Authors Note: Thank you for the likes, follows and reviews!

gryphus-On3: Yeah I somehow forgot they were using FAL or G3 in the anime. My brain as I wrote that was just thinking about the M16 or the M4 for whatever reason. I am tempted to go back and make a slight adjustment but it won't be a relevant factor going onwards so I think I'll just keep it for now. Still on the fence about it though.

ErrorDataExpunged: I'm still working out the details on how that will go in the future but I think you guys will like what I have planned! Hope so anyway!

Coment9: The Republics standing army, as far as I remember wasn't really mentioned at all in the anime so I am taking some liberties with the lore. They will have their part to play though.

Again, Sorry about the weird uplaods. Between a bit of writers block and life I've been pretty bad at anything consistent. Hopefully once things calm down I can start having a regular schedule for updates. Whatever the case is, thank you for your support! Hope you enjoy!


"Your Juggernaut really saved me the other day Colonel. Thank you sir."

I cracked a small satisfied smile at the grateful woman on the other end of the line. "You are welcome, I'm glad it was of use to you. I'll work harder to make sure everyone else gets one then." I was careful not to say any names or anything too specific while in public. "In any case I will come to visit sometime soon once I get caught up here, I will keep in touch."

"Yes sir." And so the line went dead. I took the Para-RAID device off and tucked it away in my briefcase. My smile disappeared as I donned a more serious expression and quickly waded through the morning crowd.

As always Headquarters was filled with drunks and inept officers chatting away at whatever caught their little attention. I ignored them for my own good and briskly walked to my office. When I got there I saw a steaming cup of coffee sitting on my desk. Upon closer inspection I saw a note attached to the side.

I understand you are very busy Colonel but I know that you have been avoiding me the past week. I will be there later today at 3pm sharp.

-Vladilena Milize

I smirked at the message in amusement and took the note and taped it to the bottom of my monitor so that I wouldn't forget.

Truth be told I wasn't trying to avoid the Major but it just worked out that way. With how busy I was catching up on work and meeting various former generals, nobles and other people of...interest, I was just swamped with stuff to do. Even so, I was still undecided on how to proceed with the Major. She was bound to figure it out eventually, just from her own incredible intellect but when was the question. And was it worth telling her everything now that we were approaching what would be another revolution?

I definitely had to, it was a matter of how and when.

And it frustrated me more than I would've liked to admit because I really didn't know how she would react. I had no idea if she had any real meaningful connections within the higher ups other than her uncle.

Speaking of which, the general could be a valuable asset. There were very few people within the Republic military that had first hand experience against the Legion and most of them had retired from military life.

It was a matter of character from the general. Would he jump at the opportunity to change the way things were? Or was he content with the status quo? I didn't have a good read on the man, other than from second hand comments from Lena I hadn't even talked to him before.

I twirled a pen in my hand as I thought the issue through and took the occasional sip of the coffee. I clicked my tongue as the artificial aftertaste lingered in my mouth.

Suddenly there was a knock on my door. "Sir, it's Second Lieutenant Muller, I have a message for you."

I blinked in surprise before collecting myself and set the cup down. "Come in."

I watched as the door opened and the Second Lieutenant walked in. The officer, despite being a couple years older than me, always showed me a high level of respect. It was a nice change from the normal lazy attitudes of the majority of those within Intelligence.

He was your typical Alba, silver hair and silver eyes but unlike the rest of my men, I could actually trust this man to do something.

"So what message do you have for me?"

The older officer showed a hint of hesitation before he took a deep breath. "Sir...President Meyers and...King Darius would like to speak with you...immediately."

I blinked.

"The...president and king...want to see me?" I asked incredulously.

The officer nodded. "Yes sir."

I felt my heart thump within my chest. What the hell did those two want with me? I've never even interacted with them before and I'm so far down the totem pole so I shouldn't even be a fly on their radar so why? A million questions ran through my mind but I steeled my face and nodded.

"Well, lead the way, lieutenant. We can't very well keep the two most powerful men in the country waiting now can we?" I pushed myself from the desk and followed the lieutenant.

