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No questions, but having plenty to say it seemed.

Tahlia Styles was the kind of roughneck fighter he needed on his squad and even with her nonchalant bluntness it might’ve been a good thing to have around— and she knew protocol, which is more than he could say for some of the members of his group. Red-Star had done well with this one. It was interesting to see how different the two former Red-Star employs were despite both following protocol to Graham; it was as if one was fully confident and comfortable in who they were while the other was mincing his words to save face. But then again if his battles were anything to judge he wasn’t perfect in judging character off first impressions. But his gut definitely told him a story about Alexander and Tahlia, and given what he had read in their dossiers it seemed some math wasn’t adding up where it should have.

“It’s fine, Styles.” He began before his eyes drifted to the reporter who had some experience of her own to note.

“As for your question, Maverick— I’ve been looking at a databook of various options to begin our operations. You could be in the American Northwest for some time or you could end up doing a contracted job for Magen in the Middle East or Paragon in Central Europe. There are a lot of things to consider but I’m not ruling anything out.”

With that answer out of the way he looked to Jingo and the Horowitz kid.

“Unless someone else has another inquiry, I believe we can get out of this snow and inside to the main facility?”

With little objections to his ultimatum of shaping up or leaving aside, Graham reached to his belt and withdrew a synthetic cigarette from a pack before striking it on the flint casing of the belt’s compartment before placing it in his mouth. If there were no more questions he would lead the group into the main part of the base— he had two more stops before he unveiled something that would either make or break the group.

---

Jingo was itching to get on the move, he had not disembarked from a four day train ride just to wait on a platform as people flouted questions at a man that frankly didn't appeal to him. He hopped from foot to foot in agitation, being careful not to step on Skitters - who took the moment to lie down and recharge his batteries, vibrating gently as dynamos whirred happily in his torso.

His mind cast back to earlier days, when he first came to what was then Smith's Rest. It was a different time that much was for sure, the base was nothing but a collection of barracks like building and a hanger or two, but looking around him he was impressed by the amount of headway that had been done. Or maybe he just missed all of it. Jingo returned his attention to Graham, he gave him a narrowed eyed stare with his good eye before speaking.

"Wit all due respect Commander, te only Oi care about is meeting te old crew. He began, "Ar all o' tem still around?" He winced a little after he was done speaking, he hadn't realized how strong his accent had gotten until then. Before returning to Falcon reach it had all but disappeared after years of living in Alaska, but the moment he got back it returned to him as if it had never left and now he found that it was even harder to shrug off then it was before.

---

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---

Graham blew out a puff of smoke from the synthetic cigarette.

The people Jingo remembered had shifted a bit since their time together, but as far as Graham had read there were no distinct roster depatures outside of Madison Cole who had been stricken to a coma due to her injuries of her battle several months ago; all Graham knew about it was that it was a comatose state that was a byproduct of neural something or another. Doctor Bonheur had the details if the new recruits cared to know it. He didn’t know if Jingo had any real comraderie with the girl, but if he did the news that she was still in a coma might’ve caused an unease in him. But Graham didn’t sugarcoat anything and he wasn’t about to start now.

“Excluding Madison Cole who is still in the ICU with a bad case of neural psychosis, the people you remember from when you worked to protect Smith’s Rest are all still here. There’s two newer recruits you might be unfamiliar with though—Jan Van Gent and Stein Kalfox. But you will know them soon enough.”

To those who were familiar with the “important” NC pilots of the modern age, the stories of the mercenary Jan Van Gent and the Volkov Corporation’s “Little Dragon” were familiar and may have come as surprises considering their reputations. Jan had been a bit of an unruly and independent personality that worked as he found missions across the world, never really sticking to one place— but also had a particularly distasteful relationship with outfits like Fairbanks and Red-Star. Stein had only been ten years old or so when she got her first kill and within two years of that kill had become somewhat of a “prodigy” for mech combat and few survived encounters with her or her squadron that was headed by Volkov field captain Roxa Vox.

Roxa Vox.

Graham paused in his thought as the name brought back memories… angry and bitter memories.

“We’ll get you situated and introduced with them when we get to the Mess Hall.” Graham said as he kept walking—passing through the doors of the main facility. The new pilots following him through the corridors that followed.

Alexander's heart dropped; even in his time laying low, he had heard of Jan and Stein; two of the best known pilots in recent history. They were in New Anchorage?! How should he react? They were known to be very good pilots - possibly better than him, and with their own reasons to dislike him for being Red-Star. Especially as he had heard that Jan Van Gent had killed Fubuki, one of the 'solo players' of Red-Star. Did Jan hate all Red-Star and Fairbanks pilots, or was it just a few? As for Stein, she was frightening too - killing at ten?!

He wasn't worthy, and Graham, Graham or the Former Commander must have had a magnetic personality if they were able to attract them to their side. This was, this was overwhelming. As he followed Graham through the corridors, he tried to steady himself, and noticed that Graham, once more, had established a deeper grip into his mind, not one that would blind him - he was sure that even Graham didn't want blind obedience, but, well, it was one that made Alexander see the man as someone who can get him what he wanted - a life better than what he had before, a life for any children he had or might adopt that was better than what their parents had before, and a world that is slightly better than the present.

Also, one last thing; they were rumored to be, well, very handsome and beautiful, especially Stein. Yes, his thoughts had turned towards that direction.

Tahlia was right; you're a child, the rational part of Alexander murmured to him. But you'll grow up; like Graham said, you're no longer a child in an Iron Giant.

"No, I'm no longer a child in an Iron Giant," he whispered to himself. Graham had seriously impressed Alexander with that speech, showing that he was more than your typical despot. Disagree with him about Morality all you like, fact was still that when people like him spoke of honor and integrity, he listened.

---

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---

It had been several minutes since Graham showed up in the depot to grab the new recruits to escort them to the Mess Hall. With all of the curiosities he had answered it had taken him marginally longer than he had initially predicted, which wasn’t bad in itself and he did not want to interrupt his known pilot’s lunch too early considering what was ahead. As the group of pilots followed him into the Mess Hall Graham’s eyes met with the exhausted, or bored, visage of Command Officer Jon Ignan who he had assigned the task of recording the NC pilot attendance. Whilst he obviously respected Graham by the way he stood up from his seat it was dead obvious that he didn’t want to be in the Mess Hall for some reason.

