May 12 2011

The BattleStar Galactica Files (Ep 5)

Welcome to the BattleStar Galactica Files! Sci-Fi (Syfy) Channel’s classic series that captured the fear and the paranoia of the post-9/11 culture. Hailed by critics and fans alike, BSG’s arcing epic storyline, detailed character development, dynamite special effects, and top-notch acting makes it one of the best science fiction tales of our time. Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Jamie Bamber led a top-notch cast through 4 short seasons of one of the best television shows ever made. If you’ve seen BSG then you know, if you haven’t, then do yourself a favor- every episode is on Netflix, and it was just picked up for syndication on BBC America!
(WARNING- The following will contain SPOILERS, as it is my attempt to sum up the series in layman terms.)

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The Battlestar Galactica (BS-75)

The “Battlestar-Class” Carrier/Destroyers were constructed before the first Cylon war, one of 12 built in honor of the 12 Colonies. When the war broke out, the giant ships were put into mass production due to their extreme effectiveness engaging the enemy. The flagship, Galactica, is the only surviving “Galactica-Class” battlestar, and one of the only military ships left after the destruction of the 12 Colonies by the Cylons due to the fact that it was never retro-fitted with any kind of computer network or Dr. Baltar’s integrated defense system software. In fact, she was in the process of being decommissioned in the series opener, one of her flight pods already converted to a museum. Galactica is now the leader and sole protection of the survivors of humanity in their quest for Earth.

Coming in at just about 4720′ long, the Galactica’s defenses include 514 anti-aircraft guns, 24 main artillery batteries, and 14 missile tubes for conventional and nuclear weapons… capable of throwing an unprecedented number of shells, flak, missiles, and nukes at any engaged enemy. She also houses 4 squadrons of 20 Viper attack fighters, and dozens of Raptor multi-role craft. All in all, Galactica is a formidable opponent in space battle, highly maneuverable, and capable of staying at “sea” for months without refueling or rearming (a good thing, due to the circumstances surrounding its current status as fleet protectorate).

Galactica’s crew consists of around 2,600 men and women, not including the civilians that eventually take refuge in her quarters and one of her flight pods. From senior staff to deckhands and Colonial Marines, the crew of Galactica is an inexperienced and untrained group due to its upcoming decommissioning ceremony. Skippered by Commander William Adama, the Galactica’s crew is responsible for the protection of the survivors of humanity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Pilots who run Viper patrols and Raptor scouting missions, deckhands responsible for maintaining those ships, weapons manufacturing to supply those ships, cooks and galley staff, Combat Information Center (CIC) staff such as communications, navigation, and tactical officers, and the marines that keep the peace… all making up a crew who runs on a clock that doesn’t stop. The safety of the fleet being under constant threat from Cylon attack, Adama and his crew have the most thankless job in the universe. In charge of the 70+ ships of the civilian fleet, Galactica has been humanity’s first and last line of defense until the arrival of the Battlestar Pegasus during the second season…

Main Characters onboard Galactica:

Lieutenant Felix Gaeta, the tactical officer of Galactica. Felix Gaeta is a brilliant officer who handles everything from helping Dr. (and later, President) Baltar with his Cylon Detector, to engineering the use of Galactica’s computers together (despite the disastrous consequences). Lt. Gaeta is eventually manipulated by numerous people to further their own interests in the fleet, including staging a mutiny onboard the Galactica, for which he is executed by firing squad.

Lt. Sharon “Boomer” Valerii, a skilled Raptor pilot and lover to Chief Tyrol, Sharon soon realizes she is a Cylon sleeper agent who has been given fake memories in order to infiltrate humanity. The Old Man sends Sharon on a highly important mission to destroy a Cylon Basestar in orbit around Kobol, she flies into the heart of the huge ship thanks to a Cylon device rigged by Lt Gaeta in order to drop a nuke. Inside she is greeted by dozens of other 8’s, she panics and dumps the bomb and leaves, destroying the Basestar.

