Editing Peter Laird

{{Character Data
|photo= Peter Laird.jpg
|age=
|colony=
|birthname= Peter Laird
|callsign=
|seen= Pegasus (episode)
|pseen= Pegasus
|death= Bludgeoned by [[Tom Zarek]], c. {{ACH|4}} {{TRS|The Oath}}
|parents=
|siblings=
|children= Unknown (implied)
|marital status= Widower (assumed)
|role= Deck Chief, battlestar ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'',<br>previously ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''
|rank= Chief Petty Officer (coerced, c. {{ACH|1}})
Lieutenant (c. {{ACH|4}})
|actor= [[Vincent Gale]]
|sortname=Laird, Peter
}}

'''Peter Laird''' is a civilian aeronautical engineer pressed into service by order of Admiral [[Helena Cain]] after the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. 

== Biography ==

=== Conscription and ''Scylla'' ===
Laird is aboard the civilian transport ''[[Scylla]]'' when it, along with several other vessels, is found by the battlestar ''{{RDM|Pegasus}}'' about a week after the attack. Admiral Cain places military priorities above all else and orders that the ships be scavenged for anything that would be of use to ''Pegasus'': supplies, weapons, parts and skilled civilian personnel. Laird, because his aeronautics background, becomes a selectee dragooned into ''Pegasus's'' crew along with 14 other people on board. 

Colonel [[Jack Fisk|Fisk]] and Lieutenant [[Kendra Shaw|Shaw]] take a team of Marines to the ''Scylla'' to carry out the order. Laird speaks as the passengers' representative and refuses to cooperate. When Fisk's show of intimidation fails to persuade the civilians, Cain orders that the selectees' families be shot to demonstrate the alternative. Fisk continues his threat to shoot them, but Shaw takes the initiative and shoots one woman in the head, triggering the Marines to kill nine more. Word spreads throughout the civilian vessels and breaks all resistance, and Laird and the others are transferred to ''Pegasus''. Laird's wife and family are likely among the dead, if not left behind {{TRS|Razor}}.

=== Service on Pegasus and Galactica ===
He is put into uniform and assigned deck chief. When he pays ''{{RDM|Galactica}}'' a visit, he meets his counterpart, Chief [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]]. Laird is both appalled and impressed by the [[Blackbird]], Tyrol's new stealth fighter, and is surprised to find the plane is fitted with obsolete [[DDG-62]] engines he designed {{TRS|Pegasus (episode)}}.

Laird is transferred to ''Galactica'' as part of Admiral Cain's crew reassignments, and assigned as deck chief prior to Tyrol's arrest for Lt. [[Thorne|Thorne's]] death <ref>In the regular "Pegasus" episode, it seems like Laird replaces Tyrol ''after'' his arrest. However, the extended cut places it before Lt. Thorne's death as part of the crew integration.</ref>. He also makes a suggestion to ''Galactica'''s deck crew that increases the Blackbird's fuel efficiency by two percent {{TRS|Pegasus (Extended Version)}}.

Laird has difficulty managing the hangar deck as Tyrol's substitute and lacks military bearing, but assures Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] that all ships will be ready for "the [[Attack on the Resurrection Ship|attack thing]]" {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part I}}. Following Admiral Cain's death, her crew transfers are reversed and Tyrol is re-instated as ''Galactica'''s deck chief. Laird presumably returns to his previous assignment as the ''Pegasus'' deck chief {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part II}}.

=== Promotion and Death ===
Over two years later, Laird is promoted to ''Galactica''{{'|s}} chief of the deck after [[Escape Velocity|Tyrol's demotion]] by Admiral Adama; he retrieves the navigational data from {{callsign|Gonzo}}'s damaged [[Raptor]] that tells them [[Sector Delta 9|where]] the rebel baseship jumped to {{TRS|Sine Qua Non}}. He is briefly seen on the hangar deck with [[Marcie Brasko]] where, elsewhere further down the deck, Tyrol hears [[The Music]] and is summoned to the pristine [[Viper 8757]], with [[Final Five|other select persons]] {{TRS|Revelations}}.

In the early stages of [[Gaeta's Mutiny|a mutiny]] aboard ''Galactica,'' Laird finds several individuals attempting to steal a [[Raptor]] reserved for emergency medical transport to fly [[Tom Zarek]] to ''[[Colonial One]]''. [[Felix Gaeta]] attempts to convince Laird that this is simply a change of orders that he wasn't informed of, but when Laird moves to confirm that story, Zarek kills him by striking him in the head with a wrench {{TRS|The Oath}}.

== Notes ==
*Ron D. Moore said in his [[Podcast:Pegasus#Act 2|podcast]] that he was tempted to give Laird a Scottish accent as a tribute to [[Wikipedia:James Doohan|James Doohan]] (''Star Trek'''s [[MemoryAlpha:Montgomery Scott|Montgomery Scott]]) at his recent death at the time of the episode's filming, but reluctantly decided against it.
*In the [[Credits for Revelations|Credits for "Revelations"]], he is credited as "Lt. Peter Laird." [[Credits for The Oath|Credits for "The Oath"]] credit him as "Chief Peter Laird." It is entirely possible that he was promoted to an officer, much like [[Anastasia Dualla]] and others had been during the [[New Caprica]] period and [[Second Exodus]].

== References ==
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{{Characters}}
{{Dead Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z]] 
[[Category:Characters]]
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[[de:Peter Laird]]