36 Days after the Cylon Invasion of the Twelve Colonies and the escape of the Colonial Fleet,
the Battlestar Galactica and her accompanying Civilian Flotilla are dangerously close to
exhausting their supply of Tylium Ore, with the reserves down to 5% of total.
With Tylium being necessary to fuel both the Sublight and FTL engines of the fleet’s
ships, Raptors are sortied from the Galactica under the orders of Commander William Adama,
tasked with using what little fuel remains to sweep local systems for potential sources
of Tylium.
After several days the search is finally successful when Lieutenant Sharon Valerii, Callsign “Boomer”
locates a large asteroid saturated with Tylium.
Unfortunately for the Colonials, further inspection reveals that the asteroid plays host to a
large Cylon Military Base and Tylium Refinery, protected by several wings of Raiders.
Left with an all but exhausted supply of fuel and limited options, Commander William Adama
and President Laura Roslin decide that, despite the Cylons superior numbers, attacking the
refinery is the only prudent course of action, if the fleet is to continue to survive.
Active Colonial Forces: The Battlestar Galactica, under the command
of Commander William Adama, with Lieutenant Kara Thrace, Callsign “Starbuck” remaining
on board to act as Adjutant and Strategy Consultant to the command staff after being injured in
action and removed from flight duty.
At the time of this engagement the Galactica is at close to full strength, having suffered
only minor damage, but suffers from a serious lack of able pilots, carrying only 21 trained
pilots for its current complement of 40 Vipers. 19 Mark II Colonial Vipers, led by the Commander
of the Galactica Air Group, Captain Lee Adama, callsign “Apollo”, with several of those
fighters placed under the separate command of callsign “Fireball”.
2 Colonial Raptors, piloted by callsigns “Stubbs” and “Boomer” respectively.
3 Civilian Transport Freighters, bearing skeleton crews, deployed for use in diversionary tactics.
Active Cylon Forces: 1 Large Surface Based Tylium Refinery, equipped
with several launch bays and numerous fixed anti-aircraft emplacements armed with Flak
and Surface to Air Missiles. 140 Cylon Raiders, including regular Combat
Air Patrols and Base Garrison.
Before the start of the engagement the Cylon Forces at the Refinery facility are totally
unaware of the Colonial Fleet’s presence, neither are they aware that the Colonials
had previously reconnoitred their position, affording the Colonial Fleet the initiative
advantage.
With the Cylons still unaware of their presence, the Battlestar Galactica is deployed by FTL
to a holding position at the trailing edge of the asteroid belt.
Simultaneously, the three civilian freighters are deployed to position code deacon.
Upon arriving in-system the freighters begin wireless communications, posing as a mining
fleet searching the area for Tylium, appearing to be unaware of the Cylon Presence.
Raptor’s Stubbs and Boomer are also deployed under silent running to monitor the situation,
and report Cylon fleet movements back to Galactica’s CIC.
Having detected the seemingly helpless freighters, the Cylon Base deploys 90 of its 140 Raiders
to intercept and destroy the ships, this action is observed by one of Galactica’s Raptors,
and reported back to the command staff.
With most of the Cylon fighter complement now out of position, Galactica deploys a wing
of 7 Vipers designated “Strike One” under the command of Callsign “Fireball” to
begin moving toward the Cylon Refinery.
However, before Strike One can reach the facility, a Cylon Patrol Squadron spots the approaching
fighters, and the Cylon Base launches its 50 remaining Raiders to destroy the attack
force.
This is observed by one of Galactica’s Raptors and reported back, Commander Adama chooses
not to order a retreat and Strike One closes to engage the superior Cylon Force.
With the Raiders now in firing range of Strike One, the first shots are fired, and the battle’s
first casualty is Fireball, leaving Lieutenant Junior Grade Brendan Costanza, callsign “Hot
Dog” to take command of the wing.
Strike One continues to take heavy casualties and inflicts little damage on the enemy wing,
with Strike One’s mission outcome seriously doubtful, and heavy losses suffered, Commander
Adama orders the wing to withdraw and return to the Galactica at full burn.
Meanwhile, near position code Deacon, one of Galactica’s Raptors, callsign “Stubbs”
reports that the Cylon’s initial wing of 90 Raiders, having intercepted Galactica’s
withdrawal orders to Strike One, has broken off their intercept course with the freighters
and is now on route to join their other forces in an attack on the Galactica and what remains
of their fighter wing.
