Conceptual Episode Outline for New Battlestar Galactica Series Pilot Miniseries - An Exodus Across The Stars (Part 3)

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Season 1 - An Exodus Begins

EP. 001.3 - "An Exodus Across the Stars: Part III"

Teleplay written by u/Voltes-Drifter-2187

Based on Battlestar Galactica Characters and Situations created by Glen A. Larson, David Eick, Ronald D. Moore, Leslie Stevens and Donald P. Bellisario

Prologue (Recap Summary for An Exodus Across the Stars: Parts I & II)

1 - Over footage of ethereal lights, spacescapes and various celestial phenomena, we hear a divine voice reading the preamble to the Book of the Lords of Kobol which says "There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across the Universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. That they may have been the architects of the Great Pyramids, or the lost civilizations of Lemuria, or Atlantis. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man, who even now fight to survive somewhere beyond the heavens." Then, we see scenes of the attack on the Colonial Fleet at Ragnar and the Destruction of the Twelve Colonies. The word is given to the survivors by Commander Adama and President Roslin that they must escape to find a hopeful safe refuge out there upon the planet Earth...

Act I

2 - As he leaves his father's quarters, Apollo overhears Adama call him a death seeker to his comrades and say he cannot bear to lose his two remaining children. This strikes Apollo as his father is not disapproving out of wounded pride, but a genuine fear for his and Athena's safety - if Adama were to lose any more of his dwindling family, it would utterly destroy him. Before he turns in for the night, Apollo finally receives a message from Serina and Boxey on the Rising Star. Doctor Gaius Baltar has gotten enough spare parts and some excess to help get Muffit back online, and they would like to see if an appointment can be arranged. He tells them he'll be over on the next shuttle to pick them up, and he relays a special request for Gaius before he departs. GAL 356 arrives aboard the Rising Star where Boxey takes Apollo to help with Loma.

3 - With both of them promising to sleep better after they solve Loma's problem, Apollo and Boxey invite her to come with them and Serina to the Galactica on their shuttle in hopes that Gaius can come up with something to help. While Loma's surprise awaits her when they arrive in the ship's vast Tech Lab, Gaius and Boxey finish putting in final components to bring Muffit back online stronger than ever before. Gaius tells Loma they will soon be landing on various alien planets and it is important that warriors be safe. Ordinarily, trained daggits and nekojins would keep watch while warriors sleep in their ground encampments, but real daggits and nekojins are getting harder to find even on the livestock ship. Showing off what they were able to come up with, they present Loma with her brand new mechanical nekojin of Boxey's co-design - Ellie 2.0.

4 - While not completely resembling a real nekojin, Loma finds Ellie can learn to be like a real one and she's very smart. Muffit takes a look at the newcomer - and after a few tense looks, both Muffit and Ellie become good friends as the nekojin takes a shine to her new owner in Loma. Boxey was able to help Gaius imprint the image of Loma into Ellie's memory circuits to program the drone nekojin to respond to her. Serina and Apollo are grateful to Gaius for his help and tell him they owe him a favor that he can cash in on at anytime when they are available. Even though he is happy to help with Loma, Apollo still is haunted by his father's words as he left his quarters. Serina and Boxey ask about Adama's feelings, and convince him to try and patch things up with Adama before the mission if it comes to it. Apollo goes off to ask Athena to help him.

5 - Having debated at length the merits of Adama, Apollo and Roslin's plan for Carillon against Uri's plan for Borallus, the Quorum of the Twelve reconvenes and reveals its final decision. Uri has reluctantly retracted his plan and pledged his support for Adama, Roslin and Apollo's plan. With the rest of the Quorum agreeing, Adama and Roslin cast their final votes of approval. At 0700 Centars with T-minus 1 centar and counting to go before the Nova of Madagon, the pilots for the mission will wake up and have their breakfast before getting suited up for flight. At T-minus 10 centons before they reach the Nova, the five Viper fighters will launch out from the Galactica and fly out ahead of her and the rest of the fleet while relying on Galactica's unicom and scanners to guide them in destroying the minefield and clearing the fleet's path onto Carillon.

