In a mundane room situated in a mundane environment,

Shani Corvayne sat in a secure communications block deep within the Senate building, reviewing an intercepted intelligence that made her stomach tighten with professional concern.

She was a younger member of House Corvayne—one of Republic's most militarily distinguished families, headed by Duke Veridan Corvayne who sat at one of the twelve seats on Republic High Command. Her house was synonymous with warfare, with combat brilliance, with generations of warriors who'd defended the Republic borders against external and Shroud threats alike.

But in her case, there was no such gift. Not even the baseline talent most Corvayne members seemed born with. No exceptional combat core. No instinctive brilliance for tactics. Nothing that marked her as a future battlefield commander.

Shani acknowledged it with the same familiar resignation she always carried.

So she became something else—something her House had once dismissed as lesser, but was slowly learning to value.

She was a Senate member—one of the "suits in board meetings" who held contracts, argued legislation, negotiated diplomatic arrangements that the military operations depended upon.

But unlike most Senate colleagues who operated from comfortable Central offices, Shani was a field agent. An operative who gathered intelligence in territories where the Republic influence was contested, maintained networks beyond its borders, and turned information into leverage.

And right now, Shani thought, reading the intercepted documents again, I've gathered some information that could reshape entire regional power structure.

The intelligence came from the Republic's southern territories—border regions where three neighboring nations maintained an uneasy coexistence with the Republic dominance.

INTERCEPTED COMMUNICATION - CLASSIFICATION: CRITICAL

Federated Kingdoms of Ashmar, Theocracy of Solhaven, and Merchant Republic of Valdris are in a preliminary coalition negotiations.

The stated purpose written on the dossier was for a joint coordinated crawler defense and resource sharing but the actual purpose was far too easy to read for the ones in the know.

No one is that stupid to believe this alliance is purely defensive against Crawlers, Shani analyzed.

The Republic's scale was both its strength and its burden. As its power grew, so did the unease of its neighbors—an inevitable response to living beside a force that outmatched them.

The Republic hadn't moved openly against its neighbors—hadn't needed to. Still, history had taught the world what human ambition could become.

Its very existence was pressure enough, a silent weight smaller nations felt every day simply by living in its shadow.

But these three weren't waiting for the muzzle to be right at their heads. They were planning a preemptive coalition. Creating a combined force that might—might—approach the Republic's military capability if properly coordinated.

The mathematics were concerning.

Individually, each nation was significantly weaker than Republic. Ashmar had a decent military but limited higher -level personnel. Solhaven possessed some religious infrastructure from the time of old but lacked technological sophistication. Valdris had economic power but minimal combat capability.

Combined, Shani calculated, they represent maybe forty percent of the Republic's total military strength. Not enough to defeat us in a direct conflict. But enough to make the conquest costly. Enough to create a stalemate that could drain the resources we'd rather deploy against the Shroud.

And if they start believing their combined power is sufficient to topple the Republic—if that fallacy takes root—they might actually attempt a higher aggression rather than just maintaining a defensive posture.

That escalation path toward a regional war would be devastating as the conflict would benefit no one but the non human unfeeling monsters of the dark.

She had transmitted an initial intelligence report to Senate leadership the moment the message was confirmed. The reply came quickly—measured and deliberate.

SENATE DIRECTIVE - COALITION RESPONSE

It was a diplomatic approach prioritized they settled with.

A draft for a joint academy program proposal to be extended to Ashmar and Solhaven.

The Objective was to foster some regional cooperation, demonstrate the Republic's commitment to mutual benefit, and in the same vein, alienate Valdris from the coalition by excluding them.

The expected outcome from the senate was to fracture the coalition through their selective engagement. Creating doubt about alliance necessity and profoundness.

It's sophisticated, Shani admitted.

A typical Senate approach—solve problems through myriads of political maneuvering rather than having a direct confrontation. A plan to make the coalition members question whether they're on a winning side and create internal divisions in the members.

And using the academy exchange program as a mechanism was brilliant. Cooperation in educating the young sounds benevolent each and every which way you spin it and masking the strategic purpose beneath the cultural exchange rhetoric also made refusing look like a hostile act rather than some form of prudent caution.

The proposal was already being drafted—high-level Senate committees coordinating with the Academy administration, planning the student exchange that would bring candidates from Ashmar and Solhaven to Sparkshire while sending some Republic students to their institutions.

All of this is unknown to the current Academy students, Shani thought. They're enjoying their days, focused on training and development, completely unaware that some regional politics is about to transform their educational experience into a diplomatic mission.

*That's how power actually works. Soldiers fight battles they don't understand for objectives they're not informed about. Students become political tools without recognizing their instrumentalization.*

*And Senate pulls strings while everyone else dances.*

She finalized her intelligence report and prepared a briefing for Duke Veridan.

As a corvayne, she also served as the eyes and ears of House corvayne. That family connection ensured her a direct access to the duke.

Coalition forming in south, she would inform him. Senate is implementing some diplomatic countermeasures. The Military should prepare contingencies in case the political approach fails.

It did not skip her mind that she thought that it might. Because nations desperate enough to form a defensive coalition might not be dissuaded by some educational programs and cultural exchange.

Still she settled on her function. Intelligence gathering that informed strategic planning.

House Corvayne serves the Republic through warfare, Shani thought. I serve through information. Different methods. Same ultimate objective.

Outside the Senate building, The Republic continued its daily operations—citizens unaware of the coalition forming in south, of the diplomatic countermeasures being deployed, of the potential regional conflict that leadership was working to prevent.

While Shani Corvayne carried the weight of the knowledge she bore.

That was the work of the intelligent.

The function of the senate.

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