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Entry tags:
The Company
At our November 23 session, we had everyone . . . EVERYONE! 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"), Mike ("Vincenzo Calliente," of many aliases), Stéphane ("Hamid Fassal"), and Torsten ("Qoqa Ramazanov," a.k.a. "Zoya Petrovna Sidorov").
Time: October 3, 2009 (late afternoon).
Place: Abandoned factory warehouse in London.
Last Event: Well-armed attackers approaching the meeting with Terence West of MI5.
Preliminary to the encounter with the mob thugs who've driven up, the Agents hide the records given to them by Terence West. Conveniently, these are in a garbage bag, so Anabel stows them with some actual trash, of which the old warehouse has plenty. The theory is that if everything goes pear-shaped, there's a good chance that the stash will be overlooked, in which case any survivors will be able to reclaim the goods – or at least let the Company know where to look.
Terence has his officers do something similar with the crate of evidence that Anabel handed off. He also has his people leave their cars parked in plain sight, in the center of the warehouse interior, some distance from the best cover to either side. In the dim light and long shadows of a late October afternoon, the tint of the vehicles' windows makes it impossible to see inside them. The plan is to give the impression that the meeting is taking place in one of the autos.
With that done, everybody takes up position:
———
Prologue
The mobsters move up to the warehouse entrance, using bits of rubble as cover and tall weeds for concealment. The 11 with AK-101 rifles approach in three squads: four men on the left, four on the right, and three in the center. The RPG-7 carrier moves up with the center team. The three snipers with SVD-S rifles hang back, covering one group each. Wen and Klas can see all of this from their position, and pass the information along over the radio net; Anabel and Zhang share this with Terence and Simon, respectively, who pass it along to their people.
As soon as the man with the RPG-7 has a clear shot at the MI5 vehicles, he takes it. The nearer of the two autos is obliterated, leaving fiery rubble all over the place. Fortunately for the Company and MI5, their operators are all safely screened from the blast and shrapnel, although Vinnie gets some flash burns on his right arm. The more-distant car is miraculously spared damage more serious than some pitted glass and a scratched-up paint job.
Presumably relying on the distraction of the blast, the attackers with AKs dash into the warehouse, screaming . . .
The moment the left- and right-hand squads of enemies barrel into the warehouse, the lurking Agents and MI5 officers spring their ambush. Zhang and Thomas take out two men on the right with close-range shotgun hits to the head. With the assistance of heavy shotgun fire from Sanjay and Vickie, they manage to wound the other two opponents on that side with a generous pelting of buckshot, most of it hitting the legs and sending its victims to the ground.
Over on the left, JB, Lev, and Simon take out three more gangsters and wound the fourth. Simon lets one man have it in the face with two blasts from his shotgun, while JB does the same with three rounds from his pistol. Lev steps out, calmly executes an attacker, and gets back to cover – he seems scarily fast. Above them, Wen aims at the man reloading the RPG while Klas aims at a sniper.
From covered shooting positions to either side, Anabel, Andrew, Charles, Hamid, Qoqa, Terence, Vijay, and Vinnie blaze away at the central bulk of the attackers: three men with AKs and three with SVDs. Everybody unloads multiple rounds, striking many of the mob soldiers – some of them several times. This disables one sniper and drops several other foes with head or leg wounds.
Jili is too far back to have a shot around the burning hulk of the car, so she maneuvers behind an iron pillar to aim. Ben holds his position by the van, ready to dash in and play medic if needed.
The enemy is in bad shape already. They retreat to get some cover around the entrance, firing as they move . . . at ambushers crouching in shadow behind brick, concrete, and iron. Many of the gangsters are wounded, too, which does their accuracy no favors. There are some near misses, but the fact is that the Russians are all but shooting at random.
The Company crews and MI5 officers keep the pressure on. Wen drops the man reloading the RPG with a single headshot. Klas takes down one of the snipers. Everybody else continues to unload. Anabel and Qoqa, in particular, get incredibly lucky with their shooting – a fluke shot in the arm from Anabel incapacitates one of the enemy shooters, while Qoqa blows the kneecaps off her target.
