Heavy Raider
the Cylon gunship and transport
The Heavy Raider was an FTL-capable Cylon craft introduced with the renewed war on humanity, combining the roles of troop transport and gunship. Armored, windowless, and brain-piloted, it ferried Centurions to the colonies and later carried both Cylon assaults and a rebel alliance with the Colonial fleet.
The Heavy Raider was a type of FTL-capable vessel used by the Cylons following their technological evolution in the years after the Cylon War. It was near-analogous to the Raptor models of the Colonial Fleet: both were designed to ferry troops and supplies from ship to ship or ship to surface and both could make faster-than-light jumps. Unlike the Raptor, however, the Heavy Raider also served as a gunship when required.
Design#
When the Cylons ended the forty-year armistice with a nuclear assault on the Twelve Colonies, their upgraded fleet of semi-sentient, bio-mechanical Raiders included the new Heavy Raider. The FTL-equipped craft was autonomous but could also be flown by a crew of Centurions or by a humanoid model. Its wedge-shaped fuselage was flanked by curved wing pods, and the windowless craft carried two tri-barreled kinetic energy weapons. Ship-to-ship missile launchers were built into the wing pods and could be removed and reconfigured as a ground-based, DRADIS-guided anti-aircraft battery. On the starboard side of the fuselage an integrated helmet housed the Raider's organic brain and tracking scanner. Eight sublight engines allowed the craft to mount lightning-fast assaults on Colonial targets, and its armored hull was built to withstand even high-speed impact with enemy vessels.
The Fall and the war on the Fleet#
During the Fall, Heavy Raiders served as troop transports, deploying Centurions to the ravaged colonies for ground assaults. After Commander William Adama led a civilian fleet of survivors in search of a new home, the craft were turned against that fleet. In one skirmish a damaged Heavy Raider crash-landed inside Galactica's starboard flight pod, and the five Centurions that emerged killed several crew before being eliminated. In a similar incident a pair of Heavy Raiders breached the Pegasus, landing inside a port landing bay, where the Centurions inflicted numerous casualties before being destroyed by the battlestar's marine detachments.
Resistance and rebel alliance#
When a rogue Number Eight model later known as Athena joined the human resistance on post-Fall Caprica, she helped her new comrades acquire a Heavy Raider. The resistance fighters used the craft to free Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from a Cylon reproductive research facility and return her to the fleet, a mission that also recovered all the surviving resistance fighters. The Cylons later used Heavy Raiders to suppress insurgents on New Caprica during their occupation of that world.
Several years after the Fall, a group of rebel Cylons rose against the genocidal faction led by the Number One model and joined forces with the Colonial fleet. The rebels piloted twenty-five Heavy Raiders to the Cylon Resurrection Hub, towing a squadron of powered-down Vipers behind them. As they neared the Hub, the Heavy Raiders uncoupled the undetected Colonial fighters, which fired up their engines and launched a surprise assault. The Vipers ultimately destroyed the Hub with a nuclear strike while the Heavy Raiders engaged two sentry basestars. With resurrection technology no longer available, death became final for humans and Cylons alike.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Heavy Raider?
- The Heavy Raider was an FTL-capable Cylon craft used following the Cylons' technological evolution in the years after the Cylon War. It combined the roles of troop transport and gunship, and was near-analogous to the Colonial Fleet's Raptor models.
- How was the Heavy Raider armed and crewed?
- It carried two tri-barreled kinetic energy weapons, with ship-to-ship missile launchers built into its wing pods that could be removed and reconfigured as a ground-based, DRADIS-guided anti-aircraft battery. The craft was autonomous but could also be flown by a crew of Centurions or by a humanoid model, with an organic brain housed in an integrated helmet on the starboard side of its fuselage.
- What role did the Heavy Raider play during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies?
- During the Fall, Heavy Raiders served as troop transports, deploying Centurions to the ravaged colonies for ground assaults. They were later turned against the civilian fleet, breaching both Galactica and Pegasus in boarding actions where the Centurions inflicted casualties before being destroyed.
- How did the human resistance use a Heavy Raider on Caprica?
- A rogue Number Eight model later known as Athena helped the resistance on post-Fall Caprica acquire a Heavy Raider. The fighters used it to free Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from a Cylon reproductive research facility and recover all the surviving resistance fighters.
- How were Heavy Raiders used in the attack on the Resurrection Hub?
- Rebel Cylons who joined the Colonial fleet piloted twenty-five Heavy Raiders to the Resurrection Hub, towing a squadron of powered-down Vipers behind them. The Heavy Raiders uncoupled the undetected Vipers, which destroyed the Hub with a nuclear strike while the Heavy Raiders engaged two sentry basestars.
Gallery
Images via Battlestar Wiki
Sources
- WikiHeavy Raider — Battlestar Wiki entry
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