Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo 6

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Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #6 An issue of the Dynamite series.
Issue No.	6
Writer(s)	Dan Abnett
Illustrator(s)	{{{illustrator}}}
Penciller(s)	Dietrich Smith
Inker(s)
Colorist(s)	Fran Gamboa
Letterer(s)	Simon Bowland
Editor(s)
Collection Design	{{{designer}}}
Cover Artist(s)	Mike Mayhew (Cover A) Dietrich Smith (Cover B) Livio Ramondelli (Cover C) Ardian Syaf (Cover D)
Adaptation of
Published	May 2015
Collects
Collected in	Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo
Reprints
Reprinted as
Pages	{{{pages}}}
ISBN	725130224408
Population	0 Survivors
Special	{{{special}}}
Chronology
Previous		Next
Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #5	Battlestar Galactica: Death of Apollo #6	Classic Battlestar Galactica Vol. 3 #1
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Starbuck and Athena have refused to accept that Apollo is gone, and their unsanctioned mission to prove that he survived has led to catastrophic consequences for the Fleet. After years of silence, the Cylons have found humanity again, and are closing in greater numbers than ever before to complete the extinction of mankind.

Plot

• With the ambush in progress, Major Apollo and Captain Athena are directing the deployed Viper screens against the onslaught of the Cylon Raiders. While Apollo orders Atrius Cargo to pull in tighter for better protection, Athena vainly coordinates the defense of the ill-fated Taurus Axillon. With Axillon gone, Athena redirects forces to cover Raxis.
• Colonel Tigh and Commander Adama discuss the situation near the wall map, with Adama reflecting that the Cylons have them cold.
• Captain Starbuck appraises the situation from his Viper: Raiders are pushing down the center of the Fleet, while hybrid missile carriers attack the Fleet's tanker formations.
• Starbuck is told no more Vipers are available, to which he adamantly advocates for an offensive strike against the basestar, otherwise the Fleet will be destroyed.
• Athena relents to the request, advocating moving three Viper screens to attack the basestar to Adama. Adama refuses on the basis of the basestar being virtually impervious, thus making any offensive Viper run futile.
• With their only course of action being purely defensive, Omega informs Tigh that only 16 Vipers of dubious status in reserve. However, with no pilots available, Apollo volunteers for duty but is quickly rebuked by Adama.
• Tigh asks Adama for permission to stand relieved in order to pilot one of the reserve Vipers. Adama reluctantly concedes, ordering Tigh to have two Vipers prepped: he is joining his friend.
• Apollo is reminded that he cannot fight, and Adama instructs his son to "run this war" so that he may "bring us to victory," leaving both his children to run the defensive operation.
• Adama and Tigh, now in brown and beige Colonial Warrior uniforms, enter their Vipers and launch into the fray to take out their first Cylons in a long while.
• The Cylons begin jamming all Colonial transmissions to prevent further coordination. Athena runs countermeasures while Countess Sephoni enters core command. She informs Apollo of her divination of a weak point in the super basestar's shielding: a seam in the shielding overlap that would allow a precise fusion missile strike.
• With the jamming up, this information cannot be shared to the Vipers already aloft, and so Apollo makes the decision to fly one of the reservist Vipers and carry the payload himself.
• He orders the launch bay techs to prep his Viper with the needed ordnance, and launches. After remarking that he's not dead after the acceleration from the tube, Apollo makes a solemn promise to Athena (who cannot hear him) that he won't take any unnecessary risks.
• After making his way through the Raider screens, the jamming is thwarted and Athena communicates the basestar's vulnerability to the fighters in action. Adama expresses his displeasure at Apollo's disobedience, while Starbuck is able to break free of the defense line and lend support to Apollo. With Starbuck's missile payload exhausted, he is forced into a subordinate position of supporting Apollo's attack run, despite expressing concerns about the g-forces aggravating Apollo's injury.
• While Starbuck takes out four Raiders, Apollo makes his way to the target and launches the missile. The super basestar is destroyed and, while Apollo was not caught up in its explosion, his Viper is unable to course-correct from its direct flight-line into the nearby star.
• His friends and family are helpless as Apollo's fate is sealed.
• In Galactica's life sciences bay, the comatose Xam taps "GONE" repeatedly on the digital pad at his hand.
• After the battle, Adama makes a speech before an assembly of Galactica's crew, including Boxey and Muffit, to commemorate the loss of Warriors before a monument to Apollo, consisting of a Warrior's helmet and a Viper model. He promises to find Earth "even if I must search every star in the heavens and live a thousand lives."

Notes

Releases

• An additional exclusive subscription variant cover (Cover D) featuring the work of Ardian Syaf was made available to "comic shop subscribers and limited to initial orders."

Nods

• The last page of this issue commemorates the memory of Battlestar Galactica's creator Glen A. Larson.
• The Viper's control column with the firing button shows up here, a nod to the Original Series' continual close-up depiction of this particular set piece during battle sequences.

