OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Despite their confusion and the questions burning on their tongues, dying to be asked, no one interrupted.

They were eager to learn of the details, but they respected the unspoken rule: when their bossman commanded, they followed.

And his command before Aquila had entered was to listen, so that was what they did.

"A few of my men had grievances with both sides, so they disguised themselves and got involved in a few skirmishes, killing a few in the hope of exacerbating the situation. Nothing changed. Besides that, the operation proceeded without any significant complications. Oh, and there were a few that seemed to belong to Alex's platoon, perhaps leftovers that didn't meet you that day, and they were the fiercest of the lot, it almost seemed that they were the only ones taking their fight seriously."

He paused, gauging the room's reaction, and more particularly, the one he had this deal with.

Emir, who was looking at an enraged Kiera, turned to Aquila and then nodded slowly, his expression unreadable, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes-something that Aquila couldn't quite place.

Taking this as a sign of approval mixed with doubt, he pressed on:

"Trust me. I'm sure they fell for our trap, I dealt with the leader directly, giving him Alex's head. They were just too busy preparing for tomorrow's attack. As for the Liberation Army, we leaked the time of our meeting, I'm sure they sent a few to spy on us, so they know that a leader of theirs was killed by Templar."

Emir leaned forward slightly, his gaze locking onto Aquila.

"I'm fine believing the Liberation Army was tricked, but Templar... You're confident they bought the story?"

"Yes. From what I've heard and gathered, Templar is eager to be the dominant force of the big three. They don't want to outright end their competition, as that would result in major losses for both sides, as well as allowing the big eight and UEF an upper hand, which would result in their end. So instead, they want a major advantage over the other factions. With that lady's death as the spark, they'll begin their conquest, they do not need to suspect otherwise."

Silence hung in the room for a moment, broken only by the faint hum of the ventilation system.

Then, with an almost imperceptible shift, Emir's demeanor changed.

The coldness in his eyes deepened, and the faintest hint of a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Was he a man?"

Aquila frowned, the sudden shift in his tone unsettling him.

"Templar's? Yes. Their leader was a man."

Emir darkly chuckled.

"Unfortunately, my friend... things have taken an unexpected turn."

"...What do you mean?"

His smirk widened, though it held no warmth.

"Templar knows."

Aquila's heart skipped a beat.

"Knows what, exactly?"

"They know that I was the one who killed Alex."

The Eagle felt blood drain from his face.

"That's... impossible. How could they-?"

Emir interrupted, his voice sharp:

"Do you know about the Praying Lady?"

"I..."

The man was stumped, utterly confused.

He thought that he was doing his job well, but all of a sudden everything was flipped on its head.

"She's the true leader of Templar. You only met a fake... And judging by how their skirmishes have barely any impact, only the Liberation Army believes our lie, Templar is using them to trick us."

"...But how?"

"It doesn't matter how they know, what matters is that they do, and they've been playing along with this charade for their own reasons."

Aquila's mind raced, trying to make sense of what he had just learned.

If Templar knew the truth, then everything he had just reported... all of it was worthless.

Worse, it meant that Templar had been stringing them along, waiting for the right moment to turn the tables.

At that moment, the ever-curious Lily couldn't stop herself from interrupting, her bubbly voice defusing the tension and providing a much-needed breath of fresh air:

"Why would they let us go through with this plan if they knew?"

Emir's gaze softened as he replied:

"They wanted to see how far I was willing to go. How deep I'd dig my own grave. They wanted us to overestimate ourselves and underestimate them, thinking of them as weakened, deploy less of our forces in tomorrow's attack."

Aquila swallowed hard, his failure so clearly defined hit him like a truck.

He had completely fucked it up-if Emir did not know about this "Praying Lady," his men would have dropped like flies tomorrow.

Now, he wasn't sure if he was even still eligible for the favor, but he acted like everything was fine, calming himself, and proceeding to ask:

"... What will you do?"

"We'll adjust. Pivot and use this to our advantage. If Templar thinks they have the upper hand, then we'll let them believe that we've fallen for their trap, decreasing the number of our men tomorrow on the surface but doing the exact opposite behind the scenes."

his head, Aquila let out a sigh through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how I messed up..."

"Enough."

Emir's voice became sharp again, cutting through Aquila's words.

"If my theory is true and Templar knows the whole truth, then we're already at war. There's

no fixing it. Either way, you've done your end of the deal. So don't worry, I'll still do that

favor, all good?"

Aquila nodded quickly.

"All great. Thank you for being understanding."

Emir didn't respond immediately. Instead, he turned his head to the right towards a large

vertical window that showed the sprawling neighborhood.

The night was dark, the streets bathed in the cold light of the moon, it was a quiet place, but

soon, it was going to be the exact opposite.

After a few seconds of staring at that scene, he spoke, his voice cold and detached:

"You can leave... Just make sure to keep your favor in line with your performance."

Aquila didn't need to be told twice.

He turned on his heel and left the room, the heavy reinforced door closing behind him with a

resounding click.

The room remained silent after he left. The family, sensing the tension, kept their distance, figuratively of course.

While they weren't privy to the details, they understood the gravity of what had just happened and how close they were to being blindsided.

If Templar knew, then it was only a matter of time before they made their move, aimed at

them and only them.

But they knew that Emir wasn't one to be outmaneuvered so easily.

He would ensure that, if this was war, it would be on his terms. And anyone who stood in his

way, Templar or otherwise, would be crushed underfoot.

Their trust in him outweighed whatever doubt Aquila's report had brought.

Emir's eyes moved away from the window, scanning the room to make sure he had their full

attention.

"Now..."

His voice regained its calm and soft tone.

"Let's discuss the First Major Disaster. As you've heard, we've got more work to do."

The room remained quiet, giving him all the time to speak.

"The way it was 'written,' was as if many of Templar and a few leaders of the Liberation Army

just appeared out of nowhere. No details, no explanation of how they managed to infiltrate a secure location like that. It was almost like they teleported straight into the ruin, ignoring all defenses as if they didn't exist with some sort of enhanced teleporter."

"But we know better than to accept such a shallow explanation. There's always more beneath

the surface."

Emir leaned back slightly, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"The one who orchestrated this attack, the 'Praying Lady' knew exactly when the students

would be at their most vulnerable. She knew where to strike and when to strike, and that knowledge didn't come from thin air. Someone on the inside had to be feeding them

information."

He paused for a moment, giving everyone time to process his words.

...There was a mole in the Academy.

And that wasn't all.

Somehow, that mole managed to bypass the binding contract and slip past the test

undetected.

Trust was a fragile thing, it only exited when that paper was drawn... but now? They realized

that it was possible to step around it, bypass it.

The threat of betrayal loomed so close to home.

Emir, the one who should've been the most shocked of all, treated this as a normal thing.

Not because of his natural immunity to technological binding contracts, but because he knew

how that mole did what he did.

"It wasn't Judas, he wouldn't move so early. I'm sure it's someone else, but we'll come back

to that later," he said, signaling a temporary end to their train of thought.

"For now, we focus on know... the beginning of our operation..."

He smiled and they immediately understood.

The calm before the first storm had just ended.

"Operation Metro."