Chapter 5: Franco 'Frank' Sanchez
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2013 NOVEMBER
MONTH FIVE: THE FORT
It was during one of their rare breaks back at the Fort, that Namla and Sah-him were called upon to participate in a large-scale Demon's Venom operation. Fasir Hamsa had received a report from Akhtabut out of Uruguay.
An International Drug Lord by the name of Franco 'Frank' Sanchez had been monitored by the League for some time. However, he was also being monitored by outside law enforcement agencies. The League didn't feel the need to get too involved in this particular source of evil. It was well within the abilities of the outside world to contain this evil.
That changed when Frank Sanchez discovered a local woman he could use as his source of magic. Specifically, divination. The magic in question was an untrained girl that Frank had stolen from her mentor. A hedge witch, named Yadira. He executed Yadira because he could not control her. The only ability the girl had was to divine truth with some precognition, but that was unreliable. Without additional training, she would not gain any additional ability or reliability in her skills.
However, Frank was notoriously paranoid. With this untrained girl, he was able to uncover an undercover MI6 Agent hiding in his organization. MI6 was able to extract their agent, but Frank tracked the man down and tortured and kill the man's wife. Frank had left the agent for dead in England. As it is, Felix Leiter was now crippled for life.
Magic made Frank Sanchez a League problem. It was time for the League to eliminate his evil source. Once he had this report, Hamsa called a meeting with all available Demon's Venom members that were not actively hunting.
"We cannot wait for any more the Venom to arrive," Hamsa declared. "Who all is here?" he asked.
"We are four Barkih strong," Najwa replied.
"We are four Wahy strong," Namla replied.
"We are four 'Afdal strong," Haraq replied.
"Which leaves eight Eadi," Hamsa finished, nodding at the remaining Shadow Warriors. "We know that Sanchez has a mage. A diviner. Untrained. We need to extract her."
"It will be a high-risk mission," Najwa replied. "There is the possibility that the diviner can see the possibility of the mission."
"It is also possible that the diviner can see who is coming for Sanchez," Haraq told him. "We cannot allow that."
"Everyone here is fluent in English, correct?" Namla asked the members of the Demon's Venom present.
"They are," Hamsa replied.
"Then I recommend that we present ourselves as MI6," Namla told the assembled group. "MI6 already has a grievance with Sanchez. If we use only English and our Anglicized versions of our names, they will appear as codenames."
"I like this approach," Hamsa replied. "Sanchez is new to magic. He will believe in the outside world far easier than the League."
"For the high-risk mission, a distraction at the same time as the mission would reduce the risk," Sah-him said. "Something that Sanchez would have to pay attention to… say, an attack on his facilities… the docks… the production plant… something he values… something like that," he added.
"Yes," Azhar said. "His diviner would likely see the planning of the attack on the major facility and not the extraction. What do we know about this drug lord?" he asked Akhtabut.
"Most of his cocaine production is in or around Isthmus City in Uruguay," Akhtabut recited. "He is highly intelligent and has found a way to ship cocaine in gasoline so that it remains undetected when it reaches its destination. He is paranoid and values loyalty. His use of a diviner has been to find traitors."
"Very sore loser," Sah-him said with a grin. "If his cocaine is in gasoline, and he ships it in tanker ships… it makes a perfect target for our first strike. Very vulnerable and highly combustible."
"I agree," Hamsa said. "We will gather intelligence while we travel. I want to have a small strike team of two Barkih and one Wahy to remove the diviner. Dart her unconscious and remove her from the facility. Once she is safely removed. We will make further plans."
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URUGUAY
ISTHMUS CITY - DOCKS
The two Barkih and Namla departed at the airport. Hamsa told them they would begin their attack on the docks at sunset.
The Venom gathered on a roof that overlooked the dock loading area. The large gasoline-cocaine mixture holding tanks were surrounded by high fences with an electrical charge. Patrols roved the grounds under the large industrial facilities. Four large tanker ships were docked near the holding tanks.
"The best point of entry is there," Hamsa pointed to the pipeline entering the fenced-in area. The electrical fence gave the gasoline pipeline several feet of clearance to ensure that no charge traveled to the pipe. "The fence there is plastic and carries no charge. Once inside, climb and disperse to your targets. I will stay here with Phoenix. Anyone inside the fence is fair game, but the Oracles will tell you who is too corrupt to live."
"It will be done," the rest of the Venom stated quietly before they departed for the pipeline.
