Chapter 20

As we prepared for the meeting with Vandalizise, the tension deepened. My heart was pounding, but the excitement within me never faded. Inside the base, the atmosphere was filled with the presence of The Jackal's other members who were preparing to hear from us.

Jhonny walked ahead of me with firm steps, and I tried to keep up. Meanwhile, Miranda and Jimmy set up the communication equipment and made sure all systems were running smoothly. In my heart, I hoped this meeting wouldn't end in open conflict, but instead, could give us a bigger advantage.

Arriving at the meeting room, I saw some unfamiliar faces. The members of Vandalizise, with a strikingly confident demeanor. They knew their position, and it made me feel uneasy. However, Jhonny seemed calm and ready to face them.

"Welcome, Jhonny," the voice of Vandalizise's leader, Raven, greeted in a pleasant yet sharp tone. "We've come to talk."

Even though the man had said so, whoever was there would not believe the words that came out of the man's mouth.

It was clear that he didn't want peace and didn't want to negotiate nicely because they definitely wanted evil as their way of doing deals.

"I'm glad to see you guys," Jhonny replied with a restrained smile. "What did you want to talk about?"

Raven glanced at me and the other members before answering. "We're not happy with your behavior lately. The looting you've been doing isn't just affecting Moon Shark, but us as well."

I could feel the tension in the air, and it made me want to prepare. Of course, Jhonny wasn't going to back down without a fight. "We're just doing what it takes to survive," he said, his voice firm and undaunted.

"Is that so? Then what if we ask you to stop it?" Raven challenged, her tone starting to get a little more serious.

"And if I refuse?" Jhonny asked a counter question, his eyes blazing with challenge.

Raven smiled slightly, but I could see that it wasn't a genuine smile. "We don't want to spend our time arguing. We know how dangerous The Jackal is, and we want to give you a chance to negotiate."

Jhonny nodded, but I felt an uneasiness inside me. "Negotiate about what?"

"Stop looting and give us some power," Raven replied, without hesitation. "Or we'll take harsher measures."

"So, this is a threat?" I asked, unable to keep my voice down. "We won't back down just because you feel threatened."

Raven looked at me coldly. "Don't get carried away, Alice. This is business. And if business doesn't work, we won't hesitate to take action."

Before Jhonny could reply, I interjected, "We're not a group you can intimidate. We are not afraid of threats."

Jhonny reached out, restraining me. "Be calm, Alice. We need to listen."

I don't like it when the group I'm standing in now is denigrated by others as a bunch of useless people. I was all about solidarity and she didn't want The Jackal to be ridiculed by other groups as if The Jackal's group was something despicable.

The moment felt like a tension that permeated us. Suddenly, Jimmy walked into the room with new news. "Sorry, Jhonny. There's been some suspicious movement from the other group. They might have noticed Vandalizise's arrival."

Jhonny frowned, thinking of all the possibilities. "We need to plan our next move immediately. We can't get stuck in this situation."

Raven smiled with satisfaction. "Looks like the situation is getting complicated. Look, Jhonny, I'm going to give you one last chance. Follow our advice or be prepared to face the consequences."

I raised my eyebrows, I already knew that things would end up like this. I could see from the man's face that he only wanted the intimidation he provided for The Jackal, the man was never meant to be sincere and he wanted to colonize other groups for the purpose of exploitation.

Unlike The Jackal's case, The Jackal although forcibly seizing or taking over other groups but they have a good purpose in disguise which is to change the mindset of the people there into good people and prove that actually this world can not be colonized by aliens anymore by actually expelling aliens from earth instead of forming an alliance aimed at becoming the highest hierarchy of humans.

"If that's what you want, I will consider. But there will be no promises from our side," Jhonny answered boldly.

Raven nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Good. We'll give you time to think. Remember, we're not afraid to act."

After the tense meeting, we walked out of the room, the atmosphere still stiff. "What do we do now?" I asked Jhonny, as we walked away from the meeting room.

Jhonny looked at me seriously. "We need to prepare a strategy. Raven is definitely not going to stop with just a warning."

Miranda approached, her face showing confusion. "I don't like what's happening. If Vandalizise unites with another group, we could be in grave danger."

"So we have to make sure they can't unite," Jhonny replied, then turned his gaze towards me. "Alice, do you remember all the information you gathered about them?"

"I saved some data on my device. But we need to get more information," I replied, trying to remain calm despite my pounding heart.

We returned to the control room, and Miranda immediately began accessing information. I could feel the tension within us. With every second that passed, the situation grew more urgent.

As we focused on the device, Jhonny approached me again. "You remember when we attacked the Moon Sharks? I remember how you defeated them so easily."

"Of course. But not all situations are like that. We don't know what will happen next," I retorted, keeping a confident tone.

"But you can do it again, Alice. Believe in yourself. You have amazing abilities," Jhonny complimented me again.

I felt warm inside at his words. "Thank you. I will do my best."

After several hours of analyzing the data, we finally found important information about Vandalizise's plans. They had several alliances that could pose a threat. "We need to stop them before they can make a move," Miranda said.

"Agreed," Jhonny nodded. "We must prepare a strategic attack. We don't want to get caught up in their game."

As we devised a plan, a feeling of optimism began to grow. Despite the threat from Vandalizise, we would not allow ourselves to be cornered. We were The Jackals, and we would not back down.

We always convinced ourselves that we would succeed even though at the beginning of the confrontation there must have been various kinds of difficulties faced by us. But we are confident that we will win at the end of this confrontation because of all the events that have happened.

When the meeting ended, I sat for a moment contemplating. In this tension, there was something deeper between Jhonny and me. Little moments like this made me realize that we relied on each other, and it gave me a new spirit to keep fighting.

"So, what are your plans after this?" I asked as we prepared to leave.

"After this? I just want to make sure we stay safe. We can't let our guard down," Jhonny replied with a serious face.

"What if we manage to stop Vandalizise?" I asked, hopeful.

"If that happens, we'll celebrate. But for now, our focus is on dealing with them," he replied firmly.

We exited the base, looking up at the dark sky. Tension still surrounded us, but inside me, there was a glimmer of hope. We would fight, and we would not give up.

When night fell, the next meeting would determine our steps. I sensed that we were about to enter a new phase of this fight, and this time, we would do it our own way. Our strength lies in unity, trust, and the courage to fight injustice.

And in the process, there might be more than just the war we were facing-there were also feelings slowly developing between us, which could not be ignored. As darkness enveloped the sky, I knew one thing: this was the beginning of something bigger than just a battle.