Perhaps I messed up somewhere and it warranted enough attention for the president to step in but something of that magnitude would be something that wouldn't slip through my fingers. I was damned good at my job. Perhaps…..I had been found out? I did have to silence a few people after all.

Did I make myself that obvious? I made sure that I couldn't be directly linked to those deaths but I knew that some of my actions have been somewhat controversial amongst nobles, mostly with how I was selling my fathers patents to help fund my little uprising. Was that enough to get the attention of these two?

But that didn't explain why King Darius was in the picture. The older man was always throwing extravagant parties and letting the president and his goons run the country. Ever since our founding revolution the king was always just a figurehead, having little say in politics but the recent king stayed out of politics entirely.

So what now?

My mind was a mess as I followed my lieutenant to the car and all the way to the capitol building. I was in such a trance with my own thoughts that I didn't even notice that we had arrived until I stood in front of two large dark brown wooden doors. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and knocked on the door twice.

"Good morning sir! Colonel Richter reporting as ordered!"

A cheery voice came through the thick doors. "Ah yes! Come in, come in Colonel! Before the tea gets cold!"

I grunted and pushed open the double doors and made my way inside the extravagant round office. There were expensive looking paintings hung around the circular office. There was the main desk at the end of the room from the doors with two smaller couches and a table between them in front of it. Off to the side I noticed an old looking suit of armor and a longsword in its scabbard next to it.

Both the president and king were seated beside each other on one of the small leather couches. On the table there was a steaming pot of tea with three cups.

I stared at the two older men and snapped to a salute.

President Meyers was the oldest out of us, especially with his greying hairs and wrinkles. "At ease Colonel Richter. Have a seat, make yourself comfortable." He had a grandfatherly aura around him.

I nodded and walked over to the other couch opposite of the duo. Out of the corner of my eyes I locked vision with King Darius. He looked a lot younger than the photos and videos. Supposedly the man was only 29 years old but he still looked like he was in his teens. I also noticed the king also filled out his suit much more than the president. I could make out the stretched fabric along the shoulder, chest and arms of his expensive purple and white three piece suit. He definitely kept in shape despite what rumors floated around him.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice Colonel Richter." President Meyers gave me an easy going smile and extended a hand. "A pleasure to finally meet you."

I firmly grasped the older man's hand and gave it a shake with a matching smile. "Thank you sir, the pleasure is all mine."

I quickly glanced over at the king. He was looking out one of the windows with a disinterested expression on his face.

"I know that you are a very busy man so I will make this brief but first let's have some tea while it is still warm."

I snapped my attention back to the president. "Of course sir." I reached over to the steaming pot of tea and poured three cups without a word. I silently passed the two men their cups and enjoyed the mildly surprised expression on the older mans face.

The other was still not paying attention.

He gave me a complimentary smile. "My my, Henry and Annie have certainly raised you right!"

I put the pot down and gave the older man a surprised stare. "You know my parents sir?"

"Of course!" He sighed in satisfaction as he took a sip of the tea. "I knew your father from way back in the day. Go on, have a drink. I'm sure it will be to your liking."

I felt the uneasy pit in my stomach grow. How did I not know about this until now? If his father and the president had some sort of connection I didn't know of then I very well may be done here. I slowly put the hot cup to my lips and took a sip of the steaming green liquid. For several moments the rich taste of the green tea lingered in my mouth. Blinking several times I stared at the liquid before urgently taking another sip.

It was real.

This was real green tea, nothing artificial about it.

"This is amazing sir." I practically moaned at the rich flavor that still lingered in my mouth.

"I knew you would appreciate a proper tea Colonel."

From the corner of my eyes I saw the king glance over at me with a nonchalant gaze.

"Now onto why I brought you here." The president stated with a serious tone.

I gulped as I stared at the older man and felt my heart race in my chest. "Yes sir."

"First off, I would like to commend how you have conducted yourself as an officer of our beloved country. Despite what some people say, you are efficient, orderly and act like a proper noble. You see, I care about results and how you go about it doesn't matter to me...and so far you have delivered on every front Colonel."

I lowered my head in gratitude but said nothing and let the man continue.

