Resurrection Ship

This article deals with the ship. For the episodes of the same name, see "Resurrection Ship, Part I" and Resurrection Ship, Part II".

Pegasus reconnaissance photos

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The Resurrection Ship up close

The Resurrection Ship is a large vessel specifically dedicated to the "resurrection" of Cylon humanoids who are killed. Normally, upon death, their consciousnesses are downloaded into new identical bodies on the Cylon homeworld, but for Cylon agents located farther and farther away from home - such as those aboard the humans' refugee Fleet - this is not possible, as the download range of a humanoid Cylon is limited.

For this reason, when the Cylons began pursuing The Fleet, they incorporated the Resurrection Ship at the center of their pursuit force, to provide their agents with a fallback position; if they were killed, their consciousnesses could be downloaded to new bodies without concern. Without that ship, a killed Cylon would truly die, as their consciousnesses also would be cut off.

Based on testimony provided by Gina and on reconnaisance photos taken by Kara Thrace on the Blackbird, the ship contains multiple copies of Humano-Cylon models, along with all the apparatus necessary for resurrection. (Resurrection Ship, Part I).

An interior view of the Cylon Resurrection Ship

Pursuing The Fleet

When Pegasus happened upon a Resurrection Ship, later found to be pursuing The Fleet, they found that the ship was escorted by two basestars and approximately a dozen support vessels. It is assumed that the ships were following the Fleet since the exodus from the Colonies.

According to a copy of D'anna Biers on Caprica, two Cylon Raiders from this Cylon fleet were destroyed relaying a documentary on Galactica's crew back to "the Fleet", presumably the main one guarding this ship ("Final Cut"). The battlestar Pegasus located this ship and its escorts sometime after the Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards and used it to locate Galactica.

Prior to Thrace's recon flight, the function of such a ship was a complete mystery. Admiral Cain speculated that it was a command and control ship, while Adama suggested that it might be a Raider factory. The two ships rendezvoused and began planning an offensive strike on it, but tension between Admiral Helena Cain and Commander William Adama quickly escalated and threatened to derail the operation ("Pegasus"). Only after Thrace's arrival with data regarding the resurrection ship did the standoff end.

Destruction

In a joint operation by the both Galactica and Pegasus, the resurrection ship was disabled and then destroyed. (Resurrection Ship, Part II). This was done using a number of Colonial civilian transports left to bait ships from the Cylon Fleet; those ships were then engaged and occupied by the Vipers protecting the "helpless" Colonial ships.

With the Cylon fleet divided, the two battlestars then attacked the two basestars protecting the resurrection ship. As the resurrection ship attempted to flee, the Blackbird piloted by Lieutenant Lee Adama was able to slip inside and disable the ship's FTL drive. With the two escort basestars being blown to pieces by the battlestars, the resurrection ship, now dead in the water, was quickly torn apart by all the remaining Viper squadrons, lead by Thrace.

After its destruction, the imprisoned Cylon Sharon Valerii revealed to Thrace that the resurrection ship had also served to ressurect the consciousnesses of destroyed Cylon Raiders. The loss has forced Raiders to change their attack tactics from frontal assuaults on the Fleet en masse to more cautious hit-and-run strikes and coy traps ("Scar" and "The Captain's Hand).