NARRATOR: Previously on Battlestar Galactica.
Frak me.
Are you alive?
BOOMER: lt's probably a Cylon itself.
More of an animal, maybe,
than the human models.
Maybe they genetically design it to perform a task.
To be a fighter.
Why defend. . . For no frakking reason !
Knock it off! Knock it off!
Get the hell out of here now.
l am so sick of her.
What am l doing? What am l doing?
No!
What the hell happened? Kat's made the trap a hundred times!
Let me go! Give me those.
STARBUCK: What is this? Oh, my God !
Stims.
And by the look of her she's been taking them by the handful.
l was burnt out.
l started taking stims. l was so stupid.
As soon as l get back to GaIactica l'll send a rescue party.
Yeah, right.
lf l say l'm gonna do something, l do it.
Count on it.
My kind of woman.
The Resistance Base Camp is here.
Three hundred cIicks north
of the onIy CyIon air base in the area.
l respect what you're trying to do here, however. . .
We have a duty to the people we left behind.
We understand that.
We have to find a way to jump back to Caprica and go get those. . .
Kara!
STARBUCK: (OVER RADlO) Entering Sector 2-5-9.
Keep your eyes open, Kat. This is where BB and Jo-Jo bought it.
Come on out, Scar, you ugly Cylon son of a bitch. Let's party.
I don't think he's going to RSVP, Kat.
He prefers surprise parties.
KAT: Yeah? Well, he'll be surprised when l blow his ass apart.
Yeah, that'll be the day.
Kassie. Kassie? Wasn't that her name?
STARBUCK: Whose name?
Reilly's girlfriend.
You know, Kat, l told you l have no frakking idea.
So give it a rest, all right?
STARBUCK: Reilly's dead for one very simple reason.
He couldn't control his fear.
KAT: Yeah, poor idiot cut and ran.
Gave the toaster a free shot up his ass.
Scar spooked him.
He saw that motherfrakker's red eye
coming straight for him and he panicked.
Reilly was a good stick.
A little short on guts, but a good stick.
Beano had plenty.
Took Cally an hour to clean out his cockpit.
Hey, does anybody remember the name of Reilly's girlfriend?
No.
Karen, l think. Died on Picon. Karen?
No. Was it Kathy? Kathy?
You guys, what does it matter?
Gonna hold a little prayer circle,
good cry, the whole thing?
Actually, it does matter.
Hi.
Hey! This is Ensign Baxton.
Ensign Clark.
And l guess we're your new bunkmates.
Welcome.
We just finished Viper training on Pegasus.
Ready to kick some Cylon butt.
So was Beano.
Who's Beano?
Here.
Oh, Scar is gonna smoke you like a fine cigar, my man.
Who's Scar?
DUCK: Not who, what.
The toasters' top gun. Deadliest Raider in the Cylon fleet.
Give me a break. What, they're machines. One's the same as the next.
Yeah, that's what we thought, till Captain Thrace cut the brain out of one.
HOTDOG: Scar's the best they got.
Lot of pilots died going after that bastard.
Why do they call him Scar?
Oh, you'll find out soon enough.
He's got a taste for nuggets. Easy pickings.
KAT: Whoa! HoId up, Starbuck.
l think l got something. The Big Spud. Lower rim. You see that?
STARBUCK: Negative.
There was a time you would have noticed that before me.
Fine, you're the shooter.
KAT: You gotta keep up.
STARBUCK: Kat, please, don't screw up.
So, how does Scar take out an experienced pilot like Beano?
He hides. . . STARBUCK: He hides
behind an asteroid, or the debris field that you've ignored
because it looked like a bunch of harmless rocks.
You see, Scar doesn't like to fight till the odds are on his side.
And then, suddenly, out of nowhere, bam.
He pops out, blows you to pieces.
And then jumps away before you can return fire.
Well, if you ask me, l think Scar's a coward.
(LAUGHlNG)
This isn't dueling pistols at dawn, this is war.
You never wanna fight fair.
You wanna sneak up behind your enemy
and club him over the head.
You see, Scar understands that.
And so do l.
So that's why l'm gonna kill him.
You?
Starbuck, you can barely walk.
Look who's talking. Stim junkie.
ALL: Whoa.
You know, l wouldn't be calling anybody a junkie if l were you, Starbuck.
Not with the way you've been pounding back that booze lately.
