[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190711/87008b871fd60a65defb1b3dec454b29.png[/img][/center][right][hr][color=gray][b]Smith's Rest, New Anchorage | The NC Hangar[/b]
January 16th, 2677 (Before the New Pilots Arrive)
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[indent][indent][indent]By the time Percy arrived in the NC Hangar, he was slightly winded and had to stop at the large doorway - if he had just walked [i]straight[/i] to the hangar it wouldn't have been so bad, but he kept getting turned around. Stupid shitty [i]scarcely legible[/i] signage. Maybe if he'd grabbed his reading glasses it wouldn't have been as awful, but [i]he didn't[/i]. He could go and get them and come right back, but it'd be a pain in the ass now that he's here, so whatever. He'll live. 

After an explosive exhalation of breath (which, really, wasn't all that loud given the size of the room and the volume of the activity inside) he steps over the threshold dividing the halls from the hangar, and continues to take steps inside until he's standing in front of, but a ways away from, the trio of NCs. From down here, they're imposingly large - even Madison's, which is technically the smallest, is [i]huge.[/i] To either side of the Mad-Cat is the Blur, the sleek, stark white, sword-wielding mecha belonging to Eli; and the Papa Mike, the muddled brown-and-green eyesore with not a lot going for it. Fitting for someone that was called [i][color=8882be]the weakest link[/color][/i]. It's not even super specialized like the other two, with a rifle, a piddly little missile launcher, and a laser sword. With that said, he's looking up at the mechs and Percy observes that has the range that Madi and Eli just don't - sure, they can go in swords slashing and claws tearing, but without him hanging back with the rifle and taking potshots with the missiles, they'd be easy targets. One well-placed hit on them and they'd be [i]dead[/i], if not very badly hurt. Hell, that exact thing almost happened to Madison during the attack back in June. Thankfully the damage was only to the [i]machine[/i], and not to her. They're both way too young to get snuffed out, but Madison especially. 

Percy can still remember what he thought when Madison (and Eli, too, really) explained that she signed up for the NC Program. [color=lightsteelblue][i]Are you fucking [b]insane?[/b] You have your whole life ahead of you, and you want to do [b]this?[/b][/i][/color] But what he'd actually said was.. Well, nothing. He just nodded to let her know she was heard, and he said nothing. Maybe he [i]should[/i] have said something. Like he was one to really talk, though - when he was 19, he was on the ass-backwards schedule of staying up all night and sleeping all day doing basically fuck-all other than getting drunk. But that's better than signing yourself up for [i]death[/i] the rest of your life, isn't it..?

[color=indianred]"Percy?"[/color]

Percy is snapped from his inner thoughts, turning his head and immediately going from shock to confusion- [color=lightsteelblue]"Zach?"[/color]

[color=indianred]"The one and only,"[/color] Zach says with that shit-eating little smirk he gets when he thinks he's being cute. He gives Percy a good slap on the back before giving him a quick side-hug - his usual greeting when they're not at each other's throats. [color=indianred]"I didn't expect to see you today, bud."[/color]

[color=lightsteelblue]"I could say the same thing to you, [i]bud.[/i]"[/color] Percy winces slightly as he realizes how hostile that sounds - but since when did they start calling each other [i]"bud?"[/i] Where did that even come from? He stumbles over his words in some attempt to redeem himself, [color=lightsteelblue]"I-I mean, were you-? Did Graham-? Well, [i]I'm[/i]- I'm here 'cause.. Well, I'm a pilot, I have to be, but I was told to-"[/color] he accentuates this next part with air-quotes, [color=lightsteelblue]"[i]look busy[/i]."[/color]

Zach rolls his eyes, but he's still grinning a little as he speaks, [color=indianred]"I'm pretty sure he said for [i]personnel[/i] to look busy, not pilots."[/color]

[color=lightsteelblue]"Well.. Yeah, but he said [i]all[/i] personnel, and.. I [i]am[/i] a personnel. Right?"[/color] And, on the subject of being personnel, Percy winds it back around to the question at hand- [color=lightsteelblue]"I know that [i]you're[/i] not, Zach. So... Why are you here?"[/color]

[color=indianred]"Oh, I'm just playing handyman for like.. A week, at most."[/color] Zach replies, [color=indianred]"Said they needed some more hands on deck for a bit. Might as well - I've got nothin' better to do since you took Ana."[/color]

Percy nods a little bit. Zach's always been way better with the whole engineering thing than he ever was. With that said, Percy didn't really have any goals coming into this hangar, but perhaps a goal has found him, like he'd quietly hoped for. Just as Zach went to give a little wave and turn around, Percy asks, [color=lightsteelblue]"Alright, well.. Is there anything I could do to help?"[/color]

Zach keeps walking, forcing Percy to lightly jog to catch up before then falling into pace. Zach then answers with his own question, [color=indianred]"Do you think you can avoid starting an electrical fire?"[/color]

[color=lightsteelblue]"...Probably?"[/color]
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