"It amazes me that you are only 19 years old Colonel. For comparison, my own son is a year older and he is off playing with women as we speak. Your character, strength of mind and purpose is something I wish to help flourish. You are a great asset to the country….and to me."

It was a good thing my head was lowered, otherwise he would've seen my eyes narrow in anger. I was no damn puppet. But I quickly wiped the look off my face and steeled my features.

"Should you accept, I will raise your noble status so that your family stands among the likes of the Stillen. Your family would be entitled to a greater share of land that we will inevitably regain once the Legion are no more. What I ask in return is just one thing Colonel but I need your acceptance before I continue."

I slowly raised my head and gave the president a resolute stare. "I humbly accept sir, along with whatever you need of me."

He nodded at my answer. "Good!" He took another sip before he continued. "Colonel, over the last couple years we have run into some troubling reports among some of the nobles and among some citizens."

"Trouble sir?"

"Indeed. Now, what I say here will stay here, understand?"

I nodded. "Yes sir."

"We believe there may be a number of traitors among us, Colonel. Alba that are either unsatisfied with the status quo or are simply greedy for power. Either way we have reason to believe there are people ready to revolt and try to overthrow the stability we have. In fact, over the course of the last two years, many of my own personal agents or those who got on the tail of the perpetrators have died."

My eyes widened in shock. Shit, had I been found out?

"What I need from you….is to find everyone and eliminate them however you see fit. Just make it discreet." He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together and placed a calculating gaze at me. "You have free reign on how you go about this Colonel, you have a month...and I also expect weekly reports as well."

I felt any words I had get clogged in my throat. A month?! I refrained from saying anything. I had a gut feeling anything I said or did other than complete obedience would be met with scepticism. In fact, judging from the amused expression lurking within the older mans eyes, I'm sure he knew everything I was thinking.

Perhaps he didn't know it was me personally but he probably had an idea that I was somehow mixed in with the traitors.

Or maybe he didn't? It didn't make any sense to me why he would put me up to this if he didn't. If I were in his position, the last thing I would give a traitor would be a chance to weasel their way out of a situation. I'd just kill them without a thought.

Unless there was something that I was missing here. Either way, I didn't let any outward emotions show to the two men. "Understood sir, it'll be done."

"I'm sure it will be Colonel." There was a slight condescending undertone to his voice now. Something most would miss but something I caught immediately. "You are dismissed."

I lowered my head before taking my leave.

"Do take care of entertaining me Ice Cold Richter. I await your results."

My hands froze over the handle of the door at the smooth voice. I bit the inside of my lips. "Of course your excellence." I pushed the door open and quickly left the two men.

My adjutant fell in behind me and off to the side as I practically sprinted towards the car. The whole entire way there I felt a strange sense of rage swelling within me and the more I replayed the meeting, the angrier I became.

Condescending motherfuckers.

I almost shouted it out as I got in the back seat of the car. I noticed the older officer taking quick glances through the rearview mirror but otherwise kept his mouth shut. Which was a good thing, I didn't know how I would've responded.

As we slowly made our way back towards HQ I began taking several deep breaths to calm myself down. I slowly felt my rage subside as my brain began thinking of how to proceed.

I had to figure something out within a month, otherwise it could get ugly for me. I had no idea what was in store for me if I produced no results but my mind had a few ideas. Which meant, I had to either figure out a solution where everyone was happy or throw a few people under the bus. Right off the bat, the latter was definitely the easiest choice.

General Stillen had given me a long list of names I could call in. Some of which, I could spin a story of how the person in particular was discontent with the Republic. I was reasonably sure I could get away with it.

But at the same time I felt like that was playing right into their hands.

What if they really did know it was me all along and was trying to push me towards abandoning my own allies for my own ass? And at the end they would just kill me for their own pleasure?

The possibility seemed bigger than I would've liked.

No, I had to figure something out. I couldn't just throw people under like that.

I nervously bit my lips.

Fuck.

I was so drawn into my own thoughts I didn't even realize that I was in my office until it was past noon. Everything from the ride back, to me walking back to my desk and to my rumbling stomach, all of it was ignored for the better part of a few hours.

