Laura Roslin faction

Laura Roslin addressing members of her faction on Astral Queen.

The Laura Roslin faction is an ad-hoc conspiracy of Colonials who support and aid in breaking President Laura Roslin from Galactica's brig, keep her in hiding, and assist in reinstating Roslin as the effective leader of mankind. Most of the participants hide their participation in order to maintain their positions aboard Galactica, with only a few openly defying Colonel Tigh's declaration of martial law.

Actions of the faction

With tensions already high after the coup against Roslin, the final impetus break away from the Fleet occurs after the tragic death of unarmed civilians on Gideon by a group of Marines during an operation to procure needed supplies for Galactica.

Lee Adama is the key actor in freeing Roslin from the brig. He uses his status as an officer on parole to secretly plan her escape and recruits other crew members to help him along the way. After leaving Galactica in a Raptor, Roslin's getaway crew meets Tom Zarek aboard Cloud Nine, a meeting that Lee Adama arranged, figuring that Zarek's network would have the resources necessary to help Roslin. Naturally, Roslin has reservations, and for good reason — Zarek, a convicted terrorist, was arguably in on a plot to assassinate Roslin (TRS: "Colonial Day"). Nonetheless, she grudgingly concedes that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", accepting Zarek's help (TRS: "Resistance").

Subsequently the faction hides away on Kimba Huta and Astral Queen from which Roslin openly addresses the Fleet, urging them to join her to jump to Kobol. Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh misjudge Roslin's drawing power, especially among the more religious population, like the Gemenese. 24 ships, consisting of 18,000 people (9,500 Gemenese, 6,250 Capricans, and 2,250 from the other ten Colonies"), break away from the Fleet and join Roslin ("The Farm", "Home, Part I").

Adama initially believes that the Fleet can survive this loss and plans to leave Roslin and her followers alone. However, Dualla convinces him to reunite the Fleet, pointing out that deep down Adama is upset that he failed in his promise to bring everyone to Earth, and that "children are separated from their parents". Adama returns to Kobol and after finding Roslin's landing party, he and Roslin bury their differences. Together, they make their way to the Tomb of Athena and find the first clue towards the position of Earth (TRS: "Home, Part I" and "II").

Analysis

• Gaius Baltar, the elected Vice-President of the Colonies, expresses the opinion to Colonel Tigh that given Roslin's imprisonment, he is the legitimately serving President. Despite this adherence to the Articles of Colonization, Baltar seems uninvolved in the Roslin faction, as he is busy with other things at the time.
• After Adama and Roslin reconcile on Kobol, their friendship grows much stronger and the two become very close friends to the point that they stop combating each other and advise each other on various situations. Eventually Adama and Roslin enter a romantic relationship that lasts until Roslin succumbs to her cancer.

The faction members

Main members

Among the people openly supporting Roslin are:

• Laura Roslin herself.
• Lee Adama, who recruits other people to help and pilots the Raptor. Formerly, he was imprisoned in the brig along with Roslin but was often released on parole in order to carry out his duties as the CAG.
• Elosha, Roslin's personal advisor, escapes with her aboard the Raptor.
• Billy Keikeya, Roslin's aide, assists in breaking her out of prison but refuses to leave with her, ostensibly because he does not approve of Roslin's decision.
• Kara Thrace, who begins the fractioning by disobeying orders and leaving for Caprica in the captured Cylon Raider to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo.
• Tom Zarek, who hides the escapees within the Fleet, helps to gain more followers among the civilian population and accompanies them to Kobol.

Supplemental members

• Marshall Bagot, Virgon's Quorum representative.
• Meier, Zarek's confidant, who accompanies the contingent to Kobol and attempts to convince Sharon Valerii to help him kill Lee Adama, so that Zarek may take over Adama's position as the military commander of Roslin's fleet.
• Sarah Porter, Gemenon's Quorum representative.

Supporters

Conspirators whose involvement is kept secret include:

• Doctor Cottle, who signs an authorization to release a Raptor for flight ops. He later claims that he was forced to do so by Lee Adama at gunpoint, but this is probably to cover himself.
• Anastasia Dualla, who has a number of covert meetings with Lee Adama and gets a series of orders signed in order to cover for Roslin's escape, including closing causeway B (the main escape route) as well as, presumably, authorization to launch the Raptor.
• Felix Gaeta, who Dualla seems to include on the plot, covers up the off-duty calls made throughout the course of the conspiracy when asked by Tigh.
• Corporal Venner, the Marine assigned to guard Roslin. He gives her chamalla during her incarceration and assists in the jailbreak by allowing to be knocked out, thus appearing to have been assaulted by the escapees.
• Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson, who falsely claims her Raptor is having technical problems as an excuse for Lee Adama to go to the hangar deck.
• Marine Brandy Harder, who accosts Laura Roslin on Causeway B, but does not fire upon her or otherwise prevent her escape.
• Two unnamed enlisted men who free Roslin from the brig with Venner's assent and get her to the hangar deck.
• Karl Agathon, who returns with Kara Thrace from Caprica and has accepted his part of the search for the Tomb of Athena. Since he is not on Galactica, he did not participate in the jailbreak, but accompanies the group to Kobol.
• Sharon Valerii, who returns with Kara Thrace from Caprica and agrees to guide Roslin's party to the Tomb of Athena using her Cylon knowledge of Kobol. Her relationship with the humans other than Thrace and Agathon is tense and suspicious. Roslin threatens to airlock Agathon in order to ensure Valerii's cooperation.

Ships of the faction

• Astral Queen, the lead ship of the faction.
• Gemini
• Monarch
• Colonial One
• An unnamed Flattop vessel.
• Adriatic, an armed vessel in the faction.
• One luxury liner of Gemon Liners registry.
• Two Colonial Movers supply freighters.
• Six Kimba Huta-type transports.
• An unnamed Yellow vessel.
• At least one atmospheric shuttle.

According to Dualla, 24 ships leave with Roslin. They are broken down as such:

• Twelve transports (Astral Queen, Colonial One, Kimba Huta transports, the yellow vessel and the luxury liner fall into this category.)
• Seven freighters (The Gemini freighter and the Colonial Movers ship.)
• Three construction platforms (The Flattop vessel more than likely falls into this category.)
• One private cruiser, likely Adriatic.
• One mining ship (Monarch).