\u201cAttention on deck,\u201d said the pilot at the podium.\u201d Over three hundred viper and raptor pilots dressed in flight suits stood up in theater seating. \u201cCommander Air Group on deck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eva Lawson was dressed in a perfectly pressed blue uniform. Her black hair was tied into a tiny knot behind her head. She moved with precision and stood at the podium. She clasped her hands on the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pilots began to squirm, expecting to be told they could sit. Lawson glared at them and made eye contact with a few of the fidgeting pilots who froze in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I got this job, the first thing I thought was frack, I\u2019m not going to war college and don\u2019t get to drive a battlestar.\u201d A few pilots chuckled softly at the joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen I said okay, I got drunk and fracked up but I get CAG of one of the few air wings in the Colonial Fleet that had higher ratings than my air wing on Atlantia. Not a bad detour before battlestar driving school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She looked stern and severe. \u201cThen I got the efficiency reports and the seventy transfer requests. I was disgusted. Captain Ben \u201ctrainman\u201d Watkins is a good pilot and he is going to continue to run red squadron. You guys let him down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMajor Julia Travers was a great CAG and a good stick. An green lieutenant flipped the wrong switch, got behind his CAG in an exercise and pressed the trigger. Sniper took two dozen shells and died instantly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She took a deep breath and stood up even straighter. You could hear a pin drop. \u201cI knew her too. She was a great competitor. She kicked my ass last year at squadron exercises. I cried. I got drunk. I slept with a civilian for once. I stole her training guide and scored 15 points higher than her six weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI honored her memory. You guys fracked up and your score dropped twenty fracking percent. Did that performance honor Sniper?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She paused. \u201cAnswer me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a cacophony of no\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrack no!\u201d shouted a lieutenant junior grade with a brown pony tail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Lawson shouted. \u201cFrack no! What are we going to do yo honor her memory?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy being the best fracking air wing ever!\u201d shouted pony tail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s your call sign pony tail. We are going to double are flight time and get back to being the best fracking squadron in the Colonial Fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo say we all!\u201d Shouted pony tail and a dozen others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo say we all,\u201d shouted the new CAG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo say we all!\u201d they all shouted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBreak up into squadrons and memorize the plan of the day. Dismissed. Get the frack to work.\u201d She pounded the lectern and waited for the squadrons to huddle up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admiral Mueller was standing with his XO Colonel Marth Rogers. She was fifty, taller than average, slightly overweight with short, salt and pepper hair. They were standing off in a corridor adjacent to the huge pilot ready room where they could observer unseen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I told you to grab her Sam,\u201d she whispered. \u201cShe is going to give them their pride back.\u201d He nodded acknowledging the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n