Chapter 2: Preparation
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Mission preparation. End of Jun to July 2014.
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Chapter Author's Notes:
This chapter encompasses the last of Jun and most of July 2014. Mission Preparation: Research and logistics. The most important part of any action or mission. If you don't do it, you are REacting. Not acting.
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DEMON'S CLAW, THE MONASTERY: 29 JUN 2014
The Trio spent copious amounts of time moving between the research computers at the Sacred Place and their hunt room. Thomas first outlined what information they needed before proceeding.
First, who were the Yakuza? What did they do? Who were considered Yakuza? Yakuza affiliates? Allies? Enemies? What means did they use to procure business? Material? Engage in their criminal activities? What were their criminal activities? What methods did they commonly use? How large were they? How were they structured? How did they interact with the authorities? Which authorities were subverted? Infiltrated? Honest?
To get the answers, Thomas directed Laurel to begin infiltrating their systems. He directed Oliver to research the Soul Blade, the Caretaker Clan, and the Breaking Ritual. He would research the Yakuza. They each used a tablet to save their search data to display later. The tablets were helpful for cataloging and organizing the data needed for this hunt.
Thomas' searches found a multitude of information. He already knew that the Yakuza was an international mafia. He didn't realize was that the Yakuza identified by Clan. Each Clan was responsible for a specific location. The Clans replaced their families. They were adopted families. The Clans did interact, but they zealously guarded their territory. There were five main Yakuza Clans.
Oyabun Yuuto Noguri ran the Tokyo Clan. He was headquartered out of the Noguri Enterprises building. He had no wives or children. The Wakagashira was the second in command of a Yakuza Clan. Takeo Yamashiro was Wakagashira of Tokyo. They have many criminal enterprises: corporate espionage, sex trade, pornography, drugs, guns, and illegal antiquities trade. Oyabun Noguri had a noted interest in mystic and magical artifacts. His criminal enterprises were managed by his four long-term lieutenants: Shin Kurihara, Katashi Imamura, Tarou Kishimoto, and Ryuu Ashida. These were the six named in the ritual. The Trio would have to eliminate the leadership of the Tokyo Yakuza.
The Nagasaki Clan was run by Oyabun Hotaka Asahina. He was headquartered in the Asahina International building. He had one wife and two daughters. His Wakagashira changed twice in the last two years. Their criminal enterprises included; sex trade, drugs, guns, and pornography.
The Osaka Clan was run by Oyabun Hideyoshi Shibahara. He was headquartered in the Osaka Trade Organization building. He had a wife with no legitimate children. His Wakagashira was his illegitimate son. Their criminal enterprises included; sex trade, pornography, guns, and corporate espionage.
The Gotham Clan was run by Oyabun Akahara Agawa. He was headquartered on the Gotham Docks. He had a wife and a daughter. His Wakagashira was Niko Kusakawa. Their criminal enterprises included corporate espionage, sex trade, pornography, drugs, guns, illegal wildlife trade, and illegal antiquities trade [2].
The Los Angeles Clan was run by Oyabun Shoko Ishiguro. He was headquartered in Ishiguro Technologies. His wife died and he never remarried. His Wakagashira was Ame Okurura. His Wakagashira was his illegitimate son. Their criminal enterprises included corporate espionage, guns, illegal wildlife trade, and illegal antiquities trade. They specialize in the heroin trade, sex trade, and pornography [3].
Thomas was overwhelmed with information. Then, he narrowed his focus to Tokyo. He directed Laurel to infiltrate all Yakuza networks and route anything flagged as magical or mystical to the local Fasir. The likelihood of the Yakuza utilizing or damaging the Soul Blade was a League responsibility. If they found something mundane, the local authorities could handle it. He redirected his attention to the Tokyo Yakuza Clan.
