Drum solo (Pregame 2 EA Storage OPEN)

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

Mei knew she could get in trouble for making a mess but she was bored and wanted to play. She rolled the final barrel in to place, a makeshift bass drum to go with the collection plastic buckets and half filled paint cans that would serve as her drum kit. She sat down on an upturned crate and pulled out her sticks.

"No symbols but it will have to do."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

Mei launched into a flurry of motion, playing along to a song playing on her Vidphone maybe to everyone's surprise but her own she was crushing it.

Call Out My Name (Seraphim Rock Cover)
(Some really technical drum work here)

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Walking outside, Catherine is passing by on her way towards the mech Hangars, escorted by her lancies all of whom are quite a bit older than her.

"... that's why I pulled some strings and got rid of that Wasp, Mouse. I know how much you hated it. It was a liability, so I argued for a replacement. We might get split up in the Hangars, so I'm not gonna hold you in suspense just for a surprise. Your new ride is a Hornet-151. It's not a huge jump, but still a solid improvement. It's slower, but you get to play with a LRM-5. One MedLaser, so you have something familiar to work with too."

A small pause.

"Okay, you have your assignment sheets now, everyone. A Hornet for Mouse. You guys get to keep your Centurion and Trebuchet. Refamiliarize. Help Mouse if you can. Mouse! Please get some sim-time in and learn how to use those LRMs. Yeah, they'll be more fun than that old MG. Learn how to use them, so the trees and our backs are a little safer."

Raising a hand, the young Sergeant calls for silence and stops to listen. There is noise coming from the Storage and while Cat's first instinctive fear was a catastrophic shelf collapse or worse, it is immediately apparent, that - while loud - this is a very deliberate drumming.

"... what is going on in there?" She murmurs quietly to herself.

"Okay guys." The little lance leader orders her lancies. "You go ahead and get your mechs. Take a good look at them. Make sure they are top. Trust the techs, but always check them over yourself when you can. You are the one sitting on the kinks. I know you've heard it a hundred times."

"I'll go and see what that noise is. We'll regather later. Get your toys!"

Three sets of boots continue on towards the mech Hangar, while one lighter pair of boots approaches the Storage room. The personnel door rattles open and a flash of red peeks into the cavernous room.

"What is- ... huh? Goo? What are you doing in here?"

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

Mei Dropped her sticks at the sound of her callsign, certain that The Brass had shown up and she was going to the brig.

Does this ship have a brig?

Turning towards the voice almost raising her hands in surrender she saw her visitor.

"Oh jeez Cat you scared the crap out of me. I thought for sure you were going to be Captain Kaala coming to scream at me."

She put a hand to her head and took a deep breath.

"Whew, you got me good there. What's up?"

She picked up her sticks and started lightly tapping out a drumline beat.

"I'm just going over the briefing we got in my head, music helps me think and change my perspective on things; helping me see things I might have missed. If you ever end up listening to my comms when my lance is deploying you will hear me rapping my knuckles on the overhead in my cockpit while I issue orders and people do preflight checks. I hope the racket isn't too bad out in the hallway, the acoustics are really good in here."

Chicago bucket boys in Detroit

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Captain Kaala will scold you good. Sergeant Major McConnel will give you warehouse duty for a month. Without a single word spoken even." Catherine laughs.

"Didn't try to scare you though. Just wanted to see what is going on in here. Was on my to to the Hangars with the clowder. Checking out how our mechs are doing. Combat will start pretty soon I gather, so best make sure to be ready. Sent them on ahead." She explains and sits down on a crate near the door.

"It's audible out there. And on the way to the Hangar for some people, so a bunch of people will likely hear and check out what is going on." The small Sergeant shrugs. "Hey! I heard that you got to replace that old rust bucket in your lance with a Javelin. Too bad its a 10N and not a 10A." Leaning back a little, Hellcat lifts her feet to gently drum against the crate she is sitting on with her heels. If that is supposed to be music though, she has a long journey ahead of her. "Dunno who the pilot is, but did you get them any sim time to get used to their new ride? Might wanna hurry, before all slots are gone. Some real actual jump training too if possible. Each bucket flies differently."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Yeah it's a definite upgrade but I'm not sure about the 10A, I'm not the biggest fan of missiles. I worry about the unintended destruction of volley and indirect fire. I would really like to get Hoops into a JR7-K. My lance is really fast but Hoops is slowing us down right now and it's driving her and I crazy. So, what's your dream mech? I REALLY want one of those new AWS-9M's that just came out, that thing makes me wet."

