CHAPTER ELEVEN
Excerpt from The Ties That Bind: A History of the Reunification of Mankind, by Laura Roslin and Harold Riley. New York: Charles Scribner and Sons, 2069.
The evacuation of the Colonial Fleet to Earth and to Groombridge 34-3, which had been decided upon at the meeting of January 9, 2064, was carried out over the following week. That portion of the Colonial population which had undergone blood screenings to detect Cylon infiltrators was disembarked at Earth. President Roslin of the Twelve Colonies had requested that the Kobolians, as they came to be called on Earth, be kept together as a community, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees assisted them in finding a suitable location for a settlement. The government of Canada, which had much sparsely settled territory in its western provinces which could benefit from the foundation of another town of fifty thousand inhabitants, donated land in northern Saskatchewan for the foundation of such a settlement.
Naturally, without financial resources, the new Kobolian settlement could not have been established, let alone thrived. Fortunately for the Kobolians, a far-sighted bank manager and a President with hard-nosed negotiating skills provided the necessary resources.
First, during the evacuation of the Twelve Colonies, twenty sacks of gold cubits [1], each containing some 500 coins, had been removed from the Colonial Central Bank on Caprica and brought aboard one of the escaping transports. The Bank official responsible for this had reported this to President Roslin, who then took possession of the gold as the property of the Colonial Government. The coins each weighed approximately 0.5 Troy Oz. each, and their combined bullion value, at the then current price of gold on Earth, was over $10,000,000.00. In the end, they ended up being worth a great deal more than that, as most of the coins were auctioned off to wealthy collectors who snapped up these totally unique specimens with great gusto (Aside from their unique design, the gold of the coins was alloyed with a metal which was abundant on Caprica but does not occur on Earth, making them impossible to counterfeit). When all was said and done, the Kobolian treasury was able to reap over $100,000,000.00 from the final sale of these coins.
Second, President Roslin was able to negotiate a financial settlement with the United Nations for the use of Colonial technology. Since the United Nations had provided the Kobolians with a new home, Secretary General Hayden had opposed such a settlement [2]. But in the end, Roslin was able to persuade the members of the Security Council of the justice of her demands, and Hayden was overruled. The United Nations agreed to pay ten billion dollars to the Colonial Government to license the Colonial technology, particularly the FTL Jump Engines which were to be produced by Aerotech.
By these means, the necessary capital to establish the settlement of New Caprica was acquired, and construction on the town begun. It would eventually become home to over 40,000 Kobolians, and home to a major space-tech firm, Kobol Industries, which would one day rival Aerotech for dominance of that industry.
Meanwhile, those of the Kobolians who had not yet received their blood screenings were temporarily settled on Groombridge 34-3. Conditions on that planet, while not inimical to human life, were nevertheless somewhat harsh. The planet was both colder and drier than Earth, and most of the Kobolians found the climate uncomfortable. Initially, most of the Kobolians were forced to live in tents, as no other shelter was available. But the local Earth Forces Commander made sure the Kobolians had all the food and water they needed, and that proper sanitary facilities were set up, and for the most part, the health of the refugees was not impaired by the experience. And many, particularly those who hailed from the planet Sagittaron, found the planet quite appealing. Indeed, when the time came to evacuate the Kobolians from that planet to Earth, about five thousand of them, led by Tom Zarek, requested permission to remain and found a permanent colony on the planet. This permission was granted by the United Nations, and thus the colony of New Sagittaron was born.
After the evacuation of the Kobolians to either Earth or Groombridge 34-3 was completed, the vessels of the Colonial Fleet, except the GALACTICA and the PEGASUS, were taken to shipyards in the vicinity to be dismantled. First priority was the removal of the Tylium fuel reserves and the FTL Jump Drives from the Colonial vessels, in preparation for their installation on war vessels of the Earth Defense Force. This process would be completed relatively quickly, but the process of retrofitting the engines onto the Earth vessels would take considerably longer. In the end, some twenty Kennedy-Class Space Carriers, along with a mixed force of Veach-class Space Battleships and Perry-Class Space Cruisers, would be fitted with the salvaged Colonial FTL Jump Drives. These vessels, along with GALACTICA and PEGASUS, would form the strike force which fought the Battles of Kappa Reticuli and Iotia Horologii on May 23, 2064. Little did they know what they would find when they got there.
[1] Cubits: The currency of the Twelve Colonies, consisting of paper currency and coins made of gold and silver.
[2] Although the author is too polite to say it, a large part of Hayden's opposition stemmed from her desire that Aerotech reap the maximum profit from the exploitation of Colonial technology.
Excerpts from Jane's Space Vessels of the Chig and Cylon Wars, Hugh Chattingham, Editor. London: Jane's Information Group, 2071.
GALACTICA CLASS BATTLESTAR
CREW: 5000
LENGTH: 4720 feet long
ARMAMENT: 24 large anti-ship gun turrets mounting 2 guns each; 514 point defense gun turrets; 12 missile launch tubes in main hull capable of firing conventional and nuclear missiles.
