War is coming and Guy Crouchback wants to fight. Despite his age, he joins the Royal Corp of Belvedere, a group of irregulars. While his ex-wife stirs up old embers, it's months of training. Crouchback is sent to Dakor, West Africa.

Crouchback is back from Italy. Virginia is pregnant with Trimmer's baby but seeking someone with money. They reconnect, and he wants to remarry. Crouchback is posted to Yugoslavia but Virginia dies in a V2 raid while the baby survives.