Laurel successfully infiltrated the Yakuza systems. Noguri Enterprises had a thriving trade in corporate espionage. Because of this, her Silea virus easily propagated through their systems and down to their allies, affiliates, and enemies. The Tokyo Yakuza extensively infiltrated the Tokyo Police. The prostitution Vice… as a whole… was subverted. Other Vice sections were not as bad. Major Crimes was primarily free of infiltration or subversion. Federal human trafficking was mostly free of Yakuza influence. However, the Drug Vice was about half subverted. She concluded that the local authorities would not assist them in any way.
The most interesting data Laurel found was the interaction between this one Yakuza Clan and the other mafias. The Tokyo Yakuza had infiltrated or been infiltrated by the Triad, Bratva, ARGUS, HIVE, and the Ninth Circle. She flagged each of the leads for a sleeper agent in the ranks of the Tokyo Yakuza for Dam Dhib. He could coordinate the hunts for those sleeper agents. HIVE and the Ninth Circle were the highest priority. ARGUS just required tracking at his point. The outside world was tracking the Triad and Bratva.
However, for all Laurel's success in infiltrating the Yakuza, she couldn't find a digital reference to the Breaking Ritual. It was frustrating. It made her think the Oyabun was paranoid and secured the ritual data on an isolated system or only used a hand-written document. When she thought about it, it was not a stupid thing to do. Especially if you wanted to keep peeping digital eyes from seeing your data… which she was… She flagged Noguri's office and residence for a search of the hand-written record.
Oliver's research was more mystical. He worked closely with the Qas to work through the Archive data on the Soul Blade. The Soul Blade was one of two swords created by Muramasa in ancient Japan. Evil souls wandered Japan and possessed skilled warriors to perpetuate their evil. At the time, Japan was plagued by evil spirits that possessed Shōgun. During this time frame, Rōnin gained a reputation for evil deeds. As a result, honor was given precedence to Shōgun and Samurai. Muramasa created the blades to ensure the evil spirits and souls were forever trapped inside the blade, freeing Japan of their evil. They were enchanted and sealed to his bloodline. This enabled the Samurai to honorably hunt those evil souls and rid them from the world. The two Soul Blades were entrusted to the sons of Muramasa. One of the Soul Blades was lost to history. The second Soul Blade was Soultaker. The Akana Clan were descended from one of Muramasa's sons [4].
Over generations, the Akana Clan found the blades negatively affected warriors without Muramasa blood. Those warriors would become easily influenced by the concentrated evil souls contained in the blade. Only Muramasa's bloodline was immune to this effect. The Akana Clan further charged themselves to secure the Soul Blade from evil. They trained all their children to purify the mind and strengthen the soul. They were no longer charged with hunting evil souls. They were charged with securing the evil souls contained in the blade from ever being used or released.
The ritual used in the vision was only referenced in speculation in the Archive. When the Soul Blades were forged, they were imbued with enchantments that trapped evil souls. The trapped souls could communicate with the bearer but no one else, demonstrating that the souls were still intact within the blade.
The blade's enchantment ensured the trapped souls stayed within. The magic used love and healing to seal the evil souls away. Only hatred and harm could break the enchantment. To secure the Soul Blades, Muramasa sealed them to his bloodline. No one could bear the blades except his bloodline, which prevented them from being used for evil.
However, speculation allowed that a blood bearer could use hatred to kill another blood bearer. This action would consist of hatred and harm, which could shatter the enchantment and free the trapped evil souls. The ritual circle Oliver saw in the vision focused the hatred and malice of the evil souls on the blood bearers in the circle. As his vision confirmed, this combination of factors could shatter the Soul Blade.
If a blood bearer is needed, then is there more than one? Or is it just Tatsu and Akira?
Luckily, the Archive provided that answer. The League tracked the Akana Clan. The ancillary bloodlines died out centuries ago. However, the Akana Clan bloodline was still alive. Oliver found a detailed genealogy list for the Akana Clan in the Archive. He found Tatsu (Akana) Yamashiro. He saw the note where Akio Yamashiro was killed by a pathogen in Hong Kong, China. Kenji Akana had two children: Tatsu and Daiki. Tatsu's grandfather, Katsu, had four children. He was the Caretaker before Tatsu. Daiki was designated as Heir after his father. Daiki, his wife, and his child were in a catastrophic car accident. Akira was a toddler at the time. He went missing. His body was never found.
