Fighting the Crooks: Part 1

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Fighting the Crooks is a Political Narrative of patriots doing what they must for their country in the name of the president.

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“This is the moment of truth, guys. This is where we make our stand against this liberal tyranny we continue to see,” The team leader says. “They’re no different than Hitler’s Germany. They feel it’s right to take hostile action against us for having opposing views while asking us to tolerate each action they took similar during the ruling of their leader. We will no longer stand for this!”

She raises her fist to the outcry of the other four team members,“In honor of the President!”

For several weeks they’ve planned out invading this facility to free a hostage held by the President’s opposition. The liberals, angry they’ve not yet gotten their way have begun to take drastic measures in their attempt to manipulate political choices.

This team lead by Senior Officer Chambers dubbed themselves ‘The Patriots’ upon devising a plan to rescue the hostage, the president’s wife. Originally they brought the plans to the president directly, but worried for their lives he opted against putting more in danger until a better solution could be attained.

“We’ll have to arrest you if you get close to the facility. It’s too dangerous. This is for your safety. Stay away, we have the situation under control. Any officer of mine located in the area will immediately be incarcerated,” the president told Officer Chambers.

Secretly she continued to plan. She continued to devise with her team of true patriots. Now, in the dead of night, they approach the hostage location. A giant warehouse building, previously a consumer mart with goods of all kind. Upon abandonment, it became the home for crooks of this nature. Chambers, hidden from within the woods just off the trail from the facility, surveys the armed security patrolling the building. She monitors her team’s range giving them orders and enemy locations to infiltrate like ghosts. This is strictly a stealth mission and risking the First Lady’s life is not part of the plan. No enemy is to be sterilized unless crucial, to avoid bodies being found or patrol rounds going incomplete or unreported.

The team reaches a ladder and head for the rooftop undetected. Chambers follows with their guidance, under their cover. The plan is to drop into the building and extract the First Lady through the rooftop while the militia scrambles to find her in the woods. The confusion is their cover.

Once she’s met with the team on the roof, they begin to lower themselves through the ventilation system and onto the building’s higher most third floor. Jon, the eyes of the team stays behind to monitor and report security activity.

“Eyes peeled. I have a strange feeling about this place,” Chamber says being the first on the floor. “On me,” she orders the team. They initially drop into an abandoned office which opens to a catwalk overlooking the warehouse. It seems clear as far as they can tell, so they advance and remain low on the catwalk careful to not be detected as they make their way to a staircase down to the main floor.

One by one they sneak around officers. The bottom floor is filled with cages and tents covered with large sheets and tarps from top to bottom. “The First Lady must be in one of the cells. We’ll have to inspect them all until we find her,” Roger, the heavy support gunner says.

A dozen troops of the militia make their way to the catwalk headed to the office. The team quietly vanishes behind wooden shipping crates as they watch their exit route dissipate.

“Empty this one out,” A voice sends chills down each team members spine, “and send them to the basement. The previous batch is tiring out. Swap them.” Female and familiar, a denial, physical but not yet mentally registered settles on the now stiff team with crawling skin. Around the corner walks The First Lady. She’s fine, unharmed. Seemingly in charge of whatever operation is going on in this facility. From the shadows they continue to watch in awe, now aware that The First Lady’s kidnapping was staged, but to what end? For which purposes? As if their thought questions were being heard and answered by the universe itself, the first lady pulls on one of the tarps covering the massive cage and it falls to reveal children packed together in the hundreds. Fearful and silent they watch waiting for instructions. “Empty this one out, too. Replace them all, in fact.” The First Lady says. “Start the day Anew. “And get me a line to the president. There are urgent matters I must discuss with him.

Chambers’ mind is racing. She’s piecing together all the information she has on the facility, on the president, on the current state of the country, on the First Lady. On everything

“It’s… It’s an immigration camp. These children are slaves.” She whispers to herself, heard by all team members. It dawns on the team that all the cages here are likely children who’ve been separated from their families and being used for slave labor. As the puzzle pieces continue to fall together it becomes clear that the parents of these children are likely experiencing a similar if not worse fate wherever they’re held captive. “What do we do, captain?” Zack the medic asks, equally in shock but detached just enough to ask a question. No answer as everyone on the team is stuck in their heads processing the nightmare they seem to be stuck in..