A Friendly Game of Triad (Shadowhawks)

[Samantha Casey]

September 30Th, 2003
1030 hours

Shadowhawk for Life

Samantha Casey opened the door to the crew quarters, her hair mussed from being stuffed into a helmet all morning and was falling out of her tight bun, a few curly strands falling into her face. She pushed the hair out of her face as her hazel eyes scanned the room. After an early morning training session it was almost a certainty that she would find the rest of the Shadowhawks starting up a game of triad. Sure enough Cronus was setting up the table and setting out a few more chairs for others who had not yet arrived. For such an uptight, intimidating, bear of a man he was really just a softy. She smirked at the idea as she crossed the room.

Unzipping the top of her flight suit she let it fall around her waist. She flopped down unceremoniously into one of the vacant seats. “So, when are we fixin to get this show on the road?” she asked as if she had been waiting there the whole time.

Cronus just looked at her as if she were some dull irritation. She merely grinned at him. He turned his bored expression away from her to organize something on his bed before joining them. “Is someone messing up your sheets again?” she asked playfully.

[Chris Wilson]

The squad had just got done doing a bit of training in the simulators for the day seeing as they were not doing any flying till after they would be departing from the Aerilon shipyard. It had been nearly a month of being here at the ship yard waiting to get back out on their next assignment. Most people had taken the chance to go see what sights there were on Aerilon Chris though, he had no intentions of setting foot back on that planet even if it was on the far side from home.

Sure he wanted to go back, he missed his home but it had been about twelve years since he was last there and he just wasn't ready to head back at this point. Not while they were still alive. His time had been spent on the Hyperion and with a rare visit to the shipyard to get a good view of the planet.

Back to the story though for now. Chris had just returned from doing his much dreaded paper work after they had done their training and made his way back to the quarters. Chris walked in shortly behind Samantha as she took a seat at the table for one of their regular games. "No need to stand up, not like the Captain is coming in." He joked with them, they were in their own quarters and there was no need for there to be an formalities there. He just like to mess with them whenever he got the chance but everyone knew he was playing.

"So are we going to get this game started or what?" He said as he too took a seat at the table while the Ensign set the table up for the game. Chris rolled to the side in his chair reaching behind the curtain of his bunk and pulling a small box from off his bed. Setting it on the table he opened it up and pulled out a cigar and brought it up to his lips. "Care for a fresh Virgon Cigar?" He offered up to the pair as he leaned back again in his chair and lit his up.

[Samantha Casey]

Sam smirked, her eyes taking in Chris as he walked in. She was lounging in her chair, her legs spread casually, one elbow propped up on the back of her chair, she was sitting like a guy. Her demeanor only became more lax when Chris entered. Her body language playing with his words as if feigning that she didn’t care what his rank was. She didn’t get up, her smirk merely grew. “Don’t worry we won’t,” she replied teasingly. Chris and Sam had a quick witted banter that she enjoyed. They had become good friends over the past two years.

“Yeah, the party is clearly here,” she deadpanned while pointing to herself to herself but even she couldn’t keep a straight face, “Where is everyone else?” she asked a subtle smile surfacing slowly through an amused expression.

She watched him procure a box of cigars from his bunk. “Don’t mind if I do,” she said, “Thanks,” she took one of the cigars and taking her lighter from the pocket of her flight suit she flipped it open and lit her cigar. Cronus of course declined. “You’re really no fun you know that,” she teased her wingman. He simply rolled his eyes and sat down beside her. Sam leaned back in her chair and took a drag on her cigar attempting to blow smoke rings. There was a satisfied expression on her face as she savored the cigar.

[Tyler Tremaine]

Gods it was good to be home! That was his first thought when he stepped off the Raptor from Caprica. Tyler had left his dear mother and her new, if somewhat naive, Charles with his bad graces. Not a bitter farewell mind you, he simply told his mother in private that she should consider not, "Ruining another man's life," the way she had the last one's. Jenna was a tough woman if nothing else, and she would likely follow her self destructive course regardless. And who was he to truly object? Wasn't Ty himself the product of her lifestyle? He just didn't want to be a brother at thirty seven, and with his mother acting like a wild twenty year old again, it wasn't at all unlikely. She was a strong as any woman of twenty, and in fantastic health. He prayed silently for the thirtieth time that she would run poor Charles off soon. At least before there was a pediatrics ward and a geriatrics ward that could treat the same pregnancy...

