July 4th, 626

“We’ve broken even.”

I paused my reading and looked up at Sawn. 

“Financially, I mean. With the new contracts in effect, we’ve finally paid off all the upfront costs this endeavor has demanded.”

“…Impressive.”

I nodded, looking back down. 

Half a year after the fall of the Treehouse, and I was now sitting in a real command center, surrounded by Generals, a few Brigadiers, two Marshals, and a dozen other Intelligence Agents. 

The room was at the very top of the Glass Desert Headquarters, screens everywhere showing all manner of situations. Maps, streams of data, active videos from recon planes, updates from key battalions. 

I didn’t have to manage most of it. If battles demanded my micromanagement, then I’ve failed somewhere. 

I continued reading, not actually impressed with the fact that we finally broke even. It was inevitable. Sawn knew that too, but he wasn’t familiar with the scale he was now operating at, so he couldn’t help it. I was sure he’d been nervous. Being underwater was stressful for any businessman and reaching this milestone took a weight off his shoulders. 

I couldn’t care less. Compared to my milestones, it was a mere footnote. 

The data on my Aerial could only be seen by me. Anybody else who looked at my screen would see nothing but blank white light. I saw all the dark details within. 

Data collected after months of my Trojans sneaking through the Royal Palace and Third Claw facilities. 

It was almost too easy, despite taking this long. It was a simple matter of complacency over time. My Aerials were too convenient, too capable, too luxurious. They had become the new standard. Everyone wanted one, and I made them cheap. After all, the hardware had always been there thanks to Sawn. It just needed the interface, a bit of padding for the dunces, a bit of bling for the vain. 

Now, all key figures within the Third Claw were utilizing a Trojan. Even if they had just stashed it in a drawer somewhere, so long as it had come in proximity with their Aerial, or so long as their Aerial came into proximity with another person’s Trojan, I gained access. Seed programs were more than capable of being planted from a distance, and after pushing a new batch of software into the Capital City’s Nodes, I brushed myself off and sat back. 

My database had grown so vast that it was an internet unto itself. I browsed it like social media, except there was no filter for juicy details. Of course, it didn’t stop at the Third Claw. I now had dirt on every noble, without exception. That included the Talerria Family, though thankfully, the dirt wasn’t necessarily on Talexia herself, but the rest of her family. 

I knew which branch families were readying to betray her, who had already started sabotaging her, and I knew which noble families were in contact with them. 

I knew who was in contact with those families. I knew which individuals the Third Claw was targeting and blackmailing. I knew the details of the blackmail. 

I had the designs for the Aura Shields used in the Royal Palace stolen from Orbs. I had a map of the underground tunnels the Third Claw used to navigate the city in secrecy. I knew the bra size of the Queen. I knew that one of the Sovereigns was indirectly funding and running a human trafficking ring in the Founder’s Market utilizing the remnants of the Clockwork Association. I knew how many women the King had cheated on his wife with, and how many of them were maids who had been killed to keep silent.

Most importantly, I knew the name of the twit who kidnapped me that fateful night. 

Tahg Naughton. 37 years old, no family, no obviously affectionate affiliations. This man had no chains and he certainly acted like it. He inspired fear in everyone he worked with, and was the de facto head of the Third Claw, only taking orders from the cabal of true leaders that ran the Kingdom, which only partially included the King himself. 

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to eliminate this man or anyone around him anytime soon. With more information came a more proper view of what was going on in the world politically, and if one knew what to look for, some realities made themselves obvious. 

Like how rebellion had been brewing for over a decade now, and how the Talerria and Raven Families were at the center of a growing plot to overthrow the crown. 

It had come as quite the surprise given how Talexia acted with me. I certainly hadn’t been expecting to see such blatantly treasonous conversation between her and the Raven Chief. Part of me wanted to drop messages to both of them and tell them to be more careful. 

The other part of me knew that I had to use this, because I quickly realized that what I was doing now went far beyond simply attaining a long-desired victory over the Scourge. 

I was arming their militaries. The soldiers I was now controlling were loyal to the Talerrias and Ravens. However, I hadn’t previously considered what that truly meant beyond the fact that their families resided in their territories. Given some time to observe, as well as some 20/20 hindsight, I realized that having loyal soldiers in a military that was supposed to be centralized around the Crown wasn’t so simple. 