Mei thought she had maybe said too much but reminded herself that despite Cat's small size she was an adult.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Well, missiles are a good compromise on the smaller mechs. They just can't lug around something like a PPC and make it work. And each autonomously operating lance should have at least one missile option to flush out hidey holes. You just can't afford to face check everything all the time."

More heel drumming follows, as Cat pauses to think for a moment. "A Kay Jenner, hm? You want Hoops to get in close? Gotta have that CASE then, so yeah. I know your feeling too. I have a Centurion in my clowder. Thing's great, but breaks our speed profile. Make do with what we have. It's the mercenary life, Goo." The redhead laughs and then her mirth increases even further. "Hahaha! The newest Awesome? You don't dream small, do you? Have to agree that it is a great mech. Finally the good heatsinks and the range. A bit on the slow side as a result, but that's the price for running triple extra pepper. Hah~"

Giggling it off to calm down again, Catherine answers the earlier question. "My own dream mech though ... I love so many things and change my mind all the time. I see a new toy, I want the new toy! And the new Awesome is a great new toy all the way up there in the ceiling lights." She gestures and raises one arm up as high as she can.

"And now I know to being extra wipes if we ever go to a good mech show together, Goo." The small tomboy quips.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Extra? So you have that problem too huh?"

Yup, totally and adult, unlike me.

"I would to go to a showcase with you some time, do you like arena fights much? I love them, especially in person. I mean, I know we fight mechs for a living but there is something about watching a couple of mechs battle it out in a small area with no hope to escape that gets my blood pumping."

Mei started to play again, rapping out something that must have been background on a slower song it was quite enough that they could still chat.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Being put on the spot like that makes Catherine sit still and blush for a moment. Looks like joking back at Goo is a bit dangerous if you are not ready to carry it further.

"Sure do like them!" She excitedly agrees about the fights. "To be honest, I would love a build-off even more, but the best would be to have both! A build-off between mech teams and then they get to slog it out! Whee~!" The young Battlemech fanatic cheers.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Holy shit that sound amazing!" Mei said echoing Cat's enthusiasm. "How is that not a thing? OK you and I are gonna have to go into business in the future and make that a thing."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Haha! I really suck at business stuff though. I'd blow all my budget on expensive cool toys and then they get smashed in the arena." She laughs. "But a show like that would be amazing and I would love to design challenge mech loadouts for people to put together."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"You know, I don't have a lot of people to talk to about mech stuff. What are your thoughts on the Phoenix Hawk platform? I mean, it looks awesome and has great loadouts. It can jump. But...but...it's so heat inefficient!"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Refit it with double heat sinks." The tomboy shoots back without needing to think. "Drop one MG and half the ammo, or just drop both, if your lance has the job covered already. Put in more double heat sinks instead. Yeah. Then you have a good mech. Or you could, you know, just upgrade to a Wolverine like mine. Which also needs double heat sinks. Really. Always use the best heat sinks you can."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Yeah I love the doubles in my Talon. i still can't just Alpha all the time but I have ALMOST no heat worries. Until I take an engine hit of course."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"If you are taking engine hits, you are already deeeeep in the dumps, no matter what mech you have, Goo." Hellcat laughs.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Well yeah but you get what I mean. For the most part if you get the initial advantage and keep moving heat management is my biggest concern and it isn't a big one really. As much as I want an Awesome in the future I am going to miss being so damn fast, hard to hit something moving at 129kph."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Or just do like me and jump jump jump." Hellcat laughs. "My Dúthracht is right in the sweet spot, as far as speed goes. The jump range is good too. I just need to pester our poor mechtechs enough to finally replace those old heatsinks. Once we do actually have better ones to spare that is. And after that I might apply for some pepper. Not sure yet, I keep changing my mind all the time."

More not so rhythmic drumming of her heels against the crate can be heard.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"So other than mech stuff what does the Hellcat do in her free time? I mean other than the night of the New years party we haven't had much time to chat and that was an interesting night all around so I only remember most of it."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Whatever comes to mind." The redhead shrugs. "At the moment mostly training. Need to get my life back on track. Get better at doing stuff. Have fun. Work out a little. Design mech loadouts that will never see the light of day. Stuff like that."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"I bet you've specced out everyone mechs by now right, not just you lances? So let me ask you, how would YOU go about making a Hatchetman faster?"

Mei hit a drum roll, as if this was a test or something but the smile on her face said it was just a game.