Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, the main base of the Army of Chaos ~

The command room was buzzing with activity.

People were divided into smaller groups, each assigned a specific task.

Sarah and Aiden were there as well, as the collaboration of their allies depended on their presence. After all, Angelo, Ellie, Jasper, Jeff, Steve, Charlie, Hong, Maksim, Stella, and Konstantin would not be assisting the Army of Chaos if Sarah and Aiden were not leading it.

Because of the peculiar background of their opponent, Sarah and Aiden discussed first how much will be disclosed to each of their allies.

Sarah was thinking of calling Mr. Wang, but considering his relationship with Suvedini, she decided against it. If Suvedini's warning was part of the trap, involving Mr. Wang meant introducing a vulnerability. Sarah couldn't trust that Mr. Wang will not talk about what's going on with his lover.

Before getting Charlie into this plan, Aiden spoke with Charlie about the Council and Jarred's role in it.

Aiden didn't care about the secrecy of the Council. The moment they decided to coerce Sarah into joining them, Aiden lost respect toward that organization. And the fact that they are planning an attack was making things worse.

If not for the good personal relationship between Emma and Sarah, and the business relationship between the Nero Armi and the Army of Chaos, they would not call Charlie. 

Unless Suvedini's warning was false, the conflict was imminent, and Charlie would be trapped between two sides.

Charlie needed to decide in advance between staying neutral (which will help Jarred and the Council) and his other option was to assist Sarah and Aiden.

After his talk with Aiden, Charlie took some time to discuss the situation with Emma, because this impacts her as well. In the end, Charlie and Emma decided to stick with their friends who supported them so far, while hoping that things will not escalate.

"Do you want me to talk to my Uncle?", Charlie asked Sarah and Aiden.

"We will leave that to you.", Sarah responded. "Keep in mind that the Council should be a secret organization and if you reveal that you know about them, it might put you on their radar."

"Are you saying that my Uncle will act against me?", Charlie asked in disbelief. Jarred raised him and taught him everything. As much as Charlie wanted to help Sarah and Aiden, he didn't want to be at odds with his Uncle.

"I don't know, Charlie…", Sarah responded honestly. "So far, Jarred was supportive and I considered him our ally. However, right now, it's obvious that he is not in our camp. Is he on the opposite side, or is he only observing, I don't know. That is why I said that I leave it up to you to decide if you will talk to him about this or not."

Aiden had to add, "If you talk to him, don't disclose that we are aware of these attacks. We will achieve full success if we catch them after they mobilized their units and before they reach our mines."

"I understand.", Charlie assured Aiden.

Jarred was not openly hostile toward Sarah, but considering that he didn't come forward to warn her, they can assume that Jarred was not willing to compromise his relationship with the Council members.

As for Stella and Konstantin, Sarah was still concerned that Lebedevs might be involved with the Council in some form. Other than the Kolovrat medallion which Stella gave to Sarah for her birthday, Sarah didn't find any evidence that Lebedevs are working with the Council, but she didn't find any proof for the opposite either.

Just in case, Sarah and Aiden didn't disclose that the Council is behind the threat.

The information provided to everyone was that Rance and Albert are planning a joint attack and that the purpose of this raised alert is to protect potential targets and gather information to find out details. That was the truth.

As an additional mission, Sarah got her people to monitor Stella and Konstantin and their assistants in order to see if they will get in touch with the members of the Council. After all, if they are colluding, then Stella and Konstantin (or their associates) might reach out to Council and provide updates on the current happenings.

Sarah was tired of doubting everyone. If Stella was part of this, Sarah didn't know how to deal with it, but she couldn't push her doubts to the side and pretend they don't exist because too much was at stake.

Back to the present…

Noah and Chloe entered the command room and Noah led the way to the round table where Igor was with Zack. They were sitting with a laptop in front of them, and Sophia was on the video call. Each of them had tablets that had information on the current status and unit allocations.

"Chloe, you know Igor and Zack…", Noah said to what Chloe nodded in confirmation. "Sophia is virtually present. The three of them are in charge of strategizing."

Noah turned to Igor, Zack, and Sophia. "Chloe is good with numbers and her organizing skills are top-notch. Can you use her?"

"Absolutely!", Sophia said from the laptop. "We have so much to do. Chloe can tackle drone allocation based on the area of coverage…"

Noah pulled a chair for Chloe and gave her a quick kiss before going to the main table.

"I wondered how come our fearless leader is late. I am surprised to see that it's because of a girl.", Aaron said teasingly from the screen while his eyes didn't leave Chloe. "Do I know her?"

Noah cleared his throat. "We have important matters to discuss. Don't you think so?"

"But this is important…", Maksim chimed in from another screen. "Who is she?"

Noah rolled his eyes, seeing that he can't get out of this. "I wanted to introduce her properly after we are done with the crisis. That is Chloe Long, my fiancée."

Aaron whistled. "A fiancée? Well, congratulations. Or should I say congratulations to me?"

Maksim snickered. "Yes. With Noah out of the market, our competition reduced."

Aaron frowned. "You were never a contender."

Maksim smiled smugly. "That's what you think. I am better looking, and I can beat you anytime." Aaron snorted, and Maksim lifted his chin smugly. "You don't believe me? Why don't we ask Sarah?"

"Enough!", Noah exclaimed while cold sweat dripped down his back. What are these two boneheads thinking talking about who is better and asking Sarah and... He will get in trouble with Chloe!

"We are quite busy here.", Noah said stiffly. "If you are done on your side, maybe you should log off and not distract us."

Aaron and Maksim pursed their lips in protest, but lowered their heads and continued working.

Noah wriggled his fingers nervously. How much of that did Chloe pick up? Noah set his ear stud to listen in on the conversation on that table, and he grabbed the table for support when he heard Chloe talking…

"What competition were they talking about?"

"It's an old feud for Sarah's approval.", Zack responded ambiguously. "Noah is the sergeant here, and Aaron is in Europe. The two of them always competed to outdo each other. And as of recently, Maksim joined as a rival."

"Rival?", Chloe asked stiffly while connecting the dots. "Isn't Sarah married?"

Zack paused, as he realized that Chloe is engaged to Noah and if he keeps on talking, Noah will be in trouble and Noah might skin Zack alive.

Zack knew that the piercing pain at the back of his head was Noah's glare.

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