A Relic is an item that appears in Frozen Synapse 2.
Relics are unknown powerful objects that have begun appearing in Markov Geist. Each time Sonata make an appearance via incursions, a relic would likely be detected and Sonata seeks to acquire and connect with them. Relics can be acquired by intercepting Sonata incursion events and either collect them and exfiltrate the battle zone or emerge victorious.
Once a relic has been acquired, they must be taken to HQ for activation and extraction. The process takes several hours and if successful, the data is installed into the faction's network and more mercenarary unit types may become available. Activated relics will become "dead relics." Dead relics have no further purpose, but they have monetary value for extra profit.
Later in the game's story mode, the factions will become aware of the existence of Relics and will start collecting them from Sonata incursions and any relics that have yet to be salvaged. The player must prevent any of the factions from successfully extracting 7 relic data to prevent them from controlling Sonata, and at all costs.