As the series starts the Tiger's Claw is docked for repairs and resupply while admiral Tolwyn chairs a meeting to complete the plans for a new campaign. With the space close to Caprica secured and the threat of invasion dispelled it's time to look at the rest of the sector. The outer reaches were always a wild region of poorly mapped space, home to strange phenomena and pirate lairs, and the chaos brought by the fighting has made them even more lawless. With local bandits rising up, Kilrathi pirates moving in, and the remnants of the defeated invasion fleet trying to survive, the region risks plunging into chaos as these groups loot and fight their way around the sector. Thankfully, most of the time they will bicker and fight each other rather than cooperate. When this pause to refit is done the Tiger's Claw task force will move out to hunt and defeat them in detail, one after the other.
Meanwhile, Maniac has invited Maverick and Angel for a couple of days of rest and relaxation in an exclusive asteroid casino, having an old friend in the business and being on the news as the saviours of Caprica opens a lot of doors. Ok, Angel is more interested in the attached spa and Maverick prefers watching the shows rather than risk his pay on the tables, but it does promise to be a nice fun holiday.
Things soon take a different turn as a squad of attack robots breaks into the casino, a Kilrathi attack? No, their controllers soon show up and they turn out to be a gang of scruffy looking pirates. It's a very bold move for common bandits but surprise is on their side and it looks like it will pay off and that they will be able to get away with valuables and hostages before help arrives.
Thankfully our heroes rise up to the occasion, the robots are taken out with a little help from casino security and an old fighter on display allows them to improvise a flak cannon and damage the pirate's ship. Facing unexpected resistance, with their ship damaged and help finally coming, the pirates choose to make a quick escape while they can, taking only a little cash. A very thankful casino owner gives out a nice reward and lifetime passes, but it looks like this is the beginning of some fresh troubles as news of a wave of raids and robberies come in. Finally, a scene shows a battered and scuffed Kilrathi cruiser with crude markings, inside, in a typical red-lit and foggy Kilrathi atmosphere, an injured but very much alive Baltar gloats and talks to an audience of shadowy figures, human and Kilrathi. He congratulates his associates over a successful test run and promises that his robots will prove very useful in the future. And with this bit of setup done the first episode ends.
The second episode opens with Tolwyn laying out a plan to adapt to the new situation, the recent wave of raids across the sector shows that the bandit threat is even worse than was thought and the Tiger's Claw can't be everywhere at the same time. Something must be done to bolster the sector's defences. So, Paladin will leverage his contacts to recruit a force of rangers from civilian pilots willing to fight for their homes, retired navy pilots, and adventurers, they will protect outposts and infrastructure through the sector and keep an eye out for pirate activity. This will free the Tiger's Claw to search for and destroy the main pirate bases. A special convoy will bring in supplies and weapons to equip the first ranger squadrons, it's a tempting target for the pirates but the fleet will be ready to respond if they try anything against it.
Things appear to be going smoothly as the convoy prepares to make the last jump when pirates attack, the escort quickly responds and it looks like the attack will go nowhere, it's hopeless, why are they even trying? And then things suddenly get interesting as one freighter makes an emergency jump, did the crew panic? No, a garbled message from another freighter sounds the alarm, it's a hijack. A quick check reveals that there are two freighters not responding to communications and powering up for a jump, the hijackers must have taken a little longer with them and their jump has been delayed. But they might still make it as the escort fighters have been kept busy by the pirates's diversionary attack. But they won't make it, Maverick and Maniac rush for the freighters at top speed and put themselves in right in front of them, hugging them and matching their every move, preventing them from jumping out, meanwhile Angel takes out the pirate leader and his wingman in quick succession, putting an end to the attack. Caught in a couple of unarmed freighters, with no help in sight and reinforcements surrounding them, the hijackers surrender and power down their craft. The hijackers are questioned and their connections to Caprica's underworld are revealed, they lead back to an infamous figure suspected of many crimes, a corrupt businessman and politician later turned traitor, Baltar. And before the episode is over we switch back to the scruffy Kilrathi cruiser, now accompanied by several starships (thanks to a series of quick but inspired kitbash jobs with off the shelf model kits by the VFX department), Baltar has assembled a ragtag fleet of pirates and renegades and promises to lead to power and riches.
With the setup for the season done the next episodes follow our heroes efforts to hunt Baltar's fleet and throw back the pirate raids. An analysis of the attack robots deployed during the raids wields a surprising clue, they have been recently made, very recently. As Paladin points out, the Kilrathi have automated factory ships capable of building robot squads and it looks like Baltar has managed to get hold of one of them. They aren't very mobile and after it is located a strike against it will surely force the pirates to fight or lose it. So, the intelligence department is ordered to keep an eye out for clues, and an opportunity shows up as the remnants of the Kilrathi invasion fleet are located, destroying them will remove a threat to the sector and will be a chance to capture materials and get a clear picture of what exactly Baltar has grabbed, it will also help isolate and maybe tap into the factory ship's communications.
The hunt for the Kilrathi remnants takes a few episodes and leads to one of the best ones in the series. In "Fallen Angel" Angel finds herself in a tense situation while working with a team of marines to secure a Kilrathi camp, as an unseen Kilrathi sniper starts picking off the team. The sniper is urged to surrender but refuses, he might be the last Kilrathi fighting for the empire in the sector but something drives him to fight on desperately until his position is narrowed to a jumble of rocks which is obliterated by Maniac with a well timed strafing run. The tension and the eerie cat and mouse with the unseen sniper really make for a unique atmosphere on this one. With the camp secured, the captured materials and the interrogation of captured personnel give a good haul of information, as the prisoners have no love nor loyalty towards Baltar. It turns out that he has betrayed the Kilrathi empire, taking advantage of the chaos after the carrier battle to escape with a band of deserters, a robot factory ship, and a treasure trove of data and access codes.Another piece of information sheds some light on the sniper's desperate last stand. It appears that Angel has become something of a legend among the Kilrathi, the "grim hunter" that strikes her prey from any distance with deadly accuracy and chilling calm, the sniper had seen two very close friends shot down in quick succession by her. It's a sobering moment and a reminder that the Kilrathi aren't just unfeeling monsters or targets in a shooting gallery.
