Galactica (TRS)

Built during the early days of the Cylon War, Galactica (BS 75) is a veteran battlestar and was the last of its kind still in service, prior to its decommissioning by the Colonial Fleet. Officially decommissioned, Galactica was transformed into a museum ship as a memorial to the Cylon War, fought nearly forty years prior. Before decommissioning, Galactica was part of the 75th Colonial Battlestar Group. 
== Construction and First War Service (YR48-YR60) ==
Galactica was one of the first twelve Galactica type battlestars to be constructed by the Colonials, each representing one of the twelve colonies; Galactica represented . While solidly built, various factors during Galactica construction led to the shipyard "cutting corners" when it was originally built, with various components not completed to spec .
These battlestars were all designed with non-integrated computer systems to avoid the Cylons' demonstrated ability to override or subvert networked command and control systems early in the war . Rather than technological sophistication, the battlestar depended on its sheer bulk and defensive / offensive capabilities to ward off any threats to itself or the Colonies.
Entering service sometime prior to the tenth year of the War, Galactica primary duties included planetary defense, and border patrol. It is unknown if the ship took part in any major engagement prior to this point, however it is known that the Colonials were facing heavy losses in the wake of Cylon advancements . 
Two years later Galactica participated in Operation Raptor Talon, along with Columbia and one other battlestar of its class. It was successful in inflicting major damage to Cylon forces, but not before they were able to destroy Columbia. The battle ended in a draw, when it was announced the Cylons had signed an armistice agreement . 
=== Gallery === 
Image:Galactica Refit.png|Closeup of Galactica's alligator head.
Image:Galactica Viper Launch.png|A Viper launches from Galactica. 
Image:CIC.png|Galactica CIC in its original configuration during the Cylon War.
Image:CIC 2.png|Galactica CIC in its original configuration during the Cylon War.
Image:CIC 3.png|Galactica CIC in its original configuration during the Cylon War.
Image:Hangar.png|Galactica hangar deck in its original configuration during the Cylon War.
Image:Galactica Hangar Deck.png|Galactica hangar deck during the War. 
Image:Cable Car.png|A cable car used to transport personnel through the ship.
Image:Galactica Infirmary.png|Galactica infirmary during the First Cylon War.
=== Notes ===
* In Blood and Chrome, Galactica is depicted with larger flight facilities than in the reimagined series; however, its overall flight pod design does not change, creating a continuity error. Since the pods do not change, it is impossible for the larger hangar deck to fit inside the pods, without a change in elevation of the above flight deck. 
* Also in Blood and Chrome, Galactica cannons change position from the beginning of the production to the end. It is assumed this is a production mixup, and that two different models were produced, and both accidentally used. The second model used at the conclusion of the production is incomplete, and does not feature lightmaps. 
* In Starbuck's gun camera shots in "He That Believeth in Me" Galactica is supposedly a member of Battlestar Group 62.
== Modern Service and Decommissioning (YR80-YR00) ==
=== Post War Service ===
Even before the end of the War, Galactica undergoes a refit that sees the removal of much of its armor, removal of the Viper stacks, and many of its dorsal primary batteries. Major changes to the layout of the CIC, hangar decks and infirmary are delivered at this point as well . The reasons for this are unknown, however it can be surmised that the highly successful Ghost Fleet Offensive, and advancements in technology allowed the Colonials to scale back massive deployments. The massive redesign of CIC and the hangar decks is likely to streamline operations. This would be Galactica last major refit prior to its decommissioning nearly 40 years later. Galactica never receives the networked computer or Baltar's CNP upgrades like its sister ships do. 
Following the armistice, Galactica is regulated to intra-system duties, and has been known to take on "Coast Guard" roles involving the shipping sector, which limits the use of the ship's two FTL drives. Prior to Galactica FTL jump to Ragnar Anchorage, its drives were not utilized in nearly twenty years .
=== Decommissioning ===
:Main article: Battlestar Galactica Museum
With its active career drawing to a close, a decision was taken to retire Galactica and decommission it from service. The Colonial Fleet chose not to scrap the ship, but to turn it into a combination of living museum to the original Cylon War and an educational center, with the conversion being overseen by the vessel's final commander, William Adama.
