Chapter 33: Shadowspire
Shadowspire was perhaps the organization that was most feasible IRL that I found in either the DCU or Arrowverse. Not because it makes sense, but because that's what happens when you treat your military like crap for decades. Hell, that's why the Hell's Angels were formed after WWII.
For this story, I primarily used the Arrowverse!Shadowspire. DCU!Shadowspire was hardly mentioned. That said, Arrowverse presented Shadowspire in a sloppy way. A borderline psychopath, unhinged, magic nut running a military based organization while cultivating drugs… What?... Looking for magical artifacts because he heard a rumor… Huh?... It's a plan just waiting to blow up without a wrench. Yet, this group has had NO problems until Oliver shows up. Not likely.
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MEMBERS:
Leader Major Baron Reiter
Lt Andrew Diggle
Lt Joyner
Conklin
John Le (ARGUS Agent)
Tim Sullivan (ARGUS Agent)
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ORIGIN:
A Special Forces unit in Afghanistan was tasked with safeguarding known war criminals to secure locations for interrogation and intelligence gathering. During this task, the war criminals attempted to escape (Duh!) using money, drugs, and information. Some of these criminals only purchased the safety of their loved ones. Eventually, select members of that unit discovered that they could earn a greater profit by assisting the criminals, not their superiors. Major Baron Reiter led this unit. When he retired from his unit, Reiter kept in contact with those like-minded individuals. He formed a new organization outside the military.
Reiter was obsessed with chasing a rumor, but he was intelligent enough to realize that they needed funding to pursue his goal. He organized and collected his like-minded ex-service members into a new unit. One separate from the US government. They used their knowledge of military operations to locate, isolate, and steal. Reiter wanted enough money to fund his expedition.
They started their operations as war profiteering. They began weapons trafficking, drug trafficking, human trafficking, armed theft, and other criminal enterprises not long after. Reiter eventually found backing from HIVE. HIVE swore to assist Reiter's operations on Lian Yu if they became a sub-organization of HIVE and let HIVE look at the magical items recovered. Reiter agreed.
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MOTIVATION:
Their organization's primary motivation was greed and self-preservation. They wanted to preserve themselves and make their own lives better. They had trained hard to become elite members of a Special Forces unit only to have the US government disrespect them. This made them angry and want to lash out. They felt that if the government had no honor, then neither should they. They banded together to confront life after military service and discovered that they liked being in control. They liked taking what they wanted. They seized guns and then sold them for a profit. They seized money and goods. They enslaved people to do their will, then killed or sold them.
Major Reiter was motivated to gain enough capital to pursue a rumor of imprisoned mystical objects on Lian Yu. He led the organization to ensure they followed his will, but he was intelligent enough to understand the limitations of his stand-alone criminal organization. Then he was approached by HIVE.
HIVE offered the financial backing Reiter desired. HIVE even allowed them to perform Reiter's investigations during their drug growing operations to placate his other Shadowspire members. HIVE believed in Reiter's investigations, but demanded the operation turn a profit. Reiter acquiesced. HIVE encouraged their insane attitudes and actively promoted the search for magical artifacts. Reiter now had everything in place.
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NOTES:
It was noted in canon that Baron Reiter's fascination with Lian Yu started while he was still in Afghanistan. He became even more obsessed with magic after he was exposed to Damien Darhk and HIVE. Which makes me to believe that he heard a rumor from some tribal leader who was smoking too much hashish (pot). Reiter took the rumor as fact and then got funding from Darhk to chase the rumor. All Darhk knew was that Lian Yu was a prison for magical artifacts. He refused to go there himself. He didn't have access to the League database. All of Darhk's knowledge came from his own research. In my mind, he knew that the Nexus would flay his mind. He was the Fasir of the Demon's Venom. He would have a better understanding of ley lines and Nexi than most Qayid in the League.
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