Smoke & Mirrors 1

Shadow sat at his "Throne" in the command center, Neo-G typing away as she managed the torrent of information coming in to be processed, and Talon stood before him waiting for orders. Shadow shifted his gaze to his loyal soldier, "We have a problem, Apollo is getting nosy and we are not yet ready to take on the alliance." Talon stiffened, "What do we do sir?" Talon came to full attention, his

military training kicking in making him alert and ready to strike. Shadow thoughtfully continued, "We need a distraction, but something far more subtle then Mexico. Arrange a sacrificial lamb so to speak, and make sure it's satisfying to Apollo as well. We will portray Shadow as an organization and lead them away from the truth." Talon smiled, "I think I can handle that sir."

Shadow returned the smile, "I know you can. Once a deal is struck tell Neo-G and she'll set up the ruse and give you a new iron-clad identity to play our game." Talon saluted, "Right away sir!" and he walked out with a little spring in his step. It's been months since he pulled a trigger and a soldier like Talon feels a bit useless doing cloak and dagger work, his training is to fight hard and fast, overwhelming the enemy with sheer force. Things must be played quietly however, direct action is the undoing of many a villain and I will never play a direct hand until it is necessary or the time is ripe. Now to inform Tania of the plan.

Tania sat browsing on her Secret Service issued secure laptop, reviewing messages from senators, aids, and the public. She sat up when a message titled "How you doing little sister" Shadow's code for her, she opened the message. To the average person or FBI investigator, it was her older brother accounting the surprise party for her grandfather, but in reality, was a coded instruction of her

role in Shadow's plan to deal with the Alliance's snooping.

The message read;

Hey sis, how's the life of a governess treating ya? As you know yesterday was Grandpa's 80th birthday! Aunt Gwen and Uncle Charlie lost there bet they made last year, and I think Grandpa kept kicking just to spite them lol. The kid's had a Piñata and little Nick nearly got Dad in the gut, Dad let go of the rope and jumped back just in time to drop it millimeters past Nick's head. I jumped in before he takes another wild swing lol. After the excitement, we had cake and presents, wished you could've been there. Anyway take care, and we'll all proud of the good you do for the state.

Love,

Your big bro!

The decoding was simple:

How's the life of a governess treating ya?

(File Progress report urgently.)

...yesterday was Grandpa's 80th birthday!

(Action will take place 8 days from yesterday.)

Aunt Gwen and Uncle Charlie lost there bet ..., and I think Grandpa kept kicking just to spite

them...

(Neo-G and Talon preparing, and action will be direct)

The kid's had a Piñata and little Nick nearly got Dad in the gut, Dad let go of the rope and

jumped back just in time to drop it millimeters past Nick's head. I jumped in before he takes

another wild swing...

(Apollo is too close. Action will mislead the Alliance and keep them on a wild goose

chase.)

After the excitement, we had cake and presents...

(Pause efforts until Action is over and the Alliance is off the trail.)

Anyway take care, and we'll all proud of the good you do for the state.

(Maintain communication silence, and good work.)

Tania lends back in her chair as Darcy popped her head into her office, "Senator Wilkes is on the line and wants your input on the proposal he dropped off yesterday." Tania took a deep breath, Wilkes economic plans do have some merit, and since the ball is in Shadow's court might as well get on to my duties, "Very well, what line is the senator on?" Darcy nodded, "Line 4."

_____________________________

Neo-G stretched in her over-stuffed high back chair, it was late in the night, and she has been working on planting and manipulating information since lunch. The massive console was strewn with empty cans of energy drinks, and hollow foil-lined wrappers of protein bars, chips, and various kinds of her favorite candies. It was eerie being alone in the command center, but she had work to do and mainframes to hack. Shadow has given her everything she wished, the latest workstations maxed out to capacity with 4-way SLI of the bleeding edge of graphics cards to handle the thousands of processes and data threads the 128 CPU cores can not, and storing all relevant data in the racks of data-farm servers behind the giant concave main screen. She continued to type as she fished for an opening, the FBI seal displayed on her 27-inch terminal screen in a window beside

several other command-line windows where her custom attack programs ran. The lines of code scrolled across the program's output windows, a chibi anime character animated like it was cracking a safe with a lock-pick and stethoscope. She felt proud of her creations, at least as much as the next hacker can to a piece of software.

She lived for the thrill of finding an exploit in a server's code or a back-door through a firewall. Before she was a part of Shadow's crew and even before she worked for War Eagle, she scraped by with what she could find, taking five-year-old junk computers, wiring them together, and slaving them to her cobbled together workstation built with the best she could salvage from the others. It wasn't pretty but did the job, at least until she accidentally hacked into War Eagle's casino's back-end servers, the ones no one should know about that handled the less than reputable dealings, and before she could figure out what she'd done a pair of black suits knocked on her flat's door. Luckily for her War Eagle can recognize talent when he sees it and offered her to work for him or die. Her choice was obvious, and in time she stopped regretting it, and now under the command of a leader like Shadow, she's glad she wasn't the stubborn type. Shadow was, in her opinion, very desirable. Attractive and mysterious, strong yet not uncaring, but he kept a healthy distance from her and acted like a wounded-heart type, having a troubled past she couldn't find... yet. Her terminal beeped and the anime character jumped up and down as green code filled her attack program's windows, she was in, and now to bait Shadow's trap. "Alright, now let the games begin," she said to herself as a devious smile played across her fair face and a devilish twinkle in her blue-grey eyes.