That was seven hours ago though, and now, Ty was back in his element. His home, the Hyperion. A home to be proud of. He saluted two crewmen as he trotted down the causeway to his quarters, already hearing some laughs within. His heart sped up a beat when he was a few paces away, hearing the voices of his surrogate family. He slid through the door on the toes of his boots, and holding his arm as outstretched as he could with his duffle hanging. As he slid against the well polished floor, he announced loudly, "Ma Peoples! Tyler T is back in da hoouuse!"

He dropped his duffle on the floor against his bunk, and walked forward grinning, "What the frak Cap, I'm gone fer three weeks, an your smokin up all the Vergies? Heeey," He said on a long breath, hardly waiting for any reply from Chris, "What do we have here? Looks like ah game of good ol' fashioned Ty wins is shapin up! Huh? Huh?" He joked looking at them each smiling, then he added, "No? nuthin?"

"No Grif, 'nuthin'" Cronus joked back, Ty smiled even heartier and kicked his head to the pilot in a nod of hello.

"Sup Cronus" He laughed and clapped his squad leader on the shoulder. Then he reached across and 'bumped up' with Cronus before turning to Samantha and adding on a question he must have posed seven hundred times since he'd first met her, "Sup Slim'sexy, that blonde hair go all the way down?"

Home at last. Three weeks with his mother and his rag-tag family had started to get aggravating. And that was no secret, but his mother understood, she loved the life too. This was home, this was his family. This was the only place in the wide breadth of life that he could relax and cut up. Gods it was good to be home!

[Chris Wilson]

Chris watched as Cronus finished setting up the game and Samantha joined him in taking in a fresh cigar. It was just then that another member of the squad, Tyler, joined them in the room. "Don't you worry your worry your pretty little head about it Griff, Lieutenant Nolan was kind enough to pick up four boxes for me while he was on his leave." He began as he spoke to him and tossed him one of the cigars. "And rules have change, no more Ty wins is allowed. New tour new policies, Didn't the CAG pass down the memo?"

When Ty gave his next comment Chris just laughed. after seven hundred times of asking if the curtains matched the drapes to the young female pilot you would think he would know by now the question wasn't going to be answered but he had to give him one thing he had determination.

It was good to have his squad returning home to him. They were a good group, aside from being a big group of trouble making, cocky, misguided degenerates what more could a squad leader ask for. Besides he was one of those degenerates as well. "Alright Lieutenant," He said looking at Ty then back over to Cronus. "Ensign, sit down and lets get this started all ready the boss needs the money to pay for those cigars and the other surprise I managed to get while you were all out smokin and jokin on leave."

Chris again leaned back and reached on to his bunk and produced a bottle of Dos Aerilonius Whiskey, one of three he had procured in the last few weeks. "This stuff is more then a Captains pay can afford." Chris popped the top and took a shot straight from the bottle before setting it between himself and the next member of his squad.

"Got news from the CAG yesterday." He paused as he grabbed the deck of cards and began to shuffle them. "Got some new faces coming our way. Got a rook coming to join the shadowhawks. There is also rumors there might be a cadet coming this way for the tour before flight school. The threat from the CAG is that we maybe task with giving him the run down on military life." That second part was something Chris was hoping was just a cruel joke from Drake but you never could tell with him. Chris thought on it as he dealt the cards out to them for the first hand.

"So what did you all do for your leave?" Chris had refused to leave the ship and the ship yard for the time. He wasn't ready to go down to Aerilon yet even after all this time but it was nice to be close to home. Where else would he have gone anyway. Back to Scorpia, no that might end in him not coming back and everywhere else he had been to enough for now. For the time being just being able to go on the ship yard and look down at home was enough for him.

[Samuel Lion]

Samuel had just finished getting his new assignment and his living arrangements from the quarter master. Samuel walked down the halls of his new home on his way to his new quarters. He couldn't help but think that this wasn't his home. The Athena made a place for him. He didn't hate the ship because well it's a ship. But he didn't know what his future would hold here. IT was a great station to say the least. The Hyperion had the best of everything.

