Howso; they worked in teams to find and intercept the Blue Ridge before getting to the official Rendezvous point, which speaks clearly about their abilities to work together, extrapolate an intercept based off of a map coordinate, and all successfully docked with the blue ridge, which is a pretty nerve-wracking feat; That proves their piloting; the only thing they have not proved is how well they can shoot, and considering the only target nearby is big, blue, and full of gas...<br/><br/>As for how zepp owners hire mercs, it's quite simple; they do what Hedy did, and anyone that survives the first engagement with pirates, raiders, communists, etc. is promoted to full-time, because they have to be skilled in order to not get their collective backside shot full of holes.<br/><br/>In fact, the only one that doesn't have a question mark would be Dixie, simply because she flew further, faster, and managed to join with the group, and Dock with the blue ridge, despite having no apparent knowledge of navigation, which means she has amazingly good innate directional sense. (Or just really good eyes, and she watched the Ridge the entire way)