[08:37pm]

[BREAKING NEWS!]

["Operation Safe Corridor!"]

["Operation Safe Corridor has been launched! This is a record-breaking military operation against terrorist activities as the first joint military operation involving the 4 major powers of the world since the Freegrid Collective’s rise!"]

["Over 5,000 terrorists were reportedly killed during the raid over an hour ago! Thousands of weapons and ammunitions were recovered, reportedly worth over 10 million Neo Credits! At the time of reporting, 5 E Rank Ascended terrorists have been confirmed dead, and 4 others are captured and in custody."]

["Led by Commanders, Colonel Goldbridge, Lt. Colonel Sarafin, Colonel Alphonse, and Major Roshfield, the attack was a great success and is the first major outing of Operation Safe Corridor in the West."]

["This operation is sure to reduce the rampant terrorist activities that have been ravaging across the world, especially the West and South in recent years."]

...

BZZZT!

The sound of static reverberated in the background, and then a live video came to life on a popular TV broadcast.

A female Synth that was dressed in a pristine black suit spoke in front of the camera. The background around her was one of fire and devastation, and the sound and clamor of soldiers could be heard in the background.

"Welcome back to Everything Neo-Tokara!"

"My name is Eliora Tebas, and tonight I’m here live in the aftermath of the military operation that just hit multiple hidden bases of the Extremist Movement in the West".

She moved aside to let the camera focus on the rubble. "As you can see, this was one of the hidden underground base of the terrorists". 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Then she gestured, letting the camera focus on the dozens of terrorists that were injured and tied up.

"And as you can see, these are the terrorists who were captured alive during tonight’s attack in this base".

"According to the soldiers on ground, the attack was decisive and swift, barely lasting 30 minutes as the terrorists didn’t offer any meaningful resistance. This is because there was no D Rank Ascended leading them to resist".

"The only reason why the attack lasted 30 minutes is because accepting their fate, the terrorists resolutely decided to self-sabotage and commit suicide, dying and bringing enemy soldiers down with them".

"Thankfully, this only complicated the mission for the soldiers a bit. The casualties among the joint force is minimal during tonight’s operation".

"I have one of the Commanders of the operation tonight with me".

The camera panned again towards a woman still dressed in a pristine gray suit that was untouched by the rubble, dirt and dust around them.

"Major Roshfield," she said. "Do you have anything to tell the general public?"

The Major stood in front of the camera and nodded. "Since the terrorist activities in Leviathan Quay a few months ago, the Geneforge Clans have vowed to never stop its fight against terrorism".

"So when the call for action came, we were the first to respond".

"To all those who’ve suffered from the terrorists before, I want you to put your minds to rest now. Tonight, we officially start a full-blown war against terrorism across the world".

"We won’t stop till every single one of their bases is eradicated and till the world is rid of extremists like them".

"Also," her face turned cold. "I’ve never been in support of rehabilitating terrorists, and I will never support it".

"This message is to all the superiors of Operation Safe Corridor who are thinking of pushing this narrative, this is my stand and the stand of my soldiers regarding such a motive".

She gestured at the camera to follow her and walked in front of all the injured terrorists that were tied and lined up in a straight line, forced on their knees.

She unstrapped and pulled out her side-arm, a rail pistol.

Then she cocked it and aimed at them.

Her brown eyes gleamed coldly even as her medium-length brown hair waved behind her. "This is for all those who died in Leviathan Quay, both civilians and soldiers".

"This is for all those who’ve died to terrorists across the world".

She pulled the trigger.

Bam... bam... bam...

Major Roshfield killed every single terrorist lined up in cold blood!

She stared at their dead bodies one last time, then she turned to face the camera again. "This is my stance".

She left.

That night, Major Roshfield’s verbal attack at the superiors behind Operation Safe Corridor and her actions triggered a media storm.

For most, it was outrage at the so-called superiors pushing for the notion of rehabilitating terrorists.

And while all the media storm brewed, Ren Nora saw it all but he didn’t pay attention to it.

This was because he was paying attention to something else.

...

That same night in Spire Prime, the capital Megacity of the Omnicore Federation...

Standing at the very heart of the city within a massive fenced compound, a massive skyscraper hid in plain sight.

There were other skyscrapers inside the massive fenced compound, but they were just the decoy. At the heart of the compound was a garden, but it was part of the decoy to mask the presence of the skyscraper at its heart.

For years, this skyscraper have been hidden from everyone in the world except the 3 leaders of the Omnicore Federation.

The technology to hide this structure is the latest cutting-edge application of Ghost Line that the Federation research team developed.

Hidden within the ghostly skyscraper, a massive structure stood- surrounded by over a thousand engineers in multiple levels of the building.

The structure was still a work in progress.

It didn’t look like a weapon; at least, not in any traditional sense.

It rose from the center of the facility like a cathedral built for machines: a vast cylindrical chamber carved downward through multiple levels, each ringed with scaffolding, suspended platforms, and lattices of high-density hardware.

Thousands of server cores far beyond anything commercially available were stacked in vertical arrays, each one linked by thick bundles of fiber and superconductive conduits that pulsed faintly with blue light.

This structure was a project worth over 10 billion Neo Credits!

This wasn’t just infrastructure, it was pressure.

At the heart of the chamber, a suspended core was still taking shape- an intricate sphere of interlocking processing nodes, quantum relays, and psionic amplification coils.

It rotated slowly in zero-gravity suspension, held in place by magnetic fields that hummed just below the threshold of hearing.

Every few seconds, a ripple of energy passed through it like a system inhaling then holding its breath.

Engineers moved along the platforms in strict, efficient patterns.

No one spoke unless necessary. Their work was too precise, too dangerous for distraction. One misalignment in the lattice, one timing error in the signal cascade and the entire system could collapse.

This was not just any machine of technology, this was a trap that was designed to think faster than its prey.

Neural Projection!

BZZZ!

A Synth and an A.I Construct materialized mid-air at the heart of this concealed building.

The moment the engineers saw both of them, they bowed respectfully, then they continued their work.

General Sylvari Charr’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the work in progress, then he said. "They’re already attacking you online".

Director-Prime Epsilon didn’t budge.

"Let them," he said. "It’s the opinion of dogs".

His gray eyes gleamed as he looked at the machine coming to life at the heart of the structure. "What do you think?"

Looking at the machine, Sylvari grimaced slightly then his face turned cold. "This is 100 times more lethal than what trapped me 131 years ago".

"Good," Epsilon nodded. "That is exactly what we need".

"3 more weeks..." Sylvari said.

"3 more weeks". Epsilon repeated.

3 more weeks before the completion of the singular most expensive weapon in recorded history.

...

[You’d think that rehabilitating terrorists is bad and unrealistic till you realise that it’s something actively being done in my country.]

[Special Appreciation to Yametekudastop, Katcan20, ImperialJadeDragon, Darks4int, and MachaMarvelous for the Golden Tickets. Thanks for the support!]