[center][h3][color=aaaaaa]Katrina Blut[/color][/h3][color=aaaaaa][b]Location:[/b][/color] Briefing room > 'Mech bay[/center][hr]As the jump signal chimed in, Katrina remained seated. She has been through more than enough jumps to know her stomach could take it, or to get used to it long before now. The other issue, well... If the hsip could only do a 1G burn in the direction it was intended to transfer loads through, she figured it would either be a smooth jump, or explosive decompression. Once the jump passed, she observed the wounds on the planet and the location of the enemy base. [color=aaaaaa]"Underground, you say? Would be a real shame if someone closed all but one entrance and pointed a flamer into the last one."[/color] she snorted. The RoEs seemed straightforward enough to her: Kill anything trying to kill you, ask questions... maybe.

Finally it was time to rip off the Band-Aid and go visit the 'Mech bay. The fact that, even as they approached, the chief technician could be heard loudly announcing some for the mechs were for all intents and purposes nonfunctional, was not very encouraging. One quick glance over the contents of the bay made the corrners of her mouth droop. The only thing equipped with her beloved LRMs was the Draconian heavy, which she would not fucking get near if she could help it. While it could get to a decent speed, she would vastly preffer something heavier on missiles and with no AC. Of course, it was too much to hope for a Catapult. The regulars probably snapped those up quickly, if the republic had any at all.

At least the chief seemed to insist on some competence among the crew. It wouldn't help them much in the present mission, but perhaps she could strike a deal and pass on some of her wisdom and experience from her own days in such a position. [color=aaaaaa][i]My knowledge is a bit dated, but then again, so are these 'Mechs. I might even be able to teach her a thing or two about these things.[/i][/color] she nodded to herself with a smile. Smile which quickly faded as the more able-bodied of the crew at times sprinted towards some of the 'mechs to claim them. She shot a nervous glance towards the trash can as she walked along the bays to make her pick, made at ease with the fact that there seemed to be more 'Mechs then pilots available, so that it was certain there would be an alternative left. She briefly thought of challenging the Draconis girl to rock, paper, scissors for the Dragon only for the heck of it, but the thought vanished as she walked past the Wasp.

It was the 'Mech that the Valkyrie she used to drive replaced. Far be it from being similar, having a machine gun instead of an LRM. She would rather carry a few RPGs in the cockpit and fire those hanging upside down from the hatch, go all the good an MG would do against anything that was not infantry or light vehicles. Still, could be worse. It could have been the stock variant with the pathetic SRM-2. The medium laser she was plenty familiar with. It was not a bad choice, but she did have a look up and down the line to see what remained available. The javelin was a no-go, unless she could trade Nakano for the LRM launcher. Something to talk about later. The Panther had a loadout she was wholly unfamiliar with, having last fired a PPC in basic training. Her eye fell on the FedSun refit of the Raven. The large laser was [i]very[/i] tempting, however the absence of jump jets made Kat question if she was good enough of a pilot to get it in place where she could put it to use. A well-times pang of stabbing pain in her calf made her decide on a resounding 'No', and she climbed up into the Wasp.

Settling into the seat and blowing dust from the controls, she gave the cockpit a look over, a frown settling on her face. [color=aaaaaa]"Hey! I have a wad of duct tape holding my control panel together. Anyone landed on a museum artefact that is somehow worse off that is not an Urbanmech?"[/color] she called out. It was good thing that she had great many hours to get the machine as ready as she could with some time to spare to rest beforehand. Getting back out, she walked back over to Elena. [color=aaaaaa]"Chief, mind if I grab some tools and give the Wasp a look?"[/color]