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 ; 80-90 Vipers, Approx 30 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
Battle Chronology

The Battle of the Binary Star System takes place when the battlestar Pegasus jumps into the system to rescue a pair of missing Raptors, which are used by three Cylon basestars to lure it into a trap.

Prior to the battle, the Cylons draw two of Pegasus's Raptors out into a shroud of electro-magnetic interference (EMI) generated by a binary star system. Once the Raptors are there, the Cylons kill the crews and leave the craft intact and adrift at the edge of the Colonials' DRADIS range, appearing disabled and unresponsive to wireless. The new commander of Pegasus, Barry Garner, disobeys Admiral William Adama's orders and takes the battlestar in to rescue the Raptors, launching a five-Raptor SAR mission once there.

Once Pegasus arrives, three Cylon basestars jump in and launch a full salvo of tactical nuclear missiles, scoring two hits on her stern. Pegasus's air wing, already spaceborne and commanded by Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, engage the Cylons. The Cylon basestars ignore the Vipers and focus their attention on Pegasus and scoring a third nuclear missile hit and damaging the topside heat exchanger.

An engineering officer with no combat command experience, Commander Garner is unable to deal with the situation effectively. Worse yet, the heavy Cylon barrage damages the Pegasus's FTL drive, cutting off a retreat. Realizing he is most competent leading the engineering teams, Garner turns over command to his recently-promoted executive officer, Major Lee Adama, and heads below to direct the repairs.

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 hidden from direct fire. He orders Starbuck and Showboat to have the Vipers concentrate on defending the damaged portions of Pegasus from further attacks, and directs the battlestar's forward batteries to fire on the closest basestar. His tactic works and they inflict severe damage to the targeted 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 time running out for Pegasus, 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 a recall of all Vipers and a jump back to the Fleet.

Pegasus suffers relatively minor damage and few casualties, but she has lost her third commanding officer since the destruction of the Resurrection Ship. For his command ability in returning Pegasus against heavy odds, Admiral Adama promotes Major Adama to the rank of Commander and gives him 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]

[2]