John Thomas Mainer (aka Ol' Bunny) - Pilot license number: 28840.
Never misjudge or underestimate a pilot by the size of his mecha or by the seemingly innocent rabbit of his clan banner.
John is a warrior of ancient beliefs and traditions. A mecha pilot with a strong sense of honour and duty which are infused with a heroic mysthicism transmitted by his Viking ancestral lineage. A strong lineage that can be traced back over many generations and many centuries.
Almost every time we meet a clan or faction leader, we find an experienced commander, forged in the fires of countless wars, by fire and ferrite in the forge of war and this can be applied to him.
In John's words:
"I am a warrior and a skald. I see the poetry of struggle. I am one who sees the enemy in the mirror and the friend across the field. I am old enough to know better, and wise enough to know I will do it anyway".
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Recorded videoptic archives.- Subject: Live Interview with John T. Mainer.
Date: April 11, 3319
Location: The Blue Bunny Resort, Tremulus (Pirate Moon).
Mechanomicon: We are meeting the Commander in Chief of the bloodthirsty, stubborn, bizarre and fierce bunnies. Yes, you have read right, our galaxy has two kind of bunnies, one can be seen as an inoffensive pet, or even a meal… the other… embrace yourself if you meet the others in the wrong side of the battlefield, as they are not little angels!
It is a pleasure to meet you, John T. Mainer.
John T. Mainer – Funny you should say that as the origins of Bunnies lies in the Angels. The hierarchy of Angel’s clan.
When I was a starting (and young) pilot, my daughter Alyssa and I were accepted into the Angels’ ranks, but they wouldn’t go to participate in the Clan Wars.
When my daughter took a week off for her academic studies, since the clan didn’t participate in the tournaments, they cut her from the roster. That made me leave the clan.
We started together our own clan to defend her bunnies. Thus, was born the Defenders of Bunny.
M. - *laughs* Funny indeed. But I have seen when time comes to fight you, this is not laughing time. How did you became a Mecha pilot?
John – I believe that war is a business best left to warriors. I have heard someone said that war brings no perfection to soul… the author of this quote should have been a civilian. War is the anvil and the fire in which our impurities are hammered out and the true steel of ourselves is found. Leave it between warriors and it is something clean and pure. Drag civilians into it and it becomes suffering and waste.
Pilots and machines contending against each other on the field in open combat, what could be more pure and perfect than that?
M. - I see a strong mysticism in your words… also denoting traces of the Norse Mythology. Wotan/Odin and the warriors’ life path of the north men in old terra, am I right?
John – Many of the founding members in the Defenders of bunny follow the teachings of the Northern Gods of Ancient Terra. Indeed the ways of the Aesir and of Odin have travelled with us wherever we went. When warriors face each other across the field, and find themselves united in admiration for a worthy foe, the understanding that Valhalla unites us more than our flags divide us seems to be accepted easily by pilots od many faiths and origins.
M – All those mentions to the Norse myths lead me to the thought that you keep links with Norse ancestors… Could that be true?
John – My family origins lay in Canada, a nation from Old Terra. We come from the ice covered mountains that hearken back to the Fjords of the old countries from which many of our line were descended.
M – Well, despite what many historians could argue to that, there are ancient records about Vikings landing into Terranova, in the Canada northern territories, so actually some of that history could keep being truth.
John – Oh yes, some of them are our ancestry. Not Erik the Red or Lief the Lucky, but we did have kinfolk who sailed with them.
M - Talking about family... What does your T name means?
John - Thomas. Our family only has a few male names. During the Great War (Old Terra WWI) seven brothers went to the war, only two came back. The five who fell will not be forgotten. So all our male children bear only the names of the fallen: John, Ran, Benjamin, Robert and Thomas.
M - Names to feel proud to bear.
Is it right to assume that you became from the start of its creation the Leader of Bunnies?
John – I became the leader at the founding, and my primary joy from the start was teaching. I must be fairly good at it as I passed on everything I learned as I developed to my pilots and my wife and children. As a result, I actually was the last in the family and clan to win a KotM. I was scored as highest level by the Tournaments Evaluation System and paired in so high divisions, but prevented them from making my learning mistakes in the process.
M – Something that has been always weird to me is your clan and faction names as your totemic use of the Bunnies… When other pilots talk about the bunnies, most of them frown and look at your family clan with a deep misconception and confusion. How do you synthetize the looking of the naive and inoffensive creatures that bunnies are with that fierce warrior spirit? How can bunnies and mecha warfare be even mixed?
John – One of the things you have to get used in the mecha combat is dump shock. Your mecha gets killed and you are supposed to disconnect. You are supposed to let your valiant machine go down into the dark oblivion alone.
Well, I don’t.
Most of the best pilots don’t do it.
We ask to our machines to fight to the end, to fight even when our weapon systems have been pounded offline and shut down.
