Story Operation Starbucks...a Marksman Tale

“Reality is merely an illusion.”

-Albert Einstein


Pyongyang. North Korea.

My name is the Marksman @SoullessAngel_ and I work for the NSA.

I was captured by the North Koreans while posing as BBC News Anchor. The reality is I work for the National Security Agency (NSA).

My mission, assist a nuclear scientist from the North defect to the United States.

Most nuclear scientist from the North die or become disabled before the age of 40 as a result of their exposure to radiation.

Imagine trying to build nuclear bombs with substandard equipment and funding. It requires cutting corners to meet the Leaders agenda and timeline.

The leader likes to conduct ballistic missile tests prior to American holidays to remind us they are closer than ever to developing a nuke.

My jaw aches, I’m handcuffed to a chair, my hands behind my back and these two a-holes are interrogating me. Using me as a punching bag is more like it.

I know very little about my partner. He was not with the NSA. I was the military liaison and he was a “Private Consultant.” I’m not sure what that even means anymore.

He was a super genius that much I know and I don’t think his work was always for the US. How the leadership defined our partnership was "to make an omelette, you have to break some eggs." I always interrupted this as "when fighting monsters, it's nice to have a monster of your own."

Our previous missions demonstrated he was an economist, scientist, and probably one of the smartest people on the planet. We justified lucrative contracts for U.S. corporations, while plunging vulnerable nations into debt. This benefited the US.

Countries that didn’t cooperate, had their leaders undermined or my partner led a revolt and installed one of their competitors that would do our bidding.

One time, the President specifically asked us to “make the economy scream” in some third world country. I was the handler for the consultant.

His code name was Overlord and he is an evil sob.

The interrogations officers are done using my face as a punching bag and leave.

I’m bleeding all over, my nose is definitely broken.

The nuclear scientist had ratted our operation out and I was captured and sent to this hell hole.

I pray I don’t spend the rest of my life here.

In our line of work if economic pressure didn’t work, then we either overthrew or assassinated the uncooperative head of state.

While I reported back through a traditional chain of command my partner had the latitude to cause economic hardship, cause war & strife, or even overthrow governments.

I remember the time we collaborated with drug traffickers in Central America to help develop distribution centers and smuggling routes. In exchange they assisted us in our dirty work.

Evil used to say “You can’t be choosy about your friends in a dirty business.”

Alone with my thoughts, I reflect on how Evil cheated countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars.

How he helped create a new form of widely spread cancer that spread in the US and everywhere else.

When I asked questions the agency called Evil our economic hitman. I always marveled at what that even meant. His work was corporatocracy-ish. We colluded with corporations, banks, governments, and the rich and powerful people.

If we couldn’t maintain the corruption status quo by using nonviolent methods then we assassinated them.

In our first six months together we traveled to the Seychelles, Honduras, Ecuador, and Libya to Turkey, Western Europe, Vietnam, China, and, in perhaps the most unexpected and sinister development, the United States.

Evil works with bankers, lobbyists, corporate executives and others to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

One of the first missions I went on with Evil was to raise huge loans for a couple of third world countries, but the money never actually went to the countries, it went to our own corporations to build infrastructure in those countries.

And when the countries could not pay off their debt, we insisted that they privatize their water systems, their sewage systems, their electric systems.

We raised these huge loans for these countries, but the money never actually went to the countries.

I was a soldier and I was partnered with someone who was willing and able to exploit anyone he needed too.

Three or four years ago we orchestrated a coup against the democratically elected president of Honduras, because he stood up to Dole and Chiquita and some other big, global, basically U.S.-based corporations.

He wasn’t assassinated but he was overthrown in a coup and sent to another country.

He wanted to raise the minimum wage to a reasonable level, and he wanted some land reform that would make sure that his own people were able to make money off their own land, rather than having big international corporations do it.

The big corporations couldn’t stand for this. He wasn’t assassinated but he was overthrown in a coup and sent to another country, and replaced by a terribly brutal dictator, and today Honduras is one of the most violent, homicidal countries in the hemisphere.

It’s frightening what we’ve done.

And when that happens to a president, it sends a message to every other president throughout the hemisphere, and in fact throughout the world: Don’t mess with us. Don’t mess with the big corporations.

Either cooperate and get rich in the process, and have all your friends and family get rich in the process, or go get overthrown or assassinated. It’s a very strong message.

Ah, joy the new crew is here to interrogate me.

I laugh as I notice it was shift changing time at the interrogation wing.

And then I feel a burst of wind in the small room. My rescue team is here. Must be one of Evils. In the blink of an eye, I look at the ground and the two officers who were about to continue my beating were pulverized lying motionless on the ground.

I stare at the fastest man alive for a brief second. His black and maroon suit are sight for sore eyes. It was the Ghost @Lekosa1. He rarely used a gun. He carried with him two nearly indestructible batons. In the hands of someone so fast, they were extremely dangerous weapons.

He was associate of Evil’s. His black mask covers up his upper face. His stubble looks like he hasn't shaved in a few weeks. His red eyes stare at me for the briefest of moments.

In the blink of an eye, I see Dr. Mayhem @DarkTitan_ , appear as almost out of no where. He caught a ride with the Ghost, riding along at subatomic size. His power set is that he has the ability to control his molecular structure at the subatomic level. He can shrink, grow in size, and increase or decrease his density with just a thought. He walks toward me his black suit and distinctive helmet let me know it is him. I feel a burst of wind and know that Ghost has left us. He is most likely beating the crap out of the all of the North’s soldiers around the base.

Imagine the damage of punching someone 50,000 times and that is what it is like being attacked by him. Most of these soldiers will need major dental work as most will find themselves missing a variety of teeth after they wake up from being pummeled into unconsciousness.

Dr. Mayhem snaps the handcuffs with one hand. I don’t know whether to be grateful or terrified that he is at times mentally unbalanced. He is one of the smartest people on the planet.

The door opens and out of the shadows I see my partner. His dark mask covers the upper part of his face, when you have worked with someone over the years you can recognize them despite masks. His jaw line distinctive, manly, and stubble on his face is unmistakable.

I try to get up and my legs give out under me.

Evil helps me up and says “we are here old friend,” his voice altering device makes him sound like he is growling.

I hear Dr. Mayhem calling in our status, “Operation Starbucks” is a go, we have found the Marksman and we are moving to location “Triple, Venti, Half Sweet, Non-Fat, Caramel Macchiato” before the entire North Korean peninsula is alerted to our presence, over.”

He's no hero that is for sure. He's something else, a gentleman at times, and a beast at others.

It's nice to have a monster on our side.

Some call him a Super Villain, I call him a partner.