A few weeks later, Katashi and Ren began to regret their decision to get an Orca...namely because it was nearly impossible to run the four-person ship properly with only two people. And no matter how many Freeports they visited, no matter how many job boards they posted on, they couldn't find two people they trusted enough to put on the crew.
And it turned out there was a massive surge of BHG capship purchases amongst independents...meaning lots of out-of-work bounty hunters. Their Orca was no longer something special; it was just another gunboat in a sea of BHG gunboats and larger, vying for the big contracts. Truth be told, they were both starting to feel a bit out of their league.
After a long day of hunting Nomads in Omicron Iota, they returned to the desolate Omicron Lost system, where they'd been basing out of lately due to the fact that they generally weren't bothered by hordes of Corsairs there. Ren sighed, watching the blue-green light from the three suns play over her console as they orbited the system's only planet...running out of ideas.
"Kat, this isn't working."
Startled, he looked up from the maintenance panel he'd just opened, looking for all the world like a puppy that'd just been swatted with a newspaper. "Whaddya mean? I always thought we made a pretty good team..."
"No, no...I mean this ship. The two of us, we can't run her, and we can't find more crew. That means we need a smaller ship."
"Like that BHG gunship we used to have?"
"Sorta...but the few of those that're left are falling apart. We need a new ship that's actually somewhat new."
"There really aren't many options, since we have so little money...I guess we could get a bomber. Most of them are two-seaters, and have plenty of firepower."
"But which one? Only ones available to us are the civilian bomber, the BHG bomber, and that Ageira bird. And the Roc and Havoc're single-seaters."
"Okay," Katashi replied as he shut the maintenance panel. "I really, really don't like the chubby fishbowl BHG bomber...but I can live with it. I'll see what I can find when we go back to Freeport 11 for more supplies tomorrow."
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Battleship Mississippi, Texas System
The officer finally looked up from his viewscreen. "Yep, your record's clean. Alright, looks like you're in luck: the LSF just phased out the previous Havoc, including some two-seaters. They don't have mine-droppers and can't handle top of the line thrusters and CM, but they're combat-ready. Same handling and forward firepower as the other Havoc Mk2s, just with an extra seat."
"Is there anything for the other person to do in there? I mean, it's not just an observer's seat, is it?"
"No, no...the LSF insisted on using modular cockpit electronics. That means, for a slightly increased price, I can set it up so the pilot gets the front seat, and the nav/comm/copilot gets the back seat. How's that sound?"
Katshi glanced over at Ren; the girl nodded. "It's a deal."