Samuel opened the door to his new quarters as he saw a few of the people lighting up cigars, Samuel smirked. He was reminded of last night, His cag had told him.' You know Dizzy some couk once told me that a cigar is a phallic symbol, and anyone who smokes them. well you get the picture right.' then he picked up his cigar lite it and took a deep drag from it. then said ' you know what i say to that. It's a frakken cigar nothin more
Samuel wasn't much of a smoker but he enjoyed a cigar or two on special occasions. He placed every thing on his bunk and then looked at the rag tag group sitting around the table. He then spotted Wilson on one of the man's shirts. He came to a lazy yet respectful attention and gave him a salute. "Lieutenant Junior grade Samuel Lion reporting sir." None of the decorum was necessary but it was his first meeting and he had a promotion to hunt, after all that was his only reason for leaving the Athena.

[Samantha Casey]

When Tyler entered Sam gave him a familiar nod and a grin, her cigar still perched between her teeth. “The memo says, Sam Casey wins, always,” she smirked, “You know, to continue my streak, why quite somethin’ when you’ve got a good thing goin’” she added.

Sam twisted around in her chair to face Ty, her smirk only widening as that telltale mischievous glint danced in her hazel eyes. “Why don’t you come over here and find out,” she answered him playfully raising her eyebrows in a ‘go ahead, try me’ fashion, before letting out a large puff of smoke from her cigar. Of course should he try, Tyler would probably end up with her arms around him in a headlock.

Her eyes widened as she saw the bottle of the deep amber liquid Chris procured from his bunk. “When did you get that?” she asked, “And why haven’t you shared it before now, I’ve been back for a few days,” she pointed to herself, “The party was already here, you didn’t think to bring its best friend alcohol along to it?” she teased and then laughed. “What did you do on Aerilon anyways? Did ya go see the parents?” she asked conversationally knowing he was from Aerilon. It was an innocent enough question and she posed it in such a light hearted manner. Sam had no idea of his past or the problems it had caused him.

“Great,” Sam didn’t seem enthused at the prospect of nuggets joining the Shadowhawks. “Heh, we’ll give him the run down all right,” she smirked, “Can we make the tiny nugget get us coffee in the morning?” she asked already picturing it in her mind. Sam took the cards as they were passed to her and shuffled them into an order. She took another drag on her cigar and puffed the smoke out the side of her mouth as she looked at her cards when someone walked through the door dripping with protocol. “Whoa, whoa there new kid,” she waved a hand motioning to his entire body, “None of this while we’re playing triad, you’re ruining the mood,” she shifted back to looking forward, “Otherwise I’ll have to start acting respectable,” she deadpanned setting down her first hand then smirked over at Chris. “Twins,” she said showing two pair or two ups.

[Chris Wilson]

Chris organized his cards as they all sat there getting ready to play their hands. Chris had next to nothing to work with, two up, not enough to carry him to victory unless everyone's showing was pretty bad on this first hand. "Spent leave on the ship, Parents passed away a few years ago." He said with out batting an eye at it. The questions stung but he had become accustomed to the lie that he was passing off for why he did not visit home. Twelve years and he had only seen them from a distance when he graduated from flight school. They had showed up but he avoided them seeing as his sister was not there. if there was anyone he would want to see of his family it was her to apologize for what had happened.

"There will be no mistreating of the nuggets. That is my job to do that." He replied as she set her cards on the table. Seeing her Twins laid out on the table he knew he was beat and tossed his in face down. "Well seems like I'm out on this hand." It was then that the group was joined by a new face, not the cadet they were expecting but the new full fledged pilot that was to be part of the squad.

"Welcome to the Shadowhawk rook. Have a seat and we'll get you up to speed on live the the pit." Chris reached in the box, grabbed a cigar and tossed it to the rook. He began to point around the room at the other pilots. "Ensign Trenton, Lieutenant Junior Grade Casey, and Lieutenant Tremaine. Keep your eye on him he is as deadly in a game of cards as he is in a Viper, former Reaper and all." He gave the due respects of the title of having been a reaper, one of the most prestigious squadrons to have the chance to serve in.

[Phaethon Kosta]

Phaethon entered his quarters to find it already half filled. It was a bit of a surprise considering only this morning there'd only been five of them present, Phaethon included. Only a second's glance at the warm bodies in the room quickly explained their sudden increase in population. The most obvious was TJ smiling and joking. He was rather hard to miss. Back from leave with two days to spare. The other was an unfamiliar face, not just one of their crew back from leave or someone from another squadron stopping in to say hi.