One Tigh on this ship's enough.
Well, l got. . .
l got 200 here, says l nail Scar's chrome-plated ass.
And when l do,
you hand that top gun over to me and pour me my first drink.
PlLOT 1 : All right, Kat!
Your lips will never touch the rim, little girl.
(PlLOTS CHANTlNG) Starbuck! Starbuck!
We'll see.
Starbuck! Starbuck!
PlLOT 1 : You're no better!
PlLOT 2: STARBUCK!
(ALL YELLlNG)
Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Maybe you should slow down.
Maybe.
(ALL CHANTlNG) Starbuck! Starbuck!
Maybe not.
Starbuck! Starbuck! Starbuck! Starbuck!
Starbuck!
Coming in hot.
Check your speed !
Speed, 250!
(GLASS SHATTERlNG)
(ALL EXCLAlMlNG)
Oh, yeah, it's got to be Scar.
Found your hiding place, you little frakker.
Starbuck, kiss your 200 goodbye!
This guy's mine!
STARBUCK: Something's definitely wrong.
That can't be Scar.
He should be jumping or wheeling a gun at us.
l'll check our tails.
Frak!
(ALARM BLARlNG)
Frak! l'm hit!
KAT: Starbuck!
l'm hit, l'm hit, l'm hit!
KAT: See, Beano opened fire too early.
You guys,
you've gotta fill the windscreen with the sucker
or you're not going to hit him.
See, look. He's still not close enough.
Beano's already dead. He just doesn't know it yet.
Do any of you guys see where he went wrong?
There, you see that glint?
There.
That's a Raider.
lf Beano hadn't fixated on his target, he'd have seen that.
BB: Was it Scar?
There he is, boys and girls.
There's the motherfrakker l'm gonna kill.
l'm afraid this is one of those "good news, bad news" conversations.
Bad news first.
The mining ship's broken another drill bit.
We need to extend again.
Another eight days.
Eight more days. Son of a bitch.
They've just discovered an incredibly rich vein of ore.
Enough to build two entire squadrons of Vipers.
l can't walk away from that.
What's the good news?
The Pegasus production team has just turned out its first combat-ready Viper.
We are beginning to replace our losses.
Are they gonna be able to replace pilots as well?
STARBUCK: Let's review the tacticaI situation.
Four weeks ago, our mining ship struck pay dirt
on this asteroid.
A pile of strategic metals
that we need to build new ships.
Since we're sitting ducks until the miners finish the job,
the old man has sent the Fleet out of harm's way
under the protection of Pegasus.
Our job is to stay behind and protect the miners.
Unfortunately, this star system is full of rocks and dust.
Dradis cannot tell the rocks from the bad guys,
so our only reliable system of detection is. . .
Our eyeballs.
Which means we have to put those eyeballs way out there.
Split up, cover a huge perimeter.
We'll be patrolling the area in divisions of four
at these picket points.
Twos. We're going in sections of twos.
Are you planning the ops for me now, too?
(SlGHS)
(PlLOTS MURMURlNG)
CAG wants us to spread out to control a larger area.
lt's right here in the briefings.
(STARBUCK CLEARS THROAT)
You're right. So we do go in twos.
PlLOT: (WHlSPERlNG) Great. You ask her to spread out. . .
Scar and his buddies are out there, looking for easy kills.
Let's not give them any.
This operation is vital
to the long-term survival of this Fleet.
ADAMA: Yes, it is.
And we'll continue to support it.
They're grinding us down Viper by Viper.
Why have they stopped coming at us en masse?
ls it because we destroyed their Resurrection ship?
Starbuck's working on that.
BOOMER: You know, Scar has probably died
and been reborn a dozen times.
You may have faced him before.
So what, Raiders reincarnate, just like you?
Yeah. Just like me.
Great.
What a frakking world.
A Raider's much like a trained animal,
with basic consciousness and survival instinct.
You know, but with the destruction of the Resurrection ship,
when they die, they're really dead.
So, they're not gonna mount mass attacks
where they could have major casualties.
Raiders reincarnate.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
lt takes months for you to train a nugget
into an effective Viper pilot.
And then they get killed and then you lose your experience,
their knowledge, their skill sets,
it's gone forever.
So, if you could bring them back and put them in a brand new body,
wouldn't you do it?
'Cause death then becomes a learning experience.
How. . . How many pilots have we lost?
l mean, have you lost?
