Eirik sat down in front of Lasse after greeting his brother with a warm hug.

"How many men at arms have finished the training with satisfactory results?" Eirik asked, deciding to cut through the bullshit.

Lasse shuffled through some papers on his desk before replying "2142. at last headcount. It would seem there are more hopeless lives hoping to improve than we initially thought out here. We got more coming in every day."

"Excellent. I want them divided into 100-man groups, with 5 squad leaders per 100 men. That will give them enough flexibility to handle most assignments. We are also going to have to start looking into diversifying their equipment. Anti-armor, dedicated anti-infantry, long-range firepower, the works.

At a later point, we are going to want Siege armor for every squad leader along with either an m134 or a similar heavy weapon. 10 men from each, let's call them *combat groups* for now, will need combat engineer training. Anyone with a background as a craftsman should be preferred. We need to train as many combat medics as we have squad leaders, with one of them getting additional field surgeon training for every combat group." Eirik started running through the plans he had made

"Sounds like you are planning on making independent battlefield insertion groups that can operate independently both in front of and behind, enemy lines," Lasse said with a half-smile.

"Never could pull the wool over your eyes, brother," Eirik responded. "That's the best mercenary group. One that is independent once it is operational."

"So I take it that you are launching the mercenary idea. Not a bad way to earn a good amount of credits. What is the payout rate going to be?" Lasse asked.

"70% goes to the mercenary group. 30% to the company. " Eirik knew he would undercut a lot of the business standards, but he didn't care. His soldiers were several steps above the standard merc, and he wanted the payout rate to reflect that.

"HAH! You are going to have a line of applicants from here to Terra!" Lasse laughed.

"And they will all have to go through the same process as those that came before them." Eirik joined in on the laughter before getting serious again. "It will secure me a lot of enemies in the beginning. But we will raise the hiring rates to reflect that as well. It should leave plenty of smaller jobs available for the less skilled and shut up most of the complaints we will initially receive."

"As good a plan as any, if you are going to undercut standard merc rates," Lasse said.

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"I will also need ships." Eirik continued, "Lot's of ships. I need every combat group to be able to move independently. The faster they can get around, the faster they can complete jobs. Any site of battle with possible salvage should be marked. Any wounded Kloxna ship passing through the area, any convoy they might send through. I shall create the most ramshackle fleet to ever roam the stars!"

"Going full Warhammer orks? Haha, still as much a nerd as when you were a child!" Lasse teased Eirik, as he had done relentlessly during childhood.

"So what if I am??" Eirik retorted, "If I get to live out my childhood dream, I will get the last laugh. And I look forward to it, brother!"

They both stared daggers at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing.

___________________

Several hours later when the details had been hammered out, Eirik was on his way back to the ship when he got a message from Freja, suggesting they go out dancing. He would rather they stayed back on the ship, but he knew she loved going out to be seen. If it brought trouble, she was usually delighted.

So he was surprised when she suggested they go eat after they went dancing. She did not plan an all-night party session. Now he was intrigued. So he followed the directions she sent to his datapad.

________________

Signe groaned in frustration and knocked an empty can of energy drink down from her desk in irritation. No matter what she did, no what how she tried, she could not find a way to mount the minigun on the arm of the modified siege armor and still keep it accurate. There was a knock at the door and David popped his head into the workshop without waiting for an answer.

"I heard frustration. What's bothering you, Signe?"

Deciding to get a new perspective on the task in front of her, she explained in detail what she was trying to accomplish. When she got to the different things she had tried, she saw David furrow his eyebrows in contemplation.

For a long moment, he was silent as he studied the armor blueprints in front of him. Moments before Signe spoke up again, he started talking.

"Let me guess. The problem is the recoil throwing the suit off-balance during movement. Am I right?"

Signe was stunned. "Yes, you are correct. But how did you know?" She asked him

"It's the only explanation it is not working. You cannot compensate for those guns without going full exosuit. Remember, we are firing 100 bullets every second, and Jesper is hard at work trying to improve the fire rate.

I have actually pondered this quite a bit, and if you add the option to lock up all the joints except for the arm with the gun, you could turn people in the armor into temporary gun emplacements. It shouldn't be too hard to accomplish that, should it?"

Signe looked over the blueprints with a glance. she almost knew them by memory at this point. "It should be possible. I have to figure out a way to activate it from the helmet, but it should be possible, most definitely." She confirmed.

"Excellent. Let me know if you need help with anything. I'm itching for some manual labor to pass the time" The hopeful note in his voice was not lost on Signe and she had to think that one over. "Nothing right now, thank you. But I might call on you at a later point."

"Sure thing, I'll be on the bridge. Call if any emergencies happen." If David was disappointed he did a damn fine job of hiding it. "At least he is respectful." Signe thought to herself and she started making plans to lock up every moveable joint in the siege armor on command.