What had Phaethon been doing the past month? Well, aside from a few day trips to the yard or even to the surface he'd spent just about the entirety aboard ship along with Chris. Wilson was from nearby Aerilon but surprisingly didn't want to visit for any reason. Said his folks were dead and there wasn't much there for him. It was about the same for Kosta. There was no "home" to go to other than the Hyperion.

Samantha, Trenton, and others had started to show up recently and Chris began to get the squadron back in fighting shape. That's where Phaethon had come from. A few hours in the simulator and then some time on the deck checking on things there. He was still dressed in his flight suit when he came through the door into the ten-man living quarters.

"Deal me in." he said as he walked past the side of the table toward his bunk. Phaethon wasn't the type to gamble but he also wasn't the type to sit out of a friendly game. It's not like his paycheck was disappearing with ex-wives, heavy debt, or feeding kids like some pilots. He could spare the cubits.

As Helios unzipped the flightsuit and stepped out of it, he gestured with his head toward Samuel. "A new Shadowhawk?" he asked of Chris, or actually anyone. "I'm Phaethon, new guy." he added. "Or Lieutenant Kosta if you prefer formalities." Phaethon clearly did not and only added later bit for the benefit of the other man. It was a more full introduction without having to go through the rigmarole of coming to attention and firing off his full rank and name.

[Samuel Lion]

Samuel smiled at Samantha's comment. then the squad lead spoke up and tossed him a cigar and a lighter. Samuel caught them both, with style and grace he lite the cigar. He took a big drag off of the fine cigar and slowly exhaled the smoke making a smoke ring. then he looked at Samantha with a twinkle in his eye and said"well my apologize we don't want you to have to be all respectable now do we." He was obviously being sarcastic and joking around.

He then looked at the cigar."this is a fine cigar sir" he said to Chris and took his seat. "well i am a rook when it comes to cards but you put me in the hot seat and i will show you what i can do." He had a small cocky smile on his face. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, especially a former reaper." he said the last statements looking at Griffin.

(((OOC
Hot seat =i don't know any really slang for cockpit so i decided to use hot seat. If anyone has a better term let me know.)))

[Tyler Tremaine]

“Why don’t you come over here and find out,” She answered him playfully raising her eyebrows in a ‘go ahead, try me’ fashion, before letting out a large puff of smoke from her cigar. Of course should he try, Tyler would probably end up with her arms around him in a headlock.

Tyler laughed as he agreed, and hustled around the table, then dropped down next to Samantha on the bench. She was leaning back lazily in her chair, her cards held up to eye level in one hand as she removed her cigar from her mouth with the other, only long enough to blow an impressive bellow of smoke before replacing it again between her teeth and taking another drag. Her eyes shifted towards Tremaine, glancing suspiciously sidelong at him without turning her head. Casey has her flight suit unzipped, but laid open like a skirt around her waist, so Tyler reached down and lifted it up, as though to examine for his answer.

"I'll be damned, no hair here..."

Sam sets her cards on the table face down and asks the pilot next to her to “Hold this,” she said, more demand than request, and Cronus took it without argument, but, with a smile. Some folks can see things comin... Sam snatched Tyler's forearm from her flight suit, and swiftly turned it, then wrapped her other arm around him into a headlock. Tyler's hand wrenched around and snagged her thumb, then peeled her arm off his, proving once and for all, that age comes before beauty, in all things. However, age didn't stop them both from sticking their tongues out at each other, before calling 'truce'. Sam picked up her cards again and took her cigar back and then Ty informed Wilson that, "See boss, that’s why my hair is always mussed up!"

He leaned back, and retrieved his cigar from where it had fallen, and quickly switched it with Ensign Cronus' before he could see, winking at Slim' Sexy as he did. Then he bit the tip, and took Sam's lighter to get the cigar goin. "Worth evvvery cubit top, tell Nolan I said, thank you." As he said it, he nodded towards Striker. Then, he was attacked on two fronts about the classic form of cards for the Shadowhawks. "I didn't get this memo, what in hades? I'm afraid I'm gonna need to see the original copy, an have duplicates, triplicates, the yellow copy and forward the notarised forms by tuesday before we can proceed." He rebuttaled to Striker over the sudden change of rules, trailing off at the end as a very fine bottle of whiskey was produced, and Striker began to pour it out.

