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The Company
We skipped October 12 for Canadian Thanksgiving. On October 19, though, 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). Poor Stéphane ("Hamid Fassal") had a cold, and decided to stay home.
Time: September 9, 2009 (morning).
Place: Le Marais safe house, Paris.
Last Event: Leaving Kirill's place after the big shootout.
After the night's violence, the first order of business is to clean up. Once everybody is feeling fresher and less twitchy, the Agents agree that it would be prudent to rest and keep a low profile for a few days. They decide to focus on monitoring their electronic intelligence feeds – particularly the whereabouts of Hristov's car, and calls to and from Kirill's phone. Hamid makes sure to record the latter, because Anabel is the only team member who understands Russian, and she can't listen in 24/7.
Most of the traffic on Kirill's phone concerns "generic gangster stuff," worth recording for future blackmail but not germane to the operation at hand. However, Anabel is a good judge of people. After listening to such calls for a couple of days, she realizes that Kirill, not his father, is the Paris boss! Indeed, there's little to suggest that the senior Bogdanov is involved at all. Hristov, for instance, seems to report directly to Kirill, and says things that suggest that when his car was at Bogdanov's, that was actually him or Pavel setting up the surveillance that the Agents ran into across the street.
The afternoon of Friday, September 11, though, there's a different kind of call. Over a scratchy long-distance connection, Anabel hears a strange, brief message: "Grandfather will respond to your request. The Red Army arrives tomorrow." That's all there is. Kirill doesn't speak, and the person at the other end hangs up immediately. When the Agents convene to discuss this development, the general consensus is that Grandfather is someone higher up the food chain, and that he's sending outside help to Paris.
Wen calls Chaturvedi on her secure phone to deliver a general status report and fill him in on recent events. She requests that he do whatever he can to look into Kirill's real-world grandfather, just in case there's a family connection there. The handler agrees, and then tells Wen that the recent shooting – while doubtless necessary – made the Company uneasy. He asks Sharkmeat to keep safeties on for a few days, and says that he's looking into getting them some reinforcements in case things turn even nastier.
After Wen's call, the group discusses its next move. Clearly, keeping tabs on Kirill is vital. Surveillance of Kirill's home is deemed unwise, though; there are too many gangsters and cops hanging around the place. Psychoxique might be less risky, but the club is noisy and huge, which Hamid explains makes it a near-insurmountable technical challenge without a few days' unrestricted access. In the end, the plan is to wait for the "Red Army" to contact Kirill, and then follow Kirill.
In preparation for what might come next, the Agents shop for equipment – ordinary, off-the-shelf hardware that could prove useful if they have to stalk and listen in on a conclave of gangsters:
On Saturday, September 12, the Agents get in the car and cruise Kirill's neighborhood, staying far enough away to avoid being spotted but close enough to respond rapidly to any interesting developments. Hamid sets things up so that Anabel can listen in on Kirill's calls over her own phone headset. At around 14:00, Anabel hears "The Red Army is in town. Meet us at 10 p.m. You know the place." Since all the gear in the car makes it a cramped and uncomfortable ride, Vinnie drives back to the safe house to wait in comfort.
During the drive back, Anabel overhears another phone call, this one from Kirill to Anton. Kirill orders Anton to gather his crew for a meeting that night, explaining that it's "the people from Moscow" and that he wants to show strength. Anton confirms, but takes the opportunity to prod Kirill about "that chick" – presumably Anabel – claiming that he knows who she works for. Kirill disagrees with Anton on the last point, but agrees that the woman in question should be killed!
At the safe house, the squad waits. Hamid keeps track of Hristov's car, which is driven to Kirill's place and parked there for the rest of the afternoon. After dark, the Agents prepare to move. Vinnie gets the car ready. At around 20:00, the team heads out to cruise Kirill's area once again.
Toward 21:00, Hamid can tell from the tracking device on Kirill's phone that the gangster is on the road. Vinnie follows. Rather than risk being spotted, he hangs back around 500m and trusts Hamid's beacon to keep tabs on Kirill. The trail leads out of the city core and into a rather run-down industrial area. Eventually, Kirill slows down and stops somewhere up ahead.
Vinnie drives up slowly, lights out, and approaches the address indicated on Hamid's screen. It proves to be a rather poorly kept, or possibly abandoned, trucking depot. The group arrives just in time to see four SUVs pulling into a fenced-in truck yard full of diesel pumps, storage tanks, and rusted trailers. In the compound are several parked vehicles with men bustling around them. Behind all this is a squat building with lights on inside.
