Author's Note: Things will be calmer for this chapter and the next. Team SGGE is entering some downtime and isn't going back into the field until Evelynn can get some answers.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or its associated characters. The characters in this writing so far are mostly original characters, but I make no claim over the existing characters.

Chapter 16

RTB

Sergeant Green and Lieutenant Rivers loaded the unconscious form of Logan up into the Bullhead as it landed. Major Fin and Captain Ripley followed suit with Lieutenant Lord's body. As the last one to board, I set the small demolition charges on the vehicles we had commandeered. The small explosive devices significantly damaged the engine block, rendering them effectively useless unless the WoF wanted to tow them all the way back to a repair depot, which seemed unlikely.

I climbed aboard the Bullhead and the pilots surged the engines, lifting us free and clear into the sky. With our increased altitude I could just barely see a hint of the sun coming up over the horizon. I checked on Logan, ensuring I had administered the correct dosage of sedatives and that he wasn't having any unexpected reactions. Satisfied with my work, I strapped into a seat and increased the tension in the servos of my armor, effectively turning it into a shell that became the ultimate form of an airplane pillow.

Despite the long and eventful night, I struggled to sleep, worried about the damage to my relationship with Evelynn, and plagued with thoughts what LIWI might be telling her without me to supervise him. Eventually I dozed off, and slept fitfully all the way back to the Fleet.

-/-

Eugene nudged me awake with a boot as we landed on the troop carrier our Bullhead was operating out of, and I relaxed my armor to stretch sore muscles. As we disembarked, Evelynn was swiftly escorted away by a team of medical professionals, who would no doubt have questions about how she had managed to survive the shrapnel embedded in her heart. Fortunately my 'semblance' was already an established fact with Team SGGE, so I wasn't overly concerned about LIWI being found out.

I followed the doctors to the operating room, pretending to be providing healing that was actually coming from LIWI, then surreptitiously took LIWI from a table as the doctors prepped for surgery. Now confident that Evelynn was in good hands, and that further healing would just disrupt the doctor's attempt to remove the piece of shrapnel, I remained outside the operating room with LIWI. I was ready to rush in if Evelynn was in danger, but otherwise remained out of the doctors' way.

"So," I whispered to LIWI is as nonchalant of a manner as I could. "What did you guys talk about while you were healing her?"

Oh, it was great!

LIWI responded excitedly.

I never get to talk to anybody other than you, so it was a lot of fun to be able to talk to her. Especially since I've been with the team as long as you have.

I winced a little bit, that was true. LIWI didn't have an opportunity to socialize with people like I did. It was probably negatively impacting his emotional and intellectual development if I was being honest with myself.

"That's great to hear. What did you guys talk about though?" I asked again under my breath.

Well at first she asked me a lot about where I came from, and who made me. I don't really remember how I was made though, so I just told her to ask you, since you were there for it. After that she started asking a lot of questions about you. I think she feels angry at you, because she kept asking stuff like 'why won't he answer my questions' and 'how can I trust him.' You know, stuff like that.

I sighed softly, my fears about Evelynn's line of questioning confirmed.

"What did you tell her?" I asked. LIWI responded with a bright tone, seemingly unbothered by the emotional turmoil that was affecting the rest of the team.

I just said that you're a really cool dad, and you're doing your best!

'Dad?' I thought. I guessed the term was accurate enough, LIWI was basically a child in terms of his development, and I was his creator. I probably was the closest thing to a dad he could have.

"How did she take that?" I asked.

Well at first she was still really angry, but the more we talked about why you and I joined Team SGGE the more she seemed to get over it. I think she was feeling a lot better after our chat.

LIWI projected the emotion of a beaming smile into my mind, and I was reminded of a kid who had just created a crayon drawing and was asking his parents if they could hang it on the fridge for him.

"I'm glad you talked with her then" I reassured him, surprised to realize I actually was. "Hopefully she can forgive me for not telling her everything."

