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 Basestar command Strength 1 battlestar, 40 Vipers, Raptors 3 basestars, associated Raiders Materiel Losses At least 8 Vipers Unknown, minimal Casualties 1,345 civilians Unknown, dozens of Raiders
Battle Chronology
Previous Next Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards Battle of Ragnar Anchorage Battle of the Communications Relay

The Battle of Ragnar Anchorage marks battlestar Galactica's successful penetration of a Cylon blockade surrounding Ragnar Anchorage. Additionally, it documents the escape of Galactica and her fleet from 5 days of continuous attack by a Cylon armada (Miniseries, "33").

Upon receiving telemetry that many Colonial Fleet vessels, including flagship battlestar Atlantia, have been destroyed in a surprise attack by the Cylons, Commander William Adama assumes command of the Colonial Fleet. He promptly orders all surviving units to rendezvous with Galactica at a remote munitions depot - Ragnar Anchorage - for a planned counter-attack.

Orbiting within the tenuous upper atmosphere of the gas giant Ragnar, the Anchorage holds critical ordnance for Galactica - which had destroyed its own munitions as part of its scheduled decommissioning. The depot's location also offers effective cover against Cylon attack, as a particular form of electromagnetic radiation generated by the planet's upper atmosphere causes damage to Cylon hardware after sufficient exposure. It also interferes with DRADIS detection, making assaults within the cloud threshold problematic at best.

Galactica reaches the rendezvous point by FTL jump, by-passing the Cylon fleet that lies between it and the depot. Not long after arriving at Ragnar Anchorage, Galactica is joined by a convoy of FTL-capable civilian ships rescued from the space-lanes around Caprica by the recently appointed President Laura Roslin. As no other military vessels rendezvous at the designated coordinates, it is concluded that Galactica is the last known capital ship able to mount a counter-attack against the Cylons.

Despite the overwhelming odds, Commander Adama intends to proceed with a counter-offensive. After some persuasion by President Roslin, Adama realizes that they are in a no-win situation; Galactica is hopelessly outnumbered, the Colonies are destroyed, and he is surrounded by nearly 50,000 of mankind's only known survivors. He resolves to take the remnants of humanity away from the home solar system of the Twelve Colonies, towards the Prolmar Sector, never to return.

Because FTL calculations are distorted by the gas giant's ambient radiation, the Fleet will have to venture outside the protection of Ragnar's atmosphere to complete the necessary jump. During a reconnaissance mission of the surrounding space, Lieutenant Thrace discovers two Cylon basestars and hundreds of accompanying fighters orbiting Ragnar. Their presence severely diminishes Galactica's odds in an offensive engagement, and places the Fleet in incredible danger.

Galactica departs from the Anchorage first and positions itself at the mouth of a storm on Ragnar's surface - acting as a shield for the Fleet as they escape to the specified coordinates. With her batteries fully armed, Galactica creates a defense perimeter and engages the basestars. The battlestar then launches its Vipers, directing them to engage the Raiders that the Cylons deploy. Meanwhile, a third basestar appears and pummels Galactica with successive missile strikes.

When the last civilian ship is clear and the remaining Vipers return to the Galactica, the battlestar jumps. The Cylons enter Ragnar Anchorage shortly after the battle, and retrieve a suspected Cylon agent left there by the Colonials, a Number Five copy posing as a man named Aaron Doral (Miniseries).

The Chase

Approximately one day after the struggle at Ragnar, the Colonials are surprised to find the Cylons still pursuing them - the vastness of space should make such a feat virtually impossible. Instead, the Cylons jump into range and attack every 33 minutes for 5 consecutive days and over 240 jumps, launching waves of missiles and deploying hundreds of Raiders against the Fleet.

However, when the Olympic Carrier (a passenger liner listed to carry over 1000 civilians) fails to join the Fleet after a jump, the Cylons fail to appear as well. After the vessel re-emerges, a suspicious Adama orders the 33-minute countdown to recommence, speculating that the Cylons are tracking the ship. His fears about the Olympic Carrier are confirmed when the Cylons appear 33 minutes after its return.

Dualla then detects a radiological signature emanating from the Olympic Carrier, suggesting that the vessel has been boarded and now carries a nuclear warhead. In response to this threat, Adama orders Vipers dispatched to intercept and destroy the approaching ship.

Ultimately Lee Adama makes the difficult decision to fire on the civilian craft, safe-guarding the remnants of mankind from the marauding Cylons in the process. The Fleet jumps once more, and the enemy is no longer able track them (33).