One by one, the Akana Clan was killed in small accidents and strange coincidences. Katsu became suspicious and sent Tatsu and her cousins into hiding. They moved frequently. Eventually, only Katsu and Tatsu remained. She married Maseo and had Akio by that time. Akio was three when Katsu died of old age, and Tatsu bonded to the Soul Blade as Caretaker. Tatsu diligently trained Akio on his Clan duties to the Soul Blade. She was devastated when her son died.
Oliver found reference to Tatsu after Akio's death. She joined the Crescent Order. She was still waiting for Maseo to return to her. She resided in Oma, Japan in the sacred temple protected by the Crescent Order. Oliver made note of its location. At some point in this hunt, he would need to talk to Tatsu and tell her about her nephew.
Thomas spent the next week examining the Noguri Enterprises building for vulnerabilities. He examined its manpower, what it was used for, the best infiltration access, the best digital access, and the blueprints of the building. Getting into and out of the building undetected would be impossible. Even if they could bypass the digital security, there were too many bodies. They would be seen. The lower floors of the building served as the residence for the Yakuza manpower. Thug central. The middle floors of the building were used to house their corporate espionage business. Japan was littered with technology businesses. Tokyo had a thriving tech industry. They stole the latest technology to use and sell. The upper floors were reserved for their management as offices and living spaces. Noguri lived on the top floor.
This is a nightmare. There are hundreds of Yakuza to go through to reach our targets. Shit! Thomas tried to figure out an alternative.
As he was walking in the hallway, Thomas overheard a remark. It was out of context, but it gave him an idea.
"You are weak from blood loss. You need time to recover."
That sparked an idea. The Yakuza are too strong now. We make them weak. We bleed them.
Thomas dove back into his research. He scanned other Yakuza properties, their Tokyo police sympathizers, their total size, and their sleeper agents. He took his findings to Dam Dhib with Laurel and Oliver. He wanted their input on his conclusions. He needed authorization to take others outside the hunt. He just didn't see any other way it would work.
"Fasir," Thomas respectfully addressed Dam Dhib.
"Yad Alqadar," Dam Dhib replied with a nod over his desk. "How goes your research?" he asked the Trio.
"I have found the Caretaker," Oliver supplied. "I don't want to bring her in until it is time to free her nephew."
"I have infiltrated their systems," Laurel replied with a smile.
"You have," Dam Dhib agreed with a smile. "Thank you for finding the HIVE sleeper agents. Two of the six have already been eliminated."
Laurel blushed at the compliment.
"I have studied the facility," Thomas said with a wince. "Our six targets are currently unreachable in the Noguri Enterprises building. All six reside on the top floors. It contains the latest in digital countermeasures. It also contains hundreds of Yakuza thugs. As it exists, right now, those six are unreachable."
"Do you have a way to make them accessible?" Dam Dhib asked.
"I think so," Thomas replied. "I want to bleed them of manpower. Weaken them. However, that requires additional authorization to kill outside the hunt targets."
"Do we have to kill them?" Laurel asked with an anxious look.
"No," Oliver replied. "We can cripple them, but I see the point Alqadar is making. There are too many of them. We will be seen. We will be killed before we reach the upper floors. We need to reduce the risk."
"And the League cannot be seen," Dam Dhib replied with a sigh. "Where would you bleed them of manpower?" he asked Thomas.
"Their other facilities," Thomas replied. "We could attack and eliminate some of their criminal enterprises. This would bleed them of money as well as manpower."
"If we attack enough of them, we will be seen. Especially if we don't kill them," Laurel replied as she thought the problem through. "We can plan on being seen. That will force them to send more manpower away from Noguri Enterprises."
