Cylon Resurrection ship

A Resurrection Ship is a fictional starship employed by the Cylons in the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica.

The odd-looking ships appear as a series of spider-shaped support frames lined with transparent booth-like containers, each holding a Cylon humanoid body in suspended animation. The ships are specifically dedicated to the "resurrection" of Cylons (both humanoids and raiders) who die. Normally, upon their deaths, Cylon consciousnesses are uploaded into new identical bodies on the Cylon homeworld, but for Cylons located farther and farther away from home - such as those aboard the human refugee Fleet - the distance is too great for a Cylon consciousness to be "Downloaded".

For this reason, when the Cylons began pursuing the Colonial Fleet, they incorporated a resurrection ship at the center of their pursuit force, to provide for a fallback position; if they were killed, their consciousnesses could be downloaded to new models on the resurrection ship without concern. Without that ship, a killed Cylon too far from home would truly die, as their consciousnesses would be unable to find a new receptacle within range. Evidence of this fact can be seen in the Battlestar Galactica episode, "Scar", when Cylon raiders, normally known for their suicidal flight techniques, became more cautious and tactical in their engagements with Colonial Vipers, once the resurrection ship has been destroyed.

Based on testimony provided by Gina and on reconnaissance photos taken by on the Blackbird, the ships contain multiple copies of android models, along with all the apparatus necessary for resurrection.

Pursuing the fleet

When the happened upon a resurrection ship (later determined to be pursuing Adama's fleet) they found that the ship was escorted by two Basestars and approximately a dozen support vessels. It is assumed that the ships had been following the fleet since the exodus from the Colonies.

According to a Cylon copy of D'Anna Biers on Caprica, two Cylon Raiders from this Cylon fleet were destroyed relaying a documentary on Galactica's crew back to "the Fleet", presumably the main one guarding this ship (from the episode "Final Cut"). Pegasus located this ship and its escorts sometime after the fall of Scorpion Fleet Shipyards, and in the process of pursuing it, met with Galactica in deep space.

Prior to Starbuck's recon flight, the function of such a ship was a complete mystery. Admiral Helena Cain speculated that it was a command and control ship, while Commander William Adama suggested that it might be a Raider factory ( revealed to Gaius Baltar that the actual function of the ship was to download and resurrect Cylons who died too far from the Cylon homeworld). The two battlestars rendezvoused and began planning an offensive strike on it, but tension between Admiral Cain and Commander Adama quickly escalated and threatened to derail the operation (episode "Pegasus"). Only after Starbuck's arrival with data regarding the resurrection ship did the standoff end.

Destruction
In a joint operation by the both Galactica and Pegasus, the resurrection ship was disabled and then destroyed. (episode "Resurrection Ship, Part II"). This was done using a number of Colonial civilian transports left to bait ships from the Cylon Fleet; those ships were then engaged and occupied by the Vipers protecting the "helpless" Colonial ships.

With the Cylon fleet divided, the two Battlestars then engaged the two Basestars protecting the Resurrection ship. As the Resurrection ship attempted to jump away, the Blackbird piloted by Lt. Apollo was able to slip inside and disable the ship's FTL drive. With the Resurrection ship unable to exit the field of battle and with the two escort Basestars occupied by battlestars Galactica and Pegasus, the Resurrection ship was quickly dispatched by a series of Colonial Viper squadrons led by .

Reappearance
In the episode "Collaborators" (#3.5), a Cylon fleet was shown, and it contained a resurrection ship.

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