You know, there are times when l look at you
and l forget what you are.
All l see is
that kid
that spooched her landings day after day.
The kid that was frakking the Chief
and thinking she was getting away with it.
Yeah, l remember.
You were like a big sister.
Kara,
be careful of Scar, okay?
He's filled with rage.
About what?
Dying's a painful and traumatic experience.
Every time he's reborn, he's filled with more bitter memories.
Scar hates you every bit as much as you hate him.
STARBUCK: A Raider is a squirmy son of a bitch.
You won't be able to keep him in your sights for more than two seconds,
so you have to deliver a killing burst within that time,
or he will turn and nail you.
All that yanking and banking
gives you one hell of a case of vertigo.
And that is what this chair simulates.
KAT: All right, Jo-Jo!
DUCK: Come on. KAT: Come on, Jo-Jo.
BB: Come on, Jo-Jo. Let's go.
DUCK: He's not looking too great.
Hang in there. Come on.
KAT: Hit him, hit him. Tough stuff. Go!
(ALL SHOUTlNG)
Hey, hey, hey. BB: Jo-Jo, up, up, up!
Time!
(BUZZER SOUNDlNG)
Not bad. At least he hit the target.
Well, that's a lot better than l did the first time.
l think l took out that clock over there.
So, what's the all-time record?
HOTDOG: Four hits on the X-ring.
Are you kidding? Who did that?
l did.
Mind if l give it a shot, for old times' sake?
Be my guest.
DUCK: Yeah. KARA: Yeah.
Come on, now, Kat.
Two seconds. DUCK: Go, Kat. Come on, Kat!
WOMAN: Go, Kat. Get him ! STARBUCK: Time!
(BUZZER SOUNDlNG)
Five. Yes!
ALL: Whoa! All right! Way to go!
(BULLETS ZlPPlNG) Frak! l'm hit! l'm hit!
KAT: Starbuck!
l'm hit, l'm hit, l'm hit! Kat.
Starbuck, where the hell are you?
Starbuck, l lost visual on you.
Starbuck, what's your position?
STARBUCK: Primary and secondary hydraulics are bent.
I can deaI with it!
Starbuck, l got no visual on you ! Where you at?
Forget it, Kat. Scar is mine.
KAT: Don't be an idiot, Starbuck! What's your position?
STARBUCK: Yeah, you remember me, don't you?
You want my ass so bad you can taste it. Well, keep coming !
'Cause l guaran-frakking-tee you l will put you down this time, for good !
(GRUNTlNG)
One more.
HELO: Come on, Starbuck, let's go. Get it up.
(GRUNTlNG)
Why are you pushing so hard?
Kat's just another hotshot kid out to make her bones.
Like you were before you met Anders.
You ever think about him?
What's the point?
He's dead.
Kara,
if you didn't think he had a chance of surviving,
why'd you promise to return with a rescue party?
(PANTlNG) l thought l was. . .
l don't know what l thought.
Captain Thrace, if Scar jumps us out there. . .
Keep your eyes open so he can't.
But if l screw up and he bushwhacks me,
what do l do then?
Come on.
They drilled this into you over and over and over again at basic air combat.
l know, sir, but Scar is something l'm not. . .
Scar is no different than any other attacker.
lf he comes at you, turn into him.
Get closer, pull the trigger.
lnto him. Get closer. Pull the trigger. Thank you, sir.
Don't run, or you'll die.
Right.
What are you waiting for?
(SlGHS) Nothing, sir.
Come here.
Come here, l wanna talk to you.
KAT: Now listen to me.
You're flying Duck's wing today, Baxton, right?
Yes. Call sign BB, sir.
Okay, Duck's one of our best pilots that we got.
Okay, so just do what he says, and you'll be fine.
Just don't let the Raiders get anywhere near the miners.
Okay. Yeah.
Thank you, sir.
Go get them, Tiger.
Starbuck.
That kid needs more than a pat on the ass
and a textbook quote about tactics, okay?
You wanna be the wet-nurse, go right ahead, all right. Be my guest.
His jacket says he's a qualified Viper jock,
so l either fly him or l ground him and then we go up short.
What's it gonna be?
Your call, Kat.
STARBUCK: Galactica, Starbuck. WiIco return to base.
DUALLA: Roger that, Starbuck.
DUCK: BB, Duck.