With no suitably concealed parking spot nearby, Vinnie is forced to roll past and stop almost 50m away, just barely in sight of the target. This puts the team well out of earshot of the men beyond the fence, and affords no line of sight to the building. The Agents get out, don headsets, and grab their kit bags. Then it's time to sneak up and find out what's going on. Wen takes point.
The crew approaches the fence quickly but quietly. Suddenly, Wen gestures for everybody to crouch and freeze. Motioning for the others to huddle with her, she explains the situation: There are at least two rooftop snipers on the building, with silhouettes that suggest night-vision gear. There are six thugs with SMGs in the compound, two of them with dogs. And there are several men unloading crates of weapons from a trailer under the supervision of a big guy with an automatic shotgun. In short, it's a dangerous situation.
Fortunately, it looks as if all the security is covering a weapons shipment of some kind in front of the building. The Agents decide to gamble that things are much less locked-down toward the rear of the compound, which is dark and overgrown with weeds. They hastily stalk around back and approach the fence. From there, only the backs of the snipers' heads are visible – and only occasionally.
Wen hands her smoke bombs to Vinnie and retreats to the cover of the car, where she goes prone in the shadows with her rifle to keep an eye on the rooftop gunmen. As she moves back, Vinnie works on the fence with wire cutters, carefully removing a small section that's obscured by rubble and weeds. When Wen radios in that she can provide at least some covering fire if needed, the other four dash through the hole in the fence and flatten themselves against the rear of the building, out of sight of the men out front.
At the building, Vinnie leads the others to a rusted fire door. Working speedily, he manages to spring it without making much noise at all. He then cracks it open and is rewarded with a view down a filthy corridor to the front of the building, where he can hear people speaking Russian, and occasionally see a scarred man and Kirill having a rather heated discussion involving a lot of shoving and finger-pointing. Vinnie taps Hamid to move up and do this thing.
Hamid works quickly, snaking in a pinhead microphone and a small camera, and then rigging both to a transmitter. He hands the receiver to Anabel so that she can interpret what's being said. Then the four retreat the way they came: back across the rear compound, out the hole in the fence, and over to Wen by the car. At the car, Anabel listens and updates the others:
The gangsters even argue about who will leave first – Georgi's men or Kirill's – as neither gang trusts the others not to have arranged some sort of double-cross. In the end, they agree that Georgi will leave, followed by Kirill after a short pause. When Anabel hears this, she alerts the others to get ready. The squad agrees that it's crucial to gather as much intel as possible on the Russians, so they decide to try to snap photos as the men leave, and then move in and look for anything the gangsters might have left behind.
Hamid gives Vinnie a night-vision video camera that transmits to a receiver in the car. Vinnie dashes across the access road and hides in the litter to one side. Wen goes prone across the street to cover Vinnie with her rifle. The other three pack up the unnecessary gear and roll the car out of sight. After a few minutes, Georgi's convoy goes past in six large vehicles – luxury cars and SUVs. Camouflage and shadows ensure that the Russians don't spot Vinnie, Wen, or the hidden car. Vinnie gets good video of the license plates, on the off chance that this is actually useful information.
As the Agents wait for Kirill to leave, Anabel continues to listen. She hears Kirill chewing out Pavel for being rude and Anton for spouting his crazy theory about American cops and "erased" identities. Kirill also curses Georgi's name vigorously, and is extremely angry that Moscow sent an enforcer instead of proper backup. Pavel tells Kirill that it would be easy to make sure that something bad happens to Georgi . . .
Eventually, Kirill's group rolls as well. They drive right past Vinnie and Wen. Once again, the two go unnoticed, and Vinnie gets good video. After all of the gangsters are out of the area, the squad regroups at the car.
Zhang wants to go into the depot and look for clues ASAP. Fortunately, Hamid has plenty of transparent tape in his kit, while Anabel bought talcum powder to help get Zhang into his tight-fitting disguise for Psychoxique (she told him that a liquid lubricant would work better, but he refused to have anything to do with that), so Zhang has what he needs to lift prints. Hamid, Vinnie, Wen, and Zhang shoulder kit bags and sneak back to the hole in the fence. Anabel stays with the car, keeping an ear on Kirill's phone just in case.
