22 Years before cylon attack
William Adama age 42
Location: Picon Controlled Space – Alpha Training Range
"Let's take it easy on this one, all right." William sat in the cramped enclosure of his Mk II cockpit and had just finished his preflight checks. Sixty seconds to launch.
Red Flight was in the launch tubes aboard the heavy cruiser Cerberus. The mission was a simple race between Red and Blue. All they had to do was make it through an artificial asteroid field and back to the cruiser. The only rule was that direct attacks upon any Viper were forbidden. Anything else was fair game.
"I can't believe I really have to fly second to this frakwit," groaned Alexa over the wireless. William had paired Alexa and Danny together in hopes that their mutually competitive natures would fuel them to do their best. Nia knew Xander's quirks so Adama hadn't felt any need to break their report. Besides that, he wanted the hotshot, Tobias, under his careful watch as much as possible.
"Hey, it's no picnic for me either," Danny shot back. "I'd take the silent brick over you any day."
"Cut the griping before I ground you both and make you clean my Viper with your tongues," said Adama. Patience. He was going to need a lot of patience. Thirty seconds to launch. "We only have a hundred explosive rounds apiece so we're going relay style. Don't stray too far. The EM interference is going to limit Dradis range. Watch your exit. This asteroid field is thick. I don't want anyone pancaked outta the tube."
"I think we'll manage," replied Tobias. Cain's sarcastic tone wasn't lost on William, but he ignored it. First missions were nerve wracking for everyone and it was better to be cautious in preflight than to have one of his new charges injured or killed on their second day.
Ten seconds to launch.
Adama double checked his Dradis readout.
Nine seconds. All contacts registered.
Eight. Reviewed his navigation waypoints.
Seven. Flight suit diagnostics.
Six. All green.
Five. LSO over the wireless. "Maglock secure. Initiate launch sequence."
Four. Leaned back in his seat.
Three. "Clear for launch."
Two. Gripped the stick a bit tighter.
One. A deep breath.
Launch.
The maglock jerked his Viper forward and he hurtled down the launch tube out into space. William activated his thrusters, took a second to readjust his orientation and eased his speed up to two thirds. He made a quick assessment that everyone was out of the tubes safely and then it was time to go.
"Kamikaze, Hammer—Clear the road."
"Wilco, sir." Alexa and Danny sped ahead and used the explosive rounds to clear asteroid debris out of the way.
"Watch your speed Achilles," warned Adama. Tobias was weaving in and out of obstacles just ahead. So far the pace was easy with the point leaders doing all the work. The real action would be on the way back.
Suddenly, a brilliant white flash erupted ahead at Adama's ten o'clock.
"What the frak was that?" came Tobias' startled voice.
"'Kaze, break! Break! Break! Now—" Danny was panicked. "Frakking hell! Alexa, where are you?"
"Nobody said these things had Tylium deposits in them!" Tobias had dropped behind William like a scared puppy.
"This isn't flight school anymore," snapped Adama. Frak. "'Kaze, Hammer, you still green?"
"Frak me! Almost took off my nose, but I'm green," came Alexa's breathless reply.
"Still green." Danny sounded marginally calmer.
"Fall back to tail."
"Frak! Here they come!" said Nia. Blue Flight had finally moved in to harass them.
"Husker watch your four!" warned Tobias. Adama glanced over his right shoulder and banked his Viper to the left to avoid a collision with a member of Blue Flight.
"Stay outta their way. Stay focused," said Adama.
Despite his efforts to keep the situation under control, chaos erupted all around them. White flashes—a hailstorm of debris sprayed across his canopy—shouts over wireless that barely registered—evasive banking and bursts of speed—blaring proximity alarms—heavy G braking—heavier acceleration and then within seconds—open space.
It took a moment for the new surroundings to register. As soon as William realized he'd reached the turnaround point he wrenched the stick back and accelerated into a body-crushing flip. A grunt escaped his chest and the muscles in his jaw flared with pain from his clenched teeth. He dove headlong back into the asteroid field and tried to assess the situation.
