IC: TANGO DOWN!, In the pipe, 5 by 5 Options

[A Clockwork Lime]

Nikolai Rozhenko, February 1st, approximately 2200 Zulu

I was just standing there next to Danno, leaning against the wall and listening half-assed to Mike work his mojo over on Deke. That was always one of the things I liked about that breeder; he could suck more cash out of a guy than a five-nuyen whore in Singapore. Respect.

But I wasn't really paying attention to the semantics. As soon as the hayseed mentioned Azerbaijan, I was off in my little world pulling up as much info on the place as I could just in case the bossman wanted it before we were out the door. I had already found a few simple satellite maps and I snagged the public CIA specs on the place. SeaSource's little icon was working its ass off trying to find even more data for me... but ever since that crap went down at the Arcology, Renraku's servers haven't been up to snuff. And they wonder why their reputation is swirling down the shitter.

While I was waiting, it dawned on me that we were getting a full-paid trip back home. Wow. It had been a while since I was anywhere near the Cauckies. If we get enough time, I'll have to make sure I drop by the old airfield to see how Papa's holding up. He wasn't exactly thrilled when I left the Spetsnaz to go freelance, but then again there rarely was any pleasing him to begin with. A bottle of Absolut would warm up real quick though, I'd wager. Always had in the past.

A sudden beep and a pop-up window as SeaSource reported back with its search results brought me out of my castle-building. While Mike and Deke droned on with their haggling, I browsed through the various links to see if I could hunt down any interesting info.

[TheOneRonin]

Deke closes one eye and squints at Mike, like he's looking down the sights of a battle rifle. For a second, he doesn't blink. Then he visabley exhales.

"Okay, you win Mike. How about this. 750K, with a 6% bonus if you can complete the contract in 60 days. And I'll bump the bonus up to 15% if you get it done in 30. Most of your operating expenses will still be covered as usual. So what do you say?"

[Grey]

"800k, 3% at 60 days, and 7.5% at 30 days."

[Shadow]

Danny glanced sideways at Nikolai. The familiar look on the riggers face told him the electronic wizard was off in cyberspace. Probably already looking at maps of the middle east. "Some place warm, yeehaw," Danny said under his breath, quiet enough the only Nikolai would hear it.

[TheOneRonin]

"750k, 6% at 60, 15% at 30, and the team gets 120k upfront. That's the best I can do."

Something tells you this is about as far as Deke is willing to bend. Still, the offer seems attrative enough.

[Grey]

Michael glances around the room at the group, trying to get a feel for their thoughts, then looks back to Deke.

"Done."

He then turns back to the group, "Any objections?"

If there are none, he nods and looks back to Deke, "Where do I sign and what are the gorey details?"

[Callidus]

Febuary 1st, 1930 Zulu (11:30 am Seattle Time)

Waking up for the second had defineately improved Ophelia's morning and as soon as the dwarf in her head put the hammer away she'd be feeling great. Looking over at the bleeping clock she remembers the message. Damn, just about enough time to get everything together.

Rolling out of bed and heading for the bathroom she turns on the taps a filling the bath with hot scented water while she fixes some breakfast and eats while she soaks. About an hour later the world is looking a much better places as she slides into a full length dress and finishes up her makeup.

I wonder what fun Deke's dragged up for us this time? Hope it hot, not sure I could take freezing again like the Ukraine

2200 Zulu and a few secs

Azerbaijan? Well at least it'll be nice and warm.... I hope. Although the pollutions supposed to be horrid over there, well I'm sure I can do a little something about that

Smiling at the banter between Mike and Deke knowing full well that they were having too much fun to finish up quickly, she ran over in her mind what she'd be needing from stores.

Hmmm, actually they free-lancers now aren't we? no more requesting gear from stores.... now it's a bring yer own, or lump it. Ah well at least I can travel light

[TheOneRonin]

February 1st, 2215 Zulu (2:15 pm Seattle)

"Glad that we all agree," Deke says, smiling through that famous Texas grin of his.

"Good. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get on to the mission briefing."

"A few months ago, the representatives of the Party for National Independence of Azerbaijan (PNIA) walked out of the Azerbaijani National Assembly. They had been pushing for more Muslim influence in the government. Of course, the secular leaders were having none of that. So these PNIA fellas pop smoke and disappear off the map for a couple of weeks. The next thing you know, a government motorcade in Baku takes several RPG rounds from some hooded terrorists jokers. Then the media gets a file with this guy," an image of a caucasian male, early 40's, bald and with a neatly trimmed moustache appears on the holo-screen.

