[center][h1][b]Jaromir Zhu[/b][/h1][/center]

The briefing was satisfactory enough. If nothing else, it confirmed that his new commander at least [i]probably[/i] knew what he was doing. Not was ever certain until one stepped off the battlefield, but as it stood? Jaromir gave it decent enough odds that Makinen knew his shit. He didn't like the lack of information at hand about pirates of all things, but the commander had a point that they'd get better scans once they were in orbit. 

The byplay between the younger guy and the Combine girl flared up again, and Jaromir managed to only restrain himself to a brief snort as they left the briefing room. That definitely wasn't going to create problems later. Not at all. Ordinarily, he'd say interpersonal issues were the boss's problem to solve, but he suddenly had his doubts that either of them would be able to keep that shit professional in the field. 

[color=#61FF00]”Look at her go. Add some fried chicken on top and she’ll outpace the ship.”[/color] The man next to Jaromir murmured to him, and he responded with a brief chortle. 

[b]"Better her than me. Much as I'd like a heavy, don't like the armament. Combine girl wants to be a walking stereotype, more power to her."[/b] With that said, he separated from the herd just as they all dispersed, perusing the available BattleMechs like everyone else. The Centurion would've been his second choice, but of course the one good one of the bunch was already taken. Past that...everything else was a series of tradeoffs. Most of the light mechs were pretty much out of the question for his tastes. Speed was no substitute for a few extra tons of armor, and the lights were by and large made of paper. The Urbanmech was just asking to die against other light mechs outside of an urban environment. The Panther was probably the most acceptable one out of the bunch, but he still had other options. 

There really was only one choice for him among the mediums. It sure as shit wasn't the Hermes II-4K. That thing ran far too hot for his liking. A single extra heat sink wasn't going to offset shit when the mech's only armament was two large lasers. No, that left the Trebuchet-7K. He'd heard whispers of the Dracs making a direct fire variant of the old Trenchbucket, and honestly? He was alright with what he saw. Seven and a half tons of armor on a medium wasn't ideal, but the Hermes II only had as much too. A PPC and an autocannon, though? Oh, he was more than fine with that. Let the others rush into close range and draw fire. He'd snipe with precision from the rear and be perfectly happy with it. 

Best of all, no one else seemed to be claiming the Treb. So with a hint of a grin on his lips, Jaromir strode up towards the cockpit, nodding at the tech working on it. 

"Fancy the Trenchbucket, boss?" The MechTech nodded back.

[b]"Depends."[/b] Jaromir looked over the Draconis Combine camo paintjob and insignia plastered all over it. [b]"You get all the monitoring devices out of the obvious test run prototype the Dracs just so happened to leave behind?"[/b]

"Six and counting so far." The tech replied without missing a beat. "Want me to worry about that first, or the paintjob?"

[b]"Eh, let the Dracs have a little fun. Just sand the insignia off. Their camo ain't bad, but I'm drawing the line at the dragon."[/b]

"You got it. Need anything else, ask for Jimmy."

With that out of the way, Jaromir slid into the cockpit, starting to familiarize himself with the layout. He'd largely piloted mediums and a heavy or two in the past, so acclimating to how it handled in the sims shouldn't be too hard. As much as he missed being behind the controls of a Warhammer, he'd work with what he had for the moment. It was time to get to work getting ready to get to work.