"You cannot be seen as League," Dam Dhib replied.
"We wouldn't," Oliver replied with a grin. "We change our League gear to costumes. One of my early hunts evaluated a vigilante. He had a costume but kept his privacy by wearing a mask. We use deception. We mask our League hunt as vigilantes acting against the Yakuza."
"I like this idea," Dam Dhib said with excitement. "Meet with the Khiata. Design your costumes. Do not use black. It would look too much like the League uniform. Give me a new plan that bleeds the Yakuza for manpower."
"It will be done," the Trio chorused as they left Dam Dhib's office.
"I call dibs on green," Oliver said as they strode down the hallway.
"I call blue," Thomas shouted after him as he hurried to catch up.
"Well, I am not going to be pink or yellow," Laurel replied grumpily.
"What are we, the Power Rangers?" Thomas asked. "Besides, you can be red. The Red Ranger was never gender specific."
"Red was usually a man," Laurel replied sulkily.
"Do you want to be pink?" Oliver snarked at her. "You look better in red anyway."
"Fine," Laurel sighed dramatically. "I prefer black."
The Trio sought out the Sewing Support member to place their request. It would take another week to have working suits. Laurel had some ideas about a HUD for each of them.
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DEMON'S CLAW, CHIU MONASTERY: 6 JUL 2014
The next week was spent planning how best to deplete the Yakuza of manpower and money. They would lose power if they could not pay their debts, and if they were penniless, they couldn't rebuild their manpower.
"Prostitution, drugs, corporate espionage, weapons trafficking, and human trafficking," Laurel started their planning session. "Those are their main criminal enterprises."
"Okay," Thomas agreed as he spread out a map of Tokyo before them. "We need them to get their thugs out of the headquarters building. We do that…" he grinned at them. "…by assaulting their operations outside of the headquarters building." He paused as he looked down at the map. He liked to see the whole spread, but… he liked Laurel's digital map on Lian Yu. It was quick and efficient, and they could zoom or expand on an area. "Al Aldire, can you build a digital map of their Tokyo operations… like you did on Lian Yu?" he asked.
"Yes," Laurel replied. "What do you want flagged?" she asked as she pulled out a notepad.
"Key operational areas," Thomas started. "Their headquarters, their properties, their docks… Allies, police. Our base… Make it flexible and sortable."
"I can do that," Laurel replied as she took notes. "I'll get most of their data from what I've mined already."
"The Raven can help with some of the criminal sites," Oliver added. "They will know who is corrupt and who to send information about our attacks. We should stay in contact with the Raven while we work this hunt."
"Good point," Thomas replied. "We can send data to the Raven about the corrupt or subverted police."
"And others in the local authorities," Oliver replied.
"Are you getting a feeling?" Thomas asked. He knew that the Wahy worked off intuition. A feeling for a Wahy was concrete evidence as far as he was concerned.
"Yes, sort of," Oliver replied as he started down at the map. "Tokyo is subverted, but the National authorities are not. We should point the Raven towards the Japanese National government."
"Should we depend on the locals at all?" Thomas asked.
"Yes," Oliver replied as he closed his eyes and tried to feel out his intuition on the matter. "Some of them are honest. Some are subverted. We should test our local contacts to make sure they are not subverted."
"Understood," Thomas replied. He smiled. "That means we can use some of the local authorities to secure the Yakuza thugs. We don't have to kill them; just get them out of the battle."
"Good," Laurel replied. "I wasn't looking forward to killing so many just to reach the six targets."
"We can cripple them instead," Oliver replied. "A broken bone takes eight weeks to heal… not counting rehab time. That puts that thug out of commission for that timeframe."
"Legs," Thomas added. "We don't want them mobile enough to be auxiliary support. They may recuperate at the headquarters building. That puts them back where we don't want them."
"Hands," Oliver added. "If they can't hold a gun or fight, they just become trip hazards."
