The Iron General, whose name was revealed to be Valerius (no relation to the deceased Archivist, a point of subtle tension within the Dominion command), was a man haunted by the ghosts of the Old Empire – the civilization that predated both the free territories and the Iron Dominion, a society rumored to have wielded unimaginable aura technologies before its sudden and mysterious collapse. He saw the fragmented knowledge and uncontrolled aura of the west as a dangerous echo of that lost power, a potential catalyst for another cataclysm. His ruthlessness wasn't just about maintaining order; it was rooted in a deep-seated fear of history repeating itself.

  Valerius had allowed the diversion in the pass to unfold, not out of being fooled, but as a calculated move. He suspected the supply cache was more than just resources; he believed it might contain remnants of Old Empire technology or knowledge that Lyra was desperately trying to secure. His main force continued towards the village, not just to seize supplies, but to unearth potential secrets.

  Meanwhile, within the resistance, cracks began to appear. Not everyone agreed with Lyra’s pragmatic approach. Some, driven by vengeance for Vaerin and Kaelen, advocated for more aggressive and less strategic actions, creating friction within the decentralized movement. Whispers of mistrust and accusations of prioritizing resources over lives began to circulate.

  Torvin and Seraphina’s diversionary attack in the pass, though initially successful, became a desperate fight for survival. They discovered that the Dominion forces they were engaging were not just ordinary Legionnaires, but a specialized unit equipped with aura-dampening technology, making their own abilities less effective. This suggested Valerius (the General) had anticipated a direct confrontation and had prepared accordingly.

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  As Lyra’s team reached the abandoned village, they found it wasn't as deserted as intelligence suggested. A small, heavily armed faction, bearing markings neither of the Iron Dominion nor the known resistance, was already there, seemingly searching for something specific within the ruins. A tense three-way standoff ensued, with Lyra’s team caught between the approaching Dominion forces and this mysterious third party.

  The leader of this unknown faction, a woman with piercing blue eyes and an aura that felt strangely ancient, spoke in cryptic terms about reclaiming what was lost and preventing its misuse by either the “tyrants of iron” or the “uncontrolled sparks of the west.” This hinted at a deeper, more complex history of the region and the existence of powers unknown to the current factions.

  The arrival of General Valerius’s main force shattered the tense standoff. The unknown faction engaged both Lyra’s team and the Dominion soldiers in a brutal free-for-all, revealing their own unique and formidable aura-based weaponry, unlike anything seen before. The battle for the abandoned village became a chaotic three-way conflict, with the fate of the supply cache and potentially forgotten Old Empire secrets hanging in the balance.

  The General’s gambit had sprung a far more complex trap than anyone anticipated, revealing not just a fight for resources, but a potential clash over ancient powers and hidden agendas that could reshape the entire conflict. The ghosts of the Old Empire were stirring, and their influence threatened to engulf the present in a new and terrifying complexity.