Lenn walked down the busy streets of New Asia, Kang bounding along besides him. The glistening silver eagle felt heavy in his pocket.

After they returned, Captain Yuki had given them a stern talking to about stealth, but congratulated them on the overall success of the mission and awarded them their individual airman’s eagles. Then he gave them the night off and allowed them to head out into the streets of New Asia to attend some of the New Year’s eve celebrations.

Although it was unnecessary, Lenn carried the eagle badge in his pocket, mainly because he felt so very proud of it.

“You know theres gonna be a fireworks display tonight?” Kang asked Lenn as they wandered down the noisy streets of the town center.

The town center was in the shape of a ring surrounding the factories, and is the nicest section of the slums. If Lenn were to be honest, the town center should probably be in a class of its own since it is worlds apart from the worst parts of the slums.

“They have that every year right?” Lenn asked back. He couldn’t remember a single time in his childhood when fireworks didn’t light up the sky during New Year’s eve.

“Yep,” Kang answered.

“But… why though? Wouldn’t it be just a waste of resources?” Lenn asked.

“No no, you clearly don’t know enough,” Kang joked, patting Lenn playfully on the shoulder. “Firework displays helps raise spirit and morale. If there weren’t fireworks people might become desperate and lose the will to fight.”

“…I see…” Lenn mumbled.

Ahead of them Rei and Ying were busy looking at the goods on display at a second-hand store. There were cameras, phones, computer parts, and all sorts of other novel goods. Lenn had heard of a time when these things were plentiful and relatively cheap, but ever since the war started resources had to be dedicated to fighting the war and little remained to produce surplus goods.

“Ten thousand for the camera?” Rei was asking the store clerk as Lenn and Kang walked up.

“You read that right. These models of cameras are not even being produced anymore these days, finding them is hard.” The store clerk responded with a heavily asian accented english, wiping a little coffee machine which was sitting on the counter. “Fancy some coffee any of you?” He offered them.

“Of course,” Rei said, as the clerk took four little cups from the cupboard behind them and laid them down in front of the machine. “We can discuss the price la…”

“What’s all this ruckus about?” Kang shouted as he came over, slapping Rei roughly on the back. “You want to get this camera? Ten-thousand? That’s some steep pricing if I’ve ever seen one. Lemme take a look at it, what makes this piece of tech so special anyways?” He said, reaching his hand down to grab the camera off the counter.

“Manners.” Rei snapped, slapping down Kang’s outstretched arm.

The clerk poured some coffee beans of questionable origin into the top of the machine and pressed a little button. The machine whirred and churned, then produced a little cup of a rich smelling dark brown liquid.

Lenn drank coffee a lot. It was essential for keeping him up during long missions and tiring days. But the coffee he is used to drinking has always been made from instant coffee powder and sometimes boiling water, but more often just room temperature water.

The clerk handed him a little cup, which he accepted gratefully with a little nod of the head. He took a little sip, burning his lips on the still very hot liquid. It tasted bitter, very bitter. But it had this depth to it which just made him want to sip more.

Lenn looked over at the rest of his team, who were all sipping at the coffee too, Kang included, although he seemed to be taking sips that were a little too large and constantly grimaced as his tongue got scalded. Ying sat farthest away from him, and she too was taking little sips with her eyes closed.

Once he finished the cup of coffee, he gently set down the cup and reached for his wallet to pay.

The shop clerk saw him doing so, and put his hand out to stop him. “No need!” He said, imitating one of those benevolent men from the movies and stories.

“You sure?” Lenn asked.

“Quality control batch is for free!” The clerk said, laughing as he saw the look of horror on Lenn’s face. “I’m just kidding. I assure you its completely safe. I went and picked out the roaches from the machine by hand after I bought it! But still, keep your money. You can see it as a gift from me as thanks for your service to our city.” He said, gesturing at the arrow shape tattoo on the back of Lenn’s hand. “Fighter pilot?”

“Yeah,” Lenn answered.

“What squadron?”

“45th heavy fighter squadron.”

“Im guessing these are your teammates?” The clerk asked, taking the cup and putting it in the sink.

“Yeah,” Lenn answered. “Did you use to serve too?” He asked, thinking the man knew more than a person outside the military should reasonably know.

“That’s right,” the clerk said, clicking his heels together and giving a textbook salute. “Mission specialist Takeshi at your service! Ah… haven’t said that in a long time.” He chuckled.

Is it a thing that all mission specialists are like that? Lenn thought to himself while stealing a sideways glance at Kang.

“What fighter did you pilot?” Rei asked.

“Oh the old jet powered ones,” Takeshi answered. “I used to fly the J-40 for most of my service. Just before I retired I flew the VX-120 for a little while.”

“How many kills?” Kang asked, leaning across over Rei’s lap.

“Oh upwards of fifteen I believe,” Takeshi scratched the back of his head.

“Fifteen??” Kang gasped. “We only have three!”

