Secret History of the L.D.S. Pt.2

December 10, 2042:
The Secret History of the Long Dragon Syndicate - Part 2
By: Ashley Rose (archivist aboard the H.M.S. Athena while en route to Europa)
Author's Note: This is a summary of my upcoming book, "The Secret History of the Long Dragon Syndicate," to be released sometime in 2043. It was written with the help of "Mei," the one-time spiritual leader of the Long Dragon Syndicate.
In 2016 the Long Dragon Syndicate was on a meteoric rise. The fine specifics of the 3-D printing technology that Stephen Tam had created remained a mystery to all who tried to duplicate it, and as such their weapons were being widely bought, and used, in all major conflict zones across the world. With rising power and wealth the Syndicate continued to amalgamate other organized criminal organizations under its wing. The Kangpae, Yakuza and majority of the Chinese Triads had all joined up, creating a vast network that traditional law enforcement simply wasn't able to deal with. Amidst the backdrop of the growing conflict of the Resource Wars, in many of the impoverished areas of South East Asia the Syndicate ruled openly.
This is the commonly known rise to power of the Syndicate. A well-documented and researched series of books on the L.D.S. by Dr. Christopher Cody, "The Asian Syndicates: The Rise and Fall of the Long Dragons" can be found at any local VR data archive. 
Mei actually says that only 60% of these books were accurate, but wasn't willing to elaborate.
It was during this rise to power that a schism was happening in the organization, one that went back to the very roots of their history. Despite the apparent secular nature of the Syndicate, there always existed a mystical and religious center in the Inner Circle. In Mei's words:
"The Circle of Elders who ran the Syndicate, up until when the White Lion (she means Tam) took controls, listened to our wisdom. Our goal was to by any means necessary make life difficult for those who had invaded our homeland. After World War Two, our country changed and so did our goals. We became more of a criminal organization as those who had come to our land against the will of the people left, or were killed. There was uncertainty if we were still needed. Tam took this uncertainty and convinced the Elders to take up arms against all those who may one day be enemies to our sovereignty. The Circle joined him and when Tam had all the power... he killed them all."
"The Circle of The Mystic once acted as advisors and assistants to the Elders, offering advice to protect the soul of the Syndicate. After the White Lion took control he never listened to us, to our advice or our suggestions. The Soul of the Syndicate began to fester and corruption reigned as Tam's hatred for the Western world grew to a fever pitch. The influence of my Father only pushed him further."
"My Father was one of the Yakuza who joined with the Long Dragon in 2014. He was the head of a division in Tokyo, and specialized in the stealing and resale of electronics. At the time White Tiger had run into problems with his manufacturing plants for the printed weapons he so desperately needed to make a profit. Many of them, located in Indonesia, had been located and destroyed by American agents in the country, working in tandem with the local government. My father was able to supply the White Tiger with the workers, location and printers he needed to establish new factories. This gained him access to the Tiger's inner circle of advisors. As a reward for the successful arrangement with my father and years of service, Tam placed me as part of the Circle of the Mystics in 2029. At the time it was more of an honorary position than anything else as he no longer heeded their advice."
"I quickly climbed the ranks of the Circle of the Mystics, and placed myself as their head in 2033. In this role I began a war with the White Tiger, as his aggression and desire to begin acting as an actual conqueror was increasing. Some called him insane, especially in how he acted towards the newly empowered Consortium. The truth was that he was very sane, and what he was doing was a calculated move to try and provoke those mosquitoes into over playing their hand. We'll get to that."
"By 2035 I was in active, almost daily combat with the Tiger over what the Syndicate had become. I spent a significant amount of time reading the histories and understanding what the original motivation for the Syndicate was. I had no illusions on what we were. I was not trying to make us into saints, or defenders of the free people. We were criminals, and we would always be criminals. But we had originally been criminals for a reason. I did my best to drag the Tiger away from the course he was set on, but decades of living like an Emperor had changed him. He liked the lifestyle, and he wanted to maintain it. And nurture it."
"When they killed Bishop Two I knew the end was fast approaching. Even though we had unparalleled access to weapons, technology and men, the Consortium had a soul. We did not. We were just criminals and at the first sign of weakness in the upper ranks all those old rivalries, hatreds and lusts for power broke free. The Consortium may have landed a cracking blow but the Syndicate broke apart under its own weight."
"It wasn’t long before they came for us. As the Syndicate crumbled the authorities in all of those countries we considered allies, even those who had long taken bribes, fell on us like wolves. I was arrested in Japan at the ancestral home of my family, not long after the White Tiger was killed. I did not mourn his loss, nor the loss of the Syndicate. It had long lost its way. I was sent to the Voltaire Prison along with all the other “high ranking” officials they managed to nab. Looking back on it I believe the Tiger told the Consortium who and where I was, as a last vengeance maybe for all those years of disagreement between us."
"Were we evil? Some of us. I argued for the soul of the Syndicate, but I also benefited from the suffering of others. The organization that faced down the Consortium and lost was not the Long Dragon Syndicate born in the days of the Boxer Rebellion. It was like any other mafia, and that's why it fell. IT had become evil. IT deserved to die, as did the Tiger. Maybe I did too, for not doing more to stop him. But I didn't die, and here I am, on a ship headed far beyond the reach of the Consortium. It is best this way."
Following the publication of my article series "Aboard the Athena," the Consortium reached out to us and requested that we send Mei and the other prisoners back to be re-incarcerated at Voltaire. The XO of our ship declined this request, saying they had proved their valor and in doing so saving thousands of lives.
Mei remains an enigma and many hundreds of hours of interviews will need to be done to flesh out all of the history of the Long Dragon Syndicate, and to learn as much as we can about this force that once terrorized a third of the known world, and ended in combat with the all-powerful Consortium.
Category:Long Dragon Syndicate
Category:Mei
Category:Resource Wars
Category:Yakuza
Category:Kangpae
Category:Athena
Category:Christopher Cody
Category:Stephen Tam
Category:Bishop Two
Category:Consortium (organization)