A Quick Diagnostics(Pacifica/deckhands/open)

[Samuel Lion]

0000 Oct 2ND 2003; deck

It was late or early depending on how you wanted to look at it. They where scheduled to go out and fly the next day or earlier the same day. Samuel had decided to go to the deck and check out his viper. He wanted to listen to it if you would. He always did a diagnostic on a bird before he flew it for the first time. Then most of the time he would do more to see if he could make minor adjustments to the birds performance. He never made major changes just tighten things here loosened something there to make just a little bit of a difference while in an engagement. Samuel had the know how to make these changes and he enjoyed customizing his bird.

He wondered around a moment before finding the diagnostic tools. He asked a deckhand if they needed it and was told not at all, Samuel helped himself. He had plugged the machine into his viper and was checking her "pulse" if you will. He didn't have clearance or time to start her up and really give her the once over but this would do in a pinch. The viper was in top order he did his pre-flight inspection and again found nothing of interest. The deck really knew what they where doing around here. Of course being the biggest baddest ship in the fleet they had all the best toys. This ship rivaled some of the large companies back on Caprica, as far as there tools went.

Samuel was making some fine adjustments to some of the components when he heard some foot steps behind him. ' Ah frak' He thought to himself. Hopefully they would merely kick him off the deck for the night and ask for there things back. Samuel of course was going to put everything right back where it cam from, but he didn't get the chance.

[Pacifica Alexander]

Pacifica had already gotten up for the day and was pulling a double to make sure things got done, sure there were others and a different chief on the deck in charge right now but she couldn't help it. It was the beginning of the war games soon and she wanted the deck to be in perfect shape. That meant keeping near constant tabs on things even when it was not her time to be doing so. For some of the other senior deck crew it was no so well liked but she kept herself from getting in their way at all. It was the saving grace to her obsession with work.

As she walked the deck inspecting each and every viper for any trouble, double checking logs, looking for obvious issues. She was with out a doubt picky when it came to the equipment. as she rounded Viper 22 she noticed something she didn't expect to see. One of the pilots running a check on the viper. After the crews had gone through and done their check he was second guessing them. on top of that he had other tools around there. be it him or someone else up put them there it didn';t look good for him. She looked at the viper and the name on the side and assumed that must be who it was. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Lion, surely you are not on my deck messing with my vipers at all hours of the night. With out the aid of a certified Viper technician, sir." Her voice was not raised he was an officer after all but it was not forgiving either. This was her deck and she didn't take kindly to intruders on it even if they out ranked her.

She walked over to him and offered a salute then stood there arms folded waiting for his excuse. She had no issue with viper pilots but they always had an excuse as to why they were messing with her vipers. "These bird belong to Senior Chief Petty officer Hoffman you know that right?" Technical they belong to the Colonial navy but on the deck the Chief of the deck controlled every little detail about them.

[Samuel Lion]

Samuel whirled around, what he saw before him was a little surprising. He saw a woman standing before him. He looked at her insignia (and hoped she didn't think he was checking her out). it said chief petty officer Alexander. Samuel faced her came to attention as well to show her respect on her deck. When he went to salute her he still had the wrench in his hands. He looked to the wrench then to her snapped it behind his back and gave a charming smile. with a slight nervous laugh he said. "Chief petty officer Alexander. Yes i am on your deck without a certified deckhands help, i do not spend all hours on your deck. IT is a habit of mine to check my vipers over very well before i fly them the first time. Since today will be my first day of actual flight in this bird i wanted to give her a thorough once over." he paused momentarily."Senior chief Hoffman should be proud this is the best shape i have ever seen a viper in. Let me give you some credentials. I have a bachelors in aerospace engineering from the top military academy in the colonies. I only make minor adjustments for what suits my flying habits and none of the changes modify the parts."he said plainly. ' the modifying comes later' he thought to himself.

[Pacifica Alexander]

Pacifica watched as he tried to hide the wrench behind his back. She was not amused in the slightest. she had seen it all from the pilots before. They thought they knew best for their birds as if the deck hands were just here to unsuit them and push their vipers in to the tube. She would give him the soft approach this time seeing as he was new. He didn't know her or how she ran her deck. Some chiefs on other ships might not have a problem with it, but here they were by the book.

