The air was thick with anticipation at Alliance headquarters. The successful extraction in Prague had given Sophia and her team a crucial edge, but the war with Black Phoenix was far from over. Intelligence gathered in the last mission pointed to a sprawling network, far more extensive and insidious than they had initially imagined. It was a hydra—cut off one head, and two more took its place.
Sophia sat at the head of the conference room table, surrounded by her core team: Marcus, Zoe, Ethan, and a few other top operatives who had been brought in to strategize their next steps. The room was dimly lit, the atmosphere tense as they reviewed the latest reports.
A map of the world was projected on the wall, marked with red dots representing known or suspected Black Phoenix operations. The dots were numerous, spread across every continent, forming a web of influence that spanned the globe.