He toasted silently when he received his own offering and wondering if Chris really went down to Aerilon like Casey said, or if he just stayed on the ship like he usually did. Then the bad news, fresh from boot and everything, in the Shadowhawks? What was becoming of this once classy squadron? Casey joked about it in her fashion, then Ty commented, "I reject this proposal out of hand, let him join the albino puss... no, the colorless kittens... I mean, the White Tigers, yes, thats it.." He joked, and Cronus bumped-up with him at the jest. Striker kind of, laughed it off, and asked about leave, "Shit... went back to Cap'er. Met up with mom, an met her soon to be new/ex-husband."

It was through all this, that a kid walked in, had 'Lion' on his insignia, and a look in his eyes that could stare down a bobcat. After Casey beat him to the punch again, he added, "Yeah kid, ease up. This ain't the deck."

Chris answered the original question quickly, before returning to the rook, with open arms of jokes and welcome. Anyone in this group had to have as much bite as defenses, or their self esteem would be a miniscule pile of crap.

Tyler began to dig out his cubits, as Striker had dealt him in earlier when he'd nodded. Casey threw her cards down showing her hand while Tyler was still digging his cubits out, and seeing the two ups, and he simply folded his hand on the spot. Casey flipped her hand across his tablespace, and began to rake in his cubits to herself, and his reaction was instantaneous. His right hand slammed down against hers in a loud 'CLACK' of flesh. Half seriously, but with an even voice, he delivered, "What are you doing?"

"I’m kicking your ass, that’s what I’m doing,” Sam replied smirking at him with that Cheshire grin of hers.

"NO! You don't get my cubits!" Tyler exclaimed, pulling her hand off the pile of gold colonial currency.

“Actually, I think I do,” Sam said, indicating her winning hand with the end of her cigar as she blew a few rings of smoke and continued to pull some of the coins with her hand, straining to keep it flat against the table, and on top of her booty.

Tyler yanked at her hand, "NO! You didn't win anything, I haven't even seen my hand yet. You completely skipped the betting round! You don't get winnings when you skip the betting!"

"You folded!"

"I never bet blondie!"

"Too late, you lose, I win, and I get your money!” Samantha replied in her fast passed banter, with an amused grin on her face.

"No you don't Samantha" Tyler said, intentionally using the full pronunciation of her birth name. He was still being sarcastic in earnest, but she hated her full name, and it generally riled her up, when he called her by it. At this development, Sam’s eyes narrowed and thus begins some first rate childish slapping back and forth between the two professional, seasoned soldiers, which ended with Ty back in a headlock, but in possession of all except five of his cubits. After he removed her arm a second time, she released the last five of his cubits, and he released her thumb...

After the commotion stopped, Chris introduced them all, and he nodded back. It was always a thrill to be introduced as a Reaper, though, he hadn't heard the endearment in a long while, and wondered why Striker bestowed it. He checked his new hand to be sure it wasn't a distraction during a misdeal.... Helios walked back in after that, and called to come into the game. Tyler answered him for the kid, cutting the new guy off.

"Yeah, this is our new guy, Lieutenant Lion, this is Helios. Served on the Mercury back in the war alongside us on the Triton. Been wit Cap'n Wolfe preeety much his whole career, so you gotta watch out for his ass-rending technique in the black, it's gotten plenty killed in sims an the real thing. I would know, he was a Reaper with the rest of us back when all we did was drill and fly CAP. And Bainbridge loved drills. That was back in... what Helios? Nin'ty five wasn't it? Damn mate, you're gettin old..." He said, nodding to Kosta as he sat down. "And uh," He checked Lion with his nudge, "Wouldn't admit to the card quality here boss, that'll just make them come for you quicker... friendly tip..." He said it in humor, and he wore a smile. "Heard you went to NSAWC back on 'Con. When was that?" He asked, while trying to see Samantha's hand. Ty kept running tabs on new crewmates, so not to feign on Striker in any way, but the Chief told him about "Dizzy" when Tyler stepped off the raptor. Ty quieted up a second, and then looked across to Kosta, then he looked back to Cronus, and then nearly whispered across to Kosta, ecept halfway through it, he broke and laughed the rest out, "You see the C-Bucs whip the Bulls last week?" Cronus had great hearing, and even from here, you could hear him grind his teeth, as he internally prepared for Kosta's response.