“Well I supposed I have been flying for quite a lot longer than you guys have, plus the war is slowing down quite a bit,” Takeshi sighed. “The more I flew the more I realized that luck was also an important factor in staying alive,” He chuckled slightly. “Quite a few times a missile which should have blown me out of the sky had bad fuses and simply flew past my jet.”

“Guess that means you didn’t fly well enough if a missile can get that close,” Kang joked.

“Hah! I’m sure you can’t do much better when you’re low on fuel, out of ammo, down one engine and trying to hide from a flock of enemy aircraft!” Takeshi said back.

“I bet we can do better! We wouldn't even lose an engine in the first place!” Kang shouted.

They eyed each other for a while before Rei elbowed Kang in the guts, causing him to double over in pain.

“Hahaha,” Takeshi laughed out loud. “You know what, I like that spirit.”

A group of dancers waddled down the street behind their backs, a large crowd of heckling people followed close behind.

“Do you own this business?” Rei asked once the noisy group had passed.

Takeshi looked up while he was cleaning the glass cups they had just drank from. “Yup, it’s my little shop.”

“What made you want to start a little shop like this after you retired? And what’s that little badge on your belt?” Lenn asked, pointing to a golden widget pinned onto the side of Takeshi’s wide belt.

“Oh I didn’t start it I was… well… let’s just say I was invited. After I got successful in the trading business I was given this shop.” Takeshi said that last part with air quotes. He looked around at the other people around him, then leaned in close to Lenn and his team, resting his elbows on the table. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, I’m more than just the owner of this shop,” he whispered, then pointed at a little badge on his leather belt. “This little thing here marks me as a member of the underground organization known as ‘The Merchant’s Cabinet’, and I happen to be a well respected member.”

“The Merchant’s Cabinet?” Lenn asked, somewhat mystified.

“Yep. It’s an organization of merchants with a reach far greater than any of the cities in the world. We have connections in every little town and village and all across both of the supercities. Aside from the two supercities, The Merchant’s Cabinet is the most powerful organization on the planet.” Takeshi said rather proudly.

Lenn looked at Takeshi with doubt. Although what Takeshi said didn’t sound unreasonably stupid or crazy, it was just a very weird thing for him to spit out suddenly. “Why are you telling us this?”

Takeshi looked at Lenn for a moment, the started laughing. “Why such suspicion? It’s not a super secret organization or anything, it’s just rather… how do I put it… hard to get in to. You won’t die for knowing it, I won’t die for telling it, but aside from knowing that we exist there isn’t much else you can do. As a matter of fact, both supercities have known of our existence for a very long time, they just can’t be bothered to really do much about it.”

“Oh I’ve heard about that before,” Rei joined in. “People say The Merchant’s Cabinet knows everything before the government does and the most up do date news always come from them. Yet the government never tries to destroy them because it is a good source of spying and information, but I’ve always taken that with a pinch of salt.”

“Hahaha, of course, The Merchant’s Cabinet knows a lot, but it doesn’t know everything. We are very powerful in many ways, but we are also powerless in many ways. We exist for the sole purpose of benefitting traveling and stationary merchants across the globe. The government can get information from us if they wanted, but then again, anyone can with the correct payments.”

“Right…” Lenn mumbled, nodding slowly as he considered the information in his head.

“Sorry… just wanted to boast a little.” Takeshi chuckled, then quickly went back to being serious. “But I’ve been getting lots of intel on stuff happening over at Europa. Apparently the system over there is destabilizing, and they are planning something to end the war quickly.”

“What exactly?” Lenn asked.

Takeshi shook his head. “Don’t know. The Merchant’s Cabinet may know a lot, but we are not omniscient. We just know something big is coming.” He leaned in closer. “I like you guys, I had a blast chatting with you today. Now the badge is only offered to recognized and trusted members of The Merchant’s Cabinet such as me. But for outside acquaintances that have gained our trust, they only need to intertwine their fingers like a business man about to make a proposal, and ask an off-handed question with the word ‘creed’ in it.”

Lenn leaned his head to the side to express his confusion.

Noticing Lenn’s confusion, Takeshi intertwined his fingers together as a demonstration and said, “What do you think is a fighter pilot’s creed?”

Suddenly Lenn understood, and he nodded vigorously to express that understanding; he had just been made an acquaintance of The Merchant’s Cabinet.

“At every little village or town, you will most likely find a member of The Merchant’s Cabinet. And if you happen to be under distress, you can ask us for help that way. However, remember that we are merchants, which means we don’t do stuff for free." Takeshi said, straightening his body to stand up straight. “Use that information wisely, it will come in handy in times of trouble. You guys should go. There’s a food court over near Unification Square, plus the fireworks show, both of which I’m sure you guys won’t wanna miss.”

“You’re right,” Lenn mumbled, getting up and gesturing for the rest of his team to follow. “Thank you for the coffee.”

“No problem.”

There was a loud flash, and they looked up to see the sight of a colorful flower of flame, as the first firework of the night exploded in the dark night sky above them.

