[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180328/161dbfb1e830dd8daf87025f0df6424e.png[/img][/center] [right][hr][color=gray][b]Smith's Rest, New Anchorage | Operations HQ[/b] Present Day[/color][hr][/right] [indent] [color=808080]“Hold up there, Percival,”[/color] Alan stated abruptly, leaning down to assist the man as he struggled with his pack. [color=808080]”Focus on the bare necessities,”[/color] he mused, [color=808080]“and stick with a weapon you’re comfortable with too.” [/color] Percy’s eyes narrowed at Alan. He looked angry that Alan would even be so condescending to treat him like an idiot.[color=lightsteelblue][b]“Well no, duh. I just — I got distracted, whatever, I got it, leave me alone.”[/b][/color] [color=808080]”You’re fucking sauced,”[/color] Alan whispered almost inaudibly into Percy’s ear. The smell of booze was obvious, and his bloodshot eyes were an almost dead giveaway as well. The wastes were full of many things, and it had drunks and booze hounds to spare. [color=808080]“So drop the pissy act and let me help you. There’s no reason to get your ass thrown in the brig for showing up to assignments drunk, after all.”[/color] Alan’s sudden forceful nature came out of nowhere; a side of him that he hadn’t portrayed in his entire time in New Anchorage. The only person around that [i]would[/i] have seen this side of Alan was busy being a fussy brat in the barracks, and she wasn’t one to share the times he’d had to save her vulgar ass. [color=lightsteelblue][b]“I’m not drunk,”[/b][/color] Percy replied, sort of pushing Alan away - not hard, but enough to make him take a step back. [color=lightsteelblue][b]“I’m [i]hungover[/i]. There’s a difference - unbearable headaches, for one.”[/b][/color] [color=808080]“Breath that smells like death for another one?”[/color] Alan ribbed, pulling out useless items like a cooking stove and a second radio, [color=808080]”But whether you’re coming off it or just getting on the wagon, brass doesn’t take too kindly to soldiers who aren’t as awake, alert or useful. And right now you’re gonna be dead weight if you don’t sober up.”[/color] [color=lightsteelblue][b]“Am I ever [i]not[/i] dead weight?”[/b][/color] Percy laughed, grinning like somehow that was hilarious he just said that. Perhaps it was hilarious to Percy. Alan gave Percy a cold, unparsed stare. He and Stein could have had a ‘cold stone face’ stare down contest with that look. It was obvious that Alan did not take Percy’s self-deprecation in stride. [color=808080]”If you wanna come home to your little girl in one piece, I suggest you start working on [i]not[/i] being dead weight. Dead weight is the first to get picked off or left behind.”[/color] [color=lightsteelblue][b]“Don’t you bring my daughter into this,”[/b][/color] Percy’s tone got defensive, [color=lightsteelblue][b]“You don’t have the right, dickhead.”[/b][/color] [color=808080]”I’d rather not see any more kids end up like me, Percival.”[/color] Alan threw the last of the useless junk into the locker and got up. [color=808080]”Alright,”[/color] he paused, staring at Stein for what seemed like too long of a moment, [color=808080]“should...I call you Commander? I mean, you’re taking point for this mission, right?”[/color] He prayed with every fiber of his being that Stein would take the reins. The thought of being responsible for the lives of these two made his stomach twist into knots. He was intimidated by Stein and he didn’t want to see Percy die on his first sortie with him. And part of him believed that if he were in charge… [color=808080][i]It would wind up just like that day outside Dead Springs.[/i][/color] [color=dodgerblue]“Correct. You’re both acting like idiots, I advise you to stop acting as such considering we do not need any liabilities in the field.”[/color] Stein uttered, having watched the entire altercation, her tone as monotone as it usually was despite it being no secret that she did not think the conversation between both grown men was valuable. [color=808080]”Wise words, Commander.”[/color] Alan said with a grunt as he threw his own pack over his shoulder. His tone was not completely respectful, but he was making his way towards the locker room exit. [color=808080]”Welp, no use wasting any more daylight.”