The unknowns around Ascension Technology are what keep Militech up at night.
No one knows if the army that Ascension fielded that day was their full strength or just a drop in the bucket. No one has ever found an Ascension arms plant. Militech even paid through the nose to steal data from an Arasaka base and still came up empty.
In Night City, the company's base has vanished, leaving only one tower under construction. Where Ascension hides its weapons and troops is still a mystery. No one knows what they'll pull out when the real battlefield arrives.
Ever since Ascension set up in Night City opposite Arasaka, Militech has taken every shot it could. None of it landed. Every attempt hit a wall.
Militech used to think other forces were blocking it and chalked it up to bad coincidences, same as the chaos Warwick caused back then.
Now that Ascension has shown real power, Militech strings the events together and sees the likely hand behind them. It's the same shadowy Ascension.
Warwick almost wiped Militech's Night City bases off the map. So when the whole war with Ascension began, Militech couldn't organize a city strike and had to pull troops from the New United States of America instead.
That history makes Militech look at this mess differently than companies that never crossed Ascension at all.
Some corporate reps still don't get the anger.
"Ha, when did Militech start sounding like this? Looks like you haven't gained anything from fighting Arasaka. Not surprising. I hear Arasaka jumped in strength these past six months and kept you under its heel. Losing to Ascension isn't exactly a shock."
"Maybe Ascension's powerful, but against a worldwide front of companies and governments? You think they're winning that? Ridiculous. Our alliance has bases across the globe and the resources to match. Where can Ascension hide?"
Officials talk with the usual arrogance. The alliance is big and complicated and not very united. Some want the threat gone. Others wish to have the chance to reshuffle the board and seize more profit.
Only a few Night City players in the room share Militech's caution.
"Arasaka has been pressing us for half a year, and you can thank Ascension for that," the Militech delegate says, calm again. "You call Ascension weak. I hope you keep the same confidence on a battlefield."
He turns to another rep.
"You're optimistic. I'd also love to know where Ascension can hide. We used to think the same way. A company that only operates in Night City should be easy to read. Headcount, weapons, all clear. You know how that turned out.
No one knows how many troops Ascension has or what form they'll take. For all we know, they'll sail a capital ship in and shoot us down in orbit."
He laughs at himself and stops arguing. A few council members look ready to step on Militech while it is down.
Everyone's personal mailbox chimes at once.
[ Look at space. It's beautiful there. ]
The message is short and chills the room. None of them is on the Ascension Net. To avoid surveillance, they stayed on the station's local network. Getting a message anyway feels wrong in a way that is hard to name.
The council chair at the head seat rushes to the room controls and opens the shutters. The chamber sits in the best position on the European Council's orbital platform. Four sides of motorized panels slide back to reveal the transparent station wall and the void outside.
The scene freezes them.
Far off, a space fleet approaches in formation. Small ships cluster around a massive main vessel. The hull of the flagship carries a clean, unmistakable mark.
ASCENSION TECHNOLOGY.
People ask themselves if they're stuck in a braindance. In the real world, this shouldn't exist. When most companies still ride rockets into orbit, a science fiction fleet looks worse than a ghost.
The Militech delegate stands there. He can swear on his name that he isn't Ascension's plant. He only threw out that line as a joke.
No one cares about that now. They have to decide how to deal with the fleet. The real question is whether they can.
"What is this? Are you Council people messing with my optics feed? This can't be real."
No one answers. They don't want to believe it, but everyone knows what their eyes are telling them.
Out in the dark, the frigates move. Fire lances from their bays. Lines of red light burn through satellites along Earth's orbit in fast, surgical bursts.
Ascension isn't just showing a flying iron box. It's showing what the box can do.