The Colonies were vast—twelve worlds with dozens of cities, thousands of settlements, and enormous rural and mountainous regions. Even with nuclear strikes and orbital bombardment, complete extermination is extremely unlikely. #Human populations in remote or sheltered regions could easily survive the initial attacks. 2)

And we shouldn’t ignore space. Realistically, the #Colonials would have had long-duration research missions, mining expeditions, scout vessels, and deep-space survey ships nowhere near the Colonies on the Day of the Fall. Those crews would eventually return home to ruined worlds—but with intact ships, working #FTL drives, and priceless technical knowledge. 5)

Add to this the huge factor the show glosses over: #Cylon technology left behind. Raiders, basestars, repair facilities, datastream nodes—wrecked or damaged, yes, but salvageable. If #KaraThrace could get a Raider flying again on pure instinct, what could hundreds of engineers achieve over decades? 6)