Page 304 of Reaper Said Mine

She activates the datapads.

Information floods the display: shell companies, corruption chains, financial transfers, private military contracts, hidden communications, and political manipulation. The architecture of the crisis spreads across the table in all its ugly detail.

"We burn everyone."

Krell blinks.

"Everyone?"

"Everyone."

Ursa points toward the data.

"Combine executives."

Another display appears.

"Coalition opportunists."

Another.

"Alliance interventionists."

Her voice sharpens.

"The evidence doesn't care whose side they're on."

The tactical display glows beneath her fingertips.

"We expose all of them."

I stare at the data, the possibilities, and the risks.

Ursa meets my gaze.

"Then we negotiate."

"With whom?"

"People who don't want war."

I laugh again, though this time it sounds tired.

"Those exist?"

"More than you'd think," Ursa says.

Skahar nods.

"They always do."

Ursa continues.

"The Combine isn't a single voice."

I hate that she's right.

"The Coalition isn't either."