December 12, 2012. The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon steps down from office and watches as the new Secretary General, Harrison Forrester is sworn into office. Approximately at the same time out in the Pacific ocean a pocket Tsunami sweeps over Oahu, destroying Honolulu that is caused by an eruption of Mauna Loa. In less than 20 minutes after the initial eruption, Honolulu was destroyed with many lives lost. In the South Seas, north of Australia, a Pirate ship belays a private yacht and kills the husband and wife who were onboard. The pirate ship, Vorino, is captained by Vernon "Black Angus" Demarest who stands six feet four with a wild mane of gray hair that vaguely recalls Albert Einstein.

December 31, 2012. Laying just off Oahu on the Vorino, Black Angus is reading a newspaper about Harrison Forrester becoming the ninth United Nations Secretary General and recalls Harrison's father, Daniel Harrison Forrester as a one time friend back in the late 1940s until he turned Vernon over to the authorities for being involved in the salvage operation of the Agnes Muirhead that Vernon had spearheaded for Charles "Lucky" Luciano ninety miles east of Cuba. As the young captain of the salvage ship, Madeline Albertini, he was fully informed by Lucky of what he was salvaging. After having served in World War 2 with Daniel Forrester they had become good friends when the war ended and despite having different careers involving jobs on the high seas. Vernon laid the newspaper down and looked towards the remains of Honolulu. It was here when they parted into different careers that would eventually end in Cuba with his arrest and serving nearly ten years in jail. After all these years his bitterness towards Daniel had dissipated and led him into a life back on the oceans on freighters. He had been fired on the last freighter he worked on back in the mid 1990s. He was old but enjoying a good time on the water by living the life of a Pirate. p:

Captain's Log Entry, January 1, 2013. At 13:13pm today Captain Vernon "Black Angus" Demarest passed away. I, Max Decembre, the former Deputy Captain have become the new Captain of the S.S. Vorino. Having read Black Angus' will, I buried him at sea and am empowered to carry out his wishes. One of which is to carry out a vicious plan of revenge against the Forrester family.

"Despite our efforts, all of our resources are stretched thin" stated FEMA Director Louis Weldon to Homeland Secretary Nathan LaSalle in the office of the Domestic Affairs in the White House, where Paul Brendel, the Domestic Affairs Advisor sat in his chair watching the scene and decided to cut in. "Gentlemen, our Military is helping with all of their resources in this matter and should cover the slack in this affair. It's still a shock to recall the disasters of December 12. Honolulu destroyed by Tsunami, San Francisco mostly destroyed by an Earthquake, Manhattan swamped by a Hurricane, Minneapolis-St. Paul buried in a Blizzard. It's such a tragedy so close to the holidays and I'm sure we will manage to survive this.

"Okay, Gentlemen are we ready to see President Richardson, now?' asks Paul Brendel. Nathan and Louis follow the Domestic Affairs Advisor to the Oval Office where they brief President Dennis Richardson on the current recovery, cleanup and rebuilding efforts in Manhattan, Honolulu, San Francisco and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

After the briefing, the next appointment President Richardson had was with the new Secretary-General of the United States, Harrison Forrester. "It's good to see you again Mr. President, I want to thank you for appointing me as your candidate for the Secretary-Generalship of the United Nations and using all your power to make it happen." "Your very welcome Harrison, I am glad to help you in this endeavour to help the United Nations get back on track again. With your help over the years, including the previous administrations, you have contributed to the well-being, safety and natural resource development of our country that has occured over the past twenty-some years while you were at the Meta Institute." "Thank you, kindly Mr. President."

After two frustrating prison interviews with two of the four men who had vendettas against Harrison Forrester and the third man nursing his wounds and literally running on empty, Max Decembre was getting disillusioned with his efforts in finding someone to help implement the plan to take down Harrison Forrester. His next interview was a man named Anthony Corrado. After tracking Corrado down in Saipan, Max found the man in the back of a small shop on a side street playing cards with three other men. Max asked Corrado for a private discussion about a common enemy. Anthony Corrado eyed Max evenly and decided that Max was deadly serious. Corrado asked his friends to leave temporarily.