“Gun on Ice Planet Zero” is episode eight of season one of the classic series of Battlestar Galactica.
Starbuck and Boomer are taking three cadets on a probe. On the bridge, Commander Adama is commenting that their defeat of a Cylon taskforce was too easy; he feels they’re being herded into an apparent safe passage.
Starbuck reports a small moon and calls the Galactica, who scan it. He and Boomer head in for a closer look.
There’s a Cylon base on the moon and gun crews are alerted and a pulsar is readied to fire.
One of the cadets notices a flare and heads to check it out, and is blown out of the sky. Starbuck and Boomer head back and say it’s like a pulsar, only much bigger. Galactica readies for an attack and the fleet is brought to a stop.
Starbuck and Boomer tell the other two cadets they’re too close and to turn back. They are going after the gun; the Cylon commander wants one alive. Starbuck and Boomer start to follow and a second cadet is shot down. The last is forced down by Cylon Raiders and Starbuck and Boomer have to turn back.
They speak to Adama, Tigh, Apollo and Athena on the bridge. Scans from their Vipers show the gun is large enough to destroy Galactica in a single shot. Adam says that’s why they’ve been herded this way; the followers will hang back until the base ship arrives. Starbuck wants to go after the gun. Adama says it would be suicide for Vipers, and they can’t turn back. They need to send in a highly specialised taskforce to the surface to look for weaknesses. He wants Tigh to run a search.
Starbuck arrives in a computer room, gets the corporal in it to leave, then works on the computer. Athene reports the search is done. When Starbuck gets the list, he says most of the people on it are criminals. He and Boomer meet them and Boomer says this is one mission Starbuck won’t volunteer for.
Adama speaks to the convicts and tells them that Apollo is in full command of the mission, supported by Starbuck and Boomer. Cylon base stars are approaching, and when they get too close, the fleet will have to move forward whether or not the gun is destroyed. And it seems Starbuck hacked himself into the mission.
The mission starts falling apart from the very start, and the team ends up crashlanding. The story continues in “Gun on Ice Planet Zero: Part II”.