^{(((All Sam related posting was approved by Grace via pm, and she chose her own reactions and dialogue. All God Modders are subject to copyright ass whoopins if you powerplayl!)))}

[Phaethon Kosta]

Phaethon smirked. "I'm getting old?" he repeated. "You were squadron lead back then when I was the fresh transfer." He wasn't entirely fresh, being a 'war veteran' not that the government wanted them calling themselves that. "But yeah," he said, turning back toward Samuel. "The Major and I go way back." He gestured briefly back toward Ty. "Even further back than this dinosaur here."

In truth there was more to say than that, but Phaethon wasn't the type to say more than needed to be said. It was obvious enough the two men had a strong bond with Phaethon being the one out of two hundred that the CAG had chosen to fly his wing. It was just like back during the war on the Mercury nearly a decade ago... or like back on the streets of Phoebus a decade before then. Drake was like the brother Phaethon never had.

Now out of his flight suit and ready to play, Phaethon took a seat at the table. As he waited for the next deal to make its way to him, Ty spoke up again. His words were to Phaethon but it was soon apparent he was just trying to rile Cronus. Phaethon was actually more of a Suns fan, but he'd play along regardless. "Of course." he replied quickly. "You think Striker and I would have missed it? Nothing better to do aboard a ghost ship than watch the Bulls get put in their place." He craned his head for effect as he called out to Chris, "You remember that cross-court shot from just after the half?" He smiled and turned back to Tyler. "I bet they'll be getting good position in the draft come next year."

[Chris Wilson]

Chris gave a moment for the crew to meet, greet and haze the new guy just a little bit. It was traditional for them to initiate the new members of the squad. Everyone of them had gone through at one point, side from those who were here from day one of the Hyperion. This new one would be no different. "He's no Sadowhahwk yet Kosta, not by a long shot."

Chris' attention turned to the new pilot that was joining them with his hot seat comment. "Those wings you wear on your little hairless chest don't mean a thing around here. Being a Shadowhawk is not something you learn its something you earn Rook, keep that in mind." Chris' look was stern and unforgiving. He had a reputation as being the leader of the best squad.

Chris then took a moment to look the crew over not really giving the Rook a chance to chime back in. "You to knock that shit off. You all belong to me and that means those cubits belong to me." Chris let out a laugh as the sit of all that was going on in front of him. it was good to have the boys back. "hell the bulls had nothing on the C-Bucs. Made myself a pretty penny on that game."


Again his attention went back to Lion. he could tell he was ready to chime in with his next attempt at a witty retort but Striker had other plans. Chris slammed his hand down on the table making just enough racket to get everyone attention. Everyone in the room knew it was all an act but if he was lucky they would play along. "Last hot shot who came in here thinking they were top dog ended up getting themselves splashed over Pallas." Chris stood up from his chair and squared himself to the man. "I got no room for hot shots around here do I Trenton"

Cronus stood there still as a board, it was not long ago that he came off being the Rook. "No Sir." He replied to Chris not wanting to take any chance of being back ni the hot seat. Their relationship was a tenuous one but had gotten better since they had picked up the latest member before Lion. "You see Cronus here, he is a Shadowhawk. He has proven himself as worthy of the title. Hades, Exile has proven herself as a Shadowhawk even. You though, you are just another damned viper jock who wants to be one of the big boys." Chris did his best to keep the smirk in.

His attention turned to Ty again. "When were done here let Exile know she is no longer the Rook." Chris reached down to the table and slid the deck of cards to Kosta. "Deal me and our new pal in for the next hand. We got business to discuss, make sure he is brought in good and proper like." Chris sat back down and kicked the chair out across the table from him for Samuel. 'Sit down Rook..." He paused and looked him dead in the eyes with a stern glance. "That's an order."

Ty had given him his plan for the night. He may not have known it but his comments about the White tigers... how did he put it? Oh yeah Albino Puss, that right the Albino Puss leader would have to be advised of his new name before the night was over. Traditionally all the quads had their symbol and name painted on or above their quarters doors. Well the young Lieutenant Dumont would be finding the clan moniker update on the door after he returned from CAP tonight by the hands of the new Rook. Of course the squad would have their hands in it as well. "Now if I am not mistakin' Ty accused you of being Albino Puss material. I would like to think that isn't the case is it?"

