===Ifan===
Took him a day of driving to reach Base #1, where the Major General was. He reached the front gate and told them that he had to meet him right away, but they told him that his schedule won't be free for at least a week.
He couldn't do anything about it other than wait, so he made his way to the base's dining hall to get something to eat.
But before he could reach that point, a young man stopped him. The person didn't wear the uniform of the Allied Army, just normal clothes, though quite expensive ones.
Ifan recognized him right away, as he never forgot people like that.
"Did you come here to visit your father too, boy?" Ifan asked the person.
He was the youngest son of the Major General, and he was actually the one he was proudest of all his five children. He was only 19 years old, so he had officially joined the Allied Army for a year, but they had used his services since he was 14.
He was a master tactician and proved himself at age 12 as they had taken reports of an attack on some magical creatures' base that started going wrong. The son was there visiting his father and when heard the reports of the situation they were in; he suggested a plan that he came up with at the spot.
This act impressed the Major General as the plan worked and they turned the tides.
He had his son studied after the best teachers, and he mastered everything they could offer in less than 2 years. After that, even if the Major General couldn't officially give him a rank, nothing prevented him from hearing out his son's plans and put them in motion.
Many of the victories over the years were the results of the tactics of this young fellow.
His name was Aris.
"Colonel Ifan. It is nice seeing you again, it's been a long time. I am not here for my father, but I am here to help you," said the boy as a smile appeared on his face.
"Help me? What do you think I need help with?"
"But of course to meet my father, and report about the recent attack of one of the bases from the werewolves' attack and what they took."
Ifan could tell that the boy was keeping his eyes on him and tried to read him, but he had years of experience and could make it an impossible task for others to get a read on him.
But he was curious about how Aris knew the reason he was here. The report for the attack should have reached the base here, but since this is the main one, they get hundreds if not thousands of reports each day.
Even if a base getting attacked wasn't so unusual, the report didn't mention the Werewolves taking something. The Red Code damage meant that the special subject was gone, but the ones that only knew the meaning of that were him, the Major General, and a few others that Aris wasn't part of.
Most of the bases had a research team with subjects on them, but some of the subjects were of higher secrecy than others. Using those kinds of codes in reports wasn't unheard of so one shouldn't consider it unusual. He was certain that the Major General wouldn't tell him, or could it not be the case?
"I know about your code. It isn't so difficult to decipher, really. You keep using the same colors depending on the race of the enemy, and just change the noun followed by it. So didn't take me a lot of time to understand what Red Code damage meant."
Ifan was impressed but tried to not let it appear on his face.
"If what you tell is true and there is a secret code used in the report, why do you think it is so important for me to come report for this reason."
"Oh, come on. Do you want to play that game? You guys are lucky that nobody has found the truth about your 'genius' Professor."
This time Ifan couldn't hide his feelings as this caught him off guard.
"I mean him being a nobody one day and a genius the other is pretty suspicious. I know dad has tried erasing and changing everything about him to fit your story, but let's face it, it is full of holes. Others don't pay attention since they are taking cool new toys to play with, but I am not interested in these cheap copies. So after finding that truth, I started noticing about those bases that seemed to have some labs that seemed to do absolutely nothing other than 'general research'. A lab with tasks staying still for a long period was like an arrow, showing that something else happened to them. Is this much enough or do you want me to elaborate more?"
Ifan had met Aris a few times, but most times, they were discussing battle tactics. But him using the same intelligence to find out about something that he and the Major General tried to keep a secret was something he had never imagined happening.
Normally his first instinct would be to eradicate the problem, but he knew that this would anger the Major General, and would weaken the Allied Army, as they would lose a great tool at their disposal.
"What do you want?" Ifan got straight to the point.
"But I told you already. I am here to help you."
He gave a little bow towards Ifan, which actually surprised him. He waited for some blackmail, but when he thought about it, the boy couldn't earn anything out of him. His father was one of the highest-ranking officers of the Allied Forces, and much higher than his, as also he was his favorite son.
"What do you want in return?"
Ifan was certain that the boy had a scheme or something, and he wanted to know what it was.
"I just want to be in your club. I know you guys keep special subjects, and that you are discussing things off the record. I even had to erase some recordings from conversations of the two of you, from your office, which reminds me you have a spy over there. You better take care of it, as he has released some of your secrets and not copies of your reports over the past few weeks. I had gathered most of them and erased them, but there may be more. Here, this should help you when you get back to the base. It is all the leads I have for the spy."
He brought out of one of his pockets a USB stick and gave it to Ifan.
"So do was have a deal? You get the stick and will take care of you have a talk with my father sooner than a week. All you have to do is to mention to him I want to be included in the future secret plans of yours. If he says no, well…. then no hard feelings."
Ifan was still on guard and he didn't believe that this was just it. There was more in the story, but he couldn't reach it for now.
But having the kid around would be useful, as he had proved it to be the case many times.
And if he truly had an ill will on his mind, it is always better to keep your enemies close to monitor them.