Battle of Ragnar Anchorage

Battle of Ragnar Anchorage
Galactica provides cover fire while the civilian Fleet escapes
Galactica provides cover fire while the civilian Fleet escapes
Summary
Conflict:	Second Cylon war
Date:	Days 1-6
Related Episode(s):
Place:	Ragnar Anchorage
Result:	Successful escape from Cylon-occupied Colonial space
Combatants Remnants of the Colonial Fleet Cylons Commanders Commander William Adama Unknown Strength 1 Battlestar, 40 Vipers, Raptors 3 Basestars, associated Raiders Materiel Losses Approximately 4 Vipers Unknown, minimal Casualties 1,345 civilians Unknown, minimal
[[Colonial battles chronology ({{{series}}})|Battle Chronology]]
Previous Next Fall of the Twelve Colonies Battle of Ragnar Anchorage Skirmish over the Red Moon

The Battle of Ragnar Anchorage is the successful breakthrough by Galactica from a Cylon blockade around Ragnar Anchorage, and subsequent escape from its armada after being tracked and attacked for 5 continuous days (Miniseries, "33").

Battlestar Galactica is the only known surviving capital ship able to mount a counterattack against the Cylons after the devastating attack that leads to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. After getting word that many battlestars, including flagship battlestar Atlantia and its fleet admiral, are destroyed, Commander William Adama assumes command of the Colonial Fleet and orders them to rendezvous with his ship at a munitions depot, Ragnar Anchorage, for counterattack preparation. Orbiting within the tenuous upper atmosphere of the gas giant Ragnar, the ammunition station holds critical ordinance needed by Galactica, which had destroyed its own munitions earlier as part of its scheduled decommissioning. The depot's location offered effective cover against Cylon attack as a particular form of electromagnetic radiation generated by the planet's upper atmosphere causes damage to Cylon technology with sufficient exposure, and also jams any DRADIS detection, making attacking within the cloud threshold problematic at best.

Galactica is joined by a convoy of faster-than-light capable civilian ships rescued from throughout the spacelanes near Caprica, led by new President Laura Roslin. Despite the overwhelming odds, Commander Adama intends to proceed with a counter-offensive. However, after persuasion by Roslin, Adama realizes that the ship was in a no-win battle situation: the Colonies are destroyed, Galactica is massively outnumbered, the human race is near extinction, and he is surrounded by nearly 50,000 of the only known survivors. Adama decides to take the new rag-tag fleet away from the home solar system of the Colonies, towards the Prolmar Sector, never to return.

Lt. Kara Thrace discovers at least two Cylon basestars and their fighters outside of the cloud during a reconnaissance mission. With an avoidance of attack made impossible since a Jump within the cloud would likely distort the FTL calculations with fatal results, Galactica leaves the storm and orients itself as a shield for the remainder of the Fleet to safely Jump from behind the battlestar and to their new coordinates. With her weapons now fully armed, Galactica creates a defense perimeter against two basestars while her Vipers engage any Cylon Raiders that attempt to move around Galactica and to her fleet. A third basestar later appears and threatens to pummel Galactica with successive missiles.

Once the last civilian ship is away and the last of the Vipers returned to the flight pod, Galactica Jumps away to escape the onslaught.

After the battle ends at Ragnar, approximately 1 day later, the Cylons continued tracking and pursuing the remnant of the Colonial Fleet, appearing every 33 minutes for five consecutive days and over 240 Jumps (33). A passenger liner, the Olympic Carrier, failed to Jump with the Fleet in a recent escape. The Cylons also fail to attack in the same 33-minute interval. When the Carrier reappears a short time later, a suspicious Adama commands the 33-minute countdown to resume immediately. Adama's fears about the Carrier are confirmed when the Cylons appear 33 minutes after the Carrier's return, indicating the Carrier was used to track the Fleet throughout that time. When Galactica detects a radiological signature from the Olympic Carrier, suggesting it was boarded by Cylons and now carries a nuclear warhead, Vipers are dispatched to destroy the Carrier. After the Fleet Jumps once more, the Cylons could longer immediately track their movements.