It was no wonder Talexia had always wanted to be careful about Umara and I. She didn’t want to spark feuds or grow tension between her and other high noble houses because it could compromise her future plans. It was only because I became as valuable as I did that the cost suddenly became worth it, not to mention that now, I could fight for myself, and because of that I was pulling all the attention. I didn’t need her to fight for me and so she could continue to hide herself.

I was also an ally who she was now more than willing to win over with her daughter, especially if what I was doing here at the Glass Desert would multiply the power of her own military. 

Question is, when they were finished using me, in what way would they pull out the rug from under my feet? How would they go about cashing in on their investment?

To this day I’ve not received a lick of information about this from Talexia. She did a marvelous job of hiding it from me. Even knowing the kind of person I was, even seeing what I was doing for her, she still planned on keeping it secret. Maybe she wanted to wait until Iron Legion had its first major battles against the Scourge, but there wasn’t a hint of her desire to let me into the loop at the moment. 

I did not enjoy being left in the dark, but that’s exactly why I’ve taken the measures I have. Now, all was in the light of my mind. 

I already had my plans on how to use this. Of course, nothing would happen until I triumphed over the Scourge. After I made true on my promise with the King, after the Sovereigns, nobles, and generals all saw my successes and were sufficiently threatened by them, I’d then be able to make my move. It would half depend on their plans and reactions, but I was nothing if not prepared for everything. 

Tahg Naughtson was a part of those preparations. I couldn’t kill him yet because he was a known enemy. He was someone I could surveil, essentially an informant. It wasn’t directly, because surprisingly, the man refused to touch an Aerial. But that didn’t mean his subordinates didn’t. He might hide in the darkness but all the people around him still cast light on his rat hole. He was easy to monitor. 

And so long as I didn’t act on any of the information I had, he wouldn’t suspect anything. I wanted to keep him unsuspecting, let him slink around in the dark not knowing that his every move was being logged. 

When the time came in the future to finally act, I’d be able to wipe them all out in a single surgical strike. 

All in the palm of my hand. 

I took one glance at Sawn before tapping my Aerial. 

“Since you’re here, I think now is a good time.”

“For what?”

“For the next phase of the Operation. Handler Oda.”

“Commander!”

One of the handlers behind a screen stood and turned to me a little more eagerly than he probably wanted to. He was in charge of monitoring 1st Brigade, the most powerful Brigade in Iron Legion’s Sector 2. 

“Get me in contact with General Darragh.”

“Yes, Commander.”

He quickly sat back down and tapped his terminal. I could hear voices come through once he made a connection to the Brigade. 

“Come in, General Darragh.”

“-at is it?!”

The voice was slightly choppy, the telltale sign of Scout signal interference. Thankfully I had developed the communications technology to prevent Scouts from outright killing communications altogether. 

“General Darragh, you have a communications request from Commander Cooper.”

“Then tell him I’m fucking busy at the mo- SHOT OUT! FUCKING GOOD HIT! Tell the Battery team to get some FUCKING ARTILLERY ON THAT HILLSIDE! WHY IS THAT BOMBARDO STILL ALIVE?!”

His screams rang through the room alongside nearby explosions from the surrounding battle he was in, making me smile. 

I caught the handler’s attention, waving. 

“You heard the man. He’s busy. Get me visual.”

“Yes, Commander.”

He quickly changed screens, bringing up a live feed of the battle. 

Two divisions of 1st Brigade were in a heated battle with the Scourge. Numbers came through from the recon plane above the battle saying there were 43 thousand Scourge in active battle as well as another 11 thousand on close approach and containing the Scourge command caste, all of them trying to surround and drown the troops. The third division of 1st Brigade was on its way to support, fourth division was running logistics, and there was already air support around them doing their jobs, on top of more planes on the way and artillery 8 miles away readying volleys. 

It seemed like everything was functioning as it should, but according to the timer that said contact had been made 3 hours ago, and the counter that said only 14 thousand Scourge had been killed, it wasn’t functioning at the efficiency I wanted it to. 

That Scourge force should’ve been wiped out already. 

