HBWnovel Chapter 481: Come on, Let's Rock Together
Chapter 481: Come on, Let's Rock Together
[Chapter 481: Come on, Let's Rock Together]
Once the target was confirmed, Adams' team sprang into action,
Twitter, the biggest online media company in the U.S. and worldwide, faced daily hacker attacks but never had a server crash -- its cyber security was strong.
Many defenders were also skilled at tracking and offensive measures.
Dozens of hackers caught and sent to prison by the FBI had been traced this way.
...
Hawke gathered the director of cybersecurity Belin and lead technician Gossett for a meeting.
Minutes later, the meeting began.
Hierro briefed Belin and Gossett on the details.
Hawke demanded, "Launch reverse tracking and find who copied the blueprints as fast as possible."
Belin replied, "I'll assemble a team. Using supercomputers, we'll find them quickly."
Hawke approved.
Gossett formed a three-person team connected to the supercomputer.
The tracking program was Belin's design. Five tech experts backed by a supercomputer, all while the intruders were unaware.
...
Hawke called Campos and Edward to another room. "Do you suspect the company's club is under surveillance?"
Campos thought and answered, "No obvious signs yet, but they might be watching us from a distance, not close up."
Hawke nodded and told Edward, "Notify Raul, Guti, Morentes, and other security. They'll support Campos's operation later."
They still needed more personnel, so Hawke ordered Campos, "Don't move anyone from the company. Pull elite members from elsewhere, disguise them, and gather at Warehouse 3 of West Coast Environmental Technologies."
This warehouse was always set aside for emergencies.
...
Campos changed phones, contacted contacts -- Juan, Garcia, and others resting immediately headed to the meeting point.
Hawke informed Special Operations agent Erica.
Once the location was confirmed, Erica would arrange a helicopter unit for aerial support nearby.
If anything went wrong, air support would respond first.
Butterfly Security and Ferguson family's security companies also stood by to deploy.
...
Soon, Belin knocked and entered, "We've found them."
Hawke and the others went to a small conference room, where a screen lowered and Gossett connected his computer to the projector.
With the supercomputer's power, they pinpointed the intruder's location in less than 10 minutes.
Gossett opened the digital map of Santa Monica, zoomed into 14th Street, and circled a detached single-family home with a yard. "We're sure the IP address for the stolen data is inside this house."
Hawke ordered, "Zoom in fully and pull property info."
Files appeared on the screen quickly.
The house was a rental managed by a real estate agency. It had been rented a few months ago to someone named Smith, a businessman who came to L.A. to invest in Hollywood films.
Photos of the house's interior and exterior, taken for rental listings, were also displayed.
Hawke gave the order to Campos, "Lead the team and apprehend them."
Campos acknowledged and told Hierro to head out immediately.
Hawke addressed the cyber team, "Double this month's bonus plus a special chairman's reward."
The three techs were excited.
Hawke added, "You all rest here for now."
With such a big reward, sitting tight for a few days wasn't a problem.
...
Campos drove a Ford Mustang from Twitter security, meeting up with Raul's bodyguard team, heading to West Coast Environmental Technologies Warehouse 1.
Garcia, Juan, and others arrived there as well.
Inside the warehouse were multiple shipping containers.
Raul opened one and switched on the light.
The container was full of weapons, mainly untraceable Russian arms -- from pistols, assault rifles, light machine guns, to rocket launchers, grenades, smoke bombs, and stun grenades.
Campos began assigning tasks, "Juan and Hierro, proceed to the target house for preliminary reconnaissance. Avoid alerting anyone."
"Understood," they responded, each carrying only pistols.
Campos continued, "Garcia, this neighborhood has a community committee. I had Edward contact LAPD Supervisor Milner, who will accompany you to coordinate with the committee officially."
Garcia nodded and led his team out.
Raul, along with others, changed into gear, selected firearms and ammunition, including grenades and stun grenades.
