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Galahad was not the only one who found the engagement dreadfully anticlimactic and frankly pathetic. For all of the paladins’ misplaced zealotry, they folded like wet paper the moment they had been subjected to a classic hammer and anvil attack. It almost made her wish that she hadn’t prepared the battlefield so thoroughly and saved some of her explosives, but that was a bad train of thought and Éliane nipped it in the bud. 

The bolt of her rifle made a smooth clack as she ejected her last bullet casing, looking almost sour at being told by Zacharias to switch to detaining rather than killing. She was still thoroughly biased against him, but she knew enough when to stop.

Or knew enough that she would get hassled by Esben if she didn’t.

Slinging her weapon’s strap back across her shoulder, she hopped down from the roof, retrieving the remaining few explosives that she had laid once the battle had wound down. By then Miina and Rudolf had finally met up with them and she began to get a fuller picture of what had transpired this night. Her brow furrowed at the revelation of Loki’s involvement. She knew of the woman and her reputation in SEED, but the particulars of her profile weren’t something that she knew well. The betrayal was obvious enough, but she would have to ask Esben later.

Considering Rudolf’s words, she shook her head. “From what you described, it sounds like the only asset that could be considered Skaelan would be the traitor,” the pink-haired officer replied bitterly. “When we have the chance, I want to investigate their bodies.”

That too would have to wait. The intelligence that Valheim would be attacking in force in just a few hours took precedence. The mention of her trump card was being increasingly mentioned now, and she nodded. “I’ll go with you, Rudolf. We still have the original mount and the fire control director that goes with it. We’ll need that for the anti-aircraft role.” 

She paused. “We’ll need to find a lot of ammunition for it too. Any suggestions for a gun shop we can raid for autocannon shells?”