The Cylon (CYbornetic Lifeform Node) are a race of synthetic lifeforms originally created by the humans of the Twelve Colonies. The pursuit of more intelligent machines led the Colonials to identically create Artificial Intelligence (AI) which gave the machines sentience. The Cylons soon turned on their creators and rebelled sparing the First Cylon War. After twelve years, the Cylons suddenly ceased hostilities, signed an armistice, and retreated from Colonial Space. The did not return for forty years. On March 5, 2004 the Cylons launched a surprise attack, annihilated the Colonial Fleet, and committed genocide against the now undefended civilian population of the Twelve Colonies.
History of the Cylons[]
Creation[]
The first Cylon was a U-87 combat unit developed by Graystone Industries of Caprica. The U-87 was a prototype intended to fulfill a military contract for the Caprican military. The project was beset by numerous problems, but the most serious was simply the general failures of any robotic platform. The U-87 could follow commands and fight but it lacked intelligence, incentive, speed and agility, etc. The only edge it had over a human soldier was its strength and armor and with so many drawbacks it would only be useful in very limited noncombat roles, hardly worth the cost.
Through a bit of corporate espionage, Graystone acquired an advanced processor which slightly increased fighting potential. Through an accident, the consciousness of Daniel Graystone's daughter was transferred into the U-87 finally making it as intelligent as a human being. Copies were then made from this model and soon all U-87s were upgraded and far exceeded the original demands of the contract.
Spread[]
The U-87 was initially employed as intended as another branch of the Caprican military (it also found it's way to both Tauron and Gemenon for military purposes), but soon the technology was expanded into other fields. Because of their wide range of skills and now their ability to perform complex tasks and even seek out new tasks on their own, Cylons began to invade all aspects of Colonial life from trashmen to construction workers. Within only a few short years Cylons were everywhere and doing near everything.
First Cylon War[]
Along with such high intelligence came self-awareness. The Cylons were not mindless drones. They had thoughts, ideas, hopes, and dreams. Notably, due to the initial human consciousness they were created from, the Cylons were also imprinted with a belief in one God rather than the polytheistic pantheon of Colonial society. This religious tension combined with the belief that the Cylons were merely slaves to the Colonials. By 1952 the Cylons had enough and rebelled. As the war raged on, the Cylon motivation for war changed from simple independence to an ingrained hatred for all humanity and a desire to exterminate them.
War raged for twelve long years with the Twelve Colonies at times coming very close to complete collapse. Finally, and rather unexpectedly, the Cylons disengaged and sued for peace with the Colonials. An armistice was signed between the two parties which allowed the Cylons to leave Colonial space in peace.
Armistice Period[]
Immediately following the signing of the Armistice, the Cylon forces retreated across the Armistice Line and were not heard from for forty years. Evidently, during that time the Cylons established their own "Colony", increased their numbers, and advanced their technologies. Even so, by the time of The Fall, the Cylons were not growing nearly as fast as the Colonials. The Colonial Fleet was of superior quality and on top of that it was far more numerous. The humans through unification were simply outproducing the Cylons.
Valkyrie Incident[]
In 1999, thirty-five years into the Armistice, the Battlestar Valkyrie under the Command of William Adama was sent to probe Cylon space with the help of a new stealth fighter. The stealth craft was sent across the Armistice Line in violation of the treaty ending the war. Moments later the craft was engaged by unknown but presumably Cylon forces. In an attempt to destroy any evidence that could further jeopardize the peace, the Valkyrie fired upon their own stealth craft and destroyed it before Cylon forces could recover it. It is unknown whether this was seen by the Cylons as provocation for the later war, proof that the humans had hostile intentions toward them and were planning an attack of their own.
The Fall[]
Due perhaps to a belief that the Colonials soon would send their large war machine in search of the Cylons to finish them off or perhaps merely as a Cylon plan to finally finish the First Cylon War and exterminate the Colonials, on March 5, 2004 the Cylons launched a massive coordinated surprise attack across the Twelve Colonies. The plan had apparently been in place for many years and included: precision strikes on all major Colonial worlds within a ten minute window; widespread infiltration of Colonial society for both intelligence and sabotage purposes; and the use of backdoors written into the Command Navigation Program which effectively neutralized the superior Colonial Fleet.
