| Battle of the Tylium Asteroid | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | Second Cylon war | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | Day 36 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Interstellar space, specific location unknown | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Resupply of Tylium ore, needed for ship fuel | ||||||||||||||||
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Battlestar Galactica and her fleet are in desperate need of refueling and liberate a tylium ore refinery from the Cylons. (The Hand of God)
After exhausting much of its fuel reserves from its initial fleeing from the Cylon forces (33) and after a difficult rescue of Kara Thrace (You Can't Go Home Again), Battlestar Galactica sends its Raptors to outlying star systems in search of the mineral tylium, used as a fuel for all ships in the fleet.
They locate an asteroid rich with tylium, but also occupied by the Cylons and fortified with Raider squads to defend it. Adama decides to take the asteroid with a daring plan, utilizing the recovering Kara Thrace to lead the attack plan and pilot Lee Adama to lead the Viper crew.
Galactica pulls a double-feint; it first uses a cargo carrier to lure the Cylons, which soon see a squad of Vipers that are approaching the asteroid from the opposite location. The Cylons believe the freighter to be a diversion.
Shortly after they break off their approach to the freighter and turn to engage the first wave of Vipers, a second squad of Vipers emerges from hiding from inside the cargo ships to attack the base. Lee Adama commands others to hold back as he successfully flies through the refinery to destroy a key element on the refinery's surface. This ignites the refinery's stores and destroys it. Galactica and her Vipers destroy any remaining Cylon Raiders before they can alert reinforcements.