Tobias was on his six with two blue bandits close behind. Dradis identified them as Cutter and Maximus. Zephyr and Marcus. This is just great. The rest of Red Flight was still engaged with the remainder of Blue Flight and struggling through toward the turnaround.
"Achilles—Punch it for home," ordered Adama. "Keep 'em busy out there Red Flight." A chorus of wilcos answered back over the wireless.
William accelerated to the maximum safe speed recommended for the range. Tobias pushed his Viper past the safety limit and overtook William. Show off. Zephyr, the trailing blue bandit, veered off with an abrupt burst of speed into the cover of the field. Is he frakking nuts—No time—Marcus was gaining.
There was sudden flash of white just off Adama's right wing. He yanked his Viper away as debris impacted with the side of his craft. He glanced at his readouts—still green. Thank the Gods.
Then there was another flash from a Tylium blast farther up, just behind Tobias. Marcus was blasting away at the few asteroids left in their route back, trying to force them out of the semi-clear corridor of space that Red Flight had carved.
"Hit the afterburners Achilles. Watch out for Cutter," said William. "I'm gonna deal with this frakhead." He saw Tobias' thrusters flare and the Viper shot even farther ahead.
William decelerated suddenly and rolled his craft to the right. Marcus flew right by. Now it was Adama's turn to demolish a few asteroids. He dropped below the flight deck and aimed for a potato shaped asteroid that was spinning lazily toward the nose of Marcus' Viper.
His thumb pressed down the firing button. A quick burst of explosive rounds chewed apart the rock. They struck Tylium and it ignited. This time the Tylium flash was nearly blinding and Marcus broke course. Once his eyes readjusted, Adama saw that not only had Marcus broken his course, he had run. Adama smiled momentarily. What, don't want to play anymore?
William glanced at his Dradis. Marcus was headed steadily out of range. Tobias' transponder was on the edge of the screen. There was one contact from Blue Flight, near Tobias, that registered only at random intervals. The distance between one appearance and the next suggested that it was moving recklessly fast, cutting through the field like it was open space. Zephyr. So that's why they call him Cutter.
"Achilles. Sitrep."
"We've got a problem," answered Tobias. "Cerberus—She's not here. Decoy drones."
"Red leader, this is Kamikaze. Our little blue friends have left the party."
"They're scattering," confirmed Nia. "Should we pursue?"
"Frakking hell. Which one do you suggest we follow?" snapped Danny.
"Do not pursue. Repeat, do not pursue." Think fast. Where would she have gone? He thought back to the mission briefing and conjured up a mental picture of the general layout of the field… He had studied the field information because he knew no one else in his flight had been paying attention and first missions always made him nervous. Where would she go? How could she hide? There was an area that stuck out in his memory because it wasn't normal, even for a synthetic asteroid range. It was a void, just off the center of the field. It wasn't quite large enough for a battlestar, but just right for a heavy cruiser.
"Red Flight redirect from Cerberus' last known, bearing one five nine, carom zero three zero," ordered Adama. "Move it." Zephyr must have reached the landing zone first somehow. That's why Marcus ran; he knew that our return course was a dead end. Frakking hell.
Adama sighed and redirected toward his target coordinates. He pushed his Viper through the field. He had to keep making sudden course corrections and even though the asteroids weren't much bigger than his craft, he strayed into their path more frequently the further he went and his reaction time was getting slower. His labored breathing was so loud in the confines of his helmet that it drowned out half the wireless chatter from his team. He blinked away sweat and his vision narrowed to the obstacles just ahead.
Everything else was blocked out until a Viper flitted by in front of him, followed closely by another. One of them was Tobias. The other was Marcus. Both were jockeying for the lead. Beyond them, William could see the A-shaped outline of the Cerberus and the lights of its central landing strip.
They were almost home.
