Setting in roots (Weiss)

[Maxwell Caudle]

0800 25th September 2003, Hyperion Flight Deck

The raptor had just landed on the flight deck of the Hyperion. It seems so massive to see it, he had never seen a Battlestar, or any colonial ship before and of all of them this one was the biggest. He had no idea how he was going to find his way around the thing. He didn't have any clue even where to start. It wasn't like the ship came with a tourist map or anything to tell him where everything was. it seemed like the Raptor had flown along the side of the hulk of steal and turrets for twenty minutes before it got up to the flight pod and landed. Max wondered if you could even see from one end of it to the other when you were out there in space. They had flown so close to the side that it was hard to tell.

Now though it had finally lowered down from the flight deck to the hanger deck where they opened the hatch for him and the others to get out. "Thank you sir." He said as he walked out of the hatch on in to the light of the nearly endless hanger deck. "Yah, get of the Raptor and get movin we got to get back out of here, nugget." the Lieutenant on bird said to him before closing the hatch behind him and the others.

Maxwell stood there a moment after he dismounted the bird. He wasn't sure where to begin. Finally he walked over to where he saw a group of deck hands standing around. "Excuse me do you know where I can find the Deputy CAG?"

"Check Viper one sir." The specialist in the group said with a salute. For a moment Max was a little confused by the salute, he was used to in flight school and OCS being the one who had to do the saluting, but then it hit him he was an officer and the enlisted saluted them. He returned the salute. "At ease thank you specialist." He turned and walked across the deck. it took him nearly ten minutes to track down Raptor one. That would be his bird as well he was going to be teamed up with the best the ship had to offer.

Finally he found who he was looking for, Captain Weiss. Max dropped his two duffle bag on the ground and walked over to her and snapped himself to attention and offered a salute. "Ensign Caudle reporting Sir!" He said clearly to the woman checking over the viper.

[Erica Weiss]

Erica was irritated.

There was no particular source for her frustration, rather a series of events that led up to that moment. Shortly after dismissing her fifth ECO co-pilot, the captain was fairly convinced that no one was worthy to fly with her. She regularly demanded perfection from her co-pilot, as a means to not only set an example for raptors but for the whole fleet as well. She didn't achieve the status of Deputy-CAG by being lax, after all.

Her impossibly high standards led to a series of disagreements (or as anyone else would tell you, verbal abuse) at the current ECO, and ultimately a termination of their pitiful partnership. This pattern occurred a couple more times with a quick series of rotations, to no avail.

Weiss' insatiable drive for excellence prevented her from flying with anyone for a while longer. This, naturally, led to a growing concern by the CAG.

"You're gonna have to pick someone eventually, you know" he'd plead.

"Not a chance" the captain snapped back.

"Being a good officer, or the Deputy-CAG, doesn't mean you're exempt from protocol. You need to fly with someone, always."

Despite these heart-to-hearts, Erica refused to waiver from her position on the issue. It wasn't until a new batch of pilots were assigned to the Hyperion that the CAG finally decided to assign her someone. The CAG felt that a new, unbiased Raptor ECO would be willing to take on any partner if it meant extensive time in the field: Raptor One was noted throughout the ship for its heavy involvement in almost all important missions, so a successful taming partnership with Captain Weiss allowed for opportunities and advancement. Ensign Claude seemed like a viable candidate, and was ordered to meet up with his new flying partner as soon as he arrived.

It was at this point, Erica was irritated. Not just because the CAG forced someone on her, but because she vigilantly kept an eye on her watch, and her co-pilot had yet to arrive. To ease her frustrations, she began doing maintenance checks on Raptor One (for the 10th time now).

The captain was in the middle of examining the hydraulic side hatch when she heard a voice behind her. Her eyes shifted casually over to the scrub, and continued her work for a few more moments in silence. "You're late" she said bluntly. The two were already off to a bad start.

