42º 32’ 7” North 71º 37’ 26” West.
Blackfire Security Headquarters, Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
Saturday October 20, 2012, 04:00 GMT +1

The black-tinted, armored SUV with the Blackfire Security logo prominently displayed sped across the road that connected the small Devens Disc golf course to the main administration building at Fort Devens. Created in 1917 as a training center for soldiers during World War I, its disuse had been gradual in the last decades of the 20th century until it was closed in 1995.

It was then converted into a training center for the army reserve. It would be in early 2000 when Emeret King made an offer to lease it and use it as Blackfire Security’s training headquarters. Occupying an area of more than 5,000 acres of land, the facilities have been modernized and expanded to accommodate the thousands of private soldiers who are trained. It was in 2007 that a further step was taken with the direct connection to the Moore air field, appropriating its exclusive use in practice.

King was very satisfied with what he had achieved in such a short time. He had created a devastating military force capable of acting anywhere on the planet. What he no longer liked so much was being interrupted in his daily golf session. He loved to end the day hitting the ball while smoking one of his Cohiba. But one could not ignore a call from the Group. He did not know the reason why they had been urgently summoned, although his intuition told him that he must have something to do with what had just happened in Spain. A few hours ago he had been informed by the Spanish delegation of the war situation due to an unidentified hostile object. He had found it absurd and had not given it the slightest importance. Whatever it was could wait until the next day, he had thought.

The vehicle stopped at the main door of the administration building and one of his soldiers hurried to open the door for him. King got off and entered the building followed by two of his bodyguards. Upon entering he was greeted by his operations manager, who began to inform him of the news so far. It seemed that Seville was no joke and that there had been a hell of a battle against some supposed aliens.

He arrived at his office having heard the full summary of the preliminary report made by Blackfire observers on the ground. Information was power in the Internet age and he knew that being the first to know was key to winning new contracts that would allow him to obtain a dominant and advantageous position. He looked at the clock, it was almost time. He activated the spring hidden under his desk and immediately a hidden door opened in the wall behind his desk. He entered through it and descended the 20 steps that led to an armored steel door. He placed his face in the retinal scanner, inserted his right palm into the fingerprint reader and spoke the key phrase.

The door gave a loud sigh as it opened, allowing him to enter the secure communication room that awaited him behind it. All members of the Group had a room like this in their main locations. No one else knew of their existence, only them, those were the rules. He poured an old brandy into a glass as the door closed again. He sat in the black armchair and lit another cigar while he waited for the exact moment. In front of him was a wall dominated by a total of eight flat screens, all surrounding a larger one in the center.

Just below them was a small camera with a red light on. A small beep sounded and immediately a four-inch tube-shaped device rose to King’s left.

“Identity check.”

A metallic voice was heard in the room. King placed his left thumb on the small circular surface prominent on the side of the tube and winced as he felt the sting.

“DNA verified. User Emeret King activated.”

The same voice once again dominated everything. As soon as it went silent, all the screens came on at once and King prepared to start the meeting. Only a few seconds passed but one by one each screen began to show a blurred silhouette. Like him, in these connections all members of the Group were “anonymous” to the others. Both their appearance and their voices were distorted to avoid being compromised in the event of a security breach. They used a series of nicknames to refer to each other. There was only one exception and it was the person who was watching him right now from the central screen.

He was a young man, in his early thirties, with a very light complexion, short blonde hair but with notable bangs, and blue eyes. He was sitting in another chair like King’s and there was no notable element in the background that would allow him to identify where he was. He did not know his real name, but everyone called him by the name Harlequin and without a doubt he was the most important asset in his organization.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending this meeting despite the untimely time, for some, and having been called urgently,’ he began to say.
‘I hope it is important, it has forced me to alter my entire schedule and you know that in my position that can raise a lot of suspicions. It’s not like I can sneak out whenever I want,’ protested one of the silhouettes on the satellite screens, the one they called Bishop.
‘Everyone knows my role in this organization and what I was recruited to do. Obviously, if I have summoned you with such urgency, it is because we must deal with a crucial matter that cannot wait. As everyone knows, our organization has been working hard in the shadows for a long time to control the world order. A lot of money and time has been invested over the last few decades to reach the next phase of our plan. But something has just happened that can completely change the entire geopolitical scenario on the entire planet. Something that can destroy the work of centuries of this organization.’
‘But what are you talking about?’ Another of the silhouettes asked alarmedly, which despite her distorted voice could be discerned as that of a woman, whom they called Queen.
‘I am sharing with you right now a series of images from television, observers on the ground and the satellites to which we have access.’ reported Arlequín.

At that moment King could see on his screen all kinds of images of the battle of Seville, of the alien ships, ending with the destruction and subsequent impact of the one that had attacked the city.