"Calls himself Ramiz Amadov and claims his group, the People for a United Muslim Azerbaijan (PUMA) is responsible for the attacks, which will continue until Azerbaijan accepts a Muslim Theocracy.

Big, fat, hairy deal. This kind of shit happens all of the time. Doesn't involve Ares, right? Well, PUMA seems to disagree.

After several terrorist attacks on governement targets, Amadov seemed dissatisfied with the lack of government response, so he dicided to target one of the main sources of govenment revenue...corporate facilities. Things work a little differently in Azerbaijan when it comes to commerce, so here's the breakdown.

First off, any foreign company wishing to do business on Azerbaijani soil needs to purchase an MCB (Mandate to Conduct Business). This mandate costs in the neightborhood of several million nuyen, and needs to be renewed yearly. Added to that is a nice little property tax, also levied yearly. So why the HELL put a factory in this god-forsaken country? Simple. Azerbaijan has ZERO pollution legislation. Our factories run at 230% efficiency out here. Operating costs are almost nil compared to our plants here in Seattle, or anywhere in North America. The amount of cost savings FAR outstrips the payments made to the Azerbaijani government. Factor that in with the excessively cheap labor, and this country is a veritable cash cow for us. So of course, Ares and dozens of other corporations have plants and factories scattered all over this country. And that makes the government lots of money.

So this Amadov character thinks that if he causes enough damage, we and the rest of the corps will threaten to pull out, which would decimate the Governement's income. Now, after we lost our first munitions plant here, we decided to mobilize a large enough force capable of engaging these rebels and stopping them for good. However, the government threatened to revoke our MCB if we interfered. The only thing they have given us the right to do is defend our facilities if attacked. We DO NOT have the right to pursue our agressors. Now something is really not right with this. The government is playing games with Amadov, and losing. And while we haven't lost any more facilities, we are still taking periodic casualties, as well as site damage. Like it or not, the cost of doing business in Azerbaijan is going up...a lot. The boys upstairs want a solution, and want it now. My solution is you.

You'll be flying into Azerbaijan as civilian contractors, employed by us. Your primary job will be to decapitate the rebel leadership. While this may not end the PUMA threat, it should sufficiently disorganize them enough to prevent any concerted threat to Ares corporate interests. Now folks, this is going to be far from easy. Amadov is a ghost. There's no records of a Ramiz Amadov in ANY of the international databases, and facial pattern scans are inconclusive. NO ONE knows who this joker is, and frankly that scares the shit out of me. Whomever he is, he knows what the hell he is doing. His attacks are meticulously planned, and expertly executed. I'm thinking possible ties to Spetnaz. Nikos, tap your resources in that area, and let me know if you come up with anything. Also, there is something about this man that incites a whole lot of fear in the local government. There's more to him than meets the eye. We need to know what's going on before we neutralize him.

The best way to find Amadov is through his lieutenants: Mirmahmud Mirali-Oglu, Etibar Mammaldi, Ilham Aliyev, and Isa Gambarov. The first two are known to have ties with the Vory, and are most likely involved in illegal drugs. We're thinking this is where PUMA is getting most of its operational capital. Ilham (an elf) has had some business dealings with Telestrian Industries in the past, and a frequent visitor to Tir Tairngere. Isa is wraith. Her name and physical description pops up all over the map across the last 25 years. Kiev in 2041, Minsk 2047, Bucharest 2053, Ankara 2055, Tehran 2059, Ashgabat 2060, Damascus 2061, Islamabad 2062, and Baku in '63. Funny thing is her physical appareance hasn't changed a bit in the past two decades.

We think these guys are getting some outside support, but we're not sure from whom. We doubt it's corp support. SK, Shiawase, Cross, Wuxing, and several others have plants here, and everyone's been hit. Be aware that there might be other teams like yours out in the field. And you know those boys won't be playing nice.

I have all the briefing data, plus additional intel on these chips. Be sure to read over it. I have your plane tickets purchased already. You depart at 0800 tomorrow morning from Sea-Tac. Drop your gear off here, and we will ship it separately for you. It will be waiting there when you arrive. Any questions?"

[Shadow]

Danny looks around, to make sure he isn't interrupting anyone who is about to speak, "What's the ROE for the op? Are we concerned with the backlash from the government? Are any of the other corps in the area megas and should we expect an encounter with another team? Any intel on that would be useful."