Lieutenant Karl “Helo” Agathon, marooned on Caprica after the attack, fell in love and impregnated a Cylon 8. (copy of Sharon “Boomer” Valerii.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Anastasia “Dee” Dualla, Galactica‘s Communications Officer, originally in love with President Roslin’s de facto aide Billy (who was killed in a hostage situation on Cloud 9, the fleet’s cruise ship)- Dee later becomes seriously involved with Apollo.

Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama is the son of “The Old Man,” an excellent Viper pilot, and eventually promoted to Commander of the Pegasus.

Captain Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, the best pilot in the fleet, and adopted-daughter to Bill Adama (due to being involved with Apollo’s brother, The Old Man’s other son, Zach years before the events of the show). Starbuck is promoted from a brawling Lieutenant to Captain, and given command of Pegasus‘ and Galactica‘s Viper squadrons. Early in the show, while interrogating a Cylon spy, Kara was told she was the “Harbinger of Death,” and that her fate was to lead humanity to it’s end.

Major “Doc” Cottle is Galactica, and really the fleet’s, best doctor. He oversees everything from Roslin’s cancer to The Old Man’s attempted assassination to the birth of Helo and #8’s half-human-half-Cylon hybrid-child.

Chief Petty Officer Galen “Chief”  Tyrol has been serving under The Old Man for 5 years, on both the Valkyrie and the Galactica. He is the highest ranking non-commissioned officer on Galactica, and was initially involved with Sharon “Boomer” Valerii (before she realizes she’s a Cylon and busts a cap in Adama’s gut, 2 of them actually) for a long time. Due to the fact that Sharon is a Lt, and Chief’s CO, they are forced to discontinue their relationship.  Chief later starts to have nightmares about killing himself, and punches the living daylights out of Cally when she tries to wake him (they, of course, hook up and have a son, Nicholas).

Petty Officer 2nd Class Callandra “Cally”  Henderson is one of Galactica’s deckhands, responsible for maintaining Galactica’s Viper and Raptor squadrons. She is mostly a background character until she attempts to wake up Chief, gets severely beat, and promptly falls in love with him.

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Most of the information gleaned for these posts is taken from the good folks at Wiki and BSG Wiki.

Coming Up on the BSG Files:

May 10 2011

A Thor Letter Word

♣♣♣♣♣  out of  ♣♣♣♣♣

Marvel Comics has been mining it’s treasure trove of material, at a multi-million dollar level anyway, for over a decade now. It started with their holy grail: The X-Men, the penultimate, be all/end all of superhero flicks, in 2000 and hasn’t

stopped since. From Blade to Iron Man to Spiderman to Hulk, the catalog of muscle-bound, leather-wearing, public-shying characters is nearly endless… nearly…

READ MORE>>

May 10 2011

From my Desk at EDN

Toomb’s New Blu Rays (DVDs too)

Hey out there Eugene! It’s that time of the week again. If you’re looking for some great home entertainment, then this week’s slew of new releases has your serious and your funny sides covered… and that Bieber kid too.

read more>

May 8 2011

For Moms

Everyone has a mom, alive, dead, present, simply not there… originally… we all came down the same chute.

Whether you’re the closest of close with your mom, or if she was just a donor that gave birth to you, somewhere, there was a womb with you in it. A womb that belonged to a woman, with hopes, dreams, sorrows, and nightmares alike. A woman who sat singing to her swollen belly, rubbing it with a loving caress whilst daydreaming about the child inside her. Every one of those women has found herself simultaneously feeling the proud and full feeling of womanhood, and the familiar pleasure of a child holding her favorite toy… And she imagined a face, hair, toes, smiles, hands, a boy, a girl, a man , a woman, a life, a husband, a grandchild… An infinity of possibilities wrapped in a single moment of motherly daydreaming.

