Battlestar Athena
OOC: Not yet approved as canon.
Basic Information
The Athena was one of the twelve original battlestars laid down in the early days of the First Cylon War. Saul Tigh served with distinction aboard the Athena after he completed Officer Candidate School. Athena has had a unique history in the fleet. She was the fifth Battlestar created representing Aquaria. Her "sister" ship the Galactica was finished later. During the first Cylon War she was part of several successful battles. However, at the end of the War and moments before Armistice she was boarded by Cylons who set off a bomb inside of her which damaged her so badly that she was essentially rebuilt completely. In testament to those who died in the bomb attack the Athena the wall leading to the CIC was engraved with the names of all those who died in the attack. This tradition still continues on to this day. Anyone who dies on the ship is given a space on the Wall for their name. Ever since then the Crew has always said there are ghosts on the ship of those who never left - sometimes helping and sometimes making life quirky like the water tasting slightly salty one day and dirty the next.
After her repairs the Athena served the fleet fighting pirates and maintaining peace in the shipping lanes. However, she was destined to be decomissioned nearly twenty five years before the second Cylon War. She was given an overhaul and turned into the Athena War College. She was stationed away from the Colonies where it was said, "If you are on the Athena you are either a Frak Up or someone hates you…" This was especially true of the ships last known Commander, Maria Destovin who was given command of the War College purely because brass didn't want her to have "real command" due to her contrarian ways. The left landing bay had been turned into two separate sections, one half containing flight training sims and the other half a Viper and Raptor Factory with minor usage as a machine shop.
In the past twenty years, the Athena War College has created some of the finest officers in the fleet out of frak ups and wash outs…she has also been the last chance for many a student. In fact Commander Destovin has become so famous for running the Athena that the ship is often called, "Old Lady Maria." She has become well loved by every student ever to grace her halls. Of course all of this was until the second Cylon War…Her current status is unknown but an old Battlestar full of young nuggets couldn't possibly have survived.