“Ignan.” The dark-haired commander spoke clearly.

“Commander.” Ignan replied as the stoic young man eyed the rest of the pilots with an air that gave off the impression he was decidedly unimpressed. Following his glance he then handed over the datapad that he held in his hands to Graham. As he did this, Graham could feel something was off when Ignan shot a glance to one of the pilots, Jan Van Gent, and when he read the datapad himself he saw why.

Damn it, Van Gent.

Whilst Graham didn’t show an expression of irritated, he wasn’t too thrilled one of his current NC pilots didn’t know what the idea of “be on time” meant. It would be something he would have to make sure he knew in due time and even though Jan Van Gent came from an independent background he knew he had experience where schedules were important; but maybe he didn't think a mandatory lunch was important enough to set a proper schedule for. Whilst Graham did agree that it did seem pointless without the proper information, taking orders without information was kind of in the job description. He took a light breath as he handed the datapad back to the command officer.

”Very well. You are dismissed, Ignan.”

“Many thanks, commander.”

“Pilots—” Graham stated with authority before he removed his cigarette, clearing his throat. “—If you could join my little tour, I have an announcement that concerns you all as well. Yes, even you Van Gent. But before we head off, feel free to introduce yourselves to the new blood to get that out of the way if you could?”

The blonde-haired twenty year old had sprung to attention first-most, but that was probably was one of the things Graham had gotten to expect— even with Dr. Lofgren’s report that suggested something was up with Stein’s neural readings. But he figured that would have his bases covered with that fairly soon.

“Stein Kalfox. I pilot Unit 06, The Little Dragon. Previously I was a pilot for the Volkov Corporation’s Seattle branch from 2667 to 2677. I look forward to seeing how you fare in battle.”

Jan had been in a passive-agressive staring contest with ignan ever since he had gotten to the mess hall. Something about the man rubbed Jan the wrong way, his demeanour reminded him of the stereotypical obstructive petty officers he had worked with on previous contracts.

Still, Jan stood at attention towards Graham all the same, Igran he could annoy all he want, but Graham was the one signing his paycheck. He sighed when the commander gave him that "you're doing disciplinary chores later" look he knew all too well. On the flipside, if he ever retired as an NC pilot, he had enoug experience to start his own dishwashing business.

He glanced over the new recruits, one of them seemed to be trembling in his boots for some reason. "Van gent... welcome to the club. If you know what you're doing we'll get along fine. If not well... I'll chip in for a nice gravestone for you." He stared at the scared looking recruit with dead-serious eyes. Waiting to see whether the kid had a sense of humor in him.

---

"If you can afford a grave marker of red sandstone, then be my guest," Alex dared to smile in that moment, "Don't worry; I know how to pilot an NC just fine." Alexander responded to Jan, sighing in relief that the man didn't seem to have an automatic hate-on for Red-Star personnel.

Alex's eyes danced all over Jan's person - dark blonde hair, dark eyes, and a tan, firmly set, almost sculptured face and body; Jan seemed like a fine person, at least physically. Personality wise? Alex still wasn't confident in saying. He was definitely attractive, though. He wouldn't mind doing a little something-something with Jan, if that was ever an option. The young pilot got his head out of his fantasies then introduced himself, voice still soft:

"Alexander Sky; a shitty no-name pilot compared to you," he joked, "Glad to meet you."

"Verona, Joe Verona. Pilot of the Swarm, Unit 01." Joe interrupted the dialogue between the two in order to introduce himself as Graham requested.

The brainiac was bowing slightly instead of saluting - military salutes were a meaningless symbol. Frankly, he found introductions like these weren't even necessary; one could not tell the character of a person just by their name. It was a culmination of many things: personality, how they show themselves, how they are around friends, family, how they act alone.. so many variables that just can't be summed up with the simple utterance of a name. Verona eyed Graham a bit before continuing, figuring he knew just what was on his commander's mind.

"I'd rather not talk about why I am here this early. Anything you should know should be in my dossier."

Percy looked over to Verona curiously. He didn't think too much on his thoughts though, because soon Ana had jumped up from the table to introduce herself to these new people. "Hi there!"

The young girl grinned at the new faces in front of her for a moment before she felt Percy gently pull on her arm to get her to sit back down. The pair exchanged looks; Percy looking like Ana just killed someone, Ana having no idea what she did wrong before the adult cleared his throat.

"Sorry, commander, sir," the redhead mumbled, looking over the new faces. He definitely recognized one - Jingo Strange - and gave him a little nod before he spoke to the group in front of him, trying to calm his voice, "I'm Percy. This is my daughter, Ana—"

Ana smiled again in that moment, giving a cute wave to the new faces.

"—she's not a pilot, obviously," Percy actually hazarded a laugh at that point, like joking about a child in that situation was even laughable. That definitely was not funny, what the hell is wrong with me? He allowed himself to breathe at that point, noticing how hot his face felt. Just breathe.

Alexander waved back at Ana, before walking over to where Percy, Joe and the little girl were. He then smiled, introducing himself again, a bit louder for those that didn't hear previously. "My name is Alexander Sky, but you can call me Alex, or Sky."

He then looked to Percy, his gaze never lingering in one place for too long. The redhead was very pleasant for Alex to look at. His eyes were pleasantly spaced apart and had the color of rainclouds, his face was adorned with freckles that weren't too dark or too light on his face, as well as stubble that offset any femininity Percy had in his facial region. Alex usually never liked stubble, but for this man, it made him appear older. He looked like he had more experienced with life in general. Jan might've been attractive, but Percy was absolutely boyfriend material. Then Percy coughed softly, breaking the few moments of silence and throwing Sky off his lovely train of thought.