With the codebreakers hard at work using the captured information to locate the factory ship's transmissions we turn our attention to Paladin's rangers, as he leads one of the first ranger squadrons to rescue a poor farming settlement that is being shaken down by Baltar's thugs. It seems like a simple mission, a good opportunity to prove the worth of the rangers and test things out, but things soon become more interesting as one of Baltar's lieutenants has decided to deal with the village personally. Can a squadron of aging pilots be up to the task of fighting him and his bodyguards?
Yes they can, and things take a personal twist as one of the rangers turns out to be an ex-mercenary who left a family behind in the settlement long ago. Age has caught up with him and his days of glory are clearly over but he still manages to steady his hands long enough to cut a path through the pirates in a spectacular attack that opens the way for Paladin to challenge and take down the lieutenant. With the pirates beaten, the village cheers and Baltar fumes, one of his top men has gotten himself killed by peasants and old men, why did he place his trust in such an idiot? And to rub salt in the wound Paladin is decorated by Caprica's government, the "Quorum of Twelve", which includes several of Baltar's old political rivals, those decrepit fossils dare to humiliate me and drag me through the mud in their speeches, soon I will make them sing a different tune...
Back in Caprica, the crackdown against Baltar's criminal contacts continues as Maniac helps bring down a gang which was using gambling debts to blackmail people in key positions in the government and defence forces. They can trick a new player well enough with their marked cards but by Maniac's standards they are amateurs, bad players and unsubtle ham-fisted cheaters. Their gunfighting skills also fail to live up to his standards as the last game breaks down into a casino shoot-out and their arrest. Mission accomplished, even if Maniac feels that he had to shut things down too soon, with a little more time he would have got enough out of those amateurs to fund the Terran Navy. With this bust Baltar's criminal network in Caprica is almost over and done but it's leader, codenamed "Alpharius", remains elusive. Several clues point to somebody in high places but whoever it is has managed to go quiet before the net closed, it will take some time to put together enough enough to pin him down.
A few more episodes see the clashes with the pirates intensify, Paladin's rangers prove to be good fighters and manage to limit the damage and victims even if the pirates do manage to grab supplies and ships. Actually, they seem to be more focused on supplies instead of valuables than usual for bandits, is Baltar planning something?
He is, he fumes, complains, and rages against Paladin and those "fraking old farmers" that appear to be everywhere, but he also reassures his associates that they will have what is needed for "our plan". Yes, gathering supplies has proven to be more difficult than expected and it would have been nice to pick up some riches along the way, but they will have enough.
Back in the Tiger's Claw our heroes have some good news as the analysis of Baltar's transmissions bears fruit, the robot factory ship has been located at a forgotten corner of the sector, an unremarkable asteroid out of the usual shipping lanes, if the Claw moves fast enough it will be able to strike before the factory can pack up and escape.
But trouble ensues as Baltar has a little surprise to spring, it turns out that Alpharius was a member of the Quorum of Twelve and now he has gathered his last goons and has taken advantage of a ceremony to take the rest of the Quorum hostage aboard their official transport, the "Colonial One". Things start to spiral into chaos as he delivers his demands, the navy must stand down and let him join Baltar's fleet or he will start sending the hostages out of the airlock, one body part at a time. Thankfully Angel and Maverick happen to be aboard the Colonial One for the ceremony and set off to twart his plans. Angel borrows a maid's uniform while Maverick takes to the ventilation ducts and together they manage to work behind the hijackers backs to disable the ship's navigation systems and prevent their escape. Any ideas of shooting the hostages are soon dropped as Angel holds Alpharius at gunpoint with his own laser.
With the Quorum safe, the Tiger's Claw moves to attack the factory. Time is running out but Paladin has managed to get into sensor range with a ranger squadron and Tolwyn uses their data along with a navigation trick from his academy days to plot an extra long jump straight into weapons range and destroy the factory. With the factory destroyed, the Claw's crew rushes to repair the malfunctions caused by the rushed jump and braces for a counterattack, Baltar will surely try to get even, and when he does the Claw will be able to give him a bloody nose, maybe even hold long enough for reinforcements to arrive and crush the pirates in a big decisive battle.
But that's not what happens, reports of jumpspace disturbances come in, a large concentration of ships is jumping indeed, but not towards the Claw. Instead Baltar's ragtag fleet is heading out, deep into uncharted and poorly known space, has he decided to flee? Not quite, Baltar holds a conference with his associates and reassures them, losing the robot factory was a setback but their expedition can go ahead without it. They have the ships, the supplies, and the information, they will find Kobol and they will reap a fine bounty for it. Caprica is becoming too strong and well defended for us? It doesn't matter, let Tolwyn, Paladin, the Quorum, and all the others fuss around Caprica, the Kilrathi Empire will pay anything for what we will find.
Back in Caprica, Alpharius has been interrogated and is talking freely, Baltar's network has combed trough the records of Caprica University's xenoarcheology department and has collected a great deal of information about Kobol, enough to find it. But Kobol is just a legend, old tales of an ancient civilization and a lost Kilrathi tribe, Tolwyn wonders. Yes, Paladin replies, but there are plenty of Kilrathi that believe in it.