6 - The morning of the day before the fleet reaches the Nova, Apollo and Athena find a morose Adama in his quarters lost in thought. Apollo says he came to apologize for how he treated Adama in their argument, and then the twins ask of their father's condition. Adama simply says he would recommend anyone who can say they are all right in light of the holocaust and his recent blunder for catharsis treatment. His daughter asks him whatever happened to the joy of living to fight another day that he and their mother once had. In response to this, Adama tells his children that they didn't really get to see the faces of the old and young back down on Caprica who were desperately begging and screaming for a chance to come aboard and how Adama and Roslin had to be like gods - passing out priorities as if they are tickets to the secton lottery.

Act II

7 - Apollo cannot bear it when Adama reveals there was a woman on Caprica with child in her arms wanting to board a shuttle. The Commander's guard came up and Adama tried to stop him, but the guard went wild in shoving and pushing the woman away even as he saw the child. He doesn't know what happened to the woman, but Adama cannot bear this felgercarb that comes with responsibility. He begs Apollo and Athena to take the burden away from him, to which Apollo does not feel he could bear seeing his father out of a position of responsibility. For him to lose his father's guidance for any reason now or anytime in the future would completely destroy Apollo and leave him helpless when he is not prepared. But Adama tells him he has to prepare himself because someday, the sun will inevitably set on Adama, Tigh and Roslin's own time.

8 - In the meantime, Starbuck takes Cassiopeia down to the Hangar Deck on the port side flight pod where his Mk. I Starhound-class Viper fighter sits before the launch tube ready for the next day's plunge into the Nova. Starbuck is exchanging his normal position as Red Leader/Red Flight 1 to take the callsign of Blue 5/Blue Flight 5 because Apollo transferred him to Blue Squadron for the mission. From the look of the cockpit shielding, Cassie can tell that the Nova is going to be so bright that the cockpits of each Viper assigned to the mission are going to have to be sealed to prevent blindness. Starbuck puts on an air of false modesty by saying to Cassiopeia that the medical Raptor she sometimes pilots has more chance of saving lives than his dinky little fighter. When asked about his smoking fumarellos by Cassiopeia, Starbuck is caught off guard.

9 - His habit of smoking fumarellos only comes out when he is feeling extremely stressed about something or celebratory about something. In an effort to curb the dependency that Starbuck nurtures, Cassie offers an alternative - cacao wafer/cookie sticks (similar to Kit Kat bars or Twix bars) which are specially made to give the same relaxative or euphoric effects a fumarello can give in the consumer. Starbuck agrees to take up the Doc's prescription. As they are both looking out from the point of view of the Viper towards the long launch tube, Athena pops in to check on them before checking out her own ship before relieving Colonel Tigh for the night shift and going to trade her usual duty as Galactica's primary helmswoman over to the relief crew to get some sleep before the mission. Starbuck and Cassie notice her and wish her a good night's sleep.

10 - Before she leaves, Athena tells them they may want to find a more secluded spot to get it on if neither wants to die a virgin should the mission fail. She then suggests the Launch Tube and tells them she can see them on her monitors and won't tell a soul. Starbuck tells her to flash the silent alarm warning lights in the tube and open a steam valve near them in case she spots somebody else coming on the monitors. With all that, Cassiopeia and Starbuck go off duty for their session as Athena arrives on the bridge to inform Colonel Tigh that the former two are off to bed and getting a good night's sleep before relieving the Colonel. With the Colonel going off to get some shuteye himself, Athena is now the most senior crewmember in Core Command as she takes the positions of helm and executive officer for maneuvering the mighty Galactica.

11 - Curious as to how Starbuck and Cassiopeia are getting on, Athena pulls up the monitors for all sections of the port side flight pod. First, there are no personnel in the Alpha Landing Bay at that moment. Then she checks the shuttlecraft and landram loading dock which shows all clear. Then she checks out each individual launch tube to make sure Starbuck and Cassiopeia are clear and have all the time they need in the secluded spot. She soon finds the both of them canoodling in a secluded alcove of Launch Tube 09 with their clothes off to the side of them on the floor. Unable to help her own feelings of protectiveness over Cassiopeia and competition with Starbuck, Athena decides to play a little joke and set off the silent alarm and steam valve once they climax to open Cassiopeia back up to herself and get Starbuck back into his quarters for sleep.