Why wouldn't she?

LIWI asked innocently.

You guys are friends!

I suppressed a smile, then shifted in my chair to get into a more comfortable position. I settled in to wait for the surgery to be finished, though I expected I would be there for a while.

-/-

"Sergeant?" A voice woke me, and I realized I must have dozed off without meaning to. I looked up to see a doctor standing over me, still in his scrubs and mask.

"Yeah?" I asked, then noticed the rank on his identification badge. "I mean, yes sir?" I corrected myself. He waved a hand dismissively, then motioned for me to follow him.

"We got the shrapnel out, and closed her up," He told me as he walked. "But she's on the road for a long recovery, even with her aura's enhanced healing." He led me down a hallway to where Captain Stone was asleep on a hospital bed. She looked pale, likely experiencing some blood loss from the surgery, she was hooked up to an IV drip and a number of machines were monitoring her vital signs. He motioned towards her and continued.

"I understand that your semblance has some impressive healing abilities. If you don't mind, I would like to observe." I shifted uncomfortably, the helmet clipped on my waist clacking softly against the leg of my armor.

"Uh, sure thing sir." I replied, then reached out to lay a hand on Evelynn's shoulder.

"LIWI" I whispered under my breath, so quiet that I couldn't even hear myself. "Don't heal her all the way, just enough to get her out of here."

I mean, I guess I could do that.

LIWI responded as healing magic flowed from him and through my hand.

Don't you want her to be healthy?

"I do," I whispered again. "But I don't want the doctors to see how much you can heal her right now."

Okie dokie!

He replied cheerily, completely content with my justification.

The magic continued to flow for another moment, before slowly fading away. Evelynn looked much better, her face was no longer quite so pale, and while I didn't know what most of the numbers on the monitors actually meant, I could tell that several important numbers were bigger.

"Amazing," the doctor remarked. "And you can do this in the field?"

"Yes sir" I replied. "I usually save it for when someone on the team gets hit, it's how we made it back here without the shrapnel killing her."

"Very impressive," the doctor replied. "I've seen other healing semblances of course, but many of them were more focused on long term ailments. Tell me, can you heal diseases or chronic injuries?" I paused for a moment, considering my response.

"No," I finally said. "I mostly just heal injuries sustained in battle, I don't think I could heal something like that."

I bet I could though, let me at 'em boss.

LIWI commented, projecting an image of himself warming up for a fight.

The doctor shook his head ruefully.

"Well, I suppose even with those limitations your semblance is still remarkably helpful in combat, I see why Atlas command hasn't pulled you back to serve in a support role. Your type of healing is best used out where the injuries actually happen, not here with us."

I nodded my head in agreement, eager to drop the subject of relegating me to a support role. Being surrounded by medical professionals in a laboratory environment would not be a good way to keep LIWI a secret.

"Well" the doctor continued. "I'll get the sutures out now that she's healed enough to not need them, we'll continue to observe her until the anesthetic wears off and she's back on her feet. I expect that with your help she will be able to be discharged within a day or so." I shook my head, already pulling out my scroll to contact the rest of Team SGGE.

"Sorry sir, we've got to get moving ASAP, so we're going to be checking her out now." I stuck out my hand to shake and he accepted it. "I appreciate your help doctor, but we've got work to do." The doctor made a note in her chart detailing the effects of the magical healing, then passed it to me.

"I assume you're the medic on your team?" He asked. "If so, please note the physical therapy plan we recommended and pass it along to her when she is mobile again. It is very important that she not return to duty for at least a few days. Even if she heals fully she should still take at least a few days off to heal psychologically." He pondered Captain Stone for a long moment before turning back to me.

"Close brushes with death tend to have a pronounced impact on the patient's psyche, especially for operators who sometimes tend to view themselves as indestructible."

I nodded.

"Don't worry" I replied, "Captain Stone is tough, mentally included."

He held up a finger to correct me.