‘I was already informed of this, my people are already preparing a preliminary report of that battle against unknown elements.’ King reported.
‘I expected nothing less from you, King, but don’t use a euphemism. Let’s call things by their names. In Spain they have just faced an alien attack,’ declared Arlequín.
‘Alien? Harlequin is crazy!’ Several voices exclaimed in unison.

Harlequin watched his camera with a mixture of amusement and suspicion. He waited a few seconds before speaking again.

‘Can we know what they are surprised by? This has been a possibility for a long time. If you have spent some of your time digging through the records of our organization and those we absorbed there are many indicators of the possibility of potential external contacts. Although it is true that we have never been able to verify any, we have been certain that the moment could come when we would be affected by external interference, whether alien or internal, within the category of the mystical-supernatural. I invite you to carefully read the documentation that we keep from the extinct Thule.’
‘All hoaxes and fairy tales that made us lose many resources in recent centuries. Do you really want us to go back down that path?’ He asked inquisitively the one they knew as Torre.
‘The point is that right now we must rely on facts. And the facts are these: First, an alien civilization has attacked Earth. Second, another alien force, we do not know if it is from the same civilization or another, has faced this attack. Third, after the battle concluded they have disappeared. Fourth, the remains of the hostile ship fell to the surface and there were survivors who showed great resistance. Fifth, there are fragments and remains not only of the main ship at its point of impact but throughout the city of Seville and its province. Sixth, these aliens possess technology that far surpasses anything we’ve seen. It is the latter that should concern us most. How can the emergence of technology that we cannot control influence our strategy? Let me answer, it can change everything. How long have we been working to maintain a hegemony based on the control of scarce resources? How many operations have we financed to neutralize any research that could change the energy status quo? It is very possible that the governments involved in the battle of Seville will want to take advantage of any recovered technology and sooner or later learn to use it. So the key is, are we going to allow them to do it without our control and without us being the ones to dominate it to adapt it to our plan?’
‘No!’ All the participants exclaimed at the same time.
‘The way I see it. This should be our priority issue right now, so I am going to require carte blanche and resources from each of you. The priority right now is to establish an active and massive presence in the area to create an infrastructure that allows us to obtain all possible information and obtain all possible material without being detected. We must act very quickly if we want to take the initiative in this matter, ladies and gentlemen.’
‘What do you propose then as a first step?’ Asked Bishop.
‘It is relatively simple. The Spanish government activated the Claymore protocol when the battle began to obtain all possible help from NATO. Our friend Horse could actively suggest the possibility of accepting the disinterested help of our friend Rey’s operatives. I’m wrong?
‘It’s possible. The current situation in NATO command and in Spain is very chaotic. There have been many casualties and the damage in Seville has been massive, so I don’t think it will be difficult for me to justify the acceptance of help from a private security body like Blackfire.’ Horse assured.
‘And you, King, any problem?’
‘None, as I already said, I have our Spanish delegation working preliminarily. We could mobilize our assets in Europe and North Africa,’ King responded.
‘Perfect, now we will discuss the details. For the rest, I schedule a new meeting in twelve hours to offer you an update on the situation. For the Pure Truth!’ Harlequin exclaimed.
‘For the Pure Truth!’ They all exclaimed.

Then, one by one, all the screens went off, until in the end only the one showing Harlequin remained.

‘Very good, King. Are you clear about your mission?’
‘Crystal clear.’
‘We are in a critical situation, King. His men are going to have to become our muscle throughout this campaign so I hope you are aware that our organization expects you to give us all the resources that are necessary. Do you understand when I tell you that all the resources?’
‘I have already told you that I can mobilize units from Europe and North Africa. There are more than a thousand men and women!’
‘Dude, get used to the idea, we’re going to need your entire fucking army!’ Harlequin snapped with a malicious smile.
‘We are not yet ready for such a move, the plans indicated that we were going to strengthen our armed wing for at least another decade.’
‘Dear friend, plans are there to be made and to be changed as appropriate or necessary. Now come on, get off your ass and do as you’re told. For the Pure Truth!’
‘For the Pure Truth!’ King responded resignedly.

The center screen also went out, along with the red light on the camera. King got up from the chair angrily and threw the cigar into what was left of the glass. He wasn’t used to taking orders. He, a career soldier having to put up with a kid, yes, a product of one of the best programs in his organization, but a kid at his side after all. He passed through the security door and returned to his office. His thoughts revolved around that bastard Harlequin, but he had to focus on the task at hand, he had to mobilize his operatives as soon as possible. At the end of the day, what he was clear about was that neither he nor Harlequin mattered, only the Pure Truth mattered…