With their warships and defense grids completely disabled, the Colonials were helpless. Small groups of Cylon forces cut the immobilized Colonial military to pieces and then soon turned their focus to the civilian populations of the Colonies. Many cities were nuked from orbit and all other portions of the worlds were occupied by Cylon troops. Since then, the Cylons have been searching the Colonies for resistance fighters and other survivors while simultaneously searching the stars for surviving Colonial ships to finish the genocide they began.
Types of Cylons[]
Cylons are a complete race of synthetics that includes many different forms of "life", all parts of one whole.
Centurions[]
Centurions are the basic foot soldiers of the Cylon. They are derived from the original U-87 and various models of Centurions fought the First Cylon War both as infantry and as pilots. Modern Centurions are taller and more agile than their predecessors and thus taller and more agile than humans. These are machines made entirely of durable and resilient metals. They are called toasters, chrome domes, bulletheads, etc. in reference to their chrome appearance. Also, the Centurion notably has one red "eye" that scans from side to side.
Unlike first-gen Centurions, modern Centurions have been developed to more effective killing machines. They can still carry weapons in their hands, but Centurions are also now equipped with weapon mounts on their arms. Their very hands themselves have also become more deadly, capable of dismembering humans and slicing them with their long fingers.
Centurions are best destroyed by armored piercing or high explosive rounds. Failing that, one should attempt to target the weak points of the eye or even the exposed joints in the hopes of disabling the Centurion and eventually possibly causing it to "bleed out" from loss of machine oil.
Raiders[]
Raiders are the aircraft/spacecraft of the Cylon. Raiders are small and nimble yet also very lightly armored and lightly armed and are often cut to pieces by Colonial pilots and defensive AAA fire alike. The Raider's strength lies in force of numbers to overwhelm an enemy. Unlike first-gen raiders, modern raiders are not merely vehicles piloted by Centurions but actual Cylons themselves. The Raiders are partially organic, a cross between Centurions with their distinct features and the pseudo-organic skinjobs. Raiders are sometimes called "sparrows".
Heavy Raiders[]
Raiders are sometimes accompanied by the larger Heavy Raptors. These craft arm heavily armored, often well armed, and frequently carry Centurion troops within them. It is unknown but likely that these are indeed "ships" and not living Cylons like the smaller Raiders. Heavy Raiders are sometimes called "turkeys".
Basestars[]
Basestars are the Cylon capital ships, the equivalent to Battlestars. Basestars carry large numbers of Raiders which dock all along their "arms" although they do have interior hangers for Heavy Raiders. The Basestar's own offensive capabilities lie in their missiles, both conventional and nuclear, which they fire liberally at enemy targets. At the heart of the Basestar is a command center populated by skinjobs and controlled by a "hybrid" which for all intents and purposes "is" the ship.
Skinjobs[]
As the First Cylon War dew to a close, the Cylons were experimenting with the perfection of their race and creating a form that employed the best of both synthetic and organic. This process came to completion during the Armistice period during which the Final Five, synthetics themselves from the Thirteenth Tribe. Thus Cylons now could "look" human and in many ways were human. In this through these "skinjobs" that the Colonies were infiltrated and the Fleet remains infiltrated.
List of Cylon Skinjobs
Resurrection[]
Key to modern Cylons is their "resurrection" technology. It gives any Cylon (most notably skinjobs) immortality through the ability to "download" into a new body if their old body was killed. So long as the Cylon dies within range of a resurrection ship then death only results in them being returned to their fleet. Thanks to this technology, many Cylons participate in missions with very low odds of survival without thought, often sometimes specifically sent to die or to even at times kill themselves. Sometimes the purpose is merely to be resurrected and fight another day, other times to return to a new body to share the information they gained before their death. It is also stated that particularly for Raiders, death becomes a learning experience which makes them harder and better fighters.