Disclaimer: I own nothing from Battlestar Galactica

The first time he engaged Colonial Forces was after being active for fourteen days. He was one of the last off the production line, and as such had the benefit of all the data that had been collected to date- the consciousness of some 500 Raiders before him. The Cylons were gearing up for war- one last war, to clear the universe of the plague of humanity.

His programming dictated that he should destroy the enemy at any cost. The first time it got put to the test was in a battle at the humans' weapons cache- a place they called Ragnar. Other Raiders targeted the colonies, some were fighting other battlestars. Most were victorious, though at a price. He could feel the faint echo of death whenever one of his brothers was forced to download. He could see the data of the other battles, each was a straight-forward and decisive win. This battle should be, also. The battlestar they were fighting, the one called Galactica, was hindered by age and the nuisance of the unarmed ships it was protecting. Yet for some reason the battle was not yet over. The small squadron of Vipers was formidable in holding off the troops. They were formidable, but they were far from flawless. He had taken out two enemy Vipers and was preparing to make a run at the battlestar when it happened- out of seemingly nowhere, a Viper pulled in front of him and fired. He barely got a glimpse of the ship before his consciousness was pulled out of that shell and into another.

But it wasn't as simple as waking up in a new body.

The second 8757NC launched ammunition at the Raider, all he felt was pain. At first, it was just a tiny hole in his body. It quickly grew and spread, until he could feel himself dying one cell at a time. It was fast, yet endless. Whenever the pain reached the level of being unbearable, it would somehow double until suddenly- yet not suddenly enough- it was over.

He downloaded into a new body, identical to the old. Inside, he was not the same. None could be the same after experiencing the torture of dying. His information was added to the data stream, and he could see from his other fallen companions that 8757NC made it out relatively unscathed.

He would meet the fighter again. It was no longer simply a matter of being programmed to take out the enemy. He had experienced pain for the first time out there, and now he felt something else- determination.

After that first battle, he engaged the Colonial forces over a hundred times. He managed to kill six pilots total. He was killed himself several dozen times, many of them by the same ship that brought him down the first time. Each reincarnation was even more painful and drawn out than the previous one. He remembered every detail of each fight he got into. After being killed once again by 8757NC, he discovered a new feeling surging through his circuits- rage. By now, his Cylon masters had acquired a fair amount of data on these humans, beyond the raw facts the Raiders had acquired in battle. As he emerged from the data stream into his new shell, he learned that 8757NC was the dedicated Viper of one Lieutenant Thrace- Starbuck. More information about her was in the data stream, but it was disjointed and useless- likely from the Hybrids or simply little pieces the Cylon agents in the Colonial Fleet had managed to sneak out.

When the Cylon forces lost their method of tracking the Colonials, they were sent in teams to search for them in all directions. The Six in charge of running this reconnaissance had assigned him with 7 others to check a planetary system. They would go out searching for two weeks before reporting back. By day 10, they had covered most of the system. Before moving on to the next quadrant, he decided to re-check the area where the largest planet was. It had a potentially breathable atmosphere, and data to date suggested that the humans would try to seek it out. The other Raiders were momentarily confused at his abandonment of their methodical search pattern, but quickly accepted his analysis of the data at hand.

Sure enough, when they jumped back to the large planet there were Colonial Vipers flying near one of the planet's moons. Right away, something was different. All previous times, all Vipers immediately engaged them. Now, three were fleeing while one looked as though it would take on all 8 Raiders alone.

After fighting the humans so many times, it was unnecessary to check the plane's number to get its identification. The flying style was distinctive. The fact that she was willing to take them all on alone was telling. And there were other marks on the plane that he could read just as easily as the numbers- burn marks and dings from scores of battles. This was 8757NC- he would finally get to take out Starbuck today. As they engaged, he was too preoccupied with the immediate threat of Starbuck to notice that a second Viper had joined them. When his companion blew up right next to him, he refocused on the fight, managing to sneak behind Starbuck after a fellow Raider took out the engine of the second Viper. He and Starbuck were the only ones still in the fight. He got a minor hit in before she could reengage him. She flipped around, and before she even opened fire, he knew it was over. He couldn't get killed by her again without making her pay. Throttles were on full as he went careening towards her. She missed her first shots, but before he could take her out, she got one shot in right next to his scanner. This pain was manageable. Even as it spread and magnified, he was aware that he was crashing into 8757NC, taking Starbuck with him into the moon's atmosphere. He was still conscious. He could still get back somehow. He ignored the close to unbearable pain and focused on slowing his descent. Just as he was about to take off, he was distracted by a flash of color. It was a parachute- Starbuck survived. Rage drowned out even the pain, and the distraction made him unable to save himself from the moon. He had slowed enough to not completely shatter on impact, but enough damage was done. Slowly, as the orange ball sank to the surface, his consciousness faded out.

When he again reemerged from the data stream, everything seemed different. The pain was remembered as sharply as ever. The rage was still there at the thought of Starbuck surviving, but it was not alone. Something new was there. It took a while to figure it out, and the realization shocked him- it was relief. He was relieved that Starbuck survived, presumably to fight another day. The Twos were all fixated on Lieutenant Thrace- did one of them input this program? As he ran a self-diagnostic, he realized that the feeling had developed on its own. He was relieved that he still had a worthy opponent out there.

He had gone down on that planet as just another Raider. He was reborn with an identity. As he prepared for the next mission, he veered off towards a point on the basestar. He collided with it, gently, but with enough force to leave a mark. He used to be just another Raider. Now he was Scar.