We ask them to fight until they die, so we don’t let them die alone. We stay linked until the mecha dies… and you get dump shock.
Here, the bunnies play an unexpected role, helping so much in the recovery process from the dump shock. They ease the physical tremors, help you getting your head back together and accepting that you are still alive and ready to go back to the combat and fight again.
A mecha bay with lots of rabbits jumping and hopping around means a tough fight, lots of casualties. Zeon fights are very rabbit filled.
M – So the Bunny pilots keep marching to the fight with a rabbit pet in your cabinets?
John – Alyssa always goes into battle with Easter (her bunny pet) when she is fighting her 70 tons lineup. I often let two of the rabbits together participate in the link to pilot one of my Novums in my own limited tonnage lineups. Females can’t steer, but surprisingly they add an enhancement to your gunnery skills. Male rabbits provide unbelieved natural dodge and help making our pilots better warriors while before the controls of a Novum.
M – Well, that said I have to admit I am quite surprised as never could have been figuring such a symbiosis between mecha pilots and harmless rabbits. Live to see…
John – It helps that rabbits don’t tend to overthink things. When you are looking at facing a Dragon clan for the Defenders of Bunny, or Fusion for the Spirit of bunny clan, you need to just throw yourself into the fight with joyful abandon, because if you look seriously at the Intel reports about relative strength, you might decide to retire and become an accountant. Who wants that?
M – The Mecha Games and Tournaments are, after all, unbloodied competitions where only the proud of a pilot can be lost (accidents aside)… But when talking about the real battles against the many menaces for our galaxy, would you also keep trampling like a berserk, away from all hope, instead try to keep a cold mind and your life alive to fight another day?
John – It really depends on the situation. There are times when the Spirit stands defending the flanks of Fusion and Zeon during a heavy raid where we don’t have the power to match either of those clans, but to retreat is to expose them to being flanked and seriously damaged.
We may be second tier in the Upper Divisions, but there is no one else our equal elsewhere. The Spirit and the Highlanders top Division must fight on, regardless of our fate, or those lower division class clans will be swept aside when Fusion and Zeon are left to die alone.
Then we must rely on fury and defiance, for we have not the weight or level degree, or niodes to match our own foes, now allies. Then, we must abandon sense and embrace duty… Oh, and mead! Mead helps a lot. Some raids you don’t face sober.
M – A look to your medal records in the Mecha Tournaments and Competitions show a humble start, and as what you above mentioned, your first steps as mecha pilot weren’t the better you could have done… From all your early mistakes, what have you learn?
John – I learned late, but learned well that you need to look at the whole picture, not get bedazzled by the shiny weapons. Look at forming each line as a cohesive unit, mixing the strengths and weapon capabilities to achieve a combined demolishing effect.
I learned to stack equipment that complimented my mecha’s own abilities, shield for the weaknesses at the end once you were done equipping, and only look to where your weapons would be best employed.
Equipment trumps weapons. Time and again I have proved this. Thirteen KotM golds against people firing better weapons than me have put some proof behind this doctrine.
M – Quite agree, I always gave priority to build rightly my squad’s mechas prior to load better weapons, while I acquire them mostly from the KotM competitions.
While your debut as mecha pilot in the competitions was in 3266, earning bronze, your first gold delayed, but finally arrived on 3284, as a Circuit Fight Gold. Can you remember the feeling?
John – That was a magical moment for me. I could have won earlier a Red Ant tournament on KotM that my Red Ant mafia were supposed to take. But Zeon begged me to let one of their pilots to get it instead as he was at the top of his division and would advance after that fight. He wouldn’t have another chance to grab a gold after that singular KotM. I agreed and let him take it.
When I was next free to fight the golden journey to win, I called upon those few Zeon remaining in my division and they formed up beneath me. I could take and hold the Mountain, but in the last day, you can only fight so many fights. Without their aid, I don’t know that I could have held the whole day that it took.
My first Nephillax is thus named ‘Friendship’. For it was the friends across the battlefield who aided me to acquire it.
M – Many have notice there are some friendly links between Zeon and bunnies, as to the point to ally in some Faction Tournament, despite being pummeled by them Clan War after Clan War. It is commendable that competition hasn’t sourced such relations.
John - You learn the character of a Clan when you face them in battle. Our battles with Zeon and with the Highlanders have forged not only great rivalries, but friendships as well. You truly know a person only when you have seen them pushed to their limits, either fighting with you, or against you.
M - Well said! So your first KotM gold, was in a double Rainbow specialization in 3284... The one in which Zeon supported you?
John - That is right, I do best in the limited tournements. I generally am at a disadvantage unlmited against the top one. I lack the 100 ton elite monster supply of the top pilots.
M - From your current thirteen KotM golds, which one was the more tastyful for you and your fellow rabbits, and why?
John - I would say my tastiest win would be my Double Rainbow in 3318. I beat out Bob Schlomer and Shiela Retherford, both strong competitors who I can't beat in their chosen lineups, but could match or narrowly edge out in this one.