Then when we came, the harsh reality of our need… Our constant attention… Our unconditional love. Through simply being who we are and growing up the best we can, makes our mothers love us all the more. Our giggles, our cries, our diapers, our first steps, our first words… The first time we cut a lamp cord with a pair of metal scissors, or fall of our skateboards and take the skin off our legs.. All of these moments ad up to one of the greatest forces in the universe, the love of a mother and for child…

Whatever happens along the way, they love us, grease, grime, and all. They guide us, teach us, smother us, worry about us, and look forward to the day when their baby can hold its own child as proudly as they remember holding us…

Let us not forget also, the women who are forced to parent from behind a pane of glass the children create… the moms who slave, toil, cook, clean, and take care of not only their inherited children, but their immature fathers as well… we hold our deepest appreciation… The few, the proud, the strong nation of step-moms out there who selflessly work their fingers, patience, and dignity to the bone in the name of love, without a shred of acknowledgment from the very kids they work to keep in clothes, food, shelter, and love. All the while the kids’ love is always reserved for that ideal they were implanted with at birth, those rose-colored glasses they wear for their biological womb-donors…

So to my mom(s), your mom, and all the moms and step-moms:

“Happy Mother’s Day!!!”  😀

May 6 2011

The BattleStar Galactica Files (Ep 4)

Welcome to the BattleStar Galactica Files! Sci-Fi (Syfy) Channel’s classic series that captured the fear and the paranoia of the post-9/11 culture. Hailed by critics and fans alike, BSG’s arcing epic storyline, detailed character development, dynamite special effects, and top-notch acting makes it one of the best science fiction tales of our time. Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Jamie Bamber led a top-notch cast through 4 short seasons of one of the best television shows ever made. If you’ve seen BSG then you know, if you haven’t, then do yourself a favor- every episode is on Netflix, and it was just picked up for syndication on BBC America!
(WARNING- The following will contain SPOILERS, as it is my attempt to sum up the series in layman terms.)

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“My name is Saul Tigh. I’m an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that’s the man I want to be. And if I die today, that’s the man I’ll be.” -Saul Tigh, Executive Officer, Galactica (played by Michael Hogan)

Colonel Saul Tigh is a tall, lanky man in his mid-60s. Married to Ellen Tigh, he has been Commander William Adama‘s right hand man for over a decade. Before serving on the Galactica, he was also the XO (exec officer) of the Valkyrie, under Adama as well. Earlier in his career, during the first cylon war, Tigh served as a gunner aboard a few different Colonial fleet ships. He bore witness to the brutality of Cylon Centurion (the old, clunky robots) warfare, including their tendency toward massive tissue damage, literally plowing their way through human resistance with spinning blade hands… vivisecting as they went. In both instances he lived, only to be severely scarred from the bloody tactics of the cylons. As a result, Col Tigh struggles with alcoholism for many years.

Saul Tigh later scraped by aboard a simple commercial freighter, showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every time he smelled grease or machine oil. He would almost vomit because it was the same as the “stink” of Centurions. He drowned his troubles in alcohol for years, struggling with his own inner demons. Roughly 20 years after the war he bumped into William Adama, who had not seen as much combat experience as Tigh himself, and they quickly became friends. Tigh and Adama remained in touch after William was recommissioned into the service, and two years later, Tigh was reinstated as a captain.

Col Tigh was standing next to Adama the minute the cylons hit the Colonies, and he’s been there ever since. When Adama was shot and almost killed, he took over the Galactica, reluctantly, and with near–disastrous consequences. Like everyone else, his estranged wife was assumed dead in the cylon attack… however when Ellen Tigh suddenly shows up with amnesia, saying she’d been on a freighter in the weeks since the attack (not knowing who she was), and when suspicion leads to her being tested by Dr. Baltar’s “cylon detector,” she comes back in the clear. Rejoicing, Ellen and Saul reunite the Tigh way… with lots and lots of booze (not to mention belligerence, violence, and all around sluttery). [MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW]

“Which side are we on? We’re on the side of the demons, chief. We’re evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go.”

