The last thing that Daniel Aios did before signing on for an eighteen month haul was finalize the divorce to his wife of seven years, Penelope. Of course, he could have refused for an additional press for custody of his five year old son, Jamey, but his long history away from his family while on rotation, tending to his attempts to climb the ladder just never paid off. While he was gone, Penelope ran out of things to keep her company at night until she finally invited someone into their bed. He didn't blame her. Perhaps it was for the better, as Jamey barely recognized Daniel the last time they met, and he seemed to like David enough. That was his name. He was also her legal counsel, which made the divorce proceedings equal parts bloodthirsty and one-sided.
The son of a Virgonese expatriate turned political science professor and a quickly aging woman who never fully walked away from her passion for protest, it could be said that Daniel was raised in an informed household that always smelled vaguely of newsprint. The bedtime stories about bears and lions were soon replaced with politically satirical fables and lullabyes of good men long lost. He was taught at an early age to /think/ and to /care/ and to never compromise his morals for the better good. He was taught to lead and that good citizens needed to be in every walk of life. Homework night was a family affair filled with deeply Socratic conversations and well-thought out projects that led to scholarships and excellent introductory test scores. When the time came for Daniel to head away to flight school, his parents were proud of him for his decision to place himself in a direct position to make choices that affect the safety of the whole. His parents: political to the end.
Boot Camp and Fleet Academy yielded a newfound respect for firearms and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. The four years passed also saw the publishing of his first official work in the Colonial Military's quarterly magazines, followed by a pair of short stories picked up by a colony-wide pulp publication. Small, unimportant text interviews would reveal that he didn't have much of a social life, and sought the company of quiet libraries to keep his mind safe from the stresses of finishing his degree, which led to a revisiting of his childhood passion of writing stories.
Assigned to a squadron that oversaw the civil defense of Caprica, including regular duty providing fighter escort for political transport ships, Daniel was met with even more time to pursue his craft. At the age of twenty-six, he finished "Into The Pale", his first novel was published. The war novel about the experiences of a poor Aerilonian going city-mouse into the Cylon War was approved by the Colonial Military and passed on to find critical success across the Colonies.
Given leave for a signing and media tour, Daniel met Penelope at a press event on Scorpia and the two were soon wed. Within a year she was pregnant, but the reality of his military service settled in. She wasn't emotionally prepared for his regular deployments, and the two drifted apart. Penelope found a new interest in David Aacker, and quickly decided that since young Jamey was less than two years old that she would ask Daniel to allow her to raise Jamey to accept David as his father. Outraged, Daniel fought the proceedings with the aid of a JAG from the Colonial Military, but a profanity-riddled tirade recorded over a phone conversation sealed Daniel's doom, and custody was awarded to Penelope and David. Forced away from his son, Daniel buried himself deeper into the Colonial Military, signing on for an eighteen month deep-space duty in hopes that the distance will help him find peace and allow some time to prepare for the attempt to get his son back.
