Protocol M10:34: Chapter 1 – Deniable Ops

Chapter 1 – Deniable Ops

In the United Chimaera States’ capital, my fellow Secret Intelligence Bureau, or SIB, agents and I walk through the rainy, dark streets in black agent trench coats with hoods pulled up to cover our faces. We head into a Mediterranean restaurant and go to the kitchen. At the freezer, a chef stops us and asks for our employee ID. My fellow agents and I take off our gloves and show him the subtle M on the palms of our hands. He lets us into the freezer, where we move aside another door and head down a set of stairs. Two featureless, black-masked guards near the cellar door check the M on the palms of our hands again before letting us through the door behind them. Inside the dimly lit room, a group of well-dressed, featureless, black-masked men armed with rifles guard the president and his brother, the vice president, who are seated at a table with wine and a charcuterie board in the center.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please take a seat,” President Vincenzo Campione says.

We all take our seats around the table. The Campione brothers are as well-dressed as usual. Vincenzo Campione wears an expensive-looking red and black fedora and dress suit, while his brother, Cesare Campione, wears much the same, except his fedora and dress suit are grey and blue. They both wear snake masks and don’t say a word.

Cesare leans forward and says, “You have all been specifically chosen by us because of your beliefs and dedication to see those beliefs change the world. Protocol M10:34 has been activated, and the United Chimaera States will reignite the Second Great War so that the oppressive Zeitloses Imperium will fall. They think that because they control Western and Eastern Proavus on the other side of the world, nothing can ever challenge them, and the Adler supreme leader will have his Eternal Reich, but he’s mistaken. He, Il Luce from Lupa, and the Emperor of Tatsu will die by our hand, and what you do will weaken their forces and give our allies what they need to join us in the coming war.”

Cesare sits back, and Vincenzo puts his elbows on the table, clasps his hands together, and says, “No one else besides Heaven and us will know what you’ve done. Your reward will be payment under the table and a world at war. You will shoot allies and sabotage them to sabotage our enemy, and you are to dedicate yourselves to this task, even if it means dying to complete your objectives. If you are somehow caught alive in this operation, we will not acknowledge knowing you. Do you understand?”

After a second passes, we all say we do.

“Good. From now until the completion of Protocol M10:34, you are considered dead men and women,” Cesare says.

They place pictures of ourselves in our hands and set them on fire to burn to ash. Afterward, the M on our palms are further burned into our skin by the tip of a hot rod of iron.

“Before you go, let us say one last prayer. Our prayer,” Vincenzo says as he takes the hands of those near him.

Holding each other’s hands, we all say, “Mother Mary, take the world as given to you by your Son. Let what is done in the dark affect what is done in the light. See how we mark our palms to show that we are yours. Use us, your Son’s tools, to enact His will. Our Lady of Sorrows, Terror of Demons, rain justice upon the world, so that the guilty may be punished, and the repentant may be relieved. Amen.”

“Go make war to bring peace to the world,” Vincenzo says.

“Yes, sir,” we all say.

All agents of the SIB leave the Mediterranean restaurant and go their separate ways. Garnet, Bezalel, and I don’t say anything to one another as we head to our first target. When we were first chosen by the president and his brother to be part of this protocol, we knew what we were getting into, and that there’d be no going back. There’s nothing to be said about it or questions about our orders. There’s only completing them and creating a better world, free from the Imperium and their radical Vorfahren ideology. There’s only doing God’s will and sacrificing our lives to it.

Garnet, Bezalel, and I drive to a nearby warehouse, change, and arm ourselves. Bezalel doesn’t need to change much either, other than his clothes, since he usually wears a gas mask because of his First Great War injuries. As for Garnet, she takes off her agent glasses, ties up her brown hair, and puts on the same black bodysuit, black mask with a pelican on it, and body armor on her chest that I do. The group that we’re helping, called The Sacrifice, is an extremist group funded, armed, and managed by the SIB. We’re going to be attacking a parade featuring soldiers and officers from Adler, Lupa, and Tatsu who are here as a show of the United Chimaera States unity with the Zeitloses Imperium.

With the parade’s plans and structure provided by the Chimaera States’ army, Garnet reviews the plans we’ve made with The Sacrifice. We’re focusing on blowing up and shooting the Imperium soldiers and officers, and only wounding our own. For this operation, we can’t use knockout rounds or gas that puts people to sleep. We have to make this look like a real terrorist attack, like the rest of this group’s attacks, so we have to be extra careful not to shoot our actual allies. As with most of our missions, Garnet will be on comms, updating everyone on what’s going on and what we’re supposed to do, while using her drones, given to us by the SIB, to see what’s happening.

Once Garnet’s briefing is done, a leader of The Sacrifice steps up and says, “With this operation, we will finally begin to make real progress in pushing out the foreign invaders from our country. Do not waver in doing what you already know to be right and dedicating yourselves to it. Remember, we sacrifice our time, talent, and lives to this cause for the sake of others and a better tomorrow. Well? Are you ready?!”

