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Helena Cain

2006-01-21T03:46:18Z

Joelf: /* Notes */

{{Character Data|
|photo=[[Image:Nelena.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony=[[Tauron]]
|birthname=Helena Cain
|callsign=
|death= Shot by [[Gina]] aboard Pegasus, in Cain's quarters. ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]])
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role=Commanding Officer, [[Battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''
|rank=Admiral
|actor=[[Michelle Forbes]]
|cylon=
}}

Admiral '''Helena Cain''', hailing from the colony [[Tauron]], is commander of the [[Mercury class battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''. She is a hard woman not afraid of hard decisions and unflinching in her will to do what she sees as right. Sometimes, these traits conspire so that she see that she has been left no choice but to take controversial, unpopular or morally questionable decisions.

==Biography==
===Cylon attack, and guerilla warfare===
At the time of the [[Cylon attack]], Cain's battlestar is stationed at the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] for upgrades and shore leave. As the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] attack, destroying other battlestars and support ships there, Cain orders a [[Blind jump|blind Jump]], gambling that the result of such an impromptu (and inadvisable) escape would be better than the alternative of destruction.

Despite the impossible odds, Cain intends to sustain a campaign of guerilla warfare against the occupying Cylon forces. Shortly after her escape, however, ''Pegasus'' encounters a small refugee fleet of fifteen ships. Unwilling to be shackled down by the responsibility of protecting them, she strips the refugee fleet of useful hardware and personel, and leaves them stranded without [[FTL]] engines. She then leads the battlestar away from the [[Twelve Colonies]], following a Cylon fleet that trailed what they discover as sister battlestar ''[[Galactica]]''.
===Galactica===
Cain not only enjoys the sensation of power, but also the acquisition of more of it. Upon meeting up with Commander [[William Adama]]'s [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], she assumes command and transfers personnel from ''Galactica'' to ''Pegasus'', including [[Lee Adama]] and [[Kara Thrace]], indicating that Adama has let military discipline become too lax. Cain is more interested in fighting the Cylons, seemingly oblivious to the point that she and the ships around her are all that was left of the human race, whose survival is more paramount than offensive assaults. While Adama initially welcomes such attacks against a mysterious Cylon force that followed the Fleet (to stop it from following them), his attitude begins to cool about Cain's very strict and unmerciful leadership.

Cain's actions also raise concerns with President [[Laura Roslin]]. Cain recognizes Roslin and her former role as Secretary of Education. After the Fleet command transfer from Adama to Cain, Roslin makes several attempts to call Cain to request supplies for the civilian fleet, but all of Roslin's calls are ignored.

Cain may also show brutal behavior when commanding her own staff, according to a conversation over alcohol that Colonel [[Saul Tigh]] has with his ''Pegasus'' counterpart, Colonel [[Jack Fisk]]. Fisk comments that, after ''Pegasus' ''initially escapes, the battlestar once tries to attack a Cylon communications relay -- an easy target. On arrival in the system, however, it turns out the target is a Cylon staging area, filled with 15 squadrons of [[Raider]]s. Admiral Cain ordered her previous Executive Officer, a man she had served with for years, to carry out the attack anyway, but he refused the order in the face of such odds. Admiral Cain asked the XO for his gun, and shot him in the head in front of the crew in the Pegasus [[CIC]]. Cain then turned to Fisk and ordered him to launch the attack, which he did. After relating this story to Col. Tigh, Col. Fisk says he is joking about the incident.

Although the story could be unreliable because Fisk is drunk at the time, Tigh relays the story and his suspicions of his likelihood to Adama. Adama cautions that ''Galactica's'' crew has also made some questionable actions since the attack, and they don't know if the story was taken out of context or not. Even if the story is true, Adama is willing to give Cain the benefit of the doubt and not question the matter further.
===Court-martial, standoff===
After the suspect fatal assault of one of her crew members, Lieutenant [[Thorne]], Cain arrests Chief [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] and Lieutenant Karl "[[Karl Agathon|Helo]]" Agathon and flies them to ''Pegasus'', under Adama's protest, since traditionally a trial is held on the ship where an incident has occurred. Cain uses ''Galactica's'' log against Adama when he asks for a tribunal; Cain notes that Adama dismissed the last council unilaterally when the verdict did not suit him. Cain summarily court-martials the prisoners herself in a matter of hours, sentencing them to death. Commander Adama is far from pleased, and orders an assault crew to head for ''Pegasus'' to bring his men back. Cain responds by deploying her squadrons of advanced Mark VII Vipers against Adama's museum collection of Mark II Vipers in a tense standoff ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).

