Name: Boomer
Position: Blue Squadron Viper Pilot, Battlestar Galactica
Colony: Caprica
Portrayed By: Herb Jefferson, Jr.
Biography[edit]
Boomer is a reserved, thoughtful and loyal survivor of the Cylon's wholesale slaughter of Humanity. (Saga of a Star World) He became a Viper pilot attached to the Battlestar Galactica sometime after his tours of duty on planets. (Gun on Ice Planet Zero) His seems the antithesis of his closest friend, Lieutenant Starbuck, and tends to be logical. Like Starbuck, however, he is also the consummate Viper pilot, willing to risk his life for friend and innocent. (Saga of a Star World)
While there are gaps in his history, Boomer once pulled a tour of duty at Ice Station Thola; the experience of which would later be useful for taking out the Cylon occupied Ravishol Pulsar weapon on Arcta. (Gun on Ice Planet Zero) He also is fluent in Gemonese, which would have aided communications between Apollo and the Gemon woman on the freighter Gemini if it were not for Cassiopeia's assistance. (Saga of a Star World) His tour de force with appropriation of hovermobiles during his adolescense also proved resourceful during the ship-wide disaster that struck the Galactica within the first year of her flight. (Fire in Space)
Boomer was instrumental in clearing the Cylon-laid minefield in the Straits of Madagon, for which he would later earn a Gold Cluster for by the behests of Sire Uri -- albeit under a basically shrewd pretense to call for the disarmament of the remaining Colonials on Carillon. Boomer was the first person to pick up on the apparent façade projected by their Ovion hosts, although Starbuck attempted to ineffectively rebuke it. He was instrumental in also picking up on Adama's deception with people donning Colonial Warrior uniforms during the aborted ceremonies. (Saga of a Star World)
Boomer and another friend, Flight Sergeant Jolly, happened upon a Cylon outpost, skipping decontamination and brought back a deadly viral agent that incapacitated all people that the two were in contact with. He and Jolly managed to incapacitate a majority of the pilots, thus necessitating replacements from Colonial Shuttle corps. (Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I) After he and the fellow pilots were recovered, Boomer spearheaded a revival of the original Blue Squadron, although they were still under the afflictions of the virus' symptoms. (Lost Planet of the Gods, Part II)
Boomer and Starbuck also managed to recover Flight Captain Apollo from Equellus, after obtaining permission from Commander Adama. (It is fairly obvious that they would have gone anyway without the Commander's permission; Adama ordered that no search be done for Apollo due to the perception he would favor his son over the Fleet's safety. (The Lost Warrior) The lieutenant subsequently saved his friend Starbuck from the Proteus prison planetoid, as well as the planetoid itself from Cylon attack. (Although Starbuck wasn't too pleased in finding out that, as a result of the battle, valuable ambrosia was set aflame.) (The Long Patrol)
Another instrumental strike mission was on the ice planet of Arcta, which he was involved in due to his experience on Thola station; and during the recruitment procedures, Boomer parlayed the hypothesis that someone (Starbuck) manipulated the computer records so that he would be added to the mission team. Lead by Starbuck, he was instrumental in taking out the Cylon garrison while Apollo, Croft and Leda took the pulsar's mechanisms in tandem. The mission was a success, however it was not without its problems. (Gun on Ice Planet Zero)
When the Fleet was suffering from a lack of nourishment, due to the Cylon's successful destruction of the Fleet's food stores, Boomer and Starbuck were tasked to trade Siress Belloby's energizer for seed on agron colony Sectar. Unfortunately, the energizer was stolen from their hands and he went to report this back to Adama while Starbuck managed to win his way into Serenity's constable position for the short term. (The Magnificent Warriors)
Boomer was forced to see Starbuck into a controlled crash-landing on the Delta-class marsh planet of Antilla, and went back to the Fleet to procure assistance. Apollo and Boomer landed on the planet sometime later to see that the Cylons, lead by the unscrupulous Specter, flee the planet. Of course, when they were leaving, Boomer voiced the age-old question of Starbuck's charm on women to his Flight Captain: "How does he do it?" (The Young Lords)
When the return of Commander Cain was upon them, as well as the need for fuel, Boomer was attached to the commando unit that eliminated the Cylon's control center on Gamoray and pilfering fuel from Cylon storage depots for the Fleet. (The Living Legend)
