APT 301
1012 Grand Dominion Avenue
Dairghazbury
June 5th, 821
2:21:10

Arden Lyn sat next to the window, unable to sleep. If the attack went badly, it might be the last night of her life.

Exar Kun entered the room.

"I just got off the phone with Master Sidious. Everything has been set into motion as he foresaw. He said that the contact will call us 5 minutes before the Aelirian motorcade passes by."

Exar Kun was not convinced.

"How do you know that we can trust this "contact"?

"He has been friends with Sidious for a long time and despises his own country. Inferior people are given the same right to succeed as the smartest and the strongest! He sees the Aelir as a tyrant and the greatest threat to world peace. He's one of the DIO IT staff. It's the best position to spy from, he has access to everything while formally having low security clearance.

"How can you really trust one of them?"

"He's already committed what they'd consider a high felony. There's no turning back. He's given us an incredible opportunity, as well! Brandon Devoy is infiltrating our capital tomorrow morning, outside the protection of the DIO. Acwellan Devoy is meeting a friend at a coffee shop tomorrow morning, outside the protection of the EU. Davian Lamington will be going to get supplies for his new office tomorrow morning, also outside the protection of the EU. Avoldran Dehn is traveling by motorcade to some convention in Linden tomorrow, with protection, but easily ambushed. There are 3 decoy cars, but our contact knows which one is the real and it is coming this way."

"If we have people that good, why are we only hitting those 4 targets? This operation doesn't make much sense…no military leaders? No landmarks?"

Kun rolled his eyes.

"Generals do what they're told, and hitting landmarks will only piss the enemy off and make them want to continue the war. These 4 people are the real brains behind the war. There is obviously the same risk with hitting the Aelir and the EU Councillor, but it is at least possible that the replacements will be less competent and have less of an appetite for fighting with all this violence at home."

Kun glanced at the rocket launcher that Lyn had prepped for the mission.

"For someone who doubts everything about this mission, you sure put a lot of effort into it."

"Hey, I do things right. I registered and flagged a fishing boat with the Duxburian Union, the legit way. I hid the launcher wrapped up in a bin full of squid. They inspected everything but that. Who wants to reach into a bin full of nasty squid? I put that in a rental truck, drove away, ditched the bin, put it in a long box, and moved in. No one asks questions when you're moving in, you have boxes of all shapes and sizes."

"Smart. Well, try and get some sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time."

APT 301
1012 Grand Dominion Avenue
Dairghazbury
June 5th, 821
9:15:03

"Wake up, it's time!"

Exar Kun jumped up and got into position. He was tired and hungry, but worldly concerns no mattered. The rocket launcher was already prepared and loaded. He set up and waited while Arden Lyn pointed through the window at the target location to aim for.

Several tense minutes passed by.

The silence was abruptly broken by Lyn's cell phone.

(100)-300-800-200. Definitely a generic DIO number.

"Hello?"

"This is not a clean line, so I must make this quick," a geeky voice responded.

"The Aelir's motorcade is within 3 minutes of your position. Aim for the limo in the center of the formation."

The contact hung up suddenly.

"Who was that?" Kun asked.

"The contact. 2 minutes, 45 seconds to target. Aim for the limo in the center of the motorcade. I will open the window at the last possible second."

Kun braced himself and aimed down the weapon.

Lyn moved to the right in order to see down the street.

"2 minutes!"

The adrenaline was rushing, but Kun steadied his aim, partly thanks to a heavy stand.

"1 minute, 30 seconds!"

The blue lights of the motorcade came into Lyn's view.

"1 minute!"

The full motorcade was now in view coming down Grand Dominion Avenue.

"30 seconds!"

Lyn opened the window.

"200ft!"

"100ft!"

"50ft!"

"30ft!"

"20ft!"

The lead cars passed the window.

"10ft!"

"FIRE!"

Kun pulled the trigger and the rocket screamed out of the tube in a flood of smoke. It slammed into the limousine and the vehicle exploded in a fiery blast that shattered windows and shook pedestrians off their feet.

Screams now erupted on the street and a shot rang out. Then another, and several more, which zipped through the window of Apartment 301.

