1824 Prepare 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎 "Cloud Race? How, explain it to me. Quickly." Cross Elder Avan was becoming impatient, but at the same time, something felt fishy here. Why would the Cloud Race attack them? The obvious answer was because Shield Cross Stars was interfering with Earth and this was messing with the Cloud Race's goal. But that was only a surface answer that didn't get to the deep roots of the matter. Only a low level tactician would fall for such a thing. While it seemed harmful for the Cloud Race for the Shield Cross Stars to be so involved in Earth's matters, even if it was from the shadows, in reality, it was almost nothing but beneficial. So long as Shield Cross Stars existed in Earth's territory, it meant that humans would be butting heads, and so long as the humans were butting heads, it allowed the Cloud Race ample chances to take advantage and sow discord, making their plans flow even smoother. The less variables there were in Earth's territory, the more obvious any discord became, and the easier it was to pick out detractors. Like this, any movement that the Cloud Race made would have to be even more covert than usual, thus being contradictory to their original goals. If the Cloud Race had a halfway decent tactician leading their charge, which they most definitely did, they would not only not destroy Shield Cross Stars, they would ironically use them as their own shield, hiding behind them to reinforce their actions. The fact that things had happened in this way, and so boldly at that, made Cross Elder Avan believe that the Cloud Race was responsible even less. 'Unless that's why they were so bold in the first place??? Avan narrowed his eyes before shaking his head. One could go around in circles like this all day until one ended up in a chicken and the egg scenario. Avan had too much experience to fall into something like that. 99% of the time, the simplest answer was the right answer. In that case, there would need to be evidence to have him judge otherwise. "Yes, elder! From the last bits of intel we gathered, the Ascension Empire thwarted a sneak attack planned. The attack was coordinated between the Thrusting Skies and Chaotic Water Sector, in addition to the Viola family of the Three Pillar Sector, Earth's main Sector." "How?" Cross Elder Avan got to the crux of the matter. "We have been receiving tips about a potential underground information network spreading through Earth, however we haven't been able to pin them down properly. It was our understanding that this network was crippled after the destruction of the Brazinger, Adurna, Crudus and Laevis families, but it is likely that they were able to survive and be repurposed by the Ascension Empire to be used in this fashion." The fact that Shield Cross Stars had some inkling about the Etching Metal Organization wasn't impossible to accept, but if Leonel had been a fly on the wall, he would have realized where the leak came from. Treasurer Jemsy and the others, four of the eight executives of the Etching Metal Organization, had been exposed by Raylion as having formed ties with the four families. It was likely that in forming those ties, it caused a leak in integrity of the organization, thus leaving flaws for others to catch onto. There was a reason Raylion had wanted to maintain tight control over the organization, it was precisely to avoid situations like this one. This result was almost inevitable. However, it wasn't quite yet certain whether this was a good or a bad thing. "Such an information network exists?" Cross Elder Avan mumbled. "We believe that the reason they've been able to remain so covert is because they're entirely focused on gathering information in Earth's territory. They've never encroached or poked at more powerful families or territories, so they've been very good at cleaning up their tracks and leaving nothing behind." Cross Elder Avan's gaze narrowed, seemingly thinking of something, but he still waved a hand and had his attendant continued. "After the attack was thwarted, the Skies family was infuriated because they suffered the most losses and they seemed to have accused the Chaotic Water Sector of backstabbing them. The information in this space is muddled, but it seemed that the Viola family concluded that a change of tactics was needed and they swiftly conquered the Rain Galaxy before falling idle for a few days. "It was only after that that our stations were swiftly destroyed, leaving none alive. They were all attacked at once, and due to strict communication protocols, it was impossible to send back information." Cross Elder Avan shook his head. This was an inevitable part of covert operations. The various stations were connected to one another, but they didn't connect back to any Shield Cross Stars branches. This was to maintain plausible deniability and the works. "However, there is an interesting piece of information here," the attendant suddenly said. Cross Elder Avan looked up. "And what is that?" "Our technicians observed the final hours of the Rain family once again, and we found multiple attempts at communication. We had stationed one of our covert branches in the Rain Galaxy due to its strategic location, so they were paying close attention to the war while remaining out of the way. "They intercepted those signals and reverse engineered them. What was especially interesting about these signals was that they were targeted toward a relay station, and only then would said relay station send the signal out toward the appropriate location. "The first signal was fine, but the second had very unique fluctuations only used by the Cloud Race. In addition... Their destination was the Chaotic Water Sector." The moment Cross Elder Avan heard this, he stood to his feet violently, the office floor beneath him almost giving out. "Send out my order, now! I need three 2nd Star Rank fleets! You have three hours to prepare!"