Racing for Koprulu

"Finished?"

Augustus looked up from his throne, setting aside the draft submitted by the Imperial Council. His cold gray eyes rested on Marshal Jim Raynor and General Yaco Bennett, both of whom were panting heavily. In this farce over fighting for military funding, the two of them had been the leaders of their respective sides.

Naturally, Marshal Jim Raynor represented the Imperial Marines, while the Navy had put forward Yaco Bennett, who was currently on Korhal. These two Imperial generals, who had forged a deep friendship back in the days of the Heaven's Devils Squad, were said to have been as close to Emperor Augustus as brothers more than a decade ago. When it came to fighting over military funds, however, they were close enough to roll up their sleeves and throw down for real.

Raynor and Bennett were both ruthless men who acted decisively and never hesitated once they spotted an opportunity. They had even resorted to filthy moves like grabbing each other by the crotch, showing not the slightest regard for their old friendship.

Fighting over military funding was perfectly normal between different branches of the armed forces. After all, the total budget was only so large. If the other side got more, you got less. Converted into weapons and equipment, greater military strength also meant more influence. When the commanders of the two branches met, it was even livelier than lawmakers from two opposing factions tearing into each other in the council.

Back in the Revolutionary Army days, the conflict between branches had not been nearly so fierce. But the rough-and-ready startup era was long over. The former rebel leader had become emperor, and the Navy Department and Army Department, which had once been run by just a handful of people pooling their efforts, now oversaw millions