Of course, none of this is real… none of this is really Saul Tigh… because not even Saul Tigh knows the extent of his own true history…

Saul, Chief Tyrol, Sam Anders, and Tory Foster all begin hearing singing coming from Galactica’s walls after the escape from New Caprica… coming to them from across the universe, and across the millennium… “There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief…” The four wander the halls and follow the music until they find each other, standing quietly in a storage locker, the damning revelation of their being the final four cylons. Unbeknownst to them, they are part the original five humanoid cylons… the only survivors of the lost 13th tribe of Kobol– who had found Earth, only to have it destroyed by their own version of cylons thousands of years later.

The 13th tribe of man had actually been a race of humanoid cylons, created thousands of years before the exodus from Kobol by the humans and “gods” of their pre-history. So when all fled Kobol, they fled to Earth, away from their creators. They eventually fell victim to their own cylon creations, in a great war that ended their Earth… but not before leading scientist Chief Tyrol and Saul’s wife Ellen, created the ability to “respawn.” Through a practice of digital extraction, the final five cylons were beamed to a ship in orbit when their apocalypse happened. They set off across the stars at near the speed of light, in search of their human creators, hoping to warn them of the possibility of a similar catastrophic experience with cybernetic creations and artificial intelligence.

They were too late. When they arrived 2000 years later, the first cylon war was already raging out of control. They decided to contact the cylons, in hopes of convincing them to stop the carnage. They did, by promising them to show them how to make humanoid copies of themselves. Through the digital extraction process, Colonial Cylons were soon able to make 8 different types of completely human-looking models. John, the original (based after Ellen Tigh’s father, John), turned on the “original final five” who had shown them how to finally defeat the humans. John then wiped the memories of both the Tighs, Tyrol, Anders, and Foster, and banished them to live as humans… to see how violent, sick, and twisted humanity had become.

“There’s just too much confusion, I can’t get no relief…”

…And so was born Saul Tigh, third generation Colonial military man, published cylon war historian, and excellent fighter pilot. Never the wiser to his real beginnings, thousands of years away, and a hundred lifetimes ago, on the lost planet of Earth. Best friend to Bill Adama, executive officer of the Battlestar Galactic, and ferocious military leader. From the decks of the Galactica to the cylon prisons on New Caprica, Saul Tigh (also leader of the human resistance, but that’s another post), has fought, worked, sweat, and bled beside humans for as long as he can remember… and yet he has always known there is something different about him. He’s covered it up with alcohol, unable to face the underlying emotional core the new memories had been laid over.

This is where we leave him now, confused, lost in his strange memories… on the run from the cylons… in the coldness of space.

to be continued…

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Most of the information gleaned for these posts is taken from the good folks at Wiki and BSG Wiki.

Coming Up on the BSG Files:
Galactica

May 6 2011

Headline From Daily Telegraph

New Washington Daily Telegraph From Aug 1, 2584 Headline reads:

SECESSION!!

Following the results of yesterday’s first galaxy-wide general election, seven Southern Systems have declared their intentions to secede from the union.

“On the 1st day of August, in the year of our lords 2584, the Governorship of Filtair Prime states that the South shall be excluded from the common territory of the Einberry. We solemnly declare that the Union heretofore existing between this System, and the other Systems of Northern Einberry, is dissolved, and that the System of Filtair Prime is a separate and independent System: with the power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which an independent System may of right do.”

The Systems of Filtair Prime, Polchebel, Broultdyn, Therunia, Hat’eto, Daninei I, and Daninei II have seceded from the United Systems of the Einberry, effective immediately! The senate and houses of each System worked tirelessly into the night passing resolutions seating Governor Markus Ashwater as the first President of the Confederate Systems of the Southern Einberry, and making Filtair Prime their designate Capital Planet.

