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 represents the 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, to which he orders any surviving units to rendezvous with Galactica at a remote munitions depot, Ragnar Anchorage, for a planned counter-attack. Galactica herself reaches the rendezvous point by FTL jump as a means of bypassing the Cylon fleet.

Orbiting within the tenuous upper atmosphere of the gas giant Ragnar, the munitions depot 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 interference or damage to Cylon technology after sufficient exposure. It also interferes with DRADIS detection, making assaults within the cloud threshold problematic at best.

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 show at the designated coordinates, it is deduced 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, but President Roslin makes him realize 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. Adama resolves to take the remnants of humanity away from the home solar system of the Twelve Colonies, towards the Prolmar Sector, never to return.

As FTL calculations will likely be 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 area, 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 leaves 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 jump to the specified coordinates. With her batteries fully armed, Galactica engages the Cylon basestars, creating a defense perimter and allowing the civilian ships to jump away. Galactica launches its Vipers to engage the Raiders the protect the escaping civilian vessels. A third basestar soon appears to pummel the battlestar with successive missile strikes.

Once the last civilian ship is clear and the remaining Vipers have returned to the flight pod, Galactica jumps. The Cylons enter the station 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 makes such a feat virtually impossible. They 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, assuming that the Cylons are tracking the ship. His fears about the Olympic Carrier are confirmed when the Cylons appear 33 minutes after its return.

Galactica then detects a radiological signature emanating from the Olympic Carrier. This suggests that the vessel has been boarded and now carries a nuclear warhead. In response to this threat, Vipers are 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 marauding Cylons in the process. After the Fleet jumps once more, the enemy is no longer able track their immediate movements (33).