Ursus

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Richard Hatch continuation separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

Ursus is a ship of ill-repute throughout the fugitive Fleet, known to harbor the more seedier denizens of the Fleet and with a variety of rumors surrounding the goings on aboard the ship. These beliefs varied from Ursus being a low-class gambling barge ("a poor man's Rising Star") to a den of depravity, resulting in various crackdowns by Commander Adama numerous times a yahren.

Layout

Ursus' overall layout features a bridge with a singular ascensior, allowing transit to and from "The Pit," the lower level chamber of the ship that ran around the circumference of the ship, where its denizens reside. The bridge is described as "cramped and dingy," with outmoded technologies and replete with blasters and population-control gear.

People may enter or depart the vessel via the use of a shuttle bay in the lower level, operated by a commercial intra-fleet service, leading them to and from the Pit directly (RH: Armageddon).

The Pit

"The Pit" is the nickname for the lower level of Ursus, where the most unwanted denizens of the Fleet reside. Its social structure is reputed to be similar to pack animals, where one must fight to retain—and advance—their social standing. Assistance to these persons is not directly offered by Morgan or his personnel, unless it is specifically requested by a denizen.

In 7360, Dalton recalls a "crumbling urban area on Aries" upon looking at the decrepitude of the Pit's surroundings. The Pit is a wide open space, its walls believed to either be corroded or coated with byproducts resulting from massive chemical use, particularly with pits of various open fires burning.

A smaller area of the Pit was "far cleaner," and home to the Cult of the Serpent, whose side corridors and quarters were greater cared for, even decorated (RH: Armageddon).

History

In 7360, the ship's captain is Morgan, a former Warrior who had previously trained Apollo and Starbuck. With his first officer, Portia, and his crew, Morgan believes that a show of fearless strength was important to keep these unwanted people in line, while also permitting these lowest elements to congregate aboard Ursus so that they can prey mostly on each other, thus isolating predators from the Fleet's larger population.

During an insurrection within the Fleet fostered by an ersatz Ambassador Puck, the Cult of the Serpent's leader, Tybalt, kill the only potential witness to the real Puck's demise, an agro-worker named Terence. This discovery is uncovered by Troy and Dalton, resulting in both their subsequent capture and Morgan's death via a publicly broadcast execution by Tybalt, and a fierce battle by a Colonial Warrior detachment that reveals many things during the decimation of Tybalt's cult, culminating in its leader's death by Athena's hand.

In the events following Apollo's ascension to commander of the Fleet, Quorum of Twelve's President Tigh pledges closer monitoring of the Pit, efforts to make it "clean and orderly," as well as better hygiene of its denizens through frequent visits from a medical team (RH: Armageddon).

Notes

• "Ursus" is the scientific classification of the bear, from the Latin.

Original Series definition: unit of time akin to a "year" (see: Yahren)

Original Series definition: an all-purpose term for Colonial soldier and Viper pilot (see: Warrior)