Joining the fleet (Pregame 2 EE Cafeteria)

[John Slaktare]

"Arena talk doesn't bother me. The fights were a good time for the most part. One of my early fights, which I am sure there's no vid of, was interesting. Was up against a Rifleman with an experimental gauss cannon. Using some fancy magnet container unit or something. When tits up and EMPd the arena, knocked out both mechs. Ejection didn't even work. They had to bust open our cockpits so we didn't suffocate. So... It's impossible to be ready for everything."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"WOW. What were you thinking sitting there? Did you have any idea that he was out of commission as well or did you just think you were a sitting duck?"

[John Slaktare]

"I thought the weapon was so badass that it ripped through the engine without causing it to go critical. Figured that mech combat had been changed forever. Found out that weapon designers rush to construction and to expect anything with a prototype designation to be a gamble rather than a fight."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"If the designers were smart they would have ditched their plan and figured out a way to weaponize what did happen but since the galaxy hasn't fall under a new order I imagine they didn't or failed."

[John Slaktare]

"I think I heard they were trying, but they couldn't get it reliable or precise enough. Was about as useful as an air burst nuke and a lot more complex and expensive, so militaries were uninterested," he said.

"But yeah. Go ahead and ask about any matches you're curious about."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"OK. OK. I won't bother with the date and time because we probably didn't get it live with all the edits the CC does but you had a match against Tom "Deuces" Grainger and his Hunchback-4J loaded with HEAT missiles. How the hell did you not overheat and why do you think you won that fight? My "Uncle" Ivan lost a lot of money on that fight but I fucking loved it. IF you remember it can you walk me though it?"

[Alex Kovac]

Yoko smiled a little as the young Sergeant moved closer and spoke up, "Can't say that I have, really. Only time I've been off-world up until now has been on quick transports between planets. And not all of thise had the luxury of views outside."

"Long trips without windows are somewhat boring even if we do have the sims. Space may be dark and vast but watching stars twinkle and planets go by... it's quite a view as well." Then Alex looked at the small ships and their tricks in space. "Then we have those guys showing off. Then you see the larger fleet and wonder why are we needed." Alex sighed.

[John Slaktare]

"Didn't overheat because the best I could tell, a good number of his missiles were old and didn't pack the punch they should have, and they messed up the released specs on my mech. I had more sinks than people thought. If I had to guess, it was probably on purpose to sway the gambling, but I didn't learn about it until after. Wasn't a sure fix, but they did shit to mess with odds in their favor, making me look like an underdog rather than an even match like it should have been. Because bookies are trash. Sorry if that one's a bit disappointing. Just imagine that fight with 30% of his missiles being mostly useless and me having 50% more dissipation ability and it makes more sense."

[GM Yuusha]

Some of the audience were beginning to shuffle out now. A few were glued to the window, still taking in the view.

One asked about their target. Would it be visible soon? Not for a day at least. Unless you had a telescope anyway.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"In digging into fight archives I've seen references to you possibly fighting "The Spear" Diambu Green in the past but I can't any info on it. Who won, what happened, what you both were piloting is like it either never happened or is a secret."

[John Slaktare]

"Oh. That's because it wasn't a sanctioned match. It was a grudge over some personal stuff. I beat him within an inch of his life in a non-mech fight. That's why he got his prosthetic eye and hand. I took them. Was seeing red that night."

"So he came at me outside the arena during some maintenance and testing maneuvers, fucked me up good. To smooth things out with the law, the stable managers called it a match after the fact. So there is a record of a fight that really shouldn't have happened. We were never put against each other again. Too combustible near each other."

"Like I said. I piss folks off sometimes. Hed put a bullet in my brainpan if he had the chance, I'm sure."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Oh shit, does stuff like that happen a lot on Solaris? I know things can get heated but back home things were a lot more restrained. I remember, shortly before I left there was a guy who lost his dad in a fight and beat the pilot who did it half to death with a socket wrench. They banned him for life from the arena and the guy he beat had to retire."

[John Slaktare]

"Not common, but it happens and gets covered up sometimes," he replies. "I would guess that smaller arenas probably tend to be a bit more strict. But there can be money in true and brutal rivalries. Just didn't end up being any money in that one. I think they initially covered it up so they could try to milk it later. But realized it just wasn't going to work out and regretted it."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"So what was your favorite match IN the arena?"

[John Slaktare]

"My first. Got my ass handed to me, was in a broken down cicada, fought a pilot that was definitely my better, and the thing went boom. But I survived and felt a rush I'll never get again." There was no smile, but his voice held something similar to appreciation in it.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

Mei leaned back, arms behind her head.

"Man I can't wait for my first fight. I've dreamed about it for so long and I still have 8 fucking years to wait."

[John Slaktare]

"I expect it'll be different for you. I never did merc work beforehand. I was used for chattel so the other people in the stable could practice mostly. My first real fights was my first arena fight. You've got your first fight in combat rather than arena battle."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"So how do these battles compare to the arena for you?"

[Yoko Lee]

"Long trips without windows are somewhat boring even if we do have the sims. Space may be dark and vast but watching stars twinkle and planets go by... it's quite a view as well." Then Alex looked at the small ships and their tricks in space. "Then we have those guys showing off. Then you see the larger fleet and wonder why are we needed." Alex sighed.

A small shrug, "Why is any small piece of a larger hole needed, really? We add up to more than the sum of our parts. Then again, there's also the fact I've heard rumors about our CO. Good ones that might explain why the Angels would be wanted in particular."

She made sure to use the unit name rather than a more general "we"; She knew why she was here, but she doubt she factored into anyone's decision to the Obsidian Angels being hired or not.

[John Slaktare]

"Have to be more careful to avoid collateral, the terrain changes more frequently, usually one side has significant home advantage, and death is more frequent. Someone is almost always defending their home."