"I can see where your daughter gets her looks from; you're very handsome," Alex smiled as he spoke, "You've also raised her to be happy, which shows, well, a kind and caring nature," the twenty-four year old's eyes were glistening with happiness, the smile on his face eager.

Percy wasn't sure how to take the compliments. At all. He just nodded a little bit, looking over Alex - especially his smile. It creeped Percy the hell out. He smiled politely, nodding again, "Thanks?" his tone was more questioning than saying it. Is this guy seriously coming onto me? The discomfort on his face was fairly obvious, but he kept smiling, hoping it hid the awkwardness.

Alexander then glanced over Joe; finding him relatively short, pale, and underweight... but with a small, thin face and pinkish lips, as well as short-cropped hair, he found him mildly appealing. Jan was Hot with a capital H, Percy was someone he'd want to spend his life with, but Mr. Verona wasn't that bad if his gaze lingered for more than a few seconds.

"Mr. Verona," the former Red-Star pilot continued, "you seem to not like talking with people, if you don't mind me saying. Will you be okay working with people you don't know, then?"

Joe Verona looked at Alexander after hearing his name, he spoke bluntly and to the point: "When I work with people, I get to know them."

"A good answer, Joe," Alexander replied. "Well, I look forward to working with you, then."

Alex then turned his attention to the freckle-faced redheaded Percy, laughing softly before speaking, "I can be a bit too forward sometimes. Sorry, Mr. Percy." Alexander gave a slight bow, bobbing his head a little, looking adorable as he did so. "My compliments still stand, though."

An audible sigh left Commander Graham as he shook his head, his patience being obviously tested. “If you two want to fraternize there will time for it when you aren’t on my damn schedule.”

---

No sooner did Commander Graham enter the mess hall with the recruits in tow, did Eli bolt upright, yanking her hood back from her head and coming to a rigid salute. Her attention went to him — the "new blood" more periphery than anything— as he settled his business with who she could only imagine was some form of glorified secretary.

Beside her, she heard Vera scramble into the same uniform attention, and Eli might have smiled with pride had she the will to break formation. At least she wasn't alone, Stein reliably went to attention, as did Van Gent of all people, so at the very least they wouldn't be coming off as sloppy or unorganized. Graham asked for their introductions, and Eli did not pull the hand from her head, but she did glance over the unfamiliar faces. A range of ages, from those who looked young as herself, to the middle ground where she figured Percy and Jan stood, to the...well, she'd spent too much time around her mother to have low expectations of the elderly, so she went with considering the aged woman as "weathered". Then of course there was the familiar face of John Strange, one she did not expect to see again, but was inwardly relieved nonetheless, since she at least knew he could pilot well.

Ana spoke out of turn not too far from them, and though Eli could feel no disappointment in her, she felt a swell of pride for Vera. The two had gone over regulation numerous times, especially regarding what was and absolutely was not acceptable in front of Commander Graham. Beside her, the younger girl was quiet as the grave, ushanka pulled down and held behind her back with the stern, alert expression Eli had taught her. No smiling, no laughing, no breaking. A quiet honesty in the back of her mind mourned the loss of Vera's joviality, even if it was only temporary, but it was a necesasry sacrafice to ensure she was not seen as a nuisance.

When it was her turn, Eli stepped forward, tugging the scarf down just enough so as not to muffle her voice, though it still remained high up her chin.

”I pilot Unit 03, Blur. My name is Eli, and this,” she gestured to Vera, who remained still as a statue. ”Is my assistant, Vera Voloshyna.”

For a moment, brief as it was, Eli silently scanned across the recruits, meeting cold, harsh eyes with any that she could, as if a dare to question Vera's presence, or her status. A preemptive indignance grew within her, something she knew later she'd feel guilty over, but she would not be doubted by recruits, she would not be doubted by anyone without the authority to act on their doubts.

Then, fluidly as if there had been no pause at all, she concluded. ”The people of New Anchorage are depending on us, do not let them down."

Agatha Smith

Mess Hall, New Anchorage

---

It was with no miniscule amount of effort that Agatha refrained from snatching the cigarette's from out of Tahlia and Graham's lips. They had already had established preconceptions about her being an old codger, there was no reason to validate that concern by forcing her own beliefs upon them like a senile grandmother. That didn't mean she had to like it, and she had rather hoped that such an upright and stern commander wouldn't be so susceptible to lesser vices. Give it decade or two and he'd be paying the piper for imbibing in the weaknesses of the flesh.

Arriving at the mess hall saw them introduced to the what remained of the old guard of New Anchorage. The first of there lot to introduce themselves being that of Stein Kalfox. Prompt, courteous, and with a good deal of experience under her belt. Agatha got the impression she was Ace of the pilots here If she was right, and on matters like this she usually was, then she could see herself spending a good deal of time training with the woman a third her age. Most of these types were usually prodigies who just had a talent for piloting, but more often then people think t were hard workers who had some traits worth emulating.

Eli seemed a quiet sort with her apparent fondness for heavy garments and scarves. Generally they were reliable...or incredibly unstable. Given that she was here under Graham Agatha was leaning towards the former.

She couldn't really get a read on Jan and Joe, on account of being distracted by the last two pilots, or to be precise, the children they had brought with them. Agatha had attempted to keep her features schooled, but at the moment anyone so inclined to look her way would see confusion evident. Anyone could take a cursory glance and see that this was not a civilian dining area unless New Anchorage had some very lax standards which had yet to be corrected under Graham's administration.

More than that, these were pilots being followed around by children, one who was clearly the child of the pilot while the other seemed more like an orphan taken in or close friend. Didn't they realize how dangerous being a pilot, let alone a soldier, was? How easy it would be to leave their charges alone in the world, or worse, put them in harms way when someone eventually comes after this military installation? Word had reached her that New Anchorage had been attacked back when it was Smith's Rest, so they couldn't deny the very real possibility of being attacked again.

Why would they take the risk? How could they live with themselves if they left them in harms way while they were gallivanting across the globe?

