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The Company
The evening of January 18, we had Bonnie ("Xiang Wen," a.k.a. "Wu Xie Zhi"), Marc ("Anabel Windsor," a.k.a. "Abigail Wilson"), and Torsten ("Qoqa Ramazanov," a.k.a. "Zoya Petrovna Sidorov"). Martin ("Zhu Zhang," a.k.a. "Harold Lee") was across the Pacific, while Mike ("Vincenzo Calliente," of many aliases) was still dealing with the leftovers of his cold, so Torsten and Marc called out Vinnie and Zhang's actions when Qoqa and Anabel weren't in the scene.
Time: October 16, 2009 (about 00:30).
Place: Hotel, Athens.
Last Event: Returning from the seedy tavern.
After listening to Anabel, Jili, Qoqa, and Wen's account of their recent adventures, the group decides to monitor the seedy tavern in Piraeus – at least until they get a signal from the tracking devices carried off by the Red Army. The dive seems dangerous and is in a mob-run part of town, so keeping tabs on it calls for subtlety and good equipment. While Hamid and Jili work on the captured cell phones, the others take stock of their kit: body armor, medical supplies, and surveillance gear, but no weapons. Wen calls up Chaturvedi to rectify this.
Chaturvedi is glad to hear Wen's voice. He seems very concerned for his people's well being, warning that the home of "Dr. C. Mortimer" in London – one of the Company's safe houses – suffered a "gas explosion," just like the Paris safe house (as the Agents knew). When Wen asks about a safe house in Athens, Chaturvedi is hesitant to guarantee anything. He recommends either staying at the hotel or securing something local firsthand.
With that, Wen changes the topic to equipment. She requests firearms, including assault rifles and pistols for everyone, a few sniper rifles, and some explosives, explaining that it might well be the case that Sharkmeat and Röttwalkyr will have to assault the Russian boss' HQ as soon as they learn its location. Chaturvedi says he'll look into diverting some of the American weapons the group handed over to the Indians on their last assignment, seeing as the mobsters and FSB seem to suspect that the Agents are CIA anyway . . .
Finally, Wen raises the issue of transportation. Chaturvedi promises to look into that, but suggests that it might be easier for Vinnie to steal any boats or cars needed. He also notes that with the crew's strong fake IDs and decent bankroll, renting isn't out of the question. Wen asks Chaturvedi to do his best, and then bids him farewell.
After that, the Agents discuss what to do about the tavern in the short term. They decide to stake the place out the old-fashioned way, using a few people whom the gangsters haven't met yet. However, only Vinnie, Wen, and Zhang are any good at this kind of work, so it looks as if Wen must risk going back, albeit in a different disguise. While Anabel readies disguises, Jili sends everybody a cell-phone photo she took of one of the Russians who spoke with the group, and Wen sketches both of the men from memory.
Around 04:00, Vinnie, Wen, and Zhang head out in the car that Vinnie acquired earlier that night. Vinnie miraculously avoids traffic and reaches the area quickly, parking a couple of blocks from the tavern. From there, the three Agents spread out. Zhang takes to the rooftops, and ends up on a roof across the street from the dive. Vinnie stays at ground level, lurking in the shadows of a doorway just beneath Zhang's position. And Wen hides some distance up the street, behind some garbage.
Just after 07:00, Vinnie and Zhang see a small car pull up to the tavern. The man that both Jili and Wen identified for the others steps out and goes inside. About 40 minutes later, he emerges with the other Russian that Wen sketched. Both men get in the car, which then heads down the hill toward the docks. Zhang dashes across rooftops to follow, while Vinnie – having memorized the appearance of the Russians' ride – goes back for the team's vehicle.
The mobsters aren't going far, however. They drive the two blocks to the waterfront and pull into a fenced compound that encloses a small parking lot, a pair of warehouses, and access to a private quay. Moored there is the luxury motor yacht Дед Россия ("Grandfather Russia"), which appears to be undergoing maintenance. Zhang estimates that it's perhaps 50m long and worth well over €40 million. He calls this in to the others, sending along a few snapshots taken with his phone.
