New Caprica
- For information on the Video Game's "New Caprica", see New Caprica (Video Game). For information on the failed Singer/DeSanto continuation series colony, see New Caprica (SDS).
Discovery
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. Excited by her discovery, Edmondson returns to the battlestar Pegasus with information and sensor readings on the planet.
The solar system is surrounded by a dense nebula that renders DRADIS all but useless, which is strategically appealing, as it promises to protect the planet from Cylon detection. Ground surveys reveal that New Caprica is a cold world with a harsh climate, and that only a small temperate band around the equator covering about 20% of the surface is habitable.
Colonization
President Laura Roslin immediately writes off colonization as unrealistic, given the harsh climate. However, the mere prospect of setting foot on a planet is enough to cause excitement within the Fleet, and civilians immediately begin to request shore leave, and the discovery happens to have coincided with an 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.
Shortly after Baltar's inauguration, in an unrelated incident, a nuclear warhead smuggled off of Galactica is detonated aboard luxury liner Cloud 9, destroying it and several surrounding ships, and killing many thousands of civilians. Despite the tragedy, 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).
One Year Later
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 basic living materials and medical supplies. Most of the population continue to live in canvas tents more than a year after settlement, with a small number of grounded ships serving as larger buildings. 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 vast majority of the economic and social problems facing the settlers on New Caprica (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).
380 days after colonization, the population of New Caprica City is 39,192 (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II). A small group of around 2,000 civilians remain in orbit in those ships incapable of making planetfall (Occupation).
Cylon Occupation
380 days after settlement, a Cylon fleet slightly over one light year away from the nebula detects the explosion of the nuclear warhead detonated on Cloud 9. Upon their discovery of the planet, the Cylons 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 and protect the small fleet in orbit with them. Admiral Adama promises to return.
On the planet, the airspace of Caprica City is filled with Cylon Raiders, and 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 occupying forces are lead by Caprica-Six and Boomer under the intent of bringing peace and friendship to the colonies, but they quickly meet with civilian resistance and lose influence to the more militaristic Cylon models (Precipice, Exodus, Part II). The Cylons become an occupying force on New Caprica, with President Baltar and his staff reduced to a puppet administration controlled by Cylon rule. Tom Zarek refuses to cooperate, and is imprisoned on Baltar's authority (Precipice).
A band of human resistance fighters, regarded by the Cylon-occupiers as insurgents, begin to strike back against the occupying army. This leads to the formation of The New Caprica Police, 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, and wear wear black ski masks to hide their identies.
The Battle of New Caprica and The Second Exodus
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Led by Colonel Tigh, the human resistance constructs a hidden, underground wireless communications center. Unbeknownst to most of the human population on the planet, Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh had developed a contingency plan in the event that the battlestars Galactica, Pegasus and the rest of the orbiting Fleet were forced to abandon the colony. Every day, a Raptor protected from Cylon detection by the planet’s nebula, jumps from Galactica into high orbit of New Caprica, scanning for any contact from those left behind on the planet. Once the communications center is completed, the resistance is able to successfully contact this Raptor, which returns to Galactica with the news that the remaining human survivors on New Caprica are ready to begin organizing for an evacuation.
Admiral Adama deploys a two-Raptor team, led by Sharon Agathon, to form a ground link with the resistance (Precipice). Though Sharon is a Cylon, Admiral Adama has grown to trust her while she was imprisoned on Galactica. He assigns her the rescue attempt’s most important mission: to retrieve the launch keys for those ships grounded on New Caprica.
The launch keys are successfully retrieved by Sharon Agathon and returned to their ships (Exodus, Part II). Admiral Adama then jumps Galactica to New Caprica in order to provide cover for the evacuation, while the Resistance carries out attacks in order to occupy Cylon ground forces. Other Resistance members chaperone civilians to their ships. Meanwhile, Pegasus, under Commander Lee Adama, is ordered to guard the remaining ships and rendezvous with the Fleet at a pre-arranged point.
As the Battle of New Caprica begins with numerous divisionary attacks on the ground, Admiral Adama jumps Galactica into New Caprica’s lower atmosphere, successfully launches the ship’s squadron of Vipers, and then jumps back into a higher orbit. Attacking strategic targets and barriers that prevent the human population from reaching their assigned escape ships to evacuate the planet, the Vipers give the grounded ships enough time to execute their own intra-atmosphere jumps to the rendezvous point. While rescue operations are conducted on the ground, Galactica tries to stave off an attack by four Cylon basestars. Just before Galactica is about to be destroyed, Commander Lee Adama , ignoring his father's order, arrives with Pegasus and is able to divert the Cylon attack on Galactica to his own ship. Thus, upon the successful return of the ship's Viper squadron, Galactica is able to escape by jumping to the rendezvous point. However, Pegasus is mortally damaged and Commander Adama and his crew are forced to abandon the ship. The surviving Pegasus officers escape from the damaged battlestar in a small fleet of Raptors. When Pegasus finally explodes, it destroyes three of the four remaining basestars. With the remains of the Fleet now safely reunited at the rendezvous point, the search for Earth continues.
While the rescue mission is considered a success, not everyone was able to escape the planet. Ellen Tigh was poisoned and killed by her husband, resistance leader Colonel Saul Tigh, for collaborating with the Cylons. Maya was killed while attempting to make it to her assigned escape ship. Gaius Baltar was left behind.
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 abandoned New Caprica.