Escape pod

For the craft Starbuck and Cy cobble together in Galactica 1980, see: Hybrid craft.

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Berkley Novelizations separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

An escape pod is a small, one-man emergency vehicle housed within the SuperViper.

Design

Escape pods are housed in plain gray boxes located at the rear of the SuperViper's compartment. When activated, the pods settle onto the compartment floor and slide forward to an ejection hatch. Each pod features a small cockpit with a canopy just large enough to enclose a single occupant.

Operational use

Escape pods can be launched through an escape hatch that opens automatically when activated. Once the hatch whooshes open, the pods are automatically ejected from the SuperViper. The vehicles are equipped with an intervehicle commline, allowing occupants to communicate with each other and with nearby ships.

During the battle with Spectre's forces, Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck are forced to abandon the SuperViper when it begins to lose pressure due to popped rivets in the superstructure. After readying the pods for ejection, Apollo continues to engage Cylon forces until ordering all Vipers on the right flank to pull out, clearing the area for the SuperViper's final mission.

Both pilots successfully eject in their respective escape pods just before the SuperViper collides with Cylon Raiders and explodes, destroying at least a dozen enemy ships in its final act. While traveling back to Galactica in the pods, Apollo and Starbuck come under attack from a Cylon Raider, but are rescued by Cadet Hera, who destroys the attacking ship and provides a protective guard pattern for the pods during their return journey.