Sah-him was the Wahy for his strike team. There were three strike teams on this mission. Alpha, Beta, and Charlie. Sah-him was on Strike Team Charlie.
Sah-him's team leader was Latif. Latif was a large man with a strong personality but was a gentle soul. He could easily strike down those who would do evil but waited until they showed themselves as evil before acting. He was deadly with throwing knives. His marks seldom realized that they were dead before they fell.
Strike Team Charlie quickly placed the charges on the tanks where they were their weakest. The pressure valves. They were able to move above the roving patrols without the guards glancing upward once. Sah-him made sure to work with his Inner Eye open. He needed to see the auras of the guards below the Strike Team.
"Gentle," Sah-him called quietly. "That patrol has two evil men beyond redemption. The first one and the one directly behind him."
"Got them, Arrow," Latif replied quietly. He moved into position. "The others?" he asked.
"Dark," Sah-him replied. "With effort, they can be redeemed. But I don't know them."
"Take them all," Latif replied to his team. "No alerts."
The Strike Team took the patrol out. Sah-him hit the ground to retrieve the arrows and slit the necks of those that were still alive. Then he returned to the shadows of the holding tanks. Strike Team Charlie silently slipped out of the dock area and returned to where Hamsa waited.
"Whisper," Latif announced himself. "Charlie has completed its assigned task."
"Good," Hamsa replied. "Alpha has already returned. We are only waiting on Beta before detonation."
"We are here," Haraq said as he approached. "We were slightly delayed by a patrol. They bother us no more. Beta has completed its assigned task."
"Excellent, Burn," Hamsa said with a smile. "Detonate charges," he ordered his team leaders.
The three team leaders triggered their charges one after the other. Tayir Alfiniq was sitting in the lotus position and staring at the fireball that now enveloped the docks. His eyes glowed with white light as his magic was triggered.
Tayir's main magical gift was pyrokinesis. The first time it had manifested, it had led to the death of his family during an explosion in his neighborhood. Terrorists had set the bomb off not caring about the neighborhood it was in. Tayir's mother had shielded his body from the shrapnel with her own. His gift had shielded them from the flames of the explosion. Controlled it. Intensified it with his grief. Snuffed out the flames with his horror at his actions.
It was this trauma that brought him to the attention of the League in his city. They found him and offered him a way to control his magic. His gift. They told him that he was not cursed. They led him to the Demon's Venom and training in his rare magical gift of pyrokinesis. The ability to control flames through magic.
As the docks burned, Tayir controlled the flames. He intensified them. He had them burn hotter and consume the metals in the tank area. He ensured the fire spread to all parts of Sanchez's operations on the docks. But he also made sure that the fire stayed there. The fire never left the docks or the tanker ships docked nearby. It left the small combustible shanty town untouched.
An hour later, Tayir released his hold of the flames and stuffed out the fires nearest the fence. Then he sagged in exhaustion.
"It is done," Tayir said in exhaustion.
"You did very well, Phoenix," Hamsa said with a soft pat on his shoulder. "Arrow, help Phoenix back to our lodging."
"It will be done," Sah-him replied. He was already reaching down to give his fellow Apprentice a hand up. Tayir looked exhausted.
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Once the League had reached their lodging in Isthmus City, they found that Azhar, Najwa, and Namla had been successful. They had extracted the diviner. The young girl looked terrified.
=This is Whisper, Dalia,= Najwa introduced Hamsa to the girl in Spanish. =He is here to ensure that Sanchez cannot hurt anyone ever again.=
=Secret,= Dalia said with fear in her eyes, =I'm afraid.=
=We will not harm you, Dalia,= Hamsa told her. =Sanchez used you for his evil deeds. We will put an end to his evil deeds.=
=He… he killed Yadira,= Dalia sobbed as she held on to Najwa and cried her eyes out.
=Yadira was your teacher? Your mentor?= Hamsa asked the girl. She looked to be nearly eighteen years old.
=My aunt,= Dalia sobbed. =My mother trusted Yadira to care for me when I started to show the gift. But now… all because of…=
=It is not your fault, Dalia,= Najwa told her. =You cannot be held responsible for the deeds of evil men.=
When young Dalia had cried herself to sleep, the rest of the League had gathered around to plan their next steps. Since they had not yet planned them, there is no way that Dalia had seen anything to report to Sanchez.