"It's Federal Security! We have to get out of here!"

Lyn tossed Kun an automatic rifle and they crawled across the room to the door.

European Commission Valet Pickup
Europolis
June 5th, 821
9:15:39

Davian Lamington and 2 bodyguards came out of the European Commission headquarters, with a checklist of office supplies he needed to buy and waited for his usual ride. 10 minutes later, it pulled up, uncharacteristically late. One of his guards opened the door and was greeted with a gun barrel.

In the blink of an eye, he was on the ground, killed instantly in a hail of gunfire. The shooter then turned on Lamington, hitting him 3 times before his remaining bodyguard threw himself in front of the Commissioner and returned fire, hitting the shooter in the neck and taking the full force of the rest of the rounds. The car then drove off as security personnel started running in and firing. Its tires were blown out and it came screeching to a halt. Seconds later, the driver blew up a hidden bomb, destroying the car, and wounding 5 security guarda in the blast.

A panicking guard quickly dialed 911.

"THERE'S BEEN AN ATTACK ON COMMISSIONER LAMINGTON OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION BUILDING! HE'S BEEN SHOT, BUT STILL ALIVE, 2 GUARDS HAVE BEEN KILLED, 5 HAVE BEEN WOUNDED, WE NEED AMBULANCES ASAP PLEASE HELP!"


European Council North Entrance
Europolis
June 5th, 821
9:34:20

Acwellan Devoy left the Council building, eager to meet an old friend at a coffee shop a few blocks away. He was looking up, admiring the lovely weather, when his phone lit up with alerts. He couldn't believe what he was seeing - AELIR DEHN KILLED IN ROCKET BLAST, COMMISSIONER LAMINGTON POSSIBLY KILLED IN SHOOTING ATTACK, GET TO SAFE PLACE NOW!

At that very moment, a black sedan came rolling up with its passenger side windows down. Its speed was unusual and this was no place for a car to pull over. Suspicious, adrenaline rocketed through Devoy's body as he decided to run back into the Council. Shots rang out and he felt a blinding pain in his left shoulder as he dove through the doors.

Never protected, but always armed, Devoy whipped out a .45 handgun and crawled behind a corner. The doors burst open and an imposing, Kassian figure came through, toting an assault rifle. A security guard running to the scene from another hallway stopped and realized his mistake too late. The Kaasian gunned him down. Devoy seized this chance and, shooting to wound, hit the gunman in the right knee and left shoulder. The Kaasian fell to the ground. Devoy then rushed in and snatched away the assault rifle. Screeching outside indicated that the car was leaving in a hurry. A horde of guards descended upon the scene, both inside and out. Not taking any chances, several formed a wall around Devoy as they helped him to the elevator. There was a huge explosion outside.

1012 Grand Dominion Avenue
Dairghazbury
June 5th, 821
9:29:40

A Federal Security Sargent quickly dialed into the Federal Emergency System as a firefight erupted around the apartment building at 1012 Grand Dominion Ave.

"WE HAVE A K1A EMERGENCY ON THE CORNER OF EAST STREET AND GRAND DOMINION AVENUE IN DAIRGHAZBURY, I REPEAT, WE HAVE A K1A EMERGENCY, THE AELIR HAS BEEN ATTACKED AND POSSIBLY KILLED. ASSAILANT OPENED FIRE FROM A 2ND STORY WINDOW, LARGE CALIBER ROCKET WEAPON, CLOSE RANGE, AT LEAST 4 DEAD AND 9 WOUNDED, I REPEAT, WE HAVE A K1A EMERGENCY ON THE CORNER OF EAST STREET AND GRAND DOMINION AVENUE IN DAIRGHAZBURY, WE HAVE A K1A EMERGENCY! ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS NEED TO GO ON G1T ALERT NOW! GET TO A SAFE PLACE NOW!"

Stunned onlookers watched in horror as Federal Agents rushed to the scene. After several minutes of intense fighting, the shooting stopped.

"Sargent, we surrounded the apartment and forced entrance, but the assailants have shot themselves. 3 agents were wounded in the firefight."

