Boomer (TOS)

Boomer is a reserved, thoughtful and loyal survivor of the Cylon's wholesale slaughter of humanity . He became a pilot attached to sometime after his tours of duty on planets Boomer seems the antithesis of his closest friend, , and tends to think more logically. However, like Starbuck, Boomer is also a consummate Viper pilot, willing to risk his life for friend and innocent.
== Biography ==
=== Background ===
While there are gaps in his history, Boomer once pulled a tour of duty at Ice Station Thola; the experience of which would later be useful for taking out the occupying the Ravashol Pulsar weapon on Arcta He also is fluent in Gemonese, which aids communications between and the Gemon woman on the Gemini, a freighter, were it not for Cassiopeia's assistance . His tour de force with appropriation of hovermobiles during his adolescence also proved resourceful during the ship-wide disaster that strikes Galactica within the first year of her flight .
=== After the Cylon Attack ===
Boomer was instrumental in clearing the Cylon-laid minefield in the Straits of Madagon, for which he would later earn a Gold Cluster for by the behests of Sire Uri—albeit under a basically shrewd pretense to call for the disarmament of the remaining Colonials on Carillon. Boomer is the first person to pick up on the apparent façade projected by their Ovion hosts, although Starbuck attempts to ineffectively rebuke it. Boomer is instrumental in also picking up on 's deception with people donning Colonial Warrior uniforms during the aborted ceremonies .
Boomer and another friend, , happen upon a Cylon outpost, skipping decontamination and bringing back a deadly viral agent that incapacitates all people that the two were in contact with. He and Jolly manage to incapacitate a majority of the pilots, thus necessitating replacements from Colonial shuttle corps . After he and the fellow pilots recover, Boomer spearheads a revival of the original Blue Squadron, although they were still under the afflictions of the virus' symptoms .
Boomer and Starbuck also manage to recover from Equellus, after obtaining permission from Commander Adama. It should be noted that it was fairly obvious that they would have gone anyway, regardless of any permission given by Adama. Adama previously orders that no search be done for Apollo due to the perception he would favor his son over the Fleet's safety . The lieutenant subsequently saves his friend Starbuck from the Proteus prison planetoid, as well as the planetoid itself from Cylon attack .
Another instrumental strike mission is on the ice planet of Arcta, which he is involved in due to his experience on the Thola station. During the recruitment procedures, Boomer parlays the hypothesis that someone (Starbuck) manipulated the computer records so that he would be added to the mission team. Lead by Starbuck, Boomer is instrumental in taking out the Cylon garrison while Apollo, Croft and Leda take on the pulsar's mechanisms in tandem. The mission is a success, however it was not without its problems 
When the Fleet suffers from a lack of nourishment due to the Cylon's successful destruction of the Fleet's food stores, Boomer and Starbuck are tasked to trade Siress Belloby's energizer for seed on agron colony Sectar. Unfortunately, the energizer is stolen from their hands and Boomer reports this back to Adama while Starbuck manages to win his way into Serenity's constable position for the short term .
He is forced to see Starbuck into a controlled crash-landing on the Delta-class marsh planet of Attila, and returns to the Fleet to procure assistance. Apollo and Boomer land on the planet sometime later to see that the Cylons, lead by the unscrupulous Specter, flee the planet. Of course, when they were leaving, Boomer voices the age-old question of Starbuck's charm on women to his Flight Captain: "How does he do it?" .
With the return of , as well as the need for fuel, Boomer is part of a commando unit that eliminates the Cylon's control center on Gamoray and pilfering fuel from Cylon storage depots for the Fleet ().
Boomer is also instrumental in the rescue and well-being of everyone trapped in the Rejuvenation Center during a massive fire on the battlestar, managing to open a door in another section of the ship. Unfortunately, Boomer could not jury-rig additional doors as a fire on the other side blocked the only door within the storage room adjoining to the Center. He does get a note to , informing him that they were alive and in need of rescue .