And that's when everything went wrong. Marcus surged ahead and unexpectedly reversed thrust in front of Tobias. The young pilot rolled away to avoid the collision with the Viper ahead of him, but his tail struck part of an asteroid. William couldn't see anything after that. The momentum of his own Viper had carried him past them. Adama found himself in the lead.
"Achilles—"
"Green!—Just win it—"
He wanted to take another pass, make sure Tobias was all right, but this was black ops, this was where the mission came first—always. Besides that, he knew that despite the outwardly warm reception from his new comrades, they likely had their doubts about a pilot his age. He knew that whatever he did in the next few seconds was going to create an impression that would last for the duration of their time together.
Marcus had recovered from his stunt and was steadily gaining. The path to the deck was clear. William checked his Dradis. The rest of Red Flight wasn't far behind, but two other members of Blue Flight would intercept and overtake them before any of them would be close enough to land. If he didn't make the landing this pass, it would be Blue Flight's win. All right. Time to play for all the marbles.
William used the afterburners to stay ahead of Marcus and lined up his Viper level with the deck.
"Viper two seven one, Cerberus,you are clear for approach. Check your speed to one six zero. Call the ball."
"Viper two seven one, speed one eight three," replied Adama. "I have the ball."
"Two seven one, reduce your speed RFN." His speed was down to one seventy four and dropping steadily, but he didn't have the time or available distance to brake gently.
"I can mange it." Marcus was coming in at an easy one hundred right behind him. William had to put down now.
"Negative two seven one. Wave off, wave off." Too late. Lords protect me—
He fired the reaction thrusters at full moments before his skids hit the deck. This is gonna hurt.
The impact slammed him against his shoulder restraints and his vision went red, but he stayed conscious. Ah Gods— There was the brief roar of scraping metal and then it was over. He'd landed.
"Viper two seven one maglock secure," said the LSO. Adama barely heard him. "The CAG is going to have your hide."
William slumped in his seat and tried to catch his breath while the lift lowered his Viper through the airlock sequence and onto the hangar deck. He listened halfheartedly to the wireless and heard the LSO run through the landing procedures with the rest of the squadron. Marcus, Zephyr and Jakko had come in right behind him. Tobias, Alexa, Rajin and Danny followed. Nia, Xander, Lani and Nathan were the last ones in.
His Viper had been towed into its slot on the deck and the ladder was ready by the time he managed to pry off his helmet. He winced as he released the restraints. The deckhands pulled his canopy back and Adama took a quick survey of the hangar. Marcus had been towed to the slot across from him. The captain was already out of his Viper and talking to the chief of the deck. Off to William's right was Tobias. The back end of his Viper looked like a particularly rabid dog had chewed it apart. Tobias yelled at the deckhands to get a ladder over. Oh, for frak's sake. Why did I have to get the hothead?
"Help me out," mumbled Adama to the nearest knuckledragger. When he finally managed to climb out of the cockpit and make his way carefully down the ladder, Tobias had stormed halfway across the deck and was headed straight for Marcus.
"Hey! Moron! What the frak were you doing? You almost got me frakking killed out there!"
Adama intercepted the young pilot and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Frak off!" Tobias shoved William and Adama shoved him back harder.
"Don't start this kind of crap."
"Frak you! If not for you I'd be the one in command now get the frak outta my way!" William grabbed him by the front of his flight suit and forced him back a step.
"You think you can do a better job you're welcome to try, but I am not in the mood for your adolescent bullshit," growled Adama. He released Tobias. "Now are you sure you want to do this Lieutenant?"
The young pilot glared back at him and then, as if someone had flipped a switch, he snapped to attention with his gaze focused somewhere over Adama's shoulder. William could see the military training taking over.
"No, sir," he replied stiffly. "I—apologize, sir." Adama waited for Tobias to look at him again before he said anything.
"Go check on the rest of our pilots," William said calmly. He saw a flicker of genuine respect in the Cain's eyes before he saluted and left to check on Alexa.