The tense game of chicken that begins is ended by Starbuck, flying the [[Blackbird]] as she returns from her unofficial recon mission on the unknown Cylon ship. Starbuck transmits the pictures she took of the [[Resurrection Ship]] back to ''Pegasus'' [[CIC]]. Upon Thrace's return to ''Pegasus'', Cain is so impressed with her performance that she promotes Thrace to Captain and ''Pegasus'' [[CAG]], replacing the competent but uncreative and inflexible Capt. [[Cole Taylor|Taylor]]. Cain tasks Starbuck with planning the joint strike on the Resurrection Ship.
===Attack on the Resurrection Ship, and assassination===
[[Image:Gina-Cain.jpg|thumb|Admiral Cain held at gun-point by [[Number Six#Gina|Gina]].]]

After Captain Thrace briefs both Adama, Apollo, and Cain on her plan to attack the Resurrection Ship, Adama pulls Starbuck aside and outlines a plan to assassinate Cain following the attack. At the same time, Cain instructs [[Jack Fisk]] to lead a detachment of marines to "terminate Adama's command" after the battle ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).

When the moment arrives, neither commander decides to send their execution orders, leaving Thrace and Fisk visibly relieved. Cain survives Adama's plan, ironically, because Adama solicits advice from the second copy of [[Sharon Valerii]], who reminds him of his decommissioning speech that asked whether humanity asked itself if it deserved to survive ([[Miniseries]]). That is, Adama's actions in assassinating Cain would be a good example of why humanity deserved what the Cylons dealt to them so many months ago.

Unfortunately for Cain, shortly after Adama's window to assassinate Cain had passed, [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] helps the Cylon agent [[Number Six#Gina|Gina]] escape from the brig. Gina makes her way to Cain's quarters and shoots Cain at point blank range. A soldier to the last, Cain's final words are "[[Frak]] you."

Cain's funeral was given full military honors, with Fisk and Thrace giving eulogies. Though Thrace only knew Cain briefly, she obviously admired the woman, stating "we were better off with her than without her" ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

== Notes ==

*Helena Cain is inspired by the character of Commander [[Cain (TOS)|Cain]] from the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica (1978)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', portrayed by the late [[Lloyd Bridges]].

*Actress Michelle Forbes guest starred as Dara Timicin in the ''[[MemoryAlpha:Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[MemoryAlpha:Half a Life|Half a Life]]" and had a recurring role as Ensign [[MemoryAlpha:Ro Laren|Ro Laren]] during the last three seasons of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''. ''Battlestar Galactica'' executive producer [[Ronald D. Moore]], also a ''TNG'' veteran, wrote for her character in the episodes "[[MemoryAlpha:Disaster|Disaster]]" and "[[MemoryAlpha:The Next Phase|The Next Phase]]".

*Cain's habit of expediting meetings by conducting them without chairs is borrowed from UN Ambassador [[Wikipedia:John R. Bolton|John R. Bolton]]. (Source: "Pegasus" podcast)

{{Characters}}

[[Category: A to Z|Cain, Helena]] [[Category: Characters|Cain, Helena]] [[Category:People from Tauron|Cain, Helena]] [[Category: RDM|Cain, Helena]]

Boxey (RDM)

2005-12-13T19:50:23Z

Joelf: /* Season One */ fix wiki link

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:Boxey_2003_001.jpg|200px]]
|age= 10-13 (?)
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]]
|birthname= Boxey
|callsign=
|death=
|parents= [[Armistice Officer]] (father)
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role= Orphan
|rank=
|actor= [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0927045/ Connor Widdows]
|cylon=
}}

==Mini-Series==
'''Boxey''' was the son of the [[Armistice Officer]] at [[Armistice Station]]. Following the [[Cylon Attack]], Boxey and his aunt sought sanctuary when a [[Raptor]] flown by Lieutenants [[Valerii, Sharon#"Boomer" Valerii|Valerii]] and [[Agathon, Karl C.|Agathon]] made an emergency landing on [[The Twelve Colonies#Caprica|Caprica]]. When it became evident that the Raptor could not rescue all those who came to it, Boxey's aunt gave him up for transport back to battlestar ''[[Galactica]]'', where he has since been unofficially adopted by members of the crew ([[Mini-Series]]).

