"You're proposing treason" the deep, resonant voice of The Great Commander General Huo rolled across the boardroom like thunder.
The weight of command in his tone, sharpened by years of war made the hardened Generals in the room flinch.
"Reporting to the General" came Aegis's calm voice through the heavily encrypted screen. "what I am proposing is a strategy for winning. Despite The Command's efforts, this mission was compromised. It's evident there's a leak in the higher circle…"
"So you say" sneered Commander Shen. "It's inconclusive if the mission went downhill because of a leak or because of your incompetence. Your team managed to loose a hostage without having a single casualty. Did you not try hard enough or did you deliberately let him go" If so you are the leak the unsaid insinuation hung in the air.
General Tang, as was his habit did not comment. The Tang family never took sides. Not now and not in the Great Coup two decades back that fundamentally reshuffled the power dynamics in the capital.
Then, unexpectedly, General Gu spoke "I think this idea has merit".
Every head at the table turned. Even the unflappable General Huo's eyes narrowed. He was not expecting that.
Once the Huo and the Gu families were the best of friends. When the Gu family expected to welcome their first grandaughter, the Huo family even reached out with a childhood betrothal with their youngest son.
All that changed almost 20 years ago.
When General Huo lead the coup against Black Lotus, Intelligence reported that the Gu family's daughter was held hostage. Regardless, General Huo charged in, without changing orders and captured every single Black Lotus operative in the cell - at the expense of the Gu family's daughter who perished. The Coup was an enormous success on paper. It catapulted General Huo higher in his career and was lauded as the best operation in history.
However, it created an immeasurable rift between the Gu and Huo families. The Gus unilaterally withdrew business partnerships from the the Huos and terminated all alliances. At the military front, they stopped working on missions together, clearly keeping in each other's lanes.
For General Gu to speak now, in an operation lead by General Huo was indeed surprising.
"I vote for the forming of the Shadow Division, and agree that it's mission and reports can bypass Central Command" continued Gu Tianrong evenly.
"However, I have a non-negotiable condition. The team consists of one Gu family soldier. In case your team is faced with an impossible choice like before, I want the Gu family to have a say in it this time."
"Then our Shen family soldier.."
"That's agreed then" interrupted General Huo before General Shen could finish. "The Shadow division will consist of Aegis, his team, and a Gu family soldier that you nominate. And no, the Shen family may not send in a representative" finished General Huo.
General Shen clenched his fists. So many years and still so arrogant. "Just because you are the top family in the Capital you think you can make the rules Huo Jingchuan? The Military is not your family business where you can play favorites."
The criticism didn't faze General Huo in the slightest. "That's right General Shen. We are indeed the top family and we make the rules because we earned it with our blood. If you want more say, then you should focus on earning more military merits. When was the last time General Shen contributed to the defense of the country hmm?"
Shen Jianlin's skin turned grey with anger "At least our heirs are better than your son Huo Ruishen" he spat "Hasn't he disgraced your family enough? Has he returned to drive the company deeper in debt or is he still in the asylum?"
"Liang Wen show General Shen out - He's unable to distinguish personal and official matters and can come back if he ever learns some control." Ordered General Huo cooly.
Sergeant Liang Wen jumped to attention from his place behind General Huo. As his most trusted aide for more than 30 years, Liang Wen's loyalty to Huo was absolute.
"General Shen, please" gestured Liang Wen politely.
"And if I refuse to leave and oppose this move?" asked General Shen dangerously. On cue, the door opened and 5 elite soldiers came in, taking up formation around him. Worse, not one of the Generals at the table spoke up to defend him.
Lian Wen gestured again, without a change in tone "General Shen, please".
Shen Jianlin snorted loudly and pushed his chair back. "I guess you will learn your lesson after you loose one more family member" he sneered at General Gu and walked away without looking back
Gu Tianrong's breathing hitched.
"I swear on my honor the Gu family will be safe" promised General Huo solemnly.
"Our Gu family doesn't need protection or special treatment" Gu Tianrong said steadily. As a family of Generals for hundreds of years, the Gu family's honor and courage were legendary. "We do not hesitate to spill blood, even our own on the battlefield. We ask that the innocent do not pay the price anymore."
The mighty, unflappable General Huo Jingchuan bowed his head in acknowledgment.
"Aegis, request approved. Wait for the paperwork and the finer details. You have a month to assemble your team." without waiting for a response, he cut the feed.
However, Huo Jingchuan did not adjourn the meeting. He looked around at the Generals in the room seriously. They had all been comrade in arms, - joining the army together, working on missions as a team. No matter how their relationship has evolved, Huo Jingchuan wanted to make this announcement in person.
"I plan to retire after this operation." he said with a calm that belied the magnitude of the information he was sharing. "If Aegis is successful, his identity will be disclosed and he will continue as my successor. I have submitted the necessary paperwork to the Leader and have his approval."
There was pindrop silence. Huo Jingchuan did not expect anything else.