By the time the gangsters manage to get out of the kill zone, they are all but defeated. Only two men with AKs and one with an SVD are in any shape to shoot back. Their RPG is on the ground, in a sharpshooter's sights; one of their own snipers is down; and another of their snipers is reduced to firing a pistol left-handed, as his right arm is hanging limply at his side.
By moving back out of the ambush area, the Russians force the Agents and their MI5 allies to pursue them into the open. With victory in sight, this is what happens. It's risky . . . but so is letting the gangsters escape to inform their bosses that Terence West had serious backup. The Company and MI5 operators break cover and charge the retreating opponents.
As proof of the risk, Terence West is hit in the chest twice by the remaining SVD. His armor turns fatal injuries into merely life-threatening ones, but he falls. Ben rushes to his aid, and JB and Qoqa start making their way across to him.
On seeing their boss fall, though, the MI5 men charge with renewed fury. Seven shotguns belch pellets downrange, chewing up the few remaining opponents. A single gangster survives this onslaught and tries to flee. Unfortunately for him, Zhang anticipated this. Zhang leaps athletically over the rubble and bears the man to the ground with literally bone-crunching results: Zhang feels his victim's leg break as he bruises his own shoulder.
Zhang picks up a couple of AKs and asks for someone to help him check the three idling SUVs that the attackers left parked at the end of the drive. Vinnie dives into his car, starts it up, and barrels toward the enemy vehicles, sweeping past Zhang as he goes. On cue, Zhang dives in the window and tosses Vinnie an AK. Meanwhile, Wen jumps down, slightly twisting her ankle in the process, and snatches up an SVD. She checks the weapon, and then covers Vinnie and Zhang from the warehouse entrance. The vehicles prove empty, however.
The butcher's bill:
In the aftermath of the shootout, everybody moves quickly to clean up the mess:
As sirens sound in the distance, the Agents stack all 15 injured prisoners like cordwood in the van and two of the captured SUVs. They toss all the guns and the bag of evidence from Terence in the boot of Vinnie's car. Then they drive all four vehicles out of the area as fast as possible.
Place: Abandoned factory warehouse in London.
Last Event: Well-armed attackers approaching the meeting with Terence West of MI5.
Preliminary to the encounter with the mob thugs who've driven up, the Agents hide the records given to them by Terence West. Conveniently, these are in a garbage bag, so Anabel stows them with some actual trash, of which the old warehouse has plenty. The theory is that if everything goes pear-shaped, there's a good chance that the stash will be overlooked, in which case any survivors will be able to reclaim the goods – or at least let the Company know where to look.
Terence has his officers do something similar with the crate of evidence that Anabel handed off. He also has his people leave their cars parked in plain sight, in the center of the warehouse interior, some distance from the best cover to either side. In the dim light and long shadows of a late October afternoon, the tint of the vehicles' windows makes it impossible to see inside them. The plan is to give the impression that the meeting is taking place in one of the autos.
With that done, everybody takes up position:
• Immediate right of entrance, behind hard cover: Zhang (w. cruiser shotgun) and MI5 officer Thomas (w. full-length pump shotgun).The ensuing altercation has a prologue, three main phases, and an epilogue.
• Further back on right, behind hard cover: MI5 officers Sanjay, Vickie, and Vijay (all w. full-length pump shotguns).
• Even further back on right, behind hard cover: Anabel (w. pistol), Hamid (w. pistol), Terence West (w. full-length pump shotgun), and MI5 officer Andrew (w. full-length pump shotgun).
• Behind concealed van on far right: Ben (w. pistol).
• All the way back on right, behind hard cover: Jili (w. pistol).
• Immediate left of entrance, behind hard cover: JB (w. pistol), Lev (w. pistol), and MI5 officer Simon (w. full-length pump shotgun).
