[hr][hr][center][color=olive][h1]GRAHAM[/h1][/color][b]COMMANDER GRAHAM's OFFICE, NEW ANCHORAGE
[sub]AFTERNOON[/sub][/b][/center]
[hr][hr]
It had been nine days since Graham had given his ultimatum to his pilots, and already things were starting to sort out. Though, it wasn’t without issue; he had already lost one pilot due to the way he had set down his rules and expectations, and he expected that Yeshua Horowitz was only going to be the first of them to ask for dismissal. But it did strike him as odd that Yeshua was the first pilot to leave New Anchorage considering his [i]history[/i]. 

Before acquiring the NC known as Anzu, Yeshua had been trained meticulously at a Paragon-owned training facility in the southern German provinces. Much like Stein Kalfox and Alexander Sky, they had been trained with expectations and requirements that were demanded to be met or face consequences— so the fact that him wanting out of Alaska with tail between his legs, no matter how eccentric he was, was definitely odd. Looking into it all morning, Graham couldn’t find out anything that suggested Yeshua had problems with his fellow pilots or New Anchorage’s faculty; the kid just nonsensically decided he didn’t want to be in Alaska and decided to pay the fines that went with him ending his contract prematurely. Before the other pilots had even been awake Yeshua had disappeared and Anzu along with him.

But what was done was done— he didn’t need to play detective. He sighed as he looked through the files on his computer; his right hand scrolling through files as his left hand held a cup of cocoa-infused coffee that he brought to his lips. 

The reports of the first week of NC pilot activities and training was disappointing outside of the progress of his favored pilots who did as he expected them to— Kalfox had no pastimes outside of training, Smith was out to prove she was just as good as the “young blood”, Van Gent oddly worked well under pressure, Styles was as tenacious as she was blunt, and Jackspar was out to show she could rise to the challenge. The rest of the pilots had a variety of concerns due to what they had shown Graham; Moore was a coward who had no teeth, Sky was foolish in his impulses, Maverick was an inquisitive reporter out for a story, Strange was a vivacious cripple, Verona was forced to be here, and Ray had shown him absolutely nothing. Between himself, Marek, and Lofgren they had a [i]lot[/i] of work to do to turn them into something worth keeping.

Rebecca Marek had been responsible for leading the mandatory physical training which she called “pilot boot camp” for the last week and she had done an excellent job providing reports back to him, which was a pleasant surprise considering how... casual she was when she didn’t have responsibilities; he had heard of her reputation back in Denver-Vegas from her former commander, Kaylin Bruere. He felt at least a little [i]impressed[/i] by Marek's efforts and was starting to feel he hired the right woman— if anyone could drive New Anchorage’s pilots into what Graham needed them to be it was her.

Graham looked at the clock on his computer. 

[i]12:55.[/i]

The pilots morning drills by Marek were over and they were just now finishing lunch; which went into a period he hadn't assigned yet. Though he was considering marking it to Lofgren in a few days, after he had taken care of putting some more of his money into the simulation pods. The VR was up-to-date, but the pods sure as hell were not.

[color=olive]“One step at a time.”[/color] He told himself out loud, [color=olive]“What would she tell you right now?”[/color]

[color=olive]“You’re driving yourself crazy, crackers.”[/color] 

He laughed as he leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he took another drink of coffee.