2. Mission's 3 and 7 look like winners, relatively high salvage, short transits and short duration missions.
The long transits for 2 and 5 would put us pretty far forward in time with fewer missions. The clans, they are coming. Kinda like winter.
Operation POKEY (#1): While the salvage is lower (20%), the enemy is Green which will result in lighter repairs on our side, and Battle loss coverage at 20%. It's a Recon Raid, instead of extraction... usually easier to recon stuff than it is to actually have to find someone/something and get it out. With travel, the contract takes less than 4 months, with an expected monthly return of 1,061,535. That's at the high end for what looks to be a relatively easy "get blooded" mission.
OPA (#3) looks fairly good also, with higher salvage (40%), less Battle Loss (10%), and similar expected monthly payout (1,060,945); however our allies are now Green and our enemies are Regular. It's also vs FedCom, so my PC votes against, although it's a Lyran planet, so that's a very light objection.
Angelfire (#4) I also REALLY like (Recon/20% salvage/
80% Battle Loss) although our opponents are Regular and allies are green. That sweet Battle Loss percentage makes up for a lot though. I also really like the transport time at 58 days. That's excellent for making some customizations in the dropship facilities.
Tora (#7) looks mostly good, with the highest per month payout over the entire length (1,230,836), and while I lightly object to a FedCom enemy, it's again a Lyran world, so <shrug>. The only thing I hate about this contract is the extremely short transit time. 14 days is not a lot with which to accomplish much in the bays. At least I think it's not a lot, I don't really know how much time would be best. I'm pretty sure the "A" rating of the enemy force is also a bad thing.
My vote is for Operation Pokey (#1).
1. I am interested in hiring the elite tech.
Pfft, you already requested one of the extra staff techs right? I'm putting in my request for the Elite tech. Additionally, I'd propose that the Elite tech go to a PC with a non-pre-customized ride, as they've got the most work (and perhaps most difficult) work ahead of them... even if the tech doesn't go to me.