Distant, hazy images of a sortie long since past. Towards the end of a life once lived and loved, there was a job. A group of independents based out of South America where on a job for Magen that saw the majority of their NCs deployed overseas towards the Middle East where Magen power was centralized. They were already in transit when word came through a competitor was going to sack their home in retribution for stealing the Magen job. Time wasn't on there side, and none of their own would have made it back in time, so they put out the call for aid. Agatha and her own outfit heard it and answered .

They didn't need to bother. Time favored no one that day. Not a one. What she found that day was oh so much ash, black as tar and cascading like a light snowfall. The defenders had been desperate. The raiders had been ruthless. There wasn't a better recipe for a scorched earth scenario in Agatha's experience. Hell, what else could one say was the cause of the Nuclear Apocalypse?

And amidst the ash and the ruins was a titan that had been laid low, huddled around some structure as though in a final act of desperation to shield something precious. The NC, she recalled was piloted by a charming bon vivant with cheeky sense of humor, wasn't even worth salvaging. Reduced to a molten pile of slag speckled with the drifting ash, it was a miserable sight. It wasn't till after the fact that Agatha had learned it had attempted to shield the civilian housing.

The bitter irony was they had all been crushed by the NC trying to shield them.

Graham may have thought he was the one who ended her career, but that ball had already started rolling a year prior.

So when Eli swept across the new pilots, daring anyone to question the presence of a child among them, Agatha glared right back. She had made her choice to protect her family over her pride, and while she pines for her glory days she won't regret choosing to stay with them.

Could Eli say she would be there when Vera needed her?

---

Tahlia held back for a brief moment just outside the door of the eatery. As much as she enjoyed the smell and taste of her cigarette she knew that not everyone would have the appreciate the smoke wafting around over their food. She placed the stick up to her lips and drew on the orange filter end, giving the tip a bright glow as her lungs filled with the healthy assortment of toxins and chemicals that was bound to kill her eventually, that was unless another NC killed her first.

"Close enough," She spoke to herself as she pulled out the smoke, glancing at the fact that it still had about a centimetre of good tobacco left before it dead. She twisted it around in her fingers, placing it between her index and thumb before giving a flick out into the snow outside. The gentle hiss could be heard as it instantly extinguished itself on the cold landing. Tahlia turned and stepped through the doorway to see that the others had already started their greetings, Alex at the forefront introducing himself and getting extra friendly with the man who called himself as Percy, while some of the others were standing as ridgid as telegraph poles, saluting their superior. She knew that this wasn't going to be a full on military team, that their skills and view of order may be lacking, but the children that were accompanying their elders came as an eye opener to the Tahlia.

One child, a girl with a name of Ana, was what looked like to be a child less than ten years old. She had much of the same appearance as Percy, her father, with red hair and freckles, only younger and more feminine. The other girl had the distinct name of Vera Voloshyna. She was older, maybe a teenager, and she had the typical European like appearance from what Tahlia was able to gather. Blonde hair, bright eyes and soft skin. She dressed and acted in a similar manner to the one known as Eli, a woman who appeared as pale as the snow outside.

"Graham? I do have a question—" she injected, keeping her tone down as low as possible, purposely leaving out the 'sir' part, "Why do we have children, here, on a military base?"

Tahlia knew this was not the sort of place that one would want to bring up 'a family'. What was the chances of these children seeing something they shouldn't? Had they already seen the horrors of what was to come from operating an NC?

---

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How the hell did Red-Star allow this kind of soldier to even exist?

Michael Graham couldn’t understand how Alexander Sky was even real— at least in their shared profession and similar backgrounds. Even in the years where Graham drove the battlefield with youthful abandon and had a love with flirting with everything he saw… especially after what happened following the Elysian War he was always mindful of his behavior when in the shadow of his betters. It did not surprise him that Red-Star possibly was going to dispose the young pilot when he outlived his usefulness. In the corner of his mind he wondered how he was going to tolerate his antics on-base. This was why he preferred certain personality types to others; give him an assortment of clones of Stein, Eli, Agatha, and Tahlia any day of the week.

Not a bad idea. Note to self— hire a geneticist in the future if I can afford one.

Graham’s thoughts seemed to go on as he looked at some of the other new pilots— Penny looked like she was thinking intently on something and Yeshua was… doing some obsessive compulsive motion with his hands as he seemed to be fully distracted to pay attention to the “older” pilots or even Graham. This was the son of Otto Horowitz? The ace of Paragon? This is his gene pool? He had never met Otto, but this was quite the surprise. The boy looked the part of a librarian, not a pilot. But then again Graham knew full well manners out of machine never exactly were ensured to be the same in the machine. At the very least he was sufficiently curious to how the eccentric and silent youth was going to turn out here at New Anchorage.

Before he could consider any sort of introspection a voice spoke up— Tahlia’s.

"Graham? I do have a question— why do we have children, here, on a military base?"

To some it was the million dollar question and to others it was a fact of military life. It really depended on how you viewed children at the end of the day— and for Graham there was a multitude of reasons. He turned to look at Tahlia as he held the synth in-between his index and pointer finger on his right hand— smoke still fuming from the metal cylinder.

“So I can test them for neural plug compatibility and see their value.” He commented nonchalantly before adding on to the statement. “They are civilian residents due to the fact that they have little alternatives to go to. Both wards have been deemed to be safer behind the walls of this base then in some sad excuse for an orphanage or alternative guardian— hell, Moore is the only guardian that little girl has. I’m not damning her to an orphanage when she has a father right there to lead by example; and Jackspar’s ward is applying for civilian employ.”

“It’s also in both Moore and Jackspar’s contracts as incentive to stay on. So I guess there is a few reasons.” He said as he placed the synth back in his mouth.

---

"So I can test them for neural plug compatibility and see their value.”

Percy shot a look over to Graham, having a difficult time hiding the shock on his face. He did not just say that. He must have misheard. He must have. Graham didn't just suggest that he was possibly going to put Ana or Vera into an NC. Unless he did. If he did, he wouldn't allow that over his dead body. Graham would have to put Percy down before he ever allowed that to happen. He covered his mouth in an attempt to keep himself quiet so the commander could continue answering Tahlia's question, but just as Graham finished his statement, he couldn't keep it to himself anymore.

