Operation Strix


 * This article is about the Operation called OPERATION STRIX. For information on the episode, see Operation Strix.

Operation "Strix" (オペレーション〈〉) is "Twilight"'s current assignment as a spy for Westalian Intelligence. The goal of the mission is to maintain peaceful relations between Westalis and Ostania.

Anya Forger, Twilight's daughter, also secretly helps her father in carrying out this mission to achieve world peace.

Creation
Over ten years after the end of the war, a Westalian diplomat is killed alongside his driver in a car accident in Ostania. This incident awakened a new conflict between the two countries, and Westalian Intelligence believed Donovan Desmond and his party were the main suspects and were attempting to instigate a war. To prevent this, they created Operation Strix.

The Forgers
After completing his previous assignment, "Twilight" is tasked with Operation Strix. His orders are to stop Donovan from harming truce efforts between the Ostanian and Westalian governments by getting close to him and probing for any seditious activities. However, since Donovan's only public appearances are at private events held by the prestigious Eden Academy, Twilight must marry and have a child who can enroll at the school.

To this end, "Twilight" takes on the alias of "Loid Forger," securing himself an apartment in Berlint, Ostania, and adopts Anya from a rundown orphanage with little paperwork. After Anya passes Eden's admission exam, he receives a letter saying both parents must be present for the family interview. At a tailor shop, Loid and Yor Briar, a clerk working at City Hall, encounter each other and decide to form a partnership out of convenience and later agree to marry to protect their secret identities.

Eden Enrollment and New Briefing
After Yor joins the family, they prepare for the Eden Academy interview. On the day of the interview, the Forgers make a great impression on housemaster Henry Henderson, who lends a hand in getting Anya into the school. After Anya is successfully enrolled, Loid meets with his Handler, Sylvia Sherwood, who briefs him on the second phase of Operation Strix. On Anya's orientation, Loid thinks over his further actions, unaware that his daughter, being a secret telepath, learns about the existence of Plan A and Plan B. Inspired by her father's job, the girl also made this operation her own, deciding to help Loid meet with the "main boss" and achieve world peace. However, on the very first day, she hits Damian, thus almost putting the entire operation in jeopardy and forcing Loid to believe that his relationship with the Desmonds had soured before it even started.

First Meeting with Donovan
Sometime after Anya's unsuccessful attempts to establish a relationship with Damian, Loid finds out that Donovan will attend Eden Academy's semi-annual event, the Imperial Scholars mixer. The event is too well guarded by the SSS agents, leaving Twilight's best opportunity to meet Donovan as "Loid Forger". However, he gets another chance to meet his target when he learns that Donovan might meet Damian after the mixer. After Anya inspires Damian to go through with meeting his father, Loid, who was nearby, finally managed to meet Donovan.

Loid tries in every possible way to interest Donovan in himself, carefully considering his words and actions, but Desmond politely dismisses any of his attempts to get close to him and get into his manor. Only for a brief moment does Loid manage to get a new reaction from his target when the conversation turns to parenting. Donovan shows that he considers even his own children strangers, which shocks Loid and his son Damian. Donovan decides to wrap up the conversation, but not before remembering Loid's name and saying he enjoyed their colloquy. Loid thanks his target for sharing his time with him, then takes his leave after briefly chatting with Damian. As Loid leaves, he and Donovan quietly glare at each other.

Loid does not think he was able to learn anything worthwhile, but he gains a first impression of his main target and his relationship with Damian, concluding that the closer the two become, the better the odds of success for Plan B. He also decides that laying the careful groundwork for the future is the best strategy.

Theft of Secret Files
For many months, Loid did not have the opportunity to meet his main target again, however, Yor was lucky to meet his wife, Melinda Desmond, and thus Loid created a Plan C to Anya's secret displeasure. Anya's activity in helping her father also proved fruitful. After the arrest of the Red Circus members, she became the owner of two Stella Stars and it seems that she began to get closer to Damian, simultaneously creating her own B Plan. During this period when it seemed to Loid that everything was going slowly, a crushing incident occurred that once again put the entire operation at risk. A report came from Westalis that Winston Wheeler, an Ostanian mole, stole top-secret files regarding WISE's operations in Ostania. Winston managed to cross the border between the countries, break away from his former colleagues and hide for a while in Shelburry, where his meeting with SSS agents was supposed to take place. Loid and his other co-workers are sent there to detain Winston and return important documents to avoid the collapse of Operation Strix.

