Silhouette

The Silhouette is a French anarchist collective of intellectuals, artists, and labor organizers, condemned by the United Nations and UNATCO as a terrorist group.
Key figures among them include Chad Dumier and Nicolette DuClare.
==History==
Founded in by members of the underground newspaper Samizdat who were on the run from the law and hiding out in Paris, Silhouette became the resistance movement against the French government. Originally known for high-profile public stunts designed to draw attention to themselves, through stealing sunglasses or cutting off ties from beat cops in Paris,JC Denton: " What about Nicolette DuClare? Know her?"
Cassandra: " I don't want to get mixed up in any of that. I stay out of other people's business."
JC Denton: " Mixed up in what?"
Cassandra: " You know, how they used to steal sunglasses from the street cops or run by with scissors and cut their ties? That kind of thing -- always calling attention to themselves."
JC Denton: " You mean, Silhouette? I think they were trying to save Paris from exactly what's going on right now."
Cassandra: " Funny way of doing it. And pretty dangerous. Once people know who you are, you can be killed, just like that. Just like Nicolette's mother. Enough! I'm not saying her name again."
 Silhouette became a priority target following a high profile hack of the Net transmission of the 2050 World Cup. Silhouette inserted a commercial-style video into the broadcast, calling out UNATCO for its indiscriminate use of augmented agents and military troops against the civilian population. Silhouette was designated as an international terrorist group the following year, after it made the mistake of naming Elizabeth DuClare as one of its backers.Chad Dumier: "Beth DuClare was the only one of our wealthy supporters whom we referred to by name, and she was the one who got killed. We have learned to keep our mouths shut." After a brief but torrid scandal, she was assassinated by Majestic 12. Realizing that it was more than just a nuisance, Majestic 12 used UNATCO to stage a bombing of the Statue of Liberty and blame it on Silhouettte.Know Your Enemy - Silhouette The bombing and the outrage it generated was first used to convince the US Congress to approve UNATCO's presence on U.S. soil and set up its headquarters on Liberty Island.APR, Mead Bucks Congress 
With an independent investigation impossible, UNATCO fabricated evidence to pin the attack on Silhouette,Datacube from Paul Denton: "I also managed to document some of UNATCO's less than shining operations, including their role in the Statue bombing."Chad Dumier: "We publicize certain things, like the Statue of Liberty bombing. It's just so fitting that the American government would destroy the gift of freedom we gave your country almost 200 years ago -- and then try to blame it on us!" with controlled rumors distributed before revealing the French connection to the American public, sparking outraged calls for the immediate severing of political relations with the French Republic until Silhouette is brought to justice. Director Joseph Manderley acted as a voice of reason, calling for calm and understanding. While the Minister of True Lies denied responsibility,APR, French Connection Found in Rubble the damage was done and the explanation that Silhouette bombed the Statue because it shouldn't have been given to the US in the first place became the accepted explanation.Alex Jacobson: "A shame, isn't it? The French terrorist group Silhouette claims that France was wrong to give the U.S. the Statue. We think they planned the bombing." In France, UNATCO managed to undermine national sovereignty to the point that Majestic 12 could begin operating publicly, as a militarized anti-terrorist unit deployed jointly between the UN and France, dedicated to cracking down on terrorist organization across France. The move was denounced by dissidents, including the Caribbean nationalist exile known only as Merovech, who pointedly criticized the move as the final phase of supplanting the French government and a repeat of the occupation of France by fascist forces in 1940.Midnight Sun, UN Gets Serious with Frenches
In 2052, Silhouette is led by Chad Dumier ("The Minister of True Lies"), and forms the brains of the international, global resistance movement against the international, global organization trying to establish a one-world order. Instead of meaningless civil wars, Silhouette coordinates a worldwide struggle against Majestic 12. The irony is not lost on Silhouette or its affiliated members,Paul Denton: " Ironically, to fight the one-worlders, we ourselves have to become a global organization." but the cooperation allowed the group to gather evidence that the UN is deliberately restricting poor people from accessing Ambrosia (the vaccine for the Gray Death disease), and is actually a front for Majestic 12 that wants absolute control over global governments. They formed a global alliance with the National Secessionist Forces (NSF), the resistance movement against the US government that has joined in the Meme War,Terrorism -- Crime or Conscience? the Luminous Path Triad (a triad group in Hong Kong), and X-51 (a group of former Area 51 scientists). 
JC Denton is instrumental in saving Silhouette from capture when he sends out the satellite warning at the NSF New York headquarters. The warning allowed Chad to take Silhouette underground - literally - and hide in old World War II bunkers beneath Paris, rather than end up in the Fresnes prison, a notorious prison facility dating back to the 19th century (used by the fascists as a concentration camp during the war).JC Denton: " I'm JC Denton. You might know my brother Paul. I helped him send your group a warning about the crackdown."
Chad Dumier: " Denton... Yes, the satellite transmission. Saved us from la prison de Fresnes, at least."
JC Denton: " Pretty much a skeleton crew you have here. How long can your people hold off MJ12?"