A few hours of just staring at my monitors, thinking. So much so that my head hurt but I knew one thing for certain.

I had messed up somewhere.

Perhaps the upper echelon of the government and military weren't such slobs after all.

That would make things more difficult but not impossible.

Another thought crossed my mind, I would have to recall Assassin back. Their skills would be better here. I grabbed the Para-RAID device and looped it around my neck.

"..." I opened my mouth but I stopped myself from saying anything.

As an officer of the Intelligence Agency I knew one of the first steps to finding a suspect would be to bug their common places of visit.

Any particular restaurant they frequented, their workplace and of course their homes and any vehicles they own. So knowing that…..

I looked around my office cautiously. I was very tempted to search every corner for a potential wiretap but I held back from doing so. There was another way to find out but it was risky. But I had a feeling they already knew I was the culprit judging by the thinly concealed condescending looks and tone of voice. That was just a hypothesis though. If they didn't know it was me then I would give myself away by my own admission of guilt.

I looked at my own computer. Thankfully I didn't keep any of my plans there. All of that was either in my head or written down in my home office and of course that was all in code too. Something only I knew how to decipher.

The more I thought about it, the more it felt like it would be worth a shot. They either knew or would eventually know but even then they had no way of knowing my plans. If they made any moves to capture and interrogate me then I could make it work to my own benefit and I was confident enough in Assassins abilities to stop any assassination attempts.

They were the best after all.

For the first time that day, a satisfied smile creeped on my lips.

They were baiting me, of that I was sure. And I would play right into their hands but maybe that was exactly what I needed.

The question was, who?

Who did I want to send to the gallows?

Lena came first to mind but I shut that down quickly. She and her friend Annette still had their part to play. Plus, I actually liked Lena and to a lesser extent her friend too.

The same went for the Stillens but there was a chance that anyone that I knew was in their crosshairs.

Added to that thought, did I even really need to take such actions? Was that even necessary?

I furiously rubbed my temples as my head became a mix of emotions and thoughts. Damn it all.

After a moment I slowly slumped back into my chair as the mental exhaustion took its toll. I sighed and got up from my desk and forced myself to take a small walk. I just needed some fresh air, maybe that will help.

I stepped out of the building without a word or a glance to anyone and no one dared to stop me. I'm sure I didn't look the most approachable at the moment but I didn't particularly care. Even if it was the shitty city air, I needed something other than the sterile feeling of my office.

I mindlessly walked in no particular direction, just walked wherever my feet took me. After some walking I found myself at the memorial. To my surprise I found General Karlstahl standing in front of a small section of the stone memorials. After a quick moment of contemplation I slowly walked over to the somber looking general.

Without a word I stepped beside the older general but far enough to give the man some space.

After a while, he finally spoke. "Colonel Richter, I am surprised to find you here." He spoke in a low, calm voice but I could make out the melancholy in his tone.

"I am too General Karlstahl." I admitted with a small chuckle. "I needed some air and I somehow wound up here sir, sorry if I was intruding."

"Not at all." I saw the general narrow his eyes in a calculating stare. "You look a lot younger than I thought you'd be Colonel."

I shrugged. "Well I am only 19 sir, I hope I look as young as I can be!" I lightly joked.

The older man quietly laughed along with my joke, however lame it was but it worked to break the ice between us. I glanced over and saw the older man staring at the memorial again. "I have a lot of respect for the Old Generation sir. I can only imagine what kind of hell you had to endure all those years ago."

"Mmm."

I took a quick look around, making sure we were alone. "General, I have a question if you don't mind."

"Of course not, Colonel." The general mumbled as he lit up a cigarette.

I inhaled the second hand smoke with a small wince. "General, are you really satisfied with how things are?"

Instantly I saw the generals posture change. His back straightened and I had his undivided attention. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well everything sir, from the Legion, to the 86s and to the state of our own country."

He looked annoyed at the question. "You and Lena love to ask that, now I know why she was so infatuated with you Colonel."

I held back a twitch of my hands. Wonder what the Major had to say about me?

"To answer your question, I do as the citizens ask of me and if this is what they want then I will follow my duties as a Republican soldier. No matter what my personal beliefs are, the good of the country and the people come first."

