That would definitely be more than a Leopard's worth of units. A Union is kind of a big step, though, and harder to keep "off the books"...
What if most of the equipment is on Galatea (or other Mercenary world), and only what is needed is loaded on the Dropship? I.e. if a mission needs 4 Mechs, then the 4 Mechbays are installed. If the mission needs 8 light vehicles, then 3 of the Mechbays are removed, and 8 Light Vehicle Bays are installed. The items not installed are put into use on Galatea as a repair/maintenance corporation helping other merc units. Other merc units get extra tech support only if they need it, and the work keeps some money rolling in for the Player merc unit.
It can also lead to fun where client merc unit has the cradle scheduled for the next 10 hours to get their Mech repaired, but the unit just found out it needs to launch in 8 hours so it doesn't miss its Jumpship. The Mech cradle will need to be broken down and put aboard the Dropship at least 2 hours before launch. The choices are to cancel the work and refund their down payment, only do what you can in ~6 hours, buy a little extra hydrogen and transit a little faster to meet the Jumpship, or something else.
For transportation, since a Union is known as a military craft how about a
Mule? Both a Union and a Mule Dropship only take up one Dropship Collar, so your transit fees are identical (crew payment is another matter).
Here is a rough comparison between the two hulls:
| Category | Mule Dropship | Union Dropship |
| Cargo Capacity | 8500 tons cargo | 3600 tons total mass |
| Acceleration | T/OT = 3/5 | T/OT = 3/5 |
| Fuel Endurance | ~75 days | ~110 days |
| Armor | Total = 29 pts | Total = 64 pts |
| Weapons dmg for 10+ hexes | 29 pts | 172 pts |
| Weapons dmg for 1-9 hexes | 54pts | 60 pts |
| Width/length (aka artillery profile) | ~150 meters | ~80 meters |
(There's a reason a Mule can be about three times the mass of a Union and still only have half the BV.)
This will also have the characters trying to find cargoes that are worth selling at their destination or close to it, since there is so much cargo capacity available. For example, if the characters go with the following 1650 ton loadout on the Mule:
4 Mech Bays
2 ASF bays
10 Light Vehicle Bays = 2 light recovery vehicles, 2 APCs, 2 Maxims, 1 J27, 2 135-K Coolant trucks, 1 Engineering Vehicle,
2 Heavy Vehicle Bays = 2 heavy recovery vehicles
280 passengers/troops/extras = 10 Foot Platoon Bays
Even with 350 tons worth of life support, supplies, and spares, you still have 6500 tons of cargo capacity available to haul stuff. Performing a Garrison mission? Bring extra stuff that the hiring planet will need/want. Performing an Objective raid? Loot extra and sort it out after you leave. Part of an Assault operation? Bring along extra supplies for the campaign but don't let your ride get shot at. Mission far away? Bring along extra H2 fuel bladders to sell fuel to people you will meet along the way. This can be a good way for you as the GM to give the group some extra cash for good roleplaying, saying that the group managed to find a nicely profitable cargo to carry. It can also give you the opportunity to get the group in trouble, as that nicely profitable cargo is semi-legal at the destination.
The fun part is that you can use this as limits if the group gets too powerful. Wat to launch more ASF than 2 per turn? Need to cut holes in the hull. Group has upgraded from 4 to 24 Mech Bays and wants to drop them from orbit? Cut more holes in the hull. Want more weapons? Cut more holes in the hull. Unfortunately cutting additional holes to install the necessary doors into the Mule's hull requires a full shipyard, which means it is time for the CHA character to do their job. Similarly adding more armor could be done, but the internal structure is not set up for that additional armor, meaning the Armor Threshold rating remains the same and you have higher maintenance needs due to the structure being under higher strain. To increase the Threshold and reduce the maintenance needs you need a shipyard to take the Mule apart and install a better Structure. The problem is that your unit doesn't have a Dropship during this time and your crew might decide to leave unless you pay them out of the unit funds to stay.
