In this one, they’ve got a tank.

The Wild Cards are engaged in fighting on some planet and they come across an eccentric guy in a tank named Pearly. That is, like an actual military tank vehicle, not like the derogatory term for In-Vitros. The eccentric tank guy gets killed off early enough, so they can focus on a different eccentric guy they meet. This guy is a Major who has been stranded on the planet alone for months and has even learned some of the Chig language. The Wild Cards try to rescue this guy, but when the power cells for Pearly go missing, obviously the mysterious new guy who speaks the enemy language is the prime suspect.

But actually, the cells were stolen by Wang. He ran into some silicates and they are using the war crime confession he made under torture as a means of blackmailing him. He feels like he has to go along with them, until he fights back against them. He feels bad about it, though, and he is able to redeem himself by doing some fighting. In the end, it’s all good for Wang.

And instead of leaving, the eccentric Major stays on the planet with Pearly. No matter what, it was cool that they had a tank in this one.