The Company

[dr_kromm]

On August 18, 2009, we had Bonnie ("Xiang Wen," a.k.a. "Wu Xie Zhi"), Marc ("Anabel Windsor," a.k.a. "Abigail Wilson"), Martin ("Zhu Zhang," a.k.a. "Harold Lee"), and Mike ("Vincenzo Calliente," of many aliases). Stéphane ("Jean-Baptiste Dieudonné," a.k.a. "Jimmy Matthieu") was still away for the summer.

Time: July 24, 2009 (morning).
Place: Paris, FR.
Last Event: Flying to Paris.

For the next few weeks, the Agents take some time off in Paris to recover from various dings and bruises – and more important, to recover from the mental shock of violence and killing on their last assignment. Each has his or her own idea of how to do that:

• Anabel checks herself into a high-priced clinic for a subtle nose job, and shapes up at a spa as she recovers.
• JB composes music and takes advantage of being back in a French-speaking city again.
• Vinnie simply takes some time to relax, appreciate the culture, and learn a bit of the language.
• Wen attaches herself to a Wushu school (apparently, France has a large national federation!) and practices her art.
• Zhang gets into the same Wushu school and works on his San Shou.

On August 18, the Company phone rings. It's Chaturvedi. His superiors have handed down a new task that Sharkmeat is ideally placed to tackle. Someone high up has intercepted police reports containing major leads on an extensive, Europe-wide human-trafficking operation linked to prostitution . . . yet law-enforcement agencies don't appear to be acting on the information, for whatever reason. The intercepts note two locations in the Parisian banlieues with confirmed ties to the prostitution ring, and suggest that Russian criminals are moving Moldovan, Russian, and Ukrainian girls.

The Company believes that this ring must be burned out at its roots, and that doing so will save thousands or tens of thousands of girls from a dire fate. The team's mandate is to investigate until the ringleaders are in their sights, and then act decisively. They're authorized to use any means necessary: anonymous tips to law enforcement, psy-ops, economic warfare, raids, assassination . . . the works. However, the girls are not to be harmed; indeed, the operational budget provides for setting up freed victims with basic shelter and a modest bank account – nothing fancy, but enough to get started.

The group accepts the mission. They inform Chaturvedi that they'll need cash for bribe money – at least until they can start confiscating the criminals' funds for that purpose. They also note that they'll need armaments eventually, if going up against organized mobsters. Chaturvedi agrees to submit the cash request at once, and says that he'll position Röttwalkyr in Amsterdam as backup, since they'll be in Europe for an unrelated assignment anyway. It's strongly implied that "Röttwalkyr" and "armaments" always belong together.

After hanging up the phone, the team brainstorms: The short-term plan is, of course, to follow up the two leads and glean information. But it's important to decide how to act on any intelligence gathered. In the end, it's agreed that once middlemen or more senior players in the trafficking ring are identified, the squad will approach them with a bogus "business deal," posing as Asian traffickers who are willing to cooperate, but who will take "no" as license to compete:

• Zhang will pose as a triad boss interested in establishing a trade in European girls to Asia and Asian girls to Europe.
• Anabel will pose as Zhang's trophy assistant, ostensibly his translator and secretary, but primarily eye candy.
• Vinnie will pose as the most menacing and prominent of Zhang's bodyguards in Europe.
• Wen will pose as "sample goods" as needed, her story being that she's a peasant girl from a small village (which she is).
• JB will fade, liaising with Röttwalkyr, and using his people-handing and medical skills to play den mother to rescued prostitutes until the Company can get them to safety.

With that, the Agents decide to drive out to the banlieues to see what they can see. They leave just before dusk in a nondescript car that Vinnie acquired while being a tourist. This trip is "eyes and ears only" – no surveillance gear, firearms, or anything else that would give the group away if spotted. JB stays behind, in case backup is needed.

