[center][h1][color=edb25b]JOE VERONA[/color], ALEXANDER SKY[/h1][b]MESS HALL, NEW ANCHORAGE[/b][/center][hr]
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.

[color=edb25b]"Is everything alright?"[/color] 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: [color=edb25b]"Not right now, but on the battlefield there is one thing gluing everyone together, the increased chance to die if one is alone."[/color]

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: [i]If I were with my old masters, they would have given me painkillers by now.[/i] 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. 

[i]This is still better,[/i] he said as he held his head...