On reaching the compound, it's clear that the Russians haven't left anybody behind. The team is able to move in and operate unhindered. They immediately start sweeping the site. Hamid finds no electronic surveillance in place other than his own devices, which he removes. Vinnie goes out back and camouflages the cut in the fence. Zhang collects prints from chair backs, tables, and doorknobs, and bags several discarded drink cans and a vodka bottle.
Next, the crew heads out front to check the truck yard. Vinnie uses his camera to photograph the vehicle tracks, just in case. Zhang finds a lot of cigarette butts, which he bags. With that, Zhang says there's little reason to stay on-site. The Agents pack up everything, head back to the car, and drive back to the Le Marais safe house in the wee hours of Sunday, September 13.
Time: September 9, 2009 (morning).
Place: Le Marais safe house, Paris.
Last Event: Leaving Kirill's place after the big shootout.
After the night's violence, the first order of business is to clean up. Once everybody is feeling fresher and less twitchy, the Agents agree that it would be prudent to rest and keep a low profile for a few days. They decide to focus on monitoring their electronic intelligence feeds – particularly the whereabouts of Hristov's car, and calls to and from Kirill's phone. Hamid makes sure to record the latter, because Anabel is the only team member who understands Russian, and she can't listen in 24/7.
Most of the traffic on Kirill's phone concerns "generic gangster stuff," worth recording for future blackmail but not germane to the operation at hand. However, Anabel is a good judge of people. After listening to such calls for a couple of days, she realizes that Kirill, not his father, is the Paris boss! Indeed, there's little to suggest that the senior Bogdanov is involved at all. Hristov, for instance, seems to report directly to Kirill, and says things that suggest that when his car was at Bogdanov's, that was actually him or Pavel setting up the surveillance that the Agents ran into across the street.
The afternoon of Friday, September 11, though, there's a different kind of call. Over a scratchy long-distance connection, Anabel hears a strange, brief message: "Grandfather will respond to your request. The Red Army arrives tomorrow." That's all there is. Kirill doesn't speak, and the person at the other end hangs up immediately. When the Agents convene to discuss this development, the general consensus is that Grandfather is someone higher up the food chain, and that he's sending outside help to Paris.
Wen calls Chaturvedi on her secure phone to deliver a general status report and fill him in on recent events. She requests that he do whatever he can to look into Kirill's real-world grandfather, just in case there's a family connection there. The handler agrees, and then tells Wen that the recent shooting – while doubtless necessary – made the Company uneasy. He asks Sharkmeat to keep safeties on for a few days, and says that he's looking into getting them some reinforcements in case things turn even nastier.
After Wen's call, the group discusses its next move. Clearly, keeping tabs on Kirill is vital. Surveillance of Kirill's home is deemed unwise, though; there are too many gangsters and cops hanging around the place. Psychoxique might be less risky, but the club is noisy and huge, which Hamid explains makes it a near-insurmountable technical challenge without a few days' unrestricted access. In the end, the plan is to wait for the "Red Army" to contact Kirill, and then follow Kirill.
In preparation for what might come next, the Agents shop for equipment – ordinary, off-the-shelf hardware that could prove useful if they have to stalk and listen in on a conclave of gangsters:
• Anabel buys more club clothes for everybody, just in case the squad has to go undercover at Psychoxique again. She makes a special effort to find something suitable for Vinnie, who really looks nothing like the place's usual patrons.By Friday night, the team has a pile of gear: gloves, ski masks, rope, fasteners, crowbars, sledgehammers . . . the works. Wen cooks up smoke bombs, including two that are the right size and shape for stuffing her bustier, should she need to don that getup again. She also cleans and loads handguns for everybody, as well as her rifle. Hamid selects the surveillance gear he's likely to need for eavesdropping on a meeting. Vinnie carefully bags all this kit, as well as his camera, and packs it into the car so that it's ready to roll at a moment's notice.
• Vinnie obtains yet another replacement car. He also visits multiple shops to purchase basic tools for breaking and entering, an item at a time.
• Wen picks up what she needs to make smoke bombs, with Hamid accompanying her as French translator and general local guide. Given that Hamid has Arab features and is shopping on September 11, the two take special care to buy only low-profile ingredients, and to procure each chemical from a different source.
• Zhang buys climbing equipment from a sports shop. Anabel accompanies him as his voice and guide.
