on Sunday 20 OCT 13 we had Joseph and Omar and we began the introductory scenario from Night's Black Agents - (S)Entries. Prior to this we did character introductions for Angeline Bailey and Evelyn Strauss. We will hopefully run In Media Res intros for the remaining characters, Luc Marachel and Ronald Hanford after the next session, Part Two of (S)Entries.
Given that this is the introductory mission in the Night's Black Agents Core Rules book...
***HERE THERE BE SPOILERS***
The group came together through a series of contacts with the request that they meet up in Dubrovnik, Croatia. There they would meet a man named Georg Rudek, a local fixer who would pay them 100,000 Euros for three days work. Rudek was the paymaster for an unnamed third party with connections in local criminal activity as well as more official sources.
For some, the financial incentive was enough. For others, a sense of adventure or curiosity was sufficient to get them to take the leap...
Evelyn received a request from a known associate, a fence named Jacques Leclerc with whom she has a prior relationship under the alias Emma Mirabaud. Jacques stated that he would "owe her one" if she performed this task for an Eastern European associate of his and thanks to their existing relationship she agreed.
Angeline was temporarily suspended from her role as a CIA Analyst after an operation went awry in Paris, France (see her In Media Res intro). She received contact from a third party familiar with her capabilities that recommended her for the job.
Luc received instructions requesting that he attend the job from Alain Winants, head of the Belgian VSSE, his ex-boss.
Ronald's invitation was extended by Jerome Bentley, head of the private intelligence agency he is currently employed by in Barcelona.
Dubrovnik
Day One
12:00 (GMT+1)
Each character received airline tickets and instructions for the location of the meet and each in turn showed a level of professionalism by choosing to case the hotel beforehand. At the designated time, the crew showed up at the hotel room, noting that Rudek had booked three rooms, the meeting room and the two adjacent rooms. Given that this was tourist season in Dubrovnik it appears that Rudek had either planned this sufficiently far in advance to get three rooms of his choosing, or his level of influence allowed him to pick and choose.
After a brief round of introductions (Evelyn using her established Alias of Emma and Angeline as Kelly Bonnar) the crew was shown the task: lift something from a Canadian Brigadier-General Malcolm Lennart stationed at Camp Butmir, south of Sarajevo in nearby Serbia. The target is a laptop on which Lennart is storing information (possibly purchase records or political dealings that Rudek's employers want concealed). Luc and Ron both suspected that there was a possibility of darker content, information relating to war crimes during the Balkan Wars.
Lennart was a logistics expert who had worked as liaison with the USAF and alongside other NATO forces. He had previously been stationed at NATO HQ in Naples but had requested to see out the last part of his tour in Europe in Sarajevo, an odd request. There was a time limit in place as Lennart was scheduled to return to his home in Canada within the next three days. Every indication was that Lennart was performing his own research "off the clock" and had not shared his findings as of yet.
A brief Q&A session followed where the team established the parameters of their mission - no killing, preferably covert and without Lennart even knowing that the information has even gone missing. Rudek provided answers where possible and provided the agents with a USB drive containing surveillance imagery from Lennart's time in Naples and the details for the drop off after the mission's completion. Additionally, Rudek provided a vehicle, a Black Jeep Cherokee and requested a list of gear that the team would require for the task.
Angeline took the opportunity to request as much surveillance kit as could be mustered. The team accepted the offer of a personal weapon apiece with one exception although a spare was taken "just in case". Rudek confirmed that the job was 50,000 Euros up front, paid in electronically by wire transfer to an account of their choosing with the remaining 50,000 in cash provided at the drop where the team would meet up with Anton Dedopovic.
Rudek left with the list with the promise to provide gear on the other side of the border and the team began looking into the details of their job. Angeline and Evelyn chose to investigate the origins of the money, Angeline due to her inate curiosity and Evelyn due to familial connections to a private bank in Geneva. With a small amount of looking they turned up the information that the bank, the Koenersbank, was connected to a Russian Organitskaya outfit, the Lisky Bratva. Further research turned up some additional information on the family running the bank and it's current financial situation (bad).
Both Ron and Luc recognised Dedopovic as a rather nasty piece of work with a record of horrific activities not limited to murder and rape but also current ties to human trafficking through the Baltic states. They shared this knowledge willingly with the others. Evelyn recalled seeing Dedopovic's name mentioned in the Swiss newspapers as he had been seen visiting a clinic with the suspicion that he was attempting to set up a drug ring.
Sarajevo
Day One
17:00 GMT (+1)
After the briefing the team mustered at the Jeep and made their way on the 3 1/2 hour drive to Sarajevo. Rudek had prepared the ground with his connections in the border guards and the drive went smoothly. On arrival around early evening the team found that he had also arranged lodgings at the airport hotel and that each person's requested kit was in their rooms, carefully packed into cut foam in packing cases or in nylon carry bags as necessary.
