Picon: the Ocean Colony
The Ocean Colony
Three quarters ocean, affluent and socially progressive. Picon hosted Colonial Fleet Headquarters in the years after the first Cylon War ended.
Picon, known as "The Ocean Colony", was one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol in the Cyrannus star system. Like the other colonies it shared its name with one of the twelve tribal constellations of Kobol, in Picon's case Pisces. A world about three-quarters covered by ocean, Picon was home to Colonial Fleet Headquarters until the Cylon attack. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Home, Part 2"; Battlestar Galactica: The Plan)
Name and origins#
The colonists traced their twelve worlds back to the twelve tribes that left Kobol. Standing in the Tomb of Athena on Kobol, they saw the twelve constellations that matched the colonies' signs, and Picon's corresponds to Pisces. (Battlestar Galactica, "Home, Part 2")
Geography#
About 75% of Picon's surface was water, which earned the planet its name as "The Ocean Colony". Seen from space it was a turquoise world, and it was famous for its harbours. (Battlestar Galactica: The Plan)
Culture and the Colonial Fleet#
Picon was home to Colonial Fleet Headquarters, the nerve centre of the Colonial military, and also to Picon Laboratories, based in the city of Pailyn. When the Cylons struck during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, the destruction of Fleet Headquarters led President Richard Adar to offer a complete and unconditional surrender. The Cylons ignored it. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Faith")
Frequently asked questions
- What was Picon?
- Picon, known as "The Ocean Colony", was one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, a planet about three-quarters covered by water and famous for its harbours.
- Why was Picon called "The Ocean Colony"?
- Around 75% of Picon's surface was water. Seen from orbit it was a turquoise world, and its harbours were well known.
- Where does Picon's name come from?
- Like the other colonies, Picon's name matches one of the twelve constellations of the tribes of Kobol, in its case Pisces. The colonists saw those constellations from the Tomb of Athena on Kobol.
- What happened to Picon in the Cylon attack?
- Picon was hit by the Cylon nuclear attack during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. The destruction of the Fleet Headquarters there led President Richard Adar to offer an unconditional surrender, which the Cylons ignored.
- What was Picon's connection to the Colonial Fleet?
- Picon was home to Colonial Fleet Headquarters, the command centre of the Colonial military.
Sources
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica (miniseries), Miniseries (2003)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Home, Part 2", Season 2, Episode 7 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Faith", Season 4, Episode 6 (2008)
- FilmBattlestar Galactica: The Plan, TV film, Universal Cable Productions (2009)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Colonial Fleet Headquarters
Colonial Fleet Headquarters, also called Picon Fleet Headquarters, was the central command and support centre of the Colonial Fleet on Picon. It was destroyed in the opening wave of nuclear strikes in the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Kobol: humanity's lost homeworld
Kobol was the ancestral home of the Twelve Tribes, abandoned for two thousand years. The fleet found the Tomb of Athena there, and with it the way to Earth.
Cylon
The Cylons were a race of sentient machines created as military robots by Graystone Industries on Caprica. Built from research into artificial consciousness, they rebelled against their human masters, fought a long war, and forty years later returned to annihilate humanity.
Cyrannus: the Colonies' four suns
Four stars in a double binary, Helios Alpha through Delta, holding all Twelve Colonies. Refugees from Kobol settled them two thousand years back.
Fall of the Twelve Colonies
A single day of Cylon attack killed billions of people across Colonial space. Barely fifty thousand escaped in a refugee fleet.
Richard Adar
Richard Adar was President of the United Colonies of Kobol and Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial Fleet at the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. His administration funded the work that the Cylons exploited to cripple the fleet, and he was killed along with nearly his entire government in the attack.
Mentioned in18 entries
Admiral Nagala: the last commander of the Colonial Fleet
Admiral Nagala was the flag officer who took personal command of the Colonial Fleet after Picon Fleet Headquarters was destroyed in the opening barrage of the Fall. The admiral led a counterattack near Virgon that the Cylon corruption of the Command Navigation Program turned into a massacre, and died aboard Atlantia.
Battlestar Athena
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Battlestar Atlantia
The Atlantia was a Colonial battlestar that became the flagship of the Fleet during the Cylon surprise attack, when Admiral Nagala took personal command aboard her after the loss of Picon Fleet Headquarters. She was destroyed over Virgon, a victim of the Cylon backdoors in the Command Navigation Program.
Battlestar Columbia (Second)
The second Battlestar Columbia was a warship of the Colonial Fleet at the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. She shared her name with the Columbia lost in the First Cylon War, and was reported destroyed in the opening hours of the Cylon attack.
Battlestar Galactica Timeline: every major event from Kobol to the arrival on Earth
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Battlestar Triton
Triton was a Colonial battlestar that served after the First Cylon War and was destroyed during the opening engagements of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Colonial Fleet Headquarters
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Colonial Fleet: 120 battlestars
The navy of the Twelve Colonies, which fought the Cylon War. One software exploit cut it to two surviving battlestars on the day of the Fall.
Cyrannus: the Colonies' four suns
Four stars in a double binary, Helios Alpha through Delta, holding all Twelve Colonies. Refugees from Kobol settled them two thousand years back.
Fall of the Twelve Colonies
A single day of Cylon attack killed billions of people across Colonial space. Barely fifty thousand escaped in a refugee fleet.
Galactica Cavil
Galactica Cavil was a Number One model humanoid Cylon who evacuated the ruins of Picon during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and reached the refugee fleet. Welcomed aboard Galactica as a priest, he formed and led a hidden cell of humanoid Cylons working to destroy the fleet from within.
Leonis: Heart of the Colonies
The largest world in Cyrannus and seat of an early empire, known for its wine, ski slopes and learning. The Cylon attack left it uninhabitable.
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