"Good morning Queenstown, it's Hot. The sun is shining and it is supposed to be 31 C°, making this day the hottest day of the year. But today we have another special day, because today is the 40th anniversary of the Armistice. To celebrate, Battlestar Galactica, the last Jupiter-class Battlestar, is to be retired with a special ceremony. President Adar addressed the press with the following words..."
"Turn that shit off!" Shouts one of the pilots through the mess hall.
"What do you have against him, without him we might not have a state-of-the-art battlestar?" Came the question from Sarah Bridges.
"I don't have anything against his politics, I have something against him personally." Roared back Christoph Lambert still excited.
Sarah offered him a beaming grin. "If it annoys you so much, maybe I should just leave it on then." Her brown hair was a little less than shoulder length and slightly curly. Her brown eyes had an amused twinkle. Before Blake "Blower" Lambert can open his mouth again, someone else interferes.
"I swear to you Blower, if you don't shut that mouth, I'm going to shut it for you. It's too early for your rantings." The pilot had dark blond hair, which was a bit long for a man in the military and styled into a short braid.
"You might as well shut up, sir."
"Last time I checked, I'm a captain and she's a lieutenant, so now sit down and drink your fucking coffee."
"The fuck I will!" He roared and jumped up.
"Hey, can't we all just calm down?" The girl who spoke the words looked like she was far too young for the uniform she was wearing, her bright red hair hanging over her shoulders and her green eyes darting nervously around the room. She sat hunched over her desk, trying to make herself look small.
"Shit what's the fresh meat doing here? I thought you guys weren't supposed to be here for another two hours? What were you doing? Fucked an officer?"
"THAT'S ENOUGH LAMBERT! GET OUT!" Lambert finished his coffee in one gulp, slammed the cup down on the tabletop, and marched out of the room. The door slammed thunderously behind him. The other pilots, who were in the mess hall for breakfast, exhaled in relief and continued there before Blower interrupted them. Eating delicious fleet rations, listening to the news and playing cards.
The woman starts giggling, gets up and sits upside down in the chair across from the young woman.
"A tip from me. He's OK drunk, but don't try to reason with him, you see what happens."
"I'll keep that in mind." The young woman turns her gaze back to the coffee cup in front of her.
"I'm Sarah, by the way. Lieutenant Sarah "Bone" Bridges." And extends her hand.
"E- Ensign Olivia "Owl" Silva." And takes the hand.
"So you're actually a nugget?" She nodded, still shy.
"How does a nugget get assigned to the newest toy in the Colonial Fleet?"
Olivia avoided her gaze. "That's my problem."
"Come on Sarah, leave her alone." The man got up as well and walked over to the two ladies.
"Captain James "Hawk" Pierce. Blue Leader. Now come Sarah, I'm sure the Major has something very interesting to say."
"Yeah sure and I'll eat my brand for dinner." They both left and with that the young woman sat alone again and in her mind she cursed her family.
"Good morning, sir."
"Morning lieutenants." A small group of pilots turn into another aisle and give a quick salute. He salutes the young pilots back. A man came out of the same aisle and fell in step beside him.
"Sir, good to see you this morning. Will the evening meeting take place as normal?" The man was only 169cm tall and wore the rank insignia of a captain. His short height was accompanied by a rather slender build.
"Good morning to you, too. I hope you don't share your engineers' habit of always being late today."
"I'm an engineer. You know our schedules. Always get something done two hours later than promised."
He chuckles in amusement at the chief engineer's words.
"Go on." Chief Engineer Captain Edwan Howard salutes played seriously and heads off into the depths of the ship.
"So Lisa, what's on my schedule today?" The young woman walking a half step behind him had long, pitch black hair, it was as flat as if an iron had been run over it. Her uniform sat on her like it was tailored with creases you could cut paper on. Her face was so expressionless you would think she was a robot, but her black eyes seem to look deep into everyone's soul. She was above average at 178 cm.