[Grey]

[TheOneRonin]

@Danny

"Well, the governement doesn't want us messing with PUMA. So we won't. You will. As usual, we'd like the collateral damage kept down to the minimum, but whomever is an obstacle to your mission is a legitimate target. You're gonna need to keep your ops as quiet as possible. If you all stir up a hornets nest, it's unlikely we will be able to bail you out.

"SK, Shiawase, Cross, and Wuxing are the big boys in the area. If I had to hazard a guess, the only one who might be running similar ops would be SK. Although I wouldn't be shocked if there are some of Cross's Seraphim out there in the field. As for running into them, who knows. If we get any intel on any of their ops, I'll send it down the pipe ASAP, but as of right now, we got nothing."

@Mike

"C'mon Mike...you know I don't play like that. I'm honestly giving you all of what I know, and I realize it ain't much. Our guys in country are a bunch of morons and don't have a clue about gathering intel. That's why my bags are packed. I'm leaving tonight, and I'll be there throughout your whole contract."


This is a first. Deke has NEVER been sent in-country on any of your previous contracts. That means the boys upstairs are dead serious about this op.

[Grey]

Michael's eyes go wide in surprise for a moment. "Damn Deke. Its that bad, eh? I should have made it a cool mill."

He chuckles, but you can tell things just got real serious in his head. "Alright. If thats all you've got, thats all you've got. Team, meet back at my place in one hour and we'll start piecing this together. Have your equipment with you so we can all have it here later tonight for deploy."

[A Clockwork Lime]

I could feel my brow furrowing when Danno made his comment about the weather in Azerbaijan, and I was about to correct his mistake when it dawned on me. The fragger was being sarcastic again. My only recourse was to quip back, "yeah, you really nailed that one" with the same whispered tone. Once again: Wit. Not my forté.

I listened closely as Deke went over the specifics and threw a few red flags on topics via my virtual notepad to look up later. Everyone seemed to be covering all the bases, so there wasn't much need for my input.

At least, not until Mike turned and started heading towards the door without getting our requisition limits.

I stood up straight and unconsciously gave a low 'red alert' whistle. "Whoa, hold up there boss," I remember saying before I leaned in close so only he could hear. "Forgot to ask about our budget for the mission." I didn't want to approach Deke about it myself 'cause I knew I'd just screw the pooch with my limited negotiating skills, but Mike knew how to the cowboy so that we'd be sure to get everything we needed. That much I knew.

[Panzergeist]

That explained why Deke was so desperate. Ares needed deniable assets for this job; corp employees, such as they themselves had been just a few months ago, would open Ares up to a major political backlash and possible expulsion from the country. So, Kenjiro thought, a bunch of theocrats looking to force their religion on everyone. Their leadership may be smart, but the soldiers will probably be mostly rabble. These fundamentalist types are always too eager to die and get their seventy-one virgins. Or is it up to eighty now? It was regrettable that he would be protecting massive corporate pollution, that that was just incidental, not the goal of the op. Not as if the rebels had any plans to help the environment after they won anyway.

[Digital Heroin]

February 1st, 2215 Zulu (2:15 pm Seattle)

Illian had been silent through the negotiation, trusting in Micheal's skills in that arena, and he had been equaly silent through the briefing. Had they not worked with him before, the others might not have even known he was there. Illian had slipped in just after the last of them, taking a position to everyone's back. Everyone's but Deke. The situation struck him as something more than it seemed at first, for in truth nothing was as simple as it seemed. That Deke would be going with them was a sign that this was bigger than perhaps even he knew.

Illian considered two persons from the breifing. The first was Ilham; to find one of his own kin, a visitor to his homeland, that was a religious extremist was not unheard of, but Islam was a queer choice. Traditionaly Muslims showed no love for metahumanity, or such had been his own experience. The second was Amadov himself; a man who takes such great care to create a false identity doesn't often wear his secrets on his sleave. Given that he is working with known Russian criminals, and has rumored intelligence ties, it would seem his agenda is not what it seems.

The mission, however, sat well with him. He would relish the challenge of taking Amadov's life. Though he took no pleasure in killing, the hunt was well worth it.

[CardboardArmor]

Yoko's childish and seemingly unending wellspring of enthusiasm and cheer, fueled by soykaff and a bit of adrenaline from the prospects of finally getting to do something after a period of inactivity, seemed to ebb slightly at the mention that there would be little to no forthcoming information on the targe-.