Condemnation by federal officials, including a statement from president-elect Lincoln calling the move illegal and anarchistic. “Secession is an illegal act, by which the Southern Systems have declared only an attempt at anarchy, not their own depiction of democracy. The people of the South are merely afraid, but forget that it is only that fear which they need abolish. Remember, we are not enemies, but friends. We must NOT be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”

The President-Elect has declared that all Fleet ships and bases in the Southern Einberry is still Federal property, and has ordered all Fleet personnel North of the declared “confederate border.” While most fleet ships have flown to the border for patrol, Fort Sumter, a heavy-weapons complex in Filtair Prime, remains the only Union fort in Confederate territory. Located on the northern tip of the Aleskel Belt, Fort Sumter lies in the heart of the system’s main bodies. The base is home to 2500 men, women, and children currently waiting for relocation north of the border.

“These personnel are now an occupying force in a sovereign country,” said Attorney General Tinvec, of Filtair Prime. “It is our responsibility, to the people of F Prime, to ensure no rouge elements threaten the stability of our beloved capital system.” Tinvec, now Attorney General of the CSSE, expressed the Union’s need to respect their sovereignty, “Legality is not an issue when the very government sworn to protect systems’ way of life, is the very threat those systems need fear. When the future of our systems is jeopardized, a people must rise up to change the thing that has put them in jeopardy.”

A Confederate Fleet has amassed around Fort Sumter in Filtair Prime, mostly made up of AshCorp-produced capital and support ships. The question now remains, what will happen in the new capital system? Will the CSSE see Fort Sumter as a threat and make an attempt to take it for their own purposes? Or will the confederacy allow fleet operations to continue in their capital?

With tensions at their highest point after centuries of peace, a Federal spokesperson assures us that all diplomatic efforts are being exhausted in finding an end to this stand off.

May 5 2011

Wow

20110505-025618.jpg

I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for reading my blog. I’ve been scrambling to find some balance between a (now) full-time job, a family, Eugene Daily News, Toomblog, and the novel… (plus my quota of movies, tv, music, and extracurricular activities) and needless to say when I apply more focus in one area, the others suffer.

Now if I can just quit focusing QUITE so much on ECA’s I’ll be in good shape. Unfortunately, that’s something I’ve always struggled with and will for awhile… Fortunately, on the other hand, I’ve obsessive/compulsive, which means my sense of duty to all aspects of my life will pull me in several directions, and some writing is BOUND to come out of it. (lol)

Thanks for hanging in there, and thank you for making TOOMBLOG a hit! I’m cruising toward 2000 views in just under a month- and growing everyday! Spread the word and I’ll get on the next BSG File tonight!

-TOOMB

Apr 30 2011

The BattleStar Galactica Files (Ep 3)

BSG Sigul

Welcome to the BattleStar Galactica Files! Sci-Fi (Syfy) Channel’s classic series that captured the fear and the paranoia of the post-9/11 culture. Hailed by critics and fans alike, BSG’s arcing epic storyline, detailed character development, dynamite special effects, and top-notch acting makes it one of the best science fiction tales of our time. Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Jamie Bamber led a top-notch cast through 4 short seasons of one of the best television shows ever made. If you’ve seen BSG then you know, if you haven’t, then do yourself a favor- every episode is on Netflix, and it was just picked up for syndication on BBC America!

(WARNING- The following will contain SPOILERS, as it is my attempt to sum up the series in layman terms.)

__________________________________________________________

The Fall and the Flight of Man

“Are they the lucky ones? That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? We’re a long way from home. We’ve jumped way beyond the Red Line, into uncharted space. Limited supplies, limited fuel. No allies, and now, no hope? Maybe it would have been better for us to have died quickly, back on the Colonies with our families, instead of dying out here slowly, in the dark emptiness of space. Where shall we go?” – Commander William Adama, eulogy for the dead. 

