"All right, start running those IDs through the system," ordered Commissioner Hastings, as SZPD officers piled nearly twenty thousand IDs onto the hood of his Stormkreuzer.

A black SUV screeched to a halt nearby, and Senator Monica Goldberg stepped out, flanked by two bodyguards.

"Stop stop stop! Those are foreign nationals! They had come to Washington to visit President Mamba, and were agitated by the police brutality they saw on the news!" she exclaimed.

"Foreign nationals with social security cards instead of passports and visas? That's a new one," replied Commissioner Hastings, waving a confiscated ID in her face, which was an American social security card.

"Some of them have been granted asylum here, Commissioner! You know how strongly our President feels about protecting asylum seekers! Especially from Somalia her ancestral homeland! Now turn them loose at once!" demanded Monica.

"After we check them for priors, Senator. Until then, they're staying put in this park," replied Commissioner Hastings.

"I can have the President personally vouch for them, Commissioner. You don't want to do this," warned Monica.

"Jones, Zimmerman, bag those IDs as evidence," ordered Commissioner Hastings, ignoring Monica.

"Yes sir," replied the two officers, as they began bagging up the IDs.

Monica shook with fury, but one of her bodyguards laid a warning hand on her arm.

"Senator, we're outnumbered and outgunned here. Cut the losses and retreat," he whispered.

Monica took a deep breath, and nodded reluctantly.

"Very well, Commissioner. But I will be following up on this matter personally," she warned, and turned to leave.

"Hastings to air units, light 'em up," ordered Commissioner Hastings, making Monica whirl around in panic.

Monica's scream was drowned out by the thunder of 20 mm cannon fire as the circling HellVortex helicopters ripped the crowd into shreds.

The green lawns of City Hall Park were soaked red with blood.

Within seconds, the entire park was silent, and covered in clumps of unrecognizable bone and flesh and tattered fabric.

Monica collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Threats neutralized. All units return to base," ordered Commissioner Hastings.

The SZPD packed up and left the scene, leaving Monica and her bodyguards alone with the carnage.

----

Monica awoke to the sound of beeping hospital machines.

"Ugh! What happened?" she groaned, trying to sit up.

"Easy there, you're in a safehouse after we sedated you," said Daniel who was sitting beside her bed.

"Safehouse? Why?" she asked groggily.

"The SZPD's massacre at City Hall Park made national headlines, and exposed the NGO network that you were using. President Mamba is being impeached as we speak, and you, my dear, are now wanted for treason, election interference and human trafficking," explained Daniel.

"Please tell me we managed to get the SZPD in at least some trouble," she pleaded.

"Yes and no. The SZPD's actions have polarized the public, but they haven't been disbanded. The scandal of the large scale human trafficking and election interference you were involved in has overshadowed their actions," Daniel replied.

"What about the rest of our network?" she asked.

"Fortunately still intact. Your idea to compartmentalize the cells worked well. Most of our operatives are still free and active," Daniel assured her.

Monica sighed in relief.

"Tell them to lay-low for a while. I'm pretty sure we'll be losing this election once Mamba is impeached," she said.

"Already done. We've got other problems besides Sirius Software and Boston to deal with. Saladin's atrocities in Libya exposed the rival factions and Niger militia forces we were funding, but our own operatives managed to cover their tracks. The only assets that we've lost are the servitors, and even then, we've already got new ones being bred," Daniel replied.

Monica nodded.

"Where exactly are we now?" she asked.

"Tel Aviv. Israel's safer for now. Aaron Zakhrov's influence in Boston has become too much. We'll relocate to Washington after about a year of laying-low. I've already got a few operatives working to get the investigations against you dropped or squashed," said Daniel.

Monica slowly got out of the bed.

"All right then, I'll enjoy my little vacation here. And once we regroup, we're taking down Sirius Software and the SZPD for good. No more caution Daniel. We first topple Saladin, then go after Sirius Software and the SZPD with the full network's resources," she declared.

Daniel nodded in agreement.

"Agreed. We'll spend some time mustering our resources, then hit them hard," he said.

Monica smiled, and gave Daniel a hug.

"Thank you, Daniel," she said softly.

----

"Well Aaron, we sure kicked the hornet's nest this time," said Michael as he and Aaron watched the presidential debate broadcast.

The conservative candidate was none other than General Gordon Harris of the US Army, who was running on a platform of strong national security and hardline anti-immigration policies, given the recent scandal of massive voter bloc manufacturing through immigration and asylum seekers.

The progressive candidate was Anne Frank-Silverman, a former model turned women's rights activist, sustainable fashion entrepreneur, and Congresswoman from Los Angeles. Her campaign platform was centered around social justice, environmentalism, empathy and peaceful assimilation.

"It would seem so. However, I'd rather not take chances, and use this breather to get our lunar mining operations up and running," replied Aaron.

"You've gone full Bond villain now haven't you?" chuckled Michael.

"I'd say its civilizational progress rather than villainy," replied Aaron.

Michael shook his head with a smile.

"The less I know about that the better," he said, rising to leave.

Aaron waved him off, turned off the debate broadcast, and pulled up the schematics for the Lunar titanium processing plant on his computer.

"I'll hold off on the production of this until we have the survey robot results back from the moon," he mused.

----

"Well Aaron, I would say that your little Lunar mining concept has fully revived the old Energia program," chuckled Erik Gorbachev over the secure video link.

"What's the status Erik? We've got a slight breather, I'd like to use it," replied Aaron.

"The launch is scheduled for next week. The final rocket modules are being prepped as we speak," said Erik.

"Excellent. Once we have the survey robot on the moon, we can start planning the mining operations in earnest," replied Aaron.

"The Classic Energia rocket just dropped the Lunar survey robot on the moon yesterday, so we're on track," said Erik.

"I'm going to join you for the launch. I'll see you next week," said Aaron.

"Looking forward to it. See you then," replied Erik, and ended the video call.

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