"By 14:00, the current cadet graduating class from Picon should be on board. At 14:30 the jump to Caprica is scheduled and the embarkation of their graduating class, meanwhile they have a conversation with President Adar and Doctor Baltar about an update to the CNP. Then in the afternoon, they're scheduled to jump to Scorpia, where the cadets will join the crew of several ships, including the battlestar Pegasus."
"Right, I still have my notes on the conversation in my quarters." At these words, she pulled one of the sheets off a clipboard, which she had been carrying in her gloved hands folded behind her back, and handed it to him.
"Ah, thank you Lisa."
"If you look down, you'll see that I've taken the liberty of adding a few points they mentioned in their conversations." He looked at the bottom of the piece of paper and saw three points added with a different pen.
"Morning, sir." Again, their conversation was interrupted.
"Morning Chief. Deck clear?"
"Yes sir, remember Major Anderson's Viper?"
"Yes, I remember. Figured out why it wasn't working?"
"Yes, sir, it's a software problem."
"Very good chief. Will you have the systems engineers look at the Viper?"
"Don't know yet, I'll have to take another look myself."
"Good luck, Chief."
"Sir." He salutes goodbye
"By the way, thanks Lisa, what would I do without her?" And holds up the piece of paper with the notes. As they talk, they have moved on and are now entering the CIC.
"Morning sir." A young man with a stack of papers in both hands approaches him. He tucks them under his left arm and salutes.
"Mr. Beis." He greets back. "What do you have for me?"
"The night shift log, sir."
"Anything interesting in it?"
"No. Whereby... but wait." With these words, he flips through the stack.
"Ah, here it is." And pulled a sheet out of the stack and handed it to him "The Cylon Ambassador's ship has not reported in. Fleet HQ is asking for someone to jump out there and see if their ship has any mechanical failures."
"Well, too bad we already have plans today." He briefly skimmed the note, then passed it to Senior Lieutenant Elisabeth Vantai. She in turn slid it down the clipboard, meanwhile Senior Lieutenant Dyles Bleis walked away with the papers. The CIC was smaller than that aboard a Jupiter class, but larger than that of a Mercury. Thirty people work in the entire CIC, but instead of working in three rows, they only work in two.
He went to the console in the center of the CIC and began to work out his notes on the conversation with the president. As a veteran of the first war, he was already almost obligated to be against the CNP and further opportunities for automation. However, he was not as extreme in his views as the old Adama and saw the benefits of networked computers. Still, he trusted them only as far as he could throw them. At no time.
"Morning Lewis." He looked up and saw Colonel Darius Lopez. He was a veteran too. His hair was white as snow and he had some wrinkles from worry and stress. However, for a man almost 70 years old, he looked very good. He had grown lean and bony with age, but he was still in good shape. What was most striking about him, however, was his nose, which protruded from his face like a bird's beak, along with his high cheekbones and in combination with his wrinkles, he had already been nicknamed the "Scarecrow" by the crew.
"Morning Darius. How's the hip?"
"Hurts again. I really need to see the doctor again."
"Hmm." he replies, looking back down at his notes.
"I brought you some coffee." And placed a steaming metal cup on the table in front of him.
"Thanks." He said, sipping the coffee. "That's a real one. Where did you get it?"
"Brought it myself." He looked very smug at that moment. "I'll leave you alone and take a spin around the ship."
"You do that. I'll call you if there's anything important." Darius gave another lackadaisical salute and left. He looked up and saw Lisa working on a tablet to prioritize his messages.
"Anything important yet?"
"No, sir, the most important thing is a reiteration of this morning's request."
"Has any ship confirmed the request?"
"No sir all refer to their duties or are assigned to the Armistice celebration."
"Of course." After a moment's thought, he decided "I want a Raptor made ready for launch. I want it launched as soon as we reach Caprica."
"Right away, sir." And made a note to that effect.
