War of Eden 1
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| War of Eden #1 An issue of the Maximum Press series. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Issue No. | 1 | |
| Writer(s) | Rob Liefeld, Robert Napton | |
| Illustrator(s) | {{{illustrator}}} | |
| Penciller(s) | Karl Altstaetter, Hector Gomez | |
| Inker(s) | Rene Micheletti | |
| Colorist(s) | Angel McLaughlin | |
| Letterer(s) | Kurt Hathaway | |
| Editor(s) | Kurt Hathaway | |
| Collection Design | {{{designer}}} | |
| Cover Artist(s) | Rob Liefeld, Danny Miki, Jon Sibal, Don Skinner | |
| Adaptation of | ||
| Published | 9 August 1995 | |
| Collects | ||
| Collected in | ||
| Reprints | ||
| Reprinted as | ||
| Pages | {{{pages}}} | |
| ISBN | [[Special:Booksources/|]] | |
| Population | 0 Survivors | |
| Special | {{{special}}} | |
| Chronology | ||
| Previous | Next | |
| None | War of Eden #1 | War of Eden #2 |
| Purchase | ||
| Available at BOOKSAMILLION.COM - Purchase | ||
| Available at Amazon.com – [[amazon:{{{amazon}}}|Purchase]] | ||
| Available at Amazon.co.uk – Purchase | ||
| Available at Things From Another World - Purchase | ||
Plot
Twenty years after fleeing their homewords, the rag-tag fugitive Fleet arrives at the Earth with the aid of Seraph technology. Much to their disappointment, they find it inhabited only by dinosaurs. A landing party discovers an ancient temple. Meanwhile, Count Iblis reveals himself to Baltar, who is pursuing the Fleet.
Summary
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- Adama's family and friends visit him in Galactica's life sciences center. This assembly consists of Athena, Boomer, Starbuck, Tigh, Boxey, Sheba, and Cain (the three yahren old son of Apollo and Sheba). Adama has been stricken with Kaitai syndrome, which afflicts elderly Capricans. Adama asks after his son, but Apollo has disappeared by means unknown.
- A few centaurs later, Apollo returns to tell his father that the Seraphs—the Beings of Light who they encountered—want to help the Colonials get to Earth. John, the Seraph, tells Apollo that it is vital that the Colonials reach Earth both for the Colonials and for Earth itself. To facilitate their journey, the Seraphs will give the Colonials a temporal overdrive warping system that will expedite their journey, as Earth is thousands of yahrens travel time from their present position.
- With this, Adama instructs his son to view a holotape that contains his last order, and gives command of the Fleet to his son. Apollo is further told that Colonel Tigh will explain the other details, but for reasons that they have both agreed upon, Tigh will not be Adama's successor, but will be in command until the command transition is complete. Apollo commits himself to following the last order.
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The Fleet
- After using the temporal overdrive for small jumps, Commander Apollo and his executive officer, Colonel Athena, have lead the Fleet over vast expanses of space, evading the ever-expanding Cylon Empire. With the aging ships being unable to last for additional jumps, not to mention the ferocity of attacks executed by the Cylon expeditionary forces, Apollo has decided to make one massive jump to Earth. During what they hope is the last battle with the Cylons, the Rising Star is destroyed and its escape pods are defended by Red Squadron, while extensively modified Vipers flown by Lieutenant Box (Boxey), Captain Starbuck, and Colonel Boomer and other Viper pilots attack Raiders, which have undergone upgrades of their own.
- A Cylon Raider pursues Box (Blue Flight Two), but finds itself dispatched by Starbuck. Box, who suffers failure in his starboard turbo engine, is ordered to return to Galactica. Box ignores this order to help Starbuck, who runs into trouble with two Raiders. Starbuck extricates himself from certain death but using his newly upgraded reverse boosters.
- Wilker's team reports that the overdrive engine's generators are enabled. All but two Vipers—Box's and Starbuck's—have landed; both land just in a nick of time five centons later, before the spatial distortion caused by the overdrive can rip their ships apart.
- The jump is mostly successful: all 162 ships survive the jump, but 44 have hull breaches that are being addressed by damage control crews, and overdrive generators alpha and gamma are disabled.
- Apollo reams out Starbuck for his last minute arrival, and tells Starbuck they'll talk about that later. When the negative shield opens, the Core Command crew of Galactica see Earth for the first time.
