Resolve and Determination / The Dom named 'Maria'

[brokenaesop]

1)[Mad's been getting as much practice in as she could with the Dom Tropen she borrowed from the masses of the Hangar. She's been doing her best to take it easy as much as possible due to the vaguely familiar controls... but the sheer desire to run before she could walk was all but gnawing at her

Comments

[an_alpha_wolf]

[Seeing the Dom Tropen jetting around outside, Resnick goes into the hangar, climbs in to his mech's cockpit and turns on the comm.]

Mechwarrior Caine, you need a skirmish partner, quiaff?

[brokenaesop]

[Skirmish... skirmish... that means-]

Yeah! It'd help a lot. I need to see just how much I can get out of this thing!

[an_alpha_wolf]

Aff. Powering lasers to target designation mode only. Technicians, clear the hangar.

[And Resnick's Timber Wolf chicken-walks out of the hangar slowly. The ruined landscape of North America is out there, but he still opens his cockpit to breathe deep. Chalice gets stuffy after a while.]

It appears the best asset of that is its jump jets...

[brokenaesop]

Might wanna get that hatch closed... last thing you need is paint all over the inside of that thing!

[Mad has to stop to draw his weapon in order to keep from smashing into anything.]

[an_alpha_wolf]

[Somewhat chagrined, he closes the hatch.]

The air out here is nicer though. Anyway that assumes you are going to get any paint remotely near my mech.

[He activates his own jump jets and seventy five tons of metal goes rocketing over a ridge, landing behind it. He's switched off his targeting system and is looking for mad on 'iron sights'.]

[brokenaesop]

[Mad wouldn't be that hard to find really... those Hoverjets the Dom use would make something of a ruckus. As to where Mad was right now? Well... the loud roar of the Dom ramping off the ridge that you used for cover would tell you that. The Dom managed to catch some respectable air and did its best to swing around to face the Timber Wolf as gravity took over... however Mad REALLY should have thought this out.]

How do you solve a problem like Mariaaaaaa

[an_alpha_wolf]

[Resnick let gravity take over too, though probably in a more controlled way. He let himself go slack, a slumping in his chair, and the EI system did the rest. Prowler slumped back too, falling backwards off the ridge. Resnick was hoping to catch Mad off guard as he lined up shots on the legs of the machine and let fly. Call it the reverse I Am Jade Falcon maneuver.]

IIII DOOOON'T KNOOOOOW

[brokenaesop]

[Mad cussed and let loose a barrage of paint rounds, he didn't really have time to aim but the volume might have made up for it and got a hit in. His aim jerked a little when he had to get control of the Dom when it hit the ground though.]

[an_alpha_wolf]

[A couple spattered his mech's torso but the computer registered many more hits lighting up the dom's legs. Of course throwing his own mech backwards made sure he'd have to get up soon, and as he did he aimed a barrage at her to keep her from knocking him back down again, causing his (simulated) heat meter to spike. Initiative to Mad.]

You can do better than that.

[brokenaesop]

You'll get better in a second dog-boy...

[Mad hissed the words as he strafed and weaved across the ground - while it was not as graceful or skilled as an experienced Dom Pilot's movements Mad was certainly making full use of the machine's mobility as he unleashed several rapid barrages - often aiming for either the cockpit or the lower torso.]

[an_alpha_wolf]

[Resnick threw the throttle forward and wrenched his mech's torso to the right, feathering the MASC system to make his movements deliberately jerky and hard to follow as he circled the dom. Hits registered on his torso, but he was aiming for the spots he'd already hit, simulating critical hits through already damaged armor. He opened fire at the dom's legs again...]

That is more like it!

[Although it may sound like he's teasing, he's really playing with her. There's none of the venom that'd be present against a more serious rival.]

[brokenaesop]

[Not that Mad knows this. Even when going through training she's giving it her all. She watched the 'damage counters' that kept track of how many times the Dom got hit and just cursed. Still getting hit too much.]

...Maybe I can...

[She tries something different this time... she throttles the hoverjets into a 'skidding' maneuver to kick up a dust cloud from the broken earth.]

[an_alpha_wolf]

[Resnick's view goes abruptly brown from the dust being blown towards him. Then he turns on the enhanced imaging system and hisses through his teeth as he's abruptly changed in scale and perspective. Now he sees through the mech's eyes and can navigate a course out.]

A good idea. It would have worked on a freeborn too.

[Juking the mech side to side, he waits to fire for three more seconds, figuring that Mad's earned that much.]

[brokenaesop]

[Mad of course takes full advantage of this and proceeds to empty out his paint-rounds into the Timber-Wolf, refusing to let up at all. Its never over unless someone says its over. She doesn't say anything, merely letting out a primal cry.]

[an_alpha_wolf]

[Three seconds are up and thank Kerensky, because paint has blossomed on several different parts of his mech. Luckily they're all diffuse, none concentrated to the point where they could penetrate his armor and cause a critical hit. It'd be a battered mech that jumped as he did in a real battle, landing behind her and leveling his two arm pods at the vulnerable back armor. But a probably functional one.]

Checkmate.

[brokenaesop]

[Mad cusses and lowers the gun...]

So what'dve you done if someone pulled a trick like that on you?

[The skirmish is over and Resnick has one... Mad takes comfort in the fact that she knows how to use the Dom a little better.]