Coolant Flush (beverage)

This article is about the energy drink. For other uses, see Coolant Flush (disambiguation).

"Coolant Flush" energy drink

"Coolant Flush" was the label for a BattleTech-themed energy drink that Catalyst Game Labs first brought to GenCon 2018 as a gag (there was also a Shadowrun-themed counterpart labelled "Dragon Piss").

In-universe appearances

• In what may or may not be a reference to this, in the 2018 BattleTech novel Forever Faithful on p. 17 the protagonist is given "a green bottle of what warriors called 'Flush', a sweet-tasting drink packed with electrolytes and vitamins."
• The short story Ace Darwin and the Battle of the Beer Fridge (Shrapnel magazine, Issue #8) features Coolant Flush as a bottled beverage. A picture going with the story depicts capped bottles with a Warhammer wireframe background labelled 'Coolant Flush' and 'Energy Drink'.

In-universe History

Coolant Flush was an insanely popular sports soft drink which producer company received sponsorship from the SLDF. Their fridges are everywhere around Star League offices after the Reunification War. They were so popular than Coolant Flush memorabilia was produced. A Lumire the Coolant Flush Action Figure was mentioned, but the company ceased to exist after the fall of the Star League, and the drink's recipes were lost too.

In October 3044, a group of archeologists of Interstellar Expeditions was digging on an abandoned Star League-Era old city on the planet Anywhere, in the Lyran Commonwealth. The Mercenary group Ace Darwin's WhipIts was hired to provide security, while the IE team performed a dig on an office of the Bureau of Star League's Affairs. There, Ace's technician, Andrew Sevrin, found a fridge fillet with Coolant Flush. Sevrin was a total fan of the drink, and as the IE personnel weren't interested on the drinks, let them take for himself.

Soon after, the local government attacked the archeological site, to seize all Lostech. A battle between their police and militia 'Mechs and Ace Darwin's people followed, while IE personnel retreated. After knowing than Sevrin had stayed behind on the encampment, Ace went to rescue him. The technician insisted than Darwin's took also the fridge, which he did before escaping.

After escaping the planet, Sevrin explained than the fridge was filled with Coolant Flush bottles and SLDF neurohelmets. He and Darwin's team tasted the drinks, which have turned bad, before giving Andrew a neurohelmet to every one of the three MechWarriors. He said to be planning to use the drinks to reverse-engineer them and begin producing them, as well as the neurohelmets.

Apparently, Sevrin succeeded, as in 3053, Coolant Flush was already being produced and popular between young boys. It was available on several colors and maybe tastes. It was mentioned one of pink color and other of Lemon-Lime taste. Also there were Coolant Flush vending machines.

By 3057, Sevrin led a soda and tech conglomerate empire, which produced and sell Coolant Flush. Ace was his partner and also show man, making holovids advertising the drink.

Drink Description

Coolant Flush was described as a greenish-yellow concoction reminding vaguely BattleMech Coolant. It tasted vaguely of citrus but was mostly raw sugar, with strontium-based additives supposedly to enhance electrolyte absorption. Those who drank it pissed luminescent urine. It is said to have some BattleMech-grade coolant, which is lightly corrosive and radioactive, as an ingredient, to give it an air of authenticity.

Bibliography

• Ace Darwin and the Battle of the Beer Fridge (in: Shrapnel #8)
• Lucky Bastard (in Shrapnel #9).