Later on, he was also instrumental in the rescue and well-being of everyone trapped in the Rejuvenation Center during the massive fire on the battlestar, managing to open a door in another section of the ship. Unfortunately, he could not jury-rig additional doors as a fire on the other side blocked the only door within the storage room adjoining to the Center. He was, however, instrumental in getting a note to Colonel Tigh, informing him that they were alive and needed to be rescued. (Fire in Space)
Later on, he was one of the many warriors to disappear into the Ship of Lights, although before this Iblis influenced him in a game of Triad against Apollo and Starbuck. This caused the defeat of their Red Team, but since there was interference it probably wasn't considered a win for him, although he was tired of losing to both Warriors. (War of the Gods)
He later questioned Chameleon, who claimed to be Starbuck's father, breaking up a situation that happened nearly a centar prior concerning the Borellian Nomen and Taba's activated laser bola. He filled in Apollo on his hunch, and it turns out to be true as the two warriors attempted to get something out of the man. Of course, the story Chameleon told them about testing a Nomen child wasn't true, and subsequently discovered that Chameleon was fleeing from them as he swindled Maga and his Nomen. He also discovered the two Nomen, Maga and Bora, miraculously alive in the launch tube after Chameleon fired the Vipers lasers at them. (The Man With Nine Lives)
The lieutenant was also placed in the position to defend his friend, Starbuck, from a crime he didn't commit: the termination of Flight Sergeant Ortega. He and Apollo managed to find out that Ortega had been blackmailing three people, Karibdis, Riftis, and Elias, whom bribed the warrior for passage off the planet Caprica (TOS) through the Rising Star. In a brash and rare act of insubordination, he activated Alpha Channel without consent, where he claimed in front of the Tribunal that their defense was. This act saved Starbuck from being tried as a killer and sentenced to rotting in the Prison Barge with characters that would had liked to get their hands on him… (The Murder on the Rising Star)
Boomer was instrumental in fooling the Council Security officers and spectators to the "unloading" of Michael (TOS) and his passengers from the Terran space vehicle, as Salik, Adama, Apollo, and Starbuck believed that the only way these "Earthlings" could be saved was by getting them off the Galactica. When found out, he uttered, "Jolly, you forgot the kids!" (Greetings from Earth)
Sometime later, he and Sheba were assigned to transfer the Eastern Alliance prisoners along with two other snobbish security "blackshirts". He managed to cause the shuttle's gravitational field to deviate, causing the immature Council Security men to quiet themselves, at least temporarily. Although the Security men threatened (privately, of course) to report him, this was later forgotten or deemed unimportant as these same guards -- and the two Colonial Warriors -- were taken hostage by Baltar (TOS), the Nomen, and Commandant Leiter's people. Baltar threatened to kill him, eleven members of the Quorum, and the three original occupants by destroying the shuttle with explosive charges. Yet, they managed to get through the situation unscathed, as Starbuck and Apollo relieved Baltar of the detonator once on his raider. (Baltar's Escape)
Something of an electronic/communications expert, Starbuck, Apollo, Cassiopeia, and Sheba turned to him for assistance on a recording they'd discovered on a Gamma Frequency in a Celestial Temple. However, despite his attempts, he managed to get only some clarity out of it; of course, he wasn't able to consult Doctor Wilker on it as the recording was destroyed in the Galactica's attack on the lone base star.
His desire to go with Apollo and Starbuck on the mission to board the base star was outweighed by his experience as a Viper flight leader, where he was most needed. Along with a worried Sheba, he managed to occupy the Cylon's raiders while the Galactica destroyed the base star. Alas, Starbuck and Apollo lost their transmitter, thus being unable to identify themselves by scanning. Boomer, however, noticed an irregular pattern in the flying, and claimed with joy that Apollo and Starbuck piloted the raider since "They're waggling!"
Despite the recording's destruction, Boomer set up a Gamma Frequency booster for Apollo, which did pick up a signal… (The Hand of God) However it is unknown whether or not Apollo detected anything with Boomer's contrivance.
Notes[edit]
Herb Jefferson, Jr. returned to the Battlestar "spin-off" series, Galactica 1980 promoted to colonel.