{|
|-
|[[Image:Photos seen on Armistice Station.jpg|thumb|Boxey & maybe his mother, photos on [[Armistice Station]] (Credit: Sci-Fi)]] ||[[Image:Boxey goes to the raptor, aunt watches.jpg|thumb|Boxey is rescued by Sharon's Raptor, while his aunt watches (Credit: Sci-Fi)]]
|}

==Season One==
In season one, Boxey has been seen following [[Thrace, Kara|Starbuck]] around and copying her attitude and tone with [[Tigh, Saul|Tigh]] in [[Bastille Day]]. He has also been seen eating with [[Valerii, Sharon#"Boomer" Valerii|Boomer]] and other pilots on ''[[Galactica]]''. He is mostly found in deleted scenes and on the cutting room floor, with very little exposure otherwise.

==Notes==
Boxey is a based on a character of the same name from the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]]. He shares some simmilarities with his TOS counterpart, in that he is a young boy orphaned by the [[Cylon Attack]] who is adopted by members of ''Galactica's'' crew. While Boxey was an often recurring character in the Original Series and the [[Troy (1980)|main character]] of the follow up series, [[Galactica 1980]], in the re-imagined series, he has only appeared in one episode of the first season, "[[Bastille Day]]". A number of other appearances were filmed, but they were cut from other episodes due to time considerations, and the character now appears to have been abandoned.

One of the problems with having a young character such as Boxey on the show is that while the actor ages in real-time, the re-imagined series has progressed much more slowly - the series has only covered about three months in fictional time from the mini-series (2003) to the middle of season 2 (2005).

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Felix Gaeta

2005-12-11T00:12:19Z

Joelf:

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:Kobols_Last_Gleaming_pt2-Gaeta.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony=
|birthname= Felix Gaeta
|callsign=
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role=[[Tactical Officer]], Senior Officer of the Watch, [[CIC]], [[Battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]''
|rank= Lieutenant
|actor=[[Alessandro Juliani]]
|cylon=
}}

Lieutenant '''Felix Gaeta''' {{IPA|ˈgeɪ.tə}} is a young, capable officer in the Colonial military. For the three years prior to the [[Cylon attack]] on the [[Twelve Colonies]], he has served as [[William Adama]]'s Senior Officer of the Watch aboard battlestar ''[[Galactica]]''.

Prior to the attack, he was studying biogenetics and planned to get a degree through the military extension program ([[Water]]).

He exhibits a strong attention to detail and is highly efficient. These tendencies and his overall ability have led William Adama to rely heavily on him as a member of ''Galactica's'' command crew, despite his relative youth and junior rank.

As well as performing the role of Tactical Officer, Gaeta also manages the ship's [[FTL]] systems, including the calculation and initiation of Jumps. Gaeta also manages the needs of the various primary [[Computers|computer systems]] used on the battlestar.

As a result of his studies in biogenetics, Lt. Gaeta is selected by Adama to assist Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]] in the development of the much-needed [[Cylon detector]] following the Cylon attack([[Water]]). During his time working with Baltar, Gaeta develops a certain respect and liking for the doctor - despite the latter's apparent eccentricities. When a woman called "[[Shelly Godfrey]]" arrives on-board ''Galactica'', Gaeta works hard to prove Baltar's innocence of the charges levelled against him ([[Six Degrees of Separation]]). Although he is ultimately successful, Gaeta fails to follow-up on the fact that the photographic evidence supplied by "Shelly Godfrey" looked as if the evidence itself had been faked in a way that ensured it was exposed as a forgery.

