[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/7doaecd.png[/img]
[hr][/center]

After quickly striking at the mecha, Penny slides back, bracing herself for a second for a last-gasp attack, or worse, reinforcements. When those failed to materialize, she takes a breath of relief and skates back to the others. She finds herself perhaps a bit disappointed that the adrenaline rush had to end early, but she recognizes the need to keep this mission stealthy and avoid confrontations. Even if it was only a practice run.

She follows the others to the destination, keeping an eye out to see if they're being followed. Fortunately, nothing seems to have seen them, so she joins the team in cover. She walks up to Nichole and pats her on the shoulder.

[color=39b54a]"Hey, Nichole, you know I was just kidding about earlier, right?"[/color] she says with a smile. [color=39b54a]"We still cool?"[/color]

When the protein bars are being handed out, Penny catches hers one-handed and rips off the cover. She moves to throw the wrapper on the ground, but then thinks better of it and shoves it into her pocket. No sense in littering, even in an abandoned wasteland. She begins to dig in when Aiya springs the question on her.

[color=39b54a]"Hmmmnnff?"[/color] she grunts in response. [color=39b54a]"Ah, yfee-"[/color]

She catches herself, pauses to chew and swallow the bit in her mouth, and then resumes.

[color=39b54a]"Eh, I wouldn't call it [i]flying[/i],"[/color] she responds. [color=39b54a]"[i]Nichole[/i] can fly. I just know a bit of parkour and rollerblading, so I know how to use movement and momentum a bit, and I'm just crazy enough to carry around a rocket on a stick.

"As for the Juno engineers... sorry, but that's how it goes. The knee joint was sort of a gimme; I reasoned that there's only so much you can do to armor up leg joints before it hampers the mech's movement. The comm unit was a necessary target; I didn't know how fast their reaction times were, so I needed to stop it from calling for help. The head, though, that was a lucky guess. I was afraid they'd put the control unit deeper into the chest cavity, where it would have had better protection. I guess I'm lucky I specialize in melee, and that I hit pretty hard.

"Then again, that's why we're having these training exercises, right? To figure out where the weak points are and how to compensate for them in future fights."[/color]

Cordelia's response to Aiya surprises Penny just as she's about to resume eating the protein bar.

[color=39b54a]"Aw come on, don't be so hard on yourself,"[/color] Penny offers in weak encouragement. [color=39b54a]"I mean, at least you can dance pretty good. I've never danced a waltz before, so all Dima and I wound up doing is stepping on each other's toes the whole time."[/color]