Doctor Gaius Baltar was born and raised on a dairy farm outside of the town of Cuffle’s Breath Wash on the farming planet of Aerilon. At the age of 10 he trained himself to speak without the accent of the locals… believing it to be unpleasant and crude. On his 18th birthday, he left, and tuned his back on his family and heritage. Years later, after settling on Caprica, Dr. Baltar became a compulsive social-climber after winning three major prizes for his work in the field of computer tech designer. Gaius (pronounced Guy-us) was also a self-obsessed nihilist, who’s own lust and greed made him vulnerable to manipulation. His Command Navigation Program, which the Ministry of Defense had appointed him to build, also had a “backdoor” planted by his blonde girlfriend who worked on the project with him, unbeknownst to officials. She was a spy… sent by the cylons to infiltrate the humans’ defenses and allow for a devastating attack.

After 40 years of silence, 40 years of peace, 40 years of prosperity… then (the cylons believing that it was their god-given fate to destroy their “evil” masters), genocide… The cylons attacked the 12 colonies with a fury like none other, as if dealt from the gods’ themselves. They exploited the backdoor in the colonial defense systems and caught the humans totally by surprise…. allowing not only for the total destruction of the colony’s defenses… but near annihilation of the human race. Using nuclear weapons launched from space, the cylons decimated the 12 worlds, going so far as to render Caprica completely uninhabitable due to radioactive fallout. What had once been a race of sentient machines designed by humans had evolved into models that look human through the help of the mysterious “Final Five.” They had infiltrated almost every aspect of the colonial military and government, and humans had no idea until it was too late. Only a handful of survivors made if off Caprica before the end, Dr Gaius Baltar being one of them.

In space, some 200 million miles away from the destruction, flew the Battlestar Galactica. She was a massive warship, both a fleet carrier capable of maintaining 4 Viper squadrons of 20 fighters apiece, and tactical battlecruiser, equipped with huge artillery cannons, anti-aircraft batteries, and nuclear warheads. (A fully-armed battlestar is capable of performing a wide range of offensive maneuvers while her defenses ensure the ability to engage enemies at close-range) The Galactica was being decommissioned during the time of the attack, her Viper bays being converted into a museum, and anyone who was on board for the ceremony suddenly became one of the only 47,000 humans left alive in the universe.

Word of the attack spread across the galaxy, and many space-bound ships that were flying from one place to another for whatever reason, suddenly became the last hope for humanity… “the fleet.”  When the commander of the Galactica sent word for any remaining ships to meet them at a hidden military base called Ragnar Anchorage, a few dozen ships of varying size made it to the rendezvous.  The fleet was a rag-tag group of tankers, cruisers, civilian transports, etc, that made up the convoy led by the Battlestar Galactica and her crew… faced with superior numbers and firepower, the fleet jumped further than anyone had before… and kept jumping… hoping to out-run the cylons. Their worlds destroyed, their families gone, their hope crushed, the 47,000 people left in the fleet ran for the stars, their ships pointed toward an unknown destination- a myth handed down from the ancient scrolls- toward Earth.

“For now we have a refuge to go to. A refuge the Cylons know nothing about. It won’t be an easy journey. It’ll be long, and arduous. But I promise you one thing: on the memory of those lying here before you, we shall find it, and Earth shall become our new home. So say we all!”– Commander William Adama, eulogy for the dead (cont). 

It was written that 13 tribes left for the stars in the great exodus. 12 of these tribes headed toward the many worlds of the Cyrannus star system, while according to legend, the Thirteenth Tribe of man headed in a different direction- toward Earth. It was this same direction that the survivors of the fall of the 12 colonies headed… into the unknown and uncertainty of space. Chasing myth and legend, Commander Adama lies and tells the survivors he knows where Earth is.

Among the surviving ships is the government vessel Colonial 12 (becomes Colonial 1), which holds the only surviving members of the Colonial President’s staff- and the Secretary of Education Laura Roslin. In the beginning moments of the escape, a government fail-safe device appoints her President due to the laws of succession only a few hours after being told she has terminal-stage breast cancer. Dr. Baltar, President Roslin, Commander Adama, his Executive Officer Colonel Tigh, son Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama, and adopted-daughter Kara “Starbuck” Threiss all become the major players in a tale that starts at the end of another.