"Good luck with that one," said Marcus. He had walked up to stand beside Adama. William cast Marcus a sidelong glance over his shoulder. He kept his expression blank and his voice flat, but it didn't take the menace out of his threat.
"If one of my pilots ends up dead because of you or one of your team I'll geld you with a rusty pair of scissors. Good luck on the next mission Captain."
"Officer on deck!" called out Danny from farther down.
Everyone came to attention.
Their new CAG, Major Barath, stopped in the middle of the hangar deck. His steel gray eyes swept across the deck and his hawk-like visage settled on William.
"Captain Adama, front and center!" William obeyed and came to a halt in front of the marginally older Major. Lords of Kobol can't I just get off the deck in peace? "Captain Adama, are you aware that you displayed a blatant disregard for landing protocol and that that kind of flathatting would normally get you kicked out of the Academy in a heartbeat?"
"Yes, sir."
"Can you tell me what the frak you were thinking Captain?"
"I took a calculated risk in order to complete the mission, sir," replied Adama. The corner of the major's mouth twitched and he tilted his head slightly.
"Hmm." Barath smiled. It reminded Adama of the look a bird of prey gave to its next meal. "Lucky for you this is Special Operations and not the Colonial Academy. Here, we vigorously endorse risks and that is why you are now the top gun in the squadron. He has set the bar ladies and gentlemen and he's set it higher than you all think." The major glanced around him and paused momentarily at several of the younger pilots.
"Captain Adama has the experience to know his limits and that is what separates calculated risk from foolish gambles. I hope every one of you learns the difference. Do not be stupid with your lives," continued Barath. He finally rested his gaze on Marcus. "It damages my Vipers. As you were."
-xxx-
Adama had tended to his pilots, endured the debriefing, finally got out of his flight suit, cleaned up and changed into a fresh uniform. He even managed to collapse on his bunk in the pilot's quarters and rest for few blissful moments. A quiet knock on the hatch interrupted his relaxation.
"Yeah, what?"
Tobias poked his head in. William sat up on one elbow and waved the lieutenant in.
"Sorry, almost forgot something," he mumbled and went over to his bunk in the rear of the room. William heard Tobias rummage around for a minute before he wandered back into view.
"Can't lose this," he said with a grin and briefly held up what he'd been looking for. It was a picture of Tobias and his siblings with a Viper. Tobias was in the cockpit, his sister was perched on the ladder and his younger brothers were playing tag by one of the guns. The lieutenant tucked the picture away safely in his pocket and was about to leave, but he hesitated and turned back.
"Hey uh, I'm, sorry about earlier. Marcus and I have had a few run-ins before. Sometimes I get a little—" He shrugged. "I'm a frakkin' idiot," he said with a self-deprecating smile. "That was an impressive bit of flying you did by the way. That landing must've really killed…"
"I'm going to have the bruises tomorrow to prove it," William chuckled. "I was lucky—had a little help." He pulled a silver lighter from his pocket. "After my father retired a few years back he sent this to me, never lost a case as long as he had it with him. Got me through solo training. But, I think next time I'll leave the fancy tricks to the rest of you. I don't take punishment quite as well as I used to."
"Yeah, but at least we won. I don't think Marcus takes anything well. He was chewing out Blue Flight so loud they probably heard him all that way to CIC." Tobias laughed. "But, uh the rest of us were going to get some of that slop they call food, play a game or two of triad. You should join us. Try your luck." When Adama didn't answer fast enough Tobias gave him a little verbal nudge. "That is, if you're not too old to get out of your bunk."
"Just for that, this old man is gonna have to kick your ass," replied William. He slipped his lighter back in his pocket and stood up. "I hope your parents sent you a big allowance kid, 'cus you're gonna lose it all after I'm through with you."
Adama followed Tobias out the hatch and down the corridor to the galley. Not bad as far as firsts go. Not bad at all. Our team will do just fine.
AN: Next part is in the works. Should be posted in a few days.