[/color] [/indent] [right][hr][color=gray][b]Transport Vehicle | En Route to Falcon’s Reach[/b] Present Day[/color][hr][/right] [indent] [hider=Alan's Music] [youtube]https://youtu.be/xjsIo3qnrfY [/youtube] [/hider] Alan was busy fiddling with a PDA in his seat, looking over differing bits of data while music softly played from his device, and he rhythmically swayed a boot-covered foot to the dark guitar chords and twangs which easily gave away his southern roots. He kept it low enough not to be obnoxious, but he had no idea if Stein or Percy would find the bluegrass twang too much for their [i]sensitive[/i] ears. Falcon’s Reach was a few hours drive away and the thought of engaging either Percy or Stein in actual conversation seemed more dangerous than trying to creep through a minefield. Percy was also messing with his datapad, double and triple checking that he told Zach to keep Ana there for a little bit longer - he didn’t trust anyone at base to keep an eye on her, so she may as well spend more time with the guy. Percy was almost jealous of him - what gave Zach the right to have more time with his child than him? He felt that it was bullshit. Percy should be there with her right now, not him. But it was sort of his own fault, wasn’t it? The silence was cold and awkward. The music could only distract Alan for so long, before the swaying of his foot became restless. The maps and dossier info could only hold his attention for so long, and he finally broke the silence.[color=808080]”Uh,”[/color] Alan muttered, looking around at the two, trying to break the icy silence. [color=808080]”So...what do you two do for fun? When...we’re not...doing training or being attacked?”[/color] [color=dodgerblue]“I am not sure what fundamental purpose that holds for the task at hand?”[/color] Percy looked up from the screen, looking at Alan like he was insane or something. It was a look that stated, [i]dare he start idle conversation?[/i] But he humored him; the silence started to become deafening, and he was horrified of where his thoughts would go anyway. [color=lightsteelblue][b]“I used to take photos.. I kinda know how to whittle, sorta... Um…”[/b][/color] Percy actually looked a little bit surprised at himself; he really needed to get a damn hobby! All he had been doing is caring for Ana and doing… [i]this[/i]. Did he really have the time to pick something like that up, though? [color=lightsteelblue][b]“What about you?”[/b][/color] He responded to Stein first, [color=808080]”Geez Commander,” [/color] again, his usage of ‘commander’ did not seem all the bit reverential, [color=808080]“you’d think you’d want to know more about the folks you’re working with.”[/color] He turned to Percy, [color=808080]”I collect books. Well, holonovels, anyways. I have about three thousand or so volumes collected now.”[/color] [color=dodgerblue]“I have read both of your dossiers. I don’t see why I need to know anything beyond that.”[/color] Stein replied – directly commenting before Percy had a chance to reply himself. [color=lightsteelblue][b]“Oh… Nifty.”[/b][/color] The way Percy said that made it very clear he didn’t find it nifty. [color=808080]“So when a pilot gets emotionally compromised, what will you do? Threaten them and then walk away? Shoot them?”[/color] Alan seemed slightly cross with her. [color=808080]”Pilots are humans. And piloting an NC? It can fuck with the brain. You talked about liabilities earlier. So what happens when someone [i]does[/i] become a liability?”[/color] [color=dodgerblue]“You [i]stop[/i] them from being a liability.”[/color] [color=808080]”Spoken like a true soldier.”[/color] What made her any different than any other NC pilot that worked for the cities? Just because she was indie now was meaningless, wasn’t it? She was just a fucking machine, programmed by Volkov to kill. Was she any different than those sent by Fairbanks to destroy his home? He stared at her again, closed his eyes, sighed and finally went back to his PDA, his hands shaking slightly. [color=dodgerblue]“It’s what I am, yes.”[/color] She responded matter-of-factly, pausing for a moment before turning to him and continuing her line of thought. [color=dodgerblue]“However, I don’t disagree that understanding your comrades is valuable. Knowing your comrades is needed to predict the battlefield. But knowing insignificant bits of information like communal hobbies is not part of that need. I operate as per the mission and my orders. I will not hesitate to take a discharged bullet or thermal blast for New Anchorage. I will not hesitate to kill for New Anchorage. I do not need to know if you enjoy the holovids of Marion Trovoski to do so.”[/color] There was something… [i]calming[/i] about that reponse. Alan wondered if that’s why he found himself at times drawn to her. She always seemed [i]calm,[/i] beyond the cold. It pissed him off at times, and perhaps that’s why he constantly found himself being too casual, too forward, too condescending… [i]She was everything he wasn’t.[/i] [color=808080]”I—”[/color] he sighed, [color=808080]“—I apologize for being short with you, Commander.”[/color] This time there was no venomous undertone to the word. [color=808080]“I’ll shut up.”[/color] He said, pulling up a holonovel copy of Browning’s [i]Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came[/i] and silently mouthed the words to himself, lost in thought. [/indent] [i]“I shut my eyes and turned them on my heart, As a man calls for wine before he fights, I asked one draught of earlier, happier sights, Ere fitly I could hope to play my part.”[/i]