Battle of the Binary Star System

Battle of the Binary Star System
Battle of the Binary Star System
Battle of the Binary Star System
Summary
Conflict:	Second Cylon war
Date:	8 months after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies
Related Episode(s):
Place:	Unnamed binary star system
Result:	Tactical Cylon victory
Combatants Remnants of the Colonial Fleet Cylons Commanders Commander Barry Garner † Major Lee Adama Unknown Strength Mercury class battlestar Pegasus Associated Vipers, associated Raptors 3 Basestars, associated Raiders, Heavy Raiders Materiel Losses 2 Raptors, heavy damage to Pegasus 1 Basestar heavily damaged Casualties 5 Unknown
[[Colonial battles chronology ({{{series}}})|Battle Chronology]]
Previous Next Battle of the Resurrection Ship Battle of the Binary Star System Unknown

The Battle of the Binary Star System was an engagement in which battlestar Pegasus was lured into a trap by three Cylon basestars. The Cylons lured two of Pegasus's Raptors out into a shroud of electro-magnetic interference (EMI) generated by a binary star system. Once the Raptors were there, the crews were killed and the craft left intact and adrift at the edge of the Colonials' DRADIS range. By all available data to the Colonials, the craft appeared to be disabled, albeit non-responsive. The new commander of Pegasus, Barry Garner, disobeyed Admiral William Adama's orders and took the battlestar in to rescue the Raptors, ignoring Adama's planned 5-Raptor SAR mission and warning of a likely Cylon trap.

Once Pegasus took the bait and entered the region, three Cylon basestars Jumped in and promptly launched a full salvo of tactical nuclear missiles, scoring two hits on the stern of the battlestar. Pegasus' air wing, already spaceborne under the command of Captain "Starbuck" Thrace, immediately engaged the Cylons and returned fire. Virtually ignoring the Vipers, the Cylon basestars focused their efforts on Pegasus and produced a third nuclear missile hit on the battlestar resulting in damage to the topside heat exchanger.

Commander Barry Garner was an engineering officer not experienced in combat command. Worsening the situation, the heavy barrage dealt by the Cylons damaged the FTL drive, putting Pegasus's survival in peril. Realizing his skills would be best used in engineering, Garner voluntarily transfered command to Major Lee Adama, and dashed below to Engineering.

After only a moment of hesitation, Major Adama promptly ordered Pegasus to make for the nearest baseship, while rolling Pegasus over to keep its damaged dorsal side out of the line of fire. Adama ordered Starbuck and Showboat to take the rest of the Vipers and concentrate on defending the compromised portions of Pegasus from further damage, while directing the battlestar's forward batteries to fire on the closest of the three basestars, inflicting severe damage to its central axis to buy Pegasus more time. The wounded basestar was forced to withdraw; the first documented occurrence of a baseship diverging from their normal tactic of fighting to the death, perhaps due to the loss of the Resurrection Ship.

The problem in repairing the FTL drive was an oxygen leak that blocked technicians from making repairs to the damaged FTL drive components by openning the auxiliary coolant valve. Pegasus was running out of time and its Vipers were beginning to run out of ammo. Commander Garner heroically sacrificed himself to open the auxiliary coolant valve and restore the FTL drive to operational status, by openning the valve which was in a section of Pegasus that was venting oxygen to space, dying of asphyxiation. With the FTL drive restored, Major Adama ordered all fighters to return and ordered Pegasus to Jump.

From a tactical standpoint, the battle is a marginal Cylon victory — if their ultimate goal had been the destruction of Pegasus, the attempt failed, thanks to the quick reactions of the Colonial crew. However, Pegasus suffers substantial damage and casualties, including, significantly, yet another command officer since the destruction of the Resurrection Ship. The battlestar returns to the relative safety of the Fleet. The extent of the damage and its long-term effect are not fully realized.

Lee Adama's tour under the rank of Major is short-lived. For his efforts in returning Pegasus under dangerous odds, Admiral Adama awards him with the rank of Commander and the command of Pegasus (The Captain's Hand).

Re-imagined Series definition: battlestar landing bay mechanism that arrests a landing Viper, Raptor or other small craft (TRS: "Final Cut")

Re-imagined Series definition: high-energy electromagnetic radiation from binary stars is known to interfere with DRADIS (TRS: "The Captain's Hand")

Re-imagined Series definition: technology enabling travel across distances faster than the speed of light would permit, see: FTL