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...Daredrick's PoV...

"What do you mean, 'no response'?" I ask while punching my desk.

"I-I fail to understand it myself." The officer declares while taking a step back. "We cannot contact any of the men we dispatched for the rebel suppression operation. Its as if they disap-"

"I don't care about what you think might have happened!" I glare at the black-haired Dwarf who recoils under my gaze. "I want to know why our communications are failing! There must be someone who is messing with us!"

"O-Of course Sir! I'm right on it!" the Dwarf says before teleporting away.

I turn around and grit my teeth. This operation was supposed to be quick and efficient since the rebels shouldn't be too much of a real threat for our well-trained soldiers. The fortresses we gained from the Families we absorbed were upgraded thanks to our fantastic defensive technology so they should be safe from anything, even if those pesky rebels stole something from a defunct Family.

However, I'll have to make sure that we make our communications even more secure since we can't risk something of the sort in a critical operation. But I'm not worried about my men, they are good soldiers of the Empire, and our equipment is the best I've ever seen.

But, even if nothing happened, I should still send some men to inspect the area to make sure that nobody tempered with our installations. We can't exclude sabotage, so it's better to be safe than sorry in that regard.

The incompetence of certain of my high-ranked officers is also starting to worry me. Maybe I should rethink the position of those who I thought were competent. The standards of the Families is clearly lower than our own, so cleaning up certain under-performing elements should be on the agenda at some point.

I shake my head, purging my officers just before a large-scale conflict is a recipe for disaster. I need our soldiers to be unified and not worry about being ratted out by their comrades, even if it means that a certain level of corruption will remain in our glorious Empire.

A sigh escapes my mouth as I focus on another pressing matter. I need to assemble a contingent to inspect our installations. But I need them to be trustworthy since there might be more traitors than I first thought. I'll admit that I was foolish and was surprised that nobody attempted a coup or try to oust the Empire from their 'ancestral lands,' but I now realize that those schemes are still happening in the shadows. I'll have to make them pay for that later, but not now since I need all the available manpower to deal with the Councils coming to exterminate us.

They tried to hide their movements from us, but their goal is clear. Troops readying for deployments all around the area, a mass amount of supplies and weapons are being bought while the Enforcer cracks down on security, punishing even a slight offense as harshly as possible.

Those are all the symptoms of a Council forming a Coalition and going to war.

But it's not like I'm not ready. We deployed massive barriers around our border bases to make a shield against teleporting enemies. It should prevent them from invading our heartlands directly, and those that bypass our first line of defenses will have to face the might of the Empire.

I also don't plan on staying on the defensive forever. We will strike back after the first wave of attacks, and we'll seize as much territory as we can. Our victory and massive territorial gains should stop the neighboring Councils from attacking us. I know those sycophants well, and they'll try to form alliances and treaties with us to make sure that we don't attack them.

Of course, we'll force as many concessions out of them as possible. Then, once we're ready, we'll break those treaties and invade their weakened territory. I have nothing but contempt for the Families, and I care not for their rules and traditions. So I'll gladly use their own beloved system against them.

I can't help but stifle a laugh as I imagine all those bastards who think they must be worshiped by everyone being trampled under the boots of my Empire.

A few minutes pass before I calm down, it's time to focus on that anti-sabotage inspection, and I already have a few names in mind so it shouldn't take a long time to deploy.

...John's PoV...

An explosion echoes, the shockwave creates a large cloud of dust and soil as the remains of the Stonecrusher base are removed from reality.

I wait patiently while the dust clears, and a grin creeps on my face when I see the smoldering crater where the enemy base once was. We teleported a pile of Carter Bombs into the middle of each base and set them off.

However, my smile fades when I glance at the other side of the screen. The largest bases we attacked are still standing; in fact, we haven't even started their destruction because the Legionaries are still looting the extensive areas. The amount of supplies we are bringing back is so massive that the Administration is already backlogged despite running at full capacity, not to mention that we are about to run out of space.

I don't regret approving Alan's project; we are in dire need of more space.

"It looks like it's still holding." Terrence, who is supervising the operations, mutters.

I nod, "Yeah, we are still exploring the area."

"I also heard that we are about to run out of space, so should we pull out?" the Commander asks.