"That is exactly my point, sergeant," he insisted. "Many of the strongest fighters we have are the most impacted by their experiences with mortality, more so than the average soldier. My personal theory is that they become so used to viewing themselves as nearly untouchable that they have difficulty coping with the experience, as it flies in the face of everything they subconsciously understand about themselves."

He continued on in a lecturing tone, and I got the sense that this was an argument he had made many times before.

"I have seen two major responses to this kind of traumatic experience. Some become overconfident, as if proving to themselves that they truly are indestructible. This can exhibit itself in irresponsible behavior, abnormal aggression, and a general tendency to ignore their own health. The second type is the opposite, they become almost shell shocked, shying away from dangerous situations when they feel they are in danger. The second type can sometimes exhibit itself oddly, with the person otherwise appearing perfectly confident, but falling victim to their ingrained response when they are truly in danger."

I thought for a moment about the doctor's theory. It made a certain kind of sense, not even a huntsman could be immune to PTSD. Hopefully Evelynn wouldn't fall down either of the paths he mentioned, our team needed our leader to be calm and collected. My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Sergeant Green and Lieutenant Rivers, both looked about as tired as I felt, having spent the last several hours guarding our prisoner.

"How is she?" Rivers signed, a worried expression on her face.

"She'll be fine" I signed back. "She's just sleeping off the anesthetic, after that wears off she'll be back in fighting shape." Rivers released a pent up breath, and I could see him visibly relax. Sergeant Green, ever the practical, took the doctor aside to inquire about long term health impacts and to see about getting her equipment back so we could head out.

As the ranking member of the team, Lieutenant Rivers was required to sign off on her release forms before we were allowed to take her out of the medical wing of the carrier. After the fifth form that he was required to sign and initial in a dozen different places I could see that the Lieutenant was strongly considering just breaking her out and accepting the consequences. Finally, after almost an hour, Randall returned with her armor and the broken pieces of her weapon.

The armor had a conspicuous burn hole through the chest plate, and he had been forced to grab a spare jumpsuit as her original under armor had been too damaged to repair after the fighting and subsequent surgery. We loaded Evelynn and her gear into the Bullhead, then the pilots lifted off and we pointed our aircraft north, back to Atlas.

-/-

Once we were in the air I brought out my tools and began work repairing Evelynn's armor. I had two tool kits, a set of fine pointed magical inscribing tools that resembled a watchmaker's tools, and a large box of mundane equipment that included more practical things like hammers, wrenches, drills, and a small welding torch powered by fire dust. LIWI also had a magical talent for repairing gear, and he had previously been able to mend holes in my armor back when I had been wearing a set of standard issue Atlesian equipment.

Unfortunately, one issue we had discovered was that he couldn't create any matter when he repaired equipment, so too many repeated repairs would cause the armor plating to thin as he stretched the remaining bits to fill in gaps. For this repair I brought out a single small panel of magically reinforced titanium that I had left over from the retrofit I had performed on my new suit of power armor. I wasn't worried about Gary's magical sensors detecting it, as they were passive listening sensors, and would only notify him of an output of magical energy.

Now I took that small square of enhanced materials and applied it to the front of the primary armor panel in Evelynn's chest plate. I got out the welding torch to provide cover for my work as LIWI forced the magically enhanced materials to bond with the existing armor. As we worked on the armor I realized that I should probably take this opportunity to reinforce the rest of her armor. So after double checking that the rest of the team was busy either guarding the prisoner or engaged in some other activity I brought out my engraving tools.

I would need to be subtle with the runes, as anything extravagant might be caught by Evelynn if she decided to do a close inspection of her armor. Checking on my supply of magical material I determined that I had just enough left to create two protective enchantments. After some internal debate as to what would be most useful for her I settled on creating a small handful of protection runes designed around blocking bullets and magical weapons.

