I do not own Battlestar Galactica or any of its characters. I only made a new plot line and a few characters up to help it along
Chapter 7 – Training
Hal made a transmission throughout the fleet, saying that the Battlestar was asking for volunteers and three days later Raptors picked up a number of civilians to join the Battlestar, making multiple trips most of the time. Almost 400 people of the fleet's population answered the call up and the morning they arrived on the warship, they were moved to the starboard launch bay, which had been set up with hundreds of desks.
Commander Seth Trakiss on a raised stand in front of them and he said in a loud clear voice
"Ladies and Gentlemen please take a seat" and he waited till everyone had sat down at a desk. This was when they noticed that there was a small booklet on each desk and two pens next to it
"I thank everyone for coming today and welcome you to the Colonial Fleet; in front of you is a standard aptitude test that all cadets are required to complete. It gives us an idea of what areas your personalities suit you too, however this test is just a test, if you wish to go into another area, you wishes will of course be honoured, you will have two hours to complete the test, if you have any questions please do not be afraid to ask them to the supervisors around the room" the new recruits looked around to see various crew members stationed around the test area
"Are there any questions before the test begins?" Seth asked and a hand was raised in the middle row "Yes?"
The young man seemed confused "After this test then what happens?"
Seth relaxed but kept his strict posture "After you have completed this test, you will returned to your ships and when the results are processed, this will take a week, then you will be contacted and asked to return for training" the young man nodded
"Alright you may begin" Seth said and the sound of paper rustling was heard all along the test area. Seth was wondering if it got any easier, public speaking that is. He felt as nervous as hell, but he didn't let it show, something his strict father had said
'Never show weakness'
Flashback; Aries 13 years ago
In a large farm house on the sprawling hills of Aries a young eight year old Seth Trakiss was crying. Some local older boys had kicked him hard and smashed his beloved toy Viper. He wasn't hurt to badly but he was in tears out of misery and embarrassment.
Then a tall muscular man comes into view from a door to the boys right, his face is lined with stress from years of managing a large farm. His eyes are hard, no sign of warmth.
"Boy heard you got beat up by the Ellis boys?" the man said, it wasn't a question, just seeing what the boy said and the boy just nodded
"Speak up boy!" the father said yelling and the boy quickly replied
"Yes sir" the boy said frightened
"Now those boys going to be thinking I'm weak, because my son is weak. So you get your ass down to the yard first light tomorrow and I'm going to teach you to fight and win" the man said very harshly and the boy got up and ran away.
The scene shifts to the boy in a wide farm yard with animals locked up in pens. The boy is trying to lift a heavy hay bail alone and manages it after being knocked on the head by the man who comes into view from behind.
Again shifts to the boy punching another hay bail, under his father's demanding direction telling him to hit harder until the boy does so
Then shifts again to a group of 3 9 years old boys, who perched on a wall, next to a dust filled empty field, throwing stones at a small dog they had tied to a post in front of the wall. The small brown animal whimpered as it was pelted.
Then Seth appeared from behind them and shouted "Hey"
The boys turned around and smirked at the boy they had recently beaten up, and leapt off the wall, walking towards him "Scram you little puff" the lead boy said and he shoved the younger boy's shoulder.
But Seth stood his ground and as a the lead by threw a punch, Seth dodged and sent his own punch into the boy's rather wide stomach, winding the larger boy and then Seth pulled his leg forward with his own leg, causing the bully to fall on his butt and receive a second punch in the face from Seth, leaving him with a bloodied nose
The other two tried to rush Seth together, but missed due to Seth dodges and smaller size, Seth kicked one in the back of the shin and the boy crashed forward into dust of the field while the other, a weasel of a boy turned around and threw a punch at Seth, which hit this time but Seth shook it off and hit back with a kick in the older boy's crotch. He keeled over and Seth whacked hit again, this time with a final punch to the boy's gut.
The three boys got up and ran or waddled off in the weasel boy's case, leaving Seth to free the dog that proceeded to jump up and lick Seth's face in gratitude and Seth could only smile
End Flashback
Seth returned to the present and concentrated on the people in front of him.