"That may help with our fake hero personas," Laurel replied thoughtfully. "Think about it. Most known vigilantes don't kill their criminal victims. We become known for crippling our enemies, and that adds psychological warfare on those thugs. When it becomes known, we are targeting the Yakuza…"
"The Yakuza thugs feed that fear and end up taking themselves out for us," Thomas smiled. "The problem becomes Japanese culture." He gave a thoughtful look at the two. "I haven't studied their culture extensively, but honor and disgrace are big elements in their culture. The Yakuza take advantage of this cultural aspect."
"I'll consult with the Qas on how," Oliver replied. He jotted a quick note to talk to the Qas. "I'll get additional language books as well."
"We won't have much time to learn Japanese," Laurel replied thoughtfully.
"I've already learned the basics," Thomas replied. He noticed their looks. "It was one of the dominant languages in the Spine. I used Māori and Afrikaans more," he defended. He let out a breath. "Alright, al Aldire, build the map. Sort it by the main criminal enterprises. All prostitution is one color, all drugs are another, etc. Let's see how they are spread around Tokyo."
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DEMON'S CLAW, THE MONASTERY: 7 JUL 2014
They spent the next day evaluating Laurel's map. It was color-coded for corporate espionage, prostitution, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and human trafficking. When all the colors popped up around Tokyo, it was an intimidating sight. Other key sites were marked, but the volume of Yakuza in the city was daunting.
In addition to the Oyabun, his Wakagashira, and his four lieutenants, the Tokyo Yakuza Clan had fifty managers, sixty programmers, two hundred drug dealers, and over a thousand members. While the managers, programmers, and dealers were easy to take the town, the other thousand provided operational security for their criminal enterprises. Making them the ones the Trio needed to reduce.
The main corporate espionage site was located within the headquarters building. They had a secure site away from the headquarters for backup purposes. Laurel's viruses would infiltrate and destroy data in the headquarters building, but she would have to infect the backup servers at the off-site location manually. Regardless, eliminating these Yakuza wouldn't affect their manpower. Thomas ordered they stick to digital attack. Laurel could sneak in and destroy their backup servers once they arrived in Tokyo. While the data was valid and provided the Yakuza funding, their purpose was to bleed manpower.
The most vulnerable of their targets were the drug distribution sites. Over fifty of the sites were scattered across Tokyo. The Yakuza even sacrificed the occasional site to the police to give them the appearance of combating the problem. The police were not aware of the three storage warehouses. They only found the occasional dealer site scattered around the city. The fifty sites were easy targets: one dealer and three security. The challenge was in how they were scattered around the city.
While the storage warehouses were more secure, they were far from heavily defended. Each site was patrolled by no more than thirty to forty men. The rest were managers or operators, not thugs. Oliver felt they could each take a warehouse in one night and cripple the drug operation.
Thomas decided to use them to test the local police. The Trio fed the clean cop several dealer sites to see how the police responded. If the cops didn't respond, the sites were easy to eliminate without the police. If they did respond, Thomas could feed them more and the warehouses. It eliminated their risk of being seen. Thomas flagged it for the local authorities to handle. They would still need to attack the individual sites, but the Yakuza couldn't resupply them until they received another shipment.
The prostitution and human trafficking rings were linked. The Yakuza imported women from China to enslave them in their prostitution parlors. When the Yakuza were not selling sex, they captured, enslaved, and sold Japanese women and children for export. Laurel found digital evidence that the Yakuza exported to China, Russia, Korea, the US, and Europe. Few men were enslaved. The women were all sent to various brothels around the world while the children were sold to select locations.
It was a horrifying trade. It sparked Laurel's rage. Her memories of the Amazo fueled her hatred for human trafficking. Her rage was reserved for sex trafficking. She despaired every month when Thomas told her about the deaths of the women brought on board.