Gaeta shows his remarkable brilliance after ''Galactica'' mistakenly Jumps to a different set of coordinates than the rest of the [[Fleet]] to escape a Cylon attack ([[Scattered]]). The [[FTL]] computers compensate for spatial changes, but due to the chaos after [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] is shot by [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]], Gaeta does not have time to synchronize the spatial positioning with the rest of the Fleet, whose FTL computers had collectively different information. Complicating the issue, if ''Galactica'' returns to their original position, the Cylons would destroy the ship before it could retrieve the correct Fleet coordinates.

Gaeta blames himself (although [[Saul Tigh]] did not), but later realizes that he could network four computers of the ship (something Commander Adama may never have approved) to reduce the coordinate calculation time from hours to minutes. Knowing the Cylons would try to crack his ''ad hoc'' network, Gaeta sets up five firewalls in the network to slow their progress while the ship's guns and Vipers buy the needed time to calculate. Unfortunately for Gaeta, the firewalls are not completely effective, and several power and CIC systems were disabled by a Cylon virus while [[Cylon Centurion]]s board the ship ([[Valley of Darkness]]). Gaeta is forced to scramble to purge the systems of any remaining traces of the [[Virus|virus]].

Gaeta's calm exterior shows signs of wear when his interview with [[D'anna Biers]] shows him somewhat drunk, smoking, and brandishing a rather garish tattoo of a tiger ([[Final Cut]]). Viewers learn from the footage that Gaeta's first name is Felix.

The Cylon virus rears its ugly head once more a few weeks later when shipboard malfunctions increase to a point where consoles begin to sputter and short out. Gaeta confirms that the same virus they thought they had removed from the formerly-networked computers became a heuristic program that studied and probed flaws in the battlestar's computers and the hardware that each system manages. Worse, the virus had metamorphosized into a [[Logic bomb]] that threatened to disable the ship's human control on a Cylon fighter's command--and a Cylon attack force was imminent.

After being commanded by Tigh to perform the daunting task of inspecting many lines of computer code for a Cylon virus, the young lieutenant completely loses his cool:

:'''Gaeta''': A power surge energized the board. System's been twitchy ever since the Cylons infiltrated our network. 
:'''Tigh''': Commander's right. I don't care if you have to go through this program line by line; fix it. 
:'''Gaeta''': Excuse me? 
:'''Tigh''': You heard me. 
:'''Gaeta''': Sir, I'm running every diagnostic we've got. Checking each line of code could take days. 
:'''Tigh''': I am not interested in excuses. Fix it! 
:'''Gaeta''': It's not an excuse, sir. It's a [[frak|frakking]] fact! 

Everyone on the bridge, especially Commander Adama, is shocked by Gaeta's highly uncharacteristic outburst, but Adama is not particularly surprised, knowing that everyone on ''Galactica'' has low morale after working for months with no relief or change to their routine.

Gaeta has a solution for the logic bomb: Wipe all computer hard drives and restore them from backups made before the Cylon attack. The problem in doing this is that ''Galactica'' will be completely vulnerable to attack, save for her Viper fighters, for several minutes as her computers are rebuilt.

Against his instincts and on [[Laura Roslin]]'s advice, Adama opts to use the unique abilities of the cooperative Caprica copy of [[Sharon Valerii]] to aid them. Gaeta gives the humanoid Cylon a fiber-optic data link with access to the battlestar mainframe computer and the ship's communications. After a few tense moments, Valerii asks Gaeta to perform the computer hard drive wipe after taking into her computer/brain a copy of the Cylon virus. She manipulates it and transmits to the massive incoming Cylon fleet, disabling the entire Cylon fleet in the same way that the Colonials suffered in the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. The Colonial forces [[Great Cylon Turkey Shoot|destroy the entire Cylon force]] without a single Colonial casualty ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

Gaeta is among the tense officers and crew in CIC that witness a standoff between their battlestar and the heavily-advanced battlestar ''[[Pegasus]]'', whose commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]], has opted to execute two ''Galactica'' crewmembers after she tried them herself and against Adama's requests for the rights of his crew to have a fair, open trial.