Bob and I ran each other out of fights and were left watching the clock to see when one battle would refresh, all our Superhateorades spent, every last Large and Small Hatorade already drunk. I held it at the bell, but I have never had one closer.
M - I am familiarized with that feeling, and is hard to descript as also a strong drug there.
John - The ones that you win by a landslide or without challenge will never be as sweet, whether on the Mountain or in Clan War. I remember battles with the Highlanders that went into overtime, campaigns won or lost by a single fight. Those are magical, win or lose.
M - In the personal field, as a pilot, what have you learn while fighting in the competitions, whether circuits or King of the Mountain?
John - I found on the circuits a most amazing thing, level matters less than you would think.
There are players lower than you that can take you, and those far higher that you can take. It is this knowledge that made getting top five in Faction War possible. Dare the heights; don't let level fool you
M - The expert pilots know quite well what the level system quatify on the pilots, and only expert pilots know how to take profit from their learnings, turning them into higher skills and capabilities to beat those who lost their lessons behind.
John - Knowledge is power in a very real sense. I encourage all new pilots to seek out a clan for this reason. You never get a second chance to spend your skill development, and it will shape your performance for years. Seek out a clan that does teach and nurture their pilots, and you will see what you are truly capable of.
M - Bunnies have been reaching several silver awards, among bronzes during your career... But there shines a gold medal, I remember that's one as many got surprised your emblem unit could reach gold as being often of not always surround by super strong Clans as Zeon or Misfits... We talk about the year 3309, in which Spirit of Bunny was champion in the Second Division, as Zeon and Isle of Misfit Toys strugled in the Third Division and Fusion and PhoenixStorm were facing in the First one. Something like to be in the eye of the hurricane we might say... How do you remember that event?
John - This was to be the triumphant debut of Fission, the second division of Fusion that had taken the place of fallen Cyberstorm as master of Division One. Everyone knew that Fission was favored, but when we did our combat drop and saw Fission's beacons on our Heads Up Display, I told my Bunnies that this was it, this was the gold medal fight right out of the gate. HIt hard, hit smart, communicate, give up one loss to scout, but never a second one. We knew where we stood relative to each other so the battle tapes showed us who we cold hit and win, and who we could not. We fought hard, but smart.
We won that fight, and Mecha Galaxy did a double take. The next two were narrowly in our favour odds wise, but we were riding the high of the Fission debut victory and we really performed above our normal by quite a lot.
We earned that gold, and partied pretty hard afterward.
M - Talking about communication... As CIC what are the virtues that you value above any other?
John - As a leader you must know your people, not only their battle abilities but their nature. You can get into a lot of strife trying to fit square pegs in round holes, or you can learn your people and use them in ways that play to their strengths.
We vowed win or lose to get there together. We don't move people around much in the Bunnies, so we get to know each other well. We fight together, and we learn from each other.
M - We have seen you are not only a competent Mech Pilot in the single combat, also a leader able to guide your fellows to the victory when the chance opens a window, despite being surround by titans... But your duties are not ended there... You happen to be aswell the Chief Editor of Asterion Network News... How did you happen to join in that news group?
John - Moe Lee of the Misfit Toys recruited me a long time ago. I began to record the battles of the Smufs and the Bunnies because we were fighting in the lower divisions that no one noticed. I thought our fights should be remembered too.
Moe brought me in as correspondent, and then let me see the power of the ANN Niode card at a bar to get pilots to share their stories, and the rest is history.
Moe Lee and Justin Verret founded ANN way back in the early days when Cyberstorm, Murderbots, and the Northwind Highlanders were battling for the top, and no machine had ever achieved level or tonnage of one hundred.
M - When did you became Director of the ANN?
John - Moe turned the keys to the editorial liquor cabinet over to me about the 3304, time in which he focused his efforts on the Gordon family and their plight. Since then his efforts have been split between battle and humanitarian efforts. I have strived to maintain the same editorial standards that he had.
M - A couple technical questions. Which one is your favoured mech?
John - My favourite mecha will always be the Red Ant. This machine rewards a pilot for his ability and daring, and the equipment available for it does not favour the rich over the poor. Only your ability to set up a lineup and pilot your machines will matter.
M - Well said. What are your favourite mecha capabilities (skills)?
John - My favourite capabilities in a mecha are Critical Kill and Freeze. Damage stacking is sexy, but against raid opponents who are vastly more powerful, or enemy better shielded than your weapons can deal with, you need to stop them shooting back. Critical kill, or freeze does that.
M - Thank you John, this meeting has allowed me to get to know you better, as I hope it will serve to the readers and scholars who come to this entry.
John - Thank you German, it is always a pleasure to talk with you as well. Luck in battle my friend.
Entry & interview with John T. Mainer (28840) by GJ (685605)