"Sargent, we've assessed the limo. The driver, Aelir, and two bodyguards were all killed instantly in the blast. But, the Aelir is not actually dead!"

"What?"

"The man we thought was the Aelir is David Caelson, one of Dehn's body doubles. We've contacted the decoy motorcades and Dehn is not in any of them! No one in the service can account for the true Aelir's location."


-4th Floor,
Duxburian Intelligence Office
Dairghazbury
June 5th, 821
9:45:13

Listening in on all Federal communications, Derrick Norman's heart skipped a beat. "The Aelir is NOT dead? He isn't even in the capital?"

Cold sweat chilled his neck. It was a setup! Neither Avoldran Dehn nor Davian Lamington nor Acwellan Devoy had been killed and now they would all be out of reach. The operation had failed, except perhaps for Brandon Devoy. There was no way to know if that had succeeded yet.

Norman had to keep his cool. His call would be traced back to him for sure. There was maybe only one person alive with the knowledge to pierce through the DIO's generic number protection system, Acwellan Devoy. Devoy was supposed to be dead. This was not good.

He had maybe 4 hours before the trace would be tried. It was time to leave.

Fire Control Room,
Grand Imperial Bunker
Kaas City
June 6th, 821
10:32:55

The mission had been a success. A huge weight was lifted off Brandon Devoy's shoulders. They got the virus in, disguised as technicians. However, he'd been very disturbed by a message that a real Kaasian technician had given him. All it said was USE THE INK CARTRIDGE ONLY. Normally, this would have made no sense, but one of the delivery mechanisms for the virus was a specialized drive, disguised as a printer ink cartridge. The virus would travel through the printer's USB connection and infect the attached computer. The flash drive and CD had been used, with the cartridge viewed as unnecessary, as it was a fire control room with few normal PCs and one printer. How did they know about that cartridge and yet, want him to use it? Who was this person? Devoy had not told anyone on the team about this note, but he did slip the cartridge into the only printer in the room, while removing the flash drive and CD when no one was looking.

The team departed the control room for the elevator. However, another one of the real DK technicians told Devoy that he wanted him to look at a computer. Devoy had no choice if he wanted to keep his cover, so he let himself be separated from the rest of his team as the elevator door closed.

This Kaasian led Devoy to the other side of the room, pointed at a computer there, slipped a note into his hand, and walked away.

Puzzled, but playing it cool, Devoy pretended to inspect the computer for several minutes, before getting up and leaving the room through a door nearby. In the hallway, he made sure no one was looking before glancing at the note:

TAKE THE STAIRS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE

Alarmed, but still playing it cool, Devoy calmly headed for the stairs. Suddenly, there were screams and a hail of gunfire coming from somewhere well above him, in the direction of the elevator. A brief wave of panic washed over Brandon Devoy. He did not need a note to tell him what was now unfolding.

Speaking of notes, there was yet another one lying on the landing.

EVERY GUARD NEEDS A CLEAN UNIFORM: TRY LEVEL 2, ROOM 14.

Devoy had a hunch about what the note wanted him to do, which was confirmed when he descended to level 2. The first room was number 14 and it was filled with uniforms of all kinds. No one else was in there, so he entered and locked the door behind him, ditching his technician's uniform. A few minutes later, he emerged as a Kaasian guard.

There was another note taped to the other side of the door.

TUNNEL 6 ON LEVEL 22 IS CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE

Someone in the Grand Moff's own stronghold was looking after him. Devoy didn't know if it was a spy or a friendly, but someone really wanted him to make it out alive. Not just anyone, but him specifically. They knew what he looked like and the details of the mission.

Still trying to figure out the mystery angel, Devoy nonchalantly passed everyone going up as they ran downstairs, presumably to respond to the breach. They'd figure out that he wasn't dead soon enough, but he'd be in the tunnel and out by then.

