympathizers, her vessel narrowly escapes the ensuing explosion {{TRS|Epiphanies}}.

Edmondson also later flew a Raptor transporting Lee Adama back from ''[[Cloud 9]]'' after he spent some off duty time there with [[Shevon]] {{TRS|Black Market}}.

During Thrace's rescue mission for the [[Caprica Resistance]], Edmondson serves as pilot on one of the 20 Raptors to make a series of ten jumps, aided by a Cylon navigation system. Lieutenant Junior Grade [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]] served as her co-pilot and ECO. On the first jump, Edmondson's Raptor jumps to the wrong coordinates, ending up in a gas cloud. Thrace and the main group proceed on without her.  Preparing to return to ''Galactica'', Edmondson picks up a lot of gravity distortions on her sensors and upon clearing the gas cloud she discovers a habitable planet that the Fleet could colonize {{TRS|Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I}}.  Though the planet turned out to be marginally habitable at best, it would later be named [[New Caprica]], and most of the human survivors of the Fleet would settle down there permanently {{TRS|Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II}}.

Edmondson remains with the Fleet and flies missions to detect communications from the [[New Caprica Resistance]] {{TRS|Occupation}}. She also plays a leading role in the rescue mission to New Caprica {{TRS|Exodus, Part I}}.

Although she is a qualified Raptor pilot, Edmondson agrees to serve as the now-recognised Lieutenant Junior Grade {{callsign|Athena}}'s ECO after the crews of ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' are combined and far more pilots than aircraft are available, because she thinks being ECO is better than not flying at all. When Edmondson refers to Agathon using the callsign of her Cylon doppelgänger, "[[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]]," the room of pilots gleefully offer a less controversial callsign for Sharon Agathon, including her final one: "Athena".

On her first mission with Agathon, the two make a recon flight to the [[Lion's Head Nebula]] to investigate a clue to the location of Earth. The information proves to be correct, but they also find a deserted Cylon [[basestar (RDM)|basestar]] {{TRS|Torn}}. After undergoing precautionary quarantine measures due to a possible [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|viral]] infection, the two fly together again in the [[Battle of NCD2539]] {{TRS|A Measure of Salvation}}.

Edmondson lends her Raptor talents in a harrowing series of escort flights to shepherd the Fleet through a very dangerous star cluster to a [[algae planet|planet with desperately needed foodstuffs]] {{TRS|The Passage}}.

On a routine patrol around the Fleet, her Raptor suffers from an engine and [[RCS]] malfunction, due to impurities in its [[tylium (RDM)|tylium]] fuel. Unable to regain control and on a collision course with ''[[Colonial One]]'', she and her ECO McCall are forced to eject from the Raptor. The craft collides with ''Colonial One'', causing moderate hull damage and several injuries, but no fatalities {{TRS|Dirty Hands}}. 

As the Fleet approaches the [[Ionian nebula]], Admiral Adama, worried about Cylon pursuit, tasks Raptor pickets with staying one jump point behind the Fleet to watch for Cylons. One of those patrols, Edmondson and McCall put their Raptor to station-keeping behind an asteroid and start playing [[Triad (RDM)|Triad]] to pass the next twelve hours. Shortly after that a Cylon fleet jumps to their position. They manage to spin up the FTL drive and escape seconds before an enemy missile would have hit their Raptor {{TRS|Crossroads, Part I}}. Shortly after, she instructs [[nuggets]] in basic Raptor operations and technology to prepare them for flying {{TRS|Crossroads, Part II}}.

Edmondson participates in the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula]], and refers to [[Samuel Anders]] not shooting down an easy [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] target as a dumb [[nugget]] mistake ([[He That Believeth in Me]]). Later, during Lee Adama's retirement party on ''Galactica'',  Edmondson enjoys a game of strip [[Triad (RDM)|triad]] with Costanza and another pilot {{TRS|Six of One}}. 

After [[Cally Tyrol]]'s death, Edmondson and McCall are on a routine mission when they have another technical malfunction on their Raptor and crashland in the [[landing bay]] {{TRS|Escape Velocity}}.

After an uneasy truce is formed between the Colonials and the rebel Cylons, Edmondson and McCall are sent on a scouting mission to the reported location of the Cylon [[Resurrection Hub]] {{TRS|Guess What's Coming to Dinner?}}. After the rebels' baseship jumps away from the Fleet, Edmondson and McCall recover [[Eammon Pike]]'s Raptor, which had retreated from the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub|battle for the Hub]], discovering that Pike and his ECO are dead. She is later part of the search of the battle site, discovering several Vipers, including "[[Sandman]]"'s {{TRS|Sine Qua Non}}.

Following the discovery of [[Earth (TRS)|Earth]], she served as pilot for Lieutenant [[Louis Hoshi]]'s lone [[SAR]] mission to locate the missing Raptor carrying Lieutenant [[Felix Gaeta]] aboard after it disappeared in an emergency jump whilst on-route to the ''[[Zephyr]]'' {{TRS|The Face of the Enemy}}.

