Eirik cursed inwardly as he opened the door to the party room and saw the sleeping men he was about to rudely wake up. All sleeping happily in various poses around the floor and tables, he was armed with a water hose, for protection, as he nudged a nearby soldier quite forcefully with his boot. The man in question half-turned in his sleep and Eirik recognized the new guy, Jimmie.

"You were the one that dared question me in front of the others a little while back," Eirik thought to himself as a malicious grin unfurled on his face. With a swift and heavy kick, Jimmie groaned in pain, first from the kick, then from his headache. Turning his head and focusing his bleary eyes on Eirik, he saw the water hose and froze.

"Help me wake up the rest. If any of them get angry, I got the water hose. No argument, now move! we got a task ahead of us!" Eirik was stern as he spoke and he saw several of the guys move as he spoke. A few minutes and 3 drenched soldiers later they were all on their way to their respective rooms to clean up and get ready for the impending act of piracy.

Despite the massive hangover, the men were in good spirits. This type of work usually carried great rewards, in one form or another. And since it was an enemy ship during wartime, it was legal!! Some of the new guys were nervous, still somewhat inexperienced, but Eirik trusted Jesper to pair them up with the veterans, hopefully with 2 veterans for every new guy. He knew they would be on shielding duty, that much was given. The damage a soldier with only a sidearm could do was minimal, especially when standing in front of a more seasoned soldier that could react appropriately.

Eirik opted for the shotgun approach when it came to ship boarding actions, the tight corridors making perfect killing grounds for a volley of disciplined shotgun fire. With the heavy shields in front and the dedicated gunners behind them, chances of losses were minimal. They still had to be careful. The Kloxna culture was almost completely martial and even a smuggler ship would be a hive of angry lizards with energy weapons and claws that enabled them to climb on the ceiling and walls. Any boarding action they took would have to see all soldiers inserted in the same general area so their combined efforts could hold off the guaranteed attempt at repelling them.

Eirik entered the bridge and walked over to David. "How come you are so happy today?" He asked bluntly.

"The target is the one whose shipping manifest marks them as carriers of *recreational supplies*. supposedly going to a certain high caste member of the Kloxna you should be intimately familiar with." David was smiling ear to ear as he explained the situation and Eirik couldn't help but share in his enthusiasm.

"I cant wait to see what that overgrown lizard bitch marks as *recreational supplies*. Maybe we should leave her with a thank you note and some flowers, just to rub salt in the wound?" Eirik mused.

"That's what I love about you Eirik. You understand the joy I get out of other people's inconvenience." David remarked, giddy as a schoolgirl at prom.

"Let's load up with beanbag ammunition during these raids. Sure, it breaks bones on Kloxna, but they will live. Might as well get some goodwill points in with the people. And we only steal the supplies they are hauling for Tai'Tanu. I have an idea for the smugglers." Eirik was vague on purpose and David knew him well enough to not pursue the question.

"Btw, what were you talking with the old weapons dealer on the station about?" David mumbled low enough for only the 2 of them to hear it.

"You will see" Eirik mumbled back before turning around and walking towards Signe's workshop.

He entered the workshop to find Signe working on the Siege armors. She had been relentless in her work, having implemented the shotgun firing mechanism in the left arm of the armors while Jesper was running computer simulations to make the suits suitable for low orbit insertion. They would have to be expanded quite a lot in the frame to make room for the extra armor plating, wiring, HUD in the helmet, airtight and pressurized seals on the armor connections, hydraulics, and shock absorbers that would protect them from the impact on the ground.

Thrusters to help reduce falling speed, increased internal ammunition storage compartments for the shotgun modification, a magnetic lock on the shotgun arm to carry the oversized tower shields, with integrated force field generators installed, into battle while still freeing up the left hand, a back compartment for a custom made 15.000 round ammunition box of old-school 7.62 NATO rounds that could be swapped out if needed and so many more minor details.

Most of the armors were still combat-ready, only 2 of them taken out of rotation to be worked on separately. One for testing the new configuration and setup, and one for recreating the test result.

"Hey Captain," They both said as he entered the workshop, "What can we do for you??"

"I need a single siege armor for the boarding actions to come. Can you install the shotgun modification in one of the operational ones within a reasonable time limit?"

"Sure, we can have it installed in less than an hour. You going to show off again?" Both Signe and Jesper sounded disapproving.

"Not so much show off as make a statement. I got plans, my friends, such grand plans. And I need you at my side if they are to succeed." Even for Eirik, it was a mysterious statement that had them puzzled, but got to work fulfilling his request, Signe promising to install it in the rest as well whenever she had some time left over between simulations.

Satisfied, Eirik bid them goodbye and headed to the cantina. Time for a great big breakfast to get his energy up before the fun began. A rumbling stomach in combat was not a good idea. Your blood sugar was going to drop rapidly on account of the adrenaline burning through your system and it would quickly leave you burned out. An army marches on its stomach, and the bigger the army, the worse the food.

"Thank fuck I got a small army then" He chuckled to himself as he walked into the cantina and was hit with the smell of eggs, bacon, sausages, freshly baked bread, and hot coffee. With the hunger of a starving bear fresh out of hibernation, he descended upon Old Pan's culinary creations.