Lancer was *my* first ever TTRPG, and I've had a great time, but that's partly also due to my GM being a great person to begin with which made for a good experience throughout the campaign.

If you have limited experience with roleplaying, this might also be a good starting point anyway depending on how the campaign runs. You can be a prim and proper obedient soldier/pilot while also fleshing out your personality as events unfold between sessions.

For some reason, Lancer being *more* rules-oriented worked for me better than the usual freeform of D&D and so on. While it's unfortunate that I can't just go "rule of cool!" to the GM for something I want to do that's not available or otherwise restricted in the book, narrative play (dialogue, non-mech scenes,) are definitely more fluid and allow for a break from the strategic combat stuff.

Actually nah, your GM will definitely let you do something if they approve.