I have trouble sizing the MC's and the other's ships. Is it a gunship (like a Thunderhawk/Stormbird), a corvette (Mill. Falcon size), bigger...? Because if it's bigger than a corvette, I don't think it could pull the stunts of ch. 1 that easily...
If the army can't handle small fast ships then they're gonna be in a hell of a lot of trouble if the neighboring state decides to prepare an army of fast small ships.
Like what
@AbuHajaar
The army is expecting to do most of the heavy lifting against other battleships in the case of another state invading. While doing that, they can’t handle smaller, faster ships slipping through, with more important things to focus on. For that purpose, they’re hiring mercenaries to act as a net. Probably.
I assume that heavy battleships can’t move as fast as smaller ones. That said, that’s the end of where my speculation can go. I don’t know why they don’t have enough of their own destroyers or whatnot.
Edit: basing it off of Naval ship speeds, a heavy battleship can only move at about 33 knots, but a corvette can move at up to 60 knots. Interestingly, destroyers can only move at up to 30 knots or so...
@Talismaster I think the story said this was taking place in one of the most isolated areas in space. Anti-fighter ships would probably be assigned to the more populated regions where there are more civilian space stations.
@ShionVaynex The volume 1 cover art on the series' main page pretty much confirms that.
@Korvalus - It's probably around the Millenium Falcon's size, which is a light freighter. An actual corvette would be Leia's ship from the start of the original Star Wars movie (A New Hope) and would require a crew of dozens or more. For a more recent example, I bet MC's ship is bigger than Mando's, since there are clearly individual crew rooms, but probably not more than two or three times as big.
@korvalus Due to the terminalogy and appearances in the novel and manga it has a lot of physical similarities to an elite dangerous fer de lance.
But I think it's probably a little larger than a python in elite dangerous due to the stuff packed inside.