Some time earlier...
The small bird Wei had released beat its wings as fast as it could, carrying the encrypted message through the sky. Its feathers blended with the overcast heavens, but not enough to fool the trained eyes watching the border.
"Interception!" shouted a guard from a watchtower, pointing toward the sky with urgency. "Messenger bird, sector seven!"
A four-winged silver eagle rose immediately. Its talons caught the small messenger with perfect accuracy, the predator's enhanced senses making escape impossible.
The captured bird struggled just for a moment before resigning itself to its fate, its small black eyes gleaming with an intelligence that seemed disturbingly human.
The eagle's tamer smiled grimly as he guided his beast back toward the communication post. Another intercepted message, another small victory in the information war that raged parallel to the political tensions.
♢♢♢♢