******

“What was that guy all about?” Kang asked, as they sat around a small table in a little pub.

“No idea,” Lenn replied. “Maybe just some old veteran who’s too bored with normal life after being done with the war.”

“Do you think what he said is even real? The whole ‘Merchant’s Cabinet’ thing,” Kang said, wiggling his fingers to show the air quotes.

“I mean… does it really matter?”

“I don’t know, probably not... I challenge,” Kang pointed at Ying, who just took three tokens from the box.

They were playing a card game called Coup [1], something which Kang picked up from a night market a while back. In the game players each have a number of cards, each with different abilities. Every turn a player is allowed to take one token from the pile. And if a player gathers seven tokens, they can “coup” another player, effectively eliminating them from play. The Duke card allows a player to take two extra tokens per turn instead of just one.

Without a word Ying turned over one of her cards with a flick of her hand. On it was a wealthy looking man with the words “DUKE” printed in bold.

“What??” Kang shouted in disbelief. “No way… I can’t believe… Argh! Like how??” Then he slapped down one of his cards onto the table angrily.

A “challenge” system exists in the game, allowing players to “challenge” another person who they believe does not have the required cards. For example, if Ying did not have the Duke, then she would lose one of her cards. But Ying did have the Duke, so Kang had to lose a card. The whole game is based around lies and deceit.

“Kang you better watch out, you got one card left. Remember, whoever loses the most pays for drinks.” Rei mumbled with a smirk from besides Kang. “You have like seven less points than the rest of us.”

“I know! I get it! Okay?” Kang exclaimed.

Lenn took a single token, then the turn went to Kang, who also took a single token without speaking. Rei used the Assassin on Ying, to which she decided not to challenge, causing her to lose one of her cards. It was now Rei and Lenn who had two cards each, and Ying and Kang who each had one card left. When a player loses all their cards they are eliminated from play as well.

Ying lifted her arm and grabbed three more tokens from the pile, she now had a total of nine tokens. Slowly she raised her hand and pointed a finger at Kang.

“Coup,” she whispered.

Kang lowered his cards and looked at Ying. “You’re joking,” he chuckled, but Ying shook her head. “Why me??” He exclaimed once again. “I’ve only got one card! Why not coup Lenn or Rei?? What do you want from me? What have I ever done to you?? Please… I beg you to reconsider.”

Ying shook her head and smiled. To be honest, Lenn wasn’t sure if it was a sly smile or a good-hearted one, maybe a bit of both.

“Unbelievable!” Lenn shouted, throwing down his last card and shrinking down into his seat. “I’m never going to forgive you for this.”

“That’s alright,” Ying replied.

“What!? What did you say? Oh ok then. I was actually going to forgive you. But now that you said it’s okay I’m never gonna-”

“Guys,” Rei cut in. “Keep it down, everyone’s looking at us.”

“Ying I swear if you don’t take back that coup right now I will…”

Lenn watched on with an amused expression, as Kang reached forwards to try and grab Ying, who leaned back in her seat, keeping just out of reach of Kang’s stubby arms. Rei was trying his best to get in between the two, all the while without making too much of a scene.

It was times like this that made Lenn believe maybe the war wasn’t so bad after all. That the fighting, the killing, the suffering, all seemed to be bearable. That with these three around, it will always be alright.

*****

“It’s not very you to go around telling random people stuff about our organization like that, Takeshi.”

“I know… but the war is coming to an end…”

“Its not.”

“It is, it has to be. You know what Europa is doing.”

“To end the war in one fell swoop once and for all? I’m really not sure, my rank isn’t high enough for me to know about stuff like that.”

“Yep. Either that, or their system collapses in on itself and the war ends anyways. Either way there won’t be a need for us anymore.”

“Europa’s sytem huh?”

“That’s right, you know what I’m talking about.”

“So then why did you tell that team of fighter pilots about us? I’m not saying it’s not okay to do that or anything, I’m just curious.”

“I don’t know… they just reminded me of the my young self."

"Might it have anything to do with her?"

"Yeah...maybe... The future isn’t for us to decide you know, it’s up to youngsters like them.”

“Pretty rare to see you be this pessimistic, Takeshi.”

“I’m just being realistic.”

“And so, soon the war will end, and soon our organization will be disbanded forever? Is that what you are saying?”

“Yeah. One day the war will end… one day it will. Everything will end at some point.”

“You’re right… it will end…”

“I hope to see it end before I die of old age.”

“You’re only in your fourties, ol’ Takeshi.”

“Well I mean there’s no telling what the future holds, is there?"

“No there certainly isn’t.”

“I want to go back to the time of peace during my childhood again. Don’t you want to as well? Captain?”

“I was too young to remember that time.”

“But even still… don’t you want to go back?”

“Sure…. I do…”

[1]: An actual irl card game which I have lot's of fond memories of, would definitely recommend. Here's a link:

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131357/coup