"Sir I appreciate your education and training in the field and because of that I am sure you understand why naval regulation 376-4 foxtrot states that only those with naval certification are allowed to make adjustments to the equipment." It was straight forward and to the point but still polite and respectful of the rank. She had no intention of upsetting the office but she would also stand her ground.

"If you see there to be systems out of line I would be more than happy to get you the proper paperwork to fill out for the request of repairs." It offered him the chance to get what he wanted yet let them stay in regs as well.If he was willing to fight her on it she would change her tone as well and be more direct with him. She stepped forward and reached her hand out for him to turn over the tool. She was determined to make sure he was going to listen to her way of thinking on this. "If there are adjustments to be made I will personally see to it that they are made. I have never failed to keep a bird in proper working order in my career." She stood there looking him square in the eyes waiting for him to accept her suggestions.

[Samuel Lion]

Samuel let her finish her very professional speech to him. Truth be told he respected her attitude and was glad she wasn't harder on him. Samuel simply handed her the wrench, he looked almost like a kicked puppy. Samuel didn't even think about the inspection that was going to be coming the Hyperion's way for the war games.

"Chief the bird was perfectly with in regulations. You keep a good crew. I have no doubt that you keep run a tight ship and well maintained birds. If you would like i can show you what changes i made? " He then paused for her response. "Also in the future i will make sure to get your approval before making any adjustments to my bird, with the proper supervision of course." He kept his tone professional genuine.

Samuel didn't think of the ramifications that could have happened to her if the minor adjustments went unnoticed before the war games inspection. It was something he had just always done. He never thought about the ramifications to the deck hands. Samuel had always thought of himself as compassionate to the deck. Either on the other ships the deck crew where useless and never brought his bird back to regs or they knew his background and they didn't much care that he made the changes. Samuel figured it was the latter.

[Pacifica Alexander]

She smiled as he returned the tool to her. At least he was one of the wise officers that would not push the bounds to much. "Thank you for the offer of assistance sir but we will be able to handle it." She would remember that next time. When the war games were over she would make sure to catch him in his off time so they could sit down together and make an modifications to his viper that he would prefer so long as she deemed them safe and the Senior Chief authorized anything of the sort.

She did not want to do anything that would reflect badly on herself either but if he was willing to work with her she would be willing to work with him. "Thank you sir." she paused and reached a hand out to him. "Thank you not causing an issue, that's a hard trait for some officers to come across." She genuinely was happy that he was not one of those type. She had met a few officers on the ship that were trouble. Even more importantly he was not butting in to her business and keeping things professional again a trait that was good to see from time to time.

Pacifca leaned down by the Viper and began to look things over. Starting from the very bottom where the Viper met the ground. She would look the thing over bolt by bolt to make sure everything was in perfect order as she had done with all the vipers around the ship before. "After the war games come to a close come find me and I will make sure we get this Viper as close to the specs best for you as is possible." It was a little reward she offered up to him for his kindness.

[Samuel Lion]

Samuel was sure that she was going to say she didn't need assistance but he wanted to offer it any way. She seemed like quiet the book follower but hopefully they would be able to work together on his tweaks. " I had a filling you where going to say that chief." Samuel said with a smile.

Samuel reached out his hand and accepted the hand shake. "Well now some officers just don't understand that respect goes both ways in the chain of command. Besides this is your deck I'm just visiting. Thank you for the compliment chief. Although Samuel went to school and became an officer the traditional route he truly believed that everyone should have to serve a minimum of four years as an enlisted before getting there commission.

Samuel smiled when she said she would see what she could do about bringing his bird to his specs. He knew that most of his adjustments where outside of regs and a lot of deckhands wouldn't approve of his methods. The military was far to careful with the expensive birds. There engineering was hardy but they always played it safe, mostly for the aforementioned reason they where expensive. Samuel's adjustments didn't make the bird any less safe but he was going to be hard pressed to get them "approved". "Thank you chief i will make sure to find you when the war games are over. " he said with a nod and slight smile on his face. "Well I believe i will let you get to work and excuse myself, unless there is anything else?" Samuel wasn't going to press his luck it was always best to just go with the flow and hope somewhere down the line you can shift the flow in your own favor.