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Xam
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| Xam | ||
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 Xam as depicted in Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #9. | ||
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| Role | Engineer and Colonial Reservist, Galactica | |
| Rank | Flight Engineer | |
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| Xam is a Cylon | ||
| Xam is a Final Five Cylon | ||
| Xam is a Human/Cylon Hybrid | ||
| Xam is an Original Series Cylon | ||
| Related Media | ||
| @ BW Media | ||
| Additional Information | ||
 Xam as depicted in Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #6. | ||
Xam is Starbuck's flight engineer aboard Galactica.
Starbuck credits Xam with continually repairing and maintaining his Viper, regardless of what Starbuck's subjects the craft to. In return, Starbuck trains Xam on his laser pistol marksmanship (Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #6).
Psionic Awakening
In 7351, following the return from a recon patrol into an unnamed quantum storm zone, Starbuck's Viper is charged with high-stating energon fields—otherwise known as void lightning—and Xam is struck. Unbeknownst to anyone at that time, this activates and enhances latent psionic abilities to those of a delta-class telepath (Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #6 & #9, Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #1).
Xam rectifies the power-dead issues in the launch bays, which had been caused by the discharge of void lightning from Red Flight's Vipers (Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #6).
Xam's recurring dreams of Earth are able to manifest, affecting a great many people in the Fleet due to the energies of the Storm Zone, which some (including Adama) believe without question (Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #7 — #9).
After entering the Storm Zone and scanning a mysterious artifact, Athena directs Apollo and Starbuck to Xam's hab-pod, #13. It is there that they discover Xam's psionic potential, and he is remanded to the evaluation under Doctor Salik.
Xam, uncertain about what is real, uses his psionic powers to ward off a pursuing Cylon task force by projecting an overwhelming force of battlestars within the storm. The Cylons retreat, but Xam's mind is burned out in the process, which affects Starbuck greatly (Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #9).
For the next seven yahren, Xam receives daily visitations by Starbuck, but remains in a vegetative state, kept alive only by life-supporting equipment under the ministrations of Doctor Salik (Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #1).
Divinity and the Death of a Hero
Unbeknownst to the Fleet, Xam's telepathy allows Countess Sephoni aboard the lost Taurella to hone in on the Fleet, despite not being able to fully catch up to the convoy. In turn, Xam is able to hone in on Sephoni in 7358 and divines Taurella's coordinates, recording them on a touch-screen digital pad in his tube, thus allowing Major Apollo to lead a flight to investigate and confirm Taurella's existence, reuniting the ship and her crew with the Fleet (Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #1).
After Sephoni's divination of Earth's location, a recon flight lead by Major Apollo happens upon a dead moon, and the first encounter with a super basestar and its swarms of Raiders (Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #2). Despite all long-range scanner evidence to the contrary, Xam's divinity gives hope to Starbuck, Athena, and other pilots who mount a rescue for Apollo against Commander Adama's standing orders (Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #3 — #4).
After the super basestar launches its ambush of the Fleet, Apollo's fate is inexorably locked: he successfully destroys the super basestar, but is destroyed in the resulting massive detonation. Xam records this passing from his near-comatose state by repeatedly tapping out the word "GONE" on his touchpad (Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #6).
Notes
- As with most characters introduced in Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 2 #6, Xam's depiction changes between illustrators. In #6, he is introduced as a bald man with facial hair and side burns. In a later appearance starting in #8, he is depicted as a man with a full head of hair and a mustache.
