It began not with a bullet or a bomb—but with a currency collapse.
One morning, three of the world's most stable fiat currencies—the euro, yen, and pound—experienced simultaneous algorithmic anomalies. Stock tickers blinked red. Commodities froze.
And then came the emergency message from the World Central Clearinghouse:
> "Major coordinated sell-off originating from unknown nodes within the Western Hemisphere. Massive volatility. Source untraceable."
But Elias already knew the truth.
The Consortium was retaliating.
They couldn't assassinate him without creating a martyr.
So they would assassinate his legacy—by crashing the global economy and blaming the instability on American reform.
---
That morning, Elias met with his international coalition via secure holostream:
Representatives from Iceland, Nigeria, Chile, Taiwan, and a dozen others who had quietly joined the Sovereign Pact—a developing alliance of mid-tier nations resisting Consortium influence.
"We've traced shadow transactions to the Seychelles," said Madam Karimi of Kenya. "Five banks routed through anonymized shell nodes."
"Confirmed here too," said Minister De la Vega of Argentina. "The same signature as the oil manipulation from five years ago."
Elias stood calmly.
"They're trying to burn the garden because we started pulling weeds."
The others watched him.
"What's our response?"
Elias nodded once.
"We go public."
---
Two hours later, he stood at the United Nations General Assembly.
No teleprompter. No notes.
Just truth.
"This is not a recession," he declared, voice echoing through the great chamber. "It is sabotage. A digital war, waged not by nations, but by corporations and cowards who hide behind legacy systems and monopolized data."
He turned to the global delegates.
"You've seen what we've exposed. You've witnessed their reach. Now ask yourselves—how long before they come for your nations, too?"
Then, he held up a silver flash drive.
"This contains the entire unredacted financial matrix of the Consortium. Offshore accounts. False flag operations. Even internal communications. Verified and timestamped."
He walked to the secretary-general.
"I'm giving this to the world."
And with that, he detonated the truth bomb heard across the globe.
---
The fallout was immediate.
Nations began launching formal investigations. Street protests erupted in cities from Berlin to Bangkok. Consortium-controlled assets were frozen. CEOs vanished overnight.
And then, Project Nightglass was triggered.
A secret Consortium protocol.
It began with blackouts in major U.S. cities. Power grids sabotaged. Communications cut. Satellite feeds jammed.
Washington D.C. itself went dark for thirteen hours.
But Elias had planned for this too.
He activated Grid Zeta—a decentralized backup infrastructure built in secret with civilian engineering corps and open-source hardware collectives.
In less than a day, critical systems rebooted.
Hospitals, water systems, emergency alerts—all restored outside Consortium reach.
---
But the greatest danger was yet to come.
In a sealed Pentagon briefing, Elias reviewed a classified satellite feed.
Consortium-affiliated rogue generals had mobilized a private military contractor: Argus Division.
15,000 elite operatives, ex-special forces, operating in five U.S. states under cover of "domestic security exercises."
Alina's voice was low.
"They're not here to stabilize."
"No," Elias said. "They're here to seize."
---
That night, Elias went on air again.
"Citizens of America—this is your final warning. Not from me. But from history. We stand on the edge of either a rebirth, or a return to slavery."
He held up his hand.
"They want martial law. They want chaos. I want you to stay calm, to protect one another, and to remember: you are the firewall."
Then he gave the signal.
And from bunkers, rooftops, school gyms, and community command centers across the nation, the Sovereign Civil Guard activated.
Millions of trained volunteers.
Not militants.
Defenders of democracy.
---
In the days that followed, Argus units tried to take state buildings in Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania.
They were met not with rioters—but with organized, disciplined, unarmed resistance. Thousands formed human walls, livestreamed the standoffs, and fed encrypted footage to Project Dawnlight.
International observers watched in awe as American citizens turned back mercenaries with their voices and their vigilance.
The Consortium's final move failed.
And in that moment, the tide turned.
---
In a private moment afterward, Elias sat alone in the Situation Room.
Alina entered, holding a small package. No markings. Just a handwritten note:
> "You changed the game. But some masks never come off."
— C.W.
Inside was a chess piece.
The black king.
Elias stared at it for a long time.
Then whispered, "Check."