Fall of the Twelve Colonies

This article details the destruction of the Twelve Colonies in the Re-imagined Series. For information on the fall of the Twelve Colonies in the Original Series, see Battle of Cimtar.

Fall of the Twelve Colonies
Cylon nuclear bombs detonating on Caprica
Cylon nuclear bombs detonating on Caprica
Summary
Conflict:	Second Cylon War
Date:	Zero Hour, concurrent with Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards
Related Episode(s):
Place:	Twelve Colonies of Kobol
Result:	Cylon victory: Destruction of the Twelve Colonies, Destruction of the Colonial Fleet, Forced Colonial exodus to Earth.
Combatants Twelve Colonies of Kobol Cylons Commanders Admiral Nagala † Commander William Adama Rear Admiral Helena Cain Basestar command Strength Approx. 120 battlestars, associated Vipers, associated Raptors, Fleet support cruisers Massive number of basestars, Raiders, Heavy Raiders Materiel Losses Virtual destruction of the Colonial Fleet Unknown, minimal Casualties Destruction of major Colonial cities, almost all of the civilian population and military forces (estimated at 50 billion) Unknown, minimal
Battle Chronology
Previous Next Battle of Tauron and Operation Raptor Talon (First Cylon War) Fall of the Twelve Colonies Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards (concurrent)

The Fall of the Twelve Colonies (also known as The Fall, the Cylon attack, Cylon holocaust or Second Cylon War) is a devastating, genocidal attack by the Cylons, designed by John Cavil to eliminate the human race, and seek revenge on the Final Five for creating the humanoid Cylons in their image.

Before the Fall

The events leading up to the attacks go back at least a few years, when the Cylons (now in human form) begin infiltrating Colonial society. One such Cylon, a Number Six, is involved with Dr. Gaius Baltar, a famed computer scientist living on Caprica. Together, they develop system upgrades for the Colonial Fleet, which gives Six access to the Colonial Defense Mainframe. There she is able to covertly install backdoors into the new software which the Cylons will later use to shut down Colonial defenses (TRS: "Miniseries").

A year prior to the attacks, Commander Adama, aboard the battlestar Valkyrie, is tasked by Colonial admiralty to launch a stealth plane across the Armistice Line into Cylon held space. Piloted by Daniel Novacek, the bird is discovered by an unknown contact, and is shot down by Adama to prevent his pilot from being potentially captured by Cylon forces. The plan fails, and Novachek is captured anyway after he ejects from the Stealthstar, and remains in Cylon custody for at least four years (three years post fall), until he is deliberately released by the Cylons in the hopes that he will kill Commander Adama for his actions (TRS: "Hero").

In the final weeks before the attacks, John Cavil makes his rounds in order to assure everything is set. One model meets with the Number Six on Caprica, urging her to commit suicide before the bombs fall, while another meets Ellen Tigh at a bar on Picon, to see if she’s changed at all. Cavil is visibly upset when he discovers she has not ("The Plan").

It Begins…

Prior to the attacks, the Cylon Fleet is amassed around the Cylon Colony, the Cylon's "homeworld". When the command is given, the basestars jump to their targets, before striking. It takes the Cylons all but three minutes to access the defense mainframe and shut it down, leaving the Colonies, and Colonial Fleet defenseless ("The Plan"). This infiltration of Colonial systems combined with the "complete surprise" that the Cylons achieve enables them to sweep the Colonial Fleet aside with minimal losses, a triumph beyond their most optimistic projections (TRS: "Downloaded").

Armistice Station

The Cylons begin their attack, by first jumping to the Armistice Station. A visibly shaken Armistice Officer is greeted by two Centurions, before being sexually assaulted by another Number Six model. The station is destroyed shortly after by an orbiting basestar, marking the start of the Second Cylon War.

The Colonial Fleet

Having received the CNP “upgrades”, the Colonial Fleet is easily shut down by attacking Cylon Raiders. The fleet loses at least 30 battlestars (Among these, Yashuman and Valkyrie) in the opening wave, which according to Kara Thrace, is a quarter of the fleet. After this news is broadcast, Admiral Nagala takes command of the battlestar Atlantia, and begins a counter attack near Virgon’s orbit, as per a system plot by Lt. Gaeta aboard the battlestar Galactica. The battle doesn’t last long, and Atlantia is lost along with the battlestars Triton, Solaria, Columbia, and others, prompting Galactica CO William Adama to take command of the Fleet, and ordering remaining forces to Ragnar Anchorage for regrouping.