One of the many warriors to disappear into the Ship of Lights, although before this Iblis influences Boomer in a game of against Apollo and Starbuck. This causes the defeat of their Red Team, but since there was interference it probably wasn't considered a win for him, although he was tired of losing to both Warriors (War of the Gods).
He later questions Chameleon, who claimed to be Starbuck's father, breaking up a situation that happened nearly a centar prior concerning the Borellian Nomen and Taba's activated laser bola. He fills Apollo in on his hunch, which turns out to be true as the two warriors attempt to get something out of the man. Of course, the story Chameleon tells them about testing a Nomen child is not true, and Boomer subsequently discovers that Chameleon was fleeing from them as he swindles Maga and his Nomen. Boomer also discoveres the two Nomen, Maga and Bora, miraculously alive in the launch tube after Chameleon fires the Vipers lasers at them (The Man with Nine Lives).
The lieutenant must defend his friend, Starbuck, from a crime he didn't commit: the termination of Flight Sergeant Ortega. He and Apollo manage to find out that Ortega had been blackmailing three people, Karibdis, Riftis, and Elias, whom bribed the warrior for passage off the planet through the . In a brash and rare act of insubordination, Boomer activates Alpha Channel without consent, allowing the Tribunal to hear the confession of Karibdis. This act saves Starbuck from being tried as a killer and sentenced to rotting in the Prison Barge with characters that would had liked to get their hands on him ().
Boomer fools the Council Security officers and spectators to the "unloading" of Michael and his passengers from the Terran space vehicle, as Salik, Adama, Apollo, and Starbuck believe that the only way these "Earthlings" could be saved is by getting them off Galactica. When found out, he utters, "Jolly, you forgot the kids!" .
Sometime later, Boomer and Sheba are assigned to transfer the Eastern Alliance prisoners along with two other snobbish security "blackshirts". He manages to cause the shuttle's gravitational field to deviate, causing the immature Council Security men to quiet themselves, at least temporarily. Although the Security men threaten (privately, of course) to report him, the incident is forgotten or deemed unimportant as these same guards—and the two Colonial Warriors—are taken hostage by , the Nomen, and Commandant Leiter's people. Baltar threatens to kill Boomer, eleven members of the , and the three original occupants by destroying the shuttle with explosive charges. Yet, the group manages to get through the situation unscathed, as Starbuck and Apollo relieve Baltar of the detonator on his .
Something of an electronic/communications expert, Starbuck, Apollo, Cassiopeia, and Sheba turn to Boomer for assistance on a recording they'd discovered on a Gamma frequency in a Celestial chamber. However, despite his attempts, Boomer manages to get only some clarity out of it; of course, he isn't able to consult Doctor Wilker on it as the recording is destroyed in Galactica's attack on the lone .
Boomer's desire to go with Apollo and Starbuck on the mission to board the basestar is outweighed by his experience as a Viper flight leader, where he was most needed. Along with a worried Sheba, Boomer manages to occupy the Cylon's Raiders while Galactica destroys the basestar. Alas, Starbuck and Apollo lose their transmitter and are unable to identify themselves by scanning. Boomer, however, notices an irregular pattern in the flying, and exclaims with joy that Apollo and Starbuck piloted the Raider since "They're waggling!"
Despite the recording's destruction, Boomer sets up a Gamma frequency booster for Apollo, which does pick up a signal . However, it is unknown whether or not Apollo or anyone else knows about this signal, which was clearly received, thanks to Boomer's contrivance.
== Notes ==
* Adama and Boomer are the only two major characters from the Original Series characters who returned to the Battlestar "spin-off" series, "Galactica 1980." By this time, he was promoted to colonel—replacing Colonel .
* Boomer is one of only five characters in the Original Series to be featured in every episode, and appears in six of the ten episodes of Galactica 1980.
* According to Encyclopedia Galactica (a non-canonical piece of merchandise published in 1979):
: Boomer was born 43 yahren before the Battle of Cimtar, growing up in and later graduating from the Academy a mere 8 yahren before the destruction of the Colonies. He graduated with honors in eletromagnetic science.
== References ==
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