Battle of the Binary Star System

Battle of the Binary Star System
	Battle of the Binary Star System
	Battle of the Binary Star System
Summary
Conflict:	Second Cylon war
Date:	8 months after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies
Related Episode(s):
Place:	Unnamed binary star system
Result:	Tactical Cylon victory
Combatants
Remnants of the Colonial Fleet	Cylons
Commanders
Commander Barry Garner† ; Major Lee Adama	Basestar command
Strength
Mercury class battlestar Pegasus ; Associated Vipers, associated Raptors	3 basestars, associated Raiders, Heavy Raiders
Materiel Losses
2 Raptors, heavy damage to Pegasus	1 basestar heavily damaged
Casualties
Richard Bayer; Lyla Ellway; Barry Garner ; 2 man crew of Raptor 314	Unknown, dozens of Raiders
[[Colonial battles chronology ({{{series}}})\|Battle Chronology]]

The Battle of the Binary Star System takes place when the battlestar Pegasus is lured into a trap by three Cylon basestars while searching for a pair of missing Raptors.

Prior to the battle, The Cylons draw two of Pegasus' Raptors out into a shroud of electro-magnetic interference (EMI) generated by a binary star system. Once the Raptors are there, the crews are killed and the craft left intact and adrift at the edge of the Colonials' DRADIS range. By all available data, the craft appear disabled and non-responsive. The new commander of Pegasus, Barry Garner, disobeys Admiral William Adama's warning and takes the battlestar in to rescue the Raptors, launching a five-Raptor SAR mission once there.

Once Pegasus takes the bait and enters the region, three Cylon basestars jump in and launch a full salvo of tactical nuclear missiles, scoring two hits on the stern of the battlestar. Pegasus' air wing, already spaceborne under the command of Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, engage the Cylons and return fire. Virtually ignoring the Vipers, the Cylon basestars focus their efforts on Pegasus and produce a third nuclear missile hit on the battlestar, resulting in damage to the topside heat exchanger.

Having been an engineering officer with no experience in combat, Commander Garner proves unable to deal with the situation effectively. Worse yet, the heavy barrage dealt by the Cylons damages the Pegasus' FTL drive, making escape from the area impossible. Realizing his skills would be most effective in engineering, Garner voluntarily transfers command to (newly promoted) Major Lee Adama, and dashes below to Engineering to help.

After a moment of hesitation, Major Adama orders Pegasus to make for the nearest basestar, while rolling the ship over to keep its damaged dorsal side out of the line of fire. He orders Starbuck and Showboat to take the rest of the Vipers and concentrate on defending the compromised portions of Pegasus from further damage, while directing the battlestar's forward batteries to fire on the closest of the three basestars. His tactic is successful and they manage to inflict severe damage to the basestar's central axis, buying Pegasus more time. The wounded basestar hastily withdraws from combat^[1].

Meanwhile, Commander Garner determines that a hull breach prevents technicians from opening an auxiliary coolant valve crucial to re-starting the FTL drive. With Pegasus unable to last much longer against the Cylons, he valiantly enters the compartment himself, opens the valve, and restores the FTL drive before dying of asphyxiation^[2] . With the FTL drive restored, Major Adama orders all fighters to return to Pegasus, and for the ship to initiate a jump.

Pegasus returns to the relative safety of the Fleet with relatively minor damage and few casualties. However, she has lost her third commanding officer since the destruction of the Resurrection Ship.

Lee Adama's tour under the rank of major is short-lived. For his efforts in returning Pegasus under dangerous odds, Admiral Adama awards him with the rank of Commander and the command of Pegasus (The Captain's Hand).

References

↑ This is the first documented occurrence of a basestar diverging from their normal tactic of fighting to the death, perhaps due to the loss of the Resurrection Ship some time earlier.
↑ See NASA JPL scientist Geoffrey Landis' description on what happens from vacuum exposure. Garner must have died of asyphxiation, not vacuum exposure, as it takes him more than 30-45 seconds to open the auxiliary valves. Vacuum exposure would cause unconsciousness within 9 to 11 seconds. While his engineers watched the oxygen levels drop, the atmospheric pressure in the compartment was sufficiently high not to be a vacuum, but not sufficiently pressurized to allow breathing.

[1] This is the first documented occurrence of a basestar diverging from their normal tactic of fighting to the death, perhaps due to the loss of the Resurrection Ship some time earlier.

[2] See NASA JPL scientist Geoffrey Landis' description on what happens from vacuum exposure. Garner must have died of asyphxiation, not vacuum exposure, as it takes him more than 30-45 seconds to open the auxiliary valves. Vacuum exposure would cause unconsciousness within 9 to 11 seconds. While his engineers watched the oxygen levels drop, the atmospheric pressure in the compartment was sufficiently high not to be a vacuum, but not sufficiently pressurized to allow breathing.

[1]

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