Erich scowled, not much liking the position he saw himself in. "Reservations is an understatement. Either way, you're screwing with two of the premier Mercenary forces in the Inner Sphere, One known for having more Heavy 'mechs than the Entire Capellan Confederation, and one for being firm Steiner Loyalists, as well as experts at combined-arms, ambushes, shenanigans, and a penchant for preserving Lostech, as well as utterly ruining the crap out of most enemy forces they've gone up against, even when outnumbered and outgunned. We want to keep our reputation as a solid unit, we need to stay out of underhanded bullshit as much as possible, and you two know that."<br/><br/>He sighed, rubbing his forehead for a moment. "Give the suit to the Legion, they at least have the infantry forces that can make use of something that's been reverse-engineered from it. However, you, Perky, are going to have to inform the Dragoons that you recieved a better offer, and chose that. Wolf's bunch may have their heads so far up each other's asses that they can conga-line around Harlech, but you know as well as I do that they're a mean bunch when faced with underhanded shenanigans. As for our 'prisoner', well, all things considered, she's proven that she can instruct people in how to react to Anti-Mech Infantry, as well as beat you in an arm-wrestling competition. Fobbing her off to a school that trains infantry in how to Kill 'mechs might be a good option, if you two are uncomfortable about her hanging about on the<em>Bastion</em>."<br/><br/>He nodded a moment later. "So, that's my reccomendation; Sell the suit off, trade the damaged or wrecked suits we salvaged to the Dragoons, and ask our 'guest' if she'd prefer to stay on here, or be transferred with her equipment. I'll wager a day's rations she chooses to stay here, if only because we get in all sorts of trouble."<br/><br/>Mulling over Walt's words for a long moment, he looked at the younger man, gray eyes narrowing slightly. "Been something I've been meaning to say, for a while, Walt. I know you took it hard when Bones kicked off, but that doesn't excuse the fact that, since we left that dustball in DC space, you've been nothing less than hostile to everyone in the company. I know you're trying to model your command style after the dear old dead guy, but you have to remember this; Even though he was the meanest, foulest-mouthed cuss you know, he did heap tons of praise on the people that deserved it. Namely, everyone that lived through an op. So, think about that before you start giving everyone crap for getting back in one piece, because they came back looking like they had just been thrown into a meat grinder."<br/><br/>Turning his head slightly, his gaze landed on Perkins, before handing the cigar back. "As for the cigar, keep it. We lost two warriors, so I'm not celebrating anything. What you, both of you, can do for me is, once you're no longer feeling like shit because of the mission going pear-shaped in an interesting way, is to get to know the 'warriors, or get your hands dirty in the 'mech bay. The techs are going to be busy decontaminating my 'mech until it's no longer belching raw rads and then they have to re-attach the right arm, replace at least six sinks, one of the torso PPCs, all the damaged myomer, armour, and internals, which is going to take a hell of a lot longer than a few days. So we're going to need as many hands as we can fixing up the rest of what we have; By the time we get to the Jumpship, I want at least one lance Combat-ready, and as I obviously can't help, I want you, both of you, to act as proxy for me. Which means getting dirt, grime and oil on your clothes as you help wrangle parts into place. At the very least, it'll let you two complain about me to the rest of the company because I can't complain about me."<br/><br/>He smirked slightly, but the look in his eyes suggested, rather firmly, that the two other commanding officers should spend more time with the rank and file, so as to prevent what he had heard about in the mission debriefing. Even laid out in the medbay, Erich's network of 'ears' aboard the Dropship had kept him mostly up to speed on what the rumour mill was grinding out.