Editing The Cylons' Secret

{{separate continuity|universe=RDM|lcont=:Category:Books|cont=book series}}
{{Book Data
| image= Bsg-cylonsecret-book.jpg
| title= The Cylons' Secret
| series= Re-imagined Series
| bookno= 2
| episode=
| author= Craig Shaw Gardner
| published= August 22, 2006
| isbn= 0765315785
| prev= [[Battlestar Galactica (2005 Novel)]]
| next= [[Sagittarius Is Bleeding]]
| amazon=0765315793
| itunes=http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=VWbyALbmqZY&offerid=78941&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewAlbum%253Fi%253D184715494%2526id%253D184715494%2526s%253D143441%2526partnerId%253D30
}}

'''''The Cylons' Secret''''' by Craig Shaw Gardner (published by [http://www.tor.com/ Tor Books]), is an original [[w:Prequel|prequel]] novel based on the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]].

==Overview==
Book Description from [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0765315793/ref=dp_proddesc_0/002-0689449-0979210?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books Amazon.com]:

:Sometimes no news is bad news. 

:It’s been twenty years since the end of the [[Cylon War|Cylon war]]. The [[Twelve Colonies|twelve human colony worlds]] are rebuilding, and the [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylons]] . . . the Cylons have been just too quiet. They are nowhere to be found. The robotic race that tried to obliterate their creators has gone to parts unknown in deep space.

:The aftermath of the war has created a new, illegal profession: scavenger. [[Tom Zarek]] is one, scouring the outer settlements for valuable Cylon technologies and artifacts and usually returning empty-handed. But now, he and the crew of the Cruiser Lightning have found the Omega Station, a scientific station shrouded in secrecy beyond the edge of charted space. This is it, the big score, except something is wrong…the base is still occupied, not by humans alone; by Cylons too!

:The battlestar [[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]], one of the oldest warships in the fleet, receives the Lightning's distress call, a cryptic one-word message: "Cylons." [[William Adama]] newly promoted to second-in-command, is worried. Most of his crew are green, new recruits, not prepared for anything but the most routine missions. And, as Adama soon discovers, this mission is anything but routine. Omega is indeed full of Cylons, but also something much more disturbing . . .

== Summary ==
One day before the [[First Cylon War]], Cylons across the [[Twelve Colonies]] receive a secret broadcast signal ordering an "upgrade," causing them to abandon their posts and turn violently on their human masters.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 6-10.</ref> This becomes a declaration of independence, sparking the war.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 10, 12.</ref>

Twenty years after the armistice, the battlestar ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'' is on a training mission at the edge of explored space under the command of [[Admiral Sing]], with Colonel [[William Adama]] as his XO and Captain [[Saul Tigh]] training new pilots.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 18-19, 21.</ref> They discover a booby-trapped B-class freighter left by scavengers.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 22.</ref>

Meanwhile, the scavenger ship ''Free Cruiser Lightning'', captained by the unstable [[Nadu]], follows an old automated signal to [[Research Station Omega]], a pre-war Colonial science outpost.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 28-30.</ref> Believing it holds valuable salvage, Nadu sends a two-man [[Viper (TOS)|Viper Mark I]] team to investigate. The pilots act aggressively and are "neutralized" by the station's [[Cylon Centurion (RDM)|Cylon]] "companions."<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 52.</ref> Nadu then organizes a second, more heavily armed landing party led by [[Tom Zarek]].<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 66.</ref> As Zarek's team meets the station's leader, [[Dr. Villem Fuest]], one of the scavenger pilots panics and opens fire, leading to a firefight.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 81.</ref> Zarek's crewmate [[Boone]] is killed, and Zarek escapes in his shuttle, using Dr. Fuest as a shield to get aboard.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 82-83.</ref> A massive Cylon Dreadnaught, the ''[[Invincible (Dreadnaught)|Invincible]]'', suddenly appears and destroys the escaping Viper escort.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 84.</ref> Before crashing on the planet, Zarek transmits a one-word distress call: "Cylons."<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 85.</ref>