"The dock holding and at least four of the tanker ships were damaged beyond use at the docks," Hamsa reported to the group. "I want to keep the groups as small Strike Teams. I will add a Delta Strike Team. One oracle and one mage with three warriors. Alpha you can stay the same. Beta, you will need to swap one warrior for Flower. Charlie, you will need to swap one warrior for Secret. I will lead Delta with Ant and Phoenix and the two warriors."
"What targets do you want to hit?" Haraq asked.
"Not the Citadel," Najwa replied. "Right now, it is too heavily guarded. We need to bleed him."
"Isthmus City has many of his operations," Sah-him replied. "His plantations are around the city. His processing plants are in the city. I bet even his mixing plants are in the city."
"He owns the city government," Hamsa replied. "I would like one team to start examining those members in official positions and eliminate them. Mayor, City Council, Police Commissioner, Police, etc."
"Alpha can take those," Akhtabut said.
"Then tomorrow, Beta, Charlie, and Delta will hit the Cocoa fields," Hamsa said. "One team for each side of the city. Dart the workers and guards. The oracle will tell you who is beyond redemption. We will look for you after dark."
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On the second day, in the morning, Strike Team Charlie was up and out the door well before the city rose for the day. They had made it to their designated Cocoa field and easily scouted the entire area before the workers and the guards had shown up to work that day.
When the guards finally arrived, they never made it out of their staging area before all of them were darted and fell to the ground. Sah-him opened his Inner Eye and examined the guards and the workers.
"These two guards and this worker," Sah-him told his fellows. "The other guards can be redeemed. The other workers are not evil at all. That one is a sexual predator and darkly evil."
"It will be done, Arrow," Latif replied. He drew his favorite knife and slit the throat of the worker first. He despised sexual predators. Then he killed the two guards. "Drag the remaining men some distance from the fields. Then we can begin to coat the plants in gasoline."
Within a short time, the rest of the Strike Team was pouring gasoline over all of the cocoa plants. They made sure to soak the roots and allow any runoff to flow down the channels to collect in pools of gasoline.
Their work took them the rest of the day. Hauling the gasoline cans one gallon at a time to soak each plant was time-consuming. But every cocoa plant was doused and poisoned with gasoline. With the last plant soaked, they lit the gasoline on fire and left the field to burn to ash.
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On the third day, Strike Team Charlie targeted one of the many cocaine processing plants within Isthmus City. The building was a bland warehouse building with too much security in place on it. Its only windows were high on its cement walls and open for ventilation.
Sanchez thought that he was being smart by limiting the entrances and exits to the facility. All of which were heavily guarded and secured with cameras and other redundant features. However, Uruguay was a very humid country along the coast in a jungle. Sanchez wanted to limit his costs. To this end, he ventilated his facility by using open windows instead of electricity. Power costs money. Money was overhead.
The open windows were not a valid point of entry for any normal group or organization. But the League was not a normal group or organization. It was trained to remain undisclosed by normal human eyes. The League trained them to use these types of entries for the very purpose of remaining undisclosed. The entire Strike Team crept into the facility using the open windows and climbed onto the rafters over the catwalk.
The inside of the warehouse was open. There were a few enclosed office spaces on one side. But the majority of the floor space was taken up by tables where the cocoa leaves were processed to a fine powder. Workers in masks were diligently working at their various work stations processing the plants into the fine drug. The guards walked along the catwalk observing the workers as they went about the tasks they had been assigned.
Once all of Strike Team Charlie was in place, they quickly darted all of the guards and then the workers on the main floor. Latif quickly dropped to the main floor to examine the offices and dart the few workers who had escaped their net.
"That is all of them, Arrow," Latif told him.
"Good," Sah-him replied. He opened his Inner Eye and examined all of the guards and the workers. "This guard and that guard," Sah-him said before he went to examine the workers and then the ones in the offices. "And this man," Sah-him said while looking at the plant manager.
The rest of the Strike Team moved to eliminate those men.
"Take the rest outside," Latif ordered. "Burn the facility."
"It will be done," the team responded.
The Strike Team moved to obey.
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That night the Venom had gathered at their lodging. Hamsa was smiling.
"We have done well," Hamsa told them. "Sanchez has started to withdraw all of his men from within Isthmus City to his Citadel."
"He is trying to fortify it," Najwa replied.
"He is bullying his men with fear and death," Hamsa told her. "He has killed two dozen of his men for failing him in the last two days. He is bleeding himself."
"What move do you want to make next?" Namla asked.