However, this was, so far, the largest battle Iron Legion had faced yet. The battles had been gradually escalating, but with the overwhelming victories we’ve been gaining, it seems the Scourge finally started learning that they couldn’t do battle with anything less than large armies lest they just be obliterated with impunity. 

I was fine with that. It was better training for my troops. 

After some time watching I stood, tapping my Aerial and pushing into the Glass Desert’s systems. I set off an alarm around the base, hearing it blare from the outside, catching everyone’s attention. 

My voice sounded out after the alarm stopped, heard across all speaker systems in the base. 

“Attention all troops. This is Commander John Cooper. I have an important announcement to make.”

I could feel the base go still, a few seconds passing and nearly all operations halting for a time to listen to my words, the tension rising. 

I smiled. 

“As of July 4th, year 626, the Glass Desert has officially reached maximum operating capacity. The Scourge is beginning to learn as we annihilate their forces in the field. They are bolstering their armies with numbers, the only thing they have that can give them any hope of victory over humanity. They flood the land with their filthy spawn, and just half a year ago, that tactic used to work. Not that long ago one of humanity’s great bulwarks fell to their numbers.”

I could feel anger rise, righteous indignation flooding the collective Aura of the Glass Desert. 

My smile widened. That I felt anger instead of fear or hopelessness meant that I had done my job right. 

“But they have yet to learn that numbers are obsolete! They have thrown thousands against the cold steel of our tanks, have flooded our land with countless spawn, only to break their claws on forged armor and watch their filthy kin be purified by our hellfire! Now they travel in groups numbering no less than 20 thousand, knowing that if it were any less then they’d be wiped out in minutes! They refuse to attack us with anything less because we have taught them to fear the unbreakable might of Heavy Metal! And yet they continue to throw themselves against us, unknowing that we have only just begun to expose the wrath of our war machine!”

I felt fearlessness grow, pride overflowing. If I did anything for the troops of Iron Legion, it was unshackle them from the fear of incompetence. I had ingrained into their very bones the training to use my weapons as well as the knowledge of their sheer power. Unseen before in this world, I had given them wings and fielded them with righteous hatred against our mortal enemy. 

I glanced to the side, seeing Umara walk in with my A-Team, the 1st Strike Force of the Desert Eagles Platoon. 

We stared at each other as I continued speaking. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, this day, July 4th, marks the day that we move to the third phase of Operation Euclid’s Anvil, raising our Alert State from 4 to 3. All of you are ready. You have all been trained, have shown that you have the courage to wield weapons never before seen in this world. As the Scourge raises their resistance, so too will we muster the firepower to ensure their continued demise. As I speak, they rage against the premier of our war machine, our 1st Brigade. I’ve been managing logistics for so long that I was unaware of such a large battle. So in celebration of this step forward, I’ll be deploying to the front line myself in order to assist our brothers and sisters in battle. To Victory.”

“TO VICTORY!”

I heard the resounding chant even from within the command center. 

“Commander Cooper, out.”

I cut the announcement, turning my body to Umara. She smiled and walked up to me, combing some of my hair off my forehead. 

“Getting excited?”

“Perhaps. I’ve done enough talking in the past few months for two lifetimes. Totenstahl is getting restless.”

“Then, how about a hot drop?”

“Speaking my language.”

I stepped in, putting my arm around her waist and pulling her close, locking lips. 

I gave her a long, deep kiss, pulling glances from all in the command center. 

When I finally pulled away several seconds later, Umara was a bit flush. Her skin was still pale so it was always rather obvious. 

I laughed. 

“Hahaha! I’m hot and fucking ready, baby! Today is a good fucking day to distribute some freedom!”

I held Umara and walked out, the two of us flanked by Feiden, Ponteck, Tana, Jaya, Shadowbane, an Authority 9 Knight named Blackblood that I had snagged from Ironheart’s pool of grossly capable grandchildren, and an Authority 9 Warlock named Ilinca from Talexia’s inner circle. 

1st Strike Force, the deadliest bunch of Intermediate Authority motherfuckers in Iron Legion. 

For the first time in a long while, I felt at ease deploying into a combat zone, none of the sharp paranoia driving me mad in an attempt to protect me from incompetent generals and malicious Sovereigns. 

All was in the palm of my hand. Just as I wanted it. 

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