The battlestar Galactica, approximately 300 million miles from Caprica at the time, is largely unprepared for the attacks, having just been decommissioned and transformed into a museum. She dumps her munitions as part of the decommissioning ceremony, and has lost her primary fighter wing. However, as part of the museum, she has a handful of older Viper Mk II's aboard, which Commander Adama has put to use, as Galactica is attacked herself. The handful of planes are enough to hold off the Raiders, however, not before Galactica is hit with a nuclear tipped missile. The battlestar comes out relatively unscathed, However, 85 crew members are lost when damage to the fire suppression system necessitates the venting of the port flight pod's atmosphere to prevent the fuel lines from igniting, thus preventing the destruction of the ship. From here, Adama takes command of the fleet, and orders the ship to prepare for an FTL jump to Ragnar to re-arm (TRS: "Miniseries").

The battlestar Pegasus, under the command of Rear Admiral Helena Cain, is docked at the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards at the onset of the attacks undergoing a system refit, which left her computer networks offline. Most of the crew is about to take shore leave when the Cylons strike the shipyards. The battlestar is heavily damaged in the opening salvo and there are many casualties, however, thanks to DRADIS interference, the Cylons were not able to confirm her destruction, and continued their assault on the other battlestars and support ships docked at the yards. Not wanting to give the Cylons time to realize their mistake, Cain orders a blind jump away from the combat zone. The ship re-emerges several plotted jumps away from the Colonies. After sending a recon Raptor back to the colonies to confirm their destruction, the crew begins to make repairs, while Cain plots her next move ("Razor").

The Colonies

Main article: Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards

• Caprica: The bulk of the Cylon Fleet jumps directly to Caprica. After shutting down, and destroying at least four battlestars and their fighter escorts, the baseships begin assaulting the planet with nuclear MIRVs, while simultaneously landing Centurions at various points for ground assaults. Caprica City is struck first with a detonation approaching the 50 megaton range, followed by other strikes on other cities. One of the targeted cities was in view of the Caprica City Buccaneers, who were involved in high altitude training at the time, a slight oversight on attacking forces, since Samuel Anders was with his team, and out of range of the bombs. Also on Caprica at the time of the attacks was Tory Foster, she was struck by a blast wave while driving her car down a Caprican street. She is found, and brought to Roslin's fleet by an EVAC Raptor. After the Colonials flee, Cylon forces work to clear the planet by burning the remains of those who died on the planet, and rounding up survivors for their experimental Farms.

• Picon: Picon is struck just as hard as Caprica, with the Cylons completely annihilating Picon Fleet Headquarters in the first few minutes of the attacks. Elsewhere on Picon, John Cavil has met Ellen Tigh at a bar, where he hopes to find out if Ellen has changed since her resurrection and introduction into Colonial society. She has not, and as a bomb goes off nearby, Cavil moves to protect her from the blast. After, he moves her to an EVAC Raptor, which takes the both of them to the Rising Star, before rendezvousing with Galactica at Ragnar. Picon's major attraction, its harbors, are the main target of the attacking Cylon forces, and are the first struck upon jumping in orbit of the planet ("The Plan").

• Scorpia: Scorpia is struck by numerous nuclear weapons, as the shipyards in orbit are overrun by Raiders. Numerous battlestars and support ships are destroyed, and the shipyard itself is left a burning wreck.

• Leonis: Leonis is struck by a handful of nuclear missiles, and is invaded by ground troops, who systematically begin murdering the survivors of the bombings.

With these Colonies struck, the Colonials are defeated. After losing the Fleet Headquarters, Colonial President Richard Adar offers the Cylons a complete and unconditional surrender. However, the gesture is ignored by the Cylons, and they continue their assault. Adar and his administration are presumed killed a shortime later, and Secretary of Education Laura Roslin is sworn in as successor a short time afterward aboard her transport, Colonial Heavy 798.

Civilians Under Attack

At the onset of the attacks, there were many civilian transports and passenger liners in the space lanes near Caprica. After the Colonial Government shut down these lanes, these ships became trapped and were attacked as they were found by the Cylons. It's not long before Roslin takes the effort to round up the survivors and form a caravan to help get the civilians out of harms way, and sends out Sharon Valerii in search of more ships. Valerii is able to recover at least three homeless Vipers, and numerous transports, her last being a Tylium transport, before the Cylons jump in and scan their caravan. At this point, Roslin makes the decision to abandon the sublight only ships, and orders the remaining FTL capable ships to jump to Ragnar to rendezvous with Galactica. Around 20+ sublight ships, including a Botanical Cruiser are left behind, and destroyed by an inbound Raider Squadron (TRS: "Miniseries").