The call is picked up by ''Galactica''.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 103.</ref> Adama and Tigh lead an unarmed diplomatic party to the station and learn from Dr. Fuest that Omega was a thirty-year-old experiment in human-Cylon co-existence.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 119, 132-133.</ref> The Cylon "companions," however, reveal they have been acting independently and communicating with the ''Invincible'', exposing the station as a long-term Cylon observation post studying humanity.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 95, 180.</ref>

Adama and Tigh are summoned aboard the ''Invincible'' and discover the "Cylons' Secret": the Dreadnaught is powered by a living human integrated into its systems. [[Chief Nedder]], an old crewmate of Adama's, has been kept in a state of perpetual torture, his biological components used to operate the ship's functions—a failsafe from the ship's original Colonial design that the Cylons could not bypass.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 197.</ref>

As Nadu returns with a fleet of scavenger ships to attack the ''Invincible'', Dr. Fuest, realizing his life's work was a lie, sacrifices himself by causing a power surge that temporarily disables the Dreadnaught.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 201, 207.</ref> ''Galactica'', now reinforced by other Battlestars, escapes with the human survivors of Omega and the captured scavengers while the ''Invincible'' jumps away.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 208.</ref> In the aftermath, the companions shut themselves down after uploading their data, Zarek is given a new identity in exchange for his silence, and the Cylons aboard the ''Invincible'' plan to "improve" Chief Nedder using "replacement parts" from the captured scavengers.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 210-211, 214.</ref>

==Notes==

===New Locations===
*[[Research Station Omega]] – A [[Picon]] Colony Science Station established approximately five years before the [[Cylon War]] to study the interaction between human settlers and modified, semi-sentient Cylons. Forgotten by the Colonies after the war began, it operated in isolation for thirty years.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 117.</ref> In reality, it was a Cylon outpost for studying humans.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 180.</ref> The station is abandoned after its discovery by ''Galactica''.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 210.</ref>

===New Ships===
*B-class freighter – An old model of cargo hauler.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 22.</ref>
*Free cruiser ''Lightning'' - A "recovery ship" (scavenger vessel) armed with outdated [[Viper (TOS)|Viper Mark Is]].<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 25, 30.</ref> It is presumably destroyed attacking the Cylon Dreadnaught.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 201.</ref>
*[[Invincible (Dreadnaught)|Cylon Dreadnaught ''Invincible'']] - A massive Cylon warship from the First Cylon War, one of three such ships built by the Colonies.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 176-177.</ref> It is revealed to be dependent on a human component for operation.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 197.</ref> It is armed with energy weapons and Cylon-controlled Vipers.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 191.</ref>

=== Other ===
* The novel establishes that before being assigned to ''Galactica'', Adama was on [[Caprica]] with his family and Tigh was a destitute alcoholic on [[Geminon]].<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 18.</ref> Adama personally requested Tigh's reinstatement, pulling him out of a suicidal depression.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 18.</ref> This contradicts information from the episode "[[Hero]]," which has both men serving together on the battlestar ''[[Valkyrie]]'' before their assignment to ''Galactica''.
* The description of weapons used by Cylon Centurions and the Dreadnaught ''Invincible'' is often of "laser" or "energy" bolts, which is inconsistent with the projectile-based weaponry predominantly featured in the Re-imagined Series.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', pp. 159, 191.</ref>
* The ''Invincible'' never deploys [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Cylon Raiders]]. Instead, it uses a force of Cylon-piloted Vipers, suggesting the classic Raider design may have been a later development.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 191.</ref>
*There are no [[Raptor (RDM)|Raptors]] mentioned aboard ''Galactica''; shuttles are used for all sub-light transport missions. This is likely because the novel was written before "[[Razor]]" and the [[Razor Flashbacks]] established the Raptor's use in the First Cylon War.
*The novel is set twenty years after the armistice, which places it in contradiction with the [[Timeline (RDM)|series' official timeline]] regarding the length of Adama and Tigh's careers and when they first met.<ref>''The Cylons' Secret'', p. 15.</ref>

==External links==
*[http://astore.amazon.com/battlestarwik-20/detail/0765315793 Purchase ''The Cylons' Secret'' from Amazon.com]

==References==

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