I detached the liner of the armor and set to work inscribing the runes with the last of my magical materials, etching them into the armor and then filling in those etchings with the mystically empowered materials. After I finished my work I carefully replaced the liner and LIWI sealed everything into place. I applied a fresh coating of paint over the areas I had worked on to hide the fact that my patch work was seamless from LIWI's spell, and hung up the armor to let the paint dry.

I made a mental note to search for opportunities to scavenge more materials when I had time. My original stockpile had been every piece of enchanted metal I had been able to salvage from my old gear the first time around, now I would need to come up with a plan to hunt down more if I wanted more access to magic.

I emerged from the small cargo area I had temporarily converted to a workshop to see that Evelynn had woken up, and was currently engaged in conversation with Lieutenant Rivers. The area I had been working in was pretty cramped, and had a loud air vent for circulation, so I hadn't noticed when the cabin of the aircraft had become more active. I stood up fully and stretched out my cramped shoulders.

Lieutenant Rivers and I had hijacked the entire hospital gurney that Evelynn had been in, despite the protests of medical staff, so she was sitting upright with a pillow tucked behind her back as they conversed in sign language. I wasn't sure where we stood in regards of trust, or lack there of, so I decided to just take over for Sergeant Green making sure that our prisoner didn't wake up before we got him back to Atlas. I still caught glimpses of their conversation out of the corner of my eye, but it appeared personal, so instead I settled in and hoped for a boring ride back home. Or as close to a home as I could say that I had.

-/-

When we landed in Atlas we didn't go to a major base, instead we changed directions before we reached the coastline and flew towards a remote village on the outskirts of Grimm territory. This was a decision that we had cooked up during the preliminary phase of planning. Because Logan was technokinetic, we couldn't risk keeping him in traditional huntsman cells. If he was able to overpower or damage the aura suppression field emitters in his cell he would be able to easily escape, and nobody was willing to risk the gamble to see if he was stronger than a technology based emitter.

Instead we had sent a student huntsman team to a remote village, where they had scouted out the surrounding area for a suitable cave. Once they located one, they acquired the materials to construct a prison cell with simple metal bars and no technology within the cave. The nearby village would provide us with logistical support so we wouldn't need to fly out to provide food and other amenities to the guards.

Our Bullhead landed just outside the entrance to the cave and we dismounted. Evelynn was mobile again, wearing her newly repaired suit of armor and using her shattered hammer as a crutch as she directed the unloading of supplies and equipment. Sergeant Green and I hauled Logan inside the cave to the cold steel prison cell that had been built into the back wall.

"Well." I said as we dropped him on the cot inside the cell. "This is poetic."

Green cocked an eyebrow at me.

"How so?" he asked.

I pointed around the cave, noting the cell built to contain a huntsman who could normally otherwise escape.

"Lieutenant Amber was held in a cave just like this back in Argus, though he was kept in a cage with aura suppression cuffs, sleeping beauty here gets a whole cell to himself." I nudged Logan's cot with my boot as I spoke, the reinforced plating of my boot making a soft ting sound as it connected with the metal leg of the cot.

"Yeah…" Sergeant Green trailed off.

The death of Lieutenant Amber was still a sore subject with the team. It didn't help that it had been specifically my job to get him out alive. I still felt guilty for not succeeding, regardless of the fact that there was likely nothing I could have done to stop the ambush on our caravan. We stood in silence for a moment before I spoke again.

"What was he like?"

"Hm?" Randall asked, lost in thought.

"What was Lieutenant Amber like?" I asked. "I never really got to know him, we were ambushed a few minutes after we met."

Green sighed, blowing air through puffed cheeks and running a hand through his messy blond hair.

"Well," he began, "He was an excellent teammate. He was the first one on the team to really open up to me after I was selected to be a replacement for Cadet Petal." He took a seat on the edge of the table in the cell, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to organize his memories.

