751 The General's Secret Ledger: How an Army Major Uncovered Her Family's Treason and Declared War on the Empire That Framed Her Father

The study was exactly as her father had left it ten years ago. The heavy mahogany desk, the rows of hardbound military histories, and the framed photograph of Julian in dress uniform overlooking a foreign horizon.

Except now, a section of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf had been cranked open, revealing a thick, steel-reinforced wall safe recessed into the brickwork.

A digital biometric scanner flickered with a steady amber light in the center of the steel door.

"The system is keyed to General Bennett's primary lineage," Miller explained, stepping aside to give Nora a clear path. "We tried running a system override, but it triggered a localized data wipe protocol. It will only open for a direct bloodline descendant."

Nora stepped up to the safe. She didn't hesitate.

She pressed her right thumb firmly against the glass plate of the scanner. A sharp beep echoed in the quiet room.

“Biometric signature accepted,” a computerized voice chimed. “Scanning retinal pattern.”

A thin red laser swept across Nora's eyes. For three agonizing seconds, the scanner blinked yellow. Then, with a heavy, mechanical clunk, the internal locking bolts retracted, and the steel door swung open on heavy hinges.

Inside sat a single, matte-black titanium data drive resting on a velvet tray, alongside an old leather-bound journal and a sealed Manila envelope stamped with a blood-red classification stamp: EYES ONLY – OMEGA DIRECTIVE.