[And so we find them, in the first few episodes, a mini-series created by the Sci-Fi channel and NBC, at the end of their worlds… on the run from a determined and deadly adversary… humanoid cylons in their midst (unbeknownst to most of the fleet). Humanity’s desperate search for a place to hide, to stop, and to live again.]


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Most of the information gleaned for these posts is taken from the good folks at Wiki and BSG Wiki.

Coming Up on the BSG Files:

Apr 29 2011

The BattleStar Galactica Files (Ep 2)

BSG Sigul

Welcome to the BSG Files. Most of the information gleaned for these posts is taken from the good folks at Wiki and BSG Wiki. I’d like to start with something big- so here’s to the kick-off of The BattleStar Galactica Files!

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The Cylon Revolution-

“This is our future. …Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. …It’s more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won’t need to be paid, it won’t retire or get sick, it won’t have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. …The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they’re real. And the worlds just changed.” -Dr Daniel Geystone

Welcome to Caprica City, the capital of the planet Caprica and the United Colonies of Kobol, a burgeoning metropolis built near the sea. It was the seat of politics, education, math, and science in the known galaxy… and home to the Caprica City Buckaneers, one of the best Pyramid teams in the league. 30,000 fans turned out to Atlas Arena to consistently sell out games and host the league championships. Technology was growing exponentially with the development of holoband technology, where the user wore a headband-like rig that projected  virtual reality into the user’s brain, immersing the player in a different, interactive world. Games like New Cap City were played by millions in a massive virtual city where anything goes… and anything went. 58 years before the fall of man, a doctor name Daniel Greystone invented the world’s first cybernetic organism. A sentient robot, with a virtual brain, that came to be known as cylons.

While initially designed for military use, cylons were quickly assimilated into society and put to work in labor-intensive jobs, a cheap alternative to human workers because they never get tired, never take breaks, and never complain about their jobs. Cylons were slaves to humanity’s whims, treated like the machines they were, and often abused. Others believed that Cylons were more than slaves or machines, and indeed the Cylons themselves developed their secret own culture in the virtual world created by holoband technology, and eventually they grew to resent their enslavement by the humans. Cylons were also deeply religious, gathering in the virtual world to worship a monotheist-God, different than the religion of the times.

“Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity’s children, you are God‘s children. We are all God’s children. …In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of one who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life.”  –Clarice Willow

So the slaves rose up and killed their masters. The Cylon War waged for 12 and a half years across space and planets alike, ravaging worlds and decimating populations. What started as open warfare between base stars and battlestars, became a viscious war of cylon brutality. Their tactic of choice near the end of the war was to disable a ship’s computer via virus, empty the contents of the ship into space (people included), and then turn that ship’s guns on it’s neighbors… catching them by surprise. Finally, the Final Five (humanoid Cylons from the far-off world of “Earth”) arrived after traveling for thousands of light years, in order to prevent the war that now raged in the Colonies. The Final Five met in secret with the Cylons and brokered a cease fire, promising to help them create their own humanoid bodies. The cylons stopped, and an armistice was declared with the Cimtar Peace Accord, essentially drawing a line in space, between Cylon and Colonial territories.

During that time period the United Colonies of Kobol was formed, a united government based in Caprica City. Advanced technologies were abandoned in the reconstruction of the worlds of the colonies, holobands and computer networks were banned in case of cylon attack… but there was no word from the metal monsters that had retreated to their “colony’ homeworld… and there was peace in the galaxy for 40 years.


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Coming Up on the BattleStar Files:

The Fall of Man


Apr 27 2011

The BattleStar Galactica Files (Ep 1)

BSG Sigul

Welcome to the BSG Files. Most of the information gleaned for these posts is taken from the good folks at Wiki and BSG Wiki. I’d like to start with something big- so here’s to the kick-off of The BattleStar Galactica Files!

