The Agents
Tobias Stöhner: Gray hat hacker and electronics whiz, Tobias makes computer security experts at the Pentagon break out into a cold sweat when he infiltrates their systems.Virgil Cooke: A former CIA agent, Virgil is a master of acting a part and working the social aspects of covert ops. You probably should avoid windows if he wants you dead.
Jack Herman: Former SAS, Jack is the group's heavy muscle and military man. If the group needs his talents, it's inevitably because something went FUBAR and they need saving.
Nima Caspi: A former IDF combat medic, Nima is perfectly at home driving like a complete maniac and patching up complete maniacs who have taken a bullet or two.
Johnny Trang: Johnny Trang was too cool for LAPD officer school, so they put him into undercover work. Johnny Trang is perfectly at home infiltrating illegal racing rings or snooping on bad guys.
RCP Members:
David Franklin Myers: Assassinated by Jack at Dodgers Stadium. Agency 17 asset.Danny Jenkins: Captured by Agency 17 and is now enjoying enhanced interrogation techniques at the hands of Egeman Atalar. Was giving information to the CIA.
(Hopefully that helps keep you guys straight who is who).
The Agents were given two weeks to themselves for R&R, even with Logan's suggestion that they use that time to follow leads, research loose ends, and generally try and get a picture of what's going on around them.
The American news media went absolutely nuts over the shooting at Dodger Stadium. We're talking something along the lines of Current Affairs (Headline News) +5 here to see if random Joe Schmoe has heard about it. Thankfully, Agency 17 already had a contingency in mind, leaking a doctored security camera tape to the media while ensuring the real footage was lost.
The rest of the coordinated killings done by the Agents against RCP staff get reported for a week before all mention of them in the press stops- suddenly. News outlets drop the subject, articles that previously spoke about it online throw 404 HTML errors, and print publications refuse to acknowledge or speak about the issue.
Their operation in Brazil isn't mentioned at all in the media circles they follow.
The Agents' break ended up lasting a month. During this time Virgil spends his time in Berlin and Switzerland. Johnny's time was spent in Spain, drinking and hitting on the local women. Jack also lounges around for a month, except he decided to take in the French Mediterranean coast. Tobias spends his time trolling the internet for fun. Nima disappears, returning once the break is over wearing a race car driver fire suit.
Called to Italy to meet with Logan, all of the Agents walked into the room refreshed and ready to go.
A stark contrast to Logan, who was obviously sleep deprived. Mr. Monson, Logan's bodyguard is present, looming and threatening as always.
The Agent's next mission is to protect a woman named Vivian Mercer, who is traveling to the US via a cruise ship. Vivian is believed to be a target of the FSB due to her unique situation- her father was ex-KGB, she currently works within the American Embassy in London, and she may have had a romantic 'entanglement' with Arthur Bingham.
The conversation turns to equipment. It's decided that Nima can likely smuggle silenced pistols on board, but not much else. Tonfas and garrotes make the list, as does a signal booster for the team's radio communication headsets. Additionally, Logan has gotten them VIP passes to ensure that Vivian can't evade them by entering invitation-only clubs or areas of the ship.
Virgil raises an important question during the briefing, asking why Agency 17 is moving forward with the operation given their overall lack of concrete intelligence to work with.
The conversation then takes a turn towards the serious. Agency 17's interest in Vivian could be one of a few things, or even a blend of different motivations:
- She could be targeted by a group Agency 17 is currently opposed to
- She could be a target for recruitment by Agency 17 and the Agents are the vetting team
- Surveillance of her activities to gather information
- Determining how much Arthur Bingham told her during their past relationship
Logan spent the month that the Agents were on breaking looking into RCP, coming to the conclusion that David Franklin Myers, who was shot by Jack at Dodger's Stadium, was an asset for Agency 17. This statement prompts a flurry of questions from the Agents concerning the electronics that were going into the drilling site as well as whether lines are being crossed within Agency 17.
Logan denies the electronics equipment being A17 issue, instead revealing that Jenkins was cooperating with the CIA, thereby getting too close to Myers who was collaborating with Agency 17. Logan also assures Virgil that the team sent in to toss the RCP office in Brazil wasn't CIA.
Jack asks if killing RCP was intended to camouflage the real target.
"It was likely a move to ensure that anyone David told died along with him." Logan says. "It is one of the two things that concern me. The first is the possibility that our organization has been or will be compromised."
He continues. "The second is what if this was someone shouting fire in a crowded theater, and we killed four American citizens as a response."Virgil immediately brings up the moral quandary surrounding bringing a man like Egeman Atalar into the organization.
At this point someone brings up how strange it is that they'd have a mission involving another individual connected with both the Russian mob and British Diplomats, leading the team to crack open the information they stole from Arthur Bingham's laptop.
(Two of my Agents have Intelligence Analysis- Virgil at a 13, Johnny at a 12. Logan's also scary good at it given his activities coordinating field teams during the Cold War.)
What they find looking through the data is startling. Arthur Bingham cast a very wide net when compiling information to plug into his conspiracy theories, and it's clear a lot of the activity attributed by him to Agency 17 wasn't done by Agency 17 at all.
All of the events seem ideologically motivated, purposed towards entrenching the power and wealth of an oligarchy, while destabilizing the world however possible.
The Agents are now convinced there's another organization at work, one much like Agency 17. They discuss bringing this information to their superiors within Agency 17, before deciding to do the current mission to see where that leads them...
Four days later and the Agents establish themselves on a massive cruise ship, about to begin the search for Vivian Mercer.
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