Aces In Exile

Prologue

Just another day at work

The sound of an alarm clock buzzing stirs the young man from his slumber, lazily he slowly opens his eyes and turns his head to look at the target of his early morning hate. Reaching out and turning it off he sits up and stretches, satisfying pops sounding from his joints as he climbs out of bed to begin his morning routine.

After finally getting cleaned and dressing in his uniform he takes one last look in the mirror, the image that greets him is of a young man in his early to mid twenties, 5'8'' with short dirty blonde hair, blue-grey eyes and a little toothpaste on the corner of his lip which is quickly wiped away.

Stepping out of his quarters in the officers barracks he makes a left turn towards the docks and towards his new assignment aboard what is soon to be his new home for the next few months, The UCFS Flaming Pride, along with his other squadron mates of the 14th fighter squadron.

Both the squadron and the carrier they would be serving off of are fairly new, the carrier having only been completed 2 months ago and the squadron formed not long before that, although the squadron was made up of mostly veteran pilots from other disbanded squadrons.

Getting close to his destination, the pilot takes a quick glance out of one of the many windows of the corridor, greeting him is the view of the fleets lunar base, the beautiful view of Earth and of course, the mighty side profile of the Pride.

"She's a beauty, isn't she lieutenant?" Startled from his thoughts, he turns quickly and salutes the man that the pilot will soon be serving under. A commander with a great reputation and enough awards to go with it. He is an older man in his late fifties, 6'1'' early sixties with a graying and receding hairline with hazel eyes, and the wrinkles of a man who has obviously seen many things in his time.

"Absolutely commander Artemis sir!" To this he receives a light hearted chuckle. "At ease lieutenant Alzack." Finally relaxing as both men continue the last leg of their journey towards the docks.

Glancing at the older male, Alzack decides to ask some of the questions about his new home that many of the squadron had been speculating on since they had been informed of their first assignment."So sir, how does the Pride handle? Is she everything that they said she could be?"

Looking back at the young pilot Artemis gave it some thought before answering. "Well she's definitely a fast one, those new Tachyon drive cores are top of the line, and the new engines make her the fastest carrier built so far. Add on to that she's got enough firepower alone to go up against a light cruiser and probably win and you've got yourself one heck of a prize contender." Hearing this as they finally made it aboard, the thought of it shocked Alzack and he gave the commander a surprised look. "Y-you can't be serious? That much?" Commander Artemis gave another lighthearted chuckle before replying. "Well not quite in a stand up fight, but keeping out of their line of fire from the main gun and we can give them one hell of a black eye."

"Right, well i better get going commander, it's been an honor talking with you." The young lieutenant saluted the commander as they both walk off to their duties before the ship gets underway.

Taking the elevator up to the command bridge, commander Artemis begins preparing the crew for their long assignment of convoy escort between the colonies. "Sir, final checks are finished and all crew and supplies are aboard, we are ready to cast off as soon as you give the order." Came the voice of his second in command, a woman in her thirties with long dark hair, tied into a bun at the back. "Very well captain Leona, bring us out."

"Aye aye commander!" Saluting the commander, the young female XO begins the process of ordering the vessel out of port and into the cold expanse of space.

Soon after the ship has made it to a safe enough distance from the base to begin its journey to meet the convoy that has been assigned for escort duty, and with a flash, the Flaming Pride jumps away to its destination.