She cringed despite herself. They might be opposing force, they probably intend to kill her once she gets on the ground, but they're still people. Dehumanizing them with labels like 'target' and 'objective' only really helped with her first near-breakdown. If any of this train of thought was bothering Yoko, she didn't let on through the briefing and instead occassionally nodded as she tracked names and so forth.

Some Ghosts thought it an interesting thing to be blasé about the kill; just another target, right? A load of bullshit, Yoko thought darkly, diverting her caffine thoughts midstream. It was best to know as much as possible about those you were after and in a world as professional as theirs it was a form of honor and respect to those that knew what they were doing to take the time to entrap them as such.

Another late night, she mused to herself despite the growing darkness in her thoughts, gotta pack, gotta call in a few favors...Gotta brew more soykaff at home, ugh, the stuff they have here is awful... Though her mind distracted itself with the coffee, something else, something past all the mods in her head still clicked away at how she would find information on these people, on how she would get to know more about them than they knew about themselves.

The Matrix would have the answers she needed. Yoko took pride in her personal archives, the library that sprawled through cyberspace that she called her own with the information she had accumulated through her career. Tonight, she would dive back into the world network, a silken clad figure on the world's webways. Information was life for Yoko, information was sometimes all that kept her and her team alive.

She liked keeping things alive.

Deke's voice finally caught up to the thoughts. "...your gear off here, and we will ship it separately for you. It will be waiting there when you arrive. Any questions?"

Yoko smiled cheerily. "Nope!"

[TheOneRonin]

"A couple more things before you guys head out..." Deke places a handful of optical chips on his desktop. "This is all the intel we have on Azerbaijan. There's also an instructional chip for learning Azeri, but it's pretty horrible. Good luck with it."

"And secondly, about your equipment requisitions," Deke says as he flashes a wink in Nikos's direction. "The bean counters have decided to do things a little differently now that you guys are indies. Your equipment budget is non-disclosed. You request gear, the cost comes out of the budget. Any gear not returned will have 50% of it's value deducted from final contract payout. Field losses will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Ammunition and expendables are exempt from this rule. Shoot me an e-mail with your requests, and I'll do what I can to make sure it's waiting for you on site. Once there, if you need any other mission specifc gear, you can put in another request, but I can't guarantee a speedy delivery."

[TheOneRonin]

February 1st, 2225 Zulu (2:25pm Seattle)

Deke gives you a final nod and turns his attention back to his terminal.

"See you boys and girls on the other side of the world," he says as you slowly file out of his office.

As you clear his office doorway, you hear his telecom beep and a female voice chime in, "Mr. Cantrell, you have a call on line 7."

"Tell them I'm busy and take a message."

The voice replies with considerable hesitation, "Ummm sir...it's Mr. Knight...and he says it's important."

"Jesus H. Christ..." is the last thing you hear as the sound-proof door closes behind you.

[Grey]

Michael says his goodbyes and heads home to get the war room setup and ready. On the way he makes a few important phone calls.

Once he arrives at home, he heads into the spare bedroom that he converted into an office/meeting room for the group and turns on all the equipment. The window tumblers and white noise generators come to life, along with the holo-projector in the middle of the table. Running a quick diagnostics, he seems satisfied and heads out to the kitchen. After rumaging through the fridge for a while, he sighs and orders a few pizzas and a case of beer to be delivered.

Waiting for the order to arrive, he kicks back and catches the nightly news.

[CardboardArmor]

"Boss man's catching heat, bad joss." Yoko lamented to the rest of the group as she started back to her car. "Means we'll catch heat too, when we get on ground. Bad, metallic heat know what I mean?"

"Ah, well. S'what we signed for." She concludes, throwing the empty cup into a recycler. "Going to go netdive when I get home, maybe get some things packed for the trip. I'll probably keep at in on site, try to get the lowdown we need, then we figure out what to do. No rush, right? Six-P and everything."

Yoko smiled inwardly at the old adage known as Six-P. Proper planning prevents piss-poor performance.

"You guys need anything from me 'fore I get started?" She asks, throwing her scarf around her neck and adjusting her cap.

[Shadow]

"A translation?" Danny said with a smile.

-----------------------------------------------

February 1st, 3:45pm Seattle

Danny arrived via cab at Michaels, he had Nikolai drop him off at his place so he could start packing. Most of his gear broke down in to two oversized OD green duffle bags. The bags had special thermal seal locks that were keyed to his retina. Not impossible to breach, just hard. He dropped the bags on the floor in Michaels living room and took a look around. "Man you got to get out more, this place is spartan."
Walking to the kitchen the Ork grabbed a glass of water and settled in the conference room. The corner of the leather couch was just about right for him. "So whats the deal, Mike?"