Campos specifically requested additional stun guns and tranquilizer guns.
...
A while later, Juan and Hierro returned.
Juan reported, "There are gates front and back; the walls are high. They probably have few people inside."
Hierro added, "There is basic surveillance. I checked -- no infrared alarms or similar devices."
He noted thoughtfully, "They haven't realized their exposure."
"Prepare," Campos said, dialing Garcia. With Milner's help, the team had officially connected with the committee.
...
Ten minutes later, about a dozen vehicles drove out of the warehouse, approaching the target neighborhood from different directions.
Campos selected two white and Latino-mixed team members to pose as community committee workers. Along with a female staffer familiar with locals, they carried notification flyers to houses.
Milner and the community committee told them the neighborhood hosted a yearly Neighbor's Day event to foster social ties.
Residents here were affluent, with extensive networks; socializing often brought opportunities.
Flyers scheduled for next week were used now.
Social workers were also used as cover.
With preparations done, the operation started.
Flyers were distributed just like normal.
Raul and Guti led teams to attack the villa's back door.
Hierro jammed surveillance signals.
Garcia watched community monitors, noticing a regular pattern of people leaving in the day and returning at night.
Campos formed the attack plan accordingly.
Two vehicles prepositioned on nearby street parking spots.
One was a van, where the best shooter, Morentes, set up a sniper rifle behind a shooting port.
Campos sat in the front passenger seat to command.
Teams dressed as social workers split into groups, going door-to-door delivering flyers and warmly inviting residents.
If no one answered, the flyers were slipped into mailboxes.
...
Inside the single-family villa, Adams studied the blueprints and found a way to infiltrate Butterfly Company via a Venice storm drain pipe.
The drain came from downtown, passed beneath Butterfly's building, and exited near the private dock into the ocean.
They could use this path to get inside.
The only issue was that the pipe's interior contents might be unpleasant.
Adams thought a little extra money would solve any problems.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
Adams went to the window and peered outside. He saw a woman in social worker clothes standing outside the iron gate.
Looking at the surveillance feed, controlled by Hierro, he saw no one hiding nearby.
Adjusting his handgun discreetly, Adams opened the gate and asked, "Can I help you?"
The woman pulled out an invitation, reciting, "Next month, the community will hold a Neighbor's Day event."
Adams recalled hearing about it when he bought groceries. Taking the invitation, he said, "Thanks, I'll attend."
Suddenly, figures appeared from both sides, all firing tasers.
Even prepared, Adams couldn't avoid the close-range hits.
The taser darts struck him, and he convulsed, collapsing.
The woman quickly stepped back and sped away.
Four men jumped out of a nearby car and quickly subdued Adams.
Almost simultaneously, Campos gave the command to attack.
Raul and crew broke in the back door, swept the first and second floors, finding no one.
Campos ordered Adams be brought inside while the others followed.
Garcia watched community footage and reported via radio, "Step one went smoothly. We can hold here and wait for others to return. The footage shows staggered arrival times."
"Good," Campos entered, setting traps.
...
Milner completed negotiations with the committee, and the staff dispersed.
Campos left Adams in the basement under guard and set up more forces to capture anyone returning.
The villa was ideal -- the high walls blocked views in and out. People hiding behind side gates outside the main gate remained unseen.
Campos hid multiple men at front and back entrances, waiting for targets.
Downstairs, Adams struggled loudly but couldn't make sound; tape sealed his mouth.
The guards, Raul and Guti, armed and aiming at him, allowed no escape.
...
After a while,
Outside, the driver stopped their car by the villa gate. Scar, carrying a pile of documents, got out and entered the gate by entering the code on the keypad.
The driver followed.
Both suddenly convulsed and collapsed, struck by something unseen.
"Get them!" Garcia ordered.
Several men swarmed, cuffing the two with hands behind their backs, gagging them with tape, and putting black hoods over their heads before dragging them inside the villa.
*****
/Sayonara816.