Ashwood put down his binoculars, clicking his tongue. He stood fully armoured atop a mountain plateau, above the Serpent’s pass and the besieged fortress. Jane and Grimsson stood with him, along with five soldiers who guarded the shuttle behind them.

The assault didn’t go as badly as it could have, but nowhere near as well either.

Was assaulting a meaningless fortress just to allow their near-worthless allies to march onward worth it?

The Colonel mulled it over, before settling on a no.

Some meatshields to probe the Custodian closer to her territory would be nice, but ultimately, the nations of Eigos would have little to no say in this war. The Church was the only real other player down here.

On the other hand, information on the abilities of the so-called miracle knights was likely worth the lives of a couple dozen Republic soldiers. Especially Renard’s soldiers.

‘What a farce of a war,’ he thought.

If only they could just level the entire castle with a railgun round and be done with it. Unfortunately, the Custodian proved to be a lot more aware than she should have been for someone defending against non-stop orbital bombardment and the attempt had been intercepted. Insane was the only word to describe it. The bombardment of the First Temple had been going on for more than a day, with no real change.

At this point, he was halfway convinced she was some weirdly shaped planetary defence platform.

Ashwood really hoped the Admiral wouldn’t follow Song’s example and escalate to nukes with him on the ground in an effort to break through.

“Did that guy really just try and stab a Strisores?” Grimsson spoke, disbelief colouring his voice.

“Didn’t seem like trying to me,” Jane retorted.

“Still, that’s-” Grimsson made to respond, before growing rigid.

Ashwood caught the other five soldiers shifting with the corner of his eye as well, making him tense.

Captain Grimsson and the five must have just received a message. A message that purposefully excluded him and Jane.

The Colonel reached for his sidearm.

Grimsson’s helmeted gaze zeroed in on him, while the five started raising their rifles.

Then Jane punched the Captain in the solar plexus, denting the metal of his armour with her gauntlet.

Lightning quick, one arm snaked around Grimsson’s armoured neck, placing him between herself and the five soldiers, while the other removed his sidearm.

Captain Grimsson was a huge man and while Jane was no slouch in the height department, she was much leaner than the Captain. Near enough space for the gasping Grimsson to serve as cover for them both.

“There is no need to be hasty,” Ashwood called out from behind the Captain’s bulk.

The five exchanged glances. Though their helmets made distinguishing any facial expressions impossible, their body language radiated uncertainty.

“We are only supposed to bring you in,” one of them shouted.

“Why?” Ashwood asked.

Grimsson, finally having regained his breath, chuckled, “The machine finally showed its true colours. Athena has betrayed humanity, Colonel. It’s war.”

It took Ashwood a moment to parse the meaning of his words.

‘Ah, the civil war.’

He had almost forgotten about that entire business.

“Just come along, Ashwood. The Admiral can’t just let you run around, but you’ll hardly be mistreated,” Grimsson pleaded.

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The Colonel thought for a few seconds before speaking, “Can you get me a line to Renard? I somehow doubt my credentials are still valid.”

The five grunts looked at Grimsson, who nodded. One of them jogged to the shuttle and a couple of minutes of awkward silence later, the old Admiral’s face appeared in his sight as he accepted the call with through his implants.

“Ashwood,” Renard’s voice was grave, but added no more.

“Do you have any proof? I do not believe Athena would ever do anything like that. Down here, this seems just like an attempt to tie up some loose ends, like on Cerberos” He said, injecting as much emotion into his voice as he could.

Renard raised a brow, “Plenty. The fighting has already been going on for a while and the drone brought quite the amount of data. Not something that could be faked on a warship, I’m sure you’ll agree.”

The Admiral moved his hand, tapping something off-screen before a rather large data packet arrived into Ashwood’s system. Almost too large for his implants to store, but they were enough, if barely.

Ashwood took a few minutes to skim through some of it. The packet contained reports, and videos from both the military and various news agencies as well as star maps and an approximation of already sustained casualties. Already in the tens of millions.

He gave Jane a glance, before speaking again, voice raised, “This, this can’t be real. She was supposed to usher in a new golden age for humanity, not a war!”

Renard sighed, “Who knows what goes on in the dead mind of a machine?” He paused for a second, before continuing, “Now, Ashwood, surrender. There is no need for more death.”

Ashwood hesitated. He didn’t think it likely, but the Admiral could just have him shot.

In the end, he decided to risk it and holstered his sidearm while nodding to Lieutenant Jane, who released Grimsson.

The big Captain massaged his neck, before craning it downwards to look at his dented chestplate.

“That’s some right hook,” he muttered, before turning his eyes to Jane, assessing.

“Cybernetics,” Jane shrugged.

It wasn’t unheard of for soldiers to have implants of some sort, especially in the higher ranks, but it wasn’t normal either. Ashwood could only hope that the answer would satisfy Grimsson. Luckily the Captain did not seem the paranoid type.

“There is something else, Admiral,“ the Colonel spoke, voice torn.

Jane turned towards him, though he could read nothing from her body language.

“Yes?” Renard responded.

“We’ve figured out a part of what gives the locals their power.”

Stunned silence reigned for a few seconds, before Jane shouted, “Traitor!”

The cyborg moved towards him, before being tackled by Grimsson. There was no way the man could ever match Jane in strength, but he managed to subdue her regardless.

“And I am hearing about this now?” Renard spoke in an icy voice, diverting Ashwood's attention from his struggling Lieutenant.

“I’m not some blind fanatic, Admiral. There was never supposed to be a war. I followed her because her ideas made sense, not out of blind devotion,” Ashwood responded, voice measured.

“Yet, if she has lied about this, then what else has she lied about? Even if it is just this war, then I want nothing to do with it. I joined her to help humankind, not to help massacre it,” he finished.

“Hm,” was the only response made by the Admiral. He stared at Ashwood while deep in thought for a few moments, before speaking, “What is it, then?”

“A necklace. Some sort of a control node, perhaps,” Ashwood answered, before pausing, “If you guarantee the safety of me and my people, I’ll tell you where we hid one of them.”

Renard frowned, “You had that. We are not savages, Colonel. However, if it alleviates your conscience, then I will accept the deal.”

Ashwood could tell that Renard didn’t really buy his words, likely assuming that he just wanted to cover his ass in the eventuality of Athena’s victory, but that suited him just fine.

The Colonel inclined his head in gratitude before transmitting the coordinates of the hidden pendant to the Admiral.

“I’ll send someone to retrieve it,” Renard said, “You’ll be kept in one of the camps on the ground, but Navarro will be replacing you as the commander of the ground forces. I expect that you’ll help smooth over the transition, especially with the native hordes close by.”

Ashwood grimaced at that. Navarro hadn’t liked him much the last time they had met and he doubted that this state of affairs would have somehow changed since then. Worse, he had seemed rather sharp.

‘Yet, this entire venture is a risk,’ Ashwood thought, ‘What is one more?’

Still, even if everything worked out according to his expectations, he sincerely doubted Navarro would buy it.

He turned his eyes to Jane. The tall woman lay on the ground, with Grimsson sitting on her back to keep her immobilised. An outside observer might not think such measures necessary, considering the unnatural stillness of the woman, but everyone here knew better.

She wore a helmet like the rest of them, but Ashwood could fear her stare nonetheless.

He gave her a subtle nod.

Jane, or one of her people, would be perfect for dealing with the Navarro problem. After all, such things were half the reason for their creation.