With the entirety of the Cylon Air wing descending on Galactica, it is now that the Colonials
reveal their true strategy.
A scrambled transmission is sent from the Galactica CIC to the Civilian Transports still
waiting at Position Code Deacon.
Having received the transmission the Civilian freighters eject their cargo containers to
reveal Galactica’s 12 remaining Vipers magnetically sealed to their hull.
This force, designated Strike Two and personally commanded by Galactica’s CAG Captain Lee
Adama, now approaches the Cylon Refinery, taking full advantage of the distracted Cylon
Air Wing to reach the facility unscathed.
With the 140 Cylon Raiders now in firing range, the Galactica begins to open fire on the hostile
wing with point defence and long range flak systems.
Despite having suffered heavy casualties in the previous engagement, Strike One attempts
to assist in the Galactica’s defence, engaging the Cylon Fighters under the cover of Galactica’s
Flak Screen.
Having now reached the Cylon Base, Strike Two begins to skim the surface of the massive
asteroid, attempting to evade surface fire from point defence cannons and missile batteries,
their goal is to destroy the refineries Tylium Precursor tanks, so as to cause a large enough
explosion to disable the base’s defences without destroying its supply of Tylium.
Strike Two suffers heavy casualties in the approach, losing three vipers before making
their first strafing run, their first missile volley fired against the base is repelled
by Cylon Electronic Countermeasures, forcing the Colonial Squadron to change their tactics
and engage the base at far closer range.
Galactica and Strike One succeed in inflicting heavy damage on the Cylon attack force, left
unsure whether to continue their attack or return to defend their home base, the Cylon
Wing is fractured and disoriented and the Colonials succeed in using this advantage
to turn the tide of the engagement.
Using the asteroid’s terrain for cover, Captain Lee Adama locates a Tylium conveyer
tunnel on the surface which appears to be clear of debris, predicting this will lead
him to the target area, Apollo gives command of the remaining Strike Two Vipers to Lieutenant
Louanne Katrine, callsign “Kat”, with instructions to return to Galactica, and enters
the tunnel alone.
After a short engagement, Galactica and Strike One have succeeded in breaking the Cylon attack
wing under concentrated point defence fire, forcing them to scatter and begin to lose
unit cohesion.
Now hidden from the firing arcs of the surface mounted anti-aircraft weapons, Apollo manages
to traverse the narrow passageway and emerge inside the refinery itself.
Having exited the tunnel, Apollo locates the Tylium Precursor Tanks and proceeds to drop
a pair of timed explosive charges under their structural support, before accelerating away
from the base at best possible speed.
A short few seconds later once Apollo has reached a safe distance, the charges detonate,
causing a chain reaction which eliminates the Refineries’ defences and military structures
without causing any damage to its supply of Tylium Ore.
With Strike Two and Apollo now returning to the Galactica and the Cylon Refinery Neutralised,
the remaining Cylon Raiders now begin a full retreat, breaking formation and fleeing the
area at full burn.
In order to maximize the potential morale boost of this Colonial Victory, Commander
Adama orders Strike One to pursue and destroy the scattered Cylon Squadrons, eliminating
the Cylon Forces completely.
RESULT: Decisive Colonial Victory.
Colonial Losses: 6 Mark II Colonial Vipers Destroyed, Pilots
KIA Include “Fireball”, “Stepchild” and “Chuckles”.
Cylon Losses: Complete Destruction of Cylon Forces.
All 140 Cylon Raiders Destroyed.
Cylon Refinery Facility disabled and stripped for resources.
Following the Colonial Victory, several Civilian Mining ships were used to strip the Neutralised
Cylon Refinery of Tylium Ore and other useful materials.
The resulting yield of Tylium created a reserve massive enough to supply the entire Colonial
Fleet for many years, eliminating what would likely have become a major concern for the
Colonial Fleet for their entire journey.
It should also be noted that this battle represents the first Colonial Military Victory against
the Cylon Empire in over forty years, and serves as a massive morale boost to the exhausted
and demoralised Colonials.
The Galactica and her squadrons succeeded in completely destroying a force that outnumbered
them five to one and gave pause to the Cylon’s relentless pursuit of the Colonial Fleet,
forcing them to hesitate and revaluate their strategies.