Act III

12 - The only mistake Athena makes is in setting off the steam valve - she accidentally set off the wrong one which sprays hot steam right on top of Starbuck and Cassiopeia. While Cassiopeia is just a little surprised by this, Starbuck gets the brunt of the valve purge and gets a steam burn across his back. Athena sees this on the monitor and she frantically tries to find the buttons to shut the valve purge off as Starbuck and Cassie rush to get their clothes back on and head back to their posts without getting noticed. But Starbuck is not one who would blame Athena for steam burning him on accident if it was the case - his mistake was in not specifying which steam valve to purge from for the alarm. He tells himself that and knows he must inform Athena of his mistake in not telling her which vent to purge in case somebody poked around to snoop.

13 - 0700 Centars rolls around and Apollo, Athena, Boomer, Sorrell and Starbuck wake up in that order to hit the showers for freshening up and then get dressed for the breakfast that will be served in the Warrior Quarters to them before they head to the launch bay. Apollo notices Starbuck pitching around under cold water like a daggit on a sunspot and Athena speaks up to volunteer another fighter pilot in Starbuck's place because he wants his sick leave because his "bio-pulse line is acting up" and it's a bad time for him to be cooped up in a cockpit. Boomer then tells Apollo that Starbuck is being polite because he got a steam burn. Apollo doesn't want to ask how Starbuck got a steam burn and denies the sick leave request because he needs the best pilots aboard Galactica with him - and Starbuck is the only best possible chance they have.

14 - Apollo didn't choose Starbuck for the mission without any sense of anguish in him over it. If even the best pilots in the fleet were to fail, nobody would survive the trip through the Nova. The five of them along with all their skills are the fleet's only hope now - or lack thereof. With T-minus 15 centons to the Nova of Madagon; Apollo takes Blue Leader/Blue Flight 1 in Launch Tube 01, Athena is Blue 2/Blue Flight 2 in Tube 03, Boomer is Blue 3/Blue Flight 3 in Tube 05, Sorrell is Blue 4/Blue Flight 4 in Tube 07, and Starbuck is now reluctantly taking up positions in Blue 5/Blue Flight 5 in Tube 09. Adama arrives in Core Command to meet with Tigh as Roslin takes up her command station back aboard Colonial One. Galactica and Colonial One prepare to provide the scanner guidance for the Vipers in locating the Cylon mines to blow out of the sky.

15 - Blue Squadron launches as soon as the fleet clock reaches T-minus 10 centons before they reach the Nova of Madagon as the Vipers shoot out of the tubes and shoot ahead of the Galactica and Colonial One which take point in preparing to lead the fleet in. With their cockpits sealed and the Nova being a starfield so bright and hot that their scanners are shot, the Vipers will be working in the dark until they receive the unicom instructions and scanner guidance from Galactica and Colonial One which will guide them through. In response to Boomer's question on what happens if they miss a mine, Sorrell says one of them will be the first to know as they get to work. As Rigel talks Blue Squadron through, Athena and Sorrell fire off the first laser volleys that explode the first two mines in their path as they move on to the next mines to blow apart.

16 - Starbuck, Apollo and Boomer set about blowing the next three mines apart when Starbuck notices the starfield is melting his canopy shield. Boomer tells him to just keep firing lasers on both the Galactica and Colonial One's signals. The temperatures are getting hotter all around the Vipers as they push forward and further into the Nova of Madagon, but they all manage to destroy the next five mines and prepare to blow apart the next cluster of five. Tigh notes to Adama that the plan is working as the Vipers are clearing a path at least 100 metrics wide - big enough to accommodate the fleet to enter in side-to-side rows of five ships. Athena and Apollo manage to blow apart some more mines along the sides of the fleet's selected corridor to widen the path a little. Starbuck and Sorrell blow apart some more and Boomer takes out even more.