"I don't know what you've been told, but when someone tells you to report at 0800 hours, you don't arrive at 0800, you arrive at 0700. 'On-time' is late and 'early' is on-time. Got it?" she added. She stepped down from the raptor and strolled over to him, examining him in greater detail as she approached. Within a few steps the two were already face to face, and she was now equipped for additional scolding.

"As my ECO you're expected to wear your uniform as regulated, stand at attention properly if you're not already in your seat in the raptor, and respond accordingly to orders, and never, ever, make small talk with me" she explained. As she continued to grill the newbie, her eyes drifted down to his jacket, which was slightly unzipped to achieve a casual look. Her frowning said it all, immediate disapproval.

"Ok. Now that we got the formalities out of the way, this is my ship, Raptor One" she said, and turned to face the large ship behind her. "I'll give you the quick and informative tour ensign."

Going through textbook specs on the Raptor was something she could've done in her sleep, and as she strolled around and entered the ship, Erica continued to examine the ECO, this time with greater interest. She found it amusing how overly-attentive Ensign Claude seemed. It no doubt, was due to how she presented herself up front. Weiss was all business, and the sooner he understood that the better it would be for both of them.

Taking pride in her own brilliance, the captain also readily decided to be extra difficult to Ensign Claude. Demanding too much would take a toll on him, and he would most likely request a rotation from the CAG. If it meant being allowed to fly solo once again, then she would give him a harder time.

She almost felt bad, for settling on being difficult to such a handsome raptor ECO, but she quickly brushed those feelings aside.

After a brief introduction to Raptor One, she walked back to original position when the two met face to face. "Any questions so far?" she asked.

[Maxwell Caudle]

Max stood at attention as the woman who was to be his partner berated him for his tardiness. It wasn't totally unexpected, many officers had their way of being and when it came to new crew it wasn't uncommon for there to be a rough start. She was a Captain and was hardened in to her ways of doing things and he would have to learn how to deal with that. He would have to learn how to make the best of the situation. "Understood Sir." He replied to her comment as he continued to stand there at attention.

"No Sir no questions as of yet." He replied to her and when he was given the cue to follow her me did so. He was going to do his best to start off with the best of impression he could to make up for his tardiness. Maxwell could use the tour of the ship more then anything he was hardly able to find his way around the hanger deck and the rest of the ship seemed like it was mile after mile of steel. The Raptor on the other hand he had that down but would not speak up about it if she felt the need to show him around it.

Maxwell had studied the Raptors in detail in his off time in the academy, the whole concept of them was something that he found himself interesting in. With his educational background it only made sense to have that interest.

[Erica Weiss]

Weiss snapped her fingers, abrasively signaling the wandering eyes of the ensign. Despite dictating all the relevant information Max would need to fully understand in order to operate a Raptor, the ensign's attention was partitioned towards the new ship he was on.

It became apparent to Erica at that point that it was probably one of his first times aboard, let alone serving, aboard a Battlestar.

She sighed loudly to herself. "Well if you're not going to listen to what's relevant, might as well show you the Hyperion" she said. Without notification, the captain quickly turned around and began walking off the deck. Implicitly, the ensign was to follow behind her as she gave the tour.

Such practices were uncommon for Erica, but it was her opportunity to try something new; never before had she cared about the personal well-being of her ECOs, and only focused on whether that helped or hindered their duties as her co-pilot. Additionally, the tour would provide the perfect chance to engage in some small talk (or in her case, light interrogation) towards Max. Getting more information about the ensign meant arsenal for her to use later on when she strategically and holistically destroys his relevancy as ECO of Raptor One.

"So tell me about yourself ensign. Where are you from? Where did you study? What classes did you excel at. What are you qualifications?" Weiss asked, firing off a series of questions. As Max would go on to respond, she would in turn continue giving the tour of the Hyperion. Their next stop would be the living quarters, giving Max the opportunity to drop off his effects.