Chad Dumier: " We are not mercenaries. When the troopers moved into the crypts, half of my people retreated without firing a shot. Two of them took a wrong turn and were taken prisoner."
JC Denton: " Where?"
Chad Dumier: " In Bunker 03, the tunnels behind the second blast door."
 Though pushed back, Silhouette remains seen by French common people as revolutionaries.JC Denton: " I couldn't help overhearing about your son."
Joshua: " They have us, yes... Majestic 12, whoever they are... When you have the youth, you have everything."
Agathe: " Joshua, be careful. You don't know this man."
Joshua: " I will not hide under a rock!"
JC Denton: " You have nothing to fear. I would like to see the end of Majestic 12 as much as you would. I was just surprised to find a Parisian who has heard the name."
Joshua: " Well... my son, you know. I learn what I can about him."
JC Denton: " What else have you found out?"
Joshua: " You are one of the revolutionaries, eh? Maybe you can do something with this"
Agathe: " What about Michel? You'll get him killed."
Joshua: " He was the one who wanted to be a soldier."
==Ideology==
Majestic 12 targeted an anarchist collective formed primarily by intellectuals, artists, and labor organizers most likely because of the intellectual challenge it posed to attempts to organize a globalist order controlled by the elites. Where the NSF were revolutionaries trying to depose a tyrannical government through armed resistance, Silhouette fought a war of meanings (also known as Meme War). Silhouette challenged attempts to redefine the very meanings of words - an essential danger in a world of global surveillance at an unprecedented scale and precision.
Chief among its targets was UNATCO, a global solution created with good intentions that would create a world where every citizen is under surveillance: Sky-cams at every intersection, computer-mediated analysis of every phone call, e-mail, and snail-mail, with a purely electronic economy in which every transaction is recorded and data-mined for suspicious activity.Stopping Terror -- A New Perspective on Freedom As presented by its high-ranking members, like Anna Navarre, such totalitarian surveillance was not obliterating human liberty, but protecting. In a world where everyone is constantly monitored, people would be "free from danger" (defined as physical assault, injury, or fraud), and eventually "quietly earn credits, purchase items for quiet homes on quiet streets, have cook-outs with neighbors and strangers alike, and sleep with doors and windows wide open", a supposed tranquil dream of every "free civilization". 
Silhouette calls out these nightmarish plans of total surveillance and control for what they are. The supposed "freedoms" in UNATCO's world were not freedom, but obedience: Constantly observed, people would only be free to live quiet lives in total obedience to the system. "Democracy" in a world of omnipresent surveillance and resulting intimidation was a farce, a tyranny where the true power lay with those who controlled the system. In this case, UNATCO - which was the most perfidious example of redefining meanings, given that the agency was carrying out terrorist attacks to advance the agenda of Majestic 12. Naturally, UNATCO balked at these charges. However, backed by the United States, this rhetoric has gained traction and managed to curtail liberty more than all the military and police forces in the world.Chad Dumier: " The rhetoric in Washington has done more to defeat liberty than all of the armies and police forces in the world."
The fight to preserve the meaning of words,Chad Dumier: " This war all around us is being fought over the very meanings of words." is best exemplified by the words freedom and liberty. UNATCO and Washington use "freedom from terrorism" and "liberation from crime" to justify their actions, but Silhouette sees this as a perverse trade: Both are gained by trading away freedom of dissension - freedom of thought - and completely surrendering personal liberty, in the form of invasive, totalitarian surveillance.Chad Dumier: "When government surveillance and intimidation is called "freedom from terrorism" or "liberation from crime," freedom and liberty have become words without meanings." As a result, Silhouette is an even greater threat to the one-world vision of Majestic 12 than any other group, in particular due to as their symbolic attacks meant to capture the imagination and influence the public, challenging the redefinition of essential concepts.Chad Dumier: " Silhouette is not a military group. Our attacks are symbolic, intended to influence the public." 
Chad Dumier sees the Meme War as an essential struggle, with global culture a competition between the language advanced by one-worlders and the resistance.Chad Dumier: " Just as Bakhtin described the novel as a competition between various "languages," so we describe culture itself, which thrives upon convulsion and upheaval." This conflict has inspired a conflict more destructive than any dispute over territory, as it has time and time again in history,Chad Dumier: " Culture, by definition a shared territory of meaning, inspires conflicts far more destructive than any dispute over territory on the Earth's surface." though this time the war is redefined, as it allows individuals with arsenals of communication devices to impose their order, their meaning, on culture.Chad Dumier: " Meaning does not exist a priori. It is order imposed by individuals with arsenals of communication devices." As such, every action is an act in favor of one meaning or another.Chad Dumier: " Every inscription, every utterance, every gesture seeks to dominate the plain of meaning."