"I want all of you to rest tomorrow," Hamsa replied. "At sunset, we will attack in force at the citadel. We will finalize our plan tomorrow. But I do not plan on attacking through the front door," he said with a grin. "The citadel is surrounded by a high wall on the land side. But the water side is exposed. He plans to use it as an escape. I plan to use it to enter."
"How do you plan to do that?" Akhtabut asked. "He has an army inside those walls. He will see us coming."
"Sanchez has used magic," Hamsa said. "But he is not a believer. I will use a mage to divert his attention. Two mages will assist us in crossing over the water without his vision. Young Phoenix will blast his fortress inside his walls and burn it down to the ground. All while my warriors silently kill his men from behind."
"Then we will need our rest," Najwa told him. "Especially you, young Phoenix. You did well on the docks. You will do well again tomorrow night."
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At sunset on the fourth day, all the Demon's Venom, except Fatih and one Shadow Warrior to guard the mage, had gathered on the bank across from the citadel. The citadel was situated at the end of a wide river. The approaches from the land were well-defended and buttressed with heavily fortified walls. The river was swift as it entered the ocean and deadly to attempt to swim. High stone walls kept the ocean and river from undercutting the citadel.
It was a very defensible position. Except for magic.
Hamsa gathered the group of Venom just out of sight of the citadel. "You all know the plan. You all know your parts. Remove the Source of Evil the first chance you get. May the Source guide you all," Hamsa told them one last time before they broke into their assigned places.
On the land side, Fatih was already in a sheltered position where he could see the entire open field before the citadel. He ground and centered himself. His magic was not as great as some of the others, but he had learned to expand that small gift. He had perfected it. His illusions had grown and could fool most people until they physically touched them.
As the sun set in the West, he allowed the sound of trucks and tanks to break through the evening air. He heard shouts in the distance. He allowed his illusions to finally break through the trees as the British Army rolled into view. He allowed rows of armored vehicles to fill up the entire clearing. Before an officious gentleman strode to the front with a megaphone and started to speak.
"By order of Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of England, the criminal known as Franco 'Frank' Sanchez is to give up himself and any known associates into lawful custody for the murder of Mrs. Della Churchill, a citizen of the United Kingdom. He is further wanted in connection to the assault and battery of MI6 Agent Felix Leiter, also of the United Kingdom, while the Agent was on vacation at his home in London," the voice rang out in strong British tones. "You have ten minutes to comply or we will open fire on this facility."
The response from the citadel was the sound of weapons fire. Fatih had his illusion duck behind cover and respond in kind. He added the sound of near-miss bullets to the men on the wall as well. This gave his illusions an additional sense of realism.
The rest of the Demon's Venom could hear the start of gunfire in the distance.
"The illusion has begun," Hamsa said. He gestured to Najwa and Azhar. "Now."
Azhar and Najwa knelt in a protected position close to the raging river below. The rest of the Venom gathered in the shadows close by. They would need to sprint across the energy construct as soon as the mages had finished their work. They prepared their weapons and waited. Soon they saw the edges of the energy bridge begin to form. Almost as quickly, it disappeared into a translucent haze as the invisibility spell covered it.
Hamsa ran forward and marked where the edges began in the sand. He lay down in the sand to wait for the signal to go.
"Go," Najwa said clearly from her position.
Hamsa sprang up and sprinted across the invisible bridge with the rest of the Venom behind him. He was not able to see the bridge until he was on it. Once he was on it, he increased his pace. He was on the other side of the river and racing for the boat shed with the rest of the Venom behind him. The shed was their point of entry. From the boat shed, they would have access to the rest of Frank Sanchez's citadel.
Sah-him reached the boat shed. He heard the distant sound of gunfire on the far side of the citadel. He slowed and crept into the boat shed with his bow drawn. The two Shadow Warriors ahead of him were already on the small boats and attaching the small bomb to the engines. He exited the shed to the main compound. He could see the backs of some of the enemies on the walls. They were shooting at the illusions created by Fatih. He found a covered position and started to pick them off with kill shots.
Their fellows never doubted why they fell. They assumed it was the illusions in front of them killing their fellows. They could hear the bullets as they whizzed past their heads. They could not hear the arrows as they were struck from behind. They would just redouble their efforts to kill the illusions in front of them.
Tayir Alfiniq sheltered next to him. "Cover me, Arrow," he said right before he dropped to one knee behind Sah-him. His eyes were on the fortress. The fortress was a large stone and wood monstrosity before him. Tayir focused all of his energy and his anger then he pushed with both hands at the fortress.
