the shape of things to come

The fact that you’re here means you already know how to pilot
your craft. Thank the stars for that. However, we aren’t the Davion
Guards with a slew of veteran technicians to keep your two hundred-year
old baby in prim and proper condition while wiping
your ass after every crap. Hell, we aren’t even those half-assed
Taurians with a few workers just to keep it running and in decent
condition. We’re a bunch of pirates with resources few and far
between, and if someone here hasn’t fi gured that out by now, I
have a few pills that will make all your troubles go away. No worries,
not even about breathing after a few minutes. Any takers? I
didn’t think so.
So now that we ‘ve established we’re bunch of poor sons of
braxxes—so poor, in fact, that we can’t even aff ord used myomer
strands for our one-armed BattleMechs—it should come as no
surprise that by the time I’m through with you all, you’ll be doing
AEROTECHNOLOGY
—Alleged aerospace technologies instructional briefi ng by Richard Beston, commander of the
Ruby Skulls Flight, Winged Death (Death’s Consorts pirate command), circa 15 March 3068
what the rest of us do, working on your own craft to keep it going.
The rule is simple: everyone works here, and everyone fi ghts.
Me? I started as one of the few experienced technicians with
this band, working on Major Terren’s Corsair until he had a disagreement
that didn’t turn out so well for him a few years ago.
We were short on pilots at the time, and I’d logged a few hours of
sim-time, so they threw me into his bird—and thank the heavens
I’m still around to tell the tale. Well, most of me, but I didn’t need
that leg anyway.
Looks like many of you were just too lazy and stupid to mind
your tech classes when you fi rst signed up wherever you came
from, so that’s why you’re here with me now on this “refresher”
course. Lord help you all. If you look around, you’ll see you’re a
pretty sorry mixed class, coming up from under all rocks of life.
I see bridge bunnies, fi ghter jocks, myomer monkeys and even