Fire Control Room,
Grand Imperial Bunker
Kaas City
June 5th, 821
10:32:55

The mission had been a success. A huge weight was lifted off Brandon Devoy's shoulders. They got the virus in, disguised as technicians. However, he'd been very disturbed by a message that a real Kaasian technician had given him. All it said was USE THE INK CARTRIDGE ONLY. Normally, this would have made no sense, but one of the delivery mechanisms for the virus was a specialized drive, disguised as a printer ink cartridge. The virus would travel through the printer's USB connection and infect the attached computer. The flash drive and CD had been used, with the cartridge viewed as unnecessary, as it was a fire control room with few normal PCs and one printer. How did they know about that cartridge and yet, want him to use it? Who was this person? Devoy had not told anyone on the team about this note, but he did slip the cartridge into the only printer in the room, while removing the flash drive and CD when no one was looking.

The team departed the control room for the elevator. However, another one of the real DK technicians told Devoy that he wanted him to look at a computer. Devoy had no choice if he wanted to keep his cover, so he let himself be separated from the rest of his team as the elevator door closed.

This Kaasian led Devoy to the other side of the room, pointed at a computer there, slipped a note into his hand, and walked away.

Puzzled, but playing it cool, Devoy pretended to inspect the computer for several minutes, before getting up and leaving the room through a door nearby. In the hallway, he made sure no one was looking before glancing at the note:

TAKE THE STAIRS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE

Alarmed, but still playing it cool, Devoy calmly headed for the stairs. Suddenly, there were screams and a hail of gunfire coming from somewhere well above him, in the direction of the elevator. A brief wave of panic washed over Brandon Devoy. He did not need a note to tell him what was now unfolding.

Speaking of notes, there was yet another one lying on the landing.

EVERY GUARD NEEDS A CLEAN UNIFORM: TRY LEVEL 2, ROOM 14.

Devoy had a hunch about what the note wanted him to do, which was confirmed when he descended to level 2. The first room was number 14 and it was filled with uniforms of all kinds. No one else was in there, so he entered and locked the door behind him, ditching his technician's uniform. A few minutes later, he emerged as a Kaasian guard.

There was another note taped to the other side of the door.

TUNNEL 6 ON LEVEL 22 IS CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE

Someone in the Grand Moff's own stronghold was looking after him. Devoy didn't know if it was a spy or a friendly, but someone really wanted him to make it out alive. Not just anyone, but him specifically. They knew what he looked like and the details of the mission.

Still trying to figure out the mystery angel, Devoy nonchalantly passed everyone going up as they ran downstairs, presumably to respond to the breach. They'd figure out that he wasn't dead soon enough, but he'd be in the tunnel and out by then.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU LOST HIM?" bellowed an irate General Kaas.

Captain Needa trembled as he tried to explain the disappearance of Brandon Devoy to the 2nd highest official in Dromund Kaas.

"General, everything went according to the plan until the elevator. When my fire team inspected the bodies, there were only 4, not the 5 we watched enter the premises. While no pictures exist of Brandon Devoy, we know that he strongly resembles his brother, Acwellan Devoy. None of these dead men bore the slightest resemblance to the Duxburian Councillor."

"But there is at least one hardened security camera in every room! How could you not track him from the fire control room?" the General asked.

"I do not know how to tell you this, general, but…several of the tapes appear to be…missing."

"WHAT?"

"The footage where Devoy enters the building, walks down to the fire control room, and "works" on equipment, was nowhere to be found when we visited Security. Every other tape showing the entire rest of the facility at that exact moment was accounted for. But, anything showing the DIO team was either missing or blank. Devoy has literally vanished."

"ARE YOU SAYING THAT WE CAN'T EVEN OUT THIS GUY'S EXISTENCE BECAUSE ALL THE PROOF IS NOW GONE?"

Furious, General Kaas quickly stood up.

"I'll take it from here, General," a deep voice said.

A tall figure wrapped in a black cloak emerged from the shadows.

"The Gu gu gu grand Moff…" Captain Needa blurted out. His knees were wobbling.

"Clearly, this man is not entirely at fault for this failure. The Security room has a hidden camera that only *I* know about. Guards, round up everyone with access to the security room and I will show you who the perpetrator is.

I am sparing your life, Captain Needa. But, do not disappoint me again."