________________________________

Apollo sat in a black SUV scouting a dock warehouse, DOCK 13, a day ago a scrawny man walked up to Alliance HQ and asked for him. His name was Julio and claimed to be a Pusher for Shadow, and in his debrief he provided detailed information on the organization. Shadow is a Federation of powerful criminal syndicates. War Eagle, Maestro Novella of the Red Shield Syndicate in Europe,

the Havana Syndicate, and others where a shortlist he could recall. Shadow was the brainchild of Maestro Novella, he and his organization consolidated the dozens of rival Syndicates, it brought peace and unrivaled opportunity to the members, and those who refused were eliminated. Julio said that the Mexico incident was the latest in squashing those who won't fall in line, and he helped

load the truck with the modified Russian ICBM warhead onto the armored truck at Dock 13 in San Pedro, which also serves as a stockpile of weapons and drugs manufactured overseas.

Apollo ate some beef-jerky as he watched the activity around the dock, men and women going in empty-handed and walking out minutes later with a black backpack, Julio said that the pushers burn the packs after they sold the coke and meth syringes. It kept them from holding evidence if they're caught coming back to pick up. From what Julio told him, and law enforcement contacts, that the quality of the drugs sky-rocked when Shadow toke over, and the instructions to the junkies were detailed so they don't OD on the higher grade substances or rat out Shadow. The customer care, if it could be called that, was so good that OD deaths dropped 12% from last year, and it also bred iron-clad loyalty since anyone who rats to the cops, whether the officer was on pay-roll or not, were cut off from being able to purchase again.

The names, specs, and photos on Julio's phone, a list three pages long, scrolled through Apollo's mind. The Black-Lister is given three chances to back-off from the pushers, after that, a hit squad silenced him or her for good. Brutally simple and very effective, everyone involved with the street program was officially and legally employed with the shipping company front, Julio makes $40K a year, pays all his taxes, has a family, and an economical new car. It keeps everyone living within there taxable means and the cops and FBI not expecting a thing. "...It got to me after a while, the guilt you know, and I couldn't take it anymore. I see my little girl and I know in my gut that I couldn't do it anymore..." Julio explained when he was asked why he came to the Alliance if his life was so good. Apollo remembered the pain in the man's eyes and the guilt in his expression.

The pusher MO has changed and looks 100% legal, they drive the shipping company trucks to warehouses across the South-West, and the inner city bike delivery pushers get calls from the junkies, and they deliver to there door, payment by debit card, credit via the pusher's smartphone, or cash. Then the junkie gets a small box containing a gram of coke or a sterile syringe of saline/nutrient/meth mixture and the pusher rides off to the next delivery. The pre-mixed meth is what disturbs Apollo the most, Julio explained that the whole thought process goes like this, "...Keeping the customers alive and healthy, keeps everyone's bank accounts the same..." the saline keeps the "customers" hydrated, the nutrients keeps them from wasting, and the high-grade meth keeps them happy.

They don't cut or add fillers, they keep their product pure, the pushers also provide detailed counseling and information about what they sell, the strength of the grade, most common effects, and ingredients in the pre-mixed products. Apollo sat disgusted watching the pushers ride up and leave loaded with drugs that kill or handicap millions every year and at the caviler attitude at which the Shadow Federation does it. But tonight he only observes and gathers evidence, Julio was accurate in his testimony, and now Apollo will prepare his next move.

_________________________

Apollo entered the polished hall of the Council Chambers, a disc in his hands, and stood before the Alliance Grand Council, "Heroes and Heroines of the grand council, I have here evidence of against the Shadow Syndicate Federation, and I hope upon review action is approved." declared Apollo with the strong confidence he is known for. Zeus stood, "We will hear your evidence Apollo." Apollo nodded and place the disc in the reader of the podium he stood behind, and awaited the scripted actions to process. The holographic projectors rendered the video surveillance of the warehouse as Apollo presented the briefing, complete with choice selections of Julio's debriefing. The faces of the council sobered as he explained the delivery practices and procedures, illustrated with crisp photos and video of delivery to a setup-house. The video renderings ended and the evidence was compiled in the center of the room in a cloud formation.