Four Raiders from behind the rock at left ten, coming hard.
Looks Iike Scar.
BB: Duck, BB, what do we do?
We don't have enough fuel to mix it up. We bug out, BB.
Let our reIief deaI with them. We're going home.
BB: Negative. Starbuck said to turn into any attack. Weapons hot.
You're bingo fuel. Don't attack, you idiot.
DUCK: Gods damn it, BB, this is the frakking exception.
Abort and reform!
STARBUCK: Duck, Starbuck. Position?
Four-two alpha, behind the Big Spud.
We need a hand, right frakking now.
You're on your own, Duck. Everybody's way out of range.
STARBUCK: Duck, be there in six minutes.
KAT: Duck, Kat. Eight minutes, out.
BB: Duck, they're on my six! Oh, my Gods.
(YELLlNG) Duck!
lt's all right, Jo-Jo.
MAN: Verify PC-2 pressure zero,
throttles closed, oxygen generator and master switches off.
Check. Shutdown complete.
Nothing you could do, Captain.
Too far away.
KAT: Nice work, Starbuck.
What the hell happened to BB?
What happened?
He did exactly what you told him to do, Captain.
Him and Duck had bingo fuel and a head start home,
but instead, that FNG turned and attacked.
Scar lit him up like a pinwheel.
Why'd he try to take on Scar by himself?
Stupid idiot.
"Try to run and you're dead."
l heard you. You drilled that into that poor moron's head.
You know what?
You and l both know that 99% of the time
that is the right move.
Not this time.
APOLLO: You know what gets me?
l know that in two weeks l won't remember his face.
l can't remember any of their faces after they're killed.
No matter how hard l try, they just fade.
l don't even remember their names.
The names.
Well, let's see, there was Flattop,
who bought it on his thousandth landing.
There was Chuckles.
(LAUGHlNG) Stop it, all right?
Please, it's not funny.
All right.
lt's not funny. lt is funny.
You know, the President says that we're saving humanity
for a bright, shiny future
on Earth
that you and l are never gonna see.
We're not. Because we go out
over and over again,
until some day, some metal motherfrakker
is gonna catch us on a bad day and just blow us away.
Bright, shiny futures are overrated, anyway.
That's why
we got to get what we can right now.
l'll drink to that.
To right now.
So why don't we?
Why don't we what?
Hey, wait a minute. What?
Wait a minute.
Ow! Hey, slow down.
Whoa. This isn't a race.
Kara, what's going on? What's going on?
What's wrong with you? All right?
Okay, you know what? l don't wanna know. l don't wanna know.
Hey! What about us?
There is no "us". All right?
l just wanted a good lay.
There is nothing here. Do you get that?
Nothing ! Sure.
My Gods!
Hey.
Well, that's just great.
Frak or fight, huh?
Okay, maybe l am just a quick lay,
but, Kara, l'm also your friend.
l am hung up on a dead guy, okay?
And it is pissing me off.
And l don't know what l'm doing.
Anders, right? On Caprica. The resistance fighter.
Yeah, well, Samuel's dead, so what does it matter?
Oh, Kara, please, for once in your life. . . l don't need your pity, Lee.
You haven't got my pity!
Listen, you are fine. You are fine with the dead guys.
lt's the living ones you can't deal with.
(SlGHS)
There you are. l got visual on you, Starbuck.
l'm inbound about 1 5 out.
Now!
STARBUCK: All right, Scar, Iet's see how much you like playing chicken
when you can't downward, you bitch.
(GUN FlRlNG) How's it feel, you bastard?
One of us is gonna have to break away first and it isn't gonna be me.
KAT: Starbuck, wake up! He's a machine! He's not gonna break!
You're committing suicide, Starbuck!
ln two-on-two engagements,
Cylon Raiders like to isolate individual Vipers,
and then gang up on one,
hoping to kill it before his wingman has a chance to protect him.
MAN: Captain.
Which is exactly what happened to Jo-Jo 20 minutes ago.
KAT: Oh, no. DUCK: Frak me.
Was it Scar?
The bastard smoked Jo-Jo and jumped away in less than 1 5 seconds
before his wingman could get a shot off.
And where were you?
What?
Flight schedule had you flying lead for Jo-Jo on that patrol, so,
why'd you assign Snake to take your place?
Was it too early in the morning for you, Starbuck?
What exactly are you trying to say, Lieutenant?
