The Megaera is a Mercury Class Battlestar like the Pegasus. It is a mean fighting machine whose sole purpose is to defend humanity against the cylon threat(although before the Cylon surprise attack, it had never seen actual combat). Larger and more armored and armed than Colonial class Battlestars like the Galactica (and newer versions of the Galactica type...), Megaera was designed as a command ship to head an attack group. The Mercury class Megaera never saw combat during the First Cylon war, as the Colonial Class of Battlestars were on the frontline and the Mercury hadn't entered production yet. However, a Colonial class Megaera fought with distinction in the First Cylon War and earned a Presidential Unit Citation for her actions. This new ship would bear the name of her predecessor and