Prompt: Frances - "You know how you're the chief engineer? That means you're in charge of breathing. It also means you're in charge of suffocating." - 'The Deep'
Standing on the flight deck next to his Viper, Apollo was discussing some maneuverability issues he'd had with the fighter during his last CAP. Beside him, Chief Tyrol listened intently to the information the pilot was providing him with, knowing that any piece of information could be the key he needed to finding the problem.
Raised voices across the flight deck drew both men's attention. Beside another battle scarred Viper, Hot Dog was yelling at a young flight mechanic, who was clearly struggling to stay calm. Without a word to one another, both the CAG and Deck Boss started toward the pair.
"We face enough risks out there. We don't need another one added because some imbecile doesn't know how to fix the plane right!" Hot Dog yelled.
"Would you like to fix your own plane?" the flight mechanic asked, through clenched teeth. His knuckles were white as they clenched a too.
"It couldn't turn out any worse."
"What's the problem here, gentlemen," Apollo asked calmly, positioning himself to break up a fight if one should break out.
"The problem is this clown never bothered to fix the faulty maneuvering jets that I told him about yesterday!" Hot Dog exclaimed, not bothering to lower his voice despite now talking to a superior officer.
"I did fix it, sir," the mechanic said defensively, looking away from Hot Dog and toward Apollo and Tyrol. "If he's still experiencing issues then something else happened."
"We are working in less than ideal conditions and limited spare parts, Captain. Ideally, all these fighters should've been fitted with new parts by now but we've got to make do with what we've got." Tyrol glanced from Apollo to his mechanic. "Harper, why don't you go straighten out the issues Captain Apollo is having with his fighter, and I'll take over here."
Harper nodded and headed in the direction of the CAG's fighter.
Stepping closer to Hot Dog, Apollo lowered his voice as he spoke to his pilot. "You're still new to this game, but let me give you a piece of advice. Our fighters, are what keep us alive when we leave this ship, and these mechanics work hard to make sure they can do just that. Making the mechanics mad is liking angering a lion - it's something you just don't want to do."
"But-"
"Accidents happen all the time, Hot Dog. Everyone of us is only human, after all. I wouldn't tempt fate," Apollo told him, before turning away and leaving Hot Dog to wonder if he was serious or not.