"But sir the people are stupid." I blurted out. I blinked and looked at the general shock. I really was out of it wasn't I? Blurting things like that out.

The general looked back at me with an equally shocked expression before breaking into a rapturous laughter. For a long time I watched the man actually shed tears in laughter and it got to the point where I slowly felt a smile creeping on my own face.

It was amusing to see the stoic general smiling so much and it took a few moments longer before the general got himself together. "Be that as it may, we still have our duties as soldiers of the Republic and to its citizens. We are here to keep the order Colonel and make sure our way of life doesn't change."

I quietly mulled over his words for a minute. "Sir, by way of life do you mean our current life or the life we had before the Legion?"

"...Our current life."

I was positive that the general didn't really believe in his own words. "Is that what Jerome Karlstahl believes? Or what General Karlstahl has forced himself to accept?" I challenged the man directly as I stared into his eyes.

He looked tired. So tired of the conversation. So tired of this country, of its people. So tired of the bullshit. I could see it in his eyes. No matter what he said, the words never reached his eyes. He never believed either but resigned himself to the whims of the people. Jerome wasn't stupid, I'm sure that he has even thought of the potential fallout of the 86s.

Unlike me though, he gave up on going against the tide alone. I knew somewhere deep inside of Jerome, he truly missed what the country once was and what it could be.

"What do you want me to say Colonel?" He sighed.

I shrugged. "Nothing, just be honest with yourself sir." I gave Jerome a final parting glance before walking away.

I resisted the urge to look back at the general and continued my way back to my office. A brief walk and a short conversation helped clear my head a little. It also helped reinforce my own personal beliefs.

No matter what, in order for this country to survive, there had to be some sort of change. Something needed to change the course of history because if nothing changed then myself along with everyone else would become that, a forgotten bit of history.

You needed to break a couple eggs to make an omelette.

And going by the principle of equivalent exchange, something cannot be created from nothing. In order to gain something of great value, in this case changing the course of history for an entire country, something of equivalent value must be sacrificed. I glared at the ground in front of me as I walked.

If I needed to sacrifice a few lives then so be it. It was already too late to turn back anyway. With my renewed resolve I slipped on my Para-RAID. "Para-RAID activate, synchronization target Assassin." I felt the device hum lightly against the back of my neck as it worked its magic.

"Sir?"

"I have a new assignment, return immediately." And I cut the transmission there but otherwise kept the Para-RAID on. Thankfully I had one of the best under me for such occasions. At this point they knew to come back to the safehouse with their disguises to carry out their original mission.

To infiltrate, capture or kill whatever and whoever I needed.

Analyzing and collecting information and data was my specialty. If the king and president wanted to play chess then I would happily oblige. I narrowed my eyes at the thought of my superiors. The arrogant bastards were confident they had me.

But I would make them regret playing with their food in due time.

I took my time getting back as I enjoyed the warm sun and also because of my bad knee. I hid my limp as best as I could. Despite it getting better over time, the injury never got a chance to heal properly. Whatever was wrong with it, I had ignored it for the sake of my duties. I had no regrets doing so but I knew for sure this needed further treatment since it was obvious by now it was more than just a bad sprain.

It took me another half an hour with my leisurely pace to reach my office, by then it was late afternoon. HQ was the exact same as it had been hours before. Lazy officers sitting around doing nothing and drunks everywhere. As usual I ignored them and made my way to my office.

When I opened the doors to my office, I found a rather impatient looking Lena sitting in my chair. I blinked to make sure I was seeing things right and looked down at the time. I was nearly an hour late and in my tardiness, the major had decided that she would comendeer my office.

It annoyed me seeing how I never gave her permission to do so and while we were certainly acquaintances, we were certainly not close enough for such actions. At least I thought so, maybe the Major thought differently. Either way, it wasn't too big of a deal. Anything important was locked away properly.

And anything incriminating was locked away in my head.

I hid such emotions for a cocky smile and a short bow. "My apologies Colonel Milize, I am late to your meeting."