The first location is a dirty concrete apartment building with second-rate construction and third-rate compliance with fire regulations. A few thuggish-looking individuals are not-so-subtly hanging around the main entrance. All four Agents agree that these guys have guns under their soccer shirts and hoodies. Whatever is going on here, it has a criminal side.

The second location, a few minutes away, is a dingy business of sorts. Some would call it a nightclub, although that would be generous. Its location – out in a run-down banlieue – says a lot, and the fact that it has no signs, and no advertising other than a lot of gangsters hanging around, fills in the blanks.

The team heads back to the apartment. They stop a block away and let Zhang out, and then cruise past and act like they're waiting to make a drug deal or something similar. Zhang, dressed in baggy clothes and looking fairly dodgy himself, simply walks right past the building to a garbage-filled alleyway. Once he's out of sight of everyone but a few junkies (who still have enough sense to leave him alone), he puts his PK skills into practice. He's soon forcing his way into an unoccupied third-story unit from the balcony.

Once inside, Zhang heads to the interior door and peers through the peephole. His first introduction to the place's denizens fits his expectations: A large man is shoving, punching, and swearing at a skinny, crying woman out in the hall. Zhang pulls out the tonfa tucked under his hoodie and waits for his opening. As luck would have it, the thug throws his victim into the door, which Zhang unlatches, causing it to swing open and dump the girl on the floor. When the brute dives in to continue the beating, Zhang brains him.

Zhang has to keep thinking fast. Neither voice he heard from the hall was in any language he knows, and sure enough, the woman has no idea what he's saying. However, he manages to communicate via gestures that he's here to help her. He then calls Anabel and hands over his phone. Anabel establishes that the girl is scared, speaks Russian, goes by "Dovya," has several relatives and friends in this place, and thinks that Zhang and Anabel are cops. Anabel tells Dovya that who they are is unimportant, but that her life depends on following Zhang's lead.

After Dovya has calmed down some, Zhang strips the unconscious thug. He takes the man's phone and 9mm pistol, and hands a fat roll of Euros over to Dovya. Then he dumps the brute over the balcony and into the concrete alleyway. Crunch. After calling ahead to have Vinnie meet him down below, Zhang piggybacks Dovya and starts climbing. With his strength and skills, this proves easy.

Vinnie, meanwhile, grabs a tire iron and small auto safety kit from the trunk. With his makeshift club in hand, he strides deliberately into the alleyway. He knows how to make the act convincing . . . because it isn't entirely an act, given his past. Only a fool would dare challenge him, and at any rate nobody does. He soon joins Zhang. They wrap Dovya in an auto blanket like a corpse, and Vinnie carries her out to the car.

With Dovya safely with them, Anabel, Vinnie, and Wen drive off. Out of sight of the building, Anabel talks with and reassures the woman, while Wen sees to her cuts and bruises. Zhang, meanwhile, remains lurking in the alleyway. As soon as the car is out of earshot, he climbs back up.

Stealthily exploring the building's interior, Zhang spies more thugs and lots more girls. All of the men appear to be armed (and smoke a lot), while all of the girls are skinny, poorly dressed, and scared. Everybody speaks Russian. Security measures consist of many gangsters toting pistols and calling each other a lot on their phones. There are no alarms, cameras, or anything high-tech, and no patrols – just lots of hoods with handguns.

Zhang realizes that there's little to be learned right now. Perhaps later, the group could return and follow some of the gangsters, or spring and interview a few more girls. However, since there's always the chance that a few missing thugs could convince some underboss to call in enforcers from a whole lot nearer the top, which would save the team a lot of time, Zhang decides to beat down another "guard" before he leaves.

Heading down the back stairs, Zhang jumps on the head of the hood at the rear exit. It's a one-shot knockout from ambush – there are no fighting sounds. Then he takes the guy's cash, gun, and phone; kicks the door open; and dumps the unconscious man in the alleyway next to his first victim. With that done, he heads for the street, where the others find him, pick him up, and take off.