==Note==
*While Gaeta is described as the "Tactical Officer", his role is closer to that of the US Navy's CIC Watch Officer (CICWO), combining it with elements of the Tactical Watch Officer (TAO), a role also partially fulfilled by [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]], both under the command of [[William Adama]]. According to the official SciFi.com character data file, Gaeta's title is "Senior Officer of the Watch", although the title of Tactical Officer may have a better "ring" to the ears of most viewers.
*The name "Felix" means "Happy" in Latin; the connotations of the Latin word imply being fortunate, lucky, prosperous, or "favored by the gods". It first appeared in the episode ''[[Final Cut]]''.
*[[Wikipedia:Gaeta|Gaeta]] is the name of a small seaport and resort in southern Italy. This goes well with his Latin first name.
*His counterpart in the original "Battlestar Galactica" is Sgt. [[Omega]], a [[The Twelve Colonies#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]] native.
*There is widespread speculation among fans that Gaeta is another [[Humano-Cylon#Felix Gaeta?|Cylon infiltrator]].

[[Category:A to Z|Gaeta, Felix]]
[[Category:Characters|Gaeta, Felix]]
[[Category:RDM|Gaeta, Felix]]

Kara Thrace

2005-12-10T22:13:07Z

Joelf: /* The Arrow of Apollo */ fire hydrant is what dogs pee on

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:Kara Thrace.jpg|200px]]
|age= 28
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]]
|birthname= Kara Thrace
|callsign= Starbuck
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Single (Formerly engaged to [[Zak Adama]])
|role= [[CAG]]'s Second in Command ([[Bastille Day]]), Pilot [[Battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', Flight Training Instructor
|rank= Lieutenant
|actor= [[Katee Sackhoff]]
|cylon=
}}

== Biography ==

=== Background ===

'''Kara Thrace''' is a gifted pilot - and knows it. This has tended to give her an attitude that has at times thwarted her career advancement.

In an unhappy childhood, she was so frequently beaten by her mother that she came to accept pain as a way of life ([[Flesh and Bone]]). Her father was a pianist ([[Valley of Darkness]]), suggesting that her formerly broken finger bones on both hands had been intentionally broken by a parent using her father's piano ([[The Farm]]). Kara left home to join the [[Colonial Fleet|military]]. On graduating from Colonial Flight School, she undertook a period of active duty before returning to flight school as an instructor.

It was in this role that Thrace breaks her cardinal rule of flying and falls in love with a young recruit, [[Zak Adama]]. Despite Zak's mediocre performance as a pilot, Thrace's love for him - and the fact that she could see emulating his father was so important to him - causes her to pass him on his final flight examination, even though he flunked 3 of the required manoeuvres ([[Act of Contrition]]).

Already engaged to Zak at the time she passed him for flight status, she is unable to marry him - Zak is killed during a routine mission shortly after graduating. At the time, [[Lee Adama]], Zak's elder brother, blames their father for Zak's death, and in her guilt, Kara does little to alter this idea. She does, however, meet [[William Adama]] shortly after the accident, and the two strike up a rapport - so much so that they stand together at Zak's funeral ([[Act of Contrition]]).

Following the funeral, Kara resigns from flight School as a instructor and transfers as an operational pilot aboard [[Original battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'' under the command of William Adama, where she serves for some two years prior to the [[Cylon attack]] on the [[Twelve Colonies]]. Before the Cylon attack, she was 2nd to the [[CAG]], [[Jackson Spencer]]. While she was temporarily in the brig for fighting with Colonel Tigh, the CAG. was killed in a Cylon slaughter of ''Galactica's'' last Viper squadron. With her incarceration, Lee Adama, who joins ''Galactica'', is given the senior pilot title. Apparently, she approves of Apollo being assigned the leadership role: "Haven't a big enough dipstick for the job," she says about herself ([[Mini-Series]]).

During her time aboard ''Galactica'', Kara's flying skills proves her as one of finest pilots in the Colonial Fleet, but her attitude quickly runs her afoul of other senior officers on-board ship, notably Colonel [[Saul Tigh]], ''Galactica's'' [[Executive officer]]. Tigh and Thrace seem to take an instant dislike to each other, perhaps each seeing a similar level of failure in the other: Tigh with his drinking problem, and Thrace with the knowledge that she caused [[Zak Adama]]'s death. Their open mutual dislike of one another leads to the point where blows are exchanged, with Thrace ending up in the brig ([[Mini-Series]]).

