Chow time (D5 EE Cafeteria)

[John Slaktare]

"New Bergen, pretty warm, plenty of agro land. Mostly self sufficient. For food it is at least," he says.

"But i ain't been home in eight years cause I got nothing there to pull me back."

[Richard Winter]

"I see, my siblings still live on Hesperus II, but they are barely younger than me and live their own little lives. Although there's a chance I might run into my little brother here, he's still a member of the AFFC".

[John Slaktare]

"That'd be nice, getting to see family.". Butcher takes a few bites.

[Richard Winter]

Richard nodded. "It's been a while." He ate some of his lukewarm fish.

"I heard you were a gladiator before?"
'Heard' was the understatement of the decade, if he had received 1 C-Bill for every time Mei gushed about Butcher or any other gladiator, he could have already bought a Marauder and an Atlas.

[John Slaktare]

"Yeah. Solaris for a long while. Found out I had a talent for the piloting side of things more than the shooting. But that's okay, outmaneuvering is how you get in close and ruin someone's day," he replies. "Have you always been a mercenary or were you military or arena before the Starlit Knights?"

[Richard Winter]

"Military. I was with the AFFC for five years before I switched to mercenaryism. I patrolled the Free Worlds League border and fought Cappelan proxies on Campertown." he replied. "I decided to earn more money elsewhere and moved to Galatea".

[John Slaktare]

"He nods at that. Not an uncommon story, my lancemate Winkey was AFFC for a while before joining up here. More money for his family, he says," Butcher explains with a nod.

[Richard Winter]

"It was the other way around for me. I joined the AFFC to feed my siblings and after they both got steady jobs I went back to chasing my dream," he said between meals, "even if I still send them the occasional C-Bill."

[John Slaktare]

John listens while taking a bite and chewing it carefully.

He replies, "Yeah, I started piloting because I needed money. Now the money doesn't really mean a whole lot to me. Just a perk of working. More interested in keeping busy."

[Richard Winter]

"I'll try to afford a mech someday," he said with a smile. "That's why I'm a mercenary, the only way to get paid better is to be a scientist or to work for Comstar."

[John Slaktare]

"Or go through a series of deathmatches in the arena bet all your savings on yourself each time and just keep going. Then buy a mech when you get enough," Butcher replies.

[Richard Winter]

"I neither trust my luck nor my skills enough to survive this" he said and laughed

[John Slaktare]

He nods at that. It was certainly not a good plan, but Butcher had done it anyway. "Well, only took me a year to get my Hatchetman doing that. Though to be fair, at that time I didn't have anyone or anything to live for, so I was a bit stupid."

[Richard Winter]

"Well, since you're still kicking, I guess you've either have a lot of skill or a hell of a lot of luck, or both." Richard nodded.

"My personal plan would be to find an old bunker somewhere with mechs that don't belong to anyone anymore" he laughed "even if that's more of a dream than anything else".

[John Slaktare]

"Skill and luck both, I imagine. So you're hoping to retire? Or start your own company?"

[Richard Winter]

"Well, my own mech would be step 1, step 2 would be to have enough money on the high side to buy a piece of land on a pleasant world. Step 3 would be to secure a position with which I can hold the land. The best thing would be to make a name for myself as Mechwarrior Ace and be hired by one of the many house armies as a drill master". he explained.

"That would be Plan A, anyway"

[John Slaktare]

"That should be doable. Especially since you get a piece of the profits at the end of the campaign. Should be a decent pile of C-bills. Imagine it won't take too long to hit your goal," he says with a nod.

[Richard Winter]

"As long as my mech doesn't explode" he laughed, "But yes, that would be my plan for the future. Do you have any plans? Or do you just want to stay busy?"

[John Slaktare]

"Retire to a farm someday. I'd be able to do it now if I sold my Hatchetman, but I ain't done. Got plenty more fighting to do."

[Richard Winter]

"Back to the roots, huh?" He ate the remains on his plate. "When we both manage to retire, I'll definitely come by."