Josh truly won the Fey Fianna in a prize raffle.
Before he signed up for this suicidal defense mission, he worked for one of the many mercenary organizations that had emigrated to the Red Ocean.
The pay was good, and he was able to sponsor his daughter's education and augmentations with his income, but it did not leave him with enough capital to afford his own mech.
In truth, most mech pilots did not develop a great yearning to buy their own mech. It was nice if they had one, but owning one came with a lot of additional costs and responsibilities.
Although experienced mech pilots of Josh Ketter's skill level earned a lot better than average, this income was far from being able to purchase a decent mech, especially one that was fresh from the factory!
Even if Josh had an inheritance or something, the economic burden of owning his own mech did not end at that point.