Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus

==Plot==
Admiral Helena Cain and the crew of Pegasus investigate the fate of a missing battlestar and a feared Cylon encounter.
==Summary==
*The battlestar Pegasus arrives at a Colonial Fleet shipyard at Gemenon for scheduled maintenance and passenger and crew transfers.
*As she would months later, Admiral Helena Cain stays aboard to manage some ship and personal business, trying to write a latter home without success.
*On the shipyard station, unnoticed by anyone, three people look on with dispassionate regard of the humans moving through the station. In fact, the three are not human, but humanoid Cylons that have infiltrated society. The Number Six, Simon and Aaron Doral allude to the fact that the scurrying and business of humanity will not matter in a short time.
*The ship's Executive Officer, Colonel Cade Ward, manages system shutdowns prior to maintenance.
*Cain is visited by Admiral Rohner in her quarters with new mission orders. Cain is ordered to find the battlestar Chronos, lost while investigating a distress signal on or near the Cylon border. He reminds her of a botched reconnaissance mission conducted some time before and the ramifications to the Twelve Colonies of Kobol should she escalate the situation.
*Back in space, Pegasus jumps to the site of last contact with Chronos, immediately discovering both the destroyed battlestar and four Raiders emerging from the wreck, which immediately attack with nuclear missiles.
*Pegasus reels from the strikes but begins returning fire. As the Cylons use their nuclear missiles to completely destroy the wrecked hulk of Chronos, Louis Hoshi, the communications officer, picks up an automated distress signal from Admiral Tong, the dead battlestar's commanding officer. Cain orders an FTL fix on the signal for an imminent jump.
*With ship's damage too severe and few Vipers aboard (having left many at Gemenon for required maintenance), Pegasus's only option is to flee, which it manages to do just as the Cylons return.
*As the ship begins repairs, Cain plans a rescue mission for any Chronos survivors. Believing neither Colonial or Cylon was in the "right" in this situation, Cain wants to avoid a fight but also rescue the survivors, believed to be at a Colonial tylium fuel depot reserve. To avoid a likely trap given their limited offensive resources, A Raptor is sent to the scene.
*The deckhands manage to get their six Vipers up and running with some older avionics flight software. The bulk of their Vipers ("99%," according to one character) were left at Gemenon for upgrades there.
*Another group of twelve Raiders attack Pegasus, which deploys its few Vipers. Pilots Stinger, Showboat, Caustic, Smokescreen are fighting not only the Cylons, but issues with the flight software, which is a bit slower than expected.
*The Vipers manage to mop up the Raiders, but after a loss of at least two Vipers. 
*Raptor 808, led by Jack Fisk, all too aware of the likelihood of a trap, arrive at the depot. They find the scene of a massacre. Both Cylon and human bodies are scattered on the floor. A group of Cylon Centurions ambush the team. Cole Taylor is hit, but the team manages to destroy the Cylon troops.
*In a storeroom, the team finds the only survivor of Chronos, her commanding officer, Admiral Tong. They return to Pegasus with Tong and the dead from the depot: 93 casualties. Barry Garner reported to Cade, who relays to Cain, of progressing repairs. Cain swears vengeance against the Cylons.
*Later, in her quarters, Cain tries to speak to an increasingly agitated Tong, who angrily tells Cain that he believes that the Cylons themselves are out for revenge after being pushed and prodded by reconnaissance and infiltration over the years. Terrified, he tells Cain that every man, woman and child will be killed by the Cylons if they don't warn everyone.
*Cain calls for security to calm Tong, but not before he manages to kill himself with a shard of glass.
*Later, as Pegasus approaches the Tauron shipyards, Cain leaves Cade with the conn to finish her log entries, but also to try writing a letter to her father, Colonel David Cain. She completes it, but places it with a pile of other unsent letters in her safe. Taking a drink, Cain swears vengeance against the Cylons once more.
==Notes==
* Admiral Rohner refers to Adama's mission in his talk to Admiral Cain and the Stealth Star as an experimental stealth craft. As such, the events of the comic take place after then-Commander Adama's ill-fated mission to the Armistice Line in "Hero," which places the events of this comic to be roughly a year before the Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards. 
**This does not take into account that the date given in "Hero" is a continuity error. Given previous dates mentioned in the series, the events of that episode can't take place just a year prior to the Miniseries. See Hero#Analysis for details.
* In "Razor," the character who is Pegasus's long-time XO is Jurgen Belzen. Cade Ward is more than likely the comic version of Belzen, but as the comic was written before "Razor," this discrepancy is understandable.
* Jack Fisk's rank is given as lieutenant colonel, which is the rank Fisk has in "Razor" before Belzen is executed and he is summarily promoted. 
* Cole Taylor is erroneously given the name of Robert Taylor.
==Analysis==
*The story is obviously set within the two-year span where humanoid Cylon infiltration began, likely within a year prior to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies based on comments at the start of the story from a Number Six, Simon and Number Five.
*As with other Dynamite Comic stories, such as Battlestar Galactica 0, continuity issues are apparent. Significant issues include the appearance of the newer Cylon Raider, the modern Cylon Centurion, and the mere appearance of any Cylon at all, given that the Miniseries storyline at the story of the show indicates that "No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years." The information is better interpreted as "No one has been able to report the appearance of Cylons on record in over 40 years," as William Adama and his battlestar Valkyrie encountered Cylon activity (albeit invisible) at the Armistice Line, and a casualty was a prisoner-of-war for several years as a result . This encounter is mentioned to Cain in the story.
* Additionally, the fact that the Pegasus's crew were able to identify the newer Cylon Raiders immediately is inconsistent with what's been established previously. In the Miniseries, 's CAG, Captain Jackson Spencer, and his squadron were unable to identify the two Cylon Raiders that destroyed them before it was too late. 
*The story writers show accuracy in many canonical references to characters such as Cole Taylor, Marcia Case, and Barry Garner. Some minor errors, such as the misspelling of tylium as "tillium," crop up occasionally.
*Lieutenant Mei Firelli is possibly referenced by the writer, who spells the name "Pirelli".
*Another continuity issue occurs with the use of Viper Mark VIIs against Cylon Raiders. As, later, with the genocidal attack on the Colonies, the Cylons' attempt to disable the Vipers through the CNP backdoors. However, as these Vipers are using older avionics software and not the CNP, they are spared. The storyline discontinuity occurs when a pilot recognizes the jamming. From a tactical standpoint, this is something that should be very significant information to pass on to Cain and Fleet commanders.
==Questions==
*Why was Pegasus relieved of almost all of her Vipers and sent on a mission? As a battlestar is often no stronger offensively than her complement of fighters, wouldn't this be a significant concern?
*Were the Vipers left at Gemenon Shipyards scheduled for their CNP upgrade?
*What is Jack Fisk's position on Pegasus at the time of this story?
== Alternate covers ==
File:BSGPegasusTocciniNFA.jpg|Cover A: Greg Toccini.
File:BSGPegasusPhotoCover.jpg|Cover B: Photo cover with Admiral Helena Cain.
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Category:Dynamite Comics
Category:Dynamite Comics (RDM)
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