"Personally, I always found him to be the voice of reason on the team." He continued after a long moment. "I joined the team a long time after they lost their original leader, and Captain Stone had stepped up to fill that role. She was always a good leader, confident, brave, capable. I mean, you've seen her. But the Lieutenant seemed to always have a helpful comment or observation that would keep her on the right path. He was always the most calm and collected of all of us, regardless of the situation. If we were ever in over our heads we could look to Captain Stone to fight our way out, or Lieutenant Amber to think our way out. I think now that he's gone Rivers and I have tried to step up and fill that role, but neither of us is as smart as he was."

I began doffing my armor as I listened, storing it in a specially sealed crate that would hopefully keep it out of reach of Logan's semblance.

"Intangibility must have been a useful ability to have on the team" I remarked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Oh it definitely was" he replied with a slight smile. "This one time I was out with a bunch of guys from my old squad, we had a few too many and the MPs came to round us up. I ended up in the back of a squad car, only to fall right through it when nobody was looking and find myself in an underground sewer. And lo and behold there he was, Lieutenant Amber!" Randall threw out his arms in a dramatic gesture to showcase the sudden appearance of the Lieutenant.

"Anyways," He continued. "He made me walk out of the sewer on my own, said something about 'learning a lesson the easy way.'" He chuckled at the memory, looking down as he was lost in thought of better times.

"He sounds like a good teammate," I commented. "I'm sorry he's gone." Green shrugged.

"That's war right?" He asked rhetorically. "And hey, don't think I'm crapping on you by comparison by talking about him, you've been a solid teammate so far by my reckoning." I raised my eyebrows in a disbelieving manner.

"Really?" I asked. "I'm basically the weak link here, I'm the worst fighter, I don't know you guys well enough to work intuitively with you, and now Captain Stone doesn't trust me as far as she can throw me. Which actually is pretty far, so I'll say she doesn't trust me half as far as she can throw me." Randall held up a hand to silence me.

"Ah" he said "But you're forgetting one thing."

"What's that?" I asked.

He pointed at my chest.

"You'd take a bullet for anybody on this team, in fact I'd say you've been shot more than I have based on how many times you have to repair your armor, but you still come on missions, and I haven't heard a single complaint. That puts you miles ahead of a hundred other huntsmen I know of, and it definitely puts you above team FRIL."

I snorted.

"The only good teammate they had was Lieutenant Lord, so that's not a high bar to clear."

He shrugged again.

"I call it like I see it," he said. "And anybody that says you aren't reliable can fight me about it."

We finished securing the cave in relative silence as I stewed over his words. In my mind I still was wrestling with self doubt, but his reassurance was helpful. Once the cave was secured and all technology had been removed I stopped the dosage of sedatives that we had been drip feeding Logan. The Atlesian military had dedicated interrogators coming out, but they wouldn't be here for almost a full day, so Captain Stone had decided we could ask a few questions ourselves while we waited.

With his enhanced metabolism Logan overcame the remnants of the sedative in only two hours, at which time Lieutenant Rivers was currently on shift guarding him. He emerged from the cave and signed to the rest of us, informing us that he was awake.

The four of us entered the cave, intent on getting some answers from him before the official Atlesian interrogation teams arrived. Lieutenant Rivers kept a small distance between us to avoid blocking our conversation with his semblance, the rest of us approached the cell together.

"Let me do the talking" Evelynn whispered, and Sergeant Green and I murmured our agreement. Lieutenant Rivers was characteristically silent

We rounded the final corner and Logan came into view, he was sitting on the small metal stool that was in his cell, looking out towards us with a vaguely disinterested expression. He barely even acknowledged our presence as Evelynn approached the cell with her arms crossed.

"So," She began in an even tone. "Logan Portman, you've been a thorn in Atlas' side for a while now." Logan's eyes flicked to hers for a moment as she spoke, before returning to a neutral position staring at the wall behind her.