"Not now," I answer, "We might find some useful intel or some secret weapon that the enemy might use against us."

We don't know anything about Stonecrusher operations, and this operation was based on rumors taken from the HiddenNet, so it was a miracle that this whole thing went as well as it did. We had a few duds in the form of "bases" that were nothing more than tiny outposts. They were quickly wiped out and didn't contain anything of value.

At least we got to kill a few Stonecrushers, so it had some uses.

However, the real theater of operations were the two massive bases. The enormous amount of enemy in those bases alone made those assaults a good decision. Our actions must have perturbed Imperial operations, so we achieved one of our main objectives this time around.

But we can't rest yet. This campaign is the start of a long and arduous war. I can't even imagine what will happen next now that the Empire kn-

"There's a large fluctuation in the surrounding mana from all sites!" an operator shouts and interrupt my thoughts.

I grit my teeth; the Empire must be responsible for that sudden change. So it must mean that they already know that we are here. I can't help but be impressed by the speed of their information network.

But still, we can't risk the Empire identifying us.

I Rewind a few minutes and shout, "Everyone, pull out from all theaters at once!"

My orders are instantly relayed, and the Legionaries are back to our Shard in record time along with the Spell Jammers.

I then focus on the screen, and see that flashes of light appear at all the bases we attacked. Each bright light turns into an armored figure that belongs to the Stonecrusher Empire.

Why are they here? Are they reinforcements? I can't help but wonder what the real objectives of these new arrivals are as they explore the ruins we left behind.

"Any idea of who they are?" I ask Terrence who is also staring at the screen.

"I have no idea; they are too few for reinforcements so I don't know why they are there, especially since they arrived at all the bases we attacked. It can't be a coincidence; I recommend that we observe them for the time being." The Commander replies.

I nod in agreement. I want to know what these mysterious Imperial soldiers are going to do.

...Steve's PoV...

"So what's happening?" I ask Griko again while processing the information he told me. The usually calm BirdFolk seemed to be slightly agitated as he explained the events that transpired, and I can understand why.

According to him, a large amount of Stonecrusher forces gathered near the borders of our territory. Initial reports said that we were looking at more than five thousand men in total. I froze when I heard that massive number, there's only one reason why the Empire would dispatch such a large amount of men near us.

They decided to eliminate us.

I was about to rush out of Griko's office to warn everyone and prepare for the battle, but the BirdFolk convinced me to stay calm. The most recent updates of our scouts say that a massive amount of mana was released over a lot of enemy bases. The descriptions say that the amount of magic released was so enormous that it would be enough for multiple large-scale Strategic spells.

"I think the Stonecrusher have some new kind of weapon," Griko says.

"So why are you telling me to keep calm?! It's even worse if they have something that powerful!" I shout.

Griko shakes his head, "Don't worry; I think it should be good for us."

I raise an eyebrow, "Why are you saying such a thing?"

"Think about it." The BirdFolk explains, "The Stonecrusher probably made some kind of new weapon, and they wanted to test it on us. But, if you read all the reports correctly, you can see that it did a lot of damage to their defenses."

I nod, "It did, but-"

"So it must mean that their weapon failed completely." Griko interrupts me. "It a good thing for us, their soldiers must be either heavily wounded or dead, so this setback is bound to keep them off our back for a long time."

I open my mouth to say something but close it before I can utter a single word. What Griko is saying makes sense, it's a good thing if the enemy is scared of us. It will make our operations easier, and they'll overestimate our forces so they won't dare strike back if we take back some land.

"But don't get too hasty," Griko, as if reading my mind, interrupts my thoughts. "We shouldn't strike so soon. Instead, we should focus on a secure site that has strategic value and that we can hold. We don't have as many resources as the Empire, so we have to gain a position that is too costly to take back."

I grit my teeth; the BirdFolk makes sense once again.

"So what do you propose?" I ask.

"Don't worry; my people are looking for the best position we can get. Instead, you should focus on your new responsibilities and try to consolidate your position as much as possible. We'll need it if we want to stabilize the Freedom Movement." Griko says.

He's right; we need to not only defend from external threats like the Empire but also internal ones like the Freedom Union.

I can't help but sigh. Running a rebellion really requires more work than I first thought.