“Hello, this is the Python military division headquarters speaking”. A calm but slightly monotonous voice finally broke the silence, after the call went through. “Yes, this is Sergeant Clark. Please, connect me to the Captain immediately, this is urgent”. Clark quickly replied, before patiently waiting for feedback. “Ok sir. I’m sorry for the slight delay, I just confirmed that the line is secure. Please wait for a minute, I’ll get back to you shortly”. Silence reigned in the line, but Clark kept quiet patiently. After a short while, the call finally connected to the destination that he wanted. “Bzzz!! This is Captain Daniel speaking. Clark, what is the urgent situation that you’re talking about?” The deep voice of the Captain finally echoed out, breaking the grave like silence. “Good morning Captain, I am at Tim Haaland’s company right now. I already secured the company, but there have been some complications during the process of the operation”. “Tim Haaland and his bodyguard already escaped, and it does not seem to be a hasty last-minute escape. It seems that someone tipped them off, I’m sure that they discovered our plans before now”. On hearing this, Captain Daniel fell silent and went into deep contemplation. After thinking it through silently for 10 seconds, he finally recollected himself. He sighed with resignation before replying. “Ok, good, I heard what you said. You’ve done a good job, Clark, well done. But try if you can discover any suspect from the workers you intercepted from the company, you may get lucky”. Clark acknowledged his Captain’s order with a grunt, before returning to his soldiers to continue doing his work. … “Good morning my fellow Spartans, my name is Michael Patricia. This is news coming from your favorite broadcasting station, STA [Spartan Television Authority]”. “In Delhi City today, a company called Haaland’s security, owned by a man called Tim Haaland was intercepted and disbanded today by the regional military division soldiers”. A fair-skinned female reporter read the news fluently, the lines flowed out of her mouth like water without any breaks. “The Python military division found convincing evidence, after rigorous and thorough investigations that the company was helping and colluding secretly with the Mocan republic”. “A military elite squad led by the new star soldier, Sergeant Clark, was sent to carry out the interception raid”. “According to information provided by the military, the company was disbanded successfully without any hiccups nor casualties. But the company’s founder, Tim Haaland, escaped with his high-grade soldier bodyguard”. “Tim Haaland is presently still loose and, on the run, and the military division is not sparing any efforts to track and pin him down”. “If anyone sees any of these 2 persons in this photo, contact the military immediately. They are armed, highly dangerous traitors, and are enemies of the Spartan republic”. “This is STA, we always remain dedicated to providing you with first hand trending information. We’ll enter a small break shortly; my name is still Michael Patricia, please don’t go anywhere”. … After organizing and settling everything that was pending, Clark finally returned to the military base. He went to report directly to the Captain, after recording his return time. According to Captain Daniel, all military squads of the division are now on high alert looking for the 2 targets. The crime of betrayal was unforgivable, so the division was ready to invest some resources in tracking them down. After so long, he finally decided to give Clark a leading position in the military division, but he kept the position a secret from him for now. Through this, he also wanted to grant him a rank promotion, Clark was qualified enough for it. Though he kept it from him, he hinted a little about it through the way he talked and his mannerisms. Clark smiled slightly in satisfaction after noticing this, as he went back to his room while humming a lullaby. Today was less tedious for him, as he stayed back in the military division for the rest of the day. Leo and Benny arrived back very late and tired, as all the military squads were searching for the targets but to no avail. It seemed like Tim Haaland and his bodyguard just vanished like smoke. When Clark broke the news of his possible promotion to his friends, they just nodded, smiled, and congratulated him like it was a very normal occurrence. By now, they were already used to him bringing back shocking news from time to time. In normal circumstances, a high-grade soldier is expected to serve diligently in his/her assigned military division for years to get experience, before even thinking of possible promotions. The ones that improve slowly can even serve for decades first. A soldier is expected to have a lot of military achievements and accolades under his belt, before the attention of the regional captain can be drawn to him/her, to consider promotion as a reward for his/her military service. The only exceptions to this rule, are the geniuses whose very existence is already an exception to the rule. Only they can circumvent all shackles, and rank up just like eating bread. Clark getting ready to receive a promotion under only 1 year of service is simply a miracle, but he was not the first as some soldiers in Northern Sparta already achieved it. But despite this, it was still an incredible achievement. As the breeding ground of geniuses who later become legends like the current Spartan President, the Spartan republic capital was a house of freaks. That is where the main Spartan rule-breakers are born.… Days counted forward with a flash, and weeks passed as different operations in the Python military division continued monotonously like a well-oiled machine. After several months of serving diligently in the military division, Clark was getting ready to celebrate his first-ever Christmas as a soldier. This was a memorable moment for him that he would not forget. It was already November 20th, the next month is December, the celebratory month of Christmas. Despite already entering the festive period, the atmosphere in the military base was not too harmonious or cheerful. Everywhere was moody and gloomy, as the threat of war lingered around the corner. The soldiers could not cheerfully celebrate, as they were faintly feeling the faint battle sounds of war. It felt like a black veil was slowly covering them all, preventing them from letting their guard down and celebrate. It was already almost a year, at this same period since the Spartan army discovered the Mocan’s plans to bring forward the date of their main war invasion attempt. A year seemed long, but it is nowhere enough to set up enough defenses against the enemies. There was no time to make elaborate plans and military strategies, no time to prepare a proper offensive and defensive military force. The Python military division, like all other military divisions, was kept in the dark from the Spartan army’s plans and strategies. Despite this, they knew that it required a very radical strategy to nullify this main invasion attempt like the ones over the past decades. According to A. I processed estimates, the invasion attempt will likely kick-off at the beginning of this coming year. During normal Christmas holidays, the military division offers its soldiers the choice to choose between going home to spend their Christmas with family and friends, or to continue duty in the military base. Despite the joy of spending time with family and friends on such memorable celebrations, some soldiers still choose to stay as the salary for that month is 3 times that of the other normal months. The soldiers going back home are exempted from the salary that month, only their end-of-the-year celebration bonus is paid to them. And besides, a lot of soldiers don’t even have family and friends, so most of them stay back in the military base. After a lot of thought, Clark and Leo decided to remain in the military base and be on duty during the December period. But Benny decided to visit his family, his parents were expecting him. … On exactly December 1st, as the homesick soldiers left, the Python military division received an unexpected guest. Clark and Leo were shocked after they received an urgent message of 5 stars confidentiality. They quickly picked themselves up and rushed to the military base’s large gathering hall, following the instructions from Captain Daniel that they should gather in a minute. A 1st ranked high-grade soldier can only access information about 1 star ranked items, which showed the importance and power of these unexpected guests. 5-star confidentiality meant that the division’s visitors were to receive the same secrecy as if the President visited the military division, for a secret mission. It was the 2nd highest confidentiality. In under a minute after the summon, all the Python military division high-grade soldiers were gathered in the hall to receive the mysterious visitors. Captain Daniel was already there, waiting for them in the military hall as he was the one who sent the message. On arrival, Clark was shocked as he finally realized why the visitor’s matters had 5 stars confidentiality. “Damn, these visitors are actually from the Spartan army”. He thought excitedly and in awe as the visitors deactivated their camouflage devices, revealing the distinctive golden armor of the Spartan army.