The faces are all different of course and one there's one in particular I'm here to see, if I can find him amongst the wreckage associated with Gold Medal winning celebrations. I'm back here to talk to Pitstop, the new C.O. of my old crew.
First off, congratulations on a long awaited second gold for the clan. In fact its been over a year since H2 won the very first gold our clan family ever got. How did your guys find it, and what's the mood like?
PS: Well, this iteration of H2 has been together for awhile now and we've all felt like we've been pretty competitive in each war we've fought. Maybe it's a culmination of a lot of hard work...maybe we had all the stars align just right for us to make a deep run and come away with the Gold this war...maybe a bit of both. Whatever the case may be, I can't be more proud of what we've been able to accomplish this war.
GG: Fair Call. I’ll come back with a few more questions on the war in a second, but first off let’s get some background. And let's deal with the elephant in the room first. You got the name Pitstop after you took a head shot early in your career and they had to regrow the brain tissue at one of the field hospitals. And to get you back in the cockpit quickly they slapped a memory engram backup over the top to restore the memory centres... but the tapes were mixed up. Is that right?
PS: Um... Mixed up.. sure.. if that's what they're saying....
GG: And they never told you who the actual donor pilot was... correct?
PS: Oh no... I'm aware of who it was. You could say he's acted like a father to me ever since, helping me with my recovery and giving me advice on how to best outfit my mechs. I was pretty young when it happened and you'd be surprised, headaches aside, how that procedure accelerated my skills when it comes to mecha piloting and squad tactics.
GG: Heh - the pair of you kept that quiet, the medics still think you are unaware. So how does it feel after having an Artificial Limbic Lobe Transfusion? And are there any other differences that the rest of us wouldn't strictly know about?
PS: I think with the ALLT procedure, there are some traits of the donor that can come through if the process isn't handled properly. Stray memories that are fuzzy and feel real, yet I know I've never been to that place. I think I see or have done that thing I "remember" doing. I'm told that in the best of circumstances, such a procedure is transparent to the patient and there are no adverse side affects.
My case, however, combined with the head trauma, tends to leave me with the aforementioned headaches and I've been told I tend to have bouts of manic focus on things to the point of not sleeping or eating for days.
GG: Now when the C.O. slot opened up here, you were offered it on the basis of your coolness under fire when you had to take command in the last moments of a very tough fight. And to be honest, you've certainly had more than your fair share of battles that have gone to the wire. How do your guys cope with that as a group?
PS: alcohol...lots and lots of alcohol....No seriously, I think we have our moments where we're about to panic and try a last minute run against an opponent we're not 100% sure we can beat, but those highs are all part of the experience. I'd rather have the thrill of a close match, win or lose, than be on the receiving end of a steamrolling. Even if we're the ones doing the rolling, it doesn't hold the same excitement.
GG: With that many close calls, are the team looking at you as if you are a jinx, or is it just part of the trials of being a crystal clan trying to remain competitive?
PS: If they think I'm a jinx they certainly aren't saying it to my face..! I think it's a showing of just how tight a lot of these divisions break down. If you look at our opponents this war, each round could have gone the other way and might have easily done so in past wars. TOTAL ANARCHY, Mobile Infantry, Raging Vengeance... all tough clans and my hat's off to each and every member of those clans for a great war. Give everyone a month, let us step out onto the field again and just as likely it could be one of them or another in our Division taking the Gold. Of course that doesn't mean we'll just hand it over without a fight.
GG: And how do your fingernails cope with it all? Hairline not receding prematurely?
PS: What's hair?! Kind of went bye bye after the head trauma...!
GG: My apologies, I should have recognised the Trump model 3000 you have there. Now one of the things we are having a push on here at Galaxy Gathering at present is a focus on new pilots, and as an up and comer yourself you are an ideal person to get some advice from. As a medium term goal for young pilots, which mechs should they look at bulking up on and why?
PS:I follow the advice of those before me when I say the Ammonite. Wide range of equipment available for them. You can tweak the weapons to match just about any fighting style that suits you. Plus being crystal based pretty easy to get a hold of. Point, edge sniper, rear backstop, just a solid mech all around.
GG: And do you have any personal favourites in your own line up?
PS:Oh I do. Pulled myself a nice Regis off the fields the last Drake war that does a fair bit of damage to the opposition who aren't expecting to find such a mech in such a low leveled squad.
GG: Any in particular that you are hoping will be available to snaffle in the upcoming raid?
PS: I don't know... The Regis could always use a twin.... <laughs>
GG: Change of pace with some random questions, pilots need to think on their feet sometimes. So hypothetical tactical appraisal, which would win a fight between a badger and a baboon?
PS: Depends. How heavily armed is the badger?
GG: No weapons... straight fight,... choose quickly!
PS: Badger then. Can't take an animal seriously if you automatically put 'red-assed' in its name when you think of it...
GG: And bearing in mind I know who your memory engram donor is, what is your stance in the debate on the strategic deployment of raccoon's?
PS: Masked bandits always grab the good stuff.
GG: Do you have a favourite snack food that you take in the cockpit while you are fighting?
PS: You have time to eat in a fight?! huh....you must be doing something wrong then.....
GG: It comes with experience young man... some of us are built for comfort, not speed.. We should probably leave the randomness there for the time being. I guess since we are here we should talk a bit more about the recent war. Looking over your results, were there any surprises that stand out? Clans you fought against being tougher or easier than you maybe would have been expecting?
PS: A few surprises, yes. Some scores turned out differently than I imagined they would, and that's not meant as a knock against any of our opponents. They all fought us fair and came to play. I also saw some things that we can take and learn from our own performance to make us stronger for next time.
GG: When you take into account the bonus mech and the gold payout, are your guys happy with the haul?
PS: I'm really happy with the increased payout. Hopefully it made others step up their game a bit and try that much harder to get the better prizes. Personally I don't have the resources some do so every little bit extra for me goes a long way. Hopefully they'll continue to offer the bigger prize packs in the future.
GG: And both as a player and clan leader, are there any suggestions you could give to the devs in regard tweaking the format to make clan wars, or any other event, even better?
PS: I know a lot gets said about how this or that Clan manipulates the system in order to give themselves an advantage and avoid the bigger divisions. Partly I wish there were a different way to determine divisions, but unless you implement some sort of player rating that isn't just their level I don't think you'll see much change. One thing I really want to see though; an Off button for my Battle Log. Yes I know so and so at level 150 can beat the snot out of my squad, but do i have to have that be the first thing I see when I log in each day??
GG: We should probably look at wrapping up now, so I’ll hit you with one final question. Raid wish list, if there was one single piece of gear (not a mech) you are hoping for on the prize list, what would it be and why?
PS: A big red button that I can press and make my enemies disappear. Yep. I need a big 'I Win!' button, One shot, of course. Otherwise what's the fun in playing??
GG: Zeon have it patented already, only they labelled the button "call for Don Fugate"...
Anyway, thanks very much for your time young man, and from the H2 veterans who have gone before, we salute you and can consider the torch well and truly passed on to safe hands.
Submitted by David McCallum #701548