"My friends. It's my honor to have shared my career with you. If, there's another life, I hope to have the privilege of fighting together with you."
And the mighty Huo Jingchuan walked out.
Back in Safehouse No.3, Lin Ke collapsed on the couch, his knees weak and his body soaked in sweat. "I think that meeting just took 10 years off my life" he groaned. "No amount of training could ever make you ready to face that!"
Chen Yuze grunted and dug out the alcohol that he had carefully stashed away the last time. They had just lied bare-faced to central command reporting they had lost the hostage without suffering any losses.
In reality, Aegis had almost died, and the "lost" hostage, was hidden deeply by their team. He would rather walk through a minefield rather than do something like this again.
Even the steady Zhao Yunqi reached for a glass, filling it more than usual. The meeting had tested all of their nerves. While they respected military command and order, their loyalty to Aegis was absolute - it superseded everything else. When Aegis told them what he was about to do, he gave them an option to walk out. If they lied to Central Command and did not get the approval to form the Shadow Division, their lie would get bigger and they would all be executed for treason, or worse discharged as a disgraced soldier.
Despite knowing the risks, they chose to resolutely stick by his side. The good news is that, now, they just have to tell a tiny change in the timeline - they would "catch the hostage" in a month and won't have to report in. "Next time let's just send in Lin Ke to report. Even if they shoot the messenger, it wouldn't matter".
"Hey -" before Lin Ke could protest, his three dear brothers in arms clicked their glasses and drank in agreement. What loyalty, what brothers - they just sold him out in a heartbeat.
Because he was still recovering, Aegis didn't drink. He undid his mask, and leaned back in his seat. Automatically, his fingers moved to gently caress a bracelet made with a double knot around his wrist.
"Ugh boss -that looks really badly made" commented Lin Ke. "I hope you didn't pay much for it. Even I could.."
"I made it myself" interjected Aegis coldly. "Since you are so proficient at knotting, why don't you teach me one on one?
"Uh, boss. That - I meant with the new mission, we really need protection knots, can I get one too?" he fumbled.
Unfortunately, that truly seemed to anger Aegis, his aura suddenly becoming suffocating "It's mine" he snarled.
The air in the room felt heavy.
"I need to go do a thing" jumped up Yuze. "Yunqi, you promised to help me with it remember?"
"Yes, yes. Absolutely yes. Let's go" agreed Yunqi and they scurried away.
"Oh, can I.." began Lin Ke with grateful eyes.
"No need - we know you want to make bracelets. We wont bother you" and his dear brothers once again left him behind as Lin Ke's mouth fell open in disbelief..
"Boss, I uh.." he muttered and without even giving an excuse, he bolted.
Only Li Jian remained, his steady gaze observing Aegis. The room slowly came back to normal.
"I know what you want to say" said Aegis.
"If I have seen it, you must've too. It is highly suspicious a school girl has the skills you described and happened to be at the exact place you needed help." As the team's strategist, Li Jian could see farther and clearer than most. It was also his responsibility to question everything and make sure they aren't blind sided by traps.
Aegis was quiet - neither denying or admitting to what Li Jian said.
"Now that we can bypass command, can we…"
"Not yet" interrupted Aegis. "We don't have the authority yet. Any movement now, would only alert the enemy." Or draw their attention to her he thought grimly. The thought of her being in danger was abhorrent to him - even if he didn't know if she was friend or foe.
"Take care of your health. I hope you feel better soon."
"I know you can do it - but you don't have to do it alone".
Her voice, her courage, her steady support echoed deep in his heart. Her lumnious, soft eyes came unbidden to his memory. He vaguely recalled a whisper of a caress that soothed his nightmares. He wanted to sink into her softness, her care and warmth and never surface.
Could all that be a lie? If it was, what then?
And what if it wasn't? Would someone as wonderful as her, with her whole life ahead choose a disgraced, hardened soldier like him?
For the first time in his life, Aegis felt the weight of the responsibility he carried.
His fingers automatically caressed the bracelet again.
Li Jian was astonished. Aegis's lips curved slightly. "What you thought I would blindly deny that possibility?"
"Well, you are different since then - and act weird when it's got anything to do with her. We thought…, I thought…"
What? Thought Aegis bitterly. That I could fall in love and happily ride off into the sunset with her? And even if he had feelings so what? Some things in life weren't meant for him.
Instead he chose to say "She's a school kid. Stop with your improbable musings. I will personally look into her once we have clearance. You just have to proceed like we discussed."
As Li Jian walked away ready to work he heard "And double all of your training tomorrow. Tell Lin Ke he also has to do 1 vs 3 combat against you all for the rest of the month"
Even that I doubt will teach him to watch his mouth, shuddered Li Jian and rushed away before things could get worse.
That night, 2 notices appeared in the dark web that had the whole network talking. They were two totally unrelated posts.
One was a contract role for a hacker. The other, was a repost of an old post - looking for the divine doctor. This time though, the fees had doubled.