• Above entrance to left, on elevated loft: Klas (w. pistol) and Wen (w. biathlon rifle).
• Further back on left, behind hard cover and in front of concealed car: Qoqa (w. pistol), Vinnie (w. cruiser shotgun), and MI5 officer Charles (w. full-length pump shotgun).
———
Prologue
The mobsters move up to the warehouse entrance, using bits of rubble as cover and tall weeds for concealment. The 11 with AK-101 rifles approach in three squads: four men on the left, four on the right, and three in the center. The RPG-7 carrier moves up with the center team. The three snipers with SVD-S rifles hang back, covering one group each. Wen and Klas can see all of this from their position, and pass the information along over the radio net; Anabel and Zhang share this with Terence and Simon, respectively, who pass it along to their people.
As soon as the man with the RPG-7 has a clear shot at the MI5 vehicles, he takes it. The nearer of the two autos is obliterated, leaving fiery rubble all over the place. Fortunately for the Company and MI5, their operators are all safely screened from the blast and shrapnel, although Vinnie gets some flash burns on his right arm. The more-distant car is miraculously spared damage more serious than some pitted glass and a scratched-up paint job.
Presumably relying on the distraction of the blast, the attackers with AKs dash into the warehouse, screaming . . .
Phase 1
The moment the left- and right-hand squads of enemies barrel into the warehouse, the lurking Agents and MI5 officers spring their ambush. Zhang and Thomas take out two men on the right with close-range shotgun hits to the head. With the assistance of heavy shotgun fire from Sanjay and Vickie, they manage to wound the other two opponents on that side with a generous pelting of buckshot, most of it hitting the legs and sending its victims to the ground.
Over on the left, JB, Lev, and Simon take out three more gangsters and wound the fourth. Simon lets one man have it in the face with two blasts from his shotgun, while JB does the same with three rounds from his pistol. Lev steps out, calmly executes an attacker, and gets back to cover – he seems scarily fast. Above them, Wen aims at the man reloading the RPG while Klas aims at a sniper.
From covered shooting positions to either side, Anabel, Andrew, Charles, Hamid, Qoqa, Terence, Vijay, and Vinnie blaze away at the central bulk of the attackers: three men with AKs and three with SVDs. Everybody unloads multiple rounds, striking many of the mob soldiers – some of them several times. This disables one sniper and drops several other foes with head or leg wounds.
Jili is too far back to have a shot around the burning hulk of the car, so she maneuvers behind an iron pillar to aim. Ben holds his position by the van, ready to dash in and play medic if needed.
Phase 2
The enemy is in bad shape already. They retreat to get some cover around the entrance, firing as they move . . . at ambushers crouching in shadow behind brick, concrete, and iron. Many of the gangsters are wounded, too, which does their accuracy no favors. There are some near misses, but the fact is that the Russians are all but shooting at random.
The Company crews and MI5 officers keep the pressure on. Wen drops the man reloading the RPG with a single headshot. Klas takes down one of the snipers. Everybody else continues to unload. Anabel and Qoqa, in particular, get incredibly lucky with their shooting – a fluke shot in the arm from Anabel incapacitates one of the enemy shooters, while Qoqa blows the kneecaps off her target.
By the time the gangsters manage to get out of the kill zone, they are all but defeated. Only two men with AKs and one with an SVD are in any shape to shoot back. Their RPG is on the ground, in a sharpshooter's sights; one of their own snipers is down; and another of their snipers is reduced to firing a pistol left-handed, as his right arm is hanging limply at his side.
Phase 3
By moving back out of the ambush area, the Russians force the Agents and their MI5 allies to pursue them into the open. With victory in sight, this is what happens. It's risky . . . but so is letting the gangsters escape to inform their bosses that Terence West had serious backup. The Company and MI5 operators break cover and charge the retreating opponents.
As proof of the risk, Terence West is hit in the chest twice by the remaining SVD. His armor turns fatal injuries into merely life-threatening ones, but he falls. Ben rushes to his aid, and JB and Qoqa start making their way across to him.
