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TWELVE COLONIES MILITARY Compiled from original concepts and articles from Battlestar Wiki

The Twelve Colonies

History & Culture

Prehistory/Myth
According to religious doctrine, humanity used to live on Kobol in a idyllic existence alongside the gods (the Lords of Kobol). About 2,000 years ago, there was a war caused by one jealous god, and humanity left. Twelve tribes emigrated to twelve habitable worlds in the nearby Cyrannus system, and the thirteenth tribe left for a world called Earth. The twelve tribes were named after the western Zodiac, but their names drifted over time, and became the Twelve Colonies:

• Aerelon
• Aquaria
• Canceron
• Caprica – Caprica City (Colonial Capital)
• Gemenon – (Fundamentalist traditions)
• Leonis
• Libris
• Picon – (Colonial Fleet Headquarters)
• Saggitaron – (Exploited by other colonies, some claim)
• Scorpia – (Scorpion Fleet Shipyards)
• Tauron
• Virgon

Modern Era
After settling on their new homes, another cataclysm befell the twelve tribes. This resulted in the destruction of much of their knowledge base and sent the colonies into a dark age. After their return to space, the Colonies established many observatories, listening posts, research stations and armories in their system, and an ever-expanding “red line” of explored space that included several other star systems. The Colonials also created a line of robots, called Cylons, to do work which they found unpleasant, including mining and serving as soldiers. The Cylons rebelled, and held so much of the military power that they were well-matched with their former Colonial masters. With their mastery of Colonial technology, the Cylons were able to infiltrate nearly all networked devices. Twelve battlestars built in the opening years of the war relied on more secure and durable technologies. In response to the great threat posed by the Cylons, the Twelve Colonies signed the Articles of Colonization and formed a unified federal Government for the first time.

Contemporary Era
After the Cylon War ended, a long and bloody struggle of approximately 12 years, an armistice was declared, and the Cylons departed for a world of their own (location unknown, but near or in the Cyrannus system). The Colonials established a neutral meeting place, Armistice Station, and made diplomatic overtures for Cylons and Colonials to meet annually. However, these overtures were continually ignored. The arrogance of the Colonials in re-equipping their military with technologies vulnerable to Cylon interference proved to be their undoing.

Government

The current government of the Twelve Colonies was established by the Articles of Colonization fifty-two years ago, partially as a response to the Cylon War. The form of government is a federal republic, lead by a democratically elected president and legislature. The Articles of Colonization also established system-wide standards for numerous civil liberties (many of these analogous to the United States Bill of Rights).

Executive Branch
The President at the time of the Cylon attack was President Richard Adar. The President is assisted by a Cabinet, consisting of the heads of the various government departments. The President can request the resignation of his cabinet members, but they are apparently not obligated to comply. In the event of the death or incapacitation of the President, the Vice President and the Cabinet are included in the line of succession.

Legislative Branch
The Colonial legislature is known as the Quorum of Twelve, with each colony represented by a single delegate, each with one vote. It is a deliberative and legislative body, where issues are raised and voted on. The President of the Colonies is also the presiding officer of the Quorum, with the authority to break tie votes. If the Vice Presidency becomes vacant between elections, the Quorum is responsible for the both the nomination and confirmation of the successor to that office.

Other Branches
The government also apparently recognizes an unelected religious body in an advisory capacity, similar to the British House of Lords, and maintains a separate judiciary.

Religion

The religion of the Twelve Colonies, which the majority of the population practices to a greater or lesser degree, is a polytheistic faith that centers on the Lords of Kobol. Six importand Lords of Kobol are:

• Zeus - He was the father of the gods.
• Apollo - He was Zeus' son, said to be the god of the hunt and of healing.
• Artemis
• Aphrodite
• Athena - She committed suicide "out of despair over the Exodus of the thirteen tribes"
• Hera

According to the Sacred Scrolls, the gods once shared a paradise-like existence with the people of Kobol. (The first words of the sacred scrolls are “Life here began out there.” Later circumstances forced the exodus of the human population of Kobol to the Twelve Colonies and Earth, and lead to Athena's suicide. Part of the Sacred Scrolls were written by the oracle Pythia, and are also referred to as the Book of Pythia or the Pythian Prophesies, as they are a history of the human race and their exile from Kobol set down some 1,600 years before the actual events. Some believe that the prophecies apply to the modern day as well, an aspect of the widely-held philosophy of “eternal return,” a notion of the circular progression of time known to the Colonists as the Cycle of Time. The Cycle of Time states that “we are all playing our parts in a story that is told again, and again, and again throughout eternity.” Individual practice of religion includes personal idols of the gods (much like Greek lars and pentates) and rosaries. The separation of church and state not rigorous; state officials are sworn in by priests, who also preside over military funerals, without regard for the beliefs of the deceased. That this is a matter of course is perhaps indicative of the religious homogeneity of the Colonies. Priests, who may be of any gender, are not required to practice celibacy, and may marry