The Agents decide that this is a worthwhile lead and that it's time to pull out, before anybody is spotted, to pursue it properly. Zhang sneaks back across the rooftops and links up with Vinnie. Vinnie swings past Wen to pick her up and then drives out of the area without incident. By noon, everybody is back at the hotel.
While Wen grabs some sleep, the others discuss how best to spy on and preferably track the yacht, which is almost certainly the property of somebody quite far up the criminal ladder, if not of "Grandfather" himself. Jili explains that to track a ship by radio beacon requires a device planted fairly high above the waterline. This rules out simply swimming up and sticking something on the hull. Somebody is going to have to sneak aboard.
The eventual plan is to have Zhang infiltrate the compound over the fence, attach a powerful tracking device to the ship, and then exfiltrate by water – all in one fluid run without backtracking, hopefully timed to avoid the guards. To make this work, the Agents decide that they'll need two teams, one on land and one on a boat out in the harbor:
The Agents spend the afternoon making preparations:
Time: October 16, 2009 (about 00:30).
Place: Hotel, Athens.
Last Event: Returning from the seedy tavern.
After listening to Anabel, Jili, Qoqa, and Wen's account of their recent adventures, the group decides to monitor the seedy tavern in Piraeus – at least until they get a signal from the tracking devices carried off by the Red Army. The dive seems dangerous and is in a mob-run part of town, so keeping tabs on it calls for subtlety and good equipment. While Hamid and Jili work on the captured cell phones, the others take stock of their kit: body armor, medical supplies, and surveillance gear, but no weapons. Wen calls up Chaturvedi to rectify this.
Chaturvedi is glad to hear Wen's voice. He seems very concerned for his people's well being, warning that the home of "Dr. C. Mortimer" in London – one of the Company's safe houses – suffered a "gas explosion," just like the Paris safe house (as the Agents knew). When Wen asks about a safe house in Athens, Chaturvedi is hesitant to guarantee anything. He recommends either staying at the hotel or securing something local firsthand.
With that, Wen changes the topic to equipment. She requests firearms, including assault rifles and pistols for everyone, a few sniper rifles, and some explosives, explaining that it might well be the case that Sharkmeat and Röttwalkyr will have to assault the Russian boss' HQ as soon as they learn its location. Chaturvedi says he'll look into diverting some of the American weapons the group handed over to the Indians on their last assignment, seeing as the mobsters and FSB seem to suspect that the Agents are CIA anyway . . .
Finally, Wen raises the issue of transportation. Chaturvedi promises to look into that, but suggests that it might be easier for Vinnie to steal any boats or cars needed. He also notes that with the crew's strong fake IDs and decent bankroll, renting isn't out of the question. Wen asks Chaturvedi to do his best, and then bids him farewell.
After that, the Agents discuss what to do about the tavern in the short term. They decide to stake the place out the old-fashioned way, using a few people whom the gangsters haven't met yet. However, only Vinnie, Wen, and Zhang are any good at this kind of work, so it looks as if Wen must risk going back, albeit in a different disguise. While Anabel readies disguises, Jili sends everybody a cell-phone photo she took of one of the Russians who spoke with the group, and Wen sketches both of the men from memory.
Around 04:00, Vinnie, Wen, and Zhang head out in the car that Vinnie acquired earlier that night. Vinnie miraculously avoids traffic and reaches the area quickly, parking a couple of blocks from the tavern. From there, the three Agents spread out. Zhang takes to the rooftops, and ends up on a roof across the street from the dive. Vinnie stays at ground level, lurking in the shadows of a doorway just beneath Zhang's position. And Wen hides some distance up the street, behind some garbage.
Just after 07:00, Vinnie and Zhang see a small car pull up to the tavern. The man that both Jili and Wen identified for the others steps out and goes inside. About 40 minutes later, he emerges with the other Russian that Wen sketched. Both men get in the car, which then heads down the hill toward the docks. Zhang dashes across rooftops to follow, while Vinnie – having memorized the appearance of the Russians' ride – goes back for the team's vehicle.
