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‘Good,’ said Dozer. ‘Now how much longer should we draw this out?’

‘Mm, getting bored already? We have all the time in the world here. We shouldn’t let it go to waste, y’know.’

‘Yes. So let’s go on with it, then. Tell me of your long-term plans for this continental war that you started.’

‘Long-term plans?’

Dozer wanted to shake his head. ‘I knew it. You have none. You started it on a whim, didn’t you?’

‘Well, I mean, all that geopolitical tension was just sitting there...’

‘You really are a fool.’

‘Alright, look, man, I wanted to do something that would ruffle a few feathers. And the war provided me with some excellent cover for it. But now I’ve basically accomplished my objective, so what happens now with the war doesn’t really matter to me.’

‘Ah. Are you referring to your little escapade in Sair?’

‘Got wind of that, huh? Of course you did. How much do you know?’

‘Not as much as I’d like. I know you ventured out into the Uego Desert, made Jackson and Lamont look like children, kicked off an incursion into Sair, and then left your incompetent men behind to see things through. Which they have not, of course.’

‘What, you disappointed? If you wanted to mount some kind of massive assault on Intar through Sair, then you could have. No one was stopping you from heading over there and picking up where I left off.’

‘I have no desire to get involved in your messes. That is almost always how I end up in situations like this one.’

‘Oh, come on! I know you’re secretly havin’ fun, right now! Just embrace it! If I can admit I lost the bet, you can admit to enjoying my company just a little!’

‘I’d rather saw off my own hand.’

‘That doesn’t mean much when you can just grow it back. Anyway, pushing harder into Sair would’ve been pointless. Yeah, I probably could’ve conquered it ‘n everything, but there’s no way I would’ve held it for very long. Intar would’ve mobilized once things got bad enough, and I’m sure Sermung would’ve shown up soon or later and massacred a buncha my boys.’

‘Were you not looking to test these “Roberts” of yours against him?’

‘I was, but preferably in a lower-stakes setting, first. Without more data on how they’d perform against him specifically, I’d rather not gamble too much on an all-or-nothing battle. Not yet, anyway.’