"I'm curious why someone like you decides to dedicate themselves to fighting a war against the largest military in the world." Evelynn continued. "After all, from what I understand you used to be quite the Huntsman for Mistral, taking down plenty of Grimm and even going after criminal organizations. By all accounts you were one of the good guys, working to better the lives of your fellow citizens."

Logan still didn't acknowledge her remarks. Evelynn paused for a moment to study him, trying to ascertain his strategy in not answering.

"Well," She eventually continued, "It seems like a pretty big disconnect to go from being a popular hero of the people to killing dozens of innocent military personnel overnight in a raid on Argus. So why don't you tell me what happened there?"

Evelynn paused, trying to wait him out, but Logan just continued to stare blankly at the wall behind him. I studied him for a moment while we all collectively sat silently in the dark cave. Logan clearly wanted to apply a strategy of stonewalling us, which meant he thought he didn't have anything to gain by speaking to us. I considered reasons as to why that would be his best strategy as Evelynn struck up a new line of questioning.

"Fine," She said, "let's talk about something else then." The captain brought out a notebook and a pencil, flipping through the notebook until settling on a specific page.

"Per the Vytal treaty, prisoners of war have the right to contact family to inform them of their status as a prisoner. Who would you like us to contact on your behalf?" Again Logan made brief eye contact, looking down at the notepad, then back at the wall. Evelynn tapped her pencil against the notepad for a minute, as if allowing him to think on his answer. Finally she spoke again.

"Failure to provide contact information constitutes waiving your right to contact, would you like to waive this right?" She asked. Again she received no response.

Finally, after wracking my brain, I was struck with inspiration. Logan's refusal to contact anybody back in Mistral made a kind of half sense from an operational security perspective, but it made a whole lot more sense if he felt like he didn't need to provide information because he didn't need to bother telling anyone he was a prisoner.

There was only one reason he could assume that, and that was if he believed someone already knew where he was being held, and would be able to break him out. He had been unconscious the entire trip back to Atlas, so he didn't know any of the operational security measures that I had insisted we take when setting up this location as a safe house. We had been extremely diligent with protecting the location, going so far as to never even write it down in a report or message, and only conducting communications regarding it in person.

Major Fin had thrown a fit about not being able to properly detail his reports, but Captain Stone had eventually managed to talk him into it. Logan didn't know any of that however, so he probably assumed that Gary would be able to track him down like he had with me, combing through Atlesian records and reports until he tracked him down. Fortunately for us, I had already taken additional steps to obfuscate our presence, creating a list of false orders and shipments to disguise the materials and personnel we would be bringing out to this location. Gary wouldn't even be able to infer our location by filtering for and tracking unaccounted personnel.

Evelynn went to speak again, but I held up a hand to stall her.

"You know," I said to Logan, "Gary can't find you here, I made sure of that." Logan's eyes snapped to me now, and for a split second I was sure I saw a flicker of concern.

Oh!

LIWI said excitedly.

He actually can hear you guys!

I had to suppress a small smile at LIWI's lack of social awareness. LIWI wasn't the only one who noticed Logan's reaction though. Evelynn took advantage of the opening I had found in Logan's metaphorical armor, leaning on the cell bars and speaking in an almost taunting tone.

"That's right, Sergeant Phoenix here is more than capable of creating a countermeasure to anything Hyperion has." She smiled conspiratorially, then continued. "After all, they've got the same training."

This time both I and Logan looked at her before regaining our neutral expressions. Privately I reassured myself that she was just making a guess based off of Lieutenant Rivers' previous theory that Gary and I were both special forces, but I still wondered how much she really suspected. Logan shifted uncomfortably, then looked directly at me for a long moment, as if he was trying to read my mind. Finally, he pointed at me.

"I'll talk to him," He said gruffly. "Nobody else." Evelynn stood up straight again, crossing her arms.

"I don't think so," She said.

"Well I do" He shot back. "So if you want anything from me at all then the rest of you can screw off." He waved dismissively at us, indicating that we should leave him alone.

