How is my baby? (Pregame 2 LA Hangars)

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Catherine too immediately, instinctively and decisively waves off the cigarette.

The young Sergeant happily joins into Lakshmi's teasing. "Total waste of a good Battlemech, if it is blown up so quickly." She laughs. "Also really would hate to lose you." ... or anyone else at that.

Watching him deflect the topic towards Laks beloved 55 ton baby makes Catherine grin and turn to watch her friend's response.

[Richard Winter]

...

After Cat declined his cigarette, he lit one and glanced at the Wolverine.

[Lakshmi Kaala]

"Didn't plan on that captain" he said "But as the saying goes big boys want to play with big guns" a big smile across his face.
He went on to get a cigarette from the pack and pointed to the Wolverine. "I understand that's your sweetheart there, isn't it Captain?"

He waited for Cat before lighting his cigarette to see if she wanted one, even though that was highly unlikely.

"Yeah, that's my baby. My Lucky Strike. It's a stock 6M. Solid, dependable and fast." She looked at it with a great deal of fondness. "Hard to find a more ideal medium mech without lostech."

She stepped away as Richard lit his cigarette, putting her hands on Cat's shoulders. "This is my protegee. She also has a 6M. So, we're a bit like sisters. Right Cat?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Absolutely!" The redhead agrees happily. "I'd be some kind of cave slug without Laks here, so I'm really glad to have her as my sorta kinda big sis."

[Richard Winter]

"Is that so?" Richard looked puzzled. He took a drag on his cigarette, careful not to exhale in the direction of the women.
He was nervous, but wouldn't let it show.

He looked to Cat, "You're pretty young to already be a MechWarrior, are you from noble stock? Not everyone has a mech standing around," he joked, completely unaware of Cat's past.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

And all joy just bleeds away from Catherine like water from a lotus plant.

She takes a deep breath and tries to explain. It's her pain, so it is on her to do it, if she ever wants to get better.

"Nothing noble. It's just ... I'm sorta a founding member of the Angels. Was born into the Falcart's Fangs, so I have been a mercenary all my life. My .. d-dad." It takes effort not to choke up. "He owned his own mech. He always worked hard to keep on top of things, while raising me as well." The small redhead shuffles over to wrap her arms around Lakshmi. Proper conduct be damned, she needs someone to hold on to. "A pirate bomber crashed into him at Toland and just like that he was gone. And I was gone too, until Laks here dragged me back out of my room." She gives a weak smile. "I don't know how many tries it took. I was too far gone to remember it all, it's just a blur, but Laks never gave up on me and here I am now. I inherited the replacement he would have been entitled too, had he survived. It's my biggest reason to live."

[Lakshmi Kaala]

Absolutely thick headed. Laks moved into damage control mode as she returned Cat's hug. She didn't so much give Richard a filthy look as a disappointed one. To her it should have been obvious how a woman that young in a mercenary outfit ended up with a mech.

"Hagan was a valued member of the Angels. A great mechwarrior. He never lost a battle and... he's still missed." Lakshmi states quietly, gaze steady on Richard. She took a long breath. "You also know how that feels, don't you?" She looked down to Cat and smiled softly. "He didn't know. Come on, let's ask them to look at Dúthracht next." Her pronunciation wasn't quite right, but it was close enough.

Behind her the mechtechs were done with the Cicada. She kept one arm wrapped around Cat as she waved over to them.

"Oi! It's Cat's Wolverine next."

One of them gave a thumbs up. The mechtechs and their assistants began heading through the hangars toward where it was waiting.

"There." Laks ruffled Cat's hair. "Shall we go have a look?"

[Richard Winter]

"Oh,.... um,I didn't mean to..." he took a deep drag from his cigarette.

Smooth as sandpaper he thought to himself

"Well,... um...." Richard thought about what to say, but Laks had already changed the subject.
"Ahh Ja, the Wolverine pretty agile and with the SRM6 and the AC/5 it packs quite a punch as well"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Looking up, when Lakshmi consoles her, Catherine gives her friend a meek smile and a little nod. "It's ... it's okay. I can manage. It just hit me all again suddenly." Noticing that her personal mech is suddenly shuffled to the front of the line surprises her a little.

"Ah ... it's okay Laks. I'm okay. There's no need to give me special treatment. I just needed a hug and a friend to hold on to for a bit." The small Sergeant is still a bit shaky maybe, but her voice is stable again. Taking a deep breath, she gives Richard a meek smile as well and explains softly. "Sorry for that. I just suddenly missed my dad again a real lot."

Briefly looking away to give her eyes a quick rub, she straightens herself up again, with one arm still around the Captain. Her red hair now a nicely ruffled mess, Catherine gives one resolute nod. "Thanks Laks. Let's go have a look."

[Lakshmi Kaala]

"Too late." Laks wasn't going to hear any objections.

"Yeah, anytime."

