Music of the Afternoon? (Bunks - Afternoon)

[Andrea DeTroyes]

"Ten companies?" Andrea raised a brow, "Always the mercenary then I assume?"

Her tempo picked up a little, but her tone had at least lost of its dryness. "So three lost mechs across ten companies. That suggests you once held one you might think of your own and not just a company mount. A family mech perhaps?" There is, strangely a genuine pity in her voice when she implies Bruun may have lost a family heirloom like a mech.

[Dorgan Bruun]

"Yeah, always a merc," he says, scratching at his short, slightly scruffy beard. He huffs a little. "Look, my family was a long time ago, ok? There's no House of Bruun anymore, or anything that's keeping the memory alive," he says a little scornfully.

"You like talking about family," he says matter-of-factly. "Tell me about yours."

[Andrea DeTroyes]

Andrea regarded Bruun a second, "Ah...I begin to see perhaps," Her music turns a bit more sorrowful, though on just a violin it feels something is missing, "Very well, to my own family then."

"I am the youngest child of the Baron Étienne Sébastien DeTroyes, with holdings on Kestrel...largely ceremonial, our value to the ruling Davion family has always been our sword arms." She smiles, "Noblesse d'épée. With a history stretching back to Major Charles Gérôme DeTroyes of the Star League's 91st Heavy Assault Regiment. He declined General Kerensky's call for exodus, and with several of his soldiers accepted the Davion's call for anyone willing to fight in the wars they all knew were coming."

"For that, and services in the First Succession War, he was made a Baron and given the estate on Kestrel." She stops playing to wave her bow around, "I assume you wish me to skip the generations of DeTroyes who served faithfully and with much glory for the Federated Suns." Reaching back with the bow she taps the picture behind her, the tip resting on the oldest man in it, "Captain DeTroyes, Commander DeTroyes's Company, 2nd Crucis Lancers, cited for bravery and skill during the Third and more recently Fourth Succession Wars." The tip moves to a woman beside him, "Leftenant Marguerite DeTroyes, Commander Fire Support Lance in DeTroyes's Company, 2nd Crucis Lancers, cited for bravery and skill in the Fourth Succession Wars." The bow moves to the other man in the picture, "Leftenant Wintson Ross DeTroyes, Commander Heavy Lance, Jamison's Company, Davion Heavy Guards, cited for bravery, skill, mentioned in dispatches, and awarded the Silver Sunburst for actions against the Capellan Confederation in the Fourth Succession War."

Finally she taps herself, "Sergeant Andrea DeTroyes, formerly of the 17th New Avalon Hussars, cited for good conduct. Served in the NAIS 1st Training Cadre during the Fourth Succession War. Taking part in no actions in either the Fourth Succession War, the consolidation operations following the conquests of said war, or even chasing bandits around space." Her bitterness is evident as she goes back to playing.

[Dorgan Bruun]

"Ah," he starts to say, then pauses while he talks himself out of making an unnecessary joke.

"That sounds like a lot to live up to. You know, a few hundred years of dedicated service." He doesn't have much to say, Andrea's situation being basically the exact opposite of his, but he feels a certain kinship. Family sucks.

"So I guess you're itching to get in a simulator tomorrow, huh? Show off what you can do?"

[Andrea DeTroyes]

"I would be stunned if anyone here wasn't," Andrea smirks, "Beyond the usual chest pounding...it has been rather boring to just be a passenger. I have probably checked Sly Calibre a hundred times in the transit. The briefing this morning has probably also brought a little unease. Between colonists, the taint of Amaris, and broken HPGs."

[Dorgan Bruun]

"Yeah, of course. Plenty of reasons to be ready to blow something up. Simulator ain't the real thing, but it's better than sitting around like a civilian." He pauses. "Oh, uh, no offense," he waves toward the violin. "We all have to find ways to keep it together. This iron box feels real small when you're used to Solaris or some other respectable amount of space."

[Andrea DeTroyes]

Andrea raised a brow, "Solaris? Mercenary, noble-in-exile, and gladiator? Perhaps next you will reveal your family name is Marik and you were once a pretender to the Captain-Generalship of the Free Worlds League."

She keeps playing, "Or perhaps that you are truly one of the exiles from the SLDF, come back to herald the return of Kerensky's exodus, here to rebuild a new Star League. No wait...a true born Cameron held in secret all these years come to claim the title of First Lord and rule humanity."

[Dorgan Bruun]

Bruun snorts. "I'm just who I am. A great mechwarrior that's seen plenty of people who thought they were something special end up as guts and goo getting hosed out of a mech. I ain't any kind of fancy, but I'm still here." He looks at her, slightly smirking, right eyebrow raised, thinking You want to keep showing off or we done with that?

[Andrea DeTroyes]

"Better to die in a cockpit then stomped under foot," Andrea stops and waggles her bow at him, "I suppose we will see all that greatness tomorrow...well in as much as a sim can do."

The music returns. "So what mech has the company provided for you? Does it have a name?"

[Dorgan Bruun]

Bruun chuckles. "I hear they want me in that Valkyrie down there, so I'll try bonding with Blondie and we'll see how it goes. It looks like she's about as good as it gets around this scrap heap for now," he rubs a hand on his vest, suggesting he's proud and the company already recognized he's their best pilot. "A nice LRM so I can try to keep the rest o'y'all out of trouble." He smiles wider than any light mech could justify.