"You're not putting my child in one of those things," Percy's voice was calm, but it held the serious, almost scolding tone that fathers just have.

Graham looked sternly at the red-haired pilot. “Not at the moment, no. I am testing her for compatibility. Are you deaf, Moore? I would assume not, since you were taking Sky's ridiculous advancements like a girl at her first dance. What's the issue?”

"The fact you're even testing her for that is concerning me."

“It’s standard procedure; and by New Anchorage law she is old enough to make the decision.” Graham looked at Ana without considering Percy's feelings or thoughts on the matter. “Would you like to see if you have the ability to pilot a NC?”

Ana looked down to the floor, not sure if she should really speak or not. Percy had told her to not speak to him if she could help it. She opened her mouth to give a "maybe," but Percy spoke first, "I don't care what the law says. She is my child. She is not piloting an NC." The pilot's couldn't keep his tone of voice level or keep himself from getting louder at this point. The first thought to come to Percy's mind was that Graham was acting absolutely insane; especially if he thought he was going to just sit and allow him to test on his kid. Insane.

Graham moved forward, closer to Percy's face. Percy wasn’t good at confrontation— his little spat with Sophia, Stein, and Jan were proof of this in the past and it was making him feel about the same as he had before. He felt his face getting hot, his throat tense as if breathing was something he couldn't do. “Then stop me. Run away. Just like you ran away from your wife's death.” The military commander, soldier, and NC pilot shot at the man with a toxicity to his words as he grabbed the collar of Percy's shirt. A few of the armed soldiers that accompanied Graham had stepped in to prevent any of the pilots from intervening during his little "lesson"; as if on instinct or some sort of mental command from their commanding officer.

Percy turned his head slightly to the left. He wanted to tear into Graham's ass in that very moment, but he knew he couldn't. Not in front of Ana.. or any other person, really. Graham could probably tell Percy wanted to wring his neck, or punch him in his damned face, but the pilot didn't do either of those things, or anything else. He was shaking from both the adrenaline and the fear that he was about to get beat himself.

“That’s what I thought.” Graham replied at Percy’s non-reaction as he removed his grip from his collar with smoke blowing in the pilot's face before he pushed forward with a bit of force— sending Percy’s ass down to the bench behind him. Did that just happen?!

Ana had stood up just a moment before Graham shoved her father to the bench, shock on her face. Why would Graham bring up her mother like that? She looked at her father, then at Vera for a moment, like she was even able to do anything. She then looked Graham again, gaining the courage to shout at him, "You can't bring up my mom like that!"

Graham’s eyes looked to Ana— they were icy and angry, but he surprisngly did not strike her for her comment, despite his body language suggesting he may have very well been on the verge of doing such a thing.. In fact, her courage seemed to make the man visibly smirk before he looked to his pilots. “Heh, with that dealt with if you all could follow me to the hangar, that'd be wonderful.”

It didn't even take Percy a second to grab Ana and hold her close, covering her head with his hand before Graham could hit her. Even if Graham didn't plan to, it was his first instinct, and when it came to his child, he trusted it immediately. He then whispered to Ana, "Go to the room and lock the door. Don't open it for anyone but me. Okay?"

Ana nodded, then sprinted out of the mess hall as fast as she was able, holding back tears of both fear and confusion for when she got into the room and locked the door.

Before Percy's outburst, Alex was focusing on this part of Graham's reply, finding it the most relevant:

"Both wards have been deemed to be safer behind the walls of this base then in some sad excuse for an orphanage or alternative guardian— hell, Moore is the only guardian that little girl has. I’m not damning her to an orphanage when she has a father right there to lead by example; and Jackspar’s ward is applying for civilian employ.”

Not that he wasn't appalled by Graham's words about testing Ana for NC compatibility, and even more appalled by the exchange between Graham and Percy. Appalled, frightened, and and above all, angered. Curling his fist, he didn't know if he should resort to physical violence, shout at Graham, or console Percy. Or perhaps a combination of either of those options. Running up to just behind Graham, Alexander began to shout but before he could voice a single word the butt of an assault rifle hit the front of his face— sending him down onto the floor. The soldier in front of him shook his head as if mouthing a word: "Don't".

Alexander forced himself up, glaring at the soldier, and moved forward - he would not be stymed, he would not be intimidated, not anymore. He would keep moving until Graham heard him.

Unforunately, whatever the reaction, the soldier's response would be the same as long as he attempted to make for Graham. A fact he deduced after the second blow to his head— it was more about his movement then his vocal actions. Maybe he could appeal to Graham through his words? Still, his head felt like a thumping NC. Ouch.

Tahlia stepped forth to the man who was now lying on the ground, moving around the guards that were giving him a stern beating. She kneeled down and placed her hand on his head, pushing it down to make sure that he didn't move from the submissive position that he was locked into. "If you are going to keep lunging forward like that, blindly, then you have already proven how poor your ability to fight really is." Her words were calm, yet forceful, making sure that he understood the gravity of his own actions.

"I don't want a fight," Alexander explained, "I'm tempted to, but what I really want to say is—" his tone grew louder before being ultimately cut off by Tahlia's own words.

"You may not want a fight, but you have now entered into one, and this is a fight that you simply cannot win."

Alexander breathed heavily, trying to glare at Tahlia, but knowing that he was already making this worse for himself. Instead, he said, not trying to address anyone else; it was up to them whether they overheard or not:

"When Graham gave his speech, I thought - here was someone I can follow; here was someone who I could admire and obey—"

"That's right. You will obey your superior. You got that, slave?" Tahlia lifted his head up by his hair, looking into his eyes and making sure he understood exactly where she was coming from. She had a grit in her teeth, hoping that he would answer her correctly.

"Present generations deserve a better life than those in the past, future generations deserve a better life than that of the present; Graham can still provide that, so I'm not resigning..."

Tahlia released her grip from Alex's hair, somewhat satisfied at the answer that he had provided her. It was then Graham's voice who addressed the pilots again once the room had finally reached a quiet stand still.

