<strong>Dark Star Dropship</strong><div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/e/ef/Damian_Harper.jpg)</div><br/><br/><div style="text-align: justify;">Two weeks had passed since they'd really started their road to recovery. Already, it was a bumpy road. Beyond a slew of unfit applicants to serve among the Mechwarrior's of the company, there were also unforeseen costs and undetected maintenance that sapped away at the reserves Damian had stringently insisted be put aside for just that purpose. It meant there was going to be a little less hardware for them to take to the field, sure, but he so loved to see his prudence proven correct, since the budget set aside for everything the command staff had discussed remained intact. Still, the costs had been more straining than foreseen. As arranged, Damian and Kari had been working closely together to get supplies, gear and new machines onboard the dropship. Damian had been forced to pull in favors he had been hoarding for over a decade in the hopes of never having to use them. But, such was the nature of an emergency. It knocked down prices left and right, but they still barely managed to follow up on Allia's proposition by the end of it. Still, after review, they were left with enough to give the crew a one-time, small bonus and a temporary ration increase. While the former clanner complained about it, he did see the point in it, as it drastically improved morale and gave the somewhat false image that they were already on the up-and-up. True, they weren't reeling, but they hadn't had a single coin roll back into the coffers since the disaster.<br/><br/>In the meantime, Allia had been working tirelessly with the remaining Mechwarriors that stayed on, such as Jirani, to separate the wheat from the chaff. It had been arduous, but the suitable candidates had been stripped down to the last ten, of which only a handful could conceivably be taken on. If there really was tremendous promise in there somewhere (which came with it's own 'Mech), the budget could be stretched to take on at least one pilot more on than previously agreed upon. But that would make the need to find work even more dire.<br/><br/>It was time for another meeting. Command staff was going to review the last applicants, the budget, the supplies, and the job options Damian had managed to scrounge up. All of these decisions could be advised upon by him and Allia. But, in the end, the final decision rested squarely on Kari's shoulders. that was a tremendous amount of pressure that would call upon every bit of experience she had, and every ounce of knowledge she had gleaned from her father. If she made the wrong call, they were doomed to obscurity and bankruptcy.<br/><br/>Damian, as was usually the case, was the first in the meeting room, having already taken a seat. Clad in his usual attire and sporting the familiar leather jacket, he was still reviewing some notes, while a stack of paper work - both physical and digital - was organized in front of him across the large table that once housed eight people to determine company policy. Now? Just three.</div>