Cylon War

The Cylon War, also known as the First Cylon War, was an interstellar war fought between the Cylons and the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. The Cylons had been created on Caprica before the war to serve in numerous roles in Colonial society, but after a relatively short time they rose in revolt against their human creators. After twelve years of brutal fighting, the conflict came to a sudden and mysterious end with the signing of an Armistice between the Colonials and the Cylons. More than forty years later, the Cylons returned and launched a surprise attack on the Twelve Colonies, annihilating the Colonial Fleet and carrying out a devastating nuclear bombardment of the Colonial worlds.

Prelude to war#

The war's roots lay in Graystone Industries and its creation of the "Cybernetic Lifeform Node," shortened to CYLON, which allowed for enhanced military androids with human-level intelligence and awareness but near-perfect weapons precision. In secret, this breakthrough was achieved only through the installation of a sentient software recreation of Daniel Graystone's daughter, Zoe, whose mind was placed into a stolen Meta Cognitive Processor. The processor offloaded certain responsibilities to the U-87 prototype chassis. For several weeks this meant only one functional Cylon could exist, since installing the Meta Cognitive Processor into another chassis would not provide all necessary functions. A breakthrough then allowed copies to be created, and these were used to foil a suicide bombing by the Soldiers of the One.

In the years that followed this display of effectiveness, the already commonplace robot butlers were replaced with Cylons capable of greater tasks. After several years the Cylon mindset changed radically. Having inherited monotheistic religious beliefs from Zoe, the Cylons longed to evolve into a more human form.

The war#

Whether through radicalisation from outside forces or a unanimous decision by the Cylons themselves, they launched a bloody uprising to free themselves from slavery, an event that took Colonial society completely by surprise. The better prepared militaries were initially able to fight off the Cylon rebels, but the following twelve years saw ever-changing tactics and technologies developed by both sides out of a desperate need to survive. If it had not been the goal at the outset, it soon became clear that the only way to guarantee the survival of one faction was the total genocide of the other.

The Cylons built up a fleet by boarding cruisers, seizing the fire suppression stations, and flushing crews into space. Hacking tactics developed quickly, leaving more and more Colonial technologies vulnerable. Losing the war, the Twelve Worlds agreed to unify into the United Colonies of Kobol, with a single unified navy and a single unified ground force meant to protect rich and poor colonies alike. A fleet of low-tech, armoured carriers known as Battlestars was hurriedly designed and launched. An initial twelve were commissioned to celebrate this union, among them Galactica and Columbia. The purpose of the Battlestars was to be impervious to backdoor hacking, achieved by relying on primitive computers without any networking. Though cumbersome, this proved an enormous tactical advantage, and further Battlestars entered service to replace the cruiser losses.

In the twelfth year of the war, Galactica, Columbia, and a third Battlestar left the Cyrannus star system to assault a Cylon research outpost on a frigid ice planet in Operation Raptor Talon. The Admiralty believed the Cylons were building a superweapon, making its destruction crucial. Columbia's batteries were destroyed by Cylon raider squadrons, and the ship was then destroyed by a missile barrage. After crash landing on the planet, Viper pilot Lieutenant William "Husker" Adama discovered that the superweapon did not exist and that the outpost was in fact a cybernetics laboratory experimenting on human captives. This operation coincided with a Cylon offensive on Tauron, where Colonial defenders were forced to fight in the cities, leading to countless civilian casualties.

Aftermath#

Some time after the Armistice was agreed and signed by both the United Colonial Government and the Cylon Delegation, Armistice Station was built and deployed in a remote location along the agreed armistice line to serve as a meeting place between the two delegations. The Colonial military continued patrol operations along the line, using Galactica as its ship of operations for this task.

The twelve Colonial worlds slowly rebuilt, observing an aversion to advanced technology for a time. Eventually a young computer science and AI expert named Gaius Baltar began to argue that advanced technology should not be feared but embraced and used properly. One by one the original Battlestars were decommissioned in favour of newer hull classes of Battlestars and cruisers, where they had not already been destroyed in the war. Galactica was the last of her hull class still in existence and was ordered by President Adar's administration to be decommissioned and converted into a military museum, permanently moored in space, shortly before the Cylons launched their attack on the Twelve Colonies.

Major battles and campaigns#

The principal recorded battles and campaigns of the war included Operation Clean Sweep, the Battle of Sector 12, the Battle of Djerba, the Ghost Fleet Offensive, Operation Raptor Talon, and the Battle of Tauron.