Apollo let the information sink in a moment before continuing, "Distinguished members of the Grand Council, the evidence is quite clear, and Shadow must fall. I have done all the council has asked as I put this evidence of wrongs before you, we need only to act before we lose the element of surprise, and lose the trail which we stumbled upon. You all are aware of War Eagle's cunning, and Novella's ruthlessness, and I swear by my honor and before God, that all here is truth and none

is without evidence. I stand ready your orders to act." Apollo stood now, as his last word echoed the polished walls and ceiling of the chamber, and then Zeus rose, "Apollo. We will weigh the disturbing facts before us, go and await our summons." Zeus' voice was stern and clear, and Apollo bowed slightly, "Yes sir, I await your call." With that Apollo left the camber, the heavy doors closed with a solid thud behind him and walked the Hall of Heroes and down the hall to his quarters.

Meanwhile, Shadow walked along the water's edge, Dock 13 sat in the early morning mists on the other end of the bay. Monstrous cargo carriers sailed to an fro behind him as Talon came in step with him, "It is done, and our trap is set." Talon said in the low and dark tone of his character as Shadow smiled a ruthless smile, "Good my old friend, see to it your lieutenant sees to the movement of the cargo. I want the bait set before the Alliance moves." Talon nodded and walk

casually into the streams of workers who milling about to check-in to work, and disappeared as quickly as he came. Still smiling Shadow stopped and gazed upon the steel and brick warehouse of Dock 13, "Come to my mouse, the trap is set, and the cat awaits."

Dock 13 stood deathly quiet in the pre-dawn hour, the sky was turning a faint blue-grey hue as a fishing boat glided by the black semi-truck parked just outside the chain-link of the locked gate. Inside Apollo briefed the SWAT team leaders for the early morning raid, "The target is Dock 13, from what we can ascertain, the building has a dozen guards who, we presume, are sleeping inside. The objective is to arrest and obtain evidence." Apollo picked up a syringe from the small briefing

table, "This is what we are looking for, advanced liquid methamphetamine, it contains a precise blend of saline, vital nutrients, and 100% pure meth.

"Without this evidence, we are looking at a PR nightmare because the owners of the dock, on paper anyway, is completely legal and without a doubt condemn our actions publicly and in court." Apollo let his words sink in before continuing, "The raid will go as such," he clicked a presentation controller and the 50-inch screen behind him showed a satellite view of Dock 13, "We will move in two teams; I'll lead team Alpha and will enter from the street, team Beta, lead by Sakura, will move from the alley. Team Delta will provide sniper cover and position themselves with eyes on each corner so that two snipers can cover each side of the warehouse at once. Team Charlie will be the patrol boats and will ensure the recovery of suspects or dumped evidence as well as video coverage. Each team leader and the sniper will also have helmet or scope cams to protect our collective behinds and to post-action assess operational efficiency. Any questions?" A hand rose from the group, "What's our R.O.E.?" "Imminent Threat Rules, if they pull a weapon you are authorized to fire, but try to wound or disarm if possible. Lethal force is allowed but not encouraged. Anyone else?" Everyone was silent, "Alright we move at 0830 hours. Good luck."

The morning light cast a warm glow onto the harbor as SWAT teams get into position, Sakura came up into her team's breech position, "Beta Team in position" she whispered into her radio lapel. "Rodger Beta, all teams in position. Go in 1...2...Now!" Apollo ordered through the radio, and she nodded to her breached, the officer wielded a large tube, inside was a water-bladder with an explosive charge behind it. As he swung it a pressure trigger closed and with a concussive

boom the C4 turned the water into a projectile that blew the steel door of its hinges and turning it into a battering ram to anything or anyone behind it.

A moment later another boom echoed from the warehouse as Alpha Team breached. The two teams poured into the warehouse sweeping with their lights mounted onto their M4 rifles. Boxes towered over them as they searched the massive maze-like space, the entry alarms cried in their klaxon protest. Sakura halted her team as they approached a central open area. Apollo also stopped his team on the opposite side and clicked his radio. Both teams enter the area guns drawn only to stare into each other, "Well looks like we're the only ones at the party." Sakura smirked as the SWAT teams lowered their weapons, Apollo rushed to the nearest box and ripped it open and pulled out a stuffed bear, he looked to another officer who pulled out a DVD above him at the second story office and officer came to the ledge, "All clear sir, not even a rat around" Apollo kicked the

box out of frustration cursing.

Apollo stood before the Chief of Police and the building manager as the SWAT teams packed up behind him, "I hope you plan on paying for the property you destroyed!" screamed the manager, "You wasted my time Apollo, and the Feds are going to hear about this I assure you!" barked the Police Chief, "With all due respect gentlemen, all of my evidence justified the raid, and you did approve the action Chief." The manager was cherry red, "What justification? Oh, that's right the fictitious drug runners! Did you find any drugs at all? No! You destroyed my warehouse and the doors you blast off toke out a shipment of TVs and porcelain flatware!" Apollo stood defiantly, "I personally witnessed the activity and have a witness in custody!" The Police Chief raised his hand angrily, "I trusted you Apollo! Now get out of my city!"