This extends to violence as well. Silhouette has been described as a particularly violent group, tied to multiple murders of European politicians and journalists. While violence is considered an extension of the Meme War,Chad Dumier: " Real violence is only an extension of this process." and Silhouette has employed violence to get the message out before the public, including assassinations,Chad Dumier: " In order to get our own message before the public, we too have been violent. We have even killed people." the violence is not an end in itself, but a vehicle to deliver the group's message.Chad Dumier: " But it is the message -- the communication EVENT -- that we target, not a few human beings, or a building, or an historical landmark."
==Organization==
Silhouette is a decentralized anarchist collective, with Silhouette comradesGeneric Silhouette member: "Thank you for saving our comrades."Generic Silhouette member: "They are holding our comrades prisoner." primarily intellectuals, artists, and labor organizers. While UNATCO has painted it as a well-armed group, Silhouette is not a military group and its members are not properly trained to act as soldiers.Chad Dumier: " It is unfortunate I cannot send someone with you."Chad Dumier: " My people simply are not the best soldiers." They are trained well enough to form teams and wire buildings with C4 at night, avoiding confrontation, but in a straight-up fight they lack the equipment or expertise to be effective.Chad Dumier: " We train teams to wire buildings with C4. They go in at night to avoid confrontation. In a straight fight against commandos... they just don't have the equipment or expertise." The appropriately named Mayhem Comité decides collectively on where to allocate the funds used for such activity, using a network of dummy accounts and siphoned money to hold the cash in.Datacube transcripts (DX): "Francois, the hacking attempt has been an unqualified success -- I've transferred all the funds that I managed to siphon from Metropolitan before the ice came down into a dummy account: number 2221969, password "dullbill". Let the other members of the cell know that these funds can be used for any projects that the Mayhem Comite may deem appropriate. -- Tandis Qu'ils dorment, nous gagnerons" Equipment is typically secured from freelance weapons merchants. Defoe counts Silhouette among his best clients,JC Denton: " Heard of a resistance group called Silhouette?"
Defoe: " My primary market."
JC Denton: " I need to contact them. I've been told they have a hideout in the catacombs."
Defoe: " Not a good time for Silhouette. The government is cracking down."
JC Denton: " Yeah?"
Defoe: " I saw commandos and troops going in the catacombs entrance across the street. They plan to occupy the entire network."
JC Denton: " Is Silhouette's bunker concealed?"
Defoe: " Quite ingeniously, but a soldier will stumble into the secret door eventually. Anyway, can we make a deal?"
 especially with the increasingly tyrannical rule of MJ12 in France. Defoe is generally considered trustworthy by Silhouette - the amount of revenue they generate is a good way to ensure his trust.JC Denton: " The crackdown must hurt business."
Defoe: " My customers are in a Roman tomb underground, waiting to be killed. Yes! It has hurt business!"
JC Denton: " I'm working against the group that controls the French government. I want to help Silhouette. Tell me how to find the secret bunker."
Defoe: " You want to fight the entire French army?"
JC Denton: " The troops you've seen aren't French. They belong to an international group called Majestic 12."
Defoe: " I have heard these rumors. Maybe it is true, and maybe you will help Silhouette, but they trust me to keep their secret. What do you want to buy?"
In the past, Silhouette benefited from the financial, social and intelligence support of the French faction of the Illuminati under Elizabeth DuClare. Following her death, Nicolette DuClare continued to bankroll the group with immense sums using her inheritance,Chad Dumier: " Through her mother's estate, she has provided Silhouette with immense amounts of funding." though Chad Dumier doubts the DuClares would assist them if MJ12 wasn't a more pressing threat. He isn't sure about Nicolette's reasons for supporting Silhouette,Chad Dumier: " Nicolette has been somewhat mysterious about her reasons for supporting us. I do not pretend to understand her." and he's aware that Nicolette's support is most likely an alliance of convenience,Chad Dumier: " I am reluctant to believe her patronage is entirely benign." in pursuit of her own agenda.Chad Dumier: " My impression is that Nicolette supports us against Majestic 12 but that she will have her own agenda when the fighting is over." The shared hatred of MJ12 is a good enough reason for them to collaborate.Chad Dumier: " What inclines me to trust Nicolette, however, is that her mother's death six months ago -- we are fairly certain -- was the work of Majestic 12."
Regardless, the Illuminati find Silhouette to be useful allies in their struggle with MJ12, especially its intellectual edge and expertise in propaganda. The Silhouette might not be a military operation, but it's essential in coordinating the anti-MJ12 resistance, coordinating efforts and focusing on rallying the public opinion. If it wasn't for Silhouette, there'd be half a dozen meaningless civil wars worldwide, instead of a coherent struggle.Paul Denton: "Silhouette's not much to speak of militarily, but you might call them the brains of the resistance movement. They go after public opinion. If it wasn't for Silhouette there'd be a half-dozen meaningless civil wars going on instead of any kind of worldwide struggle. It's been easier than we expected. "
==Behind the scenes==
*The philosophy and approach of Silhouette is similar to the real-life French .
==See also==
*Know Your Enemy -- Silhouette
==References==
pl:Silhouette
es:Silhouette
ru:Силуэт
Category:Deus Ex organizations
Category:Factions