At the time of the Cylon attack she has an apartment in [[Delphi]]. It overlooks a parking lot and had a broken toilet. She was also a very avid painter, and her flat is cluttered with her paintings ([[Valley of Darkness]]).

=== Post-[[Cylon Attack]] ===

Following the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies, Thrace returns to flight status, where she quickly proves her worth as a remarkable pilot - right down to using her own Viper to rescue Lee Adama when his ship is disabled in the [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|escape from Ragnar Anchorage]] ([[Mini-Series]]). This action brings her grudging respect from Colonel Tigh, but she is unable to accept his offer of the olive branch - an act that will have repercussions for her later.
[[image:Bastille_Day-Starbuck_Boxey.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] as acting [[CAG]] with [[Boxey (RDM)|Boxey]] as assistant in [[Bastille Day]]. (C. Sci Fi Channel)]]
After ''Galactica'' suffers a drastic loss of water reserves due to an act of sabotage ([[Water]]), a hostage situation erupts on a [[Astral Queen|prison transport ship]], involving Lee Adama ([[Bastille Day]]). While Captain Adama is being held hostage, Lt. Thrace serves as interim [[CAG]] in the briefing room. Her behavior as acting [[CAG]] is criticized by Tigh.

Thrace aides in assembling a rescue mission on the ''[[Astral Queen]]''. She surprisingly gets the backing of Tigh himself and the acknowledgement that she is the best sharpshooter in the fleet. Following the successful mission, she tries to build a bridge between herself and the XO with a toast (consisting of water), apologizing in much the same way as Tigh himself had tried after their initial escape from [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. But this time it is Tigh that rejects Thrace's apology, stating that her flaws are professional, while his flaws were personal ([[Bastille Day]]).

Having partially admitting her role in Zak Adama's death to Lee Adama ([[Mini-Series]]), Thrace is forced to confront her past head-on when a freak accident on ''Galactica's'' [[Hangar Deck|hangar deck]] kills 13 Viper pilots and puts a further seven pilots in [[sickbay]]. Charged with finding and training new pilots - or "[[nugget|nuggets]]" in the Colonial slang - Thrace faces up to past mistakes, and eventually admits her secret to William Adama himself, an act that brings their close friendship almost to the breaking point ([[Act of Contrition]]).

Shortly after, Thrace engages a fight with eight Cylon Raiders while leading a training flight from ''Galactica'', and is forced to eject from her critically-damaged Viper after her fighter is damaged and goes into an uncontrollable flat spin into the atmosphere of a small moon ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). The crash prompts ''Galactica'' to conduct a system-wide search for her, led by Adama and his son - both reacting to their own guilt at their reactions to her. While the search and rescue operations place the [[Fleet]] at extreme risk, they nevertheless keep the Fleet in the star system long enough for Thrace - nursing a damaged knee - to repair a downed Cylon Raider and get it flying again before using it to return to ''Galactica'' - and provide Adama with vital intelligence on Cylon fighter technology.

Taken off the pilot's active duty roster as a result of her injured leg, Starbuck sees her role become more desk-bound. She is recognized by Commander Adama for her unconventional thinking and is asked to plan a special attack on a Cylon [[tylium]] refinery ([[The Hand of God]]) and also undertakes the interrogation of Cylon prisoners ([[Flesh and Bone]]). The tactical planning role is not something she relishes, and she frequently shows resentment towards others for her condition ([[The Hand of God]]).

The interrogation of [[Leoben Conoy]] is a task Thrace does not particularly wish for, especially when the situation - a nuclear device allegedly hidden on one of the ships in the Fleet - pushes her into some drastic acts to try and extract the information from the Cylon agent ([[Flesh and Bone]]).

Off-duty, Kara maintains her cock-sure personna by playing cards and gambling for money. Her devil-may-care attitude brings her to the attention of Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]], whom she is initially intrigued by ([[Water]]), but whom she quickly comes to despise. However, the devil-may-care approach hides the fact that deep down, she is religious, and frequently turns to the [[Lords of Kobol]] - particularly [[Aphrodite]] and [[Artemis]] - in times of need ([[Mini-Series]], [[Flesh and Bone]]) - even if it is sometimes half-joking ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]).

