Battlestar Galactica #3, otherwise known as Classic Battlestar Galactica #3, is the third issue of Dynamite Entertainment's 2013 Classic Battlestar Galactica miniseries, released as part of the franchise's thirty-fifth anniversary celebration.
Plot[]
- "Apollo and Starbuck face perils on their own! While Starbuck teams with a strangely familiar acquaintance, Apollo joins in humanity's last effort to overthrow the decades-old tyranny. Behold, the consequences of a reality where the Battlestar Galactica never existed, as the all-conquering Cylon Empire grinds humanity to dust!"
- —Official synopsis
Synopsis[]
A Cylon Centurion is reprimanding the captive Starbuck, knocking him back with an electrical shock. Starbuck is annoyed that his celmate calls him 'kiddo', but when he attempts to tell him his name, the bearded pirsoner remains uninterested in learning it, saying they are all just waiting to be picked by Zee. Starbuck is surpised at the name, and his celmate explains how Zee betrayed humanity to extend his own life through Cylon tech. The human prisoners are being used by Zee to perform experiments on. Having previously fused Baltar with Lucifer, the resulting combination, Baltifer won't allow Zee to do the same thing to himself. Just then, Zee passes their cel as Cylon Centurions drag other prisoners out. Zee still has the body of a child, but looks old and withered. His body is connected with many electrical wires to a Cylon Centurion that carries him around strapped to it's torso. When Starbuck tries to get Zee's attention, Zee turns to him and recognizes him as the pilot who was captured with the experimental Viper. He wants to know all about the ship and schedules Starbuck for a trip to his laboratory at a later time. As Starbuck wonders aloud what the frack happened to Zee, his celmate tells him that Starbuck just volunteerd for a torture session.
At the base on Q-Cashe #7202, Apollo and Adama are uncertain who exactly the other person is. Adama is certain this Apollo is some piece of Cylon trickery, as he saw his own son die before his eyes. Apollo explains about eh Warper units fitted to his and Starbuck's Vipers and how he ended up at their base. The black Colonial does not believe him, but Adama is called away by another aide, as the fighters have managed to drag Apollo's Viper out of the marsches. The guerilla warriors admit that the equipment aboard this Viper lend some credibility to Apollo's story. Apollo is schocked to recognize one of the Colonials as his deceased wife, Serina. When he grabs on to her, she rejects his hug and throws him to the ground, calling him a freak. Apollo tells her he's her husband and that he raised Boxey after her death. This makes her even angrier as in this reality, Boxey was killed during the destruction of Caprica. As Adama explains this and helps Apollo back on his feet, Adama enquires what he means with the repeatedly used name 'Galactica'. Apollo explains it's the name of a Battlestar, to which Adama replies that all Battlestars were destroyed when the Cylons attacked, and there never was one called Galactica.
Starbuck wakes up in his bunk to find his celmate covering himself with a sleeping cot. He is anticipating a large explosion. The prison block is being attacked and swiftly the cell door over-ride is enable. The bearded prisoner exits the cell to meet two of his rescuers, who adress him as Captain Starbuck. Feeling very confused, the clean shaven Starbuck is offered a chance to escape along with the Captain and his men, whom he orders to blast any Cylon that gets in their way. Starbuck tells his bearded self they can't leave without taking the other prisoners with them, but the Captain replies it's every man for himself. It turns out Captain Starbuck led himself get captured by the Cylons so he could feed his soldiers the Basestar Security Codes. As they make their escape, they claim several Cylon Raiders for themselves and steal all the tech and ammo they can take with them. Clean shaven Starbuck insists on taking the other prisonars with them, and when the Captain adresses him as 'kiddo' once again, he loses his temper and shouts 'my name is Starbuck!' More Cylon Centurions arrive, blasting a couple of the Captain's men. Most of them manage to leave in stolen Raiders, but the two Starbucks are cornered. The clean-shaven one offers his bearded namesake a ride in his modified Viper. They cram into the cockpit together, only to realize the engines are dead and they are surrounded by Centurions.
