Could have gone a lot worse....

[actuallyselfish]

After the battle in Paradigm City, the Sol Machine known as ShelLancer trudges it's way back into the hanger bay, docks in a gantry, and powers down

A weary figure in mechanic's overalls clambers out of the cockpit, and after a bit of flailing, descends on one of the cherry picker platforms.

"What the heck was I thinking?" Dido groans, slumping down onto a bench. "I panicked, made stupid calls. And that Decepticon leader thinks I'm a turtle ninja transformer now...!"

She smiles. "...but Hot Damn, I saved some lives out there! Not bad, Dido. Not bad at–"

She looks up at ShelLancer...and finally notices the major damage it's taken: melted armor, broken off spikes, and an endless amount of scratches and dents. All of which needs to be fixed.



"–AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Comments

[majestic_keiki]

...How did you react to the units after that last battle in La Gias?

[actuallyselfish]

"...I was too busy dealing with the aftermath to even have a reaction." Dido says, after a moment of thought.

"But This! This damage is gonna take at least 50 man-hours to repair! And millions in cash! And it's wasn't some strutting devil-may care fighter jock that wrecked this baby..."

She buries her hands in her face. "It was me! Dido!"

[majestic_keiki]

50 man-hours doesn't sound too bad.

And you helped save a lot of lives out there, even if it damaged the robot.

[actuallyselfish]

"True..." Dido says with smile. That smile turns to a grim frown.

"But what would all the other UG techs say, if they saw me now?"

[majestic_keiki]

I'm pretty sure they'd understand. They should at least, we're not here to maintain robots.

[actuallyselfish]

"But that's what I worry about!" Dido says emphatically.

"The duty of technicians is to fix mechs, not to wreck them! 'Above all else, do no harm' and all that jazz! It feels like I've violated come kind of mecha technician Hippocratic Oath. A Technocratic Oath, perhaps?"

Dido's head slumps. "Eh. Maybe the technicians you know in the GDF are less zealous about these things..."

[majestic_keiki]

Maintaining the robots is so they can be used to fight, not a goal in itself. And damage is part of fighting.

[actuallyselfish]

Dido rubs the back of her head sheepishly.

"Yeah...I guess I'm not used to thinking like that. Up to this point, I've only worked with civilian power loaders and prototype testing, you know? When those mechs get damaged, it's because someone screwed up. But here with the UG..."

[majestic_keiki]

Yes, here we're actually fighting real enemies trying to intentionally damage or destroy our units. Damage is bound to happen.

[actuallyselfish]

"Yeah." Dido admits. "But Hot Damn, if this isn't stressful."

She looks up. "How do you deal with the stress?"

[Besides Sugar]

[majestic_keiki]

I've been trained to expect it for as long as I can remember...But making sure you train so you feel prepared and have people you trust help.