Drum solo (Pregame 2 EA Storage OPEN)

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

The small redhead responds to that with a quiet "..oh" and stops her drumming completely and proceeds to poke her noticeably flushed forehead with one of the sticks and muses softly. "So that is how that sweater is supposed to be worn ..." She quickly shakes her head and focuses back on the other woman. "I think a warm sweater will be more useful for me."

Catherine gives Mei-Ling a smile. "Thank you, Goo. That is really thoughtful of you."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Don't thank me yet, you may hate it." She said with a smile.

"I would love to make something for everyone but friends get priority. Richard already had a scarf from when we were Starlit Knights, I've made the biggest sweater in the galaxy for Alek, Gi has something and you should get yours in a day or two. I probably should have kept it a secret but I suck at hiding gifts from people."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"If it's a scratchy sweater, I'll just rub that in your face." The small redhead quips back.

"It's fine to let people know. Now I am looking forward to it. And if it is fluffy warm, that is just the right thing for a cold world like Chesstreck, so thank you, Goo. And now I can soon join the 'Knits of Goo' club." She gives Mei-Ling a bright grin and gives the plastic drums a couple of hits.

Tonk. Thump. Clang.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Definitely not scratchy.: She said warmly. "I'm saving the itchy wool for a prank, itchy socks!"

She moved around behind the drumkit and stood next to Cat.

"Wanna see how to swing those things really fast and do a drumroll?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Ack! That is one mean plan." The smaller girl laughs. "Having itchy feet must be super annoying."

She leans back and twists her head to look up Mei-Ling. "Sure I wanna. Is there anything special to it other than going dadadadada really fast?"

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Oh yeah, it's actually kinda counter-intuitive at first because you don't just swing them really fast, gravity does most of the work. You actually wanna hold the sticks pretty loosely and just let them bounce like a pingpong ball on a table. You flick your wrists to just keep the bounce going. if you tried to hold them firmly and just do it with your arms and wrists you would get tired really fast. That's the big secret to drumming, It's really hard work but a lot of the stuff that seems really impressive to people is assisted by gravity.

Mei showed her the wrist motion.

"So aside from double heats-sinks what do you think you wanna do next to your ride?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Catherine promptly tries out the advice and lets the stick in her hands bounce on the improvised instrument. It doesn't work as well with a barrel as it would with a real drum, but there appears to be something to what Mei-Ling said. "Hm." The small Mechwarrior's first attempts are more a drumclatter than anything resembling a drumroll though. "I think I get it. Not as easy as it sounded though."

She pauses to look up at the other Sergeant. "I'd probably try and get better long range coverage going. Likely swap the LL out for a PPC. Also get CASE for the SRMs, if I don't drop them altogether for more heatsinks and going extra pepper."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

Well if I ever get my hands on a Gauss Rifle you can have my ER, as much as I love PPCs and want a mech with three of them I've always wanted to try a Gauss Rifle. You know, assuming I didn't win the lottery and swap my Talon for a Marauder." She laughed.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"The Gauss Rifle is really impressive, but just too heavy." Catherine remarks, while trying out the new drumming technique. "The weapon itself weighs more than multiple peppers and the ammo is pretty heavy too. It's for big Assaults who already have everything and can afford a couple tons more weight, but have no more room for heatsinks left."

She gives a bright grin. "Can't argue with the sound though. It really shakes you all up."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Right? And the technology is super cool. Lasers are super cool but when those things hit it's fucking awesome."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"I really love peppers myself though. Shooting electric blue lances of light over large distances is just too special."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"No arguments here, they are amazing. So how do you feel about this mission so far? I'm expecting to be deployed a soon as we land and I'm getting a little nervous. Don't be concerned though, I always get nervous before a mission."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Hopefully we get a chance to familiarize ourselves with the terrain, before we get thrown into combat missions." Catherine muses. "Things don't always go as planned though, so we may get thrown into the fire right away, so lets make sure we are ready for that. Are you planning to get the systems check on your Battlemech done soon, Goo?"

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Oh for sure. I'm not great at sleeping at night so I will go then and have my talk with Gǔ, gotta make sure we are on the same page. He get's made if I don't brief him before a mission, last time I didn't he developed a weird limp. You got any traditions or superstitions with Dúthracht?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Catherine shakes her head. "No superstitions. I love my Dúthracht and Dúthracht loves me back. It's good that the Wolverine is not starving for replacement parts like other Battlemechs, so we can easily get the good goods. Best ones go to Laks of course, but getting second best still works out great for us."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Thankfully we don't pilot Crusaders, great mech but they are going to be hurting for spare parts with three of them in the company. I wonder what is going to happen with that Firestarter they are repairing. If I could have a 5th mech in my lance I would like that. So many pilots struggle with heat."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Yeah. They'll be fighting over every scrap for their Crusaders and then some." Catherine giggles. "A Firestarter is a nice addition to any fast lance. It nicely fills a dedicated anti infantry slot and it can be a nasty surprise to pilots who are not prepared to take on a bunch of extra heat. I'd gladly swap out the Hornet in my lance for one of these."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"I'm not sure about the rear facing flamer though. In something that small if an enemy gets a clear shot at your back I don't think a single flamer is going to save you. I'd rather it be forward facing our drop it for more armor."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Yeah. I agree. Better swap it to the front and just never show your back. No idea what they were thinking there. Another heatsink would not be a bad choice either. The Firestarter sure can use more itself."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"True! By the way make sure at the top of the list for any double heatsinks we pull in, if I run into anything when they send the scouts out I'll be sure to bring it down gently for you. I hope the enemy mechs haven't been skipping leg day cause I'm going for the knees."