"ATTENTION!" Came the call and all 120 pilots of the 2 Viper wing jumped up and saluted.
"AT ease." Everyone sat back down.
"Second Squadron will have CAP duty today. The fifth squadron will have CAP from 9:00 to 11:45, with the sixth as alert reserve. The seventh from 11:45 until the scheduled jump at 14:30 with the eighth as alert reserve. They will then swap after the jump. However, I expect them all not to stray too far from the hangar deck. That goes especially for them, Freya." Everyone in the room turned to her, grinning and giggling.
She looked up in surprise "Me sir?" She asked with complete innocence in her face and voice. "But Major Anderson, I am innocent personified." It was almost believable.
"Of course, Lieutenant. If you are innocent personified, then the rest of us should already be in prison." Says Major Anderson. Again, the people in the room grin.
"Prison is almost as bad as being on dry land, sir."
"That's true, but the Chief now knows what the problem is and in a few hours the software problem will be fixed. By the time the nerds come out of their computer room, at the latest." This time the pilots whistled, as they all remembered the chief nerd, Captain Gaia.
"Ok enough fun. Everyone has their assignments. Squadron Captains stay, the rest dismiss."
Freya is still grinning as she leaves the briefing room with the others and meets Sarah outside the door. She extends her arm.
"Hey Sarah, how are you?" And Sarah grabbed the other woman's wrist. Originally instituted by the Marines, it has now become the ship's handshake.
"Pretty good, I'm going to meet my sister at the terminal station later and escort her aboard." And began walking through the corridors of the Battlestar.
"That's right, you told me she's a pilot now."
"Yes. She hasn't been assigned to any battlestar. Which she's complained about several times."
"Well, not everyone is lucky enough to be born into the right family."
"Yeah right... wait? What do you mean?" And stopped.
"I was in the mess hall this morning and I was teasing Blower a little bit and my captain got involved. Big fight."
"Clear as far as it goes, but why real family."
"Hawk wasn't the only one who interfered. Ensign Olivia Silva got involved, too."
"Ensign? Why would a pilot ensign be assigned to a Colonial Fleet command ship?"
"I don't know, but I have to agree with Blower that there's something curious is going on. Want to bet Silva isn't her real name?"
"I'd rather not. Come on, I'll come with you to your Viper."
"Hey Anderson." He looked up in surprise.
"Morning Hawk. How are you?"
"Pretty good. Just got a lot to do." And looks demonstratively at his clipboard, which has a lot of notes attached to it.
"That's right, you're the one going out today. "Firebolt told me you drew the shortest one."
"That's right after all, I'm always the one who has the worst luck."
"Look at it this way, today's CAP won't be boring."
"Sure, because there are countless ships present because of the fleet parade. All full of civilians who want to get a glimpse of the ships, what their tax dollars are being spent on."
"I'm surprised we're not supposed to be escorting civilians through the corridors today."
"Remember, instead we have to move a bunch of kids from one place to another."
"Sure, we have to play cab, but at least they listen to you when you tell them not to touch something. I wonder why this ship was chosen and not a freighter or something."
"I've heard that some sailors are betting that Admiral Haves pulled the longest one and doesn't have to worry about the civilians because of it."
"Would make sense." The two reached the hangar and were greeted by the noise of the hangar. Countless conversations, shouts and curses were shouted through the hangar's controlled chaos. Vipers were being pushed from one place to another, being serviced or loaded with ammunition and fuel. The two descended the ladder to the hangar deck. Out of the chaos, the chief approached them and finally saluted them, which the two returned.
"Chief Geran how is my Viper?"
"Physically, she's fine. But I've requested the nerds from systems engineering to take a look at her Viper." They began walking through the hangar and soon reached the location of Major Anderson's Viper.
Whis whispers to Chief Garan "are you sure you can look at the Viper and not the Captain." The Chie blushed but said nothing.