Apollo has come to the conclusion that using the Time Warpers has accidentally changed reality. This version of Serina has never before heard of Apollo, or Starbuck for that matter. He and Adama exchange histories to find out how they differ from each other. Adama tells him he was never a Battlestar Commander at all. Instead, he was passed over for his own command and went into the Diplomatic Service and became President of the Quorum of Twelve. The human race was betrayed by Adama's chief advisor, Lord Baltar. The Apollo of this reality served as an aide to Baltar and died during the first Cylon strike. His younger brother Zac was a merchant fleet pilot and also died in the first wave. Adama's wife Ila died on the Battlestar they were traveling on, while Adama only managed to survive because the ships commander, his friend Tigh, sacrificed himself to save Adama. When Apollo inquires about his sister Athena, he learns she died on Caprica with her husband Thom, who was her childhood sweetheart according to Adama. Apollo remembers that in his reality, Starbuck made sure Thom never had a change with Athena back when they were twelve years old. Adama concludes that in Apollo's version, they must have fought harder and had more luck. Here, the last remaining humans fled to the corners of space and continue to fight a guerilla war against the Cylons. Adama fears that the human race will soon be extinguished, but Serina and Boomer strongly disagree. Appolo realizes they share the same spirit as the versions from his reality and tells Adama that the version he knows would never call the fight futile, no matter how high the odds.
Starbuck manages to fire the thrusters of his modified Viper at hals speed, destroying several Cylon Centurions at the same time, then blasing the rest with his front lasers. As they make their escape, the bearded Starbuck reveals he left a system disruptor to slow down any pursuit. He wasn't able to trigger the remote untill they made it out safely, or their ship whould have been affected as well. He then gives the clean shaven Starbuck coordinates for a destination as both men light up their fumarello's. Meanwhile, Baltifer is displeased, but Zee dares to disagree. His scientist have already gathered enough information about the Viper's Temporal Device for him to reverse engineer his own version. In fact, the device reminds him of his own work. The two Starbucks arrive at their destination near a gas giant. Cleancut Starbuck is unimpressed at first, until the bearded version points him to his baseship: the last survising Battlestar, Galactica.
Individuals[]
- Colonial Warriors
- Captain Apollo
- Lieutenant Starbuck
- Serina (mentioned only)
- Boxey (mentioned only)
- Adama (Divergent Reality)
- Boomer (Divergent Reality)
- Serina (Divergent Reality)
- Captain Starbuck (Divergent Reality)
- Greenbean (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Sheba (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Apollo (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Zac (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Illa (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Athena (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Quorum of Twelve (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Baltar (Divergent Reality) (appears in hologram recording)/Baltifer (appears in shadow)
- Cylon Centurions
- Zee (Divergent Reality)
Locations[]
- Nebula
- Q-Cashe #7202
- Capira (mentioned and shown as a hologram recording)
Items[]
- Fumerello
Technology[]
Vehicles[]
- Battlestar Galactica (seen during Apollo's flashback)
- Battlestar Galactica (Divergent Reality)
- Battlestar Rycon (Divergent Reality) (mentioned only)
- Temporal Warper equiped Vipers
- Vipers (Divergent Reality)
- Cylon Basestar (Divergent Reality)
- Cylon Raiders (Divergent Reality)
Miscellaneous[]
Behind the Scenes[]
- Coming Soon
Notes[]
- The cover art by Alex Ross is a hommage to the 1977 poster art for Star Wars by Tom Jung.
- On the opening splash page, it remains unclear why the Cylon Centurion is punishing Starbuck, as he was already locked in a cel in the previous issue.
- Starbuck's celmate and the Divergent Reality version of Serina both use the swearword 'flark', which appears to be a stronger variation of 'frak'.
- Starbuck is treated like a kid by the Divergent Reality version of himself, even though they should be the same age.
- Captain Starbuck refers to the Cylons as 'toasters', a habit from the re-imagined series rather than the classic version. He also claims that 'risk is his middle name', despite having only one name.
- The Divergent Reality version of Adama mentions serving on the Battlestar Rycon when he was younger, just like the regular Adama did, as mentioned in the original series episode Take the Celestra.
- When Starbuck is shown waring his Colonial helmet inside his modified Viper, only the top part is illuminated. The bottom part is missing it's light-bar.
- The fact that Adama states with certainty that there was never a Battlestar named Galactica and that Captain Starbuck has been in posession of this very ship for some time is never fully explained in the remainder of this story.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
External links[]
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