Errata

• Tigh uses the word "old dogs" to describe himself when volunteering to pilot one of the reserve Vipers, instead of the proper term "daggit." The issue recurs again when Tigh uses the term "dogfight" later in the issue.
• Adama refers to the current situation as a "dark hour," when it should be "dark centon."
• The ships depicted in the rag-tag Fleet are more reminiscent of the Re-imagined Series' crafts, notably with the inclusion of Zephyr.
• The interiors of both the corridors and the launch bay are taken from their Re-imagined Series counterparts.
• The Vipers show a coloration of the red stripes of their Re-imagined counterparts, instead of the Original Series' orange.
• The only interiors depicted that mirror the Original Series' aesthetics are the launch tubes and core command.
• The depiction of the last Viper that Apollo boards in the launch bay is a hybridization of both the Original and Re-imagined Vipers, although in the next issue, the craft is more in line with the Original Series' depiction.

Analysis

• As with previous issues written by Dan Abnett, there are direct ties to the events of Galactica 1980, including Apollo's death and Boxey's ascension as a Warrior. A majority of the comics published tend to eschew 1980, ignoring it in the way that creator Glen A. Larson had as "Starbuck's bad dream."
• While Apollo's death in this issue is a definitive event, left vague was whether or not Apollo died en route to his star dive due to his head injury.
• Interestingly, the Cylon side of the story is untold throughout this series, with all action being Colonial driven. In the course of other Battlestar stories, there is often an antagonist visibly leading the charge: be it an IL-series Cylon (Lucifer, Abbadon, et al.), Baltar, the Imperious Leader itself, or even Count Iblis. This leads any nuanced motivations of the Cylons, outside of their desire to exterminate humanity, nebulous: namely why they recovered and kept Apollo alive. (Although it could be inferred that this was done to allow his rescue, so that the rescue party could lead the Cylons to the Fleet, as Apollo suspected at the end of the previous issue.)

Questions

• Will Boxey become a Warrior?
• Will the Fleet find Earth?
• What other sinister war machines will the Cylons concoct?
• Will Xam recover from his coma?
• Where is Cassiopeia?

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Adama joins the Viper defense.

  Adama: I remember how to fly. I can be of some use in this dark hour. You're running this war. I have absolute confidence in you both. Everybody counts right now. Everybody.

  Apollo: Which is why you should grant me flight pri--

  Adama: You're not fit! Get back to your stations. Now. Apollo, you have core command. Run this war. Bring us to victory. I'll do my part.

• Starbuck flies with Apollo one last time.

  Starbuck: Apollo! Abort! Get back to the Galactica! I'll handle this, you crazy loon.

  Apollo: Nice to see you too, 'Buck... I see your missile racks are empty.

  Starbuck: Yeah, I used all my fusion warheads up. It got a little busy.

  Apollo: Then you can't handle this. A fusion missile is the only thing that's going to cut it.

  Starbuck: Space-sucking f-- Apollo! I don't care! Abort!

  Apollo: Negative, Starbuck... this is just the way it's got to be. It's just the way things work out sometimes.

  Starbuck: Apollo! When you pull out of the run, the g-force will--

  Apollo: I know. Just watch my back.

• Apollo takes out the super basestar.

  Apollo: The commander said, "Bring us to victory". I was just following his order. 'Buck? I... I think I took some minor damage in the explosion. Stick's jammed...

  Starbuck: (sees Apollo's Viper on a collision course towards a star) Apollo! Pull out! Correct course! Apollo! Correct course now! Apollo! Pull out of that dive! Apollo! (no response)

• Adama speaks before an assembly after the battle.

  Adama: We have suffered before. We have lost before. But we have endured, and we have survived. And we will continue to survive. Hope lies ahead of us, always. The hope of a new life and of peace. But as we strive to find the Thirteenth Colony, we must pause to honor the memory of those who make our hopes possible. The Warriors who give their lives defending mankind. The men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest can live. One, this day in particular. My son Apollo. And I swear, even if I must search every star in the heavens and live a thousand lives. .. in his name, I will find the shining planet known as Earth.

Related Imagery

Covers

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  Cover A by Mike Mayhew.

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  Cover B by Dietrich Smith.

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  Cover C by Livio Ramondelli.

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  Cover D by Ardian Syaf.

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  Cover E by Dietrich Smith. (B&W Incentive)

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  Cover F by Ardian Syaf. (B&W Incentive)

• 

  Cover G by Dietrich Smith. (Red Monochrome Incentive)

Preview Pages

Please Note: These are used for promotional purposes by the publisher, and are provided here in the same vein.

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  Page 1.

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  Page 2.

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  Page 3.

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  Page 4.

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  Page 5.

External links

• Dynamite.com - BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE DEATH OF APOLLO #6 (OF 6) (web.archive.org backup link)
• Dynamite.com - BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE DEATH OF APOLLO #6 (OF 6) EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIPTION VARIANT COVER (web.archive.org backup link)

 

Original Series definition: an all-purpose term for Colonial soldier and Viper pilot (see: Warrior)