“ Oi, Takka,” Aroxy flicked his gunner’s head. The man was currently asleep, lying on top of a crate of SRMs they had liberated during their raid on the Espian Guard’s storage facility. Held in his hand was a bottle of something Aroxy smelled like gasoline. If they were still back in the Free Worlds League, he would have sent Takka to the brig to walk off his booze-induced headaches. Fortunately for the tank driver, there was no such thing as a military tribunal in the Green Knights. If there was, Aroxy would have been able to knock some sense into the little dumbass’s head. 

Takka shook his head as he groggily woke up from his alcoholic stupor. “ What’s up, boss?” 

Just before Takka could take another swig, Aroxy took it away from him, unscrewed the lid and poured it out on the floor. 

“ I need a status report on the Merry Go Report’s status. How long before it’s fully operational again, Takka?” 

From Aroxy’s point of view, the Merry Go Round looked like a gutted animal. The turret had been fully detached from its chassis and the upper portion of its heavy chassis was lifted off by a winch crane. Hydraulic pumps were strewn out of its belly like guts and its treads had been fully winded off the wheels and drive train. It was odd seeing the venerable tank like this and made Aroxy somewhat embarrassed the more he stared at it. He couldn’t remember the last time he had requisitioned the Merry Go Round for refurbishment. 

“ Well, Cap, we should be mission ready in about three days, give or take,” Takka fiddled around for his personal datapad, tapping a few buttons to reveal a screen that showed a wiremap frame of the Merry Go Round. Several regions were blanketed in a thick coat of red and orange. “ The main priority is the treads. We don’t get this right and we’ll be mission killed faster than you can say ‘Fuck The Crimson Guard’”. 

“ Hey, Cap!,”  A brash voice shouted out as the lean figure of Ansel walked around the bulk of the Von Luckner. In his hand was a ragged piece of the Espian Herald. “ Well, lookey here, Xiu’s dead. Ain’t this planet more of a shitshow than it already is, Captain?,” Ansel murmured. The brunette gunner sliced the tip of his cigar with the edge of his knife before lighting it with a strip match. 

“ Eh, who cares?” Helma’s head popped out of the tank and she clambered down, her face splotched with motor oil and grease. “ There all the fucking same. It’s like caring about each weed when you mow a lawn. More trouble than it’s worth. We keep killing until they stop trying to kill us. Simple as that, Ansel.” 

Aroxy grabbed the paper and looked at it. As always, the Espian Herald was frustratingly lacking in details that failed to thoroughly communicate the gravity of the situation. The planetwide coup had taken a step in its natural direction and already, they were witnessing the beginnings of a civil war on multiple fronts. He scratched his chin and scrunched up the paper, throwing it over his back. 

“ The Heavenly Sword are a rogue variable. With some lack, they could hamper the Crimson Fists operations. I’ll have to - ,” Aroxy paused as he heard the commotion in the cave. It was coming over from the entrance. He whistled for the crew to stand at attention and motioned for them to follow him. He and the crew of the Merry Go Round parted through the crowd of onlookers to get a peek at what was happening. There was a standoff between Colonel Wayne and a lady who looked more appropriate on the front cover of a magazine than a war zone. His eyes narrowed as his minds remembered the briefings they had before they made planetfall. This was Cassandra Jeong, the heiress of the Aqua Vitae Corporation. In the absence of groundwater aquifers, Espia had placed a huge number of financial investments into a network of desalination plants that kept the planet running so to speak. The corporate conglomerate was in control of a good chunk of Espia’s natural resources. An alliance with them was too good to be true. They were lacking in manpower and resources right now, but desperation often blinded people to the truth. 

“ I can’t imagine recent events have been profitable for the Aqua Vitae Corporation, Miss Jeong,’ Aroxy said in a slow, contemplative voice. “ If we were to assist you, what remunerations would you offer us?” 

“ Help? Pah, we don’t need help from some corporate gold-plated smarmy CEO!,” Takka spat out. “ We can take - YOWCH!” 

Takka yelped mid-sentence as Helma pinched the lobe of his ear painfully, dragging him into the crowd and out of sight.