Thomas detailed their attack plan for human trafficking. They would start with the prostitution racket. They would directly assault the six parlors. Each parlor had over thirty women enslaved. Only three Yakuza conducted business, while the remaining fifteen were for security. Any number of Johns could be available on a given night. Oliver recommended they attack early in the morning to eliminate the possibility of bystanders. Laurel reluctantly agreed. She felt the Johns were just as responsible for the condition of the women as the Yakuza. However, the Johns were an unknown. Thomas decided to eliminate the risk by reducing the John factor.
Thomas was more than willing to take out the dock as soon as the parlors were eliminated. Once the parlors were gone, they needed to destroy the Yakuza's ability to restock. The dock would be their next target. The dock was lightly guarded compared to the drug warehouses. Two managers and thirty security surrounded the eight cargo containers used to store their stock for shipment. If one could call living women and children 'stock'.
At this point in his attack strategy, Thomas expected the Yakuza to react to the systemic dismantling of Yakuza operations. The last large target outside the headquarters building was a weapons storage warehouse. The weapons were kept for Yakuza use. Japan banned personally owned weapons. The Yakuza, of course, ignored this restriction. Any gun not already issued to a Yakuza member was stored in this warehouse. It was maintained by two men and secured with another fifty men. Thomas expected that number to increase when their attacks started. The Yakuza didn't import enough weapons to have a dedicated dock. Security was increased on the trafficking dock by thirty men when a weapons shipment arrived.
Which left the remaining Yakuza for the headquarters building. Thomas had an idea about the assault, but he wanted to wait. He would reevaluate the enemy forces when they were closer to infiltrating the building. For now, he planned on thinning out the Yakuza forces by hospitalization, prison, and death. They had a time limit. They needed to eliminate those six men before the winter solstice. He would only call for more Eadi if the Trio were injured. Until then, they distracted the Yakuza in Tokyo from their actual targets; the six.
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DEMON'S CLAW, THE MONASTERY: 8 JUL 2014
"Good, you are all here," the Khiata addressed the Trio as she entered their hunting meeting room.
"Waradi," Thomas greeted the older woman warmly.
Waradi smiled as she strode forward and placed the folded cloth on the table. "Your disguises are complete," she told them.
Thomas, Oliver, and Laurel all looked toward the cloth.
"They're ready?" Laurel asked. She pulled the red-colored cloth from the stack.
"Nice," Oliver replied as he took the green cloth.
"Now we really will look like Power Rangers," Thomas snarked at the other two as he pulled the blue cloth close to him.
"I am not doing the catchphrase," Laurel replied blandly.
"What was their catchphrase anyway?" Thomas asked in confusion. He didn't think he could forget such a vital bit of trivia.
"May the power protect you," Oliver quoted while examining his pants.
"No wonder I don't remember it," Thomas snarked. "It's lame."
"What is this made of?" Laurel asked. The fabric was soft and flexible, with a slight give.
"We incorporated some flexibility in the weave," Waradi said proudly. "The base cloth is something the League developed for use in our uniforms. The cloth is bullet resistant to up to .45 caliber guns. It will resist most base arrows and slashing strikes with a bladed weapon. Puncture strikes with a knife, sword, or specialized arrow will still occur. Instead of armor plates, the fabric has been doubled on the armor points. The boots will take another day to complete."
"I can see one flaw," Laurel said as she was examining the headpiece. "My primary distance weapon is a blowgun. I will have to remove the face mask to use it." She paused as he picked up the top. "It won't stop me. I will be in shadow using it anyway. Up close, I use darts."
"I'll make a note," Waradi replied.
"The gloves are a nice touch," Oliver added. "I'll have to practice drawing the bow with them."
"I like the coloring," Thomas said as he spread out the top. The blue was still dark at the shoulders but lighter at the shoulders and darkened down to black. The armor pads were dyed a darker blue on the pants. "Thank you, Waradi. We will try them on and let you know. Let's spar in them as well. They will feel different from our gear."
"May the Source guide you," Waradi said with a slight bow to her head before she left the room.