Edmondson and McCall join [[Gaeta's Mutiny|Gaeta's mutiny]] against Admiral Adama.  Edmondson's personal motivations for siding with Gaeta are unclear, although they probably stem from her resentment  over having to work with the rebel Cylons.  She pilots Gaeta's ally [[Tom Zarek]] off Galactica to the safety of Colonial One.  Edmondson later even stands by and allows Gaeta's followers to accost her former fellow pilot Lee Adama.  However, they are interrupted by {{callsign|Starbuck}} who kills one of the rebel marines and wounds Skulls.  Thrace holds Edmondson and the others at gunpoint and forces them to release Lee.  After Thrace and Adama exit, Edmondson rushes to McCall's aid {{TRS|The Oath}}.

She is briefly seen in the next episode chatting with [[Tom Zarek]].  She is also seen in the CIC with {{callsign|Seelix}}, {{callsign|Narcho}}, and Gaeta as they make plans for the Fleet to jump {{TRS|Blood on the Scales}}.

Along with other mutineers, Edmondson is shipped to ''[[Astral Queen]]'' with other mutineers and those who presumably chose not to rejoin Adama's command {{TRS|Deadlock}} ([[Podcast:Deadlock|Podcast]]).

Several weeks later, Admiral Adama releases the mutineers in exchange for their participation in a likely-one-way mission to rescue [[Hera Agathon]] from [[The Colony]].  Edmondson and McCall are sent on a reconnaissance mission to investigate the coordinates Adama and Thrace retrieve from Samuel Anders.  The coordinates take them to an asteroid field orbiting a black hole which protects The Colony.  By observing two Baseships guarding The Colony, Edmondson and McCall are able to pinpoint the exact location ''Galactica'' needs to jump to safely reach The Colony {{TRS|Daybreak, Part I}}.

She and Skulls participate in the [[Battle of The Colony]], and Margaret asks her ECO to arm their nukes, just to be prepared. Both are killed early in the battle, however, when a piece of debris breaks their windshield. After her death, another piece of debris knocks against her ship and causes her corpse to hit the button for launching her armed nukes at [[The Colony]], causing massive damage and causing it to lose orbit and fall into the black hole, destroying it.  This ultimately fulfills Edmondson's wish to die taking out as many Cylons as possible, as her last act - albeit posthumous and accidental - was to obliterate the whole of Cavil's forces. {{TRS|Daybreak, Part II}}

== Behind the Scenes ==

=== Character Development ===

Edmondson replaced [[Alex Quartararo|Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo]], riding as ECO in whichever Raptor is featured in an episode; Quartararo himself was created as a replacement for [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]] after he was stranded on Caprica. She was introduced in the first season finale, heralding Quartararo's demise on Kobol.

Ron Moore noted in his [[podcast]] to "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]," Edmondson's debut episode, that she was only meant to be a one-shot character, like {{callsign|Karl Agathon}}. But, just as with [[Tahmoh Penikett]]'s performance in the [[Miniseries]], Leah Cairns' performance in the episode was viewed as impressive, which lead to the decision that she'd be a recurring character.<ref group="production" name="moore_podcast_kobol_last_gleaming">{{cite web|url=[Podcast URL]|title=Ron Moore Podcast for Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|author=Ronald D. Moore|publisher=Sci Fi Channel|accessdate=August 10, 2025}}</ref>

=== Actress Performance and Character Backstory ===

[[Leah Cairns]] developed her own backstory for Edmondson, later incorporating elements from fan fiction that she felt improved upon her original concept.<ref group="commentary" name="damen_cairns_galactica_interview_backstory_fanfic">{{cite web|url=http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-2003-interviews/leah-cairns-galactica.tv-interview.html#:~:text=this%20fan%20wrote%20me%20some%20fanmail%20and%20she%20wrote%20this%20story%20about%20me%20and%20Helo,%20Racetrack%20and%20Helo.%20I%20thought%20her%20backstory%20was%20better%20than%20mine,%20so%20I%20used%20hers|title=Leah Cairns GALACTICA.TV interview|author=Marcel Damen|publisher=Galactica.TV|date=August 27, 2007|accessdate=August 10, 2025|archive=Y}}</ref> She confirmed that the "urban legend" about her reading Helo and Racetrack fan fiction and incorporating it into her performance was "absolutely true."<ref group="commentary" name="hadrava_bsg_cz_fanfiction_confirmation">{{cite web|url=http://www.leahcairns.com/Leah-Cairns-BSG.CZ-exclusive-interview.html#:~:text=the%20urban%20legend%20is%20absolutely%20true|title=Leah Cairns BSG.CZ exclusive interview|author=Lukáš Hadrava|publisher=BSG.CZ|date=February 28, 2008|accessdate=August 10, 2025|archive=Y}}</ref>

