<strong>Union-Class Dropship, <em>Bastion</em><br/>June 2nd, In-system Burn to Outreach<br/>Officer's 'lounge'</strong><br/><em>Erich, Walt, and Perkins</em><br/><br/>"Are you living in your own world, Erich, were things work out exactly the way they should for everything?" Perkins genuinely looked at him with a sense of disbelief and curiosity. "Part of Shadowborn's Raven is being payed with private funds, we need to get that scrapmetal called a Cataphract off and get another light for our Capellan engineer down there. Even that would be cutting corners, because you don't just hire ASF-pilots like you do MechWarriors. You have to really consider unit composition, down to the exact details of which Mark of what ASF they are bringing to the table. That alone is a recruitment nightmare which siphons C-Bills like it was connected to a fluid gun. And as for this refit of the Marauder, have you even seen the expected prize on that? In this case I trust the engineer who has dedicated his life to 'Mech construction when he says that this Marauder is a walking death-trap waiting to happen. Hopefully he's not lying when he says he is a mean haggler, because otherwise we'll have to pawn plenty more than a Highlander."<br/><br/>Walter nodded in agreement. "He's right, Erich. I got myself a pretty extensive lecture about that Marauder's condition and it looks like more than just the simple rewiring you are imagining. So as much as you would like to save me the headache of pawning the old basterd, it will have to do for now."<br/><br/>"As for the dropship" Perkins continued "it's another reason we are crawling on our bellies at the moment. I have already had to take some significant loans to get us what we need, not to mention all the ComStar asses I will have to pucker up to once we reach Outreach. As for the promotions, knock yourself out, might as well hand out some ranks to the rest of the roster as well. And I trust that you can organize your exercises on your own without racking up too much of a medical bill."