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DEMON'S CLAW, THE MONASTERY: 10 JUL 2014
Thomas loved his new uniform. It was similar enough to the League uniforms that it was comfortable. However, his new uniform was more form-fitting. He was better able to move and flex during sword fighting. The boots fit like a glove, and their soft soles ensured they were for stealth. He felt like a ninja. A blue ninja. Which brought him back into the mind of the Power Rangers. They had a ninja team, right?
Thomas' boots fit perfectly. The pants were loose enough to move but tight enough to hug his legs. The top was loose but not as long as the League uniform. It fell to his waist, ensuring he had quick, access to the gear pouch on his back. The sleeves were long. The gloves extended back under the sleeves of the arms. Black bracers held them both in place and ensured protection from slashing and stabbing on his forearms. The head garment was a single piece, like a balaclava. It only had an opening for the eyes. It didn't inhibit his vision at all. He started to wear it all the time to break the fabric in.
Oliver's green uniform was slightly different from Thomas'. It was looser. His top was more like the League Uniform. It fell to cover his hips. It was covered in elastic attachment points to hold additional throwing weapons. Instead of a gear pouch, he had two deep cargo pockets. He verified that the head garment didn't inhibit his vision. He practiced with his bow to find the perfect positioning in his new uniform [5].
Laurel's red uniform was dark and skin-tight. It hugged her form. It covered all of her skin, but there was no doubt she was a woman in it. The uniform was designed and reinforced for her abilities in hand-to-hand combat in mind. She wore armor on her shins, knees, forearms, and elbows. It gave her extra protection in those areas. Getting the head garment to work well with her hair was a challenge. She eventually learned how best to pull it on to ensure her hair didn't interfere with her vision.
When Laurel first saw the headpiece, she was disappointed that it still exposed their eyes. They would be in Japan. Someone could identify their race by that little bit of skin. Granted, if they were that close, they were not worried about noting the skin color of their attackers. It was still a concern. They were leaving most of the thugs alive. Someone could notice.
Laurel thought about ways to disguise that part of their face. The Horn was working on the gaming VR devices. They streamlined their look and feel to allow for easier access to the data. Laurel modified the technology for a new eye covering. It wholly enclosed the eye portion of the head garment. It would hide their eyes without interfering with their vision. She enabled it for low-light sight and limited HUD capabilities. She could program a specific target in them, and it would highlight that target. She had Oliver test it out. He could use the visor to target using his bow with the lights off on the range.
They modeled their new uniforms for Dam Dhib. He was satisfied they would not be mistaken for League. He sent them to collect resources for their hunt while he arranged for transportation and housing at the League safe house
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USA, WA, STARLING CITY – TEMPEST CONFERENCE ROOM: 12 JUL 2014
"Thank you for the update, Mr. Ballard," Malcolm said smoothly.
Malcolm was more than aware of Ballard's desire to gentrify the Glades BEFORE the Undertaking. The man didn't seem to understand there was no point in improving infrastructure until after the scum were removed.
"Dr. Markov informed me that he is ready to proceed with a prototype," Malcolm delightedly told the group. "He will be ready to test the device in a few months. Once tested, we can begin our task of acquiring Unidac Industries."
"Why don't you just take the device?" Cyrus Vanch asked in a calculating tone. "You don't want anyone to track the device back to us… not for what we intend." [6]
"For two reasons," Malcolm stated patiently. "The device alone will not cause the effect we desire. The device needs to be weaponized. To do that, we need a tech company to legally take control of the proprietary data on the device and modify it for our needs. The second is control. Dr. Markov is being reticent about safety guidelines. I want to remove him from project development. We no longer require him once we have his device and data."
"This is where Queen Consolidated would serve our purpose," Frank Chen replied sullenly. "Robert Queen should have taken this task. Instead, you killed him." Frank was still bitter that Malcolm used his contacts to organize his hit on Robert Queen.
"If Robert could have done it, then Moira should be able to," Emily Pollard reasoned. "She has a daughter still alive. Your associate can ensure she is properly motivated."