What l'm trying to say, Captain,
is maybe if you weren't up all night drinking,
Jo-Jo would have still been here.
PlLOT: (WHlSPERlNG) Shut up.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Give us the room.
(ALL MURMURlNG)
What is it with you, Katraine?
Ever since l got back, you have been on my ass like a bad rash.
You know, coming in late for a briefing 'cause you're hung over,
that's bad enough,
but when you back out on a mission. . .
l put Snake in my place because l was in no condition to fly and l knew that.
You see, unlike you, l don't take a bunch of pills
and then climb in my cockpit so wired
that l can't land the frakking ship.
Starbuck, you're an embarrassment.
You used to be the hottest stick on the Fleet.
Now,
you're just a reckless drunk who sends other people out to get killed.
What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?
Are you going to hit me, Starbuck?
lt scares you, doesn't it?
Actually, no.
You're afraid most of the time, Kat.
You're afraid that you're going to end up
like that picture of Reilly's girlfriend.
Some little
forgotten picture that nobody really remembers.
You see, that's why you're riding my ass so hard.
So no one will notice that Scar
scares the living crap out of you.
(GRUNTS)
Ten-hut!
What's going on?
A little tactical discussion, sir.
Well, it must have been lively.
All right, l'm pairing you two up.
Kat, l want you to fly Starbuck's wing out by the Big Spud.
Sir, l. . .
l got a hunch a couple Raiders are gonna try and sneak through that sector,
so l want my heavy hitters out there to greet them.
Skids up in 49 minutes.
Sir.
Starbuck.
Are you okay?
STARBUCK: (OVER RADlO) Entering Sector 2-5-9.
Keep your eyes open, Kat. This is where BB and Jo-Jo bought it.
Kassie. Kassie? Maybe that was her name?
You know, Kat, l told you l have no frakking idea.
So give it a rest, all right?
KAT: Whoa, hoId up, Starbuck. You see that?
Oh, yeah, it's got to be Scar.
STARBUCK: Something's definitely wrong.
That can't be Scar.
Frak! l'm hit!
KAT: Starbuck!
STARBUCK: I'm hit, I'm hit, I'm hit!
Don't be an idiot, Starbuck! What's your position?
STARBUCK: Yeah, you remember me, don't you?
There you are. l got visual on you, Starbuck.
l'm inbound about 1 5 out.
STARBUCK: All right, Scar, Iet's see how much you like playing chicken
when you can't downward, you bitch.
How's it feel, you bastard?
One of us is gonna have to break away first and it isn't going to be me.
Starbuck, l'm inbound your starboard. . .
Starbuck, wake up!
KAT: He's a machine! He's not gonna break!
He's a machine! He's not gonna break!
l do this and you lose.
You're committing suicide, Starbuck!
l'm coming back.
l said it. l meant it.
Yeah, okay.
Gods damn it!
l am gonna put him right in front of you.
Do not miss him, you frakking stim junkie.
(GUN FlRlNG)
(WHOOPlNG)
That's the way it's done! Yeah !
Let's go home, Skipper!
(KAT WHOOPlNG)
(ALL CHEERlNG)
KAT: (WHOOPlNG) Captain Starbuck!
Hey, Starbuck.
My cup runneth dry.
Seems l recall somebody boasting that my lips would never touch this rim?
WOMAN: For you, Kat.
You earned it.
To BB,
Jo-Jo,
Reilly,
Beano,
Dipper,
Flattop.
Chuckles.
Jolly.
Crashdown.
Sheppard.
Dash.
Flyboy.
Stepchild.
Puppet.
Fireball.
To all of them.
So say we all.
ALL: So say we all !
So say we all.
l could have done it, you know?
l could have taken out Scar.
Head-on pass, straight for him.
Just needed to get a little closer.
So why didn't you do it?
l probably would have died in the process.
The bastard was too good.
A couple months ago, l wouldn't even have thought about that.
Would have just gone for the glory,
hoping l could pull it out of the fire somehow.
Don't be kicking yourself.
You did the right thing and called in your wingman, okay?
Scar's dead. You and Kat came back alive.
That's not why l did it, though.
l can't get Anders out of my head.
l can't get over this insane hope that maybe he's alive.
You got something to live for now,
not just die for.
(LAUGHlNG)
(GROANlNG)
He's down for the count.
(GROANlNG)
Time out. Okay.