Rise of the Syndicate

Location: Tavara – Undisclosed Safe House, East Quadrant

The safe house was a converted vineyard, remote and shielded by layers of encrypted surveillance. With Harold in custody and the data chip extracted from his private vault, Damien and Nora now held a weapon more potent than any arsenal—proof of a coordinated infiltration by the Western Syndicate into Tavara's economic, military, and political veins.

The night air was taut with tension as Logan slammed the steel door shut behind them. Inside, the walls of the war room were lined with screens—real-time communications intercepted from foreign agents, video feeds from port surveillance, and encrypted chat logs from operatives hidden within major Tavaran institutions.

Ashford appeared on-screen via a secure satellite link. "The data we pulled from Harold's servers confirms what we feared. The Syndicate's infiltration wasn't recent—it's been years in the making."

"Names?" Damien asked grimly.

Ashford nodded. "High-ranking ministers, port officials, even a few international trade liaisons. It's systemic. And Harold was a central node."

Nora, arms folded, stepped closer. "Then it's not enough to just cut him off. We need to expose every one of them. Publicly."

"We will," Damien promised, but his tone was dark. "But not until we've used them."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Used them?"

Damien turned to the center monitor, where a satellite image of a coastal military facility blinked in red. "We'll leak controlled information. False troop movements. Decoy supply routes. Let the Syndicate think they're still feeding from the inside. We turn their network against them."

Ashford smiled faintly. "Risky."

"Calculated," Damien corrected.

A ping sounded—an incoming encrypted message from a burner device recovered from Harold's study. Ashford opened it remotely. The contents were chilling:

> To Harold: Falcon Protocol remains active. Phase II begins in 72 hours. Final clearance: Omega Black.

Nora's jaw tightened. "Omega Black… that's not just infiltration. That's internal destabilization."

"It's Tavara's collapse," Damien said bluntly. "They're not after economic leverage anymore. They want the country to fall. Divide it from within—make it a puppet state."

Logan looked around the room. "Then we need to act fast. We're sitting on a fuse."

Damien turned back to Nora, his voice heavy with urgency. "We'll need to rally every loyal force. Military. Civilian. Even the private militias. If Falcon Protocol goes live… Tavara won't survive the week."

Nora met his eyes. "Then we end it before it begins."

Ashford's voice came over the line. "I'll coordinate the blackout teams and isolate the communication nodes. But if they sense a purge coming, they might activate Omega Black early."

"Let them," Damien growled. "We'll be ready."

Outside, the wind howled through the hills as preparations began for a counter-offensive unlike any Tavara had ever seen. The war wasn't coming—it was already here.

And for the first time, the enemy had a name.