Battle of the Communications Relay

Battle of the Communications Relay
Battle of the Communications Relay
Battle of the Communications Relay
Summary
Conflict:	Second Cylon War
Date:	Circa Day 7
Related Episode(s):
Place:	Unspecified Cylon staging area
Result:	Pyrrhic Colonial victory
Combatants Battlestar Pegasus Cylons Commanders Admiral Helena Cain Unknown Strength Pegasus, approx 180 Vipers At least 15 squadrons of Raiders and Heavy Raiders Centurions Materiel Losses 32 Vipers destroyed, 61 damaged, approx half of Air wing destroyed/unrepairable Relay station destroyed. Boarding party defeated. Likely severe ship losses. Casualties 816 crewmen dead, 121 injured, Jurgen Belzen One Number Six and Centurion boarding party. Gina Inviere discovered to be a humanoid Cylon and taken into custody.
Battle Chronology
Previous Next Battle of Ragnar Anchorage Battle of the Communications Relay Skirmish over the Red Moon

The Battle of the Communications Relay is an attack launched by the battlestar Pegasus on a Cylon communications relay one week after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. Intelligence reports incorrectly conclude that only half a dozen Raiders are in proximity to the station, and thus the relay is considered to be an easy target.

When Pegasus jumps into the area, twelve enemy contacts are picked up on DRADIS, and Admiral Cain orders the launch of Blue Squadron. As the Vipers are deployed, 15 Raider squadrons jump into firing range and the crew realizes, to their horror, that the installation is not a communications relay at all, but a staging ground for Cylon forces.

Recognizing that they are outnumbered four to one, Colonels Fisk and Belzen recommend the immediate recovery of Blue Squadron, and a swift retreat from the area. However, in a surprise move, Cain orders the remaining Vipers launched to provide cover-fire for Blue Squadron as they make a run at the relay. When Belzen officially refuses to carry out this order, Cain asks him to hand over his sidearm, whereupon she shoots him in the head with it. A shocked Fisk, fearing the same fate should he refuse the admiral's orders, immediately deploys all reserve Vipers.

As the Vipers commence their attack, Cylon operative Gina Inviere covertly takes the Pegasus weapons grid off-line, permitting two Cylon Heavy Raiders to access the port landing alcove with a Centurion boarding party. In an attempt to hold off the enemy boarding party, Cain orders the surrounding sections of Pegasus to be vented of atmosphere, hoping that the resulting vacuum will subdue the Cylons. The tactic is unsuccessful, and the Centurions make their way into the ship.

While investigating the sudden collapse of the battlestar's weapons grid, Lieutenant Shaw spots a Number Six among the advancing Cylon boarding party, and deduces that Inviere must be an enemy agent. She pulls a rifle from the grasp of a dead marine and fires at the surprised Six. After shooting the Cylon, Shaw returns to CIC, and reveals Inviere's true nature by displaying a security feed of the killed automaton. When Marines try to apprehend Inviere on Cain's orders, she breaks the neck of one and uses his sidearm to shoot another. When Inviere hesitates as she aims at Cain, Shaw knocks the Cylon unconscious with the end of her rifle .

Additional details of the battle are unknown, but the communications station is presumably destroyed while Pegasus escapes with severe losses - 32 Vipers are destroyed, while 61 are badly damaged with not enough resources to repair them all (TRS: "Pegasus"; "Razor").

Notes

• Gina Inviere is mentioned as having been vital in discovering the communications relay. Since it later appears to be a trap by the Cylons, it is probable that she intentionally lured the battlestar to the relay.