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Puppets on Strings; [CLOSED TOPIC]
Topic Started: May 10 2018, 02:58 PM (82 Views)
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Cheers, Love!

Maestro's Steakhouse
Washington, D.C.
July 7, 2016; 8:00 PM EDT





Secrecy is of paramount importance within governments.

Therefore, it was imperative that it should be carried out even when top government officials decide to meet at one of the nation's capital's best fine dining restaurants. Half a dozen black colored SUV's parked at the sides of the driveway by the establishment with more than a dozen men posted at the surrounding perimeter. Dressed in custom made suits, earpieces plugged in, and armed to the teeth, it was a security detail befitting the protection for the President of the United States. But it wasn't. They were here to protect one of the most formidable figures in the history of the U.S. law enforcement.

Amanda Waller, infamously known as The Wall, has a reputation of being one of the most dominating, ruthless, and unrelenting individuals within the Department of Homeland Security. A former special forces operative, Waller traded counter intelligence and espionage to oversee the most dangerous correctional facility ever built in the United States of America: Belle Reve Penitentiary. Following a breakout incident in 2010 which cost Waller her job as warden, she was immediately recruited by the Department of Homeland Security to supervise the A.R.G.U.S. Project, a top secret program designed to oversee responsibilities involving metahumans.

Under Waller's leadership, A.R.G.U.S. went from a designated program into a subordinate agency of Homeland Security in two years. She was also appointed Director of the agency as a result, which allowed her to expand the agency's reach throughout a number of black sites all over the United States. For years, Waller relentlessly studied and observed the growing number of "enhanced individuals" since the Justice League formed in 2003. While Waller respects the Justice League and its pool of costumed heroes, most of whom are based in the United States, for their benevolence and selfless heroism, she has held firm to the belief that they do not serve the best interests of the United States.

The duo of Superman and Batman had always been the focus of her beliefs. One of them, an alien gifted with extraordinary godlike powers; the other, an unyielding vigilante operating with near unlimited resources. To Waller, these two were the core of the Justice League's mission. However, while the world owes its heroes a debt of gratitude that could never be paid, it was difficult for Waller to put her trust in them, not especially when criminals with superpowers and extraterrestrial incursions have often occurred under their watch. A line had to be drawn. The United States of America can no longer rely on the Justice League to do their work for them.

They needed their own deterrence.

As Waller sat at the round table in an empty restaurant that she privately booked for herself and her esteemed guests, her eyes were locked onto a white folder she placed at the head of her plate and cutlery titled "Task Force X". Of course, she was there to enjoy the food and drink served to her as well. For starters, seared foie gras on a bed on lentils but nothing could compare to what she ordered for the main course. Aged filet mignon, medium rare, with sauteed potatoes cooked in duck fat and grilled asparagus. Taking a sip of her wine, made from the finest Merlot from France herself, her eyes scanned the two gentlemen she personally invited to this private meeting this evening.

To her right, Dexter Tolliver the National Security Advisor. To her left, General Wade Eiling, one of the longest serving generals in the United States Army.

"Gentlemen," she began nonchalantly. "I assume you're enjoying the food here?"
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[::Living Legend::]

"Beats all those times I spent eating MRE's," Eiling sternly retorted as he chewed on a piece of his rib-eye.

For someone as grizzled as General Wade Eiling, humor was never his strong suit. He spent most of his life fighting wars: Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq, he's seen it all. Today he fights a different kind of war on the national front, one where it did not involve terrorists or insurrections. For what it's worth, Eiling never expected his storied career in the United States military to involve dealing with Metahumans. In fact, he had a hand in creating one himself: Captain Atom, an all-powerful superhero born from the fusion of man and extraterrestrial technology.

Since then, Captain Atom had gone on to join the ranks of the Justice League as part of an executive order by the current President of the United States, Barack Obama, when the former received his presidential pardon. Eiling was not too happy about that, as he had lost an asset that previously held at arms length. With the growing number of individuals with superpowers worldwide, it became apparent that Eiling and the United States military were already looking out of their element, an opinion shared by his colleague General Samuel Lane. He agreed to meet Director Waller of A.R.G.U.S. this evening only because he was intrigued by her pitch to counteract the growing Metahuman threat.

Not to mention the extraterrestrial incursions that took place on Earth in recent years.

He had heard the stories about The Wall, a former special forces operative who was part of a J-SOC ghost unit known as Team 7. Codenamed Mockingbird, she was one of the finest spies in the history of the special forces. Despite possessing a number of informants within his country's own armed forces, Eiling did not pry into the reason Waller left the military other than her marriage to her late husband Joseph. He accepted the fact that she had an extensive knowledge dealing with these Metahumans, from her time as the Warden of Belle Reve Penitentiary and later as the head of the A.R.G.U.S. Program before it became an agency.

"Two weeks ago we survived Armageddon," said Eiling, turning his attention to Waller. "Yet, you're sitting there looking like a cat that ate the canary."
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Cheers, Love!

