Planet Starbuck

Planet Starbuck is the unofficial name given to an unidentified planet featured in the Battlestar Galactica multimedia franchise. It appeared in the series finale of the spin-off program Galactica 1980 entitled "The Return of Starbuck".

Description
Little is known about this unidentified planet other than it boasts a hot and arid, mountainous landscape and has three suns. The terrain is not only difficult to traverse, but deadly as well. As the suns go down, the bleak canyons are buffetted by strong cold winds. The planet's impromptu name was given to it by the Colonial Warrior Starbuck who, by all acounts, is the first human to set foot upon it, and decided that this earned him the right to name it. Fortunately, the planet's other occupants did not seem to care or take notice.

History
The Battlestar Galactica was involved in one of it's many space battles against the villainy of the Cylon Empire. Squadrons of Colonial Vipers traded torpedo fire with Cylon Raiders, during which Lieutenant Starbuck's Viper suffered major damage. His wingman Boomer was unable to assist and had to retreat back to the Galactica. Starbuck managed to get away from the battle and his ship limped along until he was forced to eject the cockpit in the atmosphere of an unknown desert planet. Left with no means to reach the fleet, Starbuck realized that he was stranded. Trying to keep his spirits up, he decided to name the planet after himself - Planet Starbuck.

Starbuck discovered the wreckage of a downed Cylon Raider and inspected. Two of the Cylons were incapacitated beyond repair, but the third one was salvageable. Starbuck disabled it's weaponry and re-energized it. The Cylon threatened to kill him, but Starbuck convinced it that unless they worked together, they would both die. In an effort to personlize the robot enemy, Starbuck gave him the nickname Cy.

Cy and Starbuck took wreckage from their respective vessels and built themselves a meager stronghold to survive the elements. Starbuck tried to convince Cy that they were both far away from their respective governments and there was no longer a need for them to be enemies. Cy made small efforts to understand Starbuck's way of thinking, but reiterated several times that the two could never be friends. To satiate Starbuck's lonliness, Cy surveyed the surrounding area and brought back an unconscious human female, Angela. Upon a quick inspection, Starbuck determined that Angela was pregnant.

Starbuck didn't realize it at the time, but Angela was more than just a regular humanoid - possibly even a Being of Light. Starbuck helped Angela to midwife her child and even retrofitted the cockpit of his Viper into a small escape shuttle with limited thrust capabilities. There was not enough room in the vehicle for all three however, so Starbuck elected to stay behind on the planet.

A Cylon Centurion landing party touched down on the planet and converged on Starbuck's location. The time that Cy had spent with Starbuck had certainly had an effect on the Centurion, for he turned against his own kind, siding with Starbuck in a firefight that ultimately cost Cy his existence. Now Starbuck was truly stranded and alone on this barren world - possibly forever.

Notes & Trivia

 * Planet Starbuck is unique to the continuity of the original Battlestar Galactica franchise and has no counterpart in Ronald D. Moore's 2004 remake of Battlestar Galactica.


 * It is possible that there have been other humanoids who existed on the planet besides Starbuck and Angela. No information is given regarding the father of Angela's child, so there is some likelihood that he lived on the planet as well.


 * The final fate of Starbuck following the events of "The Return of Starbuck" is unknown. In all likelihood, Starbuck died alone stranded on the planet.