I apologize for the unreasonably long delay between posts- I've recently changed careers and that's thrown my writing time under the bus. This post is going to cover some planning, about 4 sessions worth of in-game events.
Last Session, the Agents learned from Operational Support (Ozzy) that Agency 17 funds have been siphoned off an put into what looks like an illicit side business.
The line of credit- specifically a credit card issued to Agents to allow them to get supplies carte blanche- was issued to a team of Agents operating within Europe. It went missing roughly a year prior, meaning that the PCs weren't part of the Agency when this happened, clearing them of being involved.
The Team that Lost the Card:
- William Robert "Tex" Jackson- Imposter extraordinaire
- Martha "Scopes" Franklin- Sniper
- Juan Carlos "JC" Verdes- Heavy Weapons
- Anthony "Buzz" Cortelli- Comms
- Joshua "Colonel" Starke- Tactics and leader
This team is much closer to militant than the players, who are slightly closer to spooks. The players are much more capable at being subtle, while Starke's group is Agency 17's muscle.
Former Members and Allies:
- Rashad has worked both with and most recently against Starke's group. Rashad took the entire squad out of fieldwork for seven months, something they definitely hold a grudge over.
- Ashley "Kitty" Vereen- Previously was the team's face. Presumed dead after an intense firefight in Sudan. Actually had grown tired of Agency 17 and offered her services to the State Security Agency of South Africa.
- Logan has helped look through intelligence gathered by the team
- Ian "Saliva" Cromartie- Demolitions expert and the man originally responsible for siphoning off Agency 17 funds. Now freelances with American PMCs.
The Agents
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.
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.
As play starts, the Agents sit around for a few hours waiting for Ozzy to try and contact Starke's team. Kyle arrives, immediately questioning the other Agents as to whether they were involved in the car chase and firefight he's heard about on the news. The Agents sugarcoat it by saying that they were trying to secure some shady firearms and the deal went bad. Kyle doesn't push the issue.
Kyle has bad news, however. Agency 17 is moving Tobias to Switzerland where he can assist another team that's ran into cryptography issues. The Agents are suspicious about this, but players don't inquire much on the issue- I've informed them that this is purely to move Tobias away from the action while his player is unable to play due to real life constraints and has nothing to do with the massive conspiracy.
The Agents open the beers provided by Kyle and wait for Ozzy's info. It's brought up that tracking down financial shenanigans is likely Egeman's way of putting the team on ice for a while to ensure they can't meddle as Agency 17 tries to track down Logan.
What follows is the team learning all about Starke's team and the various events surrounding their operations.
The news doesn't paint them in a positive light- the entire team spent seven months out of commission due to some kind of SNAFU in a chemical plant that more or may not have involved Rashad. The crew lost a member in a firefight in Africa, and another left Agency 17 entirely
The Agents head to Rhode Island to question a moving company that charged the company credit card. The employees are helpful, if stupid, and point to a location in upstate New York- the boonies. It seems a woman had them move a large number of watertight heavy cases to a farm of some kind. The Agents pick up immediately on the fact that the entire transaction is suspicious, and they suspect weapons trafficking.
They head to the farm, opting to park the car at the end of the very long dirt driveway and approach on foot. They decide to go for a very long and slow approach. Virgil, Jack and Nima assume overwatch positions in the woods while Kyle and Johnny creep closer.
Virgil spots a sniper spotter team in the loft of the barn. A woman walks across from the farmhouse to the barn, and is confronted by Johnny. She tells Johnny and Kyle to get lost, and draws a gun on them when Johnny isn't encouraged to leave.
Kyle shoots her in the gut with his oversized revolver as Virgil takes out the sniper in spectacular fashion. A man busts out of the barn with a shotgun, only to take a 3-round burst from Jack which kills him immediately.
The Agents swarm the scene, securing the woman and the spotter who is still alive. Lindsey, the woman they shot, is in rough shape, saved only by the shoddy bulletproof vest she was wearing and Nima's supreme skill at patching up bullet holes. The spotter can't stop retching, and is obviously very traumatized at seeing his friend's head explode thanks to Virgil.
Kyle and Jack confirm the farmhouse is clear while tossing the place for intel. Johnny quickly finds the cases the moving company transported- they're full of assault rifles and a bunch of M79 grenade launchers.
A car drives up the driveway to the farm. The Agents immediately scramble to hide their presence. Some men with pistols get out of the car and search the area. Upon finding Lindsey's blood on the ground, they pile back into the car and leave.
The Agents decide to confiscate the weapons.
What follows is a long standoff between the Agents and the three cars worth of men who show up armed and ready for a fight. Johnny unwisely tries to pose as US Marshalls- a choice of agency I felt was stretching the lie very thin.
Things degrade once a boss of some kind shows up, leading to a very one-sided firefight. Jack ends up spraying down at least eight people by scything through their legs with rifle bullets, the other Agents also taking shots and downing enemies. The players suffer no injuries and quickly subdue or kill every assailant.
The Agents realize law enforcement is on their way. The grab the boss and Lindsey, and get make a break out of the area.
They make for a safehouse Ozzy had stashed away and get ready to interrogate their captives.
The man they grabbed is named Richard. He turns out to be the local head of the Grandsons of Liberty chapter, and is only middle management. This disappoints the agents, who were under the impression that he was higher up the food chain.
It quickly becomes clear that claiming to be US Marshals was a poor decision as the Grandsons have been colluding with a corrupt Marshal- Butch Harris. Harris bankrolled Lindsey's transaction with the moving company, and was also responsible for keeping law enforcement pressure off the Grandsons.
The Agents convince Richard to give up his phone passcode so they have a number with which to call Butch.
What follows is a long conversation about how to handle the captives, how to handle Butch, and how to secure the missing credit card. It's eventually decided that Butch is too well connected with law enforcement to try and lure him out at the current time- the Agents do not want Butch claiming that they've created a hostage situation, bringing the FBI's
HRT down on their heads.
The group contacts Ozzy and asks him to see if Agency 17 can leverage Butch into not working with the Grandsons.
Jack's phone rings. It's their mysterious informant who has been feeding them information since just after the incident over the Mediterranean Sea. They want to meet the Agents, in person, because they're in imminent danger...
Notes:
- Player talk one session ended up going into mounting a Punt Gun on the back of a van for use dissuading pursuit.
