A/N: The song is "Are you Alive" from Battletar Galactica the Miniseries

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= LIEUTENANT JESSICA NAGALA, ON ROUTE TO BATTLESTAR ARES =

Jessica sat in the cramped drop ship. Several other nuggets were enjoying themselves while watching combat missions from the Cylon War. Akina walked over to them and saw as the Viper Pilot maneuvered his Viper while engaging several Raiders. The Pilot was rough on the stick, but each maneuver another Raider exploded. Akina shook her head and headed back to Jessica.

"Watching combat maneuvers?" Jessica looked up at Akina as she shook her head laughing at the old videos.

"Yeah - Nuggets and their War Porn." Akina looked back over at the other nuggets. Jessica and her didn't know how they managed to graduate flight school.

"Hey, we're going to be flyin' like that in our Vipes'" Bragged Acosta

"Mitch sevens don't handle like the old Mark Two's. If I were you, during Combat Sims you might want to ease up on your stick?" Jessica quickly corrected.

"Oh now you're talking. What you think we are going off while watchin' maneuvers?"

"Isn't that what all nuggets do these days?"

"For frakk sakes cap it." All their attention was drawn to a Senior Officer. Colonel Azar, his rough voice was the most noticeable out of the crew. "Can't believe I get shipped off to another Battlestar full of Nuggets." His voice died down into a murmur. Jessica shook her head as she looked over old Combat Maneuvers. She knew the Viper Mark Sevens were easier to handle with the new CNP in place, but the two's and three's a person had complete control over. "If you all expect to survive on a Battlestar you better know where to put your war porn, and when to speak in front of your commanding officer. Trust me, I've been there." Jessica looked over at Colonel Azar, he served during the Sagittarion Aggressions and helping during the explosion at Troy where his father was killed, he was lead Viper Pilot on the Battlestar Pegasus during her early tours. "And if you expect to be killing Toasters if they ever return."

"Sir, how do you know if the Cylons will attack again, it's been forty years."

"Lieutenant Nagala, your father served during the war, he would have told you that all they wanted to do was kill us. If it wasn't for the brave men and women, who fought and died, none of you would have been born."

"I understand sir." Colonel Azar turned back to his tablet looking at all his flight recordings and his new crew manifest. Jessica looked back at the other nuggets who came from the other War Academies. They all looked at her as if they saw a ghost. They had heard of the name Nagala, a famous war hero, he was the CAG of the Columbia when it was destroyed, he and most of the flight crew survived. Most of them remembered when he was promoted to Admiral.

"Frakkin' A'. Admiral's Daughter."

"Mean anything to you?"

"No, just that he was older when he had you?"

"Adopted." She never talked about being adopted. It was thought her parents died during the Sagittaron Aggressions when Tom Zarek blew up a city block, hundreds died, he underestimated the yield of the explosive device. "Sagittaron - during the aggressions." They all turned to their work, they knew people who went through that didn't talk much about it and would rather avoid talking about it. Tom Zarek murdered innocent people during the aggressions. "Parents were thought to have been killed." The other Nuggets settled down, most didn't speak of what Zarek did, or the Aggressions. A bloody civil war between the Sagittarians and the other Colonies that lasted three years.

"How much longer do we have until we arrive?"

"About two hours, could give me a chance to hit the simulators." Jessica stood up and walked to the back of the ship, all dropships with nuggets had Viper Simulators, they all flew like Mark sevens. She quickly typed into the simulator the conditions she wanted and level, as well as the Viper Model, she prefered a mark seven, but would rather feel the ship through simple mechanics. Each simulator had a simple mark two layout but holographics would alter the looks to a contemporary.

"Level 21, Viper Mark Two, Raptor Talon Simulation beginning." The air around Jessica shimmered and her helmet shut out all sound except that and the auto voice. She looked over to her right and saw a Colonial Officer standing in the launch room.