A fan of Karl Agathon, "[[User:Sabaceanbabe|Sabaceanbabe]]," once wrote a short [[fan fiction]] romance scene between Agathon and Edmondson (located [http://sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com/38792.html here], scroll down to part 5). [[Tahmoh Penikett]] and actress [[Leah Cairns]] read it at a party, and Cairns decided that she'd work that into the character. While not canonical or acknowledged by the writers, Cairns said in an [http://podcasts.lvrocks.com/details.aspx?castid=5 interview] on June 27th, 2006, that she chose to incorporate this into her character backstory and how she plays scenes with Agathon, that she is wildly attracted to him and jealous of {{callsign|Athena}}. Although Sharon isn't oblivious to this, Penikett reacts with underlying tension in his scenes with her.<ref group="commentary" name="damen_cairns_galactica_interview_helo_relationship">{{cite web|url=http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-2003-interviews/leah-cairns-galactica.tv-interview.html#:~:text=Tahmoh%20and%20I%20worked%20it%20into%20our%20storyline.%20Unfortunately,%20I%20don't%20think%20any%20of%20it%20really%20has%20been%20shown|title=Leah Cairns GALACTICA.TV interview|author=Marcel Damen|publisher=Galactica.TV|date=August 27, 2007|accessdate=August 10, 2025|archive=Y}}</ref>

Cairns and Penikett worked to develop an implied romantic subplot between Racetrack and Helo through improvisation before and after scenes, though much of this material was edited out of the final episodes.<ref group="commentary" name="damen_cairns_galactica_interview_helo_relationship"/> This is also referred to in the fan-made ''Battlestar Galactica'' game ''[[Beyond the Red Line]]'', when one of the pilots during a mission notes that whenever Edmondson sees Agathon she "slobbers all over him."

=== Character Psychology and Motivations ===

Cairns has speculated about her character's psychology, believing Racetrack's hard exterior hides pain, saying "My gut feeling is that she is hiding a huge amount of pain and that the crusty exterior is just her way of protecting herself."<ref group="commentary" name="nuytens_scifiworld_character_psychology">{{cite web|url=http://www.thescifiworld.net/interviews/leah_cairns_01.htm#:~:text=My%20gut%20feeling%20is%20that%20she%20is%20hiding%20a%20huge%20amount%20of%20pain|title=The Scifi World: Leah Cairns interview|author=Gilles Nuytens|publisher=The SciFi World|date=March 21, 2007|accessdate=August 10, 2025}}</ref>

== Notes ==

[[File:Edmonson caption.jpg|thumb|The incorrect spelling for Edmondson occurs here; it is, however, correct on the nameplate of the [[Raptor]] she flies.]]
[[File:Racetrack's Raptor.jpg|thumb|A shot of the [[Raptor]] with the correct spelling.]]

*Edmondson's given name was revealed in the episode "[[Final Cut]]". However, her name was misspelled in the caption during her interview, as noted by [[Bradley Thompson]] (See [[Sources:Margaret Edmondson]]).  Confusion about her name's spelling resulted in Edmondson's last name being mispelled in the end credits of many episodes in Season 2, although is corrected in Season 3.  
*Although she is initially an ECO she at some point qualifies to be a Raptor pilot herself and acts as one often.  After New Caprica she went back to being Sharon Agathon's ECO for a time stating that she didn't mind as there weren't enough Raptors for all the pilots, but while she did a couple missions as Agathon's ECO, she seems to have gone back to being a Raptor pilot at some point with her own ECO [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]].
*Edmondson, albeit in a indirect way, has the highest number of Cylon kills for any Colonial pilot: after her death during the [[Battle of The Colony]], caused by an asteroid piercing her Raptor's canopy, a collision with a second asteroid causes her hand to press the launch button for her already-armed nukes.  The resulting explosions resulted in the [[The Colony]] taking heavy damage, knocking it out of a black hole's orbit and destroying it, resulting in the death of all the [[Number One|Ones]], [[Number Four|Fours]], [[Number Five|Fives]], [[Hybrid|Hybrids]], [[Raider (RDM)|Raiders]] and [[Cylon Centurion|Centurions]] on board at the time, all of which combined likely numbered in the tens of thousands.
*Ron Moore noted in his [[podcast]] for "[[Escape Velocity]]" that in the original draft of the scripts for the show, Karl Agathon was to be piloting the Raptor that crash-lands as a result of [[Galen Tyrol]] forgetting to replace the fuse. This was intended to lead the viewer to suspect Tyrol had forgotten on purpose. Script rewrites led to Agathon being on ''[[Demetrius]]'', and thus Edmondson and McCall were then chosen to be the surviving victims of the Raptor crash. Moore stated that by this time, writers and staff joked that Edmondson was the character whom passengers would want to ride with if they wanted to go on wild adventures and come back alive. The joke revolved around the number of discoveries and near-death experiences Edmondson had faced, not to mention being [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|the first human]] to see the inside of a [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestar]].   
*Edmondson and McCall are the only recognizable pilots who sided with [[Felix Gaeta]] in the [[Gaeta's Mutiny|mutiny]] but later accepted the deal to go on the "one way mission" in exchange for freedom and reinstatement in the Colonial Military. [[Diana Seelix|Diana "Hardball" Seelix]] and [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]] are not seen again after their imprisonment. Sergeant [[Allan Nowart]] appears to be the only Marine who is reinstated by "[[Daybreak, Part II]]." 

== References ==

=== Production History ===
{{reflist|group=production}}

=== Commentary and Interviews ===
{{reflist|group=commentary}}

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