Ok-- Here's what I like as far as Mechs go... being Mercenaries, we will have Inner Sphere technology, right?
PXH-7S Phoenix Hawk
MAD-4S Marauder II
OR
TNS-4S Thanatos.
If I start looking at Clan mechs, it's a slightly different story.
As for a CHARACTER...
Mika Valanov... born into a family of organized crime, Mika’s home was disrupted at a child when the turning of the underworld tide left her family dead, incarcerated, or on the run. Rescued from a life, and probably a short one, on the streets, Mika was adopted by a Mech engineer and mechanic, and spent her early teen years tuning up, and occasionally pioloting, mechs.
She eventually earned her bones as a pilot, and seemed to take naturally to the pace and nuances of mech warfare. ETC. ETC. ETC.
Appearance: diminutive in height and slight of build with blonde hair in a wicked pixie-cut. Her most striking features are her eyes—a vivid, maddening blue—and her full lips, typically formed in a wry, teasing smile.