“Heh, with that dealt with if you all could follow me to the hangar, that'd be wonderful.” Graham's voice concluded his altercation with Percy as he began to walk forward, the soldiers following him as he did so. It seemed he didn't have a comment on what had gone on behind his back during the altercation at all; so either he did not realize what had happened or just did not care. As far as anyone could tell it was hard to read Graham unless he wanted you to know exactly where he was coming from. A lesson Percy had learned today. Perhaps a lesson Alex did as well, but it was too soon to tell.

Watching in fear as the events before him unfolded, Joshua's view of the entire menagerie of individuals before him was shattered like a thin pane of glass being shot through by a tank. He simply did as he was told afterwards and briskly followed the group in fear. Graham was still ultimately good in his eyes, but the implications of condoning child soldiers and further still, the hinting of applying the required surgeries to be an NC pilot onto those same kids at such an early age...

Nonetheless, he kept up his pace to the hangar, his head at an angle a tad to the floor and watching his own feet.

This wasn't going to be as good of a job as he thought.. but he still needed a job.

---

Joe Verona could see where Percy's outburst was coming from, but he decided to not interject - not because it would get him in trouble, but because Graham might not have intended to cause the outburst with his remark, he was following New Anchorage's law so far, so unless Joe could prove this wasn't an accident, there was no reason for him to act. The soldier's reactions were a bit harsh though, for his taste.

Unless Graham either added more fuel to the fire, or rekindled the same outburst shortly after, there really was no reason for Joe to act.

After a few short glances at everyone's faces to determine their reaction to the situation, he noticed Percy's outburst caused another commotion between two of the new recruits, specifically Alexander Sky and a woman, who hadn't mentioned her name in Joe's presence yet.
The commotion was over rather quickly, but Joe still decided to walk to the scene to at least see if everything was alright.

"Is everything alright?" Joe asked both recruits in a tone that made it apparent he thought the answer to his question was 'No'. If he wouldn't get an answer, he would simply walk to the hangar.

Alexander looked at him like a deer caught in a headlight, saying sadly:

"Thanks. As I said, I'm not resigning, because, if you hadn't heard me, future generations deserve a better life than present ones, and Graham can still..." he trailed off, trembling.

"How can we fight together like this? There's nothing gluing us together now."

While following Alexander on the way to the hangar, Joe Verona replied: "Not right now, but on the battlefield there is one thing gluing everyone together, the increased chance to die if one is alone."

Alex felt woozy, the pain in his head finally getting to him. He wanted to say something, he wanted to doubt, he wanted to rage; if he were not in a migrane right now, he would go on a monologue about how he doubted everything Joe told him. Instead he said bitterly:

"It feels like I've been neural shocked."

Joe didn't respond, he didn't know if trying to help would be a good thing in this situation, if he even could help at the moment, so he just continued heading for the hangar.

Alexander, meanwhile, also thought: If I were with my old masters, they would have given me painkillers by now. But that line of thinking was banished by the memory of just what those painkillers were used for - a carrot and stick to guarantee his obedience.

This is still better, he said as he held his head...

---

---

---

---

The incident with Percy and the new pilot, Alexander, didn’t bother Stein in the slightest. It reminded her back when she was ten— get in line or be put in line. There was no way Percy could’ve expected to keep Ana away from a simple neurological exam to see if she had the latent talent to fly a NC. She didn’t understand his emotions, but she had gotten the same analysis when she was a little younger than his daughter. Sure, the operation that followed was intense and painful, but that would come later. It wasn’t like Graham had spare NC’s even if he did intend to prepare Ana or Vera for the occupation. It felt… paranoid.

As far as the situation with two of the newer pilots and one of the soldiers Stein had not really paid much attention to it because her eyes were on Graham and Percy the whole time. She did get an impression of what she could hear from the spat though.

“Volkov would’ve shot him. Both of them, probably.” Stein remarked with an observation as the visage of Jan Van Gent carried himself with a pace next to the blonde-haired pilot as he seemed to be just as unaffected as she was by the incidents that had happened before them.

"Eh, boss'll probably forget about me being slightly late in all this fracas, so hurray to me, eh?" Jan had regarded the entire chain of events with what looked like mild amusement. "Always funny to see people trying to argue with the CO. The way they rise up and are immediately beaten down... At least with a halfway decent commander."

He glanced at Percy. "Unfortunately for Moore, it would seem Graham most definitely is a decent commander."

If there was anything Stein could agree on was that Graham was a decent commander, at least in terms of efficiency. Whilst she didn’t understand why he physically antagonized Percy Moore, Graham seemed like a soldier that had a method to his madness at the very least. She had only spoken with the former Denver-Vegas ace a few times since he signed on but every time they had an exchange or she saw him giving orders it felt appropriate and logical. It was like a mirror of what Stein thought Sophia represented and she still felt some discontent for what she experienced under the woman despite her helping her when she had nothing.

“A unflinching one. He gives a different presence than our previous commander, I think.”

"I wouldn't know, I only knew that lady for maybe a few days before she walked out," Jan reminisced

“She lied about statistics for our mission against Red Oni and Fubuki.” Stein replied, almost as if it was meant as an interjection or counterpoint.

"Eh, math is overrated anyway, the better you plan something, the more it'll just fall apart once something inevitably goes wrong," Jan replied, reflecting his overrall demeanour quite well.

“Math can help planning, Van Gent, or did they not teach you that in mercenary school?” The comment was nearly a quip at her comrades expense— evidence that Stein was feeling more comfortable with Jan since their initial meeting in the hangar when she jarred her knee into his stomach. An odd meeting, but one she believed he had more than earned given she had warned him that she was in a bad mood at the time. Perhaps a thing the former mercenary would notice himself if he was paying attention.

"Well I didn't exactly study to be an NC pilot... That just sort of happened... interesting story actually, maybe I'll tell you when we have some R&R," Jan hadn't missed the slight change in Stein's demeanour. Gears were already turning in his head to formulate a proper verbal riposte. "Of course most of the math I do practice concerns the minimuim distance to safely fire a plasma lance... quite an important bit of rough arithmethic that, unless you want to see what it looks like when that plasma lance overheats."