=== The Arrow of Apollo ===
[[image:Starbuck-Kobols_Last_Gleaming_pt2.jpg|thumb|right|'''Starbuck''' retrieves the [[Arrow of Apollo]] in [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]].]]
Being the only qualified pilot to fly the Cylon Raider, Kara is assigned to plant a nuclear device on board a [[basestar]] in orbit around [[Kobol]]. Before the assignment, she is called to a meeting with [[Laura Roslin]], who convinces Kara to jump to [[The Twelve Colonies#Caprica|Caprica]] and retrieve the [[Arrow of Apollo]]. Disobeying orders, disillusioned after confirming that Commander Adama actually made up that he knew the actual location of [[Earth]], she jumps to Caprica ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]) and lands in [[Delphi]]. Upon recovering the unusual Arrow, she fights a version of [[Number 6]] and luckily defeats the Cylon -- who was mortally wounded after being impaled with a piece of jutting debris.

At the museum, she discovers [[Helo]], whom she thought dead. She also discovers the second copy of [[Sharon Valerii]] and realizes she is a Cylon. Thrace attempts to kill her, but Helo stops her and reveals to Starbuck that the "Caprica" Valerii is pregnant with his child, much to Kara's chagrin. ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]])

Sometime later, Thrace and Helo discover a [[Resistance (movement)|resistance movement]] on Caprica. ([[Resistance]]) Thrace and the Resistance leader, [[Samuel Anders]], strike up a rapport and end up as lovers. Kara is shot in a military action, waking up in a hospital on Caprica ([[The Farm]]). Mysterious surgeries by a doctor named [[Simon]] lead her to suspect his motives. She discovers that Simon is a Cylon agent, working with a copy of [[Number Six]], and that the next day he is planning to extract her ovaries for use in the Cylon's attempts to study and create a hybrid Cylon/human embryo. Staggering and in pain, Thrace later kills Simon and manages to escape to the front of the hospital, but not before clocking a Six copy with a fire extinguisher and destroying the local farm power supply, mercy-killing [[Sue-Shaun]] and several other women in the facility.

Another copy of Simon appears just as the Resistance attacks the facility. The second Simon is immediately killed by the Resistance, but a squad of [[Cylon Centurion]]s appear and pins the Resistance down. Luckily, the Caprica copy of [[Sharon Valerii]] swoops in with a stolen [[Heavy Raider]], destroys the Centurions and flies the Resistance and Thrace out of harm's way.

Thrace promises to Anders that she'll return with a rescue mission for the remaining survivors, leaving him her [[Identification Tags|identification tags]] as a promise and friendship token. Anders returns the Arrow of Apollo to Thrace, which he hid on the resistance grounds for safekeeping.

Thrace, Helo and the pregnant Valerii land on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' in the Heavy Raider. Finding the [[Laura Roslin faction]] in orbit of [[Kobol]], Kara is reunited with Lee. He kisses her impulsively, catching Kara by pleasant surprise, but a tense standoff follows when Apollo discovers that another Valerii copy has returned with them. Roslin helps defuse the situation, and Thrace delivers the Arrow of Apollo to the President.

Temporarily removed from the protocol of military discipline a few hours before their departure to Kobol's surface, Lee playfully teases Kara by stealing a [[pyramid]] ball she took from Caprica. Lee senses her depression about Caprica and tells her that he'd be happy to hear about any problems she had. He also let slip that he loved her, which brightened Kara's mood to the point where she teased him back about the gaffe.

With a team led by Laura Roslin, Lee Adama, and, later, joined by the recovered Commander Adama, Thrace enters the [[Tomb of Athena]] and successfully uses the Arrow of Apollo to activate a hologram that shows constellations of the Twelve Colonies' ancient symbols.

:'''[[Billy Keikeya]]''': Uh... where the hell are we? 
:'''Laura Roslin''': I don't know. Tomb of Athena, I think. 
:'''Commander Adama''': I thought we were already in the tomb. 
:'''Kara Thrace''': I think that was the lobby. 