On Saturday, September 12, the Agents get in the car and cruise Kirill's neighborhood, staying far enough away to avoid being spotted but close enough to respond rapidly to any interesting developments. Hamid sets things up so that Anabel can listen in on Kirill's calls over her own phone headset. At around 14:00, Anabel hears "The Red Army is in town. Meet us at 10 p.m. You know the place." Since all the gear in the car makes it a cramped and uncomfortable ride, Vinnie drives back to the safe house to wait in comfort.
During the drive back, Anabel overhears another phone call, this one from Kirill to Anton. Kirill orders Anton to gather his crew for a meeting that night, explaining that it's "the people from Moscow" and that he wants to show strength. Anton confirms, but takes the opportunity to prod Kirill about "that chick" – presumably Anabel – claiming that he knows who she works for. Kirill disagrees with Anton on the last point, but agrees that the woman in question should be killed!
At the safe house, the squad waits. Hamid keeps track of Hristov's car, which is driven to Kirill's place and parked there for the rest of the afternoon. After dark, the Agents prepare to move. Vinnie gets the car ready. At around 20:00, the team heads out to cruise Kirill's area once again.
Toward 21:00, Hamid can tell from the tracking device on Kirill's phone that the gangster is on the road. Vinnie follows. Rather than risk being spotted, he hangs back around 500m and trusts Hamid's beacon to keep tabs on Kirill. The trail leads out of the city core and into a rather run-down industrial area. Eventually, Kirill slows down and stops somewhere up ahead.
Vinnie drives up slowly, lights out, and approaches the address indicated on Hamid's screen. It proves to be a rather poorly kept, or possibly abandoned, trucking depot. The group arrives just in time to see four SUVs pulling into a fenced-in truck yard full of diesel pumps, storage tanks, and rusted trailers. In the compound are several parked vehicles with men bustling around them. Behind all this is a squat building with lights on inside.
With no suitably concealed parking spot nearby, Vinnie is forced to roll past and stop almost 50m away, just barely in sight of the target. This puts the team well out of earshot of the men beyond the fence, and affords no line of sight to the building. The Agents get out, don headsets, and grab their kit bags. Then it's time to sneak up and find out what's going on. Wen takes point.
The crew approaches the fence quickly but quietly. Suddenly, Wen gestures for everybody to crouch and freeze. Motioning for the others to huddle with her, she explains the situation: There are at least two rooftop snipers on the building, with silhouettes that suggest night-vision gear. There are six thugs with SMGs in the compound, two of them with dogs. And there are several men unloading crates of weapons from a trailer under the supervision of a big guy with an automatic shotgun. In short, it's a dangerous situation.
Fortunately, it looks as if all the security is covering a weapons shipment of some kind in front of the building. The Agents decide to gamble that things are much less locked-down toward the rear of the compound, which is dark and overgrown with weeds. They hastily stalk around back and approach the fence. From there, only the backs of the snipers' heads are visible – and only occasionally.
Wen hands her smoke bombs to Vinnie and retreats to the cover of the car, where she goes prone in the shadows with her rifle to keep an eye on the rooftop gunmen. As she moves back, Vinnie works on the fence with wire cutters, carefully removing a small section that's obscured by rubble and weeds. When Wen radios in that she can provide at least some covering fire if needed, the other four dash through the hole in the fence and flatten themselves against the rear of the building, out of sight of the men out front.
At the building, Vinnie leads the others to a rusted fire door. Working speedily, he manages to spring it without making much noise at all. He then cracks it open and is rewarded with a view down a filthy corridor to the front of the building, where he can hear people speaking Russian, and occasionally see a scarred man and Kirill having a rather heated discussion involving a lot of shoving and finger-pointing. Vinnie taps Hamid to move up and do this thing.
Hamid works quickly, snaking in a pinhead microphone and a small camera, and then rigging both to a transmitter. He hands the receiver to Anabel so that she can interpret what's being said. Then the four retreat the way they came: back across the rear compound, out the hole in the fence, and over to Wen by the car. At the car, Anabel listens and updates the others:
• The man with the scar is named "Georgi." He and Kirill seem to know each other.Throughout all this, it's quite evident that there's lots of tension. Aside from Anton, Georgi, and Kirill, Hristov and Pavel are present. All five men speak, and it's evident that aside from Pavel's loyalty to Hristov, nobody especially gets along. Georgi and the Paris crew are most at odds, but Anton and Pavel also seem to have an old hate from way back. Unfortunately for the Agents, the camera doesn't really get good video of any of this.