She starts walking that way, but she wasn't in a rush. She looked back over her shoulder at Richard. Her voice easily carried over to him. "The 6M swaps the AC/5 out for a large laser and an extra medium laser. Much more close range firepower. You might be unlucky enough to face one one day so, you coming?"

[Richard Winter]

...

Fierce, he thought She is probably really something like her big sister
"I'm right behind you"
Richard trotted after the two women.
"Oh, then I remembered wrong" Richard had been a MechWarrior for a while, but obviously not as well versed as the two ladies. "You know a lot about mechs, Sergeant Hayes."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Feeling calmer again, Catherine is happy to follow along.

"Well, you got the wrong version." She clarifies and explains. "6R has the AC/5. 6M is the lasershow. And I much prefer the 6M. We both do. I'm following the teachings of Lakshmi." The young Mechwarrior manages a little smile. "Jump and fry the target."

She nods at his last remark. "I have been close to mechs all my life. I love to learn what I can about them and now I've got my head full of all the mech specs I can find. Everything there is to be known about their loadouts and some history. It's fascinating to learn why a particular design was made and how it fared."

[Lakshmi Kaala]

"It does also have a ton of extra armour, which is comforting." Laks adds, since she is very familiar with the 6M. Cat knew more about other mechs however. She let her friend chat as she shifted to walking alongside her.

Up ahead the mechtechs were moving to boot up the large mech. A few were also doing a visual inspection.

She spoke when there was a pause. "If you come across some unusual mech or something bipedal you've not seen before then send Cat here an image grab. She'll be able to tell you all about it, including how to take it down." Lakshmi states proudly. She then gives the smaller woman a nudge. "Make sure they don't miss anything."

[Richard Winter]

Looks like I could learn a lot from you" he said with a smile to Cat, "I used to work in a mech factory, but I never really remembered the specs, so it's pretty impressive that you can do that".

He finished his cigarette and put the remains in a small metal container he had with him.

"I can ask you a quick question about that, too. Assuming C-Bills and availability wouldn't be a problem, what kind of mech would you get?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"I've gotten quite good at that." Catherine confirms Lakshmi's boast. "I've gotten pretty good at identifying mechs from just a shadow silhouette even. If they have prominent weaponry, I can even give you the Variant sometimes."

Being nudged she reluctantly lets go of her friend and complies with a little smile. "Thank you, Laks. I will."

She just stops to give Richard a quick answer to his question. "Unlimited C-Bills? A custom build from scratch of course! Barring that, customize an AWS-9M or I'll try and see if I can fix all the problems of the MAD-5A, because I see some potential there."

With that said, she resumes walking and begins to examine her Battlemech together with the mechtechs swarming around it.

[Lakshmi Kaala]

She waved at Cat until the younger woman was closer to her mech and out of earshot. The mechtechs were quick to update her on where they were at. It was standard diagnostics and system checks. She'd be able to make it go faster if she wanted to hop in the cockpit with a neurohelmet.

Laks shuffled over to Richard. "See, that's why she's still learning. The correct answer is to trick out the Wolverine to make it even better. Fifty-five ton mechs are the only ones that can be a perfect mix of speed, defence and firepower. A full custom build from scratch is way too expensive and replacement parts are going to be a nightmare. Some degree of standard parts is much better. That's one of the things the Star League got right, don't you think?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Catherine is itching to feel her mech again and after clearing it with the mechtechs, she deftly climbs up into her cockpit to help out with the diagnostics.

[Richard Winter]

...

"At the factory, we were happy as punch about it. I don't know how many times we built weapons systems from old mechs and put them into less broken ones. I also have to say I'm excited about the performance of the Vulcan, first medium i'm going to ride. I look forward to seeing how it performs in combination with the lance as it's pretty mobile, though I'm worried about the spider." Richard returned.

He tried to play out future combat situations in his head, the fact that there was no way to eject from the spider giving him a headache.

He made sure Cat was too busy with her mech before adding:
"And sorry about just now, by the way, didn't mean to trigger her."

[Lakshmi Kaala]

"A good Spider pilot learns to use the terrain and to be in an enemy's rear when it counts. As long as you stress that they ought to be fine. It can escape practically anything as long as it has both legs." Laks comments thoughtfully.

The petite woman then pats his arm twice. "Stop worrying. See her now? Already excited and past it. You ought to be too. It happens." She turned to watch the efforts to bring the Wolverine to combat readiness. She tried not to think about her own mech. It'd just make her antsy. "Ano, what was your previous mech?"

[Richard Winter]

He nodded and watched as the young warrior mounted her steed.

"A COM-3A. Quite a little devil, if I may say so, agile and left holes like a big one. Just unfortunately fell victim to the bandits in a night and fog attack on Kelenfold. He was super fast, but it's hard to run with only one leg left."
At the memory mixed feelings went up in him, but when he remembered a certain detail he laughed. "When I shot my way out of it, I was stuck in a tree for about a day and a half. My prosthetic had taken a hit and I couldn't climb down the tree, I swear the damn geckos there were laughing at me."