Editing Rescue on Caprica

{{Battle Data
|image=CapricaAssault.jpg
|description=''Galactica'' provides cover fire while the civilian Fleet escapes 
|conflict=[[Cylon Attack|Second Cylon War]]
|date=[[Re-Imagined Series Timeline|Day 281]]
|place=[[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|result=[[Cylon (RDM)|Cylons]] abandon the [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]<br>Caprican survivors evacuated
|combatant1=[[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Colonial]] [[SAR]] team<br>[[Caprica Resistance]]
|combatant2=[[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]
|co1=Captain [[Kara Thrace]]<br>[[Samuel Anders]]
|co2=[[Basestar command]]
|strength1= 19 [[Raptors]], [[Colonial Marines]], surviving members of the [[Caprica Resistance]]
|strength2=[[Cylon Centurion]]s
|shiploss1=[[Raptor 612]]
|shiploss2=Unknown, minimal
|casualties1=Several marines and resistance fighters, both pilots and all marines aboard Raptor 612
|casualties2=Unknown, minimal
|prev=[[Battle of the Guardian basestar]]
|next=[[Battle of New Caprica]]
|series=RDM
}}

The '''rescue on Caprica''' is an assault mission launched by [[Kara Thrace]] to evacuate the surviving members of the [[Caprica Resistance]].

The mission stems from Thrace's promise to [[Samuel Anders]], the leader of the Resistance, that she would return following her departure from [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] with the [[Arrow of Apollo]]. Initially, both [[William Adama]] and [[Laura Roslin]] refuse Thrace's request to take ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' back to Caprica, noting that the mission would leave the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] unacceptably vulnerable to [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylon]] attack. Furthermore, ''Galactica'' would take at least 241 [[Propulsion in the Re-imagined Series#Faster-Than-Light travel|jumps]] to reach Caprica, though computational errors inherent in every jump beyond the [[Red Line]] could result in double that amount of jumps ([[TRS]]: [[Pegasus (Extended Version)|"Pegasus" (Extended Version)]]).

However, the discovery of the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' results in the Fleet possessing enough [[Raptor]]s to launch an independent strike team without requiring the battlestars to leave the Fleet behind. Additionally, the Colonials discover a way to install the jump computer from a captured Cylon [[Heavy Raider]] with the Raptors' computers by allowing the [[Sharon Agathon|captured Number Eight copy]] on ''Galactica'' to [[Humanoid Cylon#Cybernetic Behavior|interface]] with both computers. With this upgrade, a return trip to Caprica is estimated to take less than ten jumps. However, simulations of the attack plans suggesting that at least twenty percent of the strike force would be lost. As a result, Adama approves the mission while designating it as [[Two Alpha]]: volunteer only.

An [[SAR]] team of nineteen<ref>[[Helo]] notes that they have lost a Raptor when he counts only 17 on [[DRADIS]] after reaching Caprica. Assuming that only [[Racetrack]]'s Raptor had been lost up until that point, this would mean that 19 Raptors made up the initial strike team.</ref> Raptors is launched by ''Pegasus'' and ''Galactica'' at the commencement of the operation. One Raptor, piloted by [[Margaret Edmondson]] and [[Hamish McCall]], is separated from the strike force on the first outbound jump when it jumps to the wrong coordinates, inadvertently discovering a [[New Caprica|habitable planet]] . On the final jump into the atmosphere of Caprica, [[Raptor 612]] is lost when it jumps inside of a mountain. The remaining Raptors land in the forest, and Thrace, [[Karl Agathon]], [[Sharon Agathon|Sharon]] and a team of [[Colonial Marines]] set out for the Resistance headquarters at [[Delphi Union High School]] on foot. 

One klick away from the school, the team locates the surviving members of the Resistance, lead by Anders, with the Cylons advancing on them. Soon after, the Cylons begin bombarding their position with mortars, cutting off their path to the Raptors ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]"). The group retreats behind nearby ruins, though they are unable to contact the Raptors due to Cylon jamming. However, the Cylons abruptly cease their mortar fire and hold position. While Sharon believes that the Cylons plan to deploy non-lethal gas in order to capture the team, the standoff continues through the night into the next day with no additional attacks ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]"; "[[The Plan]]").

Eventually, the Colonials make their way out of their position to find that the Cylons have retreated; a [[Number One]] copy posing as a priest in the Resistance states that the Cylons have abandoned the [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. The Marines and resistance fighters then regroup with the Raptors and depart Caprica to rendezvous with the Fleet. 

==References==
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[[Category:Colonial Battles]]
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