• The gangsters suspect rival criminals in the recent attacks, but are grasping at straws: Russian competition, "the Arabs," "the South Americans," etc.
• Anton can't resist bringing up Kirill's "new girlfriend" (Anabel). He says that he spent a lot of money to track her down, only to learn that she has no records. He claims that she's been "erased," that only the Americans do that well, and that she might be a cop or informant working undercover for a U.S. agency. The other crooks at the meeting don't seem to buy this.
• Georgi makes it very clear that "Grandfather" is unhappy with the financial damage that recent events are causing his Paris interests.
• Kirill retorts that he has been doing his best to solve the problem, but that the €1.5 million in police bribes was necessary to protect the Paris business from the authorities after the latest incident.
• Georgi plans to investigate every aspect of Anton and Kirill's stories – the girlfriend, the police reports, the works.
The gangsters even argue about who will leave first – Georgi's men or Kirill's – as neither gang trusts the others not to have arranged some sort of double-cross. In the end, they agree that Georgi will leave, followed by Kirill after a short pause. When Anabel hears this, she alerts the others to get ready. The squad agrees that it's crucial to gather as much intel as possible on the Russians, so they decide to try to snap photos as the men leave, and then move in and look for anything the gangsters might have left behind.
Hamid gives Vinnie a night-vision video camera that transmits to a receiver in the car. Vinnie dashes across the access road and hides in the litter to one side. Wen goes prone across the street to cover Vinnie with her rifle. The other three pack up the unnecessary gear and roll the car out of sight. After a few minutes, Georgi's convoy goes past in six large vehicles – luxury cars and SUVs. Camouflage and shadows ensure that the Russians don't spot Vinnie, Wen, or the hidden car. Vinnie gets good video of the license plates, on the off chance that this is actually useful information.
As the Agents wait for Kirill to leave, Anabel continues to listen. She hears Kirill chewing out Pavel for being rude and Anton for spouting his crazy theory about American cops and "erased" identities. Kirill also curses Georgi's name vigorously, and is extremely angry that Moscow sent an enforcer instead of proper backup. Pavel tells Kirill that it would be easy to make sure that something bad happens to Georgi . . .
Eventually, Kirill's group rolls as well. They drive right past Vinnie and Wen. Once again, the two go unnoticed, and Vinnie gets good video. After all of the gangsters are out of the area, the squad regroups at the car.
Zhang wants to go into the depot and look for clues ASAP. Fortunately, Hamid has plenty of transparent tape in his kit, while Anabel bought talcum powder to help get Zhang into his tight-fitting disguise for Psychoxique (she told him that a liquid lubricant would work better, but he refused to have anything to do with that), so Zhang has what he needs to lift prints. Hamid, Vinnie, Wen, and Zhang shoulder kit bags and sneak back to the hole in the fence. Anabel stays with the car, keeping an ear on Kirill's phone just in case.
On reaching the compound, it's clear that the Russians haven't left anybody behind. The team is able to move in and operate unhindered. They immediately start sweeping the site. Hamid finds no electronic surveillance in place other than his own devices, which he removes. Vinnie goes out back and camouflages the cut in the fence. Zhang collects prints from chair backs, tables, and doorknobs, and bags several discarded drink cans and a vodka bottle.
Next, the crew heads out front to check the truck yard. Vinnie uses his camera to photograph the vehicle tracks, just in case. Zhang finds a lot of cigarette butts, which he bags. With that, Zhang says there's little reason to stay on-site. The Agents pack up everything, head back to the car, and drive back to the Le Marais safe house in the wee hours of Sunday, September 13.
no subject
Excuse me if I am out of line making a suggestion here, but if Anton could be induced to have a change of heart, or at least allegiance, he should be considered for recruitment by The Company!
no subject
Cheers! Of course, I get my plots from real-world news events. If the story is entertaining, then I have my players to thank for roleplaying interesting people who do cool things.
Excuse me if I am out of line making a suggestion here, but if Anton could be induced to have a change of heart, or at least allegiance, he should be considered for recruitment by The Company!
Because the Company is still young and trying to grow a bit, recruitment is a low-level but important part of the job of the first cohort of Agents (which includes the PCs). That said, I have no idea whether these particular Agents would want to recruit that particular man. Anabel might well be reluctant to deal with someone who tried to knife her!