"No," Malcolm replied firmly. "Moira will not be involved, and her daughter will not be threatened. I have removed them from Tempest for a reason." He glared down at everyone at the table. "However, the List has individuals we can use for this endeavor. I reviewed the pertinent details. Warren Patel, Brody Wickham, Gordon Vorheal, and Ken Shane all have suitable companies. They will suit our needs. I have a scientist who is versed in the details of the device. The company will acquire our scientist and dedicate them to this project."
"Shane's dead," Cyrus Vanch told the group with a lack of care.
"How…?" Emily Pollard started to ask.
"Executed," Cyrus Vanch replied blandly. He was cleaning his nails with a toothpick. "He crossed his business partner and got a poisoned bullet for it."
Pollard paled and looked away.
"What about Merlyn Global acquiring Unidac?" Frank Chen asked. "You have the contacts."
"Merlyn Global is a financial investment company," Malcolm replied dryly. "The device requires the attention of a tech company." Not to mention the media could potentially learn about the source of the earthquake and blame the company responsible for developing it. I am more than happy to throw another company to the wolves. Which was another reason he was ensuring Queen Consolidated remained free and clear of the Undertaking. He wouldn't risk Thea's future in a media scandal. He lost Tommy. Moira was a pit bull when it came to protecting her children. She would protect Thea.
The rest of Tempest began to debate the merits of each candidate. Malcolm provided few details, but he kept the conversation on task. Tempest finally decided as a group to use Warren Patel.
"I'll arrange for our associate to meet with Mr. Patel and inform him of his new task," Malcolm told the group. "He cannot act before our authorization. Dr. Markov must test the device before Patel acquires Unidac. I will have him hire Doug Miller immediately."
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Chapter Endnotes:
[2] Gotham Yakuza: The information on the Gotham Yakuza comes directly from Batman: War Games (Detective Comics 790-810, Robin (V2) 126-131, Batman: The 12-cent Adventure 1, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 182-184, Nightwing (V2) 96-98, Batman: Gotham Knights 56-58, Batgirl 55-57, Catwoman (V3) 34-36, Batman 631-644, and Gotham Central 25). This grouping consists of an all-out mob war in Gotham. I used the Yakuza characters out of context). This story is unrelated to the DC Story.
[3] Los Angels Yakuza: The information on the Los Angeles Yakuza comes directly from The Demon: Driven Out (1-6). It features Etrigan and Jason Blood. I used the Yakuza characters out of context and in one case, gender-bending. This story is unrelated to the DC story.
[4] Soul Blade Origin: Most of this information is comic canon. However, the social implications and ramifications that drove the creation of the Soul Blades are my head canon. I outlined why Muramasa created the Soul Blades: Cause and Effect. If the Effect is the creation of the Soul Blades to stop evil souls wandering Japan, then the Cause must be that evil souls were commonly wandering Japan and causing problems. Humanity likes to problem-solve. Very seldom do we create for the 'hell of it.' Akana is my name. I couldn't find one in comic canon, but I didn't look that hard.
[5] Oliver's Ninja Uniform: As a special note, this uniform does NOT have a hood. They are attempting to simulate ninjas in the culture that spawned ninjas. This is the beta version of their eventual vigilante uniforms. I made them differently for a reason. Laurel's is red, not black. Oliver's had no hood. Thomas' has a cropped open jacket. The eventual goal is to get the Trio home and to become vigilantes. They are learning how to do that now.
[6] Cyrus Vanch Backstory: This is a deviation from the Arrowverse canon. In Arrow, Cyrus Vanch was released from prison. He credited Laurel for getting him imprisoned. In my AU, with Laurel dead at sea, Cyrus Vanch was never caught, prosecuted, and imprisoned. Given that Malcolm needed a criminal to consolidate crime in the Glades, I chose Cyrus Vanch. He is cunning, personable, and motivated. He also has no moral compass.
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