At the time of its formal decommissioning ceremony, Galactica is stripped of all but one of its operational Viper Mark VII squadrons, its munitions are destroyed, and its starboard landing pod is converted into a pressurized museum which houses various items from the Cylon War while the launch facilities in the hangar deck below are permanently disabled. However, the ship's Viper munitions stores have not yet been offloaded and are still on the ship. The museum is about to open when the Cylons break the Armistice, and renew their hostilities with the Colonials.
== Cylon Attack and Post-Fall Exodus (YR00-YR04) ==
=== Surprise Attack === 
With the renewed and unexpected Cylon hostilities, Galactica is quickly brought back to combat condition and sorties a squadron of Mark IIs retrieved from its museum, engaging in its first battle with the Cylons in over forty years (all but one last Mark VII squadron were sent to Caprica for reassignment). It survives a direct hit by a tactical nuclear missile to the forward section of its port flight pod, and later jumps successfully to Ragnar Anchorage to replenish its empty ammunition stores at this strategic depot.
Galactica emerges from the anchorage and engages one basestar with its gun batteries, providing cover for a fleet of 75 civilian ships harboring survivors of the Twelve Colonies. Once the entire civilian fleet successfully jumps away, and as a second basestar approaches to join the battle, Galactica recovers its remaining Vipers and jumps to the rendezvous point beyond the Red Line, never to return to Colonial space . 
=== Leading a Ragtag Fleet ===
Since the exodus of the Colonials from their overrun homeworlds, Galactica becomes both protector and provider for the Fleet. It provides covering fire for the Fleet during Cylon attacks no fewer than 240 times (TRS: "33": "Act of Contrition"). The battlestar provides much of the Fleet with recycled water and it is the primary source of medical care, where groups of civilians are periodically brought aboard for check-ups and treatment . Galactica also undertakes internal policing duties within the Fleet .
Galactica successfully goes on the offensive against the Cylons, after the capture of a tylium fuel mining and processing plant in the process. This plant is able to provide enough fuel for Galactica and the fleet for years . 
The advanced battlestar Pegasus, commanded by Rear Admiral Helena Cain, joins Galactica approximately 6 months into their exodus . While integration into the fleet is far from smooth, the two battlestars work in unison to destroy two Cylon basestars, as well as a critical Cylon support ship known as a Resurrection Ship .
===New Caprica===
Following the founding of New Caprica, Galactica is assigned to the orbital defense force that protects the planet. During this time the majority of the crew are allowed to the surface in an effort to populate the planet and restore the human race, a majority of whom are seemingly convinced that the Cylons will never find New Caprica. The diminished crew inevitably results in standard maintenance becoming overlooked or ignored; basic military responses, such as the launching of alert fighters and routine training exercises become difficult to execute. One year following the founding of New Caprica, a fleet of Cylon ships jump into orbit of the planet. Severely limited in their abilities, Admiral Adama orders the defense fleet to jump away from New Caprica along with a handful of civilian ships still in orbit of the colony. .
Four months after their escape, Galactica's staff is still in the process of developing a rescue strategy with 16 training exercises having been completed, and a 17th underway when an accident causes its early cessation . This forces both a change in strategy and the reformulation of a rescue plan to deal with personnel who have not seen conflict in 16 months .