She let out a small huff. "Indeed you are Colonel, I even left a note this morning." She reached over and pulled the sticky note off my monitor. "In fact you even had where you could see it!"

I laughed at the pout she was giving me. "Sorry about that, I got busy and lost track of time." I pulled out a chair and sat down across from her. It was weird being on the other side of my office, like I didn't belong here. I quickly shook the thought away and focused on the Major in front of me. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

She crossed her arms and gave me a frim stare. "Everything."

"Everything huh…" I mumbled as my brain scrambled to put everything into a coherent sentence. I bit the inside of my cheek. If I said something wrong here, there was a chance that she would be the one getting targeted.

But maybe….if I played my cards right, that scenario could work to my benefit. I just had to somehow steer the conversation so that I could naturally omit any information about my own men or the Juggernauts.

I blinked as a thought occurred to me. If my office was bugged then chances were they already knew about the juggernauts and my men. I had told the Major a while ago in this very room about my plan to send my mechs over. Then I also had a conversation with Sebrina too. Perhaps they didn't know how many men I had or how modified my Juggernauts were but chances were they knew already.

Which meant when I asked Lena to omit some of the details of the battle, I had unknowingly put her in a position of suspect. If anyone had a couple braincells then they could make the connection between my own plans and what was left out from Lena's report.

So as far as they were concerned, she was already a traitor and I had to assume that they knew everything.

"Well if I had to start somewhere….I guess I'd have to start a couple years ago, back when I first joined Intel." I started off quietly, choosing my words carefully but I had a bad feeling it was already too late for Lena. "This branch doesn't really do much, you know, at least not when I first got here. I...had some words with my superiors at the time about the lazy officers." I took a deep breath. "They disagreed on what we should be doing and of course they threatened me with a court martial if I chose to push the matter."

She looked curious. "So, you almost got court martialed because you told your superiors that your fellow officers were lazy?" She sighed. "I'm not surprised actually, if Uncle Jerome wasn't there for me then I might've gotten court martialed too. So what happened? You outrank all of them now don't you?"

"Well considering I am alive and they aren't, I would hope so." I bluntly said to her with a shrug.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Wait….did you…?"

I leveled her a blank stare. "If I did, what would you think of me?"

She looked unsure of what to say as her mouth opened and closed a bunch of times. "I-I don't know to be honest." She finally said.

I propped my elbow on the desk and leaned my head on my hand. "It all started here you know, all of this...all of my dreams and goals and aspirations. And it was here that grew to hate what this country had become. You start looking a little deeper and you start seeing connections that you don't want to see or believe and then eventually you reach a breaking point. Do you know how long it took me to reach mine?"

Lena nodded her head silently.

I smirked. "Three months. Within three months I got fed up with it all and decided, if everyone is willing to turn a blind eye to the immorality of this nation, then I would force them to stare at the issue until they accept it. It's weird actually, between getting all of my men and everything else my life threw at me, I grew more and more….ambitious. Started to think to myself that I could run this country better than the current administration."

"And?"

"I will." I stated simply, for us and for anyone listening in.

Suddenly she looked very alarmed, as if she finally came to a realization. "Are you-are you planning a coup?"

I chuckled at her frazzled look. "Perhaps Major Milize. Tell me, you're smart. Do you see a way this nation just magically fixes itself? Do you believe, at our current pace, anything meaningful will be done?"

She silently mulled over my question with closed eyes. I could practically imagine the cogs turning in her head. I already knew what answer she would give me. In her own way, she was a lot like me. She knew she was smart and she knew how to apply it.

Of course she hasn't gone to such lengths as I have, nor did I wish for that upon her.

"I see." She mumbled. "I think I understand you a little better now Colonel. I don't know if I really agree with it but I can understand it. The last thing I want for this country is for even more bloodshed."

I sensed a "but" coming.

"But it's kind of too late right? We really are at a point of no return?" She looked absolutely torn at the fact, understandably so. She buried her face into her palms. "I don't know sir, I just...I just don't know." She mumbled through her hands.

I gave her a reassuring smile. "That's fine Major, anyone in your position would be. Take a few days to think it over, that's all I ask."

