u/dragonknightking

The deathless masters are steering the human side’s war coalition from the shadows. I think humans, even most of the top brass, may not know this, though. The situation seems to mirror how the Swarm has been able to steer the Human Moiety from the shadows—for example, it was the Swarm that compelled a reluctant Dafyd to sell out the rebels.

I imagine a similar nanotechnological parasite may be influencing and directing top admirals and government figures in human civilization, covertly feeding their military R&D departments and so on. Humanity probably thinks it’s running the show. This is likely why the interrogator had no knowledge of the Swarm: from his perspective, humans are the leaders of their war coalition.