Mercury class battlestar

Battlestar Pegasus

Battlestar Pegasus

The Mercury class battlestar is an advanced warship introduced into the Colonial Fleet sometime after the First Cylon War. For the unnamed original class, to which Galactica belongs, see Original Battlestar (RDM).

Overview

Following the end of the Cylon War, the original battlestars remained in service, and other battlestars were built. Their numbers steadily increased to a grand total of 120 ships in the Colonial Fleet. New models employed technologies, such as networked computers, which had been prohibited during the war (Mini-Series). A Mercury-class battlestar therefore sports several features not found aboard Galactica such as automated sliding doorways and basic computer recognition stations at vital areas. At the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, a Mercury-class battlestar was a top-of-the-line craft.

The physical appearance of the Mercury-class is different than that of the original battlestar. The "neck" section is smaller, and the Mercury-class is equipped with eight sublight engine pods, compared the older class's four. These are also more "boxy" in appearance than those of the original. The flight pods also appear to have two entrances each, above and below the midline. Unlike Galactica, Pegasus appears to have a full armor "skin", but in Galactica's case this may have been deliberately removed prior to its decommissioning.

Based on figures from the episode "Pegasus", the standard crew complement of a Mercury-class battlestar is in excess of 2,500.

Also, in addition to having better armament and weapons than the Galactica the Mercury Class Battlestar also features a Strike Craft Fabrication Facility, allowing them to build new Vipers to replace combat losses in-the-field. (This was mentioned breifly in the episode "Scar" (Season 2.5)). The Fabrication Facility is known to be capable of producing Vipers. It seems likely that it also can produce the Raptors as well, or else contains a seperate facility for the fabrication of such vessels.

Known Mercury-class Battlestars

• Battlestar Mercury, for which it presumed the class is named
• Battlestar Pegasus (Resistance, Pegasus)

Notes

Original series/Mercury class comparison

The shape of the Mercury-class resembles the original series battlestar more than the re-imagined Galactica. Its engine pods number eight, compared to the Galactica's six, and appear more directly integrated with its rear section, and its flight pods share the original's angular shape.

The visual effects artist of the re-imagined Pegasus, Jose A. Perez, has commented that, "The new design was somewhat of a cross between the look of the old class battlestars, and yet with elements of the new one. Aside from that, it has mostly hull plating (to absorb more damage) , as opposed to the Galactica which has more ribbing." Mr. Perez also commented that, "The harder edges [ of the Pegasus ] were intentional as well, to match the interior style of the sets more." Template:Source