Act IV

17 - With the temperature outside reaching its highest point and leveling off, Starbuck realizes they are now halfway through even as more of his canopy shield is burning away around him. The pilots keep firing and mange to blow apart every last mine in the starfield until Apollo reports the temperatures are cooling off and he is getting his scanners back online. Pretty soon, Athena and Sorrell get their scanners back followed by Starbuck and Boomer. In response to that, Adama and Roslin lower their ships' radiation shields to take a look outside at where they are. As if the answer to their prayers has just appeared before them, the planet of Carillon fades into view from outside the starfield as they gaze upon the varied and verdant features scattered across the landmasses and the oceans. Boomer whoops in joy that they are going to make it.

18 - The crewmembers on the bridges of each ship in the fleet erupt into cheers and applause at having all made it through the Nova of Madagon as Adama has Tigh order the fighters home to relax before the next part of their mission begins. Once the fleet establishes orbital positions around Carillon and scopes out its moons and asteroid rings, Adama and Roslin begin dictating ship's log entries to state landing operations will begin at once. Landram-carrying shuttles will depart for the surface along with mineral ships to extract tylium ore, solium crystals, and other essential raw materials to begin the resupplying of the fleet. Blue, Red and Green Squadrons will escort the ground search teams into the atmosphere and scout out the suitable landing sites to set down and look for essential sites or even settlements where exchanges could be made.

19 - Across space in the Borallus system, Baltar arrives aboard his under repair Basestar to meet up with the Imperious Leader aboard the Leader's own. The Imperious Leader sits upon his throne flanked by the elite Humanoid Cylons known as Number One - John Cavil, Number Four - Simon O'Neill and Number Five - Aaron Doral; who watch as Baltar, Six and Lucifer enter the throne room flanked themselves by two Cylon Centurions. Baltar reports that even though a handful of Colonials have prevailed over the holocaust, he will soon find them and deliver Adama's head to the Imperious Leader as a trophy. The Imperious Leader is to speak about holding up his end of the bargain he made with Baltar, and affects shock in Baltar's belief that he would alter one side of a bargain - but Baltar knows that it is not the point of the Cylons' ultimate war.

20 - Doral protests that Baltar is the perfect ally and that he has shown no ambitions against the Leader, but Baltar asks them if he thought the Imperious Leader would be so foolish as to trust a man who would see his own race destroyed for revenge against a rival. Simon retorts they promised Baltar the humans would be subjugated under their human ally instead of being destroyed. But Baltar knows the Imperious Leader's true intentions: there can be no survivors. So long as one human or any being that could challenge the Cylons' power, the entire empire is in mortal danger. This would include Baltar, but he pleads his case to remain in command of the Cylon forces until such time as the Imperious Leader brings Adama's head to him before Baltar himself is executed. To the shock of Cavil, the Imperious Leader agrees to Baltar's one last request.

21 - With that; Baltar, Lucifer and Six are dismissed back to their Basestar to take the command of the Cylon task force stationed on and over Borallus while the Imperious Leader prepares to check out the course not traversed by the Colonials' fleet to Carillon. Down on Carillon, several landrams scour the planet surface for deposits of tylium ore and solium crystals to refuel the fleet while some are looking for flora and fauna to add to the food supplies. Synchronizing their chronometers to check in every half centar, they split up to carry out their duties. Upon word from Greenbean and Giles in their Vipers above, two landrams set out to check out life form readings right along the ocean coast of the primary continent where the old Colonial mining expedition was set. One is driven by Starbuck and Boomer, the other driven by Athena and Sorrell.

Act V

22 - Apollo, Jolly and Serina have brought Boxey, Muffit, Loma and Ellie along as Loma's parents are stuck recovering aboard the infirmary ship until they are better. The seven of them are scouting out the nearest tylium deposit closest to the site of the old mining expedition. In the distance, they are spotted and scouted by some of the planet's life forms - insectoid aliens with four arms but humanoid proportions. Two look out at the landram very closely from the shadows, and they speak in subtitled language that their salvation may have arrived. As Giles sets off back for the Galactica; Athena and Sorrell come across a vast sea of lights and sounds in a large clearing near the coast which is where the life form readings were reported. Drawing her Electro-Sword, Athena watches as Sorrell draws her laser pistol/rifle as they approach the light cautiously.

