22 Years before cylon attack
William Adama age 42
Location: Picon – Special Operations Division Academy
"All right ladies and gentlemen," began Major Farro in a business-like tone from his podium. The aging officer seemed to blend in with the walls of the diminutive ready room and he kept his eyes on the papers in front of him. "Congratulations on graduating solo ops and welcome to the start of your unit training. Today you will be assigned to either Red or Blue Flight and given time to become acquainted with your cohorts."
Twelve newly official Special Operatives of Colonial Fleet sat in the first two rows of the ready room in varying degrees of restlessness. After six months of nearly complete isolation in order to preserve secrecy and harsh endurance trials that lead to daily risks, the operatives were all visibly irritated at the sheer tediousness of the graduation ceremony and the speeches. Most of them slouched and from William's position in the rear of the group he could tell by the angle of a few heads that there were some on the verge of falling asleep.
To be honest he was glad for tedious and ceremony. It was a welcome break from the mind numbing routine of flight drills, G tests and physical conditioning. He had passed everything with high marks, perhaps not as easily as the younger pilots that sat in front of him, but he had passed. While Farro talked, William studied the unfamiliar squadron numbers and insignia that lined the walls.
"These people will be your guardian angels for the duration of what is likely to be the rest of your very, short, lives," continued Farro in a manner that suggested he had made this speech many times. "If you remain in the S.O. Division half of you will likely be dead inside of five years. The remainder will be damn lucky if they make ten. So in order to help keep you all alive as long as possible I suggest you become good friends with the people in this room. After you have been assigned to a flight, assemble on one side of the room. Red Flight will have the right side and Blue Flight will have the left."
Farro paused in his litany to shuffle the papers in front of him and then he began to read off the assignment sheet.
"Blue Flight will be: Lieutenant junior grade Rajin 'Drone' Xun. Lieutenant junior grade Lani 'Ceres' Waters. Lieutenant junior grade Nathan 'Gonzo' Grant. Lieutenant junior grade Jakko 'Beamer' Durante. Lieutenant senior grade Zephyr 'Cutter' Quolan. Flight leader will be, Captain Marcus 'Maximus' Adar."
William watched as six pilots stood up and made their way over to one corner of the room. Half of them appeared to be little more than twenty years old and the oldest, Marcus, wasn't likely past his mid-thirties, but the senior pilot wings pinned to all of their uniforms attested to their flight experience.
Farro pulled out another sheet.
"Red Flight is: Lieutenant junior grade Nia 'Torrent' Tikaru. Lieutenant junior grade Xander 'Valor' Simms. Lieutenant junior grade Daniel 'Hammer' Novacek. Lieutenant junior grade, Alexa 'Kamikaze' Ciazo. Lieutenant senior grade Tobias 'Achilles' Cain. And your flight leader is Captain William 'Husker' Adama. Now that you're all set, I have another squadron to attend to. One of the Marines outside can direct you all to the mess and your barracks. Lights out is at twenty-two hundred."
Red Flight all stood up and gathered in the opposite corner while Farro departed. William was easily the oldest one in his flight, not to mention the entire squadron. It meant that he was also one of the few to have experienced combat against the Cylons and thus, compared to the rest, he was an expert in a Viper in ways that they could only dream.
None of his new charges appeared to be over thirty and the first one in his flight to stand in front of him and salute was a sandy haired, mid twenty-something in undecorated dress grays. The senior lieutenant had all the look of a perfect officer. A stifled, impish grin completely shattered the impression garnered by his stiff exterior and reminded William of himself when he was that age.
"Tobias 'Achilles' Cain at your service, sir," he said. Adama returned the snap salute.
"At ease." Cain relaxed his stance, but his expression was still carefully controlled.
"Sir, I just wanted to say I've heard of 'Moron' Marcus' people skills from my time in the Academy and I'll take you over him any day. I'm honored to have such an, experienced, pilot to learn from." Tobias offered his hand and William shook it.
"You can call me Bill," William replied with a nod and released Cain's hand. "As long as you do as I say and not as I do, you should be able to keep yourself in one piece until we get to the real work." Tobias' attempt at seriousness finally cracked and he let out a chuckle.
"Wilco, sir."
-xxx-
Once Red Flight had assembled in the mess hall and gotten their meals they huddled around one of the metal tables, swapped horror stories from their solo training experience, discussed what rumors they had of their new competitors in Blue Flight, and Adama did his best to pry a little history out of each of them.
Tobias was a hotshot pilot from Tauron and came from a strict military family. William could see the sparkle in the young Viper jock's eyes when he talked about his younger siblings that he'd left behind when he had joined the Fleet. Cain had two younger brothers, twins, just a year away from entering the Academy and a younger sister a couple of years behind them.
"She's only fifteen, but she's been at the top of her class since, well, forever," sighed Tobias. He leaned back in his chair and grinned. "She wants to be just like her big brother. Who could blame her? I am the best," he laughed.
Tobias went back to chewing on his rehydrated steak and after a comment on how it tasted like rubber the conversation passed on to Alexa. She was the shortest in the group, her brunette hair was in a tight ponytail and she appeared to be annoyed at having to be friendly with anyone. She rolled her chocolate brown eyes at Tobias and propped her feet up on the table. The rest of them pulled their trays as far away from her boots as possible.
"I'm Piconese, born and bred and I know how to get a job done," she said. "We'll see if the wonder boys here have the chops."
Despite an attempt to prompt her with another question, apparently that information was all Alexa deemed necessary to share.
The wonder boys to which she had referred were Daniel Novacek and Xander Simms. Danny looked like a troublemaker. He had a mischievous expression and his bullshit attitude became apparent the second he threw a potato chunk at Alexa.
"Anytime little girl," said Danny with a wide grin. "I'll take you down." Danny was soon too busy verbally fencing with Alexa to answer any more questions. Xander sighed from his seat next to Danny and kept eating.
"You'll have to excuse Xander. He's a bit shy," said Nia, the last member of their group. She didn't really seem the pilot type. With silky dark hair, green eyes that Adama could swear were almost turquoise and a sweet smile, Nia looked more suited to cheering for Pyramid players than flying a Viper. But the wings on her uniform said she was qualified and her presence among them said that she was one of the best.
"You two know each other?" asked William while he ignored his own tray of noodles.
"From flight school," replied Nia with a glance over at Xander. "He's so quiet that you'll think he's been vaporized." That managed to conjure a smile of amusement from Xander and a nod before he returned to his food. Xander looked to be somewhere in his late twenties, but his hair was bleached white and his tranquil disposition lead to the impression that the junior lieutenant was perhaps a bit wiser than his years.
Nia kept up some idle talk about her sister "the normal one" who didn't feel the need to pursue a military career of any kind. Danny and Alexa had calmed themselves and were finally civilized enough to merely glare at each other from across the table. Tobias did his best to interject some lighthearted comments of his own and Xander kept his pale blue eyes fixed on his meal until he was finished.
By the end of the meal, William had decided who would be wingmates and how he was going to manage his team: with lots of patience. They were now a part of his ever-expanding family, his new children to watch over until they could be forged into a cohesive team.
AN: Next part's in beta. It'll be up as soon as possible.