- In orbit for 36 centons, Galactica's scanners detect unusual life form readings but no signs of human civilization. Apollo scrambles Blue, Bronze, and Silver Spar Squadrons, ordering Boomer and Starbuck to the landing bay.
- In the bay, Box voices his concern about being reamed out by his father; Starbuck assures Box that if anyone will get the brunt of Apollo's scorn it'll be him, since Box is merely his wingman. After Apollo asks Starbuck what would happen if he were left behind, Starbuck makes a glib comment about setting down on a deserted planet named after himself and leaving the war behind.
- Apollo gives Boomer, Box, and Starbuck their orders: Boomer is to command all the squadrons in scanning the planet for signs of the Thirteenth Tribe and be the liaison to Galactica, while Box and Starbuck are to be Boomer's wingmen.
- Six centaurs later, Starbuck discovers an energy probe has locked onto his Viper, tracing it back to the source. Twenty centons later, after Apollo gives them permission to land, they come across an pyramid-like structure that made itself visible to them while feeling surface tremors. Box recognizes the hieroglyphics as Kobolian: namely those of the Thirteenth Tribe. Before he can determine anything further, Box finds himself nearly killed by a dinosaur (the source of the "surface tremors") that looks like a Tavarian dragon, but laser pistol file distracts the beast. Boomer and Starbuck manage to lift off, however Box finds himself trapped on the ground in his Viper as the dinosaur grabs the Viper in its jaws and throws it across the field. Before the dinosaur can close for the kill, Box asks Starbuck to tell Apollo that he's sorry.
The Cylons
- In Cylon Sector 0111, Baltar's basestar, Hades, waits. Lucifer reports that the Fleet has yet again escaped, enraging the now half-human, half-robot Baltar. The Cylons do not know the nature of the temporal overdrive, but know it is limited and Baltar orders the expeditionary forces to push out.
- However, Count Iblis appears and informs Baltar that the surviving Colonials are well beyond their reach, but notes that with his help he alone shall lead Baltar to the humans to fight the "war of Eden"—and that, this time, no one shall oppose his dominion.
Notes
Character Developments
- Unlike other separate continuity materials, particularly the Berkley novelizations and Richard Hatch's novels, Boxey is not the nickname for "Troy", but a variant of his formal name, "Box".
- Apollo and Sheba marry and have a three-yahren old son, named Cain, after his grandfather.
- Athena becomes Apollo's second-in-command, replacing Tigh in that role. In War of Eden 2, Tigh is noted as being president of the Quorum of Twelve.
- Adama is not noted as deceased; Apollo notes that it has only been 15 yahren since he saw his father. In issue 2, it is revealed that Adama merely placed himself in cryonic suspension, which he was released from upon reaching Earth.
Seraphs
- The Beings of Light are called the "Seraphs".
- The character John was introduced in the episode "Experiment in Terra".
- Iblis has apparently fled the Seraphs' justice, as he appears to Baltar.
- Lucifer appears to still be subservient to Baltar. Further, the baseship Baltar commands is called Hades.
Other
- While this comic series ignores the Galactica 1980 series, Starbuck makes a glib reference to the 1980 episode "The Return of Starbuck" where he tells Apollo that, had he been left behind, he would find a deserted planet somewhere and christened it "Starbuck". In another possible nod to 1980, Boomer is given the rank of colonel in the events depicted 20 yahren after the exodus.
- Much like the Re-imagined Series, the Fleet happens upon the planet Earth, which appears to be devoid of human life.
- A net loss of 56 ships from the Fleet has incurred over the twenty yahren since their exodus.
- Many of the ships have apparently underwent major changes. Many of the Vipers are extensively modified to include additional weapons and other abilities.
- Further, the blue officer's uniforms have apparently been phased out as early as five yahrens post-exodus. For instance, Tigh wears a uniform similar to Cain's.
Analysis
- Baltar's return to the Cylons, and indeed their re-acceptance of him, is not explained. Presumably, Adama was good on his word and after the Battle at Galaxy's Edge, released Baltar. His discovery by the Cylons, and later reintroduction into their hierarchy as commander, remain unexplained and a topic untouched in this comic. There is the inference that Count Iblis has a hand in this, given his miraculous presence aboard Baltar's baseship.
Questions
Unanswered Questions
- How does Iblis escape judgment of the Seraphs?
- How does Baltar return to the Cylon fleet? Further, why do the Cylons accept him back into the fold?
- Further, where are Cassiopeia, Jolly, Bojay, Omega, Rigel, and other mainstays?
- Why are there dinosaurs on Earth?