23 - Starbuck and Boomer also draw their laser pistols as they join their female counterparts in approaching the sea of lights when they happen upon a young woman startled by the appearance of weapons drawn. The four put away their weapons and ask what the woman is doing in a place like this - and this woman is a blonde Tauran of the planet Taura. The blonde woman asks what Colonial Warriors would be doing sneaking around Citadel Paradisium with weapons drawn unless it's their routine legal inspection when both Starbuck and Sorrell notice the woman carrying 13 megacubits on her person. She tells them everyone is doing it in the casinos - gambling and winning fortunes in cubits that seem to be tilted against the casinos and for the players. Before they can ask anymore, the woman leaves to catch her skybus moonlight cruise across space.

24 - In need of some answers, the four disembarked warriors enter Citadel Paradisium - the vast theme park and casino resort city on Carillon; the hospitality capital of the Cyrannus Galaxy (think Las Vegas strip meets Walt Disney World resort). Starbuck asks how could they not have heard about this place to which Sorrell replies that she thought Starbuck knew every gambling chancery around. But Boomer knows that Starbuck would have known if there was a game going on - to which Athena speculates that with all the hospitality and life needs being met here, nobody would even consider wanting to leave to tell about it. When asked to speak to whoever is in charge about getting food and fuel back up to the fleet, Starbuck butts in and says the last thing the people in charge would want to see is a Battlestar sitting right on their front doorstep.

25 - To hear Boomer talk, there are no gambling chanceries in the galaxy that would not depend on military pay vouchers to keep their doors open - but Starbuck notes that it will only take one informant and they will have the whole Cylon war machine on their mongs (asses) before Rigel can even say "Launch when ready.". It is on the stage of the Excelsior resort casino hotel that Starbuck notices the exotic song-and-dance trio of the "Android Sisters" - three humanoid alien women with two mouths and four eyes on their heads. He is seeing cubits in his eyes thinking if they put those three women on the star circuit, they could earn enough cubits to be set for life whilst bribing the Cylons and their Union into leaving the fleet alone. Boomer cannot believe that Starbuck would think the Cylons would be so gullible to fall for a dance and vocal group's wiles.

26 - Upon happening across the largest tylium deposit, Ellie darts off out of the landram to find somewhere to relieve herself. Drawing his sidearm, Boxey takes Muffit and Loma along with him so they can find Ellie and get her back to the landram. While Serina helps Apollo and Jolly mark off the sites where the tylium is at its most plentiful, Boxey and Loma find a scared child insectoid alien. The alien is quickly identified by the computron (tricorder) scan as Ovion, and the languatron (universal translator) translates the Ovion's words. The Ovion is named Pharynx, and he tells the two he just barely escaped torture by a renegade Hive Queen who has set up shop on the planet. Noticing that Pharynx needs urgent medical attention, Boxey and Loma take Pharynx back to the landram as Muffit finds Ellie and brings her back with him too for the next move.

Epilogue (Preview Summary for An Exodus Across the Stars: Parts IV-V)

27 - Sire Uri makes plans for bringing the entire human population down to Carillon for a large celebration to decorate the five warriors who led them through the Straits of Madagon while meeting with some clandestine Cylon operatives who likewise want true peace between humans and Cylons. Doctor Cassiopeia investigates the underground hotels of Citadel Paradisium and meets an Ovion named Thorax whose colony is under the cruel rule of the Ovion Hive Queen Lotay who serves as part of the Union with the Cylons before she is quickly captured. Suspecting a trap, Adama and the Imperious Leader both put their respective plans into action as the Warriors rescue Cassiopeia and the Ovion rebels to sabotage Carillon. Evacuating Carillon for a space battle, the Colonials are about to exact their revenge on the Imperious Leader falling for their trap laid with Carillon...