Sunday Battlestar Blogging: Pegasus (chock full o’ spoilers)

A Mercury class battlestar, Pegasus entered service at some point between the First and Second Cylon wars. Her design represented a remarkable advance over that of the earliest battlestars, occupying nearly twice the volume of the Battlestar Galactica. Her armor, tactical speed, damage absorption capacity, and armament similarly exceeded the earlier ship. Automation advances made the operation of Pegasus possible with only half the crew of Galatica.

Undergoing an overhaul at the beginning of the Second Cylon War, Pegasus escaped theCylon attack only through employment of a “blind jump”. It is unknown how many other battlestars attempted similar maneuvers. After working back up, Pegasus, under the command of Admiral Cain, began shadowing a fleet of Cylon basestars. It was later discovered that the Cylon fleet was itself shadowing the Battlestar Galactica and a fleet of civilian vessels. Pegasus joined Galactica’s fleet, and under joint command the two ships launched a brief counteroffensive, destroying the Cylon “Resurrection Ship” and a basestar.

Following the battle, Admiral Cain was assassinated by a Cylon agent. She was replaced by Colonel Jack Fisk, who was himself assassinated by criminal elements. Command passed to Barry Garner, who died in an ambush involving three Cylon basestars. Garner was replaced by Commander Lee Adama, who helmed Pegasus for roughly eighteen months, including a year in orbit over New Caprica.

Pegasus joined the Battle of New Caprica late, and without her fighter squadrons. Pegasus’ intervention helped to ensure the survival and escape of Galactica, but Pegasus could not withstand fire from four Cylon basestars. Her last tactical maneuver involved a suicidal collision with a basestar, with the explosion resulting in the creation of debris that destroyed yet another basestar. Most of her crew survived. Although the Battle of New Caprica was strategically well thought-out on the part of the Colonial Fleet and tactical well executed, the decision to sacrifice Pegasus in order to save Galactica must be regarded as an error. In addition to her small size and large crew requirement, Galactica was aging and desperately in need of refit. A more well conceived operation would have sacrificed Galactica in favor of Pegasus. Although this might have reduced the damage caused to the Cylon fleet, trading in excess of 50% of the capital ship strength of the Colonial fleet for a fraction of Cylon strength cannot be regarded as a success.

This should serve as a discussion thread for BSG: Exodus Part II.