Factor Krenz

Lothar Krenz is a Factor, which is the Combine's word for a commercial agent with room to use his own judgment. He brokered the munitions contract that, three years and a great many dead later, was understood to have started the last border war with the Steam Confederacy.

The Combine investigated. Krenz produced his commission, the signed agreements, and the board's approval on every clause. The investigation closed without findings. He kept the commission, the bonus, and a quiet step up to fleet command. On the Counterparty, every engagement is a deal, every shot a position, every retreat a hedge. He does not believe in loyalty. He believes in the risk on the other side of the table. He has said, on the record, that the Combine keeps him only while it is the highest bidder. His peers find this distasteful. They have not stopped paying him.