After a successful ambush, Agent Nightfall (also known as Fiona Frost) and her teammates managed to retrieve their files, but Winston, who is also a source of valuable information, hides from them in the sewers, beats the main executor of the mission, Loid, and almost reveals his face. The enraged Fiona defeats Winston, but she harms her body in her furious actions. In such a damaged state, together with the injured Loid, she does not suspect that a new threat is coming because one of their enemies, the SSS Lieutenant, who wants to take Winston and capture Twilight, is pursuing them in the sewers.

Overview

 * Objective: Make Anya Forger a member of the Imperial Scholars
 * Performers: Anya, Loid Forger, Yor Forger (supporting)
 * Interferences: Anya (unwillingly; periodically), School Rivals, Donna Schlag

Shortly before Anya's orientation at school, Loid received a new order from Sylvia, which became known as Plan A. This is the first and main plan to achieve the goal of Operation Strix. Loid is instructed to ensure Anya becomes one of the special Eden students known as the Imperial Scholars. This elite group is part of the narrow circle of communication of Donovan Desmond, who periodically attends school events with his first son, Demetrius. For a student to become an Imperial Scholar, they must earn eight merits called Stella Stars and avoid getting eight demerits called Tonitrus Bolts.

According to WISE's planning, Anya should have received eight merits within four months. Aware of Anya's lack of great talents, Loid does not believe in the success of this plan, however, he continues to help and support his daughter in achieving this elite status, rejoicing and proud of her school achievements. With the help of her telepathic abilities, Anya also found out about Plan A and is trying to fulfill it, although it has already been jeopardized twice after receiving two Tonitruses.

Interclass Dodgeball Match
This match is Anya's first attempt to get a Stella. There was a rumor around the school that the winner of the game would get Stella. Anya trained hard with Yor to improve her skills. However, a rival from Wald Hall, known as "Bazooka Bill", got in her way. Thanks to her telepathy and Damian's self-sacrifice, Anya goes against Bill one-on-one. But despite all the training with her mother, Anya's blow turned out to be very weak and she lost the game to Bill. As a result, it turned out that the rumors were false and no one would have received this award for P.E. Henry had been contemplating the idea that Anya and Damian deserved a Stella Star for their joint work during the game, but when he saw their next quarrel, he changed his mind.

First Stella
Anya and Loid try to find her hidden talents, but he comes to the sad conclusion that she was not very good at academics, arts, and sports. They decide to try another way to implement their Plan A and get a Stella Star by volunteering and helping in the hospital. However, Anya's actions only spoil everything, and the nurses eventually lose patience and ask them to leave the hospital. On the way to the exit, the girl telepathically hears a call for help and finds a boy drowning in the pool. Together with Loid, she manages to save the drowning kid, and this heroic act receives her first Stella Star.

Pastry of Knowledge
Due to school rumors, Anya and Damian became rivals in an attempt to get the last macaron set, a legendary pastry that supposedly contributes to becoming an Imperial Scholar. Because of her charm and sad appearance, the girl manages to get the last macaron and eat it, which, to the surprise of others, charges her with energy for many hours and gives her motivation to write the quizzes with a fiery passion. However, Anya's results turned out to be as bad as ever. Upset, she returns home and goes to mope in her room, leaving her quiz results to her parents. In her absence, Loid makes an unexpected discovery that, despite spelling mistakes, Anya has a good knowledge of the classical language, but decides to postpone thinking about how it can be used for his mission for later.

Second Stella
Anya and other students are taken hostage by the Red Circus. Using her telepathic power as well as her wits and strength of spirit, she prevented the explosion of the bus and also persuaded the leader of the group, Billy Squire, to surrender to the police. After the incident, she receives her second Stella Star for her heroic actions.

Overview

 * Objective: Make Anya Forger become friends with Damian Desmond
 * Performers: Anya, Loid Forger (supporting)
 * Interferences: Anya and Damian themselves

Believing that there will be problems with the implementation of WISE's Plan A, Loid creates a Plan B: "Friendship Scheme". Shortly before Anya's orientation, he rigs school papers so that she ends up in the same class with Damian, the second son of his main target. Loid believes that the friendship between the two kids will ensure his close contact with Donovan.

Through her telepathy, Anya finds out about this plan and initially tries to make friends with Damian, but his arrogant behavior pushes her away, and on the same day, angry at his threats, she hits him in the face. Despite her apologies to him, Anya could not establish relations with Damian for a long time because of his behavior, their school rivalry, and Damian's secret crush on Anya, which he aggressively tries to deny.