Air Wing: At least 4 squadrons (20 at full strength) of Vipers and at least two squadrons of Raptors.
JOHN F. KENNEDY CLASS SPACE CARRIER
CREW: 2917 (On the USS Saratoga, 1008 US Navy, 1344 USMC, and 565 Army personnel).
LENGTH: 1724 feet long
MAIN ARMAMENT: 1 Kinetic Particle Weapon [1]; 13 Laser Pulse Cannon batteries ranging in strength from 2 GW to 50 MW; 30 Phalanx Missile launchers [2] (can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads); 72 KEW/Torpedo Launchers [3]. Also point-defense installations consisting of Spartan Space-to-Space Missile launchers.
AIR WING: 168 Hammerhead Fighters; 14 Stingray Recon Planes; 4 Barracuda Fighter Bombers; 4 SWAC Spaceborne Warning and Control Vehicles; 16 ISSAPC Personnel Carriers; 8 LC-19 Landing Craft.
[1] The Kinetic Particle Weapon, or KPW, is the primary anti-ship weapon carried by Earth vessels. It is a very large particle cannon mounted on the upper hull and running the entire length of the ship. It fires a powerful beam of highly-charged particles.
[3] Phalanx missiles are long-range guided bombardment missiles capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads (think of a something like a cross between the Harpoon and the Tomahawk).
[3] The KEW/Torpedo Launcher is a gun-like weapon capable of firing regular cannon rounds or unguided rocket-propelled torpedoes. The cannon rounds and torpedoes pack a conventional high explosive charge, and are used primarily for point-defense against incoming missiles and fighter-bomber spacecraft.
MERCURY CLASS BATTLESTAR (PEGASUS)
CREW: Approximately 2500 (smaller crew made possible by greater computer automation than on the GALACTICA class)
LENGTH: 5872 feet long
ARMAMENT: Classified. Has at least 34 anti-ship Kinetic Energy Weapon batteries (30 twin turrets and 4 twin fixed installations) plus an unknown number of point defense kinetic energy weapon batteries. Also has an unknown number of launch tubes for nuclear and conventional missiles.
AIR WING: 50 Raptors and 200 Vipers. Vessel has a production facility to build new Vipers from basic resources.
The Mercury Class is more heavily armored than the Galactica class and the guns are modernized, having a greater rate of fire.
CYLON BASE STAR
CREW: Unknown. Probably relatively small as most functions would be automated.
SIZE: 3382 feet wide, 870 feet tall.
ARMAMENT: No kinetic energy weapons. 220 missile launchers capable of firing conventional or nuclear missiles.
AIR WING: As many as 792, mixed force of Raiders and Heavy Raiders.
Cylon Basestars are not very heavily armored and are very vulnerable to the kinetic weapons of Colonial Battlestars. They depend on their large raider wings and missile batteries to keep the battlestars away from them.
CHARLES LACEY VEACH CLASS BATTLESHIP
CREW: Approximately 1900
LENGTH: 1579 feet long
ARMAMENT: Two Kinetic Particle Weapons; 30 Laser Pulse Cannon batteries ranging in strength from 3 GW to 100 MW; 75 Phalanx Missile launchers (in five pods of 15 launchers each); 144 KEW/Torpedo Launchers. Also point-defense installations consisting of Spartan Space-to-Space Missile launchers.
AIR WING: None.
The Charles Lacey Veach Class Battleship is a heavy weapons platform designed both to protect the John F. Kennedy Class Carriers against spaceborne threats and to provide heavy planetary bombardment capability. It is very heavily armored. Its crew is significantly smaller, as is the vessel itself, because no aircraft hangars and airwings are carried.
OLIVER HAZZARD PERRY CLASS CRUISER
CREW: Approximately 1000
LENGTH: 1250 feet long
ARMAMENT: One Kinetic Particle Weapon; 15 Laser Pulse Cannon batteries ranging in strength from 1 GW to 50 MW; 30 Phalanx Missile launchers (in two pods of 15 launchers each); 84 KEW/Torpedo Launchers . Also point-defense installations consisting of Spartan Space-to-Space Missile launchers.
AIR WING: None.
The Oliver Hazzard Perry Class protects and supports the larger Veach and Kennedy class vessels. It also is frequently used for escorting civilian merchant convoys and other duties away from the main battle fleets. Its kinetic particle weapon is not in the same class as that carried by the larger ships, but still packs a significant punch.
FORRESTAL CLASS DESTROYER
CREW: Approximately 500
LENGTH: 988 feet long
ARMAMENT: 10 Laser Pulse Cannon batteries ranging in strength from 1 GW to 25 MW; 15 Phalanx Missile launchers (in one pod); 48 KEW/Torpedo Launchers in clusters of twelve weapons each. Also point-defense installations consisting of Spartan Space-to-Space Missile launchers.
AIR WING: None.
The Forrestal Class is widely used for escort duties, and for long-range recon of enemy-held space. Much faster and more maneuverable than the larger capital ships but much more lightly armed and armored, it is not intended to go toe-to-toe with Chig capital ships, but in numbers can provide potent support to their larger brethren.