After coordinating with the New Caprica Resistance, Galactica leaves Pegasus to guard the space-bound members of humanity, while it initiates the Battle of New Caprica. Launching a squadron of Vipers and Raptors, who in turn launch drones to simulate the signatures of Pegasus and Galactica (leading the basestars guarding the planet to launch their Raider squadrons in pursuit), the real Galactica then executes an incredibly risky jump into New Caprica's upper atmosphere. Plummeting towards the ground of the colony from 99,000 feet and with re-entry gases buffeting and scorching the hull, Galactica then launches Blue Squadron while simultaneously calculating a jump back into space, successfully accomplishing both mere hundreds of feet from the ground. Jumping back into space, the atmospheric stresses of the jump take a toll on the battlestar. Electrical surges nearly blow out multiple displays in CIC, requiring a few moments for DRADIS to restore itself while extensive hull damage is apparent. However, the plan to hold off two basestars without their Raider cover while the colonists escape in their ships is complicated by the arrival of two additional basestars. In the subsequent battle, Galactica is bracketed by the four basestars and pummeled on all sides, losing maneuvering thrusters, and lacking the support of its Vipers leads to missile barrages disabling its FTL drives. Cornered by the Cylons and taking impacts all over the hull, to the point that the port side reaches structural limits and a forward dorsal battery is destroyed, Galactica faces certain destruction when Pegasus unexpectedly arrives. Pegasus salvos draw the attention of the basestars away from Galactica, buying the crew time to bring its FTL drives back on-line, recover its planes, and escape . Galactica bears the scars of the battle with significant scorching and dents to the hull, having sustained heavy damage. Repairs continue on the journey through the Ionian nebula, with heavy damage to secondary storage, and damage to one particular airlock nearly causing the deaths of Galen and Cally Tyrol during what they expected to be a quick repair of a hull micro-fracture .
Given the loss of Pegasus, Galactica now boasts a larger crew, Viper and Raptor complement, to the point where there are more pilots than there are ships to fly , although the training of new recruits is still ongoing . Further, there are various redundancies between the two crews that are appropriately dealt with (TRS: deleted scene from "Exodus, Part II").
=== Resuming the Search for Earth ===
Galactica takes aboard a significant quantity of civilians following the exodus from New Caprica, as several civilian ships are lost during the escape from the failed colony. Cramped conditions increase as crew and civilians struggle to adapt to life back aboard a ship. The civilians reside on the refurbished starboard hangar deck as a refugee camp nicknamed "Camp Oil Slick" and later "Dogsville" .
During a food shortage crisis caused by contamination of the Fleet's food processing systems, Galactica (along with its Raptors acting as pilot ships) guides the civilian Fleet through an area of intense heat, light and radiation caused by a dense star cluster to reach edible resources on the algae planet. Galactica heavy armor and radiation shielding protect it from the intense effects of the cluster, but the ship still suffers hull damage and numerous decompressions.
When the Fleet reaches the Ionian Nebula, four Cylon baseships are detected following an unexplained power outage. With the entire Fleet powered down and unable to escape, Galactica scrambles its Vipers and prepares for a lopsided fight, outnumbered and outgunned . During the following battle, Galactica manages to hold off the main attack of the massive Cylon attack force. Despite the damage suffered in previous engagements, the old warship wields its main guns and point defense batteries effectively again in defense of the Fleet. Despite having the advantage, and managing to destroy or damage several civilian ships, the Cylons retreat in the middle of the battle, after detecting one of the Final Five among the Colonials. Galactica takes minor damage in the battle, taking missile impacts on the dorsal hull and contributing to further weakening of its overall structure .
After three years of searching, Galactica and its Fleet locate Earth. The fleet enters orbit, and immediately launch ground teams who quickly determine that the planet is uninhabitable, having suffered a cataclysm sometime prior. A short time after, Galactica leads its fleet back to the stars .
=== Post-Earth ===
 
With Galactica advanced age, the corners cut during construction, and the abuse it has been put through since the war started, in addition to no access to any repair facilities, have all contributed to deteriorating conditions. Electrical systems begin to fail intermittently throughout the ship, causing lights to flicker and power to be interrupted to multiple areas. A structural survey of the ship finds several torn supports and weakened areas in the hull, and a more in-depth examination finds endemic metal fatigue throughout the ship, with virtually every part of the hull riddled with small cracks and fissures. A plan is proposed to treat the damaged parts of the ship with an organic Cylon resin from the Rebel basestar, which would fill the cracks and bear the stresses, which Adama at first refuses. However, Adama finally appreciates Galactica dire condition when he finds a tear in a bulkhead in his quarters, and orders Tyrol to carry out his plan to repair the ship . Despite the resin, Galactica is dying of old age and accumulated battle damage.