Technology

The Colonials are a planet-faring race, with regular sublight commerce between the planets of the Twelve Colonies, their moons, and various space stations. They also possess faster-than-light drives, making interstellar travel possible. The standard term for FTL travel is "jump."The Colonial jump drives function by folding space, or creating wormholes through curved space, so that the distance between to points is crossed almost instantaneously. Accurate spacial coordinates must be programmed into a navigational computer, and once activated, the FTL engines take some seconds to complete the process. Conservation of momentum applies, and a ship exits its jump at the same velocity as when it entered the jump.The technology behind FTL systems is such that ships can jump with a high degree of accuracy, allowing ships to rendezvous in space and even "park" in a synchronous orbit directly above a given point on a planet's surface. Proper FTL use even enables vessels to arrive in crowded areas, such as the middle of an asteroid field or other ships, without the risk of collision and damage. The more pinpoint the jump, and the less mapped the area of space, the more time it takes to program jump coordinates into the navigational computer.(Other than spacecraft technology, the overall technology level appears equivalent to late 20th-century Earth, with certain advances and certain omissions. For example, scanning technology such as radiation detection are move advanced, but personal networked devices like cell phones and laptops are unknown. This may be a result of the difficulties experienced during the Cylon war.)

Military

Colonial Military Rank Structure
The rank listed across each row is approximately equivalent in each service, although an equivalent officer in the Fleet always ranks one in the Marines (an Admiral always ranks a General, etc.). A group of Marines, unless on detached duty, is always commanded by a Fleet officer. In the Fleet, an Ensign can be a Viper or Raptor pilot, a CAG (Commander Air Group) is usually a Lieutenant or Captain, a mid-line ship (such as a Frigate) is commanded by a Major or Colonel, and a Battlestar by a Commander or Admiral.

Battlestar
Galactica Type: The Galactica type battlestar is a Colonial capital ship that combines the functions of aircraft carrier and battleship. The first twelve battlestars were laid down in the early days of the Cylon War, each representing one of the Twelve Colonies. At the time of the current Cylon attack, there were 120 Battlestars in the Colonial Fleet.
Mercury Class: The Mercury class battlestar is an advanced warship introduced into the Colonial Fleet sometime after the First Cylon War.

Raptor
The Raptor is a multi-role vehicle used by the Colonial Fleet. It is generally operated by a crew of two, is capable of atmospheric flight and is also equipped with a short-range Jump engine, allowing it to make short faster-than-light hops. As an ECM platform, the Raptor contains a full suite of electronic countermeasure and monitoring tools. The Raptor is designed to fulfill a number of roles, the primary being that of reconnaissance / scout operations. Additionally, as a transport or marine assault vehicle, it can carry a squad of some eight marines plus their equipment. The Raptor is normally unarmed, as Raptors make for a poor general-purpose fighter. Can be equipped with bombs or rockets/missiles. Raptors do carry Decoy drones, communication drones and flares. Typically, a battlestar operates with a single squadron of 8-10 Raptors: one Raptor assigned to each Viper squadron aboard the battlestar, and up to two "reserve" Raptors.

Viper
The Viper is the Colonial Fleet's primary space superiority fighter / attack craft. Capable of atmospheric flight, the Viper is a single-seat craft mounting two kinetic energy weapons (KEWs), as well as having hardpoints beneath the wings for mounting missiles, munitions pods and other ordnance. The Viper was originally introduced into Colonial service shortly before the outbreak of the Cylon War. However, it was the Mark II variant, designed specifically for use with the new Colonial battlestars that is best remembered. The Mark II remained in service after the end of the war, but was subsequently superseded by newer models. At the time of the renewed Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies, the Mark VII was the front-line variant of the Viper design, retaining the Mark II general layout but using fully networked systems providing superior battle management and fight information for the pilot. A fully-equipped Mercury-class Battlestar carries eight squadrons of twenty Viper fighters.

Call Sign

Each permanent Viper pilot has a Call Sign – a nickname used during in-flight communication.

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