She slowly looked up from her hands with a surprised expression. "You want my help?"

I nodded. "Of course, we wouldn't be having this conversation otherwise."

"I'll...think this over Colonel. It's a lot to digest." She said as she pushed away from the desk.

She quickly walked past me but I offered my parting thoughts before she could open the door. "By the way Major, I won't judge you if you think this is too much. I'll admit that it won't be pretty but could you at least promise me one thing?"

"Don't tell anyone?"

I chuckled. "Indeed."

She nodded at me before she left my office. I heard her footsteps fade away to silence and took the chance to quietly look around my office. I sighed and stood up from my chair and stretched my limbs out.

So what to do now?

I had to find a way to protect Lena and quite possibly keep an eye on her friend Annette. I truly didn't know if she would keep her end of the bargain with her. They were close friends after all and the scientist already had a bad image of me to begin with.

With another sigh I plopped myself down in my chair. I glanced over at my monitors. Numerous streams of data regarding ongoing battles and even recent battles were coming into my network.

A string of names and dates caught my attention.

June 16th, Brísingamen Squadron led by Captain Cyclops engaged with a large number of Legion units and successfully repelled the attack.

I reread the short report from the lazy handler of the unit. There were no specifics, no record of the year or time of the battle. No mention of exactly how many Legion units were involved and of course, no mention of casualties. I read the report again but otherwise kept my face neutral. There may be a camera in here as well.

With another sigh I minimized the stream of data and began my usual mind numbing paperwork. About halfway through I cracked my neck and rubbed the back of my tense neck. While I did, I discreetly tapped the Para-RAID device that I never took off. The device automatically called the last person even without my verbal command. Hopefully whatever camera that might be in here wouldn't be able to pick up my subtle movements or the slight hue of the Para-RAID activating.

It was worth a shot.

"Sir?"

I cleared my throat and downed the rest of my cold coffee and leaned forward a bit so I was closer to my keyboard. I continued typing along but I made sure to do so a little differently, just enough for a trained ear.

There was a long pause over the line before he finally spoke. "Morse code…sir are you compromised?"

Yes

"Hmm are you in immediate danger?"

No

"What are your orders sir?"

I blinked the tiredness from my eyes and continued.

Protect. Major. She. Knows.

"I see, so you finally told her then. Anything else?"

President. King. May, Know. Proceed. With. Caution.

I pretended to read over the finished paperwork and cracked my knuckles.

"Understood. Protect Major Milize and proceed with caution."

I narrowed my eyes and revised a "spelling error."

Keep. Eye. On. Her. Friend. Annette.

"Understood, do we have permission to eliminate targets as necessary?"

It was easy for me to read what he meant by that. In case Annette became an enemy. I didn't have much of a choice.

Yes.

"Understood, our ETA is approximately two hours Colonel. Stay alive until then sir."

I never betrayed my bored expression on my face as I finished up with the conversation.

Maybe they would catch on. Maybe they won't. Either way, I had an idea on how to deal with both outcomes. I leaned back in my chair and just stared at my screen, reading through some more reports that came in but my mind was elsewhere.

I should move up the date. Things were getting complicated fast and I got the feeling that giving the enemy more time to prepare was going to hurt me in the long run. However I still needed to convince the rest of the 1st Infantry Division, plus the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division and the 33rd Engineer Corps if I had the chance. Out of the few standing units in the military, these three units had the most capable leaders. Not only were they capable, their opinions also fell in line with Lena. They were the most outspoken back when everything went to shit.

But even with Spearhead and those three, I was pushing my luck. General Karlstahl was mainly a pencil pusher but I'm sure he still had his connections, maybe I could use that.

I just needed more firepower, more men. A thought occurred to me.

Captain Cyclops and her Brísingamen Squadron.

I almost let a devilish smile on my face. It took everything I had to not let my emotions betray me. That may be the final push I needed. The push no one expected. I filed that thought away for when I got home since I couldn't do that here now.

If I was being toyed with then I would make them regret doing so. This whole institution would come down in a fiery blaze before their eyes.

I would make sure the birth of a brand new nation would be the last thing they see before I sent them to the afterlife.