Part 1 After a 40-year
armistice in a war between the
Twelve Colonies of Kobol (the homeworlds populated by humans) and the
Cylons (human-created robots), the Cylons launch a surprise nuclear attack intended to
exterminate the human race. Virtually all of the population of the Twelve Colonies is wiped out. Most of the Colonial military is either rendered ineffective or destroyed due to
malware in the military computer network that renders it vulnerable to cyber attack. The malware was introduced by
Number Six (
Tricia Helfer), a Cylon in the form of a human woman, who seduced the famous scientist
Dr. Gaius Baltar (
James Callis) and exploited their relationship to gain access codes under the cover of an insider contract bid. The
Battlestar Galactica, a hybrid
battleship/
aircraft carrier in space that fought in the earlier war, is in the final stages of being decommissioned and converted to a museum when the attack occurs. During her decades of colonial service the
Galactica's computer systems had never been networked so the
Galactica is unaffected by the Cylon sabotage. Its commander,
William Adama (
Edward James Olmos), assumes command of the few remaining elements of the human fleet. He heads for the Ragnar Anchorage, a military armory station where the
Galactica can resupply itself with weaponry and essential supplies. Secretary of Education
Laura Roslin (
Mary McDonnell) is sworn in as President of the Twelve Colonies after it is confirmed that the President and most of the government have been killed (Roslin is 43rd in the line of succession). The government starship carrying her (
Colonial One) manages to assemble a group of surviving civilian ships. When a
Colonial Raptor shuttle from the
Galactica lands briefly for repairs on the Twelve Colonies' capital world of Caprica, the two-person crew,
Sharon Valerii (callsign "Boomer";
Grace Park) and
Karl C. Agathon (callsign "Helo";
Tahmoh Penikett), offer to evacuate a small group of survivors. Helo remains on the stricken planet, giving up his seat to evacuate Baltar, whom he recognizes for his celebrity status as a scientific genius.
Part 2 The Cylons locate the human civilian fleet, and Roslin is forced to make the decision to order all of the ships capable of
faster-than-light (FTL) travel to jump immediately to escape. Unfortunately this means abandoning many of the survivors who are aboard ships without FTL engines and, as Roslin and the FTL ships jump away, the Cylons launch an attack on the remaining ships. At the Ragnar Anchorage space station, Adama is attacked by a supposed arms dealer named
Leoben Conoy who claims to be simply bootlegging supplies, but who is clearly being affected by the radiation cloud surrounding Ragnar, which humans are immune to. Adama deduces that he is facing a new type of Cylon that looks, sounds, and acts human. As the civilian fleet joins the
Galactica at Ragnar, President Roslin appoints Dr. Baltar, who has not disclosed his suborning by the Cylons, as one of her scientific advisers to combat the Cylons. Number Six reveals herself to Baltar in hallucinatory form while attempting to direct his behavior. She suggests that she planted a microchip inside Baltar's brain while he slept, allowing her to transmit her image into his conscious mind. Responding to one of her suggestions, he is compelled to identify
Aaron Doral, a public relations specialist, as a Cylon agent masquerading as a human. Despite his protests and the lack of any evidence to support the accusation, Doral is left at Ragnar when the
Galactica departs. As the Cylons blockade Ragnar, the
Galactica and its fleet of Vipers engage the Cylon fleet in order to allow the civilian fleet to escape by "jumping" to a distant, unexplored area outside of their star system. The
Galactica and the colonial fleet make good their escape. At a funeral, Adama announces his plan to reach a legendary thirteenth colony called "Earth", whose existence and location have been closely guarded military secrets. Roslin is skeptical and later confronts Adama who admits that Earth is simply a myth but he used it as a means to give people hope for the future. Returning to his quarters, Adama finds an anonymous note has been left for him stating "There are only 12 Cylon models." On Ragnar, Doral is rescued by a group of Cylons consisting of multiple copies of the Number Six, Leoben and Doral models, confirming his identity as a Cylon. When the group discuss how to track down the human fleet, a copy of Boomer arrives and reassures them that they will find them. ==Cast==