[Viktoriya Gilyov]

Blindside. It was the call sign of a certain Terence Glackin, a pilot from the Cylon wars, and one whose tactics she'd been studying - particularly the reason for his call sign. Glackin was a flight instructor who had been attacked, along with his fledgling pilots, by a group of nine Cylon raiders. He'd given cover to his fleeing charges, and he himself had ducked into an asteroid belt. He'd successfully played a brutal game of tag with the Cylon raiders. His game had been to hide himself among the asteroids, evading both the natural movements of the belt and his enemies. It had been a tactic to keep them off his tail. He could dip behind a rock, flip the Viper and engage. To say the vessel was maneuverable was an understatement. Point three five seconds, and the Viper could go end-to-end. The asteroid belt itself made the maneuver more complex. One had to be aware of their position, their enemies, and the drift of the objects. Blindside had maneuvered this successfully. There were no heroics, no stunts, and he didn't try to splash every craft he contacted. He put them out of commission. He went for whatever he could get, no holds barred. The entire maneuver was a big attempt at a CYA (cover your ass) strategy, one which had saved Blindside's life in the encounter. The very last ship had bent his vessel, and the instructor had been hospitalized from the injured he'd sustained from the impact, but he'd survived. It wasn't anything they'd learned in flight school. As it turned out, there were a lot of maneuvers that were buried beneath the most recent accomplishments of pilots.

Fox found herself in the simulator, nine Cylon radars materializing somewhere in the black. She breathed, looking through her helmet to the simulated stars beyond the simulator's canopy. To an experienced pilot, it took some suspension of disbelief to feel that this was truly space, and this was truly flight, but Fox was wrapped up in what she did. She punched it for the asteroid belt, using the external bursts of CO2 to spin her ship to face those blips on the radar. A large chunk of simulated space debris passed by her canopy, and the blips moved closer. She used anterior and posterior thrusters to drift behind the asteroid, then disengaged the posterior to maneuver backward. As the simulated rock moved, she made her first vision contact with a mock raider. She pulled back on the stick and activated the anterior port thrusters, moving upward and turning, and moving deeper into the debris. She eyeballed enough space and hit her thrusters hard, spinning end-to-end in a yaw that jarred her, pressing the trigger on the stick to open fire on the nearest raider.

The raider banked and glided like a wraith behind an asteroid, and - following her movement of the stick - her own craft pitched and she moved downward into her cover. Smaller basketball-sized pieces of debris knocked against her craft, but it was the larger pieces she needed to miss. She winced as she scraped the keel against a larger asteroid. Warning alerts came on-screen, but she ignored them to keep her head in the game. When she darted out from beneath an asteroid, she the Cylon raider was angled as if to sweep beneath her. She opened fire again, going for the port wing. She saw the metal eroding away, plates exposed as the Cylon ship impacted a meteor and went into a listless spin. The ship fired, but she pushed the stick down and dipped below even as the mock-Cylon was scuttled by combination of its momentum and an asteroid. Even when flight was decommissioned, the weapons systems weren't necessarily. That had been a patch added to the simulators so the expectation of damaging a ship's maneuverability wouldn't make young pilots feel safer... a patch that Blindside himself had inspired at a different point in his career.

She'd spent a couple of hours after everyone else had left, trying to emulate Blindside. Her best attempt was seven of the nine. Each had ended in red lights and alarms, the program-ran glitching of her navigational system, and her ship scuttled, or bent and drifting in dead space. She hadn't started swearing, but her gritted teeth and narrowed, icy stare did all the swearing she had to. She pulled off her helmet, ruffling her sweat-dampened blond hair and moved out of the simulator with a comportment that didn't reflect her disgust at her own performance. No one was in the room, but she wasn't going to show her frustration.

Fox shared space with her squadron, but she was the odd man out. She respected the piloting skill of everyone in the squadron. That in mind, Captain Striker himself broke protocols and allowed the trickle-down affect for his pilots. Fox refused to discuss her squadron off-the-record. She had nothing bad to say about the styles pilots exhibited because they were not made to adhere to the standard. They were not made to because Captain Striker himself didn't. She hadn't questioned any of his tactics.. on-the-record. They'd had heated discussions behind closed doors, where he insisted that he wouldn't be considered a captain. She hadn't been a lieutenant, either. She'd been a term for female genitals that rhymed with bunt, and he'd been the single greatest argument for eugenics she'd ever encountered in her life, a frakking prick, and had his mother used the anti-fungal cream when she'd first experienced the odor, he wouldn't be here. After that "heated discussion," Captain Striker had actually warmed up to her a little, it seemed. She thought he enjoyed the fighting on some level.