“Heh.” Stein chuckled— albeit in her own monotonous fashion.

"So what do you think about the kid? As far as I can see the only thing he's proven so far is that he's got a tough skull." Jan had done nothing but silently laugh when Alexander had tried his 'heroic' attempt to intervene

Stein looked over to Alexander Sky, not caring he was in earshot. “Lascivious, Impulsive, and fatuous. I hope his skill in the NC is the opposite of what he has shown today. But I will elaborate after the commander is done with whatever it is he intends to show us.”

“I hope the same, I only fly the way I do under the assumption the rest of the squad can cover my ass. So a moron dragging us down is a good way for me to get fried." Jan put particular emphasis on the last part of his sentence, loud enough that everyone could hear it.

Agatha Smith

Mess Hall, New Anchorage

---

"Che." Agatha snorted, decorum forgotten just as quickly as everyone else had. It was one thing to understand the neccesity to teach an unruly soldier their place, but to see a commander who is trying to instill some professionalism just go and knock a man ass over kettle was a peculiar sight. Though Agatha would admit she was impressed in the little girl, Ana. That girl had more will power in her tiny frame then one would credit to an 11 year old.

Percy, on the other hand, was a disappointment in every sense. To even think you could keep a child with you on a military installation and keep them from being tested was ludicrous, and if she was positive then it would be delusional to think she wouldn't be crammed into the first available NC. If he honestly wanted to keep her away from the life of a pilot, he would have taken that girl and ran somewhere far off and forgotten. Graham definetly drove home Percy's cowardice to Agatha at least. He was either too attached to his life in New Anchorage or too comfortable in the life style to consider leaving. If he didn't value Ana's freedom to choose her future, then that was only a demerit against his parenting skills and character.

Ana would make a good pilot when he either got court martialed for trying to kill Graham or just outright ran away. Agatha thought she was made of the same metal Stein was forged from, if she had to hazard a guess.

Alex's outburst was largely within her expectations for him. He was cute in that puppy dog kind of way, thought it was signifigantly marred seeing him drool of everyone he met. Agatha might of had the displeasure of working for a self proclaimed 'Harem King' once upon a time. It wasn't a pleasent work environment, and too say the least there tends to be a horrible group dynamic when everyone wants to bone one individual. Especially if they drop dead from sniper fire or stray artillery, then morale just hits rock borrom, but that's more of a story for, well, never. Agatha was pretty sure Alex was going to be a bleeding heart, moral centric sort of person.

Always the first to snap under the pressure of an unkind world. What a waste.

Feeling exhausted from all the introspection, Agatha let out a world weary sigh before walking off after the departing group. At least Joe seemed sensible, Stein too given she didn't have an asinine outburst during the whole encounter. Really, the old timer just wanted to get information on her fellow pilots beyond her own observations, because she was starting to get concerned about their chances in combat.

---

Jingo felt nothing but sympathy for Percy, he was being a good father and couldn't see why people were casting such scorn on him. Following at a distance behind the rest, Jingo slowed to a stop by Percy's side, his eyes still on the backs of the others as they shadowed Graham.

"Me mum would 'ave 'pproved," he mumbled, chewing the inside of his intact cheek, "As do I." Jingo dropped down a little so that they were pretty much level, turing so that he could see percy from the corner of his vision. His mother had always objected to him becoming an NC pilot, from the first day he was offered the position she had begged him not to take it - it was dangerous and everyone in Falcon's Reach knew it.

Percy glanced over to Jingo briefly, not understanding at first. Then, based on the context, he said softly, "Thanks, John," He smiled for a moment before settling his eyes forward again. At least Jingo was on his side about it. If Percy was to be honest, Jingo was probably one of the two people he actually enjoyed working with, the other being Eli. Even if she and Percy didn't talk much, he never really felt like she considered him as 'lesser' or anything like that, and obviously Jingo didn't feel like he was above him either. Everyone else was on a damn high-horse, insane, or both.

"Please Percy, Jingo." He now turned his eyes fully onto Percy, looking at him intensely with his good, grey eye.

Percy would have said something in response, but he couldn't really think of what to say. He didn't exactly feel intimidated, but at the same time, getting a close look at Jingo's face was a little.. daunting. He simply nodded instead of speaking.

"Ye see, when I were a lad, me mum always wanted te do tha best fer me," he thought back to when he was younger, when his mother wouldn't let him out of the house, "She loved me, and she ne'er hid it from anyone. As far as Oi'm concerned, yer doin' a great job." Jingo blinked away an impending tear. "Yer doin' a fine job.."

Percy grinned again and gave Jingo a friendly nudge as he mumbled, "Stop gettin' all emotional, man. You're ruining the whole 'scary big guy' thing you've got going on."

Jingo looked at Percy and cocked his head to the side, giving him a hard look before he cracked a toothy smile, "Yer probably right." He rose up from his crouch to his full hieght, giving Skitters a pat on his side on the way up, "Shall we get going then?"

Percy stood from the bench and started to follow the group to the hangar, slowing for a moment so Jingo could follow. Jingo practically dwarfed the man as they walked side by side, catching up to within a few yards of the group; as they followed, Skitters trotting merrily between them and Jingo shifted his bag to his other shoulder so he could see Percy better. He cleared his throat.

"Would ye.. Uh.. Would ye know when Madison is out of tha infirmary?" he formed the words through an unsure mouth, he found it hard to imagine the girl having hurt herself bad enough to be stuffed in an ICU. Images of pipes and restraints came to him, much like what he went through when he was in the same situation.

"From what I know, she's still in a coma," Percy said, a bit slowly, like he didn't want to have to say that, "I'm not sure about specifics, I just make sure she hasn't died." the redhead looked down at the floor, breaking whatever eye contact they had made for a couple seconds. A part of him almost felt like it was his fault that she was in such a state, and he didn't want Jingo to see that. He knew that, logically, it wasn't - he didn't do anything that would have lead to her going into the ICU - but it didn't really stop him from feeling like he did.

