<div class="floatright">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/9a/Tony_Leung.jpg)<br/>(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/5/5e/Sarna_reserves_kamakura_s_hussars_spider_by_viereth-d585zvf.jpg)</div><strong>Hiro Kagekaze (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=207352.msg10171354#msg10171354)</strong><br/><strong>In his 'Mech, in the desert, in a fight</strong><br/><strong>Tagged: Angeline Helling (Seraph)</strong><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Santa Prisca Desert, Librios<br/>Deneb Algedi, Benjamin District<br/>Draconis Combine<br/>1 January 3145</strong><br/><br/><em>“Seraph here. If anyone’s not too busy, I could use a little help. Ran into a little trouble. There’s a Firestarter running around me with an AC and flamers, and a Banshee shooting at me from range.  If someone could kindly blow that Firestarter into scrap metal, I would be very grateful to you. Seraph out.”</em><br/><br/>What was she<em>doing</em>?  What's with all the chatter?  Fortunately, the other half of our support pair, Damian, picked up on it and took care of Angeline's problem.<br/><br/>"Seraph, Ronin.  Keep your communications short.  You're not guest announcing a match.  We don't need the play-by-play.  You need help or you don't.  And don't say 'anyone,' but call out specifically - whether it's 'Charybdis' or 'Command Lance.'  People respond quicker that way.  Got that, cover girl?  Ronin out."<br/><br/>Maybe she wasn't used to this sort of criticism, but Angeline needed it, for her own sake and the rest of us.<br/><br/>I had been a fan of Angeline ever since she first stepped into the arena.  I followed gladiator battles in general, particularly the newcomers.  I read up on her when she started - the noble background, the academy education, the rumors of sexual escapades - and kept track of her during the initial rough start of her career.  She somehow managed to not get killed for a while, and used her looks and charisma to turn herself into a star soon after her successes in the arena.  If it were me, I would never have left all that money and celebrity and comfort behind.  But maybe Angeline felt empty inside, or maybe she was doing first-hand research for a role in an upcoming film, or maybe she needed to feel some real danger - in our line of work, defeat meant death or capture, not going back to the locker room to get over a loss and prepare for the next match.<br/><br/>I remember when Kari called me in to talk about Angeline.  Kari knew I followed gladiator battles.  I was honest - Angeline was good, but she was also lucky.  And she may be better off hanging in the back instead of wading around in the front, at least until she got used to working on a battlefield instead of in an arena.  I was concerned that she wouldn't last in our rather spartan lifestyle after living in the lap of luxury.  She still had a lot to learn, but at least she showed promise.<br/><br/>When I first met Angeline, I wasn't sure how I was going to react.  I mean, I was a fan, both of her work in the arena as well as her model shoots and movie scenes.  She was definitely gorgeous, but it was a different kind of beauty up close, without the airbrushing and the digital enhancement.  She seemed larger than life on billboards and big screens, but she was actually just about my height.  Here, she was just another attractive female Mechwarrior, not a super model or movie star.  I took it upon myself to mentor her the best I could, even if that meant some tough love in private.<br/><br/>