Heavy Raider

Heavy Raiders are a type of FTL-capable vessel in use by the Cylons following their technological evolution in the years following the Cylon War. The Heavy Raider is near-analogous to the modern Raptor models used by the Colonial Fleet. Both are designed to ferry troops and supplies from ship-to-ship or ship-to-surface and are capable of faster-than-light jumps. However, unlike the Raptor, the Heavy Raider also serves as a gunship if necessary.Battlestar Galactica (2004), episode: "The Farm"Battlestar Galactica (2004), episode: "The Hub"
==History==
When the Cylons ended the 40-year-long Armistice with a nuclear assault on the Twelve Colonies, their upgraded fleet of semi-sentient, bio-mechanical Raiders included a new class of spacecraft. A dual-role attack and transport vehicle, the FTL-equipped Heavy Raider was autonomous, but could also be piloted by a crew of Centurions or a humanoid models. Comprising a wedge-shaped fuselage flanked by curved wing pods, the windowless craft was fitted with two, tri-barreled kinetic energy weapons. Ship-to-ship missile launchers were built into the wing pods. A versatile weapons systems, the launchers could be removed and reconfigured as a ground-based, DRADIS-guided anti-aircraft batteryBattlestar Galactica (2004), episode: "Fragged". On the starboard side of the fuselage, an integrated "helmet" housed the Raider's organic brain and tracking scanner. Eight sublight engines enable the ship to carry out lightning-fast assaults on Colonial targets. Built to take heavy punishment, the Heavy Raider's armored hull could withstand high-speed impact with enemy vessels.
During the Fall, the craft served as troop transports, deploying Centurions to the ravaged Colonies to carry out ground assaults. Later, after William Adama, Commander of the Battlestar Galactica led a civilian fleet of survivors in search of a new home for humanity, Heavy Raiders were utilized in assaults on the Fleet. During one skirmish a damaged craft crash-landed inside the Galactica's starboard flight pod. Five Centurions emerged, killing several crew members before being eliminated. In a similar incident, a pair of Heavy Raiders breached the Battlestar Pegasus, landing inside an upped-port landing bay. Centiruons inflicted numerous casualties but were eventually destroyed by Battlestar's MARDETs.
When a rouge humanoid Number Eight model, later known as Athena joined the human resistance on post-fall Caprica, she helped her new compatriots acquire a Heavy Raider. Resistance fighters used the craft to liberate Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from a Cylon reproductive research facility and return her to the Fleet. The Heavy Raider's biomechanical navigation computer was later integrated into a Raptor's systems, enabling the ship to lead a Raptor squadron back to Caprica in fewer FTL jumps than was possible using Colonial technology aloneBattlestar Galactica (2004), episode: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I". The mission resulted in the recovery of all surviving resistance fighters. Later the Cylons used Heavy Raiders to suppress insurgents on New Caprica, a habitable planet colonized by the Fleet that fell into the enemy occupation. 
Several years after the Fall, a group of rebel Cylons rose up against the Number One "Cavil" model's human-hating, genocidal faction. Joining the forces with the Colonial Fleet, the rebels piloted 25 Heavy Raiders to the Cylon Ressurection Hub, towing behind them a squadron of powered-down Vipers. Nearing the Hub, the raiders uncoupled the undetected Colonial fighters. FIring up their engines, the Vipers launched a surprise assault, ultimately destroying the Hub with a nuclear strike while the Heavy Raiders targeted two sentry Basestars. With the resurrection technology no longer available, death became a final for humans and Cylons alike. 
== Gallery ==
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== Notes ==
*Heavy Raider was designed by arist Richard Livingston and Studio "Enigma Studios".
*The Heavy Raider was first seen in the episode "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I".
*Sometimes during the 3rd Season, the Heavy Raider 3D model was updated to be more in line with the updated Raider 3D model.
==Sources==
Category:Cylon Ships
Category:Cylon Fleet