Skitters looked up at the pair from where it was, trotting between them, it's camera zooming in on their features and regestering the morose expressions in both of them. It brushed up against Percy's leg much like a cat would, looking up at him and checking for any change in expression before doing the same to Jingo.

Percy gave the robot dog a look-over, giving him a little pat on his head before it clicked - this was a robot dog. His calm changed into more of a surprise. "How long has this been a thing?" Percy put his hand on Skitters' head again and looked him over again. "I definitely don't remember it being here before." Jingo snorted, looking down at Skitters with a look of adoration.[/color]

"Remember when ee left?" he asked, "Te settle those issues with me inheritance?"

"Yeah."

"Well this bag o' bol's is part of it," He gave Skitters a friendly kick, sending it side stepping into Percy and activating it's defense. From the front of his snout, two metal contacts rose up from the metal surface and sparked, Skitters' taser snapping into life, "Come now Sk'ers, ye know ye like it."

The robot dog looked away, its tail between its legs and its defense returning back into the compartments from where they came.

Penny was somewhat conflicted in her assessment of the situation, in one sense, she wasn't entirely comfortable with children being put into testing situation with NCs but on the other hand, she knew this was the military and the tough decisions made are what is keeping Smith's Rest safe so she had no grounds to protest on beyond feeling a tad uncomfortable. She had seen children put in much worse situations around the world, such as the child soldiers that the Magen corporation were not-so-secretly outsourcing out of west Africa, Percy should be thankful that he could raise his daughter in a land free of that sort of Tyranny. She found the way that Graham put them in their place was entirely appropriate, the ends justify the means.

Apart from that little spat, she saw a lot of the newer recruits mixing with some of the established team. Although itchingly curious to ask everyone every question under the sun in an informal interview, she couldn't shake the fact she felt a tad out of her depth, apart from a few of the new recruits most of these people were battle hardened veterans, and Penny was a journalist who uses NCs to travel the world. While skilled and thoroughly trained she has probably seen the least live combat out of everyone here so she didn't want to expose any naivety before it was time for field action.

She saw Agatha Smith look at the rest of the group with a level of skepticism, someone as experienced as herself must be a little bit unsure if this eccentric group of pilots can really stay alive in battle and not jeopardize their own lives as well as well their teammates. The group then began to trail along behind Graham to the Hangar, Penny took a deep breath as she knew she was coming closer to the point having to prove herself in her trusted NC. It was terrifying but exhilarating at the same time.

Once walking Penny found herself at a good pace following directly behind Tahlia, it was a tense atmosphere but at least now the view was nice.

---

Unacceptable.

Eli’s stony surface could endure a myriad of traumas and remain unscathed, she could glare through torture if need be, but such a flagrant display of insubordination was enough to force her eyes wide. Not in anger –at least not at first– but genuine shock and deniable fear, fear for New Anchorage. In her mind she could almost see it, the settlement a fiery ruin and their fractured team powerless to help. She swallowed hard, her throat constricted in protest.

She saw them dead, all of them in flashes. The Papa Mike torn in two, Stein hanging limp from the bullet-riddled cockpit of the Little Dragon, Swarm and Goldenspur smoldering wrecks, and Blur impaled upon its own sword.

She dragged her bloody, broken body across the snow, clawing her way towards the horrific sounds rising from the fresh ashes of New Anchorage. Over the raging fire and artillery she could hear screams, every dying citizen, everyone she’d never met and everyone she’d ever known. Desperate, indignant, futile, only to die coughing up her lungs a mile off with nothing to mark any of their graves but the blizzard turning their NC’s into massive dunes of frost.

Her skin went cold, like her bones had turned to ice. The chilled air condensed in her throat, and she felt as though she were drowning from the inside out. Was this what it was like to die? Perhaps that was why her chest was heavy, and she couldn’t breathe, this must have been it.

Small fingers clutched her wrist, and it was all Eli could do not to shout. Reality took hold once again, and at the same time that she realized this, an involuntary gasp filled her neglected lungs. Slight but sure, her hands were trembling from fingertip to wrist, and she shoved them into her jacket pockets. A far more potent embarrassment overshadowed her terror.

”Lizzy…”

Eli’s attention shot to the side, where Vera was still holding her wrist. She nearly gave the younger girl a hard look for breaking attention during a meeting, but quickly realized the mess hall was more or less empty now that Graham was making his way for the hangar.

Vera didn’t say anything else, the question was asked well enough by the concern in her eyes. Eli shook her head, quick and doubtful, and started after the others.

The anger began setting in, her eyes fell to the floor. Weeks, she’d gone weeks without incident. She’d gotten through successful and failed missions, Sophia’s desertion, and even the humiliating defeat in the simulation only a short time prior, and yet now after a small spat that didn’t even involve her, she was on a timer.

Every heartbeat sent a dull throb through the palms of her hands, and despite the warm clothing she could feel chills spreading like icy fingers from her spine. The outward signs were minimal, and she was convinced no one would notice, or at least be able to infer anything from the spacey breathing and balling of fists, but that didn’t help the shame. Her mother could spot the incidents a mile away, and Eli would have been confined the moment her focus had faltered. Vera could see them coming too, part from experience and part from the girl’s sheer attentiveness to people.

Eli could only pray that the tour would conclude quickly. The faster she could get confined, the better, then she could give more attention to the alarms going off in the back of her mind.

”Lizzy," This time Vera's tone was more assertive. She rounded up in front, barring the way with more than just her body, but the assurance in her eyes. ”S'gonna be okay, whatever happens. Promise."

The words Eli wanted to say were soft and kind, that she believed in her, that she'd never let Graham or anyone put her in harm's way. But those words were stuck in her throat, and in her silence she realized it wasn't simple assurance in Vera's eyes, but fearless determination. Suddenly Eli wanted to tell her to leave, to go to their room like Ana had, and lock the door and never come out again.

Instead, "We're falling behind," was all she could muster, before pushing on after the rest of the group, cold as the world outside.

She didn't hear Vera's footsteps following along for a few moments after.