A cheer rings out in the warehouse as The Sacrifice mobilizes, gets in their cars, and drives out to their designated locations. Bezalel and I set ourselves up in a building that’s under construction. Two rifles and the detonators for the explosives are already where we need to be, so we take our places and wait for the parade to come to us. While waiting, I see Bezalel’s leg shake.

“Come on. Come on. Let’s get this over with,” Bezalel whispers to himself.

I grab Bezalel’s hand; he looks at me, I nod, and he nods back, understanding that I know how he feels. It’s then that I recall a suppressed memory. I remember being alone in a windowless, dark room with President Campione and his brother.

Vincenzo sits on the table near me and says, “Draco, your reckless dedication to throwing yourself at danger when innocents are in danger and your willingness to go above the law when it fails to enforce justice is why you’re here while Garnet and Bezalel are not. Self-sacrifice is a sign of a true Catholic, of a true man of honor. This is why we’re telling you more about Protocol M10:34 than what we told most other agents. The mental training you and your fellow agents will go through will not only strengthen you against interrogation and prepare your minds for the task ahead, but it will make you do as we say to the letter.”

“Sir, can I ask something?” I ask.

“That’s why you’re here. We’re revealing everything to you.”

“Are you going to brainwash us? Put us under some kind of mind control?”

“You could say that,” Cesare says as he sits on the other side of the table. “When we say Protocol M10:34, your minds will automatically become comfortable and compliant with our orders without question. Once the operation is done, we will say Thy Will is Done, and the so-called mind control will release you from its hold, and you’ll slowly forget what you’ve done.”

“What is the purpose of doing this?” I ask.

“To ensure the operation’s secrecy, and that it is never traced back to us.”

“What if I refuse to take part in it now?”

“Don’t you trust us?” Vincenzo asks.

“I do. I’m just asking.”

“We know you won’t refuse. Given everything you’ve done for us and our country, we know you’ll do your best to complete Protocol M10:34, so that we can free the world from the Vorfahren’s influence and make the world a more peaceful and better place. Are we wrong?”

“No…no, you’re not.”

“Good. The mental training you will go through will be different than the one that most other agents are going through, so that you’ll remember this conversation even after the operation starts. We need some people per group of agents to think outside the box, and we trust you to take measures into your own hands where needed,” Cesare says.

“I won’t let you down.”

My mind leaves the memory as I remember the secret that most other agents don’t know about this protocol. I feel bad for them, especially Garnet and Bezalel, who I’m friends with. If Garnet knew that we would be getting our own countrymen in danger, then she’d refuse to take part in it to begin with. As for Bezalel, he’d have his reservations, but would probably go through with the orders, given that he’s still a loyal soldier of our country. I walk over to see the approaching parade of soldiers from different countries and the crowds of civilians gathered around it. Sounds of laughter, celebration, joy, and music are coming from below, and through the scope of my rifle, I see mostly happy faces, though there are some who seem displeased at seeing the foreign soldiers.

“These foreigners want to be celebrated, so let’s give them some fireworks. Engage them after they go off,” Garnet says.

Seconds pass, and the street blows up where the foreign soldiers are standing. Some of our soldiers and civilians are caught in the blast, but we don’t have time to check to see if they’re alive or not as Bezalel and I fire our rifles at the surviving foreign officers and soldiers. The extremists of The Sacrifice engage the foreigners on the streets with the guns we’ve provided to them, while also trying to wound our own police and soldiers, so as not to kill them, as we agreed. Of course, some are killed, but that is something to be mourned and worried about later. The mental “training” I’ve gone through shuts out the worry I have for civilians and my own armed countrymen who are dying in this attack, and gives me tunnel vision on my objective.

It isn’t until Garnet gives us the go-ahead to retreat and Bezalel and I are on the streets below to see the carnage that we’ve caused first hand does the impact of what we’ve done truly hit me. The feeling is numb, and somehow, I don’t regret anything. I knew what I was getting into, but I feel surprised by it all as if I didn’t. This is something I’ll definitely have to pray on later, and pray right now that God gives me clarity and mercy.

“Watch out!” Bezalel says as he points his gun behind me.

I turn around and shoot at police officers and soldiers from our country, killing two by accident. We then run to our car and speed away, only slowing down when we get clear of the scene and blend in with the rest of the traffic. Garnet, Bezalel, and I meet at a listening post hidden in the city and turn on the TV to see that The Sacrifice is livestreaming their admission to being the perpetrators behind the attack. They show the M on their palms, so that if any of the Protocol M10:34 SIB agents are caught, the authorities will assume that they’re just members of The Sacrifice.

The masked leader of The Sacrifice says, “We are sons and daughters of Matriarch Madonna, and defenders of our faith and country. As such, all foreign invaders are considered hostiles. Today’s attack is just the beginning of our war against all those who betray us and seek to corrupt our country. I humbly ask that all citizens of the United Chimaera States and other occupied countries join us or get out of our way because we will not stop until we achieve our goal or are killed in the process.”

Garnet and Bezalel talk as if they just finished another assignment and talk about getting dinner and then getting some rest. It’s eerie to me how indifferent they are about what’s going on. I truly hope that they never find out about what they’ve done and that we are doing the right thing, and not justifying evil deeds with the goal of a good end.