I have a great opportunity, my Dead Suns group of 4 desire to hire a pilot so they can focus on other roles in combat. Essentially running the NPC pilot as a group in order to free up a set of hands for secondary gunnery, Science, or Engineering. So! I'm pumped to make a list of NPC applicants for this position, due to the PCs recent fame (having just finished book 1) a whole slew of folks will be drawn to the job. Yes, a certain NPC in the AP is perfect to slip into this roll, but the idea of them going through an interview process with whatever wacky NPCs I(we) can throw at them is too good to pass up! I'm thinking the AP's NPC will need time to get back to them, in the meantime the PCs can interview and then decide among the pool after all is said and done. In the end, the terms of this deal will be Credits per flight or a wage based on time. The chosen pilot will stay out of combat and adventuring, stating something like, "I'll fly your ship for a wage, but I'm not interested in taking on the full risk of these silly missions you and the Society are so eager to get into."
Any have fun NPC ideas for pilots looking for work?
This is a moved question from the Dead Suns GM thread after I started getting some good responses there.
One of the first PC's I'd like to play is an Ace Pilot Goblin Operative with Skill Focus: Pilot as his first level feat. I plan on playing him as a hyper arrogant stick-jockey from the diaspora with all the normal Goblin (in)sanity. He makes his living running miners around the asteroid belt with a side gig of posting videos of his antics/stunts on the Infosphere for internet fame/extra cash. He has a reputation for always taking the most stupidly dangerous route and would focus on stunt pilot checks in starship combat. I think it'd make a good option for an NPC hireling that only focuses on piloting the ship for the PC's. His total bonus would be 12 (1 Rank + 3 Class Skill + 4 Dex + 3 Skill Focus + 1 Ace Pilot), which is pretty solid at 1st level for most of what a pilot does.
Definitely have a Barathu amalgam pilot (and maybe they lose cohesion in the interview and literally fall apart). You could throw a Haan at them as well, maybe some other of the more exotic races. Also, at least one core race pilot who's only experience is in flight simulators.