"Anybody home?" Major Anderson shouted over the noise of the hangar into the garage where his Viper was parked.
A head emerged from the cockpit of his gleaming silver Viper Mark VII. She had bright blue eyes and her brown hair was shoulder length and slightly curly. Her smile was breathtaking and her face seemingly marrowless. She began to climb out of the cockpit and her body came into view. somehow she was able to fill out a fleet uniform perfectly. Her long legs made her tall and slender. She looked like a model and many wondered how someone who could model would join the fleet. But she did it and was part of the dreams of many people of Battlestar Thanatos.
She descended into the hangar via a ladder on the side of the Viper and walked toward it, smiling.
"Good afternoon Major. You must be here to check on your Viper?"
"Of course." He replied a little too quickly. Gaia smiled knowingly.
"Well then, I'm sure she'll be pleased to know that everything is fine with him now. The computers are a little old and haven't fully integrated the CNP."
"No wonder, I've been flying this Viper for over 8 years."
"And they've never had it overhauled."
"No, he's convinced that every change has an effect on the Viper, which is why we don't replace his systems until the maximum age of the components has been reached." Answered the chief for him.
"Well, at least everything is working as it should now. I'll go again."
"Do you mind if I accompany her?" asks Captain Pierce.
"Be my companion Captain Pierce." The two left together and were soon lost in the hustle and bustle of the hangar.
"Too bad we have work to do. Show me the other Vipers."
"Of course sir."
"Won again!" With these words, Freya pulled the cubits from the center of the table toward her and sorted them.
"Fucking shit!" Escape the man in front of her. She laughed and collected the money widely.
"Hey Freya." She hears the voice and greets her owner Lieutenant Samuel with a handshake.
"Hey Samuel. How are you?" Still smiling, she sits back down.
"Pretty good, but aren't you on duty?"
"Are you crazy? I'm about to make a lot of money the Major can go fuck himself."
"All right, but don't say I didn't warn you."
"Thanks mom."
Time passed and she began to drink to her victories. After a few hours she was drunk, but her luck never stopped.
Until a hand comes to rest on her shoulder.
She looked up and saw the angry face of Major Anderson.
"Hey Major." And salutes disrespectfully.
"What are you doing here, Lieutenant?"
"I think I'm earning some good pocket money for the next shore leave."
"So that's why you didn't show up for duty?" She was silent. He reached around her and took the bottle of ambrosia she had on the table. He smelled the contents.
"You drink and don't show up for duty? That's bad even for you." She said nothing and just looked at him.
"Get up." She didn't move.
"I told them to get up!" She slowly stood up.
"They report to the brig. Go there immediately, if they don't show up, I'll make sure they get more than a few days punishment."
"Yes sir." She salutes and leaves with a cheeky grin.
He looked at the others at the table. "At ease." Everyone turned back to the game.
Major Anderson was angry, very angry and everyone with two eyes in their head is getting out of his way which is clearing entire corridors for him.
"Major Anderson?" He turned to tell the person who had warned him what he thought of him and froze at the last moment.
"Lieutenant Colonel Abentt." He greeted back and saluted.
Abentt was old. So old that he had already served as a pilot in the first war. He had gray hair and some wrinkles according to his age. His posture and stature was that of an experienced warrior. His eyes were brown and very alert. He refused positions as Colonel and Commander until one stopped to ask. When once asked why, he replied 'because I can't part with a Viper'.
"What's wrong Major?" He asked him and gave a sign to accompany him.
"It's Freya again."
"Oh." He replies, pretending to be surprised.
"She's on duty and what's she doing instead? Sits in the mess hall, gets drunk and plays cards."
"And what do they do about it?"
"I'll have to talk to her captain again, but I've thrown her in the brig and plan to not let her near a Viper for a week."
"Sounds like a good punishment, but now they're short a pilot. Something about me taking her place."
"Of course not sir, it's always a pleasure flying with you."
"Well then, let's get to the hangar."