A ball of energy burst from his hands and flew towards the fortress. It struck the wall and destroyed the stones before shattering the wall and setting the whole thing on fire. Sah-him could even see that the further wall behind this one was broken. Flames lashed out of the top of the gaping hole. Tayir sank to both knees as he motioned with his hands. The flames began to grow as he controlled the fire inside the fortress.
Sah-him watched as a man stumbled out of the ruined wall. He shot him with his bow. The man fell with an arrow in his chest. Sah-him stalked forward. He noticed movement in the darkness beyond the hole.
Sah-him ran through the hole and shot at the movement twice before ducking behind cover. He could hear the wet sound of his arrows striking flesh. He felt a burning in his leg and arm. He spared a glance to see that bullets had pierced his armor below the thigh padding on his leg and above his upper arm guard. Shit! That makes drawing the bow risky. He tucked the bow into its holder on his back and drew his sword and knife.
Sah-him silently limped from cover to cover in the darkness of the room. He found at least one shadow still alive and hiding. That shadow kept shooting randomly all around the room. None of the shots were close to Sah-him. But the flashes of light let him know that at least one other person was alive and needed to die.
Sah-him crept from shadow to shadow. He found two others hiding in the room. They hid poorly. They died silently. He was slowly working his way closer to the source of gunfire. More Shadow Warriors approached the hole in the wall. The shooting shadow taunted them from his hiding place.
"Aren't you going to fight me like a man?" the shadow yelled at them as he shot at them through the hole in the wall.
"You mean like you?" Sah-him asked him from his place inside the room. He was getting closer to the flashes. He took a risk and bet that the shadow was this drug lord, Frank Sanchez. The man was a poor loser. Time to goad him into making a mistake. "Behind an army you bought? Protected by a government you bought? Hiding in the dark like a frightened child?" Sah-him asked sarcastically.
"You don't know me?" Frank screamed at him. "How dare you!"
"I have been given a duty," Sah-him replied. "It's nothing personal. It's just my job."
"Your job?" Frank replied in confusion. "I can pay you more. I can pay better than any job. I can pay better than anyone else. Name your price?" he said.
Sah-him chuckled. "I have already sworn my oath," he replied. He could see better now. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness. He was close to the shadow now. "I will not sell my soul."
"Oaths can be broken," Frank replied. "What is a soul worth?" he asked.
"Everything!" Sah-him replied. "It is time." He silently moved behind Frank. He was certain now that Frank was the evil source. Sah-him's arrows had pierced the man in the stomach and leg. That was why Frank had wedged himself in his hiding space. But he had left his back open thinking that no one could sneak behind him. Bad mistake, Frank.
"Time for what?" Frank asked.
Sah-him didn't reply verbally. He silently crept behind the shadowy form of Frank Sanchez. He pulled his knife across Frank's throat. The blade slid cleanly across his throat severing his vocal cords and both his arteries. "It is time to replace evil with death," he whispered into Frank's ear from his spot behind him. Frank tried to stop the blood from gushing out of his throat.
In Frank's last conscious thought, he tried to raise his gun. Sah-him's sword sliced his hand off at his wrist before he could raise it more than a few inches off the ground. The light slowly faded from Frank's eyes as his blood gushed out of his throat.
Sah-him felt his leg finally give under him. He gently set himself down next to Frank's body. He took a few deep breaths and then cleaned his knife and put it away. Then he cleaned his sword and sheathed it.
Namla crept into the hole in the wall and found Sah-him. "The rest have been dealt with," he told him. He looked down at Frank. "One less evil source. Come," he told Sah-him.
"I require assistance," Sah-him replied. His leg was still giving him some issues.
Namla nodded and helped him to rise. He supported Sah-him and helped him walk out of the hole in the wall. "We will bind your wounds and return to the Fort," he told him.
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Endnotes:
'Afdal - Elite - Arabic. League Title for Elite Shadow Warrior outside of Barkih and Wahy.
Akhtabut - octopus - Arabic. League name for 'Afdal.
Azhar - flower - Arabic. League name for Barkih.
Eadi - common - Arabic. League Title for Shadow Warrior that has complete advanced field training.
Fatih - light - Arabic. League name for Barkih.
Latif - gentle - Arabic. League name for 'Afdal.
MI6 - Military Intelligence 6 - British Military Intelligence - Commonly used acronym for the military intelligence unit that James Bond is assigned.
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