Thrace realizes that they are on a recreation of Earth, and realizes they are seeing, in a sense, what their brothers would see in Earth's sky. Together with Lee Adama, they locate the Lagoon Nebula, a celestial body known to Commander Adama and Lee Adama, and gather sufficient information to begin an actual course to Earth ([[Home, Part II]]).

Thrace and Lee Adama continue to appear more and more comfortable in their working and off-duty friendship. They compliment each other often when in live-fire encounters ([[Home, Part II]]) as well as off-duty practice ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]). Thrace never fails to tease Lee when she can, showing off the impressive stealth abilities and her flying skills of the new [[Blackbird]] fighter in her maiden flight ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

=== The ''Pegasus'' ===

With the initially welcome discovery of another Colonial battlestar, ''[[Pegasus]]'', Admiral [[Helena Cain]] summarily assigns Thrace (and Lee Adama) to ''Pegasus'' after digesting the reports of ''Galactica'''s officers, which is a source of irritation for Commander [[William Adama]].

After critically commenting against ''Pegasus'' [[CAG]] Captain [[Cole Taylor]]'s plan to recon the [[Unknown Cylon Ship]] tracking the [[Fleet]], Taylor removes Thrace from the mission. Lee Adama, also miffed by Thrace's and his change in seniority, secretly tells her to use the newly built [[Blackbird]] stealth craft to take recon photos of the Cylon Unknown. Adama believes that the stealth craft has a better chance of taking reconnaissance photos due to its stealth abilities; like Thrace, he believes that Vipers and a Raptor wouldn't be an effective recon force. ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]])

Thrace is away on her covert recon mission, unaware of the showdown between Commander Adama and Admiral Cain over Cain's totalitarian command style in her quick conviction of [[Karl Agathon|Helo]] and [[Galen Tyrol]] for the accidental death of "Cylon interrogator" Lt. [[Alistair Thorne]].

==Notes==

According to SkyOne, Thrace was born on Picon but raised all over the Twelve Colonies. Her mother was a Sergent Major in the Colonial [[Marines]] and a decorated veteran of the [[First Cylon War]]. Her father was named Dreilide, and is described as a "frustrated" musician.

Here is SkyOne's summary of Thrace:

:''Starbuck is Commander Adama's best pilot, as well as flight partner and closest comrade to Apollo, Adama's estranged son.''

:''Kara Thrace was born on the Picon Colony, but raised all over the 12 Colonies. Her childhood was spent bouncing from one military outpost to another. Her mother was a sergeant major in the Colonial Marines, and a decorated veteran of the Cylon war. Her father, Dreilide, was a frustrated musician.''

:''Kara was a tough minded-child who dreamed of playing Pyramid in the big leagues someday. her mother wanted her to pursue a career in the military...Kara did not want this, so signed up to the academy to pursue her love of sports.''

:''Her future as a sports star ended when she was seriously injured, shattering her right knee. Most surgeons felt her knee would never be the same. Depressed, Kara applied to various post-graduate posts, but doubted she would be accepted. To her surprise, she scored the highest academic record for a flight-training exam. Kara soon discovered a love of flying.''

:''She would be a pilot for life - unless she got kicked out first, as Kara hated taking orders and military protocol. If that wasn't enough, Kara drank and gambled too much. While her academic and personal life was not first class, it couldn't be disputed that she was destined to fly.''

:''Kara served her first tour aboard the Battlestar Triton, but she was not admired by all, and soon found herself shipped back to where she started.''

:''This is where she met Zak Adama, and fell in love. Tragedy struck when Zak failed a key flight test and his plane crashed. Kara was devestated. She then spent two years on the Galactica - concentrating on her flying.''

As this information has not appeared on the Scifi.com series website or on screen, it has yet to be confirmed.

=== Additional Notes ===

*[[Wikipedia:Thrace|Thrace]] was a region in south-eastern Europe that was heavily influenced by the ancient Greeks and was eventually conquered by [[Wikipedia:Philip_II_of_Macedonia|Phillip II of Macedonia]].

[[Category:A to Z|Thrace, Kara]]
[[Category:Characters|Thrace, Kara]]
[[Category:RDM|Thrace, Kara]]