Dogs
When Anya failed to impress Damian with her first Stella Star, she makes a new attempt to make friends with him. Having telepathically learned that the second son has a dog, she believes that if she gets a dog too, it will ensure her friendship with Damian and allow their fathers to finally meet, so that world peace will come. When she returns home, she asks her parents about the dog, to which they agree. Choosing a dog, the Forger Family becomes involved in a plot of the terrorists plotting an attempt on the Westalian foreign minister in order to start a war between the two countries. The criminals were arrested, and the Forgers got a new family member, Bond. However, trying to impress Damian with the news that now she also has a dog, Anya only disappointed him, because, at the time, she had not yet given her Bond a name, and the boy felt that Anya was unfit to own a pet.

Art Project
When Anya's attempt to impress Damian with Bond fails, the second son again attempts to get a Stella Star. He decides to make a griffin craft for an art contest, imagining that his father will be very proud of him if he manages to create a masterpiece. Anya reads Damian's thoughts and simultaneously develops her hew scheme: if she helps the boy create a griffin, she will impress "the boss," which, in turn, will encourage him to meet with her father so that peace will come. Despite her diligence and efforts, the girl only hinders Damian, and, as a result, they end up losing time and materials to create even just decent art. Nevertheless, to their surprise, Henry informs them that their griffins won the contest, but the second son refuses to show this ugliness to his father or even tell him about it, making Anya's "Operation Griffin" a failure to her chagrin.

Progress
Damian's opinion about Anya gradually began to change for the better when she helped him avoid a Tonitrus Bolt that Donna Schlag almost gave him for the lack of a handkerchief. After experiencing the shocks associated with the bus hijacking and the arrest of the Red Circus, Damian briefly admitted that he and Anya are friends, although he immediately took back his words when she again began asking to visit his house. Later on returning to school, despite the fact that Damian continues to periodically mock Anya, his friends and Becky notice that he has been "going sweet" on Anya lately, which the boy quickly denies.

Plan C

 * Objective: Develop Yor Forger's friendship with Melinda Desmond
 * Performers: Yor (unknowingly)
 * Interferences: Anya, the Shopkeeper (potentially)

Continuing to comprehend the role as a mother and wife, Yor went to a department store for Anya's cakes, where she saved a woman from falling down the stairs. The rich lady turned out to be very grateful to Yor and invited her to a volleyball game and later to gatherings with her narrow circle of friends. During their conversation, it is revealed that Yor saved the former first lady of Ostania and Donovan's wife, Melinda Desmond. When Yor returns home, she mentions this acquaintance to Loid and Anya, which activates a stormy activity in their heads. Loid and WISE knew about Melinda, but thought she had little information value due to Melinda distancing herself from her husband and children.

However, now Loid felt that Yor could be his key to a new path with Donovan, and creates a Plan C: "The Mommy-Friends Scheme," which is along the same vein as Plan B. Anya, meanwhile, begins to regard her mother as a rival for her Plan B. While the girl does not voice this displeasure, this prompts her to develop her new battle plan of the friendship schemes where she was going to defeat her mother.

Although Yor wants to continue further communication with Donovan's wife, she secretly asks permission from her employer, the Shopkeeper. He good-naturedly gives Yor the go-ahead for this friendship, but warns her that she may have problems with her husband because of Melinda's conservative views. However, he suddenly becomes gloomy when he finds out that Loid has already met with Donovan and, according to Yor, he is pretty interested in the views of his party.

B Plan

 * Objective: Make Damian Desmond become friends with Anya Forger
 * Performers: Anya
 * Interferences: Anya (unwillingly), Becky Blackbell (unknowingly)

Having become popular after the Red Circus incident, Anya realizes her mistake in Plan B. She understands that earlier she tried too hard to get into Damian's house, whereas it was necessary to invite him to her house. Anya develops a new plan to impress Damian with her "strong" life as a commoner, which she believes will bring Donovan to her home when Damian comes over to learn more about her family. However, Anya goes too far in her bragging to the crowd and suddenly gets angry, envious of her mother's strength, which Becky reminds her of. Considering Becky an enemy spy and a threat to her scheme, as well as being offended by Damian for his rude statements, she again forgets about her goal and enters into a new skirmish with him.

Trivia

 * The name of the operation, Strix, is of an owl. In Greek and Roman mythology, a strix was a bird of ill omen that fed on human flesh and blood. In ancient Greek, strix means "owl."
 * It is noteworthy that the main target of the operation, Donovan, has the same huge eyes as an owl.
 * At the moment, Demetrius is the only Desmond who has not been designated as a target by either Twilight or WISE.