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"Masquerade"
Battlestar Galactica Gallery (Realm Press)
Written by Art Holcomb
Art by Mike Malbrough
Cover A by Robert Scott, Cover B by Dan Parsons |
The fleet
faces a cunning new breed of Cylon.
Story Summary
A Cylon basestar attacks the fleet, releasing a flight of new
model Raiders that put up a much better fight against the
Colonial Vipers than usual. The Galactica is also badly damaged
in the attack. Colonel Tigh reports to Commander Adama that Blue
Squadron pilots Janus, Sheba, and Boomer are all missing.
Meanwhile, Starbuck is shot down during the battle, and crash
lands on a nearby planet. Having also shot down his Cylon enemy,
the injured warrior follows the smoke trail to the Raider's
crash site. The damaged Cylon pilot confronts him and he strikes
the Cylon down with a piece of metallic debris, only to make a
shocking discovery.
Back aboard the Galactica, the basestar is no longer an issue,
but the bridge now detects a Cylon Raider heading for
them...towards the landing bay! They allow it to make a bumpy
landing and Starbuck emerges, calling for some med-techs. He has
the Cylon pilot with him and removes the being's metallic helmet
to reveal...Boomer! The Colonial Warrior has been modified with
cybernetic enhancements and encased in Cylon armor to become one
of the new breed of Cylon Centurion. Boomer has revealed to
Starbuck that the Cylons are also holding the other missing
pilots.
TO BE CONTINUED...NOT!
Didja Know?
This story could be seen as a sequel of sorts to
"Centurion
Prime", which is why I placed it immediately following.
Unfortunately, this is one of the many plotlines left incomplete
when Realm Press folded shortly after publication of this issue.
Didja Notice?
The basestar on the first page of the story
is shooting both red and blue laser bolts. In the TV series, the
Cylon ships would fire blue bolts and the Colonials red.
Colonel Tigh seems to be the doomsayer of
the Galactica. After the Cylon attack in
"Fire in Space", he says, "The
Galactica is doomed." And during the attack here, he
says, "Adama, the Galactica is dying!"
As Starbuck leaves the wreckage of his Viper
on page 3, panel 4 of story, he appears to be carrying something
on his back, like a bed roll or supply pack. But it is not seen
in any other panel of the story! It would make sense that a
Viper would be equipped with some kind of portable survival gear
in the event of a crash landing.
By the time of the segue at the top of page 4 of
the story, the Cylon baseship has apparently withdrawn or been
destroyed, but no explanation is given for its disappearance. If
the Cylons would just press their attack for once instead of
hitting and running, they probably could have destroyed the
fleet many times over by now!
On page 4, panel 2 of the story, there
appears to be a firefighter on the Galactica in the
background wearing the same helmet and orange garb as the
firefighters seen in
"Fire in Space".
Notice that on page 4, panel 4, the crashed
Cylon Raider appears to be of a different model than the
standard one seen.
Tigh and Adama seem to guess there is something
special about
the lone incoming Cylon Raider approaching the landing bay, but
seem to ignore the information on the scanner right in
front of them on page 6, panel 6 of the story. The readout
states: LIFEFORMS=2, SPECIES=HUMAN.
Notice that the readout also states CARGO=45
MT ZENITE and 12 MT AMULEEN. Presumably, "MT" is an abbreviation
of some unit of measurement by weight or volume (there is the
term "metric" in the TV series, but it seems to be a unit of
distance, probably similar to the Earth kilometer). I can find
no other references to amuleen in BSG or in the real world. "Zenite"
may be a reference to a mineral found on the planet Ardana in
the Star Trek episode "The Cloud Minders".
Unanswered Questions
Was Boomer freed from his Cylon armor? Since
Realm Press ceased publication shortly after this issue saw
print, no conclusion was ever presented for this story. For that
matter, were Sheba and the never-seen pilot named Janus rescued?
Presumably, they were also prisoners of the Cylons and may have
been transformed into the new Cylons. Since Boomer and Sheba are
seen in later (non-Realm) stories, they were apparently returned
to their normal, human condition.
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