[Grey]

"I got a few ideas about things, but I'd rather wait till everyone shows up before I start spoutin' off at the mouth."

Just then, the doorbell rings and Michael gets up to answer it. A moment later he comes back carrying a case of beer with six pizzas stacked up on top of it.

"Hey, grab that door for me."

Michael carries everything into the war room and drop it down on round table.

"Dig in, I'm gunna go toss the bear in the kitchen to get cold."

[gobogen]

February first, Seattle, afternoon (local time), 2230 - 0000 Zulu

Max stayed silent during the meeting, because he didn't know much what to do since he wasn't the leader of the group. He felt like saying something about the payment, but 750k wasn't bad after all.

I have a really bad feeling about this.. Deke might know more than he tells us and Ares definitely knows a lot more than Deke. Why is Ares caring so much about all of this??

Once back home, he looks over all his military gear in the locked, hidden "gardrobe", and tries to think about what he will need to request from Ares. Once, he's done making sure that all his equipment is in good shape, he calls Mr. and Mrs Hitchcock.

"Hi Mrs Hitchcock.. Yes .. You too .. I'm calling to tell you that I won't be able to dine with you tonight and that I will be unable to spend time with you and your husband in the next 6 months at least... Yes, a new mission .. I can't tell you where I am going, I'm sorry .. Ok, I'm glad you take it that way .. thanks .. I hope Mr. Hitchcock gets better, bye."

Poor folks, I hate to cause them more pain than necessary. I know they will be scared of losing me.. just like they lost their own son. I still feel so responsible for the death of Jeff... Maybe it's a good thing I'm not the leader on this mission, I feel that my guilt for Jeff's death grows with every day, now. Poor Mr. and Mrs Hitchcock...

Max appears at the front door of Michael's home by 3:46.. "Hey Mike, what's up?"

[A Clockwork Lime]

Nikolai Rozhenko, February 1st, 2258 Zulu, Breakwater Marina

I had just gotten home after dropping Danny off at his pad. The sun was high in the sky, and despite the temperature I saw at least half a dozen young slitches sunning themselves on their respective decks. Apparently daddy can afford a yacht, but a tanning bed was out of the question.

Somehow I managed to shove my bitterness to the side as I hopped onboard. I see Pavlov got my message and had the electronics gear primed and ready. How did I ever manage to get by without him? All I had left to do was pack a small suitcase, do a bit of PMCSing with the sidearm, and see if I could get someone to take care of the house while I was gone.

Take care of the house. Frag. I totally forgot about that. After I finished packing, I decided to give Mr. Furley a call.

"Hey Ralph, it's Nikos down at slip 14. Is your daughter Trixie home by chance? No? Crud. Oh, one of my clients decided to go on a safari in Tanzania, and I was going to ask her if she wouldn't mind housesitting for me while I was gone. I know how much she enjoyed it last ti... oh, she did? You're sure she will? That's absolutely fantastic, thanks! I'll leave the keys in the same place I did last time, and I'll slip some spending cash in the cookie jar for her. There's plenty of food still here, but I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. Probably a couple months. That's good? Great! If I'm gone for longer than that, I'll be sure to wire her some additional cash, and tell her to feel free to invite any friends over as long as she picks up after them. Okay? All right. Thanks a lot, Ralph! See you soon. Bye."

By the time I was finished with the old dwarf, I looked down and discovered that I had apparently did my PMCSing without even realizing it. It's amazing how instinctual that shit becomes after a few years.

I carried my luggage to the Porsche and somehow managed to cram it all into the pathetic little space they provide in the trunk, then went back to lock the Sea Nymph up. I pulled out my wallet and slipped a cool thousand nuyen into the elephant jar Bell got me for my birthday last year, and looked around one last time before hitting the lights and heading back to the car. Pavlov was hot on my tail, obviously excited -- well, as excited as a drone can be -- about getting back into the field. Can't say I blame him.

Thirty minutes after I got home [2328 Zulu], I was at Mike's house and knocking on his door with Pavlov sitting at my feet. "Good to see you again, man."

[Grey]

Mike glanced down at the robot, then back up at Nikolai, "Thanks from coming Nik."

He reaches down and begins to pet Pavlov before he realizes what he is doing. "Heh, I'm not gunna get used to that."

He moves back into the apartment and shows Nik into the war room to enjoy some pizza while we waited for the last few to show up.