Collecting the gear the team split up for recon. Ron remembered that he had a contact stationed at the base, a Norwegian Marinejegerkommandoen (MJK) Colonel, Lorens Svant Voll, that he had previous contact with from his time in the SAS. He contacted his friend and they arranged to meet up the next night to catch up with one another and to gain access to the base. Luc checked Escape & Evasion (E&E) routes around the base and the general locale in case things went south whilst Evelyn and Angeline decided to take a look at Lennart's off-base residence.
Dropping off Evelyn to case the town house in which Lennart's apartment was located, Angeline set up some surveillance gear in the Jeep and performed a "War Drive" in the local area. Evelyn checked out the front and rear of the building, noting the high walls covered in broken glass and the shaded rear garden before entering the front door. Inside the house was a secondary door with an iron grill and a combination magnetic/key lock. Evelyn installed a camera high up in the entrance to monitor the entrance and then a secondary camera externally that would see anyone gaining access to the property and the road outside.
After a few hours of monitoring the property the two ladies had established which apartment belonged to Lennart and had gathered some intel on the residents of the other apartments. Angeline remotely installed software on the wireless routers allowing her to monitor the residents rough locations and movements within the house. Having set up the cameras and taken a print of the entrance key the team met back up at the hotel to debrief on the evening's activities.
Sarajevo
Day Two
08:00 (GMT+1)
The next day, Evelyn and Angeline resumed surveillance on Lennart's apartment. Having made a copy of the entrance key Evelyn was planning on gaining access to the apartment and having a look around and Angeline was also hoping to install additional gear inside to gain access to the password and establish where the laptop was kept whilst Lennart slept. In the morning a maid entered the house and cleaned and tidied Lennart's apartment. Angeline took the opportunity to attach a GPS transmitter to the car to ensure that they would not get caught out whilst breaking and entering.
Sarajevo
Day Two
10:35 (GMT+1)
Evelyn accessed the house using the copied key and took a print of Lennart's door lock. Using a basic 3D printer to create a key, the two gained access to the room and did a slow walk around, making sure not to disturb anything but also getting an idea of the layout of the rooms. Setting one camera pointing in the rough direction of the study table where Lennart did his work and a secondary vibration sensor on the underside of the table that would allow them to identify key pairs when he was typing the two exfiltrated and returned to the hotel to monitor the surveillance feeds.
Sarajevo
Day Two
18:00 (GMT+1)
Ron met up with his contact whilst Luc decided that he didn't quite like the idea of the meet with Dedopovic and that he would make his way to the handover location for reconnaissance. Ron's meeting went well, the two talked old times and Ron mentioned Dedopovic as the subject of an investigation he was currently performing. His contact suggested that there was more to the story of Dedopovic visiting Switzerland and warned Ron to be careful of having anything to do with him.
Gostilj
Day Two
21:22 (GMT+1)
Luc rented a car and arrived late in Gostilj - the GPS location for the meet was a graveyard just outside of town with two entrances, a poorly maintained road leading in from the town and a secondary route, even worse, that led off into the surrounding hills. The location was very open, with little cover and only a small amount of possible concealment and the tall, heavily forested hills around gave Luc concern. Should Dedopovic choose to do so he could easily have hidden a company of infantry in the treeline with no way to spot them from the meet.
Sarajevo
Day Two
23:00 (GMT+1)
Later that evening, the team reviewed the surveillance of the apartment. Wired for sound, video and motion they had more than enough data to establish Lennart's actions of the evening. Video of the laptop password and the identification of the laptop model gave the team several options for the boost which would have to take place some time during the next day if the mission was to be completed in time.
Gostilj
Day Two
23:17 (GMT+1)
Luc called in his findings and the team began the final phase of planning to grab the data from the laptop and establish a plan in case the drop off meeting went wrong...
***SPOILERS END***
The session was extremely rules light. Given that there was no combat and no chases there was little call for them either. Each character established their capabilities and specialities. Both Evelyn and Angeline share a number of skill sets, whilst Ron and Luc are more "practical" fellows but with plenty of capability in intelligence gathering.
What Happens Next?
The team has to boost the laptop or the data on it, removing the original. Preferably without causing injury/death and without rousing Lennart's suspicions. Once this is completed they must bring the information to Dedopovic in Gostilj and hand it over. Their knowledge of Dedopovic has no doubt set them up with some small amount of paranoia around the meet. Luc is in the best position to monitor the situation there whilst the other three will likely be able to handle the job.
Will the job go smoothly? What is the data? Who wants it and why? Will the team avoid Lennart's attention? What will happen at the drop?
Only time will tell.
See you next time.
Cheers,
Paul
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