An additional small caravan of civilian ships, led by the transport Scylla, are able to survive on their own for a few weeks after the attacks. The Cylons are the first to find them, and are able to destroy a handful of ships, however they manage to escape. Their downfall comes after being found by the Pegasus. Cain strips the ships of crucial parts, abducts many of the civilians for service aboard Pegasus, and leaves the rest to their fates ("Razor").

Rendezvous at Ragnar

Main article: Battle of Ragnar Anchorage

Galactica successfully completes her jump to Ragnar, despite not having made an FTL jump in over 20 years. the Galactica's crew immediately sets out to re-arm the ship, not wasting time. However, the specialists run into a sickly looking man pointing a rifle at them. As the CO is questioning him, a fallen charge detonates, trapping the two behind a now fused hatch. As the two seek an alternate route back to the ship, Adama's First War experiences, and the man's remarks reveal his true nature: he is a Cylon. The radiation surrounding the station has affected his silica pathways which leave him dying a slow and permanent death, however, Adama soon finishes the job after the Cylon, Leoben, is able to throw Adama to the ground. Conoy's body is transferred to the Galactica for further study.

Meanwhile, the civilian fleet arrives in orbit of Ragnar, giving the crew of Galactica a slight scare as they move down through the cloud layers. President Roslin comes aboard and asks for Galactica's protection, a notion Adama later strikes down, still hoping and preferring to take the battlestar into combat, until he realizes the Cylons followed them to Ragnar, and are now waiting for them to re-emerge from the gas giant. After deliberating with the President, and XO Saul Tigh, Adama orders the fleet to prep for a jump to the Prolmar Sector, far beyond the Red Line, where he hopes the civilians will be safe.

Galactica is able to stick her head out long enough to calculate a jump, and defend the fleet as they jump away. Just as the Cylons are sending in a new wave of Raiders, the battlestar recovers her birds, and jumps to join the fleet (TRS: "Miniseries").

Aftermath

While Galactica and her fleet are momentarily able to escape the Anchorage, they are constantly tracked by the Cylons who jump to the fleet's location every 33 minutes. This incurs a cat and mouse game that lasts a few weeks after the Cylons attacked, and the Colonials are unable to figure out why, until one ship in the fleet fails to make the rendezvous at an emergency jump location. The Olympic Carrier is nowhere to be seen, and is presumed to have been left behind, until approx 35 minutes after the last jump, the ship reappears, to everyone's joy. However, Adama quickly orders action stations, and wants the CAP to isolate the ship. Soon after jumping back, the passenger liner makes a move for the fleet, triggering radiological alarms. The ship is shot down by Lee Adama shortly after, and the Cylon pursuit comes to an end (TRS: "33").

The Cylons choose to occupy the Colonies for up to 9 months after the attacks. During that time, they start removing the bodies left behind, and attempt to capture healthy females for experimentation in farms. Other models choose to replant cities, and run normal lives much as the Colonials did before the attacks (TRS: "Downloaded"). This experiment failed, and the Cylons abandoned the Colonies shortly after.

Some surviving Colonials even waged successful resistance movements on Caprica, led by Sam Anders of the C-Bucks ("The Plan"). The resistance ends when the survivors are evacuated to the fleet (TRS: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II").

Overall, the attacks are a success and a failure at the same time, a Cavil was known to remark that they had their foot on the throat of humanity, but failed to step down hard enough. Also, the attacks failed to kill any of the Final Five as Cavil hoped it would do, they survived, and eventually were unknowingly reunited in the Fleet. Eventually, Cavil came to look upon the attacks as a "mistake" just as he was about to be flushed out of a Galactica airlock. The surviving Colonials would eventually stand toe to toe with the Cylons, knocking down the school yard bully once and for all, before settling a new planet they called Earth (TRS: "Daybreak, Part II").

Related Imagery

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  Cylon fleet gathered around the Colony before jumping to the Twelve Colonies
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  Basestars jumping in over the Colonies
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  Cylon fleet surrounding the Twelve Colonies
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  Valkyrie among her sister ships above Caprica
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  Cylon commands being transmitted
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  Valkyrie after being disabled by the CNP's backdoors
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  Basestars entering Colonial atmospheres
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  Basestar prepares to launch nukes
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  Cylon MIRV
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  Individual nuclear warheads
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  Warheads deploy...
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  ...and detonate
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  Another view
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  Cylons wreak havoc on the surviving populace
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  Destruction
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  Caprica City, shortly before being struck with a 50 megaton nuclear device
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  Death from incineration