My Own Battlestar Galactica Fan Series

Except newer and cooler!

People who know me may be surprised that I had once plotted out two seasons of a Battlestar Galactica series. I was recently going through a bunch of my old stuff and found several notebooks of notes and drawings that outlined the series and some rough treatments for several scripts.

The show was to be a continuation of the original 1978 series. I did this back around 1993. Right in the middle of what I consider to be a pinnacle decade for science fiction television programming. I was even trying to figure out how I would put such a thing together because the best that I had available to me was a super 8 mm film camera, access to MCAT, a public access channel, and a strong desire to save my shekels to buy a brand new Amiga Video Toaster set up. Sure, I could have done it. It would have been a giant fan film.


Personally I have a love/hate relationship with fan films. On one hand it's cool to see what people do with a franchise but on the other hand...let's just say I've seen waaaaay to many short films where two people dressed in poorly made Jedi Knight robes tromp around some wooded area and, eventually, try to recreate the Duel of Fate duel that happened in the Phantom Menace. Yeah, enough is enough.

Setting

The setting of my series took place about 20 years from tomorrow. I figured that it took about 20 years to find Earth. If The Galactica took off around 1978 they would have found Earth around 1998. Of course in my story (just like the horrible Galactica 1980) the inhabitants of Earth weren't ready to welcome their space fairing cousins. So they decide to hang out in the moons of Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter and slowly try to get Earth to the point of being ready to accept the fact that the Universe doesn't revolve around them. The Galactica fleet does this by sending down advisors and getting them into top positions in governments around the world and try to get them to "guide" or "nudge" them towards a common goal. The goal was called Realization and that is where the series would have started. Of course, on the day that Realization happened the Cylons entered the scene.

One of the things that was important to me was the fact that the Galactica and it's fleet would have scientists on board so scientific progress would go on. Even when they were being pursued. Once they arrive in our solar system and are able to establish themselves they would advance even quicker.

As soon as they arrived they would have started mining the various moons of the gas giants for resources and they would have built space stations for the survivors in the fleet to live on. Eventually, knowing that the Cylons would someday show up, they would build ship yards and attempt to upgrade and bolster the fleet.

Capital Ships

Time for a refit!

The Galactica was always a command ship. A cross between a battleship or dreadnought and an aircraft carrier. They would have improved upon the design and built four more which would be named after old battlestars lost to the war (the Atlantia, the Titan, the Columbia and the Pacifica). They decide not to use Pegasus as there are many who believe that it still exists and that one day it would find it's way to Earth. That actually becomes a major plot point later on in another season. They also build the support craft that a carrier fleet would need. Cruisers, destroyers, frigates and the other craft such as light aircraft carriers.

Fighters

We are variants!

The fighter craft would also be improved and segregated. In the TV show the Colonials only had the Viper as a combat ship. The were one seat and two seat variants but it was always just a Viper. In my series the viper is relegated to the role of fast interceptor. Fast engines and decently armed they were good for taking on a handful of ships. They were assisted by heavy fighters. These two seat fighters were the space superiority fighters of the show. Able to absorb a lot of damage through the use of armor and shields and also able to dish out a lot of damage through energy weapons and a compliment of missiles and torpedoes. Finally their were the bombers which were anti-capital ship aircraft. The reason for all of this was that it used to bug me that the Colonials and the Cylons only developed a single fighter for all their combat duties and the battlestars were the only kind of capital ships (that we saw).

One of the thematic elements to the series was how ill prepared the Colonials are against the newly discovered Cylons. When they were upgrading all of the ships and systems it was against an enemy they had last encountered 20 years ago. When the Cylons make their appearance not only are their ships massively upgraded but there are so many of them. Tens of thousands of capital ships and millions of fighters

Other Races

Besides the humans and the Cylons there was going to be another major race of beings. It was a race

Kind of like this...but cooler!

of reptilian creatures who were more advances than Earth but not as advanced as the Colonials. They have faster than light spacecraft that are actually pretty tough due to a lot of armor but technologically their weapons are fairly primitive. Mostly (somewhat) inefficient beam weapons and missiles. They are an industrial powerhouse and can produce ships and supplies at a very high rate.

The Colonials have an uneasy truce with these creatures because they intercepted them from going to Earth and taking humans captive as slaves and as food. Their was a brief but very bloody battle in which the lizard race sued for peace because they started losing their ships and, in order to survive, they needed time. Time (unknown to the Colonials) to steal Colonial technology and upgrade their own fleet.

When the Cylons attack this race of reptiles become allies.

The Plot

There's more where we came from!

The first season deals with the events of Realization where the Colonials and the humans from Earth have their big meeting. After the height of the meeting and the afterglow ("A whole new era" speech) reports of a forward scouting Cylon fleet entering the solar system and engaging a patrolling battlestar fleet. The battlestar is heavily damaged but it manages to drive the Cylon fleet out of the solar system where it's hanging out in the heliosphere. The reptilian race calls for help as a second forward scouting Cylon fleet is attacking them. About the same time another battlestar fleet goes to help them out. It's also a very bloody battle but the Colonials and the reptilian race are forced to flee as the Cylon takes control of their system. It's a victory in one sense though. One of the Cylon capital ships is very damaged but they are able to board an take it. There they find out that the Cylons have sent a message to their main fleet that the last Colonial outpost has been found. They find out that the fleet have gotten and acknowledged the message and are now on their way to that location. They find out that the Cylon fleet is massive and advanced.

Meanwhile the forward scouting Cylons begin sorties into our solar system to gauge our strength, dismantle any security measures and prepare for the imminent invasion.

It is interesting going back and looking over all my old notes and I'm regretful I never did try and make this series. Maybe now is the time. I don't know.