Starbuck's Raider

Starbuck's Raider is a Raider shot down by Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace over the red moon during a training exercise with various nuggets (TRS: "Act of Contrition"). Thrace subsequently recovers the craft by its own power, allowing her to rejoin the Fleet before Commander William Adama is forced by President Laura Roslin (aided by Col. Saul Tigh) to abandon the SAR for Thrace (TRS: "You Can't Go Home Again").

Its recovery leads to many discoveries regarding Cylon biological technology, allowing the Colonials to retrofit the ship with Colonial technological instrumentation for future use (TRS: "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I").

First Insights

After ejecting from Viper 4077, Thrace happens across the relatively intact Raider, discovering the exception of a single impact point at the right "temple" of the Raider's fore that disabled the fighter. Her investigation reveals a large rubber-like button that opens underside, revealing an inner sinewy skin layer that she is able to cut through, allowing her access to the interior.

In relatively short order, Thrace is able to discern the Raider's structure, ripping out its brain mass from the fuselage, discovering its oxygen supply, and effects a repair of the hull breach using a piece of her flight suit. Through some trial-and-error, Thrace is able to discern the various ligamenture and organ structures to control the ship from the inside, thus allowing her return to the Fleet before it jumps away (TRS: "You Can't Go Home Again")

FTL

Due to a "wounded bird" appearing to jump intermittently among the Fleet, Galactica's crew are able to record its signals and discern the functionality of the Raider's FTL drive (TRS: "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down").

Gallery

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  Kara "Starbuck" Thrace opens the underbelly hatch (TRS: "You Can't Go Home Again").

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  Kara "Starbuck" Thrace cuts through a membrane (TRS: "You Can't Go Home Again").

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  The Raider's brain prior to its removal (TRS: "You Can't Go Home Again").

Re-imagined Series definition: the act of finding missing persons in the hopes of their rescue, see: SAR (TRS: "Fragged")

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

Re-imagined Series definition: the process of using the FTL engines to make an near-instantaneous apparent faster-than-light transport of a ship from one point in space to another