Silver Saint

Nineteen: Both Sides Now

//Report: Quinn, Jackson.

//Axion Industries manufacturing base.

//Designation: "The Forge".

//Resume log.

"Everyone hold your fire," I declared. The words were ripped from my mouth in an instant, a panic response I tried to play off.

"No shit, Jax!" Kedrick snapped. "What do you think we were doing, gearing up for battle?"

"I don't understand," Amani declared. Her Guardian rotated in place, pointing its one remaining railgun barrel at the closest wall instead of outward. "Why are they all here? The Forge has barracks, but they aren't anywhere close to this factory!"

I thought back to the canyon outside the facility, to the craters that had pockmarked the stone. They'd seemed far too close and too random to be weapons tests-and now I understood why.

"Axion Industries doesn't want you here, do they?" I called. I stared Commander Locke down as she continued to approach, her good arm raised to show that she was also unarmed. "You've gone rogue."

"I've chosen to act in the best interests of the soldiers under my command," Locke replied. There was a stiffness in her voice that belied the truth-she was truly alone. "At the end of the day, we all just want to live, don't we?"

I heard the comms crackle, and a loud voice filled my ears.

"Commander? Your squad just showed back up on my HUD. Are you alright? Do you copy?"

It was Captain Tanaka. For a moment I felt a jolt of panic, remembering the fierce battle raging on the surface, but realization struck me. We were close enough to the surface now that comms could get through-so why couldn't I hear any explosion or gunfire from outside?

I moved to touch my hand to my earpiece, but the click of a safety froze me in place. I had to keep my breathing calm-fight the panic that made me want to run.

"I'm only trying to speak to my team," I announced. "We mean you no harm."

"Tell that to my damn squad!" The Axion pilot barked. "Did you mean harm to them, you bastard?"

"Let him speak, Greenlaw," Locke commanded.

I heard the man behind me sigh dejectedly, and I pressed my hand to my earpiece.

"We read you, Captain," I replied. "Is everything okay up there?"

"I'd say so, Commander," Tanaka replied. "We've, uh, we've successfully captured the command tower. Axion put on one hell of a show at the very start, but we outnumbered them ten to one almost immediately."

"That quickly?" Leto exclaimed.

"Excellent work, Captain," I replied. "Hold position for now, be wary of a second wave."

"Affirmative."

I turned back to Commander Locke, staring her down as I tried to pretend there wasn't a gun aimed at my head.

"Where are the rest of your soldiers?" I pressed. "We expected this place to be packed, but this fight wasn't half as hard as we prepared for."

"You'd be surprised how little loyalty a Commander inspires in soldiers that live paycheck to paycheck," Locke retorted. "When Project Themis went bad a few weeks ago, the last order from high command was to redirect all remaining forces to attack your home base." She folded her arms. "I refused, and pulled my forces back here. Things got ugly. We're what's left."

"Your pilots," I stated, "and their families. You moved them in here for their own safety."

"That's the gist of it," Locke admitted. Up close, she looked so much more tired than she sounded. "There's nothing but wasteland around us for miles in every direction-there's nowhere else to live. Besides," her lips twisted into a sarcastic smirk, "Blackwell always thought having family on-site was good for additional motivation. Machiavellian bastard."