Despite repairs, the ship continues to degrade; when Boomer kidnaps Hera, she narrowly escapes from the retracting flight pods and executes an FTL jump close to the dorsal port side bow section and forward magazine of Galactica; the spacial distortions crumple multiple sections of the area, causing massive electrical surges and power interruptions to CIC and adjacent decks, and damage in the port side hangar deck. Despite attempts to repair the damage with Cylon resin, the hull continues to degrade and power failures ship-wide become more and more frequent. The estimate from repair crews is that Galactica has maybe 5 jumps left in her before she splits in two. When Starbuck attempts to talk with the comatose Anders and put him out of his misery he awakens, grabs her arm and begins reciting random phrases like a Hybrid. Galactica experiences multiple severe power surges and even its engines begin to malfunction; the organic resin running through the hull is acting like a complex network of neural fibers which allows Anders to interface with various ship systems. He could even engage the ship's FTL drives and jump the ship if he wanted to. Even though Anders is disconnected and falls back into a coma Adama comes to grips with the fact that Galactica's time is at an end and she can't be saved. He reluctantly gives the order to abandon ship. 
Command will be transferred to the Cylon baseship once supplies and personnel have been offloaded . The ship is to be stripped of all useful equipment, including its Viper launching mechanisms. However, inspired by a photo of Hera on the Memorial Hallway, Admiral Adama decides to commit the old battlestar to one last mission: a suicidal mission to rescue Hera from the Cylon homeworld, the Colony. With Starbuck's help, he puts a line of red tape down the center of the hangar deck and makes an impassioned speech to the gathered crew members: He will lead Galactica to rescue Hera, but it is a volunteer mission only. If there are not enough people to crew Galactica, he will instead lead a Raptor assault with anyone willing to join him. Everybody makes their choice; there are enough people to crew the ship. Preparations for the final mission get underway. Command of the Fleet is transferred to Louis Hoshi, the flag is transferred to the baseship and a number of Vipers are assigned to it for CAP duties.
=== Battle of The Colony ===
With a skeleton crew and a frail battlestar, Admiral Adama executes a daring mission to rescue Hera Agathon.
Galactica jumps to the Colony at point-blank range. Almost immediately, the ship is pummeled mercilessly by the Colony's heavy caliber cannons and multi-barrel point defense turrets (causing the destruction of its dorsal Colonial roundel and heavy structural damage all around the ship) until Samuel Anders, recently injured and turned into a Hybrid, manages to take them and the Colony's Hybrids offline. As Galactica Vipers launch and engage incoming Raiders, its Raptors jump directly from their berth in the starboard flight pod, causing the destruction of the pod, and maneuver to board the Colony. Galactica then accelerates to flank speed and rams the Colony, providing an entry and exit point for assault teams but crumpling its forward alligator head and destroying the forward observation deck.
As the battle wages on, Cylon Raiders swarm Galactica, destroying at least one of its remaining heavy gun batteries. Cylon forces manage to blow a hole in Deck 21, allowing them to pour into the ship at platoon strength. Legions of enemy Centurions swarm into the ship, and are held back by marine firing squads, despite inflicting heavy casualties. After a brief cease fire, the ship comes under enemy fire once more, in one final push by Cylon forces. After the Colony is hit with nuclear-tipped missiles launched by Racetrack's drifting Raptor, both Galactica and the Colony begin falling into the black hole the Colony was orbiting.
===Journey's End===
Battered by interstellar debris, Galactica is successful in escaping its position via a blind FTL jump to coordinates Thrace enters. While successfully emerging from its final FTL jump, Galactica suffers a series of catastrophic failures across its entire structure. Between the failure to retract its flight pods and the cumulative damage sustained over its flight from the Colonies, Galactica lateral structural supports buckle. This "breaks the back" of the last battlestar, visibly apparent as the entire midsection violently oscillates against the bow and engineering sections. 
A cascading effect of hull breaches and explosive decompressions rock the ship, with multiple decks venting to space. Structural reinforcing beams rip through ceilings and floors, causing insurmountable damage and blowing out electrical conduits. Damage to this infrastructure results in electrical failures and power surges destroying multiple system components, including displays, in the CIC. As the midsection flexes, several Vipers are tossed from the port flight deck, and pieces of the outer hull shear off. 