"All systems are a-go." Jessica gave the hologram a thumbs up, the simulator went into action and the system vibrated as the fake Viper launched through the tube. She looked around and saw hundreds of Cylon Raiders flying around. All simulators used Cylons as the enemy.

"Husker this is Bonzai, Columbia needs our help, her defenses are down." An old recording from the War and Raptor Talon, she had run through the Viper Maneuvers that then Lieutenant Adama performed. She looked in the corner of her eye and spotted three Raiders that were swarming around Columbia's Viper Squadron. She quickly hit the stick and pedal launching the Viper at high speeds. "Go get em Husker." She turned the safety off and aligned herself with a Raider, the Raider quickly exploded leaving nothing but mechanical debris.

"I - I can't hold on! Frakk!" Another Viper down.

"Husker go get them" She quickly hit the stick flipping the Viper quickly, it was slower than a mark seven but agile. She pressed forward on the stick and began to open fire, she struck on Viper and it exploded, then moved onto the other. She hit the trigger and it struck its wing. "She had violent decompressions, oh my gods!" She saw a flash of light, all of the Cadets had seen in during their time at War School. "Oh my gods the Columbia's gone!" Through her helmets speakers she heard the screams of the dead of the Columbia, a sound that has haunted every Cadet. The Simulator shut down and ended.

'Congratulations Cadet, you achieved 78% accuracy." She shut the rest of the machine off. Some of the other Nuggets were standing watching the end of her flight simulation. They always wondered why some people decided to do old war battles instead of the fake stuff. Most believed it was to understand the conditions of war, and what the people did during it. She took the helmet off and put it to the side and walked over to the small window. In the distance she saw Battlestar, on the flight Pods had the name Ares. She grabbed her bag and threw her book in it. The Ares had a half the complement of Vipers, the hull had all the armor unlike the parent ship Galactica.

After a quick landing on the old warship she finally stepped off the dropship and into the fully functional hangar bay. The crew was moving around quickly getting new Viper Mark Sevens. What caught her eye was the old Mark Two hanging around, sitting there; the paint had begun to chip and the ship covered in dust. The ship had white and red, and had blue insignia, blue squadron.

"New pilots?"

"Yes Sir!" The CAG: Captain Lucky stood in front of the Nuggets, all cocky and ready to get into a Viper. "Stop gawking over the frakin' Mark Two, thing hasn't moved in twenty years."

"Then why is using up a alcove?"

"It's good luck I guess. Commander Avlin wanted to keep it aboard instead of sending it to the Galactica for decommissioning. That Viper was flown by no other than Captain Lucas "Mercury" Nagala. Sounds familiar? You should know Admiral Naglas name, head of the fleet in Picon."

"So you're just leaving his Viper to rot instead of using-"

"The old buckets engines have been renewed and we only take it out on special occasions. Last time a person took it out and nearly crashed it."

"Probably too easy on the stick?'

"And you Lieutenant?"

"Nagala, the Viper uses a carbon fluctuator, high capacity fuel injectors, multi-directional atmosphere thrusters, 180 degree flip in three point eight seconds."

"You seem to know the specifications of this Viper."

"It was my fathers, now may I have my assignment Sir?"

"Quick to the chase. Nuggets don't get a new Viper at once, you have to earn it."

"But I thought..."

"Just because you're a Admirals daughter doesn't mean you get priority treatment on a Battlestar. If you wanted it you should've asked him yourself for a position on the Pegasus."

"Yes Sir."

"We follow strict protocol on this ship, so I don't want you frakkin' your way to a Viper knowing you young Nuggets." Jessica shok her head with a smirk on her face, she was smart enough to know not to frakk a senior officer. If she did and word made its way around the fleet her father would have her ass back to Picon in a second. Plus, having inappropriate conduct on a record wasn't a thing she wanted. "Something funny Luietenant?"

"Why would us nuggets be frakkin' our way to a Viper?"

