- For information on the video game "New Caprica", see New Caprica (Video Game). For information on the failed Singer/DeSanto continuation series colony, see New Caprica (SDS).
Discovery[edit]
Lt. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson discovers the planet later known as New Caprica after her Raptor accidently jumps to the wrong coordinates while on a rescue mission to Caprica. Ground surveys reveal that New Caprica is a cold world with a harsh climate, and that only about 20% of the surface - a small temperate band around the equator - is habitable. The planet is located in a solar system surrounded by a dense nebula. The nebula renders DRADIS all but useless, which makes the planet strategically appealing as it theoretically would protect the planet from Cylon detection.
Excited by her discovery, Edmondson returns to the battlestar Pegasus with information and sensor readings on the planet. The mere prospect of setting foot on a planet causes great excitement amongst the Fleet quickly dividing it into two factions - those who wish to stop running from the Cylons and colonize the planet, and those that do not.
Colonization[edit]
President Laura Roslin writes off colonization as unrealistic, given the harsh climate. However, the discovery of New Caprica happens to coincide with the impending presidential election (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I). Presidential candidate Gaius Baltar and running mate Tom Zarek seize upon colonization as their wedge issue, offering the Fleet the prospect of settlement under the presumption that Cylon technology will be unable to penetrate the nebula. Roslin disagrees with this assessment, but the majority of the travel- and war-weary survivors of the Fleet find the idea of colonizing the planet enticing. Baltar and Zarek win a decisive mandate, and Laura Roslin is voted out of office. President Baltar's first executive order is to begin settlement, bringing an end to the Fleet's search for the planet Earth (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).
Shortly after Baltar's inauguration a nuclear warhead, smuggled off of Galactica, is detonated aboard and destroys Cloud 9, a ship that is part of the fleet orbiting New Caprica. This incident will later have a devastating impact on the human settlers of New Caprica.
One Year Later[edit]
The population of New Caprica is concentrated in a small settlement called New Caprica City. The climate proves unforgiving, and there are major shortages of medical supplies and basic living materials - more than a year after colonization, most of the population continues to live in canvas tents. A small number of grounded ships also serve as living quarters. The population of New Caprica City is 39,192 (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II). A smaller group of approximately 2,000 military personnel and civilians remain in orbit around the planet in those ships incapable of making planetfall (Occupation). Many among the population of New Caprica City, including Galen Tyrol and the workers' union which he leads, blame President Baltar and his lack of leadership for the majority of economic and social problems facing the settlers on New Caprica (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).
Cylon Occupation[edit]
Three hundred and eighty days after settlement, the Cylons discover New Caprica after detecting and then tracing the radiation signature of the nuclear warhead detonated on Cloud 9 and jump into New Caprica's orbit with a fleet of basestars. Galactica and Pegasus, in orbit above the planet, are caught by surprise and vastly outnumbered. With both ships at half strength, commander Lee Adama pursuades admiral William Adama to jump away from New Caprica with the other few ships orbiting the planet. Admiral Adama promises to return.
On the planet, President Baltar is confronted by a Cylon delegation consisting of Caprica Six, Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and a copy of Number Five. Left with no choice, Baltar surrenders to the Cylons on behalf of what remains of the human race, now trapped on New Caprica (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II). The intentions of Caprica Six and Boomer to establish peace between the Cylons and the human race is initially sincere, but they quickly lose their influence to the more militaristic Cylon models (Precipice, Exodus, Part II). Thus, the Cylons become an occupying force on New Caprica and President Baltar and his staff are reduced to a puppet administration with the exception of Vice President Tom Zarek, who is sent to a detention center (Precipice) after refusing to cooperate with the Cylons.
A band of human resistance fighters, regarded by the Cylon-occupiers as insurgents, begin to strike back against the Cylons. The resistance is significantly aided by an unknown, inside source that passes them classified information, allowing the resistance to wreak considerable havoc on the Cylons. This leads to the formation of The New Caprica Police (NCP), humans who volunteer to work for the Cylon authority. The New Caprica Police are regarded with both disgust and disdain by the majority of the planet’s human civilization. Considered to be Cylon collaborators, the NCP are forced to wear black ski masks to hide their identies in an attempt to protect themselves from human reprisal.
The Battle of New Caprica and the Second Exodus[edit]
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Based on a contigency plan developed prior to colonization by Saul Tigh and William Adama, a Raptor is deployed from the hiding battlestars and regularly jumps into New Caprica's orbit in an attempt to contact the humans left behind. Concealed from Cylon detection by the nebula, the Raptor establishes contact with the resistance movement. With communication realized, Adama and his military personnel devise a plan to evacuate the human prisoners. However, the plan's success hinges on the successful retrieval of the planet-bound ships' launch keys. Confiscated by the Cylons, these keys are necessary to activate the FTL drives on the grounded ships.
Admiral Adama deploys a two-Raptor team led by newly commissioned Sharon Agathon that covertly lands on New Caprica and successfully establishes contact with the resistance. Agathon is able to locate and retrieve the hidden launch keys while pretending to be a different copy of her Cylon model (Precipice) and they are secretly returned to their respective ships (Exodus, Part II). With the rescue attempt now under way, Pegasus Commander Lee Adama is ordered to provide escort protection for the hiding fleet to a pre-arranged location where they will rendevous with Galactica if the rescue mission is successful, or continue the search for Earth alone if it is not. Admiral Adama then jumps Galactica to New Caprica. Once in orbit, Galactica's Raptors deploy decoys, creating illusory targets that trick the Cylon's into believing they are chasing the two battlestars, scattering their fleet of basestars. Adama takes advantage of the Cylon's confusion by jumping Galactica directly into New Caprica's lower atmosphere, deploying Blue Squadron and then jumping back into higher orbit. While Blue Squadron provides air cover, resistance fighters begin attacks on Cylon ground forces, liberate the New Caprica Detention Center and chaperone civilians to their designated ships which begin to launch and jump to the rendevous point.
Back in orbit above New Caprica, a badly damaged Galactica is surrounded by four basestars. Adama, unable to jump away and without enough time to fix the ship's damaged FTL drive, resigns himself to defeat. At this moment, Commander Lee Adama, having ignored his father's order, arrives with Pegasus and diverts the Cylon attack on Galactica to his own ship. Galactica's crew is able to repair the ship's FTL drive, and upon the successful return of the ship's Viper squadron, escapes to the rendezvous point.
Pegasus, having left its vipers to guard the escaping ships at the rendevous point, is left with no fighter cover. The battlestar is mortally damaged and Commander Adama and his skeleton crew are forced to abandon the ship. Boarding Raptors, they escape to the rendezvous point. Pegasus is sent on a collision course with one of the remaining basestars. The resulting explosion destroys another of the basestars.
Aftermath[edit]
While the rescue mission is considered a success, approximately 2,000 humans die during the operation and the preceding four month long occupation.
Casualties include Tucker "Duck" Clellan, one of Galactica's best Viper pilots who is driven to despair by the murder of his partner, Nora (Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance), and conducts a suicide attack on the NCP (Occupation); Ellen Tigh, who is poisoned by her husband for collaborating with the Cylons; and Maya, who is killed while attempting to board her escape ship with her adopted baby daughter, the human/Cylon hybrid Hera. The child survives, but without the protection of her mother is left behind and recovered by the Cylons. Knowing he cannot escape with the rest of the human population Gaius Baltar elects to leave with the Cylons, at the invitation of Number Three copy D'anna Biers.
With the humans gone, and with their possession and control of the hybrid-child finally realized, the Cylons see no strategic or logical reason to remain on the planet. It is assumed that like the humans they abandon New Caprica.