Evelynn sighed, then turned and indicated that we should go outside the cave to talk.

Outside the cave she stared silently off into the distance for a few minutes while the rest of us stood to the side, waiting for her to make a decision. I was tempted to start pacing as I thought about what to ask Logan, but I controlled myself to avoid interrupting her thoughts.

Finally, she turned back to the rest of us and pointed at me.

"If he's only going to talk to you then fine, you're going to talk to him." She said irritatedly. "The actual interrogators can handle the normal questions, I want you to find out where the rest of his team is. I especially want Hyperion and Athena, we're not going to let them get away with what they did to David."

I nodded, then turned to enter the cave. On my way in, Sergeant Green offered me a fist bump, which I solemnly accepted.

I brought a small metal box with me to sit on, reclining in front of Logan's cell to study him for a minute before I asked any questions. We looked at each other for a long moment, before he eventually broke the silence.

"So to be clear" He began in English. "They have no clue that you're actually a clone of Gary, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, the only person in Atlas who even knows anything is odd about me is Doctor Polendina, and I'm pretty confident both Gary and I want it to stay that way."

He stroked his chin while considering that. I spoke again, this time in Mistrali, I didn't want to get in the habit of speaking English, especially if somebody else decided to see what was going on.

"Where's Gary?" I asked. He snorted, leaning back in his seat.

"You think he tells me?" He asked, still speaking in English. "You know better than anyone that he just pops up where and when he wants to." Logan paused for a moment, then leaned forwards again and asked his own question.

"So why'd you do it anyways? I still haven't figured that out yet."

"Do what?" I asked, confused.

"Betray us," He responded, throwing his hands out. "I mean, I get joining up with Atlas when you didn't know any better, but after you got your memories back you should have just come back to us. It doesn't make any sense." I shot a glance over towards the cave entrance, instinctively fearful of someone overhearing my answers. I dropped my tone lower so I wouldn't be overheard.

"I didn't get my memories back." I emphasized, "I got Gary's memories, there's a difference. Imagine that you got Gary's memories, you wouldn't suddenly become him, you would just have them floating around to be interpreted by your own experiences." He thought for a moment,

"Still," he pointed out, "if you got his memories then you know that we're trying to save the freaking world. You're not at all concerned about working against us?" I shook my head.

"I don't doubt your intentions, but your methods are all wrong. You've been killing Atlesian soldiers by the hundreds, if not the thousands, and you know you can't even win in the long term. All you're doing is creating instability and uncertainty."

"That's because Ironwood can't be in charge when shit goes down!" He shot back. I had the feeling he was used to justifying this line of argument.

"So your brilliant plan is to start a war with Atlas?" I asked sarcastically.

"It's simple," he insisted, evidently still intent on convincing me to join his side. "We cause a war that the average Atlesian citizen doesn't want to fight, then use that to put pressure on him to step down. But Ironwood is too stubborn to back out of a war, even if it isn't popular. So he'll just keep grabbing power and funneling it here until the civilian authorities have no choice but to remove him. Then we get someone more useful placed in charge of Atlas, like Winter."

'Winter Schnee?' I thought to myself curiously. From what I knew, the young heiress had only recently graduated Atlas Academy. Placing her in charge of the entire country was a ridiculous notion. Unless of course there was something I was missing.

I held up a hand to forestall the rest of his rant.

"Look" I said. "I just want to know where the rest of the group is spread out. I've got a paper map here and I want you to point out where they are stationed." I held out the map of Argus to him.

He shook his head.

"No way, I'm not telling you where they are so you can go after them."

"It will be a capture mission," I insisted. "Not a kill mission. But if they keep causing problems for Atlas eventually someone high up is gonna get pissed off enough to put out a kill order. Do you want me going after them or do you want the Ace Ops to get involved?"

"Or I give you their locations and you just hand that over to Ace Ops anyways, no thanks."

I sighed deeply and set the map aside, settling in for a long argument.