Starlight Voyage

[Cartoonicat]

@Cartoonicat and @DungeoneeringGoddess​

Starlight Voyage​

There had only been one time in Milo's life where he felt as out of control of his future as he did now. That was six years ago. War between the Milky Way and the Torkol invaders had begun depleting resources, which made the government leaders of each faction, each race and species, start drafting kids right out of school. One of those kids had been Milo. At the ripe age of sixteen years old he was plucked from the safety of textbooks and GPAs - along with the rest of his friends who were physically and mentally eligible - to begin training as a pilot. Some were excited, others were not. Milo grew to be somewhere in the middle.

He liked adventure as much as the next guy, but war? Not so much. After losing his old man to a Torkol intervention gone South and having to deal with the repercussions that left on his family, Milo wasn't eager to join the fight. Didn't want to risk leaving his mom alone to care for the twins without help - though, really, Milo supposed he already did that. After being drafted into the pilot program he hadn't seen his family more than six times in the last six years. Training was brutal, time-consuming. They wanted everyone out and in the field by age twenty. Milo managed to slack off enough to get himself to twenty-two.

That extra time had run out. Now, Milo stood in formation amidst at least a thousand graduates - human and alien alike. Watched as, one by one, people were assigned with their partners for their new life aboard the Starlight Voyage. A 'buddy-system' the higher-ups liked to call it. Really, though, Milo just wanted to be alone.

If he was going to die out there, at least he could go out with the whole 'lone wolf' persona he'd spent the last six years establishing.

Fate held no sympathy for him. Even more so when a particular name rang out across the congregation building, echoing off the walls, reverberating in his bones.

"Adelyn Uelsa - starship N-187…"

Milo watched the blur of blonde hair in his peripheral vision, eyebrows narrowing. Something about her had always rubbed him the wrong way, but not in the sense that she was a troublemaker. If anything, that was Milo's job. Adelyn was an overachiever; he saw it in the way she flew the simulators for hours on end and how she poured over her class notes after every lecture. Adelyn strived to be a pilot, wanted to fight in the war. In Milo's mind, the only people eager to fight were those who had nothing left to lose or just plain stupid. He doubted she had been drafted more than she had willingly signed up.

Maybe that's why he didn't like her. With people like Adelyn on the front lines, why force someone like Milo into battle? He was a good shot when it came to combat, sure, but her presence put pressure on the people who didn't want to be there. Shouldn't be there, not when they had a family at home who really needed a stable source of extra income and not another body to mourn.

The military would take care of his family, he knew, but only until his starship blew up with him inside or he met his fate at the end of a Torkol laser gun.

Yeah, he pitied the unlucky one who got stuck with her or any of the other over-achievers. He planned on getting the hell out of dodge as soon as possible, as did many others. Ditching the war would be damn near impossible with Adelyn and her Star Student reputation following them everywhere.

"...and Milo Blackburn - starship N-187. Proceed to Boarding."

Wait- "What?"