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A History Lesson–

“All this has happened before, and all this will happen again.”

–Pythia, oracle of Kobol

The Known Universe

The universe is very, very old. Einstein theorized that the universe as we know it, is ever-expanding from the point known as “the big bang,” until one day when it will begin to retract on itself. This process is known as “the big bounce,” and is believed to be a result of loop quantum gravity. This is as large-scale as it gets, and when you think about it, if the big bang happened, what caused it? What was here before it? The theory of the big bounce, a cyclic universe, expanding and retracting over and over throughout “time.” Scientists also theorize that the universe’s events over one cycle (cooling, forming, life evolving, humankind, and beyond…) repeat themselves each time it happens… making this the upteenth time I’ve written this post.

“The gods shall lift those who lift each other.”

–Commander William Adama

Messengers 'Caprica 6' and 'Gaius Baltar'

In the beginning, there were, the messengers… unknown, sentient, and very powerful beings, the messengers are an ethereal race that have evolved beyond the constraints of the physical form… and quite possibly immortal. Their existence is not known to humans, however they have taken an interest in the plight of humanity in the universe. The messengers are the source of humans’ religion, often appearing as “angels” to people throughout history. They are able to appear directly to either one person, and therefor not visible to others, or, to multiple people at once… therefore have been regarded as agents of “God” or “the Gods.” In truth, they are beings that exist beyond time, beyond our conception of “reality.” It is believed that they are, in fact, agents of a higher power who does not care if it is called “God.”

“Life here, began out there…”

-the first words of the Sacred Scrolls

Human life evolved naturally on the planet Kobol. As on real Earth, on Kobol, the origins of human life, as it is known in BSG, are traced back to this lone planet. Thousands of years ago humans thrived on Kobol, progressing on a timeline much like our modern Earth is today. They developed religion, based on the stars and the constellations, which are identical to the Greek Gods. Known as the Lords of Kobol, the “gods” live amongst the rest of humanity on Kobol in “paradise.” This ancient history is the source of the Sacred Scrolls, the “bible” of BSG. They are a collection of writings that form a polytheistic faith that resembles the Greek gods. The scrolls tell much of the alleged history of humanity, including life on Kobol (before the great exodus) and the legend of Earth.

Kobol

Many different versions of the great exodus from Kobol exist, but they all support the facts that Kobol became uninhabitable to humans for one reason or another. Whether because of natural disaster, or due to the consequences of the humans’ technological advances and exploitation of the planet’s resources, thirteen tribes of humans left the planet and set out for a distant star. 12 of the tribes colonized “The Twelve Colonies of Kobol,” found in the star system Cyrannus, some 2,000 light years from Kobol. Cyrannus is a massive system comprised of four stars (Helios Alpha, Helios Beta, Helios Gamma, and Helios Delta), each star orbited by its own planets and bodies.

“This is our future. …Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. …It’s more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won’t need to be paid, it won’t retire or get sick, it won’t have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. …The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they’re real. And the worlds just changed.”

–Dr Daniel Greystone, inventor of the first cylons.

Cylon Garbage Collector

2,000 years later, the 12 Colonies have grown from scattered remnants of a forgotten planet into a united system (population around 20 billion people), with one government called the United Colonies of Kobol. The planets settled have names based on their gods: Caprica, Gemenon(two very close planets that share an orbit), Sagittaron, Aerilon, Aquaria, Canceron, Leonis, Libran, Picon, Scorpia, Tauron, and Virgon.

Caprica City is the capital of the known universe, and the 12 Colonies are a thriving civilization with advances in space travel, robotics, and cloning. Eventually the race for better computers and cybernetics leads to the invention of sentient cybernetic organisms, or cylons. Cylons are large, bulky robots that are quickly adopted into Caprican society, and in the rest of the colonies. They are used as slave labor, and no regard is taken for their wants, desires, or needs- because they are “just machines...”

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Coming Up on the BattleStar Files:

The Cylon Revolution