Two hours past with supervisors moving between the desks answering occasional questions till Seth said "Please put your pens down and ensure you have managed to fill in your name and ship of origin. If you were unable to fill in all the questions then please see you nearest supervisor who ensure you can complete the test." He waited for people to do these things and when everyone was still and quiet he said
"Thank you for your co-operation, please proceed to the other end of the Launch bay where Raptors are waiting to take you back to your ships. You can be expected to be contacted in a week's time" And with that everybody got out of their desks and walked back towards the shuttles that would return them to their ships.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the results of the tests had been processed, the new recruits were called back and met by their new department heads. Few complained about their assignments so they went to the departments of their choices
New engineers, marines, kitchen staff, deckhands, CIC staff and pilots were trained thoroughly and most thrived under this regime but 20 dropped out.
Serina was very excited at the dozens of new pilots, some trained as Raptor pilots but most were training for Vipers.
Over several weeks they became flyers under her nearly harsh and exhaustive training, spending hours in the simulators and in actual Vipers.
When they were finished, Telmaya would have 6 full squadrons of Vipers and over 25 Raptors at her disposal. But that was a few weeks away.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seth was in his office, sitting at his desk, reviewing the strategic information, enemy movements, ship status reports, civilian ships status. Then his door chimed and he said looking up and picking a small folder that had been lying on the other side of his desk
"Enter"
The door opened and a young woman of about walked in dressed in normal black tank sleeve less top with grey shirt under it and cargo trousers. Her hair was dark and her face was dominated by her brilliant blue eyes.
"You asked to see me sir" the young woman said saluting
Seth motioned towards the vacant chair in front of his desk "At ease ensign take a seat" and she slipped into the chair, folding her hands with obvious nervousness
"Well Amelia Cartwright I guess you're curious about why I asked you here" he said he said
Amelia nodded and looked him in the eye as if to try and guess his intent but his level and steady gaze left no clues, he opened her file
"Well as you know, you are a new recruit to Telmaya, and listed as a Viper trainee. Correct?" Seth asked and she said
"Yes commander"
"I have your review from Captain Serina. You have reasonable skill as a pilot but I think you might have more potential in other areas" Seth said his eyes meeting hers and confusion filled the luminance blue
"Sir, I thought I was doing well in training" she said, afraid she was about to be washed out
"You are ensign. But we've noticed that you have good skills in communications and scanning electronics. I think that you would be more valuable in those areas" Seth said judging her reaction
She appeared more than a little confused "Sir?"
"I will lay it out; we have no current communication specialist, only a few people who have limited training but can't manage the equipment properly only basic communications, so I want to promote you to lieutenant and put you in charge of communications in CIC. You will also be responsible for Dradis. Do you want the job?"
She was surprised, a promotion and a high assignment, she had expected to be washed out. And she nodded, with only a little hesitation.
"Here are your rank badges" he said handing her a small box "Now your first shift will be in three hours so get into proper uniform. I want my officers to set an example to the rest of the crew. Dismissed"
She saluted and with the pins in hand, walked out with a smile on her face
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She reported to CIC on time in full uniform and took her station, interacting with the other stations well and actually improved the Dradis with other scanning devices so to provide better resolution and information.
As a member of the senior staff she attended their meetings and fast became valued as an asset.
Seth felt he had made the right decision in appointing her and as he went to his quarters a couple of weeks later he took a box out from underneath his bed. He opened it and took out a model of a Viper Mark 2, the same that the Ellis boys had smashed all those years ago. Rather than throw it away, he had laboured for hours, rebuilding it, till he had rebuilt it. He stared at it with a smile and put it on his bunk, and then he reached for the next object in the box.
He removed it; it was another model, this one a copy of the Battlestar Galactica, his father had got it for him as a present for beating up the Ellis boys and showing his strength. He wasn't sure it was a good thing to be rewarded for beating people up, but at the time he had been ecstatic.
He's always hoped to see the real Galactica one day but that chance was remote now.
He'd also been allowed to keep the dog he had rescued. A stray that he named Sito and become a very good sheepdog
The door chimed and he said
"Come"
Kendra walked in with a smile on her face and as soon as the door closed he took her in his arms and kissed her passionately.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amelia's role is a mix of Gaeta and Dee's