On seeing their boss fall, though, the MI5 men charge with renewed fury. Seven shotguns belch pellets downrange, chewing up the few remaining opponents. A single gangster survives this onslaught and tries to flee. Unfortunately for him, Zhang anticipated this. Zhang leaps athletically over the rubble and bears the man to the ground with literally bone-crunching results: Zhang feels his victim's leg break as he bruises his own shoulder.
Epilogue
Zhang picks up a couple of AKs and asks for someone to help him check the three idling SUVs that the attackers left parked at the end of the drive. Vinnie dives into his car, starts it up, and barrels toward the enemy vehicles, sweeping past Zhang as he goes. On cue, Zhang dives in the window and tosses Vinnie an AK. Meanwhile, Wen jumps down, slightly twisting her ankle in the process, and snatches up an SVD. She checks the weapon, and then covers Vinnie and Zhang from the warehouse entrance. The vehicles prove empty, however.
The butcher's bill:
Agents
• Anabel: Unscathed. Fired 12 shots from her pistol.
• Ben: Unscathed. No shots fired.
• Hamid: Scratches from diving for cover. Fired 4 shots from his pistol.
• JB: Scratches from diving for cover. Fired 8 shots from his pistol.
• Jili: Unscathed. Fired 3 shots from her pistol.
• Klas: Unscathed. Fired 9 shots from his pistol.
• Lev: Unscathed. Fired 11 shots from his pistol.
• Qoqa: Unscathed. Fired 10 shots from her pistol.
• Vinnie: Minor burns. Fired 5 shells from his shotgun.
• Wen: Twisted ankle. Fired 3 shots from her rifle.
• Zhang: Bruised shoulder. Fired 5 shells from his shotgun.
MI5
• Terence: Seriously wounded. Fired 2 shells from his shotgun.
• Andrew: Unscathed. Fired 2 shells from his shotgun.
• Charles: Unscathed. Fired 2 shells from his shotgun.
• Sanjay: Unscathed. Fired 6 shells from his shotgun.
• Simon: Unscathed. Fired 7 shells from his shotgun.
• Thomas: Unscathed. Fired 7 shells from his shotgun.
• Vickie: Unscathed. Fired 6 shells from her shotgun.
• Vijay: Unscathed. Fired 4 shells from his shotgun.
Mobsters
• Men with AK-101 (11): All 11 down, 4 with critical wounds to the head and 6 more with ruined limbs. Discharged 44 rounds total.
• Men with RPG-7 (1): Down with a serious head wound. Launched one rocket.
• Men with SVD-S (3): All 3 down with crippling injuries to multiple limbs. Discharged 9 rounds total.
———
In the aftermath of the shootout, everybody moves quickly to clean up the mess:
• Anabel, Jili, and Klas round up the gangsters' weapons.Terence intends to go with the Company people for medical treatment, as there's no way he can justify his condition to his bosses back at MI5. The story will be that Terence had to leave for the continent to follow up a lead on an unrelated Interpol matter. He tells his people to cover up the shootout and destroyed vehicle as best as they are able. He recommends making it look gang-related – or at worst, RIRA-related. Obviously, his team is loyal; they agree to his orders without question, and take their remaining ride and one of the borrowed SUVs back to HQ.
• Andrew, Charles, Sanjay, Simon, Thomas, Vickie, and Vijay cuff the Russians and try to keep them from dying.
• Ben, JB, and Qoqa tend to Terence.
• Hamid collects the thugs' cell phones, for future analysis.
• Lev and Wen provide area security with captured SVDs, in case the bad guys had backup (e.g., in the white van Wen saw).
• Vinnie and Zhang ferry the mobsters' SUVs up to the warehouse, for use as escape vehicles.
As sirens sound in the distance, the Agents stack all 15 injured prisoners like cordwood in the van and two of the captured SUVs. They toss all the guns and the bag of evidence from Terence in the boot of Vinnie's car. Then they drive all four vehicles out of the area as fast as possible.