She had an amiable relationship with everyone in her squadron, if a distant one. They were a made-to-order family, and she would like them, and show them loyalty. She didn't have to be in perpetual, whole-hearted agreement, and she certainly didn't agree with Captain Striker. But that, again, was off the record. On the record, she did as he asked, and she didn't undermine him in any way, shape, or form. He was the first Captain she'd ever had that she'd told a thing or two about it during downtime. She wasn't really a uniform-on, uniform-off, light-switch person. Neither was Captain Striker, unfortunately; he was the same man in both stations. The best example of a light-switch in the group was Griffon, who was a seriously dedicated pilot and a mostly straight professional until he got the first opportunity to allude to Casey's pubic hair color. Some were what they were in and out of the black, like herself and Captain Striker, and some were different, like Griffon. It wasn't right or wrong. It just was.

When she entered their quarters, she gave a jovial nod to the occupants and went about the process of stowing her helmet and loosening her flight suit. She never began that process until she passed over the thresh-hold, and she made quick work of getting down to her t-shirt. That was about as loosened up as she would get, even as she took her seat. She crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her right ankle beneath her left, at the table with the closest thing to a family she had topside of Picon's atmosphere.

"Hello-hello," was her general greeting. Her bright cerulean eyes flicked to Samuel Lion. She knew who he was. His name had been plastered on paperwork that she'd paid attention to, although seeing a rook in the flesh was the only thing that brought forth that name. "I'm Lieutenant Viktoriya Gilyov. Fox. Welcome aboard." It was clipped and to the point, emphasized with a warm smile. Her head wasn't really in the quarters, though. She was still darting behind chunks of asteroid in her mind and evading Cylon raiders. Fox's head never fully left the game.

[Samuel Lion]

Samuel kind of stood there with a blank look on his face as Ty and nova had there little spat. They looked as if they where brother and sister. In his eyes they had a strong bond and if this interaction was any measure of the squad they where a tight unit. Samuel hoped he could gain his strips quickly so that the Hyperion would be more of a home and similar to the Athena.

Then looked to and spoke to him about Helios. the man must have been an impressive pilot, being to the and all. It seemed that he was a pilot maybe not such a loose cannon as the others may be. "Thanks for the tip on Helios. I will be glad he's on my team I'm sure." Samuel smirked at Griffin when he mentioned the cards "Maybe i was merely bluffing." kept the smile on his face. Of course wasn't bluffing he was terrible at triad, he had lost a lot of cubits on this game.

When mentioned he's smile grew. It was an honor for him to have had that training and he was just lucky how things lined up for him. "I went to N-sock in 2000. It really gave me an edge on the rest of the men in my grade." Samuel was honored to have gone to the training there was top notch and it gave him an edge for when he reached LT to go to . The " Top Gun" Program was a dream training for Samuel. He wanted to make his grandfather proud of him and Samuel knew that would be another step forward to becoming the best.

Samuel smiled when Helios called a . Everything that was happening told Samuel that the Hyperion would be more like the Athena, a family unit. The group seemed to love each other and there attitudes complemented the others in the wing.

Then dreams of a nice unit came crashing down when his captain spoke up. Samuel stood there and listened to him speak. After his hairless comment Samuel couldn't help himself. Samuel need to be good so he had to lay off of the worst of his comments but he couldn't just sit there and take the berating that he didn't . "Well sir" he put a little extra on the sir "My chest maybe hairless but from my experience the woman have never complained." His face was dead panned in his mind all of this was serious and Chris viewed him as a second rate citizen. Samuel was no he wasn't second class to anyone.
Then Chris said something about being a hot shot "Sir i am no hot shot, i am a pure professional when i get in the hot seat. There is no room for error up there, errors get people killed and i will not allow the men and woman flying with me to fall pray to anyone coming at us. sir." Samuel gave his jab earlier so he needed to make sure he was good. came here to get his LT rank and he didn't want to mess that up on his first day.

When Samuel was ordered to take the seat he finished pulling it out and took the seat. "I look forward to showing you i am a shadowhawkl sir. Ive played second string before and that's not what I enlisted for." It appeared that life on the Hyperion was going to be no different for then life on the . Samuel would most likely have to serve at least a year on the Hyperion after his rank but at the first he would try and get off. Samuel wasn't going to make his final yet but it appeared that Samuel had gotten the wrong attention on his first day.