The mobsters aren't going far, however. They drive the two blocks to the waterfront and pull into a fenced compound that encloses a small parking lot, a pair of warehouses, and access to a private quay. Moored there is the luxury motor yacht Дед Россия ("Grandfather Russia"), which appears to be undergoing maintenance. Zhang estimates that it's perhaps 50m long and worth well over €40 million. He calls this in to the others, sending along a few snapshots taken with his phone.
The Agents decide that this is a worthwhile lead and that it's time to pull out, before anybody is spotted, to pursue it properly. Zhang sneaks back across the rooftops and links up with Vinnie. Vinnie swings past Wen to pick her up and then drives out of the area without incident. By noon, everybody is back at the hotel.
While Wen grabs some sleep, the others discuss how best to spy on and preferably track the yacht, which is almost certainly the property of somebody quite far up the criminal ladder, if not of "Grandfather" himself. Jili explains that to track a ship by radio beacon requires a device planted fairly high above the waterline. This rules out simply swimming up and sticking something on the hull. Somebody is going to have to sneak aboard.
The eventual plan is to have Zhang infiltrate the compound over the fence, attach a powerful tracking device to the ship, and then exfiltrate by water – all in one fluid run without backtracking, hopefully timed to avoid the guards. To make this work, the Agents decide that they'll need two teams, one on land and one on a boat out in the harbor:
• Team 1 (Land Team) will consist of Hamid, Lev, Qoqa, and Zhang. They'll drive into the area, get Zhang over the fence, keep tabs on things from the shore, and then get out of there once Zhang is done. Hamid will deal with the security systems on the fence, Zhang will carry and plant the tracking device, Lev will observe from the rooftops and radio the guards' movements, and Qoqa will ride along as team medic, in case things go wrong.The other four will remain at the hotel. Anabel and Jili will serve as the operation's switchboard and listening post. Ben will stand by to treat anybody who's brought in wounded. Klas will provide security at the hotel.
• Team 2 (Sea Team) will be made up of JB, Vinnie, and Wen. They'll enter the area by boat, wait offshore, keep Zhang posted on the position of guards aboard the yacht, and then extract Zhang after he has planted the tracking device. Vinnie will drive the boat, Wen will don scuba gear and swim over with a second tank for Zhang, and JB will do the same thing as Lev but looking inland from the water (and also fill the role of team medic).
The Agents spend the afternoon making preparations:
• Anabel and Lev try to obtain some handguns, since there's no way that Chaturvedi will be able to come through for the Agents within the day. They have no luck, however. While they manage to avoid danger – and Russians – easily enough, the barriers of language and culture foil their attempts to make suitable contacts on short notice. They return empty-handed.The others (Ben, Lev, and JB) get the job of providing area security, making sure that nobody is spying on the preparations. Everything is done by early evening. After a brief conference, everybody agrees that being well-rested is more important for the next operation than being armed, so rather than going out in force to procure firearms, the Agents get a decent meal and grab a few hours of sleep. Alarm clocks are set for about midnight.
• Hamid and Jili prepare the tracking device that Zhang will deliver, and come up with a compact, easy-to-plant package. Next, they assemble and check the tools that Hamid will need to deal with the fence security system. Finally, they put new batteries into all the tactical communicators and make sure all the units are working.
• Klas and Wen buy and download numerous maps, cross-check them, and plot primary and alternate land and sea routes for the operation.
• Qoqa goes through the group's three much-used medical kits and – supplementing the supplies with purchases from the local pharmacy – manages to outfit two decent crash kits. In the process of assembling these, she takes extra care to "clean" anything that might be left behind if the kits are used in the field (wrappers, caps, etc.).
• Vinnie manages to rent a diving boat and scuba gear without being asked many questions, and at a good rate at that. He returns to the hotel early, keys in hand, and gets some rest.