"I've eaten a lot of canaries," Waller smugly replied.

There was plenty of arrogance and confidence in her voice, even as she was addressing a high ranking General in the U.S. Army. Waller has dealt with men like Eiling in the past. While ordinary soldiers fear the man they affectionately refer to as THE General, Waller was simply not intimidated by him at all. She was in her comfort zone. Regardless, Waller didn't invite the National Security Advisor and General Eiling to catch up on small talk. She needed them to hear her proposal, a secret project that she had been working on for the past six years since she got fired from her post at Belle Reve.

"It's taken some considerable amount of effort," she added, setting aside her cutlery momentarily. "But I finally have them. The worst expendables this country has to offer."

The white folder brought over by Waller slided over to her guests with a swift motion of her hand. Task Force X, Waller's pet project, was an initiative she came up with after spending a considerable amount of time studying the Justice League. Through her network of spies, she learned that while the world's greatest assembly of heroes were publicly responsible for containing the threats imposed by their rogue galleries, the real credit went over to a clandestine unit that consists a pool younger superheroes, most notably the sidekicks and partners of the senior Justice League members.

Coincidentally, this clandestine unit had a hand in the attempted Belle Reve prison break six years ago during which Waller was the warden in charge at the time. After weighing her options for years, she arrived at the conclusion that the United States could benefit from such a concept, with the exception that it would not involve highly trained special forces operatives or black ops agents from J-SOC. As the Justice League answered to no government and with other superheroes and vigilantes preferring to operate on their own terms, Waller had to turn to the one option most people would say "is pure unadulterated madness": she turned to the country's captive criminals.
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Task Force X, a name that had been brought up time and time again in Dexter Tolliver's networks. After all, as the National Security Advisor, it was his responsibility to advise the incumbent President of the United States to take the best course of action in regards to their country's national security. For years, he had suggested time and time again to the President that the growing and ongoing threat of Metahumans on American soil outweighed any act of terrorism or foreign insurgencies. This world had come a long way from fearing airplanes crashing into buildings, mass shootings, and suicide bombers.

"Director Waller," Tolliver spoke up. "My sources tell me that these...expendables, have abilities."

While taking a sip from his glass of Tennessee whiskey, Tolliver took a quick glance at the folder placed before him. He was well aware of Waller's plan, an initiative only an agency like A.R.G.U.S. would undertake as they are directly involved on the oversight and security of super-powered individuals. Tolliver supported the idea, as long as there were appropriate steps to ensure it wouldn't end up a complete P.R. disaster for the United States of America, not to mention the amount of resources that needed to be allocated for said initiative to function and maintain itself. For what it's worth, M4 rifles, M1 tanks, and F-22 jets may not be enough to neutralize future Metahuman threats.

It all came down to the aforementioned expendables that Waller referred to; a group of incredibly dangerous criminals she personally hand-picked to be conscripted into the program.
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"Well your sources are right," Waller responded confidently to the National Security Advisor. "You know what the problem with a Metahuman is? The human part."

She reached for her wine glass, taking another sip of her drink before continuing.

"We got lucky with people like Superman and the Justice League who share our values," she added. "But groups like the Injustice League do not."

As much as Waller didn't trust the Justice League and its roster, they had her respect. However, there was a fine line between heroism and reality. Where others look up to the League as heroes, Waller sees their very existence as dangerous. After all, they are an established organization operating out of an asteroid base overlooking Earth who frequently ignore international borders during missions, inflict their will wherever they choose, and on occasion unconcerned at the damage they leave behind, in addition to the fact that they operate with unlimited power with no supervision whatsoever.

The UN Charter that long protected them had run its course, something Waller hoped the new Secretary-General would address in the coming days.
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"You're playing with fire, Amanda." Eiling cautioned.

There was a time when the United States could call upon costumed superheroes to serve its interests, but that tradition died long ago when the Justice Society was disbanded. Those were simpler times, Eiling reminisced, even if it took place during World War II. Unfortunately, superheroes these days draw too much inspiration from the likes of Superman and Batman; meting their own brand of justice which did more harm than good, at least in the opinion of General Eiling. Considering their poor handling of the Reach Invasion, ironically under Captain Atom's leadership, there is a degree of merit to Eiling's train of thought.

It's no secret that the United States needed enhanced operatives. More importantly, they needed enhanced operatives whose patriotism would supersede their previous goals. Given the substantial difficulty recruiting superheroes to serve the country, it is undoubtedly baffling that the Department of Defense would willingly leave the national security of the greatest country on Earth in the hands of criminals, if what Eiling heard was true. With a furred brow, Eiling began re-considering the alternative options that were suggested to him by the other agencies. Alas, Amanda Waller would continue to haunt him and the federal government with her aggressive approach.

"We've been through this time and time again," he groaned, visibly annoyed. "Are you seriously pitching that Task Force X project of yours to us again?"
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