[b][i]Flashback, Earlier this Day[/i][/b]

"Lucas, tell me," came the aged, but firm voice of George Maxwell, the US Secretary of State, "why do you want to be Head of Security for the LA Branch of the Reformist Movement? And before you say that you were the one who broke IS' back by killing Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, you did that with the help of other Metas and Normal People; you merely struck the final blow." The SoS was talking over a hologram projector.

"Mr. Maxwell," the young man, still a kid at heart, spoke, "because, with all due respect for Ms. Smoake, the current way of fighting the Underground Movement is not working. What we need, sir, is a conclusive way to defeat them, stop them, and destroy them and the threat they represent. Fact is, despite the 'high ideals' they sound out, they're just another bunch of terrorists, and must be dealt with like any other terrorist group."

"Then why don't you fight alongside the other Reformist Metas and cut off the head of 'Edge' like you did with Abu Bakr Al-Bagdhadi?" was George's even-toned question. This caused Lucas to turn his head away, and mumble somehing.

"What was that, Luke?" George asked another question, although he can already guess. 

"Because the other Reformists, even our head, don't care about the same things I do!" Lucas finally cried out. "What I want to do, sir, is get both Humanity and Metas to the stars, to fulfill Arthur C. Clarke's dream of channeling Sapientkind's primal urges into space exploration, of finally dissapating those urges into the expanse of the universe, as well as finally getting them to cooperate. But Ian just ridiculed me when I broached the subject, and Auntie Sable just told me to 'get my head back on the ground'!" Lucas' frustration was a little childish now, but George had to deal with plenty of people like that in his time.

"Then your application for the position is denied...for now. I believe in the same things you do, but I will not break the unity of the Reformist movement just because you want to start a feud over your beliefs. If you want to get people interested in Space, [i]be interesting[/i]. You're handsome, brave, and a little charismatic when you want to be, just go do some politicking; it's easier than you think."

"Oh, and go fight alongside Ian; it could just be that the reason he's not listening is because you haven't been beside him -" but Lucas had already shut off the hologram projector.

[b][i]The Present Day[/i][/b]

Sigh, Lucas had so much potential, but he could be inflexible. George was like that too, but he hid it better, so much better that he managed to get the position of Secretary of State. Either way, though, he had to tackle the problem of the Underground Movement; shouldn't be too hard, they were just another insurgency. With the recent attacks, though, he was going to have to distribute more Police into the streets, increasing the likelihood of Blacks and Metas - or Black Metas - killed on mere suspicion, which in turn would feed more discontent, which in turn would feed the UGM. A tried and tested strategy.

"This isn't any good; a reactive strategy plays right into their hands," he talked to himself. But without knowledge of the enemy, how was he going to eliminate them? And trying to infiltrate the movement would be too slow. Then it hit him. He pressed the button to contact Sable Smoak, saying to her once she came online:

"Hey, Ms. Smoak, ready to show the Underground a taste of their own medicine? Basically, I have an idea that I can implement in a few days; remember the Metahuman Peace Corps, aka the organization I browbeat Congress to make a provisional version of last year? Well, I'm sending them all to LA, swelled by young adult idealist recruits. The twist? It's all a trap for the UGM and Edgy; most of the 'recruits' will actually be agents of the Reformists, ready to spring the ambush." George was enthusaistic now.

"So, what do you think? Ready to help?" George planned on continuing with this project anyway, even without her.

[b][i]An Hour Later[/i][/b]

Once he had received Sable's reply, George would call Illegal Stuff Ptd. through a hidden, encrypted channel, saying:

"All right, I don't like going around the law, but I need your help; I'm deploying the provisional version of the Metahuman Peace Corps to LA in a few days, but it's actually a trap for Edgy. I need a trump card for this and I have a billion bucks to hire that trump card in defiance of, well, etiquette. Of course, there's the fact you don't really need or want money, so I'm hoping that the thrill of fighting the UGM would suit your whims enough."

[@c3p-0h], [@RoflsMazoy], [@Mass City]