"Because it happened during the war, so cocky sun's of a bitches could fly and kill toasters. Plus if you haven't heard Starbuck has been frakkin' half the fleet." Some of the new recruits laughed a bit, they all knew the name Starbuck, a ace fighter pilot who graduated at the top of her class and taught at the academy before being sent to the Galactica, they knew about her record of drunk and disorderly conduct at the War Academy. Plus half of the citations that she received on her early postings. Jessica didn't plan on frakking half of the fleet just to get her way, or to have a record. It was a waste of a carrier, if Starbuck hadn't done half the things she did she would have been CAG on the Pegasus. "And I don't want cocky pilots who think that they could do a excellent maneuver, and then end up getting killed. Better get to the chase – Ensign Darek Valenti you are assigned to the CIC, you better speak to the commander, Specialist Davidson; speak to the deck chief, Lieutenant Nagala: you are assigned to hell... Well you haven't gotten your Viper yet, but I guess we can have you scrub the deck until then."

"That's what a janitor is for."

"Unless you don't want to earn your Viper. You will fly when we need you, we have our complement of Vipers because we are not at war. Just because your Daddy got to immediately fly during the war doesn't mean you get to, Commander Adama started out delivering packages."

"Captain Lucas, permission to be dismissed Sir..." Jessica gritted her teeth a bit. She was showing attitude to a superior-asshole. He didn't respect the Nuggets he has.

"Go ahead, better clean up that attitude Luietenant or I'll have you run latrine duty in the med bay, or make you scrub the entire frakkin' deck with a tooth brush. Understood."

"Understood sir." Jessica grabbed her bag and walked to the Pilots barracks, they were less than the dormitories she had at the academy. The room had ten bunks all with lockers and a table in the middle. She looked at the other Pilots smoking their cigars while playing Triad.

"Full colors!" One of the women yelled out, she was Asian. "Eh, eh, eh" She was dancing over her recent win of cubits. She took the money and cigars, as well as a nice jacket. "A nugget? Haven't seen you around here, Lieutenant?"

"Nagala sir,"

"Just call me Sharon. Call signs Athena."

"Ah, Lieutenant also?"

"Yeah, graduated last year. They didn't let me fly a raptor for a couple months. So when do you get your Viper?"

"As soon as they new Mark Sevens arrive. I am having mine retrofitted with older components, the new feel – it's to computerized, when I fly; I need to have full control over the bird."

"Have you asked about the Mark Two? You know they repainted it after Admiral Nagala left, it was originally black and red with blue decals. During the war the bird was the fastest thing in the fleet, he completely overhauled the system, most of the changes he did were copied into the mark threes and adopted into the sevens. The only thing is that thing doesn't have a computer system."

"Really? I knew the mark two's didn't have a networked computer but this thing is all mechanical, but it has to have at least one computer for the Dradis."

"Well that, but the things not much better than a wooden sled. So nugget claim a bunk, tops only." Jessica grabbed her things and shoved it into the locker that was empty. She looked and saw a photo of a Viper Pilot in his cockpit during the war. She looked at the name that was painted on the side: Lt. William "Husker" Adama.

"Did Apollo forget to bring a photo?"

"No, he just moved to a different quarters, he was ordered to report to the Galactica for the decommissioning ceremony."

"Uh Hu." She took the photo and tucked it away in her bag in case he ever wanted it back." Jessica hung her multiple flight suits up as well as her normal uniform and dress uniform. She looked at the two helmets she had, her fathers and her own. The old war helmet has worn down and the visor was cracked.

"Big fan of your fathers then hu?" Athena continued to ramble on. "That's a old helmet from the war, seen better days."

"Yeah, it saved his life when a Raider punched a hole in his cockpit, a shard of the toasters wing struck the helmet. They said it was a miracle hit. It's a lucky helmet." Jessica threw it into the locker and left her helmet on the top so it was in reach. She completely unraveled her flight suit and rolled it down. "Count me in." Jessica took a couple of her cubids that she had on her into the middle of the table.