Reinforced by Cylon organic resin, the ship's overall integrity remains cohesive, but barely. Life support, DRADIS and sublight propulsion are operational, while FTL is inoperative. Given the overall state, Galactica has made its final jump...hanging over the singular satellite of a habitable planet within sublight range. 
When the Colonials decide to colonize this world, Galactica personnel and supplies are transferred to the new world. Along with the surviving bulk of the civilian fleet, Galactica is piloted directly into the system's star by Samuel Anders, who remains aboard as he is interconnected with the battlestar. William Adama becomes the last ambulatory soul to leave the ship, departing in his Cylon War-era Viper Mark II. 150,000 years thereafter, existence of the ship and its Fleet are absent from Earth's history, except for the existence of a progenitor to the new human race"Like a wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we were, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment." - Harlan Ellison .
== Crew ==
:For information on Senior Staff, see : Senior Staff of Galactica 
:For a list of pilots, see: List of Pilots 
:For a list of deckhands, see: List of deckhands 
:For a list of marines, see: Colonial Marine Corps 
Before the attack, Galactica has approximately 2,900 crewmen. By the time of the arrival of Pegasus, attrition has reduced this number to about 2,660. (c.f. Crew tally) It is unknown whether the Colonial Marines account for members or not.
*Between "Act of Contrition" and "Resurrection Ship, Part II" Galactica offensive capability is also greatly hampered by the number of qualified pilots available, and their lack of flight simulators with which to train more. This issue was abated following Pegasus' integration in the Fleet .
==Related Imagery==
Image:BSG Ortho Top & Bottom.jpg|Galactica - Zoic rendering    
Image:BSG Ortho Front, Back & Starboard.jpg|Galactica - Zoic rendering    
Image:Galactica's top side.jpg|Galactica's top side.
Image:Kg cg ns galactica-049.jpg|Galactica's front - Zoic
Image:Battlestar stern.jpg|Galactica's stern.
Image:Galactica retraction.jpg|Flight pod retraction area.
Image:Galactica's bottom-023b.jpg|Galactica's bottom.
Image:Bsg damaged.jpg|Galactica with battle damage. (High Res)
Image:Cylon War-era Galactica, "Razor" Flashback 1.jpg|Galactica in the "Razor Flashbacks".
Image:Galactica - flight pods retracted.jpg|Galactica with flight pods retracted.
Image:BSG landing alcove.jpg|Galactica landing alcove.
Image:Kg cg ns galactica-037.jpg|A cluster of rail guns.
Image:Battered Battlestar.jpg|Bow view of Galactica.
Image:GalPeg.png|Galactica overlooking Pegasus.
Image:Pointdefence2 101 1080i.jpg|Galactica point defense batteries in action    
Image:Galactica fights off missile salvos.jpg|Galactica establishes a defense perimeter.
Image:Raptor scramble.jpg|Galactica scrambles Vipers and Raptors.
Image:Colony Breech.jpg|Galactica is rammed into the Colony.
Image:Img0059.jpg|Galactica's main batteries.
Image:Galactia's end.jpg|Galactica and the Fleet depart for the sun, with the African continent in the background.
Image:CIC Overview 1.jpg|Galactica's CIC.
Image:Cicweaponscontrol1.jpg|Weapons control.
Image:Cictacticalstation1.jpg|Tactical station.
Image:Cic commstation.jpg|Communications.
Image:The Mess.jpg|The Officers' mess hall.
Image:Cicdmgcontrol.jpg|Damage control.
Image:Ftl2.jpg|FTL Drive.
Image:Bsg-1-10.jpg|The "War Room".
Image:Porthangardeck.jpg|The port hangar bay on Galactica.
Image:DutyLocker.jpg|Crew quarters.
Image:GalacticaInterior Sickbay1.jpg|Sickbay
Image:Galactica Museum, "Daybreak, Part II".jpg| The Galactica museum in the starboard flight pod.
Image:Galactica corridor.jpg|The "A-shaped" corridors.
== See also ==
*Galactica crew facilities
*Galactica Areas
== References ==
Category:A to Z
Category:Battlestars
Category:Battlestars (RDM)
Category:Colonial
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Category:Colonial Military
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